jn
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Posts posted by jn
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Yup.. definitely realise that.
Just want to make sure the algae doesn't start with an unfair advantage :-?
I don't really need to add any to the tank. I'm sure it will arrive without any extra help!! :evil:
My partner is having nigthmares about my 'new hobby' turning into a yellow-watered slimy green coated mess. I need to prove him wrong so I can get a bigger tank!
(I haven't even set up a single tank yet and I ALREADY want a bigger one!!! Sad sad sad....)
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Nice tank Penguileo,
It's tropical right? Anyone have pics of a coldwater tank of a similar size?
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Excellent guys. Thanks again.
I'll make a few stops and see what I find first.
I might actually have some Condy's crystals!!
Wouldn't that be convenient! I'll save my algae fix for desperate situations in the pond (especially at the price they charge for it!)
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Is there any way to do this?
I need to take cuttings from plants in my pond to supply my new tank.
I've read plants can handle some bleach if they are extremly well rinsed afterwards (1 part bleach to 19 parts water) although it does say plants may sufer some as well
I do have some algaefix though. Should I just use some of that with the required plants in a bucket? Is the stuff strong enough to really eradicate everything?
Algae in a pond isn't a real bad thing.. puts a nice green coat on the sides and softens anything ugly.. but in an aquarium I know I'll be dealing with a whole other beast!!
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I have an australian brand called Waterwerks I think.
It's a submerged one that sits on the inlet side of the pump.
near the bottom of the pond, 2 types of sponge and bio-balls under them.
Volume is 1100L I think it said it could handle a little more than that.
I don't know enough to know how well it's working except it collects alot of sludge so I suppose it has to be working!
The down side is that you have to lift it out of the pond for cleaning (which I guess gets done every 3-4 weeks cause it's a pretty small unit)
When lifting it out, you need to be able to sit it on a ledge or the edge of the pond cause it's full of water and heavy'ish. Also as you're lifting it spills dirty water back into the pond. We chose it because it was a retrofiit to an existing pond which wasn't designed with a filter in mind so needed it on the inlet side.
I think it cost about $80 from the WaterGarden place here in chch.
There are a couple going on trademe now that look pretty good actually for less than that!!
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Yes I saw alot of pieces of what looked like greenstone.
Some beautiful marbled ones too.
Picked up some slightly bigger pieces of the green stuff for a little feature pile in the tank. Maybe it should have a treasure chest
What else is in there do you know? Is the white stuff like a quartz? Or marble? Hey is any of this stuff likely to affect the pH? It doesn't look like it has any shells in it?
Anyway I was extremely chuffed and have saved myself a bundle too!
My driftwood is soaking under a brick in a plastic container in the sun. So not boiling but should heat up some. Most of it looked pretty well aged so hopefully won't discolor the water too much. Will replace the soaking water daily for a week to draw out as much salt and tannins as possible.
Is that long enough?
Got some good marbled/knarly pieces and they're looking really cool now that they're wet.
AND BONUS.. the tank finally arrived today so I can start visualising what I want to do with it.
Excuse my enthusiasm. This is my first tank and I'm looking forward to the challenge
Hopefully it'll go well and I won't end up with an algae ridden mess! If so at least I know where to turn 
Thanks for all your help.
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Wow! Went down to birdlings flat today. Had driven past a million times but never turned off there.
What a treasure trove! Came home with a bucketful of the finest, prettiest, very dark gravel and a whole selection of driftwood!
Thanks for that tip. Definitely recommend it to anyone else!!
Now if my tank would only arrive....maybe tomorrow
gives me time to wash and soak everything I guess. -
Hazara,
I have a bathtub available if you want it. Partner says its really heavy though. It's an older steel/enamel one that would need a surround. Some of the later ones I think were pressed stel so not as heavy.
Up to you. No charge. It's been sitting in a paddock since we moved in and we use plastic troughs so don't need it. Send me a message if you're interested.
I'm in chch also. Western edge of the city.
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Hey purplecatfish, Found this website today:
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/articles.htm
There's a fertilizer dosage calculator (second item on the page) that looks extremely handy. Sounds like Potassium Nitrate could be handy for me. Could be handy for you too? There's also a calculator for Potassium Chloride and Potasium Sulphate so I guess those are compounds that are readiliy used.
