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JBL u402 CO2 system and Easycarb?

Flyfisher

Seedling
Joined
21 Jul 2012
Messages
14
Hi,

I have had my planted tank running for over 2 years now and have always used easycarb and profito fertilser.

I have just set up a JBL proflora u402 system and I was wondering if it would be worthwhile to keep adding a small dose of easycarb for purely anti-algae reasons (I have almost a full 500ml bottle of easycarb left that I only just opened)
I have a small amount of BBA and green spot algae but the 3 siamese algae eaters, 6 zebra snails and 2 ancistrus keep it mostly in check.

I am a bit worried in case I poison my fish by dosing easycarb as well as CO2.

My tank is a Rio 180 with 2 x juwel T5 tubes with reflectors. (Up until recently I also had a third T8 tube running as well but have done away with it to see if the algae will improve) I also have a small eheim compact 300 pump running for extra circulation.

Thanks for any replies

Alan
 
Hi Alan,
there is no reason you cant use both, i do with no ill effects to the fish and the more carbon available to your plants the better, plus the algaecide is an added benefit.
BBA is usually down to fluctuationg co2, and gsa can be down to low phosphate levels.
Now your running pressurised you will probably see an improvement in bba and id look at increasing phosphate fertiliser dosing to combat the gsa....however this too may go with more stable c02, your now reduced lighting intensity and likely improved plant growth, so maybe worth hanging fire to see.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Thanks for the very helpful reply, Ady34.

I think I will keep dosing easycarb at just the regular dose for a while yet. (I was dosing it at almost double the dose before I got CO2)

I also read through your brilliant "Dragons Crypt" journal too. That is one of the most beautiful tanks I have ever seen. Congrats.

I saw that at one stage you had a rate of 4 bubbles per sec on your bubble count. I started off on sat with 10 bubbles per min, then went up to 15 yesteday. My indicator is still dark blue so I knocked it up again to 20 bpm today when I got home from work.

Here is a pic of my tank.

DSCF0119.jpg


I might try to get a bit more adventurous with my plants once the CO2 is fully up and running


Thanks again

Alan
 
No problem Alan,
steady away is definitely the best way with pressurised c02 as its all too easy to gas the fish (as you may have read in my journal :( ) 4bps for me ended up being far too little and it ended up being an uncountable number to achieve the right levels :crazy: Every tank is different though, the bubble counter itself can be a variant from one brand to another, never mind surface agitation, diffuser type etc etc so definitely best to dial it in slowly in the interests of the fish.
I too stick with recommended dosing of liquid carbon alongside gas injection, just as an extra top up really. However it may be worthwhile continuing your almost double dosing of liquid carbon until you get your gas c02 up to speed, this way your plants wont suffer any deficiency at all as the only change will be an additional source of carbon in the form of the gas. You can then drop it down once your achieving a lime green drop checker.
Thanks for your compliment too, it looks like your already having great success in your tank and the gas c02 will only enhance this.
Keep us posted,
cheerio,
Ady.
 
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