Nick72
Member
Yeh but my tank runs at 28.5c without a heater, so they will have to stay on my wish list a while longer.
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Aquascaper 900 - Comeback Lockdown Tank :)
- Thread starter LondonDragon
- Start date
Yeh but my tank runs at 28.5c without a heater, so they will have to stay on my wish list a while longer.
LondonDragon
Member
So decided to trim the stems this afternoon, I have never grown stems in this scale so this is new to me, seeing some videos, some threads with advice, some comments people made, I went for it and let's see how it goes 🙂
So there was a lot more in there that it looked! 😳😳
How it looked after trimming from the side:
From the top:
Funny enough the area on the right gets more flow and yet has the yellowest leaves of the lot, also this area tends to grow slower than the rest, is the heavy flow actually taking nutrients away and the plants cannot consume them fast enough?
I did manage to replant most of the trimmings and after it looked like this from the side:
and from the top:
So let's see how long it takes to recover and if it does indeed recover well.
Full tank shot after a water change and also added Taiwan moss to some of the wood, had this in vitro cup for a while, lets see if it survives and recovers, on the right-hand corner have some mini Xmas moss from @Kalum so if the Taiwan fails I will replace it with that!
Looks a little bare again! I wanted the first trim to be really low to thicken up! Fingers crossed 🙂
Ignore the red head on the skimmer, that is a 3D printed version I made with a mesh built-in so it doesn't suck in the shrimp!
Thanks for looking 🙂
So there was a lot more in there that it looked! 😳😳
How it looked after trimming from the side:
From the top:
Funny enough the area on the right gets more flow and yet has the yellowest leaves of the lot, also this area tends to grow slower than the rest, is the heavy flow actually taking nutrients away and the plants cannot consume them fast enough?
I did manage to replant most of the trimmings and after it looked like this from the side:
and from the top:
So let's see how long it takes to recover and if it does indeed recover well.
Full tank shot after a water change and also added Taiwan moss to some of the wood, had this in vitro cup for a while, lets see if it survives and recovers, on the right-hand corner have some mini Xmas moss from @Kalum so if the Taiwan fails I will replace it with that!
Looks a little bare again! I wanted the first trim to be really low to thicken up! Fingers crossed 🙂
Ignore the red head on the skimmer, that is a 3D printed version I made with a mesh built-in so it doesn't suck in the shrimp!
Thanks for looking 🙂
Deano3
Member
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- 8 Feb 2012
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- 2,485
Great job sure will recover well i may do same thing, have you kept same plants together in same area and not mixed them ?
My current 45 is far to wild and mixed next time i want to keep same plants together.
Also i noticed the skimmer and was going to ask
as long as does the job.Yoi still adding recomened amount of ferts and whats your current BPS of co2 and how often doing water change of dont mind me asking.
Dean
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LondonDragon
Member
Yes as I was cutting I was putting them in the tray in order and then planted them back in the same order (I hope) 🙂
I am working on a new model at the moment and I have black filament also 😉
I am going to mix a new batch tomorrow, most likely going to keep the same recipe as week 2 with no nitrates (refer to page 2). In the end I did mix some of the week 1 with week 2 rather than chucking them away and just concentrate on growing the stems rather than worry about colour for now, so hopefully the colour will be redder in the next few weeks.
I find BPS irrelevant as all bubble counters are different, I am just going with the drop checker and aiming for a lime green, but with the Twinstar diffuser built-in bubble counter I can work it out at just under 2 BPS.
Due to the recent noticeable algae I have been doing 3 water changes per week.
Looks good!
mohamed elsorahy
Seedling
cool
Deano3
Member
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Thanks for that mate after house decorated i can start working on mine, lookomg great by the way and love yhe organised plants thats what i will do to start, wonder if worth soaking my mazi wood for now so doesnt float, will it be ok in garden with open-top comtainer you think ?
Dean
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Looking epic Paulo. Love how dense the stems are and really lush growth all down the stem to the substrate. I’m sure they will recover well.
I particularly like that mini bolbitis you have, that seems like a nice option to add the look of bolbitis without the size which can overtake a scape easily if left to its own devices.
Odessa barbs are beautiful, checker barbs are also lovely and smaller if you want less chance of shrimp snackers 😛 Anyway, enjoy the visit to your local fish store, maybe you will return with something surprising.
I particularly like that mini bolbitis you have, that seems like a nice option to add the look of bolbitis without the size which can overtake a scape easily if left to its own devices.
Odessa barbs are beautiful, checker barbs are also lovely and smaller if you want less chance of shrimp snackers 😛 Anyway, enjoy the visit to your local fish store, maybe you will return with something surprising.
LondonDragon
Member
I did not want to risk and soaked it for 2 weeks before planting! I just used the tank and was a good way to test the filter, adjust the CO2 ready for the start (so you don't have to mess about it the days after planting, right level of CO2 from day 1) and make sure it all worked beforehand.
Many thanks Ady, yeah was quite pleased with the stems and had a lot more in there than I thought! See how long it takes for them to recover now, I would say a couple of weeks before noticeable growth.
