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Green Shallows... 80g/300L rimless frag/shallow
Fantastic.....great journal!
.......That's one sexy Co2 Cylinder
.......That's one sexy Co2 Cylinder
williak
Member
Fantastic.....great journal!
Thanks so much!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
cookie.dou
Member
Indeed looking good!!! Fine woodworking skills 
one day I would love to be able to build furniture as a hobby as well.
one day I would love to be able to build furniture as a hobby as well.
williak
Member
Indeed looking good!!! Fine woodworking skills
Thanks very much. Woodworking is as big of a hobby for me, as aquariums. Absolutely love it!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
williak
Member
As I said I've been doing back updates to catch up to the aquarium currently. I'm going to combine a couple here so I can get up to current with next post
------------------
December 11th, 2017
This will be more lengthy documentation post for my own tracking..
-
I made a series of unfortunate changes lately and it has resulted in some BBA showing up on the wood and older leaves all across the aquarium.
I have done some significant trimming of older affected leaves in the past few days, and did a larger 75% waterchange with significant siphoning of all detrius at plant bases and through the thicker areas of planting.
-
So to cover the recent mistakes..
I was browsing through some old aquarium equipment in my garage (already a bad idea), and came across a powerhead that I had modified for CO2 use.
Decided to remove my glass/ceramic diffuser and hook up the power head diffuser. Bad idea.
Two days later, BBA appearing all over the wood and older leaves of plants. So, I switched back to the ceramic/glass diffuser, which probably made it worse. Even more CO2 swings in those few days, but I wanted to just go back to what was working and let it resettle.
Also, I have temporarily lowered lighting- unplugged one of the 3 LED units. Just running 1 Beamswork 6500k 0.5 LED (100%) and 1 Ecoexotic (100% red, 50% white) for 6 hours a day.
Going to go strict on feeding the next couple of weeks, as too much detritus has been accumulating.
-
This all does make me question whether just running the AC70 HOB is going to be adequate enough. I started this aquarium with a specific idea of keeping it low maintenance and with simplistic parameters, so I'm hesitant to start changing too much right now.
I do have canister filters and sumps standing by to replace the HOB if I feel it reaches that point. I am going to give it a couple more weeks to evaluate. I have been feeding heavily lately, and missed a water change so I am hoping that's the sole reason for the BBA outbreak (along with the CO2 fluctuation from switching diffusion methods)
---
I also added some new stock recently...
30 - Red Cherry Shrimp - standard grade I guess lol
3 - Albino Bristlenose Plecos
---
To update on some plant species,
All Crypt species are doing great except the Striolata. It's just kind of chillin. Not looking bad but not growing. Crypt Sri Lanka, Hudoroi, and Mioya are looking great, just starting to send out some new leaves after being in the aquarium for a couple of weeks.
The Rotala Bangladesh, Cabomba Purple, and Hygro Pinnafida have proven to do well in this aquarium. They are growing quickly and putting out nice tops.
The Limno Aromatica, Lobelia Cardinalis, Ludwigia Lacustris and Repens are not doing a whole lot. They look good but aren't growing too well. I'll let them sit in here for a couple of more weeks before I trade them out and try some other lower light requirement stem species.
The DHG carpet is starting to spread - alot of runners everywhere The older DHG was hit hard by the BBA but with all the new runners, I'm hopeful it will pull through..
----------------
------------------
December 11th, 2017
This will be more lengthy documentation post for my own tracking..
-
I made a series of unfortunate changes lately and it has resulted in some BBA showing up on the wood and older leaves all across the aquarium.
I have done some significant trimming of older affected leaves in the past few days, and did a larger 75% waterchange with significant siphoning of all detrius at plant bases and through the thicker areas of planting.
-
So to cover the recent mistakes..
I was browsing through some old aquarium equipment in my garage (already a bad idea), and came across a powerhead that I had modified for CO2 use.
Decided to remove my glass/ceramic diffuser and hook up the power head diffuser. Bad idea.
