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CD's 60cm

I've been at home all day today working so I've been keeping an eye on the drop checker. :cyclops:
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The DC hits this kind of green about 2 hours before lights on and stays there. Fish ans shrimp all seem happy.

I could push the timing back a bit but actually I think i'll leave it. There's a fair bit of ambient light in the room so not a bad idea to have some extra Co2. Besifes, i'm on 12hrs on, 12hrs off so I've already halved my Co2 consumption which is good enough for me.
 
I haven’t uploaded an FTS since my mini-rescape so thought I’d break out the camera last night. This is at 4 weeks 3 days:

P1010956_zpsvd0b5vum.jpg


It’s also worth pointing out I have been trimming constantly. The Monte carlo has already had 2 haircuts (and been moved once). Also I have been trimming and replanting the tips of the Ludwigia palustris red and Alternathera reineckii ''mini' almost constantly in order to get them to bush and fill their respective spaces.



Here’s a quick rundown of how the plants are doing a month in:

- Tropica Vesicularia ferriei 'Weeping' Moss: This has been very slow to take hold which I’m not that surprised about. I am starting to see some new growth so hopefully settled now. I regret not buying more of this as it will take ages to cover more of the wood.

- Hygrophila corymbosa 'Siamensis': I bought this particular species as I wanted it to fill the back corner and grow emerged. I reckon another week and it will be out of the water surface. It’s not quite as rapid as I thought it would be however. The tips have continued to grow upward okay but the stems where I had snipped the top are not throwing out bush shoots very quickly. I might be being impatient here. I’m considering whether to either hack the whole lot back or leave it to grow emerged and inter plant with another slightly lower, light tolerant species.

- Hygrophila mini: These are a lovely little plant. Probably my favourite in the tank. They are nice and compact and have a lovely green colour with silver undersides to their leaves. I haven’t really trimmed these yet, only dead leaves. They are starting to get taller though so will have to soon. I think my tactic with these will be to uproot, trim bottom leaves, trim stem/roots and replant.

- Ludwigia palustris red: This is the first of my 2‘red’ plants. Growing in the back centre. It was supposed it have a slight red blush to the stems. Ummmm….. There’s not even a hint of red. They weren’t even red when they came so I’m not sure if that’s on me or not. They’re growing well. I’ve been trimming and replanting almost daily and they are looking nice and bushy. However, I’m not actually sure if I like them or not. Considering swapping out and trying some rotalia rotundafolia.

- Alternathera reineckii ''mini': This is a lovely little plant. I bought this to provide a low red accent to the left side, behind a large grey stone. The stone has long since gone and I have been trimming and replanting it quite aggressively in order to fill the space. It’s growing well although I’m considering buying another couple of pots to help fill the gaps quicker.

- Micranthemum 'Monte-Carlo': As mentioned above the jury is still out a little on the ‘Monty’. It has shown growth and not shown any melt that I would attribute to poor co2. In just 4 weeks I have given it a haircut twice and moved it once (which is really aggressive). On the downside it is looking a little leggy and there are the odd yellow patches where some of the original stems that were planted incorrectly are dying back. Also I can’t see much evidence of spreading. I’m not really sure here. I think I am being impatient. I am I need to resist the urge to trim or move for another 1-2 weeks. Then I will hack it back to the substrate and give it another month. Then I’ll know.
 
All in all I’m happy where this is all going. I haven’t had any major problems yet. Haven’t seen any algae. No plants are dying off. All fish are fine. A couple of shrimp deaths but these don’t appear related to each other.

I realise that it’s probably looking like this is all par for the course and it’s easy. But actually this is the first time that I’ve had a tank in this condition, with this kind of growth. I’ve never had a tank like this before.

I think the two things that have really helped me and taken me up a level from where I was at are:

1) Stable Co2: A dual stage regulator so you can set and forget, plus 24/7 co2 until I fine-tuned the drop checker, and only AFTER getting things stable using a solenoid to cut my consumption.

