Caliban's 46G Dirted Bowfront Evolved

[Caliban07]

Can't find a definite answer on this one. The fixture is about £95 and comes with two tubes which is a bonus. The pros are that it would fit the tank perfectly.

If I can get some LED models to compare that would be great. Cheers


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[Caliban07]

Oh and budget doesn't really matter if the light is suitable.


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[Caliban07]

Ok for those of you who missed some other threads I started I have just purchased a T5HO lighting fixture with 2 x bulbs. This has to make things better and I am pretty confident it will. Hopefully I won't get any algae. Got some BBA algae that has lasted from the old setups. I didn't clean the wood well enough because I needed all the bacteria I could get.

One theory I have at the moment is with co2. My ph is always around 7.5. This means that carbon is mostly in the form of carbonates. Not all plants can use carbonates as a carbon source and those that do have to spend energy in order to do so. Almost all algae can utilise carbonates/bicarbonates and they can utilise light better and only require a fraction of sunlight that plants do to thrive. My hypothesis at the moment is that this tank is favouring the BBA quite well. Especially so because my plants are not receiving enough light to grow.

My plans are to remove the BBA by hand. Remove my carbonate buffer in the canister and see how things progress. I will have to keep removing the BBA until plant mass is adequate enough to compete.

Perhaps this is why inconsistent co2 levels in injected systems result in algae? Is there any correlation between higher ph levels in injected tanks and algae. Perhaps those that have under buffered tap water and/or maintain enough co2 to keep ph on the low side are those that suffer from algae less as all plants will be able to grow at maximum capacity due to the carbon dioxide content.

If co2 levels are not sufficient and is being depleted ph rises and carbonates prevail. 50% of studied aquatic plants cannot use carbonates.

This is a theory of course. I think my consistent 7.5ph is not helping plants though as I don't think all my plants can use carbonates.

Reasonable theory?


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[Brookster123]

Man, your theory sounds great, I'm not qualified to really comment though. I did read it twice and it does make sense.

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[Caliban07]

Man, your theory sounds great, I'm not qualified to really comment though. I did read it twice and it does make sense.

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Yeah it does seem to makes sense. I'm just going off research. I find it hard to believe that if this is a possible case that it hasn't been identified already. It's just that I always read that increasing co2 is recommended for controlling algae but know one ever really says why. This sounds plausible to me. Need to lower my ph naturally and steadily.


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[Brookster123]

The ph will drop in that tank, especially if you cut some of the buffers. Seems plants do fare better in softer water.

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[coralbandit]

I stared a thread on stupid questions...
You guys are killing me ...
I was going to ask if there was a 'best' pH to try to use co2???
I think there has to be a sweet spot ,but much like you C think others (like T barr) would have realized this and it would be common knowledge by now?

 

[Brookster123]

I think the sweet spot would be 6-7ph. You ideally want to drop a point when injecting. I do know my plants liked the old water source better (softer, lower salinity).

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[Caliban07]

I stared a thread on stupid questions...
You guys are killing me ...
I was going to ask if there was a 'best' pH to try to use co2???
I think there has to be a sweet spot ,but much like you C think others (like T barr) would have realized this and it would be common knowledge by now?

Haha. I think it's going to be the same answer for most things in this hobby....it depends. Depends on the plant species etc. But for example.



I had a range of plants in this tank before the jungle val predominated. Minerals were extremely scarce and carbon even more so. Studies show that even soft water plants enjoy the mineral content of harder water but in this case I can only attribute the dominance of the val to its ability to use carbonates.


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[Caliban07]

I think the sweet spot would be 6-7ph. You ideally want to drop a point when injecting. I do know my plants liked the old water source better (softer, lower salinity).

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Thanks for the info. I know nothing about injecting. It's not for me. Ph did fall in my cichlid tank that had no buffers. My water is naturally very soft but the ph is high and relatively stable for a long time despite its low alkalinity. I suspect water companies can control all these things quite tightly during treatment.

I have high hopes.


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[Brookster123]

Can you update the fm tank thread? I've recently become interested in the larger cichlids. Got some thors of my own now

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[Caliban07]

Can you update the fm tank thread? I've recently become interested in the larger cichlids. Got some thors of my own now

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Sweet! Sorry Brook I moved them on. Had a bad case of hex. Finally resolved the issue and came to the conclusion that cichlids weren't for me at present.

If you have any questions you could start a firemouth thread and I can try to answer as many as I can.


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[Caliban07]

New fixture on and crushed coral removed. You can see the difference already. Just need to find my reflector clips and I can put reflectors on too.


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[Brookster123]

How's it look?

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[Caliban07]

Just put the reflectors on. You can see the algae clearer I think a few turns of a metal pipe cleaner will get most of it off. Have you ever tried using a pipe cleaner to grab hair algae and BBA?

Here is a picture.




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[tiger terror]

Just put the reflectors on. You can see the algae clearer I think a few turns of a metal pipe cleaner will get most of it off. Have you ever tried using a pipe cleaner to grab hair algae and BBA?

Here is a picture.

View attachment 281872


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Noticeably brighter good sir...interesting on the pipe cleaner note..

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[Fresh2o]

I've used a tooth brush for hair algae. I do H2O2 for BBA. I sometimes snip leaves infested with it or gently siphon up gravel if BBA is on it.


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[Caliban07]

Noticeably brighter good sir...interesting on the pipe cleaner note..

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Yeah I'm thinking if you keep turning it it would stick to it and pull it all out.

Something like this.

http://www.toolandfix.com/silverlin...gle_shopping&gclid=CKStiq-308kCFcLnwgod3HwL0Q

You could get really efficient and connect it to a long piece of metal that goes to a power tool.
Haha.


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[Caliban07]

I've used a tooth brush for hair algae. I do H2O2 for BBA. I sometimes snip leaves infested with it or gently siphon up gravel if BBA is on it.


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Tooth brush was my first though which got me on to the pipe cleaner thanks fresh. I don't think I'll be going down the h2o2 route. It is on some gravel though so I may have to take some up with the siphon.


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[Caliban07]

Tried to get rid of most the BBA. Only way I could succeed was by removing some of the driftwood and the cabomba which where both infested. Added two large swords that were in the 19 litre dirtied (their roots were half way across the tank) went to the LFS and purchased 6 cardinal tetras my final additions. Also bought some narrow lead Java fern and some ludwigia glandulosa.

I'll post a shot later. Quite happy with the open spaces to be honest.


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