Also, I don't have a drop checker and I'm starting to think about getting one. Any thoughts on which one?
55G planted South American themed planted tank journal
- Thread starter cobfreak
- Start date
The substrate in the 45L is some type of aquarium sand that was sold in a LFS in 25# bags many years ago and is grey in color. I've never been able to find it again the one I found that seemed similiar was labeled for saltwater tanks only.
I have RCS, Japonica, BN pleco, Ottos, in my various tanks not only for what they do for algae but I enjoy those little work-a-holics in my tanks. Your tetras will make short work of RCS so I wouldn't recommend them you'll need big Japonicas if you decide to get shrimp. For those that don't think clean up crews have a place in a planted tank this hobby is all about personal preference and those decisions are up to you. Still I give my clean up crew treats, waffers, Zucchini and other vegs they don't go after all types of algae and some of my tanks don't seem to have any but they are there if I need them.
BTW my 90gal is low tech too. I stick algae infested plants from my 120g in there in a couple of days the SAE and pleco's clean them up...LOL
Good deal on the 20L with Amazon sword goes to show I can't get my Queen Marble sword to do squat under my same low tech conditions. If I put it in my Hi tech 120 it becomes a beast go figure...LOL
I have RCS, Japonica, BN pleco, Ottos, in my various tanks not only for what they do for algae but I enjoy those little work-a-holics in my tanks. Your tetras will make short work of RCS so I wouldn't recommend them you'll need big Japonicas if you decide to get shrimp. For those that don't think clean up crews have a place in a planted tank this hobby is all about personal preference and those decisions are up to you. Still I give my clean up crew treats, waffers, Zucchini and other vegs they don't go after all types of algae and some of my tanks don't seem to have any but they are there if I need them.
BTW my 90gal is low tech too. I stick algae infested plants from my 120g in there in a couple of days the SAE and pleco's clean them up...LOL
Good deal on the 20L with Amazon sword goes to show I can't get my Queen Marble sword to do squat under my same low tech conditions. If I put it in my Hi tech 120 it becomes a beast go figure...LOL
I use a Red Sea type that came with the solution $15 at a LFS easy to read color blue not enough, green just enough, yellow to much.
Cheaper here but you can see the product to look for locally. Not as nice as the fancy glass ones but does the job for me.
http://www.aquabuys.com/p/rs_co2_indicator.html
Cheaper here but you can see the product to look for locally. Not as nice as the fancy glass ones but does the job for me.
http://www.aquabuys.com/p/rs_co2_indicator.html
http://cgi.ebay.com/CO2-Aquarium-Gl...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a07f60ad0
Real cheap idk about how well it works but if i were to get a drop checker this would be it
Real cheap idk about how well it works but if i were to get a drop checker this would be it
I use Flourish Root Tabs, which work well. I've found that my crypts took off only after I stopped messing with them - it took a few weeks for new leaves to start being produced. Granted, if I had the time, workspace & materials, I'd try diy.
You need like 100X more MTS than you have now! Okay, maybe not THAT many. Amano shrimp love to munch algae, and I've heard are hilarious to watch. Otos are also great (they love soft algae like diatoms & green dust, which it looks like you have), so long as you can find healthy stock.
You need like 100X more MTS than you have now! Okay, maybe not THAT many. Amano shrimp love to munch algae, and I've heard are hilarious to watch. Otos are also great (they love soft algae like diatoms & green dust, which it looks like you have), so long as you can find healthy stock.
Yeah, the MTS - well they'll build up over time. I've been astounded at seeing so many little ones in the 20 gallon, the one I introduced in there has only been in for maybe 2 months I think. I find that with that tank I spend more time scanning the gravel and sides for baby MTS than anything else. I love it went new stuff just "happens" in my tanks. Although not so much when it's a new type of algae.
I think I will be buying some Amano shrimp, even though they don't fit the loose biotope thing I thought I was going for. I don't think I want to deal with Otos right now as having a bunch of fish dying on me would probably just add to some of my current disappointment.
I've been thinking again about my light situation, wondering if my DIY hood should be replaced or updated or something. But that's still sort of just brewing in my mind...
Sweet Aquatics
------------------------
Order Number: 736
Date Ordered: Sunday 25 July, 2010
Your order has been updated to the following status:
New status: Shipped
---
So I'm hoping to have the new plants by Friday. Yay!
------------------------
Order Number: 736
Date Ordered: Sunday 25 July, 2010
Your order has been updated to the following status:
New status: Shipped
---
So I'm hoping to have the new plants by Friday. Yay!
New plants and updates
Time for some updates and some pictures.
First, my order from Sweet Aquatics arrived today. That's right on time, and overall is less than 2 weeks from the day I ordered to the day I got the stuff. I think that's good for my decent sized order, despite the fact that I originally was hoping to get the stuff immediately three days after ordering.
The plants were all in very good shape, and well wrapped. Although to be honest I'm getting tired of all the wet newspaper and trying to unwrap plants from it. Seems to be the way these things work, though.
