zenkatydid
Aquarium Advice FINatic
This will be long, I apologise. I'm starting to get frustrated and need to do something.
We are running two tanks here - a 50gal and a 28gal. Both are about 1.5wpg, both have DIY CO2, are medium-planted and lightly stocked. Both have developed mild staghorn and BBA, with the 28gal being a little worse. This tank also has a waterfall filter so it's harder to get CO2 up.
Why am I adding CO2 on low light tanks? Well, I was hoping to add some medium light plants, and get away with it. And I do seem to be able to support some medium-light plants, so maybe it's working, I don't know. Maybe it's coincidence!
I guess what I'm asking is - should we abandon the DIY CO2, stop doing water changes and go with the low-light Barr method? My concerns:
1. I have had plants in both tanks (swords) show signs of K deficiency, so have been dosing K. NO3 and PO3 are also very low, and I plan on dosing those (as soon as my ferts arrive). Is dosing ok in a no-water-change tank? I will obviously not be doing EI, but a test-and-dose scenario to get it at the right level.
2. In my 50gal, I have 2 bristlenoses. They are filthy. Piles of poo gathers underneath the driftwood where the biggest lives and it's vital that I do a gravel vac. Can I still do a weekly gravel vac and water-replace? I need to remove 10-15% to do a decent vac.
And finally - has anyone ever got DIY CO2 to be stable? Anyone running it who does not have a BBA/staghorn problem? At the moment it just seems to be creating more problems than it's solving :/
We are running two tanks here - a 50gal and a 28gal. Both are about 1.5wpg, both have DIY CO2, are medium-planted and lightly stocked. Both have developed mild staghorn and BBA, with the 28gal being a little worse. This tank also has a waterfall filter so it's harder to get CO2 up.
Why am I adding CO2 on low light tanks? Well, I was hoping to add some medium light plants, and get away with it. And I do seem to be able to support some medium-light plants, so maybe it's working, I don't know. Maybe it's coincidence!
I guess what I'm asking is - should we abandon the DIY CO2, stop doing water changes and go with the low-light Barr method? My concerns:
1. I have had plants in both tanks (swords) show signs of K deficiency, so have been dosing K. NO3 and PO3 are also very low, and I plan on dosing those (as soon as my ferts arrive). Is dosing ok in a no-water-change tank? I will obviously not be doing EI, but a test-and-dose scenario to get it at the right level.
2. In my 50gal, I have 2 bristlenoses. They are filthy. Piles of poo gathers underneath the driftwood where the biggest lives and it's vital that I do a gravel vac. Can I still do a weekly gravel vac and water-replace? I need to remove 10-15% to do a decent vac.
And finally - has anyone ever got DIY CO2 to be stable? Anyone running it who does not have a BBA/staghorn problem? At the moment it just seems to be creating more problems than it's solving :/