วีดีโอ

Why is what happening? Your question is unclear.

@@aquascapeguide sorry, - why is a clearly uncycled tank that just read 3 ppm ammonia, reading 0 ppm ammonia after a slight water change. BUT, I did not take into consideration the pH and temp......maybe it's only reading NH3 and not NH4. Thanks for the reply.

Why thank you! ☺️

LOL... for CO2 purposes, yes. Its very misleading and LOTS of new hobbyists fall into the trap of thinking its "liquid Co2". However, it is great for skilling BBA and even staghorn. So there are uses for the product.

@@aquascapeguide glad I did some research cause I was that idiot who believed in fairytails apparantly🤣

And this is why I make the videos that I do. There are SOOOO many products out there that are just unneeded. Just trying to save newer hobbyists some time and money. Been keeping these tanks for 19 years now. Wasted a lot of time and money, thats for sure. HAHAHA. See you around! ;)

@@aquascapeguide 🫡🫡

Working on it now! Just got all the audio done, and am working on Phyl animations ;) Give me a few more weeks and I'll have it done.

What is weird to me is that you have zero nitrates. The end of the cycle produces nitrates and you should be around 40-60ppm of it at the end of the cycle. We're you processing water changes during your cycle? If so, you were exporting the organics needed to cycle the tank. What you can do is put 1-2ppm in, and if it's gone in a couple of days, then you know your cycled. Again, it's just odd you don't have any nitrates in your tank.

@@aquascapeguide , no, I haven’t been doing water changes, but it’s a UNS 30a tank, 7gal, AIO cube with no lid. There has been evaporation with the hot weather, and I’ve had to add water, especially in the filter area. Could that have broken my cycle?

What did you use for your ammonia source? To test if your tank is cycled, you can add enough to get the ammonia to 1ppm and it should process out really quickly, like within a few days and you should show nitrates. If that doesn't happen, you didn't cycle the tank properly.

@@aquascapeguide I used Dr. Tims Ammonia, and the API Master Kit to test. Thanks, I’ll try again.

@@laurentoevs2320 That is perfect Hit the tank again and watch it all spits out to nitrates. If it happen quickly, then you know you're cycled.

We are VERY excited about the new... but APT probably won't be though. HAHAHA.

Fish food doesn't break down very quickly, and also doesn't create much ammonia. People have even used a piece of cooked shrimp, but it just takes forever to break down. So that is why I don't suggest it. By the time you dose enough food to get your ammonia up, you've spent the cost of just buying ammonia from the dollar store ;) So that is why I don't recommend it. And we have an article on our website about what carbon removes from the water, but its fine to run during the cycling process. It won't really do much for the tank as of now, but remove tannins. Here is the full article - www.aquascapeguide.com/post/should-you-use-activated-carbon-in-your-planted-tank-a-balancing-act

You're welcome! Took me 3 weeks to complete due to how much information was packed into it! hahaha. But there is not a lot of information about the causes of BBA out there. People mostly talk about treatment, not prevention. Hopefully it helps you if you are dealing with the "dreaded BBA!". hahaha

@@aquascapeguide First thing I did after watching is check my phosphate level. It was HIGH. I put phosphate remover into the filter and will do a water change tomorrow. I can confirm that H2O2 works well to kill BBA, but it's much better to prevent than to have to keep treating.

Awesome! I'm so glad I was able to give you some tips on how to prevent BBA. Most video's just cover treatment, but not prevention. And if you just hit BBA with H2O2 and don't make changes, like lower phosphates, it just comes right back! So I'm glad I posted this video :) Let me know if the phosphate reduction helps! Do you know where the phos was coming from? Just a lack of water changes over a prolonged period of time?

CHRIS! Do the "Lords work" and share it with the masses. HAHAHA. See you around bud

Great question! And thanks for asking as someone else might be too shy to do so ;) When I reference PAR, it would be 12" from the light. I don't know why I assume that others are thinking that same thing. HAHAHA. Appreciate you helping me clarify. I think I need to start saying that in future videos. Later scaper!

