Who needs a tank for a dark start…. Let’s see.

[bazz]

Well, the Sera Multifil 350 is the filter media version of the Sera Flore CO2 1000, but they are actually the same thing.

Hi,
Looking at the photos of this unit I cannot see the spinning blades in the top section which is probably the best feature of this reactor.
I've been using the Sera Flore Reactor 1000 for almost 2 years now after installing it as a temporary fix after unsuccessfully attempting to use an Aqua Medic CO2 Reactor 1000 in varying guises (with supplied media, empty and with Siporax).

but the most important thing is that you have to pay a lot of attention to its CO2 "fitting" (I don't know the right word sorry). It DOES break easily,

The easy solution to this problem is to uncouple the CO2 line using the Check Valve and keeping well clear of the small plastic Hose tail and collar.


I give it a stern wiggle to ensure the plastic has not degraded and become brittle from the CO2 while cleaning, which is once every 6 months.
To get a 1 point PH drop for lights on the Reactor needs to be running 3 hours prior on my system, but turns off 1 and half hours before lights out. I have a couple of different reactors in reserve but will continue to use this while the going is good.
No bubbles!!!
Cheers!

 

[Dryrot]

spinning blades in the top section which is probably the best feature of this reactor.

@bazz yes, this is the exact one I have on the shelf. I like your advice and will use the check-valve whenever I can. Is the sponge behind it for sound deadening?

Bryan

 

[bazz]

Is the sponge behind it for sound deadening?

No and yes. The Sera reactor is tie wrapped to the original Aqua Medic bracket as this was originally going to be temporary. Unfortunately another design flaw for the Sera is it will only mount on it's bracket with the inlet facing the right and I had already screwed the pump to my cabinet on the left (worth noting before you make any hard connections). You can see the immovable tab on the back which slots the mounting bracket.
As such not being properly mounted led to a little hum.
Hope this helps.
Cheers!

 

[Dryrot]

Thanks for the heads up @bazz . Is that a power head feeding it? I plan on simply feeding mine from the Thermo 600. Does the power head have a sponge filter at the inlet?

I love Ehiem stuff and was a dedicated user back in the day. Now I am returning I have been seduced by the Oase’s neat quick release pre-filter. Hope I don’t regret it 🙈

 

[bazz]

Is that a power head feeding it?

It's a Eheim Compact 2000 dry/wet pump now superceded by the CompactOn 2100.

Hope I don’t regret it

I don't think you will, I'm sure you will be more than happy with the 600.
Cheers!

 

[Dryrot]

thank yo @bazz .I’m hoping that the 600 will not be restricted too much by the reactor because an extra canister filter for that would cost much more and take up a lot of room under the new tank. If I find that circulation suffers your idea could be just the thing. I would asume a discreet in- tank pre-filter would be needed to reduce eventual accumulation of muck in the reactor?

best Bryan

 

[bazz]

I would asume a discreet in- tank pre-filter would be needed to reduce eventual accumulation of muck in the reactor?

Nope, but the SS jet pipe intake is 2/3 the way up the tank. The slots on the intake are not big enough to let anything too large to pass through, any minute bits of plant matter that finds its way through probably just gets chopped up by the impeller.
It wouldn't hurt to put a Intake Strainer on if you're keeping shrimp, breeding fish or have Chili Rasbora etc....!

 

[Dryrot]

Great news @bazz - that will make sure the 600 is not slowed down and the sera reactor works fully - thank you.

As of day 21 of the tub of sludge experiment (officially now called the filter-prep project), here's a graph. Nothing happened for the first 7 days so I compressed that into one cell. I also had to multiply the NH3/4 number by 10 as it is so toxic it is measured in tens of mg/l and the graph hardly showed it. It is easier to see what has happened this way I think. It all began on the 4th February. Measurable ammonia showed-up 12th February, slowly, then accelerating to a peak by 22nd and then falling for these last few days \9still there though). First Nitrite appearing 20th, 8 days after ammonia. It rose to 7mg/l and steady there since. Nitrate, which was below 20mg from the tap, started a steep rise from 21st, only a day after Nitrite. It quickly doubled and is now over 100mg/l.


Just a bit of fun. I know the tests are considered a bit flaky, but I have not included the odd rogue reading. The trend is interesting to me though. I have found that ph and KH have jumped about a bit and the GH is off the chart as I live in this hard water area. Plus I recon the Nitrate is sort of 'all or nothing' 😱

One thing I am encouraged by is that there seem to be some beneficial bacteria in the filter. Or the Gods of aquarists are playing with me. I fed them a variety of food items, a mix of my morning vegetable shake, a raw prawn, a mussel and the odd cucumber slice and spinach leaf (not too much @dw1305 . As my local aquarist shop wanted to sell me some WatereLife BacterLife product, I held firm, but they were so insistent that they gave me a small bottle, because they swear by it. So I put 2.5ml of that in the tub every day but it has now run out.