Two days later, BBA appearing all over the wood and older leaves of plants. So, I switched back to the ceramic/glass diffuser, which probably made it worse. Even more CO2 swings in those few days, but I wanted to just go back to what was working and let it resettle.
Also, I have temporarily lowered lighting- unplugged one of the 3 LED units. Just running 1 Beamswork 6500k 0.5 LED (100%) and 1 Ecoexotic (100% red, 50% white) for 6 hours a day.
Going to go strict on feeding the next couple of weeks, as too much detritus has been accumulating.
-
This all does make me question whether just running the AC70 HOB is going to be adequate enough. I started this aquarium with a specific idea of keeping it low maintenance and with simplistic parameters, so I'm hesitant to start changing too much right now.
I do have canister filters and sumps standing by to replace the HOB if I feel it reaches that point. I am going to give it a couple more weeks to evaluate. I have been feeding heavily lately, and missed a water change so I am hoping that's the sole reason for the BBA outbreak (along with the CO2 fluctuation from switching diffusion methods)
---
I also added some new stock recently...
30 - Red Cherry Shrimp - standard grade I guess lol
3 - Albino Bristlenose Plecos
---
To update on some plant species,
All Crypt species are doing great except the Striolata. It's just kind of chillin. Not looking bad but not growing. Crypt Sri Lanka, Hudoroi, and Mioya are looking great, just starting to send out some new leaves after being in the aquarium for a couple of weeks.
The Rotala Bangladesh, Cabomba Purple, and Hygro Pinnafida have proven to do well in this aquarium. They are growing quickly and putting out nice tops.
The Limno Aromatica, Lobelia Cardinalis, Ludwigia Lacustris and Repens are not doing a whole lot. They look good but aren't growing too well. I'll let them sit in here for a couple of more weeks before I trade them out and try some other lower light requirement stem species.
The DHG carpet is starting to spread - alot of runners everywhere The older DHG was hit hard by the BBA but with all the new runners, I'm hopeful it will pull through..
----------------
williak
Member
Day 60
Well Day 60 came and passed... bit late to post this update lol
(Currently at around Day 68 as of Dec 23)
-
Some minor equipment changes. Swapped out multiple smaller powerheads for a single larger powerhead (that turned out to be way way overpowered)
Post BBA flare up, I increased lighting back to full intensity at 6 hours a day.
Still considering if I am going to take off the AC70, and add on a canister. I'd love to do some glass lily pipes for the hell of it.
-
I have since removed the DHG carpet. Sat for several weeks and didn't move - and it got hit hard by the algae outbreak. I am thinking microsword as the replacement. I need something low-medium light, and have always had successful carpets of microsword in the past.
Although I have been eyeing my T5 fixture again, after considering adding a canister lol why not spice up the levels a bit. I am going to try hard to wait atleast to Day 90 or 120 before I switch it up and probably do a decent rearrangement of some species.
And yes I finally fixed the wire situation from the canopy. Now I just need to paint the strip to match the wall >
---
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These little guys have had PLENTY to snack on after the algae outbreak lol foraging on the driftwood for hours every day
Well Day 60 came and passed... bit late to post this update lol
(Currently at around Day 68 as of Dec 23)
-
Some minor equipment changes. Swapped out multiple smaller powerheads for a single larger powerhead (that turned out to be way way overpowered)
Post BBA flare up, I increased lighting back to full intensity at 6 hours a day.
Still considering if I am going to take off the AC70, and add on a canister. I'd love to do some glass lily pipes for the hell of it.
-
I have since removed the DHG carpet. Sat for several weeks and didn't move - and it got hit hard by the algae outbreak. I am thinking microsword as the replacement. I need something low-medium light, and have always had successful carpets of microsword in the past.
Although I have been eyeing my T5 fixture again, after considering adding a canister lol why not spice up the levels a bit. I am going to try hard to wait atleast to Day 90 or 120 before I switch it up and probably do a decent rearrangement of some species.