Love it! 🤗

With the finger dance while saying "I don't inject CO2 and you don't need to either!" 🤣

@@aquascapeguide 🤣

Why thank you! I'm running outta tips for you man! I hate it. Maybe there will be something in the video that is an ah-ha moment for your case of staghorn :/

I have a filtration video in my playlist named Part 1. Have you seen that? If that doesn't cover what you are taking about, reach out to me on your website and I'll make a more specific vide for you ;)

@@aquascapeguide I watched it again today if i was missing something . You are speaking about 10X turnover . That's usually means we had a canister , the pump inside of it should be at least 10 time powerful in ratio of tank water... Suppose , 200 litter tank simply need at least 10 x 200 = 2000 lph . So the canister pump needs at least 2000 lph of strength for 10X turnover.. right? Now my 1st Question is if the tank height is high or pipe length is too long then the lph will gradually decrease or it will be same ? 2nd Question we often select the beautiful nano category schooling fish for our tanks... These fish mostly like very gentle current or flow in the water just like the ponds or rivers... In fact in night if any of them came across to the outlet of a lilypipe they get scared and jumped... Besides with 10X turnover there will be no dead zone , better filtration but at the same time the fishes will not found their compatible zone as they don't like too much flow ... In fact some of them getting difficulties in swim and got stressed... So I can be wrong...but these are just my thoughts... Can you clear me this two points ?

Yes, it sounds like a lot of turnover, and it is. lol. For a 200L tank, you'd probably need 2 smaller canister, or 1 big one. And yes, we need to look at the canisters stats. If the stats only show us pump turnover, we need to reduce it by 30% as by time we load it up with sponges and biomedia, the flow goes down a nice amount. Fluval actually now posts their filter turnover, and not just the pump which is great. And yes, the longer the tubing, or the further away the canister is from the tank, the more flow you lose. And as far as reducing circulation, which is different from turnover, you can get bulb style lily pipes. They slow down the circulation coming out of the canister. Spray bars do the same as well so its not just a jet coming out of the lily pipe :) We just listed blub style lily pipes on the website you can look at. They are for the mini canister we are developing, but you can get them for 17mm hosing as well. Lastly, you can also scape your tank in a way that give some dead spots. Hardscape, and really busy plants like Java Ferns and Swords can help further slow down circulation. Just know, this is a guideline, not a rule. Sometimes we need to break rules to get our design down and not fun the tanks at 10x turnover... BUT, we know if we run into issues, we might need to bump it back up. On the newest scape I did that is now filling in, I have 10x turn over AND a little powerhead to get the turnover and circulation I need. I plan to add some Angles in the tank... we'll see if I need to slow things down for them once added in. Thanks for asking your question! :) It helps those passing by.

@@aquascapeguide So much Appreciate for your quick Answer. That's help a lot. I am actually using DIY Canister with Submersible Pump(Brand SUNSUN) in it . Canister Size include height 22 inch and Diameter 8 inch . Tank is sat nearly 40 inch higher from ground so it is quite a distance for canister to push the Water through the Lily pipes. So for 250L tank what LPH Pump do you suggest for me? And if I use double canister then what should be the individual LPH pump I need for proper circulation and 10X turnover?

So here is where we get out of my realm of expertise. I have very little experience with selecting pumps. I've ran a few reef tanks, but just replaced a pump when it went bad, and/or upgraded to a little more flow when I felt like it wasn't enough. I know there is something called "head room", or something to that effect, but when you get to the top of what the pump can push, the flow is REALLY slow. But I am not sure how to calculate that to turn over. So Im sorry, but you're on your own from there.

Check out the water chemistry video in our Part 1 playlist. It talks about how to test your GH, KH and PH. But KH is your carbonate hardness. Its what keep your PH from moving when an acid appears in the tank. A couple examples of acids that we deal with are tannis from leaching wood, and the byproduct of the cycle process produces an acid. Also, KH effects PH. We sometimes need to adjust it to make sure our livestock are happy. So its good to learn how to test and adjust these things. See if you can find our water chemistry video! It will make sense of it all ;)

Yes. You DO NOT want to plant the tank until AFTER the dark start. As you are thinking the plants will need light. If you already planted the tank then you wouldn't be able to do a dark start :/ Lame... I know.

