# 5.5g Journal - Aquascaping attempt [56k Warning]



## Fishwood (Feb 1, 2008)

I believe that the extent to which a plant will opt to grow horizontally is a function of the light intensity. I'm wondering if your light source is too modest for that size. If you want to stick with the CF desktop fixture you're using now, maybe get two of them and position them side by side.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Based on my research and knowledge, i also believe that the horizontal growth is dependent on light intensity. That was actually my intention during the planning stage but due to my small room i was afraid that the excessive heat produced by the additional lamp would cause my room to be really hot (in addition to the heat produced by my computer running and the room light, my betta tank light, and myself). I also looked through several other emmersed set ups and noticed that it usually takes 1-2 weeks for plants to adjust to the immeresed environment and then another few weeks for the plants to start propagating horizontally. So if they don't start spreading within a week or two from today, i'll add on the extra lamp.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Update pictures!

March 21 - 3 weeks since project started, slight horizontal growth sighted in the glosso, HM isn't doing too well, lots of browning of the older (aquatic?) leaves..not sure why...maybe because it's on the hill.









HM on the hill. Crappy pic x_x









Some close up shots of the glosso. The horizontal growth is from new nodal shoots leaning towards the soil and moving horizontally...not sure if that's considered horizontal growth but it sure is horizontal spread! xD

























Random shot.









FTS.









Should i be concerned about the huge puddle i have in the lower parts of my soil? o.o


----------



## Hail (Mar 6, 2009)

Interesting substrate choice. I'll be watching this to see how it all works out.

I have never had the patience for immersed growth, I like more instant gratification. Due to how stunning some of the tanks that use it can get, I might have to try it out some time.


----------



## Choco (Dec 8, 2007)

hope your emerged setup works well for you...it never did for me.

Are you sure your substrate is safe for fauna btw?


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Hail said:


> Interesting substrate choice. I'll be watching this to see how it all works out.
> 
> I have never had the patience for immersed growth, I like more instant gratification. Due to how stunning some of the tanks that use it can get, I might have to try it out some time.


Thanks. This soil was the only organic one without fertilizers that i could find at home depot...i didn't think to go to walmart or other stores to get soil at the time so i just picked up the miracle grow stuff. The emersed set up is pretty laid back, you pratically do nothing and just watch the plants grow. My daily routine with it is just to turn on/off the lights (no timer), spray the HM hill, and open the lid to circulate the air whenever i feel like it. That's about it. 



Choco said:


> hope your emerged setup works well for you...it never did for me.
> 
> Are you sure your substrate is safe for fauna btw?


Thanks, i hope it works too >.< Would you mind sharing your experience and maybe your set up? Did you ever figure out what caused your set up to not work?

I'm actually not sure if the substrate is safe for fauna but nothing about the substrate seems to point towards unsafe. The only thing i can see is just an excess of nutrients which might kill the fauna? But i plan on floating some water sprite or something to help soak up excess nutrients and to also plant heavily when i submerge the set up. I'll probably let the submerged set up sit for a few weeks before i throw anything in there.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Just thought i would do a quick update before the weekend. A lot of horizontal growth over the past few days...at least more than i've seen for the first 3 weeks. 
Here's the same plant on March 21 and today (March 25)

















Random shot that i thought looked cool with the light from betta tank shining over.









My "puddle" is starting to get pretty big. lol.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Just a quick update. Here's the progress picture for the 4th week. March 28. HM appears to be bouncing back from what appeared to be a semi die off last week. Glosso are starting to spread out more


----------



## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

That is quite interesting. Looking forward to seeing how it works for you as I have something similar that is in the works that I will be setting up. Just a note, the substrate looks like it is water lodged with water flooding the top of the substrate. From what I have read about others with similar setups, the substrate should be saturated but not water lodged and then if you occasionally mist, it will work. Also, I noticed that you are using one 13 watt bulb. Most people that seem to have success with emersed on a 5 gallon use one of those Home Depot 27 watt compact fluorescent lamps, so your light intensity may be insufficient to start a good carpet, but I could be wrong.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

I was too lazy to drain out the water >_< and i didn't think anything negative would come of it since most of the leaves were still exposed to the air. I drained some of the water out using a pippete (took so long T__T), but with this week's photo it's flooded again but not as much. When i had it water lodged, i still sprayed the leaves every morning, still do. But thanks for the comment, i really didn't think much of it until i read your post. 

