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Celestial Glade - 125Ltr Low Light, Low Maintenance

Zig gave me the link from ebay. I got 2 including postage for under a tenner!!!. You can either use them as the outflow and put them in the tank (there is a 'strainer' fitting which you see on the adverts.) or fit them inline like Zig (and now I) have it.

The water goes through the unit where the ceramic part in the middle IS the hose. The part around the ceramic tube fills up with water when there is no CO2 and then as the gas comes in you can see the water slowly diminish. Then you have water within the tube and gas on the outer.

I got it/them from here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=002

If you are a 'penny pincher' then you can search worldwide and then buy the ones they advertise in Australian or Us etc and choose the cheapest due to the exchange rate.

AC
 
I got a couple of those diffusers after seeing Zig use them too, but at 3bps I'm not getting great results... the bubbles seem to gather at the top of the terrible Tetratec Ex700 boxy U pipes, then in the top of the spraybar, before getting pushed out in one go. I'm really starting to think my choice of filters was a bad one.

Using them on the inlet isn't great either - with no media other than 2 trays of sintered glass, the EX700's still seem to hold co2 for too long, again before dumping as much as possible out in one go :(



Looking good Andy, keep us informed on how you get on with them :)
 
Looking good Andy :) Shame you've decided to get rid of the Crypts, but also good as I've bought them :D

Quick question about the diffuser - Is it designed for 12mm or 16mm hose? I'm assuming 12?

Edit: I've just re-read your first post - EX700, ergo 12mm :) Perfect. I've just mailed the seller to find out combined shipping on 4 of them! I have 2 tanks I could use them on and you and zig seem to like them! Better than the current nasty green cheap external I've got at the moment :)
 
Important note is that it is an external diffuser not a reactor, therefore bubbles come out of the spraybar/lily.outlet pipe. Seems to work very well and I have always been keen to keep the bubbles rather than using a reactor to dissolve the CO2.

It has hosetails similar to the Vecton sterilisers so I assume it will fit both 12 and 16 but I haven't measured it. Unlike the Vectons they are hard plastic so would need a saw to cut them for larger filters (so as not to restrict the flow.) Jubilee clips could be used but as yet I haven't.

You know me and patience. They don't go together too well and the more I looked at it the more I felt the Crypts were blocking out too much light and I also though the Fern would look good in that corner.

I have done 2 x 50% water changes and the water is still cloudy but will settle eventually. I have planted 3 pots of Pogostemon Helferi in the empty space on the right so I now have a triangular shaped plant 'horizon' with a pogostemon 'grassland' to the right rear. Should look good (I hope.)

Posted the crypts this morning. I know on the pics I put the ruler but I think you will be surprised at the size of your purchase there. Hope you have a large and tall tank for them. lol

AC
 
JAmesM said:
at 3bps I'm not getting great results... the bubbles seem to gather at the top of the terrible Tetratec Ex700 boxy U pipes, then in the top of the spraybar, before getting pushed out in one go. I'm really starting to think my choice of filters was a bad one.
Using them on the inlet isn't great either - with no media other than 2 trays of sintered glass, the EX700's still seem to hold co2 for too long, again before dumping as much as possible out in one go :(

I am running 3bps, same filter, same pipes but I have full media in. Working great for me!!!! Most spray bars will hold gas in them, normally air because some ends up getting pushed to the end. If you look at it with no CO2 'inline' there is still some air gets trapped in there. Not a problem because most of the bubbles come out of the spraybar holes on the way to the end and the small amount that makes it to the end is in contact with the water so some will still diffuse there.

I think they're great filters at a great price personally. Now I have the original pipes back on it, the flow seems to be superb again. Pity because I like the look of the glass in/outs but in the end practicality had to take priority over aesthetics. At least the pipes are clear and not awful green like some other brands that owners won't hear a bad word said about.

