Shoal & Stem
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Full Tank Log

· 11 entries
Update

CO2 gassing off properly

I realized that when I reduced the light period to control BBA I forgot to adjust the time for CO2 solenoid to turn off, which kept injecting up to an hour after lights went off. I adjusted the timer and everything is working properly now.

Observation

Buffer filter flow

I added a little sponge to the filter output and surface agitation was reduced 90%. CO2 is more stable but I think it’s struggling to gas-off during the night. Woke up to drop checker still apple green.

Trim & reshape

No clue what im doing

I don’t even know what im trying to do. I liked mermaid weed so i tried to make a forest of it but then i decided to leave some rotala too. Mermaid weed is hard to grow without blasting light and co2 but since it’s a slow grower it wasn’t gonna work…
Problem

BBA

After a couple of weeks with no CO2 (forgot to refill tank), and then reintroducing CO2, BBA took advantage and has been spreading. Currently spot treating with peroxide and reduced light.

Update

Change of water treatment.

I always used tap water treated with Seachem’s Acid and Alkaline buffers. It worked very good for a while but treating water every time i needed to do a water change ended up taking way too much time and effort. I decided to simply age my water in a…
Observation

Doesn’t want to go

Despite me removing as much of the roots and stems from hygrophila pinnatifida it appears that it wasn’t enough. A couple tiny leaves sprouted from what i thought were dead roots. I’m not sure if i will let it grow though.

Update

Right color, wrong parents

I have a red shrimp that came from Cory Cove. It was born from blue velvet parents, but I thought it would be okay to move it to this yellow/orange tank since the oranges came from yellows breeding with reds. I recently learned that it has blue velve…
Rescape

It was too laborious

Key moment
Trimming all the different plants that grow in different rates made it hard to keep it looking nice. Decided to make a wall with mermaid weed to the sides and a small portion of rotala in de middle. Got rid of ludwigia super red mini and limnophila a…
Update

Co2 ran out

Co2 run out a couple of weeks ago. Just started injecting again yesterday. Didn’t do any water changes in the time that there was no co2 and didn’t dose any fertilizer either.

Update

Dominant color

It started as a skittles tank but quickly became wild dominant due to reds and blues interbreeding. Took blues and wild type out and color has stabilized into a mix of yellow and orange.

Rescape

Moved plants

Key moment

Moved Rotala to the back and made more space for mermaid weed on the left. Hygrophila pinnatifida exploded and took over central dragon stone. Got rid of regular scarlet temple from the back, kept variegated version in the foreground.