Felix Wagner
Member
- Joined
- 14 Sep 2014
- Messages
- 51
It's time for a trimm? I dont see the beautiful root^^
Liebe Grüße Felix
Liebe Grüße Felix
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Big Red Rootscape 160 litre
- Thread starter Simon Day
- Start date
A while since I have updated on the journal……
Just come back today from a 2 week holiday ….. auto feeder and a rudimentary auto doser for ferts set up before I went as the scape has not bee left alone for more than a couple of days up to now.
Half expected to come home to an algae swamp full of dead fish so pleasantly surprised to find no algae, live fish but a staggering amount of growth to the point where the scape has become almost a solid block of overgrown greenery with no visible hardscape!
Some of the stems have grown at least 8 inches or so since I left them and the whole surface is now covered with emerging stems!
On further investigation I think my massive increase in plant mass is due in part to my home made fert-doser setup. I had set something up using a small powerhead on a timer set to run for 5 minutes a day. This was planned to add a diluted fert mix to the tank that would also make up for the loss of water from the tank due to evaporation. Everything seems to have worked fine apart from the minor issue that the wonderful British summer weather has been so cold and wet for the past 2 weeks that the tank suffered very little in the way of evaporation! As a consequence of this my doser increased the water level in the tank to the point where it was over the glass covers (fortunately still a couple of mm below the top of the tank so no wet carpets to come home to!).
I guess I have been a bit lucky here (my fish certainly have been lucky!) as this has meant the only oxygenation of the tank water has been via the plants themselves as next to no water surface has been available for gas exchange! Also, I guess my CO2 has not been able to gas-off at the surface so the tank has been running at higher effective CO2 levels for a while ….hence the super growth rates achieved in my absence.
Other negative is a huge increase in the number of planaria worms in the tank…..I think this is likely down to over-feeding via the feeder I had set up. I have some worming medicine and will likely dose the tank tomorrow after I have hacked out a few buckets of plant growth.
Just come back today from a 2 week holiday ….. auto feeder and a rudimentary auto doser for ferts set up before I went as the scape has not bee left alone for more than a couple of days up to now.
Half expected to come home to an algae swamp full of dead fish so pleasantly surprised to find no algae, live fish but a staggering amount of growth to the point where the scape has become almost a solid block of overgrown greenery with no visible hardscape!
Some of the stems have grown at least 8 inches or so since I left them and the whole surface is now covered with emerging stems!
On further investigation I think my massive increase in plant mass is due in part to my home made fert-doser setup. I had set something up using a small powerhead on a timer set to run for 5 minutes a day. This was planned to add a diluted fert mix to the tank that would also make up for the loss of water from the tank due to evaporation. Everything seems to have worked fine apart from the minor issue that the wonderful British summer weather has been so cold and wet for the past 2 weeks that the tank suffered very little in the way of evaporation! As a consequence of this my doser increased the water level in the tank to the point where it was over the glass covers (fortunately still a couple of mm below the top of the tank so no wet carpets to come home to!).
I guess I have been a bit lucky here (my fish certainly have been lucky!) as this has meant the only oxygenation of the tank water has been via the plants themselves as next to no water surface has been available for gas exchange! Also, I guess my CO2 has not been able to gas-off at the surface so the tank has been running at higher effective CO2 levels for a while ….hence the super growth rates achieved in my absence.
Other negative is a huge increase in the number of planaria worms in the tank…..I think this is likely down to over-feeding via the feeder I had set up. I have some worming medicine and will likely dose the tank tomorrow after I have hacked out a few buckets of plant growth.
Greenfinger2
Member
Hi Simon, Glad all is well Wow that's some plant growth there
Wow that's some plant growth there Results of major hacking session yesterday …….. now looks a right mess but hopefully a few weeks of regrowth and it won't look quite so sickly!
So, From this:
Minus this:
To this:
I also dosed the tank with some fenbendazol in a effort to kill the planaria. Based on my calculations I dosed at a rate of 0.7 ppm and injected the mix into the carpet with a big syringe in an attempt to get them with a high dose. 24 hours later results are mixed, definately less planaria are visible but it certainly has not killed them all. Perhaps I have been a bit to cautious with the dose rate and maybe carbon in my filter has extracted the chemical before it has had time to work. Fish and shrimp seem OK so perhaps I will give it a go with a higher dose at the weekend.
So, From this:
Minus this:
To this:
I also dosed the tank with some fenbendazol in a effort to kill the planaria. Based on my calculations I dosed at a rate of 0.7 ppm and injected the mix into the carpet with a big syringe in an attempt to get them with a high dose. 24 hours later results are mixed, definately less planaria are visible but it certainly has not killed them all. Perhaps I have been a bit to cautious with the dose rate and maybe carbon in my filter has extracted the chemical before it has had time to work. Fish and shrimp seem OK so perhaps I will give it a go with a higher dose at the weekend.
Edvet
Member
Carbon will take it out, so remove that for 48 hours, when treating, and then put a fresh batch in to remove the chemicals
Lindy
Member
You should have held an auction for all those trimmings!
Greenfinger2
Member
Hi Simon, I agree with Idcgroomer. Or you could of done a few Wabi- Kusa with all though's plants Nice trim though
Nice trim though Thanks for the comments ……ref all the cuttings…. it hurt me to put them in the compost as this is the first time I have trimmed so much plant mass from the tank in one go! I was considering using them to start a new scape with the empty 45P that is sat in my garage but decided against embarking on the delicate negotiations ref multiple tanks in the lounge !!!
Wabi-Kusa might have been less controversial though I guess!
Hopefully the yellow growth I have exposed by the big trim will green up over the next week or so.
Wabi-Kusa might have been less controversial though I guess!
Hopefully the yellow growth I have exposed by the big trim will green up over the next week or so.
flygja
Member
Just stunning!
A couple of weeks on from my holiday and the tank has generally recovered from the effects of neglect + very heavy trim. However I recently returned from 5 days away with work to find an algae problem has hit the tank …… so far the tank has been algae free since the start so it is a bit of a shame my lax maintenance has let it creep in.
I think problem is due to low CO2 (I swapped bottles the day before my trip and didn't check the bubble counter) + no fertiliser for 4 days + relatively high nitrates relative to the much reduced plant mass in the tank following the big trim.
I have sorted CO2 and ferts to previous levels and continued with weekly 50% water changes. I have also had a go at mechanically removing it using a toothbrush but with little success so far. This weekend I have had a go with spraying dilute easycarbo on parts of the scape exposed during the water change ….. hopefully this will make an impression on it!
I would appreciate any advice on best way to tackle this type of algae.
I think problem is due to low CO2 (I swapped bottles the day before my trip and didn't check the bubble counter) + no fertiliser for 4 days + relatively high nitrates relative to the much reduced plant mass in the tank following the big trim.
I have sorted CO2 and ferts to previous levels and continued with weekly 50% water changes. I have also had a go at mechanically removing it using a toothbrush but with little success so far. This weekend I have had a go with spraying dilute easycarbo on parts of the scape exposed during the water change ….. hopefully this will make an impression on it!
I would appreciate any advice on best way to tackle this type of algae.
Hi
Reduce lighting and fertilizer dosing....you could try Easy - Life...AlgExit!
I had good results with the above solution!
Cheers
hoggie
Reduce lighting and fertilizer dosing....you could try Easy - Life...AlgExit!
I had good results with the above solution!
Cheers
hoggie
