All good with that
I've tried several different methods, the difficulty being the inability to store and heat/age 150+ gallons of water. I have a pump setup to drain the tank and a 55 gallon drum with a pump back into the tank. I just setup hot and cold taps into the drum to mix water to temperature as I'm pumping into the tank. Straight tap water with the addition of prime.
2 Rena xp3's, 1 xp4 with a magdrive 9.5 booster. Loaded with just sponges and some chemstars. Not sure of the flow rates but I'm starting to wonder if I have dead spots here and there.
4x40 watt T12 6500k for 12 hrs.
2x250 watt MH 4 hrs.
At the next light change cycle I will be upgrading to T5's
Currently: 60-70 Harlequin Rasboras, a dozen SAE's and a common Pleco.
Planned: 12-15 Discus, 15-20 Amano shrimp.
Honestly I think this is the area that I have had the least trouble with, if I can trust the drop checkers that is. I have a rex grigg style reactor, built a little bigger, on the out side of the xp4. The solenoid is hooked into an aquacontroller and controlled by ph. There are drop checkers on either end of the tank, both reading pale green to yellow. Fish are very happy and healthy.
Again, how well can I trust the drop checkers?
Agreed.

I'm about an hour east of Sacramento.

Thanks again Tom!

Steve

Drop checkers have three big problems: first they are very slow responding to changes in CO2 concentration. It takes about 2-3 hours for one to reach equilibrium with the tank water. Second, they are limited in accuracy by our ability to judge the solution color. Since that color is a measure of the pH of the water in the drop checker, and the ppm of CO2 indicated is proportional to one over ten raised to the power of the pH, a small error in reading the color makes a big error in the CO2 indication. Drop checkers are dirt cheap, and are a way to make use of the KH/pH/CO2 relationship without worrying about having water with "contaminants" that affect the pH and KH. But, they will never be an accurate measuring device. And, third, the concentration of CO2 in the tank varies a great deal from place to place in the tank. If the water circulation isn't ideal a drop checker can show "30 ppm of CO2" but in among the plants, where it is needed, the concentration can be far lower.

A drop checker allows you to avoid what used to be a common problem - having tank water with a KH and pH that indicated you had 100+ ppm of CO2 in the water, when you really had less than 10 ppm. But, it isn't the last word on CO2 concentration.

Steve, I'm in Sacramento
I go to Tahoe all the time.

I know most of the hillbilly backroads, as that is where I often explore wherever I live.

I can do some work for you if you want.
PM me.

I travel to the Bay area weekly do do work for clients.
I ain't cheap, but I can get things going and then you can relax and have things set up easier and be able to do it yourself. I did that for a client in LA.

Results:


The tank looks much better than this now, this was about 9 months ago



I'd suggest a sump/overflow, Bag filter, some sponge and about a Iwaki RT 55 or so.

As far as adding more circulation, the Sureflow Adaptors for the Maxi jets or the Seio Rio pumps are excellent, one or two would be plenty.

No, the drop checkers are not particularly good IME, they are slow response and they are not easy to determine the color.

WC- the hot and cold tap is all you need, add directly and plumb right into the tank. You can test via your hand and it's about accurate to 2 F so you can adjust the tap to suit easily. No need to pre mix water and then add to the tank later, this is not Marine saltwater fortunately.

Amano shrimp can last awhile in the tank, but adult Discus will eat any they can catch. 200 is more like the numbers you need.

Also, with clients, I get all live stock at wholesale.
So the cost is much much lower(wholesale + 10%), even though I'm not cheap.
I make up cost savings in other areas.

While I do take on long term clients, most are more inclined to have me help them, then teach them how to care for it. The other thing that can be done is once a month and then you deal with it at a lower key level 3 weeks(say just water changes).
I did this for the CEO for Levi's here.
He does pretty well and no longer needs me.

T5 upgrade will help.
I'd go no more than 10 hours tops for light.

I think the CO2 may still be an issue, Controllers are only as good as delivery system they try to control, it does not imply they are really controlling CO2.

Seems like the tap is similar, we get it from the same water shed.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the more nuanced and realistic perspective......with experience comes wisdom

I was too quick on the trigger and didn't think it through, my bad

I do not want to add to your workload in any way, shape, or form .

I think I have taken up more than my share of your time already lol

Steve,

Thanks for being kind. No flaming done here at all.......not that type of place or person.

Sorry if I gave you that impression or to anyone out there lurking.......

I am just glad you found this site, as it is the best available IMO....

Best of luck with your tank. Please post some pics when you can.

Here is a link for dry ferts:

Planted Aquarium Fertilizer

and for the Hofer Gurgle buster:

Hofer Gurgle Buster Construction

BTW, I just purchased a Pan World 250PS pump to run my 180 and it is very nice. Quiet and powerful, it is more than enough for my tank and I have to throttle it back. Runs my wet/dry filter and sump and both my NC canister and c02 venturi with plenty left over.

Almost the same as Iwaki, a little less $, built by a former Iwaki engineer...This is equal to the mdrlt100 in ratings, I think.

Just a thought.....

Take care.

Gerry,
Is the gurgle buster just noise reduction for overflow boxes. I still have my durso stand pipes, if I'm going back to a sump, they worked quite well.

Thanks!

Steve,

Pretty much IMO, although they are easily adjustable whereas the durso are not...

As long as you don't have a large waterfall in there > 3-4" as per Tom, and the noise is okay with the durso, then let it go.

I had investigated them awhile ago, but decided that my setup was pretty darn quiet.

Later,

Do not sweat it Gerry, we all love ya.
I've been on line with folks for a long long time and can "smell" the goals some have pretty well.
I go off on things very often myself.
More than you.

Main thing is to help the person and resolve the issue. Some folks have bad attitudes, some are just looking for help at some specific level.
The web is hard to communicate vs in person. We all see and know that!


Haha, I was joking here, just so you know. Do not let my web persona fool you.

No intent taking away anyone's fire here or anything like that. Do not hold back in the future


Regards,
Tom Barr