Journal 80cm (32”) collectoritis tank

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Love this! And also goes to show how much CO2 plays a part, even lower concentrations make a big difference.

 

[JacksonL]

Some exciting new fish additions.
7 new “Aru II” blue eyes. Beautiful fish, and according to state quarantine, the first in the state I live in (non-smuggled, anyway). Beautiful fish, still small and settling in and their colours are already impressive. Impossible to catch on a phone camera photo, but here is a video of two males:

View attachment IMG_5892.mov

 

[JacksonL]

Tank continues to come back nicely. Still more BBA than I would like, but it’s certainly seems to be improving.
I am trimming less infected leaves and less of the hardscape is needing scrubbing or treatment during weekly water changes.
Strangely, one of the main places I am getting it is on the substrate at the front of the tank. I’ve never had an issue with it growing on aquasoil before, but I am getting small tufts of it on individual grains/lumps of soil. Not the worst thing, as it’s incredibly easy to remove.
Here is the front view at the moment:

Stem bunches at the back are starting to thicken out nicely. I am using the method Dennis mentioned recently, constantly trimming off the quickest growing stems.

The front section of S.Repens ‘porto velho’ is starting to fill out nicely. The new growth looks far more purple in person.

Added some Rotala mexicana, it’s a plant I’ve always found interesting but never grown. It looks a bit scrappy, so I’m not sure if it stays, but will give it some time.

I think I am going to give up on the Ammania. It has always struggled, but got hit hard with algae and has looked beyond horrible since. I’m not sure if it’s salvageable!


Currently dosing 4.3ml of APT3 per day, with a 15ml boost/front load after each 90L (70%) water change.
This gives me the following:

Week 0 (Now) — 4.3ml/day + 15ml boost

Nutrient​	Per Dose​	Daily ×7​	Boost (15ml into 95L)​	Weekly Total (130L)​
NO₃​	1.03 ppm​	7.18 ppm​	4.90 ppm​	10.76 ppm​
PO₄​	0.40 ppm​	2.80 ppm​	1.91 ppm​	4.20 ppm​
K​	1.92 ppm​	13.45 ppm​	9.17 ppm​	20.16 ppm​
Mg​	0.32 ppm​	2.23 ppm​	1.52 ppm​	3.35 ppm​
Fe​	0.030 ppm​	0.208 ppm​	0.142 ppm​	0.312 ppm​

Current dosing baseline.

I am planning to increase nutrients across the board, slowly.
I have ordered some Burr micros, and when they arrive I will go back to DIY macros.
In the mean time I am going to slowly increase my APT 3 dosing week by week, for 7 weeks, to the following:

Week 7 — 5.5ml/day + 20ml boost

Nutrient​	Per Dose​	Daily ×7​	Boost (20ml into 95L)​	Weekly Total (130L)​
NO₃​	1.31 ppm​	9.18 ppm​	6.53 ppm​	13.95 ppm​
PO₄​	0.51 ppm​	3.59 ppm​	2.55 ppm​	5.45 ppm​
K​	2.46 ppm​	17.21 ppm​	12.23 ppm​	26.14 ppm​
Mg​	0.41 ppm​	2.86 ppm​	2.03 ppm​	4.34 ppm​
Fe​	0.038 ppm​	0.267 ppm​	0.189 ppm​	0.405 ppm​

Final target dose — transition to 4-channel setup at this point.

Then change to DIY, around the same levels, depending on testing.

My calcium chloride ‘went bad’, it had absorbed a lot of moisture and was a bit gluggy. I presume the lid on the container didn’t seal completely. So instead of buying more to make a new batch of remineralisers, I am just dry dosing CaSO4 and epsom salts I had already.

Remineraliser — Fixed Weekly (8.2g CaSO₄ + 8.2g Epsom into 95L)

Nutrient​	Source​	ppm in 95L new water​
Ca​	CaSO₄ (anhydrous)​	25.4 ppm​
Mg​	Epsom (MgSO₄·7H₂O)​	8.5 ppm​
SO₄​	CaSO₄ + Epsom​	94.5 ppm​
KH​	RO water​	0.5 dKH​

Ca : Mg = 25.4 : 8.5 = 2.99 : 1 (target 3:1) Total dGH = 5.52 (target 5.5)

 

[CincyScaper]

The green stem looks like R.Tulunadensis ? Awesome plant got mine from Joe and has been doing really well

 

[JacksonL]

The green stem looks like R.Tulunadensis ? Awesome plant got mine from Joe and has been doing really well

It is! I haven’t grown it before. Very nice plant. It is a fairly moderate grower, vertically, but it has thickened out heaps with almost no trimming required.

 

[CincyScaper]

It is! I haven’t grown it before. Very nice plant. It is a fairly moderate grower, vertically, but it has thickened out heaps with almost no trimming required.

Yah that’s it main problem it automatically branches and shades out its lower leaves which then causes lower leaves to not do so well (atleast in my tank) . I think it is best used as mid ground where you frequently trim and replant. Loves its co2 and does not root deep, so easy to pull out and replant the top.