# Michu's Mr. Aqua 60H



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Title should be Michu's Mud Mess.

I have come back to the world of planted tanks after my husband decided to be rid of "nasty fish stuff" a little over five years ago when we moved out of state. He left everything behind while I was already moved and setting up shop here. Thankfully, my daughter smuggled part of my CO2 setup onto the truck, but everything else is new.

I purchased a Mr. Aqua 60H (24 X 18 X 18) to setup on my office desk.

Currently running:

Eheim 2273
Radeon XR15FW

CO2 reactor on back order from aquariumplants.com that will be attached to an Eheim 2026 and hydor 200 heater provided the reactor is ever shipped.

My original idea for a scape included a gorgeous spider wood piece I picked up for a small fortune at my local LFS along with two smaller pieces and some slate. Was going to be a rock wall to hold up the ADA ASA in the back with white sand in the front. Plants came in before my ADA, so I flooded the tank and put the sand in the front. Sand was "Aqua Terra" that I picked up at the LFS. What a mess! I couldn't breathe on the tank without the sand going everywhere. I soon realized the "Aqua Terra" had to go. I decided the spiderwood was too big and too white. I hope the LFS accepts a return of those (haven't been in the water) and am awaiting delivery of manzanita that I ordered from manzanita.com.

I ordered more ADA ASA yesterday. Today the first batch I ordered came in along with more plants. I emptied the tank and dumped in the ADA ASA not realizing I have to rinse this disgusting stuff. I wrongfully assumed that anything that came with such a high price tag shouldn't be rinsed as it probably had ferts. Well... I have been skimming the trash off the top of my tank with a net for an hour now. It was black as coal an hour earlier. This is how my tank currently appears


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

I intended to move the tank further forward to where the foam didn't stick out the front and use the interlocking piece in the back hold wires, but I forgot of course. Hopefully, I will remember when I drain the tank to add the rest of the ADA ASA when it arrives sometime next week.

I am highly annoyed with ADA right now. Was the trash (including styrofoam pieces) left in the soil to create ammonia to cycle the tank? Or were they just too darned lazy to rinse the garbage out of the soil prior to bagging it? I hope I am just being a beach witch and don't stay as aggravated as I currently am with the company. I sunk quite a bit of money into their soil for a 29 gallon tank. $236 including shipping to be exact. I pray to God my husband never reads this post. I am dead meat if he does.

2 bags of Power Sand
3 bags of AS normal
1 bag of ASA Powder (Will just go in the front as I didn't order enough and am too cheap to order more.)


----------



## etane (May 14, 2012)

I'd like to know what happens to you more than the tank if your husband ever catches wind that you spent a fortune on dirt.

Can you do something about the tank mat?


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

I'm going to fix it when I remove the water to add the rest of the ADA ASA whenever it gets here. I meant to do it today, but I forgot due to the trash floating everywhere shock. HAHA

Bump:


etane said:


> I'd like to know what happens to you more than the tank if your husband ever catches wind that you spent a fortune on dirt.


As for what happens to me, I don't even want to think about it, especially since he has no love for aquaria.


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

michu said:


> ...
> I emptied the tank and dumped in the ADA ASA not realizing I have to rinse this disgusting stuff. I wrongfully assumed that anything that came with such a high price tag shouldn't be rinsed as it probably had ferts.


What am I missing here. You rinsed the Aquasoil?


----------



## kinzo (Apr 18, 2013)

Minus the trash, i think it'll clear up after a few days. Also, how did you add your water? I've seen a youtube video of the ADA folk spray the substrate down first with a mist sprayer, then use a plastic bag over the substrate so that the water would not disturb the soil as much, seem to work nicely...


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

kinzo said:


> Minus the trash, i think it'll clear up after a few days. Also, how did you add your water? I've seen a youtube video of the ADA folk spray the substrate down first with a mist sprayer, then use a plastic bag over the substrate so that the water would not disturb the soil as much, seem to work nicely...


I sprayed it down and used a bag. Maybe I got lucky with extra grubby soil. I wish I would have taken pics of the floating styrofoam pieces. THAT blew my mind.

Bump:


houseofcards said:


> What am I missing here. You rinsed the Aquasoil?


No, I didn't rinse it. I wish I would had though.


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

michu said:


> I sprayed it down and used a bag. Maybe I got lucky with extra grubby soil. I wish I would have taken pics of the floating styrofoam pieces. THAT blew my mind.
> 
> Bump:
> 
> No, I didn't rinse it. I wish I would had though.


No, believe me you don't want to rinse AS. I don't understand the styrofoam that's weird. BTW all wood will get dark over time, even the spider wood (really a root) but will get dark after submerged for a while.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

houseofcards said:


> No, believe me you don't want to rinse AS. I don't understand the styrofoam that's weird. BTW all wood will get dark over time, even the spider wood (really a root) but will get dark after submerged for a while.


Good to hear.  

Thanks for letting me know not to rinse the AS as I intended to clean the other bags when they get here as well as I could so that I didn't have a nasty tank again.


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Sure, most important is to not disturb it. If you can do that there is no better substrate. I use the top of tupperwear or something like that and slowly pour the water on that and let it creep onto the AS. My water is always crystal even right after filling.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

I obviously did something wrong. I used the sack that the ADA came in. I also probably poured it too hard, but I tried my best to go as easily as I could. I'll try a plate when the rest comes in.

Thanks for your input. Tank is clearing up quickly. I can see there are plants in there now. I planted them in the dark when the tank was black just to get them in the soil. They will go in their permanent places when the manzanita and the rest of the soil gets here. I'm not nearly as enraged as I was when I was scooping up styrofoam, sticks, and scum.


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Somebody was probably sleeping on the job when they packed your AS. Styrofoam, sticks and scum. :surprise:

On the Manzanita. It will probably take a couple of weeks to sink.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

All I have now is flakes that look like fish food floating on the top. Wonder if that's what it really is?

I hope I can weigh down the manzanita enough to get it to stay put. If not, I'll stick it in a bucket for two or three weeks.

Thank you again for all of your help and advice.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

What a difference a day makes. Woke up this morning to a clear tank. 

It took a week and a half to receive the original order of ASA soils. I ordered more yesterday. Much to my surprise, it arrived today! If I'd known it would get here that quickly, I would have waited until today to put my tank together. 

I only used one of the two bags of the soil. I obviously miscalculated how much I needed. I now have an extra bag.

As for the soil, this bag appeared to be from a completely different company than the other bag. Not a piece of styrofoam in it. The very few "sticks" it had were small bits. No scum. Not much to scoop up at all! If I'd had this stuff the first time, I would have been thrilled instead of thinking folks that like this soil must be out of their blooming minds. Sorry to all you ADA ASA lovers out there. I obviously got a bum bag.

The water is cloudy now, but nothing like yesterday. Same system. Water was completely clear until I lifted the bag off the bottom which stirred it up a bit. The cloudiness is about the same as it was before I went to bed last night... about 11 hours of settling.

