259L bookcase rebirth

[greenink]

259L bookcase tank - planted up!

The settings didn't affect photo quality, just the way you can zoom in and out of the photo 😉

Yup before I only uploaded photos that were 540 px wide - now will do the odd 1800px or so for people with bigger screens.

New layout is looking great, looking forward to seeing the plants filled in, to see how the rocks stand out then.

Thanks - am pretty pleased with it. Just need to keep tweaking and be patient...

 

[greenink]

259L bookcase tank - planted up!

to try and get lime green for lights on

Don't think it needs to be lime at lights on. The drop checker is always an hour or two behind (would be useful if anyone has done proper science behind this to get a more precise time lag by measuring water ph and comparing to drop checker but haven't seen it anywhere), so lime green an hour after lights on is fine... So think you can start CO2 later.

I much prefer inline - both for look and distribution.

 

[greenink]

259L bookcase tank - planted up!

to try and get lime green for lights on

Don't think it needs to be lime at lights on. The drop checker is always an hour or two behind (would be useful if anyone has done proper science behind this to get a more precise time lag by measuring water ph and comparing to drop checker but haven't seen it anywhere), so lime green an hour after lights on is fine... So think you can start CO2 later.

I much prefer inline - both for look and distribution.

 

[Antipofish]

Re: 259L bookcase tank - planted up!

to try and get lime green for lights on

Don't think it needs to be lime at lights on. The drop checker is always an hour or two behind (would be useful if anyone has done proper science behind this to get a more precise time lag by measuring water ph and comparing to drop checker but haven't seen it anywhere), so lime green an hour after lights on is fine... So think you can start CO2 later.

I much prefer inline - both for look and distribution.

Is there a need to clean inline diffusers ? If so how ? Cheers Mike.

 

[John S]

Re: 259L bookcase tank - planted up!

Don't think it needs to be lime at lights on.......

I'm sure I've read on here that the desired state is lime green at lights on or you've missed the boat as you want maximum CO2 levels when the lights kick in - I think Clive posted this.

I don't understand how people get to lime green at light on after only two hours of switching on the Co2 at much lower buble rates than mine? I need at least three hours and a bubble rate that seems very high compared to some (I'm using an UP inline on the outlket and into a spraybar). I've lowered the spraybar so have very little surface agitation but still can't achieve lime green at switch on :? So I'm still tweaking.

 

[greenink]

Inline Co2

Is there a need to clean inline diffusers ? If so how ? Cheers Mike.

Up aqua ones get limescale, so they need bleaching every now and then. Aquamedic 1000s are a bit more like a filter / regular pipes, so need cleaning every now and then in a pretty standard way.

I run the Aquamedic on a separate loop with a pump and a hydor heater - this increases flow in a cheaper way than adding another filter - and preserves flow in the main filter. On this loop I've made the slits on the custom perspex intake really fine so almost no plant matter gets in, and made the intake go about 60% of the way down into the tank, so can easily use this loop (and pump) to drain the tank quickly for water changes. (It has a T-section with a tap that connects to a standard garden hose).

 

[George Farmer]

Re: 259L bookcase tank - planted up!

Interesting take on the classic iwagumi. I really like it. I look forward to seeing it develop as the plants fill-in the picture.

 

[Gill]

Re: 259L bookcase tank - planted up!

Very Interesting Scape, Reminds me of the Madagascan Shear Cliffs

 

[greenink]

Update - CO2 still not sorted

Tank now fully stocked: 20 zebra danios arrived over the weekend. They're swimming really high up which gives a nice balance to the tetras which are low, and the gourami which roam about. Now just needs a colony of cherry shrimp to back up the Amanos.



HC has pretty much melted. Have never been able to grow it! Still haven't got the CO2 right, so have a bit of BBA and some brown algae on the stem plants. It's nowhere near as healthy as my small tank was by the end.

Trying to keep everything stable and only raise CO2:

- 2*36W for 3 hours, 4*36W for four hours (does this feel like very low light to people? reluctant to turn up since the HC melted under this much)
- 10ml easy carbo a day (2ml per 50l, double recommended dose)
- EI dosing
- 50% water change a week, using pump outlet. (Might change to doing some vacuuming of the substrate now it's stocked pretty heavily; getting this immaculately clean is what finally sorted the growth in my smaller tank).

Am liking the hardscape but growth is frustratingly slow, and am only slowly raising CO2 as don't want to kill everything. Have realised made the inlet pipes too long to clean easily which is a bit annoying! Will get some clear hose and then shorten them.

 

[O'Neil]

Re: 259L bookcase tank - planted up!

Very very nice tank

 

[Calzone]

259L bookcase tank - planted up!

Tank now fully stocked: 20 zebra danios arrived over the weekend. They're swimming really high up which gives a nice balance to the tetras which are low, and the gourami which roam about. Now just needs a colony of cherry shrimp to back up the Amanos.

20 zebra danios?!?!!! Wow! That is going to be one seriously active tank. I only have 3 left now, and they're nuts!

 

[justjason88]

Re: 259L bookcase tank - planted up!

Tank now fully stocked: 20 zebra danios arrived over the weekend. They're swimming really high up which gives a nice balance to the tetras which are low, and the gourami which roam about. Now just needs a colony of cherry shrimp to back up the Amanos.

