That is an awesome explanation ceg. I didn't feel bashed no hard feelings.I just explained what helped me when I started, it may not of been the best way but it got all my fish through the cycle and they are still here. I wish I could of read this then. I don't bother testing myself anymore I just keep up the maintenance and monitor the fish. I am not disagreeing with you in anyway when I say this but I do feel my kit helped me when I started but that's it. Your method is much better however I almost feel a ceg cycle sticky there
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RolyMo
Member
Ceg4048 and Jamesb
Thanks for the replies, they are very much appreciated.
Firstly I am the newbie having never owned a single fish in my life. However the past 3 weeks (2 before and 1 after buying the tank) have absorbed a lot of info, tried to read the lines, see through the potential sales spin etc. But welcome all advice.
Ceg4048 to the point explanation line up with most things I have read, and more funnily enough with the Tropica (yes of course they are trying to flog you plants, but it seems they want you to be successful) website and their advice.
The side affect of you saying get as many plants in as possible does not scare me. Apart from how fast I could spend the money doing so vs trying to cultivate and expand with what I initially bought.
I have no problems with doing water changes if that is what it takes. But doesn't that remove some of the bacteria? Guess I am going to have to get more of the declorinator.
As for returning the fish? Don't get me wrong I questioned it myself when I was told after a week with the expensive friendly bacteria that fish could be added. I assumed technology had moved on and they had developed something that cuts down the time introduce hardy fish. Will have 2 very disappointed girls on my hands. Can I get through with adding more plants as suggested and higher frequency water changes and not return the fish or will they die a painful death? Which is also not wanted.
Thank you
R
Thanks for the replies, they are very much appreciated.
Firstly I am the newbie having never owned a single fish in my life. However the past 3 weeks (2 before and 1 after buying the tank) have absorbed a lot of info, tried to read the lines, see through the potential sales spin etc. But welcome all advice.
Ceg4048 to the point explanation line up with most things I have read, and more funnily enough with the Tropica (yes of course they are trying to flog you plants, but it seems they want you to be successful) website and their advice.
The side affect of you saying get as many plants in as possible does not scare me. Apart from how fast I could spend the money doing so vs trying to cultivate and expand with what I initially bought.
I have no problems with doing water changes if that is what it takes. But doesn't that remove some of the bacteria? Guess I am going to have to get more of the declorinator.
As for returning the fish? Don't get me wrong I questioned it myself when I was told after a week with the expensive friendly bacteria that fish could be added. I assumed technology had moved on and they had developed something that cuts down the time introduce hardy fish. Will have 2 very disappointed girls on my hands. Can I get through with adding more plants as suggested and higher frequency water changes and not return the fish or will they die a painful death? Which is also not wanted.
Thank you
R
Good stuff guys. One of the things to remember is that there is no technology that can fix your germ population. It's simply a game of numbers. The microorganisms (bacteria and archaea) that we are trying to cultivate increase their population by a process called "binary fission". This is a procedure where DNA is replicated and then the organism splits into two separate beings. So, one becomes two, two becomes four and so on and so on. The thing is that in order to fill the tank we need trillions and trillions of various species. No technology can accelerate this. In laboratories, microbes are cultivated in a petrie dish and then held in suspension. This requires time and nutrition. Your tank is just a very large petrie dish, that's all. All these products can do is to simply seed the tank with a relatively few specimens. But you can actually do a better job by seeding your sediment and filter with the mulm and detritus of another tank. In fact, in the very same LFS you could simply have asked them for some of their sediment mulm, and that will work just as well or better than any product you can buy...and it's free.
As you suggest, it's entirely possible to keep the fish and to simply add a lot more plants while combining that with massive and frequent water changes. Avoid overfeeding, as many are wont to do. This will help you to reduce the ammonia population and, keeping the tank clean will also reduce the risk of incurring algal blooms, which we haven't even talked about, but is another bane of the new hobbyist.
