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Hi there... I am basically 2 days into the hobby which is when I went out and bought my 31 gallon tank, just under a month if you count putting a couple bettas into their own little 3L tanks.

My intention is to start up a planted tank and I have been doing a bit of reading through various forums and wanted some opinions on some substrates and setup that would be appropriate for the tank. Here was my thought process which has ebbed and flowed as much as the water that will soon be in my tank (hopefully)..

My initial thinking was to get Fluorite Black for the entire tank but the cost and the quantity I would need is kinda preventing me from going this route. I then moved to thinking about mixing 50/50 Fluorite Black with regular black gravel either mixed in with the Fluorite or layered over top. Then I read some things about Fluorite possibly being a bit harsh for Corys which I am planning on getting. Sooo... I then moved to thinking about Fluorite Black Sand and mixing this 50/50 with some other black sand... then I thought... the black would be pretty harsh... maybe a mix of 50/50 Fluorite Black and Home Depot Play Sand would look better. I have since thought about just using the play sand. I just cant make up my mind....

Anyways, my questions are as follows:
1) what are your opinions / implications about a planted tank with sand? read that some plants will be limited as the sand compacts ( considering Malaysian Trumpet snails to possibly overcome that limitation). I will be doing mostly low light plants such as swords, vals, java ferns, anubias etc.. since I dont have the best lighting on the canopy from the kit. (2 x 20W T8 6700K Life Glo tubes)

2) with a completely planted sand (or gravel) tank, does one just gravel vacuum it to keep it clean or will the various wastes and garbage be absorbed by the plants and grabbed by the filtration? Anything I should be concerned about vacuuming sand? I imagine vacuuming a mature tank is gonna be quite a chore with all the plants everywhere.

3) Fluorite-- is it really that beneficial? I have heard some people say they have tried it with no discernable difference in growth between a normal gravel substrate and a regular gravel substrate where dosing with fertilizers is required and that big gains really only come from CO2. Also how much stuff is stirred up with it after its been in the tank for a period of time? Heard corys like to play in sand...

4) Aesthetically... How does Fluorite Black or Fluorite Black sand look in your tanks? Do you think mixing black sand with play sand would look good (whether it is either Fluorite or non Fluorite)? How about Fluorite Black and Fluorite Dark together? HD play sand?

5) Under gravel /substrate heating - anyone have opinions on this? Only reason I am thinking about this is that the tank is currently bare and it would be easy to put it in now if it was truly beneficial. I have read some articles about it simulating under ground currents that are beneficial but man are some of the articles yawners... I wanna know if it works in practice in the aquarium environ from someone who may have played with it.

Sorry for the short novel... I think this will help me get past the first hurdle of getting something into my tank... a bit boring looking at an empty tank with a blue back ground and a chunk of drift wood. If it helps I am planning (but could change) on stocking with school of Corys, a m/f pair of dwarf gouramis, a couple Lyretail Swords, maybe a tetra school, some cherry shrimp and malaysian trumpet snails and maybe something else that will eat algae. If I can find all of this of course.

Thanks for any input!

New 31 Gallon Hagen Waterhome with 2 x 20W T8 6700K Life Glo tubes, Fluval 205 cannister filter, Aquaclear 200W heater, Marineland Stealth 150W heater, Hydor Hydrokable 50W substrate heating cable with Hydrostat thermostat, Hydor Ario 2 Blue aeration nigh

I have two fully planted tanks the 5ft this has close to full of different Anubias all tied to Driftwood. And the 45lt Cardinal Tetra and Cherry Red Shrimps tank. That tank has very small, small and tall Crypts also Anubias nana.

Both have a very similar gravel (slight colour difference only) it is 1-3mm natural river pebbles about 90mm, 3+ins deep. Both tanks have the standard heating. The plant feeding is liquid ferts I only use the fert tabs in the 45lt tank.

The trouble with planted tanks the more reading you do the more confused you will become reason each person KNOWS their method is the best. I developed mine basically on cost and availability of plants suitable for each tank.
The 45lt is no where finished yet and it has been going for close to 4 years now

To develop a planted it takes a very long time, money, and a lot of know how.

