# The Osaka Forest



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Tank: Fluval Osaka 320L (84G) 
Filter: Fluval FX5
Substrate: 1-1.5" of MGOPM capped with 2x bags of instant aquaria black fine gravel and 4-5x bags of Eco-complete.

Stock: 
a small Army of CPD's (celestial Pearl Danios.) that i'm currently breeding
25-30 ish Rummy nose tetra (future addition)
Nerite snail 
Shrimp (type TBD.. which ever are the most successful at breeding in the other thanks)

For the detailed version check out my Full Osaka Forest tank log

After a good 20 minuets of cleaning i decided i wanted to paint the back of the tank.









Many coats of spray paint later i had a nice smooth even black background.









Time for the water test.... unfortunately there was alot more scratches then expected but they are not overly obvious once the tank is filled with water. I will have to angle the light away from the front glass to hide them.. but the price was right so working with what i got!









Next i gathered my dirt'ed substrate supplies and got to work


















3/4 a bag of MGOCPM, 2 bags of instant aquaria and 2 bags of Eco-COmplete later i had a nice base to work off of.. I plan on adding 2-3 more bags of eco-complete to build hils on the left/right side once my order shows up!









After about 4 days of soaking my driftwood i decided to start playing with designs and think i finally found a good layout.. Let me know what you think!

























So I think this driftwood layout will look killer once i raise the sides (and the driftwood) with a valley between the 2.

The LED Nightlight Test.


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I am SOOO envious of you getting this tank. Did you get it from April?

Plant that bad boy with high co2 

Drift wood looks good. Or perhaps go for some smaller pieces that branch from the right side?

CPDs are pretty small? Are you gonna have hundreds in there to fill the tank?


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Yes i did get it from april 

No c02 for now but maybe some frets with the decently high lighting of the dual T5HO's... Which i will probably lower closer to the water..

The drift wood almost seems a bit big but i love the look of it...
I will easily have a 100+ CPDs. in no time (I probably have 15-20 3/4 size adult fry.. and another 30 wee ones growing up).. ill have it stocked in no time!
Aside from CPD's im thinking of picking up about 30 Rummy nose tetras to go with them.... any other suggestions or should i just stick with the 2?


It may get a few ottos later if i need any algae control and probably a nerite snail to help keep the tank looking good


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

So i am happy with the driftwood on the right but cant decide exactaly what to do with the left hand peice

1. 









2.









3.









4.









5.









6.









7.


----------



## jkcichlid (Apr 21, 2010)

I would go with number 2. Looks good, lots of places to attach plants to, and not competing for height with the piece on the left


----------



## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Glad your friend got it there in one piece! Looks great! Can't wait to see the fishes in it.


----------



## shady280 (Oct 17, 2011)

nice tank! i like the no. 2 as well. i never got my cpd's to breed in my edge so they went in my daughters 30 gal hex community tank. they seem to be happier in there anyway. if you ever come down this way id take a few of them!! cant wait to see plants in there to complete the setup


----------



## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Looks good. Cant wait to see how this one turns out


----------



## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Looks good. Personally I'd go with only the one on the right hand side as a centre piece. Slightly to one side. It's a beautiful piece.


----------



## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

I'd say 4 or 6 depending on what your plant scape is :bigsmile:


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

I do truly love all the crevasse and caves in the left hand pieces but to try it with out...

9.









10.









11.









12









13









14









15









16









17









18









19


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Its amazing how many different looks you can get with a few chunks of wood.. the only hard part is picking one!

20.


----------



## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

My vote goes to #9.


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

crazy72 said:


> My vote goes to #9.


Ditto. Big stump + branching roots. Went hiking yesterday and saw exactly this in a natural pool. Of course, there is much more space and substrate in nature....


----------



## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

this is going to be good, great start! you have several very eye catching layouts, and your right, the hardest part is picking one. how your planning on planting also plays a big role.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

My Vote Tally so far

Pic....	Votes
2......	2
3......	1
4......	4
6......	1
7......	4
9......	3
10....	2

as for plants.. here are some pics of my stock pile/things i can pull from


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Hm. What's that plant on the left in the 2nd to last pic?

