Supercoley's First Planted Tank Adventure

what is the proper name for the co2 monitor in the tank? or where can you buy them?

I have the Rhinox 2000 which Tom Barr and George have said is really good (I did buy it before they said though and possibly before they bought it, but don't know for dure. who cares it's good and it works)

If I were to turn my CO2 up without the needle valve on to 6 bar it looks like they do in the adverts (I'm guessing they do the same for their pics to make it look good) so at the end of the day this diffusor is working at base level for my tank and would probably serve up to an 80G tank with good circulation and a decent sized cannister. The advert from Aquatic Magic has been amended now and says 'not suitable for yeast tanks' which I can honestly say is not true.

When I bought it it said suitable for yeast and pressurised tanks and at the time I ran it with 2 Nutrafins and 1 DIY CO2 and it was fine.

glad you like the plant fest in the middle. I'd guess that was the second stage of my scaping while I was still deciding what to do and feeling my way into the hobby, after all this is my first tank so I am now 6 months into fishkeeping.

Andy

i take it your adding nutrients as well as CO2 injection? whats the tank ph level out at usually? sorry for the questions but i am looking to do a planted tank like this and learning will be a steep curve

When pressurised the CO2 comes on at the same time as my 'dawn' 18W light comes on. It turns off 2 hours before it returns to 'dusk' (aiming to be at 30ppm through the photoperiod)
When on yeast (backup for cannisters running out) I let 2 Nutrafin yeast kits run all day and night

50% water change Sunday
Then I dose as per JamesC pinned EI article for 20-40 gallon tanks
http/www.fishforums.net/Jamescand39s-Est...le-t104737.html
KNO3, KH2PO4, K2SO4 Sun, Tues, Thurs
Tropica Plant Nutrition x 6ml Mon, Weds, Fri
Nothing Saturday

Tank without CO2 is approx 7.2-7.4ph. With CO2 is normally about 6.4ph

Drop Checkers can be bought on ebay for £10-£12 inc postage (from Malaysia/Hong Kong normally). Look in:
Home & Garden, Pet Supplies, Fish, Live Plants.

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Co2-Drop-Checker-99-...1QQcmdZViewItem

You will find a few Chameleon or Teardrop (like mine) glass checkers there but don't use the solution andtank water as they say. You need some 4dKH solution and Ph test kit/bromo blue to have an accurate reference to get the blue/green/yellow correct. This can be bought or made.

http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php/...roducts_id/1447

Andy

cheers for all the advice and time taken there, appreciateed. i just order the checker like yours, bromo blue ph test kit, and the 4dkh solution. so when you say dont use the tank water what way do i set it up?

Thanks

With the drop checker you will get some test solution and the instructions say fill the checker with tank water and add a few drops of the solution.

Problem is the tank water can change parameters for all sorts of reasons and therefore accuracy is a worry.

What we do is add 3-4ml of the 4dKH solution instead of tank water, so you always know you have a stable reference solution. Then instead of the solution that comes with the drop checker you use the bromo blue solution.

This way the ups and downs of the tank water are eliminated as the solution you have bought will always be 4dKH when you add it, and therefore gives a more accurate reading.

The solution will last 3-4 weeks, then you need to empty, wash and put in new solution. (You will need either a pipette like the meds ones, or a syringe with a needle to do this)

The drop checker will take 1 - 2 hours to change to the same ppm as the water due to the air exchange, so you wll always be behind what is actually happening in the tank but at least you do know and just have to take a quick glance and you know whether you're low perfect or too high without testing non stop.

Andy

A week of changes yet again.

I decided I had waited long enough for the Rotala and Alternanthera Reinecki to catch up with the Ludwigia Repens and Hygrophylia Polysperma Rosanervig which were starting to take over the tank on the left and centre so...

I took them all out..all 4...then trimmed them all up ready to replant.

The Hygro Poly Rosanervig I put back where it was on the left, but a much reduced quantity.

The Alternathera Reinecki I moved a little more toward the centre to get out of the shadow of the sword and also let the Crypt Balansae have a little breathing space (I want it to grow like Georges has but I guess I'm in dreamworld)

The Rotala Rotundifolia has been moved to the centre where the Ludwigia was which gets the best light obviously and now it has started to grow much quicker than previously.

The Ludwigia Repens is now at the back right behind the slate mountain where due to it being the end of the tank where the PCs end cap is it is much darker.

So all in all major touch up of the tank, but I have time to play while the moss wall develops.

BAD NEWS was that when I lifted the lid to get my arms in and start pulling plants I found one Oto trapped in the top right front corner between where the inside of the hood slots over the glass (of course dead as this is out of the water.) Dont know how it got there.

Another I found headless and trapped in the moss mesh wall so he must've smelled something good and got trapped and the snails etc have fed on him from behind the mesh.

therefore I now have only 4 Otos, but they are fat, very healthy and doing a grand job.

the only algae I have is from the roots of the baby Javas growing off their mother's leaves!!!

