NA Island Journal

[danmullan]

Very nice Dan, I liked scape 2 personally, that had a lot of potential. However they re ll good.

Just be aware of the movement you're gonna get from the wood when you fill it, do you have any stone to keep it in position?

Cheers mate, the scape I've chosen is still my favourite, thankfully. I was worried I'd look back on these pictures and wish I'd stuck with another layout. I'm really glad I made the right choice.

Also I soaked the wood in a bucket of water for quite a long time, I've made this mistake before with a tank that began as an emersed project. I'd used redmoor wood and forgot to soak before the final fill, tank was half full and the wood floated to the top, releasing loads of gunk from the substrate into the water and uprooting the plants. 😡 No floaters this time though

Funny how we all like different scapes. I liked #3 😉 Its gonna be cracking either way

Everyone has their own tastes, I try to imagine each layout with plants and make a decision based on that. It was a fun process but almost didn't want to make a final decision.

Cheers

Dan

 

[danmullan]

Time for an update 😀

When I'd come up with the final layout, next was to make sure I had all the bits of kit I needed and get my plants. I had to wait a while for Tankscape to get more stock of the UP inline atomizer for my co2, which gave me a chance to sort other things like filling my co2 canisters. Once I had everything all I needed was my plants, and a free day to plant and fill the tank.

I ordered my plants from a few different websites as some had stock when others didn't. I ordered a mixture of Tropica potted plants and the 1-2 Grow range. Here's the plants list:

Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis - carpet/foreground at the sides
Hemianthus Callitrichoides (HC) - carpet/foreground in the centre
Amannia sp. Bonsai - foreground/midground between bits of hardscape
Pogostemon Erectus - midground between bits of hardscape
Lilaeopsis Mauritiana - background sides
Microsorum Pteropus 'narrow' - tied to the large bit of wood on the right
Rotala sp. Green - background behind the bits of wood at the back
Vesicularia Dubyana (christmas moss) tied to wood in the foreground


1-2 Grow! by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

I bought 3 pots of 1-2 Grow L.Brasiliensis and 4 normal pots to see if there is any difference in growth/quality under the same conditions.

The 3 pots of Pogostemon were in pretty bad condition due to bad handling in transit.

There seemed to be a lot of moss in the 1-2 Grow pots compared to the normal portions from Tropica. Both of these were about 6x6cm, almost a full pot on each and are quite thick, didn't have to stretch them out at all really.


Xmas moss - left by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr


Xmas moss - right by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

It seems that the quality of the 1-2 Grow pots can vary depending on age of the plant and the conditions it's kept in. I would use them again as it seems there is quite a lot of plant matter for the money, but I would prefer to buy them in a store to see them first if I bought any again.

Anyway, the planting went well. I filled the tank until the substrate was saturated with water and then began to plant. The hardest thing to plant was the 1-2 Grow L.Brasiliensis due to it's small size and I probably had too much water in the tank by this point due to misting the plants to stop them from drying out. Another thing I'd change is the substrate, I now see how it would be much easier to plant in the Powder form of the ADA substrate so I'd maybe use a bag or two of this on top.


Hardscape + Fern in by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr


HC + Moss in by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

Finally:


Filled by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

And then the next day, it looked like this:


Clear 1 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

And from the front:


Clear Front by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

Thanks for looking

Dan

 

[Ian Holdich]

Looks great dan and will look even better when grown in...you gonna get some sexy glassware?

 

[danmullan]

Looks great dan and will look even better when grown in...you gonna get some sexy glassware?

Cheers mate. The growth so far has been good. HC has grown well and the Rotala has taken off as it usually does. The Amannia Bonsai is my favourite so far though.

Not too fussed about glassware at the moment. I'm sure I will be soon. I'm quite fond of the Eheim tubing,I'm sure I'll learn to hate the green.

 

[Ady34]

Wow, i love this.
This has the potential to be really really good. I hope the plants continue to thrive as im looking forward to seeing this one matured
The microsorum sp narrow has the potential to overpower the scape, but with regular pruning will offer the right balance.
The moss stumps/branches in the left and right foreground are a great addition and will contrast nicely with the hc carpet and L. Brasiliensis.
Great journal Dan, keep up with the updates 🙂
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Ian Holdich]

Ps dan, don't be worried about that lime green moss...in the 1-2 grow ime it always comes back really green over the corse of a few weeks.

 

[danmullan]

Wow, i love this.
This has the potential to be really really good. I hope the plants continue to thrive as im looking forward to seeing this one matured
The microsorum sp narrow has the potential to overpower the scape, but with regular pruning will offer the right balance.
The moss stumps/branches in the left and right foreground are a great addition and will contrast nicely with the hc carpet and L. Brasiliensis.
Great journal Dan, keep up with the updates 🙂

Thanks mate

I hoped the narrow leaf Microsorum would be a bit smaller, I used the smallest part of the plant. When it's grown some new, smaller leaves in a few months I may take it out and cut it down, and just re-attach the section with smaller, new leaves.

