plantnoobdude
Member
Really excited to see how it goes for you, cleaning a diffuser every month or so gets old quick!
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Consistency Deficiency
- Thread starter Hufsa
- Start date
It’s pretty tough to be fair - I’ve never scratched it, and it requires no undercoat. I’ve used it to paint a fair few filter inlet and outlet pipes, and overflow pipes and bulk heads that started life white.
I’ve never used Plasti-dip inside a tank though, only on the rear glass as a background paint, so I’ve no idea how it fairs underwater.
KirstyF
Member
Hehe…..so you mean, now I’ve got it all pretty, just go on ahead and duff it all up again…..for the sake of science! 😂
🤔Yeah, I could probably do that. 😊👍
I’m playing with getting perfect GSA free Anubias at the moment (in higher light than they really want to be in, me thinks) for which I think at least one of the parameters for success is uber stability…. I can then confirm if the new growth adapts to a new stable condition, where the older growth (With GSA 😡) could be saying…..come on now, stop with the twiddling and give me a break already!
Or…more scientifically speaking…sacrificing adaption of older growth to changing conditions for the sake of focussing energy on newer growth in current conditions.
I think I can only really confirm whether the Anubias will adapt comfortably to the light level, if I stick to a single set of parameters. (Light, flow, Co2, ferts, WC etc) for long enough to monitor that new growth…..which with Anubias….takes a while! 🙄
But once I have happily growing, GSA free Anubias, 🤞I’d be more than happy to sabotage it again and let you know results. 😊
Might be interesting to see if/what plants object to the treatment.
CO2 spray bar is in place in the tank and ready for testing with CO2 tomorrow 
I had hoped to get to testing today but there was a bit of delay with the 3D printed pipe holders for the suction cups.
CO2 spray bar shortly after drying. As you can see the end caps were reluctant to go on, the Plasti-Dip layer made the pipe too thick and I had to carefully remove the paint from the ends of the pipe and the inside of the caps.
It was quite easy to peel off even with the bit of sanding I had done on the PVC, so im definitely going to have to handle the bar carefully to avoid ripping up the coating.
If I were to paint it again I would probably want to find something other than Plasti-Dip, it just doesnt really fit the job of a permanent coating that we are wanting.
I had forgotten about needing somewhere to add the CO2 line to, but was able to retrofit an airline elbow piece. The fitting was just a hair over 5mm diameter, so I drilled 5mm and carefully ran the drill bit around the hole a little bit to make it ever so slightly larger. Then I could push-fit the elbow and it was snug but adjustable.
The opposite endcap has a 6mm (I went slightly bigger than 22802's 5mm to allow for the paint to build a little bit) overflow hole, you can just about see the bubble on the right in the picture
Since the spray bar is black I wasnt able to use the handy trick of air bubbles to make sure it was perfectly level, but it just so happened that my airstone was still mounted in the tank and was positioned so that it filled up the spray bar with air when turned on. Between lowering the water level and filling the bar all the way up with air I was able to get it pretty level and test the overflow function too 😊
Annoyingly the CO2 inlet on the Yidao reactor leaked water even when it was fully closed with the screw, so instead of having a lot of aggro and hassle figuring out how to get the water to stop I removed the reactor from the filter and put in an old bit of just straight hose from filter to outlet, it was faster than trying to MacGyver something else.
This way I can also get the CO2 spray bar adjusted to the agitation of the filter when it is unburdened by the reactor.
I was cleaning the skimmer and wanted to see if I could get the electrical cord to run on the other side since it would be less in the way there. Unfortunately the cord had just about solidified after being in that position for a couple of years, and as soon as it was moved even slightly from its customary position the outer layer cracked and exposed some of the inner wires...
Yeah... I think old faithful is gonna retire now.
Ill keep it around for spare parts, luckily I had another one lying around so I could just grab that one..
Im glad I had a second, I mainly bought it so I could have a backup when I was modifying the bars around the intake portion of the skimmer, but I figured since this is a cheap and cheerful Aliexpress gadget and is fairly important for the tank, it wouldnt do any harm to have a backup.
Ill get a third one soon as a new backup, might wait and see if they go on sale at some point. Not that they are particularly expensive, but eh every penny counts.
Im happy to share that I did finally solve my shrimp-in-skimmer problem, although not the way I expected to 😄
Maybe a week or so ago, I was about 1/4 of the way in gluing mesh onto one of the skimmer heads "a la Wookii", when I suddenly wanted to give something else a try.
I had previously drilled a 7mm hole in the side of the skimmer body, but at the time I was running the skimmer 24/7 and my shrimp were too weak willed and pathetic to use the hole to escape. There is light suction going into the skimmer through the hole while it runs, enough to make it a bit difficult for shrimp to just walk out. Now that the skimmer only runs at night, I took a fine pore sponge, made a little idiot-funnel in the sponge to guide the shreemple towards the hole, and set it up to check if they would finally use it.
When I woke up in the morning a couple of shrimp were making their way out of the hole and shortly after the skimmer was shrimp-free. It even works on snails 😃
Hooray! 😍 The skimmer even still collects leaves and debris, and the little morons just hang out in there for a handful of hours over night snacking on the "forbidden treats" until the skimmer turns off and out they stroll. Truly a solution worthy of the term "Have your cake and eat it too"
Ill get a photo of the solution tomorrow, ran out of time today 😁
I had hoped to get to testing today but there was a bit of delay with the 3D printed pipe holders for the suction cups.