Cheers,
Life is full of compromises. Removing water does remove some bacteria, however, the germs we are trying to cultivate live in the sediment and in the filter media, which basically acts as if it were a sediment. That is where the vast majority of the microbes live. There is also a huge population living in a thin film of slime which coats every submerged surface in the tank...the tank walls, the rocks, and even the plants. This slime is called the "bio-film" so removing the water does really not affect these populations at all, because that is not where the work is being done. The water change removes the things that are toxic to the plants and animals. So this is a compromise that everyone should be willing to make. The more water changes you make in the tank the healthier the tank will be. Rivers, streams and lakes in natural systems all enjoy the benefit of having a huge volume of water, so that the toxic products of metabolism do not build up because they are diluted by the huge volume of water. We don't have that benefit of huge volumes, so we have to replace the water that becomes poisoned with food, excretions and so forth. One can never do too many or too large water changes in a CO2 injected tank.RolyMo said:
As you suggest, it's entirely possible to keep the fish and to simply add a lot more plants while combining that with massive and frequent water changes. Avoid overfeeding, as many are wont to do. This will help you to reduce the ammonia population and, keeping the tank clean will also reduce the risk of incurring algal blooms, which we haven't even talked about, but is another bane of the new hobbyist.
Cheers,
RolyMo
Member
Day 9 - The arrival of a snail
With renewed vigour after the informative discussion with Ceg4048, I did a 30% water change today. Adding the appropriate declorinator.
Fish still seem happy whizzing around miggling in the plants, swimming in formation and sometimes on their own.
The were fed today a few granules each of their fish food.
Lights were on for 10hrs and CO2 was on at approx 2 bubbles/sec.
I have noticed some slight brown areas on my anubis, and one of the Anubis flower stems seems to have gone a brown colour. When I touched it, it simple came away from the base. Both Abubis are attached to either a rock or a piece of bogwood. Wonder what the brown discolouration is. Will have to monitor.
Have noticed a snail in my tank. Very small 2-3mm wide. Crawling across the Anubis leaf. I thought snails were good for a tank being that they like eating algae I thought. But then I hear other people complaining that they have too many snails and they have an infestation problem.
I also took a cutting from my Limnophila sessiliflora and tried sticking it into the substrate to see what happens. This appears to be the one plant that is doing well. Interesting how is closes up at night and opens during the day.
I have also replanted my Hemianthus callitrichoides ''Cuba' as originally I just planted the whole lump together. Now I have separated the original clump and tried to get it firmly into the substrate under the sand in an effort to kick start some growth. This does not seem to be growing at all and in fact I can see some slight brown leaves. Hmmm
Also got my long tweesers and long curved scissors from Hong Kong from a seller on ebay. Pretty impressed. The price was cheap and delivery was 1 week. Excellent. But as predicted I cannot seem to use the tweeser as after I plant something I let go of the plant with the tweesers and floats to the surface. Brilliant.
Over and out.
R
With renewed vigour after the informative discussion with Ceg4048, I did a 30% water change today. Adding the appropriate declorinator.
Fish still seem happy whizzing around miggling in the plants, swimming in formation and sometimes on their own.
The were fed today a few granules each of their fish food.
Lights were on for 10hrs and CO2 was on at approx 2 bubbles/sec.
I have noticed some slight brown areas on my anubis, and one of the Anubis flower stems seems to have gone a brown colour. When I touched it, it simple came away from the base. Both Abubis are attached to either a rock or a piece of bogwood. Wonder what the brown discolouration is. Will have to monitor.
Have noticed a snail in my tank. Very small 2-3mm wide. Crawling across the Anubis leaf. I thought snails were good for a tank being that they like eating algae I thought. But then I hear other people complaining that they have too many snails and they have an infestation problem.
I also took a cutting from my Limnophila sessiliflora and tried sticking it into the substrate to see what happens. This appears to be the one plant that is doing well. Interesting how is closes up at night and opens during the day.
