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Robyn,

You really deserve to be in the Planted Nerd Club, as you are a complainer just like the rest of us (except Bensaf and tetratech, of course ).

Your tank looks great, and I don't see one shot that shows major issues. Maybe in the next series of pictures you should focus on these sections, if they even exist .

Are your rocks removable? If not then you may face some hardship when trimming the moss.

And about the solitary Mollie and its fry: He/She shouldn't be to hard to sex. Did you identify "it" as a female by now? Otherwise, maybe they are not "Its" fry, but the Platie's.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

BTW, thank you for nice compliments on my "before" shot. I forgot to say that before. My pH is 6.8 and has settled there for about an hour now. I won't touch my KH in this tank anymore & I'm leaving C02 on 24/7. I only turned it down this morning, as at that time the pH was steadily declining, so I think I had it too strong. I worried that I'd come home to dead fish & a pH of 5 or even lower. I wanted to be home to monitor it. It hasn't been 24hrs for the cup of tank water yet - so I'll test it in the morning.

Naturally, your CO2 would be the highest in this scenario just when the lights go on as during the night you add CO2 and the plants produce some themselves.

Ok, this has me worried a bit. My lights are still on & pH is 6.8. How much lower is my pH likely to get "just when the lights go on". Is it likely to go lower enough to be harmful - should I allow for a buffer?

Simply switching bulbs would most likely not make much of a difference, I smell Compact Fluorescent.

Why wouldn't switching bulbs help me? What is a "Compact Fluorescent". My tank has a hood, with the lights built in (3 fluro tubes). The hood takes up 2/3rds of the tank top. The final 1/3rd is the filter media boxes. Taking the hood off & replacing it with another lighting system would look odd, I think, as it's unlikely the two top sections of the tank would match up. Unless compact fluorescent fits into my existing hood???

Guess we should have warned you about the cost of the planted tank thing

That's ok. I look at this as a work in progress, where I'll get things bit by bit. I have the C02 now. If it takes me a year or two to get better lights, so be it. But when I get them, I'll already have my C02, so I'll be all set. I still haven't got over the fact that I have the C02

I would like to try some sort of grassy (think of lawn) looking plant on the gravel in the front - but I guess that's out with my lights - right?

I have trouble with my contortionist val that I have lined up on the back wall of the tank. Not because it doesn't grow, but my fish eat it. Everything else they leave alone, or just try to get the algae off, they don't actually bite the plant. But these vals, they love it. The rip on it, tear top half off the leaves. About a week ago, it was almost a solid wall of vals back there - now it's getting thinner everyday. Is there another tall grassy type plant that I could put there instead, that the fish won't eat?

BTW, how do you tell when your platy is about to have her fry. Both my girls are pregnant & I might put them in one of my QT tanks, if only I knew when she was close. If I do that, and she has the fry while I'm at work - what chance is there that there would be at least some still there when I get home. How many would she eat in one day?

Cheers
TW

Hi Ingo

Thanks for the tank compliment. I appreciate it. Tank was looking bad to me before today's water change, because the front glass had a lot of algae. It came off easily with a quick wipe over with some filter wool. That made a big difference to the look. Don't know why it had built up so much this time, but I didn't want to wipe it off, other than at water change time, 'cause I thought it would just litter the tank. The algae is definitely on the leaves and some on the rocks, but my photography skills leave a lot to be desired & the algae didn't show up in the pics. Believe me, it is there. There are brown spots on the leaves. In real life, it spoils the view. I'll try to take a better shot of it.

Two of my rocks are removable, but you guessed it right. The big one is very heavy and I have taken it out once - but I needed help to do so. I've already trimmed down the moss on it once, and as long as you only cut a little bit at a time & you're holding the bits you're cutting, it's not too messy. Not sure how I'll go tying down the next lot of moss I want to put on the right hand side. I thought the moss would grow across, but it seems to only grow up.

