Hi from Guildford, UK

[Dan Earl A]

Hi everyone, greetings from the Surrey Hills.

I'm returning to this hobby after what must be at least a 20+ year break. Back then, I don't recall the availability of equipment, substrates, fertilisers or certainly plants, so it's great to see how things have advanced. The knowledge of people such as those on this forum has also leapt forward so I'm hoping to get some good, constructive criticism and tips on improving my scape.

I've tried to do my research, read quite a bit on the topic and then dived in......I'm now one week in and things seem to be progressing reasonably well. I have a 55 litre Dennerle scapers tank, CO2 set-up, Twinstar 450SM and Oase 350. Our water here is very hard but so far I'm not noticing major issues, although I guess time will tell. The tank is still cycling and the ammonia is sitting around 1ppm at the moment, so some way of deciding on livestock.

Thanks for reading this and look forward to engaging more in what is a lovely hobby to be returning to!

Cheers

Phil

 

[Tim Harrison]

Welcome 🙂

 

[hypnogogia]

Hello, welcome
Is that biomaster standing in a hole in the floor? Looks very short.

 

[Dan Earl A]

LOL....the cupboard has a false bottom so I decided to utilise the space available by cutting a hole for the filter and CO2 cylinder. Most of my electrics are also hidden away underneath 😉

 

[sparkyweasel]

Welcome!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Welcome to UKAPS, that looks a good start.

Our water here is very hard but so far I'm not noticing major issues

It maybe the substrate is softening the water, via ion exchange, if it is an <"active substrate">?

The tank is still cycling and the ammonia is sitting around 1ppm at the moment, so some way of deciding on livestock.

From the substrate? <"Nitrification and cycling"> really is an area where the past is a different country <"Correspondence with Dr Ryan Newton - School of Freshwater Sciences, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee">.

Have a look at <"Seasoned Tank Time">. It is <"plant and wait"> with a snazzy title.

cheers Darrel

 

[PARAGUAY]

Welcome to UKAPS

 

[Dan Earl A]

It maybe the substrate is softening the water, via ion exchange, if it is an <"active substrate">?

Yes I'm using Tropica aquarium soil. I've been doing daily 50% water changes to keep the ammonia levels under control. It did spike to 4ppm but has dropped back down to around 1ppm. The Anubias Nana Bonzai seem to be the only plants to have suffered thus far. Reading some of the thrrads on here, my approach seems to have been quite risky.

 

[The grumpy one]

welcome

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I've been doing daily 50% water changes to keep the ammonia levels under control. It did spike to 4ppm but has dropped back down to around 1ppm.

Unfortunately you will just have to keep on changing some water.

The Anubias Nana Bonzai seem to be the only plants to have suffered thus far.

They don't do well in a <"high ammonia environment">. Good news is that your <"floating plant"> has the potential to remove a lot of fixed nitrogen, mainly because it has access to 420 ppm atmospheric CO2.

Reading some of the thrrads on here, my approach seems to have been quite risky.

We have a variety of opinions, <"some members are still using ammonia based cycling">, others aren't. Personally I've been pretty sure that <"linear cycling"> doesn't exist, since before the discovery of <"Ammonia Oxidising Archaea etc">.

We have a thread with Dr Tim Hovanec <"Dr Timothy Hovanec's comments about Bacterial supplements"> that may be of interest.

cheers Darrel

 

[Dan Earl A]

Unfortunately you will just have to keep on changing some water

I did anticipate this, and it's not such a chore with a 55 litre tank. Yesterday, for the first time when testing the parameters, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate were all zero so hopefully heading in the right direction in this respect

 

[Dan Earl A]

They don't do well in a <"high ammonia environment">. Good news is that your <"floating plant"> has the potential to remove a lot of fixed nitrogen, mainly because it has access to 420 ppm atmospheric CO2

Sadly, the Anubias have really suffered, even though the ammonia levels have now reached zero. As you say, I keep having to thin down the floating plants because they're doing so well.

 

[Dan Earl A]

We have a thread with Dr Tim Hovanec <"Dr Timothy Hovanec's comments about Bacterial supplements"> that may be of interest.

Things have really moved on interns of understanding since I last kept a planted aquarium, and this is really interesting and useful content. I've been using API Quick Start with each water change - no idea if this has helped as I don't have a reference point to compare against had I just let nature do its thing!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Things have really moved on interns of understanding since I last kept a planted aquarium.

That is it. The ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB), that require high ammonia loadings and carbonate hardness and that were thought to cycle the aquarium, don't occur in aquarium filters.

..........- no idea if this has helped as I don't have a reference point to compare against had I just let nature do its thing!

It won't do any harm, if you look at our thread with Dr Ryan Newton it is pretty much a summary of what we now know.

Cheers Darrel