Tom's ADA Cryptscape

[TomMessenger]

Thought I'd post this here as well as UKAPS 

Aquarium ADA Mini M
Lighting 18w PC
Filter Eheim Ecco Pro 300
CO2 FE, UP reg and solenoid, ceramic diffuser, 1.5bps
Substrate ADA Aquasoil Africana, ADA Congo Sand mixed with P@H grey gravel to bulk out
Wood ADA Old Iron Wood
Rocks ADA Ryouh Stone
Ferts Undecided, but probably low dose EI. Will see how it goes
Plants Crypts mainly (wendtii "tropica", parva, willisii, balansae, undulata), Weeping moss, leftover Xmas moss, leftover tenellus.

Quick start-up snap below from 2 weeks ago - missing some plants still! I was still awaiting the balansae, undulata and moss from TGM. The "tropica" variety was much taller than I expected. Hopefully it will hang a bit lower with time, and the Undulata and Balansae will give it the height it will need. I'm a little bit worried about shadowing the parva, but will see how we go.



Shot with moss added


DIY light fitted




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Today after removing the bulk of the old Crypt leaves :) Looks a bit empty and messy, but I'm sure in a couple of months it will have filled out nicely I'm happy so far, so hopefully things will continue that way.



Tom

[frosties]

very nice Tom...

[TomMessenger]

Got some Cherry Shrimp on Friday They're still really skittish, and adjusting to the whirlpool, but I'm sure they'll settle in. Two of them have been shimmying and displaying to each other already.



Diatoms are starting to appear, despite using a mature filter.





Tom

[nelson]

thats a lovely little tank Tom  .

i always seem to suffer diatoms as well  ,mature filter or not,tried WC's everyday and no change  .
just don't understand it.

[TomMessenger]

They can be a pain. With the last scape, they did disappear after a while and the rocks were as clean as ever. It's just a waiting game needing lots of patience!! There is GDA on the rocks too, but again that's just a waiting game for it to run it's cycle, then it should go. It's still a new tank.

[frosties]

Diatoms can be eradicated by removing silicates from your water...

[James]

Another awesome little tank Tom and that diy light is excellent, looking forward to the day when i have the space to play around with making stuff like that without being told off for making a mess all over the kitchen table lol

As for the diatoms, personaly i've given up on the idea of maintaining a pristine tank.  As long as it doesnt get out of control i'm inclined to let it get on with it, i suspect many people end up making matters worse by chopping and changing lighting, ferts etc.

[TomMessenger]

Tony - what would you use to remove Silicates without losing PO4 too? Most products do both. I'll probably just wait it out though, probs better in the long run to remove the cause rather than the fuel.

[frosties]

Easy Tom...

I would use a silicate filter... and guess what... I have these available through the shop!

They do NOT come with a pump - so you need to connect them to an external filter or even a powerhead. They are inline filters on the outflow only... They strip out 99.9% of silicates in the water and come with attachments for both 16 and 22mm hosing.

They are big... they will NOT fit in the tank.

When they are used up - you cannot regenerate the salts - but you can buy a refill kit. The kit will refill the filter twice... Costs are about £30 plus PnP...

[TomMessenger]

Thanks Tony,

I haven't really got space (or the money!!) for another external filter/pump, so I think I will wait a week or two for it to clear. It looks to be clearing slightly already in places. The Otos have it under control.

It would be really interesting to run a tank with all these different filters on, and see just how well they work.

[frosties]

Now that is one nice photo Tom... cracking focus and clarity. Well balanced for white and colour.

[TomMessenger]

Cheers. They're tricky things to get snaps of when there's that much flow in the tank!

[frosties]

Yes - cherrys never want to pose for a shot either!!! 

[ghostsword]

I am really enjoying the look of the tank right now, so clear and bright, but looking mature at the same time. :)

Some pigmy corydoras would look awesome there, a small shoal of 5 or 6.

[TomMessenger]

Thanks Luis,

It's just a waiting game now - the Parva and Willisii are much slower than the other Crypts, so I need to give them time to fill out. Could be a month or two until they are big enough.

I've started trying Easy Life AlgExit out of interest to see how it affects the GDA on the rocks. I'm not that worried about the algae being there - it will go, but I'm interested how the product works. Apparently it will take a couple of weeks to have an effect.