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Not a clean slate, 200L

Having looked at your plant list I would say most of them are fond of strong light except crypts and ferns. It's okay to keep light low at first week imo. In the 2nd week going forward you might want to keep both lamps on 6 hours without break
 
It is now day 10, and mostly it is looking good. Mostly I have good growth and no algae, and a lot of nice pearling.

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(sorry for the un-sharp pictures).

The glosso is still reaching a bit to much for the light. I am at 6 hours full light and an extra hour with the front light only. I did today discover that the back-most tube was not fixed properly and was off, so total light is now increased with 33% - but don't think it make much of a difference for the glosso in the front.

I am more concerned that new growth still is a little light in color. I think it is better than it was in the very beginning where you might remember I increased my dosing, but still do not look right. Especially my Pogostemon erectus is very pale. It is the first time I try this plant, so I am not sure how it will usually look. In real life it is even lighter than at the picture above. What do you think?

I dose with a target of:
NO3: 23 ppm/wk; PO4: 4 ppm/wk; K: 28 ppm/wk; Mg: 10 ppm/wk
I dose a 7th of that each day. I use Rexolin for mico, but I do not know how common that is in this forum. I does it somewhat above the usual recommendation. I still do 50% change of water every second day.

My Pogostemon helferi has not grown much yet, but I I remember it was a slow starter when I tried it 4 years ago. My crypts look very sorrow and like they are going to break down and melt all together, but I am patient there. Everything else have good growth. It is fun being back in this hobby :)
 
The pics are not available. But I think new growth from newly planted (and newly trimmed) plants looking pale is normal. It's not because there are not enough ferts. Their food gathering organs (roots, leaves) are not well developed and not quite enough to feed new buds well enough. They should look better, giving them time. Or you just up the ferts now and later you see them growing better and think it's because of the overdosing.

There is no info about micros. But for macros, you're right now feeding the plants EI level which can cover even a highlight, full of plants (I mean really full that fish nearly don't have space for swimming), tank. Not to mention that the substrate you use is already rich with nutrients.
 
xim said:
The pics are not available. But I think new growth from newly planted (and newly trimmed) plants looking pale is normal. It's not because there are not enough ferts. Their food gathering organs (roots, leaves) are not well developed and not quite enough to feed new buds well enough. They should look better, giving them time. Or you just up the ferts now and later you see them growing better and think it's because of the overdosing.

There is no info about micros. But for macros, you're right now feeding the plants EI level which can cover even a highlight, full of plants (I mean really full that fish nearly don't have space for swimming), tank. Not to mention that the substrate you use is already rich with nutrients.
Click to expand...

Sorry about the pics. Is that the same for everybody?

Makes a lot of sense what your are saying. Thank you! You have convinced me to both take it easy and to lower my ferts a bit ;)
 
I don't understand why the pictures are not visible, also because they are visible for me when I browse anonymously from some other computer.

I used Flikr BBCode sharing just like with my previous posts, does anybody have any insight in how that can go wrong?

Here is a shared link to one of the pictures: https://flic.kr/p/Rw3Nd5 - could somebody please try that and let me know if it works? https://flic.kr/p/Rw3Nd5

Also, I try a Flikr BBCode again:
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20170213-P2130009.jpg by Jesper Lauritsen, on Flickr
Can you see a picture above?

And with an url in the forum editor:
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Can you see this second picture?
 
I am now on day 14, and mostly it is looking good. I added 6 ottos and 6 shrimp yesterday, and it is fun to see something swimming around - except they don't swim much ;)

I installed a Chihiros Doctor II some days ago. It seems a bit like magic, but now I try it. I also here in the beginning do a daily dose of EasyCarbo. I will try to stop using both the Chiniros and the EasyCarbo in a few weeks time. The ottos and the shrimp are there to stay ;)

Some days I have some surface film, and that always causes the CO2 level to go up. I have ordered an air pump, and will try to set that up to run at night.

Most of the plants are growing, and are starting to look nice. The cryps look like they are fast dying, but I guess I should just be patient there.