And yes I finally fixed the wire situation from the canopy. Now I just need to paint the strip to match the wall >
---
-
These little guys have had PLENTY to snack on after the algae outbreak lol foraging on the driftwood for hours every day
cookie.dou
Member
The type of algae I see in the last photo usually appears for me in the beginning stages of a tank set-up. I wouldn't worry too much about it (looks like staghorn rather than bba)... When a tank matures, a lot of issues do go away for me. I would say your filter still hasn't completely matured. Are all your RCS alive? If they aren't - it's also a good indicator that your filter isn't completely "ready" yet.
williak
Member
Yes - the aquarium has cycled completely. All fish and shrimp doing well.
Black diamond blasting sand had been noted to have high silicates and can sometimes cause diatom issues. I have had this type algae before during a new aquarium set up and luckily it does seem to fade away as the aquarium matures.
I recently had a good surge of growth in the aquarium, and since then the algae has slowly faded....
Fingers crossed it continues.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
williak
Member
12-28-2017
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Well as I have mentioned in a few prior posts, I have began to doubt the original goal of keeping filtration as simple as a HOB and powerheads.
I believe a recent surge of growth is most likely leading to the demise of the HOB goal. Plant mass is becoming too thick to be penetrated by the very mild flow from a HOB. Even running powerheads throughout the day, I am consistently finding large patches of detritus all within the plant beds (and I have substantially reduced feedings in the last month since the BBA). I have been doing weekly 75% waterchanges, and there is no way I could push it further- the aquarium water becoming notable hazy the last couple days prior to a waterchange.
This just shows me I am walking a thin line - things are going well now, but with some CO2 fluctuations or any significant parameter deviation, I am going down that slippery slope. I figure make the change over to a canister now, hopefully before things get out of hand and I am dealing with another algae outbreak.
-
I love sumps and would prefer to switch to a sump/overflow set up, but due to the aquarium's location in the house, and how low the stand was built to be... I can't really fit in a sump, and I don't want to add on another several hundred pounds right in the middle of my floor joists' spans. If I ever relocate the aquarium, I may try to squeeze in a 40B as a sump, or even a rigid rubbermaid.
So.. back to canisters I suppose. I went out to the garage and found some of my older Aquatop style canisters. But I couldn't find any of the hose attachment "quick disconnects".. and without that piece the filter is pretty useless. Therefore I had a perfectly good reason to go ahead and purchase a new canister
Picking up an Eheim Pro4+ 350 today. I will likely do a large 75% waterchange, and swap out the HOB for the canister.
Now I really have to build some sort of a skin to cover my CO2 and canister... and match the stand/canopy. And I am debating whether I want to do glass or SS lilys to go with the new canister
-
I will be posting some updated pics soon... Things have finally began to hit that critical mass point where its starting to develop shape on its own (geez, knock on wood). The crypts have tripled atleast in size since they were planted... All of the groups are getting very thick and crowded with plant mass. The Contortion Val is about to need a serious trim, along with the Crypt Spiralis. They are both laying across the surface at this point. I added in some Microsword as well - this time hoping to get a nice foreground going.
Def not the best pic below, but I wanted to document the growth (along with the haziness lol)
Thanks for reading
-
-
Well as I have mentioned in a few prior posts, I have began to doubt the original goal of keeping filtration as simple as a HOB and powerheads.
I believe a recent surge of growth is most likely leading to the demise of the HOB goal. Plant mass is becoming too thick to be penetrated by the very mild flow from a HOB. Even running powerheads throughout the day, I am consistently finding large patches of detritus all within the plant beds (and I have substantially reduced feedings in the last month since the BBA). I have been doing weekly 75% waterchanges, and there is no way I could push it further- the aquarium water becoming notable hazy the last couple days prior to a waterchange.
This just shows me I am walking a thin line - things are going well now, but with some CO2 fluctuations or any significant parameter deviation, I am going down that slippery slope. I figure make the change over to a canister now, hopefully before things get out of hand and I am dealing with another algae outbreak.
