New Planted Nano- Co2

[Lolly123]

Hi all,

Just setup my planted nano tank, it is 30-40L, fluval u1 internal, ada aqua soil and the co2 kit from TMC, it's the expert kit I think with the glass fittings. As for the lighting i've got a dennerle 11w nano light, actually i've got multiple units, I was going to use two, but am running the one at the moment until I get some further advice.

Plants are hermianthus callitrichoides and didiplis diandra.

When i go up to my tank and place my ear within about 8 inches of the glass, I can hear a fizzing sound. I'm assuming this is the fine bubbles of co2 passing through the diffuser. May sound like a dumb question but I want to make sure there are no leaks as it is the first time i've used pressurised co2. It's not coming from the bottle i'm pretty sure of that. It's running at about 2bps.

I've got a bottle of tpn+, should I be dosing or will the nutrients from the soil be enough?

I can see loads and loads of bubbles on the plant leaves, i assume the pearling is only a good thing?

I've attempted plants before on a big tank and failed miserably, this time I want to get it right. All advice much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[RadaR]

When i go up to my tank and place my ear within about 8 inches of the glass, I can hear a fizzing sound. I'm assuming this is the fine bubbles of co2 passing through the diffuser

.

Sounds right.

I've got a bottle of tpn+, should I be dosing or will the nutrients from the soil be enough?

I would be dosing still. It's only going to be 2ml per day.

I can see loads and loads of bubbles on the plant leaves, i assume the pearling is only a good thing?

Might be. Could also be CO2 bubbles getting trapped and then getting larger due to more bubbles hitting the same place. Easy way to check is, turn off CO2, shake the plants, turn off the fitler and wait. If it's pearling then you should clearly see that it is. Once satisfied, turn the CO2 and filter back on.

 

[Lolly123]

Thanks for your reply. I'll start with the dosing as of tomorrow. I've got no live stock yet so I have a bit of a free reign.

Few more thoughts... should I add the second light, which makes 22w in total and do you recommend turning the co2 down to its lowest at night? I know it won't matter too much now as I've got no fish, but am asking for future reference.

TY.

 

[RadaR]

Adding the extra 11W should still be ok. After all you have good CO2 and nutrients.
In order to cope with the high metabollic waste from the growing plants, you might have to perform two water changes per week.
You can turn CO2 off at night. Make sure the CO2 comes on 2hours before the lights come on and then turn the CO2 off two hours before lights go out.

 

[Lolly123]

I switched co2 on this morning 2 hours before lights came on as you suggested and also dosed 2ml of TPN+. Maybe i'm being over cautious but the regulator on top of the bottle has a little knob you turn to adjust the amount of co2, last night I placed that in the off position. I always thought a solenoid was used to shut off the flow, i'm confused as to whether it's built in on my kit or not. As you can tell i'm very new to this.

I've done a bit of reading about my filter, the fluval u1 and I think I may have made a bad choice in regards to filtration, it's not 3 stage as some sites suggest, there is just one sponge in there! I can not direct the flow of water either and im concerned that the co2 will not be distributed efficiently. Might it be wise to look for a better filter, but keeping in mind I do not have a lot of space to play with.

I don't plan to add fish for a while yet, but given that the ada is supposed to leach ammonia i assume this may kick start the filter until the leaching subsides. The water looks a tad cloudy, how long do you suggest I have my lights on? (I've added the second light now)... I dont want to promote any algae growth.

I'm getting a drop checker this week, so for now i'm adding co2 blindly which doesn't help, but that'll be sorted soon.

Thanks again.

 

[RadaR]

7 or 8hours of light.

With regards to turning the CO2 off. If you dont have a solenoid then best thing is turning the main valvae, which allows gas from the cylinder, into the regulator.