KirstyF
Member
With all that going on, it sounds like ‘double trouble’ to me. 😂
Maybe there’s a name for ya!
Enjoy! and looking forward to seeing it! 👍
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Referb and restart after 30 years. Low tech.
- Thread starter The grumpy one
- Start date
With all that going on, it sounds like ‘double trouble’ to me. 😂
Maybe there’s a name for ya!
Enjoy! and looking forward to seeing it! 👍
The grumpy one
Member
Day 238
It is so nice not to think about work related things. Well try not to think about it! Never mind, I have less time to retirement than the number of years already worked.
It has been quite a week in the tanks. Two weeks ago I reduced the dosing of Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO from 1ml to 0.5ml. This seems to be effecting the plant growth.
My thread algae is gone! Not even a little bit. I wonder if the water chemistry has changed that much. Did the full range of water tests to see.
Water:
Water change today. 33%. Did the tests before I changed the water.
Now that is interesting.
I think that Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO has an organic acid base. I reduce the dose and the PH goes up by 0.5. My tap water comes from the Cotswold hills and is full of limestone which is an Alkaline. The tap water company say that the PH is between 7 .24 and 7.92. Maybe the tap water PH is just high at the moment. I read on here that the micro elements are more available to plants the higher the PH? Well I think I read that?
Lighting:
Because my thread algae (well all my algae is less) has gone, I am going to put the lighting up from 3.5/10 to 3.75/10. Will have to wait and see if it comes back.
Wildlife:
BLADDER SNAILS: A lot of these, even with the possible reduction in algae.
RAMSHORN SNAILS: A lot of these too. Their new shell growth looks a lot better this week. Maybe this is down to PH going up and hence more available calcium?
CRANGONYX: Nope none at all. Cleaned half the filter sponges today and kept my eyes out to no avail.
LUMBRICULUS: Pesky worms. Always trying to escape via the gravel cleaner. Little do they know that they will end up in the water butt.
CYCOPS: Lots and lots.
Plants:
HYDROCOTYLE LEUCOCEPHALA: This defiantly likes to grow out of the water. I suppose it is because CO₂ is readily available to its leaves that are in the air and so it gives up on the submerged growth.
HELANTHIUM BOLIVIANUM: This has gone nuts. Two new and very long stolons. The leaves have grown in height by about 15mm. Much more growth than before the reduction in Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO. When it was only about 5mm.
ECHINODORUS 'AQUARTICA': This has made 2 1/2 new leaves this week. That is also up from the normal 1 new leaf per week.
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI: Even this is growing quicker. Although it is hard to see because of the HELANTHIUM BOLIVIANUM growth hiding it, I think it has grown by about 10mm this week.
MOSS: The moss just keeps on as if nothing has changed. But it is in the darkest corner of the tank.
Pics:
In conclusion:
Well who would have thought that reducing the Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO would appear to have such a dramatic effect on growth.
Does anyone else use Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO? If so, what dose do you use and have you tried reducing it?
Pity I am not good at that chemistry thingy, I might be able to work out what is going on? I am more of a physicist.
It is so nice not to think about work related things. Well try not to think about it! Never mind, I have less time to retirement than the number of years already worked.
It has been quite a week in the tanks. Two weeks ago I reduced the dosing of Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO from 1ml to 0.5ml. This seems to be effecting the plant growth.
My thread algae is gone! Not even a little bit. I wonder if the water chemistry has changed that much. Did the full range of water tests to see.
Water:
Water change today. 33%. Did the tests before I changed the water.
| Ammonia | Nitrite | Nitrate | PH | Carbonate hardness | General hardness | |
| NH₃ | NO₂ | NO₃ | ||||
| Days | mg/L or ppm | mg/L or ppm | mg/L or ppm | dKH | dGH | |
| 154 | 0.00 | 0.10 | 20.00 | 7.50 | 2.00 | 12.00 |
| 218 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 | 7.50 | 6.00 | 12.00 |
| 236 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 30.00 | 8.00 | 4.00 | 12.00 |
I think that Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO has an organic acid base. I reduce the dose and the PH goes up by 0.5. My tap water comes from the Cotswold hills and is full of limestone which is an Alkaline. The tap water company say that the PH is between 7 .24 and 7.92. Maybe the tap water PH is just high at the moment. I read on here that the micro elements are more available to plants the higher the PH? Well I think I read that?
