has anyone tried master soil and and master gravel available in italy from wave imported from japan I suspect similar to ada but cheaper I hope to get some to try and will report back peter
Never heard of it. Do you have any links, Peter? It would be nice to see you reply to one of my posts...
hi george Iwill be setting up a state of the art high tec planted tank featuring the latest technology based around the dennerle methods will be using latest ph contolers and new unsderoil heatingmethods together with some new plants from tropica hope to go live on the pfk website within the next couple of weeks so watch this space will appreciate members imput as we all will learn from the year long experiment peter
Hi Peter, Interesting that you are using pH controllers and substrate heating. Latest thinking is that these are a waste of money and do very little for plant growth and long-term aquarium health. Dennerle will tell you different, of course... Anyway, I look forward to following the blog on the PFK.
Is this because the controllers sacrifice stable CO2 for a stable pH? What kind of pH swing occurs in a fully planted tank with CO2 but without a controller (average Kh, say 6)?
The problems I see with pH controllers are that firstly the CO2 flow rate is set relatively high to make the pH drop. Then when the pH has attained a certain preset value the CO2 is cut off until the pH rises to an inbuilt value a bit higher than the preset value. This start / stop causes CO2 levels to fluctuate which is far from ideal. Secondly even the best pH probes drift slowly which will cause a change in CO2 levels. Thirdly having wood, phosphate or other pH buffering compounds will modify the pH and cause CO2 levels to change. This is most apparant after doing water changes when water parameters change. And lastly but not least if the pH controller were to malfunction then you would be adding loads more CO2 than required due to the higher flow rate. The one area where a pH controller can be handy is as a safety device where you set the controller at a lower level than normally maintained by using a constant bubble rate. pH change due to gas isn't a problem and I have normally found there is a pH difference of about 0.4 between night and day levels. James
I hear what you say george but have used them in the past and my own experience shows a spert in growth about this time of year when the undersoil heating kicks in also bulbs do well with some bottom warmth you are also converting you substrate inyo a huge but slow biological filter .Ilike proving exprts wrong peter
I hear you too, Peter. Proving experts wrong is fun isn't it? But you need controlled experiements to do so. Tom Barr would have a field day with this thread. How can you be sure it is not coincidental that growth is improved with the substrate heating? Wouldn't the bulbs react anyway to the seasonal change? My crypts have put on a huge amount of growth recently too, for no apparent reason I can think of. No substrate heating though. Isn't the substrate a slow biological filter anyway with no heating? I'm sure it is. Food for thought, anyway. I look forward to the results, thanks for sharing. Will you be running another blog on the PFK site?
Another substrate worth watching out for is a substrate called 'Gex' its similar to ADA Aquasoil in nutrient content but a lot harder, it does not break down to easily, its a clay but it has been fired longer than aquasoil, its getting good reviews on forums in Asia.
Hi george Iam am going to set up two identical tanks both same light same water same substate Iwill subdevide some of the tropica plants into two plants each small tank the will the same layout one will have undersoli heating one wont and we will see if there is any difference peter
Sounds great! What plants will you be using? Heavy root-feeders may show the biggest difference, if there is one, of course! That will make a great feature for PFK and I'm sure the online planted community will be very interested too...
