Dave Spencer
Gort! Klaatu barada nikto.
Spent two months reading up on the subject on the internet. Learnt a lot from Tom Barr and George Farmer. Decided plants were they way ahead for me.
Tank: 120l
Filter: Juwel internal. I wasn`t too worried about the bad press because my plants were going to provide most of the filtrartion.
Lighting: 54W Interpet Daylight Plus T5, 54W Interpet Triplus T5 (3.5WPG). 10 hour photoperiod. Juwel lights not used. I have found that my T5 lights raise the water temperature by 3 Degrees C over the photoperiod.
CO2: Pressurised JBL with solenoid shut off at night. JBL vario diffuser.
Substrate: API Laterite and Argos play sand (because Corydoras love sand). JBL undrergravel heater.
Fertilisers: As per the pinned EI article.
Tap water: pH 7.2 (6.2 in tank), nitrates 5ppm, phosphates 1ppm, KH 3, GH 3.
30/11/06:
Tank filled in order to sort out the substrate and minimal decor. Filter and heating on, but no lights.
05/12/06:
My first ammonia reading: 0.1 mg/l. Nitrites still at zero.
06/12/06:
Tank planted: 50 Hygrophilia Polysperma, 25 Vallis, 25 Egeria Densa, 25 Ludwigia Arcuata, 25 Rotala Rotundifolia, Echinodorus Tennellus, Java Fern.
CO2 was started at 1 bubble per two seconds, lights on and EI dosing to 1/3 target. Vallis starts to pearl after two hours.
07/12/06:
Most plants are pearling.
pH 24 hour drop test result was .8, but affected by bogwood. CO2 increased to 1.5BPS.
Ammonia and nitrites are zero.
08/12/06:
Hair like algae starts to appear at the bottom right hand corner of the tank.
Ammonia and nitrites are still zero.
09/12/06:
Ammonia and nitrites are zero so....four Bumblebee Shrimp and two Otos added. Both were a bit too delicate to introduce at this stage, but I couldn`t help myself because I was confident my tank was not going to go through a cycle.
Some green spots of algae on the glass, some hair like algae starting to appear on the Java Fern.
11/12/06:
pH 24 hour drop test still at .8. CO2 increased slightly (bloody crap JBL regulator).
Adding fauna has had zero effect on the water readings, all looks good.
Vallis is starting to show threads of algae.
13/12/06:
Three Peppered Corys and two bumblebee shrimp are added. there is a green tinge on top of the sand and the Corys will turn this over.
14/12/06:
Phosphates are always a little over target and I rarely seem to need to dose. Sometimes I wonder how accurate the kits we use are. I carry out quite a lot of chemistry analysis in the power industry.
15/12/06:
Two Otos and three Amano Shrimp are added. My anti algae task force is growing.
17/12/06:
I wondered what the rise in pH was overnight with the CO2 off. It was measured at 0.4.
18/12/06:
Some threads of algae are 5in long, flapping in the water flow and laughing at my attempts to suppress a creature that has been on this Earth for billions of years. The puny human increases the CO2 slightly (about three bubbles every two seconds).
19/12/06:
I calculated that my phosphate reduces by .5mg/l over a 24 hour period. Not really happy with my nitarte measurements, so I didn`t bother measuring a 24 hour drop.
The tanks routine was disrupted over the Christmas period and I was too drunk to care.
28/12/06:
Most of my fast growers were bent over at the water`s surface, so I pruned them all back. A bucket load was given to a friend who bought his son a tank for Christmas. The Egeria Densa was definitely the sprint champion of the fast growing weeds, yet it is the most susceptible to hair algae.
CO2 was increased to 1BPS and my Amano Shrimp were monitored to ensure that this was not too much.
29/12/06:
pH 24 hour drop of almost 1 suggested I was in the ballpark for 30ppm.
Plans for the near future:
I am going to concentrate on my Ludwigia Arcuata (my favoutite plant with its orangey tinge)), Rotala Rotundifolia for a bita touch of red and Hygrophilia (I just like this weed). My Echinodorus tennellus struggled at first, but is now just starting to come good.
Definitely going to attempt at an accurate CO2 reading. Boyu drop checker arrived this morning.
Things I will do differently next time:
Next time I will lay off the fish for a while and just blitz the tank with CO2. I minced about with the stuff for too long at the beginning and having fish and shrimp present meant I tended to err on the side of caution when increasing the bubble rate. I am sure this was the cause of my algae.
Accept the messy jungle look and do not prune too heavily or try to rescape to soon.
