169 replies to this topic

[waruna]

Thank you for the kind words CubanB, appreciate it

Thanks Oliver That would be fantastic. Also if you get a red wendtii i'd love one!

I'm struggling to get rid of some Cladophora algae.. So far this has been the toughest. I spot treated with Hydrogen peroxide, and performed a water change after, algae is slowly dying.. I only sprayed a few patches.. After two days i found one of my Farlowella catfish and 5 corys dead This is the only change i've made in the tank.. I found 3 yesterday and three today! There's another cory which has burnt marks to the tail and half the body, i saw another about to die, ( it's so hard to see what is going on in the tank, it's a thick jungle now, Blyxa has taken over, expanded to the front glass now). This is devastating! Obviously i've used too much peroxide. I'm doing a water change again tonight. Hate seeing dead fish.

[waruna]

Tank at four months




And a months worth of ferts...




Comments/advice welcome

[Westie]

Mate that looks sensational!!!!!!!!
I see you got some of your goodies from Aquotix, love that place
Well done man, if my tank looked even 10% as good as that tank, I'd be stoked!

Thanks for sharing
Jason

[waruna]

Hey Mate, thank you. It's a fair bit of work/cleaning, i can't seem to get rid of Clado.. Once a week i pick little by little hoping this would control it.. You can't really see it but if you are standing in front of the tank you'll see it clearly..

Ferns are growing slowly, have been meaning to read up a bit on them to see if they need any particular nutrient more than the others?!

I lost over 10 Corys, dying has stopped! Thankfully. I'll write a full update one of these days, and post a pic of all the plants pearling!

[(Anthony)]

bloody brilliant mate you done a great job on it!!!
i wasnt going to be to serious with my new display but i can see why peeps do
great stuff

Anthony,

[werdna]

I dont know alot about planted tanks. But...

Do you add all those ingredients in one week?
Please dont tell me you are trying to reduce pH and increase hardness at the same time.
The two are related, it wont happen.

Also I would have thought the tannins being released by the wood and the decaying plant matter should be keeping your ph at ~6.
The tank will naturally find its own balance between ph and hardness that should keep both plants and Discus happy.
Why are you trying to increase hardness anyway?

Andrew

[waruna]

Thanks for the feedback Anthony, appreciate it

Hello Andrew,

Well i don't know much about planted tanks either, i'm still learning

Do you add all those ingredients in one week?
Please dont tell me you are trying to reduce pH and increase hardness at the same time.
The two are related, it wont happen.

Yes i do.. But i'm not really concentrating on increasing hardness...

On Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays i add few liters (haha) of Trace and Iron.
On Tuesdays/Thursdays/Saturdays I add 10g of PH down, simply to increase PO4 level. In the morning the level is at (has been for 6 weeks) .3ppm (between .2 and .4, per Lamotte test kit). 10g raises the PO4 level between 1.5ppm to 2.0ppm.. Next Morning it's back to where it started. I add GH booster to raise my Calcium and Magnesium levels, typically Ca level is above 50ppm, and MG level is over 5ppm. I usually add 20g of GH booster on the days I add PH down, I mix them in separate.

Also I would have thought the tannins being released by the wood and the decaying plant matter should be keeping your ph at ~6.
The tank will naturally find its own balance between ph and hardness that should keep both plants and Discus happy.
Why are you trying to increase hardness anyway?

Before Co2 injection starts (10.30am) my PH is at 7.2, lights come on at 11.30am. Before the lights go out (9.45pm) my PH is at 6.35.

I've learnt that there are two ways to do things, one way is to assume.. By this I mean just because there are fish and decaying leaves etc etc there should be enough PO4 and NO3, so no need to add it.. The other way is to test, test and after more testing get all fert levels to the recommended levels/range by those who keep absolutely stunning planted aquariums.. They've done the hard work!

The targeted ranges are:

NO3 (10-20) ppm
PO4 (0.5-2.0) ppm
K (10-20) ppm
Ca (10-30) ppm
Mg (2-5) ppm
Fe (0.1-0.2) ppm

This is working for me, it's my first planted tank, i'm learning from my mistakes

I mix 50g of KH powder to 220l of aged water when I do a WC, KH in my tank is 7.


