The Fisherman's 20 Long Journal - The Workbench

[thefisherman]

Progress post wc 02-25-12

man that was a pita! after xenxes suggested to open a wormhole into the nuetral zone i decided the koralia 250gph powerhead was a no go lol

instead i shifted the outflow parallel to the back glass. as a result an extensive game of stem plant musical chairs ensued for several hours!

the biggest move for me was relocatin the limno aromatica to the right side of my tank... an area i envisioned for my crypt balansae, undulata and retrospiralis... too bad it takes them a century to grow....i'm sure they won't mind being shaded lol

the back row of stem groups were then replanted... i bunched them up and tied them with plant lead... i had to since the flow is so string back there, with tighter groupngd and a nice hack of the top, these rotalas are tame in the current.

my pogostemon stellata is growing strong, but growth has been slow/steady. i've had this plant for months now and only now i've managed to grow two beautiful uniform stalks. hopefully with the co2 they wake up.

i realize a lot of my crypts were planted shallow... too shallow. i had to shove a few down and accidentally uprooted a few neighbors releasing osmocote balls in the water lol. it wasn't as bad as it could've been

after the stem merry go round... i eneded up with a larger vacant parcel of real estate back left corner of the tank... the only solution i admitted to myself was some type of hardscape... enter this piece of DW i had in my grow out tank. it has windelov (i think) and philippine java fern (i realized) growing on it. it seems to be the ideal answer for a flow buffer that difuses the current and my fish love lol

half a day later this is what i got






- thefisherman

[frrok]

I like it! I got a 20 Long in my basement that I'm just dying to set up as a grow out tank. With all stems. But my girl will kill me if I set up another one! Haha

[thefisherman]

Originally Posted by frrok

I like it! I got a 20 Long in my basement that I'm just dying to set up as a grow out tank. With all stems. But my girl will kill me if I set up another one! Haha

tell me about it bro... wait till you get married! :O


- thefisherman

[thefisherman]

Lights out FTS




- thefisherman

[xenxes]

man that was a pita! after xenxes suggested to open a wormhole into the nuetral zone i decided the koralia 250gph powerhead was a no go lol

Lol! I take it the flow was too strong? Unstable wormhole led you five thousand light years away from the Delta quadrant?

Looking good

[thefisherman]

Originally Posted by xenxes

Lol! I take it the flow was too strong? Unstable wormhole led you five thousand light years away from the Delta quadrant?

Looking good

bro you know if you told me to jump i would ask "how high sir?!"


- thefisherman

[thefisherman]

2-26-12

morning fts


pH is 6.0 this morning so i had a .4 drop overnight. i guess thats not too bad.

finally got the new regulator running on the smaller tank... my wifes happy that huge steel guy is out of our room... i kinda liked that industrial feel! lol



- thefisherman

[crazydaz]

Have you increased your ferts at all to take into account the faster growth rates of the plants?

[thefisherman]

Originally Posted by crazydaz

Have you increased your ferts at all to take into account the faster growth rates of the plants?

nope... but i've been overestimating dosage all this time, using the same values for my 30B. but your totally right tho i should probabbly think about increasing my ferts. right now my NO3 is at 5ppm.


- thefisherman

[thefisherman]

Progress 02-27-12

Came home after the first full day with the new regulator setup...
word of advice, go with clippard solenoid and swagelock needle valve, period.

The setup is running but the amount of adjustment i had to do to dial in a consistent bubble count.... ugh. i'll see how it goes tomorrow.

so... i've got the pedal to the metal with ferts/co2 and 2x T5HO bulbs running.my plants and fish seem to be enjoying time in the sun but, i noticed these tiny specs of growth on my Syngonanthus sp. 'Belem' !

is this the beginning if dreaded BBA?!

not sure if you guys can see it but... look very closely to the leaf tips of the back row of stems... it looks like soil particles! too much light? would love your thoughts on this one

well here are a couple pics around the neighborhood...

Tonina Fluvalitis... they don't look their best but I had them in my tank for several weeks without co2... some new growth (in the back) are stunted but i think the rest will bounce back with the new parameters.


rotala type 2 mini... these look happy no matter what i do co2 or not... defibately happy in softwater under the high light


ahh my rotalas... i just hacked these guys down on saturday and already new sprouts 1"-2" long!


close up of my crypt walissi. i got this as an emersed plant. super healthy when i planted it no signs of melt.


mu other crypts on the right side... c wendtii hybrid and mi oya... mi oya's been shedding leaves but seems to be bouncing back. the wendtii is melting its leaves, but maybe its just converting to submersed form idk. gotta keep my eye on this one.


last but not least...nyt myt FTS








- thefisherman

[Al Slick]

Hey your tank looks amazing!

