# Nebbie's 54g Planted w/14g growout



## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

Hello All. I'm back after a long time away from Freshwater fish keeping, and while it will be closer to the spring when I set up my 54g tank, I've decided to get a little bit of a head start with some plants by setting up a 14g sort of biocube growout tank.

*TANK - main*
54g Planted 
36l x 18w x 20h

*Lighting*
2 x Par38 12k bulbs 21watt (2 Blues, 3 Whites), 60 degree optics made by Clive at Nanotuners - turned off now
1 x Par38 10k bult 18watt (3 Blues, 6 White), 60 degree optics made by IceCoo-Led - turned off now

The Par38's will be replaced in April or early May with the following:
1 x 36 inch Fluval Fresh & Plant 2.0 (Stated to have 66 par at 18 inch subtrate level).
1 x Par38 12k bulb 21w as posted above, used for 1 to 2 hours to suppliment high light area in the middle only on the right side, with a potted plant directly under it to shade from the part of the tank that doesn't need the extra light.

Lighting schedule will be on a split 4 hour time period. 4 on, 4 off , 4 on, then off for 12 hours to help prevent algae as I won't be running CO2 while having moderate to high light.

*Filter*
AC70
2x Foam
1x BioMax pellets
1 x prefilter foam

- While going through my old stuff, I found a sealed back of biomax pellets for the AC70. So I opened those up and added 50 extra pellets each to the 2 bags that came with the boimax 110 box and the rest to a bag of AC30 biomax.

*Subtrate*
ADA Amazonia Aqua Soil x2 9l
ADA Substrate Additives: Bacter 100, Clear Super, Tourmaline BC
National Geographics Black Sand 4lbs.

Putting some base aquarium gravel in the back to raise the level artificially without using up my good soil, particularly in areas of water wisteria and vals. Aquasoil with then go over top of this.

*Flow*
Ecotech MP10 (old original one) Will put it on a constant light flow.

*Plants*
Corkscrew Val
Italian Jungle Val
Water Wisteria
Blyxa Japonica
Alternanthera Reinickii "Mini"
Crypt. Nevillii
Crypt. Pygmea/pigmea
Crypt. Parva
Crypt. Willisii
Rotala Rotundifolia Pink 
Ludwigia sp super red.
Ludwigia Grandulosa
Salvinia Natans. 
Frogbit or Red Root Floaters (If and when I can find some)

*Livestock*
Cardinal Tetras - small school (10+)
Rummynose Tetra - small school (6+)
German Blue Rams Pair
Dark Knight Rams Pair + extra femal
Pygmy Corydora school x 12-15
Habrosus Corydora school x 12-15
Otocinclus x 6
Nerite snails x 3
Siamese Algae Eater if required.

Instead of completely waiting until spring to set everything up, I decided to do something a little proactive and set up my 14g sort of biocube, as a grow out tank for some plants.

I'm not a fan of Petsmart, but managed to get some of these plants today as they had a very, very tiny plant order come in. So I took all 8 of their Corkscrew vals and all 8 of what were labelled as Jungle Val, but are much thinner than the corkscrews, plus a potted wisteria with lots of leaves of it (needs to grow into it's aquatic form), BEFORE they touched their yucky water.

I put 2 inches of the Amazonia Aqua Soil in the tank and planted everything. I cut the wisteria into 7 seperate plants just below where roots were forming and leaves growing out. I'm hoping in a few months they will have some good growth on them.

Now, the custom 14g Biocube (reversed set up and wrong hood), has 2 x 27 watt Power Compact bulbs in it. Both of those fired up with no issues. Mind you, the second bulbs is a dual actinic, which is the light blue actinic and what's called the Marine Pink these days. It's not ideal, but I'm hoping it will work just fine.

In the back I put in 1 AC Foam Pad, a few extra finer foam pieces, in addition to 1 of the AC110 Biomax bags with the extra balls I put in it, and the AC30 Bag (without extra balls). 
This should hopefully give me a good surface areas to grow bioload that I can transfer over to the main tank on it's set up day, in addition to the soil and tanks from this tank that would be added to it.

