Reply With QuoteNice little setup! And nice job growing those plants.Originally Posted by Urban Aquaria
Great job on keeping the HC lawn nice and healthy. I still hasn't muster sufficient courage to take the HC for low-tech path.
Nice little setup! And nice job growing those plants.
Yup, its still running... here is a photo i took of it today after doing some tank maintenance and cleaning the front glass panel (nowadays i leave the sides and back glass panels with abit of green algae for the shrimps and otos to graze on).
Tank at 16 weeks / 4 months.
The main area of HC carpet on the left and middle of the tank still looks good, but the HC under the fissidens tree on the right side has mostly thinned out, from this experience i can see that any blockage of light to HC plants will affect their growth and they'll eventually wither away and disappear (you can even see the bare patches mirrored directly under the shadow of the bogwood branches). The flow is also relatively weak on the right side (almost no circulation there) so that also affects the HC growth in that area.
Next time i'll position the majority of my plants in areas with more flow and less plants (or just plain open spaces) in areas with less flow.
The slope has unfortunately started to flatten out over time too, without additional rocks or wood pieces to support the back section of the tank, water movement and constant shrimp picking gradually shifted the fine powder type aqua soil. As a result the HC at the back of the tank ended up with exposed roots, which looked rather unsightly, so i removed them to let newer growth spread back properly.
Moral of the story... always support and reinforce slopes from the start to counter natural erosion, especially for fine grained soil.
So far, i've still not dosed any fertilizers yet and the plants still look okay, no nutrient deficiencies spotted yet, most likely the ADA aqua soil still has enough nutrients for the plants at the moment... i guess once the soil's nutrients run out, then it'll be time to start dosing fertilizers.
No significant algae issues so far (fingers crossed), only the usual green algae film in the glass panels.
Although my fish bio-load is kept low to balance the waste/nutrient cycle (currently only 8 x Danio Margaritatus and 2 x Otocinclus which are all very small fishes), there has been a population boom in cherry shrimps, so much so that i have to keep transferring them out to other tanks or it becomes abit overcrowded.
Oddly, those few small pieces of rocks in the tank turned out to have some pH increasing properties... the tank's water pH is now around 7.2-7.4, up from 6.4-6.6. As the pH change was gradual, the fishes and shrimps didn't display any visible problems so its not a big issue.
It seems even with aqua soil's pH reducing feature, just a few small rocks can still move pH up over time. I'll probably remove those rocks soon and test if the pH drops back down again.
Overall, the tank is quite easy to run and not much maintenance required, its been an interesting experiment. But i'll likely be taking it apart over the next few weeks as i'll need the soil and plants for another new tank project.
Bro UA, is there a way to private message you or something as I have a few questions regarding your 13 Litre Nano Tank as well as your 32 Litre Tank.
You can just click on my forum user name and send me a PM.Bro UA, is there a way to private message you or something as I have a few questions regarding your 13 Litre Nano Tank as well as your 32 Litre Tank.
Very nice scape
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
He can not. He does not have a 50 post count.You can just click on my forum user name and send me a PM.
Maybe my post count is too low hence unable to PM you. HahaYou can just click on my forum user name and send me a PM.
I'll just go to your blog and leave my questions there.
Did you tie the fissidens to the DW??
How did u attach it??
Yes, i used thin nylon fishing line to tie the fissidens to the wood.
Once the fissidens attach to the wood, then i remove the fishing line.
Baton courtesy.....service with a smile!
Hund wong, please refrain from using sms lingo. Thanks!
If you've learnt, teach, if you have, give.
Don't walk behind me as I might not lead, don't walk in front of me as I might not follow. Walk beside me, as my friend.
Mohamad Rohaizal is my name. If it's too hard, use BFG. I don't mind.
Hi UA! My set up is similar to yours but I use HG instead of HC.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1423922485.900128.jpg
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hairgrass is definitely alot easier to grow and maintain compared to HC, it should carpet nicely within the next few weeks.Hi UA! My set up is similar to yours but I use HG instead of HC.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1423922485.900128.jpg
Java moss grows much faster than fissidens too, but its growth pattern is more random so you'll just need to keep trimming it regularly to create the shape.
Yeah I was going for the wild look so went for HG and Java Moss. But I regret getting a tank with IOS (internal overflow sump). The background is ugly.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Maybe can consider changing the tank... your scape is still new so can just shift it to a new tank, it'll be way easier than if the plants were all already grown in.
Haha my wife has not allowed me to get a new tank yet. But I'm slowly working my magic to show her how nice a 60 cm tank would look like!
By the way, how much more difficult is it to plant HC? And what substrate do you use to root it? Is it ADA Aquasoil Powder too? How deep do you push the HC into the soil?
I have another tiny 5 litre tank used to keep RCS that I want to plant HC in.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well, hairgrass is generally much easier to plant into soil and stays planted better, it also grows faster in a wider range of tank conditions. Maintenance is also lower because each leaf blade grows vertically so they can get sufficient light even under dense growth, so there is less need to trim as often.
Conversely, HC is a very small plant so it's abit tricky to plant into soil, you need to plant it deep enough or else it will tend to float up. It also requires more optimal light, nutrients and Co2 to grow well. In addition, as it grows the top layers will start to shade the bottom layers which will result in them melting and detaching from the substrate, so you need to constantly trim and maintain it.
I guess HC is perhaps the ultimate plant for all aquascapers to try growing at least once, once you have experience growing it, most other plants should be easy in comparison.
Thanks UA! Where do you get your HC from?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I got my HC from places like C328 and Seaview, they are the ones packaged in large mats in plastic containers.
Really nice tank you've got there bro!
Sorry
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks