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So I did it, and it took about 5 hours. I first rinsed the flourite, and there was rinsing....lots of it. I emptied and drained the tank, then bleached it out. Rinsed, rinsed....dechlored....rinsed. I then added 30lbs of Flourite, then 15lbs of a similar looking gravel, because I couldn't afford another $17 bag of flourite. Then filled the tank, added a double dose of dechlor (just in case), put the fish and plants in to float overnight while the dust settled (because I really couldn't see to plant the tank). This was abut 10pm.

I woke up (lazy) at 10am. to see that there was STILL dust hanging around, but it was manageable to plant my tank. The CO2 was catching up all night, and though I haven't tested, I'm sure it's about up to normal levels because they are 2 new mixtures. The tank is now cloudy again after planting, but I'm thinking of either posting a pic later or keeping it secret until the AQ contest. Hopefully the dust will settle by then.

All this was to hopefully get a good start against the algea, so here are the usual suspects.

I bought:
[2] wisteria
[4] rotala indica
[3] myriophilia
[1] red rubin sword
[4] pygmy chain swords

These were all large bunches/specemens

Left over:
[4] green crypt wendtii

Everything else was rotting algea infested garbage.

So if anybody would like updates on how it goes, I can keep updates with weekly pictures and what I did to the tank, as I'm going to be doing this for myself, but I'm not going to waste the time to post if nobody's interested, so I'd appreciate the input, yea or nay.

Last edited by mattyboombatty at 27-Nov-2005 20:53

Last edited by mattyboombatty at 07-Jan-2006 12:25

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matt,

Please keep us posted with a diary and possible pictures.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

I can do something like this:

Day 1: jan 12

4 20W bulbs for 80W @2Wpg
[1] plant grow bulb 1 month old
[2] daylight bulbs 3 months old
[1] new daylight bulb

Ammonia - 0ppm
NitrIte - 0ppm
NitrAte - slight reading <5ppm
PO4 - .5ppm
pH - 7.0ppm
KH - 6 degrees

Derived CO2 - 18ppm

Water still slightly dusty, small dust film on all plant leaves. No noticable growth as of yet. No algea.

Changes made:
Wiped dust from most leaves, as best as possible. New 20W daylight bulb added.

I can then add a picture, but I haven't decided if I will do that yet.

Let me know, if there is interest I will continue.

Thanks,
matt

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks for the input Bob, good to see you around again.

If there is anything you can think of that I should add let me know, and I will do my best.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,

Of course we're interested

Nice choice of plants, I've got all of those too !

Look forward to some pics. A picture is worth a thousand words !

Look forward to hearing how it turns out.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Hi matt!

Sounds really good, i would add an iron or fert tablet around the red rubin, it will boost it's growth. And sure keep us posted!

mattyboombatty

All that sounds very interesting. I would not attempt to give any advice here. I certainly would like to see some photos please when you can.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Thanks for the input everone. Upon request, I will keep updating. I will probably do everyday for the next week at least, maybe more until I get settled, then do once a week or until I/we lose interest.

Falstaf - thanks for the suggestion, will do!

Bensaf - You have had myriophilia? This was the first time I've seen it and a reputable lfs employee said it was a quickish grower, hardier than cabomba, and would do ok in a little over 2 wpg like I have.....what were your experiences?

Since everyone would like pics, I'll post some tomorrow. Just note that I have planted in a plan for future growth, and right now it's not much to look at. I also need to find a nice piece of driftwood to fit in between the fore and midground plants.

Thanks,
matt

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,

I've had Myrophyllium in under less then 2 wpg and it did great. Certainly not as light hungry as Cambomba.For it to look it's best make sure it's not shaded. It will grow in lower light but won't keep that nice fluffy look. It grows very fast. May lose some leaves at the bottom of the stem but to keep the shape nice it should be trimmed from the bottom anyway.Generally it keeps it's leaves very well If cut at the top it will grow a new shoot but it tends to make it look raggedy.
It's a very nice plant, the smaller fish love playing in the fine leaves, often seen them do a little jig in there

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

dude thats amazing
well done

SP

And here's the pic of my CO2 tank/regulator that I promised a while back.

mattyboombatty attached this image:


Last edited by mattyboombatty at 21-Sep-2005 21:00[/font]

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Narrow and broadleaf ludwiggia, and bacopa, yes.