Algae. I noticed BBA 6 hours after changing to the ADA ASA yesterday on my Crinum Calamistratum. Much more this morning. I had only been dosing Excel waiting for my backordered reactor. Since I have no idea when my reactor will finally arrive, I ran out and purchased a cheapie glass diffuser with a ceramic disk at my LFS. My aquarium now sounds as if there are a bunch of baby crickets chirping. Lots of CO2 bubbles in my tank floating to the top. CO2 is running at 2 b/s. I hope there's some CO2 exchange going on with my water column. Since I don't have any fish in the tank, I wonder if I should run it all night to try to kill the BBA as I got a late start with the diffuser today.

Overall, a much better day than yesterday. 

Bump: And I forgot to fix the mat! I guess I will have to cut it.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

I think my son is reading this journal. Yesterday, He came in here with a smirk on his face and said, "Oooh. That dirt looks expensive. Real expensive. Over 200 bucks expensive. I wonder what Dad would think about such expensive dirt? I could sure use a new graphics card, Mom.", and smirked at me again, then laughed his fool head off when he saw the look on my face.

I can't repeat here what I said to him.

Son, if you're reading this and if you value your life, remember what I said.


----------



## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

It sounds like you need to rent an apartment for aquarium keeping purposes.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Jeff5614 said:


> It sounds like you need to rent an apartment for aquarium keeping purposes.


Son was just teasing me to get a reaction.  I won't be talking on here about prices anymore. LOL


----------



## assasin6547 (Feb 6, 2013)

michu said:


> I think my son is reading this journal. Yesterday, He came in here with a smirk on his face and said, "Oooh. That dirt looks expensive. Real expensive. Over 200 bucks expensive. I wonder what Dad would think about such expensive dirt? I could sure use a new graphics card, Mom.", and smirked at me again, then laughed his fool head off when he saw the look on my face.
> 
> I can't repeat here what I said to him.
> 
> Son, if you're reading this and if you value your life, remember what I said.


I don't know why, but for some odd reason I find this really freaking funny. At my house it's always been the other way around, with neither parent giving a single crap for planted aquariums - it can be such a struggle! It would be super cool if one of my parents took an interest in one of my hobbies (especially planted tanks) for once. 

As someone said earlier, yeah, it's definitely a good thing you did not rinse the AS. For the floaty thingys, you can either scoop them out with something or just disturb the surface and they will sink. You can use the extra bag of soil as justification for setting up another tank. :grin2:

Also, post more pics!!


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

assasin6547 said:


> I don't know why, but for some odd reason I find this really freaking funny. At my house it's always been the other way around, with neither parent giving a single crap for planted aquariums - it can be such a struggle! It would be super cool if one of my parents took an interest in one of my hobbies (especially planted tanks) for once.
> 
> As someone said earlier, yeah, it's definitely a good thing you did not rinse the AS. For the floaty thingys, you can either scoop them out with something or just disturb the surface and they will sink. You can use the extra bag of soil as justification for setting up another tank. :grin2:
> 
> Also, post more pics!!


It was funny. my son loves to give me a hard time.  The soil will probably end up in his Fluval 5 gallon tank. He is taking an interest in my tank and is thinking of moving out his horrid neon plastic plants along with all the other junk he has in there and going to plants.

I'd like to be interested in my brat's hobbies, but all they seem to be interested in is video games. Ugh!

I'll get some more pics when the manzanita comes in. Right now, she's just got plants stuck haphazardly in any ol' place to get the tank cycled. She looks fairly awful right now, especially with the batch of bba I've got growing. :/ 

My crinum calasmistratum was doing great in the sand, even sprouted a baby within the three or four days I had her in there. Within 6 hours of moving her out and putting her back in the ADA ASA, she is covered in BBA. I gave her a haircut trying to get rid of the BBA, but it is still marching. I hope I don't lose her as she was my favorite plant. The baby now has it and so do two other small crinum c. plants I have in the tank. Pretty much everything looks sick right now. :/ When I do a WC, I'm going to bathe what I can in H2O2 and pray that gets rid of it.

Speaking of water changes, I've read varying opinions on ADA ASA. Some say to change the water daily for a week. Some say twice a week, some once a week. When should I do a WC? I don't have any fish in the tank. My guts are telling me to leave well enough alone for a while, but I could be way wrong on that.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Some pics of plants... I pulled baby anubias and soaked in h2o2 for 7 minutes. They may be dead tomorrow, but they look a bazillion times better right now. Tons of moss and algae boiled off them. Turned to mush in the bowl. Fingernail scraped of bba.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

2 Small crinum c. Can't hardly see bba in the pics, but it's there. Anubias barteri looks burned? And the poor ludwigias are in their death throws.


----------



## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

I did daily 50% water changes for the first week and every other day for the second week. After that I did two to three changes per week for the next month or so. That was Tom Barr's advice and seemed to work well. I also moved my two existing filters onto the new tank, used Purigen and never had any detectable ammonia levels with the kit I was using. I accidentally introduced some RCS into the tank when I planted it the first day and they were fine. Nice and red and doing their shrimp thing the whole while. Between the already cycled filters, water changes and Purigen it was a nonevent.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Adult crinum calamistratum that was gorgeous two days ago. Hard to get pics because it is in far back corner, but I think u can tell that she looks awful.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Java ferns look the worst for wear, but they didn't look too hot when I got them. Currently being held down by an odd piece of slate awaiting manzanita.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Forgot Java fern pics in last post


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

And my buce Catherinae. Take it out of the tank and it looks lovely. In the tank, not so much. I think it's because it floats up and the roots can be seen. Maybe I should stick it down in the soil?


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Jeff5614 said:


> I did daily 50% water changes for the first week and every other day for the second week. After that I did two to three changes per week for the next month or so. That was Tom Barr's advice and seemed to work well. I also moved my two existing filters onto the new tank, used Purigen and never had any detectable ammonia levels with the kit I was using. I accidentally introduced some RCS into the tank when I planted it the first day and they were fine. Nice and red and doing their shrimp thing the whole while. Between the already cycled filters, water changes and Purigen it was a nonevent.


Thank you for that. I'll go read TB to see why. I'm confused. Why not rinse the soil if we are going to WC every day? Isn't that about the same as rinsing it? Because it leaches too much good stuff? I don't have ammonia today. Did yesterday. I'm guessing because I dosed my filter with a ton of mulm?

Current parameters are:

Nitrate 20 ppm
Nitrite .75 ppm
gh 75 ppm
kh 10 ppm
ph 6.2
ammonia 0

So do it, you think?


----------



## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

The ammonia you get is part of the mineralization process as all of that organic matter is converted eventually into nitrate and other plant friendly nutrients. One of the great things about AS is the nutrients it contains which makes it almost a stand alone source of plant nutrients. If you rinse it you'll lose a lot of that and might as well have gone with another substrate for less money that has a high CEC, but no nutrients. AS is also relatively fragile. The more you rinse the more that it breaks down and goes down the drain. Since you've bought it just go with the program. Rinsing just defeats the whole purpose of using it.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

50% of the water out. H202ed all three crinum c.s. adult CC'S outer onion layers are rotting off. Wondering if the roots in the soil are rotting away too. Don't think I should pull it to see unless somebody tells me differently. I did pull the 2 young ones and put them in a dish with H202 for five minutes. Not as catastrophic if they die. I don't want to lose the Mama if I can help it.

