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Not a clean slate, 200L

CooKieS said:
I find that s.repens are quite difficult to adapt and grow, mine is doing better since I add more NPK and Magnesium, but I lost 90% of it the first months...can't see why tropica classified it as an 'easy' plant?!
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I did grow S.repens quite nicely 4 years ago in pretty much the same setup, and according to my log from then, I am also dosing pretty much the same.
But it sure looks like some deficiency. Perhaps the water from the waterworks has changed its level of Mg. I know for sure they now have lower KH, so there might also be lower Mg. I can not see that in the official measurements from the waterwork, but they also did not show the change in KH.
I will wait some more days, and then try to up the dosing. You know, I am trying to act slowly and only change on thing at the time, even though the instinct it just to act right away 😉 - Xim, thanks for all your advice! 🙂
 
It is now day 18, and time for a photo.

33054133815_5c671d2133_c.jpg
20170222-P2220026.jpg by Jesper Lauritsen, on Flickr

In a few days it is time for a first little trim and thinning 🙂 Some larger rock some of the places are needed and I have ideas for some different plants a few places - but I wait a little longer with all that.

My S. repens are no better 🙁. I dosed some extra Mg for the first time yesterday, and will keep dosing extra in the following days.
xim said:
There is no info about micros. But for macros, you're right now feeding the plants EI level which can cover even a highlight, full of plants (I mean really full that fish nearly don't have space for swimming), tank. Not to mention that the substrate you use is already rich with nutrients.
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I am currently dosing for a target of NO3: 18, PO4: 3, K: 20 and Mg:10 ppm/week, dosed with 1/7 each day. this is upper end of the usual EI recommendation. As I wrote earlier I am basing my calculation of how much MgSO4 to add on the high levels (11ppm) that my local waterworks reports for Mg in the tap water. That might not be a correct figure, and then I might be low in Mg - so it feels ok to try to raise it.

But how are my levels? I actually had a PO4 test kit laying in the cupboard from 4 years ago when I last tried a planted aquarium. Don't think I ever used it then - I am not really a friend with any of these test kits 😉
I measured when it was 4 days since the last water change. So in that period I had dosed 3/7*4=1,7 ppm on top of what was left after the previous 50% water change. I measured 1-2 ppm at that time.
I measured again after a 50% water change, and then PO4 was 0,5-1 as expected.
Shortly after that my doser did the usual dosing, and after that PO4 was 1-2 as expected (roughly 0,75+3/7 = 1,2).

The measurements are not precise enough to be conclusive, but I would say that the plants currently use at least half, and surly not all of what I am dosing. That is ok, and that indicates that I should be ok with P and probably also with N and K. Only Mg and micro is open. So I change (only) Mg for now.
 
jesperl.dk said:
But how are my levels? I actually had a PO4 test kit laying in the cupboard from 4 years ago when I last tried a planted aquarium. Don't think I ever used it then - I am not really a friend with any of these test kits 😉
I measured when it was 4 days since the last water change. So in that period I had dosed 3/7*4=1,7 ppm on top of what was left after the previous 50% water change. I measured 1-2 ppm at that time.
I measured again after a 50% water change, and then PO4 was 0,5-1 as expected.
Shortly after that my doser did the usual dosing, and after that PO4 was 1-2 as expected (roughly 0,75+3/7 = 1,2).

The measurements are not precise enough to be conclusive, but I would say that the plants currently use at least half, and surly not all of what I am dosing. That is ok, and that indicates that I should be ok with P and probably also with N and K. Only Mg and micro is open. So I change (only) Mg for now.
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Phosphate can end up in the substrate. It can be precipitated/bound with other cations. Tom Barr has compared the amount of nutrients in new ADA Amazonia vs the same soil after 18 months of use and found higher phosphate in the old soil. He thought it was from KH2PO4 he had dosed.
 
Again, very impressed by the amount of research/dedication - especially with the dosing. I never bothered because it seems complicated (and I don't have the mental capacity at the moment), but maybe that's the reason why I killed so many plants in the past doing trial by fire haha.
 
Had some busy days, but here is an update.

Here is day 28:
32456414953_ccbf2d5dba_c.jpg20170303-P3030035.jpg by Jesper Lauritsen, on Flickr
Definitely time for a trim, specially the glosso grows like, really fast.

