Advice welcome

[John q]

I don't like the look of the sponge filter as it's taking up one end of the tank which I could use for stemmed plants so will remove it and rely on the Hawaii Lava wich is very porous to grow the Bacteria colony (maybe turn the air up)

Lights are on 10 hours with CO2, then airstone under Lava rock turned on while it's dark

Hiya, do you have any kind of circulation going on whilst the co2 is on? If not then it might be an idea to add some kind of hang on the back filter or small nano pump in there. Without any circulation you're going to struggle circulating that gas that you inject, which in the long term won't be efficient and probably won't be of any use to plants.

 

[25993]

Hi John q thanks for that. No circulation it's only a 10 gallon tank with 8 gallon of water, but the plants at the far end from the diffuser seem to be 'pearling'' up when the co2's on ?
How about I cannibalize my small sponge filter and just use the down tube (cut down) with an inline air line tap to control the output flow ?

 

[John q]

How about I cannibalize my small sponge filter and just use the down tube (cut down) with an inline air line tap to control the output flow ?

Hey give it a try, if it generates some flow around the tank then it's better than nothing.

 

[25993]

This is all new to me so lot's of questions ? the diffusers is at the far ( out of sight ) end of the tank , heater, lava rocks, air line, co2 line so hardly any room left.
Would flow be generated if I had it at the near end ( in view ) pointing down the tank so it hits the far end and flows back ? hope this makes sense, the drop checker is green so co2 must be reaching it ? Thanks for your time

 

[25993]

Does the water in the tank get saturated with co2, if the diffusers at one end and the drop checker at the other is green ? and in between all the plants are 'pearling' ( bubbles coming off )
I ask because my Amazon Frogbit and Brazilion Pennywort are realy growing well and I want a lush dense tank without a water flow turning it into a washing machine (posts #22 #23 #24

 

[John q]

Does the water in the tank get saturated with co2, if the diffusers at one end and the drop checker at the other is green ?

It's a good question. I would imagine there will some amount of diffusion happening, even in the absence of flow, how evenly and quickly this happens would be the unknown.

The best way I can get my head around it is to think what happens if we add a drop of food colouring into a glass of water. Eventually the dye will diffuse and colour the water but it will be a slow uneven process, if we were to stir the water then this diffusion would be much quicker and more even. Can we compare this analogy to co2 diffusion in an aquarium?

Having a gentle (it need not be vigorous) flow in the tank will help distribute the gas around the tank, another benefit of having some flow in the tank "if performed correctly" it will enable the bubbles to remain in contact with the water for a longer period, thus allowing more time for it to dissolve.

The ultimate acid test will be the plants, if they are healthy then there's no reason to change anything.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

The best way I can get my head around it is to think what happens if we add a drop of food colouring into a glass of water. Eventually the dye will diffuse and colour the water but it will be a slow uneven process, if we were to stir the water then this diffusion would be much quicker and more even. Can we compare this analogy to co2 diffusion in an aquarium?

I think we can, the main difference would be that the "food dye" is also escaping at the water's surface. I'm not a CO2 user, but if I was I would want a large gas diffusion surface area, just to ensure that CO2 levels remained fairly stable.

cheers Darrel

 

[25993]

bought the aquascaper complete liquid plant food which wants 5ml per 50 liter per day, whats that per liter ? it's over 60 years since maths at school and 'metric' wasn't used then

 

[John q]

5ml per 50 liter per day, whats that per liter ?

0.1ml per litre.

 

[hypnogogia]

As @John q says, 5/50=0.1.

 

[25993]

thanks for that i've still got my vernier calipers in 1000 inch and rulers in 1/10 inch and use them all the time i never could work out why metric was supposed to be easier in 10's ?

i can remember when i had a Landrover Petrol was 70p a gallon, 35p a gallon with my first motorbike, selling it in liters was just a rip off !
it's just what you can get yor head round

 

[25993]

I can certainly see the difference after x2 4ml daily doses of Aqua Complete



the lights are brighter to take photo's, then lowered. the instructions say 50% water change once a week I aim to do two 25%'s as the tank is upstairs and I fill x2, 1 gallon demi johns + tap safe in the kitchen, where it's mains feed to the tap, then carry them upstairs and let tham stand overnight to get to room/tank temperature. I'd never manage it with an 80 gallon tank !

