Aurora Aquatica

[Wisey]

Hi All,

Firstly I want to say thanks to everyone for all the advice over the last few months, you have been a great help, I don't think I would have had a clue what I was doing without this site! Some of you may remember that I started a journal last year when I bought the aquarium, but then with a house move and various other expenses this year the project got put on hold.

Yesterday, I finally planted my aquarium! I'm really not very good at thinking of names for the project, but went with Aurora Aquatica as Aurora means dawn, and this is my first planted aquarium (and first aquarium of any type for about 20 years), so dawn is like a new beginning. Yeah, cheesy I know, but I was struggling for ideas 😛

So, firstly, my spec:

Aquarium
TMC Signature 60x45x45 Optiwhite
Charcoal grey cabinet (modified for side hose exit)

Lighting
TMC AquaRay 1500 Ultima Tile
TMC AquaRay 2 Channel Controller
iQuatics Universal hanging rail

Filtration and Heating
Eheim Professional 3e 600T - currently set to maximum flow
Cascade glass inlet pipe
Eheim Installation Kit 2 with extenders, basically a spraybar (this will probably be replaced with glass once I know what I am doing and the tank is established)
2 x Eheim double tap kits so that I can tap in to the inlet pipe for doing water changes and remove my atomizer for cleaning without removing all the return pipes.
Thermal Filter currently set to 24 degrees centigrade

CO2
CO2Art Dual Stage regulator with German solenoid and SMC Valve
UP Inline Atomizer (one of the stronger ones apparently, I didn't break it yet!)
Advanced Precision Brass Bubble Counter
2KG FE

Fertilisation
I will be dosing EI, currently manually
I have purchased the shelf and two 1.5 litre dosing containers for the TMC Easi-Dose system, I just need the pump before I go on holiday in August.

A few pics from set-up day to follow shortly...

 

[Wisey]

Totally forgot my plant list and substrate with the first post! Here goes:

Substrate
Tropica Plant Growth Substrate
Unipac Limpopo Sand

Flora
Microsorum Trident
Anubias Nana
Echinodorus Reni
Cryptocoryne wendtii (cap)
Limnophila hippuroides (cap)
Ranunculus papulentus (cap)
Hydrocotyle tripartita sp. Japan (cap)
Alternanthera reineckii mini (cap)
Micranthemum Monte Carlo (XXL cap)

Ok, apologies for the poor photography. I did use my DSLR, but I was setting up on my own and was more interested in getting the aquarium set up properly than taking good quality pics and it was a really bright day, so hard not to get any reflections etc.

First up is my bogwood! I know this is going to give me some flow problems, but I loved it when I saw it (ebay, gree0044). If it gives me issues, I will look at adding a small powerhead behind it.



I glued my Anubias to the wood with superglue gel, then the Microsorum as well. Was pleased when the Microsorum came out that pot that it was actually two separate plants, so I was able to spread it out a bit more on my wood. After placing the wood on some polystyrene, more so to boost it up in the tank than to protect the tank, I added the Tropica Plant Growth substrate leaving a gap around the sides and front so it was not visible.



The tank was then planted out and filled. Drop checker at the start:

 

[Wisey]

Quick pic of my cabinet mod. I used two rectangular grey desk grommets from ebay. I have another two spare in case I wanted to set-up on the other side in the future, I can cap these ones off with the inserts and put two more in the cabinet.



I had a nightmare with my CO2 to begin with. Was a bit of a panic as I set up last week with just water and tested all the kit and everything worked fine. A week later when I do the job for real, I didn't seem to be getting any CO2. I ended up removing my extra check valve which was up near the atomizer and things started to work. Drop checker after the CO2 had been going for a few hours.

 

[Wisey]

And now the day 1 planted shots!



You can see the Limnophila hippuroides around the back and the Echinodorus Reni at the far side. The Echinodorus is swaying in the flow, the Limnophila is not, but I am seeing CO2 microbubbles going round there, so there is some flow, just not as much as in the rest of the tank. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[Wisey]

When I got up this morning, my drop checker was still a lime green colour. My spray bar is creating a ripple on the surface, but I'm obviously not gassing off much CO2 overnight. I do have an air pump and a spare timer I can set up if needs be, so I am prepared. This morning I did my 50% water change and then dosed some more ferts. As advised in a separate thread, I am dosing macro and micro on the same day at the moment. I know that is not ideal long term and I will dose alternate days, but with these daily water changes, I was unsure what to do for the first week. Any further advice on this would be appreciated. On day 1 I dosed the full EI level, but today I did 50% as someone said that with in vitro plants I should dose lower levels for the first week. All thoughts and comments appreciated.

My TMC tile is currently set to 20%, it comes on at 17:00 and goes off at 22:00 with a 15 minute ramp up and 15 minute ramp down. My CO2 is set to come on at 15:00, two hours before lights on and goes off at 21:00. I'm currently adding quite a lot of CO2, it is a fast bubble rate, but my drop checker never went beyond the green in the picture above. I'm going to get another drop checker that I can place lower down in the aquarium so I can get a better idea of CO2 levels at the substrate and behind my wood. I have really good flow in front of the wood, all the plants are slowly waving in the flow. I made sure I put my plants that needed more CO2 towards the front, I just hope my stems behind the wood grow. They do have good light still, they are not in shade as my tile is quite high, 25-30 cm above the water level currently.

 

[Wisey]

So, I wasn't planning on any fauna in the tank for 6-8 weeks, but just found this little guy trekking along the waterline. I can only assume he came in with the plants.

