110 Gallon South American Biotope

[eaglesaquarium]

cant wait to see the fish

 
Me too!!!

 
Foul up with the supplier!  Fish are going to be delayed at least ANOTHER week.  Good news is I get a week to get the vallisneria sorted out...  I think I am going to try dosing a bit of Seachem Flourish to raise the trace levels of nutrients in the water...  That might help, at least until the fish arrive to provide some proper "fertilizer".  
 
 
 
Stay tuned...

 

[greenmumma141]

thats a good idea, it should atleast help the melting, it did with my tank. by the time the melting stopped, I already had new growth coming in. GL!

 

[Shelster]

Tank looks amazing! I think a video recording is in order when the fish are released can't wait to see its progress.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Not sure I can swing a video.
 
Quick update, I released 4 of my cories from my home tank today.  The rest of the fish are due on Tuesday evening.  An update will be coming after that.

 

[greenmumma141]

I bet tuesday can't get here fast enough, huh?

 

[VickyChaiTea]

This tank looks positively awesome! I loooove biotopes. I'm so jealous! I am surprised, though, that the hairgrass is sending out runners. I can't get it to grow in my 10gal, but then again I have T8s.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I also have T8s.  4 T8s, 32W a piece (6500K).
 
Did you separate the hairgrass into smaller bits before planting?  What's the substrate?  The runners are very thin and might have trouble burrowing through some substrates.  My playsand is very fine.
 
 
My 4 cories are settled in nicely now.  They were a bit sulky after I put them in yesterday, and were hanging out separately.  Now they are shoaling up far more than they did in my home tank - MUCH larger footprint on this tank!
 
 
You have no idea about how quickly I'd like to see all the fish in the tank.  These fish are over a week overdue already!
 
 
Thank you for the kind words regarding the scape...  Its a bit different now as I've added two large branches to the tank (eventually these will have moss of some type growing on them!) and they are really adding some interest to the upper levels a bit more.   I'll try to get a new pic of the tank, after I replant the cabomba that pulled out again last night.  These cabomba just refuse to get strong roots - at least some of them.  I suppose the ones that didn't come out are nicely rooting.  I might move this group of cabomba (3 stems) to a different location and see what comes of them there.  Also, some of the vallis have some nice green coming on, while others still struggle...  I added some Flourish on Saturday, and I'll add another half-dose this afternoon.  I'm going to go with half-doses twice a week, rather than full doses once a week.

 

[greenmumma141]

I was told that you can up the dosage too if you think it needs it. but good to hear the vallis is bouncing back and that the cories are settled. What kind of cories are there? 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

3 Trilineatus, and 1 "other".  I haven't been able to figure out exactly what she is (I'm pretty sure its a female) based on the rounded abdomen and stocky build.
 
We'll be getting more "trilineatus" and some other cories as well.  We asked for julii, we'll see about that.
 
 
I'm going to try keeping the dosing low for a bit, but if the plants seem to need a bit more, I might go a bit higher than a half dose twice a week.  Ultimately, we need the tank to be fairly self-sufficient eventually... at least in terms of ferts.   In the summer we won't be able to visit each day, so we need to know that the tank is balanced.  We can work out feeding, either with an automated device, or similar if need be.  We'll have a few months to test things.

 

[greenmumma141]

I think the plants will def be ready for summer vacation by then. Youll be surprised how fast the vallis goes from melty-schmelty to new growth, to the new growth being as tall as the rest of it. My first batch of vallis are sending out runners already. Can't wait for the second batch to be done melting...

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Test results for today:
 
NH3: 0ppm
NO2: 0ppm
NO3: 10ppm
pH: 6.8
 

I think the melting vallis is still putting out some ammonia, but the bacteria in the filter are taking care of that very nicely.  
 
 
Full shot: (You can see the cabomba starting to peek out the top of the rock area more now than before)
http/www.flickr.com/photos/56876192@N03/8444087947/]

[/url]
http/www.flickr.com/photos/56876192@N03/8444087947/]Full photo on 2013-02-04 at 10.21[/url] by http/www.flickr.com/people/56876192@N03/]eaglesfan54[/url], on Flickr
 
Left Side: (You can see the vallis here is still quite "melty".)
http/www.flickr.com/photos/56876192@N03/8445177344/]

[/url]
http/www.flickr.com/photos/56876192@N03/8445177344/]Left side on 2013-02-04 at 10.22[/url] by http/www.flickr.com/people/56876192@N03/]eaglesfan54[/url], on Flickr
 
Right Side: (You can see the vallis here is also still quite "melty")
http/www.flickr.com/photos/56876192@N03/8444088733/]

[/url]
http/www.flickr.com/photos/56876192@N03/8444088733/]Right side on 2013-02-04 at 10.21 #2[/url] by http/www.flickr.com/people/56876192@N03/]eaglesfan54[/url], on Flickr
 
 
I tried to get a shot of the cories, but they were hiding in amongst the rocks.  I had to just stick my arm in the tank moments earlier to replant a few cabomba stalks that had broken free...

 

[greenmumma141]

Looks great! I think your vallis will do just fine, mine were just as bad, some worse and now they are doing great, except the 2nd batch like i said before. I did notice that the Italian vallis bounced back much fast than the corkscrew. 

 

[Ruskull]

I've tried to keep Vallis and had no luck whatsoever.  Must be my water hardness or something.  Don't have a means of testing that so I just don't keep it anymore.  Haven't had any luck with Moneywort either.  Bacopa Caroliniana, Crypts, Brazilian Pennywort, Wisteria, H. Polysperma, and various Swords all do well in my tanks.  Go figure.  
 
Great looking tank BTW, keep up the good work. 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I think it will be once the plants start to fill in more fully...    ... and the fish come in... only about 24 hours left!

 

[greenmumma141]

it's almost tuesday, it's almost tuesday!!!!