new 3ft from scratch - help!

[hwchoy]

after couple years of great success with glosso and HG, my recent revamp had been disastrous. some of you have already heard about my sob sob stories

well, I'm going to get a 3×1½×1½ tank. as before, I will put a 1.5 inch layer of JBL Aquabasis as base fert, and top with 1 inch layer of Lapis Lustre.

Filter will be an existing Eheim 2222. I intend to clean it completely and replace the media. What media do you recommend?

How should I cycle the tank? Previously I used Ocean Free Super Bacteria 8000, anyone has comment on this? This time I will use Bio-Spiro which is supposed to be able to cycle the tank overnight. Any comments or advise? How to seed the denitrifying bacteria? Should I put some nutrient sucking plants?

Permanent plants would probably be HG and Blyxa aubertii. CO2 injection by cylinder/diffuser. I'm thinking to get NA to modify the lights to accomodate 2×36W × 2 PL. Anyone knows how much NA is selling their 3ft PL lights?

Did I miss anything?

[PeterGwee]

after couple years of great success with glosso and HG, my recent revamp had been disastrous. some of you have already heard about my sob sob stories

well, I'm going to get a 3×1½×1½ tank. as before, I will put a 1.5 inch layer of JBL Aquabasis as base fert, and top with 1 inch layer of Lapis Lustre.

Filter will be an existing Eheim 2222. I intend to clean it completely and replace the media. What media do you recommend?

How should I cycle the tank? Previously I used Ocean Free Super Bacteria 8000, anyone has comment on this? This time I will use Bio-Spiro which is supposed to be able to cycle the tank overnight. Any comments or advise? How to seed the denitrifying bacteria? Should I put some nutrient sucking plants?

Permanent plants would probably be HG and Blyxa aubertii. CO2 injection by cylinder/diffuser. I'm thinking to get NA to modify the lights to accomodate 2×36W × 2 PL. Anyone knows how much NA is selling their 3ft PL lights?

Did I miss anything?

How about flourite over the JBL stuff? Personally, I find that flourite looks better (darker substrates always looks good) over lapis sand and is porous.

The filter has been kept running? If that is the case, do not replace anything and get those mulm that has settled in the bottom of the canister filter and add it to the bottom of the new tank as well as some peat before topping it off with flourite. Instantly cycled tank with "live" bacteria. Plant heavily and the tank will go through a "silent" nitrogen cycle without algae or critter issues.

Try DIY an external reactor (inline with the filter) or driven by a dedicated powerhead (no holes to drill on the reactor..no leak issues nor need for check-valves..more efficient with the impeller action on the CO2 bubble.).
Not sure about the price though..might want to give chan a call..

Regards
Peter Gwee

[hwchoy]

Hi Peter, where to get fluorite and what are the prices?

I have a disaster in my current tank. I keep getting a layer of grey/brown dirt covering the gravel and even seeping down through the lapis (can see from the glass side). this is not from the base fert. I think I have a bacteria/algae bloom becaiuse I added all kinds of bacteria, particularly a new kind of bacteria spores from Germany sold by Bioplast. Even my pond outdoor has been getting a layer of this "dirt" and I did dose this german bacteria there.

Only my 1ft cube photo tank is free of this problem, and I did not add the german bacteria there.

So… I am not going to use anything from the existing set up.

I have been using a traditional diffuser and get good pearling from my HG. Don't have much room to put all kinds of reactors and things as I don't have a cabinet below the tank.

[PeterGwee]

Hi Peter, where to get fluorite and what are the prices?

I have a disaster in my current tank. I keep getting a layer of grey/brown dirt covering the gravel and even seeping down through the lapis (can see from the glass side). this is not from the base fert. I think I have a bacteria/algae bloom becaiuse I added all kinds of bacteria, particularly a new kind of bacteria spores from Germany sold by Bioplast. Even my pond outdoor has been getting a layer of this "dirt" and I did dose this german bacteria there.

Only my 1ft cube photo tank is free of this problem, and I did not add the german bacteria there.

So… I am not going to use anything from the existing set up.

I have been using a traditional diffuser and get good pearling from my HG. Don't have much room to put all kinds of reactors and things as I don't have a cabinet below the tank.

I have lots of mulm embedded with gravels which is no big issue except being unsightly. I'm not sure if yours is just plain mulm or what? You can consider lightly vacuuming the gavel to see if it comes back rapidly. Do you have a lot of critters? Feed alot? When doing maintenance of the tank, consider fluffing the plants around good to release dirt and siphon it off followed by a large 50% water change. If you keep up on things, the tank should be pretty clean and clear by then.

