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Why can't I grow healthy plants? What am I missing? - Now improving!

Had a play around with the sunsun filter last night. As it is it took 3 min to fill 20ltr, (400lph). Did the same without any media in and it still took 3 min. The only other difference was the tank water level was lower. I did the same with out anything inline and it still took 3 min. I am surprised, maybe one of the connections is restricting the flow. There isn't much space in the cabinet and i made a bit of a mess, I will take it out into the garden on the weekend and see if i can work out how to get more out of it.

I took out one of the bags or ceramic rings for now, I will replace the other one with activated carbon next time. I have re positioned the sraybar and powerhead towards the middle with equal spacing to the side walls. The flow does look better.

Cheers.
 
Hi Karl,
The elongation is triggered by a combination of O2 and CO2 shortfall. As you mention, other things are happening during the blackout as carbohydrates are consumed and are not replaced, so there are some structural issues going on as well as a fall in Oxygen production.

The reference listed does describe rice, which is only semi-aquatic. It's difficult to find articles which are restricted to aquarium species. Here is another article comparing several Rumex species, aquatic versus non-aquatic. The pdf is a free download http://www.plantphysiol.org/content/94/3/1071.long

There are a lot of circumstantial evidence which leads to misdiagnosis.
Crypt issues are probably the most misdiagnosed when 95% of the time it's a CO2 issue.

If you check the OP's data, he is using 2 Aquabars plus a third LED strip. That's a lot of light.

Our Ian Holdich posted a video of his tank (not sure what size) with 2 Aquabars.
Now, I assume these are similar if not the same and the tank is fine. If you look closely, you 'll see that he has paid attention to flow/distribution.


Cheers,
 
I'm not claiming to be an expert here because i'm far from it.

First of all. I do like your layout and tank. The first thing i notice though is that it looks low lit. combine that with high amounts of ferts and your asking for algae. I had the same problem.

I then added a 20w LED floodlight and DIY yeast/sugar co2 to the tank and hair algae and BBA disappeared.
I then lowered my ferts from daily dosing to just when i do a water change (once a week) with a normal recommended daily dose.

first pic is just after i added the floodlight (previously was 2x T8's which gave similar light level to yours) and DIY co2 then 2nd pic is 2 weeks later and then last pic is 4 weeks later:
2018-08-08 12.40.47.jpg

2018-08-08 12.41.42.jpg

2018-08-08 12.42.48.png


So im not suggesting what im saying is fact at all, im just documenting what i did to combat a similar situation to yours.

Hope it all goes well for you.
 
ceg4048 said:
If you check the OP's data, he is using 2 Aquabars plus a third LED strip. That's a lot of light.

Our Ian Holdich posted a video of his tank (not sure what size) with 2 Aquabars.
Now, I assume these are similar if not the same and the tank is fine. If you look closely, you 'll see that he has paid attention to flow/distribution.
Click to expand...
Yes they are the same lights, the tank looks a bit smaller but not much. I have also seen another tank on here with the same lights and healthy plants which is why I have been reluctant to increase the light.

Mark davis, your tank does look healthy, hopefully I can get growth like that. I am going to focus on flow first, if that doesn't give results I will move on to lights/ferts.

Also going to start dosing epsom salts as Darrel suggested, is about 4ppm a week enough?

Cheers.
 
Do one thing at a time and observe for two weeks.

Very keen to hear your results!!
 
I tested the filter properly today to see if I could improve the flow. i tested with a head of 120cm same as tank and just course/medium filter sponge.

With just hoses: 550lph
with spraybar + connections: 465lph
with just hoses and filter booster and heater: 445lph
with spraybar filter booster, heater and spraybar: 400lph

so, if I lost the filter booster and made a diy spraybar and connections i could eke out more flow,..or i buy a new bigger filter.

i'm leaning towards getting a bigger filter. I would like to not have the powerhead as it doesn't look good and not sure if the flow from it helps that much. I would like a filter that would produce enough flow to have a diy spray bar across the length of the tank reaching the front glass. I could keep the co2, reactor and heater on the current filter if it restricted flow too much on a single bigger filter. But would probable have to have two spraybars.

So far the changes I have made:
-Move the power head and spraybar more central with even gap from side walls.
-I have removed the ceramic rings and replaced with chopped up course filter sponge. Will add activated carbon when i gets a net bag to put it in.
-Started dosing epsom salt.

Still need to trim and get rid of as much algae as i can and see if anything improves. Will do an extra water change a week.
In the meantime I will look into filters. I was thinking i would need a filter like jbl e1501 or similar. Would a rating of 1500lph be enough?

