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A brief video of my setup, maybe you can help!

Jaap

Jaap

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2011
Messages
1,068
Location
Nicosia
Hello,

This is a video of my setup. Below you can find all the details.


Tank - 40L now running for 3.5 months. There is a lid on top to prevent fish from jumping out.
CO2 - Pressurized, inline difusser into the the inlet of the filter
Filter - Fluval 305 1000 L/h
Light - TMC Grobeam 600 35cm from substrate at 90% intensity
Substrate - JBL Manado
Temperature - 23 degrees Celsius
Dosing regime - EI, double dosing to ensure no missing nutrients
kH - 9
pH profile - 12:00 - pH 7.94 - CO2 ON
13:00 - pH 6.99
14:00 - pH 6.80 - Lights ON
15:00 - pH 6.73
16:00 - pH 6.71
17:00 - pH 6.71
18:00 - pH 6.71
19:00 - pH 6.71
20:00 - pH 6.71
21:00 - pH 6.71 - CO2 OFF
22:00 - pH 6.88 - Lights OFF


Today I have checked for leaks in my entire CO2 system and found none so all of that CO2 I presume goes into the tank, hence the 1.2 drop in pH.

I have BBA due to the fact that I have decreased CO2 twice when I added the fish but now its stable as seen from the pH profile.

My growth is minimal and the plants look leggy and unhealthy.

I keep complaining on this forum and people will get tired of me but I will not stop until I get this right :) The only observation I can make is that compared to other tanks that I have seen, my tank looks dim. Even though people say a TMC Grobeam 600 is a powerful light, I still don't see the tank as brightly lit.

Considering all of the above. What would you suggest? I have followed any advice I got on this forum so your time is not wasted here!

Thanks
 
Looking much better !
I wouldnt say it was the lighting thats the issue. My 50l cube has a grand total of 5watts of led lighting over it made up of standard 5mm leds.
Have you trimmed the stems at all? Trimming them is how you get the to bush out :)
 
I have found that when compared to the Mini400 and 1500Ultima the intensity of 600Ultima output is a lot less. The appearance of the light in the tank is very flat compared to the tiles. My Mini400 ran at 22% when it was over the tank on the shelf, but when I replaced it for the 600 I had to adjust the channel intensity up from 22% to 27% to get near the same apparent brightness as the tile. Below is a picture showing all the lights on the same channel at 15%, the 600 output appears a lot less than the others.

15207046314_74dafd87fc_k.jpg

:)
 
Hi Jaap

it's great to see finally a video of your setup :) IMO flow is ok, the filter seems enough for this tank, the ph profile looks also ok, I imagine you have tried massive WCs as usually adviced and you are also aware of the importance tank husbandry... I agree that your tank looks a bit in the shade. Maybe some people disagree but if I were you I will try to add light slowly until you can see better plant growth (Limnophila sessiliflora looks really leggy). EI double dosing is not necessary at all.
I would also brush the BBA of the wood (even brush it in a WC with Excel) and I'd introduce more plants (at least to see from above up to 80% of the tank surface covered)

Jordi
 
Hi Jaap,

Limnophila sessiflora grew like that for me when I tried it once. This hobby is frustrating and hard! Sometimes I really think I should just try some of those homeopathic ADA substrate additives!

P
 
I think its the light...I believe its not enough...anyone else sees something wrong with the setup?
 
It might be worth getting an internal drop checker and checking the CO2 levels in those bottom reaches of the tank, just to rule that out. Something is not reaching those lowest plants - could be the light, could be the CO2.
I hope somebody's advice here helps you crack this :)
 
Ben C said:
It might be worth getting an internal drop checker and checking the CO2 levels in those bottom reaches of the tank, just to rule that out. Something is not reaching those lowest plants - could be the light, could be the CO2.
I hope somebody's advice here helps you crack this :)
Click to expand...
Done that already :) DC is yellow in every corner and every possible position in the tank...
 
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