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Andyh's 60L kitchen tank

chump54 said:
cheers Andy, that sudden burst of co2 in the vid is fantastic :lol: ... have you tried a spray bar? i don't like the way they look but they do seem to be effective.

how do you feel about the mist?

Chris

hey chris

yes it's a good bit of kit, once I have got it working steadily I will be happy!
I don't mind the mist at all.
Once I am happy it's doing the job I will fit one on my other setup which does have spraybar
so I should be able to see the difference. Big thanks to your thread as it helped me
fix my problem! :thumbup:

bogwood said:
Hi.Andy
I was just about to order one of these bits of kit.
However in view of your comments/experiences, i will wait and see how you get on, and what effect it has on your system over the coming weeks.
Look foward to your updates.

Yeah! let me test first! thanks! ;)
 
So Day 3 with the diffuser,

Got home from work and its working fine after the changes i made yesterday to the working pressure. My drop checker has turned very yellow, so i have dropped the bubble rate back. Will measure again tomorrow.

The CO2 mist is defiantly getting everywhere in the tank and my plants were all looking very healthy this evening.

Few more days and it should be clear as to whether this "UP CO2" unit is as good as i hoped! :clap: :thumbup:

Thanks
 
It's funny I keep expecting mine to let me down... but it hasn't yet :thumbup: . I think it is because of the increased working pressure. My plants seem to love it too, I remember George saying something like, some plants finding the mist beneficial. I find it helps with getting the flow right. I haven't needed to change the flow pattern on my tank since changing to the 'UP' diffuser and my plants are growing much better, my drop checker was yellow when I was using a glass diffuser too, but the growth was in no way as good as it is now, with the same colour DC. what I'm trying to say is the mist does appear to be affective and some diffusers are better than others. :crazy:
:D
Chris
 
chump54 said:
It's funny I keep expecting mine to let me down... but it hasn't yet :thumbup: . I think it is because of the increased working pressure. My plants seem to love it too, I remember George saying something like, some plants finding the mist beneficial. I find it helps with getting the flow right. I haven't needed to change the flow pattern on my tank since changing to the 'UP' diffuser and my plants are growing much better, my drop checker was yellow when I was using a glass diffuser too, but the growth was in no way as good as it is now, with the same colour DC. what I'm trying to say is the mist does appear to be affective and some diffusers are better than others. :crazy:
:D
Chris


Chris

I know what you mean but the Up atomizer, mine has been running now for 7days, and apart from the one setup problem has run like a dream. My plants have never looked healthier.

For those interested, when using a traditional glass/ceramic diffuser i was on a bubble rate of 3-4bps, i am now running at 1bps, and the drop checker is still looking slightly yellow by the end of the CO2 time. Which is great! :thumbup:

Just about to order another one for my other setup, this time i will be fitting it to a spraybar, so it will be good to see how that works.
 
bogwood said:
Well Andy, after reading the latest PFK its seems congratulations are in order. :thumbup:
Im sure the article will help to generate more interest in the Planted tank.

Bogood, thanks for you comments, yes my tank has featured in the latest PFK, another one for UKAPS! I am really proud since i have been reading that magazine for so many years! :geek:

Also big thanks to all you guys who have PM'd me, thanks very much for your kind words!

Merry Christmas and all that!

Andyh
 
hazeljane said:
HIya Andy where did you order the diffuser from??? :?:
ebay, search "UP CO2 Atomizer System" make sure you choose the right size to suit your filter pipework :thumbup:
 
Vito said:
Andy the tank is looking great and after reading your comments on the diffuser I have gone and order one, how long did it take to ship?

It took approx 3-4weeks, i have bought lots from that particular seller, and its always about the same time.

hazeljane said:
thanks andy ive just ordered 1.

Hope it works out for you.
 
Hi,

Great tank.

Just jumping here about UP CO2 Atomizer:

Take a look at the growth of my 45L under only 11W PC-light --> 0.9W/gal total volume and 1.5W/gal real volume (1W for 4L total volume, or 1W for 2.3L real volume) with this diffuser.

http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=6781&start=50

I used 2.1 bars instead to get a good CO2 flow, but I also use a 700 lph external canister. Mist is fine under 30 bubbles per minute
 
Andy,

As a total beginner and lurker who has read your journal with fascination, could I ask if in hindsight you would alter your lighting configuration, in terms of its number and power of tubes? I ask because in looking to research a set-up for myself the lighting can represent a major investment.

I really enjoyed the PFK article which gave a highly deserved acknowledgement (IMHO) to your super project. Actually, with great respect to PFK, I don't believe the published images do justice to your 'scape!

Thanks in anticipation,

David
 
Mawgan said:
Andy,

As a total beginner and lurker who has read your journal with fascination, could I ask if in hindsight you would alter your lighting configuration, in terms of its number and power of tubes? I ask because in looking to research a set-up for myself the lighting can represent a major investment.

