Heavily planted tanks - what happens during night?

[Silly me]

I have 125Watts of fullspectrum light and 2x DIY yeast 2l CO2 bottles..

plants is


1 - Ceratopteris cornuta
2 - Unknown
3 - small Java fern
4 - Dwarf swords
5 - Anubias barteri var. barteri
6 - Anubias barteri var. nana
7 - Vallisneria
8 - unkown sword

The dwarf sword is growing very long and far appart so I am thinking of replaceing the the front tubes with new ones and add 20 watts more.. lol

I also have a new setup 10 gallon with 60 watts thats 6wpg.. ( 2x6700k 1x18000K)
all the plant in there was trimings from the 30 gallon, the setup is only 3 hours old in the pic but I hope to get a more dense growth of dwarf swords in front. also the fish load is almost nothing .. the filter is a DIY powerhead/corner/biofilter (that works much better that the aquaclear 200 that was on there.. ) that was running for 3 months in my oscar tank

 

[smithrc]

I have 125Watts of fullspectrum light and 2x DIY yeast 2l CO2 bottles..

plants is


1 - Ceratopteris cornuta
2 - Unknown
3 - small Java fern
4 - Dwarf swords
5 - Anubias barteri var. barteri
6 - Anubias barteri var. nana
7 - Vallisneria
8 - unkown sword

The dwarf sword is growing very long and far appart so I am thinking of replaceing the the front tubes with new ones and add 20 watts more.. lol

I also have a new setup 10 gallon with 60 watts thats 6wpg.. ( 2x6700k 1x18000K)
all the plant in there was trimings from the 30 gallon, the setup is only 3 hours old in the pic but I hope to get a more dense growth of dwarf swords in front. also the fish load is almost nothing .. the filter is a DIY powerhead/corner/biofilter (that works much better that the aquaclear 200 that was on there.. ) that was running for 3 months in my oscar tank

I'd have to rub off those numbers

That is a fantastic looking tank.

- TOTM material at last!
Nominated.

 

[lizard]

I'd have to rub off those numbers

That is a fantastic looking tank.

- TOTM material at last!
Nominated.

I'll second the nomination! But I agree, rub off them numbers - they get in the way of seeing the fish and plants

Pamela
aka Married Lizard

 

[yhbae]

Very nice setup!

One question - you are saying a corner filter works better than a power filter. Wouldn't corner filter produce more water disturbance than a power filter with the water filled all the way to the top? (I assume it is better because of the ability to keep CO2 in the water).

 

[sinistral]

I was surfing through the web and re-discovered Hoa G. Nguyen's wonderful website about his planted tank, and thought of this thread. I am going to quote from his website, so these are not my original thoughts (to make sure I give credit where credit is due ). Here is the link to his website.

So that should be reassuring to all of us (if a bit complex)

 

[yhbae]

Hmm that reminds me of something - if I start inject CO2, I will drop pH significantly... Perhaps I should re-think about keeping platies there, perhaps other SA species instead which might actually enjoy this environment...

Thanks for the info, sinistral!

 

[sinistral]

Welcome, I was glad to stumble across it as I didn't know the answer either. Hoa Ngyuen does mention that you might consider adding baking soda to the tank to help buffer against pH changes when adding CO2. To me, at my skill level this seems on the complicated side. I wouldn't know how to do this titration.

 

[Bangin]

I use baking soda to increase the alkalinity. The measurement is 1 teaspoon of baking soda per 12.5 gallons will increase the kH by 4°. I simply add a little to the water change bucket.

http/www.aqualink.com/columns/k-hands7.html

From link:

If you test your water and find out that your KH is on the low side the easiest way to increase it is to add baking soda (sodium bicarbonate).  One teaspoon of baking soda in spproximately 12.5 gallons of water will increase KH by 4 degrees.  Be careful with this however, because baking soda can also raise pH.  The best way to make this addition is to dissolve 1/2 teaspoon baking soda in some tank water and pour it over the surface of the tank; wait an hour and test KH and pH.  If neither has increased, repeat the process but stop when/if the pH increases by 0.2  Test each day for a few days to make sure the KH is staying more or less stable and then monitor this on a weekly basis.  I routinely add a little (less than a teaspoon) baking soda to the change water when I do weekly water changes. You can also add some uncoated shells to your filter or tank; as these dissolve the GH and KH will increase slightly.

 

[sinistral]

No new content, but wanted to say thanks for that link and info Bangin!

 

[yhbae]

I've been using baking soda for a while on my mbuna tank, so I'm not afraid of using them, but in a CO2-injected tank... Hmm...

Imagine what happens if DIY CO2 expires and produces no CO2 - pH will sky rocket in a very short period of time! (only a theory... ).

I think I'll stick with DIY CO2 and fishes which like acidic/soft water. May be I can turn it into a breeding tank for either German blue ram or Kribs with some tetras as dithers.