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Erm, what kind of lighting u use? Seem like purple colour?
My first tank in trying aquascaping im currently using LumiQ Ocean Free 8.5L
my tank has been cycling for around 3 weeks with plants and just added in 5 shrimps for around one week now!
im having a few problems!
1. the tinyparticles soil medium is covering my stone, plants etc and giving them a dirty look
2. the pump seems to be too strong! my CRS ends up flying when they swim to the top sometimes
3. my plants seem to start to turn brown
Given all that i have CO2 injection around one bubble every 2 seconds as well as add water nutrients & iron tablets once a week
Anyway to save the plants and shrimps?
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Erm, what kind of lighting u use? Seem like purple colour?
The lighting seems very blue which is not ideal for plant growth. Light with color temperature of roughly 6500k daylight would be more ideal as plants will readily absorb light of this color spectrum.
The filter might be strong, this could cause the soil particles to be picked up and tossed around the tank creating the dirty feel. Consider redirecting the pump outlet or changing to a lower flow rate filter.
If the shrimp (I believe you have Red a Cherry Shrimp or RCS) get blown away when they go near the filter it should be fine. As long as other spots in the tank are calm enough for the shrimp to rest easy.
Plants can turn brown for multiple reasons. It could be nutrients, lighting, ph or transitioning states. In your case temperature might be too high or lighting might not be ideal.
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...umiq-nano-tank
you can refer to this thread to problems you might face with the tank set you have.
Cheers,
JJ
the purple colour would be my phone! The light is white LED and im pretty new so i dont really know the specifics of voltages, but its only the top leaves that seem to turn brown
P.S i heard people using LumiQ pump oxygen into the tank for the shrimps, is that necessary?
Even if the LEDs are white, those particular ones that came with the tank might not be ideal for plant growth.
Tank sets like the one you have, tend not to be the most ideal for plant growth.
If I were you, I would get a new tank and start from scratch with the right equipment. In the long run, a right set up will save you much more trouble and money.
But that is just my 2 cents
If you want to stick with your current set up, then you should start by ensuring all parameters required of plant growth are present.
lighting: try to find out the color kelvin, watts or preferably lumens of the loght you are using.
nutrients: could you provide us with an outline of your fertiliser regime as well as what fertilizers you are using
co2: ensure co2 is sufficient by using a drop checker.
Temperature: you can purchase a simple aquarium thermometer at most LFS. use it to check the tanks temperature.
more specifications on the tank will also allow us to help you with your situation. Soil, fauna, flora and how long the tank has been set up, details such as these will help greatly
Cheers,
JJ
Starting from scratch costly
Light: I cannot find any specifications on it
Nutrients: I use a kit, S7VitaMix(mainly NP fertilizer 1.8+20 with trace nutrients), E15 Iron fertilizer and V30(basic fertilizer)
S7:2pump strokes(3ml) per 100l of water, E15: 1 tablet per 100L, V30: 2 pump strokes(3ml) per 100L <--- adapted from the manual
My routine is weekly S7: 3 drop, v30:5 drops and 1/4 of the iron tablet( after a month, the dosages should be done per month instead of weekly, as prescribed)
*i dont really know too much about these myself, the shop owner prescribed them and the dosages*
C02 is done by injection, one bubble per 4-5s
Temp: still havent found a thermometer
Soil: Its all in japenese @.@ only words i see are Custom soil Shrimp black
Fauna: CRS all 5 still alive and active
Flora: idk their english names :/ but here they are
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The tank has been set up for around one month and one week , first 2 weeks just plants and water( no nutrients/Co2 injection), 3rd week i started adding nutrients and Co2 injection, the shrimps added on the 4th week. Now currently on the 5th week!
Seems like you are using the full line of dennerle fertilizers. I don't have much experience with them so im not too sure.
Try to get a drop checker to ensure that the amount of CO2 injected is sufficient. Bubbles per second is a gauge but not accurate and unreliable.
