# 1000 litre Low Maintenance



## Mark Webb (30 Dec 2009)

This tank was originally setup as a Marine System. Due to various factors the setup was unsuccessful and the Effort/Reward/Cost ratio prompted me to close it down. 

I am now preparing it for a Tropical Planted setup. Low maintenance is essential due to the depth of 75cm. I have recently cracked a rib hanging over the top of it to reach the bottom, so would like to avoid that again if I can. It is a big tank so I am aiming for impact with planting and fish. I intend to introduce Discus, so with that in mind I dont want the tank too cluttered with rocks and wood. 

*Plant Selection *

Echinodorus Uraguayensis
E. Aquarta
Cryptacoryne Balanasae
C. Wendtii Green
C. Undulata Broad Leaves
C. Becketti Petchii
C. Wendtii Brown
Aruba Coffeefolia
Bolbitus
Staurogyne.
Fontinalis antipyretica â€“ Willow Moss


The above are all slow growing for low maintenance.  Until the above plants establish I will  plant Limnophila and or floating plants short term, in the hope that they use up nutrients in the fight against algae. When the other plants are established these will be removed. 

*Tank*            180cm x 75cm x 75cm

*Lighting*       4 x 39W T5 â€“ Initially but may add an additional  2 x 39w. 

*Substrate*     Akadama. The tank required 10 bags of substrate so I have decided to go for Akadama due to the high cost of other substrates. Thanks for all of your research on that JamesC    However, I cant say that I enjoyed washing 10 bags of it which took me best part of 6 hours.

*Filtration*      2 x Eheim 2075 with Siporax Media

*Circulation* : Tunze 

*Heating*       2 x Hydor 300W

*COÂ²* -          FE System with Aqua Medic 1000 Reactor Filled with Siporax

*Water* â€“      HMA Filtered.

Any thoughts and suggestions would be welcome.


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## daniel19831123 (30 Dec 2009)

Too little light... Your sword plant will suffer. Your tank has around 0.5wpg and that would probably be alright with the rest of the plants. Not sure about growing staurogyne in such low light.

It really depends on what you mean by low maintenance. If you want to keep water change and plant pruning to a minimum then you've gone for the slow growing species which is fine. But discus planted tank is definitely not low maintenance. The water changes will still have to be at least once a week to ensure the health of the discus. The substrate surface vacuuming will also be neccesary if it's not densely planted. 

Last but not least, what will your fertilisation regime be?


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## samc (30 Dec 2009)

good plant choice  although you may struggle to find willow moss around here

i would add more light myself but thats up to you. 0.5wpg on a tank so deep maybe hard to grow some plants with. 

discus are messy fish so they might be hard to look after if you dont want to do much maintanance. i would quite like a huge shoal of tetras if it were mine. harlequins also look amazing in big numbers. 

ill look foward to seeing it progress


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## TDI-line (30 Dec 2009)

Looks very promising Mark.  

Maybe it might be worth adding another Eheim, to the original too. I had 2 x Pro 3 on my old 720 Litre setup, trying to give good turnover. And maybe another CO2 reactor for good CO2 distribution. Have you thought about an Aquamass ones (with 16/22mm hose tails).

Btw, if you need any Oliver Knott's substrate then i'm selling some in the Sale section.


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## Mark Webb (2 Jan 2010)

daniel19831123 said:
			
		

> Too little light... Your sword plant will suffer. Your tank has around 0.5wpg and that would probably be alright with the rest of the plants. Not sure about growing staurogyne in such low light.
> 
> It really depends on what you mean by low maintenance. If you want to keep water change and plant pruning to a minimum then you've gone for the slow growing species which is fine. But discus planted tank is definitely not low maintenance. The water changes will still have to be at least once a week to ensure the health of the discus. The substrate surface vacuuming will also be neccesary if it's not densely planted.
> 
> Last but not least, what will your fertilisation regime be?




I will probably opt for 6 x 39W T5's which will give me 1 wpg as a good starting point. Happy to undertake weekly water changes and a Discus tank of this size will be fine with 10-15% changed, which will be easy. I intend to plant a good number of plants and as long as I dont overstock with Discus the siphoning shouldn't be necessary.



			
				samc said:
			
		

> good plant choice  although you may struggle to find willow moss around here
> 
> i would add more light myself but thats up to you. 0.5wpg on a tank so deep maybe hard to grow some plants with.
> 
> ...



