75 gallon Planted Office Tank Journal

Squawkbert said:
I couldn't tell from the FTS - but you know that Anubias has to be tied to something - that you don't want to have the rhizome in the substrate, right (roots coming out of the rhizome-OK, but the rhizome itself has to be in water, not substrate)?
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I didnt tie the anubias to anything, but I did make sure to pull the plant up a bit after planting to totally expose the rhisome. I just checked it again and think it will be okay. Does it HAVE to be tied to something? Maybe I should tie it to the driftwood, but that may look awkward.
 
Squawkbert said:
Quick double check on CO2 levels... toward the end of the photoperiod (after CO2 has been on for several hours - shortly before you leave work), pull a cup of water from the tank. Do a pH test on it, note reading, retest another sample from the same cup the next morning. If you *had* about 30ppm CO2 in the water at the end of the day and this has dropped overnight to the 3ppm that is typical of standing water at atmospheric equilibrium, your morning pH should be up about 1 full unit. If it only goes up 0.5 unit, you only had about 15ppm CO2 before. If it doesn't move, it doesn't mean you have no CO2 variation, it means your tank's buffering capacity if high (high GH and/or KH) and that this test won't work for your tank.

If you're going to have CO2 dosage problems, it's best to deliver too little as too much can kill your fish. Drop checkers need to be very clean as the 4dKH solution used in them has pretty low buffering capacity. Any soap or other residue can result in unwanted buffering capacity within the test chamber thus rendering results inaccurate. When in doubt, clean it out thoroughly, rinse it w/ lots of DI or RO water, rinse it a time or three w/ a little of your 4dKH solution, then fill it and add your pH indicator drops.

You need not repeat this procedure unless your reagent fades (place drop checker low or in a shaded region of the tank to prolong reagent life as it is photosensitive) or gets contaminated (yes, snails may investigate the interior of your dropchecker and yes, they do get overturned now and then).
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I am going to look into this tomorrow and take your advice to test and clean to be safe. I would do it today, but work (real work) did not go so hot today. :pc: Thanks for posting the info.
 
Re: snails... Can't say enough good things about MTS! They tend to stay hidden most of the daylight hours, unless there's food on the ground. They are livebearers, no unsightly eggs on your glass/plants. And they're fairly slow breeders. I started off with 5. I have seen a few babies, but no explosion in population.

You may find nerites more to your taste (no escargot jokes!), they're pretty, get to be about the size if a quarter, and love to eat algae. Ohhh but may not be good with your open top... They like to roam. :p:

ramshorn's (NOT the Colombian one) are neat, but they will lay eggs! They come in different colors and do a great job cleaning up!
 
You don't need to attach your anubias to the driftwood. They'll do best in the shade of other plants... Mine all have some growth of algae because there's no shade. The slow growth of anubias leaves can't out-compete algae.
 
fishycat said:
Re: snails... Can't say enough good things about MTS! They tend to stay hidden most of the daylight hours, unless there's food on the ground. They are livebearers, no unsightly eggs on your glass/plants. And they're fairly slow breeders. I started off with 5. I have seen a few babies, but no explosion in population.

You may find nerites more to your taste (no escargot jokes!), they're pretty, get to be about the size if a quarter, and love to eat algae. Ohhh but may not be good with your open top... They like to roam. :p:

ramshorn's (NOT the Colombian one) are neat, but they will lay eggs! They come in different colors and do a great job cleaning up!
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What about the Assasin snails everyone is always talking about? Are the only good to feed on other snails? Thanks for the info, snails and algae are the next things I need to research and tackle head-on. I'm going to try and :nutkick: the algae.
 
fishycat said:
:clap: :clap: :clap:

Yes!! Nice to see all the lovely plants! That free plant is neat-looking! Your fish also seem happier... Dare I say it? More pics! :laugh:
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Yeah, about time on the plants huh? The Krib got much happier the morning of the day I put the plants in. Dont know what really changed, but color came back, she started coming out of here little cichlid stone (she prefers the tiny one), and she has also started being very aggressive to the Curvicep, which is odd, since they both lived happily in the 29g. Thanks for commenting, and you KNOW the pics will keep on coming. I hope none of you have dial-up connections, :hitting:.
 
geekpryde said:
What about the Assasin snails everyone is always talking about? Are the only good to feed on other snails? Thanks for the info, snails and algae are the next things I need to research and tackle head-on. I'm going to try and :nutkick: the algae.
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Just googled Assassins, as I've never had any. They do not eat algae. They will help if you have any pond/bladder snails. They breed slowly, and don't exactly binge on snails... They were referred to as more "population control" unless you get a ton of them.

MTS are your best bet for unobstrusive clean up crew. And *ahem* you still need to stock your tank with about 50 habrosus corydoras...

:rofl:

seriously, I'm looking forward to seeing some cories (julii?) or pleco (albino longfin bristlenose!!!) in your tank someday. :D BTW, bn plecs are very good at keeping algae off your tank walls!
 
fishycat said:
MTS are your best bet for unobstrusive clean up crew.
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So what do people who keep/buy/sell MTS and/or Nerites say about number of snails per gallon. I found once source online that said about 1 per gallon, but there is NO way I want 75 freaking nerites roaming my tank. Would 20 do? Or even less? If I do MTS, I assume I can buy just a few and they will then manage their own population?
 
FTS Day 2

FTS Day 2

Please forgive the reflections in the glass. I am working on a better camera solution.

I have only 1 bulb on, the pink Grow bulb.

DSC_2489.JPG
 
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