The planted tank

Pictures!

The corner stone covered with C. Demersum. The Java moss almost disappears behind it, so it was probably a waste. Let's see how it will look in the future. Below, view from the top.

On top of the aerial parts of the "mangrove roots" I added a few epiphites, most collected in Brazil (the Tillandsiae), some purchased (the micro-orchids: one - Schoenorchis fragrans - in Thailand, the other one here in the Denmark).

The root environment: given the excess of Java moss I bought, I violated the original plans and mounted some on the roots. Not really something you see on real mangrove roots, but...

The final total view. Comments awaited!

Yesterday evening I added some of the mangrove propagulae I collected in Brazil. They're in bad conditions, I don't even know if they're still alive, so I just threw them in, neglecting the possible osmosis shock (the water is just freshwater). I kept the only two good seedles, the ones potentially most successful, for when the tank will reach final salinity (SG 1.002).

The only missing part now is the playground for the archer fishes, which will be artificial leaves hanging from the top. I chose what looks to be as similar as possible to mangrove leaves, i.e. the artificial ficus branches from Exo Terra.

Plants arrived

Got the plants.

5 patches of Java moss (far too much, I trashed two), with which I covered the fake corner stone, and 3 bunches of Ceratophyllum demersum, each stem of which has been carefully inserted in one of the many holes the stone is covered with. The idea is, since this plant easily rots if buried in the ground or clamped in any way, I let each stem as loose as possible, anchoring it simply by passing the stem through one or more holes, and let friction do the job. In some cases, both ends of the stems are floating upwards, because apparently both may grow. Let's see what happens.

Pictures soon!

Coming back!

All confirmed, with NO2 down to 0-1 mg/l (read 48 hours after injecting ammonia), and NO3 around 100 mg/l.

Soon back to Denmark. Collected about ten mangrove propagulae, only 2 really worthy.

Off to Brazil. Thanks, Bea!

News from the far tank, left in the careful hands of Beatriz, while I'm down in Brazil, hunting for mangrove seedlings: nitrites starting to go down, and, guess what, nitrates in deep plunge. The warning on Tropical Marine instructions, specifying that nitrates reading may be biased in presence of nitrites, proved very right, and more worth following than I did. So, behold, ye Beginner, I give you good tidings of great advice: while cycling, you may as well forget measuring nitrates until your nitrites start decreasing, otherwise you'll simply read bullshit!

Cycle proceeding. pH stable. Owner happy.

More worries...

Status:
in spite of an 85% water change, NO3 spiked back in 24 hours to about 200 mg/l. I believe as long as I use tap water, and add the needed ammonia, there's not much I can do about it.

Solutions:
- using rain or demineralized water: although this would indeed easily solve the problem, both of them will then need to be corrected for pH and hardness, which are indeed perfect in the tap water... What a waste.
- using a biofilter medium able to help, such as Symbiont. The one I have, however, is Eheim Substrat Pro, and is said to be comparable, so for the moment I won't go this way.
- a complex and expensive NO3 filter, with all the extra risks implied. No way.

Also, NO2 appears to remain stable to about 10 mg/l, possibly stuck to this valuebecause of the high nitrates. Will the cycle ever be completed, with this stall?