Intending to add a good shoal of at least 50 Tetras, undecided at present between Rummynose or Cardinals



			
				TDI-line said:
			
		

> Looks very promising Mark.
> 
> Maybe it might be worth adding another Eheim, to the original too. I had 2 x Pro 3 on my old 720 Litre setup, trying to give good turnover. And maybe another CO2 reactor for good CO2 distribution. Have you thought about an Aquamass ones (with 16/22mm hose tails).
> 
> Btw, if you need any Oliver Knott's substrate then i'm selling some in the Sale section.



I think I will have sufficient filtration with two Eheims rated for a total of 1200 litres. Circulation is 2500 litres combined from the Eheims and for additional circulation I will add a Tunze Turbelle Stream 6200 with variable output of between 5000 - 20000 litres per hour. These pumps are superb at moving high volumes of water with a low velocity. In total this will give me a potential turnover of 22 times per hour. Dont think I will need all of this, or the fish will be hanging onto the plants


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## Garuf (3 Jan 2010)

Just my two penneth but I imagine that a bigger tank will probably thrive on 0.5wpg, it's an out dates and arbitary figure anyway. 
this calculator suggests http://www.fitchfamily.com/lighting.html
suggests 294watts which will be generous and of hand I think to be around 0.8wpg.


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## sanj (15 Jan 2010)

TDI-line said:
			
		

> Looks very promising Mark.
> 
> Maybe it might be worth adding another Eheim, to the original too. I had 2 x Pro 3 on my old 720 Litre setup, trying to give good turnover. And maybe another CO2 reactor for good CO2 distribution. Have you thought about an Aquamass ones (with 16/22mm hose tails).
> 
> Btw, if you need any Oliver Knott's substrate then i'm selling some in the Sale section.



Do you not have a tank anymore TDI?

I use 2x Aquamas for my 86o litre tank. Also have 4x external filters, but the powerheads Mark is suggesting would be great too. Personally from and aesthetic point of view Vortechs are the best looking and least intrusive but, it makes sense to use what you have got to hand.


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## sanj (21 Jan 2010)

Hi Mark,

how is the tank coming along. I currently have a system running that is a bit smaller than yours at 860 odd litres 8x2x2. It has been running over 18months and is mostly planted with a variety of crypts,java fern and some stems. Anyway I saw your smaller tank in pfk and looks like you have many species simialt to mine. Crypts definately are lower maintainance the worst thing is green spot algae(?) on thier leaves, but otherwise i have found it the easiest tank to look after, more so than when I had aquariums half the size and smaller.

I still do 40-50% water changes per week(or so) with a python. However i have rainbows (little buggers for eating delicate plants) and denisoni barbs so i guess my fish load is quite high. Im still a 'I like my fish and plants man'.


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## Mark Webb (21 Jan 2010)

Hi sanj, I am still getting all the bits together for this tank. Collected the T5 lights last week but they sent me reflectors for T8's so hope to collect replacements this week. I then have to setup the filters and purchase a large water tank to bring water upto temp before filling after I have planted.


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## sanj (5 Mar 2010)

Hi Mark, I tried to send you a message but it went into my Outbox. Is your Inbox full?


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## LondonDragon (5 Mar 2010)

samc said:
			
		

> although you may struggle to find willow moss around here


I can spare some of this if interested  PM me

Tank looks promising! One to watch


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## Mark Webb (15 Mar 2010)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> samc said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks for the offer, I will keep that in mind.


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## Mark Webb (15 Mar 2010)

Making slow progress on this. My original plan was to install a 500 litre tank in the garage to store filtered water for water changes. Having considered the space it would take up and the difficulties in heating that volume of water in the garage during the depths of Winter, I have decided to go for a Drip feed system with an overflow. Next job is to cut a hole in the tank for the overflow.

I am in a dilemma over the sump. I have a 130 litre sump in place, but having read early on in my planning that the movement of water overflowing into the weir and dropping into the sump would deplete the COÂ² I decided to remove the weir and plug the hole, using a square of glass secured with aquarium sealant.

Having since learned that the COÂ² depletion could be overcome using a sump, I am thinking that I maybe should have retained the sump. 

Would appreciate some feedback from anyone using a sump and whether it would be beneficial enough to warrant the job of reinstalling a weir.


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## Always Broke (15 Mar 2010)

I am setting my one up with a sump. I don't see it difficult in reducing the loss of Co2 in it. I am setting my one up with no splashing water and cover glasses over each section. I think its worth the effort just to get everything in the sump and out of the tank.