What is your water change schedule like?

@@aquascapeguide Thanks for responding! Weekly 30% R.O water remineralized with Seachem Equilibrium

I always suggest doing 50% water changes weekly when there isn't an issue, and 75% when you start seeing GDA. So moving forward I would suggest you go 2x 75% water changes over the course of a week. This will remove any excess DOCs or nutrients you have in the tank. While you are doing these, before removing all that water, clean then GDA off the glass THEN remove the water. You won't want to clean the glass and let the GDA just stay in the tank. Also clean off the glass or trim all the plants with GSA on them. Then get back to normal dosing. Resetting the water column will help reset your nutrient levels thus helping remove the algae. From there if GDA comes back, you're just dosing too much, which is the issue you were probably running into with just doing 30% water changes weekly.

@@aquascapeguide Thank you so much! This helps. I will follow your advice.

Schweird. As you are thinking, everything looks good. Higher nitrates and no nitrites show that the compounds are being processed out. But always having ammonia is odd. Is your aquasoil leaching ammonia? Aquasois can leach ammonia for months, especially nice ones like ADA. Did you put fish in before it was fully cycled? It could just be the fish producing it. What is your filtration like? You could be under filtered or not have enough circulation. Do you have chloramines in your tap water? When you use a dechlorinator like Seachem Prime with chloramines, the chlorine goes away, but it leaves ammonia behind which is not good. Let me know. You can also hit me up on my website to help you troubleshoot.

@@aquascapeguide thanks so much! Yes I would’ve thought everything is processing as it should. I’m using Stratum, temps around 25 Celsius, ph around 6.5. Just the stock hang on back filter with seperate powerhead and sponge section. I’m churning through bottles of product! It seems stability doesn’t bring my reading up to 2ppm ammonia. Should I ghost feed as well as daily Stability? 10G slightly planted tank. Thanks for your help!

@@DanielSing90 Stratum doesn't leach ammonia very much, so you're fine there. Do you have dedicated biomedia in your HOB? You'll want that in there. And Stability is a bacteria in a bottle. Its not a source of ammonia. Are you dosing ammonia? Or are you just getting your ammonia from ghost feeding? Also, do you know if you have chloramines in your tap water?

​@@aquascapeguide Noobie so sorry if I mix my terminology here. There is a carbon cartridge in the HOB. I am not currently dosing ammonia, I have just added a small square of old filter media from a tiny 2.6G tank thats cycled. I have not been ghost feeding at all but was wondering if that might be a possible step. Daily dosing of Stability does not bring up, or down the ammonia from 0.25ppm. Chlorine is indeed present in my (Sydney) tap water, not sure about chloramine?? Thanks for all your help.

You're good! My entire channel is dedicated to newbies. Hahaha. The carbon you can remove unless you're needing to remove tannins or chemicals. And good that you moved some cycled biomedia from your smaller tank. That is what I was trying to see if you've done. Stability creates the bacteria needed to cycle your tank. It "seeds" the bacteria, so that is good. But I've got bad news, I googled it and Sydney uses chloramies. There is a carbon in the US that Fluval makes called ZeroCarb. It has an ammonia remover in it. I would suggest finding something like that to run some chemical filtration to remove the ammonia from the tank. Each time you do a water changes, you'll be adding ammonia into the tank which sucks. You should be able to test your tap water for ammonia and see if that is the source.

They're considered secondary macronutrients, I cover them in the water chemistry video I have. I don't really see them as fertilizer.

That's a terrible idea. Ammonia starts to becomes toxic after .25ppm. I will never suggest using livestock to cycle a tank. At this point we know it's cruel and completely unneeded.

@@aquascapeguide my plant grow (2 out of 3 ,call them succes) and my guppy start flirting each otherafter 4 days ,i call them great succes

@@brokeer1912 I do not teach this approach as I think its cruel. But do what you would like with your tanks.

