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Post by crazyfish on Mar 8, 2018 20:14:39 GMT -5
Hi all. I have a 36 gal bow front aquarium - height 20 7/8 in, width 24 1/8", depth 15 3/4 in at front and 10 1/2 in at sides. I have medium requirement plants in the aquarium. I have CO2 injected at 30 parts per million. According to what I read on the website, I purchased 2 Grow Beam 600's aqua ray LED lights which I have suspended about 2 inches above the tank. I have not seen much growth in my plants. While they are lving and not dying I'm not seeing the lushness I expected. Any suggestions. Thanks.
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Post by Carl on Mar 8, 2018 20:41:11 GMT -5
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Mar 9, 2018 13:06:58 GMT -5
What is you're substrate? and how are you injecting the co2?
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Post by crazyfish on Mar 9, 2018 19:57:34 GMT -5
Here are my parameters: PH 7.6, ammonia .25 ppm, nitrites 0, nitrate 160 ppm, KH 71.6, GH 350 mg/L. I'm using a 305 Fluval canister filtration. I know these parameters are not the best but I'm not sure what to do about them. It seems the more I play the worse it gets. I have 18 tiger barbs, 2 3 Malaysian trumpet snails, 3 netrite snails, 1 plecostomus and 3 Siamese algae eaters. My substrate is Flourite. CO2 is injected from a pressurized tank with a bubble counter connected to a aqua medic CO2 reactor. The CO2 is connected to my timer for my lights so it only infuses when my lights are on. I also have a circulation pump. I use a drop checker to check the CO2 and it looks med green. I actually have been concerned about the actual amt of CO2 because it does not seem to be lowering my ph. I have the bubble counter going pretty high. Thanks for your help.
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Post by Carl on Mar 10, 2018 11:49:21 GMT -5
One parameter catches my attention is the nitrates. While plants will usually keep nitrates low, your nitrate levels (assuming accuracy) are extremely high, especially for a tank with plants. You also should have zero ammonia, although .25 is not bad either What this seems to indicate is the plants are not utilizing nutrients and growing at all and possibly the the high nitrates are stunting the plants. While not in agreement by all planted aquarium experts, as well it depends on the plant species, some plants will get stunted and stop growing or not grow at all with high nitrate levels. You might consider using blended RO with Tap water too (start with 25% RO and go up from there) Make sure to add other ferts, such as the NilocG "NPK" Macros AND Micros and/or root tabs www.americanaquariumproducts.com/NilocGAquatics.html#npkwww.americanaquariumproducts.com/Seachem.html#flourishCarl
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Post by crazyfish on Mar 10, 2018 14:09:02 GMT -5
Thank you Carl. I think I will try mixing with RO since I have very hard water. Im hoping that will help lower PH as well as nitrates. About a month ago I put Florish root tabs in the substrate and I have been dosing with flourish, FE, Iron.
Could you help me with one other question. I have a 55 gallon planted aquarium. Dimensions are 48x12.75x21. I have CO2 injected on a PH control system. Currently have medium to semi-high light requirement plants in the tank. I was using a Fluval 2.0 LED light but after reading on your web site, I purchased 2 gro beam 600's and added them to the Fluval. Will this be enough or should I replace the Fluval with 2 more Gro beams? Thanks
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Post by Carl on Mar 11, 2018 11:15:02 GMT -5
I would suggest replacing the Fluval with two more GroBeams for more adequate lighting
Carl
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Mar 12, 2018 12:40:59 GMT -5
Normally, I would say you want Nitrates to feed the plants, but that is really high, if your going for a high tech method, you should be struggling to keep nitrates and then have to dose them. Here's some methods to reduce the nitrates until they are under control, then let the plants do the rest. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv3exYJuUHQ&t=50sI'm surprised you're not getting a pH drop even with a solid KH. It should be dropping each day. This actually might be why you're not getting as much growth as you would like. Planted tanks are limited by Co2 first. Then light. Some of the "hardest" plants actually will grow in low PAR. I would suggest turning on Co2 a couple hours before lights come on. Make sure there's flow next to the co2 flow coming into the aquarium pointed downward toward the plants, forcing the co2 over to the plants. The micro bubbles need to physically touch the plants leaf. If you're looking for max growth, you basically open the co2 all the way. People will end up ditching the reactors too and getting diffusers with micro bubbles to be able to see the co2 and know it's attaching to the plants. Sprite water...
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