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Tom's Bucket O' Mud - The End

Tom,...I am going asking this at the risk of sounding really dumb but i would like to ask it anyways,..beacuse i just don't understand it.😳 Everytime (well,...twice to be exact) i tried to grow the mini java fern in a low tech set up,...they developed holes & slowly died away. Never putting out new shoots,..I am talking about bullet ridden like holes on the leaves.:banghead: I was finally just left with an empty rhizome which I threw away. I only had one piddly T8 tube mounted on my last tank. You had a halide for god's sake,...and how do they look so lush?!!!! Is there something i'm missing? Was it the increased water hardness caused by that stone that you pulled out, providing the carbonates for these plants ( mini java ferns,..that i see i think) that could have made them flourish so well?
 
[quote="BigTom, post: 280818, member: 2721"

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Amazing shots mate. This one reminds me of one of the deep sea fish that live in almost zero light.
 
faizal said:
Tom,...I am going asking this at the risk of sounding really dumb but i would like to ask it anyways,..beacuse i just don't understand it.😳 Everytime (well,...twice to be exact) i tried to grow the mini java fern in a low tech set up,...they developed holes & slowly died away. Never putting out new shoots,..I am talking about bullet ridden like holes on the leaves.:banghead: I was finally just left with an empty rhizome which I threw away. I only had one piddly T8 tube mounted on my last tank. You had a halide for god's sake,...and how do they look so lush?!!!! Is there something i'm missing? Was it the increased water hardness caused by that stone that you pulled out, providing the carbonates for these plants ( mini java ferns,..that i see i think) that could have made them flourish so well?
Click to expand...

Well it's mainly trident java fern in mine, but I've also got mini and narrow/needle leaf and they all seem to largely behave the same. I have seen very heavy deterioration/melting a few times when moving ferns between tanks with quite different parameters. However, they normally either produce lots of little plantlets on the leaf tips as the leaves die off, or eventually recover from the rhizome. As long as the rhizome doesn't die then they should eventually regrow, even if they're down to no leaves.

Not sure what else to suggest really - I doubt lack of light is an issue, these'll practically grow in the dark and I've had them in tanks ranging from pH 8.5 and hard to pH4 and very soft and they've done OK.
 
Well, so far so good... moved the parents out after the last update as they'd stopped spawning for the time being. Counted 5 or 6 fry after that, of which at least 4 are still alive (hard to spot!). One isn't looking terribly well but the other 3 are getting fat on tank microfauna. Still too small for microworms.



If these guys make it to a size where they'll take microworms then I'll move them to a breeding net and get the adults spawning again.
20 degrees, pH 8.4, 170ppm for the record.

(video's going to take an hour before its available)
 
Great photos! With regards to the bring down the fan voltage to 12V from 24V, you can use a resistor divider as well. A 2 or 5W resistor should be enough. Don't need a linear regulator.
 
sanj said:
You should try vinegar eels, my rainbows can take these soon after hatching and rainbowfish are tiny fry.
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Thanks Sanj, I'll try that next time. Unfortunately I did the first water change yesterday on the fry tank (only 10%, mix of dechlorinated tap water and water from the parent tank) and they all croaked it. Talk about sensitive.
 
BigTom firstly love what you did lift my hat for you.

But I need to ask you, bear with me if you answered it already as I decided after page 4 or 5 I need to ask as I will forget what was on page 1:facepalm: . So here it goes:

BigTom said:
Fauna: Currently - cherry shrimp, Daphnia magna and any number of weird slimy things Planned - more slimey things, and a group of either licorice gouramis or badis. Possibly Hara jerdoni and some sort of micro rasbora, depending on how the food chain holds up.
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Where you get the Daphnia from and how to keep them as when i buy them they in my lfs they never seem to survive till the next day no matter what I do. So would be very interested where and how....
Also you spent a lot of money or just started with a couple of cherry's and they multiplied to that number?

In the meantime will read further and get more questions before forget what i wanted to ask :bookworm:
 
Since i can not edit I add a bit here. So the self sustained and weird slimy things I'm very much interested in this part of it unless you wrote it and I just did not see it (by the way I did not read so much since school 😀 my eyes are hurting)
And also that blue "cherry " if you have some more I would love to have some if you willing to post (and of course my tank is up and running)
But i see i need to plan a trip to Edinburgh, do you take entrance fee? Would love to see it in person 😉
Top job.... cant find more better words to praise you.
 
zhuth said:
(by the way I did not read so much since school 😀 my eyes are hurting.
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:lol: Glad you're enjoying the journal.

Daphnia; I bought mine from a guy on aquarist-classifieds.co.uk called 'Daphnia Direct' I think. Not sure if he's still trading. I got several different varieties, the magna/pulex didn't last long once I added fish but some of the smaller benthic species are still going. Although I should point out the tank isn't self sustaining any more since my girlfriend moved in and I added lots more fish.

Cherries, I started with about 50 to get the population under way quickly. Sadly these were all wiped out by pesticides on plants from Asia, so I had ended up buying another 50 to restart after that. There are also lots of Hyallela azteca (Mexican gammarus) in there. There are one or two bluish shrimp, although sometimes they look brown/black depending on the light.
 
how deep is the substrate at the back of the tank
and would it be possible to loam instead of John innes
compost
 
biffster said:
how deep is the substrate at the back of the tank
and would it be possible to loam instead of John innes
compost
Click to expand...

It's six inches deep or more in places. I don't see why 'loam' wouldn't work, it's just soil with a relatively even mix of sand, silt and clay. I'd probably add some grit to increase aeration and maybe a little bit of osmocote or other slow release ferts.
 
i can get Arthur j bowers aquatic compost which
as loam in it i use it now but i only put a half inch
layer down and cap it with sand do you think it would
be ok to use that and add some potting grit to it
 
biffster said:
i can get Arthur j bowers aquatic compost which
as loam in it i use it now but i only put a half inch
layer down and cap it with sand do you think it would
be ok to use that and add some potting grit to it
Click to expand...

Should be fine. Contains lime and presumably added ferts as well though, so expect your water pH and hardness to increase quite a lot.
 
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