10g Planted Tank Journal - 5/2 - Small Update

[n3ont3tra]

I took the rock out if you didn't notice... and the CO2 works, but how do I find out how much I have?
Also, all of the plants are pearling! I'm SO happy! They were a pain to plant, though, it took me over 2 hours. I don't really know what the plants on the right are, they are some kind of crypt, I forget the exact kind though. I also got some glosso, I'm gonna plant it later.

Also, before someone asks, there's 45watts of light, it's a 10g tank, there's a nutrafin CO2 system, and the substrate is Seachem flourite.

Lol, lots of typos, don't think your crazy if you read this then refreshed and read something different.

 

[atmmachine816]

Here's my bubble counter

Looks pretty good, need some time to grow. Knowing the name of a crypt isn't a big deal, there just slow growers.

 

[Squid]

Look here The bubble count is one thing, but really you need to test the KH and the PH and look up the result in the chart. People then adjust the amount of yeast to alter the output...

Cheers
Squid

 

[n3ont3tra]

Thanks, looks like it's a little on the high side, close to 43, I guess I'll remake the solution tomarrow.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Okay, long time, no post.
1. I took out the glosso. It was messy, and I didn't like it.
2. I put the java fern in my 29g.
3. I got the CO2 to a stable 35.
4. Algae started to grow. Mainly spot algae. I scrubbed the whole tank EVERY day, and it's not working. I put the 3 platties from my 29g in there. They're really skittish, but they eat some algae.
5. Then there was a ton of hari algae growing ont he crypts. The platties demolished it, though.
6. There's still some algae growing on the bogwood that the platties won't eat.

I've also decided on my final stocking:
6 Ghost Shrimp
3 Amano Shrimp
3 Apple Snails
6 Panda Cories
3 ADFs

The problem is the huge amount of copper in my tap water. To solve it, I've decided to get an RO system to purify the water. It'll also be used for a saltwater tank that I plan have in the near future.
The platties do seem very stressed. Whenever I walk into the room, they go into the corner at the speed of light. I haven't seen them eat anything. The test results are fine. I'm going to put them back in the 29 as soon as I get more algae eating fish, which is probably next week. I think I'm going to get 5 otos. Then I'm going to move most, if not all, or the crypts into the 29g and put more harigrass and another piece of driftwood in here, and some java moss. Once I buy the RO system and am ready for the inverts, I'll move the otos into my 29g and then slowly start stocking in this order:
Ghost Shrimp
Snails
Cories
Amano Shrimp
ADFs.
Pics coming tomarrow.

 

[Themuleous]

Sounds like a plan I use RO water, a hassle but I think its worth it, especially in hard water areas.

Sam

 

[n3ont3tra]

Do you put anything in it to makke it fit for plants again? Like a replenisher or something?

 

[n3ont3tra]

Okay. I haven't done anything with this for a while, sorry for the lack of updates.
1. I moved all of the plants except for the hairgrass into my 29g.
2. I have major spot algae issues.
3. I cleaned all of it off the front glass and left side last night.
4. CO2 is stable at 30.
5. I'm getting more dwarf hairgrass as well as Lobelia cardinalis and Cyperus helferi tomarrow! But, I probably won't be able to post pics because I'm going to be busy tomorrow... Sorreh.
6. I'm also getting a piece of driftwood and 8 Black Diamond Cories (corydoras hastatus), 5 Red Cherry Shrimp, 3 Amano Shrimp, and 3 Otos. I may eventually get an apple snail if my nitrates stay down.
7. The only concern I have now is that there will be too much copper in my tap water (well water) for shrimp. I really hope not. The shrimp cost about $30 total...

I'm sorry for the lack of updates. They will come soon!

 

[atmmachine816]

Hmmm sounds ok, have you thought of getting the magnetic algae scrapper, I have one and it works great for removing the green spot algae. Sounds interesting.

 

[n3ont3tra]

Well, I got the plants and fish. 10 fish were DOA, I emailed the site about that.

8/8 cories were dead
4/5 Red Cherry Shrimp were dead
0/3 Amano Shrimp were dead
1/3 Ottos were dead
All of the plants were okay. Not great. But not too bad.
Overall I was extremely disappointed about the fish I wouldn't recommend ordering from azgardens.com in the future, at least not during winter. I'll post pics as soon as I can, I"m away from my house until Monday

Oh, and about the algae scraper, you confirmed what I was wondering. I doubted a magnetic algae scraper, but wasn't sure if it got spot algae. Now I'll be sure to buy one. Thanks.

 

[lljdma06]

Well, I got the plants and fish. 10 fish were DOA, I emailed the site about that.

8/8 cories were dead
4/5 Red Cherry Shrimp were dead
0/3 Amano Shrimp were dead
1/3 Ottos were dead
All of the plants were okay. Not great. But not too bad.
Overall I was extremely disappointed about the fish I wouldn't recommend ordering from azgardens.com in the future, at least not during winter. I'll post pics as soon as I can, I"m away from my house until Monday

Oh, and about the algae scraper, you confirmed what I was wondering. I doubted a magnetic algae scraper, but wasn't sure if it got spot algae. Now I'll be sure to buy one. Thanks.

That's aweful! Did you take photos of the dead fish? I would be super mad.

llj

 

[Sibelius]

Yes, do complain. Oh, and also, can we have some updated photos to see how your tank is coming along?

 

[atmmachine816]

Well, I got the plants and fish. 10 fish were DOA, I emailed the site about that.

Oh, and about the algae scraper, you confirmed what I was wondering. I doubted a magnetic algae scraper, but wasn't sure if it got spot algae. Now I'll be sure to buy one. Thanks.

That sure does stink, could you not find them at your lfs, is that why you had to order them online?

Yes the algae scraper works great, I have a mag-float cost me almost 10$ but well worth it, I also have a cheap little stick with a plastic blade on it that I use for skinny spots the mag-float doesn't work on, cost me 1.25$

 

[n3ont3tra]

Thanks ATM for the suggestions. They don't have any kind of pygmy cories at my lfs, and for shrimp all they have is ghost, and I'll probably get a few cause they're only 30 cents each. Not for another week, though, probably. I'm aaway from my house so I can't get any pics at the moment. I'll probably post some updated ones on moday, though. Sorry for the long wait.

I emailed the site about the losses yesterday, they are supposed to give me a store credit, I just hope it includes shipping. So far, no reply.

 

[n3ont3tra]

It's mainly bad news today. 1 Amano Shrimp and 1 Oto Died. They were in the tank for probably the whole weekend, so there's probably some ammonia in the tank. Also, I JUST realized that they didn't give me the other plants I ordered, Cyperus helferi. So now I have no background plants. I kind of like it, though. I'll just put some black construction paper back there or something. Still, I'm PO. The only good news is that I'm most likely going to get more shrimp and some fish this weekend. I still haven't decided exactly what I want though. I'll have to look. But I'm definitely not ordering from azgardens again. Also, I can't find the cable to connect my good 6.1mp camera to my computer. So I took some pics with my crappy 4mp one... here they are.

Oh, one other thing. I have tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons of snails. Anyone want some?
Looks like I'll be getting a few Dwarf Chain Loaches.