New 125g Community - "Stump" Driftwood Planted Build

[max h]

That was quick, I hope you don't have an ammonia spike.

 

[Jamieson22]

That was quick, I hope you don't have an ammonia spike.

Yeah not way I'd prefer but have a hard time finding rummynose and figured I'd buy before price doubled in a few days. Hoping impact in a 125g will be minimal buy will stay on top of it next week or so to make sure. They are all pretty tiny right now.

 

[max h]

I don't blame you if the price is going to double.

 

[Jamieson22]

Kind of hard to photograph but the school is awesome!

 

[max h]

Now I'll have to get more Neon's. I almost went with Rummy Nose Tetra's, the girlfriend wanted Neon's.

 

[Jamieson22]

Now I'll have to get more Neon's. I almost went with Rummy Nose Tetra's, the girlfriend wanted Neon's.

I think a big school of neon's would be equally awesome looking!

 

[max h]

I think a big school of neon's would be equally awesome looking!

I was thinking around 25-30 Neon's, about 12 Cherry Barbs, upping both the Panda and Pepper Cories to some where around 8-10, adding in 6 Oto's, and some type of Gourami. The swordtails I have will be rehomed.

 

[Anders247]

That looks amazing!

 

[Jamieson22]

So, who can help me with a PH concern?

Below is a water test I just did and how I see readings:

• pH (tap @ 80 degrees): 7.2
  
• pH High (tap @ 80 degrees): 7.4
• pH High (tank @ 80 degrees): 8.8
• Ammonia: 0
• Nitrite: 0
• Nitrate: 0

How does my PH go from what I would assume is 7.4 out of tap, to 8.8 out of tank??? Only factors I coudl imagine is my driftwood and the rocks I used from yard to hold it down. I dose plants with Seachem products but PH was as it is now before that.

Also tough to judge but I may have a hint of Ammonia and a hint of Nitrate instead of 0. Tank is certainly cycled. Last week I added a bag of Seachem Matrix in addition to bio media that came with the FX6. Also have "nitrate busting" plants in tank. Could this explain the near zero readings? This test was 2 days after adding 25 rummy, 3 pear gourami and 2 sterbaI cory and 1 day after adding 25 more rummy.

 

[Jamieson22]

Perhaps answering my own question but I am thinking perhaps 3 of the rocks I used to hold my driftwood down are limestone. Can see them in this .

Would this have that much affect on my pH? Am also leaving some tap water out in a cup and will test that in a few hours to see if it off-gasses to a different pH on own.

 

[max h]

Try testing one of those rock in a bucket of dechlorinated water overnight and see what the ph is.

 

[Jamieson22]

Try testing one of those rock in a bucket of dechlorinated water overnight and see what the ph is.

Yeah only problem is removing one may make my driftwood float again. Guess will see if it's soaked long enough and plan for wet arms today!

 

[max h]

Wet arm syndrome is almost every day.

 

[TexasDomer]

Or really every day. I even bought long forceps so I wouldn't have to stick my arm in as much, and I still manage to get wet every day.

 

[Thurgood11]

Yeah only problem is removing one may make my driftwood float again. Guess will see if it's soaked long enough and plan for wet arms today!

Possibly get you some dragon stone or some quartz/granite or get some slate

 

[Jamieson22]

So after off gassing for a few hours tap water pH now reads 8.2 or so. Huh.

Tap after sitting out in left and new sample pulled from tank in right. Also note that while taking photo both of the glass vials fell and one cracked. Seriously, I need to stay away from these!

 

[Jamieson22]

So found 4 dead rummynose today and 1 of the new pearl gourami. Did a in bag acclimate of 2 hours, slowly mixing tank water per usual. Just not sure why I lose new fish! Per water parms, all were perfect...