CO2 spray bar shortly after drying. As you can see the end caps were reluctant to go on, the Plasti-Dip layer made the pipe too thick and I had to carefully remove the paint from the ends of the pipe and the inside of the caps.
It was quite easy to peel off even with the bit of sanding I had done on the PVC, so im definitely going to have to handle the bar carefully to avoid ripping up the coating.
If I were to paint it again I would probably want to find something other than Plasti-Dip, it just doesnt really fit the job of a permanent coating that we are wanting.
I had forgotten about needing somewhere to add the CO2 line to, but was able to retrofit an airline elbow piece. The fitting was just a hair over 5mm diameter, so I drilled 5mm and carefully ran the drill bit around the hole a little bit to make it ever so slightly larger. Then I could push-fit the elbow and it was snug but adjustable.
The opposite endcap has a 6mm (I went slightly bigger than 22802's 5mm to allow for the paint to build a little bit) overflow hole, you can just about see the bubble on the right in the picture
Since the spray bar is black I wasnt able to use the handy trick of air bubbles to make sure it was perfectly level, but it just so happened that my airstone was still mounted in the tank and was positioned so that it filled up the spray bar with air when turned on. Between lowering the water level and filling the bar all the way up with air I was able to get it pretty level and test the overflow function too 😊
Annoyingly the CO2 inlet on the Yidao reactor leaked water even when it was fully closed with the screw, so instead of having a lot of aggro and hassle figuring out how to get the water to stop I removed the reactor from the filter and put in an old bit of just straight hose from filter to outlet, it was faster than trying to MacGyver something else.
This way I can also get the CO2 spray bar adjusted to the agitation of the filter when it is unburdened by the reactor.
I was cleaning the skimmer and wanted to see if I could get the electrical cord to run on the other side since it would be less in the way there. Unfortunately the cord had just about solidified after being in that position for a couple of years, and as soon as it was moved even slightly from its customary position the outer layer cracked and exposed some of the inner wires...
Yeah... I think old faithful is gonna retire now.
Ill keep it around for spare parts, luckily I had another one lying around so I could just grab that one..
Im glad I had a second, I mainly bought it so I could have a backup when I was modifying the bars around the intake portion of the skimmer, but I figured since this is a cheap and cheerful Aliexpress gadget and is fairly important for the tank, it wouldnt do any harm to have a backup.
Ill get a third one soon as a new backup, might wait and see if they go on sale at some point. Not that they are particularly expensive, but eh every penny counts.
Im happy to share that I did finally solve my shrimp-in-skimmer problem, although not the way I expected to 😄
Maybe a week or so ago, I was about 1/4 of the way in gluing mesh onto one of the skimmer heads "a la Wookii", when I suddenly wanted to give something else a try.
I had previously drilled a 7mm hole in the side of the skimmer body, but at the time I was running the skimmer 24/7 and my shrimp were too weak willed and pathetic to use the hole to escape. There is light suction going into the skimmer through the hole while it runs, enough to make it a bit difficult for shrimp to just walk out. Now that the skimmer only runs at night, I took a fine pore sponge, made a little idiot-funnel in the sponge to guide the shreemple towards the hole, and set it up to check if they would finally use it.
When I woke up in the morning a couple of shrimp were making their way out of the hole and shortly after the skimmer was shrimp-free. It even works on snails 😃
Hooray! 😍 The skimmer even still collects leaves and debris, and the little morons just hang out in there for a handful of hours over night snacking on the "forbidden treats" until the skimmer turns off and out they stroll.
Truly a solution worthy of the term "Have your cake and eat it too"Ill get a photo of the solution tomorrow, ran out of time today 😁
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Still working on todays PH profile so will post that one later when the photoperiod is over, I want to see how fast the PH rises after the gas turns off as well
So far it looks pretty good, keep in mind that this is the first day with the bar running, so tweaks and adjustments will be made.
Got the main drop within about ~3 hours, I had set the water spray bar to have the holes a little more forward than upward to be nice to the CO2 spray bar, however the PH kept dropping steadily below 1.0 drop, so I angled the water up just slightly and that stopped it going down.
The stability is not entirely there "right out of the box", but I wasnt expecting it to be either.
In addition to this I have had lids on and off the tank all day, which should influence the PH profile according to 22802(please correct me if I am misremembering).
Between the PH readings ive been working on some transparent "channel plastic" (?) lids. The lids that come with the tank are aluminium/composite, and obviously do not allow you to put the lights on top of that lid as the materials are opaque. Ive been annoyed by my poor light spread for a long time now, the way the tank is made has the lights resting almost directly above the waters surface, and this doesnt allow even two separate lights to actually illuminate all of the waters surface.
A few days ago when I was out and bought the PVC end caps for the CO2 spray bar, I also picked up another cup of invitro frogbitto torture to help me.
It was right around the time the snails were dying, and I figured they could help uptake any nasties if there was any. In addition to that, if I have to remove the shrimp to a separate tank for further treatment, the frogbit makes an ideal babysitter plant. They will not complain about going from high tech to low tech + high potential growth rate.
But of course the frogbit needs to have the entire waters surface illuminated to have a chance to do well, I am a floater serial killer so its the least I could do.
Better spread means the lights needed to go above the lid, so clear lid there was.