2) Water changes: No one likes this to be the answer. People will obsess over PAR meters, colour temperatures, dosing schedules, drop checker colours etc etc. and not bother to change the water. Water changes are a PITA and people (including myself) are lazy. However if you look at the top guys there are a million different combinations of how to do the hobby. They all have success with different methods. The only thing that they all have in common (apart from stability) is regular water changes. That’s it. Since I realised I could just scoop out 8 litres of water and replace with 8 litres of tap water and that would be a 15% water change, I’ve been doing this pretty much every night. My water is crystal clear, my plants are healthy and growing well, my fish are coloured up in a way I’ve not seen before.

When things are going well everything just feels so easy. You can make fine adjustments and monitor their effect. And you know what the impact is of each little change you make.

When things are going badly it feels like everything you do just makes it worse and that you are having to ‘chase after’ problems all over the tank.

I’m not arrogant enough to believe I’ll never experience the later again, however I’m hopeful that the majority of my planted tank days will be the former from here on in.

I think the main danger for me will be getting bored and stopping water changes. But I think I’m a fair way off that for this tank yet.

Here’s an artsy low angle shot just for the hell of it:

artyshot_zps8u0l0vth.jpg


Happy Tuesday all.

CD
 
So it would appear there is in fact a god of planted tanks. And I have royally p***ed him off!

On Tuesday I was arrogant enough to say that I had two keys to success and that keeping planted tanks would be easy from here on in. Oh the hubris! Well someone or something, disagreed with me… big time.

It seems that whilst I was typing my last post, congratulating myself on how I had achieved stable Co2 levels, I had an issue with my Co2 system and gassed all my fish and shrimp. 18 animals dead. Literally as I was typing that post.

Completely gutted. The lone Rasbora Espei especially had been with me for years. Worst thing is I’m now almost certain it was completely my fault.

It looked like a case of end-of-tank dump, except I have a dual stage regulator which has been working perfectly through several end-of-tank periods. I’ve been talking to Co2Art (who have been brilliant with me recently) and I think I have a reason narrowed down. For some reason I had the pressure knob all the way open and the working pressure cranked way up to 60psi. Apparently this coupled with increased pressure from an emptying tank can cause the symptoms of end-of-tank dump even on a dual stage reg.

When I set up the new tank I went from using a steady 40psi to opening the working pressure up fully. Not sure why I did this. I think I had hardly touched the regulator for 6 months prior to the move. Just changed the gas bottles. I think I just forgot how to set it. Like I say, my fault.

But there’s more…

So next night, I’m staring at a still and lifeless tank when I notice that my Hygrophila mini (you know, the one I was chirping on about in my previous post, about how well it was doing:rolleyes:), were all starting to show quite serious signs of a Co2 deficiency. The leaves were starting to go see-through and some detached when I brushed them.

But how could this be? I had been pumping in so much Co2 that I had wiped out a community of animals.

Not sure if you remember a few posts back but I increased the lighting by one hour at the same time as introducing the solenoid to halve the Co2. Sounds a bit stupid right? o_OWhat’s even more stupid is that instead of shutting off the gas at 22:00 (1 hr before lights out), I had it set for 20:00 (3hrs before lights out). I can’t even tell the 24hr clock.:facepalm: Nobody’s fault but mine.

If this is the reason, this has been going on since Saturday and looks like it’s only just now shown itself in terms of damaged plants. Needless to say I’ve cut the lights back to 6 hours and extended the Co2 period.



But there’s more…

Somehow during my investigations with the Co2 system I’ve done something to my solenoid. It now makes an annoying crunching sound every 10 mins or so. I think it’s either a loose bolt or a bit of dirt inside. I need to give it a good look later when I’m home from work. Nothing serious hopefully.

So there you go. Hopefully the god of planted tanks will see this post and back the hell off a bit!:angelic:

However I stand by my two keys for success. I’m not going to panic. It’s been working fine for a month, so I’ll try to identify the problem, make some adjustments and monitor the situation. I’ll get the Co2 stable again, get the lighting right, carry on with my water changes and I’m sure it will work itself out.

