[Projects & Rambles]

I've always had rotala macrandra rebel from the bottom up with lean dosing. It also doesn't do great in dense plantings.

Are you dosing the 1 mL easy green with a pipette? The bottles I have are 2 mL pumps.

[Projects & Rambles]

I hope you know I'm living out all my collectoritis dreams vicariously through you

[Aquatic Acronyms - TLAs for Days!]

Alright I got carried away and most of these are not acronyms, but I figure it can't hurt to have a little glossary if folks are confused about what all the weird plant people around here are talking about...

AR - Alternanthera reineckii 

Floaters - floating plants such as duckweeds (genus Lemna), red root floaters (Phyllanthus fluitans), and azolla species 

Crypts - genus Cryptocoryne

Carpet/ carpeting plant - plants that grow close to the substrate such as Micranthemum tweediei "Monte Carlo" and low growing Eleocharis species

CEC: Cation Exchange Capacity. The ability of a substrate to bind nutrients and make them available to the root zone of plants. 

Glosso - Glossostigma elatinoides

HC - Hemianthus callitrichoides "Cuba", a bright green carpet plant that usually requires CO2 injection

Val - genus Vallisneria

Dirted: Usually refers to a layer of topsoil that has been covered (or "capped") with an inert substrate.

Substrate: Gravel, sand, dirt... Anything that goes on the bottom of an aquarium.

Walstad: Refers to the Walstad Method. A method of keeping planted tanks generally with dirt substrates, no injected CO2, low bioload, a "siesta" photoperiod, and little to no filtration

Siesta: this is a split photoperiod, or turning aquarium lights on, then off, then on again over the period of a single day. Popularized by Diana Walstad, this supposedly allows CO2 levels to increase in the aquarium while the lights are off between photoperiods.

Dutch/ Dutch-style: A specific style of planted aquarium involving contrasting groups of healthy plants with little hardscape. While there are specific rules and competitions for Dutch-style aquariums, the phrase colloquially refers to any plant-dominant aquarium without hardscape

Iwagumi: An aquarium featuring only rocks and minimalist planting with only a few species of plant. Associated with large swathes of carpeting plants. 

Nature aquarium: A style popularized by Takashi Amano. Consists of trying to recreate a natural scene in an aquarium.

Diorama: An exaggerated representation of a landscape or scene presented in miniature. The scene is often meant to represent a terrestrial landscape such as jungles or mountains, rather than something underwater.

Hardscape: Natural aquarium decorations such as rocks and wood. Can also refer to the overall layout of rocks and wood in an aquarium.

Clown puke: derogatory term for brightly colored aquarium gravel often sold to beginner aquarists at chain stores. 

Micros - micronutrients

Macros - macronutrients

NPK - nitrogen, phophorous, potassium (or the anions nitrate and phosphate, and the cation potassium). The "macros"

pH drop: How much the pH of aquarium water drops while injecting CO2. Used with a pH/KH/CO2 chart to determine dissolved CO2 in an aquarium. Measured against degassed aquarium water in which CO2 is at background atmospheric levels.

[GSAS AUCTION]

Nice! I picked up some plants (classic) and some rhadinocentrus ornatus "Seary's Creek". The amount for sale was crazy!

I was exhausted by the time I got home

[Dutch/ plant farm 75 gallon (and other projects)]

On 4/25/2022 at 3:45 AM, SkaleyAquatics said:

So you are front loading macros?

Also what a steal on those rhads, did they have a collection location with them?

Yeah, I've been front loading macros. Also kinda front loading micros too, if only because of how often I forget to add them throughout the week. I know that I shouldn't since they are really only available for a few hours after you dose them.

Yup, they're from Seary's Creek. 

[Dutch/ plant farm 75 gallon (and other projects)]

On 4/24/2022 at 10:49 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Have you kept that Myrio before? I had to get rid of it. It became so much work do to the speed it grows. Beautiful though!

