Journal 62G AIO Dirty Soil Lagoon

[CincyScaper 158]

Right now I can only attest to its aesthetics and controls. I like it thus far, I can’t speak to plant growth just yet. I chose this one because of my propensity to lean towards island style scapes. I don’t typically plant the entirety of the tank, so lighting it edge to edge with full intensity doesn’t really make sense for my layout. This light will provide the most focus and intensity at the center of my island, and still provide enough spread to light up the edges of the tank to highlight the entire tank and fish. The cost was also a big factor, I potentially would have purchased the two T90’s but it would have cost me well over $400 whereas the single Z400 cost me $225 shipped. The Z400 comes with its own hanger as well, it’s not a separate expense. I would only caution mounting a light to the tank, I don’t like the chance of a stress fracture to the glass.

Ok thanks I am planning a similar island style scape will keep it in mind. On a different note, can you go through your process of making sure the aquasoil and the sand doesn’t mix. TIA

 

[Mr.Shenanagins 453]

Ok thanks I am planning a similar island style scape will keep it in mind. On a different note, can you go through your process of making sure the aquasoil and the sand doesn’t mix. TIA

No problem.

I built the scape first with the stone and wood. I like putting down egg crate or something similar to keep the rock off the glass. Others have used foam etc, but I like using egg crate because it also provides a little height and makes the planting area a tad deeper. Wherever there are gaps, in the past I have stuffed polyfill in there, but this time around I decide to use black filter foam and cut it into pieces to stuff into exposed areas. With this particular scape I did have some spots that were difficult to reach, and a large funnel helped get the soil into those narrow spaces.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins 453]

Okay, new Yugang reactor has been dry fitted and input/output/co2 input installed and leak tested.

This is 6” PVC pipe (sewage and drainage hence the green) at 10” long. It will provide plenty of power for my tank, and I can throttle it down if need be via my needle valve. I’ll experiment with co2 levels soon once it’s setup. I plan to cement it together this evening. Deciding whether or not to paint it and if I care

 

[Koan 39]

What bulkhead fitting is that?

 

[Mr.Shenanagins 453]

What bulkhead fitting is that?

It’s a marine thru hull fitting. Comes with a built in “check valve” but you can rip it right out.

https://a.co/d/07TyMsGQ

 

[Koan 39]

marine thru hull fitting. Comes with a built in “check valve” but you can rip it right out.

https://a.co/d/07TyMsGQ

Nice!

 

[Mr.Shenanagins 453]

Yugang reactor together, I’ll get it running later today and plant some clippings I received from @Burr740. I had to remove the John guest style push to fit fitting for the co2, it ended up leaking badly where the push to fit connection separated from the rest of the housing. I replaced it with a stainless steel thru barb fitting.

I’m still waiting on a small shipment from APF. Ordered last Saturday, it shipped Monday, and I’m not receiving it until tomorrow. Ridiculous. At one point it arrived in my state, to then go to another states processing center. To then again come back south. Idc what the logistical explanation is, it’s idiotic.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco 15]

Dont forget to direct your anger towards UPS and not APF haha
I'm sure they'll make it right if you reach out about the condition of the plants when they arrive

 

[JayP 434]

Dont forget to direct your anger towards UPS and not APF haha

This sounds more typical of USPS rather than UPS. USPS does this to me regularly, package arrives in KC, then gets shipped to another state. I refer to the KC USPS distribution center as the USPS black hole.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins 453]

Dont forget to direct your anger towards UPS and not APF haha
I'm sure they'll make it right if you reach out about the condition of the plants when they arrive

You mean USPS, and yes I will. The only gripe I have is they don’t refund you the shipping even though that’s not technically their fault.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins 453]

Planted today thanks to @Burr740 , the plants include: P. Sedoides, L. Hipp, Ludwigia Super Red, Blyxa Japonica, L. Cardinalis Mini. Unfortunately the couple of stems of Hygro Triflora didn’t make it, for some reason. In the next few days I’ll add my Anubias I have stashed to the rock work. I have Buce coming from APF, as well as some Monte Carlo to place on the driftwood. Hopefully that rainbow sword arrives in good shape. Picture doesn’t do the colors justice unfortunately, this light looks stunning over the tank with the gorgeous rippling effect. I’ll attach a video if I can.


View attachment IMG_0350.mov

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco 15]

That's a piece of art in your home. Nice work, can't wait to see it mature!

 

[Mr.Shenanagins 453]

The reactor is working well. It’s silent other than a little chirp of the excess gas in overflow mode every 30-60 seconds. This drop checker is on the compete opposite end of the tank where the co2 laden water is being returned.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins 453]

Did a 50% water change yesterday and trimmed down all the stems to get rid of some startup algae rearing its ugly head (string, diatom, GDA, isolated BBA and staghorn). This got a little out of hand because I had to extend my water change schedule due to time constraints.

I took Rocco’s recent post about stem plant trimming advice and removed all of my stems and topped them with the healthiest leaves. This eradicated 90% of the lingering algae, the rest I scrubbed from the rocks, driftwood and vacuumed the sand and soil. I currently also have an outbreak of hydra taunting me. Hoping they will eventually starve out without a food source and continued good maintenance. I still need to plant my Anubias and Buce in the rock work, and the TC Monte Carlo I got from APF was less than impressive. I ended up pitching it instead of using it and adding to the potential algae fest. I may go back to potentially considering hydro trip.

