# 90p iwagumi | tank journal



## arturo

Hey guys, its been a while since i've been on here. Had to shut down my 29gal tank because i just bought my first house and didn't need the stress of moving tanks. In the process i decided to do a major upgrade and learn from my mistakes made in my first iwagumi attempt.

One of the key things in this scape so far is that it has been a test of my patience and planning skills. Researching the best possible products and only getting the best that i can afford.

Another challenge was working with my living room space. I wanted to create a tranquil environment for enjoying music and the tank. No TV in this room. So i spent about of month on interior design boards, playing around with floor planing software. As any new homeowner would know, getting settled in was a hurdle as well and got in the way of getting any progress on the tank financially and mentally.










I opted out of ADA tank and stand because I couldn't justify the price. I ended up going with a company called CADlights for the tank and cabinet which only came to $650 brand new, so that was a huge score. I bought this months before the deal on my house closed because it was one big purchase i needed to get out of the way haha

I decided to go with the ADA complete substrate system with powersand, additives, normal type and powder type.










CO2 was from the 29 gallon and is from green leaf aquariums.

Last week i finally received my ATI 6x39 dimmable sunpower after it being on backorder for 2 months and i could not be any more excited about it. This thing is awesome. In it are Giesemann powerchromes, 3 mid day and 3 aquaflora and im sure ill be playing around with different combinations later on.










The hardest purchase to make so far has been the hardscape. I played around with the idea of ADA manten stone, but for the size of tank and scape i was going for, i wasn't ready to spend upwards of $1000 on rock. I know i needed the rock to be inert because we get relatively hard water in my area so i managed to pick up some rather large lava boulders from a rock yard around the corner from my house. At 50 cents a pound, i went all out and got as much as i could, took it home and broke it down into some more attractive pieces.

This picture only shows about half the rocks i actually have, but its more or less along the lines of how i want the hardscape to look.










Unfortunately, because of the extreme cold weather in ontario right now i am faced with another road block. I have no way to clean these rocks in my garage (well i mean, i could, but i live in a townhouse with a connected driveway, my neighbour is pregnant and i don't want to turn her driveway into an ice skating rink :/ )

In the mean time i decided to do some experimenting with the dry start method and some HC in a small tank with aquasoil.










To go back to my comment about patience and planning, i put my photoshop skills to the test before i could actually get down to scaping the tank HAHA










I really want to keep it simple with plants. Mostly HC, but i have been playing around with the idea of using some *alternanthera reineckii sp. 'mini', staraguon rapens, eleocharis acicularis *or *parvula* and *hydrocotle*










LAST on my list is a filter and some lily pipes. Im deciding on the Eheim E-Series 2076 because i want as much flow as possible and i want to be able to turn it down if its too much. I also like the computer controls. Im a sucker for technology.

Now im just deciding if im brave enough to drill out 2 inch holes on the left side of the cabinet for filter pipes, or if i should just keep the filter outside the tank. (im not very handy at all and im terrified that ill butcher it)

Anyways, that's all I got so far. I will be posting progress here as it happens and hope i can get some feedback from you guys!


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## Ryan s

Looking good man. I also recived my ati sunpower dimmable Light fixture Last week for my 80 gal. Its a very nice lighting fixture. Just finnshed burning in my bulbs yesterday. Keep us updated with your tank.


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## arturo

Ryan s said:


> Looking good man. I also recived my ati sunpower dimmable Light fixture Last week for my 80 gal. Its a very nice lighting fixture. Just finnshed burning in my bulbs yesterday. Keep us updated with your tank.


It is nice eh? bright as all hell though. i just finished burning in too, but i had to take a picture of the insanity i came home to the other night. All the lights in the house were off and i could see my house from the end of the complex haha


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## Ryan s

Lol yes the fixture is really Bright. It Lit up my Whole place. Yes its a very nice slick fixture plus it was easy to hang from the celling. Best fixture out there, and its worth t'he priče you pay. I Will running mine max 40%



arturo said:


> It is nice eh? bright as all hell though. i just finished burning in too, but i had to take a picture of the insanity i came home to the other night. All the lights in the house were off and i could see my house from the end of the complex haha
> 
> View attachment 93282


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## ameekplec.

arturo said:


> It is nice eh? bright as all hell though. i just finished burning in too, but i had to take a picture of the insanity i came home to the other night. All the lights in the house were off and i could see my house from the end of the complex haha
> 
> View attachment 93282


It's easier to pick out a reefer's house since it's the only unit or house with a blue or violet glow emanating from it!


