# 90g planted tank -- rebuild



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Hi BCA,
I am going to try a tank journal for this build. I original set this tank up December 2011. It was my first planted tank and I was pretty happy with it. But! I had put some java moss in there and I regretted it ever since. A maintenance-time nightmare. This rebuild is my attempt to get rid of the java moss. Also some of the plants I had grew so fast I was always in there trimming. So now I've learned more, I'm changing up the plants. I'm also going to try a Dry Start Method.

I planned out my new layout on paper first...


Bare with me...I'm trying to figure out how to embed a photo in a thread...pulling them off my flickr account. I'll post this thread and if the photo worked I'll continue the thread...

Jan10th: (I've sorted out the photo embedding so scroll down a bit for the continuing journal)


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Sorry, that photo embedding didn't work at all. When I figure out how to post the photos, I'll continue the saga.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Another attempt at putting in a photo...nope, my computer keeps telling me it's an invalid file. Help!


----------



## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Here you go.....

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5498/11814036356_dda568790b_c.jpg

Best regards,

Stuart

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

I sketched the layout on paper first. The paper is the same dimensions as the tank. I found this helpful for planning







[/URL][/IMG]
Who knows, as I plant it may go out the window!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Hey! Stuart, how'd you do that? What did you do? Curse my ignorance but thank you!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

When I first set up the tank, we couldn't find a stand that matched our living room. So my wonderful husband rolled up his sleeves, put on his safety glasses and produced this....







[/URL][/IMG]
The wood "skin" is salvaged from a very old (100 yrs?+) logging bridge that was to be demolished. The hardware is from Lee Valley.

Our house is a timber frame so lots of visible wood in the room. Here is a pic showing the house and you can see how nicely the stand fits in.







[/URL][/IMG]

EQUIPMENT
lighting: TekLight 48" 4 x 54w t5HO
bulbs: SunBlaster daylight (from a hydroponics shop)
filter: XP3
heater: 250w Eheim-Jaeger
CO2: 5lb tank, reg, solenoid, bubble counter, diffuser
UV: LifeGuard 15watt

I will run an air stone at night. That's on a timer. The light fixture has one switch per two bulbs so with timers I will have 2 on for 12 hours, the other two join in for 6 hours. I won't run this much light at first while the plant load is still new, however. LED's are so tempting but I went with the t5's because start-up costs were a bit steep (this was two years ago) for LED fixtures. I'm hoping for LED's to become more affordable as the technology progresses. I've looked at the fancy EcoTech radions...but um, ya..um, no. The CO2 will run on the same timer as the "all-day" bulbs. I'd put it on its own timer but the power bar in the stand won't fit a fourth timer. I never intended to use a UV sterilizer but within a month of the old build I had some persistant cloudy water issues. I finally solved it with a TurboTwist. I left it in place and never had a problem. The unit conked out on me a few months ago (did water get in?) and rather than replace it I'm trying an inline version. I hated the visible tubing and pump in the aquarium. Not sure exactly how I'm going to install the new UV yet...it's a pretty good size.

SUBSTRATE
ADA "Malaya" and Flourite. I put the flourite in the deep spots. ADA recommends their "power sand" for this but I figure the Flourite will do just as great a job and for way less bucks. I had great success with the ADA before so am using it again. I have to watch for a pH crash when I first fill and run the tank. Apparently the ADA Malaya will do this at first. I believe it releases amonia into the water. So, no fish at first!

So all my equipment is assembled!


----------



## Phillyb (Jan 18, 2011)

Good luck with the set up! The stand looks nice.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Phillyb said:


> Good luck with the set up! The stand looks nice.


Thank you and thank you!


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

looking good so far.. Keep the photo updates coming


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

THE HARDSCAPE
For this build I wanted to try two different things. I wanted to play around with elevation and have a sand "river".

I've seen a few tanks with sand rivers and wondered how they kept the sand and substrate separate. How did they keep plants from creeping into the sand? I decided to make some acrylic forms in the shape of the river. I knew acrylic was aquarium safe. The plan was to make some forms, fill sand on the inside and my substrate on the outside. I have no experience in working with acrylic. I visited the local Industrial Plastics store and the fellow there was most helpful when I explained what I wanted to achieve. He advised some 1/16th inch acrylic. Thin, flexible and clear. I dug through the scraps bin in order to save some money! At first I thought I'd have one big piece to go on the bottom of the tank. That was too expensive so I thought I'd use some Corplast and bond the acrylic to that. The fellow at IP sold me some bonding agent called methylene chloride and an applicator bottle. 







[/URL][/IMG]
Use in a well-ventilated area! Safety glasses aren't a bad idea either. I did get a bit on my hands but it didn't burn or cause redness or anything. I washed it off. This stuff isn't like glue, its consistency is more like that of water. First I drew my pattern on my corplast. Using tin-snips, I cut strips of acrylic about 1" high and a foot or so long for the "banks". I used masking tape to hold one side while I bonded the other. It didn't work at all! The masking tape didn't hold very well, the bonding agent bled through and soaked the masking tape. To top it off, the next morning the acrylic hadn't bonded at all and when I removed the tape, the river burst its banks. So disappointing! I pulled it all apart. Obviously I needed an acrylic floor for my river.

I cut some larger pieces to cover the footprint of the river and by butting them end-to-end bonded them together. I learned that you MUST make straight cuts if you want your acrylic to bond properly! After the base had set, I replaced the banks. I sanded the edge smooth again and cut the long piece into smaller pieces. Easier to work with. I also got help. The extra pair of hands was very, uh, handy. One person held the bent piece and the other ran the bead of bonding agent. Within minutes the piece was being held in place. I let it set for 24hrs. Here is the finished piece, in place.







[/URL][/IMG]

I wasn't sure how to achieve a slope that would stay put over time so I experimented with making some acrylic "T's" to act as retaining walls. I have no idea how this will work in the long run but hey, I'll give it a try. It was a bit of work to know what height to make my T's. First I poured the substrate into the tank (river bank is in place) and shaped it how I wanted it. Next I looked at where I'd want my T's. How many would I need? Of what length? Then I measured the depth of the substrate using a marked chopstick If the substrate was 3" deep I would make the T 2 and 3/4" tall. I figured this way the acrylic would be buried under a wee bit of substrate. After my measuring, I made my T's. I measured and marked out my dimensions on the acrylic's backing paper. Using my tin-snips again I cut all the pieces. Vertical portions and bases. The bases were a bit longer than the vertical pieces were long and about 2" wide. The bonding went easy. These were a breeze after that river! While they were setting I took all my substrate back out again. After the T's were set, (About 3 hours was all I had the patience for!) I put them in place...







[/URL][/IMG]

Then filled the flourite substrate carefully around them...







[/URL][/IMG]

Then topped it all off with ADA substrate and put the hardscape in place et VOILA!







[/URL][/IMG]

I can see a few little corners of acrylic but I'm sure when the plants grow in they will be invisible. Here is a picture of the other side of the tank. I had two heights of T's here because the elevation was steeper.







[/URL][/IMG]

I put the sand in next. I bought a bag of pool filter sand after reading about it here on BCA. It was frozen solid! I had to thaw it first! Putting the sand in was a challenge because I started with wet sand. Mistake! It clumped, it stuck to everything. Ack! I dried it in the oven for a bit. Then I was able to pour it out of a kitchen measuring cup and smooth it with a spatula. Come to think of it, kitchen utensils are very useful for aquascaping!

After that, the two stones went in. Great Christmas present, eh? I poked toothpicks all over to mark out my planting zones. I need this kind of visual to help me plan. I put a bit of water in the bottom to get things wet. I'm now ready to plant!!







[/URL][/IMG]


----------



## bonsai dave (Apr 21, 2010)

Great looking set up . I can't wait to see it completed.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

bonsai dave said:


> Great looking set up . I can't wait to see it completed.


Thanks. Me too! Ha!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

PLANTING

Okay! Been waiting for this since early December! I had a bad cold while planting. Less than fun to hang over your aquarium for hours on end with your sinuses going crazy! Anyways!

Plants...Here are the first batch of plants I'll do in my DSM. I will be planting others but I'm ignorant of how they'll do in a DSM. I'll do up a list of my remaining plants and folks are welcome to advise me if they are okay for DSM or not! But for now....

elocharis parvula
hemianthus callichtrichoides "cuba" (HC)
hydrocotyle leucoephala
staurogyne repens
microsorum pteropus
anubia barteri "nana"
glossostigma elantoides
bacopa monnieri
pogostemon helferi

The gloss, e.parvula, HC, staur. repens and hydrocotyle are AquaFlora emmersed plants. Thanks to Joseph Uy of Miyabi Aqua for all those emails! These were purchased at Aquarium's West in early December and I've been sitting on them for weeks. They all did great during the wait. I kept them in their pots and put a grow light over them for a few hours a day.

The long-awaited pogostemon helferi has been sitting in my temporary tank. On my previous build, the MTS ate all my pogo. helf. That could be why I dislike the MTS now! I searched for some replacement plants for a long time. Finally got in on the Tropica shipment at Aquarium's West.