I have also replanted my Hemianthus callitrichoides ''Cuba' as originally I just planted the whole lump together. Now I have separated the original clump and tried to get it firmly into the substrate under the sand in an effort to kick start some growth. This does not seem to be growing at all and in fact I can see some slight brown leaves. Hmmm
Also got my long tweesers and long curved scissors from Hong Kong from a seller on ebay. Pretty impressed. The price was cheap and delivery was 1 week. Excellent. But as predicted I cannot seem to use the tweeser as after I plant something I let go of the plant with the tweesers and floats to the surface. Brilliant.
Over and out.
R
Hi RolyMo,
sounds like your having fun and closely monitoring your tank, both of which are key to success
Brown algae is common in new unestablished set ups and anubias in particular seem to attract it. The failing leaf/flower may well be due to transition or simply deterioration of an old flower stem.
Snails can be controlled and its down to personal preferance really whether you allow them or not....although youll find yourself chasing a never ending thread if you try to eradicate them as they seem to crop up whatever you do
A photo will help to identify the little critter and ensure its not going to be too invasive, but it will most likely be a ramshorn which are quite nice to have .
Trying out cuttings and replanting is a great way of learning about how your plants grow and where best so for trying this out.
As for the Hemianthus, as with most carpeting plant species it is c02 hungry and will need excellent levels which are distributed well to the plant. Browning leaves are a sign of melt which again could be transition, but may indicate a need for greater c02 levels. It could of course also be the same brown algae you described on your anubias and should pass when the tank matures...reducing your photoperiod will also help.
, this never changes, but practice helps a little...i still find planting infuriating.
Sounds like your doing the right things, listening to advice and enjoying the whole experience. A journal is a great way of documenting your progress and helps others as well as yourself.
Good luck.
Cheerio,
Ady.
sounds like your having fun and closely monitoring your tank, both of which are key to success
I would be inclined to reduce your photoperiod from 10hrs down to 6 or 7 initially aiming for an 8 hr lighting period later down the line. Its important to get c02 correct in relation to your lighting and longer periods with high light intensity lead to more chance of algae. Use a drop checker with 4dkh water and a reagent to give you an idea of the levels of c02. Your aiming for around 30ppm which visually displays as a lime green colour in the drop checker (this is a great thread on c02 and drop checkers: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=467). Increase c02 very slowly and be prepared to reduce at the first sign of fish distress (the best time to do it is over a weekend..if you dont work weekends, so you can closely monitor throughout the injection period).RolyMo said:
Brown algae is common in new unestablished set ups and anubias in particular seem to attract it. The failing leaf/flower may well be due to transition or simply deterioration of an old flower stem.
Snails can be controlled and its down to personal preferance really whether you allow them or not....although youll find yourself chasing a never ending thread if you try to eradicate them as they seem to crop up whatever you do
A photo will help to identify the little critter and ensure its not going to be too invasive, but it will most likely be a ramshorn which are quite nice to have .Trying out cuttings and replanting is a great way of learning about how your plants grow and where best so
for trying this out.As for the Hemianthus, as with most carpeting plant species it is c02 hungry and will need excellent levels which are distributed well to the plant. Browning leaves are a sign of melt which again could be transition, but may indicate a need for greater c02 levels. It could of course also be the same brown algae you described on your anubias and should pass when the tank matures...reducing your photoperiod will also help.
RolyMo said:
, this never changes, but practice helps a little...i still find planting infuriating.Sounds like your doing the right things, listening to advice and enjoying the whole experience. A journal is a great way of documenting your progress and helps others as well as yourself.
Good luck.
Cheerio,
Ady.
RolyMo
Member
Day 11 - Water change but notice the drop test is yellowish
Day 11.
Have been away on business and my wife and the girls have been looking after the fish, turning on and off the lights feeding the fish.
So tonight I change approximately 40% of the water. Add the 90mls of the Aquasafe as per the tank size of 180l.
