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Post by Crazygar on Jun 7, 2020 14:37:22 GMT -5
1 Hour Session, The Barber of Seville!
I am getting really good at trimming, cleaning and starting the tank back up. It only took me an hour to do what I needed to do today:
- Trimmed back the Blyxa (again)
- Removed, trimmed and replaced the Hygro. Threw out some nice pieces, but no fear, it grows back quick
- Trimmed the Hairgrass
- Cleaned the glass inside/out
Possible reason my pH has been raising, my CO2 Canister is almost at the Red Mark stating its on the way to empty. I did PM the Canister and accessories during the week and found no reason for why my pH has been rising.
I stopped taking measurements yesterday. But I plan to take one this evening to see if anything has changed. I was getting 7 - 7.05 at 8PM, where it should be around 6.62 - 6.75
The AR 'Mini' is still, well, mini. This plant grows insanely slow but wow, nice deep red color. I managed to propagate it a few weeks back and both plants are almost the same size now.
Snail population is starting to dwindle, Shrimp population (little ones everywhere) is increasing the curve is moving in the right direction. As usual, when I see a snail close to the top or in the impeller of the Powerhead, it's removal time.
I think my Hygro is going to flower. One piece broke the surface (I left it out of the water) and is starting to form a flower on top. I plan to let it flower. I should be soaking BAP points for this.
As stated before, I hate throwing all the cuttings out, but until restrictions are removed, I have no recourse but to follow the rules. When this is all over though, there will be plenty of Buce and Hygro up for grabs. Until then though, it's garbage fodder (the Hygro, I am just letting the Buce grow).
Speaking of Buce, it has officially covered almost every piece of the wood it was originally planted on. There are 2 pieces that are bare (for a reason) but the rest is coated.
Pictures will show just what I mean tomorrow.
Album this week, "Love" by The Cult. I was in Grade 9 when this album came out. The most famous song on this album, "She Sells Sanctuary". If you have not heard it, you need to give it a whirl.
Gary
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Post by Crazygar on Jun 9, 2020 5:43:43 GMT -5
Hoping this will flower. I am letting this bit of Hygro break the surface and see if it flowers. I have had other species of Hygro flower before so I am looking forward to this flowering as well.
Office Space II as of yesterday evening at 6pm. Going to do a little bit more trimming on the hairgrass but overall, growing as expected, things moving the way I want. Removed quite a bit of Hygro though, which was disappointing.
Gary
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Post by Crazygar on Jun 14, 2020 13:47:12 GMT -5
40 Minute Session
Did some basic maintenance which included:
- Trimmed the Staurogyne (was starting to creep out again)
- Trimmed the Blyxa (as always)
- Cleaning of the glass inside/outside
Really did not need much today but next week, Hygro again. Most likely a bit of the Hairgrass as well. Everything is still on track for September!
Going to start up pH monitoring again tomorrow. Calibration fluid arrived and I've calibrated the pH Pen.
Album this week was Juno Reactor, "Odyssey 1992-2002", some good ole Rave Techno music.
As always, pictures to follow once things settle.
Gary
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Post by Crazygar on Jun 15, 2020 19:40:11 GMT -5
Time to start migrating Hygro down the wood again. Gary
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Post by Crazygar on Jun 21, 2020 14:21:59 GMT -5
Trials and Tribulations, A One Hour Session
As the title suggests, today's session was not without things that challenge me even further.
Seems my HC mound has decided to let go of it's grip of the rock underneath. I am placing sole blame on the gigantic mound of Hygrophila that grew so dense, it literally was stopping flow from the powerhead to the left side of the tank.
While the mound did lift up, it gave me an opportunity to trim around it and then press it back down into place in hopes it will reattach. Making a mental note to leave this area alone for 2 weeks.
I am looking to get a pair of trimming scissors made custom. Since I do not have much use of my left arm, I need smaller scissors bent 90° so I can trim across like an aquatic lawnmower. This will be this weeks project to source and buy.
Require one more Seiryu stone to fill in a gap at the bottom right of the Buce/Hygro near the Stauro/AR Mini area. Noticeable gap, needs to be plugged before I submit to the AGA in a few months. Algae on the rocks are starting to clear up pretty fast. A Nerite was on the docket, but now I plan to wait.
This weeks maintenance included:
- Trimming, replace, throw out quite a bit of Hygrophila
- Trim Blyxa around the Atomizer
- Trim a bit of the Staurogyne that we creeping into my AR Mini
- Trim the Hairgrass (like everyone else, a long overdue haircut)
- Clean the glass inside and outside.
- Did some spot check on my rocks, algae is starting to diminish. I may have been the Hygro soaking up everything.
Everything else is on track. Going to concentrate on getting that HC Mound to reattach. No more alternations, just grow out.
Stopped measuring the pH for a little while. I do check on occasion and it always falls between 6.60 - 6.75 at 8PM, and in the morning, 7.45 - 7.55. Acceptable. Oh, it's the Seiryu stone raising the pH, and I need one more. Sigh.
This week's album was my MDB Beautiful Voices collection placed on shuffle. I have all 61 compilations, roughly 20 tracks per compilation, and it takes a full three days (non-stop) to listen to them all. Very chill.
Pictures to follow.
Gary
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Post by Crazygar on Jun 21, 2020 18:57:24 GMT -5
I had to remove the floating HC Mound. With my luck, during the night it would detach, get sucked into the powerhead and it would be literally spread all over the tank.
To save myself the anguish and frustration, I just removed it. There are pieces that are still attached at the sides and with a little coaxing, I can definitely get it to return. Disappointing, it was nice a piece of plant.
