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TryHard Dutch Aquascape (Ukaps Edition!)

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Update pic (Big trim)
 
You guys will love the update images i have.

BIG shoutout to Roy The seattle aquarist, he sent me some High quality hot plants that are finally starting to grow well, i havent done a first trim and replant on them yet but im looking forward to it. So anyway big thanks to him and Jfhr on my discord server for sending me the pogo that is now absolutely thriving.

So thanks guys!


Here are my update images:
p.s. i caught a pic of one of the elusive corydoras he was just sitting there in the front i KNEW i had to take pics today because of that haha

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Have not done a water change in 2 1/2 weeks

Still going strong!

Not my longest time w/o doing a wc though, think my longest was 4 weeks and nothing happened. Nothing was "going bad" etc etc i just did it to catch up on maintenance.

I would do the recommended 50% wc's every weekend but sometimes i dont have time and next thing you know its tuesday! Then all the sudden its the 8th???

lol
 
i just got done doing something to the tank i haven't done in a Very long time...

Stay tuned, will update tomorrow. I think you all will have that "wow" expression when you see it.
 
Well im trying to upload the photos now, but the camera is not connecting to the pc for some reason?... ill try later in a few hours i guess...

p.s. i just discovered some really bad news. So there is another spoiler for you all to feast on in the mean time. :(:banghead::(
 
Very Very Very large update:

As Takashi Amano says, once you successfully complete 7 plant trimmings, on the eight trim, trim your plants bare to the ground, and replant the ones you have left over as desired.

So i did just that.

Here is what happened and what i ended up with:

I pulled up the Dwarf Lobelia cardinalis first, which looked like this:
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Allow me to say, how difficult this was, and No i didnt actually pull it up (dirted tank) i trimmed it to the ground as directed. But even then, it was very difficult to close my scaping scissors on the plants roots they were so look! you can clearly see in the image how thick the roots are and imagine how it'd be difficult to cut!

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So after the lobelia, i moved onto the rotala rotundfolia, this was also kind of difficult since i wasn't just Mowing everything down all in one batch, i was separating the plants as i went and trimming them to specific points and heights after i had done their initial trim. For example i had a 5 gallon bucket i put the trash plants (and excess trims) in and a 3 gallon plastic tub to hold the good trims, as seen here:

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So cutting the rotundfolia was interesting for sure, it had been so long since i have seen a Clear cut scape after it was so bushy etc etc.

So i ended up PLOWING the crypt. balansae as far to the ground as i could possibly get it, i kid u not the diameter of the base stems were 1- 1 1/2 inches in diameter!!! I have not seen a plant so thick in all my years. It was a sight to see for sure,

Now i have some bad news before i move on, durring the cuttings of the crypt balansae, i was being Extremely cautious of my whiptail/twig catfish. Now they naturally like to attach themselves and rarely move to camo themselves to seem as if they are just twigs/sticks. Durring me cautiously cutting the balansae, i suddenly saw one of the catfish In between my scissors (this is how camo they are) and he Twisted around really fast and it cut him on his middle tail area, i was really upset but he seemed to be alright, fast forward to the next day (today) and i observed his cut, it is indeed a flesh wound, but its not to deep. If compared to a human size, the wound would be around 2-3" deep of a cut.
As i have no access to medicines to provide to ensure his recovery, im hoping a very clean and happy tank will enable his healing process to go faster and/or smoother.
It really had me worried and i still am, but im sure he'll be alright from what i have/am observed from him today. He is acting himself (doing nothing) so that is good in my book. They live from 5-15 years in captivity so they are both like family to me, just as it is having a dog, so me hurting him on accident got me feeling really guilty... :(

Back onto the trimming experience, after i cut the rotundfolia, the bacopa colorata, and the pogostemon stellatus, and removing the myrio and replacing it entirely with 'rotala indica true' from the same strain of plant i've been growing since original arkansas greenhouse plantings, i had completely finished the trim job.

Honestly it looks pretty barren, but i did not touch the right most part of the tank, simply because 1/4 of those plants are new, and blyxa doesnt really need to be trimmed :rolleyes:.

The pogo erectus is slowly gaining some height, otherwise the colors on it and overall health is stunning.

Here are the rest of the images i took throughout this process (and the final fts image is after a water change this morning, sorry for image quality it was during the day)

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The tank looks a bit rough, but give it about 2-3 weeks and it should look more presentable.

Another bad news, sadly, this involves deaths... of some pals i have also had over the course of a while, After clearing the tank, next morning i was wondering why the tank was so bare with movement.
All my ember tetras (all but 1) were gone.
I figured they were hiding, so i proceeded to look until i admitted defeat. I could only think of one other place they had gone.
The eheim skimmer. @CooKieS .
I checked the skimmer, to my absolute dismay, there they lie. All the ember tetras. Dead.
So i was very bummed. That's the last of true nano fish i will own i think. Under 1 1/2" that is. :(:sick:

Rest in peace ember family...

i will continue to update throughout the months, as most have seen by now we are moving soon (soon as in weeks/months we dont really know) and this tank could quite definitely come to an ends very soon due to water parameters at the location we are moving to. RO has been taken into consideration, and will most likely be used and ill have to remove funds from my car fund in order to purchase this. which is a big fat Suck, but its all i can do to keep the tank going really. And i rather spend 300-500$ than killing a **(insert larger amount of money here that ill keep anonymous)** hobby.