Wife things the fish are hungry. They were fed yesterday but she has noticed them touching the plants with their mouths. These are Platties by the way. On closer examination they appear to be kissing the the plants, so I am guessing they are sucking up any particles or algae. However she decided she would feed the fish, even though the shop said every other day.
The snail is bigger and seems to be doing circuits of the tank now rather than just chilling on one plant. Once a little bigger I will take a photo and post for identification.
Drop tester has changed colour as is more yellowy than green. So I am hoping the water change will settle it down over the next couple of days.
Also took some more cuttings and planted them back into the substrate.
Questions:-
1. How often should I feed Platties in a new tank
2. My Vals seem to still be a little brown on some leaves however the runners are creating new clumps which are sprouting new plants which are growing brownish green. Is that normal.
Cheers and goodnight
R
Day 11.
Have been away on business and my wife and the girls have been looking after the fish, turning on and off the lights feeding the fish.
So tonight I change approximately 40% of the water. Add the 90mls of the Aquasafe as per the tank size of 180l.
Wife things the fish are hungry. They were fed yesterday but she has noticed them touching the plants with their mouths. These are Platties by the way. On closer examination they appear to be kissing the the plants, so I am guessing they are sucking up any particles or algae. However she decided she would feed the fish, even though the shop said every other day.
The snail is bigger and seems to be doing circuits of the tank now rather than just chilling on one plant. Once a little bigger I will take a photo and post for identification.
Drop tester has changed colour as is more yellowy than green. So I am hoping the water change will settle it down over the next couple of days.
Also took some more cuttings and planted them back into the substrate.
Questions:-
1. How often should I feed Platties in a new tank
2. My Vals seem to still be a little brown on some leaves however the runners are creating new clumps which are sprouting new plants which are growing brownish green. Is that normal.
Cheers and goodnight
R
RolyMo
Member
Day 13 - Another Water Change and a slug
Fish seem to be enjoying the tank and are being fed every other day.
Have found another snail in the tank bringing up the snail population to 2. When the first one is a bit bigger I will post a photo for identification.
Changed about 40% of the water. Added the appropriate amount of Aquasafe liquid into the freshly filled tank.
As I was closing everything up I noticed a what looked like a tawny coloured slug on one of my plants. Immediate reaction WTF. So I got my aqua tweezers and hoiked the little critter out. Grrrr. How the hell did that get in. Perhaps it was the bucket I use for getting the water out of the tank for the water changes.
Also changed the white pad in the Juwel filter a weekly task. Interesting brown colour.
Started to notice some of the rocks have started to get a bit of a green coating. Should I be getting them out and brushing with a toothbrush?
Onwards.
R
Fish seem to be enjoying the tank and are being fed every other day.
Have found another snail in the tank bringing up the snail population to 2. When the first one is a bit bigger I will post a photo for identification.
Changed about 40% of the water. Added the appropriate amount of Aquasafe liquid into the freshly filled tank.
As I was closing everything up I noticed a what looked like a tawny coloured slug on one of my plants. Immediate reaction WTF. So I got my aqua tweezers and hoiked the little critter out. Grrrr. How the hell did that get in. Perhaps it was the bucket I use for getting the water out of the tank for the water changes.
Also changed the white pad in the Juwel filter a weekly task. Interesting brown colour.
Started to notice some of the rocks have started to get a bit of a green coating. Should I be getting them out and brushing with a toothbrush?
Onwards.
R
RolyMo
Member
Algae Issues?
So coming up to the 4 week anniversary in a few days.
Fish are still alive.
Found a leak in the CO2 valve which made me go through a .5kg can in 2 weeks. Have a new 1.5kg now connected.
Algae
Hmmm
Are these roots of the Microsorum?
This seems to be on my Anubis
What the hell is that mutation under my Microsorum pteropus?
The brown stuff on the rock seems to come back very quickly after a bit of toothbrush action
The brown stuff on the wood is that the same as on the rocks? Can I scrub it, leave it, employ some cherry shrimp?
What are the white things on the glass?
Hmmm
So coming up to the 4 week anniversary in a few days.