This is the best pearling pic i managed to get... I'll get a close up one soon.



Regards,

[Westie]

sensational looking photo mate
sorry to hear the corys died
so you gonna start importing this style of tank?

CODE

reason for edit: spelling correction

Edited by Jason82, 12 July 2011 - 08:56 PM.

[Brett]

The tank is looking really great, tribute to all that testing.
Nice to see those discus still enjoying it.

I must admit that when I first started I tested a lot, but as time went by and things stayed the same I tested a lot less and then basically stopped. Now I just test new tanks or when things go wrong.

Cheers
Brett

[waruna]

so you gonna start importing this style of tank?

Hey Mate, thanks. What do you mean? Importing tanks??

Hi Brett, Thanks mate, it's getting there.. slowly Same, i stopped testing for a while when everything seemed to be ok, then had 0ppm of NO3 and had a huge BBA problem.. Discus are doing well, two still doesn't eat pellets!! If i can't get Altums i'm thinking of adding another colony of WC Discus, bit of red would go nicely.. Altums dream is still alive tho..

[Mr_docfish]

Please dont tell me you are trying to reduce pH and increase hardness at the same time. The two are related, it wont happen.
Also I would have thought the tannins being released by the wood and the decaying plant matter should be keeping your ph at ~6.
The tank will naturally find its own balance between ph and hardness that should keep both plants and Discus happy.
Why are you trying to increase hardness anyway?

The pH down powder is only added for the introduction of PO4 (phosphates) - which is only in trace amounts, and have very little affect on pH in the whole scheme of things.......

To help clarify - the increase in KH hardness is aimed at increasing the pH (as it does) this allows the introduction of CO2 (reducing the pH) so the plants (preferring CO2 in carbonic acid form, bound as bicarbonates, compared to simple carbonates) can obtain their required carbon in a preferred way.... if the KH is too low, therefore the pH will be too low - so the introduction of CO2 will drop the pH even lower for fish and plants to be happy..... so increasing the KH allows the introduction of extra CO2 without dropping the pH below preferred levels.... this play on KH vs CO2 is ideal if you have a pH controller - allowing you to obtain a suitable, desired pH that is stable and controllable.... within reason (too high KH will require too much CO2 to drop the pH, therefore affecting the fishes blood CO2 levels - resulting in acidosis)

Adding GH booster to increase the GH is generally for the introduction of Calcium (nearly impossible to add to normal fertiliser mixes) as well as introducing other required minerals like Magnesium and Potassium (the latter not affecting the GH, but used to maintain the ratio of Ca:Mg:K.

The above products are designed to be completely assimilated by the plants - K, Ca, Mg, CO3, Fe etc.... the only left over products from all the above mixes provided by me to Waruna is SO4 (sulphates) which are considered harmless in a planted tank, even in high levels, and a small amount of Na (sodium) from the pH down powder (used to introduce a small amount of phosphates) but the small amount used is not considered accumulative - plants still use this small amount of Na.

I hope this clears it up a bit.... chemistry in a planted tank is one of my favourite after hours hobbies....

Cheers
Oliver

[werdna]

Fair enough.
Shows what I know about planted tanks

[Mr_docfish]

Fair enough.
Shows what I know about planted tanks

It is a similar but different chemistry to fish tanks - for example - I use a Calcium Chloride base for increasing the GH in fish tanks, but Cacium Sulpate base for increasing the GH in planted tanks - lower solubility, but more suitable for plants, and in the lower pH with the CO2 injection, it dissolves within minutes....

[Brett]

chemistry in a planted tank is one of my favourite after hours hobbies....

This makes you a very rare bird indeed Oliver
We must compare cations some day.

Cheers
Brett

[phwoah]

great looking tank cant wait to see more pics

[waruna]

Thanks phowah

I'm doing a re scape, no Blyxa and Swords.. With some luck i'll be able to grow a carpet of Glosso.. I'm going to try and be patient with planting this time lol. I'm aiming for an open grass land, not getting rid of the wood though. There will be lots of Anubias nana, Crypts/Balansae, ferns.. Might go for a darker looking "all green" type tank.. Tank looks very empty, not sure what i'll do with the Red lotus!!