About the lighting, Fishwood mentioned too that the lighting might be a bit short of enough for a good carpet and i have also considered this from the start. The addition of the second lamp, which is still sitting in my basement in the box will be based on any signs poor carpet growth or any other factor related to light. Until then i'll be sticking with the single lamp to save on electricity and mostly because of the excessive heat. It gets really hot and humid in my room with two lamps on my desk, my room light, my computer, the heating system in the house, and myself...but ya...
I actually wanted to get that Hampton Bay Lamp at home depot but i read somewhere that it was discontinued? and i wasn't able to find it anywhere in my local home depot.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

It has been a little bit over a month since i have started the project. A lot of horizontal spreading going on in the tank, the leaves on the glosso are getting bigger. HM is doing great, spreading in a different way than when submerged. Everything is happy, very slight dying of the older leaves, but that's pretty much done, mostly growth since last week. 

Pictures! 

HM.









Progress shots. So it's been 5 weeks since the project has started. Great growth all of the glosso has started spreading sideways. The "yellow" leaves in the second picture are actually green, the reflected light make them look yellow (my bad >_<). 

















FTS from above.


----------



## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

gamexeater said:


> ...I actually wanted to get that* Hampton Bay Lamp at home depot but i read somewhere that it was discontinued? and i wasn't able to find it anywhere in my local home depot.*


Growth looks like it is coming along really well. I hear you on the light. I also was not able to find that lamp at Home Depot. But I did find some clone lamps(same bulb) at Superstore(in the lamp section) and Wal-Mart(again the lamp section). 

The one at Supestore is Globe brand name with a 27 watt compact fluorescent 6500K bulb. It was $29.99. The one at Wal-Mart is a Vision Max(tensor) brand name also with 27 Watt compact fluorescent 6500K bulb. That one was $39.99. The replacement bulb which fits both lamps can be found in the craft section(of all places) in Wal-Mart and is about $7.00 before taxes.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Sounds like you've spent quite some time researching/browsing/shopping for different lamps. Doing the math though....i spent about $6-$7 for two 13W 6500K bulbs, about $15 for the two lamps i have...that equates to about $22. If i end up using both lamps i'll have a 26w total output (some of which is expected to be wasted through the spiral feature of the bulb and the inefficiency of the lamps). 
On the other hand the Supertore Globe brand lamp that you've mentioned is about $30 and the Vision Max brand at about $40 (assuming that both these lamps come with a bulb). It's about $8+ more but i would guess that they are more efficient. So it really comes down to how cheap i am (very >.<) and i guess my available time + laziness. 
But ya...when i start up a new nano (oh gosh...more money to spend >.<) i'll probably look into these lamps that you've mentioned. I do appreciate the sharing of you're hard work and time though, so thank you for that. 

Anyhow, i wanted to do a small update. Some of the glosso started invading the hill reserved for the rotalla. I trimmed some of them and planted them into the empty areas to fill them in a little more. The root systems seem to be pretty well established. Oh and secondary nodal shoots have begun growing out of the primary nodal shoots!


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

This is the sixth week. Glosso is doing very well and HM is growing but very low, keeping to the soil. 

Anyway here are the pictures.

Progress pic. I guess i should maybe start using the above FTS as the progress pics? o.o 









FTS from above.









Shot of the glosso from the front showing the roots.


----------



## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

gamexeater said:


> Sounds like you've spent quite some time researching/browsing/shopping for different lamps. Doing the math though....i spent about $6-$7 for two 13W 6500K bulbs, about $15 for the two lamps i have...that equates to about $22. If i end up using both lamps i'll have a 26w total output (some of which is expected to be wasted through the spiral feature of the bulb and the inefficiency of the lamps).
> On the other hand the Supertore Globe brand lamp that you've mentioned is about $30 and the Vision Max brand at about $40 (assuming that both these lamps come with a bulb). It's about $8+ more but i would guess that they are more efficient. So it really comes down to how cheap i am (very >.<) and i guess my available time + laziness.
> But ya...when i start up a new nano (oh gosh...more money to spend >.<) i'll probably look into these lamps that you've mentioned. *I do appreciate the sharing of you're hard work and time though, so thank you for that.
> *
> Anyhow, i wanted to do a small update. Some of the glosso started invading the hill reserved for the rotalla. I trimmed some of them and planted them into the empty areas to fill them in a little more. The root systems seem to be pretty well established. Oh and secondary nodal shoots have begun growing out of the primary nodal shoots!


