Ruud's Tank collection (formerly "a 100 liter tank in Spain")

[Ruud]

So today I removed some biofilm from the wood and the glass, and did a 30% water change with tap water to up the PH level a bit. I also installed a spray bar on the back glass, but looking to maybe change it to the side glass (which means I need to cut a bit off it) as it makes water changes with the filter on a bit messy. I'd like to get rid of the ayirstone, hoping the sprayer will provide sufficient oxygen (thoughts?)

As of right now the tank looks like this:

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Ruud

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/4/2023 at 5:23 AM, Ruud said:

I'd like to get rid of the ayirstone, hoping the sprayer will provide sufficient oxygen (thoughts?)

Should be sufficient yes.  Having the airstone as a secondary source is usually personal preference.

[Ruud]

Thanks Nabokov! The noise of the air pump annoys me as I have my tanks in my home office. I have tried several different ones, all are noisy so rather go without!

Also I ordered a Hygger HG999 light, which has RGBW and sunrise/sunset options. My current light is only BW so expecting positive impact on plant growth from this as well. 

[Schuyler]

On 9/28/2023 at 7:57 AM, Ruud said:

Partially it makes me sad as I never had such clear water tanks and such nicely scaled tanks

Don't feel bad. That's like comparing yourself to pictures in magazines. His whole job is making them look nice and he gets to choose when he lets you see them.

 

On 10/3/2023 at 8:48 AM, Ruud said:

It has a tiny bit of red on top,

Red is like a plant's sun tan. They develop the pigment to protect themselves from high levels of light. So to get red plants to stay that color you need high light. At least for most types.

It looks like it could be a type of fancy Ludwigia, especially if they're saying it's a bit tricky.

[Schuyler]

On 10/4/2023 at 5:23 AM, Ruud said:

So today I removed some biofilm from the wood and the glass, and did a 30% water change with tap water to up the PH level a bit

I would leave things alone as much as possible while it gets established. The biofilm on the wood will eventually reach an equilibrium and fix itself. The plant substrate is probably driving the pH down but that should level out eventually. It's also leeching ammonia probably which will be helpful in getting the bacteria established. Leaving it alone should keep get the cycle established.

Unrelated note, your name reminds me of a species of killifish: Nothobranchius Ruudwildkampi is a really cool looking fish

[Ruud]

Thanks Schuyler, I think you have a point and I probably should just leave it as is. I am not exactly a newbie but still struggle to understand doing the right things (except for waiting to put fish) with new setup tanks, and have a history of issues with brown algae i am trying to avoid. For sure the substrate drilled down the PH as it hovers around 6ish. 

Ruud is my first name and is a typical Dutch name (I am Dutch but living in Spain) , so I am guessing a Dutch dude called Ruud Wildekamp first encountered and described the specie. I had to look it up, looks to be some sort of Killifish, really pretty!

[Ruud]

I bought a Hygger HG999 light with WRGB leds and 24/7 programming mode, 1720Lumens. Thinking it will be an upgrade from my white led Nicrew unit I had in the past with a timer clock. 

I went for the standard programming suggested by Hygger which is the following: 

start time / end time / light intensity

0600-0800 - 10%

0800-1000 - 50%

1000-1200 - 80%

1200-1400 - 100%

1400-1600 - 80%

1600-1800 - 50%

1800 - 2000 - 10% 

You can also do a fixed day and night schedule but the gradual one seems better to me. Let's see how the plants react and if I see any algae coming before tweaking further with it. If it becomes to complex to figure out how to adjust, I might revert back to a simple on/off schedule. 

 

[Ruud]

Update after around two weeks of planting plants. I see slight growth with one or 2 of them but the majority doesn't seem to grow very much which is a bit disappointing but also 0 algae as far as I can see. I am hoping the new light will help a bit as well with plant growth. I did some watertests> 

PH (strip) : 7

PO4 (drops): <0.02

NO2: 0.05

NO3: 0

I don't have an FE test but prob makes sense to get one and see. Should I start adding something to increase the Phosphate a bit? I am adding Seachem Flourish advance right now on a (almost) daily basis

 

Edited October 10, 2023 by Ruud

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/10/2023 at 7:16 AM, Ruud said:

Should I start adding something to increase the Phosphate a bit? I am adding Seachem Flourish advance right now on a (almost) daily basis

Do you have other fertilizer available that is more of an all-in-one?

[Ruud]

I have the following here (all used, none are new so not sure how effective still):

- Tropica premium nutrition Plant care "contains iron and all other important trace elements" 

- Natur Gro Azoo Plant Premium 

- Hobby Plant fit " balanced ratio of iron, potassium and trace elements - free of phosphates" 

 

All 3 seem to be an all in one type fertilizer I feel . Thanks for your advice and suggestions Nabakov!

