1st Proper Bash At A Planted Tank! Update! 15/05/07

[R1ch13]

Thanks boys

Yeah i will defo purchase a drop checker asap!

Got home today frrom being in hosptial and my dad had left my tank light on grrrr!

Now i have some fairly long stranded, bright green algae on the tops of my polysperma !

Any ideas to get rid of it ... ?

Black out for a while ?

Thanks alot

Richie!

 

[K.J.]

Wow gorgeous, the riccia looks so healthy!

 

[Castellop123]

Have you got any Algae Eaters? If not, the addition of 3 or so Otos should help...

 

[R1ch13]

Thanks K.J im particularly happy with my Riccia

And No i dont have any algae eaters ...

As i am a little worried my filter isnt working to well ...

I had 3 corries and they seemed to go down hill

I then moved them to my non planted tank down stairs and they seem to be alot better and healthy

Its been deprived of light around a day now ...

So hopefully that will of made a difference !

Thanks alot

Richie!

 

[SuperColey1]

I was mucking around in my tank and decided to pull up my plants as they are hardly even rooted and repostion them and also while i was at it get rid of dead leaves etc !

But Now all i have done is agitated the subsrate and the tank is all horrible and cloudy the sand has lots of the tetra complete showing through and everythings just horrible

Im really regretting using light coloured sand with the tetra complete underneath it lol!

Richie

Just read this part Richie. I have 1½" Tetra Complete underneath 2½ almost white play sand, and has never been a problem.

I've moved 12 inch long amazon swords and Crypts with huge root structures without disturbing 'too much' of the Tetra.

You just got to do it slowly. If you pull it out quickly then it will bring the Tetra to the surface with it, but if you do it with a series of little tugs until all the roots come out then it will not disturb the Tetra as the sand will fill the gaps eaach time.

Before replanting, cut the roots to an inch or 3 quarters of and then replant.

The only problem I ever had was when I got a bit carried away at water change and poured water in too quickly at one end which disturbed a huge amount.

I also have a spare bag of play sand for 'topping off', when the sand gets a little dirty (which it inevitably does) I will suck up the top layer during water change and 'sprinkle in just enough to cover the top 1-2mm and all nice and pretty again (I will only do the foreground)

Keep it up with this tank as it is coming along nicely.

I would ditch Dad and buy a cheap timer (£3 from Wilko) and set your lights up on that, then no probs photoperiod wise which should be kept as regular as other ferts as the plants will get used to it much as the cockerel gets used to when the sunrises an adapts accordingly during the year.

I wouldn't worry about your filter working for fish as the plants will take care of ammonia. I would wonder however if there is a problem is it affecting circulation of water in the tank as this will not spread CO2 evenly and also you could get some 'stagnant' parts in the tank which will affect fish.

Andy

 

[R1ch13]

I was mucking around in my tank and decided to pull up my plants as they are hardly even rooted and repostion them and also while i was at it get rid of dead leaves etc !

But Now all i have done is agitated the subsrate and the tank is all horrible and cloudy the sand has lots of the tetra complete showing through and everythings just horrible

Im really regretting using light coloured sand with the tetra complete underneath it lol!

Richie

Just read this part Richie. I have 1½" Tetra Complete underneath 2½ almost white play sand, and has never been a problem.

I've moved 12 inch long amazon swords and Crypts with huge root structures without disturbing 'too much' of the Tetra.

You just got to do it slowly. If you pull it out quickly then it will bring the Tetra to the surface with it, but if you do it with a series of little tugs until all the roots come out then it will not disturb the Tetra as the sand will fill the gaps eaach time.

Before replanting, cut the roots to an inch or 3 quarters of and then replant.

The only problem I ever had was when I got a bit carried away at water change and poured water in too quickly at one end which disturbed a huge amount.

