GLA 6g Rimless 36-L - My First Iwagumi Inspired Scape Journal

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Brian_Nano12g said:
@Fort - I don't have a PO4 test kit... Do I really need one? I'll start dosing the dry ferts soon so KNO3 is in the mix.

@Coralline - Thank you :) I think I'm leaning more towards PPS-Pro. I already have the Green Ferts Pack from GLA. I just have to mix them up with some distilled water. Just got the digital scale in too... this oughta be fun!

@Betta - Thank you! I think I'm going to roll with some Red Rili Shrimp. Since I'm new to shrimp, I want something easy. Since they're basically a modified RCS, they should be hardy. Eventually, I want to get in to those Crystal Reds and Tigers of some sort.. but one step at a time. :)
Click to expand...

Here's a pic of a breeding colony of crs I started over a year ago..
 

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There is also a small breeding colony of cherries in there as well..(1st pic fluval edge)although you cannot see the massive #'s of shrimp they are there,at last count 40+crs&10+cherries...

ForumRunner_20121107_161111.jpg

Here's my 10g planted with as many as 60+ cherries&20+crs..
 
Looks good Tiger Terror... I want to get some CRS and Tangerine Tigers eventually. You use RO water for the CRS right?
 
Brian_Nano12g said:
Looks good Tiger Terror... I want to get some CRS and Tangerine Tigers eventually. You use RO water for the CRS right?
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Yeah 100% ro&pretreat with seachem replenish prior to pwc's...
 
Yeah that's what I figured... I just need easy Neo shrimp since I'm probably going to use 50/50 RO and Tap.. TDS here in AZ is pretty much liquid rock status. I love CRS, but don't have a RO/DI unit at home so having to run out to get some for PWC's would get old fast.

Nice tanks though!
 
Okay... I think I solved a little dilemma with PPS-Pro...

I'm a big newb when it comes to Ferts. That's why I favored the Seachem Flourish Comprehensive with the whole convenience in a bottle thing. But I think I'm ready to take off the proverbial training wheels and dive in to the next level of ferts, (drum roll please) using Dry Ferts! (y)

Well, when I ordered my GLA tank, I saved on some shipping and bought the "Green Fert Pack" from GLA (HERE) along with 2 500ml dispenser bottles (that Rivercats recommended to help measure out the doses). Well up in to this point, I didn't think I would need them just yet, being that I have a lot of the Seachem stuff left. Well from the looks of my HC, it's quite evident that a more comprehensive fertilizing method is needed ASAP.

When I ordered the Green Ferts "Pack" I thought that because it was bundled as a "Pack" I thought everything I needed was there...
Well according to the PPS-Pro Recipe Calculator (HERE) - I need MgSO4 (Magnesium Sulfate) in the mix. Guess what, it's not included in the PACK!

The Green Fert Package Includes:

Micros -
Plantex CSM + B - 1 / 2 Pound
Macros -
Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) - 1 Pound
Mono Potassium Phosphate (KH2PO4) - 1 / 2 Pound
Potassium Sulfate (K2SO4) - 1 Pound​

So I was a little ticked that I didn't know to order that separately. Since I haven't taken chemistry in like a billion years (you don't want to know my grade), luckily GOOGLE became my best friend on this one... Apparently, MgSO4 is just Epsom Salt (duhhh)!!! I don't know how important MgSO4 is, but who am I to argue... Looks like I'll be running to the market tonight to get this mixed up!!! This was just a friendly FYI for those who are clueless like me... LOL

Oh and for those who jump in to PPS-Pro too, Rivercats was kind enough to recommend a tip... "add 5 ml of Excel or so to every 250 ml of Plantex CSM solution to keep it mold free." :thanks:

So here's the "stuff" (minus the MgSO4) :cool:

8165618251_f69ceb318f_c.jpg
 
Brian_Nano12g said:
So in regard to my nematode problem (which is not really a problem since they, from what I read, don't harm anything...but the attractiveness of my tank... well to me anyway:brows:), I decided to try a little dose of Fenbendazole (dog dewormer) since it did wonders in my community tank in getting rid of hydra... not to mention the nematodes I had in there as an added bonus... um, can someone say "collateral damage". (y) So I decided to take the 'risk' of using chemicals (which I hate to do in any aquarium). Hey, I had zero issues using it before in my other tank, which even the MTS and pond snails survived!!!

