Jorge O'Reilly
Member
'Nuff said. Needless to say, I'm excited.
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Next step: a new table.
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Jorge O'Reilly
Member
20-minute brainstorm on possible wood configurations. Any favourites? Bear in mind these would be elevated a few inches, all I have down there is some mineral soil and slow release ferts. Ignore the rocks, they're just support.
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I like the 2nd Configuration....it has potential.
The Miniaturist
Member
Number 2, it resembles a trebuchet! I think you will get better flow around the tank with the possibility of emersed growing if it all sits higher.
Trebuchet! What a great name for the Journal.
PARAGUAY
Member
If going to be the only would l like 5
Three looks like a Witch making a brew of......lean dosing ferts!
Lauris
Member
This!3.
Well balanced space, having the focal point +multi triangle combo. It reads well from left to right due to the defined lines. Flat stone surface works well too
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
Thanks! I'll send some more as soon as I can spare the time.
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
It is. Mucking around in the river pays out.That is a great piece of wood! My favourites are the first and last ones.
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
So I finally found the exact Alternanthera species that lines my river wharf. Apparently, it was an old hobby cultivar named "Kleines Papagaienblatt". Link to description. Apparently, it's a medium difficulty plant for which CO2 is recommended, so, if true, growing it in a non-CO2 Walstad is a pretty cool success. It has been doing great in my small 25 liter tank.
That said, here is a pic of the three-day old tank. Some clarifications. I glued the wood together and placed a rock on top of it until it soaks through again, I had kept it all in a pond for weeks but as I moved it and stored it in the flat it dried up faster than expected. When I set it up and filled the tank, I removed the rock tentatively and it stayed down... For five minutes. Mess No. 1. Stuck it in as best I could again, and placed the rock once more. It does not look as seamless as it did before, but well. Once it soaks I will rearrange so that it looks better. For now, I'm playing it safe.
The second mess was that a good percentage of the plants I had in storage for this suffered enormously from having spent a week in bags... So I had to go out and stick some Frogbit and other unplanned inhabitants, as a good plant mass is essential if I want the firing up to go smoothly. In three days the water cleared up, the plants perked up and things seem to be moving in the right direction. Right now, I have a bag of new plants I collected at 23:30 pm on a rainy night... People coming by the river must have thought I was concealing murder evidence or something. It's a pity I had to leave my parent's house and come downtown, with the rain and some recent mild floods the temporary pools were blooming with plant growth. Here go some pictures.
Lilaeopsis, Eleocharis, Alternantheras, and some of the small ones that worked well on the other tank. I'll replant, rearrange and get back with more ASAp.
That said, here is a pic of the three-day old tank. Some clarifications. I glued the wood together and placed a rock on top of it until it soaks through again, I had kept it all in a pond for weeks but as I moved it and stored it in the flat it dried up faster than expected. When I set it up and filled the tank, I removed the rock tentatively and it stayed down... For five minutes. Mess No. 1. Stuck it in as best I could again, and placed the rock once more. It does not look as seamless as it did before, but well. Once it soaks I will rearrange so that it looks better. For now, I'm playing it safe.
The second mess was that a good percentage of the plants I had in storage for this suffered enormously from having spent a week in bags... So I had to go out and stick some Frogbit and other unplanned inhabitants, as a good plant mass is essential if I want the firing up to go smoothly. In three days the water cleared up, the plants perked up and things seem to be moving in the right direction. Right now, I have a bag of new plants I collected at 23:30 pm on a rainy night... People coming by the river must have thought I was concealing murder evidence or something. It's a pity I had to leave my parent's house and come downtown, with the rain and some recent mild floods the temporary pools were blooming with plant growth. Here go some pictures.
Lilaeopsis, Eleocharis, Alternantheras, and some of the small ones that worked well on the other tank. I'll replant, rearrange and get back with more ASAp.
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
Couple days later. Something is off though. I suspect the substrate has some siltiness to it that leaches out and makes it sort of cloudy. It's not bacterial, that I could tell, as it has been present from the outset and never changes, even when water changes have been effected. I'll give it a couple more days with the small filter with floss, after which Ill try with zero water movement.
On the aesthetic side of things (also, plant mass is helpful, but there's plenty) I'll add more Alternantheras (big ones, if I can get them) on the left side, all the way back, and more Lilaeopsis on the foreground, right hand side. As you can see, the old setup was not very smart, that flat stone should be visible. I think this will turn out okay.
