# 580l with sump - newbie reef conversion



## andyseatrout (1 Feb 2011)

Hi All,

Thought I would share the beginning of the enjoyable part of converting my once reef aquarium into a planted aquarium. This is my first attempt at a planted aquarium and I am looking forward to the challenge ahead.

I would like to thank all those who have already assisted me with some of my thoughts about setting this up and I look forward to bouncing more ideas around and learning new things.

I have decided to use as much of my existing equipment as I can and I will be going Hi-Tech with EI dosing and CO2 injection. The tank is also sumped and this will incorporate the vast majority of the equipment. I have modified the sump to contain sections for sintered glass and bioballs (or the like) and this will be covered using 6mm acrylic; I have also had cover glass cut to size for the main tank to reduce evaporation and hopefully conserve the all important CO2!

Today I have finally reached a stage where I can start to put things back together, having spent the last month cleaning everything:

The cleaned tank:






Osmocote going down:





Irish peat moss going down:









First layer of Tesco Value Lightweight cat litter going down:





Filter mulm from another planted tank going in:





Final layer of cat litter in and done for this evening:









I am going to aquascape with bogwood only and still haven't made a final decision on plants. The only thing I am sure about is that I want to plant heavily from the outset with quite a variety.

Comments, suggestions and criticism all welcome.


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## CeeJay (1 Feb 2011)

Hi andyseatrout

This is a nice size tank for going planted and it looks like you've done a good job of cleaning the tank   
Good start with the substrate. I'm using that stuff in all 3 of my tanks now (but don't tell the designer boys   ), and it works a treat   .
Looking forward to seeing this one develop.
Good start.


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## andyseatrout (3 Feb 2011)

Aquascaping now completed.

Much of the detail is lost due to reflection, substrate and poor photography skills:











Will hopefully get everything wet for the first time tomorrow.

Further comments welcome .....


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## Tom (3 Feb 2011)

Hi,
It might be helpful to some if you resized your pictures. I've given up waiting for them to load! Sounds good though!


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## Mark Webb (3 Feb 2011)

I will follow this with interest. I too am an ex reefer and converting to a planted tank. I went through the same deliberations with water supply, sump, water changes, CO² or not etc.  I decided to take out my sump and I have drilled the tank to instal an overflow to use the drip method for water changes. I have dumped the idea of RO Water and will now use an HMA filter (which provides water suitable for Discus). It leaves all the good stuff and takes out Chlorine, Chloramines, Heavy Metals and certain volatile organic chemicals. All this with no wasted water  . 

I must say you have some nice timber there, looking good. I wish you luck with it.


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## andyseatrout (5 Feb 2011)

Thanks for the comments so far.

I filled the tank yesterday through a fine sediment filter and carbon block. I started at 7:20pm and it took until 3am to completely fill! This is concerning me hugely about what I am going to do about the huge water changes that I am going to have to make - it might have to be straight tap water .....

When I went to bed the water was beautifully clear, but having left the return pump (5000l/h) from the sump and the tunze 6060 powerhead (6000l/h) running overnight this was clearly too much flow for the cat litter and it has caused a lot of movement and clouding of the water, hence no photos.

I have now cut down my plant list and this is what I have now ordered ready for next Thursday:

Plants for placing on the wood:

Anubias barteri "coffeefolia" x 1
Anubias barteri var. nana x 3 (+ petite x 5)	
Microsorum pteropus "Narrow" x	1
Microsorum pteropus "Windelov"	 x 1
Vescicularia dubyana "Christmas" x 1

Foreground plants:

Eleocharis parvula (1-2-grow) x 1
Glossostigma elatinoides x 4
Hydrocotyle verticillata x 2
Staurogyne repens (1-2-grow) x 1

Mid ground plants:

Hygrophila corymbosa "compact"	 x 1
Bacopa caroliniana x 1
Bacopa australis x 2
Nymphaea lotus (Zenkeri) (pot) x 1


Mid to rear:

Echinodorus "Rubin" x 1
Hygrophila corymbosa (53b) x 1
Hygrophila polysperma "Rosanervig" x 1
Ludwigia glandulosa x 2
Nesaea crassicaulis x 1
Rotala rotundifolia x 3
Rotala sp. "green" x 3
Shinnersia rivularis "Weiss-Grun" x 1
Myriophyllum mezianum x 1
Altrenanthera reineckii "Purple"  x 1
Cryptocoryne bekettii "Petchii" x 2
Cyperus helferi x 2


Rear plants:

Aponogeton longiplumulosus x 1
Cryptocoryne crispatula var. flaccidifolia (bunched) x 1
Limnophila aquatica	x 3
Ludwigia arcuata x 1
Pogostemon erectus x 2

The vast majority of these will be Tropica plants and quite small; I hope this still counts as planting heavily from the start as I do want to avoid algae issues.

Thoughts / ideas welcome ....


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## Alastair (6 Feb 2011)

Cant wait to see this...I like the colour of that cat litter, is that the bag that's about 1.56 for ten litres? I was looking at the slightly more expensive one but if it looks that good I'll get that one, how many bags did you use by the way


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## andyseatrout (6 Feb 2011)

ALt81 said:
			
		

> Cant wait to see this...I like the colour of that cat litter, is that the bag that's about 1.56 for ten litres? I was looking at the slightly more expensive one but if it looks that good I'll get that one, how many bags did you use by the way



I used the stuff that comes in pink and yellow bags, can't remember the price, but I used 6 bags. It was perfumed but it didn't take too much to get rid of the smell!


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## andyseatrout (6 Feb 2011)

OK, tank is now clearing and this is how it is looking:


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## andyseatrout (12 Feb 2011)

Now planted .......


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## tyrophagus (12 Feb 2011)

That looks fantastic Andy.  Just keep your co2 higher than you think you need it and only put livestock in once you know you have the plants growing.  It's difficult to respond to problems when you need to try keep fish alive at the same time.  I have battled algae due to poor co2 distribution which I think I've started to solve but have 20 x rated flow and had to mist the tank with co2.  I look forward to seeing this tank develop.


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## andyseatrout (12 Feb 2011)

Thank you.

I am certainly very pleased with it in its early stage of development.

Drop checker is lime green and I am tempted to get it yellow. I am also misting and currently have just under 10 x flow with just the return pump running and this will increase to nearly 20 x when I am brave enough to turn on the powerhead. I dont want to do this just yet as a lot of the glosso is only hanging in there with tiny roots and I would kike that to grab a better hold until I do.


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## Mark Webb (12 Feb 2011)

Looking great Andy    How many pots of plants did you use?


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## andyseatrout (12 Feb 2011)

Thanks Mark,

that was 40 pots, 3 x 1-2-grows and three bunches of crypts that you can't yet see!


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## foxfish (12 Feb 2011)

Great start Andy, looking forward to seeing how they all settle in.


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## Antoni (12 Feb 2011)

Great scape. Looking forward to its development!


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## andyseatrout (12 Feb 2011)

Thanks for the kind comments,

all still looking good this evening with only minimal floaters (mainly glosso unsurprisingly).

Have now dosed my second dose of all in one fertiliser and have upped CO2, but still awaiting a change in the colour of the drop checker.

I feel completely redundant now having finally got to this stage with the hours of work that I have been putting in to get here! I really hope that I can keep on top of things and make this work .......


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## Franko44 (13 Feb 2011)

Hi Andy...

Looks realy good mate... well done.. will keep whatching you to see how you get on..  

Well done.. Clive


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## andyseatrout (13 Feb 2011)

Thanks Clive, enjoying watching it so far.

Thought I would post my parameters that I have been able to measure this evening:

Temp: 23.5C (no heater turned on yet)

KH: 12.8

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Nitrite: 3 ppm

Nitrate: >50<100 ppm

Awaiting an ammonia spike ........


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## Franko44 (14 Feb 2011)

Hi Andy..

Your welcome, looks very.. I am just doing mine to mate.. lets see how we do a...

