something bigger, now a riparium w/ krib fry

[VarunA]

Looking forward to seeing how this comes along. good luck !

 

[DeadFish]

So, 18L of 27L of soil is now mineralizing in a bucket in my bathroom. My fiancé is thrilled about this. Waiting on another 9L of Netlea Professional to arrive from Aquarocks Co. So, all in I've got 18L of Netlea Pro. and 9L of Amazonia VII. No idea why I decided to mix them. Remaining soil should arrive this week, just need another 5g bucket.

Got the last leveling foot tapped and all in place. Applied the window frosting last night when trimming / WC on 45P. 45P is finally starting to come into shape, of course about the time the transfer will take place. Still getting some hair algae on the wood and slower growers. Not sure why, but it's not increasing in volume, always about the same amount at WC time. Oh well, I can live with it - plant health seems great, starting to get some better coloration since stopping APT 3 and only dosing K+ & Micros.

 

[VarunA]

So, 18L of 27L of soil is now mineralizing in a bucket in my bathroom. My fiancé is thrilled about this. Waiting on another 9L of Netlea Professional to arrive from Aquarocks Co. So, all in I've got 18L of Netlea Pro. and 9L of Amazonia VII. No idea why I decided to mix them. Remaining soil should arrive this week, just need another 5g bucket.

I know I am not in the majority, but in my 90p, I hardly have 3 to 5L of aqua soil (mixed fluval stratum and Amazonia II). I used a lot of pumice to give height and didn't end up even using 1 bag of aqua soil. Although, my application was different...I knew I wanted to only have hair grass and slow growing mosses/ferns/buce in my tank so I intentionally cut the amount of aqua soil used. I understand it also depends on the idea for your scape and the intended plants....but 18-27L should be more than sufficient?

 

[DeadFish]

I know I am not in the majority, but in my 90p, I hardly have 3 to 5L of aqua soil (mixed fluval stratum and Amazonia II). I used a lot of pumice to give height and didn't end up even using 1 bag of aqua soil. Although, my application was different...I knew I wanted to only have hair grass and slow growing mosses/ferns/buce in my tank so I intentionally cut the amount of aqua soil used. I understand it also depends on the idea for your scape and the intended plants....but 18-27L should be more than sufficient?

For sure - I bet I'll be able to get away with 18L when I bank some pumice. I ordered another bag just to have on hand in case. If I don't use it now I'll just keep it around for another setup or sell it locally. Original tank was 80x45x40, but new tank is 90x50x45 so I didn't want to be short and have to stop the process to wait for more soil. Not sure how it is in Canada, but outside of select locations it's impossible to find soil other than stratum so it gets snatched up pretty quickly on FB marketplace.

 

[DeadFish]

Things are starting to come together. Scape is more or less worked out - I think. Waiting on some more black lava. Picked up someADA La Plata sand. Got the Chihiros doser mounted, still need to calibrate it. Applied the window frosting, mounted some strip lights on the back. Soil is mineralizing in buckets. Going to leak test this week and then plant next weekend. Have to be in NYC this coming weekend, but should be coming along shortly. Growing out everything in the 45P and hoping to rid the little bits of thread algae prior to transfer, but not super worried. All about balance. Thinking about switching these two pieces of wood for a smoother flow from L —> R.

 

[VarunA]

Looking promising 😀

 

[DeadFish]

