Re-education.....

[Guest]

Daily 50% water changes were successfully completed for week one and now in week two, every other day is the routine

That's serious dedication for a tank that size, and all early morning as well.

am going to increase duration half an hour each day for the rest of the week to give a total 8hr photoperiod but keep intensity the same. I will monitor this and if all is well increase intensity slowly mid next week

What intensity did you start with, and what are your Twinstars at now Ady?

 

[Kalum]

Plants are going through an adapting phase (or upset phase ) with old h. Pinitifida leaves shedding, new growth seemingly muted and bucephalandra not ‘shining’, something is not to their liking but I’m hoping that is fert related. If nothing improves I will add a third Fluval G6 to increase distribution, but currently there is gentle circulation all over with visible misting throughout.

The current photoperiod is from 5-11pm including 1hr sunrise and 1hr sunset periods with a 1hr higher intensity period mid photoperiod. The higher intensity is only 25% whilst the rest is @20% except the hr ramp up/down periods. I am going to increase duration half an hour each day for the rest of the week to give a total 8hr photoperiod but keep intensity the same. I will monitor this and if all is well increase intensity slowly mid next week. Intensity will always remain relatively low on this tank as I prefer a slow and steady growth rate

All wood mould and diatoms are gone, glass remains pretty clean with a slight biofilm which I remove once a week.

Temperature is around 75f.
Ady.

Looks like it'a all settling in nicely Ady

I'm having a similar experience with the h. pinnatifida shedding leaves and very little growth with pretty much the same lighting levels, my buces have settled really well and are looking great, a couple of leaves that were curled from the beginning are starting to unfold as well. I am dosing EI so hopefully that will be the difference for yours. Weirdly my crypt beckettii is having the worst time out of all and suffering melt even though it has been thriving in my low tech for months, go figure

 

[Ady34]

That's serious dedication for a tank that size, and all early morning as well.

What intensity did you start with, and what are your Twinstars at now Ady?

Ah it’s not too bad, I just siphon straight to the drain I had put in next to the tank and refill direct from the thermostatic mixer valve I had plumbed in below the tank

Started at 20% lighting intensity , still the same but with an hour at 25% mid photoperiod

Looks like it'a all settling in nicely Ady

I'm having a similar experience with the h. pinnatifida shedding leaves and very little growth with pretty much the same lighting levels, my buces have settled really well and are looking great, a couple of leaves that were curled from the beginning are starting to unfold as well. I am dosing EI so hopefully that will be the difference for yours. Weirdly my crypt beckettii is having the worst time out of all and suffering melt even though it has been thriving in my low tech for months, go figure

Crypts can be fickle, pleased your buces have settled well, fingers crossed mine do too. The fertilisers have arrived today, excellent service from APFUK. I won’t use the ei ferts until the tropica has ran out. I have increased my dosage so it won’t take long

Cheerio

 

[Guest]

Ah it’s not too bad, I just siphon straight to the drain I had put in next to the tank and refill direct from the thermostatic mixer valve I had plumbed in below the tank

Good idea, next new house I move in to I'll have to give that some serious consideration

Started at 20% lighting intensity , still the same but with an hour at 25% mid photoperiod

That's a lot lower than I'd thought it'd be, but makes perfect sense given your plants and biomass.

 

[Ady34]

Good idea, next new house I move in to I'll have to give that some serious consideration

Full automation would be even better but not really suited to minimalist open top systems.

That's a lot lower than I'd thought it'd be, but makes perfect sense given your plants and biomass.

Yeah, terrified of nuking the plants really
But yes, relitively little plant mass and slow growers it’s definitely better safe than sorry and low light has worked for me in the past with similar plants. It still ‘looks’ bright to my eyes anyway. I bet I don’t get past 50% intensity at all.

 

[DutchMuch]

Ady your making me change my iwagumi idea into a island scape stop 🙁






Jokes aside with every image you post it looks even more stunning than the last.

 

[Jayefc1]

My buces melted away to start with hardly any of the original leaves left but are now starting to bounce back slowly

 

[Jayefc1]

Time is not good when you have no patience lol

 

[Ady34]

Ady your making me change my iwagumi idea into a island scape stop 🙁






Jokes aside with every image you post it looks even more stunning than the last.

Ha, everyone loves the island life and thank you 🙂

My buces melted away to start with hardly any of the original leaves left but are now starting to bounce back slowly

Good to hear they are bouncing back

I siphoned the dirt I talked about earlier from around hardscape and ‘wafted’ the plants. Your mindset is much better after a little effort 😀

Few snaps from tonight:





A lonely shrimp......



Juvenile bristlenose.....



Bucephalandra flower:



Siamensis and shrimp:



Cheerio,

 

[DutchMuch]

sorry if i missed it (most likely) what type of wood did you use?

 

[Ady34]

sorry if i missed it (most likely) what type of wood did you use?