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## jimmyjam

best part so far was your photoshop prescape.. best i have seen so far =P Looks good so far, great pics. Keep us updated.


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## TorontoPlantMan

This is going to be an awesome tank once planted; do you mind sharing the software you used as you mentioned in other posts?


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## arturo

jimmyjam said:


> best part so far was your photoshop prescape.. best i have seen so far =P Looks good so far, great pics. Keep us updated.


Haha thanks it was fun to put together 


TorontoPlantMan said:


> This is going to be an awesome tank once planted; do you mind sharing the software you used as you mentioned in other posts?


Thank you! For the scape I just used Adobe photoshop and illustrator. But for the floor layouts it was a combination of a mobile app and Web app. I used MagicPlan to map the measurements of the space and 'Floor Planner' for furniture placement. It has a library of everything you need to layout a room. Including an aquarium haha


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## solarz

What kind of rock are those?


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## arturo

solarz said:


> What kind of rock are those?


Black lava boulders from grand River stone. 52cents per lb


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## solarz

arturo said:


> Black lava boulders from grand River stone. 52cents per lb


Nice! You mentioned washing them, are they very dusty?


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## arturo

solarz said:


> Nice! You mentioned washing them, are they very dusty?


well they were kept outdoors for a while i assume. dusty, bird crap, spider webs, you name it. You get what you pay for, but i was having a hard time finding large stones anywhere. I'll probably wait till sunday or monday to take a hose to it since its going to be between 8-13 degrees out then. FINGERS CROSSED haha


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## arturo

Quick update on the DSM test tank.

It's rooting well and the plants are more resilient than I originally though.

All I'm using is a 13W CFL daylight cfl in a cheap ikea desk lamp misting with water once in the morning and once at night. The light is running 10hrs per day. No algae, no mould.

In the close up photo you will notice a tiny stem of HC that fell off when i was breaking up the Tropica cup. I just sprinkled it on top of the soil and it has magically taken root. This excites me.

I know a lot of people recommend just placing the HC as opposed to planting it, but i wasn't expecting this little guy to survive. COOL! cant wait to plant the 90p now


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## arturo

Got around to the hardscape today. Any input?


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## cb1021

You have 5 rocks which I will number 1 to 5 to reference them - with 1 being the most left one and 5 being the most right one.

I would match the angle of #1 and #2 to align with that of #3. Your rocks are pointing at different directions right now instead of flowing towards 1 direction. Rock #4 and #5 can be used to balance the chi that the #1-#3 have created by pointing slightly left (to oppose the 3 rocks on the left which would be pointed right). 

Also I would try reducing the the depth of the substrate in the front to have a more aggressive slope. This can create a very 3d effect where the aquascape is screaming towards the viewer instead of being a static flat surface. 

I really like your rocks, where did you get them? 

Keep us updated.

Thanks


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## arturo

cb1021 said:


> You have 5 rocks which I will number 1 to 5 to reference them - with 1 being the most left one and 5 being the most right one.
> 
> I would match the angle of #1 and #2 to align with that of #3. Your rocks are pointing at different directions right now instead of flowing towards 1 direction. Rock #4 and #5 can be used to balance the chi that the #1-#3 have created by pointing slightly left (to oppose the 3 rocks on the left which would be pointed right).
> 
> Also I would try reducing the the depth of the substrate in the front to have a more aggressive slope. This can create a very 3d effect where the aquascape is screaming towards the viewer instead of being a static flat surface.
> 
> I really like your rocks, where did you get them?
> 
> Keep us updated.
> 
> Thanks


Thank you! Originally I actually had the stones as you described but a few people on other groups had pointed out that it looked to rigid and placed.

So this morning i replaced stone number 2 because for some reason i was hung up on the texture of it and overlooked the 2d shape it had viewing from the angle. it was very flat and you could see where i broke the stone to get the shape.

here is this mornings result. kind of rushed it before work because it was giving me nightmares last night... i just need to clean up the substrate with a brush some more and figure out why some of my powersand is coming to the surface around stone #3 haha










The black lava boulder i got from grand river stone in stoney creek, but there are several locations in the GTA. At 52 cents a pound it was a no brainer and I have lots left over!

Now to decide how many pots of HC i should get. im thinking around 10 so i dont have to wait too long to flood it.