-
I love sumps and would prefer to switch to a sump/overflow set up, but due to the aquarium's location in the house, and how low the stand was built to be... I can't really fit in a sump, and I don't want to add on another several hundred pounds right in the middle of my floor joists' spans. If I ever relocate the aquarium, I may try to squeeze in a 40B as a sump, or even a rigid rubbermaid.
So.. back to canisters I suppose. I went out to the garage and found some of my older Aquatop style canisters. But I couldn't find any of the hose attachment "quick disconnects".. and without that piece the filter is pretty useless. Therefore I had a perfectly good reason to go ahead and purchase a new canister
Picking up an Eheim Pro4+ 350 today. I will likely do a large 75% waterchange, and swap out the HOB for the canister.
Now I really have to build some sort of a skin to cover my CO2 and canister... and match the stand/canopy. And I am debating whether I want to do glass or SS lilys to go with the new canister
-
I will be posting some updated pics soon... Things have finally began to hit that critical mass point where its starting to develop shape on its own (geez, knock on wood). The crypts have tripled atleast in size since they were planted... All of the groups are getting very thick and crowded with plant mass. The Contortion Val is about to need a serious trim, along with the Crypt Spiralis. They are both laying across the surface at this point. I added in some Microsword as well - this time hoping to get a nice foreground going.
Def not the best pic below, but I wanted to document the growth (along with the haziness lol)
Thanks for reading
-
williak
Member
FINALLY CAUGHT UP 
lol
--
Day 80... [1-2-2018]
Well guys we're back on the gravy train.
I added the Eheim Pro4+350 and topped the canister with some fine filter floss.
So total I was running from bottom to top...
Basket 1 - Boatload of those bio-tube things (like bioballs)
Basket 2 - Green/white filter pad, purigen packs
Basket 3 - Fine filter floss - a nice thick pillow of it lol
Basket 4 - Factory supplied really coarse sponge filter which isn't doing much (has something to do with the "bypass extender"' feature on this canister, which I don't use so I'm just ignoring it)
After running this and completing a 75% waterchange a few days ago, the water has remained very clear. So fingers crossed this success continues. It doesn't appear any of the plants developed any new algae, and the substrate is as clear of detritus as I've ever seen it.
-
The Red Cherry Skrimps are out grazing on every surface now, they've become very comfortable in the aquarium and - from what I have witnessed - none of the other fish are bothering them.
-
The stem game is not holding out too strong in this tank as the moment..
The Cabomba Purple, Rotala Bangladesh, and Hygro Pinnafida are all booming. Hitting the surface every 2-3 days and constant topping.
Limno Aromatica, Ludwigia Lacustris, and Lobelia Cardinalis Small Form are all starting to perk a tiny bit, but these have shown massive swings in growth and health. One week looking tattered, then the next week sending out new growth and looking perky with nice tops.
I have began to think maybe its time to increase to full dosing on the Thrive+.
From now on, due to increased plant mass, I am going to up to the full dosing twice a week.
---
For the moment, I am standing and watching. Things seem to have rebalanced so I do not want to stir the pot needlessly.
I am striving to be more tedious about my waterchange frequency, and also my fertilizer dosing regime (I've selected Tuesdays and Saturdays, regardless of when I fit in waterchanges). I am hoping extra attention to maintaining 7 days WC frequency + the increased filtration, I will be heading toward crystal clear water.
---
Here are some updated pictures from January 2, 2018
Happy New Year everyone!!
-
All LEDs on.. The "high light" phase of my lighting period, lasting about 6 hours
-
With only the sunrise/sunset phase of my lighting period - one ecoexotic LED strip with 50%W, 70%R and 20%G. This lasts about 1.5 hours before and after full blast.
lol--
Day 80... [1-2-2018]
Well guys we're back on the gravy train.
I added the Eheim Pro4+350 and topped the canister with some fine filter floss.
