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Anyone else have problems with T5 lighting?

Right I see, boundary layer. I'll chuck in the powerhead and look to get an external pump to hook up to the tank to increase flows as well. I guess this would explain why the plant die, i.e. the light forces them to work harder than they are able to get nutrients, so they burn out and die.

I just hope it works!

Much appreciated Clive 🙂

Sam
 
Please let us know how you get on with the external pump Sam 🙂 I'm curious to see what make\model you get, how quiet it ease, the difference it makes, etc...
 
Well if you take your time I might beat you to it! 😉

I have a 3ft/160l and am also experiencing flow problems. Mine is due to increased biomass. I have gone from what I considered a healthy all round flow to having a 'dead spot' that is about 1 foot by 1 foot long and goes from the substrate up to about 6" I am in the (very slow) process of putting in an external reactor. That may necessitate an inline pump to drive it. If it does I will let you know how I get on. If it doesn't I will opt for an internal flow pump (Hydor Koralia 1). Worst case I will get both an inline pump and an internal flow pump!
 
I will definitely keep you posted.

The eheims do look good, and they have low power consumption considering the amount of flow you get from them.
I don't know how many years you would have to run it before the electricity savings outweigh that extra inital outlay that an Eheim incurs over a.n.other brand, but at least the concept that it will be 'cheaper in the long run' should soften the blow somewhat 🙂

The other consideration on top of flow is head height. I want to be confident that the pump won't loses all its power\flow by the time it reaches the tank. 2m of tubing, a reactor, a heater, and some bends and curves are bound to take some toll and by studying the head height specs\flow curves you can get a picture of this before taking the plunge.

This is all theoretical still for me, I have no practical experience with inline pumps - so I could just be over complicating things. Thats the joy of this forum, we can bounce these ideas around with eachother 8)
 
It is definitely not just you :lol:

With the support of like minded people I quite like the challenge 😉 Always learning sums it up quite nicely 8)
 
Garuf said:
http://www.charterhouse-aquatics.co.uk/catalog/eheim-compact-3000-pump-15003000-ltrhr-p-1056.html

£45 posted. It's also cheaper than I could find on ebay.
You looking at getting a reactor as well or leaving it as internal glassware?
Click to expand...

55w power consumption?! Seems more effective to get a Koralia 2 - moves 2300lph, 34 UK pounds uses only 4.5w.

Put the reactor on your filter - it will reduce flow slightly but it won't matter - filtration will still be as effective as before and compared to the flow from the powerhead distributing CO2 and nutrients, its not an issue.

Am I missing something?
 
a1Matt said:
Well I was talking cr*p when I said the Eheim pumps have low power consumption!
Click to expand...
And you seen how ugly they are compared to Koralias?? 😉
 
I'm not sure if Sam is going with my idea of having the pump externally or not but the main thought was that it would be less junk in the tank.

Yes, you could put a powerhead in there but why bother when you then have to hide them and impair there effectiveness or have to look at them every day cluttering up the tank. Regardless of make no powerhead is pretty. Mounting a pump externally would not only be out of sight and less of an eye sore but it also removes the ugly part from the tank only needing an inflow and out flow which are I'm sure you'll agree are far less intrusive. Going about it this way also provides a useful base on which to add accessories that would normally hinder the filter ie a co2 reactor, external heater, uv filter etc. View it as adding another filter but without the filter media. Yes power consumption is higher but you can get lower watt pumps, the lowest I've found is 45watt yes it's high but it turns over 3000lph+ and has the power to allow for "head" something an internal would never be capable of if used in this capacity and negates the extra power consumption. It's a matter of thinking just what is the most important, if it's aesthetics then you have to go about things differently to achieve good results than if you don't mind having a powerhead or other accessories in-tank and distracting from the aesthetics. Either method has pluses and negatives you have to chose which set are more important to you.

Sorry to clog up your thread Sam. 😳 Quiet the rant.
 
Thanks for the link Gareth, thats the one I was looking at and it seems to get good reviews from what I can tell, quite too.

Yep I'm going for the external pump idea, most likely with glassware as it just helps the tank not to look so cluttered.

Having the pump below the tank is probably the reason for the power consumption, it'll have to pump the water a 5ish foot up into the tank. If it sorts the plants Im happy to go with the external and pay the extra electricity. I'm on a hydro tariff so I can sleep easy at night 😉

Sam
 
Have just ordered an Eheim compact+ 3000 from Aquatics online together with 2lt of excel, not cheap but it got me free postage, and I'm sure I'll use it eventually!

I dont think I'll be running a CO2 reactor off it for the time being, as I quite like the look of glassware and its working for me at the moment so I'll leave things to stabilise before I start changing things to much. My bank account needs time to recover as well!

Sam
 
Sorry Sam, but I can`t be bothered to read all of this thread. :lol: Going back to the beginning, how did you go about planting the HC? If it was emersed growth in the pots, what I do is leave them in the pots underwater with good CO2, ferts etc for two or three weeks. Then I plant them out individually, almost burying the entire plantlet. I have great results with this method, but the HC does take a little while to kick off. I now find it a bit of a nuisance because it keeps popping up out of nowhere and outcompeting my UG.

I think the shock of suddenly becoming immersed, plus being planted out can be a bit too much for it, especially in a new tank where the CO2 levels haven`t yet been sorted.

I have just started a 120cm 2.5 weeks ago and am using an Aquamas CO2 reactor, with 2 Tetratec 1200s blowing in from either side. Flow distribution around the tank seems pretty good so far. Your internal looks a monstrosity to me.

By the way, I can`t help but think you have a very low plant mass. In my 120cm, to stave early algae problems I have carried out the following steps:

Used mature filter media.
High CO2 from the word go.
Short photo period that will slowly be extended in time and intensity.
50% water changes every day for the first two weeks, gradually decreasing to once a week over the next month.
Zeolite and Purigen in the filter.
Fast growing stems planted, that may make way later on for Crypts etc.

Make sure you hammer the water changes, Sam.

Dave.
 
Dave Spencer said:
Sorry Sam, but I can`t be bothered to read all of this thread. :lol:
Click to expand...

I dont blame you! :lol:

Thanks for the advice, I planted the HC pretty much as you said and I've used it lots of time in my nano with good results. I knew I had done it all wrong with just using HC from the off but hey I wanted to try it out and I guess I'm paying the price! I did have major problems with the filter though so that really didnt help with the initial algae control, once the HC started dieing the NH3 being produced was just to much for the two small internals I had in there to cope with, so I was running a 1ppm NH3 for a good few weeks. Once I hooked up the replacement eheim 2080 NH3 and NO2 went to zero within a week.

That internal you can see is a UV rather than being a biological or mechanical filter and it wont be in there forever just for the time being.

Thinking back to it, the whole flow thing really makes sense in that when I first set the tank up I was running a ex2400 which produced a massive flow in the tank and the HC pearled like mad and it cant have been to long after taking it out (due to it being faulty) that the HC all went belly up, the HC was growing great to start with, honest! 😉

What does Tom Barr always say about 90-95% of problems being CO2 related? :lol: I just hadn't twigged that just cos I was putting lots of CO2 into the tank, didn't necessarily mean the plants were able to get hold of it.

BTW how noisy due you find the ex1200?

Sam
 
There are two running on the same tank in the GF`s living room. There is a gentle background hum, but they are competing with two little girls. :lol:

Dave.
 
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