Aro tank WIP

[chaq]

Hi, Planning to get an aro to put in there, comments pls. thanks.

Tank Size : 4 x 2 x 2

Plants used : Crypts, Hygrophilla polysperma, anubias, java moss, e.tenellus, e.quad, Can some id the tall plant on the right? it grows faster than the hygrophilla (got from teo), thanks.

Filter : Eheim Pro2028

[Allen_1971]

The plant on the right looks like Eichhornia azurea. Nice Setup.

[Vican]

You might want to create some shady spot in the tank for your aro.
Heemeng,Hobbit6003 and myself have spoken before and noticed that all our aros in the planted tank, likes to be under the shade during lights on, esp if they're new to the tank.

Not too sure if this is the case with Vinz's aro though

Nowadays, my aro has found a shady spot near the surface on the left corner. If you see my pic in the other thread, that's his favorite spot. It's like his palace, so he can oversee everything in the tank...

Previously, he likes to stay below the nuphar japonica and lilies

[Allen_1971]

Just curious, given the high NO3 levels from Aros, would have thought that the whole tank would be using fast growing plants? Quite a big batch of crypts used in the above tank... is this recommended?

[juggler]

Filter eqpt nicely hidden.
Not sure how much is your lighting. Could be too strong for the exposed Crypts and Anubias. If so, can add some background plants like Hygrohila polysperma and Vals (like Vican's 5' Aro tank) to provide some shade as well as to cover the empty background.
The moss-covered stone can be shifted back a bit if you like or you can add more taller plants on the left side.
How about a Red Lotus for some colour?
Cheers!

[vinz]

Yeah, but you'll end up with lots of fast plants to trim too. In my 6-feet aro planted tank, I'm using large 2 masses (about 1/6 of tank volume) of Hygrophila polysperma to control N. The rest are vals, lotus, E. quad, dwarf Sagi, E. "Indian Flame", A. ulvaceus(pardon we spelling), N. Japonica, Anubias, Crypts and Java Fern. All rosette and hardly known to be 'good' N controllers. Soon adding APP.

The reason for rosette and easy/slow plants is that they are easier and less time-consuming to maintain.

Before using Dennerle Biotrop and dragon at 6-7inches, my NO3 was at 40ppm. Didn't have real algae problems... at most a forthnightly hardly visible algae on glass. PO4 was under 1ppm.

After Biotrop, and dragon at 10-11 inches, it's at 5ppm at the last test a couple of weeks ago. But that could be a false number as it was the same time as a bacteria bloom due to suspected filter bacteria die-off.

[vinz]

Chaq,

External CO2?

For better NO3 control, plant a few more Hygrophila after your next trimming. Stick in a few root fertilisers among them too, so they are not lacking in anything. You want to make things as ideal as possible for them to grow fast and keep sucking up the NH3/4 and NO3. A good level of K will keep them low and bushy and hopefully beautiful.

Yeah, my aro likes to hide under plants most of the time when the lights are on. When the lights go off, he'll come out to the surface, even if just to sleep. I don't know about the rest, but my aro does come out during lights on to investigate when ppl are in the room, when I'm maintaining the tank and when it's near feeding time.

Other then that, I like to reserve my comments till when the plants grow out. Otherwise, it's a good start. Keep us updated. Good luck, hope you win an aro at AroClub's bash (if you're going, that is). []

[chaq]

Thanx for all the pointers and suggestions. will try to provide more shade before getting aro.

Hi Vican, may i know what lights you are using and how many watts? Is it ok for the the red aro to have 2 - 3 watts/gallon?

Hi Vinz, yes im using an external CO2 reactor. will plant more hygrophilla to suck up the NO3. Not sure if im going to the aroclubbash yet, but looks like more aro shops around recently = more choices = harder to select one []

[Vican]

Currently, I'm using 6x36W FL lights for a 5' (4.5' effective tank area) That comes up to about 1.5W / Gal. So far, I'm trying to get minimal lights while getting decent plant growth.

I did try to increase to 8x36W, but had lots of spot algae on the glass, so I removed the 2 extra tubes and stuck with 6x36.