I did a trim and some thinning, and on day 29 i added 10 Melanotaenia praecox (dwarf/neon rainbowfish) - I like them a lot, but they are still too shy to get their photo taken.
32888152520_1fcc87d0cd_c.jpg20170305-P3050063.jpg by Jesper Lauritsen, on Flickr
The colors are not good in my photos - one of these days I will try to find a better color correction.

A few more snaps:
32428173384_ae38d6a062_m.jpg 32888147740_5619cd68c2_m.jpg 32888145120_3e0e430e96_m.jpg 33142883901_7180240f53_n.jpg

Most plants are growing really well, and there is no sign at all of any algea at all - so I have to feed my shrimps and ottos 🙂
The crypts are finally starting to grow some small new dark brown leaves - that's good for they were looking real sorrow.
The S. repens I am not sure about. They are not worse and they are not much better. I was dosing high Mg for more than a week without much change, so I have backed down on that again.

I will wait for the crypts and perhaps also the S. repens to settle a bit before I do some changes to they layout. Definitely need some contrasting tones... (although the greens are more varied in real life than on the photos). Suggestions are welcome 🙂
 
tim said:
The scape is really coming along nicely Jesper, http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Alternantherareineckii'Mini'(023CTC)/4439 could be a good replacement for the staurogyne, adding some colour contrast but staying low,
http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantdetails/Hygrophila'Araguaia'(051BTC)/4758
Would look good mixed into the glosso carpet nice red/brown contrast to the bright green glosso, really enjoying your journal so far.
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Thanks, great suggestions. I'll think about it 🙂
I think I am also going to replace part of my Hygrophilia Siamensis and Totala rotundifolia with something more colorful, to make the Pogostemon erectus stand out some more.
And some small Buce on the cliff, I think.

I havn't shown many photos of the right side - the aquarium is placed so it is mostly seen from the left side, but still more should be done there. Now it is java fern in the back and crypts in the middle. Still thinking about what to do...
 
That is one clean tank Jesper, looks stunning. How you keep that algea at bay is simply amazing - ím currently experiencing thread algea all over the place - and at day 20 im really not sure whether to start dosing or not
 
uh, I dosed from day 1! And quite high levels. Lots of water changes as well, of course, but I am down at every 4th day now.

My biggest inspiration has really been: https://www.ukaps.org/index.php?page=setting-up-a-higher-tech-planted-tank
Yesterday I discovered the guides at Aquasabi, and it has lots of good info as well, for example: https://www.aquasabi.com/aquascaping-wiki/nutrients/fertilization-during-the-cycling-phase

I would say, you should start dosing right away 😉 Perhaps adding som more fast-growing stems temporarily would be a good idea as well.

Also I add EasyCarbo each day (about 2ml/100l), and will keep at that until all is stable.
With the approach of the guides above you will usually cycle with low levels of everything and can then add shrimps already after a couple of weeks.

but, but, but. I have tried this once before, and know that suddenly the algae may hit 🙁 Mostly I put my faith in lots of growth 😉
 
Hi its a lovely looking tank! :thumbup:
Especially rotala rotundifolia (day 28 before trim pic) is having that sought for orange color, looks great.

I am on day 100+ with ada soil, systematic EI dosing [20ppm NO3, 30ppm K, 5 ppm PO4, 10 ppm Mg] 30ppm co2 but my r. rotundifolia (also from Tropica) is refusing to color up 😵 and looks a bit messed up. However rotala sp. green is doing much better.

I too agree on the alteranthera recommendation should provide a great contrast.

Do you have any idea about par readings in your tank?
 
jesperl.dk said:
uh, I dosed from day 1! And quite high levels. Lots of water changes as well, of course, but I am down at every 4th day now.

My biggest inspiration has really been: https://www.ukaps.org/index.php?page=setting-up-a-higher-tech-planted-tank
Yesterday I discovered the guides at Aquasabi, and it has lots of good info as well, for example: https://www.aquasabi.com/aquascaping-wiki/nutrients/fertilization-during-the-cycling-phase

I would say, you should start dosing right away 😉 Perhaps adding som more fast-growing stems temporarily would be a good idea as well.

Also I add EasyCarbo each day (about 2ml/100l), and will keep at that until all is stable.
With the approach of the guides above you will usually cycle with low levels of everything and can then add shrimps already after a couple of weeks.

but, but, but. I have tried this once before, and know that suddenly the algae may hit 🙁 Mostly I put my faith in lots of growth 😉
Click to expand...

