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The two differences in this tank is the ADA soil and Tap Vs. Distilled water. Houston water is pretty hard and has lots of minerals in it, which may also be helping the 10G. This tank is mostly distilled water with only about 25% Tap. I am slowly switching back to just tap water on this tank so that the only difference is the ADA soil.

What would you all recommend for a micro product? I think the LFS near me has Kent and Seachem products.


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

I personally am a fan of Tropica Master Grow (which reminds me, I need to order more), but tetratech I believe is using the Flourish and Flourish Trace for his micros (or one or the other) and I also think he may add a splash of Flourish Iron once in a while (with mixed success ).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Week 6 and 7 Update
This is a double update since I missed last weeks. Plants are still looking stunted but upping the Equilibrium has helped the algae. It seems to have stopped growing on all but a few leaves. Next time I get to the LFS I'll pick up some flourish.

Week 6 Picture

Week 7 Picture

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Week 8 Update.

There is a couple new developments in this tank.

First here is the tank shot
Full Tank

The tank is getting better growth but still the plants don't grow in looking completely health.

That leads to the second development. I have gotten Flourish solution for my micros. My dosing is now once a week of 1/8tsb KNO3, 1/32tsb KH2PSO4, and 1/2 Cap (~2.5ml) Flourish.

Does this sound enough. I would not expect to need as much as a CO2 enriched tank but I want to run it by you all to see if I should up the doses. I only test for N03 and usually run around 40ppm before a water change so NO3 is not getting used up real fast.

Lastly I tried to get a good shot but alas my camera suck, but one of my Amano Shrimp is carrying eggs. It looks so cool fanning them.

Thats all for now.



Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Rick,

No-CO2 tanks take quite a while to show changes, for the better and the worse. Growth is easily down to a third of the speed then in high light CO2 tank, even when adding ferts.

For my 29G and my 20G (when not hosting new fishies), I use about .25tsp of KNO3 and maybe about 1/24tsp of KH2PSO4, with 10ml of Excel and around 10ml of micros, once per week (with a 1 day gap between all and micros).

Also, remember your tank is, at best, medium planted, so you may need less than that.

And I do weekly (or biweekly) 50% water changes.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Week 9 Update

Full Shot

While this doesn't look like much change the plants do seem to be doing better. Thanks Ingo for the fertilizing feedback. I'm not that far off from your dosing. I think adding the micros is doing the trick.

I'm going to try and get some more plants for this tanks here soon, so expect to see some additions.

That's it for now.


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Glad to hear that you get some additional plants, otherwise we would have to invent a new forum called "Planted Tank Light" just for this one .

No, seriously, I think it will be nice to see less gravel and more color. Just one suggestion: don't get too many different plants, a few species overall will look best.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

As LF has said, you can probably cut back on your ferts just a little. If you don't want to run CO2 and still want to speed up your growth then I would try some Excel as your carbon source.

Plants really need 3 things to photosynthises (Water, light and, carbon dioxide). Most of the ferts we use aid in other things the plants need for growth and such.

If one of the big three are limited then adding extra ferts isn't going to help much.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Plants really need 3 things to photosynthises (Water, light and, carbon dioxide) ... If one of the big three are limited then adding extra ferts isn't going to help much

Yeah, just think about what help ferts would do if there is no water in the tank

Actually - I think the 3 things needed are ferts, light, and a carbon source (not water, that is a given, just like the plants themselves) in proper proportions to each other.

Sorry, but I couldn't resist

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Get out your Biology text book and look up photosyntheis!

I know what you are getting at. I figured some one would jump on it but check out what I am talking about. Ferts not really used for photosynthesis they are used for other things. Plants make their own food. Ferts are not really their food source.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wings,

I guess I fell into that trap then

But on the other hand, I am not too interested in the production of sugar (aka photosynthises) of my plants, growth is more important to me. That's why I took your term photosynthises more losely in a sense of meaning "what plants need to grow" - and there water is a given.

And biology text books - I am sooooo old that they have been burned during the last years of witch hunting

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Plants producing their own food is truly the basics of growing plants. You must know what they need to photosynthesis and from that you should know what they need for other things (ferts). The more your plants are photosynthesiziing the more ferts they will need. I think this is why some people have problems with EI. They are creating large limiting factors and dosing heavy ferts and not getting the growth they want.