On a dumber note, I failed to take into consideration the two floodlight used in the small tank when hooking the main light to the 10-amperes-rated timer. Blew it to smithereens, it ceased working. 8 amperes to the mains, and two 10-watt FL, I assume they were more than 1a apiece... I'll have to cough up for a new one. Two, in fact. Bummer.
On the aesthetic side of things (also, plant mass is helpful, but there's plenty) I'll add more Alternantheras (big ones, if I can get them) on the left side, all the way back, and more Lilaeopsis on the foreground, right hand side. As you can see, the old setup was not very smart, that flat stone should be visible. I think this will turn out okay.
On a dumber note, I failed to take into consideration the two floodlight used in the small tank when hooking the main light to the 10-amperes-rated timer. Blew it to smithereens, it ceased working. 8 amperes to the mains, and two 10-watt FL, I assume they were more than 1a apiece... I'll have to cough up for a new one. Two, in fact. Bummer.
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
Current status. Slowly filling her up as the wood soaks. I had a brief rockless period, second photo, but as I filled it some more I saw the dry section made things unstable. So, a week more on duty for the boulder.
Some pictures of "new" plants I'm trying out, whose name I do not know. They seem to be doing ok. Bonus: the details on the wood, I absolutely love it.
And, finally, the new tenant. Let's see if his colors perk up a bit in these 30 gallons to himself.
Some pictures of "new" plants I'm trying out, whose name I do not know. They seem to be doing ok. Bonus: the details on the wood, I absolutely love it.
And, finally, the new tenant. Let's see if his colors perk up a bit in these 30 gallons to himself.
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
Moving on. Been slowly adding botanicals... Up till it was not slow. One last glass clean today, lowered lights in intensity and time period (I've been getting algae) and I'll try an entirely no-mucking-around approach. I'll add some ferts now and then, but nothing else.
Also, I dropped a few shells in there, three bladder snails, and a small apple snail. All found on a local park lake.
There is quite a bit of muck. I have not been able to secure myself some shrimp, but I will one of these days. The tank can easily house a couple dozen, but I'll most likely begin with ten or so. Apart from this, muck is now my vibe. By all means, develop. If you can't fight your enemies, do as Tannin Aquatic does, and join them.
Also, I dropped a few shells in there, three bladder snails, and a small apple snail. All found on a local park lake.
There is quite a bit of muck. I have not been able to secure myself some shrimp, but I will one of these days. The tank can easily house a couple dozen, but I'll most likely begin with ten or so. Apart from this, muck is now my vibe. By all means, develop. If you can't fight your enemies, do as Tannin Aquatic does, and join them.
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
Slightly off topic. Saw these while shamelessly wasting time in yt. Made me chuckle somewhat. I used them for fishing bait as a kid...
Edit: actually, a different species within the complex, but they look pretty much identical. To answer the youtuber's question: you can't kill them, mate. You'd have to drop cyanide in the tank.
Edit: actually, a different species within the complex, but they look pretty much identical. To answer the youtuber's question: you can't kill them, mate. You'd have to drop cyanide in the tank.
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
Well, things have been slowly evolving. I haven't given the tank much time, mainly since there were some heavy algae outbreaks and I figured it just had to mature. I added the shrimp, finally, and with the botanicals the tank has acquired a beautiful tint. Algae has slowed down, limpets and snails abound, copepods are booming, and the shrimp scurry happily everywhere. Sadly, I lost my phone to water damage, so no pictures for the moment... But since I believe it has stabilized itself somewhat, I will once again start fiddling with it.
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
So I've been wondering. Just trimmed my Echinodorus and noticed one of them had a dead leaf. All the way down to the root. I'm partial to leaving it there and add to the system. Does anyone know whether aquatic plants "reclaim" stuff from dying leaves before they senesce?
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
Also, shrimp are berrying up nicely. I got sort of tired of the smaller tank and moved the livestock here, I really hope the Jenynsias leave me a couple copepods... They really are voracious little devils
Jorge O'Reilly
Member
Well, my old phone broke in an unfortunate accident involving a pool, a friend's graduation barbecue, and entirely too much Argentine Malbec within said friend. My new phone takes terrible pictures, so you will have to excuse that fact.
The copepods, sadly, seem to be gone. Here's an update pic.
The Alternantheras are struggling. I've added some small variety of vallisneria I was sold a few months ago, hopefully it will start to beat them at their own game, in its own time.
The copepods, sadly, seem to be gone. Here's an update pic.
The Alternantheras are struggling. I've added some small variety of vallisneria I was sold a few months ago, hopefully it will start to beat them at their own game, in its own time.
