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The Accidental Aquascape

It doesn't look the best, It could be some melt as it gets used to growing underwater, but I'm not convinced mine never looked like that.
Is it getting enough light, you don't have it shaded?
Are you dosing EI ferts / compete fertiliser?

I grow mine from seed but wouldn't recommend it..
 
Dont panic. Its a brand new set up. Some plants will probably fail. Just trim the melting leaves off. Dont go mad tweaking every variable. Stay on course with ferts, co2, light and water changes. Once the tank settles in and has good growth elsewhere you could retry the plants that failed initially.

Its trial and error, especially with a first scape. Marathon not a sprint etc.

K
 
Barbara Turner said:
It doesn't look the best, It could be some melt as it gets used to growing underwater, but I'm not convinced mine never looked like that.
Is it getting enough light, you don't have it shaded?
Are you dosing EI ferts / compete fertiliser?
I grow mine from seed but wouldn't recommend it..
Click to expand...

The light might be underpowered, but I doubt it's lack of light, because the lounge is really bright all day this time of year.
Also, my light period is 3pm-9pm (that way I get to view it after a days work), so I therefore will be making a cover for the front and sides.

I'm using EI ferts, which is surprisingly simple.

Kezzab said:
Dont panic. Its a brand new set up. Some plants will probably fail. Just trim the melting leaves off. Dont go mad tweaking every variable. Stay on course with ferts, co2, light and water changes. Once the tank settles in and has good growth elsewhere you could retry the plants that failed initially.
Its trial and error, especially with a first scape. Marathon not a sprint etc.
K
Click to expand...

Good advice there Kezzab, thanks. I'm not that concerned, I'm actually quite pleased with it overall. It's only a few days old and it's going much better than I thought it would.
I need to establish a base level, so I'm not tweaking anything at the moment apart from adjusting the amount of Co2. I'm having to inject more than I was expecting, I'm probably at around 4bps on a 140L tank. I've been told to place the drop checker near the bottom of the tank, since this is where the Co2 is needed. I guess when it comes to adding livestock, I'll move the drop checker nearer to the outflow, as I don't want to gas the livestock.
 
Lovely video, did you film underwater?

I could never get the H.pinitifada to thrive but for some people it’s like a weed! Hope that’s you.

Will be nice to see it growing in. Rock work is great. T


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Nice hardscape.
H. Verticillata is supposed to be a pretty demanding plant, requiring high light and high CO2.

My setup is an ADA60P, with 4x24watt T5HO over it. Yeah, crazy..

Co2 at 6bps for the past week. Drop checker yellow at lights on.

The verticillata grows like mad. Shoots out new growth seems like every day.I bought it as ADA tissue culture.

Was yours purchased already growing in another system? Maybe it’s just melt from adjusting to yours.
Mine is also a new tank, only a week since flooding it after a 3-4 week DSM.

I’m dosing ADA line of fertilizers though which is on the leaner side , makes sense on a small tank like mine. Not sure but I believe full EI at a younger stage is detrimental. Most people start with half dose.
 
Matt @ ScapeEasy said:
Just a quick note having read a few post back... have you done a water change yet? It is normally recommended to do very frequent water changes at the beginning, in part to limit algae and high ammonia levels in the water column...
Click to expand...
I was gonna ask the same question cuz it wasn’t mentioned.
I’d do a 70-80% water change every day for the first week followed by every other day the second week.
Keep stable Co2. Dose recommended dose of excel if possible along Co2 injection. Skip initial dose.
 
TBRO said:
Lovely video, did you film underwater?
I could never get the H.pinitifada to thrive but for some people it’s like a weed! Hope that’s you.
Click to expand...

Thanks. No filming underwater, just my iPhone and iMovie.
The H.Pinitifada is losing leaves fast, so I may have the same issues as you. Picture added below of the discolouration of the leaves.


Matt @ ScapeEasy said:
Just a quick note having read a few post back... have you done a water change yet?
Click to expand...

I've done a 50% daily water change every day for the first 2 weeks. Today I might not do one for the first time since it was planted.
I'll probably do a 50% change every other day for 2 weeks, then just do it weekly.