I'm aware there will still be a cycle to happen in the Main tank, but I'm hopeful it will go a little quicker with the added cycled bioload.

I'll add pics tomorrow when the water clears up a little bit and I figure out which free hosting service now allows you to post pics.

Feel free to comment and ask questions.


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

It's been a long time since I've linked photos, so hopefully this goes correctly. Here are the two pics of the little 14g right now. One with flash so you can see the canopy and all of the tank. The other without.


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## slipfinger (May 11, 2016)

Sounds like you are off to a good start.

Interested to hear you thoughts on the ADA additives. I've never used them myself, lots of debate out in the internet world regarding their usefulness. 

Have you thought about dosing and what route you will be taking?


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

I'll definitely let you know about the ADA additives for sure as I'm rather interested to see what the difference is between using them and not, which I'll find out when the 54 is set up and cycles. 

I have to say though, it takes a little getting used to when using ADA Soil. It's soooooo light compared to regular or just gravel. Took a little bit before the vals would stay stuck in the soil as they didn't have a very long roots, and the wisteria would pop out too if the water change hose accidentally touched them, but they all seem to be settling in nicely now. 

I do plan on dosing ThriveS. Regular Thrive was sold out when I made my purchase, but it's basically the same, minus the copper. 

It's going to take me a little time to figure out my dosing though, since I'm not going to be using CO2, and finding that right balance can be tricky. I know growth will be a lot slower without CO2, but I'm ok with that, as long as it's healthy. 
Most likely I'll be looking at twice a week. Once during water change day and then mid-week an hour after the lights come on. 

The last time I had plants in an aquarium was over 10 years ago and a lot has changed since then, and saltwater has been a different beast altogether; so I've been doing a lot of reading and watching youtube vids to see how others do things to get a better grasp on everything, and some inspiration.


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

*14g Grow out Cucle: Week One Complete*

Have to say, I see now why people say Wisteria grows like a week and how easy it can really take over a tank if you are not careful. Week One of Cycle for the 14g growout is now completed and holy crap the growth on the Wisteria. About an inch and a half on the stems right under the 6500k PC bulb, with a little less from those under the actinic.

I wish I could find another square pin 27/28watt PC bulb, but no one in my area is selling them any more, and given the price for 1 bulbe now, I'm actually take a look at little 11 - 12 inch led lights to retrofit under this hood. People don't even have old used ones right now. boo.

So I've added a couple pics of the 14g, so you can compare to last weeks. I tried it from as close to the same angle as last time. The second pic of it with the red on it shows mainly where a lot of the new growth is on the taller plants. The 3 lower plants in the front kind of speak for themselves.

The Val is doing fine as well. Developing new roots and growing a little bit themselves, though slower than the wisteria. A couple of them have even started sending out runners.

Took some time, but I figured what type of Val I had. What was suppose to be corkscrew is actually Val Asiatica (twisted val), and only gets to about 12.5 inches tall. Perfect for the area I want to put it in, though if I find the tight curled corkscrew val, I'll grab one of those plants to add to the mix.
What was suppose to be Jungle Val is actually Italian Val (which was the one I preferred, as it was thinner), and it gets between 18-20 inches tall, once it actually starts acclimating and spreading in your tank.

Finally, I did a mock up of my 54g tank to get an idea of where I'm going to plant everything and where I wanted to put the flower pots and cave when the time came. I tried taking into account with the sizes of the paper some of the additional growth I would get with each stem/root/plant for the first little while


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

*14g New LED light*

Bit of an update today..

The Actinic bulb blew in the 14g a couple of days ago. I knew it wasn't going to last long when I set up the tank and had been looking for replacement options for lights for the last month because there was absolutely no way I was willing to pay $25-$50 for a replacement 27/28 watt square pin Power Compact bulb.

