# 90 Gallon Custom



## hendy8888

It's been a while since I tore down my 5ft planted. I always had intentions of doing another build but life got in the way and I have been slowly turning my plans into reality.

I enjoy documenting the progress of each build so I can easily see the tanks progression and have decided to play a little catch up.

Spring 2015

It started with a custom 48"x24"x18" rimless low iron tank ordered from Krakens Reef. It was a long time coming and got rejected by customs the first time because of wood shipping material.



Very impressed with the craftsmanship.


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## hendy8888

November 2015

The start of the DIY stand

1x pine, using a biscuit jointer. Zero nails or screws will be used.



December 2015

Initial frame comming together, top is 1x6 and rest is 1x4.





January 2016 frame complete


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## coldmantis

I love planted tanks with sumps, update more!


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## hendy8888

September 2016
Bottom and top glued on

Outer part of the stand is made of 3/4" MDO.







Ripping an angle used to open the top of the doors. Having a right tilt table saw made it a challenge to do this safely without binding. Creating a sacrificial fence to bury the blade in and create an opening for the off cut worked very well.





Making a face frame without any joints. I just used a jigsaw with a straight edge for the final cut to get 90 degree corners.



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## hendy8888

I chose soss hinges due to the 180 degree opening and being able to inset mount the doors. I looked for an euro hinge that would mount but came up empty without adding addition support to mount them.

Instead of buying an expensive jig I set my own up using clamps and a straight edge.


This had to be done to the face frame before I attached it to the stand.


Not that bad for a cheap router and plywood edges.



Next I flush trimmed the top of the stand


Test fit of face frame and doors with hinges installed before I glued it together.


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## Aceman21

Looks awesome and some great work. Can’t wait to see it all done. Check out my stand I built, it’s similar too yours.


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## hendy8888

Aceman21 said:


> Looks awesome and some great work. Can't wait to see it all done. Check out my stand I built, it's similar too yours.


Your's turned out great, I might have to copy the magnetic tool holder. I initially planned to do ADA style but ended up going Reef Savvy style.


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## Aceman21

hendy8888 said:


> Your's turned out great, I might have to copy the magnetic tool holder. I initially planned to do ADA style but ended up going Reef Savvy style.


I got it at ikea for like $15. It's for knives


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## hendy8888

October 2016

Glued the face frame on and mounted the doors.







Quick test fit of the 20lbs CO2 tank with reg. Pretty snug...



Nowhere near enough long clamps so anything in sight went on top during the glue up of the remaining 3 sides....I bet those blankets really helped out alot...



Success! Fairly difficult glue up since all the seams were 45 degrees to get the seamless finish.


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## hendy8888

November 2016

Flush trimmed the top, bottom, and corners of the stand. The MDO was pretty hard on the router bits.





Got to love plywood chip out..



Easy way to drill some angled holes for a light bar across the inside of the stand.





Major construction pretty much done aside from a few openings.





January 2017

Hole on the back for power cords, didn't take any pictures of the large side hole for plumbing.





Did I mention the cheap router..one bit wasn't so flush cut as it should be. Probably almost a 1/8" more than flush so it got filled in with Bondo.



Soss hinges don't have self closing (that fit at least) so I used rare earth magnets.





Needed more attraction so stepped it up a bunch and added some soft close bumpers.


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## hendy8888

The stand sat in the garage for over a year while I procrastinated over finishing it. Between work and winter weather I always seemed to miss my window to paint. I did get the bondo work done to all the seams and exposed plywood edges to seal them up.

April 2018

Tried a black limo tint for the background, went on very nice and was initially happy.









This is my first time spraying a finish and probably why it took me so long to pull the trigger.

I took apart my Sfiligoi stealth t5 to upgrade the paint as well.




Cheap $10 Harbour Freight paint gun to learn on and 3 coats of Cover Stain.



Once the primer was on I found some cracks from the wood warping a tiny bit (was left in a garage after all). Fixed with some baking soda grinded into the crack and then flowed in some thin crazy glue followed by another sanding.



So far so good


Better look at the plumbing access.


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## hendy8888

May 2018

I decided to test the black limo tint with a light overhead. The light fixture I'm using is the same size as the tank so there will be over spill. 


Not impressed with the limo tint anymore...


So it had to go


Replaced it with black vinyl.


Much better


June 2018

Makeshift paint setup


Top coat


That furniture dolly was worth it's weight in gold..




Wet sanding between coats.


3 Coats later




All done and moved inside, I couldn't be happier.


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## Aceman21

Very very nice


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## hendy8888

Aceman21 said:


> Very very nice


Thanks! I am really enjoying the build part of this setup.


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## hendy8888

July 2018

A better look at the interior lights. There is a sensor on the right door that makes the lights come on when you open the door and go off when you close it.










Standard RGB light strip, so pick a colour.


Yoga mat for under the tank


Tank and stand together


All caught up now so the updates will roll in slowly from here on.


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## hendy8888

RKL is mounted.


Plumbing almost finished, just need to glue a couple joints. Going with a Herbie drain but is designed to make it Bean Animal very easily if I need to.




Waiting on some SCS 1200 silicone in clear to get in stock so I can finish the sump off and seal the bottom of the stand to ensure its water tight. After that I will water test.


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## hendy8888

Got the light finished and mounted. I needed a new hanging kit since the old wires were rusted. The wires that attach to the light in the ATI kit I'm using ended up being to short so I had to make my own.

How the cable stop starts out


How it ends up with a little trimming and sanding.


A shot showing how Sfiligoi attaches the cables. Just a slot for a washer to slide down.


Holds so far, I was hoping to find a stud but no luck. I didn't want an ugly washer at the ceiling which is required when using the toggle bolts so I used snap toggles. Very similar but allowed a slightly smaller hole so no washer required.










I'm happy with how the light turned out, I am still undecided if I want to rewire what 4 bulbs are on each power cord. They currently alternate dual bulb sets but I might make the centre 4 on one cord and the outer 4 on another. I will mostly only use 4 bulbs with a short burst of 8.


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## hendy8888

Leak testing.


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## slipfinger

This has turned out amazing so far. Thanks for documenting the progress.

Can you give me more info regarding the black vinyl? Is it basically stick on and where did you purchase, print/sign shop?

Can it be removed with ease?


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## tom g

*noiceeee*

very nice looking , love how this has come togeather


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## hendy8888

slipfinger said:


> This has turned out amazing so far. Thanks for documenting the progress.
> 
> Can you give me more info regarding the black vinyl? Is it basically stick on and where did you purchase, print/sign shop?
> 
> Can it be removed with ease?


Thanks, the vinyl I got off Aliexpress and it comes in a roll. Clean the glass well with Isopropyl alcohol and then spray the glass with water. Cut the vinyl to the correct size with a little extra overhang. Peel the backing off the vinyl to expose its sticky side and spray it with water too. Lay it on the glass where you want it (the water lets it move around fairly easily) and then use a credit card or similar item to squeeze out all the water and bubbles till its flat. Once the water dries it will be stuck on and you can use a new razor blade to trim along the edge of the glass to get the perfect fit.

It peels off with effort, not very hard to get off but you will be surprised how much grip it has. I called a few sign shops and there vinyl was priced way too high for me. I think I paid $9 USD for 50cm x 152cm on Aliexpess if you can wait a month for shipping.


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## hendy8888

tom g said:


> very nice looking , love how this has come togeather


Thanks tom g, I am thrilled so far. Lots of fun and I thought I would document it on here even though not too many journals these days.


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## tom g

*documenting*

keep documenting , theres still some hard core people on here who are lurking

were not all looking for kijjii deals


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## ashtonfitzgerald

Awesome build so far! Just picked up a 50 gal/30 gallon sump setup that we're planning to plant out. Got it cleaned, stand painted & plumbed over the last week. Leak testing still to come...🤞🏻


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## hendy8888

ashtonfitzgerald said:


> Awesome build so far! Just picked up a 50 gal/30 gallon sump setup that we're planning to plant out. Got it cleaned, stand painted & plumbed over the last week. Leak testing still to come...&#129310;&#127995;
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Sounds like a better schedule than I ended up having. This is my first sump and plumbing, had a couple drips on all 6 of my threaded pvc joints but I didn't use a sealant. Lucky my plumbing all comes apart easy.


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## ashtonfitzgerald

hendy8888 said:


> Sounds like a better schedule than I ended up having. This is my first sump and plumbing, had a couple drips on all 6 of my threaded pvc joints but I didn't use a sealant. Lucky my plumbing all comes apart easy.


I didn't have to build my stand. Seriously though it turned out beautiful.

Got ours from a reef hobbyist on here for a good price--my first sump. Have been noodling about how to prevent some of the nano fish and shrimp that we will be stocking from taking a wild water slide ride down to the sump. Thinking of siliconing in some knitting mesh on the inside of the overflow weir.

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## hendy8888

Modular Marine Overflow
Great experience purchasing from them. This is a custom size with custom hole placements since my tank was already drilled. Very quick to reply to all my questions and packaged very well for shipping.




Internal overflow comes off to clean.


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## hendy8888

Sump modifications, for anyone interested SCS1200 silicone will bond acrylic to glass quite well. 
Made a hole to hold the heater in a perfect spot, room for 2 heaters if I want as well.


Drip plates, don't mind the yellow water.


Squeezed that 20lb co2 tank and reg in there..glad my planning is paying off when I designed the stand.


Some filter media in there, still need more but mise we'll start the cycle even though the main display is empty getting hardscaped. Love that I can recirculate the filter while I do trimmings and tank cleaning.


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## coldmantis

I loved that you used green pot scrubbers to match everything, great detail!


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## ashtonfitzgerald

Beautiful work!


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## hendy8888

coldmantis said:


> I loved that you used green pot scrubbers to match everything, great detail!


I couldn't help myself, the other colours are hidden behind the green.


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## hendy8888

Added some small black lava rock rubble for the base layer. I needed the extra height and I figured it might be like a knock off ADA power sand (No clue if it's beneficial).


Base layer of Tropica plant soil


Initial rock layout, no plan going in except I wanted two hills. I actually like it for a first attempt and no experience. Let me know if you would do any changes.




White balance issues in auto mode I think (same lighting)


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## hendy8888

Added a bit more height, filled in with aquasoil, and added some smaller rocks.


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## Ryan s

Very nice build, thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see it filled up and planted. What plants are you going to use?


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## hendy8888

Ryan s said:


> Very nice build, thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see it filled up and planted. What plants are you going to use?


Thanks, I always enjoy seeing your planted tank threads. I think it's going to be a mix of stems and carpet plants. I don't really have a desire to do a nature scape right now. I haven't had a planted tank for a few years so lots of newer plants I would like to try. I am thinking of stems in the back peaks running down the streets I have made that turn into carpeting plants. I am on the fence with HC though...I have always wanted to try it but I really don't want the up keep on a large area of it.


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## Ryan s

Thanks, can't wait too see it planted. Hope you will be doing that soon..



hendy8888 said:


> Thanks, I always enjoy seeing your planted tank threads. I think it's going to be a mix of stems and carpet plants. I don't really have a desire to do a nature scape right now. I haven't had a planted tank for a few years so lots of newer plants I would like to try. I am thinking of stems in the back peaks running down the streets I have made that turn into carpeting plants. I am on the fence with HC though...I have always wanted to try it but I really don't want the up keep on a large area of it.


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## hendy8888

Finally got around to planting it yesterday.
15 Tropica tissue culture pots, no real plan going in and just went with the flow. I'm sure I will be moving plants around and adding a couple anyways.


