Cautionary Tales from an Idiot

[aaronf]

Thought I would keep this journal, for ideas, and inspiration but mainly to stop people from making the mistakes that I did and presumably am still doing. I don’t take things to heart, and this is meant to be a bit tongue in cheek so please do criticize me, I’m hoping other people can learn from my mistakes! This should be a cautionary tale on how not to scape, and how you should research before you do anything! I do not have all the answers.

Pertinent Information

• 20-gallon/90 Liter tank.
• Dosing EI ferts – 20mls Micro 3x a week, 20mls Macro 3x alternate days.
• Lighting – Nicrew sky led plus (set to 80%, 6 hours photoperiod – 2pm to 8pm).
• CO2 injected – 12pm to 7pm.
• Substrate –Fluval Plant and Shrimp Stratum.

20th June – The Java moss incident.

Thought: I had seen lots of great scapes with what looked like fantastic grass! Surely, I can achieve that, and I really want to have a shrimp-based tank, an online it says that shrimp LOVE java moss. Why not create a great carpet of java moss for the shrimp? I’d also listened to lots of youtube videos saying that you can create great carpets using something called a dry start method. So off I pop to the shop and pick up three varying types of java moss and dutifully attempt to DSM the java moss for 4 weeks.

Reality: After four weeks, after posting to this forum that Java moss does not carpet. While technically you can do it with the mesh method, I did start to wonder why at week 4 I was only getting vertical growth . So, I scrapped that and planted some monte carlo instead.



18th July – Everyone loves Carbonated Drinks!

So, I had my tank up and running, I had set the CO2 running and things were looking up. I had a bit of an emergency with a low-tech tank, so I had to transfer some fish into this tank prematurely (before the cycling was complete). I was performing water changes with RO water. I started to notice some brown algae on some of the plants that I had planted, namely the dwarf hair grass and the monte Carlo had started to look a bit funny.

Thought: The really expensive shrimp-safe soil I bought would be providing excellent nutrition for my plants! It even says so on the packet!

Reality: It did not. After reading about the estimated index, it made much more sense why my plants were not thriving. I ordered an EI fert kit and followed the instructions. Super simple and great value for money!

Thought: Using RO water, for my tank, means that my plants and fish will only get the best. I hear that impurities are bad…

Reality: I had essentially been pouring evian into my tank needlessly. RO water is not needed for this type of tank, and expensive. Using RO water limited my water changes to my being able to visit the LFS, and hence reduced the frequency, especially important since I had not fully cycled the tank yet with livestock already in.



Thought: If Carbon dioxide is great for plants, why not keep it on 24/7!?

Reality: Why are my fish always at the top of the tank gasping? I have been suffocating the fish! CO2 injection starts now 2 hours pre-photoperiod and shuts off 1 hour before end of photoperiod.



Thought: These golden rams should be fine for my shrimp tank prospect

Reality: If I add shrimp, its going to be really expensive ram food. I need to relocate the rams if I want to add shrimp to this tank.



24th July – Measuring mistakes

I had made so many mistakes at this point. All basic ones, which if I had stopped and looked at one reliable source rather then go over to every random source could have been avoided. So how to prevent myself from making another mistake – MEASURE EVERYTHING. pH, temp, gH, kH etc. etc. I have to ensure that my water parameters match EXACTLY what the best would be, at this point, for these hypothetical, existential shrimp.

Thought: Daily monitoring of parameters will be ensuring I don’t mess up again

Reality: Lifes too short. Once I was happy with my base water parameters, and water tap supply its absolutely fine to monitor infrequently, and check if there is an issue.

4th August - Title to be determined, depending on what mistake part I'm currently at!

• Here we are up to today. I think that there has been SOME improvement in my technique but it's still not great. The monte carlo I basically killed. There are small patches of it left which are growing well, but the majority have died off just like my hair follicles. I think it was too far gone initially.
• The stem plants are growing REALLY well! I have seen very quick growth with these.
• Red Root floaters look great – but multiply very quickly – Would you recommend a thinning of these as they are stacking too much ontop of each other.
• I tried to remove the java moss that I initially tried to carpet – however some has remained. The dwarf sag next to it seems to be dead, but in other areas of the tank look great. Is this a flow issue or just too far gone when I nutrient-starved the tank initially? I am planning on removing the java moss next to it.