I needed something that was, well lets face it.... cheap.. and small enough to fit in the canopy of the AOI that didn't produce a lot of heat. 
I came across this apparently newer model of NICREW light with RGBs. It has 24x white leds and 6x rgb leds. 18 watts of power and 1000 lumens. Light spread is 120 degrees.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B077HKMFWM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This light looked a lot more, put together than previous Nicrew lights and it looked like it had the tiny footprint I was looking for. I was hoping since the ad, didn't actually give the actual physical dimensions, so I was hoping it was no longer than 12 inches. (It's actually 10"L x 2.75"W without legs).

Pic#1: New LED light just sitting on the canopy to give you an idea of it's size in comparison to the old bulbs. If I wanted decent light for a reef tank, I could fit two of them in the canopy comfortably.

Pic#2: Cut most of the wires. Removed the two small ballasts for the PC lights, and power cords. Kept the fan in there, even though it's not connected to any power. If I find the light produces too much head then I will put in a new fan and attach a seperate power cord.

Pic#3: New light sitting in it's place. Reused the metal bulb holders for the Power compacts and bent them into shape so they hooked into the slits along the sides of the new light. This allowed lots of room between the metal reflector back and the plastic cover front to allow some heat distribution and air circulation. I left the two white clips for the lights in the canopy for now as it allowed me to wrap the power cord around them.

Oh, the power cord on the light, (since it came in two parts) I fished through the underside and out the hole where there was no second fan so that if I want to keep moon/rgb lights on until the timer turns off I can do that if I find I have to adjust my lighting schedule due to algae issues. The fact I could do this was a BONUS, and a bit of a deciding factor in trying this light out, as the light switch was is a good distance away from the light itsself on the power cord.

Pic#4: New LED with all the lights on.

Pic#5: New Led with just the RGB lights on.

Pic#6: 14g with new lights, RGB on only

Pic #7: 14g with new lights, All lights on.

pic#8: Water Wisteria showing transition from Emersed to Submersed form. I added this picture in because in over a month of looking on the internet, I couldn't really find any one who had an approximate timeline for the conversion of Wisteria from the fugly emersed form most of us get at LFS' to the nice submersed form we all want. The answer: Approx 3.5 weeks until noticeable leaf conversion appears, as long as the plant is set up in a light appropriate tank. Full conversion I figure will take approximately 3.5 more weeks.

I'll update in another couple of weeks with how this little light is doing and if the plants have responded well to it.

Questions and comments are always welcome.


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

*54g Clean Out*

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post. I finally found a home for my Clownfish with another local hobbyist whom I feel would give her a good home to my standards. Yay. It was a bit of a sad day yesterday, but you have to move forward and I know she will be looked after and happier for it.

The 14g growout is doing good. I'm getting a few clean up grew of nerite snails and a couple Otos to help with agale growing in there right now. 
The Water Wisteria has finally made it's full submersed transition and is starting to grow more rapidly.

One of the Italian Val has started to sister off and created 4 new plants. Usually about 1 new one a week. I hope to get a few more from this one as I would like to put them in a circle pattern when I plant them in the bigger tank. They also look soooooooo much healthier than when I first got them.

The Corkscrew Val (Torta I believe), is growing well, but it is much, much slower than the Italian Val, which I don't mind, but it doesn't have the tiwsts the other type of short corkscew val has. Honestly, what I would love to do is replace it with Echinodorus Vesuvius and may do so in the spring or summer if I can find someone who sells it.

And FINALLY!!!! With Big Momma clownfish gone to her new home, I cleaned out the salt water tank. It was stinky.. very, very stinky. Once the rock and sand were cleared out and the water emptied. The tank was refilled with water and 3 4L jugs of vinegar. Most of the coraline algae came off no problems. There is still a bit of residual left, but it's not all that noticeable with water in the tank so I'm not going to worry about it too much.

I'm going to put a bit of silicone around the top lip of the tank. Salt Creep is different than an actual leaky tank, but I just want to make sure there are no issues. I had someone whom has resealed tanks before just give it a quick check over and he saw no issues with it and no leaks any where.

