Great article and lots of good insight about CO2 delivery. I am here cause I have an issue and hoping someone can shed a light on it. Just recently set up a 220 gallon tank (72" L x 30" H x 24" D) for a friend. It has been a week since the setup and I am losing a lot of plants due to a major meltdown. I have been dosing EI since the following day of the tank setup regularly as advised and recommended for a tank my size. Both macro and micro nutrients has been dosed regularly for 5 days. When the tank was filled after the aquascape was done, it was filled with only cold water and all 3 lights turned. CO2 was pumped into the tank the next following day and has been set to turn on an hour before the light comes on. A photoperiod of 6 hours per day is used daily. A 50% water change was made on Day 5 and dosing of ferts commences as usual. I am dosing NPK & CSM+B for the past 6 days and today is day 7.
My drop checker solution was added into drop checker and tank water was used to measure the levels. I have never changed the solution in the drop checker since then and the PH has remained from solid green when the lights go on and turns to lime green by the end of the day.
From Day 3 I have been noticing some issues with the plants in the tank. My Java moss that has been used on top of the driftwood has turned brown. Anubias nana, java ferns, java ferns lace is melting and leaves turning yellow, green, has holes on it. Some plants that has been planted has been melting too like my Staurogyne Repens. Riccia Fluitans tied to rocks showed some signs of melting but now is slowly improving. Below is the list of plants that was planted into the tank:-
1. Java Fern- Glued them down to the driftwood with crazy glue. ( Melting, turning black to brown on some leaves)
2. Java Fern Lace – Glued them down to the driftwood with crazy glue. ( Completely turned to mush and was brown/black)
3. Anubias Nana – Glued them down to the driftwood with crazy glue. ( Leaves showing signs of deficiency e.g. yellow coloration, dropping off, light green )
4. Bacopa Caroliana - Planted into the substrate. ( Looks healthy)
5. Hemianthus micranthemoides – Planted into the substrate. (Some stems have turned brown and has melted)
6. HC Cuba – Planted into the substrate. ( Looks normal but not great either)
7. Baby Tears Giant –Planted into the substrate. ( Looks normal but not great either)
8. Taiwan Moss – Glued them down to the driftwood with crazy glue. (A little brown)
9. Glossostigma Elatinoides – Planted into the substrate. ( Some leaves melted but I can notice some growth)
10. Staurogyne repens – Planted into the substrate. ( Some has melted, some shows signs of growth)
11. Riccia Fluitans - Tied to rock slabs and scattered throughout the tank. ( Melted in the begining but slowing showing signs of growth on the rocks)
12. Java Moss - Attached to the top of the driftwood. (Turned brown on Day 3. Had to remove some portions and moved it into a low light tank. Some leaves are turning green slowly)
13. Pennywort - Planted into the substrate. ( The healthiest of all the plants. Nice bright green and looks awesome)
These are my specs for the tank:-
Hardscape: Driftwoods bought from Big Al's LFS
Rocks: Yamaya rocks and some random rocks found from rock quarries that has been aquascaped into the tank.
Substrate: NETLEA Brown Soil (5L) – 26 bags Mid Size Grain (Think of this as the Chinese version of the ADA Aquasoil and it has worked amazing for me in the past in my previous aquascapes. It has water buffering capabilities and maintains the PH at a steady PH of 6.6. )
Decoration White Sand (12KG)- 8 bags
Substrate Base Additives:NETLEA BASE FERTILIZER 500ML - 4 units
Bacteria : Biozym - 2 bottles. ( Sprinkled at the bottom of the tank )
Lighting for high light high tech setup: 666 watts of lighting in total – 3 metal halide lighting unit with compact fluorescent. Each lighting unit has (150 Watts x 36 watts x 36 watts). These are suspended over a metal bar off the tank.
Filtration System: 2 Big Canister Filters with a 1350 GPH turnover rate together.
Co2 Setup – 10lb Co2 setup with solenoid valve, check valve, 4 in 1 diffuser with check valve. ( The CO2 is placed under the inflow of one of the filters and the outflow is placed beside the inflow and pointed down for CO2 distribution. A glass drop checker with a 4DKH solution is placed opposite of the tank to measure PH levels.
This is my dosing schedule:-
Day 1
- Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) : 2 tsp
- Monopotassium Phosphate (KH2 PO4) : ¼ tsp x 3
- Magnesium Sulphate: (MgSO4) : 5 ½ tsp
Day 2
Day 3
- Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) : 2 tsp
- Monopotassium Phosphate (KH2 PO4) : ¼ tsp x 3
- Magnesium Sulphate: (MgSO4) : 5 ½ tsp
Day 4
Day 5
- Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) : 2 tsp
- Monopotassium Phosphate (KH2 PO4) : ¼ tsp x 3
- Magnesium Sulphate: (MgSO4) : 5 ½ tsp
Day 6 & 7: REST
So since the meltdown, I have reduced the lights turning on only the middle metal halide lighting unit with compact fluorescent and only the compact fluorescents turned on for the other 2 lights. The same photo period of 6 hours is being applied and it is Day 7 today.
I have acquired the plants from various sources and have no idea is they have been grown emmersed or submersed. There are no livestock in the tank as of yet until I figure out what is causing the melting of the plants.
If someone can shed some light I would be very grateful as I have gone through various forums and have not found a satisfactory answer from other fellow aquascapers hence wanting to post it here. I have been aquascaping for years and have had some great results but kinda stumped now seeing how I am unable to figure this situation out.
I have attached 2 videos of the tank setup below.
Thanks!
Martin.