Tank journey: 10 gallon > new 20 gallon long build

[PerfectDepth]

Great progress PerfectDepth, following!

Thanks! Do you mean the plants or the diatoms?

Sorry to hear about the helferi

No worries, I'm hoping it's just transitioning. All the original leaves on both are now yellow/brown and dying. The better one has healthy new growth, though! The other I thought was a lost cause. I went to pull it out and saw some healthy roots, so I left it alone for now.. fingers crossed.

 

[Brookster123]

Did the original leaves all die off even on the one that survived? Now it looks like my other one is starting to turn yellow, too. That one has some strong new growth on it, so it should be fine.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Yep, not so much die..more succumb to algae strangulation.. once they all got trimmed new growth had started to explode.. albeit slow growth, it's healthy and green!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[PerfectDepth]

Yep, not so much die..more succumb to algae strangulation.. once they all got trimmed new growth had started to explode.. albeit slow growth, it's healthy and green!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Thanks. I have zero experience with this plant. I didn't know what to expect. They both doubled in height within the first week. It really seemed like they were ready to take off, so I was kinda shocked to see the nice healthy leaves all turn yellow and slowly die.

 

[Brookster123]

Throw a toot tab under there?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Slavo]

Thanks! Do you mean the plants or the diatoms?



No worries, I'm hoping it's just transitioning. All the original leaves on both are now yellow/brown and dying. The better one has healthy new growth, though! The other I thought was a lost cause. I went to pull it out and saw some healthy roots, so I left it alone for now.. fingers crossed.

That was in reference to the plants



I experienced something similar with my cryptocoryne wendtii, thankfully they bounced back from the brink of total meltdown. Seems like yours will too. All one can do is wait and see.

 

[PerfectDepth]

Throw a toot tab under there?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

I've been throwin toots all morning. Musta been the broccoli from last night... Oh wait, you meant root not toot. Good call, I just might do that. I did put about 1 1/2 tablespoons of loose osmocote spread across the bottom under the substrate to help kickstart it.. might be time for a few strategically placed tabs.

Slavo-
Thanks.. I'm not giving up on it just yet!

 

[Brookster123]

I've been throwin toots all morning. Musta been the broccoli from last night... Oh wait, you meant root not toot. Good call, I just might do that. I did put about 1 1/2 tablespoons of loose osmocote spread across the bottom under the substrate to help kickstart it.. might be time for a few strategically placed tabs.

Slavo-
Thanks.. I'm not giving up on it just yet!

Stupid phone!! Broccoli makes me toot as well I meanttttttt root tabs Samsung Galaxy!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[cherokeeluvr]

Beautiful tank! Are you running pressurized co2 on it?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[PerfectDepth]

Brookster

cherokee,
No pressurized, just DIY CO2.

 

[cherokeeluvr]

Oh my gosh! That's awesome!! What is your bps on the diy co2 and how often do you change it out? Also what's your recipe? Looks like it's doing an amazing job!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[cherokeeluvr]

Do you love the light you have?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[PerfectDepth]

Oh my gosh! That's awesome!! What is your bps on the diy co2 and how often do you change it out? Also what's your recipe? Looks like it's doing an amazing job!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

No idea on bps. If I had to guess, I'd say it averages 1-2 bps, I'm not really sure. With my setup it doesn't matter much anyway, I have a secret weapon... Shhhhh. (My homemade internal co2 reactor runs on a timer, plus it is self-regulating, i.e. any "excess" co2 just bubbles out. It's the big ugly bottle on the far right.)

Two 1-liter bottles, plus a smaller bottle for a bubble counter. Each 1-liter bottle gets:
1 cup sugar,
1/4 tsp yeast,
and 1/4 tsp baking soda (extra buffering to help it last longer).

They last around 4 weeks, so I alternate and change out 1 bottle about every 2 weeks. The internal reactor also functions as a gauge that tells me when the CO2 is slowing down. If the reactor doesn't stay full of co2 while the pump is running, then I know it's time to change out the older bottle.

Here's a pic:

As for the BeamsWork fixture, I'm very pleased with the results so far. At first I was considering a Finnex planted+, which I thought seemed to already be a really good value. Well, this one was about half the price of the Finnex, so color me impressed. I'm guessing it might not be as vibrant as the Finnex, but still looks great, and more striking than fluorescent bulbs, in my opinion.

 

[cherokeeluvr]

Ok thanks! Your system seems complex ;D mines two bottles of mix and a bubble counter bottle and then an airstone! Haha! And I'll look into that light! I want something better for my 10 gallon..


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[PerfectDepth]

Tank journey: 10 gallon > new 20 gallon long build

CALIBRATE your test kits, folks!! It turns out my API phospate kit is way off. I was skipping the phosphate dosing since my test showed 2.0. After borrowing a friend's kit I found out PO4 was bottoming out at the end of the week. The rotala was not happy but it's looking much better now.

photo update:

 

[Brookster123]

...........STARS!!!......

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[PerfectDepth]

...........STARS!!!......

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Slavo]

Looking good!!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice ??

 

[PerfectDepth]

It's been a while.. time for an update.

I added a sparkling gourami a few weeks ago. Still waiting on more CPDs. It turns out they were bad stock. I'm down to just 3 survivors which are still in the QT tank, now grown to adult-size and looking great. The CPDs that the lfs was getting for a while were mostly dying off after a few days. They haven't been able to get any at all lately.

I got rid of the swords. They were taking up a lot of space, plus they were growing so fast that the substrate wasn't keeping up with nutrient demand. It was too difficult to get new root tabs placed before it was too late and deficiencies showed up.

 

[Brookster123]

Looks sick!!!!! I had bad luck with cpds too. 10 down 1 survivor doing good. I like the little gouramis, they move like eels kind of.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[PerfectDepth]

Looks sick!!!!! I had bad luck with cpds too. 10 down 1 survivor doing good. I like the little gouramis, they move like eels kind of.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Thanks!! Yeah, I don't know if it was the cold weather or what, but the cpds were coming in very weak and pale, then eventually they'd start dropping like flies. The sparkling gourami is a cool little fish. They do kinda move like eels. It's fun to watch him weave through the star repens patch hunting for baby shrimp.