# 2012 VAHS Planted Tank Contest Entry for CRS Fan NEW PICS 02/18/13



## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Good day fellow aquascapers.

I have been waiting for this day for quite a while. I revamped my old 22L Iwagumi disaster to enter it into the 2012 VAHS Planted Tank contest. Although I have been a moderator for less than a year, I have been an active member on BCA for about 5. I have always enjoyed showing my planted tanks and have learned mostly what I know through a select group of BCA aquascaping masters, the internet, and word of mouth. Since I have never entered a planted contest before, I decided..... What the Heck!

Here is a list of the equipment I am using:

*Equipment:*

22L tank (36" X 12" X 12") - sourced from Canadian Aquatics
1 - Furniture quality stand - sourced through Keteirosan
1 - Eheim 2217 - sorced from a fellow BCA member (forgot his name)
20lb - CO2 tank (swapped out with Thrilla)
Simgo CO2 regulator - sourced from BiemLim
Assorted CO2 components (Bubble Counter/Needle Valve/UpAqua Atomizer) - sourced locally
1 - 39W 6000K Giessemann Daylight Powerchrome bulb (not yet replaced) - sourced from J&L Aquatics
Red Sea Florabase substrate - sourced from DeepRed
Seiryu stone - sourced from 'secret vedor/location' 
Mostly Aquaflora plants - sourced from Canadian Aquatics

*Flora*

Hemianthus callitrichoides
Cryptocoryne parva
Cryptocoryne lucens
Ludwigia arcuata
Staurogyne repens
Blyxa japonica

*Fauna*
Nothing yet 

*Here is the tank before*










*The tank in deconstruction mode:*





































*The tank being set-up:*




























Thanks for looking!

Stuart


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

*And...... What it looks like today (May 29th, 2012)!*





































Best Regards,

Stuart


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Let me be the first (on this thread lol) to say Looks great Stuart! look forward to seeing it as it progresses. Best of luck my friend!


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## arash53 (Aug 13, 2011)

Looking great already Stuart !


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## Tiwaz (May 5, 2011)

Lookin' good, best of luck in the contest.


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Diztrbd1 said:


> Let me be the first (on this thread lol) to say Looks great Stuart! look forward to seeing it as it progresses. Best of luck my friend!


Thanks John. I'm interested to see the Florabase results myself !



arash53 said:


> Looking great already Stuart !


Thanks Arash. I hope this tank is as promising as I suspect it will be.



Tiwaz said:


> Lookin' good, best of luck in the contest.


Much appreciated, Tiwas. Your tank is also very nicely done.

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## szavi (Nov 21, 2010)

Way to go stewie looks good. 

I'm going to be tearing mine down, starting from scratch.

Sean


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## DR1V3N (Apr 22, 2010)

Very nicely done! Love the Seiryu! I wonder if the secret source is going to be disclosed in your book? 

May I ask what you used to suspend your light fixture? It looks like your hanging it directly from your ceiling. I have a drywall ceiling and I'm pretty sure there are no studs near where my tanks are. Just wondering if you could give me any tips as to what type of anchor you used.


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

martialid10t said:


> ...May I ask what you used to suspend your light fixture? It looks like your hanging it directly from your ceiling. I have a drywall ceiling and I'm pretty sure there are no studs near where my tanks are. Just wondering if you could give me any tips as to what type of anchor you used.


I used a Sunlight Supply 1-point suspension kit purchased from J&L (the website only lists the 2-point version). It comes with 3" anchor bolts for ceiling suspension. I also had to buy a 1/8" long threaded washer and j-bolt to adapt it to my Hagen GLO fixture.

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## DR1V3N (Apr 22, 2010)

CRS Fan said:


> I used a Sunlight Supply 1-point suspension kit purchased from J&L (the website only lists the 2-point version). It comes with 3" anchor bolts for ceiling suspension. I also had to buy a 1/8" long threaded washer and j-bolt to adapt it to my Hagen GLO fixture.


Good stuff! Did you use the butterfly anchors on the bolt or just bolted directly into ceiling stud? I'm picking up one of those aqua nova 4 foot 2 bulb fixtures that have suspension kit without anchors. I hope drywall will hold but it sure looks like it will based on that bolt/anchor combo.


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## AquaAddict (Dec 4, 2010)

-so when did BCA members start reading preschool books? I remember that book from so long ago....memories, memories.

