• 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

Supernova - from eBay to NA

Well, here it is, at its best before flooding. At its best before everything started to go wrong. :(

B5kCJln.jpg


So what went wrong I hear you ask. Surprisingly, forgetting to rinse the cat litter didn't cause a problem. I had thought that the wood was quite secure, but no. As soon as the cat litter became saturated the wood just fell over dislodging all the crypts. It's still not secure and I need to work out how to do that. Then there was all the plants that floated out of the cat litter. I replanted those but then when the filters were switched on that dislodged another set.

The last straw was the leaking pipework in the cabinet. :( It would seem that fitting an Eheim 16/12 tube into a 22/16 tube, sealing with silicone and a jubilee clip still does not create a water tight seal. So here it is flooded, complete with crypt floating across the front!

hXr1gV9.jpg


Setting up the co2 will just have to wait until tomorrow. I've had enough frustration for one day.
 
Now 9 days post-flood. I screwed the wood to some pieces of slate to keep them in position but then had to completely rebuild the right hand end of the tank to get them in place.

TgBFF6K.jpg


The cat litter has been a nightmare and I would not use it again out of choice. It is too light to hold anything in place and I have had plants pulling free all week. I would like to brush the fine dust off some of the leaves but just touching a plant can be enough to dislodge it.

The crypts are all melting but will hopefully recover. I thought I had killed all the giant willow moss so cut most of it away but have just noticed a couple of new green shoots! Everything else seems to be starting to grow well, if they can stay secured. Except maybe the utricularia. I reduced the lighting after about 5 days by putting on the glass cover and adding a couple of sheets of clear polythene. I've also put a small piece of card directly over the utricularia to add extra shade just to that area.

SmeuNql.jpg


Current plant list:
Fontinalis antipyretica var. gigantea (giant willow moss)
Vesicularia ferriei 'Weeping'
Staurogyne repens
Eleocharis parviflorus (hairgrass)
Echinodorus tenellus
Echinodorus latifolius
Lemna trisulca (ivy leaved duckweed)
Anubias sp.
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Other crypt sp.
Lobelia cardinalis
Hemianthemum 'Monte Carlo'
Hemianthus calitrichoides 'Cuba'
Glossostigma elatinoides
Micranthemum umbrosum
Pogostemon erectus
Pogostemon helferi
Hygrophila polysperma
Fissidens fontanus
Riccardia chamedryfolia
Hydrocotyle tripartita
Microsorum pteropus
Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow'
Ludwigia natans

Wow! I didn't realise it was that many!
 
The tank is looking good, i believe it will be a good surprise at the end this tank.

keep posting and keep updating...
 
This is getting tiresome. :grumpy: Five plants floating today.

BsoXZqd.jpg


I'm considering removing the top inch or so of cat litter and capping it with something heavier. It will be a bit of a pain, especially with the disturbance to the glossostigma and the hemianthemum but probably easier now than later. Any suggestions?
 
Cat litter is very light unfortunately but if you cap it, it has a tendency to end up above the new substrate with moving/ uprooting plants and sometimes gravel cleaning as the roots of the plants develop it becomes easier to clean them, patience is key although very frustrating, on the whole I think your scapes looking good :)
 
So stick with it then?

I had another thought after posting. I have lots of little shards of granite from the sledgehammer sessions. They're a bit razor sharp but we have an old kids rock tumbler in the garage that could be used to take the sharp edges off. If I sprinkle those round the bases of the plants then it might be enough to stop them spontaneously uprooting.
 
So stick with it then?

I had another thought after posting. I have lots of little shards of granite from the sledgehammer sessions. They're a bit razor sharp but we have an old kids rock tumbler in the garage that could be used to take the sharp edges off. If I sprinkle those round the bases of the plants then it might be enough to stop them spontaneously uprooting.
That may work, long as you don't mind picking the bits out once the plants are settled I used these JBL Plantis Plant Anchors | Aquarium Supplies when I couldn't get some blyxa to stay planted, that was cat litter too, seems to get heavier and less troublesome over time.
 
A minor disaster! I came home from work today to the news that three of the clips for the glass lid had sheered off when my daughter was putting the lid back on, plunging the sheet of glass into the tank! :eek:

Fortunately, the bits of wood stopped it from hitting the rocks and she managed to grab it before it could smash. Phew!

3ygcAL9.jpg
 
A minor disaster! I came home from work today to the news that three of the clips for the glass lid had sheered off when my daughter was putting the lid back on, plunging the sheet of glass into the tank! :eek:

Fortunately, the bits of wood stopped it from hitting the rocks and she managed to grab it before it could smash. Phew!

3ygcAL9.jpg
I had the same thing happen to me, except I wasn't so lucky. I ended up making metal ones.
 
Was that the NA ones too?
No just some siliconed on bits of arcylic they held up the plastic lids ok but when I had glass ones made the extra weight was to much I guess:(. Have you seen the ada brackets? I made something similar and now my cat sleeps on top without falling in.
 
Yes, I remember reading that thread. I shall still feed this failure back to NA though. The tank has only been in operation for 4 weeks so I am a bit disappointed.
 
Yes, I remember reading that thread. I shall still feed this failure back to NA though. The tank has only been in operation for 4 weeks so I am a bit disappointed.
Definitely do, any decent manufacturer should be interested in product failures as it may indicate a bad batch or that a redesign is required.
 
Sounds like you're having a bit of bad luck mate, it still looks good though! I used to find one or two stems of Ammania floating round my tank every morning but once they put down some roots they stayed put (that was in amazonia).

I'm not surprised those clips broke, I've got a little device that lets you see the stress points in acrylic and laser cut, sharp internal corners tend to be really weak. I could cut some for you with bigger radius' if you like but metal ones would be far superior.
 
Back
Top