Pepere

Stack the felt and plastic washers alternating. Felt, plastic, felt, plastic, felt. as you tighten the airstone the felts gets compressed by the plastic and yields finer bubbles. Finer is a relative term. Not nearly so fine as a stone, but finer than just bubbles popping out of a hose, finer than the Ziss being loosely tightened…

@Mordecai13, I thought you might like this photo I took today showing the morphological differences between the L. Repens grown in a high light, high fert co2 injected tank vs the one grown in moderate light, moderate ferts non injected tank. The specimen on the left comes from a non injected tank that takes 6 weeks to gain 4 inches of height, the one on the right is in an injected tank that grows about 4 inches a week. the plant in the injected tank has fewer but bigger leaves and a bit more reddish coloration. the non injected tank has its own appeal with more leaves that are more compact… Had I discovered how to keep a non injected tank free from visible algae I probably would not have invested in co2 injection. Injection however does allow you to keep plants that would really struggle in a non injected tank… L. Repens responds nicely to co2 but grows quite well without it as well.

In my experience Equilibrium has no affect on KH levels. I use Seachem Alkalinity Buffer. It has nice measurable results. 1 teaspoon added to 20 gallons raises KH 2.8 degrees and I believe it is Sodium Free unlike baking soda. It is significantly more expensive than baking soda though, but I really dont need to use it often or much. My tap water has 1 degree KH and weekly 50% water changes do the lions share for me. I always test PH after a water change before adding Easy Green as I front load Easy Green to get to30 ppm nitrates after a water change as the iron in Easy Green binds up if ph is too high. Yesterday after water change, ph was 6.0 or less. This led me to test for KH which was under 1 degree. Ie, 1 drop of kh reagent and the test sample was still yellow. I added about 3/4 a teaspoon to my 29 gallon tank and KH was 2 degrees and ph raised to 6.8.

In my co2 injected tank with 30 ppm nitrate dosing, and high light I shorten my Ludwigia Repens about 4 inches every week. It gets pulled, I cut off the bottom 4 inches and it gets reinserted in the gravel. Just water column dosing, no root tabs or nutritional substrate. In my 17 gallon fish bowl I do not inject co2, I dose Easy green to get nitrates around 15 ppm, I have aquasoil under the inert substrate in this tank, and the lighting is much less. It takes about 6 weeks for the L. Repens to grow 4 inches… I do insert each stem a half inch or so away from each other and do not use weights. All of my tanks run at about 3-4 degrees of GH and 1-2 degrees KH. I have very soft tap water that I supplement with Seachem Equilibrium to raise GH and also provide potassium and iron… L Repens has proven to be a very easy plant for me that seldom ever had algae grow on it before I got the Algae monster under control…. On the right hand side of the bowl is L Repens. In addition to growing much slower without supplemented co2 you can see that the tops have less reddish blush to them and the leaves are smaller. Here in a co2 injected tank you can see the L repens center stage in the background behind the pink flamingo crypt reaching for the surface. This photo is about midweek after trimming shortening. Within about 10-12 days the L repens would reach the surface.

I suspect your level of displeasure would be much higher if you set it up and experienced a panel blowout….

Maybe shade that 1 spot a bit and improve flow in that area…

I usually siphon off around 3 gallons on my 29 gallon tank. It drops water from a half inch below frame to maybe 2 inches below the frame. this level drops the water low enough that I can fit arms in without displacing water above and over…

It sure is hard to say not knowing what the contaminants are…

You can just glue hem to rather small rocks too. Just big enough to held them down. They dont have to be glued to large decorative rocks. then you can rearrange them in the tank to suit your fancy…

This particular tank of mine is fairly densely planted, and pretty significantly stocked, and has injected co2. I do not run an airpump, airstone on this tank and have not seen any indication of livestock stress. I do have a canister filter discharging through a spray bar that disturbs the surface and the pickup is through a glass pipe with a surface skimmer.

