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MisterB's 3foot Planted Tank

Sounds pretty conclusive it's a bad solenoid then. I've got two of the Lunapet ones and they've been good over 4-5 years. I got them because the recommendations were that they were so reliable. Maybe you just have a duff one? Personally I'd get Lunapet to replace it and spend the £60 on plants.
 
yeah that's why i went for the lunapet as i heard good things. the reg seems fine, just not the solenoid. there check valves seems a bit lame to if im honest.

the only reason im a bit dubious about getting another lunapet is because the total lack of communication with them, they take ages to reply to anything and arnt really that helpful. but i guess you only experience this when something goes wrong.
i have messaged lunapet as it says there's a 24month warranty on the part.

also this morning ive been playing around with my light unit. a big mistake on my part as i got it with only 1 plug (at the time of purchase i couldnt afford the extra £50 for the 2nd power cable) but i would like to have a 2 hour burst of all 4 bulbs, but don't want to have to do it manually (in case im not in sometimes)

i think i can snip some cables and add a second plug tho which would be great, just im not that good with electrics so im being quite cautious! 2 cables come from the ballast's (1 from each) and then 2 cables from the switchs (again 1 from each) the 2 cables from the switches connect to the Live and the 2 cables from the ballast connect to the neutral. im guessing if i just take 1 cable from each and connect this to a new plug then it'll work as i want it.
 
well the mod with the light unit went well.

i can now have 2 bulbs on one timer and 2 bulbs on another :)
 
getting totaly confused with this solenoid tho. i hooked it up to a air pump and sure enough it stops air flowing through it when it has no power, plug it in and sure enough air passes through it.

hooked it back upto the CO2 rig (solenoid has no power) opend the valve on the bottle and straight away CO2 is bubbleing into the bubble counter. so looks like the solenoid cant handle the presure maybe? or its just not switching off when under pressure?

EDIT: just not having much luck in general with this co2, i dicounted the solenoid just to remove it again and all the water just drained out of the bubble counter, and a bit seeped out of the check valve.(the check valves unscrew but ive tried to make sure there tight) really not that impressed atm with lunapet
 
im not really sure. the non return valves do seem a bit crap. im going to pick up some more asap.

my solenoid is providing plenty of fun. i had the co2 main valve turned off and id hooked up the solenoid, then opend the main valve and co2 was coming through the solenoid even when it didnt have power.
so yesterday i set it up differently , i hooked it all up and left the main valve shut, i hooked the solenoid upto a timer and waited for it to come on, then i opened the valve and let the co2 run its course for the day, then when the timer went off, the solenoid actually worked. so im just going to monitor it for a few days but seems ok for now.

i wanted to see what you guys thought about my lighting. im running 2x39w bulbs for 6 hours, and 2 hours in the middle im running 4x39w.

drop checker was nice and green yesterday but i think i need to turn it on sooner as it wasn't as green when the lights came on as say 4 hours later. and im dosing 30ml micro/macro a day but that is soon to be increased.
 
6 hours is plenty. Does your drop checker turn yellow near the end of injection period?
 
nope it was a nice green colour when the lights went out last night. but it wasn't that green as the lights came on which is whats making me think i need to start the co2 a bit earlier.

my CO2 comes on at 5pm, 2tubes on 7pm, 4tubes 9pm, 2tubes off 11pm, CO2 off 12midnight, lights off 1am
 
think mine starts 3 hours before light on. Do some tweaking :)
 
thanks guys really appreciate the input. i have increased the bubble rate, first day it was at 1bps and the drop checker did change colour but it was still a bluey green. 2nd day i ran at 2bps which it still is around there. ill need some tweeking but ill get there. your input helps alot.
ill be moving the spray bar to the opposite end of the tank soon i think as this should provide better flow to the carpet and co2 supply, a great suggestion from Alastair. im still yet to get my power head but i think itll be ok without for a few weeks till plants thicken out more. ive also thought about getting a glass diffuser instead of the upinline one but im not sure as of yet, i do quite like the inline one for some reasons.

really enjoying the growth rate, the Rotala Rotundifolia is growing fast, as is the Myriophyllum Mattogrossense which has already had 1 trim.
 
