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Thanks Mark - that makes sense!

Hi guys, Not so much of a problem more a general query here. Basically I was having issues for ages with my tank & wasn't getting the growth I wanted etc. Finally I realised that I was messing with my co2 too much and too frequently - so my tank was unstable. So I have left my CO2 stable at...

CO2 changes - adjustment & recovery Thanks ceg! Great read there. So I think by overdosing the Excel I've been shooting myself in the foot! Oh well at least I've kept my gas stable. Still awaiting for my HC to recover from the blackout I did. Looking greener and melting seems to of stopped...

CO2 changes - adjustment & recovery Still unsure here - does overdosing liquid carbon count as co2 instability & cause the plants to be damaged by the enzyme thing?

There should be like an engraving on the cylinder itself. This will be when it was made (i believe) and as long as its within 10 years they will refill it.

CO2 changes - adjustment & recovery Ok cool. Also does adding liquid carbon count as co2 instability? Or as its in liquid form does this not count?

CO2 changes - adjustment & recovery Does doing water changes in a hi-tech tank not cause unstable co2?

Just do a search for some fire saftey businesses round your area - they should refill them if they are in date. £20 seems a bit expensive for a refill though...

Hi all, I’ve read some good articles recently regarding CO2 changes & enzyme production – noting that when changes are made it takes time for plants to adapt properly. I didn’t realise this previously & was constantly adjusting my CO2 (putting it up due to frustration with lack of growth – then...

Just to check - does the preasure gauge fluctuating mean that the co2 flow is unstable?

It's just moving constantly up & down... I inject co2 straight into the filter & can't find any leaks. Can injecting into the canister be unstable due to co2 bubbles building up inside?

Hi all, When my reg is hooked up & running the preasure gauge on it is not still. It moves very slightly up & down. Between 1.6 - 1.8 bar. I use a wave co2 reg. is this normal? I am beginning to think my co2 supply is not stable & could be fluctuating - is this an indication of this? Thanks

Probably a silly question & has probably been covered before... But... Does having more CO2 mean you need more nutrients? Or is it only light that drives the nutrient demand up? Or does having a tank with a yellow DC need more nutrients than one with a Green DC? Just wanted to double check

CO2 & Light Demands Am going to up my ferts as i hear low PO4 can cause the green spot algae!

CO2 & Light Demands Mmm i think i'm getting Some green spot algae. Also maybe diatoms. I'm not sure why though :/

Nice! here are some updated shots of my tank: http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f= ... 59#p207459

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQEaS-ge ... ature=plcp little video :) poor quality i know

Will do! Maintaining a lime-greeny-yellow colour for now. Flow seems pretty strong all over the tank too so hopefully it will be ok. I'm dosing a little Flourish Excel daily for a while just to be sure

CO2 & Light Demands Black out done - and wow! Amazing how much difference it makes. I thought id need to scrub all my rocks but they are all like new! Sand is clean too. I'll post some pics once the waters cleared as i did a 70% water change :) Now... Hopefully with my spraybar set up etc...

CO2 & Light Demands Why can't we grow pretty forms of algae instead then! It would be ao much easier!!!

CO2 & Light Demands Can it really recover that fast?!? I turned co2 off yeah :)

Guess I'll be leaving it alone now then lol. How long a blackout is good? I started monday - perhaps leave until sunday?

Not sure Ceg - could it be because of the way the spraybar is set up across the back that its just pushing dirt round and round & not actually into the inlet? Serious about no peeking lol? will 2 mins of light hurt the process??!

Had a peak into the tank earlier too see whats going on during the black out. Am I ok to turn the lights on for 2 minutes during a blackout to inspect? There was a lot of dirt in the tank getting blown around etc - is this because the diatoms are dying and are starting to "let go" of their...

CO2 & Light Demands I have 2 and all they do is stay at 1 side of the tank and never seem to be active :/ Might buy some more once ive done a blackout... Day 2 at the moment

CO2 & Light Demands Starting to see growth yeah BUT diatoms won't go away - so I think I need a blackout to nuke them. Am I right in thinking that this is the case - and that this type of algae won't just go away on its own even if conditions are correct?

Yeah - see my two posts above lol. I'm going to try a blackout to get rid of the Diatoms.

I've also just read that excess silicates can cause diatoms/brown algae... Could it be that A) I added some fresh sand recently and this has caused it? or B) I always disturb my sand so that the algaefied top layer goes to the bottom & the top layer looks nice & clean again... Is it ok to...

Still getting brown algae/diatoms. Really don't know why... Flow is right, lighting isn't high & only on for 7 hours daily, co2 is lime-green, ferts are EI. Ordered some Flourish Excel - hopefully I can nuke it using that!

edit: better video of the spraybar in action here, does the flow look powerful enough? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9mXxxNY ... ature=plcp

The other part to my spraybar arrived... it now stretches across the whole of the back of the tank ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S05gRhsY ... ature=plcp hows the flow looking? it doesn't seem to of slowed at all by adding the extra piece of tubing...

