Back to the blog

Back to the blog

As always my obsessive nature has led me to start lots of new projects and neglect a few of the old ones. This first post back will take an eclectic look round some of my current projects, hobbies and interests.

Aquariums

I currently have quite a few freshwater aquariums running. The marine aquarium that has featured at various times throughout this blog has been taken down as I did not feel I had the time or the interest that it needed devoting to it.

Planted aquarium

I have pretty much always had at least one planted aquarium, as it combines two of my favourite interests.
My current display tank is a Fluval Spec 60 with the lid removed. I changed the light from the stock LED light To a Fluval Fresh & Plant 3.0, mostly because the stock light needs to be manually switched on so cannot be used on a timer. Its also The first tank at home I have had Presurised CO₂ on.
It has currently got a quite bit of algae from neglect and not remembering to add liquid fertiliser. It also has a window behind it which doesn't help. At some point I will get round to putting a background on it, which would solve this.
It currently houses quite a number of different fish.
Including, but not limited to:

• Girardinus metallicus - black chin Livebearer
• Rosy loach (I would put a scientific name, but no one seems to agree on one yet as this is a fairly newly discovered fish)
• Nematobrycon palmeri - Emperor tetra
• Aspidorus fuscoguttatus  - Tiny cory-like catfish
• Poecilia reticulata - A few random male guppies growing out just to see how the colours turn out from some old experiments.
• Caridina multidentata - amano shrimp
• Neocaridina davidi - Blue cherry shrimp

Plant tank (current)

Plant tank (previous scape, when I was keeping up with maintenance)

Emperor tetra

Breeding tanks.

Next I have my breeding tanks. These use air-powered sponge filters and have been home to all sorts of projects, past and present. Currently they house mostly various colours of Neocaridina shrimp, but also one has some Aspidoras spilotus.
One of the tanks also has a spider plant growing in a hang on the back filter (Random project - it does pretty well and should be sucking up nitrate, although I never test the water).

Breeding tanks

Orange Neocaridina And Ottocinclus tank which is the right of the four tanks

Orange shrimp (in need of a cull to get rid of the non-orange)

Blue shrimp

Plants (non aquatic)

I am still keeping a few chilli plants around but nothing like before, maybe I will show these in another post.

As previously mentioned I also like keeping house plants in my aquarium filters. This combines two of my hobbies and alsos help suck up nitrate.

Pothos  Epipremnum growing in plant tank filter

Another set of projects which I started a few years ago, neglected at times, are my terrarium jars. I love setting them up, but they only come good a long time later. I think this one has be running Three years.

Terrarium jar

Pond

As always the pond is very over grown. Lots of iris are flowering and I have no idea what fish are in there. Generally I chuck a load of tropicals in there just for the summer and I don't know how they are doing till I net the pond in September. My most successful year i added 6 rosy barbs in May and there were 165 in September.

Pond

Japanese iris - Iris ensata 

Water lily

I think that's quite enough for this first post back. I will do some more in depth posts, concentrating on one thing at a time, some time soon. I will also get the DSLR back out and take some better photos for future posts.

I will leave you with the other major change in my life since I last wrote this blog. 

Daisy and Dora Who are F1b Cockapoos (Cockapoo(Spaniel x Poodle) x Poodle)

They are One and two years old, can be challenging at times, but also endless fun!

Thanks for reading!

Trying out aquaponics/hydroponics - prototype 2

The plants in the aquaponics trough (we shall call it prototype 1 from now on), have done pretty well and the set up has attracted quite a bit of attention from the guys on the chilli forum. Lots of people like the idea of having fish in a tank feeding plants above. I have been making various designs to try out ideas.

The first design I thought about was the most simple just a lid with holes cut so pots sat just above the water and the plants roots hung down into the tank. I did not try this idea further because i think this would be unsightly.

The second design here, is like prototype 1 accept with mist maker instead of the air-stones. I would like to try utilizing a mist maker but am waiting for one I ordered to arrive.

The third design here utilizes individual drippers for each pot. I based this design on miracle-grow's aerogarden, accept rather than a plastic reservoir I could use an aquarium. this is the design i will try further and make a prototype.

I started by cutting wholes for net pots in two poly-lids. one with holes big enough to take the top of the net pot, and one big enough for the bottom half of the net pot to go through but not the top. I pushed 8 net pots through the larger wholes so there top was pretty much flush with the poly-lid(I know badly explained but you will see what I mean in the pictures),

I then gave each net pot its own airline tubing feed and taped them to the underside of the first lid.

I then added the other poly-lid, sandwiching all the pipework in-between. I found an eight way airline splitter on eBay which I used to split the water coming from the pump (or aquarium filter in this case because I had one kicking round) into the eight airline feeds going to each net pot.

This all made, I placed the lid on a plastic reservoir to test I may install it on top of one of my aquariums later, but I wanted to try this version using fertilizer to try out true hydroponic growth for the first time. I got some rockwall cubes to put into the net pots. I have installed some peppers I got as plugs from the garden centre just to try it out. I also bought a propagator lid to go on top to keep up humidity when plant first go in and if i want to start some seeds in it.

