That Co2 Kit Noisbor Bought

[garuf]

I didn't I got the one down from yours so no bubble checker nor solution test, ill just order one from aqua essentials if they're that important. I just assumed there wasn't one with the kit because it doesn't need one.

You could be right, but not too sure to be honest. I personally think that you will need a bubble counter. Why not paste the link to the German site in that website I gave you and see what they say.

Martin

I got this

Our glass ceramic reactor is the compromiseless solution in punkto efficiency and ensures a continuous maximum enrichment of the aquarium water with CO2.
The glass spiral in the reactor inside permits an accurate counting CO2-Blae, an additional blasenzaehler is thus redundant.
With the diffusion of carbon dioxide by the glass ceramic diaphragm the CO2-Gas is divided into microscopically small vesicles, which penetrate themselves after that the diaphragm fast and completely in the water solve. The glass ceramic reactor is a passive diffuser and can thus without additional pump be operated.

which I think means I wont need one

 

[Nosnibor]

which I think means I wont need one

Yeah I think you're right

See, handy that site eh.

Martin

 

[garuf]

which I think means I wont need one

Yeah I think you're right

See, handy that site eh.

Martin

it is indeed, bookmarked for future reference!
anyone got any ideas on how much CO2 bpm i need on a 18x12 x12?

 

[SuperColey1]

The unanswerable question. lol

Each is different dependant on the bubble counter, lighting, diffusor, circulation, plant mass etc.

Start at 1bps and work your way up or down during a saturday or sunday when you can dedicate the whole day to adjusting it at 2 hour periods (using drop checker) or by watching your fish.

Andy

 

[garuf]

best invest in a drop checker, got any ideas on a good cheap one and a the solution?

 

[SuperColey1]

depending on aesthetics and confidence/accuracy really.

Aesthetics - Do you want glass or just a drop checker that will do the job?

Confidence/Accuracy - Can you make your own solution or do you want to buy it ready made. Do you have the right Ph kit to put in it?

There are glass drop checkers like the 'teardrop' one in my avatar or the 'chameleon' style one. These can be found on ebay quite cheaply or from AquaEssentials price ranging from £10 - £20.
There are cheaper plastic versions which will do the same job but not be as 'pretty' which can be bought from the same 2 sources from £3 upwards.

AquaEssentials also sell the 4dKH solution and bromo blue (Some Ph kits can be used instead of bromo blue).
The solution can be made but you will need 6 Litres of De-ionised water and 6g Bicarb of Soda (to be deadly accurate should be 5.99 something but it won't be far out)

You take 5 litres of DI water and mix the bicarb with it. stir it shake it until it is all dissolved. You now have 5 litres of 40dKH water.
Take 10ml of this 40dKH water and mix it with 90ml of the remaining DI water that you haven't mixed with bicarb and you now have 100ml of 4 dKH water

As a guide this doesn't save too much money because even if you change the water every week (52 weeks x 3ml = 156ml)
This has used 15.6ml of the 5000ml 40dKH you made so the 5000ml dKH you made would last for 320 years. lol (If it is still OK for use)

If you want to buy the solution bromo blue then you may as well get the drop checker as well all from AquaEssentials which will save on the shipping charges.

Andy

 

[Nosnibor]

Nice reply Andy

Very useful as usual.

One thing though Garuf, watch out for Hairy Algae!!! I seem to have it on a lot of things now.

Andy isn't there something called Florist Excel or something that gets rid of it?

Cheers

Martin

 

[garuf]

Nice reply Andy

Very useful as usual.

One thing though Garuf, watch out for Hairy Algae!!! I seem to have it on a lot of things now.

Andy isn't there something called Florist Excel or something that gets rid of it?

Cheers

Martin

i already have hairy algae...
ill post up a picture to de-monster-ate its probably not the same kind as yours, algae means you are LACKING something, (not an excess as I've always read) look up what causes hair algae and start adding more of it

 

[Nosnibor]

The way things are going it looks like it's lacking a BRUSH and COMB!

I think it's because I changed to major aspects of my set up in one go; the lighting and the CO2. Been told that it can take a while to calm down

I'm wating for my girlfriend to collect my Lily Pipe set from the post office tomorrow then I'm ordering that External Reactor hhhhhooorrraayyyyy....

Once I have them both installed and set up I we are going to re-think our plant life. Get rid of a couple of things and get new ones.

Takes sooooo long - what's the rush

Martin

 

[garuf]

Oooo the man's made of money!
I worked it out the other day and I could have afforded a 55gallon with the money I wasted buying all the stuff Ive broken or had to replace, heart breaker. saying that though I simply don't have the room but that's not the point and this isn't the right place to talk about it!
id love a lilly pipe on my tank, but it'd be a waste since you'd never see it. while thinking about it I need to remake the lid for something more aesthetically pleasing.
ANYWAY
what exactly do I need for a drop checker just dkn4 or do I need a ph kit or what
(sorry for the ramble should engage brain before typing)

 

[Nosnibor]

Oooo the man's made of money!
I worked it out the other day and I could have afforded a 55gallon with the money I wasted buying all the stuff Ive broken or had to replace, heart breaker. saying that though I simply don't have the room but that's not the point and this isn't the right place to talk about it!
id love a lilly pipe on my tank, but it'd be a waste since you'd never see it. while thinking about it I need to remake the lid for something more aesthetically pleasing.
ANYWAY
what exactly do I need for a drop checker just dkn4 or do I need a ph kit or what
(sorry for the ramble should engage brain before typing)

Hee hee, no not made of money just not thinking until the end of the month about all the money I spend on the aquarium. I see it as a short term thing buying all the CO2 stuff and the Lily Pipe and the Reator etc... I've made sure that the filter and reactor etc that I do buy is large enough that if I do get a larger tank I can just swap the bits on to that one

With the Drop Checker set up you just need the Checker itself, the dKH4 solution and Bromo Blue, I bought the pH wide (I think it is) test kit which is basically Bromo Blue.

You just add a certain amount of solution and a certain amount of Bromo to the drop checker, carefully turn it upside down and place it inside your tank. Slowly the now blue solution will turn green.

It's scary before you start but then once you do it it's no problem and you start giving out advice like me Thanks to guys like Andy of course to Andy

Martin

 

[SuperColey1]

If the leaves have black hairy edges it's not likely to be the addition of CO2 that has caused the algae, more likely if you upgraded your lights by a large margin (i.e. 1.5WPG upped to 2.5WPG) without reducing the photoperiod before gradually increasing each week again.

My guess is either your CO2 is still too low or it is not circulating through the tank very well.

What colour is your drop checker and is it on the opposite side of the tank to the CO2 injection?

How are you dosing? Are doing EI? Have you worked the solutions out correctly? Are there any other defficiencies showing like yellow patches on leaves or pinholes etc?

Garuf why would you not be able to see the lily pipe? It positions at the waters surface and is in your eyeline!

My CO2 seems to have dropped a little this week as I have this problem now for some reason. Have upped the CO2 several times to get back to mushy peas in the dropchecker but as yet no results.

I also remixed my fert solutions so like a fool, I didn't listen to the advice I give and have made 2 changes in a week and therefore am not sure which is the cause.

Gonna test the nitrates tonight just to have a rough idea as to the quantities of nitrate and phosphate I am adding as I used tap water rather than DI (another DOH) therefore there will already be nitrates and phosphates in there before I added more.

I can't really see this as being the problem though because Tom has stated before that if you load the nutrients to excess then the plants will outcompete algae and therefore it shouldn't matter that there could be twice the suggested amounts in there.

I will have to start doing things properly I guess and then maybe I can look at a nice tank again rather than the last month's algae fest. lol

I have reduced the lights for good these days and will remain on 3-6-3 photoperiod as even with the reduced highlight period I still get fast growth

Andy

 

[Nosnibor]

If the leaves have black hairy edges it's not likely to be the addition of CO2 that has caused the algae, more likely if you upgraded your lights by a large margin (i.e. 1.5WPG upped to 2.5WPG) without reducing the photoperiod before gradually increasing each week again.

