It will be interesting to see how your tank measures nitrates. Could you provide more info about your tank? Nitrate level before and after you added the plants, w/c schedule, etc.wonword;3876880; said:I bought a pothos plant last week, and put clippings in the water without seeing this thread. It has been a little over a week and one of them has multple roots protruding out. Here is a pic:
Tiny discovery that is definately worth sharing.
- Thread starter FireMedic
- Start date
Just in a few months....
I also let the leafs hang into the water. And out of the leafs are growing new roots.
I also let the leafs hang into the water. And out of the leafs are growing new roots.
I apologize for my long overdue response to this thread. Thank you for your patience. It seems that quite a few of you are attempting to replicate what I have discussed so far. This is very exciting. It will help us all find the best balance in our quest for the perfect ray set-up.
To date I have produced 6 litters with a 7th due in in the next 7-12 days. My current bio-load is 5 rays, 8 Exodons, 2 Plecos, 4 Clown Loaches and 1 Feisty BumbleBee Catfish.
The sump is a DIY modified 90 gallon acrylic tank. The main tank is a round 350 gallon polyethylene stock tank.
Recently I have yet again tweaked my system further by the addition of insulation to both the sump and main tank. I have also completely enclosed the portion of the sump that houses the plants. Additionally, I have upgraded my lighting to a 36" 96W 1-Lamp Satellite Lighting System produced by Current USA. THe bulb is a single 96 Watt SMARTPAQ. 10,000K/460NM Actinic All-in-One Lamp. My lighting duration is 12.5 hrs a day.
My original sump was an open top, 6' 250 gallon, polyethylene water trough. I traded with Proteus for a 90 gallon acrylic tank that I customized and encapsulated with 2" rigid pink foam board. The main tank with the rays in it is also encapsulated with the same rigid foam board. We added a "Save-a-Watt" monitoring device to calculate power consumption and did some preliminary figures. Turns out my $38 investment on foam will save the electric bill an estimated $186/year. This is mainly in the form of heat. I run three 400W heaters and the less they are on the better. The sump filters 16 gallons per minute at a rate of 242.449 gallons every hour. 242.449 gallons represents the exact water volume of my main tank(with the rays).
The 16 gallons per minute passes through the usual suspects (floss,bio media, heaters) before it reaches the plants. 16 gallons per minute my seem like a swift current but in actuality it is only gently sways the roots of the "Pothos" -or- Philodendron plants. I was unable to incorporate Water Hyacinth due to its fragile root structures and their tendency to clog my system.
The sump and main tank have at any moment 303.319 gallons in circulation. This represents 2, 529.680 lbs for those of your thinking about it. (H2O 8.34lbs/gal). *The basement is best*
When I test my water parameters I use an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. I test the water parameters every 49 days (7 weeks). This correlates with the interval between water changes. Yes, you read correctly, I do water changes on a 7 week basis. Brace yourselves: I only exchange 90 gallons of water every 7 weeks.
The water parameters test out at:
pH 7.6
NH3 0
NH4+ 0
NO2- 0
NO3- <20
GH/KH 8
PO4 5
SG 1.000
Temp 78-82 F (25.55-27.77 C)
This has been fairly consistent for the past 6 months.
I have converted my ray to a gel based diet manufactured by "MAZURI". Sometimes when I customize a particularly rich batch my wife says "it kinda smells funny" I add a bag of PURIGEN to polish the water (remove the offending smell). Usually this has a placebo effect on my wife when I tell her "oh, sorry, I'll filter it out quick". (shhhhh, don't tell her). The PURIGEN is used so infrequently that I really discount it when presenting my results here.
So, in a nut-shell, all is well. I really appreciate everyones patience and participation on this thread. I encourage others to share more of their results and opinions. Together we can really impact our hobby in a very sustainable and responsible manner.
Respectfully submitted,
FireMedic.
*here are a few snapshots of my system*
To date I have produced 6 litters with a 7th due in in the next 7-12 days. My current bio-load is 5 rays, 8 Exodons, 2 Plecos, 4 Clown Loaches and 1 Feisty BumbleBee Catfish.
The sump is a DIY modified 90 gallon acrylic tank. The main tank is a round 350 gallon polyethylene stock tank.