CO2 & Light Demands I've removed the Koralia - i think i'm getting better flow without it as it interupts the flow generated by the spraybar. I think one thing i am missing is a clean up crew. All my shrimp died & my oto's were pretty inactive due to a yellow DC. So i have 30 cherry shrimp on...

CO2 & Light Demands Thanks for that - i agree I think the stones are blocking it to degree... Not much I can do though really without changing the scape drastically... Im going to do a rescape in march so i'll do something better thought out then!

CO2 & Light Demands Thanks ceg - i thought it might be the second one - and how now I'm using the spraybar then the co2 will be being distributed more effectively anyway. Lighting is only at 7hours a day too. Have ordered another spraybar for my filter too so that I can extend it right the...

CO2 & Light Demands Is there any benefit to having a yellow DC rather than Lime green? I lowered my co2 slightly & my fish seem way happier- actually swimming around now rather than sat in 1 corner. But will this lime green mean growth/algae will be affected?

CO2 & Light Demands Isn't it the case whereby if the flow & co2 are right then i would notice the difference that same day? Ie. new noticable growth in rhe faster growing species!?

CO2 & Light Demands I reckon it's my co2 - i reckon this injecting into the filter is a rubbish way of doing it. Maybe I should try and UP inline atomizer & run that! Also whats it mean when java fern leaves are all deformed (3 tips & long stems on the leaves etc)!?

CO2 & Light Demands I've also come to the conclussion that the "dirt" im getting on plant leaves is algae - like a brown dust. I keep cleaning the leaves but it just comes back. Really starting to get angry with this tank now as it just goes against all logic. Low light, excellent flow, lots...

CO2 & Light Demands Well it's been a few days now and I haven't really notices any difference. I think I would of seen it :/ It's almost as if my tank has no co2 going in it... Despite my DC is yellow?!

CO2 & Light Demands Mmm not sure if this method is making any diff to growth...

Some pics of the set up here: I put my DC at the bottom of the front - to see what CO2 is like there - as you can see... its yellow :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afuzAia2 ... AAAAAAAAAA Spraybar installed! Pearling is due to a waterchange & clean up I did. Everything looks nice & clean now - lets just hope the spray bar keeps it this way.

CO2 & Light Demands Haha no worries. I may remove the powerhead once i get the plants health & tank sorted later on. Main thing i guess now is just to get the key elements right like you say. Once i master these i'll have a play around with the aesthetics. I'll have a look at these glass...

CO2 & Light Demands Ok i installed my spraybar today... It's so ugly :( Hopefully it will make a big difference to my plants though! I can see lots more movement of the plants now & the currant is flowing nicely from the top down to the bottom. I'll put a pic/video on soon! I also put the...

CO2 & Light Demands Ok cool. Thanks guys - i'm going to hook the spray bar up and see if it works better. My filter is working fine and the flow is as strong as it was when new. I guess its just a combination of the length of my tank & plant mass & the loss of velocity not allowing a good flow...

CO2 & Light Demands Ok thanks i'll try the spraybar set up. However, i dont think any filter will let me run it in the normal way like Toms... My filter is 1500litre/hr & i also have a 1500litre/hr powerhead that is already pointing in the same direction as the filter.... So i'd need a filter...

CO2 & Light Demands Ok i'll dig out a spraybar i think i have one. I just cant see how thats going to create a strong enough though as i tried pointing the outlet to the front and this created next to know current around the plants :/ Also - isn't co2 injected into the filter 100% disolved...

CO2 & Light Demands I thought when you had 100% dissolved co2 you didnt need to worry about flow as much as you didn't need to get the bubbles everywhere & water would flow there anyway? I think Ceg that as my plant mass has increased its stifled flow somewhat from when the tank first started...

CO2 & Light Demands What method do you use?

CO2 & Light Demands What ive done is pointed the powerhead downwards - so its still pointing the same way as the filter outlet - but its just shooting down towards the javafern a bit. Might mix it up a bit lol. Tbh planted tanks are a bit of a stress. Am planning a rescape without plants i...

CO2 & Light Demands I really dont like spraybars - they are well ugly :/ Is there any other way i could do this?

CO2 & Light Demands Ah ok thanks Ceg. I thought the way i am doing it was the best way? I have a glass lilly pipe - think I should try that? I used it very briefly before - it creates a flow thatsort of shoots down towards the middle of the tank. Also if I switch to lilly pipes - where would...

