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I like the idea of the filter floss. All in all the tank looks good until I get my hands in it and then everything kicks up. The flow rate is really high from the canister filter for a 30 gallon tank so it takes a little while for it to settle. It just seems like it is dirtier than it...

I am struggling with what seems to be a lot of particles of some sort in the tank. They settle on the plants and then they do not look as good. I was originally doing water changes once a week, maybe 33% each time. I have bumped that up to twice a week, about 50% each time. That seems to...

Well, it has been quite a while since I posted here, I miss this place and drooling over all of your photos! I have a 30 gallon tank that I set up at work. I am using a CO2 tank and I have a canister filter in the tank which turns the tank over probably well more than 10 times per hour. I am...

Bummer. I do have an extra canister filter as I have 2 running on the 125 gallon tank which is not planted. I doubt I really need 2 canister filters for that tank since it is not planted. From there I would just connect the diffuser to the outlet pipe like I use to and just move that canister...

I have a 125 gallon tank that I gave up on 6 months ago with planted tanks. BBA ruled my life despite buying extra canister filters, powerheads, pumping up the CO2, etc. That's old news though... I have a 30 gallon tank at work that I would like to try my luck with planting. What I do not...

I am playing with the idea of rearranging my 125 gallon tank. Because I have some big fish in there (4 balas, 1 13" ghost knife fish & 5 rope fish (the rest are small like tetras)), I have stuck to plants with big roots because smaller plants with not much of a root system can be easily...

Should I have a backflow preventer from the bubble counter to the diffuser?

Does it mean anything when it needs topped off so early? Like I mentioned though, once the CO2 turns off, it slowly fills back up. By the end of the day the water level will be too low to read again.

Is there a reason my bubble counter would have more water in it when it is off or early in the day and then the water level drops throughout the day to the point where I cannot see how many bubbles per second are coming out? Thanks!

Just for kicks... Has anyone ever used any of their ferts for a plant NOT in an aquarium. Like putting them in the soils?

Well that's a bummer... It is still a pretty green :lol:

OK, I just used filtered tap water and made the 4dkH water. I put the drop checker in about 4 hours ago. The water is a very nice green. However, this is after I raised the CO2 4 days ago or so from about 3 dps to 5dps so I have really raised it a lot compared to what is was. I wonder if...

What is RO water? If I filter the water coming out of the tap will that do the trick?

I do have yellow tips on the plants. Should I up the dosage of PMDD or MKP?

I need to keep up on the water changes, getting into the substrate and maybe look into some snails to help. I also think I need to prune more. My center swords are at the top of the tank. I assume by trimming it will force others to grow and the more growth the less algae? Ugh, algae...

Organic waste build up could be an issue for me. Can bba be caused (or triggered) by that was well? I now have 2 canister filters so I can clean one once per month and the other the following month, and so on. I probably need to be trimming dying leaves faster too. I also have no snails or...

The other should be able to answer that one better for you. :)

I have 1 HUGE tank so the liquid ferts just costs too much overall. If these guys say something will treat you well I would serious consider it. I treat their word like the aqua-scaping bible. This is the only place I have found that will give you consistent answers and great results!

I was very intimidated but those here got me through that. Basically I buy the PMDD and the MKP and that is it. $18.00 worth of goods and $6.00 shipping seems to get me through a year of ferts. I was using JUST flourish and it was costing me more than that and not nearly as comprehensive as...

I was reading a pruning article here last night. I have a lot of swords and I thought I read that if the entire plant is removed from the tank to wash off the base and roots of the plant to get any dead debris off. Do we ever want to do that as part of maintenance or is it just best to leave...

Liquid ferts that you buy or dry ferts that you mix into a liquid? I am not sure what all liquid ferts you can buy, but I was using Flourish. That alone was far more expensive than buying dry ferts and it was not nearly as comprehensive as the dry ferts. I get mine here...