Lighting:
Because my thread algae (well all my algae is less) has gone, I am going to put the lighting up from 3.5/10 to 3.75/10. Will have to wait and see if it comes back.
Wildlife:
BLADDER SNAILS: A lot of these, even with the possible reduction in algae.
RAMSHORN SNAILS: A lot of these too. Their new shell growth looks a lot better this week. Maybe this is down to PH going up and hence more available calcium?
CRANGONYX: Nope none at all. Cleaned half the filter sponges today and kept my eyes out to no avail.
LUMBRICULUS: Pesky worms. Always trying to escape via the gravel cleaner. Little do they know that they will end up in the water butt.
CYCOPS: Lots and lots.
Plants:
HYDROCOTYLE LEUCOCEPHALA: This defiantly likes to grow out of the water. I suppose it is because CO₂ is readily available to its leaves that are in the air and so it gives up on the submerged growth.
HELANTHIUM BOLIVIANUM: This has gone nuts. Two new and very long stolons. The leaves have grown in height by about 15mm. Much more growth than before the reduction in Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO. When it was only about 5mm.
ECHINODORUS 'AQUARTICA': This has made 2 1/2 new leaves this week. That is also up from the normal 1 new leaf per week.
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI: Even this is growing quicker. Although it is hard to see because of the HELANTHIUM BOLIVIANUM growth hiding it, I think it has grown by about 10mm this week.
MOSS: The moss just keeps on as if nothing has changed. But it is in the darkest corner of the tank.
Pics:
In conclusion:
Well who would have thought that reducing the Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO would appear to have such a dramatic effect on growth.
Does anyone else use Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO? If so, what dose do you use and have you tried reducing it?
Pity I am not good at that chemistry thingy, I might be able to work out what is going on? I am more of a physicist.
The grumpy one
Member
I was having a think, whist sitting in the garden soaking up the sun and enjoying all the trees unfurling their leaves to the sun.
I would highly recommend anyone who wishes to try their hand at a planted aquarium to get a small, nothing bigger than 30l, tank.
Do not have any fish, just common snails and all the other small critters that will not last with fish in the tank.
Use this to experiment with growing plants. If you have a disaster, then you are not loosing fish, you will only loose maybe a few plants.
You can pick one up second hand for about £25. Then a bit of substrate, small 300l/h internal filter, cheap 6000k dimmable light, mains time switch for light and heater.
You might be lucky and find it all second hand or even on freecycle sites.
I have learned so much for only a little outlay. The most expensive thing I purchased was the substrate. It has also allowed me to experiment with changing dosing, lighting and temperature without having to worry about the demise of any fish.
Now I feel confident to get a bigger tank and have nice plant growth
I would highly recommend anyone who wishes to try their hand at a planted aquarium to get a small, nothing bigger than 30l, tank.
Do not have any fish, just common snails and all the other small critters that will not last with fish in the tank.
Use this to experiment with growing plants. If you have a disaster, then you are not loosing fish, you will only loose maybe a few plants.
You can pick one up second hand for about £25. Then a bit of substrate, small 300l/h internal filter, cheap 6000k dimmable light, mains time switch for light and heater.
You might be lucky and find it all second hand or even on freecycle sites.
I have learned so much for only a little outlay. The most expensive thing I purchased was the substrate. It has also allowed me to experiment with changing dosing, lighting and temperature without having to worry about the demise of any fish.
Now I feel confident to get a bigger tank and have nice plant growth
The grumpy one
Member
Now there is a good idea. You could then change something in one and have the other as control. That way you could easily see what difference any changes have made.You could get a 2nd small tank and set them up side by side like this!
The grumpy one
Member
Day245:
Yet another week.
