Earlier in the journal you noted that on 9/18 you replaced the Purigen. Based on the table, it looks like you began seeing lower nitrate levels shortly thereafter. I suspect it could be a combination of the increased plant mass and the Purigen (my understanding is that it binds ammonia and nitrite from dissolved organic compounds preventing them from generating nitrates). I'd be inclined to mix up a small batch that has triple the amount of KNO3 and dose at the same levels for a couple of weeks to see if that better serves the increased plant mass.
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Journal UNS 60S Pond Scape
- Thread starter gnatster
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- Thread starter
- #62
gnatster
Active Member
Interesting. I've gone and read a bit more about Purigen. Then, looking back over my notes and testing log from setup, it did take days before any ammonia appeared, then quickly went to 0. Purigen was added from the start. I need to rethink that for the next setup.
I doubled the dose of both Macros and Micros the past two days after the water change. I'll test again and proceed from there. I'm now concerned I may have Micros out of whack.
Hey! I just received my UNS 60S and was debating whether the Biomaster 250 was too strong. Are you still liking it? I love the thread and your tank as well! I’m coming from the saltwater reefing side of the hobby and really look forward trying to create an aquascape as nice as yours!
- Thread starter
- #64
gnatster
Active Member
Thanks, I'm pretty happy with the way the aquarium has progressed.
The Biomaster 250 has plenty of flow. So much so that I found it necessary to use a reliever on the output; otherwise, the current was too strong, whipping up the substrate.
The Biomaster 250 has plenty of flow. So much so that I found it necessary to use a reliever on the output; otherwise, the current was too strong, whipping up the substrate.
- Thread starter
- #65
gnatster
Active Member
Been a few weeks with a few water changes and testing.
We left off with the Nitrates being low after changing the Purigen. First, I doubled the Macros dose for a week. That didn't really help. Hair algae increased. Then triple the amount of KNO3 in the Macro mix. Thank you for the idea, @Rob23. Starting with the normal 1ml dose. That didn't feel right with all the emersed growth, so I bumped both Micros and Macos up 50%. It's been about a week and a half since the change. Hair algae has been minimized.. I'm no longer pulling small clumps, just an individual strand now and then.
Again, I am flabbergasted that this is going so well.
The emersed growth has taken off.
Oct 5
Today, Oct 21
The Buce on the right had a lot of hair algae, it's almost all but gone.
This Buce went from producing smaller leaves to ones double the size. What might cause that?
We left off with the Nitrates being low after changing the Purigen. First, I doubled the Macros dose for a week. That didn't really help. Hair algae increased. Then triple the amount of KNO3 in the Macro mix. Thank you for the idea, @Rob23. Starting with the normal 1ml dose. That didn't feel right with all the emersed growth, so I bumped both Micros and Macos up 50%. It's been about a week and a half since the change. Hair algae has been minimized.. I'm no longer pulling small clumps, just an individual strand now and then.
Again, I am flabbergasted that this is going so well.
The emersed growth has taken off.
Oct 5
Today, Oct 21
The Buce on the right had a lot of hair algae, it's almost all but gone.
This Buce went from producing smaller leaves to ones double the size. What might cause that?
- Thread starter
- #66
gnatster
Active Member
11/9/25 From my notes.
After a few weeks of dosing with 3X KNO3 and regular water changes, with continued testing, I've moved back to the standard PPS Macro mix. All my levels were back to where they started before the low-nitrate issue.
40% (4gal) water change with RO water remineralized to 50 TDS .
TDS before 224 - TDS after 166
KH before 9 - KH after 6
GH before 8 - GH after 7
Performed a heavy vacuum of the front substrate today.
Green Rasboras are disappearing. Down to 5, they’ve become very skittish and hide a lot. The shrimp are doing well; lots of them are appearing. There are a few too many snails; I will need to pare them down. Otocinclus have pretty much disappeared as well. Have only seen one. All the Corys are accounted for, but I wish I could say the same for the Panda Garra’s; all but one have gone missing. I’ve checked the entire area around the tank for bodies with no luck. Even went through the RoboVacs dust bin in an effort to be thorough.
Applied APT Fix to the Buce, which has been having green hair algae issues.
Hydrocotyle has appeared in unexpected places. Looks good. I’m at a loss as to how to deal with the Ludwigia Super Red. The emersed part looks great, exactly what I had in mind when planning the layout. The bottoms are a tangled mess with Hydrocotyle and Hygrophila pinnatifida runners throughout. The Hygrophila has grown over the light; the roots are contributing to the tangled mass under the floating Ludwigia. Buce are all looking good. Lately, new growth has been much larger leaves.
Some Pictures
Spikey Moss
The tangled mess of stems and roots.
