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Yes, did seed it with extra sponge from my well-established 30 gallon.Do you seed the new bio filter when you set up this Spec V?
Yes, did seed it with extra sponge from my well-established 30 gallon.Do you seed the new bio filter when you set up this Spec V?
how long you seed it in the old tank and how much does it help to cycle a new tank, in term of day count?Yes, did seed it with extra sponge from my well-established 30 gallon.
Shrimp tanks have a way of drawing you in to look closer. Or, they do me anyways. A whole diffrnt experience, for me, than fish-keeping. So different from the big cichlids Im used to.New life! I loved seeing the surprises that came with live rock when I ran saltwater.
Yesterday, I pulled a buce from one of my shrimp picos to free it from java moss. Tonight, I spotted a red shrimp fry in the utility tank where I dropped the plant. I decided to move it to my 7.5G, along with a yellow I grabbed from my other shrimp pico. I guess that makes it a shrimp tank now.
Cheers
I enjoy and follow your tanks! Discus sound like they are a rewarding challenge, where you might be able to automate some of the maintenance.Shrimp tanks have a way of drawing you in to look closer. Or, they do me anyways. A whole diffrnt experience, for me, than fish-keeping. So different from the big cichlids Im used to.
Do you have a journal on your builds? Can you link me?
yes, of course, if it was a snake it would have bitten me- lol.I enjoy and follow your tanks! Discus sound like they are a rewarding challenge, where you might be able to automate some of the maintenance.
I put my tanks in my signature.
Cheers,
Jason
New to the forum, so I apologize for replying to an older post. How do you get the substrate to maintain the slope once it's underwater? I gave up on sloping my substrate front to back decades ago because it always settled. Granted I didn't have much in the way of live plants back then either.Okay- here is the first pass- please be brutally honest. The corners do not bother me--- but, give it time.
I had glued plants onto the wood prior to positioning - not a good idea, I trashed them. Now the wood has glue all over it. I guess I could put some sort of emersed moss up on branch that will be out of water? Or do I need to try another piece of wood?
This is the worst part of putting a tank together for me- so much angst about it- I get so frustrated.
Like I said, first pass. Ill revisit tomorrow. Picture kinda dark
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Bump: The light is a real cool blue isnt it?
@somewhatshocked-- is it impractical? I can be impractical sometimes.. if you hadn't noticed.
I built up the base of the slope with larger rocks and filled in with smaller rocks on top of these larger rocks to make a barrier so substrate would not leak over.New to the forum, so I apologize for replying to an older post. How do you get the substrate to maintain the slope once it's underwater? I gave up on sloping my substrate front to back decades ago because it always settled. Granted I didn't have much in the way of live plants back then either.
Edit - read the entire thread and I see that you went with less substrate. Still curious about maintaining that kind of slope though.
I'm no expert, so take anything I type with a grain of salt. Algae usually means there are more nutrients available than the tank, including plants, can process. What do you have for fast growing plants? I have always read they help and it's one reason I like floating plants. They are easy to harvest to remove the nutrients they consumed to grow from the system. How are your plants growing overall? The better the plants grow, the less algae should be an issue.I have neglected this tank beyond turning on the light, doing a weekly water change, and then dosing with ammonia-- I have hair algae rearing its head as a result.
I used a toothbrush to try to take some of this algae off of the delicate mosses to limited success. I was reminded why i have always found growing mosses so difficult.
I should be testing for parameters and have not done this yet. Obviously, 12 hours photo-period is also too, too much :/
So, the plan:
Photo-period adjusted to 6- 8 hours.
Test water parameters today. More water changes if necessary.
Anything else I can do to shut down the green algae?
Well, I see 2 snails in here now. Im not sure what kind it is - I have a picture of it above.The light's definitely too strong in the beginning. I wrestled with hair algae until Ramshorns were added and they made quick work of it.
Once you have more plant mass, ammonia stops filling the water column and all that? Your tank will be fine.
I'd focus on removing as much as you can by hand, maybe doing a water change here and there.
Thank you. here is a picture after sundown:That looks beautiful! I would love to see another photo after sunset.
Cheers