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A reflection - putting it all into one scape

Going to ease off the water changes and cut co2 before lights off.

Monte Carlo isn’t taking hold. An arcuata stem had some of its initial leaves/initial growth “die” - brown tendril, algae type, diatom things spawning off them.

I really wonder if HC would be coping better just because it’s so much more demanding.

I find it really neat how rotalas look great (even when I was blasting co2) and these other species struggled - like the arcuata.

Growth is dense and slow. Eased of co2 a bit more.

Really confident that Monte Carlo will bounce, so just standing by and watching!
 
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Co2 bang on now.

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Lol … I highly doubt this is lack of ferts in column and/or soil … maybe lol. I think this is a really good sign - next phase of assemblage in substrate (photosynthetic stuff … historical progression)?

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Honestly, Macrandra is growing the fastest and best I’ve ever grown it.

I am still absolutely enthralled by the fact that arcuata couldn’t handle what Rotala could (and many times in photos rotalas look in suboptimal condition). And we are seeing it more now as my arcuata begins to “die” … I think it’ll bounce back though.

Monte Carlo: soil has oxygen pearls regularly … the top is a rare mutation - send @Libba PMs for interest (he identified it and endorses it). Limited quantity in stock, so act now.

Ph profile:
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So the idea is co2 is filled in the sacs due to first part of photoperiod and after 6 hours, it has enough so let the pH rise to favor rubisco performance - that means more O2. Pair that with my temp swing down and idea is supposed to be “optimal” for everything growing - especially now that pH isn’t plummeting toooo low.

I don’t actually know why I am reluctant to remove any of this diatomic stuff or massage the leaves or do any of the maintenance that I would highly recommend to someone who was asking for help at this point.

I jump into this saying to myself that I want a pretty scape and then I get distracted by watching the plant battle against the diatom thing on its own and/or which leaves it decides to sacrifice or which areas die first or which ones flourish. I mean it was unnecessary to blast it with that much co2 at start up … but now we know what happens I suppose.

In any case, documented!

Cheers
 
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I caved … hope you notice the trend. Lol.

I did change the water today and tickled the plants slightly - just wafted around the Monte Carlo. Some stayed rooted, but one uprooted entirely. Jelly still in tact. Roots encased.

When I reflect, the last thing I did was the Monte Carlo and by that point I was rather - lazy? Tired? Brazen? Stupid? Pick your adjective.

I left a substantial amount of jelly, especially in comparison to the rotalas.

The arcuata is going to make it — despite some of the leaves being sacrificed, aerial roots are out and looking to anchor the plant.

Rotalas seem ok.

I think I’ll need to buy a bit more Monte Carlo … turns out living things can only take so much “stress”.


Rulebook officially NOT (fully) rewritten … hehe.
 
Sigh … checked again, it’s all dead.

Since I’ve messed up startup, elbow grease … credit card down the edges, water change, co2 up, removed some exotic blends … placing the order for new cups.

A part of Rotala has some translucent old leaves while some beside it is fine - can’t diagnose … so clean and watch.

Bit sad … lol. Just have to turn it around.
 
John q said:
What's the honest synopsis so far josh? Would you rinse and repeat 🤔
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In short, if the goal was pretty pictures asap, the answer is no, but if I stuck to what I had intended to stick to, yes lol.

Rather confident that we will have pretty pictures eventually though.

Am I glad I did it? Absolutely. Are there pieces that are repeatable. Yes.

Co2:

I always had a hunch that that much co2 would cause issues but never pushed it then corrected it. Going to try that co2/rubisco thing once the tank is established again too. Currently back to standard approach just to settle the thing down. And on/off with lights to lime green ish is bang on from startup onwards. Probably re evaluate that after I finish my test too.

Substrate/water column:
I wanted to get away on the cheap too (long term, I’d like to run a much larger tank and wanted to test pilot some stuff with the soil etc). I have a feeling that my soil and water column targets are excellent for the water so definitely do again. Fert targets I’ve tested pretty heavily, so confident on those again.

Water change/diy:

I love the set up. auto water change system will definitely be redone. I love the weir. I love hiding the equipment.

Temp:

I like it and think the temp swings are bang on too.

Light:
The thing about this level of light - first off, I could get away with 1 ai prime if I didn’t have the bar. 2 would be sufficient. But 4 speeds the system up so much that you can literally see the response to your actions almost immediately.

People laughed when I said micro turn up on co2. But when I did that, the tank pearled like a fizzy pop in response. I knew there was an issue with my targeted co2 since I saw translucency in the Rotala lower leaves within 1 day. I didn’t respond until 3-4 days in as I wanted to see it get worse (and it did).

I’ve also left the tank now for I don’t know 4 days or something and it’s all clearing up. But you can see the diatom phase happen, you can see the blooms - it’s just cool. And then they go away just as fast when you correct the issue. I just wonder - what happens in those system when you don’t have that much energy? All the sequestered “stuff” in diatoms etc is just floating in the water … and what does that mean on the overall health in the system when you have livestock?

