New planted set up

[coolbucks]

Hi All,

Just set up my new planted tank...I am welcome for comments on this scaping...

Gd or bad comments are welcome...

I have a problem that my ph is at 7.8...anyway to bring the ph dwn without turning the water colour to brownish..I mean using the peat medias....

Tank size :5.5ft
PH : With co2 inject,w/o inject is 7.8(Base on ADA co2 indictor)
KH : 2
NH 4 : 0
NO2 : 0
NO3 : less than 5ppm
Gravel : aquaclay with iinsert root booster
Liquid fert. : using OTTO iron and plant nutrients
lighting : 4x 80 watts T% lighting
Fishes : discus x 6 pcs, neon tetras, running nose,tiger barbes...
Duration of light : (6hrs per day, for 1wks. increase to 7 hrs for second wks. increase to 8hrs on 3rd wks)

[AquaObsession]

I woudl suggest more hardscape. Can have a big DW in one corner, then an open swimming space for the discus.

[PeterGwee]

Way too little plant mass to start with. You need to plant 5-10x more than what you have there. If you start with more plants, you have less chance of algae since more plants means more uptake of NH4. Amano does that as well....

Regards
Peter Gwee

[kemp]

agree with Peter too. too little plants for a newly set up tank

[|squee|]

Don't attempt to lower the pH by any other means other than CO2 injection. Seriously, plants don't mind, and fish don't mind either (unless you're conditioning them to breed or something).

[Rokerites]

Though no veteran here myself, I do think your btank is a wee bit too bare to start with.
Another issue is that putting rowdy tiger barb in with the neon tetra and the discus is little worrying. Hopefully with a big tank, they don't harass them too much .

[coolbucks]

I woudl suggest more hardscape. Can have a big DW in one corner, then an open swimming space for the discus.

Hi Aquaobsession. like how to make it more hardscape.. can share wth me.. if put another DW at the corner, all my tall plants need to put into the centre... big size plants...will it be too cramp...???

[coolbucks]

Way too little plant mass to start with. You need to plant 5-10x more than what you have there. If you start with more plants, you have less chance of algae since more plants means more uptake of NH4. Amano does that as well....

Regards
Peter Gwee

hi peter gwee..

Think of that also... but will it have a problem later as the space will be too compact and plants might not spread out evenly...

[coolbucks]

agree with Peter too. too little plants for a newly set up tank

Think of that also... but will it have a problem later as the space will be too compact and plants might not spread out evenly...unless, i plants heavily later remove some of the plants after it mature...

Thining of another idea... use suker to hold hornwart plants and stick to the glass until the tank mature then remove it... understanding alage will visit my tank and i hate it...

If got a crew of algae eater should be able to control it, right??

[coolbucks]

Don't attempt to lower the pH by any other means other than CO2 injection. Seriously, plants don't mind, and fish don't mind either (unless you're conditioning them to breed or something).

ok... but like that my co2 inject will be more as the ph is too high and need to bring dwn to the correct ph and once when the co2 cease and the ph willl back to normal...

As the ph will goes up n dwn before / after the inject co2... will it have an impact to those fishes... as fishers don't like the ph changes so suddenly...
as my ph now is 7.6 and after inject the co2, the ph will goes dwn to 6.8... a lot of differences in the ph.. don't know the fishes can take it or not....

[coolbucks]

Though no veteran here myself, I do think your btank is a wee bit too bare to start with.
Another issue is that putting rowdy tiger barb in with the neon tetra and the discus is little worrying. Hopefully with a big tank, they don't harass them too much .

izzist?? so far, discus is ok and swimming happily in the new tank n big space for them...a cond. for them ....

[|squee|]

as fishers don't like the ph changes so suddenly...
as my ph now is 7.6 and after inject the co2, the ph will goes dwn to 6.8... a lot of differences in the ph.. don't know the fishes can take it or not....

I remember reading somewhere on this forum that pH changes over a period of time is totally fine for fish. It's not the pH change that kills the fish, it's the "osmotic change" of something-something. Everyone who has a CO2 injected tank has this "problem" which really isn't a problem at all.

Look at Amano, he pumps CO2 into so many different tanks with different fishes. He even runs aeration at night to get rid of excess CO2 and get the tank oxygenated. Wouldn't there be a substantial rise in pH?

And if you lower down the pH, wouldn't you be risking more because during CO2 injection the pH will get lowered even more?