AquaAddict


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

martialid10t said:


> Good stuff! Did you use the butterfly anchors on the bolt or just bolted directly into ceiling stud? I'm picking up one of those aqua nova 4 foot 2 bulb fixtures that have suspension kit without anchors. I hope drywall will hold but it sure looks like it will based on that bolt/anchor combo.


I used the anchor bolts (they are easy to remove and patch the ceiling if necessary).

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

So I've done a few changes to the plants. I pulled the Staurogyne and Blyxa and finished the left foreground with more HC (thanks to Pat and Aquaflora). I'll update with more pics in a week or 2. I've also added 2 amano shrimp, 2 otocinclus, 7 furcatus rainbows, and 1 Crossocheilus reticulatus.

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

So as promised.... here are a few pictures of my tank entry as of tonight.














































Thanks for looking.

Best regards,

Stuart


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## Nicklfire (Apr 21, 2010)

love it buddy going to look pretty good. Love the rocks as well. 

This your 20g long tank?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Perhaps I missed it Stuart, but I've been quietly subbed to all the entries to follow along....why didn't/don't you use ADA AS? My Florabase has become mush (although it is 5 years old) and I hate it. I love my ADA AS. If anything I think I want to try Flourite Black.


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Nicklfire said:


> love it buddy going to look pretty good. Love the rocks as well.
> 
> This your 20g long tank?


it is my 22 Long........ and they are the same rocks from the old disaster tank !



2wheelsx2 said:


> Perhaps I missed it Stuart, but I've been quietly subbed to all the entries to follow along....why didn't/don't you use ADA AS? My Florabase has become mush (although it is 5 years old) and I hate it. I love my ADA AS. If anything I think I want to try Flourite Black.


Hey Gary.

I decided to try Florabase as it is a substrate I've never used it AND I got a good deal on a bucketful of barely used substrate for a steal. I had ADA AS in it initially, but I find it too much of a hassle to re-do a scape if used. The Florabase was super easy to set-up as a used substrate (way less cloudy for an extended period of time). BTW.... all my other tanks are ADA AS. I like to experiment !

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

CRS Fan said:


> Hey Gary.
> 
> I decided to try Florabase as it is a substrate i've never used it AND I got a good deal on a bucketful of barely used substrate for a steal. I had ADA AS in it initially, but I find it too much of a hassle to re-do a scape if used. The Florabase was super easy to set-up as a used substrate (way less cloudy for an extended period of time). BTW.... all my other tanks are ADA AS. I like to experiment !
> 
> ...


Thanks Stuart. That's interesting as I'm about to throw out all my Florabase as there is so much fines generated that I can barely keep the 2213 flowing (cleaning every 3 weeks) after 5 years. Having said that though, it's a low light (3W LED in a 20 gallon) and not heavily planted. If it wasn't for all the cherry shrimp I'd suck it all out and go barebottom as it's my growout.


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## miyabi-aqua (May 20, 2011)

looking great!


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## miyabi-aqua (May 20, 2011)

super! looks very healthy.


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

looks amazing stuart! well done man! makes me want to do a smaller one


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## miyabi-aqua (May 20, 2011)

any updates?


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

So It's been a couple of weeks now. I had a bit of a breakout of hair algae that has been totally eradicated by a giant Crossocheilus reticulatus (donated by Jiang604) that has been lurking in my tanks for a couple years. I've also added 7 female furcatus rainbows to compliment my group of 5 males and 2 females (thanks to Canadian Aquatics). I also moved 18 or so Cardinal tetras that were in the tank in a previous incarnate. Right now I'm mainly dosing Potasium and micros as my EI routine as my phospahtes and nitrates are being generated by the fauna. I'm still doing 50 60% water changes once a week. Here's the progress without any trimming to date. Thanks for looking !


















































































Happy aquascaping!

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## arash53 (Aug 13, 2011)

Hey Stuart , WOW it looks amazing  and already the winner


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Nice, what happened to the B. Japonica?
Is this a 22 g or 22 L tank?
Thank you.


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## DR1V3N (Apr 22, 2010)

Wow it's filling in gorgeously! Everything looks healthy, subscribed to this.


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## miyabi-aqua (May 20, 2011)

Looking really good!


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## djamm (Sep 25, 2010)

looks good bud!


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

arash53 said:


> Hey Stuart , WOW it looks amazing  and already the winner


Thanks Arash. I need to start trimming and add a few more plants !



