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Quest for the perfect corner creation - Resurrection

Evening all! Hope your all doing great now that winter is here!

So been having a few problems with the tank lately in terms of hair algea, was seems to be bba but can't tell if it's green or brown...
I'm pretty sure I did it all by myself! When I put the crs in a changed the hardness of the water with two big water changes on consecutive days, (I screwed up the first day and rectified the second) thus taking all co2 and nutrients out of the water. My monte carlo is growing okay but the underneath is going brown (trimmed it a few times)
Leafs on other plants have holes in too.
Tank mates are 19 amano.
22 high grade f1 crs.
And a few red ramshorn snails.

I'm a newb and I'll gladly take a roasting if I'm doing something really wrong as I'd love nothing more than a healthy tank! If you need any more info then just ask!

Tank is a trigon 190 (horrible for flow)
Co2 is 1:30pm - 8pm
6.35kg bottle with co2art Bazooka Diffuser on centre of left face(soon to be changed to inline up from co2art)
Lights 2x 28 watt natural daylight bulbs. 3pm - 9pm
Filtration - fluval 405 with spraybar on back right wall facing horizontal.
300lph pump bottom right front concern.
1000lph power head top back centre facing towards front right on just below half power.

Dose ei ferts at 40ml per day but changing it down as I need a new regime so it doesn't drive the tds as high.

Tds - 200
Gh - 5
Kh - 2
Ph - 6.2
I use remineralised ro water.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read that wall of text,
Matt.
 
Hi Matt,
Hair algae and BBA are classic symptoms of low CO2. It has not much to do with water changes or nutrients. A greater plant mass now needs a greater amount of CO2 and flow. Slowly increase the injection rate so as not to stress the fish and increase the flow rate if you have an adjustable flow control. With such a low KH it's difficult to measure the pH drop profile but that would have given you a better idea of the gas behavior. If you're changing to an inline device that should help with gas dissolution.

You can trim the plants a bit more regularly to get flow into the beds and you can supplement with daily liquid carbon, but just be careful since the inverts are sensitive.

Cheers,
 
Thanks for the quick reply mate! I was that focused on fluctuating co2 I never thought of there not been enough... I shall increase the co2 slowly until the new inline gets here ( ordering right now) for a tank my size what would you recommend dosing in ml for ei ferts per day without effecting the plants. Want to try keep my tds sub 200 ideally.
Thanks again!
Matt.
 
Well, I don't really worry too much about arbitrary TDS numbers. The TDS also increases due to the food you add to the tank, as well as due to the waste products from fish and plants. So keeping the water clean with large regular water change is more important than chasing some ideal fantasy number.

In any case, It's not easy to say exactly how much of this or that powder will reduce the TDS by "X" ppm. If you're concerned about the number then just reduce the dosing across the board by some percentage, say, 10% and then measure the TDS throughout the week. If that doesn't do the trick on the first go then repeat the reduction until you are comfortable with the numbers - but just be aware that anything which dissolves in the water contributes to conductivity, not only the nutrient powders. Also be aware that if you get too tunnel vision with the TDS number you can fall too far below the required nutrient concentration levels and have plant health issues. For rooted plants you can always enrich the substrate locally with NPK ice cubes (home made root tabs). That might allow you to reduce the water column dosing, but that won't help epiphytic plants such as moss, although these are slow growing anyway.

A side benefit of reduced dosing is that a lower nutrient loading also reduces the plants demand for CO2 so you will be somewhat less likely to suffer these algae symptoms when the CO2 falls a little low. Again, it's not possible to say reducing dosing by "Xppm" will allow you to reduce injection by "Ybpm". Just make minor adjustments and wait a few weeks to observe how the plants make their adjustments.

BBA can also be a stability issue and might need to be tackled separately, perhaps by tweaking the timing of the gas. The pH profile checks are a decent way to check this, but hair definitely tells you the gas availability is low compared to what the plants had gotten used to.

CO2 is like a narcotic. Plants always want more, and the more they get the more they want. That's why CO2 enriched tanks are always suffering CO2 related faults.

Ironic, isn't it?

Cheers,
 
Thanks for taking the time to write such a big explanation. I understand a lot more about it now, and the demand for co2 is amusing! I've turned it up a little, inline will be here tomorrow and I've also ordered two grolux bulbs as I have a marine daylight bulb in the back of the tank for some unknown reason!!
Shrimps are still all good and there a priority really as I don't want them suffering!
Matt.
 
I have a marine daylight bulb in the back of the tank for some unknown reason!!
Well, an excellent (and well known) reason would be that you like the look of it. That's the best reason of all. On the other hand, if you don't like the color then that's the best reason for being rid of it.

Grolux bulbs are very pink/purple, and a tank lit exclusively with Grolux gives the tank an eerie purple hue, which, in my opinion, is novel for a few hours at a time, but is really creepy when used the entire photoperiod. Again, in my opinion, the best use of Grolux and other pink/purple bulbs such as Triton/Triplus is to use them in combination with other bulbs so that any red coloration that occurs in plants and fish will be enhanced without that overwhelming magenta hue.

Cheers,
 
So both my parcels are here, just one is in the post office until Sunday when I can collect it! Would be the Diffuser! Haha. Put the grolux bulb at the front and left the high light at the back. Looks amazing, reds are awesome! Shall give you an update when the inline is in! Have a good weekend all.
Matt.
 
Evening all! Happy Halloween! Even if your trying to hide but your fish tank light draws people in!!
No updates for a while, a lot has happend!
The Diffuser is amazing, works great!
I'll just post up some photos for tonight and explain tomorrow as I'm I'll (cue violins) and tired!
Long story short, shrimp are out of the planted, co2 turned up and dosing again. Nano tank is up and running and shrimp are happy!
Changed the planted tank around a bit aswell and I'm super happy with it, still a bit murky though.
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Hi LocustDemon,

Just read this journal and very interested to see the latest updates/pictures??
You mentioned Wharf aquatics in an earlier post....my favourite place to hide out!! I also ventured into the world of planted aquariums whilst my partner was pregnant and have managed to hang in there but now downsized to a high tech nano!! (All products from Co2 Art as yourself!) :)
 
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