Really wishing I'd gone with a lava or calcified clay substrate now. :/ Thinking the topic should be renamed to "Hirihito's Revenge."

Day 1 Water change completed. Yesterday I put the same water back into the tank that I removed to add the second bag of ASA, making today the first water change.

Bump:


Jeff5614 said:


> The ammonia you get is part of the mineralization process as all of that organic matter is converted eventually into nitrate and other plant friendly nutrients. One of the great things about AS is the nutrients it contains which makes it almost a stand alone source of plant nutrients. If you rinse it you'll lose a lot of that and might as well have gone with another substrate for less money that has a high CEC, but no nutrients. AS is also relatively fragile. The more you rinse the more that it breaks down and goes down the drain. Since you've bought it just go with the program. Rinsing just defeats the whole purpose of using it.


What can I say other than I am stupid. Daily WCs = rinsing to me. I'm not bright enough to see the difference.


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

What light are you running and for how long, co2 yes/no?


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

houseofcards said:


> What light are you running and for how long, co2 yes/no?


Radeon XR15FW at 40% for 8 hours/day. 2 b/s CO2 plus excel. Drop checker shows yellow. It should be getting plenty CO2?


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

michu said:


> Radeon XR15FW at 40% for 8 hours/day. 2 b/s CO2 plus excel. Drop checker shows yellow. It should be getting plenty CO2?


I'm not really familiar with the light, so it's tough, but 8 hours is too long to start regardless. You also have very little plant mass from what I could see. I know it get's confusing, but co2 is not an algaecide. It's only effective in keeping algae away because it increases the plants uptake of ammonia and other nutrients, but without the plant mass/fast growing plants it's only going to do so much. You could blast it to 10 bps it won't have any additional benefit in terms of algae control.

With AS you really have to follow the program like @Jeff5614 mentioned. The fact that the tank got cloudy means you already released more ammonia into the water column then would leach from it which makes it much harder to control algae, plus you have the limited plant mass. Aquasoil is kinda like the substrate for dummies since it grows everything well, but if you look at it the wrong way, look out.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

houseofcards said:


> I'm not really familiar with the light, so it's tough, but 8 hours is too long to start regardless. You also have very little plant mass from what I could see. I know it get's confusing, but co2 is not an algaecide. It's only effective in keeping algae away because it increases the plants uptake of ammonia and other nutrients, but without the plant mass/fast growing plants it's only going to do so much. You could blast it to 10 bps it won't have any additional benefit in terms of algae control.
> 
> With AS you really have to follow the program like @*Jeff5614* mentioned. The fact that the tank got cloudy means you already released more ammonia into the water column then would leach from it which makes it much harder to control algae, plus you have the limited plant mass. Aquasoil is kinda like the substrate for dummies since it grows everything well, but if you look at it the wrong way, look out.


Gotcha. That makes sense to me. I have more plants coming tomorrow and more on Monday. I guess I'll make a run to the LFS tomorrow and try to fill it up as much as I can. I should have done that today instead of whining about my cc. 

Now that I know for sure what I'm supposed to be doing, I will follow it to a tee. It may kill me as I'm not as spry as I once was. Lifting those 5 gallon buckets are much harder than they were before, but I will get it done.

Thank both you and @Jeff5614 for your helpful responses.


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Get yourself a python this way it won't be a hassle to do water changes. The bucket thing get's old fast. Once the tank starts to really grow in then you just change the water once a week with the python should take 5 minutes to change 50%. Good luck!


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

As for water changes, should I be doing half RO and half tap as I've seen some suggest or RO only adding stuff to bring up the gh?

Also, should I wait to turn the lights/CO2 on tomorrow until after I get back from the LFS with the plants?


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

michu said:


> As for water changes, should I be doing half RO and half tap as I've seen some suggest or RO only adding stuff to bring up the gh?
> 
> Also, should I wait to turn the lights/CO2 on tomorrow until after I get back from the LFS with the plants?


I've never used RO water for an aquarium. Do you have unusual parameters? 

I would leave the lights off. 1 day won't hurt the plants at all, but it will slow the algae. Even when you have it loaded with more plants only run your light 5-6 hours, when things start to look good you can gradually increase them to 8-9 hrs.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

OK. Will do.

From reading all the threads here, the general consensus seems to be to either us RO or 1/2 and 1/2.

My tap is terribly acidic, crazy hard, and high in both nitrites and nitrates.

The RO is still acidic, but 0 hardness and nitrates and nitrites.


----------



## Dou (Nov 16, 2015)

Sorry to hear about your negative experience with Amazonia =[. It shouldn't be that cloudy - I think a large part of this whole hobby is patience. Below are some comments:

- Much like how you prime a canister filter, you need to "prime" the soil figuratively. This is to make it damp enough so that what normally floats to the top wont. You want to soak it as much as you can - this will take some time but it's well worth it to prevent a cloudy and messy tank. I normally use bottles like those with nozzles that can spray/mist water (like what Windex comes in) where I can slowly mist the entire tank until everything is sufficiently wet/damp.
- I then pour water slowly, very slowly and I usually place a paper towel where I pour it. It disperses the water quite well. It takes me a while but I'm sure if you're used to python changers and whatnot it will be much quicker, you just need to let it go at a slow pace not to kick anything up. Eventually it gets to a point where I can pour it more quickly. 
- CO2/Lighting ratio - it's tempting to have a long light period cause you want to see the tank - but usually it's not a good thing unless your tank is fully balanced. As others have mentioned, CO2 requirements really depend on the amount of plants you have. If you dont have much, you probably don't need that much CO2.
- I actually planted my tank immediately after flooding it - it has 8ppm+ ammonia right now but I don't have much melting. I'm using the Finnex 24/7+ 24 hour mode. I think I've said this before, but I feel like before your plants really need that much light - they need to root first. When you add too much light, it's like telling your plants to grow! But hang on, the roots aren't down yet, so they keep trying to pull nutrients without being able to - and the lights are telling them to quickly grow. As others have said, it's probably a good idea to lower the light period and/or intensity.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

So after I get the plants in, how long should I wait to turn the lights on to give them a chance to get their root structure going? I don't mind waiting at all. Well... I don't like it as I do want to see the plants, but I want to see LIVE plants, thus I want to do whatever is necessary.

Since I have BBA going, should I do a 4 day blackout? Reduce flow rate? Continue overdosing excel or just leave it all alone? CO2 on or off? 

With the exception of the Ludwigia, everything in the tank has roots right now. When I purchase plants at the LFS tomorrow, should I choose plants with roots to speed the process or go ahead and get cuttings and wait for them to grow roots? I assume the cuttings will be in all likelihood the faster growers which is what I need right now?