I also have a spare bag of play sand for 'topping off', when the sand gets a little dirty (which it inevitably does) I will suck up the top layer during water change and 'sprinkle in just enough to cover the top 1-2mm and all nice and pretty again (I will only do the foreground)

Keep it up with this tank as it is coming along nicely.

I would ditch Dad and buy a cheap timer (£3 from Wilko) and set your lights up on that, then no probs photoperiod wise which should be kept as regular as other ferts as the plants will get used to it much as the cockerel gets used to when the sunrises an adapts accordingly during the year.

I wouldn't worry about your filter working for fish as the plants will take care of ammonia. I would wonder however if there is a problem is it affecting circulation of water in the tank as this will not spread CO2 evenly and also you could get some 'stagnant' parts in the tank which will affect fish.

Andy

Wow Thanks Andy

Yeah just got onto the phone to my grandma ...

Shes giving me 2 of the timers !

What times would you reccommed i have the lights turn on at and off at ?

And im fed up of this damn algae, yesterday i took everything out and done a rescape!

Cleaned the plants off etc etc

Everything looked fine and dandy ...

Got up this morning to turn lights on ...

And ALGAE back on plants... its a kind of weird gray colour on my Windelov!

Also when i replanted my hygro polysperma i planted them in clumps of 3 (instead of 1 by 1)

And i have around 16 stems all planted in circle about 6 inch in diameter...

Is this to close, will i get any problems ie light not getting to some parts ? Im still new to this all

Thanks alot

Richie

 

[Dave Spencer]

Got home today frrom being in hosptial and my dad had left my tank light on grrrr!

Now i have some fairly long stranded, bright green algae on the tops of my polysperma !

Any ideas to get rid of it ... ?

Black out for a while ?

You have probably got rid of it by now, but if not, the only real way to remove this stuff is manually. Try winding as much of it as you can around a bottle brush, and pull it away from the plant. Failing that, you can keep on top of it by carefully pruning the affected areas of the plants.

The tank is coming along nicely, Dave.

 

[R1ch13]

Got home today frrom being in hosptial and my dad had left my tank light on grrrr!

Now i have some fairly long stranded, bright green algae on the tops of my polysperma !

Any ideas to get rid of it ... ?

Black out for a while ?

You have probably got rid of it by now, but if not, the only real way to remove this stuff is manually. Try winding as much of it as you can around a bottle brush, and pull it away from the plant. Failing that, you can keep on top of it by carefully pruning the affected areas of the plants.

The tank is coming along nicely, Dave.

Thanks Alot Dave

And yeah i think i have got rid of it

But thats a great tip and im sure ill have that damn stuff again someday

Richie

 

[SuperColey1]

When I got the really hairy algae hanging off the leaves of plants I ditched all the leaves and then got my CO2 sorted out as I'm sure you've been told 99/100 times inconsistent CO2 is the cause.

timer wise depends on what the lights you have are.

I have 1 x 18W (Arcadia Freshwater) which is timed to go on 12pm to 12am (daytime)
The other is 1 x 55W (Interpet power compact daylight plus) which is timed at 2pm to 10pm.

When I first installed it I used the 55W 4pm to 8pm and then each week added half an hour either side to let the plants get used to the extra light (original tank lights were 2 x 18W)

The 2 hours of 18W either side is my dusk dawn.

I am planning on getting another 55W which will run 5pm-7pm for a 'midday burst'

You will be surprised at how the plants start to gently unfurl their leaves in the dusk/dawn lighting and then extend them fully once the ful 73W are on (Make sure ifyou are using seperate light that the front one is used for dusk dawn as it looks great-see pics)

Full Lights

Dusk Dawn

Also shy nocturnal fish like plecs are more likely to come out in this low light (mine works out at 0.6WPG) and not in the high light, so you get to see more

Good Luck
Andy

 

[R1ch13]

When I got the really hairy algae hanging off the leaves of plants I ditched all the leaves and then got my CO2 sorted out as I'm sure you've been told 99/100 times inconsistent CO2 is the cause.

timer wise depends on what the lights you have are.