Hope you all enjoyed the update,
Thanks much,
AA


 
this tank could quite definitely come to an ends very soon due to water parameters at the location we are moving to.

You sure you don’t want to give the local water in Arkansas a go @DutchMuch ? Was thinking about the days I used to do RO after the convo we had in your other post. It’s a PITA compared to using tap water.

Sorry to hear about your Ember’s btw :(
 
You sure you don’t want to give the local water in Arkansas a go @DutchMuch ? Was thinking about the days I used to do RO after the convo we had in your other post. It’s a PITA compared to using tap water.

Sorry to hear about your Ember’s btw :(
thank you,
I may give it a go, i have before, and ended up with horrible results.
Im undecided. Especially in our 1000sqft house, the RO would 100% be a PITA i get it. But i really am in a corner and have a Very very limited amtn of options... :(
 
Wonderful pictures! Is the agrobrite dimmable? I noticed the fixture is in fact bigger than your tank, and very bright! What's your photoperiod?
 
I use the water collected from our dehumidifier (dries the washing every night in winter months) to soften water and make up ferts. Gathers 25-30 litres per week on average.

Not sure about the climate in Arkansas throughout the year @DutchMuch but could be another way of gathering some purified water. I suppose in the States you’ll just be using a dryer though.
 
Wonderful pictures! Is the agrobrite dimmable? I noticed the fixture is in fact bigger than your tank, and very bright! What's your photoperiod?
Thank you i appreciate it :)

Agrobrite far as i know is Not dimmable (im sure some techy can make it dimmable though) but i dont think you'd really wanna dim it anyway. Its pretty expensive so i would rather than dimming it to only get 1/2 its potential instead buy a lower tech light if thats what your looking for.

Yea the fixture has a in total 6" overhand or so, maybe more im just guessing.
Me and burr (forget his real name) about a year ago did some math to mathematically Assume what the par at substrate level was and it was over 150-200 at the time. Now i've since switched the bulbs out and replaced them so im not sure.

Photoperiod is 8 hours

Hope this helped :D
 
I use the water collected from our dehumidifier (dries the washing every night in winter months) to soften water and make up ferts. Gathers 25-30 litres per week on average.

Not sure about the climate in Arkansas throughout the year @DutchMuch but could be another way of gathering some purified water. I suppose in the States you’ll just be using a dryer though.
interesting, never heard of that being a thing. cool. :)
Climate in ar in a nutshell:
Summer: 105 degrees F
Winter: 10 degrees F
We have 2 huge rain barrels outside (think like 1000g or more idk) the house is a "self sufficient house" another user mentioned that but- idk- i still got a handful of research to do on some stuff. But; even so ill most likely end up going RO. But i may give it another try without RO so i dont waste a purchase like with a test tank maybe.
 
Thank you i appreciate it :)

Agrobrite far as i know is Not dimmable (im sure some techy can make it dimmable though) but i dont think you'd really wanna dim it anyway. Its pretty expensive so i would rather than dimming it to only get 1/2 its potential instead buy a lower tech light if thats what your looking for.

Yea the fixture has a in total 6" overhand or so, maybe more im just guessing.
Me and burr (forget his real name) about a year ago did some math to mathematically Assume what the par at substrate level was and it was over 150-200 at the time. Now i've since switched the bulbs out and replaced them so im not sure.

Photoperiod is 8 hours

Hope this helped :D

It's also hung quite high from the water surface from what I can tell from your pictures. I think I will go for the 4ft 4-tube version for my 200gal, it's only £150
 
It's also hung quite high from the water surface from what I can tell from your pictures. I think I will go for the 4ft 4-tube version for my 200gal, it's only £150
go for it, the reason i got a large one like this is because if i do decide to upgrade, then i can still use it with the possibility of not having to buy another light fixture.
The other reason is because the customizability of the bulbs.
And the last reason is because if i want to downsize then i can have a smaller tank, and a cool emersed setup next to it for example. Its a very great light i recommend it.

p.s. i think its around 1ft from my tanks surface
 
go for it, the reason i got a large one like this is because if i do decide to upgrade, then i can still use it with the possibility of not having to buy another light fixture.
The other reason is because the customizability of the bulbs.
And the last reason is because if i want to downsize then i can have a smaller tank, and a cool emersed setup next to it for example. Its a very great light i recommend it.

p.s. i think its around 1ft from my tanks surface

Thank you for the reply, great tank you've got there!

One more question, what's your co2 bubble rate and diffusion method? Still using the inline atomizer?
 
One more question, what's your co2 bubble rate and diffusion method? Still using the inline atomizer?
if its one thing i will never buy in this hobby ever again
its a inline diffuser
absolutely hate those things.

Currently running a Atomic inline co2 diffuser from GLA.

Bubble rate is uncountable lol its very high, my drop checker is yellow.
 
That eheim skim is really good at killing nano species...sorry for your loss

I do this; after much faffing about with various solutions, this has proven to be the best so far. You could glue it in place, I did once, but not anymore. 100% guaranteed? Nah, nothing is. I only run my skimmer for extended periods during night, in daytime it's 5-15 mins tops with a timer. So far so good.

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