 

[John q]

Every story has a beginning and an end, you've grown and progressed. Like me your still learning, good on you for creating this thread.

 

[PARAGUAY]

Lets have a look at your sucesses too. The Red root floaters any surplus try your LFS they may offer credit for goods or even buy them off you. They will have no trouble selling them on. I agree with John good thread

 

[sparkyweasel]

• The monte carlo I basically killed. There are small patches of it left which are growing well, but the majority have died off just like my hair follicles.

Unlike your hair follicles, the surviving Monte Carlo can recolonise the bare patches.

• Red Root floaters look great – but multiply very quickly – Would you recommend a thinning of these as they are stacking too much ontop of each other.

Yes, I would thin them out regularly. If they pile up the bottom ones can die off.
When you have made a few more posts (I think it's 25) you will be able to see the 'For Sale' section of this forum. You could try selling some there.
Some people just charge postage plus a donation to the forum. That's a nice way of giving something back, but it's entirely up to you.

Good thread.

 

[Driftless]

I am always throwing away Red Root Floaters, they reproduce so fast; I think that I have them in all of my tanks. Yes, measuring your parameters daily makes it a chore, I measure once or twice but always as soon I see a change in a tank. The one thing that I would suggest is more plants! They do not have to be carpet plants but shorter stems would work well. Enjoy!

 

[aaronf]

Any particular recommendations? I was thinking ammonia gracilis near the back / under the log?

 

[mmustelus]

Lol, thanks for this . Made me smile as I share your frustration. This is a very tricky hobby. So many nuances to it. More of an art than a science really.

I look forward to your updates - in my first 2 months I had some damselfly nymphs (my fault - I found some lovely plants in a river - I assumed they were safe because they were in quite deep but neglected to realize how good damselflies are at finding safe places to put their eggs). Cladophora ! yes, I didnt treat my plants and had some hitchikers. I still have a little pop up but doesnt seem to be a massive problem. Hydra - easy enough to solve. Java moss cutting with a grass carpet and baby shrimplets is not a joke. We learn each time. I can see why people rescape. Would be nice to eventually rescape using everything Ive learnt the first time around.

 

[aaronf]

Haha indeed! I would start things differently for sure!

 

[aaronf]

ammania gracilis

 

[mort]

I actually think you've done really well. I've worked in a shop and helped lots of people setup their first tank and you won't believe how many of them just don't get it and repeat every mistake again and again with learning anything. The odd cock up or mistake is the best way to learn and you've really learnt some important things quickly so I think your on to a winner.

Ammania gracilis is a nice plant but grows quite quickly when happy, so if your happy with potentially trimming it fairly often then give it a try. Tbh with plants many of us just try what we like the look of, sometimes they thrive, sometimes just survive and sometimes we learn a valuable lesson. I'd just go for something that catches your eye after a tiny bit of research to make sure your not wasting your money entirely.

 

[aaronf]

What's life without a 3-day update on progress?

So some plants arrived in the post.

• Limnophila Hippuridoides
• Nesaea Crassicaulis

I am still awaiting the Ludwigia Palustris Red. It appears that I am going with a somewhat red theme for this tank! One issue is, well it seems like a first-world problem, is that the person I bought these mysterious plants off ebay from gave me 3x the amount I ordered. So, when people mentioned having more plants, I think I am coming close to that criteria

My tank has a slightly strange design (it has multiple compartments in the back to the house a filter, pump, etc with the intake for the tank appearing on the top right and outflow on the top left. Tank set up:

I set up the tank according to the instruction manual given, which provided bags of various media to filter the water through. One of these bags was called PhosNitra.

Thought: Who would want nasty things like phosphate and nitrate in their tank, especially since they give you a free bag to place in the tank, surely it is a vital part of a planted aquarium?
Reality: Plants. Plants want phosphates and nitrates. Using EI dosing and trying to remove the stuff I am adding is pretty stupid. into the bin you go, bag. Also, are these removers actually doing much?

