Journal 80cm (32”) collectoritis tank

[JacksonL]

Great setup. How have you found the Up Aqua pH controller? I assume you can just set the PH in a range for a certain time of the day? I wonder does it need calibrating much?

Oh thanks for the tip I see in your earlier post about school of scape. Not that many resources here in Aus in a relative sense so more the better.

It is ok, I got it quite cheap and it suits my purpose.
You set it at the desired pH, and it will activate the solenoid until the probe reads 0.04 under that number, when it will turn off until the probe reads 0.04 above the number. Being not far off a 0.1 ph swing every cycle means it isn’t amazing to use as the main point of control for the tank.
I have mine as a safety barrier. I set it a touch under the pH my needle valve gets the tank to under normal operation.
Technically it shouldn’t ever turn off the solenoid throughout the day, and is there for peace of mind. If I change bottles over and bump something, a needle valve drifts or a regulator malfunctions, then it will shut the CO2 off before the fish are at risk.

I looked at them a few weeks back when you and Rocco were discussing them and they were crazy expensive. I was maybelooking at the wrong thing.... or wrong site. I was going to ask how you knew which one to get, but seems you're ordering a smaller one, so you weren't sure.

Yeah, if you can figure out that you have 30ppm CO2 at one mark and 50ppm at another, then it doesn't really matter what the gauge reads as long as when you put it to where you want it, you get what you expected.

This is cool. I'm not a very technical person. So you had to remove your needle valve to get this installed?

The barbed fittings at the back unscrew and there are 1/8 threads there, which most needle valves will screw straight into.
The valve on these cheapies is useless, and I have left it wide open and just use my normal needle valve, which is connected to the inlet of this flow valve.

As to which one to get, there really doesn’t seem to be a guide or formula out there. The smallest possible seems to be a good starting point!
This one is a 6-60 ml/h, most are measured in litres per hour so I doubt our CO2 flow would even register at all!
Fingers crossed the 2-25 gives a better range, although I am happy enough that the 6-60ml gives me a quick visual check that my CO2 is set about right.

 

[Count Krunk]

Great looking tank. And even better looking data on your levels/dosing.

 

[JacksonL]

The Aliexpress flow meter has been in for a week and a half now. It has held a steady measurement of CO2 flow that whole time, and has acted predictably to changes of the needle valve. The only issue has been the scale, because my flow is in the lower portion of it’s range (about 10ml/min on this meter) the measurement disc sits very low, and smaller changes don’t register much.
Today a similar model, but with a 2.5-25ml/min scale arrived.
I have installed it and it appears to be doing a similar job, but with the disc closer to the middle of the scale. Another bonus is the attached adjustment valve is far superior to the other model, and give me finer adjustment.
I will keep updating on its performance longer term, but I’m optimistic it is a decent low cost alternative to a bubble counter.
Here is the link to the specific item I purchased:
8mm Tube Glass Rotameter LZB-3WB Flow Meter Variable area flowmeter for Gas or liquid

https://a.aliexpress.com/_ms0oU29

The barbed fittings that come installed are too large for standard CO2 tubing. Unscrewing those reveals a 1/8 female thread that perfectly fits standard needle valve threads. I have used a spare needle valve (left wide open) and the outlet of my old bubble counter (left empty) to connect it in my system. I used gas thread tape on the threads, but I am sure the O-rings from the needle valve/bubble counter would have been fine also.

 

[JacksonL]

Similar readings to the other meter, about 9ml/min.

 

[JacksonL]

An update, after spending the last few months dealing with bba .
Tank is finally on the mend and the algae isn’t as persistent. A few changes:
I switched to using APT 3, dosing 3.5ml per day, with a 20ml boost after water changes to partially front load and keep things stable. This means I am dosing the following per week:

• NO₃: ~11.38 ppm/week
• PO₄: ~3.16 ppm/week
• K: ~12.84 ppm/week
• Mg: ~3.77 ppm/week
• Fe: ~0.411 ppm/week

This consists of the following per day:

• NO₃: ~0.89 ppm/day
• PO₄: ~0.25 ppm/day
• K: ~1.01 ppm/day
• Mg: ~0.30 ppm/day
• Fe: ~0.032 ppm/day

And this from the 20ml boost after water changes:

• NO₃: ~5.11 ppm
• PO₄: ~1.42 ppm
• K: ~5.77 ppm
• Mg: ~1.69 ppm
• Fe: ~0.185 ppm

I also tuned down the CO2 as I was getting a yellow drop checker in the afternoons and it still wasn’t helping with algae. So I am aiming for about 35ppm throughout the light period, which Hanna CO2 test confirms.

There is still some remnants of BBA , particularly on the wood centrepiece. But, it has stopped attacking the leaves of plants aggressively.
The left hand side of the tank needed quite aggressive trimming and is looking a bit bare.


The breeder box in the top right is because I have added some neon red blue eyes and some forktail blue eyes a few weeks ago and they have taken to scattering eggs in the tripartita. I have managed to save 5 eggs from the hungry hordes in the tank and i am keen to see if they can survive in the tank.







Some photos from around the tank.

 

[JacksonL]

The tank is being left on its own for two weeks as I head away on holidays. Fingers crossed it manages to survive the break, it’s the first time this tank will be left alone.
As I left I realised the eggs weren’t luminatus eggs, but otto eggs!
Some have hatched, I have left some moss full of goodies from my shrimp tank in the hope some survive for our return. There is a poor quality picture of one of the fry below, along with one of the female ottos full of more eggs.



