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Superman's 180l Asian Retreat

Re: Superman's Asian Retreat

Thanks.

Well, Tuesday saw me get some new plants at lunch.

Bought..
3 pots of Hemianthus Calitrichoides "Cuba" (HC)
3 pots of Ultricularia Graminifolia (UG)
3 pots of Tiger Vallis

Things are getting better, I removed the badly effected vallis and planted the HC and UG.

I'm really pleased with the way in which the HC is already pearling! It was really doing well yesterday when the drop checker was yellow but then turned the CO2 down a bit as the fish didn't like it - even found another shrimp when I thought I only had one.

Getting back to a proper dosing regime has shown that everything has gone back to pearling loads.

Just need to get rid of the "fluff" and "bits" that float round in the water column, sometimes it looks bad as there's loads of O2 bubbles going around but it's not a bad thing at all is it?! Photos to follow when I get some AA's :D
 
Re: Superman's Asian Retreat

Things seem to be going well, so I thought I'd try putting on the 2nd bank of 2x39w T5's and wow. It was like I switched the plants on!

Loads of pearling on my HC, Vallis & Crypts and even some little pearling on the P Helferi.

Here's a quick photo before my camera ran out of battery. Last time I'll buy cheap batteries and will try and charge mine up.

Don't you just love pearling plants?

I'm thinking of having...
CO2 on 2-10
2 lights on 2-6 and 10-11
4 lights on 6-10

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Re: Superman's Asian Retreat

Another update..

Bought some more Amano shrimp to replace ones that have gone to the fishy heaven in the sky.
Got two pots of Hygrophila Polysperma and will be removing the internal filter today and then putting this in it's place.
So will be hooking up the in-line heater too (prob first!)

Photos tonight 8)
 
Re: Superman's Asian Retreat

Looking good the HC, never give up just keep fighting it ;) would be a waste after you got all the right equipment to chuck it all in now! keep us posted and good luck :)
 
Re: Superman's Asian Retreat

Right, so back on track. AE order arrived including more EasyCarbo and K2SO4.
My macro dose is..
MgSO4 16g
KNO3 8g
KH2PO4 4g
K2SO4 3g
Macro dosed like Monday, Wednesday, Friday with 1g of trace added on Tuesday and Thursday.
Adding 10ml of EasyCarbo each day, including the weekend where possible, along with the usual injected CO2 from my FE.

My lights are now.. (all 36w Arcadia PlantGro Tubes)
2 tubes 3-6
4 tubes 6-10
2 tubes 10-11
Co2 on from 2-10pm

I planted my Hygrophila polysperma after removing my internal fitler - boy it makes a big difference taking that thing out - and am amazed with all the roots it's already developed in the water column.

So here's a collection of photos to update the progress, I'm really pleased how my HC and P. Helferi (PH) is going as previously had nightmares with that (pre-pressurised CO2 and dry ferts). Bit iffy with the Ultricularia Graminifolia as thats going the same way with my hairgrass. Am thinking of maybe thining out my HC to replace the UG. See how it goes, any suggestions?

I am planning to mix the HC and PH in a bit with having the HC but thought I'd get them established first on their own!

Photos...

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Re: Superman's Asian Retreat

Looking greath Clark, those Harlequins look good in the tank and the HC is filling in nicely ;)
Good to see you got this back on track, seems like a few of us had a some bad spells lately.
 
Re: Superman's Asian Retreat

Things still going ok, pearling is continuing.
At this rate will have some Hygrophila polysperma cuttings in a few week's time!

The surface film has returned again, which I'm disappointed about but it's not as much as before.

Really pleased that my two shrimp that were already in the tank have started to come out more as they have a group of friends.
 
Re: Superman's Asian Retreat

What am I doing wrong?! FFS!!!

Plants pearling like nothing I've seen before, HC and P Helferi are going great.
Surface film keeps returning
Water seems very milky as shown on the photos.
2 shrimp died today
Stable CO2 and am keeping to the dosing and lighting regime posted above.
Green Slime Algae starting to return.
There's always some plant muck going around in the tank which I can't seem to keep up with clearing out. But there's no visible signs of plant decay other than that.

ARGH! Please help!

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Re: Superman's Asian Retreat - PLEASE HELP!

WC's maybe a good idea till someone with abit of experience pops up?
 
Re: Superman's Asian Retreat - PLEASE HELP!

Well you definitely got an underlying problem.
I've got problems at the moment with surface cloudiness, no water clouding though.
My problem is Co2 fluctuations which are messing with the plants and when (think i've read right) they are stressed, they release some sort of enzyme that clouds the water. So for some reason I your plants must not be getting what they need.


Probably have to wait for Clive :D He's a clever nut. :)
 
Re: Superman's Asian Retreat *** PLEASE HELP ME ***

Sounds like you might need to do some mid-week water changes for a while Clark. Have you tested for nitrite or ammonia recently? I'm just wondering if it's a filter issue as I notice you've removed the internal filter in your previous posts.
 
Re: Superman's Asian Retreat *** PLEASE HELP ME ***

As mentioned keep up those water changes, and make sure your external is running properly.
One of the reasons I left my internal was to alternate filter cleaning and avoid killing all bacteria in them.
 
Re: Superman's Asian Retreat *** PLEASE HELP ME ***

Surface film keeps returning
this is a good thread
Water seems very milky as shown on the photos.
could it be a bacteria bloom from the recent filter change??
2 shrimp died today
have you disturbed the substrate, moved/ trimmed plants, let the other filter cycle properly? could of been an NH3 spike

Green Slime Algae starting to return.
never head of it, do you mean green dust algae?

There's always some plant muck going around in the tank which I can't seem to keep up with clearing out. But there's no visible signs of plant decay other than that.

could the filter pipes be dirty?
 
Re: Superman's Asian Retreat *** PLEASE HELP ME ***

Thanks people.

Water change certainly cleared the water up and am going through loads of kitchen roll. Am planning on doing a three day cycle until things perk up - Day 1 WC & Macro, Day 2 Trace, Day 3 off.

I have decent surface movement but have increased it a bit more.
I did clean out the filter pipes the other day as they were a bit mucky.
I did remove the internal last week, however, I did seed it with old filter and was running for a decent period of time.
I guess there could of been an ammonia spike to kill the shrimp, but the fish seem fine. There's been no gasping at all.

This is the algae..
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My P Helferi are like magnets as they get mucky stuck on them all the time! ARGH
 
Re: Superman's 180l Asian Retreat *** PLEASE HELP ME ***

Clark,
If flow is good and tank/filter are clean then add more NO3 mate. BGA is NO3 related.

Cheers,
 
I'm going on a three day cycle...

Day 1 - 50% W/C & Macro, EasyCarbo
Day 2 - Trace & EasyCarbo
Day 3 - EasyCarbo only

Small amount of surface scum is back, but everything seems to be responding well to post blackout. Most established plants are pearling a lot but the newly planted ones are getting there.
On the next water change I'm trying to clear out of all the detritus that is around the back of the tank, that won't be helping for the surface scum.
 
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