So, I dosed yesterday but I'm still seeing those squiggling suckers around in the water column and glass all alive... so I was starting to question the "effectiveness" because I was like...WHAT GIVES? It killed my Hydra within a day the last time...okay, hydra and worms aren't the samething... can't compare apples and oranges. So I dug around a bit online to understand the process a bit more and found some interestingly cool info on how Fenbendazole works...which I think explains why it didn't take care of the worms on the spot... Here are some of the cool stuff that caught my eye... "fenbendazole works by inhibiting the ingestion of glucose and other nutrients by the worm"(ehow.com)..."it works by binding to 3-tubulin protein that blocks polymerization of tubules into micro-tubules, which damages the integrity and the transport function of the cells" (XHellcatX)...Wow.. sounds real technical doesn't it, but really neat! I guess it basically blocks these little suckers from feeding and absorbing nutrients, thus hindering their ability to thrive and multiply... so they'll just starve to death and goodbye worms!!! So I'm giving this a good 48 hours, then I'll do a massive water change and add some carbon to the filter.

So here's my big public service announcement... the use of chemicals to solve any problem in an aquarium should be used as a last resort and at calculated risk (understand these risks the best you can), then make a decision to use them or not. Even so I've read through a bunch of info online and forums that have used Fenbendazole in aquariums with success, it's still not a 100% proven method...use with caution.

For those of you who have decided to read this, I apologize if I bored you guys with this big ol' rant on something that most find to be beneficial to an aquarium... call it personal taste, but I just hate worms that aren't frozen and meant to be fed to my fish. :whistle:

Picture from my desk... Yes...geek alert! That's my Kotobukiya Iron Man statue and my lightsaber...LOL

Well hope you guys have a nice weekend and Happy Halloween:dance:!!!
Our Pom, Kitsu :)
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Oh I so agree with you about the worms if they are not frozen and meant to be fed to the fish ...I just threw away two 55g filter flosses due to constant I think black fly eggs hatching...the floss full of black worm looking larvae
 
Geronica said:
Oh I so agree with you about the worms if they are not frozen and meant to be fed to the fish ...I just threw away two 55g filter flosses due to constant I think black fly eggs hatching...the floss full of black worm looking larvae
Click to expand...

My Eastern American newt would love to eat those! Not that having them grow in the filter would be much fun. I had a couple of baby earthworms in the last batch of plants I ordered and he excitedly slurped them down. No accounting for taste. Bleh

Jetstorm369 said:
Why not just use these?

Amazon.com: Seachem Flourish Tabs 10 Count: Pet Supplies
Click to expand...

Those are for feeding the roots of your plants down in the substrate. The dry ferts are for feeding the leaves and stems through the water column. Most people feed both ways, as do I.
 
Yeah I feel so much better without having to see worms flying around in the water column and crawling up the glass. The treatment worked :)

As for the root tabs, I do use them. I put a bunch of the Flourish tabs in the 12g. I had 1 left over so I broke it up into several pieces and used that in my 6g. I did get another package of them, but I'm uncertain whether or not to stick them in my 6g at this point. I will start dosing PPS-Pro now, so I think I might be unnecessary.

Further... to my understanding, the Fluval Stratum and Floramax combo in my substrate both have a high CEC (cationic exchange capacity) which enables this substrate to absorb nutrients like a battery from what I dose (e.g. dry ferts via pps-pro) and from fish/shrimp poop and feed the roots of the plants. I think that's how it's suppose to work in theory.
 
If I remember correctly, Fluval Stratum actually has nutrients in it because it's a pelletized soil rather than a fired clay substrate. It will eventually run out though.
 
@aqua_chem - yeah that's what I read as well. Although, I would imagine that it pales in comparison to ADA AquaSoils... But I'm pretty happy with it. It does seem a little delicate and breaks apart easily. But no complaints here.
 
Update: Dry Ferts Mixed - PPS-Pro Lets Go!

So I finally mixed the ferts (only 250ml each for now). After getting some advice from Rivercats and Fort, it was determined that I do not have to mix in MgSO4 in the macros. I suppose the Magnesium sulfate would be needed if your tank is filled with just RO/DI water or your tap is really soft. In Arizona, the tap is quite the opposite and I don't think it gets any harder than our tap. I don't have a test kit for GH and KH but I googled up the water quality from the city and I can see that Magnesium is plentiful in the city water. So I'm going to start doing a 50/50 mix of tap and RO/DI water in my PWC's moving forward--I need to get this tank ready for shrimp :)

So I was a little bored and created some labels for my dispenser bottles :)

More pics :cool:

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