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Jason's questions



Jason is getting back into planted tanks and has questions:

	>Last time I did a planted tank I had about 1.5" of vermiculite
covered by about 1.5" of medium gravel. The vermiculite seemed to help,
but
it would cloud the water anytime I need to uproot a plant for any
reason.
Is vermiculite still recommended? Would I be better off using plain
gravel
with Dupla G mixed in?>

You would be better off with the gravel + Dupla G or other laterite,
but you would even be better off with Onyx sand or Fluorite.  See my
former posts on Fluorite for the disadvantages.  I like the Onyx sand a
lot and there is no mess when pulling and replanting. There is slight
buffering effect though.

	>CO2 - I never really wanted to mess with a compressed gas tank,
but
I didn't have much luck with DIY when I tried the 2L bottle method.
Has
anyone tried the Dupla Omega CO2 unit? Is it worth it, or would I be
better
off trying DIY again if I want to use the non-compressed air method?
Or
should I just bite the bullet and lay out the cash for a real CO2
sytem?<

Just get compressed gas; you will be glad you did.  Once it's set up
there is no maintenance beyond the occasional filling of the tank.  It's
completely worth the expense!  Much more controllable than DIY.  DIY
works for only the smaller tanks unless you like preparing multiple
bottles on a regular basis.  It's not cheaper in the long run!  Go gas.

Roxanne Bittman