Soon I hope to have a real tank, with real toys to play with @ExcitableBoy, with real plants, then a fish or two and some shrimps.... @aec34

best to all

Bryan.

 

[ExcitableBoy]

Hi,
Looking at the photos of this unit I cannot see the spinning blades in the top section which is probably the best feature of this reactor.
I've been using the Sera Flore Reactor 1000 for almost 2 years now after installing it as a temporary fix after unsuccessfully attempting to use an Aqua Medic CO2 Reactor 1000 in varying guises (with supplied media, empty and with Siporax).

The easy solution to this problem is to uncouple the CO2 line using the Check Valve and keeping well clear of the small plastic Hose tail and collar.

Yes, it's really convenient to place another check valve there. It makes easier to refill the bubble counter too.
I am sorry about the impellers, honestly I thought it had them by the pics of the multi fil

I tried the aquamedic too years ago, as far as I remember it works better with slow flow or at least a bypass. I didn't manage to make it work well neither. For that price I would go with a fluidized bed filter or one of those reactor for marine things converted into a CO2 reactor.

 

[Dryrot]

Well, the tub of sludge (AKA filter-prep project), has thrown up a surprise. As expected there was a large increase in Nitrate as the Nitrite and Ammonia fell. However, since then the Nitrate has fallen with consistent lower levels after the 100ppm and now showing 5! This seems biologically impossible top me. There were no plants to absorb any nitrate and of course with the high rate of filtration (Thermo 600 with only a 30litre tub), there cannot be any Nitrate eating low oxygen lovers in there. The tub smells earthy as it should.

I thought about maybe dodgy strips but it's remained low for several tests now and the strips are from the same batch. Could the Substrate (JBL AquaBasis Plus), be absorbing some of it? If this is the case I would expect a steady rise from now as it becomes saturated as the decaying detritus I feed it will continue the cycle.

I have added an airstone recently, (since the Nitrate was high), just to increase oxygen for the filter bugs - this after reading more of @dw1305 excellent links. On the same narrative, I added a few small floating plants last night.

Any ideas would be appreciated - It matters not, but I find it perplexing.....

My new tank is delayed in Germany so not expected before week commencing 13th March - That's German efficiency for you 🙂

warm regards
Bryan

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I thought about maybe dodgy strips but it's remained low for several tests now and the strips are from the same batch.

Dodgy strips are a distinct possibility.

Unfortunately nitrate (NO3-) is a difficult nutrient to <"test for accurately">, mainly because <"the solubility of NO3 containing compounds">. It was partially the inherent difficulties in nitrate testing that led <"to the development"> of the <"Duckweed Index">.

...... Initially I'd expected to be able to recommend test kits and analytical methods that would work over the whole range of freshwater aquarium values, but it became apparent early on that there were some difficulties (particularly with nitrate (NO3-) measurement) and that a lot of reported nitrate values on forums etc were definitely wrong.

I was using <"biotic indices at work"> and it became apparent that they were actually a much more sensitive indicator than the water testing we were doing. We were also looking at <"phytoremediation using floating plants">, and this was very effective in tropical situations, from that starting point it just seemed an obvious step to combine the two approaches........

As expected there was a large increase in Nitrate as the Nitrite and Ammonia fell. However, since then the Nitrate has fallen with consistent lower levels after the 100ppm and now showing 5! This seems biologically impossible top me. There were no plants to absorb any nitrate and of course with the high rate of filtration (Thermo 600 with only a 30litre tub), there cannot be any Nitrate eating low oxygen lovers in there.

It might, possibly, be denitrification in the substrate, I think it is unlikely, but plausible <"Correspondence with Dr Ryan Newton - School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee">.

I have added an airstone recently, (since the Nitrate was high), just to increase oxygen for the filter bugs - this after reading more of @dw1305 excellent links. On the same narrative, I added a few small floating plants last night.

Thank you and thank you, plants and oxygen <"are always the answer">. Personally I'm a <"floating plant obsessive"> & <"Help finding a plant that roots in super fine sand">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Dryrot]

Thanks for all the information Darrel. Excellent. Here's an image of the floating plants - I have no idea what they are. They are from my LFS fish tanks in Harrogate.

I will keep up the testing but also watch the plants carefully 🙂

regards

Bryan

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Here's an image of the floating plants - I have no idea what they are

They are <"Ceratopteris "thalictroides">, I really like it. Mine never look great (I don't feed them enough), but they have enormous potential and produce the plantlets (that you have) on their leaves.

They are the feathery plant in @Parablennius 's <"Floaters thread">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Dryrot]

Hi all,
Well, it's the fifth of April and I can't light my tank due to the OASE LED controller being late. However, the filter is still running since 4th February and for the past two weeks on the tank in a dark condition (covered by thick blankets).

Just returned from Holiday to find slime growing on the wood only. Two types: A dense white globules material, and a more filamentous type that looks almost like hair algae in aspic or agar, but is likely a fungi/bacteria I think. It cleans of with barely a massage of a tooth brush.






