How much Calcium Nitrate to substitute for Potassium Nitrate for a planted high-light tank?

[Zak Rafik]

Hi Everyone
Hi Clive

And you are using a puny 3L bottle of gas? I'm shocked that the gas lasted as long as 38 days. That tells me you're not using enough gas.

I just double checked the volume of my Co2 tank and yup, its a 3 litres tank.
This morning I have upped my Co2 and also didn't give any notice to the bubble counter.

The kilograms of Carbon that you have already fed to the plants has turned into plant mass.

Two days ago, did a massive plant trimming. The trimmings must be at least 1/2 kilo or even more. I have read previously in this forum where you had posted that trimming plants will lessen the demand for Co2. After this trimming I have noticed more pearling from the plants also.

You probably have posted it somewhere, but my guess is that it's reasonably high.

As for the lighting, my LED fixture has 4 rows of lights, I managed to find a way to turn OFF 3 rows. But these 3 rows can be switched OFF only after a minimum of 2 hours of lights ON.
But even then, the plants seems to be pearling with only 1 row of LED light.

You're living in a warm place so the tank water temperature is high. So the solubility of the gas is much lower than some other tank located in a cooler place.

I do have chiller attached to the canister filter and have set the temperature to 26c. I can set it to a colder temp but the chiller would kick in more frequently and also here in my place electric bills are more expensive.
My ambient / room temperature is around 29c to 30c.

If you have a lot of surface disturbance that also accelerates the gas escape rate. Reduce the disturbance to help reduce the escape rate.

Since I use a spray bar which is located about a few centimetres from the water surface and also since it is pointed directly parallel to the water line, I do get quite a bit of water ripples. I've tried to change the direction by pointing the spray bar slightly towards the substrate but I notice that water flow does not reach the far side of the tank.

How about using a glass LILY PIPE to replace the spray bar? I can always treat myself to a very early birthday gift

You can even do what I call a "soft blackout", where the light and CO2 is turned off for a few days.

What's the maximum number of days the plants can do without light and Co2?

Using liquid carbon at least in the short term. Now that you have saved money on ferts, maybe you can afford to dose liquid carbon in that size tank, at least temporarily if it's available at your location.

I never thought I would be using liquid Co2 but today I have started dosing 5ml of Flourish Excel (5ml per 200Ltr). Is this enough?

You definitely will need a lot heavier gas cylinder. I would only use a 3L cylinder on a nano. Your tank will comfortably swallow a 10Kg CO2 cylinder.

The biggest size that will fit into my cabinet is a 5L cylinder. I have 2 cylinders - a 3L and a 2L ( as a backup)
Initially, I bought the 2L cylinder after the sales guy from a popular LFS confidently said "Oh don't worry, this will last for 2 months or more for a 4 feet planted tank"
Now I realize that the guy has not even an atom's weight of knowledge on planted tanks!

I just listen to the tone of the high pitched squeal as the gas comes screaming through the plumbing. In my case a high F sharp is about right. At lower tones, such as F or E, I

Since I'm not so musically talented, I have just enrolled myself for music lessons as well. But the only draw back is the 2 hour journey to the center though...........
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Nah! Just kidding.

Thank you so much for sparing your precious time to read through my earlier posts and taking the effort to answer them in a very concise manner.
Much appreciated.

Warm Regards
Raffik

 

[ceg4048]

I do have chiller attached to the canister filter and have set the temperature to 26c. I can set it to a colder temp but the chiller would kick in more frequently and also here in my place electric bills are more expensive..

Yes I understand that. Just dropping the water temperature from 30 to 26 will result in about 20% more CO2 dissolved in the water for the same injection rate.

I never thought I would be using liquid Co2 but today I have started dosing 5ml of Flourish Excel (5ml per 200Ltr). Is this enough?

You can use double or triple the bottle suggestions as long as you don't have any plants that respond negatively to Excel. Most stems and carpet plants are fine with that amount but liverworts and bladderworts can't handle that much.

What's the maximum number of days the plants can do without light and Co2?

That answer depends on how much food they have in reserve. Light and CO2 are used to make food. Light is at the top of the food chann so if you shut the light off then they don't make food and that also means they don't need CO2. Some plants have enough food in reserve to last many weeks, some only a few weeks.

How about using a glass LILY PIPE to replace the spray bar?

No.

Leave the bar at the horizontal.

Some people use airstones which creates bubbles and outgasses the CO2 and Oxygen from the tank, so I mentioned that in case you were using the airstone technique.

The biggest size that will fit into my cabinet is a 5L cylinder. I have 2 cylinders - a 3L and a 2L ( as a backup)

OK, that's fine, as long as you realize that the consumption under your conditions is going to be high, and as long as you have multiple cylinders, then you can plan accordingly and not be surprised. It's more important for you to understand that you need a lot of gas. Then there are no surprises or disappointments.

Cheers,

 

[Zak Rafik]

Thank Clive
I'm actually on the way to get a 5L tank for now and will monitor the consumption rate.

Take care
Raffik

 

[Zak Rafik]

Hi
Just a quick update.

Managed to get at a very reasonable price, 2 new pieces of 5 litre Co2 cylinder after trading in my old 2L and 3L tanks.

Hope thing work out smoothly.
Regards
Raffik

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums...6-9FB0-41AE-8109-B19638DCE38D_zpstygu8ptn.jpg

 

[ltsai]

Rafik, which lfs did you trade them with?

 

[Zak Rafik]

Hi Itsai
Its from Nature Aquarium located at Thomson Road. Their prices are fixed but from what I know, I can safely say the lowest. Speak to the male boss. He's a very reasonable person.
If you need the exact address let me know.
Cheers
Raffik