Nry's Pfk Aquacube Journal

[nry]

No major changes - added three otocinclus huaorani (wild caught, not entirely keen on that but they seem to have settled in OK, they had been in the LFS for 1 month which is a good sign for health etc).

All plants are showing good new growth though I don't think the H.C. likes the lack of CO2: it has new growth but the older leaves seem to be suffering a bit. I am dosing Excel (daily based on weekly amount/7) and minimal EI so nutrients should be at a good level. Once the r.rotundifolia picks up in height I will post more pictures

Slight update - 6 teeny weeny amano shrimps went in today. I got them mail order and thought they were going to be a bit bigger than 1.5cm and they were destined for my 15-gallon. Given they'd likely get eaten within minutes in that tank so they have gone into this one. Kind of a shame as I wanted some tiger or bumble bee shrimps in this tank but never mind

 

[nry]

Decided to give CO2 a try in this tank, I have two cannisters and ceramic diffusers that came out of my 15-gallon, they have gone in this tank tonight after the weekly water change. Now I have more equipment than tank

 

[john starkey]

hi nry i cant wait to see pics once the co2 has taken effect the plants should do well, nice setup regards john

 

[nry]

Ta

It isn't until I look back at the picture above and realise the plants have grown more than I realised. Whilst I haven't got a drop checker in the tank, the CO2 bubbles get a really good blow around the tank via the HOB filter - the diffuser is directly under the water outlet and the bubbles stay in the water for ages before getting to the surface. George Farmer mentioned he had problems keeping 30ppm with his HOB, I wonder how mine is doing, there is absolutely no surface agitation to speak of.

I like the windelov fern so much I have just won one via eBay (at a measly £4 inc delivery from AquaticMagic!), I am going to incorporate it into my 15-gallon, it should do well in the lower lit area at the front right of the tank.

Picture update:

 

[lljdma06]

Looking good. I can really see a difference with the growth. Things are filling in nicely. I like java fern windelov too. How are you doing with tannins? Mopani is notorious for producing them. Some people, myself included, actually like the tea-colored water produced by the leaching tannins, but others don't. They soak their wood for ages before putting it in. I soak it just enough so that it sinks and then it gets popped in!

llj

 

[nry]

I soaked it for ~2 weeks, currently I find that this is enough to get rid of the really dark leaching, and afterwards it lightly affects the water but not enough to be overly dark.

I don't mind the water colour but it never stays too long anyway so long term it doesn't make much difference

 

[nry]

Current picture:

Not the best picture, but the growth in ~3 weeks is amazing! The CO2 would seem to be working really well, I get masses of pearling in this tank, way beyond that from my 15-gallon. I think it may be as much related to how well the teeny CO2 bubbles get blown around the 5-gallon whereas the 15-gallon sees many just get blown a little before they reach the surface. I have no idea what ppm I am reaching in this tank (15-gallon has 4dkh drop checker) but no fish problems and plants are certainly doing well!

I may try some pictures with a different and less brighter tube as the Interpet Daylight Plus is making the pictures look very very green!

 

[RadaR]

Wow, that looks really good! The whole layout flows beautifully. How are you finding the HC growth?

 

[nry]

H.C. has done pretty well, it has certainly picked up growth speed since CO2 started a few weeks ago. It's staying nice and low and does a fair amount of pearling - it certainly prefers the new substrate over the EcoComplete I had before and also the pea gravel I have in my 15-gallon, it can root really well which seems to be a major benefit.

 

[Themuleous]

Dam you and your lush looking HC! I always found it to be very NO3 hungry and the CO2 seems to be helping.

This should be a quality tank once filled out

Sam

 

[john starkey]

Hi nry, i must say thats a cool looking setup the pearling looks really nice you must be pleased with your results, i like the layout you have gone for it gives a nice feeling of depth to the scape and i think the plant placement is good. regards john

 

[nry]

It is more CO2 bubbles you can see being blasted around by the filter, though there is a fair bit of pearling going on too!

 

[Castellop123]

Looks good, nry... The HC is carpetting well

 

[nry]

Okie dokie, aside from the poor lighting for this photo, it is as ready as it will ever be for the PFK competition (I will do some different photo's with no equipment and also try some different lighting to get better colouring etc):

There's a really bright patch directly below the current 24w Interpet PC T5 - I will likely try the original light in this tank for competition photos as I think they may give a better contrast and lower/no bright patches. Either that or I'll try moving the current light much further away and maybe vary the angle.

 

[arif_93]

woah hc gettin crazy how long it take to carpet like that how many pots did u start of with how did u plant it wat gravel/ substrate u using wpg etc.

if only i could do that,