[Tex Gal]

One of the things about ADA AquaSoil that makes it so amazing is that the ammonia spike jump starts the plants. By having the A.S. without plants you don't take advantage of that feature. Not to say that the plants won't still love the A.S. but you've missed an amazing opportunity. Because the plants will grow so well you probably won't have an algae outbreak. I do recall having a little BBA but that was because I had trouble with the company that was filling my tanks with CO2. If I had been able to get my CO2 running consistently I don't think I would have even had the BBA. My plants still grew amazingly fast and the BBA was gone in less than a week. CO2 was up and running and plants out competed the algae. I had amanos and mollies in the tank to eat it all up as it died.

I say - plant heavy. Let the plants feed on the ammonia. And then sell, sell, sell and buy all those plants you want for the long term.

Great to see you get going StuckinTexas!

 

[Tex Gal]

I think I might have my light running at least 6 or 7 hours. Your plants need light to grow and take up the ammonia. You have everything there for them to take off- ferts in soil, & CO2. Don't cut the light back or they will not be able to take up the ferts in the soil. ... two cents...

 

[Tex Gal]

Those tables don't work. They assume that the only dissolved solids in the tank are Ca and Mg. There could be many dissolved solids in there. That's why people use drop checkers.

Your plants should take off! Your Cabomba Frucata is beautiful! (Can you flip photos so we can see them better?)

 

[Tex Gal]

yea, the cabomba is great and it came from mike's tank. i love the maroon color on them.

ah, you say the plants should take off...any particular reason?

thanks tex gal. oh and ill try to flip the pics.

You have all the ammonia spikes from the Aqua Soil and you have high light and CO2. Perfect combination!

 

[Tex Gal]

Well, it looks like it's coming along!! Great work. Now you just have to watch and tweak as things grow. You can re-arrange as you establish a fore-ground, mid-ground and back-ground.

 

[Tex Gal]

maybe this explains my drop in GH? could these little guys be stealing calcium to make their shells? 2 days ago i had an extra 0.5ppm of GH in the water.

Don't worry about the snails. There are many fish that eat them. No they aren't what's happening with your GH. It's the ADA AquaSoil. It will level out after a while. Without anything in your tank to eat many of the snails will probably just die off. Hang in there. You're doing great.

 

[Tex Gal]

I'm not sure what you mean about the CO2 mixture being "exposed to air". The way it works is that the yeast "grows" feeding off the sugar in the water. The reasons for the baking soda, as I understand it) is that it grows better in hard water. Anyway the air doesn't make a difference. Think about baking bread.... In fact the old way was to mix flour and water and sugar and leave the dough out as it began to make it's own yeast.

I'm not sure why your yeast slowed down. I do know that sometimes yeast is old and doesn't grow as well, but that doesn't compute since you did have growth. Maybe it grew too rapidly and used up all the sugar? Maybe it grew too fast and replaced the water with alcohol?.... I'm not sure. At any rate try leaving out the baking soda and see what happens. I never reallly measure anything but use about 2 cups sugar and 3/4 bottle (big soda bottle) of hot tap water and 1 tsp yeast. I keep my yeast in frig. as it helps preserve it.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again!

 

[Tex Gal]

I use regular tap water. It doesn't seem to matter. Hate to contradict Niko, but mine works fine. I bake bread and know that regular tap water doesn't seem to bother yeast. It certainly doesn't hurt to use store bought water but yeast doesn't care.

I do think that the temp of the air makes a difference in how fast your yeast grows. It would probably take quite a while for your yeast to build up the same pressure which you unleashed. I have sometimes stuck my bottle in a pan of hot water so that the yeast water heats up again and I get much more CO2. Yeast grows fastest at around 110 degrees so you can see why room temperature would slow it down.

 

[Tex Gal]

Lets see a shot of your great growth! Sounds like everything's coming up roses!

 

[Tex Gal]

I see your growth is great! That's the joys of new ADA AS and those fantastic light Niko told you about!

The plant in the 8th px looks like a Bacopa. Not sure what kind.

 

[Tex Gal]

I also have the bacopa that has huge leaves. It came as a tiny sprig (3 leaf rows) floating with some fish I ordered online. The type I have does not turn red in high light. It stays a bright green. The only name I've been able to come up with is Bacopa sp. I had it on plant ID and that's all the experts were able to tell me. (The sp means it's a special kind and nobody knows what kind -lol)

I agree with Niko about the CO2 DIY is so hard. I have run out of sugar in my plant grow out tank and and dumping excell in there to keep the dreaded algae away. I see an immediate trip to the grocery store!

 

[Tex Gal]

You get it for free from me cause I have 50 lbs and I don't want to have this bag all my life...

--Nikolay

:lol:

Hey Niko, thanks for that plant deficiency fix it list. I have saved that to a note pad. I'm having issues with my Ludwigia Guinea. Seems to be stunting. I have it in my shrimp tank. I think it needs for nitrate than I can dose. I think I need to move it to another tank and see how it does....

Looking great Stuck-in-Texas!!! Great plant growth. Glad about your tank done cycling.. Now you can enjoy!

 

[Tex Gal]

I dose extra Iron when I dose my traces. My colors are great.. especially with my new lights.

 

[Tex Gal]

Sure looks like you're doing something right! I think you may have to get another tank. ;D (Did I say that?!)

 

[Tex Gal]

I"m surprised you are dosing Espom salt and calcium chloride. Arlington water was pretty hard when I lived over there. Why did you decide to do that.

 

[Tex Gal]

Very nicely done. When you look at the beginning pxs to the end there is quite a contrast! You've done a great job!

 

[Tex Gal]

What's going on with your tank? Haven't heard from you in ages!