Confused in Cleveland

[dekes1]

Hi all, I'm a moderately experienced keeper, but new to planted tanks and am stuck on a problem. I've read every article i can get my hands on, but still not seeing any answers. Hoping you guys can share some insight.

55G tank, moderately planted, pressurized CO2, very high light.
occasional use of Seachem Flourish
Ammonia -0, Nitrites -0, Nitrates <10
Ph stays between 7.2 and 7.4
KH -7 dKh (about 125ppm)
GH -11 (about 190ppm)
Water overall seems to be healthy. I do regular water changes weekly.

My focus for livestock is livebearers, so I have a variety of Mollies, Platys and Swordtails. Also 2 Cory Cats and 2 Plecos . Total = about 22 fish

My problem is regarding what seems like O2 deprivation. I'm running an air stone but yes I know that nearly negates the CO2 injection. With the CO2 running, whenever i shut off the airstone, within a few minutes my fish go to the surface gasping for air. I'm only running CO2 at about 1 bubble per 2 seconds. My plants are growing very well, everything is deep color and I even got a nice pinkish red on rotala rotundifolia. I could never shut off the airstone nor go to more than 1 bubble every few seconds or else my fish would be gassed!

Why is my tank so much more sensitive to the CO2 injection and/or why is my water so O2 low?

Thanks for help!

 

[kevbc03]

I do not have an answer for you, but I wanted to share this. Similar thing happened to someone in the thread below. Are you overdosing on a conditioner or ferts or anything?
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/frozen-swordtail-anyone.653841/

Btw...Cleveland rep!

 

[rooto56]

Try turning the CO2 off as the lights turn off, then turn the airstone on. Also, there might not be enough surface movement, try adding some circulation pumps, and if your tank is sparsely planted, cut back on the co2 and add more plants. Then slowly work your way up in terms of the amount of co2, its a lot of experimenting with how much is just the right amount to grow the plants, but also keep the fish alive.

 

[dekes1]

kevbc03, interesting thought. I will admit that when i do my water changes, i dont precisely measure Prime (or sometimes i use API tap water conditioner) and I pour it right in the tank as i add new water.

Could Prime build up over time if I'm accidentally overdosing it?

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

Are you using any sort of drop checker in the tank? They aren't a perfect solution, but for novice planted tank enthusiast they are a great tool for giving you an idea of how much co2 the tank needs. Here's some questions for you...

What is your lighting schedule for the tank?
Exactly how much fertilizer and how often are you putting in the tank?
What is your co2 schedule pertaining to the lighting schedule?


Here's a picture of my old 75 gallon planted tank, there's 2 arrows pointing at a drop checker

A drop checker monitors the co2 level in the water, as you can see in the picture it's green in color which indicates there's the correct amount of co2 in the water for the plants to utilize and consume, but not enough to cause the fish any problems like gasping for air, or hanging around the top of the tank.

As mentioned, you want to make sure your tank has enough circulation, which is why for my planted tanks I tend to either use a higher GPH rated filter, or use 2 filters which is one on each side of tank. So I'll list my schedules for my tanks, now I prefer using T5HO quad 4 bulb systems for my planted tanks and here's why...

Here's the lighting schedule for all of my planted tanks...

8am 2 front bulbs turn on
10am 2 rear bulbs turn on
2pm 2 front bulbs shut off
4pm 2 rear bulbs shut off

Now my co2 turns on 1 hour before any lights, and shuts off 1 hour before the final lights shut off. The reason for this is to saturate the water column with co2 so once the lights come on for the plants there's immediate availability of co2.

My fertilizer schedule using dry fertilizers is as follows...
Mon-Weds-Fri - Macro NPK Nutrients
Tues-Thurs-Sat - Micro Nutrients
Sun - 50% water change

Dry fertilizers are alot cheaper than liquid solutions, and lets you monitor how much of what goes into the tank, plus it makes it easier for diagnosing and treating nutrient deficiencies. Also here's my bulb selection for my lighting, from front bulb to rear bulb...

6500k, 420nm actinic, 12,000k white actinic, wavepoint ultra growth wave

This bulb selection let me target the peaks in both chlorophyll stages in plants!!!

Here's the peaks of live plants

 

[Manu8__too]

1-2 BPS of Co2 in a 55G certainly wouldn't be enough to gas your fish, even if you're using the most efficient method of diffusion possible. Also, your nitrates are nowhere near levels that would be harmful. If anything, I'd add more Nitrogen to speed up plant photosynthesis (this will cause the plants to grow faster and produce more oxygen). In a High light/co2 environment, your plants require higher levels of nutrients in order to grow and flourish. You should have moderately high levels of Nitrates, Potassium and Phosphates in the water column. As the user said above, also try adding some more fast growing plants (Wisteria, Ludwigia, Corymbosa, etc.).

Are your filters providing enough surface movement and/or oxygen to the water? Have you tried running a powerhead to circulate more water/oxygen? This may help as well.

Best of luck!

 

[HybridHerp]

I run an uncountable # of bubbles on a 75, but the idea is to have a ton of flow at the surface and some rippling to help bring in atmospheric o2 without sacrificing too much c02. Plus if you're only lightly planted then perhaps its just that the co2 isn't being used up and there aren't enough plants making 02 for the fish either. Any pics of the tank and setup?