Right now they are resting on the rim, but I was thinking of "ordering" a few 3D printed high heels for the lights, maybe 2 cm tall just to get their heat a bit further away from the plastic.
I look forward to having even less evaporation from the tank, this custom lid fits better than the original one, as that one did not have enough cut-outs for the plumbing.
To keep the middle of the sheets from sagging over time I got an aluminium T-profile from one of the local hardware stores. This helps the sheets a lot as they are supported on all four sides, as well as them being stronger in the direction the channels go.
I am concerned that water will make its way into the plastic channels and make an algae coating that will be impossible to remove.
To combat this I have taped shut the open ends as much as possible, but its not a 100% waterproof job as it was very difficult to do the corners without some sort of elastic clear tape.
I think it will at least slow it down a lot, and by the time it becomes a problem I will consider remaking the lid in plexiglass / polycarbonate something sheets.
I dont want to seal up the lid entirely, as oxygen still needs to make its way into the top of the tank, unless I want my only source of oxygen to be the plants. That seems like a bad idea, as they sleep at night. I suppose if I wanted a very tight fitting lid I would need to run an airline into the tank to forcibly exchange the air inside the lid, at least at night.
One thing I have been wondering about for a long time is if it is possible to decouple / separate the two factors evaporation/condensation and air exchange.
Like, is it possible to stop the humidity in the air from leaving the inside of the lid, without stopping air exchange?
Could you use some sort of filter that traps the water molecules and makes them condensate on that surface, but allows air to pass through?
Just my mind overthinking things as usual, but I am curious about that.
As promised picture of the shrimp proof skimmer modification:
Didnt say it had to be a good picture 😅 The sponge is basically flat on top except near the hole where it slopes down. The top of the hole is placed at the height of the top suction cups, this way the skimmer head can go all the way down (until it stops on the suction cups) without shutting the opening.
Obligatory FTS
The tank looks like crap, theres a sick amount of BBA and plant health is really bad even if its not visible from a distance.
Looking forward to getting back on track 😊 Onwards and upwards!
So far it looks pretty good, keep in mind that this is the first day with the bar running, so tweaks and adjustments will be made.
Got the main drop within about ~3 hours, I had set the water spray bar to have the holes a little more forward than upward to be nice to the CO2 spray bar, however the PH kept dropping steadily below 1.0 drop, so I angled the water up just slightly and that stopped it going down.
The stability is not entirely there "right out of the box", but I wasnt expecting it to be either.
In addition to this I have had lids on and off the tank all day, which should influence the PH profile according to 22802(please correct me if I am misremembering).
Between the PH readings ive been working on some transparent "channel plastic" (?) lids. The lids that come with the tank are aluminium/composite, and obviously do not allow you to put the lights on top of that lid as the materials are opaque. Ive been annoyed by my poor light spread for a long time now, the way the tank is made has the lights resting almost directly above the waters surface, and this doesnt allow even two separate lights to actually illuminate all of the waters surface.
A few days ago when I was out and bought the PVC end caps for the CO2 spray bar, I also picked up another cup of invitro frogbit
It was right around the time the snails were dying, and I figured they could help uptake any nasties if there was any. In addition to that, if I have to remove the shrimp to a separate tank for further treatment, the frogbit makes an ideal babysitter plant. They will not complain about going from high tech to low tech + high potential growth rate.
But of course the frogbit needs to have the entire waters surface illuminated to have a chance to do well, I am a floater serial killer so its the least I could do.
Better spread means the lights needed to go above the lid, so clear lid there was.
Right now they are resting on the rim, but I was thinking of "ordering" a few 3D printed high heels for the lights, maybe 2 cm tall just to get their heat a bit further away from the plastic.
I look forward to having even less evaporation from the tank, this custom lid fits better than the original one, as that one did not have enough cut-outs for the plumbing.
To keep the middle of the sheets from sagging over time I got an aluminium T-profile from one of the local hardware stores. This helps the sheets a lot as they are supported on all four sides, as well as them being stronger in the direction the channels go.
I am concerned that water will make its way into the plastic channels and make an algae coating that will be impossible to remove.
To combat this I have taped shut the open ends as much as possible, but its not a 100% waterproof job as it was very difficult to do the corners without some sort of elastic clear tape.
I think it will at least slow it down a lot, and by the time it becomes a problem I will consider remaking the lid in plexiglass / polycarbonate something sheets.
I dont want to seal up the lid entirely, as oxygen still needs to make its way into the top of the tank, unless I want my only source of oxygen to be the plants. That seems like a bad idea, as they sleep at night. I suppose if I wanted a very tight fitting lid I would need to run an airline into the tank to forcibly exchange the air inside the lid, at least at night.
One thing I have been wondering about for a long time is if it is possible to decouple / separate the two factors evaporation/condensation and air exchange.
Like, is it possible to stop the humidity in the air from leaving the inside of the lid, without stopping air exchange?
Could you use some sort of filter that traps the water molecules and makes them condensate on that surface, but allows air to pass through?
Just my mind overthinking things as usual, but I am curious about that.
As promised picture of the shrimp proof skimmer modification:
Didnt say it had to be a good picture 😅 The sponge is basically flat on top except near the hole where it slopes down. The top of the hole is placed at the height of the top suction cups, this way the skimmer head can go all the way down (until it stops on the suction cups) without shutting the opening.
Obligatory FTS
The tank looks like crap, theres a sick amount of BBA and plant health is really bad even if its not visible from a distance.