And there's no correct pH as far as I know! The "correct pH" is different for every plant and fish and you seriously want to work hard to obtain and maintain that pH level?

I'd rather focus on things more important: plant health and CO2. I believe that if you focus on the plants, the rest of the tank will take care of itself.

[alan53]

I have my PH sitting on 7. My fish seem to be pretty healthy with it on that level. I dont inject CO2, (yet) but I am looking into giving it a try. I am sorry that I dont have any advice for you but I am very new at this myself. By the way, I do like the look of the log with the plant attached to it. I think if you follow some of the advice given by the other more knowledgeable members, I am sure you will be rewarded. Best of luck with the tank and please post another picture after it has established itself.

[AquaObsession]

Hi Aquaobsession. like how to make it more hardscape.. can share wth me.. if put another DW at the corner, all my tall plants need to put into the centre... big size plants...will it be too cramp...???

You can get those branchy DW (bogwood) and plant your plants around them. you can even have your tall plants behind the DW. Have a look in the aquascaping section under "ADA Top 6 tank" there are plenty of pictures there.

There are even plants that you can tie to the wood. (java fern, anubia, crypts, bolbities, pelia, etc).

Having a scape with plant mostly is called a Dutch scape if i am not wrong. Do a search, you are likely to find some good articles. But it can be very hard as well, since you have to have a good judgement of the plants growth rate as well. At least with some hardscape, you can more easily break the tank into sections.

Christophe

[coolbucks]

hi all,

An update on my current tank. Add in one more DW with lot of plants tied to it and addition some tall plants behind the DW and tiger lotus....

[coolbucks]

hi,

I need some assistant here, currently my ADA co2 checker shown 7.4 PH after inject with numerour of co2...but i still can't achieve the 6.8 PH... I am running on a sump tank sys with durso overflow sys within the overflow compartment...

I have just detected that my cotton wool got lot of foams on top on those wool..what is the cause to it??

my current co2 is inject into the external co2 reactor(NA design) at the last return pump compartment and how to make it effective for the co2??

Can someone assist me on that as I am not familiar using sump tank sys for planted.. Aware that co2 usage will be slight on high side due to the sump tank design...

my current sump tank is not those wet n dry design... those water level is normal straight flow over on top to the next compartment that water flow thru from bottom to the top..

[PeterGwee]

Raising the overflow water level and minimising the splashing would reduce the amount of CO2 lost. You are doing a 5.5ft tank and that means amount of CO2 used should be more also. Using splitters coupled with needle valves would help count the amount of CO2 needed if it gets too high (almost impossible to count more than 3bps...). You can use the current CO2 reactor plus addition of a couple of CO2 diffusers in different parts of the tank to aid in getting an even spread of CO2 rich water.

I would use a pH and KH test kit to get an better idea of the amount of CO2 in the water and then work from there then rather a CO2 drop checker.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[coolbucks]

okok...just tested ph at 7.4 and kh at 3... will buy one splitter to joint my current co2 tank...

[Puffer]

coolbucks,

Just my 2 cts on the following 3 pts for your consideration:

(1) Though there are some who have discus in water ph>7, I would think they are happier in ph of slightly <7. I think it's your gravels that cause ph to be in alkaline side. Perhaps you could add a bag of peat moss in filter with carbon to remove the stain coloration? I would not think it's wise to make use of co2 as way to reduce ph.

(2) Why not consider planting one or two Amazon Swordplants? They usually go very well with discus showtank and it's hardy enough with lesser maintenance.

(3) With branchy DW (sharp points), be wary of discus dashing and hurting themselves.

Cheers,
Puffer

[coolbucks]

coolbucks,

Just my 2 cts on the following 3 pts for your consideration:

(1) Though there are some who have discus in water ph>7, I would think they are happier in ph of slightly <7. I think it's your gravels that cause ph to be in alkaline side. Perhaps you could add a bag of peat moss in filter with carbon to remove the stain coloration? I would not think it's wise to make use of co2 as way to reduce ph.

(2) Why not consider planting one or two Amazon Swordplants? They usually go very well with discus showtank and it's hardy enough with lesser maintenance.

(3) With branchy DW (sharp points), be wary of discus dashing and hurting themselves.

Cheers,
Puffer

hi puffer,

Can the carbon really remove the stain coloration? have u try before??can water softener media do the same feature?? Amazon Swordplants,which lfs selling it and expensive??