That one was a gift from the plant seller which was quite a nice bonus, he gets first dibs when it gets too big and needs a trim, you can get seconds 😉
Thanks for the recommendation, I might come home empty-handed with this lockdown and stocks and crazy prices! Let's see how it goes, otherwise I will just get a shoal of Mountain Minnows 🙄😉
Deano3
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Sorry if this is a daft question ,Can i ask, i thought the more plant mass you have the more co2 and ferts required as the plants using them up from the water column.
So how does it work setting them up before planted and lights on as thought more light equals more co2 required or am i totally wrong
sorry if i am asking stupid question just sounds a good way to soak wood and fine tune if this works also get filter working.Dean
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LondonDragon
Member
Was just to ensure all the kit worked, as nothing uses the CO2 it will just build up in there and you are right not an accurate indication of what is actually needed, but I could at least test the drop checkers, had to redo them twice for some reason the solution I was using was pants and had to buy new bromo (see worth the test already), and then was just setting up the timers, testing the dosing pump, calibrating it, etc... to ensure when I planted all I need to do was turn light schedule on and dosing schedule, then add more CO2 if needed. Again you don't have to do any of this!!
Funny enough these were on the tank next to the Odessa barbs and I prefer the look of them so I purchased these instead (17 of them) 🙂
Quick question in future can I mix these with some Cherry Barbs?
I am now acclimatizing the fish slowly, also purchased an SAE and 4 Ottos!
To be honest there was not much choice at the moment in more than 5-6 of each!
Deano3
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Thanks for that mate i am with you, i may do this even to soak the wood etc so doesnt float and make sure no leaks etc and everything works.
Dean
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Awesome, in numbers like this they should feel comfortable and begin to show their real beauty. The males stay smaller but their colours become really distinguished. Can’t wait to see them actually as it’s been a long time since I kept them. They will reward you with great little spars and shouldnt be too shy in these numbers. I think these and cherry barbs will work really well together and both like it cooler so you may not even need a heater, win win.
Good choice! The cherry barbs will make perfect tank mates. The males are great to add a splash of colour to a tank.
cheers
Conor
ChrisD80
Member
Wow looks superb. The density of stems is amazing and all over plant health looks really good, plus your hardscape looks spotless!
LondonDragon
Member
Thanks for the recommendation Ady, really enjoying these little fish, they were a little shy at first and grouped together at the back, by the end of the evening they were nicely coloured and shoaling around the tank and not even afraid of me any more, also feed them a little 3 times during the afternoon and evenning, and they are all eating well already, the SAE has also found some new friends and shoals with the barbs lol Even the Ottos play tricks on them and three of them shoal together and the barbs follow them! You can tell it's the first time having fish in almost a decade! haha
I will let these guys settle in and then in a week or so think about adding some tank mates!
I did add a little video to my Insta stories!! 😉
Many thanks Conor 🙂
Thanks Chris, so far so good, think I have the CO2 back on track also and just happy the fish are settling in well, I can already see the stems perking up again after a couple of days so all seems good so far 🙂
Some hair grass did show some signs of algae on the old bits, so might need to just trim it all and let it regrow! I will see by the weekend.
LondonDragon
Member
Quick update, loving the fish in the tank, shame that 2 barbs jumped off the first night, rest have been fine since so not sure why they did that 🙁 they are great little fish and settled in quite well and now come to me when I approach the tank for some food, they would hide the first 2-3 days!
Algae seems to be going away, the SAE and the Ottos doing a good job also, and the stems are recovering OK new growth over the last week, not sure about the CO2, I redid my two drop checkers with the same amount of bromo and still next to each other I get different results in each so seems a little off to me! Might have to buy some more solution from another source and see, what do you guys use?
Taking some macro shots with my DSLR also noticed some nasty Hydra in the wood, a dose of Panacur which I always have to hand (dogs and shrimp tanks) and they were all gone the next day! They were not visible to the naked eye!
Loosing track of the weeks, think this is week 6, carpet is filling in nicely:
Stems from side and top, looking very compact now:
The Juncus is finally starting to take shape, how do you trim this plant and propagate??
Did make a video with the fish, see if I can upload that to YouTube at some stage!
Edit: Uploaded quick video of the fish:
Thanks for looking 🙂
Algae seems to be going away, the SAE and the Ottos doing a good job also, and the stems are recovering OK new growth over the last week, not sure about the CO2, I redid my two drop checkers with the same amount of bromo and still next to each other I get different results in each so seems a little off to me! Might have to buy some more solution from another source and see, what do you guys use?
Taking some macro shots with my DSLR also noticed some nasty Hydra in the wood, a dose of Panacur which I always have to hand (dogs and shrimp tanks) and they were all gone the next day! They were not visible to the naked eye!
Loosing track of the weeks, think this is week 6, carpet is filling in nicely:
Stems from side and top, looking very compact now:
The Juncus is finally starting to take shape, how do you trim this plant and propagate??
Did make a video with the fish, see if I can upload that to YouTube at some stage!
Edit: Uploaded quick video of the fish:
Thanks for looking 🙂
Last edited:
Nuno Gomes
Member
You trim it pretty much wherever you want and it will grow from there, like any other stem plant, but from my experience it takes a long time to recover from a trim and it'll be a couple weeks until you start seeing new growth.
When I have just a few stems I tend to cut right above a node, just because it makes sense to me, but I've trimmed big quantities of Juncus freely without any issues.