The bacopa, anubias and microsorum were from my previous build. I carefully checked for any remnant of java moss as they came out of the tear down. They've been sitting in my temporary plant tank (DIY Co2 and my mother-in-law's grow lights suspended overhead) for a few weeks and no java moss had returned on these. Phewf! I inspected all "old" plants carefully under the bright lights of my light fixture. No new moss! Also checking for snails/eggs! Clear! I hope. I didn't dip the plants. I hope if I missed some snails/eggs the DSM may do them in. We'll see.

e.parvula went in first. I used almost the whole pot. Used my best kitchen paring knife to slice up the clump. Here's a pic







[/URL][/IMG]

This took waaaaay longer than I thought to plant. However, I see one major advantage in a DSM already. It is much much easier to plant without water! The plants stay put! No floaters! When you ease your grip with the tweezers they stay in the substrate! Yaaa! I wiggled the tweezers a bit to work the plantlet down, released the plant slightly and wiggled my tweezers back out again. My aquascaping tweezers are too big for this. I borrowed my mother's fancy little sewing tweezers. They are fine tipped. 







[/URL][/IMG]

I think the e.parvula took about an hour to do! Back-breaking!

I wasn't quite sure what to do with the hydrocotyle. I planted a few stems at the base of the wood and just draped the rest of the plant on the wood. I'm hoping the roots will gain hold on their own. It's supposed to have vigorous growth so it should be okay if I can keep it wet.

The gloss was a breeze after the e.parvula. I only needed about half the pot. I spaced these out quite far because apparently it is a fast grower too. I'm hoping this plant doesn't become a maintenance nuisance. So three plants are in...Here's a pic. Glosso on the left.







[/URL][/IMG]

This all took so long I couldn't finish it in one day. Yet another advantage to DSM! You don't have to have a planting marathon all in one day! Very useful for busy people with large tanks!

Next day the staurogyne repens went in. I'm liking the striking colour of this plant already! This was easy to divide with my knife and easy to plant. I used most of the pot.







[/URL][/IMG]

I was feeling more confident in my planting skills by now so tackled the HC next. I had two pots and used it ALL! This was more fiddly to cut up into plantlets. One pot gave me this many plantlets...







[/URL][/IMG]

Using those little tweezers, it wasn't too hard to plant. Nice big root portions. I planted them as close together as I could. Just enough space to get the tip of my finger in between the plantlets. The same wiggle technique worked well. The slope wasn't any more difficult to plant than the flat part. Actually, it wasn't too hard to plant this plant. I just laid my finger on the plant gently as I pulled the tweezers out. Here's a close up pic...







[/URL][/IMG]

Then came the pogostemon helferi. I have two pots of this but only planted one. I wanted to see how it liked switching from submersed to a DSM. If it goes well, I'll plant the second pot. It was hard to plant because the pot had tipped over in my temporary plant tank and the stems were all bent. Here, the slope helped! The bacopa monnieri was a cinch to plant. I got quite an area covered. I have been growing this plant from about 8 stems originally so it was satisfying to have lots left over. So here is the left side complete (for now)







[/URL][/IMG]

Two days later I put in the java fern. I tied it to the wood. I took the wood out to do that. I had to mist it frequently to keep the hydrocotyle happy. Used my husband's fishing line. He helped me tie the knot. Ha-ha, pun intended? We're already married!

The anubias nana went in next. They were not too happy about being yanked out of the water. They got quite wilty, quite quickly. I just wiggled the roots into the substrate. This part of the substrate was very wet. Hopefully they like that. They were kind of a pain to plant because the roots grow the whole length of the rhizome and I could only grab some of them. So far so good. Here is a pic of the anubias looking sad...(the e.parvula is a few days planted here)







[/URL][/IMG]

Here is a pic of the java fern in







[/URL][/IMG]

That's all the plants for now. Instead of saran wrap I used my versa-top. I had almost no evaporation when the previous build was running. I figured if I jammed the holes in the back with plugs of saran wrap, the seal would be pretty good. One of the holes I left open. It's about 2cm by 2cm and the filter pipe is still hooked there. I have lots of condensation.







[/URL][/IMG]







[/URL][/IMG]
That's a neighbouring house plant that can't believe its good luck with the light fixture so close! It's growing like stink! My lights are on 12 hours/day. Just two of the bulbs.

The plants get misted with some RO water. I have some metricide 14 on order but so far (1 week) I don't have any mould. My toothpicks did get some mould. Maybe from my cold virus? I mist once a day. Especially the anubias, hydrocotyle and java fern. I don't really vent the tank but it smells OK in there. Kind of like visiting a tropical rain forest. Maybe I shouldn't flood it and get some nifty frogs? Haha, no way! I miss my fish!

Wow, long post. More later! Thanks for viewing! Thanks for commenting!


----------



## AsianFlyingPanda (Jan 10, 2014)

Good luck on the new plants. Be interesting to see how the pogostemon helferi turn out using the dry start method. I'll be following this closely as I'm interested in adding in the same plant to my tank.


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

That's a lot of work. Good job on getting it done. 90 gallon is deep too so you have to bend over further to plant. I feel for your aching back.

With regards to the Anubias, you should really attach them to rocks/wood instead of into the substrate. Sometimes that works but often the rhizome starts to rot as they are ephiphytes just like java fern and really do better in the water column.

Keep the water level below the top of the substrate and you shouldn't get any mould. I used Metricide when I did my dry start just because I had some and I used just a tiny amount, but most often it's not needed.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

2wheelsx2 said:


> That's a lot of work. Good job on getting it done. 90 gallon is deep too so you have to bend over further to plant. I feel for your aching back.
> 
> With regards to the Anubias, you should really attach them to rocks/wood instead of into the substrate. Sometimes that works but often the rhizome starts to rot as they are ephiphytes just like java fern and really do better in the water column.
> 
> Keep the water level below the top of the substrate and you shouldn't get any mould. I used Metricide when I did my dry start just because I had some and I used just a tiny amount, but most often it's not needed.


Okay, thanks! 
The water level is creeping higher, the more I mist! I had these anubias growing like mad in the old substrate so thought I'd try it again. The rhizomes are not really touching the substrate much and I'm keeping an eye out for rot. If they rot, well, I have a bunch more to plant. I could lash them to that corner of wood. Thanks for looking out for my anubias! I'm planning to put a large variety in at the back and will secure that to the wood and not try to "plant" it. Ephiphytes, cool word!


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

If the rhizomes aren't buried too deep, they'll be ok. Only if they don't get enough circulation will they rot.

Try to mist just a little to keep things moist. Just damp, not wet. That'll keep your mould problems away.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

One week in... 
An update on the DSM...things are looking good after one week. The hydrocotyle is sending out little white roots on the wood. The anubias are alive but still looking quite wilty. Maybe they aren't fond of the DSM. They aren't rotting, at least. The e. parvula is looking fine, the glosso is already growing. So is the staurogyne repens. The bacopa monnieri is showing the most growth of all. The HC is not really looking too different but I was told to expect that. Most important to me is the pogostemon helferi. It looks like it's coping fine with the switch from submerged to the DSM. 
I have no mould whatsoever. I mist once a day with my spray bottle of RO water. Sometimes I spray the java fern, hydrocotyle and anubias twice a day. But only a little bit on the second spray. The water level in the tank is rising. I guess I've used a few litres of water over the week. I'm not really keeping track as the spray bottle gets topped up before it's empty. 
The lights are still on a 12 hour period. When I open the lid to spray, it seems quite warm in the tank. Warmer than the house temperature, anyway. I think the lights must be keeping things warm?

Next I want to plant my cyperus helferi and the rest of the pogostemon helferi (pot #2).

And now some photos!

Here are two pics of the whole tank. One taken from each direction...







[/URL][/IMG]







[/URL][/IMG]

A close up of the HC







[/URL][/IMG]

And the staurogyne repens







[/URL][/IMG]

The pogostemon helferi







[/URL][/IMG]

The e.parvula and anubias







[/URL][/IMG]

The roots growing on the hydrocotyle







[/URL][/IMG]

The left side showing the HC carpet







[/URL][/IMG]

Okay! Thanks for looking. I'm a bit behind "real time" in my build so "week 2" will be posted shortly


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Excellent start and layout. Give it two more weeks and it should fill in nicely


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Here's two weeks in...

A few days ago I divided my cyperus helferi. I had no idea if this was going to kill the plant but it seemed too big to plant as it was. (2 inch diameter) Holding it under water, I gently eased the plant into two halves. There seemed to be a sort of sweet spot where I could do this. Half went back into my temporary tank and the other went into the big tank. I hoped the plant would A) survive the division, and B) adapt to the DSM. I gave it a good haircut to rid it of yellowing leaves and some pesky BBA. It hasn't liked floating in my temporary tank for a month. Here it is looking so-far-so-good just having been planted. I had to dig a big hole for the freshly trimmed roots. I left a couple inches of roots.







[/URL][/IMG]

After my precious cyperus helferi went in, I planted the remaining pot of pogostemon helferi. The first batch are looking just fine! Yaa!