Wacht out for that spike... it will come and go then it should all be plan saling... lol  

PS could you resize your images some time, then they will load quicker...


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## foxfish (14 Feb 2011)

andyseatrout said:
			
		

> Thanks for the kind comments,
> I feel completely redundant now having finally got to this stage with the hours of work that I have been putting in to get here!  .......


Ha you wont be feeling like that when you have to trim every day LOL


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## andyseatrout (14 Feb 2011)

Growth has started in earnest with some of the plants already.

I will try to take some more pictures and get them posted up later. Unfortunately I can't seem to resize the images on imageshack unless I upload them again, so I will ensure that all those I upload in future will be resized.


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## andyseatrout (14 Feb 2011)

Day 4 photos:



































































































































Desperately need to get some shrimp in there to help with the algae that's starting to develop ......


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## andyseatrout (20 Feb 2011)

Carried out a 300l (measured) water change on Thursday evening which took 5 hours in total, even though I had already prepared around 150l of water beforehand. The flow through the sediment filter and carbon block is what is slowing things down, so I will have to find a solution to this.

Today's parameters are:

KH: 13.1

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrite: >1<2ppm

Nitrate: 50ppm

Still no livestock to work on the algae yet .......


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## Mark Evans (20 Feb 2011)

I think, when this tank really takes off in terms of growth, and you can keep on top of trimming etc, It'll be absolutely stunning. 

Even as it is, it looks gorgeous


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## foxfish (20 Feb 2011)

Sorry Andy but, I cant remember why you are not using water straight from the tap?
5 hours seems crazy!!
Tank has great potential though


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## andyseatrout (20 Feb 2011)

Thanks for the kind comments Mark, I haven't seen any recent photos of yours .....

Foxfish - I decided to run the water through a fine sediment filter and a carbon block in an effort to rid the water of chlorine. I did this to try to keep alive the bacteria that I put into the tank with the mulm from another filter, in an effort to speed up cycling. I am also now a little worried about the fact that Southern Water have just won a court case to allow them to put flouride into the water and I wanted to avoid issues from this.

I think that part of my short term solution to overcome this issue will be to increase the hose and fitting sizes on the 10" filter housings which should allow a much quicker flow of water; I certainly won't be able to continue running 5 hour water changes!

Longer term, I think that I am going to somehow have to store and preheat 300l of water - any ideas gratefully received!


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## foxfish (20 Feb 2011)

OK mate but most of us dont bother, just straight from the tap via a hot cold shower mixer if necessary.
I understand your concerns but you can see some very successful tanks on this site using this method (the majority).
Of course I dont know what your tap water contains, perhaps you have unusually high levels of Chlorine? 
Some folk actually say they only ever see their plant pearling directly after a tap water, water change, I certainly see huge amounts of pearling after my water changes.


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## Always Broke (20 Feb 2011)

I used to use carbon blocks on my water change, now its straight from the mains, all 350 ltrs of it every Sunday morning.

Much simpler and cheaper with no ill effect that I have noticed
5 hours I could not be bothered with that. 
At 7am my pump in the tank pumps out 350ltrs in 9 mins as set by a timer. By 7.15 its all filled up again via my auto top up system ,at the same time its filling up it gets fed by the dosing pumps into the sump awaiting the main circ pump to restart once the tank and sump are filled to the correct levels.. Around 9 ish I might think about getting out of bed or not as the case may be 
5 hours , you must be mad.

you tank looks stunning , cant wait to see it in a year. Its going to take some looking after.

Simon


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## andyseatrout (21 Feb 2011)

Thanks again for the positive comments - I will sort out this nightmare water change issue.

Became impatient with cycling yesterday and added a double dose (as instructed) of NTLABS Live filter bacteria as I am keen to get some algae eating livestock in there. Tested Nitrites today and it is now down to between 0.25 and 0.5ppm, so I am hoping to be able to add some amano shrimp and maybe some ottos tomorrow evening.