AC
 
SuperColey1 said:
JAmesM said:
at 3bps I'm not getting great results... the bubbles seem to gather at the top of the terrible Tetratec Ex700 boxy U pipes, then in the top of the spraybar, before getting pushed out in one go. I'm really starting to think my choice of filters was a bad one.
Using them on the inlet isn't great either - with no media other than 2 trays of sintered glass, the EX700's still seem to hold co2 for too long, again before dumping as much as possible out in one go :(

I am running 3bps, same filter, same pipes but I have full media in. Working great for me!!!! Most spray bars will hold gas in them, normally air because some ends up getting pushed to the end. If you look at it with no CO2 'inline' there is still some air gets trapped in there. Not a problem because most of the bubbles come out of the spraybar holes on the way to the end and the small amount that makes it to the end is in contact with the water so some will still diffuse there.

I think they're great filters at a great price personally. Now I have the original pipes back on it, the flow seems to be superb again. Pity because I like the look of the glass in/outs but in the end practicality had to take priority over aesthetics. At least the pipes are clear and not awful green like some other brands that owners won't hear a bad word said about.

AC
Well I'm going to live with it for a week or so, but my drop checkers aren't quite green enough for my liking with this method.

By far the best way of getting co2 around my tank seems to be with a powerhead positioned just above the diffuser. The ultra fine bubbles stay suspended in the water much longer, and when shut down before lights out, everything starts pearling like crazy. I've yet to see any pearling with the boyu diffuser in place :(
 
I have a powerhead to the right of the spraybar. maybe that is helping. I am at grass green these days. Not so keen on lime/yellow.

AC
 
A quick update.

I removed the balansae and Spiralis from the left of the tank (SteveUK got this) and then put the Philippine Java in its place. I now have a triangle (or at least will have once the fern fills out a little more.)

I then planted 2 pots of Tropica Pogostomen Helferi where the Java was. As normal I have it differently to others. lol. I have a 'carpet' behind the front part of the scape an with the positioning of the tank in an alchove of mmy room it is quite hard to get a decent view from teh right where it is (I had a go and it is below.)

So onto some pics:

Full tank shot from the front:
fulltankfront.jpg


From the left:
artyleft-3.jpg


From the right:
right-1.jpg


And the Helferi:
helf.jpg


AC
 
I seem to be able to grow anything really long. lol Some of those needle fern leaves are a foot long!!!

AC
 
Not one to leave things alone I am already pondering a couple of more changes in the equipment.

The spraybar is working so well that I am thinking of removing the powerhead (going back down to 5.6x!!!!.)

I'm also thinking of moving the filter intake to the open space to make sure it can pull water in from all directions as the water is not as clear since I moved it to the behind the Java where it is a little enclosed by the plants and maybe some of the particles aren't finding their way into the filter.

The final change I thinking of is returning to the glass diffusor. The inline works well but I have had to extend the hose due to the space in my cabinet and also the bubble rate is much higher to maintain gren in the DC which defeats the object really. Pity because the bubbles come out very small from it. I will keep the inline diffusors though in case of breakage.

AC
 
A big problem I have been having with my huge plantmass is the continual changing of the flow with growth.

I like the Boyu inline diffusors that I bought after seeing Zig use them but they don't work very well with my current setup.

Problem being that with them being inline you need to have your filter outlet pushing the flow into the tank whereas I have always had my filter outlet pointing toward the surface creating turbulence. That means that with the CO2 being inline a lot is lost at the surface which then meant I had to up the injection rate to 4bps just to get to grass green. I may use these in the future if I use a suitable outlet.



Started the week with powerhead and glass outlet next to each other right rear) with the inline diffusor. Wasn't working great and I also started pondering the smaller diameter of the glassware restricting the flow of the filter. Glass inlet was front right.

I then moved to the original inlet and spraybar which improved the flow BUT more CO2 was lost using the spraybar. The powerhead was also pushing the spraybar flow further upward. (spraybar right rear to centre rear, inlet rear left)

I then took out the inline diffuser and tried positioning the Rhinox 2k diffuser under the spraybar which didn't work very well. Tried it without the powerhead and still not working great. The water was getting cloudy at this stage so I moved the inlet from the rear left where it was enclosed by the Java Fern to the rear right where it was in 'clear' water. Cloudiness disppeared within 24 hours.