A few days later, I hit the 2 week mark...
Everything is looking great. The one concern I have is that half of the HC looks a little bit less brilliant than the other half. Of the two pots I had, the area planted by the first pot isn't looking as good as the area covered by the second pot. I don't know if this is because of the slightly different growing location or the plants themselves. Nothing looks bad but I can clearly see a difference. Weird.

here is the better-looking lower portion...







[/URL][/IMG]

and here is further up the slope, the not-so-good portion. You may notice the better-looking plants in the bottom of the photo...







[/URL][/IMG]

Here is a (blurry) pic of the staurogyne repens. It's looking quite happy...







[/URL][/IMG]

The cyperus helferi is a few days planted here...







[/URL][/IMG]

Lots more white roots on the hydrocotyle...







[/URL][/IMG]

Anubias are holding out, still look wilty but no rotting! e. parvula just sitting and doing not much apparent...







[/URL][/IMG]

A close-up of the e. parvula...







[/URL][/IMG]

Glosso is putting out some new leaves...







[/URL][/IMG]

The pogostemon helferi is doing fine, the second planting is a few days old, here...







[/URL][/IMG]

The bacopa monnieri is doing really well. Lots of new growth. I had wondered if the substrate would be wet enough as this is the high point in the layout...







[/URL][/IMG]

Here is the left side of the tank (sorry, not rotated, oops)







[/URL][/IMG]

And the right...







[/URL][/IMG]

Still no mould, still spraying RO water daily. Lights still the same. I am going to leave the tank in the care of my mother as we are going on holiday for a week. Here's hoping all will be well!

Thanks for viewing/commenting.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Any updates???


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Tank journal 4 weeks in...

Okay, so here it is a month already since the new build began. Still no water in the tank, fish are still waiting in the temporary tanks. Boo-hiss, no fish to watch! There is no report on the 3 week mark because I was away. My tank was in the hands of my extremely competent mother who followed all instructions diligently! Thanks Mom! 
I am getting a bit panicky about getting this thing filled. Some of the plants not-yet-planted are starting to look scraggly down there in my temporary tank. While away, one of the grow-lights burned out and the tank has been under-illuminated for about 5 days. I came home from holiday with another cold and haven't driven into town to buy a replacement bulb. Hang in there, guys!

The main tank is starting to show some strain. The cyperus helferi has an alarming number of yellow leaves. I don't know if this was caused by the switch to a DSM life or because of the division I did. The base of the plant looks okay and I think I spot some new white roots growing into the substrate. Still, I better get this thing flooded and CO2 going!







[/URL][/IMG]







[/URL][/IMG]

The pogostemon helferi is worrying me too. The leaves lowest down on the stems are yellowed and probably done-for. The leaves above that are looking yellow too. A couple of plants are mostly submerged due to misting and it looks like they are going to melt. Comparing what I see to earlier pictures, I'd say the pogostemon helferi isn't too happy at all. Yes, panic is setting in!







[/URL][/IMG]







[/URL][/IMG]

All other plants are doing great. 
The bacopa monnieri has a tremendous amount of growth.







[/URL][/IMG]

The staurogyne repens is really taking off. I can see little roots spreading out from the plantlets I planted.







[/URL][/IMG]

Same for the glosso. It doesn't seem to mind being mostly submerged.







[/URL][/IMG]

The HC looks pretty happy. I can see little stems spreading out now! The plantlets at the lowest elevation are partially submerged now but no sign of melt. Phewf.







[/URL][/IMG]







[/URL][/IMG]

The anubias aren't too thrilled with their situation at the moment. I can see some leaf edges yellowing. Still no rotting and still looking wilty. I can't make out if there are new roots growing into the substrate.







[/URL][/IMG]

The e. Parvula still doesn't look like it's done much. At least it's still green!







[/URL][/IMG]

That hydrocotyle is really happy. There are lots of roots now. I hope they have anchored themselves well otherwise when I flood it'll be like a poor quality toupe on a windy day!







[/URL][/IMG]

The sand "river" is all submerged now and I can see some algae growing there. Uh-oh. Should I siphon off that water before I flood? It might be another 24-48 hours before I get a chance to do that.

Before I finish planting and fill the tank I have to set up my new UV sterilizer. I have been researching online how to connect a UV unit inline with a Rena filter. The best documentation I could find came from right here on BCA! It was a thread started by abayomi, and contributions by jbyoung00008 and clownloachlover were so helpful! Thanks, guys! Hooray BCA!
I hope to set up the sterilizer tonight. It's an AquaGard Q15. My husband is picking up some unions and other plumbing bits from an irrigation shop for it. We'll see how that goes.

There, now my journal is only 1 day behind real time!


----------



## target (Apr 21, 2010)

Looking good. You have some good patience. I don't know if I could've waited this long to flood it.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

target said:


> Looking good. You have some good patience. I don't know if I could've waited this long to flood it.


Yeah, it's been a long wait. Any day now!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

UV STERILIZER

**I do have some pics but flickr isn't letting me log in to go retrieve them. Weird. I'll add them when I can log in again.**

This is my new microbe zapper. A LifeGard Q15. 
PIC

I used to have a turbo twist 9watt that did the job just fine. It conked out on me after 18 months and instead of replacing it I got this bad boy. J&L Boxing Day sale, what can I say, I’m as susceptible as the next aquari-enthusiast! The instructions say to install this as the last thing that happens to the water before returning to the tank. The turbo twist used to run on its own mini water pump that just pulled water out of the back corner of my tank. Worked fine but the hoses were unsightly. This unit I’m going to try and install in line with my Rena XP3. According to Rena, they say do not fiddle with the plumbing on your filter at all. Some guff about warranty coverage. Well, snip, snip, I’m going to cut some tubing! 

First, I have to figure out how best to fit it in my cabinet. This thing can be positioned vertically or horizontally. I tried positioning it horizontally in the ceiling of the stand. This would provide the most direct route for the plumbing. Out of the filter’s outflow, a few inches of tubing and into the UV’s “IN” port. Then “OUT” and through the hole in the back wall of my cabinet and the filter tubing continues up to the tank. Sounded good to me. 
PIC

This didn’t work because once the hard-plumbing was added to the unit, there wouldn’t be enough front to back space for all of that. Hmmm. 

If I position it vertically, the UV’s “IN” and “OUT” would be on the cabinet floor and the filter outflow is on the top of the filter. How to get the tubing to bend that much? I am cautious about bending the tubing where it comes out of the filter’s quick disconnect. I had some stress cracks develop last year and yes, the filter leaked. I got a new quick disconnect. Now I try and keep the tubing’s alignment as close as I can to the in/out ports on the filter.

I can’t see how else to position the unit in my cabinet. I don’t want it outside the cabinet as it’s pretty big and I don’t want visible equipment in my living room. I’m going to try placing it on the floor of the cabinet and have the filter tubing (I’ve got two extra Rena tubes) come off the filter, do a loop-de-loop and enter the unit. I hope this keep the strain off the quick disconnect. I also hope the extra length of tubing doesn’t reduce the filter’s flow too much. 

I want to have unions on this thing. For the annual maintenance, I don’t want to be slicing my filter tubing in order to get at the UV bulb. Hooray for unions. Actually I’m tempted to hard plumb the filter but I don’t know enough about doing that and I need my tank running pronto.

My husband came home with some PVC unions and barb adapters this evening. LifeGard provides some pieces that you PVC glue into the ports on the unit. This needs time to cure. The unions he bought will work great with the LifeGard pieces. BUT! The barbthread adapter won’t work. The Rena tubing is 5/8th inch. Really, Rena, really? Nobody does 5/8th’s! You can only buy ½” or ¾” around here. Grrr! The barbthread adapter’s inside diameter looks quite a bit less than the Rena tubing. Hmm, too much flow restriction? I don’t know! I had hoped to plumb this tonight so I can start planting tomorrow. My husband will make another trip the shop to see what else we can use. Stupid Rena 5/8th, mumble, curse.


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

To get my plumbing for my 16 mm Eheim tubing (very close to 5/8"), I used a 3/4" reducer with a 5/8" barbed end on one side. It was brass. Like this, but obviously not this size. I believe Daniel picked it up at Corix (we had the same setup so he got two sets). Watts | Brass ID Hose Barb to Male Hose Adaptor (1/2 x 3/4) | Home Depot Canada


----------



## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Wow...AMAZING patience, I know it would be tough for me to do dry start :bigsmile:


----------



## target (Apr 21, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> To get my plumbing for my 16 mm Eheim tubing (very close to 5/8"), I used a 3/4" reducer with a 5/8" barbed end on one side. It was brass. Like this, but obviously not this size. I believe Daniel picked it up at Corix (we had the same setup so he got two sets). Watts | Brass ID Hose Barb to Male Hose Adaptor (1/2 x 3/4) | Home Depot Canada


Yes, I still have the 2 adapters. Both are threaded into 3/4" ball valves. Let me know if you're interested. Although shipping might be a pain.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Thanks, you two. My husband found some barb/thread adapters that will work. 3/4" barbs. Hold the tubing in piping hot water and jam it on. Note to self: Don't forget to put the hose clamp on first!! Finally hook everything up tonight! Yes, shipping would be a pain but thanks for the offer!

