_Maq_
Member
Including surplus of sodium?
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My first adventure into aquascaping - Aquael 125L Walstad
- Thread starter Katharine
- Start date
_Maq_
Member
I've experimented with citrates years ago and, in the end, I would not recommend it. Citrates are an organic compound, a delicacy for bacteria. We don't want them in the water column = bloom. Epsom salt, i.e. magnesium sulfate is your way to go.
Yes, likely mg/L.
Thank you!
I am really curious/surprised there is sodium in the water - where does it come from?!Including surplus of sodium?
Hi all,
London is in a basin filled with sediment, but <"the chalk underlies the whole basin">.
The other source of sodium (Na) in surface waters is from road salting <"De-Icing & the Environment - The Salt Association"> and that is a significant input in some urban areas and along trunk roads.
Cheers Darrel
It might be from seawater ingress into the aquifer <"The Chalk aquifer of the South Downs | British Geological Survey (BGS)">, but it is probably just derived from the chalk aquifer. Limestones (like chalk) are marine deposits and typically water contained within them is much "saltier" than water from other sources <"Variation in Tap Water Mineral Content in the United Kingdom: Is It Relevant for Kidney Stone Disease?">.Including surplus of sodium?
London is in a basin filled with sediment, but <"the chalk underlies the whole basin">.
The other source of sodium (Na) in surface waters is from road salting <"De-Icing & the Environment - The Salt Association"> and that is a significant input in some urban areas and along trunk roads.
Cheers Darrel
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aec34
Member
This is what I do in my ‘big’ (60l) tank; substrate is tropica soil, and I have hard-ish SW UK Tap water. My weekly regime is TNC complete topped up with a pinch of iron + teaspoon and a half of Epsom salts (I got mine very cheap off eBay). I shake up the dry salts in a little bottle with some tank water, then add that.
I will order some epsom salts and add them to my routine.
Yesterday was an exciting day - I made a trip to the LFS and asked for 6 celestial pearl danios and 6 red cherry shrimp - but I got 9 CPDs and 7 cherry shrimp! The reasoning with the CPDs was some of them are very small (they look emaciated).
I am quite worried about the smaller CPDs so I've devised a strategy to feed them up - crush the (already very tiny) food, mix it with water, and distribute it with a pipette with the filter off. I'll do this the 3 times a day for at least the next week. Other suggestions welcome.
The CPDs already seem much more confident this morning in a larger group (there are 15 of them now) which is great to see.
I did a very slow (~8 hours) acclimation of the shrimp, they seemed as little lethargic but all 7swum out of the jug and into the tank independently. Not seen many this morning - hopefully they're all okay and enjoy being part of a larger group (there are now 11).
Yesterday was an exciting day - I made a trip to the LFS and asked for 6 celestial pearl danios and 6 red cherry shrimp - but I got 9 CPDs and 7 cherry shrimp! The reasoning with the CPDs was some of them are very small (they look emaciated).
I am quite worried about the smaller CPDs so I've devised a strategy to feed them up - crush the (already very tiny) food, mix it with water, and distribute it with a pipette with the filter off. I'll do this the 3 times a day for at least the next week. Other suggestions welcome.
The CPDs already seem much more confident this morning in a larger group (there are 15 of them now) which is great to see.
I did a very slow (~8 hours) acclimation of the shrimp, they seemed as little lethargic but all 7swum out of the jug and into the tank independently. Not seen many this morning - hopefully they're all okay and enjoy being part of a larger group (there are now 11).
_Maq_
Member
Any news?
Things have been busy so I've not started adding magnesium yet, but the frogbit is growing well! (I took all the bigger pieces out today).
My lovely CPDs are all getting bigger, even the tiny ones. One of them hangs out a lot at the front even when the others are hiding - it might not be right in the head but it's very cute and has been eating okay. There were no obvious shrimp losses this time, but I hardly see more than a few at once. The ottos are all happy too, they've been enjoying the soilent green. 👍
I really love how the lotus leaves look on the water's surface.
I've got a bit of a black algae issue developing on the wood.
Photos:
My lovely CPDs are all getting bigger, even the tiny ones. One of them hangs out a lot at the front even when the others are hiding - it might not be right in the head but it's very cute and has been eating okay. There were no obvious shrimp losses this time, but I hardly see more than a few at once. The ottos are all happy too, they've been enjoying the soilent green. 👍
I really love how the lotus leaves look on the water's surface.
I've got a bit of a black algae issue developing on the wood.
Photos:
_Maq_
Member
It seems things are going in the right direction. I like the tank.
Thank you! ❤️
Any thoughts on the black fuzzy stuff? I'm starting to think it's a fungus rather than algae but I'm not sure. The ottos don't seem to be eating it but I'm hopeful the snails might if they can find it.
Indeed it looks like Bacteria/fungal growth....remove it with an old toothbrush and syphon it out of the aquarium!
Hi all,
The tank is looking great, I've just <"admired your Frogbit">.
cheers Darrel
The tank is looking great, I've just <"admired your Frogbit">.
Agreed it looks like it may be fungal and I'd follow @GHNelson's advice. It should eventually go away.
cheers Darrel
Happy New Year!
Lots of updates from the last month:
Plants
I got a bunch of plant cuttings from a kind redditor (full list to follow) so I took the opportunity to remove the large clump of water sprite on the right. The floating plants really took off (there is now salvinia in addition to the red root floaters and frogbit), I removed a whole tupperware worth yesterday. I've been finding bits of duckweed too, an unintentional introduction.
Nutrients
I decided to stop adding any nutrients for the last month or so (i.e. stopped adding iron). The plants are still green so I definitely don't have the iron issues I did before, but maybe could be a darker shade. I've got some epsom salts now ready to experiment with.
