[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

besta ikea furniture, it can hold the weight just fine. Just be sure to keep water off of it, if left it will start to lift the 'laminate'. Ikea also makes a smaller version of that.. that just so happens to be the exact width of the 60p

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

^ Is there anyway to prevent that? They sell a glass cover but I don't know, would that be alright?

Has anyone try the Besta desk? It's basically half of what I got. I thought it would be too weak for a 60P. I was thinking the middle support beam would be a better choice.

It works fine, but you would probably enjoy more cabinet space. The tank should be on a mat so using that glass below it should be fine if you do this.

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

this is it
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00134052/#/50102157

the tank is the mr aqua 17.7 gallon, same dimensions as the 60p if im not mistaken
theres a ps3 on the other side.. lol but it never gets used

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

If you did an h202 flash on the tank, some plants might melt a little bit, this will often show in the first week after. It looks like you have a lack of c02(old leaves falling off), remember as your tank grows in, and your plant mass increases, so to does the c02 demand. often when I first set up a tank, I find myself slowly increasing the c02 once a week to make sure im meeting the c02 demand of the plants as the demand increases. This is a good reason to wait for livestock, its easy at this point to over do the c02, but even easier to under dose.

Kh of 6 is fine, if you want to lower it then you can mix 50/50 ro and tap to bring it down.

Whats the gh? it helps to get a city water report, you may have a good gh count, with plenty of calcium, but lacking magnesium, you can try dosing mgs04 for a week and see if things improve. Just remember to do one thing at a time. try increasing the c02, give the tank a week or 2 to respond, and go from there. make sure your dosing good amounts of npk and micros and that should rule out most nutrient issues.

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

Maybe i missed it but whats your dosing regime? Also what lighting?

starving your plants for nutrients is sort of redundant if your already having issues with growth, if your lacking one nutrient, then reducing others wont give us the missing culprit.

never assume co2 is correct because the drop checker is green. There are to many variables that come to play, is there enough c02 at lights on? hows the c02 distribution, do some plants grow better in one side of the tank but poorly on another side? surface scum can trap c02 in and keep oxygen out and has a huge effect on growth.

Do some research on kh, check out barrreport as there are many threads on the topic. In my applied practice with kh, keeping a stable kh is far more important than anything, as you lower or raise kh, this effects ph as well as c02, so it is important, but more important to be stable.

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

I'm on a similar routine, KNO3 is dose but very little, the rest is from the Aquavitro line. I'll see what raising the P gives me.

if you have low phosphates, the tank will respond pretty quickly to adding more, usually within an hour if its to low you will see increased pearling after dosing.

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

I mowed the lawn, I just hate how I can never get a uniform look like the pros. It's as if every part of the lawn is in a different phase, from growing - to half trim.

let it all overgrow then cut it down evenly across, and it will grow back at the same rate. you can also do things like use a wide putty knife to gently press the front edge of the h.c down to give it a more even look against the glass. i personally dont like it pressing up against the glass, it looks cool to trim the front 1" away, then tuck the front edge down into the gravel with a putty knife.

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

could be lack of flow, could be low spots of co2 in the tank, or uneven lighting.

First the lighting, i would re position the two lights so they are on the sides pointing more or less straight down, this will be much more even spread and equal par, and thus rule this out/fix any lighting issues.

inadequate flow has a large impact on co2 distribution, as well as nutrients, so maybe the rocks are blocking flow and slowing it down in those areas, maybe flow is fine but co2 isnt reaching it very well. co2 isnt always equal throughout the tank, just cause the drop checker is green, doesnt mean there is 30ppm of co2 around the substrate, it could be much lower. my suggestion would be to ditch your current co2 injection method, and spend the $10 on a proper diffuser(your running pressurized co2 i think?) this will give a much better mist, and place it opposite your hob. every other week or how ever often you feel, you can swap which side your hob is on, this often helps kick up mulm that gets trapped as well, and can change co2 flow in case there are low areas.

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

i would get a 50mm one from greenleafaquariums, or most high pressure ceramic ones work well.

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

Tanks looking real good!
Not sure what your w.c schedule is, when you do a large trim with stem plants like that, its sometimes good to do a wid-week water change, you cut back a big portion of the nutrient uptake in the tank by trimming in small tanks. The extra water change helps to keep things from building up to much that first week.
Once the the stems begin to fill back in, maybe 2-3 weeks i would trim the h.c, if it grows to dense on top of itself the lower portion begins to die.

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

the original glosso you planted will melt off, just wait till the new runners are rooted in well, and hack the old stuff. You have to decide pretty fast if you want a mixed carpet, but i say go for it!

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

Thats why you constantly trim it down, when h.c grows on top of itself and becomes a thick dense mat, the bottom side tends to die off and uproot, and the heavy top will want to float(like most plants). Constantly trimming it down will promote the growth to stay denser and pack tighter to the substrate.

Blyxa is a very bushy stem plant, so like any stem you can trim it and it will send out new shoots. The biggest problem i have with blyxa is it has very extensive roots once its established, so trying to pull it up can sometimes bring a lot more with it(like your entire foreground),so trimming it back is much better for the time being. Heres an example of the roots, this was just one month's of growth.

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

Aquasoil does tend to break down a little more than most substrates, and releases quite a bit of mulm when you uproot things. The more uprooting you do does tend to break things down a little faster, whereas trimming frequently and aggressively will help some mulm from developing below your h.c carpet. Heres a pretty good example on how to trim..(not my video) you can trim lower, all the way down to the substrate and things will grow back nicely.

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

Seachems original Nitrogen fertilizer had Urea, my guess is its in a stronger dose, or its been replaced with ammonia nitrate. calcium nitrate and magnesium nitrate are really only beneficial if you have low calcium or magnesium levels... there was a big discussion on ukaps about that a year or so ago about this. If you dose a gh booster then both are covered, i do think its beneficial to have magnesium in your weekly dosing however, plants use it up quicker than calcium.

Blyxa turns red when nitrogen levels are low.

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

More light = more nutrients absorbed by the plants so nitrogen may be used up much quicker, and could be what you were seeing. Im experiencing this same thing in my 90p testing Happi's new fert mix, lower N levels overall has turned my new blyxa growth pink.
Tank looks good btw, hack back that blyxa so it doesn't shade out the glosso!

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

is that just the shell to a mac mini? looks like it has the cd drive on the side still? lol pretty cool lights!

 

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

i wouldn't recommend monte carlo for your tank size, h.c looks much better for the scale. monte carlo also grows densely on top of itself and seems to choke off the lower leaves requiring constant trimming or replanting..it does looks good for a few moths before it grows over itself though.

challenge yourself with a more intricate hardscape