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Daniel's first Iwagumi - 64L Eheim Scubacube
DivZero
Member
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2014
- Messages
- 90
Thank you very much! I'm on the 4th day of the dry start start... I'm not sure if I will have the patience to keep with this much longer hahaha
DivZero
Member
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2014
- Messages
- 90
So I got my UP inline atomizer in the mail, as wel as my CO2 regulator from CO2art, two 500 gram CO2 tanks second hand for a great price (My cabinet is pretty small so had little choice). I should almost be ready
I will post an update about the dry start soon which is almost 2 weeks in. Growth has been a bit slow to my taste, but I haven't had any issues with algae of fungi. So I'm not complaining
I will post an update about the dry start soon which is almost 2 weeks in. Growth has been a bit slow to my taste, but I haven't had any issues with algae of fungi. So I'm not complaining
ADA
Member
Great scape and love the lights
DivZero
Member
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2014
- Messages
- 90
I promise you will get them! I've been really busy the last couple of weeks. The time I had left I spend on the aquarium rather than keeping my journal updated, which is a shame ...
The dimmer does what it should, dim. However the remote/receiver seem very very weak. It could just be the battery, which could be almost empty. I will have to replace it first to see if this fixes the problem. But for now I'm only able to dim or turn on/off a couple of inches from the receiver
Regardless I'm happy I got the dimmer, because right now I'm running it at ~50% because it's been only a couple of days since I flooded the tank!
Great scape and love the lights
Thanks guys!
Long story short: the dry start ran for almost 6 weeks. I didn't run into too much problems besides airing it out to long which dried out some leaves of the E. Tennellus, but they recovered just fine, some very minor fungus (which I dealt with by airing letting it dry out a little
), and a fungus gnats infestation in the tank... Luckily I drowned most of the larvae solving that issue as well. Finally I flooded the tank 2 days ago. I hope to find the time to fill you guys in with the blanks of my first high tech aquarium tomorrow, but for now a picture of my hard labor will have to do Needless to say.. I grew in quite nicely!
ADA
Member
Looking great
DivZero
Member
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2014
- Messages
- 90
Day 6 since the tank got flooded. I gave the DHG its first trim yesterday and growing like crazy. Well maybe not crazy for professional 10000 PAR high tech aquascapers, but since this is my first high-tech tank: being able to see noticable growth on daily basis is crazy
The Echinodorus tenellus 'Green' in the back also seems to be growing doing well. I still has some filling in to do, but I like it a lot already!
I've seen the first small spots of algae on some of the rocks (not really visible on the picture), but nothing that has got me worried. I have been doing daily water changes of 50% and even 80% yesterday because my ammonia and nitrite have been both been above 0,5mg/L each time I've measured them before my daily water change. My water also seems to turn greenish every day. I'm not sure what causes this. On the one hand this could "Green Water Algae" which shouldn't be weird as I still have to get my ammonia under control, but on the other my water doesn't appear to cloudy at all. To me it looks like tannins you get from wood, but green instead of yellow... weird
I will be keeping up with the daily water changes until I'm confident my nitrite peak has well passed and I can start with the next phase: the algae crew
The Echinodorus tenellus 'Green' in the back also seems to be growing doing well. I still has some filling in to do, but I like it a lot already!
I've seen the first small spots of algae on some of the rocks (not really visible on the picture), but nothing that has got me worried. I have been doing daily water changes of 50% and even 80% yesterday because my ammonia and nitrite have been both been above 0,5mg/L each time I've measured them before my daily water change. My water also seems to turn greenish every day. I'm not sure what causes this. On the one hand this could "Green Water Algae" which shouldn't be weird as I still have to get my ammonia under control, but on the other my water doesn't appear to cloudy at all. To me it looks like tannins you get from wood, but green instead of yellow... weird
I will be keeping up with the daily water changes until I'm confident my nitrite peak has well passed and I can start with the next phase: the algae crew
DivZero
Member
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2014
- Messages
- 90
Quick update before lights on:
As you can see the water is turning green. This happens every day. Last night I did a large water change (about 60%) just before lights out and the water was pretty clear when I did. Now the water is pretty green again and it would seem unlikely that this would be green water algae? Does anyone know if this is normal, what causes this and what I could do about this?