You are welcome  Your tank looks like it is coming along really well, these emersed setups are supposed to take off after 7 weeks when you should see maximum growth from what I understand. I just started a 3 gallon emersed using the lamp I mentioned and ADA Aquasoil II. The plants are HC, Dwarf Hairgrass, Rotala Indica, and Dwarf 4 leaf clover. It has only been up for a week, but looks pretty sorry right now.


----------



## mgdmirage (Mar 30, 2009)

I would find some sort of open ended lamp that lays horizontally, and then get a 2ft piece of 4" or so pvc pipe and cut it in half(lengthwise) and put it over the light. Then glue foil to the i inside of it as a reflector, this made my cfl bulbs almost twice as bright, since you are using more of the coils instead of them being wasted in a point down manner. just my 2 cents, it was a really cheap setup and gave much better light distribution over my tank.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Well like Homer has mentioned the growth is crazy, it has definitely taken off. I've completely lost track of what is growing and it's just a mess now lol. It's just a matter of time before the carpet fills in. 

Here's the progress pic for the 7th week. 









Full Tank Shot from above.









mgdmirage - Thank you for your input and raising the point of light being lost through the bulb being pointed downwards, i actually didn't think of that till i read your post. Sounds like a very simple diy project that i could probably get my dad to help me out with. I'm going to have to try that with my 10g in storage later on xD Going to have tanks everywhere haha. When you mention the cfl bulbs, are you talking about these bulbs or something similar in nature? http://www.lakewoodconferences.com/direct/dbimage/50029704/2U_CFL.jpg

Homer - i'm going to have to pay a visit to your 3g thread when i have the time.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

8 weeks into the project. Everything is growing very well. Did some trimming and re-arranging yesterday night. Filled in some of the empty spaces with the trimmings. 

Random shot (from front of tank).









Progress shot.









FTS shot (from above).


----------



## ddtran46 (Jul 8, 2008)

wow. Looks good


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

ddtran46 said:


> wow. Looks good


Thanks  I only hope it will continue to look good, especially when i fill up the tank and plant stuff.


----------



## GlassCat594 (Mar 20, 2009)

Can something like this be done outside with natural light??? 

The think it would work but i question the temp at night?


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

I've read some cases where people have kept an emersed set up outside on their porch and it grew just fine. The only thing you would have to be careful of is keeping in the moisture and to also make sure the temperature stays somewhat consistent. Other than that, the idea is pretty smart considering you save money on the lighting but you'll eventually have to bring it back in if you plan on filling in the tank because the inconsistent sunlight could cause algae problems.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Starting to get some kind of algae in the puddles. Along the side of the tanks i can see what looks like blue green algae (BGA). I'm not sure if its BGA yet or if it's just green light filtering through the jungle of glosso. There are also these "shiny" spots on the soil. Not sure exactly what those are. I was squirting them with my spray bottle and they seem to disappear for a bit and then when i look at the same spot a few hours later its back. Other than that, everything seems to be growing fine. Noticing some fruit flies in the tank now...(have them around the house but recently started noticing them). Kind of want to fill the tank sooner because of that.

Here's a picture of the shiny stuff:









FTS from above (Week 9):


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

While removing some of the excess water yesterday i have confirmed that there is BGA in the tank. The "shiny stuff" appear to be bubbles...perhaps a result of anaerobic spots under the soil.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Not much else happened this week. More growth. 10th Week.








I'm thinking of filling in the tank soon.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Went through hell today with filling in the tank. Water kept getting cloudy from the slightest movement of the soil. I guess i should have capped the soil when i had the chance. I would definitely recommend capping soil for anyone that is still in the early stages of their tank. 
I added two pieces of driftwood to the tank and stargrass was placed in the corner that the rotala was suppose to be in. Also attached a java fern to one of the pieces of driftwood. 
Took lots of pictures today! Will upload tomorrow too tired and lazy now.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

As promised here are the pictures. 

