New World 90gal Low Tech- a Pictoral Journey!! 11/13 Replanting Begins

[fishman9809]

lookin great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mistergreen]

looks like a good start.. It'll looks great when the plants have grown out more..

The pile of driftwood bothers me though.. It looks too 'arranged' like a bon pile. Maybe a big rock could be a center focus and the woods can play a supporting role.

And I would give UV a try unless you plan to do a massive water change everyday. Or turn off the lights for a long period of time.

[Ozymandias]

man thats coming along nicely

[ascensive]

i am happy to see someone working on a low maintenance tank of this size. i am looking to set up a couple as well. are you going about this all your own way, or are you using the good and bad techniques of previous efforts posted online to help you?

[lauraleellbp]

Thanks guys. Ascensive- I've definitely learned tons from the forums I participate in, plus I'm also trying some new things... so a little innovation, a little of my own experience, and a little piggybacking on others' experiences have all gone into this tank.

No update, nothing has changed other than the Green Water is back. We were without power for a few days due to brushfires, we left for the weekend, and I left a window open since the tank would have been without light. I'm thinking about throwing a daphnia culture in there- anyone have a good source?

The fire was 800 acres, 100 homes were evacuated, the fire came within 1 mile of our house, but other than losing phone, internet, electricity, etc we weren't affected directly b/c the winds were blowing the other direction. Only 3 houses were destroyed and only 7 suffered major damage. No one was seriously injured- majority of issues were respiratory from the smoke. A complete miracle. The areas that were burned look like something from a sci-fi movie though; they were all charred and smoking when we drove around Saturday. We've been getting hard afternoon rains, the rainy season started early- so that's yet another blessing!

[roybot73]

Wow. Glad to hear you and your house are alright! What a scary situation. Keep those rains a-comin'!!!

Looking forward to an update!

[lauraleellbp]

Thurs. 6/5/08

Ordered a daphnia culture. The pea soup is so thick now I can't see the back of the tank. I lost about 1/2 my stargrass- it is on the opposite side of the tank from the window so it probably didn't get any light with the power out and the GW absorbing the light that was coming in the window.

I also placed my first stocking order for this tank! I decided to try BoxLotFish.com since I'm in FL and shipping is only $7. I figured a $30 investment as a "trial" isn't too bad, especially for this number of fish...

8 x Cory Schwartzi () = $10.40
15 x Cory Hastatus VS () = $6.30
15 x Otocinclus Cats Peru () = $8.55
------------------------------------------------------
Sub-Total: $25.25

If these fish arrive quickly, safely, healthy, and acclimate well then I'll also use them to stock all my tetras. It would be amazing to be able to stock this tank all for $100!

All these fish will go into QT for at least 2 weeks. An AquaClear 50 has been cycling on my 46gal for about a month now in preparation. Since that tank actually has some algae right now (for the otos), I may move the fish in there to my new 29gal and use the 46gal as the QT tank... There's only a Synod cat and some bloodfin tetras in the 46 ATM. I may even move the bloodfins over to the 90gal- that's another option...

My next purchase will be a new starter RCS colony for the 90gal. Now that there are no loaches or large barbs in this tank they should have a better shot at establishing themselves.

[StrungOut]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

Thurs. 6/5/08

Ordered a daphnia culture. The pea soup is so thick now I can't see the back of the tank. I lost about 1/2 my stargrass- it is on the opposite side of the tank from the window so it probably didn't get any light with the power out and the GW absorbing the light that was coming in the window.

I also placed my first stocking order for this tank! I decided to try BoxLotFish.com since I'm in FL and shipping is only $7. I figured a $30 investment as a "trial" isn't too bad, especially for this number of fish...

8 x Cory Schwartzi () = $10.40
15 x Cory Hastatus VS () = $6.30
15 x Otocinclus Cats Peru () = $8.55
------------------------------------------------------
Sub-Total: $25.25

If these fish arrive quickly, safely, healthy, and acclimate well then I'll also use them to stock all my tetras. It would be amazing to be able to stock this tank all for $100!