I hope you are not thinking of putting fish in that tank until it is fully "Cycled"

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Hi CGY,
Welcome to FP and to the hobby!

A couple of things...
The under gravel heating systems work. By creating the
gentle heat, the water warms, and rises up into the tank
to be replaced by cooler water which in turn is heated,
and more, cooler water replaces it. In all the applications
I've read about it is used exclusively when a layer of clay
is used. Most of the time, the clay is Laterite, an
ancient iron rich clay that will supply all the iron plants
could want, for decades. This system is a "capped" layered
substrate system, consisting of a layer of clay (about an
inch and a half thick) capped by a layer of aquarium gravel.
Laterite is THE best, however just about any clay
can be used, including UNSCENTED kitty litter.
The gravel normally used in an aquarium is #2 or #3 in size.
It gets it "name" by the size of the sieve it will
pass through and is measured in mm.

The "Key" is the iron. All plants need it, and some need
larger amounts than others. Your swords and even the vals
will need it. The vals will also need calcium. If you
think about it, the those two plants are from completely
different environments. The swords, from the amazon, and
soft acidic water, the vals from streams that are generally
hard water with a higher GH and KH, where Calcium Carbonate
is available.

Flourite is one of the better sources of iron that plants
can use. Some of the other substrates such as Echo Complete
is also a great substrate. The others such as the Power
Soil, are designed for short term ( a few months to a year)
tanks where huge amounts of plants are in the tank, brought
to a specific scene (show tank), photographed, and then
the tank is torn down, the substrate generally discarded,
and a new tank is started up again.

Iron, and Carbon, vital nutrients needed by plants, are
easily provided through liquid fertilizers such as SeaChem,
or through iron rich substrates such as fluorite, and
CO2 injection.

Generally, planted tank substrates, are 3-4 inches thick.
This allows virtually any plant to be planted, anchor, and
thrive. Thinner substrates, won't "hold down" the larger
plants or support their huge root systems. Instead the
plants will work loose of the bed and float up to the
surface. This thick substrate bed cannot be sand. That
thick, there is no circulation through the bed, and is
easily compacted, and forms areas of anaerobic bacteria
that is toxic to plants and fish. The MTS snail burrows
through the gravel, but not to the depths necessary to
aerate the entire bed, only the top half inch or so.
Sand is also easily lifted up into the currents of the
tank where it can be sucked into the filter and grind up
the impeller. You would need to wrap a sponge around the
intake (a prefilter) to prevent that from occurring.

I'd change those lights to SUNLIGHT or DAYLIGHT bulbs.
These bulbs cost pennies compared to the "warm light,
or grow" type of bulbs and are available from any hardware
store.

I think you will find that a black gravel tank is generally
too dark. It can be very striking. I have seen some
unbelievable tanks with black gravel, but - they are show
tanks, and resemble a painting using a few plants, of
brilliant greens and reds instead of a "Jungle" of
plants. Usually the browns, or tans are better.
White is too stark, and again is used as a highlight
such as creating a beach front or "stream" through the
normal gravel.

http://www.1000bulbs.com/pg/KelvinTempExplained/

http://www.aquabotanic.com/lightcompare.htm


http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_substrate.htm

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/plant_substrates.php

http://www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html

If you decide to use peat, potting soil, or something
similar, Read the Ecology of the Planted tank by Dana
Walstad first. Venturing into that on your own, can be
a disaster without the guidance from that book.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks for the replies.

Keith, yes I have been going through all sorts of forums reading information regarding planted tanks and I am getting more and more mixed up in my thinking... that is why I haven't even picked a substrate yet. And no I definitely wont be putting any fish in until its properly cycled. I don't trust my abilities well enough to cycle with fish in the tank. Brings up a point though... what harm can come to plants during cycling? Should I cycle with just the substrate, add fish when its ready and then plant?

