Liquid ferts question

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Rhetherington

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Feb 22, 2020
Messages
6
Location
Murrieta ca
Hi all,

Hope you are having a great night, and all tanks are well.

I have a question for my 125 high tech (still trying to get c02 dialed in, at about 10bps per second not quite at the lime green I would like to be at on my drop checker) hi light heavy planted tank.

I am using thrive+ every other day and flourish excel every other day.

Can you recommend any anything else I should add or is this a good combo for best results, color, growth etc.

Also what are your opinions on air stones. I have 2 on each side.

Thanks all
 
Hello Rhe...

I'm not into high tech tanks, but I can tell you from my limited experience that oxygen will drive off carbon dioxide, which as you know is an important plant nutrient.

B
 
Don't run airstones when running CO2, you are off gassing CO2 and creating un-stable CO2 levels which to some, is worse of than no CO2 at all. Run them on a timer to run at night to help with gas exchange. You can have high CO2 and high O2 in the tank at the same time.

Ensure CO2 is dropping the pH of the tank water a full 1.0 – 1.2. To do this, measure the pH of tank water with no CO2 dissolved in it, and then measure again 2-3 hours after CO2 has been running. Ensure the drop in pH is a full 1.0-1.2. If the drop is not there yet, slowly up CO2 over a few weeks until at least a 1.0 drop is achieved, and watch fish / livestock carefully. Adjust CO2 down if you notice fish gasping at the surface and consider running an airstone at night when pushing a 1.2 or greater drop. For example, a tank water pH of 7.5 with no CO2 dissolved in it, should reach a pH of 6.5 – 6.3 for CO2 to really shine, and for maximum plant health.
Consistency in CO2 levels is key to plant health. Keep CO2 levels as stable as possible once a desirable level has been reached.

On a 125... I would recommends buying a Dwyer RMA-150-SSV flow meter, this will allow you to track gas usage better than counting bubbles, I would think you need to be north of 10 bubbles per second to achieve a 1.0 drop in pH. Note that in any tank, a 1.0 drop would indicate roughly 30ppm of CO2 which is a good target to aim for. Run your filter outputs to create a small but noticeable ripple effect across the surface of the tank water to allow for good gas exchange, but not too much CO2 loss.

This would be ~25ppm - 40ppm actual, impossible for hobby grade equipment to tell, but note your drop in pH and keep it consistent. A $20 pH pen that can be calibrated off of Amazon is a great investment to a higher tech tank.
 
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