Katherine's Planted Tank Journal

[Katherine]

I'm just throwing this up right now as an easy place to track the growth of my new plants. They came in the mail from the Coop on Thursday and I just got around to planting them today. (My daughter has been asking every hour or so 'Are you doing a water change today?' because she was so eager to see them planted.)

The anubias and the sword that never grows have been in the tank for 2.5 years. The valisneria and cryptocoryne lucens are new. We're planning to get a 75 gallon sometime this spring or summer (hoping for a sale on the tank and stand set I've been eyeing) so I'm not too concerned about them taking over my small tank.

And I know I need to move the moss ball off of one of the crypts but I'd already put hand lotion on before I noticed so it'll have to wait a day or two.

[Ken Burke]

Beautiful tank!

[Katherine]

I caught a bladder snail using a piece of duckweed as a parachute to get to the bottom of the tank. I've usually got at least 1 or 2 hanging out upside down on the bottom of the duckweed and I've wondered how they get back down. Now I know!

Edited March 28, 2022 by Katherine

[Katherine]

It's been a week and things are growing! There's been more melt on all then new plants, but also more new growth. I was surprised at how thoroughly the crypts fell apart. They looked like they'd been shredded! I did adjust the amount of fertilizer up to account for the new plants, but apparently not by enough since my sword plant is now showing signs of a nutrient deficiency. (Phosphate?) I upped the fertilizer again this week and I'll keep an eye on it.

[Katherine]

We are picking up a 75g tank and stand this afternoon! 🤩 I'm super excited.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

MTS strikes again! @Katherineall looks good and that anubias looks like it will yield some good pieces for your new tank. 

The Val and Swords are heavy root feeders. You either have to have a lot of mulm down around their roots or give them some root tabs to get them to really crank out the growth. There are some varieties of swords that do stay on the smaller medium end but most amazon swords want to get big and are super competitive for nutrients at the root level. 

[Katherine]

@Beardedbillygoat1975 I've wanted a 75g since before I got this 10g but never had room for it before. We moved last year, so now there's room. The plan is for the 10 to turn into a quarantine only put up when needed. Then maybe go in my daughter's room when she's a bit older. But I know how that sort of thing has gone for others.

The sword is 2.5 years old and has grown a few new leaves in that time, but never bigger ones. It was a bonus plant thrown in when I got the anubias, so I'm not sure what variety it is. I did put some root tabs in there last weekend, but I'll add some more. Thanks!

 

This is also the first time I've had issues with the sword looking unhappy.

[Katherine]

I got my 75! It's all set up with fish in it. I need to get some more of the black spot tetras and danios, there's only 2 of each in there due to losses over the last year. I'm giving it another few weeks to get enough bacteria built up outside of the original small sponge filter so I can move it back over to the 10 as a quarantine.

I moved the cave and anubias over just as they were, but I do plan to move some of the anubias later. Possibly to the top of the 'log'. I've got some cryptocorne lucens in various places on the right side of the tank and vallisneria on the left. The val that got planted directly to this tank is already putting out runners. The ones that I moved over from the 10 seem to have stopped growing for the moment, but they don't seem to be melting, so I'm content with that.

The foil on the right side is to keep the kitty in my profile picture from climbing on top of the tank.

[AndreaW]

Beautiful @Katherine! That's the same 75G I've had my eye on!

[Katherine]

On 4/30/2022 at 3:17 PM, AndreaW said:

Beautiful @Katherine! That's the same 75G I've had my eye on!

The lid pieces were hard to put together and there's no cord hole on the middle section with the shelves. But no other complaints so far. (I've since seen the tip to slightly heat up the plastic that the glass lid slides into. That probably would have made it easier.)

[Katherine]

I'm starting to get some algae on the front glass, close to the lights. I've just got the lights that came with the tank for the moment and there's no way to turn off the blue LEDs. I've done my best to cover them with tape. They shine through a bit, but the tank is noticably darker, so I'm hoping that'll help a bit. The snails seem to be interested in it as well, for now I'm going to give them the chance to clean it up, but if it sticks around too long I'll scrape it.

I've also turned my heaters down a touch since reading somewhere that val does better in cooler water.

I am planning to get better lights at some point, but I'm not sure how soon that'll be.

[Guppysnail]

I always thought blue lights grew hair algae in my tanks. It is guaranteed if I turn on blue within days I get hair algae.  I would tape over blue I could not turn off with black electrical tape.  @Seattle_Aquarist recently posted of that being a myth and gave an awesome explanation as to why.  I cannot find it to share so I hope I don’t butcher the explanation to badly.  Apparently blue penetrates better and causes more intensity or something along that line. When I had used blue every time I failed to dial back my time/brightness etc to account for that.  I was just providing more intense light to a tank that did not need more and it was not the blue just the addition of more light. Since that post I have run my blue lights with adjustment to the others and I have seen no hair algae crop up. My very loose understanding/take away of their awesome explanation.  

 

[Katherine]

@Guppysnail Since I can't turn down the intensity of these lights would you suggest cutting the time a bit then? I really think the placement of the lights is an issue. They're inside at the front, angled into the tank, so they definitely hit the front glass quite a bit. I'm not sure how to fix that besides maybe unclipping them from the tanks and sitting them on top of the lid. Though with how they're shaped I don't think that would work.

Maybe I could try them at the back instead, but then I think they'd shine in your eyes while viewing at tank height.

[Guppysnail]

I just shortened my times by an hour and only run red and blue for a few hours in the morning.  If it is only on the front glass if it were me I would just wipe the glass if everything else is doing well.  I’m not tech-y so that is probably not the best answer just what I would do.  

[Seattle_Aquarist]

On 5/11/2022 at 3:37 AM, Guppysnail said:

I always thought blue lights grew hair algae in my tanks. It is guaranteed if I turn on blue within days I get hair algae.  I would tape over blue I could not turn off with black electrical tape.  @Seattle_Aquarist recently posted of that being a myth and gave an awesome explanation as to why.  I cannot find it to share so I hope I don’t butcher the explanation to badly.  Apparently blue penetrates better and causes more intensity or something along that line. When I had used blue every time I failed to dial back my time/brightness etc to account for that.  I was just providing more intense light to a tank that did not need more and it was not the blue just the addition of more light. Since that post I have run my blue lights with adjustment to the others and I have seen no hair algae crop up. My very loose understanding/take away of their awesome explanation.  

 

Hi @Katherine,

@Guppysnaildid a fine job of explaining that blue light does not cause algae, it just penetrates water better than other spectrum providing stronger light intensity (PAR).  If the intensity of the light is not adjustable then reducing the photoperiod is what I would do.  -Roy

[Katherine]

I've got some new stuff! 2 mystery snails, Goldilocks and Penny, some water sprite that was grown in the store, and some more black phantom tetras from a different store who are in quarantine.

[nabokovfan87]

That decor with the Anubias is probably my favorite use I've seen.  I will have to replicate this!

[Katherine]

On 5/22/2022 at 6:55 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

That decor with the Anubias is probably my favorite use I've seen.  I will have to replicate this!

Thanks! It's several anubias and has been growing for 2.5 years. One of the anubias has done better than the others and is probably 75% of the mass.

[Katherine]

Penny is currently taking a nap in the middle of the front glass after chowing down on some repashy for at least 15 minutes. Goldilocks hasn't found it yet though. Who'd have thought snails go into food comas too.

[Katherine]

I'm now fairly certain I've got 2 male mystery snails. Which is fine by me. I didn't have my heart set on breeding them or anything. Can I get a more experienced opinion though? I can't seem to find any pictures that aren't either a drawing or the snail being held upside down out of water.

@Guppysnail would you mind taking a look?

[Guppysnail]

On 6/1/2022 at 8:17 PM, Katherine said:

I'm now fairly certain I've got 2 male mystery snails. Which is fine by me. I didn't have my heart set on breeding them or anything. Can I get a more experienced opinion though? I can't seem to find any pictures that aren't either a drawing or the snail being held upside down out of water.

@Guppysnail would you mind taking a look?

I can only tell when they are on the glass or whichever is on top. Here are some real clear web pictures I found for you. Sorry I can’t help more. 

 

BOY

GIRL

 

[Katherine]

More new snails! I just can't help myself. We went in looking for another nerite or two since one isn't enough to keep up with the algae since our tank upgrade. Came out with a nerite and a mystery. Both colors we didn't have yet. The kids have named them Stripes and Blue Soul. You can probably figure out which is which.

[Guppysnail]

Snails are so addictive…Multiple Snail Syndrome 🤣. Your new friends are just as beautiful as you others 🥰

[Katherine]

On 6/3/2022 at 4:43 PM, Guppysnail said:

Snails are so addictive…Multiple Snail Syndrome 🤣

Haha! Yes! It's a 75 gallon tank. I've got room.

[Katherine]

An hour or two ago I added a 'balcony' feeding dish for my mystery snails and put in half an algae wafer. I just went to check on it and 2 of them have found their way in.