Hello From Poland

[Alan Fluxion]

Hello All, my name is Alan and I am new... I decided to join this forum because a member (spider72) on a popular (very commercialized) forum had it in his signature and he seemed very helpful which is not something you really come across too much on Polish forums.

So about my aquarium, I started it "dry" all my plants including grass rooted very nicely, I decided on a dry start since I'm new to aquatics and did not want to battle with algae from the begining since it would demotivate me from continuing. The dry start ran for 1,5mths at which point I became impatient and angry that my wife was getting impatient and nagging me "when will there be water", "why won't you pour in some water", "why isn't there water" so I added the water and watched the plants and algae grow.

I first started with a Aquael Fan 3 which wasn't optimal but I knew that I'd be looking for a external filter and would save the internal as a backup. I had everything almost stabilized, algae was under control I purchased 2 used filters (Tetratec ex700 and Aquael FZN-3), had everything for CO2 and installed it... first mistake I made in my learning process was ... I took out my external filter instead of leaving it to transfer the good bacteria to the new filter, the second mistake I made was installing the external filter.

The first 4 days the external filter was fantastic, it sucked in all the algae from my rocks and made my water clear but something just wasn't right... as soon as I added the filter and CO2 my plants went from beautiful to rotting and eventually falling off and being sucked into the filter. The 5th day the filter went from washing machine effect in my aquarium to not being able to move the water at all... no matter what I did the filter does not want to work properly, the fish were pissed off and floating at the top to get some air because the water was standing still... so after 2 days of fussing around and getting angry I took out the TetraTec and put in the cascading filter which I am 110% satisfied with. The water is moving, it's clear again the fish are coming out to play and hunt.

Now I'm hoping that my plants will come back to life, the roots and stems are there and they're releasing new leaves so I'll need to give it time.

Aquarium: 60L, 60x30x30
Lights: SunSun HDD-600B 2x24W T5 - Sylvania Luxline Plus + Sylvania Aquastar
Filtration: Temporarily Aquael FZN-3 Cascading filter with a backup Aqual Fan Filter 3 and a Tetratec ex700 which doesn't want to work right.
Background: Black self adhesive foil
Soil: JBL Mondo
Rocks: Lava
Temperature: 24c usingTetra HT 100
Flora: Eleocharis Acicularis, Eleocharis Parvula, Alternanther Sp. Red, Hygrophila difformis, Ludwigia repens
Co2: 1,5kg Co2 bottle
Fish: Cierniooczek Myersa, (there's one more, just do not recall the name)

I'll need to take some pictures of the current status of the aquarium, but it looks like blahblahblahblah and am disappointed in it, so I'll wait a bit

 

[Ryan Thang To]

Welcome to ukaps. Dsm normally work well. When you flood it did you pump alot of co2 and slowly turn it down or you flood it and add fish in? when it emerge they get unlimited co2 but once filled with water you need to add alot too much that fish cant survive in. Right now you can slowly turn up the co2 and get a drop checker. Im sure they will bounce right back. Good luck

 

[Alan Fluxion]

Thanks Legytt. I actually added the water and waited aprox. 1,5 mths before adding fish, and had it on DIY Co2 with yeast/sugar/water so there was co2 in the tank and the tank settled from what I saw... I also adapted the fish slowly to the water, by putting the bag into the water and slowly adding tank water to the bag. I had a JBL drop checker, one of those ugly square looking things.

 

[Ryan Thang To]

I wouldn't recommend diy co2 for dsm. Dsm need a lot of co2 at start up and drop checker yellow when light on. What colour was the drop checker?

 

[Alan Fluxion]

it was the only thing I had on hand, took me a few weeks to get everything together then I went on vacation so couldn't set everything up... the plants were growing though, and very healthy colors... oh the color... hmm blue xD I know that's bad

Edit: I should have probably said, I didn't have a drop checked until I bought the CO2 setup so I found out the day I installed everything

 

[Ryan Thang To]

Yep best thing is to get a proper co2 unit and start with 2 bubbles a sec and slowly turn it up until you get lime green when lights come on

 

[Alan Fluxion]

That's basically what I have now.... I had a glass bubble counter but I'm HeMan and broke the bugger in 2 within the first 2 min of trying to put on the tubes.

My setup CO2 Bottle -> some valves -> precision valve (camozzi) -> tube -> one way valve -> tube -> one way valve -> tube to aquarium -> tiny bubbles with a secret setup that makes tiny bubbles and the filter kicks them around the aquarium... I set it up yesterday so it's dissolving better.

I did have a reactor with bioballs attached to the tetratec which worked great until the filter stopped working

 

[Ryan Thang To]

that good. have your lime green drop checker when lights on is what you aiming for.
cheers
ryan

 

[Alan Fluxion]

at first I got up to green, but it was more like forest green... very dark... I guess I need some more experience all in time... I can take a pic of the current aquarium, but there's nothing special... algae, grass, and stems...

 

[ceg4048]

Hello,
Kindly continue this discussion in the appropriate forum section and not in the New Member Introduction section, which is designed only for the introduction of new members.

Cheers,