75 gallon Planted Office Tank Journal

geekpryde said:
I am getting conflicting advice about agitation / aeration at night. Also, some say to keep co2 on all day/night. If I dont need nighttime agitation, then I may not need it...
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It appears that you have a solenoid with your regulator, right? I use a timer in conjunction with the solenoid to turn on my CO2 around a half-hour before the lights kick on, and then off when the lights go out. While dark, the plants don't really take up CO2, but rather they expel oxygen. If you then agitate the surface, and out-gas your CO2, you will have a harder time keeping your CO2 saturation, and also your pH stable.
 
So I just tested my PH, after 8 hours of co2 today. I thought I would test, since this is the first time I ran co2 all day. Looks like it lowered pH from 7.6 to 7.2, maybe 7.0.

Man, I hope this swing doesnt hurt the barbs! They actually prefer 6.0 -7.0 ph from my understanding, this lower ph will be good.
 
thrak76 said:
If you then agitate the surface, and out-gas your CO2, you will have a harder time keeping your CO2 saturation, and also your pH stable.
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I planned to use a timer for lights and co2, exactly as you suggest. Of course, the more I read, the less I know, LOL.

Okay, so if I DONT want to do surface agitation, what about a powerful powerhead low in the tank for increased current at night, will this cause too much out-gas? The issue is that people tell me the eheim 2217 will not be enough movement on a 75g heavy planted tank. So then I purchased a too-big powerhead, which then causes out-gas issues. I am not sure which is more important. I do know that without the powerhead, my water surface appears to be practically stagnant!
 
Before you get your tank full of plants, it will probably be hard to judge if you have enough circulation. Generally, you want to see all of your plants move a bit in the current. If you only have a plant or two... then you can't tell. I'm sure those plants are swaying.
If you are worried about no movement at all at the surface, and perhaps some protein build-up on the surface, then maybe just pointing your spraybar towards the surface a little will do the trick. Just enough to cause some small ripples. Out-gassing from this will be very minimal.
With proper co2 dispersion, the protein build-up on the surface should be practically nothing. Your plants will be able to take up the excess nutrients. I think you should re-evaluate your circulation once you've fully planted your tank.
 
geekpryde said:
I'm starting to think you and I are the only ones that read this thread. :p:
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Well... I am on this forum wayyy too much, when I should be working. But I really like your tank. I am living vicariously thru your 75g. :D
 
thrak76 said:
Before you get your tank full of plants, it will probably be hard to judge if you have enough circulation. Generally, you want to see all of your plants move a bit in the current. If you only have a plant or two... then you can't tell. I'm sure those plants are swaying.
If you are worried about no movement at all at the surface, and perhaps some protein build-up on the surface, then maybe just pointing your spraybar towards the surface a little will do the trick. Just enough to cause some small ripples. Out-gassing from this will be very minimal.
With proper co2 dispersion, the protein build-up on the surface should be practically nothing. Your plants will be able to take up the excess nutrients. I think you should re-evaluate your circulation once you've fully planted your tank.
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I like what Thrak76 is saying! You're worried about circulation in heavily planted, right? *looks at your current setup* let's worry about that when you get there. :p:
 
Okay, just talked with my Plant Guy again, (Don), many of you know him. Looks like I am all set to get plants on the 15th this month.

I may or may not boost my GH. I think dosing my normal fert daily is going to boost GH by itself, since it contains most of the ingredients of a GH booster. Only thing missing from the fertz I mixed today is Calcium Sulfate, and I will read tomorrow about just dosing that by itself dry into the tank couple times a week. Any GH booster i can buy or make is going to duplicate alot of the ingredients in my PPS-PRO mixture.

I am buying a nicer drop checker, a bubble counter, 4dkh solution, and another 1000ml bootle from green leaf tomorrow. Other than fish, this should be the last items I need for a long time. (yeah right....)
 
Everything sounds great geek. I wish I had your budget lol. I cannot afford a high light fixture or co2 :(. But your tank looks great.
 
geekpryde said:
I planned to use a timer for lights and co2, exactly as you suggest. Of course, the more I read, the less I know, LOL.
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Welcome to the world of planted tanks. lol :wall:
 
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