Lindy
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The lfs. They do marine fish as well as freshwater so have interesting foods
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Round Two
- Thread starter Wisey
- Start date
Wisey
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- 19 Jul 2014
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My deliveries arrived yesterday, well, sort of. I had to go collect one from the depot as DPD as usual are next to useless. DPD and Interlink are sister companies. Charterhouse ship Interlink who will deliver to my work address, but Aqua Essentials use DPD who will not deliver here because although its only about 6 miles from the depot, its classed as "Highlands". It's a huge rural postcode and we are right on the boundary, half a mile up the road we would be in Aberdeen. Interlink seem to realise this, DPD do not.
Anyway, the Interlink delivery and the DPD delivery both arrived at the Aberdeen depot and were checked in within 10 minutes of each other, which suggests to me they came in as different shipments on the same wagon. Interlink delivered on to my work within 2 hours. All DPD had to do was get my parcel to the DPD pickup shop which is on my way home from work, its like 2-3 miles from the depot tops. They didnt get it there, customer services span me an excuse that the depot manager said they didnt have time as the wagon was late. It's true it was late, but Interlink had time to get their packages out. I pointed this out and they had to backtrack pretty quick and apologise and promise to investigage why the story from the depot clearly was a crock of ****. I'm not holding my breath though. It's not the first time my AE order has not got to where it is supposed to be. Not sure if its just DPD in Aberdeen who are useless, or DPD nationwide?
I collected from depot, but didnt have time to plant last night due to other commitments. Plant quality from AE looks excellent though; gave them a spray with water and resealed the bag and I will plant them this evening.
Due to my lazy Amano's and advice from alto on my seperate thread about my MC in the plant forum, I have also ordered some additional clean up crew that should arrive on Wednesday next week. Looking forward to welcoming the following to Round Two:
1 x Zebra Big Line Nerite Snail
2 x Zebra Thorn Nerite Snail
5 x Yellow Fire Shrimp "Neocaridina Heteropoda var. Yellow"
I'll try to get some updates posted tonight after the new plants go in.
Anyway, the Interlink delivery and the DPD delivery both arrived at the Aberdeen depot and were checked in within 10 minutes of each other, which suggests to me they came in as different shipments on the same wagon. Interlink delivered on to my work within 2 hours. All DPD had to do was get my parcel to the DPD pickup shop which is on my way home from work, its like 2-3 miles from the depot tops. They didnt get it there, customer services span me an excuse that the depot manager said they didnt have time as the wagon was late. It's true it was late, but Interlink had time to get their packages out. I pointed this out and they had to backtrack pretty quick and apologise and promise to investigage why the story from the depot clearly was a crock of ****. I'm not holding my breath though. It's not the first time my AE order has not got to where it is supposed to be. Not sure if its just DPD in Aberdeen who are useless, or DPD nationwide?
I collected from depot, but didnt have time to plant last night due to other commitments. Plant quality from AE looks excellent though; gave them a spray with water and resealed the bag and I will plant them this evening.
Due to my lazy Amano's and advice from alto on my seperate thread about my MC in the plant forum, I have also ordered some additional clean up crew that should arrive on Wednesday next week. Looking forward to welcoming the following to Round Two:
1 x Zebra Big Line Nerite Snail
2 x Zebra Thorn Nerite Snail
5 x Yellow Fire Shrimp "Neocaridina Heteropoda var. Yellow"
I'll try to get some updates posted tonight after the new plants go in.
Wisey
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Ok, partial rescape completed with the assistance of Brewdog Punk IPA. I should have called this tank the Punkscape.
First up I did some clearing out on existing plants, pruned back the Ech. Quadricostatus runners in a big way as they had gone wild. Also cut back the Hydrocotyle hard as it's not looked great recently. I also trimmed the MC to get rid of some of the crud buts. Inevitably removed some good too, but hopefully it picks up now.