Frank, Thanks very much for the information. The water here is pretty hard so I expect that the vals should be ok and that I will only need to worry about dosing Iron. I wonder if the substrate heating could help flow of water through a thicker substrate? Just curious. I have now started thinking about laying down a layer of cheap sand about an inch deep and then Fluorite over top and building up to 3 inches in some of the back areas where I expect to plant some of my bigger plants. Would MTS be able to burrow around in the fluorite?

The guy at the LFS where I bought the tank kit told me that I probably wont be able to upgrade the lights since its only rated 20W for the bulbs... I am not sure what the selection is like in regards to changing out bulbs but its something to consider later as I suspect he was trying to upsell me on a light canopy.

I think I may go for mixing Fluorite Dark and Fluorite Black together to see what it might look like... still not sure though. Guess I keep reading...

New 31 Gallon Hagen Waterhome with 2 x 20W T8 6700K Life Glo tubes, Fluval 205 cannister filter, Aquaclear 200W heater, Marineland Stealth 150W heater, Hydor Hydrokable 50W substrate heating cable with Hydrostat thermostat, Hydor Ario 2 Blue aeration nigh

Hi,
First, don't put a layer of sand on the bottom of the
tank and then cap it with anything. That would compact
the sand so tight that there would be no circulation
at all, and it would become anaerobic and toxic.
I'd never use sand as a filler.

I've got a 3 inch deep bed of fluorite and when I purchased
mine it only came in one color. Now with the various
shades that are available, I would like to use something
else. The thing is, you have to really want the color as
the fluorite never uses up its iron, so there is never any
reason to replace it.

My MTS seem to have no troubles burrowing through the
fluorite.

The reason for the fluorite is to provide the iron for the
plants. You can do this with either liquid fertilizers from
Sachem, or you can go the PMDD method and use regular
aquarium gravel instead.

Of the "plant friendly" substrates, I would use either
Sea Seachem Flourite, or Echo Complete. The others are
designed like a timed release capsule of medication. They
are designed to release the nutrients over a period of time
and generally need to be replaced annually. They were
designed primarily for aquatic Gardner's who were also into
photography and show tanks. The substrates release the
nutrients rapidly the plants blossom and thrive the tank
gets shown, pictures taken, and then the tank is torn down
and rebuilt, all within a year on average.

As far as the bulbs are concerned, the LFS is correct
but within those constraints, you have some slop to play
with. By shifting from "growlux" to the "SUN" type of
bulbs, you shift the kelvin rating of the bulb and the
plants get far more energy than from the same wattage bulb
in the warm white range. If you are purchasing them from
the LFS then try the 20 watt Coral Sun bulbs. Or, you can
save an appreciable amount of money by going to any
hardware store and purchasing any 20 watt bulb that has
SUN or DAY in its name. These are a higher Kelvin rating
and a more "sunlight" quality than the "warm white or cool
white" that are designed for reading.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks Frank. Appreciate the quick replies... I am now heavily leaning towards Fluorite... but as you say... you are stuck with the color... too many decisions to make for me... lol.

New 31 Gallon Hagen Waterhome with 2 x 20W T8 6700K Life Glo tubes, Fluval 205 cannister filter, Aquaclear 200W heater, Marineland Stealth 150W heater, Hydor Hydrokable 50W substrate heating cable with Hydrostat thermostat, Hydor Ario 2 Blue aeration nigh

I managed to snag a couple more bags of Fluorite black over the long weekend so I was able to setup my tank. Didn't think it would take that long but at least its all setup and I think I may have gotten a few too many plants. Hopefully I manage to keep more than half of them alive LOL. After finishing my planting which was pretty close to a full day project, I grabbed my equipment and moved it from a little 15 gallon I had been cycling for a few days to my main. It may have stalled out the cycle as I no longer had any nitrite readings since it was new water. It now seems to have recovered and nitrite is now steadily climbing.

