55g Dirt Planted

[Marconis]

Thanks! Possibly BBA, at least on the swords. I also do not have any star grass...

 

[roydooms]

Thanks! Possibly BBA. I also do not have any star grass...

Oh... Is the last pic limnophila aromatica? What is it?

 

[Marconis]

It's eichhornia diversifolia.

 

[roydooms]

It's eichhornia diversifolia.

Ok. Looks like star grass when you look at it from the top. Thanks.

 

[Marconis]

It's an understandable mistake!

 

[mfdrookie516]

Tank is looking great man.

 

[Marconis]

Thanks Jon.

 

[daileene]

ohhh love the vals.....they are one of my favorites. Tank is really looking nice.

 

[Marconis]

As of this morning. Really starting to fill in, and diversifolia has increased greatly in height. Algae is semi-rampant...cloudiness due to so-so camera and taken after a PWC.

 

[daileene]

getting there....great job!

 

[mfdrookie516]

I really like that Nick. Very simple, which really looks better IMO. Great job!

 

[Marconis]

Thanks guys.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Love the placement of all the wood and the plants....This tank looks awesome!

 

[LemurLad]

Looking great! The sag is gorgeous!

 

[Marconis]

Hi all. Haven't done a water change yet, going to do it either tonight or tomorrow morning. Tank is an algal mess, but I am still seeing great growth, in my opinion. All new growth is a great green; Vals/Sag still propping up everywhere. If you scroll back and forth between the two shots, you can see significant growth in the past two weeks.

As for unwanted pests, last week I discovered duckweed that came out of nowhere (several weeks after planting). I removed it all, and didn't see any today since its removal last week. Today when the lights came on I also noticed Hydra in various places on my glass. I'll try to suck up as many as possible when I do my water change. The worms have been kept to a strict minimum as well.

No fert dosing...just ~8.5ish hours of light and a water change once a week. I'll take another shot once it's all cleared up.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I think the dirt causes an algae bloom for a little while. If you remember, I went through the same thing with my 125, then it just stopped. I thought it might have been from my fert dosing, but after doing a little reading on potting soil, it seems that may be the cause. It looks fantastic. I hate that you've had so many issues with the critters those plants you bought brought in.

 

[jetajockey]

That stargrass looks great, is that what it is? Near the center in the back? A thick group of that covering a large portion of the back would look fantastic.

If you want to eliminate hydra the only foolproof method I've found is a sprinkle of fenbendazole (can be found via canine dewormer, safeguard, panacur) and it seems to wipe out any hydra or planaria within a day or so. Have never seen any negative effects towards my fry or inverts either.

 

[Marconis]

It's E. diversifolia, actually. I need to trim and replant. I am still going to have to look into fenbendazole. Right now, I am actually LOVING all of the invert life in my aquarium. I also just discovered a ton of very fast moving snails that inhabit the substrate, and those larger snails I discovered earlier seem to be multiplying. None are doing any harm to the plants. Upon further inspection, there are a lot more Hydra than I thought, so they'll need to be taken care of in time.

For the time being, I'm lovin' this ecosystem, it's fun to watch .

*Jon, didn't even see you replied! I'm not that worried about the algae really...it's not inhibiting my plants as far as I can see, and it's not like I look at this tank daily. I'm waiting it out, like you said.

 

[Marconis]

Hey all, been a while since I updated. I just did a huge water change, much larger than planned...will get to why down the post. My tank is doing great, I'll break it down in points.

Overall:
Arrived to my apartment for first time since July 5th to a very cloudy tank (it gets worse each week I come back). That's fine, since it is just due to the dirt, most likely. What makes me happy is that the unwanted inverts such as Hyrda are greatly lowered in number after each water change, so their demise is near. The annoying, chunky, brown algae has also declined massively...much less on the glass each week, and a lot less on my wood and substrate. Good signs!

The Italian Vals:
Overall, they are very healthy, producing runners and new growth all over the left side of the tank. They are growing tall as well. Every week, however, I notice yellowed tips on one or two leaves, with the very oldest leaves turning yellow and eventually rotting. The healthy growth outnumbers the death, so I think that this will most likely be ongoing with having to trim away dying leaves. Not too concerned, so long as 95% of them are healthy.

*While writing this post, I just noticed that they have put their runners out right into the Diverifolia, and they are pretty tall leaves (photo below). Will have to trim these eventually because I don't want them pushing over too far to the right.

Dwarf Sag:
Doing great. Have run all the way into the Sword territory. One or two yellow tips, nothing serious. Mixing in with the bases of the Vals, looks cool.

Diversifolia:
To my surprise, growing incredibly! Lower leaves start to sag as they grow taller. I just trimmed the tallest one and planted it to the right of the three; a fourth plant has begun to grow from the base of one and it just propping up behind the wood. Liking these.

Swords:
Generally steady. Attract algae the most. No serious growth but no death either.

Anaerobic/Dirt smell:
None! After over a month of being set up, I am extremely pleased that this tank lets of no sent. It smells like plants and nothing more. Guessing that my sand layer has enough room to let the dirt breathe.

PWC Issue:
While siphoning water, I usually take a plastic cup and fill my filter back up with tank water so that nothing dries out. I couldn't find the plastic cup, I think my brother through it out since I probably left it on the table. Before doing the water change, I had a glass of tap water and I put the glass in the sink. Since I just used it for water, I went to the sink and brought it to my tank to fill my filter up. When dumping water from the glass into the filter, I noticed soap bubbles. Had remembered that I washed my hands with soap before doing the water change (after vigorously rinsing and drying with paper towels, habit before putting hands in tank). Soap must have gotten in the glass.

I suck, don't I? I dumped all the filter water out into a bucket, and while doing so the intake drained. Some soap probably got into the tank. I dumped the bucket water into the tub and refilled with tank water by using a plastic cup (should have done this in the first place!!). Rinsed the media vigorously and put it all back as normal. So, my bacteria is all probably dead. That's fine, I am not getting fish until the end of August. What I am more concerned about is soap in my actual tank. I did a 75% water change in hopes of removing anything that got in, and hoping that the new water will dilute it massively. Time will tell!


The pictures (directly after PWC):

Full Tank Shot

Swords:

Dwarf Field:

Vals:

Diversifolia, with Val Growth:

Newly clipped/planted Divers.:

Dwarf Runners:

Dwarf Sag Mixed with Swords:

 

[meegosh]

Looking good! Did you happen to get that diversifolia from rookie? I sent him some a few months ago. Glad to see others enjoying it! I have the same problems with mine, get a few rows of leaves on top and the bottoms sag and die off. It really does grow like a weed though.