Fish rookie said:


> Nice, what happened to the B. Japonica?
> Is this a 22 g or 22 L tank?
> Thank you.


It is the 22L. I removed the Blyxa/Staurogyne as it was a temporary fill-in before I filled the balance of the foreground with HC.



DR1V3N said:


> Wow it's filling in gorgeously! Everything looks healthy, subscribed to this.


So far I am happy with the HC, but the crypts are smaller and slower growing then I would have liked.



miyabi-aqua said:


> Looking really good!


Thanks Joseph. I'm hoping to win something !



djamm said:


> looks good bud!


Thanks Drew,

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

CRS Fan said:


> Thanks Arash. I need to start trimming and add a few more plants !
> 
> It is the 22L. I removed the Blyxa/Staurogyne as it was a temporary fill-in before I filled the balance of the foreground with HC.
> 
> ...


Hey Stuart; Looking very nice.


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## stonedaquarium (Jun 11, 2011)

lovely tank stuart... impressive as always ...


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

The Guy said:


> Hey Stuart; Looking very nice.


Thank you, Laurie. I'm hoping it stays that way.



stonedaquarium said:


> lovely tank stuart... impressive as always ...


Thanks, Stone. I hope all is well with you.

Best regards,

Stuart


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

So it's been a while since I've done an update on BCA. Since my last update I have done:

A major trim on the HC
A major trim on the Ludwigia arcuata
Added Hygrophila corymbosa 'Siamensis 53b'
I've also decided to stop EI dosing to try to stave off unidentified reddish encrusting algae.

The tank is NOT in it's best form.... BUT here are some pics from August 22nd.














































Thanks for looking !

Best regards,

Stuart


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Well it's been several weeks since my last update. I have decided to re-add Staurogyne repens and Blyxa japonica (because the Ludwigia arcuata has not bounded back since trimmed). I have also added Bucephalandra sp 'Sintang'. I am continuing to NOT column dose any fertilizers as I was getting too much unwanted algae. My photoperiod remains at 7 hours a day. I am also dosing CO2 at a rate of 1 BPS. Not much has changed, BUT the tank is starting to come around again !

Now...... on to the pictures !
































































Thanks for looking.

Best regards,

Stuart


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

This is my last entry for the contest. Although I found it challenging and fun, the tank did not perform as well as I would have liked. Well now on with the pics. Good look to everyone who entered.























































Thanks for looking !

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

A beautiful tank, as always, Stuart! I love the lawn you've got going there. And those rocks are gorgeous.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Looks good Stuart. Sorry you're a little disappointed with the result. I have my own opinions on how a tank should look and rarely seem to get there either. Just out of curiosity, what would you change if you could, ie, what did you want it to look like at this stage?


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

i gotta ask what is that weird spoon cup things on the top left? is that a filter intake? and if so how do you keep your fish from being sucked up?


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I believe its ADA or ADA style glass lily pipes. The spoon is the outflow?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

The intake is on the right side of the tank with a SS screen to keep critters out. The lily pipe outflow causes a nice swirl flow pattern which maximizes gaseous exchange via the water/air interface and also helps prevent surface scum buildup.


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Morainy said:


> A beautiful tank, as always, Stuart! I love the lawn you've got going there. And those rocks are gorgeous.


Thank you for the kind words, Maureen. I hope things are looking for you as well !



2wheelsx2 said:


> Looks good Stuart. Sorry you're a little disappointed with the result. I have my own opinions on how a tank should look and rarely seem to get there either. Just out of curiosity, what would you change if you could, ie, what did you want it to look like at this stage?


I think some tanks are cursed, Gary. This happens to be one of them (in my opinion). I would have wanted a fuller HC lawn, more rampant crypt growth, and I wish my Ludwigia arcuata would have fared better and been more robust. But this is just my opinion.



macframalama said:


> i gotta ask what is that weird spoon cup things on the top left? is that a filter intake? and if so how do you keep your fish from being sucked up?


It's an acrylic lily pipe output, Mac.



Reckon said:


> I believe its ADA or ADA style glass lily pipes. The spoon is the outflow?


Yes, Lawson, it is a canister output..... BUT it's acrylic because I broke to many intakes and switched over to acrylic.



2wheelsx2 said:


> The intake is on the right side of the tank with a SS screen to keep critters out. The lily pipe outflow causes a nice swirl flow pattern which maximizes gaseous exchange via the water/air interface and also helps prevent surface scum buildup.


