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You need to add some remineralisation, as you are notably missing calcium from your dosing. You don't need a lot of it, if you don't intend to have any shrimp or snails, but the plants do need some.


I will start to add a scoop of shrimp king kh+ gh once a week with water change... could this be the issue with the plant growth?
 
I will start to add a scoop of shrimp king kh+ gh once a week with water change... could this be the issue with the plant growth?

I wouldn't bother with the Shrimp King if it adds to the KH, that's unnecessary. Just grab some Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) - you already have the Magnesium Sulphate (MgSO4). I use RO, and I don't include the MgSO4 in my macro mix, but instead just dose it separately after a water change to remineralise based on the water change quantity and the dGH I want to target.

So assuming you change 120 litres of water a week on your tank, you remineralise your 120 litres to a chosen dGH target. The ratio of calcium to magnesium is something for debate, but many people use a 3:1 ratio, and I do the same. A side bonus of that if you're dry dosing is that if you simply use the same physical weight of CaCl2 and MgSO4, it comes out pretty close to that 3:1 ratio, so easier to remember and minimises effort.

So, say you target 3dGH, you'd add about 6 grams (about one teaspoon measure) of each to your 120 litres (or directly to the tank after changing the 120 litres). For a target of 6dGH, which is closer to your 10ppm EI target for Mg, just double that (so 2 x teaspoons of each after the water change).
 
could this be the issue with the plant growth?

It could be, as a calcium deficiency does apparently cause stunting of leaves. It's just not very frequently encountered as there is never a shortage of it for tap water users, and most RO users add it in abundance even if they target a low dGH.
 
So as luck would have it my co2 ran out two days ago and I have had to wait until today before re-stocking.

This had given me a chance to get a reading for the de-gassed water...
 

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So as suggested I have made a couple of changes..

Large waterchange and then dosed calcium.

Raised the lily pipe to create more surface movement, moved the stainless inlet and outlet to the opposite corner to the lily pipes to increase flow.

Now I will aim to get a 1.0ph drop for lights on and then keep them rate stable for the lighting period.

Video below
 
You need to add some remineralisation, as you are notably missing calcium from your dosing. You don't need a lot of it, if you don't intend to have any shrimp or snails, but the plants do need some.

Calcium arrived today, I added a tea spoon to the tank- is it possible to add to my ei mix?

Thanks

Chris
 
Calcium arrived today, I added a tea spoon to the tank- is it possible to add to my ei mix?

Thanks

Chris

No, it'll react with other elements in the mix, and precipitate out. Keep it separate. You can make up a solution with it though, which is sometimes easier to dose, and mixes more easily.
 
Thanks Wookii, did a 50% water change last night and once the filters were restarted I mixed 6g of calcium in a measuring jug of water.. swirled it around until dissolved and added to the tank.

You mentioned adding more for shrimp... how much would be right? Would I also need to increase magnesium to compensate?

Thanks

Chris
 
You mentioned adding more for shrimp... how much would be right? Would I also need to increase magnesium to compensate?

It depends on the shrimp you want to keep. About 5-6 dGH is a good starting point for most shrimp, Neocaridina (such at cherry shrimp) do better with a bit more, Caridina can have a little less, but in my experience Caridina seem to struggle in a CO2 injected tank, perhaps the one exception being Amano's.

Tangerine Tigers (a wild type Caridina) are an option if you want to keep the water TDS low - mine seem to be breeding well in 3-4 dGH, but again, I'm not sure how they would get on with CO2 injection.

Either way you'd need to start getting the CO2 levels down before adding any livestock, as level that cause a yellow drop checker will be too high for most critters.
 
Morning all,

I believe co2 is now on track.

100% degassed aquarium water is ph 7.68.

Now at lights on we are at 6.66 and this drops tp 6.65 by the end of the lighting period.

Plant growth is yet to improve but I guess these things take time, will post so updated images in a week to see if everything is heading in the right direction.

Many thanks

Chris
 
I finally have something I can contribute. I am using an Apex to control my CO2 via. pH monitoring. Here is my pH profile. I like to keep my pH between 6.7 and 6.75 during the photo period.

I noticed my pH was not rising back up as much as I expected during the night. I even have an Eheim Skimmer running the whole time. So I first added an air stone for one night, temporaryly, to see if it made any difference and boy it did. Then I bought a more permanent one and added that yesterday.

1664378154139.png



Looking farther back,

1664378455393.png
 
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Thanks for this!

Currently running with no fish so believe they're are no detrimental effect on the plants. Similar experience in my tank with the pH remaining quite low throughout the night compared with totally de-gassed aquarium water.

Chris
 
Hi all,

What a lovely thread!

Just saying: I don’t buy into the rubisco thing, nor the stability.

Anyways, here is my most recent thoughts on the topic for the OP (just to throw a wrench into the discussion):
Post in thread 'A reflection - putting it all into one scape'
A reflection - putting it all into one scape

The advice is fine and will yield success, but it’s not gospel.

If I was a plant, I wouldn’t be regulating rubisco for free co2 in water … what if the water level drops and I get access to air?

@Chrispowell stay the course with the profile and stability etc - it will work!
 
Thanks for adding to this great thread!

I just read through your journal and even if some of it went over my head I will like the ideas and results!

My tanks looking better, plant growth is improving and the only remaining algae is some hair on moss and bolbitis/buce.

I have a theory that this will go with a greater healthy plant mass? This is my next journey anyway..

Thanks

Chris
 
Here's some images
 

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Another question all 😂😂

To test the theory that flow could still be inadequate could I add the wave maker back in or can too much flow be detrimental (currently not live stock).

Thanks
 
Another question all 😂😂

To test the theory that flow could still be inadequate could I add the wave maker back in or can too much flow be detrimental (currently not live stock).

Thanks
I am running a Nero 3 in my 40 gallon tank and I have it near 70%. It does blow some plants around and is a LOT of flow but my plants and fish don't mind. Only issue is because this littlep ump moves so much water, I have to keep the back covered with a 3D printed guard. Otherwise some of my smaller fish might get sucked in and get chopped up.

As long as the fish and plants are happy, my opinion is you can never have too much flow.
 
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