I've gone out of order, but what the hell. I bought a bottle of Osmocote (will update with type when I can) yesterday (maybe the day before?) and then overnight I made fertcicles out of them. Used a regular ice cube tray, and filled each halfway with water. Then for each cube I added 1 of the small measuring cups of Osmocote. I wrote all over the tray so my wife with a sharpie wouldn't drink any of my fertcicles (she later complained that I used one of the "good" ice cube trays. I had meant to buy new ones just for this but haven't been able to find any in the discount/dollar stores I've stopped in. I'm sure I'll buy some at WalMart whenever I get there for something.)
This morning I put 12 of them into the tank, distributed evenly as deep into the substrate as I could get. A couple of words about this process: first, I had no idea how much stuff to put in each cube, and I also still don't know if I should put more of these in there. Second, I broke a few cubes by trying to get them out of the tray the usual way (twisting the tray.) After that I ran hot water on the underside, trying not to spill the cubes out as I did that. From there I could take most of them out easily enough. However, because the Osmocote pellets were on the bottom of the cubes, some of them fell off of the cubes as I put them in the water. In a couple of cases at least half of the pellets fell to the substrate, and I just tried to push them down in too. In general it was an easy process; pushing ice cubes into the substrate is easier than I thought it'd be.
The plants arrived with the mail around 3:15. I normally pick up my kids between 4 and 4:30, so that didn't give me a lot of time for planting. Nevertheless I rushed to do it, not wanting to leave the plants wrapped up for longer than I needed to.
Here's a picture of the tank (with the hood on the side, which is where I have to put it to do work as I still haven't figured out how to hang it,) prior to the addition of the plants.
Before planting I made a few other small changes. First, I cut the driftwood off of the rock that had been weighting it down. It stayed down, even as some bubbles poured out of a hole in the wood (hopefully that wasn't some kind of toxic gas.) I also removed the mare's tail and most of the anacharis (I'll probably take the rest of the anacharis out before long.)
Here's a photograph of the paper on which i drew up a rough plan for the tank some days ago. I followed it, basically, with a few changes:
Here's the outline of what I did with the plants I got. I had planned on posting pictures of each individual plant prior to and after planting; but I don't feel like it right now. I did take the pictures, though, so there available in case I get bored later:
3 Cabomba Pulcherrima (Cabomba, Purple) - planted in the background on the left side.
1 Java Fern (Microsorium Pteropus) put in back left right by the end of the driftwood, but did not attach to driftwood, hoping it attaches itself
4 Sagittaria Subulata (Dwarf) - another foreground, some joined what I already had in the front left, a couple larger ones placed in front/center/left.
1 Anubias Barteri Var. Coffeefolia (potted) - very small, currently left in pot in midback right. Will be rooting to small piece of driftwood hopefully.
1 Alternanthera Reineckii Var. Roseafolia - planted in right background around coffeefolia (this seems like a lot of stems for 2 bucks?)
1 Java Fern Narrow Leaf - used rubber band to attach to rock, but I don't know if this is going to work. Should I put this in the substrate, or on a piece of driftwood?
2 Cryptocoryne Retrospiralis - planted middle left, where is might get some shade as it's surrounded by a lot of stuff
2 Cryptocoryne Spiralis - I think I planted one (or 2?) of these in my 20 long. Definitely planted one in the rear, behind the driftwood, in the 55.
2 Stargrass (Heteranthera Zosterfolia) - hard to tell if I did this "right". I might want to trim it. It's behind the micro sword, in front of the jungle vals
1 Lilaeopsis Mauritiana (potted) micro sword - trying to make a carpet/foreground in center of tank. separated most of the individual plants by cutting/breaking runners and planted individually which took a long time.
1 Isoetes Lacustris ( Octopus Plant ) - didn't plant this in the 55; planted instead in my 20 long. There seemed to be more than one piece to this and some of it is floating in the 20 as I'm out of room. Not sure what the hell to do with this, but I think the temperature in the 55 is too high for it.
Here are some photos from after I finished:
full tank shot:
left side:
center:
right side:
I really am eager to see the end of this diatom/brown/whatever algae it is. I think I need to clean my filters, maybe do a water change. I'm also looking for thoughts on my getting some Flourish Excel. I've read that it will melt vals and maybe some of the other things in my tank, and I can't figure out if that's in ALL cases or just in high concentrations/spot treating.
I'm also going to be going to three bottles for my CO2. I'm still running my initial single 2 liter bottle, but I've got enough bottles setup to do three. I hope that that helps.
I like the way my layout has come along. I've got some more plans, including an additional piece of driftwood I still plan to add on the right side of the tank (if I can get it attached to something the way I want to so it'll stay under water.)
As always I'd love to hear any advice, criticism, comments, answers to my questions, etc. Thanks for reading.
Time for some updates and some pictures.
First, my order from Sweet Aquatics arrived today. That's right on time, and overall is less than 2 weeks from the day I ordered to the day I got the stuff. I think that's good for my decent sized order, despite the fact that I originally was hoping to get the stuff immediately three days after ordering.