There is also good news: for the first time my ammonia levels are below 0,5mg/L. So either my filter is finally catching up or less ammonia is leaching from the Amazonia substrate.
As you can see the water is turning green. This happens every day. Last night I did a large water change (about 60%) just before lights out and the water was pretty clear when I did. Now the water is pretty green again and it would seem unlikely that this would be green water algae? Does anyone know if this is normal, what causes this and what I could do about this?
There is also good news: for the first time my ammonia levels are below 0,5mg/L. So either my filter is finally catching up or less ammonia is leaching from the Amazonia substrate.
DivZero
Member
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2014
- Messages
- 90
I proudly present to you my new secret (not so secret) weapon against my ammonia and nitrite during the cycling of the tank: my DIY Python. Those who do not know what it is have a look on Amazon. My problem was that they don't even sell these in the Netherlands and it's wicked expensive for what it does: water changes/gravel cleaning. Why is this my secret weapon? It makes water changes fast and simple. No more buckets for me!
It's very simple to make yourself in a matter of minutes. All you need is:
Waterbed Drain (Venturi) Pump - (14 dollars including shipping on eBay)
Garden hose (1/2" diameter, any length you want/need)
A way to connect the waterpump to your faucet, I got a Gardena adapter which screws in or on you faucet.
Two (water-stop) hose connectors - link
1 hose connector with control valve - link
All put together this ran me about 45 pounds (60 euro). I admit this isn't a bargain but it's still a lot cheaper than then 80 pounds Python and it's modular. And by this I mean you can easily add things to it of you wanted to and customise it to your exact needs. I.e: have a long way to go from your sink to aquarium? Just get a longer garden hose, which will be cheaper than Python extension hoses. In the future I might make a PVC pipe I can just hang the side of my tank to let it empty to exactly the level I want without needing to pay (to much) attention and fill it back up hands free.
It's also worth noting that Gardena is pretty expensive, you can probably get the cost down to 30 quid or less if you get generic parts
It's very simple to make yourself in a matter of minutes. All you need is:
Waterbed Drain (Venturi) Pump - (14 dollars including shipping on eBay)
Garden hose (1/2" diameter, any length you want/need)
A way to connect the waterpump to your faucet, I got a Gardena adapter which screws in or on you faucet.
Two (water-stop) hose connectors - link
1 hose connector with control valve - link
All put together this ran me about 45 pounds (60 euro). I admit this isn't a bargain but it's still a lot cheaper than then 80 pounds Python and it's modular. And by this I mean you can easily add things to it of you wanted to and customise it to your exact needs. I.e: have a long way to go from your sink to aquarium? Just get a longer garden hose, which will be cheaper than Python extension hoses. In the future I might make a PVC pipe I can just hang the side of my tank to let it empty to exactly the level I want without needing to pay (to much) attention and fill it back up hands free.
It's also worth noting that Gardena is pretty expensive, you can probably get the cost down to 30 quid or less if you get generic parts
Great tank to date
Green water (algae) can be clear, certainly the time scale (re water change, followed by return to "green") is fitting for green "water" ... you can try to just wait it out, or try a "clarifying" product such as Seachem's Clarity, note that efficacy of these products is often pH & hardness dependent, if you decide to use one, I'd contact the manufacturer & discuss details of how the particular product "works" - general warning is that they often sequester oxygen & may significantly alter your pH.
With garden hoses, check that it is suitable for drinking water, in my area all hoses are treated with algaecides/fungicides unless they are sold as food safe.
ETA: other GW options ...
