miniMal (thread closed)

[tim]

Love this scape, don't give up! I am having my own woes with the Monte carlo so feel your pain!

Dan

Thanks Dan, hobby tests the patience sometimes it'd be too easy to take it down

 

[banthaman.jm]

hobby tests the patience sometimes it'd be too easy to take it down

When things like this happen to lovely tanks like your and then they make a recovery it gives the rest of us hope, it's also a learning curve which myself and others can use if we end up getting the dreaded algae. Step by step guide to what you did to get the tank balanced is valuable info newbies and longer term members.
Jim

 

[tim]

When things like this happen to lovely tanks like your and then they make a recovery it gives the rest of us hope, it's also a learning curve which myself and others can use if we end up getting the dreaded algae. Step by step guide to what you did to get the tank balanced is valuable info newbies and longer term members.
Jim

Kind words Jim thank you, I have learnt all I know about the hobby from ukaps so if I can give a little back I'm very pleased.
So far this week the tank has had a filter clean and 3 70% water changes, before each change I've brushed as much algae off plants and glass with a small paintbrush so as not to uproot plants or disturb the substrate too much, kept the light dimmed with the silicon paper 5 hour photoperiod and set co2 to 1 bubble a second on 2 hours before lights off 1 hour before lights off, the results so far,
green growth again on the moss
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
monte carlo growth and algae subsiding
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
i've also sprinkled a pinch of kn03 over the bga after each water change seems to stop its growth,
full tank shot
Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr
long way to go yet but things are looking a little better,
cheers for looking .

 

[Matt Havens]

After the haircut
View attachment 4835
Should grow back in a couple of weeks

Great looking scape tim!
How long has it been planted? And I bet it is nail biting stuff doing a trim on the plants. Was that the first trim you have done on it?

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[tim]

Great looking scape tim!
How long has it been planted? And I bet it is nail biting stuff doing a trim on the plants. Was that the first trim you have done on it?

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Thanks Matt, its been planted now for around 4 months but its suffered from neglect more than once it was planted around 4 weeks in the picture above before it had it's first trim.

 

[tim]

Morning folks, quite possibly the final update for this scape, routine maintenance this morning and I've discovered a small leak from one of the filter pipes, this has gone unnoticed all week as the chipboard cabinet has done a wonderful job of soaking up all the water, the laminate has started to come away and some bowing on the bottom right of the cabinet base so I think it's not worth the risk of the cabinet collapsing, don't see me having time anytime soon to build a cabinet for it with the impending holidays work commitments etc etc I will try and post a final pic of the tanks recovery but apologies if I don't get round to it ,
Thanks to all for the likes and comments along the way.

 

[dfinn]

Oh no! It's a great little scape, salvage what you can, have a break and get back to it in the new year!

 

[tim]

Oh no! It's a great little scape, salvage what you can, have a break and get back to it in the new year!

Thanks Dan, I'm a little peeved as the scape itself was showing good signs of recovery and growth, algae had mostly disappeared, moral of the story always pay close attention to the hardware after maintenance.

 

[rebel]

Whoa! At least you caught it before a possible collapse! Hope you can come back bigger n better.

 

[tim]

Whoa! At least you caught it before a possible collapse! Hope you can come back bigger n better.

thanks rebel, yeah even 20 litres of water all over the floor should be avoided, the tank will be back in the new year.
best i could do as a final image
[url=https://flic.kr/p/BBiMvw]Untitled by timyapp, on Flickr[/URL]
it was starting to look better,
cheers for looking

 

[Rob Dahl]

Have enjoyed your progress and trials. Very informative. I just had to battle BG algae and can commiserate with you. Nice work!

 

[tim]

Thank you for the kind words Rob, bga is stubborn but I've found so far manual removal and sprinkle kno3 over the area has worked for me so far, shame this one ended prematurely due to the filter leak/ cabinet damage