Progress pic, 11th week. It's pretty much filled in to my liking.









Different angles of the tank before filling.

















So i had this piece of driftwood lying around and it was too big so i cut it into two pieces. Here are some pictures of the different arrangements i tried out.

































I decided on the last one. Here's the last one with a black bristal board behind the tank. The exposure was also changed back to default. It was a bit low which explains the darkness in the other pictures.









Planted stargrass in the back corner, attached java fern to the right piece of driftwood.









Pictures in the process of filling up the tank.









































Almost filled.









Done filling.

























Tank this morning. I had to replant a lot of the stargrass because it wasn't staying in the soil >.< 








Guess i shouldn't have used trimmings. The driftwood also fell over so i had to fix that which cause crazy clouding. This all occured after i finished filling. 
I also noticed cloudy soil particles..i suppose, floating just above the substrate after filling. 
I added a finner sponge to the catridge, hopefully that will help to filter out the finner particles.

Any ideas on how to remove the cloudyness? I did a full water change yesterday right after the cloudyness appeared. Should i just turn off the filter and let everything settle? Another water change? Ugh x_x so stressful.
Thanks for looking. Any questions/comments/suggestions are welcomed


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Regarding the BGA that i have, it's starting to spread all over the place now. The HM is pretty much intertwined with the bga. I have read/heard that ramshorn snail eat this stuff? Does anyone have any experiences with this? I think i'm going to try and isolate some bga with a ramshorn snail and see what happens.


Results:Flake food>BGA for a half a dozen ramshorns in a little tub. Thinking about those experiences that i have read about, it could be possible that because of their massive consumption of organic stuff, the excessive poop as a result of that could have lead to increased nitrates. Low nitrates is a cause of bga so...more nitrates because of the snails could eliminate the bga?


----------



## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Try adding nitrates for the BGA it's known to thrive in low nitrate 
The tank looks great by the way!


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Thanks mott! 
I'm not sure if i should be adding any live stock right now since i haven't really cycled the tank yet but i have added mulm from an established tank. I also threw in a few flakes to help get the beneficial bacteria going. In terms of live stock, i was thinking of getting some Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS) to also help aerate the substrate.


----------



## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

gamexeater said:


> Thanks mott!
> I'm not sure if i should be adding any live stock right now since i haven't really cycled the tank yet but i have added mulm from an established tank. I also threw in a few flakes to help get the beneficial bacteria going. In terms of live stock, i was thinking of getting some Malaysian Trumpet Snails (MTS) to also help aerate the substrate.


I have a ton of MTS, PM me if your interested


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Thanks a lot for the offer mott, but i'm not sure if it would be worth it to ship a couple of mts to canada. I should be able to find some on a local forum or a lfs.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

The cloudyness has cleared up a lot since yesterday.

Yesterday.








Today.









The BGA is going crazy >.< HM and glosso is covered with the stuff. I dosed some KNO3 at a concentration equivalent to a 10g. I think that's about 10ppm. I'm aware that's over dosing but there's no live stock in the tank and i really want to get rid of the bga before it chokes out the plants. I also threw in several more flakes. Going to squeeze some mulm out of another filter sponge from my 10g. Hopefully that will help to speed up the cycling and decomposing of the flakes.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Sorry, no time for pictures now, but i'll try to get them up this weekend. The cloudyness is pretty much gone now. Should be clear by this weekend...i hope. BGA is still going crazy, it somehow found its way on the tops of some of the stargrass...i've been doing "blackouts" by pretty much surrounding the tank with "stuff." I'm also reducing the light levels randomly...but i haven't turned the lights on today, had them on for like 10 hours yesterday and the BGA started spreading more...>.< So i'll just wait it out i guess...going to squeeze more mulm in there when i have the time to. No plants seem to be dying from the BGA...yet...


----------



## asimkhatri (Sep 17, 2007)

where are the updates ?