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## Poseidon

That's going to look fantastic. Looking forward to seeing the progression.


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## arturo

Poseidon said:


> That's going to look fantastic. Looking forward to seeing the progression.


thanks! i cant wait to plant it!


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## Poseidon

Are you going to buy most of your plants from forum members or will you be purchasing plants from Big Al's in Stoney Creek?


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## arturo

Poseidon said:


> Are you going to buy most of your plants from forum members or will you be purchasing plants from Big Al's in Stoney Creek?


Nope, angelfins. They are amazing people to deal with. I got my bulbs and aquasoil from them. Plus their prices on tropica plants are way better. Not to mention they are in better shape. Big al's are barely kept under a light


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## jimmyjam

good guys at angel fins. I need to pick up bulbs from them. I wouldnt get plants from big als if my life depended on it. There are so many better sources. I love the stones so far. Great find. What kind are they ?


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## arturo

jimmyjam said:


> good guys at angel fins. I need to pick up bulbs from them. I wouldnt get plants from big als if my life depended on it. There are so many better sources. I love the stones so far. Great find. What kind are they ?


Thanks, just black lava. I got the biggest boulders I could find and took a a hammer and cold chisel to them


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## arturo

And we have progress. Some of the HC wasn't in the best shape and there was a bit that had to be tossed, but I think I have enough. Hopefully it makes it through the dry start.

And now I wait.

Just ordered the eheim 2078 as a Christmas present to myself too  hopefully I will be flooded in the new year.

FINGERS CROSSED!


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## Poseidon

Are you thinking of eventually planting anything in some of the crevices and cracks of some of the rocks?


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## arturo

Poseidon said:


> Are you thinking of eventually planting anything in some of the crevices and cracks of some of the rocks?


Not sure. Thought about some anubias Nana or willow moss but I don't want to take away from the rock work.


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## arturo

Figured it would be wise to invest in a hygrometer. From what I understand, it should be around 70% to avoid mould. Can anyone confirm this?


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## TorontoPlantMan

In all my emersed set up's I do not exceed 70-75%, anything above 80 and you're dealing with mold. So yes, you're correct


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## arturo

TorontoPlantMan said:


> In all my emersed set up's I do not exceed 70-75%, anything above 80 and you're dealing with mold. So yes, you're correct


Thanks, yea it was above 80 for a couple hours today before I got the hygrometer (as you can see in the picture) hopefully I caught that soon enough. She is sitting at 70 on the dot now


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## lovevc

black lava rock is really rare.. i havent seen them in any of my local landscaping stores. maybe ill make a trip to stoney creek. 52c per lb is killer deal


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## arturo

lovevc said:


> black lava rock is really rare.. i havent seen them in any of my local landscaping stores. maybe ill make a trip to stoney creek. 52c per lb is killer deal


Yea, it's not too bad. I'm not 100% that it is truly black lava, but it's pretty darn close. I have plenty of leftovers also


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## jimmyjam

yup still loving those stones. Did they label them as black lava? Where is the shop by the way. thanks


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## arturo

jimmyjam said:


> yup still loving those stones. Did they label them as black lava? Where is the shop by the way. thanks


http://www.grandriverstone.com/contact-us they have a few locations but they all seem to be pretty far west of you.

The one i want to was like 2 minutes from my house and a stones throw away from the hamilton big al's location. They're on winter hours now, so it might be a pain in the ass for you but if you're interested in taking some of my leftovers, send me a PM and ill try get some photos of what i have left.

If i remember correctly, I might have one rather large piece still kicking around.


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## arturo

Filled her up a hit early as I won't be able to keep an eye on the humidity or misting over the holidays.

I got the go ahead to open a Christmas gift early (eheim 2078) to speed up the process. Packed it full of matrix.

I also treated myself to some cal aqua lily pipes 










Big thanks to all the great GTA shops that helped me out to get this thing done:

Angelfins 
Reef boutique 
Incredible aquarium 
Big Al's Hamilton 
Coral reef shop Burlington 
Grand River Stone

Non GTA

Green Leaf Aquariums 
J&L aquatics


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## arturo

Might as well post a pic of the nano reef too. It's almost done cycling.

Anybody care to place bets on which tank gets fish first?


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## Rmwbrown

Nice choice with cal aqua pipes... I have a couple sets and they are solid!


