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16 gallon Rescape Journal

I was just trying out different setting on my camera and found a very cool widescreen feature on it.
Just thought I show everybody a little picture of what my tank is like at the moment. The plant grow is still not as quickly as I wished but They are growing alright. As you can see the crypt has sprout out a lot of leaves since the last picture.

Normal setting
IMG_0722.jpg

Widescreen setting
IMG_0720.jpg


I'm running my CO2 at a scary speed and my otos seemed fine with it. So currently I'm sticking to at least 5 bps driving the drop checker yellow! Dosing double on EI while the plant build up it's biomass.

The rotala rotundifolia in the tank looks out of place. Will be replacing it with pogostemon helferi once I receive it from lisa. Still waiting for my UG carpet to form..... It's been taking ages. I guess I bruised them too much while replanting it.
 
After looking at my photos I really think that the plant with a tinge of red has not achieve it's contrast effect that I would have hope for. I would probably change the Pogostemon stellatus to rotala macandra. And the crypts are looking as if they will form a wall and distract the focus from the wood. Might remove them and plant them in one spot behind the stump so that they kinda grow out of the macandra. The rotala rotundifolia can be moved backwards towards the back panel and be sloped while pogostemon helferi will cover the gaps where the rotala rotundifolia has been. Does that sound like a good idea?
 
daniel19831123 said:
...I'm running my CO2 at a scary speed and my otos seemed fine with it. So currently I'm sticking to at least 5 bps driving the drop checker yellow! Dosing double on EI while the plant build up it's biomass.

If they are fine with it then you might be able to go higher and will get faster growth rates. Try 6bps or more until they start to not be fine, then back off. Better yet, move them to another tank and crank the needle valve as much as you want. Then you won't even need a drop checker and you will see amazing growth. :wideyed:

Cheers,
 
sigh.... Luckily I upgraded my Co2 tank to 10l bottle or else it wouldn't even last a week with the rate I'm using it. And stupid me for thinking that 48w wasn't enough for this tank and spent another 50 quid upgrading it to 96w. thank god I didn't purchase that arcadia lighting kit or else I would have feel suicidal right now.

I'm keeping the CO2 between 3-5 bps because the otos although comfortable does show a funny twitch sometimes. I have 6 in there and I have yet to find the other 1, so far only see 5 around. Is that sign of Co2 intoxication? If the one that I couldn't find had died in this tank... it would be a hard to find where the body is and that's just going to contribute to my tank problem....
 
Normally they get lethargic and you can see them rocketing to the surface for a quick gulp of air. If you do frequent water changes it won't be too big of a deal with the decay.

Cheers,
 
Yikes I think I better slow down the CO2 a little bit. that's what the fish are showing.... found all 6 just 5 minutes ago. Thank god for that
 
Mine is nothing compare to those of you guys. Nothing to chuffed about. can't wait for the tank to mature and take a final picture.
 
They do originate from the same focus point but then the rotala and the piece of wood in front has obscure the the base of the wood making it looks like it's a separate piece. I can't move it now as the rest of the wood would stumble over.... will have to try to hide it with plants
 
Just bought a tetra tex 1200 for this tank! Got it today and was absolutely speechless. This is one of the best design external filter I've ever seen. Sturdy built, elegantly designed, came complete with filter media and last but not least a 2 feet long spray bar! The control on the inlet and outlet tube was so much easier to flick compared to those of eheim and fluval. The filter volume is massive too!

The moment I start priming the filter in my 16 gallon tank, nearly 20%-25% of the tank water disappear into the filter! I know this is a little over kill for my tank size, but I'm just so adamant to do thing right so that I can see my plant bubbling. So far still no bubbling. Now that I've got the water turn over at 10X or more and the lighting at max, the only place that can possibly go wrong is the fertilisation and CO2.

The tank has changed quite a lot since the last photos. I've added a few extra woods and 4 SAE which totally cleared up the algae! I've removed the rotala. Blyxa is growing really well. started off with 20 stems, I must have more than 50 stems now. It's just annoying some of them grow compact and some just grows leggy. I will be replanting most of them just 6 weeks prior to finishing the tank final look to get them to grow compact. Limnophila has been moved around to be the centre of focus and pogostemon stellatus has gone in the background .

Will be posting a picture in a couple of weeks time. Hopefully everything turns out well. Oh I've also removed the braces from the tank so it's now rimless and much more easier to clean.
 
People do seem to like the tetratec filters, it's just a shame they're not more popular among shops. All the ones I've been to just stock Fluvals and half do Eheims as well, similar with spares. As they're such a good price as well I'm considering getting one to replace my Fluval 204 which I've just added to my tank. Considering the big fuss they made when the 'new' fluvals came out, the tubing and bends etc are rubbish, a real let down.

How much did you get it for?

Have to say that I love the layout of your tank. Any more pics?
 
Will post a few more pictures in the next 2 weeks or so I've just removed the plants so it will take a while to fill it up. Once it's a little grown then I will post a picture. The HC and UG has let me down.... They are so slow to grow!

I got mine from aquatics-online and it cost me 70 quid which is a bloody good deal I have to say
 
your tank looks brilliant, can you provide a link to the place you bought the wood?
 
There is no link I'm afraid. It's a seller on APC. You can search for his post in APC under manzanita wood and they are all imported from the US so the postage is quite expensive. Too bad I've agreed to sell the rest of the wood to john.
 
If you ever buy any more Dan I'll go halves I really like the look of the scape you've got with it.
 
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