Since its been running I think it doesn't need the lower poly-lid as i don't think it really adds anything, just covers the pipework which is not on show anyway. So far I have not got it its own light yet, Its just using a make shift but the plants look to be settling in well.

That's all for now but I will be trying more designs and updating the progress with this one. I also have lots more updates for the blog, I have been very busy with work stuff recently but I am back on the case. I have started to plant all my annuum and I have updates on many of my other plants.

I will leave you with photos of my current favourite wild peppers.

 Capsicum lanceolatum/Capsicum eximium

Happy growing!

edit. Forgot a couple of the photos.

Trying out aquaponics.

Aquaponics is something I have wanted to try for a long time. I have used watercress indoors growing in trickle-filters and in the stream on my pond, but would like to try to grow other plants using this method. It is also a practical idea because I have an overstocked aquarium (not my own doing, Guppies and cherry shrimp never stop breeding) and a pond full of fish. This means there is a lot of nutrient rich water available.

As a test with a look at making something larger for outside in the spring, I decide to make something small to fit on the top of my aquarium. I wanted something I could slot my existing 10cm self-watering pots into except instead of using pint glass reservoirs they would get aquarium water in a constant flow.

I started by buying a plastic trough tall enough to accommodate my 10cm pot, a gap and then enough of a reservoir to work. I then made polystyrene top out of a poly-box lid. this added another 2cm to the pot heights. I drew round the top of top of the pot and cut inside the line, to make three holes big enough to fit the pots but small enough for them to not fall through.

Lid with wholes cut and one plant installed

I used a drill to make a 22mm whole in the bottom of the trough. I bought a 22mm overflow plastic bulkhead fitting. I use this size because they are cheap being the standard fitting used on overflows on water tanks. the fitting stood just tall enough inside to leave quite a lot of room for water roots. it also had a cap that made it slightly taller. If I wanted to though I could always add always add a riser to make the reservoir deeper, as long as I leave some space above and don't dip the pot in the water.

Bulkhead drain

I made another whole in the side of the trough to act as both an entry point into the trough for the inlet pipe and air pipes, but also as an overflow if the bottom drain became blocked.

Inlet entry/overflow

I used a small aquarium filter (because i have many around the place) and a piece of tubing to pump water up into the trough.

 Once it fills the trough to the level of the top of the bulkhead fitting it overflows back into the aquarium. I added a couple of air stones on an air-pump because I had one spare and new it would help get oxygen around the plants roots.

Final view inside trough, showing air-stones, inlet and bulkhead outflow.

I Once all put together I have installed three of my Capsicum baccatum as they are two big for the grow areas and don't like the cold in the windows. I also picked plants that already had roots long enough to reach the water in the trough, also their wicks just reach the water. I have got a small light on there at the moment and they are near a window but I may swap some lights around and see if I can give them a bit more.

Whole tank with aquaponic trough installed

 (although I don't know where all the fish were hiding during this, there is masses in there).

I really look forward to seeing how the plants do in there and if they have any impact on nitrate/phosphate levels in the aquarium. if they do well, I will consider making a much longer version for the side of the pond in the spring.

Happy growing!

Capsicum wild species

It looks like I have finished collecting seeds for this year. I wont have time to start any more wilds even if I find them. I found seeds for all available seeds except flexuosum which I couldn't find this year. I am still waiting on tovarii and rocopica (eximium/cadenasii x pubscens) to germinate, and the cardenasii I have I expect will turn out to be eximium as most do. Below is a photo of eleven species together, once tovarii germinates I will have Twelve.

Eleven species of Capsicum in one photo

Back row - C. annuum "Tesco yellow"/ C.frutescens "tobasco/

C.baccatum "mini bonnet"/C.pubescens "montafur"/C.praetermissum "cumari pollux" 

Middle row - C.chinense "7pot bubblegum"/C. chacoenese "CAP 524"/

C.galapagoense "Long"/C.rhomboideum/C.eximium 

Front seedling - C.lanceolatum

My Capsicunm eximuim has been fairly slow and spindly growing. However it does now seem to be getting somewhere with shoots on it nodes, as can be seen below.

Capsicum eximium

Capsicum rhomboideum has been my favourite plant so far. Its so different to other capsium. its leaf shape, colour, and many other attributes. Its leaves and stems almost look like a succulent.

Capsicum rhomboideum

My two Capsicum chacoense varieties are very different which will be a subject for another post.

C. chacoenese "CAP 524"

 Capsicum lanceolatum is very slow growing and apparently the peppers are not very nice tasting but its worth trying to grow just for the flowers.

 Capsicum lanceolatum

That's all for now just a mini update. Lots more to come as I cut the coral in my marine aquarium back today. photos and an explanation to come.

New year update.

At the start of the year I have been very busy. My pepper grow is progressing and there are chilli plants all over the house. Most of my wild species have germinated and are thriving. 