I pulled the extra electrical tape off the front and the one side. I may try to spend some time to get as much of the residue off as I can, but if not a whole lot comes off, I'll just put new tape on there.

For lights on it right now are 2 of 3 Par38's, and some time in April, when my parent's return from vacationing in Florida, they'll be brind me back a 36" Fluval Fresh & Plant 2.0 fixture that I found on sale for $100 no tax and free USA Shipping. Beats paying $266+tx for it up here.

PS: Tank has been on this stand sitting like this for 10 years now. I hope to find a piece of board I can put under it and take the 2 single ones out and have it cover the right to both ends, but if I can't, I'm not going to be majorly concerned.

Planting I hope will happen around the end of next month.


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

*54G Update:*

It's taken about two weeks, but I've finished cleaning up my 54g as best I'm able on my own.

I was able to replace the felt pad and scrubby on the mag-float with a new one for glass and I'm sort of hoping once water is back in the tank, over time I can get some of the coraline algae residue off the front and sides at least.

On the plus side, 100% Ascetone Nail Polish remover took care of the residue left from the electrical tape that was on the front and one side of the glass. So much so, that I don't think I'm going to retape it.

I put my secondary AC70 on the tank (it was only ever used for freshwater), and a new black background. The white honking foam on the intake will be replaced with a black one once any cloudiness has diminished after the first week.

Cleaned up all the salt creep from around the tank near any seams. and I put a lining of silicone along the top rim to prevent any water from leaking under there just as an extra precaution.

Got some Eggcrate light diffuser from Home Depot and cut it to fit onto the inner lip of the top rim about 13 inches on either side of the tank, leaving the centre panel open for higher light levels.

The Maxx scoop bucket is full of regular aquarium gravel. I'm going to use that as a base, especially for the back to give it a little extra height. It will then be covered with the aquasoil. I especially want the gravel under the areas that I'm going to have sand so it doesn't become a nitrogen trap.

Soil is going to be 2-2.5 inches thick so there will be settling of the soil as the tank ages.

The cave as shown is going in the tank. I'm going to take off the fake plants on it. I may attach Buce's to it in the future. The cave is going to be a nice little hidey place for the Corydoras and force an area of open water for the fish to swim.

*14G Update:*

Everything with this little grow out tank is going fine. Though I'm still getting brown/diatom algae. I've notice it grows more when I do water changes, which means I'm going to need to check the Phosphate and Silicate levels of the tap water. Thankfully I do have some Phosguard on hand if I really need it.

Last week I was in Scarborough, and went to Big Al's there to get a clean up crew and some fishies to help me gage how well things will go with the big tank.

I picked up the following:
- 6 Corydora Pygmeus
- 9 super small Cardinal Tetras
- 3 Nerite snails
- 3 Otocinclus

The Nerite snails destroyed most of the algae on the glass and back of the tank in only a few days. Those things are eating and pooping machines. 
The Otos stick mainly to the plaints and rest on the glass most of the time. They get some zucchini for suppliment food.

I lost 2 of the Pygmy Corys. One was dumb and decided to take a look in the loc line outtake and got stuck. Not sure what happened to the other one, but it was gone within the first day. The other 4 are doing just fine going around and eating whatever they can find off the plants. 
I suppliment feed them every 3 nights with tiny sinking catfish pellets.

When I first got them, I realized the current Maxi-jet 1200 (265gph) was waaaaay too much flow for these little guys to deal with. They have to go up to the water surface to gulp air from time to time, so I had immediately turned the pump off and added an airstone in there for a week until I got a new pump in. Went with the Maxi-jet 400 (110gph) and it's much nicer for them. It gives good flow, without being over powering and the little guys can get up to the surface to get some air without any issues.

