BettaBeats

I can see your point werner.

I'm going w/ a white/black mix w/ laterite. and this time I'm going to plant without water in my tank! lol, I think it will be so much easier.

Also,

I have a nutrient deficiency.. the tips of my crypts and java fern are yellowing and pale. my ludwigia repens i was happy was red again, is now pink.. (was far more red last night htan tonight)

I'm thinking potassium and nitrogen..

would a new substrate help this? or will I still have these problems..

I'm going to throw a new thought in here. There are 2 sources of water in Calgary, the Bow and Elbow rivers and 2 treatment centres. Elbow is for south Calgary and Bow is for the north. Myself, I have always used water from the Elbow and am not familiar with the properties of the Bow water(and would like to know more about it). Perhaps in your move, you changed your source of water???

this was originally my first thought. but the ph in my 10 gal hasnt changed at all.

and it was only a few blocks, so i doubt i'm on another water main.

appears to be the substrate.. :\

Basically... from what I understand... and I am a noob~ish aquarist..

is that my pacific GeoSystem gravel is made of crushed shells and other high-in-calcium things.. but a lot of sea shells.

So when the water comes in contact w/ the shells calcium bicarbonate is released into the water raising the GH/KH and thus my pH.

Because it constantly leeches into the water the only reasonable solution is to redo the entire tank

While it is good for buffering and a stable pH, it is far far too high for some/all of my animals. I've also noticed that my plants havent been doing as well. its a smaller stone size than regular gravel, and also its lighter than reg. gravel which has allowed some of my plants to uproot themselves.

although it LOOKS GREAT... it isnt really practical. I also want to get enough substrate so i can remove the under-gravel filter crate which i now use to give me 3/4" height difference on that side. With my Kuhli loaches and stories of them burrowing under the gravel in these filter crate i want to remove this 'hazard'

I'm not sure i will like the change to a darker substrate,

I recently got a new tank, complete with fish, with 2 neon tetras among a bunch of cichlids and other fish that might see them as snacks. Sure enough, they disappeared, and I felt bad for their untimely demise. But....

This weekend, opened up the filter for some cleaning and surprise of all surprises, 2 neon tetras, ALIVE AND SWIMMING, stuck in the filter pipes. I actually almost flushed them until I noticed the fins where still moving and they were still swimming. So, after netting them out of the toilet, putting them in a container, observing them, and tentatively adding them to my tetra tank.....expecting death imminent....

The very next day, the 2 mislead tetras are now schooling happily with the rest of the neons, colour changed from pale sickly to a happy bright red and blue.

For a fish that is not known for it's longevity and hardiness, these 2 guys are testaments to survival! Just for fun, they get bloodworms as a treat tonight

I just thought it was a neat story, wanted to share...

this story reminds me of my platy story.. i had a batch of fry born 3 months ago.. when i was catching them a few weeks ago to trade off, the mom was so afraid she popped out another baby.. i have a fry, a juvi, and a mom platy.. fish tales.

have you ever tried to put a piece of cucumber or food of the pleco's in a net and let it sit in the tank? maybe catch one while its feeding?

ok, thanks. i will try and keep some of the water and i can maybe add some from my other tank.

One thing I am excited about is replanting this thing now that my stock is pretty nice.. check out my current set up:

http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=26816

this was my first attempt at an aquascapish layout. i found a great piece of driftwood and rocks that suit my style.

unfortunately i have to change out the substrate this week to lower my hardness and ph. also, maybe my plants will stay put more easily!!

any tips about planting my foreground? i have some nice crypts but thats about it.. the mosses havent grown much

higher qual pic - http://img2.purerave.com/5/62/5300562_.jpg

new 20 gal H

besides needing to swap the gravel, i like the set up of this tank

fauna:

11 harlequin rasboras

4 zebra danios

1 female swordtail

1 female gold gouramis

1 kuhli loach (will def get two more this week after the substrate is changed.)

flora:

cabomba

java fern

vallisneria spiralis (although this did not enjoy the move at all..)

Giant Vallisneria

Mayaca Fluviatilis (my new favourite plant)

Lagarosiphon Major

Medium sized sword

various crypts which i will name at a later date

ludwigia repens (didnt get enough light in the 10gal so its a little pale in the reds atm)

java moss

and another moss that is extremely thin, whispy and fiberous..

and a green grass w/ a white stripe down the middle.. forget its name

Coralife 2x24" 14w 6,400k and full spectrum

AquaClear 30

w/ DIY CO2 in a 4L jug. had pearls b4 the new plants moved in.

higher qual pic - http://img2.purerave.com/5/62/5300562_.jpg

new 20 gal H

besides needing to swap the gravel, i like the set up of this tank

fauna:

11 harlequin rasboras

4 zebra danios

1 female swordtail

1 female gold gouramis

1 kuhli loach (will def get two more this week after the substrate is changed.)

flora:

cabomba

java fern

vallisneria spiralis (although this did not enjoy the move at all..)

