antwan Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 Great work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 Stunning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Li@m Posted October 27, 2011 Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 Simply Beautiful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ismart120 Posted October 27, 2011 Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 Haha that bottom picture looks like some of the aquarium backing sheets you can buy, 'the idealised perfect planted tank' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted October 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 Thanks guys. Now I want to add some dwarf cichlids to start the fish stocking. I have a few ideas: Double full red apistogramma pair and a pair of some sort of ram. I like German blues but I also like the long fins on a Bolivian(but Bolivians don't have the colours I like unlike the Germans) :lol: I'm liking the Germans more. Does anyone know if a pair of apistos and a pair of rams will get along together in this tank? There will be plenty of hiding places. And what is the availability of these fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 I had my pair of german blue's in with a pair of cockatoos and then a group of agassizi and they all got on fine. The breeding apistos gave everybody a hard time no matter what but in the big tank there was always somewhere for the others to hide. Breeding apistos will kill something in the tank if they get the chance. They're nasty and persistent fighters but lovely otherwise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 very nice arrangement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted October 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2011 Some pics of some of the fish now they have been released from quarentine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted October 29, 2011 Report Share Posted October 29, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Li@m Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 !drool: -Is that a Snowball Plec in 3rd and 4th Photos? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted October 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 !drool: -Is that a Snowball Plec in 3rd and 4th Photos? Yes L142 / LDA33 Baryancistrus sp. I will get some better photos when I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbden Posted November 13, 2011 Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 Tank looks realy good do you have any updates for us ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted November 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 Still haven't taken out the Indian fern. It will stay in there until I am happy with the growth from all the plants. A heap of Twisted val added to the far left and a sword below the needle leaf. There is a lot of algae growing everywhere. :an!gry BBA is appearing everywhere. and green spot. And this happening to one of my Anubias plants... Other than that the Aponogeton is putting out a leaf every week Balensae keeping healthy and putting out a heap of leaves Star grass is doing the best And some new fish I'm hoping I have picked a pair correctly, time will tell. I tried having the 3x 150w MHs on for a week, dosing ferts every 2-3 days and noticed all the algae appear so have reduced the lighting back to the T5s and kept ferts the same. Any reccomendations on what I should change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted November 13, 2011 Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 Looking good mate, might pay to up the ferts if the anubias is looking like that? Won't hurt if you're doing EI dosing. I think you've got two male rams there too unfortunately, the females have nice pink bellies. What's your pH? I never managed to get balansae or needle leaf growing in a high tech setup before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted November 13, 2011 Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 Greenspot means too little phosphate. BBA is not so easy to solve but sufficient carbon/CO2 helps to stop it spreading. The more CO2 you add, the more the plants will need nutrients. The anubias is having a serious deficiency (possibly magnesium). Remove algae affected/damaged leaves to stimulate new leaf growth and stop the plant's energy going into repairing faulty leaves. Make sure your CO2 is constant, I would add a lot more micronutrients (up to double the dose as long as there is no copper in it) to start and make sure you have enough phosphate going in to stop the greenspot. Make sure magenesium/calcium hardness is sufficient too as these will help plant growth. You can hardly overdose on the nutrients, except carbon. The more light you have, the more nutrients you will need so you may need to add daily nutrients to keep up with the lighting. You can also reduce the lighting right back give it two weeks, dose up a lot and work up the lighting by one hour per week until your plants are growing as fast as you want them to grow. Just my 2 cents. :smln: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted November 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2011 Thanks Antwan. All the LFS down here only have Male rams then because they all look like these. :facepalm: Thank Jen, I will up the dosage from 30 drops to 50 maybe and daily dosages and see how that goes for a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted November 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 Found this coming from the twisted val when I got home from work and it wasn't there this morning... Its easily 80cm+ And another is coming up too. Hard to get a decent photo with my camera :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted November 14, 