Plants to fish ratio/oxygen depletion in the AM's
As the subject might suggest, I'm having problems with oxygen depletion
overnight in my tank. There's a lot of plants in the tank (29USgal) and a fair amount of fish, too. Filtration is swapping from two big-ish internals (bio+foam) to external canister (still bio+foam) gradually. Since the plants are now really quite abundant in there (http://www.velvetpurrs.com/pics/fishtank_10weeks.jpg and http://www.velvetpurrs.com/pics/fishtank_10weeks_2.jpg) I'm seeing problems where the fish are obviously out of oxygen in the mornings, and it takes at least a couple of hours before the plants photosynthesis enough to replace it. Once they get going, I see a bit of pearling from lunchtime onwards, but it seems that with that volume of plants, they are consuming (along with the fish) more oxygen overnight than is good for the fish. Now, I use the air pump to do the CO2 addition (I have a floramat system) - and to prove it is o2 problems, last night left the air pump bubbling at the back of the tank with two airstones. It proved my theory - but the thing is, running an airstone so it bubbles the surface isn't so hot with the coverglass - it soon ends up covered in limescale and cuts the light out a LOT. Is running an airpump at night my only option? Should I move the spray bar to horizontal to the surface, instead of vertical and mounted in a back corner? I have circulation at the surface, but only very gentle (I *could* have put a bigger eheim on my tank, and I got the 2213!). Is there anything else I could try that wouldn't cause splashing at the surface, but would get more o2 into the water overnight? Velvet |
Plants to fish ratio/oxygen depletion in the AM's
So presumably this just ups the circulation at night? Are there any issues
about leaving a powerhead on a timer? What do you do with the intake (I have no undergravel filter) Velvet "LeighMo" wrote in message ... Is there anything else I could try that wouldn't cause splashing at the surface, but would get more o2 into the water overnight? I use a powerhead. It's adjustable, and I set it so that it's underwater, aimed just slightly toward the surface. It doesn't splash, and the fish are much happier. Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
Plants to fish ratio/oxygen depletion in the AM's
My amano shrimp dissappeared in two hours flat, courtesy of a pair of
juvenile angels, and small pearled gourami. Bah. Have a problem with leaving it on 24/7 in that my CO2 is a fixed amount in a chamber per day, and topping up twice a day isn't feasible if I'm not home... still not tempted to try the DIY method though ;-) I'll maybe try altering the outflow of the filter, since that should have a similar effect to installing a powerhead. Velvet |
Plants to fish ratio/oxygen depletion in the AM's
Why not do this.
Use DIY CO2. This will save you a great deal of time messing with it. Next take a small tiny powerhead, and have the out put of the DIY bubble into the suction side. Use a rigid juice bottle for the DIY container. Plug the powerhead into the lighting timer. When the lights come on and the plants use the CO2, the gas gets dissolved and adds it to the tank. When the lights are off, no CO2. But O2 is directly linked to plant production. If you have high plant growth, you get high O2 production in your tank. So if you grow the plant well, you have sky high O2 levels. These levels should last through the night fine. Add more circulation and have a slight surface movement. No surface movement IMO is bad. Regards, Tom Barr |
Plants to fish ratio/oxygen depletion in the AM's
Next take a small tiny powerhead, and have the out put of the DIY
snip Plug the powerhead into the lighting timer. When the lights come on and the plants use the CO2, the gas gets dissolved and adds it to the tank. When the lights are off, no CO2. I am doing exactly the same but instead of powerhead I am using a Duetto 50 Filter. This filter has a good air and water mixing mechanism. I am injecting CO2 in that. This serves multi purpose i.e Mechanical & Bio Filtration, slight extra circulation and CO2 diffusion. -- Thank You Dominic http://www.dlink.org/aqua |
Plants to fish ratio/oxygen depletion in the AM's
" wrote in message m... Why not do this. Use DIY CO2. This will save you a great deal of time messing with it. It might, but I'm not prepared to take the risk that an exploding bottle of gunk sprays over my livingroom, OR that I end up with gunk in my tank, from something going wrong. Ta for the suggestion, but I'm NOT going the DIY route. Next take a small tiny powerhead, and have the out put of the DIY bubble into the suction side. Use a rigid juice bottle for the DIY container. Plug the powerhead into the lighting timer. When the lights come on and the plants use the CO2, the gas gets dissolved and adds it to the tank. When the lights are off, no CO2. This isn't the problem. I *have* CO2 in the tank just fine - the air pump used to go on with the lights, off with the lights, and therefore the water wouldn't pass through the reaction chamber at night. But O2 is directly linked to plant production. If you have high plant growth, you get high O2 production in your tank. So if you grow the plant well, you have sky high O2 levels. Yup, my plants are growing at a phenomenal rate, and pearling (see my earlier post). These levels should last through the night fine. Should, but aren't. I know they *should* - but my question was, in a VERY heavily planted tank, there are both fish AND plants using oxygen during the night. I'm obviously getting o2 saturation during the day, but I'm wondering if the volume of plants is leading to depletion during the night. Add more circulation and have a slight surface movement. No surface movement IMO is bad. Regards, Tom Barr I *have* surface circulation. When I drop food in, it gently swirls from one side of the tank to the other. This morning, I have moved the spray bar of the cannister filter to increase this current slightly. We'll see how it goes. Velvet |
Plants to fish ratio/oxygen depletion in the AM's
" wrote in message om... Use DIY CO2. This will save you a great deal of time messing with it. It might, but I'm not prepared to take the risk that an exploding bottle of gunk sprays over my livingroom, OR that I end up with gunk in my tank, from something going wrong. Ta for the suggestion, but I'm NOT going the DIY route. Then get a gas tank system. I never have had any issues with DIY except perhaps not getting enough CO2 in there. Use it for 10 years. No bottle explosions. See the rigid bottle suggestion. These won't collapse and will not allow any foam or yeast into the tank unless you over fill the bottle. But that would be your fault, not the DIY method's........... Yup, and I don't particularly want to run the risk of me having a bad day and getting the amounts wrong :-) I *might* give it a go in the kitchen at some point, but that's a very big *might*. I don't want a cannister of CO2 in my livingroom, either. I've done enough scuba to have a very healthy respect for tanks of compressed gas, and to know I don't want one in my livingroom. I rent, and I rather suspect I'd be liable for the extra damage caused if this place was ever in a fire. Not to mention putting both my life, the tenants downstairs, and the firemens life at additional risk. Just my personal preference on this matter. Should, but aren't. I know they *should* - but my question was, in a VERY heavily planted tank, there are both fish AND plants using oxygen during the night. I'm obviously getting o2 saturation during the day, but I'm wondering if the volume of plants is leading to depletion during the night. The plants remove _very little_ O2 relative to the the fish. I *have* surface circulation. When I drop food in, it gently swirls from one side of the tank to the other. This morning, I have moved the spray bar of the cannister filter to increase this current slightly. We'll see how it goes. It should help. Are you certain you have enough CO2 and circulation in this tank? Test the CO2 at different times during the day(when the lights come on and when they turn off etc), not just at one point. Regards, Tom Barr I'm pretty sure I have enough CO2 in there. The plants grow like crazy, and pearl after mid-day. There's circulation in the tank, but like I said, there's not that much at the surface, and I've changed that today to see if it helps. I've no idea how to ascertain how much CO2 is actually in the tank, apart from seeing the plants pearl. I looked at the charts at thekrib, but couldn't work out exactly how they show how much CO2 is in the tank? Velvet |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:52 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
GardenBanter