RennjiDK
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Posts posted by RennjiDK
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Sept 14, 2023
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Another 10 days of growth, Aug 27th 2023
Not sure when I should do the first trim and re-plant.
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On 8/20/2023 at 2:32 AM, Pepere said:
My experience and opinion of the tidal series is dramatically different…
In my experience the skimmer functions as a marketing ploy and nothing else.
The basket has huge built in bypasses that bypasses the bottom sponge prefilter every day it is used. If water bypasses the prefilter sponge thT sponge isnt doing much prefiltering.
Even using supplied media, the filter clogs to the point it is bypassing by going into overflow over the basket top and activating the bypass indicator within days of putting in to service.
In my mind it was a colossal waste of money….
Tidal 35, $41.00 at Amazon, Oase Filtosmart, 60, 65.00 at Amazon…
I will readily admit, the filtering needs of a 9 gallon are not much.. An air driven sponge filter would easily meet the biological filtration needs.
All filters have pros and cons. HOB's provide the worst filtration next to air driven sponge filters. That's just an issue you're going to have to deal with, if you chose to run one.
I also said in my original post to use a cut to fit sponge. See?
On 8/19/2023 at 9:50 PM, RennjiDK said:A simple sponge cut to fit will be fine.
This takes care of the bypass issue, once the basket is removed.
For the record, I like having a surface skimmer. It removes a lot of biological waste that would otherwise build on the surface and form a protein film.
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Buy your media bags on Amazon. There's hundreds of manufacturers with all different dimensions and pore sizes. You can get a 10 pack of whatever your looking for, for around $8.
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For HOB, Tidal is best in class (IMO). It's self priming, has a sicce pump, and skims. I wouldn't worry about a canister or media types, as you're not going to max out any filtration with a 9g tank. A simple sponge cut to fit will be fine.
As for lighting, it doesn't really matter without Co2. Don't believe that adding more par is going to result in more growth. Just look for something with a plant spectrum. Kelvin, lumens, and wattage mean absolutely nothing. I would put the $30est 12" light on the tank, and that should get you close.
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On 8/8/2023 at 11:35 PM, Stef said:
Nice! Who’s the lucky betta?
Sorry for the late reply. Feel free to follow along.
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Moving to the journal section to keep an online tank record.
Equipment:
Lifegard 7g full view
Chihiros B series 30cm
GLA paintball reg and atomic diffuser
Aqueon Pro 50w
Seachem Matrix 1L
Brick sized coarse sponge
Setup and dark cycle start Jul 27th, 2023
Planting day Aug 7th, 2023
10 day growth update Aug 17, 2023
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On 8/16/2023 at 7:50 AM, Jeff_F said:
I received an Oase Biomaster Thermo 250 as a birthday gift to replace my HOB filter. I'm trying to decide on how to transition from the HOB to the canister filter. Should I run both filters for awhile or put the filter media from the HOB into a canister tray for awhile? I use Aquarium Coop's filter sponge material in the HOB and on the intake tube. I'd prefer putting the filter material into the canister in order to eliminate the HOB. Does it make any difference?
I plan on using Oase's medium sponge in the prefilter and also in the first tray along with some filter floss. I have some pot scrubbers that I'm going to use in the other filter trays.
Nitrifying bacterial colonies can double in size in a matter of hours. Pull the filter media and/or sponge out of the HOB, rinse it off, and just toss it in the new canister. There's no reason to run them both at the same time or squeeze old detritus into your new clean filter.
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The last time I looked into it, I was using it in a low tech planted setup. My tap water is right around a 7.5 ph, so it is inert in MY low tech tanks, and that just stuck in my mind.
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On 8/16/2023 at 9:30 AM, lefty o said:
in freshwater, blue light plays a large part in algae. FW-REEF= not the same.
They're the exact same. What makes you believe that GHA, GSA, BSA, etc, photosynthesize using a different spectrum in the presence of salt?
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On 8/16/2023 at 10:37 AM, nabokovfan87 said:
Aragonite is definitely not inert. It's used in many cases to buffer up PH by raising KH.
Sorry, I misremembered and was partially incorrect. CaCo3 stops dissolving and becomes inert around a pH of 7.4. If you're water is much more acidic, say 6.4, it will help to buffer it to that level. It absolutely will not raise it to 8.2 like caribsea claims.
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You can't really "stall" a cycle. At this point, you are finished, there's no question about that. As for your stocking choices and testing methods, both could probably use improvement. Api reagents settle out of solution. Make sure you are shaking those bottles for a solid 30 seconds each before testing, and holding them completely vertical when counting drops. Also double check that you are filling the test tubes correctly, with the bottom of the water curve touching the line.
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Very small or labyrinth. Either way, just make sure your "ecosystem" really is one capable of substaining what ever you place in the tank.