Fish are still alive.
Found a leak in the CO2 valve which made me go through a .5kg can in 2 weeks. Have a new 1.5kg now connected.
Algae
Hmmm
Are these roots of the Microsorum?
This seems to be on my Anubis
What the hell is that mutation under my Microsorum pteropus?
The brown stuff on the rock seems to come back very quickly after a bit of toothbrush action
The brown stuff on the wood is that the same as on the rocks? Can I scrub it, leave it, employ some cherry shrimp?
What are the white things on the glass?
Hmmm
Hi,
brown algae is diatoms, usual in new set ups and should go when the system matures. Reduced lighting will help along with good c02 and resultant plant health.
As for the microsorum, they are new plantlets forming on the leaves. Id advise pulling them off to encourage larger leaf development from the rhizome.
Looks like snail eggs on the glass.
Cheerio,
Ady.
brown algae is diatoms, usual in new set ups and should go when the system matures. Reduced lighting will help along with good c02 and resultant plant health.
As for the microsorum, they are new plantlets forming on the leaves. Id advise pulling them off to encourage larger leaf development from the rhizome.
Looks like snail eggs on the glass.
Cheerio,
Ady.
RolyMo
Member
Ady
Really appreciate that. Was starting to get concerned. But feel much more at ease.
I will cut the lights down to the appropriate time as you suggested.
Thanks you kindly
R
Really appreciate that. Was starting to get concerned. But feel much more at ease.
I will cut the lights down to the appropriate time as you suggested.
Thanks you kindly
R
RolyMo
Member
Day 29 - Water Test
Not posted in my journal for a while. Wanted to watch what happens in the tank. Defo got the bug, checking everyday. Experimenting with the cuttings and position. Perhaps I should have read the design book first.
Anyway Sunday saw us nip to the LFS and try and get some additional Platties for the 4 that are in the tank as we have a slight problem with one of the fish seems to be not part of the group and tends to hide at one end of the tank, under the filter, hanging by the filter intake almost being sucked in. Anyway have seen some small bullying every so often. So hence the thought to get a few more to make the shoal a bit more even.
Took the water sample down to the LFS and got told that it appears to be a small amount of nitrate in the tank still, so no fish
. Decided to get some more Tropica plants. Some Eleocharis and a Ludwigia repens 'Ruben'. Got home and split up the two pots of Eleocharis into 6 clumps each pot and planted into the foreground. Planted the Ludwigia in the mid ground and let the tank settle down over 12 hours.
The tank is now looking nicely planted. Feel I should get some big branchy type wood as a right to left attraction.
R
Not posted in my journal for a while. Wanted to watch what happens in the tank. Defo got the bug, checking everyday. Experimenting with the cuttings and position. Perhaps I should have read the design book first.
Anyway Sunday saw us nip to the LFS and try and get some additional Platties for the 4 that are in the tank as we have a slight problem with one of the fish seems to be not part of the group and tends to hide at one end of the tank, under the filter, hanging by the filter intake almost being sucked in. Anyway have seen some small bullying every so often. So hence the thought to get a few more to make the shoal a bit more even.
Took the water sample down to the LFS and got told that it appears to be a small amount of nitrate in the tank still, so no fish
. Decided to get some more Tropica plants. Some Eleocharis and a Ludwigia repens 'Ruben'. Got home and split up the two pots of Eleocharis into 6 clumps each pot and planted into the foreground. Planted the Ludwigia in the mid ground and let the tank settle down over 12 hours. The tank is now looking nicely planted. Feel I should get some big branchy type wood as a right to left attraction.
R
RolyMo
Member
Day 30: Got some more Tropica plants
Could not resist on the way home from dropping the family off to the hovercraft. I popped into Pets at home. Oh boy what an experience that was.
So I have scoped out my local PAH as it is significantly closer to my home than my fave LFS.