I found a website (hydroponics.co.nz - see bulk chemicals) that was selling 1kg of Potassium Nitrate for ~$6. (I also don't know how harmful sulphates or Chloride would be in the water so Potassium Nitrate sounds like a safer bet!) They also stocked Potassium Sulfate but not Potassium Chloride.
Unfortunately shipping doubles the cost but I think I'll try to find some locally. Found a few hydroponics places in chc in the yellow pages.
Since both the pond at the rental place and my barrel pond are at zero nitrates it could be handy for me to get familiar with a supplement.
I found a website too that said my lsymachia is often used as an 'indicator' plant for nitrate levels! Said it loses colour when nitrates drop below 5ppm. Even my liliaeopsis is yellowing so I'd really like to fix it.
Can you buy potassium test kits? Is it possible to have too much potassium and would any of this have any effect on pH? (Can't imagine that it would but pays to ask I guess!)
Oh.. my fish were really 'chasing' this morning so with any luck the population will be on the increase! Yaaay!
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Good driftwood at birdlings flat huh..
Well then :lol: I might have to go have a look.
Will surely win out over the $15 piece I saw at animates!
I'll checkout redwood fist to know what their gravel options are then decide if I want a small bucket from the shore or not.
Thanks guys. I'll give the plastic stuff a miss then.
Would you all recommend some sand under the gravel for some plants or is it not really necessary in a small tank?
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Awesome pond.
I'm very jealous. I had to settle for a barrel but I have a very similar selection of plants. I'm about to try propagting my gratiola sexdentata as it's put out heaps or roots from each plant stem after about 6 weeks in the water. Mine isn't flowering though! Something to look forward to!
Thanks for the update! Keep us posted!
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So.. my tank is ordered and should be here in a few days! Yaaay!
I'm now looking for some very dark substrate.
Found some black Marina stuff but wondering what the opinion is on the plastic coated gravel? Any reason to shy away from it?
Getting an AR380 so I shouldn't need heaps of it. Maybe 2 bags?
I am planning on growing some plants but it will be a coldwater tank so probably not heaps and heaps of them.
I want something nicer than pea gravel. Our driveway is pea gravel so I see enough of it already!! Any other suggestions for a very dark substrate and where I might get some?
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Found it... PONDTABS 10-14-8. Seems alot of phosphorous. Maybe I'm just too paranoid? :-? Blanketweed really sucks though!
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Thanks guys.
Alanmin..I know the stuff you mean.. "pond tabs".
I actually just put some into a pond at our rental place cause there are a fair number of water lilies in there which will no doubt be really big feeders (nitrates are nil in there too although everything still looked very healthy!). First time using them. I'll see how they do there. That pond is about 1100L with 8 fish 5 water lilies and a bunch of pretty big marginals so i figured it would be more tolerant of some extra fertiliser than my 200L job.
I can't find the N-P-K details for pond tabs though? Very paranoid about adding phosphorous. Does anyone know?
Where do you get liquid potassium? Is it an aquatic thing or just some generic stuff?
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Hey there. I'm pretty new here but have done alot of reading about ponds.
Do a search in google for 'veggie filter' and/or 'rubbermaid pond filter'.
There's heaps of info out there to build out of pond filters. Some of the veggie ones I've seen are made in large plastic planters so are attractive enough not to need hiding
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Thanks for that.
Anyone know if aquarium fertilizers would be much different to pond fertilisers and which types/brands might be better value or performance wise?
Actually, my yellowest plant is a large basket of lsymachia thats sitting about 10cm below water level. It's not the 'aurea' cultivar.. was definitely green. Are they heavy feeders?
The others are ranuculus lingua, lilaeopsis (n.z), and gratiola sexdentata.
(actually.. Caryl has these same plants in her pond and has recently added photos in another thread)
Wish those fish would hurry up and grow.
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Hi there, I recently did some nitrate testing in my pond. The nitrate reads zero. I doubted the test but confirmed it was genuine when I tested my tap water (which tests at about 10ppm)
Whats the best thing to do here? Some of my plants are beginning to go slightly yellow. The plants are in baskets of gravel.
Other parameters are fine, no nitrites or ammonia, pH is stable around 7.4. There's a very small amount of blanket weed which is too small to remove. I have been doing 10-20% water changes weekly and keeping the bottom clean with a syphon (it's a larger than average barrel, holds about 200L so pretty small).
Currently stocked with 4 small goldfish (total about 7 inches and growing, I'm hesitant to add fish as I'll have nowhere to put them when they outgrow the barrel.)