here are my readings:
15 gallon dosed with 10ml of ammonia to start
April 7 @ 9PM Ammonia 8+ nitrite 0 nitrate not tested
April 8 @ 9PM Ammonia 8+ nitrite 0 nitrate not tested
April 9 @ 10PM Ammonia 6 nitrite 0 nitrate 5
April 10 @ 11AM Ammonia 4 nitrite 0.12 nitrate 5
April 10 @ 6PM Ammonia 4 nitrite 0.12 nitrate 5

after switching to main 30 gallon with filled canister filter and bringing all decorations and equipment over
April 11 @ 1AM Ammonia 2 nitrite 0 nitrate 5 --dosed another 5ml of ammonia after testing
April 11 @ 11AM Ammonia 4 nitrite 0 nitrate 5
April 11 @ 11PM Ammonia 3.5 nitrite 0 nitrate 5
April 12 @ 11AM Ammonia 2 nitrite 0.12 nitrate 7-8
April 12 @ 11PM Ammonia 2 nitrite 0.25 nitrate 7-8
April 13 @ 6PM Ammonia 2 nitrite 0.5 nitrate 7-8 --dosed another 3ml of ammonia after testing
April 14 @ 2AM Ammonia 4 nitrite 1 nitrate 7-8 pH 7.8

is that level of nitrate right from the start normal or is that something that the plants are contributing to? just seemed odd that it was already at 5 with entirely new water from the tap. But then again I haven't done any tests on tap water and probably should to determine base line of what my water should be. What level of nitrite should I expect to see when it finally peaks?

Just wanted to thank you for your input on my initial questions. Cant wait to get some fish in there!

Also, are there more than one type of trumpet snail or would they all be Malaysian trumpet snails? Besides the usual pond snails, I had about 5 trumpet shaped snail hitchhikers that were still in the empty bag after 5 days before noticing. He and his friends currently reside in a yogurt container sitting on my table until I decide I want them in my tank or not.

New 31 Gallon Hagen Waterhome with 2 x 20W T8 6700K Life Glo tubes, Fluval 205 cannister filter, Aquaclear 200W heater, Marineland Stealth 150W heater, Hydor Hydrokable 50W substrate heating cable with Hydrostat thermostat, Hydor Ario 2 Blue aeration nigh

Hi,
Looks like you jumped into the pond! Good start.

It looks like both tanks are progressing nicely in the
cycle. Don't forget that you want "0" Ammonia, and "0"
Nitrite before the tanks are fully cycled. The Nitrate
reading is fine and is beginning to climb as it should.

Not having seen your tank, I don't know what your idea
of almost having too many plants is. If you have a heavily
planted tank, one where you can hardly see any gravel, then
you might have problems with determining when the cycle
is complete. A large quantity of plants, especially the
fast growing stem plants, can mask the Nitrate peak, and
the tank can cycle without your noticing it.

I'm surprised that you opted for the substrate heating
cables with the use of Flourite. One normally only uses
the cable system when clay is a substrate. It would be
interesting to see the tanks as they progress over the next
months with the cables running.

I've seen some very nicely colored MTS, and I've seen some
rather plain ones (like mine) The turreted type are the
ones you would want in the tank burrowing around in the
substrate keeping it clean and loose, which in turn,
encourages the circulation of the water through the
substrate.

Do set your lights for a 10 - 11 hour day. I probably
would have used Coral Sun lights but the glow should do.
I don't care for the typical color light that many of the
"Grow" type of bulbs give off, it is usually colored or
tinged purple or pink.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Too bad I cant post an image on this forum... I did post it in another forum... very last post http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/showthread.php?p=497222#post497222

Anyways the plants I have put in are:
bacopa caroliniana, anubias barteri nana & barteri, microsorum pteropus regular, narrow and windelov, hydrocotyle verticillata, cryptocoryne undulata, cryptocoryne wendtii tropica & Mi Oya, hygrophila polysperma, hygrophila difformis, echinodorus bleheri bleharae.

Basically 13 variety of plants with the crypts split into 2 plantings each, 5 of the echinodorus swords that each on average stand about 20-25 cm tall above the gravel, each java ferns are split into 2 or 3 bunches, the bacopa is split twice, and 3 stems each of the difformis wisteria and polysperma.