Flourite can be bought from Petmart, Plantas and etc.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[hwchoy]

Peter, it is not regular mulm. I've got plenty of mulm before with my HG but THIS one is scary. it appears out of nowhere and forms a significant layer and it seem to coagulate or clump together. It accumulates very fast, even when I have hardly any fishes and feed once in a couple of days.

Especially obvious in my pond, which has a constant number of fishes. All of sudden I just find this thick layer of stuff on the gravel, even covering the roots of plants, and forming a layer on submersed tiger lotus !

[PeterGwee]

How about a picture of that weird stuff?

I'll suggest a heavy clean up of your tank if that is the case. Uproot all the plants carefully so as not to stir up loads of mulm. Remove the critters if you see the need for it. Vacuum the surface of the substrate carefully making sure that none of the stuff is left over. As for the plants removed, inspect them carefully to see if the weird stuff is attached to them. Prune them carefully and dip them in clean water and fluff them around good before replanting them back into the tank. Remember to do a large 50%-70% water change to remove the potential ammonia. Repeat the procedure again 2-3 days later if you see a need. Run a UV (if you have one..) and see how things go..

By the way, what is the ingredient of this bottle bacteria that you added?

Regards
Peter Gwee

[hwchoy]

nvm I'm going to start a completely new tank, remember

[hwchoy]

btw this german bacteria stuff is

Amtra Clean by amtra Aquaristik GmbH www.amtra.de
does not say what is the content except:

• natural micro-organisms create clear, healthy, biologically active aquarium water
• eliminates ammonia and nitrite, reduces nitrate, neutralises food residuesm breaks down mulm and sediment - prolongs filter maintenance interval

[PeterGwee]

btw this german bacteria stuff is

Amtra Clean by amtra Aquaristik GmbH www.amtra.de
does not say what is the content except:

• natural micro-organisms create clear, healthy, biologically active aquarium water
• eliminates ammonia and nitrite, reduces nitrate, neutralises food residuesm breaks down mulm and sediment - prolongs filter maintenance interval

Mmmmm....this product removes plant food...I think that is your main issue. Restarting the tank is fine but cost money and is more of a hassle especially removal of the current substrate. What are you dosing for your current tank? A lot of light over it? That stuff might well be algae.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[hwchoy]

I had difficulty with plants growing this time round, even before I added this amtra stuff. even ranalisma fail to grow (didn't dose ANY fert except what's in the base fert) but previously my plants tend to grow a little before stopping if it is short of nutrients. this time they fail to even start growing.

anyway that's how I ended up dosing amtra because water quality was very bad, can smell the fishy smell and plants not growing. after dosing amtra I got these brown stuff, and suddenly ended up with green water.

decided to dose TMG at ¾-dosage, plants finally started to grow, although ranalisma still not growing vigorously. problem is the brown stuff is still there. from the glass I can see it has seeped down the full depth of the gravel.

anyway since I am getting a new tank (this one is badly scratched) so might as well forget it and restart everything

[aquarius]

I'm thinking to get NA to modify the lights to accomodate 2×36W × 2 PL. Anyone knows how much NA is selling their 3ft PL lights?

NA is selling them for $89 (sales price) abt 2 weeks ago. You should go Yishun, I can't remember the blk but this shop has 3 shops joined together. They are selling 3ft PL lights with e-ballast at around $58. The brand name is Jiali, the exterior looks good and the width of the light casing is not as broad as the ones NA sells. I feel it's better that way cos it won't look clutered at the tank's top. Look out for their advertisement on the classified page on saturday. It'll give you the location.

[hwchoy]

does this Jiali light have 1×55W or 2×36W PL?

[aquarius]

does this Jiali light have 1×55W or 2×36W PL?

It comes in 2x36W PL

[hwchoy]

wow! exactly what I need

[Simon]

choy, but is 2x36watts able to cover the entire tank? or are you intending to overlap the tubes?

[loupgarou]

warning on flourite, if you're using a magnetic cleaner, and you're not careful you can scratch your glass.

I'm using ada as the top layer over fluorite now.

[Simon]

chris, wouldn't it complicates things in the future when the ADA breaks down?

[loupgarou]

how come we never have anyone mentioning this and the after effects?

could it be

a) it doesn't break down significantly
b) it isn't a problem
c) there are no aquascapes that last 3 years or more.. heheheh

[hwchoy]

two 36W end-to-end should be able to cover 3ft right? mmm… later I go and measure the tube. guess the issue is where they put the ballast, whether at one end or alongside the tubes. anyway I need two lights so worst case alternating direction loh.

any recommendation on the new media for Eheim 2222.

[hwchoy]

anyone tried ADA Sarawak Sand? I like the colour and the fine grain, now question is how to stop plants from growing onto it. thinking of using it at the front of one of the 1/3 axis to create open space.

ask at Keong Seong just now, $23 for a 2.6 litre pack.