Caliban's AquaOpti 85L

[Bert2oo1]

I think it's common knowledge that ADA aquasoil buffers to around 6.4-6.5? If injecting co2 this could easily get in the 5s. This could be ADAs 'secret'

Bert can you check the pH of the Ada tank when it's up and running?

Yea no worrys at all. I should be flooding it in 2 weeks if all goes to plan [emoji106]

 

[Caliban07]

Nice one.

 

[Delapool]

I think you'll want it in the late 5s for best nutrient availability. Especially iron. I managed to do that when feeding lots of gas but I'm looking for alternative ways to keep pH low. Unfortunately I don't have a pH meter anymore but I suspect my ph is still in the 7s-late 6s.

My tank is becoming more of a test tank by the day. I've removed the charcoal which may have been adsorbing heavy metals. I was using it for tannins. I added too much zinc yesterday after a weighing error. Fish seem ok but could be a time thing. Diatoms are on the decline.

I think I'm going to have to have 5 bottles with individual metal concentrations in to enable trouble shooting. I really want to get this pH down too. KH test kit says I'm at 9 but this is supposedly very soft water. I suspect there's lots of chemicals in the tap that are manipulating the water to be artificially maintained at a desirable set of parameters. Rainwater is becoming more appealing by the day.

View attachment 300335

Good news on the diatoms going. Any thoughts on what's causing it to go?

 

[Caliban07]

Good news on the diatoms going. Any thoughts on what's causing it to go?

My suspicion would be something to do with the establishment of bacteria as the tank ages.

Edit: I have the fungus on the driftwood too which goes as the wood ages in the aquarium.

 

[Delapool]

My suspicion would be something to do with the establishment of bacteria as the tank ages.

Edit: I have the fungus on the driftwood too which goes as the wood ages in the aquarium.

Interesting! Was very tempted to do some research but will save for next weekend.

Edit - got sidetracked. I've always wondered if algae conduct warfare on each other but ended up looking up bacterial warfare instead...

 

[Caliban07]

I do think things go on but I reckon with algae it's finding that niche and each is specific to the right environmental cues. I find it interesting that of all the thousands of algal species on this earth aquariums tend to cultivate only a select easily identifiable few.

 

[Delapool]

I've noticed as my tank conditions change I can get different algae types but do generally only have one or so sorts at a time (almost like old friends lol). I thought the bolbitis would get algae for sure and be a waste of money but so far is doing well.

 

[Caliban07]

I've noticed as my tank conditions change I can get different algae types but do generally only have one or so sorts at a time (almost like old friends lol). I thought the bolbitis would get algae for sure and be a waste of money but so far is doing well.

I've had all types too but I have just gotten one type as well. It's crazy.

My next plan is to buy some ph down. I'm going to try to maintain a low ph for a few weeks during the photoperiod to see if growth improves.

 

[Caliban07]

I’m back! [emoji846]

 

[Caliban07]

I don’t know why the photograph is such poor quality

Edit: there’s so much I would like to discuss but it maybe be better if people ask questions about the current tank. It’s by no means perfect clearly and I have developed algae too but this only served to help my figure some more things out about algae and also to embrace it....for now at least.

 

[Caliban07]

This is the plant that I am so happy about at the moment.

Rotala Macrandra

 

[TMaier]

And he rises from the ashes! Looks like some happy plants.

 

[Delapool]

Looking nice - that plant on the right is going gang-busters.

 

[Autumnsky]

Hi! Nice to see you back here.

Macra looks beautiful. Nice color and leaves!

 

[Delapool]

Which is the macra?

 

[Autumnsky]

View attachment 306273

View attachment 306274

This is the plant that I am so happy about at the moment.

Rotala Macrandra

This beauty.

 

[Caliban07]

And he rises from the ashes! Looks like some happy plants.

Hi TM. It looks like it but some are just hanging in there. The main reason for this is that I haven’t been dosing anything for just short of a month. The plants grow very slowly with the exception of a couple.

 

[Caliban07]

Looking nice - that plant on the right is going gang-busters.

Hi Dela. The Hygro Corymbosa is now sprouting emersed leaves. This plant did better with higher nutrient dosing. The older leaves are starting to grow green spot algae but it is still putting out new leaves lower down. I’m thinking of removing the leaves under water slowly once there is enough above the water line. As a sort of mini test, where is this plant obtaining most of its nutrients from? This may be a bit of a non starter though if aquatic plant can take nutrients in through shoots. Either way I would expect it to keep growing.

In higher nutrient dosing (EI and above) this plant had straighter leave
And grew quickly but the leaves would often be pale with intraveinal chlorosis.

Here are some more pics. All my plants bar one are tissue culture.

 

[Caliban07]

Hi! Nice to see you back here.

Macra looks beautiful. Nice color and leaves!

Hi Autumn. The colour is ok. It colours up better with higher nutrient dosing. It’s virtually impossible to tell which nutrient is responsible. I would have a better guess if it were macro related but adding micros individual doesn’t seem to do anything positive.

As a result of this i added seachem root tabs to the substrate and bought more fish. I feed more and change much less water. The combined affects of less water changes and increased bioload resulted in proliferation of BBA no question. I assumed that the plant mass would take care of the added ammonia but at this time they perhaps were not taking in nutrients as quickly as they would normally because they were unhealthy. I think I lost some more fish because of this which further increased bioload for a short period.

Making these changes however, led to the resurgence of the Rotala Mac. If you look at the lower stems you will see they did not recover from high nutrient dosing and regular water changes. There are many reasons this might be.

Here when first planted



Here after a while dosing heavy

 

[Caliban07]

Another plant that I’m am trying under the new regimen is rotala Wallichii. My arch nemesis.