PLANT PREP
Right! Getting closer to the BIG FLOOD...Today is plant prep day. I am trying to avoid any Malaysian Trumpet snails in this build. They were out of control in the previous build. I don’t really know if it will work but I’m trying a snail dip of Potassium Permanganate. PP. In about 20L of water I dissolved about ¼ tsp of the powder. Turned the water a very deep purple, it did. I thought it would smell bleachy but there’s no smell at all. As this stuff stains permanently I am wearing nitrile gloves and old clothes. Dipped my toughest plant first; a large anubia. I left it in the dip for 5 minutes. The plant came out looking fine. So did the snail crawling around in the rinse bucket. Hmmm. Okay, longer dip time. 30 minutes. After 10 minutes I added some less tough plants: a crypt and alternanthera and pogostemon erectus. Then I added the more delicate looking plants for a final 10 minutes. After the dip, the anubia roots were all brown but other than that the plants looked okay coming out of the dip. I hope I haven’t killed any! 

The rinse system is 5 buckets of water with about 12L of water per bucket. Then I added 1 and a half caps (7.5mL) of Prime to each bucket. This is over 5 times the suggested dosage amount of 5mL per 200L. The final tub is my holding container for the prepped plants. I won’t have time to start the planting today. But tomorrow for sure!

Tonight I hope to set up that UV sterilizer. My husband reports he’s bringing home a ¾” barbthread adapter that will screw into the union. Hopefully we can force the 5/8th tubing onto it.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

AM FLOODING TANK RIGHT THIS MINUTE!! Whoooot!

No time to do the write-up tonight. Maybe tomorrow. Too excited about this not to share right away!


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Woohoo! You go girl


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

greenfin said:


> Tonight I hope to set up that UV sterilizer. My husband reports he's bringing home a ¾" barbthread adapter that will screw into the union. Hopefully we can force the 5/8th tubing onto it.


If it doesn't work don't force it and end up having a burst hose. Just get one of these and a short length of 3/4" hose. Hose Barb Reducer 3/4 inch x 5/8 inch


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

2wheelsx2 said:


> If it doesn't work don't force it and end up having a burst hose. Just get one of these and a short length of 3/4" hose. Hose Barb Reducer 3/4 inch x 5/8 inch


Thanks for that. Didn't know they made those. 
Well, the hose fit on with no real problem. Got a hose clamp and some electrical tape reinforcing the first few inches. OMG, is a burst hose likely? Panic?


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Okay, pictures tomorrow.
Got it all planted (list tomorrow)
Filled it (exciting and boring at the same time)
Fired up the equipment....
Aaaaaannnd
We have a LEAK!!!
I am so bummed out. It's 11pm and I'm so tired. 
Where we glued the PVC part (from LifeGard) into the unit has a leak. a drip a second. I can see where it's coming out. I've shut off the filter and closed off the tubing with the quick disconnect lever. Maybe for piece of mind tonight (did I mention how tired I am?) I will keep the outflow bar out of the water. 
This is so crushing. I don't have the heart to wake my hubby to tell him. Let him sleep tonight!
I may cry now!


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

if you can take it off, you can prob just drip some pipe glue over it. should fuse in the crack.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Okay, I'll try something like that. Got no choice, really because the UV unit is toast unless I can stop the leak.

Good news is the filter had plenty of ooomph to move the water through everything.


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I didn't want to point it out since you already had made the purchase, but I was steered away from the Lifeguard for that reason. The Coralife is easier to route with hose and make leak-free. But it's not impossible, just more work. People do hard plumbing all the time without leaks so I'm sure you can fix it.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

2wheelsx2 said:


> I didn't want to point it out since you already had made the purchase, but I was steered away from the Lifeguard for that reason. The Coralife is easier to route with hose and make leak-free. But it's not impossible, just more work. People do hard plumbing all the time without leaks so I'm sure you can fix it.


Thanks, 2wheels. I guess I should have researched the brand better. Well, the leak was coming from the threaded union thingy (sorry, lack of proper terminology) we bought and not the LifeGard piece. The PVC glue job was okay. I took my own-bought plumbing pieces off to investigate. I redid the teflon tape with a higher quality teflon tape and threaded it on further into the LifeGard reducer piece. No leaks. Hopefully I don't have to worry about future leaks! The plumbing of it was a hassle as the Rena tubing wasn't as forgiving of a tight bend as I had hoped. It's pretty crowded in my cabinet but it's been working fine all day.

Still haven't had time to write up a proper journal entry.

Things are looking good. CO2 4 bubbles / second and there's some pearling on everything. Want to put my fish in NOW. But, alas no. More waiting.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

PLANTING & FLOODING	
Today is the big day. At long last! 
Prepped all the plants yesterday. Here is a list of what is going in today
Hemianthus micranthemoids
Rotala rotundifolia
Alternanthera reineckii "purple"
Pogostemon erectus
Blyxa japonica
Hygrophila corymbosa "siamensis 53B"
Anubia barteri
Otamogeton gayi
Cryptocoryne wendtii "brown"

Got the heater in, the airstone, the filter pipes, the CO2 diffuser. Yee-haw here I go! I planted the low spots first then filled with some water. That was a relief to get the hose going! I can take water right out of my tap so I run a hose up from the basement sink into the tank. I put a fog/mist nozzle on the end of the hose. It worked really well and the substrate wasn't disturbed. I could just hang the nozzle over the tank edge and sit back and watch. It took 5 hours to fill. As the water level rose, I planted different sections. Didn't take too long to plant as the tank was half planted anyway! I'm liking this DSM! Overall, it was not too hard to wait for weeks before flooding the tank because I can't often spend hours and hours on end working on my tank. Setting it up in stages worked for me. I should mention that if I hadn't been away for a stretch during the 4 weeks, I would have flooded sooner.

Some of the plants were in rough shape after their wait in my temporary tank.
The crypts were a bit sparse. I had wanted to plant them denser but only had a few good plantlets to use. The substrate is quite shallow here and the front right corner of my tank is difficult for me to work in as I'm right handed and not very agile. Lots of muttering of bad words doing this corner! I put the crypts here because they seem to tolerate a lower light area and they were one of the least-maintenance plants I had in my previous build. Hopefully this corner will fill in with dark, mysterious crypts and I won't often have to trim this area. 







[/URL][/IMG]

The blyxa were looking quite translucent and brittle. I think some melt was setting in. I don't know much about this plant or how big it will get but planting them was easy. I hope they will flourish now they're in their new home.







[/URL][/IMG]

The rotala had been very vigorous and pink when I tore down my tank. The 7 weeks floating in my temporary tank were not good. Most of the bunch melted away and what was left was wilty, with sickly-brown leaves and blackening stems. I saved the healthiest of the stems and planted them. The stems had aerial roots coming off so they should recover. The plant grouping looks quite forlorn at the moment.







[/URL][/IMG]

The pogostemon erectus had gone root-mad in the temporary tank. It was a snarled mess of roots that I swear were 12" long. I'm afraid to report, I ended up tearing the plant up a bit roughly in order to get a group of plantlets. It looks like a tough plant so I'm not too worried yet. 







[/URL][/IMG]

I'm trying the 53B again. It was never really happy in the previous build. Maybe it was too shaded or maybe it didn't like Java moss choking out its stems. I cut a few stems into lots of little plantlets and as they all had roots I figure they will thrive. I put them in a brighter location this time.

The hemianthus micranthemoides was a let-down. I had so much of this stuff saved floating in a big mass in my temporary tank. I didn't really notice but I guess it melted away. I only had enough to plant 1/3 of the area I wanted to cover. Dang, this means more maintenance hours as I carefully snip and replant the stems to get it to fill in.







[/URL][/IMG]

The anubia went in pretty easily. I weighed down the rhizome with some lead strips off the plants I bought and poked the roots into the substrate. I bent the strips into a "U" and draped them over the rhizome. The ends of the "U" poke down into the substrate. It should attach to the piece of wood eventually. Then I can pull off the lead strips. I used this technique before and it worked really well for anubias. I had to cut a lot of leaves off the plant because as it was floating, the leaves grew sideways to the rhizome and it wouldn't fit in the new scape. It looks a bit pruned right now but I bet it will be happy soon.







[/URL][/IMG]

The otamogeton survived the temporary holding just fine. It had some blackened areas but as I had so very much of it I could be choosy as I replanted. A little goes a long way of this stuff. Once it's established it fills in nicely. I planted it near the heater this time so we'll see if it minds the nearness of the hot water. I hope it disguises the heater.

The cyperus helferi got a severe haircut to get rid of all the yellow leaves. It should recover...







[/URL][/IMG]

The pogostemon helferi looks very sad and shocky. Many, many yellowed leaves floated up as I was filling. This plant has really got me worried. I think it did fine being planted as a DSM but only until about the 2 week mark. Then it started to show stress. I will closely monitor its progress. It's so hard to get a hold of I'm desperate it should thrive for me!







[/URL][/IMG]

The HC is looking really good. Lots of pearling and no mould or melt whatsoever.







[/URL][/IMG]

I am keeping an eye on the bits of algae that were accumulating in the submerged part of the river bed. The tank circulation has swept all those slimy bits all over the tank. Hmm, maybe I should have siphoned it out first. Uh-oh. It looks a bit like thread algae. 