Looking forward to getting back on track 😊 Onwards and upwards!
Last edited by a moderator:
The PH profile 
At 08:40 I measured the tank water (so this value is just with whatever degassing naturally happens in the tank over night) to 7,52 degrees.
I was somewhat surprised as my water usually sits closer to 7,2 - 7,3.
However I am almost three weeks out from the last water change, and the tank has been topped up a bit with tapwater in the meantime, so I figured maybe the KH had crept up a bit because of that. The tank is getting a much needed water change this weekend, I just didnt feel like waiting until after the weekend to start up.
Besides, much smarter people than me say that a 1.0 drop is a 1.0 drop, so it shouldnt matter where you start from.
(But it shouldnt be water straight out of the tank for the baseline though, I pulled a sneaky one for temporary convenience)
Anyway, just to have something to go on I assumed 7,52 was about degassed, and left the task of checking a manually degassed sample for later.
I had to run an errand but turned the CO2 on remotely and started measuring as soon as I got home again.
So, if we assume 7,52 was about right then I had the 1.0 drop 2 hours and 30 minutes in.
As you can see the PH kept dropping after that, until I adjusted the water spray bar a smidge.
At one point the lids were finished and placed on the tank (lids were on and off all day, but mostly off), and on the next PH measurement I noticed a distinct drop of 0,02.
I think the lids might have a fairly significant impact, so it will be very interesting to repeat the profile again tomorrow with the lids in place all day. It should at least be more consistent.
Also usually I turn the CO2 on much earlier in the morning, same with the lights, but since I wanted to test but couldnt start until after the errand, I postponed todays startup.
For tomorrow I will start the CO2 at 07:00 as usual, giving it 3 hours until the lights go on full at 10:00.
I probably will only measure hourly for the majority of the profile, it gives me a little bit more time to get other things done in between.
I went and got my designated shallow container with a lid to get the true degassed sample from the tank.
I even went outside to do it because the air inside here can get a bit poor sometimes, so I dont trust that.
So I put in just enough water to measure, shook the box as I went outside, took off the lid and wafted in new air, repeat x amount of times.
When I went back inside to check the PH I couldnt really believe it, it didnt stop until 7,97 😬 That just cant be right, my tank has not had a 1.59 point drop today, I dont believe thats likely.
I wonder if I used this container to dissolve out some medication or something 🤔
Im gonna go clean it now, redo the test and report back.
...
Hrm, still high, 7,90 now. Maybe the container is tainted.
Ill leave some tank water out in a different container over night, see where its at tomorrow morning and take it from there 😊
[Edit]: Forgot to add, lights were turned down previously because of poor CO2 and lots of BBA, but since I put the lights higher today and something between them that eats a bit of the light, I turned them up again today (yeehaw 🤠😎 ...pls dont hurt me Kirsty)
100% on the back light and 70% on the front now
At 08:40 I measured the tank water (so this value is just with whatever degassing naturally happens in the tank over night) to 7,52 degrees.
I was somewhat surprised as my water usually sits closer to 7,2 - 7,3.
However I am almost three weeks out from the last water change, and the tank has been topped up a bit with tapwater in the meantime, so I figured maybe the KH had crept up a bit because of that. The tank is getting a much needed water change this weekend, I just didnt feel like waiting until after the weekend to start up.
Besides, much smarter people than me say that a 1.0 drop is a 1.0 drop, so it shouldnt matter where you start from.
(But it shouldnt be water straight out of the tank for the baseline though, I pulled a sneaky one for temporary convenience)
Anyway, just to have something to go on I assumed 7,52 was about degassed, and left the task of checking a manually degassed sample for later.
I had to run an errand but turned the CO2 on remotely and started measuring as soon as I got home again.
Time | PH | Notes |
10 00 | N/A | CO2 turned on |
10 44 | 6,90 | |
11 00 | 6,80 | |
11 30 | 6,66 | |
12 00 | 6,59 | |
12 30 | 6,52 | |
13 00 | 6,48 | |
13 30 | 6,44 | |
14 00 | 6,42 | |
14 30 | 6,40 | |
15 00 | 6,38 | Keeps dropping by 0,02 every 30 min, adjusting water agitation up |
15 30 | 6,39 | Starts rising |
16 00 | 6,40 | |
16 30 | 6,40 | |
17 00 | 6,41 | |
17 30 | 6,41 | I think I put the finished lids on at this point |
18 00 | 6,39 | PH dropping again |
18 30 | 6,38 | |
19 00 | 6,37 | CO2 turned off |
19 30 | 6,44 | |
20 00 | 6,53 | |
20 30 | 6,60 | |
21 00 | 6,68 | |
21 30 | 6,75 | |
So, if we assume 7,52 was about right then I had the 1.0 drop 2 hours and 30 minutes in.
As you can see the PH kept dropping after that, until I adjusted the water spray bar a smidge.
At one point the lids were finished and placed on the tank (lids were on and off all day, but mostly off), and on the next PH measurement I noticed a distinct drop of 0,02.
I think the lids might have a fairly significant impact, so it will be very interesting to repeat the profile again tomorrow with the lids in place all day. It should at least be more consistent.
Also usually I turn the CO2 on much earlier in the morning, same with the lights, but since I wanted to test but couldnt start until after the errand, I postponed todays startup.