I can see the mollie is a girl now, but at the time I asked for 2 boys. It's definitely the mollie's, as the fry weren't born in this tank, but in QT. I asked for 2 male mollies & also had 2 rams in QT (all new stock). A few days later one mollie was dead from white spot, so for 2 weeks QT was dark green with no lights, while I treated. I am very glad I took your advice & used a QT, cause the med's tend to stain things & I think my rocks would have turned green if I'd had to treat the community. Anyway, I couldn't see in the QT very well & at the end of treatment, I did a very large water change & found 7 fry in the tank. In the community, I've had fry several times, but none have survived so far. Even though I plan to give the fry to LFS when they're big enough, I'm excited to watch them grow.

Cheers
TW

Wow,

Lots of questions and things to talk about:

I don't think one night would push your ph down to critical levels. This could happen if you have a very low buffer, but you should be all right there. Check in the morning what the ph is, and look if your fishies gasp at the surface for air.

I know nothing about your particular hood and light fixture. In general Copmpact Flourescent, aka Power Compacts, aka CF or PC, light packs more wattage in the same space. For example, my 30 inch long 29G tank fits 2 flourescent lights, maybe 2 if I pack the top full, with 20W each. I could on the other hand fit 2 PCs with 65W each, so 135W vs the 60W from the regular flourescent. Usually, PCs cannot be "screwed" into regular flourescent sockets as the ballast to run them has to handle the additional wattage, but I am no expert on this. We can expand on the option of PCs more, if you like.

Lights will almost look cheap compared to what you had to pay for your CO2, I believe.

Grassy plants, like hair grass, like more light to fill out, as you guessed correctly.

Fish eating plants, I bet you that the evil fishies are your platies and mollie. I recently places a leftover stem of Star Grass in my 29G Platie tank and in not time all tips were eaten off. These fish love a good plant meal . The do not seem to like my narrow leaf sagittarius, but I am not sure if it would grow that tall in your tank (lights, what else). I had it in my 125G and it grew eventually to over 20 inches tall, which amazed me as I would not have expected this to happen.

Platies have babies pretty much every 4 to 5 weeks. When pregnant, the first thing you can see is that there is some rather clear mass behind the stomach. This mass then grows and grows, and eventually will turn darker as the babies mature. My females tend to seclude the day when they are ready to have the babies. I am no expert on figuring out the exact time, the one time I tried and placed the mother in a net breeder I was way too early and had to let her back out 3 days later, and 2 days later she had fry. I managed to catch 9 and raised them all. Now I have major overpopulation issues as fry survive in the tank all the time. I just last week saw another 7 babies swimming around and it seems they all are going to make it . I would assume that your moss will function as the perfect hiding place for fry. But if an adult fish has free access to fry (like in a bare tank) then it would eat all easily in one day.

Trimming moss of "fixed" rocks: Yeah, I think your description on how you do it is right on, I did the same when I has "Rock Valley" in my 125G, covered in moss. There will be some pieces that float off, this is unavoidable. Try to make sure that you lokate them as often as there is a chance and that you remove them as they may smother other plants.

Glad that you are happy having a QT

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Lights will almost look cheap compared to what you had to pay for your CO2, I believe.

You're not wrong there. Not much change out of AU$650 & I don't even have a solenoid yet

Thanks for the info. There's a lot in this fish / plant keeping business. Makes my head spin

Edit: YEAH, my gold twin bar platy had fry & we managed to catch 7 to put in a breeder. Can they go in the same breeder as the mollie fry, which is at least a week (maybe 2 weeks) older? Currently they are in separate breeders. Can they eat finely crushed flakes right from the start?

Cheers
TW

TW,

Thanks for all the pictures! Trust me, you are not alone in trying to take nice pictures of your tank. I think a tripod would really help out.

As for the tank, I am a big fan of your rocks. I like the color and texture of them. As for you likeing or dislikeing how your tank looks, I think you nailed it oh the head with the work in progress statement. Just remember, its your tank and you have to look at it so you have to diside what floats your boat.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

My lights are still on & pH is 6.8. How much lower is my pH likely to get "just when the lights go on". Is it likely to go lower enough to be harmful - should I allow for a buffer?

