Noobs Ltlb 10

[Steve H.]

Steve, I have the same situation and my plants are also growing somewhat in the direction of the natural light. However, after the fluorescent lights have been on for some hours they are almost straight again. My light is also 1.4 WpG. Do you have your lights on during the day, or afternoon/night?

Daytime. They are on from 9am to 6pm. I just changed that though. The original schedule was 9am to 2pm, 2 hour siesta, and then 4pm to 9pm.

 

[Biulu]

Ok, maybe the indirect light was competing with the fluorescents? See if things will be better now in the afternoon.

 

[Steve H.]

Well, as embarrassing mistake as this was, I think I may have found a reason my sag was not doing so well.
At my water change I looked at my temp...86d!! I'm not sure how long it has been running at this temp because I have not adjusted the heater in some time. Temp of the water was always so consistent I eventually stopped checking.

Lesson learned...check temp daily! Suprised fish were able to tolerate that temp.

 

[Biulu]

Ok! Hopefully it will now take off soon then... Normally, fish are able to cope with higher temperatures as long as it is gradual. I hope you just turned the heater lower or off and didn't try to force down the temperature too much? A waterchange that lowers the temperature with about 3 degrees, could trigger spawning, but I wouldn't think a change of 5 or more degrees would do them any good....

 

[Steve H.]

With everything sorted now I'm getting good growth from everything with the exception of the Sag, but at least it stopped wilting away and what's left has nice color. Before I planted my nitrates would build to 40-80ppm in a week, and today after a week I only have 5ppm! Great for the fishkeeper, but a concern for the scaper.
I'm going to wait another week and hopefully the sag will bounce back enough to reposition..

With everything growing well now it is appearing that I will have to move things around to fit properly.

Really surprised by the crypt. Everything I read stated they were really slow growers, and I have 2 new runners off the mother plant.

 

[Biulu]

That's great Steve! Don't worry so much about the nitrates; they are there but being used by the plants. That's why you measure a much lower amount since what you measure is 'free' nitrate in the water.

 

[Steve H.]

Still waiting for everything to grow in. I figured this out, and now I'm waiting for it to grow so I can prune and change it all up.

I have had plenty to keep me busy. I have bee working on a Tanganyikan tank project as well as a pond project.

I will need some aquatic plant advice for the pond. I would like to try and out-compete the string algae for nutrients. I am keeping a journal in the Coldwater Photo section if any of you green thumbs out there have foliage suggestions!

from 10 Gallons to 7,000!

 

[Biulu]

wow, lucky you! I only have a balcony that fits 2 chairs and a bbq! There seem to be some good algae eating carps around for ponds. You could try that too....

 

[Steve H.]

Lol! My patio is only slightly bigger. In addition to 2 chairs and a bbq I can fit a love seat and a coffee table.
This is in my moms back yard which is 40 minutes away from me. It was my dads, and it's kind of my inheritance.
I did help him build it though...

 

[Steve H.]

Update:

It has been almost 2 months now since I originally planted my tank. I have not updated sooner because besides a comedy of newbie errors, and not much happening, the tank was just ugly and a little embarrassing.
The water was hazy and tannined. Plants were struggling....it just was not looking good.

But, now things are stabilizing and I'm gaining some experience and learning a lot

I'm still a long way from where I want to be. Most of the HC floated away, but I still have one little patch that seems to be anchored and doing well. The Difformis is really healthy looking and is growing as advertised.
I repositioned the crypt which is doing so well that I need to move again.
The Sag suffered the most. When I first planted it was 8-10" tall, and now all that remains of the tall planr are 3 lonely leaves. The good news is that although it is not going tall they are creating runners like mad. At least 2 per each mother plant.

Even though the sag is not growing towards the surface I really like the look it is taking on. Kind of wild and not groomed....makes it look natural which is what I'm going for.

Now that I see how things are growing I think it's time to change it up. Maybe get those sag's more in the mid to foreground. Get something else that will grow tall to hide the equipment.

Not sure what yet...maybe some Val's?? Maybe take the wood out and let the sag carpet the tank?

 

[FishFanatic04]

Oh, I do like the look you have now too. I love tanks that have a wild natural look to them. I had to learn this way too, I had some plants die, and some thrive. There's a learning curve, and you have to figure out what does well with your water.

Your tanks really looking great after all that effort!

 

[Termato]

Wow, I just went through and looked at what you did and I must say what I transformation.

Good job!

I must ask why you went with gravel instead of sand after all that work?

Also, have you considered something like Cabomba to go in there? I think that could give that finishing tall touch to the tank.

Looks great and keep it up!

 

[Steve H.]

Thanks FF...learning curve is right. Also, getting it to match the picture in my mind of how I want it to look has also been a big challenging, and an exercise in patients.
As soon as the sag runners get some decent size I am going to be able to change it up somewhat.

Is it possible to tie the crypt to the large stick I have in there?

Here's what I'm thinking....
Tie down the crypt to that stick where the 3 branches fork
Move the micro sword from the right to the left to replace the crypt
Bring the Sag forward and slightly toward center to replace the sword and open up some space for something that will grow taller in front of the equipment.
Then just groom the Sag to hopefully run to the left

 

[FishFanatic04]

Sounds good, theres lots of nice plants you can use in the back, and a 10g is not so tall that you can pretty much use what you want.

Your crypt might melt when you move it, just keep the dead leaves pulled off.

Don't know about tying it to the wood.

 

[Steve H.]

I must ask why you went with gravel instead of sand after all that work?

Also, have you considered something like Cabomba to go in there? I think that could give that finishing tall touch to the tank.

Thanks so much!

I did consider sand, and I guess there were 2 reasons I went with the gravel.

First, when I was asking questions about my planting plan, and about using soil, someone in this forum suggested not to use sand to cap the soil. Stating that over time the soil and sand would eventually mix.
And second, when I was doing research on the Walstad Method I read the recommendation to use gravel over sand because it will allow oxygen and mulm to reach the soil layer more easily. The soil needs a supply of oxygen in order to keep its bacteria alive, and thus allows the bacteria to break down the mulm and plant decay replenishing the soil nutrients.


Cabomba is a great suggestion...nice and bushy. It would hid the equipment too.

Thanks again!