Adams 17 Gallon Cube

[blackers92]

Hi Guys

Been a while since I have been active on this forum. Finally got my first high tech tank started, a lot of delays happened pushing it way back.

Details:
Aquatic Magic Opticlear ~17 gallon Cube and Cabinet
2 x 24 Watt Compact Fluorescent Light (6700k and 10000k)
6.8 kg CO2 Cylinder
Co2 Pro Regulator
Eheim 2213
Hydor Inline 200W
AquaOne Clear Hose
2 Bags of Up Aqua Soil
Bonsai Style Rocks

Items Inbound
Up Aqua Inline CO2 Atomizer
Aquatic Magic Lily Pipes
ADA like Thermometer


I will be following the E.I fertilizing regime I currently have
500g of Potassium Nitrate
500g of Magnesium Sulphate
500g of APN Trace Mix

Unfortunately my 0.1g to 100g scale arrived broke and I am unwilling to start dosing until I have them. (I have dash, pinch, smidgen spoons too, but dont like them) The same goes for my 4DKH solution in my drop checker, I will be using demineralised water with bicarbonate soda but am unable to create the solution until the scale arrives

At the moment there is no live stock, having only one tank I tried to keep the filter seeded but failed. I will either try to locally source some filtered media locally or do a fish in cycle (Ammonia is impossible to find in Australia)

At the moment my tank consists of,

Blyxa Japicona
Pygmy Chainsword
Hemianthus callitrichoides

At the moment everything looks healthy except for the H.C which seems to be growing up instead of out (Light is definitely bright enough) , I know that I should have split the plant into smaller pieces but they arrived dry and I was in a hurry to plant them.

As for fish I was planning on Chilli Rasbora (Boraras brigittae) and some Ottos, Boraras can be pretty expensive in Australia so I may have to choose something else.

At the moment the lights are on for 8 hours (thinking of bumping it up to 10 hours), the co2 starts 2 hours before lights on and ends 1 hour before lights off at about 1-2 bps




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Made the hanging unit out of local hardware store aluminum.



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As you can see the 6.8kg Unit is far too big for my cabinet, if I can somehow remove the bubble counter it will fit (Buy an inline bubble counter)



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Day after planting, I was frustrated by the Hydor not fitting in the cabinet and needed to plant drying plants asap! As you can see an inline diffuser is a desperately needed as are lilypipes (hideous ehiem)



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Took this photo today, the HC is definitely growing, if it is still growing up next week I will replant, hopefully I will have my scales by then allowing me to create liquid for my drop checker resulting in me being able to monitor the CO2 levels.

Thats about it, please remember this is my first high tech tank (2nd actual tank) so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ian]

it looks lovely mate!

just remember to keep up with the water changes (best daily) for the first few weeks and you'll be on a winner. Love the tank though mate, really nice.

you say your using an Up inline, why are you using a glass diffuser?

edit, didn't read the bit's in between the pics


pity you're not in the UK as i have a ADA nano diffuser going spare.

 

[blackers92]

I ordered the Inline Atomizer from hong kong, so it should arrive soon hopefully!

My current one is such an eyesore

 

[JenCliBee]

Looking really good mate, excellent start.... just a couple of things though.

Light, i would be inclined to keep at 8 hours.. infact i would reduce to 6 for a few weeks and then gradually increase and even then only increase to 8 hrs, many do have 10 hr photo period but it is excessive tbh.

The HC growing tall is speculated to being a flow issue rather than a light issue, Ian is far more adapt at giving a better indepth explanation.. otherwise i will probably just confuse you lol. So increasing the flow rate might be an option as the flow rate on the 2213 is quite low i think?

Your dosing EI method...any reason why your not dosing Potassium Phosphate (KH2PO4)?

Excellent start though and looking forward to it progressing

 

[blackers92]

ah whoops it is Potassium Phosphate, tried to recall it off my head (FAIL)

Hmm at the moment the flow is coming out of the stock tubing with no spray bar or anything, I have ordered lily pipes will they alleviate the flow issue or should I upgrade to a 2215? (I dont really want a powerhead in the tank for aesthetic reasons.)

If this is the case I will probably have to wait a while until I get paid, thankfully 2215's are quite cheap. I presumed a 2213 would be enough for the tank however other people with the same size tank purchased 2215's and even 2217.

I think they use the same tubing which would be convenient, hopefully it is as quiet as my 2213 (I sleep 1 foot from the tank)

 

[ian]

Good spot Jake!

K is one of the most important elements at the begining of a planted tank as tap water doesn't contain much and thier isn't any naturally produced.

As for the HC, when it starts going upwards, this is a sign of a lack of flow around it, this is due to a hormone that is released by aquatic plants, Ethylene. Poor flow to the substrate suppresses the ability of the plant to rid itself of the gas and results in a buildup of this gas. Which in turn results in upward growth. This is true with all aquatic plants. Because the nodes on HC are smaller than most plants the gas gets trapped.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Nice start, very nice, if you had something growing between the main rocks it could look like a mountian scape, its got the right perspective