# My Turn for NPT tank



## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

Dont laugh! lol its one month old nothings really growing though. i should really add some big leaf plants but dont have much room left. Should of bought a tank thats 18 inches deep regretting it so much atm. I should of took a before and after showing you the no growth thing but never remembered to.


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## balutpenoy2oy (Feb 17, 2011)

what is your lighting ? blyxa is HL right ? NIce set-up, grow grow grow


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## Ischemia (Dec 19, 2012)

Looking good. That dwarf sag isn't gonna get any bigger but looks like its sent out runners so thats a good sign. Patience is the key when working with plants....Sometimes they do well and other times things happen slowly. In my tank there was little to no growth for 2.5 weeks then all of a sudden everything exploded in growth.


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## lovevc (Nov 24, 2010)

nice tank! is that blyxa japonica on the left?


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

yea its blyxa they are a bit yellow i think due to lack of nitrates. They have grown and branched off but i dont think i can pull it out. i pulled out alot of dirt a week ago moving my crypt and pogo stell(cant finish spelling) after i chopped my sunset hygro it sorta stopped growing though


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## GAT (Oct 8, 2011)

what kind of light do you have?

btw, you tank looks really good.


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

balutpenoy2oy said:


> what is your lighting ? blyxa is HL right ? NIce set-up, grow grow grow


From what i can tell blyxa needs medium light but they thrive in low light too but turn more yellow and stringy. when healthy they are green and when high light and great conditions they give off a pinkish colour.



GAT said:


> what kind of light do you have?


I use a single bulb hagen glo from another forum and fishyfishyfishys thread this is what was recommended. I heard the hagen's double bulb isnt that great because they share one reflector but the single bulb is really awesome. i think if you were to get two hagen single bulbs for a 18 inch deep tank it would work pretty well.


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## GAT (Oct 8, 2011)

Maybe that's why you are not getting enough light at the substrate.

according planted tank info two light hagen glo gives you 38PAR at 20inch. I am guessing you are getting lower than that. How big is your tank?










I am using CFL light and everything is growing very well. I only keep the light on for 5-6 hours per day on average. You can see my thread comparison.


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

Yea the height of my tank is 18 inches i land on low light setting. It is actually really bright for a single bulb. Initially i was starting a low light tank with low light plants but i got enticed by the medium light plants beauty and ended up having 7/8s of my tank planted with medium light plants. LOL they aren't dieing (touchwood) but they arent growing like low light plants would. which is fine less pruning but i wanted it to fill faster so i can drop in cherry shrimps lol. thats the only reason but other than that meh i'm okay with it  No Co2 also in this tank just the occassional excel.


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## GAT (Oct 8, 2011)

DIY CO2 will help alot in your case. DIY CO2 is fairy easy to make and very cheap to run it. You can test it out.


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

if i were to go diy co2 can i get it off once it has filled up? im a lazy fart and dont wanna prune too much hahaha... i was thinking once plants get assimilated with co2 once i pull it out they prob would melt right?


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## GAT (Oct 8, 2011)

I think they will probably melt. But you will probably have to prune the tank every two months or so, maybe longer. Growth will depend on the light too so I can't tell since I don't have that much experience with this sort of thing. 

If you don't like it you can just stop and ride out the melting part.


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

I got bored and snapped some photos for fun.


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

I like the job you did scaping the tank. The plants look quite healthy.

Hope you don't mind a suggestion, but I find the equipment is taking away from the look because its located everywhere in the tank. Perhaps moving the intake further left and the placing the heater vertically beside the intake would clean up the view quite a bit. I think with a powerhead and canister outflow the heater can be placed anywhere in the tank and still do the job.

This would make it easier to focus on the nice job you did with the planting and that really nice piece of driftwood wouldn't seem to be flowing right into the heater.

Greg


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

Thank you for the kind words greg. I really enjoyed the process of this tank. 

I have taken note of your suggestions and am quite offended 0%! LOL i love what you have told me and after reading your post i have tried to maneuver the intake but sadly i cut my green tubing too short so i have decided to replace it after it gets too gunked up. 

This is probably a very stupid question but reading about heaters, people stated that they should always be placed at a 45 degree angle. your thoughts on this would educate me more on why i dont need it slanted. Second thing is the koralia i bought is 425gph and i think its way too strong so i dont turn it on 24/7 as is pushes my fish to the right side of the tank. Put i turn it on for some circulation for a few hours when the lights are on and turn it off when lights out.