It's fine. After lights OUT the pH will only increase by about 0.1 or so, no bother at all to fish At lights ON the pH will actually increase a little as the plants start consuming the Co2. So 6.8 at lights out is a good place to be, means you are keeping at the 30ppm level throughout the day.

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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.

Thanks for all the advice & comments. It's hard to keep the C02 stable. Thought it was, but I came home from work & pH is 6.67, so I'm trying to get it back up to pH 6.8.

Everyone is seeming a little more aggressive in the tank than usual tonight. Is that a co-incidence or due to stress of changes in pH.

Any suggestions for a replacement for my contortionist val. I love it when first planted, but my fish eat it & make a big mess. What else will grow tall, thin and either grassy or reedy, that the fish won't eat.

BTW Wings, I saw your pics of your 40G. Very nice tank. I like all your plants & I like how your tank is long. You can do more with a long than a high.

Cheers
TW

Hey thanks for your coments on my tank! It has really come a long way and I haven't had to spend much on plants. Just the goodies to make grow like crazy!

I like a 4 foot tank but I wish it was wider than 12". Doesn't give enough room for DW and Rocks.

I understand what you are going through with trying to get your CO2 set right. Best thing is to not mess with it for a few days at a time unless things are really bad. I had my CO2 up to around 50 ppm before my fish started to freak out. Good luck!



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Robyn,

Take a deeeeeep breath. Why are you so worried about the CO2? If I am not mistaken then you have a KH of 3, right (ignoring the buffers that you once added)?

A ph of 6.8 leaves you with 14ppm of CO2, way lower than the rest of us, soooo low that I am most certain all of us would recommend to up it some more .

A ph of 6.6, which is lower than any reading you had so far, would push your CO2 to about 23, still lower than most of us.

The ph doesn't change in a heart beat when you up or down the supply, it takes a while to reach the saturation that will trigger the ph change.

What do you mean by aggressive? Like, they fight and tear each others fins? Or just more active? It may have nothing to do with the ph change, could very well be that they are worried about you pacing in front of the tank wondering what to do .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

If I am not mistaken then you have a KH of 3, right (ignoring the buffers that you once added)?

Though the KH was 5 ?

---

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.

Thanks for the replies.

Here's why I'm worried. I'm going to Canberra tomorrow morning (in a moment of madness - signed up for a 50K ultra marathon). I'm back Monday afternoon, so I'm worried about the fluctuations in pH while I'm away. I haven't got the C02 to a point where it stays where I want it. It's either dropping steadily, or rising steadily. On the fish profiles here, it says that guppys, mollies & platys lowest should be pH 7.0. I figured they could cope with 6.8, but not sure how low I can go before before I hurt them. Being a new fishkeeper makes me nervous & I don't want to kill them.

The ph doesn't change in a heart beat when you up or down the supply, it takes a while to reach the saturation that will trigger the ph change.

It seems to change it quite quickly. I can adjust the rate ever so slightly, come back 20 mins later & test pH, & pH will have changed. I've got one of those pH probes that I dip in the water & it gives me a digital reading.

What do you mean by aggressive? Like, they fight and tear each others fins?

My 2 rams, who were good buddys, are fighting (charge at each other's mouth, making biting actions), the mollie is chasing other fish - but the mollie has only just transferred from QT, so maybe she was always going to do that.

Thought the KH was 5

My natural KH is always 3, but I added the buffer which took it to 5. I haven't retested KH since 50% water change, I'll do that tonight, but it should have dropped it back closer to 3, but maybe not all the way.

If general opinion is my platy's, mollie & guppys will be fine if pH drops to 6.6 then I'll be able to take that deeeeeep breath & go away for the weekend without worry. Oh, I have molly & platy fry in there too.

Cheers
TW

The fish will be fine. How many of those Platies and Moliies do you think were born in the wild or spent anytime in "perfect" conditions ?

---

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.

