markalot Posted September 30, 2018 Author Share Posted September 30, 2018 1 hour ago, RoboNarples2929 said: Little tip, If you want a good source for plants check out https://dustinsfishtanks.com he's always supplied me with great stuff at reasonable prices. Thanks. So far the only plant I want that I can't find is Rotala. Picked up some Duckweed at the LFS. They had it earlier in the year so we figured some was left somewhere. Finally found it. Free of course ... I love Duckweed ... so there's the floating plant. 1 Quote Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 I hate duckweed, it is so tiny and gets everywhere. But it grows faster than anything else! 2 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 1, 2018 Author Share Posted October 1, 2018 9 hours ago, jedimasterben said: I hate duckweed, it is so tiny and gets everywhere. But it grows faster than anything else! I wonder if the big guys in the 150 like Duckweed? Planted update: Spoiler I found an Aquascape I like, stumbled on it by accident. This is an 18 gallon tank, I have more height so I'm thinking something similar but taller. source: 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 2, 2018 Author Share Posted October 2, 2018 Added some rocks. Spoiler 4 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted October 2, 2018 Share Posted October 2, 2018 8 hours ago, markalot said: Added some rocks. Hide contents I have never done a planted tank but always wanted to try one. I still have my 30 gallon XH which would be a great angel fish tank with plants. Are you going to get any fish for your tank? And why is it that we feel compelled to use every tank we have? 3 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 2, 2018 Author Share Posted October 2, 2018 41 minutes ago, vlangel said: I have never done a planted tank but always wanted to try one. I still have my 30 gallon XH which would be a great angel fish tank with plants. Are you going to get any fish for your tank? And why is it that we feel compelled to use every tank we have? Severe multiple tank syndrome. Fish soon, once I make sure CO2 is dialed in. 2 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 3, 2018 Author Share Posted October 3, 2018 TOO SOON. Added a couple of guppies, I never had guppies, and they swam to the top and started gasping. Did two 50% water changes back to back. It was hell, I stood there and waited for it to drain, than had to walk all the way to the utility tub to turn a dial. Horrid. After both changes they look ok so CO2 is OFF until I can figure out how to better dial it in. So basically I have two guppies in an uncycled tank with plants that are growing but I have no confidence that they can absorb enough ammonia. Prime and water changes daily for a while. :) 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 3, 2018 Author Share Posted October 3, 2018 Right, so I created a calcium reactor in my freshwater tank. Yay! :) I used a thin layer of aragonite below gravel. Add CO2, PH starts to drop but KH starts to rise and the PH drop is slower than it would be otherwise. Increase CO2, PH decreases a little and KH rises even more as the aragonite starts to dissolve. Most likely when I added the fish it was a KH shock + too much co2 in the water. I will need to replace the substrate to fix this problem. 2 1 Quote Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 Yeah, that's why I only use non-aragonite sand in my FW tanks. Blasting sand is good stuff if you want a dark substrate, and cheeeaaaap. 2 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 2 hours ago, markalot said: Right, so I created a calcium reactor in my freshwater tank. Yay! 🙂 I used a thin layer of aragonite below gravel. Add CO2, PH starts to drop but KH starts to rise and the PH drop is slower than it would be otherwise. Increase CO2, PH decreases a little and KH rises even more as the aragonite starts to dissolve. Most likely when I added the fish it was a KH shock + too much co2 in the water. I will need to replace the substrate to fix this problem. Good luck Mark. Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 4, 2018 Author Share Posted October 4, 2018 8 hours ago, jedimasterben said: Yeah, that's why I only use non-aragonite sand in my FW tanks. Blasting sand is good stuff if you want a dark substrate, and cheeeaaaap. 8 hours ago, vlangel said: Good luck Mark. Thanks. I removed most of it fairly easily. I think the biggest issue was a CO2 overdose. KH remained at 6 throughout the day, PH dropped a bit once I turned CO2 on. My ceramic aerator plus drop checker arrived so now I can sort of judge the amount supplied without relying on PH. Fish are good, added more Bio Spira after a 50% water change and a little extra Prime. After doing a lot of reading I don't think the problem is as bad as I originally thought. The mistake was judging co2 dosing via PH, which I can't do until all the aragonite is exhausted. I don't think that's such a big deal because algae and fish health should dictate dosing. I just need to make sure I don't spike KH daily while adding co2. 2 Quote Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 Do you have a drop checker? It's a really useful tool for judging CO2 content, and it wouldn't be affected by any in-tank chemistry other than CO2 levels. 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 4, 2018 Author Share Posted October 4, 2018 54 minutes ago, jedimasterben said: Do you have a drop checker? It's a really useful tool for judging CO2 content, and it wouldn't be affected by any in-tank chemistry other than CO2 levels. Arrived yesterday but my understanding is it's PH based, even if I use a 4 KH solution. If aragonite is keeping PH higher by dissolving and raising KH then I think the reading will be off. Right or wrong? Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 4, 2018 Author Share Posted October 4, 2018 Wrong. It works by effecting a known liquid as the co2 moves from tank water to test water. I made a 4KH solution, second try, so will be using this. Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 5, 2018 Author Share Posted October 5, 2018 Planted tank pictures Spoiler Algae is present, but coloration and growth is there as well. Top is all new, I now remember how fast growth can be with co2. Narrow Leaf Ludwigia Rotala found at a chain store, labeled wrong. That stem is all new growth. lol. How long has this been setup? Ludwigia 'Super Red' Had to travel to the west side of Cincy to get most of these plants. I love this bulb plant ... wish I could remember the name. FIsh love it as well, you'll be seeing a lot of this. :D I don't know how this 5 gallon got here, or how eco complete got in there. Shrimp hatchery is the plan. I said I added guppies but I neglected to mention these guys. I've never seen them around here and I was in the local store when the shipment came in. So far all healthy and super active. I added 2 doses of Bio Spira and so far ammonia is 0. The red on the gills bothers me. I see it in come pics but it really looks like ammonia burn. No heavy breathing or clamped fins so maybe I'm just paranoid. Here's the guppies. The selection was mostly red and orange, I want blue and these were the best they had. We'll see what happens. Drop checker. My 4KH fluid is a little high, like 4.5 KH, which should mean it turns yellow too soon. I'm fine with that. Business side of the tank which also shows the bright red of the narrow leaf ludwigia. Gogo Reef Breeders LED. All in all I was able to start out with some good plants. Monti Carlo is in the basket in front, and out of the random vals I picked up a few were the twisted variety. It's only a matter of time before I get greedy and start hunting down some of the hard to grow Rotala along with some others. Red plants are easier than red acros! 2 Quote Link to comment
skyscraper2290 Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 The FW tank is looking awesome! And of course you already have another 5G set up haha 2 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted October 6, 2018 Share Posted October 6, 2018 Looks great Mark. I have a 90g planted tank that thrives on neglect. No CO2, and I haven't changed the water or cleaned the cannister filter yet this year. I dose Vibrant, Flourish, and Aqua Vitro Remedy once a week. I harvest the plants about every six weeks. I never have to scrape the glass and the fish are getting huge. There's a school of three clown loaches that are about five inches long now. It's interesting to me how much just keeping fast growing plants can take care of nutrient export. I figure the whole thing will crash eventually but now it's kind of an experiment to see how long it will last. And eventually I can convert to salt water 🙂 This is an old picture but it hasn't changed much. 7 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 7, 2018 Author Share Posted October 7, 2018 3 hours ago, teenyreef said: Looks great Mark. I have a 90g planted tank that thrives on neglect. No CO2, and I haven't changed the water or cleaned the cannister filter yet this year. I dose Vibrant, Flourish, and Aqua Vitro Remedy once a week. I harvest the plants about every six weeks. I never have to scrape the glass and the fish are getting huge. There's a school of three clown loaches that are about five inches long now. It's interesting to me how much just keeping fast growing plants can take care of nutrient export. I figure the whole thing will crash eventually but now it's kind of an experiment to see how long it will last. And eventually I can convert to salt water 🙂 This is an old picture but it hasn't changed much. Nice Teeny. You know any good freshwater forums that aren't filled with junk? I'm on PlantedTank but that's the only one I can really stand. 1 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted October 7, 2018 Share Posted October 7, 2018 3 hours ago, markalot said: Nice Teeny. You know any good freshwater forums that aren't filled with junk? I'm on PlantedTank but that's the only one I can really stand. Unfortunately my benign neglect of the tank includes a total lack of social media involvement in FW forums 2 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 8, 2018 Author Share Posted October 8, 2018 All the fish are added ... until the guppies have fry. 8 Celestial Pearl Danios 3 guppies (2 female, one male) 6 False Julii Cories iPhone pic Fiddled around taking a video with the iPhone and uploading directly to YouTube. Clumsy, but you get the idea. The CPD remind me of Rainbows, the males even have a stripe on top that gets brighter when they are courting. The ReefBreeders light is now running 100% White Channel, which is about 300 PAR on the substrate. I expect to be farming algae any second now. 6 Quote Link to comment
DaveFason Posted October 8, 2018 Share Posted October 8, 2018 I would tone the light down. I swear it will happen in a day that the tank will turn to a algae farm. Regardless, both tanks look great! 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 8, 2018 Author Share Posted October 8, 2018 35 minutes ago, DaveFason said: I would tone the light down. I swear it will happen in a day that the tank will turn to a algae farm. Regardless, both tanks look great! Not doing it, bring on the algae. :D The biggest worry is green water IMO, but the water is so darn clear at the moment it's wonderful to look at. Let's call it an experiment. I really like the way the brighter light looks. It's the only thing this old LED light is good for. 2 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 9, 2018 Author Share Posted October 9, 2018 Video of the 40. Tang needs to go, major trimming needed, aptasia in multiple locations. 4 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 Wow, you can really tell the flow direction by the growth of the corals! 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted December 10, 2018 Author Share Posted December 10, 2018 Still running. I had a nutrient explosion at some point and the algae was epic. E P I C. I think the urchin died as I haven't seen it in a while. Nothing slowed down, if anything growth has been faster. Xenia is on the move again and I'm going to have to deal with it so I suspect it's time for some changes. I must get rid of the SPS in here, this is just silly, dosing two tanks. The spongodes is growing into the front glass, the bird is being the bird, and the caps are trying to cover everything. I need a softie / LPS tank and this should be it. It usually takes me a month or so once I get an idea to actually do something. :D The blue digitata looks quite nice, and a small piece looks even nicer in the 150 but I never gave it a permanent spot to grow. 2019, or the end of 2018, is going to feature a LOT of trimming. Did I mention the aptasia problem? EVERYWHERE. I have considered numerous options, including catching Fred and moving him to the 150 where I think he will be fine ... but he'd probably eat the cleaner shrimp, or at least try. The fat bastard. I have no issue trying to kill or smushing the aptasia, as long as a peppermint is alive in the tank as they can take care of small aptasia fairly easily. We'll see what happens. 1 2 Quote Link to comment
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