Distribution advice needed

[Ben C]

Evening all,

I need your help. My tank is not happy.. plants are just existing and really thriving. I'm convinced this is down to CO2 distribution and want to sort it out once and for all.

A few specs for you:

Tank: TMC Signature 60cm x 45cm x 30cm (81l)
Filter: Eheim Professionel III (50% media capacity). 1250lph
Pipework: gUSH lily pipe outlet.
Lighting: 2x 24w T5 luminaire, 6hrs per day.
Dosing: EI method. 50% water change per week.
CO2: Sodastream - achieving lime green dc in most areas.

My layout is much like George's Hillside but where he has sand, I would like to achieve an MC carpet. At the moment, I just don't think the CO2 is getting down to the substrate level. I believe that most CO2 is circulating as per this very rough diagram below, so what is the best solution to this? I need to keep the inlet and outlets where they are, as I've cut holes into the side of the cabinet, immediately below where they come in/go out.

You'll see that the moss is also just grey/brown and dull
Ignore the straggly MC - it came like that from AE, so I decided to get the root systems settled before trimming it down closer to the substrate. (Ignore also the floating MC - was going to trim everything this morning but decided to post this instead!)

Would it be better to have a spraybar along the back length of the tank (and if so, the full length?) or along the righthand side (30cm)? Or is there an alternative solution?

My question about using a spraybar is how do you get CO2 down to the area immediately beneath the spraybar, if the jets of water are shooting straight out in front of it?

Thanks all for your help on this. I'd love to crack this.
If you think it could be something else (the lighting perhaps?) please let me know.

Many thanks,

Ben

 

[Martin in Holland]

Yes your right, it is CO2 related, but not as you think. You need to cut down on light, 1x 24W would be more than enough, that way the demand for CO2 will become less.

 

[Ben C]

Thanks Martin - good to hear from you.
What's the thinking behind this? Why wouldn't I improve the CO2 distribution to maximise the light I have available? Would 24w allow me to achieve the healthy carpet growth I am looking for?
This is just a question - I'm just trying to understand things.
Many thanks,

Ben

 

[Martin in Holland]

I had a carpet growing with only 50W on 300 liter, so I'm sure it will be plenty light....I would probably place the output of you filter at the front as this distribute micro CO2 bubbles faster to your carpet plants, if possible put your output (lily pipe) after the lights turned of high in order to suck in more air (O2)...but again, lower your light intension, don't bombard your plants with more light than they need, T5's are powerful.

In short....light drives growth so plants need nutrients (reed CO2), the more light you give, the more CO2 they need, more than you can provide in a tank filled with water that tries to push CO2 out.