I'm hoping to be able to keep the L.Brasiliensis carpet fairly low so the moss stands out. It's started to spread but the most notable growth has been the HC, A.Bonsai and Rotala. I've done well with green Rotala before, with high light and lots of co2 it can be a bit of a weed, but I just love the leaf shape.

The Pogostemon has had to grow all new leaves due to the poor condition of the plant, looks okay now though and the retailer has sent me a new batch so I'll plant these at the weekend.

Ps dan, don't be worried about that lime green moss...in the 1-2 grow ime it always comes back really green over the corse of a few weeks.

Yeah it's funny that. I hadn't really noticed until the water had cleared the next day but after a few days with loads of co2 it returned to the darker green it should be.

I'll hopefully have time for an update tonight.

Cheers,
Dan

 

[tim]

Very nice setup will look superb grown in mate keep the pics coming

 

[danmullan]

Hi all,

today is day 10 for this tank 😀 ... Here's an update from the end of week one.

So planting was successful and the tank didn't explode. Fortunately, unlike with some of my other planted tanks, I didn't come home to find all my HC had floated out of the substrate. Not a single plant, which was nice.

Here's a better view of the substrate so you can see the plants a bit better.


Plants Layout - Day 5 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

I spent the first few days trying to get the amount of co2 right. As the tank was only filled and finished by the 3rd of December, there is no livestock. So I was not worried when I came home from work to what I thought was unclear water, but actually turned out to be a huge cloud of co2 mist. The drop checkers were a very light green even yellow colour. I adjusted this over the next couple of days, closing the needle valve slightly and also adjusting the working pressure on my reg until I felt I was injecting the right amount of co2.

Here are my timings:

-co2 comes on at 14:00.
-Lights come on at 16:00, and slowly ramp up to 100% over 2.5 hours.
-Lights are at 100% output for 1.5 hours.
-Lights ramp down to 0% over 2.5 hours.
-co2 off at 21:00
-Lights off at 22:00

I've set it to start late in the day so the lights are on when I'm home from work. I haven't felt the need to change the timings since I filled the tank, this seems to work and I've focused more on getting co2 right.

These pictures from day 5 (after water change) show the mist before I lowered the working pressure.


HC - Day 5 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr


Green Rotala - Day 5 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

The flow from the filter is excellent, I can see the flow of the water carrying co2 to all parts of the tank so this is one major factor that I haven't had to worry about so far. Also I think the flow/co2 distribution is helped by the way the substrate is banked up towards the back.

The UP inline atomizer seems great as well.It's amazing how small the co2 bubbles are compared to the glass diffusers I used to have.It's working well with my working pressure set to 2.2-2.4 bar.

The first 5 days showed some quite good growth, not in term of size/height but mainly in the health of the plants. Gaining colour and growing new leaves. Even though I didn't use any ferts for the first 5 days the plants would all be pearling like mad by the middle of the photoperiod.

I also did my first water change on day 5 (sat 8th)


Day 5 - W/C by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

I removed about 1/3rd of the water, cleaned the glass and filled back up with tap water and de-chlorinated. The tiles are easy to move up and down the cables to allow room for maintenance whilst lighting the tank so I can see what I'm doing. The wires are held behind the lighting arm with adjustable metal brackets.

I also started dosing dry ferts after the w/c which I'll go into in my next update.

My favourite plant so far,


Amannia sp. 'Bonsai' - Day 5 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

The quality of Tropica plants from TGM.


H. Callitrichoides - Day 5 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

Thanks for looking Comments welcomed as always.
Dan

 

[Ady34]

Looks great Dan, and the spread from the hc is noticable. It seems to be going horizontal too which is a bonus!
As you said the moss has darkened nicely and everything is looking tickety boo
A. sp. bonsai is a lovely plant....another i cant grow
One question though.....why red cotton? 🙂
Cheerio,
Ady,

 

[hydrophyte]

Nice start!

 

[danmullan]

Looks great Dan, and the spread from the hc is noticable. It seems to be going horizontal too which is a bonus!
As you said the moss has darkened nicely and everything is looking tickety boo
A. sp. bonsai is a lovely plant....another i cant grow
One question though.....why red cotton? 🙂

The HC is sending out runners all over the place, each clump has almost doubled in size, on 2 weeks old. So I'm really happy so far.

As for the red cotton, I thought it was brown. Colourblind moment, reds and browns look quite similar to me. Thought it was quite funny actually when the girlfriend pointed it out. Oh well. Hopefully it will be covered with moss soon.

