Iwagumi

[Brookster123]

Im looking at dosing pumps and systems and they really take a big chuck of cash

blahhh, I'm going to rig something up on a cheap timer and a IV drip bag type deal..

 

[Aidanflower]

Hhmm alrighty

 

[Sk3lly]

Look into staurogyne repens for a carpet plant too. Loving this plant at the moment and will be my carpet of choice for my rescape

 

[NanoJack]

I am doing co2. I dont know about ferts. I will be doing some kind just havnt done much research on it. I guess its medium highish light. I know that its a very shallow tank but i also know that the current usa leds+ dont penetrate very well

Your lighting will be sufficient for all carpeting plants. You will eventually have to balance lighting intensity with co2 distribution and nutrients given that you have excellent flow/distribution.

Do your research with ferts. It is vital. Without ferts, your plants won't stand a chance with your current sat plus.

 

[Aidanflower]

What do you guy think about the two rocks on the right side? Im not sure how i feel about them

 

[Aidanflower]

Today or tomorrow i will be ordering dwarf baby tears and gla ferts. I am going to keep the substrate damp and plant the plants and in a 2 weeks maybe more i will flood the tank. Would it be a good idea to mix in ferts with the water i use to wet the substrate?

 

[Fishfanboy]

I like the rocks

 

[Aidanflower]

This is the initial start up. I have all of the gear for auto dosing, co2 and auto top off, I just have to set it up. I am waiting until the first of the year to get the plants and shrimp. What do you guys think?



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[Aidanflower]

Just planted the plants yesterday,
I plan on getting painted fire shrimp in a few weeks, once i get the co2 and ferts stable.


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[Aidanflower]

just finished setting up my diy auto dosing system. it consists of a small peristaltic pump, a dc cord and a timer. each doser costs a total of about $35. all I had to do was solder the power cord to the contact points on the pump.
in order to use the timer to time in seconds there is a simple "hack" that involves soldering two contact points on the circuit board.
Links:

Pump:
12V DC Dosing Pump Peristaltic Dosing Head for Aquarium Lab Analytical Water DIY | eBay
Power cord: 12V 1A 1000mA 5 5mm 2 5mm 2 1mm AC DC Power Supply Adapter Transformer Plug Lot | eBay

Timer:
Digital Timer Programmable for Lights Lamps Dual 110v 15 Amp Outlets - Electrical Timers - Amazon.com

timer hack:
oh my clegg!: Chicago Electric Digital Timer Hack: Seconds Resolution

 

[Brookster123]

Welcome back!! Tank looks great! I'm over dosing bags/pumps I do my observations while dosing in the mornings.. in a perfect tank observation could be limited to a weekly passing I suppose.. I'm in too deep with the fish though

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[Aidanflower]

Welcome back!! Tank looks great! I'm over dosing bags/pumps I do my observations while dosing in the mornings.. in a perfect tank observation could be limited to a weekly passing I suppose.. I'm in too deep with the fish though

thanks, been gone for awhile, glad to be posting again. this tank is in my room so I am constantly observing throughout the day. i know what you mean though. i hope I don't get too comfortable and something happens and i finally realize it a week later.

 

[Aidanflower]

4 days in the tank and a bunch of the plants are pearling!!!

 

[Aidanflower]

Plants are doing great!
Day 5 on plants

I'm thinking about adding some dwarf hair grass behind the rocks on the left. But I feel like if I put some grass behind the rock on the right it will look odd because of the small size of the rocks. What are your thoughts and any other plants that may look good. Thanks

 

[Aidanflower]

Day 10 on plants. Growth is good although In the past few days I haven't gotten much pearling, I haven't figured out why.

 

[Aidanflower]

Week 2 on plants:
And my painted fire shrimp came today from Alpha Pro Breeders. I highly recommend ordering from them. Great packaging and no doa. They even gave me a free extra shrimp

 

[Aidanflower]

so i have some bad news, all of the shrimp have died. i didn't know what the problem was until it was too late. the seiryu stones are raising the gh and kh extremely fast. in 24 hours the gh raised 1 degree and the kh raised 2 degrees. at this rate in order to keep shrimp i would have to do water changes every couple days just to keep it in check. this is an uphill battle :/. i think i need to find different rocks but i really like the ones i have. on the plus side the hc is carpeting perfectly and I'm just waiting on the edges of the tank and rocks to fill in. will have a pic in the next few days
if anyone has any idea on how to lower the GH please feel free to share. thanks

 

[Autumnsky]

Sorry to hear about the shrimp.

Measure from the tap water after 24 -48 hours sitting. Then compare your tank parameters to that.

GH will rise due to evaporation, so frequent pwc may be needed.

Check into adding back filtered water between weekly pwc, like RODI water. But then you often have to check more closely the rest of the parameters for mineral content. Plants need minerals.

Your fertilizing may have an effect too. There we pull away from MY understanding though I am still learning and working on it. Others may better be able to help.

What are the pwc looking like? How many, how much, how often? Dosing ferts? and what kinds, how much, etc???

 

[Aidanflower]

Sorry to hear about the shrimp.

Measure from the tap water after 24 -48 hours sitting. Then compare your tank parameters to that.

GH will rise due to evaporation, so frequent pwc may be needed.

Check into adding back filtered water between weekly pwc, like RODI water. But then you often have to check more closely the rest of the parameters for mineral content. Plants need minerals.

Your fertilizing may have an effect too. There we pull away from MY understanding though I am still learning and working on it. Others may better be able to help.

What are the pwc looking like? How many, how much, how often? Dosing ferts? and what kinds, how much, etc???

my tap water is 6gh and 5kh, this is straight from the tap. what is the significance of waiting the 24-48 hours before doing these tests?

i ATO with distilled water and I'm looking into an ro unit. so there isn't mineral build up due to toping of with tap water

I use GLA PPS pro fertz EI daily. when i started having problems i stopped dosing and added nothing but co2 and food for the fish. and still the gh and kh raised. i don't think it is my ferts contributing to the hard water because i took distilled water and overdosed it 5xs just an experiment to rule it out and checked both gh and kh to no change in either one.

i do weekly water changes of 3 gallons and lately i have been adding distilled water but i usually did it from the tap.

this week i am testing the gh and kh every day to see how fast the gh rises and just incase i was wrong about the ferts i am adding nothing but food and distilled water for top offs.

thanks

 

[Aidanflower]

has anyone heard of ion exchange resin to soften aquarium water or have any experience. all i see is people being skeptical and no one giving parameters of there water when they used it. what is everyones thoughts on the resin?