Getting CO2 this week! Journal of tank's evolution

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Its a slow process and needs to ideally be done in the middle of your light cycle.

For the sake of clarity, is that middle 'day', or middle 'night'.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

For the sake of clarity, is that middle 'day', or middle 'night'.

Gooood point. Middle of the day. The CO2 should have been turned off at least 1-2 hours before the lights are off.

 

[FishBR]

That is going to depend entirely on your CO2 uptake and diffusion %.

Personally I would turn it allllll the way down to a bit less than 1 bubble a second. Leave it 2-3 hours and check your drop checker. If it isn't where you want it at then turn it up or down a bit, give it another 2-3 hours and check again. This may need adjusting several times over the life of the tank as you get more or less plant mass/growth.

Its a slow process and needs to ideally be done in the middle of your light cycle.

Also just making sure are you using 4dhk or 5dhk solution in your drop checker with the regent and not tank water?

That makes sense. It worked today with that bubble speed. I will keep monitoring. And yes, I am using the 4dhk solution. Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[FishBR]

First day of CO2 injection and I decided to make a major change. There is one thing I did not like: micro bubbles all over the tank. It might be only me, but it spoils my enjoyment of the tank. So here is the solution I will be adopting: I will have the lights at 100% power from 8:00 AM from 2:00 PM, with a slow sunrise from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM and a slow sunset from 2:00 PM to 3 PM. I will be injecting CO2 in the tank from 6:00 AM to 1:00 PM. This will be my photosynthesis period. Then I will have one of the white lights at 30% in the evenings from 5:30 PM to 9:30 PM. This will be my period to enjoy the tank, with no CO2 injection. Hopefully I will not have an algae problem. Any thoughts?

 

[mbsqw1d]

CO2 makes a huge difference, you'll be trimming back big, healthy, luscious plants daily

 

[itiwhetu]

I have always thought there was a fine balance between the light and dark phases of photosynthesis. If you just play with the light phase, what happens to the dark phase.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah personally I wouldn't be running two separate photoperiods, its likely going to mess with both the fish and the plants.

Is your inline diffuser not mixing the majority of the CO2 into the water before it hits the tank? Ideally you shouldn't be seeing any bubbles of CO2 around the tank.

 

[FishBR]

CO2 makes a huge difference, you'll be trimming back big, healthy, luscious plants daily

That is my hope

 

[FishBR]

I have always thought there was a fine balance between the light and dark phases of photosynthesis. If you just play with the light phase, what happens to the dark phase.

Looks like my plan would not work. I am changing them (details below)

 

[FishBR]

Yeah personally I wouldn't be running two separate photoperiods, its likely going to mess with both the fish and the plants.

Is your inline diffuser not mixing the majority of the CO2 into the water before it hits the tank? Ideally you shouldn't be seeing any bubbles of CO2 around the tank.

I will not adopt two light periods then. and will go back to the original schedule (slow sunrise from 2 to 3 pm, 100% of lights from 3 pm to 9 pm, sunset from 9 to 10 pm).

Yes, the inline diffuser is not dissipating the bubbles. I came home too late to make a video. I have ordered an inline CO2 reactor. Hopefully it will do the trick.

 

[FishBR]

I got the last batch of plants today. It includes Alternanthera Reineckii "Mini" as a middle-ground plant. I will also try to develop a carpet with dwarf baby tears (Hemianthus Callitrichoides).

Here is the final configuration of the aquascape with the new plants:

Second day of CO2: Everything looks fine,. The drop checker is consistently green during the period the lights are on. However, green algae is forming on the glass. What should I do to counter that? Should I reduce the lighting period?

 

[itiwhetu]

There is an old saying. "Only change one thing at a time". You have put the CO2 on your system, now you need to leave everything else the same. Until you see something change. If you change more than one thing you will never know what had what effect.

 

[mbsqw1d]

I got the last batch of plants today. It includes Alternanthera Reineckii "Mini" as a middle-ground plant. I will also try to develop a carpet with dwarf baby tears (Hemianthus Callitrichoides).

View attachment 144970

Here is the final configuration of the aquascape with the new plants:

View attachment 144971

Second day of CO2: Everything looks fine,. The drop checker is consistently green during the period the lights are on. However, green algae is forming on the glass. What should I do to counter that? Should I reduce the lighting period?

Is the tank subjected to sunlight from a window?
If not then yes, i would reduce light period/intensity. You have a good amount of plants but they're new and not fully established so not yet fully utilising all available resources: light/co2/nutrients. Algae will take advantage of any excess of these

Algae on the glass is the least of your worries where algae is concerned, there are far worse types to contend with

 

[FishBR]

There is an old saying. "Only change one thing at a time". You have put the CO2 on your system, now you need to leave everything else the same. Until you see something change. If you change more than one thing you will never know what had what effect.

Sounds good. I will keep monitoring the tank's evolution in the next weeks.

 

[FishBR]

Is the tank subjected to sunlight from a window?
If not then yes, i would reduce light period/intensity. You have a good amount of plants but they're new and not fully established so not yet fully utilising all available resources: light/co2/nutrients. Algae will take advantage of any excess of these

Algae on the glass is the least of your worries where algae is concerned, there are far worse types to contend with

No, the tank is not near a window. I will clean the tank tomorrow and will monitor the algae situation. It is not too bad now.