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im starting to think it must be Mick. leaves double in size in around 2 days . not something id expect damaged leaves t do

aponogeton still rather annoyingly throwing out brownish leavez

the aponogeton has since sent out 3 new leaves , all of which opened up brown and were removed even though they still grew when brown . another leaf is opening up today and touch wood it appears green. another shoot sprouting too so hopefully its ready to blossom .

il use up the neutro+ ive got over the christmas period and then order the ei starter kit and measuring spoons when it starts running low

thoughts are its got the ada badge on so price will be a joke like all ada stuff :p

yeah . AE wont reveal the makeup of the neutro ferts . main reason for thinking about switching to dry salts is how much cheaper it works out long term .

thanks Mick il remove them and see what the next ones are like .

il see ifni can find out using a calculator the ppms im getting a if i can il post it here . il probably end up investing in some dry salts before too long

thanks jose.yes little update and question too . sagitaria subulata taking well , echinodorus xinguensis went yellow at 1st but looks to be bouncing back . in fact its now thrown out a long shoot , but this shoot looks knothing like a leaf and more like a flower stalk . not even sure if they...

Today i added double dose of ferts . No algae at the moment and only a small amount of melt.

timer changed . looking for something to block 1 tube with

some tank specs 1st . fluval roma 240 so 4ft 240L , lighting standard roma 2x40w t8 , soil substrate capped with sand . no pressurised co2 . planted the tank saturday and as expected leaves are starting to suffer . this i put down to the plants having to adapt from emeresed growth to submersed...

thanks jose . yep il be sure to post some pics saturday once ive planted it . may even start a journal

after a miserably failed high tech last year i packed it all in in utter dismay and disillusionment .picked up a 2nd hand roma 240 so decided to take the bull by the horns and have another go, but this time low light , no co2 , easier plants and liquid carbon with soil substrate. saturday ive...

i have just been having this very same fight for the last few weeks . as ceg says , flow / distribution is critical . even if you arew injecting plenty of co2 , if it isnt being distributed efficiently you will find some areas do well , whilst others melt away and die . a few of the things i...

acrylic is much lighter than glass ( some claim around 40%), also scratches can be polished out of it too . there is a manufacturer that advertises on aquarist classifieds . il see if i can find the link for you edit: the 1 i was thinking of start at 3000L smallest size . i did find this 1...

i will try aquatica again 1 day for sure , most probably in the next tank . 1 thing i found with it , is that even though it isnt classed as particularly demanding in terms of difficulty , it does seem that to get the beauty from it everything has to be just so . clearly that wasnt the case for...

the aquatica was 1 of the plants i melted/killed when i had poor co2 . i wanted to get more but could only get the sessiliflora . to me it looks quite similar to aquatica , and from the info i found it seems less demanding too . its been a frustrating few weeks , but it has taught me some...

yesterday i had just added 2 pots of bacopa carolina , 2 pots of Limnophila sessiliflora , 3 pots of staurogyne repens a nice large echinodorus bleheri and 8 columbian red finned tetras . had it looking really nice , only for it to get blasted to bits :banghead: . still its all good experience...

woke up this morning , looked at the tank and thought something doesnt look right . so i switched the lights on to find that the 1200lph powerhead i use to power my co2 reactor had slid down the glass , ripping the hose off , and was sat in the bottom of the tank blasting aquasoil and plants...

plants have deffinately started growing suddenly , withthe exception of the ludwigia . loads of new growth on the Hydrocotyle leucocephala , really gained a lot of height too . same with the previously dormant rotala . probably going to replace the ludwigia over the weekend . found out that...

it looks like im starting to win my ongoing battle with co2 . hair algae is alomost gone , no new algae and now im getting plants pearling away a couple of hours after lights on . ive wanted to get more plants in for a while , but resisted until i beat co2 and stopped melting/killing plants . at...

its just something im giving consideration to at the moment , as right now pressurised is doing my head in :banghead: . having eliminated everything else im sure its the root of my lacklustre plants . cranked it up yet further yesterday . still getting some hair algae , although to be fair , it...