- add live Daphnia culture (most fish will happily eat the daphnia)
- decrease the water changes & wait to see of GW will clear that easily (eg, 2 weeks no water change)
- micron filter to remove particles (including GW), sometimes you can find a lfs that will loan/rent you one of these
- UV lamp system... maybe, look at the lamp energies & "kill" energies needed for your organism of interest
- eventually all GW does spontaneously clear
Green water (algae) can be clear, certainly the time scale (re water change, followed by return to "green") is fitting for green "water" ... you can try to just wait it out, or try a "clarifying" product such as Seachem's Clarity, note that efficacy of these products is often pH & hardness dependent, if you decide to use one, I'd contact the manufacturer & discuss details of how the particular product "works" - general warning is that they often sequester oxygen & may significantly alter your pH.
With garden hoses, check that it is suitable for drinking water, in my area all hoses are treated with algaecides/fungicides unless they are sold as food safe.
ETA: other GW options ...
- add live Daphnia culture (most fish will happily eat the daphnia)
- decrease the water changes & wait to see of GW will clear that easily (eg, 2 weeks no water change)
- micron filter to remove particles (including GW), sometimes you can find a lfs that will loan/rent you one of these
- UV lamp system... maybe, look at the lamp energies & "kill" energies needed for your organism of interest
- eventually all GW does spontaneously clear
Last edited:
DivZero
Member
- Joined
- 30 Oct 2014
- Messages
- 90
Turns out this high tech stuff has it's ups and down (who knew ). So when I first flooded the tank installed an UP inline diffuser. The second day I found out it was leaking CO2 and on when I tried to fix it, it broke, even though I was being careful. As a quick fix I installed an airstone hooked up to my CO2 into the water intake, which although quite loud, worked as a temporary fix and worked great. While I'm contacting the seller of the UP inline diffuser which I believe was faulty, I got an bazooka from on of the sponsors. I installed this yesterday and worked perfectly... but after just one day of usage I can't get the bubble count much above 1 bps... I think my CO2 right now is sufficient, but I'm afraid that if it drops my plants will suffer.
On the plus side: my ammonia and nitrate are finally zero! Which means the aquarium is ready for the algae crew. But I think I will wait a couple more days to see if my CO2 remains stable. I don't want to introduce fish only to gas them
My plants seem very healthy and the Echinodorus tenellus 'Green' is becoming very bushy!
The Monte Carlo is also doing well. When do you guys think I should give it a trim and how much should I trim it?
And a shot from the side:
Thanks for watching! If anyone has any advice about the Monte Carlo, please let me know!
). So when I first flooded the tank installed an UP inline diffuser. The second day I found out it was leaking CO2 and on when I tried to fix it, it broke, even though I was being careful. As a quick fix I installed an airstone hooked up to my CO2 into the water intake, which although quite loud, worked as a temporary fix and worked great. While I'm contacting the seller of the UP inline diffuser which I believe was faulty, I got an bazooka from on of the sponsors. I installed this yesterday and worked perfectly... but after just one day of usage I can't get the bubble count much above 1 bps... I think my CO2 right now is sufficient, but I'm afraid that if it drops my plants will suffer.On the plus side: my ammonia and nitrate are finally zero! Which means the aquarium is ready for the algae crew. But I think I will wait a couple more days to see if my CO2 remains stable. I don't want to introduce fish only to gas them
My plants seem very healthy and the Echinodorus tenellus 'Green' is becoming very bushy!
The Monte Carlo is also doing well. When do you guys think I should give it a trim and how much should I trim it?
And a shot from the side:
Thanks for watching! If anyone has any advice about the Monte Carlo, please let me know!
jsiegmund
Member
Looking great, that's as green as it gets I suppose. Curious to see how it will look with some fish added
Greenfinger2
Member
Hi Daniel,
Wonderful Scape nice healthy plants too 
Wonderful Scape nice healthy plants too
