Few problems with my little slice of nature!

[Jayefc1]

I think inline diffusers are better the mist is much much finer and dissolves much faster IMO ph pen I have a cheap.one from Amazon
Once a month on the filter should be enough

 

[Luketendo]

The one you've pictured is Anubias hastifolia. I have various Anubias x 6. Various Bucephalandra (not sure on numbers, loads dotted about!) Cryptocoryne Beckettii x 4, Giants Vallis x 5, Trident fern x 2, Hygrophila Pinnatifida x 1, Hygrophila Polysperma x 1 but not much left of it, Bolbitis Heudelotii x 2, and some weeping moss.
I do have some more plants that arrived this morning from @Konrad Michalski to be planted later on today but nothing fast growing really.
As you can see from the pic of my Polysperma i don't have much luck with stem plants, I'm unsure of the trimming which i think leads to them dying off. The lower leaves always fall off and the plants look bare. I s this lack of light that causes that??
Most of the plants came from Aquarium Gardens or Aqua Essentials by the way.

@Jayefc1 Thanks for the detailed reply, I thought the low plant mass would have something to do with it. So if i put quite a few stems in pots behind the scape, things go good and i get the balance again would removing them make things go bad again? I like the look of stems but they never stay good for me!
So should i get rid of the remaining hour of light all together or leave them on full for an extra hour? If that makes sense?!
All the rotting or browning /discoloured leaves etc get removed asap, i try and keep the tank as clean as possible although it doesn't look like it at the moment due to the brown rocks 🙁 2 WC a week is easy enough though so I'll try that.

Whats that? Feel stupid asking!
I was thinking about a surface skimmer as sometimes i get an oily film on the water surface which really bugs me. Do you have any recommendations?

So do i! And thank you 😊

@Luketendo I've mixed the ferts inline with @Zeus. fert calculator with my water readings so that should be spot on, he knows what hes doing. I can check them though, i have a basic liquid water test but it doesn't have a phosphate test

Well i did want to ram the tank full of plants and i also wanted a few red harder plants but haven't got round to it yet, stupid i know! I also read that plants will benefit from co2 regardless so thought i'd give it a try and then i'm not limited on what i can put in the tank too.

Thanks everyone so far 👍

Haven't seen the calculator but I doubt it takes into account your low plants mass and co2. These will limit the nutrients your plants use and the excess that comes with the estimative index will be going to the algae. I would not be putting NO3 and PO4 in there if your tank already has excess (e.g. from fish or tap water).

 

[EA James]

Opps sorry- Recommended Manufactors Dose (RMD)

Ahhh i see! Understood 👍

Is this what i need? How would i go about putting this in the tank and when? When i dose micros? And mixed in a separate container?

 

[EA James]

I think inline diffusers are better the mist is much much finer and dissolves much faster

I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere i can't have inline because of the ribbed hosing on my FX-4, is that true?

@Luketendo ok yeah fair point, NO3 from the tap is 31.6ppm according to my water report. Not sure on PO4 as i don't have test for that, What would you suggest i do?

Thanks again everyone this is really helping!

 

[Zeus.]

Ahhh i see! Understood 👍
View attachment 153248
Is this what i need? How would i go about putting this in the tank and when? When i dose micros? And mixed in a separate container?

at £0.06 a gram its not cheap compared to bulk (life time) buy



But 50g should last quite some time.

would be more tempted to go for Fe EDDHA as it's not photosensitive, plus you can just add a little Fe EDDHA solution (few drops) till the water just turns the slightest pink and whilst it still has the slight pink tinge you know you good for Fe IMO.

So no need to measure 'x' grams in 'y'litres and add 'z'ml x3 week. Just add 50g to one litre and count the drops you add x3 a week on micro day and slight pink tinge at end off week and your good, does not need to be rocket science😉

 

[Zeus.]

I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere i can't have inline because of the ribbed hosing on my FX-4, is that true?

Nope - I have FX6 and twin inline diffusers/reactors
I like the ribbed hoses as they bend easy without losing their form, so don't give restrictions like other 25mm hoses do.

