Tom and/or other experts,
I have some questions on transitioning from low maintenance to a low-light C02 enriched tank
My current tank:
75 gallon
Two 65 watt compact fluorescents from AH supply
Ehiem pro canister filter
plus another ehiem canister
Tanks been running two years
2 inches flourite substrate
Java fern, anubus, anacharius, and other low-maintenance plants. Tank has what I would say is a low to mid level of plant biomass. I have seen successful tanks with less but most nice CO2 injected tanks would have more plants.
Heavy fish load: 50+tetras, 5 corys, 6 ottos, 1 SAE, 4 kuli loaches, a few snails, a betta
Water is Phoenix city water (kh 7, gh 13) mixed 50/50 with RO water and with a little baking soda added to get to a kh 5, gh 7
Living in Phoenix with a house at 80 deg, tank runs 82-84 deg.
Lights are on for 7 hours a day
Not routinely dosing ferts
MInimal water changes (20% every couple months)
Tom Barr defines 4 methods(see: http://www.barrreport.com/you-new-a...ere/2890-step-2-chose-method-learn-well.html).
Of these methods I finally ended up with a low-maintenance non c02 tank that is sort of working. It has plants that are growing slowly, interesting fish, and while it has some algae it is nothing I can't keep on top of. I'm not dosing much of anything. A capful of excel and a tablespoon of PMDD for traces every couple weeks but basically am relying on the fish waste for plant fertilizer. I am trying to follow the methodology Tom laid out in http://www.barrreport.com/estimative-index/2817-non-co2-methods.html
I tried for over a year to have a low-light CO2 enriched version of the tank. I had a fairly good ph controller and a homemade reactor in line with one of the canister filters. I had very bad algae problems that I could never get on top of. Black bush and string algae. Tried more CO2, less CO2, heavy ferts, no ferts, fiddled with light ing period. I had lots of theories but I never could get something that worked.
Now that I have hopefully given enough background information some questions:
1. Is my Fish load just too high and NH4 from fish the root cause of my algae?
2. Would adding CO2 help or hurt from an algae control perspective? Based on past experience I know any sudden increase in light, CO2, or nutrients is quite likely to help the algae more than the plants. However, I still have a chronic algae problem, it is just low enough I've learned to live with it. Also, I would like my plants to grow just a bit better.
3. How does my hot tank temperature impact algae and plants? I'm pretty much stuck with it because my home electric bill already pushes $300/month for AC in Phoenix.
4. Any suggested changes to get algae more under control? Specifically if I add CO2 how should I do the transition and what if anything should I start to dose?
5. Does Tom or anyone have a good summary methodology and explanation of how to manage a low light CO2 enriched tank. I really found Tom's summary of the non-CO2 method very illuminating. I feel like the low light tank CO2 enriched tank may be this awkward middle ground that is inherently unstable from an algae perspective and am searching for guidance.
-Dan
I have some questions on transitioning from low maintenance to a low-light C02 enriched tank
My current tank:
75 gallon
Two 65 watt compact fluorescents from AH supply
Ehiem pro canister filter
plus another ehiem canister
Tanks been running two years
2 inches flourite substrate
Java fern, anubus, anacharius, and other low-maintenance plants. Tank has what I would say is a low to mid level of plant biomass. I have seen successful tanks with less but most nice CO2 injected tanks would have more plants.
Heavy fish load: 50+tetras, 5 corys, 6 ottos, 1 SAE, 4 kuli loaches, a few snails, a betta
Water is Phoenix city water (kh 7, gh 13) mixed 50/50 with RO water and with a little baking soda added to get to a kh 5, gh 7
Living in Phoenix with a house at 80 deg, tank runs 82-84 deg.
Lights are on for 7 hours a day
Not routinely dosing ferts
MInimal water changes (20% every couple months)
Tom Barr defines 4 methods(see: http://www.barrreport.com/you-new-a...ere/2890-step-2-chose-method-learn-well.html).
Of these methods I finally ended up with a low-maintenance non c02 tank that is sort of working. It has plants that are growing slowly, interesting fish, and while it has some algae it is nothing I can't keep on top of. I'm not dosing much of anything. A capful of excel and a tablespoon of PMDD for traces every couple weeks but basically am relying on the fish waste for plant fertilizer. I am trying to follow the methodology Tom laid out in http://www.barrreport.com/estimative-index/2817-non-co2-methods.html
I tried for over a year to have a low-light CO2 enriched version of the tank. I had a fairly good ph controller and a homemade reactor in line with one of the canister filters. I had very bad algae problems that I could never get on top of. Black bush and string algae. Tried more CO2, less CO2, heavy ferts, no ferts, fiddled with light ing period. I had lots of theories but I never could get something that worked.
Now that I have hopefully given enough background information some questions:
1. Is my Fish load just too high and NH4 from fish the root cause of my algae?
2. Would adding CO2 help or hurt from an algae control perspective? Based on past experience I know any sudden increase in light, CO2, or nutrients is quite likely to help the algae more than the plants. However, I still have a chronic algae problem, it is just low enough I've learned to live with it. Also, I would like my plants to grow just a bit better.
3. How does my hot tank temperature impact algae and plants? I'm pretty much stuck with it because my home electric bill already pushes $300/month for AC in Phoenix.
4. Any suggested changes to get algae more under control? Specifically if I add CO2 how should I do the transition and what if anything should I start to dose?
5. Does Tom or anyone have a good summary methodology and explanation of how to manage a low light CO2 enriched tank. I really found Tom's summary of the non-CO2 method very illuminating. I feel like the low light tank CO2 enriched tank may be this awkward middle ground that is inherently unstable from an algae perspective and am searching for guidance.
-Dan