Aaawwww! Thank you so much. That makes my heart so happy 😊 I work hard to turn complex subject, in easily digestible videos. I feel like others overcomplicate things. But I just keep my head down and try to keep creating videos for others to learn from! Appreciate your kind words. Help me share the video to get me more subscribers! 😜

The spaceship! Pew pew. Hahaha. The kelvin on the light is pretty blue but it did ok filling in the iwagumi.

You should add bio media to your filtrer from day one as that is where the bacteria develops. But did you add an ammonia source and get your ammonia up to 2-3ppm, because if not, then your tank isn't cycling. But the time the cycle is done, you'll be around 60ppm of nitrates. That is when you process 100% water change to clean up the water column and you're good to add a few fish at a time, about 5-7 days apart. You do not want to dump a bunch of fish in at once. Furthermore, I would ditch the crushed coral and learn how to adjust your water chemistry manually. If you go to our Part 1 playlist, there is a Water Chemistry video I would watch. - th-cam.com/video/3-rJePrlGec/w-d-xo.htmlsi=43ozs4CQkPh6tJQd- I am not a fan of processes what we can not control. We need control over our tank to provide consistency. I also don't like crushed coral because it jacks up your GH, KH and PH, again uncontrollably. Planted tanks like soft water and crushed coral will you push you into the double digits for GH which most plants won't like. I have an article about this on my website here - www.aquascapeguide.com/post/should-i-use-cuttlebone-for-my-snails-in-my-aquarium

@@aquascapeguide Thanks. My tap water is 6.5 PH when I have tested it. We have soft water here. I look at your website site article and get an ammonia source. I’ve got some bio media that I haven’t used yet and also have some in my first tank that’s been in there for two months in the filter, in a little bag. I have the juwel filter and a sponge filter in there. I put some bio media in the filter replacing one of the sponges. Once I have added the ammonia source in my new tank I’ll put the bio media in. I’ve also got some small rocks that I’ve had in my first tank for a month that are intended for my new little tank. In my new tank I’ve been letting my live plants get settled and they seem to be doing ok. Thank for the advice.

Thank you for the kind words! Yeah, I feel like people overcomplicate things in this hobby. HAHAHA. And for context, I only suggest to do a water change over 3ppm in case you have plants in the tank, as the ammonia can be hard on them. If the plants are not melting, or showing signs of stress, I'd just let it ride and not process a water change. IF you feel like you want to change the water, to get it down 1ppm, you'd do a 25% water change which would be around 3.5g. And it sounds like you are doing everything right, you just need to be patient and let the tank develop the necessary bacterias. Just keep and eye on your PH, and if it gets too close to 6.0, use some baking soda to kick it back up. The cycle process can eat through your KH, that for sure. Hope that helps! Ask more questions if you've got them!

@@aquascapeguide thanks so much for responding. My tank is planted and I've noticed some plant melt so ill do a change tomorrow. I may have accidently squeezed the bottle a little too much😂 it's strange the fritz fishless is to add 4 drops per gallon which is like 56 drops for me in my 14gal which seems like a lot. We aren't in any rush to get fish want to get it all right before we do. Is there another video on KH I think I've missed that one, Ive only tested my PH once it was 7.4 but I'll retest

You're welcome! And yeah, Dr Tims is the same way. It 80 drops to cycle a 20g. HAHAHA. It does feel like a lot ;) But yeah, do a little water change to get the ammonia down and that will help the plants out a bit. They actually like ammonia over nitrites, over nitrates, believe it or not. They will uptake the ammonia as a macro nutrients :) So a small one might help them a little. Just don't change too much as we need the ammonia and nitrites still to cycle the tank. And at the end of the video there is a troubleshooting cycling section. It talks about the KH/PH drop can stall the cycling process, and what to do it that happens to you. But we also have a water chemistry video that talks all about GH/KH/PH if you want to learn more about water chem :) Regardless, it sounds like you are sitting pretty and Im glad you are going into this tank with the low and slow mindset. Nothing in this hobby happens quickly. Time and small adjustments is where its at ;)

@@aquascapeguide thanks so much for your help ☺️ this is my first tank so trying to do it the 'right way' done lots of research. I did watch to the end which is where I learnt the KH I dont have a test bottle for that I'll have a look for one.