I see. Are you dosing both micro and macro? Also I heard that easycarbo would kill my Fissidens, so I have refrained from that
 
Shinobi said:
I see. Are you dosing both micro and macro? Also I heard that easycarbo would kill my Fissidens, so I have refrained from that
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Yes both micro and macro. I started with probably something like 2/3 of the upper end of the EI range of targets. I then tweaked it a bit going forward, both by testing some actual levels, by looking at my actual growth, and then by reading and asking questions 😉
I don't know about easycabo and Fissidens...
 
Christos Ioannou said:
Hi its a lovely looking tank! :thumbup:
Especially rotala rotundifolia (day 28 before trim pic) is having that sought for orange color, looks great.
I am on day 100+ with ada soil, systematic EI dosing [20ppm NO3, 30ppm K, 5 ppm PO4, 10 ppm Mg] 30ppm co2 but my r. rotundifolia (also from Tropica) is refusing to color up 😵 and looks a bit messed up. However rotala sp. green is doing much better.
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Thanks 🙂
The rotundifolia is looking even better with the new growth after the trimming - I will post a new photo later.
I dose pretty much like you do. How about your micro?
I measured my Fe before trimming and it was 0,1-0,2 three days after my last water change - so the plants was not using everything I dosed, but quite a lot of it. The micro of course contains much beside Fe (and several kinds of Fe, very hard to get a grasp on), but I can only measure Fe. Anyway, I upped my dose of micro by 50%. I do think that not only the rotundifolia but also several of the other plants now after 3-4 days are looking better. Of course I don't know if that is because of the micro or just because they had more time to grow and adapt... :crazy:

Christos Ioannou said:
Do you have any idea about par readings in your tank?
Click to expand...
Have a look at https://ukaps.org/forum/threads/par-and-other-stuff-just-for-myself.48910/
 
jesperl.dk said:
Thanks 🙂
The rotundifolia is looking even better with the new growth after the trimming - I will post a new photo later.
I dose pretty much like you do. How about your micro?
I measured my Fe before trimming and it was 0,1-0,2 three days after my last water change - so the plants was not using everything I dosed, but quite a lot of it. The micro of course contains much beside Fe (and several kinds of Fe, very hard to get a grasp on), but I can only measure Fe. Anyway, I upped my dose of micro by 50%. I do think that not only the rotundifolia but also several of the other plants now after 3-4 days are looking better. Of course I don't know if that is because of the micro or just because they had more time to grow and adapt... 😱


Have a look at https://ukaps.org/forum/threads/par-and-other-stuff-just-for-myself.48910/
Click to expand...
definitely a read when I go home.
cheers

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
 
day 39.
All is growing now. The S. repens are slowly picking up and the crypts are finally getting new submersed leaves.

I did a trimming today after leaving it alone for 11 days.
cuttings.jpg
Better not think to much about what the plants costed initially when throwing this in the garbage 😉

I am also now on a full week between water changes, and all still looks good. There are finally a very small sign of algae: some spots in the tube from the in-flow. In a strange way this almost makes me at ease - it was almost magical that I had absolutely no sign at all of algae or even diatoms until now.

I did some testing today with the test kits I have:
NH4/NH3: ~0,3 ppm
NO2: 0 ppm
NO3: ~10 ppm
PO4: ~0,8 ppm
Fe: ~0,5 ppm
KH: 9 from the tap
pH is about 7,1 when CO2 has been on for some hours, and about 7,3 from the tap

I dose 1/7th of the following each day:
NO3: 14 ppm
PO4: 2 ppm
K: 15 ppm
Mg: 5 ppm (I have a lot in my tap also)
Micro: for Fe 0,7 ppm

I also dose 2ml/100L EasyCarbo (almost) each day
Light is currently on for 8 hours, and I am slowly going to increase it to about 9h/day.

I am going to rescape a bit real soon now, but it feels good to first get the hang of trimming what I have, and also to let the crypts get a little larger.
 
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What is happening to my Rotala rotundifolia??

I did a trimming a week ago like I have done several times before. Previously the rotundifolia started growing right away and was looking nice in a few days.

But now it looks like this:
image1.JPG

All new leaves are very small and transparent. Looks like the little new growth that has been is melting.

Everything else is growing very nicely. My dosing has been stable for some time now, and water change is every week.

Only thing is I did have a minor CO2 swing over the week. My regulator is a bit temperamental, I will guess I usually is at about 20-25 ppm in the light period, but for some days I was probably down at 10, and then up at 30, before again getting stable. I wouldn't think that is critical, and everything else is fine.

Hope somebody can tell me what might be going on 🙁
 
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