In addition to the fishies and snails, I also picked up 3 Cryptocoryne plants from Big Al's that were in their $1.99 reduced bin. In hind sight, I should have taken all four of them. Not too sure which type of Crypt they are, but based on the pic I took when I was there last in October, I think they are either Willisii or Lucens. They have perked up a bit since being in this little tank, even though I just threw the pot in... but I'm debating on removing them from the rock wool this week and plant them in some ADA soil, but still in their pots for now; or waiting a month until I set up the big tank.

Water testing commensed prior to adding livestock. I forgot to write it down. 
This was 4 days after adding:

Temp: 78-80 degrees. 
PH: 6.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5.0
GH: 6 drops (started changing at 5 drops) ppm 89.5-107.4
KH: 4 drops = 4dKH

So now it is just a waiting game until I can get back up to Scarborough to pick up plants from members when they have what I'm looking for ready. I don't want to have anything shipped this time of year because it is still too cold for that, but I have no issues picking it up as I have my own thermal baggy to take them home in.

As always, feel free to comment or make suggestions, ask questions. I know this tank isn't exciting by most standards. But it's fun.


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

Nothing much has changed. Big tank is in the waiting game until I can get plants.. Come on March 1st!!!

The 14g is doing very well, though there is a bit of Green Spot Algae growing on the plant leaves of the wisteria, and a little on the tank walls, but not much. 
Research indicates low Phosphates to be the issue, so I'm dosing ThriveS at 1.5x recommended dosage twice a week right now, then I will double it. I'm just taking it slow and checking for any adverse affects on the stability of the tank.

I'm not using carbon so the balance is working out the dosing with the lighting schedule of 9hrs.

2 more water tests done, as I think I messed up the GH and KH ones when I first did them.

*Jan 30*
PH: 6.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5ppm
GH: 4 drops (71.6ppm)
kH: 1-2dkh (If I look down the tube, it's 1 drop to yellow, 2 drops if just lengthwise against the white cardboard.

*Feb 7th*
PH: 6.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10ppm
GH: 5 drops (89.5ppm)
kH: 1-2 dKH (same as above looking down the tube and then lengthwise)

It appears my PH is remaining steady at 6.8, other indicators are good .. so something is keeping it stable, despite the lack of KH numbers.

So, I decided to do a quick test straight from the tap (I'm going to do another test after letting the tapwater sit 24hours first later this week)

PH: shows 6.8 (light blue, no hint of green, and not dark enough to match 7.0) 
Just in case, I ran a High PH and it just turned out yellow.

GH: 9 drops. (161.1ppm) Meaning tap water is Moderate Hardness.
KH: 5 drops. (5dKH)

So this tells me the Aquasoil is softening my water, and may be doing a little with my PH, but not a whole lot, but it is lowering and nearly bottoming out my KH as well, which after doing a quick search, appears to be common. 
It is dropping the Kh and GH evenly by 4 drops or degrees.

Thoughts or advice?


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

*54G Finally Alive!!!*

It's ALIVE!! It's finally alive!!

After having a large tank running in my living room for over 10years, the last couple of months has been a bit depressing having had to tear down the saltwater tank and having it empty for a good amount of time while I cleaned it. 
Having the little 14g set up as a grow out really made me realize just how much I loved and needed my big tank.

I set it up when I got back home on March 1st. Prior to that though, I put the ADA Amazonia soil in the tank and let it soak for 2 days with water just over the subtrate level. That made planting for me, much, much easier. I didn't have the issue with plants lifting when I filled the tank like I had with the 14g. They have all actually stayed in place, which is really nice. Water also cleared up in just over 24hours.

I'm absolutely loving my lay out with the vals in the back and the water wisteria. I have some Rotala there too, but it looks a little worse for wear at the moment. The cardinals I put in my 14g showed, when scared they like to swim among the tall weeds, but when comfortable, they like to come out in the open, and so I created an area where they can have safety and open water when wanted. Especially when peaceful agressive fish are added.

The midground is mainly taken up by pots (for the German Blue Rams I plan on getting) as I've created some spaced out breeding areas if they choose to pair up. I also have the large fake rock in there to ensure there is an open swimming area in case plant growth gets out of hand on me. The few plants I have in the midground are Blyxa Japonica and Ludwigia SP Red.