I have found it to be much cheaper than buying Flourish and other ferts already mixed in a bottle. This is also more comprehensive than what I was using and paying a ton for! I think I have spent $24.00 of ferts and it looks like it will last me a year. Here is where I got it all. Shipping...

MKP is Mono Potassium Phosphates PMDD is Poor Man's Dosing Drops which is a mix of just about everything but phosphates. Thanks for the help with the 4dkH water, I will check it out. Any thoughts on the dosing amounts I am using (or should be using) though?

I have been using PMDD and MKP for a few months now ever since I set up a pressurized CO2 tank. I went off of a rough stab from someone on how much to dose, but that was when my plants were very small. Since I started the CO2 and the ferts the plants have exploded in size. I have a lot of...

I see the dosing for the EI above, but what about for PMDD and PO4? I have a 125 gallon tank that is fairly well planted but I am not sure I am dosing enough. Plus I do not know how often to hit it with water changes.

I dosed with hydrogen peroxide 2 days ago and it did not kill off the bba. I even dipped an entire leaf in a bowl of hydrogen peroxide. However, I see I was only using hydrogen peroxide with a 3% concentration (or whatever you call it). Do I need a stronger hydrogen peroxide to kill bba? Thanks!

It is a 10 pound bottle, not sure what kind it is. I am attaching a picture of it if it helps. I also took a very bad picture of the DIY reactor/diffuser (whatever the right name of it is) that came with the CO2 tank. Hopefully these pictures help some.

I will say that I noticed the bba starting again a week ago and I instantly raised the CO2 level at that time. I was checking it frequently but the last 2 days. I think he turned it off within the last two days. I need to solve this CO2 issue, or whatever the underlying issue it, it is...

OK. I dose 25 mL of PMDD and 5 mL of MKP. MKP is mixed at 1 liter of distilled water with 3/4 tsp. Does that answer all of the questions above? Thank you,

When I use Excel I just spot treat while it is under the water, I am doing the same to just a few leaves right now with hydrogen peroxide, but it does not seem to be working just yet. And I whole heartily agree, I need to resolve the issue at hand so it quits coming back. I cannot afford to...

Excel works, trust me, I have had to find out 3 times. I just treat it directly on the plant leaves while under water with a serenge (sp?). I tried Hyrogen Peroxide lats night as I heard it works well too, but no signs of death yet. I hope it works, it is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay cheaper than...

I will have to get back to you on the weights of the ferts. The lights are just nova-extreme 45 watts t-5 (or is it t-8, whichever is more common) and I leave them on for 8 hours per day. CO2 system was bought used, I am not sure what kind it is. Seems like a good one though, big ol 10...

OK, so BBA officially owns my tank. It is back now for the fourth time. It is mostly on the tallest plants which are of course very close to the light. It is a 125 gallon tank with a lot of swords in the tank (See Journal). I do have a CO2 tank running, but I will be honest, I have never...

Yeah, I have heard that about the background. What colors look good? I could probably grab a black foam core piece large enough to slide back there. When I didn't have any plants I just used a huge house rendering that I designed and used it as the background. Now it is probably time to upgrade.

Thanks for 4 the tips. As far as re-scaping, it will be a while before I get a chance to. With our lovely economy I should probably wait a while before I run out and buy more plants. I am also going to wait for some of the bigger fish to pass, and that could be (hopefully) several years...

Well, it was around the end of July 08 when I came in here looking for help. My plants were not growing and I had bba. I was not using any CO2 and I was only dosing with Flourish. I was also only turning the tank over about 4x per hour. I got my butt handed to me about my neglect and I chose...

BBA is my nemesis! I too had to increase flow with powerheads and Excel. Although I did read recently that Hydrogen Peroxide will help with bba (the less concentrated stuff, not the medical grade that burns your skin). Cheaper than Excel (big time!) if you need to blitz it to get back to...

Well, I believe there is medical grade which will burn your skin and then the kind that you pour on open cuts to clean. They are referring to the latter.