The japonica and reineckii plants are must use imho


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Since I plan on planting it fairly heavy and decided to keep it simple and go with just the 2 chunks of wood. 

















Now to keep or see if i can still return the other awesome chunk! .. I cant wait for the rest of the substrate to arrive so i can start planting this baby and fill it up!

Reckon - I have no idea what that plant was called.. The girl in the store didnt know either.. But its big and leafy so it is a defiante must in the tank.. I'm hoping it will be a good one to help hide the canister intake pipe which will be in the left hand corner of the tank (also on order..)

japonica will be in the mid/forground some where.. probally some where around the future "valley" to the left of the wood
reineckii (pinky one).. i'm not to sure where I will put it yet..

I'm also thinking of stealing a few stocks of Limnophila aromatica (i think) which can color up to a nice purple and green with the right nutrients.









I also recently got a ton of java moss which ill prob get some clumps growing on the Driftwood.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

The substrate fairy finally arrived!!!









And i think i have the hardscape how I like it!!! Let me know if you have any suggestions before i start to fill it with water/plant.


----------



## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

Nice! Very nice.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Do you think I should get 1 more bag of eco-complete to make more defined hills or is it good as is?


----------



## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

IMHO this is more than enough substrate already. You could lower it down in places if you want bigger hills. But personally I think it looks great as is.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Well the Wood on the right decided to float once it was 80% submerged.. so i had to zap strap it to some granite and slightly modify it.. but its 90% the same.. I will need at least another bag of eco-complete to rebuild my left hand hill!









So once i rebuild my hill...

Which one of these plants grows the tallest (to hide the intake pipe which will be on top of my to be rebuilt hill corner.
1. Amazon sword (i think..)
2. Java Fern (i think...)
3. Hygro Corymbosa (i think....)


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Tough call. I'd say its enough substrate. Just use a credit card or something to scape the front a little lower and push the substrate to the hill. Or you can always put something under the hill (like a plastic block) to lift up the hill a little. 

I'll bet the amazon sword will grow HUGE. The hygro can do the same thing for you. I know mine is growing out of the tank its so tall.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Which one of the two is sturdier and would be less likely to get sucked into the filter?


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Definitely the sword.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Good call reckon

Ill give you guys a sneak peak









Ill take more high res pics once the water clears


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Looks awesome! Have I already said that I'm too envious of you getting this tank?  

Will you be co2ing? If so I call for glosso as a foreground plant.

Also, careful of planting anything under the shade from the driftwood; you won't likely get any success under there. I've since modified my scapes to minimize overhanging hardscape to avoid that exact problem.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

No co2. For now but maybe one day. I don't want it to become too much work! I just googled glosso, it's a nice looking carpet. I just have a few little plants that are partially shaded and a fern stuck on the wood so hopefully okay. I will keep an eye on them and move them if need be. Thanks for the tip!

I'm keeping it low tech for now with the exception of some future matricide 14 dosing during water changes once I figure out how much to add.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Haha thanks again reckon 

Now if I start doing ferts am I still considered low tech?! I splurged today... Now I just have to figure out how much of what to do when! (Do I have to dose daily or can I just do it with the water change?)

How Long of a photo period should I be doing. ?









I also added 3 rummy noses and 6/7 cpd's today to start it off. Will add more in a few days


----------



## qyrus (Apr 21, 2010)

There's a couple ways to dose ferts, the most popular though should be EI (estimative index). Basically you bomb the tank with ferts so your plants will have all the nutrients they need, then 'reset' the tank each week with a w/c. Here's a good site with more details theplantedtank.co.uk/dosing-methods.htm


----------



## Smallermouse (Jan 28, 2012)

What are you going to do with the scratches? I really like your drift wood. Where you get it?


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

qyrus - Thanks for the link.. its very informative! I may try 1/4 or 1/2 doses soso i dont overload it and see what happens... I still want to avoid the massive water change every week for the EI reset.

