Road To Recovery

[Ste_J]

It's been a while since i've visited this site but after much reading recently I am glad that I did.

Firstly I have been fighting the evil BBA for some time now and recently the pesky stuff won so it was time for a change. I have a 127L tank which up until last weekend was a BBA breeding ground, this weekend found me going for a complete over haul including switch to sand and a new Eheim 2234

My bogwood got sandblasted which cleared the hairy fiend off nicely and my poor plants were discarded, I switched my old external canister filter over to my new one and now have the old filter media in a plastic mesh bag in the tank. After a few too many late nights I also found myself clicking "add to cart" for a JBL profi 1 - Hope the wife doesn't realise! Also bought the chemicals for EI - start as you mean to go on and all that.

So questions

I'm currently running 2.8 WPG over 10 hours [5 on break 5 on] I have the JBL setup and running and the bubbles are roughly 1 every other run in the reactor, the JBL has only been running for 24hrs. I have also replanted around 50% of the base.

After testing my water again today I have a KH reading of 3 [this is where i get confused] 3 being the amount of drops before the water turns yellow and a PH reading of 7 - Does this equate to 9ppm for the Co2? or have I got this completely wrong? Tried searching but search doesn't like KH

I've also got my filter intake quite low and virtually touching the sand, would I be better off cutting the length down? and if so whats the general rule of thumb?

Not tested anything else tonight but a test last night gave

NO2 0
NO3 0
PO4 1ppm

And no ammonia

So for EI I know that I have to work on these values but as a starting point I'm quite happy, and I've been to the LFS today for some RO to mix my dry ferts - Had to buy a large amount of RO but still I'll use the rest in my water change at weekend

Bit of a wobbly post really due to being tired and not thinking straight but in a nutshell Have I got my Co2 calculation right? and if so I know that i have to increase this - Any advice relating to the reactor and bubble flow?

I think that I need to cut my filter intake tube down and am thinking by about 2inch - would this be enough or too much?

For dosing my tank am I right in thinking that a 500ml bottle with 18.5 Teaspoons of Potassium nitrate will give me 1ppm for each ml added?

And that 19 teaspoons of KH2PO4 would give 1ppm also? - based on 127L 33.6 USG

Since my PO4 reading is currently at 1ppm I presume that I just need to maintain this level?

Thanks for any advice and for those in the UK with BBA if you have a pressure washer get down to B&Q for one of their sandblasting kits. £12 for the kit and a couple of £ for the sand, gets rid of all kind of furry mess Rocks come up nice as well - obviously make sure that you dont have traces of soap in the washer!!!

Forgot to ask, is the test kit supplied with the JBL anygood for testing PH - Co2?

 

[simonbrown403]

Hi ste j welcome back

Your co2 is 9ppm

Download this from chuck's planted aquarium page, the download link is at the bottom, it is a fert and co2 calculator for your desktop.

Good luck to you, keep us posted

Simon.

 

[Ste_J]

Hi ste j welcome back

Your co2 is 9ppm

Download this from chuck's planted aquarium page, the download link is at the bottom, it is a fert and co2 calculator for your desktop.

Good luck to you, keep us posted

Simon.

Thanks for the link, that will come in very handy

 

[zig]

Hiya Ste

First things first..........you are going to have to work out your KH........it depends on the KH kit you have, adding 3 drops does not mean you have a KH of 3 nescessarily, the 3 drops are usually multiplied by 10 which would give you 30ppm and this only gives you a KH of 1.7.........if the true KH is only 1.7 you will have to buffer your water with bicarbonate of soda before you start injecting the co2 proper, otherwise you run the very real risk of a Ph crash which would probably kill your fish.

So you really need to figure this out before you do any more, it would be worth reading the instructions again on the testkit, it is the dH degree that you are interested in, this is the one you need to calculate.

Once you are clear on this then you can work out the co2 level with the calculator in the link above.

As you inject the co2 just make sure you have minimum surface agitation this will enable the co2 to remain in the water longer.

Your calculations for EI are correct but you must use grams and a weighing scales of some sort to measure the quantities of the chemicals unless you have the correct measuring spoons, ordinary teaspoons as found in the kitchen all differ in size yours will probably be different than mine for instance, otherwise you will not be at all accurate in your measurements.

Cant really think of anything else, oh yeah here is a KH calculator in case you need to buffer the water.


KH calculator

 

[Ste_J]

Zig thanks for the input

I have retested this morning and found that my KH reads 3 dKH - 53.7ppm KH I actually ran 2 tests this morning because i went to bed last night thinking that maybe the spraybar was kicking out too much of a strong current on the surface, first test gave 2dKH so I turned the bar round and down so that the flow now runs down the back of the tank - surface is much smoother now!

