New Set Up

[blur one]

Sorry no pictures at the moment....will upload later.

I have been running my new 6ft by 2.5 ft by 2.5 ft tank for 10 days..... These are the parameters.

PH 6.3 - 6.4 At end of C02 period
PH 7.4 before CO2 period
KH 2
GH 0
NO2 < 0.1 mg
NO 3 0.5 mg/l
O2 at 4 mg
PO4 at 0.25 to 0.5
Fe at 0.1 mg/l
Lighting period is now at 7 hours...will be increasing it slowly.
Temperature 27 to 29 (Depending on room temp and whether lights on or not)

I am using 3 150W MH Lights (2 ft above the water)

Question.....when do I start dosing fert ??

I have Lushgro Aqua and Micro, Seachem Potassium Sulphate.....at hand at the moment.

Occupants are a few Yamato's and cherry shrimps, 18 Rummy nose, 4 cigar fish, 10 golden algae eaters and 5 SAE..... all are doing well (I think...cant see the shrimps and cigar fish often). Only the SAE are dying sometimes...... ??

I want to increase my KH slowly and have been using Baking Soda....is there any adverse effect with using Baking Soda ? What about calcium carbonate tablets....someone is selling them in Singapore.... are they alright to use ? Any brands that are recommended ? In other words can we find any at the pharmacy ?

Is the PH swing alright ?? I am using a sump filter......bubbling at a fast rate....cant count the bubbles......

Changed water 20% on day 4 and 7.......any other advise for a beginner ???

I intend to put an aro into the tank in about 2 to 3 months....

Any assistance is appreciated.

[Aeon]

I think you added the bioload a little too early.
The pH swing can be reduced by increasing your KH to about 4-5. Since now you have 2 you can just use some KH-raising filter media to maintain a +2-3 KH.

I see you are using Sodium bicarbonate to raise the KH. You must have use quite alot for such a big tank.
Anyway the best is to use calcium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate. The K is also beneficial for startup tanks. sodium is said to be not good if too much. not too sure... who had done research?
CaCO i think can get from chemistry supplies, those that supply school science labs. maybe you can find out and post it here or something...

29degC is a little high for perfect plant and fish condition. Use some fans to lower it to 26-27.

[victri]

Can't wait to see your pics!

Funny that your gH is 0. Maybe you can try coral chips to buffer the water, instead of baking soda.

You can use CaCO3 tablets, but I have no idea what kind of concentration that will add to your tank. Anyway, if you use coral chips, they would provide the Ca and Mg, in addition to regular water changes.

Watch the water parameters the next 2-3 weeks as the tank is still cycling and any spike might finish off your shrimps.

[blur one]

Fishes were added on the 7th day...(Rummy Cigar and Golden) but the few shrimps and SAE on the 4th day...was following Denerlle booklet....

Where to get CACO3 tablets ???

Will upload pics soon.

Using some fast growing plants to establish the tank......

Planting the hairgrass took a long time and my back is still killing me....

[Aeon]

[quote:7ee5a25cc1="blur one"]Planting the hairgrass took a long time and my back is still killing me....[/quote:7ee5a25cc1]

Me also experienced that.

[PeterGwee]

Blur one, you are losing way too much CO2 from that sump. What kind of sump are you using? IOS or a separate dedicated sump? Try to minimize splashing in the overflow part by placing soft filter media like wool or coarse filter pads. From the current situation, it seems the CO2 is a big issue here. You are likely to be very low on CO2 during the first couple of hours into the photoperiod and perharps even the mid-day which is going to cause problems. Try to address the CO2 issue by preventing the loss through the overflow and get 20-30ppm throughout the entire photoperiod and not just the start or end. Only after you have address that do you need to think about the nutrients.

Plant heavily, get good circulation throughout the tank, add loads of mulm to the sump and you would have less issues.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[blur one]

Its a separate dedicated sump....yep co2 Loss is an issue. Will take the PH readings more often over the weekend.... to see if there is sufficient CO2 throughout the photo period.

By the way...what is mulm ???

In the overflow section I have a pipe so that water splashing is kept to a minimum.

What is the usual PH swings between lights on and off ??

The PH readings were taken at end of light on / CO2 on period and just before the light on / CO2 on period..... my PH is quite stable during the light on period...

I keep getting GH reading of zero....am I using it correctly..... I am using Aquimedi and Sera GH test kits... for the tests...the colour just gets darker greenish.....does not change colour.....anyone got experience with GH kits ??