The Blyxa transitions into the forground mainly on the sides of the breeding pots. It will make an excellent area for Ram fry to swim in. 
On other sides of the pots near the tank glass and into the front I have several species of Cryptocorynes. Nevilli, Pigmea, Parva and Willisii. 
Then my centrepiece forground plant is the AR mini. I love that nice red spash in the front, which interestingly enough seems to give some depth to the tank and offsets the amount of green in the background.

I'm expecting to have a fair bit of melting on a number of plants, only because I had to have my boyfriend keep some of them in a bucket for a week, but am surprised at how little there has been so far. But then it has only been about 50hrs since set up.

Here is a pick of the aquascape for now.

Lighting at this time are 3 par38's (1x27watt - 10k and 2x21watt 12k), hanging 18 inches above the water level. This will be updated with a Fluvel Fresh and Plant 2.0 in April and the Par lights will be used as a Par booster during the high noon simulation if needed.

I'm trying out a new lighting time period to help avoid algae. 4 hours on, 4 off then 4hrs on again followed by 12hrs off.

Now is the fun part for me in terms of watching the plants grow and saving up for the fish I would like.

Most plants were purchased from Coldmantis and Jimmyjam. I highly recommend them both if you are looking for some nice plants. 
The vals and wisteria I grew out myself from a purchase at Petsmart. I got them before they touched their water.

Water testing today was as follows for this tank:

PH: 6.4
Ammonia: 2.0-4.0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5.0
KH: 2
GH: 4
Temp: 80-81f degrees. (26.5-27c)

I used cycled media from the 14g in the HOB filter.


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

looking good


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

Thanks Coldmantis, I think by the way things are growing in with only two weeks under the belt, I'm going to end up with that jungle look I'm going for. 

Two week update.

Everything is growing in fairly nicely. I've had minimal melting on the crypts. Really only the C.Pygmea melted, but they are growing back. The Rotala and the Ludwigia Sp. Super Red melted too, but that was due to them having to be kept in a bucket for a week due to a pick up date mix up. I'm really rather surprised that any of them survived at all. But as the Ludwigia grow back, I'll get to replanting them in a better defined area.

The Blyxa has really began to shoot up this week with a good inch of growth on the right hand side, and generally looking better on the Left.

The AR Mini are growing out a lot faster than I had anticipated and I may have to make cuttings soon.

All the Crypts have settled in nicely and I can't wait for them to go nuts and really grow in so the area gets all bushy, but with little areas underneath for tiny fish to explore and hide.

The Salvinia is growing like mad on the surface and I'm already going to have to weed a handful of them out. But they look so awesome.

The Malaysian Trumpet snails have big, and I've seen a few small ones in there, so they are most likely breeding as usual, despite the tank being near the middle end of it's cycle.

Speaking of which, here are the number from the last couple of weeks.

*March 7th* (Day after a water change)
Ph: 6.4
Ammonia: 1.0ppm 
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5.0ppm
KH: 2
GH: 4

*March 10th* (No water change this time)
Ph: 6.4
Ammonia: 2.0ppm 
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 10-20ppm
KH: 2
GH: 4

*March 16th*
Ph: 6.4
Ammonia: 0.5ppm 
Nitrite: 2.0
Nitrate: 40-80ppm
KH: 2
GH: 4

20% water change performed after this test.

I'm finding I have to keep the water level at a certain distance so as to not have biofilm showing up on the water surface. I'm likeing the flow the MP10 gives and the fact I can put it higher or lower as I need. It helps to keep the silvinia at the top moving around so it doesn't completely block the light out all the time to the plants below.

The 14g is going through a bit of a growing pain after the removal of most of the Wisteria and the two types of vals. It has developed a little algae issue and although it is a bit unsightly, it isn't really all that bad. I need to put some of those MTS down there and buy more L.Cardinalis for both tanks. I planted some of the E.Tenellus down there too to see how well it will grow. 
No livestock losses though, which is a good thing and everyone is eating like mad as usual.

