Grace's Garden - A RTBS Planted Tank

[nabokovfan87]

The first week of metroplex + food is finished today and I will make more for next week.  I have been contemplating a lot of things down to the details, literally down to the actual method for making medicated food and not struggling to do it.  I have a method in mind similar to what is used in baking, and I'm hoping that bears fruit.

 

Speaking of....

I went and pulled out some of the most damaged leaves and other things from the 2 months of meds.  I have 3 very big swords in there and as a result of all of that they ended up shooting out plants. I used them for compost, but I'm contemplating replacing the old with new baby swords next time.  I had to do something because at the rate they were going I don't think a mass of 8-12 swords is very good for the fish to be able to hide and swim around, 😂 .

They shoot out these little spikes, similar exactly to how they do flowers but they are a lot stronger structures.  That ends up going to the surface and splays out. At first I thought it was a flower and then you have these plants that formed.  It would grow a little more, new plant.

I had 4-6 of these spikes and it was fun to watch, but I don't even feel safe donating these things with what's going on in the tank. 

Clearing out some of the leaves will also help to increase circulation. We'll see how things go. I have to keep in mind that I can't just "play" in the substrate like I do sand. Very tempting, but it's a big mud ball!

Working on motivation, time management, and avoiding cuts on my arms in the hot+dry season so I can do more work in the tanks. I have been culling shrimp and the rainbows go after them like some crazy barbs/sharks might.  I don't enjoy that process and no matter how carefully I try to hide them or keep them from being exposed, shrimp are a bit dense in understanding what lurks beneath.

I hope your tanks are doing well and plants are carpeting. See ya when I see ya next!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/11/2024 at 6:54 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

They shoot out these little spikes, similar exactly to how they do flowers but they are a lot stronger structures.  That ends up going to the surface and splays out. At first I thought it was a flower and then you have these plants that formed.  It would grow a little more, new plant.

Initially I had a rosette sword in the Walstad jar. I thought it would work well because it is a small, compact plant. It ended up making those shoots and produced other sword plants right there in the jar. I relocated those swords to the shrimp tank where they make great hiding places for shrimplets and for adults needing to molt.

 

On 7/11/2024 at 6:54 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I have a method in mind similar to what is used in baking

What did you have in mind? Is it different than the garlic guard+food+med+focus?

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/11/2024 at 8:15 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

What did you have in mind? Is it different than the garlic guard+food+med+focus?

Same exact ingredients, I've tried 2-3 different methods for assembling the food recipe so to speak. Last time I did all the dry first. Next time I'm doing all the wet first. I've also tried to crush the pellets to a smaller size with my mortar and pestle, but they are so hard that's it's very difficult. I don't want to get the big boy out and use it for fish things, so it'll just have to be what it is.

On 7/11/2024 at 8:15 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I relocated those swords to the shrimp tank where they make great hiding places for shrimplets and for adults needing to molt.

I need a lotus jar. 

I tried looking for the bulbs again, they are running around the tank and hiding from me. 😂

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/11/2024 at 11:30 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I've tried 2-3 different methods for assembling the food recipe

I used a micro pellet when I made mine. Worked well and the fish loved it, but the pellets would stick together in clumps and I’d have to keep stirring them around to attempt to get some singles to feed.

 

On 7/11/2024 at 11:30 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I need a lotus jar

What is a lotus jar?

On 7/11/2024 at 11:30 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I tried looking for the bulbs again, they are running around the tank and hiding from me

They can go dormant. If they are squishy, they are dead.

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/12/2024 at 2:52 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

On 7/11/2024 at 8:30 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I need a lotus jar

What is a lotus jar?

On 7/11/2024 at 8:30 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I tried looking for the bulbs again, they are running around the tank and hiding from me

They can go dormant. If they are squishy, they are dead.

Just a jar with a lotus plant in it!

Yeah, I was trying to find them to see. I had the one that the filter keeps kicking all over the tank, lost that one too.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 7/12/2024 at 10:24 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Just a jar with a lotus plant in it!

LOL. I guess I was overthinking it and thought you were talking about some type of technique for making jars.

[nabokovfan87]

DEFINITELY a much better experience this time around.

[nabokovfan87]

Walked into the room today and the fish were being weird. I looked on the sidewall of the tank, right side towards the back, and I didn't see anything weird going on.  They were just being weird or goofy or something pecking at some susswassertang.  I scolded them, "you guys are freaking me out today!" 😂

Cleaning the canister, removing carbon, and I'm going to move all the corydoras into the 75g and run through one more dose of metroplex in food.  I want to ensure everything is cleaned up and make sure we're 1000000% solid moving forward.  

Being down to 2 tanks will be so nice. I cannot wait.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/5/2024 at 1:30 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Being down to 2 tanks will be so nice. I cannot wait.

I hear you @nabokovfan87. I’ve drained one and added my carnivorous plants so it doesn’t “accidentally” get filled with more water and fish (fun fact: carnivorous plants will eat fish food flakes if no bugs are around, but never fertilize the soil or the plants will stop growing bug traps/catching bugs because, what’s the point?).

I want to streamline tank maintenance a bit more by consolidating tanks (hence the 20gal setup).

The only thing with the dry tank is the white residue on the walls. I believe it is calcium from hard water. It appears to wipe away (I’ve been using peroxide) but reappears when it dries. I would like to get that cleared up but need to use fish-safe products in case I need this as a hospital tank at some point.

 

Edited August 6 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/6/2024 at 6:14 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

The only thing with the dry tank is the white residue on the walls. I believe it is calcium from hard water. It appears to wipe away (I’ve been using peroxide) but reappears when it dries. I would like to get that cleared up but need to use fish-safe products in case I need this as a hospital tank at some point.

vinegar soak paper towel? Maybe fill it for a day with a pump running some diluted white vinegar?

Riddick is back in the 75G tank, I assume she's still with us.  I honestly lost so many corydoras that I stopped worrying about who and what was going on and I was simply so focused on just trying to get through it all.  To have the tank "whole" again is a relief and I have been slacking on some things due to the needs elsewhere around the house, but.... yeah. It'll just be nice when I get back to two tanks I can better manage and that 29G tank isn't on the broken stand anymore.  I might have to recycle the glass and get some lids out of it or something.  Maybe use it for the sake of a planter box.  Who knows!

I'm going to take the cabinet apart and use the topmost board on the 20G stand (it's the metal brooklyn petco thing) and then take the shelf and use that as a shelf.  The wood stand was/is beautiful and I'm really just mad at myself for the fact that it broke apart due to these crappy floors.  It is what it is!  Metal stands for the win...