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Determination

Which Chihiros did you go for the Aquasky?
No I went for the cheaper 'A series'. Which I gather has roughly the same output. Although whilst adequate, with the tank being shallow the better coverage of the 'A series plus' may have made it a better option. I hope this helps
 
So i got some more floating plants from the for sale section of this forum. I have lost 75% of them overnight. They arrived in the evening about half six (The post was really late for some reason!) i put them in the tank straight away. They had 1.5 hours of light. Next morning before lights on there were floating leaves that ad broken off and/or transparent leaves. It could be down to them not being happy when posted, however Paulo who also got some are fine!

I did another water change today and the tank had loads of debirs inbetween the repens. I used a paint brush on the repens to gently clean them and i was amazed at how much there was. Especially considering i did a 50% water change on Tuesday.

Some thing is seriously wrong. Both Drop checkers are green/yellow when lights are on. One is just above the Monte Carlo at the oppsite side of the tank and the other is at the back of the tank.

I increased the lights to 50% from 30%. I now have some repens melting next to the diffuser which is no more than three inches away.

I've started to make some RO water as i'm thinking of moving to that and cutting it with 25% tap water as i have extremley hard water. I've also changed to James' all in one solution for ferts and am double dosing that.

I have ordered a Chihiros A series light as i want to change it from the TMC. The TMC light has bugged me for ages. The light should be here in a couple of weeks (apparently!). I've also ordered a Chihiros Doctor (Twinstar) in for a penny and all that!

I'm thinking to start again and replace the substrate with some Tropica substrate that i have.


Maybe i am impatient?!
 
Hi Ross, if you rescape maybe start a journal for advice along the way, the floating plants may have shed leaves due to adjusting to different water parameters or maybe excessive surface flow, the a series lights are quite strong level 4 or 5 on the dimmer may be a good place to start, I use the same light on level 5 over my 60p, stem plants grow at least 5-6 cm per week, try not to make more than 1 change at a time or you won't know what resolves the issue, e.g. Raise light level and wait a week or two to see if growth improves, if not try something else, re debris you need to remove as much as possible or this will cause the algae to flourish IMHO, I use London tap water which is fairly hard, same ei fert you used from apfuk, jbl filters, I only feel I use a little (or a lot ?) more light than you, I always have a little algae in my tanks but it's generally manageable, plants grow extremely well though which seems to be your issue. Good luck with the tank mate, I've had nothing but frustration from this hobby for the first few tanks I setup.
 
I have been reading lately about EI dosing, plant growth, etc. What I learned is that essentially light and CO2 are your biggest contributing factors to growth. There is no point in raising one without the other. It seems like you have more than enough light - but you're relying on drop checkers solely for the CO2. Plant growth is a better indicator of CO2 levels when lighting and nutrients are satisfactory. Algae is growing because your plants are not making use of the food you provide them. That being said - do you see photosynthesis occurring (pearling, oxygen production)? If not... continue reading below...

One thing that I've noticed after stalking various threads is that not many people talk about CO2 dispersion. From one of the photos you've uploaded, the bazooka is on the other side of the tank away from the outflow - and that leads me to think that your CO2 levels are not as satisfactory as you think it is. I recommend leaving everything as in and moving the bazooka right underneath or close by your outflow so that you can see the tiny CO2 bubbles travelling all over your tank. If you see pearling within 2-3 hours then I think you're on the right track (continue to test). If you don't see pearling, try increasing light intensity. This is the balancing game...
 
Hi Doubu,

Thanks for the info. I did have a Up Inline Atomizer on a full length spraybar at the back of the tank. The tank was like a can of coke, but i was still getting algae and limited growth, even with the lights at 30%. I changed to a diffuser as the Inline Atomizer snapped when i was trying to get one of the tubes off to clean them.

However, when i had the spraybar in i didn't get any pearling when the light was at 30%. Only once did i get a small amount of pearling but the lights were at 80% one evening as a test. I have put the lights to 50% for the last couple of days and i can now see some Monte Carlo melting right where the bubbles from the Bazooka where being pushed. What i have done now is move the atomizer to the side of the tank where the outflow is but i have put it under the intake pipe as well so some of the bubbles get sucked into the filter. I am aware of the risks of doing that. I will give it a few days but i have done this before and had the same problems as above.

I do have a Raspberry Pi with a PH probe i could setup again, however i'm sure i am getting the 0.7ph drop that i need to get 30ppm in the good old london harwater that i have, as i am injecting a lot more CO2 than i was previously using the same method. To give you an idea my bubble counter on the CO2 regulator which has over an inch of water in it and i am unable to count how many bubbles there are. When i had the spraybar you could hear the bubbles fizzing on the top of the tank.

What i find infuriating is that i am injecting huge amounts of CO2. A 2KG fire extingusiher lasts me about five weeks and then you see other tank in the journals injecting CO2 at 2bps with the Outflow at one side of the tanks and the CO2 diffuser on the other side, yet they get really lush and healthy plants!

Thanks

Ross
 
Honestly - replace the lights and try then. I went round in circles for months and months. Change lights and growth was huge in a matter of weeks. I got a bit of algae - but balanced out now. I spent a fortune on new diffusers, a new regulator, new ferts, extra flow pumps etc etc


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
If you saw pearling at 80%, I think raising it to 100% and reducing dosing and lighting period is a better test. If you're pumping co2 but are not getting any growth then light is your limiting factor. Remember it's not about co2 drop checkers but plant growth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Honestly - replace the lights and try then. I went round in circles for months and months. Change lights and growth was huge in a matter of weeks. I got a bit of algae - but balanced out now. I spent a fortune on new diffusers, a new regulator, new ferts, extra flow pumps etc etc


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hi Aaron,

Yeah i've ordered a Chihiros A Series Plus. It should be here in a couple of weeks!
 
If you saw pearling at 80%, I think raising it to 100% and reducing dosing and lighting period is a better test. If you're pumping co2 but are not getting any growth then light is your limiting factor. Remember it's not about co2 drop checkers but plant growth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
80% got me melt on the Repens right next to the Bazooka diffuser and i could see CO2 bubbles around the plant that was melting!
 
You are using APFUK EI?Try 1.5 tsp of trace in your micros. Then up your lights see if this makes a change.
Worked for me with some reasent algea i had,But not sure why as yet..
 
80% got me melt on the Repens right next to the Bazooka diffuser and i could see CO2 bubbles around the plant that was melting!

S. Repens have been known to melt in all types of situations (and it usually bounces back). How about your other plants? How are they doing when you added more light? When I change one factor, I usually let that go for 1 week and monitor the results just as a FYI. If you don't let the change take place over a longer period of time its hard to judge if its effective or not effective.

Let's say you upped lights to 80% and after a week, you are seeing new growth and pearling. I would continue to do lean dosing, WC and maintenance to manually get rid of algae. Then when you see plenty of new growth, trim off all the old parts that algae has been feasting on and immediately do WC to get rid of spores, and continue the same thing.

If upping lights to 80% and after a week, you see a bit of new growth, and in fact you're seeing even more algae as well, I would reduce light period by 1 hour. Then monitor and see how it does.

If upping lights to 80% and after a week, no new growth, everything is dying and there's even more algae than before - then... maybe you need to start fresh again with new plants lol. This has never happened to me so I am not too sure...
 
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