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Jaap

Member
Joined
30 Sep 2011
Messages
1,068
Location
Nicosia
Hello,

Day 1!

After many efforts of finding plants in this country, I have finally gotten my hands on some and here is the aquascape that I managed.

Tank Size: 40L
Substrate: JBL Manado
Fertilization: EI
Light (still coming): TMC GroBeam 600 with controller
Plants: Eleocharis Parvula, Java Moss, Christmas Moss, Weeping Moss, Hemianthous Monte Carlo, Flame Moss, Hydrocotile Tripartia, Hemianthous Micranthemoides, Stayrogen Repens.
CO2: Pressurised and dissolved with external reactor

CO2 comes one at 12:00 and lights come on at 14:00. They both turn off at 22:00.


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Thanks
 
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Hello,

Day 3!

This is the third day of the tank and the setup is now completed. The TMC GroBeam 600 with the controller have been added.

The light is 30cm above the tank so approximately 55cm above substrate. The intensity is set to 30%.

What do you think about the height and intensity of the light?

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Thanks
 
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Cant comment on the lights but for the hydrocotyle i would personally divide into small pieces as it spreads insanely fast :)
 
Hi jaap,
I'd say you've currently got your lighting sound starting off. You could possibly lower it a little more so more of the light is directed into the tank but if everything seems to be growing well over the next few weeks maybe slowly lower and increase lighting as plant mass increases.

Are you planning on having fish in? Just with the co2 going off with lights and the spray bar so low below the surface it could cause an issue. Having the spray bar just ripple the surface not only gives a nice ripple effect but will help with any possible surface scum.

Lovely little layout by the way :D

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk 2
 
The root wad on the left would look more natural I think with rocks sitting on the roots or very close to them, rather than wood on top of the rocks with void in between.
Or perhaps some type of plant to place near the root like structure of the wood to help hide the void between the wood and the stones.
Otherwise,me like.
 
The root wad on the left would look more natural I think with rocks sitting on the roots or very close to them, rather than wood on top of the rocks with void in between.
Or perhaps some type of plant to place near the root like structure of the wood to help hide the void between the wood and the stones.
Otherwise,me like.
Yes that is true...thsts why I used some christmas modd there and if it grows well it will hide the void.
 
Day 6!

At the moment everything looks fine apart from Java Moss and Hydrocotile Tripartia. The first has turned pale from green and the second is melting at the lower leaves. The Eleocharis Parvula green and well.

Should I cut down the Eleocharis Parvula short to promote growth or wait a bit to grow roots?

Should I ignore the pale java moss and the few tripartia melting leaves or is there something I should do?

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As you can see there isn't much growth but its still the 6th day...even though I see some eleocharis parvula sprouting.

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Thanks
 
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Day 9

Java Moss is still brown and pale

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Eleocharis Parvula has grown a few new leaves

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Stayrogen Repens that was emersed has melted a few leaves but looks healthy overall

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Flow is good and co2 is good...nutrients and light are the same as last week so now I have to wait to see how things go

Thanks
 
Id be tempted to throw in some extra ferts.
Having extra ferts will not cause you any issues and you will soon find out if it is the cause of the melt.
My hydrocotyle didnt show any signs of melt when transfered to emergent growth but was always the first plant to show any problems. Once it takes off youll struggle to get rod of it if you want to :p

Edit
Its also extremely hard to kill java moss.
You can completely dry it out then plant it and it will still grow so i wouldnt be too concerned at this stage.
 
That is good to know Mr. Like about the Java Moss because I will be sad if it died off since it took me a while to tie it up on the wood :)

The ferts in the tank are plenty though....I always overdose ferts just to be sure so I already took your advice lets say :)

Now the melt is a bit weird....maybe I don't have enough CO2 but if there are new leaves growing then isn't that a good indication?

Id be tempted to throw in some extra ferts.
Having extra ferts will not cause you any issues and you will soon find out if it is the cause of the melt.
My hydrocotyle didnt show any signs of melt when transfered to emergent growth but was always the first plant to show any problems. Once it takes off youll struggle to get rod of it if you want to :p

Edit
Its also extremely hard to kill java moss.
You can completely dry it out then plant it and it will still grow so i wouldnt be too concerned at this stage.
 