For tomorrow I will start the CO2 at 07:00 as usual, giving it 3 hours until the lights go on full at 10:00.
I probably will only measure hourly for the majority of the profile, it gives me a little bit more time to get other things done in between.
I went and got my designated shallow container with a lid to get the true degassed sample from the tank.
I even went outside to do it because the air inside here can get a bit poor sometimes, so I dont trust that.
So I put in just enough water to measure, shook the box as I went outside, took off the lid and wafted in new air, repeat x amount of times.
When I went back inside to check the PH I couldnt really believe it, it didnt stop until 7,97 😬 That just cant be right, my tank has not had a 1.59 point drop today, I dont believe thats likely.
I wonder if I used this container to dissolve out some medication or something 🤔
Im gonna go clean it now, redo the test and report back.
...
Hrm, still high, 7,90 now. Maybe the container is tainted.
Ill leave some tank water out in a different container over night, see where its at tomorrow morning and take it from there 😊
[Edit]: Forgot to add, lights were turned down previously because of poor CO2 and lots of BBA, but since I put the lights higher today and something between them that eats a bit of the light, I turned them up again today (yeehaw 🤠😎 ...pls dont hurt me Kirsty)
100% on the back light and 70% on the front now
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KirstyF
Member
😂 never. 😊
Will be interested to see ur experience with the lids and evaporation.
My main tank is glass lidded (with multiple sliding sheets due to size) and I always keep a 3 inch open air gap on each side to allow for some air exchange so it’s never fully closed. I don’t believe that air exchange will be seriously compromised tbf, even with a good percentage of the tank covered. I never have to do top ups however, or worry about evaporation. There are always drops on the underside of the glass so most of the water is clearly condensating and dripping back into the tank. I possibly have a little more temp differential using glass, which may encourage condensation, but you may find that it’s not so tough to get that balance just by allowing a way to crack the lid open a smidge in ur final design.
Hmm..
Tank water sample left in liter mug in the kitchen over night measured 7,75
Tank water sample left in suspect container also kitchen over night 7,79
Tap water sample taken today and degassed manually in new container 7,46
Tank water sample taken today and degassed manually in new container 7,74
Im not sure the 0,0x variances are significant enough that it warrants me fussing over it.
So I really do seem to be looking at a 7,7x baseline 🤔
I guess this drives home the point that its really important to take a new baseline for every CO2 profile.
Because the last baseline measured 7,2 but this new one is 7,7. If I were to use the old baseline I would be doing a 1,5 drop instead of 1,0, which is a sizable amount of CO2.
Granted, these are the first profiles taken with the new PH pen, the disparity could be contributed to in differences between the PH pens.
Old one is a Hanna pen with 0,2 accuracy and 0,1 resolution, new one is an Adwa pen with 0,01 accuracy and 0,01 resolution.
To get a 1.0 drop we should then be looking to maintain 6,7x during the entire photoperiod (+- a little wiggle room at the end of the photoperiod where its supposedly less important to the plants)
I think I read that maintaining the drop within a 0,1 range is the goal. So then between 6,70 - 6,79 would be ok?
My tendency is of course to obsess over the last 0,0x digit, I would ideally like to see 6,75, 6,75, 6,75 or something like that all along.
Welcome input on this as I have a tendency to perfectionism that isnt always needed/helpful 😁
Results of the profile so far today:
Im really dying to get my hands in the tank and trim some plant groups that need it, remove some old leaves and algae etc.
But im not sure if I still want to make a point of keeping the lids on all day or not. This is so it doesnt influence the stability, but if the drop is not maintaining at a stable level today anyway, then is there any harm in getting some maintenance in while I have the energy..? 🤔
Im really torn on what total drop to go for, 1,0 is the standard but apparently yesterday I might have been close to 1,4 or 1,6 without intending to, and I didnt notice anything.
Its not about survival of the fish though, its about comfort. So I dont want to be right below maximum tolerance, it has to be further away than that.
But 1,0 or 1,2 drop?
No matter which one I go for the CO2 spray bar overflow needs a bit of adjustment, since its sitting at 6,4 so far but should be 6,7 or 6,5 respectively.
If it drops below 6,4 I will definitely intervene and adjust the CO2 overflow.
And then if stability during this profile is going out the window anyway with overflow adjustment, maybe I can justify doing some trimming also..
Tank water sample left in liter mug in the kitchen over night measured 7,75
Tank water sample left in suspect container also kitchen over night 7,79
Tap water sample taken today and degassed manually in new container 7,46
Tank water sample taken today and degassed manually in new container 7,74
Im not sure the 0,0x variances are significant enough that it warrants me fussing over it.
So I really do seem to be looking at a 7,7x baseline 🤔
I guess this drives home the point that its really important to take a new baseline for every CO2 profile.
Because the last baseline measured 7,2 but this new one is 7,7. If I were to use the old baseline I would be doing a 1,5 drop instead of 1,0, which is a sizable amount of CO2.
Granted, these are the first profiles taken with the new PH pen, the disparity could be contributed to in differences between the PH pens.
Old one is a Hanna pen with 0,2 accuracy and 0,1 resolution, new one is an Adwa pen with 0,01 accuracy and 0,01 resolution.
To get a 1.0 drop we should then be looking to maintain 6,7x during the entire photoperiod (+- a little wiggle room at the end of the photoperiod where its supposedly less important to the plants)
I think I read that maintaining the drop within a 0,1 range is the goal. So then between 6,70 - 6,79 would be ok?
My tendency is of course to obsess over the last 0,0x digit, I would ideally like to see 6,75, 6,75, 6,75 or something like that all along.
Welcome input on this as I have a tendency to perfectionism that isnt always needed/helpful 😁
Results of the profile so far today:
Time | PH | Notes |
07 00 | N/A | CO2 on |
09 00 | 6,63 | |
09 30 | 6,58 | Lights start ramp up |
10 00 | 6,56 | Lights on full |
11 00 | 6,49 | Continues dropping after lights on despite 3 hour CO2 ramp |
12 00 | 6,49 | Was looking good |
13 00 | 6,42 | ? |
Im really dying to get my hands in the tank and trim some plant groups that need it, remove some old leaves and algae etc.
But im not sure if I still want to make a point of keeping the lids on all day or not. This is so it doesnt influence the stability, but if the drop is not maintaining at a stable level today anyway, then is there any harm in getting some maintenance in while I have the energy..? 🤔
Im really torn on what total drop to go for, 1,0 is the standard but apparently yesterday I might have been close to 1,4 or 1,6 without intending to, and I didnt notice anything.
Its not about survival of the fish though, its about comfort. So I dont want to be right below maximum tolerance, it has to be further away than that.
But 1,0 or 1,2 drop?
No matter which one I go for the CO2 spray bar overflow needs a bit of adjustment, since its sitting at 6,4 so far but should be 6,7 or 6,5 respectively.
If it drops below 6,4 I will definitely intervene and adjust the CO2 overflow.
And then if stability during this profile is going out the window anyway with overflow adjustment, maybe I can justify doing some trimming also..
If that's your version of crap then I'm doing something wrong! Looks great!
Im really dying to get my hands in the tank and trim some plant groups that need it, remove some old leaves and algae etc.
If it drops below 6,4 I will definitely intervene and adjust the CO2 overflow.
And then if stability during this profile is going out the window anyway with overflow adjustment, maybe I can justify doing some trimming also..
And of course shortly after posting it dropped below 6,4 and I adjusted the CO2 overflow a bit.
"Oh no!" I said insincerely. "I guess I have no other choice than to take off the lids and trim the plants then since stability is out" 😁
It might have been bad but it felt very good 😇🌿
Got a bunch of decaying Marilia leaves out of the tank, thinned out some various groups, pulled out thread algae, fluffed some moss, disturbed a couple of shrimp, the usual 😊
I had to turn off the filters a short time to trim the two species of Hydrocotyle, both of them needed leveled with the substrate and this creates a ton of tiny bits floating around.
It was best to have the water still and letting them float up to be removed, even if it could affect the profile.
| Time | PH | Notes |
14 00 | 6,39 | Adjusting overflow, lids off and hands in the tank |
15 00 | 6,44 | |
16 00 | 6,51 | |
17 00 | 6,51 | Surprised by a little bit of stability |
18 00 | 6,48 | |
19 00 | 6,46 | CO2 off |
I might be able to keep my hands out of the tank tomorrow now that the most dire trimming needs are covered.
Tomorrow is scheduled for a water change, but I can do that after the photoperiod
Just to make the chaos complete I have turned down the injection rate a couple of times today, as the overflow was burping every 25 seconds which I think might be too much.
Its not harmful its just a waste of gas, and the sound is kinda annoying tbh. I hope I can find a way to muffle it a bit long term, my SO is not super happy about the burping noise it makes when the bubbles are released.
Oh yeah and theres a high pitched whining sound coming from the CO2 system when the injection is on, I think I might have a small leak somewhere after the solenoid.
Y'know, just to make sure everything is happening at the exact same time
So will go over with a bit of soapy water tomorrow. Now that the CO2 is off there is no sound so eh.
Assorted collection of pictures:
After my sand snails died I suddenly figured out why everyone wants to know how I keep my sand so pristine, and how people manage to get algae on their sand.
I was never able to do that.
Apparently the secret is the snails. Now they are gone my sand is rapidly getting a green patina. So thats the answer for those who inquire, get some sand snails for sure 🙂
I will try to find more of the special kind once the shrimp debacle is over.
For anyone (including myself) who were wondering how green should Tonina really be, or rather, is there more green to be had than 75%?
I present to you the highly exclusive limited edition Pogostemon helferi "Snow White". Its a real bargain at just 500 dollars a piece!
It can only grow with the specialized HufsaTM Micro nutrient mixture we also sell, otherwise it may convert to regular helferi. Preorder your bundle now!
Some unhappy Rotala OJ. This is very classic CO2 symptoms to me, a bunch of twisted and unhappy looking shoots and one random shoot that is doing really well for some reason.
In this case probably because its at the front of the group.
Rotala Blood Red SG hanging in there despite my apparent best efforts at mismanaging my tank
Glad its sticking with me. Here you can also see what I would call CO2 symptoms, some twisted or stunted shoots (hence the branching) and a couple that are doing remarkably fine (for now).
You dont tend to get this variation in growth from mineral nutrient deficiencies from what I can tell, all the plants will tend to be pretty equally pale or whatever.
