22 Gallon Upgrade, First Journal!

[Johno2090]

Well I haven't posted much here at all but I've always been hiding in the sidelines stealing ideas. I'd like to start off by thanking everyone who uses Ukaps to post their experiences and for helping me to progress further in this hobby with a little less issues.

So meet the guys:

• Cherry Red Shrimp.
• 4 Peppered Corys.
• 11 Harlequin Rasboras.
• 2 Aquatic Dwarf Frogs.
• Mr Apple Snail.
• a Clown Plec.

So since I'm moving to a smaller room saving on my monthly rent I decided to spend my old deposit on a new tank & equipment.

Current:

• Two AquaRay 500 LED bars 24w (Natural Daylight - little yellow but the plants love the LED's!)
• DIY yeast Set-up for CO2 which im sure has caused allot of hassle with algae!
• PenPlax Cascade 700 (750lph).

Upgraded:

• 16mm Lily Pipe Inflow and Outflow
• DIY Pressurised Co2 System ~ from this very site.
• Tesco's Cat litter ~ also seen on this site.
• Drop Checker ect.
• 22 Gallon Aquarium

As a huge bonus I know my new flatmate and she has allowed me to set-up my new Aquarium in advance of me moving in which I started in earnest today,

Today to Set-up my aquarium I Sprayed the back black with some nice Matt black Halfords spray paint as well as picking up a 360g Co2 Canister (smaller than I wanted but if I mess up the first bottle I would rather it was cheaper).
I spent about an hour sieving cat litter in the sink which I have to say was not the highlight of my day and even thought I washed it a-lot, there's still a slight perfume smell coming from the water.

I eventually relented and placed the gravel in my tank and filled up with a bit of water + Cycle booster (cant remember the name but better to have bacteria than none right?), added a small 170l/h filter below the water line to remove some of the sediment and also dumped a bag of Purigen in to soak up anything bad lurking in the water that may leach from the litter (read perfume). Also added and positioned a Root portion I got from my local dealer.

Here's what I have so far, I'm going to let the tank sit for a while until the rest of my Co2 Kit comes and then ill make the transition over to the new tank with the plants and lights.

Not sure what the plan is plant wise, Im tempted to keep it all low lying plants and have some moss/ferns growing on the overhanging branches. I have a tank full of Crypt Wendetii, Becketii and Lucens which I can cut back and transfer when right. I also have American pennywort that's slowly growing along with an anubis.

Go Easy on me and please if i'm lining myself up for a fall LET ME KNOW!

Two things I'm wondering about atm:

• Cap the Substrate with a sand?
  - Seems to be very loose at the moment and free to move about since its fresh in the tank I'm not sure if it needs to become waterlogged or it will need capping.
• Planting Scheme
  - I have tried so many times to grow a HC carpet and fail miserably probably due to lack of Co2 When changing from Emersed to Submerged, I do have a few tiny pieces surviving in my tank and by tiny I do mean TINY (about 6 leaves each) I could try growing a glosso carpet but ....i really want that HC cushion! Is there anywhere I can buy pre submerged?

Updates Will come as things happen/Change! Please feel free to help me out

 

[Johno2090]

Update #2

Tank has been filled, Planted with all the plants from my old tank and will be looking at adding more as time goes on, not much to see at the moment as i've cut all of the crypts back to their bases so they don't melt. The upgrades I was planning have all been carried out as well, Lilly Pipes installed, Co2 up and running. I had to cap the Cat Litter with sand which is pretty deep now in some places which the crypts will love, I'm thinking though that I may have to add some MTSnails to the substrate so that they keep it well turned over.

So, all thats left now is to move over the inhabitants and give the inside of the glass a nice clean, think that will be done tomorrow!

Updates coming soon

 

[Themuleous]

Nice start keep us posted on progress.

Sam

 

[Johno2090]

#3 The Fish have arrived!

Well everything went to plan and my fish, frogs and shrimp (2 of them) went to a new home, I also found a fat leech in my aquarium which I was mortified at finding in my tank, could explain all the dead shrimp I have been finding lately! So I Acclimatised my fish for about an hour an a half and then netted them and introduced to their new home.

The Rasboras did not like it, for about an hour they sat on the top of the tank gulping for air Its one of those times where you begin to pray and hope there's not something wrong! I am pleased to report that everything is now happy and so far not a fish lost. Changed the spacing on the lights too as I was unhappy with the light at the back of the tank were the mass of plants will be.

The Crew are already stirring up my sand and making the tank murky again! good job i have floss in the filter.

Clown plec hiding for his life under the smallest branch, good to see him although he will soon find the dark space under the fat log and i wont see him for another couple of months.

The Frogs, there are two of them in here if you can spot them

Rasboras and the cloudy water...thanks guys!

and finally the full picture, excuse the pink curtains they were the old inhabitants!

Thanks for reading, i will update in a month or so and let you all know progress!

p.s Looking for some Flame/Xmas Moss and MTS snails pm me if you have some to get rid off.

 

[Piece-of-fish]

I will double a nice start. You definetely read a lot thus making your life easier now. Good luck and welcome to the world of magic

 

[Johno2090]

Well since this was last updated i've had some serious issues as of 3 days ago i noticed everything in my tank had the start of staghorn algae growing all over it! I'm not sure if it has something to do with my dosing regime or my co2.

My Drop checker always says its light green/yellow all day and the plants have shown huge increases in growth so much so the grassy plant on the right hand side has got so many large runners im having to cut them off and move them about!