Next up I cleared out the Pogo, lifted out the two rocks at the back left and hoped I could remove the tights full of pea shingle without disturbing the Alternanthera. I recruited Mrs Wisey to assist with a slow syphon while I lifted it out. It turned out that half the Alternanthera had rooted in to the bloody tights and lifted with it! I pulled most of it up and filled in the back with fresh Tropica soil.
Next job was new plants. The Ludwigia Palustris Red went in the back right by the bogwood. Most of the C. Balansae went in the back left corner with a few bits planted behind the bogwood. The C. Wendtii Mi Oya filled in between the C. Balansae and the existing Mi Oya. I then planted the C. Petchii in front of the C. Balansae at the back left.
Next job was getting the Alternanthera back in. I had to trim the roots to aid in replanting, but without the rocks there I planted them in a much more pleasing grouping instead of the shape they were before. I also left a small space to the left where I intend to plant some S. Repens from the propagator when I have some lands ready, probably at water change next week of not before.
The new Koralia is in to replace the skimmer too. Phone FTS coming up...
First up I did some clearing out on existing plants, pruned back the Ech. Quadricostatus runners in a big way as they had gone wild. Also cut back the Hydrocotyle hard as it's not looked great recently. I also trimmed the MC to get rid of some of the crud buts. Inevitably removed some good too, but hopefully it picks up now.
Next up I cleared out the Pogo, lifted out the two rocks at the back left and hoped I could remove the tights full of pea shingle without disturbing the Alternanthera. I recruited Mrs Wisey to assist with a slow syphon while I lifted it out. It turned out that half the Alternanthera had rooted in to the bloody tights and lifted with it! I pulled most of it up and filled in the back with fresh Tropica soil.
Next job was new plants. The Ludwigia Palustris Red went in the back right by the bogwood. Most of the C. Balansae went in the back left corner with a few bits planted behind the bogwood. The C. Wendtii Mi Oya filled in between the C. Balansae and the existing Mi Oya. I then planted the C. Petchii in front of the C. Balansae at the back left.
Next job was getting the Alternanthera back in. I had to trim the roots to aid in replanting, but without the rocks there I planted them in a much more pleasing grouping instead of the shape they were before. I also left a small space to the left where I intend to plant some S. Repens from the propagator when I have some lands ready, probably at water change next week of not before.
The new Koralia is in to replace the skimmer too. Phone FTS coming up...
Lindy
Member
Tank looks great. Must be frustrating to be considered 'highlands' when you are in Aberdeen lol..I get annoyed when companies treat where I live as an inaccessible place when it is on the south West coast of Scotland below Glasgow.
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Wisey
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Aaargh, spotted more BBA! Some has appeared on the bogwood, more on the Anubias and even a few spots on a couple of the Alternanthera leaves. This has all happened since I thought that Otto was unhappy and reduced the CO2. I have tweaked it up a little higher tonight. Just starting to get this scape looking how I want it, will be really pissed if BBA takes over.
Wisey
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Fish were perfectly happy with the CO2 level, so I tweaked it up again this evening and with it just about to turn off, fish are just fine. Hopefully this will help with the MC as well as fight the BBA.
I had a tidy up this evening, removed a few straggly leaves from the new Crypts, replanted the Petchii a little deeper as the roots were exposed in the flow then started work on the BBA. Some had appeared on the Alternanthera, but only on old lower green leaves, so I trimmed off as many affected leaves as I could see. I tried to remove some from the Anubias, but the whole front section came off, it seems the rhizome has a brown section in the middle, maybe a bit rotten. 3 of the 5 leaves on the section that came off had BBA, so I just binned it. Neither of the front two Anubias have seemed happy since the rescape, I kinda feel the scale of these are wrong at the front anyway, so might remove these if I continue to get stunted leaves and BBA. With this area being right under the violet and sheltered by the Ech. Quadricostatus, it's never going to get much flow, so not sure anything will ever work here? Maybe I just need to let the Echinodorus take over.
Last job was to trim 12 stems of S. Repens from the propagator, clip off all but the top leaves and plant in the gap to the left of the Alternanthera. It should get good flow and CO2 though, so fingers crossed it gets roots established over the next week or two and takes off.