Robyn,

The rams will be more than ok in a ph of 6.6
Maybe what you are seeing with them is a coming of age thing, or finally they like the conditions so much that they decide to establish territories. Are they both male or both female?

The Mollie, well I don't know about that, but Bensaf brings up a good point. Most people try to mimik the natural conditions of the fish they purchase (at least with regards to ph) but very often these fish have never seen these conditions for generations as they are bread in farms and what not. The kind of platies and mollies we buy at the LFS does not exist in the wild at all, they are bred for many generations to create these colors and other conditions that hobbyists like (like long fins).

Running a marathon, uh - that is awesome. I can't give you any advice on that as I always hated long distance running, but tell us how it went when you get back. I wish you good luck and no cramps.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the reassurance that pH 6.6 will be fine. I came home from Canberra to find that my gas bottle is empty already. Bottle is only 750g (1.6lb). So it seems that running 24/7 will have me at LFS every Saturday morning for a refill.

Not sure what's happening with my water hardness either. It used to test KH 3, no matter what. Then I used the chemicals to raise it to 5. Even after 50% water change to get rid of the chemicals, latest test (Friday) still showed 5, so I tested QT (which had no chemicals). It was also 5. Water board print-out tells me that my area draws water from 2 different locations - so maybe for now the source has changed & that's why KH is different from a month ago?

I'll post again when I have more C02.

Cheers
TW

Robyn,

In the meantime, I would suggest that you reduce your lighting period because otherwise you may encourage too much algae growth.

What is the KH of your tab water? I almost would assume that it had to be 5 as well, given that you find this value in both tanks.

If the KH is really 5 and your ph would go down to 6.6 then you would have an excellent CO2 level of about 38ppm.

How did the running go?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi Ingo

Thanks for the advice. I had the bottle refilled and turned the bubbles back on this morning. I'll test my tap water KH tonight, but suspect at the moment its 5. My water supply can come from 2 sources, so I think I'll have to watch out for changes there.

The running was tough (thanks for asking). I do 3 marathons a year, but I didn't train for this one (my excuse was Sydney was too hot for 3 hr training runs this summer) so it was very painful. Ran till 27km (16.5miles), from there on, there was a steady mix of pain and walking thrown in with very slow running until the end (42.1495K or 26miles). No way I was stopping though - I wanted my finisher's medallion !!! It was an all time PW (personal worst). I'll have to redeem myself next time.

Cheers
TW

At least you have the guts to do such a crazy thing! My wife to be's mom has started to do that kind of thing too. I am very impressed with her. I think she would put me to shame.

Good luck with the CO2. BTW isn't it fun to have them change the water on you? I lost a lot of fish because of that last year... at least thats what I think it was.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Robyn,

Yeah, let's see what that tab KH is. I would say that you always should have your ph and KH test kits handy until your tank has stabilized and you know how many bubbles to add for nice growth.

About the running: Your personal worst is probably better than my personal best has been and ever will be . I remember that in my young days I once completed 30K in a little over 3 hours, but that was in uniform, with a 10kg backpack, and boots .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I'm a bit confused about my KH. From the tap, it still tests 3. For my C02 tank, after another 50% water change tonight, it tests as 4 - so maybe those chemicals are somehow or other still hanging around. QT also test at 4, yet no chemicals in there (unless you count treatment for white spot meds a few weeks back).

I have a pH meter, but I don't think it's calibrated right at the moment - I don't believe the reading. Back to the old fashioned method of trying to tell what the colour chart means (I struggle with that). pH is either 6.8 or 7.0 - not positive which.

Wingsdlc & Ingo, thanks for words of encouragement re the run. Ingo, impressive time for 30K, considering the load you were carrying.

Cheers
TW

Robyn,

Somehow your main tank Kh seems to make at least some sense. Maybe it does take a while until all the chemicals are removed via water changes. But then there is the QT, that doesn't make sense at all. Have you ever tried to take a series of KH tests on the same take, like about 15min apart? I wonder how accurate your test kit is.

In any case, having 3 as the lowest would be pretty good and should not create a reason for you to worry about the ph drop, IMHO.