Cheers.
 
The jbl's are good filters and bulletproof. The 1501 should be plenty for your size tank, you may even end up running slightly reduced flow.
Another choice I have heard is good but haven't tried personally is the oase 600 (available from aquarium gardens), they have the same flow rating but have the added advantage of a built in heater and prefilter meaning you don't need to open it to clean it!



Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
Iain Sutherland said:
Another choice I have heard is good but haven't tried personally is the oase 600 (available from aquarium gardens), they have the same flow rating but have the added advantage of a built in heater
Click to expand...
I looked at this filter but have not long bough a hydor inline heater! It looks good, would be good to have more space in the cabinet.
 
So I went for a JBL 1502. I made a temporary spray bar extender to run the full length. The flow is good but with the filter booster/reactor it reduces quite a lot. Will see how things go, maybe I should loose the filter booster and just use the up inline atomiser? The photo is with the filter booster.

I have cleaned a lot of the algae and pulled up all the stems and re planted the healthy tops. I have also added some more aquasoil and hardscape to the back right to give more height and lift the plants up. I will be doing regular water changes to help remove what ammonia comes out of the soil.

Will see how things go over the next few weeks.
DSC01459.JPG DSC01460.JPG DSC01461.JPG DSC01462.JPG IMG_20180825_091543.jpg
 
I just read this tread and it really hit home as I’m having some of the same issues. I have tweeked the flow and I’m now seeing almost all my plants pearling.

Previously only a select few where pearling.

Clearly you all know your stuff.

Many thanks
Dave
 
Hello, I have made some more changes to improve the flow. I have removed to filter booster for now using just the up atomiser for diffusion, will have to put up with a fizzy tank for now. Have also cut the hoses as short as they can be without any bends.

The flow seams better, it reaches the front glass but not with much force! When i look in the end of the tank i can see the micro bubbles going straight down the front glass, across the bottom of the tank through the plants then rising at the back glass, and throughout the tank. It look even through the length of the tank as well.

Should I also tape up a few holes to give the spray more force? is it necessary to hit the front glass with force?

Thanks.

DSC01463.JPG DSC01464.JPG
 
You need the watermovement to reach each nook and crannie in the tank, seeing all the plants move gently "in the breeze". I don't say youy can't reach it with this congfiguration, but i think you won't. Taping some holes is easy and cheap. i would try it at least.
 
I have blocked 5 holes and now the spray reaches the front glass with a bit of force. All the plants seam to be moving.

I will do another ph profile when i get a chance and move the drop checker around the tank to see if the flow is good.

How long does it take for bacteria to colonize on new media/foam? I put the foam from the old filter in the new one, i want to take it out at some point as there is to much foam in there.

Thanks
DSC01468.JPG DSC01467.JPG DSC01466.JPG
 
Only just came across this thread but the filter boosters will kill your flow; it's okay for the likes of @Zeus. as he has a big filter and set it up on a bypass.
I get micro bubbles in my tank from my CO2 atomizer as I think a lot of people do also - interested to hear if anyone has a fix for this without using something like a chamber that restricts flow.
That said if you have a steriliser then you get a haze from that also.
I'm currently having a play around with my spraybars as I want a stronger output from them.
I think it's easy and cheap enough to make your own and personally I use a tee in the middle so flow is sent more evenly both ways along the spraybar.
Just my opinion though.
 
Matt @ ScapeEasy said:
Removing that foam may well increase flow rates too...
Click to expand...
I was hoping it might help. Was going to only have foam in the first tray then a small amount of either activated carbon or alfagrog in the other two, not sure which one will restrict flow the least but have good surface area.

Andrew Butler said:
personally I use a tee in the middle so flow is sent more evenly both ways along the spraybar
Click to expand...
That's a good idea, Does the T restrict the flow at all? i suppose it is no more restrictive than a L bend.
I thought about having different size holes along the bar to even out the flow as I have read has worked for others.
I will try a few thing then make an acrylic spray bar when i have worked out what works best.
 
Nick Norman said:
Does the T restrict the flow at all?
Click to expand...
Yes, any bends will restrict flow is the short answer but I have an arrangement of 2 x 90s joined together up and over the back of my aquarium to a tee and then take my spraybar off either way from there which has not restricted the performance of my
filter. I know the filter is running at full as my filter has a screen on it showing flow which is very useful (Fluval G6).

The photos below might give you an idea of my arrangement, any questions just ask.

down1.jpg
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