George's Journal

[Jen]

I think they just want to make sure that regulator they sell me will work for what I need. I was calling a home brewing supply store, and I think the psi needed for beer is higher. So if I said i needed a psi of under, say 30, it should work. Does that sound reasonable?

 

[George Farmer]

If you mean a working PSI of 30 then that's fine. The bottle contents PSI will obviously be a lot higher.

 

[Jen]

oh yeah. Thats what I meant to write. I guess there are different regulators that are only for higher psi out puts, and the lower pressure one wont work for them. Makes sence.

 

[Jen]

I'm going to pick up my co2 tank and regulator tomorrow (yay!) The guy is giving me one heck of a deal on it too; the regulator is normally 130.00, and when I told him I can get it else where for 80, he said he would price match. He is also going to give me all the tubing I need. The only thing he doesn't know about is the needle valve. Where did you get yours? Is it from a speciality store?

 

[George Farmer]

The only thing he doesn't know about is the needle valve. Where did you get yours? Is it from a speciality store?

[snapback]893797[/snapback]​

Mine came already fitted to my reg.

 

[George Farmer]

Quick update. Two of my Amano shrimp are carrying eggs. I don't think they'll stand much of a chance though.

Typically I've just sold my 5G to sif (nice bloke too, it was good to actually meet someone off the forum in person). sif - How's the shrimp tank project progressing? My new algae article should help you out too.

You can't really make out the individual eggs, there's hundreds of them - they're about 1/3mm diameter and packed into its abdomen. The shrimp constantly waves her rear legs back and forth, I assume to keep the eggs oxygenated. Quality.

 

[jimbooo]

congratulations mate, in the event of any hatching and needing a new home i'd be more than happy to pop over to peterborough and say hi. i think digweed may get to them first though.

edit: just noticed the crinium, it's massive. what WPG are you running at present? thinking it would look great in the cube.

 

[George Farmer]

congratulations mate, in the event of any hatching and needing a new home i'd be more than happy to pop over to peterborough and say hi. i think digweed may get to them first though.

edit: just noticed the crinium, it's massive. what WPG are you running at present? thinking it would look great in the cube.

[snapback]894832[/snapback]​

You'd be more than welcome mate. I fear you are right about Digweed, or any of the other fish for that matter.

The crinum is doing well, it's a really interesting plant too. The leaves split down from the top then grow laterally, then split again etc. - weird! Never seen a plant like it, I thought it would just send new leaves from the bulb.

I'm only running 2 WPG (4 x 18W - 2 Dennerle, 2 Arcadia FW) now - I don't need any more, things are growing fast enough.

 

[jimbooo]

wow that sounds great. So do you think i'd get away with it in the cube, (50G - 2 foot deep, 70W over 4 tubes so 1.4WPG laterite and fine gravel.)

 

[George Farmer]

wow that sounds great. So do you think i'd get away with it in the cube, (50G - 2 foot deep, 70W over 4 tubes so 1.4WPG laterite and fine gravel.)

[snapback]894849[/snapback]​

Should do fine. It's flippin' expensive though from Greenline (£7.95 per bulb). I was lucky and found some in my local pet shop, Tropica brand, already established too.

 

[jimbooo]

ahh what the heck, i've never looked at the price tag before just filled the basket and passed out at the till. that way you feel too embarrased to put things back and end up getting everything you wanted!! (ahh thats why i'm always skint!!). i'll give it a go when my pockets recovered from the last LFS trip. my LFS orders from tropica direct so i'll get it from there i think. cheers mate

 

[houndour]

Quick update. Two of my Amano shrimp are carrying eggs. I don't think they'll stand much of a chance though.

don't want to put a downer on you...(knowing you you'll get lucky anyway and they'll hatch...oh and you might know this already, but though I'd share what I've learnt)... my female shrimp (I'm now assuming I have 2 males and 1 female) has had eggs for over a month now and nothing has happened. I've done my research and I get the impression the female will carry eggs most of the time. When and if they get fertilised by the male...then yeah they will hatch, and I believe to survive the baby shrimp need slightly salty water? And then it said that the female will have new eggs within 3 days of laying the old ones.

Someone said their shrimps eggs turned orange when fertilised, but I saw some photos of a shrimp with fertilised eggs and they actually got pics of them being laid! Very cool. Can't for the life of me remember what the site was...it was at work I saw it, so wont have it in my history. Anyway they weren't orange. I think they were clearish/white, can't remember. My shrimps eggs are grey.

 

[George Farmer]

Makes sense - they've been carrying for about 2 weeks now. They'te grey too. Nevermind - they wouldn't have lasted anyway.

Thanks for the info.

 

[George Farmer]

I've carried out a few minor changes.

In an attempt to follow the "golden ratio" rule of 1:1.618 I've moved the Java fern right a couple of inches. The Crinum has been moved to the left rear corner in order to create more of a flow. I'm still not 100% happy with its position - I think it will look better once it becomes more established. I am tempted to remove it completely and go for a really simple layout of just the fern and sag. I know Jimbooo would be interested in that idea . I'm holding off the HC plans for a while yet.

Another change is my lighting. I have swapped my two Dennerle tubes for Interpet Daylight Plus. You should notice a marked difference regarding the brightness and overall colour reproduction in the photo. I've left all the camera settings; white balance, exposure etc. the same to give you an idea of contrast - it's not the best photo but it gives you an idea of the increased intensity of the tubes. When I take a "proper" photo I need to adjust exposure to its lowest setting now.

I wasn't happy with the orange tinge the Dennerles produced - even with the 7500K Arcadias for balance it was noticable. The Daylights are 6500K and are a pure white light - much nicer IMO and the greens, as you can see, are very vivid. The plants seems happy enough with the change; still pearling after minutes of lighting. However, I'm still an advocate of the Dennerle tubes, particularly for those starting out as they are more "forgiving" re. algae growth.

Some good news from my LFS. They've agreed to take my Sag offcuts in exchange for credit in the shop. So in effect, free dry goods - I'm happy days with that! I showed a print of my tank to the guy that sold me it about 2 and a half years ago now. He was pretty impressed - it's quite funny when I think back, I didn't even know what the nitrogen cycle was, now I'm discussing adding KNO3 and KH2PO4 with him! Evolution

Old lighting



New lighting

 

[kenneth_kpe]

looking good! especially digweed cant help to think about the cardinals and what they are thinking since they are in a tank with a discus ! haha