Installed the Avast Marine ATO, the Purigen reactor and CO2 today. Lots of tweaking with the RKL as it's my first controller.


Still need to clean some wires up and mount the pump controllers but want to get the life support items done first.


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## hendy8888

Day 4


Nice surprise that Tropica soil doesn't leach any ammonia.

I also sealed up the filter sock holder a bit since the holes were slightly large, with the silicone tube inserts the socks fit perfectly and looks even better too.


Socks installed, I might do the same around all the trays to stop any bypass. I want to try to eliminate any splashing to save co2 and to be silent.


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## hendy8888

Day 11
All the plants adjusted well to submersed growth, just the Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis showed significant melting. I'm away most of this month but it's been smooth sailing so far.


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## Ryan s

Very nice, plants are filling in nicely. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get your rock from?


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## hendy8888

Ryan s said:


> Very nice, plants are filling in nicely. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get your rock from?


Thanks, I couldn't find any black lava locally so I picked up a large boulder from Grand River Natural Stone in London while I happened to be in town. I then broke it into smaller pieces which was alot harder then I thought it would be.


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## Ryan s

hendy8888 said:


> Thanks, I couldn't find any black lava locally so I picked up a large boulder from Grand River Natural Stone in London while I happened to be in town. I then broke it into smaller pieces which was alot harder then I thought it would be.


OK thanks for the info. Looking forward to see more updates on your tank.


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## hendy8888

Day 20
Saw the first sign of algae when I got home from a trip a few days ago. I had raised the water level in the overflow box a bit to help reduce co2 off gas but went slightly too high and the skimming suffered.

How much the overflow weir falls is a big factor in co2 loss, dialed in now with skimming working.

I thought I better get some shrimp in there finally to help out, seems like it just got out of ballance with the protein film. The algae is basically gone now, not that there was very much to begin with. It was still worth noting since there has been zero visible algae till now. I also started dosing macro and micro ferts since nitrates were bottoming out (could have induced the algae too).


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## hendy8888

Still growing in...I want to trim some plants but too busy for maintenance right now unfortunately.


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## hendy8888

More pics...





I still need to order some fish but didn't have any luck with my fire red shrimp shipment. They were shipped without a heat pack and that day it was just about freezing. Lots of DOA but I thought the rest would be okay...apparently not, only 2 or 3 left now out of 40.

I hope that was the problem and it's nothing in my water, time will tell, might try another batch of shrimp first.


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## hendy8888

First major trim, went away for a week and came back to a bunch of algae. It was going so well... It's not terrible but the battle begins I guess, I just wish I was home to catch it sooner. It must of been from some dead shrimps and that I changed out the filter socks and fiber before I left. 
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## Ciddian

Wow man, so crisp.


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## cb1021

very beauitufl tank


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## slipfinger

Wow!

The wait on this tank has been so worth it, pat yourself on the back.

You took your time with this build and in the end the patience and attention to detail really shows. The whole set-up is a work of art, from the sump, the plumbing, the layout and finally the growth of the plants. The growth in this tank is simply spectacular. Think about it, this tank is just over a month old now and it looks like its been established for years!

Great job!


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## hendy8888

Ciddian said:


> Wow man, so crisp.





cb1021 said:


> very beauitufl tank





slipfinger said:


> Wow!
> 
> The wait on this tank has been so worth it, pat yourself on the back.
> 
> You took your time with this build and in the end the patience and attention to detail really shows. The whole set-up is a work of art, from the sump, the plumbing, the layout and finally the growth of the plants. The growth in this tank is simply spectacular. Think about it, this tank is just over a month old now and it looks like its been established for years!
> 
> Great job!


Thanks for the kind words. I loved every minute of this build. I still need to go a little OCD inside the stand with the controller board and dosing lines to make it how I want it. I have never really grown plants this well before so I am happy about that.


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## hendy8888

For anyone wanting to try the coloured t5 bulb setup I came across growlights.ca out of Beamsville, ON. I don't know the quality or brand of there bulbs but the prices are good enough I need to try there 420 and 620 at some point. It is very rare to come across a red t5 these days, especially at that price so I just had to share.


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## slipfinger

hendy8888 said:


> For anyone wanting to try the coloured t5 bulb setup I came across growlights.ca out of Beamsville, ON. I don't know the quality or brand of there bulbs but the prices are good enough I need to try there 420 and 620 at some point. It is very rare to come across a red t5 these days, especially at that price so I just had to share.


WOW!

Thanks for posting this. I've purchased PowerVeg 633 and 660, they were $50 per bulb!


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## hendy8888

slipfinger said:


> WOW!
> 
> Thanks for posting this. I've purchased PowerVeg 633 and 660, they were $50 per bulb!


I thought you might like that, shipping is even cheap. Just leave some for me!


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## slipfinger

hendy8888 said:


> I thought you might like that, shipping is even cheap. Just leave some for me!


I'm in Burlington, they are 15 minutes from me!

Just placed an order!

That's where I purchased my fixture (best price around), but they didn't sell these bulb when I bought it.


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## hendy8888

Tank is not looking the best these days, I think I have been fighting with cyanobacteria. Can anyone confirm it with the pics? Had a bit of diatom algae on the Monte Carlo in patches I think too. I have been away quite a bit which doesn't help me be more persistent then it is.

4 feet back I can't complain too much..



Star grass took a hit when I was spraying the exposed rocks with some hydrogen peroxide...Its been awhile and I should have been a little more careful.


It's about the only thing that the cyanobacteria? doesn't like though..the top stone here is still clean after a week or two of getting hit. It's starting to spread back to it but I have ignored that rock since I sprayed it. Bottom stone is way worse in comparison.


Monte Carlo has a few patches that melted. I have to admit I used some Ultra Life Red slime remover (saltwater version of their cyanobacteria killer) and it didn't do much it seems. I followed it by a 3 day blackout which seems to have beat back the green and brown algae on the plants but they were already damaged.


The cyanobacteria? lives on. Easy to siphon off but hard to get off the lava rock.



Let me know your recommendations for dealing with this and if it is actually cyanobacteria. So far I have been cleaning it off every other day when I can, checked the co2 (may re-calibrate ph probe) upped my macros, changed out the purigen, lots of water changes, changed the filter socks.

Tomorrow I have time to pester it some more. Plan to hit as many rocks I can with hydrogen peroxide during the water change, also going to trim the dead off everything. It's about time this tank gave me some fun...


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## Greg_o

hendy8888;1752408 cyanobacteria? [/QUOTE said:


> I was recently batting something similar - does it leave tiny filaments in the upper sections of your plants as well or is just concentrated low towards the substrate?


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## hendy8888

It does get caught in the upper parts of the plants that are in the lower half of the tank. The hygrophila araguaia for example, then grows in length in the current. It doesn't attach to plants though and can be siphoned off very easily. The taller stems don't get any stuck to them at all, and it is also below the substrate along the glass like you would expect from cyanobacteria.


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## Greg_o

Sounds similar. 

I found the saltwater red slime stuff did help but took two separate doses to really notice it making a difference. Got my CO2 more efficient with a new reactor and raised it a bit.

Battle was far from over at that point but the positive changes inspired a new approach - tons of manual removal after spot treating with H2O2 and Excel. Countless hours. 

In my case I had lots of unused rocks so I would cycle them in and out once they were affected to be cleaned. Replaced all filter media slowly of course as well. Ended up removing most plants in frustration and just ridiculous amounts of water changes.

Tank is %99 better now. 

Hopefully your experience is better.


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## infolific

hendy8888 said:


> I think I have been fighting with cyanobacteria. Can anyone confirm it with the pics?


I haven't had to deal with cyanobacteria, but there seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence that EM Erythromycin works against it.


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## slipfinger

hendy8888 said:


> It's about time this tank gave me some fun...


Had a little chuckle at this.

There are times this hobby can push you too your wits ends. If its not plants stunting for no other reason then you looked at them the wrong way, to being algae 'free' one week and fighting BBA the next.

Start a planted tank, they said. It's so relaxing and calming, they said.

You'll get over this hurdle and just when you think you're free and clear another one will pop up. In the end if it was a set it and forget hobby, I think a lot of use would be bored.

FTS is looking amazing. Your whole damn set up is amazing! Just keep doing what you're doing and soon enough everything will stabilize and you'll be able to sit back for at least a enjoy the tank for 5 minutes before you see something you just have to mess with.......


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## hendy8888

I was able to spend some quality time today with the tank. Turns out about 95% of the Heteranthera zosterifolia was dead, absolutely everything on the bottom was clear leaves. I saved a couple stems and filled in most of the area with Pogostemon erectus trimmings so it looks decent. I'm glad I found all the decay and got it out of there.

The rocks got removed and scrubbed with a peroxide spray, the non removable ones just got scrubbed. Any exposed rocks got sprayed too. After the water change it looks great, cleared up immediately. For good measure I dosed the red slime remover again to oxidize any organics.

This is Google photo's attempt to make my tank look like a reef with led's I think...


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## hendy8888

Two weeks no maintenance, growth was good on all fronts. Plants, cyano, and a little GDA. Came home to find this:




Don't mind the bad pics, I just wanted some before pictures on auto mode.

I hacked back every plant except the S. Repens and the AR mini that was hacked back two weeks ago. I don't really see R. Macandra trimmed this way too much, I think it will be fine. P. erectus is by far my favorite plant so far. It has very well behaved, predictable, slow growth and if it responds well to trimming this way it's the perfect plant.



I changed out a pink for another purple bulb just to see. I find 4 bulb combos are hard to make perfect. The greens look more bright green and I feel like the reds will be more red (AR mini). I'm not used to all the purple yet, I might leave it for a couple days and see how I feel.



Next up is to take care of the Cyanobacteria that I think I have...wish I was home more so I could do treatments to it. I am starting with the freshwater blue green stain remover and if that doesn't work I have chemiclean and erythromycin waiting on deck..


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## slipfinger

Nice update.

I am finding it hard to come up with a 4 bulb combo I like as well. Spent about 2 hours on Saturday burning my fingering, changing bulbs in and out. I added a heavy purple up front as well. Still not 100% happy, but have a few more combinations to try, we'll see......


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## hendy8888

No major updates, I cleaned up the wires in the cabinet but no pictures. The ultra life and the Chemi clean didn't seem to work on whatever the tank has. Currently doing the second dose of Chemi clean but I don't have high expectations. I'm away from the tank for about a week so it will get the erythromycin after that (fingers crossed). Here are a couple FTS, I like the shape of the aquascape but the colours still need to come back.


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## infolific

hendy8888 said:


> No major updates, I cleaned up the wires in the cabinet but no pictures. The ultra life and the Chemi clean didn't seem to work on whatever the tank has.


It's starting to sound like you don't have cynano. I came across this the other day and the photos might help with identifying what you have:

https://greenaqua.hu/en/alga-tajekoztato


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## hendy8888

infolific said:


> It's starting to sound like you don't have cynano. I came across this the other day and the photos might help with identifying what you have:
> 
> https://greenaqua.hu/en/alga-tajekoztato


I have had the same thoughts but nothing else really looks like it or displays the same characteristics. It's between the glass and substrate, produces oxygen, it's slimy, grows extremely rapid, amano shrimp won't eat it but doesn't form sheets though. Hydrogen peroxide kills it pretty easily when I spray exposed rocks on water changes. I will try the erythromycin and go from there I guess.


