Simon's Planted Tank Journal

I bought the plants from mt lfs, they didnt break the bank, i will order the the plants the i intend to keep, i'm still playing with ideas at the mo.

I,ve took the bog wood out, i going to have a look for a nice piece to attaching a piece of anubias to.

I,ve been reading and have noticed that a few are having water problems

I'm having to use r/o water as the parameters on my tap water are

PH 7
KH 0' (our water is very soft is it wasn't for all the dissolved metals and Po4 in it it would be perfect for keeping and breeding discus)
GH 0'
No3 0ppm
Po4 5ppm ( apparently the water board add it the neutralize the iron in our water supply )

Since starting to add the ferts my water parameters are

PH 6.6 ( that's come down from 7.2 because of the co2)
KH 4' (i'm adding bicarb to bring it up slowly, its not to bad as i have no fish yet)
GH 4'
No3 5ppm will be bringing it up to 10ppm tomorrow)
Po4 1.5ppm (i think i have messed up when i mixed my ferts as this is higher than it should be)
I've added 5ml of trace today as well

When i got home i was having a good look at my tank as you do and noticed most the plants were pearling, a pretty sight.
here's a pic without the bog wood, should;t be to long until the plants fill out



I wasn't happy with the Jbl co2 diffuser, so i killed two birds with one stone and made a forced reactor, it also defused the flow from the filter.

Bit of an update got the KH up but now my co2 is to high the forced reactor is doing is job to well, i've ajusted the needle valve so i only have 1 bubble per 3secs, so hopefully it wil bring my co2 down and my Ph up to where it should be.

PH........6.6
KH........6'
No3......10ppm
Po4......1.5ppm
Co2......45ppm

A full tank shot.



I,ve added some more plants today Crinum Natans, Hydrocotyls Verticillata, Samolus Valepandi ,Anubias Barteri Var Nana and Vesicularia Dubyana (java moss)

I dont think much or the echinodorus tenelleus i got, as you can probably see its a little yellow around the edges, i dont thing it will suvive.
Going to have a look at something to replace it may be glosso if i can find some,

Come on all you aquascapists help me out and give me some ideas.

Hey Simon.. good job...

Keep it great....

It,s taking a while for my water to settle i,ve tested today and water peramiters are;

PH.......6.8
KH.......7.5'
Po4......2ppm
No3......10ppm
Co2......35.7ppm

I ajusted the Co2 flow from 1 bubble per sec to 1 bubble per 3secs, which has brought the Co2 levels down and the PH up.
But the problem now is my KH is now 7.5' i must of overdosed with bicarb because of the high Co2 level.

Never mind lets see what the next 7 my 50% water change is due tomorrow.

Help algae, i read that some algae will appear, which will die out as plant growth gets stronger is this true.

Any advice is welcome

water parameter are steady now at;

PH........6.8
Kh........5.5'
No3......10ppm
Po4......1ppm
Co2......26.3ppm

Algae

That red arrow algae can be really annoying allright!

naw seriously up your co2 levels to about 35ppm im sure that will help, see if that makes a difference over the next week or so.

LOL

will do thanks.

I've upped the co2 as zig suggested, but now my algae growth seams to of doubled.
Help, will it die back or is there another problem.

Ok as this is a new tank setup you can expect algae in the beginning until the tank finds a balance, i got massive amounts of brown diatoms for a couple of weeks and then i got green hair algae for another couple of weeks and then it disappeared pretty much as quick as it came when i started my main tank up from scratch, just make sure the tank has lots of fast growing stem plants to begin with (i dont see that many, although you have plenty of plant biomass) and make sure you are dosing sufficient Kno3 PO4 trace and co2, and things should begin to even out, but its early days, so i wouldnt panic just yet.

I surprised of the speed of which it appeared, it's quite alarming, i went to work the tank was clean came home and there was a brown cotton wool type growth all over the place.

What plants would you recomend hygrophilia?

Tested the water today, i'de only ajusted the co2 a little and it shot upto 100.1ppm ouch , glad i have no fish.

After messing with the co2, i've managed to get it steady.... it ether all or nothing with that valve.

water stats are
PH.......6.8
KH.......6.5
NO3.....10ppm
PO4.....1,5ppm
CO2.....30.9ppm

I,ve added some fast growing plants, cambodia, water sprite, and few others, i,m going to see what happens over the next week.
If that fails i might try balcking the tank out, then its on to drastic mesures, a restart.

Best of luck I still haven't updated my own thread yet ( ) ) but will soon.
I also removed all plant life from my tank yesterday and all my new stuff from Greenline came today, so I've been slaving away for hours - so know what you feel like

I enjoy reading your thread and progress - even if it isn't all easy and straightforward (as I think we wish it were.....)

Simon i havent been posting here for a few days so i missed the last request for recommendations for fast growers.....sorry about that, you seem to be sorted anyway........just keep everything in check ferts co2 etc and the algae will disappear...........honest!

bloozoo2 Posted Yesterday, 11:24 PM
Best of luck I still haven't updated my own thread yet ( ) but will soon.
I also removed all plant life from my tank yesterday and all my new stuff from Greenline came today, so I've been slaving away for hours - so know what you feel like

I enjoy reading your thread and progress - even if it isn't all easy and straightforward (as I think we wish it were.....)

Click to expand...

Thanks bloozoo2... luck forward to see it

zig said:

Simon i havent been posting here for a few days so i missed the last request for recommendations for fast growers.....sorry about that, you seem to be sorted anyway........just keep everything in check ferts co2 etc and the algae will disappear...........honest!

Click to expand...

No problems... thanks for the help so far.