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On 7/17/2023 at 9:53 PM, DaveO said:
My main concern after seeing this thread is water parameters. I consider any level of ammonia deadly to fish, if not immediately, long term stress will catch up to the fish. I thought I saw elevated nitrite also. Long term stress on the fish. I would fix those problems and then medicate the tank with the co-op trio to insure you have no parasite or fungal issues. I believe this tank should have a weekly water change schedule to change out 25% to 30% of the water. You may not feel like you overfeeding, but with that many fish plus the snail poop machine, you might be.
Every tank has ammonia present. It's a universal constant. What we need to pay attention to is the concentration. In OPs case, 1ppm is very high from the tap. Anything over a 25% WC at that concentration I'd consider harmful.
On 7/18/2023 at 8:52 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:Is it Aragonite? There was a mixup here on crushed coral; the aragonite is meant for marine tanks but it was being sold as crushed coral.
Your mystery snail is adorable, by the way. Try to offer a food with calcium and protein as well as vegetable for their shell health and operculum health. Hikari crab cuisine, Kat's aquatics food, or snail pellets from Crayfish empire. The crayfish empire ones are free as a sample, just pay shipping.
Aragonite is completely inert. It's fine to use in both FW and marine applications. Keep in mind that most non aquasoil substrates will bind phosphate for a prolonged period until an equilibrium is reached.
On 7/18/2023 at 4:41 PM, schmofam said:I would love love to have a 20-gallon. That's a big regret. If I switched now my wife would literally kill me... haha
I also use Seachem Stability when doing a water change. Does anybody have thoughts on that?
Dosing nitrifying bacteria during WCs does absolutely nothing. You've already colonized the amount your tank can substain. They do not live in the water column anyways.
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On 8/16/2023 at 12:31 AM, mynameisnobody said:
Floating frozen water bottles could help but at that temp, it wouldn’t be frozen very long so you’ll be switching out water bottles very often.
That's really the only option without a dedicated chiller. I'd get a couple 2l bottles and freeze them, should net you a few hours between swaps.
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On 8/13/2023 at 9:30 AM, Shadow said:
Yea as @mynameisnobody how heavily is it stocked? If its not very stocked you'd not have enough nutrients to sustain that many plants.
Livestock only add nitrate and phosphate. Even then, it entirely depends on the feeding schedule. Planning ferts around stocking is not a road to success.
On 8/13/2023 at 9:30 AM, Shadow said:Definitely add nutrients like the ACO Easy Green and whereas increasing light is ok, I would watch it...especially your blues...as you can get a algae bloom if the blue spectrum is high combined with too much light time. You could prob increase your time a bit and even give a mid day break if you want the light on longer. Something @nabokovfan87 taught me. 🙂
If blue light was responsible for algae, every reef tank on the planet would be a wall to wall display of Mt Dew.
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On 8/12/2023 at 9:08 PM, martinmin said:
Since it is new tank, I want to avoid adding fertilizers and see whether they can do well. I will add if I have to.
You can't grow plants without feeding plants.
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On 8/12/2023 at 10:41 PM, Eliot J said:
Oof, I totally didn't take the tank height into account, which would be my only real problem, as I already have and plan to use a Kasa timer.
I'm trying to keep things as low-tech as possible while also achieving a lush carpet and well established ecosystem. I've pulled this off before, with a $35 petco light and no experience, so I'm hoping I can make this work haha.
what you had to say about dry start is good tho... when you have done this, have you experienced melt back when you flood the scape?I have no issue going about this method, I'm just curious
I've never used the method, but plenty of people have. All of my tanks are high light and high tech.
Perhaps someone else will chime in with more DSM experience, though I can't imagine any more issues than just freshly planting. Most plants are grown out of water. The real issue is maintaining the correct humidity as to not dry out or rot the plants.
I'd also highly recommend tissue cultures. They will save you a lot of headache.
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On 8/12/2023 at 9:34 PM, Eliot J said:
Did some research and ordered the Hygger today. It will be here tomorrow evening!
loving the interaction on this thread, I'm probably going to order some microsword and dwarf sag from the coop in a couple weeks! I'll be sure to share pictures of the hard scape when I get there
I'm assuming you ordered from amazon? Return it. Hygger lights are terrible, IMO. They do not blend spectrum well and you will have a disco ball of individual colors in the tank, especially one that shallow. Most also dont turn off at night, they just dim, which means programming is out and you will need to use a timer anyways. Especially with the rev. 2 chihiros b series out now for the same price (or even cheaper). This is my go to budget light par/dollar. A step up would be the AI Blade.
