Not So Much A Journal ( More An Experiment)

[doktor doris]

Forgive my idiocy please but what plant is HC?

ta

doris

 

[mancin]

Forgive my idiocy please but what plant is HC?

ta

doris

Hemianthus Callitrichoides AKA Dwarf Baby Tears

Looks great Jen. I'm interested to see how this turns out!

 

[JenCliBee]

With an extensive rescape, you can run the risk of an ammonia spike, which can trigger an algae bloom.

thats answered my problem =/

is it due to all of the poo being kicked up and not being broken down?

Not being broken down quickly enough, In my opinion, yes. The filter can only handle so much at a given time.

On the subject of nutritious substrate, you can have one and still consider you tank low-maintenance. The tanks of Diana Walstad often use soil of some type, and if that isn't nutrient-rich, I don't know what it. I use a layer of laterite under sand, very old school, but still effective and rather cheap.

llj

The only problem here is this tank wasnt setup to actually do what im doing, the plants were added after the other tank sold so for ease and i mean the low maintenance part the plants were added rather than chuck away. Sand wood and filter placements etc etc were already in before i even thought about adding these plants and tbh i didnt want to take all the sand out to put a base layer.

This is as the title says... more an experiment to see IF the HC would grow under these conditions if i start changing substrate adding Presured CO2 etc etc it starts to take the experiment part away from the whole thing, i know the mosses will be fine (just grow slower) and the HC was already there to try and it basically needed planting straight away hence why now this experiment is in preocess lol.

HC i will admit isnt doing to well (its not dead just hasnt grew much, and a few brown leaves) but it wasnt dosed for 5 days while i was away and it basically wasnt looked after, however im back now and the routine is back to normal so we'll see now how it goes

Hemianthus Callitrichoides AKA Dwarf Baby Tears

Looks great Jen. I'm interested to see how this turns out!

Cheers m8, will keep everyone posted on it's good or bad progress


Thanks again all for the comments, suggestions and ideas

jen

 

[Goodygumdrops]

Hey Jen,it should work.I have a sand tank getting quite full of lovely lush growth now.Your hc won't take much from the substrate anyway,and mosses won't take anything so as long as your dosing ferts that should be fine.
As a wee experiment,I gathered some single stems (about 3) of hc that were floating in my big tank after a water change and put them into my sand tank and they are spreading,maybe if there's no co2 growth won't be as fast (I don't do co2 or excel in the sand tank,just flourish ferts,my tank is under 2wpg).

 

[JenCliBee]

Hey Jen,it should work.I have a sand tank getting quite full of lovely lush growth now.Your hc won't take much from the substrate anyway,and mosses won't take anything so as long as your dosing ferts that should be fine.
As a wee experiment,I gathered some single stems (about 3) of hc that were floating in my big tank after a water change and put them into my sand tank and they are spreading,maybe if there's no co2 growth won't be as fast (I don't do co2 or excel in the sand tank,just flourish ferts,my tank is under 2wpg).

Cheers for the confidence boost m8, will be adding the DIY CO2 tonight just to give that little extra lol and see how it goes, but since getting back tank seems to have perked up a bit with dosing regular so fingers crossed .. might finally get some fish/shrimp in soon if it ever finishes cycling lol


jen

 

[lljdma06]

Cheers for the confidence boost m8, will be adding the DIY CO2 tonight just to give that little extra lol and see how it goes, but since getting back tank seems to have perked up a bit with dosing regular so fingers crossed .. might finally get some fish/shrimp in soon if it ever finishes cycling lol

Then it is not low-tech anymore.

 

[JenCliBee]

Cheers for the confidence boost m8, will be adding the DIY CO2 tonight just to give that little extra lol and see how it goes, but since getting back tank seems to have perked up a bit with dosing regular so fingers crossed .. might finally get some fish/shrimp in soon if it ever finishes cycling lol

Then it is not low-tech anymore.

I would have still considered it low tech, pressurised been stable to me with high lighting etc etc i consider hi tech.

I didnt end up putting the Diy CO2 on in the end anyways, i couldnt be a**d to go shop and buy the yeast lol, and the HC now with dosing and a 10 hour photo-period seems to have perked up a little (teach me to set it up before going away for a few days lol).

Anyways lljd hope you happy now CO2 is not added lol

Just a quick pic with most of the wood sunk , i quite like the thrown in look so might keep it

jen

 

[aaronnorth]

Cheers for the confidence boost m8, will be adding the DIY CO2 tonight just to give that little extra lol and see how it goes, but since getting back tank seems to have perked up a bit with dosing regular so fingers crossed .. might finally get some fish/shrimp in soon if it ever finishes cycling lol

Then it is not low-tech anymore.

I cant even see the HC in that last pic, it is too overexposed on the sand - my monitor needs calibrating

 

[JenCliBee]

Cheers for the confidence boost m8, will be adding the DIY CO2 tonight just to give that little extra lol and see how it goes, but since getting back tank seems to have perked up a bit with dosing regular so fingers crossed .. might finally get some fish/shrimp in soon if it ever finishes cycling lol

Then it is not low-tech anymore.

