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I bet you are all bored of these!!

RossMartin

RossMartin

Member
Joined
2 Nov 2007
Messages
358
Location
Hemel Hempstead
Hi All,

I’ve been on this forum for ages but never really had the time to setup my tanks and run it. Fortunately I now have the time but I am experiencing some problems with what I believe to be C02. I’ve read a lot of posts and believe I have tried most things but I am prepared to accept I have missed something obvious! The tank sounds like a fizzy drink at the moment due to the amount of CO2 that is going in. I think I am dissolving enough as the PH can drop by up to 1.5.

I have had the same issues using RO water as well! So I do believe the issue is CO2 as I think that what the plants are telling me but I do not know the best way to improve it!

During the first week there was no growth and a couple of leaves on the Repens looked a little yellow, so I increased the intensity to 20% for the second week.

I have now turned this down to 10% and in fact the last five days I have had no lights on at all to give the plants a break….they seem to look better and I will post a pic of the them tomorrow!


The tank:

TMC Signature 60 x 45 x 30 Optiwhite
TMC Signature Stand in Gloss White

Substrate:

Tropica Plant Growth Substrate topped with Tana Sand


Lighting:

1 x TMC Aquaray Grobeam 1500ND
1 x TMC 2 Channel Aquaray Controller

The Lighting comes on at 16:00 with a 30 minutes ramp. The lights go off at 21:00 with a 30 minute ramp. The light Intensity is 20%.


Filtration:

1 x JBL e1501 External Filter

All media removed and I have added some Pot scrubbers as media. I have five in each of the three trays and I have added Purigen in the top tray.

The JBL spray bar goes across the back of the tank. About an inch down from the top of the tank. The flow reaches the front pane of glass.

I clean the filter out each Sunday when I do my water change. I also clean the pipes.



Circulation:

1 x Hydor Pico Evo-Mag 1200

This sit beneath the spray bar in the middle of the tank facing towards the front glass. The gravel at the front of the glass has been moved a bit by the flow!

CO2:

1 x 2kg CO2 Fire Extinguisher with a Dual Stage CO2Art regulator
1 x Up Inline Atomizer on the Filter Outlet

C02 comes on at 13:00 and off at 20:00 this is three hours before the lights come on and turns off an hour before the lights go off.

Fertilisers:

Currently running EI using the starter pack from Aquarium Plant Food. I dose 20ml of the Macro mix on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 20ml of the Micro mix on Tuesday Thursday and Saturday


Schedule:

CO2 On/Off 13:00/20:00
Lights on/Off 16:00/21:00 @ 10% intensity
CO2 approx 10-12bps
Dosing EI Mon-Sat
I have been adding 5ml of Easy Carbo per day
50% daily water changes

PH Readings:

Lights at 10% on at 16:00, 30 min ramp. Off at 20:00 30 ramp

13:00 - 7.9 (C02 on)
14:00 - 7.2
15:00 - 7.0
16:00 - 6.9 (Lights on)
17:00 - 6.9
18:00 - 6.9
19:00 - 6.9
20:00 - 6.9 (CO2 Off)
21:00 - 7.3 (Lights Off)



Water Readings from water report:

Calcium 139mg/l
Total Hardness: 348 mg/l
Degrees English (or Clarke): 24
Degreed German: 19
Degrees French: 35

Plants successfully killed!:

Staurogyne Repens
Eleocharis Parvula mini
HC
Blyxa Japonica
Postegomon Helferi
XMAS Moss
Weeping Moss


These were the plants on Sunday:

IMG_0570.jpg


IMG_0578.jpg


IMG_0577.jpg


IMG_0575.jpg


The DC at Lights on:
IMG_0572.jpg


Unfortunately the Blyxa died so has been removed! The Weeping moss and Christmas moss have not grown. I seem to have a nack of killing plants.

To top it all of i have been attempting a planet tank on and off for five years, and i have never put a fish in the tank!!

Any help of advice would be great!!!

Kind Regards

Ross
 
I see some BGA which would indicate a bad flow or/and low KNO4...lots of scum meaning bacteria or/and rotting plant material.
It's a bit try and error sometimes and I don't have an answer what to do, the only thing I can think of is to get more surface agitation and ...dare I say it?....more light
 
Hi Ross,
Sorry to see you struggling with this. It's frustrating, I know. Thanks for including all the information. It appears you are doing everything right except for the lighting. The LEDs are more powerful than we would imagine so it's really better if you keep the intensity down to about 10% or less and do not ramp them up. Turning the lights off for a few days is the best thing you have done. As explained many times, the transition of the plants to a flooded life is the most traumatic. Do frequent water changes and be sure to pull the water level down to almost substrate level. Then just wait and have patience for a few weeks.

Cheers,
 
Thanks for the replies Martin and Ceg,

I have done a full water change and will continue doing them for the foreseeable each day. I have changed the lighting settings and removed the ramp up and down and changed the intensity to 5%.

I haven't got may plants in the tank, would it be worth getting some more now whilst the CO2 is high and the light intensity is low? I imagine any new plants i put in further down the line would appreciate the new settings....or should i wait until these ones have settled?
 
NattyAntlers said:
Sorry to butt in, I use the ramp up/down option on my mini 400's, purely for the fishes benefit I hope.
Should I stop using this feature?
Click to expand...
Hi,
I'd say that if you are not having any problems with plant health then there's no need to change. The OP has a specific problem with excessive lighting at this time, so using a lower intensity and not increasing the value above a certain value is a way to solve that specific problem. That approach is not meant to be a universally applied solution for every situation. When there is algae in the tank and when the plants are dying, control of PAR is critical to resolving the difficulties. After the plants have made adjustments and are capable of dealing with the light intensity it can then be increased in order to accelerate growth rates.


RossMartin said:
I haven't got may plants in the tank, would it be worth getting some more now whilst the CO2 is high and the light intensity is low? I imagine any new plants i put in further down the line would appreciate the new settings....or should i wait until these ones have settled?
Click to expand...
Yes it's always worth getting more plants unless you are not able to keep them alive. First see if the new settings stops the problems with the plants that are currently in the tank. new plants can also be floated for a few weeks to help them transition. This doesn't look pretty but it keeps them alive and it helps them to get accustomed to being flooded.

Cheers,
 
Yeah i have but will do another check tomorrow. I can reduce the time it takes by pointing the spraybar down into the tank, however i have read threads where it says i should keep it pointing straight out to allow gravity to do the work.For example if i point the spraybar down i can do this:

13:00 - 7.9 (C02 On)
14:00 -6.9
15:00 -6.7
16:00 -6.6 (Lights On)
17:00 -6.5
18:00 -6.5
19:00 -6.6
20:00 -6.7 (C02 Off)
21:00 -6.8 (Lights Off)

That is only dropping it down a little but i read that surface agitation was required and i loose a lot if i do it.
 
Last edited:
With a 1.3 drop in pH (6.9 to 5.6), I had Amano shrimps jumping out of the tank and the fish not too happy either!

So rather than increase CO2 injection, reduce the lighting!

P
 
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