_Maq_
Member
What do you mean by 'urea based KNO3'? Do you prepare it yourself?
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Thailandia Sunset
- Thread starter Hanuman
- Start date
KNO3 can be made using urea. No I don't make it myself. It is sold as KNO3 but when mixing it to water there is a distinctive yellow tint.
Ok so today was the day. All plants and fish were removed. Tank was reset by deep vacuuming the substrate. What came out of there was never ending. Had to vacuum the tank twice and I am sure I didn't get it all but that's fine. I then added some root tabs made by some local producer. They seem to be made out of clay. These root tabs are made with KNO3 so nothing extraordinary will happen there so I also added 1 prill of urea every 2-3Sq-Inch. That should give a punch for the next few days/week. I'll keep an eye on the ammonia levels but I doubt I'll see much as I added those prill at the very bottom and it's really not that many prills at the end of the day.
Then I basically removed more than 60% of all the bucephalandra I had in there. It was just choking. I actually removed all the theia 9 and replaced it with brownie ghost. I kept some of the bucephalandra black velvet as I like the plant overall. For the rest I simply re-added some of the plants I already had and permanently removed some. I'll probably be adding some new plants later on.
Tank still cloudy but that's to be expected. Tomorrow should be better.
Nothing really glorious at this point as the main idea was to clean the substrate so the scape remains largely the sameish.
Here is what I ended up removing plus some smaller miscellaneous bucephalandra I had on smaller rocks. I just want to keep 2 or 3 species max.
Then I basically removed more than 60% of all the bucephalandra I had in there. It was just choking. I actually removed all the theia 9 and replaced it with brownie ghost. I kept some of the bucephalandra black velvet as I like the plant overall. For the rest I simply re-added some of the plants I already had and permanently removed some. I'll probably be adding some new plants later on.
Tank still cloudy but that's to be expected. Tomorrow should be better.
Nothing really glorious at this point as the main idea was to clean the substrate so the scape remains largely the sameish.Here is what I ended up removing plus some smaller miscellaneous bucephalandra I had on smaller rocks. I just want to keep 2 or 3 species max.
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plantnoobdude
Member
Lovely looking plants!
perhaps I am going crazy but I seem to recall you trying ammannia pedicellata? How did that go?
Thank you. The ammannia is in my smaller tank which is yet to be unveiled to the world. It's growing pretty ok. Never stunt after 2 uprooting and trimming so far but it's incredibly slow compared to all other plants in there. I don't mind though. I am getting tired of the constant trimming of the back plants.
So it's been exactly 1 month since tank was reset. I was expecting to see more algae but since it wasn't a full reset but rather a deep substrate cleanup, there was nothing much in the water column to trigger major algae blooms. I thought that perhaps the urea I has added in the bottom would make something happen, nothing much that I could detect. All plants have adapted nicely. L. meta went a few days with some meah attitude then bounced back. BBA increased slightly but now under control though. I'm not surprised as the wood is now more exposed to flow and light and it's been underwater for now nearly 3 years to it is decomposition at a faster rate. At some point I will probably remove the wood and replace it with new pieces. I also had 2 silver flying fox which were removed 2 days ago. Those tend to agitate the substrate thus contributing to further organics flying around.
Current fert regime is and has been the same since early July of this year. Only change has been the introduction of fish + shrimp as detailed below:
So I was saying, the major change has been the introduction of 30 amber tetras + 100 cherry shrimps 2 days ago. The removal of the 2 flying foxes was also because they had become lazy in eating algae and thought shrimps were more tasty. I could barely see any shrimps anymore. Additional to that they kept hiding nearly all the time (I guess eating the shrimps 🤨) and when that didn't fit them they chased each other. I didn't like the negativity. So I told them enough with the shenanigans, you are out. One of them in fact flew 4 meters off the tank a few days prior their removal, perhaps they knew what was coming to them and attempted to fly away as their name imply. They are very nervous and fast fish.