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## arturo

Here is a proper update lol

So i filled the tank this weekend. The dry start was going a lot slower than i expected and i heard from several people that HC will grow a bit faster submerged. Not to mention, with the holidays, i wont be able to keep an eye on the humidity and keep up with misting.

In a last ditch effort to get this thing filled, i ordered my lily pipes and inline co2 diffuser from GLA and to my surprise, it shipped with UPS, so it came in way sooner than i expected!

I also ordered some matrix for the eheim 2078, and that arrived the same day!










After filling, I CRANKED the co2 to minimize any transitional die off. I cant count the bubble rate, and im running it 24/7 right now. My drop checker is a bright yellow.

My first water test showed 0 ammonia and 10 nitrate so i'm going to assume its safe to add some shrimps this week. Still not 100% sure, but from what I understand, the soil cycles during the dry start and should have enough bacteria to sustain a small amano shrimp army (once i get the co2 to a habitable level)










Had to post this picture too. Loving the reflection of the lights. And the vortex from the lily pipe is pretty sweet. So far i am very happy with the power im getting out of this filter, but i still gotta figure out how to program it and get the most use out of all the functions it is capable of.










Also going to try something out with this. A few little bits of HC have been floating to the surface and collecting on the rock that breaks the waterline. I think ill just leave it there for now and see if it roots.


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## Rmwbrown

Just to err on the side of caution, the more equipment you have cranked the harder it is going to be to make minor adjustments as you're getting a feel for the settings. As it stands, I would be worried that if things go bad, they will go bad fast. 

On that side, you may want to think about getting some super fast growing stem plants right fast to help manage excess nutrients while the HC transitions. 

More over, do you have an autodosser? With that fixture paired up with top of the line bulbs and high Co2 one missed dose will be enough to kick up algae growth. 

I haven't been around much in the last couple years so I don't know your history (so my apologies in advance if I'm over stepping), but it would be an awful shame to see such a nice setup go sideways.


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## arturo

Rmwbrown said:


> Just to err on the side of caution, the more equipment you have cranked the harder it is going to be to make minor adjustments as you're getting a feel for the settings. As it stands, I would be worried that if things go bad, they will go bad fast.
> 
> On that side, you may want to think about getting some super fast growing stem plants right fast to help manage excess nutrients while the HC transitions.
> 
> More over, do you have an autodosser? With that fixture paired up with top of the line bulbs and high Co2 one missed dose will be enough to kick up algae growth.
> 
> I haven't been around much in the last couple years so I don't know your history (so my apologies in advance if I'm over stepping), but it would be an awful shame to see such a nice setup go sideways.


Thanks Rmwbrown, youre not overstepping at all, I am open to all suggestions and valid criticism.

For the co2, I'm actually just following the advice i've gathered over the year. With the dry start it was my understanding to make sure the tank has more co2 than needed to adjust to the submerged environment, although ill admit, i might have been a little overzealous with the co2 haha I am slowly taking the rate down every morning.

as far as dosing, with my last setup I was very good at staying on top of it, i like the routine. This is my second high tech setup and in the past, i haven't had any catastrophic disasters.

at this present moment, i am not adding any fertilizer as i believe that the aquasoil should have enough nutrients for the HC. I also havent done the recommend 3x100% back to back waterchanges and thats only because i didnt find the water to be overly cloudy. However, I will be doing mixed solutions very soon. I'm also going to be testing my water daily to make sure everything is kosher.

Anything else you notice or can help with, please let me know. I would also hate if this setup failed!


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## Rmwbrown

It looks great, and yeah, it sounds like your doing it all the right way. I'm just pointing out all the things I have messed up! 

The take away is don't go overkill on it. It's not glosso, but HC is a pretty easy plant to grow once you have the right set up. Unless you're using hard well water, you have the right set up so I think you will find that HC is more dependent on Co2 than it is on intense lighting. You will get great lush growth that is more manageable if you keep the C02 at 30ppm and go easy on the lights.


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## arturo

Rmwbrown said:


> It looks great, and yeah, it sounds like your doing it all the right way. I'm just pointing out all the things I have messed up!
> 
> The take away is don't go overkill on it. It's not glosso, but HC is a pretty easy plant to grow once you have the right set up. Unless you're using hard well water, you have the right set up so I think you will find that HC is more dependent on Co2 than it is on intense lighting. You will get great lush growth that is more manageable if you keep the C02 at 30ppm and go easy on the lights.