And biology text books - I am sooooo old that they have been burned during the last years of witch hunting

Wasn't that back in the 1800's? Dang you are old!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Week 10/11 Update

Well some news from me. I went ahead and joined as a member so I can actually post images and not links. So what better way to start my new membership but with pictures of my latest additions.



Attached Image:


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Here is the male checking out his new home.

Attached Image:


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

They must like their new home as they are alerady gaurding some eggs. Funny thing is they evicted the poor cories out of their favorite spot.

Attached Image:

Eggs

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Stay away from my eggs!!

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Gaurding the nest

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Look at me I'm cool.

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Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

The little lady with the nice pink belly.

She didn't want to stay still though. They seem to have settled in but I think they may have laid a hit on the two shrimp thoough. They are MIA.

Oh well now if I can just get the plants in this tank to take off.

Attached Image:


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

A big YEAH to you Rick

New Rams, spawn as soon as you put them in the tank, I envy you soooooo much. This is fantastic, now you can concern yourself with baby brime shrimp and stuff like that

Yup, there would be a chance that these two ate your shrimpsters, in particluar if they were small.

If your fish are happy then I would not worry about your plants growing slower, as long as they don't die off. And from what I can see in the shots, all looks pretty good.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Rick,

How long did you have these guys before they spawned? They sure must like the home you have given them!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Thanks Guys

I got the Rams on Sunday so it has been less than a week before the spawn. However, the spawn has ginned these two up. They chase the poor little cories around, even if they are just minding their own business. Big Bullies

I did however see the bigger of the two shrimp today. The little one is MIA. I guess they've gone into hiding now.

LF the pictures of the plants look better than they look to the eye. The only plants that look healthy are the various crypts. The stems look like they are suffering from something. The Hygro is putting out a lot of new growth but it is a yellowish green and is very susceptible to BBA. The wisteria is basically just sitting there and slowing getting covered in BBA.

I went ahead and started dosing my micros twice a week. I am still thinking its a micro problem as I always have high nitrate and with all the fish and food plus what I add I can't imagine being low on P.


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Unfortunately I have some bad news regarding the male Ram. He apparently had developed Hole in the Head disease. It had a hole forming right over his eye. I tried changing the water and giving him better food as I read this can be nutritional. Unfortunately it was not enough and he died last night.

The female is still alive but I noticed her developing a white spot on her back that is worrying me.


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

I was admiring your pics of such pretty rams, then read your sad news. Sorry for your loss . I hope your female will be okay, especially so you can enjoy watching her guard her fry.

Cheers
TW

Hole in the Head on a Ram, never heard of that before. It is known that water conditions have something to do with that, but I believe that you are on top of it anyway. Very very strange.

I never had good luck with German Rams and each time someone gets them I keep my fingers crossed. It is such a shame. How is the female? What kind of white spot is it? Like Ich, or more like an infection?

Grrrr, I hate when that happens,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the input Ingo. Not to many of the websites I looked at indicated Rams as suffering from this but they did say that Hole in the Head can affect many different cichlids. However, I am pretty confident that this is what it was.

The male started with a white spot over his right eye. The spot just kind of grew and the flesh just deteriorated. He finally stopped eating and died.

The female got a white spot just under the front of the dorsal fine. The spot now is just about the size of a grain of rice. It also looks like the flesh is deteriorating. Fortunately she seems to be eating well.

I have also beefed up my water quality big time. A little mismanagement on my part had gotten the nitrates so high I couldn't really tell what the color chart was reading. My guess is it was ~80ppm. Now after several water changes through out last week it is down to about 20ppm. Hopefully the better water quality will let the girl get over it.

Crossing my fingers.


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Rick,

Sorry to hear that it seems like she has the same issue, even if it is looking like it may not be so bad. Having about 80ppm of NO3 for sure can kill a Ram, they are very sensitive to high nitrates. As a matter of fact, over time it would have wiped out you other fishies as well.

I am no expert in external infections, but you could try a half dosage of Melafix and a half dosage of Primafix, I think a treatment with these meds may help. I don't remember though how long you would have to do that.