Tank is hardscaped but needs light, in order to plant. I have just been offered a free infra-red controller by Oase to get me up and running. Not quite as much control as the top-line one, but still a very welcome development so I can order plants and get started 🙂


My hard water had at least 8 degrees KH and a pH of 7. Since the tank was started it has zero KH and a pH of 6.2. I hope this is temporary as some KH wil be needed to buffer pH, especially when the CO2 is turned on - Is this right? The JBL basis-plus is in a thin layer in bags, The Oase soil is deep over that. Some of that in bags at the back to keep the tarrace from collapsing. A thin layer of sand and pebbles forms a beach for my anticipated Cory's. Maybe the substrate is causing very depressed KH?

What to do next? I want to plant densely, with the full and well controlled lighting in place, with CO2. Once I get the infra-red controller it will be full speed ahead. Don't' know how much control the infra-red one gives but I think it can be dialed down? Has anyone suggestions for lighting period on a new start? Ordered some electronic timers for the CO2, air pump and Oase surface skimmer.

Best to all.

Bryan.

 

[Dryrot]

Hello again everybody,

I have temporary lighting now and so planting can happen on Saturday. As this is a new tank I have decided to use only one of the Oase Preemier LEDs to start with. I'll let the plants get well established before I light-up number two. By then I hope to have more control of the output with the new controller that can interface with an I-pad.



It bothers me that the KH is zero so I have started using a buffer to bring it nearer 3 or 4. The drop checker doesn't go green for hours so I have turned up the bubble rate to two per second via the extended spiral diffusor the kit came with. I am building a bypass secondary circulation pump/spray bar and will integrate the Sera CO2 reactor into that to compare the performance.
It seems counter intuative to add a buffer at the same time as I am adding CO2 which lowers KH anyway? But I understand that zero KH can lead to pH crashes??

Any advice from those with water quality and CO2/KH skills would be welcome. I am still happy, relaxed and fascinated by the whole thing. Can't wait to get some flora and fauna in. The filter has been running since Feb 4th so I guess I can put some rasbora's in soon? Then of course some Oto's, shrimps and Cory's....... heaven 🙂

warmest to all

Bryan.

 

[foxfish]

I used a internal spiral diffuser on my very first C02 tank about 40 odd years ago, in fact that particular tank worked very well!
In those days that was a standard method as was, very low flow, zero surface movement, rain water to fill the tank and two T8 tubes the length of the tank.
I am not sure about the KH as I am not much of a tester but, you most defiantly need to get your C02 running sweet and consistent before adding any fish.
In order to get the right amount of C02 you will need lots of plants in place but ideally not fish as it can take some time to accurately dial in the gas and you don't want to gas them to death!
You cant really hurt the plants with to much C02 but you can harm the fish.
Many people are often (very often) surprised how many bubbles per second you actually need when they first try out C02, I dont know why this is but….. dont be surprised if you cant count the amount of bubbles needed to get that drop checker light green.
Unfortunately there is no set formula as the amount of gas required will depend of many things like surface fkow, amount of plants etc..

 

[Dryrot]

Thank you for this advice @foxfish . I collect the plants on Friday. The plan is to almost drain the tank Saturday morning and plant into wet substrate. Re-fill with treated tap water and a single LED to start with. I have an Ehiem compactON 2100 on order and if that comes by then it will be used to double the circulation provided by my Oase600 filter. A Sera co2 reactor will be in that circuit with a bypass to fine tune it. This faffing is all due to several weeks ‘lurking’ in the group and picking up what I can.

I think the lower KH is the combined effect of two bags of Oase soil with 9lt of JBL basisPlus under it in flat mesh bags. The blurb says they lower the ph but I didn’t realise how powerfull that effect would be. The KH and pH both depressed even before turned the CO2 on!

Bearing in mind your experience I am more certain now, that the CO2 reactor in-line with a separate pump is probably better than the Helter-skelter.

I’ve been running the filtration for ages so will not rush the fauna, I’m a patient man.

thanks again

 

[hypnogogia]

I’m a patient man.

That’s a virtue in aquarium keeping.

 

[Dryrot]

Ha, @hypnogogia too true. I ordered the tank and Lights in January…… still not fully delivered and spent today watching fine particles make their way around the tank…….. circulation is….. fascinating 😜

 

[John q]

I am adding CO2 which lowers KH anyway? But I understand that zero KH can lead to pH crashes??

Adding co2 won't lower the kh it will only lower the ph. I'm not going to try and explain it as it's a bit above my head. @dw1305 explains it in this thread.
Post in thread 'CO2 relationship to KH' CO2 relationship to KH

My kh is between 0.5 ~ 1 and inject co2, i have tanks full of healthy fish, so unless you specifically want 2~3 kh it's not something to worry about.

If it makes you feel better add a bit of potassium bicarbonate and aim for .5 to 1 kh.