Wise's Burton Dasset

[Carlovel1]

these are better than mine.

I can't find the natural coloured ones for love nor money. They are great little fish though, they do school really well. Mine are still schooling well. They look great in there James!

love this tank now! (loved it before)

BTW what camera are you using?

You have Honey Gouramis too?! Why haven't you shared photos of them with us? We'd (or I'd) love to see them

 

[Verminator89]

Carl, he did. They are in his journal for his Trigon Thus how i got the idea myself, i saw his pics

 

[Verminator89]

After having anice little chat with an older chap who works in the Earlswood branch of MA i managed to convince him to sell me 6 oto's that were in quarentine. He said it was on my back if they show signs of something being wrong, i said ok. So i have a nice little group of these delightfull little fish again.

Also there is another secret fish i've bought. He is only a juvi, i know what he is...but i won't say. I shall get some pictures of him next wednesday during the next update. He's adoreable, i need a name for him also

 

[Carlovel1]

Carl, he did. They are in his journal for his Trigon Thus how i got the idea myself, i saw his pics

OK just seem them, I'm impressed. However be can't really say yours are better since he has the normal Honeys whereas you have the yellow colour morph of the Honeys. Both are special and stunning in their own way

 

[ian]

lol, mine are the colour morphs, mine are the red honey's. James's are the yellows, his are more like the natural ones.

 

[Verminator89]

Hoping the usual suspects see this and can help

I'm having some issues with the HC taking of. The growth i had in this tank at the initial set-up was pleasing and good, however since adding my FE CO2 and re-dosing my ferts i'm, struggling to really get it going. Its showing new vibrant green growth and is visibly creeping, but only about 1cm and one stem with perhaps 2-6 leaves on varying stems. The rest of the plants have really sprung into life this last week, so i'm wondering if its just having a dorment period after its prelonged time in less-than-ideal circumstances.

Fingers crossed it'll take off somewhat in the next fortnight or so, i just thought i'd see quicker growth than what i'm getting so far...

 

[lljdma06]

Remember, plants consume nutrients at different rates and different amounts. Could be that your other plants are consuming at a faster rate than the HC and are out-competing it. If this were me, I'd use the HC as the plant to base my dosing on. I would increase the dosing and see what the HC does. Also make sure that stuff is getting down to where the HC is.

Sometimes I wonder where and how HC grows in the wild?

 

[Verminator89]

It does make you wonder doesnt it.

I'll up the ferts somewhat and see how it goes. My stem plants are growing like crazy, as in over an inch a day nearly. So i'm doing something right

 

[Verminator89]

Bit miffed today. I did plan on getting some pics up of my beautifull "secret fish" i mentioned earlier in the thread. He had coloured up really well, was eating fine and generally loving the tank. However much to my dismay i came home yesterday afternoon to find Simba, one of my cats, had fished him out of the tank and half eaten him. My cat is seriously testing my patience lately, atleast i'm sure it was him, as he's the one cat that constantly watches the tank and sits ontop of the (warm) light unit bathing. Grrrr. Well, the fish was a Violet Halfmoon Plakat (fighter for those unfamiliar). Cost me £14 aswell, he was a beaut. Gutted doesnt even come into it tbh...


On the planted side i chose not to post this week or last, as i couldnt be bothered to take photos and sit there uploading them. But growth is picking up somewhat, certainly in the stems which had all just hit the water surface and started to bend over. So they've been trimmed right back, with the tips replanted also to bulk it out for the next upward shoots

The HC is still gradually gradually creeping a mm or so a week Wish it would hurry up just a little!

My FE seems to be getting a little inconsistent. Gradually over a few days i notice the bubbles per second seem somewhat slower, so i have to open and close the valve briefly for it to ick up the pace again. May get a timer and see if this makes any odds, although i have doubts when the timer cuts off if it will restart when the time cuts back in again. As if i knock the dodgy plug from Hong Kong out it doesnt restart once plugged back in. Hmmm.

Ideas...

 

[Verminator89]

Almost ironed out the problems i was having with my FE CO2, i have it on an digital timer now so its on an hour before lights on, and off an hour before lights off. At the end of each day i have huge amounts of pearling, which is very good. On the down side in the time it took me to get hold of another FE, which i got for free hehe, i had an out break of what i believe to be staghorm algae. It looks like long whips of material fibres with a bluey/greyish hue to it. Ugly stuff, i'm hoping treating with Excel will eradicate this over time. So, photo time.


Full Tank Shots

Now the growth with the HC is looking promising. It doesnt look anywhere near as good as yours Ian, but its getting there Sorry for the picture quality, the macro packed in on me and i'm having real issues adjusting to using manual focus, and getting the exposure right is really ****ing me off.