So total I was running from bottom to top...
Basket 1 - Boatload of those bio-tube things (like bioballs)
Basket 2 - Green/white filter pad, purigen packs
Basket 3 - Fine filter floss - a nice thick pillow of it lol
Basket 4 - Factory supplied really coarse sponge filter which isn't doing much (has something to do with the "bypass extender"' feature on this canister, which I don't use so I'm just ignoring it)
After running this and completing a 75% waterchange a few days ago, the water has remained very clear. So fingers crossed this success continues. It doesn't appear any of the plants developed any new algae, and the substrate is as clear of detritus as I've ever seen it.
-
The Red Cherry Skrimps are out grazing on every surface now, they've become very comfortable in the aquarium and - from what I have witnessed - none of the other fish are bothering them.
-
The stem game is not holding out too strong in this tank as the moment..
The Cabomba Purple, Rotala Bangladesh, and Hygro Pinnafida are all booming. Hitting the surface every 2-3 days and constant topping.
Limno Aromatica, Ludwigia Lacustris, and Lobelia Cardinalis Small Form are all starting to perk a tiny bit, but these have shown massive swings in growth and health. One week looking tattered, then the next week sending out new growth and looking perky with nice tops.
I have began to think maybe its time to increase to full dosing on the Thrive+.
From now on, due to increased plant mass, I am going to up to the full dosing twice a week.
---
For the moment, I am standing and watching. Things seem to have rebalanced so I do not want to stir the pot needlessly.
I am striving to be more tedious about my waterchange frequency, and also my fertilizer dosing regime (I've selected Tuesdays and Saturdays, regardless of when I fit in waterchanges). I am hoping extra attention to maintaining 7 days WC frequency + the increased filtration, I will be heading toward crystal clear water.
---
Here are some updated pictures from January 2, 2018
Happy New Year everyone!!
-
All LEDs on.. The "high light" phase of my lighting period, lasting about 6 hours
-
With only the sunrise/sunset phase of my lighting period - one ecoexotic LED strip with 50%W, 70%R and 20%G. This lasts about 1.5 hours before and after full blast.
williak
Member
Day 95 and change is coming...
Today marks Day 95 since planting. Things have filled in nicely. The initial planting's goal was to get everything growing larger and see how particular species (specifically some of the crypts) grew in this aquarium.
Now I have found some growing too tall that were planted in the front... some more flat "pancake like" low lying growth crypts were planted too far back- so some rearrangement is in order.
Crypts which began as 3 leaves and about 3" across.... are now full on bushes. Runners everywhere. I have much more to work with this time around for a replanting.
-
The attempt I always make to start introducing various stems species, has again not worked quite as I wanted (surprise surprise). I am starting to get the coast to coast "wall" look which I don't want.. considering the front to back depth of this tank is really the reason I wanted this footprint so much.. and I'm doing trimmings all the time. This aquarium being 16" tall with about 4" substrate - I am already trimming way more than I like, as the stem groups are crowding the water surface within 3-4 days.
Therefore this coming weekend, I will be re-scaping the plant layout. I don't intend to move the spider wood around. I'm still content with the placement of that. I will likely leave a few plant species where they are, but 80% will be uprooted and moved around and some new added in. Sticking to the minimal trim-slow growth idea behind this aquarium build.
I placed an order from Buceplant again - their crypts have come in excellent shape for me. This will be my second order from them. Got some anubias nana, more microsword, stauro repens, crypt walkeri and more huduroi.
-
Likely the last picture I'll post of this rendition
Today marks Day 95 since planting. Things have filled in nicely. The initial planting's goal was to get everything growing larger and see how particular species (specifically some of the crypts) grew in this aquarium.
Now I have found some growing too tall that were planted in the front... some more flat "pancake like" low lying growth crypts were planted too far back- so some rearrangement is in order.
Crypts which began as 3 leaves and about 3" across.... are now full on bushes. Runners everywhere. I have much more to work with this time around for a replanting.