I had a tidy up this evening, removed a few straggly leaves from the new Crypts, replanted the Petchii a little deeper as the roots were exposed in the flow then started work on the BBA. Some had appeared on the Alternanthera, but only on old lower green leaves, so I trimmed off as many affected leaves as I could see. I tried to remove some from the Anubias, but the whole front section came off, it seems the rhizome has a brown section in the middle, maybe a bit rotten. 3 of the 5 leaves on the section that came off had BBA, so I just binned it. Neither of the front two Anubias have seemed happy since the rescape, I kinda feel the scale of these are wrong at the front anyway, so might remove these if I continue to get stunted leaves and BBA. With this area being right under the violet and sheltered by the Ech. Quadricostatus, it's never going to get much flow, so not sure anything will ever work here? Maybe I just need to let the Echinodorus take over.
Last job was to trim 12 stems of S. Repens from the propagator, clip off all but the top leaves and plant in the gap to the left of the Alternanthera. It should get good flow and CO2 though, so fingers crossed it gets roots established over the next week or two and takes off.
Wisey
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Well it has been a while since I posted an update. A fair bit has happened in that time and I was away from home for a while, about 10 days, so the tank was just running on automation while I was away with fingers crossed.
A few days before we went away I increased the CO2 yet again, monitored the fish for two days and all seemed fine so decided that as the tank is automated apart from water change, I would just set up the auto-feeder and leave things running as normal, no changes to CO2 or lighting period etc. I had hoped that while I was away, the increased CO2 would improve things, but on returning home, not really the case. Sure, things had grown, but the MC was still a real mess and there was much more BBA on the Anubias at the front, on the bogwood, on some of the stones and also on some of the older lower leaves of the Alternanthera. On closer inspection also some filamentous algae, what appears to be staghorn, had also joined the party. Argh! To add insult to injury, there was even one bit of BBA growing on my drop checker, as if to say look at me, you still don't have your CO2 right!
Not all negative though, the Alternanthera had taken off in growth and the S. Repens had more than doubled in height. The new Crypts were looking good, but the Balansae had really grown and is swamping the Petchii in front of it. It's also in the wrong place, being in the back left. The initial plan was height on the right and lower plants on the left. The new Ludwigia Palustris has not done well, it grows like a weed, but does not turn red and does not grow straight up, possibly due to flow. It comes out of the substrate, grows forwards for 2-3 inches, then grows up and looks a right mess. It also has no hint of turning red and a lot of the stems were ragged and looked to have some damage to them, I think it gets moved around in the flow to much. It's therefore coming out later this week and the Crypt. Balansae will move to the back right corner.
Fish all seemed happy on my return, the only casualty while away appears to have been one of the two horned nerite snails. A shame as they are really cool little guys, but still have one more plus the big zebra nerite.
I had a really good clean up in the tank, removed all the Ludwigia, removed some BBA, gave the MC a really drastic cut right back to the substrate in the hope that it will pick up and improve and removed the front piece of Anubias that had BBA on it. I managed to salvage two small pieces with two leaves on each which I have glued to two small stones and put in the propagator with the roots just in to the soil, so will see if they survive. I also increased the CO2 again and did a big water change, about 70% as it had been over a week. There was a slight smell from the tank, not bad, but just a slight hint that things were not as clean as they could be. I have done another water change since the first and intend to do another one tomorrow after moving those Crypts around. While the water is low I will have another go at scrubbing more BBA from the bogwood and try to trim out the bottom leaves of the Alternanthera that have BBA on them. There was also some BBA in the MC, but I got most of this out with the trim.
I'm in two minds what to do with the Alternanthera. It's getting a bit too tall now so needs some sort of maintenance. I'm very tempted to trim the tops off which gives me access to the base of each plant, I can then easily remove all the BBA covered leaves, leave the base of the plant rooted and then replant the tops. I think thats the best way to get it clean and tidy. If anyone has other suggestions, let me know.
