[Discusluv]

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.

 

[houstonreef]

Yes, did seed it with extra sponge from my well-established 30 gallon.

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?

 

[Discusluv]

I found this ugly snail in my tank several days ago.
Thought immediately- "Get him out quickly!"
Took a couple deep breaths and turned away.
Today I peered into the tank and noticed he was still alive --- so I gave him a piece of Jake's Pea Shrimp food so he wouldn't starve.
Today he looks a little prettier.

 

[Streetwise]

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

 

[Discusluv]

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

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?

 

[Streetwise]

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?

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

 

[Discusluv]

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

yes, of course, if it was a snake it would have bitten me- lol.

 

[bortass]

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

Bump: The light is a real cool blue isnt it?
@somewhatshocked-- is it impractical? I can be impractical sometimes.. if you hadn't noticed.

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.

 

[Discusluv]

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 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.

Really, after doing this, the trick is that you need to refill your tank with water very slowly and drain carefully. It takes more work for me to maintenance this tank because I have to be careful of not disturbing the slope. Im sure others have methods that would make the slope more stable.

 

[Discusluv]

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?

 

[bortass]

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?

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.

Cutting the light, removing what you can by hand, and water changes to reduce nutrient load will all help. Snails and other things that like to eat it will help keep in down once the tank is cycled and you get the algae under control.

 

[somewhatshocked]

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.

 

[Discusluv]

This is a shrimp tank so basically mosses are the plants high-lighted here. I know-- slow growers.
The only stem plants in here are rotala and microswords. I do have floating plants: salvinia, duckweed, and frogbit.

I have Controsoil, which I believe is an active soil so the combination of to long a photoperiod and not doing more water changes probably made a perfect storm for green-hair algae to appear. Thanks for your recommendations!

Bump:

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.

Well, I see 2 snails in here now. Im not sure what kind it is - I have a picture of it above.

 

[Discusluv]

Ran a bunch of tests:

pH- 7.2
KH 2
GH 3

Ammonia- .25
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 20

TDS 95

 

[Discusluv]

Cut photo period on light in half this last week because getting hair algae growth on moss. The difference in doing so was immediate. I should have known 12 hours of lighting in a newly set-up tank was too much. Geezo ( rolls eyes).
Its just that Ive had too many projects going on: 3 tanks ( 1 of which is a vase) set up in last few months, purchased a group of wild discus juveniles that need daily to every other day water changes, and have a breeding pair of Dark Rams coming tomorrow. Its time to settle in and enjoy what I have because Im getting stretched so thin that Im not enjoying anything. I just get too excited by new projects.
Note to self: no new projects.
Now, back to this tank. I am starting to really like this tank. At first- wasnt sure I would. But now I really like it for its dimensions and how easy it is to look into. I have it on a bookshelf where I can easily peer straight in. The dimensions are nice for scaping and I think the mossed branches will be perfect for shrimp.
I still have a bit of algae on the moss, but the cut photo-period and the few snails are helping. I just added the tall hair-grass and love how it added some movement to the tank. Of course, you cant see movement in a photo, but-- take my word for it, the movement of the grass with the flow of the filter adds a lot to the dynamic of the arrangement. It gives it a naturalness that is reminiscent of peering into a small stream.

 

[bortass]

I like what you've done with the aquascaping. I'm looking forward to the pictures post algae outbreak.

I know what you mean about projects. It's hard to resist when it's something you really enjoy but there can be a 'dark side' to it as you noticed. Hope you find the balance. This may be a battle I have to fight as well as I get back into the hobby, lol.

 

[Discusluv]

The tank has been cycling at just about a month. Finally getting some movement from the nitrites.

Tests:
ammonia - 0
nitrite -1
nitrate- 20

TDS- 115
KH- 2
GH - 2

The snails have done an amazing job of cleaning off the moss. I was beginning to think I would need to plant this tank in some other way because the algae had covered the moss so much. These snails are not bothering me so bad either. Im getting used to them.

A current picture--- its not that spectacular, but the shrimp should like it.

 

[Streetwise]

That looks beautiful! I would love to see another photo after sunset.

Cheers

 

[Discusluv]

That looks beautiful! I would love to see another photo after sunset.

Cheers

Thank you. here is a picture after sundown:

 

[Discusluv]

Processed 2 ppm of ammonia in 24 hours. Couple more weeks and should be good to go. I will keep on dosing and testing to make sure, however. Wont be caught off guard again like last time where thought was cycled and hadn't yet gone through the nitrite stage.

I think I will just end up putting tiger shrimp and neo's in here for now. The R/O unit isnt set up yet. Im thinking the Jade neo's-- they are so cool. For tigers-- what I can get.