Hello!

[atolylica]

Hello all, been reading alot and getting useful information from people here. Still alot to learn so I've been reading up quite abit. But I realized this hobby requires lots of hands-on experience as you cannot just copy and paste someone else's success.

Below is the my 3 weeks old tank taken a week ago.

[David]

Good Morning!!! Welcome to AQ...nice tank you have there!

[thebaldingaquarist]

Welcome!
How is that CO2 indicator working for you?
It says to use tank water in the manual right? Does not work for me though. in the end i used test liquid separately bought.

[atolylica]

Hi, what do you mean by it doesn't work for you?

My indicator changes color when CO2 is switched on, but the color only changes after a couple of hours. I'm using a ceramic diffuser below my canister filter intake at 0.5bps and I'm able to hit light green.

[thebaldingaquarist]

Hi, what do you mean by it doesn't work for you?

My indicator changes color when CO2 is switched on, but the color only changes after a couple of hours. I'm using a ceramic diffuser below my canister filter intake at 0.5bps and I'm able to hit light green.

mine does not change color at all when following the instruction to mix the indicator liquid with tank water.. after i changed to another off-the-shelf test liquid, it changed color..

[felix_fx2]

Nice good start.

You've got most plants they propagate via runners.

P.s: you guys understand that if the water used to mixed the regent has a certain PH value the reaction becomes too fast or not changing. i've learnt that well..used tank water before..

[atolylica]

Hi Felix, so should use tank water or normal tap water?

[felix_fx2]

should be using diluted kh 4 solution aka d4kh.

last time used to see it in seaview. but last visit never see.

i used kh4 as a replacement until i bought a premixed one. (no indication of mixing tank water on packaging). the bad point of using kh4 is after a while seems like less & less accurate.

i only bought the premixed solution last visit to seView. oceanfree brand, solution only package.. easier no need mix regent...

[atolylica]

Did some rescaping as I found that my previous scape was cluttered, boring, and no proper hardscape definition. Hence, bought some rocks to fill that in with minimal disruption to the substrate and fishes. This is my first amateur attempt at rock arrangement.

Not sure what plants to complement the rocks arrangements on the right side. Currently the plant in the picture is Marsilea Hirsuta, but it still does not look right to me. Any suggestions and comments will be welcomed.


Attachment 37518Attachment 37519Attachment 37520

[thebaldingaquarist]

Nice arrangement!
For your future scape, can read up on how ADA does his iwagumi.

For plants on the right.... I recommend
Blyxia behind, on the right of the large stone and left of the smaller stone
downoi, coming towards the front on the right and left
if you don't like downoi or tank temp is quite high, go for staurogyne repens

tall hair grass on the left and right of the tank. very nice!

Marsilea Hirsuta when converted to underwater form, will look like glosso. it will grow slower than glosso, so be prepared to find it missing in 2 months time or so.

[atolylica]

Thanks for the suggestions. Will get some of those plants soon! Cheers!

[atolylica]

An update here, and appealing for some advice that can turn the tide around.

Some problems I am facing:

1) Glosso are not doing well as they have turned dark and start to fall off. Noticed these are mainly the old leaves. New leaves spread with nice and green leaves. Before that, they were doing fine and spreading nicely.
2) Experiencing diatoms on my tank walls and rocks.

Other details that might be helpful:

- Tank is about 1.5 months old now.
- At the end of light period, my tank is a mess full of bubbles because of pearling.
- There is a film on the water surface, which I don't think its much of an issue. Will probably get a surface skimmer in the future.

Tank size: 60cm x 20cm x 25cm
Substrate: H.E.L.P Plant Substrate
Lights: Aquazonic 1.5W x 12 for 8.5 hours
Filter: Ehiem 2211
Dosing: EI dosing with CaNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4 + Flourish
CO2: Pressurized CO2 at 0.5 bps with ceramic diffuer below the intake.
Temp: 28-29 degrees with fan.
Fauna: 2 Cardinals, 4 Neons, 6 Ember Tetras, 1 SAE
Flora: Glosso, Blyxa Japonica, Staurogyne Ripens

Attachment 37773


This is my first ever attempt at planted tanks. Any helpful advice would be most appreciated before I upsize to a bigger tank in the future. Cheers!

[thebaldingaquarist]

Looks good!

Some advice for you to consider.

1. Intake with ceramic diffuser, I think no need to place the diffuser there. If large bubbles accumulated, the eheim motor might burnt. Place it somewhere with water currents.

2. The plants don't really take ferts from the water column. The ei dosing might need to tune downwards.

I can see the glosso spreading. Good job!

[bennyc]

I think TS is trying to use his eheim canister as a rector to chop his CO2 further, but i agree with Eric, over time CO2 might accumulate inside the motor, not worth to damage such a good brand canister. If you want to have higher diffusion rate than ceramic, maybe you could consider getting a inline diffuser or CO2 reactor.

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...-are-you-using

[atolylica]

Hi all,

I know about the implications of placing the diffuser at the intake. But since I have been doing it for the past month without any sounds coming out from my motor, and also it's running low at 0.5bps. But advice well taken, I'll place the diffuser in another location with current this weekend. Will also tune down my EI dosing.

I don't know the browning of the plants, substrate, rocks and tank walls are due to diatoms, and will it disappear in time to come? As I understand it's a new tank syndrome. If it is, how long will this syndrome last?

Thanks in advance!

[thebaldingaquarist]

if they are diatoms, they will disappear when the filter accumulates enough beneficial bacteria. so the answer is "how long will it take for the filter to be cycled?"

For your tank, i would say from the tank getting flooded to fully cycled, 1 to 1.5 months?

for larger tanks, i don't really wait.. i get ottos (once ammonia is zero) to clear up the diatoms.. because by the time my BB accumulates, my plants would be dying liao.. i am the lazy sort of hobbyists.. haha..