100g Reboot

dannsafly

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Dec 4, 2011
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Wood Dale
Hello everyone. I have been waiting to start this journal for some time. I consider myself a noob although been reading quite a lot. My last attemp ended horribly 5 years ago. Since then my life changed dramatically for the better. Now with supporting wife and kids by my side I decided to try again.

Aguarium is located in dining room. Maintenance is pretty simple. I do 50% or more water change every week. Lightly Vacuum the tank and change prefilter sponge.




Tank: Miracles 48x24x20
Ati 8x54w as of last week :)
Filtration 30 gallon sump. Sealed/glued wet/dry permanently. Added sliding drawer for easy cleaning

Airgas Co2 regulator, 20” carges co2 reactor with venturi feed by dedicated quiet one 700gph pump :)
Mag18 return to 1 1/4 pvc elbow at the top and 1” to loc line.
Jebao dosing pump for EI plus 20ml of excel every day.
Dry ferts I’m getting from Nilocg

Fauna:
10 ottos
5 SAE
30 Amanos. Now 24 or so
120 red cherries.
60 rummynose
2 bristlenose pleco

Flora:

Staurogyne repens
Crypt parva
Riccardia
Blyxa japonica
AR mini
Fissdent fontanus
Anubias nana
Anubias Nana Petite
DHG
Christmas mini
Christmas moss
Buce red mini
Buce green wavy
Crypt wenditi green
Hydrocotyle tripartita
Rotala catipiller


Light is hanging 30” above the substrate.
Light /co2 cycle:

12pm Co2 ON
2pm Lights ON channel 1,2 ph drop from 7.8 to 6.7 drop checker lime green
3:30pm 60%
6:30pm 60%
8:40pm 100%
9:00pm 100% drop checker yellow
9:20pm Co2 OFF
10:20pm 15%
10:30pm 8%
11:00pm lights OFF



Last week I noticed some algae growth.

Pics:

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Here is pics of algae. It growing only on moss and fissdent. What would be best to do in my case?

With tek fixture 4 inches above water I didn’t see any pearling for the first 6 weeks. Now with ati plants pearling like crazy. I don’t have access to PAR meter.

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Greggz

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First of all, the tank is very nicely done, and a beautiful presentation.

Curious.....why did you go to the new light? Things looked pretty darn good under the other one.
 

Greggz

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8 x T5HO is a LOT of light.

When you increase the light, you are driving the tank harder. More demand for CO2/ Ferts.

You don't list your actual dosing. What is your ppm N:K;Ca:Mg? Have you adjusted it since increasing the light level?

And some of those are low light plants (Crypts/Anubias/Moss). Can be tricky to keep them with stems when light intensity gets very high.

I wouldn't necessarily judge things by pearling. I can create excess pearling quite easily by increasing light or CO2. But would be difficult to sustain it there long term. Some very, very nice tanks have very little to no pearling at all.
 
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dannsafly

Member
Dec 4, 2011
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Wood Dale
Don’t know much about ferts. Dosing what was recommended herehttp://nilocg.com/diy-ei-liquid-fertilizer/

Concentrations(as per wets calculator):
Micro-
B- 0.09ppm
Cu 0.01ppm
Fe 0.50 ppm
Mg 0.11 ppm
Mn 0.14 ppm
Mo 0.0038 ppm
Zn 0.03 ppm
dGH 0.02

Macros:
N- 7.5ppm
P- 1.3ppm
K- 4.27ppm

Here is what I did so far. Reduced the light intensity by quite a bit.
Spend an hour yesterday removing this thing with tweezers.

Can I safely spot treat with excel? With all bulbs dimmed to 50% what PAR will I have at the substrate?

This “plant” is growing super fast :)
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dannsafly

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Dec 4, 2011
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Wood Dale
Did One-Two Punch method. Didn’t work as planned lol. Not sure what happen but christmas moss and fissdend lost all their color. Now look kinda pale. Algae is now red and amanos and cherries are grazing on it.

