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Newly setup planted tank

Joined
4 Jan 2010
Messages
91
Location
Sidcup, United Kingdom
I have just set up a new planted tank. It is a Juwel Rio 125 (33 US Gallons) it has 2 x 28w T5 bulbs in the hood that I am starting off at 6 hours a day and will slowly increase over the next few months.



The tank is pretty well planted as you can see in the picture. I am dosing using the EI Method as listed on http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/EI.htm. I have been dosing for about a week now and the water parameters seem to be the same as my tap water, so it seems like the dosing is not doing anything to water.

Also the tank has been running about a week and the water hasnt cleared too well should I do a 25% water change or wait untill end of week to do the 50% water change like the EI Method says? Their seems to be no Ammonia or Nitrites in my water after a week so does that suggest cycling has finished?

Would really appreciate peoples input.

Thanks
 
Nice looking tank.
At the beginning the more water changes you do the better but as your tank could be considered to the lower lighting side i think you can skip that and just do WC once a week.
Your ammonia and nitrites give zero redeangs because there are no fish in the tank therefore no ammonia source.
You might as well at least half you EI dosing because of the lower lighting and not so dense planting.
If i am not mistaken the place where you took the recipe from assumes that you have 4-5wpg lighting.
What about CO2, have you got any?
 
I did have a JBL pressurised system running but their seems to be a problem with the regulator because when the regulator is tight you still hear a hissing sound and the Co2 bottle is empty over night. So JBL are sending me a new regulator hopefully, for the time being I was going to dose 2ml of Easy carbo to provide the plants with some carbon.
 
I would dose 3-5ml on this size tank especially that you dont have any fish/shrimp in it. This will aliminate the risk of startup algae as well.
 
tommyleestaples said:
...I am dosing using the EI Method as listed on http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/EI.htm. I have been dosing for about a week now and the water parameters seem to be the same as my tap water, so it seems like the dosing is not doing anything to water.
Hi,
There are two possible reasons for this:
1. The nutrient uptake rate of the plants equals or exceeds the dosing rate.
2. Your test kits are faulty.

From what we know of lighting and CO2 impact on nutrient uptake it can be speculated that there is a more than likely chance that item 2 is the case.

tommyleestaples said:
Also the tank has been running about a week and the water hasnt cleared too well should I do a 25% water change or wait untill end of week to do the 50% water change like the EI Method says?
In all newly setup CO2 supplemented tanks one should always think about increasing the water change rate and quantity. This will also help to clear the water. If you have the time and energy to accomplish it I'd suggest that you do 2-3 50% or more water changes per week for the next few weeks.

tommyleestaples said:
Their seems to be no Ammonia or Nitrites in my water after a week so does that suggest cycling has finished?
No. The Nitrogen cycle in aquariums is a continuous process that never really ends. The ammonia and nitrite rise and fall that we anticipate (and which we refer to as "cycled") takes 6-8 weeks, so you are just getting started. Again, your test kits may not be telling you the whole truth. Additionally, healthy plants will uptake and consume ammonia which acts to attenuate the ammonia spike. The higher the plant biomass the better the attenuation.

Piece-of-fish said:
...Your ammonia and nitrites give zero redeangs because there are no fish in the tank therefore no ammonia source.
This is not entirely accurate. There are a couple of ammonia sources in a planted tank:
Source #1 -> The plants themselves. Plants are living, growing organisms. Their cells grow and die and are replaced by new cells. When these cells die they decay and this decay produces ammonia.

Source #2 -> Bacteria grow and die. Their bodies also decay and produce ammonia as a result of this decay. Ammonia is a product of organic decay. Anything alive in the tank will produce ammonia when it dies.

So you can see that the ammonia present in the tank is a result of a complicated set of interactions that involve both NH4 production and NH4 consumption. Fish in the tank would add to the interactions and would affect the dynamics, but they are by no means a necessary component for cycling a planted tank.

