Here are a few pictures of the fauna. I couldn't get one of the Boesmani, they're just too quick to get a good shot. I managed to get one of the Denison Barb, but he was moving quick too, so it's a bit blurry.

 

LOL, Jealeous ! When I built my stand I had never though of going with a 6' tank. So, it's just would not do well with one tank :-(
With that said - nice start!!! Having water change water right there and a place to drain water without carrying buckets is a life saver. Your reactor should more than handle your 125g setup. Friend of my has a pair of reactors on a 700g planted tank it they work just fine. Looking at your Behind The Scenes and all the stuff you have on the shelves makes me wonder how much stuff I actually have tucked away in the 3 drawers next to my tank. Do really like your light setup - out of site which helps when viewing / taking pictures (fts).
Looking forward to how things evolve with your use of hard scape. As various plants grow in and the rock "ages" it should look very nice.
LOL, blurry fish pics - would think those were taken by me. Getting clear pics of fast moving bows is something I feel like only Gregg is good at (I'm sure there are others, just not me).

Ok, quick question - thoughts on the Jebao doser? I really am in need of something for dealing with micro dosing on my 3 tanks.

Now to find the subscribe button...

 

The Jebao doser was much easier to set up than I thought. I got mine to dose on alternating days by setting the time "incorrectly". I set the internal clock 12 hours off, so it thinks noon is midnight. Then, I have each pump dosing every other day. Finally, I have my micros dosing at 23:59 and my macros dosing at 00:01. This results in alternating dosing days for the micros and macros, at noon. Lights come on at 2pm, so this works out well.

My biggest struggle with this is keeping the micros from growing mold. My latest attempt was mixing the micros with 50/50 water and excel, but it doesn't look like it worked. My next try will be a mix I found somewhere that included citric acid. I'll need to look that up again for the next refill.

 

Nice work around on the dosing schedule!
LOL, very small dorm fridge to hold the dosing containers. Small hole in the back for the hoses to exit.

 

Thats actually really, really clever. My luck I would drill right through a cooling hose, but this has potential!

 

That's really inspiring. I never knew about the temp mixing valve. That changes everything for future plans!

 

A quick tip for the future, figure out how much you want to open your valve for refilling, then adjust your temp with that much flow. I found that when the temperature valve was set as low as we need it, the amount of water flow will change the temp slightly.

 

Just a few photos of some pretty intense pearling 😃

 

Very impressive build. Love all the technology and the dedication it took to get there.

Look forward to seeing where it goes from here.

 

Eleocharis Vivipara. I want to love this plant; I truly do, but it's eventually getting yanked for something else. It doesn't spread via runners like EVERY OTHER DAMNED Eleocharis, but instead, by plantlets at the ends of the leaves. It's ugly, and it's infuriating. I want to plant something else back here, but I need to be careful. I don't want a Val or Crypt that's going to send runners everywhere, because I won't be able to dig them up. I'm leaning towards Eleocharis Montevidensis, but I'm getting conflicting information about trimming it. Can you just trim the top like normal hairgrass, or will it brown and die?

Nice setup, the montevidensis is the one you want. I have it in my 3-footer and it's thicker than the vivipara, but stays clean all the way up. It's funny because I just trimmed some of the ends a few days ago just to see what happens. So I can let you know if they start to brown out.

Another really nice plant that is NOT invasive via runners is Cyperus helferi

 

Another really nice plant that is NOT invasive via runners is Cyperus helferi

Will it propagate on its own, or does it need me to remove and replant plantlets?

The reason I'm concerned about something becoming crazy invasive, is because of my last tank. I use Crypt Balansaein the background, and I was literally cutting runners out daily, sometimes 6 or 8 a day. It had grown a web of roots throughout the entire bottom of the tank, and was like a hydra... whenever I cot one off, 2 grew in its place.

I know I'm being picky here, but Im looking for something that's going to spread by runners, but not send runners all over the damned tank. I was finding Crypts popping up 4 feet from the nearest mother plant.

 

I posted this in the fertilizer and water parameters forum, but wanted to add it here as well...