Hmmm where can I start. They have Tropica plants. Cool. Are the looked after? No sure. Each of the cascading tanks appears fairly murky. The plants have brown tinge and there was certainly a surface scum onto of the water. In fact went to 2 PAH stores and the first one I swear had green fluffy algae growing off and away from some of the plants in one tank. Eeeek.
An assistant appeared and asked if she could help. Nice. Asked her (as a test) as to what the Easy, Medium, Hard meant on the plants and asked if it was to do with the CO2 and lighting. She looked at me blankly and said she had no idea and thought it was about ease of looking after it. She knew no more than that. When I pointed a certain types she would state that plant was a nice plant and pretty i.e. programmed to say my choices a re a good choice. <yawn>
Asked her to come back to me in a few mins. Decided that if I bought the plants I would choose the best ones and wash delicately and thoroughly to get rid of any of the crap that was in the shops water. The girl got a bag and fairly carefully put the plant in with a scoop of water and handed me the bag. Not inflated or tied. Not great.
In fact I'm glad I rescued the poor plants from the shop and gave them a new home. Anyway the purchases were:-
Alternanthera reineckii 'Pink' (roseafolia) and a Crypocoryne beckettii "petchii" which look quite cute and small.
They have been washed and planted. Again disturbing the substrate and making it temporarily cloudy. Also whats annoying is that when I uproot some of the other plants it brings up the Tropica substrate above the sand. Might have to get some more sand to get a thicker layer.
Cheers
R
Could not resist on the way home from dropping the family off to the hovercraft. I popped into Pets at home. Oh boy what an experience that was.
So I have scoped out my local PAH as it is significantly closer to my home than my fave LFS.
Hmmm where can I start. They have Tropica plants. Cool. Are the looked after? No sure. Each of the cascading tanks appears fairly murky. The plants have brown tinge and there was certainly a surface scum onto of the water. In fact went to 2 PAH stores and the first one I swear had green fluffy algae growing off and away from some of the plants in one tank. Eeeek.
An assistant appeared and asked if she could help. Nice. Asked her (as a test) as to what the Easy, Medium, Hard meant on the plants and asked if it was to do with the CO2 and lighting. She looked at me blankly and said she had no idea and thought it was about ease of looking after it. She knew no more than that. When I pointed a certain types she would state that plant was a nice plant and pretty i.e. programmed to say my choices a re a good choice. <yawn>
Asked her to come back to me in a few mins. Decided that if I bought the plants I would choose the best ones and wash delicately and thoroughly to get rid of any of the crap that was in the shops water. The girl got a bag and fairly carefully put the plant in with a scoop of water and handed me the bag. Not inflated or tied. Not great.
In fact I'm glad I rescued the poor plants from the shop and gave them a new home. Anyway the purchases were:-
Alternanthera reineckii 'Pink' (roseafolia) and a Crypocoryne beckettii "petchii" which look quite cute and small.
They have been washed and planted. Again disturbing the substrate and making it temporarily cloudy. Also whats annoying is that when I uproot some of the other plants it brings up the Tropica substrate above the sand. Might have to get some more sand to get a thicker layer.
Cheers
R
Re: Day 29 - Water Test
Nitrates in a planted tank are in fact a good thing as they feed the plants....are you dosing any fertilisers into the tank?, i cant find any info in your journal (but may have missed it). The only reason i ask is that some fertilisers have Nitrates, Phosphates and Potassium (NPK) referred to as Macro Fertilisers, in them which intentionally raises these levels in the c02 injected tank to feed the greater hunger of the plants. Unfortunately by getting your water tested at your LFS who, no disrespect to them, will be unlikely to understand the way a planted tank functions and will therefore advise no fish with nitrate readings above a certain level (from may i add, test kits that are notoriuosly inaccurate....but thats another story). Its the nitrites and ammonia that you need to be concerned about as these are more harmful to fish. Poor maintenance or adding too much bio load (fish) at once can cause spikes in ammonia and nitrites so are best avoided by not adding too many fish at once, not overstocking and with frequent water changes, maticulous filter maintenance and good overall tank husbandry....which im sure your keeping on top of
You will normally have some nitrate present in a tank even without intentionally adding it in fertilisers as it is a by-product of the nitrogen cycle and the least harmful form. If you are not dosing any fertilisers i would suggest starting a dosing regime, probably the simplest way (but not the cheapest) is to purchase a pre prepared all in one fertiliser such as tropica, or one available from one of the forum sponsors who will be happy to help you out with advice Just ask them or on here if you need any further help
Cheerio,
Ady.