After a few weeks of dosing with 3X KNO3 and regular water changes, with continued testing, I've moved back to the standard PPS Macro mix. All my levels were back to where they started before the low-nitrate issue.
40% (4gal) water change with RO water remineralized to 50 TDS .
TDS before 224 - TDS after 166
KH before 9 - KH after 6
GH before 8 - GH after 7
Performed a heavy vacuum of the front substrate today.
Green Rasboras are disappearing. Down to 5, they’ve become very skittish and hide a lot. The shrimp are doing well; lots of them are appearing. There are a few too many snails; I will need to pare them down. Otocinclus have pretty much disappeared as well. Have only seen one. All the Corys are accounted for, but I wish I could say the same for the Panda Garra’s; all but one have gone missing. I’ve checked the entire area around the tank for bodies with no luck. Even went through the RoboVacs dust bin in an effort to be thorough.
Applied APT Fix to the Buce, which has been having green hair algae issues.
Hydrocotyle has appeared in unexpected places. Looks good. I’m at a loss as to how to deal with the Ludwigia Super Red. The emersed part looks great, exactly what I had in mind when planning the layout. The bottoms are a tangled mess with Hydrocotyle and Hygrophila pinnatifida runners throughout. The Hygrophila has grown over the light; the roots are contributing to the tangled mass under the floating Ludwigia. Buce are all looking good. Lately, new growth has been much larger leaves.
Some Pictures
Spikey Moss
The tangled mess of stems and roots.
- Thread starter
- #67
gnatster
Active Member
Today was a big water change day, substrate vac, and all that fun stuff.
The green rasboras keep vanishing. Down to 4, skittish little fish that hide in the back corner where they blend in with the Hydrocotyle. Going to try some Celestial Pearl Danios.
Shrimp have been doing the shrimp thing. It's time to keep the population in check. I've been waiting patiently for the shrimp population to reach this level. I've ordered some Black Tiger Badis. I've wanted to keep these for years, and in 2007, I purchased an ADA Solar Mini light and tank to do so. Life changed. Still have the light.
Plants are doing fine. There is a little bit of staghorn algae. I've been manually pulling it out, and I've also used APT Fix in hard-to-reach areas. The emersed growth has reached over the light. Raising the light will mess with the aesthetics of the tank/light combo in the space. Much higher, and the height-to-width balance is off.
The green rasboras keep vanishing. Down to 4, skittish little fish that hide in the back corner where they blend in with the Hydrocotyle. Going to try some Celestial Pearl Danios.
Shrimp have been doing the shrimp thing. It's time to keep the population in check. I've been waiting patiently for the shrimp population to reach this level. I've ordered some Black Tiger Badis. I've wanted to keep these for years, and in 2007, I purchased an ADA Solar Mini light and tank to do so. Life changed. Still have the light.
Plants are doing fine. There is a little bit of staghorn algae. I've been manually pulling it out, and I've also used APT Fix in hard-to-reach areas. The emersed growth has reached over the light. Raising the light will mess with the aesthetics of the tank/light combo in the space. Much higher, and the height-to-width balance is off.
- Thread starter
- #68
gnatster
Active Member
Woke up to a noisy filter. Restarting did not help; I noticed the flow was reduced as well. Took the filter apart and thoroughly cleaned the impeller and housing. There was a buildup of brown muck. Rinsed the filter pads. Cleaned the filter hoses and lily pipies. Took apart the CO2 diffuser and was shocked at how much muck had built up. Filled the canister with RO water and reassembled.
Upon restart, it blew a bunch of stuff in the tank. Shrimp went crazy for about 30 minutes. Cloudiness cleared in a few hours, just in time for UPS to deliver the new fish.
Unboxing revealed alive but cold Black Tiger Badis and Celestial Pearl Danios. They responded well to live brine shrimp.
Upon restart, it blew a bunch of stuff in the tank. Shrimp went crazy for about 30 minutes. Cloudiness cleared in a few hours, just in time for UPS to deliver the new fish.
Unboxing revealed alive but cold Black Tiger Badis and Celestial Pearl Danios. They responded well to live brine shrimp.
- Thread starter
- #69
gnatster
Active Member
Today was fun...
Woke up to no flow from the filter. It was running, yet no flow. Restarting burped out a little water, then nothing. The primer pump was difficult to push down and returned very slowly. I searched for troubleshooting on the Oase site, but none of the article titles matched my issue. Dased off a note to Oase support. Posted on Scapecrunch.
Turned on the skimmer.
Oase wrote back quickly, asking me to call support. After speaking with them, we set up a FaceTime appointment for 20 minutes later. This allowed time to have some coffee, breathe, and move the filter along with hoses to the kitchen for disassembly. Had to install FaceTime too.