Another thing I’ve noticed is some of the stones seem to be dissolving in the tank, as some that I scrub are releasing a fine dust. Those particular rocks also had some cyanoacrylate bonds that broke free. I tested a bunch of the similar rocks that I still have and didn’t use, and the acid test didn’t reveal any reactions. Any chemists that can explain likely the type of rocks they are and why they are dissolving? I was thinking maybe they are some type of softer sandstone or similar. Wondering if I chose to use these again in the future, that maybe coating them in a matte epoxy would be best. It doesn’t seem to be harming anything in the tank but, I’ll have to test the gH kH to truly tell.

On a sad note, I lost a rainbow and a gudgeon to jumping. I found both on the floor the next morning on separate days. The water quality is fine because no one is showing signs of stress, but I’ve never had a jumping issue until now. My returns were initially pointed at the surface to provide some pretty turbulent surface flow, but it was also quite strong and just barely staying below the rim. My guess is that both fish rode the wave and accidentally took the ride right over the rim. I have since pointed the returns down and I’m still getting good surface movement, but I feel awful that was likely my fault for them escaping tragically

There are some bare spots that I’m working on filling with some new plants coming from Burr. Looking forward to this really taking off.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins 453]

Well, this tank continues to piss me off and leave me aggravated week by week. I have gone through a lot of plants just struggling to gain footing. Growth rate is quite slow, resulting in lower leaves getting absolutely riddled with algae, and only the newest growth surviving. It’s an end less cycle of removing the lower stem, topping with fresh clean growth, and starting all over again. I do not have any test kits to test any parameters and I’m working on gaining those to see where my levels are at. In these pictures you will see some rampant staghorn and BBA patches on hardscape and sand that have since resolved, but I literally had any and all algae you could think of.

I am slightly suspicious of my rocks potentially messing with my parameters. I have noticed increasing kH around 5-6 halfway through the week, and any time I clean the rocks, it’s a cloudy mess. I have never had this issue with other river rock and I’m suspecting these stones are dissolving rather quickly. Every spot that I glued previously has since broken free, and I suspect it’s because the stone surface is continuously eroding, resulting in a poor bond. I am considering breaking this down and replacing all the rock, fearing that it’s potentially causing my issues. Co2 is consistent now and flow is reaching all areas of the planting area. I’m currently at a loss and my hardscape not being stable and anchored as I clean is driving me insane.

 

[CincyScaper 158]

Just thinking what I would do if this was my tank.

• consider lowering light
• 50-70% wc twice weekly
• add more plant volume - limnophilla heterophylla was a nice temporary plant for me to stabilize things and remove 1 insane speed of growth
• consider floating plants
• add algae eaters - I underestimated these before. I love Amanos and Otos. Unfortunately Amanos seems to like AR mini and I have settled with cherries.

I am sure you will get over this soon

 

[Mr.Shenanagins 453]

Just thinking what I would do if this was my tank.

• consider lowering light
• 50-70% wc twice weekly
• add more plant volume - limnophilla heterophylla was a nice temporary plant for me to stabilize things and remove 1 insane speed of growth
• consider floating plants
• add algae eaters - I underestimated these before. I love Amanos and Otos. Unfortunately Amanos seems to like AR mini and I have settled with cherries.

I am sure you will get over this soon

I’m with you on a couple things, but something just seems off as I have never had such a poor start like I’m experiencing now. The only true difference is the stones I’m using. I’m thinking for my own peace of mind I’m going to remove all the stone, and rebuild with what Ive used in the past. This stone, most of it, scratches easy and dissolves when brushed with a toothbrush too much for my liking. I think too much is being released into the water column daily, with only god knows what. It’s a shame, because I think the stones are beautiful, but they are not suited for my purpose it seems. Hopefully my next post is a rebuilt hardscape, I plan to keep the same island look and shape.

 

[Rob23 14]

+1 on @CincyScaper's suggestions. To that I would add both a thorough vacuuming of the substrate to remove any mulm that has accumulated over time and a light cleaning of your filter. Hope to see you get this turned around soon!

 

[BranchScape 39]

Man sorry you are going through it. Once you have a full suite of test products for TDS , KH, GH, PH, plus NKP you can get some ideas of what your tank and tap water parameters are then note the drift. If it was the rocks I would source some new ones and do a bucket test then pull. as the battle would never end.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins 453]

Man sorry you are going through it. Once you have a full suite of test products for TDS, KH, GH, PH, plus NKP you can get some ideas of what your tank and tap water parameters are then note the drift. If it was the rocks I would source some new ones and do a bucket test then pull. as the battle would never end.

The rocks I’ve used for the last several years I had no issues, so I plan to just source more of those. I was trying to go a different direction with some different colors and texture for reasonable cost. The ones I had from previous layouts didn’t work with my new layout so I took the opportunity to try something different. I love this hobby but there’s just certain areas I put my foot down with expense, not to mention, I have no local source for aquascaping stone. I like to pick my pieces, not get a box of “you get what you get.”