I would really love to know what you thought about this clip – does it inspire you? How big an aquarium would you go? Have you ever seen rocks or wood so big that are suitable for an aquarium? I sure as hell haven’t

If your foreground plants are struggling, think about their location and then ask yourself this question:

are you giving them what they want?

 

They want decent light, good fertilisers and CO2. If you don’t give them this, growth will be slow and odds are the plants will die off and algae grows. Point your circulation pump at them – they need to sway in the current and make sure CO2 is physically being pushed over them and getting trapped in the leaves.

Make sure you’re providing good ferts like AE Design Aqua Nourish and Nourish+ because when the CO2 is being pushed over them, the ferts will be too (double whammy )

Are you struggling with foreground plants? Let me know and reply to this post and I can help

What’s your favourite one – mine if HC

Lighting duration should be approximately 8 hours per day with no siesta (these don’t work). So lets say 1pm to 9pm is a popular time to have the lights on for. If you are suffering from algae problems my first suggestion is to drop the lighting down to 6 hours per day. Similarly for start up tanks, keep your lighting limited to 6 hours as the plants are yet to root and therefore not much growing is happening.

12 hours of light is just excessive. Not only will it cost you more but your lights will need replacing more often and your electricity costs will be higher. Not only that but you will need to clean your tank more often, particularly the glass.

How long do you leave your lighting on for?

I did a 20% water change the other week – that’s enough right?…

 

That’s not enough I’m afraid. If I’ve kept you attention, read on.

Water changes are needed to remove pollutants that plants produce – you can’t see them, but they sure are there. When plants grow, they like everything else that grows they produce waste. These waste products (organics) need to be removed, otherwise they build up, become more concentrated and then cause you problems and normally show up in algae form. In many CO2 infused aquariums, your turbo charged tank is really motoring and plants are growing like weeds, so it’s important to stress that the quicker your plants grow, the more waste they produce and this is why it is essential to:

perform 40-50% water changes every week.

It’s a bit like flushing the toilet if you catch my drift. Imagine not flushing the toilet…YUK!!

How often do you perform water changes?

When your lights come on, you want your plants to hit for floor running. What I mean by that is you want your plants to begin growing instantly. As the CO2 build up over the 60 minutes before the lights are on your levels begin to rise (remembering the carbon dioxide has been off for maybe 16 hours) and your plants take complete advantage of this. Good levels of CO2 and lighting (don’t forget your fertilisers) = happy planted aquarium.

By contrast, having your CO2 come on when your lights start up, you delay the growing process as it takes roughly 1 hour for CO2 levels to hit that perfect 30ppm level.

In addition, turn your CO2 off 1 hour before your lights go off. There will be sufficient CO2 in your tank for that time for your plants to continue growing.

When do you turn your CO2 on and off?

pressure

You need 2 bar pressure in your regulator for this to work as it should. Otherwise, there’s simply not enough pressure to push the CO2 out of the tightly compacted atomiser plate. Check out the YouTube clip on our website – that’s at least 2 bar pressure being run and look how fine the CO2 mist is.

Few other points to consider:

• Some regs won’t allow you 2 bar pressure, so another thing to bare in mind (most do though).
• You need to ensure decent connections on your CO2 tubing because the 2 bar pressure can pop off (try the Easy Aqua Double Check Valve as this has screw fittings).
• Sometimes it takes a few minutes for the CO2 to pass from the regulator to the atomiser – don’t expect immediate results (like from glass diffusers). This is because pressure needs to build up along the CO2 tubing and then pass into the atomiser.

Lastly, use proper CO2 tubing! Air line tubing is not suitable and will definitely pop off.

Are you using the atomiser? If so tell me what you think. Maybe you haven’t decided which diffuser to choose yet so any questions, please ask

1. Make sure you are using a decent fertiliser which provides what your plants need. If you have demanding plants that means they need CO2 and lots of ferts (both trace and macros). Dose the ferts on a daily basis (not weekly) as you’ll get better results this way.
2. Algae is caused due to fluctuating levels in your aquarium so keep things stable – add ferts every day, perform large water changes every week (yes every week) and keep on top of maintenance. When you slack off, algae rears it’s ugly head.
3. Limit your lighting. The longer your lighting is on for, the more problems you may have. I suggest no more than 8 hours a day and if you’re having problems with algae, drop it down to 6 hours until it levels off.
4. Use a liquid carbon which helps to get rid of algae. Super popular (for that reason) and if you dose according to the bottle instructions you’ll be pleased with the results.
5. Ensure you have enough plants in your tank. Having a tank 30% planted is just not enough and creates instability (then algae…). Look to have a tank about 80% full of plants and you’ll find everything a lot easier.

What problems do you have with your planted aquarium?