Oase support was on time. We went over all the bits. There were some snails in the bottom area under the prefilter. They may have blocked the flow. Support gave me hints on reassembly, like holding the magnet and spinning the impeller clockwise until it locks. Checking all the seals. Being sure all the baskets are level. Refilled the filter with RO water through the heater port and reassembled. At this point, we got off the call with instructions for me to call back when I’ve installed the filter.
Set everything and FaceTimed them back. They looked over everything, reminding me that the reducers will reduce flow rates. Then they mentioned the hose routing. Most people would have the hoses exit vertically, not me; they go down and along the wall before turning up to the tank. Another reminder that this will reduce the flow rate. I replied I know the tradeoffs, the tank is only 10 gallons, and I’m comfortable with the reduced flow rate.
Support instructed to prime the filter a few times. Powered up and all was right in my little world again.
The livestock was zoomie for a while; they’ve settled down since. I need to test things. I’ve effectively performed two 15% water changes over the past 24 hours with filter refills on top of a 40% weekly change 2 days ago.
I’m impressed with Oase's support.
Lesson learned - Look for errant snails under the prefilter housing.
Hardware Setup
Different view of the tank
Woke up to no flow from the filter. It was running, yet no flow. Restarting burped out a little water, then nothing. The primer pump was difficult to push down and returned very slowly. I searched for troubleshooting on the Oase site, but none of the article titles matched my issue. Dased off a note to Oase support. Posted on Scapecrunch.
Turned on the skimmer.
Oase wrote back quickly, asking me to call support. After speaking with them, we set up a FaceTime appointment for 20 minutes later. This allowed time to have some coffee, breathe, and move the filter along with hoses to the kitchen for disassembly. Had to install FaceTime too.
Oase support was on time. We went over all the bits. There were some snails in the bottom area under the prefilter. They may have blocked the flow. Support gave me hints on reassembly, like holding the magnet and spinning the impeller clockwise until it locks. Checking all the seals. Being sure all the baskets are level. Refilled the filter with RO water through the heater port and reassembled. At this point, we got off the call with instructions for me to call back when I’ve installed the filter.
Set everything and FaceTimed them back. They looked over everything, reminding me that the reducers will reduce flow rates. Then they mentioned the hose routing. Most people would have the hoses exit vertically, not me; they go down and along the wall before turning up to the tank. Another reminder that this will reduce the flow rate. I replied I know the tradeoffs, the tank is only 10 gallons, and I’m comfortable with the reduced flow rate.
Support instructed to prime the filter a few times. Powered up and all was right in my little world again.
The livestock was zoomie for a while; they’ve settled down since. I need to test things. I’ve effectively performed two 15% water changes over the past 24 hours with filter refills on top of a 40% weekly change 2 days ago.
I’m impressed with Oase's support.
Lesson learned - Look for errant snails under the prefilter housing.
Hardware Setup
Different view of the tank
- Thread starter
- #70
gnatster
Active Member
Oh wow, just realized I hadn't updated this in 2 months.
So where are we?
Not thrilled.
I've not solved the disappearing fish issue. All the free swimmers have vanished. Corys, Ottos, and Kuhli Loaches, pretty much all accounted for. The shrimp have gone through a generational change; most of the largest have disappeared, but there are loads of smaller ones. New babies pop up all the time, mostly in the overflow.
I'm not finding bodies. It's a complete mystery to me.
So what did I do? I went and bought 10 inexpensive Ruby Tetras along with a trio of Pygmy Sunfish. We'll see where this goes.
When it comes to the planted portion, my thoughts are mixed.
The Bad:
Wisteria has taken over, both above and below the water's surface. Below is a tangled mess of roots. Above, you can see here.
Somewhere in that jumble are a few stems of H pinnatifida; they've been overwhelmed by the Ludwigia.
On the other side, we have this mess of Hairgrass and Hydrocotyle. I'm pulling algae out of here on a daily basis. The Hydrocotyle has sent runners everywhere; it's a game of whack-a-stem.
The Good:
Black Pearl Buce has been growing very well. Trimmed some for another tank. A flower spike started after I had 3 days without light while repairing the light stand.
Purple Mini has 2 flower spikes.
It's going to be too cold for the next few weeks to order anything. This gives me time to have a good think about the direction the tank is headed.
So where are we?
Not thrilled.
I've not solved the disappearing fish issue. All the free swimmers have vanished. Corys, Ottos, and Kuhli Loaches, pretty much all accounted for. The shrimp have gone through a generational change; most of the largest have disappeared, but there are loads of smaller ones. New babies pop up all the time, mostly in the overflow.
I'm not finding bodies. It's a complete mystery to me.
So what did I do? I went and bought 10 inexpensive Ruby Tetras along with a trio of Pygmy Sunfish. We'll see where this goes.
