Flowerhfanatic's newbie setup

[Flowerhfanatic]

Hi All,

I did up a 3ft by 1.5ft by 1.5ft on Friday nite and here goes my journal:

Bought some plants online, not cost effective but as a newbie, i guess its easier as i comes with pics and description and the level of difficulty in maintaining them... so i went for the easier (i hope i am right) to keep ones first..they are:




-Didiplis diandra (Blood Stargrass)
-Echinodorus quadricostatus
-Hygrophila corymbosa
-Anubias barteri var nana 'Petite'
-Taxiphyllum alternans (Taiwan Moss)
-Taxiphyllum barbieri (Java Moss)
-Eleocharis parvula (Dwarf Hairgrass
-Glossostigma elatinoides (Glosso)
-Pogostemon helferi (Downoi)
-Eleocharis sp. (Japan Hairgrass)


then realised there are not enough stem plants, bought these from NA. But dont know their identity. Can anyone help? Thanks!



Tied some moss on the DW and stones and Lava rocks..as part of the decor. Layout before top up.... foreground is completed but not the background. Lava rock are quite interesting, there are columns of holes within them and i filled these up and planted some hairgrass in it. wont achieve the natural look but i think its kinda interesting...





Finale, fully topped in the first day... close to 1am Sat morning. quite tired....



BUT...... on the 3rd day, water turned brownish... and i need someone to help me and advise what can i do or is this normal.... some plants actually floated but i cant replant them because the water is too murky....


Spotted some uninvited guess as well... May i know if these are algae, what type and how to i address them?


Current specs of the tank is:
-3 by 1.5 by 1.5
-CO2 on from 6 to 2
-Lights on from 630 to 230
-According to my drop checker, with kh of 4, the PH is 6.8, it gives me 19ppm of CO2 but this is taken during lights off. i need to take during lights on period.... i dont know if this is ok... can you advise?
-ADA soil - recycled (guess this is the culprit) with some lapis
-Tetra fert stick
-2ml of Lushgro Aqua Daily
-1.5 tsp of KN03 and 0.2 tsp of KH2PO4 - my plan is weekly dosage
-Have 2 ottos inside and seem to be doing ok....

Thanks for your contribution...

[cheetf]

Looks more like your filter is not working properly. Any details on the canister and it's contents?

[Flowerhfanatic]

Looks more like your filter is not working properly. Any details on the canister and it's contents?

I am using a jebo 828 1200l/hr but i guess is not performing up to its claimed specs... there is a skimmer and using a ANS lilypipes as outlet.. could the output be somewhat diffused by the lilypipe?

[cheetf]

Could be your skimmer not adjusted properly. Anyway I believe you do not need the skimmer if you have a lilypipe. I could be wrong but I think a properly positioned lily pipe is supposed to have a small vortex that sucks on the protein on the surface of the water and mixes it with the output. Maybe you want to try the filter without the skimmer.

Also, what have you got inside the filter? If the water is cloudy due to planting then the filter is at least supposed to remove the particles from the water.

Another thing, check that your filter has been properly set up with regards to the trays and such, sometimes a simple thing such as a missing or misplaced rubber ring can cause the filter to just circulate tank water instead of pushing the water through the filter material.

[Flowerhfanatic]

Could be your skimmer not adjusted properly. Anyway I believe you do not need the skimmer if you have a lilypipe. I could be wrong but I think a properly positioned lily pipe is supposed to have a small vortex that sucks on the protein on the surface of the water and mixes it with the output. Maybe you want to try the filter without the skimmer.

Also, what have you got inside the filter? If the water is cloudy due to planting then the filter is at least supposed to remove the particles from the water.

Another thing, check that your filter has been properly set up with regards to the trays and such, sometimes a simple thing such as a missing or misplaced rubber ring can cause the filter to just circulate tank water instead of pushing the water through the filter material.

good point cheetf. I suspected that the Lilypipe will do the skimming job. i will remove the skimmer first and see. i think the arrangement inside the cannister is ok as the transparent cover allows me to see inside it and it looks ok. its filled with Mr Aqua CR well cultivated as these are from my matured aro tank.... thanks for the input

[Jervis]

the cloudy water aside, what you have achieved is very good for a newbie. Well done! A rather complex layout with varied plant variety. Can't wait to see some pix again in 3 days.

[Flowerhfanatic]

the cloudy water aside, what you have achieved is very good for a newbie. Well done! A rather complex layout with varied plant variety. Can't wait to see some pix again in 3 days.

thanks jervis, been keeping arowanas for few years and now venturing into something new. hope this set up survives and will update with more pics next wk as i will be away for 4 days. hopefully nothing bad will happen...

yeah, maybe i should give myself some due credits but i must admit that most of these ideas come from some NA competition pics from a booklet that was given complimentary to me by Ben from Mizuworld when i bought plants from him. Maybe he knows i am a newbie... based on the questions i asked....