Algae
The fluffy black algae/fungus is largely gone, but I'm struggling with hair algae.
Water
I'm at my target water hardness now as of a big water change yesterday! Edit: that's 10 dGH and 8 dKH.
The water is not as clear as I'd like - it has a slight green/brown tinge and since the water change is looking a little cloudy.
Fish & automatic feeding
I was worried about my CPDs as I was away over Christmas, so I setup the Fishmate F14 automatic feeder. It worked but there was a lot of condensation - I'm going to try it with an air pump next time. I don't know to what extent the fish ate the food (they usually eat from the water column).
So far as I can tell, all fish and other creatures survived my being away!
Since cutting back the plants yesterday the CPDs are much more active - the females are getting chased a lot, with up to 5 males chasing them at any one time.
Shrimp
They seem to be doing well - in fact I just saw one molt! Only issue is two got trapped in the filter at one point, so I've ordered the aquael pat mini.
Lots of updates from the last month:
Plants
I got a bunch of plant cuttings from a kind redditor (full list to follow) so I took the opportunity to remove the large clump of water sprite on the right. The floating plants really took off (there is now salvinia in addition to the red root floaters and frogbit), I removed a whole tupperware worth yesterday. I've been finding bits of duckweed too, an unintentional introduction.
Nutrients
I decided to stop adding any nutrients for the last month or so (i.e. stopped adding iron). The plants are still green so I definitely don't have the iron issues I did before, but maybe could be a darker shade. I've got some epsom salts now ready to experiment with.
Algae
The fluffy black algae/fungus is largely gone, but I'm struggling with hair algae.
Water
I'm at my target water hardness now as of a big water change yesterday! Edit: that's 10 dGH and 8 dKH.
The water is not as clear as I'd like - it has a slight green/brown tinge and since the water change is looking a little cloudy.
Fish & automatic feeding
I was worried about my CPDs as I was away over Christmas, so I setup the Fishmate F14 automatic feeder. It worked but there was a lot of condensation - I'm going to try it with an air pump next time. I don't know to what extent the fish ate the food (they usually eat from the water column).
So far as I can tell, all fish and other creatures survived my being away!
Since cutting back the plants yesterday the CPDs are much more active - the females are getting chased a lot, with up to 5 males chasing them at any one time.
Shrimp
They seem to be doing well - in fact I just saw one molt! Only issue is two got trapped in the filter at one point, so I've ordered the aquael pat mini.
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I'm not super happy with how the tank has been looking - it's been quite dark and "beige", and the hair algae is unsightly. This weekend I've tried a few things.
Here is before:
Here is without floating plants:
Here is the next day after a 25% water change, trimming back the stem plants heavily & adding back some floating plants:
You might be able to tell the water is hazier than yesterday - I'm hoping it's a bacterial bloom caused by the water change and it will clear up in the next few days.
Here's what the water from the water change looked like, you can see the slight greenness:
I'm sure part of the issue is tannins, as I've not changed much water in the last month, so I'm planning to do another 25% water change next week.
Next step is to clean the glass with a razor (my partner has kindly agreed to do that).
Any suggestions on how to make the water clearer, plants more vibrant & fight the hair algae are welcome!
Here is before:
Here is without floating plants:
Here is the next day after a 25% water change, trimming back the stem plants heavily & adding back some floating plants:
You might be able to tell the water is hazier than yesterday - I'm hoping it's a bacterial bloom caused by the water change and it will clear up in the next few days.
Here's what the water from the water change looked like, you can see the slight greenness:
I'm sure part of the issue is tannins, as I've not changed much water in the last month, so I'm planning to do another 25% water change next week.
Next step is to clean the glass with a razor (my partner has kindly agreed to do that).
Any suggestions on how to make the water clearer, plants more vibrant & fight the hair algae are welcome!
It’s no easy feat growing plants low-energy. I think it looks natural and very nice. Well done 👍
Thanks.
It does look better now the glass is clean as well.Exciting news this weekend!
Firstly - I got another 6 otos to keep the others company, taking the total up to 12, as well as 6 pygmy corys. The pygmy corys are tiny right now, and I think they've been making the other inhabitants braver as they're pretty much always swimming about!
I'm feeding them bacter ae, soilent green & mulberry leaves, I also have algae wafers but haven't noticed them eating them.
Secondly - I've noticed a few tiny fry. They are way too small for my phone photography skills but I think they must be CPD fry. I'm aware they're probably not going to make it - the ones I've noticed are in open water, so very vulnerable to getting eaten, and I have nothing to feed them, but it's still so exciting!
Any tips for giving the fry the best chance at success (either these guys or future fry)? Would some moss help?
Less exciting news is the pest snails have also been breeding a lot - I've squashed a few clutches of eggs but those are only the ones I can see. :/
Firstly - I got another 6 otos to keep the others company, taking the total up to 12, as well as 6 pygmy corys. The pygmy corys are tiny right now, and I think they've been making the other inhabitants braver as they're pretty much always swimming about!
I'm feeding them bacter ae, soilent green & mulberry leaves, I also have algae wafers but haven't noticed them eating them.
Secondly - I've noticed a few tiny fry. They are way too small for my phone photography skills but I think they must be CPD fry. I'm aware they're probably not going to make it - the ones I've noticed are in open water, so very vulnerable to getting eaten, and I have nothing to feed them, but it's still so exciting!
Any tips for giving the fry the best chance at success (either these guys or future fry)? Would some moss help?
Less exciting news is the pest snails have also been breeding a lot - I've squashed a few clutches of eggs but those are only the ones I can see. :/