Simon


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## danmil3s (15 Mar 2010)

im using a sump i just taped it up last night and put a drop checker above the water its gone green/yellow im not sure how well theses work out of water. but as understand it if you seal the sump only so much co2 will gas off till the air in sump is to rich and that's problem solved seems to be working the d/c in the  tank is very light green ill let you know how im getting on on a couple of days


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## sanj (16 Apr 2010)

Sumps are great for added water volume and perhaps makes maintenance less intrusive in regard to water changing, dosing, but i think its smaller difference in regard to equipment inthe aquarium. With inline heaters or even in built into externals, they are out the way, internal filters and heaters being my personal big annoyance. 
Sumps usually still have to use weirs and in planted tanks flow is very important so there has to be some pipe work and or powerheads in the main tank. I like what AB did with his spray bar.

I have a reef with sump which every now and then consider converting it to planted. They are interesting but slow going and much more expensive. The only downside with sumps to my mind is the co2 situation, which I guess can be solved, the other being the greater noise.

Where are you upto on your tank Mark? Looking forward to seeing things develop. Maybe the rest of life is getting in the way taking all your time.


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## Mark Webb (3 Feb 2011)

I am back on this now. Finally drilled the tank to allow water change by overflow. I have the tank filled and filters running and now planning to order plants. I want to keep plants to a minimum initially, to keep the cost down, although I guess this may present algae issues if I am not careful? 

I am not very pleased with the hard scaping but unable to find any nice trunks which was my aim. Not easy to find big stuff for scaping.


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## Themuleous (3 Feb 2011)

Did you drill it yourself?  Always wondered how easy that would be.

Sam


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## Always Broke (3 Feb 2011)

Great to see you are on with this again Mark. Will be watching with great interest

Simon


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## sanj (3 Feb 2011)

Like the idea of slow drip water change, I remember a guy at my dads office set up a system along the lines of constant water change with pipes going under his floor. Would be interesting to see how this is all set up. Glad to see you back on the project.


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## nayr88 (3 Feb 2011)

I'd love to have space for a tank this large!! Its brilliant haha.

The constant water change though, Is this fed like a tap on a basin? What about chemicals in the untreated water?

I'd love to see a Amazon biotope in something this size, would be breath taking with large gangs of cory's apistogramma's tetra's angels so on so on, plenty of roots and leaf litter and floating plants :-O dream tank 

Ah well maybe on day hhaha


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## Mark Webb (4 Feb 2011)

Themuleous said:
			
		

> Did you drill it yourself?  Always wondered how easy that would be.
> 
> Sam



Yes drilled myself. Use a Diamond cutter on very slow speed and keep it lubricated with water. Just need to be careful about distance from the edge of the glass.



			
				Always Broke said:
			
		

> Great to see you are on with this again Mark. Will be watching with great interest
> 
> Simon



Thanks Simon



			
				sanj said:
			
		

> Like the idea of slow drip water change, I remember a guy at my dads office set up a system along the lines of constant water change with pipes going under his floor. Would be interesting to see how this is all set up. Glad to see you back on the project.



Thanks sanj, I will just connect a hose to the overflow, and pipe it through the wall into the rain water drain.



			
				nayr88 said:
			
		

> I'd love to have space for a tank this large!! Its brilliant haha.
> 
> The constant water change though, Is this fed like a tap on a basin? What about chemicals in the untreated water?
> 
> ...



I dont plan on a constant water change. With the rate of flow I get on my HMA filter I plan to run for 24 hours. This will change approx 65% of the volume.


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## LondonDragon (4 Feb 2011)

Mark Webb said:
			
		

> With the rate of flow I get on my HMA filter I plan to run for 24 hours. This will change approx 65% of the volume.


Any change of a quick article on these filters? They do seem like a better option than RO which is just a waste of water. Cheers


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## nayr88 (4 Feb 2011)

I've never even heard of these filters!! Ill be googling in 5 minutes after a cup of tea haha.


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## Mark Webb (5 Feb 2011)

This is very informative. *HMA Filters*


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## Mark Webb (12 Dec 2011)

Planted at last! Most of the original plan has now changed, particularly with the planting. Initially I have gone for fast growing plants to achieve balance as quickly as possible. I cycled the tank with household ammonia and Ammonia was at zero before plants went in.