Iwagumi scape with seiru or ohko. That's what tanks like these are begging for. Go really high in atleast one back corner (or both), 3/5's height with aquasoil. Use MC in the front and any low areas, and Cuba in the back. This will create and even further sense of depth in the tank.
Finally, use the dry start method, or set up a diy co2 system with a 2 liter bottle, airline, and air stone. Either way after 6-8 weeks, you'll have a beautiful carpet and will never need to worry about it again.
Again, that's just my personal opinion.
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I've pretty much given up on fishtubers for non-entertainment purposes. There is simply too much misinformation being spread, followed up with pseudoscience experiments, and the vast majority are guilty of it. I still keep one or two channels specifically for in depth species profiles and husbandry, but other than that, if were aren't roasting tanks on tiktok or scaping ADA level tanks, I'm out.
That being said, I 100% agree. Scrolling endlessly for a single video posted 5 years ago is daunting.
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On 8/9/2023 at 7:53 PM, Epiphanaea said:
Google is failing me.
I would personally try to vacuum out as much as possible during a WC. I would just use the hose itself, unattached from the plastic tube of your python for more flow. Once the bulk is removed, you could try a product like Dr Tim's waste away. I don't particularly like his brand and normally don't recommend it, but it's worth a shot.
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On 8/10/2023 at 7:16 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:
In order to get the sort of gyre effect he's describing in the video, you need massive flow. I doubt that it could be done practically in a FW system, and certainly not from a HOB. Realistically, when the water exits a HOB, it just slowly pushes across the surface until it reaches the glass, then changes direction. Even if the water level is below the output (waterfall), there will be small eddies that form around the exit point, but the energy quickly dies off in the surrounding water volume. That's why floating plants end up in one corner, or going around in circles all day.
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On 8/11/2023 at 5:54 AM, madmark285 said:
Are you sure? Can you measure the amount of oxygen present deep in a sand bed? And what happens if the environment is disturbed and your anaerobic bacteria are exposed to oxygen, will it kill them off?
Yes, as long as the sand is deep. I personally don't possess an O2 sensor, but you could test with proper equipment. If their environment is disturbed and oxygen is introduced, the anaerobic bacteria will die off. More importantly, there a very toxic compounds which can build in low oxygen environments, and when released, can cause harm and death to the livestock inhabitants. You usually see this when people who don't vacuum their sand try to replace their substrate, after being in place for years.
On 8/11/2023 at 5:54 AM, madmark285 said:I thought the same, just bury a pipe filled with SeaChem de❊nitrate connect to a micro-pump. But the other issue raised in the above link, it would have to be a huge pipe to be effective.
A freshwater nitrate filter for aquariums is a solution in search of a problem, regular water changes solves the problem.
Yes, and no. I never claimed that you could reduce nitrates in a FW system via anaerobic bacteria. I specifically stated that without the benefit of a protein skimmer, you would be left with net zero results at the end of the process. This is because you are not going to develop a large enough colony without the aid of carbon dosing and an export method. If your goal is just No3 and Po4 reduction, a great and simple FW solution would be to either balance your nutrients with enough live plants to counteract input, or in plant-less/low plant load systems, install an algae scrubber. You can significantly cut back on WCs with either method, as you are only replenishing trace.
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On 8/12/2023 at 5:30 PM, andieb said:
Hi @RennjiDK, thanks for your response and suggestion. I use an API Test Kit. I haven't invested in a pH probe, since I figured they'd be expensive and I only have a couple tanks so don't mind taking the time to do a liquid test. Do you find the API liquid tests inaccurate? And yes, I'm running an air pump next to the window for the sponge filter. There is an AC vent above the tank so it should be getting decent air circulation, also because the lid leaves a pretty large opening.
I tested pH again today and it was was at 7.4, so a big improvement. I taped some paper to the back of the tank to reduce the sunlight and I scraped off all the algae and did a deep clean and big water change.
Api tests are pretty accurate, however, it can be difficult to interpret the results which is why it's always better to have a digital display. For instance, I cannot tell a difference between 40ppm and 80ppm of No3 using the api test. I know that my No3 is 11.2ppm when my egg checker tells me it is, +/- 0.1ppm.
Diffusing outside air directly into the tank will definitely bump it up significantly, as would adding a Co2 reactor in the line.
You will normally see a fluctuation of +/- 1 unit throughout the day, based on the levels of Co2 in the room with the tank.
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Rennji's Enchanted Forest
in Photos, Videos & Journals
Posted
First trim. The back is pretty full from all of the culture cups I used, so I did not replant. There seemed to be a good bit of GHA starting. I'm not sure where it got introduced. Perhaps it started to overtake due to my Co2 tank being empty? I replaced the Co2 and blew all the detritus into the water column with a bulb, then knocked back the stems and Cuba to promote new growth.
Sept 28th, 2023