New 33 gallon long (4 foot) tank with waterfall and kinon

[bekateen]

And I get Trepobates for the nymph.

[edds]

The second one is a species of Gerris. In the UK it would be Gerris lacustris but I am not sure of the species native to California (or the US).

[bekateen]

The adult really closely matches Mesovia.

Today I can't find the long‐legged nymph in the tank. I did a big water change (about 70%) , so maybe I killed it on the refilling?

Hopefully it's still in the tank somewhere.

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

This photo was taken on my new phone. I notice how the camera processing really wrinkled up the background. Not sure I like that.

[bekateen]

This might be the first time I managed to stay at work late enough to see the daytime white lights go off and the red night lights come on, while it's also dark outside. Fun to see the Tatia intermedia pop in and out of view.

The bright glare top right is a floating egg basket connected to an egg funnel collector at the tank floor.

Cheers,
Eric

Nighttime in the 33long waterfall tank

[bekateen]

Here's an update on the 33long. I've added Anthurium and a big Calla lily, and I've removed the blue foam block that was suspending the kinon plants and restructured the plants using corks, bamboo kabob skewers and woven coconut husk:


Revised floating kinon raft in 33long tank

[bekateen]

Here's an update on the tank:

This tank has now been running approximately four months. Some of the plants I added (green onions, cucumber, cherry tomato, and catnip) thrived at first (each for about a month), then died back. Other plants (Monstera, ginger, African iris, bearded iris, calla lily, spider hibiscus, Ludwigia, süsswassertang, and Java moss are doing well, and the damaged Cryptocoryne stems are coming back to life.

33long waterfall & kinon tank update 10/24

[dw1305]

Hi all,
That is looking very promising.

I like the Ginger. Another culinary item you could try would be Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon citratus). It will grow from the stems you buy in the supermarket etc. (as long as they have a small amount of rhizome left at the leaf base).

If its OK? I'll post a link to this thread on the UKAPS forum, because I think people maybe interested.

cheers Darrel

[bekateen]

Hi all,
That is looking very promising.

I like the Ginger. Another culinary item you could try would be Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon citratus). It will grow from the stems you buy in the supermarket etc. (as long as they have a small amount of rhizome left at the leaf base).

cheers Darrel

Hi Darrel,

Thanks for the feedback and suggestion. I'm happy to try the lemon grass.

Ever since one of my earliest posts (Using deep gravel and bacteria to control nitrogen), I've always appreciated your input and experience. Thanks for chiming in.

While my green onions didn't work (I tried twice but could try again), I might try the green onions again too - My thought there was that I should start them under better conditions then transplant them to the spillway, rather than just shoving the bulbs into the spillway; I suspect their fast growth followed by essentially rotting and dying was because they lived off the energy stored in their bulbs and then ran out of energy before they could establish a better root system).

If its OK? I'll post a link to this thread on the UKAPS forum, because I think people maybe interested.

Absolutely, please do share.

[dw1305]

Hi all,

While my green onions didn't work (I tried twice but could try again), I might try the green onions again too - My thought there was that I should start them under better conditions then transplant them to the spillway, rather than just shoving the bulbs into the spillway;

I'm not sure Onions (Allium cepa) will work, they are plants that grow best in dry conditions.

Cheers Darrel

[dw1305]

Hi all,

If its OK? I'll post a link to this thread on the UKAPS forum, because I think people maybe interested.

Absolutely, please do share.

Thanks I will do.

Cheers Darrel

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Ever since one of my earliest posts (Using deep gravel and bacteria to control nitrogen), I've always appreciated your input and experience. Thanks for chiming in.

It is still an interesting thread.

We've talked to Josh Neufeld (from the University of Waterloo) recently, who is an aquarist as well as a scientist, so I'll add that to the end of the thread.

Cheers Darrel

[bekateen]

I'm not sure Onions (Allium cepa) will work, they are plants that grow best in dry conditions.

I'm using green onions (scallions), Allium fistulosum. I don't know them well enough to know if they should fare any better than regular yellow onions in this setting, but there are videos and websites that describe growing them in aquaponics.

Cheers,
Eric

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I'm using green onions (scallions), Allium fistulosum. I don't know them well enough to know if they should fare any better than regular yellow onions in this setting, but there are videos and websites that describe growing them in aquaponics.

They should have more chance of success.

cheers Darrel

[bekateen]

Something spawned in my tank overnight. I suspect it was the

Tatia intermedia

. More info here: Tatia intermedia spawned!

Giggity.

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

Today I took the time to tear down and rebuild the kinon in order to expose, remove and upgrade the false floor underneath.