Recently I have yet again tweaked my system further by the addition of insulation to both the sump and main tank. I have also completely enclosed the portion of the sump that houses the plants. Additionally, I have upgraded my lighting to a 36" 96W 1-Lamp Satellite Lighting System produced by Current USA. THe bulb is a single 96 Watt SMARTPAQ. 10,000K/460NM Actinic All-in-One Lamp. My lighting duration is 12.5 hrs a day.
My original sump was an open top, 6' 250 gallon, polyethylene water trough. I traded with Proteus for a 90 gallon acrylic tank that I customized and encapsulated with 2" rigid pink foam board. The main tank with the rays in it is also encapsulated with the same rigid foam board. We added a "Save-a-Watt" monitoring device to calculate power consumption and did some preliminary figures. Turns out my $38 investment on foam will save the electric bill an estimated $186/year. This is mainly in the form of heat. I run three 400W heaters and the less they are on the better. The sump filters 16 gallons per minute at a rate of 242.449 gallons every hour. 242.449 gallons represents the exact water volume of my main tank(with the rays).
The 16 gallons per minute passes through the usual suspects (floss,bio media, heaters) before it reaches the plants. 16 gallons per minute my seem like a swift current but in actuality it is only gently sways the roots of the "Pothos" -or- Philodendron plants. I was unable to incorporate Water Hyacinth due to its fragile root structures and their tendency to clog my system.
The sump and main tank have at any moment 303.319 gallons in circulation. This represents 2, 529.680 lbs for those of your thinking about it. (H2O 8.34lbs/gal). *The basement is best*
When I test my water parameters I use an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. I test the water parameters every 49 days (7 weeks). This correlates with the interval between water changes. Yes, you read correctly, I do water changes on a 7 week basis. Brace yourselves: I only exchange 90 gallons of water every 7 weeks.
The water parameters test out at:
pH 7.6
NH3 0
NH4+ 0
NO2- 0
NO3- <20
GH/KH 8
PO4 5
SG 1.000
Temp 78-82 F (25.55-27.77 C)
This has been fairly consistent for the past 6 months.
I have converted my ray to a gel based diet manufactured by "MAZURI". Sometimes when I customize a particularly rich batch my wife says "it kinda smells funny" I add a bag of PURIGEN to polish the water (remove the offending smell). Usually this has a placebo effect on my wife when I tell her "oh, sorry, I'll filter it out quick". (shhhhh, don't tell her). The PURIGEN is used so infrequently that I really discount it when presenting my results here.
So, in a nut-shell, all is well. I really appreciate everyones patience and participation on this thread. I encourage others to share more of their results and opinions. Together we can really impact our hobby in a very sustainable and responsible manner.
Respectfully submitted,
FireMedic.
*here are a few snapshots of my system*
I would love to, however in my years of fish keeping I have never owned a test kit and only test my water when cycling a new tank, and when I do this I bring a sample into the LFS.spotfin;3878214; said:
I found with my pothos that any leaves submerged will eventually fall off, but roots will sprout out.Sjoeerd;3879299; said:
Still surprised you have such a small amount of plants growing in your sump.FireMedic;3880168; said:
Congrats on all the baby rays!
Firemedic, would love to know the size of rays... Something in that is not adding up. How old is the test kit being used. You total water volume is around 300 gallons?
It just does not look like very many plants in the sump.. I would not think the results would be this great. I have pothos in a couple of my tanks and are not seeing the same results as you are. I have extensive growth on one of my systems, with potho stalks in the 1-2"-5/8" diameters with very long roots. It seems strange we are getting such different results.. maybe it is the type of food and quanitity fed? Any thoughts of why this might be?
It just does not look like very many plants in the sump.. I would not think the results would be this great. I have pothos in a couple of my tanks and are not seeing the same results as you are. I have extensive growth on one of my systems, with potho stalks in the 1-2"-5/8" diameters with very long roots. It seems strange we are getting such different results.. maybe it is the type of food and quanitity fed? Any thoughts of why this might be?
No thoughts, just results.
API test kit is 3 months old. When I test, I test twice each time.
Feed is occasional frozen, raw shrimp or Tilapia. Main feed base is custom batched Mazuri Shark/Ray diet.
No thoughts, just results. -FM
API test kit is 3 months old. When I test, I test twice each time.
Feed is occasional frozen, raw shrimp or Tilapia. Main feed base is custom batched Mazuri Shark/Ray diet.
No thoughts, just results. -FM
