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Info on Substrate

Info on Carbon Dioxide

The 75 Gallon setup:

Type	Description	Cost
Tank	Perfecto 75G combo (with 1 40W FL light)	$110.00US
Stand	From Petsmart, with matching Canope	Too much, but looks nice!
Filter	Marineland Magnum 350	USED $20.00US
Lights	2 double striplight fixtures from WalMart	$9.00US each
Bulbs	2 40W GE plant & Aquarium  2 40W GE sunshine	$5.00US each
Heater	Rena Cal 300Watts	$25.00US

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-Kitty litter: make sure the contents are 100% clay. Best to do test to ensure PH doesn't get affected. Put water in a bowl, measure PH, add some cat litter, measure the PH next day, if this is the same or slightly less you should be OK

-Kitty litter: Has to be put in the tank dry. Some people like to add osmocote pellets to the clay, as it has little or no nutrients.

-Kitty litter: encourages better root growth, due to smaller particles yet, lots of people like to think that this is too fine, and make it harder for the roots, and may create an oxygen free layer

-Fluorite: has PH buffering capabilities, contains lots of iron does wonders to the plants.

-Fluorite: I don't like the looks of it, that's why I add the extra layer, to cover this up.
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DIY Carbon Dioxide: These are the ingredients you will nee to make this work:

Hardware		Ingredients
2 liter soda bottle		1/2tsp bakers yeast
6' of airline tubing		2 cups of fine sugar
1 check valve		1.5 liters of luke warm water
wooden airstone

Make a hole in the screw cap , slightly smaller than the airline. Force the airline through so that 1" to 2" are sticking through on the inside of the cap. Seal this with silicone. (I had to on both sides to prevent leaks)

Cut the airline in 2 , install the checkvalve to prevent syphoning. At the end of the airline install the wooden airstone. The reason for using a wooden airstone is that these usually create smaller bubbles that will dissolve easier.

Install this wooden airstone under the filter intake so that when the CO2 bubble rise they get sucked into the filter and get swirled around so that there is more time for them to disolve.

Use some luke warm water to disolve the yeast. Put the remaining water in the soda bottle. Add the 2 cups of sugar to the water in the bottle. Shake this up good and add the yeast. Shake again.

Now put on the screw cap with the airline, in a few hours you will see bubbles. Caution:

- Never block the airline to prevent the bottle from exploding.

- With low Carbonate Hardness (KH), keep an eye on PH. The CO2 addition will lower the PH in the tank.

- CO2 is not always necessary. It seems to be more effective with high light.
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