'under The Forest Canopy' Journal

[SuperColey1]

Icegirl - The pump I have here is available in the US and comes all in one and you just choose which parts you want then drill the impellor.

On another note I have actually returned to the diffusor. Why you may ask?

It wasn't for any problem with the powerjet but aesthetically it is noticeable and not very pretty whereas the glass ceramic is quite nice to look at.

I found that I had to clean it anyway as the holes would catch muck just like any filter or pump does.

I found that it was moving the substrate in the front left corner of the tank and I wondered about my 'barrier' being broken and cloudy clay Tropica substrate coming into contact wit the water.

I like my Nympheae stems and leaves to gently move in the water rather than be 'forced' into an outstretched position.

The final aspect was that my fish were all hanging out at the opposite end of the tank and I wasn't getting to see them.

So I cleaned the diffusor which weekly isn't really a hassle anyway and then did a complete clean of my filter (which only has half the media in it anyway)

Hopefully the fish will settle back into viewable positions soon.

Andy

 

[ICEEGRL]

I don't want my val blown across the tank either... I guess that wouldn't be a good choice for me either. It did sound good though.

Can you run the co2 through something like a bubble bar? Is there a kind that will make the bubbles small enough?

I will be waiting to see how things look as they grow.

 

[SuperColey1]

I have actually returned to the diffusor. Why you may ask?

It wasn't for any problem with the powerjet but aesthetically it is noticeable and not very pretty whereas the glass ceramic is quite nice to look at.

I found that I had to clean it anyway as the holes would catch muck just like any filter or pump does.

I found that it was moving the substrate in the front left corner of the tank and I wondered about my 'barrier' being broken and cloudy clay Tropica substrate coming into contact wit the water.

I like my Nympheae stems and leaves to gently move in the water rather than be 'forced' into an outstretched position.

The final aspect was that my fish were all hanging out at the opposite end of the tank and I wasn't getting to see them.

So I cleaned the diffusor which weekly isn't really a hassle anyway and then did a complete clean of my filter (which only has half the media in it anyway)

Hopefully the fish will settle back into viewable positions soon.



Quite a few 'little' changes this week. lol

CHANGE1
Firstly I shall be pruning the Zenkeri quite a lot because they are blocking the circulation from carrying the CO2 bubbles around the tank.

I am removing one of the Zenkeri Reds and will be sending this to Dev and removing a couple of Farmer George's ridiculously low light fast growers (namely Blyxia Japonica) so that I can see into the tank and what is behind it. lol 2 of these are going to ..... memory deserts me but I do have the pm still so don't worry.

This should let the circulation return again (only 5.6x filtering on this tank remember).

I will be attempting to keep the Zenkeri lower from now on rather than letting them be 'the canopy'. This should also let the various Balansae be seen more (both Farmer George's and some I already had from AM) There are 3 different types in there that I can see. A crispulata thin leaved version, a smooth thin verison and then a smooth 1cm wide version.

CHANGE2
The UV has been disconnected and is doing very well on ebay (after no takers on here and a let down on TFF). This meant I could reduce the length of hose and remove an obstacle from my return. This has improved the flow as expected and this was what I wanted to achieve.

CHANGE3
I saw the 'nano' diffusor in Sam's tank and though I'd give them a go seeing as they are £4 for 2. At only 1.5cm wide, they are very inconspicuous and I can't see why they are supposed to be for Nanos. I have one in there at the moment and it is working very well. The bubbles seem to be coming out smaller and are spread across the whole disc. Time will tell if it is an improvement.

I am considering getting a Y splitter and using both in different positions of the tank. Just a thought at the moment. Might need speed controllers too.

CHANGE4
I am the latest to change over to TPN+ as a sole fertiliser as I don't think anyone who has seen the tanks that use this method (Not just George's) can argue with it's success. It also seems the sensible thing to do seeing as I am using Tropica Substrate and they 'should' compliment each other. I was using James' PMDD+P method which was working very well indeed but I was looking to try this method anyway. I still have some dry ferts and TPN so I can always go back if I run out of money. lol

Will post some before and after pics this weekend.

Andy

 

[ICEEGRL]

Cool... I can't wait to see the pics and hear how the diffusor is working.

 

[SuperColey1]

Pictures to follow as promised but a little update first.

After pondering for a while I finally decided to get another pair of Bolivian Rams seeing as the original female was getting far to stressed out at the males unwanted attention and they didn't look like forming a pair.

I also had to remove a huge amount of plants including literally enough Blyxia to fill a 5 Litre bucket!!! Thanks again Farmer George. If it hasn't all gone yet then this in in the for sale or swap section. As of now 3 lots are gone.

I also removed one of the Zenkeri red plants and then discovered a Rubra bulb with small shoots growing at the bottom. These have both gone to SteveUK (DevUK).

Various reasons why I removed most of this lot:
1 - The foreground was just too full and all the fish were swimming along the back. A lot of the time the tank looked like it had no fish in it (this has had a magical effect in that they are all in the open again now)

2 - The blyxia is eventually going to be my background!!!! plant when I get my Nano and therefore I don't need too much of it in this scape. Blyxia in a low light nano setup you say? Well this is a low light tank so I'm sure it will work.