Some people at the plantedtank.net as suggesting that you can use hydrogen peroxide to kill bba. Similar to excel, just put it in a serenge (sp???) and squirt it on the plant while it is under water. Have you guys ever heard of that? If it is acceptable then that would be a heck of a lot...

Yeah, I think my water is pretty darn clear now, I will be anxious to see if there is an improvement once I add the filter. :)

Well, if I clean my filter that much I would imagine that the cycle would get broken too often. I clean it all with cycled tank water, but ya never know what can happen. Before I had the tank planted I just cleaned the filter every 5-6 months. With an additional filter I would clean one of...

Well, they sell a good variety of plants and have several nice planted tanks in their store. The other fish stores do not, they just screw you on fish advise. :) Thanks for the confirmation on the filter!

Looks like google ads just sent me enough money to go ahead and grab another filter. I have the Eheim 2217 on the left hand side of a 125 gallon tank. Since I know the filter (and the check doesn't cover the Fluval FX5) I am thinking of grabbing another Eheim 2217 filter and placing it on the...

Thanks. Since I have upgrade my math skillz, I realized that I am only turning the tank over 7 times per hour. I need to raise that some more. I hate dosing with excel, but it does do the trick. I had to do that last time. I should probably do that, get some rosy barbs just in case and...

I have pruned a lot and added a 400 gph power head. That only gets me to 8 turn overs per hour. I have also slightly increased the CO2. Still dosing normal as well. BBA is back and grows a little daily. I was at reputable the fish store today and they told me that rosy barbs will eat bba...

I trimmed some moneywort and replanted the trimmings today. I think I might have planted one upside down. Just for kicks, what happens if I leave it upside down? Could it possible adjust or is it doomed?

I am in the US, but I am in love with the rocks from this Journal. viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2634 Anyone have any luck finding rocks like this in the US? Thanks!

WOW, that is deep stuff, no pun intended. :) Thanks for the info guys! I think I will be giving it a try!

I have seen some set up photos in the journals where people have just a ton of substrate. Usually one side of the tank is built up far higher than the rest. I always figured that too much substrate could be a bad thing but that was just my assumption based on nothing. Is it OK to just throw...

I would love to see some pics too! I like the aquascape you ended up going with, love the rocks and formation.

Holy tank batman!!! That thing is a monster, but I love it! I have a 125 gallon and that is tough enough to maintain.

I am thinking of setting up a 30 gallon low tank setup. I have plenty of SMS substrate and PMDD and Phosphates to dose with. I want to avoid the use of CO2 for this tank (money reasons more than anything). Has anyone has any great luck with tanks about that size that are low tech? How...

I have a 6' long tank with 3 glass tops across it. It makes the tank much harder to clean since I have to move 2 sets of lights to move the glass tops. I cannot get my hand to the back of the tank to grab debri without moving those glass tops. So... Do you guys/gals have glass tops? Do you...

Well, I picked up a 400 gph power head today, that should help some. Doesn't put me to 10x but it gets me from 3x to close to 6.5x per hour so that has to count for something for now. I think the next step will be to get another canister filter and place it on the other side of the tank. I...

And from what I have read, it looks like the FX5 does 925 gallons per hour. So that is getting me closer.

Wow, I shouldn't be surprised that I would need two. But I guess the question remains. Will my current filter be OK with just 2 power heads that all get my close to 10 turn overs per hour? Will I gain much benefit by getting a bigger filter to do some of the turn over?

Thanks you two. I can live with the powerheads in the tank (shoot, I have one now) if I must. I am still learning about everything and it is not like my tank is a masters work of art yet anyways. Right now I am just trying to get my arms around all of this. Seems like every time I think I...

I am currently battling a low water movement issue in my tank. My tank is a 125 gallon tank. I have a canister filter than turns over 165 gallons per hour and a powerhead that does 270 gallons per hour (Did some research, the power head pumps more than I thought). That puts me at almost 3.5...