When I first got the chain sword I let them do their own thing for a while. They ended up choking themselves out, and algae insued. So now I thin them out every few months, much to the benefit of the plants. They grow bigger and much healthier. Plus I take them to my lfs for $$ and they disappear the very same day I bring them in....I guess they are nice plants huh?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Very nice Matty,

I am glad you obey my order to give us monthly updates

About the macro shots: good job, very clear pics. Are these Narrow Leaf Ludwigia and Bacopa?

And I have a question about your small foreground plant on the right (Dwarf Sag or Pygmy Chain Sword?): It appears as you are thinning out this group once in a while as there were more of them in older pictures. Why do you do that?

Ingo

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 07-Nov-2005 14:18

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well I guess this is my mandatory monthly update(as requested by Little_Fish).

I have removed the last traces of the green hygro. I think my tank has been feeling the effects of lack of plant growth/mass. I've noticed a bit of beard algae on old growth and some extra green spot on the glass. Nothing that I'm worrying about too much, but I think I have fixed by jamming some more plants(trimmings) into some open floor space. Dosing and CO2 remain constant since I last upped the KNO3 and the K2SO4(3?).

Eventually I will be pulling out the rubin sword, even though I really like that plant. I should have listened to Bensaf's advice about how big they get. It's just kinda messing up the attempt at aquascaping. I'm going to put this off for however long I can though. When I do decide to take it out I'm going to put a fresh substrate in. Might as well do it right I guess.

So here's the pics:

day 290(before trims and water change:

day 290 after:

day 302:

day 311(today) :

Some macro shots from topside:


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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks

I think I had changed the exposure time on my camera. However I took the floating riccia out (hate floaters) so there's probably more light getting into the tank too. I haven't changed the fixtures or bulbs though.

Oh and the time difference was 10 days I think.

Last edited by mattyboombatty at 16-Oct-2005 14:25

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Wow, that is some chronology. Plants look really happy.
In that last group of pictures what is the difference in time between the last pic and the one right above it. Is there an actual difference in the lighting on the tank or is that just the way you took the pic. Sorry if you've answered this already earlier on.

My Scapes

Well i've only skimmed through this post, as i'm at work but i will definately be reading it properly again, as i think it will be a great help...

Thank you!

Sorry, I was unaware that the previous pics were not working....they will be back up asap. And I think I'll make a poll....see what others think about it.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,

You have by far not reached your retirement age .

Just keep it going and people will respond. You might want to try to get the early pics back up and running.

One thing you can keep us posted about is the next step when you will attempt to modify your tank so that is fits one of the classic Aquascaping Themes, like the triangular layout. Or - maybe you can even show us how we would create our own style.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Day 274, Oct 1:

Cleared out a ton of plants and sold them to my LFS again. Made $15 this time. The tenellus was choking itself out, and the hygro was overshadowing the rest of the tank. I took out about 15 tenellus and 20 or so stems of hygro. I also took about 10 stems of rotala indica. everything was in great shape....and now the lower portions of the tank is getting some light again.

I've been dosing more nitrate due to the absence of my angels. Since I upped the dosing of potassium a few weeks ago, I can really tell the difference in rate of growth and overall health of the plants. That was definitely the major missing nutrient.

I seem to have hit a good stride with the tank and probably won't be making many more changes except to phase out some more of the hygro with the bacopa and ludwiggia.

With that said, I think I will graciously bow out(this thread) for a while as I don't think there is much interest anymore. Hopefully this has been a guide for some people to create and maintain a healthy system with live plants. If so then I am definitely happy with my time spent on posting this log.

Chronology:















and finally today's pic:
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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients