• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Aurora Aquatica

That's a real shame after the effort you've put in wisey, all may not be lost with the staurogyne as long as the roots are healthy it can regrow from the stem once conditions are favourable again, may be worth a few water changes on your return clean up any melt and hopefully it'll bounce back once the co2 is dialled back in.
 
tim said:
That's a real shame after the effort you've put in wisey, all may not be lost with the staurogyne as long as the roots are healthy it can regrow from the stem once conditions are favourable again, may be worth a few water changes on your return clean up any melt and hopefully it'll bounce back once the co2 is dialled back in.
Click to expand...

I didn't realise it would come back from the root alone, I was worried about the decaying plants effect on the water quality for the fish whilst I'm away, so I removed the plants that were melting last night. I left half the plants that looked healthy and I have some S. Repens in the propagator too, so will plant that up next week.

I'm starting to think how I might change things with some different plants, I've learnt a lot over the last few months, this mistake will be an opportunity to try some different plants out and try a slightly different look to the scape.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tim
So I got home Monday night, then got the new solenoid and needle valve at work on Tuesday. I removed the Alternanthera, most of the S. Repens that had melted, them setup the CO2, did a big water change and got the lights back on. The Hygrophila looks tatty but it's not been great for a while.

I placed an order with TGM for some plants as Aqua Essentials and CO2Art were low on stock and shipping is expensive to Aberdeen, so it just seemed best to get one order in and pay one expensive lot of shipping with TGM. I also knew that by shopping with TGM I'm getting Tropica plants which thus far have proved to be of very high quality compared to cheaper plants.

I'm expecting my plant order tomorrow and I'm currently soaking some small pieces of bogwood. I'm planning some minor additions to the hardscape and a big change in planting. When I'm done it will really just be background and midground that's planted. I'm unsure in foreground, I'm going to get the rest sorted then fill in the foreground afterwards once I see how the rest looks, see which areas are shaded and which get more light.

I'll try to post up some pics over the weekend as things change.
 
shame about the troubles you've had :(

but looking forward to the changes :)
 
Really poor service from The Green Machine, very disappointed. I placed my order on Wednesday morning and paid the ridiculous fee of £13.95 for express DPD delivery. Even then, they will only ship to home and not work as my work postcode is classed as highlands even though its only 3 miles outside Aberdeen. I therefore always have to collect DPD stuff from the depot. Anyway, that's DPD's fault, but the TGM issue is even more disappointing.

I spoke to them on the telephone yesterday as I wanted to know if the delivery was coming this week or next week when they got their next plant order. I was told that my delivery had just missed the cut off on Wednesday for pickup by DPD, seemed a bit of a strange excuse seeing as I placed the order at 09:48 in the morning! Anyway, I was told that my order was being picked yesterday and would be dispatched yesterday for delivery on Friday. That wasn't a big issue, I'm happy with delivery today, I would pick up from DPD after work tonight and plant tomorrow morning.

I checked my e-mail this morning as usually there would be a dispatch e-mail from TGM and also a mail from DPD allowing me to manage my delivery. I had specified in the comments that I would collect from the depot, but I would have checked online to make sure this was happening. Unfortunately, no e-mails from either TGM or DPD. I just gave TGM a call and apparently my order was not picked yesterday, it will be picked today and will arrive at the depot in Aberdeen tomorrow. The reason why? They have too many orders and only 2 people picking and 1 person packing so they didn't have time to do my order yesterday. If my company gave that excuse out to a customer, we would lose a lot of business. If they have too many orders for their staff, get some more staff.

I'm now in the position where I have to pick up the order from the depot at some point tomorrow, but will not be home from lunch time, so unless its available first thing it will sit at DPD until Sunday. I paid £13.95 to avoid the situation where the plants would sit in the box for days, if I had been happy with that I could have paid the standard DPD at £8.95. It's certainly put me off using TGM again.
 
Hope plants were OK in the end

- looking forward to the new scape :)
 
alto said:
Hope plants were OK in the end

- looking forward to the new scape :)
Click to expand...

I eventually managed to get the plants on Sunday morning then rescaped in the afternoon.

Quite a lot of work, I removed all the plants apart from those on the wood, then removed about 80% of the water to get rid of as much detritus that had been disturbed, the Tropica substrate is a nightmare when uprooting plants.

I added a piece of bogwood at the left to enable me to bank substrate behind to give the plants at the back a boost to show over the wood. More sand was added to fill in, around another 3 cm.

I planted two new Echinodorus Rose behind the wood, then two pots of Crypt. Undulata Broad Leaves, then three pots of Crypt. Wendti Mi Oya.

I felt the foreground had been too busy before, I've tried to concentrate planting away from the front glass.

The tissue culture Crypt. Wendti which used to be back left and was shades and tiny has moved to the front in a small gap in the wood, will see how it goes and move if it gets too big.

The Hygrophila was all removed and binned, it wasn't in great shape. Most of the Hydrocotyle was binned, but I kept a piece and planted back right corner. Not sure it's staying but didn't want to lose it all so it's just there temporarily until I decide.

The few S. Repens that survived are in the foreground on the left, hopefully full in a little more with bits from my propagator in time.

The Echinodorus Reni I was really reluctant to throw away as its healthy, just too small. I knew it would get shaded again if I left it at the back, so for now it's in the foreground centre. It probably won't stay there, I'll see if it grows now it has more light and decide what happens to it later.

The foreground sand was a bit low from lots of hoovering of melted S. Repens etc, the Corys had then dug up some Tropica substrate as the sand was so shallow. I filled in with fresh sand across the foreground to try and tidy up and smooth out the shape across the width of the tank.

Just a quick phone shot...

9f928662cb26e7f442ac421946b7b205.jpg


I'm practically starting again here, but with bigger plants rather than tissue culture. Nevertheless, it's going to take a few months to grow in.

I've had a little melt from on some Crypt leaves, which I understand is quite common when changing environment. So far everything seems to be doing ok. I'm away with work for two nights tomorrow so hopefully all well when I return.
 
I've checked James' algae guide, but not certain what this is. Would it be some sort of hair/fuzz algae? There are a few patches on the sand plus one area of the bogwood, all in the front right corner.

1d6869d6374a14bb570a4a79b5de0a82.jpg


a1a6bed8d85ae8eb58da563217c01f2f.jpg


92606efbb3e7722b87dba7fbaafd2e4c.jpg


I had a little bit of this before the planting change which I cleaned up but it's returned.
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all, Looks like it is fungal, and probably originates from the wood.

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...

Thanks Darrel, I guess it is just a case of keep removing it and hope it eventually clears up? The fungal issue I had with the black and clear spots on the wood did eventually go away after I removed it all, but now this has turned up in the last few weeks.
 
Well, I'm still having CO2 issues. Ever since I fitted the new solenoid and needle valve, something has not been right, although I'm sure it's the regulator rather than the new parts as it appears to be the setting of working pressure causing the issue.

I have emailed Miro at CO2Art for advice tonight, but if anyone here can shed any light it would be appreciated.

I used to run the system at 40 psi, dial that in with the blue dial on the front, then set the bubble rate with the needle valve.

When I put it all back together it seemed that I had to turn the blue dial quite a way to get any working pressure to register, but it kicked in and I set it around 40 psi and I got CO2 through, but then the flow started to slow then stopped and opening the needle valve does not increase the flow. I ended up pushing the working pressure up higher and the flow started again. Worked for a while, switching off and on each day on the timer, but then more problems.

Basically it gets worse every water change, I switch off, it gets depressurised as I'm filling bubble counter, but when I started up the next time I had to keep upping the working pressure to 50 psi before I got a flow of CO2 that didn't eventually stop.

I'm a bit late with this last weekends water change, it happened today as I was away. Tonight I dialled the working pressure to 40, worked then slowed, pushed to 50, worked then slowed, pushed to 60, worked then slowed. I started to push higher then thought that this pressure was way more then the system needs to run and I'm probably going to damage components downstream like the bubble counter and atomiser. I tried to reduce working pressure with the blue dial, but it won't reduce, so had to depressurise the whole system again.

It's switched off now and I have dosed liquid carbon today and will do so until I can get some advice on what's wrong. I'm sure Miro will explain how stupid I have been tomorrow, but appreciate any advice people here can give.
 
Well, it has been quite a long time since my last update and a lot has happened in that time, but not much in the way of plant growth.

The CO2 regulator issues in my previous post went on for a while. Miro asked me to return the regulator so that they could check and repair it. I sent it back and reconfigured my lights to only run for 4 hours a day to limit any problems during the period without pressurised CO2. I dosed liquid carbon most days and things seemed to go ok. I got the CO2 regulator back and was told that it had been repaired, but I set it up again and had exactly the same fault as before. I got in touch with CO2 Art and they shipped a replacement regulator, but due to good old Royal Mail it unfortunately didn't arrive before I went away for a Christmas break in the US. By this time the S. Repens had already all died and I am left with Anubias, Microsorum, Crypts and some Echinodorus which all seem to do ok in the low light, very little growth, but they don't die.

I had no choice but to go to the US and leave things as they were, so I left it on 4 hours lighting, auto dosing ferts, no CO2 of any form. I also bought myself the Eheim Twin Feeder, so I could feed both flake and sinking pellets for the Corys and Otto's. This feeder proved to be a bit of a nightmare, it hugely overfeeds pellets, even on the lowest setting it dumped around 30-40 pellets in the aquarium each time and I would usually feed 8-10. I therefore made up a mix of pellets and flake and put it in one side of the feeder. It's hit and miss and I still felt it over feeds but not to the extent it was before, but I left it running and went away as I didn't have much choice. I did a water change the night before I left and crossed my fingers!

I came back after 9 days away and the fish seemed quite happy, but the water did look a bit yellow and there was some obvious dirt around the spraybar and inlet pipe at the side where the auto feeder is situated. My Eheim skimmer was also quite clogged. I'm assuming this was due to overfeeding. I was only home for one day before going away again so I did a large 70-80% water change, cleaned everything up and did the best that I could. The plants had done ok without the CO2, a little growth on the Crypts, no change from the Echinodorus, but things were alive. There was the odd leaf that had come off and ended up stuck in the skimmer and the flower on the Anubias had melted, but apart from that things were ok.

I then went away again, this time for 7 days. On the return things seemed ok, no dirt in the tank like the previous time, water quality better, but the skimmer a bit gunged up again. Fish all alive and well and no plant issues, so here we are a month on and although no progress from when the CO2 issue started, it's not like I have lost much.

I came in to work today and the replacement regulator is here, so at the weekend I will get that set up again, dial it in gradually and slowly increase the light, see if I can get some decent growth going.

I have to admit it is a new year and I am tempted to go with a re-scape at some point, but not too sure yet. I do feel that I have constantly had issues with getting good growth behind the large piece of bogwood and I am also lacking in good height in the tall aquarium. I feel my current scape would work in time for the 60x45x30, but with the 45 high I could use some height in the hardscape without blocking the flow to the back, maybe with some redmoor root root branches that are not going to be a solid wall like my bogwood is.

I'm undecided on the rescape, I'll probably try to get these plants growing better first as I would re-use them in the new scape anyway. I'll run the idea of changing the tank past my better half and see what she says!
 
I always like the long slender branchy woods so naturally vote for the redmoor (or whatever) ;)

A tall grass such as Cyperus helferi or a Valisneria (take care to choose a smaller/less aggressive version & be certain it's the labelled species) would add height

Your auto-feeder observations are pretty typical, fortunately everything seems to have come through alright

When you remove rooted plants, just have a syphon tube nearby as you slowly ease out the rooted bits - it's often easier to trim stem plants & put aside the tops to be replanted & then go after the root portions; with a crypt etc, you'll want to trim the roots to a couple cm's when replanting anyway, so just pull up the plant, cut away from root mass, put aside the upper portion & then ease out roots with tweezers etc - doing it this way, I can manage with minimal "dust" clouds coming up from the GS.

