New Beginnings

[Biulu]

I agree with you on the substrate; I do not think I will use it again, but for now I am stuck with it. I do like the more toned down colour though as the moon sand looks really bright/flashy. I am trying to create a river biotope here, so that seems to be working.

I would have loved to put anubias in the space of the java fern, because of the leafshape, but anubias are African so out of the question for this tank!

I found my betta hiding under the wood, which is not good so I need to do something about the flow. At least chances for getting BBA should be seriously reduced in this tank !

What do you think of my plant choice? Plants still missing are a tiger lotus and a low crypt.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Oh tiger lotus! I have a dwarf lily bulb, I am impatiently waiting, but the spotting on the lotus is great! My red ozelot sword is quickly becoming my fav plant for it's markings.

The plants behind the wood are really setting the whole scene

 

[Biulu]

Oh tiger lotus! I have a dwarf lily bulb, I am impatiently waiting, but the spotting on the lotus is great! My red ozelot sword is quickly becoming my fav plant for it's markings.

The plants behind the wood are really setting the whole scene

This is aponogeton crispus. I already had 2 small plants in the tank before, but yesterday I found these 2 plus the lymnophila for 10 dollars which I thought was very good.

I also found out that my rasboras are 2 kinds: I have 3 espeis and 4 hengelis. When I bought them they were still young, but now they have coloured up. They shoal nicely together though. I was planning on getting more anyway, so I will leave the hengelis in until I have enough espeis and then trade or auction them at the aquarium society.

Bad news: the betta died; I have no clue why. Maybe it was just its time. I have had him for 1.5 years and he survived several attacks, so maybe he was just worn out and it didn't have anything to do with the current.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Aw man. I'm so sorry!

 

[Jen]

Yes, I meant driving distance. I'm near Toronto. I talked to bf again, and he seems ok with the idea. I'm heading there friday, so I'll do a bit of investigating to see what he's got in there, maybe send you a picture? Then I'll look into how to ship it.

 

[Biulu]

Yes, I meant driving distance. I'm near Toronto. I talked to bf again, and he seems ok with the idea. I'm heading there friday, so I'll do a bit of investigating to see what he's got in there, maybe send you a picture? Then I'll look into how to ship it.

Sounds great! Thanks very much in advance.

 

[Biulu]

I think I have a lighting problem. I am noticing that my stem plants are all turning towards the right hand side as there is a large window at about 4 metres distant. Even when the blinds are closed enough light comes through apparently.

It is very clear in the following pictures. They were taken when I had just put the lights on. The lymnophila does it more extremely than the rotala.

Here you can see the positioning of the tank relative to the window

Is there anything I can do about this? Will the tank be prone to extra algae?

Edit: I seem to have a problem with photobucket. These pictures are correctly rotated in the album...

 

[Jen]

Do they eventually straighten up? You can block off the one side there with garbage bag or aquarium background. It could become a problem eventually. You may need to shorten your photoperiod.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

If they straighten up once the lights are on I wouldn't worry but it may cause algae in the future.

 

[ian]

as above they will straighten after an hour or so. Most stems will open and look for the best source of light.

Looks very nice Lu, nice wood placement.

 

[Biulu]

Thanks everybody ! The lymnophila seems to straighten out once the lights are on (after several hours though) but the rotala hasn't budged yet. Maybe the lights are not strong enough?

 

[ian]

if the Rotala has been grown emersed it will be a little tougher and can actually stay like that until it starts with it's new growth. The way around this is a good trim.

 

[Biulu]

Allright. I am a bit hesitant of a trim currently though as I see that the lower leaves are dying off. I think this is due to having it had under very low light for almost 2 weeks before planting it, plus bundled up. So, I prefer to see whether it starts growing and then taking cuttings from it and replanting.

Another question: I got 3 out of the 4 macro powders that I need for ferts. These are potassium nitrate, potassium phosphate and magnesium sulphate. The one missing is the posassium sulphate.

Apart from that I have API which contains potassium and iron. What do you suggest I'd do? Start dosing with what I have, or wait until I get the missing ingredient?

 

[FishFanatic04]

I'm not using potassium sulphate, I was under the impression that you can possibly get enough potassium from the other two. But since I am new to ferts...I wouldn't go off me saying that.

 

[ian]

I agree with the above...with EI there is an abundance of K, which for me is one of the reasons of why it works so well. I would start to dose without. Adding the API won't hurt.