I'd personally stick to the inline diffuser over a glass one purely as distribution is much easier, with it coming out of the whole length of spray bar, plus your then not messing for days ion end trying to get the glass diffuser in the best position. The inlines have a much finer mist of co2 also so it stays in the water longer compared to the bigger bubbles produced by the glass diffusers


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some very good points there i guess. i wouldnt know about cleaning it as its my first time using co2!

i like the inline, im not sure im quite geting a mist, more of quite small bubbles but it looks to be working at least.

the timer went off last night, but the bubbles continued through the bubble counter so the solenoid is playing up, again.

Confused.com? im messing with it again this morning. but it does look to be letting gas through even when its off
 
darren636 said:
ah. Shoddy cheap German rubbish! ;)

hehe indeed. well the reg seems ok that's working fine. (the needle on the line pressure gauge is a little sticky, but all in all seems a good reg) solenoid has been a pain sinse the start and , has only actually worked once properly. there check valves seems really poor too.

im going to TGM again today to, 1) have a look around, 2) buy a few more plants (a pot of glosso and a few pots of staurogyne repens) 3) ill more than likly end up buying a new solenoid valve.

i just want to get it set up and running and stable, and stop messing around with the gear. i would think my CO2 levels have been all over the place this last week.

this morning i moved the spray bar over from the left side to the right, and now is spraying right to left. this seems to be providing a far better flow over the glosso carpet, as the flow hits the left tank wall and flows down across/over the glosso. thanks to alastair for the suggestion, as soon as i did it i realized the difference and benefit.
 
ok so yesterday i got a new solenoid valve, aqua medic one and its working fine and all is good with that :D
i also got the powerhead yesterday and fitted that just below the spray bar to help with flow, its the hydor 1600 nano and to be honest i thought it would have been to much for this tank but its just great, the flow is very spread and not harsh at all.

i am however noticing a few problems with the glosso. so 3 days ago i saw a bit of it turning black as it seemed, yesterday a bit more and today more still. most of it is looking good and ive seen a bit of new growth, but obviously some isnt looking great.
my co2 hasnt exactly been stable as ive had the few problems with the solenoid, but it will be from now on. lighting is on for 6 hours, 4 hours at about 1.8wpg and 2 hours at about 3.6wpg. im dosing 30ml micro and macro alternate days. any more info you want me to provide just ask.

ive got a few pictures so if you could suggest what you think it is that would be great.
DSC_0051.jpg

DSC_0052.jpg

DSC_0053.jpg

it does look to have some kinda of greyish stringy hair from it but im not sure if thats algae or decayed plant matter? im not sure whats going on.
 
ceg4048 said:
rehman73 said:
The issue with the drop checker has been sorted now and the eleocharis is growing nicely but what is this difficiency with my hc?

20120718342.jpg

Shot at 2012-07-18
This is image is a symptom of poor CO2 at the substrate level. The mechanism of failure is photoinhibition and internal radiation poisoning due to too much light. The plant is starving to death because of an inability to produce carbohydrates.

Reduce the light intensity, increase CO2 injection rate or add liquid carbon and improve your flow/distribution to the substrate.

Cheers,
looks like similar problem mate should resolve its self now u sorted co2 flow
 
thanks a bunch tim. it does look like the same problem tbh.
my flow seems to be ok, flowing from right to left and seems to be passing over the carpet quite nicely.

ive slowly been increaseing my CO2 and altering on/off times to try and get that lime green colour in the DC
CO2 comes on 3 and a half hours before lights, co2 goes off 1 and a half hours before lights.

ive also hooked up an airpump and running that a few hours after lights off. is this a good idea? ive seen alot of people running airpumps on lights off but is this normally just if they run the CO2 24/7?

my drop checker is solid blue by this time (mid day) co2 comes on at 3:30pm, drop checker is a green by lights on (7pm) but gets more lime green say 3-4 hours in.

so do i need to get a nice lime green when the lights come on? or 2 hours after the lights have been on? as i know the DC's take a while to change.

any hints tips and advice, as always, is greatly appreciated :)
 
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