Very very nice...hope you get the CO2 sorted ASAP.
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Colorado - 80x45x45 Optiwhite
- Thread starter GreenNeedle
- Start date
Felix Wagner
Member
- Joined
- 14 Sep 2014
- Messages
- 51
Very nice 
Liebe Grüße Felix
Liebe Grüße Felix
GreenNeedle
Member
The heater is set to 24C but 22-24C is normally the ambient temp of tanks in this room unless it gets hotter in the summer. I guess the heater is hardly working at all.
I think the maximum temp I have seen in any of my tanks through a summer was about 31C but theres not much I can do really to cool it down. The hottest tank temp I have seen in the room this tank is in which is a shady room apart from in the morning when the sun is on the window side is 28C.
We're quite lucky that this room stays quite cool even in the hottest weather.
I think the maximum temp I have seen in any of my tanks through a summer was about 31C but theres not much I can do really to cool it down. The hottest tank temp I have seen in the room this tank is in which is a shady room apart from in the morning when the sun is on the window side is 28C.
We're quite lucky that this room stays quite cool even in the hottest weather.
GreenNeedle
Member
The new solenoid along with a new NRV and a new super duper fine control needle valve came today. Set it up inline as it was easier.
My CO2 is now regulator - broken solenoid - fully open needle valve - new solenoid - fully open needle valve that is on the new solenoid - fine control needle valve (being used as if it were the only needle valve) - new NRV - bubble counter - old NRV.
Reason for buying the new fine control needle valve is because the old one was hard to adjust. half a mm turn would go from 1bps to 3bps. Therefore rather than assume the one attached to the new solenoid would be better I thought I would assume it was the same.............It is better but still the fine adjuster one is really good.
Reason for buying the new NRV? The old cheap one was letting a little bit of water through. Was wondering why my bubble counter was filling up (one of those glass inline bubble counters.) Because the old NRV wasn't doing what it should the water was coming down from the inline diffuser when CO2 was off, filling up the bubble counter and then was getting past the NRV. Not huge amounts, less than droplets but there was moisture in the old needle valve and that is what probably made the old solenoid seize.
I had a few of those old NRVs so I put a different one above the bubble counter to hopefully stop anything coming down the line and the new steel one in between bubble counter and regulator setup. Better safe than sorry.
And we have CO2 again. Not sure for how long. This is the same 2kg bottle I started the (flooded) scape with in December!!! Bottle pressure is still above 50 though so not emptying yet. Can't be too long till it does though.
My CO2 is now regulator - broken solenoid - fully open needle valve - new solenoid - fully open needle valve that is on the new solenoid - fine control needle valve (being used as if it were the only needle valve) - new NRV - bubble counter - old NRV.
Reason for buying the new fine control needle valve is because the old one was hard to adjust. half a mm turn would go from 1bps to 3bps. Therefore rather than assume the one attached to the new solenoid would be better I thought I would assume it was the same.............It is better but still the fine adjuster one is really good.
Reason for buying the new NRV? The old cheap one was letting a little bit of water through. Was wondering why my bubble counter was filling up (one of those glass inline bubble counters.) Because the old NRV wasn't doing what it should the water was coming down from the inline diffuser when CO2 was off, filling up the bubble counter and then was getting past the NRV. Not huge amounts, less than droplets but there was moisture in the old needle valve and that is what probably made the old solenoid seize.
I had a few of those old NRVs so I put a different one above the bubble counter to hopefully stop anything coming down the line and the new steel one in between bubble counter and regulator setup. Better safe than sorry.
And we have CO2 again. Not sure for how long. This is the same 2kg bottle I started the (flooded) scape with in December!!! Bottle pressure is still above 50 though so not emptying yet. Can't be too long till it does though.
GreenNeedle
Member
Been really lazy and unmotivated again plus busy completing loads of other projects I had ignored so the here is an update which was originally September last year. Will update again soon with current pictures.
28th September 2015
Not a huge amount has changed in the last 3 months. A lot of trimming, A lot of maintenance. One change is that I have given up on the Rotala. After the CO2 running out and me not replacing it straight away and then my clumsiness causing the light to have a few problems it wasn't growing in and bushing up so I replaced it both sides with Heteranthera Zosterifolia which is an absolute weed in my non CO2 tanks.
I am hoping that once it pokes its way past the masses of Narrow Fern it will fill out nicely.
28th September 2015
Not a huge amount has changed in the last 3 months. A lot of trimming, A lot of maintenance. One change is that I have given up on the Rotala. After the CO2 running out and me not replacing it straight away and then my clumsiness causing the light to have a few problems it wasn't growing in and bushing up so I replaced it both sides with Heteranthera Zosterifolia which is an absolute weed in my non CO2 tanks.
I am hoping that once it pokes its way past the masses of Narrow Fern it will fill out nicely.
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GreenNeedle
Member
I shall update this journal (and others) in the next couple of weeks. I'll see what backdated photos I have of its "progress" over the past 6 months.
Yes it is still running. lol. Just over 19 months now since it was first flooded on 19th December 2014.
Just as a precursor before I sort photos out I got carried away restoring a vintage 70s turntable and solid state stereo receiver. lol. Me and projects. Been on a bit of a vinyl nostalgia trip.
Since the last update..........I got so annoyed with the Hydrocotyle that I ripped it all out. It was infesting everywhere in the tank so I am working now with gaps in the transition from carpet to background. Nothing grows underneath the ferns/Anubias and the Hydrocotyle was filling that view out. So at the moment you can see through the front space of the wood to the plain Akadama. I am still planning to enter this into competition next May if I can get it right.