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## hendy8888

After being away for a while I got a chance to observe the tank over a few days. I agree that it doesn't have cyano after seeing the algae grown out into strands. After putting a new co2 cylinder on I must have bumped the needle valve, I did wonder why the co2 was having a hard time reaching my target value. I assumed I had off gassing issues but I think the needle valve got moved. So I cranked the co2 feeling so confident with the controller limits to stop me from killing the shrimp. Well a couple of Amano shrimp thought otherwise and decided to abandon tank right in front of me. All the other shrimp were out grazing which isn't really normal behaviour with the lights on but otherwise didn't look stressed. I thought the Amanos were suicidal and left it at that. The next day I finally got around to re calibrating the ph probe and tested some off gassed tank water. To my surprise the water was 7.2 ph instead of the 7.0 which I thought it was. This makes sense why the shrimp were jumping out since it was a 1.7 ph drop from the co2 when I thought I had nailed my 1.5 target. Everything turned out fine...I turned it down to a proper 1.5 ph drop, learnt the limit for the livestock without killing anything and I get my target co2 before lights on.

Now that I was happy with the co2 I had a go at the 1-2 punch algae treatment just to see more than anything.

How it looked with a little trimming here and there before cleaning day.




I also replaced a faulty ballast in case I really want to have some fun with all 8...


I took out alot of the rocks that are below my wayerchange line and scrubbed the remaining leaving with this before the whole tank treatment.





I did take probably half the fire reds out and most of the Amanos, whatever was caught overnight in a shrimp trap. I did the full 4tbsp per 10 gal treatment exactly as directed with lots of flow, the sump was isolated for the treatment. All the rocks removed got a special 100% bath in 3% H2O2 and a good scrub before going back in the tank.

As it stands now.


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## vraev

Absolutely incredible tank. Great job. wow.


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## hendy8888

vraev said:


> Absolutely incredible tank. Great job. wow.


Thanks vraev!


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## hendy8888

I made a midnight airport run and finally made this into a fish tank...105 green neons and 25 otos from Spencer Jack's The aFISHionados. It's time for another trim so I took a few pics, no changes yet. I don't like the placement of the H. Pinnatifida or the Stargrass so there days are numbered. I will probably move the Pinnatifida since its colouring up nice and will replace the Stargrass with another green. I would like to find a dark green stem to balance out all the light greens, maybe Acmella Repens but it grows like a weed albeit very orderly and easy to maintain.

The 1-2 punch had benefits and drawbacks, I feel like some algae was damaged but also the Monte Carlo, S. Repens, and H. Araguaia took a beating too on the right side and are still dropping some leaves (nothing major). I feel like it helped in the overal cleaning of the tank but taking the rocks out and scrubbing them had a greater effect.

Right side, not happy with the H. Pinnatifida crowding out the AR mini. It's really not a good spot for it and needs constant trimming or else it takes over, colour is getting better though.


Rotala H'ra' got larger leaves with the increase in co2.

Rotala Macrandra 


P. Erectus


H. Araguaia 

FTS

Side view

Wide angle, a little cloudy due to bacteria I'm dosing since the H2O2 treatment and addition of fish.


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## hendy8888

I feel like I am always posting the same pictures but wanted to show the tank post trim. These are five days post trim and the stems are just starting to show the new growth. After another 9-10 days they will be in full glory again. It really saves time by trimming like this and I get two weeks off while waiting for new growth. Not all plants can be trimmed this way and you have to like how it looks without the beautiful tops. I am surprised how much I like the shape and openness after a good hack. Another benifit is a lucky local got the entire trim package to start his new tank. (Hopefully he starts a journal)

The addition of fish after cleaning the tank was a great coincidence. Knock on wood but the algae has all but disappeared. Even after one day of 25 otos I noticed large reduction in the diatoms and GDA on the glass. I also forgot to scrub a rock behind the H. Pinnatifida that was covered in the troublesome green algae. A few days later I checked on it and the rock was algae free.. what a great feeling. I haven't seen anything eating that particular algae but I suspect the oto's have been due to how quickly it disappeared. I haven't cleaned the glass for three weeks now to ensure they can graze and they get zucchini every week.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After (Over 110 fish are hiding in the macrandra!)




Electrical (Still needs some flare)

Dosing pump mounted to the top


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## vraev

Incredible tank. I noticed that too.. I started getting lots of hair algae...hanging in the water... big long strands.. I love SAE so I added 6 SAE and 5 ottos + 5 amanos. The next day the tank was crystal clear...all the algae was gone. Its an awesome feeling.


----------



## hendy8888

A little progress shot of the new growth and thought I would put a snapshot of the tank info for future reference.


----------



## hendy8888

Well I spent a great deal of time the other day ripping out and replanting most of the tank. I picked up 5 new tissue cultures that needed a home which led me to organize the plants a bit more how I envisioned it at the beginning. The right side I am happy with, the left side still needs work, I need to see how the new plants grow but will need to angle the rocks around to get more angled pathways. I forgot how dense plants grow after a few trimmings and simply gave up since it was taking so long to organize the plants.

Most you can't see yet but the new additions are:
Ludwigia arcuata
Ludwigia peruensis
Ludwigia pantanal
Rotala 'Vietnam'
Proserpinaca Palustris

I know there will be too much red but I havn't come across my need to have green plants that I want to try yet. As predicted no plants got the boot, I did take out all the Pinnatifida except for 4 stems and put it in a low light tank. If it does okay there I will replace that plant..I was thinking staurogyne purple but don't know if I will ever find it.


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## vraev

Spectacular tank. I love it. I definitely want to make something like this next time. wow. 
How do you keep the plants red? My plants are not staying red long term...I am using a twinstar 600SA which is pretty high light. I try dosing fluorish iron and tropica advanced nutrition once a week...my rotala H'ra is red blush but the blood red rotala wallichii has become green and coated with dusty algae.


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## hendy8888

Thanks vraev! In a balanced high tech environment healthy plants that are red will stay red. That being said I run alot of purple bulbs and pink plant spectrum bulbs that will enhance the reds and make them pop. It has nothing to do with the plant being more reddish, only that the red spectrum is being reflected more to the human eye. If I changed out all the bulbs to 6500k the reds would look very different even though it's the same plant.

I suspect that if your Rotala H'ra is the proper colour and healthy (mine is more orange then red, which I like) then the wallichii may be unhappy. I have never kept it but have read it is a demanding plant that prefers soft water. If you have hard water it will struggle to grow well leading to algae growth on it which then makes the plant stuggle even more since it blocks out the light and nutrients. 

If your light is strong make sure your nutrients including co2 are sufficient to utilize the light intensity. I run macros and micros relatively lean compared to EI levels and my co2 is more or less maxed out to where the fish are still happy. Even though the macros/micros arn't high I make sure none bottom out. The green Tropica fertilizer has a bit of N, P and micro's all in one I believe but not positive it has everything a high light tank needs. Flourish iron is okay since it works well in a wide range of ph. I make my own mixes out of dry fertilizer since it's more cost effective and allows me to control the amounts easier.


----------



## hendy8888

No huge update but did a trim so thought I would log a photo. I have been dealing with some GSA and some what I call pre BBA that forms around the edges of slow growers. It's being managed as of now but still enough to keep me on edge. The ATO ran dry while I was away and the tank must have had low co2 for at least one day as the main pump was sucking air. I think this was the main trigger but I also noticed the nitrates were alot higher then I thought they should be...still not sure why unless it's the fish feedings. Regardless, 2x water changes per week for a bit, tweaked the macros slightly and have some tank water waiting to see off gased ph.

I topped the P. Erectus since it works better that way in a row, going for the giant stems now for a bit. I will do the same to the Pantanal once they grow out a bit more.

The trouble plant for a while has been R. Bonsai. I trimmed some stems that never re-grew, it went through a time with much smaller leaves and stunted growth. It's just starting to come back around so I got rid of all the crappy plant mass, and planted the tops. The other surprise is how fragile mermaid weed is...it is still transitioning and the tops keep popping off the old growth. The plant stem is so tiny I feel it's not normal.

R. Macrandra and P. Erectus have been bulletproof which is nice, the Macrandra is waiting to be sold so it will get trimmed early next week probably.


----------



## infolific

hendy8888 said:


> I think this was the main trigger but I also noticed the nitrates were alot higher then I thought they should be...still not sure why unless it's the fish feedings. Regardless, 2x water changes per week for a bit, tweaked the macros slightly and have some tank water waiting to see off gased ph.


Are you mixing your own ferts? What recipe are you using as your base?



hendy8888 said:


> I topped the P. Erectus since it works better that way in a row, going for the giant stems now for a bit. I will do the same to the Pantanal once they grow out a bit more.


I like P. Erectus a lot. For me it grows well for a period of time and then something happens causing the growing end to stunt. Then side shoots appear, but it doesn't look as good at that point. I haven't given up on it yet.



hendy8888 said:


> The trouble plant for a while has been R. Bonsai. I trimmed some stems that never re-grew, it went through a time with much smaller leaves and stunted growth.


I've had a similar problem. I gave up on it... for now.

Despite the challenges, your aquarium still looks great.


----------



## hendy8888

infolific said:


> Are you mixing your own ferts? What recipe are you using as your base?
> 
> I like P. Erectus a lot. For me it grows well for a period of time and then something happens causing the growing end to stunt. Then side shoots appear, but it doesn't look as good at that point. I haven't given up on it yet.
> 
> I've had a similar problem. I gave up on it... for now.
> 
> Despite the challenges, your aquarium still looks great.


Yes, macros are KNO3 and KH2PO4, I get most of the potassium from K2C03 when I remineralize the RO water. Micros are plantex csm+b dosed to 0.4ppm/week of Fe, I add 0.1 ppm/week of Dtpa Fe since csm+b is edta. The ph rarely goes above 7.1 so the dtpa Fe probably isn't required but I have lots to use. The ratios and levels are loosely based on what other successful planted hobbiest have used and are being tweaked to how I see the plants grow.

I'm not sure why but it loves to grow in this tank. I can chop all the tops off and it doubles it's mass with new healthy growth. If I let the stems grow they are about 3" diameter, It's definitely one of my favorite plants.

Don't get me wrong, the tank is doing very well, my only concern is BBA since it's extremely hard to remove. I'm learning to watch the plants more to see how well they are growing. If growth is poor then algae tends to show up a little.


----------



## infolific

hendy8888 said:


> Yes, macros are KNO3 and KH2PO4, I get most of the potassium from K2C03 when I remineralize the RO water.


What else do you remineralize with? I use tap water and I do boost the GH with MgSO4 and CaSO4. K2CO3 sounds like an interesting option since the sulfur I'm adding is an unnecessary extra.



hendy8888 said:


> The ratios and levels are loosely based on what other successful planted hobbiest have used and are being tweaked to how I see the plants grow.


I eventually found my way to EI which I've since adjusted e.g. less nitrate and phosphate.



hendy8888 said:


> Don't get me wrong, the tank is doing very well, my only concern is BBA since it's extremely hard to remove.


If I didn't have livestock I'd play around with high doses of Excel. The hope would be to find the amount that eradicates the tufts and the spores. And, of course, to note what plants it hurts. I tried another product from the UK which also kills BBA (turns red in an hour) when spot treated, but the water treatments were hard on fish.


----------



## hendy8888

infolific said:


> What else do you remineralize with? I use tap water and I do boost the GH with MgSO4 and CaSO4. K2CO3 sounds like an interesting option since the sulfur I'm adding is an unnecessary extra.


Here is my most up to date remineralize, GH 5 and KH 1.2


With tap water you probably don't need to boost it, K2CO3 is used to raise KH only instead of baking soda. It adds so much K as a byproduct that I don't use any K dominant macro fertilizer. Tap water is usually dominated by calcium so if anything skip the CaSO4 and just add MgSO4, try to find a water report for your area to see how much Ca and Mg are in it and boost it accordingly.