I cleaned the filter tonight, it had been almost 3 months. It was a mess. Hopefully that will help some!

Indeed. I learned that the hard way a few years back. I only clean with tank water these days. :)

Thanks as always! Any ideas what would be causing the bba at this point in time? Too much nutrients by chance?

Wow, that is a lot more often than I was doing it but I am more than OK with that... Just so it doesn't disrupt the cycle I am good with it.

Is there a rule of thumb for cleaning filters or at least how often? I am guessing that because I am less than the 10x turn over per hour that I should potentially be cleaning it more often?

Yeah, that's my bad. I meant to say that it was basically turning over the tank once per hour. It does 165 gallons per hour, I have a 125 gallon tank. But I am still way low. I would say the power head does 125 gallons per hour if I had to guess, that puts me at just less than 2.5 turn overs...

When I had just fish (no plants) I was cleaning the canister filter once every 5 months. Now that I have plants in the tank do I need to be cleaning the filter more often? I can only imagine the answer is yes...

Ugh. I do not want to hear that. That canister filter I have cost a chunk of dough. I cannot afford another one...

Flow rate not even close to great. Eheim canister pumping 1 gallon per hour and a power head doing the same.

I have a 125 gallon tank, 1.2 watts per gallon. CO2 tank and dosing with PMDD and Phosphates daily. I have only been dosing for about 3 months now but it has made a huge difference!!! I did a 20% water change 5 days ago and it seems like since 3 or 4 days now the water has white specs in it...

I have a 120 gallon tank which is now officially doing very well thanks to you guys, thank you for that! I am looking into messing around with a 10 gallon tank for fun. Probably mainly a shrimp tank with 4-5 tetras in it just for some variety. But naturally I could not set up a tank without...

I have SMS so it is easy to stir around if you are not careful. It seems to be very light weight. Thanks for the feedback!

How do you guys clean your tanks when they are stock full of plants? I am always afraid I will uproot the stem plants. And how often do you clean your tank? Before I started planting the tank I was cleaning 1/3 of the gravel each week. But now I am far less and wondering if that is bad.

Have you guys ever seen the aquariumdesigngroup.com website? Not sure how I ran into it (probably a forum link?) but they have amazing aquascapes there. Not sure if any of them are my absolute favorite, but they are very nice. I like the first picture posted in this thread as well!

This place is absolutely amazing! The information I get here is consistent, no arguing, very professional and knowledgeable. I have mentioned this before, but I use this place as my end all confirmation. I visit a few other planted tank forums but regardless what others say elsewhere, I have...

I have a 125 gallon (6' long tank). From what I am reading you guys are recommending a filter that can filter 10x the tank amount in an hour? With a tank my size filtering that much would require something like a garden hose on full blast to pump enough water through a filter 10x per hour...

Yeah, the rope fish are calm and do not seem to slam against plants at all. The bala sharks probably uproot the most if I had to guess, ghost knife is probably right there with them.

Before I realized I wanted a heavily planted tank I got some big fish. I have a 12" ghost knife fish, a few 8" bala sharks, rope fish, etc. I do have a fair share of smaller fish in the tank too. But do people here with bigger fish and plants have problems with the plants getting uprooted...

So the "external solution" is the reactor? I have the DIY (Came with the CO2 tank and equipment I bought used) reactor and it is hooked to the outflow tube of the canister filter. Mixes before it shoots into the tank. I assume that is what is best?

Does it matter where you inject the CO2 into the tank? For example. I have a 125 gallon tank, 6' long. Does it matter if the CO2 is injected into the tank at the top or the bottom? I have a DIY reactor, so I am sure it is not as efficient as the real deal. Right now I am injecting the CO2...

Excellent. 4ml per days sounds like a very little amount, but I am game for anything. I appreciate everyone's patience with me, I am trying to figure this out and do it all right. For some reason I am struggling with a lot of this. I will keep reading it all though. :)

4ml per day per gallon or just 4 ml per day total in my 125 gallon tank? I cannot wait until I get a better understanding of all of this. Still confusing as all get out!

