A Patchwork 75

[Like_A_Boss]

the good news:
None of the plants have completely died

• The swordplant grew some new leaves after I hacked off all his old ones.
• I can see some new little water sprite "fronds" growing from the base of the clump.
• I removed 2 of 3 of those bricks from on top of the driftwood. The wood will stay down with just the one brick now. * note to self: still need to find a decent safer rock to take its place*

aaaannnd the bad news:

• it's a tanninpalooza in there.
• the pennywort and the water sprite have melted worse than the crypts ever did, but they are putting out new stuff too so it's cool.\
• When I removed some bricks the driftwood did shift position a little, revealing a gold mine of fish poo that had accumulated underneath it. How am I to prevent this in the long run?

• My AC110 puts a lot of small airbubbles into the water thru the return flow. You can see them all in my pics. How do I make it stop!?

[Rion]

-Tannins will fade over time, if you want them gone now then you need to boil the wood.
- Many plants may melt before the adjust to the new tank conditions, especially crypts.
- Fish poo will acclimate. Plants help, Trumpet snails can help too (though will explode in population), higher flow in the tank will keep the poo in the water column and able to be picked up by filters (saltwater trick). If it's too much then you can always siphon it out periodically.
- Raise your water level to just above the bottom of the trim of the tank (so you can't see the waterline for the front of the tank) or above the bottom of the return of the filter should help with bubbles.
- If you want to add CO2 on a budget make some DIY yeast CO2, been doing it for years though you will need a few for a tank that big. All you need is air stones (preferably ceramic), tubing, 2L bottles, water, bread yeast, and sugar. There's an article on this website all about it.
- Don't forget fertilization! Root tabs and liquid/powder in combination.
- Be careful about chlorine in your water if you're filling right from the tap. Make sure to treat the water or age it.

[Like_A_Boss]

Thanks for the tips Rion

I did a water change (10-12 gal) of water today. Removed some poo, and did some light trimming of the mushy plants, mostly pennywort. I'm feeling a wee bit more optimistic abt the pennywort surviving, it's just gonna be a slow process in my set up.I was able to reduce my bubbles by rearranging the media in my Aquaclear. I had the biomedia on top, so i moved it to the middle of my "media sammich". That, along with the higher water line, shows improvement.

Since I used the "eco-complete" substrate I've been wary about adding any extra ferts. I'm trying to avoid an algae explosion.

In other news, petsmart has rasboras on sale for $1. I want a big school of those and of course the store I work at only had one :P

[Like_A_Boss]

And here is the tank thus far. Finally the bricks have exited the scene. The plants are pretty much behaving the same as the last update.

I scored a Aqueon water changer for free! Now I had purchased an water changer from Walmart ( of all places) before and was unable to attach it to the sink. This time, i was lucky enough to get hooked up with a sink adapter.
I am moving up in the world! However I think I'll stick to using it just to refill the tank after water changes. I think It's kinda wasteful to just let all that water down the drain. I try to use that waste water to water my potted plants. My sink is very close to the tank actually. I have waaaay to much hose going on. :P

[Like_A_Boss]

I am such a terrible photographer :S

[mommabear1007]

Get some ferts! Seems like a lot of light for no ferts. The eco-complete is inert - no ferts included. Water changes (lots of large water changes) will help with the tannins eventually. You might try some purigen as well. Good luck!

[Like_A_Boss]

Not much to say here. I evicted the pennywort and water sprite. I moved them to a 10g with some brighter light. Not sure what I would like to put in the tank in its place.

So what type of ferts should I use in a tank like this??
I was thinking root tabs.

[Like_A_Boss]

I slacked off and didn't do my weekly water change last week. I'm trying to change about 10 gallons every Monday. I took care of it today, and added two new anubias species that I picked up at work. One is labeled as "anubias calcdifolia" and the other is " anubias afzelli". Threw those bad boys in there along with a zebra loach/botia. I have had the one lonely loach in there and I figured he needed some company. Not much algae action going on...yet.

[Like_A_Boss]

Right now this has to be one of those most boring journals out there, but that's okay! A few days ago I ordered some of the flourish plant tabs and put them in my tank. It took me long enough time to order those! I'm worried my dog is going to eat them b/c when I opened the bag she watched very closely and started whimpering. She has a bad habit of busting into my tank supplies and eating the fish food! >.<