I might be wrong though, have happened before, will probably happen again 😊
😍Rotala Blood Red SG hanging in there despite my apparent best efforts at mismanaging my tank
Results of todays profile, sorry about the spam everyone 😅
Im just determined to get this CO2 properly sorted so I can go back to my regular problems and finding new and creative ways of messing with my tank 😁
Didnt catch the start of the photoperiod but it is what it is. Been burning the candle a little bit in both ends with all this CO2 spray bar sawing, filing, painting, and lid cutting, plus running to and fro all the time to do PH measurements. Probably not going to do a proper profile tomorrow, but I will do a couple of measurements in the afternoon just to know roughly where the tank is at.
I am still kinda puzzled about the "high" baseline.
I thought there would be a lot more "ado" once you get into the higher drops beyond 1.0.
Surely at least some sort of fireworks or at least a loud siren or a bang as the tank gets closer to 1,4 drop.
The tank was dropping lower than intended today too, but it was business as usual in the tank with both fish and shrimp
As you can see its still not very stable until maybe 13:00, which is three hours after the lights are ramped up to final intensity. Thats probably not good.
It also ends the day below 6,4 which makes me uncomfortable, even if the fish are rude and wont say anything to me about it 😠
Today I have been wondering more about what I mentioned last time;
If 6,50 to 6,59 is an acceptable range because it is within that 0,1 variance we have decided as a community is "right",
wouldnt 6,44 to 6,55 be virtually the same? Im not talking about total level of CO2 now, but the variation range.
Thats the same size of range, the center point is just placed differently and therefore it changes the 0,x that we are usually aiming for.. 🤔
Unless my logic is way off I think that is equally stable then?
So if after a lot of twiddling with the injection I end up within that kind of range, I could probably call it job sorted?
I forgot to take a new baseline today, which now that I look at the numbers I wish I had done
Because yesterday I turned down the injection rate, but I also adjusted the CO2 spray bar to hold less CO2, but it doesnt appear to have had any effect on that. I would have expected the total drop to have been lower today. And unfortunately I cannot take a baseline now, because ive changed out 75% of the water with a water change
So its no longer the same water 
Maybe I just goofed and didnt adjust the CO2 overflow as much as I thought I had.
Any way, on monday I can do another full profile and new baseline with the new water, and see what we are working with then.
Today after the photoperiod I adjusted the CO2 overflow even more (decrease CO2 spray bar surface size further), and angled the water spray bar up eeeever so slightly more to try to get some more stability going. (Edit): Also set CO2 to start at 06:00 instead of 07, giving it one more hour to ramp.
I did water testing as well of the water before and after the water change. I think I might have contracted some sort of brain damage from doing frequent water changes these past few years, because 3 weeks since last water change feels like an actual eternity to me. I dont know if I can settle for monthly water changes, it gives me the heebie jeebies for some reason. I think it might have to do with the pink water. I hate that so much. It feels wrong every time I look at the tank, like im making my fish swim around in some sort of terrible waste water.
Now that the water is nice and not pink again I just cant stand the idea of continuing to use this micro mix and endure another three weeks or so of pink water.
So I turned the micro dosing off, will give the tank a slosh of iron gluconate tomorrow and then make a new micro mix "a la Kirsty" ASAP.
Right, the water testing.
Tank before WC:
TDS 214
NO3 20-25
Fe ~0,4
PO4 0,4.
The phosphate one was done with a diluted test sample and then multiplied for better accuracy. Next time im going to do that with NO3 and Fe as well.
Cant do much overthinking with these numbers at the moment anyway because the plants are struggling with CO2, so uptake of other nutrients could be less than usual.
The KH was a surprising 2,5 degrees. I even tested it twice. Its supposed to be 3. I tested it because I thought it would be higher than 3, which would help me make sense of the higher than usual PH baseline. But nope
Best guess is the death of all the sand snails kicked the biological cycle of the tank into higher activity, and they used some of the KH to process the sudden influx of ammonia from dead snails.
Just a wild guess and doesnt help with my PH confusion though
For fun I tested the water change barrel too, TDS 116. This includes Seachem Safe and the calcium and magnesium I add. PH was sitting at 7,63.
Tank after 75% water change including front loaded macros, TDS 182.
The tank sits in a higher TDS(conductivity) range after I increased the potassium (K). I guess K might be more conductive than some of the other macros?
Tank before and after de-pinkifying (+trims)
So much better. It shows up in photos but the pinkness was even worse in reality 😨
Im just determined to get this CO2 properly sorted so I can go back to my regular problems and finding new and creative ways of messing with my tank 😁
Didnt catch the start of the photoperiod but it is what it is. Been burning the candle a little bit in both ends with all this CO2 spray bar sawing, filing, painting, and lid cutting, plus running to and fro all the time to do PH measurements. Probably not going to do a proper profile tomorrow, but I will do a couple of measurements in the afternoon just to know roughly where the tank is at.
I am still kinda puzzled about the "high" baseline.
I thought there would be a lot more "ado" once you get into the higher drops beyond 1.0.
Surely at least some sort of fireworks or at least a loud siren or a bang as the tank gets closer to 1,4 drop.
The tank was dropping lower than intended today too, but it was business as usual in the tank with both fish and shrimp
Time | PH |
12 00 | 6,46 |
13 00 | 6,42 |
14 00 | 6,42 |
15 00 | 6,41 |
16 00 | 6,40 |
17 00 | 6,38 |
18 00 | 6,38 |
19 00 | 6,38 |
As you can see its still not very stable until maybe 13:00, which is three hours after the lights are ramped up to final intensity. Thats probably not good.
