46 Gallon Bowfront
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I moved the java fern over in front of the water sprite, I want that side to be really well planted cause most my plumbing/canister filter stuff is over there. Then I moved the anubias over to the right a bit. The center is now looking a bit bare so hopefully the water sprite and val will grow towards the middle and I'll be looking for a smaller anubias to put in the java ferns place on the wood.
Okay I set up a DIY CO2, with two 2 liters and I'm pretty sure I can hear that it is working. Water is almost clear but its hard to tell because I have this white thread like slime growing on the glass. Here is a pic.
You can see it with the filter intake as the background. Im assuming its some kind of algae because my levels are still very unstable. Ammonia is very high still 4+, Nitrite .2-.5 and nitrate rose to 20. I would post pH and hardness levels but they are unstable right now since CO2 just started about an hour ago.
You can see it with the filter intake as the background. Im assuming its some kind of algae because my levels are still very unstable. Ammonia is very high still 4+, Nitrite .2-.5 and nitrate rose to 20. I would post pH and hardness levels but they are unstable right now since CO2 just started about an hour ago.
Not really... I mean I already seeded it pretty well. I could look for some at my LFS but I heard its hard to come by now. I think my problem was that I added too much initial ammonia. I didn't add it slowly to see how it would react and I think mine is pretty industrial strength. Do you guys think a water change to try and remove a bunch of the ammonia is a good idea? I mean today the test should it was at least 4-5 if not even more.
levels today:
pH:6.8
kH:4
gH:7
NH3: about 2.5
NO2: .2-.5
NO3: 10
I got CO2 working and my CO2 concentration according to these numbers is right around 19, which is perfect from what I read. Also it seems CO2 has brought my water sprite back to life a bit, also I placed it in a more bright spot. Unfortunately my Val and dwarf sag are melting down(or what ever the term is).... Sag has a lot of hair algae on it and the val just looks like ****. It seems like the CO2 might have somehow aided in getting rid of that slime on the glass I mentioned earlier but it still persist a bit on the Val. I guess its just a waiting game to see what happens with them. I guess a cycle isn't too good for plants.
Does anyone have any suggestions on a simple fertilizer dosing agent? Like maybe just one, not a whole line of different types that is added anywhere from once a day to once a week?
pH:6.8
kH:4
gH:7
NH3: about 2.5
NO2: .2-.5
NO3: 10
I got CO2 working and my CO2 concentration according to these numbers is right around 19, which is perfect from what I read. Also it seems CO2 has brought my water sprite back to life a bit, also I placed it in a more bright spot. Unfortunately my Val and dwarf sag are melting down(or what ever the term is).... Sag has a lot of hair algae on it and the val just looks like ****. It seems like the CO2 might have somehow aided in getting rid of that slime on the glass I mentioned earlier but it still persist a bit on the Val. I guess its just a waiting game to see what happens with them. I guess a cycle isn't too good for plants.
Does anyone have any suggestions on a simple fertilizer dosing agent? Like maybe just one, not a whole line of different types that is added anywhere from once a day to once a week?
I lost the two Italian val plants... It wasn't looking too good and pretty much all melted away.. I tahink it was because my lighting wasn't strong enough for my tanks depth. My water sprite doesn't look terrific either but there are new sprouts coming off the top even tho the stem they are coming off of is basically dead towards the bottom, thankfully it can live just floating/ hanging on by a thread. The dwarf sag had a bunch of hair like algae on it for awhile and I rubbed it all off today, or at least almost all so hopefully it will send off some runners soon. It was still green just hairy. Of course the java fern and anubias are looking like champs.
The rotting plants (val) was also pretty much allowing snails to live as well because they are all over the place now. I'm thinking they are just pond snails but here are two bad pics.
Snail sex
on my java fern.. and I didnt even realize the one on the wood until i posted this
My fish in the QT have been pretty photogenic recently as well so I got some pictures.
Lola and Marla, Lola is in the front and even though you can't see it she has a nemo pelvic fin... Its kind of crippled but she gets around fine.
You can kind of see the crippled fin.
Brazil being crazy
And marla flaring her fins all over the place today.
The rotting plants (val) was also pretty much allowing snails to live as well because they are all over the place now. I'm thinking they are just pond snails but here are two bad pics.
Snail sex
on my java fern.. and I didnt even realize the one on the wood until i posted this
My fish in the QT have been pretty photogenic recently as well so I got some pictures.
Lola and Marla, Lola is in the front and even though you can't see it she has a nemo pelvic fin... Its kind of crippled but she gets around fine.
You can kind of see the crippled fin.
Brazil being crazy
And marla flaring her fins all over the place today.
It's called SafeStart now... and it's not very effective if there is already ammonia present (I tried it with my 100g... and days later, I still have 4ppm of ammonia).
I'm not sure if your lighting may have had something to do with your vals melting. I used to have italian vals, and they would melt initially (very much like crypts), then come back, slowly. It could also be that your tank was cloudy for several days and they didn't get enough light.
I'm not sure if your lighting may have had something to do with your vals melting. I used to have italian vals, and they would melt initially (very much like crypts), then come back, slowly. It could also be that your tank was cloudy for several days and they didn't get enough light.
Ammonia got to zero finally... I added another 1 mL or so (a lot less than the 3 or cap fulls that I started with) If it reads zero again tonight after my night class (7pm) and the other levels check out fine, I'm adding fish.. Might have to do a small water change to get rid of nitrates but I'm gonna wait to test that.
Well my old test kit ran out today but I got a kind of new one with the tank... sooo hopefully it works fine... Its a marine lab full kit.. originally had alkaline test for saltwater and stuff but the ammonia test works for both fresh and salt... or so it says. I should try it on a test sample... with a lot of ammonia in it to make sure.