I'm not too sure what I am going to want to do with the 14g now that I have my main tank planted. It will certainly become my quaranteen in the future after I add my main residents to the big tank. For certain I kind of want to take most of the twisted val out of this tank and rescape it so it looks nicer. I would prefer mostly lower to the ground plants. I'll likely put overflow plants into it in the future to be sold.


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

*Fluval 2.0 Light just added today*

This tank is coming along very nicely and the plants have been growing extremely well. Especially the Blyxa and AR mini, despite the PAR38's being more in the blue spectrum (10-12k), rather than the 6.5k. Even the crypts have been growing since settled in.

Very little algae has shown up as of yet. Only the wee bit that was on the vals I transfered over from the little tank, but the ramshorns, bladder pond and Malasian trumpet snails have been taking care of a bit of that. Plus the fact I'm running the lights on a split 8hour timer over 12 hours I think helps too.

Water Parameters have pretty much stabilized, though the nitrates are still a touch high, but the fish don't appear to be affected by them at all. The cardinals eat like Paranhas.

*March 23rd*
PH: 6.4
Ammonia: 0 
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 30-40ppm

*April 6th*
PH: 6.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 30-40ppm

I'm going to have to keep an eye on the PH swing and do some more tap water testing to get a feel for when the City changes things that might affect my tank, so I know not to do water changes around certain times of the month like a day after a heavy rain (super chlorinated water).

The first couple of pics are my typical front tank shot, with the 3 Par38s only, so you can see the difference in the lighting. When it comes to leds, how bright a light is does not determine it's PAR value or how well plants respond to growth.

Why does this matter?

Well, today I finally have my main light, the Fluval Fresh & Plant 2.0. I can tell you one thing, it sure is a LOT brighter than just the Par38s, and it's now going to take me some time to get used to the change in spectrum. I dimmed them down to only about 70% as I plan on still using the Pars. But the main change in light is mainly to ensure the light spread much better and less shadowing down to the subtrate level, while having the proper spectrum for plant growth.

My first expectation: I'm likely going to see an explosion in algae until I find the right balance, then followed by proper plant growth once I get everything all settled again.

The last set of pics show the tank with the new light on it, and the blyxa that has a baby split off from it already.


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

*Impressed with the Fluval 2.0*

I decided to give it about a month between updates since it doesn't seem like too many people are interested in my threads. At least this way those who are can see a visual difference.

I have to say that I'm extremely impressed with the Fluval 2.0 light. Growth has exploded in my tank since adding it, and I've had to turn off the 3 Par38 lights now to control algae growth.

For an LED light, the spread has been fantasic for my low to the subtrate plants and my wisteria, which has really started to send out new branches from the subtrate level and grow those upwards.

If you are looking for a good LED light that does grow medium light plants (maybe even some high light plants), then I would recommend the Fluval 2.0 or better yet the Fluval 3.0 due to it's customization ability.

The vals are spreading every where now and I'll be soon cutting out the new babies to sell. The AR mini have been growing like crazy and I just had to cut them back again today. I could cut lower, but I'm still getting a feel for them.

The Blyxa is getting nice and bushy now, and has a slight red tint to it's leaves. I expect the slower growing plants to start developing babies soon. 
Rotala Rotundifolia 'Pink' is growing in all coloured up and I can't wait for it to spread.

I'm really wanting to get more Ludwigia SP Super Red or Paulustris.

I have minimal algae right now. Though I will likely need to move my lighting time to a 3 hour on, 4 off and 4 on, then 12 off for total of 6 hours of light. I'd probably not have much of an issue if I ran CO2, but algae is always one of the things that does happen around the 2 month mark of a newly set up tank, so I just have to let it runs it's course and try to clean it off of surfaces as much as I can.

