# fluval flora newbie first atempt picture heavy. a little advice?



## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

hi, ive had many aquariums as a kid and have experience with growing a wide range of plants and vegetables but this is my first attempt at merging the two hobbies together into a planted tank. i started with a fluval chi and fluval flora but had to shut the chi down so ended up with many fish in the flora. im currently experiencing some problems hoping the planted tank community can help. 

tank: fluval flora 7.9 gallons

equipment: ditched all orignal equipment. eheim 2215 (turned down), milwaukee co2 regulator on paintball tank 90bpm set on timer 1 hour before lights and off 1 hour before lights through a nano diffuser, 32 watt 6500k cfl in a zoomed mini deep dome reflector sitting 5 inches above water line on timer 10 hours a day. 

substrate: eco complete

fertilizer: seachem flourish dosing 1ml every other day.

flora: anubias on driftwood, hc, java moss, some kind of crypt, marimo ball, and an unknown plant. 

fauna: 5 neon tetras, 2 cardinal tetras, 5 rummy red nose tetras, 3 rasboras.
also have 3 zebra snails, 2 crs, 2 rcs, and had a blue shrimp that died this morning. 

started like this.









slowly comming together









got 2 here









tank as it sits today 9/21/12









plants









shrimp









equipment









tank has been running for about a month and fully planted for about 2 weeks. everything was going smooth up until the last couple days. my co2 bubble count shot up last night which seems to be known of these regulators, but looking at the fish, none seemed stressed at all. this morning i woke up to a dead blue shrimp, his body used to be all blue with a brown stripe but now has a big orange spot on his back. all my other shrimp are doing well at the moment. he was the largest shrimp, had him since the beggining of this whole experiment so im wondering what took place to bring him to his death. i thought about the co2 but everybody else is fine and none gasping. since then i turned the co2 down a little. 

heres a picture before and after. 









hc looks to be unchanged, not dieing but not thriving. hoping to find a way to improve growth. both unknown plant is melting, thought it was the new water but am unsure, it is melting fast. both are same species of plant just separated.


































water parameters are unkown except ph is 7.3. i dont own any test kits except a ph pen. last week got my water checked at a lfs and said it was good. i know the water comes out the tap at 7.5 and in my tank lowers to 7.3. 

what do you think killed the shrimp? disease, stress, co2? he was twice the size of my rcs and crs, no fish mess with him or any the other shrimp. he did activly swim on the top spray bar. my crs has become more active wondering if it was his time or if it was his keeper. the orange body has got me worried. also what do i do with the melting plant? how do i save it, can anyone identify it? any advice is appreciated thanks.


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## logi-cat (May 21, 2009)

Hi, looks good. Are you dosing any other fertilisers besides seachem flourish? plants also need a source of micro and macronutrients. 90bpm, not sure what that translate to per second but try to aim for 1-2 bubbles per second. To me 10 hours is maybe too much. Try cutting it down to 8 hours per day.


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

hi logi-cat thanks for the advice. since i turned down the co2 rate im getting 72 bubbles a second which is 1 1/5th bubbles a second basically 1.2bps. there is visibly less bubbles in the tank. fish seem to like that a little better so im gonna keep that rate. i was under the impression that seachem flourish an all in one fertilizer and that fish food and waste provide the rest. any recommendations on ferts?


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## logi-cat (May 21, 2009)

i use dry ferts which you make up your self depending on the size of the aquarium. A very cheap alternative compared to liquid fertilisers that you buy in bottle such as seachem flourish. If you browse the fertilisers and water parameters of the forum there should be something in there. This is what i achieved:

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=21180


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

your tank is beautiful. what is that big bushy plant you have in the middle, id like to have that in my tank.


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## logi-cat (May 21, 2009)

that is hydrocotyle sp. japan or sometimes called hydrocotyle tripartita.


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## FreshPuff (Oct 31, 2011)

Tank is looking good! I am using the Eheim 2213 on my Ebi and I have to restrict it's flow just so my fish wont be plastered against the glass:icon_cool 
Where did you get that awesome stand for your light? I have been looking for something like that for a while now!


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

It's a zoomed lamp stand and mini deep done reflector. U can get a similar reflectors at home depot for like 8 bucks. I originally ordered a 2213 but it arrived broken, did a little more research and decided to up it to a 2215. 

As for my melting plants, gonna pick up so more ferts and hope it helps.


