mahko's Ohko Stone Journal

[mahko]

End of first week with a full tank shot. I think I'll update weekly to document growth. I nudged the saturation up a notch to compensate for the washed out look from the flash.

[mahko]

Approaching 3 weeks now. The roots are digging deep into the substrate and the carpet is filling in at a steady pace.

[bsk]

I like your layout. It should be nice once it fills in

[jingleberry]

Originally Posted by mahko

Close up shot of the hanging kit included with the light. Same loop on the top of the light. The Hagen has built-in, adjustable tabs to loop the wire though on the top of the fixture.

Nice looking setup! I've been looking for something like the tabs you're using/mentioned. Would you happen to know exactly what the name of this part is? Thanks!

[Adkins.its]

Tagging along. Looks great so far!

[mahko]

Originally Posted by jingleberry

Nice looking setup! I've been looking for something like the tabs you're using/mentioned. Would you happen to know exactly what the name of this part is? Thanks!

The hanging kit came with my Hagen Glo 2x24 fixture. I looked at Home Depot and Lowes and couldn't find anything like it. It seems like such an easy part to have in the 'wire-hanging' section of a hardware store. I can buy the aluminium sleeves everywhere, but they don't have any with tightening screws.

[jingleberry]

Originally Posted by mahko

The hanging kit came with my Hagen Glo 2x24 fixture. I looked at Home Depot and Lowes and couldn't find anything like it. It seems like such an easy part to have in the 'wire-hanging' section of a hardware store. I can buy the aluminium sleeves everywhere, but they don't have any with tightening screws.

Yea I checked my local Home Depot today and they didn't have anything similar to that. Thanks for trying.

[mahko]

On March 10th it will have been 1 month since planting. I'll get some close growth pics in a day or two. I have all the necessary supplies to fill the tank, supply CO2 and dose fertilizers.

I read all the other dry start journals and the wait is getting hard! Not sure if I should keep this dry start going for a few more weeks or maybe fill it and let the chips fall where they may.

[mahko]

Been one month since planting the tank and here are some shots showing the growth.

The roots seem to be really deep and I'm strongly considering filling it up next week.



Spread of HC. When I planted them, the bunches were extremely uniform.



Not much growth in the back corners, so I might move this to the front. Maybe after the fill, the growth might be better due to the water not as available because of the slope.

[Nocturnal]

Coming along nicely. Can't wait to see it flooded!

[mahko]

Not much to update. I'm misting usually twice daily. Sometimes I'll skip a day when the relative humidity hasn't dropped under 90%.

I'm waiting on a new Clippard solenoid as the one I had seemed to have stopped working (as I was testing it). When the new one has arrived, I'll test it, then fill the tank.

The water level has started to pool in the lower areas of the tank. Even though I avoid spraying in those areas, the water flows down and pools there. I hope I don't get algae.

[mahko]

What do have here?


And where does this lead? Perhaps the dog knows?


Tubing through the kitchen? Where does this 40' hose end? Perhaps the tank?


Inspired by Oliver Knott and his newspaper method. Wet paper towels work just as great and IMO more sanitary. Laid gently on the substrate/HC.


I didn't have any large plastic sheets, so I used saran wrap in several sheets and put it down on top of the paper towels.


As we fill the tank, the entire paper towel/cling wrap floats up as a protective layer in one piece. I found this amazing as there was no risk to the Aquasoil being tossed around.


Almost done! Kind of looks like clouds...


All done. Filled and CO2 is bubbling in. Not sure about bubble count as my counter is glass and inline. I filled it with water so the bubble rate is something like 3-4/sec. I'm working on getting/making a drop checker.


Hope you all enjoyed this journey as much as I did.

[Adkins.its]

Looks amazing! Definitely worth the wait. The lighting and scape a pretty much perfect!

[mahko]

Thanks. I just did my first water change this morning. I'm going to be following Frank Wazeter/ADA method of daily water changes the first week, then every second day, second week, etc.

Regarding my fert dosing: I created solutions for "EI daily" as it's much easier for me to dose daily at the same time every day. I don't know if adding my daily dosing after water changes would be a waste of ferts or not. However I believe that the plants will benefit from the lean dose as the week progress.

Any advise?

[Adkins.its]

Originally Posted by mahko

Thanks. I just did my first water change this morning. I'm going to be following Frank Wazeter/ADA method of daily water changes the first week, then every second day, second week, etc.

Regarding my fert dosing: I created solutions for "EI daily" as it's much easier for me to dose daily at the same time every day. I don't know if adding my daily dosing after water changes would be a waste of ferts or not. However I believe that the plants will benefit from the lean dose as the week progress.

Any advise?

I've not heard of that method. Could you elaborate or is there a good link to explan?