Nice start!

Thanks mate

 

[jojouk]

Looking good 🙂

 

[danmullan]

Hi all,

Just a quick update for now, I'll be taking some more shots today.

These shots are from the end of week 1.

The Rotala is doing well, definitely the fastest grower in the tank as expected. The stems were around 5cm tall when planted.


Rotala - Day 7 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

The A.Bonsai is doing well too, it seems to be growing new leaves closely together but not gaining much height. Lucky for me, more leaves, less trimming.


Amannia sp. Bonsai - Day 7 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

HC seems fine so far, spreading quite quickly and still a nice green.


HC - Day 7 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

The P.Erectus that I'd mentioned before, not doing great so far due to the condition of the plant when put in. However it seems to be recovering slowly and not melting. The L.Brasiliensis is growing well, again, not particularly fast but seems healthy.


L.Brasiliensis - Day 7 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

More later.

Cheers

 

[Arana]

Looking great, i'm sure it's going to be a stunner once it's grown in

 

[danmullan]

Looking great, i'm sure it's going to be a stunner once it's grown in

Thanks mate, I really hope so.

I really want to get this journal up to date, it's just finding the time to do it I'll be doing another update tomorrow night though.

Cheers

Dan

 

[danmullan]

Here's a couple of cool shots taken on day 10.


HC creeping - Day 10 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr


Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis runner - Day 10 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

Both my carpet plants seem to be growing nicely, the spread from the HC is much more noticable though.
A couple of full tank shots. Note the amount of evaporation, this was taken just before a w/c so a weeks worth of water lost to evap. Also notice the film I now have on the surface, I put this down to plant decay. Leaves unsightly water lines on the glass after water has evaporated. Still happy over all though


FTS angle - Day 10 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr


FTS - Day 10 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

More later,

Cheers

 

[Mark Evans]

This looks fabulous, and in time, will look top notch.

You're still in the honey moon period for a new tank. That time when everything grows rampantly in the first week or so.

Just be aware of when diatoms start. I'd think about getting ottos and shrimp in the setup now. Nothing else.

I know LED's don't throw out light like a MH does, but you could still reduce light intensity for the first month. You don't need 100% of the light just yet.

Keep up the great work, and you'll have a good competition entry.

 

[danmullan]

Lots of posts this weekend. Trying to get the journal up to date.

I began dosing dry ferts at the end of week 1. Using ei method. Here's my dosing regime.

SAT- about 40-50% water change, then 1/4 tsp of KNO3, and 3/32 tsp of KH2PO4
SUN- 3/32 tsp TNC trace
MON- 1/4 tsp of KNO3, and 3/32 tsp of KH2PO4
TUE- 3/32 tsp TNC trace
WED- 1/4 tsp of KNO3, and 3/32 tsp of KH2PO4
THU- Rest
FRI- Rest.

My area has quite hard water so no need for GH boosting chemicals. Plants pearl like mad on Saturday and Sunday probably due to bonus elements in my tap water, which suggests that I could be dosing more during the week to get better growth? I was a bit nervous about dosing dry ferts but after reading the articles on here I feel comfortable doing it. Using the search function in the fertilising section was really helpful too. The search feature is really useful.

Anyway, here's a shot of how the HC was after the 2nd week.


HC growth - Week 2 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr


***And finally, some shots that were only taken yesterday.***


The Rotala needed a trim, the stems were only about an inch from the surface. I just trim between leaf nodes and replant. Hopefully in a couple of months it'll be thick enough to get some nice shaping going on.


Rotala sp. Green - Day 19 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

A nice view from the side. Shame the lighting arm and wires get in the way.


Right side - Day 19 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

My hill of HC.


HC - Day 19 by Dan.Mullan, on Flickr

Pretty much up to date now. Comments and critiques always welcomed Thanks for looking.

 

[danmullan]

This looks fabulous, and in time, will look top notch.

You're still in the honey moon period for a new tank. That time when everything grows rampantly in the first week or so.

Just be aware of when diatoms start. I'd think about getting ottos and shrimp in the setup now. Nothing else.

I know LED's don't throw out light like a MH does, but you could still reduce light intensity for the first month. You don't need 100% of the light just yet.

Keep up the great work, and you'll have a good competition entry.

Thanks Mark, the growth rates have definitely slowed for certain plants, but picked up for others.

I'll be adding some live stock at the weekend, just a clean up crew of ottos and shrimp for now.

No sign of diatoms yet, but I have noticed a bit of hair algae, on the hardscape towards the front, and amongst the HC. I've assumed that this is due to a high level of organic matter in the water, such as plants decaying. This is probably the cause of the bio film on the water surface. I'll post some pics.