And with regards to"...impressive time for 30K..." : Well, that was 20 years ago, before I started smoking, and when my daily job activity included a lot of running around, and even more screaming and yelling .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Its a Sera test kit, and only relatively new (maybe Feb or early March). I'll test tonight, both tanks, a couple of times, & see if I get consistent results.

Cheers
TW

Robyn,

Isn't it fun - I am sure you had no idea how much work is involved in a planted tank. Now you have to do hours of testing the same water over and over again just to make sure that the kit is stable .

But again, once all is figured out then the work becomes much less. This is where tetratech is right now with his 72G. I am far away from it .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I've now checked my KH 3 times tonight, from each source (Community, QT & tap). 3 times the community tank tested 4KH, 3 times tap tested 2KH and QT tested twice @ 5KH & once at 4KH.

QT has pH-Down in it (contains sodium biposphate). Could that product be influencing test results?

Community did have pH-Down & KH raising product previously, but since the last addition of either of those chemicals, there have been 2 x 50% water changes.

Both tanks have epsom salt added to them at water change. I don't understand why tap results are so different to tank results.

On a fishy note, I now have 10 harlequin rasboras transferred from QT into community. Very pretty to watch.



Cheers
TW

Hi Robyn,

Trying to answer some of your questions:

"QT has pH-Down in it (contains sodium biposphate). Could that product be influencing test results?" - Yes, I have heard more than once that these kind of ph-altering products influence the result.

"there have been 2 x 50% water changes" - partially same as the previous answer. But also, the first 50% water change removed 50%, the second removed another 25%. So 25% should still be in there. But I don't know how long it stays active.

"I don't understand why tap results are so different to tank results" - I would think because of the answers provided above. I would trust my tab water KH the most and if it is only 2dH (after it settled) then I would add baking soda, maybe 1tsp to begin with, to the tank. A few hours (or a day) later, I would check the tank's KH and decided if I would need more or not.

"On a fishy note, I now have 10 harlequin rasboras transferred from QT into community" - You know that I own their cousins, right? I think that most of us in the Planted *** gang have some form of Rasbora, with the exception of tetratech.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi Ingo

Thanks for the info. Should I add the baking soda now, or wait until or if my KH drops to 2KH. I keep remembering Bensaf telling me (when my KH was 3) not to mess with it. Currently still at 4KH.

Yes, I know you have the rasboras cousins & that you have a little business on the side selling them to your LFS. Good to see a little return coming your way

C02 was disconnected for a couple of days as the bubble counter was leaking water in my cabinet (fixed now) and while we were looking at that problem, the regulator was dropped & the little part the silicone tube fits onto snapped off. Luckily LFS had one laying around in store, 'cause they told us that Dupla don't make it as a spare. Anyway, it's been back running again since 5pm Saturday. Fingers crossed, no more hiccups.

I find that the flow of bubbles is really to keep constant. The rate seems to turn down all by itself. Supposedly, I bought a good brand, so I don't know why it should do this.

Cheers
TW

I have a question re: counting the bubbles. There are 2 places where I can see a possibility of counting the bubbles, either inside the bubble counter itself, or I can also see to count the bubbles as they exit the bubble counter & enter the silicon tubing. The bubbles I can see entering the bubble counter are going at a much faster rate that the bubbles I can see exiting the bubble counter. Which should I be counting? I have been counting the faster bubbles inside the counter - but have I been doing it wrong?

Cheers
TW

Robyn,

Let's hope that this was the last of your CO2 problems, if this continues then the algae monster will make a visit for sure.

About the bubbles: the one we measure and compare with each other are the bubbles in the bubble counter, where the red arrow points to. The blue line is the approximate fill level for water.

Irregular bubble rates over time: does your regulater come with two gages? One for the tank pressure and one for the pressure towards the needle valve? If so, what does the latter read? Maybe you have it too low, I think it should read 20 (we can make sure later if you do have this gage - give me your value).

