HC going brown

[dkm]

Hi,

Looking for some advice.

Planted and filled my tank last friday (at last!). Decided to do it all in one go. I have planted in total 74 tropica plants (35 HC, 24 V. Nana & 15 E. Parvula).

Since then I have been doing 50% water changes every other day. But there has appeared a few patches of what I describe browny looking HC. Not much but some. Rest is very green and bright. Is this due to being a new tank or is something amiss?

Ammonia shows very low, A bit of Nitrite and a bit of Nitrate is present in my tank.

Some other info for you:

Tank Volume: 400L
Dosing: 7ml of TPN and 3ml of TPN+ daily.
KH: 30ppm
Ph: 6.5 (controlled on a Ph controller)
Temp: 26 degrees
Drop checker shows darkish green (may be a tad low)
Water circulation very good 12X
Aquamedic CO2 reactor with no bubbles entering the aquarium (?therefore not loosing any CO2)
ADA Aquasoil with ADA Power Sand Special.

I know this makes (in theory) the CO2 levels low (approx. 16.1ppm) But was told to up the CO2 slowly.

So as already stated is it just a bit of dye off due to being new or do I need to increase my CO2 more by lowering the PH on the controller or adjust my fertiliser (if so which way)?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Dave

 

[dkm]

PS:

Got a bit of Green water. UV going in tonight to clear it up.

Dave

 

[Stu Worrall]

depending on where you bought the HC it may have been grown emmersed so will be converting itself to growing underwater. this has happened on mine a few times. Id also bump your co2 up via the controller if you think its a bit low on the drop checker.

Have you got this up on a journal by the way, any pics EDIT, just found your jounal

 

[dkm]

Thanks for the reply,

Was thinking of increasing the co2 by decreasing the Ph to 6.4 and see how that goes for a day. At 6.4 the Co2 in theory should be approx 20ppm and if the drop checker indicates it lower it again in 24hrs. Say to 6.3 to get a theoretical CO2 of approx 25.5ppm!
Taking alot of care over this one since I have quite a bit of ADA Seiryu Stone in there. IIRC seiryu stone can affect the hardness of the water but should balance out due to using ADA Aquasoil! Correct me if I am wrong. Dont want my controller to keep pumping in CO2 when not needed. Thats why I have a drop checker as well as the Ph probe. Belt and braces etc.

I bought the plants from Tropica. My local fish shop got me them and I picked them up as soon as they arrived so were still in the box from tropica. As far as I am aware Tropica grow HC emmersed so you may be right on that one. Cheers.

Will be starting a proper journal this week some time. Spending most of my time doing water changes, testing water etc etc etc. But will get round to it.


Again thanks for the advice.

Dave

 

[Stu Worrall]

i think recommended co2 concentration on threads here is 30ppm but thats when running without a ph controller. personally mines in the bottom of a box as I just use the drop checker now. think youre correct about the seiryu and hardness

 

[dkm]

Will wait on some more advice on that one (re target co2). Thanks again for the advice.

Dave

 

[jonnyjr]

30ppm is the norm to aim for co2 concentration. this may be of some help to u. http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/co2.htm

 

[Dave Spencer]

If there are no fish in the tank yet, then why not just whack the CO2 right up and maximize plant growth and health?

No offence, but pussy footing around with the pH controller for a .2 change won`t give you a quick turn around in plant health. The controller is measuring the pH of the water as affected by all the factors altering it, not just CO2, so it is not a particularly accurate way of measuring the CO2 levels in the water. If the drop checker is full of 4dKH, and showing a dark green colour, you probably have too little CO2. When I start a new tank I have the CO2 way beyond yellow, backed up with lots of ferts, but held back a bit at first with photoperiod duration. This method helps to maximize plant growth and keep algae suppressed.

What lighting do you have, as a matter of interest?

Dave.

 

[dkm]

Ok,

So whack up co2. Will do.

Increase fertiliser. Will do.

Cheers

New to this planted aquarium hobby. Come from a marine background where things are done very slowly. So all advice appreciated.

By the way a ph controller is not a particular accurate way of measuring co2. Cannot the same be said for a drop checker. AFAIK a drop checker also really just measures ph! With either method you have to take other things into account including observing how the plants are doing. Again correct me if I am wrong.

My photo period is only six hours at present.

My lighting is LED. Suppose to be equivalent to 300w! On measuring (i have a friend with a PAR meter) it seems to be same as approx 180w. So WPG is approx 2WPG.

Will take a look at that link you supplied jonnyjr.

Cheers guys for the advice.

Dave

 

[Dave Spencer]

By the way a ph controller is not a particular accurate way of measuring co2. Cannot the same be said for a drop checker. AFAIK a drop checker also really just measures ph!

Drop checkers aren`t particularly accurate, that it is true. It is still down to interpreting a colour and using a hobby grade pH indicator, but they are useful as a general guide, albeit with a very slow reaction time. They are, however, better than pH controllers because they are only affected by CO2 dissipating across the air gap of the drop checker, whereas a pH controller is affected by other acidic compounds in the water such as phosphates and nitrates.

With either method you have to take other things into account including observing how the plants are doing. Again correct me if I am wrong.

Nothing beats observing plant health, algal blooms and our fish to tell us where to go with our CO2.

My lighting is LED. Suppose to be equivalent to 300w! On measuring (i have a friend with a PAR meter) it seems to be same as approx 180w. So WPG is approx 2WPG.

Having the opportunity to check your tank out with a PAR meter is pretty cool, and something I would like to have a stab at.

Dave.

 

[dkm]

Ah I see about drop checkers being better than ph controller now.That makes sense.Cheers

Yes the PAR meter is great fun. But you end up constantly fiddling with the lights to get it how you want. Not a bad thing but a few hours pass without notice.

Dave