penguinleo Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Thanks for the article Quack and cheers for that Rory. I'll keep updating.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguinleo Posted January 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2007 Small update... I have positioned my JBL CO2 diffuser in my tank and am now starting it up. Hard to see the bubbles flowing...It is 1 bubble per second. At the moment my pH is quite low (around 6.1) so I removed all the fish until the pH stabilises completely. Last time, I sent 4 fish to heaven and I don't want to risk anything.. :-? More updates to come soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorenceo Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Looks like a good start, I will be following the thread. One thing I would suggest though is more plants. Lots of fast growers in particular. With the amount of light you have, and reasonably small bio load, you are inviting algae to take hold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguinleo Posted January 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 UPDATE: The remainer of the plants arrived today. (Thanks to Henry ) He even bought them over to my house himself! Makes the job much quicker and easier. Much appreciated and thank you! I have taken out all the fish to keep them safe from the CO2 system. And luckily I did. I found the pH dropped 0.5 this moring! I leave the CO2 running at night because I did in my last tank and no pH swings occured. Just for the first week. Then it stabilized. I think I will measure the pH now (which is 6.4) and after the lights go off, and in the morning and see if there is any difference. If not, I think I would be safe for fish to swim again. But another worry is that permanent pH test kit which measures if there is too much CO2 or too less or just okay. At the moment it is sitting on yellow...too much CO2. Will too much CO2 kill or harm fish? Or would it be still okay to add fish if the pH is steady and the test kit is yellow? I will get a kH test kit tommorow and measure the kH. I'm so confused.... :roll: Anyway here are some photos. The tank. The arcadia hood's ground wire has a fault in it so I am getting it replaced. Using the original hood for now. Will collect the Arcadia tommorow. Fish in a smaller tank...waiting... A question: Do all JEBO 338 tanks have T5 lights? CO2 system Green Pine Really beautiful First sight of algae!! Brown algae that is...time to bring in the Otos! Didn't know how to plant rooted Glosoo...but still will grow and spread.. :lol: Ambulia grew a lot didn't it? Red Pines Stargrass still growing..... See what I mean by the yellow.. Here is a tiny bit of hairgrass I found tangled in the mass of Glosso..I will try and grow it! It may be small at present but maybe in a few months time... The tank is still developing and young. Not that attractive yet. Needs some time to grow. I will add a red lotus as well. Will keep updating! :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Looking good :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 hey i agree with antwan, i got some off phil a few months ago, mine are pebas but phil sold as huallaga. they are nice fish, shame cos my female died and my male is lonely. relly wanted to breed them. anyway, that my 2c worth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoToRiOuS Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 tanks looking sweet will be nice to see it all filled out.red tiger lotus wicked i want some of that where did u buy that if u dont mind me asking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 With the glosso (it's a nightmare) you need to separate the individual plantlets (2 or 3 leaves each plantlet) and plant those 2-3cm apart from one another, this will allow them to spread and form that nice lawn you're looking for. You can plant it in a clump, but it won't spread quite as quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguinleo Posted January 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 I see...the red lotus? I haven't got it yet. I'm going to order some in from Hollywood. And the glosso. So shall I plant around 3 stems of Glosso 2-3cm apart? :roll: Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Yea, that would ensure you'd get a nice carpet going. It's a pain in the butt and takes a while, but you will be rewarded for your efforts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguinleo Posted January 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 I'll do that then.. :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguinleo Posted January 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2007 UPDATE: Like I mentioned previously, I had a fault in my first Arcadia light. Now I have brand new one which my LFS exchanged for me. Looking great so far. Presently, no fish at the moment. I am afraid that there may be pH drops like there was when I added the CO2. Dropped from 6.4 to 5.6. Luckily I had no fish in there. The pH seems to be steady at the moment. I measured it last night and it was 6.33 and this morning it was 6.31. I think I will leave it one more night and see if there are any pH drops. If no major fluctuations occur, I will start adding fish again even though the permanent test kit indicates a yellow meaning too much CO2. I guess if the pH is stable it is cool. I am running 1 bubble per second. I just measured my KH and my GH. GH is around 0-60. Quite soft water. KH is 20-80. Ideal for acidic loving fish. And I also ordered 1 red lotus for $45 and 1 E.PARVIFLORUS They are some awesome looking plants. The tank a few minutes ago. I still have to construct the Glosso carpet tommorow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted January 10, 2007 Report Share Posted January 10, 2007 Great stuff mate, look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted January 10, 2007 Report Share Posted January 10, 2007 ph will always drop at night and increase during the day. that is why it is not a good idea to run co2 at night as ph will drop to low. get a solonoid valve so you can turn co2 off when the lights go out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguinleo Posted January 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 It is strange though. My pH doesn't drop much at night. It is almost the same as in the day. I measured it yesterday. Around the afternoon it was 6.31, just before the lights went out it was 6.33. (Basically no difference) and this morning was 6.23. A one point drop. I guess this is normal though isn't it? Even in aquariums with no CO2, the pH still drops at night but not as significantly. I have added some fish today and I'll see how it goes. p.s: Approximately how much are solenoid valves? And how do they work? Anyone selling any presently? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quack Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 solenoid go in the line from the bottle to the diffuser somewere, the are just a switch basicly that turns off the gass flow when they are turned off, you just plug them into the light timer so when the lights go off the co2 goes off. yeah i would been keen too if someone has some floating around to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiuh Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 wow..i am sure this one will turn out to be fine looking tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguinleo Posted January 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 UPDATE: A wonderful sight. My plants are pearling. Very awesome. Now there are lots of small to big bubbles clinging all over my plants. Especially the green pine. On a site that quack showed me, it stated that "the proper use of supplemental CO2 with appropriate lighting and trace element supplementation should actually increase the levels of dissolved oxygen in the water. Often, in a tank with really good plant growth, you will see bubbles rising off the plant leaves. This is oxygen being produced at such a rate that it can no longer be absorbed by the water. Its only course is to escape into the atmosphere." (trying to put a photo up but photo bucket isn't working properly.... :roll: ) I'll try again tommorow... Glad that is good news. My plants are growing, the water is oxygen rich, and everything seems to be in good order. :bounce: Here is an update on the pH I collected. Yesterday at noon: 6.31 Yesterday before lights out: 6.33 This morning before lights on: 6.23 This afternoon: 6.40 Late afternoon: 6.43 Before lights out: 6.42 Not too much pH fluctuations! :bounce: I also added some purigen in my filter. Just to keep the nitrite, nitrate, phosphates and ammonia levels down. And a quick question: Will the pH of my tank water change when I add new water when doing a water change? Or will it stay at the same pH level after the new water is added? This is providing I add water of the same pH. My tap water's KH is 20-80mg/L (approx. 30-40) and my tap water's GH is about 40mg/L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubbieBoy Posted January 11, 2007 Report Share Posted January 11, 2007 Pearling is your plants' way of telling you that they're very happy. I love watching it. I also added some purigen in my filter. Just to keep the nitrite, nitrate, phosphates and ammonia levels down. Purigen is a good product for polishing your water but why would you want to remove nitrate and phosphate? If anything, you'll need to add these. In a well planted tank, ammonia is the first nitrogen compound to be gobbled up the the plants and should be undetectable. Nitrites don't hang about either and are very quickly converted to nitrates by the bugs in your filter; nitrates in turn are plant food numero uno and in a lightly stocked tank, whatever is produced from fish waste will be insufficient for your plants, they'll be wanting even more. Your plants are pearling, this means that metabolically, they're pretty much flat out - which is where you want them but to keep it up, they need food too. I'm not suggesting that Purigen is a bad idea in a planted tank, I have it in my own filter, just not for those reasons And a quick question: Will the pH of my tank water change when I add new water when doing a water change? Or will it stay at the same pH level after the new water is added? This is providing I add water of the same pH. My tap water's KH is 20-80mg/L (approx. 30-40) and my tap water's GH is about 40mg/L. I really wouldn't sweat it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguinleo Posted January 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 I reckon that plants do not need to much phosphates and nitrates at the start of a new cycled tank. They just provide too much for the more hated algae. I like to keep the nitrate and phosphates down until the plants have grown and developed enough. I don't know. Just like purigen. And I have changed my photo uploading site. Photobucket was terrible... :roll: Much better now. I got my red lotus and my new amazon sword. I got quite a big bunch of the Red lotus. Happy about that. Pearling of plants on my green pine. My Golden Black-eyed ancistrus. I'm getting too much brown algae.. I decided to leave my Glosso in clumps. They seem to be spreading very quickly along the foreground so shouldn't be a big issue. One of my Schwartz cory Busy, busy... Here's the Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica'. I bought it in emersed form so should become more lush and larger soon. I like the wide leaves. Large Red Lotus. The leaves aren't that red but will become darker in high light. Was planning to get 5 Otocinclus today but there were only 2 left. Here's one of them. I have added some more cardinals, 3 small cockatoo dwarfs, 2 otos, and 2 GBAs. Planning to add 5 more cardinals, 2 or 3 tri-line torpedo barbs and a UV sanitizer next week. Thanks for looking. :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candy Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 OH NO !!!! the photos arnt working and i soo soo want to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quack Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 i got to see them looking really good! love the pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguinleo Posted January 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 So the photos aren't showing up for you Candy? And they are showing up for you Quack? Hmm..Sorry about that Candy! :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 i cant see them either :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
penguinleo Posted January 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: I used Dotphoto as my uploading site. What might be the problem...? :-? Maybe I should stick to Photobucket but its so slow....lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.