The plants were all in very good shape, and well wrapped. Although to be honest I'm getting tired of all the wet newspaper and trying to unwrap plants from it. Seems to be the way these things work, though.
I've gone out of order, but what the hell. I bought a bottle of Osmocote (will update with type when I can) yesterday (maybe the day before?) and then overnight I made fertcicles out of them. Used a regular ice cube tray, and filled each halfway with water. Then for each cube I added 1 of the small measuring cups of Osmocote. I wrote all over the tray so my wife with a sharpie wouldn't drink any of my fertcicles (she later complained that I used one of the "good" ice cube trays. I had meant to buy new ones just for this but haven't been able to find any in the discount/dollar stores I've stopped in. I'm sure I'll buy some at WalMart whenever I get there for something.)
This morning I put 12 of them into the tank, distributed evenly as deep into the substrate as I could get. A couple of words about this process: first, I had no idea how much stuff to put in each cube, and I also still don't know if I should put more of these in there. Second, I broke a few cubes by trying to get them out of the tray the usual way (twisting the tray.) After that I ran hot water on the underside, trying not to spill the cubes out as I did that. From there I could take most of them out easily enough. However, because the Osmocote pellets were on the bottom of the cubes, some of them fell off of the cubes as I put them in the water. In a couple of cases at least half of the pellets fell to the substrate, and I just tried to push them down in too. In general it was an easy process; pushing ice cubes into the substrate is easier than I thought it'd be.
The plants arrived with the mail around 3:15. I normally pick up my kids between 4 and 4:30, so that didn't give me a lot of time for planting. Nevertheless I rushed to do it, not wanting to leave the plants wrapped up for longer than I needed to.
Here's a picture of the tank (with the hood on the side, which is where I have to put it to do work as I still haven't figured out how to hang it,) prior to the addition of the plants.
Before planting I made a few other small changes. First, I cut the driftwood off of the rock that had been weighting it down. It stayed down, even as some bubbles poured out of a hole in the wood (hopefully that wasn't some kind of toxic gas.) I also removed the mare's tail and most of the anacharis (I'll probably take the rest of the anacharis out before long.)
Here's a photograph of the paper on which i drew up a rough plan for the tank some days ago. I followed it, basically, with a few changes:
Here's the outline of what I did with the plants I got. I had planned on posting pictures of each individual plant prior to and after planting; but I don't feel like it right now. I did take the pictures, though, so there available in case I get bored later:
3 Cabomba Pulcherrima (Cabomba, Purple) - planted in the background on the left side.
1 Java Fern (Microsorium Pteropus) put in back left right by the end of the driftwood, but did not attach to driftwood, hoping it attaches itself
4 Sagittaria Subulata (Dwarf) - another foreground, some joined what I already had in the front left, a couple larger ones placed in front/center/left.
1 Anubias Barteri Var. Coffeefolia (potted) - very small, currently left in pot in midback right. Will be rooting to small piece of driftwood hopefully.
1 Alternanthera Reineckii Var. Roseafolia - planted in right background around coffeefolia (this seems like a lot of stems for 2 bucks?)
1 Java Fern Narrow Leaf - used rubber band to attach to rock, but I don't know if this is going to work. Should I put this in the substrate, or on a piece of driftwood?
2 Cryptocoryne Retrospiralis - planted middle left, where is might get some shade as it's surrounded by a lot of stuff
2 Cryptocoryne Spiralis - I think I planted one (or 2?) of these in my 20 long. Definitely planted one in the rear, behind the driftwood, in the 55.
2 Stargrass (Heteranthera Zosterfolia) - hard to tell if I did this "right". I might want to trim it. It's behind the micro sword, in front of the jungle vals
1 Lilaeopsis Mauritiana (potted) micro sword - trying to make a carpet/foreground in center of tank. separated most of the individual plants by cutting/breaking runners and planted individually which took a long time.
1 Isoetes Lacustris ( Octopus Plant ) - didn't plant this in the 55; planted instead in my 20 long. There seemed to be more than one piece to this and some of it is floating in the 20 as I'm out of room. Not sure what the hell to do with this, but I think the temperature in the 55 is too high for it.
Here are some photos from after I finished:
full tank shot:
left side:
center:
right side:
I really am eager to see the end of this diatom/brown/whatever algae it is. I think I need to clean my filters, maybe do a water change. I'm also looking for thoughts on my getting some Flourish Excel. I've read that it will melt vals and maybe some of the other things in my tank, and I can't figure out if that's in ALL cases or just in high concentrations/spot treating.
I'm also going to be going to three bottles for my CO2. I'm still running my initial single 2 liter bottle, but I've got enough bottles setup to do three. I hope that that helps.
I like the way my layout has come along. I've got some more plans, including an additional piece of driftwood I still plan to add on the right side of the tank (if I can get it attached to something the way I want to so it'll stay under water.)
As always I'd love to hear any advice, criticism, comments, answers to my questions, etc. Thanks for reading.