Hope this helps a little and that she is getting better,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Week 11 Update ( I think )

Here are some shots of the tank tonight as well as my troubled Ram.

Not much has changed on the tank it self. I want to add a lot more plants. The plants I have though just don't seem to take off. I am just now seeing new growth on the wisteria. I think the Flourish is just starting to take effect. I am thinking of adding a few more of the crypts along the front since the cories love to hang out under the leaves.

I am also planning on replanting some of the hygo along the back right corner to hidr the filter intake some.

Anyway here are the pictures.


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Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Sometime you just get that great shot. For me this is one of them. No matter what happens to this girl I am glad I had her for this shot.

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Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Now back to my more normal blur. Here is a shot of her wound.

Attached Image:


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

along the back right corner to hide the filter intake some

You mean the left, right?

Yeah, more plants for sure would be great in the tank, and I can see that more crypts in the foreground could look very nice together.

That is quite a big boo-boo on your Ram already. Is it still growing?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

A bunch of stuff has happened with this tank.

First unfortunately the female RAM did not make it. We went away for a few days on a camping trip and when I returned she had died.

Instead of trying to get more Rams right now I have decided to get the plants in this tank looking better. I went and get a few plants and more will be added. I removed the Crypt Balanase which was not going and replaced it with Bacopa.

Unfortunately the Bacopa is not growing either. I guess I need more light. The plants are just deteriorating and by the time I took the pictures I had remove most of it.

I also added some more crypts up front and will probably add some more. I also found a nice Anubias as well.


Attached Image:

Full Tank

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

and a side shot

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Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Hi slickrb,
I'v just read through whole of the thread. Sorry for the loss of such beautiful rams.
Well, i had the same problem with the plants. Lighting was a lil above 1.5 w/g but even the low light plants would not get along. Lost many plants. Luckily one of the bulbs got out of order (yeah, luckily) I just searched the internet and found that I was using a "cool light" bulb with something around 2300K rating. I changed those immediately with 6400K and the plants that had not already died, started recovering. Ive put in bacopa, wisteria and hygro and they seem to be doing good now, even under the low intensity light. I would say, get your lights checked for the K rating.
And instead of phosphate, u can try K2SO4 to compensate for K, or lower the phosphate dosage(this K is for potasium, not Kelvin ). May be this extra phosphate is giving algea a boost. ( I myself am using the PMDD for fertilization)
Edit: And are those white spots on the tank snails?

Rick,

It is looking nice now, except for the Bacopa. Sorry about the Ram, I currently don't even dare to buy any, I lost 2 pairs so far.

The Anubias looks like a Barteri which, if all goes well, may become quite big for your tank. I don't think it will outgrow the tank any time soon, but it will gain center stage rights.

Good catch by mughal113, if this are all snails then you may have an issue. I would assume it is based on either too much rotting or too much fish food or a combination of both.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the comments guys. I went to the fish store and picked up some Vals for that back left corner. The leaf shape is similar to the Hygro but right now I am just trying things. I don't think the Bacopa will make it much longer. If the Vals don't take I may just replant some of Hygo in that corner since they grow like crazy.

The snails should even out. While the Rams were alive they were practically eliminated except for a few of the bigger ones. However the last ram died while I was away and was mostly eaten when we got back, plus the rotting of the Bacopa has provided plenty of food so they have made a rebound.

The lights on the tank are the factory eclipse lights and by now are over two years old. I have had replacing them on the back of my mind for awhile. The only reason I haven't is because I have been only running them every day for a couple months. Before that they were hardly on so I figured they are still good. But if I don't get some better results with the plants, I may well replace them sooner.


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

OK I saw something last night I didn't expect. The big ammano shrimp was holding a snail shell and having himself a fresh meal of escargot. I double checked just to be sure. My little pacifist scavenger has turned carnivore. Come to think if it I haven't seen the small shrimp..... Better watch out putting my hands in the tank

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

That is very interesting rick. I am wondering if there isn't enough veggy food for them in the tank so it went for something a bit more beefy.

I have both Amano and CRS in my 40G and they seem to leave each other alone as far as I can tell at least.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Indeed very interesting,

Are you sure it wasn't simply cleaning algae of the shell? Or the snail was dead and rotting away? As far as I know, Amano's don't really have the tools to kill/eat a snail.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club