Speaking of tanks being left along for the first time…
I’m a teacher and have a 2’ tank in my classroom (4th grade). Students do all the maintenance, water changes, fertilising and feeding. They love it and look after it extremely well. School holidays mean the tank is locked away on autopilot for 2 weeks.
Took some photos and video just in case it’s all gone wrong when term starts!



View attachment IMG_5290.mov

 

[Kwyet]

I love that for the kids!

 

[Count Krunk]

What did you do the combat the bba ?

 

[JacksonL]

I love that for the kids!

It has been a huge success. I was a bit worried I would have spent a lot of time and money on it, only for the kids to either not be interested or not take on the responsibility. I needn’t have worried though, there is a line of volunteers wanting to do maintenance tasks and the kids are obsessed with finding out more about each inhabitant and the requirements of plant growth. It’s also a nice quiet place for kids to escape the chaos of school life and stare into the fish tank. As we know from our own tanks, they can be an amazing way to recharge your batteries when things are hectic, it is the same for the students in the classroom.

What did you do the combat the bba?

It is still around, I haven’t won yet, but it is 10% of what it was.
A focus on cleaning - pulling out the fluval 307 prefilter every week to clean, using a turkey baster to stir up the substrate every water change and spending some time every day clipping algae covered leaves or plucking/scraping algae off hardscape and equipment.

 

[JacksonL]

I think I am going to replace the Fluval 307. By the time it has pushed water through the CO2 reactor, dosing adapter and the Hydor external heater, there isn’t a great amount of flow from it.
I have to have the outlet 3/4 above the water line just to get adequate water movement.
I have found a local place clearing out Oase gear and can get a Biomaster 850 for close to 30% off. Massive overkill for a ~130L (-35gal) tank, but I presume with the equipment attached to it, with bypass, and changing to a spray bar, that the loss in flow will actually bring it back to what the tank needs. Essentially it will be cheaper than a BM 600, so I figure I may as well have more flow that can be dialled back and allows for a larger tank in the future, than be underpowered.
The other bit of equipment I think I will grab is a Crystalskim 350. That way I can remove the surface skimmer intake pipe I use which sends a lot of trimming/leaves/debris into the filter.

 

[Kwyet]

Make sure you use both guards on the Crystalskim and have it turn off intermittently, possibly even all night, so the small fish and shrimp don’t get sucked into it, and have a chance to get out if they do.

 

[JacksonL]

Make sure you use both guards on the Crystalskim and have it turn off intermittently, possibly even all night, so the small fish and shrimp don’t get sucked into it, and have a chance to get out if they do.

Thank you for that. The plan was always to turn it off at night, as the pseufomugil all sleep at the surface. I will run it on a timer during the day also. Is 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off during lights on a good start for clearing the surface scum, but also keeping fish/shrimp safe?
I have also seen elsewhere on the forum some 3d printer links for guards and flow redirectors that I am going to ask a friend to print for me:

https://makerworld.com/en/models/120845-flow-redirector-for-oase-crystalskim-350#profileId-130048

https://makerworld.com/en/models/1098854-shrimp-guard-for-oase-crystalskim-350#profileId-1093824

I am not sure about the flow redirector. I have a plant free zone at the back in the centre behind the wood stump where I think the downward flow would be perfect to push fresh water down and then out through the base of the stems either side of the stump. This will remove any dead spots and keep the substrate clean at the back of the tank where things tend to settle.

 

[Kwyet]

I think that would be good.

 

[JacksonL]

Hard to worry about the fish at home when we are in our boat in paradise looking for bigger fish

 

[JacksonL]

I have arrived home from holidays to an algae farm!
From the quick diagnosis I have been able to do, it looks like it has been getting inconsistent CO2. The drop checker was pretty much blue and looking at the energy monitoring on the CO2 solenoid it is clear the controller has been shutting off the CO2 supply many times throughout the day.

You can see that the solenoid was activated for less than one third of the usual time in the energy monitoring.


I am pretty sure the cause is the hydrocotyle tripartita growing emersed has grown down around the pH controller probe and blocked flow around it.

As soon as I moved the probe to a high flow area the controller turned the solenoid back on.

One positive, is that 2 of the otto fry have survived the neglect, and are about a centimetre long.



I am too tired to do any tank maintenance tonight, having just driven 10 hours with a boat in tow.
A big water change, algae trim and general cleaning session ahead of me tomorrow morning.
Here are some shots to document the algae farm:

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

It'll recover! Bummer to see it happen, but you've got this.

 

[JayP]

This is why I now worry about going on trips anymore.

This doesn't really look super bad though compared to some others I've seen after people were away awhile. You'll get it back where you want it in no time.

 

[JacksonL]

A day of trimming, cleaning, changing water and some equipment additions.

Also realised what I thought were Otto fry, are most likely smudge spot cory fry!


Removed a heap of older and algae infected plant matter, along with a rock that was coated in bba that I will leave out of the scape. This allows me to move the large log off centre and gives more room to spread out the plants.

Changed about 75% of the water, cleaned the glass and scraped down hardscape/ in tanks equipment.

Installed the new Biomaster 850 to run in tandem with the Fluval 307 for a few weeks, both at half flow, to cycle the media. I have used the spray bar that came with the Biomaster, it covers a bit over half the tank. I have put it so the spray bar sprays back to front, and covers the left half of the tank. The filter intake will go on the opposite end of the tank once it’s installed properly.



Start of the recovery, lots of equipment in the tank temporarily.


I have ordered slide out floor bases for the cabinet, so I can slide out the Biomaster to easily access the prefilter for maintenance. Should be ready to install it all in 2 weeks when the Biomaster has cycled.