This is a still pond, no circulation or filtration. Just plants. Should I change less water or leave more gunk in the bottom and see if I get a buildup? Should I just do more water changes to keep adding nitrogen from the tap water?
Any advice would be appreciated thanks!
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Ok...seems they're up to my 'beginners' adventure!
Corms, How quickly is 'quickly'? And what does a replacement bulb cost if you don't mind me asking?
The advantage of a kitset tank is to save having to work out what filters are good and what flow rates I need and how much lighting etc etc.
Tanks are going for $110 on TM so that's seems pretty reasonable I think.
About the filter.. I had a look at a setup in the shop. The filter cartridges look like just a layer of filter wool with carbon bits in them. Could I just buy a packet of filter wool and cut what I need to size? Looked like I could just trim off the filterwool that's on top of an original cartridge when it's past it, and just lay some new filter wool on it. Does that sound crazy? I'm all for a budget solution where it doesn't compromise anything!!
The biomedia shouldn't need replacing and the sponge should last quite a while I guess with careful periodic rinsing.
Since I'm on the topic...I've read that carbon is a little unneccessary unless you are trying to remove medications or chemicals and that it does very little to remove organic waste. (I have a pond and had some sick fish so I did some reading a while back!) What's the opinion here? Do you guys use carbon in coldwater tanks?
Thanks for the tip Caryl, I'm hoping this will be my first of many tanks and will certianly get in touch with TM (TM the member not TradeMe!) if all goes well with this one! I already have trouble dragging myself away from my pond fish. I could watch them all day
!! OH and I'm green with envy at your pond!!! How about an update on that thread? -
I'm looking at buying an AR-380 (34L) tank as my first aquarium.
Just been told by a reliable LFS that they don't sell them cause the lights kept burning out.
Anyone have any opinions?
This LFS sells Juwel tanks. They're beautiful tanks but their smallest is unfortunately just a tiny bit too wide for the spot I'm trying to fill! (Shame too cause they're running some excellent deals on TM right now!!!)
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Hi there,
I have a pond and am considering setting up a small aquarium mainly to overwinter some oxygenating plants as my pond gets too cold for alot of these plants over winter.
Getting tired of having to buy stuff again every spring so it's worth making sure I have some cuttings to start from!
I have some lilaeopsis, myriophyllum, some bunches of another plant which came nameless.. looks like a medium leafed hygrophila, and some gratiola sexdentata. The bigger plants are fine in the pond or on the verandah overwinter.
I have some blanketweed in my pond and I hear this is a real problem in a tank environment. How can I limit this when I bring my plants into an aquarium indoors? Is there some way to sterilise them without damaging the plants? Would a bath in algicide work? I don't have any snails (yet!) so that's not a worry.
This will be a cold water aquarium in a room that doesn't get alot of heat in the winter. I may heat the tank eventually if the plants start turning to mush. Not looking for lush growth as I'm sure I'll have plenty enough to fill the tank up nicely... just want to keep the plants alive
I plan on putting some WCMM's in it, I'm looking at the AR380, which is 34L, how many do you think it would handle? 8-10? Are there other types of fish I could put in there that might like it as cold as 12-14 degrees possibly colder?? I know this tank is too small for goldfish.
Also what are the odds I'd have to add fertiliser for the plants if I have fish in there?
And lastly.. what to WCMM's eat? Will they Goldfish pellets?
Thanks, Jennifer
Killing algae before moving plants to new tank?
in Aquatic Plants
Posted
Yup. Tank will be in a spot without sun (Maybe a half hour early in the morning.. I'm never awake early enough to know for sure!).
Will definitely run with the filter 24/7 and did intend to leave it setup for a week prior to light stocking. Got driftwood and washed pebbles/gravel from the beach so want to make sure the pH stays stable before adding fish. Might use my 2 very very little goldfish from outdoors to help cycle it and then get a whole 5-6 WCMM's (goldies will go back outdoors).
Will a BN handle a really cold tank? I'm in chch and the tank wil be in a room that doesn't get much heat (older house.. imagine breath condensing on a cold morning!!). I was planning on going without one until the worst of next winter to see how cold the tank will get if left to its own devices. I know I could buy a heater but I'm determined to go it cold!!
Ok. So maybe I'll use the algae fix for the initial setup and I'll use the other methods to do future plant transfers. (I suppose the PPM would also kill parasites or snals if I ever had a problem with them in one environment or the other?)