# My first planted aquarium.. 80x45x60 cm



## Solex (27 Jan 2013)

Hi all!

After Malawi's and not having a aquarium in a few years I am finally getting a planted aquarium!

The aquarium will be a optiwhite open aquarium, 80x45x60 cm, 216 liters. It is not ready yet.
Our house is situated on a corner, sunlight from all directions, the only place to have one is in the kitchen. Its a DIY cabinet, this is how it looks like..






As a light I have ordered a Maxspect r420r 160W unit, it is a dim able and programmable LED unit.
I think that it will be hung from the ceiling to spread out the focused light a bit. Sanj has a same light and he told me that it probably needs a bit more elevation then the legs provide.
There was no stock at the dealer, so the light had to be ordered in China, I hope they process it before the Chinese new year 

Two JBL cristalprofi filters, a e1501 and e901, total 2300 liter per hour.
Two Upaqua Atomizers, one for each filter. Not sure how I can hook them both to one pressurized regulator..?
Pressurized 1,5kg Co2 bottle, solenoid, valve, hose and Dennerle long term test.
Heating is a Hydor 200w ETH, but the aquariums cabinet is on top of a floor heating pump, I don't think that it will need allot of extra heating.
As a soil I still have no clue, there are so many products available, in my daughters little shrimp tank I have used dubel baked Akadama, its still hard after 6 months.
I will use the EI index and am still a bit confused about how i all works, got to read a bit more on that.
Why should I even bother with a expensive soil (ADA/Colombo/EBI) if all the needs of the plants are provided in the water column / EI index ..
There probably is a need for a good soil, but I have still not figured out why..

Thanks for reading so far!


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## Ady34 (27 Jan 2013)

Looks excellent so far, very neat and tidy and well presented.

There are multi co2s splitters available to run more than one diffuser from a single cylinder....ill try look them up, but easerthegeeser (Iain) I think knows of them and may be able to point you in the right direction if he reads this first.

As regards soils, they are basically nutrient rich like the ADA range and allow root feeders easy access to ferts. They also due to their absorption qualities can take nutrients from the water column so kind if reenergise themselves. The main benefit though is they allow a little dosing leniency, for example if your away from home for a few days and can't dose ferts daily. There are many successful tanks that run without though, and aesthetically you may prefer another substrate alternative. Good water column dosing and perhaps root tabs for heavy root feeders will be more than adequate.

Looking forward to following progress.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Arana (27 Jan 2013)

looking very cool in that cabinet! i bet you can't wait to get the tank on there, looking forward to seeing the progres shots


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## nayr88 (27 Jan 2013)

Spot on mate 

Really good approach to a planted tank. You right in what you saying about why use the expensive stuff when I candies the coloumn, the only reason people do it is more of a safety barrier is they can not get to the tank to dose ad generally the appearance is much nicer than cat litter or some gravels. 

You could always add a layer of nutrients under the gravel, osmocote is quite popular to sprinkle on the base of the tank before the gravel.


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## kirk (27 Jan 2013)

Hi I like what you done so far, very in keeping is the cabinet.should compliment the new opti white tank well. Look forward to seeing pics of it all set up and running. it all looks well thought out.


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## Ady34 (28 Jan 2013)

Solex said:


> Not sure how I can hook them both to one pressurized regulator..?


found some examples:
CO2 Druckminderer US2 mit Nachtabschaltung 1-6 fach
co2 splitter | eBay
hope this helps 
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## Solex (28 Jan 2013)

Thank you all for the compliments!

Does it need to be a regulated splitter? or can I just use a simple T ?
Not sure if a atomizer will get dirty and clog up.
Ebay

Just got a email that the aquarium is ready for pickup, its a bit of a drive (3 hours) to the shop.
Hopefully I get the chance to pick it up this week!
The lights will take a while to arrive, so iam not in a rush. Well.. iam actually, I can't wait 
Going to read a bit more in to EI and soils.

Thanks again!


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## Ady34 (28 Jan 2013)

Solex said:


> Does it need to be a regulated splitter? or can I just use a simple T ?


Hi, regulated is best, that way you have control of the c02 and where it goes. Like most things the gas will take the easiest route so without regulation there would most likely be a bias to one diffuser or the other. Id also add a bubble counter after each split so you can guesstimate injection rate to each diffuser.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## ceg4048 (28 Jan 2013)

Solex said:


> There probably is a need for a good soil, but I have still not figured out why..


