Daily log of my new 55 gallon South American Tank.
- Thread starter lousybreed
- Start date
It has been 5 days since I orginally tested the water parameters. I just checked nitrates because everything else was ok (once established i will check all parameters every 2 weeks or so, but i will monitor nitrates more often). The nitrates went from a trace to undectable!!!! The vegatative filter is rockin' and it is sucking up all the nitrates produced! here are some pics
the pics with 3 rams going from right to left are: dominant male, his woman, and a secondary male
the pics with 3 rams going from right to left are: dominant male, his woman, and a secondary male
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Nice job LB ! Now all you have to do is the decor and more fish if you want ! That's the fun part !
Um...not to be critical, your doing such a fine job and it looks fantastic ......but, could you take those things out and scrub them up a bit....lol....I'm so anal about things like that in my tanks....I'm sorry....I couldn't help it !
(I use a small ladies finger scrubber (for lack of a better name to call that thing) For aquarium use only, to scrub off my fake plants and decorations from time to time...
)
Um...not to be critical, your doing such a fine job and it looks fantastic ......but, could you take those things out and scrub them up a bit....lol....I'm so anal about things like that in my tanks....I'm sorry....I couldn't help it !
(I use a small ladies finger scrubber (for lack of a better name to call that thing) For aquarium use only, to scrub off my fake plants and decorations from time to time...
)
yeah most people like clean looking plastic plants, me on the other hand i like the slightly more natural look of algae growing on the plants, it takes the plastic look away. Also i am lazy and dont like cleaning them. With my natural plants I plant on hiring 6 otto's to do the cleaning thing!!!
Update, I broke down and bought 3 packages of plant bulbs at walmart (10 bulbs for 10 bucks!) several nights ago and planted them today. one package of apogenton bulbs (sp?) and 2 packages of the lilies (what ever they are!!!). We will see how they fare in the new tank with relatively clean gravel. I have no great expectations but we will see how it goes.
Update, I broke down and bought 3 packages of plant bulbs at walmart (10 bulbs for 10 bucks!) several nights ago and planted them today. one package of apogenton bulbs (sp?) and 2 packages of the lilies (what ever they are!!!). We will see how they fare in the new tank with relatively clean gravel. I have no great expectations but we will see how it goes.
i used the lily package and got two nice arrowhead plants from it. havent had success with the other packs just the lilly's
cyberbeer65
Scratch Glass!
That is a really nice setup,i just got a digital cam,and when i figure out how to use it i'll be posting some pics of my own!!!
"yeah most people like clean looking plastic plants, me on the other hand i like the slightly more natural look of algae growing on the plants, it takes the plastic look away. Also i am lazy and dont like cleaning them. With my natural plants I plant on hiring 6 otto's to do the cleaning thing!!!" (quote from LousyBreed)
Lol LB....I'm sorry, I just had to mention it..I'm such a fusspot with my tanks and being a mom I naturally think everyone else should be too
...and, of course, I know that that stuff always looks worse in the pictures than it does with the naked eye....Just wait till you get that background on and fill it in with more plants....Awsome! 
Lol LB....I'm sorry, I just had to mention it..I'm such a fusspot with my tanks and being a mom I naturally think everyone else should be too
...and, of course, I know that that stuff always looks worse in the pictures than it does with the naked eye....Just wait till you get that background on and fill it in with more plants....Awsome!
holy cow!!!!!!!!!
Don't worry about it, you have helped me tons Emg!!!!!! Everyone else thanks for all the nice comments, I have spent way too much time on this tank! For some reason my email notification has stopped working or else i would have replied faster!!!
I have added my 5 beckford pencilfish (nannostomus beckfordi) to the tank. They school so tightly they remind me of 5 cars tailgating each other going 85!!! I wish i could take pictures, these fish are just as colorful as the cardinals but in a different way.....
go to this thread, read the first couple posts, that is where all the good info is. there are some links on the first posts that help even more.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=175
this is overdriven normal output (ODNO) T-8 flouresent lights. Basically i have 2 32W T-8 4-foot bulbs that have the output of 100W because of this special wiring of a 4 bulb electronic ballast. On one page they said that the light output is comparable to 55W PC's. the light increase is absolutely amazing. i will enclose a pic of the new T-8's next to my T-12 strip light for my refugium. I am overdriving only 2x i cant imagine them at 4x. the ODNO T-8's make the T-12's look like they are burnt out!!!!
the ballast i used was a sylvania quicktronic QT4X32/120IS-SRNK/IN for $30 and the new light hood which i ripped out the old ballast was $18. so for $60 i have the equivalent of a 2x55W pc hood except the replacement bulbs cost 6 bucks for two instead of 40 bucks for 2 pc lights. I looked at the bulbs for too long and my eyes honestly hurt!!!
I will run some water quality test and post the results.
Emg said:"yeah most people like clean looking plastic plants, me on the other hand i like the slightly more natural look of algae growing on the plants, it takes the plastic look away. Also i am lazy and dont like cleaning them. With my natural plants I plant on hiring 6 otto's to do the cleaning thing!!!" (quote from LousyBreed)
Lol LB....I'm sorry, I just had to mention it..I'm such a fusspot with my tanks and being a mom I naturally think everyone else should be too
Don't worry about it, you have helped me tons Emg!!!!!! Everyone else thanks for all the nice comments, I have spent way too much time on this tank! For some reason my email notification has stopped working or else i would have replied faster!!!
I have added my 5 beckford pencilfish (nannostomus beckfordi) to the tank. They school so tightly they remind me of 5 cars tailgating each other going 85!!! I wish i could take pictures, these fish are just as colorful as the cardinals but in a different way.....
go to this thread, read the first couple posts, that is where all the good info is. there are some links on the first posts that help even more.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=175
this is overdriven normal output (ODNO) T-8 flouresent lights. Basically i have 2 32W T-8 4-foot bulbs that have the output of 100W because of this special wiring of a 4 bulb electronic ballast. On one page they said that the light output is comparable to 55W PC's. the light increase is absolutely amazing. i will enclose a pic of the new T-8's next to my T-12 strip light for my refugium. I am overdriving only 2x i cant imagine them at 4x. the ODNO T-8's make the T-12's look like they are burnt out!!!!
the ballast i used was a sylvania quicktronic QT4X32/120IS-SRNK/IN for $30 and the new light hood which i ripped out the old ballast was $18. so for $60 i have the equivalent of a 2x55W pc hood except the replacement bulbs cost 6 bucks for two instead of 40 bucks for 2 pc lights. I looked at the bulbs for too long and my eyes honestly hurt!!!
I will run some water quality test and post the results.
here are the new water parameters:
pH=7.0
NH3=0.0
NO2=0.0
NO3=0.0
dH=6.5 (kH=2, gH=4.5)
here is my question, how can my hardness be only 6.5 when out of the tap it is 9.5??????
type tap tank
kH 3 2 (hard to tell could be lower)
gH 6.5 4.5
can my plants in my refugium be ripping out the carbonates and minerals Ca and Mg and using them as nutrients??? Does clay substrate absorb these chemicals at first????? what is going on????
pH=7.0
NH3=0.0
NO2=0.0
NO3=0.0
dH=6.5 (kH=2, gH=4.5)
here is my question, how can my hardness be only 6.5 when out of the tap it is 9.5??????
type tap tank
kH 3 2 (hard to tell could be lower)
gH 6.5 4.5
can my plants in my refugium be ripping out the carbonates and minerals Ca and Mg and using them as nutrients??? Does clay substrate absorb these chemicals at first????? what is going on????
