It's all to the artist's eye, but in general, I believe you'll have a hard time convincing this crowd that Roman ruins befit a good aquascape. Most folks try to reproduce "natural" scene -- not necessarily an underwater scene -- but one consisting of all natural elements: wood, rocks, plants.
Of course, if you're keen on Roman ruins, you can try to wow us!
Nanoscape Contest!!!!
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Judi
- Posts: 812
- Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:48 pm
- Real Name: Judi Hammett
- Location: Catonsville, Maryland
So how are everyone's nanos coming along? I started mine just under two weeks ago, and good golly, things are actually growing!
Some cloudy water in the beginning, but after getting the tank fully planted, and doing some (ever so gentle) water changes, the water cleared up very quickly. I'm also happy to report that most plants have stayed where I put them, but that may not be anything I did --maybe I just have easy plants.
Out of curiosity I checked ammonia levels a couple times. It was at 1.0 a few days ago, and is down to .5 today. I've continued to do daily water changes even after the water cleared. Probably not necessary, but it doesn't appear to be doing any harm; I may carry on this way for awhile. (Probably read too many threads on various forums about Aquasoil and melting plants
)
A few questions come to mind. First, I know that with Aquasoil you're not supposed to fertilize right away. At what point should I start cautiously dosing? Should I wait until it has finished cycling? Would it do any harm at this point to start adding some Excel every other day?
The tank does not currently have a filter. Will I regret it if I don't put a filter on it?
I've been trying to limit the lighting to 8-9 hours daily. Does this make sense, or am I being too cautious?
I guess that's it for now.
Some cloudy water in the beginning, but after getting the tank fully planted, and doing some (ever so gentle) water changes, the water cleared up very quickly. I'm also happy to report that most plants have stayed where I put them, but that may not be anything I did --maybe I just have easy plants.
Out of curiosity I checked ammonia levels a couple times. It was at 1.0 a few days ago, and is down to .5 today. I've continued to do daily water changes even after the water cleared. Probably not necessary, but it doesn't appear to be doing any harm; I may carry on this way for awhile. (Probably read too many threads on various forums about Aquasoil and melting plants
)A few questions come to mind. First, I know that with Aquasoil you're not supposed to fertilize right away. At what point should I start cautiously dosing? Should I wait until it has finished cycling? Would it do any harm at this point to start adding some Excel every other day?
The tank does not currently have a filter. Will I regret it if I don't put a filter on it?
I've been trying to limit the lighting to 8-9 hours daily. Does this make sense, or am I being too cautious?
I guess that's it for now.
Hi Judi,
That's great that your tank is off to a good start. You can start adding Excel at any time, since it's not really "dosing" in the traditional sense, and is more about adding a carbon source in place of CO2. As far as your regular dosing goes, the first thing I usually start adding is Potassium, and that's only when plants seem to have stopped growing as they did initially. I know that's not really a great explanation, but it's usually within the first 3-6 weeks. In truth, you can probably add a few drops of K at any time, since extra K doesn't usually create algae problems unless the N and P drop. After that, you can gradually start dosing trace and iron, and then lastly the N and P. I think I saw a post by Jeff Senske on APC recently where he stated that he never doses Macros in an aquasoil tank. Can anyone else confirm whether I'm remembering that correctly?
Don't worry much about the ammonia levels now. Especially in a fishless tank, the ammonia will just get sucked up by the plants as a nitrogren source.
8-9 hours daily is perfect if algae is at bay, and the plants are growing. You can experiment with 10-12 hours, but if it's working, why break it?
Finally, you will probably want some form of circulation in the tank if not a filter. A number of us are using the Red Sea Deco Nano Filter with great success. I think I got mine last year from Scales for $8-$10.
That's great that your tank is off to a good start. You can start adding Excel at any time, since it's not really "dosing" in the traditional sense, and is more about adding a carbon source in place of CO2. As far as your regular dosing goes, the first thing I usually start adding is Potassium, and that's only when plants seem to have stopped growing as they did initially. I know that's not really a great explanation, but it's usually within the first 3-6 weeks. In truth, you can probably add a few drops of K at any time, since extra K doesn't usually create algae problems unless the N and P drop. After that, you can gradually start dosing trace and iron, and then lastly the N and P. I think I saw a post by Jeff Senske on APC recently where he stated that he never doses Macros in an aquasoil tank. Can anyone else confirm whether I'm remembering that correctly?
Don't worry much about the ammonia levels now. Especially in a fishless tank, the ammonia will just get sucked up by the plants as a nitrogren source.
8-9 hours daily is perfect if algae is at bay, and the plants are growing. You can experiment with 10-12 hours, but if it's working, why break it?
Finally, you will probably want some form of circulation in the tank if not a filter. A number of us are using the Red Sea Deco Nano Filter with great success. I think I got mine last year from Scales for $8-$10.
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Judi
- Posts: 812
- Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:48 pm
- Real Name: Judi Hammett
- Location: Catonsville, Maryland
Hi Kris,
I had been leaning towards starting Excel; glad to know my instincts were correct. Your explanation of when to start dosing made perfect sense. In coming weeks, I guess I'll watch the plants and just take it from there!
Any thoughts on the Azoo Palm Filter? I ordered it the other day when I was ordering some other stuff online.
I had been leaning towards starting Excel; glad to know my instincts were correct. Your explanation of when to start dosing made perfect sense. In coming weeks, I guess I'll watch the plants and just take it from there!
Any thoughts on the Azoo Palm Filter? I ordered it the other day when I was ordering some other stuff online.