Selling the Espei wasn't much of an income, at $1 per fish (cost $4 at the LFS if you want to buy them), in particular because I turned around and instantly bought the two Apistos for $80 .

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi Ingo

My regulator has one gauge only, just for tank pressure. So my only guide for the rate is the bubble counter & monitoring the pH value in the tank. Oh, & I also have one of the permanent C02 measurer's in the tank too. Colour of that is green, which indicates that the level of C02 is good.

I too hope this is my last issue & that all goes smoothly. Seems though, that my bottle will only last about 1 week at a time. Oh well.

I knew about your Apistos - I've seen the pictures. Very nice fish. Any luck with breeding yet?



Cheers
TW

Robyn,

That sounds odd to me: one week for the bottle to go on empty? I know that the rate of depletion is not proportional (smaller bottles deplete proportionally faster than large ones), but my 5 liter bottle at a much higher bubble rate lasted over 20 weeks. I would assume yours should for sure then last 4 to 5 weeks, even if you would have it on 24/7.

Did you ever check for a leak?

These color indicator strip are a piece of ***. What does green mean? What does good mean? Not too long ago, even experienced plant nerds assumed that 10ppm is good, now they are driving the values beyond 30ppm.

The Apistos are not breeding at this time. I am glad they seemed to have settled nicely (although they will be moved soon again, from the QT into the main tank). I had bad luck in the past with a lovely pair of German Rams , so I am exited that these fish stayed alive and have colored up nicely.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

If the bubble counter leaking water then it was also leaking gas

Check all connections for leaks by rubbing on some soapy water and check for bubbles. Dishwashing liquid mixed 50/50 with water is good.

---

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.

I've tested for leaks by brushing on a 50/50 mix of water/detergent. There were bubbles from the detergent mix itself, but I don't think there were any additional bubbles. Hopefully, the repairs to the bubble counter have taken care of the leak of C02. LFS used a silicone sealer around the top of bubble counter (can still take apart from the bottom for cleaning).

Also, I think I've been running it at too high a rate. Slowed it down today to 3 bubbles per second.

I can see evidence of new growth. My filter has little indents & I've been able to see in the last 3 days that a leaf that was reaching the bottom indent only, is now reaching the 3rd level of indents.

To try to make the C02 last longer, I've altered my lighting schedule to one that I can manually turn C02 on & off in sequence with. A little annoying, as lights & C02 will turn off at 5pm now, so I won't get to visually enjoy my tank so much.

These color indicator strip are a piece of ***. What does green mean? What does good mean?

Ingo, I suspect your comment probably still applies, but it's not one of those dip stick type strips. It's a little container in which you put some liquid test solution in & then attach it to a wall of your tank (mine is diagonally opposite & the farest point possible from the reactor), below water surface level. Instructions don't talk about what level ppm applies to each colour reading, but allegedly blue = too low, green = correct level & yellow = too high.

I bought some wisteria, which at the moment is in a bucket of water. At next water change I'm going to plant it & I hope it will give good cover for fry. Ingo, did you have to do anything special to entice your espi to breed?



Cheers
TW

Robyn,

I am glad you got your CO2 back up and running

Too bad that you have to manually switch your CO2 on and off, I can't wait until you have a solenoid so you can enjoy your tank some more. With this changed routine, how long is the lighting period now? Also, while we are at it, are you keeping up with the fertilizers (what and how much and how often)?

About the color CO2 fancier : Any control tool that has only 3 colors, no matter how it is driven (strip or liquid or what not) is highly unreliable. I think I linked you to Chuck Gadd's Chart before, but this time look at the colors it has (scroll down on page to see chart). The level that is considered "Good" in the chart has a range from 11ppm to 24ppm, that is over 100% difference in CO2 concentration. And if that is not enough, you know that we () recommend levels even higher than that, 30ppm, that this chart would indicate as too high. You know what I mean?

did you have to do anything special to entice your espi to breed?

