Nry's Pfk Aquacube Journal

[nry]

I took the twigs out last night during the water change, and whilst the mopani will be going in in a few weeks, I do think it looks much better without the twigs! Ironic really, the twigs were initially the thing I 'had' to have to make this design work, yet it works better without the twigs I will try to post some pictures later.

 

[lljdma06]

I took the twigs out last night during the water change, and whilst the mopani will be going in in a few weeks, I do think it looks much better without the twigs! Ironic really, the twigs were initially the thing I 'had' to have to make this design work, yet it works better without the twigs I will try to post some pictures later.

I just found a nice piece of mopani too. We shall dwell in Mopani happiness.

llj

 

[nry]

I have the windelov ordered from AE alongside some additional nanjenshan (most will go in my 15-gallon) and some rotala rotundifolia which I may or may not use in the PFK cube. I am thinking of a background of r.r. with some mini-twister to the left side going behind the mopani which will stand to the back-left but into the centre enough to let the mini-twister go around the 'trunk'. H.C. as a carpet and some p.helferi around aswell.

I have some Hagen black river sand (extra fine 2-3mm) ordered aswell, the EC is getting ditched, and I will use JBL AquaBasis Plus below this: have some JBL left over from my 15-gallon. I can't put my finger on why, but EC just doesn't agree with me. I am hoping all the bits should arrive tomorrow.

There's a vague bit of me wanting to use CO2 instead of Excel but for now I am going to stick with Excel. I get as much pearling from this 5-gallon as I do with my 15-gallon which does use CO2!

 

[lljdma06]

There's a vague bit of me wanting to use CO2 instead of Excel but for now I am going to stick with Excel. I get as much pearling from this 5-gallon as I do with my 15-gallon which does use CO2!

Excel's not a bad thing. I'm currently experimenting with dosing it in my 2.5g. I recently doubled the lighting for it. It's a simple tank, just anubias and R. rotundifolia, but I think I'm getting superior growth this way and the r. r. stays more compact. No pearling, but I'm probably not adding enough yet. What is your dosing for your 5g, cause I can probably just halve that and get good results. R. r. is a great plant for nanos and does well in a variety of conditions.

Your aquascaping ideas sound good, can't wait to see the new pictures.

 

[nry]

I'm dosing Excel ~0.7ml per day. This is the max. weekly amount divided by 7. I also dose minimal EI at a rate 1/4 of that I use for my CO2'd 15-gallon: only started this a few weeks ago, just before I bought the mopani, so can't say I have noticed much difference. Overall I have 24w over 5 gallon so ~4.5wpg.

 

[lljdma06]

I'm dosing Excel ~0.7ml per day. This is the max. weekly amount divided by 7. I also dose minimal EI at a rate 1/4 of that I use for my CO2'd 15-gallon: only started this a few weeks ago, just before I bought the mopani, so can't say I have noticed much difference. Overall I have 24w over 5 gallon so ~4.5wpg.

Hmmm, I'm dosing more than you, about 1mL a day and just sticking with 1mL Flourish every other day for now. I've got supplies to do EI, but I really want to see if I can cheat first by adding a lot more livestock. The tank currently has a lone betta, but I'd really like a small school of corydoras pygmaeus, about 6, and some cherry shrimps for color. I'm getting some diatoms, but I stirred up and vacumned the substrate when I rescaped, so that's expected and it's going away. The lack of pearling is probably because I've got a strong current because of two filters. I'll try reducing it today and see how that goes. I'm assuming surface agitation drives off CO2 whether it's dosed via injection or Excel? It's a fine line, though, my tapwater's got a lot of disolved minerals in it and if the water doesn't move, I get a yucky film, which I can't stand. Yucky film is not worth getting to see a few bubbles oozing out of my plants, IMHO.

 

[nry]

Don't think surface agitation drives off Excel, it is not CO2, so it should not be affected by the same things.

 

[lljdma06]

Don't think surface agitation drives off Excel, it is not CO2, so it should not be affected by the same things.

Thanks, I didn't think it would, but I wasn't quite sure. I reduced the surface agitation anyways and my betta is very happy.

 

[nry]

This link was given in a thread where I asked what Flourish Excel actually was, a very interesting read:

http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutaraldehyde

 

[nry]

Major rescape today, only gripe is that I had to cut the top off the mopani wood, and didn't I go and cut too much off....rather than sticking out of the water I have a squared off end about 1 inch below......pah!

Superbly different though, I will post piccies tomorrow once water has settled!

 

[Underwurlde]

Hi nry,
Re: Excel: Can't remember where I read this, but it's in my notes:

Careful dosing of Excel can provide good results, it has a half life of about 11 hours and should be dosed early in the day.

Just thought that was perhaps worth mentioning....

Andy

 

[nry]

Hi nry,
Re: Excel: Can't remember where I read this, but it's in my notes:

Careful dosing of Excel can provide good results, it has a half life of about 11 hours and should be dosed early in the day.

Just thought that was perhaps worth mentioning....

Andy

I dose Excel in the morning, at such a half life most of it will still be around across the lighting period.

Piccy:

 

[RadaR]

Oooo, that's lovely!
Those Rasboras are cute.

 

[nry]

General tank details:

JBL AquaBasis Plus topped with Hagen Black River Sand (fine)
Mopani wood
24w Interpet PC T5 (Daylight Plus) and reflector

Fertilising:

Flourish Excel 0.7ml daily
EI 1/4 of the amount used for my 15-gallon
No CO2

Plants:

All plants from Tropica courtesy of AE:

Front - H.C. and some P.Heferi
On mopani - Windelov fern
Rear left - Vallis Americana mini twister
Rear right - Rotala rotundifolia
Right middle - Rotala nanjenshan

Livestock:

7 x Rasbora Maculata
5 x Corydoras Pygmaeus
May add 5 x tiger or bumble-bee shrimp and/or 2-3 dwarf oto's once new scape has matured a bit

 

[cheesy feet]

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