I'm pumped

[kassysimon]

Great tank mate!

I also will soon be setting up a planted tank, a 3m giant. I wanted to know if you could draw a diagram of your plumbing and a diagram of your CO2 system? Im particularily interested in the CO2 reactor. I have never seen one like that before, i have only ever seen in-tank types of reactors.

Thanks again.

[waruna]

Hi kassysimon,

I'm hopeless at drawing, anything.. Why don't you build your own Co2 reactor? Something like this:
http://www.aquaticpl...o2-reactor.html

I wouldn't use my reactor again, or on a large setup.. The inlet and outlet connections are 19mm, too small in my opinion. IF i ever build a large/r tank i'd go with a pressurized sand filters, i did consider this at the start but changed my mind.. If you are thinking what the heck i'm talking about:

http://www.pbase.com...la/xxlarge_tank

http://www.pbase.com.../image/50074300

Of course you will have to do lots of research and maybe test this on a smaller tank/system first, i would.. The best advice i can give you is to hope for the best and plan for the worst..!! Build the tank, do the plumbing and test the flow/Co2 distribution etc etc. ALWAYS have enough space in between joints to cut and add a new joint if you make a mistake. Go over board with filtration and circulation, as the plants grow it will reduce the flow considerably! Read and read more, good luck mate. PM me any time if you need a chat

Update. Glosso is growing nicely, i'm quite impressed with the rate. It looks empty compared to what it used to be. I've taken out all the Red lotus (18 pups), all except one Windelow leaf java, and lots of normal Java. All my algae problems are gone!! I increased my bubble rate so the targeted Co2 levels are achieved at the time of lights coming on, this is by far the best piece of advice I received about Co2 (thanks Dutchy). I've cut down the lighting period, ^hours of Photo, an hour before and after for viewing, total of 8 hours per day.

The weak Discus got skinnier and skinnier, it stopped eating.. After speaking with Paul (Morley Aq) i decided to make an appointment with Dr Richmond Lo, he came around two Sundays ago.. Luckily we managed to catch the little bugger!!

Notes from the FishVet

Clinical examination & microscopy:
2/12 fish thin body condition. Most fish ate at feeding and all with no clinical signs of
illness. There were no significant findings on wet preparation microscopic
examination of skin mucus scrape and gill biopsy from 1 fish.

Then we released the fish back in to the tank (mistake). For the past two weeks i have been treating the whole tank with Prazi and Metro. After 4 days i managed to catch the fish again and started treating him in a quarantine tank, i continued treating the display tank. A week after he started eating, only live black worms. I am giving him as much as he can eat, and some more! He has recovered nicely.

Three days ago i finally received my 3 x 18 x 18 tank, i am hoping to make this a small planted tank in my office, but in the mean time i transfered the Sick fella in to this tank, more roomy. I'm trying to get it to eat some solid food now.

I am increasing my colony with 6 Wild Tefe Green Few Red spot Discus, B'day present from my partner, no joke true story (Paul from Morley is my Witness), how awesome is this??! They will go in the 3ft tank with the sick Discus, i am doing another course of treatment for all 7. I'll put them all in the tank once they start to eat NLS pellets.

[Brett]

Hello Waruna,

Did you identify a parasite or just treat on the suspicion of parasite infection.

Cheers
Brett

[waruna]

Hello Brett,

Nope Richmond couldn't find anything wrong with him. I was feeding 3 cubes of FBW twice a day trying to fatten this one up, but a week before it completely went off all food, i always suspected something wrong with this one.. I think getting bullied by the dominant ones may have not helped as well. This is why i wanted to expand the colony.. I don't know i guess i ran out of all the options.. Some months back this one got better, ate FBW..I'm glad it's on the mend though. Today for the first time it ate some FBS, now its starting to look hungry, this is a start!

Any thoughts?