EI is extremely rich dosing, I have used it before and it can work okay but there are so many tanks that don't use anywhere near those levels. When you compare ADA dosing levels to EI it's almost comical how far apart they are. I am well above ADA and also well below EI and like how it's going so far. High tech vs low tech, inert vs aqua soil also play a large factor to how rich you can dose.


----------



## infolific

hendy8888 said:


> With tap water you probably don't need to boost it, K2CO3 is used to raise KH only instead of baking soda. It adds so much K as a byproduct that I don't use any K dominant macro fertilizer. Tap water is usually dominated by calcium so if anything skip the CaSO4 and just add MgSO4, try to find a water report for your area to see how much Ca and Mg are in it and boost it accordingly.


Thanks for the clarification on K2CO3. I used to boost KH, but came to the conclusion that my tap didn't needed. I only got as far as using Seachem's product and didn't use up the first bottle.

As for the GH I'm boosting it for the inverts in my tanks. Shrimp weren't molting and snail shells were dissolving away. I found a target GH and then added Ca/Mg in the typical 3:1 ratio to my tap until I hit that target. I could go the extra step of trying to get the ratio correct based on the water report, but I never thought of that. So I just did now and it looks like the Ca:Mg ratio is 4:1 which is pretty good. Hopefully the 2018 report will be out soon. I've never looked into how much things change from year to year.



hendy8888 said:


> EI is extremely rich dosing, I have used it before and it can work okay but there are so many tanks that don't use anywhere near those levels. When you compare ADA dosing levels to EI it's almost comical how far apart they are. I am well above ADA and also well below EI and like how it's going so far. High tech vs low tech, inert vs aqua soil also play a large factor to how rich you can dose.


I agree on the EI. I've cut back 50% to 75% on what's recommended. Testing suggests I'm running pretty lean and when things are humming along my TDS barely budges for weeks at a time. I never looked into the ADA targets. Another homework assignment it seems


----------



## hendy8888

Saw a big improvement in plant growth the past couple days which is encouraging. It's amazing how when the plants take off the algae recedes at the exact same time. Last water change I did a spot dose of hydrogen peroxide and was surprised how effective it was with my trouble spots. I would have done it alot sooner if I had known.

I think the turn around really had to do with 2x per week water changes to reset everything and I brought my dosing inline to what I thought would help. It could have been a better batch of csm+b too...(I will most likely roll my own soon but I have so much csm+b stock piled)

I was worried about the new layout not looking as good as I thought it should but now the bunches have been shaped a bit and the plants are growing better I am excited to see how everything comes together. 


P. Erectus is very large and am liking it. Very different look then before when it was branching, now the largest stem is easily 3.5" diameter.


The L. Pantanal has already peaked my interest, I'm letting it grow out a bit before topping. The last couple days I think it's just starting to straighten out the leaves which is encouraging, hopefully the growth continues to get better. 


I ended up re calibrating the ph probe and noticed co2 crept up a bit. The green neons have distinctive behavior in regards to high co2. They become skiddish and hide when anyone passes by. If the co2 is correct they are indifferent to what goes on outside the tank and continuously play in the current. They are more useful to me then any drop checker or ph chart could be in regards to proper co2 levels. They are even better then a ph probe since I can now use their behavior as a sign I need to recalibrate it.

FTS


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## Jeepcarpenter

I may have missed it in the read-through, but is that rotala rotundifolia emmersed in the overflow?

Absolutely stunning tank, radiating with serenity and beauty; something far from my reach as of yet but quite the inspiration.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## hendy8888

Jeepcarpenter said:


> I may have missed it in the read-through, but is that rotala rotundifolia emmersed in the overflow?


Thanks! It is a type of tillandsia, I once thought of making a holder and have a bunch of them on top of the overflow. I may still, not sure if it would add or subtract from the clean appearance.


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## hendy8888

Still a work in progress but here is a FTS just because. In the middle of leaving things alone for a bit to see the effects.


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## Noddy

Nice build!, where did you get the black vinyl for the back of the tank? Starting a new build myself next month


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## Noddy

hendy8888 said:


> Thanks, the vinyl I got off Aliexpress and it comes in a roll. Clean the glass well with Isopropyl alcohol and then spray the glass with water. Cut the vinyl to the correct size with a little extra overhang. Peel the backing off the vinyl to expose its sticky side and spray it with water too. Lay it on the glass where you want it (the water lets it move around fairly easily) and then use a credit card or similar item to squeeze out all the water and bubbles till its flat. Once the water dries it will be stuck on and you can use a new razor blade to trim along the edge of the glass to get the perfect fit.
> 
> It peels off with effort, not very hard to get off but you will be surprised how much grip it has. I called a few sign shops and there vinyl was priced way too high for me. I think I paid $9 USD for 50cm x 152cm on Aliexpess if you can wait a month for shipping.


Was it the glossy or flat black?


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## hendy8888

You beat me to it, I got the glossy and the seller was AutoDeco Co., Ltd. I'm sure the're all the same and I probably went for the cheapest. I think it was $9 USD for the 50cm x 152cm. Shipping took 20 days FYI which isn't too bad considering the site.


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## Noddy

Awesome thanks, I just ordered a rimless 75 from Miracles


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## hendy8888

Noddy said:


> Awesome thanks, I just ordered a rimless 75 from Miracles


Nice! Miracles make some great tanks, also make sure you start a journal so we can follow along.


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## Noddy

Will do! I had a 90 gallon planted tank years ago much like yours with the overflow, sump, T5 lighting and EI dosing. No sump this time as I'm going to try following Dennis Wong's setup. Any recommendations where to get plants?


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## hendy8888

Noddy said:


> Any recommendations where to get plants?


So far all the plants except some pathetic Buce's are tissue culture. I ended up getting in on a group order from Aquascaperoom.ca that was posted on this forum. I believe the price was a buck or two cheaper than everywhere else and I could order the quantities I needed.

SKA shrimps out of Calgary has a nice selection of plants normally. For 'some what' local your best bet might be Angelfins (Guelph) or get Big Al's in London to order you some Tropica plants in. Ofcourse there are members here who sell too, I tend to sell alot locally but don't bother with shipping.

Other online stores are theplantguy.ca, thewetleaf.ca, and aquabotaniccanada.ca.


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## vraev

I would love to buy some plant cuttings from your next trim if you can make it available  . I really love your pogostemon eructus and some of those red plants.


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## hendy8888

vraev said:


> I would love to buy some plant cuttings from your next trim if you can make it available  . I really love your pogostemon eructus and some of those red plants.


Where were you last month! I had so much P. Erectus I threw a ton out. I normally only sell locally but can ship some when the weather warms up a bit. The way I am growing the P. Erectus now its hard to sell but there are off shoots that develop.


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## hendy8888

Looks like today is the day to do planted tank maintenance so I thought I would share as well. Tank is doing pretty good, I am two days behind on the maintenance and it needed a trim. I have a bit of a GSA problem (have for a while), really the only algae that is bothersome right now. My dosing is dialed in for after a trim but it consistently appears very rapidly once the plants all peak at the same time. I think I will be tweaking the macros up a bit on the same mix and see how that goes. Another option is to ramp up the dosing as the plants get thicker but the doser would need re-programmed every trim...

Pre trim

Post trim

The S. Repens, H. Araguaia and even the AR mini are going to get hacked back to the nubs next week I think. I love how dense they grow in and don't have it in me to rip them out and re-plant. (It would make a mess too)

Beauty shots..



I don't get to see the tops all the time due to ripple.

I love that purple..
[/url


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## Noddy

Tank still looks awesome! Cant wait until I get mine and hope it looks as good as yours. Well done!


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## hendy8888

Happened to be walking by when the t5 bulbs were warming up today. It caught my eye and now I wish I had dimmable ballasts.


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## Noddy

Still lookin good!


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## hendy8888

Noddy said:


> Still lookin good!


Thanks Noddy! I thought so too.


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## hendy8888

Finally on the flowmeter bandwagon, snagged a Dwyer RMA-1-SSV on Amazon for $25 that I couldn't pass up. Bought it as BV version but turned out to be SSV, nice bonus. At first installed it inline after the Fabco NV to find out a starting point that is currently being injected (0.3 SCFH (140cc/m))and then removed the Fabco and hard plumbed it to the regulator.

Don't mind the messy wires, I'm not shoving everything into the cable slot until after the lights are finalized.



Tested it to make sure it works, time will tell if I like it. So far so good, I rely so much on the ph controller, if that ever failed on the fish would be done. Now the flowmeter will allow fine tuning to slow down the co2 a bit I think.


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## hendy8888

Tank was getting pretty overgrown, especially the slow growers. Decided to cut them right back, it felt good to get the mass out. Not much change, still getting some good GSA if I go past 7 days without a water change/cleaning.
Before

After


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## cb1021

That's amazing. One of the top 3 scapes I've ever seen on GTA aquaria. T5HOs are awesome. I miss them over LEDs.


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## hendy8888

cb1021 said:


> That's amazing. One of the top 3 scapes I've ever seen on GTA aquaria. T5HOs are awesome. I miss them over LEDs.


Thanks CB, how's the 180 going? Would love to see an update! I love t5ho too, havn't tried any serious led's so can't compare, I'm too cheap to get anything that I would like. Leds for small tanks are getting better but not much out there for large tanks that don't break the bank.


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## hendy8888

Thought I would mark the last day of CSM+B with some Macrandra. I actually switched over a couple days ago and wanted to keep the micros the same by doing a CSM+B clone but I fudged the Boron and it came out a bit higher. Most plants seemed to be okay with the variations in CSM+B but I swear I could tell bottle to bottle with the Pantanal.

I will say mixing up the new micros is a royal pain in the butt. Now that I visualized how much of each ingredient "should" be in the CSM+B it's a bit of a joke how different each mix must have been.


----------



## hendy8888

So as anticipated the big winners from the new micros was L. Pantanal and R. Wallichii. Unfortunately, they showed the best growth only shortly as I decided to cut the phosphate dosing that crept up to 18ppm /week back down to 7ppm. Needless to say Pantanal likes a bit of phosphate in the water column and it stunted. The only reason I have been chasing phosphates is to get a bit in the water column even though it's dosed daily. Really only change my dosing to limit speed of growth, to see if it helps with the GSA and ofcourse how it impacts the Pantanal.

Another winner I believe is Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, it's spreading everywhere. I didn't mind a little mixing with it's neighbours but it's a problem now.

Not the best that the Proserpinaca Palustris has looked but it's being propagated and filling in nicely. It is indeed a very slow transitioning plant from emersed. That Monte Carlo on the rock above it grew from a piece that got lodged into a hole..I hope it wasn't a mistake letting it attach to the rock.

Full tank shot, nothing new really, the background plants got yanked and the tops replanted today.
[/url


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## cb1021

super nice. sophisticated dosing really shows. Perfect growth on all palnts from what I can tell. THe Lilaeopsis brasiliensis looks dense AF .


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## hendy8888

cb1021 said:


> super nice. sophisticated dosing really shows. Perfect growth on all palnts from what I can tell. THe Lilaeopsis brasiliensis looks dense AF .


Thanks cb, I think we play around with precision dosing due to getting a bit bored. Only the pantanal, bonsai, and wallichii are being fussy at the moment. I really wish the GSA would go away though, it affects the slow growers on old leaves and is starting to get old.


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## hendy8888

Quick photo update:


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## vraev

Fantastic tank man. Definitely the best tank I have seen in our community. Great job.