giving serious consideration to selling on my reg etc and going to a liquid carbon based tank . what im trying to find is a good comprehensive list of plants for such a setup ( not sure wether its classed low tech or "mid tech" . anybody got any good links please ?

congratulations Mark :)

hair net and fishing line for this badboy :)

i started a journal when i 1st set the tank up mate . not updated it in a while though . must sort that out

7 x 4 inch tub of riccia fluitans (aquatic plant) | eBay its carpeting time ;)

got the pipe for my full length spraybar today , so decided to take the up atomiser off and get the new reactor setup plumbed in . that was 8 hours ago , and ive just sat down :crazy: being heavy handed and snapping the bit off the reactor that takes the co2 hosing didnt exactly help...

happy days ! i though that was just a new leaf sprouting :)

thanks .

ive always known pearling to be when the leaves of plants have little oxygen bubbles all over them , but is it the same thing when plants realease big streams of bubbles ? my anubias nana does have what i know as "normal" pearling on a few leaves , but the newly forming leaf is literally going...

no worries . il take a look in the sale/swap section and see if anything tickles my fancy :) .

to the OP i am about to swap from a 12/16mm up inline atomiser to an external reactor . i have ordered the reactor etc , so if youre not in a hurry and can wait a few days , i will happily send you my atomiser as it will be no longer required .

bits ive ordered should arrive early next week . ive got a 1200lph powerhead (adjustable flow) , a tmc aquagro 1500 co2 reactor , 5 metres of 12/16mm clear hose , 1 metre of 12mm clear acrylic tube ( spraybar) and 2 12mm elbow connectors . in the meantime , reaflectors are removed , as...

right , reflecters removed , powerhead , reactor , clear acrylic tube , flexible hosing and elbows ordered . hopefully the combination of all these will help things along

the co2 comes on 2 hours before lights on and gos off 1 hour before lights out . il get a test kit and take some ph readings over the day next time im going to be at home all day . as for plant movement , its best described as "patchy" ie some moving nicely , others less so . as for the lights...

thganks ceg . going through that list 1 by 1 , light , 2x24w t5s on a 125L tank . comes out a 0.384 watts per liter . now i thought this was sensibly low ( maybe i was wrong) . feel free to correct me , but if light was the cause i would have expected the larger leaved/ slower growing...

i am planning some amano shrimp to go with the cherries , but as a pretty addition rather than a sollution to algae control

ive got 10 cherry shrimp in the tank , although they dont go near it . i did consider some amano shrimp , but id rather eliminate the issues in the tank than mask them with clean up crew . what do you think to the proposed reactor setup mentioned? tomh , i also have well over 10x turnover in...

its black hair algae im suffering from on the grass . doubt very much its a nutrient defficiency , as im dosing ei , so plenty of nutrients in the tank at all times . no such thing as too much co2 as far as plants are concerned :) its fauna that will suffer there . im almost certain that its a...

i was thinking it was the distribution ? could really use some good advice as to rectifying the situation please , as i seem to be just peeing in the wind here

drop checkers with new liquid been in for around 3 hours now . as the colour shows , the amount of co2 isnt the problem . co2level2 by mark pettican, on Flickr co2level by mark pettican, on Flickr

got some new 4dkh bromo blue for the drop checkers , as mine had gone off . co2 levels are good , so im thinking it must surely be a distribution/flow issue . here is the hygrophilia in question . ( new liquid in drop checker , hadnt been in long which is why its still dark green ) melting...

hygrophila has been in almost 2 weeks . no new growth at all , just melting away . got 2 more pots of hairgrass coming , so when that arrives and i plant it i will thin the rest out into smaller bits

for me at the moment , the appeal of shrimp is that whilst ive always fancied having some , this is the 1st tank ive had where they wouldnt just be live food .