----------



## fish dork (Jan 13, 2008)

BGA won't go away unless the blackout is done by completely covering the tank, not allowing ANY light in for at least 3 days. 5 is better. Erythomyacin can be used as an alternative. Are you dosing this tank yet with a full regime of ferts? I know you mentioned KNO3; are you also using the other macros as well as traces? Nice progess so far BTW.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

> BGA won't go away unless the blackout is done by completely covering the tank, not allowing ANY light in for at least 3 days. 5 is better. Erythomyacin can be used as an alternative. Are you dosing this tank yet with a full regime of ferts? I know you mentioned KNO3; are you also using the other macros as well as traces? Nice progess so far BTW.


So i ended up doing a blackout. Don't remember exactly when i started...it's been a hectic week. I think it's been 3-4 days since i started. Does erhthomyacin (wow that's a long name..) solve BGA permanently? Would it return if the underlying causes were not fixed? I haven't dosed this tank with a full regime yet, don't really want to..trying to keep it as low maintenance as possible. No i just dosed the KNO3, if required i'll dose the other macros and/or trace. I'm hoping that will be satisfied through feeding and water changes or top offs. Thanks! 



> where are the updates ?


Here they are.

There is a lot of die off in the BGA, lots of "browning" of the BGA; there is still some left though. I noticed that the BGA "creeps" around looking for light when the tank is blacked out. It actually moved like half way across the tank because i didn't fully blackout the tank. 
The stargrass has taken quite the hit with the whole transition and blackout. I think i'm just going to stick additional stargrass behind the driftwood and let it root itself..don't want to distrub the substrate<<<that's if i decide to add more.

Pictures:

















Btw, the thermometer is temporarily there to ensure the temperature stays constant. I'll move it somewhere else later when the plants start growing decently.


----------



## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

BGA are also called cyanobacteria. Erythromycin is an antibiotic and will thus kill the BGA. Will some survive? Probably. But most will die. Note that this can harm your biological filter, but that shouldnt be a huge problem since you havent added livestock yet.

Also, I would add Purigen to your filter to get those tannins out of your water. Unless you like the yellow of course. Have you done a water change yet?


----------



## asimkhatri (Sep 17, 2007)

looks cool my glosso are meltin due to summer..


wts ur present glosso tank temp


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

FrostyNYC said:


> BGA are also called cyanobacteria. Erythromycin is an antibiotic and will thus kill the BGA. Will some survive? Probably. But most will die. Note that this can harm your biological filter, but that shouldnt be a huge problem since you havent added livestock yet.
> 
> Also, I would add Purigen to your filter to get those tannins out of your water. Unless you like the yellow of course. Have you done a water change yet?


My only concerns with using the erythromycin is that it is only a temporary solution and the extra cost of buying it. I guess it would be a problem now that i've added some fish to the tank (7 neon tetras and 1 zebra danio).

Yes, i actually did a water change not long from my previous post. It definitely helped to clear up the water. 



asimkhatri said:


> looks cool my glosso are meltin due to summer..
> 
> wts ur present glosso tank temp


That's unfortunate to hear but if that's the case i should be expecting the same thing. Right now the temperature is in the low 70s.

Updates are going to be slow for the next 2 weeks because i have a lot of summatives and exams to prepare for. I'll post some picture updates and more stuff tomorrow...tired as heck right now.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

So...it's been a while since i've been busy with school but now that it's over i can sort of catch up on my neglect.

Here are just some pictures that i have yet to upload. Pretty depressing progress....

















Anyway, i have since removed the floating mess and the tank is kind of "deadish" now. Glosso is mostly dead from all the blocked light caused by the floating mess. The plan as of now is to actually cap off the soil because it's been a pain in the butt to move it in anyway, even increasing the flow on the filter causes a bunch of debris to start flying around. The filter is evidently insufficient in providing good circulation as it clogs up a lot. 

So..To do list:
-cap off soil with some plain gravel that i have lying around in the basement but i probably won't be able to do it today because it's suppose to rain and i don't want to make a mess in the house.
-get a new filter, probably going to be a HOB, might get one big enough so that i can leave the heater in the filter so that it's hidden.
-clean up as much of the BGA crap as possible
-get a pair of tongs to help with the planting 

Oh ya forgot about the HM, it seems to be doing the best job at surviving as there is still a lot of it in the back behind the driftwood  The fish are doing fine too. 

