The tank eats a 20lb bottle about every 2-3 weeks.
The client took my suggestion and is using a series of screens to block the light, much like variable shade cloth for plant nurseries.
1 screen: blocks about 20%, 2 40%, 3 screens 60-70%.
So this way we can control how much light hits the plants specifically.
And the results are much better.
I do not want to go down there to fix more problems, I want to go down there to look at a nice tank full of fish, no algae, healthy plants and nice scape.
The good thing about this client is that he really is committed to this hobby a great deal. We looked at having Tropica come to the USA and start their plant nursery here, but the cost versus the market is poor.
So I think after awhile, things will settle down in the tank as they seem to be and the tank will do better.
Controlling CO2 as tanks become larger becomes exponentially more difficult.
The present system is excellent.
But measuring how much CO2 is coming in as a rate is impossible, so we going to use a special flow meter for gas that's very accurate(Welding flow meters are too much, and not as accurate as we need).
I think that will help a lot.
Flow rate is too low and there's no suction for the filtration in the lower parts of the tank. I did not design the tank however.
I also put at least -2 drains down there, this would have gotten 4-6.
So it's a bit too late for that.
The diffusion method works very well, 30-40minutes to drop a full point or about 45 minutes to target a CO2 level.
Anything less than 1 hour is ideal.
Now it's just a matter of good stable control.
I suggested a victor medium duty regulator and clippard or german solenoid pair, we have good needle valves, tubign etc, we just need a better solenoid/reg and flow meter.
You cannot count 40 bubbles per second for example, even if you split the CO2 up into 6 lines using the ADA counters, it's still too hard to tweak the rates.
So the new flow meter ought to be a good thing as well as the solenoid and Victor reg.
Given the unique situation I've had to deal with in this set up and design, which as far as the planning here goes, was not my design/idea/job, it's been a lot harder than it could have been.
There are many unknowns going in. You deal with them as they come and make changes. As I will be doing several large tanks for other clients later, this will help a lot.
Some things need done at the beginning. Lots of holes for drains and drains on the bottom are best, with a surface skimmer as well.
One side: large canister type fine mechanical/bio closed loop. This takes in water from the bottom.
Another filter: wet dry sump, mechanical post and pre. This takes in water from the top.
A set of several smaller MH's rather than 4 woppers.
Allows easier control of lighting.
CO2 stuff needs to be top notch and made by me.
Those are some of the main issues.
I never intended to get involved in this type of work, it's come to me and I've been asked to do it.
Training for it, there really is none.
I suppose you could go to ADA and do one of their tours etc, but it'll not train you to do this nor have the skills, just namely what ADA is doing.
Which is nice and at a much smaller scale.
Amano's tank is about this size but it's much easier to care for.
I suggested a simpler scape, but that was not the client's goal.
Regards,
Tom Barr