Edited October 10, 2023 by Ruud

[Ruud]

Posting an update pic of one week later. Clearly now I see growth in most plants. I really like the Hygger light with sunrise/sunset feature and between putting it on and adding fertilizer growth really starts to catch on. PH is still a bit on the low side but changing each day about 15% with (hard) tap water. 

 

 

[Ruud]

Something very stupid... I changed some water on Monday afternoon and just realized this morning I forgot to plug in the filter again so my tank has been without filtration for about a day and a half in total. Good thing is I only have 2 neon tetras in it right now but still pretty stupid. 

Also the stemplant in the middle, left from the Java fern got loose and it seems its roots have rotted away so prob going to loose this plant. Weird as it was growing ..

[nabokovfan87]

It happens! Hopefully the media stayed wet and things recover. 

[Ruud]

On 10/18/2023 at 9:07 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

It happens! Hopefully the media stayed wet and things recover. 

Yup Im sure it stayed wet in the cannister. Will keep a close eye the next few days on parameters

[Ruud]

@nabokovfan87 I could use some input from you here.... Most plants are picking up on growth, however there are a few that turn brownish leaves. Also I see minor brown algae appear on the glass and on the wood. By now my group of 8 lemon tetra's are enjoying this as a home. 

What should I do? Up the light or less light? Up fertilizer or hold back? 

 

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

Maybe try nerite snails or some other algae scraping animal for the wood, as for the brown leaves, they could be a sign of the plants old leaves melting back for new growth. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/23/2023 at 8:34 AM, Ruud said:

What should I do? Up the light or less light? Up fertilizer or hold back? 

Look at that pinnatifida!  Yeah, it's all just about placement from what I can see.  The wood is front/center right under the light and that's just going to be a norm until you have the plants about doubled in size.  I would honestly cut the stems and propagate them out.  Leave everything the same, don't adjust anything. Just try to expand the plant load out.

Specifically that tall one in the back, the hygro, the PSO, and the lower green one by the heater. 

  

On 10/23/2023 at 8:34 AM, Ruud said:

Hm.. The fern you want to have off to the side, which you do.   In terms of lighting, I would think to cut it down by 15% or so.  It's a seemingly very tall tank and you just want to keep an eye out for plants low to the ground getting enough light.

Edited October 23, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[Ruud]

Thanks Nabokov! The tank isn't that tall, its 80cm wide and 40cm high. So you suggestion would be to cut the red stemplant left to the wood, and the one to the right as well and put the cutoff pieces directly into the substrate? Not sure the one on the right will survive to be honest, I had to throw away some stems that were rotted away. 

I might get the Anubias out and put it into my pleco tank and put the Java fern in that corner and maybe find another fast growing stem plant for that space. The Sword isn't doing that well somehow - the roots are exposed as they should be so not sure what's going on there. 

Will lower the light a bit indeed. So what should I do with fertilizer, now I put in a little bit of fertilizer every other day - guess I should continue with that as long as the algae don't get any worse? 

Cheers my friend, your advice is very helpful for me! 

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/24/2023 at 3:13 AM, Ruud said:

So you suggestion would be to cut the red stemplant left to the wood, and the one to the right as well and put the cutoff pieces directly into the substrate?

Yeah.  If you want to visually see it there is likely good videos on "propagating stem plants" on YouTube. 🙂  There are some tips and tricks with where you should cut them, but it's ultimately just a skill you practice with. Then you take the trimmings and plant those in the substrate, yes.

On 10/24/2023 at 3:13 AM, Ruud said:

Not sure the one on the right will survive to be honest, I had to throw away some stems that were rotted away. 

Ah, very interesting. It might be just due to the GH levels. Some plants want less GH than we realize.  Fingers crossed it perks up!

On 10/24/2023 at 3:13 AM, Ruud said:

The Sword isn't doing that well somehow - the roots are exposed as they should be so not sure what's going on there. 

It shouldn't have the roots exposed per say, but just planted. I can take a photo of mine if it helps at all in terms of how deep to plant them. The main thing there will be what is your substrate and root tabs as the food for that plant.... In addition to the liquid ferts and adding anything like potassium.

On 10/24/2023 at 3:13 AM, Ruud said:

Will lower the light a bit indeed. So what should I do with fertilizer, now I put in a little bit of fertilizer every other day - guess I should continue with that as long as the algae don't get any worse? 

Yeah pretty much. You definitely don't need to dose every day.  Sometimes it can be difficult if you miss one day and don't have the consistency. If you do, that's great. The main thing is just to verify that amount that you're using. Maybe it needs to be higher per day.  Which liquid fert and root tabs are you using?

