Paulo Soares
Member
- Joined
- 6 Nov 2014
- Messages
- 602
Good night friends,
First of all a Set Up update.
Assembling date:
01 September de 2016 (Completed a year now)
Aquarium:
100x40x40 8mm Glass from "Vidromoldura-Centividro"
Lights:
Twinstar 900 E
09 Hours Photoperiod: From 14.00 PM till 22.59 PM.
Filter:
EHEIM Professionel 4+600
Aqua Rebell Glass Inflow e Outflow 16/22 mm 30 ranhuras.
Cerâmicas Equo Stilla (3 Cestos) e lã.
CO2:
NEO Difuser / ADA Pollen Glass Beetle de 40 mm
CO2ART Regulador e Solenoide
Cal Aqua Labs Double Drop Checker v2
Hardscape:
Nothing
Substrate:
Tropica plant Growth + Tropica Soil
Fertilization:
Osmocote + MgO+Micros duração prolongada 6 meses
Plants:
1 - Hemianthus Micranthemoides
2 - Hygrophila Corymbosa
3 - Alternanthera Reineckii 'Mini'
4 - Hydrocotyle Tripartida
5 - Pogostemon Erectus
6 - Blixa Japonica
7 - Limnophilla Hipuroides
8 - Ammania Bonsai
9 - Potamogeton Gayi
10- Didiplis Diandra
11- Hottonia Palustris
12- Ranunculus Inundatus
13- Rotala Wallichii
14- Rotala Macrandra
15- Heteranthera Zosterifolia
16- Pogostemon Helferi
17- Lobelia Cardinalis 'Mini'
18- Nymphaea Lotus 'Red'
19- Myriophyllum Mattogrossense
Living:
Seventh Generation of Plattys, Tetras, Bloody Mary´s.
Aditional data:
Fertilization:
The fertilization I applied in this aquarium since assembling was Osmocote 17/9/11
I applied it directly and mixed with the Tropica Plant Growth.
Before doing this i was testing and experimenting Osmocote for a long time during all 2015 and most of 2016. Observing results, and most important trying to figure out quantities that would be ideal for the aquarium.
I would not simply load the substrate with this Osmocote and wait to see the result. (...)
So what I initially did was applying different portions in liter bottles and after 30 days measure results. Completely impossible ..
So then I applied in 5-liter bottles. I made a few 5-liter bottles with different portions of the Osmocote granules. At the end of 30 days I did measurements and the nutrient levels or concentration were still so high that I couldn´t point any decent measurement so that i coould recalculate to "X" liters. Values were so high that reagent tests bring an almost black colour. I started to wonder how I was going to test this ... with good precision.
Then one day in mycompany I notice the water barrel.. it was a10 liter bottle. And there i went for some more experience.
I bought a 10 liter barrel and testing with 10/20/30/40 Gr.
After 30 days again more measurements on the first 10 gr. and for the first time i achieved something closest to 100 PPM of N.
By now I began to think how I could pursuit testing to achieve levels of concentration that could be plausible cause I didn´t have a scale to weigh 1 or 2 grams with the reliability that i want and this were not values that i wanted to work with. Very unreliable. I wanted to work with values closer to what my tank was.
So I remembered that in my village I had a barrel of beer from other times of madness. . This one already carried 50 liters! That is ... a third of the capacity of the aquarium. I went back to the beginning.
I applied the first 10 gr. and at the end of 30 days i return to measurement .. and here already appeared a reliable measurable in the tests.
I threw everything away and again filled the 50 liter barrel but with 20 gr. and by the end of thirty days i got a well visible scale in the test expressing a correct PPM value. The reactants was in the orange. And so I continue testing with 25, 30, 35, and 40 gr. until i was sure that the order of PPM concentration was proportional.
Now yes, I had a correct ratio and proportionality every 5.10 grams.
I've done more measurements and other tests but I will not be exhaustive. For example, I applied substrate in bottles and in the barrel to see what was going to the water ... and what was retained down in the substrate cause for me this was most important to observe.
My measurements have always been the same in the water column. Somewhere between 10 to 20 PPM, another times less what is normal cause consumption is not always the same. For example after a pruning the consumption is always lower.
