Planted tank journal (10G Hex)

GeraldTheMouse · 03-03-2007, 08:01 PM

I'm not a big fan of hex tanks, but now I am. :]

tropicalfish · 03-04-2007, 02:09 PM

It looks lovely!
If only I could get my 10 gallon hex like that!!

NickMeyer28 · 03-12-2007, 04:20 PM

looks great!

MrJG · 03-12-2007, 10:29 PM

Thanks you guys.

Guess a wee non-picture update while I'm here...

I forgot to mention in the last post that I switched the filter that came with the kit out with a Aqua-clear 20. I was just getting too much particulate matter with the kit from stopping/starting during feeding time. The water wasn't quite as polished looking as I would have liked it either. I folded my old used filter up in the new media bay and ran it for a week to help establish the new bacteria. Having a little ammonia issue right now (<.25ppm) so I guess I didn't quite leave it in there long enough. Nitrates are still 5ppm so at least I know something in there is still working. No readable Nitrites.

While still on the subject of water quality I hadn't realized just how much coloration had leeched out of the driftwood since adding it. The water had a nice light brown tinge to it. I guess this is ok in itself but with my lighting and the uber-bright green Wysteria it looked like I had green neon lights in the tank. I've done 2 - 40% water changes and several other 10% water changes since those last pics were taken. Removed the driftwood (in anticipation of my new plants arriving) and boiled the pieces again and soaked for 48 more hours with several water changes in a 5G bucket. The water is much clearer now and has remained so for several days.

Phosphates - Even after all the water changes they still remain high (>10ppm) so after doing some reading I found out that bloodworms will raise phosphate levels quite easily. I'd been feeding these several times a week to the betta/rasboras. No more for a while. Picked up a couple of things to help out with this. Cut a chunk of poly filter and added that to the filter and also a bag of Seachem purigen. Hopefully this will help get the levels down to a managable level. I'm guessing that I should aim for ~1ppm? Found a little info on the "redfield ratio" but I'm not entirely sure if that pertains to my low light situation. But if I read correctly it should be on a 1:5 ratio with the Nitrate level.

The new plants finally got here. Wow I knew that Anubias 'petite' was the smaller version but I had no idea it was THAT small. Very cool little plant this is. I got very nice portions from the vendor and was able to seperate 2 plants into 3 sections and a rogue rhizome (sp?) was in the same package. I jammed that into one of the driftwood pieces to see if it would develop. Tied up all the Taiwan Moss. My first time was quite tedious but I got the hang of it after the first try. The marimo balls are so much bigger than I thought they would be and look a little out of place in the tank. I'll get some pics up sometime this week.

The lfs that I had called about the rasboras I had never actually visited... I did on sunday and I'm so glad I didn't order anything from them in the dark. Probably a good 80% of the fish in the shop had ick. Man it was really sad to see all those sick fish. So the only other store semi-local to me has wild caught ones that I refuse to buy. Oh well. Maybe later.

Since that fell through I went ahead and picked up 12 White Cloud minnows (all juvenille) from another store. (Edit: I traded in the rasboras/tetras/oto for store credit.) Talk about adding activity to a tank, obviously this is way too many for such a small tank but...

My wife is so great. She's going to let me set up a nice tank in the bedroom. High light, pressurized CO2, the whole enchilada. So half of the Clouds are going in there eventually. I'm thinking 20G long right now but might go a tad bigger and do a 30G not quite sure yet, we have a little space restriction. Either way I'm planning everything out and taking my time. I'd like to do it as right as possible from the beginning from equipment to actually attempting to do a real aquascape. I have lots of research to do. :P

Wow, I type entirely too much sometimes... whoever reads it all gets a cookie I guess.

Cheers til next time.

MrJG · 03-14-2007, 10:34 PM

I'm still curious about anyones thoughts on what my goal phosphate level should be from above.

Did a 10% WC today and checked parameters before hand.
PH 7.2
KH 3
Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrates 0!!
Phosphates 5ppm

So the poly filter/purigen combo has dropped the phosphate levels quite a bit since sunday. Looks like the purigen has also been successful in removing all of my nitrates too.

