Powerhead distributes CO2 Today I shifted the location of the CO2 diffuser from the left wall of the tank to behind the moutain and underneath the powerhead. The atomised CO2 gets sucked up directly into the flow and actively pushed around the tank. Previously I had the diffuser on the opposite side of the tank […]
Read more →Category: Aquarium observations
Journal/observations—what I noticed over time; experiential notes rather than evidence-based investigation.
Nothing has really dramatically changed in the Fireplace Aquarium but I feel the green spot algae has been growing back quicker than it used to. I was having to give the tank walls a credit-card scrapedown every three or four weeks, but now it seems up to every other week. I tried increasing the dose […]
Read more →Time lapse sequence following major aquarium plant trim About a month ago I revised the layout of some of the aquarium plants. I didn’t like the look of all the stemmy/rooty bits of the Lobelia showing up against the front wall of the aquarium so I planted a row of dwarf Cryptocorynes in front to […]
Read more →Plant layers add vertical interest Aquatic plants for aquaria are commonly classed by how tall they can be expected to grow, with the idea that it is sensible to grow the shortest plants at the front of the tank, middle-sized plants somewhat further back behind the shortest plants, and the tallest plants at the very […]
Read more →Simulated daily light programme My daily lighting sequence with the Kessil A80 LED light controlled by a mains timer was pretty straightforward: lights off for 18 hours per day and lights on full for 6 hours per day. That’s fine but of occasion I’d head into work with the lights off and they’d already be […]
Read more →How tall do submerged aquarium plants grow? Figures are approximate, as they say. When planning a planted aquarium (and there should be some type of plan!) it’s important to consider the expected maximum height of plants in the layout. I went wrong previously planting echinodorus radicans, a fine plant but much too large for this […]
Read more →Following up on observations of changing fish behaviour when either lighting or flow rates are changed, here we take a look at what happens when the lights turn off. The video shown starts after the Kessil A80 light has been on for nearly 6 hours, the typical photoperiod for the current setup. The tetras and […]
Read more →In transitioning from a low tech to high tech tank I noticed a significant change in the behaviour of the fish* where they used to swim mostly at the top/middle regions of the tank under low tech conditions but then spent a lot of time at the bottom with the high tech conditions. At the […]
Read more →I’ve been running the Kessil A80 light for 6 hours per day on the maximum intensity. The aquarium looks nice either with the lights on or lights off so here are some contrasting photos. With the lights on, the fish tend to stay at the bottom of the tank. With the lights off they are […]
Read more →Today I gave the ludwigia palustris its first trim. A couple of the stems were just under the surface so I clipped off the three tallest. This ludwigia, in contrast to some reports, doesn’t have very many aerial roots but where there were a few part-way down the stem, I trimmed to just above the […]
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