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Liseys Rio 125

Ok so I have a D&D disposable CO2 kit. It has a reg, one guage (the low pressure output one), then solenoid (which is constantly on atm to keep algae at bay not sure if this is right), then non return valve (built in) with the fine adjuster. This travels to the tank in AE clear hose to a glass diffuser from Chrisi (thanks again).

When setting it up I noticed I would set it to something then when I go back in say a day it would be different. Then once I noticed it said 2 bar which is a tad high (in the red!!!). So I turned it down and did nothing, turned it all the way off and then nothing. Got my fiance to mess with it and finally got it going. Went up there the other day and noticed the drop checker was dark green. Noticed NO bubbles. Canister seemed to have run out (after about 3 weeks).

Put new canister on (on Monday 1am), set it to 1.5 bar. Today went up there and noticed it was only on 0.4 bar and not many bubbles. Checked for leaks both time using fairy liquid and water but nothing.

Can someone help with whats going on or ask some questions to find out more? I know I need limeade colour constantly to kick the algae (though excel is doing a damn good job, growth good too) and that fluctuating levels will cause a bloom. Please help I'm pulling out my hair!


Dan - PM me your address so when I need to prune I have it saved. P. helferi doesnt seem to do well in bags for too long, so I had to throw some away on Monday. It did have quite a bit of algae and javamoss on it though, so I wouldn't want to "infect" your tank.

I should put some pics up as I had to prune the hygrophila rosanverig or whatever. Got rid of the vallis. Completely replanted the P. helferi as it was quite choked with algae and the hoover was taking it out of the substrate anyhow. This time I separated each plant and gave it much more room. The growth already is great. Took out the HC as it started floating. This meant more room for P.helferi and I pulled the left rocks forward a bit to let the hairgrass have some room. I got some Crypt balansae from my LFS (can't remember if I said) which is sending out some new leaves. Most things are growing with new vigour after the re-fresh.
 
Oh and I've just spent the last three days in the lab constantly making up dilutions and AAAAAR.

I take it back, the Ceg is a legend and must be obeyed. Teaspoons sounds great, I can do it at home and those figures sound really easy. Why use scales and work it out separately?

ALL HAIL CEGIPEDIA!!! :D

Btw are you sure you haven't done a degree to get all the info you know?
 
Lisa_Perry75 said:
Oh and I've just spent the last three days in the lab constantly making up dilutions and AAAAAR.

Teaspoons sounds great, I can do it at home and those figures sound really easy. Why use scales and work it out separately?

Btw are you sure you haven't done a degree to get all the info you know?

No, it´s just that I've already gone though the agony, been to the mountain top and saw the burning bush....descended the mountain with stone tablets in hand and with all relevant instructions etched in stone... :lol:

Single stage regulators are finiky and so are the smaller bottles. Ignore the pressure readings and just concentrate on the needle valve position and bubble count. I start from the opposite end in that I open the needle valve to maximum which tends to clear out any blockages in the line. With a fully open valve you should see massive bubles from the diffuser. If you don't see that then you might have a leak. At full throttle you might also be able to hear the hissing of a leak. Put some fairy liquid and water in a spray bottle and spray all joints. Leaks will sho up via large bubbles. Then slowly close the valve until you arrive at the bubble count. Remember that each time you reduce the valve opening you must wait until the excess pressure in the line bleeds off - that might take 5 minutes or so. Close the valve some more and wait. Do this iteratively until you get close to your desired bubble count. Subsequently, it may take hours for the dropchecker to change color so be patient.

Cheers,
 
Well my fiance set it up and whacked it up to full (i think) pressure, there was pretty big bubbles coming out the diffuser then I was yipping at him to turn it down before he broke my diffuser. He was saying something about clearing it out or something. I didn't hear a hissing...

I don't have a bubble counter as I was using just a bit of water in my diffuser to count bubbles but since it going to high pressure it blew the water out.

I was late this morning so didn't get a chance to check it but when I get home (7-8) I should make sure its the same. I should also buy a timer.

Ceg - should I have CO2 running constantly to beat the algae atm or should I do standard 2 hours before lights on and an hour before lights off? (this is in my case I remember you do yours for less).
 
Lisa_Perry75 said:
should I have CO2 running constantly to beat the algae atm or should I do standard 2 hours before lights on and an hour before lights off? (this is in my case I remember you do yours for less).
I had algae issues a while back so i got rid of the solanoid and ran CO2 24/7 and it's gone away, i dose easy carbo too now so that probably helped too.
 
