55 Gallon New Tank

[amagphoto]

Not a novice at freshwater tanks, but new to a live planted aquarium. Just have no clue. I have a 55 gallon fresh, with a 2217 eheim canister filter system....have used the spraybar and also now have taken that off and put the single "j hook" on for outflow because I was told not to disturb the water surface too much for CO2 benefits....once I did this my fish were showing signs of oxygen depletion so have added a small air pump with single airstone to one side of tank for now. I'm really confused about this, is the 2217 eheim just too much pump/water circulation for a planted tank to do well??? On one hand, do you need little circulation to allow CO2 to get to the plants??.....but my plants don't seem to be producing much oxygen yet, are new plants....tank is in the 4th week of cycle. I have 2 amazon swords, 4 brazillian swords, 3 other background plants, and a couple thin mid plants...so not a ton of plants yet. Amazon swords do have brown agea growing on them....have 2 flying foxes in the tank to help with that.

All water tests look right on, except ph is a little high....7.6 ....I am currently adding Flourish organic CO2, and Flourish liquid plant food (just started the other day)....What is the best filtration/circulation set up....it seems if the water is still and the plants haven't really "taken off" yet you need to supplement with air???

The first big question I need answered is about the 2217 eheim, is it just too much pump/circulation for a planted tank to do well?
Will the liquid CO2 be adequate?
Should I take out the airstone or leave it?

This is getting to be a lot harder than I ever thought with live plants....but they look great....HELP!!

 

[anodized]

2217 is good for filtration. on my tank i have the spraybar about mid level in the tank and spraying down.
taking the airstone out will help your plants. if there's enough light the plants will produce oxygen but it may be slow enough that you dont see it. after a water change you'll definitely notice though.

liquid co2 should be fine unless you're running a mid to high light tank. ph does seem a bit high, it should come down if you have CO2 dissolved into the water.

 

[nicklfire]

Exactly what i do with my tank setup pretty much
i got a eheim canister filter with a spray bar about 3" below the water surface and my co2 diffuser is at the bottom of the tank and the small tiny bubbles flow up , get into the spray bar current that points mid-low and the bubbles go in the current :0

ezy enuf