Smallermouse - Sadly the scratches are still there but not "as" noticeable when filled. I also lowered/shifted the light back a bit so it doesnt hit the front glass and highlight them as much... Fixing would take endless hours of polishing so i think I will just live with them for now.

Ill try to take a bunch of new pics in the next few days since its starting to clear up


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Yup. I wouldn't dose full EI. My 10gal low tech tank gets a dose of nutrients after a water change and then that's it (then again I water change every 1-2 weeks). Just keep an eye on the plants and dose just enough to keep the plants alive, keeping in mind that your fish will also add bioload.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Reckon - what do you does your plants with? I may have been overboard on all my frets.. but i sh9ould have it covered!

No full light pics today as I didn't get home until the DIY led aquarium night lights kicked in but I snapped a pic anyways! I love the look and find it interesting how the orange red plants turn green/purple under the aqua leds.


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

The 10gal? Well, I have all the dry ferts for EI so I dose approx:
10ppm NO3
2ppm PO4
12ppm KSO4
enough CSM+B to get an equivalent of 0.5ppm Fe.

I used to dose Seachem Flourish and that worked great. I now have dry ferts so I that so I can see how my dosing does with low tech tanks. Seems alright. I have a little Cyano algae but that started when I dropped an algae wafer that didn't get completely eaten up and even though I originally got rid of the cyano by cleaning up my water paramaters it shows up once in a while (I think it lives in the sand). I get rid of it with some good spot cleaning with the gravel vacuum and extra Excel dosing.

Goes to show either cyano lives even in dry algae wafers or they show up REAL quick with extra nutrients, even if its localized.


----------



## Luke78 (Apr 24, 2010)

A nice start with your project.If i may add, i would put a power head to circulate the water evenly through out the tank reason being you don't want any 'dead spots' to occur where excess nutrients or waste just sits there or causes head aches for you(Example: nasty ,ugly , looking forms of algae that will drive you crazy). Your swords need to be spaced apart a bit, they are heavy root feeders and the last thing you want is a tangled mess on the top and bottom of your substrate.Some of their stems/leaves will cover one another, and lesser light is not fully utilized by the lower parts of the plant.Try adding a sword to the far right as well if you want, in the end it's up to you. Will look quite stunning i bet once everything settles in, thanks for sharing keep the updates coming.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Luke - I have been slowly cranking up the flow seeing how the little guys can handle it (so far so good).. i believe it gets fairly good circulation as i can see most plants moving but a small power head on the opposite side isn't a bad idea to even it out a bit more. Alternatively I have been debating building a spray bar... I was origionaly against it but I think the light being so low may hide it.. And if i use the clear tube i used for the intake.. it would be fairly "hidden".

As for fertilizers... my current plan (even though i didn't want to do it daily.. it my morph into just dosing the water change water. but i may do daily to get it started)










I would probably do 10-20% water changes weekly for now.. Maybe less in the future if the plants can handle the load.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

On a side note about flow..after playing with the 2 output jets I have found a spot where all of the plants in the tank seem to have movment which should mean good flow/circulation. The floaters seem to hang out in the far half do to the water direction but I would thing it would be more of a circular return at the bottom of the tank


----------



## Clownloachlover (Apr 21, 2010)

what no Milfoil weed?


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

haha nope, didnt make the cut into the big tank


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

For more photos and info check out my all in one take long. The Osaka Forest


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Fish are in there. Looks great! Wish I can take pics like that for my tank


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Thanks Reckon.... You just need a slr 

3 Rummy's and 9 CPD's so far.. i'm picking up another 21-24 rummys Thursday once the LFS get in more stock. In a few weeks once this batch of CPD fry get a bit bigger ill add another 15-20 of them as well


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

To Carpet or not to carpet. I just found glosso and dhg at a lfs...


----------



## shady280 (Oct 17, 2011)

whats the plant in the right corner with the pink leaves? i have some in my 2 planted tanks but dont know the name. all i know is when i add ferts and iron it grows


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

I believe its this one


----------



## shady280 (Oct 17, 2011)

Good photo. At least your lfs has names. Mine has no clue what the get in.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Out of all the stores i have been too.. thats the only one that has them! its a nice feature (hopefully they are correct!)