Hi,RolyMo said:Took the water sample down to the LFS and got told that it appears to be a small amount of nitrate in the tank still, so no fish
Nitrates in a planted tank are in fact a good thing as they feed the plants....are you dosing any fertilisers into the tank?, i cant find any info in your journal (but may have missed it). The only reason i ask is that some fertilisers have Nitrates, Phosphates and Potassium (NPK) referred to as Macro Fertilisers, in them which intentionally raises these levels in the c02 injected tank to feed the greater hunger of the plants. Unfortunately by getting your water tested at your LFS who, no disrespect to them, will be unlikely to understand the way a planted tank functions and will therefore advise no fish with nitrate readings above a certain level (from may i add, test kits that are notoriuosly inaccurate....but thats another story). Its the nitrites and ammonia that you need to be concerned about as these are more harmful to fish. Poor maintenance or adding too much bio load (fish) at once can cause spikes in ammonia and nitrites so are best avoided by not adding too many fish at once, not overstocking and with frequent water changes, maticulous filter maintenance and good overall tank husbandry....which im sure your keeping on top of
You will normally have some nitrate present in a tank even without intentionally adding it in fertilisers as it is a by-product of the nitrogen cycle and the least harmful form. If you are not dosing any fertilisers i would suggest starting a dosing regime, probably the simplest way (but not the cheapest) is to purchase a pre prepared all in one fertiliser such as tropica, or one available from one of the forum sponsors who will be happy to help you out with advice
Just ask them or on here if you need any further help Cheerio,
Ady.
RolyMo
Member
Hi Ady
Yes I omitted to add that part to my journal earlier. I have for the last week been adding a half dose/day of Tropica Premium Fertiliser. So a press of the pump roughly every day.
I guess leave for a couple more weeks before having another attempt at getting some fish or shrimp. Keen to get the clean up crew in there, but get mixed messages about how sensitive Shrimp can be. Turn CO2 off before adding the shrimp and keep off for a day?
Interestingly when I was at the local PAH store I asked if they had shrimp at which the assistant was pleased to be able to answer that question by pointing out that "Oh yes in this tank, there's one right now... errm.... eating the dead Plattie.... hmm, we will get that out later" and there is another shrimp over...... there..... oh its dead".
Don't worry I won't be buying any fish from that store. Unbelievable.
R
Yes I omitted to add that part to my journal earlier. I have for the last week been adding a half dose/day of Tropica Premium Fertiliser. So a press of the pump roughly every day.
I guess leave for a couple more weeks before having another attempt at getting some fish or shrimp. Keen to get the clean up crew in there, but get mixed messages about how sensitive Shrimp can be. Turn CO2 off before adding the shrimp and keep off for a day?
Interestingly when I was at the local PAH store I asked if they had shrimp at which the assistant was pleased to be able to answer that question by pointing out that "Oh yes in this tank, there's one right now... errm.... eating the dead Plattie.... hmm, we will get that out later" and there is another shrimp over...... there..... oh its dead".
Don't worry I won't be buying any fish from that store. Unbelievable.
R
Hi RolyMo,
A word of warning... check out your lights and see how powerfull they are.
I have the same tank as you and I have two T5 45watt HiLite, which given I am going for lowtech is way way to much light.
If you are dosing and using CO2 then it may be fine, but if not, you find yourself with a few problems down the line.
Regards
A word of warning... check out your lights and see how powerfull they are.
