My new Oase 175 Styline

[Hufsa]

Water change coming up in a bit. I’m doing a 90% like in a new tank. I’m worried as the jet of water was too strong yesterday on refill and moved the soil to the front. Despite having a bag around the hose outlet but by the time the water gushed out and I realised eek I had to run 35ft back to the sink to stop the pump - oh gawd. Pump was on minimum too ... I’m sure I will get the hang of it at some point. Well I hope I do ha ha

Have you checked out George Farmers Red Collander (TM)? Something of the sort may help with the water jet issue. Personally I use a very long spraybar, I think every aquarist finds something that works for them to get around it 😃

 

[si walker]

Actually there's a thought, you could use a combo of collinder and your hose. Just make sure it's clamped on to the side of the tank.
I drilled holes in a plastic measuring jug, which hangs of the side. Everyone has their thing!
Just bought some Blue Velvet Shrimp. They are stunning! Plus Amano's 👍.
Have a good one!

 

[not called Bob]

my take on the red colander, is half a milk cartoon to direct the flow onto the glass

 

[Trakkajack]

Did the water change. No dramas this time. Phew.

 

[John q]

New scape looks good, have you been moving bits of wood about?

 

[Trakkajack]

I moved things around as I added additional stones and soil and plants. Not sure if it’s benefitted but by the time I had finished cleaning everything down and redoing it yesterday I thought it will do ha ha

 

[Trakkajack]

Yes I had my trusty colander but the force of the water threw it off. I had a bag and an elastic band around the end of the spout plus the colander today!!

 

[Trakkajack]

Actually there's a thought, you could use a combo of collinder and your hose. Just make sure it's clamped on to the side of the tank.
I drilled holes in a plastic measuring jug, which hangs of the side. Everyone has their thing!
Just bought some Blue Velvet Shrimp. They are stunning! Plus Amano's 👍.
Have a good one!

That’s a good idea! I need a drill ha ha

 

[Trakkajack]

New scape looks good, have you been moving bits of wood about?

I moved it all about and put new soil, stones and plants in. Just hope I’ve done it right this time! Last time the tank looked fine for about 2 weeks then the plants started looking very rough!!

 

[Trakkajack]

Try again to just upload one of each ha ha. Any suggestions and advice much appreciated

 

[Hufsa]

Looking good

Just remember it gets worse before it gets better. The start up phase has a lot of work to do, the plants need to adjust to their new environment, archaea and bacteria need to establish and everything needs to settle.
Keep up with your maintenance, dont blast it with too much light and sit tight and try not to panic ( easier said than done )

 

[hypnogogia]

Thats a nicely set up and planed tank. I also like the look of the Oase tank itself.

 

[Trakkajack]

Looking good

Just remember it gets worse before it gets better. The start up phase has a lot of work to do, the plants need to adjust to their new environment, archaea and bacteria need to establish and everything needs to settle.
Keep up with your maintenance, dont blast it with too much light and sit tight and try not to panic ( easier said than done )

Thank you. Last time when I got the diatoms (as I now know them to be) I really started worrying. I’m only having one light on now for about 4 hours. Fingers crossed

 

[Trakkajack]

Thats a nicely set up and planed tank. I also like the look of the Oase tank itself.

Thanks. It’s definitely been a big learning curve and I’ve only just started ha ha. Yes the tank and cabinet look nice. I got it on a suggestion made on this site. I was originally after a Roma 240. So glad I listened!

 

[Karmicnull]

One of the great things about this forum is that scary stuff stops being quite so scary when three people all say "yeah that happened to me too", and another three say "oh that's typical on day 17 - tweak your rocks so they're all West-facing and you'll find it's gone by day 22."
And then one day you'll notice that you're the one saying me too and telling people to make sure their rocks are West-facing...

 

[Trakkajack]

One of the great things about this forum is that scary stuff stops being quite so scary when three people all say "yeah that happened to me too", and another three say "oh that's typical on day 17 - tweak your rocks so they're all West-facing and you'll find it's gone by day 22."
And then one day you'll notice that you're the one saying me too and telling people to make sure their rocks are West-facing...

I look forward to that day! I’m just off to get a compass...

 

[Trakkajack]

So hopefully I’m back in my original journal with this post. I have today added limnobium laevigatum Tropica 1-2 grow as another floating plant, microsorum narrow leaf onto the wood and helanthium tenellum green Tropiva 1-2 grow into the front of the tank sand border area.

I have cut off the dying leaves and tried to remove some algae.

An updated video is attached. Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Welearn]

looks absolutely stunning hopefully your set up is finally starting to be more stable for you.

 

[Hufsa]

So I’m now increasing the one light to 6 hours. Not there yet ...

Im replying here to your post in your other thread, to help the conversation return to the journal, hope you dont mind 🙂

I really dont think you should spend time gradually increasing your light to 6 hours.
Yes, gradual changes are good for the plants ability to readjust itself.
But, when you have an unfortunate situation going on, like a proper nutrient deficiency, or in your case a lack of sufficient light,
I really think its called for to go right to 6 hours immediately, no gradual change.

In my opinion this situation is different than (for example) someone already having good plant growth but want to try to add 2 more hours to their light period.
In that case I think it could be a good idea to do it a bit gradually, although doing it gradually is still not mandatory.

I hope @John q can agree with me, I think he was the one who suggested going gradually to 6 hours.

I think a lot of us low tech folks run around 10 hours lighting period, so 6 hours really should be the lowest limit.
I have been running mine on 10 hours for many months and recently went up to 12 following the advice of Christel, our new plant expert.
Im sorry for making a bit of a deal out of this but I wouldnt want your plants to do poorly and you feel like you need to restart your tank again.

I have a theory that long lighting periods with relatively low light is beneficial for low tech setups.
Because the plants are only trickle fed small amounts of CO2, it makes sense to me that they could need more hours to "eat their fill".
(1-3 ppm CO2 in low tech vs 30 ppm in high tech)
But thats a tangent for another day.

 

[John q]

I hope @John q can agree with me, I think he was the one who suggested going gradually to 6 hours.

Yes I can agree with that.

I think my suggestion of an instant increase to 5hrs then 3 small steps to 6hrs was possibly on the cautious side and born out of me not wanting to overly stress the plants.
Either way @Trakkajack if you followed the slowly slowly, catchy monkey approach your light period should now be at 6hrs anyway.