The S.Repens has grown, but has some brown tinges to the edges of some leaves. I think these are the old emmersed growth though, new growth looks ok so not too worried yet. Thinking about bringing some more from the propagator and expanding the planting a little more.
I'm not convinced that my auto dosing is working correctly, so before I went away I put tape at the level on each container to see how much was used when I was away. It actually seemed to be about right, but maybe a bit more Micro than should be going in. I then had a look and noticed that the Micro tube was empty, right from the tank, back through the pump, past the non-return valve and there was just a little bit of the tube full above the container. I removed the tubes from the tank and set them up over measuring containers, the Macro dispensed the correct amount, but the Micro did seem to be a bit over, more like 15ml instead of 11ml. I mixed up a fresh batch of both Macro and Micro and have switched back to manually dosing 25ml on alternate days as per EI. Not sure what I am doing to do with the auto-doser yet, I want to get it working again, but with it not being able to alternate days, I am tempted to have it set up with an all-in-one solution dosed daily from one pump and leave the other empty for now, maybe adding liquid carbon to it at a later date to try and combat the BBA.
Anyway, things are clearly not in the best shape, but its not a total disaster. I have dropped the intensity of my light to 80%, just to take my foot of the accelerator a little and I upped the CO2 two days ago. It seems to be a pretty fast stream now, but with the two powerheads I do have a little surface ripple that I didnt have with just the violet. My DC was cleaned out and I checked yesterday and it was green at lights on. By CO2 off at 10 PM it was most definitely yellow, but the fish did not seem at all bothered. I checked again today, green at lights on. I'll monitor again tonight and ensure the fish are not distressed.
A few days before we went away I increased the CO2 yet again, monitored the fish for two days and all seemed fine so decided that as the tank is automated apart from water change, I would just set up the auto-feeder and leave things running as normal, no changes to CO2 or lighting period etc. I had hoped that while I was away, the increased CO2 would improve things, but on returning home, not really the case. Sure, things had grown, but the MC was still a real mess and there was much more BBA on the Anubias at the front, on the bogwood, on some of the stones and also on some of the older lower leaves of the Alternanthera. On closer inspection also some filamentous algae, what appears to be staghorn, had also joined the party. Argh! To add insult to injury, there was even one bit of BBA growing on my drop checker, as if to say look at me, you still don't have your CO2 right!
Not all negative though, the Alternanthera had taken off in growth and the S. Repens had more than doubled in height. The new Crypts were looking good, but the Balansae had really grown and is swamping the Petchii in front of it. It's also in the wrong place, being in the back left. The initial plan was height on the right and lower plants on the left. The new Ludwigia Palustris has not done well, it grows like a weed, but does not turn red and does not grow straight up, possibly due to flow. It comes out of the substrate, grows forwards for 2-3 inches, then grows up and looks a right mess. It also has no hint of turning red and a lot of the stems were ragged and looked to have some damage to them, I think it gets moved around in the flow to much. It's therefore coming out later this week and the Crypt. Balansae will move to the back right corner.
Fish all seemed happy on my return, the only casualty while away appears to have been one of the two horned nerite snails. A shame as they are really cool little guys, but still have one more plus the big zebra nerite.
I had a really good clean up in the tank, removed all the Ludwigia, removed some BBA, gave the MC a really drastic cut right back to the substrate in the hope that it will pick up and improve and removed the front piece of Anubias that had BBA on it. I managed to salvage two small pieces with two leaves on each which I have glued to two small stones and put in the propagator with the roots just in to the soil, so will see if they survive. I also increased the CO2 again and did a big water change, about 70% as it had been over a week. There was a slight smell from the tank, not bad, but just a slight hint that things were not as clean as they could be. I have done another water change since the first and intend to do another one tomorrow after moving those Crypts around. While the water is low I will have another go at scrubbing more BBA from the bogwood and try to trim out the bottom leaves of the Alternanthera that have BBA on them. There was also some BBA in the MC, but I got most of this out with the trim.
