Planted Biocube 8 Journal Pt. 2

[RNeiswander]

Are you sure the plants are pearling? It looks like air bubbles are being caught especially in the java moss.

 

[Ambidestrian]

Yes, I am sure. There are streams of bubbles coming off of the C. wendtii.

Regarding the fan mod: I discovered a crucial design flaw in the Biocube 8.

Here is a link to the thread I started in DIY which includes a pictorial on the mod:
Biocube Fan Mod

 

[Ambidestrian]

OK, today I did a 50% (2 gallon) water change, adding 0.001M NaHCO3 to the water as before, and the parameters now are as follows:

NO3-: 5ppm
PO4---: ~0ppm
KH: <= 1 degree
pH: ~7.0
CO2: ~12ppm

Dosed Flourish - 0.5ml KNO3 to 10ppm NO3- and KH2PO4 to 0.25ppm PO4---.

CO2 rate holding steady around 1 bubble per second.

Photos soon.

 

[gagaliya]

Ambidestrian, we have almost the same setup except i have biocube 14. I think you are way over obsessing with the tank params.

One tip i would recommend is not to waste any more money or time on the hood/fan, it's a complete piece of crap, just take it out and replace it with a standard power compact. I think coralife aqualight makes a nice small one for the biocube 8. And you will have a lot more room to work with an open top setup for planted tank.

 

[Ambidestrian]

gagaliya, I appreciate your opinion regarding my careful observation and politely disregard it.

Regarding the hood/fan, it is still running well with the fans in series. The purpose of the repair was to ameliorate its "complete piece of crap" nature. As I mentioned, it has a pretty serious design flaw with the over-voltage power supply.

Also, nice 'cube.

 

[Ambidestrian]

Here is a current photo:



The Glosso is showing some definite growth, but in the vertical direction rather than horizontal - should I "mow" it? i.e. trip the tops to encourage lateral growth?

Thanks

 

[Slappy*McFish]

I would...and I'd thin and spread it out a bit more, as well.

 

[Ambidestrian]

OK, I will do that soon. I was trying to spread it out when I bought it, but it came in a rockwool plug and I was concerned that the root system might be deleteriously damaged if I pulled it apart too much. I noticed some of the tissue becoming necrotic for the first few days, and I don't know if that was due to root damage or shipping.

Edit: I looked more closely at the plant's structure and it looks like there are a lot of root-like structures, as if it is growing runners. I bet I can figure out how to make it spread...

 

[Ambidestrian]

I removed the rockwool plug, dissected the clumps of glosso, and replanted them carefully in the substrate. Also moved the rearmost Crypt farther forward and trimmed and rearranged the stems on the left.

 

[Ambidestrian]

The plants weren't pearling as vigorously today and have shown good growth since my last entry. I didn't feel like testing, so I re-dosed the ferts roughly the same as before:

0.5mL Flourish
0.25 mL 0.5M K2SO4
1 mL 1M KNO3
4 drops KH2PO4

On second thought, this might be a little havy n the potassium. I don't have a test kit for K+.