Bobbynogz
Seedling
Hi all,
Just registered as I'm nervous, I feel like a new parent!
I've finally (after several months of collecting the bits required in stages) planted my iwagumi-ish tank. I bought 30 pots of hairgrass, some vallis for the back, and a few other bits and pieces for variety. I just need to affirmation from more knowledgeable people that what I've done is right, and that my set up isn't going to kill every living thing in my tank!
So, starting off with the substrate. I've got a generous base layer of Tetra Plant Complete Substrate, and above that a thinner layer of CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand.
The planting; I carefully removed the rock wool with tweezers, trying to avoid as much damage to the roots as possible. I then inserted each clump of grass into the substrate as I've seen many videos of, after moistening the substrate on a hose mist setting. Then I filled up the tank to 30%, and ensured that nothing had come loose. All good; only a couple of clumps of hairgrass unrooted. Seemed like a result! Was the preparation done right? At first, there was a tonne of pearling from the plants, this now seems to have faded out. The tips of the hairgrass and some leaves here and there are turning a yellow/brown colour, which from my research is a normal thing as they are adjusting to submerged growth etc.
Moving onto the actual maintenance and assisting the plants. This is where my worry lies. I have a Tetra Ex1200 external filters, that also has a Hydor 300W heater. Alongside this, I have CO2 fire extinguisher and solenoid regulator etc going into an inline diffuser just before the heater.
Everything seems to be working. I've got a fairly high bubble count, and it looks as though bubbles (it looks like sediment they're that fine) are coming out of the outlet pipe in the tank. (See the video below).
However, the drop checker I installed is still blue. Absolutely no change. It's a ready mixed solution done by Aqua Essentials so it should be fine. I've highlighted all of the different components in a video above. It's only a minute long so I'd appreciate it if you'd mind having a gander and seeing if I'm doing anything fatally wrong, and that what I'm seeing coming from the outlet pipe actually is CO2 and not just sediment being blown around.
Lastly, I'm dosing 20ml of Neutro+ fertiliser, and have two 45W Day & Tropical Juwel lights. This equates to 1.892 wpg.
I sincerely appreciate any help!
Just registered as I'm nervous, I feel like a new parent!
I've finally (after several months of collecting the bits required in stages) planted my iwagumi-ish tank. I bought 30 pots of hairgrass, some vallis for the back, and a few other bits and pieces for variety. I just need to affirmation from more knowledgeable people that what I've done is right, and that my set up isn't going to kill every living thing in my tank!
So, starting off with the substrate. I've got a generous base layer of Tetra Plant Complete Substrate, and above that a thinner layer of CaribSea Tahitian Moon Sand.
The planting; I carefully removed the rock wool with tweezers, trying to avoid as much damage to the roots as possible. I then inserted each clump of grass into the substrate as I've seen many videos of, after moistening the substrate on a hose mist setting. Then I filled up the tank to 30%, and ensured that nothing had come loose. All good; only a couple of clumps of hairgrass unrooted. Seemed like a result! Was the preparation done right? At first, there was a tonne of pearling from the plants, this now seems to have faded out. The tips of the hairgrass and some leaves here and there are turning a yellow/brown colour, which from my research is a normal thing as they are adjusting to submerged growth etc.
Moving onto the actual maintenance and assisting the plants. This is where my worry lies. I have a Tetra Ex1200 external filters, that also has a Hydor 300W heater. Alongside this, I have CO2 fire extinguisher and solenoid regulator etc going into an inline diffuser just before the heater.
Everything seems to be working. I've got a fairly high bubble count, and it looks as though bubbles (it looks like sediment they're that fine) are coming out of the outlet pipe in the tank. (See the video below).
However, the drop checker I installed is still blue. Absolutely no change. It's a ready mixed solution done by Aqua Essentials so it should be fine. I've highlighted all of the different components in a video above. It's only a minute long so I'd appreciate it if you'd mind having a gander and seeing if I'm doing anything fatally wrong, and that what I'm seeing coming from the outlet pipe actually is CO2 and not just sediment being blown around.
Lastly, I'm dosing 20ml of Neutro+ fertiliser, and have two 45W Day & Tropical Juwel lights. This equates to 1.892 wpg.
I sincerely appreciate any help!