Vipasca

[Joao Marujo]

Hey guys!

For the first time in several years, this is my well planned project. I began to plan it in October when i returned to my home town after several years and began a new profissional stage. The available time wasn't much so thats why it took a lot of time to be flooded.

I want to thank Rui Alves from Aquaeden shop and his team mates (Pedro Rosa, Miguel Reis e Francisco Matos) for all the help and to Nuno Matos!

The project name is a tribute to my home town since it is its name from the roman times.

Setup date: From February 17th to March 6th
Tank: ADA 60P
Lights: 2x36W PLL
Filtration: Eheim Ecco Pro 300 with ADA Bio-Rio and Eheim Skimmer 350 (Seachem Purigen will be added after a month)
Heating: Aquatic Nature MP 100W
CO2: 2 Kg FE with solenoid valve and VIV Beetle Glass 40mm diffuser
Other equipments: Twinstar Mini
Hardscape: +/- 20 Kg of Seiryu Stone
Substrates: ADA (Penac P, Penac W, Tourmaline BC, Power Sand S, Amazonia (recicled), Amazonia Powder e Colorado Sand
Fertilization: Tropica (Plant Grow Premium e Specialized)
Animals: Tetra Ember, Red Sakura, Amano Shrimps , Ottocinclus Affinis, yunnanilus sp. rosy e Crossocheilus siamensis
Plants: Riccardia chamedryfolia (1x), Fissidens fontanus (1x), Hemianthus Micranthemoides (4x), Rotala sp Green (4x) e Ludwigia Palustris (2x)

In day 5, i installed twinstar and in day 6, 6 Amano Shimps were added.

At the moment, im not adding any fertilizer. Nutrients are being supplied by power sand.

Now, the most important...the photos!

The hardscape:

Day 1

Day 7

Thats all for now folks!

 

[Vivian Andrew]

beautiful scape and nice photos

 

[banthaman.jm]

I agree with Vivian, looking forward to the next update.
Jim

 

[LondonDragon]

Parabens Joao, love the rock work keep us updated

 

[parotet]

Another nice Portuguese journal to follow! Subscribes Joao!

Jordi

 

[ADA]

Lovely start, looking forward to more this one.

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Joao, Looking really cool

 

[Joao Marujo]

Good morning guys!

Thanks for all the comments!

At 10th day, ludwigia touched the surface! The plants are growing nicely...probably in Sunday i have to do some scissor work!

 

[Joao Marujo]

Hey guys!

I had to change the schedule and anticipated the trim.

In 14 days, the plants grew a lot so i just had to put the scissor inside the tank! Lets see how the plants react to the cut.


Day 14 - Before Trim by João Marujo, on Flickr


Day 14 - First Trim by João Marujo, on Flickr


Day 14 - Trimmed Plants by João Marujo, on Flickr

In the meanwhile, i have been fertilizing for the last 7 days. Im not following Tropica's recommended dose because i have seen somewhere that it was too short. For my tank, they recommend 7,8 ml per week and i'm adding 18 ml per week (EI style - Specialized in Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and Premium in Monday, Wednesday and Friday).

According to segundo calc.petalphile.com, i'm adding, in ppm's, the following:

NO3 - 16,34
N - 3,71
PO4 - 0,85
P - 0,28
K - 5,04
Fe - 0,38
Cu - 0,04
Mg - 2,16
B - 0,02
Mn - 0,22
Mo - 0,02
S - 5,32
Zn - 0,02

I don't know if NO3/N and PO4/P can be counted as one but it they do, then is not that bad (1ppm more of P could be better). It seems that K and Fe are a bit low, don't you think? Don't know in how much Power Sand could compensate these low values...

Well, for now, everything is running smoothly...plants grow very well and no algae till the moment...

Cheers

 

[alto]

Fantastic tank & photos!

 

[Joao Marujo]

Hey guys!

Here is an update. The tank is 44 days old now and things are doing well...despite the GSA in the rocks that twinstar couldn't handle it! lol For some that think TW do miracles...it doesn't!

I added last week the remaining fishes and shrimps that i had in Cliff of Spirits. 25 Hyphessobrycon Amandae, 6 otos, 6 Yunallis sp 'Rosy' and several Red Sakura's.

That's all for now folks!

Cheers

 

[tim]

Lovely scape, the gsa on the rocks suits the scape IMO gives the rocks a mature look.

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Joao,Looking great I agree I like the patina the rock have now

 

[luckyjim]

Is the amano shrimp in the last pic carrying eggs? Well done!

Personally I prefer it with the untamed plants look, but the trimmed scape is also awesome.

Is the surface skimmer necessary on a tank like this? It is not intrusive, I just wonder if you could cut back on the in tank hardware. I won't mention the twinstar as I know opinions are very much divided on them!

 

[Joao Marujo]

thanks guys for the comments!

I do like a bit of GSA in the rocks...but i would love to keep it just there and not in the CO2 diffuser and in the glass (here is not so much since i only cleaned the glasses once).

Jim, i also like the untamed plants look but it needs to be trimmed in order to shape it. Regarding the skimmer, it really make a difference. I only had surface film on this tank once because i forgot to turn it on after maintenance. With it working, the surface is always shinning! In other hand, it has one disadvantage: it makes more gas exchange with atmosphere and in this way, some CO2 is lost. I notice that, when i forgot to turn it on, the drop-checker became lime green a lot faster!

 

[luckyjim]

Is removing the surface film purely an aesthetic decision? My tanks are in my open plan living room / kitchen, I often get a thin film of oil on top. I assumed that it is fine as long as there is surface agitation from the filter outlet.

 

[Joao Marujo]

not only aesthetic. To be honest, i don't like to see that "grease" on the top but not having that, the gas exchange between the water and the air is improved.

I'm still planning to do some experiences with the skimmer like turning it on only during the time that im not adding CO2 (from 23:00 till 16:00). During those 7 hours, it might not be enough to get the oil film and with it off, maybe i could reduce a bit the bps rate (and some money in the bill ). I will do this when i return to Portugal in the end of the week.