I pulled it out for the moment and added a fresh chunk of poly filter.
I also started dosing seachem potassium on sunday. Figured its the only thing that I wasn't dosing and I had the other two. Might as well make sure I have NPK all included. :O I have to say I've seen an explosion of new growth since then, not quite like something in a high light co2 tank but its all relative. If I can see considerable new growth in 3 days then that is smokin' fast compared to normal.

Ok I guess updates are no fun without pictures so...

Here is a pic when I pulled the driftwood to plant on 3.11 (notice I stripped most of the lower leaves off the wysteria):

An amano on the Ludwiga:

Supersized version: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/...anoludwiga.jpg

Now some from today after the planting. I trimmed the ludwiga down and moved the brevipes over to the right side.

Full tank:

Supersized: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/.../tankfront.jpg

Right side:

Supersize: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/.../tankright.jpg

The extra anubias petite rhizome (pardon the white specks, a bio cylinder got crunched in the filter and it spit it out everywhere):

Java Fern plantlets that I pulled from the main plant and stuck in a drifwood crack:

Close up of the petite and marimo ball in the driftwood dish:

Supersize: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/...rimo-close.jpg

Part of the "explosion" of growth, these new stalks have grown almost 2 inches in 3 days:

Need a little help identifying the hitchhikers that have made their way into the tank from plants:

Supersize: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/...4.07/snail.jpg

And

Supersize: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/....07/snail2.jpg

Guess thats all for now. Curious to hear any thoughts good or bad. I'm still on the fence with the marimo balls fitting in. All of the different colors in the tank didn't look too good to me at first but its growing on me.

Till next time...

tropicalfish · 03-15-2007, 05:02 PM

Nice pics! And congrats on the new Hagen AquaClear filter... what model is that?

MrJG · 03-15-2007, 07:04 PM

Its the 20 formerly known as the mini. I'm liking it so far, the water is much more clear now. I just saw in your sig that you opted for the next model up... just for more water movement?

tropicalfish · 03-15-2007, 07:29 PM

Yes, I used to have the Top Fin 10. It was a lump of crap, barely did anything. I used the 30 for a bit more water movement and filtration, but I soon discovered I didn't need so much power, but the high filtration is nice to have hehe

Avalon · 03-15-2007, 08:14 PM

Nice tank MrJG! If I were you, I would double the trace and excel ferts. From there, I would dose KNO3 (powder). Purigen will remove your nitrogenous DOC's, misleading you (via your test kits) to believe you had enough N, but you will still need IO N (Inorganic Nitrogen) for your Ludwigia's. You might also consider additional Potassium dosing. Ludwigia's are heavy N feeders, and they will simply turn pale and dissolve when they don't have enough. If stems turn black, it's a lack of light, but when they simply dissolve, it's a lack of N.

MrJG · 03-16-2007, 08:22 AM

Avalon: Thanks for the reply! I was kind of hesitant to dose any more than I had been considering the low light and lack of CO2 injection. I've already yanked the purigen pack out (it was only there for 3 days to help with the high phosphates).
I'll double up on everything flourish, excel, and potassium. Everything I've been using is Seachem liquid, I have no dry powder ferts at the moment. Would Seachem's Nitrogen suffice for this? If so what level should I shoot for when dosing? I'm assuming that when dosing nitrogen that nitrate levels will be affected.
Once last and most important question...
Should the small amount of copper contained in Flourish be of concern when I start double dosing? I have 4 Amano and 2 Ghost shrimp (one of which is berried ATM) and I want to be really sure that the copper isn't going to be too much for them.

Thanks in advance.

03-03-2007, 08:01 PM	#21
GeraldTheMouse Super Fish Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Homewood, Illinois Posts: 1,508	I'm not a big fan of hex tanks, but now I am. :] __________________ My deviantART account.

03-04-2007, 02:09 PM	#22
tropicalfish Medium Fish Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 525	It looks lovely! If only I could get my 10 gallon hex like that!! __________________ --- 75 Gallon Rena FilStar xP3, Hydor ETH 300W, Coralife 48" Aqualight 260W 6700K, Rex Grigg Regulator with Ideal Valve, 10 pound CO2 cylinder. :: ADA Aqua Soil Malaya and ADA Power Sand M ---

03-12-2007, 04:20 PM	#23
NickMeyer28 Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 10	looks great! __________________ -Nick- 40 Gallon Freshwater Planted 10 Neon Tetras 6 Silver Tiger Barbs 3 Female Guppies. lots of guppy fry 1 Kissing Gourami 1 Chocolate Pleco 10 Gallon Freshwater 15 +- Guppy Fry