The Vecton2 200 came and what a beast it is. I have it fitted in and it does look good and does a great job of keeping the water crystal clear but I may have to rethink the external heater, or fit behind the cabinet!!

The rest of the fish (4 pitbull plecs and 20 Neons) are due to be delivered this weekend, so it should look great with the Neons schooling and my fav little plecs making the sand their home.

Looking forward to it.

Pic of the tank after change (is already a little more grown after 2 days)


Thanks for reading

Andy

Hi andy interesting read as usual, the tank is looking very nice, keep up the good work regards john

Well they are finally in.

Marcus from PlecoAquatics came round to deliver my order and brought:

4 Pitbull Plecs, 19 Cardinal Tetras and a surprise of 4 nice and fat Otos to go with the 4 that have been keeping the tank in lovely condition. £50 and no delivery charge, another great deal me thinks.

They are all settling in nicely with the lights off and tomorrow i will try and get some pics of them all.

So a happy community tank again and also a working tank with pitbulls and Otos cleaning the whole soace of debris, algae and unwanted food.

Happy days again

Andy

That sounds like a lovely community setup. Congratulations! Tank looks great too.

As promised on Wednesday I have new pics of my new additions

My Stocking is now 4 x pitbull plecs (2m, 2f) 8 x Otocinclus (I think some affinis and some other type but not zebs) and 19 Cardinal Tetras.

This is a pic of the full tank in my dusk period (0.6WPG)


This is pic of 2 of the pitbulls (They have coupled up as have the other 2. yippee)


And finally and I love this pic as it has come out really well with my dodgy old vivitar 2mp. The Cardinals in a shoal over the Riccia.


I have to thank Marcus at Pleco Aquatics again for the excellent quality and condition of the fish he supplies me and never fails to give me bonuses. lol.

Thanks for looking

andy

The tank looks really excellent, I like the arrangement of the wood and stone, the plant growth looks very good. The photos of the tank are much better, nice and clear now. The cardinals look great in that pic, they are a favourite of mine. I hope you don’t mind, if you dont like it I can remove the pic, I just adjusted the colour a bit in photoshop and reduced the pic to fit as an attachment.

No probs. I am trying to take all the pics in the dusk period now as they come out much better under just the 18W than with the full 73W.

Probably also due to the 55W being at the back so the darker background helps.

I actually took loads of pics cos Mike at AquaticMagic asked me if I could send some pics for his new website being a very regular customer. lol

Andy

That's a very pretty tank. Nice planting and lighting and your fish look great. Good job!

I've not updated for a while so thought I might enlarge on the last few weeks happenings.

Since adding in the cardinals, otos, and pitbulls, I have lost 2 cardinals and 4 Otos. 1 cardinal and 1 Oto died the day after putting them into the tank for unknown reasons, and the others all died by getting trapped in or behind the mesh that was going to be the moss wall. (I say going to be!! I tried to cut costs by putting the moss in so sparsely that it was barely noticeable even after 2-3 weeks and obviously left too many holes for fish to get their heads in or through.)

I have taken the mesh out and am awaiting delivery now of a huge amount of Christmas moss and therefore shouldn't have the same problem this time.

I've also bought some glass 'flo' Lily pipes from AM and because they have suckers outside the aquarium rather than inside, this also means not having to leave spaces for the suckers to hold a spray bar and outpipe like the standard ones needed. They look damn good and am very happy with them. The circulation seems to have improved, and I thought it was good before.

Since I got my pressurised CO2 working again, I was a little cautious of turning it up too quickly (for obvious reasons) and by taking 2 weeks to get it up to a nice shade of green it has led to the usual algae problems caused by inconsistent CO2. This means I now have a Crypt Wendtii and Alternathera Reineckii that have lots of staghorn on them, and Rotala and Riccia with lots of thread algae on them.

I have removed a lot of the algae and hopefully the now stable CO2 will do the rest. I'm not too bothered about the Riccia as I have become a little bored with the look of Riccia when it fills out and tries to take over the whole tank, and also I am a little tired of having to keep trimming it.

I have ordered a batch of Glosso to replace all the Riccia on the substrate and will leave the Riccia on top of the bogwood cave.

I've also ordered a spatterdock plant which any advice would be most welcome as I have not really researched it yet. Was a drunken purchase on ebay. lol

Lastly, the camera I have been moaning about all the way through this journal - Vivitar Vivicam 2.0mp has finally been replaced by a Casio Exilim EX-Z1050 10.1mp which I have to say I am very impressed with.

I will take some pictures to add to this post after it gets dark outside, but thought it better to write this post before the ale starts flowing as it takes me ages then and I don't want to wear the backspace button out. lol

Until Later
Andy