The rational for this is that plants consume oxygen during their dark cycle. your tank though is not particularly densely planted and also has low livestock stocking. Further both cories and Gourami are able to get oxygen from the surface if needed..,

I generally remove leaves this infested. You end up removing a fair amount of algae all at once that way, which means less left to re colonize, and removes mass that slows flow and shades new growth. byand large leaves infested to that degree seldom recover. Healthy plants defend themselves well against algae. Plants sometimes abandon leaves and once abandoned the leaves leak from the margins and the leakage seems to feed algae…

I have 15 Green Neons in a 29 gallon. They will often be close together in a cluster, and often enough they will also be scattered across the tank. so moments of schooling but nothing consistent…

I dont see a negative to shutting it off. @Lennie feels a gourami would benefit from it being off. I am not sure that I see it, but, it is nothing I would be doctrinaire on and he may well be right… you could certainly shut it off and observe if you see any changes.. I cant see a negative to removing the airstone as your tank is lightly stocked.

While I am not a fan of crushed coral personally and do not intend on using it again, I dont think it is horrible. I just think there are better options… for your needs given the kh of your tap water, once you get excess acids neutralized and get kh back up I suspect weekly water changes will be plenty to kep kh in a good range for you. for myself I have 1 degree kh in my tap and do nothing to supplement it. All of my tank inhabitants tend to be the acidic water variety and are quite happy with it and my plants seem to like it too.

My gut feeling is that based on current stocking the surface agitation from a hob would be plenty. on the other hand I cant see where the airstone would be bothersome for a gourami. The only benefit I would perceive from not having an airstone is less mineral deposits from not having the air bubbles popping…

I know Cory recommends its use. The reasons why I am not a fan follows. GH is comprised of calcium and magnesium. K.h is carbonates. Crushed coral adds calcium and carbonates as it dissolves and no magnesium. plants need both Calcium and Magnesium and do best with a specific ratio. I have very soft Tap water, 1 degree GH, 1 degree KH. By dosing both Calcium and Magnesium in known amounts I can optimize plant growth. as a general rule KH does not aid in plant growth but it can be important to some livestock. If I dose crushed Coral, I have no idea what the end stage of increase will be or how fast it occurs, and that dissolving will also slow with time as there gets progressively less crushed coral in the tank as it dissolves over time. plants continually work to reprogram to optimize themselves for the conditions they find themself in to make the best of things. You do a waterchange, and assuming you are using crushed coral because you have very soft water asI do and conduct a 50% waterchange and essentially gh and kh will roughly be half of what it was before the water change, and then it will start rising so your plants are continually trying to reprogram for changing conditions. Personally Iuse Equilibrium in my water change water that doses calcium, magnesium, iron and potassium. The new water going in will be roughly the same levels of these as what is coming out except for any depletion that occurred over the week, so stability and consistency in my opinion is enhanced. plants tend to do better with all parameters staying pretty much the same, CO2, temp, GH, KH, Nitrate, potassium, phosphorus, trace elements lighting, etc… @Mmiller2001 uses individual dosing of lab grade calcium and epsom salts for magnesium instead of Equilibrium and his planted tanks are both award winning and absolutely stunning. In no way would I argue that Equilibrium is superior to his method, and when my stock of Equilibrium starts to approach the end I intend to consider his method in more detail… I originally had crushed coral in my tank also based on @Cory recommendation and still have a bag of it. I pulled what I had in my tanks as I learned more about it not providing magnesium, and the water change issue. My plants are doing much better now than before, but I in no way attribute it all to removing crushed coral. I have changed a lot in my tanks both with water and light parameters and plant husbandry practices etc…. I do not however foresee using crushed coral again… One might set up a test tank and add crushed coral and graph GH, KH changes over time and what affect water changes has, but I cant see doing it myself. Honestly it is just way to easy to dose Equilibrium with a measuring spoon into replacement water…

I bet the kh was steadily decreasing while ph wasnt moving as fast, until kh depleted.. If your tap water is 80 ppm kh, that is a little under 5 degrees of hardness. A 30% water change will raise tank kh to just over 1 degree kh, and it might not do that simply due to acids in the tank converting carbonates to co2 early on. I dont think you need to do daily water changes, but initially you might need to do a few back to back 50-70% water changes to get kh simply from your tap water. Alternatively using Seachem Alkalinity buffer to get kh back up and then doing weekly 30-50% water changes should keep up on kh depletion. I am personally not a fan of crushed coral for a number of reasons…

I find it amazing how much more difficult people try to make things to avoid simple water changes… I have been guilty of the same thing. Sometimes, investing to make waterchanges easier is the better path. I have found routine simple water changes makes keeping a tank free of visible algae so much easier for me and has sold me on doing the work…

I bought an API Nitrate test kit recently that came with a 5 ml plastic test tube with the cap hinged to the top. you can flip it closed with your thumb… no needing to use another hand to get the cap on. No more glass breakage. I was very pleased. I went looking for replacement plastic test tubes to get rid of my glass ones. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any for sale… I am hoping API intends to offer them soon.

