My First 'proper' Planted Aquarium...

[nosoup4you]

That's great, thanks! I shall push them in a bit deeper then. Poor photos? Pfft...showoff! lol I'd love some p. helferi but can't seem to find it in small portions, any ideas?

 

[aaronnorth]

That's great, thanks! I shall push them in a bit deeper then. Poor photos? Pfft...showoff! lol I'd love some p. helferi but can't seem to find it in small portions, any ideas?

I was mainly reffering to the 1st photo lol.

you can get p.helferi from Aqua Essentials & the green machine, each pot you can get about 10 plants out of.

 

[nosoup4you]

Well, it looks a bit messy at the moment but I decided to cram it full of stems to try to keep the algae at bay. It's still a bit cloudy from planting.

I would like to trim some of the Bacopa into a foreground plant if that's even possible. Any thoughts?

 

[nosoup4you]

I keep losing shrimp though my water checks out okay. Would the minute amounts of copper in ferts affect them?

 

[nosoup4you]

Well, I moved the remaining shrimp into another tank. Do you suppose it was the copper or the low pH?


[Edit] Nevermind, I just read Tom's response to a similar question in another thread.

 

[nosoup4you]

I'm starting to get some clear slime on the glass and plants that are in the direct path of the powerhead that I am using to diffuse the CO2. Is this some type of algae or some product of the CO2 diffusion? I have heard of slime collecting on glass diffusers and just wondered if this is what I am dealing with.

 

[aaronnorth]

look at the alae guide in my sig, can you get a pic?

 

[nosoup4you]

Can't really get a pic as I have removed most of it already. It doesn't look like anything that I've seen in the link. It is completely clear and very slimy. It is not really attached either, it just gets hung up on the plants and biofilm on the glass. It really looks like snot...sorry to be so graphic. lol

 

[Johnlenham]

Can't really get a pic as I have removed most of it already. It doesn't look like anything that I've seen in the link. It is completely clear and very slimy. It is not really attached either, it just gets hung up on the plants and biofilm on the glass. It really looks like snot...sorry to be so graphic. lol

Ive also started to get this, its not green or anything. clear and slimy sums it up well. Its only appeared at the top 2-3"s of my tank and I rubbed it all off with a cloth during water changes.

 

[nosoup4you]

Well, I've arranged and rearranged (it's still a bit cloudy from all of my fiddling) the tank and this is what I have thus far:

I've built a simplified version of Tom's reactor (minus the burp tube because I just don't have much room in this setup). It should take care of the slime problem.

 

[nosoup4you]

You may have noticed that I have removed all of the fish from my tank. A couple of days ago, the fish started hanging at the surface (not really gasping) so I removed them to another tank where they are now perfectly happy. This tank had been up and running for some time with the same fish before I switched the plants over to live plants and I had never experienced this problem so I do not think that it would be low 02 levels (my plants are pearling well). The water tests out normally so no problem there. I can't quite figure it out so I thought I would ask if anyone else has experienced this. Am I gassing my fish? Poisoning them with ferts? Grasping at straws here...

 

[SuperColey1]

Most likely CO2/O

those bottles behind the tank look awfully big. Are they your CO2??? Remind me of your tank size.

That venturi looks like it's working very well. Whats your DC reading?

I would try and get some more surface turbulence if the CO2 is OK and see how it does then. That would bring more O in whilst getting rid of a little CO2 and you will also notice the water clearing a little.

AC

 

[nosoup4you]

The tank is 10 gallons and the bottles are both 64 ounces. I'm looking for a DC at the moment but wasn't terribly concerned about not having one as I did not expect the DIY CO2 to work so well. I have checked the CO2 levels using the calculator here and am getting about 30ppm . I realize that this is not a terribly accurate method but as I said above, I never expected the DIY to produce such great results. So you think I was gassing them, eh? Do you think cutting the power to the powerhead at night would help?

 

[SuperColey1]

Yes I would cut the powerhead.

I had to look up 64 ounces Using english measurements is no good for us english. lol We have been accustomed to metric since we were temporarily conquered by Europe. Hopefully that will be a thing of the past soon and we can return to Imperial everything like the rest of the 'real' world. They even tried to ban beer being served a a pint!!!! Not a chance.

I would definately get some water movement at the surface. The reason most don't is because their CO2 level struggles however your venturi method seems to be working great. When I first started having a turbulent surface (flying in the face of convention as always ) I noticed my water clarity improved considerably.

Water clarity is a funny thing. you think it's like crystal until it gets clearer and then you think its crystal until its clearer again. lol Its always hard to convince people that they can further improve their water clarity.

I don't mean rapids or anything like that. I mean just so you get a good ripple:

Ignore the KH/Ph charts. They will not tell you with any accuracy your level of CO2. Your fish are telling you that your CO2 is high. Therefore if you lose the diffusion efficiency at night and then release a little more during the day you should have enough. When your DC arrives then you can gauge this better

So it looks like you venturi is super efficient and your mixes are working well. Keep us updated

AC

 

[nosoup4you]

Thanks Andy, I will take your advice. The tank was actually a little clearer before I started fiddling, though not as clear as yours. I'm very 'hands in' with my tank. lol Thanks for not giving me the spanking that I deserve for not having a DC. I actually expected to get an earful this morning.