From the pictures it appears to me that the plant are converting from their emersed to submersed form. But since it has been more than a month or so they should have already converted nicely.
Oh and are your lights on a timer? What is your photoperiod like?
Could you share some full tank shots of the tank too so that we can see if we can recommend adjustments to your set up.
Cheers,
JJ
Yeah, the LumiQ tankset is very expensive... considering its size and parts, most of the cost seem to go towards that fancy color changing LED lights. You could put together the similar tank size and equipment/parts from various LFS at less than half or one-third the price.
I've friends who have used that tank before and the LED lights are not really suitable for plant growth (despite the photoshopped photos on the box), its mainly for viewing fishes, usually bettas which are commonly kept in such tanks. Hardy low-light easy plants may work, but the more demanding plants will have difficulty growing. Even with lots of Co2 and fertilizers, the overall plant growth will still be restricted by light. Most people eventually buy stronger LED lights to replace it and ended up spending more.
Note that the filtration system on the LumiQ is an undergravel filter, this will breakdown the soil substrate much faster and when the plant roots grow into the undergravel filter plates, it will get clogged up, then you will need to overhaul the entire tank (ie. remove all the livestock, soil and plants) just to access the plates to clean and unclog them.
Undergravel filters are usually not recommended for planted tanks due to the above-mentioned factors, so you may want to consider alternatives.
In addition, the tank is covered with only a few open slots, so here is less ventilation. Do monitor the water temperature as it will tend to increase higher, especially with the small water volume and upcoming warmer months locally.
Btw, pumping air into the tank with air stone will increase surface agitation and gas exchange, hence improve aeration/oxygenation in the water, but that will also drive off the Co2 that you are injecting into the tank too. So its a trade-off.
Don't worry, we have all been through this stage before (i also did when i started in the hobby)... walk into LFS, the shop rep recommend a tiny tank and then start pushing lots of additional expensive products to buy, later after more research find out that the setup is mis-matched. Its a learning process.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 30th Jan 2015 at 10:33.
Is there anyway to retain the tank
The soil layer is pretty deep so i guess it could buy some time for me to think of a solution @.@
IMAG0367.jpg this is the nicest i can get :P
By today algae is starting to grow
The LumiQ tank itself is made of high clarity crystal glass so that's definitely good to keep... the two main items you may look at changing is the filter, perhaps a small hang-on filter would be good and it'll be much easier to maintain and no need to do tank overhaul in the future (though you'll need to do an initial overhaul to remove the under gravel filter system), and changing the lights to ones which are designed more for growing plants.
When the weather gets warmer and your tank's water temperature starts rising, you'll have to remove the top plastic cover to improve ventilation too (this should be easy as the cover is not permanently attached anyways).
Eventually, it'll become sort of an open top crystal glass tank with hang-on filter and brighter lights type of configuration, more suitable for keeping plants and shrimps.
that seems ideal(: however a few questions, any recommendations for both and where to get them >< And what is ideal for plant care
On a side note since i have to do an overhaul anyway
Could you recommend a tank+filter+substrate+flora+light set up tank size would be nice between 20-25cmx20-25cmx20-25 ^^
Any nutrient suggestions and all are also welcomed(:
So I take it that you are going to restart from scratch?
GC is a great shop to get equipment from. If you live near their Tai Seng shop then you could also go to Fishy Business or Aquatic Avenue which are not too far away. They will give you great advice.
For the tank size, those seem to be quite odd specs. Maybe a standard 1ft tank (30cm x 18cm x 24cm) or a 1ft cube would be good. Any smaller tank would greatly limit the fauna you can stick. Try to get as large a tank as possible to avoid future upgrades.
Cheers,
JJ
If you do get a standard 1ft or a 1ft cube, then my suggestion would be as follows.