got 2 problem areas in my tank . the hairgrass in the front , whilst growing well is collecting hair algae , and the hygro corymbosa stricta rear left has started to disintigrate/melt away in the last couple of days. im leaning towards co2/flow being the problem but im seeing fantastic growth in...

they do sell bromo blue concentrate for about 3 quid . you just add a couple of drops to the solution already in your drop checker and it apparently makes it much easier to see the colour change . but on the flipside it says it takes much longer for the drop checker to react/change .

mine is next to impossible to read now . looked nice and green in the tank , but when i took the checkers out last waterchange to change the fluid , it just looked like water with a slight yellowy tinge , but almost clear .

same here in the cabinet

my bromo blue sollution has gone off in the bottle after a couple of months . looking on AE where i ordered it from it said depending on storage methods it should be good for up to 2 years . so in the ask a question bit i asked what was the best way to store it as mine had gone green quickly ...

think , touch wood i seem to have found a happy medium with the configurqation , but it just occured to me that maybe now ive dramaticly increased plant mass , do i need to up my dosing ? regime is as follows macro: 6 tsp potassium nitrate , 6 tsp magnesium sulphate and 2 tsp potassium...

the problem getting good even flow/distribution . starting to get hair algae creeping back in . blyxa seems to be suffering/melting . im trying different configurations and i seem to be ending up with plants blasted all over the place some areas , little to no movement in others . or fairly...

yep thats right its 1 of those sycophantic " you lot are so great " posts :) seriously though , i just wanted to thank you all for the great advice and help i have received with setting up my 1st planted tank . much appreciated folks .

cheers ady/iain . probably looking at plain ol' java moss .

thats what i was worried about

if i wanted a branch of redmoor to be completely covered 360 degrees in moss do i need to tie it to the underside as well or just the top ?

yep the plants from AE are simply fantastic , ordered thursday night , received them saturday morning . half the price , twice the ammount . stronger , healthier , better packaged and imho better value . sure they may not have quite the range that tgm have , but from now on they will be my " go...

yep , did a big waterchange once id finished . touch wood i havent seen any hair algae since . the dust on some of the leaves is still there , but its massively reduced . im wondering if it was crap from the filter pipes though , as it is all concentrated on the plants where the spraybar is ...

well i just had my 1st planted tank eye opener . thought id do 2 things . 1st check the co2 system for leaks etc and 2ndly experement with spraybar/powerhead configuration . 1st thing i noticed was the bubble counter . bubbles were very sporadic/irregular . figured id do the spraybar etc 1st...

tank has been planted 2 or 3 weeks . i only say that i dont think its diatoms , as its exactly the same colour as the ada amazonia , and i would expect diatoms to be on the glass / heater too . more worrying though is i have started to notice what i think is hair algae , leading me to think my...

im getting this annoying fine brown dust on my leaves . looks like its coming from the aquasoil as its the same colour . ive got a combined flow/turnover of 2190LPH . plenty of movement in the plants , yet i clean it off and a few hours later its back . oddly , the ozelot at the rear right...

cheers george , glad to know i hadnt gone too mad :) things seem to be growing pretty well , so im sure it will reward me in time

came home from work this evening , and figured i needed to do some maintainence on the tank , ie some trimming . the Gymnocoronis spilanthoides was near the surface , but very skinny looking . not unhealthy , but needs to bush out ( all the leaves/growth nerer the tops ) . with this i removed...

blackboard paint works quite well .

at the moment ive got my drop checkers just on the yellowish side of green . how does this sound for a plan ? wait until its had its 1st trim and grown back in again , then increase by say 30 mins a week

it was always the intention to let it grow in and mature 1st , i just wasnt sure if it should just be bumped straight up to 8 or wether it should be done bit by bit

i figured that seeing as my light is quite low , 2x24w t5 over a 125L tank , that i could safely go to 8 hours ? i guess i could rig something with a single low wattage tube either side of the main lights being on .

if im totally honest , simply to get more "viewing time "

at the moment with the tank being freshly planted , im running lights for 6 hours . this will increase to 8 hours . when and how is it best to do this ? should i let the plants grow in then gradually increase it over a few weeks ?

its nice to see pearling , although tbh il settle for not dying :)

and here was me thinking i had the magic touch :)

my ludwigia repens "ruben" has been in the tank all of 5 hours and already there are bubbles coming from some of the leaves . could it really be pearling so soon , or is there another explenation ?