In this hobby you’re never done learning, and I’ve certainly learnt a lesson this week... It’s just that I haven’t learnt all the lessons.

CD
 
Cheers Andy.

Yeah that was a bit of an essay huh!? Sorry Had to get that off my chest. :crazy:
 
So sorry

Did you try immediate water changes? - go for 90% in this instance, also increase aeration as soon as you notice fish distress, have filter running & good amount of splash etc, use slightly cooler water as well as dissolved oxygen is higher ... don't forget that CO2 can be used to render fish unconscious (for treatments) but then recovery is quite rapid when fish are returned to usual tank conditions (newer drugs have mostly replaced this method)
 
Thanks Sarpijk.

So sorry

Did you try immediate water changes? - go for 90% in this instance, also increase aeration as soon as you notice fish distress, have filter running & good amount of splash etc, use slightly cooler water as well as dissolved oxygen is higher ... don't forget that CO2 can be used to render fish unconscious (for treatments) but then recovery is quite rapid when fish are returned to usual tank conditions (newer drugs have mostly replaced this method)

Alto, thanks and thanks for the tips. Hopefully though I won't have to use them in future but maybe wishful thinking.

This time though I didn't even get a chance to rescue them. I was at work. By the time I got home they were very very dead. I'm guessing it must have happened in the morning. By 7 there was nothing to be done.

CD
 
Since my nightmare last week, things in the tank have calmed somewhat.

Initially the Ludwigia joined the party and shed a few leaves. I also noticed some transparency on the leaves of the Hygrophilia Siamensis. However, the reduction of photoperiod and the lengthening of the co2 period seems to have stabilised things and I’ve not had any more dropped leaves or more damage for the last couple of days.

This weekend was all about trying to get the lush growth back on track.

On the Hygrophila mini anything resembling a damaged leaf was removed. I topped the larger stems of Hygrophila Simensis and replanted to thicken the whole lot up. Same with the Alternathera reineckii ''mini'. I got completely medieval :)twisted:) on the Ludwigia palustris cutting it right back, removing anything damaged and replanting the tops to thicken everything up at the substrate level.

Here you can see an above shot of the Alternathera (back left) and Ludwigia (back right)
P1010962_zpsnjz9nwsg.jpg


Here’s the pile of leaves that I removed. From the tank. Quite a lot.
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Here’s an FTS. As you can see the Ludwigia is barely visible over the large central stone and the Hygrophila ‘mini’ are now really really mini.
P1010961_zps4cm3msvr.jpg


I’m sure everything will grow back bushy and with a vengeance and I’m looking forward to see how long it takes.

There’s a couple of other bits:

1) I’ve introduced Purigen into my filter. I haven’t seen a massive difference but then my water was pretty good anyway. However I have noticed the surface sparkles more in the mornings with the lights off, casting a nice reflection.

2) I’ve changed my photo period/lighting again. This is a bit of a gamble and I’ve struggled with the decision because of what has happened recently. Basically my Monte Carlo and ludwigia were looking a bit leggy and the Alternathera and Ludwigia were not looking as red as I 'd hoped (or at all). I’ve decided this might be due to strength of lighting so I have flicked on the third light (14w) on my luminaire giving me a total of 62w. To compensate for the extra light I have reduced the photo period to 5 hours. This could well be a huge mistake but since I’ve cut everything back I thought this might be a good opportunity to see if the additional light will grow things more colourfully/compactly. Obviously I’m watching closely for any leaf damage. Time will tell.

CD
 
Here’s a 6 week update.

P1020021_zps7omlb3sy.jpg

(Apologies for the grainy image. I’ve done something to my camera settings. Possibly ISO?)

There’s not an amazing change in the overall look but everything in the tank has stabilised again and is looking healthy. There’s been no more melt and a fair amount of new growth. I’m still sticking to my maintenance schedule of changing 8 litres per day.

Midweek I got cold feet about the increased lighting. I was sleep walking into the classic mistake of trying to fix issues with more light – Had I learned nothing!? I decided lanky, green plants were better than no plants at all J. I reverted back to the original lighting plan. Reduced power down to 2 x 24w bulbs but increased photo period to 6 hours.

