I have a refugium and I do have some surface movement. I have 2 of the 4 out pipes half submerged bc if power goes out it will pull in air and not drain the tank and over flow the refugium. I could possibly get a valve and reduce the water flow if needed. I went ahead and got the 30$ package of fert from that website that comes with 2 bottles. And how much should I raise the bubble count? Just do it like a few bubbles at a time and wait to see what happens? And I will stop running the halides and change the other lights to 8 hrs or are they ok at 6?
Planted tank help
- Thread starter Adamcik
- Start date
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planted-tnk-guy
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Just raise your Bubble count slowly you want it to be at the very least
yellowish green. 6hrs is fine for your lights and so is 8 unless you notice more algae I would go with the 6 for now and after a few weeks raise it to 8 after you get some of your algae issues under control. What state are you in?
yellowish green. 6hrs is fine for your lights and so is 8 unless you notice more algae I would go with the 6 for now and after a few weeks raise it to 8 after you get some of your algae issues under control. What state are you in?
planted-tnk-guy
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Do you have clay soil in your yard? If so make 1" balls and freeze them and plant 4 or 5 around your swords that will help them a lot. Make sure you dig about 1ft down so you dont have much organics in the soil. I do this under all my hairgrass and crypts and anything that is a root feeder they do great from it. Your algae isnt bad you should check into nerite snails they are fantastic and cannot breed in freshwater it is amazing how hard they work. Your algae isnt to bad so 8hrs will be ok.
planted-tnk-guy
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Oh sorry plant wise, not fish =)
3 amazon swords, and 24 of the dwarf and normal grass looking plants. and i have some more plants on the way bc i was told i needed more of a plant load in the tank. i have 1 amazon sword, 2 rangeri sword, 1 red melon sword, 3 narrow leaf chain swords, 4 micro swords, 1 green myrio, and 1 baby tears that should arriving tomorrow. and i will have to check the soil in my yard to see. also is this diffuser ok? 
and i got a kh/gh and phosphate test kit and i have KH-7 GH-10 and phosphate- 10.0+ it was very dark blue.
and i got a kh/gh and phosphate test kit and i have KH-7 GH-10 and phosphate- 10.0+ it was very dark blue.planted-tnk-guy
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
That will be a nice load with all those hungry swords =). As for that diffuser i have never used that kind and dont know of anyone that does everyone I know uses inline diffusers for the outflow of the canister filter or glass with ceramic diffusers. I stopped using my ceramic diffuser and got a powerhead that has a airline tube attached and put it low down in my tank and connected my gas line right to it it gives me just as fine of bubbles but with a tank your size a inline one would be better but it stil works good enough for me =) . If you dont already have one I would do the inline from e bay . Check out those sited i emailed you they have great diy places and a bunch of people willing to talk you through a build. One thing I forgot to ask is your co2 high pressure or DIY? And as for your water with a 50% water change per week you will be fine. I can tell you are in Texas with that hard water =) if you have red soil when you dig down it is great stuff full of iron no matter if its clay or not. Wet it and freeze it soil balls are good , stuff thats what they live in on the banks of the rivers =) check out them nerites too I still cant believe what they can do I never clean my glass with high co2 and nerites i know you will wonder where they have been all your life lol.
lol alright but i dont think the snails will b ok in my tank bc i have a loach, they eat them right? and i think the co2 diffuser that i have is doing ok. it has a powerhead that stirs the co2 in the tube and doesent let the big bubbles escape bc they float to the top of the power head. i only see some small bubbles coming from out the bottom of the diffuser. i have a high pressure system.
planted-tnk-guy
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
How big are the loaches i dont know loaches well but yes they do eat snails i would do a google search to see if they ear nerite snails they are pretty big and have hard shells they woud appreciate your hard water. I have soft acidic water here and im not complaining lol but its hard on their shells thats for sure.
planted-tnk-guy
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
It sounds perfect then gas is cheaper than half the crap they sell anyway lol
planted-tnk-guy
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Ebay is the cheapest place for them the olive nerites are the best and the cheapest too. Not as cool looking as some of rhe others but if they work for you i cant praise them enough.
Old Scales
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have the Zebra Nerites and my Dwarf Chain Loaches and Assassin Snails never mess with them. They've been in the same tank for over six months now. The Zebras are bigger than the Olives. OS.
planted-tnk-guy
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Yes i would up it again, it should take a few hours to see a change in color after change. I have about 3 bbs in my 50 to get a yellow drop checker. I wish they would come out with a real co2 test kit outside a lab.
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