Rye's 125L Tank

[lljdma06]

Ryefish, the red plant just looks like it's doing some conversion growth... either it's changing from emersed to submerged, or it was grown under powerful metal hallides in the nursery to encourage red, and now it's adjusting to the lower light levels. Top growth looks nice and healthy to me. Give it some time, yet.

Get that algae off that hydrocotyle! If it's the species I've worked with, it also needs some conversion time. It's a common weed in my backyard.

The crypt in the last picture will also convert to submerged growth soon.

Don't dwell much on the scape right now, just grow plants.

llj

 

[n3ont3tra]

I read through your whole journal, your tank looks pretty nice! You've put a lot of work into it, don't give up.

 

[SuperColey1]

I don't think you need to upgrade. Thats a mistake I made on a similar sized tank in the early days.

thought I would give you some inspiration.

This is a tank that inspired me a long time back by George Farmer. Maybe people who know my style of scaping will see a similarity This is in my TOP 10 favourite ever scapes purely because it is what inspired me and started the process of 'downgrading' the lights (I had already upgraded from the 2 x 18W prior to seeing this tank. Rather foolish of me. lol

It is the same tank as yours in size. He did use pressurised CO2 but the lights were the same. Yours looks like a Juwel and therefore although it is 112L is known as a 125Ltr (same as my Fluval. better to just use the 33USG for these 80cm tanks and work out the light from that.

I guess you have 2 x 18W T8 in the lid and that would make 1.1WPG. Check out the thread for some more pictures of it:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=208540&st=20

Regards
AC

 

[Ryefish]

3 weeks till pay day and then im getting some good ferts

Thanks for the replies Llj i think i've seen a new leaf growing on a piece of the hydrocotyle supercoley, its nice to see a tank very similar to mine i think i need to fix this CO2 and the ferts and then all should be well

Im still getting used to the diy CO2 and its causing crazy algae issues. spent two hours today cleaning the tank and i moved the filter input pipe to the side of the tank. it means it hangs over the lid so it doesnt shut properly but i need better circulation and don't care . The filter is rotten after a week, no idea why. Full of brown gunge and not able to filter water properly. The water turn over rate isn't that high, but i can't afford a new filter and i do have a small one inside the tank acting as a diffuser that is turning the water round aswell. Buying some new filter sponges when i get paid aswell

Ive had quite a bit of new growth. There are some plants (no idea what they are called and too lazy atm to search) that are crazy tall and i dont know what to do with them. Also, the crypts i have are huge and i don't know how they will work when i finally chose a scape for this. They aren't really medium sized anymore

some pictures for ye all

(ETA: I've just noticed the dog hes obsessed with the cory's)

 

[lljdma06]

ryefish, I don't feel like sifting. Are you running one canister of DIY CO2 or more than one? More than one canister will yield more stable results. Also, have you experimented with your drop checker location? First couple weeks I had my 8g, I shifted it around quite a bit to see what CO2 levels were throughout the tank.

llj

 

[Ryefish]

only one at the minute, still need some more air tubing (its rather expensive in the shops ) . trying to get the mixture right in the one bottle though and think i've sussed it. when the CO2 works the drop checker is the same around the tank. i've only just moved it back over to the right of the tank after being at the left for the last few weeks

 

[lljdma06]

only one at the minute, still need some more air tubing (its rather expensive in the shops ) . trying to get the mixture right in the one bottle though and think i've sussed it. when the CO2 works the drop checker is the same around the tank. i've only just moved it back over to the right of the tank after being at the left for the last few weeks

That's it then. When you can afford more tubing, add a second container, and use a T-connector to connect both canisters to the same diffusor. Then alternate changing the mixes. Then you'll have more constant CO2. It's not ideal, but it may work for now.

llj

 

[Ryefish]

I have all the T Connectors and everything ready and waiting to go, i just need the air tubing. Placed an order on ebay just now so hopefully will have it within a week or so (my poor bank balance )

 

[SuperColey1]

you want a gan valve not a T!!!

If you just use a T and disconnect one you will lose all the pressure from the other rendering it almost useless at the same time.

With a gang valve (a couple of quid at most from P@H) you can close the airline on the one your refilling and the old one continues.

Then reconnect the fresh refill and open the valve again.

Oops I was wrong. They're £2.09 Wer £1.99 when I bought one yonks ago. lol

http/www.petsathome.com/shop/2-way-gang-valve-25677


AC

 

[lljdma06]

you want a gan valve not a T!!!