I more wonder about my Staurogyne repens - it is not really growing, and it does not look well at all:
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What do you think??
 
looking good - a interesting aquascape, I'll be watching with interest as it grows in ;)
 
New growths from newly planted (or trimmed) plants can look a bit bad initially. But they should look better as time passes. If they become worse, I think there is a problem.

I've never keep Staurogyne repens but they look like they need magnesium or iron (yellowing between veins in new growths), probably magnesium because the new soil should provide enough iron and you're dosing micro ferts too (do you?) They look like they are melting too? I used to keep Heteranthera zosterifolia, it would suddenly melt out of the blue from time to time until I added Epsom salt 35.6 milligrams/litre (equals to 3.5 PPM of magnesium) a week after every waterchange.

I also would try moving one of the Staurogyne to the brightest area, just to test if it is because the light.
 
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xim said:
New growths from newly planted (or trimmed) plants can look a bit bad initially. But they should look better as time passes. If they become worse, I think there is a problem.

I've never keep Staurogyne repens but they look like they need magnesium or iron (yellowing between veins in new growths), probably magnesium because the new soil should provide enough iron and you're dosing micro ferts too (do you?) They look like they are melting too? I used to keep Heteranthera zosterifolia, it would suddenly melt out of the blue from time to time until I added Epsom salt 35.6 milligrams/litre (equals to 3.5 PPM of magnesium) a week after every waterchange.

I also would try moving one of the Staurogyne to the brightest area, just to test if it is because the light.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
Yes, some of the other plants didn't look so good the first 10 days or so, but are much better now. In general I have quite little experience, but I have tried Staurogyne repens before, and I remember it growing really nice in conditions very similar. And yes, they are now also melting :(
I dose both micro and macro in fairly high doses. My Mg calculations are however based on the data from my local waterworks which says I have quite a lot of Mg in my tap water, so I add fairly little. I will wait a few more days, and then try to up my Mg.
In the mean time, I will right away try to move a couple of the S. repens to a more sunny spot.

Thanks again for your advice and your thoughts!
 
I moved a couple of my S. repens to a very sunny spot. They had developed a lot of roots and in that sense did seem sound. But they are melting :(

5 of my 6 new ottos died over the first 2 days :( I am going to talk to my LFS tomorrow. There were dead ottos in the tank where I bought them, so I should probably not have bought any. It is however generally a good LFS and there are not that many places around here where they have ottos.
By the way, how many ottos and Amano shrimp would you recommend for 200L?
 
For a fresh new tank with minimum algae, I would follow the lowest number of Amano shrimp from Tropica's guide (http://tropica.com/en/guide/algae-control/) which is 1 per 15 litres or 13-14 for your tank. Personally I've not found Oto cats doing much on algae but they are very cute. 6-7 should be OK.
 
I find that s.repens are quite difficult to adapt and grow, mine is doing better since I add more NPK and Magnesium, but I lost 90% of it the first months...can't see why tropica classified it as an 'easy' plant?!
 
Hej Jesper
Ville bare sige at jeg følger med i dit projekt i spænding - og at det er rart at høre lidt fra andre landsmænd i hobbyen. Handler selv i akvariebutikken så vi er nok ikke så langt fra hinanden :)
Har du forresten selv bygget underskabet?
 
Shinobi said:
Hej Jesper
Ville bare sige at jeg følger med i dit projekt i spænding - og at det er rart at høre lidt fra andre landsmænd i hobbyen. Handler selv i akvariebutikken så vi er nok ikke så langt fra hinanden :)
Har du forresten selv bygget underskabet?
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Hi Shinobi

I reply in English since were are at ukaps ;)

I live in Farum - fell free to write for a visit, if your know you are going to be in the neighborhood.

Yes, I have made my own cabinet. I wrote an article about it at http://www.akvarieplanter.dk/diy-ada-style-skab-i-sort-mdf - it is in Danish, but has lots of pictures ;)

I was already watching your journal, even though I didn't realize you were Danish - looking real nice so far :)

Best, Jesper
 
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