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## FreshPuff (Oct 31, 2011)

Here is a tip that helped me out. Use shrimp as a co2 indicator. As you noticed, shrimp are very sensitive to co2 levels. Much more sensitive than fish. The best way to set your co2 bubble count is to use your shrimp as a gauge. Every thirty minutes turn your co2 needle valve up in small increments. KEEP AN EYE ON THE TANK WHILE DOING THIS SO YOU DON"T ACCIDENTALLY GAS YOUR INHABITANTS. As soon as your shrimp begin to swim around the glass and circle the tank, you have reached your co2 max bubble count. Once you have reached the max, turn down your co2 valve to the previous 30 minute position. Temporarily aerate the tank with an air stone or create some sort of water surface movement to gas off the excess co2. Your co2 regulator should now be dialed in  I like this method because I don't have to have any unsightly co2 indicators in my small Ebi. And in order for HC to be grown successfully, optimal co2 levels are a must!


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

Hey thanks for the tip. I actually noticed this with the shrimp last night. My co2 bpm went up and noticed my blue shrimp swimming closer to the top. Other shrimps went about their business. Woke up this morning to a dead blue shrimp. Bpm remained unchanged and notice my crs swimming near the top. Turned down to about 72 bpm. All fish and shrimp seem happier.


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

went to lfs and they recommended root tabs for my melting unidentified plants. they said they are probably melon swords and suggested root tabs might help them come back to life. also picked up 3 more rcs and a dwarf saggitaria plant. heres where it sits now. id really like one bushy type plant in the left back corner but we'll see, might be better to leave open swim room.


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## logi-cat (May 21, 2009)

Why not get a co2 drop checker instead of using shrimp as an indicator. Cheaper alternative.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

logi-cat said:


> Why not get a co2 drop checker instead of using shrimp as an indicator. Cheaper alternative.


+1

Don't put your pets at risk needlessly in order to save your self a few bucks on a drop checker.

Also, these single stage regulators on paintball setups won't prevent an end of tank dump so you really need attention on the residual tank pressure.

If you are keeping inverts, a test it is a must. Tds, ammonia, nitrates, nitrides, gh, kh should all be monitored. Shouldn't cut corners here when going high tech.


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

I have a drop checker in the back and have never seen it once change colors. Been green no matter if I flood co2 or reduce co2. It's an u.p. co2 indicator. Maybe I'm doing it wrong?


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

Yea your right I'm going to pick up a test kit. When I was growing vegetables and herbs hydroponically I found that once you create an optimal environment the need for testing stopped. I was so good at it I measured ferts and knew all my water parameters off the top of my head. Guess its not that easy with a planted tank. If its anything like growing plants indoors a well balanced environment is most important. I believe I have an imbalance somewhere and need to pin point it


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

*shrimp are dieing off*

so just came home from work, 2 dead shrimp. my beloved crs and one rcs. i did make a couple changes last night but i don't think these changes are in anyway against they shrimp. i added a couple root tabs to the tank suggested by the lfs. only 2 tabs. i got the chi 5 gallon kicked back up and took 5 fish out and into the chi to lessen the bioload. im pretty sure its not the co2 becuase i turned it down last night that i barely produced any bubbles out of the nano diffuser, and today it is on but not enough pressure at all to even get a bubble out of the diffuser. all shrimp look fine last night. the rest of the shrimp are together at the top corner of the tank near the output of the filter. api master test kit with gh kh test just ordered and waiting for arrival. doing a half water change. i guess i cant do much else until i know my water parameters. high tech is hard to balance.


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## David4039 (Mar 26, 2012)

Any updates with this tank? I am also very interested in the light you are using. I have a Fluval Flora and was thinking about using that zoo med deep dome light. What bulb are you using in it? All I have been able to fins are incandescent lights for it.


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

Yea this tank went from he'll to heaven, retired and all plants are growing in this 12 long 








I used a 23 watt cfl, which was very strong. Co2 was needed. 


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## David4039 (Mar 26, 2012)

Holy smokes! That is amazing! Different tank then? How did the zoo med work out for you in the smaller tank?


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

It actually worked really well in that tank. You'd need 2 in a bigger tank though. 23 watts 5 inches over the top the tank. 


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## Bodei (Apr 14, 2013)

The new tank looks really nice.


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## swoof (Jun 30, 2010)

That 12L is looking great Vu


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## vnghost (Sep 21, 2012)

thanks guys. i definitely got better at this whole planted tank thing in the last 6 months. thanks to tpt and scapeclub.org mostly scape though ahah.


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