Munchy's Tank Log

[Ric]

Looking forward to reading the next chapter of this thriller!

The pics certainly all show lush looking tanks and healthy fish 

[Munchy2007]

Looking forward to reading the next chapter of this thriller!

The pics certainly all show lush looking tanks and healthy fish 

 
Thanks Ric, pleased to hear you're enjoying it

[Stephen]

Hi Martin
I'm enjoying your log

[Munchy2007]

Thanks, Stephen

I only wish I had more time to spend on the forum than I do at the moment.

[Gingerlove05]

Dont worry Munchy, we will take the updates as you have time

[Munchy2007]

Haven't found the time to sit down and recount the full story of the battle against BBA yet, but suffice to say it now does seem to be won!

I will at some point get around to it, but in the meantime, I'll do a tank progression post.

This was how it looked on 16th September this year.


And this is it today


The only actual new plants since the first photo are 4 Cryptocoryne Wendtii in the left foreground and a couple of Anubias Nana on the wood. I also attached some baby Java Ferns that my existing plants had produced.
I'm pretty pleased with the progress, considering that I'm being very economical with the lighting, still being wary of triggering another BBA attack. I'm only using a single 38W T8, on for 8 hours a day. The left-hand end of the tank needs to fill out a bit more to match the other end, and then it should start to look a bit more balanced I think.

For the CO2 I'm now using 5KG FEs, which last at least 6-7 months before requiring replacement. To get the best CO2 diffusion I switched to using 2 x 65mm Bazooka Atomizers, one at each end of the tank. I've set this up in such a way that I only use 1 bubble counter so that I can more easily gauge the bubble rate, and I have 3 needle valves, so I can balance the CO2 rate between the two diffusers, but be able to control the overall rate with a single valve.

Here's a rough diagram of how I've set it up.


Valve 1 is the master control and valves 2 and 3 balance the two diffusers. Initially, I opened valve 1 to get roughly the bubble count I wanted (2-3 BPS), with valves 2 and 3 fully open. I then noted which of the two diffusers was producing the most bubbles, and on that one, I closed the valve slightly until the amount of CO2 bubbles was matched. From then onwards, it's just a matter of adjusting valve 1 any time I want to change the amount of CO2 injected into the tank. I find that with the two diffusers I can nearly halve the bubble rate to achieve the same level of CO2 in the water when compared with using a single diffuser.

[plankton]

Good growth for a couple of months.

[Gingerlove05]

Looking ace Munchy
Things have grown well!
Also very clever on setting the co2 up via the valves etc i think you would find the flow would vary out of one compared to the other because of the pipe lengths ie. if ones longer the co2 will take the shortest exit out. I found this when setting up my one lot of air stones, had to adjust the length of pipe/the depth (or in your case the restrictor) of the air stone to make them match (obviously an air pump doesnt have the pressure of a FE)

[Munchy2007]

Looking ace Munchy
Things have grown well!
Also very clever on setting the co2 up via the valves etc i think you would find the flow would vary out of one compared to the other because of the pipe lengths ie. if ones longer the co2 will take the shortest exit out. I found this when setting up my one lot of air stones, had to adjust the length of pipe/the depth (or in your case the restrictor) of the air stone to make them match (obviously an air pump doesnt have the pressure of a FE)

Thanks GL,

Yes, that's exactly what I found; the variation in pipe length and I guess also the difference in the porosity of the two diffusers meant I couldn't just hook them straight up and get equal amounts of CO2 to either end.

Originally I had a dual needle valve that attached directly to the solenoid on the regulator, but that meant having a bubble counter on each, and it made it difficult to gauge the overall BPS.

But this setup works exactly how I wanted

[Munchy2007]

Good growth for a couple of months.

Thanks Ian