Plant list as follows:

Heteranthea Zosterifolia
Alternanthera Reineckii
Hygrophila Difformis
Nymphaea Lotus Zenkeri Red
Pogostemon Helferi
Crypt Wendtii
Hygrophila Angustifolia
Sagittaria Platyphylia
Microsorum Pteropus
Cabomba Carolinia
Echinodorus Tenellus
Echinodorus Ozelot
Egeria Densa


To increase water turnover I have tried the Tunze Turbelle stream  rated at 7000 litres per hour on the minimum setting, but it is too strong at least until the plants are established. I will give it another go in a few weeks but may have to go for something with a lower turnover.

Filtered water has gone by the way side and I will use tap water and dechlorinator for a weekly 50% water change. 

I have installed a closed loop for CO² using an Eheim 1262 and AM1000. CO² distribution is through spray bars across the top of the tank. Working well so far, the drop checker is in the bottom half of the tank and showing bright green. 

On the lighting I have gone for 6 x 39W T5’s which light the tank well, and initially on for 6 hours per day.

I have changed fish stocking too. Discus are no longer on the list. I have introduced 12 Crossocheilus Siamensis and 8 Denisoni Barbs. Next on the list are Rainbows, very much influenced by sanj’s videos of his tank on Youtube.

Heres a few shots. Waiting on plants for the front.


















Siamensis getting on with the job


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## Always Broke (12 Dec 2011)

Simon


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## Always Broke (12 Dec 2011)

Nice one Mark
At long long last    

My tank is now very high maintenance
I spent over 45 minutes  on it in total last month. Its just not on    
And everything still works as from day 1.

Simon


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## Mark Webb (12 Dec 2011)

Always Broke said:
			
		

> Nice one Mark
> At long long last
> 
> My tank is now very high maintenance
> ...



Thanks Simon. Sorry to hear your tank is taking up so much of your time


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## sanj (13 Dec 2011)

Nice to see this project up and running.

If all your "C.siamensis" are of the same form as in the photo then I believe you have C.langei which is the one you want. I have tried to capture the two species that I have to help illustrate the differences and will post at some point. It seems they are still being sold together, I was in MA, Mere Park on the weekend and noticed both species in the same tank. 

Just a note in regard to rainbowfish, do feed them a high veg/spirulina content diet so as to desuade them from taking a liking to any soft leaved plants (star grass, blyxa, downoi...)

Due to the colder weather recently I decided to get a Hozelock connection to fit onto my kitchen mixer tap. This way I can take off the chill when doing waterchanges now. I dont know if you have done this already, but it might be somthing to think about for the winter months.

With all these stems the next weeks and months is going to see a lot of development, very nice and looking forward to all the updates.


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## Mark Webb (13 Dec 2011)

sanj said:
			
		

> Nice to see this project up and running.
> 
> If all your "C.siamensis" are of the same form as in the photo then I believe you have C.langei which is the one you want. I have tried to capture the two species that I have to help illustrate the differences and will post at some point. It seems they are still being sold together, I was in MA, Mere Park on the weekend and noticed both species in the same tank.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the tips sanj. good to know I have the right Crossocheilus. They certainly seem to be constantly nibbling. Strangely enough I bought a Hozelock fitting for my mixer taps a couple of days ago. After the first 50% water change the temp dropped to 15 degrees C which I felt was a bit drastic, and it took most of the day for the temp to get up to 22 again.

My CO2 seems to have dropped after the first night of running an air stone.


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## hinch (13 Dec 2011)

temp will drop if you're adding in cold water make sure you've got it mixed to warm before you set it going into the tank.

your co2 will drop if you run an airstone too shouldn't worry too much as once the co2 clicks back on next day it'll go back up although you may want to increase your bubble count as you're starting with a lower co2 ppm than you were before.


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## Always Broke (13 Dec 2011)

I have always added mixed water which keeps the temp change to a minimum.
My air pump turns off 3 hours before my Co2 kicks in. The air pump is running two big stones in the sump.
From my original set up the only thing I have changed is I got rid of the spray bar.

Si


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## Mark Webb (13 Dec 2011)

Thanks guys. I will be adding mixed water on next change. Re the CO2 drop, I checked the regulator and bubble count had dropped right down on its own for some reason.


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## Mark Webb (14 Dec 2011)

Heteranthea is certainly taking hold


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## justjason88 (16 Dec 2011)

Tank is looking good, i also have echin ozelot and it's a fantastic plant. It's constantly producing new deep red leaves which slowly turn green as they develop but keep lots of red spots on them; it's very hardy too.


