George's Journal

[ChrisP]

Update time.

I’m still over here in the cold and windy Falklands but there has been some major benefits to my time 8000 miles away from home….. Hardscape! Whilst exploring a beach in San Carlos, East Falkland Island I found some great ADA-style branchy driftwood. My excitement was rather perplexing for my friends at the time. When I explained, “this stuff is worth a fortune in the UK†they soon came around though!

Wood collected from seawater actually has advantages over freshwater. It has already been cured, it is denser, less likely to leech tannins and rot. Here it is. The magazine is there for size reference.



I have positioned the pieces in all sorts of combinations and I can get it looking like this.



I have also collected some great rocks. The first type are “Riccia/moss stonesâ€. They are 2-3†diameter and a quite flat with a rough-textured surface that makes them ideal for anchoring the Riccia/moss. I’ve also sourced some great larger rocks ideal for future potential aquascapes. One day I’d like to try my hand at an Iwagumi (Japanese rock arrangement style) composition.

Hardware - I have finalized a few decisions and enquired ref. prices with Aqua Essentials.

Filter – Eheim 2028 Pro II (750 lph – 6x turnover rate)
Lighting – 2 x 25w T8 Interpet Daylight Plus
2 x 18w T8 Interpet Daylight Plus all with Juwel reflectors (2.6 wpg). 10 hour photoperiod.
Substrate – ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia 2 x 9 l. ADA Power Sand Special 2 l. (I wans’t intending to use Power Sand but I’m too weak to resist!) and ADA Bright Sand for the foreground.
Ferts – Tropica Nutrition. KNO3 and KH2PO4 i.a.w EI. Dennerle E15 for extra Fe if required.
CO2 – 500g pressurized with Dennerle reg. May upgrade to 2Kg CO2 fire extinguisher. D&D solenoid. 1+ BPS. Direct into filter to start with. If I get sporadic output I’ll invest in some ADA glassware.
Water – 70:30 RO/tap. KH 2, GH 4. 50% weekly water change.

Substrate will be installed right away. No plants, light, CO2 or fish for first 6 weeks while I mature the filter using Waterlife Bio-mature and let the ADA substrate and water chemistry stabilize.

Aquascape - I’m looking at a similar layout to ADA 2005 catalogue NA no.5. Black background, U-shape compostion, dense green stems up at the left and right sides. Lots of narrow var. Java fern on the wood. Group red Rotala indica or Ludwigia arcuata off-center for focal point. Sand foreground with moss or Riccia stones leaning against wood and possibly some petite var. Anubias.

Fish – Amano shrimp, Otos, 12 or so Harlequin rasboras and 3 Pearl gouramis (all South East Asia origin).

All subject to change depending on wife!

Sounds excellent, might I ask why you are using the waterlife product to mature the filter though? Why not just feed some food into the tank everyday, it will probably take about the same amount of time.

 

[George Farmer]

Sounds excellent, might I ask why you are using the waterlife product to mature the filter though? Why not just feed some food into the tank everyday, it will probably take about the same amount of time

Thanks Chris. I hope you don't mind but I've edited your post to include my previous post from the last page. This way other members can see what you are refering to at a glance.

Re. Bio-mature vs. food - I like the "certainty" that design-specific products provide.

Food produces detritus that clogs up the substrate and filter, a minor point as this will be inevitable but no need to "help" it so early on. Food also contains other pollutants that aren't dealt with by bio-filtration.

 

[Jen]

I love the wood George, and The placement you came up with is awesome. It starts off with the U shape you were talking about, so it's not hard to see the placement of plants (a real bonus for us, or me anyway. I can visualize where you are going.)

I can't wait for more updates, and I'm sure that six weeks will fly by so quick, and we will be seeing plants in no time!

 

[MoreCoffee]

George,

Have you collected more wood to create that placement pic ?
Or is that a pic of the look you are seeking to recreate.

How much will RAF-air allow you to ship back


Interesting that you're not planting from the outset. I'm looking to setup a new tank next week using AquaSoil and Power Sand and using ADA Brighty K and Step 1.
I'll be planting heavily from the start, however my filter has already been running for over a month in another tank.


Al

 

[craynerd]

George... thanks for your update, i have been eagerly awaiting it.

I have 4 comments and questions.

1) LOL After talking me out of PS and insisting on the use of mulm, i went away and did copious amounts of research. I also spoke to Barr personally at the bar report pages. I have now totally concluded in my head that all this time, you gave me correct advice, PS really offers no benefits, ESPECIALLY since you are already EI dosing!
I had slight thoughts that it may offer a small advantage if using ADA Step1 fert, since it may provide small amounts of PO4/NO3 that ADA initial ferts (step1, brightly k) do not provide.
I agree that there is the definite positive of using PS for those who do not fertilize regularly, eg. shop keepers and lazy bums, etc.
But for you and me, happy to do EI daily dosing, your adding PO4/NO3 to the water column anyway...then there is bacter100 and torboline...why stop there?? LOL
George, you have turned to the dark side on that one buddy!
save ur money and get some more lighting.... lol, which brings me to my next one.

2) You have chosen much less lighting than I would expect. I have 3 x 24w = 3.5wpg and i am not happy with it and upgrading to a MH in the next few weeks.
Thats just a comment, i haven’t much of a clue re:lighting. I only know about what i am trying to achieve.
Really interested to see how that one goes.