----------



## Dou (Nov 16, 2015)

You can turn the lights on immediately, sorry for my lack of clarity. What I meant is to limit the light period or intensity. If you can't control the intensity then I would go from 8 hours to 5.5 until the plants have settled in - even now in most of my tanks the light period is only 5-6 hours max. Once you figure out what balance works for you, you can try increasing the light period and whatnot. Trial and error but take it slow!


----------



## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

michu said:


> ...What can I say other than I am stupid. Daily WCs = rinsing to me. I'm not bright enough to see the difference.


You're definitely not. AS isn't quite the same as other substrates and there's a bit of a learning curve is all.


----------



## Dou (Nov 16, 2015)

I usually only notice BBA on dying leaves - I would trim all the dead leaves off your plants and manually remove as much as you can. Since your CO2 levels shouldn't be an issue (assuming you have a set time it's on), I would do my best to keep the tank free of decaying matter.

Regarding plant choices/roots/etc. - this really depends on how the plant was grown in the first place. Was it grown under the water or above? If it was grown immersed it shouldn't have a hard time rebounding regardless of root growth. If it was grown emersesd, then it will take longer for it to adapt and grow under water. You will also want to pick plants that go well together (require the same amount of lighting). For example, if you pick glossostigma/cuba, they need high lighting and if you have lots of other plants that grow slow and don't need too much light, you may have a conflict and may have algae issues. It will be a tough balance but not impossible.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Dou said:


> You can turn the lights on immediately, sorry for my lack of clarity. What I meant is to limit the light period or intensity. If you can't control the intensity then I would go from 8 hours to 5.5 until the plants have settled in - even now in most of my tanks the light period is only 5-6 hours max. Once you figure out what balance works for you, you can try increasing the light period and whatnot. Trial and error but take it slow!


I can control the intensity. I've been running them at 40% for 8 hours. I can cut both down. The problem is that I am clueless as to how much to cut. The tank has been fairly dim, honestly. I assumed this was why my drop checker stays yellow. This is the first time I've seen it green and that is due to the water change and the CO2 being turned off.

I *think* the problem is that I was running the lights without CO2 the first day with the Amazonia. It was all doing fine in the sand, no ferts, no fish, nothing to create ammonia to fire off the algae. 

After one day of Amazonia, I saw a bit of BBA forming on one plant. Instead of using my head and turning the lights off, I ran to the LFS and bought a cheapie diffuser to use until my reactor arrives (was supposed to have been here a week ago.) and got CO2 running, but the damage was done. But... I could be completely off base. I am clueless here.

Honestly, I don't know if the LFS will have enough fast growers for me to purchase to help. The plants coming tomorrow are mostly more slow growers as I intended to have mostly slow growing low light plants with a few higher light plants in the middle of the tank where the highest par value would be. I have plants coming Monday, but I don't think many of them are fast growers either. So.. I have basically purchased the wrong plants for the start which I assume are all going to die anyway unless I can cram fast-growers in there between them for a few months?


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Dou said:


> I usually only notice BBA on dying leaves - I would trim all the dead leaves off your plants and manually remove as much as you can. Since your CO2 levels shouldn't be an issue (assuming you have a set time it's on), I would do my best to keep the tank free of decaying matter.


I have been trying my best to keep it all out. I don't know what to do about the Buce. The leaves are tiny and I think that is where most of the detritus is coming from. The leaves underneath the green on top are brown. Maybe I should just trash my buce? I'm not overly fond of it anyway.

I can see the BBA growing even in the dark. My java fern was BBA free just a few hours ago. Now it is forming around the edges. This, after dumping H202 in the tank and overdosing excel. :/


----------



## Dou (Nov 16, 2015)

michu said:


> I can control the intensity. I've been running them at 40% for 8 hours. I can cut both down. The problem is that I am clueless as to how much to cut. The tank has been fairly dim, honestly. I assumed this was why my drop checker stays yellow. This is the first time I've seen it green and that is due to the water change and the CO2 being turned off.
> 
> I *think* the problem is that I was running the lights without CO2 the first day with the Amazonia. It was all doing fine in the sand, no ferts, no fish, nothing to create ammonia to fire off the algae.
> 
> ...


Don't worry they won't die! Everyone will have a different recommendation but I say reduce your light period to 5 hours and change intensity to 60-70%. Monitor growth - see if everything is dying or if things are growing. If you see things dying, then increase intensity. If things are growing - stay pat and watch for algae. You can have all slow growing plants but you just gotta make sure that you balance the light/CO2. If you have too much light, not enough plants - something will use that energy (algae).

And nooo, don't trash the buce (it's so pretty :O!!)! It will rebound given enough light, CO2, etc.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

So up the intensity to 60? And cut the time to 5. Will give that a go tomorrow. Thank you guys for all of your help. As you can plainly see, I am at my wit's end.


----------



## Dou (Nov 16, 2015)

michu said:


> So up the intensity to 60? And cut the time to 5. Will give that a go tomorrow. Thank you guys for all of your help. As you can plainly see, I am at my wit's end.


Yes - but please note that we can all give you advice... however in the end every set up is different (and you know your tank best). If you feel like it needs a bit more light, then add more light. There aren't any set rules. If you notice that nothing is dying anymore, that's a good first step. This may take some time, perhaps a week to know for sure, but if you limit the amount of light it will definitely make a difference. Think about light as fuel, and CO2 as a gas pedal. If you don't have enough fuel (light), your car won't run - your plants won't grow. The more you push on the gas pedal (add CO2), the faster the car goes (and the easier plants grow). Fertilizers are like accessories, they aren't always necessary but they sure make your life easier. If you have tons of plants that take in nutrients from the water column (buces, anubias, java ferns, etc.) you will want to dose more. If you have more stem plants (rooters) and an adequate substrate (like Amazonia) you probably don't need to dose as much. I'm not sure if you started dosing yet, but I would take it slow here too. I know what EI is but I don't exactly follow it. I usually dose based on what my tank needs -> Ex. Transparent leaves then dose Potassium (K). In my 60P (17 gallons), I use equilibrium and I dose NPK in ratios of 1:1:4.5 mL (using Seachem fertilizers) once a week.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

I've dosed once. Then thought maybe I better not until the tank is balanced. I've got new growth. It's just the poor Ludwigia that I think is probably history and should be pulled; although I hate to do so in case a miracle occurs and my ccs that are rotting but still growing at the same time which blows my mind. New leaves on all three.

Bump: Found my detritus problem. The buce was full of fissidens that the H202 killed. I've washed it to get as much out of it as I can, but I can't get it all. Lots of it in the roots of the buce. I'll end up destroying the roots trying to pick it all out.


----------



## klibs (May 1, 2014)

Your issues are derived from having an extremely low plant mass coupled with an extremely powerful light fixture. I would run your light at very low levels and ignore the advice to increase intensity... At a glance I don't see any plants in your setup that won't grow just fine in low light. High light coupled with new aquasoil is a recipe for disaster if you don't have a solid healthy plant mass... a lot of excess nutrients coming from the soil and that algae is gonna love all that light...

