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The Arch - My messy journey to a 180L planted paradise

Tacocat said:
I've been finagling with a citric acid/baking soda reactor and it's been really annoying. I was considering switching to a yeast version but the problem is that you can't control the amount that comes out. I would fear that at night the co2 could kill the fish due to the plants not taking it up. If it's running at night make sure there's enough flow to keep the oxygen levels enough for the fish.
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Absolutely

I run an airpump at night.

I'm currently running 3 bottles all with 3 diffusers. Not exactly true mist so I'm not sure of overdosing is really possible but who knows.
 
Do you have a drop checker? it's that weird bulbous thing that most CO2 people have in the corner of the tanks. It's basically a glorified pH checker, but it only reacts to CO2. If the fluid is green, then the CO2 level is perfect. If it's blue, then it's too low. If it's yellow, then there's too much. It's only really helpful for gauging it in the long run though, because it takes two hours to update. Your diffuser seems to have a bubble counter, so it would be easier to count in terms of bubbles per second. I'm not sure how much is good for 180L, but I'm sure there's a calculator somewhere out there.
 
Tacocat said:
Do you have a drop checker? it's that weird bulbous thing that most CO2 people have in the corner of the tanks. It's basically a glorified pH checker, but it only reacts to CO2. If the fluid is green, then the CO2 level is perfect. If it's blue, then it's too low. If it's yellow, then there's too much. It's only really helpful for gauging it in the long run though, because it takes two hours to update. Your diffuser seems to have a bubble counter, so it would be easier to count in terms of bubbles per second. I'm not sure how much is good for 180L, but I'm sure there's a calculator somewhere out there.
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I do actually have the checker. I'm not sure I rate it though. It seems to be yellow regardless of what's going on.

I filled the tank, put it in and pushed it halfway down and within minutes it was yellow...
 
So for my 180L I should have 3 bubbles per second apparently. I have 1.

So I feel good that I have two other bottles running on cheap airstones making tiny bubbles. Hopefully I'm somewhere around the money.
 
Whiskyfish said:
I do actually have the checker. I'm not sure I rate it though. It seems to be yellow regardless of what's going on.

I filled the tank, put it in and pushed it halfway down and within minutes it was yellow...
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I mainly worry about the fish because co2 diffuses in water better than O2, so it can quickly suffocate the fish. If yours are ok with this co2 dosing then they should be fine, just watch out for suffocation. I accidentally turned my co2 too high once and almost all my fish suffocated and were hanging at the top for 6 hours, even though I had instantly turned off the co2 once I noticed. I ended up getting lucky and had no losses, but it was a good learning experience.
 
Whiskyfish said:
Ha. Pretty much that exactly.

I wanted a little sand cap at the back half of the tank anyway as this Monado stuff seems very course. Quick dig, dirt in, cap. Hopefully it helps. View attachment 336149

Filled now but it's difficult to appreciate just how many plants I put in there. I think the back wall is going to dissapear from sight eventually.

Now wondering about throwing in a school of rasboras...
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20240211_111820.jpg

Just over a week in and I'm seeing growth, particularly with the pearl weed on the right and the stem plants on the left.

Water is a bit green. Lights are set to 6hrs. Sponge filter runs at night only to allow for effective diy co2 during the day.

I'm going 8 litres water changes every couple of days. Registering a blip (.2 or less) of ammonia so won't be adding more than the cherry barbs until that gets under control.

I did have to put down a barb with genetic problems. Poor thing was all deformed. Gave him the clove oil treatment. Rip little dude.
 
Ammonia blip gone today.
Nitrites minimal, nitrates zero. Plants doing their jobs.

Did a 15% water change anyway to remove dead matter, uneaten food, etc.

Purchased and added 5 pygmy corydoras.

Bit early for them but saw them at lfs and have never seen them in Stock before and couldn't resist.

Plenty of biofilm and general gunk in the tank but I'll need to hit them up with an algae wafer every few days I'm sure.

Cherry barbs are loving their new friends.
 
20240213_122646.jpg


I made a fitted lid out of garden roofing plastic as the evap was ridiculous.

Unfortunately it makes the tank quite dark and really accentuates the 'green' 😅

20240213_122651.jpg


Maybe I need a better light...
 
Whiskyfish said:
View attachment 336793

I made a fitted lid out of garden roofing plastic as the evap was ridiculous.

Unfortunately it makes the tank quite dark and really accentuates the 'green' 😅

View attachment 336794

Maybe I need a better light...
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Here's an idea. It looks like you got polycarbonate sheet which is a bit of a light scatterer. Consider getting some acrylic or glass (beveled/rounded edge), or lexan (the very clear corrugated roofing) rectangles that fit in the width (front to back) , but maybe take 5 or 6 to cover the whole thing. You could leave about 6 inches of slop so you can slide any given location open to work. Even with the slop, the evap will be way lower.
 
A very strange algae(?) has appeared. It looks like mist and sits two inches off the ground, strerching to the back of the tank.

weird.
Messenger_creation_e7111e8d-4941-4507-ab67-b795e033388b.jpeg
 
So I've abandoned the diy co2 in favour of a more relaxed, lower tech approach.

Here's a little update on the growth;
20240216_181255.jpg



The water is now looking pretty crystal with a hint of tannin yellow.

I have 5 cherry barbs, 5 pygmy corys and I've just added two of my best looking endlers from another tank.

Ammonia consistently registers at the lowest grade above 0, and given the Ph and temp I'm not worried about it. I continue to add a couple of dead leaves a week.

I plan to slowly add more sand to cap this manado stuff as I just don't rate it if I'm honest. I also want to make the middle path a little beefier.
 
Whiskyfish said:
View attachment 336255
I read somewhere that DiY yeast method co2 is no good for a big tank. Then I read a big long thing about one guys adventure of proving that wrong. He used all kinds of tricks and equipment to wire a fancy contraption.

I decided just to double up. Has to he better than nothing, I suppose!

View attachment 336256


I have also added 6 cherry barbs and they will be my scouting party for the next couple of weeks.

View attachment 336257

Side note: I was very impressed with 'pets at home' here in the UK. They quizzed me before giving me the fish and I saw them refuse to sell to a man who couldn't answer to their satisfaction...
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I did a manual CO2 set up for awhile. I couldn't turn it off and I had to make sure I restarted it when it ran out. It was really inconsistent - lots and lots early on, and then dwindling over time. I did it with a 15 gallon tank. I think if I had stayed consistent with my actions to keep it going, it would have done ok, but I wasn't, and it turned into a disaster. I went quite the opposite way with my 75 gallon tank. I bought the fanciest set up I could get from Modern Aquarium. It was expensive, but it is fantastic. My water is soft, so I have to keep the dKh higher to make sure it gets enough CO2, but that's the only thing I have to do. It takes care of itself otherwise and I have a very stable Ph and level of CO2 24/7.
 
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