I have the same tank as you and I have two T5 45watt HiLite, which given I am going for lowtech is way way to much light.
If you are dosing and using CO2 then it may be fine, but if not, you find yourself with a few problems down the line.
Regards
RolyMo
Member
Hi Leemonk
Thanks for the pointer.
As you say you get 2 x 45w T5 lights in the Juwel Rio 180l kit. I bought some reflectors which I believe give you 50% more light down into the tank so that's 135w in to total. Not enough for 1w/litre, which I am not sure how I achieve without changing the kit light setup.
Why no CO2 for you?
There are mainly Tropica Easy with a couple of Tropica Medium plants in the tank.
Have just upped the lights to 8hrs per day with CO2 injection of 1 bubble/2 sec approx. during that period and 1hr of CO2 before lights on.
Algae on the glass seems to be dissapating. Still have brown algae on some of the plants and rocks.
Snail population seems to have increased to 6 and I do see the snails and the Platties having a go at the eating the algae off the plants.
Plants seem to be growing healthly.
Cheers
R
Thanks for the pointer.
As you say you get 2 x 45w T5 lights in the Juwel Rio 180l kit. I bought some reflectors which I believe give you 50% more light down into the tank so that's 135w in to total. Not enough for 1w/litre, which I am not sure how I achieve without changing the kit light setup.
Why no CO2 for you?
There are mainly Tropica Easy with a couple of Tropica Medium plants in the tank.
Have just upped the lights to 8hrs per day with CO2 injection of 1 bubble/2 sec approx. during that period and 1hr of CO2 before lights on.
Algae on the glass seems to be dissapating. Still have brown algae on some of the plants and rocks.
Snail population seems to have increased to 6 and I do see the snails and the Platties having a go at the eating the algae off the plants.
Plants seem to be growing healthly.
Cheers
R
I might be wrong, but I think watts is measured per gallon, not per litre.... or at least the standard measurement is per gallon.
Thus I would think that you have 40 gallons. Therefore you have 135w / 40 = 3.4 watts per gallon. Which, from what I gather is a fair amount.
Of course, I am a million miles away from being an expert, and am happy to be corrected.
Thus I would think that you have 40 gallons. Therefore you have 135w / 40 = 3.4 watts per gallon. Which, from what I gather is a fair amount.
Of course, I am a million miles away from being an expert, and am happy to be corrected.
Alastair
Member
Hi,
The 50% more lighting from the reflectors doesn't up the wattage to 135, you still have 2 x 45 watts it just means more of the light is reflected down into the tank.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The 50% more lighting from the reflectors doesn't up the wattage to 135, you still have 2 x 45 watts it just means more of the light is reflected down into the tank.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
RolyMo
Member
Thanks Alastair.
Need to think about boosting the lights then!
Cheers
R
Need to think about boosting the lights then!
Cheers
R
RolyMo
Member
Day 31 - Concerns on amount of Sand
After yesterdays plant rearrangement and pruning the tank has settled down and is clear once more. Revealing a little colony of snails helping with the clean up.
However its clear that after uprooting some of the plants granules of the Tropica substrate are littered on the sand. Checked the Tropica website and they state 3-4cm of gravel on top. Hmm will I have at best 1-2cm of sand on top. So do I need to get more sand. Can I put additional sand into an already planted tank? Apart from covering the carpeting type plants at the front. Plus I imagine I need to clean the sand as normal and turn off the filter when carefully shovelling it in.
See pics below.
After yesterdays plant rearrangement and pruning the tank has settled down and is clear once more. Revealing a little colony of snails helping with the clean up.
However its clear that after uprooting some of the plants granules of the Tropica substrate are littered on the sand. Checked the Tropica website and they state 3-4cm of gravel on top. Hmm will I have at best 1-2cm of sand on top. So do I need to get more sand. Can I put additional sand into an already planted tank? Apart from covering the carpeting type plants at the front. Plus I imagine I need to clean the sand as normal and turn off the filter when carefully shovelling it in.
See pics below.
