[AquaAurora]

[2/9/19]
WHAT? WHAT?!
How am I getting this much nitrite in just 1 week? I haven't been able to watch a fishless cycle in a while (tiny particulates in water from water treatment plant being under construction made nitrogen testing impossible for a year+) but I don't recall nitrite showing up this fast and already at 1 ppm.. ammonia at 0 in 48 hours (was 1/2 he dose after 24 hours).

If I hadn't treated all the plants with potassium permagnimate(PP) I'd assume it came from my 'domino' that had roots in water before but PP kills beneficial bacteria so that's out. Everything in tank is new so how's the nitrosomonas bacteria showing up this fast?





Did a 50% water change, dosed ammonia and plant ferts. Also tossed in some water sprite and anacharis for added floating plant cover. Hopefully will get guppy grass and hornwort when I get my endlers for more places for fry to hide and deter jumping. Post w/c photos:

If all the floating aquatic plants survive, once they start overgrowing I'll take some and set up a dirted tank in the windowsill to see how they do. Yes the MTS bug bites again!

 

[AquaAurora]

[2/20/19]
I know my plants will absorb a lot of the ammonia, but I still can't believe I have enough bb formed to deal with the nitrites already! This photo is from yesterday: 0 ammonia and nitrite. I thought I'd forgotten to dose ammonia so did a 1 ppm dose and tested again today-same results. and nitrates are 40-80 from 2 days of dosing. So I think I'm ready for fish!! If only it wasn't below 30F out x.x

Hadn't planned on adding this plant, but husband spotted a really nice healthy BIG anthurium when we were out so I booted my extra peace lily 'domino' to take the corner caddie. Did a potassium permagnimate(pp) dip after rinsing roots. Turns out its 2 huge plants (thought i'd be over 5 smaller ones.

I love using pp for getting rid of pests-usualy do a strong dose dark purple to almost black and put plants in 5 minutes, or 10 if they are too big and stick out pho the water (like these did) and just rotate half way through. You can get it on e-bay easily enough, but wear gloves and cloths you do't care about staining! This is what happens when you handle wet powder (stains for several day):

Anyways have a full tank shot (fts) and some close ups.

And from above

Looking at the photos I realize 1 of the t5 bulbs finally burnt out 9it was an old one) so gotta replace that.

I put the extra peace lily domino up for sale. I also have 2 decent portions of pothos n'joy, and can add wired shower caddies and clay media. You can find my thread in the "for sale" section, or pm me if you'd like to buy any of these.

Currently the 'domino' is in a pot with water and clay media in the bay windowsill. The pothos is on the tank until sold-pothos photos show it in same type of caddie as close up in photo to its left.


Doing a large water change on the tank and dosing ammonia again, then getting in contact with the seller I want to get my fish from to figure out when would be a good time to ship.

 

[AquaAurora]

[2/26/19]
Not much going on-tank still cycled, dosing ammonia every day, water change every 3rd day. Dose liquid ferts maybe once a week. Pothos is taking off and everything is getting roots. I put crushed coral in nylon stockings to raise kh for the future livestock. Not shown in photo but my anacharis is pearling pretty much constantly during lights on.

 

[AquaAurora]

[3]/15/20] going to be tearing this tank down last photo of it (see sales section for buying riparium plants)

[3/26/19]
Sorry so bad at updating have some photos from last month
'top' and 'bottom' of tank

blurry endlers! (i have fry now! no way I can get a viable photo of them)

deformed palm leaf (still liek this after almost a month)

antherium and dwarf peace lily spathes

marble queen pothos

sold as n-joy pothos but may be glacier or other variation of pothos?

big elafed un-id-ed peace lily front/left, domina in teh back, and some golden/neon/green pothos

 

[AquaAurora]

[/11/26/19]
I've been so bad at updating this, haven't even gotten a second page yet (maybe this will make pg2? [edit]nope[/edit]) Update photo

Plants growing well-I have spider mites that I can't get rid of without killing the fish or having free range predatory bugs in my house (no thank you). So I'm constantly trimming off dead leaves from those little [censor]s, but the plants are growing like mad and the roots are tanking over the tank (will show some other time). I don't even try to get shots of the n class endlers-they are just wiggly blurs begging food every time I'm near the tank. Not as explosive of a population as I would have expected by now but I probably under feed the tank. >.>''

Side note I have a different palm (or mutated plant) in my dwarf palm blob-it had much wider/fewer leaves and its noticeably taller. I'd like to separate it but the roots are all grown together into one giant mass so that's not happening. Guess we'll see how big it gets.

 

[Desert Pupfish]

Spider mites are the bane of any indoor gardener's existence. They don't like humidity, so it's not surprising you're seeing them this time of year. You could try misting your plants several times a day--which can help reduce but not eliminate them. Otherwise, the only way to completely get rid of them would be to take out your plants, dip them in Safer's Soap or something, then rinse well before putting them back in.

Good luck. Your plant--esp the anthuriums & peace lily look great!

 

[NotCousteau]

That's really beautiful. I've always wanted to do one, but I have a parrot that is out often and an open tank is too much of a hazard.

Do you have to do anything to secure the wire to the back of the tank? Or, is it strong enough that you can just hang it over the edge and it stays put?

 

[AquaAurora]

Spider mites are the bane of any indoor gardener's existence. They don't like humidity, so it's not surprising you're seeing them this time of year. You could try misting your plants several times a day--which can help reduce but not eliminate them. Otherwise, the only way to completely get rid of them would be to take out your plants, dip them in Safer's Soap or something, then rinse well before putting them back in.

Good luck. Your plant--esp the anthuriums & peace lily look great!

Thank you very much.
Never heard of that product but I'll look into it.
The spider mites are leftover from my aquaponics and spread via eggs on the tank very frustrated about that.

That's really beautiful. I've always wanted to do one, but I have a parrot that is out often and an open tank is too much of a hazard.

Do you have to do anything to secure the wire to the back of the tank? Or, is it strong enough that you can just hang it over the edge and it stays put?

Thank you very much.

Sorry about the pet limitations. I couldn't do this back when we had cats.. had one that would find a way to reach and destroy any plant.

If you were really determined you could make a sort of mesh cage around/above the tank to keep your parrot out (and let it climb on). BTW which type/coloration do you have?

As for the wire baskets it stays put, I don't need to do anything else to secure it-I don't know if a meddling bird may be able to flip and drop the basket into the tank if plants are still small/light. I make the cut wire long enough to hang down over/just past the black trim at the top of the tank (sometimes longer-better to cut a specie too long than too short). I'd personally recommend a thicker/stiffer wire gauge than I used here-I had to double up to make it hold. There are stronger ones at home depot (and any other home improvement store).

Some people use suction cups but they're all junk at holding weight long term (all the ones I've tried) so I stick to this coated wire-just keep the cut end with expose metal out of the tank (part that over hangs to secure the basket).

 

[AquaAurora]

planning to tear this tank down, riparium plants are for sale here:
https://www.plantedtank.net/forums/153-sale-trade/1305337-tank-tear-down-big-driftwood-plants.html
I've only shipped fish once before.. waiting for it to warm up before I offer the N class endlers in here...or may just donate to a local aquarium shop.