I totally agree with you Andy mate. I installed those wonderful T6 tubes giving me a 40% efficiency in each one and the Kelvins shot up to 11,000. I believe it is so much better now but some of the plants that are in there are just having issues. Some leaves of the same plant are covered in the stuff and some are looking the best they ever have. One plant that my g/f loves and purchased always looked horrible to me, looked like seaweed - nasty. But now many of the leaves are redish and looking really healthy and some are looking like cr@p!

My guess is either your CO2 is still too low or it is not circulating through the tank very well.

What colour is your drop checker and is it on the opposite side of the tank to the CO2 injection?

My dropper is on the opposite side of the tank and is looking a nice light green, I was going to wait until I install the external reactor before increasing it just in case it is much more efficient and I may even need to turn it down (fingers crossed). I am placing the order for it now as I have just received my Lily pipe set

How are you dosing? Are doing EI? Have you worked the solutions out correctly? Are there any other defficiencies showing like yellow patches on leaves or pinholes etc?

I am not dosing (yet), I'm not doing any EI techniques at all. Again I was going to wait until I have all the equipment and after I get the reactor that will be it (I hope). A lot of the leaves are looking 50% brown, there are a few that are very transparent. We have been feeding the plants with Nutrafin Plant Grow, we put about 15 to 20ml in when we do a PWC. That is great for iron but I think they may be low on potassium - what do you think?

When we get the reactor I think we will re-think our plant life and install and replace a lot of plants and put it down to experience. Any advice you can give on this would be great.

My CO2 seems to have dropped a little this week as I have this problem now for some reason. Have upped the CO2 several times to get back to mushy peas in the dropchecker but as yet no results.

When you say dropped you mean even though you have the same bpm coming out the drop checker is looking to dark green/blue?

I also remixed my fert solutions so like a fool, I didn't listen to the advice I give and have made 2 changes in a week and therefore am not sure which is the cause.

Gonna test the nitrates tonight just to have a rough idea as to the quantities of nitrate and phosphate I am adding as I used tap water rather than DI (another DOH) therefore there will already be nitrates and phosphates in there before I added more.

I can't really see this as being the problem though because Tom has stated before that if you load the nutrients to excess then the plants will outcompete algae and therefore it shouldn't matter that there could be twice the suggested amounts in there.

I will have to start doing things properly I guess and then maybe I can look at a nice tank again rather than the last month's algae fest. lol

I have reduced the lights for good these days and will remain on 3-6-3 photoperiod as even with the reduced highlight period I still get fast growth

Andy

It's amazing how much the lights do, I'm looking forward to learning more about plant life and the upkeep of them.

What's so good about this floral Excel or florist excel? (can't remember the name now)

So how is the water composition now?

Martin

 

[SuperColey1]

I did a huge prune 2 weeks ago and I assume that the CO2 level has dropped as they have started to regrow. The colour was a medium green where as you know I like it to be limeade/mushypeas colour which I assume to be 30ppm or just above.

I would do EI from the outset. You already have CO2 in there you already have the lights so I would sort the dosing out now. The only difference the reactor will make is more or less CO2 which you can adjust very easily up or down.

When I have algae problems it is like yours where certain plants get it andothers don't. In mine the Alternanthera Reinecki/Cryptocoryne Wendtii get the staghorn whilst the Rotala Rotundifolia/mosses gets the thread. Most of the other plants steer clear of algae completely.

Therefore I assume that I am low on a nutrient that these plants like, propbably KNO3 even though I think I am at 40ppm after water change and adding more than JamesC pin on each dose.

I don't touch Flourish Excel as I have vals and Riccia and don't want to melt them.

I only have the basic tests, never bothered with buying a full master kit, so I tend to only test for Nitrate (and not very often there) just to rule nitrate out. Will test today as is rest day and if there are nitrates present on rest day with no dosing then that means there will have been enough all week and nitrate is not the defficiency.

Andy