Yes. And you really should have a ground probe and not just rely on the gfci alone. Without a ground probe there is no alternate route to ground until you stick your hand in the water and also touch a ground source yourself… If I have a ground fault, I want there to be a path to ground inside the tank so it trips before I stick my hands in the water…. and you really should get in the habit of tripping and resetting your gfci outlet once a month. I do mine the first Saturday of every month during tank cleaning….

I have not been too terribly impressed with any algae eating inhabitants. None that I tried seemed to make much of an impact even when I didn't feed the tank for a week to encourage more algae consumption.. I have tanks that are free of visible algae now, but I don't attribute it to any of the inhabitants…

Maybe yes, maybe ever so slightly smaller that they leak…. personally I wouldnt risk it unless I had a spare aquatop valve on hand, cause if it dont work, you are waiting on a replacment…

They may not fail often, but they are cheap enough to simply have a spare on hand. If you ever need it, you would be very happy to have one on hand. $18.00 https://www.amazon.com/Hagen-Fluval-AquaStop-A20062-Filters/dp/B07VWQB811/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2KS3OFJ2MYAHU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7kPIGo-4lwKCNfPGkUztb7E5Tvf6RCoH9dMQEK80Nzb-jeSml1gl6DFe8XacdfqVK4VsfVg5hxQvZ5h_HLgS0LW6NXxbmPRyRCzfmYsgD-TeNGAYBUBR9kA-3vP_3KdJzipitP_j8ACzNKbcUNEnHnzmsjHxx37xZW3m6HL6sB652kpf2BwXtzBAP6wGDFVsmkcOhkJszNpHDkQ2Or5ZomdH9U-6AHhNxDOg4lO8mOu-61yHGpxlnjb7ndWqfHT5_KiFXnalwhUeM0GqbbiHI8c7w7XxYnhEoOTnO8G0cGw.XmYqqjz3hsRulv1FeQ9jy5kGhbr7AJdv3BSdaapppBs&dib_tag=se&keywords=Fluval+207+aquastop&qid=1718365321&sprefix=fluval+207+aquastop%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-1 the manufacturer recommends cleaning and lubricating the large O ring every month and replacing it every 6 months. Having one on hand and using it at the 6 month mark and replacing it means you would never have to worry about the shelf life. given the low cost of O ring and impeller kit at $27.00 the inconvenience of a leak, I change them at 6 months… https://www.amazon.com/Fluval-207-Motor-Head-Maintenance/dp/B07VXPX3G2/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1BFMPJKGYL7K5&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.X2VUUIel9mog81ioJ2ZC0um7Xv9OsPsEYkNAarvetWhl41-w9sFD46FE1Gr-VQLa3LR8npe6RMdqvOdC6Vt8ubj5kCZv1Wx-a50-tBaOeUzNBkbBQxb7Ehd8OYdxV5zY2P5Vt1ii5atjxRc4tNm1d-UwMI0B6f7AdE9lNRVHHktYiofeyz_gjRW83Si1XqmVlQnB1qoX8zOzkz7QYLj524rcvwWMHrfcqY6LB4Or6Q_CvE_NgvqgpbVt5gKQ0tkodm3zS1UCV8yVSvlpT0_7SMOygKaWUg5ZGXFVEaFw9HU.nuItTqlDVcIIzpBLgLlOtqXs0zTXrTm8ThLIsk2SP60&dib_tag=se&keywords=Fluval+207&qid=1718365247&rdc=1&sprefix=fluval+207%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-8 alternatively you can buy just the o ring for $9.00 