RIVERCATS 220G Transformation Journal

[Magicmarymac]

Congratulations

Following along.

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

Did someone mention Downoi? Haha

 

[Rivercats]

Did someone mention Downoi? Haha

I have truck loads of it and have the right side of the tank to thin which has twice as much as the left side. So yeah PM me if you want some.

 

[Rivercats]

Use your low range ph solution along with the 4dkh. About 3 drops should do.

Thanks I just found that out so that is tomorrows project!

I'm just happy how nice the plants look now that the front of the tank has light. The color range on these LED's really does make the fish and plant color look better. My Rummynose have never looked so good. Plus the little light holder can be rotated so I can aim the lights slightly back into the tank since the fixture sits so close to the front edge.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Pictures PLEASE! Congrats on getting everything setup! Can't wait to see it!!!

 

[Rivercats]

Pictures PLEASE! Congrats on getting everything setup! Can't wait to see it!!!

Pic's in a week or so. I really stirred up the tank when I literally pulled the entire 14" of Downoi out of that side of the tank. So once we are looking clear and pretty I'll get some new pic's. I wish there was a way to keep the Downoi more under control. Mine always has grown like a friggin weed. Even the angels eating the entire left side down to nubs didn't kill it- once they left it alone the stems just grew new crowns again. Part of me would like to try something else. In the center front of the tank I have a ton of Mini Alternanthera Reinekii that I'm using as a carpet. I traded some plants with OS and got more of these but I'd like something else that I could replace some of the Downoi with. It has to be angelfish resistant... lol!

I am happy with the light. It really brings out the red in things. When the T5HO's, Metal Halides, and the LED's were all on at the same time it was a very pleasing to the human eye color spectrium. These lights were suppose to give off a good red peak and I'd have to say they didn't disappoint. The only bad thing is everytime I have to work in the tank I'm going to have to remove the fixture which isn't too bad since it's only 2" wide and tall on the little holders (they aren't legs).

 

[Old Scales]

River, I can't wait to see how the mini looks in your tank. If you get them to color up even more than I was able to, let me know. I've up'd my PO4 and traces as you said but it's too soon to tell much yet. But the L. Peruensis is already getting a more purplish red. Looks awesome. Later, OS.

 

[Rivercats]

River, I can't wait to see how the mini looks in your tank. If you get them to color up even more than I was able to, let me know. I've up'd my PO4 and traces as you said but it's too soon to tell much yet. But the L. Peruensis is already getting a more purplish red. Looks awesome. Later, OS.

They look soooo bright with this new light! Then we'll see if the CO2 does anything or not. I will have to see it to believe it... lol! I still think the increase in the phosphate and micro's makes a big difference. How high are you going to inch your phosphate to? Also when my Perusnsis/Glandulosa started darkening up they also began to get a lighter pink stripe right down the center vein of the upper most leaves. It looks really cool. That didn't happen till they got taller. I'm hoping the L. Pantandal and R. Sunset both increase in color as well. Now it's just going to be a waiting game.

 

[Old Scales]

I've got the PO4 up to 2.5ppm now. Still dosing up. I'll try it at 3 or 3.5 for a few weeks and see what happens. Glut is up to 20ml for 25g water volume. OS.

 

[Rivercats]

I've got the PO4 up to 2.5ppm now. Still dosing up. I'll try it at 3 or 3.5 for a few weeks and see what happens. Glut is up to 20ml for 25g water volume. OS.

I'm still messing with Phosphates. I really wish there was a test kit that you could see exactly read what the true amount is. I know I'm between 5-10ppms but am trying to see if I can tell any difference when I let the Phos go higher giving me a dark blue reading. I really wish I knew exactly! One thing I have seen is that with my lighting I always seemed to have bouts of GSA on my Anubia Nana and Petites but as I dosed higher and higher I saw less and less of it. Plus what little was there the nerites started eating on it.