I lost an Oto today. The poor think decided to do a stupid and latched onto my heater when it was off and got burnt real good when it turned on. I kind of wish I could get one of the new Fluval heaters that are covered as it would have prevented that from happening.

Here are four pics of my tank. 
#1 From Beginning of March when I first planted it. 
#2 From April 9th 
#3 From May 8th (before AR trim)
#4 From May 8th (after AR trim)


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

*Dark Knight Rams have landed*

I had a weekend away to visit friends in the GTA and before coming home, I made a special trip to Finatics in Mississauga. I had been hoping they would have had their South American shipment in, but it was late and didn't have the dwarf cories I wanted, BUT the store did have in the Dark Knight Rams I was specifically setting this tank up for. Of course, I got them.

Added are now:
- 3 x Dark Knight Rams. 1 male and 2 females. 
- 2 X German Blue Rams - 1 male and 1 female
- 6 x Rummy nose tetra. 
some Amano shrimp.

I also bought some rotala rotundifolia and Ludwigia Granulosa, both of which I had to go through with a fine tooth comb as it had bladderwort in it. Don't want that stuff in my tank!

I'm totally in love with my tank now. The Black Rams look amazing in contrast with the green, especially with the red of their fins. 
I still love the regular German Blue Rams though. It is going to take them a few months to mature more before they are ready to try mating.

I have had to have done something right with my tank because, after 48hours of being added, the Dark Knight Rams are starting to pair up, clean spots and the females BOTH have their ovipositors down and the male keeps going back and forth between the two of them, while keeping both GBRs away.

I highly doubt I'll be raising fry any time soon and if the fish do manage to be able to do it themselves. Cool. If not, I will be learning right along with them.

I took some pics of them and here is a youtube vid of my tank. having a slight hair algae issue on the vals closest to the light right now, but not anywhere else. 





PS: The Rummynose Tetras are absolute piggies!! They eat everything!


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## QWC (Mar 27, 2017)

Very impressive tank! I've seen those dark knight rams the last few times I went to Finatics, didn't know they could get as dark as yours. They look really good


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

Thanks very much QWC. 

I was really surprised at how dark these rams were. I had heard the creater of the line has been working on getting more black out of them and he was definitely successfull. 

There were about ten or more in the tank when I was there and most of them were the deep black coloration. Only a couple of them were the lighter color. Which might have explained the increase in price this year. But I'm so glad I got them. They are super fiesty and always hungry, like the Rummynose!


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

*OMG OMG OMG!!! I have DK Ram Fry!!*

I was checking out why the male Dark Knight Ram in my tank was being so aggressive today. Now I know! I'm rather a bit surprised considering I've only had these guys for about a month.

I completely missed them laying eggs and seeing them develop that way. But hopefully I won't the next time. I just hope I didn't suck up any eggs last week when I was doing a water change. :S

There are approximately 20 or so fry from what I could tell from one of the pics. I would be more than ecstatic if even one of them survives to grow up.

As for the tank.. plants are growing, but now I have to be careful what I take out. I have a light algae issue but I hear that happens in young tanks and hopefully in time it will go away. I'm going to start by reducing lighting by an hour so I will have 3.5hrs on, 4.5hrs off, 3.5hrs on, 12.5hrs off.

I also put some pothos to root in my tank to help with excess nutrients, which I also hope will help with the algae issue... it will be a long time to fix, so no hurry.


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## Nebthet78 (Aug 21, 2017)

*6 month update*

It's been a while since I updated my thread, but I figured since it is officially six months since this tank was planted, I would show you the progress.

I have all the fish I'm ever going to add now. 
The 2 rams, 18 cardinal tetras, 6 rummynose tetras and 18 pygmy corydoras, plus a few Amano shrimp. They keep things busy in there without being over crowded. Lots of hiding places.

Plants have all really grown in nicely. I've added a few new ones here and there, and I think I have it the way I really want it now. I just need to keep up on the trimming from time to time and ensure algae, especially bba doesn't try to take a hold.

Here is a video of my tank... turn down the music if you don't like ProgRock space music.


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