-
The attempt I always make to start introducing various stems species, has again not worked quite as I wanted (surprise surprise). I am starting to get the coast to coast "wall" look which I don't want.. considering the front to back depth of this tank is really the reason I wanted this footprint so much.. and I'm doing trimmings all the time. This aquarium being 16" tall with about 4" substrate - I am already trimming way more than I like, as the stem groups are crowding the water surface within 3-4 days.
Therefore this coming weekend, I will be re-scaping the plant layout. I don't intend to move the spider wood around. I'm still content with the placement of that. I will likely leave a few plant species where they are, but 80% will be uprooted and moved around and some new added in. Sticking to the minimal trim-slow growth idea behind this aquarium build.
I placed an order from Buceplant again - their crypts have come in excellent shape for me. This will be my second order from them. Got some anubias nana, more microsword, stauro repens, crypt walkeri and more huduroi.
-
Likely the last picture I'll post of this rendition
Great story so far
I noticed the Nymphaea so just in case you've not seen this one
Aquascape of Nymphaea Lotus
I noticed the Nymphaea so just in case you've not seen this one
Aquascape of Nymphaea Lotus
williak
Member
Great story so far
I noticed the Nymphaea so just in case you've not seen this one
Aquascape of Nymphaea Lotus
Wow damn!! That is beautiful.
I’ve always done lotus plants near the back... but that changes the game - front and center. I’ll have to consider this for the next scape
Thanks for reading, and sharing. I need to watch more of those ada scaping videos
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
williak
Member
Time for an update I suppose
-
I re-scaped the aquarium around the beginning of February. Removing probably 40% of the plant mass and trying to free up some breathing room in the aquarium. I wasn't enjoying how densely I had initially planted, basically creating a "coast to coast wall" across the back half of the aquarium.
I tossed most all stem plants, a couple of crypt species, the tiger lotus...
-
I removed all of my LEDs and switched to a 4 bulb 48" T5 fixture. I initially ran 2 bulbs - 1 6500k and 1 Floramax for a few weeks and everything adjusted well. Seeing pearling and just increased plant health all over. Greener and brighter. The lingering nuisance algae seemed to reside even more.
The itch just got worse and worse, so I added in 2 more bulbs (total of 4) and swapped out my in-tank glass diffuser for a 30" tall x 2" Diameter Rex Griggs Reactor.
2 6500k and 2 Floramax were on for a week or two, and I started to see minor amounts of BBA and string algae popping up even more across the plants (this time even affecting new leaves).
Being too busy to stare at the aquarium for any length- within one week, things got pretty wicked. BBA all over. Black tufts, and long black and green strings of algae everywhere. It looked terrible. I was considering doing a full clean out and taking it as an opportunity to blow an excessive amount of money on all new plants and another rescape lol
Knowing I have better spent priorities, I started to check off the list.
-
I had tested CO2 levels after setting up the Rex Griggs. I did again at this time - Degassed to full saturation was 1.3 drop in pH. Seeing massive pearling across the entire aquarium 6+ hours a day.
Knowing I have not been greatly over- or underdosing fertilizers, I didn't want to wait much longer to do fertilizer trial and error testing.
Given the recent major increase in lights, I concluded even with optimal CO2 and substantial fertilizer levels, I was just pushing too much PAR into the aquarium (considering all slower growing plants too), so I reduced back down to 3 bulbs. 2 6500k and 1 Floramax combination.
-
I decided to do a peroxide/excel treatment to "hit the reset button" after making the lighting change back down to 3 bulbs. In my experience, even after correcting the issue, crypts and ferns will hold onto that old algae for months before its entirely cleared up.
Dosed 240 mL of 3% H20 (followed 3mL per 1 gal dose) + wavemakers to full blast for 30 min
Performed 90% waterchange + Full dose of Excel.