Giant Vallisneria

Mayaca Fluviatilis (my new favourite plant)

Lagarosiphon Major

Medium sized sword

various crypts which i will name at a later date

ludwigia repens (didnt get enough light in the 10gal so its a little pale in the reds atm)

java moss

and another moss that is extremely thin, whispy and fiberous..

and a green grass w/ a white stripe down the middle.. forget its name

Coralife 2x24" 14w 6,400k and full spectrum

AquaClear 30

w/ DIY CO2 in a 4L jug. had pearls b4 the new plants moved in.

is that because it bloomed? or??

tonight I am going to check out riverfront and see if i can snap up a deal on some substrate. if not i have 2 guys (1 in calgary, one in edmonton) w/ fluvite mixtures for sale i will work with.

does this mean I have to wait for the tank to cycle again?

darn...

so i guess i need to do a whole tank rebuild.. .

what's a good substrate I can use and mix w/ laterite?

i jsut bought a test kit for GH/KH.

here are the results, can some members help me figure this out?

10G

KH

5 drops

degree dKH 5

ppm KH 89.5

GH

10 drops

ppm GH 179

pH 7.0 moved from another apartment, incl. 3/4 of the original water.

new tank to my new apartment..

20Gh

KH

14 drops

- off the chart?!

GH

20 drops

off the chart?!

pH 7.8 ......

i have the geosystem pacific gravel in this tank.. w/ some laterite and bigger black gravel in some spots.. heavily planted.

are these long, thin leaves?

my diy co2 never goes off, if i think the co2 is having some affect over time i take out the hose for a few days to allow my plants to catch up.

there is also reason to think about the amount of surface agitation/gas exchange

lots of stock, some great deals on plants, 15% of dry goods, 30% off aquaclear filters..!

etc.. etc.. etc..

bigger space too, 8300 sq ft. now calgary transit needs a direct route, lol

no, she swims around too.. but she goes up and down in this one corner a lot. not fast, but goes to the surface. sometimes she sucks for air like my betta (not in this tank)

java fern is an easy one, and crypts are really fun since they can duplicate without you noticing.. so after a month or two i now have many more crypts which was perfect for my new 20gal. Vallisneria is one i like a lot, and even had it grow new plants, but they didnt take too kindly to being replanted soo many times.

DIY CO2 is extremely easy as long as you can diffuse your co2 properly. i like mine going into the impeller of my filter. my aquaclear 30 has this feature built in and my plants love it.

i had a lot of cabomba that was just really stretched out, but it covered the back ok and it grew fast. i wouldnt even buy mondo grass, useless.

crypts are by far the best for sprucing up the tank.

also, i havent used ferts myself. i use laterite mixed in with my gravel pretty heavily in my 10 gal and i attribute that to good growth. my new tank doesn't have much in-gravel nutrients so i will have to see what happens.

is something wrong with her? i picked her up yesterday, she's a gold gourami from riverfront.

thanks

ok, so i got my piece of driftwood to sink after boiling it.

now there is a slime all over it, whiteish.

any ideas?

would snails get rid of it?

have you looked to see where the algae is occurring? is it at one part of the tank more-so than another?

I had an outbreak when my driftwood was blocking my water circulation, creating a still area of water.

although, i also had hair algae and spot algae until i added CO2, and that was when the staghorn started appearing on my crypts.

will any be for sale in the future?

I may have to do this myself.

where did you get the slate?

How about posting a picture of this pricey ghostie! I'd like to see this guy.

i did have my camera but didnt take pics.

they ahve amazing arrowanas so i hope the new place (with paved parking and a better roof) will showcase them.

i will be going back though, to pick up some stock by the end of the month.

its my type of fish store, but they also had cherry shrimp in the summer for 6.99 each.!

starting my new tank today after a nice trade with jordin. already filled and cycling, my new aquaclear 30 i got for an amazing price @ Riverfront is working well. boiling water to try to get a piece of driftwood to sink, so i may be in need of some rocks to tie this piece down.

I also saw some plants for a good price. 30% off the filter.

and really expensive shrimp.

?

3.99 for a ghostie

im wondering what i can do - can i put in a java fern, and some crypts now, or should i wait a few days?

and when would it be a good time to put in some filter media from my other tank?

also in need of a nice and high powered lighting for my tank.