I'm seeing a deficiency in my Ludwigia sp. Super Red, and I just wanted to know if I'm correct. Before going any further, this is looking very washed out from my camera for some reason, but it's actually much more red than this. The difference in color between the veins and the flesh of the leaves is still there, just the whole leaf is far more red than these pictures.

My initial guess was a Mg deficiency, but I've been adding some with my water changes, and haven't noticed a difference in 2 weeks. My hard well water is almost all Ca, with very low Mg. Should I be adding more?

Parameters:
NO3- 10ppm
PO4- 2ppm
Ca- 70ppm
Mg- 7.5ppm
CO2- 40ppm
KH- 7.5
GH- 12
ph (degassed)- 7.8
Lighting- 80'ish PAR
Temp- 76F
BDBS substrate

EI Dosing (50%, low plant mass & new tank) with CSM+B

 

I posted this in the fertilizer and water parameters forum, but wanted to add it here as well...

My initial guess was a Mg deficiency, but I've been adding some with my water changes, and haven't noticed a difference in 2 weeks. My hard well water is almost all Ca, with very low Mg. Should I be adding more?

You're nearly at 10:1 Ca:mg where many people keep their Ca:Mg ratio between 2:1 and 4:1 so I'd say it's worth a shot....it'll raise your GH, however, so I wouldn't lard it on, maybe just double for now


Any idea what your K is?

 

1/7/2021

I've been getting a tremendous amount of help in the Fertilizer and Water Parameters forum, and wanted to bring the information over here for easier viewing later.

In trying to diagnose a deficiency in my Ludwigia, a few different things were pointed out (in order):

With very high Ca, I need to try to get a little more Mg into the tank. I just recently started dosing 7.5ppm Mg, but after a few weeks, there has been little to no change in the leaf Chlorosis, and no change in the deformities in the new tips. While it wasn't harmful to add the Mg, it probably hasn't been doing much to help the problem.

The CSM+B mix that I've been using contains ETPA Fe, which is unstable at higher ph. With my high KH and hardness, this Fe wasn't getting to the plants. I added DTPA to my micros on 1/6 to see if there is any change. Look for an update on or around 1/28.

I was also turned on to "rolling my own" micros, and picked up the Micro package from @burr740. He was generous enough with his time to not only provide a baseline ratio to dose, but also answer a lot of my questions. This change will be happening around 2/5'ish, while I wait to run out of my current micro mix.

It was also pointed out that I've made an error in my tank by trying to have a minimalist Iwagumi style layout, and also adding some colorful stems. It was pointed out that the Iwagumi tanks you see run very lean to keep things clean, and they are able to do that because of the distinct lack of fast growing stem plants. In the event that this turns into a long term problem, then the E. Vivipara in the background is going to come out in favor of a variety of stem plants. Im not looking forward to having to trim 4" x 72" of stem plants, but if it will help with long term stability then it's going to have to happen.

I've decided to get my well water professionally tested for Ca, Mg, K, Fe, and all of the micros. I plan on using this in conjunction with the ratio that Burr gave me when mixing up my Micros.

Finally, I had tried turning my light up just a tad last week, in case that was what was slowing down my HC Cuba. The HC Cuba started growing much better, but I also started getting quite a bit of GDA on the rocks. What is the primary cause of GDA? Is it a lack of a specific nutrient, excess of a nutrient, or something else? I've read conflicting reports, one that says it's because of low P, one that says low N, and one that says it's just a symptom of a new tank, and it will clear up on its own. I'm thinking of increasing my Macros to bring my N up to 30ppm, but I'll need to buy individual macros in order to do it. As it stands, I'm using a Macro premix from NiloCG, and if I bring my N up to 30, I'll be bringing my P to around 8 (which seems high). It's nice to know that it's been the lighting that's been the limiting factor on the HC, but Im not sure how to increase it just yet without having a GDA explosion.

If you've made it this far in my post and have thoughts on the GDA and Macro situation, please feel free to chime in!

 

1/7/2021

I've been getting a tremendous amount of help in the Fertilizer and Water Parameters forum, and wanted to bring the information over here for easier viewing later.