Within a day, all the BBA and string algae was red and withering away. Things have perked up since then and we are looking on the up and up. There is still a tiny bit hanging around following the treatment. I will continue to spot dose with H202 and excel.
I'll post a true and recent FTS soon. Waiting to get a good shot at night time with no glare
---
Post rescape around early February...
Following around 6 weeks of growth... (photo from mid March)
-
I re-scaped the aquarium around the beginning of February. Removing probably 40% of the plant mass and trying to free up some breathing room in the aquarium. I wasn't enjoying how densely I had initially planted, basically creating a "coast to coast wall" across the back half of the aquarium.
I tossed most all stem plants, a couple of crypt species, the tiger lotus...
-
I removed all of my LEDs and switched to a 4 bulb 48" T5 fixture. I initially ran 2 bulbs - 1 6500k and 1 Floramax for a few weeks and everything adjusted well. Seeing pearling and just increased plant health all over. Greener and brighter. The lingering nuisance algae seemed to reside even more.
The itch just got worse and worse, so I added in 2 more bulbs (total of 4) and swapped out my in-tank glass diffuser for a 30" tall x 2" Diameter Rex Griggs Reactor.
2 6500k and 2 Floramax were on for a week or two, and I started to see minor amounts of BBA and string algae popping up even more across the plants (this time even affecting new leaves).
Being too busy to stare at the aquarium for any length- within one week, things got pretty wicked. BBA all over. Black tufts, and long black and green strings of algae everywhere. It looked terrible. I was considering doing a full clean out and taking it as an opportunity to blow an excessive amount of money on all new plants and another rescape lol
Knowing I have better spent priorities, I started to check off the list.
-
I had tested CO2 levels after setting up the Rex Griggs. I did again at this time - Degassed to full saturation was 1.3 drop in pH. Seeing massive pearling across the entire aquarium 6+ hours a day.
Knowing I have not been greatly over- or underdosing fertilizers, I didn't want to wait much longer to do fertilizer trial and error testing.
Given the recent major increase in lights, I concluded even with optimal CO2 and substantial fertilizer levels, I was just pushing too much PAR into the aquarium (considering all slower growing plants too), so I reduced back down to 3 bulbs. 2 6500k and 1 Floramax combination.
-
I decided to do a peroxide/excel treatment to "hit the reset button" after making the lighting change back down to 3 bulbs. In my experience, even after correcting the issue, crypts and ferns will hold onto that old algae for months before its entirely cleared up.
Dosed 240 mL of 3% H20 (followed 3mL per 1 gal dose) + wavemakers to full blast for 30 min
Performed 90% waterchange + Full dose of Excel.
Within a day, all the BBA and string algae was red and withering away. Things have perked up since then and we are looking on the up and up. There is still a tiny bit hanging around following the treatment. I will continue to spot dose with H202 and excel.
I'll post a true and recent FTS soon. Waiting to get a good shot at night time with no glare
---
Post rescape around early February...
Following around 6 weeks of growth... (photo from mid March)
Looking good, it's growing in well.
Angus
Member
Looks lovely.
paul_j
Member
Indeed. Both look good and are an inspiration, but I get your point. It's good to bee able to peek trough the aquascape.
williak
Member
Thanks Tim!
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Looks lovely.
Thank you!!
-
Thank you very much. The top picture was after the initial rescape when there was a bit of swimming room between the two groups. You could see all the way to the back pane. I went on vacation for several weeks, thus the lower picture showing after 6 weeks of growth. It has all kind of blended in again lol there is still an almost 18" dip back in the middle portion though. Either way, just letting it run its course at this point.
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Saffa
Member
Very nice setup, I’m planning something of similar size 440 litre with eheim 1200xl and fx4 I’ll be keeping stalsbergi (Peru green terror ciclids) with a few lower demanding plants. Likely keeping the lights lower powered and adding co2. See what happens. I’ve been keeping cichlids for a few years and finally managed to source some of these that don’t destroy plants so I’m gonna give it a go. How much co2 are you getting through per month on your tank ?