From the readings I´ve been doing with JBL tests, I have 30 to 40 PPM of N, 1 to 2 of P, more than 20 of K and 0.2 or more of FE at the bottom of the substrate. When I say at the bottom of the substrate it is really drain water under the Soil closest to the bottom glass.Then i filter this water to run out some dust and test.
By testing the presence of phosphate in the water is zero, but N always walks between zero and ten and the others are very residual.
There is a clear nutrient difference between what is at the bottom of the substrate and what is in the water column. I believe the slow release of the nutrients below the substrate is slowly passing through the Tropica Soil to the water column wich is almost absorbed by the plants, leaving almost nothing in the water column.
Since plants are root genesis they are naturally being fed by the roots and very little by the leaves. It has always been my thought and I think I can positively conclude that i was not wrong.
Enrich substrate instead of adding nutrients in thewater column because i believe this exposure to light provide much more algae being much more difficult for the aquarist to achieve the balance of the aquarium. In nature nutrients are in the dirt, land.
Even by changing the light from T5 to Led with the introduction of the Twinstar i did not change any parameter and the aquarium remains in good health (Could be better and i hope to improve). Almost zero nutrients in the water column, and even with a much more efficient light there was no resentment.
Even with this light the plants still have what they need and I think the algae also continue to not having what they like.
I tried another approach to fertilization and this is what I share here.
This is the one I will use in my future aquariums. Even because a bag of 750 gr. is enough for 10 years.
Total cost fertilization till now ? The packaging has 750gr and cost me 8 euros. I have so far spent close to 100 grams of those 750..
Review of Twinstar 900E:
In an aquarium like mine that has a side of 40 cm and with the Twinstar centered it is not enough to make the light reach the back of the aquarium or the front. Proof of this is the slope of my "Rotala Wallichi" took (see photos below). She leans forward all the way to the middle of the aquarium because that's where the light is. This is a symptomatic effect of lack of light in the area where she is. Therefore, a single Twinstar unit is not enough.
Now photo update of the tank.
IMG_1100 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1099 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1097 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1096 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1091 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1090 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1089 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1084 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1082 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1081 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1078 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1076 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1075 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1074 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1073 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1072 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1070 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1067 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1066 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1065 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1064 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1063 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1062 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1061 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1060 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1059 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1058 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1057 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1053 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1052 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1051 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1047 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1046 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1045 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1041 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1102 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
IMG_1100 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
Paulo Soares6 by Paulo Soares, no Flickr
Big Hug to everyone
First of all a Set Up update.
Assembling date:
01 September de 2016 (Completed a year now)
Aquarium:
100x40x40 8mm Glass from "Vidromoldura-Centividro"
Lights:
Twinstar 900 E
09 Hours Photoperiod: From 14.00 PM till 22.59 PM.
Filter:
EHEIM Professionel 4+600
Aqua Rebell Glass Inflow e Outflow 16/22 mm 30 ranhuras.
Cerâmicas Equo Stilla (3 Cestos) e lã.
CO2:
NEO Difuser / ADA Pollen Glass Beetle de 40 mm
CO2ART Regulador e Solenoide
Cal Aqua Labs Double Drop Checker v2
Hardscape:
Nothing
Substrate:
Tropica plant Growth + Tropica Soil
Fertilization:
Osmocote + MgO+Micros duração prolongada 6 meses
Plants:
1 - Hemianthus Micranthemoides
2 - Hygrophila Corymbosa
3 - Alternanthera Reineckii 'Mini'
4 - Hydrocotyle Tripartida
5 - Pogostemon Erectus
6 - Blixa Japonica
7 - Limnophilla Hipuroides
8 - Ammania Bonsai
9 - Potamogeton Gayi
10- Didiplis Diandra
11- Hottonia Palustris
12- Ranunculus Inundatus
13- Rotala Wallichii
14- Rotala Macrandra
15- Heteranthera Zosterifolia
16- Pogostemon Helferi
17- Lobelia Cardinalis 'Mini'
18- Nymphaea Lotus 'Red'
19- Myriophyllum Mattogrossense
Living:
Seventh Generation of Plattys, Tetras, Bloody Mary´s.
Aditional data:
Fertilization:
The fertilization I applied in this aquarium since assembling was Osmocote 17/9/11
I applied it directly and mixed with the Tropica Plant Growth.
Before doing this i was testing and experimenting Osmocote for a long time during all 2015 and most of 2016. Observing results, and most important trying to figure out quantities that would be ideal for the aquarium.
I would not simply load the substrate with this Osmocote and wait to see the result. (...)
So what I initially did was applying different portions in liter bottles and after 30 days measure results. Completely impossible ..
So then I applied in 5-liter bottles. I made a few 5-liter bottles with different portions of the Osmocote granules. At the end of 30 days I did measurements and the nutrient levels or concentration were still so high that I couldn´t point any decent measurement so that i coould recalculate to "X" liters. Values were so high that reagent tests bring an almost black colour. I started to wonder how I was going to test this ... with good precision.
Then one day in mycompany I notice the water barrel.. it was a10 liter bottle. And there i went for some more experience.
I bought a 10 liter barrel and testing with 10/20/30/40 Gr.
After 30 days again more measurements on the first 10 gr. and for the first time i achieved something closest to 100 PPM of N.
By now I began to think how I could pursuit testing to achieve levels of concentration that could be plausible cause I didn´t have a scale to weigh 1 or 2 grams with the reliability that i want and this were not values that i wanted to work with. Very unreliable. I wanted to work with values closer to what my tank was.
So I remembered that in my village I had a barrel of beer from other times of madness. . This one already carried 50 liters! That is ... a third of the capacity of the aquarium. I went back to the beginning.
I applied the first 10 gr. and at the end of 30 days i return to measurement .. and here already appeared a reliable measurable in the tests.
I threw everything away and again filled the 50 liter barrel but with 20 gr. and by the end of thirty days i got a well visible scale in the test expressing a correct PPM value. The reactants was in the orange. And so I continue testing with 25, 30, 35, and 40 gr. until i was sure that the order of PPM concentration was proportional.
Now yes, I had a correct ratio and proportionality every 5.10 grams.
I've done more measurements and other tests but I will not be exhaustive. For example, I applied substrate in bottles and in the barrel to see what was going to the water ... and what was retained down in the substrate cause for me this was most important to observe.
My measurements have always been the same in the water column. Somewhere between 10 to 20 PPM, another times less what is normal cause consumption is not always the same. For example after a pruning the consumption is always lower.
From the readings I´ve been doing with JBL tests, I have 30 to 40 PPM of N, 1 to 2 of P, more than 20 of K and 0.2 or more of FE at the bottom of the substrate. When I say at the bottom of the substrate it is really drain water under the Soil closest to the bottom glass.Then i filter this water to run out some dust and test.
By testing the presence of phosphate in the water is zero, but N always walks between zero and ten and the others are very residual.
There is a clear nutrient difference between what is at the bottom of the substrate and what is in the water column. I believe the slow release of the nutrients below the substrate is slowly passing through the Tropica Soil to the water column wich is almost absorbed by the plants, leaving almost nothing in the water column.
Since plants are root genesis they are naturally being fed by the roots and very little by the leaves. It has always been my thought and I think I can positively conclude that i was not wrong.
Enrich substrate instead of adding nutrients in thewater column because i believe this exposure to light provide much more algae being much more difficult for the aquarist to achieve the balance of the aquarium. In nature nutrients are in the dirt, land.
Even by changing the light from T5 to Led with the introduction of the Twinstar i did not change any parameter and the aquarium remains in good health (Could be better and i hope to improve). Almost zero nutrients in the water column, and even with a much more efficient light there was no resentment.
Even with this light the plants still have what they need and I think the algae also continue to not having what they like.
I tried another approach to fertilization and this is what I share here.
This is the one I will use in my future aquariums. Even because a bag of 750 gr. is enough for 10 years.
Total cost fertilization till now ? The packaging has 750gr and cost me 8 euros. I have so far spent close to 100 grams of those 750..
Review of Twinstar 900E:
In an aquarium like mine that has a side of 40 cm and with the Twinstar centered it is not enough to make the light reach the back of the aquarium or the front. Proof of this is the slope of my "Rotala Wallichi" took (see photos below). She leans forward all the way to the middle of the aquarium because that's where the light is. This is a symptomatic effect of lack of light in the area where she is. Therefore, a single Twinstar unit is not enough.
Now photo update of the tank.
Big Hug to everyone
Last edited:
