JoeQ 36g Journal, notes & random pictures

[JoeQ]

Just a random picture as a place holder to kick off my journal untill I can get my fertilizing experiment back up. I think my plants are super happy with their diet of iron & potassium. 

Edited May 6, 2022 by JoeQ

[DaveO]

I'm definitely looking forward to it.

[JoeQ]

Current status: I still need to trim and plant new plants. My regimin is 2ml FlorinGro, 2ml Dtpa iron, 5ml seachem potassium. Ill be doing this daily unless I see problems. 

[JoeQ]

Acop test. 

5

0

150

40+

6.8

0

262 tds

[JoeQ]

Just wanted to update before water changing, replanting and cleaning up a few strings of water silk, which was started after last water change by dosing FlorinMulti and made worse by forgetting to run my bubbler at night.... My new Daily dosing schedule will be 3ml potassium, 1ml dtpa iron and 1ml FlorinGro (a nitrogen supplement since I am lightly stocked) . This will be dosed at 10am which is 4 hours after my lights come on. Also here is a picture taken on the 5th, note the areas marked in red (growth points) and yellow (water silk) which you'll have to zoom in to see. More pictures to follow 

[JoeQ]

And today to compare pic from above. New growth looks good, old growth not so much

On 5/6/2022 at 10:50 AM, JoeQ said:

Current status: I still need to trim and plant new plants. My regimin is 2ml FlorinGro, 2ml Dtpa iron, 5ml seachem potassium. Ill be doing this daily unless I see problems. 

Here's the comparison before I start trimming 

[JoeQ]

Wellp..... I wouldn't call it so much of a scape, rather its a "stick this crap where ever i can so i can get done" hodgepodge (it stinks having multiple plant syndrome with a limited number of tanks)..... Anyhow, my new fertilizer routine will be 1ml dtpa iron, 3ml potassium at 1pm

[JoeQ]

Plants are looking dull, tired and not as lush as usual. Today they will get 3 drops FlorinMulti around 1~3, with (most likely) FlorinGro tomorrow. 

[JoeQ]

Didnt get as much water silk with the FlorinMulti but im seeing lots of nitrogen deficiencies so back to 3ml FlorinGro, 5ml potassium and 2ml of Dtpa iron. Except for nitrates my test results look good. 

>5

0

150

-80

6.8

0

Tds 240

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by JoeQ

[JoeQ]

5

0

150

40+

6.8

O

Tds 238

2ml nitrogen, 3ml potassium, 1ml dtpa iron. 

[JoeQ]

1/2 ml FlorinMulti at 1:45pm 

Current updated growth comparison 

 

[JoeQ]

Nitrogen deficient 

3ml no3, 3ml k, 1ml dtpa iron

[JoeQ]

Just a updated pic, might rescape the whole thing, might not..... It would actually be really helpful if someone with aqua scapping abilities could give me a floor plan on where to put everything! 🤣

[JoeQ]

Small trim yesterday to populate my 10g with plants. Change to an all-in-one fert, since im not happy with my ludwigia arcuatas' growth. 

 

 

 

[JoeQ]

Also I should of started this thread with this picture. This was the point where I started using the 'build your eco system' matra (aka 'balance your tank, grow healthy plants' ), instead of the 'lower your light' matra for algea control. 

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/9/2022 at 11:52 AM, JoeQ said:

Wellp..... I wouldn't call it so much of a scape, rather its a "stick this crap where ever i can so i can get done" hodgepodge (it stinks having multiple plant syndrome with a limited number of tanks)..... Anyhow, my new fertilizer routine will be 1ml dtpa iron, 3ml potassium at 1pm

How is that skimmer doing for you?  I have one for my QT just because the filter didn't really do what I needed it to, it wanted a little buddy I suppose.

The little sponge / system works! but I wish it was easier to clean.

[JoeQ]

On 5/28/2022 at 6:14 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

How is that skimmer doing for you?  I have one for my QT just because the filter didn't really do what I needed it to, it wanted a little buddy I suppose.

The little sponge / system works! but I wish it was easier to clean.

I like it with a few exceptions. First it needs to be modified with Dr Novaks magnet fix:

Which makes cleaning much easier (a everyother day chore it seemed) .  It also lacks a movable flow director so you have to constantly move it until you find a placement that gets you the best flow. Lastly if you have loaches, small fish or shrimp beware the thing is a death trap that will again need to be modified! 

Edited May 28, 2022 by JoeQ

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/28/2022 at 3:31 PM, JoeQ said:

It also lacks a movable flow director so you have to constantly move it until you find a placement that gets you the best flow.

Very much so!  No idea why it doesn't come with something... anything.

I'll look into the magnet stuff.

Pretty sure by the time I get the magnet stuff, I'll end up snapping off the little clips 😩 but I definitely like his little project!

My only other real complaint, the cord comes off the pump in a weird direction.

[JoeQ]

On 5/28/2022 at 6:45 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Very much so!  No idea why it doesn't come with something... anything.

I'll look into the magnet stuff.

A moveable flow adjustor was probably pre planned before the original was released because the company knew they could increase sales by doing so....... 

[JoeQ]

And back to an all-in-one..... While the daily nitrogen, potassium & iron bit was good for a while and also solved my water silk issues, I think I quickly ran out of a micro(s) . Finding the growth limiting micro is well above my paygrade as of now but I suspect MAYBE magnesium and iron? 

Edited May 30, 2022 by JoeQ

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/30/2022 at 7:54 AM, JoeQ said:

Finding the growth limiting micro is well above my paygrade as of now but I suspect MAYBE magnesium and iron? 

What deficiencies / plants with them are you seeing?  I would've thought the powders would last a lot longer than the all-in-one solutions. 

I do have bottles of iron I've had for a long time and never used.  I had red plants, but that tank is long gone.  In my view, some of the individual dosing for some liquids like iron, mag, etc. using the seachem stuff (or ACO versions) is really easy to get into.  If the plants need it, of course.

[JoeQ]

On 5/30/2022 at 11:44 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

What deficiencies / plants with them are you seeing?  I would've thought the powders would last a lot longer than the all-in-one solutions. 

I do have bottles of iron I've had for a long time and never used.  I had red plants, but that tank is long gone.  In my view, some of the individual dosing for some liquids like iron, mag, etc. using the seachem stuff (or ACO versions) is really easy to get into.  If the plants need it, of course.

The exact ones im not sure, but my plants were losing their fullness, they just looked ragged, beat up, lethargic and odd growth & lack luster color. Also I wasn't using powders. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/30/2022 at 9:58 AM, JoeQ said:

Also I wasn't using powders. 

That makes sense.

Maybe the issue is light, not even nutrients?

What do these three plants look like?

[JoeQ]

On 5/30/2022 at 1:40 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

That makes sense.

Maybe the issue is light, not even nutrients?

I dont think so, ive been using Bentleys day sim for the last year or so, I originally started it at 30% and gradually increased over time (im now at 55%). Mostly when I start losing lower leaves. I did start losing lower leaves recently and pushed it up 5% more but that wont cause deformed /lethargic growth (i wouldn't think) I'll probably try my potassium iron no3 feeding schedule again, but probably after a little research and some TLC to get things growing again. 

Edited May 30, 2022 by JoeQ

[JoeQ]

On 5/30/2022 at 1:40 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

That makes sense.

Maybe the issue is light, not even nutrients?

What do these three plants look like?

The plants in the clear glass pots are more of an expirament and are deficient. They are growing in black diamond blasting sand. The ones in the substrate look good, S. Repens going gangbusters without co2! 

Edited May 30, 2022 by JoeQ