Pepsi Dave
Member
- Joined
- 1 Apr 2013
- Messages
- 33
Well 2020 has been quite the year hasn't it! It's been almost as bad for me and my aquariums!
Start of the year my 10 y/o Low Tech 100L tank sprung a leak.
Around May I dug out an old 35L tank from the loft and had a go at my first High Tech tank for a few years, and after a HUGE battle with Hair Algae (which I mostly, nope, DEFINTELY lost, until I did a re-scape) this tank also sprung a leak and flooded my lounge!
So I decided to get another tank and hope and pray for no more leaks! Especially as this is brand new.
As a result of my hair algae battle, I thought it best to start a journal on here, and hopefully any problems can be picked up nice and early, and even more hopefully, I can rectify them before they get out of control. I'm definitely the weak link in all of my aquarium problems haha.
I'm currently in the process of carrying out my PH Profile (Measuring PH every 30 minutes between 14:00 and 00:00), and my results at the time of completing this journal entry are as follows.
PH Stable at 7.2 until lights on.
PH drops until it levels off at 6.0-6.2 which also coincides with when lights turn on.
PH remains profile during lighting period, as far as I can tell. PH6.0 is the lowest my test kit reads, so I'm a tad concerned that my PH may be lower, and therefore difficult to detect on PH test kit.
I do have two drop checkers in the tank, in different positions (high and low) at end of tank (Filter inlet/outlet side). One is showing lime green, the other whilst green, isn't lime green. These are made by different companies, and I've used their respective indicator fluid, this may account for slight difference in colouration, or it could be down to position... too early to determine just yet.
Lessons learned from last tank....
Thanks for reading.
Start of the year my 10 y/o Low Tech 100L tank sprung a leak.
Around May I dug out an old 35L tank from the loft and had a go at my first High Tech tank for a few years, and after a HUGE battle with Hair Algae (which I mostly, nope, DEFINTELY lost, until I did a re-scape) this tank also sprung a leak and flooded my lounge!
So I decided to get another tank and hope and pray for no more leaks! Especially as this is brand new.
As a result of my hair algae battle, I thought it best to start a journal on here, and hopefully any problems can be picked up nice and early, and even more hopefully, I can rectify them before they get out of control. I'm definitely the weak link in all of my aquarium problems haha.
- Tank - 60(w)x30(d)x36(h) cm. (65L)
- Light - Twister 450SA
- Substrate - Tropica Soil Powder (JBL River Sand Beach in one corner)
- Hardscape - Dragon Stone & Driftwood (Not sure on wood species)
- Plants - Anubias (Nana & Petite), Bolbitis Hedulotii, Bolbitis Heteroclita Difformis, Cryptocoryne Parva, Crypotcoryne Wendtii, Flame Moss, Weeping Moss, Monte Carlo, Blyxa Japonica, Ludwigia Super Red, Microsorum Trident, Bucephalandra.
- Pressurised CO2 from Fire Extinguisher via Regulator & Solenoid
- Ferts - EI & Liquid Carbon
- 15ppm Nitrates added in total per week
- 20ppm Potassium added in total per week
- 4-5ppm Phosphates added in total per week
- 5ppm Magnesium added in total per week
- Filter - Eheim 2073 Canister filter rated at 1050lph (few years old, and assumed mature bacteria colony from previous tank, although has been dry for a week prior to yesterday). Filter Media - Cermic Cylinders, Ceramic "Coco Pops" balls, noodles, sponge and floss.
- Tank is currently 1 day old.
- CO2 Turns out at 15:00
- Lights Turn 17:30 and take 30 minutes to ramp up to 70% intensity.
- CO2 Off at 22:30
- Lights Begin Shutdown at 23:00 and tank is dark by 23:30
- Airstone Turns on at 23:15 and goes off just before CO2 comes on.
- Tap water PH - 6.4, KH 0
- I use qaquadur to raise PH and KH to 7.2 and 3 respectively.
I'm currently in the process of carrying out my PH Profile (Measuring PH every 30 minutes between 14:00 and 00:00), and my results at the time of completing this journal entry are as follows.
PH Stable at 7.2 until lights on.
PH drops until it levels off at 6.0-6.2 which also coincides with when lights turn on.
PH remains profile during lighting period, as far as I can tell. PH6.0 is the lowest my test kit reads, so I'm a tad concerned that my PH may be lower, and therefore difficult to detect on PH test kit.
I do have two drop checkers in the tank, in different positions (high and low) at end of tank (Filter inlet/outlet side). One is showing lime green, the other whilst green, isn't lime green. These are made by different companies, and I've used their respective indicator fluid, this may account for slight difference in colouration, or it could be down to position... too early to determine just yet.
Lessons learned from last tank....
- Light intensity was too high, which triggered hair algae outbreak - 100% intensity 6 hours a day.
- I definitely reduced my WC frequency too much too soon, so leaching from substrate probably helped with triggering algae bloom among other things.
- I also didn't run an air stone, thinking that a bit of surface agitation from filter would be enough to facilitate the gas exchange, I was wrong.
- I also hadn't taken into account nutrient build up with my ferts recipe. So was probably overdosing quite a lot once the nutrients had built up week on week. In fact local LFS advised that I was "probably" dosing too much but I took it with a pinch of salt given that EI is intended to provide unlimited ferts. But I halved my dosing and saw results and then used the Rotala Butterfly nutrient build up calculator to ensure that I don't have excessive build up.
- I read Tom Barr's article that explains EI in much better detail than I had ever understood before. For anyone who hasn't not read this, READ IT, and read it fully. I maybe only learned a couple of things from what I "knew" before, but knowing these things now, I'm hoping, will put in a much better position.
- Diatoms - As it's a fully new tank, and I've used a bit of sand and therefore expect to have diatoms at some point. Have had them before, they're annoying, but after a month or so they should disappear. Snails/Shrimp may help with this.
- Hair Algae - I fully expect to be cursed with this demon once again due to the leaching of soil. Hopefully keeping up WC routine properly will help reduce this. Amano shrimp and snails will help with this.
- Snails - I'm going to add snails after 1 week to help with keeping algae at bay. Ramshorn or Nerites
- Amano Shrimp - I'm going to add about 6 Amano shrimp after 2 weeks.
- Cherry Shrimp - Plan on adding a reasonable colony of 20 RCS after at least 4 weeks.
- Small school of nano fish as and when I can find them at local shops. Thinking ideally Green Neons, alternatively Ember Tetra. With a Better to follow at a later date once the shrimp colony has become well established.
- As the tank grows in, I plan to increase photo period to around 7 hours, and maybe intensity.... I think any intensity changes can wait until after I've got my photoperiod where I want it.
Thanks for reading.
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