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

In terms of looks I like both glosso and DHG, but since I've read that the latter tends to accumulate all sorts of crap and needs vacuuming on a regular basis I would probably go with glosso in the future. However, you may find that its hard to be successful with both without co2. I had some DGH in my 10gal non co2 tank and they spread a little but after 1 year, at best only duplicated themselves. I just tore them all up last week, wasn't a tough job, took me 3 minutes


----------



## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

shift said:


> To Carpet or not to carpet. I just found glosso and dhg at a lfs...


Looks awesome so far shift!

Carpet FTW. Im a big carpet plant fan, its hard if you dont have CO2... but its doable.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Would u do HC or Glosso? What would have better results with out CO2? (just metracide 14 as the carbon source for now)

and how many "clumps" would one want to start with... more the merrier i'm sure but at 5$ each those things can add up


----------



## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

My fave are HCs and UG. 

HC will be fine without CO2, but again growth is very slow. You can start with a big cannister from Aquaflora, it is $10 incl Taxes.

I havent try Glosso yet so I cant comment on that. Most of the Non CO2 guys loves Echinodorus Tenellus which Im trying right now, they will do well without CO2.

Cheers!

Mylon


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Ooh, that's a good call Mylon. I've seen that plant do quite well for a bunch of guys (just not so much for me...). It did the best in my crappy blue gravel when I had it. I guess I likes good circulation and light around the base of the plant and its roots. It can grow a bit taller though. Mine are currently about 5" tall.


----------



## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

Reckon said:


> Ooh, that's a good call Mylon. I've seen that plant do quite well for a bunch of guys (just not so much for me...). It did the best in my crappy blue gravel when I had it. I guess I likes good circulation and light around the base of the plant and its roots. It can grow a bit taller though. Mine are currently about 5" tall.


I think it has something to do with lighting, if it is grown on high lighted tank they normally dont grow much taller. I like it due to the fact that CO2 injection isnot a must for this type of plants...but will see. I still need to plant them on my 57G


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

I'm biting the bullet and getting a co2 tank. 

New question. Carpet or no carpet. if yes of what?!


----------



## Bobsidd (Dec 28, 2012)

I'm going to throw a vote at 'yes, carpet' and suggest UG. I've just started some and love the colour and more blade-like leaf shape (as opposed to HC). Plus, it's a little different. A bit of a talking point as it is carnivorous (shrimp-safe though).


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

So my favorites so far..

1. UG
2. HC
3. Glosso

My main concern is most of them like a lower PH.. 6-7 i believe.. my water is about 7.5 ish.. Will they still grow well in my tank?


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

So i figure its time for some more updates.

I went to Van over the weekend and spent way to much money and got some new toys.

For the osaka forest i got some more rummy nose tetras bringing my current count up to 20.
I added an ivory nerite/mystery snail which was hiding during picture time.
and a co2 kit!









































The new Rummy nose are much bigger than and lighter in color than my old rummys... they may be because they are full grown.. or possibly a different species? (i know there is 3 diff type of rummy nose)

The harlequins love to play in the current of the fx5 which is running about 80%









The CPD fry are starting to get their colors!









I decided to plant some DHG and see if it would carpet.
The tank is currently running 2x T5HO about 20-24" form the substrate.. I have a second fixture so i could double it to high light..but i'm not sure if i want to go down that road or not yet...


















Addition of a Co2 kit. the bubbles get caught in the current and seem to hang in the water for 20-30 seconds before reaching the surface... which i'm guessing is some good hang time!

















Sadly spotted some hair algae growing on some moss.. hopefully the co2 will get rid of it.... I have it running at about a bubble every .8 seconds









I also got a bunch of dry ferts to start mixing my own.. i'm going to the the PPS-Pro method of dosing 

Updated Current stock:
20 Rummy Nose.
1 Ivory mystery/nerite snail
4 Neons
5 Harlequin Tetras
15 ish CPD's


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Since the CO2 tank decided to kill my shelve space.. i decided to build a new one.. and even add in some led lighting!

