Daize's Planted Photo Journal - 64L 1Wpg Low Light

[daizeUK]

Quick update to say that this tank is bouncing back after its hitch. 

 
The double dose of EasyCarbo is doing the trick so clearly there were too many plants and not enough carbon.
 
The hygrophila polysperma is a good indicator of what's been going on in the tank.  The leaves were weak and small and yellowish with lots of roots hanging off the stems.  The new growth since doubling the EasyCarbo is returning to large healthy green leaves again.  You can see the difference between old and new growth in this picture:

 
So right now the tank isn't looking it's best, some plants have been removed or are still recovering but this has been a learning experience and I have high hopes that I can keep things on track now.


This tank is now rocking an Eheim 2213 external filter which is working out really well.  I was concerned the flow might be too strong but it's perfect.  It does a fantastic job of sucking the crap out of the tank, I hardly have to hoover at all anymore!  The spray bar is a bit unsightly but oh well...
 
Next plan for the future is to get rid of the ugly heater and replace with an external Hydor.  They're out of stock in the UK at the moment or I would have ordered one already! In the meanwhile I have to stare at that ugly eyesore

 
Too many baby fish in the tank as you can see but a plan is in progress to fix that.  All male fish have been evicted to my 120L so now I'm just waiting for the babies to slow down.  Meanwhile my girls are having a well-earned holiday from 24/7 harassment 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Very nice.

 

[daizeUK]

Really pleased with this tank at the moment. All the new growth is so healthy and vibrant, I love it! Some of the damaged plants still need to grow back but it's already looking so much better.

As an added bonus there is no algae left - apart from some BBA on the wood, never had BBA before - otherwise this tank is so clean, maintenance is a doddle!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Looks great.
 
BBA can be killed by spot cleaning - shoot the Excel directly on the BBA with no circulation.     Trust me, BBA is not something you want to get ahead of you.

 

[Rak9378]

Daize your tank looks great! I have really enjoyed reading your journal. Keep us updated!!

 

[daizeUK]

Thanks guys! Thanks for the advice Eagles. I've been complacent about the BBA because it doesn't look bad at the moment but I'm starting to suspect it's a ticking timebomb. Getting rid of it before it gets worse sounds like wise advice!

 

[Rak9378]

Hi Daize. When you doubled your dose of the EasyCarb did you also double your dose of macro ferts? Also are you dosing all three of the macro ferts?

Thx!

 

[daizeUK]

Hey Rak, I dose potassium, phosphorus and chelated trace at 1/2 EI dosage. I make my own solutions out of dry salts using potassium sulphate and potassium phosphate for the macro ferts and chelated trace for the micro. I deliberately avoid dosing nitrate because my tap water contains 40ppm nitrate.

I dose full EI using the same mix in my 120L, because I inject CO2 gas in there I use full EI dosing for that one. The nitrate in that tank has dropped from 40ppm to 20ppm.

 

[Rak9378]

Thx for the info! I'm just starting to read up on EI dosing.

 

[Primous]

The tank is looking great Daize. The platies are definitely loving the setup. I counted 13 fry/ sunset juvies. Congrats.

 

[daizeUK]

Thanks Primous! There are actually around 30 youngsters easily visible in the tank at the moment, not counting the babies hiding in the moss, it's embarrassingly overstocked

That's on top of my dedicated fry tank which is also fully stocked. I took about a dozen young fish to the LFS a couple of weeks ago and will take another load very soon. This is why I don't keep males in the tank anymore!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Good move on the lack of males... just unfortunate that the females can store sperm and have up to 6 batches of fry from a single encounter.  Got to move out the juvie males as soon as you can determine gender. 
 
 
This is why I say that livebearers can be like instant fish - just add water! 

 

[Primous]

 Like eagles said the fact they store sperm is why I don't keep them but that's me personally. The only thing I'd worry about in terms of your journal/tank is their number s. Like any tank that gets overstocked the ppm for nitrate can spike without you realizing. And where there is excess nitrate algae can rear it's stubborn head. But other than that, again, the tank looks fantastic! 

 

[daizeUK]

Nitrate was 30ppm before the water change today. I think the tank can handle some temporary overcrowding because it is heavily planted and overfiltered. I will keep an eye on it though and I will get the babies out of there as soon as I think they're ready. I like to let them grow to a certain size as I've seen the little ones get easily out-competed for food in the pick'n'mix tank at the LFS.

Attacked that BBA today as well - will see if it comes back!

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Get 'em Daize!  Show no mercy!