The day (or days) finally came and went, largely without any issue. Placed an order from Aquarium Plants Factory for a ton of plants. For anyone in the US, highly recommend them. Insulation is free, shipping is free over $100, everything showed up in great portions and excellent condition. Much better than the experiences I've had with Buce Plant. Friday night I got the light mounted and tank leveled - my floors are horribly uneven and this was a task, but it is now dead level. Got up nice and early Saturday and started the process while waiting for plants to arrive, but figured they'd arrive at the normal postal time. Nope, came on a different truck about 4 hours later than usual, so had to twiddle my thumbs for a bit and started sorting out the filter and pre-filter situation, got the scape together, etc. Somehow I managed not to take a single photos of the hardscape in the process. However, I thought the o-rings for the DC pump were missing from my order so I didn't assemble the SS filter. Just kind of got it plumbed and figured I'd grab some at the hardware store. Sent Tommy from AR Colorado a message and he got back to me Sunday morning - they were in the box all along, just a little hidden. Same goes for the pump holder, apparently that is somewhere in my possession as well, but I'll have to look around after work. DC pump is currently sitting on the floor of the stand, so I'm losing some flow due to increasing head pressure - BUT, I'm only running it at 50% anyway. Plants finally arrived at about 7 PM, so I went about planting the new plants and transferring some current plants. Took me about an hour to plant, and then I started to fill the tank up. This is where I ran into the biggest problem of the day. Throughout the entire day, it hadn't occurred to me that I should probably start making RO water. So, when I finished planting at about 8 PM, I had 20L of RO on my hands, and at about 4 AM, I finally had the tank filled after staring at it longingly over a few pints. Ended up throwing in 40L of tap to speed up the process, so KH is probably around 2 and not 0, but I need to check. No filter got hooked up as I was cooked. Based on my hazy memory, took about 135L to fill. Woke up Sunday and got the filter and CO2 rolling, set the light schedule, and realized I forgot to add the ADA sticks that come w/ Amazonia II now. Oh well, they'll make it in eventually. Currently running the Weekaqua Pandora P900 @ 40%, but will bump it in the coming weeks.

Still to do:

• Mount another power strip (doser, back light, something else I forget)
• Calibrate Doser
• Making K+ and Micro solutions
• Add Quick Discos to Inlet
• Mount Pump on top of filter (if I can find the pump holder..)
• Tweak CO2
• Add ADA sticks at WC

Plants: All other than those marked w/ an * were ordered from APF or obtained from a friend. * denotes plants already had on hand

• Fissidens Fontanus
• Riccardia
• Buce White Marble (probably should've waited on this one, but it was on sale for $8, so fingers crossed)
• Buce Godzilla
• Buce Kedagang *
• Buce Green Wavy *
• Buces - ordered a growers selection pack. Came w/ 6 different plants all w/ roots and a really nice sized rhizome for $30.
• Anubias Nana Bonsai
• Anubias Nana
• Anubias Nana Golden
• Staurogyne Repens
• Monte Carlo *
• Hygro. Pinnatifida
• Java Fern Petite
• Crypt Petchii
• Crypt Parva
• Crypt Pink Flamingo
• H. Tripartita *
• Eleocharis Parvula *
• R. Rotundifolia Red *
• R. Rotundifolia Green
• R. Ceylon
• R. Blood Red
• R. Wallichi
• R. Macrandra Mini Pink
• L. Verticillata White (Just wanted to try it out)
• L. Super Red
• L. Arcuata
• Tonina Fluviatilis

I think that's it..for now. Heading to a nice aquascaping shop since I'll be in Philadelphia on Saturday to get my fiance's ring resized. Maybe I'll find some more plants to supplement. Soil had been soaking for three weeks, so not worried about ammonia (esp w/ pH) and have a fully cycled filter. Probably will let it ride a couple weeks and then start to add some more fish once I'm positive things have settled in. Also will likely sell the 60cm and current RO system I have laying around to fund the purchase of a proper RO system (200gpd) from BRS. If I ever need to change more than 20 gallons at a time I am in for a mess waiting around. Promise to get some better photos once the water sufficiently clears up and things start to grow a little bit. Thanks for stopping by!

 

[DeadFish]

Aanndd for some photos - need to touch up the vines as some weren’t glued well enough apparently.

 

[DeadFish]

