[Nano-Nater]

hello fellow tank people!
My name is Benjamin im 24 years old, been a member for 8 years and i finaly decided to get back into aquariums.
ive been researching alot lately prior to buying all of this to make sure I start right and strong

Heres my new set-up!

Tank:ADA style 10g rimless MC aquarium starfire glass 45cmx30cmx30cm
Light: Aquasky 451 LED replica(chihiros)
C02: 10lbs pressurized 0.5 bps atm on 24/7 for ph swings but I have adequate surface agitation and waterflow fish are fine at night, Ceramic diffuser(Will get replaced by reactor),glass tube
*Co2 Reactor: Ista Max Mix Large, Ordered..Receiving soon*
Substrate: Tropica "plant care" ADA style(heard it was even better)
Filter: Eheim 2213, Soon Replaced by Fluval G3
UV: cobalt micro inline UV 3 watt
Hang-on-tank VIV drop checker
Hang-on-tank ADA style thermometer
Soon-to-have Inlet/outlet Glass Lily pipes

Ferts: (I have ordered them, will receive thursday) Flourish for micro flourish trace for trace,Nitrogen, Potassium,Iron,Aquavitro "activate" for phosphorus and potassium,
The tank has no heater because I maintain a stable temperature inside my condo using a air conditioner.

Tank params (API Drops):
Temp: 22deg celcius
PH:6.5
KH:2.24
GH:5.59
Co2: 21ppm(using calc) Old parameters, I have changed chemistry
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:5ppm
phosphate:1ppm
Iron:.25ppm
Silicate: 3ppm(is that bad? Diatoms feed off silicates right, anyhow im going to be switching to DI water ^^)

Iron:have to buy test kit
Weekly 50% waterchange

The tank is 2 weeks old and cycled using Stability for one week(with the UV off) prior to adding 7 lambchop rasboras.Ill add some nice shrimp to the livestock list and if I start having algae issues an Otocinclus(although I did my homework and should NOT have this problem)

The lights are running currently for 4 hours a day and i will increase the photoperiod by one hour per week until 9 hours a day has been reached. This is to minimise chances of algae. If algae appears Ill reduce photoperiod by an hour to 8 hours.

Ok now for plants I only have some HC "cuba" and another small plant that I forgot the name(ID would be nice). My goal is to have a Dense, lush, green carpet of HC.

Now I want to Start following a EI doisng using the products I mentionned above, Could someone help me with the dosing schedule? Im new to dosing and ferts for freshwater planted since back in the days I used to have a 50gal reef tank and would only have to dose 2 products and it was easy peasy.

Most Recent Shot:June 13 2015

below are some REALLY bad quality pictures of the start, I now have a great DSLR future shots guaranteed superb Quality

~OLD CELL PHONE PICS~

 

[Nano-Nater]

found what looks like to be a really really small flat shell snail on the glass today along with what looked like snail eggs(clear white goo with dots) I immediately siphoned out the eggs and used a razor blade to "scoop up" the tiny snail.

EDIT: Turned out to be Freshwater limpet and now theres quite a few but doesnt bother me at all. Beneficial actualy

Im guessing that he came from the plants as I did not dip them.

Ill inspect tank tomorow again to make sure that theres no more surprises.

 

[A.D.D.i.c.t.]

Looking good! Where did you source the substrate? I can't find much about it on the Web.

 

[Nano-Nater]

Bump:

Looking good! Where did you source the substrate? I can't find much about it on the Web.

thanks for you comment, I live in canada and i got the substrate localy from Aquaplus Montreal. They specialize in Nature aquarium goods.

http://www.aquaplusmontreal.com/

And They (the store owner and his wife) are the ones that told me that the tropica substrate is better than ADA aquasoil, im guessing that its because it doesnt leech ammonia and buffers water. I could be wrong anyhow i am satisfied with the substrate so far.

 

[Nano-Nater]

Well this morning I noticed that there are 2 tetras with a white dot on the dorsal fin(ick). I am glad that I bought a UV filter yesterday! should take care of the problem in no time

Also noticed that the HC is pearling and developping some nice roots that are going into the sustrate! even noticed a nice growth. Still no sign of algae, havent scraped glass once im very happy so far. hopefully it will stay like that.

Morning tests:

 

[Nano-Nater]

I re-aranged the under the tank setup and added a better reliable powerbar and
added a small Touch flood light so thats its easy to see in there. looks alot neater and that light is really usefull.

 

[reefcorgi]

Looks good. nice setup.

 

[Nano-Nater]

Looks good. nice setup.

Thanks for your input, I am glad that you like it!

 

[Nano-Nater]

I am Considering Buying a RO/DI unit with some Seachem Equilibrum and starting using The RO water when I receive my new liquid ferts.