Conerning the BGA problem my plans for countering it...
-the new filter that i'm going to get should help increase the circulation 
-going to start off with a lot of watersprite o.o since that's my most resilient plant 
-keep photoperiod more consistent and shorter
-possibly use air stone to oxygenate the water better


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Ok so yesterday i cleaned up a lot of the BGA mess, capped the soil, added new plants and bought a new filter - Elite Hush 20 (rated for 10-20g). 

I started by doing a 50% drain and at the same time removing as much of the BGA as possible (it was all over the glass). So after that I sponged off as much BGA as possible from the glass (where it mostly resided). Then I drained some more water into a bucket and removed the fish. The driftwood was taken out, the surviving HM (everything else was pretty much dead) was pulled out and left floating and then the gravel was rinsed and added. The gravel was from my dad’s old goldfish tank from when I was still a baby lol and it smelt really bad. So after topping of the soil with the gravel I started planting various plants; water sprite in the back left, sunset hygro in the middle, stargrass in the back right, HM all over the front middle, rotala sp. green in the front right and like two glosso plants that were barely alive were planted randomly in the front amongst the HM. I used a pair of tweezers and "nail scissors" from a nail cutting kit that i got from the dollar store and i must say...wow...what a difference. It was so much easier (especially with my fat fingers) and that much less of a PITA. After planting I put the driftwood back in and fill it up and then added the fish in, put the equipment back on, went out to buy my new filter and added that to the tank too.

Pictures!
After gravel was added, the water was noticable less cloudy than without the gravel 








Top view with HM floating.








Tank after planting and refilling. Note the clarity of the water...the time frame since the first picture was only about 4 hours. If you look back to planting with just the soil and no cap, the cloudyness stayed for a few days even with the filter.








Top left.








Top right.








Fail picture of HM.








Rotala sp. Green.








After adding fish back in. You can kinda see the filter which is the grey thing breaking the surface of the water in the back center. I also added a black piece of construction paper at this point because seeing the HOB was kind of unpleasing to my eyes :hihi:








Sunset hygro, wouldn't have been able to plant it so densly with the tweezers.

























Going to try to reduce the photoperiod (probably 6~7ish hours) too because looking back..i had 12 hours of light and a very undensely planted tank with inconsistent nutrient levels in the water (from soil and fish).


----------



## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

Not re-using the glosso?
Just going with HM carpet?

Also with the hushes: They lose flow fast. Just a heads up.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

I would if i had some more but most of it is dead i would say over 95% and i kind of like how the HM has small leaves. 
Thanks for the heads up. Is the flow lost to clogging of some sort? I'll have to look into that.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Ok so the BGA is starting to come back. It's appearing on the gravel line along the front and right glass panels. There are also little specs of it on a lot of the plants..=s

I'm starting to dose fertilizers and CO2 starting today. I will have DIY CO2, i'll be dosing dry ferts (marco), and micro will be introduced via Flourish Comprehensive. I've had experience with all the previously mentioned stuff on my 10g which i have had moderate success with. The idea is to allow the plants to actually grow faster, become health, and establish themselves that way they have some kind of chance to stand against the algae. One of the causes of BGA is also the lack of oxygen so when the plants establish that should help too. The fertilization isn't going to be permanent and i hope to be able to convert the setup back to a fertilization-less set up. As a result of using ferts and diy co2, i'm also going to increase the photoperiod to maybe 8~10 hours compared to the 6~7 hours. I'll adjust the photoperiod accordingly if other algae starts to invade.

Oh for the diy co2..here are some specs:
-710mL bottle
-600mL of water
-about 0.6 cups of sugar
-about a quarter of a teaspon of yeast
-pretty much based on this site: http://fish.cecolts.com/pics/co2.html
-diffuser=the mini elite internal filter (the previous filter i had, the airline is "elastic-ed" to the intake of the filter)


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Just a quick update, not much has happened. The BGA is still in a non-chaotic state, i'm going to do a quick water change tomorrow to remove as much as the BGA as possible. I'm continuing to dose my dry fertilzer solutions.
The tank today. You can see the BGA along the gravel line in the front. Looks like smudges above the gravel line.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Have you tried doing a blackout to remove the BGA? I see that you have been dosing ferts; are you dosing nitrates?