Thanks, yea, I'm dealing in the lights still. 1hr it goes from 0 - 100% then 100% for 6 hrs then 1hr 100-0. Still playing with the programing on those lights.

That being said, I'm not afraid of a little algae. It's a big part of the hobby and I've dealt with my fair share successfully lol


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## cb1021

Arturo,

ADA Amazonia will leech ammonia for at least couple weeks so it's dangerous to add livestock before you can get the cycle completed (even a silent cycle should be monitored for 2 weeks while dosing with ammonia to replicate the effect that livestock will have). My ammonia was up to 8ppm at it's peak and held consistently at 4ppm for at about a week. 

Also I agree with Rmwbrown - too much light. Your plants need to acclimate before you jack up the lighting. I think a good way to adjust/balance a tank is to start low and increase on a weekly interval (ie. 4 bulbs for 6 hours this week, 4 bulbs for 7 hours next week, 4 bulbs for 8 hours the following). I started to draw an illustration to show why it's better to ramp up nutrients (light, co2, micro/maro) than to ramp down nutrients when encountered with a problem. It's the choice between prevention and correction. I never finished this illustration because I think the easiest explanation lines in such: Do you want your tank to explode with problems or not?

Another thing I'm learning recently, I'm new to those pink bulbs (I've only known 6,700k or 10,000k). They don't look bright to our eyes but I'd assume they're giving off light.


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## arturo

cb1021 said:


> Arturo,
> 
> ADA Amazonia will leech ammonia for at least couple weeks so it's dangerous to add livestock before you can get the cycle completed. My ammonia was up to 8ppm at it's peak and held consistently at 4ppm for at about a week.
> 
> Also I agree with Rmwbrown - too much light. Your plants need to acclimate before you jack up the lighting. I think a good way to adjust/balance a tank is to start low and increase on a weekly interval (ie. 4 bulbs for 6 hours this week, 4 bulbs for 7 hours next week, 4 bulbs for 8 hours the following). I started to draw an illustration to show why it's better to ramp up nutrients (light, co2, micro/maro) than to ramp down nutrients. It's the choice between prevention and correction. I never finished this illustration because I think the easiest explanation lines in such: Do you want your tank to explode with problems or not?


I can appreciate that. Did you dry start your amazonia? Because a lot of that ammonia is said to have been broken down during that stage. My tests have read 0 ammonia and 10 nitrate so far, but maybe it's too early to tell.

Also, I'm only at 6 bulbs for 6 hrs. The other 2 hours are ramping up


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## cb1021

Oh right, I forgot that you had dry-started. I don't have any experience in that area - not sure how that affects the cycle.


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## arturo

cb1021 said:


> Oh right, I forgot that you had dry-started. I don't have any experience in that area - not sure how that affects the cycle.


Nor do I, I have heard mixed reviews and have discussed and read everything Tom Barr has read on the subject. But he claims that after 4 weeks of a dry start the soil should have enough bacteria to support 60 cardinals, 70 amono shrimp and 40 Otto's in his 180gal

He also claimed that there is no transition phase, but I've read conflicting reports


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## arturo

now im starting to think i should have done a few water changes. but the water seemed pretty clear... guess i know what im doing when i get home.


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## arturo

So I did a couple back to back water changes of 90%. Ammonia at its peak was .25, so as far as Ammonia burn is concerned, I'm in the clear. 

Also, cut my photo period to 6 hrs (4hrs at 100% plus ramp up and down) , raised the fixture 2 inches and lowered co2 to 5bps. Still not adding any ferts, I think the large water changes will provide enough trace elements for now. 

Lots of pearling already. I hope it keeps up.


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## arturo

7 day submersed update. No ferts, just large water changes every couple days.


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## Rmwbrown

This is looking great. Keep it up and you will have a full carpet on less than a month. If you are going to be dosing following the ADA system, you should start adding trace. I would start testing N and P just to see where you are at even if ADA claims you don't need them until the third month.


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## arturo

Rmwbrown said:


> This is looking great. Keep it up and you will have a full carpet on less than a month. If you are going to be dosing following the ADA system, you should start adding trace. I would start testing N and P just to see where you are at even if ADA claims you don't need them until the third month.