Anything that is dying or on the way out I would just get rid of it. unhealthy plants will only make your life more difficult IMO. Because you are running a high tech setup (powerful light, CO2, aquasoil, etc...) you should be stocking your tank heavily with fast-growing plants to start off and run your light at moderate levels. This will give you the best chance for success. So many people make this mistake and waste hours researching perfect light, CO2, fert, etc levels and ignore their plant stock... Then they stock their tanks with a small amount of slow-growers... Plants are THE MOST IMPORTANT factor in balancing your setup.

Simply put initially stocking a high tech setup tank with a handful of low-uptake plants like buces, anubias, crypts, whatever is a huge mistake that MANY people make. These plants do not benefit from higher light, CO2, etc nearly as much as plants like water sprite, rotala, etc.

Check out my 75g tank journal for guidance... I just stocked with plants last week and am running CO2 with my lights only at 40%. They are also very powerful lights that can produce well over 100 PAR at substrate level when maxed out... Due to my plant selection I am running medium light so things will steadily grow in and as they do I will slowly ramp up my lights to the ideal level.

This approach would have been an inevitable disaster for me if I did not initially stock somewhat-heavily with plants. Once things are stabilized and growing in I will begin to scape the setup to look how I want later.

Frankly the advice above is dangerous and makes assumptions that can be hazardous to make... Yes, light and CO2 drive growth and must be balanced but this is assuming your plants are not a limiting factor in the equation... Do not assume that because your plants are not growing that you need to keep cranking up light and CO2 and magically your problems will disappear... 

Example:
I can throw a single crypt in the middle of a 10g and blast it with CO2, nutrients, and light and it will get caked with algae and die pretty fast. Plant selection / mass again need to be considered... The same 10g stocked end-to-end with healthy rotala stems would likely thrive.

The car analogy is easy to understand so I will add to it... Think of the plants in your tank as the type of car you're driving. I would liken your plant mass to an old car with 200,000 miles on it. It still runs fine, you just have to take it easy on it... Get in that car and start driving it like it's a ferrari and you will have issues and it will break down pretty quickly...


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Dou said:


> ...Think about light as fuel, and CO2 as a gas pedal. If you don't have enough fuel (light), your car won't run - your plants won't grow. The more you push on the gas pedal (add CO2), the faster the car goes (and the easier plants grow).





klibs said:


> The car analogy is easy to understand so I will add to it... Think of the plants in your tank as the type of car you're driving. I would liken your plant mass to an old car with 200,000 miles on it. It still runs fine, you just have to take it easy on it... Get in that car and start driving it like it's a ferrari and you will have issues and it will break down pretty quickly...


Here's my take on the car analogy:

My version is the light is your foot on the gas. The car wants to go (grow) but if there aren’t enough ferts (gas) the car/growing stalls. Co2 is super unleaded. So if you have high light (your foot on the pedal of a Sports Car) you need super unleaded (co2) to grow/accelerate fast and get the most out of your vehicle/plants.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Thank you for your reply. I will leave the light where it is... at 40%. I may just leave it off until I can get some fast growers as there is ambient light in this room from the window. I now realize I should have waited to put the ASA in the tank until all my plants arrived. I didn't have to do it with the deep, large MTS tank I had; so it didn't occur to me that I had to with this soil and shallow, small tank. Big difference. Huge mistake. Everyone that has replied to me has pointed out that I don't have enough plants and directed me towards obtaining fast growers. They have been wonderful and are much appreciated.

Second wave of plants were to be delivered this morning. Instead, I received an email that there was a delivery exception from FedEx. Since I've been waiting by the door all morning to be sure I didn't miss them, I know for a fact they didn't come by. I assume the driver thought that we weren't open for business that early and just skipped us as no notice was left on the door. Called FedEx. I can pick them up tonight. I'm sure they will all be melted by then. :/ They were mostly slow growers anyway that wouldn't have helped me out, but it's more stress on top of everything else.


----------



## klibs (May 1, 2014)

lol typical FedEx screwing up deliveries. plants should be fine though. depends on what types of plants, weather, etc but most of the time anything 3 days or under you will be totally ok.

You should post a lot more pictures of the tank (full tank shots are key, close-ups of certain plants, etc) so we can better assess the situation. This would also give a much better idea of how much light your fixture puts out at 40%. I am pretty sure Radion makes super-powerful fixtures so 40% still may be too much.

Generally when you run into big issues like this it is wise to start fresh with the best chance of success. Clean up everything (struggling plants, algae, etc) and then stock with your new healthy plants and start slow. Plenty of CO2, moderate light, minimal ferts...


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Please forgive me, but to take pics, I have to crank up the lights. It might not hurt a thing to temporarily crank them up, but I'd prefer to leave it dark until I can get more in there.

As for starting over, I am willing to throw away some of the plants, but I am not going to give up on my crinum. I'd just as soon throw the tank out the door into the parking lot as do that. I know it sounds silly, but pre-ASA, I have watched that plant grow and give birth to a daughter. She has become very important to me. I've read posts from several people that think she will make it; albeit a bit worst for wear. Honestly, starting over might be good. Throwing the ASA out the door and replanting in a non-nutrient based substrate such as calcined clay. I may do that if she continues to go downhill as I obviously do not need this soil for the scape and type of plants I intend.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

klibs said:


> lol typical FedEx screwing up deliveries. plants should be fine though. depends on what types of plants, weather, etc but most of the time anything 3 days or under you will be totally ok.
> 
> You should post a lot more pictures of the tank (full tank shots are key, close-ups of certain plants, etc) so we can better assess the situation. This would also give a much better idea of how much light your fixture puts out at 40%. I am pretty sure Radion makes super-powerful fixtures so 40% still may be too much.
> 
> Generally when you run into big issues like this it is wise to start fresh with the best chance of success. Clean up everything (struggling plants, algae, etc) and then stock with your new healthy plants and start slow. Plenty of CO2, moderate light, minimal ferts...


This happens fairly often with FedEx here. My driver seems to "know" that we aren't here and doesn't bother to come by. Nevermind that there is always somebody here 24/7.

I called FedEx back and raised more hell. They are sending the driver back "sometime" today. It is "only" going to get up to 94 degrees today which is a respite from 98, but still hot to be trapped in a truck all day. I paid for early morning delivery to avoid the heat, but I should have known better than to ship with FedEx. Yet another mistake I won't make again.


----------



## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

I'm with Klibs on this one. I would take it easy with the light intensity for quite a while until you find your bearings with the tank. I'm not too familiar with Radions either, but I did find a par calculator that may or may not help. It may just be for the saltwater fixtures. I'm not familiar enough with them to know if they're one of the lights listed.