I am actually very pleased with the Amber tetras. They are peaceful and fun to watch. No sudden crazy movements. Even the rasboras have taken to school with them. I guess the similar color and pack instinct just kicked in. Even the neon tetras sometimes join the pack. Around 3 or 5 shrimps have died since introduction but I am not concerned. That's a very little % and I was expecting that to happen anyways considering the large amount. Some will be weaker than others and those don't make it.
On the plant side, nothing much has happened. I added some Limnophilla Aromatica on the back left. I have reduced the amount of L. meta. The amount of work they were giving me was just too much. I removed more than half. The market is now flooded with them anyway and no one wants to buy anymore. I am currently keeping around 12 stems because I really like them. The Tonina lotus blossom on the center is a test I am doing. They grow straight nicely up to a point then they start losing their straightness. I guess the elongation + flow doesn't help. I used to have them more up front but they grew too fast (in comparison to the back plants) and hid the bucephalandra. I do like that it doesn't grow that fast overall though. I haven't uprooted them in 3 weeks compared to the L. meta which has been trimmed weekly. And on the right side of the tank those as remanents from the previous setup. There are some random bucephalandra and some anubias sp. I need to sell them and add some stem plants instead. Just not sure what to add.
As for the the bucephalandra brownie ghost it's not taking the color I want. I am not entirely sure if it's due to my light or other conditions. The whole point of reseting the tank was to give this bucephalandra the chance to thrive. It's the most expensive plant in the tank and could make me a millionaire (in my dreams). In the meantime I am still investigation what the cause is and no one has been able to give a proper clear answer. Not even the all might Dennis Wong. I have the feeling though that the light + combination of higher nitrate over the years are the culprit.
As for the front part of the tank, well that looks rather ridiculous. I need to do something about that sloppy job. I am currently growing some Rotala mexicana goias on my smaller tank and I am wondering if I could use it to fill in the space. That combo, mini parva + erio ratnagiricum + erio quiquangulare makes no sense whatsoever. Looks like some Martian dropped them there without a clue what he was doing. If any of you have some plant ideas I'll be happy to hear them.
Here is the Rotala mexicana goias in the smaller tank. I know @zozo was (perhaps still is) a fan of this plant.
That's all for now folks.
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love the huge collection of Brownie Ghost! 🙂
That Rotala mexicana goias is doing the same thing that Rotala Hra likes to do, which is to creep along the ground.
As for the growth rate of L.meta, I totally agree its a weed.... but at least it grows relatively straight all the way till it hits the water surface...
That Rotala mexicana goias is doing the same thing that Rotala Hra likes to do, which is to creep along the ground.
As for the growth rate of L.meta, I totally agree its a weed.... but at least it grows relatively straight all the way till it hits the water surface...
I quite like the wood 😃
I find the tricky part of hardscape to leave enough of the details uncovered by plants, otherwise it all just disappears anyway.
That lion king rock is cool but I think it would need a fair bit of complementary pieces to balance out the overall picture
I find the tricky part of hardscape to leave enough of the details uncovered by plants, otherwise it all just disappears anyway.
That lion king rock is cool but I think it would need a fair bit of complementary pieces to balance out the overall picture
You're quite right. Those pieces were not meant for this tank. Just seeing if they could be put to good use. Agreed about the stone
Here is a cautionary tale for all you folks.
Yesterday I went to replenish all my CO2 tanks. After filling them up, I put them in the trunk of the car in a horizontal position, which from the moment I laid them down I thought it was not an ideal position, but then thought it would be ok since I'm not far away from home. Well that didn't go very well. The safety disk of one of the tanks just ruptured while I was on the expressway. Luckily the car was stopped due to traffic but I can tell you the popping noise and the subsequent off gazing really caught me off guard. No on-the-spot pictures here obviously as that was not the first thing in my mind. Anyhow, I just waited for the tank to fully degas and then opened all windows to allow all the CO2 to evacuate. I am not entirely sure if the reason for this was the fact that the tank was laid down horizontally making liquid CO2 contact the disk or that the disk simply was old and deformed already or that they simply overfilled the tank. Here is how it looks like after unscrewing the safety valve. That little piece missing on the washer it's me who accidentally broke it while removing the disk. It's a non-metal washer.