The bottom right of the tank is probably my only section i'm truely happy with. I love it, if i can implement this throughout i'd be happy as larry, but so far i'm not.

Once the HC fills out here i'll be really satisfied with it. Now the CO2 is back on track i will hopefully see results improve, and the algae issues gradually reduce. You'll probably have noticed the BBA that is in this tank. It is only growing on the rocks/wood, which i'm not finding a problem. When you look at it close up it looks really natural, and i'm perfectly happy for it to keep growing in my tank as it is, providing it doesnt get out of control.

The Downoi (pogostemon helferi) i planted ontop of the wood as an experiment is working so far. It's growing well and the thick white roots hanging down are looking great, also my Honeys are loving swimming in amongst it.

As you can see i'm getting some great pearling in this tank lately, especially in the last few hours of its photoperiod.

In general the echinodorus tenellus at the rear right i have lopped right down to encourage more compact growth and hopefully get some more runners. The two Crypts are slowly growing, however the Wendtii Brown has been hit hard by the staghorn so i've had to lop a fair number of leaves off of it.

At the rear, well i forget what plant it was. I had three and slowly binned them and was left with one, forgotten which one. Its growing well, very well. I have to trim it every week and replant, tedious though. I may replace this with something else, perhaps move my crypts so it takes less maintenance. Its not looking its best right now as last week i just lopped it in half, binning the top halves and left the rest to see how it recovered. Well, the analysis is it looks ugly. So once they've grown again i'll lop them again, but bin the bottom halves, leaving a few to fork off and increase stock.


So thats my March update, might keep it as a monthly now. Easier Comments and critiques welcome. Certainly any tips on getting rid of Staghorn, as its in amongst my HC which is the worrying bit.

Cheers,
James

 

[Biulu]

I like the way it looks and how things are growing. I had the same algae problem as you do (still have some) but it improved drastically with liquid CO2. So if you are saying your CO2 is back on track, I am sure it will disappear quickly.

 

[Verminator89]

Blimey, has it really been two months since i last updated. Well, a little update is in order then i think.

Since my last update i still havnt got the FE up and running, and have since bought two 500ml bottles of Flourish Excell for the bargain price of £9 (i love eBay). It has actually been far better using this than it has been using pressurised i've found. It certainly does kill of algae! The staghorn has completely gone, and the BBA is all but killed off, except the lower down harder to reach sections. It looks rather natural, so i'm not to bothered.

Pictures speak far better than words, so less talking, more clicking... Its worth noting that these were done last night before water change/trimming.


FTS

My experiment with the Downoi growing on the wood is going very well as you can see. A lone 1" stem was planted and it now contains atleast 5 stalks all growing well. Anchored down well too, with the roots grown down in amongst the big crypt and creating interesting places for fish/shrimps to hide.

Top down view of HC

Ian, my HC still doesnt look as lush as yours, but i've certainly stumbled on a routine which is working for myself and the plants again. So fingers crossed in a few more months it'll look a lot greener and 'nice'. You can see from the image the older (less successfull) period of growth, where the leaves look browner and smaller. The last months growth is looking far greener and bigger, and runners are spreading very very well

Overall i'm very happy with how its coming along. The cardamine on the left will be removed as its just messy and can't be contained well in any place. The far right corner is also irritating me. Its by far the quickest growing plant, and gets tall far to quickly for my liking. Pruning it is also tedious and never looks right afterwards. So i may opt for more crypts, as they seem to grow exceedingly well in this tank currently!

Comments and Critiques welcome.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

This scape is awesome, seriously dude, well done with that, I'm growing Helferi in a low tech at the mo and if it comes out looking like that I'll be well happy.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Oh yeah where do you live cos I wanna come and steal your EBJD.

 

[Verminator89]

This tank is far from "low-tech". I run 2 24W T5HO bulbs over this tank for a total of 7 hours. I dose 15ml Phosphate, 15ml Nitrate and 8ml EasyLife Profito once a week after water change. Dosing 15ml of Seachem Flourish Excell every day 1 hour before lights on. Not exactly low-tech But its working.

Having looked back at my last update, which was after some neglect and lack of ferts + CO2 i can see how well this has turned around in 2 months growth. Especially the HC which is really starting to look good. Oh, and Downoi is one of the best plants to grow IMO, easy to propagate and increase stock too!

I live in Coventry, but anyone who dares steal my Jack will be in for one hell of a get-away chase I sleep with a gun under my pillow incase I padlock my tank at night

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