Yeah, I've kept it for quite a while in the 22 gallon a little over a year ago. One of those plants that needs weekly trimming for sure. As a curtain plant it's really just two stems so hopefully it won't be too bad.

[Dutch/ plant farm 75 gallon (and other projects)]

After checking with the Aquarium Co-op test strips, NO3 appeared to be below 10 ppm before a water change so I increased my dosage 4 ppm. I also increased K because of the pinholing. All numbers below are for 50 gallons of water change volume, and the water is R/O.

15 ppm Ca, 12.2 g  CaSO4,2H2O
5 ppm Mg, 9.6 g MgSO4,7H2O
20 ppm NO3, 6.2 g KNO3
6 ppm PO4, 1.6 g KH2PO4
20 ppm K (35 ppm total), 8.5 g K2SO4

The GSAS auction was this weekend. It was financially a loss when I consider how little some of the stuff I brought sold for. The way I look, at it I've also bought things at auction way below market value, and the things I sold were not paying rent to live in my house anyways. They are better off with someone who will love them.

The good news is I picked up everything I wanted and more. I bought a hardy aponogeton for the pond, myriophyllum roraima, eriocaulon Vietnam, and one of the people I lost a bidding war gifted me almost half their bag of Blyxa japonica. Best of all, I managed to buy a school of eight rhadinocentrus ornatus for $34! Way better than I could get elsewhere.

The current plants are (roughly L-R): Vallisneria spiralis Tiger, Hygrophila siamensis "53B", Crypt nurii "Luminous Green", crypt wendtii "tropica", Rotala rotundifolia, Alternanthera reineckii, Acmella repens, Blyxa japonica, Microsorum pteropus "India", Lobelia Cardinalis, Ludwigia ovalis "Pink", Pogostemon erectus, Bucephalandra "Kedagang", Eriocaulon Vietnam, Limnophila aromatica "Red", Myriophyllum roraima, and callicostella prabaktiana on the back wall. I removed the big log as it just wasn't doing it for me. I also mounted the java fern on needlepoint mesh since it was just awkward on the little stick it was mounted on 

I did a water change on the tub ponds to clear out extra schmutz that accumulated over the winter. They already have some scuds and chironomid larvae growing in there, and I just seeded them with a copepod culture I bought at the auction. Eventually the rhadinocentrus ornatus will go in my carnivorous plant tub and the rainbow shiners will go in the backyard urn that has some crushed coral in the bottom. The water was 54 degrees when I checked today, which I think is technically warm enough for both those species, but I would prefer to wait another week or two just to be safe. 

In the meantime, it's great having 30+ fish in this tank! They are all peaceful but still attack food like a pack of piranhas. 

 

[CO2, Algae, New Plants. Need guidance on strategy.]

On 4/24/2022 at 8:29 AM, Minanora said:

As the battle with hair algae settles down... Tiny groupings of bba are trying to take hold on the wood. 🤣 It never ends.

But the nitrates were still at 5ppm yesterday so things are looking up. I'm going to change water today. Manually remove some algae. Spot treat the bba and some of the hair algae, and do a half dose of easy green.

I upped the light intensity for one section of the photoperiod and upped the CO2 a tiny bit. My plants are reaching too much for light and the red ludwigia is getting green growth.

 

This has been a remarkable recovery for such a short amount of time!

[Dutch/ plant farm 75 gallon (and other projects)]

It finally arrived! Took like 2 months, which feels ridiculous in this day and age.

I have noticed extensive pinholing and dying lower leaves in my Hygrophila "53B" for a couple months now, and I'm seeing the same in some other plants as well. I've also had constant green hair algae that I've been manually removing. Both of these situations could be due to either low potassium levels or low CO2. I have resolved to solve both this weekend.

I think I'm going to overall increase macro levels just to get things dialed. It seems PO4 is good, but nitrates might also be a bit low as some plants like Staurogyne spatulata have shown yellowing leaves while the rotala is unaffected (rotala is notorious for doing well sans NO3 in my experience). 