I'm in two minds what to do with the Alternanthera. It's getting a bit too tall now so needs some sort of maintenance. I'm very tempted to trim the tops off which gives me access to the base of each plant, I can then easily remove all the BBA covered leaves, leave the base of the plant rooted and then replant the tops. I think thats the best way to get it clean and tidy. If anyone has other suggestions, let me know.
The S.Repens has grown, but has some brown tinges to the edges of some leaves. I think these are the old emmersed growth though, new growth looks ok so not too worried yet. Thinking about bringing some more from the propagator and expanding the planting a little more.
I'm not convinced that my auto dosing is working correctly, so before I went away I put tape at the level on each container to see how much was used when I was away. It actually seemed to be about right, but maybe a bit more Micro than should be going in. I then had a look and noticed that the Micro tube was empty, right from the tank, back through the pump, past the non-return valve and there was just a little bit of the tube full above the container. I removed the tubes from the tank and set them up over measuring containers, the Macro dispensed the correct amount, but the Micro did seem to be a bit over, more like 15ml instead of 11ml. I mixed up a fresh batch of both Macro and Micro and have switched back to manually dosing 25ml on alternate days as per EI. Not sure what I am doing to do with the auto-doser yet, I want to get it working again, but with it not being able to alternate days, I am tempted to have it set up with an all-in-one solution dosed daily from one pump and leave the other empty for now, maybe adding liquid carbon to it at a later date to try and combat the BBA.
Anyway, things are clearly not in the best shape, but its not a total disaster. I have dropped the intensity of my light to 80%, just to take my foot of the accelerator a little and I upped the CO2 two days ago. It seems to be a pretty fast stream now, but with the two powerheads I do have a little surface ripple that I didnt have with just the violet. My DC was cleaned out and I checked yesterday and it was green at lights on. By CO2 off at 10 PM it was most definitely yellow, but the fish did not seem at all bothered. I checked again today, green at lights on. I'll monitor again tonight and ensure the fish are not distressed.
Wisey
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As planned a bit of work has gone on today during an extra water change. I moved all the C. Balansae plants to the back right corner where the Ludwigia Palustris has been removed. I then moved some of the C. Petchii back in to the gap to give it some space as it was smothered by the Balansae behind and the Alternanthera in front and has just not grown at all since it went in. Hopefully now with more space and light it will take off.
I started trimming tops off the Alternanthera, but it was clear that what was underneath was really not in great shape. I therefore trimmed all the healthy tops off first and separated those, then trimmed what was left right down to the substrate removing all the old green leaves and the BBA. I left the stumps and roots and will see if these come back up. I then removed all the lower leaves from the healthy tops and replanted those back in around the stumps. Hopefully they will root soon and it will all grow in better, it looks a real mess at the moment, but should improve soon I hope.
Other than that it was just a quick scrub at a few more bits of BBA and a general tidy up. I did notice that since cutting the MC back hard there is new fresh growth in the last day or two which looks healthy, so fingers crossed with the increase in CO2 and a slight drop in light, the MC is now going to grow ok.
I started trimming tops off the Alternanthera, but it was clear that what was underneath was really not in great shape. I therefore trimmed all the healthy tops off first and separated those, then trimmed what was left right down to the substrate removing all the old green leaves and the BBA. I left the stumps and roots and will see if these come back up. I then removed all the lower leaves from the healthy tops and replanted those back in around the stumps. Hopefully they will root soon and it will all grow in better, it looks a real mess at the moment, but should improve soon I hope.
Other than that it was just a quick scrub at a few more bits of BBA and a general tidy up. I did notice that since cutting the MC back hard there is new fresh growth in the last day or two which looks healthy, so fingers crossed with the increase in CO2 and a slight drop in light, the MC is now going to grow ok.
Wisey
Member
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- 19 Jul 2014
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Here's a quick phone FTS after the changes today. I think it's better with the height decreasing from right to left as was originally intended.