 

[Oldguy]

rulers in 1/10 inch

I prefer 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, & 1/32. Can't see the 1/64 these days. However grammes and litres and mg/litre (ppm) parts per million are very useful for planted tank calculations.

 

[25993]

OK just, as a joke, back in my motor biking days sparkplugs were set at 25 thousands of an inch, so if you didn't have feeler gauges on you, it was about a Rizla packet thickness (provining you rolled your own) so you could visualise it as you'd grown up with Imperial measurements if you go into a pub nowadays do you ask for 0.473176 liter of Bitter, larger, stout, etc please, isn't, asking for a pint easier ?

 

[25993]

Does anyone know why the Pennywort leaves are getting brown splodges on them ? they don't rub off - Thanks

 

[25993]

Hope I'm still OK to post here as I've still questions ? this time about circulation

Hiya, do you have any kind of circulation going on whilst the co2 is on? If not then it might be an idea to add some kind of hang on the back filter or small nano pump in there. Without any circulation you're going to struggle circulating that gas that you inject, which in the long term won't be efficient and probably won't be of any use to plants.

The smallest size and output I could find was a Layal P200F - 240V - 2W - 200 LTR/HR http://www.ch-layal.com/product/showproduct.php?lang=en&id=35
I set it next to my diffuser and it's pulling the co2 bubbles in and there's circulation all round the tank I'm just not shure if it will be too much for Shrimp, Plants and Nano Fish ? it's fair wafting the B. Pennywort about I've taken a 10 second video but don't know how to post it ? Thanks










/

 

[John q]

Hope I'm still OK to post here

Post here anytime you want, there will always be someone to answer your questions.

I'm just not shure if it will be too much for Shrimp, Plants and Nano Fish ? it's fair wafting the B. Pennywort

I should think a 200l/h will be fine for all the inhabitants of the tank, only thing to maybe watch out for is the potential for shrimp being sucked into the filter, I'm not familiar with that pump so can't say if this would be an issue.

If the pump is at the opposite end from the pennywort then it may well waft it around, you could possibly trim it so its not as high up in the tank, and replant the cuttings on the same side as the pump, but not directly in front of it. Choosing where to place certain plants regards flow takes a bit of trial and error unfortunately.

Keep an eye out on the levels of co2, now its not escaping the tank as quickly the levels in the tank will likely go up, this might mean you need to adjust it.

To post a video you'd have to put it on a video sharing site like "YouTube" and then post the link on here.

 

[_Maq_]

Why do you inject CO2 in the first place? Your plants don't truly need it. Then your worries about water circulation would get solved in the easiest way. For a small tank like this and a few shrimps an aeration stone will do. You don't even need a filter.

 

[MichaelJ]

Why do you inject CO2 in the first place? Your plants don't truly need it.

Wooow! Thats going to stir up some controversy! (barely audible so only you can hear: I am with you, but probably for different reasons 🙂 ).

 

[25993]

Many thanks Maq

Why do you inject CO2 in the first place? Your plants don't truly need it.

Because in my 70's I'm starting a new hobby which I know nothing about and found this contradictory forum ! where you read plants need co2 or don't, o2, and fertilizers then water flow to circulate them I've already been told my lighting was too bright then read on here there's no such thing as too much light just add more co2 and fertilizers to compensate, then you'll need circulation

Then your worries about water circulation would get solved in the easiest way. For a small tank like this and a few shrimps an aeration stone will do. You don't even need a filter.

I was pleased that after a month (on 21st. Feb.) PH - 6, Ammonia - 0 ppm, Nitrite - 0 ppm, Nitrate - 10 ppm, CO2 - Green, TDS - 265 and the plants were growing. I'll turn the water punp off and just turn it on when I add Aqua complete each morning, after lights on, for a couple of seconds to circulate it. I'll leave the air stone under the Lava rocks as it's not disturbing my Brasilian Pennywort which is growing well. One thing I read on here "If nothing's broken don't try and fix it " if the plants are growing well.I'll leave it like that till the end of the month see what it looks like and maybe do a water test, then think of a few shrimps. Or plastic plants, a rubber goldfish and no water !