FresH2O's 20g planted rescape

[Fresh2o]

@Poppa - I believe the reason the batches cannot be reused is because the of the accumulation of alcohol being produced. Over time, the culture will become exhausted of resources or intoxicated. That being said, when making a new batch I did decant the contents of the old batch out but left some of the "goodies" at the bottom of the container. Rum & Coke logic makes me think most of the alcohol was poured out. I wanted to transfer some of the actively growing yeast cells to the next batch. I am not certain that it made a difference or not.
@Pitt - If you went with paintball tanks and an adaptor you could hit up the Dicks Sporting Goods in Morganton near 40. Refills are about $4-5 each (they have a 5th refill is free program) and a 24 oz tank lasts me over 4 months.


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[Fresh2o]

Here's a pic of the new CPDs and otos. New CPDs are in the upper right. Along with them are some well fed ember tetras and a colorful male CPD.

5 of the 6 otos having a meet & greet in the corner. No sunken bellies; they love blanched zucchini. An elder golden tetra says "What up?":

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[pittbully13]

Looks like everyone's enjoying the transition. I might have to look into the paintball tank and adaptor.

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[Fresh2o]

Update: Nothing much going on. New fish are doing well. The little CPDs do not hide at all. They are drawing the older ones out of the foliage which is a good thing. The golden tetras still rule the open water and the nano fish get out of their way. Dropped in a thin slice of blanched zucchini for the otos; a berried Amano is grazing on it.
Actually tested the water for the 3rd time this year (don't judge). PO4 a little higher than my target of 5 ppm. With the increased bioload there is no need to add KNO3. It's been months since substrate ferns were added; I might switch back to the AquaFertz root pellets. Had great success with them in prior years.
Here is an FTS from 9 days ago and from tonight:

Grow Grow Grow


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[PoppaRyno]

Got some more red to come out on the left.... Nicely done, sir.

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[Fresh2o]

Got some more red to come out on the left.... Nicely done, sir.

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Those are ones I got from Brookster. Even after hacking them down, the regrowth is striking. Puts the Rotala Mac to shame. It's the best "red with least amount of effort" plant that I've owned.


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[PoppaRyno]

Is that the ludwigia sp. Red?

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[Fresh2o]

Is that the ludwigia sp. Red?

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Yep yep. I may have sent you some last month.


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[PoppaRyno]

Thats what i thought. Growin like a weed.

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[tiger terror]

Fresh,what's your thoughts on allowing the sp.red to take hold again in my tank?

sit in silence...

 

[Brookster123]

Fresh,what's your thoughts on allowing the sp.red to take hold again in my tank?

sit in silence...

No way man.. shade, nutrient hog and sheer growth rate will not work in that 20l..

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[fishenthusiast]

Update: Nothing much going on. New fish are doing well. The little CPDs do not hide at all. They are drawing the older ones out of the foliage which is a good thing. The golden tetras still rule the open water and the nano fish get out of their way. Dropped in a thin slice of blanched zucchini for the otos; a berried Amano is grazing on it.
Actually tested the water for the 3rd time this year (don't judge). PO4 a little higher than my target of 5 ppm. With the increased bioload there is no need to add KNO3. It's been months since substrate ferns were added; I might switch back to the AquaFertz root pellets. Had great success with them in prior years.
Here is an FTS from 9 days ago and from tonight:

Grow Grow Grow


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It is looking good as always! I used to test for certain levels, then switched to EI, which threw my tank out of whack, and I recently switched back to PPS-Pro. I'll have to bring out the good old test kit here soon.


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[Fresh2o]

I might as well be doing EI with the amount of testing I do. The standard PPS-Pro macro recipe resulted in 1-2 ppm phosphate in my tank and I was shooting for 4-6 ppm (although the test kit measures in increments of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, and 10). So I increased the KH2PO4 from 3g to 9g which results in a phosphate reading somewhere between 5-10 ppm. I suppose I could get a more precise answer through dilution. As long as the GSA is not present and the plants look fine.
I will be ordering more root pellets today. Star repens and AR mini growth have been meh. Not dying but not growing at the rate I'm used to. The lack of root fertilizer might be the cause.


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[fishenthusiast]

I might as well be doing EI with the amount of testing I do. The standard PPS-Pro macro recipe resulted in 1-2 ppm phosphate in my tank and I was shooting for 4-6 ppm (although the test kit measures in increments of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, and 10). So I increased the KH2PO4 from 3g to 9g which results in a phosphate reading somewhere between 5-10 ppm. I suppose I could get a more precise answer through dilution. As long as the GSA is not present and the plants look fine.
I will be ordering more root pellets today. Star repens and AR mini growth have been meh. Not dying but not growing at the rate I'm used to. The lack of root fertilizer might be the cause.


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I put Iron tabs and regular root tabs under my AR 'mini' and it is doing great. It is doing much better than my regular AR for some reason. I don't know how you and some others are able to grow S. repens so well. Both times that I had it, it just withered away.


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[Dallascowboys16]

I put Iron tabs and regular root tabs under my AR 'mini' and it is doing great. It is doing much better than my regular AR for some reason. I don't know how you and some others are able to grow S. repens so well. Both times that I had it, it just withered away.


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I find that star repens prefers a little flow. Im growing mine pretty well and healthy and it seems to prefer the spot in my tank it is in currently (lots of flow) compared to a calmer area of the tank. Im scared to try AR mini after all of the stories everyone tells of the constant deficiencies and problems.

 

[fish wrangler]

I find that star repens prefers a little flow. Im growing mine pretty well and healthy and it seems to prefer the spot in my tank it is in currently (lots of flow) compared to a calmer area of the tank. Im scared to try AR mini after all of the stories everyone tells of the constant deficiencies and problems.

That high flow makes sense. It it the first foreground plant to be hit from the filter output.

If you find some ar mini I'd give it a go. You won't know how it grows for you unless you try it!

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[Fresh2o]

The star repens in my tank also get decent flow.
I agree, if you can get a hold of some AR 'mini', give it a try. I just ordered root pellets from Aquarium Plants: Total and Phosphate. Was going to order the Iron pellets but felt I did not need it. Maybe I will. In the next few weeks I may have my answer.


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[Fresh2o]

Got some goodies from Tiger Terror today. Blyxa alternifolia, Lobelia cardinalis, red myrio, Seachem glue, shrimp crack (Shirakura), and the biggest downoi I've ever seen. They are ginormous!

Floating in the tank tonight; planting in the AM after a big trim. Will have a lot of trimmings to part with.
This past week i cleared out nearly all of the BBA and have seen improved growth with the AR mini. I've increased water changes and swapped out dirty floss in the filter regularly. I've also cut the macro dosing from 2 to 1 mL and stopped dosing nitrate. Hoping this is a positive trend.


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[pittbully13]

Nice looking pineapple tops! Can't wait to see them in with all your other plants. I've stared seeing better results with big weekly water (50%) changes with filter maintenance too. Will you be replacing floss each water change?


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[Fresh2o]

Nice looking pineapple tops! Can't wait to see them in with all your other plants. I've stared seeing better results with big weekly water (50%) changes with filter maintenance too. Will you be replacing floss each water change?


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I'm trying to change out the floss with each WC. Depends on how much time I have. Trying to improve tank hygiene.


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