Ok a video of my flow is here: Apologies for the TV - my girlfriend was watching One Born Every Minute :/

CO2 & Light Demands Flow is distributed via a standard filter intake & outlet (no spraybar) the outtake is placed at the top right - facing the left of the tank. Also at the top right is a koralia nano - both are blowing in the same direction. Ill upload a video of the flow shortly

CO2 & Light Demands I agree Ceg - my problem is that i seem to be making it worse by cleaning it... Im doing 2x weekly 50% changes & i was vacuuming the tank and everything. I just can't seem to shift all of the dirt - its so annoying!

CO2 & Light Demands Also i dont have any co2 bubbles in my tank as its injected into the filter - so no bubbles will rise into the DC

CO2 & Light Demands Flow goes from top right towards left of the tank - then is pushed down the left side and along the bottom back towards the filter intake.

Ok I will but i can guarentee it will be the same lol - tried it before.

Ok Ceg - as requested here are some pics the rocks need a clean! As you can see i have a problem with Dirt - it seems to collect all round the tank - even with 20x turn over. Could it be that this is some form of algae and not dirt? I'm beginning to think the scape is just that old that it...

CO2 & Light Demands My co2 injects into the filter so no bubbles in the tank :)

Well the things that have changed over the 7 months are: CO2 & Distribution - i previously used a diffuser in the tank corner & this was pumping LESS CO2 into the tank... so if anything my co2 has increased & distribution improved due to the direct-into-filter method. Plants have grown & may...

CO2 & Light Demands Hi Ceg, Well my flow is around 20x - driven by my filter & a koralia. Co2 is being injected directly into the filter at about 6-8 bubbles per second. The drop checker is always yellow too. Co2 does not have a solenoid. I am dosing ferts - an all in one mix & am dosing...

Hi, I have a question about the CO2 concentration in tanks & the light demands that follow it. Does the CO2 work in the same way that ferts do - in that the CO2 uptake is capped & that upping CO2 will just mean that the CO2 will not be a factor in limiting plant growth. Or Does CO2 work like...

How would the filter company ever know that you had co2 injected into it :p I cant see how it would affect the seals. Seeing as the gas wont have anymore direct contact with the seals as it would if it was injected into the tank.

Yep! Can't believe how much of a difference its made. I think the bubbles werent fine enough using my in line diffuser

Works brilliantly!!!

Also ive changed my diffusion method so that the co2 is being injected into the filter - so hopefully that will make sure im getting good co2 all round the tank!

i am using a cynlinder and have been messing with it this week. Don't know why but hair algae has started to appear. I brought some flourish excel so will overdose for a week to clear up my algae.

Ceg - am I right in thinking that me messing round with the co2 over a week (turning it up reguarly) could be causin algae issues?

Can't you get a cheaper ph meter? I thiught they'd be like a fiver :/

Ok ive tried it :/ just hope it doesnt make my filter leak or explode!

Im thinking of trying this method but im scared of it damaging my filter or causing it to exlode or leak :/

Any good reactors for 16/22 hose? So they wont reduce flow as much !?

Guys, Is it safe to do inline CO2 - but have the CO2 diffuser running on the intake rather than the outlet - on the Cristal Profi E1500? I hear this is the best way to get CO2 into the tank but I am worried about leakages & also lots of burping from the filter? Has anyone ran this set up with...

Ok so first thing is to get a ph tester? Where is the best place to get one of these?

Thanks Ceg, great response as usual! The problem i have is that my CO2 is on 24/7 an the DC is always yellow. Its by DiY FE through an inline difuser. So really there shouldnt be an issue with stability? Am i right in thinking that bba algae will not just go away on its own even if conditions...

My DC does use 4dkh - ita from aqua essentials. I am replacing ferts after the water change :/

Black beard & the brown stuff

I'm doing two 40% water changes weekly :/

Oh and filter rate is 1500 ltr hr & i have 950ltr/hr korAlia in there too :/

Dosing full ie daily. I recently posted on the ei tutorial with what i dose (sorry i am on my iphone). Photoperiod is 7 hours 40% changes bi weekly

I have 2x T8 tubes - 25 watt each, my tank is a 130litre... I know it's not a light issue though - as I am still getting Algae - which, if anything means too much much light & not enough CO2.

I'm sure they don't mean much... Mines always yellow & I dose EI yet I still get algae and slow growth. Something can't be right there - I also have like 20x turnover in my tank.

I have this too :(

I have a good question here... If changing the water results in a temporary increase in CO2, why does my drop checker turn blue again when I do a large water change?

I thought it was just more O2 from the tap water? Hence the pearling showing up on the side of the glass etc?

Whats that german CO2 regulator on Ebay that everyone raves about? Its the one without the solonoid built into it...

Bubbles arent fine enough and i just dont think it gives adequate diffusion. I am going to try the up atomiser next i think

I use the boyu inline but i wouldnt recommend it