[/URL][/IMG]

So, all the plants are in and the water is in! 







[/URL][/IMG]







[/URL][/IMG]







[/URL][/IMG]

Doesn't that look more like an aquarium now!

I fired up all the equipment and yes, the UV sterilizer leaked. The next day I fixed that and all is well now.

I have the CO2 running at 4 bubbles per second to really saturate the water with CO2 to help the DSM plants acclimate to a submerged life. I'm once again glad I took the plunge and got a pressurized system. Worth the money. An airstone runs when the CO2 and lights are off.

I'm not sure what the best photo period should be. Any advice would be welcome. Currently, the lights are on a 12 hour photo period. Two bulbs for 12 hours and two more bulbs join in for a 4 hour period near the end of the day. I wonder if this is too much.

It's done! It's done! How exciting! Now the work begins...


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

I should add that a few days after filling I've had to go away briefly. Before I left I got paranoid my CO2 would run out while I was gone. The day I went to the airport I had it filled. My instincts were right as the tank was almost empty! I do have a gauge on the regulator but I think it's faulty. The arm is always pointing at the same position on the face. Anyways, it's full now and I can go away without worry about that. There is only one place in Kelowna to get a tank filled. Once they were even out of CO2 when I ran out!


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

There is only one place which does welding or fire extinguisher refilling in all of Kelowna? Either of those places should do CO2 fillups.


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

It's looking good. Photo period is really dependent on the tank performance. If I were you I would start with no more 8 - 9 hours and see how the plants are doing and work up or down from that. When you first flood a tank, diatom and green dust algae are usually problems and keeping the photoperiod low and doing more water changes makes them easier, but each tank is different. Looking at your tank the plant mass is still low so you might even go as low as 6. Are you turning on/off the CO2 before the lights go on/off?


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Your tank is looking awesome! I can't wait for it to fill in. Where did you fill your co2 tank? The only one I have found so far is a paintball place down town


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

KMS tools is the only place I found. Ask for Dennis or Tim. vital aire (i think thats the name) will fill a tank that you rent from them. but not your own. I didnt know about a paintball place downtown. Vernon doesnt have any place at all...? Anyone in Vernon have the answer?

Feb11th: It's not vital aire but prax air.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

shift said:


> Your tank is looking awesome! I can't wait for it to fill in. Where did you fill your co2 tank? The only one I have found so far is a paintball place down town


Well, thank you!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

2wheelsx2 said:


> There is only one place which does welding or fire extinguisher refilling in all of Kelowna? Either of those places should do CO2 fillups.


Yup, just the one. Something about by-laws, perhaps? I don't know. Once I went to fill my tank and they were out! Ack!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

2wheelsx2 said:


> It's looking good. Photo period is really dependent on the tank performance. If I were you I would start with no more 8 - 9 hours and see how the plants are doing and work up or down from that. When you first flood a tank, diatom and green dust algae are usually problems and keeping the photoperiod low and doing more water changes makes them easier, but each tank is different. Looking at your tank the plant mass is still low so you might even go as low as 6. Are you turning on/off the CO2 before the lights go on/off?


Thanks!
Okay, I better dial it back for a bit. Thanks for the info. Yes, the CO2 is on the same timer as the lights. If I had the room on my power bar, I'd put it on its own timer.


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Consider getting one of these. Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Lite

For just over $100 you have piece of mind that the cheap thermostat in your heater is not going to fry your fish and then you can turn your lights and CO2 on and off independent, and then plug a power power into the biggest circuit for everything else.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Consider getting one of these. Digital Aquatics Reef Keeper Lite
> 
> For just over $100 you have piece of mind that the cheap thermostat in your heater is not going to fry your fish and then you can turn your lights and CO2 on and off independent, and then plug a power power into the biggest circuit for everything else.


I know, I've looked into those Neptune Apex controllers (want!). When I get back to work I may save up for one. My husband does controls automation for a living and when he gets the time (ha!) he might mess around with building me one. And a dosing system...and.....uh-oh getting into the sw realm! one day, one day!


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Just incase you want to building a dosing system > Arduino Controlled Dosing Pumps | Fish Tank Projects ..ill make it easy for him


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Thanks, Shift. I haven't checked it out yet, but I will.

Just phoned home and the report is I've got quite the garden of this long stringy looking green stuff growing on everything. Eeeeep! I got hubby to decrease the lighting. (Thanks, my love). I'm wondering what I'm going to see when I get home? Hang on fish tank, Mommy's coming....

I bet I'll be asking for help soon on the forum!


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

More CO2 and shorter photoperiods (or get your mom to start dosing matricide since it will act as an algaecide)


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

shift said:


> (or get your mom to start dosing matricide since it will act as an algaecide)


I think you meant her husband.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

2wheelsx2 said:


> I think you meant her husband.


ha ha, yes. My mother took care of the tank a few weeks ago but she is here with me in Victoria right now!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

GAAAAAAHHHH!!!!
Look what I came home to!







[/URL][/IMG]

Help!!

Three days after flooding the tank I had to go away on very short notice for about a week. My mistake? Hadn't reset the light timers from my previous set up. Only warning was my poor husband phoning me to say I've got some crazy green algae growing so fast he could practically see it. Is that bad, honey? Got him to reduce the lighting. 
Also didn't realize the heater never got plugged in. Not good!
Heater is now plugged in.
The photo period is now 2 54w on for 9hrs day.
CO2 at 4 bubbles/second (no change there)
Just did 50% water change
Physically removed as much algae as I could. The siphon action of the hose was pretty effective.

Most of the plants look okay at the moment. The carpet plants are pretty choked out. The HC isn't too affected. However the two hardest hit are the blyxa japonica and the pogostemon helferi. The blyxa is practically melted into nothing and the pogostemon helferi has about half of its leaves melted. Oh no!

A few hours have gone by since the big water change and there is a fair amount of pearling going on. Still lots of the algae undulating on the glass. I scraped most of it but not all. I sure hope that UV sterilizer is going to work in my favour.

I have some questions now...

Would a week (or so) of dosing metricide help? That is what I have. I have been looking for a dosing value. I think I need/should dose 9mL per day for a tank this size. Somebody stop me if I'm wrong. Excel users dose 2 to 3 times the recommended maintenance dose for algae treatment (eg if 1mL/10gal is daily recommended amount then dose 2mL/10gal. or 3mL/10gal if you want to treat algae.) I believe using metricide at half this amount is suggested on forums.

Does anyone think that the lack of warm enough water (no heater for a week) or the algae caused the blyxa to melt so drastically? Just curious. Our house is kept warm (for the baby) at about 20.5 degrees so it wasn't totally cold in there. But still.

Any other advice to turn this around would be appreciated. I will go and test water parameters right now.
GH, KH, pH, amonia, nitrite, nitrate...anything else?


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

I would defiantly heavily over dose metracide for a week or two


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Water parameters

pH = 6.8 or as near as I can figure with these vague colour matching squares
KH = 4
GH = 6
amonia, nitrite = clear
nitrate = clear but possibly a hint of purple?


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

To much light not enough co2. And give it lots of metracide


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

shift said:


> I would defiantly heavily over dose metracide for a week or two


Okay thanks. Do you think 9mL/90gal is a suitable dose? I should dilute some in a 1L container of RO water? Pour that in slowly?


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

If there is no livestock in the tank then i would probably double that for a 90g


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

You're bottomed in nitrates. You need to dose the tank. Are you using EI? You are running the risk of a BGA outbreak. I agree on lowering the lighting period.

Lower light lowers demands on nutrients. Carbon (CO2) is only one of the primary nutrients, albeit an important one.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

shift said:


> If there is no livestock in the tank then i would probably double that for a 90g


no livestock. I could put in about 18 mLs tonight.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

2wheelsx2 said:


> You're bottomed in nitrates. You need to dose the tank. Are you using EI? You are running the risk of a BGA outbreak. I agree on lowering the lighting period.
> 
> Lower light lowers demands on nutrients. Carbon (CO2) is only one of the primary nutrients, albeit an important one.


Funny thing about the nitrates. Might be my test kit. I regularly would test nitrates and always got clear. The tank ran healthy enough and I did the seachem line of ferts. Never had BGA. How do I know if it's the test kit? It's the nutrafin brand. Only two years old and has always tested clear. So, not reliable? What fert chemical increases the nitrates?

I thought you shouldn't dose ferts on a brand new set up with the AquaSoil. It's not a problem to add them I just haven't been. I can do NPK as well as the Flourish (micro) and the Trace. I also have an iron fert. I dosed these weekly and never saw any signs of deficiency on my plants. Quite the reverse!

I can mix up a cocktail tonight and add it with the metricide.

Thanks you two!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

So a 7 hour photoperiod?

And keep the CO2 fizzing like stink?


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

greenfin said:


> Funny thing about the nitrates. Might be my test kit. I regularly would test nitrates and always got clear. The tank ran healthy enough and I did the seachem line of ferts. Never had BGA. How do I know if it's the test kit? It's the nutrafin brand. Only two years old and has always tested clear. So, not reliable? What fert chemical increases the nitrates?
> 
> I thought you shouldn't dose ferts on a brand new set up with the AquaSoil. It's not a problem to add them I just haven't been. I can do NPK as well as the Flourish (micro) and the Trace. I also have an iron fert. I dosed these weekly and never saw any signs of deficiency on my plants. Quite the reverse!
> 
> ...