Talawa wood

 

[Jayefc1]

 

[Jayefc1]

Sweet knowles Aquatics not sure where you are ady but I saw these wild gold tetra and thought of you have a look on line bro some.amazing.fish

 

[Ady34]

Sweet knowles Aquatics not sure where you are ady but I saw these wild gold tetra and thought of you have a look on line bro some.amazing.fish

Thanks Jayefc1, seems I can get the number I’d want delivered for £20 which would make them about £80 in total for 24 fish, however at this time of year I’m slightly reluctant. I may hold on for a while and see if anything comes up closer to home.
Again thanks for thinking of me though
Cheerio
Ady

 

[Jayefc1]

Yeah they was not cheap but the colour was so nice pic don't really do them justice

 

[Ady34]

Well, I now have fish with white spot, melting anubias, thriving anubias, leafless failing pinnatifida, growing fissidens, a chihiros doctor and berried cherry shrimp so a mix of emotions really 🙁😡😕😱🙂😀

On the positive side the fish seem to be recovering, I will medicate them if there is any regression.
The anubias melt is new to me however I’ve heard of it. That and the failing pinnatifida suggest co2, but that isn’t getting increased any more, distribution to the effected plants seems good to me. My lighting has been increased gradually to a 7hr photoperiod with most of it at 25% intensity and a burst mid period of 30% for 2.5hrs. This will be increased to 8hrs and a little more intensity next week. Perhaps the slight increase in intensity has upset the anubias however I would say that lighting is still very low.
Fertilising exclusively with tropica specialised now at suggested dose, split into daily volumes. I will increase once I see growth in earnest. Then switch to ei mix when i have ran out.
The fissidens in particular appears to have responded positively to the extra light/fertiliser and is now showing bright green new growth, as too are some of the anubias.
Bucephelandra seem to be a bit hit and miss with some species doing much better than others in particular the ‘theia’ variety which seems solid.
I’m happy to see several berried shrimp so hopefully their numbers will increase and help keep the moss clean. I noticed that they made a huge difference when added in numbers to my NAtural Jurassic tank.
Really like the chihiros unit, I think the oxygenating benefits are priceless. It may well be just me but I’m also convinced that within the few days of use the Seiryu stone looks ‘brighter’, generally looks a healthier tank.....we will see over the coming weeks.
Last week was every third day water changes, down to one a week next week however I may do two a week.
Still undecided on the extra filter, although I could do with extra circulation in some areas where detritus settles and annoys me. Heavy hardscape upsetting flow patterns always has this potential.
The tank overall looks unchanged, still need to clean the glassware and I may have to replace a couple of anubias. Hopefully with extra light plants will be driven to grow and not fail as food will be readily available in co2 and fertiliser.

Cheerio,

 

[Guest]

It's always a bit of a mixed bag until things settle down, but still looking awesome Ady.
I reckon Twinstar/Chihiros keeps green algae at bay too, my rocks are spotless, that is aside from a bit of diatomaceous algae every now and then, but that brushes off with ease.

 

[Konsa]

Hi
As long as fish are concerned U can try some Levimisol medicated food.It is quite aquarium safe to use.It is considered to boost fish immune system and clears any intestinal worms as a added bonus .I used it as an addition when treating the puffers with esha Exit and it really made a difference. I get this as bird wormer Harka verm from ebay and use it when getting in fish from Asian imports or as a preventative measure every few months for my puffer fish as I feed all sort of live foods exclusively.
It can be used as a bath too.
Original discussion here
https://www.loaches.com/Members/shari2/levamisole-hydrochloride-1
Regards Konsa

 

[Daveslaney]

Looks good Ady.
I would think the probs you describe are just minor probs as you tank starts to stabilise once it does all will become good.
I find Thiea and the red sp seems to do good out of all the Buces I've tried so far. Not happened In my current tank but in a previous tank i found the thiea sp would loose some leaves sometimes for no apparent reason. Never really found out why😵.

 

[Ady34]

It's always a bit of a mixed bag until things settle down, but still looking awesome Ady.
I reckon Twinstar/Chihiros keeps green algae at bay too, my rocks are spotless, that is aside from a bit of diatomaceous algae every now and then, but that brushes off with ease.

Yeah, I think a lot can be said for stability and maturity in a tank. I love it when it gets to that relaxed stage when things seem to rub along nicely with a set routine. I haven’t quite got the balance of something in this tank yet but will keep plugging away in the hope that it comes, it’s still early days but it’s just not quite right.

@Konsa, I’ll look into the levimisol and read that link when I have time, thanks for sharing it.

Looks good Ady.
I would think the probs you describe are just minor probs as you tank starts to stabilise once it does all will become good.
I find Thiea and the red sp seems to do good out of all the Buces I've tried so far. Not happened In my current tank but in a previous tank i found the thiea sp would loose some leaves sometimes for no apparent reason. Never really found out why😵.

Yeah, just I’ve not had anubias melt before, the h. Pinnatifida, well that’s just not being able to grow plants, but anubias have been bulletproof for me before so that concerns me a little. Time will tell I guess but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they all don’t go the same way.
The theia is lovely, Lamandau mini red is the one that doesn’t seem to be offering anything and looks in the worst condition. The rest are ticking along i guess.

Sad looking pinnatifida, slow stunted growth and leaves falling off, points to co2 but could be fert related also;



Cheerio,