unirdna's ADA 90P

[2wheelsx2]

Originally Posted by unirdna

It was suppose to - but, it failed. It has since worked fine when I tested it, but I'm not taking chances anymore. Mechanical timers have never failed me; I'm going back.

Yes, sometimes KISS is the best way.

[addicted2sp33d]

+1 for my cheapo mechanical timers from Big Lots. $1.50 each!

[ikuzo]

no future digitized timer for me too.

[scolley]

Originally Posted by unirdna

The tank was a disaster for nearly 3 months. No amount of pruning, water changes, ei, etc would rememdy the darn thing. I tried every trick in the book (as least, all of my tricks). I have my theories on the causes, but I'll get into that some other time, one some other thread. Admittedly, neglect is what started the whole scenario. Other obligations took priority, and the tank slid into slimeville.

I know you are dying to see it, so here ya go - no cleaning it up for the forum: Satisfy your dark side.

Ted - I'm sorry to see your tank in such a state. But hey, that's life.

At the same time I am VERY, VERY proud of your willingness to show a prize tank on a "bad day", and take pictures to boot!

As I KNOW, you KNOW, openness and honesty are a cornerstone to any real advances in our common knowledge of this hobby. Your humility and openness about the current "sub par" conditions of your tank, and the possible reasons for that state, have my sincere appreciation.

Thank you for sharing. Really. Looking forward to the new 'scape.

[ikuzo]

the huge wood looks very promising indeed.

[unirdna]

Thanks for the words, guys.

Steve, I gotta keep it real . Thanks for the karma.

Sooooo.........moving along. The 2nd bag of sand arrived from ADG - ahead of schedule - Awesome .

And now I needed some rock.....

I visited some of the local decorative rock stores. Ugh! Not ugly stuff, but not "right" either. So, I employed my 2nd college major - geology. I don't use it much, these days - paying the bills mostly with my biology degree. But, during those formative years, I went on many field trips around Wisconsin. So, I knew some primo spots. I dusted off the old rock hammer, dug my triplet lens out of the top shelf, and headed out.

The hike into the outcrop wasn't long - only about 300 yards. But I had about 40 feet of relief to navigate. A bit precarious in these winter months, but I was feeling 22 again - no problems. The trip back to the car was a bit tougher; carrying 70-80 lbs of rock. But, I managed.

And here are the fruits of my labor:



The rock is Basalt, and boy is it pretty. I chose pieces with a bit of character. Lots of olivine veins, a bit of quartz, and even some pyrite (fools gold). Pyrite weathers so quickly, that you need to make a fresh break in the rock to see it. I'll need some smaller rocks to balance out the aquascape; so some of the large rocks that don't make the cut will be reintroduced to the rock hammer.



A photo to show angularity and dimension:
Aquascaping will be tomorrow. The rest of this day will be spent at a wine festival with my #1 Girl.

[fishman9809]

I hope this turns out the way you want!

[roybot73]

Super sweet rocks!
Really can't wait to see what you've got in mind with this incarnation!

[riverrat]

heck with the rock....
number one girl and wine festival.... ya baby!

[mrbman7]

@ Unirdna

As i understood it Pyrite is very bad for the aquarium because it can leech heavy metals:

"Beware of fool's gold
There is one important exception-iron pyrite or fool's gold. This mineral is iron sulphide (FeS2) and can be found in rocks as varying as limestones, sandstones, shales/slates, or quartz. It is common in mine residues but it can be found almost anywhere.

The potential dangers of pyrite are threefold:

1. It has a strong acidifying effect, i.e. it drops the pH.

2. In addition to iron it sometimes contains small quantities of other more dangerous heavy metals such as lead, zinc, and copper.

3. Because it acidifies the water it can 'unlock' heavy metals into their toxic free-ionic forms.

The chemistry is as follows. Oxygen (and natural bacteria) in the water oxidize the sulphide component of pyrite to sulphate (i.e. sulphuric acid). The low pH acidic water produced then activates the iron and any other heavy metals present. Thus it is a triple whammy.

Pyrite is the active agent in the notorious acid-mine-drainage (AMD). AMD is just as likely to arise from coal mines as from metal mines. This is because pyrite is often present in the shales and sandstones that surround the coal seams as well as in the coal itself.

Pyrite is easy to recognize. It has a brassy yellow metallic luster and often forms cubical crystals with sharp edges (you may need to look at it with a magnifying glass to identify these edges if the rock has been tumbled around in a stream

It usually occurs as spots or streaks on the surface of the rock. If the specimen is weathered, i.e. has been exposed to rainwater or stream water, there will sometimes be a halo of rust around the pyrite crystals.. This is because the sulphide is gradually converted to oxide by the weathering processes. Here is a case where 'rusty' rocks are definitely not harmless. However, the residual presence of brassy flakes of pyrite will be an obvious warning in such circumstances.

Above is a picture of a rock with a lot of pyrite mineralization. Note the brassy metallic luster (fool's gold), the sharp edges of the pyrite crystals, and the incipient iron oxide (rust) discoloration round some of the pyrite.

You would obviously reject this rock out of hand--or keep it on a shelf as a mineral specimen. Pyrite crystals in rocks such as limestone or slates may be less spectacular, but they are still obvious.

Clearly you should never put any rock with visible pyrite into your tank.

In conclusion, observe the common sense approaches above and you will never have to worry about placing a rock into your aquarium again!"

found here: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/rock_metals.php

[2wheelsx2]

I was going comment earlier, but since Ted seemed to get it, I didn't comment.

One of the best ways to prevent acid rock drainage is to bury iron sulphide bearing rock in fairly deep water, in anoxic conditions. I know that our aquaria are not deep water, and is faily well oxygenated, but the fact this, planted tanks gets a lot of water changes, and the pyrite content of the basalt from Ted's pics is very minimal. I really don't think it's going to affect his tanks any significant amount.

For what it's worth, I worked in gold mining for 14 years, and was a mine geo for 3, where I aided in acid rock drainage studies extensively.

Not that your information isn't valuable. It would be totally accurate for a massive sulphide vein or any heavy iron/metallic sulphide bearing rock. But for weakly disseminated sulphide rock, it would be no worse than throwing a couple of iron nails into the tank.

[unirdna]

Great info, mrbman and 2wheels! I was a bit weary of the pyrite, myself. But, the quantity is very limited in this rock. I suspect with normal water changes that H2S levels will be negligable. Still, being armed with the data you've given me will be advantageous. If nothing else, it will prompt me to be more habitual with the water changes .

....now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go spend 3 hours aquascaping a shoddy version of what people with talent can produce in 15 min.

[@marko@]

though you probably wont see this post until you are done aquascaping, ill put it in anyway:

try drawing the tank to scale (or lifesize if you have big paper and really want to) and then play around with the rocks on there (if its not lifesize, draw the shape of the rock as it looks from above to represent it), then plan where you want which plant. i have found this to always go better for me then just seeing as i go. and with such big rocks its easier to draw them then lift them in the tank, take them out, put it back it, move it elsewhere, take it out, break it, put the pieces in, take out some, put 1 back in, etc. its easier on your back.

[unirdna]

Sound advice, marko. I do use the method you mentioned with larger rocks, but these weren't really that big - and I didn't even use the largest of them. Still, mapping things out has been a doulbe-edged sword for me. On the one hand, I have an idea to start with. On the other, I seem to limit myself creatively by investing all my energy into replication.

Anyway......I'm done . I'm happy with this aquascape, and will be even happier once things grow in.

[lauraleellbp]

That's really lovely! What a transformation!