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Subject: DIYS CO2 - yeast + sugar; Paludarium questions.

Stephen,

What size tank do you have?  Maybe you can set up a couple of CO2 systems
& have them staggered.  I run three 1 liter bottles on my 125 gal tank but
only one on my 25 gal tank & acheive good levels (haven't monitored the 25 gal
tank lately but it was at 18 ppm CO2 - it has a less vigorous tank filtration
& circulation system than the 125 gal tank).

Also, I don't just let mine bubble into the tank alone, I bubble them in to 
chambers.  On my 125 gal tank I have some "diffusion chambers" made by Tetra
which I bought from That Fish Place.  On the 25 gal tank I just use a cut-off
soda bottle bottom which is inverted to hold the pool of CO2 & let it
diffuse into the water slowly.

My bottles produce a consistent stream of bubbles for about two weeks & then
I have to shake the bottles to get bubbles (basically to fill up my chmabers)
for a few weeks after that until it's depleted or I just get fed up & decide
to make a fresh brew.  I find that fresh brews work much better than just
adding to the old one.  I use about half a yeast packet & 2/3 cup sugar for
each bottle & fill to about 2 inches from the top with warm-cool water, mine
takes an hour or two to start fermenting.

Hope this info helps.

Also, RE: Aponogetons

I got my original first bulb from That Fish Place mail order along with some
other stuff.  The bulb did not sprout for about a year.  It may have been
because I started with hard alkaline tap water in my tanks that I slowly
diluted with distilled water because I couldn't get plants to grow well at
first (except crpyts which grew like crazy!).  Myabe once I got the hardness
& pH desirable for the bulb it sprouted, but whatever the reason, it sprouted
to form a beautiful lush green plant.  About the same time I noticed WalMart
selling packs of little bulbs (5 or 6) for about $1.50 & bought some.  Not
all the bulbs sprouted, maybe half but they grew to beautiful plants & thats
where I buy my aponogeton bulbs now!  Some have flowered & died down a little
but I have about 20 beautiful plants that have lasted well over 6 months.

I'm pretty sure mine are all aponogeton elongatus.

I think aponogeton madagascariensis are harder to grow - especially since you
need an algae free tank & mine is not quite algae free, in fact I see some
brown stuff on some of my aponogetons which I'm not sure is algae or just
signs of old leaves.

Regarding propagations, Baensh & Riehls aquarium atlas indicates that this
is difficult (from seed).  To grow well they need soft, clear, moving water,
free of lime.  I'd suggest just a gravel substrate with liquid fertilizers,
probably aquarium ones are best because commercial ones contain high levels
of nitrates & phosphates which would encourgae algae growth.

Regarding: Plant nutrient requirements 

In "The Optimum Aquarium" by Horst & Kipper, they provide info on "Nutrient
springs at tropical brooks" (the Dupla formulations are based on conccentrations
found in nature apparently).  There is a table comparison of stream water:
		High water		Low water		Normal
NO3  mg/l	5.6			-			0.47
PO4  mg/l	0.307			0.056			0.648
K    mg/l	1.62			1.35			1.65
Fe2+3 mg/l	0.162			0.29			0.12

I try to maintain my nitrates below 10 ppm (they vary between 0 & 10 which I
consider "just like nature"!).  I don't worry about P & K since I think there's
probably enough of that from fish wastes & I fertilize a bit erratically, but
when I do it, I try to keep Fe between 1 & 3 ppm.

I do not consider myself an expert but I have got some really nice planted
tanks :-).

Joanne.