Scary day indeed.
Yesterday I went to replenish all my CO2 tanks. After filling them up, I put them in the trunk of the car in a horizontal position, which from the moment I laid them down I thought it was not an ideal position, but then thought it would be ok since I'm not far away from home. Well that didn't go very well. The safety disk of one of the tanks just ruptured while I was on the expressway. Luckily the car was stopped due to traffic but I can tell you the popping noise and the subsequent off gazing really caught me off guard. No on-the-spot pictures here obviously as that was not the first thing in my mind. Anyhow, I just waited for the tank to fully degas and then opened all windows to allow all the CO2 to evacuate. I am not entirely sure if the reason for this was the fact that the tank was laid down horizontally making liquid CO2 contact the disk or that the disk simply was old and deformed already or that they simply overfilled the tank. Here is how it looks like after unscrewing the safety valve. That little piece missing on the washer it's me who accidentally broke it while removing the disk. It's a non-metal washer.
Scary day indeed.
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Freshflora
Member
Wow, I’m glad you’re safe. I’ve been worried about something similar happening for quite a while honestly.
Thanks. I'm glad too! After thinking about it I think they simply overfilled the tank. I think for some reason I told them 3L and in fact that tank is designed for 2L. I am not sure why I would say 3L 😳At first because the tank is cold it was fine but being in the trunk for a while and temperature rising up the liquid CO2 expanded as it went from liquid to gas form to a level beyond the designed safety disk.
Nothing like a nice relaxing day out aquarium shopping . . .
On a more serious note - I’m glad you’re ok man, must have been a bit scary!
On a more serious note - I’m glad you’re ok man, must have been a bit scary!
😅 - If anything like this happened I'd be in chock for a good month.Nothing like a nice relaxing day out aquarium shopping . . .
Thank you. Yes it was somewhat scary. The pop wasn't that loud but enough to make me look in the rear mirror. When I saw some sort of smoke coming out of the back of the car I immediately understood what had happened. When I opened the trunk a huge cloud came out and I backed away asap. The whole release only took about 10 seconds or so. The trunk was entirely white and when I came home the cylinder was totally frosted. Something like this (picture is not mine). My bigest fear was that the other two cylinders (a 9kg and another 3kg) I had in there would do the same. The one that burst was a 3kg cylinder.
I recommend EI dosing yourself with that last one! 😜
Sure will!! I'll grow faster better and healthier!
This is a parenthesis in my journal.
The following tank [pictures] was going to be my next journal. I have been working on this 'dutch style' tank for the past several months but ultimately decided to strip it down despite the fact that plants have been growing just fine, actually too well and that is exactly why it's being stripped down. The Syngonanthus macrocaulon is showing some signs of deficiency but that's because there was a time where I was dosing very lean. Since then it has recovered as I have doubled the doses.
Anyhow, it was giving me too much work so I decided to transform the scape into an iwagumi which will require less uprooting etc etc. As much as I enjoyed it, it has been taking more and more time each week to the point where I have become a bit sloppy and just did some quick uproots and replanting without any scape in mind. I decided to focus more on my main tank. Some plants have already been sold, some will be reused in the iwagumi and my main tank and the others well I am unsure of their fate yet.
Ciao little one.
The following tank [pictures] was going to be my next journal. I have been working on this 'dutch style' tank for the past several months but ultimately decided to strip it down despite the fact that plants have been growing just fine, actually too well and that is exactly why it's being stripped down. The Syngonanthus macrocaulon is showing some signs of deficiency but that's because there was a time where I was dosing very lean. Since then it has recovered as I have doubled the doses.
Anyhow, it was giving me too much work so I decided to transform the scape into an iwagumi which will require less uprooting etc etc. As much as I enjoyed it, it has been taking more and more time each week to the point where I have become a bit sloppy and just did some quick uproots and replanting without any scape in mind. I decided to focus more on my main tank. Some plants have already been sold, some will be reused in the iwagumi and my main tank and the others well I am unsure of their fate yet.
Ciao little one.
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