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Unnamed

Started to get superstitious about the previous name of the thread "The Disaster" :) so I have renamed it just in case :crazy:

What I've been dealing with:
The tank leaked to the point it wouldn't hold water, one of the seams literally opened up, splashing all over the place. I had arranged with the LFS to give them all the fish because I could not afford another tank but I managed to fix the problem in the final moment and it's been stable since last year so hopes are up it will stay this way.
A few months after the V2 TMC sand bed filter leaked half the tank on the floor (developed tiny pin hole at the bottom of the plastic!! and is now binned).
All the lights failed one by one. They were custom made by a fraud member(he was administrator) of another forum. He used super cheap drivers. I was in a financial hole couldn't replace/repair, tank ran on 1/2 then 1/3 lights, plants suffered massively with lower light, many just melted and disappeared and I couldn't do anything about it. Obviously the anubias and java fern were unaffected but that's about it what's left. The moss suffered too the lack of light, started to grow thin and browned at places.

I was very down about it, neglected the tank and could not look at it for a while. It was doing so well before all this happened...:(

Positives:
I've never dealt with algae issues in this tank. Fish lived through and seem fine even though they had to deal with lower water levels for a good while. The tropical plants above the water are doing great and have exploded. I think they saved my fish and the tank balance.

It needs a makeover when I get brave enough to feel confident again.

Well, I can take just one decent picture of healthy anubias:
DSCF5985_zps0483e4ef.jpg
 
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Now you can see on the video below what's happened to the tank, there's barely plants surviving but I took it to show you my home bred 40-ish corys getting excited when sat next to the tank thinking it's food time.
The tank is still on just one light strip out of three so redoing it has to wait.

 
Shame about all the issues, im sure you can get the tank looking great again, and at least youve got those curious little corys to keep you entertained :D
 
Today I received a second driver for the LED so 2 strips running now!!! I just need to fix the third strip as soon as I can afford it and I'll be back in business.

The Peace Lilly started flowering too. I'll take a picture when the flowers are fully open. It's a bit obstructed by the light fixture but I can't raise it any higher because the underwater plants will find themselves with almost no light.
 
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Just a few pics of the tropical plants further down below.
The antherium lily was flowering up to a week ago. I had to chop it a bit because it has taller stems coming out of the pot and it started tilting, nearly falling forward.
The Peace Lily started flowering now. Wish they both did it at the same time as I would have had cooler pictures :)
I potted a spider plant just recently but it's still tiny not worthy of pictures.
These plants are blocking a lot of light and I am afraid even if I fix the third light strip I won't have enough going into the tank below. Many of my plants already died during the no light crisis. Symptoms were browning, melting and eventually dying or reducing to a stump in the substrate.

This is a list what survived and what not but almost all survivors are just a few dwarfed leaves.
Plants:
Echinodorus Parviflorus-:) almost unaffected
Echinodorus Rosé-:) a few thin dwarfed leaves still there
Echinodorus amazonicus-:) I had 3 massive ones, they melted almost completely but are still hanging on to live with a few leaves on.
Echinodorus gabrielii-:arghh: not sure it's there. There's a stump of something that looks like sword but no leaves
Echinodorus cordifolius (E. radicans)-:arghh: same as the previous, might be there but no leaves
Vallisneria spiralis(straight vallis)-:) most of it melted and died. I had lots overtaking the tank and some is hanging in there although in extremely bad shape.
Cryptocoryne beckettii "Pink"-:) suffered a few yellow leaves and stopped growing but it's almost fine.
Hygrophila pinnatifida-:arghh:
Nuphar japonica-:arghh:
Nymphaea lotus var. rubra-:arghh:
Bacopa australis:arghh:(a couple of extremely suffering stems left maybe but I have it in another tank)
Aponogeton crispus-:)(one bulb with a couple of leaves still living but in extremely bad shape melting all the time, this one needs a lot of light to grow nice and big leaves as I noticed even before because I had two bulbs, the shaded one never did well)
Aponogeton 2nd type :)(can't remember it's name but it's the one with very narrow hard leaves that no fish can eat) living with a couple of leaves
Shinnersia rivularis(Mexican Oak Leaf)-:arghh:
Ludwigia palustris x repens (L. mullertii):arghh: one stem left!
Taxiphyllum species "Spiky"-:)living but suffered a lot
Anubias barteri var. barteri-:)living unaffected
Microsorum pteropus ''Narrow''-:) almost unaffected

