Co2 help

[Allanhep]

Hi guys been a while since I posted my aquarium was doing great had massive growth since adding ferts and co2.

I am finding now that my drop checker is sitting more blue green I have not adjusted the co2 out put but have noticed my maxi mix reactor is brown inside so not sure if it's effecting the flow.

Quite a few of my plants are dissolving and loosing alot of leafs I have had an out break on green slime algae on my bog wood recently and as quick as I clean it it's regrowing.

My lights are led tri spec 90 - 100cm bigger than specified for that tank as it was not hitting the substrate with enough light I added fluval life spec t5ho my motor carlo was dieing out it was until recently sending out shoots its grown a little as seen in the last picture. Also my reineckii mini was grown in like wild fire it has stopped and seems to be getting brown and holes all over.

I dose with dry ferts 3 times macro and micro a week with 1 rest day in between.

I'm now concerned my plants will die off
Any advice.

Pics from co2 start to 1 week ago I have recently trimmed a few plants and removed the becopa monnieri as it was covered in green algae.

 

[mbkemp]

How old is your drop checker solution?

If it is new then your dirty reactor is probably affecting how co2 enters the solution. That’s where I would start

 

[ZxC]

What is the max pH drop from your degassed water to your "prime" photoperiod water? It needs to be 1.0 - 1.2 to reach sufficient CO2 levels.

What type of macro and micro ferts are you dosing? Huge difference in using CSM+B vs Flourish Comprehensive for micros.

How much water are you changing weekly?

 

[Funken_A]

Check for leaks in your system too.. And of course make sure the bottle is not empty. Also if ou are using check vlaves they tend to go bad after a little while so make sure your check valves are still funtioning and plumbed correctly


Pretty obvious your not dissolving the CO2 since there is no PH drop so if the above 2 suggestions are not an issue then scrub that reactor and make sure it functions well.

 

[Allanhep]

Check for leaks in your system too.. And of course make sure the bottle is not empty. Also if ou are using check vlaves they tend to go bad after a little while so make sure your check valves are still funtioning and plumbed correctly


Pretty obvious your not dissolving the CO2 since there is no PH drop so if the above 2 suggestions are not an issue then scrub that reactor and make sure it functions well.

Done all the above and the drop checker has new solution after dismantling the max mix reactor I'm now getting bubbles being expelled from the filter return although my drop checker is green. Thanks for the advise all.

 

[Fresh2o]

If you could connect the CO2 line to a ceramic CO2 diffuser and run it in a glass of water (large enough to fit the drop checker) you should be able to quickly test the color changing phases of the drop checker (taking the reactor and filter out of the equation).

 

[Allanhep]

What is the max pH drop from your degassed water to your "prime" photoperiod water? It needs to be 1.0 - 1.2 to reach sufficient CO2 levels.

What type of macro and micro ferts are you dosing? Huge difference in using CSM+B vs Flourish Comprehensive for micros.

How much water are you changing weekly?

I'm using the EI dry ferts this is the guides I follow on my dosing

I'm currently changing between 35 to 50% per week

 

[Allanhep]

If you could connect the CO2 line to a ceramic CO2 diffuser and run it in a glass of water (large enough to fit the drop checker) you should be able to quickly test the color changing phases of the drop checker (taking the reactor and filter out of the equation).

My drop checker has been turning green since I changed my check valve and cleaned the reactor I have also decreased my spray bar level as the surface flow was crazy which I found out increases the exchange of co2 gasses

 

[Fresh2o]

My drop checker has been turning green since I changed my check valve and cleaned the reactor I have also decreased my spray bar level as the surface flow was crazy which I found out increases the exchange of co2 gasses

That’s good to know.
You can keep the surface agitation (which adds oxygen) but you would have to increase the CO2 to compensate for the loss.