75 BIG BAD GALLONS OF PLANTED GREEN & FISH (work in progress)[many pix i prmomis]

[dmoney87]

So almost had a disaster, came home yesterday from being out all day and seeing that there was no movement coming from my filter outlet into the aquarium.. opened up the cabinet door to find my inlet hose to the filter bent over.. so no water was getting into or out of the filter (which im sure was not good for it at all, because I read before never run a filter dry) but all the meanwhile my pH raised so my co2 was being still being injected .. I dont know what if anything could have or would have happaned but either way im glad I found it before it did, and I also obv solved the kinked hose situation.

So my water is starting to clear up and same with the brown sand. I did testing today (except pH .. gota love em pH controllerz!)

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 15
pH 6.8
kH 4*

Now that im injecting pressurized co2 I used that kH pH relation c02 calculator and got 19.019 ppm of co2.. I looked up a chart and it showed for my ph and kh that I was in a good range for the co2. Just curious as to if thats true or not.

This presurized co2 and ph controller was a good buy I must say. Especially the pH controller. Well worth the extra cash if your going to be going the Pr.Co2 route. Once my pH got to my set level it stays for quite awhile without injecting more co2 I hear the solenoid click on maybe once or twice a day.. and only take minutes to get it back down with a bubble rate of about 4 bps.

I did get a air pump and flex bubble wand ( all black with stealth black airline tubing) its probably purely for personal aesthetic reasons. Its burried behind my rock cave and set at very low air output for small natural looking bubbles, and gota say it looks real good. Also I got a small hydor 400 powerhead to give the right side of my tank a little more circulation, and I believe it helped in clearing up my sand and small blue green algae problem. All the while neither seem to really affect my pH/kH co2 levels at all.. if anything my filter outlet wand creates more turbulance on the water .. anyways im rambling on

-davE

 

[Purrbox]

Ideally you want a CO2 level of 30ppm. Levels below 30ppm that aren't stable tend to lead to BBA.

 

[dmoney87]

Ideally you want a CO2 level of 30ppm. Levels below 30ppm that aren't stable tend to lead to BBA.

Hm I see and so co2 at that level is still obviously safe for fish correct? Not to under mind you Because that chart at the bottom of the calculator puts anything over 25ppm as potentially harmful to fish :S

In accordance to the calculator if my kH stays at 4 and I lower my pH to about 6.6 from 6.8 it will increase my co2 to about 30.1 ppm so maybe now my plants will start to pearl at that level.. that would be sweet

thanks purrbox

davE

 

[happygirl65]

You may want a drop checker and reference solution to be able more accurately asses (at a glance) when the level is good or just to make sure it's not too high.

When I used the pH / KH calculator it said I should have 5ppm of CO2 and it was actually already in the green range on the drop checker.

Here is an article that was passed on to me that was helpful. It was posted by VaughnH: Drop Checkers/CO2 Indicators-Why and How - Aquarium Plants - Barr Report

 

[Purrbox]

Hm I see and so co2 at that level is still obviously safe for fish correct? Not to under mind you Because that chart at the bottom of the calculator puts anything over 25ppm as potentially harmful to fish :S

In accordance to the calculator if my kH stays at 4 and I lower my pH to about 6.6 from 6.8 it will increase my co2 to about 30.1 ppm so maybe now my plants will start to pearl at that level.. that would be sweet

thanks purrbox

davE

Those are old recommendations that the chart is based off of. Many people run a levels above 30ppm with no problems what so ever. I maintain levels in my aquarium that houses my shrimp colony probably about 35-40ppm and they are happily breeding. It isn't until you get above 100ppm that it becomes dangerous to fish.

 

[dmoney87]

You may want a drop checker and reference solution to be able more accurately asses (at a glance) when the level is good or just to make sure it's not too high.

When I used the pH / KH calculator it said I should have 5ppm of CO2 and it was actually already in the green range on the drop checker.

Here is an article that was passed on to me that was helpful. It was posted by VaughnH: Drop Checkers/CO2 Indicators-Why and How - Aquarium Plants - Barr Report

Ok gotcha Im going to order one of those drop checkers off ebay. Good old hong kong knock offs oh and thanks for that article was a good read and not to mention a few good things to keep in mind.. and btw like you said give it a few days and my water has cleared up 100% it may be clear now more than ever..

Those are old recommendations that the chart is based off of. Many people run a levels above 30ppm with no problems what so ever. I maintain levels in my aquarium that houses my shrimp colony probably about 35-40ppm and they are happily breeding. It isn't until you get above 100ppm that it becomes dangerous to fish.

Ok, that article above from tom barr also mentioned this, So I Got a drop checker ordered off ebay.. see how long it takes to get here. But in the meantime I increased my co2 and dropped ph down to 6.7 .. plants are seeming to thrive.