Good man, take your time and you'll do it right ;) And it sounds like you have a PH test kit, so just keep an eye on that. When your PH drops too low, its just an indication that your KH is low, so you can hold off on one of those kits until later. I know there is a nice amount of gear to acquire in this hobby. HAHAHA. Good luck bud!

Green Aquas gallery is amazing isn't it! The only other one that I can think of that is on that caliper is ADA's gallery. If you can find that on TH-cam you'd appreciate that one as well :) The hobby needs more galleries and less "fish stores". Lol

You've gotta try to go sometime!

Thank you! Cheers!

Dude, I didn't capture a shot of when you first walk in! It feels like a GreenAqua in Texas. Its nuts.

@@aquascapeguide apparently.. I HAVE to go to texas now.

DO IT! hahaha

Right! Mixing up a batch up is pretty easy ;)

Thank you! 😊

You're welcome! I enjoying helping others navigate this hobby. And yeah, you can totally top off while it's cycling. And You can use both prime and quick start while doing so. Just remember to calculate The dosage by the amount of water you're putting in, not the entire tank. So if you're only putting in 5 gallons, only put in the calculation for 5 gallons of prime. And the quick start isn't needed, but it's helpful :) Hope that answer's your question. Reach out if you have more!

@@aquascapeguide Awesome thank you for getting back to me. However, I didn't see your comment in regard to dosage, per the amount of water. So, I added Quick start, but the amount required for my tank i.e. 188ltr prior to doing this my Nitrites were 5ppm and Nitrates 100ppm. As of today, my Nitrites are at 0ppm and Nitrates 20ppm. Have I stuffed up my cycle, what should I do please? I am on day 14 of my cycle and used the ammonia method. Thank you in advance.

@@ArthasMenethil-qx2vj I would say just leave the tank be until you don't have any more ammonia and nitrites. When you get to zero ammonia and nitrites, do a 100% water change to clear out all the nitrates from the water column and you're good to add a few fish. Don't go crazy and add a ton of fish. Just a few here and there so you don't overwhelm your bacteria. But it sounds like you are getting close to the end of cycling!

@@aquascapeguide Awesome, thank you for taking the time to get back to me on this.

@@ArthasMenethil-qx2vj You're welcome! Good luck and I hope your cycle is over with quickly! ;)

Why thank you! People over complicate this hobby. I'm not sure why. hahaha. So I just try to keep things short and sweet :) See you around!

Awesome! Dude, no lie, your plants are going to go nuts. HAHAHA. People email me before and afters all the time. Take some yourself so you can go back and look at the difference ;)

Out of all of my content, this is my most watched video believe it or not! lol. Quick and to the point man.

Hey! Glad to hear my content is helping you. I've seen certain plants struggle in softer waters. One plant that comes to mind is Staurogyne Repens. When the KH get too high or low, it start to look like its dissolving. Its odd. And yes, it could very well be your aquasoil buffering your GH and KH down. So make sure you check your GH as well. But to bring your KH back up, I used baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate. 1/4 tsp in 5 gallons will give you a +4dKH boost. I tend to keep all my tank around a dKH of 4. That seems to be plenty. I've also learned that some plants will use carbonates as a carbon source. I don't know much about it yet as I need to research it more, but just another reason to keep your KH boosted slightly, versus no KH. As far as your BBA goes, if you go to our website, and click on blog at the top, there is an algae section which has a BBA article in it. Its REALLY in depth, but the short answer is that you're not getting your one point PH drop before the light turn on, OR, you phosphates are too high compared to your nitrates. Those are the two areas I troubleshoot when helping others with BBA. Our Co2 video also goes into the PH drop method, so if you have not seen that video, it will help you dial in your Co2 injection. Hope all that helps! ... and thanks for commenting with your question! It helps other learn that are too shy to ask ;)

​@@aquascapeguide Thanks for your detailed response! I will follow your advice on the KH. Also, I have been turning on my CO2 two hours before the lights come on, but my drop checker stayed blue for the entire photoperiod. I thought drop checker was not working. Three days ago, I decided to leave the CO2 running for more than two hours or until it turns green. I did work, after three and half hours later drop checker turned green and continue to lime green through the entire photoperiod. So, simply turning my CO2 on for two hours was not simply enough. Furthermore, I see almost no BBA growing on the glasses. Your videos are really helpful, and looking forward to more such videos. Thank you so much!

