New tank journal

Think about cholla instead of pvc when the time comes. It looks more "natural" & plants like anubias, ferns & moss can attach more easily than to plastic; but it doesn't last forever. All the cholla holes allow better water movement too, & shrimp love it.

Maybe the tiki needs a java fern or moss headdress? lol, maybe the teen would like to give him a moss "fro", "fade" or other style.

Really, just some fun thoughts. & there are "nicer" mosses than plain java (I find that a PITA). Xmas, fissidens or (not a moss) subwassertang, just some ideas. Take your time.

As for your filters, I'd run both for a month or 2.
 
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The cholla wood looks interesting. I'll have to give it a chance when the time comes for shrimp.

The last couple of days have been pretty good. I picked up 3 panda cories and added them to the tank. After a couple of days and a little ammonia spike, one of them is looking like he may not make it, but the other two seem happy and healthy along with the other inhabitants. The ammonia spike settled down relatively quickly, and things seem to be back to stable again.

The chain swords arrived that I ordered and they looked great, so I planted them. I moved the java ferns and anubias to the right around the wood, and put the chain swords and crypts on the left with tiki guy. I'm not sure I like it this way, but I'll take a couple of days to let everything rest before making any more moves.

I didn't quarantine the new additions... *ducks out of the way*. This was because of logistics. I don't have the proper equipment or space to set up and extra holding tank. As well as the fiance gave a hard no to setting up another tank. I did have a long talk with the kid about quarantining, why it's done and why we're not doing it.

Here's how it looks now.

IMG_20180924_192621495.jpg

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice about root tabs. It seems that all of the plants on the left could benefit from them, but I've never used them. I'm concerned that some of them that I saw contained copper. Would this be harmful to the shrimp I plan to put in there some day? Would they affect the water chemistry in ways that I'm not aware of? Any recommendations on brands? I really want the crypts and swords to fill in, but I don't want to do anything to risk the fish or future shrimp or the water quality.
 
I like it!

Well, I'd go with a root tab without copper if there is 1 ;) There's also the "roll your own" option; I have the stuff but have never done it. Does Osmocote have copper? I don't recall.

As for QT, not everyone can have even a temporary "extra" tank, even a plastic tub. Do the best you can.

As for the new chain swords, my plant club friends would pick each bunch apart into individual plantlets. I do more like you have, little clumps; but they don't spread as well or fast. Crypts are slow no matter what you do, but that's not bad in my book.
 
Cholla wood is excellent, my shrimp love it. Not very expensive either, which is nice. Just make sure to soak it to get rid of tannins and get it to sink :)

Panda cories are nice little fish, I have a pair in my peppered cory school. They were last 2 at lfs and looked so sad to be on their own. I hope your 3rd one pulls through!

The chains swords look amazing! How much space do you have to move Tiki head forward? Id move it closer to the front of the tank and perhaps move the driftwood further back it possible. Once the swords and crypts grow in they will the empty space in nicely. Tank looks awesome, I am loving the black substrate. I am definitely doing black substrate in next tank!

Just a tip, a quick salt bath or bleach dip can be just as effective for making sure plants dont have any unwanted guests on them. I usually do a salt bath and havent had any unwanted guests since I started doing this. I learned the hard way with my first plants. Resulted in a massive pond snail infestation lol!

For root tabs, Ive only ever used them for my amazon swords and alternanthera. Theyre in a tank with a ton of pond snails and MTS and the snails see no issue with them. I use the api root tabs. I have not used them in my planted shrimp tank, only use liquid ferts in it.
 
Thanks fishorama and Defj. I appreciate the advice and kind words.


I'll have to keep looking to find a root tab without copper. If I'm remembering right, osmocote does have it. I'll have to look again.

I pulled the chain swords apart as much as it seemed logical. To pull them apart any more seems like it would be detrimental. I'm hoping that once they settle in they'll spread. I don't expect miracles, but I'm hopeful that they'll do well.

The Tiki head sits just a little back from center. I can move it forward a bit. I kind of like that idea. I'll probably wait a little while though and let things settle in before messing with it any more. The wood is actually just about touching the glass in the front, back and right side. I could slide it a little bit to the left, but without cutting it, that's all the freedom of movement there.

Defj, can you say more about the salt bath? I've never done it, but it sounds like a good idea. I'm definitely going to hold off on root tabs until I can do way more research. The reading I've been doing the last couple of days is inconclusive at best. I'm going to work on finding one with no copper. But I've also read stories of people who have gotten massive ammonia or nitrate spike from them. IDK if they were over-dosing or something, but it's definitely something I'm going to keep in mind.

I got my first major nitrate reading last night (20ppm), with ammonia and nitrite both at 0, so I think things are going along well. I'll take another reading when I get home, and do a 50% water change to bring the nitrates down. If things stay stable for the rest of the week, I'll probably pick up 3 or 4 more neons at the weekend to add to the school.
 
inverts will need a small amount of copper in the water, you just need a safe level.

check out http://nilocg.com/thrivetabs

I'm personally not a fan of home made osmocote tabs because of the risk of them entering the water column. Also be sure to get the correct sort of Osmocote if you plan to do that too.

Dipping in bleach or salt solutions, can be detrimental to the plants, and can hurt some plants more than others. Going with tissue cultured plants can avoid all of these issues.
 
Thanks for that, dougall... I'll have to check those out.

So... it turns out I'm an idiot. When I was looking at the nitrate test yesterday, I was looking at the saltwater card. So my nitrates are still sitting at 5ish. Which actually makes a lot more sense given all of the water changes I've been doing lately. Had a small ammonia reading (between 0 and 2.5)again today, so it looks like I'm not as far along as I thought. I didn't think it would take so long for the bacteria to build back up after adding only a few small fish, but it seems to be.

So more water changes and waiting...
 
So I just do it almost same way you would salt bath a fish with fungus. I add about a table spoon of non iodized salt to approx 2 gallons of dechlorinated water. Then just stick the plants in for a few. Washed off with treated water and in they went. I should note Ive only done this with hardy plant species. Some are just to sensitive to do that too as Dougall noted. Just what I do anyways. Once I get my stand set up I have 3 more tanks going up, one of which will be dedicated quarantine tank.
 
Argh. What a night. The aquatech filter crapped the bed a little bit ago. So I pulled an old Aquaclear 20 out of the attic and prayed that it worked. It did, but it's a little noisey. I'm hoping that it quiets down a little bit as it runs. I'm glad I put a bag of AC bio-stuff in the Aquatech to start seeding.

So now I've got an AC 20 and an AC 30 running. Both set up with 2 sponges and bio-stuff. Both also have pre-filter sponges on the intake, so there should be plenty of surface area for BB. It remains to be seen how far this will set the cycle back, but I'm hoping it's not too bad.

I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but I got the gasket in for my leaky Eheim canister. I put that on and it worked great until the pressure blew out the gaskets around the tube connections. So I ordered a new set of those and will test it again when they come in.
 
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