Correct me if I am wrong but I think the only fast growing stem plants are the polysperma, wisteria and the bacopa? And even then I dont think I have enough of them to be able to mask the peak?

I went with the thermal cable out of curiousity and figured if I wanted it now would be the time to put it in before all the gravel etc goes in... I have it covering about 2/3 of the tank bottom... one sword in the back right corner with the substrate heating.. and another sword in the back left corner without the heating... time will tell.

My lights came with the kit that I bought so I figured I might as well use them until one of them dies at which time I can replace it with something else. The are currently set daily to go on for 5 hours, siesta 1 hour and another 4.5 hours. See how that goes.

Not sure what you mean by turreted type... but these guys look like trumpets and I am a bit surprised by how much poop they have left in the yogurt container after I left them in there for a few days with a couple of loose leaves that fell off during planting. They are also in with the 8 or so pond snails as well so maybe its not them... is snail poo beneficial to the tank?

New 31 Gallon Hagen Waterhome with 2 x 20W T8 6700K Life Glo tubes, Fluval 205 cannister filter, Aquaclear 200W heater, Marineland Stealth 150W heater, Hydor Hydrokable 50W substrate heating cable with Hydrostat thermostat, Hydor Ario 2 Blue aeration nigh

Hi
The MTS snail:
http://www.yamatogreen.com/MalaysianTrumpetSnails.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-rimmed_melania

No, I don't think you have enough of the fast growers to
mask the peak.

I'll check out your link and see if I can get it to work.
Sounds like you are doing just fine.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I have been searching for information regarding MTS snails and just am not sure if they are the only trumpet shaped snails for fresh water. I did find one site that said there is another trumpet shaped fresh water snail but very rare and has slightly bumpier shell than MTS... my snails coloring look nothing like the ones in the pictures I have seen but it does seem to be logical that they are MTS since the shells are smooth. Gonna keep them on their own for a while to make sure there are no 'extras' they are bringing into the tank. Seems my efforts to not have any pond snails is for naught... seen a few small ones on my polysperma lately. Oh well, part of the cleaning crew I guess.

I was thinking about getting 2 Siamese Algae Eaters for my tank but realize the SAE can grow to about 15 cm over time... do you think they are too big for my 30 gallon? How fast do they grow anyways? Plans are for 1M/2F sunset gourami, m/f lyretail swords, 8-10 rummy nose tetras, 6-8 panda cory, m/f endlers and possibly 6-8 cardinal tetras if there is room and probably a couple amano or cherry shrimp if I can find them.


New 31 Gallon Hagen Waterhome with 2 x 20W T8 6700K Life Glo tubes, Fluval 205 cannister filter, Aquaclear 200W heater, Marineland Stealth 150W heater, Hydor Hydrokable 50W substrate heating cable with Hydrostat thermostat, Hydor Ario 2 Blue aeration nigh

Well it looks like my plants definitely don't mask the spike. Last night I checked the tank before heading to bed and ammonia was sitting at 1 and nitrites was 5 (most likely off the color scale). I guess when it spikes it spikes pretty fast since it was just a bit darker than 2 about six hours earlier. I wasn't sure if I should dose a few drops of ammonia this morning or not just to ensure there are no problems with bacteria die off... but I figure it should be ok while I am at work. That and I was running a bit late. Any clue as to how long the colony would last without ammonia?

Guessing it wont be too much longer now... /:'

New 31 Gallon Hagen Waterhome with 2 x 20W T8 6700K Life Glo tubes, Fluval 205 cannister filter, Aquaclear 200W heater, Marineland Stealth 150W heater, Hydor Hydrokable 50W substrate heating cable with Hydrostat thermostat, Hydor Ario 2 Blue aeration nigh

Hi,
With the nitrogen cycle started you have to continue
adding the ammonia, the exact same amount, each time.
Don't back off or lengthen the time between additions.