Yes, they are just a little less accurate than the liquid titration kits. They also give inaccurate readings overtime. If the bottle of strips you buy is new, I would trust the readings. If the bottle is old, I wouldn't trust the readings.

Right! I don't know why people have to overcomplicate these things. The thinking behind the large water change after the tank is done cycling is you don't want to start your tank off with really high nitrates. So the idea is to get the water all cleaned up, then you can start adding livestock slowly over time. If you had 60 to 80 parts per million of nitrates then you added fish it's only going to go up from there. So I suggest just to get the water all cleaned up, then add your livestock.

@@aquascapeguide Awesome. Thank you for the quick reply!

Hi David! I would dose VERY little ferts while is cycling. The reason behind this thinking is that the tanks is high in organics (ammonia and nitrites) so it can be pretty unstable. Instabilities lead to algae and this is why I'm become more and more of a fan of the dark start method, which is cycling your tank with the lights off, THEN planting. Furthermore, plants LOVE ammonia and nitrites over nitrates as its a simpler compound for them to uptake, so that will help "feed", kind of. After the tank is done cycling, and you've done some large water changes to reset the water column, THEN I would start dosing ferts for those water column feeders ;) And if you have not already, check out the ASG Feralization Kit. We have a TH-cam video on it within our channel. Hope that helps. Reach out if you have more questions!

Carrie, thanks for reaching out and for the kind words! Im glad my videos have been helpful for you. I was researching it for you and there aren't many options. Most people that are using a FX6 have a larger tank and are running an inline reactor that has connections that will fit seamlessly. Google "NilogC Inline Reactor". They are kind of big and clunky, but work amazingly well, are the most efficient means of Co2 diffusion, and have zero "sprite water" from Co2 bubbles. If you have to run an inline atomizer, google "rubber connector for FX canister". This will bring up some connections that MAY work. The run would go, cut hose > connector > diffuser > connector > hose. Last idea but not the least is ditching your ribbed tubing on the FX for vinyl tubing. If you dip the end of a 22mm diameter tubing into some almost boiling water, it will make the tube VERY pliable, and from there you might be able to push it onto the canisters inlet and outlet nipples (giggity). And then that should connect fine to a 22mm diffuser. But my top suggestion would be to look into a reactor. Those things are amazing.

Hello! Thank you for your time in helping out. I got the the rubber adapters that connect FX6 hose to another FX6 hose. I couldn't find one that adapts to a 22 mm. So, could I safely use hose clamps?

Yeah, you might just need to rig up your own little connection type with hose clamps like you're thinking. Again, I think most move to reactors when they have filters this big. Kind of a pain, but maybe there is a product opportunity for someone 24mm reactors ;)

I'm not teaching others how to get by, I teach what is best. Let's start with how sponges are poor at mechanical filtration. You get a fine sponge and they clog up after 48 hours. So every 2 days you have to ring it out otherwise you have no flow. So then you get a medium or course sponge and then it let's all the fine particulate matter through leaving your water with a haze. So they are poor at best for mechanical filtration. Then if you rinse out your sponge too well, or it drys out during a water change you lose your biological filtration and now your processing water changes every other day for weeks. Seen this and have mentored MANY others in this situation in Facebook groups. And lastly chemical filtration. Well, you can't run chemical filtration at all. So I would disagree and say that they aren't even fine. They are rudimentary at best and are the poorest approach to filtration the hobby has outside of a hospital tank with a single fish, or a plastic bin for breeding. Sponges should NOT be used on a planted tank and if you disagree your perspective is limited to your experience.

@@aquascapeguide fair enough. I'm considering upgrading to at least a hang on the back filter. I can't justify dropping $200+ on a cannister filter right now when I've only just started and I have a 10 gallon starter tank. You know?

