A new start - Fluval F90 - 129L (33G) - Iwagumi

Coasters13

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Jun 29, 2017
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Hi all,

I'm new in this nice forum (the best one, thanks Tom Barr)

I started this week end a new Aquarium (Fluval F90) with :

capacity : 129L (33G)
Light : Led Tropical Dennerle 48W (4480 Lumens) during 7h for the beginning
CO2 : 15-30 ppm (ceramic 2.3 bars, 1bps)
Soil :
1)
3L JBL volcano + ADA bacter 100 + JBL volcano mineral
I selected this mixture because ADA power sand special is too expensive
2) mixture of 6L JBL Volcano and 9L ADA amazonia normal
3) ADA amazonia light powder as top layer
Rock : Only Dragon stone (because it's neutral yehaaaaaa, water parameter like GH and KH and pH will not increased with time like other rock)
Plant : Eleocharis mini sp only (I'm noob, it's my first aquascape so I selected a plant which is not too difficult)

Water column :
1er day

I started with RO only, no tap water
I added K2CO3 for KH = 2
I added CaSO4 and MgSO4 (3.5/1) for GH = 5
I added 10ppm of NO3 (via KNO3)
I added 0.5ppm of PO4 (via KH2PO4)
And daily 0.1 ppm of Fe (via Trace Element)
I started CO3 to reach 30ppm

3e day
Water parameter :
KH = 0 !
pH = 5.2 !
PO4 = 0!
Fe = 0!
CO2 : not enough !
GH = 5
NO3 : 10-20 ppm

I added K2CO3 for KH = 1 (and increased of the the pH)
I added 0.5 ppm of PO4 (via KH2PO4)
daily 0.1ppm of Fe



Do you have some advice with ADA aquasoil ?
should I change something ?
Thanks a lot !
 
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Coasters13

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20170723_195445.jpg
 
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Dale Hazey

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Looks good, nice rocks!

From what I have read on this forum, doing frequent water changes with new AS might be a good move.

Why not replant some of the eleocharis from the back right and put in some stem plants? I'm noob too, but there are plenty of easy stem plants. Other folks could give better suggestions on plants than I could.

Dale
 

Coasters13

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Hi,
In iwagumi style, there is generaly only one type of plant.
I'll plant maybe Eleocharis parvula or Lilaelopsis brasiliensis
but short plant, not too high

The hardscape is not perfect because Fluval F90 is not deep enough (the depth of field) (only 35cm)
90*45*35 (H*L*l)
and I had some problem to stabilize the rock, especially when I added water
some big rock moved and fell ... grrr ...
it's hard to give some perspective with this size
but it's a first one and I'm still learning

I'm just affraid with my KH and my pH
I added each day K2CO3 to reach KH = 1-2 and I hope not to destroy AS (which is pumping CO3)

I'm waiting 6 days for the first 50% WC
it's 60L of RO it's a lot for me

my tap water is soo hard that it's look like sea water (GH > 40 and KH > 15 youhouuuuo_O)
 
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DutchMuch

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On the hardscape, I personally think the 2 back rocks should be moved towards the middle more and keep facing the Left direction.
 

Coasters13

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Yes, i agree with you but I think it comes from the picture
if you take a look at the middle of the aquarium (see the bottom of the picture, the 2 doors)
you can see that I try to respect the "golden rules", not to put symetry but putting the rock at arround 2/3
but it's true that it's look not perfect and not with "harmony"
it would be difficult to move the hardscape now because the rocks are deep in the aquasoil
I'll see in the future, and try to learn of my mistakes
thanks for your help and your comment
 

Coasters13

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Hi all,

here are the news of the day 4 :

KH again at 0
pH at 5.4

I added 5gr of K2CO3 (KH + 1)

CO2 is ok (see picture)


day 5 (this morning)
pH at 6.3

I decided to add 5gr of K2CO3 again to increase the KH by 1 point
the concentration of potassium is high due to K2CO3 (I added 20ppm of K per day with K2CO3)

I'll do my first 50% water change at the end of day 5

Eleocharis mini sp look ok, roots are coming
 

rajkm

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Why are you trying to increase KH? The soil is going to buffer it out and that's what you want. The low PH is what's good for plants.
 
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Coasters13

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Hi, I would like to increase kh up to 2.
I add only ro water
Without k2co3 mi kh = 0
To reach 30ppm of co2 my pH is too low
I would like to avoid extreme value
I target pH between 5.5 and 6.5
So I need at least some units of KH
 
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rajkm

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I was doing the same thing as you until Tom recommended against it.
My peak PH drop is 5.25. No issues with plants or fish, or shrimps, only nerite snails struggle. The KH out of my tap is 1.5 and I don't add any more for the week and don't even test it.
If you are thinking of the articles which say 5.5-6.5 is the ideal range for plant growth, for that I have been told on this forum that it does not apply to aquatic plants.
Add 1-2 KH when you change water and then leave it at that. That's what I would recommend.
 
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rajkm

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No.. I know a few people who run pure RO. Many people in Asia have very soft water, zero to minimal KH if at all. If you read Pikez journal, and his visits, you will read that many water bodies have no KH or even GH and run very low PH.
The thing people worry about is PH swings and that's still out there for debate.

Like I said if you are worried, add about a KH during water change and then don't worry about it. You have to worry only if you run a PH probe because as KH falls, you will be injecting less CO2. I have Ph probe and only use it to monitor, not to control CO2. Static injection is stable because even if your KH falls you are injecting the same amount.
 
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Coasters13

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Thank you very much for your help.
I did the first 50% wc yesterday at day5
After wc and addition of gh
My water column are
Gh = 4
Kh = 0
Po4 = 0
No3 = 5 - 10 ppm
Mg = 3 - 6 ppm
K = too much !!! > 50 ppm
I added macro to increase PO4 and NO3

Due to my initial mistake of adding k2CO3 my potassium is too high even after WC.

I will stop to add K2CO3

To answer you rajkm, yes I have a pH probe but I use it only to mesure pH. Not to add CO2.
I use a timer for CO2

One question more : is it normal that my PO4 fell to zero after 2 days? Should I continue to add KH2PO4 as I do ?

Thank you very much !
 

rajkm

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For your tank you are dosing more than enough PO4. If you see GSA then you can up the dosing but 5-6ppm dose should easily be more than enough.
The soil being new might be stripping some of that.
Let the tank settle before making more changes.
 

Coasters13

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Hi Dkoi,
Nice tank !
But how do you deal with algae with the fluval led light?
With mine I had so much algae issue that I removed it
Now I have tropical led from dennerle 48w
Since that I have no algae issue anymore