I've decided to ease back on the CO2 a little this evening. Although the fish seemed OK, I'm not comfortable pushing in to the yellow, especially seeing as I'm going away this weekend.
Thanks to alto for mentioning toxicity from dosing ferts. This came back to mind today and I did some research and interestingly discovered a few topics on micro toxicity in soft water. This would certainly fit with my water parameters, the fact my micro seems to have been overdosing a fair bit and also the pics and descriptions match some of my plant issues, plus people talk about getting BBA even after pushing CO2 very high. This all seems to fit. I'm back to manual dosing now, unfortunately I had put in 25ml of micro after today's large change, but I'll ease back now. I'll dose macro in the morning, rest over the weekend and next week reduce my micro dosing and see if that helps with the BBA. People report plants improving and BBA die back after doing this, so it's worth a shot as I can't put more CO2 in.
I've decided to ease back on the CO2 a little this evening. Although the fish seemed OK, I'm not comfortable pushing in to the yellow, especially seeing as I'm going away this weekend.
Thanks to alto for mentioning toxicity from dosing ferts. This came back to mind today and I did some research and interestingly discovered a few topics on micro toxicity in soft water. This would certainly fit with my water parameters, the fact my micro seems to have been overdosing a fair bit and also the pics and descriptions match some of my plant issues, plus people talk about getting BBA even after pushing CO2 very high. This all seems to fit. I'm back to manual dosing now, unfortunately I had put in 25ml of micro after today's large change, but I'll ease back now. I'll dose macro in the morning, rest over the weekend and next week reduce my micro dosing and see if that helps with the BBA. People report plants improving and BBA die back after doing this, so it's worth a shot as I can't put more CO2 in.
Wisey
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I have just been away in the US for a week. I did leave everything running with an auto-feeder, but with there being some algae issues I dropped the light to 5 hours at 50%. As I was on manual dosing again now, I put in a large macro dose before I left and hoped for the best. There was actually good growth on everything while I was away, but that unfortunately also included the BBA and Staghorn. Due to an international relocation, I now need to tear this tank down and rehome all my livestock, I have started a thread here:
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/rehoming-my-fish-shrimp-snails-aberdeen-scotland.41750/
It seems that last FTS late May will be the best the tank ever looks, I don't feel its worth fighting the algae now as I will need to remove the plants to get the livestock out anyway. With a move to the US on the cards and all my electrical equipment being 230 volts there will be quite a lot of kit going on the for sale forum once I get the livestock re-homed. I'll still be active on the forums, but once this goes it will probably be 2017 before I get an aquarium up and running again in the US.
If anyone is in the Aberdeen area, or knows someone that is and can help rehome the livestock it would be appreciated. I don't want anything for them, would just prefer that I knew they were going on to a decent home.
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/rehoming-my-fish-shrimp-snails-aberdeen-scotland.41750/
It seems that last FTS late May will be the best the tank ever looks, I don't feel its worth fighting the algae now as I will need to remove the plants to get the livestock out anyway. With a move to the US on the cards and all my electrical equipment being 230 volts there will be quite a lot of kit going on the for sale forum once I get the livestock re-homed. I'll still be active on the forums, but once this goes it will probably be 2017 before I get an aquarium up and running again in the US.
If anyone is in the Aberdeen area, or knows someone that is and can help rehome the livestock it would be appreciated. I don't want anything for them, would just prefer that I knew they were going on to a decent home.
Chris Jackson
Member
Happy moving Wisey, sounds exciting, though you might have to move back if Trump gets elected!
chrism
Member
Or maybe somewhere else if we vote to leave.
Seriously though, you must be super excited! Looking forward to seeing your first tank Stateside!
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Wisey
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- 19 Jul 2014
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So the end is here! All the fish, shrimp and snails went to my LFS yesterday in search of a new home. I tore down the tank and spent all day today cleaning everything ready for sale. Check out my sale thread, everything must go!
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/everything-must-go-loads-of-stuff-for-sale.41821/
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/everything-must-go-loads-of-stuff-for-sale.41821/