Try overdosing a bit more.
I can guarantee it will not cause you any problems at this stage somit is worth a try. Are you dosing macro and micro?
If this is the problem your new leaves will not melt and you have found the root of your problem so surely worth it? :)
Also remove all the dead or dying leaves.

New leaved will grow regardless unless the whole plant dies wchich is unlikely to occurr.

If overdosing a bit more does not solve the problem it will be related to flow or CO2 avaliability in comparisson to your lighting levels.
 
Don't worry about about ferts (you've said your heavy already) melt is nearly always co2/distribution (crypts can be an exception).
Reduce the light if you can and focus all attention to getting higher levels of co2 and better circulation especially during the first hour of lights on.
 
I believe circulation is not an issue since the 40l tank has a 1000l/h filter with a spray bar along the back of thw tank plus all the plants have a light movement from the water.

CO2 might be a problem but i dont think so since the pressurised co2 bottle is hooked to an external reactor and it is almost full blast since the bubbles per second are impossible to count and its one 3 hours before lights on.

Finally light is a TMC grobeam 600 and is set at 30% intensity at a distance of 55cm from the substrate. Is that good or should I decrease light intensity?

Any other suggestions I might need to check?
Don't worry about about ferts (you've said your heavy already) melt is nearly always co2/distribution (crypts can be an exception).
Reduce the light if you can and focus all attention to getting higher levels of co2 and better circulation especially during the first hour of lights on.
 
Day 10!

I was away for a day and came back to see that the lights were on but the CO2 timer was on off and the CO2 didn't switch on. Found the Stayrogen Repens to have melted even more but only the ones that were grown emersed, the ones that were taken from another tank are fine.

I did a 50% water change, fixed the CO2 timer, added two doses of macros and two doses of micros just to make sure all ferts are there and now I am ready to go again. Did a small flow test as well.

Flow test....as much as flow goes this is what I have to show...is it enough?

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Thanks
 
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As other have mentioned you need to improve your CO2 dissolution and stop worrying about nutrients. Nutrient deficiency doesn't cause melt, CO2 deficiency does. There is no need to guess or to add double doses. The spraybar arrangement looks OK to me. That must mean therefore that you have too much light and not enough injection rate.

Reduce the intensity to half of what it is now and increase the bubble rate. Do the pH profile as mentioned and that will tell you more. You can also add liquid carbon daily to improve the CO2.

Cheers,
 
As other have mentioned you need to improve your CO2 dissolution and stop worrying about nutrients. Nutrient deficiency doesn't cause melt, CO2 deficiency does. There is no need to guess or to add double doses. The spraybar arrangement looks OK to me. That must mean therefore that you have too much light and not enough injection rate.

Reduce the intensity to half of what it is now and increase the bubble rate. Do the pH profile as mentioned and that will tell you more. You can also add liquid carbon daily to improve the CO2.

Cheers,
Normal Excel dose or double triple the recommended dose?
 
If there are no fish in the tank (which there shouldn't be) then triple daily by the way.

Cheers,
 
If there are no fish in the tank (which there shouldn't be) then triple daily by the way.

Cheers,
Ok could do that since there aren't any fish...

Shouldn't the co2 injection by itself be sufficient? I mean a good injection rate and an external reactor should do the job right?

Also about light...its a TMC grobeam 600 at 30% intensity and 55cm above substrate...does that sound good or should I increase/decrease intensity?
 
Shouldn't the co2 injection by itself be sufficient? I mean a good injection rate and an external reactor should do the job right?
Yes it should be, but the plants are telling you that it isn't. Maybe your injection is weak at this point. I don't really know exactly because I'm hundreds of miles away from where the tank is. What I do know is that plants and algae never lie, so the only thing to do is to give them more of what they are asking for until you solve the riddle of why what you were supplying isn't sufficient.


Also about light...its a TMC grobeam 600 at 30% intensity and 55cm above substrate...does that sound good or should I increase/decrease intensity?
Again, when plants are melting they are telling you to decrease the intensity.

Cheers,
 
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