Not much to say this week.
Since I reduced the dose of Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO by half, the plants are growing twice as fast. Even the ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI has grown another 8mm. As far as thread algae goes, there was none at all today. Odd that reducing the Elixier BIO gets rid of my very small algae problem.
I checked the PH and it is stable at 8. Bit high for my liking, but as long as the plants are growing at the rate they are!
I was thinking of a tinker with the fertilizer dose. Going down to 2.5ml instead of 3ml. I decided to leave it another week, to make sure plants are still happy and then maybe try.
Had a late night torch hunt and found one of the illusive CRANGONYX under the filter box. It swam away ever so quickly, when the light hit it. So you were right once again dw1305.
Pics:
Yet another week.
Not much to say this week.
Since I reduced the dose of Dennerle Carbo Elixir BIO by half, the plants are growing twice as fast. Even the ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI has grown another 8mm. As far as thread algae goes, there was none at all today. Odd that reducing the Elixier BIO gets rid of my very small algae problem.
I checked the PH and it is stable at 8. Bit high for my liking, but as long as the plants are growing at the rate they are!
I was thinking of a tinker with the fertilizer dose. Going down to 2.5ml instead of 3ml. I decided to leave it another week, to make sure plants are still happy and then maybe try.
Had a late night torch hunt and found one of the illusive CRANGONYX under the filter box. It swam away ever so quickly, when the light hit it. So you were right once again dw1305.
Pics:
Last edited:
jaisol
Member
Absolutely brilliant thread, I read all 6 pages. It has made me think about setting up a small tank myself.
The grumpy one
Member
Thanks jaisol.
The grumpy one
Member
Day 252:
Not much to say this week.
I spent the morning repotting my Tomato and sweet pepper plants. I grow them in the conservatory , which now looks like a greenhouse.
The dreaded filament algae is back. Had to turn the lights back down to 3.5/10.
Still got good growth of all plants. The ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI is growing quite quickly. Even without CO₂.
During water change today I noticed that the filter sponges were a bit smelly, so I washed half of them in old tank water.
Will wash the others next week.
One of my Ramshorn snails has got rather big. I would say that it is getting to about 8mm. All the snails shells are looking a very healthy colour, lucky my water comes from the limestone Cotswold hills.
Pics:
Sorry for the short post. Very busy week at work sorting out next years budgets and spending what is left of this academic years budgets.
Not much to say this week.
I spent the morning repotting my Tomato and sweet pepper plants. I grow them in the conservatory , which now looks like a greenhouse.
The dreaded filament algae is back. Had to turn the lights back down to 3.5/10.
Still got good growth of all plants. The ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI is growing quite quickly. Even without CO₂.
During water change today I noticed that the filter sponges were a bit smelly, so I washed half of them in old tank water.
Will wash the others next week.
One of my Ramshorn snails has got rather big. I would say that it is getting to about 8mm. All the snails shells are looking a very healthy colour, lucky my water comes from the limestone Cotswold hills.
Pics:
Sorry for the short post. Very busy week at work sorting out next years budgets and spending what is left of this academic years budgets.
The grumpy one
Member
Day 259:
Well, the filament algae seems to be under control. There is a bit, but only about 40mm long. Easy to remover with the old tooth brush. Just twirl it round and round. Then hay presto, filament algae all in the bristles. Wipe it on your best bath towel (which happens to be green). So my lighting level has to be 3.5/10. At least if I turn in up, I know where to turn it down to, to stop the pesky algae.
Everything is growing well. Today, I finally decided that the HYDROCOTYLE LEUCOCEPHALA (Pennywort) looked horrible. The growth out of the water was superb. But the growth under the water was leggy and stemy. (Very few leaves). As much as it hurt to do it, I gave it a very bug trim. Untangled the large mass and selected half of it to replant. Now just to wait until it starts filling the corner.
I empty my waste water into the garden water butt. When I took the lid off today, I found the most wonderful Bladder Snail. It had to be 6mm long and the most wonderful dark colour. I left it in there just in case I have miss identified it or it has picked up some nasty things whilst on holiday in the Garden.
