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Fluval Roma 200 LED

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Hi @Douglas Mason really nice tank couple of things someone else might chip in if I'm wrong

Spray bar across the back.pushes water forward all good but skimmer and power head fight against the flow from left to right you would have a much better all round flow if there facing the same way as your spray bar I think this may be going some way towards your alge on the hair grass at the front as the power head is pushing the water as it hits the glass stopping it going in the circular motion

The other thing is just the hard edges on the wood where they have been sawn off I know you cant do much about them now but if you just saw a little then use pliers to take the smoth edge and make it rough it will look more natural

Have you moved the drop checker around the tank to see if your getting a even distribution

Really not meant to be a negative post as the tank looks really good
 
Hi @Douglas Mason really nice tank couple of things someone else might chip in if I'm wrong

Spray bar across the back.pushes water forward all good but skimmer and power head fight against the flow from left to right you would have a much better all round flow if there facing the same way as your spray bar I think this may be going some way towards your alge on the hair grass at the front as the power head is pushing the water as it hits the glass stopping it going in the circular motion

The other thing is just the hard edges on the wood where they have been sawn off I know you cant do much about them now but if you just saw a little then use pliers to take the smoth edge and make it rough it will look more natural

Have you moved the drop checker around the tank to see if your getting a even distribution

Really not meant to be a negative post as the tank looks really good

Thanks for the reply,

With regards to the spray bar the flow from the filter is only about 600 - 700 lph. The main use of the filter is for some filtration and to get the CO2 from the inline diffuser into the water column. The main flow in the tank when the CO2 is on is via the powerhead which is 1000 ‐ 1200 lph, the powerhead is only on during the lighting period when CO2 is on. The flow with the powerhead and skimmer on is from left to right across the tank and this creates an under current running from right to left. After the lighting up period the powerhead switches off so the flow in the tank is via the spray bar and skimmer. When the powerhead is on I can see that the flow goes across the whole of the tank. I see this from the minuscule bubbles created when the Chiriros Doctor comes on, they go all over the tank.

I'll move the drop checker around as you suggest to check the CO2 in the tank.

Good point about the timber, I'll see what I can do to make it look more natural when I do a water change.

Doug
 
Ok it just seems very diffrent to most planted tanks as we are taught a circular flow motion I'm not sure I see the point of the spray bar if you just had a lilly pipe or similar facing the same direction as the skimmer as power head you would get much better co2 distribution in any case IMO
Good water circulation 24hrs long is just as important as when co2 is on
 
Ok it just seems very diffrent to most planted tanks as we are taught a circular flow motion I'm not sure I see the point of the spray bar if you just had a lilly pipe or similar facing the same direction as the skimmer as power head you would get much better co2 distribution in any case IMO
Good water circulation 24hrs long is just as important as when co2 is on

Hi,

I've taken on board what you have said about the flow. Whilst carrying out my weekly water change today I removed the spraybar and have used the diffuser type thing that comes with the Oase Thermo Filter. The flow from the filter now runs left to right across the tank as does the skimmer outlet and powerhead. With it set up this way you can certainly see the flow coming back from the right in a sort of circular motion.

I've also moved the drop checker to bottom left at the front to see if sufficient Co2 getting into this area.

Thanks again

Doug
 
You should now be able to see a little sway from most plants I would imagine with the oase skimmer and power head

Most people presume that cause there drop.checker is green that co2 being distributed evenly but it's not always the case so moving it around the tank gives you a good indication that your flow is good hence the co2 distribution is good
I was not being negative about your tank just thought it might help with the alge if you flow was more even see how it goes and if you feel it was better before you can see it I cant
 
Hi,

I've been doing some water tests today and my water has a Kh value of 1. The water in Liverpool is very soft.

Is it recommended to add anything to my tank to raise the Kh levels. If it is this what should I use and what level should I aim for.

Thanks

Doug
 
Hi all,
I've been doing some water tests today and my water has a Kh value of 1. The water in Liverpool is very soft.
You are lucky you get really high quality <"Lake Vyrnwy"> water. You should be able to get exact figures from your water supplier, "United Utilities" I assume?
Is it recommended to add anything to my tank to raise the Kh levels. If it is this what should I use and what level should I aim for.
You could add a little bit of <"potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3)">. Details are at <"James' Planted Tank">.

You definitely don't need to go higher than 4dKH.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi all, You are lucky you get really high quality <"Lake Vyrnwy"> water. You should be able to get exact figures from your water supplier, "United Utilities" I assume? You could add a little bit of <"potassium bicarbonate (KHCO3)">. Details are at <"James' Planted Tank">.

You definitely don't need to go higher than 4dKH.

cheers Darrel


Thanks for the reply.

I may look to add a little potassium bicarbonate as suggested to raise my KH slightly. I'll also have a read of the link you've given

Doug
 
Hi,

I'm still waiting for my potassium bicarbonate to arrive so I can raise my KH levels slightly.

In the meantime I appear to be getting an algea bloom. I think I have Diatoms and on my Anubis I also have green algea. Is there any advice on what I need to do in order to combat this.

I took some readings yesterday as shown below. I have a Fluval Plant 3.0 light and this comes on at midday and ramps up over 4 hours to 60% white light, it remains at 60% for 2 hours then drops down over 3 hours to lights out. I have just over 10x flow in tank and Co2 is being dispersed throughout the tank.

Ph - 6.2
ĶH - 1
ĢH - 4
Ammonium - <0.05
Nitrite - 0.05
Nitrate - 30
 
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Hi,

I've just checked my Ph using my new ph pen after calibration and my ph is 6.0.

As I currently have a KH of 1 if I'm correct this will give me a co2 level in my tank of 30.