Love, lots of love

No seriously. For one thing, I had a nice sized group to begin with, 12 fishies. And more importantly, pretty much an empty tank to begin with with loads of plants for fry to hide in. Espei, and your Harlies, like to lay their eggs on the underside of broad leaved plants, like Anubias, Ludiwigia Repens, Pennywort, and the like. I have much less fry now as the tank is rather fully stocked and chance encounters of fish and fry (aka snack) are way more likely to happen. Also, even before the fry hatch, more fish are likely to watch a pair mate and lay eggs and they will go and eat them.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi Ingo,

My lights are on 7am & turn off 5pm, so 10 hours a day. My gas tank empties at a frightening pace. I may have been running it at too high a rate & I hope to get better at that, which might help. My ferts are:-

KH2P04 1/16th Tspn x 3 times a week
KN03 1/2 Tspn x 3 times a week
Traces 10ml x 3 times a week
1/4 tspn epsom salt with water change

Took a break from ferts when C02 was not working, but back on schedule now. Can't wait till I have a solenoid too. My altered light timing schedule bothers me (only cause it means tank is dark for most of the time I'm home). But weekends will be great!!! At start-up, I need to adjust bps rate each time. I look forward to when I can just set & forget (yes, yes, I know I will still need to monitor). Hoping for an August birthday present, maybe, if I'm lucky. Next on my shopping list after the solenoid, will be a spare gas bottle.

Sounds like there's not much chance of my harlies successfully breeding. I have a good batch (10) but my tank is almost fully stocked, so lots of chance encounters of fish & fry. I don't have any Anubias, Ludwigia Repens or Pennywort. I have Red Ludwigia. I might try to get lots of petite nana for foreground (try to get a grass look - would that work?) Are the other plants you mention suitable for low light tanks & are they fast growers? Maybe I should concentrate on low light/fast growers for the time being? I'd like to provide as much fry cover as I can. Even if I don't keep the fry, I like to grow them & I'm enjoying caring for my mollie & platy fry. I have some wisteria to plant tomorrow & would like to get some water sprite soon, which I read somewhere makes for good fry cover.

Thanks again for the good advice.



Cheers
TW

How about these plants for foreground in a medium low light tank :- petite nana or creeping rush (aka star grass)???

Cheers
TW

Robyn,

Water Sprite grows like mad , at least it did in my 125. If you skim through the first couple of pages in my log then you will discover the section where I added the Water Sprite and pictures from the weekly updates will show you how fast it was growing. Much faster than Wisteria, actually, faster than any plant I ever had.

Nana Petite for the foreground: Sounds like a good idea, but you will need to purchase loads. I don't know what the prize is in Aussie Land, but here we pay around $5 per plant and each plant is about 2cm long. Growth of Nana is really slow (all Anubias are very slow growers, but don't require loads of light) and planting it in the substrate can be a major pain in the neck. The roots are tiny and every time you try to vacuum in that area you will suck up a few that then will have to be replanted (Anubias have a rhizome = big vertical part of the root system that cannot be buried or the plant will die). Most of the time people tie Anubias Nana Petite to a rock and place it on the substrate. You could do this as well, but you would need loads of rock to cover the whole foreground.

Star Grass is Heteranthera zosterifolia, and the plant you refer to as creeping rush cannot be it. Look at the latest pictures in my log to see Star Grass, it is the really high plant group behind my wood structure.

Did you look into Pygmy Chain Swords (Echinodorus tenellus) as an option for the foreground? I would not recommend to fill in the whole area but it may be suited for some parts of it. The plant, in low light (how low are you again? ), would not grow very high and runners would spread it out. Just a thought.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Petite Nana sounds too much of a pain in the neck. Checked out the light requirements of Heteranthera zosterifolia - too high for me. I have 2 x 25w & 1 x 20W fluro tubes, over 43.5G. That's 1.63WPG.

My photo skills are poor, plus my camera is very basic. I tried to take a photo of some leaves with the brown spots.

Attached Image:


Cheers
TW

Here's a shot of one of my bolivian rams. Sorry for the poor shot.

Attached Image:


Cheers
TW