This is what came in the PMDD: PMDD Pre-Mix 1 lb contains 1 part each of Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Plantex CSM+B. So with that said, how will I know how much of the PO4 to dose? Thanks!!!

Thanks AC... SO let me throw this at you. I read this from the PMDD website link: So I bought Mono Potassium Phosphate. But according to the Macro solution mix I am missing 3 other ingredients? I am of course using PMDD for Micros? Or do I just need the Mono Potassium Phosphate? If it...

Alan at Aquarium Fertilizer.com has been answering some questions for me as I ordered the PMDD and then the KH2PO4 as well. But he gave me different feedback and I am looking for clarify. Now please keep in mind, I am not trying to throw anything bad in the mix or rip on anyone, shoot, I may...

lol, thanks... Good thing I want it in the scape. I like the color change, I have a lot of green. :)

Is there a recommended procedure for the plant? Like what is better for the plant? And where is the rhizome? The base?

I have a plant but I am not sure what it is called though. It is shorter and the leaves are a dark red, the leaves are maybe 2" x 2". It has one leave per plant that shoots to the top of the tank. The guy at the store told me that when it reaches the top of the tank to cut that leaf off and...

So are you saying you dose twice the amount of the PO4 mix as you do the PMDD? Did I track with that right, not sure I did. PMDD = Micros??? PO4 = Macros??? I am the same as you, low light (1.2 watts per gallon in a 125 gallon) and CO2.

James said not to mix them in his post above. :)

Awesome, you guys rock, thanks!!!

OK, I just ordered the Mono Potassium Phosphate so I can dose with that along with the PMDD. I am currently dosing with PMDD with 1 drop per gallon in a 125 gallon tank. Knowing that I am dosing PMDD with 1 drop per gallon, what is the recommended dosing for the Mono Potassium Phosphate...

Are you sure "BFG" stand for Big Force Gun? I always had that "F" as something else. :) I use to be a huge Quake 2 junkie, and according to online ranking systems, I managed to be #1 in the world for quite a while. Had to go cold turkey just to quit. But man I loved that game!!! But enough...

Shoot, so I am just now realizing that there is a BBA algae and a BGA algae? You diagnosed the stuff I have as BBA 2 weeks ago in a post. I thought I was just seeing varying ways to say it, but it looks as if it is two different algae types. Sorry about that! So with that said, what changes...

My 125 gallon tank has a decent amount of bga on a moderately planted tank. I have dosed excel for 3 days straight and did a little bit of spot treating but there is so much of it that it would take all day to spot treat. Would normally dosing bga with excel generally do some damage to the...

Crud, my API Master Test Kit's pH solution stuff is yellow.

Oh, the stuff you put in the 4dkh water is just 3 drop of the low range pH test drops?

True. There seems to be a lot of variables to all of this. Shoot, the drop checker I bought is 100% useless apparently, I cannot even use the yellow solution that came with it I think. I hunted down where I can get the 4dkh water but I *think* I need to hunt down some kind of solution to put...

Excellent, thanks! What kind of stress would I look for other than faster breathing? I use this forum as the end all for plants. But at another forum I frequent they have me anywhere from 1-5 drops per second. Scary. But like I said, I use this place as the final say, so I am at 1 dps right...

Thanks! I will look into the 4dkh water and try that. I am running a 125 gallon tank and I have a reactor between the filter and the tank on the outflow side.

Hmmm, I did read that. For some reason though the instructions actually say aquarium water. Weird. I will try regular tap water instead...

OK, CO2 is flowing into my 125 gallon for the first time. The guy at the store told me that a good start would be 3 bubbles per second for the bubble counter. That is what I am set out now. I put the Drop Checker in the tank. I submerged the entire thing, was that what I was suppose to do? I...