 

[Old Scales]

OK River, I got a wild hair idea! LOL. I did titration tests of all kinds for the plant I worked at for 27 years. I'm no chemist and I think we need Aqua-Chem's input here too.
Here my idea: When your PPM is higher than the top color on the chart. Take your 5ml grab sample. Use 3 drops of #1 & #2 following same shaking and waiting as normal instead of the six each. See if your color reads in the color ranges on your card and then multply by 2. Sometimes our regeants at work would be mis ordered and we'd get 1.0 mole of it instead of the 0.1 mole and I would have to factor my results by 10. This was on an end point titration but the concept might be the same. Hey Aqua! Where is you??
OS.

 

[Rivercats]

Interesting... I'm due to test Tuesday so I might give it a shot. I've also thought about ordering a different brand and seeing if results are more readably precise.

 

[aqua_chem]

Honestly, most of these colorimetry tests are varying degrees crap. Trying to get too much accuracy out of it is a fool's errand, especially at high concentrations.

That being said, if you're outside the range where you have decent resolution between measurements (usually 5+ ppm on phosphate, 20-40 ppm on nitrate, etc), a dilution scheme like OS would be my choice. If it were me doing it, I would probably use a small container and plastic syringes (I seem to collect them) to get a scheme that worked. Two fold dilution is a good starting point, four or eight fold would probably be better imo. Here's why:

These are the concentrations that are given for a given color with the API test kit.

Normal
.25
.5
1
2
5
10

2x
.5
1
2
4
10
20

4x
1
2
4
8
20
40

8x
2
4
8
16
40
80

See how only the first 3-4 numbers are useful? You want as many of those numbers to be in the range you care about as possible. That will give you the best resolution.



Honestly, when I use any of these test kits (excluding pH and KH/GH), I basically have three measurements: None, some, a good amount and a lot. This might be a holdover from my analytical days, but I don't trust an uncalibrated, off-the-shelf kit that's prone to expiration and user error, and the above qualitative measurements are all that I can really confidently report. That, and that's all the accuracy I think that we really need. It aint rocket science.

 

[Bdonaldson]

Congrats River glad it all went well. I was wondering what test kits do you all use? And where do you get them from?

 

[MMantelli]

Sweet! Pressurized I bet you are gonna love it your plants I'm sure will thank you

 

[shawnleon]

Pic's in a week or so. I really stirred up the tank when I literally pulled the entire 14" of Downoi out of that side of the tank. So once we are looking clear and pretty I'll get some new pic's.

Awesome update brewing! I'm excited to see what you've cooked up. - Shawn

 

[Old Scales]

River, Aqua, and all,
I am due to test my tanks this evening so I'm going to play with the ideas listed previously. I'll let you know how much fun I have. LOL
Janis, how did the CO2 look this morning? Did you go with a timer or Ph controlled?
OS.

 

[Rivercats]

OS for now I went with a timer since I found out a ph controller has to be calibrated every so often. But this morning when the CO2 went on no bubbles were coming out so I had to play with the Bubble Counter and adjust it again. Hopefully this won't turn into an everyday thing! I also got the Drop Checkers on so will see what type of adjustments I might have to make this afternoon.

I am still amazed how much brighter the tank is by adding that little bit of light. It is a pain that I have to take it off everytime I need to get into the tank but at least it's small and pretty light.

I also decided I really need to keep up on keeping the Downoi thinned out. It really does look better not being so thick. Also I'm still looking for any ideas on something to put where some of that Downoi is on the right side. The Downoi is about 2 or 2-1/2 foot long across the front on that side. Then the Mini AR's come next, then the patch of Crypt Parva, then another maybe 15 or so inch patch of Downoi at the end. If anyone has any ideas throw them out. I can't have anything like HC that the Angels love to eat.

I'll be curious to see how your test goes tonight OS!

 

[Rivercats]

Congrats River glad it all went well. I was wondering what test kits do you all use? And where do you get them from?

I use nitrates, phosphates, Kh, Gh, Ph, and occasionally I'll test for iron but not too often. All my kits came from the cheapest place I could find on line!

 

[Bdonaldson]

I use nitrates, phosphates, Kh, Gh, Ph, and occasionally I'll test for iron but not too often. All my kits came from the cheapest place I could find on line!

Thanks Janis