3 - The Lotus plants need retraining so they don't shoot for the sky. I know that was the intention originally but they are disturbing the flow and also often stop the bubbles from the diffusor getting to the surface. When they gather under the leaves they eventually turn into one huge bubble that the flow has no chance of dispersing. So if you have a lotus, don't put it near your diffusor or make sure it doesn't reach up.

4- I had to fins room to put another smooth stone incase I get 2 pairs out of these 4 bolivians as they lay their eggs on them.

So I am now running with no UV, this is selling on ebay. I have a nano diffusor which is working brilliantly. The foreground is more open and the fish love it. The ferts are now 4ml TPN+ each day (and with the amount of fish I stock I don't worry about phosphates being low.)

Pictures:
This is a pic of how the tank looked pre-pruning

And this is it after pruning

This is the new nano diffusor

The cardinals investigating the corner they have been hiding in for the last couple of months

The cardinals out and about again

This is the new female Ram

The new male Ram

The 'old' adult female Ram

And finally the 'old' male Ram (abosolutely stunning fish me thinks)

p.s. This is 2/3rds of the Blyxia I removed!!!!

Thanks for reading

Andy

 

[DrKebab]

dats just raw!

 

[SuperColey1]

dats just raw!

Don't mean to sound old but what does that mean. lol

 

[Themuleous]

Glad you removed some blyxia, was getting rather bushy!

Sam

 

[Ark]

hi you said you grew the blynxia fine in lowlight how low was your wpg?
i also thought of planting some blynxia but i didnt think my lighting was moderate enough - 1.7wpg in a 20g
nice rams also but imo golden rams are much nicer looking...

 

[SuperColey1]

Bolivian Rams have a better character and are much hardier. They're also a little less aggressive. lol

My lighting is 10 hours @ 0.9WPG (T5 HO 4500K) with an extra 0.6WPG (T8-6500K) for noon burst

Andy

 

[lljdma06]

Bolivian Rams have a better character and are much hardier. They're also a little less aggressive. lol

My lighting is 10 hours @ 0.9WPG (T5 HO 4500K) with an extra 0.6WPG (T8-6500K) for noon burst

Andy

Time to add some Blyxia to my tank.

 

[SuperColey1]

Its also a 20" tall tank!!! so this makes it even more of a misnomer!!

I have stated on UKaps that I don't take much notice of guide light requirements. I think they are mostly ficticious with regard to what the plant requires although it does have an effect on some plants growth shape. Namely carpeting plants need hig light to carpet, under low light they grow up a little more.

Another plant I use this rule on are swords which are supposed to be medium to higher light but I stopped using them because they overtook my tank under 1.1WPG.

Andy

 

[SuperColey1]

haven't posted for a while but the bolivians are obviously going along the learning curve. the mother seems to want to be an independant mother and I think ends up eating the fry through hunger because she is not letting the male take his turn at pretecting them which is a pity but hopefully she will learn reasonably quickly that she needs help.

This scape is virtually at an end now. The types of plant I have in here are all runner senders which means that I am now getting some plants popping up in the wrong positions and therefore have taall crypts coming up at the front etc.

The narrow leaf fer (slow grower....yeah right) is pushing up against the front glass and I am pretty tired of the growth rates of the Tigers. I love the leaves of this plant but I am after a very slow growing tank.

Therefore in a few months time I shall be starting again. I will be using fresh Mulm/Leonardite/Tropica/sand combo as the substrate as it is now. Then I shall be getting rid of the Lilys and Blyxia. Hardscape will be changed for something with a little smaler footprint. I need to be careful here because I don't want this tank to look like the copycat 'cliche' redmoor wood setups that seem to be all over the place. I like to be original.

Of the plants I shall be setting up with just the remaining plants so this will now be crypts, anubias, ferns and nothing else. I shall add some crypt parva to the front though.

Budget for the substrate and crypts will be approx £40.

I am also thinking of using the freshwater daylight just for photoshots leaving just the 0.9WPG T5HO for 10 hours as the lighting period. I think this tank with it's limited lighting (the other 0.6WPG of T8 was only on for 2 hours a day) has either dispelled the myth of low light and high light regarding blyxia ot it has proved that T5 lighting cannot be used with the WPG rule due to its effectiveness.

Also with the plants that remain in there they are all low light plants so should easily cope with the 0.9WPG which I would say should be equivalent to 1.8WPG on the WPG rule.

So as one story ends another will soon begin.

the new scape will be called Celestial Rapture. Silly name and nothing to do with the scape but its a name I thought up for a Nano tak I was planning but has been shelved.

I shall return with a vengence in July/August.

Thanks for reading
Andy

 

[Biulu]

Are you planning on keeping the CO2 or will that be out too?

 

[SuperColey1]

I will keep the CO2. if you have it, best to use it I say. may turn it down to 1bps if I decide to go lower lighting though.

Andy