My Planted Tank Journey

[paulc]

Todays Delivery

The postman has just delivered my AE Aqua Nourish and Aqua Nourish +. In the past I have only ever given a dose of Tetra Plantamin whenever I did a water change - this stuff is dosed daily so I have amended my regime (first post). Hopefully this and the co2 will give the plants I still have a boost and once I see those growing successfully I can scape my tank. I will try and take some half decent shots of the plants as they are so I can compare their growth (hopefully).

Oh, my velcro straps turned up. Before you think 'What the hell' - these are to hold the CO2 unit in place against the table leg.

 

[paulc]

Well the drop checker is still blue. Maybe (if I look hard enough) I could call it blue with a hint of green. I'm now at 3 bps so I have ordered a Koralia NANO 900 from Charterhouse. They have it for £20 at the moment which I thought was a pretty good deal. Anyways, when this turns up I will add it centre back about half way down and as suggested by ianho, I will place the diffuser underneath.

Managed to get the other bits done bar the Purigen. The media bags I got were not fine enough (despite being assured that they were).

Oh, the timer switch problem may have been my fault. I had some how managed to set it to random so it basically turned on and off when it felt like it.

 

[ian]

hey Paul, AE Nourish and + are mainly the same thing. The plus contains N, P and trace the normal just contains the trace. I would stich stick to using the + if i was you.

 

[paulc]

hey Paul, AE Nourish and + are mainly the same thing. The plus contains N, P and trace the normal just contains the trace. I would stich stick to using the + if i was you.

Hi Ian

Thanks for that - I phoned AE and asked for advice and they told me i needed both as I have Co2 being injected

Edit: and on their website:

"AE Design Aqua Nourish+ is a liquid fertiliser designed for aquariums with high plant mass and the addition of CO2.

It provides all the essential macro elements (NPK) for a flourishing planted aquarium and should be used in conjunction with Aqua Nourish (which provides all trace elements). "

 

[paulc]

Have also found this on their blog:

So to summerise, Aqua Nourish can be used on its own if you are running a low tech planted aquarium. Low tech means undemanding plants and no CO2.If you are using CO2, then your plants use nutrients fast so you need to use Aqua Nourish for the trace elements and Aqua Nourish+ for the macro nutrients. They are always dosed daily and by following this routine your plants will flourish.

I am adding co2 but my tank is no where near heavily planted. It will have more plants but not wall to wall. Do you think I can get away with just the + version?

 

[ian]

yes the + will be sufficient. It's not like Richard at AE to sell things falsely. But you only need the +. The normal nourish is only micro (trace), micro being the operative word, as the plants actually need very little. Sometimes tap water contains plenty...the + contains your N and P (which your plants need the most), and the micro elements, the equation goes like this on what your plants need and in this order.

Light-C02-nitrate, phosphate and micro elements. Flow sits in that equation somewhere.

 

[paulc]

yes the + will be sufficient. It's not like Richard at AE to sell things falsely. But you only need the +. The normal nourish is only micro (trace), micro being the operative word, as the plants actually need very little. Sometimes tap water contains plenty...the + contains your N and P (which your plants need the most), and the micro elements, the equation goes like this on what your plants need and in this order.

Light-C02-nitrate, phosphate and micro elements. Flow sits in that equation somewhere.

Thanks Ian - I will stop dosing the normal nourish.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Not really mate, the + is whats needed in CO2 tanks and the nourish is needed in all tanks with plants. Well almost all tanks, so if you intend to use +, you'll need regular nourish too.

 

[paulc]

Not really mate, the + is whats needed in CO2 tanks and the nourish is needed in all tanks with plants. Well almost all tanks, so if you intend to use +, you'll need regular nourish too.

Thanks for your comments ps3, I will phone Richard tomorrow and get the exact whys and whens. I will explain my setup i.e. plenty of fish, medium level of plants etc. and then report back. I did read somewhere else that TPN+ is a single dose fert and that Nourish and Nourish + together make TPN+

 

[ian]

sorry Paul, my mistake, i presumed AE + was Richards version of TPN + (which is the all in one), i didn't realise that he hadn't put the trace in the N and P mix. It probably would be better for you to use TPN+ or TNC complete. Sorry about that Paul.

 

[paulc]

sorry Paul, my mistake, i presumed AE + was Richards version of TPN + (which is the all in one), i didn't realise that he hadn't put the trace in the N and P mix. It probably would be better for you to use TPN+ or TNC complete. Sorry about that Paul.

Absolutely no problem Ian - just glad I understand now

 

[paulc]

Solenoid Problem?

Since I installed my D-D CO2 kit I have had problems with it shutting off at the end of the day. Yesterday I thought it was the timer switch so I tested it and found out that I had pressed the random switch on the timer. So i turned that off and plugged the timer switch back in. Yesterday evening the solenoid failed to turn off again. The timer switch went off fine (the red led went off) but CO2 was still being produced. This was not residual co2. I do have another timer I can test but I don't think its that. Reason being is that yesterday I tested the timer and solenoid. I timed it to go on and then off five minutes later. Did this several times but still the solenoid did not turn off at the end of the evening.

Now, could this be a pressure thing? My CO2 pressure being supplied to the diffuser was 0.5 bar and I read on a forum that a solenoid relies on pressure to help make the seal. Any thoughts on this?

I have since upped my pressure to 1 bar and have switched out the timer to a different one.

 

[paulc]

Koralia Nano 900

My Koralia turned up this morning - boy is this thing small! Im re-thinking my original plan to put it on the back / centre half way down as this will just look odd. From images I've seen of others, they have them in the corner pointing down - maybe I will try this and see how it goes - i'm guessing as long as it blows the co2 bubbles around a bit thats a good thing right?

 

[paulc]

Koralia Installed

I have just installed the powerhead as shown in the picture below. I have moved the diffuser to the middle and pointed the Koralia just above it. This has the effect of pushing the bubbles towards where the water enters the tank from the filter which in turn pushes any remaining co2 bubbles a little further - well thats the theory anyway. One thing I have noticed is that every plant has at least some leaf movement

Can I ask some questions please?

1. I have noticed that the taller plants (especially the poorly sword) are swaying quite a bit now - will this do them any harm?
2. I have connected the Koralia to the same timer as the co2 so that it only operates with the co2 being supplied. Is this ok?

 

[Tizer]

your sword isn't poorly, its just shedding its leaves and getting ready to grow new ones, once they get too rotten, snip them off to help new growth. I would certainly trim the sword on the left of its manky leaves right now.

1) swaying does no harm
2) perfect