At work, I have just ordered our first 3D filament printer. Need some ideas as to what to make, for the aquarium, as the test/setup/practice pieces?
Pics:
Well, the filament algae seems to be under control. There is a bit, but only about 40mm long. Easy to remover with the old tooth brush. Just twirl it round and round. Then hay presto, filament algae all in the bristles. Wipe it on your best bath towel (which happens to be green). So my lighting level has to be 3.5/10. At least if I turn in up, I know where to turn it down to, to stop the pesky algae.
Everything is growing well. Today, I finally decided that the HYDROCOTYLE LEUCOCEPHALA (Pennywort) looked horrible. The growth out of the water was superb. But the growth under the water was leggy and stemy. (Very few leaves). As much as it hurt to do it, I gave it a very bug trim. Untangled the large mass and selected half of it to replant. Now just to wait until it starts filling the corner.
I empty my waste water into the garden water butt. When I took the lid off today, I found the most wonderful Bladder Snail. It had to be 6mm long and the most wonderful dark colour. I left it in there just in case I have miss identified it or it has picked up some nasty things whilst on holiday in the Garden.
At work, I have just ordered our first 3D filament printer. Need some ideas as to what to make, for the aquarium, as the test/setup/practice pieces?
Pics:
The grumpy one
Member
Day 287:
Yes, I am still here. I just decided to update log every 4 week. This achieves two things: 1) I might have more to say. 2) You will have less ramblings to read.
It is end of year madness at work. Students franticly trying to finish assignments, exhibitions of student work, final performances, planning for summer work, planning for next year and the dreaded final grade debates. So, with all that, I have been a bit lax with the tank.
I am still battling the thread algae. But since it is very similar to plants, I am not going to complain. At least I do not suffer from any other algae except for diatoms. The snails do an excellent job of keeping that under control. I did have a small outbreak of dust algae but slightly less light spilling in from other sources into the tank sorted that out. I just angled the light next to the tank away a bit.
Lighting:
I have turned the lights back down to 3.5 of 10. This is the level where I get the best plant growth and the least algae growth. Theory proved and will stop playing with the light levels from now on.
Wildlife:
BLADDER SNAILS: Still a good population and lots of eggs. Interesting observation: I put my wastewater change water into the garden butt. I noticed in there the bladder snails grow a lot bigger. Maybe, food is more plentiful, light levels are less and they like the dark or it is just one of those mysteries.
RAMSHORN SNAILS: Got some quite big ones. There shells are looking a bit white. Next week I will do the whole range of water tests.
CRANGONYX: Still elusive, have not seem one. I am sure they are under the filter laughing at me trying to find them.
LUMBRICULUS: Worms, worms everywhere. I only have to disturb the substrate to find loads. If I ever get round to a tank with fish, I will have a lot of live food for them.
CYCOPS: Numbers have stabilised. There are a few, but not the clouds I have had.
Plants:
HYDROCOTYLE LEUCOCEPHALA: After giving is a really aggressive prune, this does not seem to be growing very quickly. Not to matter as everything else is.
HELANTHIUM BOLIVIANUM: Such a difficult plant to control. Solons are an annoyance. I have to hunt them down and trim them. Otherwise, they would take over the entire tank.
ECHINODORUS 'AQUARTICA': What a lovely plant. It makes such a good focus plant. I am wondering when it will have babies.
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI: The stem at the front has grown about 2.5cm in 28 days. I think that this stem is doing well because it is at the edge of the tank current. Now I have a 3D printer at work, I will have to solve that with a redesign of the spray bar. If I get time.
MOSS: The moss just keeps doing its job of hiding the filter. I just wish I would not keep shedding little bits which then start growing where I don’t want them to.
Pics:
Wow that is a lot of pics. I hope the server will let me post this many in one go?
Yes, I am still here. I just decided to update log every 4 week. This achieves two things: 1) I might have more to say. 2) You will have less ramblings to read.
