Space is very limited and I would like to have chosen co2 paintball tank then a standard. But I've been told to go with the standard tanks. Would a 2.5 lb tank suffice for a 90g or would I need to go with a 5lb?

Happy Holidays

Any size CO2 tank will work for any size aquarium. The difference is the time between refills of the CO2 tank. A 5 pound tank lasts about a year on a 29 gallon tank, so it should last about a third of that on a 90 gallon tank, or 4 months. Thus a 2.5 pound tank would last about 2 months. If that is ok for you than it is ok for the aquarium. Keep in mind that a CO2 refill cost is mostly the labor charge, so refilling a 10 pound tank isn't that much more costly than refilling a 2.5 pound tank. So, economics dictates a bigger tank.

thanks, are the numbers you've provided for 24 hours? I guess my question should have been how many bps or bpm should I need in a 90g tank w/ 2.16wpg of lighting.

My answer was just based on my CO2 usage. I used it 24 hours a day for about a quarter of that time and for 10 hours a day after that. Bubble rate does not work for much of anything except being able to duplicate a CO2 flow rate in your aquarium with your equipment. The bubble rate depends on how big the bubbles are, and that depends largely on how big the opening the bubbles come out of is. My estimate of CO2 usage is a crude one at best, as are all such estimates. A lot depends on how effective your CO2 reactor or diffuser is, how much CO2 ppm you maintain in the aquarium, how much surface disturbance of the aquarium water you have, how heavily planted the tank is, etc.

From the other threads I've read, can you tell me how I would dose a deeply planted 90g tank with high fish load? So far, I have these ferts in my shopping cart on greg watson's store.

1lb Nitrate
1lb PotassiumPhosphate
1lb CSMPlantex1

My setup:
CO2 reactor 1000 w/ eheim 2128
Orbit 4x 65- 2x 10,000k 2x 6,500k 2x actinic (which I plan to take out)
1.5" Flourite and 2" inert pea pebble

I dont have the water parameters because my tank isn't setup yet. Most of the equipment, I'm still waiting for UPS to procure.

I'd be guessing without looking the numbers up, but 1tsp of KNO3 and 1/4tsp of KH2PO4 sounds about right for macros.

Also, consider what was formerly called Tropica Master Grow. It's now Tropica Plant Nutrition Liquid. Big Al's has it here.

I know CSM is cheaper, but I've been using it for a couple years and am ready to change what I'm doing. If you want to try CSM+B, I've got some extra I can send you for a test.

that sounds very generous but I've already put my order.

Do you get your plants from the scape meets? Because i'm planning on setting everthing up by next week given UPS sends everything that i've ordered to my house on time. My goal right now is to setup the tank and plant it at the same time. So I'll be ordering plenty of plants.

I have gotten a few plants from SCAPE meetings. More often than not I'm giving plants away.

Can't wait to see your tank!

I think 3/4 tsp KNO3 and 1/4 tsp or a little less of KH2PO4 would be better. I ordered some TMG (Tropica Plant Nutrition Liquid) from Big Al's too, to try instead of CSM+B+extra iron. But, I will keep my CSM++ until I see if the TMG is better for me.

Hi VaughnH,

About how much extra iron do you use when mixing CSM+B+Iron. I have used extra iron with good results but not sure of the dosing. FYI my substrate is inert.

Happy New Year

Chris