I made a huge mistake. I started my tank using the DSM. The plants were healthy and filled in the tank. When I finally filled my tank with water I had forgotten that I was going on vacation a week later. I did several water changes in the first week and then left my tank (running as listed below except the lights were only on 4 hours/day) and when I came back 8 days later, most of the plants were dead. I assume the there were still a lot nitrates leaching out of the AS aquasoil. I have done a lot of water changes since then and replaced the dead plants. It has been several weeks since I have returned and the tank is still not doing well. I make 50% water changes several times/week. The lights are running about 7 hours/day. I have a lot of algae (see the photos below). My understanding is that algae is usually a CO2 and light issue. Should I cut down on the light period? Get a light controller to ramp them up and down? Should I raise the CO2 level thus lowering the pH? Change my dosing regimen? Any other ideas?
Here are some photos of the sad state of my tank. http://s1326.photobucket.com/upload/
You can see the stauro is starting to come back, but the other plants are not doing well. The plants are not pearling.
Tank: rimless 4L x 2D x 19”H, 80 gallon, single internal overflow
Filtration: Wet/Dry filter with bioballs. There is a filter pad on top of the drip pan and a sponge post bioballs.
Return pump: Sicce 3.0
CO2: Aquariumplants CarbonDoser electronic CO2 regulator, Milwaukee monitor/controller and External reactor 5000
Lighting: 2 x 48” TrueLumen Pro LED 8000k fixtures on top of the tank, 7 hours. No controller at this time.
Aqua UV 15W sterilizer powered with a Sicce 2.0 pump. Not presently running it.
Auto dosing: E.I. daily with KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4, Plantex CSM+B, Iron Chelate and Ferrous Gluconate using the rota.la calculator.
Temp control: JBJ titanium heater and TradeWind Chiller
Water parameters:
½ RO and ½ tap
Water temp: ~77
pH=6.7
gH: 3-4 Serra test kit
KH: 4-5 Serra test kit
Substrate: AS aquasoil
Plants:
Bolbitis heudelotii
Staurogyne repens
Cabomba Carolina
Ceratophyllum demersum
Bacopa Monnieri
Hemiantus cuba
Ludwiga repens
Ludwigia senegalensis
Fissdens fontanus
and a few others. I had a number of others but they died so I threw in some cheap plants.
No fish or shrimp yet.
Here are some photos of the sad state of my tank. http://s1326.photobucket.com/upload/
You can see the stauro is starting to come back, but the other plants are not doing well. The plants are not pearling.
Tank: rimless 4L x 2D x 19”H, 80 gallon, single internal overflow
Filtration: Wet/Dry filter with bioballs. There is a filter pad on top of the drip pan and a sponge post bioballs.
Return pump: Sicce 3.0
CO2: Aquariumplants CarbonDoser electronic CO2 regulator, Milwaukee monitor/controller and External reactor 5000
Lighting: 2 x 48” TrueLumen Pro LED 8000k fixtures on top of the tank, 7 hours. No controller at this time.
Aqua UV 15W sterilizer powered with a Sicce 2.0 pump. Not presently running it.
Auto dosing: E.I. daily with KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4, Plantex CSM+B, Iron Chelate and Ferrous Gluconate using the rota.la calculator.
Temp control: JBJ titanium heater and TradeWind Chiller
Water parameters:
½ RO and ½ tap
Water temp: ~77
pH=6.7
gH: 3-4 Serra test kit
KH: 4-5 Serra test kit
Substrate: AS aquasoil
Plants:
Bolbitis heudelotii
Staurogyne repens
Cabomba Carolina
Ceratophyllum demersum
Bacopa Monnieri
Hemiantus cuba
Ludwiga repens
Ludwigia senegalensis
Fissdens fontanus
and a few others. I had a number of others but they died so I threw in some cheap plants.
No fish or shrimp yet.