In trying to diagnose a deficiency in my Ludwigia, a few different things were pointed out (in order):

With very high Ca, I need to try to get a little more Mg into the tank. I just recently started dosing 7.5ppm Mg, but after a few weeks, there has been little to no change in the leaf Chlorosis, and no change in the deformities in the new tips. While it wasn't harmful to add the Mg, it probably hasn't been doing much to help the problem.

The CSM+B mix that I've been using contains ETPA Fe, which is unstable at higher ph. With my high KH and hardness, this Fe wasn't getting to the plants. I added DTPA to my micros on 1/6 to see if there is any change. Look for an update on or around 1/28.

I was also turned on to "rolling my own" micros, and picked up the Micro package from @burr740. He was generous enough with his time to not only provide a baseline ratio to dose, but also answer a lot of my questions. This change will be happening around 2/5'ish, while I wait to run out of my current micro mix.

It was also pointed out that I've made an error in my tank by trying to have a minimalist Iwagumi style layout, and also adding some colorful stems. It was pointed out that the Iwagumi tanks you see run very lean to keep things clean, and they are able to do that because of the distinct lack of fast growing stem plants. In the event that this turns into a long term problem, then the E. Vivipara in the background is going to come out in favor of a variety of stem plants. Im not looking forward to having to trim 4" x 72" of stem plants, but if it will help with long term stability then it's going to have to happen.

I've decided to get my well water professionally tested for Ca, Mg, K, Fe, and all of the micros. I plan on using this in conjunction with the ratio that Burr gave me when mixing up my Micros.

Finally, I had tried turning my light up just a tad last week, in case that was what was slowing down my HC Cuba. The HC Cuba started growing much better, but I also started getting quite a bit of GDA on the rocks. What is the primary cause of GDA? Is it a lack of a specific nutrient, excess of a nutrient, or something else? I've read conflicting reports, one that says it's because of low P, one that says low N, and one that says it's just a symptom of a new tank, and it will clear up on its own. I'm thinking of increasing my Macros to bring my N up to 30ppm, but I'll need to buy individual macros in order to do it. As it stands, I'm using a Macro premix from NiloCG, and if I bring my N up to 30, I'll be bringing my P to around 8 (which seems high). It's nice to know that it's been the lighting that's been the limiting factor on the HC, but Im not sure how to increase it just yet without having a GDA explosion.

If you've made it this far in my post and have thoughts on the GDA and Macro situation, please feel free to chime in!

https://www.2hraquarist.com/blogs/a...blogs/algae-control/how-to-control-green-dust-algae?_pos=1&_sid=1e56f502b&_ss=r
This is one of Dennis's articles on the topic. I seem to remember there was a more in depth article but can't find it. Basically, his take on it is to much N "Tanks with high NO3 levels (above 10ppm)" I have been working on lowering my water column N to less than 10 - and then trying to keep it less than 10 throughout the week. I still have not mastered it yet.

 

I've been under 10ppm since the tank was set up, and have been considering increasing dosage, not reducing it. If it was *just* N over 10ppm, then I wouldn't have it. There must be some other imbalance, or series of imbalances.

 

The common denominator that I have always found in regards to algae is light and organics, not dosed fert levels. I easily have no3 north of 40ppm in a limited plant mass tank and don't have GSA. My tank has been running for about 18 months now. Light definitely accelerates algae so the more light you have the more the need to keep the tank "clean" organically. Fast growing plants are extremely effective since they remove ammonia/waste products almost immediately. The traditional bio-filter is not as efficient. If it was you could simply over-filter you tank and not have any algae which just doesn't happen. With a limited plant mass tank you need to have a short light peak period, sometimes semi-weekly water changes and yes put carbon in your filter. Anything that will reduce the organic load.

 

snip ...and yes put carbon in your filter. Anything that will reduce the organic load.

I just noticed this now... won't adding carbon to my filter also remove the micros I'm dosing? I'm not against it in principal, I just thought that carbon was counter productive when it came to dosing the tank.