If you turn the filter off during plant salvage, it's easy to syphon away most of the debris, then perform a large water change - even if water seems clear enough.

There's a lot you can do to alter the current scape without doing an actual tear down on the tank - though if you pull the bog wood, I'd move the fishes to a bin, as I believe it's sitting deep in the substrate - after one experience of massive fish losses during a partial rescape - nothing untoward noted but most everyone was dead/near death the next morning - I always remove as much livestock as possible if I'm likely to disturb the substrate to a significant degree.

(I'm also impatient & I'd just rescape for the New Year :p )
 
If I do rescape I'll defo remove the fish and run my external filter on whatever I put them in as it heats too. I'm a little hacked off with the Tropica plant growth substrate, even when careful it gets over the sand and my Corys dig it up too. I'll probably have a go with ADA Aquasoil next time, give that a try.
 
Wisey said:
my Corys dig it up too
Click to expand...
surprised at this, I've put Tropica Aqua Soil (powder form as I prefer the look of the smaller particles) over the GS & never see any GS unless I pull it to the surface ...
note that with Aqua Soil (ADA or Tropica) it's quite easy to direct water flow & lift substrate ... quite a lot :oops:

If you go ADA, just watch the ammonia release & perform those large daily water changes as suggested during the first month or so.
(I was lucky enough to get some of the Amazonia that just kept on giving in the ammonia department - I never put any livestock in the tank & eventually just removed the substrate system, ADA rep was uninterested)
 
I'm still having problems with my CO2 system. CO2Art sent a complete replacement regulator and needle valve out while I was away at Christmas. I got hold of it when I got back to work late last week and set it up last night when I did my plant maintenance. I was amazed when I had exactly the same issue as with the old regulator, CO2 starts, then slows then stops, increase the working pressure, it starts again, but then slows and stops. I tried multiple FE's and had the same problem with them all including an older one that was part full that worked fine in the past, so I know its not a problem with the FE.

The only thing I can think of now is the bubble counter. I'm using this one:

IT80656.jpg


http://www.co2art.co.uk/collections...s-bubble-counter-for-regulators-and-solenoids

It has a built in check valve and I am wondering whether there is an issue with the valve in that it opens with the initial pressure of CO2, then slowly closes stopping the CO2, I increase the pressure and it opens again, but then closes up again. That's the only thing I can think it could be with having the same issue on two regulators. I have e-mailed Miro at CO2Art to get further advice.
 
In other news, I popped in to Maidenhead Aquatics in Aberdeen on Friday on my way home from work. Had not been for quite some time with the holidays etc. They finally had Amano shrimp in stock, £3 each or 6 for £15 so I now have 6 Amano's :D Been waiting for these guys for so long!
 
sorry to read of your continuing CO2 oddities

For some reason Amano shrimps seem to be in short supply
 
Well I removed he bubble counter and attached the tube directly to the needle valve and I still have the same problem so that eliminates the bubble counter. So bloody confused! The only thing not replaced or removed in tests so far is the atomiser, but can't see how that could cause this problem. If anyone here has any ideas your input would be appreciated. Same issue with two regs make me think it has to be my own stupidity, but can't see what I'm doing wrong!

Unfortunately I came home to find three dead Amanos on the lounge and kitchen floor, obviously they set out to find a new home :(
 
CO2Art have now asked me to return both regulators, the needle valve, the bubble counter and my UP inline atomiser so they can test the entire system to see what is wrong. I'm not going to be able to remove it all tonight, but tomorrow I will have to go in and do some work to add a new hose in the cabinet to replace the section that the atomiser is in at the moment so I can keep the my filter running without it. Hopefully they can get to the bottom of the issue once they have all the parts. I really can't understand what is wrong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top