Cheers,
 
tommyleestaples said:
If i do 2-3 50% water changes a week then wont I be getting rid of the nutrients im dosing using the EI method?
Correct! In order to solve this dilemma therefore, one must then dose nutrients immediately after the water change. :thumbup:

Cheers,
 
tommyleestaples said:
I normally does in the morning before lights come on and then do water changes in the evening so would i dose again or not dose in the morning
Hi,
Your choice, but I'd opt to simply not dose that morning. Cheaper that way, I reckon...

Cheers,
 
Yes. Almost all structural problems are a direct result of Carbon starvation. The term "structural problems" refers to holes, translucency, browning, decay and deformation. There is a slight possibility that calcium deficiency is an issue but if you are using tap water then generally that possibility can be eliminated. Top priority is to fix either the CO2 or the flow/distribution or to lower the lights to address this.

Cheers,
 
I have very hard water KH 13 dKH 232.7 ppm GH 19 dGH 304.1 ppm so I dont think it will be down to calcium. The flow around my tank seems fine so it must be the CO2 I am hoping to get that back on as soon as I recieve the fixed/new regulator.
 
Great looking tank :clap: But may I ask where did you get the plants from and what are the small plants infront of each log? Thanks
 
Piece-of-fish wrote:...Your ammonia and nitrites give zero redeangs because there are no fish in the tank therefore no ammonia source.

This is not entirely accurate. There are a couple of ammonia sources in a planted tank:
Source #1 -> The plants themselves. Plants are living, growing organisms. Their cells grow and die and are replaced by new cells. When these cells die they decay and this decay produces ammonia.

Source #2 -> Bacteria grow and die. Their bodies also decay and produce ammonia as a result of this decay. Ammonia is a product of organic decay. Anything alive in the tank will produce ammonia when it dies.
Agree with that of course but the ammonia produced by those processes wont be enough to give you any test readings?
As well do you think the lighting has to be reduced further? its roughly 1,5wpg so should be fine especially with the liquid carbon.
 
Celestial said:
But may I ask where did you get the plants from and what are the small plants infront of each log? Thanks

I bought the plants from a LFS near me in Swanley. The plants on the left infront of the wood are Dwarf Hairgrass / Eleocharis Acicularius and the plants on the right are Micro Sword / Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae.
 
Piece-of-fish said:
Piece-of-fish wrote:...Your ammonia and nitrites give zero redeangs because there are no fish in the tank therefore no ammonia source.

This is not entirely accurate. There are a couple of ammonia sources in a planted tank:
Source #1 -> The plants themselves. Plants are living, growing organisms. Their cells grow and die and are replaced by new cells. When these cells die they decay and this decay produces ammonia.

Source #2 -> Bacteria grow and die. Their bodies also decay and produce ammonia as a result of this decay. Ammonia is a product of organic decay. Anything alive in the tank will produce ammonia when it dies.
Agree with that of course but the ammonia produced by those processes wont be enough to give you any test readings?
As well do you think the lighting has to be reduced further? its roughly 1,5wpg so should be fine especially with the liquid carbon.
Hi,
Ultimately, yes, as the bacterial populations grow and as more organic waste builds up in the tank this will happen. I believe the OP has only had the tank setup for a week or so. It may require a few weeks to see detectable levels but it will happen. As far as the lighting, 1.5wpg seems reasonable to me, but be reminded the "reasonable" is always within the context of the other parameters of the tank, so lets say flow/distribution was poor and CO2 was very poor, and that water changes were not being done - then all these add up to bad news and 1.5wpg may then be all of a sudden unreasonable, see what I mean? It's difficult to come up with a rigid formula because there are so many variables. Generally however, I agree that 1.5wpg T5 for a medium size tank ought not to be a problem.

Cheers,
 
I think I will keep the lights on for a period of 6 hours and I am hoping to to get the Co2 fixed asap, but for now I may dose with Easy Carbo as someone recommended to dose that for the time being but between 3-5 ml as I do not have any fish.
 
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