 

That makes sense. Im currently running a 7hr photoperiod, but I could reduce that to 6 easily enough. Unfortunately the lights I have don't have any programming, so I can't do a ramp up or ramp down period at all. I'm going to start with the original plan of adding DTPA Fe, and then changing the micro mix a month from now. I have a hunch that getting Fe to the plants will increase macro uptake as well, so from there I might need to increase dosing. Baby steps, and 1 thing at a time.

 

Another thing to think about in terms of algae control is where the nitrate/phosphate is coming from. If you believe decaying organics releasing ammonia is the main culprit, then there's a difference between dosed nitrate and naturally accumulated nitrate. So if your nitrates are mostly from dosing then I wouldn't worry too much about their levels since when you dose no3 there's no ammonia in the equation. But the nitrates naturally in the tank came from decomposition then ammonia was there, so the no3 level from naturally accumulated organic decomposition is more an "indicator" that ammonia was there and caused the algae issue. It makes sense that extremely clean tanks don't have algae issues as much. This distinction is missed by many influencer websites.

 

I try my best to keep a really clean tank. I do massive water changes, and remove any dead or dying plant matter whenever I see it. In addition, I have less NO3 in the tank at the end of the week than I'm dosing. We know plants prefer Ammonia, so this tells me that the plants must be consuming any free ammonia. If not, then I would see more NO3 than I'm dosing at the end of the week. Does that make sense, or am I getting something confused here?

 

You have built such a nice system. I love looking at pictures of techhnical achievements. Nice hardware and workspace. The Mg problem is an interesting one. How is that going? Do you use epsom salt? Does that add too much SO4? Definitely try the individual ferts. I've never used a mix or tried to make my own and I'm happy I haven't. It's not that bad going custom dosing. It gives you the agility you need to respond to situations. It does start to look like a black art to the laymen observing you though. My wife has no idea why I'm adding the stuff I add to the tank. When we go on vacation, our friends can handle feeding the fish but they can't handle fertilizing the plants even though I leave everything measured out for them to dose. I think this is because I told them to be careful with the NO3. I like the way you are automating dosing the micros. With automated macro mix dosing you could supplement with individual ferts.

 

@Savetheplants thank you for the king words. Im adding a small amount of Mg, only because I'm pretty sure the well water has none. My problem, is I'll never be able to get up to 3:1 Ca:Mg, because that will send the hardness and TDS through the roof. I'm working on convincing my wife that I need an RO system, which will be a while new world for me.

Far a quick update, I tried trimming the Ludwigia to shape it a bit, and every stem that I trimmed is looking awful. It's sending out new stmes off of the main stem, but the original leaves almost immediately started to die. Is this normal for Ludwigia? Do I need to only top it and replant the tops, or can I trim?

 

I feel for you on the water. I lived somewhere with 50 dGH water. It's a bummer because you were making such progress with the automation and now you have to prepare your water. Respecting the RO system, I saved for seventeen years to buy my colorimeter. My wife hasn't said anything because for the last seventeen years I've had her help me read the colors on the test kits. Maybe she just got tired of helping me with that. RO water is kind of essential anyway because if you replace evaporated water with tap water you will build up your GH unacceptably high over time.

 

Hi, I just found your journal. I'm enjoying it so far, and I will follow along.

I just skimmed your other (ferts) thread to catch up but I did not see this mentioned. The seiryu will do more than raise KH. It does so by leeching CaCO3, and that means it drives the Ca concentration even higher. I run 3 tanks all with very similar parameters except that one has some seiryu in it. That one is more susceptible to algae, and that one seems to torture plants the most.

I am glad you are going to custom micros -- I think that is a huge step in the right direction. I'm a user & believer as well.

It is possible to get very red ludwigia in a tank with seiryu. It's not always possible to get good pictures of it, though! @burr740 & @Greggz put a lot of effort into getting the lighting, camera settings, and post-processing just right for their photos. It also may be difficult with your particular soup.

 

Nice setup with some automation you have built for yourself.

