Journal 75L Hygrophila polysperma white display

[Dennis Wong]

Comparison pic 30 days apart where abouts showing the relatively slow growth speeds for both Polysperma white and Rotala florida vs other plants

 

[Dennis Wong]

Took phots using the Twinstar S series and I think the aquarium actually looks better under it than my week aqua tuning. Interestingly the Twinstar also produces 300+ PAR, which is more than what I expected, putting it in similar levels to chichiros/weekaqua/net lea line-up.

 

[That Guy Brian]

I posted this on FB, and I thought it is important enough that I post it here also.
Large water changes during a new planted tank startup phase is something I have changed my mind about this year.

If dilution of organics, removal of detritus and algae spores is the goal of large water changes during the initial weeks is the goal, why stop at 50% or 80%? If new aquasoil release 10ppm of ammonia, an 80% water change still leaves 2ppm. So this year I have done 100% (or as near as I can) water changes for my new projects instead and all the tanks have settled in even faster than before, with faster plant adaptation, with the tank skipping diatoms/GDA phases entirely. I no longer expect to handle any form of diatoms in any new setup.

1st week: 100% water changes every 2 days
2-3nd week: 100% water changes twice a week, more if there is visible algae appearing.
4th week: back to 50-80% water change schedule once a week, but more if the tank has not settled in.

As per Tom barr; Periphyton is also lifted off plant leaves when water levels dip enough to expose the plants to air. The secondary effect of such large water changes is that it exposes plants to atmospheric air, which saturates their vacuoles with gaseous oxygen and carbon dioxide. This invigorates plant growth and allows plants to adapt faster to the new aquarium environment. Plants also channel the extra oxygen down to the rhizosphere, which in turn turbo-charges development of the microbial community in the substrate. These invisible interactions have an extremely strong anti-algae impact.

If something is good, is more of it better? When it comes to big water changes, it seems like the answer is yes.

Using APT Feast aquasoil - This approach also allows me to plant sensitive plants from day1 rather than waiting - Blood vomit, Bucephalandra, Varigated plants.

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I'm ASSuming here, but I'll ask the question anyway: Does this approach also apply to tanks with inert substrates, such as BDBS ?

I'm waiting on my first tank (75G) to arrive in a few weeks!

-B

 

[Dennis Wong]

I'm ASSuming here, but I'll ask the question anyway: Does this approach also apply to tanks with inert substrates, such as BDBS?

I'm waiting on my first tank (75G) to arrive in a few weeks!

-B

Inert substrates do not face the same nutrient fluctuations that ammonia enriched aquasoils do. However, they face the same biological maturity cycles (like with diatoms/green dust algae management in new tanks for example) and the large water changes also helps plants settle in by exposing them to air, and removal of algae spores/detritus/decomposer microbes that can affect adapting plants.

A similar scenario can be seen when folks leave large clumps of plants floating in a bucket. Once a few plants start deteriorating, the rot/melts spreads quickly to other plants. This is largely because once a piece of plant start deteriorating, there will be a spike in the microbial populations responsible for decomposing decaying material - and these microbes spread easily to other plants in the vicinity when their populations spike. In matured aquariums, other microbes keep these microbes in check, so decaying plant material can be digested without the rot spreading so easily. This is the same reason why sensitive plants such as TC or difficult species, survive better in matured aquariums also. Large water changes in new aquariums not only removed organic detritus, but also remove excess populations of these decomposer microbes before the ecosystem that keeps them in check has developed.