I have been nervous about increasing CO2 since the disaster where I gassed all my fish. With a bubble counter the bubbles are a blur, so I never know how much I'm increasing CO2 injection when I turn my needle valve. I'm hoping the flow meter will give me a much clearer picture of how much I'm injecting and will allow me to confidently and incrementally increase CO2. I should be able to tell if I'm increasing it 10% and not accidentally increasing it 50%. 

My pH meter appears to be broken. I tried calibrating it and it's still saying the rainwater I have outside is 7.8 pH when it should be below 7. I ordered a new pH meter which should be here tomorrow. 

Onwards and upwards. It's been a hell of a time getting this tank to a good place. I definitely find aquasoil more forgiving as a substrate, but in truth I just haven't given this tank the time it deserves to really whip it in to shape. 

[SkaleyAquatics - High tech practice tank]

If I'm having "problems" I'll switch to EI (or close to it). It's an easy way to eliminate nutrient issues as a source of the problems. But plants seem to look better and grow at a more manageable pace with leaner dosing so overall that's my preference.

With regards to iron dosing I was under the impression that "overdosing" is not necessarily harmful, the iron is just likely to precipitate out of solution as iron phosphate/sulfate so it's kind of a waste. The precipitated iron can be reduced by anaerobic bacteria in the substrate if the soil is deep enough, once again making it available to plants as Fe (II). Take all this with a grain of salt though, I'm no chemist.

[Miller's Journal]

On 4/20/2022 at 11:12 AM, SkaleyAquatics said:

Lucky you! I can barely get my girlfriend to fed her betta. Next year we are hoping to move into a house and I have been try to figure out how many tanks I want and how big. I want at least a 75 that is high energy but would like to go bigger than that and a least 1 other high energy tank probably in the 40 - 75 range. 

I can manage one high-energy tank, but my wife is not involved with aquariums, plus I have two jobs + lots of other time-consuming hobbies. I currently barely have enough time for the one, I often struggle to complete just weekly water changes. I love aquariums but am also a perfectionist, so I get stressed out when I don't have the time to give tanks the attention they need.

Low-tech tanks and ponds are where it's at for me, since ponds in particular get set up in spring then require no further care. My goal is to spend 1.5-2 hours per week working on the tanks, and at least 15-20 minutes per day just enjoying them. 

[Miller's Journal]

On 4/18/2022 at 6:20 PM, Hobbit said:

Yay! That’s awesome! Hmm I already never gravel vac my tank… @Seattle_Aquarist and @gjcarew do either of you have any insight about algae outbreaks in low tech tanks? If so, I can tag you in a different post with details.

I think @Mmiller2001 is being generous with his credit. The sum of my advice was keep the tank clean and make sure the plants are growing well.

Keeping the tank clean entails:

- manually remove algae

- clean the filter (or at least prefilter)

- clean the substrate 

- spot treat with H2O2/ excel as needed

Grow the plants:

- try to keep a high plant mass (more than 70% of substrate space when viewed from above)

- boost CO2. If you can't/won't, adjust the lights low then slowly increase intensity 

- use some kind of plant fertilizer

- remove old and dying leaves on plants to encourage new growth 

- If the plants still aren't growing, ask @Seattle_Aquarist 😆

 

Since this has always worked for me, I don't really have more tips. If you want to take a deep dive look up Tom Barr's tips on dealing with algae. This video is also a gold mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Root tabs only?]

On 4/12/2022 at 3:40 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

The thing I hate about osmocote is the poly coats never seem to break down.  At least in plant pots and gardens.  Haven't used it submerged, but the duration in other settings give me pause. 

I am not familiar with Safe T Sorb.  Sounds similar to Turface.  Do you know if Turface would be an acceptable substitute?  I have like 150# of that on hand.

@Mmiller2001, I'm also checking our the Landen too.  Thanks!

