Fred’s Planted Tank

Could be yes.

I have been doing 50% water changes every 3 days or so and the ammonia readings are not really coming down. That said, given that the pH is sitting around 6.2 I think there is more ammonium than ammonia - not sure if the test kit can distinguish between the two. Nitrites are coming through now though - so there does seem to be some activity.

The plants are exploding though (with the exception of the H Pinnifitida - which seems to be transitioning to immersed form), so that at least indicates that I'm not going catastrophically wrong yet...

 

A quick update - haven't logged in a while.

Since the last post I ramped up my water changes to around 50% per day to get the ammonium out, which dropped rapidly. I added 6 danios around 2 weeks ago to get some bioload going, and for the first 5 days with them in the tank continued with my water changes which have now dialed back to every 4 days or so. I've also added 12 embers and 4 crystal red shrimp 3 days ago. 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, <10mg/l nitrates as of this morning.

Additional plants have also been added - namely some S repens and another one which escapes me now (it's the purply / red /green thin leaved one in the pic with the ember and shrimp).

I did come to some realizations:
- CO2 was too heavy. The danios were at the surface gasping towards the end of the first afternoon with CO2 despite CO2 checker showing green... It was green due to the colour of the wall behind it distorting the true colour, which was more yellowish once viewed against a white background.
- Danios are apparently not great for plants. I see why some say so as they do uproot some of the weaker carpet plants. That said, the plants are growing faster than any damage the danios can do.
- My pH test has expired - so I am in the dark as to the true pH until my new test arrives.
- I have no idea how to trim cabomba to get it to the desired "bushiness"...

I am battling some algae at the moment - a mixture of diatoms and hair algae on account of (I think) instability in CO2 and perhaps a bit too much fertilizer. The shrimp seem to be doing some damage on the hair algae and the diatoms are already nearly gone.

Some pics to close.



Peace

 

Looks good love the shrimp.

 

Looking good!

 

Yes! 6 Otos are actually my next stocking idea. The diatoms were expected (I don't think I've ever cycled a tank without them but the hair algae was a concern - seems to be under control now though!

Thanks!

Update: it looks like 2 of my ember tetras were spawning this morning. Behavior matches some YouTube videos of spawning. Of course, the eggs were eaten during the course of spawning.

 

Quick update

This weekend I bit the bullet and committed to getting the new lights. I eventually opted for the Chihiros WRGB2 Slim 90.

The plants were growing alright with the old Juwel T5s. They have literally exploded into life from the minute I installed the light. There was a noticeable change in the amount of oxygen bubbles being given off by the plants.

See the Rotala Hra (I think) come to life and how it is already changing colour:



The cabomba, Ludwigia and other rotalas are also growing visibly denser on any new shoots.

Also, welcome to 6 Otos on the cleanup crew who are bringing much life to the scape as they zip around the aquarium.


Full tank shot to close:





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Tank looks fantastic! Glad the new lights are working so well.

 

Hello!

A quick update. 12 cardinals joined the aquarium this week. They add an amazing dimension to the liveliness of the tank as they’re forever travelling up and down the length of the aquarium.






I’ve unfortunately been struggling with some algae as a result of overdoing on fertilisers. I (stupidly) assumed that the scape complete and scape trace and K products are complementary. This has induced a range of algae in my tank. It’s slowed since I’ve correct my fertiliser dosage.

You’ll see some green spot algae on some of my Anubias and the glass. I’ve dealt with most of it after a quick clean and will clear up the rest during the course of the week.

However, the most troubling is some form of thread algae which seems to be hanging around on my hardscape and some of my plants. It’s quite tough, strong enough to pull a rooted plant free of the substrate in some cases - does anybody have an idea of what this is and the best way to deal with it?

I’ve been trimming most of the affected leaves off, the majority of the plant mass is looking healthy and I’m certain I’ve dealt with the root cause. So it’s not an emergency I think… It’s just looks really meh







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Yo TASA

I haven't updated in some time:
1. The algae battle continues. I suspect it was caused by the intensity of the Chihiros lights.

My initial response was to cut back on ferts (my original theory on the root cause of the algae growth) which did not yield any results, and I noticed some holes in the ozelot sword and some other plants pointing to deficiencies. So I've upped the ferts back to the original level but reduced the photo period by an hour and reduced the light intensity to 70%. It seems to be working as the rate of algae growth has slowed significantly.

This makes sense in retrospect, as the plants are more effective at utilising nutrients so cutting back on nutrients does the algae more favours than the plants - but at the time I overlooked the presence of the new light.

2. New fish include 2 SAEs

Recruited to help the battle against algae. As plain as they are, their movement adds quite a lot to the tank.

3. The plants are growing in nicely

The plants at the back are regularly growing quite high over and above the scape but I have been cutting them back regularly to promote bushy growth. The pics below are following a quick, and very rough trimming + water change session.

4. The tank needs some centrepiece fish.

Next part is to get a centrepiece fish. Any recommendations for a community fish that works well with:
1. Ember and Cardinal Tetras
2. Soft water (1 dKH) low pH (5.7 - 6.2) setup. 25 degrees Celsius (slightly too low for German Rams I believe).
3. Currently I have danios in there too - but these can be shipped off if they do not work with the centrepiece fish.

What do you guys think?







Plus a video:
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0bd29Dl2atYiYwgOsbqldlHkg

Cheers,
Fred

 

Beautiful setup there Fred.

 

I reckon upping the Cardinal school by another 10 and getting a couple of Angels as centrepiece would look awesome!

Or possibly a neat school of Rummy Nose?

 

Other cool centrepiece fish would be apistogramma

 

Apistos are going on the list. And you’re reading my mind on the rummynoses - it’s them or lemon tetras for the next school.

I’m going to drop angels this round as I’ve had some in almost every community tank I’ve owned.


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The tank looks amazing!
Electric Blue Acara would also look great in there, but they might very well dig up some of your plants and that beautiful carpet you have going.
Also keep in mind that the SAEs get big. Much bigger than they currently are. Your tank is certainly big enough for them full size but they tend to almost become a centerpiece on their own (Mine tend to actually frequently stand out even more than my EB acaras).

 

Great setup, love the greenery, and also love how the pinnafitida is just sticking itself out there