my 29g planted build

[dmoney87]

well i got my co2 hooked up and promptly went thru all my air in less then 30 mins. had/have a leak somewhere. got a second bottle filled so i can play with it and figure out where the leak is comign from. right now im using an air stone for a diffuser and it sucks but i ordered a spiral glass diffuser and it should be here tuesday i think. i also ordered my dry fert last night. only thing left on my list i think are a python and some sissors if i can figure out where to get them.

Good stuff and as far as the scissors (spelling lol) I would recomend the TOm Aqua Tongs from BigAls.. They have gripping end and also come with a sciccor end that can easily be changed out. I use mine pretty much everyday.. as I really hate to put my arms in the tank.. Not because I care about my arms getting wet but the hair and skin folicales that come off and float around for awhile bother me.. not to mention any hand soaps or other residues that could be on your arms ...

-davE

 

[harmy4993]

well the white spots seem to be clearing up. other then the one fish that had the most dots, all other fish seem to have cleared up minus a single dot here or there. im going to keep the heat up around 87-88 degrees for couple more weeks. but keeping my fingers crossed i think i survived my first bout with ich.

 

[harmy4993]

wow i just had a ziggy type scare. lucky for me it was a mistake on my part not a broken tank.

i to find my oring kit to fix my new reg and come back in to hear water hitting the floor. talk about a heart stopper. i wiped water away looking and feeling for a crack or water forming on the glass. i couldnt find anything but the water continued to flow and water in my aquarium was getting lower and lower by the second. then i moved out my co2 line to get it out of the way. thats when i reliezed i had unhooked my co2 line from the reg and it was siphoning out.

my heart is still beating rather quickly.

 

[Purrbox]

Great example of why it's such a good idea to use a check valve on your CO2 setup.

 

[harmy4993]

ok seems i spoke to soon. came home from work about 15 mins ago and found a dead glolight. i have no idea why it died. may have been the ich but my glolights didnt show any of the white dots so i dunno. he was very bloated when i took him out of the tank but im guess'tamatin that happened after he died. i could be wrong thou.

 

[harmy4993]

early bday presents woot. ok tomorrow is my bday but today all the stuff i ordered came in. i got:
25ft python
multi purpose plant tool. has a cutter on it and some tongs for planting and removal of things.
glass spiral diffuser
and ferts. althou i dunno if i got the right kind. hope i did
for ferts i got 1 pound each of
mono potassium phoshate
plantex csm+b
potassium nitrate
potassium sulfate

 

[harmy4993]

well i have baby shrimp. atleast 30 of them about an 1/8th of an inch in size. cleaned out my filters today(just dumped out the water into a bucket. while i went to get me soemthing to drink the water settled and i looked in and there was atleast 30 little shrimp swimming around maybe more. aleast i know my fish arent eattign them all. also i did a little rescaping and will post a pic in about an hour. im looking for suggestions on scaping and possibly aadding more plants?

 

[harmy4993]

ok looking for suggestions. had some plants die before i got my co2 and ferts going =( but have some plants taking off like crazy.

the plants on the right are growing 1/2 inch to an inch a day since i added ferts.

the vals i have trimmed once already and they are groing back.

the plant in the middle are dying and growing so not sure what do with those. the bottom is getting pretty dead but have new growth on top.

i have a red lotus that i thought was dead when i got it but i stuck it in the back hidden away to see what it would do and it seems to be recovering.

the java ferns are slowly growing but have bad algee on them.

the plant on the left was looking bad 2 weeks ago but since i added ferts and co2 they seem to be doing nicely now.

i have 2 diffrent type of grasses in the front. one is sending shoots and the other is just kinda there.

then today i added a purple waffle(?) in the back but i was told they are hard to grow so we will see. and i also added a cardinal plant in the front. if it were to grow out i would get rid of the grass.

so anyways im looking for idea on scaping suggestions with what i have and if you think i should add something else also let me know.

if you need plant names i can prolly provide them.
i have a 29g with 110w of lighting. im injecting co2 and dosing dry ferts. if you need any more info for plant suggestiosn just ask and ill provide.