I linked Roy's 75 gallon discus tank above. He uses sand over osmocote root tabs, and only doses a remineralizer blend (calcium, magnesium, potassium) regularly. 

Plants generally do better in soft, acidic water and aquasoil will buffer the water for you. There are also world-class aquariums using inert substrates. The bottom line is that you can find success in any number of ways, I don't think there is a "right way" to do a planted tank. It comes down to an appropriate balance between light, nutrients, and CO2. I don't think how you apply those nutrients, or in what precise quantities, is as important as most people think. There are also lots of other factors ("husbandry") that can be just as important. Check out this article on "nutrient tunnel vision."

[Welcome to the C.A.R.E Forum - Look here first.]

On 4/12/2022 at 12:20 PM, Prime Aquatics UK said:

Hello guys and girls I'm from the UK can anyone tell me what this plant is please it grows like mad ?

hygrophila polysperma

[Dutch/ plant farm 75 gallon (and other projects)]

I got rid of a bunch of plants over the week. I didn't like how the bacopa looked in the background. The ludwigia repens was pretty but it has too strong of a red look that was drawing away from the alternanthera reineckii.

I like blyxa japonica and was hoping to use it but it is not growing very well in this tank. It might go to the chopping block next if it doesn't start growing better in the next couple weeks. For that matter the buce isn't great either. I can't find a place for it and I don't really have enough to make an attractive bush. The entire foreground on that side could potentially be replaced with a carpet like monte carlo. Low foregrounds offer the best height contrast in a tank, IMO.

The blyxa "red" is nice but it feels a little too symmetrical with the alternanthera reineckii. An alternative could be either crypt wendtii "tropica" or a sword plant specimen like echinodorus ozelot "green." I had the latter last year and it's a really beautiful plant with interesting leaf patterns. Something unique like an aponogeton could also work there.

Otherwise I just need to keep growing out plants. It's impossible to make decisions until a group is full grown.

This was the first water change with RO, so now tank KH is around 2. It will be interesting to see the effect it has on plants.

 

 

[Dutch Style #6 St Nermy’s Day ‘Scapes from Scraps]

I'm not sure I understand what this is, is there a write up on what constitutes a scape from scraps?

[Miller's Journal]

Cani't believe you fell for the old "comb your hairgrass" trick. Happy april fools!

[Miller's Journal]

On 3/28/2022 at 4:29 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Well slap me silly and call me Charlie. So um, where do I see a demonstration of combing hair grass? I kinda liked the messy look.😁

And can I just cut it straight across like dwarf hair grass?

In my experience the tips start to brown when you cut it. I know I saw it a video somewhere, I just don't remember where!

[Activated Charcoal as substrate]

I've used it before as part of a substrate that consisted of layers of osmocote, activated carbon, worm castings, Mexican red clay, and capped with ADA Amazonia. With such an elaborate substrate it's tough to say exactly what benefits the carbon brought vs. the rest of the ingredients. That said, plants grew like MAD in that tank, especially rotala species. The only reason I don't do it anymore is because it makes a bit of a mess when you have to uproot the plants to trim them. The tank with this crazy substrate is below.

There is a long history of the use of of carbon/charcoal for growing plants. One of the best examples is terra preta, where natives of the Amazon created a nutrient dense, rich soil for agriculture by mixing biochar (essentially activated carbon) with bones for minerals, manure, and broken pottery (contains iron). These soils are still much richer than the surrounding Amazonian soils 500+ years after they were introduced. Here's a scholarly paper on the subject.

Activated carbon on its own will do nothing for the plants. When "charged" with macronutrients, micronutrients, and minerals, it can act as a long-term nutrient storage that will not get diluted in the water column. It has a higher cation exchange capacity (what allows it to "grab" nutrients) than any other material I know of. The easiest way to charge your carbon would either be to soak it in Easy Green or add Osmocote to the bottom of the pot you're planting.