Here is my jungle when first planted. I hope to post more pics after my first attempt at rescaping, and taken with a Nikon D40 mmmmmm.....it`s so unnecessary.
Tank: 120l
Filter: Juwel internal. I wasn`t too worried about the bad press because my plants were going to provide most of the filtrartion.
Lighting: 54W Interpet Daylight Plus T5, 54W Interpet Triplus T5 (3.5WPG). 10 hour photoperiod. Juwel lights not used. I have found that my T5 lights raise the water temperature by 3 Degrees C over the photoperiod.
CO2: Pressurised JBL with solenoid shut off at night. JBL vario diffuser.
Substrate: API Laterite and Argos play sand (because Corydoras love sand). JBL undrergravel heater.
Fertilisers: As per the pinned EI article.
Tap water: pH 7.2 (6.2 in tank), nitrates 5ppm, phosphates 1ppm, KH 3, GH 3.
30/11/06:
Tank filled in order to sort out the substrate and minimal decor. Filter and heating on, but no lights.
05/12/06:
My first ammonia reading: 0.1 mg/l. Nitrites still at zero.
06/12/06:
Tank planted: 50 Hygrophilia Polysperma, 25 Vallis, 25 Egeria Densa, 25 Ludwigia Arcuata, 25 Rotala Rotundifolia, Echinodorus Tennellus, Java Fern.
CO2 was started at 1 bubble per two seconds, lights on and EI dosing to 1/3 target. Vallis starts to pearl after two hours.
07/12/06:
Most plants are pearling.
pH 24 hour drop test result was .8, but affected by bogwood. CO2 increased to 1.5BPS.
Ammonia and nitrites are zero.
08/12/06:
Hair like algae starts to appear at the bottom right hand corner of the tank.
Ammonia and nitrites are still zero.
09/12/06:
Ammonia and nitrites are zero so....four Bumblebee Shrimp and two Otos added. Both were a bit too delicate to introduce at this stage, but I couldn`t help myself because I was confident my tank was not going to go through a cycle.
Some green spots of algae on the glass, some hair like algae starting to appear on the Java Fern.
11/12/06:
pH 24 hour drop test still at .8. CO2 increased slightly (bloody crap JBL regulator).
Adding fauna has had zero effect on the water readings, all looks good.
Vallis is starting to show threads of algae.
13/12/06:
Three Peppered Corys and two bumblebee shrimp are added. there is a green tinge on top of the sand and the Corys will turn this over.
14/12/06:
Phosphates are always a little over target and I rarely seem to need to dose. Sometimes I wonder how accurate the kits we use are. I carry out quite a lot of chemistry analysis in the power industry.
15/12/06:
Two Otos and three Amano Shrimp are added. My anti algae task force is growing.
17/12/06:
I wondered what the rise in pH was overnight with the CO2 off. It was measured at 0.4.
18/12/06:
Some threads of algae are 5in long, flapping in the water flow and laughing at my attempts to suppress a creature that has been on this Earth for billions of years. The puny human increases the CO2 slightly (about three bubbles every two seconds).
19/12/06:
I calculated that my phosphate reduces by .5mg/l over a 24 hour period. Not really happy with my nitarte measurements, so I didn`t bother measuring a 24 hour drop.
The tanks routine was disrupted over the Christmas period and I was too drunk to care.
28/12/06:
Most of my fast growers were bent over at the water`s surface, so I pruned them all back. A bucket load was given to a friend who bought his son a tank for Christmas. The Egeria Densa was definitely the sprint champion of the fast growing weeds, yet it is the most susceptible to hair algae.
CO2 was increased to 1BPS and my Amano Shrimp were monitored to ensure that this was not too much.
29/12/06:
pH 24 hour drop of almost 1 suggested I was in the ballpark for 30ppm.
Plans for the near future:
I am going to concentrate on my Ludwigia Arcuata (my favoutite plant with its orangey tinge)), Rotala Rotundifolia for a bita touch of red and Hygrophilia (I just like this weed). My Echinodorus tennellus struggled at first, but is now just starting to come good.
Definitely going to attempt at an accurate CO2 reading. Boyu drop checker arrived this morning.
Things I will do differently next time:
Next time I will lay off the fish for a while and just blitz the tank with CO2. I minced about with the stuff for too long at the beginning and having fish and shrimp present meant I tended to err on the side of caution when increasing the bubble rate. I am sure this was the cause of my algae.
Accept the messy jungle look and do not prune too heavily or try to rescape to soon.
Here is my jungle when first planted. I hope to post more pics after my first attempt at rescaping, and taken with a Nikon D40 mmmmmm.....it`s so unnecessary.