Sooo... I will add Hydrocotyle back into these transition areas once the rest is right and let it grow a month at which point it should finally be ready for competition entry. Then I'll decide what to do next with it
The Heteranthera Zosterifloia still isn't giving me what I want in the back. It doesn't provide a bushy enough appearance for me and going back through the photos and seeing how the Hemianthus Micranthemoides when it was getting tall I might just use this all the way along the back. Have to make sure I don't run out of CO2 with this plant though or it just disintegrates.
I've also added in some Boraras Briggitae so I have a full school of fish in there at the moment with 5 Otos also busy and [insert guess to the nearest thousand] Blue Jelly shrimps.
I moved the tank and dog around so now the Tank is on the side wall and the Dog where the tank and cabinet were. He gets less disturbed and I can get to the cabinet and tank whenever I want.
The light is still working although I have tinkered with the design of it. I used some clear holders instead and instead of the acrylic holding the LED holders in position I widened the holes in the acrylic and the LED holders now just rest on the top instead. Easier to clean the acrylic now. Gets really dusty on the top there.
Yes it is still running. lol. Just over 19 months now since it was first flooded on 19th December 2014.
Just as a precursor before I sort photos out I got carried away restoring a vintage 70s turntable and solid state stereo receiver. lol. Me and projects. Been on a bit of a vinyl nostalgia trip.
Since the last update..........I got so annoyed with the Hydrocotyle that I ripped it all out. It was infesting everywhere in the tank so I am working now with gaps in the transition from carpet to background. Nothing grows underneath the ferns/Anubias and the Hydrocotyle was filling that view out. So at the moment you can see through the front space of the wood to the plain Akadama. I am still planning to enter this into competition next May if I can get it right.
Sooo... I will add Hydrocotyle back into these transition areas once the rest is right and let it grow a month at which point it should finally be ready for competition entry. Then I'll decide what to do next with it
The Heteranthera Zosterifloia still isn't giving me what I want in the back. It doesn't provide a bushy enough appearance for me and going back through the photos and seeing how the Hemianthus Micranthemoides when it was getting tall I might just use this all the way along the back. Have to make sure I don't run out of CO2 with this plant though or it just disintegrates.
I've also added in some Boraras Briggitae so I have a full school of fish in there at the moment with 5 Otos also busy and [insert guess to the nearest thousand] Blue Jelly shrimps.
I moved the tank and dog around so now the Tank is on the side wall and the Dog where the tank and cabinet were. He gets less disturbed and I can get to the cabinet and tank whenever I want.
The light is still working although I have tinkered with the design of it. I used some clear holders instead and instead of the acrylic holding the LED holders in position I widened the holes in the acrylic and the LED holders now just rest on the top instead. Easier to clean the acrylic now. Gets really dusty on the top there.
GreenNeedle
Member
.........and on to my first of 2 backdated updates. I will do an "up to date" update at some point this month but I haven't taken any photos yet. Been heavily pruning and it looks a bit bare at the moment.
This update is from where I was at on 2nd April 2016:
I lost patience with the weed that is Hydrocotyle Tripartita. It is a rampant plant that just takes over all areas of the tank so..........I ripped it out.
So you can see quite a bare area in the transition between the foreground and the attached plants.
The Hemianthus micranthemoides had to come out as well because the Tripartita had strangled it.
At this point I am still thinking about what to do with this section of the scape but other than this everything is running along nicely.
This update is from where I was at on 2nd April 2016:
I lost patience with the weed that is Hydrocotyle Tripartita. It is a rampant plant that just takes over all areas of the tank so..........I ripped it out.
So you can see quite a bare area in the transition between the foreground and the attached plants.
The Hemianthus micranthemoides had to come out as well because the Tripartita had strangled it.
At this point I am still thinking about what to do with this section of the scape but other than this everything is running along nicely.
GreenNeedle
Member
And this update is 7th May 2016:
I still haven't decided what to do with the transition areas that are bare but I have now moved the whole tank and cabinet to the side of the room rather than in the alcove.
The dog is now in the alcove and has a little bit more of his own area now without me constantly invading it by moving his bed out.
These are the first pictures of the LED luminaire in it's slightly altered format.
The black lense holders are now gone and have been replaced with clear holder/lense all in ones. I have also routed the holes for the lense holders wider so that each lense pokes through the holes freely rather than the lense holders (friction) fixed in the holes.
I still haven't decided what to do with the transition areas that are bare but I have now moved the whole tank and cabinet to the side of the room rather than in the alcove.
The dog is now in the alcove and has a little bit more of his own area now without me constantly invading it by moving his bed out.
These are the first pictures of the LED luminaire in it's slightly altered format.
The black lense holders are now gone and have been replaced with clear holder/lense all in ones. I have also routed the holes for the lense holders wider so that each lense pokes through the holes freely rather than the lense holders (friction) fixed in the holes.
New look to your luminaire is neater
Getting the transition planting right can be challenging. Do you have any plants in mind.
Getting the transition planting right can be challenging. Do you have any plants in mind.
GreenNeedle
Member
I'm still thinking that I might plant Tripartita back into those areas once the rest is looking good. It spreads really quick and fills up space with a nice texture of all the round leaves at different angles so giving some darks and lights in there.
Will have to see what mood I am in once at that stage.
Just hacked down the anubias a lot as well to give more light to the carpet edges so that it can creep up the slopes a little.
Will have to see what mood I am in once at that stage.
Just hacked down the anubias a lot as well to give more light to the carpet edges so that it can creep up the slopes a little.