I wonder if the mold forming in your fert dosing container is from temperature, light and stagnation or a combination of all of these. If temperature does not really enter the equation, could you not black out the dosing container with spray paint and add a simple agitation source? For agitation, I'm thinking something like adding an airline hooked to a small air pump that is controlled by a mechanical or digital timer. Advantage of a digital would be holding it's time should power go out and the option of turning on the air pump multiple times throughout the day. Of course, I am spit balling here and do not know if adding air bubbles to the ferts will change their chemical makeup or consistency. Maybe someone else more knowledgeable might chime in.

 

Well, I'm your guy lol. I have some green dust algae that I have to clean off the rocks. I've been doing half the tank at each water change (I have a lot of rock!), and it's not enough to keep up. I'll throw a bunch of activated carbon in this week's water change.

It's not going to be a perfect experiment, because I also run Purigen and will be changing it out this week for a fresh bag.

 

Well good luck with your GDA experiment. The carbon can only help. Not saying carbon is a "magic bullet" against algae, but it is another preventive measure you can take to avoid issues. You don't really know where the threshold is for algae development in each tank so the more you throw at it the better IMO.

 

Interesting discussion on one of the Face Book groups..
Xiaozhuang Wong
If GSA or GDA is a persistent issue for many of you guys, its because you are locked into the thinking that you need to heavily saturate your water column with X ppm NO3/PO4. If you bother enriching your substrate a little, you can go much lighter with water column macros - get much cleaner growth. This tank has less than 5ppm NO3 in water column - with hardly detectable levels of PO4. Do you see GSA on any old leaves ? Don't get pigeon holed into thinking that GSA is always a lack of PO4 or that more will always give you better plant forms or color. If you think that algae on old leaves is normal or that wiping your glass every week due to dust algae is normal, then you may want to rethink your entire approach to planting tank keeping - because it certainly does not have to be that way.



My specific problem with "enriching your substrate" is I currently use Eco Complete which would probably fall into the "course inert substrate" category. I mention that specifically as it relates to this topic on Dennis's site
How to use osmocote for substrate in planted aquarium

 

Interesting discussion on one of the Face Book groups..
Xiaozhuang Wong
If GSA or GDA is a persistent issue for many of you guys, its because you are locked into the thinking that you need to heavily saturate your water column with X ppm NO3/PO4. If you bother enriching your substrate a little, you can go much lighter with water column macros - get much cleaner growth. This tank has less than 5ppm NO3 in water column - with hardly detectable levels of PO4. Do you see GSA on any old leaves ? Don't get pigeon holed into thinking that GSA is always a lack of PO4 or that more will always give you better plant forms or color. If you think that algae on old leaves is normal or that wiping your glass every week due to dust algae is normal, then you may want to rethink your entire approach to planting tank keeping - because it certainly does not have to be that way.

I wish I knew how to escape!

I have been using auto dosing and frequent testing, keeping my NO3 < 5ppm and PO4 < .5ppm (according to api tests..) Still have algae on glass and old leaves. Everything is growing well and pearling, I just haven't been able to kick this algae, even with low dosing.

Ive been upping the CO2, 1.5 ph drop, fish are uncomfortable in the morning, yet still have algae.

Is it organic waste? Do I need to clean my canister filters every week? That is just too much work.

Is it lack of filtration? Or do I need to do an H202 treatment every two weeks?

Or maybe cheat with a glut drip?

 

Yeah, a lot of the tanks you see from 2hr aquarist and others rely on an active substrate. Don't get me wrong, that's an awesome way to go, but it just wasn't feasible for me with the size tank I have.

I could add root tabs or something like that, but I've read too many horror stories about having unpredictable fert levels, and not being able to fix it once something's gone astray.

 

The whole lean water column dosing and enriching the substrate really started with ADA, that's their dogma going back over 20 years now. I know when I use aquasoil I barely put anything in for the first 6 months other than some K and micros and the growth is clean and beautiful.

You can also get there by keeping the water clean organically and dosing heavy (EI-ish) I literally have measured my 3-footer and I had 60-80 no3 and around 5 po4 and everything was clean. And the tank is as you know minimal in terms plant mass. Active soils are great, dirt definitely isn't for everyone and not really realistic IMO for many large setups run by typical planted aquarists.