SamH Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Looking good, can't wait for it to de-cloudify. :lol: That hairgrass will take a while like that, split it up into bunches of 3 or 4 blades and space them out, it'll take off much faster and better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Looking good, can't wait for it to de-cloudify. :lol: That hairgrass will take a while like that, split it up into bunches of 3 or 4 blades and space them out, it'll take off much faster and better. Yeah was just thinking that. But now im terrified of moving anything as It doesnt take much to cloud it up! The center area (dwarf sags, hairgrass foreground, flanked by crypts with a sword behind) will be my main stay, the rest will probably get changed as it develops. Ive decided it definately needs a java fern or two in there for that deep lucious green mmm... Will pick up a borelli apisto as the centre piece fish on the weekend (saw them at HFF, stunning!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Day two, looking good. Did a 50% water change so I could get in and do some adjustments (now that I could actually see what im doing!) Split the hairgrass more, so total of 5, hopefully create a nice backdrop for the dwarf sag carpet, spread the vals out, trimmed and planted together the red macaranda, gave the crypts and sword a bit more room, and have a bundle of water sprite, indian fern and wysteria on the left hand side for the 'jungle' area. Also got two baby javaferns from my other tank and rubber banded them to a rock. Putting a submersible powerhead into the bucket of water to carefully pump water back in worked wonders, didnt cloud up anymore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaVitamins Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 That looks really cool! I've had similar prob. with my tank, i decided it was time for a little move around. Thing is i forgot about my clay balls that were in the substrate. yea.. not pretty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Don't mess with clay balls! Hit one the other day and all hell broke lose. Lucky the Betta was in a seperate container so I moved him, drained half the tank, replanted the hairgrass and replaced the Betta. 8) It'll be interesting to see how this tank looks when it fills in a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 It'll be interesting to see how this tank looks when it fills in a bit. I predict: The left side will go nuts The right side will take off well but not quite as fast and the centre and front will take the longest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 That's because you have indian fern on the left, yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 That's because you have indian fern on the left, yes? Along with wysteria AND water sprite... :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Update! I know its only been 1.5 weeks... I started flourish excel dosing 2 days ago. The hairgrass is spreading. Im so happy! The dwarf sag is also spreading, everything else is doing well, the sword and bigger crypt have a few new leaves, as does the vallis. Moved the filter central. The sponge prefilter is coming off as somehow 50 guppy fry have disappeared this week so no longer need it. Water evaporates fast in this tank! 10mm in just a few days... Spreading hairgrass! Yay Apisto steelblue Last lot of my angel babies. One looks like the mother (golden pearlscale) the other likes like the father (amazon) Baby Keyholes, I have 7 in here growing out Full tank shot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Nice! Can I have some details on what tubes you're running, any CO2 or ferts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Nice! Can I have some details on what tubes you're running, any CO2 or ferts? Just flourish excel and standard flourish. Combined with Flourite black sand. Light is a T8 Daylight 20W (around 7000k i think) When my excel runs out ill buy one of those Plant gro C02 canister unit things The dosage of the flourish is so small (per week, double the recommended), it will last me 5 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 i use 5ml of excel on a 48L tank everyday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaVitamins Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Cool!! nice work, new tanks are soo exciting! I love the fish you chose, thoughz baby Angles are soo cute! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Do you reckon its a good idea, when I do a water change, instead of fresh water from the tap, putting in nitrate rich water from my main tank - my main tank has bugger all plants in so the water should still have a good amount of nutrients? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 WC should be done from a fishless, plant rich tank or else you may aswell not do it. I mean you could try it, I just don't see the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 WC should be done from a fishless, plant rich tank or else you may aswell not do it. I mean you could try it, I just don't see the point. Plant rich wouldnt work - the water would be useless, as everything would already be stripped from it by plants. The only reason for water changes in a planted tank is to give a new source of nutrients. Theory was, water from an unplanted tank would still contain these nutrients, as well as nitrates which plants also love Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 I would try this in a tank devoid of fish, but wouldn't experiment with fish. IMO, there is no way to harm the plants by doing this but the fish would be my biggest concern. Perhaps when the plants get growing (maybe they have already?) you could try this? Keep us updated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 I would try this in a tank devoid of fish, but wouldn't experiment with fish. IMO, there is no way to harm the plants by doing this but the fish would be my biggest concern. Perhaps when the plants get growing (maybe they have already?) you could try this? Keep us updated Ah yes I get ya. Will give it a go when the plants are bigger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted October 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 Update: Plants are growing well. Picked up a few more drawf sags, and they rest are spreading well, transplanted more of the hairgrass so that will get a good spread too - basically gone with a bigger foreground area. The argentinian sword I managed to split into two plants, and I ditched the hygrophilia polysperma. Picked up a 25W heater (its sooo cute) so it can stand vertical in the tank now which the 55w couldnt. My hairgrass is currently trimmed to about an inch in height? Is there any benefit to trimming it any shorter? ooh im shuddering at the mess of doing that... Will take some pics soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 Sounds like you've been busy. I trimmed my hairgrass outside the tank but I think 1 inch is enough. The old hairgrass on the right side of my 3 footer looks darker/dying but the newer stuff from HFF is green as and spreading well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted October 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 A pictoral update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 That sand looks awesome! It'll be good to see this grown in a bit though. More prominent rockwork would be nice but it still looks excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted October 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Cheers, whats really letting it down at the moment is the crypts, once they start taking off and bushing out and up it will look a whole lot better. Getting a lot of brown algae everywhere including on the sand which is a pain. I want to trim the hairgrass shorter too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 My hairgrass is currently trimmed to about an inch in height? Is there any benefit to trimming it any shorter? ooh im shuddering at the mess of doing that... I don't think trimming it makes much difference, it will always grow to the height the light/fert conditions dictate, and as you say, the mess is something that you would not want to deal with. Mine would grow up to 50mm long and smother the dwarf sag. I think I still have bits of it stuck in some of my nets where you seem to be forever trying to scoop it out of the tank after a haircut :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Zev- If it's long enough, you should be able to tie a rubber band around the part you want cut off. Then cut just below that and you should have nice little ponytail of hair(grass). :lol: Morcs- I think the one trim will be enough, it's already sending out runners, if anything, it should be more split up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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