I looked for more plants today but no sucess non that I liked really, there was a green wendetti? but looked quite small and not that great.. so I got 10 more cardinals to add to the 2 I had. Ill probably get some corys & or congo tets by the end of this week.

ne ways ill update with good pics again soon so stay frosty

-davE

 

[Purrbox]

I looked for more plants today but no sucess non that I liked really, there was a green wendetti? but looked quite small and not that great..

There are many varients of Crypt Wendtii. The Red varient is the one that you see most often and is also much larger than most of the other varieties. The thing to look for with Crypts is healthy white roots. As long as their roots are nice and healthy they'll grow back and probably look much better than before. This is especially important with Crypts since they don't like being moved or changes in water conditions. They usually loose most or all of their leaves and then grow new leaves better suited to the new conditions.

 

[dmoney87]

Some updated Pics

Hey so I went to petsmart to get some more baby tears and lutea and a melon sword.. stood there for like 15 min no help.. went to go find someone.. no one around.. thought about robbing the place but second guessed that and just left instead.. went to big als got some more fish 5 congo tetras, 4 Adolfoi corys. .. but no plants there either.

I cant believe how clear the water is now and everything seems to be doing good I took a couple shots

thanks 4 looking

-davE

 

[dskidmore]

Looking good!

 

[rich311k]

Very nice!

 

[brutus]

hey it did clear up ...is there water in that tank .Looking good like them congos too

 

[happygirl65]

BEAUtiful!

 

[dmoney87]

hey it did clear up ...is there water in that tank .Looking good like them congos too

BEAUtiful!

Looking good!

Very nice!

Thank you , Thank you , Thank you and Thank you.

Yeah Its going along good. I did a bit of trimming and I finally got around to getting my crypt lutea, another dwarf baby tear, a red melon sword (gota love my swords, but this melon one is awesome) and I also grabbed a Brazilian pennywort. All were potted which kinda sucked cuz a) I dont really like the look of potted plants, and b) I proably payed double what they would have costed if they wernt.. but I removed the pot and the crap they were planted in anyway all accept the dwarf tears because that wouldent have worked out so well...(what is that stuff its planted in anyway? Will it rot away in the aquarium?)

Ill take some more pictures soon mostly because I cant help myself & all your nice comments make it worthwhile =p

-davE

 

[harmy4993]

i gotta agree looks very nice. and i to have that gotta take more pictures problem. i love taking pictures of my tank and fish.

 

[happygirl65]

Yes, it is best to remove the pot and rock wool, it just kind of turns to goo after a while. (been there) I think the main thing with potted plants is just that they are larger healthy specimins that wont get damaged in transit so in that way they are nice. They usually have a nice root system so it's not a bad way to go.

 

[dmoney87]

Well the diatoms only in the sand are back still have that same small patch of Blue Green algae.. and my rock / wood cave is starting to get algae cover over it.. my BNA plecos & a few ottos are having at it and still seems to be a loosing battle.. Im thinking maybe that with the actinic lighting being half of my total lighting that it may not be getting enough wattage from just my daylight lighting. In accordance to the amount of co2 being injected may be whats causing the excess algae to grow. Or so I read.. lower light + co2 injection = algae .. correct? Still cant really afford to swap out the actinic lighting but im not really to worried about it yet. Ive been trying to spot dose flourish excell, not to sure if its working. Ne ways.. I got a drop checker, some "flame moss" and a red tiger lotus coming in the mail.. who knows when.. but hopefully both plants make it here alive. Ill obv take some pictures when they do if they do

-davE

 

[harmy4993]

look on the bright side. your bn and ottos wont be starving.

 

[Purrbox]

Lower Light + CO2 isn't a recipe for algae. High Light without CO2 on the other hand is a recipe for algae. Blue Green Algae is usually a result of low Nitrates and/or poor flow in the area the algae is growing.

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

agree^
What are your nitrates?

 

[dmoney87]

Lower Light + CO2 isn't a recipe for algae. High Light without CO2 on the other hand is a recipe for algae. Blue Green Algae is usually a result of low Nitrates and/or poor flow in the area the algae is growing.

agree^
What are your nitrates?

Oh ok I gotcha. Well that dosent make sence for me then. Because I believe if my dual actinic lighting counts towards my total wpg with my dual 6700k & 10000k than I should have high light, aswell I do have injected pressurized co2. Well as far as the blue green goes.. I have a hydor powerhead aimed pretty much at small area that has the blue green.. because poor water flow was suggested to me before.. so I checked my nitrates and your right.. there down to about 10ppm from 15-20. Whats this mean exactly.. my nitrates have never really fluctuated before.

-davE