Office Space

[seangee]

I'm learning a lot of avant garde techniques from this thread
Is the main section of the skimmer transparent by design, probably so you can keep an eye on the waste levels? I understand that nitrifying bacteria are inhibited by light, however I'm not certain how bright the light would need to be.. so whether its even a cause for concern here, if that is now the dedicated biofilter?
May I ask how the water sprite fairs as a floating plant. Is it completely floating so not rooted and growing up and across the surface? Whilst anacharis does float.. it looks.. messy IMO

Have to agree on the appearance of anacharis. Water sprite is still fairly new to me (this time around) and my surface coverage is probably only 15-20%. Have used it before and it does do well. Will take pics once I have a bit more, but I'm sure other members will chip in. It will require regular thinning once properly established, as does any floating plant. For the last few years I have been using frogbit almost exclusively. You can see the roots of that in my signature pic. This is what it looks like from above (which is out of sight). Most don't let it get as thick as mine but in this pic it is physically constrained to 50% of the tank so there is plenty of open water.

It is worth mentioning that I rely on the plants for ammonia reduction and have very little (if any) BB in my filter media. This is partly because the plants use all the ammonia before it gets to the filter so the BB starves, but also because the pH in both of these tanks is well below 6. BB struggles to grow or thrive in those conditions. So having the plants is a really good idea in my case. But it does mean I can afford to be quite cavalier about things like swapping out or removing filters as (in my case) they are primarily there to circulate the water and perform mechanical filtration.

These are the skimmers I used. The only negative, which is reflected in the reviews, is the thick black (fairly inflexible) cable that comes out of the bottom of the unit so it can be tricky to conceal.

 

[seangee]

Its too early to declare victory on cyano but I am finding it harder to find any to clear. Today I chucked out the last of the frogbit (which was always the plan once the water sprite established) and floated the water sprite in a very low concentration of H202. Tomorrow I'll uproot the hygrophila and wash them the same way which will allow a good vacuum in that corner. Have already done that in the other sections. I have left the ugly eheim filter in situ for the time being as I believe the extra flow helps. The swords seem to be taking an age to take, although the roots have spread a lot. I will give them a chance. If they do take I will only have space for one or two anyway. I have ordered some helanthium tenellum for the central section and when it arrives will move the ludwigia into the left section to keep the swords company.

Last night I went in about an hour after lights out to watch them. The embers were in a big group close to the substrate among the hygrophila. The chilies were all chilling in another group up in the water sprite. Alas the sparklers could not reach a consensus on sleeping arrangements. 3 of them were up in the water sprite and the other 3 were down on the substrate.
Just need some patience now for the plants to grow in.

 

[mbsqw1d]

Is it just a personal preference with watersprite over frogbit? Does it require the H202 to float or is it more a helping hand?

 

[seangee]

Is it just a personal preference with watersprite over frogbit? Does it require the H202 to float or is it more a helping hand?

I have frogbit in my other tanks and wanted something different in this one so my tanks don't all look exactly the same - in fact every plant is different to what I have in the others. H202 is hydrogen peroxide. This tank is new and had an outbreak of cyanobacteria (blue/green algae). Fortunately I picked this up early and I believe the conditions that caused it no longer exist. I would not put this in my tank so I have been removing the plants and leaving them to float in a very diluted solution for and hour, before rinsing them and putting them back in the tank. The hope is that that will kill any BGA that remains on the roots or leaves. TBA my bottle of H202 is in all likelihood a bottle of plain old H2O as it has been sat in my garage for over a year - but a good rinse in water will hopefully wash any unwanted muck off

 

[seangee]

How many?