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

Effectiveness of the heater really depends on tank water flow pattern and resulting contact with unheated water. I guess if your flow is from top to bottom a horizontally placed heater would be most effective. Conversely if your flow is circular a vertical heater will be most effective. Practically speaking though, I think you would find little difference in effectiveness assuming there is decent flow in the tank. I usually place my heater vertically beside the intake as "new" water will continually be drawn over the surface of the heater.

Its easy to experiment on this topic if you have two thermometers. Test both together so you can check for calibration differences. Then place one near the heater and one in an opposite corner of the tank and hopefully you find the two temperatures are almost identical.

Greg


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

Thanks Greg! i will try that out.

I actually was so stupid it was my disconnect valves that were in my way. i did a light pulling and was able to maneuver the intake to the left side. You are absolutely SPOT ON! it looks so much more aesthetically pleasing now. since the heater is in my way i have now moved it to my skimmers intake and try out what you side about vertically and the sucking from the intake tube. i have now placed the thermometer on the left side of the tank to check for temp stability.


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

i checked on my temp after the move it is 4 degrees less than what i set it at in the new position.


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

4 degrees is a lot. Thermometers however, don't usually match the settings on the heater. My Eheim heaters for example usually are set for 73 degrees and yet the tank is 76-77 tested with various thermometers.

I'm not quite sure however, if that's what you're saying. Basically the test to make sure your heater is evenly heating your tank, is to move the thermometer around to several locations and see the temperture differential. Ideally it will be 1 degree or less, meaning your water flow is evenly distributing the heated water around the tank.

Greg


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

Equipment moved! thanks greg really appreciate the suggestions.


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## Ischemia (Dec 19, 2012)

Ya that looks a million times better!! Glad to see its growing in nicely for you now


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

Looks great. Very clean appearance, no distractions. Nicely done!

Greg


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

I love the look of the tank and scape I would maybe go with a black background to further provide focus to the scape.


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

kamal said:


> I love the look of the tank and scape I would maybe go with a black background to further provide focus to the scape.


i dont think i can put a black background anymore the tank is full and there isnt much room in the back to maneuver with  but it is a good suggestion.

im just thinking what else to stock in there. i would like serpaes but i heard they are aggressive and hunt shrimplets like no tomorrow i was thinking chili rasboras but my flow is really fast. And harlequin rasboras look so much like my glowlight rasboras. Id like a red fish  would anyone have any suggestions?


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

If you like the idea try a matt black background sheet. You might be able to get one stuck on the back. If not no biggie it looks great as is


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

My assassin snail wandering around. I cant find the bigger one i bought. i havent seen the big one in a few days i hope its not dead.

second pic is my cherry shrimps i bought today i went and took picture of the one that coloured up the most. the others are still pretty small and most of them are pretty pale looking still. most are 1/8-1/4 inches too, hope my fishes leave them alone as there aren't that many hiding spots yet.



kamal said:


> If you like the idea try a matt black background sheet. You might be able to get one stuck on the back. If not no biggie it looks great as is


Thank you kamal, where would it be possible to find the black backgrounds? is taping in down required?


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

you can use anything you like. In an old tank I had i literally used arts and craft paper from the dollar store. But this if wet would look crappy quickly. Thus many people use the glossy stuff like you find at the local pet store. I would go to a craft store or see if the dollar store does something similar for cheaper  Yes you would tape it down. Worth spending $5 to see if it looks better worst case you toss the idea


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

not much to update just another FTS for funzies

blyxa not doing so well though either because of the excess of frog bits (thank god most of it is gone) or my excel dosing is hurting them. though i see some melting for my vals from i guess the excel too they are still propagating which is totally awesome. I cut alot of the propagated vals out for some reason they are propagating above substrate and probably because it was my first time planting i did not push them into the substrate as i should but left them just a little bit below a quarter inch of gravel. i dose only 2ml of excel daily instead of the 5ml recommended dose to not harm my vals.


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

Just a little update added a pair of Featherfin rainbows from the Big als sale along with two amano's i think. Vals have taken over my tank but they are one of my favourite plants for some odd reason. Its impossible to take pictures of the fauna with a cam phone  i need to save up for a dslr 

Recently after i stopped dosing excel i have been getting Black Hair Algae over my driftwood. I decided not to spot treat with anything as all my shrimps congregate there and im afraid it would affect them negatively especially the shrimplets that like to hide in the nooks and crannies of the driftwoods


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Very nice, clean look! Love it!


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## 10G (Sep 15, 2013)

very clean setup bro. fresh


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