Reply With QuoteYour fishes and shrimps should give only minimal waste right? Thinking of following your fertilizer cycle after I finish all my seachem range since its proven to work well. Do you think there will be a need to dose N & P eventually after sometime?
Yes, for this tank i'm currently only using the Premium version... i have fishes in the tank and feed them a few times a week, along with an army of cherry shrimps and some algae eaters helping to clean up too, so there is enough N and P generated from the combination of food, fauna waste and aquasoil at the moment. Plants are growing fast and algae is very minimal so its working well.Originally Posted by Ingen
From my observation, the nutrient take-up rate of the plants are dictated by the amount of light available, i only use 1 set of the Z-Series lights, which probably matches the current nutrient levels in the tank, so its kept in balance. If more lights were used, then more nutrients will need to be added to keep up with the plant growth, so have to adjust accordingly.
Your fishes and shrimps should give only minimal waste right? Thinking of following your fertilizer cycle after I finish all my seachem range since its proven to work well. Do you think there will be a need to dose N & P eventually after sometime?
Thats initially what i thought too, but even with minimal feeding the fishes and shrimps still seem to produce more than enough waste to generate sufficient N and P for the plants in this setup. The ADA aquasoil is still steadily releasing nutrients too, so it helps. I haven't seen any noticeable deficiencies in the plants so far.
I've experienced dosing Specialised in previous tanks with similar setups before and found it more tricky to keep in balance, so i gradually learnt from those experiences over time.
I guess if a tank has much less fauna in comparison to the tank size (or none at all, like those aquascaped tanks which focus on mainly growing plants only and later just add a school of fish temporarily to take photos, then remove them after that) or if the tank is those "high energy" types with alot of lights/Co2 and tuned for very fast plant growth, or perhaps when the ADA aquasoil has exhausted its stored nutrients, then it'll be required to start dosing N and P.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 10th Dec 2013 at 16:51.
Wah looks like alot of effort.. But worth it!
Hi Urban noob question but how do you prime your filter with the ISTA reactor attached? I actually have that one too, when I attached it to my Ecco Pro 300 and used the priming handle, it could never create enough suction to properly prime the filter as when there is no reactor. Tried pulling down the handle fast, slow, a few times, but still no go. I've actually ended up keeping the reactor and going for a normal nano-diffuser in the meantime.
You can try manually prime the canister first. By filling up the canister with tank water or decholrinated water first before starting the canister, is should help kick start and overcome the loss of vacuum/pressure.
Inspired by AmanoLimited by Yusof Ishak
I prime mine using the priming handle, just one pull and it starts the siphon. Once it's fills up, i'll just switch on the filter to start the flow. Btw, there will usually be an initial pocket of air in the reactor, therefore i just angle the reactor unit slightly upside down (while the filter is running) so that the air pocket rises to the exit tube and clears through the outflow.
Maybe in your case your tank's water level is too low or the inflow pipe height too tall when priming it, so the priming action can't generate enough vacuum to draw the water past the bend at the top of the inflow pipe (which automatically starts the siphon and fills the canister filter)... perhaps try raising the water level closer to the top bend of the inflow pipe (my tank's water level is usually just 3-4cm below the pipe bend), that should enable very easy priming using the Ecco Pro's priming handle.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 2nd Jan 2014 at 02:31.
Hi urban aquaria, Nice scape! how many tanks do you have? You seems to have a lot haha! How did you manage the space?
Thanks!
At the moment, i'm running 3 x 2ft tanks.... one 2ft tank is on a cabinet in a room (display tank), while the other 2 x 2ft tanks are currently stacked on a 2-tier rack in my store room (one for plant grow-out/experiment/quarantine and another for shrimp grow-out/breeding).
2ft tanks still have a relatively compact footprint, can be easily shifted and fit in most places. I would prefer to keep 3ft or larger tanks though (just one 3ft tank already has more volume than all the 2ft tanks that i have combined), but oddly i can't fit those larger tanks into any places in my home as they'll end up blocking movement and access to areas.
Very nice setup!
Hmm, that's the thing, even with the pull, the siphon starts but it doesn't create enough suction to fill up the tank with the reactor attached. I do have my water level quite high too, usually about 2cm from the top. I think I'll try again the next time my diffuser starts going too green (which is about anytime now!) and hope it works better this time.
Could also be that at that time the canissiter was empty, I'll try to prime with it full. Thanks for the tips!
Just to update, it works! Used a high tank level of water with the reactor filled with as much water as possible. Primed, turned it on and it's working. Initially was a bit puzzled by the water trickling sound, then remembered someone on the forums said it was due to the air. Inverted it to let the air out and now it's silent except for a low rumble. I did notice a backflow of water along the co2 line when the co2 is off, seems to have stabilized but hope it doesn't continue rising through the night. Maybe I'll install another check valve just in case.
Thanks again to Urban and bennyc! =)
Its very interesting to view how you rescape your tank bit by bit. And to get that final result, I'm very satisfied to follow your posting. Yhank you for posting so much information in the thread
Awesome work urban. Step by step guides definitely help in helping people set up one. For in line diffusers, what are the Costs associated to it?
Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk
The Up Aqua inline diffuser/atomizer i used previously cost around S$30+... the current ISTA inline "turbo" reactor i'm using cost just S$19+.
Which is better? inline diffuzer or inline reactor?The Up Aqua inline diffuser/atomizer i used previously cost around S$30+... the current ISTA inline "turbo" reactor i'm using cost just S$19+.
Im using Aqua inline,thought of changing it,since you try both,i need your opinion which is better?
Well, for both types of inline systems the positive Co2 effect on plant growth seems to be the around same... at least that's what i've noticed in my tanks so far.
Maintenance-wise, inline diffusers/atomizers will need some additional cleaning done on the ceramic parts when it gets clogged over time. Inline reactors don't get clogged and are easier to clean, but you need to match the right sized reactor to the canister filter flow rate and Co2 bps rate for it to work optimally.
I guess the main difference during daily operation is with an inline diffuser/atomizer there is more of a misty look in the tank when its activated, whereas with an inline reactor the tank will look clear as the Co2 is fully dissolved into the water.
How much does a whole co2 set roughly cost? I need one for an eheim 2213. Any recommendations?
I'm not sure how to set it up as well so I would need some expert advice.
I'm thinking of just growing mini fissidens, star mosses, glosso and hc that's it
Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk
I got mine brand new, tank with solenoid for under $200 from Nanyang. Lots of people do sell theirs on the marketplace though. Just need to make sure there's not been any water damage to the solenoid and tank. Those plants you've chosen will definitely look better with CO2
For reference, here is an example of a complete packaged set from East Ocean (same set which i'm currently using): http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ystem-on-promo
If you are not sure how to set it up, just get a new complete package set from LFS and they will setup everything up for you, so all you need to do is bring the whole fixed-up set home and then just connect the hoses and diffuser and switch it on, then tune the bps rate to your requirements.
Buying 2nd hand sets can save a good amount of money, but you'll need to check that its working properly and get the seller to teach you how to use it.
Bookmarks