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220 Gallon mono culture of belem hair grass and rock

BTW, this is the same mini hairgrass you folks can get from Tropica, same genetic clonal stock.
This is as tall as it gets.

If you hate HC and trimming, this is your plant.
Also, if you enjoy mixing HC and Riccia etc, and want some other plant mix to hold it down in place so you do not need to trim so much, this is the grass to do the job.
 
Well, the Client wanted the minimal work load specifically. n the past, all the various stem plants and other plants he had trouble with took some of the value away really, it can take a 1-2 years for clients to realize this and come to their senses.
I cannot convince them otherwise, each aquarist must come to this point on their own.

They added about 150 Cardinals yesterday. Due to the depth and shallow height, the schooling behavior looks far more intense than in my 180 Gallon tank. He will end up with about 300 I'd say, but the water is only 20 cm deep in the rear sections, so the cardinals will appear in denser schools in the back upper regions.
They are also already large since he got them some time ago.

The video of that will be forth coming in another week or two I'd say.

Grass should loo pretty awesome in 1-2 more weeks, but it'll keep getting denser.
Apistos will be added last.

If you have not done a mini hair grass monoculture, it's perhaps the easiest and best for clients.
Trimming, CO2 demands, among the easiest and everyone likes the fine grass like lawn.

The rocks are really nice at this scale. He'll remove the pennywort which distracts(it's actually for me) and this will give a nicer cleaner look like when I 1st set up the tank.
He will go a reef or maybe a a different plan next 2 years. We will see. I have an idea for the next scape for both plans.
The valleys between the rocks look really nice now.
 
Tom, the pearling looking great. Every time I turn on Hydor pump pearling goes away for me. If the pump is off every plan pearls. Is this normal?
 
Some pearling goes away when you add more flow.

I still have it even with this amount of flow and the tanks at my home.

Okay, now the tank has fish in it, he'll add more later.

 
Cardinals always look better against darker backgrounds. I had some other ideas for the tank plant's but the client needed to be able to grow those species, I knew he could grow this plant and it would be easy to care for.
 
foxfish said:
The tank looks fantastic although it is pretty C02 hungry....10kg last about 6..8 weeks!
Click to expand...


Yes, this rate is pretty standardized actually IME.
I've used my 180 Gallon as an example and been able to compare it to the 1600 Gallon and this tank and a few others.
But the large fish school's health is well worth the degassing rates.
Current is nice etc.

I have used pure RO for one client and then Baking soda, then the pH/KH chart, then the inverted mls container /seconds for a rate, then a mass flow controller for the rates.
They all are highly predictive in gauging CO2 rates and consumption.

I use an Alicat mass flow controller:
Mass Flow Controllers, precision gas flow controller products - Alicat

About 1200.00 $ new.
Not cheap. But then I know the rate and can scale it pretty well. If 3 methods all agree, then I'm in pretty good shape.
I use the inverted mls container method the most, = nearly free.

Another 150 or so cardinals left to add.
 
BTW, some hobbyists really hate the rock placement. Haha :twisted:
But..the tank, when you are sitting in front of it, is awesome to to look at, the stones look like they go back forever into the rear.
The scape will evolve still also, some mini pellia and the penny wort will make the valleys look a bit different.
 
I understand, some things I see rub me the wrong way, maybe later on, folks come around, I often have to some elements that are added.
Sand waterfalls? I'm okay if they are done well. REcently, addign a non aquatic bonsai tree to a tank, I'm still not okay with that, in a paludarium, okay.
 
Style is subjective. I guess this arrangement doesn't follow the iwagumi textbook as written by Mr Amano. That doesn't mean its wrong, its just different. I mean the NA gallery has one tank that has 5 rocks standing straight up spaced almost equally apart from each other which was weird to me. Personally I would've arranged the rocks slightly differently, I don't like rocks to look the same in a tank. Some should be bigger, smaller, etc.

I can just imagine sitting in front of this tank watching the cardinals school against the dark rock and lively greens. The rocks are also amazing, full of texture. Added bonus that they're lava-based so light and easy to handle!
 
Check out at 8:00 on for the brief version.
Card's schooling behavior is now about where you want it.

the client always wanted a big tank full for card's that was easy to care for. They move through the rocks nicely and the simple mono culture will rough texture contrast strongly with the colors.

Several scaping options are available, such as using a mix of Rotala green and R. colorata in the middle of the rocks and in the rear, some Cyperus or grassy crypts. Trim the domes of Rotala about 10 below the tops of the rocks' tips and then the plants will regrow nicely and mold the rock work nicely. Grass border for the foreground/sides and back left side would remain.
Penny wort could be added between the Rotala and the hairgrass in the front.
This would force the fish into the front, but.they would also hide in the dense stem plant thickets, I've seen this, so for showing the fish, this open style without any real stem plants is best.





 
Tom, its a crime to record such a tank in non HD quality :)
a. Whats PAR reading at the bottom of the tank and at the surface when tank was set up? I hear he reduced PAR as algae appeared
b. How long are lights on at the moment? and
c. whats watt/g ratio?
d. why there are no plants at the front of the glass of the tank?
 
Also TOM, would you suggest any PAR meter that is affordable? does the reader device needs to be submersible?
 
Apogee light meters seems pretty good, the local UK folks should all pitch in and then ship and share it.
This way it only cost a few $ per each hobbyists.

I think 50 umols is a good range once the grass grows in nice. About 8 hours total, that includes the ramp up/down. 12 x 39W but these are ATI and they have dimmers and are not ran at full power, so the watt/gallon is meaningless(generally), but even more so in this case.
Hence umol units instead of Watts/gal/liter etc.
He already trimmed the front edge. Keeps the front looking nicer, clean and new growth fills in, who wants to see several cm of gravel in their tank's front view?
 
I nagged him to tripod and HD the sucker, there's no bad views from this tank really. Each side is pretty well done. It's not a FTS tank. I really do not enjoy such tanks. I need to see and be around the tank.
One of the reasons why I cannot judge tanks for on line contest, it's a photography contest, not an aquarium contest.
 
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