https://www.amazon.com/Ring-A20038-20038-Replacement-Fluval/dp/B0D39DV7XX/ref=sr_1_25_sspa?crid=2MKTRJNGOODRB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.X2VUUIel9mog81ioJ2ZC0um7Xv9OsPsEYkNAarvetWhl41-w9sFD46FE1Gr-VQLa3LR8npe6RMdqvOdC6Vt8ubj5kCZv1Wx-a50-tBaOeUzNBkbBQxb7Ehd8OYdxV5zY2P5Vt1ii5atjxRc4tNm1d-UwMI0B6f7AdE9lNRVHHktYiofeyz_gjRW83Si1XqmVlQnB1qoX8zOzkz7QYLj524rcvwWMHrfcqY6LB4Or6Q_CvE_NgvqgpbVt5gKQ0tkodm3zS1UCV8yVSvlpT0_7SMOygKaWUg5ZGXFVEaFw9HU.nuItTqlDVcIIzpBLgLlOtqXs0zTXrTm8ThLIsk2SP60&dib_tag=se&keywords=Fluval+207&qid=1718365539&sprefix=fluval+207%2Caps%2C131&sr=8-25-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1 $21.00 for a hose kit is cheap enough to have on handnin case you accidentally nick one too… https://www.amazon.com/Hagen-Fluval-Rib-Hose-14-5mm/dp/B0006JLOC8/ref=sr_1_1_pp?crid=FE8PGXMYPZWR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.G2I1rPd5X2ocqTE9_Gay2ZbGQzryGaWRkH_NoqLAc4URAy2IUvBVesN7_wQ7iO76dBxMRNbQP1ouB-AGvmTqooEM3fh9xa9WU3BvoS-cB1bosd6HeGAc1wVUeTGGsvhs7HJqw7UbVv0kxnKz41jsdBnFuQVR4hkcOeUisc4HdH6lDus9Jz5nJpMh-XSsRE7RPoaf5yHXkBs_Zz6NWCGtG_Iba-_naWUA_oaTsFmljDVaIDM9Dt5SjkYGHe6bN2aacTcP21Hffu7JN8B3KT29at6HcxgDqLjCkEFY3Yh4XR8.kNI9X0zxGRhD557TIFXReaeeGVNGOJTbpitxAkrw848&dib_tag=se&keywords=Fluval+207+hose&qid=1718365420&sprefix=fluval+207+hose%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1 Of course the ultimate back up would be to have a spare pump in the box just in case…. $145.00 https://www.amazon.com/Fluval-207-Perfomance-Canister-Filter/dp/B07JHG13WP/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2MKTRJNGOODRB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.X2VUUIel9mog81ioJ2ZC0um7Xv9OsPsEYkNAarvetWhl41-w9sFD46FE1Gr-VQLa3LR8npe6RMdqvOdC6Vt8ubj5kCZv1Wx-a50-tBaOeUzNBkbBQxb7Ehd8OYdxV5zY2P5Vt1ii5atjxRc4tNm1d-UwMI0B6f7AdE9lNRVHHktYiofeyz_gjRW83Si1XqmVlQnB1qoX8zOzkz7QYLj524rcvwWMHrfcqY6LB4Or6Q_CvE_NgvqgpbVt5gKQ0tkodm3zS1UCV8yVSvlpT0_7SMOygKaWUg5ZGXFVEaFw9HU.nuItTqlDVcIIzpBLgLlOtqXs0zTXrTm8ThLIsk2SP60&dib_tag=se&keywords=Fluval+207&qid=1718365539&sprefix=fluval+207%2Caps%2C131&sr=8-2 If I had 5-6 tanks with canister filters I would probably have a spare canister on the shelf…

I rely on the API ammonia test for that very reason. I know what it is testing.., Total ammonia… and the test results correlate very well with known ammonia dosing. Ie if I dose a sample to 4 ppm ammonia using ammonia drops, the API reliably reports consistent results. I had initially questioned the co op strips ammonia reporting when I tested ammonia using the strip after having dosed my tank to2 ppm for a fishless cycling and it didnt register at all. A sample dosed to 4 ppm did not change the color on the test strip anywhere near 4 ppm reporting. My water was under 7 ph and that might very well be the reason if these strips do not test for total ammonia. Since I dont “know” what these strips are actually testing for I dont have the confidence to use them.