Will APFUK starter kit suit my needs?? 4 Month update with pics

[Ady34]

@Ady34 Thanks for the comments on Instagram, Here's the thread in all it's glorious detail if you're interested?!

It was seeing your tank on Facebook a while ago and the Geordie scapers Juwel 240's first scape that gave me inspiration to do mine like this. Your EA 1500 is still one of my favourite scapes, i love it! I remember first seeing it on facebook probably over a year ago now and thinking that's exactly what i want. Beautiful work mate 😍

Cheers, James

Just read the thread, some great forum member advice and help and I’m pleased it has had a positive impact on your tank which is looking great. Far more knowledgeable people than me, I just keep adding more standard mixed EI recipie until the plants are happy
Thanks also for the positive comments about the 1500, always happy to hear that it has inspired someone 🙂
Cheerio, and enjoy the tank.

 

[EA James]

Evening all,

So it's been 4 months to the day since I've been dosing the new mix and this is what's left from 5L

Using a 5L storage vessel and using a 100ml per dose strategy will give you a 50 dose (around 4 months) supply of Macro.

Pretty much spot on there mate 😎

I need to mix up another batch early next week but before i do i thought I'd post some images from few of the plants that i think might be slightly suffering from a deficiency. If there is something i should alter then obviously I'd rather do it now than wait another 4 months!

Generally the tank is doing great in my opinion, Plants are growing well and quite quickly considering nothing in the tank is a fast grower. Anubias (i think sp. Barteri?) has produced some monster leaves and a big old flower that looks like corn on the cob haha! New leaves are coming through about once a week or so that dwarf the old growth. I feel like the tank has a good balance at the moment. Not really any signs of algae apart from a few green spots on the glass, probably 6-8 per week.

Here's a few shots of the tank i took last night



Since the original post i have added quite a few more plants (Still want/need more though!!) and about 3 weeks ago i rescaped the right hand side of the scape. I've added another 8kg of black lava rock and removed the Giant Vallis and Cyperus Helferi as i wanted it to look more like an island which i think I've achieved. I think it looks a lot better ☺️



The next few pics are of the plants i think are showing signs of deficiencies




Not sure if I'll need to input any more details of the tank set up for a diagnosis or not but if so I'm happy to do so.

Looking forward to getting these minor issues sorted and I'm hoping you all like the progress of my little slice of nature!

Thanks all 😊

 

[X3NiTH]

If anything it looks like more Carbon is required, you should be covering all nutrition via the EI dosing anyway so deficiency is probably unlikely, if you can’t turn co2 up any higher I would start adding a Carbon supplement, Microbe-Lift Bio CO2 from MA is Humic and Fulvic acid based so can also beneficially Chelate nutrients, my Buce like it, there’s also Easy Carbo and Excell but I believe both these are variants of Gluteraldehyde and as such I would deem them both as not as safe to handle.

You can see that it’s mainly the lower light tolerating plants that are struggling the most, I wouldn’t change the mix just yet I would experiment with adding more carbon first.

🙂

 

[EA James]

currently eating a bacon and egg sarnie with a very srtong JD in hand after a night seeong my family again! Yhanks amn, will speak tomorrow x

 

[EA James]

currently eating a bacon and egg sarnie with a very srtong JD in hand after a night seeong my family again! Yhanks amn, will speak tomorrow x

Ohhh dear 🤦‍♂️ Definitely got carried away last night haha, feeling it today too!

If anything it looks like more Carbon is required

I've noticed recently the drop checkers seem quite a dark green at lights on and when the co2 turns off they're still not light enough IMO, I've changed the timer so it comes on half an hour earlier now so 2 hours before lights on. I'll see if that makes any difference. There might be something wrong though as in the last week when the co2 is on there's a funny noise coming from the tank, like a squeaking noise that repeats itself over and over. It sounds like its coming from the tubing and is louder at the back of the tank, not in the cabinet though so i dont think its the reg, strange!

I'm going to my local MA tomorrow to get some RO for the mix so I'll pick up some Microbe while I'm there

Would you say the drop checkers are positioned well enough to give me a good reading?

Cheers Darren, you've been such a good help 😊

 

[X3NiTH]

Squeaky noise could be a intermittent partial gas leak in the line, I’d investigate that further. You don’t want the Drop Checker heading for Blue-Green try keeping it in the Green if you can, positioning looks ok it’s at the same level as the majority of the plant growth, if in doubt move it about! More growth = more co2 uptake so the fast growers may be pulling in decent amounts of it reducing the co2 profile in the tank overall.

🙂

 

[EA James]

Ok I'll look into it, the noise has now stopped but I'll keep an ear out. Everything is fitted correctly and nice and tight so I'm not even sure where to start if it comes back!
The drop checker is green but not lime green, I also have one at the back near the outlet as i wanted to see if the co2 would make a full lap of the tank. That one appears to be green to but slightly darker which i would expect being in its location anyway.
I bought some of the Microbe Bio today, Would you suggest i follow the instructions on the bottle? I dosed 30ml today as per instructions (initial dose 10ml per 100L) it then says 2ml per 100L every 1-2 days. Would i be best going for every other day to start off with?
I didn't expect it to be like thinish syrup, thought I'd done something wrong when i poured it in the tank 😱

Cheers

 

[EA James]

Here’s the tank in full lemonade mode and the DC as it stands now

 

[X3NiTH]

The DC colour is where it should be!

I overdose-dose the BioCO2 three times a week at 6ml/50L (1ml/minute dosing pump running for six minutes). When I make up my Macro I use the neat BioCO2 instead of water as the receiving fluid in the mixture which saves me needing another dosing pump. You can start the dosing at the recommended levels and if you need/want to increase the dose it’s safe to do so.

🙂

 

[EA James]

The DC colour is where it should be!

🙂 great! I thought it was too dark, that's good then.

You can start the dosing at the recommended levels and if you need/want to increase the dose it’s safe to do so.

Ok perfect, will do mate

Thanks again, Top man 👍

 

[Wookii]

The DC colour is where it should be!

I overdose-dose the BioCO2 three times a week at 6ml/50L (1ml/minute dosing pump running for six minutes). When I make up my Macro I use the neat BioCO2 instead of water as the receiving fluid in the mixture which saves me needing another dosing pump. You can start the dosing at the recommended levels and if you need/want to increase the dose it’s safe to do so.

🙂

@X3NiTH how do you get along dosing the Microbelift BioCO2 with an autodoser? I added a bottle to my recent Macro mix, and the stuff separates with a heavier part of the solution settling to a sediment on the bottom. I've had to resort to a magnetic stirrer running for 10 minutes before the doser comes on.

 

[X3NiTH]

This is what my dosing bag looks like with a very bright led inspection torch, as you can see the liquid is uniform and very opaque, I haven’t seen any separation! I use this neat with dry salts added before putting it in the bag.






The 4 images show me moving the light down behind the mixture, I can’t determine if there is separation but it certainly looks like there isn’t and it’s not something I’ve noticed before.

The only thing I can think what’s going on is that it could be Magnesium Sulphate in the mixture (I haven’t added this to the bag mix so I may have missed an effect seen by you by not adding it) and possibly a great portion of that has been chelated by the Humic and as such has gained significant mass to drop it out of suspension. What you can also see with my setup is that it is gravity fed to the dosing line so if there are any sediment it gets flushed out the lines pretty quickly apparently without blocking it, only mold kombucha blocks my micro lines after a while.

🙂