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Thread: Eprouve

  1. #1
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    Eprouve

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    Can I just ask... This is going to be rather challenging unless most of you have done this before . my tank is 6 weeks old and I was a newbie when I first started.

    Now that I know a little more about planted tanks, plants and fish I have some regrets about how the tank was setup/planted, choice of plants etc etc...

    How do I do a full rescaping without disturbing the undergravel fertilizer, killing/burying alive any of my 22 tiny cherry shrimps (from NA)?
    no choice: tear down the tank: pluck out all the plants, put in a pail, same with any fish and shrimps. drain water, and take out the under gravel filter and gravel.

    then resetup as normal. the undergravel filter can probably be used a backdrop for xmas moss.

  2. #2
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    Eprouve

    Can I just ask... This is going to be rather challenging unless most of you have done this before . my tank is 6 weeks old and I was a newbie when I first started.

    Now that I know a little more about planted tanks, plants and fish I have some regrets about how the tank was setup/planted, choice of plants etc etc...

    How do I do a full rescaping without disturbing the undergravel fertilizer, killing/burying alive any of my 22 tiny cherry shrimps (from NA)?
    no choice: tear down the tank: pluck out all the plants, put in a pail, same with any fish and shrimps. drain water, and take out the under gravel filter and gravel.

    then resetup as normal. the undergravel filter can probably be used a backdrop for xmas moss.

  3. #3
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    Eprouve

    Can I just ask... This is going to be rather challenging unless most of you have done this before . my tank is 6 weeks old and I was a newbie when I first started.

    Now that I know a little more about planted tanks, plants and fish I have some regrets about how the tank was setup/planted, choice of plants etc etc...

    How do I do a full rescaping without disturbing the undergravel fertilizer, killing/burying alive any of my 22 tiny cherry shrimps (from NA)?
    no choice: tear down the tank: pluck out all the plants, put in a pail, same with any fish and shrimps. drain water, and take out the under gravel filter and gravel.

    then resetup as normal. the undergravel filter can probably be used a backdrop for xmas moss.

  4. #4
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    Eprouve

    Can I just ask... This is going to be rather challenging unless most of you have done this before . my tank is 6 weeks old and I was a newbie when I first started.

    Now that I know a little more about planted tanks, plants and fish I have some regrets about how the tank was setup/planted, choice of plants etc etc...

    How do I do a full rescaping without disturbing the undergravel fertilizer, killing/burying alive any of my 22 tiny cherry shrimps (from NA)?
    no choice: tear down the tank: pluck out all the plants, put in a pail, same with any fish and shrimps. drain water, and take out the under gravel filter and gravel.

    then resetup as normal. the undergravel filter can probably be used a backdrop for xmas moss.

  5. #5
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    my steps on redoing the whole tank

    1) drain 50% water
    2) remove all fishes/shrimps
    3) remove plants (remember to always remove yr fishes first then the plants, or else the cloudiness after dislodging the plants will be a pain when u wanna catch yr fish)
    4) drain as much water possible
    5) add a new layer of gravel (optional, but it keeps the dirt on yr existing gravel weighted down..)

  6. #6
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    ----------------
    On 11/22/2002 9:52:03 AM

    Can I just ask... This is going to be rather challenging unless most of you have done this before . my tank is 6 weeks old and I was a newbie when I first started.

    Now that I know a little more about planted tanks, plants and fish I have some regrets about how the tank was setup/planted, choice of plants etc etc...

    How do I do a full rescaping without disturbing the undergravel fertilizer, killing/burying alive any of my 22 tiny cherry shrimps (from NA)?
    no choice: tear down the tank: pluck out all the plants, put in a pail, same with any fish and shrimps. drain water, and take out the under gravel filter and gravel.

    then resetup as normal. the undergravel filter can probably be used a backdrop for xmas moss.
    ----------------
    If not totally revamping the aquascape or changing base fert, can also do it with fish still inside. Maybe over a few days?
    I just redid 50% of the aquascaping in my 2.5ft tank. I did not remove any fish. Have to slowly remove the plants and not cause too much base fert (mine is soil, so quite safe) to come up. Siphon the dirt during the process. Replant with tank at half full. Fill up with water again.
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

  7. #7
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    well, with a ugf, its likely he doesn't have basefert, and if there's anything to regret, it would be the absence of base fert...heh

    otherwise you can just top up more gravel and leave the ugf under...

  8. #8
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    Chris, got to clarify with eprouve... he said 'undergravel fertiliser' not 'undergravel filter'.

    eprouve, please clarify?
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  9. #9
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    eprouve,

    I'm assuming you meant base fert when you said 'undergravel fertiliser'.