03-12-2007, 10:29 PM	#24
MrJG Little Fish Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lancaster, S.C. Posts: 104	Thanks you guys. Guess a wee non-picture update while I'm here... I forgot to mention in the last post that I switched the filter that came with the kit out with a Aqua-clear 20. I was just getting too much particulate matter with the kit from stopping/starting during feeding time. The water wasn't quite as polished looking as I would have liked it either. I folded my old used filter up in the new media bay and ran it for a week to help establish the new bacteria. Having a little ammonia issue right now (<.25ppm) so I guess I didn't quite leave it in there long enough. Nitrates are still 5ppm so at least I know something in there is still working. No readable Nitrites. While still on the subject of water quality I hadn't realized just how much coloration had leeched out of the driftwood since adding it. The water had a nice light brown tinge to it. I guess this is ok in itself but with my lighting and the uber-bright green Wysteria it looked like I had green neon lights in the tank. I've done 2 - 40% water changes and several other 10% water changes since those last pics were taken. Removed the driftwood (in anticipation of my new plants arriving) and boiled the pieces again and soaked for 48 more hours with several water changes in a 5G bucket. The water is much clearer now and has remained so for several days. Phosphates - Even after all the water changes they still remain high (>10ppm) so after doing some reading I found out that bloodworms will raise phosphate levels quite easily. I'd been feeding these several times a week to the betta/rasboras. No more for a while. Picked up a couple of things to help out with this. Cut a chunk of poly filter and added that to the filter and also a bag of Seachem purigen. Hopefully this will help get the levels down to a managable level. I'm guessing that I should aim for ~1ppm? Found a little info on the "redfield ratio" but I'm not entirely sure if that pertains to my low light situation. But if I read correctly it should be on a 1:5 ratio with the Nitrate level. The new plants finally got here. Wow I knew that Anubias 'petite' was the smaller version but I had no idea it was THAT small. Very cool little plant this is. I got very nice portions from the vendor and was able to seperate 2 plants into 3 sections and a rogue rhizome (sp?) was in the same package. I jammed that into one of the driftwood pieces to see if it would develop. Tied up all the Taiwan Moss. My first time was quite tedious but I got the hang of it after the first try. The marimo balls are so much bigger than I thought they would be and look a little out of place in the tank. I'll get some pics up sometime this week. The lfs that I had called about the rasboras I had never actually visited... I did on sunday and I'm so glad I didn't order anything from them in the dark. Probably a good 80% of the fish in the shop had ick. Man it was really sad to see all those sick fish. So the only other store semi-local to me has wild caught ones that I refuse to buy. Oh well. Maybe later. Since that fell through I went ahead and picked up 12 White Cloud minnows (all juvenille) from another store. (Edit: I traded in the rasboras/tetras/oto for store credit.) Talk about adding activity to a tank, obviously this is way too many for such a small tank but... My wife is so great. She's going to let me set up a nice tank in the bedroom. High light, pressurized CO2, the whole enchilada. So half of the Clouds are going in there eventually. I'm thinking 20G long right now but might go a tad bigger and do a 30G not quite sure yet, we have a little space restriction. Either way I'm planning everything out and taking my time. I'd like to do it as right as possible from the beginning from equipment to actually attempting to do a real aquascape. I have lots of research to do. :P Wow, I type entirely too much sometimes... whoever reads it all gets a cookie I guess. Cheers til next time. Last edited by MrJG; 03-12-2007 at 10:31 PM..