3) In the ferts you put :
"Dennerle E15 for extra Fe if required."

I know very little about Fe in the planted aquarium other than it is an essential trace element. Could you give me a bit more information about when it should be used, when you expect to use it or how you will know it is needed ?

4) Where are you getting your trace elements from?

I am really excited to see how this progresses George. You have been a huge help and inspiration during the setting up of my tank and wanted to publicly say thanks.

So...keep us updated!!

Kindest Regards

Chris

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks everyone.

Have you collected more wood to create that placement pic ?
Or is that a pic of the look you are seeking to recreate.

How much will RAF-air allow you to ship back

The photo is the look I'm after, not my wood.

I can send up to 30Kg home for free. Unfortunately that's all the decent wood I could find. Rocks is another story, this place has billions!

George, you have turned to the dark side on that one buddy!

I wondered if you'd mention the Power Sand. To be honest I've still not 100% decided. I like the idea of it though and Nick and Neil put up a very good arguement. 2 l. isn't as expensive as I originally thought either. We'll see.

You have chosen much less lighting than I would expect.

We've discussed lighting before. 2.6wpg is more than I had previously as I'm using 2 x 25w instead of 2 x 18w in addition to the Juwel light bar. You've seen the results with 2.2wpg - I had glosso carpeting like mad. I've also had success with Limnophila aromatica and Ludwigia arcuata, both demanding stems. That is enough light for me thanks. Another point is that this tank will be featured in PFK as a step-by-step. The readers will find my lighting more accessable and the algae risk is more forgiving, ideal for beginners.

I know very little about Fe in the planted aquarium other than it is an essential trace element. Could you give me a bit more information about when it should be used, when you expect to use it or how you will know it is needed ?

Extra Fe if I get yellowing of leaves or want redder stems. My Rotala indica in my Dutch layout loved it. Dennerle E15 is very good actually, Oliver Knott recommends it. Not sure on the science side, more I let the plants do the talking. I may not need it with Tropica Nutrition though, I just have a load left over from days of old. They are tablets so don't go "off" like liquids can.

Where are you getting your trace elements from?

Trace elements in the form of Tropica Nutrition from Aqua Essentials.

You have been a huge help and inspiration during the setting up of my tank and wanted to publicly say thanks.

You're welcome.

 

[craynerd]

Nick and Neil

Baaaah, them two tried the same shock tactics on me lol Resist the temptation.

Only kidding mate, i just think its expensive for what little it adds when fertilising with an EI method, in my understanding.

Thanks for your other replies.

Regards

Chris

 

[Themuleous]

Sounds like a plan George looking forward to seeing it up and running and following it via PFK

Lets hope the wife is so please to see you she cant say no to anything on the list

Sam

 

[Alexis]

Wow, George! Can't wait to see more pics of your amazing talent!!! You're a real inspiration to us noobs out there!

 

[Qays]

Great! Cant wait too see this one!

Are you using only Daylight plus's, You usually use a combination of lights dont you?

 

[George Farmer]

Quick update.

I'm not sure if UK customs have let my wood through for environmental reasons. Thankfully my LFS and Aqua Essentials stock some decent branchy stuff though so all is not lost.

I'm still waiting on some career news which dictates if I have to move house or not, so I won't start properly setting up until then.

Are you using only Daylight plus's, You usually use a combination of lights dont you?

In the past I have used a large variety of lighting combos. My favourite so far for intensity and colour reproduction has been the Interpet Daylight Plus. I may use one Triplus with 3 Daylights to highlight blues and reds depending on final fish and plant choice. I did plan on using the ADA NA 8000K 20w T8s but these are 580mm and won't fit my light fitting.

I've come up with a decent out-of-tank method of injecting CO2 direct into the filter. Photo to follow soon.

 

[RadaR]

Looking forward to the update and photo.

 

[ChrisP]

Quick update.


I've come up with a decent out-of-tank method of injecting CO2 direct into the filter. Photo to follow soon.

Hmm I'm intersted to know how you plan on doing that, I inject thorugh the intake on the inside of the tank through the grill only out of tank way I can think of would be to cut the intake pipe in two and insert some sort of adaptor inbetween to allow the Co2 pipe to be inserted.

 

[George Farmer]

My apologies for the lack of recent activity on here.

There’s still no news on my imported hardscaping materials but I will find out this week. I’m still waiting on whether or not I have to move house too so for the moment the tank is on hold. The waiting is fine though, patience is rewarded in this hobby. It also gives me more time to plan my aquascape, plant choice, fish selection etc.

I have made small progress however. Here is my CO2 delivery method. The 100mm rigid tubing is simply connected in-line to my filter’s inlet hose inside the cabinet. This way there’s less equipment in the tank. After the check valve the CO2 hose runs to a bubble counter, a solenoid then to the regulator. I’ve read that the Eheim 2028 can easily handle over 1 bubble per second so I’m sure sporadic CO2 output won’t be an issue. If it is I’ll probably go the CO2 mist method via an ADA Pollen Glass or similar.

 

[Themuleous]

Ingenious little invention that George, can tell your an engineer!

Sam