Journal Plenty of Tech 15g AIO Cube

[Schrute66]

Hey Minninips. At this moment the entire system is consuming 24w and the Ecoflow is telling me I have 99 hours of runtime (with the battery 78% charged). The heater rarely runs but when it does, I see the power usage bump up momentarily by 5-8w. Not sure I completely understand that since it is a 50w heater but the reported usage on the Ecoflow matches what the Hydros system reports for XP8 outlet that powers the heater Conservatively, I'm sure the Ecoflow could run the system for at least a couple of days. Perhaps less if it's really cold and my home's heating system isn't running. I've been procrastinating on getting a generator. Every year or two when we have an ice storm and lose power, I tell myself I'm finally going to get one but I never do

 

[PNW_Nick]

I've been looking into a UPS (mostly coming from the PC world) and saw your post about the Ecoflow. I'll likely end up with one on each future tank now that I've looked into them, so glad to hear yours is working well! I'd be surprised to see multiple days from 1kwh, but I guess for the tank size, that makes sense. We've lost power for as long as 7 days (last year). Thankfully we've got a portable generator and went through about 80 gallons of gas. Highly recommend one. Costco has some larger ones on sale every few months. If we weren't renting, I'd likely get a whole house generator or at least a transfer switch so the generator can be plugged into the house and wouldn't require extension cords everywhere.

 

[Koan]

I'll likely end up with one on each future tank now that I've looked into them, so glad to hear yours is working well!

Plug here for all things Anker Solix, they have some good Black Friday sales going on now, plus will have end of year sales. And of course prices are always great at Costco

Anker is the industry standard for reliable consumer battery backups, great support + portable solar recharge Even their large batteries are wheel-able

I put in a whole-house Solix failover genny and I'm very happy with it so far.

 

[Schrute66]

It's been a while since I updated this journal, but I've been tinkering with and enjoying the tank.

I've learned something very important during this first foray into keeping aquatic plants, and that is I hate trimming aquatic plants I started out with some Hygrophila siamensis, Alternanthera reineckii, Ammania pedicellata, some Crypt Parva, and various Anubias and Bucephalandra. I saw some early success with the stems, especially the Hygrophilia and Alternanthera. It seems obvious now but optimizing things for the faster growing stems wasn't really that great for the Anubias and Bucephalandra. So over time I've pulled all the original stems, added some additional types of Anubias along with java fern, and some Hygrophila pinnatifida which provides some needed contrast to all the green. The only thing left rooted is the Crypt parva. I've settled in on a maintenance, lighting, and fertilization regimen that seems to be working, and have introduced some fish and shrimp, all of which are doing well. No algae except for the GSA(?) on the rocks, which I like, and older Anubias leaves. This is a lot of fun!

 

[Phish Tank]

Crypt parva sure looks happy, glad you kept it.

 

[Schrute66]

I've mentioned that I'm using the Fluval Plant 4.0 Nano light. This is what I've settled on for the schedule and settings. I'm using the late morning siesta just to extend the light-on time a little further into the afternoon when I'm usually around.

On: 7:45am
Off: 11:00am
On: 12:00pm
Off: 4:15pm

So a total duration of 7.5 hours.

Here are the Fluval channel settings. No particular reasoning, just what I've settled on and seems to look OK.

Red 25%
Blue: 4%
Cool white: 30%
Pure white: 40%
Warm white: 25%

This is the resultant spectrum graph. The plants appear to be doing well, and other than some GSA on the older Anubias leaves and every once in a while a spot on the glass, there's no other algae. Would love to hear if anyone has thoughts on this

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Looks good! I think spectrum concerns are often unfounded in freshwater aquaria. That looks totally good. 7 hours a day is good, though I've never experimented with the "siesta" break before.

Most commonly, especially in low energy systems, GSA is the result of PO4 bottoming out. Have you tested your PO4 levels? If so, is it at or near zero?

 

[Schrute66]

GSA is the result of PO4 bottoming out

Thanks for that Rocco. I did not know that.

I'll share here what I've been doing with fertilization and then circle back to your PO4 level question.

The actual tank volume is approximately 10.8 gallons and I change 5 gallons per week. A convenient one-bucket job.

For water changes, I reconstitute RODI water and pre-set the GH/KH/NPK to my targets based on the amount changed, i.e., 5 gallons, not the total tank volume. I do not dose macros during the week. I believe this what @GreggZ does. I test the tank for NO3 frequently just prior to the water change and I consistently find the nitrate level the same as that of the water I added the prior week. So it seems that whatever the NO3 uptake is, it's offset by the nitrification process being fueled by fish food and fish waste.

Here's how I build my new water. I do have some shrimp and snails which influences the GH/KH levels.



Back to PO4, your comment made me realize that it's probably not valid to use the net NO3 uptake, or lack thereof, as a proxy for PO4 (or K), so I broke out a Salifert PO4 test kit. I'm rubbish at matching colors with these tests. Also, it looks like this Salifert test range only goes up to 2ppm. Regardless, this is the result from the new water that I know to be 5ppm PO4:



And this is the result of the tank water before the water change:



Not zero, but definitely less than what we're starting with and who the hell knows what the actual value is. Would you call this "bottoming out"?

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Not zero, but definitely less than what we're starting with and who the hell knows what the actual value is. Would you call this "bottoming out"?

I'd say that in a high-energy tank it could be a bit low for sure! You can always try raising your PO4 levels a bit, and if you stop getting GSA, then you know it helped. That's what I've always done as a first attempt to fix GSA.