Chugging along nicely and seeing some decent growth. Apart from the usually suspected melting, not much trouble thus far. Saw some melt on the Pinnatifida, a couple buce and nana golden leaves. All else seems fine and is adjusting accordingly. Ludwigia white, which might not have a forever home in this tank is adjusting surprisingly well, along w/ the Buce white marble which I took a gamble on. Kind of assumed I’d lose it, but for $6 I couldn’t pass up adding it to my order when I qualified for free shipping. Had to calibrate my pH controller down a couple units to get CO2 dialed in for now. Mistakenly thought I had ordered two sets of quick disconnects, so I still have a set to attach to the outflow. Currently still running two canisters but will likely ditch the Oase 100 in the next couple months and throttle up the super jet. Currently only running it at 50% w/ pre-filter, heater, and diffuser in line. Need to mount the pump on the top of the filter now that I have the holder - missing from the original packaging and haven’t had the courage to deal w/ it since getting it in the mail. Thinking I’ll add the disconnects, mount the DC pump, and give the pre-filter a good clean and replace the poly fill tonight. Looking forward to adding CUC once things stabilize a bit more. Ammonia and nitrites are 0 but want to give it more time. Need to charge my batteries for my mirrorless camera so I can get some better photos once things fill in. Chihiros Doser has been set up, dosing Gluteraldehyde, Micros, and K+ at the moment. Definitely not as blurple as the photos, but as it sits now..

 

[DeadFish]

Slightly on the side, but I work in an aquaponics lab and teach aquaponics, so have access to equipment most do not. We regularly have college students doing internships and a couple resident plant biologists working with us. Amongst the equipment is a full scale tissue culture lab - I have been speaking with our biologists and they have agreed to allow me to start tissue culturing some plants that I bring in. I hope to document this process and be able to share it with all of you on UKAPS - it will be a process to say the least. I haven't had the opportunity to tissue culture much since college (~5 years ago) so I am very excited to see if I can successfully propagate some buce varieties or find any potential mutations. As I have more info and get things rolling, I will update here as well as in a thread in a more appropriate sub-forum.

 

[DeadFish]

Gave it the first trim two days ago - between the holidays and getting sick, it’s been a long two weeks. Luckily I’ve been around and the tank has been given some proper care. Managed to make a good call on a Steelhead trip and put a few fish in the hand, and picked up a new toy that should most definitely not be sitting on the couch next to my cat. Sold away my Martin OM28 MD a few months ago and have been left without a good acoustic. This Gibson fits the bill beyond expectation.

Tank got a first stem trim. Things are looking good, but getting some twisting/curling on the Rotala Ceylon tops. I know Tom Barr has stated many, many times that Ca def. in aquatic plants is grossly overestimated. CO2 is pushing about as high as I can take it though - not sure how susceptible Ceylon is to CO2, but the Wallichi directly next to it is as pretty as it’s ever been and the Rotala Green that is mixed in with the Ceylon is also fine. Hoping it’s mostly just an acclimation thing - all else is looking good. Let me know if you’ve any thoughts on the twisting. I need to get some better photos.

Edit: Forgot to mention, I did add 6 Daisy's Blue Ricefish! They had 12 at the store but figured I'd add slowly. Picked up three Amanos as well, but I think I got one blue neo after closer inspection. ha. They were out of Otos, so hopefully this weekend I can get over to get 5-6 otos, the rest of the ricefish, and a couple more amanos. Planning to do 25 or so ricefish, up the ember count to 15, and then maybe 5-6 Praecox Rainbows. I've only had schooling fish or rams, so I'm excited to get some fish that have some more quick, linear movement. Did not get any photos of the ricefish yesterday as they were hiding and acclimating to the CO2, but will try to in the next couple days as well as snag a shot of the curling ceylon. Tank has been set up a month to the day as of today.

 

[DeadFish]

Since @dw1305 informed me of the potassium levels in seachem equilibrium, I've been thinking of other options to use but haven't made the switch yet. Currently, I'm dosing about 3/4 tsp to remineralize my RO at WC. According to RB calc., assuming 42 gallons of water volume, that means I'm adding about 11 ppm in K+ each WC. I'm also dosing 2.8 ppm via K2SO4 daily. Not sure of the total concentration by WC - don't have a K+ test. I noticed about two weeks ago that my Rotala Ceylon leaves are twisting considerably (will post a photo later) and it appears to be the only plant doing so. I thought it was likely some weird flow I had going with outlets on both sides of the tank resulting in lower CO2 in that area, but I switched to running both outlets on one side - one flows across the front 2/3, the other flows over the back 2/3 of the tank. No change. Then I got to thinking about the K+ I'm adding, and after referencing a couple past threads, I noticed a little trend in excess K+ causing diminished levels of Ca or traces. Anyone find any correlation between these two? Or am I still well under the K+ tox. threshold? Plants were grown emersed, so I'm not ruling out transition, and I can't push CO2 any higher without gassing everyone out. Might need to drop it a little as my embers have seemed a little sluggish in the past couple days.