    You can leave the fish in there. Remove plants with short/small roots first, like thin stemmed plants and short foreground plants. These are the least likely to pull the base fert up. Most rosette plants that will grow large will have extensive roots systems, like Echinodoruses, lotus. For such plants, grab the base and pull up slowly until about an inch of the roots can be seen. Start pulling each big fat root out individually. Tedious, but less messy.

    Have siphon ready to suck up any base fert that escapes. You won't get everything, but at least the major bits of it.

    Your shrimp will run from your hands, so they won't be in the vicinity of the uprooting and are unlikely to get buried.

    If you decide to remove the fishes/shrimps... remove the plants first, drain out the water until about an inch or 2 deep and you'll find it easier to net them. No where to hide and no where to run.
    Vincent - AQ is for everyone, but not for 'u' and 'mi'.
    Why use punctuation? See what a difference it makes:
    A woman, without her man, is nothing.
    A woman: without her, man is nothing.

  10. #10
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    When the water is very murky from uprooting plants, is it quite unhealthy for the fish? I mean lots of the muck will be going into their gills etc.

    Won't it be better to try and take out all the fish B4 the water gets cloudy?

    Also, in such a redo, will a lot of the biological filtration will be lost? If the fish load was high, will it be a problem?


    eggz

  11. #11
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    haha.. thought he had a ugf that he needed to take out. lol
    rescaping is easy lah. just pluck out, plant again, water change

  12. #12
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    For me when I did a total rescape,I reduce the water to about 75% first, then I slowly uproot the plants gingerly. The water will become a bit cloudy(inevtable), I siphon the water until 50%. Then I do my rescaping, (I did not remove my fishes and prawns, hard to catch la....). Upon finishing, I siphon some more water. Then I fill up the tank. That's how I did it, any advise in case next time I want to do my next rescape?

  13. #13
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    ----------------
    On 11/22/2002 11:36:06 AM

    When the water is very murky from uprooting plants, is it quite unhealthy for the fish? I mean lots of the muck will be going into their gills etc.

    Won't it be better to try and take out all the fish B4 the water gets cloudy?

    Also, in such a redo, will a lot of the biological filtration will be lost? If the fish load was high, will it be a problem?


    eggz
    ----------------
    I think the fish can take it. Look at the muddy rivers they come from.

    To take out the fish with all the plants in there is quite difficult.

    If rescaping the tank, it shouldn't affect the biological filtration to a large extent. You may lose some bacteria from the substrate if you do some siphoning. But there's still a lot of bacteria left in the filter.
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

  14. #14
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    Thanks juggler, feel better about doing rescaping now.

    I've been a bit apprehensive about doing too much rescaping. Previously I had split my rescaping work over two weeks, doing the foreground first, the background the following week.

    Hmmm, can be a bit more adventurous now []


    eggz

  15. #15
    when removing the fishes to put temporarily elsewhere, try to use the drained tank water instead of new water... hahaah NEWATER... ok nevermind.... anyway, a long time ago I put my fishes into a basin of tap water, and they all did the merry sprint and jump thing.

  16. #16
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    I just did a major rescape...Didn't wanna bear seeing the cloudy water, so I took everything out, washed the gravel clean and used new base fert...

  17. #17
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    eggz, both my tanks in the gallery endured total rescapes - catching fish out, digging up plants, digging up gravel, sucking water, putting in new base fert/gravel, refilling water, replanting..... took two nights for each.... so far so good. Just DO IT!!!

  18. #18
    ----------------
    On 11/22/2002 10:19:57 PM

    eggz, both my tanks in the gallery endured total rescapes - catching fish out, digging up plants, digging up gravel, sucking water, putting in new base fert/gravel, refilling water, replanting..... took two nights for each.... so far so good. Just DO IT!!!
    ----------------
    Two nights including sleeping on the sofa for messing the place up!!!
    Another quality, non aquatic-related post from mrs budak!

  19. #19
    eggz: you better do it before you get married! If you are married oredi, make sure you buy a really comfy sofa (or sofa bed) before you redo your tank! [] []

  20. #20
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    Mrs Budak has a unique sense of humour! Cheers mate!

    As for the undergravel filter misunderstanding, yes I was referring to FERTILIZER. Sorry... should have said base fertilizer instead![]

    I will rescape the entire thing sometime... heheh... sounds fun already! (well all except the washing of the gravel). With each rescaping, the layout tends to be better than the one before. But it also means spending cash . Am currently still jobless after graduation and in the 4 months after graduation, I've spent close to $800 on both my freshwater and marine tanks.

    When I get out of recession, I'm gonna have the ball of a time!! Hope to make it in time for that competition!
    -----------------------------
    Clarence Hoe

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