Capsicum Rhomboideum                 Capsicum eximium

The other domesticated species are all doing well, except for a few of the overwinters which I think I cut back too heavily. This does not matter too much as I have more than enough plants.

Capsicum baccatum Aji omnicolor            Capsicum Chinense Habanero Hawaii Beach

 Capsicum frutescens Tobasco      Capsicum Pubescens Rocoto Mini

 Capsicum praetermissum Cumari pollux     Capsicum annuum Tepin

My first batch of pepper relatives is in the propagator. Solonum uporo, Solonum topiro and lycium chinense have all germinated already.

Coming up to its first birthday my marine aquarium is messy but healthy. There are too many fish and some of them are getting a bit large, I would remove them but it involves taking the rocks out because otherwise I will never catch them. this means its a massive job and I haven't got there yet. My colt coral has reacted well to its haircut so much so that I will have to take more off soon. I have yet to successfully stick any of the frags down but I have some hopes for the bit in the refugium at the moment.

Reef aquarium

My newest inhabitant is my short-spine urchin. It eats masses of algae which It scrapes of the rocks.  Some people are worried about the short-spine urchin as it can burrow into rock, indeed my one does scrape rocks very clean, like it scrapes of the top layer of rock as well. This does not really worry me because of the sheer amount of rock in the aquarium.

short spine urchin

That's all for now but I will be back with some more detailed updates soon!

Chilli pepper update - Potting on seedlings and more seeds!

This week I have some time off so I have started to re-pot some of the seedlings I have growing in peat disks. I don't know how big plants can get in these without getting stunted, so will err on the side of caution.

I have picked the largest five to pot on (well the largest 4 plus "Pimenta de neyde" because it was getting leggy).

The plants I potted were: Pimenta de Neyde, Aji jobito, Habanero Hawaii beach, 7pot Bubblegum and not pictured here My own F2. All had roots coming through the sides and base, so I guess were ready to be potted. They went into my standard self watering pots so will not need to be re-potted again until spring. I top all pots off with a light volcanic substrate made for aquariums to seal in moisture and help provide a barrier to fungus gnats.

The first plant needing to be potted was an annuum. I have not planted many annuum seeds yet because they grow fast and can quickly outgrow my space. However I could not resist planting at least one of my F2 own creation. the F1 was a cross between a Hungarian black with something larger and look forward to seeing the variation in the F2 plants. I planted a seed just too see what the seed viability would be like. Things look good as the seed germinated quickly and has grown quickly. Another good sign is the purple colouring in the plants cotyledons, this usually shows the plant will have purple colouring in its flowers and peppers.

F2 My own chill

The next plant I decided to pot was my Pimenta de Neyde. This was one of the smaller seedlings but had grown overly tall so would benefit going into a pot so it could be earthed up (although looking at it now I should have planted it deeper). I love the colour already showing on the leaves of this plant, it should be a great plant for crossing with in the future.

Pimenta de Neyde

The third plant I potted was one of the chinense I am most looking forward to growing Aji jobito. This is meant to be one of the best tasting low/no heat chinense varieties. Interestingly this plants seems to have split growing tip on its first set of leaves.

Aji jobito

The last two seedlings I potted just happened to be the next biggest seedlings. 7pot Bubblegum is probably the hottest variety I am growing this season but what i am really growing it for is its trait of having a coloured calyx on its fruit. the other seedling was Habanero Hawaii beach, a large red habanero I got free seeds for.

7pot Bubblegum

Habanero Hawaii beach

I also started off some more seeds. Mostly more wild peppers but also some first sowings of pepper relatives.

Capsicum rhomboideum x 1 - already got one growing well, started a second.
Capsicum galapagoense  x 2 first sowing not germinated yet so started two more.
Capsicum lanceolatum  x 2 first sowing not germinated yet so started two more.

Capsicum eximium x 1 - already got one growing well, started a second.

Capsicum cardenasii x 2 just recieved these seeds so started off two.

Capsicum chinense x annuum Pimenta de Neyde x 1 already have one but like the plant so much I started a second.

Solonum uporo x 2 first experimental sowing of these. The "Cannibals tomato" is plant I am looking foreward to studying. it is probably too early to start these off as these grow like an eggplant/aubergine so may get too large with my space restrictions, but we will see.

Solonum topiro/sessiliflorum x 2 first experimental sowing of these. The "Cocona" is tropical plant so will probably stay indoors as a houseplant.

Solanum quitoense x 2 first experimental sowing of these. The "Naranjilla" is tropical plant so will probably stay indoors as a houseplant.

Solonum albutiloides x 2  first experimental sowing of these. "Dwarf Tamarillo"

lycium chinense x 2 first experimental sowing of these. Either "goji" or "wolfberry" there are two species that seem to be interchangeable. I will try to find seeds for the other and check out both.

That is all for today, I will leave you with a photo of two of my wild seedlings.

Capsicum eximium and Capsicum rhomboideum