aeration prob

[insomniaclush]

I seem to be having a little aeration problem
I have a 29 gal heavily planted and it seems to not
produce enough O2 for the fish. almost every morning I wake up to
all my little guys gasping at the water line. I have put a air stone in w/ a timer
so that it come on for a few hours durring the night but even so the fish
gasp later on.

[rrocket2002]

Re: aeration prob

Are you running CO2?  Maybe too much CO2.

[wesleydnunder]

Re: aeration prob

Plants reverse the gas exchange after lights out, taking in oxygen and giving off co2. It's possible the plants are depleting the oxygen overnight. I'd suggest leaving the airstone on during lights out to keep the water moving to the surface and see if it makes a difference.

Mark

[armthehomeless]

Re: aeration prob

The tank looks nice! If you are using ADA stuff, some people move the lily pipes up to the surface to create enough O2 for the fishies at night.

[insomniaclush]

Re: aeration prob

A good question would be is how many and what type of aquatic plants
would produce sufficient oxygen production for fish w/o using other
equipment?
Im using DIY CO2
and it looks like its on it's last legs for this week so i don't think CO2
is an issue right now. As for the airstone, i'll set the timer for a longer
period and see what changes.
As for ADA lilys, I am not using them on this tank. Waiting out CAL to
drop/sale on a couple of sets of glassware.

[Mzungu]

Re: aeration prob

A good question would be is how many and what type of aquatic plants
would produce sufficient oxygen production for fish w/o using other
equipment?

That's extremely variable. What kind of filtration do you have on the tank? How many fish do you have in there, and what kind?

[insomniaclush]

Re: aeration prob

That's extremely variable. What kind of filtration do you have on the tank? How many fish do you have in there, and what kind?

Using a Eheim 2215 W/ a coralife 9 watt UV
Current 130 watt PC for 10hr day
Stock would be
3=Blue Rams
7=rummy-nose
5=cardinal tetra
1=Otto
4=Amanos
4=RCS

[Mzungu]

Re: aeration prob

Wow...how strange. I would understand if you had little to no filtration or a heavily stocked tank, but you don't at all.

I assume that any plants that would be big oxygen producers would be the faster-growing ones, such as Anacharis, Hornwort, etc. Those are called "Oxygenators" a lot in pond stores.

But it looks like you have some Wisteria in there? A lot of times people use that as a fast-growing plant. Hmm... :?

[insomniaclush]

Re: aeration prob

Wow...how strange. I would understand if you had little to no filtration or a heavily stocked tank, but you don't at all.

I assume that any plants that would be big oxygen producers would be the faster-growing ones, such as Anacharis, Hornwort, etc. Those are called "Oxygenators" a lot in pond stores.

But it looks like you have some Wisteria in there? A lot of times people use that as a fast-growing plant. Hmm... :?

Ya, theres some Wisteria in there.........lol
I like it but what a pain. I was out working on a flick for the past 2mo. and the Wisteria
and Grass has taken over this tank moreorless. Looking @ it now, if I start trimming
its going to be the biggest mess ever.

[Mzungu]

Re: aeration prob

 Yeah, that glosso will make a mess. It looks pretty thick!

But sorry, back to the O2 problem...

[insomniaclush]

Re: aeration prob

 Yeah, that glosso will make a mess. It looks pretty thick!

But sorry, back to the O2 problem...

indeed!!!

[nacra99]

Re: aeration prob

With a DIY CO2, your options are quite limited.
Normally with a compressed system, we can use a CO2 controller & solenoid.

You can try disconnecting the CO2 injection when the lights go off and reconnecting it in the mornings. Remember that your plants will produced CO2 as well. With a tank as highly planted as yours, it may possibly contribute a significant amount of CO2.
Increasing your aeration will definitely help dissipate CO2 at night. Get like a whisper 40 or a pump that is slightly oversized for your tank. Together with a bleed valve so that you still have the option to asjust it as needed.
If you start with an undersized pump, then you'll have limited play on your aeration.

It's quite common to put in a little bit more effort trying to balance chemistry with DIY CO2. If it becomes too much of a hassle, it might be good to go with a compressed system.

[mahoro]

Re: aeration prob

just make sure the areation is enough to break the water surface...
what kind of co2 are you running...

[eklikewhoa]

Re: aeration prob

The plants are taking in oxygen at night which is a small problem with heavily planted tanks running co2.

Personally I always ran a bit more filtration which would make it a bit harder to keep co2 in the tank but didn't give me any problems at night.

You could put an airstone or small powerhead pointed to the water surface on a timer so that it will aerate when you lights go out.

[ponyrandy]

Re: aeration prob

Wow, nice tank! I agree with Mzungu, you have plenty of filtration and are not overstocked. I also don't think that with the number of plants you have that they are raising the co2 levels too high at night. My only thought is more of a water quality problem. You mentioned not being able to devote a lot of time to it in the last 2 months, could water changes also be lacking? Maybe nitrates are high and the fish are stressed? You might try 25% water changes every other day for a week and see if there is any change in the fish. WCs cure a lot of problems. Let us know what happens.
Brian