I've also had a few deaths due to the Lilypipe intakes....the snail and the male ADF got stuck to the intake and drowned not impressed!

If anyone can help give me some advice on the Staghorn and how to stop it coming back i would much appreciate it, as for now the tank is in day 2 of a 3 day blackout.

 

[verchap]

Your tank looks clean from the photos you've posted, and if you're certain its not a low co2 issue, it may be due to poor water circulation. Make sure your filter and pipes are clean, and if necessary add a powerhead. If it is flow, it may also be that your glass intake really restricts flow, I've read that on a couple of pages on ukaps before, and experienced it myself too. I hope that helps you.

 

[Jase]

I can echo a good start but I think you need more plants to help you.

I would suggest either getting rid of the frogs or changing the water more frequently, they will be polluting a lot and could contribute to your algae problems

 

[Johno2090]

well i removed the blackout today and a fair few of my plants have melted, especialy the grassy bit which was doing so well....im not sure it was the blackout that caused it thought since it seems to have started from the base and melted towards the tip will get some pictures posted in a sec.

As fir the plants ive added two large java ferns to soak up any nutrients left over and im down to 1 frog.

[Edited to add pictures]

The Tank as it is now an hour after the 3 day blackout.

The melt on the grassy stuff (no idea what its called!)

 

[verchap]

i think its sagittaria subulata

 

[chilled84]

that grassy stuff look like it could be Pygmy chain sword plant. Its a carpeting plant. Co2 dependent.

 

[verchap]

...Pygmy chain sword plant.

good call

 

[Johno2090]

Well few things have changed, as of today i ordered a 300g/h power head which im going to slap into the tank when it arrives, ive also removed the glass intake and replaced it with the original intake that came with the filter, BIG difference in flow rate. I've also ordered myself a surface skimmer which should fit onto my external intake to remove the thick scum im accumulating daily.

Flame moss is due to arrive soon and i think im going to remove the large java fernand replace it with something else, also got some H. Pogo coming too!

Thanks for the help, staghorns still here but its not getting anyworse, would some nerites be worth the investment?

 

[Johno2090]

Update with Pics Time.

So the Staghorn has really been kicking my ass lately but i think im seeing the light, as of two days ago its starting to turn a nice red colour! I've now started dosing 15ml daily of Macro's, 8ml of Trace and 8ml of Aqua Carbon (will reduce carbon to 4ml once the staghorn is gone!)

Changed a few things, have the surface skimmer working and its letting a lot more light through the surface which is great! The korrola nano (300g/hr) is installed altho the ball snapped off when i was trying to get it into the magnet base...so its now sitting behind the windov whateveritscalled, added H. Pogo to the foreground no growth as of yet but im guessing its putting out new roots. Added 3 otos which are just awesome...love the lil guys!

So heres some pictures.

The Pygmy Chain sword (thanks guys) is carpeting very fast...wasnt what i expected but im begining to like the look theres also some glosso trying to carpet underneath it too so we'll see what happens! In a few of the pics you can see the nice red looking staghorn, lets hope its the end!

and also those damn corys have dug up so much of my nice red cat liter...not sure if i should leave it as it is for the textured effect or scoop it up for sand again!

 

[Westyggx]

Johno did you attach the flame moss to the wood with fishing line or such? i have some flame moss coming this week.

Cheers,

ps nice tank. wheres the shrimp!

 

[Johno2090]

Shrimp got eaten i think...not seen them in a while...but they could be hiding! I may add some more when the foreground is grown in giving them extra places to hide.

I used fishing line on one branch and black cotton on the other one, both seem to be holding up fine.

 

[Johno2090]

Algae free now and loving it, regular dosing of 10 micro/15 macro seems to be doing it.

Pygmy Chain sword has taken off and is now needing to be controled, American pennywort is doing well but its staying tall and spreading fast horizontaly...not too concerened at the moment im just glad its growing will prob cut it into nodes and use in my new tank.

 

[Johno2090]

Everything has now filled in just nicely,

Excuse the quality had to use my phone, its quite nice having a journal since I was thinking the pogo wasn't growing at all but now I see the old pictures I can see its filling out nicely

 

[Johno2090]

Well I did some re-scaping today and since the few strands of Glosso are doing so well I have opened up the right hand side of the tank for a glosso lawn. (pics to follow soon!)

[Before]

[After]

Now I'm not sure what some of you will think when I tell you that the bottom compartment in my External Filter hasn't been touched for about a month and a half, so today after the re-scape I decided to clean the whole filter out....now normally nothing interesting ever happens, but low and behold as I went to tip the rinsed water out into the sink and down to oblivion.....I spy something.....at first I thought maybe my Otto had jumped into the surface skimmer and taken the express route into the filter. So I grab my net and pour it through only to find....a Peppered Cory....its the cutest thing I have ever seen and it's been living and growing in total darkness for at least a month!

So I let him/her out into the tank to take their very first swims in daylight....and he's now sitting inside the crypt forest looking longingly into the opening....

What an awesome day

 

[Johno2090]

Well This is the last month of life for this tank as i have just ordered a bigger one from Poseidon's Pallace! Moving up to a 210 litre tank. I will start a new journal once it begins....not sure how i'm going to set it up thought. All i know is the ottos and Corys will be coming along to the new scape...everything else will be leaving to find a new home....including the plants!