I have 1 x 18W (Arcadia Freshwater) which is timed to go on 12pm to 12am (daytime)
The other is 1 x 55W (Interpet power compact daylight plus) which is timed at 2pm to 10pm.

When I first installed it I used the 55W 4pm to 8pm and then each week added half an hour either side to let the plants get used to the extra light (original tank lights were 2 x 18W)

The 2 hours of 18W either side is my dusk dawn.

I am planning on getting another 55W which will run 5pm-7pm for a 'midday burst'

You will be surprised at how the plants start to gently unfurl their leaves in the dusk/dawn lighting and then extend them fully once the ful 73W are on (Make sure ifyou are using seperate light that the front one is used for dusk dawn as it looks great-see pics)

Full Lights

Dusk Dawn

Also shy nocturnal fish like plecs are more likely to come out in this low light (mine works out at 0.6WPG) and not in the high light, so you get to see more

Good Luck
Andy

Yup im pretty sure its due to my lazy c02 changing ...

I really just need to set days each week to change!

But yeah i do that sometimes ... i have my full lighting on for about 8 hours a day(2x 15w one is arcadia freshwater)

And sometimes i turn one out an hour or soo before the 2nd ... if i feel like watching the fish that is ...

But as i only have 1 shrimp in there just now there isnt much to see!

I think ill set one timer to around 12pm (noon) until 8pm and the other from 1pm till 9pm meaning an hour of lowlight before full lighting is on and another hour of lowlight before total shut off

Sound ok ?

I really need to replace one of my bulbs tho ...

Since i got the 2nd one i have noticed the older one is alot duller

Thanks for all the info Andy

 

[SuperColey1]

You'll soon notice that if you use the front one for dull light all the time it looks much better.

Your idea is to use the front for dawn on its own and rear for dusk on its own and it does look strange to have the rear on its own, but you may like it. down to presonal preference as always. lol

Try it out and see.

I agree if 1 light is dulling then get 2 Freshwaters (I used to have 1 orig tropical and 1 freshwater but then the tank looks too pink).

andy

 

[R1ch13]

You'll soon notice that if you use the front one for dull light all the time it looks much better.

Your idea is to use the front for dawn on its own and rear for dusk on its own and it does look strange to have the rear on its own, but you may like it. down to presonal preference as always. lol

Try it out and see.

I agree if 1 light is dulling then get 2 Freshwaters (I used to have 1 orig tropical and 1 freshwater but then the tank looks too pink).

andy

Thanks again Andy

Weird thing happened yesterday...

Made a new mix of c02 ...

Same as usual ...

Left it ...

This morning still no bubbles and hardly any froth

I dont understand this hahaha!

I added more yeast and still nothing

Very weird IMO!

Richie

 

[R1ch13]

Hmm went to Dobbies today and found some nice Ludwigia arcuata!

And im also going to try out this wooden airstone for the diffusion of c02 compared to the ladder !

I like the idea of lotsa little mini c02 bubbles floating about the tank!

But yeah jus thought id say ...

Other than that nothing more to report, apart from all pants nearly at surface

Richie

 

[wei0204]

Hi Richie, has been a while not seeing your tank...

Just checked it out and you know what, you really improved a lot...

I am so happy to see your progression.

Hope to see more update soon. Good job dude...

 

[R1ch13]

Hi Richie, has been a while not seeing your tank...

Just checked it out and you know what, you really improved a lot...

I am so happy to see your progression.

Hope to see more update soon. Good job dude...

Thanks alot mate!

Sorry for late reply ...

Just back from a week in london!

Well when i was away my filter packed in well... blocked up alot

and ... my dad stupidly put food in for the one lone shrimp soo it has gone all moldy and white!

Its all over the tank etc etc!

A few spots of algae but to be honest not as much as i thought!

Ill do a major prune and a total tank clean out (Snails haha)

And post pics asap!

Thanks Luc

Richie