DON’T, you’re nearly there…

I deal with a lot of customers who feel just like this and I know how hard it can be. I was there once too and only through perseverance did I make it. Don’t get me wrong, I felt like I wanted to chuck it all in and this was before the days of the internet too. Can you imagine trying to learn about planted aquariums before there were any books that were specialising on the subject? Believe me it was tough and the advice was very old fashioned, suggesting very lean dosing (no macros) lighting needed a siesta (what a load of rubbish!) and that if you didn’t have an under gravel heater your plants would fail. To top it all off, filters apparently needed a very slow turnover of water (hmmmmm). Fortunately things have changed. The internet was created and now in some ways hobbyists have information overload. But I digress a little as the subject of this post is Don’t give up… and there’s a simple reason for this. When you’re up against it and everything is going wrong, this is the time when you are learning the most. You probably don’t realise it but your mind is taking in so much information. Sadly, because it’s a very frustrating time (and hard on the brain), combined with the fact that you have spent a lot on the hobby, and you may be moaning to your other half about all the problems, it would be easier just to pack it all in wouldn’t it? But when is easier best?

Just around the corner is the answer, the trigger that will make the difference. You may only need to alter one aspect of your tank set up and the tide will turn. Plants will flourish and grow in front of your very eyes and you’ll look back at the time you had when your tank would never go right and then all of a sudden, BINGO. This invaluable knowledge is what you can then pass onto other hobbysist, because it feels good to share and help those in need.

It’s all about the experience, all about how you deal with the ‘problems’ that are confronting you. And don’t forget I can always help too, just drop me a line, call me or email me and we can sort your planted aquarium problem out together

It’s a case of having the right tools for the job

So what are the right tools then? Hydor Koralia’s are the best to perform this job. Not only are they powerful but they allow you to push all important CO2 in the right location. Failure to do this means your plants do not receive the CO2 they need, but also if CO2 isn’t getting to the right location then you can bet fertilisers aren’t either. This can only mean

algae…

So for all of you wondering why you have got algae in your tank, ask yourself this question. Do you have sufficient fertilisers and water distribution in your aquarium and is CO2 being pushed around the entire tank…? Are your foreground plants struggling? If they are, I suspect it’s because CO2 and fertilisers are not being directed onto them – point your Koralia at them so that the plants sway, then watch them grow

Check out our range of Hydor Pumps here.

We initially were growing rotala rotundifolia and they did very well in a short period of time. In fact they threw out loads of runners over the space of about 3-4 weeks and became very bushy. So they enjoyed the light (a lot!). We have just tried 3 new plants to see how they fair up:

• Bacopa monnieri
• Ludwigia palustris green
• Ludwigia palustris red
• Rotala rotundifolia

It’s only been a few days so far, but remember the lighting is on 24/7. The red variety has responded very quickly -  these are new shoots and the reds are already showing good signs. The green variety is grown a little but they are under the MiniLED 400 tile so I guess the growth rate shouldn’t be as fast due to the lesser power.

The Bacopa monnieri hasn’t done anything yet so nothing to report there.

I’ll be updating this post every week to tell you about progress.

If you have any questions about this experiment – let me know!!

16/3/12

OK so I’ve taken a few snaps for you just to see what they are like at the moment.

One thing I will mention is the Ludwigia palustris red was planted a week before the others so it’s growth is expected to be bigger, but I wasn’t expecting it to have grown quite that much – impressive heh I wonder what it will be like in another weeks time?

UPDATE 20th March

Only 4 days later, attached are some new pictures of the plants.

Bacopa monnieri has grown 1cm in 4 days

Ludwigia palustris green has grown at least 2 cm in 4 days and looks excellent with great colours.

Ludwigia palustris red is turning into a bit of a beast and is growing rapidly! Difficult to measure now as it doesn’t stand upright very easily. Not sure if this is going to be a problem as it gets bigger but health wise it’s A1.

Rotala rotundifolia has grown 1 cm in 4 days and looks rather nice as I am sure you will agree. Very perky and healthy – notice a couple of shoots appear much larger than the others. It will be interesting to see if the others catch up or if that size becomes more apparent.

I also had a question from Andre on Twitter (follow me @AquaEssentials) asking me for some more details about the growing conditions. I have tried to replicate what the growers do but tweaking a few things just to see what happens:

Lighting: 24 hours per day

Ferts: AE Nourish and Nourish+

Air Temp: this swings from 14C-20C

Air movement: Controlled by computer

Humidity: Also controlled by computer but sits at 90% humidity

Plants sit in their pots about 3/4 deep of nutrient rich flowing water.

Any questions, please ask

UPDATE 12th April

It’s been a long time since our last update. We’ve moved premises so updating this has gone on the back burner. However, we’re back up to speed now and I have some new photos to share with you. The plants did stay in boxes for 3 days whilst we moved. I don’t think the young plants particularly enjoyed that but it’s just a gut feeling.

I welcome any comments/thoughts you have on this experiment so far.

Bacopa monnieri is nearly at 9cm now. Seems an easy plant to grow at the moment.

Ludwigia palustris green is still doing well. Health is excellent but the stems are floppy (not sure why…) and ideas anyone?

Ludwigia palustris red. Well what can I say about this one as it’s grown a lot but again cannot support itself. It really is very very big …

Rotala rotundifolia. This is my favourite of all the plants as it grows well and supports itself pretty much. It’s attractive and nearly 9cm in height. Colours still look good.

Would love some comments on this to hear what you think.