Santa tank - 59G -

[daworldisblack]

Rah... 6.5 months?  Geez.  Already?  Time flies.  Exept when it's so slow... still want things more filled in.   

Lol yeap.. its really flown by! Good thing yours is a low tech set up. A high-tech one fills up fast and its nice but needs a lil more maintenance love too :p

[charlie]

Brenda please alleviate my curiosity 
Regards

[Peekay]

Went to take a quick shot, but a battery elf seems to have stolen ONE of the batteries out of my camera!   

Will try again later. 

[Peekay]

'Cause everyone loves poor quality cell phone pics.  Super awesome. 



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[charlie]

Very well done, thanks for sharing, keep it coming.
Thanks

[Peekay]

Ok.. with Santa coming to our house again in just a few weeks, I though it was time for an update.

Struggled to figure out my light/fert balance over the last months, with BBA making an appearance, and stuff just looking dim and growing poorly.

Reduced light by a couple hours, doubled Excel dose, got better at dosing Flourish Comprehensive on schedule, and things are looking brighter.   Guess what!  My vals finally passed 6 inches!  Some reach the top of the water now, and are spreading.  I'm rebuilding plant stock after losing a lot to algae/bad growth, and am really feeling good about this now.  This is a low-light, non-CO2 tank, so things take time, oh so much time. 

Fish are doing well, a fresh batch of guppy babies are in a nursery tank to grow out and become breeder-feeders for the angels.  The black/silver striped angelfish has developed that red eye like the wilds, which is so cool. 

Thanks for looking!

Full tank!


Oh Hi. 

[exv152]

The tank looks really good, and the angelfish are a nice touch.

[charlie]

Thanks for the update, looking great, nice to see what you guys have done with that set up 

[daworldisblack]

Wow its really coming together nicely Pretty good for a year!

[fischkopp]

I like the look of it. So, what will Santa bring this year?

[Peekay]

I like the look of it. So, what will Santa bring this year?

Arduino microcontroller and prototyping kit. 
This kid is interested in complex stuff, apparently. 

For me?  Several gallons of Flourish excel.  At double dose, it goes quick.    

[daworldisblack]

Arduino microcontroller and prototyping kit. 
This kid is interested in complex stuff, apparently. 

For me?  Several gallons of Flourish excel.  At double dose, it goes quick.    

Haha.. yeah Arduino! Its on my wishlist too along with a Raspberry Pi! I taught summer camp kids the basics of microcontrollers and made them program it - used a motion sensor and some LEDs to emulate pop-dispensing machines and how they light up when someone walks by. Great learning tool! Good one Brenda 

[BizFromQC]

I have an Arduino Uno that I've been meaning to turn into a smart controller that I could use with my phone but never got around to it. It's a fun platform to get into micro programming, a launching pad to other platforms. Those Raspberry PI are pretty sweet looking ;-)

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[BizFromQC]

Arduino microcontroller and prototyping kit. 
This kid is interested in complex stuff, apparently. 

For me?  Several gallons of Flourish excel.  At double dose, it goes quick.   

Brenda, you should look at the Metricide 14 as a cheaper alternative to Excel. I arranged a group buy last year and still have some.

Look at the group orders sub forum I'm pretty sure some folks wanted in on the next order, you could tag along and save some cash for your liquid carbon.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[charlie]

With a tank that size Excel and even the DIY metricide for me is not a feasible of getting carbon in the tank, for one it becomes costly over a period of time for 20 gallon or less -yes it`s worth it.
The added benefit of going the CO2 injection  the carbon produced is way more beneficial than Excel or other & the fact that it is a set it & forget it way ( depending on the quality of your co2 rig), it`s 1 less thing to dose, the cons of prassurised injection is the obvious start up cost & more equipment, it`s for the user to decide which one is more economical & fits their requirement.
Errol
P.S for comparsion  a good basic co2 rig without the bells & whisltes can be had for about 160.00 ( Regulator& bottle) with a refill once a year for about 25.00.

[Peekay]

With a tank that size Excel and even the DIY metricide for me is not a feasible of getting carbon in the tank, for one it becomes costly over a period of time for 20 gallon or less -yes it`s worth it.
The added benefit of going the CO2 injection  the carbon produced is way more beneficial than Excel or other & the fact that it is a set it & forget it way ( depending on the quality of your co2 rig), it`s 1 less thing to dose, the cons of prassurised injection is the obvious start up cost & more equipment, it`s for the user to decide which one is more economical & fits their requirement.
Errol
P.S for comparsion  a good basic co2 rig without the bells & whisltes can be had for about 160.00 ( Regulator& bottle) with a refill once a year for about 25.00.

Charlie, I'm considering it.  It's interesting that you call it a set it and forget it method... I only put excel and fish food in the tank daily.  If I switch to Co2, don't I get into EI which is several fertilizers every day?  Any way, I plan to revisit the research phase before deciding. 

Eric, I'll look for that group buy, thanks. 

And now I know where to turn for Arduino info.  Rah knows everything!  Wowza.  Keith is 9.. this is our new lego. 

[charlie]

Charlie, I'm considering it.  It's interesting that you call it a set it and forget it method... I only put excel and fish food in the tank daily.  If I switch to Co2, don't I get into EI which is several fertilizers every day?  Any way, I plan to revisit the research phase before deciding. 

Eric, I'll look for that group buy, thanks. 

And now I know where to turn for Arduino info.  Rah knows everything!  Wowza.  Keith is 9.. this is our new lego. 

Brenda, it`s interesting that your plants are doing so good without supplementing the nutrients, usually that is a sign that your light, plants & carbon supply & the existing nutrient level is balanced,so if you switch to injection you will be replacing the excel. I`m not advocating by any means that this is the way to grow plants ( without supplementing nutrients, your case is unique) it may very well be that your plant load & uptake is just right for the bio waste the tank is generating which is what i referred to as balance, so the short answer is if this no nutrient is working for you don`t change it 
Errol
P.S. if you need any help with a CO 2 rig give me a shout.

[fischkopp]

I have to say as well: good choice of present for the kid. Maybe he can get that aquarium computer going that I was planning to do for so long now. That would be a fun project. I have my arduino sitting in the drawer for two years now, just don't seem to find the time to get it going.