 

[Alexander Belchenko]

Nice tank and great start. One thought: I'd probably put the spray bar on the side glass so it will create flow around your wood. I suppose your spraybar slightly bigger than 45 cm though.

 

[Jose]

I like it. I would just recommend dosing full ei, specially at the start. Some people dose less micros and phosphates because they feel safer as far as algae is concerned. But its not necessary. Also I would double check for leaks in the co2.7

 

[Wisey]

Nice tank and great start. One thought: I'd probably put the spray bar on the side glass so it will create flow around your wood. I suppose your spraybar slightly bigger than 45 cm though.

That might be possible when I upgrade to the glass one, I may also be able to do it by removing the extension piece on the Eheim one, I would have to measure. I'll see how things go and keep this suggestion in mind, thanks for the idea.

I like it. I would just recommend dosing full ei, specially at the start. Some people dose less micros and phosphates because they feel safer as far as algae is concerned. But its not necessary. Also I would double check for leaks in the co2.7

Thanks Jose, I'll go back to dosing full EI. My tank has around 120 litres of water, so if I was dosing alternate days, I would dose 25ml of macro one day and 25 ml of micro the next. If I am dosing both each day for the first week due to the water changes, should I halve the 25 ml dose as I am doing it daily rather than alternate days?

 

[Wisey]

I reduced my CO2 input yesterday and also raised the spray bar a little more to increase the surface agitation. I'm still getting the green drop checker 24 hours a day, it's just staying the same pretty much. It may go a little further towards a lighter green at the end of my CO2 being on, but does not go to yellow. Is it ok if it stays green all the time, or should I be looking to reduce the CO2 I am adding?

 

[Jose]

Thanks Jose, I'll go back to dosing full EI. My tank has around 120 litres of water, so if I was dosing alternate days, I would dose 25ml of macro one day and 25 ml of micro the next. If I am dosing both each day for the first week due to the water changes, should I halve the 25 ml dose as I am doing it daily rather than alternate days?

I wouldnt worry and just dose the total ammount every day, because the concentration in your tank cannot go higher than double what youre dosing if youre doing 50% water changes. I dose a lot more than EI because my water is very hard and there are precipitation issues. Dont worry about build up of nutrients if youre doing 50% water changes.

 

[Wisey]

I wouldnt worry and just dose the total ammount every day, because the concentration in your tank cannot go higher than double what youre dosing if youre doing 50% water changes. I dose a lot more than EI because my water is very hard and there are precipitation issues. Dont worry about build up of nutrients if youre doing 50% water changes.

Thanks, will do!

 

[Jose]

I reduced my CO2 input yesterday and also raised the spray bar a little more to increase the surface agitation. I'm still getting the green drop checker 24 hours a day, it's just staying the same pretty much. It may go a little further towards a lighter green at the end of my CO2 being on, but does not go to yellow. Is it ok if it stays green all the time, or should I be looking to reduce the CO2 I am adding?

I dont think you should. But the only way to know for sure is watching your fish. They should not show signs of distress. There is another way of measuring co2. That is with a pH metre and the "ph drop". You can ty and use that together with your d.c.

 

[Wisey]

I dont think you should. But the only way to know for sure is watching your fish. They should not show signs of distress. There is another way of measuring co2. That is with a pH metre and the "ph drop". You can ty and use that together with your d.c.

There are no fish as yet, won't put any in for 6-8 weeks, I want to get the plants established and be sure that the tank has fully cycled. I'm planning on getting a PH meter, but my water is really soft, so think I will need to buffer it to get a stable reading. I have bought some filter bags and a tub of oyster shell chicken grit, so once I get the PH meter I will do that. Didn't think it was worth adding at this point as I am doing so many water changes this week.

 

[Jose]

There are no fish as yet, won't put any in for 6-8 weeks, I want to get the plants established and be sure that the tank has fully cycled

No fish?. Then reduce all surface movement to 0 during photoperiod as to retain most of the co2 inside the tank. Its a good idea to aerate the tank at night a bit though.

 

[Wisey]

Ok, I'll drop the spraybar again when I get home from work this evening.

 

[parotet]

I love the desk grommets in your cabinet. Can you tell me where did you find them on eBay? Which size do they have?

Jordi

 

[Wisey]

I love the desk grommets in your cabinet. Can you tell me where did you find them on eBay? Which size do they have?

Jordi

Hi Jordi, it's this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Grey-Rect...361?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4d0d3284a9

 

[parotet]

Ordered in white! Thank you

Jordi

 

[alto]

I have very soft water & find it quite easy to overdose the CO2 - almost killed the poor fish the first time as we were out & came home to apparently lifeless fish at bottom of tank fortunately they started to recover with surface agitation & water changes, were definitely feeling a bit punky for a day or two, but no losses; I ran the tank with no lights & no CO2 until fish returned to normal activity.

CO2 runs at ~ 1bps on a 90 x 45 x 55cm tank, anymore & fish begin to stress (even once acclimated to life in CO2 world).
(note that tank is in a very bright room so with the long days, I run very low CO2 24/7, then increase bps for the photoperied, turning bps back down a couple hours before lights off)

I usually run with some surface agitation, only still the water surface when I'm home to monitor fish (especially as we're in a heat wave!)

New tank set up's often experience surface film, which limits gas exchange & may include algae life, so I always run the tank with surface agitation for the first weeks.

Tank looks great, will be interesting watching it grow in