 Hi Alex,
There is no "need" for expensive sediments if you are also dosing the water column, and if you are disciplined about dosing. There are several reasons for buying expensive substrates. See my comments in the threads Improving inert substrates | UK Aquatic Plant Society and Flora max V Eco complete | UK Aquatic Plant Society

Cheers,


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## Solex (1 Feb 2013)

Thank you for the suggestions.
I have bought a brass 2 way splitter.

http://www.ebay.nl/itm/130832396414?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## Solex (5 Feb 2013)

We just came home with the aquarium and some spiderwood. Chucked in the wood and I have made a quick photo..
EI index Fertilizers are on the way, brass co2 splitter also. I saw Rasbora Galaxies today .. wow! pretty fish 

Need to decide on:
- the background, what window foil to get, perhaps some sand/brown color..
- ADA or Oliver Knott soil.. I guess that I will buy the cheapest of the two..

And I need to paint the wall's, no hurry here.. Lights are still not here for a few weeks.
Superbowl internet download here I come!! (Busy week and I have no clue who won)


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## krazypara3165 (5 Feb 2013)

Wow, thats a fantastic bit of wood!


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## Solex (7 Feb 2013)

I added the water report of my local tap watersupply.


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## Solex (7 Feb 2013)

Iam testing the waterflow and equipment, one small leak (small drop) on one of the hose connections.
I seem to have a nice flow from the front of the glass downward to the bottom, then over the bottom to the backglass.
Spray of the spraybar is hitting the frontglass, and halfway up the tank its going back upwards too.

Co2 is running also, 2.5 bar, no mist out of the spraybar, but I can see very small bubbles everywere, not sure if its the bubbles of the newly added water in the tank or Co2.
The tank is still heating up, I hate these cold days 

20 liters of Oliver Knott's nature soil have been ordered also.


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## Solex (8 Feb 2013)

Co2 at the start.




after 60 minutes




After 180 minutes








Little bit too much eh? KH8 according to my water suppliers test report


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## LondonDragon (8 Feb 2013)

Solex said:


> Little bit too much eh? KH8 according to my water suppliers test report


If you don't have any fish in the tank its perfect


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## ceg4048 (8 Feb 2013)

Lexy,
		You need to have distilled water adjusted to an alkalinity of 4 dkH in the dropchecker, not tank water or tap water, otherwise you will run into trouble interpreting the color on the DC. You can buy 4dkH water at many of our sponsors but it may also be available on Dutch vendor websites.

Cheers,


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## Solex (9 Feb 2013)

So the blue water in the dennerle tester is no good?
Why does Dennerly not provide it with 4dkh then?

So far I can not find it in a online fish shop out here..

:confuzed: 


Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## ceg4048 (9 Feb 2013)

Hi Lexy,
			Sorry mate, I have no idea what Dennerle is up to these days. I don't see their products in use very often so I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Do you have a link to that product or can you quote info from the booklet that came with it? They sell you blue water? Is that in a separate package, or is it included? Do you change the blue water periodically? That might in fact be the 4dkh water. It's important to know what you have so you can more easily troubleshoot if things go awry.

Cheers,


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## bape (9 Feb 2013)

perfect spot to fit the aquarium. look forward to seeing the progress


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## discusdan (9 Feb 2013)

yeah this looks like its gonna be a great set up, cant wait for more.


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## Solex (9 Feb 2013)

ceg4048 said:


> Lexy,
> You need to have distilled water adjusted to an alkalinity of 4 dkH in the dropchecker, not tank water or tap water, otherwise you will run into trouble interpreting the color on the DC. You can buy 4dkH water at many of our sponsors but it may also be available on Dutch vendor websites.
> 
> Cheers,


  Hold on!
Do you mean that I need to add 4dkh water into the dropchecker and the blue fluid that comes with the drop checker?
Or only the 4dkh water?


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## ceg4048 (10 Feb 2013)

No mate, that's not what I meant. What I said was that I have no idea what the blue water is and that it could very well be a mixture of 4dKH water plus pH reagent, in which case problem solved and no further action required. Check the instructions to find out what it is.

Most DC kits are sold with only the DC and some pH reagent, so you'd have to buy the 4dKH water separately. Some kits even state in the instructions to use tank water, which is wrong. Recently, since we have been complaining about this, vendors have started mixing pH reagent with 4dKH water and shipping the mix with the DC kit. If that's what Denerle does then you're fine as is, but you need to understand this when the the water runs out. They may charge outrageous amounts of money for more blue water and you need to understand what the water is composed of (and what it should be composed of) so that you will understand your purchasing options.

Cheers,


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## Solex (12 Feb 2013)

Yesterday we have drained the aquarium, emptied the hoses and filters, painted the walls of the kitchen and added window foil on two sides of the tank.
Aquacompleet.nl mailed me that the led lights have arrived in the Netherlands and are awaiting customs clearance. 


Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## Solex (12 Feb 2013)




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## Solex (13 Feb 2013)




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## martinmjr62 (13 Feb 2013)

This is gonna look nice 
what plants are you thinking of using

Cheers
Martin


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## Solex (13 Feb 2013)

Not sure yet!
I was planning to use Aquarium planten en toebehoren koopt u bij Aquaplantsonline  - Aquaplantsonline : for all of my plants.

Bolbitis heudelotii
Microsorium pteropus
seem to work well together when they are combined on wood.

For the rest I have no clue yet, Eleocharis acicularis (Naaldgras) or it shorter version the parvula perhaps?
iam a plant noob


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## Solex (15 Feb 2013)




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## Solex (15 Feb 2013)




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## Deano3 (16 Feb 2013)

lighting looks great  and love the scape, looking forward to watching this one 

Dean


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## Solex (28 Feb 2013)

First photos after a week.
Hairgrass isnt really soing much, some of it has melted and most has darkened more then when it was planted. Other plants growing very slowly and creating fresh leaves.


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## ceg4048 (28 Feb 2013)

Hi Lexy,
			Looking nice so far. A week is nothing in the life of a tank so I really wouldn't worry too much about the rate of growth. As long as you are getting some growth to replace the failing leaves then a little browning and melting is acceptable. Do not become impatient.

Cheers,


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## Solex (28 Feb 2013)

Hi Clive, no rush here.
All other plants look nice, small melting here and there.. 
No algea, temperature is 22-23C, low lights, short period of light and there are more bubbles of Co2 in the tank then there is in 7up.

Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## Solex (28 Feb 2013)

Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## Solex (9 Mar 2013)




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## Solex (9 Mar 2013)




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## Solex (9 Mar 2013)

A week further, I must admit that I had expected some more growth in the tank.
Not in a rush but the only thing that shows progres is the polysperma on the left side of the tank, they have grown about 20cm after they were planted. They are alot denser on the lower side.
Hygrophila Pinnatifada is growing sideways, some leaves are browing so they look pretty ok.


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## ceg4048 (9 Mar 2013)

Hi Lexy,
			 You have sacrificed growth rate for survival. The light intensity, which is the main driver for speed, has been reduced, and the temperature has been lowered to 22, which also reduces the metabolism.

When you're  thinking to yourself how disappointing it is to have such slow growth rates you should immediately consider that you do not have algae or mass die-off.

The stems on the far left should be cut and replanted. More roots in the substrate helps both plants and substrate. Keeping them low will also prevent premature blocking of flow.

If your lighting is low enough then you can increase the photoperiod gradually to enhance growth rates.

Cheers,


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## Solex (12 Mar 2013)

Thank you for the tips Clive!
I am not disappointed, just my expectations were to high, I thought that there would be more happening in the growth rate. Just a bit impatient I guess.. 

Stems on the left cut back and the tops replanted.
The hairgrass has melted to about 15% of its original planting.
The light settings upped with 10%, temperature is still 22-23C.

Doing 50% water changes every third day. Dosing EI every day, till the water changes reduce.
Makro: dosing 40ml. Bottle with 480ml boiled tap water, 36gr NO3, 5.2gr PO4, 43.9gr SO4
Mikro: dosing 60ml. Bottle with 480ml boiled tap water, 8.45gr CSM+B

Co2 rate still pretty high, (not on the 7up level though) when can I reduce that to find the right level? Seems to be kind of tricky to find out how much is to much..

And no algae!


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## ceg4048 (13 Mar 2013)

Lexy,
	   Why on Earth are you boiling your water?

There is no such thing as too much CO2 from a plant's perspective. That only has to do with fish. That's why you have a dropchecker. It's not something to worry about at this point.

Cheers,


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## jimwalsh (13 Mar 2013)

good work fella

it takes a bit of time to get used to the pace of growth in a new tank (well it does for impatient buggers like me)

but once you become accustomed to it I found myself surprised by how quickly things can grow


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## Solex (13 Mar 2013)

Alright, ill keep adding a overdose CO2. I can hear it fizzz on the surface side of the water 
The boiled water was just there, it needed warm water to dissolve it, as by its instructions. So I used that beacuse I just made tea


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## Solex (13 Mar 2013)

Bubbles everywere!


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## ceg4048 (14 Mar 2013)

Hi Lexy,
			 If you want to improve the effectiveness of your CO2 for now then just cover the tank with cling film or any clear material to slow it's escape from the tank.

Cheers,


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## Solex (21 Mar 2013)

Diatoms have arrived.. reduced the light back to last week settings.


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## Solex (21 Mar 2013)

Just poked around with the hose and rubbed off the diatoms of the plants and wood.
60% water change.
I had surface scum also, the co2 bubbles made it sticky and it can be removed with a net


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## ceg4048 (21 Mar 2013)

Hi Lexy,
			If the diatoms persist you might be able to do a blackout to reset. Where did the diatoms appear first? I'm wondering if you have a blocked flow issue because the size of the wood.

This is the penalty of impatience. I always consider a start-up tank to be the same as a hospital tank for plants. I don't really worry too much about speed of growth. That happens automatically when everything else works efficiently. The thing to worry about is figuring out what works and what doesn't in that particular tank. For example, you may need to rearrange the spraybar position. You may even need to rearrange the hardscape slightly. Some plants may do better in different locations. These are the riddles which must be solved, so the absolute last thing that should be on the agenda is increased light/speed.

Cheers,


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## Solex (21 Mar 2013)

Hi Clive!

The diatoms started near the surface (10cm below) on the horizontal branches.
There is some also on the substrate near the front of the glass were there is alot of flow.

Co2 level is high 24/7, it fizzzes on the surface. I have been following the trail of small bubbles, but it does not look like that there are spots with low flow. At the spots were the diatoms occure is alof of flow.

Lighting levels are still low, it did not pump it up hard the last week. just increased it with 8% or so.

Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## Solex (24 Mar 2013)

Just did a 50% water change, the diatoms are still there, but it seems to get less, although slightly (or is it me hoping to hard?) its not bad, but its there.
Bolbitis H (Melted) and have been almost all cut down to the rhizome. (remove the rhizomes? or is there a chance that they regrow new leaves?)
Microsorium (only the larger leaves) have been cut, they were failing.
Opened the smallest filter to clean the sponge, but there was hardly anything in it.

Added Blyxia japonica, 7 stems (submerged) and some more stems of a plant that I do not know the name of.
Fiddled with the spraybars too..


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## ceg4048 (24 Mar 2013)

HI mate,
			Yes it's very strange with all that CO2 you're pumping in that you are getting melting. That plus the diatoms means that the lighting is stronger than you think.

There is a chance the bolbitis will recover so leave if for now and reduce the lighting some more.

Cheers,


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## Solex (25 Mar 2013)

Maybee that the plants were damaged in the shipping proces, it was a very cold week then.. 

I was planning to only do one 50% water change from this week, but is that smart with the diatoms?


Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## ceg4048 (25 Mar 2013)

Hi Lexy,
			I don't think so mate. They would have had to be already rotting to be unable to recover with that amount of CO2 and nutrition. Any algal attack is best addressed with more water changes and reduction of lighting. Diatoms are fundamentally caused by too much light and is exacerbated by poor distribution/CO2. Since your CO2 is high then that leaves light and distribution. It's a very simple logic diagram for algae.

Cheers,


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## Solex (28 Mar 2013)

back to 24% light, there is still diatoms on parts of the wood and substrate, its not expanding, but it is there and only on the parts were there is high flow.
Could it be that iam dosing to much Ferts?

added a few more cryptos and microsorum mini.


Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## ceg4048 (29 Mar 2013)

Solex said:


> Could it be that iam dosing to much Ferts?


No.

Cheers,


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## Solex (29 Mar 2013)

Haha, thank you for the direct approach 8)


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## ceg4048 (30 Mar 2013)

Hi Lexy,
			A more reasonable assumption, despite it's seeming absurdity, is that even at only 24% power, there is still too much light. Without a PAR meter it's impossible to tell but check online to see if  anyone has a review of this fixture with measurements.Plants don't need nearly as much light as we think they do, and that's the root cause of most of our problems.

