Darren's Disaster Journal " Homeland "

[shrimply]

24/08/09-

I have finally got rid of the fluval filter and replaced it with a proper filter.

Out of the box (messy living room in background)

Fitted

And just so you don't think my cupboards are really that tidy

I don't care what people say, these filters are the best. Despite having pretty much the same ratings as the 304. It holds more media ( I know because I had to add extra after transferring all my media from the other filter), it has a more powerful flow rate, by far more current produced from this than the 304 despite it being packed full of media. It is whisper quiet and the tubes actually fit properly onto the connectors without needing hose clips.

It doesn't have a primer and it doesn't need a primer. During the time I've had the fluval I have replaced the primer twice due to it breaking and still ended up sucking the tube and drinking fish tank water whenever I maintained it. Not with the eheim, one suck on the outlet and it starts filling and as long as you use the taps properly it never need primed again.

 

[hensonc4098]

We've had an Eheim 2213 running on our 100L tank now for a couple of years and it's never missed a beat
They really are great filters

 

[FishBeast]

thats alot tidier than my cupboard I would recommend doing a search for "golden ratio" on the web as it will give you some insight on where to lay your rocks n stuff

 

[shrimply]

03/09/09
Firstly the boring stuff, my digital timers arrived, and I don't care if I'm sad for getting excited about them, they really are brilliant little things.

And in the nick of time my Ascorbic acid and potassium sorbate arrived so I can make up my all-in-one solution and not worry about EI.

Plants finally here, absolutely brilliant quality can't fault plants alive at all, except that they replaced the Nymphea Stellata in the collection which I really wanted with Vallisneria gigantea, which quite honestly I could do without

But as you can see the quality was brilliant, I also made the mistake of ordering too many, in the past I've ordered collections for my tank size and there's never been enough, but I got to the end of the collection and was struggling to fit in the 50 surplus plants without the tank looking the plant sales tank at a LFS ( it still does a bit) needless to say in the end some had to go into my other tank. Now its far from perfect, but as I say I'll convince myself that they're not just going to die on me and then spend some time and money making the tank look a bit more exciting.

Obviously I don't really know what I'm doing yet so if you see anything I've planted wrong or may of planted wrong let me know I'm an idiot

Sorry about the picture quality, it was the best of the lot, I'll get the tripod out later and try and get a better picture but I'm no photographer and don't own a fancy camera.

Couple of questions for anyone who doesn't mind answering, I got a some root tabs on with the plants alive order, bearing in mind the JBL substrate nutrient concentrate in the substrate and me doing with an all-in-one solution, are there any plants in there that will ned further fertilisation from root tabs, I was thinking maybe the amazon swords and the crypts.

Also if someone could take a look at my timings posted further up and let me know that I'm on the right track, I don't want to have the lighting on for too long or anything that'd be great.

 

[hensonc4098]

Don't really know about the fertilisers etc. but your tank looks really good

 

[aaronnorth]

theres loads more room for the rest of the plants lol.
root tabs can be used after 1yr to give it a boost, but not really necassary.

have the lighting on for 6hrs to begin with, then after 2weeks raise up to 8hrs.

CO2 on 2hrs before lights, off 2hrs before lights out.
be patient and raise it throughout the day, then, once you think you have it, leave it for 1 day and watch what readings you get.
i turn mine off 3hrs before lights out because it is yellow by that time

 

[shrimply]

Thanks, I'm having CO2 problems.

As in there isn't any, I keep turning up the needle valve, must be well over 4 bubbles a second and the drop checker is still blue, I think the diffuser is getting the blame, the bubbles coming out aren't all as small as expected and seem to be coming out at one edge, I think maybe ceramic disk isn't tight enough to the glass.

I'll try feeding the tube into the filter intake tomorrow I think and see if its any better, I'll empty the fire extinguisher in no time at this rate.

 

[shrimply]

04/09/2009 -

Turning into CO2 nightmare, After yesterdays lack of success with the diffuser I've now got the the Co2 tube leading directly into my external filter, which to my understanding should act like a massive reactor and dissolve maximum Co2.

So far drop counter is still blue, bubble count about 6 per second, I'm at a loss here, the Co2 is going into the tank so its not a leak. But surely the bubble count shouldn't need to be that high. I've never read any journal where its more than about 2 bubble per second

Anyone got any advice, what's going on.

 

[aaronnorth]

On my 60l i had 3BPS, switched to a glass BC and couldnt count, that is the massive variation between each model.
I cant count how many i have on my 216l.
watch the DC, fish, algae & plant growth.
The reason i have a BC is because when i change my FE, i can get the bubble count back up to around the same injection level, so i dont have to mess about all over again. That is the only useful thing they have, dont use one to determine CO2 levels within your tank.

crank it up some more, and make sure distribution is optimal.

It is still a possibility there is a leak, even if CO2 is being diffused from the diffuser.

 

[shrimply]

Thanks Aaron I did have exactly that thought, all this talk of reccommended bubble counts but in reality all you have to do to change the bubble count is use a bubble counter with a smaller hole. I have the glass type from aquatic magic.

Pretty confident there isn't a leak, but I guess you never know. Anyhow I will turn it up some more and see where that gets me, I'm still in the terrified I gas my fish and empty my FE stage.

Still trying to decide whether to use the filter to diffuse the Co2 or not, in my mind the Eheim 2217 is perfect for diffusing CO2 as the bubble completely dissolve before they reach the impeller and the spray bar will ensure even distribution. It is exactly like a giant reactor, which is not the case for most external filters.

On the other hand the ceramic diffuser seems to lose a lot of bubble to the surface but it does look cool in the tank and probably is up to the task.

 

[aaronnorth]

i have the same BC then!

 

[shrimply]

Well I turned it up and managed to get it lime green before the lights went off last night
Only thing is that its still lime green this morning, I'm I right in thinking that I should turn the CO2 off sooner until this is no longer the case.

 

[aaronnorth]

turn it off 2-3hrs before lights off, it may not all gas off, i have a gentle ripple across the whole tank surface.

 

[baron von bubba]

Well I turned it up and managed to get it lime green before the lights went off last night
Only thing is that its still lime green this morning, I'm I right in thinking that I should turn the CO2 off sooner until this is no longer the case.

as arron said on 2 hours before lights and off 2 hours before lights out is a good starting point.
altho like arron mine goes off 3 hours before the lights as the DC is yellow by then.

constantly monitor the co2 levels dont make the mistake of thinking once its set, you wont have to touch it again!
as the tank settles and plant biomass increases obviously the co2 will need tweaking up to suit.

i guess you have very little surface movement from the spray bar?
if you are concerned about the co2 levels overnight the moving the spraybar to create a bit more disturbance is an idea, you will have to up the co tho to compensate for the slight extra loss.

 

[shrimply]

It went off two hours before the lights yesterday but I've increased it to 3 hours tonight and I'll see how that goes, I have some surface movement but not a lot. It's easily adjustable.

Not totally sure what happened last night, I went out, but half an hour before the CO2 was due to be turned off the drop checker was still lime green. And wasn't in much of a state to check it at 2 this morning

I'm sure I'll find out exactly what needs done over time.