After I saw the arcuata leaves start to melt almost suddenly and have this diatom bloom thing, I paid attention to the new growth (after I did the maintenance) and noticed that today what’s left is a stem (all those old growth have fallen and been removed) and the new growth that I saw since the melt. I mean - you’re not going to see this growing plants by candlelight … lol. And I’ll just top and replant in 3 weeks? Or something, right? And then take the pretty photos.

I am absolutely livid that I killed the Monte Carlo. Straight up, pissed off. I really thought we could pull it through, but failed.

I guess @John q , had I not gassed the tank and fiddled with the light duration, and constantly messed with co2, the tank would look very different than it does right now. But I learned a lot doing it. Also, my filter has nothing in it … no carbon, no purigen, no nothing except some old sponges.

So, if we’re going to create a rinse and repeat method with high rates of success, I’m not sure 1600 par without proper “filtration” and constantly changing light durations and co2 is a good approach … but I will likely repeat the procedure and not do those - I’ll use the word curious instead of stupid - things again for sure.

But when I see my tank, I don’t worry about the diatoms or the bacteria bloom (I mean it’s not even that bad given what I’ve done to the system 😂). I see some pretty stunning plant growth since I’ve done things “properly” and kept them consistent. For record, I saw the greening of some Macrandra leaves show up during that translucent phase and now they aren’t there on new growth …. So give it a month 🙂. I’ll stop touching it 🤣.

Photos are a bit cloudy from the water but will try to get one …

Oh and definitely dark start for 8 weeks is a no brainer for rinse and repeat method. I didn’t do that.
 
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JoshP12 said:
I guess @John q , had I not gassed the tank and fiddled with the light duration, and constantly messed with co2, the tank would look very different than it does right now. But I learned a lot doing it.
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Love your honesty mate, and love the journal..
 
PARAGUAY said:
Well done Josh🙂l guess setbacks and failure are not in it . Tenacity is
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🙂. I used to get really anxious when I saw algaes or deformities … can probably see it in my previous posts. But once I “got the photos”, I started to think “how could I have fixed those issues” … the root of it is so if they come up again at least (after trying to correct them after purposefully breaking and bringing back the system) I have some ways to combat it in any tank.

I remember my first diatoms and my first bacteria bloom - I was all messed up - but less worried now. And I think now I’m just hunting for those opportunities.
And it really is so that when I have a big tank and have invested serious $$ into it, I don’t mess it up and then can't bring it back.

I’m also not going to pay copious amounts of money to follow a system like ada.


John q said:
Love your honesty mate, and love the journal..
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🙂. I’m glad you ask the real questions and point out when plants look bad… poor arcuata.

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Growth up top is since correcting and leaving it alone.

The growth is DENSE.
 
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Oh my … it just hit me.

So I ran the exact same startup prior to the second last scape FTS that I gave.

In that startup, I decided I wouldn’t do anything except an automatic daily water (only 40% ish compared to this one at 80-90%) change + ferts back to targets.

I put maybe a quarter of the miracle gro I did this time … maybe more like an eighth.

Same bloom and diatom happened (I never touched co2 like I did this time or the lights) … interestingly the glass, the water everything was a major mess. So those higher percentage water changes this time made a big difference.

Will update photos here in a just a sec - I found them.

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Can see where I scraped it away for a week and let it regrow.

Then as that same cyano in substrate died (so it came up last time too).

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And I actually think that was under EI. The plants then fixed their forms months later.

@plantnoobdude when I mentioned keeping the light and temp higher in your thread through the bloom - it was around the time I had this going on … Well the previous iteration of the tank … found those photos too - separate occasion (not a startup).

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Sheesh now that I share these photos, my current tank looks like a dream 🤣.
 
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Hello @JoshP12,

Thank you for the interesting journal. I was just admiring your older photos and I was wondering about the small Rotala (?) in the foreground in this picture. Can you tell me which species this is? I was think wallichi but that one would be bigger I guess.

Growing in the carpet in the picture below..

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Laoshan said:
Hello @JoshP12,

Thank you for the interesting journal. I was just admiring your older photos and I was wondering about the small Rotala (?) in the foreground in this picture. Can you tell me which species this is? I was think wallichi but that one would be bigger I guess.

Growing in the carpet in the picture below..

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Wallichi!!

I had two locations for wallichi during the tank (front and back). The spraybar spit water straight down (co2 in the intake and out the spraybar) over the one in the picture you shared. That clump of wallichi always looked better than the one at the back. From top to bottom it was nice. The back ones were only really stunning in the top third (I just hid the bottom with other plants in front 😂).

It also looked more needley when I only had two lights (I mean it wasn’t ugly but increasing to four made it “radiate” much more).
 
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