Had my first trimming session today and was very surprised about how much growth the rotala has put on. The rotala green had flopped over other growth, so I cut all this off to reveal new growth below - I hope I have done the right thing? Also removed quite a few leaves from the Aponogeton and Echinodorus as these had hair algae on them and new leaves are forming. 

Growth is certainly in earnest and the Nesea crassicaulis is nearly reaching the surface - I take it that this will need lopping off before it does so?

As you can tell, I have no experience whatsoever with pruning aquatic plants, so I am happy for any advice!


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## foxfish (22 Feb 2011)

Most stem plants are very fast growing, you can lop them a few times before they loose there vigor & shape.
when this happens you need to either cut right down to the base or uproot the plant but replant the loped off heads.
To be honest you will probably soon get fed up with stems as they are really high maintenance however they do a great job in the early stages of your tank development. 
So stick with them for the time being & re plant the top pieces if you can find room.
PS shrimps are a nightmare for diving over the overflow & into the sump!


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## Always Broke (22 Feb 2011)

foxfish said:
			
		

> PS shrimps are a nightmare for diving over the overflow & into the sump!



Its like a magnet to them. I get one or two out every time I clean the prefilter sponges off. Still they help eat all the junk in the sump

Si


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## foxfish (22 Feb 2011)

I know - unfortunately mine seem to eventually find their way into the pump! 
Every now & then I see a cloud of mashed shrimp come flying into the display tank.


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## Garuf (22 Feb 2011)

Hmm, makes me think it must be that they're optimistic colonists, evolutionary speaking, they come from brooks a weir isn't too dissimilar so they think I'll just jump down here and hope there's more food/less predation in the hope of colonising somewhere else. 

Still, must be annoying witnessing the pink mist.


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## samkiller42 (22 Feb 2011)

Tank is looking great Andy. Certainly loving the natural look of the tank.
Hopefully sorting mine out soon, woo.

Will be subscribing to this thread for sure  

Sam


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## andyseatrout (22 Feb 2011)

Thanks for the advice re. the stems and fancy seeing you here Sam!

Have now introduced 3 x SAE's, 5 x ottos and 5 x amano shrimp.

The shrimp already seem to be doing a great job, but I will certainly be keeping a watchful eye in the sump!

Might well introduce some shoaling fish tomorrow .....


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## samkiller42 (24 Feb 2011)

Haha, yes, thought i would join up.

Sam


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## andyseatrout (28 Feb 2011)

Tank has now been planted for 18 days.

Cycle is now complete and I have suffered from various types of algae, but I am hoping that things are now in hand with the help of the ottos, SAE's and amanos which all seem to have done a stirling job. Yes, I do already have shrimp escapees in the weirs and the sump, as predicted!

As yet, I have not yet braved another water change and I know that I am now overdue, so will tackle this over the next couple of days.

Lighting has been 4 x 80W t5's for 6 hours from the start and growth has been great with many plants, but not that great with others, especially the Staurogyne, Hydrocotyle verticillata, Eleocharis parvula and the Christmas moss. This has all suddenly picked up within the last week and I think this might be due to the fact that I have started to dose easycarbo. The Shinnersia rivularis "Weiss-Grun" has also started to look a little yellow and this has now greened up as well and I think this is also due to the easycarbo. This leads me to think that my CO2 distribution is still not yet up to scratch, so I have tweaked that up another knotch also. (Hair algae - is this due to poor CO2 distribution, as I still have a few threads here and there?). I have also noticed that the Nesaea crassicaulis and Ludwigia glandulosa appear rather elongated, so I am again assuming that this is due to lack of CO2 as is he fact that I seem unable to get the glosso to grow neatly against or within the substrate. It sends out runners and these have roots, but just sit on top of the substrate, rather than get a grip within it, or am I just being impatient here?

I am keen to address the CO2 issue (if I have one?), but I don't think ramming even more mist in there alone is going to do the trick, so I would ideally like to make a DIY CO2 reactor that would fully dissolve the gas before it gets into the tank. I have plenty of room in the sump to do this and I would like to use a 10" water filter housing and pump to do so; I would be very interested to hear from others that have made a success of this, or another type of DIY reactor for a large volume of water.

