First timer NEWA Mirabello 60

[Niton]

Woo hoo managed to get the plants in.




Tank flooded, dechlorinated and macro EI dose to get things started...




Rocks on top of the driftwood will not be staying! They're keeping things in place until waterlogged.

I'd like to say I'm pleased with it but once it was flooded the planting looks a lot sparse compared to when I was planting dry. Not too many floaters yet!

I'm running the filter with an aerating venturi tube. Figured it would better to get the water oxygenated while it cycles.

Took TDS and pH readings and I'll try to track them incase of problems.

Will be changing 50% water on Tuesday evening...

 

[Niton]

Arghhhhh.....

I think I've got BBA

Any advice?
I've just done a 50 percent water change.
I'm dosing EI macro and micro at the correct amounts for 60l tank e.g 12ml per day alternating.
Lights have been on a lot today nearly 11 hours.

Should I run without lights on for a while?

 

[alto]

I wouldn’t do a blackout on a newly planted tank, especially with tissue culture plants

I’d be surprised if you have BBA (black brush algae in my abbreviation list) - unless it came already established on plants

Diatoms - soft brown powdery algae can appear this quickly
Wood gunk - soft, jelly like mold?fungus? can definitely appear almost overnight - & varies considerably in appearance

Snails, shrimp, Otos seem to quite like wood gunk
If you’re not confident about adding livestock at this stage (I might in combination with Seachem Stability, 50% daily water change, Seachem Ammonia Alert (works fine with Prime but I’d avoid any of the “protective coat” water conditioners ... I actually expect my fish to produce their own slime coat ) you can just syphon away excess slime - sometimes it needs a good nudge
If the wood gunk remains on the wood & doesn’t seem excessive, you can also just ignore it - it will eventually self-limit & algae crew will happily tidy the remains away

Diatoms - also seem to disappear sometimes fairly quickly, other times it’s more of a battle
Again water change, clean filters, gentle “wafting” with your hand to help lift any debris so it can be syphoned away

With new plants, you want to be careful not to disturb root development so don’t syphon directly about plants for a couple weeks

Light
11 hours is way too much!
especially as it seem this tank receives a good amount of ambient light - it’s worth taking note of natural light effects from sunrise to sunset, depending on plant species, it doesn’t take much ambient light before plant begins active
photosynthesis
Tropica’s Rotala ‘Vietnam H’ra’ is an excellent indicator plant as leaf open/close is very distinct
I’d run low level CO2 24/7 on this tank during the first several weeks, higher CO2 levels during photoperiod

I’d begin with a 5 hour photoperiod on this tank, only increasing (maybe & defintely gradually) as plants show consistent active growth

Fertilization - I use Tropica so dose both “micro” & “macro” at the same time, daily

I don’t really follow the reasoning behind alternate day micro/macro that seems popular with EI method

 

[alto]

Looking at your plant list, I don’t really see anything that will hit the ground running (especially as no CO2 - I read back through the thread & realized it’s not on your list )

Limnophila sessiliflora is a fantastic supporting/auxiliary plant for nonCO2 tank startups
you can almost see it grow

 

[alto]

ADA Africana Soil as substrate? - I’d do daily water change for the first week & lower your fertilize dose - not the EI Way - but lean water column dosing is intrinsic to ADA philosophy & their products

 

[Niton]

@alto appreciate the advice. I'm going to knock the lights back to 4 hours and give that a go. I'll look at sessiliflora too.
I suspect it's the lights and it only seems to be on the driftwood at the moment.

Will lower the EI dose maybe 5ml of macro and micro and daily water changes.

Do you recommend I try to scrub the area with an old tooth brush or similar? Or best not to agitate it too much.

Thanks again for the advice

 

[Niton]

@alto should I look to increase or decrease flow? I have been running the filter with an aerator on but I can increase the aeration/flow or decrease.

 

[alto]

I’d not scrub vigorously as this can just expose more “new” wood, gentle scrub is fine

I just use my hand or syphon hose - I have the Python system so just use the narrower tubing directly rather than the wider tube

 

[alto]

I run canister filters so no aerator option, I tend to reduce surface agitation to a gentle movement during daytime hours, increase at night to more obvious surface rolling

Note if you have a Sodastream system, you can carbonate tap water & add some daily to increase CO2 in tank

 

[Niton]

Two days two 50 percent water changes. I've lightly scrubbed the worst affected areas there doesn't seem to be much immediate regrowth of the algae.