The new false floor is a 3D-printed design, an iterative, ongoing collaboration between myself and skilled 3D-printer Lowell Dunnaway. I suppose I'd call this newest design "version 3.0", because this is the second redesign since the first build in June, 2024. This latest design has the following feature changes:

• slightly larger holes in the surface, to allow bigger eggs to pass through;
• taller legs to lift the floor further above the tank frame, making visual inspection for eggs easier; and
• an upward lip along the free end - this lip both improves prevention of sand infiltration and provides a retaining wall to hold gravel, if I want to cover the false floor with gravel as an enhanced spawning surface. In this case, I chose to use SeaChem Matrix (filter media) in lieu of plain gravel.

The breakdown also allowed me to clean a lot of organic debris out from under the old floor, and it allowed me to assess and reposition my plants within the kinon.

• The bearded iris and Anthurium are doing well too.
• The Monstera has grown tremendously. For comparsion, look at what I started with, here: https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/dow ... &mode=view.
• Those plants, plus a lot of Süsswassertang and coconut husk fibers and manzanita twigs, make up the bulk of the kinon.
• Finally, one of my five mangrove shoots has sprouted its first leaves.

Here are some photos.

Shockingly, I expected to find at least a couple of surviving Tatia intermedia fry loose in the tank, but alas I found none. I still have about 40 live fry in the fry tray.

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

Other plants progress (all to the left of the kinon):

• the calla lily flowers are fruiting and
• the African iris flowered again.

The one plant which isn't doing well, which started strong and I expected it to thrive, is the Ludwigia hexapelta. There are just a few lame stems remaining in the tank. Hopefully, if they survive until Spring, the warmer temperatures and increased sunlight will help them rebound.

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

Forgot to mention that back in early November, I added a venus fly trap plant and a small clump of pitcher plants to the mix. I haven't unpotted them yet, but they're adapting well to being partially submerged in the tank. That's also when I added the five mangrove stems (I showed you the new leaf in a prior post).

I gave the VFT a dead cricket last week and also I gave a half of a cricket to the largest pitcher plant.

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

Time for an upgrade. After visiting Den Blå Planet in Copenhagen (thanks Peter and Johnny!) and after meeting and speaking to Ole Paulsen in Oslo, I was inspired to add a shoreline shelf to the tank. This will replace about half of the kinon, but not entirely.

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

With the Spring sun and warmth here, the plants are really taking off, especially the rose, hibiscus and Monstera (the African iris is flowering too). So I added a trellis behind the tank to support vertical growth.

In spite of the natural fertilizer from fish pee/poop and undigested food,the hibiscus is showing signs of pale leaves, so I'll probably need to dose occasionally with aquarium-safe plant fertilization.

Cheers, Eric

[dw1305]

Hi all,

In spite of the natural fertilizer from fish pee/poop and undigested food,the hibiscus is showing signs of pale leaves, so I'll probably need to dose occasionally with aquarium-safe plant fertilization.

Is it the new leaves, or the old leaves, that are pale Eric?

As some will know I'm not great with fish, but I'm lot better with plants.

cheers Darrel

[bekateen]

Hi all,
Is it the new leaves, or the old leaves, that are pale Eric?

As some will know I'm not great with fish, but I'm lot better with plants.

cheers Darrel

This photo is from the top of the hibiscus stem. These are not brand new, but being at the tip of the stem means they are among the newest leaves.

FWIW, the rose and the Monstera are growing like gangbusters. In the photos above, the tallest rose stem is the center stem growing up to the top of the trellis. The monstera is to the right, and the hibiscus is the thick stem on the left side of the trellis. The African iris is in the middle with the rose; although it's not easy to see in thw photo, there are two blooming flowers on the African iris.Off to the right are several mangrove stems each with just a few leaves and two bearded irises. The ginger and venus fly trap are outside the photo frame to the left in the waterfall.

Sadly, the pitcher plants died over winter and didn't survive to enjoy the spring sunshine.

Cheers, Eric

[dw1305]

Hi all,

This photo is from the top of the hibiscus stem. These are not brand new, but being at the tip of the stem means they are among the newest leaves.

That looks like it might be iron (Fe) deficiency, but I'd probably start with adding a small amount of nitrogen (N) and magnesium (Mg), both of those are mobile within the plant and you should get fairly rapid greening.

If that doesn't improve things then iron becomes more likely as deficiency, because iron isn't mobile within the plant it takes a while for new green growth to appear.

Cheers Darrel

[bekateen]

Thanks Darrel.

Cheers, Eric

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Thanks Darrel.

I'll add in some links when I have access to a PC. My phone skills aren't up to it.

Cheers Darrel