gjcarew
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Posts posted by gjcarew
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Yeah @Patrick_G I use a Dwyer RMA-151. I wanted to know exactly how much I was changing CO2 by since the bubbles in a bubble counter are a blur in a 75 gallon
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Is that the pool filter sand from ACE? Looks great
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On 11/16/2022 at 3:38 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:
Oh wow! Everyone is trying to get a big ol' drink of air there!
Yeah, I ended up turning off the CO2 for the day and dropping an airstone in there as soon as I saw this. I hate letting the fish get CO2 stressed like this, and I can't figure out what's going on. Joe Harvey, one of my Dutch aquascaping idols, runs 30 cc/m with a canister filter and skimmer on his 75. I have the same setup but am only running 18 cc/m at the time this photo was taken.
The only difference I can think of is that he's running a reactor whereas I'm running an inline diffuser. Maybe the CO2 microbubbles are more stressful for the fish?
I'm also gonna shamelessly post a recent picture of Joe's tank because he's a real deal Dutch aquascaper. He's the original inspiration for me going down this crazy path...
Edit: One of my favorite things about this tank is that his stocking consists of a few ember tetras and single ridiculously spoiled betta
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I recently bumped up my photoperiod from 8.5 to 10.5 hours, and there has definitely been better colors from the rotala as a result. Unfortunately for some reason the CO2 levels were also stressing the fish. I turned down CO2 30% to try to keep everyone happy. Surface aeration is high, so I don't know why the CO2 seems to be building so much more than when I was running the light for 8.5 hours
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On 11/15/2022 at 2:32 PM, Mmiller2001 said:
You all know I'm a Greggz fan boy so here's and updated shot of his tank.
Look at that Cabomba.....
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/greggz-planted-rainbow-tank.68778/
He's gotta be cutting 6+ inches off some of those every week. Cabomba furcata, Ludwigia inclinata and Myriophyllum Roraima are all insanely fast growing
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On 11/13/2022 at 4:54 AM, Mmiller2001 said:
Looks like I read it wrong. I was thinking you dosed additional Mg throughout the week.
I've been thinking about my dosing schedule for the epiphyte tank and reading a lot. Some people dose an additional 2ppm over the week.
Oh I dose everything at the same time straight into the tank. So for me there isn't a difference between nutrient dosing schedule and remineralization schedule.
My understanding is that a lot of AIO ferts include it because most tap water is Mg deficient.
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I ended up removing 13 bags of plants to sell and I still have pretty high plant density. I also took the time to do some rearranging and replanting.
The most noticeable missing piece is the tiger lotus. They had reproduced over time and I ended up with 6 plants and a whole lot of bulbs, so I sold the adult plants.
I bought some Chilatherina sp. Upper Tor today. It's 6 juveniles so I'm excited to see how they color up. I'll get some pictures once they're settled.
I also bought some snowball neocaridina for the fry tank, since I miss having shrimp around.
The only plant I bought is a Nymphaea minuta, a small water lily from Madagascar. It's a real rarity that only folks in GSAS seem to have in the US, by way of Christel Kasselmann. When it's in good shape it has yellow to chartreuse leaves with a pale pink underside. It's looking a bit worse for the wear right now but I'm excited to see how it grows out.
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On 11/12/2022 at 12:13 PM, Mmiller2001 said:
Question for you.
Why do you dose magnesium?
To remineralize my RO water. Not sure I understand the question
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I'm jealous of that Eriocaulon, they are such a graceful species. Unfortunately I had to leave the auction early today so I missed out on a lot of the deals. I haven't heard that Erio Feather Duster is particularly difficult, just a slow grower (especially in low-tech conditions). My only experience is with Eriocaulon Vietnam, so I don't have any specific advice.
A lot of the tanks in the Aqua Design Amano gallery recently use it because it has a lovely ethereal quality similar to Eleocharis vivipara and Eleocharis montevidensis without the unsightly adventitious plants that @Mmiller2001 knows too well. I would love to get my hands on it, if you ever want to trade just point out a plant in my aquarium we can swap for!-
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On 11/9/2022 at 7:21 PM, Schuyler said:
I'm debating going to that but it's about an hour drive (if no one crashes I-5). I haven't seen anything about what type of stuff is sold there.
Is there smaller scale stuff that someone fairly new to the hobby could buy or is it mostly bigger/advanced stuff that mostly appeals to more experienced hobbyists?
294 items registered SO FAR. Pretty much an entire fish store
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I don't mind it with the thinner branches. I think it could create some really interesting shadows when it's loaded up with epiphytes.
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This one is only fish and plants. Typical prices are between 10 and 50% of what you would pay at retail. Here's the list of preregistered items and there will almost certainly be many more that are registered day-of. I don't know what you are looking for but there is no better place to get plants and no cheaper place to get fish.
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10 days later, still no trimming
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If you can find it I've been using Cemex Lapis Lustre Monterey Sand. It's a little smaller and lighter in color than Peace River, but it's also way cheaper.
