For me, Saturday morning is tank maintenance day. This could be anywhere between an hour to a 3 hour job, depending on the tasks at hand. One thing about figuring out how to grow plants, is that at some point you have to trim and cultivate them. And in general, good tank maintenance makes everything about growing plants easier.
Every week I perform a large (70%) water change. Here’s getting things ready for battle.
I try to concentrate on a few species each week that need some special attention. This week it is the left side of the tank, where the Limnophila Aromatica Mini and Bacopa Compact are out of control. Sometimes you can get away with mowing them down in place, but every so often they get so thick, there is no choice but to pull the entire bunch, trim, then replant.
And that’s what I’m doing today. So here is the before.
And here comes the Limno Aromatica out of the tank.
While it’s out of the tank, I take the opportunity to vacuum the area. When it gets real thick like that, it tends to collect a lot of debris. While the vac is going, I also lightly vacuum the rest of the tank. I tend to have a few places in the back of the tank where most of the debris gathers, so those areas get extra attention every week. I have a window close by so I just send the water out the window into the yard.
Now it’s time to cut the Aromatica down. I don’t know how others do it, but here’s what I do. I kind of stack them up from shortest to longest, then cut through the whole bunch on a bit of an angle, creating a bit of rise from front to back when I replant them. I think I first saw this technique on a thread by PikeZ, and it works for me.
Then it’s time to put them back in the tank. This is a time-consuming task. I remove the lower leaves off each stem, then replant them one by one. Here is a pic from above once I have the outline of where they will go. From there it’s filling it one by one by one………. It’s a bit tedious, but I find the whole process therapeutic. It’s kind of like meditation, and I am in no hurry.
Then it’s on to the Bacopa Compact. Not sure why it’s called Compact, because for me it grows all the way to the surface.
And the Pogo Kimberly was almost to the top of the water, so out it comes to get whacked down a bit. Notice the stems on this plants, they are really thick. The plant doesn’t grow too fast which is good, but it does create a lot of mass. All in all, a reliable steady grower, no drama, and a nice showy flower. Highly recommended.
So that was the major trimming for today. Now it’s on to the regular every week tasks.
First thing is to start the pump that is in tank, and start the draining process. The water goes into piping inside the wall down into the basement drain. While it’s draining, I spray the equipment in the tank down with hydrogen peroxide, which is preventive maintenance to keep algae from creeping up over time. I also wipe the inside of the glass while the water is down.
Once the tank is drained, I flip the switch and the water from the basement RO tanks starts pumping up through the wall into the tank. Still puts a grin on my face very time I start it up. I drain the same exact amount every week. Then I add the same amount of minerals every week to the RO water holding tanks, so that the water has the same stable parameters every week.
While the tank is filling, I measure out the ferts for the next week. I always dose both macros and micros right after a water change. I know some people say to let the tank rest one day, but I just give it a nice jolt right off the bat.
Once every two weeks, I clean one of the 3 filters. That way it’s a steady 6 weeks for each filter before a cleaning. And once every four weeks I calibrate my pH probe. It usually drifts by about .4 to .7 by that time. Took care of that today while the tank was filling.
I also test the water every week, for GH, KH, N, & P. It’s not that I am too concerned about the actual readings, I just want to make sure nothing super wacky is going on. For me, stable is good. Todays reading were GH 6, KH 4, Nitrates 25, Phosphates 3.
Now keep in mind this AFTER a 70% water change. Which means my Nitrates were closer to 75, and Phosphates closer to 6 before the change. Yes, they seem high. Remember, this tank is HEAVILY stock with fish. An even then, producing lots N & P, I still dose full EI macros. If I don’t, my plants rebel every time.
And here is the tank while it is filling. Really hard to get a good shot without the glare of the lights.
Once the tank is filled, I also check the TDS. Today it was at 216. Before going to RO water, it was much, much, much higher. I also take a cup of the water out to let it degas. I check it about Wed. and track the number. Once again, I just want to make sure the pH is stable, and nothing has changed drastically. I also want to be sure my pH controller is set appropriately.
I keep a spreadsheet documenting everything I talked about here. I know it seems a little crazy, but it helps me to see where I’ve been, and that helps me plan where to go.
So that’s about my usual Saturday morning. Today I started at 9:30 and got done about 11:30. I put this post together as I don’t see much about others maintenance routines, and I think it is something that should be shared and discussed more. For me it’s a very important part of the hobby. In general, a clean well maintained tank is a happy tank. And I don’t know of any other way than good old fashioned elbow grease to make that happen
Oh yeah, and here is the left side of the tank now. Tamed for now, and won’t need a ton of care for a month or so.