AquaticLog EcoTech Radion PAR Calculator


----------



## klibs (May 1, 2014)

michu said:


> This happens fairly often with FedEx here. My driver seems to "know" that we aren't here and doesn't bother to come by. Nevermind that there is always somebody here 24/7.
> 
> I called FedEx back and raised more hell. They are sending the driver back "sometime" today. It is "only" going to get up to 94 degrees today which is a respite from 98, but still hot to be trapped in a truck all day. I paid for early morning delivery to avoid the heat, but I should have known better than to ship with FedEx. Yet another mistake I won't make again.


Yep same thing happened to me. Paid for morning delivery to have fish delivered overnight and get them in the AM. Instead FedEx decided to keep the package sitting in a location 1000 miles away for an additional night... Disaster ensued... Like every time I order something on Amazon Prime and it's delivered by FedEx instead of UPS there is a 90% chance I will not get it within the two days promised.

IMO FedEx is by far the worst company to use for shipping anything.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Light turned down as low as it will go. Everything received from AquariumPlants.com was yellow. Pics:


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Was it shipped in styrofoam w/cold pack?


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

houseofcards said:


> Was it shipped in styrofoam w/cold pack?


Nope. I'm guessing I was supposed to buy it and didn't know it. Was in a fedex box. All piled on each other. I pulled off tons of broken stems. I suspect it would have been just as yellow if it had arrived early this morning. She got here right before lunchtime. It wasn't crazy hot yet.

Leave the lights on lowest power to try to save these plants? Or will they be okay in the dark after shipping?

On my way to LFS to HOPEFULLY get more plants.

What I have so far:

Crinum Calamistratum 3
Aponogeton longiplumulosus 1 1/2
Barteri var nana 2
Barteri petite 4
Barteri var nana 'petite' 4
Blixa Japonica 3
Bolbitus heudelotii 2
Java fern needleleaf ? Bits and pieces that are left after cutting off all the leaves
Java fern 3 X 5 mat
White Ludwigia 2 (probably dead)
Mini Christmas Moss 3 squares
Tiger Lotus, Red 1
Buce Catherinae 3 2 X 3 or 4 mats
Brazilian Pennywort 30 stems
Unknown cheap stuff from LFS 20 (some rooting, some not)


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

What did you get? I see I think Blyxa and I see Java Fern in the back


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

houseofcards said:


> What did you get? I see I think Blyxa and I see Java Fern in the back


2 Aponogeton, longiplumulosus
2 Bolbitis heudelotti
anubias 4
cyperus Helferi that I don't remember planting and not sure that I received it.
Java Fern mat
Brazilian Pennywort 
Tiger Lotus
Blyxia Japonica 3

Bump: From LFS:

Hornwort
Some rotala
Hygro
Some others that I have already forgotten because I forgot to write them down. 

Total of 18 bunches of more plants that are decent sized that I haven't stuck in there yet, but will shortly. Most are yellow, but that's all they had.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

I bought the hornwort to float on the top. I thought i read it was good for soaking up nutrients and shading plants. Mine doesn't float. I assume it's the flow pulling it down. Should I plant it instead?


----------



## mooncon1 (Oct 12, 2011)

I will be trimming my tank next Sunday morning and I am usually done by about 11:00 I give away what I trim and you can have them if you want them.it will also give you a chance to see my crinum calamistratum plants.I don't live that far from you just down the road in Mesquite and the plants are free just let me know if your interested in the plants and I will pm you me address.As far as killing plants ive killed more plants than I care to admit if it dies I just move on to another plant until I find what grows in my water perimeters.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

After icky LFS plants. Lots of yellow, but that's all they had. Well, all they had that they would let me have. They had green ones in the back of the tank. It's not all yellow at least, but over half of the stuff appears a little iffy.

Bump:


mooncon said:


> I will be trimming my tank next Sunday morning and I am usually done by about 11:00 I give away what I trim and you can have them if you want them.it will also give you a chance to see my crinum calamistratum plants.I don't live that far from you just down the road in Mesquite and the plants are free just let me know if your interested in the plants and I will pm you me address.As far as killing plants ive killed more plants than I care to admit if it dies I just move on to another plant until I find what grows in my water perimeters.


That would be wonderful! I'll be in Mesquite visiting my mother on Sunday.  I'll be more than happy to pay you for the plants. Heck, I just paid $60 for plants of questionable health to try to get me through until I can get something better. This tank has become a money pit. 

Thank you so much for the offer!

Bump: Oh for goodness sakes. I forgot that I have to do a water change! It would have been so much easier to plant these sickly plants while the water was down. I am my own worst enemy! haha


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Eheim 2026 I purchased for my CO2 system came in today. Thinking I might leave CO2 on main filter as my flow is high. An online hydor heater and a co2 reactor will be on it too. Not sure how I should do it.

Now for this filter, I was told it leaks. Was hoping Vaseline might cure it, but haven't cleaned it up yet to try. Can't squirt main head with hose, can I?

I know I have to get hose and flows as those that came with it are for a smaller canister. Probably should ask the eheim guys what all I should do for it. 

Pics:


----------



## mooncon1 (Oct 12, 2011)

Im not trimming this Sunday it will be next Sunday and I almost always give away my trimmings and you can have these. I will pm you my phone# and address


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

mooncon said:


> Im not trimming this Sunday it will be next Sunday and I almost always give away my trimmings and you can have these. I will pm you my phone# and address


Any Sunday is fine. I visit my Mom most Sundays. Thank you so much.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

klibs said:


> Yep same thing happened to me. Paid for morning delivery to have fish delivered overnight and get them in the AM. Instead FedEx decided to keep the package sitting in a location 1000 miles away for an additional night... Disaster ensued... Like every time I order something on Amazon Prime and it's delivered by FedEx instead of UPS there is a 90% chance I will not get it within the two days promised.
> 
> IMO FedEx is by far the worst company to use for shipping anything.


I'm not using them again for plants. I can guarantee you that.  I don't believe I will be buying plants from where I purchased them again either.

And... I hope I haven't made matters even worse by putting all those yellow plants in my tank. First the ones that came in today and then those I bought at the LFS. I can't help but think I'm going to wake up tomorrow to a BBA tank since you said I had to have HEALTHY plants. I guess if I do, I will have to give in and just yank it all out and start over. :/


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

After the water change with lights off.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Jeff5614 said:


> I'm with Klibs on this one. I would take it easy with the light intensity for quite a while until you find your bearings with the tank. I'm not too familiar with Radions either, but I did find a par calculator that may or may not help. It may just be for the saltwater fixtures. I'm not familiar enough with them to know if they're one of the lights listed.
> 
> AquaticLog EcoTech Radion PAR Calculator


I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off today trying to get it all together. Sorry that I missed your post.

For some reason, EcoTech (now Aqua Illumination) won't give the par values for this light. They do for all their others. I assume there is a reason for it, but I don't know what that reason is.

