75 gallon Planted Office Tank Journal

[geekpryde]

Looks amazing! I really dig the light you got on that tank.

Do you have a glass lid, or is it open on top?

Open top. I (hopefully) have red root floater coming in tomorrow, which should look really nice floating on top of water without being blocked by a hood/canaopy/lid. Easier to dose ferts, feed, etc. I tend to stick my arm in the tank quite a few times a day cleaning, or moving something, or replanting a stem that popped up. really, open tank is the way to go IMHO, assuming you dont have jumpers like killies, or kids that might toss legos, dog food, etc into the tank LOL.

No snails or shrimp have escaped, although they could if they wanted to.

Thanks for looking. And :welcome:, looks like your a new member?


p.s. The fixture is from Catalina Aquarium, although if you like the raised look, alot of lights from other manufacturers can be raised.

 

[geekpryde]

Looking good!

Here is info I read a while back on using quilt batting in Eheim canisters, go to the heading 'Filter media and filter maintenance'
http://www.fmueller.com/home/aquaristic/125g/technology/filtration/

Awesome link, thanks! I think my new filter may be in as early as tomorrow, as Kens ships super fast. I will be at walmart/target to get the batting material. I think I will follow the advice from the link, and do 100% floss. If that doesnt work at clearing up some of the fine particles, then I guess I can always try other things including purigen. I just need someone to now point me in the direction of another few links, which can settle if purigen is safe for planted tanks, or if sucking up all the nitrate is a deal killer.

I'm going to check out the rest of that site, looks like alot of interesting info.

 

[moi-eater]

really, open tank is the way to go IMHO, assuming you dont have jumpers like killies, or kids that might toss legos, dog food, etc into the tank LOL.

:rofl: so true...

 

[J.W.]

Thanks for looking. And :welcome:, looks like your a new member?

Yes I am, and your thread was the first one I was checking out. Took me a couple of days get through, but your journal has really been a joy to read.

I started with aquariums about in about 1988 - at one point i had 7 tanks of various sizes in a 1 bed room apartment... in 2002 I moved to Canada, and havent had a tank since then. I still have the bug, but you really convinced me to give it a shot again. Currently eyeballing a used 80 gallon tank.

The open tank concept is an awesome look. Im just a bit concerned about the evaporation and moisture levels in the living space where it would be set up. But perhaps Im just going to have to try it out see for my self. Its definitely a look that I like.

 

[geekpryde]

The open tank concept is an awesome look. Im just a bit concerned about the evaporation and moisture levels in the living space where it would be set up. But perhaps Im just going to have to try it out see for my self. Its definitely a look that I like.

In my area, this time of year, I am losing around 1/2 inch per day due to evaporation. No big deal for me, a steal a few seconds at some point in the day, and toss some more water in probably every other day. Of course, this tank is at my office, so doing this is a nice little break. If you are coming home from a long days work, you may not want to have to deal with little issues like this. You can always let the water drop down an inch or two beneath the rim until the next water change, unless this is your show tank and you need to impressive people.

 

[geekpryde]

The "red root floater" just came in. I'm a little underwhelmed. The container is the size described but IMHO there is just very few "plants". Some small floaters, half of which are teared, and some various bits and peices. A lot do not have roots attached. I thought the thing would be brimming with red root floater. :irked: We'll im not going to complain to seller, since it maybe "technically" meets the description. And maybe these few little petals will take off and fill my tank, have to wait and see.

It was too sad to even take a picture. When I put them in the tank, they basically disappear and dont look like anything more than ripped leaves from stem plants floating around. Too bad, since the pictures I have seen online of this stuff is stunning, with red and green floating leaves (pads?) and small white flowers. The root structure is pretty, cool looking, and should protect shrimp and little fish, IF and WHEN I get these scraps to grow.

Again, I dont want to trash on the seller, I'm sure it is more my too high expectations in hoping for a brimming cup full of big color pads for an instant floated plant look. Live and learn, at most I'm out $10.00, but really if the few bits end up growing, it wont be a loss at all.

 

[fish-n-chips]

Sorry to hear about the " red root floaters" geekpryde. I hope they take off for you. If they don't maybe you could try some red tiger lotus. They are a great looking bulb plant and I have seen some with 3+" pads.

 

[geekpryde]

Sorry to hear about the " red root floaters" geekpryde. I hope they take off for you. If they don't maybe you could try some red tiger lotus. They are a great looking bulb plant and I have seen some with 3+" pads.

Yeah, I think what I am going to take from this little incident is that I am only going to buy things from the classifieds that come with pictures of the actual products / plants I am paying for. Hard to get the wrong idea from a picture. If the listing doesnt contain a picture, but I really want the item, I will try asking for a pic, otherwise I will have to wait until another listing presents itself. If this tiny amount of RRF doesnt work out, I am not giving up on the plant yet, I will just order from another vendor and get photos of exactly what is being sold. I will check out the lotus you mentioned.

 

[geekpryde]

I want to revisit a subject that has come up in the past, that probably no one cares about but me, my water hardness. :grinno:

So a few posts back I linked to my previous annual water quality report, and told you how I never used to read the printed ones they mail out each year. Well suprise, I got the 2010 report today in the mail, and I actually sat down and read it (for the benefit of the fish). I would seem that my area of Maine has very soft water. The report lists 150 ppm as the Max allowed by Maine law, but for 2010 my water is 9.5ppm. Yes, only 9.5ppm which is only like half of one dGH!

So, to make sure I wasn't crazy, I went online and found this in FAQ from my water company.

What is the hardness of my water?
Hardness levels in Maine waters are generally low but can range from near zero to several hundred milligrams per liter as calcium carbonate (mg/L as CaCO3), the standard unit for hardness. The Greater Portland water source (Sebago Lake) has a hardness value of 9 and is described as soft, as you can see from the following table.

Hardness Range (mg/L as CaCO3)
0 – 75ppm = Soft
75 – 150ppm = Moderately hard
150 – 300ppm = Hard
More than 300ppm = Very hard

I would say my water if VERY soft, which I have said before. I guess I didnt realize it was this soft/low. So, for the past two weeks or so I have been dosing GH booster (my own homemade version based on Mr. Barrs booster), at 1 tablespoon per week. I think I might have to increase this, I mean 0.5 german degrees out of the tap is pathetic. The goal most people list is 3-6 dGH, but I wonder if this is still the goal.

Iron is listed as < 0.05ppm, again way too low.

Calcium is listed as 2.8ppm and magnesium is 0.56ppm.

Lots of other things are listed, but you get the point. Also, I found this quote interesting, since I didn't realize Maine had such acidic water, and it has to be artificially raised.

Sodium hydroxide is added to raise the pH of Maine's Naturally acidic water...

:hypnotized:

 

[geekpryde]

After doing a water change on my kids tank tonight, I decided that I should move the sole boesemani rainbow (used to be a pair) from kids tank to my office tank, which as you may know, has 6. I figure he will be mcuh happier, and can teach the young ones a thing or two. To replace that fish, and some cherry barbs I stole from my kids a month ago, we went and purchased some mollys, which I really do not care for, but hey, it makes the kids happy, and I have my own tank now, so I kept my mouth shut.

Also purchased some frozen food for the first time. Got mysis shrimp, daphnia, and krill. Save those treats for monday afternoon. opcorn:

Here is a picture of the fish while he awaits the new tank. Not the best way to move a fish I'm sure, but it works.