Dosing ferts has remained the same since day 1 and I am now thinking that I might need to increase this and would again appreciate any advice on this.

For now, here are (quite a few!) pictures to show progress so far ......


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## foxfish (28 Feb 2011)

Looks great Andy, the overall effect at this stage is very nice.
You will most likely discover the plants that grow best in the conditions you are offering & might struggle with a few that don't! I think this is just normal & part of the learning process...
I have built loads of reactors - great fun but none have offered the same results as the "fog" I can get some pics up of the most successful ones I built if you like.


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## andyseatrout (28 Feb 2011)

It would be great to see some pictures of the reactors you have built - it would be great if I could add a reactor to my misting and see what that would do!


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## foxfish (28 Feb 2011)

OK, will have to be tomorrow though as they are in my workshop...
I think that as long as you use 4 x T5s you are going to have pump in the gas & ferts..


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## samkiller42 (1 Mar 2011)

Great Andy. Tank has come on brilliantly. Is it too late to say i want me wood back? haha

Cheers,

Sam


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## keith hellyar (1 Mar 2011)

Hi Andy

I've  read your thread and found it very interesting and helpful. I hope you dont mind me asking a question on your threead. I'll start my own as soon as water hits the bottom of my tank.

Andy and I are both members of a Marine Club and like him I'm a recent convert to Tropical Planted. I'm a little behind Andy, my tank is still empty but will be ready to rock and roll in a couple of weeks. One thing that has shocked me is the recommended 50% water change. My tank is 950 litres!. I understand the need for water changes but I've never routinely done a water change so large on previous tropical or marine tanks. Is anyone able to explain the need for this. I want to get this right so if it is needed I will do it (somehow). 

I'm leaning towards filling with a 50/50 mix of RO and tapwater for the same reasons that  Andy explained I'm struggling to see how I can maintain a heathy tank with tapwater alone. Nitrates from the tap are 50ppm. I cant hop to get this down if I'm constantly doing 50% water changes with tap. 

Please help me believe

Keith


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## andyseatrout (1 Mar 2011)

Hi Keith,

It is my understanding that the large water changes are only needed if you go down the EI route as they are to remove the large amount of dissolved organic material created by the plants, as they grow very quickly under these optimum conditions. I am not really the one to ask, as I still have my "L plates on" and I have not yet mnaged my second 50% water change.

I am not following EI at present, just dosing TFF Plant Nutrition at the suggested dose from Aquarium Plant Nutrition, so I am hoping that I won't actually need such large water changes as my growth and accumulation of organic material should be slower, but I stand to be corrected on this.


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## keith hellyar (1 Mar 2011)

Thanks Andy, I didnt know what  EI is. I found the article and now I do. 

It reminded me so much of the balling method for marines.

I think I will follow your approach and see how I get on. I'm still inclined towards 50/50 Ro and /tap. Luckily I have 150 gallon membrane so will be able to produce it quickly.

Keith


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## foxfish (1 Mar 2011)

Hi Andy & Kieth you can read about water changes here http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f= ... 2&start=10
Andy, if you bought the ferts I use, then I think that is still classed as EI, the mix just has an additive to allow all the ferts to mix as one so you can dose all at one time instead of alternate day for different ferts.

You guys need to read up on hard water & the effects of tap water (or the benefits) & relax about your water changes.
Also realise that most folk try to use as little light as possible not as much as possible to achieve the results required.

Andy here are a couple of old reactors that should give you an idea or two - I would consider using an UP in the inlet now.


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## andyseatrout (1 Mar 2011)

foxfish said:
			
		

> Hi Andy & Kieth you can read about water changes here http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f= ... 2&start=10
> Andy, if you bought the ferts I use, then I think that is still classed as EI, the mix just has an additive to allow all the ferts to mix as one so you can dose all at one time instead of alternate day for different ferts.
> 
> You guys need to read up on hard water & the effects of tap water (or the benefits) & relax about your water changes.
> ...



