FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Tetra, do you have the ability to check your pH and kH? From this we can calculate your co2.

If you have your own test kits, test it at night right before you shut out the lights and in the AM just as the first light is hitting the room or tank. This will give you your fluctuation between night and day at the extremes.

Mine is holding at about 8-8.5ppm for co2 with my single cannister.

I believe Bubble-Per-Second is really not a measure at all. A 55 gallon tank at 5 bubbles per second, may actually have less co2 than a 20 gallon tank with 3 bubbles per second.


Last edited by Cory_Di at 25-Mar-2005 09:07

I don't remember the kh but it's not distilled. Bottled drinking water, blue label, always tests the same and I think the kh was around 6-8. I started my 55g out in the same bottled water but the yearly cost was just to high and buying water all the time was annoying.

What kind of bottled water? YOu really need to test the kH to make sure it isn't zero or your pH will be all over the map.

I have a tank I'm switching over to bottled water with eco complete in it. Every bottle I tested was 6.8ph so I will have to test the water and see if the tank reaches and maintains that ph. I am starting with 8.4ph water though so it may take alot of small water changes to bring the ph down while acclimating the fish.

My eco is about 15 months old, probably before that screening process. I did buy one add'l big online at big als and the pieces were noticably smaller (sand like) then the original bags I bought at my lfs 15 months ago.

I do like the smaller grain better the only problem if you gravel wash to aggresively it does get sucked up.

I'm not sure I buy the ph thing not begin affected. I was doing alot to soften my water and drive ph down. I have alot of driftwood, peat moss in my filter, even adding some ph down and now adding co2 and still I have to fight to get my ph neutral.

My Scapes

See if you can find newer bags of eco complete. I'm not sure how new but they redid the whole screening process. Not only is there no stray calcium carbonate but they are taking out larger pieces. There shouldn't be any stray chunks now and the substrate should look more uniform.

Interesting stuff - thanks for the info on Eco-complete. I plan on getting some in the coming weeks.

Eco complete has no buffer. It should not affect ph. At least not unless you just added it and bought a bag before they changed the screening process. This is the email from caribsea around a week ago:

"Hi there. Sometimes a few stray grains of calcium carbonate sometimes gets into the Eco-Complete and can cause an initial pH raise. Once they burn off, your pH should remain low for the life of the tank. Recently, we have been acid dipping the raw material to eliminate any of the calcium grains, but if you have an older bag, you might run into this. No gravel can actually lower pH, but it can be pH neutral, and bacteria growing in the gravel can also help to drive a pH down. "

I'm going to go look locally for some excel, not usually an easy task.

I think it might really help my situation.

Cory,

I'm still not sure what effect my eco-complete is having on my ph reading. If it is buffering my ph toward 7.5, than do I really have more co2 then I think or would the co2 levels bring it down.

Last edited by tetratech at 25-Mar-2005 13:13

My Scapes

Plants are growing, i can notice special high grow on anubias and dwarf sag. and java moss and dwarf sword, the others are actually fast growers so even with the algae they are still growing at normal rate.

According to this calculator you are getting about 9ppm co2. Make sure you use the degrees entry and not the ppm for kH.

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

10 is where we want to get at the minimum and we need to stay below 25.

I'm going to try rubberbanding a sponge to the lip of my biowheel filter to slow the splashing. If that raises me one point I'll be happy

Last edited by Cory_Di at 25-Mar-2005 10:17

The last time I checked my ph was about 7 my kh 3. Which seems pretty low as far as co2. I believe my eco-complete is raising my ph and possibly giving me a false reading.
Do you think that could be true?

My Scapes

I know a few of you mentioned using excel as a algae fighter.

I have about 10ppm co2 right now, but I am fighting thread algae (black). If I supplemented with excel do I dose as per instructions or do you guys do something else.



My Scapes

My bubble rate seems to vary between one bubble every two to three seconds. Sometimes get a double bubble so a times it's running two bubbles every 2 to 3 seconds.

My Scapes

Cory_Di,

I have been using Hagen's Flora-Gro for a very short while. They say that it's 2,800K. I think that it's a bit too low. All other plant growing tubes that I was looking into were around the mark of 4500K and 5000K. This is the range that is best for the plant, according to the information I have gathered. The sun itself is around 1,800 in the morning and peaks at 5000K at noon time.

I have done a home experiment with different bulbs, one which was the Hagne's Flora-Gro. The other two were Arcadia's Original Tropical (4,500K, which they advertise to be their best tube for plants) and Freshwater (6,900K, which they advertise as encouraging plant grow). The best results I got were with the Original Tropical. On the short term, the plants have visually produced more oxygen bubbles almost immediately than with using other tubes. On the long term, I had less algae and my plants grew faster. I now use a combination of 3 tubes, 2 Original Tropical and 1 Freshwater (which is on for 4 hours a day at the tank's noon time). I have been trying to use Flora-Gro as the third one and I got algae growing within few days.

My other tank, which has no CO2 came with a Sylvania Daylight tube (I think that it's 6,000K, but I am not sure), but I replaced it to an Original Tropical after a while. With the Sylvania the plants had algae growing on them, they looked miserable and the more demanding plants (although none was very demanding) were actually dying. After changing to the Original Tropical the algae have almost disappeared and the even the plants which I was about to toss out started growing again.

Well, this is at least the information I have gathered and my experience.

You are using two cannisters with a t-connector right? How are your co2 levels now?

Cory,

I'm using a current usa fixture with two cf bulbs.
One is a 6700k 96watt cf which gives me alittle of 2 wpg on my 46g. Since I started using co2 I've started to put the second bulb on for about 4 hours a day. That bulb is a dual daylight 6700k/10000k. I understand the 10000k bulb is good for algae, but my algae problems started before I started using that bulb. If my logic is right, I'm thinking if I supplement my co2 (2 hagen canisters/one diffusor) with Excel I might just get a good combination that's good for my plants and bad for my algae.

My Scapes

Here's the line I use and its by Hagen. If you click on any of them - compare the spectrum of the Flora-Glo with the Aqua-Glo and Power-Glo. Both of those are also for plants, but have higher k. I find it more favorable to the plants and less favorable to algae to stick with the Flora-Glo spectrum.

[link=http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/sub_category_psubtype.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=112&PSUBCAT=11204]http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/sub_category_psubtype.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=112&PSUBCAT=11204" style="COLOR: #C000C0[/link]

You're right about that Cory_Di, alot of the bulbs that come with the tanks are in the 5000 range with is a bit on the low end.
I've always seen 5500-6700K Daylightgiven as the minimum, not to exceed 10,000K for planted tanks. When you start supplimenting liquid ferts, least IME, you end up with a bit of a mess if the light's not quite right. Additionally bulbs should be replaced yearly.

^_^

[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

Tetra, what spectrum of lighting are you using? I found that kind of algae thrives if you are not using a bulb intended for plants. I think the plant spectrum is at 6700-8800k (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Whereas other bulbs give off light that may have a spectrum more favorable to certain algaes.