The ludwigia and Hygro mini have responded by not melting and showing new growth. The Hygro Siamensis new leaves look less transparent. I keep topping the Renekii mini and it has almost filled its space now so will soon let it grow. The Monte Carlo is looking nice and dense on the left side of the tank (where the outflow reflects off the far glass). It’s looking less dense on the right, below the outflow. One of the hardscape branches effectively cuts across the foreground and deflects the Co2. This is not especially surprising but it is something I need to keep an eye on. I may have to plant something slightly taller in there that catches the co2 (hair grass?).

Finally I have finally restocked the tank with fish/inverts. I went for 10 x Rummy nose tetras, 3 x Ottos, 10 x shrimp.

Here’s a shot of the Rummies (possibly Fireheads?).
P1010998_zpsnzqotv1n.jpg


They’re really beautiful but I don’t think they suit the tank quite as much as the Rasbora Espei. Perhaps too big? Wrong colour? I thought that might be the case but I’ve kept Espei for a few years now so felt like a change, plus I’ve wanted to try them for a while. I’m sure I’ll get used to them.

I got a bit of a deal on the shrimp as they were a mixed bag of odds and sods left over from different batches. They are mostly low grade cherries but there’s one or two that look like they could be something else:
P1010966_zpssh86cviv.jpg

They’re kind of brownish. Low grade Tiger’s possibly?

Anyway feels like I’m back on track.



CD
 
A couple of weeks have past since my last update and there's been a couple of significant changes.

Here's a shot of the tank at week 7 (just before a hair cut for the Monte Carlo):
P1020028_zps3rxmsfw5.jpg

I experimented with my camera set to vibrant which is why the colours are popping.

You can see I added in a few extra plant species in order to fill things out a bit and try and stop it looking too clean and manicured.

I covered more of the wood limbs with Weeping moss. Added some bolbitis to the main wood to soften the cut edge. I've also dotted some hair grass round to break some of the planting up a bit. Finally I added in some kind of Stem plant to the back middle to fill in where the Palustris died off.

I think it's some kind of Hygrophila but I'm not certain:
P1020073_zpsidgivlx4.jpg

If anybody knows what it is I'd love to know.

Anyway, that was two weeks ago. This last week I decided to do a small bit of rescaping (again). The left hand side was nagging me a little. It looked a bit vacant and wasn't really balancing well with the right. I played around with some photos on photoshop and decided the overall layout could benefit from the substrate being raised in that corner.

I pulled out the Monte Carlo, hygro mini and althernaria, plus the hardscape from that corner, and poured in some more substrate to make a mound. I added in some plastic strips for support. I slightly rearranged the hardscape including changing the angle of the largest central stone plus putting down some more sand and graded gravel. Finally I replaced the plants to fill the new shape. One other change I made was to strip the moss from the low central branch of wood. This made it stand out more against the plants and draws eye from the central foreground of the tank to the right hand midground .

Here's the left hand 'grassy knoll':
P1020076_zpskfgzqg9j.jpg

As you can see there's quite a lot of height in there now.

The other significant change is that I've introduced a koralia. I wasn't happy with the flow around the back right corner. The leaves on the hygro siamensis were looking a bit glassy and deformed. At the front, the growth rates of the hygro mini and Monte Carlo were very low.

Here you can see dark patches on the leaves. This is actually where they are transparent. The white along the leaf edge is where the leaves are curling over:
P1020075_zps6ccjwqan.jpg


I've had to sacrifice my design principles a bit having a koralia in the tank. Also the increased surface movement seems to be hitting the co2 levels so I'll need to keep an eye on that. Hopefully I'll get used to the look of it and see an improvement in the plant condition.

Here it is on week 8 (after big hair cut for the Monte Carlo):
P1020072_zpsp3p1dqip.jpg


Overall I'm pretty happy with the balance of the new layout. The left now looks like it's playing a part in the design. Also, cleaning the moss from the central branch has made a big difference I feel. Really happy with it at the moment.

CD
 
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