I have the 80 degree whatcha-ma-callit and not the 120. The 120, along with the wireless box with the software is on order and has been for two weeks. :/ I was told it would take two days. LOL I've belatedly learned not to believe anything they tell me at LF stores. Anyway, the best I can do is adjust it manually. I set it to default for plants which are all reds and whites, then lower the light until it barks at me because it can't go any further. When I was setting it to 40, I was counting the beeps. One beep/percentage point. When it barks, I have counted to 80; so I assume it is 20%

I could hook the thing up via USB and run the software, but I read I should not do this if I'm going to be using the wireless thing, whatever it is called; thus I am holding off on it.

As for not listening to LFS, I had a funny episode today while I was getting the plants. The woman told me to pour excel directly on the plants to kill BBS. I told her I had done this and also H202. She told me to forget the H202, it is nothing but water. H-2-0.

I told her H2O2 again and she said, "It's just water. You can't kill BBA with water. 

I explained that H202 is Hydrogen Peroxide and it kills some of it at least. She told me that H202 is NOT Hydrogen Peroxide, it is is just oxygenated water. Hydrogen Peroxide is a chemical that is dangerous for plants. Water and oxygen will do nothing. LOL I let it go and watched her fish out my yellow plants while she explains to me that yellow is the normal color for them; although there were green ones in the back that she refused to give me. If I hadn't been desperate, I would have told her where she could put her yellow plants and oxygenated water. Kinda wishing I had now that I'm thinking the BBA is going to go after them with a vengeance.


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

michu said:


> 2 Aponogeton, longiplumulosus
> 2 Bolbitis heudelotti
> anubias 4
> cyperus Helferi that I don't remember planting and not sure that I received it.
> ...


In case you don't know:

The Boblitis, Anubias and Java Fern do much better attached to a piece of wood/rock. The Java Fern matshould be taken apart apart or it will die a slow death. All these plants have rhizomes that can't be buried in the substrate. Attaching to wood/rock is the best. 

If you have thick bunches of stems plants you need to separate those into a few stems and plant. If kept as full bunches they will rot.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

houseofcards said:


> In case you don't know:
> 
> The Boblitis, Anubias and Java Fern do much better attached to a piece of wood/rock. The Java Fern matshould be taken apart apart or it will die a slow death. All these plants have rhizomes that can't be buried in the substrate. Attaching to wood/rock is the best.
> 
> If you have thick bunches of stems plants you need to separate those into a few stems and plant. If kept as full bunches they will rot.


Thanks. I knew I had to separate the bunches of stems. I didn't know I had to separate the Java Fern. I have the Java Fern and anubias attached to rocks for now. Still waiting on my manzanita to arrive. Once it is waterlogged, I plan to remove the anubias and java fern from the rocks and attach them to the manzanita.

About the java fern, when I have a string of five or six, do those need to be cut apart and separated too?


----------



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

5 or 6 leaves or a bunch of rhizomes with 5 or 6 leaves on each


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

houseofcards said:


> 5 or 6 leaves or a bunch of rhizomes with 5 or 6 leaves on each


How long can I leave that mat in the water before it starts to go downhill? I'd like to wait until the manzanita arrives, otherwise, I'll fill up the tank with rocks. :/

Nevermind, I'll make it work somehow. Thanks for letting me know.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Brazilian money wort and some of the trash plants are greening up. . Some of the brown is turning pink. Wish I had a better camera. Pink doesn't look that pink in pic, but it looks magenta and bright pink with the naked eye. I thought those were dead plants yesterday. LOL


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Not nearly as yellow as yesterday.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

BBA coming up on my java fern. I ran the lights 5 hours at 20%. I stopped dosing excel because my older narrow leaf was looking the worse for wear. Going to go back to doubling the dosage.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

At least two plants are happy. New growth.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

First time I enjoyed a water change. Took advice from @Dou and purchased a Python for tap and also found a Singflo bottled water dispenser for my Primo water. I do half and half water changes. My back thanks him so much!


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

I now have RFF and Frogbit floating. Also received the most gorgeous plants from burr740. I felt rather sick sticking them in my tank. It seemed sacrilegious to add such healthy, gorgeous plants to my current "trash" setup. I will be so glad when a few months pass so that I can remove the plants I don't want (providing any are still alive) and get my tank scaped!

Plants added are Pogestemon erectus, Staurogyne sp purple, Mayaca fluvialitis, Lagenandra meeboldii red round, Hygrophilia corymbosa var compact, and Eri sp vietnam.

I'd take pictures, but you can't see them for all the "trash" plants. When I planted the throw-aways, I planted them all over the tank instead of in defined areas thinking that I had a higher chance of some of them surviving as I don't know my tank well yet. Now I wish I hadn't done that because it is going to be a complete yank of everything that will probably cause an algae outburst. I wonder if there are any mistakes left that I haven't made? If so, I'm sure I will make them soon.

A few can be seen from the top; so I'll catch what pics I can.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Burr740's plants look amazingly green next to my yellow sicklies


----------



## Dou (Nov 16, 2015)

It's kind of late now, but it seems like a waste to buy all these plants and compost them later =[. Hope it didn't cost too much! I recommend you start buying with a vision in mind or else you'll end up changing your mind and your wallet won't be so happy... Unless money isn't a factor then go right on ahead haha. I learned the hard way and it set me back quite a few months of saving.

Sent from my HUAWEI SCL-L04 using Tapatalk


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Dou said:


> It's kind of late now, but it seems like a waste to buy all these plants and compost them later =[. Hope it didn't cost too much! I recommend you start buying with a vision in mind or else you'll end up changing your mind and your wallet won't be so happy... Unless money isn't a factor then go right on ahead haha. I learned the hard way and it set me back quite a few months of saving.
> 
> Sent from my HUAWEI SCL-L04 using Tapatalk


I did have a vision in mind and was only buying plants for that vision, but after hearing I have to fill it up immediately, I went to the LFS and purchased plants that I do not intend to keep. They didn't have what was on my list, plus I was told I needed fast growers; so that's what I did. No, I do not have money to burn. If any survive and I beat the algae fight and the plants are algae free, they will go on ROAK for a newb to get to help his/her tank going.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Just finished Day 6 water change. I owe @dao big time. It took all of 15 minutes from start to finish. It was actually kind of fun! Instead of dreading them, I now look forward to them. There's just something about watching water suck into a tank without having to pick it up that just does it for me. Then at the end, all the water sucks out of the hose into the sink; so I don't even have a hose mess to mop up. The python and the Singfloo are the bomb! Somebody should make a sticky for all newbs. Should be one of the first purchases made.  Probably by far the best purchase I have made out of the many mistakes. Thanks again #Dao. I owe you one.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Broke out my Droid 2 Turbo just for this forum, bit my old faithful Nexus 6 won't cut it for pics. Hoping this phone does much better.

Just did WC but didn't clean the tank. I am a bad girl! Still.. Going to test this phone over the other. 