Thanks, Gary...... exactly right !

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

CRS Fan said:


> I think some tanks are cursed, Gary. This happens to be one of them (in my opinion). I would have wanted a fuller HC lawn, more rampant crypt growth, and I wish my Ludwigia arcuata would have fared better and been more robust. But this is just my opinion.


I've never had any success with Eco Complete or Florabase with HC, but now that I am using ADA the growth has been rampant. But then it may also be that I always had some sort of catfish (Besides otos) in those tanks. Maybe the angles are a bit deceptive but I thought your HC looked pretty good. I do agree on the other plants, but I wasn't sure if you were going for a more open scape.


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## macframalama (Apr 17, 2012)

gotcha, thanks guys , beautiful tank by the way , i just for the life of me couldnt figure out the strange shape... must be a planted tank thing,i suppose massive water movement would disrupt the plants and such, is this a more effective outlet than say a spray bar? did you build it?, regardless... the tank looks great and thank you for the answer.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Do you feel that may be you just need a bit more time for the plants to grow in? 
Some people like a more open look, it is very personal.
I like your carpet, it looks very thick and lush.
About the lily pipe I never use them but I am new to this, has alwasy just use the factory plastic outlet. Are they easy to clean? Just though once they get dirty they could eb quite an eye sore since they are clear?
Are they designed to give more aeration without breaking the surface?


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Fish rookie said:


> Do you feel that may be you just need a bit more time for the plants to grow in?
> Some people like a more open look, it is very personal.
> I like your carpet, it looks very thick and lush.
> About the lily pipe I never use them but I am new to this, has alwasy just use the factory plastic outlet. Are they easy to clean? Just though once they get dirty they could eb quite an eye sore since they are clear?
> Are they designed to give more aeration without breaking the surface?


The lily pipes are an aesthetic alternative to stock canister output/intakes. They do grow algae but are simple enough to clean with a lily pipe brush. They aid in circulation of CO2 and help break surface tension.

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Well it's been a while since I've done an update on my contest tank..... AND I have not tore it down ! I'm liking the newer look WAY better. I've added a few new plants including:

Rotala indica (or so Florida Tropical Nurseries calls it)
Hygrophila polysperma 'Sunset'
Ammania gracilis (not doing well)

Now on with the pics..... Enjoy !
































































Thanks for looking.

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I like this new look too. If the A. gracilis would only fill in it would look perfect.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

WOW! The HC really filled in! You must be super happy about that. I haven't been successful with A. Gracilis either. But it seems to like CO2 a lot. Starting to come back since I turned it up.
Now that I've seen R. Indica I kinda want some, but I've got Rotundifolia. Do you know if they are similar or even the same plants?


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> I like this new look too. If the A. gracilis would only fill in it would look perfect.


The Ammania is doing better in the 27 ATM...... and thanks, Gary !



Reckon said:


> WOW! The HC really filled in! You must be super happy about that. I haven't been successful with A. Gracilis either. But it seems to like CO2 a lot. Starting to come back since I turned it up.
> Now that I've seen R. Indica I kinda want some, but I've got Rotundifolia. Do you know if they are similar or even the same plants?


Hello Lawson.

The Rotala indica is looking to be more of Rotala sp 'Colorata'. It is not any Rotala rotundifolia I've ever kept though (although the Rotala sp. from APC may all be geographical colour morphs of R. rotundifolia). HC is due for a trim again.

Best Regards,

Stuart


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

Well I've been busy lately with my son being born on January 6th, so I had to rescape the tank as I was getting a bit of Cladophora and removed the HC and added Glosso. Here are a few pics of what the tank looks like today. Enjoy !














































Thanks for looking !

Best regards,

Stuart


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## monkE (Aug 4, 2010)

Congrats Stuart!!! the tank looks great as well, cant wait to see the glosso grow in


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

monkE said:


> Congrats Stuart!!! the tank looks great as well, cant wait to see the glosso grow in


Thanks Mike ! I decided glosso would grow a bit quicker than HC and outcompete the Clado. So going for a different carpet. I'm sure the glosso will grow like stink.

Best regards,

Stuart


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Looks great, Stuart. 

And congrats on the baby!


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

crazy72 said:


> Looks great, Stuart.
> 
> And congrats on the baby!


Thanks...... and Thanks...... Franck.

Best regards,

Stuart


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