Glad you're still out there...The tank sounds like a microcosm of life in itself...looking forward to the pics.
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My new low tech attempt
- Thread starter faizal
- Start date
Alastair
Member
Hey Troi,...
. Not that I am complaining,...I love this pace. I finally get to enjoy the fishes & the shrimps. It has that slightly more matured look now,...though I think it's still at its "toddler" stage of life. I feel like I want to keep this little tank running forever.
It's so easy to manage. The shrimps have given off several new off springs. They still amaze me at how good they are when they suddenly go into hiding,...all at once. Then suddenly there they are scooting all about the tankCute little fellas they are. I am so hooked onto low tech Troi.
The scape looks pretty much the same ,....the plants seem to have grown a bit bigger though,..and it looks lovely
Take care
Nothing stopping you running it forever mate like you want to. It will be great to see how looks through its stages
Bufo Bill
Member
I have been so inspired by this journal; your 'scape is superb Faizal, well done. Your hard work and disappointment in the very early stages were similar to things I tried out. Your style is unique on our site, you have a very good eye, and I am so glad you get so much pleasure from your hobby, you have certainly earned it, judging from your earliest posts.
Congratulations from Bill.
Congratulations from Bill.
tim
Member
C'mon Faizal, give us an updated pic, good to see your still about mate 
faizal
Member
I am so so sorry guys,.... . I didn't mean to be so rude,...but it's just been crazy for me lately,....my next door neighbor was doing some big renovation & busted a concealed water pipeline in his house and our house being a terrace house ( we share a common wall),...the water started seeping into our home,...a nightmare to say the least,...finally got things under control.
Here's how it's looking now:
. I didn't mean to be so rude,...but it's just been crazy for me lately,....my next door neighbor was doing some big renovation & busted a concealed water pipeline in his house and our house being a terrace house ( we share a common wall),...the water started seeping into our home,...a nightmare to say the least,...finally got things under control.Here's how it's looking now:
faizal
Member
Cheers Troi,...Yeah,...it's a shame that I am not able to get a decent picture of the shrimps,...they are all way too small to catch on my cell phone camera.It's been a real pleasure with this tank,....so much less maintenance, I haven't dosed anything yet,.....I think I am pushing my luck a bit....I should start on some weekly dosing
. Thanks for taking the interest mate.
Rich Jackson
Member
This is the tank that has inspired me to get mine up and running low tech. I looks great. I must have read and re-read your journal a few times now!
faizal
Member
Hey Al,...God !! I really missed everybody. I am so hooked onto low tech ,...!!! Thanks to your journals & Big Tom's. It's so much less things to fuss about,....more time spent on enjoying the little fellas in the tank.
faizal
Member
I am just mind blown with your kind comment right now mate. Never thought I would hear someone say something that about old faizal's tank. So humbled . Thank you so much. The journey was made much easier by Clive who first taught me the basics of underwater gardening 2.5 yrs ago,....then the immense support that I received from so many kind folks here.
They always make you feel like a part of the family ,,...even though I am actually thousands of kms away...
faizal
Member
Cheers mate
,.....thank you so much. It means a lot reading what you've typed down there. I hope you will get to enjoy a wonderful journey into non co2 tanks just as I have. Feel free to ask anything mate,....so many guys here who are artists in planted tank here. They take pride in helping anyone who is willing to listen & learn. Wishing you all the best into low tech adventure
faizal
Member
I was at work when had I hastily uploaded that picture,... ,...here are a few more closer shots. Unfortunately they are not that super clear either because I am still taking these pictures with my cell phone. For what it's worth though,...
The right front corner where the anubias petite nanas are :
Most of the java moss that you saw earlier were apparently grown emmersed by the supplier,...& by the end of the 3rd month,...I came to accept the fact that the moss carpet was not going to come in as easy as peasy. So I removed them at got myself some submersed variety of java moss. The neat thing about these new ones were that the supplier actually tied them up on an aluminium mesh for me. So that was one less thing to worry about,..I then took out some neglected e.tenellus that were surviving in the holding tank for nearly 3 months, cleaned them up a little and sort of transferred them into this tank. I wish I had seen Mark Evan's new project earlier as I would have given the morimo balls a shot as a carpet plant,.... . Oh ,...there will always be another tank. Something for a little later maybe.
The picture below was taken to show the sorry state of my mini java fern,...I still suck at growing them
This picture was taken after I had removed lots of dead leaves off them. This is the only plant that refuses to do well for me in this tank. I don't know why.
Most of the leaves on the anubias lanceolata though are all new. Doing very nicely this one.
So far I have been doing about 20-30% water change twice a week during lights on. I haven't exactly been religious on this either. I had on occasions missed out on a water change once every 3 weeks. I wave my hand over the substrate area that I wish to clean that day & do a light gravel vacuum without disturbing the substrate.
Filter cleaning ( I had to switch over to an old hang on back 2 months ago when my canister started leaking) is never vigorous & is done once in 3 weeks. I have some eheim like biological media ( I think they are China made ones) at the bottom most layer. Over this I have placed the white floss like wool loosely,..then comes the seachem purigen tied up in a nylon sock,..then another loose layer of white wool. Finally a coarse green wool.
On cleaning day, I basically take out the green & white wool layers,..run them over running tap water. I clean up the purigen with running tap water. Then once they look clean (when no further brownish goo comes out during washing under tap), I place them back in the hang on back filter. I never touch the biological layer. They are left submersed in filter water during the entire cleaning process. Fishes are still fed 2 pieces of crushed algae wafers every other day,...I switch off the filter during feeds for 5 minutes before restarting it.
