[Prev][Next][Index]

Moving Day #4




       Hi! 
  This is the fisrt time I send a message to this list, so please be
patient =)
  I had a 50 gal planted tank in my old house, it held Echinodorus osiris,
E. paniculatus & Sagittaria spp. I4ve noticed that Echinodorus are not
suitable plants as first *colonizers*, (I4ve never had real success with
them in all but old, established tanks, -like mine used to be-). They were
doing very fine & I fear they will get reduced to a tiny, clear green joke
of what they used to be...  The 50g (very-low-tech) tank had a RUGF with a
layer of nylon fiber between the gravel and the filter and two aquaclear
200 filters. It had a 1.5" to 2" deep substrate of garvel (about 4 mm in
size) and lots of fish & plant detritus. In their new home, a 130g
(72"Lx24"Hx18"W) tank, with no UGF at all and their old substrate,I plan
to set up a forest of Echinodorus, with a yeast-sugar-CO2 system until I
make some money to set up something more elaborated. I put a 1" sheet of
styrofoam under the tank, to help it find it's balance on the base, but
now I figure it may help as a substrate temperature isolator (what do you
think?), anyway it doesn't get too cold at this lattitude (I haven't even
plugged the heaters!), water temp. is around 74F. 
  My question is: Is there something I can do to avoid the feared
Echinodorus crashdown, or will I have to see them die again??  Can you
give some advice on starting up the new tank?  -ie. how many bottles of
water-yeast should I put with this tank, and at what bubble rate shuold
they be? (Im a newbie to CO2 injection)-.  I can use the two aquaclears, a
magnum 250, and a Vortex diatom filter -wich may be used as a CO2 reactor.
There are short term plans to add a wet dry sump filter to this setup, (if
necessary). 
 I plan to put in it my old (6) adult angelfishes and 3 midium size
pimelodid catfishes (P. pictus, Brachyrahmdia imitator & Sorbium lima) and
(the king) a 16" silver arowana. 
 Here in Guadalajara is kind of difficult to obtain laterite and other
aquarium plants fertilizer, Is there any chemical way to mimic the effects
of laterite??  (I have access to a well sotcked chemistry lab). 
                              THANKS
 - Jose Alberto -