Tourmaline BC is a substrate additive sold by ADA. It is simply a mix of bamboo charcoal (the BC) with powdered tourmaline, which is a source of minerals.

 

[Miller's Journal]

On 3/28/2022 at 4:00 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Is that a thing? Combing plants?

Believe it or not, yes. It gets rid of all the baby plants that grow on the tips. That's how ADA keeps their long hairgrass so neat

[Miller's Journal]

On 3/28/2022 at 1:40 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Did you have it? If so, I'm super glad you got through it. I haven't heard or seen you in minute, and now it makes since. So, hopefully you are back at full force!

Thank you, and here's just two days later....mmmm Star Grass

Stargrass looks great but that eleocharis needs to be combed!

[Miller's Journal]

On 3/27/2022 at 10:21 AM, anewbie said:

I don't remember the details but i think they said it was critical to not have surface flow and for things like spray bars you want to angle down but you also want to ensure you get a continous circular flow. 

 

On 3/27/2022 at 10:14 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

My CO2 controller is really helping me maintain consistent CO² and hydrogen peroxide turns the tide. Per Seattle_aquarist advice, I've also significantly altered how I gravel vacuum. Basically, I'm barely tapping the surface if doing any at all! 🫢

This is interesting. I have my spray bay pointed at the surface to promote gas exchange, and I do deep gravel vacuuming. I guess it shows there is more than one way to tackle BBA. 

Lots of aquasoil folks say you should only clean the top layer of the substrate, for example with the turkey baster method. I was always doing very deep gravel vacuuming, and I had success with that. My guess is that what matters is consistency. If you don't clean the substrate (or don't clean it deeply) then do a deep vacuum, it's probably going to kick up a bunch of organics that would cause algae. On the other hand if you always do a deep clean then the waste organics won't be there to kick up into the water column in significant amounts. 

My instinct with an inert substrate is that it would be better to do shallow gravel vac, because you want those organics deep in the substrate to bind water column nutrients, reduce iron, etc. 

[Dutch/ plant farm 75 gallon (and other projects)]

On 3/27/2022 at 10:29 AM, SkaleyAquatics said:

If you are not keeping it I wouldnt go through the trouble. Do you know what led's you would get? 

 

On 3/27/2022 at 11:15 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

My vote is for 2xUNS Titans 😁

Titans or Chihiros Vivid 2 would be great but that's a super pricy setup. I was thinking maybe something like the Week Aqua P1200. As you know I'm a Dennis Wong fanboy and that's what he has on his farm tank. Plus they come with shades to prevent light spill.

[Dutch/ plant farm 75 gallon (and other projects)]

On 3/27/2022 at 10:23 AM, SkaleyAquatics said:

I like how the chihiros looks in this tank. I am surprised by the amount of ight bleed from the T5

I wanted to make a hood to cut down on the light bleed. But given the aforementioned trouble with this fixture I don't know if it's worthwhile

[Dutch/ plant farm 75 gallon (and other projects)]

Things are going pretty well, still some algae but the fish are happy and eating voraciously. I got some Venezuelan corydoras that I absolutely love.

The tank went two weeks without a water change as the RO system has taken longer than expected to set up. As I mentioned there was some algae but a lot of the plants are doing well. I'm really liking some of the new specimens, especially ludwigia ovalis "pink", acmella repens, and this crazy huge mystery blyxa species I picked up.

I put my old 36" Chihiros WRGB on the tank, and I gotta say I think I like it more than the T5's. It's just so much easier to dial in a nice spectrum. It also has a lot less light bleed. The pictures below show the difference when the tank is viewed from farther back. 

T5:

Chihiros: 

One of the receptacles in the T5 fixture stopped working, and this is out of warranty. I'm considering just selling it as is and getting a fancy modern LED. The other advantage of the LED's is that as a point-source light, it shows off the iridescence of the rainbow fish way better. These are seriously stunning fish, they are just so hard to capture.

Full tank shot with the beginnings of a "Dutch street" below