Few questions:

1. Filter Floss Changes: In the back chambers, I currently have the filter sponges (filter floss, which seems to turn brown within a few hours after a weekly change, which I presume is bacteria colonizing, then a coarse sponge then a fine sponge). How often would you change filter floss? My tank water is saturated with tiny particles, hence the filter floss.
2. Activated Charcoal: I also have a bag of activated charcoal that came with the tank. What benefit does this activated charcoal give?
3. Empty chambers: What do I do with these empty chambers? Could I add more filter spongers (would this help in any way?), or would it just put more strain on the pump?
4. CO2 diffuser placement. I have an in-tank co2 diffuser bar from co2art. I used to put the co2 diffuser in a back chamber, but I think most of the co2 just flew out of the water. I have now placed it as close to the substrate as possible below the outflow, which I think means the c02 spends lots more time in contact with the water, and I can easily see the flow of the tank (I just follow the bubbles around), and they seem to hit every bit of the tank.

I plan on trimming down the middle Nesaea Crassicaulis to about 2/3 of its length, and extend it closer to the red lily - but as I just planted it I didn't want to cause too much trauma to the plant just yet. (I was expecting about half as much!)
To be quiet honey my planting strategy has been tall things at back, small at front with not much thought beyond this...

 

[aaronf]

Just realised that the nesaea looks a bit crispy in the photo I took. I think it is just the post-travel

 

[bazz]

Hi,
Your tank appears to be improving by leaps and bounds in such a short space of time.
The answers to your questions are subjective but for me:
1. At least once a week during your water change but more often if it is becoming clogged and reducing flow.
2. I would put this to one side and use it to mop up after the use any emergency medication or similar.
3. You could put a small handful of ceramic media or the like in there ensuring you are not restricting flow.
4. I think you have answered your question really, but placement where you are getting the most flow, distribution and dissolution.
Remember some of our best tools are free 'time, patience and observation' and be ready to knock that light back at first sighting of a single strand of algae.
Keep up the good work!
Cheers

 

[aaronf]

Thanks for the answers, I haven't really looked at ceramic media - will do now

 

[aaronf]

Would replacing the activated carbon with say alfagrog be a good shout?

 

[erwin123]

Would replacing the activated carbon with say alfagrog be a good shout?

In this forum I learnt that
(1) In a planted aquarium, Plants are the filter.
(2) Flow is more important so you usually don't want to be stuffing the filter full of media as that will reduce the flowrate.
(3) Sponges are the most cost-effective media. filter floss has to be replaced more frequently than say, a kitchen sponge.

If you have extra flowrate (eg: filter theoretical flowrate is 10x or more), you can "sacrifice" some flowrate to do mechanical filtering (eg: fine filter floss which will reduce flowrate) to make the water clearer.

 

[aaronf]

In this forum I learnt that
(1) In a planted aquarium, Plants are the filter.
(2) Flow is more important so you usually don't want to be stuffing the filter full of media as that will reduce the flowrate.
(3) Sponges are the most cost-effective media. filter floss has to be replaced more frequently than say, a kitchen sponge.

If you have extra flowrate (eg: filter theoretical flowrate is 10x or more), you can "sacrifice" some flowrate to do mechanical filtering (eg: fine filter floss which will reduce flowrate) to make the water clearer.

Thanks for the info.
When people talk about 10x flow rate, are they talking about flow rate listed on the pump, or the effective flow rate after sponges? If it is the latter how would I measure it.

My pump is rated 1200lph, with a tank size of 90L. I have the pump approx 3/4 open (as accurate as my eyes can do). Any higher it gets rather noisy.

 

[Dogtemple]

I like your approach, quite refreshing and probably will be of use to people for years to come. like the bible

 

[Djoko Sauza]

1. CO2 diffuser placement. I have an in-tank co2 diffuser bar from co2art. I used to put the co2 diffuser in a back chamber, but I think most of the co2 just flew out of the water.

Have you tried placing the diffuser in the last compartment just under the pump intake? This way all the bubbles should be going into the pump.

In the end it may even not be as efficient as having it where it is now, but it would produce smaller bubbles and you'd have one less eye sore in your display.

 

[Andy Pierce]

Filtering and providing good flow are not the same thing, and asking your filter to provide all the flow might be asking too much. You could consider a supplemental powerhead or spraybar for the flow part and just let your filter worry about the doing the filtering.