All these fish will go into QT for at least 2 weeks. An AquaClear 50 has been cycling on my 46gal for about a month now in preparation. Since that tank actually has some algae right now (for the otos), I may move the fish in there to my new 29gal and use the 46gal as the QT tank... There's only a Synod cat and some bloodfin tetras in the 46 ATM. I may even move the bloodfins over to the 90gal- that's another option...

My next purchase will be a new starter RCS colony for the 90gal. Now that there are no loaches or large barbs in this tank they should have a better shot at establishing themselves.

Awesome deal u got there on the cories and ottos.

[lauraleellbp]

Yup, may end up too good to be true if the acclimation/QT losses are more than 30%... we'll see.

6/6/08 Update

Posted an S&S ad for more Stargrass to replace what died, and also for Red root floater. The RRF doesn't seem to be too common, so I may end up ordering that from AquaBotanic. I've actually not ordered too much from them since they're on the opposite side of the US and I'm scared of shipping issues (mostly heat).

The tank is GW city. Not sure if the daphnia were shipped already or will be next week? The RCS from Bandaiban should be shipped out on Monday. I'll need to remove the cherry barbs from the tank at that point so the RCS and daphnia aren't all eaten.

I'm hoping the sponge prefilters I ordered from Petsmart will arrive before the RCS so I can keep them out of the filters. I'll be getting mostly juvies. The RCS should have at least a month to get established before any tetras will start going in the tank. I think the risk of being eaten by my Clown pleco, Otos, and Cories during that time is minimal. There's also more plants in the tank than there were for my first colony to hide in.

On a bright note, my E. angustifolius is sending out runners like crazy! I'm hoping that back corner will really start filling in now. There's at least 6 new plantlets started since I put them in.

My Amanos seem to love the E. Kleiner bar. There's a molt underneath it right now that looks like it was carrying eggs.

I seriously need to trim and replant the Bacopa, it's within a few inches of the top of the tank already! Unfortunately, the GW is so thick I can barely even see the plants, much less see well enough to trim and replant.

On the other hand, I don't think my L. repens has taken- from what I can see looks like there's only 3 or 4 stems that haven't melted I had a feeling that Bacopa was going to be the stem that did the best in my tank- and it looks like my guess is proving correct. That's OK- I really LIKE B. caroliniana

The hydrocoytle is doing very well, other than having issues keeping it in the substrate and around the driftwood where it belongs. The AquaClear puts out a good bit of current right on it (making sure there's no dead spots in that corner) and it keeps coming loose and floating around tank.

[lauraleellbp]

Just heard back from BoxLotFish, said the fish should be shipped out on Monday Incidentally, shipping was $12 total (including a $5 box charge), which I still feel is probably much cheaper than gas!

[CobraGuppy]

Can't wait till your fish get here!

Any tips on how to make gw? I want some for my 75 gallon tank because my turtle refuses to eat veggies but drinking the gw may help get some algae (plant) in her

[lescarpentier]

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

The tank is GW city.

A UV sterilizer would make your tank much more enjoyable for you.
You can always turn it off periodically to see if you have the GW problem corrected.That's what I did,and do.

GL!!

[lauraleellbp]

I really really really don't want to do the UV sterilizer thing. I'd rather let this run its course. If the daphnia don't work and it's gotten to the point where I want to add (and be able to see) fish, then I'll just do a blackout.

Cobra- put your tank where it gets lots of sunlight- like a South-facing window. Mine is right next to a South-facing bay window, and even though I keep the blinds down, they're woven wood so if this GW keeps coming back that's what I'm going to chalk it up to...

[fshfanatic]

How about a diatom filter? I had pea soup, day and a half later it was gone, never to return.

[lauraleellbp]

Yup I've looked at those, and that's an option. I'm going to try daphnia first, though. I kinda like the idea of establishing a complete "food chain" in my tank.

I'm not being too proactive about trying to get rid of it. I figure worst comes to worst it will just run its course and be over and done with all on its own.

Unless over time it proves that sunlight really is the issue... but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.