Filter: Eheim Classic 2211
Substrate: ADA Amazonia
Flora: Up to youFor starters you could try hair grass again, Monte Carlo or Echinodorus tenellus as a foreground plant. These are fairly easier foreground plants to choose from.
For light sets, there are many good 1ft LED lights readily available in the market. I don't have much experience with these so others might have more to add in on this.
Your dennerle set should be fine I guess. Once it runs out you could switch to full ADA or Seachem line. You could try the new premium Seachem line, AquaVitro. It is supposedly very similar to ADA ferts but at a lower price range
Cheers,
JJ
To add on jiajuen point, good 1 feet led in my opinion will be green element evo. With 6 x 3watt, u probably can grow a lot of demanding plants.. i am using it with success. Nevertheless, You can also try the z series ones and i think many hobbyist have great success with that too.
I live in Macpherson so probably head to GC to check it out(: start a tank and let it cycle, i assume Fishy business or Aquatic avenue would be for Fauna and flora?
And is using pumice stone and powdered fertilizers recommended? Also any recommended equipments? (e.g. chillers, heaters) i wanna get everything at once :P
The equipment you need will also depend on the kind of set up you are looking for. If you are looking at a high tech set up, cost will be much higher and much more items are needed while for a low tech set up cost is low and less equipment is needed.
There are pros and cons with both set ups. A quick google search on both will help.
Currently, it seems like you are going towards high tech set up with high lights and CO2 which is a great way to start the hobby.
If if you are getting a small tank, about 1ft or smaller, I find that it will be much easier to just go with commercial aquatic fertilizers. Mixing dry fertilisers is not worth the hassle and cost savings for such a small tankin my opinion.
There are a few mini chillers available on the market for small tanks. Chillers are good to have but not necessary. You could consider using a fan instead. Fans can bring the temp down by 2-3 degrees but they increase evaporation rate greatly.
Cheers,
JJ
Originally Posted by NewAquascaper
You can get the hang-on filter and LED lightset for the tank at most popular LFS... maybe you can check out my nano tank set for reference (similar dimensions to your tank), its situated inside my tank cabinet:On a side note since i have to do an overhaul anyway
Could you recommend a tank+filter+substrate+flora+light set up tank size would be nice between 20-25cmx20-25cmx20-25 ^^
Any nutrient suggestions and all are also welcomed(:
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...839#post788839
Its a L20 x D20 x H25 (10L) tank made from high clarity crystal glass (cost around $20+), along with a Dophin H80 hang-on filter (approx. $6+) and an Up Aqua Pro MO-N-B clip-on LED light (around $17+). I bought them from Seaview and all in cost around $40+ in total after discounts.
If you are going for a setup with rooted plants, then ADA Amazonia aquasoil will be the best to start with, just 2 liters of soil will be sufficient to get around 4-5cm soil depth (you can buy re-packed smaller bags of the soil from LFS like Y618 or Polyart). Note that with ADA aquasoil, it releases alot of ammonia initially to boost plant growth, so do allow it to cycle fully before introducing livestock.
For plants, you can start with the easy growing plants, then move on to the higher demand ones once you gain some experience, can refer to the plant list at Tropica website for ID and ideas: http://tropica.com/en/plants/
For nutrients, if you are using nutrient-rich active soil like ADA aquasoil, then you'll just need to dose a good all-in-one fertilizer solution that contains potassium and micro/trace nutrients to support the plant growth (the ADA aquasoil will already supply plenty of nitrogen and phosphates during the initial few months). You can look at products like Seachem Flourish Comprehensive + Potassium or Tropica Premium.
Thank you for the advice! my current LumiQ will probably be a shrimp tank and the plants will be mostly tied to driftwood, so hopefully with constant pruning it wont clog up the undergravel filter @.@
As for light the plants placed wont require that much light! just redid the tank and letting it cycle before adding shrimps back.
For a more professional tank probably once i clear out my Cabinet during CNY maybe ill try 36x22x26cmH or 1ft tank(:
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