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What am I doing wrong?

Deano3

Member
Joined
8 Feb 2012
Messages
2,503
Hello there most if you probably know I am current doing a Ada 60p but had problems lately let's firstly say at first I was doing daily 50% water changes and then started every other day( have to do on night as work early) my tank started like this

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I have 1 aquabar 50cm on 100% (currently turned down to 75%) and do daily 20ml micro/macro and co2 is around 3-4bps and drop check always yellow during lights on, I am using inline up atomiser but I have a few things to add, firstly I am using a fluval G6 and at the time of the picture above it had a 13 outlet and 17mm inlet but I then changed to 17mm inlet and outlet and I think that's when went downhill as flow was very fast here is a pic with 13mm bits still on

apateva5.jpg


Started seeing good growth

Then 17mm bits added and went downhill
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Since then I have went back to 13mm outlet but kept 17mm diffuser and co2 is great as was a bit hit and miss at first but constant now

u3y9e4u7.jpg


Barley no healthy plants left, firstly besides tank is windows on both sides

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Started shutting inds incase due to too much light but plants go horrible brown and melt away till very thin but ph readings are good as drops by 1, just order 4 pots Monte Carlo again and hopefully plant this week and keep daily water changes daily for 1 week again but any one any idea why I keep failing at first this went well until made a change, also another question I have large pipes under substrate and in places only around 1-2 cm deep you think this could be a problem might take them out this week and just have substrate ( ADA Amazonia)

Thanks again and appreciate any help



Thanks Dean
 
Hi Dean, I'm really hesitant to suggest anything as there's a lot of UKAPS members who know far more than I do and echo Martin's sentiment about having an expertise in melting plants...

...but I did find it useful doing a really long dry start at the beginning - I could see if the plants were at least growing under unlimited CO2. My light could safely be increased until I could see some growth ( I was really surprised when my plants didn't grow under my old light). It also has the bonus of allowing the plants establish a extensive root system and lots of stores of food to get them through the transition. I think adding loads of 'disposable' plant mass when I could see some melting also helped them along in the early stages. Anyway, it was a good experiment to find out if I had too little light for the species of plant I wanted to grow. I'm looking forward to seeing other, more experienced members suggestions!
 
I think it is the same issues that you have had before... not enough C02!

If the tank has no livestock turn up the gas!

Don't count bubbles or rely on a green drop checker just crank up the gas!!
If you are using 4 bps then try 8.
Your bubble counter might have a small aperture, a different model might only show 2bps when yours shows 6bps.
Get the plants growing, you can adjust the C02 down later on but for the moment just pump in the gas.
 
You can put 100 bubbles and will be still the same, first question, what is your light and which ferts do you use?
 
using 1 aquabar 500 50cm http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/tmc-aquabar-500-freshwater-50cm-p-6848.htmldosing micro one day macro the next and its a basic starter kit from aquarium plant food.
the bps are uncountable went through 2kg FE in a month, but the repens have dropped all leaves and yellowing but loads of micro co2 bubbles and drop checker yellow and ph drops by 1 everyday before lights on :mad: new plants arrived today turned down light to 50% (even purchased 2 f these lights and one still in box) wanted fast growth as I was getting, think maybe the small change I made earlier knocked everything out of wack so hoping grows ok with the 17mm inlet and 13 outlet, will get more pics posted ASAP
 
using 1 aquabar 500 50cm http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/tmc-aquabar-500-freshwater-50cm-p-6848.htmldosing micro one day macro the next and its a basic starter kit from aquarium plant food.
the bps are uncountable went through 2kg FE in a month, but the repens have dropped all leaves and yellowing but loads of micro co2 bubbles and drop checker yellow and ph drops by 1 everyday before lights on :mad: new plants arrived today turned down light to 50% (even purchased 2 f these lights and one still in box) wanted fast growth as I was getting, think maybe the small change I made earlier knocked everything out of wack so hoping grows ok with the 17mm inlet and 13 outlet, will get more pics posted ASAP


Do you know what is the wattage of this light unit ? They are confusing the units in description.

With the ferts I would recommend to buy something proper like Tropica or Vimi, I know many people will say that this is wasting of money but I was struggling for months for dry ferts until I bought Tropica Specialised.


That is definitely not normal to use 2KG of gas in one month.
 
What's your KH? (depending on that we could advise the pH drop you need to get, more important then bps or checker colour)
If a lot of light hits the tank the plants need to have plenty CO2 before that moment already. Light activates reactions in the plant in which the plant needs CO2 to cope with them.
Sudden changes in light makes it harder for the plant to react (sun in the tank one day then not the next day).
Perhaps shielding the sides with some cardboard will lessen the stress on the plants. Get the CO2 up and the light levels constant.
(in nature plants get the same amount of sun every day and they are used to those high levels, sun shinning in a tank in the morning when the sun is low can create havoc, less so in the evening)

2 kg seems a lot, check for leaks!. I use 10 kg in three months, my tank is big though.
 
qumaryzy.jpg




I think there is definitely not enough light, your bar is mounted about 40 cm above the water surface so there is not much light coming to the bottom of the aquarium. Lower the light as much as possible.
 
Is everything on
yqa4ejad.jpg
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timers? Is your checker green at lights on?
 
HI
my 2 cents:
1. too many water changes; I mean, why change 50% daily? there is no reason to do it. It is important at the early stages of the aquarium to let beneficial bacteria grow in order to complete the nittogen cycle.
30% once a week is what I would recommend
2. try to increase light, from the pictures it seems the aquarium is underlit
3. more CO2.

ok, my 3 cents :)
 
Ok well firstly can I say thanks a lot for all your responses , didnt expect it but received me plant order today even though places yesterday at 4 on standard delivery, planted and moved right hand rock after that as flow was bad around the back, anyway start with some pics
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havu4e4u.jpg


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Also check co2 and unable to find leak think just due to high BPS, the light unit is 12w led light unit, and thanks for response edvet I don't have anything to check kh can I purchase a tester ? Also cut some card to size to test it out and going to cover the sides of the tank from natural light ( not much direct sunlight will hit the tank but general daylight does) also put the one light on 100% an dropped light closer to surface( but is the browning etc not due to too much light / lack co2 ) also will do water change every other day as most people recommend and co2 is uncountable maybe 4bps to 6bps seems plenty


Thanks Dean
 
At least Kirk had a nice holiday :).

I can't see what you're doing wrong Dean, must be very frustrating for you mate.

Have you still got your spray bar from the shallow tank? It could be worth giving it a go to make sure you're getting a nice circular flow. I think using one aquabar at that height you can afford to whack the power up a bit if you're not suffering from algae.
 
Hi dean
I'd try the light at 50% power 4-6" above the water line
Did you say the problem got worse when you closed the curtains? Or did you mean the plants were thinning so you were going to try closing the curtains?
I've got 30w tmc leds over the cube, there running at 25% 4" above the tank and my monte carlo is just starting to recover. I have some S. repens in my other tank and it seems to to be taking forever to make the transition from emersed, so a bit of patients might be needed.
Your dosing twice as many ferts into the same size tank as mine so i don't think thats your problem.
If you using the new up inline and an uncountable bps in that tank your injecting enough co2, which only really leaves flow. Maybe try run the inline on your outlet so you can see if theres any dead/slow spots
 
Whats the characteristic of your tap water?

This is in relation to my next question...,

What substrate you using? If it has a high CEC then its likely robbing the fert out of the water column until it reaches a saturation point, also did you use a nutrient rich layer? You look as though you have something similar to me, like a dried out clay. If you have hard water and a high CEC substrate then i'm hedging my bets that is your drama and its a question of time before your substrate has matured.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This problem will be exacerbated by the high co2 and high light.
 
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HI andy it is on my outlet and bubbles all over the tank, I have turned it up to 100% today as it was at first when was doing well and its about 30cm above tank at the moment, will do ph readings tomorrow morning and get back to you, as for the lights not sure what is best height or power as so many people say different things lol

also since planted you think should do 50% water changes for a week ?

hi Richard using ada Amazonia and think I have hard tap water as leaves white line around tank very quickly but never made any measuements
 
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Sometimes the white line is dried biofilm not limescale.
Do 2 x 30-50% / week water changes in the first month then 50%/week.
Aim for a lime green drop checker at the beginning of the photo-period, for example I need to start adding CO2 3.5h before lights to achieve that.
Place the drop checker right below the outflow, there should be the lowest amount of CO2 according to your configuration.
Do the 4 PH readings one before you start adding the CO2, one at lights on, one in the middle of the photo-period and one at the end.
20ml micro/macro daily is kinda hardcore, I mean waste, how much ppm do they add?

Cheers,
Mike
 
Sometimes the white line is dried biofilm not limescale.
Do 2 x 30-50% / week water changes in the first month then 50%/week.
Aim for a lime green drop checker at the beginning of the photo-period, for example I need to start adding CO2 3.5h before lights to achieve that.
Place the drop checker right below the outflow, there should be the lowest amount of CO2 according to your configuration.
Do the 4 PH readings one before you start adding the CO2, one at lights on, one in the middle of the photo-period and one at the end.
20ml micro/macro daily is kinda hardcore, I mean waste, how much ppm do they add?

Cheers,
Mike

hi mike, done a 50% this morning and will do every day or every other for week one then twice a eek there after, have placed the drop checker under my outlet and will let you know how the colour changes usually lime green/yellow at lights on also measuring PH today, also nt sure how much ppm they add but I will drop back to 10-15ml daily instead

still unsure on the best light intensity is it better to be lower to start ? its around 15cm from surface but have dimmers to change intensity you think 50%-75% or 100%

cheers dean
 
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