Frustration

[JLC20thMaine]

This is my first post. My 55 gallon planted tank is almost dead except for a few small cichlids (I just bought), a small Pleco, and a 3" algae eater. . I have had the same tank for nearly 17 years and it was very well balanced to the point I rarely had to do anything to it (I had to give plants away). It faced west and got about 2 to 3 hours of sunlight and everything flourished. Then I moved to another city. Now the tank has a south face but gets NO direct light. The ph is 7.6, the kh is 3, the temp is 75, I bought a new 48" dual tube t-8 32w light fixture (All-Glass Aquarium), and a CO2 injection kit to try to help. I run dual under gravels with Aquaclear 50 power heads and an external Aquaclear 300. The heater is brand new. I am religious about following the tank maintenance rules especially now that the plants are nearly dead or dying. I believe the only mistake I have made was adding ph adjustments to the tank 6 months ago, which ended up adding phosphates and starting algae growth. I add liquid plant fertilizer once a month.The algae is mostly under control and the tank is sparkling clean otherwise. I have tried everything I can think of to increase plant life (ie. reduce water surface turbulence to increase CO2). My test kits are all "Tetra" kits. I have tried more things than I have the time to type it all! Help if you can :-( Thanks

 

[sherry]

64 watts over 55 gallons is a low light tank. With little or no other light, you are trying to add high test (ie co2) to a jalopy. If you want a high light tank with co2 injection, you need to up your lights and up your ferts. Mother nature did that for you before .. at least the light part. Now you need to step up

ph of 7.6 with kh of 3 says you aren't getting very much co2 at all, certainly not anything above normal atmospheric levels if you look at the charts. So I wonder what kind of injection kit you are using.

Oh, if you do not have a good co2 injection (think dyi yeast or pressurized) you actually WANT water turbulance to up gas exchange which will increase co2 and o2. YOu only go for less turbulence when you are providing higher than atmospheric leels of co2.

so you have choices.
do you want a low light tank? get low light plants. They may be different than what flourished in your sunlit tank.

do you want a high light tank, get more light. 2 watts per gallon will give you medium light. 3 watts high light.

If you go the 3 watt route, you need to consider a different form of co2 supplementation since yours isn't cutting it. Think cheap for dyi yeast.. or even flourish excel or invest in pressurized (but only if you add the light)

finaly if you go iwth high light, and pressurized co2 remember you are now going to be adding some kind of fert every day or so to keep your nutrients balanced and to prevent algae.

the macros are Nitrogen, phosphate and potassium. If you have a heavy fish load the first two may be already in abundance in which case you need potassium.

theh traces can be found in a variety of ways tho a lot of us use greg watsons csm +b + iron

finally what do you mean about tank maintanence... manhy of us do weekly water changes or more.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Welcome to AA

Actually T8's require a bit of calculation (in fact anything that isn't T12 does)

First, I assume you are using the factory bulbs, which are actually pretty good bulbs, not the best, but pretty good. I assume their light output is about 23-2400 lumens (you won't find this figure) so it works out to let's say 4700 lumens or 93W. Still not that bright.. Co2 will help your cause greatly.. I've posted 1 or 2 links that state Co2 increases growth rates more then increased light, even on low light tanks.. so that must be addressed first.

You are going to have a hard time getting the Co2 level down in a 55Gal with DIY type kits..

Do you run your UGF's reverse (pushing into the gravel) or sucking through it? if you run it reverse then I have something you can try, not 100% on how it will work but in theory it would get good diffusion. try putting the Co2 output into the powerhead blowing the bubbles under the gravel.. it should dissolve almost all the Co2 your DIY system can produce.. It's strictly theory tho, but you seem to want to try

If you are running them normally, then you can try putting the hose end into your Aquaclear filter.. the AC filter will break up the bubbles pretty good, but I don't know if it will make a huge difference in a 55Gal.

 

[sherry]

Okay.. you should Know I ALWAYS follow what Wizzard says around here!! He and a few others have made my tank!

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I think it was a bit more of "few others", I'm just the resident lurker since paintball season is over for me.. waiting on spring.

but for now, I stay in the house and read.. tonnes of information out there, I found tropica.com to have a lot of information on different types of plants, their light requirements and other requirements. They also have some great articles.

 

[JLC20thMaine]

Thanks for the replies. First, I do maintenance every week without fail weather it is check filters, clean glass, test water, top off water and so forth. Maybe one could say "old school" 10% in the winter, 25% in the summer that sort of maintenance. Second, my UGF currently are set in reverse (as of today). Ummm, I am confused totaly now on one thing and that is ADDING surface movement to water, bubles turbulance?? I thought that dispersed CO2? It seems obvious to me that I do need to find a way to squeeze in another light of some kind. Sheesh, i'm supposed to remember all of this?