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## Mark Webb (4 Jan 2012)

Tank at 34 days. Have to say that not having grown stems before I am astonished at the rate of growth. Sadly algae is taking a hold and many of the plants have a coating of algae on the leaves, but hopefully this will pass as the tank matures. I have done 6 x 50% water changes since start up.


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## Mark Webb (5 Jan 2012)

CO² consumption is looking grim. I have now used 2 x 5kg's in a month and @ £20 each its not looking viable unless I can find a better source. Any suggestions would be welcome.


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## clonitza (5 Jan 2012)

You either have a faulty reactor or a CO2 leak, 5kg should last you ~3-4 months. Any bubbles escaping the reactor?
Tank's looking fine even with the algae issue!


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## sanj (5 Jan 2012)

Yes, i would agree. There is somthing not quite right with your co2 setup. Minimum you should get 2 months and probably much more as Clonitza suggests.


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## Mark Webb (6 Jan 2012)

All _seems _to be okay with the CO² setup, including the air line which I have checked for leaks. 
I am using an AM1000 reactor. 
Would a diffuser be more efficient?

Have exhausted all possibilities for cheap CO² locally. I contacted BOC and they are more expensive than the extinguishers I buy.


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## clonitza (6 Jan 2012)

AM1000 should be the cream of the cream if you are not using a mazzei venturi.
See if any bubbles are escaping the reactor if they are then you might improve it maybe using sponges instead of siporax(let a little bit of space between the sponges and the CO2 inlet to create the bubbles loop). Maybe place the output (guess it's one of the spraybars) a little bit deeper pointing a little bit down, not at the surface.

See if it helps,
Mike


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## Mark Webb (6 Jan 2012)

clonitza said:
			
		

> AM1000 should be the cream of the cream if you are not using a mazzei venturi.
> See if any bubbles are escaping the reactor if they are then you might improve it maybe using sponges instead of siporax(let a little bit of space between the sponges and the CO2 inlet to create the bubbles loop). Maybe place the output (guess it's one of the spraybars) a little bit deeper pointing a little bit down, not at the surface.
> 
> See if it helps,
> Mike



Thanks Mike. I am not sure what you mean when you suggest that bubbles may be escaping the reactor?  I have the infeed at the top and the outfeed return at the bottom and I do have the spray bars pointing downwards, although there isn't a great flow from the Eheim 1262 as there are several holes across the width of the tank. Maybe I would have been better with fewer holes which would have fired the CO² deeper.

I have also moved the drop checker nearer the top to check levels are the same. Maybe I need more circulation? I have reduced bubble rate on the new bottle, I guess a little is better than none.


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## Bufo Bill (6 Jan 2012)

Very nice tank, keep up the good work. should look awesome when mature. Wish I could afford a tank this big, but then I would probably keep a puffer in it or some other big fish that would not suit a planted set up,  so more power to you for going uber plantski, as we say in my neck of the woods ( Wolverhampton ).

All the best from Bill.


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## Mark Webb (6 Jan 2012)

*Re:*



			
				Bufo Bill said:
			
		

> Very nice tank, keep up the good work. should look awesome when mature. Wish I could afford a tank this big, but then I would probably keep a puffer in it or some other big fish that would not suit a planted set up,  so more power to you for going uber plantski, as we say in my neck of the woods ( Wolverhampton ).
> 
> All the best from Bill.



Thanks Bill.


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## Alastair (6 Jan 2012)

I decided to take out all the media inside my am1000, and also cut the co2 tube inside it to half the length it was, this way I found that I got better co2 mixing and have knocked my bubble rate down by 1bubble a second too. May be worth a try plus you'll get more flow too then. I found the long co2 tube allowed some co2 to get pushed out without rising to the top. 
Not sure why your using so much co2 though mate. I use a pub cylinder at 4-5 bps and get a good 7 months out of it easily


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## sanj (6 Jan 2012)

Mark, 

I think your bubble rate is way too high gauging by what you said and comparibles with mine and others.