Either way, going to move to a remin. lacking K+ and see what happens in the next couple weeks. I will get some photos later with lights on and hopefully one of you out there have experienced this before.

Edit: I have some SaltyShrimp Mineral GH+ on hand as well. Not sure of the elemental analysis.

 

[DeadFish]

Hard to determine if it truly was causal, but reducing K+ dosing seems to have eliminated most of the leaf curling. We’re up to:
1 Angel
10 DBRF
4 Emperor Tetras
7 Ember Tetras
5 Otos
4 Amanos

Supposed to be getting 12 more DBRF and 5 Praecox Rainbows from the store at the end of the week or early next week. Likely will complete the stocking with exception to upping the embers to 11 and Emperors to 6.
Need to get out the mirrorless. The iPhone isn’t cutting it.

 

[DeadFish]

Fiance:
"Why is there a dead fish in our freezer in a coffee filter bag?"
Me:
"Because I get a refund if it died in the first 30 days."

Also Me: Saving a fish carcass in my freezer to get $4 back while buying a $50 DC pump to replace the Oase 100 since I'm running it empty anyway. Makes sense.

Need to: change the poly fill in the SS can since flow is getting crimped from the first month of dirt. Clean the pre-filter. Move the media from the oase to the SS can. Remove Oase, install DC closed loop. WC.

Hopefully this weekend: Picking up 5 Praecox rainbows and some more rice fish. Don't know why I've chosen such expensive fish, probably will be about $250 in after stocking this tank.

 

[DeadFish]

Still coming along, reducing K+ dosing seemed to be the ticket. Don’t mind the ugly foam, I managed to break yet another skimmer inlet. New one arriving tomorrow. I did clean out the superjet and replaced the poly fill, and did my usual biweekly pre-filter clean. Finally got out the mirrorless to grab some photos w/ the 50mm. Not the best lens, nor the best lens for this project. I’m not a photographer either.

Edit: I suck at making a post and not needing to amend it. I ditched the Oase 100 that was there for the media and a little more flow. I ended up adding a DC Pump and running it through lily pipes. I have encountered the limit of flow in my tank. Ha. However, water is pushing CO2 into every inch of the tank and it's working great. The only ones who don't seem to be too excited about it are the angels, but I have a couple ball valves to add to restrict flow a touch more. Probably pushing close to 3000 l/hr through the tank now.

View attachment IMG_3643.jpegView attachment IMG_3638.jpegView attachment IMG_3634.jpegView attachment IMG_3633.jpegView attachment IMG_3598.jpeg

 

[DeadFish]

About a week ago, and after one too many glasses, I was in the middle of a water change and realized I wasn’t super satisfied with the right hand side of the scape. I was getting ton of shading and the balance just wasn’t there for me. So, 25 minutes turned into a couple hours, and I think I’m satisfied for now. Still not certain about the little piece of wood on the right that is not in line with the others, so that might get moved or deleted in the coming weeks. I moved the Ludwigia white behind the Blood Red, but not sure it has a place in this scape. Would like to replace it with Macrandra Green or maybe Meta if I can get my hands on it. One thing is for certain, I have to start fertilizing macros. I’ve made it two months without touching any macros, just relying on K and micros, and the buce are starting to show it. Ludwigia white isn’t much a fan of how lean I’ve been running the system either. So, need to mix up some macros or pick some APT 3 and hook it up to the doser. But, here’s some photos.

 

[Cazza]

That looks great!

 

[DeadFish]

That looks great!

Thank you!! Hoping it grows in nicely!

 

[CooKieS]

Lovely tank and setup, hard to go wrong with Waterbox tanks and week aqua led 😉

 

[DeadFish]

Lovely tank and setup, hard to go wrong with Waterbox tanks and week aqua led 😉

Thanks! Thoroughly impressed with the Week aqua - great color rendering, nearly on par with T5s.