If you just use a T and disconnect one you will lose all the pressure from the other rendering it almost useless at the same time.

With a gang valve (a couple of quid at most from P@H) you can close the airline on the one your refilling and the old one continues.

Then reconnect the fresh refill and open the valve again.

Oops I was wrong. They're £2.09 Wer £1.99 when I bought one yonks ago. lol

http/www.petsathome.com/shop/2-way-gang-valve-25677


AC

You know, I've never had success with the gang valve. They always leaked on me. I tried it with that 8g I did and was all gung ho about it too. No, by all means, if you can find a gang valve that doesn't leak, it's better than the T. Tried several kinds of gang valves too, and all had leakage issues. Couldn't get enough pressure for the glass diffusor I had. I finally gave up and switched to the T. And boom! The right pressure! Go figure. But my tank was small. Probably didn't even need the second canister. Pressure was restored in less than an hour after changing canisters and the drop checker couldn't even register the change. But SuperColey's right, your tank is much bigger than mine.

llj

 

[SuperColey1]

I guess its luck Llj. I had no luck with Ts at the begining. always leaking from the casting joint so went looking for a better one and spotted the gang valve. Hey presto didn't leak. lol

Pot luck with cheapo plastic parts

The one in the link IS the one I used though.

AC

 

[Ryefish]

I have two bottles rigged up . Ah, my DIY skills are immense (LOLS). Bottle 1 (original one) needs changing but im waiting a few days since bottle 2 was a new mixture. My mum was all freaked out it was going to explode but meh, its fine

Got loads of java fern plantlets growing off the leaves on the plants i have. Its the most interesting thing i've seen in a long time! Just wish the java would grow taller and not bushier. One of the vallis leaves has started growing along the surface of the water I thought they weren't getting any taller but i've been proven wrong. There's loads of dead leaves floating around all over as the plants shed the old ones (as llj explained they would ^^^^) and grow the new ones, but everything is looking pretty good so far Only thing i have to complain about is dog snot all over the glass. #41#### dog is obsessed with the cory cats and likes to lick and nose them

Pay day in 3weeks and then good ferts will be ordered! Im rather excited (lols). Got a holiday planned for the end of october so i need to teach my mum how to feed the fish (they all get different things) and feed the plants too.

 

[Ryefish]

If all goes right, its officially 7 days until pay day... not that im counting...

The tank is a MESS!! I'll upload pictures at lights on tomorrow because i didn't want to disturb the fish. I went through and threw out loads of plants the other day. Some just haven't taken off, and others will be disposed of before the next re-scape.

Since adding the second bottle of yeast, I've noticed a major loss of algae. The hydrocotyle looks nicer than it's ever been, but my poor Java Ferns and bogwood are being attacked by a bit of BBA, hopefully that will dissapear in a few weeks, if not ill get another bottle of liquid carbon and attack it myself

I am desperate for some height in the tank, and not just by plants. I am on a mission to find some nice rocks, there is a major lack in any LFS or pet shops (expensive!) near here. The garden centre didn't really have much. No idea where people get their rocks from.
I think i will get another bag of sand too haha.

Hoping to have all this sorted before i start back at uni on the 20th. I'll keep everyone posted ^^

 

[Ryefish]

pictures :

FTS:

Next to get the chop:

hydrocotyle on 1 bottle of CO2:

hydrocotyle on 2 bottles of CO2:

This is definately getting a prune. I'd get rid of it but my shrimp and Betta love it

Random thoughts:
- stock change:
- get rid of lone cherry barb
- 4x cory's
- 10x espei rasbora (wanted these a long time now)
- breed galaxy's to a no. of 10 (5 just seem to get lost)

- buy plant substrate
- buy more sand
- large! pieces of slate
- christmas moss, get rid of messy java moss
- TPN+

sketches are in progress

 

[Ryefish]

In the post hopefully tomorrow is a 500ml bottle of TPN+ - no idea how long that will last (dont know the dosing) but i hope its a while LOL, a handful of fire moss - decided it would look better on the wood than christmas moss would (hopefully), and some shrimps

then tomorrow afternoon depending when the shrimps arrive and my boyfriends new graphics card (taking the p*ss with my student loan LOL) we are shopping for sand and rocks hoping it doesn't take all day, but im sure you all know how rock hunting goes -.-