Andrew T said:
Nice hardscape.
H. Verticillata is supposed to be a pretty demanding plant, requiring high light and high CO2.
My setup is an ADA60P, with 4x24watt T5HO over it. Yeah, crazy..
Co2 at 6bps for the past week. Drop checker yellow at lights on.
Was yours purchased already growing in another system? Maybe it’s just melt from adjusting to yours.
I’m dosing ADA line of fertilizers though which is on the leaner side , makes sense on a small tank like mine. Not sure but I believe full EI at a younger stage is detrimental. Most people start with half dose.
Keep stable Co2. Dose recommended dose of excel if possible along Co2 injection. Skip initial dose
Click to expand...

At the moment, I've got the light coming on 2 hours after the Co2 at around 3-4bps. Light is on for 6 hours.
I'll try 7 hours and 5-6bps and see what happens. My drop checker hasn't gone completely yellow yet, just very lime green.
The H.Vertcillata was grown emersed I think.
Full dose of Ei, as doing anything else didn't even occur to me. Would it have made much of a difference, since I've been doing daily water changes anyway?
I've got some liquid carbon, but I didn't think it would be worth dosing it, since I have Co2 injection.


Unhappy H.Pinitifada leaves
H.PinitifadaLeaves.jpg
 
Thanks Kezzab

I’m itching to get my scissors out. I was told to trim after 2 weeks, but I think you’re right, another couple of weeks would be better.

Things are looking a bit healthier now and the shrimps are doing a fine job of cleaning up the leaves that I haven’t scooped out.
 
That's not a bad start, patience is a virtue, I'm sure it'll come good soon enough. You're already scoring in my book, I can never get riccardia to grow 🙂
 
Update 5? It's not even double figures and I've lost track.
Anyway, it's been a mixed bag the past few weeks.

I've added a bunch of Ruby Tetra and some Celestial Pearls to get things going.
They're very small timid fish, so I'm hoping a big school of Ember Tetra will help the situation. I would add them now, but I think the tank needs another month or two cycling.
RubyTetraANDCPD.jpg

There's also a few Otocinclus' helping out...or just chilling.
Oto.jpg

The shrimp have been busy too by the looks of it.
PregnantShrimp.jpg

However, there has been death and quite brutal death. I have lost 4 of 8 CPDs to the Jebao pump.
Tights have been added as a temporary measure, but this is my main concern at the moment.
Is this pump a killer or are the fish crap swimmers or are the fish unhealthy?
JebaoWithTights.jpg


The H.Cuba has been trimmed, but it's not growing that quickly. The shrimp are having a go at bringing it up which isn't helping.
I've bought a few pots to plug the gaps, which might stop the shrimp.
HemianthusCubaTrimmedandSad.jpg

Hydrocotyle has stopped melting and starting to get some good growth. Rotala Bonsai just keeps going!
RotalaHydrocotyle.jpg



The biggest surprise has been the success of the Riccardia Moss. You've got to get lucky sometimes!
Anubias Petit going well and the Pinnatifida has started to grow new leaves from where they dropped.
The Eriocaulon was doing well to begin with, but has melted slightly too. It's also got new growth coming out of the flower (if that's a flower?). Not sure what to do apart from trim the bad bits.
RicPinn.jpg


I've also added some detail to the sand at the front. More detail will be added once it's grown in a bit more.
Detail.jpg

Some advice on the circulation pump issues would be great!
Thanks all.
 
Hi all,
The Accidental Aquascaper said:
or are the fish unhealthy?
Click to expand...
The Accidental Aquascaper said:
They're very small timid fish, so I'm hoping a big school of Ember Tetra will help the situation. I would add them now, but I think the tank needs another month or two cycling.
rubytetraandcpd-jpg.jpg
Click to expand...
I was looking at the CPD in this photo, before I read the rest of your post, and thinking that it looks really malnourished, to the extent I would suspect internal parasites.

Also I haven't kept <"Axelrodia riesei">, but the suggestion on Apistogramma forums is that they are tricky to maintain.

cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,I was looking at the CPD in this photo, before I read the rest of your post, and thinking that it looks really malnourished, to the extent I would suspect internal parasites.
Click to expand...

Parasites? I hope not.
They might be getting out competed at feeding time, but the CPD seem happy to feed from the surface.
I'm feeding them micro pellets, crushed up flakes and crushed up blood worms. Maybe something that sinks quickly would be better?
 
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