Gary
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Post by Crazygar on Jun 22, 2020 17:57:32 GMT -5
Office Space II, as of this evening; Monday June 22, 2020
It looks different without the HC mound but I plan to regrow that. Still on track for the AGA, just a little set back which can be fixed.
What is life without it's challenges? Pretty boring.
Gary
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Post by Crazygar on Jun 28, 2020 14:20:51 GMT -5
55 minute session todayI managed the following:- Blyxa trim (as always)
- Hygro trim (as always). Ensuring that the top leaves are not blocking water flow. Flow issues are having other consequences which I will discuss later on in this entry
- Staurogyne trim. Once again, the Stauro has gotten leggy and started to spread. Trimmed what I could and plan to bounce it back again. This plant has a real delicate sweet spot when it comes to pruning
- Hairgrass trim. Yes, again
- Removal of HC. Yes, I have removed any trace (at least for what I can see, I am sure there are bits hanging out with the random pieces of Java Fern I find) from the tank. Reasoning below
- Water change
- Cleaned glass inside and outside
- Moved the atomizer to the front left of the tank. Which I will also explain further down
Some changes. Let me explain:
The last few days I have noticed little "green tufts" amongst the Stauro and Blyxa. Low and behold, Staghorn Algae.
Why? CO2 Levels and Water flow. I will admit the Water/CO2 flow has been bad as of late, giving Staghorn Algae a chance to gain a foothold.
I did a capful of Excel and let the tank sit 10 minutes before filling it up. I will continue to dose Excel on the effected areas during the week to eradicate it. Once it is gone, I plan to stop Excel dosing and watch to see if it returns with my new CO2 circulation pattern.
Cutting back the leaves on the Hygro will enable more water flow around the tank like it had before. Going to see if I can get the Hygro to grow more compact in the process as I originally wanted.
To ensure more CO2 movement, I moved the atomizer to the front left of the tank, this way it has no choice to get pushed around the tank (before the Blyxa was impeding progress near the end of the week). Out amongst the Hairgrass, there will be nothing to block the CO2 bubbles.
Hopefully this will crank up the CO2 levels as well. These are the changes I am going to make and let the tank settle into it's new pace for the next month and track progress carefully.
Why did I remove the HC?
On another Forum (The Planted Tank), I have been getting advice about removing that mound and replace it with a few extra Seiryu stones. I was considering this as well (at least moving the HC), the addition of more stones (just enough to make a few soft changes) will go a long way.
Go figure, a few months before the contest and I am getting the "gotta change this bug". Sigh. Good news is that the Blyxa is as tall as the wood (Tree O Buce) again. Planning to continue to sculpt and shape the tank for the contest.
This weeks album, "Raised on Radio" by Journey. This was my favorite Journey album and also the only time I saw them in concert. The year was 1986.
Gary
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Post by Crazygar on Jun 30, 2020 5:44:04 GMT -5
Pictures this evening. Had my Pre-Canada Day/Fourth of July celebration yesterday. Since I am on vacation, I think I will visit AquaAmaniA today. Need to be in an LFS. I have plans to visit Pet Paradise on Friday.
Gary
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Post by Crazygar on Jun 30, 2020 18:33:18 GMT -5
A day late, but well worth it...
Missing from the picture, one Nerite Snail which I picked up this morning. It was nice to be in an LFS again.
Gary
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Post by Crazygar on Jul 5, 2020 13:42:16 GMT -5
45 Minute Session, how do I know? The album I was listening to was only 42 minutes long. I just finished cleaning the glass after a few minutes of silence.
This session was simply just basic maintenance. I spent more time target trimming the plants (all) and giving the glass a good cleaning with my old debit card. Nothing new to report.
The Nerite Snail (Marvin) is an industrious Mollusk. It does laps around the tank taking out any algae in the way. I sure wish it would find the rocks. Not that they are bad at all, but a spot cleaning would be nice.
Continuing to dose a bit of excel on my "alternate" days when the fish do not get fed. Staghorn has retreated but I am going to be tweaking a few things to ensure it does not return.
Iron dosing is also going to slightly elevate to get the AR 'Mini' much more red.
Still have to find the "right" Seiryu stones to complete the scape. I was up in London on Thursday and hit Pet's Paradise and Big Al's. Pet's Paradise had some Corydoras nanus, and if I had a larger tank, I would have bought them all. What nice looking fish.
Last day of vacation is tomorrow, so I plan to do one more run to AquaAmaniA to look through their Seiryu stones again...
As always, pictures to follow tomorrow.
This sessions album was "Wake Up Call" by Theory Of A Deadman. Another band I have been following for a long time and enjoy.
Gary
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Post by lesfromlakeshore on Jul 5, 2020 18:15:34 GMT -5
Gary , I might be able to help you with some Seiryu stone . I have a bunch of small pieces .
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Post by Crazygar on Jul 5, 2020 18:54:15 GMT -5
Thanks Les. Tomorrow is my last day off until the weekend so if I cannot find anything at AquaAmaniA (going there regardless) I will most definitely contact you. I need one medium sized piece to fill in the gap between the bottom of the Tree-o-Buce and the Staurogyne.
Gary
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Post by Crazygar on Jul 7, 2020 5:43:07 GMT -5
I took a picture last night, during the day I will post it (I did post it on our Facebook Group timeline last night). Time escaped me yesterday, after all, last day of the vacation...
And Lesfromlakeshore, would it be possible to send me a pic. They did not have anything I was looking for. Sigh.
Gary
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Post by lesfromlakeshore on Jul 7, 2020 7:16:16 GMT -5
I’ll send.you one this afternoon
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