Hi Foxfish,

Thanks very much for taking the time to photograph your reactors. The one I'm using is very similar to your "Merlin", but without the modifications, ie. I have the water and CO2 entering from the top and exiting at the bottom, rising through the central tube. Until today, I had been running it the other way around, which was dissolving very little gas and just sending the mist into the return section of the sump to be returned to the display. Having it configured the other way around seems to be trapping much more of the gas, but it remains to be seen whether or not it is actually dissolving.

I am using the same ferts as you, but having spoken to Tommy today, he suggested that to reach full EI concentration I would have to double the suggested dosing, so I think that I am only supplying the bare minimum rather than running at an excess. I will now start to increase the dose slowly from tomorrow. Do you use the suggested dose, or have you increased and / or supplemented this?

I have finally been brave enough to turn on the powerhead today and I will keep this running throughout the photoperiod in an effort to improve flow.

Still need to get better organised with water changes and I will read the thread you linked to and I will stick with tap water for the time being.


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## foxfish (1 Mar 2011)

I use the recommended dose but I am not presently looking for fast growth & I am just using the minimum amount of gas to avoid algae.
My tank is very stable & established though + I feed my fish 5-6 times a day & add 10ml of nitrogen daily.
I do one weekly 50% water change (straight from the tap) & have two T5s on for 6 hours, I use a LED light source for one hour either side of the main light period.
My tank is approx 300lt & 55cm high, main pump is rated 3000lph + 1000lph power head - these pumps work durring the light period but when lights are out I only use a 1000lph sump pump.
My sump also has a 1000lph power head that blows over 5lts of bio balls 24 -7.


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## andyseatrout (1 Mar 2011)

Thanks for that information.

What exactly are you adding to add "10ml of nitrogen daily"? Why are you adding this when using the "all in one" fertiliser?


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## foxfish (1 Mar 2011)

OOPs sorry mate I meant 10ml of carbon (Easy-Life EasyCarbo )


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## andyseatrout (1 Mar 2011)

foxfish said:
			
		

> OOPs sorry mate I meant 10ml of carbon (Easy-Life EasyCarbo )



That makes far more sense!

Just had a look at the reactor and it looks like it won't work that way around as a large amount of gas is collecting at the top. What type of flow of both water and gas were you putting through your reactors?

Do you know of any other threads showing large amounts of gas being dissolved without the need for using a spray bar?


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## foxfish (2 Mar 2011)

Andy that is how they work, gas collects at the top but should only be 10-25mm deep.
I found that flowing water in at a tangent gave completely dissolved C02 with only 10mm collected at the top, this gas would disappear in only a few minutes once the supply is switched off. 
The more standard tube reactors still work fine though.
I would still return the water via a full length spray bar, even the spray bar on a big tank needs some thought regarding hole size. I drill smaller holes nearest the pump side, gradually getting bigger near the other end if they are going on a long tank.
The UP works great, especially when you are setting up, I thought you were using one?


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## Alastair (22 Mar 2011)

How's the tank coming along? How's the cat litter holding out too?  I just purchased 5 bags, rinsed and rinsed and can still smell that odour stuff


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## spyder (22 Mar 2011)

Tanks looking great on the last update. Nice wood and planting. Good contrast in plants.

Looking forward to next update.


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## andyseatrout (22 Mar 2011)

ALt81 said:
			
		

> How's the tank coming along? How's the cat litter holding out too?  I just purchased 5 bags, rinsed and rinsed and can still smell that odour stuff



All is good.

I have had an interesting time with dosing nutrients as I had been dosing an all in one fertiliser following the dosing instructions and had seen evidence of nutrient deficiencies, so since I have doubled the dosing I have had better results.

Cat litter is holding its own and is now hardly visible due to plant growth - I did rinse it and soak it until it didn't smell any more though. I will say that it is very light and isn't great for holding plants down initially until they have rooted, so I kept the flow low for the first week.

There are now lots of fish in there as well, so will get pics up later in the week.

