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I actually like those fuzzy green algae. Haha.
Introduced a pair of Crossocheilus Siamensis (aka Siamese Algae Eater / SAE) into the tank... i picked the smallest ones available at the shop, each only around 3cm in length.
Abit light in color at the moment as they are still juveniles. After exploring for a while, they started to settle down and nibble on some green fuzzy algae, so i guess that's a good sign.
Hopefully their smaller size would allow them more time to help out in algae maintenance... before they grow too large and lazy.
I actually like those fuzzy green algae. Haha.
Gorgeous tank! I noticed that you're not using a mesh filter for your glass intake, wouldn't it suck in the shrimps too?
I'm also in the process of setting up a 2ft (my first, after 1yr+ with a 13l nano), just ordered a tank+ cabinet from CRAquarium. Thinking of going for the Eheim Ecco Pro too, do you find the 300 too strong for a 2ft? Saw the specs, it's for 160l-300l, at 750l/hr...
I have Ecco Pro 300 and Classic 2213. Frankly, I would say just go for the Classic rather than spend $200+ local price for the Ecco Pro. I got my Classic 2213 for $98 at C328. The 2213 is quieter than my Ecco Pro which makes me wonder if my Ecco Pro is defective since the Ecco Pro is supposed to be a higher end product compared to the Classic.
Yeah, i used to install mesh guards on my glass intakes, but i didn't like the look of them (defeats the aesthetics of using glass lily pipes, end up covering it with something else), and i wasn't keen on seeing debris and leaves constantly accumulating on the mesh guards and having to clean it every day either (rather let the pre-filter sponge inside the canister filter do its original job instead, keep all the debris out of view and maintain a clean look in the tank).Originally Posted by dwong
Without mesh guards, i've actually found that only a minority of shrimplets get sucked into the intake, i've observed most of them jumping away when they get close to it and then somehow learn not to hang around that area until they grow larger. The slower (or blur) shrimplets who do get sucked into the intake just get transported into the base of the canister filter (there is a portion of empty swimming space there), then live and grow for a few months until i retrieve them during the next filter maintenance.
Its probably a blessing in disguise for those shrimplets as they would be the slow ones who'll probably get hunted down by the fishes in the tank anyways, so the canister filter is sort of like a refugium for them, no predators and all the yummy food bits and detritus gets accumulated into one place for them to scavenge and eat all day. I guess that's why the shrimps that i retrieve from the canister filter all look active and healthy with nice color.
I guess the listed filter recommendations are probably based on tanks with moderate to low plant mass and relatively conservative fauna stocking ratios... however, planted tank owners usually prefer to over-filtrate and have more flow to create as much circulation as possible so that nutrients and CO2 can reach all the plants efficiently.
So far, i've found the Ecco Pro 300 very ideal for planted 2ft tanks, especially so when the plant mass is planned to be dense and additional items like inline Co2 diffusers/reactors are used (which will tend to further reduce flow slightly). With the 750 l/ph flow rate and glass lily pipes to spread out the flow, i can see all the plants sway gently in the current, even the plants directly under the lily pipe outflow sway slightly in the return current too (which is usually one of the dead spots in a tank), so this ensures that the tank gets good circulation in all areas.
That being said, i am also currently using the Ecco Pro 130 (which is 500 l/ph) for my other 2ft tanks, but those are much less densely planted with a more open layout/no hardscape blockage and are used more as grow-out tanks for plants and shrimps, so in those type of setups a smaller filter with lower flow can work well too.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 12th Nov 2013 at 00:55.
So far, my Ecco Pro 300 unit has been relatively silent during operation, i can't even hear it running unless i put my ear close to it.
If you are hearing a rattling sound then maybe check if the impeller needs to be re-positioned or fixed (if locally bought there should be warranty coverage by the distributor Qian Hu).
If its a bubbling or trickling sound then its probably just some air trapped inside, so just shake it abit to release the bubbles... or try a technique that i found useful, switch it off, then pump the priming handle halfway back then forward, that will draw in some water, then force it back out, thereby purging any trapped bubbles (you'll see the inlet and outlet "burp" out the air and water), switch it back on and the sounds should be gone.
Hope that helps.
Hi UA, does your SAE eats those green fuzzy algae? How's the result?
I've observed them picking and pulling on the green fuzzy algae, so they are eating it but seems they prefer the easily detached top portions of the algae, i can see patches being bitten off in random areas. The shortest layers seem to be left alone though so the wood still has a greenish layer, just noticeably less fuzzy.
I did some reading up online and it seems this type of algae is commonly referred to as "Green Beard Algae".
There is probably more than enough of the beard algae for those 2 juvenile SAE to munch on, as i always see them swimming around with round bellies and i don't feed them any supplemental commercial food, so they are most likely getting filled up just by eating the algae.
Hi Urban bro, SAE are fast swimmers and jumpers. I have them previously, always darting around, but the SAE "fly" out and died.
Inspired by AmanoLimited by Yusof Ishak
I agree, it was difficult even trying to net them out of the LFS tank, especially the larger sized ones... those can speed around like rockets!
Oddly, the small ones i got seem to have a more "relaxed" demeanor at the moment though, most of the time they just cruise around leisurely and pick at things. I guess once they grow larger and possibly get more territorial, they'll start to chase around and probably end up jumping out.
In the future, i'll have to either move them to a larger tank, or separate them and only have maximum one SAE per tank.
Haha, yeah, that's a good way of looking at it!I guess that's why the shrimps that i retrieve from the canister filter all look active and healthy with nice color.
Thanks for the tips! Yes, I'm also looking at using an inline reactor too. I think with the double taps provided by the Ecco series taken into consideration, the price difference between Classic and Ecco Pro feels a bit better. Do you open the taps all the way?
