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Wanted: pictures of tanks. (KH related)

Where I live the tap water comes from water sources deep in mountains full of marble. As a matter of fact the place here has numerous marble excavations.
As you can imagine we're talking liquid rock hard water.
42GH measured in the tank today, before weekly water change
16KH measured in the tank today again before weekly water change

Tap water measurements
14KH.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to measure the GH today as I finished the drop reagent (easy when every measure is over 30 drops LOL). Usually I'm around 35+GH

I use tap water on this old and bought used RIO 125, badly scratched and with still an internal filter. I bought this tank to learn (I knew nothing about aquariums 3 years ago) and has been gone through various modifications and even a house move. As I said it has an internal filter with a 800l/h pump. I have added also a Tunze pump to enhance water circulation. 2*39W light T5 per 8 hours.
I use CO2 via a bazooka diffuser and use 2x Estimated Index, since the substrate was a tiny bit of JBL 2.5 years ago that has surely depleted by now. I don't use fertilizing tabs, hence the 2x Estimated Index dosage. Of course 50% weekly water changes

It also has plenty of stock. 9 Trigonostigma espei, 9 Cardinals, 6 Ottocinclus, 8 Amano scrimps, over 10 galaxy rasbora and 2 small true SAE.


Positive things I have learned in 2.5 years?
- The more you let the aquarium alone, the better. Move too much stuff around and the algae gets back. But do move plants to clean them up, just don't pull up often.
- The more EI dosage the better. Every time I had doubts and started dosing less, there was an algae outbreak. Can't thank enough @ceg4048 and other great guys here, for insisting showing everybody in this forum that in a closed system as an aquarium, fertilizing is our friend.
- CO2 is king. I'm aware that I have bad circulation and bad CO2 distribution. But everytime I managed to make it better, everysingle time I had better response from plants and less algae.
- No need to have big light. No need to have specific light color. Light is light, that's what the plants care about. I use 6500K but only because I like it.
- CO2 is not needed for planted tanks at all costs. I have another nano tank which is much nicer to look at and it is low tech. Proper fertilization, big plant mass. That's it. So either no CO2 at all, or PROPER CO2. Not in between situations.
- I think some plants probably do not like the so much hard water conditions. But it could be because of my poor filter circulation. Not sure about it.
I have moved said plants at a place where I was (maybe) sure there was enough CO2 but still no success.

- One final think IMHO very important.If some plants don't work for you, don't become obsessive. Move on, find what it works and stick with it. The most ugly plant when it's lush, is always better to look at, than a great plant that suffers and melts. I might not have great and difficult plants and surely my tank is not what you can call proper aquascaping, but I love looking at a fully lush green window full of life in my room, not to talk about how amazed visitors are when they realize the plants are... real!

Here are some screenshots of this "ugly" tank during the years. Right now is in "jungle" situation. Sorry for the bad smartphone photos and the ugly tank.

Again, thank you everybody in this forum. Best learning place in the net.

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zanguli-ya-zamba said:
Hi Clive,

What is the stem plant on the right on top of the Pogo please ?
Click to expand...
Hi Thomas,
If this is the one you mean it's Micranthemum umbrosum (MU). Hard water is hardly a problem.
9655594565_72443716a2_b.jpg

Jose said:
Hi Clive,
Do you have PAR readings for this tank?
Click to expand...
Hi Jose,
Well I'm always careful when talking about "how much PAR" because I vary the lighting, not only as the tank matures, but also on a daily basis. At the time of the photo the max PAR at the substrate level was about 100 micromoles, which is a LOT. When the tank was first flooded the max level was about half of that. At the beginning of the photoperiod I use about 1/4th of the maximum and gradually increase to max levels within about 3 hours.

Cheers,
 
Thanks Clive, thats very interesting. Do you know the co2 levels you get in there?
Have you kept Althernanthera Reinecki mini? This one doesnt grow well for me at all in 18dkH water. Also Didiplis Diandra, or ludwigia sp red. I understand it might be my co2 but I changed half the water in my tank to RO and my Didiplis Diandra is growing back already. Cant say about the other plants yet, it might be too soon.
 
Jose said:
Do you know the co2 levels you get in there?
Have you kept Althernanthera Reinecki mini? This one doesnt grow well for me at all in 18dkH water. Also Didiplis Diandra, or ludwigia sp red. I understand it might be my co2 but I changed half the water in my tank to RO and my Didiplis Diandra is growing back already. Cant say about the other plants yet, it might be too soon.
Click to expand...
Well, I mean, nobody knows their CO2 levels unless they have a £1000 CO2 meter. There is enough CO2 to avoid killing the plants and not so much as to kill the fish. That's all I ever know about CO2 levels. The CO2 concentration is never homogeneous across the tank and at every point in the tank it varies from gas on time to gas off time. It varies with temperature and with barometric pressure. So anyone who thinks they know a number is fooling themselves.

I have A. reinickii mini growing well in KH 11 and TDS 400 micro-seimen water in a tupperware bucket and yet it struggles mightily in the same water inside a CO2 injected tank. This tells me all I need to know about flow/distribution and parameter tolerance.

Here is D. diandra on the far left in the same KH 15, GH 25+ water. So maybe it grows easier in soft water but it's certainly not impossible to grow in hard water.
8394085505_5362466bf1_b.jpg
Cheers,
 
ceg4048 said:
I have A. reinickii mini growing well in KH 11 and TDS 400 micro-seimen water in a tupperware bucket and yet it struggles mightily in the same water inside a CO2 injected tank. This tells me all I need to know about flow/distribution and parameter tolerance.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean here? Do you think it might not like higher flow?
 
I think @ceg4048 means the opposite. In the tank, with all the scapes and more plants around it, it probably gets a different (worse) flow distribution and thus less nutrients/CO2. It's not the water, but the flow the problem.

Correct me if I'm wrong
 
Yes, that\s what I mean. In the plastic bucket, being only a few cm from the surface, gas exchange is not a problem for the leaves. The plant grows slowly but is otherwise healthy. If a leaf breaks the surface, even slightly, then it has easy access to CO2 in the same way that you would have access to air using a snorkel while swimming. When the plant is plunged deep under water the slow diffusion rate of gases suffocates the plant. Not only is CO2 in short supply if injection rate and distribution are not excellent, but Oxygen is even more critical because it has the same slow diffusion rate in water and it\s solubility is much poorer.

People are always hysterical about whether they have enough light, just because some website posts cheesy WPG requirement, when all the time the plants melt into oblivion because they are actually suffocating...

Cheers,
 
So ideally and leaving out fish requirements, a shallow tank is better for plants that are not too high. Say something like 30-35cm height?


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