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new to planted tanks

Joined
21 Aug 2013
Messages
113
hi,

is it possible to have an overstocked aquarium, planted, co2, ferts etc.
lots of flow.

I have recently planted my overstocked piranha tank with vallis, got a jbl co2 kit. fets etc.

my co2 is nowhere near the green 20mg/l and my fish have been gasping :(

any help please

I saw an article on here on a hi-tech setup but seemed to need lower stock levels. not possible to have overstocked and a jungle going on at the same time?
 
also I have 2x 12000lph wavemakers in the aquarium to provide flow to exercise the shoal of piranha. problem I have is the flow hits the wall of grass, and bounces back, it doesn't seem to flow through the grass, any ways to improve this? need a wavemaker both sides or something?

any help on the wavemaker positioning would be good

maybe if I made a riccia carpet cover the other half of the tank it would provide a lot more o2.

also now its summer with the amount of lighting I have the tank gets to 29-30 which is too hot, how do you keep it cool?

ill add pictures and details of the setup in a minute
 
this is copied from what I posted on a facebook group for advice earlier and a guy on there named this forum.

100 uk gallons,
fluval fx5, and
2x 12000lph wavemakers,
so about 26,000lph turnover.
t5 lighting
480w lighting
additional items are the two 12000lph wavemaker/powerheads
ferts came with the jbl m602 co2 package. jbl ferropol, weekly and daily.
I have ordered ei, will be using that once this one runs out
substrate is gravel with no root tabs as of yet.
tank has been running a year
co2 method of diffusion is the jbl taifun with the extension.
I will order another diffuser that a guy recommended on here that goes on my fx5 pipe
lighting is on from 7am til 8pm daily, im unsure if this is too much, im guessing the amazon has a lot of hours of light in a single day.
my problem cant be circulation I think as its like a whirlpool in my tank lol

its stocked with 25 or so piranha, 6 convicts a big irwini catfish at 10", a tiny Raphael catfish, an l190 pleco about 5", a l330 watermelon plec about 8", hes huge. and 5 small bn plecs, I do have other tanks so can thin these out, but its worked nicely so far until I considered co2 and going down the proper planted route
 
Hi Jason the jungle you wish to achieve should be possible, if you only have Vallis in the tank at the moment it's possible your adding more co2 than your plant mass can utilise, maybe back the co2 off a little or add more plants, pictures tell a thousand words, maybe post some up of your tank help members get an idea of the best advice to offer, ref flow all filter outlets power heads etc should point in the same direction creating a circular flow pattern to achieve the best results.
 
a8rhrEl.jpg
 
I did have the vallis all the way across the tank but the flow just got stopped by it
and the powerheads were at the surface, also there was a lot more bogwood in the tank.
this isn't how its staying, just want to sort this co2 out etc at the moment, so the fish are happy.
I wont be doing much to the tank in ters of scaping at the moment as I am waiting for my new 6x3x2h to come. which will also be planted, same lights so will halve my wpg to 2.5
 
Hi Jason, welcome to the forum:)
You've begun the journey now and this is the place to be for help and friendly guidance along the way, hope you get things sorted mate.
Clive and Fran;)
 
will adding an air stone or 10 improve the o2 in the water but not remove the co2 like the wavemaker at the surface would do?
basically I turned off the co2, came home from work and the fish were still gasping, I know this is because the wavemakers aren't at the surface now. I want a fix that will still let me use the co2
 
Co2 is a balancing act that you have to adjust untill you reach the right balance, a few things to know first are, is your co2 a pressurised setup ? Does it have a solinoid ? What time does the co2 come on ? What time do your lights turn on ? Do you have a drop checker ?
 
I have a drop checker, and its blue not green and still the fish gasp, but I know its because the wavemakers aren't at the surface now because I turned off the co2 and they were still gasping today.
the co2 comes on with the lights at 7am, looking through a couple of posts here it seems most peoples co2 comes on a few hours before lights on and turns off a few hours before lights off?
 
ok question.
the co2 isn't too much its still blue on the drop checker, hasn't even got to green yet ever.
the fish gasp.
to increase o2 until my plants provide enough should I place wavemakers at surface, or add air stones?
wavemakers at surface will remove the co2 from the water I heard. will the airstones?
 
I just turned lights off, came downstairs, and they were in the dark at the surface, I just put the lights back on to hopefully use some co2 up maybe? although it says there isn't a lot of co2 in my water now on the drop checker
 
its actually beginning to get frustrating :(
can someone tell me the optimum light timings etc, and co2 timings please.
I bought a jbl m602 system, that's my co2 system. I bought it because of recommendations and reviews seemed good. I know people with the same co2 system and they are doing great, but most have small community fish, I have piranha plecs and catfish
 
wave maker height/positions too would be good,
also the vallis I have planted very densely on the left of the tank, it probably reduces flow. is this a problem?
the reason I did it is because it was all over the place when in front of the wavemakers
 
also do you use air pumps at all? through the night? just after lights go off? daytime also?
also im finding it very hard keeping my water cool, 29 now which means less o2 also
 
In all honesty i think you should not worry about CO2 right now and focus what may be causing the fish to gasp at the surface. I think running an air stone may be a sound thing to do right now. Yes it will reduce CO2 levels but you want to give the fish some more oxygen right now since they're gasping. How often do you change the water? Your fish seems to be really stressed out.
 
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