It is end of year madness at work. Students franticly trying to finish assignments, exhibitions of student work, final performances, planning for summer work, planning for next year and the dreaded final grade debates. So, with all that, I have been a bit lax with the tank.
I am still battling the thread algae. But since it is very similar to plants, I am not going to complain. At least I do not suffer from any other algae except for diatoms. The snails do an excellent job of keeping that under control. I did have a small outbreak of dust algae but slightly less light spilling in from other sources into the tank sorted that out. I just angled the light next to the tank away a bit.
Lighting:
I have turned the lights back down to 3.5 of 10. This is the level where I get the best plant growth and the least algae growth. Theory proved and will stop playing with the light levels from now on.
Wildlife:
BLADDER SNAILS: Still a good population and lots of eggs. Interesting observation: I put my wastewater change water into the garden butt. I noticed in there the bladder snails grow a lot bigger. Maybe, food is more plentiful, light levels are less and they like the dark or it is just one of those mysteries.
RAMSHORN SNAILS: Got some quite big ones. There shells are looking a bit white. Next week I will do the whole range of water tests.
CRANGONYX: Still elusive, have not seem one. I am sure they are under the filter laughing at me trying to find them.
LUMBRICULUS: Worms, worms everywhere. I only have to disturb the substrate to find loads. If I ever get round to a tank with fish, I will have a lot of live food for them.
CYCOPS: Numbers have stabilised. There are a few, but not the clouds I have had.
Plants:
HYDROCOTYLE LEUCOCEPHALA: After giving is a really aggressive prune, this does not seem to be growing very quickly. Not to matter as everything else is.
HELANTHIUM BOLIVIANUM: Such a difficult plant to control. Solons are an annoyance. I have to hunt them down and trim them. Otherwise, they would take over the entire tank.
ECHINODORUS 'AQUARTICA': What a lovely plant. It makes such a good focus plant. I am wondering when it will have babies.
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI: The stem at the front has grown about 2.5cm in 28 days. I think that this stem is doing well because it is at the edge of the tank current. Now I have a 3D printer at work, I will have to solve that with a redesign of the spray bar. If I get time.
MOSS: The moss just keeps doing its job of hiding the filter. I just wish I would not keep shedding little bits which then start growing where I don’t want them to.
Pics:
Wow that is a lot of pics. I hope the server will let me post this many in one go?
The grumpy one
Member
Day 315:
Not much to talk about this month. I did do a bit of an experiment, after a power cut and having to rest the timer. I set the lighting period from 8hrs to 6hrs. I left this for a week, Day 301 to Day 307. I then put it back up to 8hrs.
You can defiantly see the difference in growth.
HYDROCOTYLE LEUCOCEPHALA: Not much growth anyway. I think it is being outcompeted by the other plants.
HELANTHIUM BOLIVIANUM: I gave this a really good prone and cut all the runners. Removed the smaller plants. Hopefully it will look better and grow better.
ECHINODORUS 'AQUARTICA': When the photoperiod was 6hrs the growth defiantly slowed. Now it is going mad again.
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI: One is growing fast but the rest is still hardly growing. Another good example of the slowdown in growth with the shorter photoperiod. Still got to sort out the flow in this area.
MOSS: The moss is still there and is the main place the thread algae grows.
Pics:
Not much to talk about this month. I did do a bit of an experiment, after a power cut and having to rest the timer. I set the lighting period from 8hrs to 6hrs. I left this for a week, Day 301 to Day 307. I then put it back up to 8hrs.
You can defiantly see the difference in growth.
HYDROCOTYLE LEUCOCEPHALA: Not much growth anyway. I think it is being outcompeted by the other plants.
HELANTHIUM BOLIVIANUM: I gave this a really good prone and cut all the runners. Removed the smaller plants. Hopefully it will look better and grow better.
ECHINODORUS 'AQUARTICA': When the photoperiod was 6hrs the growth defiantly slowed. Now it is going mad again.