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## hendy8888

@Ventchur Good idea with the reflections...


Quick mid week water change since I will be away for the next 4 days and wanted to keep the good progress going.

After water change.

Wide angle, I like when the two islands that also look like one big island.


Okay enough pics for one day.


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## solarz

Amazing scape! Very clean look.


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## hendy8888

Thanks vraev and solarz!! Really appreciate the kind words, lots of hard work paying off.


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## hendy8888

I did a little trimming yesterday, it started out like this:

And ended up like this:

There was no mercy given to the S.Repens, I'm curious how it will respond. The leaves were slowly shedding from the bottom up so I helped it out a bit...


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## vraev

I love the cleaned up look.  I always feel that I am doing something terribly wrong when I trim heavily. However, almost always I end up feeling better in a day or two when the tank cleans up and the plants start growing back again.


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## hendy8888

vraev said:


> I love the cleaned up look.  I always feel that I am doing something terribly wrong when I trim heavily. However, almost always I end up feeling better in a day or two when the tank cleans up and the plants start growing back again.


I almost always feel better after the trim, I procrastinate when I know it will be a long maintenance day but feels better once the plant mass is out.

S. Repens looks like it will be just fine, showing new growth on the bare stems. Upped the calcium last week, felt like it was a bit low and have seen some improvement already. Some of the troublesome plants perked up and are showing better growth then I have seen in a while, hopefully the trend continues.

Tillandsia putting on a show.


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## Mlevi

Awesome work!

Can't even imagine how much devotion and dedication has gone into this, but it looks amazing. The colors are popping, the scape is sweet on the eyes. 

Great job, mate. I've been away fer a while, so I'm taking great pleasure in going thru this thread, and enjoying the buildup to current day.


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## hendy8888

Mlevi said:


> Awesome work!
> 
> Can't even imagine how much devotion and dedication has gone into this, but it looks amazing. The colors are popping, the scape is sweet on the eyes.
> 
> Great job, mate. I've been away fer a while, so I'm taking great pleasure in going thru this thread, and enjoying the buildup to current day.


Thanks Mlevi!

A few observations I've made the past few weeks:

Increase in calcium absolutely transformed the L. pantanal and R. wallichi. Both are showing more normal growth after increasing it by 8ppm. Shortly after I realized that the micro dosing was incorrect, I was adding only 10ml/day instead of the 15ml/day that the micro solution is made for. This had been going on for some time after making the last batch of fertilizers. It's been a week or two since and during maintenance today I noticed larger leaves on quite a few species, especially the rotala's.

Another observation is that the fish have been very shy, they hide anytime theres movement in the room. More so then they ever have been. This has me checking the co2 but they seem to be just as shy in the mornings when alot of the co2 is off gassed.

Things I want to change are:
Slowly reduce PO4 dosing.

Increase the Zinc to more modern levels. This was a non chelated CSM+b clone and I've proven to myself that both grow plants just fine at CSM ratios.

Build a led strip light for extended viewing time.

Since there are no fish to be seen here are some plant photo's.

H'ra' and pantanal looking better than ever.


Macrandra is very fat considering this is all new growth from last trim. Normally it only gets this large if I replant the tops.

I love how the top of the leaf looks like pearl paint. (hard to photograph)

Trimming recovery.


That side view is comming back.

FTS

Full setup shot

First week in a long time where I think the GSA and bba are receeding, hopefully I didn't jinx it.


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## hendy8888

Did some trimming and took a pic. Ran out of KNO3 and the local hydroponics store had some Ca(NO3)2 so on a whim I am using a mix of the two. Only problem was it doesn't mix with KH2PO4 so made a separate container for that.

R. Macrandra Caterpillar and L. Aromatica mini starting to get established. 


Monte Carlo needs a trim but not motivated since I want to replace it at some point.


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## vraev

Absolutely incredible. it is just so perfect. wow!! I love your tank. Thanks again for your great stems... I will post an update with your plants grown up in my tank.


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## hendy8888

So the past couple weeks have seen a major lower leaf ejection from S. Repens, H. Araguaia, A.R. Mini, and H. Pinnatifida. This is the second time for the S. Repens not too far apart. It's a major PITA with the overflow clogging, I resort to taking out the steel mesh insert and letting the leaves go into the pre filter which mitigates a flood.

That's no big deal and is easy to clean every couple days but the shrimp are also free to make it through and are drawn to the decomposing leaves. If anyone knows a method of separating leaves from shrimp in an overflow....just take my money now!

After ignoring the situation in the overflow for a while I saw the shrimp had eaten a ton of leaves on the sponge. The sponge should have been basically clogged but only a fraction was there.

At the same time both the L. Pantanal and R. wallichii immediately stunted hard. Sorta frustrating since my last update had some of the best growth I've seen in this tank.


I did some testing and based on the plant colour I knew the NO3 was low so I did a one time dose. Ignored it for another week.
H. Pinnatifida was getting extreme pinholes and losing leaves so I threw in some K since I have been slowly reducing it. The bump in No3 sped up the growth of all the plants but also the algae.

Still looked decent even through it had some problems.


I got fed up with leaves and shrimp so I hacked everything back that was a culprit. The monte carlo was overgrown and I promised to give a local some so shortly after it got leveled too. 

I actually felt alot better with this

Some plants were were doing just fine. R. Mac. Caterpillar


I knew I trimmed the monte Carlo too short and there was alot of dead but I left it in just to see. The shrimp ate it but also resulted in roots bulding up in the overflow so I just ripped it all out and finally did a good vacuum of the front substrate.

As it sits today.


Something needs done with this...but I'm ignoring it still.


The Glandulosa is on the mend, Pantanal might be a goner and wallichii shows promise. I find it interesting that the Pantanal and wallichii are on the same schedule, when one stunts so does the other. I can't confirm it's wallichii forsure though, it was a mislabled AFA tissue culture (Rotala sp. Vietnam) I think.

I have just gone back to the very 1st edition of remineralizer, the ever changing water conditions continue. Next macros will be with KNO3, just don't like how the calcium nitrate mixes. I had 1 week where everything was happy...I have no idea why though lol.


----------



## vraev

I really admire how you maintain your tank man. I love your plants. Thanks again for your P. eructus. it is the jewel of my tank. I finally lost the ability to grow things like wallichi and R. macranda in my tank. I think my ADA substrate is loosing it's buffering capacity now that the tank has been set up for over a year and my tap water is extremely high GH & high pH. Do you ever consider changing the substrate since your tank has been setup? what would you even do for a tank that size? Root sticks or a new layer of Amazonia?


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## hendy8888

vraev said:


> I really admire how you maintain your tank man. I love your plants. Thanks again for your P. eructus. it is the jewel of my tank. I finally lost the ability to grow things like wallichi and R. macranda in my tank. I think my ADA substrate is loosing it's buffering capacity now that the tank has been set up for over a year and my tap water is extremely high GH & high pH. Do you ever consider changing the substrate since your tank has been setup? what would you even do for a tank that size? Root sticks or a new layer of Amazonia?


Thanks and I'm glad the plants are doing well for you. P. Erectus is one of my favorites too. Wallichii is a mystery to me but Macrandra is an absolute weed. Test your KH if you can and see how much your substrate is used up. All 3 of those plants should like a similar environment.

I certainly have thought about adding some fresh aqua soil or root tabs, I might take the opportunity before planting the carpet again. I have an open bag of Tropica soil and will just dumb it in using the inverted pop bottle trick to catch all the dust. Tropica soil doesn't release ammonia as far as I can tell from when I set it up so shouldn't be a big deal.

I'm using RO that's at 5GH and 1KH, also started fertilizing a bit early so the substrate may go a little further then with your tap water. I would guess you're right and the soil has lost it's ability to buffer the KH down which all 3 of those plants are easier to grow with lower KH. I'm curious what your dosing is like for macro and micro fertilizer?


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## vraev

Honestly i have pretty much stopped dosing. Almost 2 months ago (IIRC) I inserted 4 Seachem root tabs into the back part of the tank (stem plants). I also had some issues with staghorn algae growing all over the leaves of my plants. I read that excess iron causes it, so I stopped dosing flourish iron. My current fert regime is : 1 pump of tropica premium nutrition (green liquid: macros + micro) once a week right after a 50% water change. What would u recommend ? I have a set of test kit strips..would those parameters help to suggest dosing?
Thanks
V


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## hendy8888

A little rainy day trim job after almost 3 weeks neglect. TDS was creeping up and a bit of algae but that's to be expected. Fish are still skiddish unfortunately, most plants are fighting off the GSA (which is nice) but rocks tell a different story. L. Glandulosa has been shedding lower leaves so hopefully after the trim it stops. Thinking about running all 8 tubes for only 4 hours or giving a midday burst for an hour. Having a 4 hour light cycle will give some incentive to make a LED light bar that I've been meaning to. 
Overgrown

Half done

End result


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## hendy8888

vraev said:


> Honestly i have pretty much stopped dosing. Almost 2 months ago (IIRC) I inserted 4 Seachem root tabs into the back part of the tank (stem plants). I also had some issues with staghorn algae growing all over the leaves of my plants. I read that excess iron causes it, so I stopped dosing flourish iron. My current fert regime is : 1 pump of tropica premium nutrition (green liquid: macros + micro) once a week right after a 50% water change. What would u recommend ? I have a set of test kit strips..would those parameters help to suggest dosing?
> Thanks
> V


Lean dosing is probably better with high KH tap water and the macrandra/wallichii/erectus species. They tend to not grow very well in high KH but seem to do better when given minimal nutrients in the water column. When the aquasoil was new it buffered the KH and those plants arn't as picky with low KH. It also was a rich substrate which those specific plants seem to prefer with high KH water. That being said Tropica are pretty lean fertilizers and I might try adding 1 pump every day since your tank is heavily planted. If you can test nitrates, use it to see if your dosing is too much or too little. The only other fertilizer your not adding is magnesium since your tap water GH is mainly calcium I would suspect. Adding a bit of epsom salt (MgSO4) should help if thats the case. 1/2tsp + 1/8tsp = 5ppm Mg in your tank. You can dose that once per week if you want. With tap water it's best to try and find a water report for your specific source, that way you can try to add what you need. A weekly water change will help keep accumulation down.

Easy solution, add more aquasoil and try to minimize the ammonia the first week. I found Tropica soil to not leach ammonia FWIW.


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## hendy8888

Growth seems to have sped up considerably for P. Erectus and Mermaid weed. Nitrates were creeping up after an excessive feeding (I think that was the cause). Instead of changing the dosing I just did a midweek water change. I scraped the Calcium nitrate and made new macros that now include KN03, KH2PO4, MgSO4, and K2S04. I had extreme pinholes in H. Pinnatifida and H. Corymbosa compact, this mix seems to be helping that out a bit.

I also added a 30minute burst of all 8 bulbs at mid day to experiment.

Pantanal is long gone (died off) and just removed the Heteranthera Zosterfolia, added in Tonina Fluviatilis, UG, and Eriocaulon King Crimson.

Removed all the Glandulosa from the left front, I always cram too many in and it drops leaves from being shaded. It grows better near the centre and will keep those.
Not final by any means, left the Monte Carlo up the centre rear for now not to make too much of a mess. I want to move stuff around a bit until I find another centerpiece plant like Ludwigia white or Nesaea pedicellata. Added a bit of fresh Tropica aquarium soil for all three new plants.

