Finally Starting Over

[azn_fishy55]

I finally am going to restart my 30 gallon,I thought it would be nessesary to start a journal so if I run into any problems I will have some help and you ppls can know what I did wrong.So far I have one whisper 5-15 filter,one AC 20,and one penguin 100B filters.I was going to switch to a canister but I think this should be enough.The substrate is either going to be 100% ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia or 50% ADA Aqua Soil and 50% gravel.I have a DIY CO2 System with 2 CO2 bottles connected to a Vortex Reactor(which I hope I made it right this time )and I am saving up for a pressurized system.The lights are Coralife compact fluorescent with 1 95 watt bulb.The plants are undetermined yet till I but them but so far I have 2 stems of L.repens,several stems of B.carolina,several stems of C.palaeformis,1 A.crispus,1 E.osiris,half a carpet of G.elatinoides.The plants that I hope to get are H.callitrichoides, and H.micranthemoides.Are there any need of changes?The fish are 5 dwarf rainbows,2 honey gouramis,3 cories,and 2 otos.I am gonna 4 SAEs and some sort of schooling fish(like neons or cardinals).

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I would cut down the number of SAE, they get a bit big, and 4 in a 30 Gal can take your entire fish load. try 1 and see how it does before you put 4 in.

 

[Tiffi]

I would cancel the SAE and get one more oto and another cory.

Besides, you could save money for the pressurised CO2 if you don't buy that expensive substrate. I've always only had some Tahitian Moon Sand with some plain laterite. It's cheap and look at my gallery how my plants flourish. If you don't over-clean your gravel with vacuuming all the time (like many people seem to love), you plants will get enough nutrients through the gravel!

 

[azn_fishy55]

I have m,ade my mistakes and now I learned that going the expensive way is usually the most easiest way.Travis I believe had told me I could put 4 since they like being in groups and get only 3" according to the SAEs he has.I don't think I am going to keep the otos in there since I need some algae eaters in my 5 gallon.I can just go for DIY CO2 and Flourish Excel for now but I know I will definitly have to go with pressurized sooner or later so yeah.Also the reason I am getting the Aqua Soil is that I think it looks nice and it provides nutrients to the plants so I don't have to dose ferts all the time,but I still will.Why should I try one before I buy the rest of the SAEs?

 

[malkore]

All my SAE's reached a full 4". They also beat up all my fine, needle leaved plants (rotala wallichi, for example)

I had 6, now I have 2, and frankly I can't wait to trade em to the LFS for credit.

As for aqua soil, it may be a fine substrate, but it's not going to make up for water column fertilization. You'll still have to maintain that.

 

[azn_fishy55]

I know I will still have to dose and I intend to.I guess three SAEs or two,but I really want them.I really like how they look and they eat lots of types of algae as a plus ^_^.

 

[azn_fishy55]

I finally started again and it is going good so far.In the tank the plants are L.repens,C.parva,H.callithrodes,Cabomba sp,A.crispus,E.osiris,Riccia sp. Dwarf,C.thaillidrodes,M.aquatica, and some other unknown species of plants.I'll have to post some pics of them when I get my laptop back.I added some Bio-Spira(plus the old filter media which has loads of bacteria on it) this afternoon and now I have the 4 Dwarf Rainbows,a breeding pair of Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlids,and 8 cherry shrimp with one pregnant in there.I have to finish my reactor soon so I can start dosing CO2 but for now I am dosing Excel.How much Excel will I need to dose once a week?

 

[rich311k]

1 ml a gallon every other day minimum

 

[gheitman]

Flourish Excel should be dosed 1ml per 10 gallons, not 1ml per gallon, no more than once a day. I dose my tanks with Flourish Excel 1ml per 10 gallons 5 days a week where needed.

 

[rich311k]

Thank you for correcting me. I misread the bottle.

 

[azn_fishy55]

So I need 3 mL every day to make up for the CO2.Can I add 3 mL of Excel every other day?

 

[azn_fishy55]

So I got some excel on saturday and started dosing.I started up my CO2 on monday and connected it to my diffuser today.I tested after a large water change and here are the results
pH:6.4
KH:53.7 ppm or 3 dKH
GH:89.5 ppm or 5 dGH
CO2:35.83 ppm(which is good right?)
Ammonia:4.0 ppm
Nitrite:5.0
Nitrate:5.0

I is this tank going good so far?Its only 4 days old and I feel its been weeks :| .

 

[Purrbox]

If I read correctly you are cycling with fish. If so, you need to do a water change to get your Ammonia to safe levels. It should be kept under 1ppm if at all possible.

CO2 levels are looking good.

 

[azn_fishy55]

I pretty much only have a pair of Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlids and 3 Dwarf Rainbows.I try to do water changes every week,is that enough?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Til the tank is cycled, should do it every other day, depending on ammonia levels. Should be kept below 1ppm. Maybe plants will start helping with that too.

 

[azn_fishy55]

Okay I did another large water change today and noticed that some of the leaves of my cabomba sp. and echindorus osiris are coming out yellow.The leaves on the Echindorus were new and turned out yellow but the leaves on my Cabomba sp. were existing leaves that turned yellow.Should I start doing ferts now?

 

[czcz]

Probably. Are you using Aquasoil?

 

[azn_fishy55]

Yeah 100% ADA Amazonia Aquasoil,I haven't dosed anything but Excel in there so far with frequent large water changes.

 

[czcz]

How are the ammonia levels and cycle doing? Keep up on the water changes and CO2, but Aquasoil needs little to no other fertilization in the beginning. There is an adjustment period for plants and so give them some time, should the yellowing leaves be adaptation. As you know, the last thing you need at this point is N, so do not worry about it until the byproduct of the cycle and aquasoil depletes. If you suspect uptake is limited by other nutrients, likely the only dosing necessary are K (I like dosing lots of K, and others may disagree) and traces/Fe. Suggest you give it time though.

(I have found it surprising how little I need to dose my Aquasoil tanks, and I have induced greenwater in one by dosing as I have in my inert substrate setups, where I did not induce algae. I like it so much I now have Amazonia in three tanks, including a nano. Only the one I messed with has GW.)

Your derived CO2 level is not necessarily relevant, since Aquasoil messes with KH and pH. Trust your plants and fish first.

HTH

 

[sherry]

the excel works out to about half a capful for a 30 gallon tank. I do that just about every day and the plants grow like mad.