KNO3 for potassium and nitrate. The best way to check your test kit is to mix up a reference solution with KNO3 and then test with you kit. It doesn't have to be accurate. Use one of the calculators online to see how much you need in a volume of water to get a certain concentration and then test with your kit. With regard to your tank, even with Aquasoil your nitrates could be zero if your light is high enough and your CO2 high enough, to drive up the uptake rate. I dosed EI after 1 month in my ADA cube. First the first month I did a dry start so when I flooded the tank I dosed nitrates right away, but did daily wc's for 2 weeks and then went to 2x a week after that.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Thanks for that. I'm happy to have a way to test my test kit as I've never really trusted it. 

Forgive my ignorance but I'm not sure what KNO3 is. I know Potassium is "K" and Nitrogen is "N". And nitrate itself is "NO3". When you suggest dosing KNO3 do you mean a combination of N and K?


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

KNO3 is potassium nitrate. In dry form it's just a powder. You should be able to get it at any hydroponics store. I dose dry ferts in my tanks. Sorry, I did not even think that you were not using dry and did not bother to explain. One of those problems where you have been doing something so long that you assume everyone knows what you're talking about.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

2wheelsx2 said:


> KNO3 is potassium nitrate. In dry form it's just a powder. You should be able to get it at any hydroponics store. I dose dry ferts in my tanks. Sorry, I did not even think that you were not using dry and did not bother to explain. One of those problems where you have been doing something so long that you assume everyone knows what you're talking about.


Now I know too! 
I will try dosing dry ferts when I run out of the liquid ones I have. I hope they'll do the job for now.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

ALGAE UPDATE
Third day dosing 10mL's metricide...no noticeable decline in algae but at least it's not growing like crazy now! 
The lighting is 9hrs per day, two bulbs only. CO2 is still 4 bubbles/second. 
I plan to drop that CO2 back but I had read somewhere that lots of CO2 may hinder algae and help the plants...sure, I'll try that.

FISH UPDATE
I noticed the behaviour of the fish in the temporary tank has changed recently. I can only describe it as "pouting". I think the over-loaded 27 gallon needs to be "less fish"! I have done water testing on the main tank and after two weeks, it may be cycled. May. I had zero readings in amonia, nitrite and nitrate and if my test kit isn't false then I should be good to go. My lucky neons are going to try it out! I scooped them out of the 27 gallon and put them in their newly renovated home! Extreme makeover edition! They have been in for 24 hours and not one has snuffed it yet. Boy, is it nice to see fish again! That feels better! 







[/URL][/IMG]

PLANTS UPDATE
The two plants that I'm worried about are even worse. The blyxa is down to mush and the pogostemon helferi has even less healthy leaves. Nervous!







[/URL][/IMG]







[/URL][/IMG]

The rest are algae-covered but look okay.
I detected new leaves emerging on my anubia 







[/URL][/IMG]
and my crypt!







[/URL][/IMG]
The rotala has some new leaves sprouting too.
The HC has filled in so nicely

If I can kick this algae before it kills the plants, I'll be in good shape!
I will post more photos soon...no time to finish it just now.

Thanks for reading and thanks for advising!


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I'd up the metricide dosing. I put about 30 mLs in my 50gal so I would suggest that you work your way up to that amount. Some plants don't like metricide though so not sure if your dosage hurt the blyxa or pogostemon.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Reckon said:


> I'd up the metricide dosing. I put about 30 mLs in my 50gal so I would suggest that you work your way up to that amount. Some plants don't like metricide though so not sure if your dosage hurt the blyxa or pogostemon.


Hmmm, that is a dilemma. I'd hate to melt the weak plants like the blyxa. Without really knowing what will happen, I'm hesitant. It's such a hassle for me to replace plants that die off. If the metricide hasn't really killed algae after three doses, perhaps I'm fine to increase the dose.

On the other hand, if the tank is cycled I will add my crew of oto's. They must be hungry by now. Not a lot of algae in my temporary tank. If I'm planning to add more fish soon, is it wise to have a lot of metricide in there? And what about my shrimp? I'd add them too if I could. They'd eat that algae, I'm sure. I've read shrimp are sensitive to metricide. It's a tough situation. A race between adding algae eating crews as soon as I can and losing the plants to the algae if the metricide isn't adequate. ACK!


----------



## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Beauty tank, crazy algae. Hopefully you can figure out a way to get rid of it and the reason why it showed up :0

If it was me. Id scrape all the algae off the back glass. Use a hose to suck the algae out of the tank while you scrape it. Try to remove as much of it as possible. The metricide dosing does work but if it wipes out half your plants than Id look for other options.


----------



## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

I think the B.Japonica will grow back as long as the root is there, even if the leaves melted away.
I do not like to use excel because I find that they can be hard on the live stock in the tank. I will just take out as much as I can, do some big time water change, decrese the lighting period, increase aeration, and just send in the power rangers aka algae clean up crew and see how it goes.


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

The Blyxa is sensitive to metricide for sure. Even with regular dosage I could never get my Blyxa to look very nice. Overdosing will probably eventually kill it. I always only try overdosing metricide as a last resort. If I were in your position, I would use a toothbrush to mechanically remove as much as possible each tank, ensure my CO2 is on track, reduce the lighting to < 8 hours and do daily water changes and dose EI style. Tom Barr always advocates when in doubt, do a water change. Water changes can only help the plants and won't hurt them.

Edit: Fish Rookie beat me to it.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Such great help and advice. Thanks to everyone! 

I've been thinking about what to do all day. I'm itching to put the oto's and shrimp in there. They'd think it was an american style all you can eat buffet complete with dessert bar. I don't know if I'll have time to do a water change + algae scrape/siphon today or tomorrow. But Friday for sure and with a water change I'd feel better about adding these critters. The neons are all looking great so far. 

I couldn't find out on my own internet searching what blyxa or pogostemon think of metricide/excel. Thanks 2wheels and reckon for your tips on that plant. It looks much worse since I added the metricide. Could be a coincidence but I doubt it.

I'm leaning in favour of trying the more natural approach to the algae. I'd rather get fish in the tank!!! 

Thanks again! I am so grateful to be a member of BCA!


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I had an algae problem with my Pogostemon helferi because of blocked flow that I'm dealing with and I've been spot dosing metricide on them and I have not had problems with it. But on the Blyxa japonica, they definitely didn't like it.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Low does of metracide with fish should be okay. Pull out as much algae as you can. Scrape the plants and spot treat the badappys. Add a bunch of ottos and ammanos and you should be good :


----------



## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

O forgot to mention probably more flow and make sure no dead corner will help to keep your algae from forming again.
I prefer the more natural approach but that is just me. Otos in my opinion are quite hardy. If your tank is cycled you can add them in and let them have their buffet.
In my experience, B.Japonica is a hardy plants once established but excel can ruin them. If you just cut out the leaves with algae they probably will grow back.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

This post contains a bazillion pics of the plants...down at the bottom is a full tank shot.

ALGAE UPDATE
I'm concerned about my blyxa melting so dramatically after I dosed with the metricide. I quit after 3 doses because I think I'd rather let the algae eating crew do their thing now. I think the tank may be cycled now and the neons I put in a few days ago all look content. The metricide did do something because the bright green colour is now a dull green. I can't really be sure if it was the metricide that caused the blyxa to melt but I don't want to continue dosing if that's what it was. If the shrimp are sensitive to metricide then I don't want to dose it anymore for that reason either. So, algae is not under control but I'm switching battle tactics.

PLANT UPDATE
Except for the blyxa and the pogostemon helferi, all plants are doing quite well. I have started the ferts up after being advised to do so. I have the SeaChem line of ferts and follow the dosing suggestions on the bottles. The Trace makes me a little nervous as it seems to have a fair bit of Copper in it. I dose that at half the suggested dose and haven't lost a shrimp yet.

Here is the pogostemon helferi looking desperate







[/URL][/IMG]

And what is left of the blyxa







[/URL][/IMG]

The cyperus helferi is looking pretty good despite its haircut.







[/URL][/IMG]

The rotala has some new little leaves poking out of the substrate and I can see roots snaking down from it. Good, this looked very scraggly and blackened when I planted it. It does not like spending weeks floating in a tank with poor CO2 levels.







[/URL][/IMG]

The hemianthus micranthemoides is sort of picking up now. New leaves are popping out over top of the algae. There's hope there but I still don't have enough to cover the area I wanted.







[/URL][/IMG]

The staurogyne repens just keeps on trucking, even with the algae. 







[/URL][/IMG]

So does the HC. Nice carpet I've got now.







[/URL][/IMG]

The bacopa monnieri is really taking off. Several inches tall now.