L. Rugosa


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## hendy8888

Was away on vacation for 9 days so thought I would do a before and after FTS to show growth. The tank faired very well for having lots of shedding leaves and running out of top off water. I'm just glad I didn't come home to a clogged overflow. The 5 gallon top off only lasts a week in the winter and sort of got lucky the return pump was still running even though was sucking in air. I will plumb in another 5 gal bucket before leaving the top off that long again. It was the lesser of two evils since I didn't want to rely on a simple float valve and keep the RO going.

Since it's on a controller with an auto doser the tank runs the same way regardless if I'm away or home.

The UG is mostly gone, I caught the Amano's out in full force every night after lights out just ripping it up and eating it. I assumed it was melting but they were making a midnight snack out of it. I'll give them them benefit of the doubt they were after the melting parts. A couple spots are still there, so at least it's not a total loss, plants will grow. 
Before 

After 9 days of growth

Plants are loving the noon burst, still only 30 min, probably will leave it for the time being. Getting the itch to try some red bulbs though, maybe just test out a new combo or two.

King Crimson still doing it's thing, it's very buoyant so happy to find only 1 little floater.


Unfortunately can't trim for a couple days and it won't get much attention for the rest of the month but I can't complain so far.


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## vraev

Love your tank. Just perfect


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## hendy8888

Been awhile since an update, did what felt like two extensive trimming sessions a couple weeks apart. Looking at the pictures I feel like not much changed though. Moved a couple things around and started to fill in the foreground with whatever I had. Down to one patch of growing UG but still pretty buoyant and the shrimp don't get fed well sometimes. I'm getting fairly protective of that little patch now..

The S. Repens has been determined to shed every leaf over the course of six months it seems so I finally ripped every patch out and re planted. While I was at it I did the same to a couple others to thin them out. Most of those roots hadn't been touched for a while so I had a little aqua soil mess on my hands. One thing about having a sump is the soil cleanup is a breeze. Can uproot with the filter going and it clears it up as I go. After just crank the pump output and turkey baste the tank a bit. Maybe 10 min later I took these pics with the pump still on high. Just change out the filter socks and your good to go.

Next up is polishing off the stand interior. Having a hard time finding sheet metal plugs in small quantities though.


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## planter

You've done a great job. Your tank looks fantastic


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## vraev

Incredible job. You are truly a master at this Sir. Fantastic. I still dose ferts just randomly / once a week right after a water change and don't monitor it as thoroughly as you do. Also, in my case, the use of tap water throws a wrench in the whole thing as toronto/mississauga water is pretty hard. Someday in the future, I need to replace this whole thing with pure RO water and see if that can help me reach some of the amazing growth levels/form you observe.


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## planter

I'm not sure if you posted this or not. I read through the journal and I may have missed it. Are you mixing ro water with tap?


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## hendy8888

Thanks @planter and @vraev, I appreciate the kind words. This is my first time using RO water and have learned a lot. I don't use tap at all, just RO and remineralize to 5GH and 1KH using Calcium sulfate, calcium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and potassium carbonate. Barrie has pretty hard and alkaline water and a lot of medium to difficult plants just are harder to grow in those conditions. If I used tap water with what I know now, I would have a very rich substrate (aqua soil and maybe root tabs) and have very little water column fertilizers. This seems to allow the plants to grow a bit easier, I haven't tried it but that's my understanding.

The main factor some "difficult" plants don't like is KH, two options to get rid of it are RO water or burn it off with HCL. I don't recommend playing with acid in an aquarium but it has been done successfully by some.


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## planter

Yeah you have some delicate plants in there. I am really impressed with the amount to time and planning you put into this. You also have a very good handle on to put it all together. Even if I wanted to put a system like this together I wouldn't even know where to start.


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## hendy8888

A couple nice plant pictures.



A couple not so great pictures. Trouble plants at the moment.
S. Repens (assuming a mobile nutrient issue)

Rotala Wallichii?
Really as never taken off, showed signs of happiness only a couple times very breifly. Lava rocks are seasoned with algae.


This week I changed up the trimming style, everything got the tops taken off and the stumps left to regrow. First time doing this to a couple of species so will see how they react. I like this look especially once the colours start to come back. Only the P. Erectus got the tops replanted.


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## vraev

Looking fantastic as always. Beautiful shots. I need to use my DSLR to take some pics of my tank myself.


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## hendy8888

vraev said:


> Looking fantastic as always. Beautiful shots. I need to use my DSLR to take some pics of my tank myself.


Standard phone camera for me, I wouldn't want to think how many pictures I would take if I had a proper camera. lol


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## vraev

hendy8888 said:


> Standard phone camera for me, I wouldn't want to think how many pictures I would take if I had a proper camera. lol


Those are some amazing shots for a phone camera. The pixel 3 does a good job for the most part, but DSLR is definitely at a different level. lol. Just a lot of work to get good pics.


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## j.thomson

looks amazing !


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## hendy8888

Thanks! @j.thomson

Finally got some time to clean the tank a bit today. I have been meaning to take some more algae photos and the plants are still recovering from the big trim so why not.
Standard BBA, Littorella uniflora handles H2O2 very well not concerned. Hopefully it fills in, the Lilaeopsis brasiliensis over ran it in the previous spot.

Now the interesting one, if anyone can ID it please do. Seems more resistant to H2O2 then BBA but does kill it. Was very isolated and just started to spread. Makes for some unique rocks. Hasn't attached to any plants yet. Has to be a favorite of mine so far, some kind of red algae.




Hygrophila Compact was shaded and green under the Macrandra, once it got trimmed the increase in light stressed it out. (don't mind the pin holes)

[/url


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## Sordfish

*Awesome tank*

I just finished reading your entire journal. Bravo. Amazing tank. I learned a few things. Loved seeing all the detailed care you put into your stand, tank and plants. It has inspired me to try harder. One question. I see you have a lot of h'ra. Numerous sites recommend that nitrates be kept very low (below 5ppm) to get the red growth. See this site, for example: https://www.advancedplantedtank.com/plant-guide-rotala_rotundifolia.html

Is that what you do as well? Where do you have your nitrates and how do you ensure other demanding plants do not stunt?

Look forward to more updates.


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## hendy8888

Sordfish said:


> I just finished reading your entire journal. Bravo. Amazing tank. I learned a few things. Loved seeing all the detailed care you put into your stand, tank and plants. It has inspired me to try harder. One question. I see you have a lot of h'ra. Numerous sites recommend that nitrates be kept very low (below 5ppm) to get the red growth. See this site, for example: https://www.advancedplantedtank.com/plant-guide-rotala_rotundifolia.html
> 
> Is that what you do as well? Where do you have your nitrates and how do you ensure other demanding plants do not stunt?
> 
> Look forward to more updates.


Thank you for the kind words, one of the reasons I like tank journals is for other people to see methods, ideas, and equipment they might like to try.

As for the H'ra you are exactly right, that plant will stay mostly orange unless nitrates are low. I normally have 10-20ppm nitrate and mine does stay pretty orange, it gets more red when it gets closer to the light or nitrates dip under 10. The main reason it shows more red then orange in this tank is due to the heavy use of pink/red/purple t5 bulbs that make the red plants pop a bit more. I have never grown it that blood red colour you see in ADA or nature style tanks. Those tanks get dosed very lean and anytime you see that intense red it's from the result of growing it with very little nitrates and relatively high light.

Measuring nitrates is a real pain, API tests are very unreliable 10 and 20ppm almost look the same shade of orange. I use it more of a no/okay/high nitrate guide, I only say I think its 10-20ppm since I am dosing 11ppm so with 50% weekly water changes the accumulation should come to around 22ppm minus any plant uptake.

The hardest plants to grow in this tank are Ludwigia's, I killed the Pantanal which is one of the most demanding nutrient plants. Currently I'm struggling with Glandulosa and a lot of other plants actually having a mobile nutrient issue where the newer leaves are taking nutrients from the older leaves and the older leaves die and fall off. I might get some root tabs and use them for any nutrient demanding plant, actually I should have already.


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## Sordfish

Thanks. I have been told Salifert has an easier to read No3 test for low ranges. But I do agree that hobby kits for NO3 testing are not very good. Bulk reef supply had done a video on how to lower nitrates in a reef tank. And in the end they gave up since they realized none of the home kits or even some of the more expensive color tests were reliable. 

I find that some Ludwigia grow like weeds (super red, repens etc. while others are super hard. I had great difficulty with Pantanal in the past. I’d like to take another go at it though I can’t seem to find any for sale. Where did you get yours. I also want to try the h’ra which seems to be more readily available. 

I have been having good luck with tropica fertilizers at 1/2 EI levels, so I want to see if I am ready for more demanding plants. 

What lumen levels do you use with your lights. That is my only concern re trying more demanding plants. I have 20 lumens per liter which tropica rates as appropriate for their medium difficulty plants. Are you using brighter lights? 

In any case keep up the good work.


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## hendy8888

Sordfish said:


> Thanks. I have been told Salifert has an easier to read No3 test for low ranges. But I do agree that hobby kits for NO3 testing are not very good. Bulk reef supply had done a video on how to lower nitrates in a reef tank. And in the end they gave up since they realized none of the home kits or even some of the more expensive color tests were reliable.
> 
> I find that some Ludwigia grow like weeds (super red, repens etc. while others are super hard. I had great difficulty with Pantanal in the past. I'd like to take another go at it though I can't seem to find any for sale. Where did you get yours. I also want to try the h'ra which seems to be more readily available.
> 
> I have been having good luck with tropica fertilizers at 1/2 EI levels, so I want to see if I am ready for more demanding plants.
> 
> What lumen levels do you use with your lights. That is my only concern re trying more demanding plants. I have 20 lumens per liter which tropica rates as appropriate for their medium difficulty plants. Are you using brighter lights?
> 
> In any case keep up the good work.


I plan to try out the Salifert next time I need some more.

Any of the Repens are complete weeds, super red was tricky in alkaline water for me and Pantanal needs nutrients. H 'ra' is not very picky, good light and co2 and it will keep happy.

Light wise I don't know the PAR but probably around 100 at the substrate with the 4 bulb t5ho I use. Half the day will be lower due to the spread of the bulbs. I run 8 bulbs for 30 min right now as a burst but that's a lot of light.


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## hendy8888

Quick update time, lots of plants have been showing poor growth, older leaves are taking the worst of it. Finally dosed a one time 5ppm K to see if that helps. At the same time I'm increasing the co2 back to where it was a year ago. I reduced it quite a while ago when the tetras started to hide. Got the old drop checker out and was a pretty obvious co2 has been low for a bit.

Potassium carbonate is hygroscopic and picked up a fair bit of moisture this summer. It seems better now in the winter but tested the best I could and might be 20% less than what I think I'm dosing.

Green neons are not as skittish recently which I'm super happy about, gaining their trust with more frequent feedings.

New bulb combo went in, trying out some red bulbs. I'm sure PAR went down but I can't test that.

Cleaned the bio media for the second time in 1 year and 3 months, really wasn't dirty at all for how long it's been.

Of course a couple pics. H'ra' is my favorite orange colour right now.


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## vraev

Beautiful pics. Looks amazing.


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## hendy8888

Thanks vraev!

Did a water change today so here are a couple photos.
FTS
New afternoon bulbs are 6400k/660/Fiji purple/aquaflora, 2 outside bulbs on front and back mainly to give rear stems some direct light. Note the purple cast on the wall is just from that one reflector pointing at the wall. 

The Pinnatifida is such a dark colour right now I had to take a pic. Almost think it's not a good thing since it's been struggling (normally it's a weed).


Myaca is quite the unique growing plant.. Doesn't belong in this tank but keep it around to see what it does. I don't let it grow much but it's growth pattern seems completely random. Sends off shoots in random directions at random times.