The brown algea which I think is diatoms is getting much worse and is now covering most plants in the rank and is starting to cover new growth within 24 hour.

Do I need to reduce my Co2 input to get a Co2 reading in my tank around 20?

Would it also be advisible to increase my lighting which is currently only at a maximum of 60% for 4 hours, it ramps up and down to this level for a couple of hours either side.

If I increase the lighting with my current Co2 level won't this increase photosynthesis and therefore reduce the algea or am I not understanding this process.

I am dcurrently dosing 35ml of EI Salts on alternative days.

Any advice will be gratefully received in assisting me to try and rid my tank of this algea.

Thanks

Doug

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Further to the above I also do about a 75% water change every Sunday, would it assist if I did an additional water change in the middle of the week to assist with the nitrate level until the algea is under control.

Thanks

Doug
 
Nice tank..I can understand your frustrations with algae. This is a new tank and diatoms are inevitable...some people seem to have better luck than others but still deal with it nonetheless.
Amano used to use carbon in the first month for this reason.
Keep your lighting at 60%. Dont go higher just yet.
Light accelerates everything...co2; ferts...

Are you dosing full EI? Not needed your soil is releasing lots of nutrients for now.

The soil in my tank was used for more than a year so when I set up the new tank I had to start dosing from the get go but that’s not the case with fresh new soil.

For the first 2 weeks, you need daily to every other day water changes to keep the excess nutrients in check.
Definitely don’t mess and adjust co2 cuz it’ll bite you. Aim for lime green drop checker in all parts and levels of the tank.
Tropica has a nice app explaining all this + more.
 
Further to the above I also do about a 75% water change every Sunday, would it assist if I did an additional water change in the middle of the week to assist with the nitrate level until the algea is under control.

Thanks

Doug
Don’t worry about nitrates, phosphates etc
Your soil is leaching ammonia and you need water changes to get rid of it...lots of them.

If a tank is in bad shape with minimal plant mass and lots of DOC then sure, PO4/NO3 will not help the cause.
It would be a good idea if you could add stem plants to aid with the initial step then take them out when the tank stabilizes if you don’t like them.
Plants soak up ammonia and based on scientific data they even prioritize it over nitrate.
 
Nice tank..I can understand your frustrations with algae. This is a new tank and diatoms are inevitable...some people seem to have better luck than others but still deal with it nonetheless.
Amano used to use carbon in the first month for this reason.
Keep your lighting at 60%. Dont go higher just yet.
Light accelerates everything...co2; ferts...

Are you dosing full EI? Not needed your soil is releasing lots of nutrients for now.

The soil in my tank was used for more than a year so when I set up the new tank I had to start dosing from the get go but that’s not the case with fresh new soil.

For the first 2 weeks, you need daily to every other day water changes to keep the excess nutrients in check.
Definitely don’t mess and adjust co2 cuz it’ll bite you. Aim for lime green drop checker in all parts and levels of the tank.
Tropica has a nice app explaining all this + more.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

I will leave lighting and Co2 as it is for the time being.

I am using full EI dosing, do I need to stop this or would you recommend reducing the amounts dosed due to the soil. If I need to reduce the dosing do you have any recommendations.

For the first 2 weeks I did daily water changes and everything was fine this has only happened in the last 2 weeks.

Isn't lime green on the drop checker a bit high with livestock. I'm also worried about the PH dropping too low as my KH is only 1 so hardly any buffering capabilities and i don't want my tank to become toxic.

I'll have look at the Tropica app.

Thanks

Doug
 
Don’t worry about nitrates, phosphates etc
Your soil is leaching ammonia and you need water changes to get rid of it...lots of them.

If a tank is in bad shape with minimal plant mass and lots of DOC then sure, PO4/NO3 will not help the cause.
It would be a good idea if you could add stem plants to aid with the initial step then take them out when the tank stabilizes if you don’t like them.
Plants soak up ammonia and based on scientific data they even prioritize it over nitrate.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

My Ammonia reading is low but it is obviously being produced as part of the nitrogen cycle as my nitrite has gone from <0.05 to 0.5 in the last week and my Nitrate has gone from 20 to 30.

I'll do more water changes over the next few weeks

What stem plants would you recommend and I'll see if I can get them.

Doug
 
Lime green is fine and honestly a bit “safer”as long as O2 saturation is on par. What I mean by safer is closer to proper co2 levels.
I’ve had bad experience with in-line diffusers as Co2 readings were off because of micro bubbles finding their way under the checker.
At the exact same infusion rates I used with a new clean atomic in-line diffuser of high quality that was showing yellow drop checker, the DIY reactor with close to 100% Co2 dissolution was showing blue - green.
And here I was wondering why I had algae issues.
The in-line diffuser gets dirty really fast and co2 levels fluctuate as a result.
I’d much rather use an in-tank ADA style diffusers than an in-line if I was to choose between the 2.
I understand reactors cant be implemented in every case but that would be the best...

Tropica app has recommendations on “supporting” stem plants.
Check it out it’s pretty cool!
Good luck!
 
Hi,

I've been ill for the past 4 days with suspected Covid 19. Although I'm not yet fully functioning as I get out of breath very easily I came downstairs to see my tank looking a bit of a mess with brown algea (believed Diatoms although it does not blow away or rub off the leaves easily) everywhere. I also have what appars to be pearling but this appears to be coming from the algea. I ordered a couple of stem plants as recommended and my wife put these in the tank when they arrived to save them. These new plants appear to be pearling slightly but there is also signs of algea starting on the leaves.

I've reduced slightly the amount of EI dosing I was doing and left my lighting at 60% for the time being. I'll try and do a large water change over the weekend if able as I'm still very weak.

Any advice on how I can deal with this algea outbreak to either slow it down until I recover more or to assist in getting rid of it
 
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