A
Antipofish
Guest
Westyggx said:
Oh, lol. nope, first go...
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HC... what a pain
- Thread starter omen
- Start date
Oh, lol. nope, first go...
Tom
Member
Mark Evans said:
Tropica-90-side by saintly's pics, on Flickr
Radik. It really shouldnt matter what lighting your using. Cetrtainly not tubes anyway. It is vital however, to get the co2 enriched water down to substrate level. You'll see a whole new beast then.
Mark, what diffusion and placement methods are you using then? Standard glass diffusers and lilies?
I'm waiting for someone to make some twin-outlet lily pipes - one jet below the surface, the other above the substrate.
Tom
Mark Evans
Member
Antipofish said:
sorry Chris. I thought you had tried before.
Tom said:
Tom, on this tank I'm using a spray bar, with an 'up' diffuser on the outlet. Flow really is minimal in this tank, but that said, what movement there is does get all around the tank.
filter by saintly's pics, on Flickr
A
Antipofish
Guest
Mark Evans said:
No Wukkas mate 🙂 I will still be plenty happy to get advice on my first growing with it though
Any tips in advance ? I will prepare it the way it shows in the video Ian posted above. Other than that, anything to watch out for ?
Mark Evans
Member
Antipofish said:
1.Maintain steady flow to low reaching parts of the tank.
2.Stable Co2
3.The addition of easy carbo is a must.
4.Regular water changes whilst HC settles down.
5.Trimming can be carried out after it's settled down.
6.In addition to trimming, use the back of your hand to 'push down' the plant. (This works with all carpeting plants)
The above things should be done for any plant.in any aquarium. So get into the routine of carrying out all of the above, and everything will become second nature.
A
Antipofish
Guest
Mark Evans said:
Thanks for all of that Mark, I appreciate your input, especially as I know how busy you are at the moment
When will we be seeing the start of your 90cm thread, or will you not do one for that ? Can't wait for the new big scape too 🙂
Mark Evans
Member
No worries Chris.
That's a good start. Gauge it from there.
Just to go back to lighting...This is HC in my 120cm. Now, it's had no ferts for ages, and many parts reside in shaded areas, but it just keeps growing back.
Don't place too much emphasis on light.
end by saintly's pics, on Flickr
Antipofish said:
That's a good start. Gauge it from there.
Just to go back to lighting...This is HC in my 120cm. Now, it's had no ferts for ages, and many parts reside in shaded areas, but it just keeps growing back.
Don't place too much emphasis on light.
end by saintly's pics, on Flickr
Mark,
that is incredible growth, its so tight and compact and yet you refer to no ferts and shading. I can understand the no ferts as AS retains ferts and can feed them to the plants when not dosed into the water column. I can also understand shading as ive learned that underwater, plants are better at managing light and sourcing c02 etc is more important to them, but in this tank you also seem to be using less c02 too....it must be about the balance of them all?
Cheerio,
Ady.
that is incredible growth, its so tight and compact and yet you refer to no ferts and shading. I can understand the no ferts as AS retains ferts and can feed them to the plants when not dosed into the water column. I can also understand shading as ive learned that underwater, plants are better at managing light and sourcing c02 etc is more important to them, but in this tank you also seem to be using less c02 too....it must be about the balance of them all?
Cheerio,
Ady.
A
Antipofish
Guest
Mark Evans said:No worries Chris.
Antipofish said:
That's a good start. Gauge it from there.
Just to go back to lighting...This is HC in my 120cm. Now, it's had no ferts for ages, and many parts reside in shaded areas, but it just keeps growing back.
Don't place too much emphasis on light.
end by saintly's pics, on Flickr
Yeah following on from your comments on light recently I am not going to worry about it at all. I do, however want to change my rear bulb for aesthetic reasons, and am going to get some reflectors IF the replacement bulb does not increase illumination. Not for the tanks needs, but for MINE, lol. I just feel its "dim" at the moment. I certainly will not be getting MORE lights though 🙂
O'Neil
Member
Kinda skimmed through this a bit, one quick question though.
Even if you have pressurised CO2 would you recommend using the easy carbo aswell or should the pressurised CO2 be enough on it's own.
I'm a total noob and don't seem to be having luck with HC, my other plants however are going crazy since the pressurised CO2 was added.
Even if you have pressurised CO2 would you recommend using the easy carbo aswell or should the pressurised CO2 be enough on it's own.
I'm a total noob and don't seem to be having luck with HC, my other plants however are going crazy since the pressurised CO2 was added.
Hi,
Cheerio,
Ady.
Porksword said:
Mark is suggesting here the use of both for good growth with hc,Mark Evans said:
Cheerio,
Ady.
O'Neil
Member
Nice One Ady just wanted to make sure, thanks mate.
no prob.
Mark Evans
Member
Porksword said:
Sure. Add both. HC is a sucker for easy carbo. Even just to help it get established, then you can ease off it.
Just to show the difference after trimming.
HC by saintly's pics, on Flickr
HC-cut by saintly's pics, on Flickr
Tom
Member
How old is that carpet Mark?
Mark Evans
Member
It's about 10 weeks I think Tom. maybe a bit longer.
With my new way of growing plants(much slower) it's taken twice as long as usual, but absolutely hassle free.
It's heavy on co2 and easy carbo, but still quite low on ferts. The 150w MH (solar 1) is over 60cm away from the surface, and a good 100cm away from the substrate.
Lighting is key for me.
With my new way of growing plants(much slower) it's taken twice as long as usual, but absolutely hassle free.
It's heavy on co2 and easy carbo, but still quite low on ferts. The 150w MH (solar 1) is over 60cm away from the surface, and a good 100cm away from the substrate.
Lighting is key for me.
Hi,
Seems you can grow it either way Mark. Your iwawoody journal has excellent HC growth with low c02 and no liquid carbon? These two set ups seem quite different regards c02 yet you still produce the goods, do they grow any differently at all?
Cheerio,
Ady.
Mark Evans said:
Seems you can grow it either way Mark. Your iwawoody journal has excellent HC growth with low c02 and no liquid carbon? These two set ups seem quite different regards c02 yet you still produce the goods, do they grow any differently at all?
Cheerio,
Ady.
omen
Member
- Joined
- 19 Jun 2009
- Messages
- 102
Finally figured out my issue I think. The damned UP atomizer I was using wasn't funtioning correctly, and was spitting out huge bubbles, as it needed cleaning. I didn't realise this until I took a chance and replaced it with a spare I have. Now I have a nice mist again as opposed to something resembling a carbonated drink!
A
Antipofish
Guest
omen said:
How did you clean it mate ? I need to do mine I think.
omen
Member
- Joined
- 19 Jun 2009
- Messages
- 102
Scrubbed it with a pipe brush, then left it overnight in about a 7% solution of H2O2, rinsed and used the pipe crush again. There was some amount of crud out of it! I believe others use a bleach solution. I just used H2O2 as I had some that I use to spot treat algae.
I did this yesterday, and already the finer mist has made a huge difference. HC is pearling nicely! I think before I was relying too heavily on my drop checker, and the larger bubbles were not giving me a genuine reading on dissolved co2 content.
I did this yesterday, and already the finer mist has made a huge difference. HC is pearling nicely! I think before I was relying too heavily on my drop checker, and the larger bubbles were not giving me a genuine reading on dissolved co2 content.