I have been considering a small CO2 setup, maybe paintball, right now my diy is working steadily and I know it's contributing to growth so maybe I can be patient :p

I have a question you might be able to help me with.. I know that this kind of info is all over the internet, but I was hoping you could give me your own experience..
Right now I'm dosing Seachem flourish at just a little higher than recommended but I fear that my Macros will soon be insufficient. I have very little bioload and fairly dense planting. Everything is growing well at the moment but I'm concerned that it may all come to a halt when my nitrates etc. are completely diminished..

What do you suggest I do ?

should I dose... increase bioload... just stick with lots of water changes?

And right now this weather in TN has got me wanting to go catch some bass really badly!
I know you're a fisherman so I just thought you might understand haha

[thefisherman]

Originally Posted by Al Slick

Hey your tank looks amazing!

I have been considering a small CO2 setup, maybe paintball, right now my diy is working steadily and I know it's contributing to growth so maybe I can be patient :p

I have a question you might be able to help me with.. I know that this kind of info is all over the internet, but I was hoping you could give me your own experience..
Right now I'm dosing Seachem flourish at just a little higher than recommended but I fear that my Macros will soon be insufficient. I have very little bioload and fairly dense planting. Everything is growing well at the moment but I'm concerned that it may all come to a halt when my nitrates etc. are completely diminished..

What do you suggest I do ?

should I dose... increase bioload... just stick with lots of water changes?

And right now this weather in TN has got me wanting to go catch some bass really badly!
I know you're a fisherman so I just thought you might understand haha

thank tou Al

well i think co2 is a considerable investment. because of this, if you were going to spend a single dime towards co2... it should be a permanent setup that should last the life of your hobby.

i feel like the paintball co2 although ideal in small cramped apartments and maybe your student residence... is still alot of money!! and more costly in the long run because in order to maintain 30ppm of co2 (typically 2-3 bps)...you are gonna blow through those disposable cylinders pretty fast.

therefoee if you got something now (ie DIY co2) its better than nothing. if you've got good growth, maybe not explosive but good healthy plants, why mess with it?

i would rather spend money on more plants or dry ferts!! remember my 20L up until last week was an excel only tank.

in terms of ferts... i recommend investing in dry ferts NPK, Plantex CSM + boron etc.

i say this because the initial
investment (3X 1lb bags) could last you a year or more easily. plus you can control exactly what goes into your tank regardless of bioload.

I've tried Flourish and you're right, its not complete. You need to get Flourish Macro or Comprehensive etc. All of which i feel is expensive for bottled water with vitamins.

dry ferts all the way, and maybe some DIY osmocote caps for some root feeders.

hope this helps!

ps... i <3 bass! the run starts here before memorial day... backbay stalking for me soon !


- thefisherman

[LetThereBeFish]

Looking good.....as always! Curse your ability to make plants grow faster than my snail paced plants.

I wouldn't worry about the BBA if you have a good level of CO2. Its amazing how fast it can show up when the CO2 goes down. My tank was bba free, until I kinda ignored replacing the diy co2. Lazy me!

Oh and a question. I notice you talking about dry ferts and how cheap they are in the long run. Where do you get your ferts? Flourish products are starting to put a hole in my wallet and they seem to not be doing the greatest job keeping my plants looking their best.

[GMYukonon24s]

You have a beautiful tank. That makes me really want CO2.

[thefisherman]

Originally Posted by LetThereBeFish

Looking good.....as always! Curse your ability to make plants grow faster than my snail paced plants.

I wouldn't worry about the BBA if you have a good level of CO2. Its amazing how fast it can show up when the CO2 goes down. My tank was bba free, until I kinda ignored replacing the diy co2. Lazy me!

Oh and a question. I notice you talking about dry ferts and how cheap they are in the long run. Where do you get your ferts? Flourish products are starting to put a hole in my wallet and they seem to not be doing the greatest job keeping my plants looking their best.

thank you LTBF but i think you're plants are growing just fine, i doubt i have any different ability aside from having weedy stems lol :O

ya man dry ferts are definately worth the initial investment. i bought mine from AquariumFertilizer.com. but i'm sure there are other places online or local that may have these. pm me if you want a grocery list


- thefisherman