I really enjoyed the PFK article which gave a highly deserved acknowledgement (IMHO) to your super project. Actually, with great respect to PFK, I don't believe the published images do justice to your 'scape!

Thanks in anticipation,

David


David


Firstly, Welcome to UKAPS, i see its your first post! :thumbup:

Thanks for your very kind words! I have to admit to being well chuffed to feature in the PFK especially since i have been a avid reader for many years.

Lighting is something i have "gone on a journey" with. Initially i thought it was all about the lights! Just stick loads of light above and you can grown anything attitude! Oh how wrong i was ! Lots of lights as a beginner can cause lots of unnecessary problems and lack of knowledge will be quickly exposed. The scape that you have seen within this thread has been grown purely on two t5 (24w each) tubes. Even thought i have a 4 tube setup they are only ever used for my attempts at photography! I have had all four on at points and set up mid day peaks etc. The real honest truth being i don't need them to grow the plants.

When i did introduce 4 tubes at the start it was like i unlocked the algae gates!.

I Suppose what i am saying is lights play a part but get your CO2, Nutrients and flow right first and you will get the growth your looking for. I am currently doing a second scape (see journal below Deep Rooted) Which i am using a lot less light in and the results are still excellent. So yes i probably would only of put two tubes on this tank, with the benefit of hindsight.

You will see guys on here with higher light levels even those who use metal halide lighting with amazing results, this just means that you have to increase everything else to compensate (nutrients CO2 etc). Get it wrong and you will have algae! Needs a lots of skill to get it all balanced. I will get there one day! :thumbup:
 
So Xmas is over for another yr! Found myself with camera in hand in the kitchen, so took a few impromptu pics of the tank. It looks so healthy at the moment. All the plants look ever so vibrant and the pearling tonight was exceptional. Everything was pearling, The Hyrdocotyle, the HC and even the Tennelus. I have been away for the last 48hrs and the tank has received no daily doses. Anyway I Just shot a few basic pics.

For those of you paying attention, i have had yet another prune and cut back a lot of the Hyrdocotyle as it was very tall. I also have planted a couple of pieces of Cryptocoryne on the right to see how that goes.

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The Crypt additions:
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CRS
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I have had a small amount of black algae on some of the Hydrocotyle, however this now seems to be clearing since the introduction of the Up atomizer. I suspect that i am getting much better flow of CO2 around the tank.
web.jpg


Thanks for looking!
 
This looks so amazing and is getting better with every update! You must be well pleased with that, looks proper smart - nice one. :)
 
That's still looking great. I like that way that the jumbled yet compact growth of plants suggests a hedgerow or thicket.
 
fantastic Andy!

it's good to see you've overcome your algae issues also.

was this since you changed the co2 diffusion method?

for me, the almost panoramic look just adds to this set up.The planting also adds a great natural 'flow'
 
The tank really is a beauty! it's come along so well!
I'd just like to suggest that you trim out those old algae hydrocotyle leaves because they'll be damaged and at higher risk to reoccuring algae other than that I really have no hints, you seem to have this planted tank think cracked!

Which diffuser is it you've changed to? Do you have a link?
 
rawr said:
This looks so amazing and is getting better with every update! You must be well pleased with that, looks proper smart - nice one. :)

Thanks Rawr, i am very pleased! :thumbup:

hydrophyte said:
That's still looking great. I like that way that the jumbled yet compact growth of plants suggests a hedgerow or thicket.

The planting is very dense, a look i hoped to achieve, i hope this setup will just get better and better with age.


saintly said:
fantastic Andy!

it's good to see you've overcome your algae issues also.

was this since you changed the co2 diffusion method?

for me, the almost panoramic look just adds to this set up.The planting also adds a great natural 'flow'

Cheers Mark :thumbup: , the algae has always been a residual problem one i have always linked to insufficient distribution of co2, the dense planting makes flow quite a challenge. The inline diffuser creates a very fine mist which is blasted all around my tank. I think this is helping clear the last small amounts of algae.

I am a big fan of the panoramic look and you will notice a lot of my pictures are shot in "widesrceen", the tank lends itself to this aspect ratio, due to it proportions. (limited height due to the kitchen cupboards!)

Garuf said:
The tank really is a beauty! it's come along so well!
I'd just like to suggest that you trim out those old algae hydrocotyle leaves because they'll be damaged and at higher risk to reoccuring algae other than that I really have no hints, you seem to have this planted tank think cracked!

Which diffuser is it you've changed to? Do you have a link?

Thanks for you kind words Garuf, not sure about having it cracked, lots more to learn yet! But thanks for the vote of confidence :D
One question for you though, when you say the leaves are damaged, are they unable to recover on their own?
I will cut them out anyway as a precaution, thanks for advice :thumbup:

With ref to the diffuser, i am using an inline UP atomizer, search ebay you will find it. Or look back in this thread, i have put some info in about it (page 20).
 
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