jvision Posted March 8, 2013 Report Share Posted March 8, 2013 IMO, any NH3 or NO2 reading is not good. If you have fish in there (think I saw a platy?), and you want it to stay alive, keep up the WCs... and add more plants Next time you're in Edmonton (or Sherwood Park) let me know and I'll hook you up with some plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Cool, thanks for the generosity. Ill remember to let you know next time Im in Yep, its a platy. Had a rough looking guppy in there too before, but I think my pH tinkerings likely killed it, no great loss. Platy man is doing really good in there, but they seem to do well no matter where you put them. Will keep up my w/cs as you mentioned. I think Im getting closer to cycled, tho it sounds like the first month in a walstad can be pretty arduous, I think that its going to be worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainechow Posted March 9, 2013 Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 Or... If you have another tank that can take the platy, just re home the little guy and let the cycle run its course with no water changes. Then when the cycle has reached equilibrium, bring back the platy. Then let it hit equilibrium again. After that your plants will be well established and tank full of bacteria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted March 9, 2013 Report Share Posted March 9, 2013 I'd say next time cycle your tank properly first and then throw in plant and livestock as high levels can also hurt plant. I'm sure the plants have been stunted and some may even die. I know people are eager but fish tank rules apply if it's this tank method, that tank method or the walstad method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 actually, I have had very little sign of distress. Only the browning of a few leaves. In swords this happens all the time for me, even in a normal tank. As a matter of fact, plants that were doing poorly in my traditional planted tank (sans dirt) have shown remarkable improvement once moved into this tank. I found several pygmy swords with runners off them today, along with my crypt wendtii. My amazon sword had virtually no root system on it at all when I put it in the tank, its putting out new leaves now. My moneywort have also sent out runners. I think if anything, my plants were stunted in their previous home. As for my platy, that fish was barely eating in my old tank. It was a cheap fish that I expected to die, so I thought Id just put its last days to good use to aid in the stimulus of my bacterial cycle. Now, its eating well and filled out to a nice plump size and swimming about happily as the day I first got him. I think what I am doing is working so far, so I will follow the same regime through the cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted March 10, 2013 Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 Definitely sounds like things are working well. IME, the less you tinker with things, the better they go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2013 Cool, thanks for your continued guidance Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2013 (edited) so it turns out that my guppy didnt die of natural causes. she was sucked into my filter...boo. shes been in there for a week tho, so that may explain a part of my ammonia. Will have to see later on if thats the case. update. Tank is NH3/4 0ppm as of today. will switch to w/c every other day with continued daily testing for the next week. Found more runners off my pygmy swords today as well. Not that they are appearing daily, just noticing more. Feeling good about this tank. If things continue this way for the next month or so, considering a dry start npt to experiment with next Edited March 11, 2013 by jamesbarr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurensdad Posted March 13, 2013 Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Where are you i have no.shortage of.triming.you can have im on west.end.of.city Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 im in barrhead, about an hour and a half drive. if you have them regularly, Id love to come by and scoop some up from you I could let you know when Im coming in next and see if we can work something out. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 (edited) Just trimmed the moneywort, which were about 2x as tall, and replanted the trimmings in amongst the others to speed up propagation. These are doing really well in there. My HM has really settled in now and is starting to spread out and up a little. Pygmys are still spreading out little by little. day 16 Edited March 14, 2013 by jamesbarr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurensdad Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 I can manage to spar some plants most time. Send me a text at 5877845014 and see if im around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 nice thanks for your generosity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2013 Shout out to Jason for hooking me up with a boat load of water sprite and some other plants! Thanks for you generosity and advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbarr Posted March 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2013 Day 19 Picture update. Added the water sprite along with a few others. My HM filling out is something I wasnt sure would happen, but it seems to be doing so :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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