Thank you, you had me worried last week lol. Yea I was planning on dosing a little trace in the first week of January. I'm not using ada but I have ei dry ferts and will be mixing a reduced solution for the next month or so, see where that takes me. So far, I think the frequent water changes have been keeping everything where it should be


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## Rmwbrown

Ha, the fear is good; keeps you on your toes! Aquasoil is so incredible at growing HC, you would need to really work at messing this up. Just watch the N and P, when they bottom out, that is when things will start going sideways. In my case, I seem to always lose P first which is made evident as soon as green spot starts showing up. It's an easy fix that will take care of itself within a week once I adjust dosing.


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## jimmyjam

Hc is growing in nicely. God job so far. I dont think you need to worry about anything for a little while. Major nutrient HC stunts its growth on is Nitrates, which is also the nutrient to bottom out most commonly in hightech high planted low fauna tanks. Its nothing you have to worry about for a while! Keep up the updates.


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## arturo

2 weeks of submerged growth! Nitrates are still nice and high. Going to pick up a bottle of tropica premium fertilizer to bring up a little trace as I have stopped doing the large water changes now.

Daily noticeable growth, lots of pearling. 
Should be ready for fish next weekend


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## Poseidon

That has gone really fast!


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## arturo

So its clear that i need to dose some po4. my levels are at 0 and i need to get them up to eliminate some GSA thats been on my substrate since the dry start.

Other than this algae (which isnt spreading or disappearing) everything is doing great

I have some dry KH2PO4 on hand and want to mix up a solution. Around 1-2ppm is what my phosphate should be at if i remember correctly? I should also add that i just started dosing tropicas premium liquid fert. It seems to have everything except for phosphate and nitrate, and i got plenty of nitrate at the moment.

I plugged the target into wets fert calculator and it gave me this:

"To reach your target of 2.0 ppm PO4 you will need to add 14.464 g KH2PO4 to your 500.0 mL dosing container. Add 15.0 mL of that mix to your 40.0 US gal aquarium to yield"

How would you go about this? Split the 15ml dose up into 3 5ml doses and dose every other day?


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## Rmwbrown

I would pick one system rather than mixing Tropica with whatever system the calculator you're using is set up for.

E.I. is really easy; dumb easy. I measure/mix out all my dry doses for the week and put them in one of those pill organizers. On dose day I just open one tab and dump it in and all is good again. Moreover, I have always found Plantex easier on shrimp when compared to commercial mixes of trace.

I have always used the following recommendations as a baseline and tweaked it as need be.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/15225-estimative-index-dosing-guide.html


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## arturo

Weekend update. I added a bunch of neons, had quite a few loses in the first few days. Population has been stable since though. It's a shame how delicate these guys are :/


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## arturo

Rmwbrown said:


> I would pick one system rather than mixing Tropica with whatever system the calculator you're using is set up for.
> 
> E.I. is really easy; dumb easy. I measure/mix out all my dry doses for the week and put them in one of those pill organizers. On dose day I just open one tab and dump it in and all is good again. Moreover, I have always found Plantex easier on shrimp when compared to commercial mixes of trace.
> 
> I have always used the following recommendations as a baseline and tweaked it as need be.
> 
> http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/15225-estimative-index-dosing-guide.html


Yea, ei is easy, but I think it's over kill for my tank. I also found it made for very dirty water after a couple days in my last tank, regardless how light I made the dosing.

I might try the tropica specialized instead of premium and start with a lean dose on Saturday after a wc.

Algae is still virtually non existing aside for some bga that accumulated at the peak of the largest rock. Peroxide spot treatment and manual removal was a quick fix.


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## cb1021

What's your next plan? Tank seems a bit grown-out already - no?


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## arturo

cb1021 said:


> What's your next plan? Tank seems a bit grown-out already - no?


Plan? Other than slowly adding stock, I'm just going to keep up with trimming and maintaining balance so I can focus on my nano reef journey


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## Ryan s

What height do you have the ati fixture from the water, and what % you running your lights? Hc has grown in nicely.


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## arturo

Ryan s said:


> What height do you have the ati fixture from the water, and what % you running your lights? Hc has grown in nicely.


Thank you. TBH, i havent measured it, but its about 14" if i was to make a guess.

before the fill, i just left it on the ATI factory setting. It was like 10hrs a day at 100% or something crazy like that. Stupid move on my part i think as it cause a bit of algae to grow on the aquasoil.