 

[Purrbox]

What are your test results for Nitrate and Phosphate? How much are you dosing and how often of each fert? Can we get a close up of the plants that are still having problems?

For the scape, I'd recommend turning that driftwood at an angle. It will create a more dynamic feel and add energy and flow to the arrangement.

 

[harmy4993]

What are your test results for Nitrate and Phosphate? How much are you dosing and how often of each fert? Can we get a close up of the plants that are still having problems?

For the scape, I'd recommend turning that driftwood at an angle. It will create a more dynamic feel and add energy and flow to the arrangement.

ok tests
nitrite and ammonia 0
nitrate 20
phosphate 2.0
ph 6.8
kh 8
co2 38ppm

i moved the driftwood and couple plants around tonight. driftwood i think looks better moved so ty there. and plants not so much. guess ill have to keep playing or could use advice on what to move, what to keep and what new to get.

also will take a pic in 30 mins or so when water clears up of the bad plants.

edit
i forgot dosing
i dose 1/4 tsp kno3, 1/8 tsp k2so4, and 1/16th kh2po4 m,w,f
and a small pinch of csm+b on t,th,sat.

 

[harmy4993]

ok here are some close ups. hopefully they turn out.

algee on the ferns

the plant that is dying and growing

new plant that i hope takes off. suppose to be a foreground plant. hope thats true

and full tank with driftwood rotated. im not sure what im missing or what i need to do. just doesnt seem to flow together very well. i like the vals but could use some more. and i like the stem plants on the right and the fish love swimming in them so dont want to change that. but other then that im open to suggestions.

 

[mike47517]

cool now from there its easy. not

 

[Purrbox]

Looks to be BBA on the Java Ferns. I'd remove the affected leaves so that the plants can concentrate on growing new healthy growth. I'd bump you K2SO4 dosing to 1/4 tsp to see if it helps. You may also want to try mixing up a CSM+B solution so that you can more precisely control the amount that you are adding. As you up the other dosing make sure to keep an eye on the Nitrate and Phosphate levels just incase the plants start using them quicker.

 

[shrek_vn2002]

I used flourish excel 3 full caps for 3 days and BBA changed to pink color and just die.... But I still have some green spot on the glass and i have to clean it every week...

 

[Alaris]

I used flourish excel 3 full caps for 3 days and BBA changed to pink color and just die.... But I still have some green spot on the glass and i have to clean it every week...

What size tank did you use it in?

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Excel deff kills BBA and maybe some other algaes. A spot treatment works good. Or using 2-3x the daily dose(1ml per 10G) like every other day for 1-2 weeks clears things up alot.

I cannot really say that Excel grows plants much better IMO, but deff works on algae.

 

[cmcmullen]

does having plants in the tank mean it is a planted?

 

[cmcmullen]

we have about 9 plant in our tank. not to shure what they are got most of them from wal mart with no tags on them, others we got from friends.

 

[cmcmullen]

my local pet stores are lacking in good plants. can i get good plants sent to me from on line supplyers? I want some good fore ground plants.

 

[Purrbox]

If you have any live plants in an aquarium, then yes it would be considered planted. It may only be lightly planted if there's just a few, but still planted.

For online suppliers I'd recommend checking out the Barter/Trade and Classifieds forums here at AA. Until you have 10 posts you can PM people that have listed plants available if you are interested in what they are offering. Once you have 10 posts you're allowed to post in those forums and can post a wanted ad.

If you have something in specific that you are looking for that you can't find on the forums, then I'd recommend checking out Lowcoaster (Charley) on Aquabid.com. I've had excellant luck ordering from him. Both the quality and quantity is excellant. You can get on his email list and order from him directly instead of bidding on his auctions.