Could someone tell me how to proceed on the parameters my new RO water should have to safely add to the tank?( PH, KH, GH,)

Thanks

 

[Nano-Nater]

Update!

Got some more stuff to work with, will receive the rest of ferts thursday. I Decided to add a little more substrate around the back area and in critical areas to help create a better depth perception, and better flow(will picture Update when the tank gets a little more growth). Overall im happy about the results although I did cover some portions of HC in the process.... oops.

Let me know how to proceed to switch to DI water.

Any input?

thinking about doing a 50% water change and matching the temperature PH-KH-GH before adding into tank

**mini update**
Well It took Hours But after countless tests and dosing, I Finaly got my first "recipe" to craft 10 gallons of DI water with hard to notice difference in KH-GH. PH is on the spot.
Ill Take a new tank test tomorow after work and compare them to tonights tank params and the same goes for my DI water that will have rested enough making sure all salts have been dissolved 100% and that the params havent changed.

If everything checks out, ill start topping off with my DI water and do water changes also.

Let me know your opinion!

Now im trying to work out my ferts dosing schedule and amounts, I can post what I have made in mind so far..

 

[Nano-Nater]

Update

Well Everything is pearling and growing nice, I also Couldnt resist and decided to add 6 crystal red shrimps to the tank.
I will post new pictures this weekend

So far everything is doing well, the shrimps are active and very interesting to watch!

I thought my thread would attract some interest but seems like everyone just looks and leaves.

Comments/tips/oppinions wanted!

 

[The Big Buddha]

Great power bar, that's what I use in my stands. Gotta love canadiantire.
Where do you refill your Co2?

 

[Nano-Nater]

Great power bar, that's what I use in my stands. Gotta love canadiantire.
Where do you refill your Co2?

Hello Buddha, Theres a company called "Air liquide" www.Airliquide.ca 10 minutes away from me and they supply all types of industrial gases for welding and other applications. Im 110% sure that there will be no problem filling up my 10lbs bottle over there and for a great price.

Et salut! moi je suis de longueuil haha

Little update:

The tank is doing really good, the HC has grown alot and is sending runners along the substrate!

Im really glad to have changed fish, the neon tetras were hanging low-mid tank level and were nipping at the shrimps...The rasboras are always mid-high level in the tank(Im much more pleased) and havent seen them nip a shrimp so far.

The shrimp are thriving, I noticed the rocks are alot cleaner too.

I found atleast 3 molts tangled up between the rocks inside the plants that im still wanting an ID on

I ordered the Ista Max Mix Co2 reactor(large model) from Doctor Foster & Smith
with this reactor I will be able to remove the ugly and not so efficient Ceramic diffuser from inside the tank and get 100% Co2 Dissolving into water! The ceramic diffuser is also pretty noisy oddly enough.. Everynight/day I can hear a high pitch noise caused by larger bubbles forming at certain spots of the ceramic disc..pretty annoying TBH..
Best of all: no more diffuser in sight and no more micro Co2 bubbles everywhere inside the tank, last but not least slight increase in total water volume(the more water you got the easier it is to be stable)

Now I just have to bee patient and wait for it to arrive which should be Monday! or more since I live in Canada...

Oh and still no Algae
Edit:lol the next day I start seeing small faint browning circles upon some rocks! Shrimp food I hope

 

[Rolo]

Great shot of the crystal red.

 

[leemacnyc]

Tres belle Ben!

 

[Nano-Nater]

Little update:

Thanks guys for your input, Today I did a 45% water change and somehow while I was siphoning the tank one of the rasboras jumped I guess because I glanced inside the bucket and noticed the fish struggling at the surface of the water!(I used a contaminated bucket for waste water):icon_frow I tried to save him but he gave up..

Everything else is doing great, I slowly added back new mineralized DI water using airline tubing at first then topped off the rest with bottle. Went very well

 

[sbowman1991]

I'd love to get my hands on some rocks of that sort for my 10g shrimp tank. I feel like they'd look amazing with some java moss attached to them at the peaks.

 

[Nano-Nater]

I'd love to get my hands on some rocks of that sort for my 10g shrimp tank. I feel like they'd look amazing with some java moss attached to them at the peaks.

Hi!

I beleive this rock is called seiryu rock or stone, If you cant find some localy try looking on No Ebay Links Allowed. Indeed moss would look very nice and shrimp love that!

Today I cut the middle plant(staurogyne repens) Because I thought it drawed attention too much, I re-planted the top behind the left rocks for the shrimp to explore.

Results:

 

[Nano-Nater]

Update

Little update!:

looking good without diffuser

 

[Nooob]

Very nice looking tank!