Activated Carbon???

[limsteel]

Is activated carbon necessary in a planted tank? It soaks up lots of chem in the water in cluding trace elements, NH3, blar blar blar... I got a bag in my external filter...

My plants are growing well but is not bubbling.

[lorba]

Activated Carbon might be one of the culprit, would u fill up your tank info so that the rest can help.

Beginners Info Sheet
--------------------

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH):
Tank Volume (litres or gallons):
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) :
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) :
No. of Hours your light is on :
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) :
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) :
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor):
Substrate Used :
How Thick is your base fert :
How thick is your gravel :
Liquid Fertilizers Used :
Frequency of fertilization :
Tank Temperature :
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) :
Filter media used :
How long has your tank been set up :
Other equipment :

Chemical Properties (Fill what you can)
---------------------------------------
Carbonate Hardness (KH):
Total Hardness (gH):
pH :
NH4 (ppm):
NO2 (ppm):
NO3 (ppm):
PO4 (ppm):
Fe (ppm):

Bioload (Your Fish and Plants)
------------------------------

<State what fishes and plants you have to the best of your ability>


Describe your problem :

<problem description. If you have picture which could help then please post them>

[juggler]

Activated carbon shouldn't be used in planted tank. Just like other chemical filtration method claiming to remove ammomnia etc. They suck up nutrients importat to the plants.

Plants not bubbling can be due to insufficient light/nutrients. Or even too high a fish load. But if they are growing well, it shouldn't be a worry.

Tell us more about your tank and see if we can help.

Cheers!

[limsteel]

Beginners Info Sheet
--------------------
Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 3 x 1.5 x 1.5

Tank Volume (litres or gallons): ~ 150 - 180 litre

Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 86 Watts

Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : FL

No. of Hours your light is on : 9hrs

CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : about 1 to 2 bubble a sec

Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : Tanks

Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): Reactor with 3 balls

Substrate Used : those 2mm grain types...

How Thick is your base fert : 2 cm mostly at the back

How thick is your gravel : 1' front slopping to 4' back

Liquid Fertilizers Used : FE, Mg, K, bought at http://www.nature-aquarium.com

Frequency of fertilization : Once a week or two, after 20% water change

Tank Temperature : 28 to 30

Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : Canister made in China

Filter media used : Sponge, BioBall, BioRing, Activated Carbon

How long has your tank been set up : few months

Other equipment : additional small internal filter as water outlet of cannster filter is releasing brown stuff into the water...

Chemical Properties (Fill what you can)
---------------------------------------
Carbonate Hardness (KH): ~17.9ppm
Total Hardness (gH): ~107 - 125ppm
pH : ~6.5 to 7
NH4 (ppm): no test kit
NO2 (ppm): no test kit
NO3 (ppm): no test kit
PO4 (ppm): no test kit
Fe (ppm): no test kit

Bioload (Your Fish and Plants)
------------------------------
11 Rummy Nose
40+ Cardinal
15+ Neon
3 Corys
4 Oto cats
2 SAE
2 Golden Suckers / lemon suker (something like that)
4 Threadfin Rainbow
30 Malayan Shrimp

Found out as much of the Plant names.

General foreground: Glossostigma elatinoides
Geberal Background: Riccia (not satisfy with result...)
Floating around: Ceratophyllum demersum
clockwise form left front corner of tank
Left foreground: Hydrocotyle leucocephala or verticillata (not sure!)
Left midground: unknown... Java fern maybe???
Left back: Hygrophila difformis
Center Back: Unknown, Tall slim grassy plant, Lilaeopsis novae-zealandiae maybe???
Center midground: Echindorus Rose
Center midground: unknown
Mid Right back: Alternanthera reineckii 'roseafolia' (I think!)
Mid Right mid: unknow, Cabomba furcáta maybe??
Extreme right back: Echinodorus bleheri
Extreme right Front: Echinodorus parviflorus

Describe your problem : No violent bubbling I see from other aquarium! mine every 30 sec can see 1 bubble only! Sianzzz! increase CO2 injection also no effect!

[ek]

one thing is for sure, your lighting is way too low for a 3ft esp u have light demanding plants like riccia and glossostigma , try at least 4x36W to give u close to 3W/gallon. Also take out the activated carbon as what juggler has suggested.

As for other parameters, others may want to comments.

[lorba]

You should increase the amt of light, probably 4 x 36W PL. Plants like riccia, glosso needs that much. In your case, carpet plants are likely to suffer.

may look at increasing lighting period to say 12hrs?

are you using any fan or lower the temperature. Some of the plants need lower temperature for better growth. Glosso is one.

Are you adjusting co2 injection according to tank parameters? 'micro-managers' here may be able to tell you more.

Once a week or two per water change and fertilizing? I think a more routine regime will give the tank more constant level of nutrients.

Remove activated carbon. It removes not only toxic, but in fact, everything like nutrients etc. Since the tank is few months old, you wouldnt really need it. Also, you will need to change it very frequently and disturbs the bene bacterias in the filter.

Canister filter releasing brown stuff. Might be stuff leaking from old A carbon? Otherwise, check your filter medium, the floss might be clogged with brown slimes. If your small internal filter is doing a great job, you may consider removing floss (other cloggable stuff) from the canister, using it only for bio-filteration.