Tropicals:

Tropical3_zps6a06667a.jpg


Peace lily flower, still closed...
Tropical4_zps87f09ffe.jpg


Palm plant, can't remember the proper name.
Tropical1_zps9a3c4ce4.jpg


Tropical2_zpsef0e02ab.jpg
 
Although the light is still not enough some of the listless swords starting growing new leaves. The problem is the bristlenose pleco has developed a taste for them and every morning I see eaten leaves, proper damage from rasping. My common plec in another tank never eats the plants.
The bristlenose is well fed. I put wafers near his cave each evening and I see him eating them each time. I probably haven't put veggies much recently though.
Is there anything I can do to stop him? He didn't eat them before. Do they develop a taste and never stop afterwards? Very annoying and I don't have a proper tank in which to move him.
 
Well, with my stupid camera that's the best picture I could take of the flowering peace lily. The flowers are outside the light range so they struggled to open for a while I think but I can't help it as there's no indirect light where the tank is and I can't lift the lights anymore.

DSCF6133_zps0c67b746.jpg
 
Well, I don't know what happened to imageshack taking off my pictures at some stage, but it seems my pictures are back lol so I might as well update. There's still nothing to be proud about, starting from scratch really.

This is the tank currently below. Because I still haven't fixed all 3 strips of light it initially had, I've been trying to "fix" the tank just 2 but it's not really happening. Right side is dead side, no plants bar the anubias and java fern survive, it's way too little light there. It's not normally as dark as on the picture but I put rooibos tea in the tank yesterday just for experiment, hence the black water look.

Left side wasn't doing well either but started finally regrowing after I bumped the photoperiod(currently 11hrs) Even some hydrocolyte tripartita reappeared out of nowhere and I hadn't seen it in months. But the tank has a long way to go. It won't happen if I don't fix the lights though.

RooibosTea_zpsfec77154.jpg


And I've been trying to grow a bacopa carpet again(the bright green stuff below) It's not as good as it was, it hasn't fully grown and is not as compact but I'll see how it goes as I've nothing better to do with the tank right now anyway.

BacopaCarpet_zps9f690ab3.jpg
 
Just read through your thread, I got a set of lights from the same guy I believe, he was on aquarist classifieds when I bought mine, I've had a few LEDs die so far but now I'm thinking I might bin them and get a new unit. :( Hope the recovery goes smoothly.
 
Thanks ADA.
If they look like mine, then you probably had the misfortune to run into the same problems :) I sent him an email, obviously no reply. He was a moderator on another forum until all his scam broke out...He said he used Cree's but apparently I have some cheap china fun instead. Also, he didn't ground them either.

All 3 led drivers failed within weeks of each other. I fixed two strips by buying drivers that with delivery cost a 100 euro. I am refusing to fix the third strip now which has a blown out led, needs a new driver, soldering iron, thermal stickers/paste, etc,etc..., so not in the mood to spend that on the last strip....I can easily cost me nearly a 100 to fix that alone with the little bits I need because its all expensive here in Ireland.
So yes, I am in the look for new lights and to be honest whole new tank altogether maybe one day, hopefully bigger.
 
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Plenty of choices out there to be honest.
With the negative aside, the leds do work well for the plants if working.

I also had a look at an American website that gets very good reviews and apparently can deliver worldwide. But probably one wants something that's at least repairable easily under manufacturers warranty at least.
But its worth a look.

http://www.buildmyled.com/freshwater-products/
 
My bacopa australis carpet is picking up. I don't know why I don't see people keeping bacopa as a carpet around here. That blurry yellow guppy/endler hybrid in the picture is ancient and is 3 yrs + old. I raised it myself from a little spec. She's got a half brother who's in another tank and still kicking though with cataracts in one eye for the last 6 months.

BacopaAustralisLawn_zpsb0a4bebc.jpg



And a rare picture of my albino bristlenose who really hates me. He was as tiny as a small otto when I got him a couple of years ago and he will probably go on annoying me for quite a few years to come. I put the veg for the 2 ottos specifically, placed it on the opposite side of the tank so the skittish yellow thing doesn't come out but naah...He won't miss on stuff like that and he kicks away any other fish that dare approach.
AlbinoPleco_zpsd09909d5.jpg
 
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