Hi all,
At the start of the year I got rid of my RIO 180 and downscaled to a 30ltr (approx. 25 ltr of water) Aquael shrimp set smart LED tank, keeping all 6 of my amano shrimp from the old tank.
I decided in the summer to install a new Dennerle CO2 system, as I ran one for a long time on my old tank and never had any problems.
I now have a Dennerle Regulator, night time cut off valve on a timer and mini Drop Checker, with a JBL Bubble counter/check valve and a twinstar mini diffuser. The CO2 is on a timer and comes on 2 hours before lights on at 13.00 and turns off at 7.30, 1.5 hours before lights out. Substrate is JBL Manado with no soil, but plenty of plant capsules inserted into the substrate.
Tropica liquid fert (non-Co2) is added every 10 days when i do a 30-40% water change. I do have some of the liquid fert for CO2 tanks but haven't used it yet as I am wary of it causing extra algae. I have a cheap Ikea LED lamp that I have added to the Aquarium that I sometimes turn on if I feel the rear plant growth is causing shading for some of the plants at the front. The main light is the LED that came with the tank set up, but I swapped out the set filter for a Dennerle mini one with a spray bar
The problem is that no matter how much CO2 I have added, the drop checker always is a dark green colour. Also I have found that the Bacopa and tiny crypto plants that i have in the foreground are barely growing, though I appreciate that they are slower growing plants. There are plenty of plant food tabs stuck around the roots of these plants.
I have already tried 2 other types of drop checker and they all showed the same dark colour colour, so the problem isn't with the drop checker.
The most CO2 I have had going into the tank was 1 bubble every 6 seconds but I have dialed this back to 1 bubble every 12 seconds now after the 6 Galaxy Rasboras i bought all died, leaving just 1 offspring. I assumed that they died from too much CO2, or that the CO2 levels didn't help, though the tank was about 4 months old when I bought them. My amano shrimp all seem happy and they must be getting on for at least 4 years or more. There are no other shrimp or fish in the tank.
I bought a API 5 in 1 test kit and the results on conditioned tap water before it was added to the tank were: pH = 7, KH = 60 , GH = 180, NO3 = 0 and NO2 = 0. Temp is 24 degrees C. I ran the figures through some online calculators and they were saying that I should be putting in about 1 bubble every 20 seconds (3 per min) assuming I put in the correct figures. I have searched on this forum and elsewhere for posts that may help but to no avail. I don't want to kill off my amanos but just feel that I am not getting the best from the CO2 system. One other note is that I am using a spare old JBL disposable CO2 tank that was left over from when I last used Co2 about 3 or 4 years ago. It was full and never opened. I assume this wouldn't be an issue.
Could anyone please suggest what they think the BPM for the bubble counter should be for this tank? Any other useful tips also appreciated.
Thanks
Alan
At the start of the year I got rid of my RIO 180 and downscaled to a 30ltr (approx. 25 ltr of water) Aquael shrimp set smart LED tank, keeping all 6 of my amano shrimp from the old tank.
I decided in the summer to install a new Dennerle CO2 system, as I ran one for a long time on my old tank and never had any problems.
I now have a Dennerle Regulator, night time cut off valve on a timer and mini Drop Checker, with a JBL Bubble counter/check valve and a twinstar mini diffuser. The CO2 is on a timer and comes on 2 hours before lights on at 13.00 and turns off at 7.30, 1.5 hours before lights out. Substrate is JBL Manado with no soil, but plenty of plant capsules inserted into the substrate.
Tropica liquid fert (non-Co2) is added every 10 days when i do a 30-40% water change. I do have some of the liquid fert for CO2 tanks but haven't used it yet as I am wary of it causing extra algae. I have a cheap Ikea LED lamp that I have added to the Aquarium that I sometimes turn on if I feel the rear plant growth is causing shading for some of the plants at the front. The main light is the LED that came with the tank set up, but I swapped out the set filter for a Dennerle mini one with a spray bar
The problem is that no matter how much CO2 I have added, the drop checker always is a dark green colour. Also I have found that the Bacopa and tiny crypto plants that i have in the foreground are barely growing, though I appreciate that they are slower growing plants. There are plenty of plant food tabs stuck around the roots of these plants.
I have already tried 2 other types of drop checker and they all showed the same dark colour colour, so the problem isn't with the drop checker.
The most CO2 I have had going into the tank was 1 bubble every 6 seconds but I have dialed this back to 1 bubble every 12 seconds now after the 6 Galaxy Rasboras i bought all died, leaving just 1 offspring. I assumed that they died from too much CO2, or that the CO2 levels didn't help, though the tank was about 4 months old when I bought them. My amano shrimp all seem happy and they must be getting on for at least 4 years or more. There are no other shrimp or fish in the tank.
I bought a API 5 in 1 test kit and the results on conditioned tap water before it was added to the tank were: pH = 7, KH = 60 , GH = 180, NO3 = 0 and NO2 = 0. Temp is 24 degrees C. I ran the figures through some online calculators and they were saying that I should be putting in about 1 bubble every 20 seconds (3 per min) assuming I put in the correct figures. I have searched on this forum and elsewhere for posts that may help but to no avail. I don't want to kill off my amanos but just feel that I am not getting the best from the CO2 system. One other note is that I am using a spare old JBL disposable CO2 tank that was left over from when I last used Co2 about 3 or 4 years ago. It was full and never opened. I assume this wouldn't be an issue.
Could anyone please suggest what they think the BPM for the bubble counter should be for this tank? Any other useful tips also appreciated.
Thanks
Alan
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