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI: One is growing fast but the rest is still hardly growing. Another good example of the slowdown in growth with the shorter photoperiod. Still got to sort out the flow in this area.
MOSS: The moss is still there and is the main place the thread algae grows.
Pics:
The grumpy one
Member
Day 343:
This month I noticed that the plants are all suffering one way or another:
HYDROCOTYLE LEUCOCEPHALA: Seems to be dying off. There has been some growth from the bits high in the water column. Probably shading from the centre beast.
HELANTHIUM BOLIVIANUM: It is growing, but slowly and not new runners. Lots of leaf die back.
ECHINODORUS 'AQUARTICA': Still growing, but slower. Had to prone several dead leaves this month.
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI: One is still growing fast, 10mm this month. The others are suffering. They seem to be rotting out at the base and floating away. I have been replanting and so far they are surviving.
MOSS: The moss is still there and is the main place the thread algae grows. I am having to prone off the top 10mm each week.
So with all this going on with the plants I decided to change things:
Today I decided to do the water test thingy. this is after the 33% water change (hence the NO₃ being 10 and not 30 as the previous tests were done before water change).
A bit worried about the PH still at 8 and wondering if this is why my plants are not growing (Water can hold less CO₂ when alkaline?).
So I added 75mg of Seachem Acid Buffer after the water change. After 15 mins I redid the PH and dKH tests. PH went down to 7. dKH did not change.
I remember using copious amounts of Seachem Acid Buffer 30 years ago in an attempt to stabilize a non planted tank with London water in it! Fish did not seem to care and even started breeding. Will test the PH next week and see!
Pics:
This month I noticed that the plants are all suffering one way or another:
HYDROCOTYLE LEUCOCEPHALA: Seems to be dying off. There has been some growth from the bits high in the water column. Probably shading from the centre beast.
HELANTHIUM BOLIVIANUM: It is growing, but slowly and not new runners. Lots of leaf die back.
ECHINODORUS 'AQUARTICA': Still growing, but slower. Had to prone several dead leaves this month.
ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI: One is still growing fast, 10mm this month. The others are suffering. They seem to be rotting out at the base and floating away. I have been replanting and so far they are surviving.
MOSS: The moss is still there and is the main place the thread algae grows. I am having to prone off the top 10mm each week.
So with all this going on with the plants I decided to change things:
- First week I changed nothing.
- Second week I upped the lighting to 4 of 10 and upped the TNC complete dose to 4ml from 3.
- Third week I upped the Carbo Elixir BIO to 1ml from 0.5.
- 4th week I did nothing.
Today I decided to do the water test thingy. this is after the 33% water change (hence the NO₃ being 10 and not 30 as the previous tests were done before water change).
| Ammonia | Nitrite | Nitrate | PH | Carbonate hardness | General hardness | |
| NH₃ | NO₂ | NO₃ | ||||
| Days | mg/L or ppm | mg/L or ppm | mg/L or ppm | dKH | dGH | |
| 238 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 30.00 | 8.00 | 4.00 | 12.00 |
| 343 | 0.00 | 0.50 | 10.00 | 8.00 | 5.00 | 12.00 |
A bit worried about the PH still at 8 and wondering if this is why my plants are not growing (Water can hold less CO₂ when alkaline?).
So I added 75mg of Seachem Acid Buffer after the water change. After 15 mins I redid the PH and dKH tests. PH went down to 7. dKH did not change.
I remember using copious amounts of Seachem Acid Buffer 30 years ago in an attempt to stabilize a non planted tank with London water in it! Fish did not seem to care and even started breeding. Will test the PH next week and see!
Pics:
Hmm.. Your plants do look a bit pale
Hows the temperature in the tank been?
With the heat wave, if the temperature in the tank has been higher this would have caused an increase in plant metabolism.
It might explain why demand seems to have gone up perhaps?
Hows the temperature in the tank been?
With the heat wave, if the temperature in the tank has been higher this would have caused an increase in plant metabolism.
It might explain why demand seems to have gone up perhaps?