When you can add the ammonia, and then do the test and
see no ammonia and no nitrite just nitrate, then the cycle
is complete. When its done, it is next to no time for
the ammonia and nitrite to disappear. As soon as the
ammonia is added to the tank, it is converted to nitrate.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Since my last posting I have been adding ammonia on a daily basis as I knew that this was needed... My ammonia reads 0 constantly and my nitrates are always 5+. I have noticed that my nitrates seem to be fluctuating. After my nitrite spike my nitrates were low at 10 and then it went to 20 the following day and stayed at that level for about a week before increasing to 30 for half a day and then it dropped back down to 20 and then 10 and now its climbing back up over the last couple days. 20, 40, 40 were my last measures for nitrates and were done about 12 hours apart.

Also following my nitrite spike, I started seeing patches of brown algae and little white puffs growing on things. The puffs havesince grown everywhere on equipment, plants, decorations as well as making the water kind of cloudy. Another person on a different forum told me it was hydra and was normal. To describe it they look like mini trees with a trunk attached to the surface with wisps for branches and they stand about 1-2mm tall. Is this assessment correct?

Feeling a bit impatient about the -ite to -ate portion of the cycle which I know takes the longest... any idea how long it might last?

New 31 Gallon Hagen Waterhome with 2 x 20W T8 6700K Life Glo tubes, Fluval 205 cannister filter, Aquaclear 200W heater, Marineland Stealth 150W heater, Hydor Hydrokable 50W substrate heating cable with Hydrostat thermostat, Hydor Ario 2 Blue aeration nigh

Hi,
When the cycle is complete, both the Ammonia and Nitrite
readings will be zero and only the nitrate will show any
reading. It's great that the ammonia is zero, I expect
that the nitrite will follow very rapidly.

Nitrate readings in a planted tank should be kept around
10. The way to keep that lower reading is by having plenty
of plants in the tank to use up the nitrate, and to do
weekly water changes along with weekly gravel vacuuming.

The brown stuff is generally called "Brown Algae" and is
normal in a new tank. It actually is an outbreak of Diatoms.
They live on silica. It forms their skeleton.
The excess silica is the cause and that comes from two
sources, tap water and from the new gravel in the tank.
Dim light, excess silica, and low currents in the tank
make a perfect home for diatoms.

If your nitrite reading has fallen and reaches zero, then
you could add some Otto's to the tank as they love the
stuff.

If, indeed it is hydra then here are a couple of sites
that would pertain to that critter. Unless you have
baby fish in the tank, they are considered harmless pests.

http://aquaworld.netfirms.com/Predators/hydra.htm

http://www.myaquariumclub.com/pregnant-fish-feeding-hydra-7292.html

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Just thought I would give you an update since you have been so helpful. My tank began to complete the cycle the evening of the 23rd and still had nitrites that were dropping. Since this indicated to me that it was about to finish cycling I added a touch of ammonia in the morning on friday and I went and got all my fish after work on the assumption that everything would be ready to go by the time I got home. With the exception of losing a panda cory on the saturday and a mysterious death of one of the shrimp on sunday everyone seems to be doing fine. I believe the panda cory had a bacterial infection from the lfs since he/she was sketchy when I put first put into the tank and the lfs gave me a replacement. The shrimp mighta got killed in a territorial battle with the other 2 shrimp as the body was lying just outside where they currently hide. I did buy a couple ottos and they cleaned the brown algae quite nicely. The hydra has since also dissappeared but I have a feeling it was the endlers that ate all of that since the corys and the ottos seemed to avoid them when cleaning the leaves off.

I have another question... when I do a water change I notice the water is quite yellowish when I put it into my big white bucket. Is it normally like that from the fish or could it be tannins still leeching out from my three chunks of driftwood? I boiled them prior to placing them into the tank and the water looks pretty clear when I look in from outside but is noticeably tea colored when I get it into the white bucket.