Then I tried the diffuser under the inlet strainer (again without the powerhead) but again came to the conclusion as with the inline diffusor that the spraybar just doesn't work with the CO2 coming through it diffusion wise. pipework still in the same position as last change.

Finally went back to using the powerhead a little further down from the surface with the diffusor under it and I am back down to 2bps and everything seems to be rosy.

So I now have the filter inlet in the right rear corner with the spraybar going from the right rear to centre rear. Then the powerhead is on the right side pointing left with the diffusor below it.

Problem I now have is some staghorn and BBA on some of the leaves which I have been immune from for quite a while. Hopefully that will now clear up.

AC
 
I'm still on the never ending hunt for 30ppm alongside large plantmass and not any great success so far but I think I am getting there. Since the plants filled and filled more the DC has gone from lime - grass and these days hovers around the murky greeny blue area.

I wondered if my Ph kit was out of date and meaning the DC colour was off so I checked the Ph with some TetraStrips and it said 6.8. I checked with the AP liquid kit and it said 6.8. With my tap water reading 7.2 I have to assume that I am not injecting enough so bps out of the window (its going too fast to count!!!!) Never seemed to have these problems when I ran 24/7 rather than solenoid but I shall persist. lol

I have ditched the aesthetics. The Lily pipe and glass inlet are out. the glass diffusor is out. Lots of plastic is in and bubbles galore disturbing the view (which I don't really mind that much)

this is the setup I have settled on at the moment. This is the 8th combination I have tried this week. The powerhead is at the rear and runs into an old Fluval Internal filter spraybar pointing to the front. Just in front of the powerhead is the filter intake. At the front corner is the connection for the Tetratec spraybar with the spraybar removed. In the spraybars place I have put the powerhead outlet extension and deflector (trying to imitate Zig's ADA jetpipe setup a little here. lol.) The Boyu inline diffuser is back in place.
equip.jpg


This means the filter flow and CO2 bubbles blast out of the outlet which is angled downward slightly by the deflector. Then the bubbles get pushed downward in all directions by the spraybar. Any bubbles that try to get back to the surface are pushed back down again. In theory this should work really well as I can see bubbles everywhere (the preverbial lemonade tank at the mo.)

This is the DIY jetpipe setup:
spout.jpg


And a few pics of the bubbles:
bub1.jpg

bub2.jpg


Fingers crossed on this one. lol

Other thing is I have removed the 'test' Macrandra from the front as it was geting bent in two from the flow at the front. There are still stems at the back as you can see (one of at least) in this pic:
tank-2.jpg


Finally a couple of pics I managed to take of one of the Zebra Microrasboras:
zeb1-1.jpg

zeb2-1.jpg


AC
 
This tank is starting to look great, really liking the jungle feel, the fish, plants, everything. I've always been a huge fan of jungle scapes.

I like how it's taking the triangular shape, although it needs more time for the taller plants to take hold. One thing though - I think the large clump of Anubias to the right looks really out of place and spoils the triangular formation a bit.
 
Interesting arrangement Andy, you will get there ;)

PS. a few carefully placed stalks of branch like driftwood would look good protruding out from all that long leave fern, could look sexy baby 8) :D
 
if you ever want to get rid of any anubias, im your man.
how come you need that much flow around the tank?
i get that the nutrients and co2 need to spread out, but is it that important?
surely if the nutrients are there it will eventually spread out?
 
I think if you ask that question in filtration then you may get someone reply with a clearer explanation than I can give.

My explanation would be if the flow is not enough then the plants in the early part of the flow will get the CO2 but the plants toward the end will not because the gas will exit the water. Similarly in a low flow tank the CO2 won't be forced into the plants at the bottom.

Nutrients are the opposite. With low flow they sink and settle on the substrate. What you want here is to keep the particles in suspension for as long as possible to spread them out everywhere.

The filter won't spread things out. If you look at your substrate the flow doesn't leave detritus spread out. It will push it all into one area. What we are trying to do is keep everything in the water column for as long as possible rather than it get stuck anywhere. (This is what I find anyway)

AC
 
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