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Have you tried doing a blackout to remove the BGA? I see that you have been dosing ferts; are you dosing nitrates?


I actually did try a blackout early when the BGA was crazy wild and out of control, a lot of it died off but so did the plants. The blackout lasted about 3 days. At this point in the plant growth i'm not too sure if they would be strong/healthy enough to survive a blackout. The BGA also slowly returned after the blackout but i did the blackout by itself. I might try to do a blackout with lots of oxygenation and circulation all together but after the plants establish a bit. In the meanwhile i'm going to try to remove the BGA as it grows.
Yes i'm dosing nitrates via KNO3. I dosed it by like 4x the recommended 5ppm today, will keep watch of fish and do a water change if necessary (doing one tmr anyway).


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Just a quick pictureless update. Water sprite was trimmed last week (the "freshly dead" leaves) and there's new growth among the several water sprite plants, sunset hygro is as high as the tallest point on the pieces of driftwood, stargrass near the filter inlet side is growing but not so much the other side leaving one side of the driftwood and tank kind of empty. In general, the background plants are all growing and fighting off the BGA that is among them (for the most part they are BGA free). The rotala is inactive and sort of covered in BGA. For the foreground, this is the worst part of all, the HM was unhealthy to start with so it's already having a hard time growing but the BGA is taking over the front part. Java fern is sprouting new leaves and is fine. 
I've also purchased a timer and i'm currently running my lights for about 5 hours a day. 

Just a thought+observation about the BGA: before filling in the tank i noticed that the soil had a lot (A LOT) of miny white worms. I was a bit concerned so i did some research and it turned out that the white worms were cousins of the earthworm and consumed *organic matter*. Ya...i was lying in bed staring at the tank when that came to mind. There were still a lot of white worms when i filled it up and a lot floated to the surface after filling. So it's probable that that could be the factor influencing the BGA and i'm sure with time that'll go away. 

I went to a local PJ's Pet Store yesterday to look for some MTS because of the previous paragraph and i knew that MTS burrow which would help to break down some of that organic matter in the soil. They were selling each snail at an outragious price of 15 cents a piece even though i noticed several tanks with more snails than gravel. Going to try to get some from people on a local forum for cheaper if not free.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Ok i went and got myself some ghost shrimp for my tanks to help with the scavenging. I added the 3 youngest (smallest) ones to the 5.5g so hopefully they'll help to just keep the tank a tiny bit cleaner. 
So i was looking into my betta tank right beside my 5.5g tank when i noticed some black dot on a leaf in the far back. On closer inspection it was a MTS. I was quite surprised and had thought it was dead a while back because it was kind of missing for several months. The MTS hitched hike on some plants in my 10g and they kind of, at one point, mutiplied in my 10g. I had thrown one in my betta tank for fun when the MTS in my 10g started disappearing. I shortly after purchased some RCS for the 10g but they also died...so i'm theorizing that there was some link there...anyway...I threw the MTS into the 5.5g and i'm hoping that it'll grow and reproduce to help consume some of that organic matter in the soil. It's only about 0.5cm long and it's been like that for quite sometime in the betta tank (no heater so that might be why).


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Well i thought i'd take some pictures for a picture-update.

FTS.








Blurry BGA in the foreground.








Some sorta string algae.








Random shot of the java fern.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Something happened this morning when the lights came on: a patch of BGA on the left piece of driftwood just disappeared. Could it have migrated overnight? It was there yesterday evening when i took the previous fts picture.
Here's a picture.


----------



## Outlawboss (Dec 30, 2008)

Maybe your increased nitrate dosing is working and it didn't migrate, but died? I've seen it happen where the BGA when it's on the way out, will sort of let go of what it's attached to and end up in the filter or break down completely. I hope that's the case for you!


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

About the BGA..i think it just migrated to a more favourable position because i noticed a patch of BGA on the tip of the water sprite (closest to the surface) appear out of no where almost the same size as the patch that disappeared. 