 

[Jayefc1]

I'm pretty sure you can go.inline even if it just means using a couple of jubilee clips dont see why you couldnt and @Zeus. Sounds like his is in line

 

[Luketendo]

I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere i can't have inline because of the ribbed hosing on my FX-4, is that true?

@Luketendo ok yeah fair point, NO3 from the tap is 31.6ppm according to my water report. Not sure on PO4 as i don't have test for that, What would you suggest i do?

Thanks again everyone this is really helping!

Definitely wouldn't be adding nitrates then. You'll want to test the level in your tank as well to be sure. You should get a phosphate test kit.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

You'll want to test the level in your tank as well to be sure. You should get a phosphate test kit.

You can get low range phosphate kits that are fairly accurate, but nitrate is a <"lot more problematic"> than most aquarium based literature acknowledges.

In the UK your water supplier will quote accurate NO3- levels, but they don't need to quote an orthophosphate (PO4---) value. They may tell you if you ask. ~All UK tap water has <"added phosphate">, it is used to make sure that levels of lead (Pb) don't exceed the 10 micro-gram per litre (10^-9 ppm Pb) limit.

cheers Darrel

 

[EA James]

would be more tempted to go for Fe EDDHA as it's not photosensitive, plus you can just add a little Fe EDDHA solution (few drops) till the water just turns the slightest pink and whilst it still has the slight pink tinge you know you good for Fe IMO.

So no need to measure 'x' grams in 'y'litres and add 'z'ml x3 week. Just add 50g to one litre and count the drops you add x3 a week on micro day and slight pink tinge at end off week and your good, does not need to be rocket science😉

Ok thanks pal, so the 1kg one from solufeed is the one you'd go for? And do you mean add 50g into water in a container then put drops of that solution into the tank on micro day until the tank water has a pink tinge??

What's the difference between a diffuser and a reactor?

You can get low range phosphate kits that are fairly accurate, but nitrate is a <"lot more problematic">

Do you have a recommendation for test Darrel?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Do you have a recommendation for test Darrel?

I don't test my tank water.

Once or twice I have taken water samples into work, made up standards, diluted the sample if necessary, and and run them through the spectrophotometer.

........orthophosphates react with ammonium heptamolybdate to form a phosphomolybdic acid. This complex then is reduced by ascorbic acid in the presence of potassium antimony tartrate to form molybdenum blue. Consequently, measured concentration of molybdenum blue by spectroscopy stoichiometrically determines the concentration of orthophosphates in the water sample........

@jaypeecee uses a <"test kit that he likes">.

For nitrate (NO3-) you can use an ion selective electrode, but there are <"still some issues">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Luketendo]

API Nitrate test kit has always worked ok for me.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

API Nitrate test kit has always worked ok for me.

It isn't that nitrate tests are always wrong, it is just that there are number of situations where you may not get an accurate reading.

cheers Darrel

 

[Luketendo]

Hi all, It isn't that nitrate tests are always wrong, it is just that there are number of situations where you may not get an accurate reading.

cheers Darrel

How come?

 

[Zeus.]

What's the difference between a diffuser and a reactor?

Diffuser/Atomiser - basically make slots of small/micro bubbles which increase the surface area of the gas which improve its uptake into solution - but once the bubbles pop at the surface is game over for that little package of CO2.

CO2 reactor - is basically a device that increases the time this CO2 bubbles stay under water, some use higher pressure to increase CO2 uptake other swirl the water, high flow or low flow. Some have media some dont. But most (if not all ) use gravity to prevent the CO2 bubbles from escaping the reactor increasing the contact time with the water.

Some reactors have an atomiser pre reactor or within the reactor, whilst others just have the CO2 tubing exit in or pre reactor.
Some have motorized impeller blades of various designs to brake up the CO2 bubbles to smaller ones and create a swirling( or not), whilst other motors as used to increase the working pressure within the reactor which increases CO2 uptake
Some use venturi systems to recirculate the CO2 within the reactor

I personally use low flow/pressure large bubbles as its quiet and tank remains bubble free except for pearling of plants. I did find smaller bubbles escaping to tank. I have experiment with a venturi system and a motorised reactors but found little to no advantage in them so far.