New 31 Gallon Hagen Waterhome with 2 x 20W T8 6700K Life Glo tubes, Fluval 205 cannister filter, Aquaclear 200W heater, Marineland Stealth 150W heater, Hydor Hydrokable 50W substrate heating cable with Hydrostat thermostat, Hydor Ario 2 Blue aeration nigh

Hi,
It sounds like things have come together for you and your
new tank. My bet is on the driftwood still leaching the
tannins into the water. Since it is so faint, you might
think about using some activated carbon in the filter.
That will soak up the tannins and clear the water again.
Just remember to change out the carbon on a regular basis,
probably every week or every two weeks. Try two weeks
first, and if the old water in the bucket is still yellow,
then change out the carbon every week. Eventually, the
driftwood will stop and the old water will clear up.
As long as you don't have any of the larger sucker mouth,
catfish in the tank then everything should be fine. If
you do put one in, they chew on the driftwood and will
expose "fresh" wood to the water and the leaching process
will start all over again.

In reading the blurb at the end of your note, I see that
you are using a blue light as a night light. Normally,
you want the regular lights on for about 10 hours each day.
You can follow that with the "lunar" or blue light for
another 4 hours or so, and then the tank should be
completely dark for the remainder of the night. Everything
in the tank needs the dark of night for a resting period.
Blue light does not count as the "dark of night."

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Ok... I never put the carbon that came with my cannister filter in and just recently replaced that tray with more of the ceramic media to grow some more bacteria in case I ever needed to start up a quarantine tank. I currently have my brothers old 15 gallon set up right next to my main tank and use it to treat and heat water for my main tank water changes. I guess I can put the carbon in for a while to see if it works to clean up the yellow.

As for the blue light... it basically shines up from the tank floor where the aerator is mounted to make the bubbles light up. It really isn't that bright a light and is in the back left corner of the tank with the rest of the tank going pretty much pitch black. I have it run for about 6 hours after the canopy lights go out so there is sufficient oxygenation in the water. The intent was to have it offset the effects of my newly hooked up DIY CO2 that doesn't shut off. Since the plants don't utilize the CO2 at night I figured that this would be a decent solution to keep the CO2 levels from building over night. I still need to get myself a CO2 drop checker to better monitor the PH and adjust the lighting and aeration cycles. My tank is in the basement so there is very little to no ambient light that comes in from the windows at night and only at 7-8AM does there get to be enough day light in the room. The light is reflected light so the tank pretty much stays fairly shady during the majority of the morning and afternoon until the canopy lights come on again at 3PM. Do you think I should adjust my lighting schedule?

New 31 Gallon Hagen Waterhome with 2 x 20W T8 6700K Life Glo tubes, Fluval 205 cannister filter, Aquaclear 200W heater, Marineland Stealth 150W heater, Hydor Hydrokable 50W substrate heating cable with Hydrostat thermostat, Hydor Ario 2 Blue aeration nigh

Hi,
If you are using the yeast/sugar water CO2 generator then
you could probably do away with running the air stone after
the first 2 or 3 days. These generators put out CO2 in a
very large quantity for the first few days and then, as
the sugar water changes to alcohol, the CO2 output drops
off exponentially to nothing. Then one usually cleans out
the generator, mixes a new batch and reconnects it to the
tank. This gives a surge and then tapers off to nothing,
then back to a surge and down to nothing. This yo-yo effect
does little for plant growth. The increased levels of CO2
needs to remain constant. Some folks get by, by using
2 or more generators connected in parallel, so that while
one is dropping off the other is new. In that case, because
the ONLY way to regulate the amount of CO2 delivered to the
tank is by regulating the strength of the sugar, water, and
yeast, mixture (weakening it) the use of an air stone
during the lights out hours would be a good idea as the
surges of CO2 from a new generator could easily take a tank
that size up to dangerous levels. Also, keep in mind,
each surge of CO2 will affect your pH. If your KH is low
then the downward pH swings would be very large and
thus stressful to the fish.

As for the light cycle, the generally accepted guidelines
are for 8-12 hours of lights, followed by 12 hours of
darkness. During that "in between" time the lunar lights
are a good idea. Many will shift the "on" times so that
the lights are on during the times that they are home
from work and awake. That is followed by a lunar "night
light" for another few hours till they go to bed, and
then all lights are off. This gives the fish and plants
complete darkness long enough for them to rest and recycle.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--