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Re: Tank specs



> Hi my 400l tank is three months old ,
> it has 240W of strip fluro lighting at 6 x 48" nec d/hg triphoshor 6700K on
> for 13 hours per day.

Reduce to 10-12hrs.

> filters are 1 x eheim 2217 + 600l internal filter , injected co2 at 125
> bubbles / min.

Inject the CO2 downward into the internal, not the external filter.

> Test as follows
> PO4  0.0

Too little, raise to .5ppm observe plant response(within hours)

> Ca  40ppm
> Ammonia 0.0ppm
> nitrite 0.0ppm
> nitrate 5ppm
> PH 7.8

There's the issue, gee how many "not enough CO2" in your tank questions have
I found? If I had a nickel........
Don't fret Dean, I'm not directing it at you:) Just an EXTREMELY common
issue for folks.

You need to lower your pH using ONLY CO2 gas to 6.8-7.0. Don't let it go
above 7.2. 7.0 should be a target. You seem to have good test kits based on
measurements and resolution. So all you need to watch really is the pH and
NO3 for now, add some K+( commercially available or K2SO4 @1 teaspoon weekly
after water changes etc) and a smig of PO4 source (H3PO4, K2H2PO4 etc etc)
to get some in your tank.
You do these 3 things(the lighting is a less important issue +,- an hour
won't cause much problems) and you will be greatly surprised at the results
of plant growth. PS, after the first 3 days that you've gotten this taken
care of you'll need to add more traces(perhaps even doubling it). CO2 is the
biggest issue, then K and P. If your tanks is not producing much NO3 from a
light bio load, KNO3 might be able to add enough K but I still add more with
my dosing(I use K2SO4).

Regards, 
Tom Barr    

> KH 100ppm
> GH 160ppm
> Fe 0.25
> 
> Plants seem to bubble after 8hours of lights being on , I am getting some
> growth , but mainly in the vallisneria ,
> The java fern went clear and died but has new plants coming from the rootstock
> , the rest of the plants seem to be holding there own and growing slowly .
> Fish are healthy and the J . Ornatus are breeding .
> Dean (outback OZ)