So CO2 reactors vary massively but all server the same purpose, increase CO2 uptake and bubble free tank, all with varying degrees of success/cost/noise

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

How come?

The main reason is that all nitrate containing compounds <"are soluble">, which means that you can't use spectrophotometry, or colorimetry, directly, you need to reduce the nitrate (NO3-) ions to nitrite (NO2-) and then use those nitrite ions to create a compound that is both insoluble and coloured.

Traditionally cadmium (Cd) reduction was used as the first step (1 NO3- > 1 NO2-), but we can't use cadmium anymore, so it is now usually vanadium III as <"the reducing agent">. Once you have nitrite (NO2-) formed you need another reaction to form a coloured compound, and there are <"two main options for this">.

It is like any "recipe" the more steps there are the more options there are for things to go wrong, and is partially why we don't use these methods any more in the student labs. I occasionally use wet chemistry in specific cases, but then we take a lot of time with <"dilution, the standard curve etc">.

The other major issue is interference from other anions (Cl-, SO4--, HCO3- etc.), and this also affects the the <"ion selective electrode">, which is a slightly less problematic option, but quite an expensive bit of kit.

Click on the <"linked threads"> and it will give you a lot more background.

cheers Darrel

 

[Luketendo]

Hi all, The main reason is that all nitrate containing compounds <"are soluble">, which means that you can't use spectrophotometry, or colorimetry, directly, you need to reduce the nitrate (NO3-) ions to nitrite (NO2-) and then use those nitrite ions to create a compound that is both insoluble and coloured.

Traditionally cadmium (Cd) reduction was used as the first step (1 NO3- > 1 NO2-), but we can't use cadmium anymore, so it is now usually vanadium III as <"the reducing agent">. Once you have nitrite (NO2-) formed you need another reaction to form a coloured compound, and there are <"two main options for this">.

It is like any "recipe" the more steps there are the more options there are for things to go wrong, and is partially why we don't use these methods any more in the student labs. I occasionally use wet chemistry in specific cases, but then we take a lot of time with <"dilution, the standard curve etc">.

The other major issue is interference from other anions (Cl-, SO4--, HCO3- etc.), and this also affects the the <"ion selective electrode">, which is a slightly less problematic option, but quite an expensive bit of kit.

Click on the <"linked threads"> and it will give you a lot more background.

cheers Darrel

Yep they certainly didn't use the API kit to analyse the 1000s of seawater samples from my coral experiments at work but I have always found it to be pretty good for the home aquarium 😉

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

my coral experiments at work but I have always found it to be pretty good for the home aquarium

Yes, that is right it is one of the advantages of testing sea water, it is <"similar all over the globe"> and has a known amount of <"chloride ions"> and carbonate hardness etc. You have a datum value, and you just have to match your water to that datum value, but freshwater isn't like that there isn't a single value to aim for.

People have asked <"why ICP isn't used more widely"> in freshwater aquariums, it is partially cost, but also the variability of freshwater.

cheers Darrel

 

[Luketendo]

Hi all, Yes, that is right it is one of the advantages of testing sea water, it is <"similar all over the globe"> and has a known amount of <"chloride ions"> and carbonate hardness etc. You have a datum value, and you just have to match your water to that datum value, but freshwater isn't like that there isn't a single value to aim for.

People have asked <"why ICP isn't used more widely"> in freshwater aquariums, it is partially cost, but also the variability of freshwater.

cheers Darrel

I was talking about nitrate measurements not ICP 🙂.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I was talking about nitrate measurements not ICP

I know you were, it is just an example of why testing sea water maybe more straightforward than testing fresh water.

Which <"analytical method"> do you use for your Coral work?

I'm not saying all NO3- measurements are wrong (and I'm sure yours aren't), if you follow the <"scientific method">, and have enough time and money, you can get accurate determination of all the solutes in water.

cheers Darrel