Supaclear Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 of lurking so time to say hi. I have learnt heaps since i returned to the hobby and have been amazed by the amount of info around on the net, places like the barr report, planted tank, the krib and of course here. please excuse typing, using a netbook with sausage fingers... I am still looking to learn heaps more. the many posts by members like (not limited too) adrrienne, jennifer and phoenix44 et al have been very helpful since my goal was to set up a community planted tank, with nice fish and interesting plants...no algae.... No pix yet but heres the juice: Juwel vision 260 ph 6.4, zero nitrates, ammonia or nitrate GH KH etc unkown Got bored with testing so havent done so for a while, results identical every time. 30 percent water changes weekly and use prime Eheim 2217 plus internal sponge. eheim has media only. juwel bioflow has purigen and course blue sponges , cirax and floss. 24 watt UV run 24/7 10 LB CO2 through diffuser into the 2217. Ph before CO2 is 7.6 so i guess ppm are ok. certainly plants and critters doing well. dual stage reg soleniod timer etc Lighting is standard 2x 54 watts with reflectors for around 12 hours per daygsg Subtrate is black flourite (3 or 4 bags) black onyx sand (1 bag) and a couple of packs of laterite. No root balls or other. Tank was heavily planted with stems, crypts, swords and java fern on day one Fishes: harlequins (3) used to cycle (was 10 but angels have thinned them out) 4 wild type angels (P. Scalare) 4 veiltail german blue rams 5 super red rosy barbs 6 odessa barbs 4 chain loaches 4 leopard cories 2 SAE 4 ottos 1 featherfin synodontis 1 bristlenose Plants: Rose sword x2 (X Ozelot) Red sword (hormanni sp?) Green tiger lotus Uruquay sword (x2) Barthi sword x 2 Java fern tied to bog wood Crypts wnedti tropica parviflora tropica twisted val H polysperma sunset had glosso (featherfin took care of that) stems like ambulia, poly, wysteria etc turned into tank busters so i replaced them with slower growing plants Ferts are pmdd from trademe trader valray. I dose 3x recommended daily so 2mls. was using seachem micro and npk. toying with the idea of EI but algae is non existant barring some GDA on a rock and front glass after a week or so. so will ilkey stick with what i am doing. Algae cured to date: minor bba outbreak while i was sorting CO2 diatoms, like big stingy gloopy blobs hanging off everthing - angels ate it green hair - otos and sae and manual removal blue green (fixed with erthromycin) and just to kick a bloke, thunderous staghorn everywhere that could not be removed. resorted to API algaefix. dosed exactly as per instructions, sorted ferts. New tank syndrome for sure. anyway, thats me cheers andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaclear Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Thanks Josh, you have a juwel as well? i remember reading some of your posts when i was trying to decide which tank to go for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 I don't have any tanks like that. Don't even have a community to be honest I have 16 tanks set up at the moment. All for breeding. They're just plain glass tanks. Thinking about doing a 40L marine in my bedroom though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaclear Posted June 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Sorry mate, must have got confused. breeding tanks sound cool but i wont go down that track just yet. i looked at marine as a possibility but got a bit scared off by the chemisrty behind it all. one day maybe once i get this aspect sorthed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 I have a friend who runs a 20L marine and I thought it was awesome. But the costs and the chemistry has now put me off after a bit of reading Four months and only one tank? MTS obviously hasn't kicked in yet! After four months I had like 10 :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaclear Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Yep thats pretty much the conclusion i came too as well. Still my current rig wasnt exactly as cheap as i initially started out. it just sort of evolved.....and yes i do hide receipts. :oops: haha Well i have also set up a nano betta tank for my boy, planted of course and i do love the low techness of it all. it just looks great, always....my brother and i was talking about setting up a big african tank in the garage.....time will tell..or Mrs Superclear... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Welcome. You and I seem to have a similar selection swords! They are awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaclear Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 thanks P44, swords are amazing and vistors usually ask if they are for real. one of the rose swords is a bit dull by comparrison as shaded by val etc . i wanted to try out the idea of making light my limiting nutrient so will will leave it as it is for a while. will try and post pix later once i can get a dark shot of the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilobite Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Welcome aboard! :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Welcome to the fishroom. We look forward to you posting pics I am a little intrigued at the "zero nitrates, ammonia or nitrate". Ammonia and nitrItes should be 0 but there should be something showing for nitrAtes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymox Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Welcome :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaclear Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 thanks guys, Hi Caryl, yes i was concerned at the lack of nitrates from day one really, i removed nitrate sponges, purigen and carbon but to no avail. i started with heaps of stems and didnt use ferts for a few weeks so just figured that the plants must be using them up quickly. i had cyano. i have since started using purigen again, maybe this absorbs sufficient levels of DOCs prior to nitrogen cycle? Certainly open to suggestions. Intutively they must be in there cause plant growth is amazing and i am using pmdd. TBH i havent tested since i started using PMDD but was dosing Seachem NPK to similar levels> maybe my test kit is suspect. Anyway the Rams seem to be thriving!! Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaclear Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 http://s1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/supaclear/?action=view¤t=Picture002.jpg does that work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Need the around it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaclear Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 thanks josh will try again with a better shot later, that one is pretty average Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaclear Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaclear Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 http://s1198.photobucket.com/albums/aa447/supaclear/?action=view¤t=Picture083.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 You need to put the link inbetween the Img code Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 My tanks run at 0 nitrate too, but looking at the plants you'd never ever guess that. Even when I add nitrate, it's all gone within a matter of hours. So I just pour some in now-a-days; but my method of maintaining my tank is far from conventional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danval Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 :nfs: Nice tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 welcome aboard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaclear Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 thanks all. still having probs with pix but techno was never a strong suit. motorbikes are tho. any bikers here? P44 thanks for confirming, i have tested numerous times....unconventional, how so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Posting pic instructions here: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?t=2406 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Well I usually just pour the ferts in. No measuring apart from the "That feels about right" method. Quite a few bikers here. Morcs is on here too and if you're on KB then you'll prob know him. My brother is a biker too, but he's not on here. :slfg: Have you tried running the tank without purigen? Look up the EI method of dosing; it's Tom Barr's technique and it works brilliantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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