[/URL][/IMG]

The alternanthera has new leaves growing on the top of the stems. I've seen lots of leaves floating around that have fallen off but I'm encouraged by the new growth. Sorry about the blurry photo, hard angle to take a pic of







[/URL][/IMG]

The pogostemon erectus is starting to live up to its name and is becoming more, uh, erect. Perhaps I've planted it a bit too dense. Hope this plant doesn't become a monster.







[/URL][/IMG]

The corymbosa is looking rather sad at the moment. It isn't sending out new leaves and has dropped quite a few but it's not dead yet!







[/URL][/IMG]

The glosso is pretty choked out with algae but there are new leaves and a few runners. 







[/URL][/IMG]

The e. Parvula is very choked out but still looks okay. I guess it has filled in now I compare it to earlier photos. 







[/URL][/IMG]


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

cont'd from post #80...

The hydrocotyle is looking pretty good.







[/URL][/IMG]

That big anubia has a new leaf. It's not totally happy yet but I'm sure it's going to come through.







[/URL][/IMG]

Java fern, what can I say. Tough plant.







[/URL][/IMG]

Crypts. These things got hit hard by the algae and a lot of leaves melted. But! The plants have new tender leaves emerging. It'll take a while but they'll fill in I'm sure.







[/URL][/IMG]

Anubias have new leaves too. No need to worry here.







[/URL][/IMG]

And here is a whole tank shot. Like that C3PO line from Star Wars, "that's funny, the damage doesn't look as bad from out here."







[/URL][/IMG]

FISH UPDATE
The neons have been in for a week. All look pretty happy and not one lost yet. The other day I put in 20 amano shrimp and my 4 oto's. Yipeee! When I put the shrimp in they went straight to the bottom and began stuffing their faces with algae. Now that's what I'm talking about! Munch munch munch! My new favourite critters! Wish I had 20 more! The oto's looked a little freaked out at first but are now darting about the tank like a hungry shopper at Costco. You know, lots of samples. When the time is right I'm adding my angelfish back in. And the bleeding hearts. I may wait on the cories because I'm not sure if they will uproot the plants or not. I also have a bristlenose pleco whom I've named Bruiser. He isn't terribly buoyant and he flopped around the tank mangling my carpet plants. I don't feel I want to put him back in yet. Even though he'd help with the algae.

Thanks for looking!


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

The tank looks fantastic. Don't worry, Amanos are voracious little buggers. They'll all the algae sooner than you think.
The Hydrocotyle does look pretty sweet. I never thought about having them start higher up and then drape down. You've given me some ideas. Keep up the great work!


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Yep looks like it's coming around. Amanos are pretty effective algae eaters (if you can keep them from crawling out of the tank across the room and drying out.  )


----------



## Bobsidd (Dec 28, 2012)

How's the algae battle coming along? I can't wait to see this tank filled in and flourishing.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

I'm sorry my journal has fallen behind by a week. I have last week's entry ready to upload. Was out of town again. But this time I got to hit all the Vancouver fish stores! Woo-hoo! More plants! More equipment! More fish!...Less money. Oh. 

It's looking pretty good now the algae is mostly gone. Just waiting for it to start growing!


----------



## Phillyb (Jan 18, 2011)

Looking good, keep up the great work!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

ALGAE UPDATE
I still have algae but it's slowing disappearing. A few days ago I siphoned off more long threads and sucked up some around the pogostemon helferi. The algae crew is doing their thing! Noticed what I think is green spot algae. Never had that before. I scraped it off the glass with my razor blade. For a week I had this oily scum on the surface. It's gone now but I'm not sure what caused that. Even the airstone didn't really break it up.

PARAMETERS UPDATE
The lights are on a two-bulb, 9hr period now. CO2 is 1.5 bubbles/second. The pH dropped to just under 6.5 and the KH to 2 (GH at 5). The water change helped bring those values up. Added ferts after water changes. I'm liking the open top tank. No cleaning the glass from water stains each week. High evaporation though. The airstone sends out water droplets. I have rigged up an aluminum foil tent with some barbeque skewers (more kitchen stuff!) to stop the water spraying my light fixture. I have to remember to remove it in the morning.

FISH UPDATE
Now have 6 bleeding hearts and 2 angelfish added; one adult and one baby. The adult angelfish looks like it suffered some mental anguish while in the temporary tank. For some reason the others really picked on it. All it does now is hover in a corner. It reluctantly comes out for food but I'm worried about it. I'm keeping the other three out for a while to see if it bounces back now it knows it isn't going to get attacked. The baby angelfish is having a blast zipping around the big tank. The bleeding hearts seem happy to have lots of room. The oto's have nice plump bellys now. Don't often see the shrimp but no desiccated carcasses on my carpet so I assume they are still in there. Still have a handful more fish to return.

PLANTS UPDATE
Really starting to notice some growth now. Not a lot of pearling. Perhaps I will see more if the lighting was more intense? These photos were taken a bit rush-rush. The glass wasn't very clean. They are from March 4th.

Rotala is still working on those new leaves. Original stems pretty much all melted now. The new growth looks pale and weak but hopefully it will improve as it grows up out of the shadow of the helferi.







[/URL][/IMG]

Cyperus helferi looks quite a bit bigger than it did a few weeks ago. Grey, fuzzy root-like things growing up around it. Are these roots, or some weird algae I don't know about? Hemianthus micranthemoides is still struggling. Not ready for cutting and replanting yet! Still wish I had more of it 







[/URL][/IMG]

Staurogyne repens doing very well indeed







[/URL][/IMG]

HC carpet is still lush. Notice some yellowing leaves on the older parts. Is this how the plant grows or do I need to learn more about how to maintain it? It had a lot of thread algae on it a few days ago. While siphoning it off I got too close and sucked up a plug of it. Had a big bald patch! In attempting to replant it I dislodged my carefully positioned stone. Fiddling with that only made it worse. Bah! Got the plug replanted and it's stayed put. Looks a little squashed though.







[/URL][/IMG]

Bacopa monnieri looks to be the fastest growing plant I have. Can see it growing up behind the stone now!
Alternanthera reinickii has lots of good looking new leaves but not any vertical growth yet.
Pogostemon erectus is very bushy. May have to trim that soon







[/URL][/IMG]

Hygrophila corymbosa siamensis 53B is not at all happy. Kind of stunned and more melted leaves. Maybe this is a slow growing plant? Would it like root tabs? Maybe my water parameters aren't to its liking? Still clinging to life. Looks dreadful, though







[/URL][/IMG]

Ah, blyxa japonica. Fish rookie (I think) was right. There are cute little new leaves poking up now the algae is more or less gone. Good thing I was careful when siphoning around it. Of the 12 plantlets I planted, maybe 3 clumps show new growth. Watch and see, I guess







[/URL][/IMG]

Pogostemon helferi. It looks pretty sad but all is not lost as the plants that survived the suffocation are showing new leaf growth. About half look like they may recover. The new leaves are a bit misshapen and dark green. Not sure why. Fins crossed!







[/URL][/IMG]

Glosso. Still pretty choked out with algae but a few more runners spreading.







[/URL][/IMG]

E. parvula is about the same as last week. I think I say that every week!

Anubia barteri. Found a clutch of snail eggs underneath a leaf. Siphoned them off! Mwah-ha. Lots of roots going into the substrate now.

Anubia nana. Ditto except for the snail eggs.

Crypt wendtii brown. More melted than ever. Only a few blackened stumps where there once was a plant. The stumps have little leaves though so I'm hopeful the plant will recover. That corner is a nuisance for me to plant so I hope it starts to look good on its own.







[/URL][/IMG]

Otamageton gayi. Forgot this plant last post. It looks limp and brown. I'm sure there is new growth coming up I just can't see it behind the wood. The algae is gone off it now. This plant grew very quickly in my previous build.

Hydrocotyle. I am a new admirer of this plant. I like how different its leaf structure is from the rest. Great colour and an interesting growth pattern. It's covering that wood nicely. To think that all I did was drape it over the wood during the DSM.

Java fern is showing some stress. Ratty looking leaves need a trim. It's sprouting some daughter plants on a few leaves.

Here is the whole tank shot. Sorry, the air stone had come on, the glass was dirty and I was rushing. Promise a better pic next entry. Anyways. It's slowly coming along. It's great to have fish to watch again.







[/URL][/IMG]

Thanks for looking!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

I hope to get this week's journal entry up in a day or two. Spent today planting my new plants!

A few days after I had written the above journal entry, I siphoned off more algae. Then I was away for a week.


----------



## rwong2k10 (Dec 27, 2010)

your styrogene repens looks very lush!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

rwong2k10 said:


> your styrogene repens looks very lush!


HA! Funny you should mention. In the last few days it looks about half its former glory. I posted a thread in the planted tank section to see if anyone knows why it's losing its leaves like crazy!

This photo was taken March 4th. It's lost half it's leaves in the last three days. HELP!!!!!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Okay, time for another update!

WATER PARAMETERS
pH 6.6
KH 2
GH 5
NO3 still reads zero. I'm dumping quite a lot of N in there now. What the?
12 hr photo with half the bulbs on for 6
CO2 3/bubbles/sec.