AE is where the other plants are coming from . ordered them last night so should have them soon .

ive got another couple of stem plants coming next week to fill in a big gap at the left rear of the tank , and then il resurect the journal with the 1st planted photo so i can keep a visual record of the tanks progress . compared to yesterday i am really enjoying the tank now . as the saying gos...

to be fair to TGM the ozelot they sent me that was missing is a beauty . loads of it in the pot , very decent size and healthy , the replacement corymbosa also was much much better . edit: i actually got 2 lovely ozelots from the 1 pot once all the rockwool was removed . i have also removed...

im sure from what people have said that things will look better in a week or so . but i still dont feel that what i got was worth £101 . but then i guess this is all part of the learning curve .

thanks ady . some real encouragement in those tanks . some amazing transformations .

thanks for the reassurance everybody . il give em plenty of co2 and see how they go .

nope no snails . maybe i'm being a bist hasty to express disapointment , but with this being my 1st ever proper plant order i was expecting to look at the tank and go " yep that looks nice" . perhaps my lack of experience/knowledge showing .

i have emailed them george . this is why i didnt name them in the thread , i didnt want the thing to become some kind of witch hunt .

judge for yourselves . i shouldnt of planted them . should of just sent them back 383205_366598873450240_1086965829_n(1) by mark pettican, on Flickr 298053_366600170116777_1264379833_n by mark pettican, on Flickr

yep

wont be shopping there again . £101 worth of plants my backside . i want to send them back for a refund , but i doubt i can now they are out of the pots :banghead:

i think its the limnophila aquatica , and the linderina rotundifolia i need to re-do . they were a pig to seperate so i just kinda planted them in big bunches

thanks . its all planted , but tbh i dont think ive done a very good job . i think i need to seperate the stems out better and try again

thats good to know . hopefully a few days of co2 and ferts and things will look better

really not happy with how things look . i can see myself taking it all out and comnpletely replanting tomorrow when the new plants come

plants arrived today , the polysperma wasnt great , the leaves looked a bit battered , the corymbosa was almost non existant , virtually nothing in the pot , 3 tiny little stems . the ozelot , well i cant comment on that because it was missing . didnt even effin get it :twisted: they are...

i would deffinately say she fell into the "just wanting something pretty" category claire .

thanks claire . just logged into my TGM account and have comfirmation that the plants were shipped today on priority service , so tomorrow all being well i can plant it up then have the lights on for a bit to stare at it and il set the timers to kick on from friday .

with my plants coming on thursday , i will be planting when i get home from work , around 4pm ish . my intended photo period will have lights start at 2pm . should i be plugging the lights and co2 into the timers tomorrow night so all is running when its planted ( i will be draining tank to...

ive reccomended the liquid carbon to her ,also to try and improve her flow/circulation . aquasoil wont really be an option though , as she already has fish , and i can say with total certainty that she will not be willing to let them go then restock later . maybe some root tabs or similar could...

im trying to get some advice for my missus' friend who wants a planted tank . she got the tank 2nd hand with some plants already in it , along with a serious algae infestation . i did ask in the algae section and got some advice to help her bring it around , but she has said she wants to start...

i am now ive been and bought a spray bottle for misting plants whilst planting :D

yep :)

thank you :)

ive just watched the ones on TGM's youtube chanel and loved them . both interesting and really informitive and helpful. anybody know of good sites with videos in a similar vein ?

i cant wait ! seems like forever since i got the tank .

exactly that ady . normal service is royal mail 1st class , priority is next day so if they ship wednesday i receive them thursday .