03-14-2007, 10:34 PM	#25
MrJG Little Fish Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lancaster, S.C. Posts: 104	I'm still curious about anyones thoughts on what my goal phosphate level should be from above. Did a 10% WC today and checked parameters before hand. PH 7.2 KH 3 Nitrites 0 Ammonia 0 Nitrates 0!! Phosphates 5ppm So the poly filter/purigen combo has dropped the phosphate levels quite a bit since sunday. Looks like the purigen has also been successful in removing all of my nitrates too. I pulled it out for the moment and added a fresh chunk of poly filter. I also started dosing seachem potassium on sunday. Figured its the only thing that I wasn't dosing and I had the other two. Might as well make sure I have NPK all included. :O I have to say I've seen an explosion of new growth since then, not quite like something in a high light co2 tank but its all relative. If I can see considerable new growth in 3 days then that is smokin' fast compared to normal. Ok I guess updates are no fun without pictures so... Here is a pic when I pulled the driftwood to plant on 3.11 (notice I stripped most of the lower leaves off the wysteria): An amano on the Ludwiga: Supersized version: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/...anoludwiga.jpg Now some from today after the planting. I trimmed the ludwiga down and moved the brevipes over to the right side. Full tank: Supersized: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/.../tankfront.jpg Right side: Supersize: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/.../tankright.jpg The extra anubias petite rhizome (pardon the white specks, a bio cylinder got crunched in the filter and it spit it out everywhere): Java Fern plantlets that I pulled from the main plant and stuck in a drifwood crack: Close up of the petite and marimo ball in the driftwood dish: Supersize: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/...rimo-close.jpg Part of the "explosion" of growth, these new stalks have grown almost 2 inches in 3 days: Need a little help identifying the hitchhikers that have made their way into the tank from plants: Supersize: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/...4.07/snail.jpg And Supersize: http://www.projectswerve.org/images/....07/snail2.jpg Guess thats all for now. Curious to hear any thoughts good or bad. I'm still on the fence with the marimo balls fitting in. All of the different colors in the tank didn't look too good to me at first but its growing on me. Till next time... Last edited by MrJG; 03-25-2007 at 12:14 PM..

03-15-2007, 05:02 PM	#26
tropicalfish Medium Fish Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 525	Nice pics! And congrats on the new Hagen AquaClear filter... what model is that? __________________ --- 75 Gallon Rena FilStar xP3, Hydor ETH 300W, Coralife 48" Aqualight 260W 6700K, Rex Grigg Regulator with Ideal Valve, 10 pound CO2 cylinder. :: ADA Aqua Soil Malaya and ADA Power Sand M ---

03-15-2007, 07:04 PM	#27
MrJG Little Fish Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lancaster, S.C. Posts: 104	Its the 20 formerly known as the mini. I'm liking it so far, the water is much more clear now. I just saw in your sig that you opted for the next model up... just for more water movement?

03-15-2007, 07:29 PM	#28
tropicalfish Medium Fish Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 525	Yes, I used to have the Top Fin 10. It was a lump of crap, barely did anything. I used the 30 for a bit more water movement and filtration, but I soon discovered I didn't need so much power, but the high filtration is nice to have hehe __________________ --- 75 Gallon Rena FilStar xP3, Hydor ETH 300W, Coralife 48" Aqualight 260W 6700K, Rex Grigg Regulator with Ideal Valve, 10 pound CO2 cylinder. :: ADA Aqua Soil Malaya and ADA Power Sand M ---

03-15-2007, 08:14 PM	#29
Avalon Moderator Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Ft. Worth, TX Posts: 2,836	Nice tank MrJG! If I were you, I would double the trace and excel ferts. From there, I would dose KNO3 (powder). Purigen will remove your nitrogenous DOC's, misleading you (via your test kits) to believe you had enough N, but you will still need IO N (Inorganic Nitrogen) for your Ludwigia's. You might also consider additional Potassium dosing. Ludwigia's are heavy N feeders, and they will simply turn pale and dissolve when they don't have enough. If stems turn black, it's a lack of light, but when they simply dissolve, it's a lack of N. __________________ View my gallery here and join us in the MFT.net chatroom!

03-16-2007, 08:22 AM	#30
MrJG Little Fish Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Lancaster, S.C. Posts: 104	Avalon: Thanks for the reply! I was kind of hesitant to dose any more than I had been considering the low light and lack of CO2 injection. I've already yanked the purigen pack out (it was only there for 3 days to help with the high phosphates). I'll double up on everything flourish, excel, and potassium. Everything I've been using is Seachem liquid, I have no dry powder ferts at the moment. Would Seachem's Nitrogen suffice for this? If so what level should I shoot for when dosing? I'm assuming that when dosing nitrogen that nitrate levels will be affected. Once last and most important question... Should the small amount of copper contained in Flourish be of concern when I start double dosing? I have 4 Amano and 2 Ghost shrimp (one of which is berried ATM) and I want to be really sure that the copper isn't going to be too much for them. Thanks in advance.