*1st week of flooding: 4-5bps co2 *

*Channel1:* 14:00-*on* 15:00-*100%* 19:00-*100%* 20:00-*off*
*Channel2:* 14:00-*on* 15:00-*100%* 19:00-*100%* 20:00-*off*

*2nd + 3rd week: 4-5bps co2 *

*Channel1: *14:00-*on* 15:00-*100%* 19:00-*100%* 20:00-*off*
*Channel2:* 14:00-*on* 16:00-*100%* 19:00-*100%* 20:00-*off*

*This week: Turned down co2 for fish 2-3bps

**Channel1:* 14:00-*on* 15:00-*85%* 19:00-*85%* 20:00-*off*
*Channel2:* 14:00-*on* 16:00-*85%* 19:00-*85%* 20:00-*off*

A lot of people have said that the HC favours co2 over light, and ive found that to be very true.


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## JNSN

Where do you buy your cal aqua lily pipes?


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## arturo

JNSN said:


> Where do you buy your cal aqua lily pipes?


Green leaf aquarium


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## Ryan s

Ok i see. Yes once you have your co2 right, all will be good.



arturo said:


> Thank you. TBH, i havent measured it, but its about 14" if i was to make a guess.
> 
> before the fill, i just left it on the ATI factory setting. It was like 10hrs a day at 100% or something crazy like that. Stupid move on my part i think as it cause a bit of algae to grow on the aquasoil.
> 
> *1st week of flooding: 4-5bps co2 *
> 
> *Channel1:* 14:00-*on* 15:00-*100%* 19:00-*100%* 20:00-*off*
> *Channel2:* 14:00-*on* 15:00-*100%* 19:00-*100%* 20:00-*off*
> 
> *2nd + 3rd week: 4-5bps co2 *
> 
> *Channel1: *14:00-*on* 15:00-*100%* 19:00-*100%* 20:00-*off*
> *Channel2:* 14:00-*on* 16:00-*100%* 19:00-*100%* 20:00-*off*
> 
> *This week: Turned down co2 for fish 2-3bps
> 
> **Channel1:* 14:00-*on* 15:00-*85%* 19:00-*85%* 20:00-*off*
> *Channel2:* 14:00-*on* 16:00-*85%* 19:00-*85%* 20:00-*off*
> 
> A lot of people have said that the HC favours co2 over light, and ive found that to be very true.


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## Rmwbrown

arturo said:


> Yea, ei is easy, but I think it's over kill for my tank.


Well that is kind of the point--i.e. maintaining nutrients well above the needs of the plants while still below the point of toxicity. Good luck though. I never found the right balance, or perhaps more correctly, I was never able to gauge how to alter my dosing to match the stage of growth in the tank with the other systems. More provided an easy redundancy.


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## arturo

I was feeling sassy today and added some amanos (well, a lot more than some. About 25).. And I found my macro lens for my android!


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## arturo

Stocked with around 30 neons and 25 amano shrimp


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## lovevc

it would be cool to plant some HC on top of the biggest rock


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## Rmwbrown

Nice work, looking awesome.


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## arturo

lovevc said:


> it would be cool to plant some HC on top of the biggest rock


Some stray HC clippings have been collecting around the tallest rock and have actually started rooting! Im just going to see what happens 


Rmwbrown said:


> Nice work, looking awesome.


Merci!


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## Mr.Light

that's awesome


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## arturo

been a while since i posted an update. picture is a few weeks old, and I need to do a BIG trim soon.










*current stock. 
*
30ish Neon Tetras
10 Galaxy Rasbora (or celestial pearl danios, whatever you want to call them)
12 Otos
20 ish Amano Shrimp


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## arturo

FYI, I get about a freezer bag full of trimmings every 2 weeks. if anyone is interested, send me a pm.

I'm also trying to cultivate some of the trimmings emersed in a small tank so I might try to sell some mats every so often.


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## arturo

Here is a time lapse trimming video I took on the weekend, trying to mend my over grown law.

I should have known better than to let it grow this much. Everything under the healthy leaf was in rough shape. I gave it a very aggressive trim and hopefully it comes back stronger.

This will be my first of many videos so I would love some constructive criticism and some ideas of what you all would be interested in seeing!

ASGTV EP01 - Maintaining my HC carpet:


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## Ryan s

Cool video. Thanks for sharing.


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## cb1021

Hey NICE VIDEO!

Hilarious that somebody commented asking you how to maintain their living room rug.


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## arturo

cb1021 said:


> Hey NICE VIDEO!
> 
> Hilarious that somebody commented asking you how to maintain their living room rug.


Thanks! Haha that was my brother... He's a comedian. Like actually a comedian, I don't mean that figuratively lol


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