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Co2 Fluctuations and BBA

I am replacing the floating plants with half emmersed MU on a hanging planter:
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The shrimp hang around the planter and it is easy to trim.
 
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/a ... ocks.shtml here's a great article for you to read about safe rocks for aquarium :) like gravel, rocks with calcium traces under lots of CO2 could mean a BBA disaster in your tank. I would keep away of petrified wood also, I still have headache after spending half a year wondering why I've got BBA, the flow was good, co2 was stable, nutrients were alright until I've read that Amano stopped using petrified wood 'cause it hardens the water .. darn, I had lots of them :), had to reset the tank.
 
clonitza said:
...rocks with calcium traces under lots of CO2 could mean a BBA disaster in your tank.
Click to expand...
Hi,
There is not been demonstrated any correlation between hard water and BBA. I routinely use water with high calcium content and yet have never suffered BBA as a result. Water that is high in Magnesium is a bonus for plants, and that's because the Chlorophyll molecule is a complex Carbon structure surrounding a Magnesium ion. Water that is poor in Mg causes stunted growth specifically due to the inability of the plant to produce sufficient food due to poor chlorophyll density.

Along with it's role as a structural component in cell walls and in controlling enzymatic activity Calcium is a critical component in the enzyme responsible for splitting water and producing oxygen during photosynthesis. This mechanism is called the Oxygen Evolving Complex (OEC). Although there may be some level of Ca which is considered toxic, that level won't be found in any of our municipal water supplies. Soft water is much more damaging to plants than hard water, therefore associating hard water with BBA is a complete mis-correlation.

Cheers,
 
The water out of my tap is very soft not even registering 1dgh on a test kit but I harden to 5dgh and 4dkh with water changes with JBL Aquadur which is intended for re-mineralising RO water so I'm hoping the various salts that make up the overall hardness are in balance.

Unfortunately my tank evolved from a fish only system so other than a total strip out which isn't happening I'm stuck with the gravel I have. I will look further into substrates should I ever set up another tank though.

Neil
 
Quick update.

Things seem to be improving slightly although I still use EC daily. As an experiment I did away with the reactor that was powered by the internal filter and just added the diy co2 to the air inlet pipe of the internal with excellent results, I was quite surprised. The sera internal came with a little spray bar and a couple of elbows so I pointed the bar vertical down one corner, the co2 sprays out tiny bubbles which are actually finer than comes out my glass diffuser :eek: These drift about and cling to plants also I get the added benefit of a bit better circulation in that corner now the reactors removed.

I now have the pressurised glass diffuser in one corner and the diy internal in the other. I've even managed to get the BBA working in my favour, I positioned the diffuser under a heater where the control end is covered in BBA which I don't mind as it softens the edges and looks more natural. The tiny bubbles rise up and cling to the BBA holding them in the column for longer 8) That'll teach BBA to try and out wit me :D

I'm getting better flow around the tank generally after some re-arranging of plants and a couple of good thinning out, I am still concerned about the flow though, after cleaning my glass and observing debris floating round the tank I can tell there is still a couple of dead spots or poor flow areas.

Considering buying a Nano koralia for the back left corner to improve the situation but have a couple of quick questions, I see a few people saying that the new ones are better as the old ones were a bit noisy but which is the newer version? I notice that the grill from the pics I have seen are quite large openings and the impeller looks to be exposed and visible has anyone had and problems with shrimp investigating into there with antenna if that's the right word?
Also my LFS guy reckons that in my 3x2x2foot approx tank that even a nano would be well over the top for a planted tank movement wise as I haven't seen one in action what do you think?

Finally the ones I have seen on you tube were probably bigger models but they do look a bit bulky the specs say 2 and 3/4 inch but not sure where they took this dimension.
 
Ordered the 900 Evo from Cardiff aquatics only £18.99 plus delivery I found it linked in this board, seems the EVO replaces the older versions so are a bit smaller and quieter among other things.

I hope this can clear out my dead spots only time will tell, this is just a temp measure to make do with what I have at the moment. The lid on my Aqua-one has a few cracks in it and the clear perspex is quite yellowed which is £125 for new and the filtration system is not very plant friendly so I'm going to save up some pennies and go the whole hog, I'm going to get a new light unit so I'm open top again which I prefer and a decent canister with in-line co2.
It's my birthday soon so cash presents accepted this year :)
 
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