Hi,
My DSM Set up has been running for 2 weeks now, so better late than never but here is my first journal
I was a little busy at the beginning and I forgot to take pics before it was planted doh! anyway here is a couple of (not very good lol) pics I took today.
I used almost 4 pots of HC and a pot and a half of Eleocharis sp. 'mini'. I want a bit more height along the back so I will probably plant the longer hairgrass variety just before flooding.
Here some week by week comparison shots....
This is when it was just planted
After 1 week
2nd week
Some observations:
After the first week I started seeing some of the grains of amazonia powder near the front of the tank turning white... mould!
I read on another forum about some members that were living in hot humid countries(not here!) having lots of problems with mould. I also Googled best condition for growing mould and of course it is when you have damp + humid + dark. So I turned off my heat mat and let it air out a bit and increased the photoperiod to 13 hours. I've kept the heating mat off since. I only had it on a 1 hour on/off cycle but it seems it wasn't helping and made the walls of the tank run with condensation. I now only get a fine mist on the tank walls and lid. The temp doesn't go lower than 17c at night. This seems to have done the trick and I haven't seen any mould since.
Growth on the HC is looking good so far but the Hairgrass was not so healthy when I got it (yellowing) but is recovering well with a few runners popping up and some fresh new leaves.
specs:
Tank- Aqua one aquanano 40
Cabinet - Aquanano 40 black cabinet
Lighting - 2 x 18w PLU aqua one
Filter - Built in
Heating mat for DSM
Substrate - ADA Amazonia normal & powder, Power Sand Special
Hardscape - Seiryu Stone
CO2 - Pressurised (yet to buy) & Neutro CO2
Ferts - Neutro +
Plants - Eleocharis sp. 'mini' Tropica 1-2-Grow, Hemianthus Callitrichoides Tropica 1-2-Grow
Fauna - Amano shrimp, Oto cats & most likely Cardinal Tetra or Green Neons
Thanks for looking!
Cheers,
My DSM Set up has been running for 2 weeks now, so better late than never but here is my first journal
I was a little busy at the beginning and I forgot to take pics before it was planted doh! anyway here is a couple of (not very good lol) pics I took today.
I used almost 4 pots of HC and a pot and a half of Eleocharis sp. 'mini'. I want a bit more height along the back so I will probably plant the longer hairgrass variety just before flooding.
Here some week by week comparison shots....
This is when it was just planted
After 1 week
2nd week
Some observations:
After the first week I started seeing some of the grains of amazonia powder near the front of the tank turning white... mould!
I read on another forum about some members that were living in hot humid countries(not here!) having lots of problems with mould. I also Googled best condition for growing mould and of course it is when you have damp + humid + dark. So I turned off my heat mat and let it air out a bit and increased the photoperiod to 13 hours. I've kept the heating mat off since. I only had it on a 1 hour on/off cycle but it seems it wasn't helping and made the walls of the tank run with condensation. I now only get a fine mist on the tank walls and lid. The temp doesn't go lower than 17c at night. This seems to have done the trick and I haven't seen any mould since.
Growth on the HC is looking good so far but the Hairgrass was not so healthy when I got it (yellowing) but is recovering well with a few runners popping up and some fresh new leaves.
specs:
Tank- Aqua one aquanano 40
Cabinet - Aquanano 40 black cabinet
Lighting - 2 x 18w PLU aqua one
Filter - Built in
Heating mat for DSM
Substrate - ADA Amazonia normal & powder, Power Sand Special
Hardscape - Seiryu Stone
CO2 - Pressurised (yet to buy) & Neutro CO2
Ferts - Neutro +
Plants - Eleocharis sp. 'mini' Tropica 1-2-Grow, Hemianthus Callitrichoides Tropica 1-2-Grow
Fauna - Amano shrimp, Oto cats & most likely Cardinal Tetra or Green Neons
Thanks for looking!
Cheers,