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Setting up high tech tank?

5678

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27 May 2015
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South Oxfordshire
This weekend I'm planning on installing my co2 system and led lighting.

The tank is a 45l cube.
Jbl e701
Co2art system with inline diffuser
TMC mini 500
TMC controller

I think I understand the principles of what I am aiming for, but would like some advice and confirmation.

I understand the aim is for the drop checker to be green at lights on.
I am expecting to start with 1 bubble/s an hour before lights on and then adjust up or down based on the drop checker at lights on. Correct?
For the time it turns off, I guess I want it back to blue at lights off? Planning to turn it off an hour before lights off.

Now lighting... Currently I only light the tank for 5 hours, I'd like a longer period if possible.
What is the best way to work out the balance between light intensity (as set on the controller) and duration?
Is it essentially a compromise between them? Eg 1 hour at 100% or 10 hours at 10%? (Not those values, but you see what I mean?)

What would be a good starting point for light intensity and duration? And what's the best logic to use when optimising it?
 
1 point pH drop by lights on, this usally means a lime green DC by lights on but not always. 1 BPS is a good start, but you should always keep an eye on your fish every half an hour or so throughout the day just to check how they are doing.

If it's blue by lights off, something is very wrong. You want it to be at least the same shade of green (or lighter/yellow) 1 hour before lights off.

I have a TMC mini 400 which uses the same LED's as the 500 (500 has blue LED's meant for marine, but should work with plants too). Mine are at 20%, I'd suggest you start here too.

With regards to photoperiod, again 5 hours is fine. It can be increased, but only once you're confident you can maintain CO2 levels for a longer duration without the pH dropping further. I have to limit my lighting to 6 hours, any longer than this and my pH drops to toxic levels. I could counter this by increasing my surface agitation, but it would make my tank look like a water fountain.

Tiny adjustments are the key here. Whenever I adjust my lights, I do it by 2% every week until I start to see algae, then drop it back by 6%. The needle valve on the CO2 you can adjust daily, but I'd recommend you only do it on days when you can keep an eye on the tank.

If your fish start to look like their in trouble; sluggish movement, breathing at the surface, floating upside down etc. Turn off the CO2 and do a water change, or put them in a bucket of water that's around the around the same temperature.

It's easier to add fish once it's all grown in, then you don't have to worry about killing the fish with too much CO2.
 
Thanks.

So, my ph is high naturally at 7.8/7.9 so with a drop of 1 I should still be fine.

If I've understood then Light duration is dictated by my ability to hold the co2 rate without gassing the fish or dropping the ph too far?

Starting at 20% for 6 hours with co2 at 1bps and on one hour before lights and off one hour before lights off sounds a good place then?
 
Just my pennies worth I have a similar ph and I would suggest starting two hours before. I have to have around 8 bps to get my ph down by lights which is two hours after the CO2 comes on! However my tank is about 65l so it might be different. See how you go!


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Thanks.

So, my ph is high naturally at 7.8/7.9 so with a drop of 1 I should still be fine.

If I've understood then Light duration is dictated by my ability to hold the co2 rate without gassing the fish or dropping the ph too far?

Starting at 20% for 6 hours with co2 at 1bps and on one hour before lights and off one hour before lights off sounds a good place then?

You might have to turn CO2 on 2 hours before lights on to get the 1 point pH drop, 3 hours before at the most.

You have understood the CO2/light duration part.

Sounds like a good plan. Last thing to worry about is flow/co2 distribution. Spray bar mounted at the back pointing horizontally to the front panel, about half an inch below the water level is the most efficient configuration. The jets of water should reach the front of the glass, you can remove filter media and cut your pipes as short as possible to help with this. Lilly pipes dont work in big tanks in my opinion, but it depends on what plants you're trying to grow.
 
Thanks again.

Spray bar is mounted as you suggest already. I'm going to trim the pipe work down as I fit everything else. Flow doesn't seem to be an issue though, even with quite a lot of media in there.
 
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