# Suggestions Welcome!



## Hoejay (6 Nov 2007)

My Tank 360ltr, 1.26wpg, Pressurised CO2 no solenoid low level EI dosing with 50% water changes.




 

This is the result after trimming back the H Polysperma about 6". 
I've since read the article about pruning the stem plants from the base. I have tended to 
prune the tops only which makes them bush out. I have replanted some of the cuttings. 

Would it be better to uproot and replant all these stems? 

I think the planting is a little sparce what else do do you suggest to fill it out?

There are a few issues with algae and mineral deficiencies.BBA is obvious appeared in the last week. 


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Should I be trimming the ariel roots off?




Hope there is enough detail to comment on. Suggestions on clearing up any issues are welcome.

Sorry if the layout of this post isn't good I would have liked to have written to the side of each picture but couldn't work that one out.

Regards Neil Hodgetts


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## Themuleous (6 Nov 2007)

BBA is often a result of low NO3, you say low level EI, if you're doing the 50% water change why not do full EI?

If you get busy plants from cutting the tops off carry on doing that!  This whole game is about trial and error mostly, see what works for you 

That said its a good start  you've got plenty of space to work with 

Sam


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## Hoejay (7 Nov 2007)

*EI Dosing*

Sam,

Thanks for the comments

I was thinking of upping dose

I think I origianally misunderstood the EI dosing levels and I do have the added complication of low light to adjust for. I also work away one or two days per week which means I dont always get home every night.

I was thinking of an automated dosing system with dry ferts (like a multi chamber fish feeder) but the only problem I have with that is the air pump required to keep the contents dry i find them anoyingly noisy.


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## nry (7 Nov 2007)

For the BBA (of which there doesn't seem loads) trim off the affected plant leaves, leaving them in the tank is giving it more chance to spread.  If your fertilising and CO2 is stable and sufficient then it should stop coming back over time.

Not sure if there is any issue dosing full EI levels in any light level, the 50% water change is there to remove the worries about build ups.


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## Themuleous (7 Nov 2007)

I think George ran his 125lt on low light with EI, not sure if it was full EI though.  I run my mid light 20g high on full EI no problems that I know of so far and each dose is 1.5ppm PO4, 15ppm NO3 and 15ppm K.  I even have a deficiency of some sort but think thats Iron or a mirco so have doubled my AE trace mix dose.

Sam

PS -  could that post get any more nerdy? haha re-reading it made me chuckle, my wife would divorce me if she really knew what I posted on here sometimes! Haha.


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## Graeme Edwards (7 Nov 2007)

Hi guys,

BBA is usualy caused by unstable Co2, so check you Co2 routine/refill scedual/ diffuser cleaning.

As for getting the H.P to fill out. For scape perposes, you would normaly just keeping triming the tops to bush out. But at some point the plant gets leggy. So we trim the leggy bits off and replant the top.

Another thing you could do is, cut you plants up into 2inch chunks. The sections should have one leafe node ( the part of the plant that new growth appears, or were excisting leaves are ). So at the top of the 1-2inch peice, you have some leaves and a leaf node, below that a small section of stem. You can section a hole strip from one stem and get about 6 maybe more section peices. Each peice will grow out to be a new stem plant. Ta dah!

Regards,
Graeme.


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## Themuleous (7 Nov 2007)

Woops so it is!  Ignore me!


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## Hoejay (7 Nov 2007)

Thanks for the planting tip.

Co2 I changed from DIY to Pressurised after Georges advice. 2kg FE. I Have been running the pressurised for about a 4 weeks. gauges have hardly moved. 

I have cleaned the diffuser twice. Could you give some advice on how best to do this. do yo need to clean inside as well as out?

 I was concerned that the diffusion did seem to be biased towards one edge of the diffuser rather than evenly distributed. Is this normal? Rhinox type.

As far as I can tell I have a good amount of CO2 in the water. Drop checker changes from Blue to light green. The drop checker is in the half of the tank that gets lowest surface agitation and this is the area of the tank that gets the surface covered with duckweed and also seems to be the area of highest growth rates. Are the surface covering plants trapping more CO2 in this area of the tank or would it be a safe assumption that disolved CO2 would be homogeneous throughout the water column.

Thought I might try to up EI dosing for a 60 â€“ 80 Gallon Aquarium as stated below,  mines actually 95gal (us) but as I said not high light, calculates as 1.26 wpg (us)
I have dry ingredients from AE so wil dose accordingly

+/- 3/4 tsp KN03 3x a week 
+/- 3/16 tsp KH2P04 3x a week 
+/- 1 tsp GH boost once a week ( I assume the AE formula is the same as the Barr formula however AE recomends about 1/8th per 100ltrs)
+/- Â¼ tsp Trace 3x a week 
50% weekly water change

What do you think It would be a large change.

Regards Neil


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## Dan Crawford (7 Nov 2007)

> I was concerned that the diffusion did seem to be biased towards one edge of the diffuser rather than evenly distributed. Is this normal? Rhinox type.


Yes, i had a rhinox 5000 (before i broke it) and it only released co2 through about 20% of the ceramic disc. I have now bought a 2000 and that seems better giving co2 across the whole disc.


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## Graeme Edwards (7 Nov 2007)

The diffuser could be half the problem. Make sure your water flow is good, and blowing the Co2 mist and all nutrients around the tank and plants, add a small power head if needed, or redirect the out flow to be more officiant.

keep trying mate.


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## James Flexton (7 Nov 2007)

yep i have just for the first time managed to get co2 mist all over my tank from a rinox 2000. i positioned the diffuser at the left front of the tank then the spray bar mounted vertically in the rear right corner blowing straight forward into the co2 bubbles. i too only get bubbles from 20% of the disk but the flow from the spray bar really does blow a fine mist all over the tank. it's a 450L so that's quite some area to cover. i'm really quite chuffed. 

i totally agree with Graeme's planting suggestions. i too have chopped up stems to create an instant forest lol. great money saver that one as well! if you get the co2 levels a bit higher then you will cure the algae and promote better plant growth solving both issues in one. i would suggest testing the PH and KH levels and working out the rough co2 content using a co2 chart. i'd bet it was lower than you thought. drop checkers are not an exact measurement just an indication and you could have a slightly low level without realising it. adding a little more could well be the solution.


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## Hoejay (11 Nov 2007)

Thanks James,

I will try adjustments as you have suggested and will let you know of any improvements.

regards 

Neil


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