[Ruud]

So the roots of the sword are exposed for like half a cm maybe? I can just see the top basically of the roots. I use root sticks by easy life, and the substrate is Aquagro plant and shrimp soil by Ocean Free. Perhaps I should plug a few more root tabs down the sword. 

Liquid fertilizer I am using is Premium nutrition by Tropica and/or Plant fit by Hobby - both european brands I think. Actually I ran out of the Hobby stuff and need to buy again. Oh and I also dose liquid carbon every now and then when I think about it.

Cheers Nabokovfan, you have been so helpful and I am very grateful! 

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/24/2023 at 1:55 PM, Ruud said:

So the roots of the sword are exposed for like half a cm maybe?

This is what it normally looks like. Just a photo from online. You want the roots to be in the soil so they can feed as well as secure the plant itself. 

On 10/24/2023 at 1:55 PM, Ruud said:

Perhaps I should plug a few more root tabs down the sword. 

I tried to look up the ingredients and I saw someone post that they worked well for the swords they had. It looks to be bits of clay which may or may not have all the nutrients you need. I'm not sure. If you can get them, if that continues to be an issue, I would try the seachem or tropica root tabs. But yeah, keep an eye on the plant after you add root tabs (you can tab the entire tank where you have stems and stuff) and then just monitor.

On 10/24/2023 at 1:55 PM, Ruud said:

Liquid fertilizer I am using is Premium nutrition by Tropica and/or Plant fit by Hobby

I would lean towards the specialized version by tropica. Both should work fine, but they have slightly different things. For your setup the specialized one has things for fast growing plants (stems and so on).  The hobby one I can't find the % of what is in there unfortunately.

 

[Ruud]

Thanks Nabokov, will take that into account. I have put some extra root tabs in now, and will be propagating the stem plants maybe later today. Also I am wondering if plants matter if they are close to each other... notice the red stem plant is quite close to the Fern like plant on its right (Im sorry I don't know their names). 

Also it looks like my 207 Fluval is a bit on the strong side for this 96L tank (25gallon) as the food for my lemon tetras just blows away. I am thinking of swapping it for the 107 I have running my cube which will become my L134 raising/breeding tank (I have a group of 5 coming in next week, at 3cm each) as they will enjoy the flow. 

Also I will probably rename this journal so I can start including as well my other tanks, I am going to rebuild the cube, I have the L 136B tank, gonna have a sterbai only tank when I split up the Cube etc. 

[Ruud]

So I have updated the title so this will become my Journal for all tanks. Currently I have: 

* The 100L planted tank - currently housing 8 lemon tetra's, 2 survivors Cardinal tetra's and a Juvenile Angel I adopted. Fluval 107 cannister and Hygger 999 light

* 90L (45x45x45cm)Cube tank - which I will tear apart and do something else with. Currently housing a L213, 6 Sterbai Cory's, 2 dwarf Oto's and a leftover balloon Molly - Fluval 207 filter and pair of cheap Nicrew slim lights

*80L (60x35x38cm) bare bottom - currently housing 2x juvenile L136B and expecting 2 more next week - Fluval 207 and Hygger 999 lighting at the lowest setting

*68L (60x30x38) - currently empty but most likely will become the Sterbai tank, or I will house L134 here

* 50L emergency tank - empty 

I am expecting a group of 5x Juvenile L134 place's - around 3cm each in size - by end of next week so doing setups and moving around fish these days. I still haven't decided whether I will house them in the Cube (bare bottom with wood and caves) or in the 68L bare bottom. 

 

This is the L136B tank, as said currently I have 2 juvenile L136B here and expecting another pair to be shipped to me next week. Absolutely gorgeous fish. 

My only concern right now is around feeding. They are so small I am afraid I overfeed. But with the strong flow of the cannister (Fluval 207 with spray bar), food easily blows away so also concerned they won't eat enough and since you never see them eating.... Interested to hear from fellow L number keepers / breeders.

 

[Schuyler]

On 10/23/2023 at 8:34 AM, Ruud said:

Most plants are picking up on growth, however there are a few that turn brownish leaves

If you rub it between your fingers does the brown come off?

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/26/2023 at 5:12 AM, Ruud said:

My only concern right now is around feeding. They are so small I am afraid I overfeed. But with the strong flow of the cannister (Fluval 207 with spray bar), food easily blows away so also concerned they won't eat enough and since you never see them eating.... Interested to hear from fellow L number keepers / breeders.

Cc @Odd Duck

Basically the way I handle things is that I use a timer and turn the filter off to feed. After 20-30 minutes, then the filter comes back on and no big deal. The fish get used to it, but it gives the food a chance to get "stuck" on the bottom for the fish to graze on.