Sorry just another noob question, but do you replace all the provided Eheim media with Matrix, or only the bio media? Since the Ecco Pro 300 provides 3 trays with 3 different types of media.
Yeah, the inbuilt double taps in Ecco Pro models makes the price difference much narrower when factoring in the need to separately buy additional double taps for equivalent Classic models. Both models have their pros and cons, so i guess it's ultimately up to which features the user is looking for.
For my setup with the inline Co2 reactor installed, i open up the outflow tap fully and the current is just right... without the inline reactor attached, the flow would be abit stronger so depending on different stages of the layout, might have to adjust the outflow tap to maybe 80-90% (if newly planted carpet plants start to get uprooted).
Although the eheim filter package comes with all the mechanical and bio-media included, i opted to use Seachem Matrix as bio-media in all 3 media baskets instead (there is a pre-filter ring, so that already acts as the mechanical filtration layer). I still use the white filter floss in the top most basket for final "polishing" of the water and on the very top just before the impeller i place a 100ml packet of Seachem Purigen to scavenge and absorb excess organics.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 13th Nov 2013 at 01:14.
How is your nana petite carpet coming along? Some of mine toppled sideways as the roots grow. The roots can't seem to penetrate the soil (ada amazonia powder) and the entire plant gets 'lifted'. Haha guess it is time to glue multiple pebbles together for additional anchorage.
I think my Ecco Pro has a noisy motor. It is a humming sound similar to my Up-Aqua Canister filter, only a tiny bit louder which is not so good given that the Up-Aqua canister is a budget product.
I took out the wiped the impeller, the humming noise is still there. I stuffed a piece of foam through/over the Ecco Pro handle/cover and this reduced the noise sufficiently to prevent it from being audible through the cabinet door. I think I can live with it rather than the hassle of going to Qian Hu and arguing that the sound is louder than normal - anyone have experience with Eheim warranty claims with Qian Hu?
At the bottom of the Ecco Pro filter baskets, I put 1 more coarse sponge and 1 fine filter floss before the bio-media because I want additional filtering to prevent the bio media being clogged. I can fit 1 litre of matrix into the Ecco Pro 300, which is the same amount I can fit in the 2213.
Mine are growing quite well, can see new leaves sprouting daily. Some of the bunches root deep into the soil until they become like rooted plants, need effort to pull out when re-arranging them, though i also noticed some of the smaller bunches are abit too light so the roots just grow above the soil and lift them up like tripods... i've even had bunches with roots all entangled amongst each other, so 3-4 bunches become like one integrated big bunch.
I usually just cut away the roots as part of regular plant maintenance anyways, so its easier to re-position and arrange them separately.
I guess the degree of humming noise from the motor probably depends on unit to unit... i can hear abit of humming when i put my ear close to my unit, but that's only in the middle of the night when the environment is very silent and i'm concentrating on isolating that particular noise. Maybe your hearing is also much sharper than mine too (i'm probably getting old).
Some updates...
Week 14
Rotala sp. 'Rotundifolia' and Micranthemum Micranthemoides getting overgrown again!
Week 15
Decided to chop the background plants all the way down...
Tank looks much brighter now... hopefully this will give me another 2-3 weeks of rest from plant maintenance.
Week 16
Background plants grew surprisingly fast, expected them to take a while to recover, but instead within just a week they grew back with a vengeance!
Looks abit messy and wild with the uneven growth of the background stem plants, need to trim some more to shape it.
Week 17
Did some additional fine trimming over the week, looks much better now.... keeps the tank looking brighter too.
All the plants are growing fast and very healthy... the Blyxa Japonica is starting to grow very dense so i'll need to trim them soon too.
Eleocharis sp. 'Mini' has now fully covered the front section of the tank and creating a nice carpet, very well behaved and grows to only 2-3cm height (haven't even needed to trim it so far).
Green fuzzy algae on the wood seems to be pretty much the same, it looks like the combination of Neocaridina Heteropoda and Crossocheilus Siamensis are helping to keep it in check.
Nice carpeting of the Japan hairgrass, i like the natural look of the algea DW.
Managed to record a video of the plants pearling during the daily photoperiod:
Flow was switched off temporarily for the purpose of the video, easier to capture the pearling effect, or else the released oxygen bubbles will tend to be swirled about.
Pearling usually starts a few minutes after the lights are on, mostly from the background stem plants. Blyxa Japonica also pearls but starts abit later. Even the Eleocharis sp. 'Mini' and Anubias sp. 'Petite' also pearl too, but at a much lower rate, their bubbles tend to slowly accumulate until a larger size before releasing to the surface.
I've recently received a few queries about my setup, so here are some of my latest equipment settings for reference (some have been adjusted since i started the tank in my first post):
Lighting: Up Aqua Z-Series Pro LED Z-20 (1 set / Old version / 180 x 0.06W LED)
Light Duration: 8 hours (10am-6pm)
Pressurized Co2: ANS Co2 System + ISTA Inline Reactor / 1bps / ~30ppm
Co2 Duration: 7 hours (9.30am-4.30pm)
Carbon Supplement: Seachem Excel / 2ml daily
Fertilizer: Tropica Plant Growth Premium Fertilizer / 1ml daily
Fan/Chiller: None
Temperature: 29-30°C (Day) / 27-28°C (Night)
Water Change Regime: 20% Twice Weekly
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 10th Dec 2013 at 02:15.
Wow, very healthy tank! You just use Tropica Plant Growth Premium and nothing else, cause it states that Tropica Plant Grow does not contain N and P. Would there be insufficient P in the long run?
Last edited by Ingen; 10th Dec 2013 at 10:56.
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