Anyways I pulled 2 of the 3 stones I believe to be limestone and of course after 2nd stone teh wood started floating up a bit. Hit LFS for some replacements and had options for Seiryu or Dragonstone. Owner mentioned "one of those raises pH" to which I assumed Dragonstone (rather than googling) as the holes made it look more limestone based. Wrong! So now I have 24lbs of Seiryu stone which causes the problem I am looking to correct. Ended up using one stone that I really like and had planned to use in a betta aquascape once driftwood sinks anyways. Will likely go back to LFS and trade for Dragonstone.

Also snagged a 4L bottle of Seachem Flourish Excel for $25 off clearance rack!

Did a major diatom scrubbing followed with a 60% PWC. Giving the filter a bit to clean up and will clean filter and add Seachem PhosGuard to try to get diatoms under control. Looked like pond water after the scrub!

 

[max h]

I thought you may have lost a couple of the Tetras, 4 isn't too bad out of 50.

 

[Jamieson22]

I thought you may have lost a couple of the Tetras, 4 isn't too bad out of 50.

Agree, just hope this isn't the start of something bad like my Neon Dwarf Rainbowfish.

 

[Thurgood11]

Do you have an air stone? I just wonder if more surface agitation would help with PH.

Thinking about more filtration still?

 

[Jamieson22]

Do you have an air stone? I just wonder if more surface agitation would help with PH.

Thinking about more filtration still?

No airstone. Was actually planning to add a powerhead to increase circulation on left side of tank. The stump and plants tend to block the FX6 output in that area. Will run towards top so it agitates surface as well. Probably going to grab a Hydor one.

I still don't think I need more filtration than the FX6

 

[Thurgood11]

No airstone. Was actually planning to add a powerhead to increase circulation on left side of tank. The stump and plants tend to block the FX6 output in that area. Will run towards top so it agitates surface as well. Probably going to grab a Hydor one.

I still don't think I need more filtration than the FX6

Yeah, a powerhead should help a lot.

 

[Jamieson22]

Have been thinking about adding a second light to tank, as the stump certainly blocks a lot getting to front of tank when light is positioned towards back. Amazon.com had the BeamsWork DHL model I currently have for $30 less than than eBay (same seller on both sites). So, grabbed another for $100 shipped.

• Lumen: 9500
• LEDs: 90x 1W
• Config: 72x 6500K, 18x Actinic

 

[max h]

I see a big difference in my tank between having the back light on only and having both lights on.

 

[Thurgood11]

Have been thinking about adding a second light to tank, as the stump certainly blocks a lot getting to front of tank when light is positioned towards back. Amazon.com had the BeamsWork DHL model I currently have for $30 less than than eBay (same seller on both sites). So, grabbed another for $100 shipped.

• Lumen: 9500
• LEDs: 90x 1W
• Config: 72x 6500K, 18x Actinic

I bought the new LEDs and i'm really not sure if I like the 10K LEDs. So much whiter than the 6500K on the planted+

I might have to check this light out

 

[Jamieson22]

I bought the new LEDs and i'm really not sure if I like the 10K LEDs. So much whiter than the 6500K on the planted+

I might have to check this light out

I have liked it a lot as my primary light and it seems to be doing a good job on my plants. Curious if a second will lead to any issues with algae, etc. Plan to plug into my timer so it runs same times as existing with a mid-day siesta.

BeamsWorks has a few other 6500k options as well though most use.5w LED not 1w as this does.

 

[max h]

There is a possibility of algae growth, if you start seeing some you could shorten the photo period more if need be.

 

[Jamieson22]

Well new light arrived. Not sure if photos will even do justice to how much brighter it is.

Now need to work out best way to open glass lids with second light. Guess stack it on top of other light if indeed lid to open more than a crack? First World Problem I guess.

Before:



After:

 

[max h]

When I had my 2 lights on the 55 I just stacked them when I needed to open the glass tops. It was only for a week or two.

 

[Al913]

Your tank is one of the best tank yet! Love the driftwood-root it really makes the tank stand out!

