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Seven Moss Cube
- Thread starter Joel S
- Start date
MTS......it gets us all!
Oh no. MTS! As an amateur musician I already suffer from IAS (Instrument Acquisition Syndrome). A couple of expensive syndromes they are too 
.
Just visited Ed at Freshwater Shrimp round the corner (he was busy packing the weekend's orders) and picked up some great little pieces of Manzanita and Seiru.
.Just visited Ed at Freshwater Shrimp round the corner (he was busy packing the weekend's orders) and picked up some great little pieces of Manzanita and Seiru.
This is about week 7 since planting, though the moss at the top is younger (it has about equal growth as the rest has been trimmed, and it gets more light.
I don't think the Up Atomizer is going to be a long term thing. I've got some other ideas which I'll describe if I decide to go ahead. The small amount of HC is growing now though, and not yellowing at the base, which I put down to the Atomizer, the flow, and the higher dosage of ferts (using Neutro+ from Aqua Essentials for simplicity's sake). If I trimmed back the plants around it even more I could probably really get it going.
The background needs work. There's enough planted there to fill it out, but it's slow because of my layout and the lack of light.
I've just started a new journal for my kitchen table low/semi-low tech tank: Crypt's Palace. Partially planted for 1 day now! It's hopefully going to be really interesting running low and high tech alongside one another.
Was going to post about my woes re. differing CO2 injection techniques, obsession, and faff, but instead:
Another Monster! Anyone know what this is? It's got orange eyes, and has appeared in my little low-tech Wabi-Kusa bowl.
Very hard to photograph with a phone, but I had a go:
Another Monster! Anyone know what this is? It's got orange eyes, and has appeared in my little low-tech Wabi-Kusa bowl.
Very hard to photograph with a phone, but I had a go:
I'm not happy with the background planting behind the wood. I don't think it'll ever achieve the density it needs (to hide the heater and intake among other things), so I'm planning to move most of the H. Vivipara and all the C. Balansae plants (which are still just babies) into my low tech tank and try a load of Rotala spec. Green I've ordered from Ebay. Planning to bank up a little more gravel before I plant it so that the light hasn't so far to penetrate.
I've been struggling with getting the drop checker to even approach lime-green, no matter what method of diffuser. I've ended up going back to the glass diffuser now, and have also stopped chasing micro-bubbles, since it's either a fizzy mess, or only mildly effective. Today, with a combination of somewhere around 6-7 bps, (on such a small tank that seems pretty crazy, though it is London tap, and it is pretty heavily planted) I actually managed to push it slightly too far and achieve a yellow drop checker just as the co2 went off. The Ottos didn't look all that happy about it, though still happier than when battling through Atomizer fizz. I have also dropped the temp slightly (to about 22) which might've made the co2 level easier to achieve. I've also raised the light up a little. I'm looking to get optimal co2, but slow the whole thing down slightly. More the way Amano tanks seem to be set up.
After 3 consecutive days of big water changes, plants are finally pearling again. I suspect a build up of some kind, presumably from the daily dosing of ferts (though it could be something else).
After several days, a week maybe even, chasing my tail, trying to get enough co2 in, I suddenly had to turn it down after the last change. Either there was an awful lot in the tap water, or maybe hard tap water + too many ferts added up to too much dissolved solids to get the drop checker to change. Anybody think that's possible? I did slow the water changes down a bit right around the time I started dosing Neutro+ (but not all that much).
After several days, a week maybe even, chasing my tail, trying to get enough co2 in, I suddenly had to turn it down after the last change. Either there was an awful lot in the tap water, or maybe hard tap water + too many ferts added up to too much dissolved solids to get the drop checker to change. Anybody think that's possible? I did slow the water changes down a bit right around the time I started dosing Neutro+ (but not all that much).
A quick trim at lunchtime turned into a marathon. At least it seemed so from the amount of effort. I decided to trim now while I've got new things (Pogostemon Erectus, Crypt Undulatus Brown, Hottonia Palustris, and HM cuttings) starting at the back.
And yet, after a lot of snipping and netting and syphoning, it looks almost the same as before I got the scissors out...
Some buried HC and Riccardia is revealed though.
A portion of Microsorum "Needleleaf" I bought from JohnC has made a big difference to the feel of the tank! For now it's given a similar feel to what I'd hoped the C. Balansae would do (that was so slow that I moved it to another tank).
Otherwise things are looking a bit shell-shocked from trimming, and I've got some Crypt melt on the C. Lutea presumably from fiddling about with co2 etc recently. A shame, as until now it's grown beautifully.
Continuing Crypt melt, BBA on some moss areas, Otos that don't like the same co2 levels as the plants, and Green Neons that have gotten into biting the heads off Cherry Shrimp. Sigh.
At one point I was easily able to count 17 new shrimplets, but I don't know how long those'll last now the Neons have developed a taste for them.
At one point I was easily able to count 17 new shrimplets, but I don't know how long those'll last now the Neons have developed a taste for them.
Since the Ottos really object to the current co2 levels (hanging about listlessly near the surface) my plan is to raise the light a little, and set the tile to 70%. Plus maybe add a tiny bit more liquid carbon daily (bearing in mind I have to leave the tank for a few days at the end of the week). I'm wondering whether the BBA (and maybe staghorn) and the crypt melt points toward the plants preferring microbubbles of co2 flowing over them rather than the current higher levels of totally dissolved co2.
About a week ago there will have been a bit of a dip while I tried some different ways to diffuse the co2, and there are various other possibilities so I don't really know why there is this current sense of stagnation. Can't really fiddle more with flow and diffusion (short of turning down co2 enough to save the Ottos) for now, so fingers crossed that dimming the light will stop things from getting too bad. Perhaps when I'm away I'll leave the light even more dimmed.
I'll try feeding the Neons a fraction more, but I think really the problem is that they're too big for this titchy tank and I'm not sure they'll go back to treating the shrimp kindly.
About a week ago there will have been a bit of a dip while I tried some different ways to diffuse the co2, and there are various other possibilities so I don't really know why there is this current sense of stagnation. Can't really fiddle more with flow and diffusion (short of turning down co2 enough to save the Ottos) for now, so fingers crossed that dimming the light will stop things from getting too bad. Perhaps when I'm away I'll leave the light even more dimmed.
I'll try feeding the Neons a fraction more, but I think really the problem is that they're too big for this titchy tank and I'm not sure they'll go back to treating the shrimp kindly.
LancsRick
Member
- Joined
- 18 Apr 2012
- Messages
- 683
I'm sure someone with experience on high tech will be along shortly, but from my understanding, my approach would be this. Raise your light as you've suggested, ditch the LC, and lower your CO2 slightly until the fauna are happy. My personal view is that if you've got fauna in a tank, they're living things, and they above all else should dictate the conditions. Once they are happy, keep the CO2 at that level, and gradually lower the light. Once you start getting negative plant/algae indications in the tank, raise the light again a bit, and you should have balance.
LancsRick
Member
- Joined
- 18 Apr 2012
- Messages
- 683
My understanding is that if you're using CO2, then there's no reason to dose LC unless you have an algae issue. If you have an algae issue, then dosing LC is just treating the symptom rather than addressing the root cause. Plus most fauna (and flora actually) are less tolerant to LC in some cases than to CO2.