When it comes to the planted portion, my thoughts are mixed.
The Bad:
Wisteria has taken over, both above and below the water's surface. Below is a tangled mess of roots. Above, you can see here.
Somewhere in that jumble are a few stems of H pinnatifida; they've been overwhelmed by the Ludwigia.
On the other side, we have this mess of Hairgrass and Hydrocotyle. I'm pulling algae out of here on a daily basis. The Hydrocotyle has sent runners everywhere; it's a game of whack-a-stem.
The Good:
Black Pearl Buce has been growing very well. Trimmed some for another tank. A flower spike started after I had 3 days without light while repairing the light stand.
Purple Mini has 2 flower spikes.
It's going to be too cold for the next few weeks to order anything. This gives me time to have a good think about the direction the tank is headed.
JayP
Valuable Member
Hey @Naturescapes_Rocco , that's the same Buce you liked in my tank. Maybe Gnatster is the one we should have farming it.
Kwyet
After every new tank—“This is my last one!”
Shrimp and snails will take care of a fish body pretty fast. Also, just fyi, Pygmy sunfish will hunt your shrimp. I think the emersed growth looks cool, and I like the Buce too!
JayP
Valuable Member
Yeah, they're a very cool looking fish but I read this: "They adapt well to small aquaria and are relatively adaptable to a range of conditions, but seldom take conventional prepared fish foods, instead requiring small live worms, insects, or crustaceans as food."
Kwyet
After every new tank—“This is my last one!”
Mine would happily eat baby brine shrimp (live or not), and would eat flakes as well, but they would “hunt” the smaller shrimp.
- Thread starter
- #75
gnatster
Active Member
The Automated Art reminded me I've not updated this journal in some time.
There has been a lot of change.
I've seen some success with keeping fish. Added Ruby Tetras a few months ago, and the majority of them are still alive. They are skiddish; any movement outside the tank, they dive into the tangled web of Hygrohila roots.
The shrimp population is exploding again. I've lost all the micro-predator fish.
Pulled all the Ludigia, trimmed off some good stems, and replanted. It too had become a tangled mess. Add a few stems of Alternanthera renikki and Bacopa to see what happens.
Took advantage of an offer to buy a dozen nice Buce clumps. I had them sitting in deli containers for the 30A. I got waylaid. My one remaining client decided it's time to raise prices. With 600+ products all having multiple variations, it's taken a fair bit of time. All that to say, the Buce clumps were starting to look a little shabby. I've placed them all in this tank. The shrimp are having a field day crawling all around them.
Went through a bit of an algae spell. Water changes had been drifting to every 10-12 days, not weekly. Some APT Fix judiciously applied, along with getting back on track with water changes, took care of that situation.
I'd like to add some fish that actually swim in open water. Suggestions?
I'll try not to wait 71 days to update.
There has been a lot of change.
I've seen some success with keeping fish. Added Ruby Tetras a few months ago, and the majority of them are still alive. They are skiddish; any movement outside the tank, they dive into the tangled web of Hygrohila roots.
The shrimp population is exploding again. I've lost all the micro-predator fish.
Pulled all the Ludigia, trimmed off some good stems, and replanted. It too had become a tangled mess. Add a few stems of Alternanthera renikki and Bacopa to see what happens.
Took advantage of an offer to buy a dozen nice Buce clumps. I had them sitting in deli containers for the 30A. I got waylaid. My one remaining client decided it's time to raise prices. With 600+ products all having multiple variations, it's taken a fair bit of time. All that to say, the Buce clumps were starting to look a little shabby. I've placed them all in this tank. The shrimp are having a field day crawling all around them.
Went through a bit of an algae spell. Water changes had been drifting to every 10-12 days, not weekly. Some APT Fix judiciously applied, along with getting back on track with water changes, took care of that situation.
I'd like to add some fish that actually swim in open water. Suggestions?
I'll try not to wait 71 days to update.
never heard Automated Art before, Nathan.
BranchScape
Active Member
I am new here but just read through your journal. Beautiful tank!
I too have been a long time hobbyist who took a break for a while. I had a 6 day power outage crash my beloved reef just over a year ago, and am about to start again with a planted setup.
Thanks for a great write up and awesome pics! Cheers
I too have been a long time hobbyist who took a break for a while. I had a 6 day power outage crash my beloved reef just over a year ago, and am about to start again with a planted setup.
Thanks for a great write up and awesome pics! Cheers
- Thread starter
- #79
gnatster
Active Member
- Thread starter
- #80
gnatster
Active Member
3D printed end shades for Chihiros WRGB.
The fit is OK, next time I take the light down I'll fenagle the mounting points to fit better.
The fit is OK, next time I take the light down I'll fenagle the mounting points to fit better.
