Mmiller2001

They make a claim of a non glut source of available carbon in the C line. It's still independent of CO2 and would have no impact on CO2 injection. The Chelating would be more of a concern than what the C line offers.

I would think if you are feeding with a calcium supplement, that you are fine. That said, this sounds like a great opportunity to go ahead and invest in an RO system so that you can build water to perfect numbers<evil genius laugh>.

I also use the Eheim 2217 classics. I modified it with an in-line pump that has that kind of data available. Not sure you want to go that route but it looks like this.

Yeah, those pump nozzles are pretty terrible. For the sake of accuracy, I might measure actual milliliters and add to the distilled water. Just so we are as accurate as possible. Take your time, if things seem okay, no reason to rush. Just FYI, I just recently thrashed 3 test kits over inaccuracy. I had now idea how bad they were until I started calibrating them.

Test the tap water.

Sorry, added a picture.

Using distilled water, use this to pump in an amount to measure. So 1 pump in 1 gallon should be 30ppm. Then if you wanted to check 15ppm, pour out half a gallon into half a gallon of distilled for 15ppm.

Calibrate it, then you will know which one is giving you the correct information. Do you use Easy Green?

Continue to mineralize the RO water. Which GH mineralizer are you using? I would increase the water change volume to help. FYI, my source water is mixed to 85ppm, that's 4.6dGH and 0dKH. After fertilization, my tank is 145ppm on my TDS meter.

Co2 is independent of additives.

If you are using root tabs, stop. Continue water changes. Calibrate your test kits, and double check that you are using them correctly. Test your source water for nitrates. If you do a 50% water change, you will have half the nitrates. If you don't see this in testing, your method or test kit needs to be checked/ replaced.

They are all inaccurate unless you calibrate them against a known nitrate ppm solution.

Depends on head height. So the answer is some GPH less than the 330GPH it's rated at. The only true way to know is to attach a flow meter at x head height and see what you get.

Tap water can be unstable until it sits out and equalizes. Let it sit out for 24 hours and redo your test and see. If it has 0dKH, Easy Green might lower it a bit, but one full point is suspicious.

I would leave it alone, the Easy Green had next to no impact on the pH. If you want to increase pH, look to raise KH. I would buy an API KH test kit and monitor it.

Thank you.

No, I mist down all my intake pipes and temperature probes every water change. My spray bottle mists really well so I don't really use that much. If you were using too much it could be a small issue, but just a fine mist is all that's needed.

Thank you. No, I think my wife would kill me. 😆 I spend too much money on this hobby. But...maybe a competition would convince her it's worth spending...hmm. I'm just going to remove it without replacing it. I was using it mostly for running purigen easily. I feel like the 2 Eheim filters are plenty enough with the addition of the sterilizer.

I will never not run an UV sterilizer going forward. Amazing! Little hair cut, ordered a new plant for the left corner. Will be removing the HOB permanently and the Kimberly is finally starting to look nice. I will need to pull out the good camera shortly. But here's a phone pic.

During your water change/maintenance day, grab a nice spray bottle, fill it a bit with hydrogen peroxide and spray down the areas where the BBA builds up on the intake. Then complete your maintenance. No reason to rinse, just mist every time.

Reduce the flow while the sand tumbles in the python, then stop flow to drop the sand.

It's important, but that Fluval has way too much blue.

I would drop blue to zero and work with the other colors. Here's mine, but try at peak 40%. If things improve, then raise it in 5% increments.

Try 40%

I apologize, I posted a reply to the wrong area. Yes, if that's the length you need, that's the ALC I recommend. You missed that the Finnex has 660nm reds. That's huge, and it's PAR is similar to the Fluval. Check out Chihiros, it's an amazing light and will grow a high tech tank also. Chihiros WRGB II 30-120 Aquarium LED Light, Aquatic Sunrise Sunset Full Spectrum App Dimmable RGB Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XMBWQM7/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_FWN9QN56Q3BN08QMK192?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 There's my tank on a Chihiros and also when it was on a Fluval. Notice the pop of true RGB vs that horrible yellow overtone of the Fluval.