[blue33]

Interesting setup. Your murky water could be due to the recycle substrate you're using. You actually can feel the output flow with your hand to see whether the flow is strong or not. Usually the first week we dont introduce any fish at all, it might kill the fauna during that period. You can do more water changing at this period if the water still murky.

[Flowerhfanatic]

Interesting setup. Your murky water could be due to the recycle substrate you're using. You actually can feel the output flow with your hand to see whether the flow is strong or not. Usually the first week we dont introduce any fish at all, it might kill the fauna during that period. You can do more water changing at this period if the water still murky.

thanks blue. the water flow seems ok to me. I have removed all the 3 ottos from the tank at the moment. but it seems like the batch of algae is getting more prominent.

Will water change remove them? i plan to change water tomorrow. Thanks!

[blue33]

thanks blue. the water flow seems ok to me. I have removed all the 3 ottos from the tank at the moment. but it seems like the batch of algae is getting more prominent.

Will water change remove them? i plan to change water tomorrow. Thanks!

What is your lighting spec and hrs that you switch on. Try to reduce to around 6-7hrs. You may want to consider changing to rainbar at this time for better circulation instead of liliy pipe. IMO. Changing water does help since you dont have fauna at this moment.

[Flowerhfanatic]

What is your lighting spec and hrs that you switch on. Try to reduce to around 6-7hrs. You may want to consider changing to rainbar at this time for better circulation instead of liliy pipe. IMO. Changing water does help since you dont have fauna at this moment.

ok... i guess rainbar will provide better circulation.

[blue33]

ok... i guess rainbar will provide better circulation.

Sometime if the tank is too big, lily pipe cant distribute the flow well, unless is Iwagumi scape, no blocking at all, normally for big tank at least 2 corners will have hose output flow to get even distribution to all area, another method is rainbar which i've mention.

[Flowerhfanatic]

Sometime if the tank is too big, lily pipe cant distribute the flow well, unless is Iwagumi scape, no blocking at all, normally for big tank at least 2 corners will have hose output flow to get even distribution to all area, another method is rainbar which i've mention.

can i add another powerhead to achieve the same effect?

[blue33]

can i add another powerhead to achieve the same effect?

Yes you can use that!

[Flowerhfanatic]

ok i bought a powerhead filter to increase circulation and have cleared all the 'sludge' which i realise is due to the murky soil bed when agitated and decomposed leaves from my plants. is my planting technique wrong? i normally shaft the plant root deep and some leaves will be buried together... resulting in those greenish sludge that you see in the pic above which is think is coming from the buried leaves.. no idea.... some plants seem to be melting away like my Echinodorus quadricostat have melted 50%.

temp is 26 C and specs remain pretty much the same as posted... please help!

[blue33]

ok i bought a powerhead filter to increase circulation and have cleared all the 'sludge' which i realise is due to the murky soil bed when agitated and decomposed leaves from my plants. is my planting technique wrong? i normally shaft the plant root deep and some leaves will be buried together... resulting in those greenish sludge that you see in the pic above which is think is coming from the buried leaves.. no idea.... some plants seem to be melting away like my Echinodorus quadricostat have melted 50%.

temp is 26 C and specs remain pretty much the same as posted... please help!

When you plant stem plant, remove some of the bottom leaves for rooting, when you insert into the substrate, you need to put up slightly for those with roots on it. Crypt tends to melt in new setup tank or new environment, they prefer more mature tank, it will need to take some time to grow back or recover.

[Flowerhfanatic]

thanks blue, i will see how this tank progress, if plants wither i will reset, and restart the tank plants alone cost me alot here


i guess i should throw away those recycled ADA soil too as they have become powdery...

most likely will be contemplating whether to get new ADA soil or just simple lapis with fertilizers.....

[Joseph*]

so has the water cleared or is it still murky?

if it has cleared can show a pic of it?

[blue33]

thanks blue, i will see how this tank progress, if plants wither i will reset, and restart the tank plants alone cost me alot here


i guess i should throw away those recycled ADA soil too as they have become powdery...

most likely will be contemplating whether to get new ADA soil or just simple lapis with fertilizers.....

You can consider mix 2 different soil together, like ADA, GEX or Magic soil. That would help.

[hii]

For the new setup, don't straight turn on the filter as soon as u filled up the water.

Let the dust settle down for few hrs than change the water 100%, it will faster the clear process. Once you turn on the filter, all the dust will stay in your filter and you probably need to clean the canister, end up more work and tired.