Sophos9 - Planted Tank Journal

[sophos9]

Hey Dave,

Really, appreciate your comments!! Those tanks are lovely, maybe sometime soon now I have the bug and have learnt some of the basics.... Hey. luckily I did not go crazy with the silicon so it should come off pretty easy!!

 

[SuperColey1]

Hey whats wrong with a magnolia background?

I have the deluxe version - Magnolia the top 2 thirds, Terracotta the bottom third, and I even got a dido rail thrown in.

Looks great. lol

On a serious note, I think the zero background makes the tank look clearer. possibly because the light reflects off the wall??

Andy

 

[sophos9]

Hey whats wrong with a magnolia background?
Andy

My fish told me no... or was it them other voices? Scary man...

Anyway, went shopping today and bought 5 neon, 5 cardinal tetras and 1 Queen Arabesque to replace my loss (click here for pics)

To make sure the water is oxygenated, I've rigged up a little something which I would like some feedback on please

OK, this is a Eheim 300 pump linked into a 90degree bend, what it does is pump the water about 2mm higher than the surface with a view to the water taking on oxygen.... This should work right?

Nothing great here (the thing on the right is my live CO2 tester). You can see the 90o Bend


This is where the water is ejected and should take on oxygen


I did rig up an air pump and stone but it was too noisy and I hated the bubbles...

So, what do you all think, will it work?

 

[Dave Spencer]

Hi Sophos,

I have just scanned through this entire thread to remind myself of your tank spec, basically because I was wondering why you are concerned about oxygenating the water?

How are you getting on with diffusing CO2 in to the filter outlet? I am chuffed that I no longer have CO2 bubbles blowing around the tank, but I occassionally need to tilt my filter over to release what I assume to be a build up of CO2 in there. Plus, I am little concerned about what effect it is having on the impeller. Having said that, AE are now carrying spares for my AquaEl filter, so I have a back up.

Cheers, Dave.

 

[shell4375]

Hi love the tank looks amazing.
Was just wondering how did you attach the additional light to the tank?
I am looking to do the same thing yours looks good so wondering how.

 

[sophos9]

Dave, Hi

Diffusing CO2 directly into the filter is working really well, initially I did get some instances where the filter built up some CO2 but this does not happen anymore?

Why am I concerned with oxygenating the water? Good question... I guess its down to my recent experience and lack of knowledge! So I dosed Flourish Excel, was treating whitespot and was running CO2 at 30ppm, when I added new fish they were kissing the surface - should have twigged it really!

I've bought another Arabesque today and just want to ensure that everything is right....

Am I barking up the wrong tree?

Hi love the tank looks amazing.
Was just wondering how did you attach the additional light to the tank?
I am looking to do the same thing yours looks good so wondering how.

Hey there, thanks!!

Well attached the new tube with good old tie wraps, nothing extravagant

 

[Dave Spencer]

I`ll be honest and admit that I don`t know what the effects of White Spot Treatment have on O2. Bearing in mind that you won`t be adding it long term, aren`t your plants pearling enough O2?

By the way, you are not adding CO2 to your water to the exclusion of O2. I believe excessive CO2 levels affect the performance of fish gill membranes, as opposed to reducing O2 levels, although I vaguely remember reading this a while back and could be wrong.

Dave.

 

[RadaR]

When treating any disease etc. its best to have a good oxygen supply. Also, to beat alot of disease etc. you raise the water temp and this depleats alot of oxygen. I think that's what your getting at hehe.

 

[sophos9]

I`ll be honest and admit that I don`t know what the effects of White Spot Treatment have on O2. Bearing in mind that you won`t be adding it long term, aren`t your plants pearling enough O2?

By the way, you are not adding CO2 to your water to the exclusion of O2. I believe excessive CO2 levels affect the performance of fish gill membranes, as opposed to reducing O2 levels, although I vaguely remember reading this a while back and could be wrong.

Dave.

I believe that meds cause issues with the amount of O2, will have a read in a bit and see what I can find...

Now theres a thing, my plants have not been pearling since I added the Excel... (EDIT: So I just checked, I have about 1/2inch of Riccia thats grown - the bottom plants probably are not getting enough light...??)

Riccia anyone? Just bailed like 1/4 of a 16ltr bucket out! DOH!

raise the water temp and this depleats alot of oxygen.

My temp is always around 27C, cant get it lower...

 

[RadaR]

raise the water temp and this depleats alot of oxygen.

My temp is always around 27C, cant get it lower...

Really? Hhmm, could be because of the lights. Not really a problem though, maybe a bit warm for shrimp, thats the only bad thing i can think of.

 

[sophos9]

Really? Hhmm, could be because of the lights. Not really a problem though, maybe a bit warm for shrimp, thats the only bad thing i can think of.

Yup, spent all that money on an inline heater and I have never seen it on

 

[sophos9]

Algae update....

I removed a massive load of Riccia.. (MASSIVE) out of the tank so the lower plant can get enough light and within a day, the algae has grown about 1inch so heres a plan. I'm going to throw another 20stems in tonight then thats it, cannot fit anymore in?!?

Stocked in the tank is 15 tetras (will increase to 30 in the next 2 weeks), clown loaches, Ottos etc etc - I'm thinking they should produce enough waste to keep things moving

I'm dosing macros and micros, I'm thinking I should stop dosing and see what happens over the next few weeks, if the plants look unhappy then gradually start again - what do you think?

 

[sophos9]

To make sure the water is oxygenated, I've rigged up a little something which I would like some feedback on please

OK, this is a Eheim 300 pump linked into a 90degree bend, what it does is pump the water about 2mm higher than the surface with a view to the water taking on oxygen.... This should work right?

Nothing great here (the thing on the right is my live CO2 tester). You can see the 90o Bend
View attachment 42522

This is where the water is ejected and should take on oxygen
View attachment 42523

I did rig up an air pump and stone but it was too noisy and I hated the bubbles...

So, what do you all think, will it work?

I have not ran this pump since I posted this up, this morning I noticed that the fish we kissing the surface which I think is an indication that there is not enough oxygen? Plants are pearling well, could this be down to the tank temp (27c) and the ich meds?

I have set the pump to run a few hours this morning so that should help.... Also just so I'm right, during the photo-period, plants tank in CO2 and release O2 into the water...?

 

[Themuleous]

Yes

 

[sophos9]

Yes

lol - Is that yes to lack of oxygen due to temp & meds or plants photosynthesis?