I cant even see the HC in that last pic, it is too overexposed on the sand - my monitor needs calibrating

The picture was just taken to show the layout of the wood and yes the camera im using is crap, however i am a fishkeeper and not a photographer .

will get some pics up of the HC later but not much has change with it yet tbh alittle up growth but i think thats to be expected lol

 

[JenCliBee]

Just a quick update

Removed the sponge filter (thanks lljd) everytime i looked at the tank i had your comment there lol and it just had to go , left the powerhead in for the time been just to add to the flow and move the ferts round the tank better. I trimmed the flame moss just to encourage better growth and what little i trimmed tied to another piece of wood.

HC is still alive lol, but not really doing much, a little growth here and there but time will tell

Will get pics up tomoorow hopefully

 

[lljdma06]

Then it is not low-tech anymore.

I would have still considered it low tech, pressurised been stable to me with high lighting etc etc i consider hi tech.

I didnt end up putting the Diy CO2 on in the end anyways, i couldnt be a**d to go shop and buy the yeast lol, and the HC now with dosing and a 10 hour photo-period seems to have perked up a little (teach me to set it up before going away for a few days lol).

Anyways lljd hope you happy now CO2 is not added lol

Yes, I am happy now. I did not want to be all by myself! I bet I'll get you off ferts too. I will be patient. Your tank is still young and I'm not going anywhere.

So are you just running the powerhead now, or do you have another filter? Not that you have a ginormous bioload to worry about, you probably won't even need a filter if you keep to shrimp and just maintain good tank maintenance.

llj

 

[JenCliBee]

Then it is not low-tech anymore.

I would have still considered it low tech, pressurised been stable to me with high lighting etc etc i consider hi tech.

I didnt end up putting the Diy CO2 on in the end anyways, i couldnt be a**d to go shop and buy the yeast lol, and the HC now with dosing and a 10 hour photo-period seems to have perked up a little (teach me to set it up before going away for a few days lol).

Anyways lljd hope you happy now CO2 is not added lol

Yes, I am happy now. I did not want to be all by myself! I bet I'll get you off ferts too. I will be patient. Your tank is still young and I'm not going anywhere.

So are you just running the powerhead now, or do you have another filter? Not that you have a ginormous bioload to worry about, you probably won't even need a filter if you keep to shrimp and just maintain good tank maintenance.

llj

No it has a TT ex700 running, the sponge filter as mentioned previously was the only filtration i was going to use hence the very oversized compasity... i put the ex700 just becasue it was sitting there not been used so thought while i was cycling the tank with the sponge filter i might aswell cycle the External at the same time .

After you mentioned about the sponge it got me thinking that the EX7 would probably be better and look much nicer to leave in the tank, i ordered some filter foams for an old fluval 4 filter (cilinder type ones) cut them to size and filled the hole at the botom with he offcuts and placed it over the intake, nothink now will be sucked into it making the sponge filter not needed .

The power head is purely for flow for now, i need the actuall filter system becasue it will be a grow out tank for the cory's and Plecs in time aswell as the shrimp and bioload will start increasing and its gonna be a pain to monitor if there isnt one there.

Getting off ferts, am i able to?, will in time be making my own with the recipe mentioned elsewhere, i think it will work out cheaper and be a little more benificial.... i say cheaper because this tank was only ment to be a experiment and low maintenance/low cost, my rio 125 will be the high maintenance high tech tank if i can finally get round to setting it all up

Thanks again all for the comments , and as i said above i will get some pics up somtime today..... without the sponge filter .... not looking much different tbh, just the wood has been sort of placed at the back... so let me know what you all thinkand how it could look better.


jen

 

[JenCliBee]

Update as promised

Layout is pretty simple, i wanted all the twiggy wood right at the back.... a large piece of bogwood either side and a carpet like effect at the front.

SPONGE FILTER REMOVED lol

The rock with flame moss on the left will hopefully be removed this weekend if i can get a similar looking piece of bogwood as the other side. The piece of wood in the middle now has some flame moss attached, the wood on the right has xmas moss on as will the peice when brought for the other side.

The HC will stay at the front and i might get another pot this weekend just to fill in the gaps a little more, it has grown i can notice by comparing the pictures, however i done a full water change yesterday because my PH had droped well below 6 and i think it stalled the cycle but while doing this the sand has buried the HC slightly, making it look as tho it hasnt grown at all .

Anyways enough of me rambling, a couple of pics for you

Full tank shot

HC..

Thanks for looking

jen

 

[lljdma06]

Yes, it has grown. I can now see it in the tank shot, whereas I couldn't see it last time. Just takes more time, is all.

Low-maintenance is an exercise in patience...

 

[JenCliBee]

Yes, it has grown. I can now see it in the tank shot, whereas I couldn't see it last time. Just takes more time, is all.

Low-maintenance is an exercise in patience...

ahhh good, glad it's not just me trying to imagine it's grown lol to make me feel better

patience yes!!, but i have all the time in the world anyways , it will take as long as it takes... im in no hurry.