Bumped co2 a bit. Bought Hanna PH checker plus and mesured tank water in a bucket with an airstone for an hour - PH 7.85

11pm Co2 ON
2pm Lights ON channel 1,2 ph drop from 7.8 to 6.6 drop checker yellow
3:30pm 30%
6:30pm 40%
7:00pm 60%
8:00pm 75%
9:00pm 35%
9:20pm Co2 OFF
10:00pm 5%
11:00pm lights OFF

A few questions for anyone willing to enlighten me...

Before my weekly water change, if my nitrate test shows nitrate of 20-40ppm does that mean that my macros are good? Obviously, I’m not at that level where I can look at the plant and say “Looks like it needs more magnesium!” I’m not quite a noob, but...by no means an expert!

If my GH is 12 and KH is 8, does that mean that I don’t have to worry about calcium?


by ceg4048
All nozzles and filter outlets should point in the same direction - across the tank to the other side. Pointing them in different directions defeats their purpose.

If that’s the case, then would it be better if I move MP10 to the overflow/return side? Currently, it faces them.

Thanks much,
Mark
 

msb

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Feb 16, 2013
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Hey dannsafly,

I like the whole setup.

Im curious about the MP10, I was about to get one of those but specs say maximum glass thickness 3/8". It looks like your using 1/2" glass. Does it hold up fine for you ?

As for your queshton about using it. Is your return output from sump directed in a way that makes a nice surface ripple ? You could use the MP10 for that. Also, could use it to make sure your getting a nice current sweeping across the whole front. Id try it rite under the return output or the left side close to the front glass.

Use EI recommended dose for Nitrate. 50% water changes and having plants growing will keep you from reaching any toxic level.

GH = Magnesium + Calcium. KH is hard to explain. Here is a quote not from me

" GH primarily refers to the concentration of calcium and magnesium in the water, whereas KH refers to the concentration of bicarbonate and carbonate, and KH is important for maintaining a stable pH (acidity) "

Id recommend check water report for Calcium and Magnesium level or you could measure.
 

dannsafly

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Dec 4, 2011
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Wood Dale
It works just fine. I put a little bit of clear silicone on the dry side when I installed it. Today I had to use razor blade to move it to return side. The magnet isn't strong enough to hold it on its own.

Here is my water report :)

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skija

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8 T5 tubes are too much light , that is the reason those algae came from
 

msb

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Feb 16, 2013
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dannsafly

Member
Dec 4, 2011
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Wood Dale
I have no idea what ideal levels of Ca and Mg are. I’ve met a few people from Chicago Aquatic Plant Society and most of them use water from Lake Michigan. I got my hands on apogee MQ-510, which I just used:

Here are the measurements at 4 inches from the front glass. Ati was hung 31 inches from the substrate.

Bulbs from front to back:
Aquaflora
Zoo med Flora sun
Giesemann tropic
Ati purple plus
Giesemann tropic
Aquaflora
Plantmax
Midday


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Here is how I have it setup now:

Light is hanging 38 inches from the substrate

Channel 1
14:00 ON
14:30 30%
16:00 40%
18:00 40%
18:30 60%
20:00 60%
20:30 30%
22:00 30%
22:10 5%
23:00 OFF

Channel 2
14:00 ON
14:30 30% Par 90
19:30 30%
20:00 60% Par 120
20:30 30% Par 80
22:00 20%
22:10 5%
23:00 OFF

If someone with experience in these levels could give me their input on whether these Par levels are too high, or adequate, I’d appreciate it!
 
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Kyalgae

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Not really related to your last post, but did you manage to eradicate you blue/grey staghorn algae? If you did, what worked for you?

Nice tank!
 

milanzdimal

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Jan 8, 2019
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Sarnia, ON
Damn gorgeous tank! Well done.

How do you find using a sump vs. canister filters? Would you do sump again? I didn't do a sump on mine because I wanted to avoid a bulky and permanent overflow box in the tank, and the type of overflow you have terrifies me because I've heard of them losing their siphon - But your overflow sure looks nice and low profile i would definitely consider it if I decide to add a sump.

Also where are you located? Miracles tank - Are you in Ontario?
 

dannsafly

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Dec 4, 2011
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Wood Dale
I’m in Wood Dale, IL I have no real experience with canisters filters.
That overflow is the ugliest thing in this entire setup :)