Warren

Hello Fishroom Peoples. I'd like to wish everyone a great big Merry Christmas!!!

Flourish is really good. You'll probably need to supplement Potassium and Magnesium as Flourish doesn't have nearly enough of both.

Looks like nutrient deficiency to me. Maybe low in Manganese (Mn). It could be a number of minerals missing. Any general purpose fertiliser that contains no phosphates will do the trick. Check it has good Iron (Fe) levels as well as high Potassium (K) and Magnesium (Mg) levels. If it's not Manganese then it will most likely be Iron, Potassium or Magnesium deficiency or a combination. The fertiliser should have good trace element mix too. Read this: http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilize ... onlin.html It will give some insight to what plants need to grow well. Don't add too much fertiliser or boom, algae...

I make my own based off the Sears-Conlin report. Commonly known as PMDD (Poor Man's Dupla Drops). http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilize ... onlin.html

Looks like Hygrophila lacustris (Blue Hygro) Probably not enough light or nutrients. You'll need to add some fertiliser, but not one with phosphates in it. If you can't see what's in it or find the details of the ingredients, don't buy it.

Ta, but it's not looking good yet, - a long way to go before everything is growing the way I want it....

I use 2 x 300W in my 1200L. They won't fit in the sump or that's where they be... I can't see any reason why yours both can't go in the sump.

Ok, I finally got the camera home so here's my tank. It's only been setup for just over 2 weeks but not doing too badly. Soon the gravel will be completely covered in Tenelus and Gossostigma. Tank Size: 2400 x 820 x 640 Tank Volume: 1200L Lighting: 6 x 58W TLD96 + 6 x 18W TLD96 14 Hours Water: 27'C pH 6.7 KH 1.0 GH 1.5 Water Changes: 50% once a week Fertiliser: DIY Auto Feeder 8 x a day 5ml CO2: 15ppm Injection while lights on

Watch out for the sun on the top bracing. The braces at the ends will expand more than the side panels in direct summer sunlight. It could cause the tank to crack. If you can cover the bracing so it doesn't get hot there should be no worries...

Not if you are injecting CO2. The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is tiny and amount of CO2 in the water is therefore low (in equalibrium with the atmosphere). When you have CO2 injection the CO2 level is 10x+ higher (and not in equalibrium with the atmosphere). Any surface movement allows the CO2 to escape back into the atmosphere.

I'm using a 19" Professional monitor at 1600x1200. Soon I'll change to 2 x 19" Professional LCD's both running 1600x1200. Waiting for the price to drop... There's not many 19" LCD's supporting 1600x1200 so the price is still quite high. Will drop soon though.

Sweat

You're quick Caryl...

No, thats completely ok, be picky as much as you like. You are correct and when we give information to others it's good to get it as correct and clear as possible. What I should have written instead is: "Basically in the light plants convert CO2 to O2 (in much high quantites than O2 gets converted to CO2) and in the dark they only convert O2 to CO2. " It's still not that clear but you get the general idea. It's the net quantity of C02 and O2 that matters. During the day the net O2 production is higher and during the night the net CO2 production is higher...

It does benefit the fish as the O2 level is higher than an airated tank. The O2 diffused back by the plants can often oversaturate the water and the oxygen will diffuse out of the water back into the air... In an airated tank the O2 and CO2 levels are in equalibrium with the relative levels in the atmosphere. The CO2 injection raises the CO2 level above the equalibrium point and the plants raise the O2 level. CO2 will stay dissolved in the water for some time as it will hold a lot of CO2 before it is saturated. The reason it is not high in the water to start with is due to a relatively low atmospheric CO2 level. O2 on the other hand does not dissolve anywhere near as well as CO2... This only happens when the lights are on. At night the CO2 level will rise due to the reactor and also due to the plants using O2. Basically in the light plants convert CO2 to O2 and in the dark they convert O2 to CO2 but in smaller quantities.

I tried it too but it didn't make much difference. In my case I found the plants didn't grow as well indicating I had a phosphate deficiency. I use RO water which is phosphate free. I've now discovered sometimes I have to add a little phosphate if the plants aren't growing well enough...

You can add extra bracing top, bottom or to the sides at any time. You'll need to clean off the old silicone sealing bead and thoroughly clean the glass first but it does work. I strengthened my 8' tank doing just what you described.

Ok, I'll pinch the camera from work then...

OK, DIY Section Added. To continue the discussions: I don't feel intimidated by anyone... I don't like having to delete people posts, but if the rules are broken... Posts will be edited or deleted if they break to rules, end of story. What follows is not aimed at any particular person, but the group who regularly cause the problems. If someone posts something to try to enflame, instead of biting back just ignore it. Most of the problems with insults and bad language seem to come from some need to show you're the best. Don't rush out and make a negative post to this one, think about it for a minute. Why do you feel you need to make the comment you're about to type??? We can very easily bring this forum back up if ALL concentrate on why we're posting as much as what we're posting.

Looks Great! Mine will end up looking like the tanks again on page 1 again soon. I just took it apart and changed the whole tank layout because I wanted a different look. It's now more open and a bit more natural looking. It's only 2 weeks since the revamp so too early for pics. Will post some in a month or two, then six months once it's looking good again...

A heatpad won't conduct heat way in all directions if it's desinged correctly. There should be a very thin face between the heating element and the glass. Glass has a very good conductivity to heat at about 1.05. Wood is relatively poor at 0.13 and Polystyrene 0.03 and water 0.54 Based off this, with a thin soft wood base with poly under it, over 97% of the heatpad energy will go into the water. Natural water convection will do the rest. The temperature in the tank is a lot more even with a heatpad as the radiating surface is the whole bottom instead of a small glass tube in one corner. If the tank is also insulated with poly on the sides and top cover there will be a massive saving in power - maybe as much as 75%. Leave only the front open. If you cover the front while you're not at home, you'll save even more...

Did you get it to go?? I can OCR it if you like.

We are on what is essentially spring water so no need. Caryl is on the same type of water too. We have no chlorine. The only problem is 6-8ppm phosphate...

Scanning now, you should have in in your mailbox in a few minutes...