20 zebra danios?!?!!! Wow! That is going to be one seriously active tank. I only have 3 left now, and they're nuts!

definitely, i have 6 in with some harlequins and 3 golden honey gouramis and they can be a little overpowering by nicking all the food, very very active fish but lovely

 

[pariahrob]

Re: 259L bookcase tank - planted up!

And yet another great journal from you!

Awesome stuff. I love reading your threads.

 

[greenink]

AM1000 issues

Have been getting a bit frustrated. The AM 1000 dissolves CO2 with no mist, so keeps the tank clear, but can't get it right:

- With a shower scrunch the gas 'gathers' and doesn't dissolve fast enough or predictably enough.
- With just bioballs it sloshes too loudly
- On a separate loop from the filter it gets clogged with dirt too fast
- Am getting uneven distribution across the tank (and am lothe to have a spray bar)

So have adjusted the set up (again). Now have a mix of bioballs and cut up washing up sponge in the AM 1000 and put it on the outlet of the Eheim 3 filter. Have also swapped round the inlets so each loop has the inlet and outlet on opposite sides of the tank.



Amazing how long simple changes like that take. And having connected it all back up just now, the AM 1000 is making a hideous amount of sloshing noise. If the AM 1000 continues to make this much noise will almost certainly put an UP Atomiser inline ahead of it as a way of diffusing the CO2 into the AM1000 - even though this sort of reduces the whole point of having one (could have just put the UP atomiser ahead of the filter and used that instead).

Has anyone used an AM1000 to their satisfaction - i.e. quiet, reliable, mist-less diffusion?

 

[JohnC]

Re: 259L bookcase tank - CO2 diffusion issues

I'm not sure if you have read my recent journal but i'm less then happy with my reactor (although it is a german unbranded not AM) for similar reasons. Mostly I think it is causing a larger then diffuser swing in CO2 when I turn it off and on due to the gas buildup in the chamber and the slower discharge.

Mine does not slosh as such as I filled it tight with bioballs so they don't move around. It also came originally with a "scrunchy" inside, which I switched for bioballs.

I'd considered the mist method into the reactor, logically it should allow quicker dissolving of the CO2 in the chamber and thereby lead to less buildup.

 

[Antipofish]

Re: 259L bookcase tank - CO2 diffusion issues

Hi Mike. Have you tried it with nothing in at all ? This seemed to cancel out the sloshing noise in mine (though of course you still got water flow sound, although I think if I had mounted the support onto a piece of felt in the cabinet this might have reduced any transferred vibration noise also). I know there are a few people who told me they run theirs with nothing inside when I was asking about them a while back.

TGM apparently put siporax in theirs. This would reduce flow more without doubt, but if you have flow dealt with another way it ought not to matter (or if you subscribe to the theory that massive flow is not essential as long as you get good distribution the same applies).

The AM1000 will have nothing to do with distribution, though per se it can be said it will have an indirect effect on "speed of distribution". You probably know this already. I know you dont like spraybars. Most people do not. But they DO give great distribution in most tanks, mine included. They are not the only solution though. You could consider powerheads/korallias to aid in this area.

Hope this helps.

 

[greenink]

259L bookcase tank - CO2 diffusion issues

Not putting anything else in the tank so powerheads etc just aesthetically out.

In the spirit of scientific rigour, the balance with the AM1000 seems to be:

1 getting enough media to dissolve CO2 fully
2 reducing the sloshing noise
3 not allowing the media to 'bump' (the bio balls were spinning at one point make a low rumbling noise)
4 not reducing flow too much
5 having fast enough dissolving of CO2 so there isn't a build up of gas in the pipe over the day, which then dissolves long after the CO2 is switched off
6 keeping it clean from tank gunk

So far I've tried

a) Original bio all media: sorts 1/5 but problems 2/3
b) Only shower scrunchies: sorts 1/2/3/4 but problems 5/6 ( algae grows quickly on it)
c) Both (a) and (b) on a separate loop driven by an external pump: improves 4 but worsens 6
d) inserting about four bio ball sized 'squares' of cut up washing up sponges in with the bio balls AND mounting in line with the filter, after the filter AND switching CO2 on 3 hours before lights go on and off: seems to sort 1/3/6 but 2/5 are borderline acceptable and 4 may be a genuine problem...

My hunches are that no media would not sort 1/2 and that more fine grained media would make 1/5 worse

Haven't tried the AM1000 with no media at all - but might do next. Suspect that an UP atomiser in advance of the AM would sort 2 and 5 in option (d) but then why not just put that inline into the filter - as then would also sort 4!

Having shelled out for the bloody thing quite keen to make it work. I know victor has used them with success - might ask him!

 

[Westyggx]

259L bookcase tank - CO2 diffusion issues

I use it without any media and it works well, although you do get the swishing noise but by the time I come home from the gym it's starting to calm down.

 

[greenink]

259L bookcase tank - CO2 diffusion issues

Do you get full dissolving and no gas bubble build up?

 

[geaves]

Re: 259L bookcase tank - CO2 diffusion issues

Whilst I have no knowledge of the AM1000 I was reading a journal on a US forum and they were experiencing a similar problem, it was suggested by another member to use a 'hobby pump' whatever that is.

Geoff