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## Mark Webb (7 Jan 2012)

Alastair said:
			
		

> I decided to take out all the media inside my am1000, and also cut the co2 tube inside it to half the length it was, this way I found that I got better co2 mixing and have knocked my bubble rate down by 1bubble a second too. May be worth a try plus you'll get more flow too then. I found the long co2 tube allowed some co2 to get pushed out without rising to the top.
> Not sure why your using so much co2 though mate. I use a pub cylinder at 4-5 bps and get a good 7 months out of it easily



Thanks Alastair, so do you not have any media at all in your AM1000? I must say I reckon the Siporax reduces the flow dratically.





			
				sanj said:
			
		

> Mark,
> 
> I think your bubble rate is way too high gauging by what you said and comparibles with mine and others.



Thanks sanj, I am sure you are right, although the drop checker has never been a really pale green  :?

If I cant reduce the CO² consumption by a considerable amount I will not run it - its really frustrating not to be able to get a good price on it. But I have to say that there are some really nice tanks that dont use CO²


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## Alastair (7 Jan 2012)

Yes mate, I run my reactor with no media what so ever in it. They restrict flow enough already with having such a narrow inner bore on the inlet and outlet and the sera seporax would restrict further in my opinion.
I'm planning on getting a drill head and widening the inner bore slightly too at some point. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Mark Webb (12 Jan 2012)

I have now removed all media from the AM1000 but there isn't much noticeable difference in flow. I will need to run at least one powerhead on this tank to ensure better CO² distribution. I have tried one of the Tunze heads now that the plants are established, but it ruins the tranquility of the tank. Some of the stems are going horizontal   ,  and the fish are all gathering at one end - they look like they are trying to get out!. This head runs at 1000gph minumum so I intend to go for a Vortech MP10 which will run between 200-1575gph, in the hope that I can get good circulation without too much disturbance to the tank.


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## Alastair (12 Jan 2012)

That's exactly what I'm buying off someone on here the mp10. Looks a sweet bit of kit. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## LondonDragon (12 Jan 2012)

Running a 1000 litre high tech tank is asking for trouble haha lets put it this way a 5Kg CO2 bottle on my 125l tank lasts 8 months so do the maths, you will need to pump a lot of CO2 in there, you could possibly reduce the light levels and photo period to see if that helps, reducing for an hour a day might help, also ensure your fertilizer regime and flow is good all around the tank. Good luck


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## Calzone (23 Jan 2012)

> This head runs at 1000gph minumum so I intend to go for a Vortech MP10 which will run between 200-1575gph, in the hope that I can get good circulation without too much disturbance to the tank.



I don't have an MP10, so this is only a suggestion, but check the spec for the MP10 - I was looking into it just recently and it states the magnet holder/motor works up to a max of 9.5mm glass thickness.  I would expect it probably still works for thicker glass but maybe not at full flow rates??  anyway, not sure how thick your glass is but for 1000litres, figured it might be 12mm or even more.

Calzone


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## Mark Webb (23 Jan 2012)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Running a 1000 litre high tech tank is asking for trouble haha lets put it this way a 5Kg CO2 bottle on my 125l tank lasts 8 months so do the maths, you will need to pump a lot of CO2 in there, you could possibly reduce the light levels and photo period to see if that helps, reducing for an hour a day might help, also ensure your fertilizer regime and flow is good all around the tank. Good luck



Thanks Paulo


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## Mark Webb (23 Jan 2012)

Calzone said:
			
		

> > This head runs at 1000gph minumum so I intend to go for a Vortech MP10 which will run between 200-1575gph, in the hope that I can get good circulation without too much disturbance to the tank.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks for the tip, glass is 10mm. I have the Vortech running and its working very well. Only using 75% of max and giving very good circulation.


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## Mark Webb (1 Feb 2012)

Update at 62 days

Plant growth has been considerable despite not having achieved pale green on the drop checker. CO² is now lasting longer but impossible to achieve a controlled level as the bubbles are streaming so fast its impossible to count them. The only way is to use 2 bottles in order to get more control. I found that at startup each day the CO² was running at a crazy level and needed to be adjusted everyday but having dismantled and reassembled the regulator it seems okay now.  There is some algae but nothing significant so far.












Water is now very much clearer. Initially it was a little milky, so I guess thats a good indication the tank is maturing. I have planted Bolbitus Heudelotii but its struggling. Also added some Alternanthia Renekii which is doing okay. The plant I initially bought as A. Renekii was mislabelled. Microsorum is now kicking off.

I have added what I think maybe 3 M. Australis?


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## sanj (10 Jan 2013)

Hey Mark,

its been a long time. Any updates?


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## LondonDragon (19 Jan 2013)

sanj said:


> its been a long time. Any updates?


We sure need an update on this one!! Come on Mark


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