Thank you so much for taking the time,... Hope the pictures have done you some justice.
,...here are a few more closer shots. Unfortunately they are not that super clear either because I am still taking these pictures with my cell phone. For what it's worth though,...The right front corner where the anubias petite nanas are :
Most of the java moss that you saw earlier were apparently grown emmersed by the supplier,...& by the end of the 3rd month,...I came to accept the fact that the moss carpet was not going to come in as easy as peasy. So I removed them at got myself some submersed variety of java moss. The neat thing about these new ones were that the supplier actually tied them up on an aluminium mesh for me.
So that was one less thing to worry about,..I then took out some neglected e.tenellus that were surviving in the holding tank for nearly 3 months, cleaned them up a little and sort of transferred them into this tank. I wish I had seen Mark Evan's new project earlier as I would have given the morimo balls a shot as a carpet plant,.... . Oh ,...there will always be another tank. Something for a little later maybe.The picture below was taken to show the sorry state of my mini java fern,...I still suck at growing them
This picture was taken after I had removed lots of dead leaves off them. This is the only plant that refuses to do well for me in this tank. I don't know why.Most of the leaves on the anubias lanceolata though are all new. Doing very nicely this one.
So far I have been doing about 20-30% water change twice a week during lights on. I haven't exactly been religious on this either. I had on occasions missed out on a water change once every 3 weeks. I wave my hand over the substrate area that I wish to clean that day & do a light gravel vacuum without disturbing the substrate.
Filter cleaning ( I had to switch over to an old hang on back 2 months ago when my canister started leaking) is never vigorous & is done once in 3 weeks. I have some eheim like biological media ( I think they are China made ones) at the bottom most layer. Over this I have placed the white floss like wool loosely,..then comes the seachem purigen tied up in a nylon sock,..then another loose layer of white wool. Finally a coarse green wool.
On cleaning day, I basically take out the green & white wool layers,..run them over running tap water. I clean up the purigen with running tap water. Then once they look clean (when no further brownish goo comes out during washing under tap), I place them back in the hang on back filter. I never touch the biological layer. They are left submersed in filter water during the entire cleaning process. Fishes are still fed 2 pieces of crushed algae wafers every other day,...I switch off the filter during feeds for 5 minutes before restarting it.
Thank you so much for taking the time,...
Hope the pictures have done you some justice.
faizal
Member
Tim,..i am so sorry mate,...thought I had replied to this.It's good to be back. Looking forward to catching up with all your tanks in the next few days. I hope things are well with you & here's hoping you've enjoyed the progress of this tank as much as I have.C'mon Faizal, give us an updated pic, good to see your still about mate
Alastair
Member
Faizal whats the flow like near the mini fern???ive just finished stripping out the last of my plants and noticed out of all the ferns I had, the ones that had a steady gentle flow over them were really lush compared to the others
Hey Faizal thanks for the photos...and not before time I might add Hope your home has dried out. The tank is looking amazing, we've missed your contribution recently...I think you should make time for us in your diary from now on
Hope your home has dried out. The tank is looking amazing, we've missed your contribution recently...I think you should make time for us in your diary from now on
faizal
Member
I am not really sure Al,...you've got a good point though. I am at work right now. I will go home and check up on it later tonight. I don't think there is much flow in that area. The water flow from the HOB filter is hitting the central front glass area ,...& reverting back ,...so i don't think there would be much of a flow where the mini ferns are placed.You might have just solved the problem there for me. I might move it to another area where there's good flow & leave it there for 3 weeks to see if it makes any difference. Good one Al,..cheers.
faizal
Member
Hey Faizal thanks for the photos...and not before time I might add
Hey Troi,...
Yeah but the walls are still wet though. We had water coming out from our walls for nearly 2 months. We initially thought that the problem was our own,..but it later turned out to be my neighbor's. He was very apologetic & very obliging. The walls will require a fresh coat of paint next month when they have completely dried out.The tank is looking amazing, we've missed your contribution recently...I think you should make time for us in your diary from now on
Cheers Troi. Awfully kind of you mate. I will make sure to do just that from now on,..
tim
Member
Tanks looking good Faizal, I wouldn't change a thing ( more frequent updates )
( more frequent updates )
faizal
Member
First sign of trouble in months. I have been getting some weird phenomenon here. I have been getting some whitish powdery like substance formation on the glass covering all sides everytime i do a 30 % weekly water change. Prior to the water change, the tank's spotless but as the photoperiod goes on,...a very mild powdery substance froms over the hardscapes & glass. It rubs off to moderate touch. Just imagine dumping a baby's talcum powder into the tank & how it might settle in,...that's how it looks. I have been dosing some old premixed KNO3 & KH2PO2 solution after the water change. The premixed bottle is clear without any residue. But that's the thing,...last night I had forgotten to dose till about an hour post WC but i still noticed the powder to form over the glass even before i dosed,....this morning i noticed it ever so slightly over the wood. Any idea as to what could be causing this?
faizal
Member
At first I thought that it could be Green dust algae,...but isn't that supposed to green in colour? I do remove alot of mulm everytime i wave my hand over the substrate before siphoning it out during water changes,....i never do deep substrate vacuuming. Shrimp poo,...everywhere on the substrate. I also wash my white filter floss under tap & re use it. Could it be coming from the white filter floss,...its powdery though. It doesn't come off as easily as diatoms would but it isn't super hardly stuck to any glass or hardscape either
faizal
Member
Hey everyone
. So that whitish powdery substance sort of sorted itself out by its own. I basically stopped doing the 20-30% water changes & was just topping of evaporated water for about 2 weeks
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