Zoom's 4ft system

Alrighty then....

Flow is pretty good and well distributed through the tank... so I doubt it is that. I have 2 cannisters connected to a single spray bar on one side of the tank, and there is fairly good currents throughout the tank. In actual fact, now that I have 2 cannisters and a single spraybar (as apposed to my previous 2 spraybars) I am actually getting better circulation.
My canisters are rated at 1100 & 900 respectively, so taking head height into account, I'm guessing I'm getting around 1400/1500 l.p.h.

Those wave makers are not an option. I do not know how people put them into 4 ft tanks. Yes, I have see people with them, but I have tried them on 2 seperate occasions, at the smallest wave maker is 3000l.p.h. Regardless of how I put it into the tank, I had far too strong currents. Fish couldn't swim in the tank. It is also not an option because as you may know ADA and the ML substrate is VERY light...and those strong currents will simply rescape my tank daily. (As a side note... this is the one downfall I have with the ADA and ML substrates. I actually don't like it being so light. Firstly planting is ok... BUT put in a few ancistrus and you spend your life having to replant plants. The fish simply swims past, and because the plant hasn't rooted properly yet, the plant comes out).

The heat issue may have been an issue. As I mentioned, the heater wasn't turning off. When my tank kept on creaping up in temp until finally prompting me to investigate at 31degrees, I decided to can the inline heater module.

The diffusion of CO2 may also be an issue, as this was also being done inline. My only guidance to CO2 was the drop checker (which as Rudi stated, could be incorrect as I am using tank water and not proper checker water) and the BPS rate.

So now I have the CO2 going back in through the diffuser IN the tank, and the heater sitting IN the tank as well. I will monitor BBA.

I think the GSA is simply the Nitrogen from the substrate.

 

31 degrees will actually start to kill plants dude..

GSA for most is a sign of phosphate deff BUT we all know if you have AS in this tank that is an absolute lie so we can cross that out lol..
in the beggining just keep algae in check after a few weeks.. its gone

 

At night I am turning around 4800 lph with 27l of aquasoil in the tank. Nothing getting blown anywhere.

Once the plants grow out you will end up with dead spots. Seio's smallest flow pump pushes around 1200 lph.

I must agree with you on the density of aqua soil. It's extremely light, so light that when I try siphon out some discus poo the aqua soil comes with it. Lol...


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@Zoom,don't be tempted to fiddle around with the Co2,just leave it for now.
Manual removal is the only answer for the algae at the moment,the GSA is easy,wipe the glass.The BBA more labour intensive,remove the affected/infected leaves,the Anubia will survive.
Do not let it get out of hand or hope that it will disappear over night,you have to get on top of it early.When the tank stabilises and the plants has grown in,the tank will control the algae.
Question:
Explain why you have coral in your filter?
Why are you adding KH UP?

 

I am currently not adding KH UP because Dirk had no stock at the time of purchase, thus I added crushed coral to the filter. I don't want to increase kH, I want to MAINTAIN the kH and prevent the pH drop. My Tap water kH is +6, but my tank is not giving me a reading. (Meaning the moment I add the first drop of reagent to the vial the colour is showing the reading). So I needed the Crushed Coral to buffer the kH.

I am planning on using the kH up when I next order.

(@Sean J recommended the crushed coral purely from the CO2 perspective to buffer the tank. If I recall, he mentioned another product that would be better, but I don't recall the name)

 

My kh was also crashing with the aqua soil, I used aquavitro's kh buffer. I was not happy because I couldn't keep it stable. I threw in a handful of crushed coral which seemed to stabilize it for now...

Moral of the story: the crushed coral works like a charm dude, stay away from the additives. Crushed coral is cheaper too ! Thanks @azurekoi


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Aragonite is the other thing...

But yeah, it's to keep water parameters stable.

 

Technically speaking that's what I put in my canister. I had some left over from my tropheus setup.


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OK,sounds good.

 

Just some pictures of the growth:

 

Growth one month since last update. Pruning has happened twice since last update. Plants a bit wild with no real structure to the scape, but will sort a scape out when plants have grown out even more

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Looking great!

 

looking GOOD !! Luv the fully grown look, i only wish!!!

keep me in mind wen u do ur next trim

thanx

Luis

 

Hey @Zoom. You almost have a Dutch style going there. Looks very good. So lush.

 

I take offense to that.... :fight:I do NOT want any style on my tanks. To me, doing a style just means I am replicating someone else's work that the rest of the world said "wow" to. No originality and no style. The look I am going for is random and natural. If you look in the wild, you do not see a landscaped scene with everything placed in a perfect setting. I do accept each to their own... an English garden with everything perfectly manicured, and put in exactly the right place can be attractive... but I love the wild look. (This reminds me of a house we build a few years ago. The client was so pedantic about the landscape that we had to dig out a tree, and literally move it 15cm over!!!)

 

So you do Nature aquarium-style,yes?

 

:congrats:+1