George's Journal

[jimbooo]

was it my tanks you remember. i've also had rams and boesmani's i would agree with gf though on the compatibality front my KH is 11. the rainbows always did well but i've managed to kill 4 rams. they dont last more than 2 weeks in my tanks. i shall not be trying again.

as to colour they need spiritula (SP?) algae. feed algae wafers or vegi flakes and they should colour up.

is this the chappy you remember

 

[George Farmer]

At last, some photos for you.

The first is taken minutes after lights "on", hence no pearling - those pesky oxygen bubbles spoil a good photo.

Spot my new inhabitant, a Sunset Platy. Two reasons for the purchase. One, I thought the colour and extra movement would look good in the upper levels of the tank. Two, I've heard they're great for eating surface scum - something that I always get a little towards the end of the week. It is doing a marvellous job so far on both counts, providing wonderful contrast with the orange, green and black and there's no longer any trace of any scum.



Here's the equipment. Note the lights have been on a while now.



And here's the compulsory new fish close-up.



I know the layout is very symmetrical - it needs to be really when you consider the size of the fern!

 

[Dubby]

Thats looking good. To be frank, I liked it better with the glosso carpet. But I'm sure you'll come up with something better.

And wish you luck with the platy - may the tribe incease

 

[jimbooo]

so whens the bigger tank arriving for the fern then george? it really is getting huge. i hope mine will look like that in another year. theyre about 14 months old now.

love the platy, any plans for some friends for him/her. 3 or 4 would look even better.

edit: sorry forgot to comment on the black equipment. looks 10x better, well done mate nice job.

 

[paulioo]

I'm loving the black equipment. May very well do the exact same.

I never knew you could get fish to eat the surface scum. I have very little water agitation so I get alot of surface scum towards the end of the week.

The fern is huuuuuuuuge, and if i may say, i think its a little too big for the tank. But i can understand why you wouldn't want to trim it down, I've never seen a fern as big.

Once the Glosso grows back in it will look fab as usual.

Paul

 

[kenneth_kpe]

hmm i like what jimboo said, a bigger tank for the fern thats getting bigger and bigger hehehe the platys cute it is as if he is hypnotized by the thousands of tiny bubbles floating around

the pic you uploaded now almost reminds me of a marine tank with a large coral in the middle , only everything is green

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I'm not really happy with the layout if I'm honest with myself. The fern is too big and dominates the tank far too much to provide a balanced aquascape. However I do still like it, I just know that I could create something much better in artisic terms.

Unfortunately I'll be away soon for 4 months so the tank will be half-neglected. This is the maintenance schedule I've planned so far - any other suggestions welcome.

A reefkeeping friend will perform 50% fortnightly water changes (RO/tap).

Half light (1 WPG),
Half CO2 (15ppm)
Dosing KNO3, KH2PO4 and CSM+B will be with water changes only (20ppm NO3, 1ppm PO4 and 3x standard CSM+B dosing).

I plan to remove the sag and glosso and just keep the fern and Anubias.

It will be interesting to see what I come back to, hopefully just a bigger fern and more Anubias. Then the fun can really start!

 

[jimbooo]

makes sence to me. just make sure he doesn't over do the ferts with your lower wpg. the uptake rate will obviously drop. what about feeding. that is my personal concern when leaving the tank in someone elses hands. maybe a pill box with rations for each day.


( i do have a teaching granny to suck eggs feeling about this reply, sorry mate LOL)

when are you off anyway? it would be nice to pop over to say hi before you go.

 

[George Farmer]

makes sence to me. just make sure he doesn't over do the ferts with your lower wpg. the uptake rate will obviously drop. what about feeding. that is my personal concern when leaving the tank in someone elses hands. maybe a pill box with rations for each day.


( i do have a teaching granny to suck eggs feeling about this reply, sorry mate LOL)

when are you off anyway? it would be nice to pop over to say hi before you go.

I've taken the lower uptake rate into account, hence only dosing 20ppm NO3 etc. over the entire 14 day period. My only concern is the large influx of nutrients in one go rather than the steady dosing as I do now i.e. 5ppm NO3 every other day.

Feeding is no problem, my eldest daughter is well trained. I've considered getting her to dose the ferts as she did such a good job the last time but have decided on the planned method for various reasons.

I may be going as soon as early February. Thankfully there's net access where I'm based so I'll still be active.

 

[jimbooo]

oh yeah i forgot that was 2 weeks worth doh, sorry. i would also worry about the nutrient shock. as you know algae thrive on unstable nutrient levels so in theory it could take off. especially in a tank like yours with no fast growers.

i cant think of a solution though adding nothing will bring it's own problems as well. i'll have a think and get back to you

 

[George Farmer]

i would also worry about the nutrient shock............especially in a tank like yours with no fast growers.

I understand your concern but I was thinking the sheer bio-mass of the fern performs a fair amount of nutrient uptake. A fern of this size is quite hungry!

Perhaps dosing 10ppm NO3 etc. once per week instead of 20ppm once per 2 weeks is the way forward?

So in summary for my 4 months away -

Planted with Java fern and Anubias only
Light - 1.1 WPG T8 6500K with reflectors
CO2 - approx 15-20ppm (30 bubbles per min 24/7)
50% water change every two weeks
Dose 10ppm NO3 once weekly
Dose 0.5ppm PO4 once weekly
2 x standard dose CSM+B once weekly
Filter clean and substrate vacuumed at two month (halfway) point
Fish fed, glass cleaned as required

My main concern is coming back to a mass of algae or BGA. I fairly confident my plants won't die. Even then I suppose it gives me another excuse to strip down and start from scratch, something that I actually really enjoy.

 

[zig]

I would say that would be fine if you are injecting the co2, if you chose not to inject the co2 i would only dose trace presumeing your fish load is relatively ok, i think if you inject the co2 the fern will be half the size of the tank (the other half i mean) when you come back and you will probably end up getting rid of it eventually, but im sure you have thought about this allready, but i would say the dosing regime you have in place is quite good, ferns are nitrate hogs particularily one that big, but i would say with the fish load and what you add that would be plenty IMO at just over 1 WPG.

 

[jimbooo]

yep i agree that the 10ml per week would be a better option if possible.

by the way george can i possibly volunteer to rehome your fern in my rio180 when it gets too big. only if you decide to get rid of it of course but it would be a shame for it to disappear from the forum as we all love it so much.

i'd gut the tank and build everything around it like you have.

just a thought if in a year you decide to loose it please remember this post.

now all i need is a time machine...

 

[George Farmer]

I would say that would be fine if you are injecting the co2, if you chose not to inject the co2 i would only dose trace presumeing your fish load is relatively ok, i think if you inject the co2 the fern will be half the size of the tank (the other half i mean) when you come back and you will probably end up getting rid of it eventually, but im sure you have thought about this allready, but i would say the dosing regime you have in place is quite good, ferns are nitrate hogs particularily one that big, but i would say with the fish load and what you add that would be plenty IMO at just over 1 WPG.

Thanks mate, I was hoping for your take on this.

by the way george can i possibly volunteer to rehome your fern in my rio180 when it gets too big.

If I ever intend losing it you are welcome James. Or I could auction it, must be worth a few bob!

Seriously though I would love a bigger tank to put it in. Buy a 4x2x2 or similar with the works, MH or T5 etc. Well I have 4 months to plan (dream more like!) a set-up.

 

[Dubby]

I plan to remove the sag and glosso and just keep the fern and Anubias.

Happy to take those off you