Filter clogged up with mulm and stopped flowing while I was away last week! Murky water but no dead fish. Thank goodness I'm not overstocked. All is running now. This could have been the catalyst for some of my plants' decline this week. Full story at eleven. (ie see below)

ALGAE UPDATE
All the techniques have worked and I'm now mostly algae free. Hopefully my algae cleaning crew still have enough to eat! I get just the usual algae on the glass now. What a relief, but some of my plants paid the price. More thanks to all those forum members who helped me through this. Really appreciate it!

FISH UPDATE
The corys went in about 10 days ago. They are happily nosing around. Put third angel fish in the other day. He/She looks pretty happy to get out of that small tank in the basement! Only two lonely rummynose tetras left to go home. I have to take all the plants out of that basement tank to do that. Haven't had time yet. The baby angel is growing well and should be quite a looker! I kept the breeding pair in their own honeymoon suite. They reacted to this by spawning the other day. Not a great spawn but at least I know I didn't inadvertantly separate the pair!

PLANT UPDATE
Latest drama is my staurogyne repens shedding half its leaves in a matter of days. This caused me to post a thread in a panic. Lucky for me BCA has some great members and between Reckon and 2wheelsx2, I hope to have that solved soon. Here is a before and after set of pictures of that plant. Pretty dramatic change in just a few days! The second photo doesn't show the yellowing as much as I can see, nor the brown freckles. Things are not looking good for staur repens!







[/URL][/IMG]







[/URL][/IMG]

During my recent trip to Vancouver, I did all my favourite LFS's. Bought some more hemianthus micranthemoides. Lucky to get that on my trip. Got four bunches and planted all of it! It's long for now but in another week I'll mow it down short (with my new curved scissors from Charles!) and let it carpet. My cyperus helferi is looking pretty happy now. Gave it another trim of dying leaves.







[/URL][/IMG]

The rotala is slowly returning to form. Can't wait for it to get tall in that corner and add a splash of pink.







[/URL][/IMG]

My three background plants continue to thrive. Gave the pogostemon erectus its first trim. Getting too bushy.







[/URL][/IMG]

The hygrophila corymbosa got over-planted by my new hygrophila "compact" from Pat (got a lot of plants from Pat). I left the siamensis there but have a feeling the compact will take over. So be it, I give up on making that siamensis happy. Too bad. I like it better than the "compact" as far as leaf shape and colour but I don't want to have it looking pathetic for ever and ever. I didn't want to wait on my blyxa to make a recovery so here's what I got from Pat to beef up my planting. That's better! 







[/URL][/IMG]

The glosso looks like it's on hold. Should I trim the original plant parts? Just leave it? I thought this would fill in faster. I'll wait a week or two longer.







[/URL][/IMG]

Oh, my precious pogostemon helferi! Hang in there. With the algae gone, I'm happy to have half of it still there. The plants looked to be doing okay. Not super-duper healthy but maybe they take a while to recover...? Today I noticed the leaves are darkening and going a bit gray. The photo makes it look better than it is. Something is amiss in my tank and I MUST find out what before I lose this plant. Help! What does loss of that bright green colour mean? It looks like old wilty lettuce. Macros? CO2? Temp? GH? What do you need, plant?







[/URL][/IMG]

The HC seems to have reached a stable state. The shrimp do a great job keeping it clean. It's starting to jam upwards against the front glass. Trimming time soon, I think. Call me paranoid but I'm wondering if this plant is losing it's vibrant green too. No photo of that, weird, I'm sure I took one. Oh well.

That e. Parvula is looking lawn-like at last. The acrylic river bank is doing its job and the edge is nice and neat. 







[/URL][/IMG]

My anubias are doing fine.

The crypts are still melt-like so I bought some more "brown" from Pat. I think it is not quite the same plant as I had before. Hmmm. The new plant is bigger so I put it in the back. Hopefully the two crypts look okay planted together like that.







[/URL][/IMG]

My otamogeton gayi is still not recovered. I believe it takes a while to recover if it has had transplant shock. I can't find a lot of info on this plant. In my previous build it did great and I was forever trimming it back. Still waiting on this one. I have some extra in the basement if things get hopeless. That's not too happy either so fingers crossed. I moved the heater further from it in case it thought it was too warm.







[/URL][/IMG]

The hydrocotyle and java fern are about the same. There's a gap in my aquascape between the hydrocotyle and the e. Parvula. I would sure love some alternanthera reickii "mini" to go there. I am anxious for a Tropica shipment to come in to Canada (I am not alone on this!). Anyone in Kelowna got some? Or anyone got some?







[/URL][/IMG]

So here is another whole tank shot. 6 weeks since flooding.







[/URL][/IMG]

So some plants are doing great and the more fussy ones aren't. There must be something going on with ferts or CO2 or the balance of. I have upped the ferts (doubled N and K and 1/2 amount more Fe.) and increased CO2 flow (to 3 bubbles/sec) starting a few days ago and I don't see any improvement yet. Too soon for that but I don't notice the decline slowing any. Zillions of pearling bubbles though! I'm nervous! If anyone can help me out with what things the staurogyne, Pogo helf and (might as well add) HC need in abundance then feel free to comment!
Thanks for looking! Thanks for helping!


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Be patient, it'll take a week or 2 for you to see a real change. Your Downoi look like they're not too bad and should make it.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Thanks! Your words help. Funny how I was so patient with the DSM but am chewing my nails over the plant health now.


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

Things are growing well now. I'm now about 2 months since flooding. I've added a dwarf pea puffer just for fun and to eat my snails. So far I've haven't seen "Pedro" eat a single snail but he must be eating something! I lost a cory cat too. This one always had a crooked body and I wonder if there was always something wrong with it. I'll maybe pick up a couple more soon.

I doubled my Potassium dosing as I had been under-dosing without realizing it. I've upped Nitrogen too. My CO2 is now running about 2-3 bubbles a second and the pH sits about 6.7. The KH is around 2 when I test before my water change and the GH is climbing each week. This week it was 5. My fresh water is my tap water (we pump/treat ourselves out of Okanagan Lake) with a pH of 7.5, a KH of 7 and a GH of 8. 
I am getting some BBA which I've never had before. Well, I had a few tufts growing on my filter pipe but it never spread anywhere. Now my cyperus helferi has it starting and my anubias have some. I gave my cyperus helferi a major hair cut and cut out all the leaves with algae on it. I know it will be back so I may have to come up with an alternate treatment. I'm not sure what is the best way to deal with this new threat!

The rotala is finally growing more quickly. It's a bit leggy so maybe it doesn't get enough light in that back corner. With the helferi trimmed it ought to get more light for a while.







[/URL][/IMG]

You'd never know I cut about 75% of this plant's leaves off today! Note Pedro "posing" in middle of shot.







[/URL][/IMG]

This planting of micranthemoides is finally looking like I wanted it to. 







[/URL][/IMG]

The staurogyne repens is showing signs of recovery. The leaves are smaller and shorter than they were before. 







[/URL][/IMG]

My background plants are looking good. I've had to trim that pogostemon erectus a few times now. I don't want it spreading more than this.







[/URL][/IMG]

My HC carpet is looking better now I've upped some of the ferts. The shrimp are always busy working it.







[/URL][/IMG]

The pogostemon helferi is looking much better now. I decided the substrate wasn't thick enough in this area so added (carefully) a bunch more. Since I've done that the pogostemon helferi looks much better. New roots have grown into it off the stems. 







[/URL][/IMG]

The blyxa is growing slower than I thought it would. Maybe the substrate isn't deep enough there either.
I'm not liking the "compact" where it is. It's a nice plant but the colour (rusty) is not what I want in that spot in the tank. I still prefer the corymbosa siamensis 53B from Tropica but as I can't get any, this will have to do. It grows very quickly at least.







[/URL][/IMG]

The glosso is now carpeting. That took a while. Cute little runners are spreading out. I should really cut the tufts that were the original planting. I'll wait a bit more.







[/URL][/IMG]

The hydrocotyle isn't growing as fast as I thought it would either. The leaves are looking a bit dull. Not sure what this plant is lacking. I'm also waiting for the java fern to fill in more. It's busy sending roots down into the substrate. My otamegeton gayi is coming up now. Bet it will pop up where I don't want it! 







[/URL][/IMG]

My hair grass lawn is looking great. Happy with that.







[/URL][/IMG]

The anubias are having trouble. The older leaves are yellowing and have patches of black (algae?) on them. I cut a whole bunch out and the rhizome looks a bit naked. That's when I saw the BBA growing on it. Argh! Should I yank out the whole plant? I have extra anubias to replace it. The two kinds of crypts are doing fine.







[/URL][/IMG]

Whole tank shot. I'm getting there! 







[/URL][/IMG]

Thanks for looking, thanks for commenting.


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Wow! Your plants are really doing quite well! They've come quite a ways! Well done! I'm very envious of your soon to be downoi carpet! The HM is a fantastic bush!
My secret to very nice anubias is a little metricide/excel


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

How's the tank looking these days?


----------



## Marko1 (Jul 26, 2010)

yay Interior fish keepers  Looking good!!


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

It's been a little while since your last update! How are you, your family, and this tank doing?


----------



## Jousters (Jan 16, 2014)

My God Takashi Amano would be proud.Great looking setup.Thank You for sharing.


----------

