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Nick's ADA 90 cm

sounds great thanks nick. i've got two blokes painting the outside of my house today so have been ordered by the misses to sit on my butt all day and not leave the house.i was running out of surfing material - off to seachem site now. thanks.

£10 a pop seems cheap especially if it's rechargeable - great.
 
great thanks dave, i missed that thread. my LFS a mile away stocks it i shall get some next time i'm there and give it a go. i have tannins galore at the moment so that sounds like an ideal product for me. multipul water changes on 100G when you are on a water meter are expensive in themselves so purigen will probably be cheaper in the long run. sounds like a good excuse to me anyway. oh plus the dechlorinator costs..
 
Quick update then...

Seem to have sorted out the little algae problem I had after coming back from my hols. It was starting to accumulate in the Lilaeopsis, which was getting very thick and dense. So, as well as trying to work out a way to rid myself of it, I also wanted to think about how I manage a grass foreground.

Getting the CO2 back on-line properly and dosing a normal Excel dose daily did the trick. I also basically gave the Liliaeopsis a haircut. Within a week or so the algae had gone. I also added a dozen ottos, although I think the CO2, Excel, trim did the trick.

I was thinking about how to manage the grass foreground for sometime, as it has grown very thick, and in some cases is too tall. I'd read you could just trim certain grass-like plants just as you'd do with a lawn, and so I figured I'd give it a go. Having got at it with the scissors, it didn't look great (still some algae in it), but after a week or so new growth was clealy evident, and this, coulped with the algae disappearing was encouraging. So, it seems that giving it a good trim is an alternative to pulling the whole section and re-planting, at least in the medium term.

I think this is pretty interesting, because a lot of folk have moved away from conventional foreground planting recently (including myself) becuase they are either tricky to grow sufficiently well to give a really nice result, or when they do get going (as this has) they kind of run-away with themselves, and you end up having to do a lot of messy re-planting.

Ferns are growing well, just doing their thing. It always takes time in my tanks (or so it seems) for Java ferns to really get going, and mine look nice and healthy, but seems to be putting a lot of energy into developing adventitous plantlets on the leaves (with attendant not so great looking hairy roots!). Occasionally, I remove a large Congo water-fern leaf too.

The crypts are also doing pretty well, and I would describe their growth a very good. That said, they are still not where my best Crypts were in my ADA Aquasoil Malaya tank. Those things were the best I've ever grown. Interesting becuase I'd read that ADA recommend Malaya in particular for Crypts (which is kind of obvious I suppose).

Anyway, more photos soon...Just done another big trim of the stems, and I'm thinking that next time around, the cuttings might have to be re-planted.

Nick
 
Yes, as an aid to getting rid of the algae.

One of the key compounds in Excel is polycycloglutaracetal, which, apparently, is a trademarked (by Seachem) polymerized isomer of glutaraldehyde. The latter can be used to sterilize dental and medical equipment, and apparently as an embalming fluid (amongst other things).

The polymer has a well known impact on algae (google Excel, and you'll find many refs to use by planted tank people on algae), which I recall Seachem acknowledge, in a round-a-bout kind of way-apparently US regualtions prevent them from marketing it citing the biocidal impacts; it is considered to kill most algae at concentrations between 0.5-5.0 ppm.

Because some people have noticed that it can kill mosses and higher plants too at higher concentrations, I would not advocate what a lot of folk do. Namely, overdosing it. I would stick to the normal dose, applying that to the affected area by a syringe. I have no doubt it works. I have only used it on what you might call nuisance algae, rather than chronic infestations (the former can, of course, become the latter). The first time was on black brush algae on wood. I used the syringe method on it repeatedly and within days it bleached white and completely died. Apparently, it kills cells extremenly quickly, so this might explain why more 'simplistic' plants like algae are most susceptible.

Of course, you can get all this from google, but it gives an idea about why I use it.
 
I've read about it's effect on algae in the past, although it was only in reference to hair algae. I can confirm this as well as I had some attached to my wood which disappeared over the course of a week when I started dosing. Interesting about the mosses though. That might explain why my java moss never grows in the same tank. It's not dieing, but it's not growing either. I'll stop dosing and see what happens (that's another way of saying that I've run out of Excel and can't afford anymore yet!).
 
Hello, who is the German manufacturer of your tank and stand - I'm just accross the boarder in Switzerland so very practical for me to go to him direct.

Very nice tank by the way, I'm thinking of a similar size. It is 90x45x45 isn't it? How do you think it would be if you'd gone for the 60cm high - too deep to work on/for light to penetrate or OK?

Thank you,

Ray

PS - we all want photos!
 
Sorry chaps-I'll post some more pics soon! I have some, just not got around to putting them up!

Ray - I got the tank from Aqua Essentials, who deal with the company in Germany. I'm sure you could get the contact from Richard there-just drop him a line. It is the same company that make the tanks for ADA.

I considered a 60 High, but had always had a 45 cm high tank in mind. Turned out they had a 50 cm made in stock so I took that. A 60 would be nice I think, get the extra depth. I don't think light penetration would be too much of an issue-certainly I get excellent growth of Lilaeopsis at the bottom of mine with the 150 W metal halide. If you were worried about that, you could always get a 250 W!! I don't think that would be necessary by the way.

Sam-thanks for your comments-glad you like it!!

Cheers,
Nick
 
'Ray - I got the tank from Aqua Essentials, who deal with the company in Germany. I'm sure you could get the contact from Richard there-just drop him a line. It is the same company that make the tanks for ADA. '

OUCH! You went for the high clarity stuff then! That looks extremely expensive. Is it really that much clearer than normal aquarium glass?
 
Stevet - yes I went for the full monty on this tank. I only really keep the one going and I'd been planning something special for years. This is really it (certainly in terms of hardware). I can certainly say that it terms of build quality the tank is first rate. With no bracing to help hold back 200+ litres, you need it!! The cabinet is also top notch too-a very nice product.

Sorry for the lack of updates guys, just been a bit busy with a few things of late.....I have some pics and will try and post them soon! Been tied up with finally stripping and cleaning the Rio 125 and re-housing the occupants, amongst other things.

Nick
 
Morning all....

Been off the forums for a little while, but I've not been sitting idly by on the planted tank front.

Well, this tank had been torn down - time for a change and a new scape.

So a big box of Tropica plants came into my possession yesterday and and all hell broke loose as I started on ripping down the old and getting the new one going. Will get some pictures up soon - we are quite literally about to have a baby so I can't promise updates will come with any frequency over the next few weeks!

Cheers
Nick
 
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