John q
Member
Tanks are looking ok mate, the reason the alternanthera is suffering is lack of co2, why would that be.
Second week I upped the lighting to 4 of 10.
Second week I upped the lighting to 4 of 10.
The grumpy one
Member
Temp went up to about 30c from 25c, for two days, in heatwave.
The grumpy one
Member
Day 371:
Well, plants have now been in for over a year. How time flies.
Who would have thought that I would remember to take a pic every day for 371 days.
This month I have been upping the lighting by 1 per week. It is now 7 of 10.
The ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI: has started to grow quite a bit (even without CO₂). A good 10mm this month and some of the other stalks are beginning to grow. I had noticed bubbles under the substrate in that corner. I have started to push a small probe in one a week to degas it. I assume it is Ammonia or methane and that is what has caused some of the stems to rot just below the substrate. The rotting problem seems to have stopped since I took the degassing step.
I think I will be stopping doing daily pics and maybe put this journal to bed. I have learned a lot from a small plant only tank and to boot I have a perfectly healthy hospital/quarantine/breading tank.
There is a lot that I would do differently next time. Especially the design of the in-tank filter. I will leave all the other stuff I would do differently until I get round to starting a 200l tank.
Thank you all for the useful comments and encouragement and I hope others gained some useful information on the way.
Pics:
Well, plants have now been in for over a year. How time flies.
Who would have thought that I would remember to take a pic every day for 371 days.
This month I have been upping the lighting by 1 per week. It is now 7 of 10.
The ALTERNANTHERA REINECKII MINI: has started to grow quite a bit (even without CO₂). A good 10mm this month and some of the other stalks are beginning to grow. I had noticed bubbles under the substrate in that corner. I have started to push a small probe in one a week to degas it. I assume it is Ammonia or methane and that is what has caused some of the stems to rot just below the substrate. The rotting problem seems to have stopped since I took the degassing step.
I think I will be stopping doing daily pics and maybe put this journal to bed. I have learned a lot from a small plant only tank and to boot I have a perfectly healthy hospital/quarantine/breading tank.
There is a lot that I would do differently next time. Especially the design of the in-tank filter. I will leave all the other stuff I would do differently until I get round to starting a 200l tank.
Thank you all for the useful comments and encouragement and I hope others gained some useful information on the way.
Pics:
Very fond of this journal, you had better keep us updated with the new one if this one is shut down 😘
That you have taken a photo every day for well over a year is very impressive to me, although I wouldnt blame you if you took a more casual approach on the next one 😁
When are the insane timelapses using the accumulated photos coming? 😇
That you have taken a photo every day for well over a year is very impressive to me, although I wouldnt blame you if you took a more casual approach on the next one 😁
When are the insane timelapses using the accumulated photos coming? 😇
The grumpy one
Member
Hi All, I hope you are all well.
With the squeeze on everyone's finances, I decided to update the tank a bit.
The pipework has always been a bit unsightly:
I believe the flow in the tank could be improved. With a vertical spray bar at the back and a horizontal spray bar along the filter box, but only 2/3rds of width of tank to allow for the skimmer section to work better.
So, this is what I have come up with:
And for those who would like to know how it all fits together:
The green pipe is 12/16 standard pipe
I got a 3D printer at work about 2 months ago that I am still learning how to use it.
Next week I will try to print the black bits, using PLA.
Then it is just designing, drawing and printing the spray bars.
The joys of CAD.
With the squeeze on everyone's finances, I decided to update the tank a bit.
The pipework has always been a bit unsightly:
I believe the flow in the tank could be improved. With a vertical spray bar at the back and a horizontal spray bar along the filter box, but only 2/3rds of width of tank to allow for the skimmer section to work better.
So, this is what I have come up with:
And for those who would like to know how it all fits together:
The green pipe is 12/16 standard pipe
I got a 3D printer at work about 2 months ago that I am still learning how to use it.
Next week I will try to print the black bits, using PLA.
Then it is just designing, drawing and printing the spray bars.
The joys of CAD.