2011 Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 Those flower stems shoot up fast eh? You must be doing something right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Wilson Posted November 16, 2011 Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 Are you using a PH controller to regulate the CO2 levels or just relying on the bubble counter? If not using a PH controller then I recommend you get one. Otherwise you'll be wasting CO2 at night when the plants don't need it plus your PH will fluctuate. The shop in HK you've been sourcing your equip from does a Weipro unit pretty cheap. I just bought their dual PH and Ozone controller as I'm going to play around with introducing ozone into the system to control dissolved organic matter not caught by mechanical or biological filtration. Nice article HERE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted November 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 Thanks but I have my co2 on a timer so it comes on an hour after the lights and turns of and hour before they turn off. I know not to leave it going when the lights are off. :thup: I don't really worry too much about pH. It stays quite low and doesn't fluctuate too much with nothing in the tank to make it rise. I would only worry about the pH if the fish were effected by the fluctuations but they are all fine and healthy. I also do weekly water changes so the use of ozone would not be practicle. After reading that article it seems it would be mostly useful in a big marine setup. Will you be using the ozone on a freshwater tank? Let us know how you get on and if it makes a noticable difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Wilson Posted November 16, 2011 Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 Thanks but I have my co2 on a timer so it comes on an hour after the lights and turns of and hour before they turn off. I know not to leave it going when the lights are off. :thup: I don't really worry too much about pH. It stays quite low and doesn't fluctuate too much with nothing in the tank to make it rise. I would only worry about the pH if the fish were effected by the fluctuations but they are all fine and healthy. I also do weekly water changes so the use of ozone would not be practicle. After reading that article it seems it would be mostly useful in a big marine setup. Will you be using the ozone on a freshwater tank? Let us know how you get on and if it makes a noticable difference. Yes it's a freshwater setup, only a couple of hundred litres as much for the kids as anything. I've kind of got back into the hobby after a bit of a layoff for a few years. I like my gadgets and the last time I was serious I actually built my own PH controller from a circuit I found on the net. I noticed a difference with plant growth straight away since the controller responds immediately to the demands of the plants. Remember as your plants continue to grow their appetite for CO2 will continue to rise so you are always going to be half a step behind, on a macro level their demand will vary during the day. Given how cheap the Weipro 2010 unit is (just over $70) it seems like a cheap investment with a good return. That was all I was going to buy today but I decided to treat myself to an early Christmas present and get the dual PH/ORP unit the ozone unit was only another $30 and ozone is more effective than UV as a steriliser with the added benefit introducing another layer of filtration and clarifying the water. Given my tardy record of water changes it was a bit of a no brainer. As I understand it the reason large aka public aquariums use ozone is because it's impractical to do large water changes. I've always thought it's better to tickle feed fresh water in rather than big 25%+ changes since you are introducing a sudden large change in the water chemistry, the problem is it's just not practical to do so unless you can permanently tap into a water supply with the appropriate drainage. Your tank btw looks fantastic, it's not often I see a real life tank that could belong in an Takashi Amano book. The only problem you're going to face is the need to constantly prune to prevent the tank from becoming overgrown. I used to take out bucket fulls of plants on a regular basis when mine was in full flight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted November 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 I have an auto water top up valve already installed and just need to get the water line taped in, and an overflow drain, then water changes will be as easy as turning a tap. When the plants need more co2 and ferts I guess I will just up the co2 and ferts. and then I'm hoping I can make use of the MHs and have everything full blast and make my plants turbo grow :slfg: Tonight I did a slight prune of damaged and algaed leaves and topped the stargrass and replanted it and took out a LOT of Indian fern. I like pruning my tank, I come home after work and spend time on it, its my hobby and I look forward to the constant prunning. I can't wait for it to grow more and more and more When I convert this to a marine one day I will most likely make use of ozone and mix it into a skimmer. I can only dream of my tank looking like Mr Amano's tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted November 16, 2011 Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 Yeah, I used to look forward to pruning my tank too.................... NOT hahha :slfg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted November 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Some new tank shots taken tonight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Wow that's coming along nicely. I quite like it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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