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## hendy8888

Not a big update just wanted to enter a post to log some changes I made a couple weeks ago that seem to be positive. Macros went to 2/3's of normal when everything got trimmed, monitoring TDS it stayed pretty stable all week. I planned to put it back to a full dose once the plant mass came back but recently decided against it. Gh is back to 5 and co2 is 1.4 drop. Still adding a 1 time 3ppm dose of K after water change and feeding more heavily. Will let the plants grow another week and do a big trim then.


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## vraev

Spectacular as always.  Definitely one of the best dutch style setups I have seen.


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## planter

This tank is beyond anything I've ever attempted or conceived to build. I'm leaning on having a sump on my next planted tank after seeing this setup. I don't know much about how to design a sump for a planted tank I think like most, I have a general understanding on how they work but I have to do some reading on applying what I know to a planted tank. I'm wondering how your not getting a significant loss of co2 with all of the water dropping down pipes and going from one baffle to another. Also if you can can you briefly go over how you setup your co2 system? I've gone back in this thread a couple of times to look for it but was not able to find anything in detail. 

Any help or info you could provide would be a great help.


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## hendy8888

planter said:


> This tank is beyond anything I've ever attempted or conceived to build. I'm leaning on having a sump on my next planted tank after seeing this setup. I don't know much about how to design a sump for a planted tank I think like most, I have a general understanding on how they work but I have to do some reading on applying what I know to a planted tank. I'm wondering how your not getting a significant loss of co2 with all of the water dropping down pipes and going from one baffle to another. Also if you can can you briefly go over how you setup your co2 system? I've gone back in this thread a couple of times to look for it but was not able to find anything in detail.
> 
> Any help or info you could provide would be a great help.


This is my first time using a sump and had all the same concerns. Using a herbie or beananimal style drain is key as there is zero sloshing (air) in the drain pipe. You use a gate valve to throttle the flow so the pipe turns into a full siphon. Once it's under full siphon and there's no air going down the pipe its completely silent and little co2 off gassing.

in the sump the pipe extends about 1" under the water level, again this makes it silent, no sloshing, and air can still escape easily when the full siphon is trying to start.

The sump can be designed for whatever filtering you want, most simply it can be a single empty tank with no baffles and just some sponge and bio media in it that the water passes by.

I wanted crystal clear water so added filter socks, I also wanted high oxygen exchange so put in a wet/dry section. The wet/dry goes through the trickle plate as a laminar flow and down on the bio media. There's no crashing water but it does get broken up as it flows through the pot scrubbers. This will off gas some co2. I initially was going to put a lid on the entire sump to minimize this but have found that my trickle plate is fitted tight enough with the green silicone trim on it that it is sealed and the co2 actually stays inside the wet/dry chamber. I can see the pressure build up in that area which makes the water level lower when it should be equalized with the next chamber.

Co2 is injected by a Jebao needle wheel skimmer pump, hose just goes into the venturi hole they would use for air.

I will add some pics and expand a little bit when I get a chance.


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## planter

Great explanation so far I look forward to reading more


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## hendy8888

vraev said:


> Spectacular as always.  Definitely one of the best dutch style setups I have seen.


Thanks again vraev, I just wanted to note it's definitely not Dutch but I get what you mean. Dutch aquascapes have a very rigid set of rules and anything outside of that is not considered true Dutch.


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## hendy8888

Here you can see the water flowing over the baffle smoothly, basically anything smooth flowing will keep it silent. You can see the back filter sock was drilled just a tad too close to the baffle on the left and creates some turbulence and therefore sound and co2 loss. I countered this by putting some filter floss on top on that section. A nice little pre filter before the socks that can be swapped out easily. It got rid of the crashing water completely.

Here is a better view of the first couple baffles, the intake pipe and emergency pipe are about 1" under the water. Too deep and the full siphon has a hard time starting. If its above the water level you get crashing water. That first section cannot be cleaned and I was ok with that. I could always throw in a couple snails if I really wanted.

Another shot of the water flowing over the second baffle, I have some filter floss there too so when I change the socks anything stirred up gets caught.

Trickle filter doesn't actually crash water, more of a laminar flow to the media.

Return plumbing, flexible 1" hose to top of sump then rigid 1" pvc the rest of the way. Made a manifold to run reactors/co2/UV if I want.

Here I added a couple valves so I could recirculate the water in the sump while working on the tank, wet/dry stays wet and bacteria don't die with long trim sessions. Added feature is that I can actually rinse the media in the sump and just change the filter socks after.

Co2 goes from the tank-dual stage reg-solenoid-flowmeter with metering valve- directly into the venturi on the small needle wheel pump. The output is the dull green hose that isn't cut to size, I just did a big loop and put the end into the bottom of the bio media section. I figure I trap some gas in there and the water flow is fighting it a bit. Hardly and micro bubbles this way get to the tank. If I just leave the outflow in the last chamber it works just as well but I see more micro bubbles.


The co2 is injected very heavily but is controlled via the reef keeper light. I am letting the gas flow at 70cc/min when its on but the solenoid goes on and off all day. If the controller fails on all the fish will die at that rate. It is set to fail off but risk is still there. 20lb tank lasts 7 months but having a very low KH allows me to inject the gas more efficiently. Ph will swing much easier with 1 KH vs lets say 10KH.

Overflow, herbie drain setup with pre filter just for shrimp.

External plumbing setup as a peninsula style, preferred flow for a planted tank.


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## Sordfish

*Nice sump*

One thing you could do to reduce the risk to the fish would be to use a ph controller such as an American pinpoint. That way, you can control your co2 injection pump (if I understood correctly you are using a slimmer pump) so that if the Ph falls too low, you can turn off the pump. I go a used one for $70 from Kijiji. In my case I use it as a safety control of my solenoid. All my fish died last year after the needle valve on my regulator got stuck fully open.


----------



## hendy8888

Sordfish said:


> One thing you could do to reduce the risk to the fish would be to use a ph controller such as an American pinpoint. That way, you can control your co2 injection pump (if I understood correctly you are using a slimmer pump) so that if the Ph falls too low, you can turn off the pump. I go a used one for $70 from Kijiji. In my case I use it as a safety control of my solenoid. All my fish died last year after the needle valve on my regulator got stuck fully open.


I currently use the reefkeeper lite to control the co2, same as the American pinpoint. The skimmer pump runs all the time throughout co2 period and the controller turns the solenoid on and off throughout the day to maintain the desired ph. Solenoids are the weakest link, cheap ones like to leak and even get stuck open like happened to you.

I need to set an alarm for the ph but really I should see if I can program it to turn off the skimmer pump power as well if the ph reaches the alarm target. I think your way you run the solenoid on the whole period and turn the skimmer pump off and on to maintain a ph correct? The rest of the time the co2 just bubbles out of the pump when its off?


----------



## Sordfish

I actually have two solenoids. The first solenoid I use to adjust the amount of co2 being pumped into the system. The second solenoid sits between the co2 tank and and the first solenoid. It is always open. The first solenoid is on a timer. It is on 2 hours before the lights come on and turn it off about 30 mins before the lights go off. The pinpoint is my safety check. If the PH drops beyond a specified parameter, that indicates that there is a problem with the first solenoid and shuts off the second solenoid, cutting off the co2 supply. Since the second solenoid is always open, hopefully the chances of it failing as well as the first one is small. Bit of an overkill but having lost 30 fish at once, I Want to make sure it never happens again.


----------



## hendy8888

Home for two days and got a chance to work on the tank. Monte Carlo carpet is officially gone! Been putting if off for a while since it's a lot to try and sell at once, it has been semi floating happily in it's spot for months. Can't even remember the last time I trimmed it. Still have a thick mat of it on the tallest rock on the left side...it needs trimmed but might wait for it to float up too and start over.

Quinquangulare got pulled up and stripped of most dead. I realized that there are hardly any with leaves. Instead it was all remnants of the tubers from the stalks. Really only have one producing new leaves, regardless I replanted them, hopefully they rebound. I'm wondering now if cutting the tuber and stalk off together might be ok since the empty tuber just rots away anyways? Can't complain as this is the only plant really struggling.

P. Erectus is as fat as it has ever been, easily the same width as an adult Glandulosa. Really impressive plant if you get a chance to grow it out.


A few more photos, don't mind the reflections. Fish have not been fed for a bit and have retreated into the plants when the room is occupied. It would be nice to have them in the pictures more often.




Also I did a little experiment that I would say failed...at least for now. RGB t5ho....lol the green tube is over powering and makes the greens all pop the same shade. Maybe I might test it out in a different combo but in this tank I am currently trying to get different shades of green.


----------



## planter

Thanks for the walk thru on the filtration system. The thing with monte carlo or hc for that matter is that it needs to be constantly trimmed. Been there done that. Its manageable in a smaller tank but anything 3ft or longer it's a pain to keep up with. A tank with a footprint like that I'd be more inclined to use something like dwarf hairgrass. It takes much longer to grow and makes the same mess trimming but it's much more manageable as it grows slower. It's also much more forgiving if you skip a trim or two. It doesn't grow on top of itself like monte carlo does.


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## hendy8888

Tank has been neglected but thought I would share another tillandsia flower.


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## default

hendy8888 said:


> Tank has been neglected but thought I would share another tillandsia flower.


That's ridiculously cool and beautiful.


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## hendy8888

Quinquangulare not so much anymore, replaced it with mexicana goias. Didn't think I would like the goias as much as I do. Easy plant that grows moderately fast, so far it's keeping low so will trim it as such. Still two or three single leaf quin's in there holding on but not the same growth as before. I have wondered about the source since they never looked quite like most pictures I have seen. That and it seems the flowers aren't very common which mine were abundant.

Can you spot the plant that shouldn't be there?

Mid water change, just neat to see how dense it's planted. A few species got trimmed, micros ran out for a couple days and Rugosa is a good indicator plant. I have heard this from others but helps seeing it first hand.


Took the filter socks out and trying just a micron filter pad on the sock holder. It clogs quicker but can be rinsed easily enough. I always have clear water but why not since I have it. Glass algae is becoming an issue so will have to try to correct that.


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## hendy8888

Was messing around finding lux values (with a cell phone) at different lighting heights and took a FTS. This is an option in the near future, still on the fence. Lights have been lowered a bit already and the 8 bulb burst has started to get extended. The second photo is as it stands with only 4 bulbs hence the different colours. Really would miss the open top view I think.



Will be doing a fairly large trim tomorrow so will be missing the colours for a bit. Probably continue my harassment of the rock algae.


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## vraev

Spectacular as always. I personally like the more open top look as well. Love the organized look. Everything looks perfect.


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## cb1021

Holy shit beast. Look at how dense that carpet is. Very well defined lines too. Where do you live? Do you offer planted tank maintenance as a service?


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## hendy8888

cb1021 said:


> Holy shit beast. Look at how dense that carpet is. Very well defined lines too. Where do you live? Do you offer planted tank maintenance as a service?


You should see the micro sword in the back corners...I'm in Barrie so not much in terms of high tech planted tanks around here unfortunately.


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## cb1021

Damn would love to see this tank in person. I love the spread on the T5HO and the color blends of the tubes. Do you sell plant trimmings?


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## hendy8888

cb1021 said:


> Damn would love to see this tank in person. I love the spread on the T5HO and the color blends of the tubes. Do you sell plant trimmings?


I do sell trimmings once and a while, normally local packages.


