I paid a visit to Aquatic Design Centre yesterday because I wanted to take photos of an ADA tank there that I've had my eye on for a while.
It is the best plant growth I have ever seen in a tank, online or otherwise. As you can see from the last picture, Co2 is fed from a single glass diffuser on the side of the tank, and there is minimal flow being provided by the filter, from a single small outflow. Most of the water in the tank is not moving at all, basically stagnant.
This tank used to be maintained by Greg, but now by a different woman called Roxana(?). I had a chat with her about the tank maintenance.
25% of the water is changed weekly (mixture of tap and RO)
Sera Florena fertilisers are dosed daily (micro only)
She had no idea what the Co2 concentration in the tank is, or what wattage the lights provide. I can tell you that the lights above the tank are a photon H-bomb. They are the brightest lights I have ever seen on a tank. I counted approximately 2 bubbles per second through the diffuser.
The KH is kept at 4 and the pH is kept at "a good level".
Phosphates are limited to 1PPM "to prevent algae".
So here it is. Massive light. Low Co2. Low nutrients (no macro ferts). Low flow. Poor water change schedule. Incredible growth. Healthy plants. No algae.
Are we all barking up the wrong tree? What's the secret to the success of this tank?
It is the best plant growth I have ever seen in a tank, online or otherwise. As you can see from the last picture, Co2 is fed from a single glass diffuser on the side of the tank, and there is minimal flow being provided by the filter, from a single small outflow. Most of the water in the tank is not moving at all, basically stagnant.
This tank used to be maintained by Greg, but now by a different woman called Roxana(?). I had a chat with her about the tank maintenance.
25% of the water is changed weekly (mixture of tap and RO)
Sera Florena fertilisers are dosed daily (micro only)
She had no idea what the Co2 concentration in the tank is, or what wattage the lights provide. I can tell you that the lights above the tank are a photon H-bomb. They are the brightest lights I have ever seen on a tank. I counted approximately 2 bubbles per second through the diffuser.
The KH is kept at 4 and the pH is kept at "a good level".
Phosphates are limited to 1PPM "to prevent algae".
So here it is. Massive light. Low Co2. Low nutrients (no macro ferts). Low flow. Poor water change schedule. Incredible growth. Healthy plants. No algae.
Are we all barking up the wrong tree? What's the secret to the success of this tank?