In any case, diatom algae happens a lot in immature tanks and often goes away by itself after a few weeks. Diatom algae is one of the most successful species on the planet and it's one of those that are first to colonize. There are over 10,000 varieties. In fact, most of the yearly Oxygen production of the planet comes from diatoms, so theoretically, we should welcome their persistence. That's little consolation, I know...

Cheers,


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## Solex (30 Mar 2013)

Hi Clive,

I have been searching for par readings, but I cant find them for the 10.000k version of this unit.

I know that you cannot see par with your naked eye, but when the lights are at 24% its way to dark for a normal aqaurium level, its light level is as if the sun has just come up. 
It could be offcourse that there is tons of par, but I do not see hardly any growth in even the already submerged Hygrophilia Polysperma that have been put in from a other tank at 24%, at 30% it grew quite alot in a week, approx 10cm.

Sanj has almost the same unit and somewhat same sized tank, but it has one led cluster less and 40w less, he runs it on 55% at averge with a peak at 60%. 

At the moment my impatience has gone away completely, light (24%) and temperature (22C) levels are low, ~50% water changes every other day and dosing EI everyday. 
5kg FE bottle has been changed this morning as it was empty already 8)
My lights do not start and stop at 24%, it takes two hours for them to build up to 24% (linear pattern) and one hour to go down to 0. Light is on 8.5 hours a day.

I have a bit of surface scum, not really thick, it does not smell funky either, you can get some of it of with a fine net, its then brown colored, as it was diatoms.

My spraybars are spraying less horizontal, they still hit the glass but now about 2/3 of the tank when there is no water there, maybee it helps with the diatoms on the wood.
I still have a circular flow, thinking of adding a powerhead to get some more flow behind the wooden hardscape and the rear glass.

as always, thank you very much for thinking for me and helping me out!

Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## Solex (30 Mar 2013)

I got some credits (50 euros) from the store that I bought my light off
aquacompleet.nl.
Tunze 6015 (1.800 l/h) looks like a nice circulation pump, my fear is that the impellor will eat small fish and stupid shrimps..
Tunze 6015 - Aquacompleet

Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## Solex (1 Apr 2013)

Happy easter bunny!

Almost six weeks, alot less diatoms, there was hardly any scum (its the iron scum version, not the green thick one) on the surface this morning, did a diatom wrubdown of the wood and a extra waterchange. The amount of dust that came off was alot less then last week.
They seem to prefer the front glass the last couple of days.

I always thought that brown algae wasnt algae but single cell organisms that prefered dark and dirty tanks. Some snails that came with the last plants have survived the Co2 bombardment and they are eating the stuff.

Still debating the circulationpump, not sure how to integrate it into the flow.
There is indeed a bit less flow (and light) on the left and a right side of the hardscape.

Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## Solex (1 Apr 2013)

I was looking at my older pictures, wow plants are much less green at the moment!
The moss is more brown then green, no worries, it will come back!


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## ceg4048 (2 Apr 2013)

Hi Lexy,
			 You might want to try rearranging the positions of the spraybars. The brown is caused by poor CO2, so despite all the gas you are injecting, somehow it is not getting to the plants. Try mounting the bars on the side glass. Try different combinations to see if you can solve the riddle.

Cheers,


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## Solex (2 Apr 2013)

Co2 not getting there! :shocked:

wow with all of those thousands of small bubbles and massive injection rate that was one thing I did not expect! The water was foggy with them.

Ill set up the bars on the side today.
Again this morning there was no scum.

Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## Solex (2 Apr 2013)

Ohhh...

The larger of two pumps has a spraybar that is too long, it stayed on the back, one half spraying down along the backwall the other half below the surface.

The spaybar of the smaller pump is on the rightside, trying different flow patters, but a circular is not one that can be achieved.

Looks like there is flow around the hardscape, more then before.
Thinking of removing the stem plants for alot of cryptos, they are clogging up the flow.
But they are needed for its faster growth rate??

Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## ceg4048 (3 Apr 2013)

Hi Lexy,
			Yeah, the problem with gases in water is that they immediately try to escape from the water as you can see by the bubbles. It should be clear to you that the bubbles are moving away from the plants, not moving down into the plant beds, right? Barr estimates that about 90% of the gas we inject immediately dissipates into the atmosphere, so we really have to find a way to force that remaining 10% down and to make contact with the leaf. The hardscape and other objects have a powerful impact on flow and distribution and unfortunately, it's not possible to predict, so this forces us to experiment with the arrangement. I cant recall whether you are adding liquid carbon daily, but if not, you will see improvements by doing so.

You can spread out the stems over a wider area to reduce the blocking. I know it's frustrating after all the energy, but I always try to discourage people from just ripping out the plants that are not doing well, because one has to learn how to solve the riddle of their tank. Changing to a different plant does not always solve the root cause. When you learn how to solve the problem, that lesson stays with you and helps you to recognize and solve future problems. I've seen so many cases where people have a lot of problems and they get frustrated and they drain the tank, rip out all the plants and start all over again...but they haven't changed. They didn't learn why they had a problem and so make the same mistakes the second time, so the same problems return.

You can even try extreme maneuvers such as placing the long spraybar at the bottom front glass pointing towards the back, just to get flow down at the bottom and to see what difference it makes. YOu can even rearrange the hardscap to see what effects there are. It doesn't have to look pretty right now because you are trying to understand the problem. That's another thing that stops people from being creative problem solvers, they don't want to mess up the arrangement, or to have piping in areas that diminish the aesthetics, but, dying plants also ruin the aesthetics, so we need to figure out and visualize the problem. Once we see an improvement in the plant growth, then we can find a different, more aesthetic way to get the same effect.

Cheers,


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## Solex (3 Apr 2013)

First of all thank you very much for helping this noob out!!
I can not say it often enough, thank you!

Easycarbo, never used it before, bought it this morning, added 4ml just now (1ml per 50liter) Its more expensiven then the real stuff!

It sounds crazy, but this morning when I checked the tank it looked like the moss was making new bright green leaves. 
With the change of the FE bottle the injection rate went down, it went from fizzzz to the excact science of 2.6 bubbles a second (measured over 30 seconds)
The moss is no longer completly covered with co2 bubbles, maybe the moss ran out of O2? 
The remaining diatoms on leaves are removed by the snails, here and there are small patches and I try to vacuum it off.

The stem plants were never intended to stay, I wanted the substrate to be covered with a carpet or small plants. I added them for the faster consumption rate, so in time they will go out.
The left corner is packed with stems, I have been replanting most the tops of the stems that have be cut. Ill leave them for now then.

Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## ceg4048 (3 Apr 2013)

Hi Lexy,
			You're very welcome mate. Yes, liquid carbon is expensive, but sometimes it's really worth it. If you can afford it, don't be afraid to do 2X or even 3X dosing as long as you don't have any sensitive plants like Riccia or Valis.

Our Sponsor AquaEssentials sell an equivalent product, Neutro, which is much cheaper, but shipping costs might be high. Anyway, check their website.

Cheers,


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## Solex (3 Apr 2013)

Yes there is valis in the back.


Have a nice day!
Lexy


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## Solex (4 Apr 2013)




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## Solex (12 Apr 2013)




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## Solex (12 Apr 2013)

The new flow and the liquid carbon seem to have worked.I am dosing about 5ml a day.
Almost everything looks more green, Blyxa looks fake as green as it is, the moss has started to grow again.
I have gotten about 40 little cherry red shrimp and they are doing fine.

Thinned out and replanted the top of the stems, they were blocking flow, there was no melting at the bottom of the stems.
I had one little spot of BGA on the wood, vacuumed it al off and dropped some liquid carbon on the location. never saw it again.

Still doing often water changes and lowered light levels.


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## Steve Smith (12 Apr 2013)

Glad things are starting to turn around for you Solex


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## Solex (25 Apr 2013)

New week, new pictures, the liquid carbon is working great it seems, not much brown left, only the Hygrophila 
pinnatifida and the Hydrocotyle seem to be not so happy. Blyxa Japonica is growing rapidly and the moss has come ack to life.
Have some very small algea spots around dead roots or spots of decayed moss / hairgrass. But I assume that has to do with the decaying plant material.


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## Solex (7 May 2013)




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## Solex (5 Aug 2013)




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## Ady34 (5 Aug 2013)

Hi Solex, 
the tank has really filled in nicely now. Seems the fish can enjoy getting lost in there 
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## liamb2324 (5 Aug 2013)

Looks brill the plants have really grown since the other pictures


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