So far, my aro does have a dark top. But comparing siblings from the same batch, they look similar, so I'm not too sure if it's genetics or the lights. But it's general belief that reds need light to be redder. Golds also need light to bring out the gold shine

[chaq]

Hi, i got my aro leow pics update.

Can anyone tell me how to solve the murky/green? water problem. I'm dosing S7 TR7 E15 V30. I tried those oceanfree benefecial bacteria and some "clearwater" solutions ... but the problem comes back after a while.

Could it be the driftwood holding the moss? thought i read it somewhere recently ....

Thanks.

Here's the link

[pipsqueak]

theres a lady in your tank! (last picture)
Nice tank! is that Sag.Sub. you're using at the leftside foreground?
And whats that background plant you're using? (the tall ones)

Hmm..are you only gonna keep an arowanna in there?

[chaq]

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On 2/5/2003 3:56:21 PM

theres a lady in your tank! (last picture)
Nice tank! is that Sag.Sub. you're using at the leftside foreground?
And whats that background plant you're using? (the tall ones)

Hmm..are you only gonna keep an arowanna in there?
----------------

Haha ... i didnt notice there's a lady there

I'm using E.Quad and E.Tenellus as foreground plants but the quads are growing real fast ... planted only on the right side and now growing towards the left. I used to have some anubias on the left but have since removed them due to poor growth. The tall ones are hygrophilla polysperma.

Yep just the aro, some SAEs, Otos and Malayan shrimps ... thought of adding some apistos but Simon says itll prolly end up the aro feeders

[sherchoo]

Anubias are really slow growers. They normally show little or no growth.

[pipsqueak]

Anubias take forever to grow man! in my opinion, the crpytocoryne wenditii would look nice instead of the anubias at that spot..but the E. quad looks great to!

haha yea, expensive feeder fishes...

[vinz]

Chaq,

Can you determine if its a bacteria bloom or start of green water? One way is to view the water in a white cup or against a white background. Green water will appear greenish against the white.

TR7 is basically blackwater and reduces your pH. If you are using the pH-KH-CO2 charts to determine your CO2 levels, your tank probably does not have as much CO2 as you think. Your plants may be limited by CO2 and not using up the fertilisers in the water. If the pH is too low, the bacteria may not be as efficient or survive.

The driftwood may have lowered the pH too, but TR7 probably has the most impact.

If you want to lower the pH, using just CO2 to do it is a better idea. You can leave the driftwood in there, but stop using TR7. If you still want to use TR7, you may have to raise your KH, and increase CO2.

[chaq]

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On 2/6/2003 12:19:39 AM

Chaq,

Can you determine if its a bacteria bloom or start of green water? One way is to view the water in a white cup or against a white background. Green water will appear greenish against the white.

TR7 is basically blackwater and reduces your pH. If you are using the pH-KH-CO2 charts to determine your CO2 levels, your tank probably does not have as much CO2 as you think. Your plants may be limited by CO2 and not using up the fertilisers in the water. If the pH is too low, the bacteria may not be as efficient or survive.

The driftwood may have lowered the pH too, but TR7 probably has the most impact.

If you want to lower the pH, using just CO2 to do it is a better idea. You can leave the driftwood in there, but stop using TR7. If you still want to use TR7, you may have to raise your KH, and increase CO2.
----------------

Ok, will check if it's green water or bacteria bloom later today. The last reading i got sometime ago was KH = 3, pH = 7.0. Will check again though.
Thanks Vinz.

[chaq]

Hi, i did a test this morning with CO2 off and the results were

Kh = 1
Ph = 6.8

So i have to add more sodium bicarbonate i guess?
How often do you pple do kh test?
How quickly do Kh fluctuate? do i top up sodium bicarbonate with every water change? thanks.

[vinz]

First, top up your KH to desired level.

Second, test KH after a few normal water change to get an idea how it drops with your water change. After a few tests, you should have a rough idea how much to top after each water change without testing.

[Sky Devil]

I thought Aro need strong filter?

[vinz]

Not really. They come from gentle flowing waters.

I think the hobbyists use powerheads or strong filters to create relatively strong flow in the belief that it will encourage bigger finnage and to exercise the fish.