Cleaned and vac'd as promised. I had no intention of splitting the plants but they are fast growing...
Hard to believe its only 6 weeks ago that I bought 6 puny little stems for the princely sum of £2.80

On the day I originally planted them

 

[seangee]

Finally cracked the filtration dilemma. To recap:

• I wanted a low flow sponge filter to suit the fish I have
• Its on my desk so I can't / won't live with the noise of an air pump for 8+ hours a day
• Bought an Eheim pickup 160, too powerful so swapped it for a 60 (45 would have been even better)
• Added chilly rasbora and discovered they could fit in the filter slats (and they are very inquisitive) - so wrapped the filter in a stocking (see post #107)

So its ugly, massive and cleaning it is not the one minute job I expect. To ensure nobody gets trapped I have to remove the filter completely for rinsing and pull off and re-attach the suckers so I can rinse the stocking. Fine mesh means that all the solid muck stays on the outside of the filter - but I still have to remove it to clean the stocking.

Decided to attach a mini powerhead to a sponge filter as in plan A without the noise. While I was searching for a suitable mini powerhead online I found this https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KGGVRRI/?tag=. Its absolutely perfect. Small and inconspicuously sitting in the corner blending into the black back wall. Adjustable flow that lets you turn it down really low. I haven't got it on minimum, but also nowhere close to max, which is a raging torrent. The only downside is I now have to find an alternative home for my bags of leaves for the tannin. I'm not expecting any cycling issues as I am pretty sure there was no BB in the filter but I suppose I should test for ammonia over the next few days.

Picture may follow when the light comes on this evening.

 

[mbsqw1d]

Ha wonderful how there's something out there thats perfect for the job. Is it the rooibos tea leaves you're adding?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Your lucky to have a nice 20g like that. My 20g long is trash right now.

 

[seangee]

Here you go - so much neater.

As you can see the helanthium tenellum has arrived. I forgot how much Tropica pack into their tubs - one would have been plenty. The skimmer on the left can stick around for a few days so it can deal with the mess I made with all the planting and re-planting. Then it will be pretty minimalist. The bags will come out tomorrow on water change day and I have taken the heater out for a little rest. (Actually I've sent it to work in another tank ). I'll ditch the Seachem alert thingies some time next week when I am satisfied there is still no ammonia.

 

[seangee]

Just a reminder (to myself) that stuff is still growing. Have a little less tannin now. Not seen any cyano since before the weekend but the top sponge in the skimmer still turns bright green after a couple of days. Back to weekly water changes since Friday, but I suspect the battle's not over yet.

That's Stumpy inside the red squiggle. Can't see it clearly in the pic but she now has a normally shaped and sized tail. Tension between the gouramis seems to have de-escalated (for now) and one of them has staked his claim to the overhanging section on the central log.

Tropco has corydoras pygmaeus back in stock. Must keep resisting...

 

[mbsqw1d]

Must say thats a perfect tank for corys.. whats the substrate like?

 

[mbsqw1d]

Hows the cyano battle going? Just been reading about how the allelochemicals given off by Myriophyllum spicatum (spiked milfoil) inhibits the growth of cyano and other algae. Admittedly alot of it is going over my head but very interesting none the less!

 

[seangee]

Hows the cyano battle going? Just been reading about how the allelochemicals given off by Myriophyllum spicatum (spiked milfoil) inhibits the growth of cyano and other algae. Admittedly alot of it is going over my head but very interesting none the less!

There is progress but frustratingly slow. In the last week I did a 50% midweek water change in addition to the weekend 70% change. No longer vacuuming daily. It currently takes 8-10 days for visible BGA to appear on the subtrate and glass so there will be a vacuum with tomorrow's wc. There is a piece of white sponge in the top of the surface skimmer and that turns green after about a week.

Hopefully I haven't hindered the progress because I have resumed liquid ferts (albeit at half dosage) and increased the lighting period again because the plants were missing them.

Missed your earlier post on the substrate. I really like the look. There is quite a range of sizes in the sand grains so it does give a nice feeling of depth on the substrate. It also does contain a lot of different colours but still manages to look natural. After all that it is a little lighter overall than I would prefer.

 

[Retired Viking]

How is stumpy doing?

 

[seangee]

How is stumpy doing?

Absolutely fine. Normal shape but you can still see the strip of white scar tissue. She is the bossiest of the tetras and also swims the fastest - probably all the training from swimming without a tail