Proper attempt

[virgojavier]

0.5 : 1.5 so far

 

[virgojavier]

Right, Wife didn't like the sand either so decided to get rid off it.
Going off for a weekend so I will plant it next week, need to order some plants from somewhere.
Have not come up with conlussion what kind of plants, so your suggestions will be very helpful.
Regards
Lukasz

 

[virgojavier]

Some random snaps:

Regards
Lukasz

 

[virgojavier]

Not much to report, i have made some purchase through co2art.co.uk
Well recommend it. Bought a drop checker and a ada style thermometer, both for less th 4 quids.
Proper quality.
Going for a trip tomorrow to The Green Machine to purchase some plants, so will post some pics.
I want to get some advice, help th picking the right plants etc.

Regards
Lukasz

 

[virgojavier]

Had a fantastic day out in North Wales yesterday and visited The Green Machine on my way back.
Had a chat with one of the staff who was quite sceptic about using Akadema (he never heared of it), but he advised me to cover all my Akadema with a unipac sand.
Do you guys think its a good idea? I've been thinknig about this all evening yesterday and still can not come to a conclusions if this is the right thing to do...

Also bought myself this beauty

I dont like the green pipes and the spray bar, so they will be replaced with the clear ones.

 

[squid102]

It depends what look you are after. If you don't like the look of the akadama then cover it. Otherwise, don't bother. I'd be concerned about the finer grain sand working its way down through the akadama. If you want an area of sand, like the front, then I would do that full depth sand.

I agree about the Eheim pipes. They are functional but not pretty on an open top tank. Go for the clear.

 

[virgojavier]

Few shoots from the trip to The Green Machine (sorry for the quality, I used iPhone and its quite dark in there):

Regards
Lukasz

 

[Conger]

Sorry, just to repeat the question, what stone is that you've used? Is it Manten Stone, or similar?

 

[virgojavier]

Sorry, forgot to answer your question. It's defo a Manten Stone, I've bought it in my local store, it was called a Baltic stone.
You can get it here:
http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/baltic-rock-per-kg-p-5844.html

Regards
Lukasz

 

[TOO]

This is not "real" Manten stone. Manten stone are part of the ADA product range. You can see the real deal at TGM. They look very different.

The stones you have look nice nevertheless - and the scape very promising

Thomas

 

[virgojavier]

Finally after weeks of preparations, tank has been flooded and planted.
Pics just after flooding, as you can see no problem with cloud water. Sieving Akadama was obviously a good idea.
Plants used:
- Anubias barteri var. nana
- Anubias barteri var. nana Petite
- Egeria densa
- Eleocharis sp.
- Hydrocotyle tripartita
- Limnophila hippuridoides
- Ludwigia sp.
- Nymphaea lotus
- Nymphoides sp. Taiwan
- Staurogyne repens

 

[squid102]

Looking good. The water looks lovely and clear.

The anubias need tying or gluing to the rocks rather than being planted in the substrate though, otherwise their roots can rot.

Are you getting enough flow around the tank from the spraybar being that short? I can see you having problems with the right end of the tank otherwise. It might be an idea to put it on the left wall so that the flow reaches more of the tank. Better still, change it for a full length spray bar along the back.

 

[virgojavier]

This spray bar is a temp solution. I am heading for a glass one, but run out of funds and the moment. Need to wait till october. I am considering lilly pipe or a glass spray bar, same as George Farmer uses in his recent scape.

Thanks for the hint with anubias, will try to correct it.
Thanks
Lukasz

 

[Brian Murphy]

This spray bar is a temp solution. I am heading for a glass one, but run out of funds and the moment. Need to wait till october. I am considering lilly pipe or a glass spray bar, same as George Farmer uses in his recent scape.

Thanks for the hint with anubias, will try to correct it.
Thanks
Lukasz

What hose size are you using?

 

[virgojavier]

16/22

 

[virgojavier]

Just done some tests:
Ammonia - above 10mg/l!!!
NO2 - 0.50 mg/l
NO3 - 10 mg/l
KH - 3
GH - 6
pH - 6.1

I hope this is temporary problem, I am quite sure this is Osmocote releasing some ammonia.
I can only hope that it is only temporery issue.
Doing about 40% water change every day. CO2 is running at 3 b/s.

Hope I didnt overdose Osmocote...
I have squeezed a sponge from my old filter into the tank, this should speed up the process.

Regards
Lukasz

 

[virgojavier]

Did any of forum members came across with overdosing Osmocote?
What to do in this case? The reason why I am asking is because I've never had such a high concentrations of ammonia in any of my tanks before.
Should I stick some ammonia absorbing medium in my filter? Should I get any chemicals involved? Or should I just give it few days to mature adding some more bacteries?
The question is will the bacteries be able to co-op with this kind of ammonia concentrations?

 

[ceg4048]

Why not just relax and wait for the tank to do what it does naturally? You really need to stop testing because you are causing yourself more stress than is really necessary. These test kits are not accurate, first of all, and second of all, you should be doing frequent large water changes anyway, so that will reduce the concentration. Suggested Osmocote amounts are a few teaspoons per square feet placed on the bottom glass, so if you followed this basic guideline then it will not be any worse than if you had used Amazonia.

Keep your lighting very subdued and this will prevent those algal blooms which are triggered by ammonia, such as green water.

Cheers,

 

[virgojavier]

Thank you for your feedback Ceg4048. By keeping my lighting very subdued you mean what?
Im running my both 24W T5 from 2pm to 10 pm. Should I reduce the amount of time? or switch one 24W off?

Day 3

Water became I little bit cloudy and there are signs of small film on the surface...
Done 50% water change today anyway.
Ammonia still miles high.

Regards
Lukasz

 

[foxfish]

If you re read Cegs post you will note that test kits are not accurate, the kits you buy will not give you a true reading so don't be mislead!!
Your light is to much, use one bulb for 6 hours a day, do as many water changes as practical ie one every day.
You will need to keep the light low & water changes high for at least two weeks & then (if you want) you can start to slow down the water changes & very slowly increase the light.