MoreCoffee
Fishaholic
JamieH,
A good setup post and a good start.
Glad you chose to follow Georges advice on the dayllight tubes and leaving out the substrate heating cable. His advice is pretty reliable !
Your choice of substrates is interesting. I think you may find that the top layer combination of silver sand and gravel will separate out over time, with the finer grained sand working it's way lower down. But that shouldn't be a problem.
I was a little suprised to see you have chosen Ferka ferts after reading another thread where you thought their root tabs were the cause of a problem in another setup of yours. Although I've never used Ferka, I know lot they are a popular choice and I dont think you'll have a problem with them.
None of the above should cause you any worries at all, I think the one place where you may have problems is with your Co2 levels, but you already seem to be aware of this.
Yeast/DIY Co2 in a 240Ltr tank is going to struggle to give you the sort of levels you'll need with 2.4wpg lighting. You really need to be aiming to be above 25ppm, preferably a stable 30ppm.
Your DIY reactor will help, but I dont think it'll get up high enough for your fast growing stems to out compete the algae. Keeping your Co2 at a stable level will also be an issue with a DIY system and is also an important part of Co2 in a planted tank. At first your mix will produce lots of bubbles, but it won't sustain that output and levels will fluctuate.
Keep an eye on that permanent Co2 kit ..... I think you'll need to plan for an upgrade to a pressurised system. Low or fluctuation levels of CO2 will let algae get a hold ... watch out for BBA, it'll take advantage of both of those conditions ( speaking from bitter experience ! )
Just for info ....Some of the permanent test kits can give a 'good' indication over quite a large depending on the PH of your tank. For example the JBL kit at PH 7 gives a good for 24 - 36ppm Co2 (not too bad), but With different PH's the Co2 can be as low as 19ppm or as high as 38ppm and still be shown as 'good'.
I'd also check your Co2 levels by testing your PH/KH, jsut to be sure.
Or use a reference solution with a known KH in your drop checker.
It's never easy to judge how a tank will fill out once the plant get established, but I think the fern, on the left, high up on bogwood looks a little out of place. IMHO it would look more natural placed lower down on the bogwood.
Keep us updated on progress.
Cheers
A good setup post and a good start.
Glad you chose to follow Georges advice on the dayllight tubes and leaving out the substrate heating cable. His advice is pretty reliable !
Your choice of substrates is interesting. I think you may find that the top layer combination of silver sand and gravel will separate out over time, with the finer grained sand working it's way lower down. But that shouldn't be a problem.
I was a little suprised to see you have chosen Ferka ferts after reading another thread where you thought their root tabs were the cause of a problem in another setup of yours. Although I've never used Ferka, I know lot they are a popular choice and I dont think you'll have a problem with them.
None of the above should cause you any worries at all, I think the one place where you may have problems is with your Co2 levels, but you already seem to be aware of this.
Yeast/DIY Co2 in a 240Ltr tank is going to struggle to give you the sort of levels you'll need with 2.4wpg lighting. You really need to be aiming to be above 25ppm, preferably a stable 30ppm.
Your DIY reactor will help, but I dont think it'll get up high enough for your fast growing stems to out compete the algae. Keeping your Co2 at a stable level will also be an issue with a DIY system and is also an important part of Co2 in a planted tank. At first your mix will produce lots of bubbles, but it won't sustain that output and levels will fluctuate.
Keep an eye on that permanent Co2 kit ..... I think you'll need to plan for an upgrade to a pressurised system. Low or fluctuation levels of CO2 will let algae get a hold ... watch out for BBA, it'll take advantage of both of those conditions ( speaking from bitter experience ! )
Just for info ....Some of the permanent test kits can give a 'good' indication over quite a large depending on the PH of your tank. For example the JBL kit at PH 7 gives a good for 24 - 36ppm Co2 (not too bad), but With different PH's the Co2 can be as low as 19ppm or as high as 38ppm and still be shown as 'good'.
I'd also check your Co2 levels by testing your PH/KH, jsut to be sure.
Or use a reference solution with a known KH in your drop checker.
It's never easy to judge how a tank will fill out once the plant get established, but I think the fern, on the left, high up on bogwood looks a little out of place. IMHO it would look more natural placed lower down on the bogwood.
Keep us updated on progress.
Cheers