It also ends the day below 6,4 which makes me uncomfortable, even if the fish are rude and wont say anything to me about it 😠
Today I have been wondering more about what I mentioned last time;
If 6,50 to 6,59 is an acceptable range because it is within that 0,1 variance we have decided as a community is "right",
wouldnt 6,44 to 6,55 be virtually the same? Im not talking about total level of CO2 now, but the variation range.
Thats the same size of range, the center point is just placed differently and therefore it changes the 0,x that we are usually aiming for.. 🤔
Unless my logic is way off I think that is equally stable then?
So if after a lot of twiddling with the injection I end up within that kind of range, I could probably call it job sorted?
I forgot to take a new baseline today, which now that I look at the numbers I wish I had done
Because yesterday I turned down the injection rate, but I also adjusted the CO2 spray bar to hold less CO2, but it doesnt appear to have had any effect on that. I would have expected the total drop to have been lower today. And unfortunately I cannot take a baseline now, because ive changed out 75% of the water with a water change
So its no longer the same water Maybe I just goofed and didnt adjust the CO2 overflow as much as I thought I had.
Any way, on monday I can do another full profile and new baseline with the new water, and see what we are working with then.
Today after the photoperiod I adjusted the CO2 overflow even more (decrease CO2 spray bar surface size further), and angled the water spray bar up eeeever so slightly more to try to get some more stability going. (Edit): Also set CO2 to start at 06:00 instead of 07, giving it one more hour to ramp.
I did water testing as well of the water before and after the water change. I think I might have contracted some sort of brain damage from doing frequent water changes these past few years, because 3 weeks since last water change feels like an actual eternity to me. I dont know if I can settle for monthly water changes, it gives me the heebie jeebies for some reason. I think it might have to do with the pink water. I hate that so much. It feels wrong every time I look at the tank, like im making my fish swim around in some sort of terrible waste water.
Now that the water is nice and not pink again I just cant stand the idea of continuing to use this micro mix and endure another three weeks or so of pink water.
So I turned the micro dosing off, will give the tank a slosh of iron gluconate tomorrow and then make a new micro mix "a la Kirsty" ASAP.
Right, the water testing.
Tank before WC:
TDS 214
NO3 20-25
Fe ~0,4
PO4 0,4.
The phosphate one was done with a diluted test sample and then multiplied for better accuracy. Next time im going to do that with NO3 and Fe as well.
Cant do much overthinking with these numbers at the moment anyway because the plants are struggling with CO2, so uptake of other nutrients could be less than usual.
The KH was a surprising 2,5 degrees. I even tested it twice. Its supposed to be 3. I tested it because I thought it would be higher than 3, which would help me make sense of the higher than usual PH baseline. But nope
Best guess is the death of all the sand snails kicked the biological cycle of the tank into higher activity, and they used some of the KH to process the sudden influx of ammonia from dead snails.
Just a wild guess and doesnt help with my PH confusion though
For fun I tested the water change barrel too, TDS 116. This includes Seachem Safe and the calcium and magnesium I add. PH was sitting at 7,63.
Tank after 75% water change including front loaded macros, TDS 182.
The tank sits in a higher TDS(conductivity) range after I increased the potassium (K). I guess K might be more conductive than some of the other macros?
Tank before and after de-pinkifying (+trims)
So much better. It shows up in photos but the pinkness was even worse in reality 😨
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What a hell of a journal.....50 pages😃👍 nice job....i didn't read all of it...but i know your not a quiet woman😂Just noticed we've hit page 50 of this journal!
Its been very nice to share all the ups and downs with everyone 🥰
Here's to another 50 pages of consistency deficiency and other interesting shenanigans
And a little question for you....can you sit still and say nothing?😂 I guess not.
But about the tank now.... amazing to see you have unique plants in there. Nice to see you're growing rare species.👍
There is only one thing i didn't get ......why all the testing and figures? (Ok, two things🙈😁) My experience was to do less instead of controlling everything....to lett the tank settle and let it get stable.
Up to the next 50.
I have no idea how it happened, january this year the journal was still at page 16, and then suddenly its page 50 😳 Maybe CO2 injection makes journals grow 10 times faster too?
Uh ok I guess? 😂
🤐
Yess, I love the preciouses. Not specifically because they are rare, I dont really care so much about that, my favorite plant is very common for example.
But a lot of the plants I have now have very unique characteristics and forms/looks that I like 🥰
Theres a bit of testing the nutrients after
But lately there is a lot of testing of PH, because im trying out the CO2 spray bar concept by @22802
Theres always some extra tuning that needs to be done when you implement a new CO2 method.
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Or you're high from all these gasses😂
Yess, I understand, but there are so many variables.....but science and research could be fun too. Experimenting, trail and error..... thanks for sharing this into your journal.
I read the spray bar of 22802....interesting.
Not for my opentank style.
Its an old school of method.
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Maybe I don’t understand UK humour, but I think that’s rather rude.
😂 Sorry, don't meant to be rude.
But I am not from the UK and neither is Hufsa🙈
I dont think im the one thats high here
UK humor is actually quite close to norwegian, thats why we tend to get along well
😂 maybe you're right.....i am lurking on the new CO2 set now..... testing the equipment.I dont think im the one thats high here
😂 Nice ...i have a rare species of humor....ask my colleaguesUK humor is actually quite close to norwegian, thats why we tend to get along well