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I'm farming plants for the GSAS annual plant and fish auction in 2 weeks, so all healthy trimmings have been replanted. Everything looks
lush as a result!
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On 10/26/2022 at 12:57 PM, Mmiller2001 said:
What's your P dose?
15 ppm K, 24 ppm Ca, 8 ppm Mg
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Time for some nerd talk. This is from a few weeks ago. Ludwigia natans was looking pretty good, this was when I was fertilizing in the Estimative Index style (adding way more fertilizer than the plants need, for the layman).
The picture below is from last night. Notice the downward curling leaf tips and slow/ratty older growth.
The color has gotten a lot deeper, which is nice, but that overall does not look like a healthy plant.
At this point, I'm not sure what to do. I like how the rest of the plants are growing, but I also like this Ludwigia natans. I am considering upping my K dose from 15 to 20 ppm as I think that is the most likely culprit here, but I don't want to throw everything else off just to try to make the Ludwigia happy.
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On 10/20/2022 at 10:50 AM, Patrick_G said:
What kind of light are you using on your 5 gallon?
It's a 30 watt GE grow light I got from home Depot hanging from a hook in the ceiling. Super cheap and it does the job.
On 10/20/2022 at 10:50 AM, Anjum said:Where did you get that piece of wood (in the 5g)? That is amazing!
Love this journal, you do beautiful work!
From a LFS nearby. It was $40 so I bought it on impulse and it has been sitting in the garden shed for almost a year. It is a little silly how large it is but I'm growing out some philodendron melanochrysum that I'm hoping will vine up the wood.
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My 5-gallon desktop fry tank
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On 10/20/2022 at 5:43 AM, anewbie said:
I've had that problem with plants that normally grow well in low-tech tank; if i put them in a high-tech tank and then move them to a low-tech tank they never seem to recover and eventually die. PSO is a good example; a plant that normally grows quite readily in low-tech environment.
I'm not familiar with the abbreviation (initialism?) PSO but it depends on the conditions, not all CO2-injected tanks are the same. I've run my tank in the past with high light, strong water column fertilization, and rich aquasoil, and any shred of plant material I put in there would survive.
Keeping your foot on the gas pedal like that is pretty unsustainable unless you're willing to devote an hour every week just to trimming. So now when I'm not closing in on *Dutch Aquascape Photo Time* I generally try to limit growth in some manner, which inevitably means that some of the plants are going to suffer. As long as most of the plants are doing well, I don't chase specific water parameters for just one or two dying plants.
It just so happens that I don't have a powerful enough light for "high" light on this tank either, so I do what I can with what I have.
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Preliminary results of lower dosing are good. Growth is a lot slower, and plants like the H'ra are showing better color.
The Ludwigias have not taken it well. The Ludwigia 'Pantanal' completely died, though in truth it never recovered from its stint in the pond. Ludwigia natans also has shown weaker stems, smaller leaves, and lower density. If it doesn't look like it's adjusting to the new regime by next week I'm gonna hit it with some root tabs.
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On 10/16/2022 at 6:01 PM, Dark River Aquatics said:
Haven’t been hobbying that hard for a few months from working too dang much, all the tanks are doing pretty well except the little 3g - I wasn’t taking care of it the way it needed, so took it down recently and have a new project to take its place. UNS 45S tank, a Chihiros C2 White, Oase Filtosmart 100 Thermo, Hakkai stone, and other materials
Was also testing a co2 regulator for a brand I won’t name in return for a video review of it and… well… it ended up breaking and gassed all the livestock in my 40g forest scape including the Rio Guapores and it was horrible. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a gas out like that, and won’t be doing the review now and will always be sticking with GLA regulators in the future. It was heartbreaking to be honest… it’s funny how attached you can get to fish you bred yourself. Gave that whole tank some time to sit empty before restocking, and a few weeks ago felt up to getting new fish and landed on a trio of Apistogramma Agassizii Blue Flame - not usually a fan of the man made strains but these ones are stunning, and look like they’re either about to breed or are possibly sitting on eggs already
Been collecting plants again too, and specifically some for this new scape - Anubias sp Stardust is one that will be going into the new shallow tank when it’s ready to plant
Sorry to hear that. I had that happen once after accidentally bumping the needle valve on my regulator and it's the worst feeling. For what it's worth I would love to know what brand it was that broke, so I know not to use it.
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I've only gotten very healthy fish from Dan's Fish. I bet your puffer will be fine without QT
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Gonna try to limit growth by lowering macros:
7.2 ppm NO3/ 3.33 g
2.8 ppm PO4/ 1.5 g
15.2 ppm K2SO4/ 5.19 g
This is almost halving the nitrate content added per week, so hopefully I'll also see some better reds.
The tank was also way overgrown so I removed the lobelia cardinalis and the vallisneria spiralis "Tiger". I want to sign up for the local club home show and I've never done so with a Dutch tank, so the plan for the next few months is to get it looking good for that.
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lush as a result!
Miller's Journal
in Photos, Videos & Journals
Posted
Trident fern grows super quick, it will fill in soon enough!