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260 L planted tank, minimum maintenance

Outzen said:
Im still keen on going with RO water - ie. 50/50 ratio
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@dw1305 explanation and example above is excellent - I think there is little point in investing in an RO system, just to mix it 50/50 with hard tap water, and still end up with relatively hard alkaline tank water. you should be aiming for a final carbonate level that results in <2dKH as Darrel suggests, though personally I would aim for less than 1dKH (well in realty I actually target zero dKH in all my tanks simply by just not adding any carbonate sources).

You need to focus on the parameters you have direct control of, such as alkalinity through carbonate additions, and general hardness through Calcium and Magnesium additions, rather than the pH which you have no real direct control over - and most definitely artificially targeting a certain pH through CO2 dosing is really not the way to go about it.
 
Hi all,
dw1305 said:
If I <"was keeping Rams (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi)?"> I'd want to be at 2dKH or lower, with some humic compounds.
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Wookii said:
you should be aiming for a final carbonate level that results in <2dKH as Darrel suggests, though personally I would aim for less than 1dKH (well in realty I actually target zero dKH in all my tanks simply by just not adding any carbonate sources).
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Agree with @Wookii , I should have also said that I would <"just be measuring conductivity at this point"> (which <"is a linear scale">), and I would want that to be in the 50 - 100 microS range.

Conductivity isn't perfect, but if you have very few ions of any description? You have soft water. <"Guide to TDS">

cheers Darrel
 
I'm not injecting CO2 and I'm using solely RODI water which I mineralize. To maintain pH below 7.0, my alkalinity must not reach 0.3 °dKH (= 107 µmol/L).
With alkalinity as low as that - or even lower - the pH is quite volatile. Microbes in the tank respire oxygen and produce carbon dioxide, which makes water more acidic. Sometimes even more important is nitrification which produces H+ ions (protons). I can live with that and all my observations suggest that plants & fish tolerate such fluctuations fairly well.

However, if you inject CO2, the situation is different. CO2 acidifies. If your alkalinity is only 0.3 °dKH, then some 10 mg/L CO2 is enough to push pH well below 6.0! But CO2 injectors often want to inject significantly more. Therefore, they keep water with moderate alkalinity (2-4 °dKH) to be able to inject some 30 mg/L CO2 and maintain pH at about 6.5.

Of course, in my opinion, the latter approach is wrong, but this is exactly what modern hi-tech aquarists do.
 
Destilled water arrived - when removing the blankets (dark start) I discovered brown algees ... only 2 of my roots where attacked, but small algee build up on glass all around.
Decided to stop dark start. took out 50% of the water and cleaned as much as possible (took the 2 roots out and gave them a good scrup and rinse under hot water)
Have consequtively received plants I bougth private - kept them in a plastic container. Planted all and added the destilled water.
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This is how it looks now;
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Tested water with strip test;
  • No3 - 0
  • No2 - 0
  • GH - >7 >125
  • KH - 10 - 178
  • PH - 8,0
Which is a significant fall from last reading.

Drop tests;
  • PH Pro JBL Aquatest - 6.0 - 7.6.
    = off chart (dark blue)

  • GH Tetra Test
    8 dh - 125 ppm (l232.7 before water change)

  • KH Tetra Test
    7-8 dh - 143 ppm ( 268.5 before water change )
By the way, strip tests seems to correspond nicely with drop test results 🙂
Getting some more plants on monday (Salvinia minima, Najas guadalupensis, Ceratophyllum demersum (Hornwort), Sagittaria subulata) and some snails (Planorbis corneus).
 
_Maq_ said:
I'm not injecting CO2 and I'm using solely RODI water which I mineralize. To maintain pH below 7.0, my alkalinity must not reach 0.3 °dKH (= 107 µmol/L).
Click to expand...
So, if im going to buy a RO (or RODI if its relevant for me), any recommendations? 🙂
 
Outzen said:
any recommendations?
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Do not underestimate the GPD = gallons per day parameter. A RO too slow is inconvenient.
As for the price, ready-to-use aggregates seem to be more expensive (in my region), but easier for beginners. A custom made line is cheaper, but you must know what you're doing. But like I said before, it's fairly simple.
 
Much has happened since my last post.
Discovered algee growth on many of the cryptos -
IMG_1358.jpeg
after reading up on it I decided to put in a cleaning team - instead of trying to fight the algees with chemicals.
Also been adviced by my local fish store to adjust my daylight settings - had the timer set to activate lights from 13:00 - 22:30. I was adviced to run for 7 hrs (max 8) and put a blanket over the aquarium in the remaining hours. So have now adjusted it to run between 15:00 - 22:30.

Schrimps (Red Cherry Shrimps) and snails (Planorbis corneus) arrived yeasterday ... and went to the local dealer to add some more schrimps ( 5 Caridina multidentata) and 6 suckermouth catfish ( Macrotocinclus affinis) to the clean up team.
Taking the chance of introducing schrimps and fish to the aquarium, even though it has not been cycled yet.
IMG_1369.jpeg
But maybe more importantly - I have again changed directions. I was very close to buying a RODI system, but the local fishdealer - which uses the same quality of tap water that I have, told me that they are just using the tap water - and not using any kind of RO or RODI or any other means to change water quality in their tanks. This convinced me to ditch my plans of a RODI system and see how things work out. This has also been some of the suggestions in this thread, however think it has been difficult to navigate through all the various information I have been receving from this forum and other internet ressources, which has pointed in many directions.
Ofcause I have to do the change from the current 50/50 ratio of tapwater & destilled water gradually, but at least Im confident that my disadvantage with the water quality I have, is not that great, inasmuch that im not contemplating creating trying to get any of the planned fish to breed.

This is how it looks on day 14 🙂
IMG_1363 (1).jpeg
 
Day 26
Moved some plants around but otherwise nothing much to report. No Ammonia/Nitrates measured. Some plants seems to florish, some dont. My cleaning team - 5 Catfish (Otos), Shrimps (Caridina multidentata and Neocaridina davidi) and Ramshorn snails seems to thrive, and have done a good job on my previously reported algee issue 🙂 ...need to clean the glass on the outside myself 🙂 🙂
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