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Starless & Bible Black

Weekly update... I moved a few of the ferns; the plantlets were removed from the front edges of the branches, as was the larger one below in the center; I felt they were ruining the view and the flow. They were moved to several spots, making the coverage a bit denser in the process. I also removed the Riccia; it was not adhering to the lava rock, so I cut my losses, slapped on some of the cut-up moss, and go from there. I got my Koralia Nano 900 in the mail today, so placed that in it's designated spot. I am a bit disappointed about the flexibility of the powerhead, it does not rotate the advertised 360, so I had to stick it on the side panel, instead of the back panel as intended, but it doesn't mess the view up too bad, so no harm, no faul.
The MC has continued to melt though. Have added some I had lying around, but I fear the worst; I'm pretty much convinced it's due to too much light, it doesn't seem to like too much light. Had noticed the same behaviour before, in Indiscipline, but was told that was ridiculous, but am seeing the same thing now! Also, in Red, the MC grows best away from the brightest light, so take that for what it's worth.

Anyway, just a couple of quick phone pics for now.
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As you can see, everything else is still ticking along nicely; the hairgrass is spreading all over the place, the P. Helferi is starting to creep across some of the lavarock, most of the Javafern have attached already, the moss is starting to cover most of the wood, even though in some places, it has not even attached yet, but there's still plenty of time. P.Erectus and the Ludwigia are doing great, grown quite a bit, especially the P. Erectus, the Crypt-melt has stopped, and there are new leaves all over the place. Very happy all in all!
 
Time for some new pics... T - 25 days till flooding!

Nearly all the moss has now attached and started growing, the javaferns are doing great, as is the P. Helferi and the E. Acicularis. The MC is still struggling, but I hope it will bounce back after flooding, since that should reduce the amount of light that reaches them (will be removing the reflectors for awhile as well after flooding, not related to the MC, just to build it up slowly; PP will go down to six hours then as well). The Crypts are looking great, and the Ludwigia and P. Erectus are showing some growth as well. Still very happy with the progress!

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Hi Vinkenoog Stunning Dsm:cool: Before you flood.Trim back the hair grass to the substrate ;) It will grow back and send out lots of new runners :D Thick and lush :rolleyes:Cannot wait 25 days to go :eek: :D
King Crimson :cool: There music sounds like Pink Floyd Same era :) I love Floyd which one is pink:confused::D Thinking about it i put a brick in one of my works :lol:And it has not got a name:( Has now :lol: Another brick in the wall ??? :confused::)
 
Thanks guys! And a good tip Roy, thanks, will cut it back once flooded!

And there is none better than King Crimson, without them, there would never have been a Pink Floyd or a Genesis (well, before they started making Disney-pop that is), best band in the world, ever. :D
 
Decided to finally flood this one today,and somehow, I was a nervous wreck all day! Everything went as hoped, except for a few pieces of moss that came unstuck, and I had to move the powerhead to stop the whirlpool. I mowed the lawn, and trimmed the Ludwigia (which had reached the top of the tank!), and I had also added a few stems of Hygrophilla Pinnatifada.

Some quick phone pics.
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Let me know what you guys think!
 
Right, time for an update, two weeks after flooding... To be honest, everything has been going quite well, the only negative is that I lost quite a lot of moss from the branches, due to it being blown off by the powerhead. No mind though, it will grow back, and it's more important to have good flow.
I've changed the CO2-delivery; from two small diffusor, to injection via a modified Juwel O2-Diffusor; I stuffed a cigarette filter into the CO-tube, and some fine filter foam into the attachment nozzle, and it's blowing mostly very fine bubbles throughout the tank, with the help of the powerhead of course. Also, instead of using a solenoid as planned (which would have cost me 60 Euros all in all), I'm now using a air pump at night, on a interval timer, coinciding with the powerhead (which runs from 14:00 to 23:00 non stop, and then with 15 minute intervals every 1,5 hours, starting at midnight, when the airpump is going); this creates some good surface movement, and blows quite a bit of air bubbles through the tank at night, and the fish seem to really appreciate this addition.
Yesterday, I reattached the reflectors to the lights, but will still be running a PP of 6 hours, adding 15minutes a week, till a maximum of 8 hours.
As far as the plants are concerned, I'm mostly impressed with the H. Pinnatifada, which has gone completely mental, and is already showing some red! The Monte Carlo has recovered brilliantly, and is starting to carpet in between the hairgrass, which is spreading as well, but needs a trim next week. The P. Erectus is starting to peak out from the back, but will take some time to fill out the outer corners round the filter housing. I did expect the Ludwigia to have grown back, but it's been a slow restart after the initital trim, and at first, the new side shoots looked blood red, but they have gone back to green; I'm hoping that the added reflectors and improved CO2 will sort that out. The only thing I've added, is some Cyperus Helferi, around the powerhead, and the air diffusor below it. Ow, and some Limnobium Laevigatum has been added, hopefully the Gourami will appreciate it.
Current stock is:
5 Amano shrimp
~36 Red Cherry Shrimp
1 Ancistrus Dolichopterus
~36 Guppy (including fry)
5 Red Eye Tetra (hopefully they will take care of some of the guppy fry)
7 Ottocinclus Affinis
2 Dwarf Gourami

A couple of pics, will be getting a tripod this week, and hopefully a half-decent DSLR shortly.
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Colouring of the H. Pinnatifada:
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Right, high time for a well over due update.

To be honest, things have been ticking along nicely, without any real issues. I did change a few things around just a bit. I moved the powerhead around a little bit to improve flow, and to reduce the stress on the mosses, which were directly in the line of fire. I also added an air pump, to lessen the stress on the fishes, and get rid of the CO2 during lights off (CO2 is Bio DIY, and runs 24/7). I also changed the CO2-delivery a bit, and stuffed a cigarette filter in the nozzle of the IO2-diffusor, which gives me tiny, tiny bubbles, which go all around the tank, before they finally rise to the surface. This worked so well, that about an hour or two after I made this adjustment, I already saw the results in the behaviour of my fishes (they did not like the obviously better CO2-diffusion, so I had to dial it down a bit).
As far as plants go, I added some Cyperus Helferi in the corner to mask the airstone and the powerhead just a bit. Everything is growing pretty great; the Ludwigia is filling in nicely, and is going nice and red. The Hygrophila is going mad, spreading all throughout the wood, and is starting to show some good colours. The Cryptocoryne seem, to have lost their minds, and are growing like mad, and looking wonderful! I did a major trim on the carpet last weekend, as it had gotton about 8 cms thick/ high. The only plant that is not doing as well as I would like, is the Pogostemon Erectus; I chopped it off quite agressively last weekend, and am hoping this will spur on some decent growth.

And now, some (finally decent) pics. It just shows how much technology has progressed; all previous shots were with my 2002 Sony Cybershot, these were made with my friend's Samsung Galaxy SIII. Incredible.

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