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## hendy8888

Quick update on the tank, I upped the co2 and did a very aggressive trim a while ago. Took the opportunity to try and clean some rocks, as of now they haven't made it back in the tank. I really can't tell any difference and plants took their place. Still getting GDA which is annoying but manageable. 
After 24hr hydrogen peroxide soak, lot's of dead bacteria/algae (should have scrubbed too). The shrimp didn't mind though.


L. Glandulosa is a balancing act, it's in a dead zone and shows flat leaves some weeks and curled others. H. araguaia got moved to a high co2 area as it stalled for many months, hopefully it perks up. R. bonsai is growing the best it has in over a year (still not perfect). Most everything else is happy enough, the R. mexicana goias is currently a weed, right up there with monte Carlo. My current favorite might be the Crypt flamingos, nice healthy slow growth, stay nice and small.

A few weeks ago after the big trim.


Away for 5 days so decided on a whim to run all 8 bulbs for only 4 hours to see what happens.


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## hendy8888

Some of my favorite views are when the bulbs turn on but before they warm up.


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## hendy8888

Might as well give the 1 week update on the 8xt5ho for 4 hours/day. The most noticeable plant change would be the S. Repens having it's leaves partially closed the entire photo period. Seems like growth might a bit quicker and upright than normal but nothing drastic.

Glass algae was less than normal as well, going to let it go for another week and see. Four hours is a short viewing period so really not a long term solution but I'm busy doing other things this time of year anyways.


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## hendy8888

Better do my 2 week update of 8x54w t5ho lighting before I forget. Tank is doing great, can't really think of a plant that's struggling at the moment, mostly just old L. Glandulosa leaves in the overflow which is normal for how cramped it is. Glass algae was about the same as last week nothing sticking to the plants though.

I'm still heavily spot dosing hydrogen peroxide, need to pick up some excel at some point to test a mix for the rock BBA. This has become part of my water change routine and will probably continue it at least for a while. I also remembered to add 5ppm K after water change, the H. Pinnatifida will appreciate it I think.

S. Repens with it's half closed leaves. 
C. Flamingo stunning under a blue tube

R. Macrandra Catipillar and R. Wallichii 

P. Palustris

P. Erectus isn't behaving, I want big fat single stems but it's very branchy these days. I'm letting it slide, to force the big stems it would need trimmed more frequently.

Of course a FTS


Setting up for a big uproot and plant day in a week or two, can't say I'm looking forward to it.


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## hendy8888

This little guy had a rough go in the 90 gallon due to the acidic water and his shell was eroding pretty bad. He now lives in the hard water (tap) neglected tank and is healing. Thought it was neat that the new shell is completely different coloration.


A little behind on the water changes lately but got a FTS today. Replaced the 3000k for a purple and with only 4 bulbs till the co2 ramped up.

All 8 still going strong.


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## hendy8888

Limnophila Aromatica Mini

High light / CO2 / ferts

Low light / no co2 / zero water column fertilizers


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## W8INLINE

Your tank looks amazing. Great job on the stand too


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## vraev

hendy8888 said:


> Limnophila Aromatica Mini
> 
> High light / CO2 / ferts
> 
> Low light / no co2 / zero water column fertilizers


Wow. even that low energy plant growth is spectacular. wow!!! algae free leaves. Love it.


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## hendy8888

Thanks @W8INLINE and @vraev I'm glad you both enjoy the journal.

New additions!
A small group of tank bred Sturisoma panamense aka Royal farlowella. 


As suspected the green neons are making more appearances these days with the new tank mates which is wonderful. There are a few that have lost coloration which is concerning but there's no die off the past two years so hopefully not neon tetra disease.

The auto doser stopped feeding macros, don't know how long but I feel I caught it fairly quickly. Both NO3 and PO4 tested zero with my expired kits and a couple plants were just starting to stunt. P. Erectus was the quickest plant to react, tops started splitting with small stunted growth. It's still recovering so I'm letting it grow out, some plants including all Ludwigia's didn't care..they are root fed though. Mermaid weed stunted one node and then un-stunted the next when dosing was corrected. Overall it was a hiccup in growth, and I got some valuable observations. 
Around the same time I did a very heavy trim but here is the FTS as of today. Bulb combo went back to the previous setup.


Also, here is a little work in progress, may have to start another journal. I'm no pro at scaping or nano tanks so should be fun.


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## cb1021

Love the Royal farlowella. Where do you buy your fish?


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## hendy8888

cb1021 said:


> Love the Royal farlowella. Where do you buy your fish?


Green neons, otos from Spencer Jack, Royal Farlowella from Shrimp Fever and added 30 Microdevario Kubotai from Angelfins.


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## hendy8888

I have been lazy updating my journal here lately. Normally I just cross post from the plantedtank . net at the same time so I thought I would play catch up over the next few days.

This was from Sept. 08/2020

Not a huge update but some plants that have stood out over the past few weeks enough to catch my attention. There always seems to be a couple different species that look more spectacular than normal for some reason.

A week or two ago it was Crypt Flamingo, really a vibrant colour. It sits directly under an ATI blue plus and a 3000k bulb. The next 4 bulbs aren't lit in this pic so they are emphasized on the Flamingo. By far it's the lowest maintenance plant in the tank, wins best show vs maintenance hands down.


Today it's the Rotala Macrandra Catipillar from @Greggz that is displaying a blazing orange colour. Same 4 bulb combo but directly above is a Giesemann aqua flora / 630 or 660nm. The Macrandra Catipillar is just left of the wallichii in back. 


The H. Araguaia is back to normal, when it was on the other side of the tank (where the Flamingo is now) the stems would melt above the root. Got bad enough I had to move it to a higher co2 area.


It's refreshing to interact with the fish again, they come to be fed and have coloured up more. It was strange having to fend them off from the suction hose when changing the water today. 
Different lighting and camera attacking an O-nip tab.


Still undecided if I want to start a new journal for the 30a or just include my updates here...Don't see a lot of changes that will happen to it so probably will update this thread title to include it. More of a nature style that may get re-scaped every so often.

Started out as a cheap Yi Ding 30cm AIO. Not fond of the back wrap or the logo as an overflow weir but the price was right and silicone work is great.

Replaced the wrap with gloss black vinyl and looks so much better.

I think this was the final layout, picked up a Chihiros C2 to fit. Great little light and the all white is refreshing from what runs on the 90 gallon.

All planted up...I did add some mini hair grass today as well. I was disappointed with the tissue cultures this time around. Used horti lab and they were very sparse compared to Tropica and ABC plants. The HC had mould and maybe salvaged half the pot, really needs another pot or two of the HC but I'm no Green Aqua when it comes to planting. Horti lab did come out with a Ludwigia 'white' tissue culture and is being sold by Angel fins for any of the Canadians reading this. I'm still skeptical since it didn't look like Ludwigia white emersed but time will tell.

Two days later....bacteria bloom.


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## characinfan

Looking amazing, as usual. I look forward to your posts and commentary on how everything is progressing.


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## hendy8888

characinfan said:


> Looking amazing, as usual. I look forward to your posts and commentary on how everything is progressing.


Thanks characinfan! It looks quite a bit different as it sits today, once I'm caught up I'll try to keep up to date.


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## hendy8888

Tank as of Sept. 19/2020

More new additions, 30 small Microdevario Kubota. Very energetic small rasbora that stays in the top third of the tank. They are enjoying the high flow up there and no jumpers so far (knock on wood). Should colour up quite a bit still as they mature.
Hard to get any sort of decent photo.


Other changes:

Now at a 3:1 Ca:Mg ratio from the 2:1, Ca stayed the same and reduced Mg.

Rugosa and arcuata switched spots in the back right, arcuata wanted more light and Rugosa needed less so made perfect sense.

P. Erectus has been struggling so it all got uprooted and kept the best new growth. Should be back to normal now that the old growth is gone.

Added a tissue culture Ludwigia white on the right middle. Immediate new growth but not quite white yet.

Not photographed but also added some big emersed stems of Nesaea pedicellata 'golden', Ammannia senegalensis, and Ludwigia 'cuba' that I have in no way any room for but apparently I have a problem... 


*Edit*
All 34 species..I think I'm done collecting for a minute.


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## hendy8888

October 11/2020 post.

Do you ever start trimming and things just get carried away?


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## hendy8888

October 12/2020

Teaser pic..


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## vraev

Woah. THat is crazy. Did you end up changing the aqua soil as well. That is extreme. Lol


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## hendy8888

@vraev Kept all the old substrate, just removed the rocks and moved it around a bit. This wasn't my initial idea to start but something I wanted to do down the road. Ended up with this layout, can always do my other idea later.

Oct 15/2020 update

Finally got around to planting, some stems still need to find the light.


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## hendy8888

October 28/2020 update:

I have to say it's refreshing without any hardscape for a change. I can't remember ever having one without something.

After looking back at some old pictures where I felt the tank was doing well I decided to make a few changes. First was to go back to 4 bulbs for 8 hours, there is still a 30 min burst of all 8 which will probably increase to an hour at some point. Let's call it the winter light schedule with double the viewing time. Secondly, the Mg went almost back to previous levels, not quite 2:1 but greater than 2.5:1. Thirdly, both macros and micros got reduced to what they were the last time only 4 bulbs were used. Macros are now 8-3.7-14.6 ppm/week and micros Fe -0.33 ppm/week.

I am also trying to increase plant husbandry by tying water changes to a certain TDS as much as I can. The goal is to stabilize the tank a bit and see how things respond.

Things still need to fill in a bit but have really been enjoying the livestock. The neons look healthy again and will let me hand feed them. The Kubotai have been a great addition, while the neons are a mid to bottom water fish, the kubotai fill the top level.


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## cb1021

Holy moly your plant list is amazing.

I don't even know where to get those plants.


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## vraev

Abslutely beautiful. It is like an underwater eden.


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## hendy8888

Pretty much caught up now, November 3rd 2020 update:

There always seems to be a different stand out plant every week for some reason. Last week it was Acmella repens.

This week it's the Proserpinaca palustris, I didn't get a close up but it's the big fat red/orange plant in the top left.

Here is a Repashy lolly pop, always entertaining with cherries/amanos/neons/rasboras/farlowella squabbling over it.


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## hendy8888

Just a photo update, still waiting for the Rugosa (of all plants) to pop it's head up on the back right. 




E. Lineare needs thinning I think.


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## hendy8888

Long time no update but here are some current photo's. Still going strong, soil is getting pretty old though.

Ludwigia inclinata 'cuba' 

Rotala macrandra 'caterpillar'

Ludwigia palustris


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## cb1021

Wow. Amazing.


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## hendy8888

Day 5 of the GDA battle, plants are growing well enough to defend themselves. I've been dedicating 5-10 minutes every day to wipe down all the surfaces, letting the micron filter pads/socks to catch the spores. Pretty much the exact opposite of what the internet says to do.


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## hendy8888

Rotala macrandra varegated peaking up behind the L. Inclinata 'cuba'


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## hendy8888

Quick update:

Got some 1 micron filter socks, doubtful it's that small but it looks even clearer (might be all in my head).

Nesaea pedicellata 'golden', hard to come across in Canada anymore it seems. I tried to convert some before with no luck, these look promising so far.

Recent information from Mr. Masterline came to light that his tanks get up to 5x daily dosing levels on big water change days. I have been adding about 3x daily macro dosing after water changes. Still using the masterline clone for macros. Easy enough to run the auto doser on manual mode to achieve this and works with my schedule.

'Sunrise' as the bulbs warm up.


Tank has been on 0 KH for a month or so now, fish and shrimp are acting normal. I was adding so little it really didn't matter, to supplement K it gets a bit of K2SO4.


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