I washed the filter and filter media this evening in old water from yesterday's water change.

Dosing 2.5 ml of both marco and micro and lighting significantly reduced; 4 hours yesterday and will do 4 hours tonight. Hopefully this will turn this around.

Here are some pictures of some of the area still affected. I think it looks like diatoms do you think so too?



Silly question but when I'm filling up after water change (running hose straight from kitchen mixer tap) should I be adding dechlorinator to the tank before or after filling? And should I dose for the volume of water freshly added or the volume of the whole tank?

I've been adding dechlorinator to the tank after filling and Dosing for the 30l of tap water just added.

Thanks

 

[Keith GH]

Niton

I never added any Dechlorinator I stored my water and it evaporated naturally over the week.

In your case you do not want to actually add any Chlorine to your tank. I would add a strong airstone to give you the extra water movement and add it in first as close as you can to the extra water movement.

Keith

 

[Niton]

Happily looks like the algae is staying more or less the same and does not seem to be growing back on areas I've cleaned with a toothbrush.

Sunday will be a week from first flooding the tank. I'm wondering if it is too soon to consider introducing some red cherry or amano shrimp to keep the algae at bay and increase the bioload a little bit? Any thoughts anyone?

I'm happy to keep going without livestock but would like to feel confident that water changes every 2 days next week can be achieved

 

[alto]

Water change details ie how I do mine

Note I have a Python Water Change System

Heater OFF
Filter on low with spray bar directed against glass wall so as to minimize disturbance of soil

Drain 50-70% water (the S vaillanti seem to love the bigger water changes, but some shrimp are less keen)
Have Prime dose for entire tank volume already diluted into ~ 250 ml water
Begin tank refill - this water is always 4-5 degrees cooler (I like to pretend it’s like rain - just lacking the shower effect)
Add diluted Prime

Monitor fish etc
Try not to FLOOD

Filter back to normal
Heater back on

Observe fish/shrimp activity - sometimes my tap chlorine level is ALOT higher than stated (I’m just downstream of a Chlorine Dosing Station ) & I need to add more Prime

During summer months. I automatically add enough Prime for twice tank volume in that initial dose

Many people turn the filter OFF during water changes, I found my more sensitive fish acted much more normally with the continued flow

 

[alto]

I was just reading through a Mark Evans journal last night, he had diatoms during the first weeks & did daily 50% water changes for almost 5 weeks (you can see some diatoms in the photos but it remains minimal)

At some point he added japonica shrimp which definitely helped (no addiitional food offered)

Which aquasoil are you using?

 

[Niton]

@alto it's ada Africana powder soil and a base of ada power sand.

Can you link that mark Evans journal

 

[Niton]

Oh and after two electric shocks I've got the raspberry pi reef pi. Set up and can remotely operate all equipment! Only issue is that the timer function seems to be broken in the latest release!

 

[Niton]

I'll post pictures of the reef pi setup when I tidy it up a bit. Looks like a mad inventor when wild with wires and connectors!

 

[alto]

It’s the one with my favourite title

”quemador lenta”

 

[Niton]

Latest update...

Algae certainly seems to be under control. I've moved to 50 percent water changes on alternate days.

Dosing macro and micro frets together at 5ml (10ml in total).

Now I'm feeling a bit better about the algae but plant growth and considerable melt is a concern.

Here are a few pictures.

Generally it seems like the monte carlo is turning into skeletal remains. However there does seem to be areas of new growth.

Helenthium tenellum seems to be doing 'ok'


Ludwigia palustris was doing alright but I'm starting to see some melt and leaves tearing


Rotlala green doing OK but seems to be firing shoots out - is that normal?


Tissue culture bucephalandra has pretty much failed and is all limp



Crypts wendtii green and usteriana are showing signs of melting and holes


I believe this plant is a
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/plantbase/hydrocotyle-leucocephala.213/ but I'm not sure if it should be planted or not.



So all in all a mix of some positive signs of growth but overwhelming signs of problems. I'd appreciate it if anyone could suggest if there is something I'm missing? Apart from co2!

 

[Siege]

Cool.

Why the macro and micro at the same time? Don’t they interact with each other?