Hi Lisa,
Like Dan says, 24/7 is another possibility but you can do it either way. If you are having difficulty just getting a steady bubble rate though then the issue is beyond 24/7 vs Timer. If you don't have any fish yet (which, you shouldn't have, precisely because of things like this) then it might be easier to do what Dan does and just crank it 24/7 at high levels. You'll consume more gas but so what? This will reduce one complication and make life simpler for now. Not having any fish for the moment will allow you to crank the gas without regard to toxicity and to get the the tank back on track so I concurr with Dan's idea for now. :D

Remember that Timer mode allows you to drive to much higher concentration levels but does add a layer of complexity.

Cheers,
 
Cheers for the replies guys, much appreciated.

Ceg - of course I followed your advice and haven't added any fish. Went up to my room earlier and drop checker is quite yellow though bubbles look about the same. Hmmm. Maybe monday I should just spend time checking the drop checker every hour or so and track the colour throughout the day...

TBH I don't have another timer, which is why I haven't used one. I was going to get one.

In general I have been majorly overdosing. I have used the principle of it would be much worse to underdose. So out of my 500mls of original solution I have about 200-300 left! That is some overdose. I do tend to do 75% w/c though. Haven't had much algae growth, got a little build up so I swished it off. Plants are going pretty well. Limnophila has reached the surface, P. helferi growing like the clappers. You shouldn't have to wait too long Dan!


John your Crypt. wendtii brown is growing pinkish! Sent out a few new leaves this week.
 
OK, keep it going and get some stability going. It's a good idea to track the color changes on the drop checker throughout the day because it give you an idea of the concentration profile. As the plants grow, the higher biomass will alter the daily profile. When you prune and remove biomass you will see another alteration in the profile. After a few weeks you can then start to slowly make adjustments to the injection rates as you prepare to add fish, or you can change to Timer mode and play with that.

I agree with your assessment that overdosing is not really a problem. Too many people freak out needlessly about adding nutrients and wind up having to deal with the consequences of underdosing. You'll be ahead of the game when you have proven to yourself that you can dose high nutrient levels without fear, knowing that the only disadvantage is that you have to buy more salts and mix up more solutions. :D

Cheers,
 
Okey dokey!

Well it started off like this:-
IMGP3211.jpg


Then I trimmed the Limnophila and hairgrass (some is brown), removed some old leaves and did a major w/c (around 75% not including water in the filter, which is substantial). Dosed excel, macros and micros. Left it a day. Transferred a few amanos, cherries and nerites. And also my 11 cardinals. Before anyone says anything the algae has almost gone and I'll be probably shutting the tank down (yes already :twisted: ) soon. Moving house issues are grrrrr. Gave me this:-

IMGP3234.jpg


I had to rip out everything in my little low tech tank to get them out so now that looks like this:-

IMGP3232.jpg


Oh and the amanos are amazing:-
IMGP3227.jpg

At one point 5 were on that rock going mad. Looks really clean today! Dropchecker a limeade colour.


Ooh my "balansae" was 3 cheap bunches from my lfs, and the leaves won't grow upwards, I don't know why! They seem to grow as you see on the far left.
 
Looks really nice, the doinoi at the front works well. If I were being really critical I think the lotus is a bit too central, but hey I'm no expert!

How long have you had the balansae? It may just need time to straighten out....or maybe it's a tortifolia variant ;) :lol:

I empathise with you and your house move. Did it a few months ago and it was hell. Still have boxes scattered around waiting to be unpacked. My tank was half full of water for over 2 months before I had time to do anything with it. Think of this as the practise run.

Oh, and I'd move house as well if I had that bright pink wall! :lol:
 
Walls are actually magnolia lol. I am a student and have to move my stuff to Salisbury, or maybe transfer straight to a new place. No idea whats happening there. Plus I am moving to Cambridge to the summer and maybe staying in a college, maybe not, god knows. I really hate uncertainty!!!
 
Ah the pink thing is a storage box on my table, can you see me? Hehe.

Thanks Sam! Don't worry I am keeping up with the pruning. Especially the hygrophila, as it blocks out the light for the blyxa which hasn't fully recovered. The P.helferi is going mad! Did you say you want some? When I send some to Daniel I could send some to you?
 
P. Helfri has sort of grown on me in recent months. I used to hate the look of it, but I can see its appeal now :) What sort of light conditions does it need? If you had a small amount spare could I be cheaky? :oops: ;)
 
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