Totally understand that! This hobby isn't cheap. And I'm not trying to be combative or contradictory, Im just trying to educate and don't want hobbyists thinking a sponge is as good as a canister. Check out the Fluval Aquaclear, or Google "canister hang on back filter aquarium" and you'll find hang on backs that process water like a canister for a fraction of the price. The kicker is having the water flow THROUGH media, and not over the top of it like a traditional HOB. For your case I would suggest a ZooMed mini canister. Those little things are cheap-ish and dope! Great little mini canisters.

@@aquascapeguide All good, sponges aren't meant to be long term I don't think. Also I'm looking to get the Aqueon quiet flow. I like the motor being in the tank so that it doesn't burn out if the power goes out when im not home. Plus it looks like it has a lot of little addons you can add which are nice

Yeah, those on tank filters are great and some even come with a surface skimmer which is awesome.

Correct. The power adapter simply controls the solenoid. It opens and closes the flow of CO2, but it does not control how much flow. It's just an on and off switch. The large value connected to the regulator controls pressure while the needle valve which is the small valve controls flow. Make sense?!

@@aquascapeguide thanks, absolutely understand now and am ready to go as soon as I get my co2 tubing!I have my full 20oz paintball canister. My plants are missing it. I had the fluval mini to try it out but was crazy expensive. This will be awesome with the timer. Thanks for a great video!

Those crappy CO2 systems... they are terrible. I'm a Tropica retailer and won't even carry their "CO2 system" because I think they are misleading hobbyists. And like you said they are expensive to run! Glad you stumbled across my video. Reach out here or on our website if you have any questions or need help tuning the system.

@@aquascapeguide Thank you, I surely will! Have a great day!

So as soon as I put the regulator on the co2 canister, and started tightening, it started hissing like crazy, got cold, and I toted it outside really quickly. The pressure is right at the high zone. Maybe they overfilled it? They told me to bring it in cold, and I did, so maybe that has something to do with it?

This is common due to the organics in the tank! So I wouldn't worry. This is also why the dark start is popular, which is talked about at the end of the video. But what I would do is let the tank completely cycle, then process a 100% water change to get the tank all cleaned up, then you can start adding your fish slowly. That is how I like to do it ;) Hope that helps!

@@aquascapeguide So I would put completely fresh conditioned water when the cycling process is done?

Yup! Get the tank all cleaned up and reset before you add fish. If not, you'll have a ton of nitrates in the tank due to the cycling process. This can lead to GDA which you're probably experiencing now. So its best to do a reset before adding fish which will make more nitrates.

@@aquascapeguide Ok thank you so much 🙏

Right! lol. Its so much simpler than Imperial. I think if the US tried, society would crumble. HAHAHA.

If by pump, you mean a powerhead, then possibly. It all depends on your layout of the scape, the positioning of the inlet and outlet of the canister, and the turnover of said canisters. We just want that 10x turn over and for inside the tank we can enough circulation to avoid dead spots, and even through we have that 10x turn over, we still might need an additional powerhead.

Mb I didn’t watch all the way 😅

Lol. Jumping the gun a little uh? ;) But Im glad you feel like you can ask questions.

Yeah, you are right. Its seryui stone than CAN be an issue if it has white veins in it. Those veins are calcite, but dragon stone is inert. I've had other hobbyists saaaaaay its messing with their water chem, but I can't see dragon stone doing that at this point.

Not that I am aware of. I think the power supply is only rated at 12v, so you're limited. The real heavy pumps, like return pumps on a reef tank 24v+. I think you'd be limited by the power supply itself. Sorry I'm not more help.

That was quite helpful - thank you.

Bacteria is uneeded to cycle a tank, so I don't talk much about it. Most bacteria that is sold in a bottle is dormant and not living... with the exception of Fritz Turbo 7 which is live bacteria is the seller can keep it live before getting it to you. Overall Im just not a fan of things that are uneeded. One is just using money that can go into better gear ;) All you need is ammonia, some biomedia, and time.