I have a 40 gallon breeder running co2, aquaclear 110, aqualed aq j light, and have a wave maker for circulation. I feel like the flow isn't where I need it to be. I only.see co2 bubbles in about three quarters of the tank. Wanting to upgrade from a hob to something bigger. Lemme know yalls suggestions!
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Canister would be the way to go. There's a ton of threads here in tanks journals that go into a lot of detail on co2 rigging for different canisters as well for more even distribution of co2. I'm terrible at this aspect because that's my hubby's job 😅
I prefer HOB filters to canister filters... simple, effective, very easy to clean and provides a decent amount of air/water interface to absorb oxygen and off gas organic compounds.. My theory is the easier the filter is to clean the more often it is cleaned removing waste from the water column before it has a chance to break down to nitrogen compounds.
I would just add a second AC110 if it were my tank.
If you are going to use a canister I prefer to use an above water level spray bar to promote healthy oxygen levels.
A sump is my favorite choice for aquarium filtration though.
I would just add a second AC110 if it were my tank.
If you are going to use a canister I prefer to use an above water level spray bar to promote healthy oxygen levels.
A sump is my favorite choice for aquarium filtration though.
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I like canister filters. Lots of options, budget and feature set will narrow it down.
That said, chances are very very very very good that your wavemaker is going to be providing at least as much flow as a canister filter. Soooo yeah, if your goal is simply to see more pearling I would look into other reasons why those plants might not be pearling.
I like having the 110. Its a great filter! I just getting poor co2 circulation is my only problem. Even with a WaveMaker. I thought about adding a second aqyaclear, but didn't know if something like a fluval 407 would be more efficient or a sunsun 304b
I see Pearling on my plants. My carpet just isn't spreading as fast as I assumed it would so I was figuring I had poor co2 circulation.
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This is not likely the case. CO2 dissolved in your water will get pretty much everywhere pretty quickly. I assume you are using an intank diffuser so the individual bubbles might not get everywhere but whether they do much more then the dissolved co2 is a different story and up for some debate. Anyway its recommended that tank filtration be 4 to 8 times turnover per hour. So on a 40 gallon tank that would be 160 to 320 gallons per hour. The aquaclear 110 does 500 gallons per hour. Even with that being cut down a bit due to media etc its still providing a lot of tank turnover. Even if the wavemaker only did 100 gallons per hour (which is unlikely, I would think its probably doing 300+ gallons per hour) its still a lot of turnover that will definitely spread all the water around your tank very evenly.
Most probably causes for slow carpet are 1) its actually normal speed but you think it should be going quicker, 2) inadequate light either because the fixture is not strong enough or because the carpet is being shaded by taller plants, 3) inadequate fertilizer, 4) substrate that is too big and bulky for good carpet growth, 5) your water parameters are such that the carpet plant is struggling more then it would for someone else.
These are just the top most likely things in my experience, it could be something else. With more information we can help you figure it out. Anyway, its not going to improve with a different filter. That said, if you want to ditch the wavemaker and the HOB for aesthetics or some other reason, then a canister filter with lily pipes makes for a nice chance.
Well, I will give a run down of everything with the tank and some pictures too if I can!
*Using platinum aqua soil
*Aqualed aq j 90cm light on 75% wrgb
*Carpet is a mix of montecarlo and Echinodorus tenellus green
*just started using gla dry ferts yesterday but before that was using apt complete 5ml a day
*have a few stems of altenthera renikii and giant hairgrass in corner
* about 3 bbs on co2 with the diffuser going up into the wavemaker.
*has some floating plants cause I'm dealing with a little bit of staghorn atm
Idk what else you need to know but this is a good start I hope. I'm new to this whole co2 thing. Been keeping lowtech aquarium and plants for 5 or 6 years now.
Ph before co2 7.2
Runs 2 hours before lights
At lights on it usually reads about 6.4 to 6.0 the api master test kit chart jumps from 6.4 to 6.0 on test kit
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I would not measure PH with the API kit. Get a digital PH meter for better readings.
Perhaps a reactor can help you. I had a inline diffuser and bazooka before, so much better with the reactor.
Sera Flore Active CO2 Reactor 500 - Small 66-160 Gal
Good luck!!!
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Most of this looks pretty good. Not familiar with the light and a Google search didn't turn it up.
How long has the carpet been planted? From tissue culture I assume? Any livestock in the tank?
I have 8 rasboras, 8 red crystal shrimp, 3 amano shrimp xxl, 25 nerite snails cause I had a diatom algae outbreak but its cleared up now.
Gla tissue culture plants except the altenthera renikii.
Its been planted for almost 3.months. i.could be just expecting to much to fast too lol
The light came from aquarockscolorado.com its supposed to be equilivent to chihiros i believe. It was almost 300 dollars so its decent and fully programmable
Its a ledstar aq j not aqualed lol
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Hmm 3 months you should be seeing more growth unless those tissue cultures started off as single twigs. Tissue cultures take longer to get going but still... What is your gh/kh and tds like?
Not sure on tds. Been trying to get a water report but the city can't tell me where I can get it. Don't jave a tds meter either. Gh is 8 and kh is 4
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These are not terrible. Honestly this all looks pretty good which does not explain the absence of growth. The only thing that remains is the light. The light looks strong enough based on the stats but to double check use either a lux meter or your phone and the lux meter app. Put your phone the same distance from the light as the light is from your substrate, take a measurement for lux, then divide that measurement by 80. What result? Also how long is the light on for?
I assume you have been adding fertiizer of one type or another for at least the past 2 months?
The light is on for 8 hours from 1pm to 9pm. I dose ferts everyday since start-up. I downloaded a lux app and I got 45 if the app is accurate and what not
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