# THIS IS A MUST READ !!! I lost many battles, but won the war



## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

btw...Instead of reading and then re-reading the same thing... How about just go straight here:

Click me

EDIT: Removed the original post, linked to the improved with pictures


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## Ryan (Feb 18, 2004)

WOW, what a cool way to add CO2!


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## Guest (Aug 23, 2005)

Very smart!! 
But that is chemical warfare!!


How can you make sure that you got all the air bubbles under the surface, and any crevices.


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Congratulations!!! You might have to cycle the viv several times to rid it of unwanted guests but sounds like it is working well for you. I suspect your plants will enjoy the extra shot of CO2 :wink: Good call on mixing the dry ice with hot water...the temps will still go down a bit because of the dry ice but nowhere near what you would have seen by just sitting dry ice into the viv.

Keep us updated if you don't mind.

Bill


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## dmatychuk (Apr 20, 2005)

Very cool thanks for sharing. I have heard of individuals shooting CO2 at plants to boost growth so I would think just leaving the CO2 in there as long as possible would be positive for plants and continue to kill unwanted visitors, or is there a negative side that you are aware of?


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## mack (May 17, 2005)

i have a question to add. plants use co2 when the lights are on, but they make 02 in the process which seems like you would be fighting yourself, but when the lights are off the plants need 02 to respire. my guess is that the plants aren't as quickly smothered , but can anyone add to this?


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

Not sure what effect the overnight CO2 immersion will have on the plants... I guess time will tell  I'll keep you guys posted.

Marty


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## Mantellaprince20 (Aug 25, 2004)

Mack,

I would have to look it up, as plant biology class was a few months ago, but the amount of O2 that they will put out in comparison to how much CO2 is being put in, there is no way the O2 will compete for space with the CO2. Also, CO2 I believe is much heavier than just O2. I don't recall the process of what plants do at night either, and it depends on the plant. plants that perfrom C4 photosynthesis actually collect CO2 during the night, and use it for photosynthesis during the day. These include Orchids, bromeliads, and any other type of succulent. I don't see a downside to exposing plants to high levels of CO2 to be honest with you, like they said earlier, it is just temperature that would worry me. 

Thanks for sharing your method marty, I have some pesky flat worms I would like to get rid of. Take care,

Ed Parker


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## TPopovich (May 7, 2004)

*Dry Ice*

That's a great idea, where did you get the dry ice and how much do you have to buy ? I have a similar problem with a 45 gallon tank I've had setup for 4 yrs. The tank has taken a couple of years to really grow in and I would hate to have to tear it down. Anyhow, I have 3-4 adult centipedes that have been in there for about 2 years. They live behind the cork bark and it looks like the've been breeding since lately I've seen some smaller ones. They haven't bothered the frogs yet but you never know. Every once in a while I catch one out at night and grab them with tweezers but that's rare and everytime I get one, I see a couple more. 

Thanks,
Tom


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

*Re: Dry Ice*

Look in the phone book for air/gas equipment suppliers. Praxair is the place where I got my dry ice. It was like $2/lb, which by dry ice standards is extremely expensive - but still penuts. You may get it from a friend at a lab at a university too. 2 lbs should be more then enough to do 45gal. You may want to say a quick prayer for the millipedes' sake 

It's quite a lot of fun actually ...much more fun then ripping out and redoing your tank or spraying toxic crap onto the plants.

M.



TPopovich said:


> That's a great idea, where did you get the dry ice and how much do you have to buy ? I have a similar problem with a 45 gallon tank I've had setup for 4 yrs. The tank has taken a couple of years to really grow in and I would hate to have to tear it down. Anyhow, I have 3-4 adult centipedes that have been in there for about 2 years. They live behind the cork bark and it looks like the've been breeding since lately I've seen some smaller ones. They haven't bothered the frogs yet but you never know. Every once in a while I catch one out at night and grab them with tweezers but that's rare and everytime I get one, I see a couple more.
> 
> Thanks,
> Tom


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

Looks like the CO2 stimulated some shrooms...I havent seen growht like this in this tank - ever

sprouted out of nowhere !












mack said:


> i have a question to add. plants use co2 when the lights are on, but they make 02 in the process which seems like you would be fighting yourself, but when the lights are off the plants need 02 to respire. my guess is that the plants aren't as quickly smothered , but can anyone add to this?


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## Guest (Aug 30, 2005)

Fantastic shrooms!! You think the CO2 really had something to do with it? Maybe it was all the dead bugs? 
Now people are gonna be doing this to all their uninhabited vivs just for the shrooms. :lol:


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

It must be... dead bugs were on the ground, I cleaned them off. I had shrooms before but maybe a maximum of 2 or once I think 3...In the last 8 months, I haven't seen a single mushroom...this is just insane !



Khamul1of9 said:


> Fantastic shrooms!! You think the CO2 really had something to do with it? Maybe it was all the dead bugs?
> Now people are gonna be doing this to all their uninhabited vivs just for the shrooms. :lol:


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## trow (Aug 25, 2005)

*Chemical War*

The only downfall I think is yeah you killed the adults but what about any eggs etc.But you probally thought of that already
cya


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## Guest (Aug 31, 2005)

*eggs*

eggs need oxygen too.


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## Guest (Aug 31, 2005)

Marty - how long did you wait to put the frogs back in? It sounds like it might be a good idea to perhaps do your CO2 "cleansing" like once in a while....


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## Guest (Sep 1, 2005)

Whats the affect of the CO2 treatment on moss. Does it grow better now??


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

*Re: Chemical War*

The process has to be repeated to make sure all newly hatched pests are killed. With harsh pesticides you often have to do several applications as well.

I'll wait a week and repeat the process. I don't have a pressing need to put anything into that tank, so I think I can safely repeat the CO2 treatment few more times.



trow said:


> The only downfall I think is yeah you killed the adults but what about any eggs etc.But you probally thought of that already
> cya


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## Guest (Sep 3, 2005)

Superb.


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## C.A.Caron (Apr 30, 2004)

Superb idea Marty, thanks for posting this. I have similar millipedes in a 130 gal. tank but strangely since I've introduced my 4 leucs I barely see one anymore. 

I've seen some adult lately but thats about it. The tank has been running for nearly a year without frogs and I kept on removing adults and mostly small millipedes during that time. I was quite a fight. :? 

I really thought the frogs would not eat the millipedes but so far thats the only possible explanation I have for the dramatic drop in the millipede population. Granted though I've never seen a frog eat one.

Anyone seen a frog eat a millipede?

Anyway thats a very clever idea you had Marty, congrat!

Charles


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

*Re: eggs*

Little Update on the milliped issue and the treatment ...

I haven't seen a single millipede. I still have the tank with no animals and I'm monitoring things closely. 

I saw some snails that must have hatched from eggs. I since then repeated the process... Now, I see no millipeds, no slugs and no snails...just to be on the safe side, I'm going to repeat the CO2 treatment one last time and then I'm letting the frogs in. 

Looks like my CO2 method worked very well...It needs to repeated to make sure that everything is killed, but it sure does work ! At least it's an alternative to ripping out the entire tank apart or spraying it with toxic junk. 

Marty


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