 

[Thurgood11]

Looks great! Yeah the second light is a pain. I'll have to take a picture of my glass canopy braces I use to keep my lid open lol

 

[Jamieson22]

Looks great! Yeah the second light is a pain. I'll have to take a picture of my glass canopy braces I use to keep my lid open lol

Def share what you did to help. I imagine stacking my front light on top of back any time I need to dose ferts or feed is going to be a major PITA.

 

[TexasDomer]

You can always feed or dose ferts in the back, where the plastic is cut for the filters (unless your tank is drilled)

 

[Thurgood11]

This is what I did when I did water change and clean up.

 

[Jamieson22]

Thanks Thurgood11 ! So when I had one light, I could open the lid and it would simply lean back on light to stay open. Light would get pushed back slightly but would stop when it hit the filter hoses at back of tank.

Now with both lights, lid can't even get vertical without stacking one light on top of the other.

You don't have the plastic on back of glass lids to close that gap? Imagine you lose a good bit of water to evap?

 

[Thurgood11]

Thanks Thurgood11 ! So when I had one light, I could open the lid and it would simply lean back on light to stay open. Light would get pushed back slightly but would stop when it hit the filter hoses at back of tank.

Now with both lights, lid can't even get vertical without stacking one light on top of the other.

You don't have the plastic on back of glass lids to close that gap? Imagine you lose a good bit of water to evap?

the plastic piece I just lay on top to close the air gap some. I need to get around to permanently putting it on.

I will have to get it put on before the kuhli's go in. I have read that they could escape, so I need to close up that space.

 

[Jamieson22]

So this is my tank with both lights in place. They take up quite a bit of space!




Also with both pushed back as far as possible this is how far lids open :/

 

[beau]

Do you guys have the handles on the wider part of the lid? I'm able to open mine fully with two lights, but I always put the handles on the narrower part.

 

[Jamieson22]

Do you guys have the handles on the wider part of the lid? I'm able to open mine fully with two lights, but I always put the handles on the narrower part.

Brilliant! My handles were pre-applied to the large glass piece but will see if flipping one of them around would help and could then remove existing handle if needed.

 

[beau]

Brilliant! My handles were pre-applied to the large glass piece but will see if flipping one of them around would help and could then remove existing handle if needed.

Oh weird, I've always had to put the handles on my glass lids! The little diagrams show it on the narrower piece so that's just how I've applied them.

 

[Thurgood11]

I applied mine to the large side... Helps getting rocks out without removing the canopies... but a pain when leaving them open.

 

[max h]

On my canopies the glass pieces don't have the plastic hinge on them so I can take the front part and slide it on top of the rear half.

 

[Jamieson22]

On my canopies the glass pieces don't have the plastic hinge on them so I can take the front part and slide it on top of the rear half.

That may be a good way to handle. If I remove hinges on the middle glass lid, I can just slide it back instead of lifting. Should give plenty of room to feed/dose and if I need more I move lights.

 

[max h]

That may be a good way to handle. If I remove hinges on the middle glass lid, I can just slide it back instead of lifting. Should give plenty of room to feed/dose and if I need more I move lights.

I haven't really had the front lids closed on the tank for months to help keep the water temperature down, the water is already trying to push up to 80 degrees.

 

[Jamieson22]

So guessing that adding the second light caused this algae? Is it green hair?

Have the lights set for 4.5 on/2.5 off/4.5 on/off all night (my be off about but roughly this amt).

How to best combat?

 

[TexasDomer]

Doesn't look like hair algae to me. It might just be the beginning of fungus on the wood.

 

[Thurgood11]

I would say reduce the light further but I'm no expert. Get that CO2 in already

 

[Jamieson22]

I would say reduce the light further but I'm no expert. Get that CO2 in already

Have you noticed improvements since installing your CO2 system?

 

[Jamieson22]

Doesn't look like hair algae to me. It might just be the beginning of fungus on the wood.

How best to tackle? Scrub it off, do a 50% PWC and reduce lighting time period? Thinking maybe I should have the second light on for 50% of the total lighting period for now. That seem a good plan?

 

[Thurgood11]

Have you noticed improvements since installing your CO2 system?

not in... lol