I've also had a drop in my PH reading today which now reads at 6.4 - dropped from 7? Lights off would that explain the swing? PH7 reading was taken with Lights on

Working with the readings above I think that I have a Co2 reading of round 36ppm - does this seem right? Looks a little high to me

Another question if I may

I have my old filter media in a plastic mesh inside my tank whilst the new filter/media runs in, how long would it be advisible to keep the old media in the tank for? It's early days at the moment and it's only been in there for a week.

If my Co2 looks high please could somebody shout very loud!!! I'm working from home today so i can easily go and reduce the Co2 output if required.


Cheers

Ste

 

[zig]

Just make sure the spraybar is an inch or so under the surface of the water, i usually have mine pointing at a 45 degree angle into the middle of the tank somewhere, the KH reading will have absolutely no bearing on the positioning of the spraybar, the positioning of the spraybar is only important to minimise surface water agitation to retain the co2 efficiently.

The Ph will drop as you inject the co2 this is quite normal, a co2 reading of 36ppm is ok IMO i wouldnt unduly worry that this is to high, around 30ppm should really be the target though, so just lower it a tad.

As regards the filter media i would probably leave it in for another week this proably should be enough, if you have lots of plants in the tank this will also help the cycle as they will use up any ammonia etc before it reaches toxic levels.

I would test anyway just to be sure everything is ok.

 

[Ste_J]

Cheers Zig

Tested the other params this morning except for Amm

dKH 3
PH 6.4
No3 0
No2 0
Po4 1

Will keep an eye on the Ammonia before i remove the media as the tank is not what I would class as heavy planted

With all this in mind would it be a good time to kick off with EI? I can get my hands on my brothers digital scales tonight so would be looking for a water change on Sunday then EI if appropriate

Thanks for your input

Ste

 

[zig]

Absolutely, no time like the present to start EI, no point in letting the plants starve! just post any questions you have or if your not sure of anything.

 

[Ste_J]

Somethings not quite right here

Just retested my water tonight due to being paranoid at the moment! PH is down to 6 and my KH is reading 3dKH

Now this can't be good for my Co2 levels although the plants are starting to pearl a treat..... Think I may have over done the Co2? My Tap water doesn't even get a KH reading

Thinking of shutting the Co2 off for tonight and trying to get it right tomoz - Sound like a good idea?

/Turned the spraybar round so that the surface gets some movement

Plants were looking great but the fish were not very impressed

 

[Ste_J]

Hi could somebody give me some clarity oon something please?

After my bit of trial and error last night with my PH crash I want to make sure that i go in the right direction today.

Last night i managed to drop my PH down to 6 which the fish didn't like at all - dKH was 3, now I know that this results in high Co2 hence the fish looking like they had just had a special brew party So before I went to bed i attached an air line to the Co2 reactor and turned off the Co2 supply. This morning my PH is back up to 6.8 and the fish have sobered up - dKH 3 still

So inorder to get it right today am I right in thinking that I need to introduce the Co2 slowly and test levels throughout the day until I get back to PH 6.4 - dKH3 or should I look at a buffer for the water? If I'm on the right track then I intend on having an air line via a timer for the middle of the night to bring levels back round again - Have no way of automatically shutting Co2 off at night yet!

My Tap water readings for PH and KH are 7 PH and 0dKH - Haven't got a GH test kit yet but look at buying one today if possible.

Any help would be appriciated

Ste

 

[simonbrown403]

what are yopu using to raise your kh?

 

[Ste_J]

what are yopu using to raise your kh?

Not adding anything for the KH at the moment and never have, are you refering to the fact that my Tap water has 0 yet my tank has 3? I presume that something in the tank is doing this? Going for a 50% water change this weekend so I'll get the answer then - I'm expecting my KH to be pretty low sraight from the off but rise slowly?

 

[zig]

You need to buffer your water with bicarbonate of soda if you are getting a KH reading below 1, you can use the calculator i linked earlier to do this, be aware that this will raise the Ph also, i usually buffer my own water to around 5-6 KH this is sufficient to prevent any Ph swings.

You must have limestone or something like that in the tank in order for the KH to rise, personally i would remove it and just use the soda to raise the KH.

 

[Ste_J]

You must have limestone or something like that in the tank in order for the KH to rise, personally i would remove it and just use the soda to raise the KH.

No limestone in there, the only thing thats in the tank at the moment is a few pieces of bogwood and play sand substrate.

Going to go for a water change today to see how my levels start off but i'm still confused by the 0dKH tap water ending up as 3 by the time it settles in the tank - oh well just means I dont have to buffer as much.

How often should you add bicarb? I presume that this should only be needed at time of water change if planning on performing a 50% weekly?

Thanks for the info this is on hell of a learning curve and the wife thinks i'm going mad with my constant checking of the water. Fish just think i'm having a laugh cause they keep trying to nibble my fingers when i'm collecting the water.

 

[simonbrown403]

this might be a silly question but what bio medium do you have in your filter , is it possably coral or lime based, as i have know it happen before.