Oh! Manzanita arrived! Lots leftover. Yes, I went a tad overboard when I ordered. LOL I wanted to have plenty to pick from. Still about half the price of what I paid for the spiderwood that I returned to the LFS. That is a fairly large sized box in the pic, btw. 24 X 14 X 14. Almost the size of my tank. It makes me wish I had room for another larger tank. Maybe someday,

Bump: Ugh. Photos not that much better. Guess I'll have to break down and drag out the camera to see if it does better. At least I can go back to "old faithful" for my phone. Good news I guess; although I would have prefered my phone take decent pics so as not to have to mess with the camera.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Put the driftwood in tank tonight. Forgot to wash larger gravel, so the water is cloudy, but it's done at least. Trash plants on left for easy later removal. Will look much better when tall plants grow in and lay across the top of the water.

Realized that I had forgotten my poor Buce. It's now there. LOL Hope I don't find more plants lying around that I forgot to put in the tank!

Finished Day 7 of daily 50% WC! On to week two of every-other-day. I feel like I graduated pre-school. I still have live plants.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

With buce


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Finally got my reeflink. Had fun playing with it tonight.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Better pic now that I am home. Second pic is of seated o-ring. Will pull it back out to take pic if need be, but its not nice and smooth and new looking. Plumber took it out, deemed it bad, and put it back in and I'm a bit afraid I might mess it up for good if I take it back out.


----------



## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Ah, good pic of the brass fitting and O-ring. If the o-ring is not torn too bad, it should seal back up again (don't over tighten, just enough to seal)


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

I posted to the wrong thread.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Finally got my CO2 reactor running thanks to @Immortal1. He chose an appropriate nick for himself as I would have never got this thing running without his help. 

Love the reactor thus far. Amazingly quiet in comparison to the one I made years ago. 

Now if my tank ever cycles, I should be good to go once I decide at what pH I want the reactor to run and when to stop. I assume my pH will eventually change when the ADA stops leaching ammonia and the tank cycles. Curious to know what my final normal pH will be.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Just realized it has been a while since I posted. Reactor only worked one evening and that was just for a few hours. After I got the leaky top fixed with epoxy, the pump quit. Aquariumplants.com said they would replace the entire canister including top, pending manager approval. This was about a week ago.

Stocked the tank with 30 fish. They were supposed to be chili rasboras, but the LFS didn't have any; so they gave me assorted guppies and whatnot and said they were chili rasboras. I don't see well and didn't watch them. I didn't notice until I put them in the tank and noticed that none of them are red. LOL! 

Also added 30 Amanoes and RCS.

Swapped out some of the ugly eheim plumbing with glass. Have a house fan on the tank until small fan comes in the mail to put on the tank to lower the temp at 72 degrees as suggested by a shrimp guru. Plants have grown quite a bit. Will take some pics soon.

Update: Added a HOB to the tank. Tank now has 3 filters. Decided I needed the HOB to quickly oxygenate the tank to save the livestock when I get too much CO2. Currently only doing 1b/2 secs and still seems to be too much. I ran the bubbler all night last night, turned on the CO2 this morning, then after 4 hours my fish and shrimp were gasping. My poor livestock must think that I am bound and determined to kill them all as this is the third time it has happened. :/ Hoping the HOB fixes the problem or at least saves my livestock until I get the correct bubble rate figured out. HOB doesn't look too good, but dead livestock look worse. So much for all the glass I was putting in there to make my tank look better. LOL

Still haven't heard from the manager at aquarium plants.com that is supposed to call me back about replacing my canister for the reactor. Called yesterday, but "he has just been too busy to get to it." My diffuser obviously works well enough since I'm getting more CO2 than I need. Thinking about forcing a return and calling it a day since they're too busy to talk to me.  I'll give them until Monday, which is more than enough time to place a phone call. I'm not overly impressed with their customer service. Hoping they do right by me, but I'm beginning to have my doubts.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Pic as it is now


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

This is the view I see. Tank is on my desk and never viewed from the front. 

As you can see, new drop checker shows blue. Old showed yellow. Instead of too much CO2, I am not running enough.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Pic made me realize driftwood had fallen. After it was fixed


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Had an aneurysm burst 2 years ago while riding a bicycle over a bridge that resulted in a subdural hematoma and a subarachnoid hematoma. When I woke up at home after finally getting out of ICU, I didn’t remember a bit of it or anything else. Finally, I’ve decided to try to figure out just what all the mess is under my extremely overgrown fish tank. I have yet to figure it all out, but I have at least cleaned it up and replanted. It was quite horrible to look at before. I thought it was all going to magically come back to me at some point, but it never did; so time to relearn.

It’s been a week thus far and plants are mostly still living; although I lost all my shrimp that had managed to survive the last two years of being completely ignored. Maybe too much fertilizer? Not sure, but this is what I have going at this moment:


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

And from looking back at the old pictures, the underneath doesn’t look the same; so I obviously changed some of it since the last post. :/. I do still have the reactor thing and a large tank of CO2 that I *think* is still pumping CO2 after 2 years. From reading, I *think* I may have killed the shrimp by sticking plants on the hang on back filters I had in the back which reduced the oxygen flow as water just barely drips out of them now. I don’t see a timer, but husband says that at one time I used the HOB to “do something at night or the fish would die.” He says he “permanently borrowed” the timer and the HOB ran all the time which is probably why my “pretty” plants died and it was just overgrown with plants that I yanked and threw away as they weren’t what I wanted. So now I need to find another way to oxygenate the tank at night. Hoping somebody will post and let me know if I’m headed in the right direction.

I also found a glass thing covered in algae and mulm in the bottom of the tank that my husband said “used to turn blue and green” that I threw away that I’m thinking I probably should have kept? And will have to be replaced now?

My other tank that had no CO2 still looks good after being ignored for two years. I stole some of the plants from it to put in this tank (Anubia’s). Maybe I should just kill the CO2 since I think it killed my poor shrimp and I don’t remember jack about it? And other tank did much better without it?


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Well... not “good”, but I hope somebody reading this knows what I mean. It doesn’t look like a complete disaster area as the other one did. It just looks like it needs a little care and cleaning.


----------



## Blue Ridge Reef (Feb 10, 2008)

michu said:


> I also found a glass thing covered in algae and mulm in the bottom of the tank that my husband said “used to turn blue and green” that I threw away that I’m thinking I probably should have kept? And will have to be replaced now?


Drop checker? That won't be needed if not using CO2. Sorry about your shrimp, hard to say if ferts/CO2 killed them, or just simply too much change.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Blue Ridge Reef said:


> Drop checker? That won't be needed if not using CO2. Sorry about your shrimp, hard to say if ferts/CO2 killed them, or just simply too much change.


Aaah. The change as the cause did not occur to me. Thank you! 

In case it was the CO2, I hooked up an air stone. If it was the change, I’m hoping some survived; although there were many dead bodies. MAYBE I’ll eventually see some shrimp again.


----------



## michu (Dec 9, 2008)

Plants in the HOBs have done great as have the plants inside the tank. It’s time to raise the light as they’ve grown close to it and are getting a bit burned by it now. I purchased more shrimp and they’re doing fine. It must have definitely been too much change for the ones that died as these seem happy.


----------