Anyway, i did a water change today and removed more BGA. Also trimmed the sunset hygro and stargrass. I decided to add the other lamp with another 13W CF spiral bulb because the stargrass was kind of dying in the back. The MTS that was thrown in went from a black coloured shell to a none-black coloured shell...so that's a good sign i guess lol. Dosing has essentially been stopped because the CO2 has been running for almost 2 weeks now. Going to change the CO2 on sunday and then start dosing again.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Quick update, don't have camera right now so i can't take any pictures. The stargrass is already starting to grow faster and not so "dead" anymore. Dosing has stopped. I kind of lied about changing the DIY CO2, i'll try to get that done tomorrow. So incase it's unclear, the new lamp which is identical to the other lamp in all aspects (including the bulb), will be run on the same timer for 5 hours. So i have 26W of 6500k CF spiral bulb light for 5 hours (9am-12am, 8pm-10pm) a day. Lots of debris and stuff everywhere, will clean that up tomorrow (hopefully) when i change the DIY CO2. There also seems to be some brown algae (diatoms) along the gravel line, nothing crazy though. Will get pictures ASAP.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Sorry about the delay, i was at camp for the past 3 days. The grinding noise of the CO2 bubbles being chopped up by the diffuser (filter) was getting annoying so i unplug the filter at night when i sleep. Sort of forgot to replug this morning before leaving for camp so, the 9am-12am photoperiod in the morning was kind of wasted/messed up. BGA is only on the driftwood and foreground. Really exhausted from camp so...not going to be the best post in the world. 

Here are the pictures:


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Update!
Did a water change and a bit of a "rescape" yesterday. Cleaned up a lot of the BGA. I also added two ramshorn snails from my snail bucket. The watersprite will be removed later on when the other plants bulk up in size. The new plan for the scape is to slope the plants towards the right back corner. Still trying for that HM carpet but i might need to get myself somemore because a lot of it is dead or near dead. 

Snails.

































FTS.


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Alright it's been just over a week since i last posted. Everything is growing to a satisfying level except the HM...i might have to buy myself another pot to substitute for the half dead HM that i have growing now. I have removed and replanted the living ones (that show minute amounts of growth). I also added a few more stems of stargrass from my 10g to make it bushier in the 5.5g.

As for the BGA problem...it's not as dominant anymore especially on the gravel, i notice that it's dying off every morning when the light comes on but it kind of grows back as the day progresses, so that's a sign that it's kind of struggling to survive.

I slacked off on changing the diy co2 so it's been almost 3 weeks since i last changed it. I've also stopped dosing fertilizers. The only sources of nutrients are the fish food, any water changes i deem necessary based on the BGA, and decaying plant matter. 

Pictures!

FTS









Ghost shrimp (hard to macro on a small fast moving critter)

























BGA on snail O.O??









Snail eggs; hopefully they'll provide some protein for the shrimp as i've seen one eat a fairly large snail whole in another tank of mine.









Emergent growth from water sprite; i'd normally just shove the leaf back into the water but since leaving it will help to introduce some carbon into the tank..why not? (Recently got Diana Walstad's book on planted aquariums and i'm almost at the aerial advantage chapter =P)


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

So finally found some free time to do some maintenance. I've stopped using the elite mini internal filter for a few days and i noticed some Black Brush/Beard Algae (BBA) on the tip of the outflow for the main hob filter. Guess that means there's something wrong with the CO2 levels. I removed the elite mini today, lots of cleared up space. No more DIY CO2 either. Trying to revert back to a "low tech"ish set up. Oh ya, BGA is virtually gone, i guess letting the plants establish naturally removed it. There's some brown algae and a few spots of Green Spot Algae (GSA) but they are all at a tolerable level. 

Overall good growth from all the plants. Rotala is starting to come back and all the 5 stems or so are starting to form nodal shoots. Fish are doing well. The one ghost shrimp has been pale for a few days...that's supposedly a sign of imminent death but it's been surviving for a while now. Snails are doing...too well? Lots of baby snails everywhere..some are blue..


----------



## gamexeater (Sep 20, 2008)

Was feeding the fish this morning and i noticed on the container that it has some sort of low phosphorus guarentee which kind of makes sense with the minor GSA that i have. The food is Nutrafin Goldfish Flake Food; it came with my 1.55 betta tank so i'm just using it. I also use it in my 10g for my danios which also has GSA.


----------