Foxfish - I am using an UP atomiser and have been running this into a reactor and this has still given me a sizeable air pocket at the end of the photoperiod, but maybe that's due to me only running 600lph through the reactor? I can still get the dropchecker lime green this way, but it does seem very wasteful of gas as lots of it then dissolves in the dark.

The pressure on the 2kg FE has now started to drop, so I have been having to tweak the CO2 to keep the drop checker green and nearly overdid it today, so I have been getting through CO2 much quicker than I thought I would. Have now found a steady supply locally so I am not too worried.

I have been getting ready to switch from manual dosing of ferts to automated dosing with dosing pumps, unpacked my unit today to find that its faulty so that is going to set me back for a while ......


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## foxfish (23 Mar 2011)

Hi Andy - all good fun eh!

OK so you have an UP set up just before your reactor but there is still a pocket of gas held in the top of the reactor.

If you can work out how long the pocket takes to dissolve then you can switch the gas off one hour before lights out plus the dissolving time. As the gas is still going into your display after lights out this is not good policy as the gas is not required & you are unnecessarily using up C02.

So - does the UP reactor set up work in the fact that no mist is visible?


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## andyseatrout (23 Mar 2011)

foxfish said:
			
		

> Hi Andy - all good fun eh!
> 
> OK so you have an UP set up just before your reactor but there is still a pocket of gas held in the top of the reactor.
> 
> ...



It takes some hours for the gas to dissolve after lights out, even turning off the gas an hour before lights out, but I am only running 600lph through the reactor, so I might try a bigger pump. As far as misting is concerned, I do get some mist escaping from the reactor, but not much andI am worried that if I used a bigger pump that I would get much more escaping. I do want to try to get the water to spin though, so the mist is held in the water for a longer period of time, which combined with a bigger flow might prove more efficient....


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## foxfish (23 Mar 2011)

Hi Andy, to be honest I have now reverted to my age old way of dissolving the gas!
I have tried every way possible over the years but I am back doing what I was doing 20 years ago - I am simply feeding the gas into the inlet of my sump pupm & retuning thought a spray bar at mid water with some holes pointing slightly downwards & some straight ahead.
Yes you do get a mist but my UP kept getting clogged so I had to adjust the regulator every week or so, reactors work OK but I just don't need one.
Some folk say this can damage the pump but I cant see why & besides my last pump lasted 12 years.
I am not suggesting you do this, just pointing out a very simple method that doesn't need adjusting or maintaining.


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## andyseatrout (23 Mar 2011)

foxfish said:
			
		

> Hi Andy, to be honest I have now reverted to my age old way of dissolving the gas!
> I have tried every way possible over the years but I am back doing what I was doing 20 years ago - I am simply feeding the gas into the inlet of my sump pupm & retuning thought a spray bar at mid water with some holes pointing slightly downwards & some straight ahead.
> Yes you do get a mist but my UP kept getting clogged so I had to adjust the regulator every week or so, reactors work OK but I just don't need one.
> Some folk say this can damage the pump but I cant see why & besides my last pump lasted 12 years.
> I am not suggesting you do this, just pointing out a very simple method that doesn't need adjusting or maintaining.



Very interesting to know, especially since you have clearly tried many different methods. How are you directing your CO2 into your sump pump?

As yet, I haven't had a problem (that I have seen) with the UP Atomiser clogging. All I have had is a reduction in CO2 due to the pressure of the bottle falling as it is running out. I tweaked it up yesterday what I thought was a tiny bit and the drop checker went nearly yellow, pH dropped to 7.4 and the fish were showing much increased respiration; the plants loved it!

For the time being, I have brought forward by an hour the time the CO2 turns off, so will see what effect if any that has. To give you some idea, I must have 20cm height of CO2 trapped at the end of the photoperiod, which is a lot to waste!


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## Alastair (26 Mar 2011)

looking forward to the pics then, and your right its very light stuff, i had trouble keeping my grasses in when i planted last night, but love the colour and cheap as chips too


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## Mark Webb (7 Dec 2011)

It would be good to see current pics Andy. How do you deal with water changes now?


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