First i cut some led strips to length and soldered on some power wires.









Then i cut out a new shelve using some old plywood i had laying around









Next came installing the LEDS

















Testing it all out..









And re-fill.! Much cleaner!


----------



## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

Looking good shift! Those plants are gonna go bananas in no time with CO2 :bigsmile:


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Time for an update!

In the past few weeks... i have added CO2, built a DIY reactor, added a power head. Mystery snail. 5 otts, added some DHG and built my auto dosser. 
As always a the complete more detailed log is available at FishTankProjects - Oska Forest tank log.

Overall shot. It is really starting to fill in.. i have even had to trip a few stems (multiple times!)



























New Clean-up crew.

















Under this overhang seems to be the only deadspot in the tank... i need to find a way to get some flow in there.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

I just realized the tank has only been up for about a month and a half... crazy.. feels like so much longer

April 11th, 2013









May 25th, 2013 (just a cell phone shot for now)









Not bad for 47 days in. 

I also made a quick under water video for fun...Kinda neat to see a fish-eye view.


----------



## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Wow, it sure has filled in nicely! Thats a super cool video too :bigsmile: Brilliant choice of music.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Thanks momobobo


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

And to polish it off I finally got my tube holder (much nicer than a binder clip!)









The tank has really started to fill in! it looks pretty cool under the led night lights so i decided to snap a pic.


----------



## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Wow looks great! Can i have it back now complete with scapimg? Lol.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

haha Why thank you April... maybe one day if i ever upgrade to a bigger one


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

The Lilly pads are taking over!


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

Hey, it's great to see - your tank is looking absolutely superb !!!
You've done a marvelous job !
No wonder April wants it back.


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Hey great update! Good to see you back on here. Switch up the lilies for the red ones  You won't regret it.


----------



## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

lookin very nice shift!


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Thanks guys

I'll try to snap some better pics . And maybe trim the Lilly's soon!


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

So the system may work to well as just about everything in the tank grows like a weed.
The high grow (sunset and other) needs constant pruning.. The amazon swords are massive and taking over the left hand side (theres even runnuers with lots of mini swords popping up!) I give the tank a good pruning ever 2 weeks ish and have tons of plants if anyone in the area ever needs any!

The Lilly pads are taking over the right hand side and probably need a good thinning. The only thing not going nuts is the DHG.. any ideas why?










































































































Current stock estimate..
20 ish rummy nose
30 ish CPD (maybe more like 40)
3 neons
5 harlequins
4 or 5 Ottos
1 White mystery snail
1 ammano 
2 pumpkin shrimp

I'm going to start adding in more pumpkin/CRS/CBS shrimp once they little guys grow up some more.. (and probably more CPDs form the breeding tanks).. Anyone need CPDs? I may questionably be approaching to many.


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Carpet plants tend to grow slowly (with exception of glosso). They also tend to be light and CO2 hogs. Increasing both of those will speed up their growth. Unfortunately, you will probably need to trim like crazy too. 
Swords typically don't even need CO2, so adding it will make them go crazy


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

I put glosso in the love shack tank and its really starting to make a nice carpet.

Any tips for trimming Lilly pads? Does one just trim at the base?


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

If by lilly pads you mean Nymphaea (Lotuses), then yes, trim them at the base.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Is there any secrets to getting Them to flower?


----------



## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

The only suggestion I have is to allow the stems reaching upwards toward the water surface to do their thing (i.e. let the plant get all 'leggy'), and hopefully you'll get flowering at some point.


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Do they grow off a "Lilly pad" or on there own stem

Amazon swords. I have a leave starting to grow out of the water. Should I let it grow or trim that leaf?

For speeding up the DHG future carpet. Is there any way to speed it up? I could put on a second dual t5 fixture but that may be a little overkill for the rest of the tank and potentially algae. But is there any other option to make it carpet better?..


----------



## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Are you breeding celestial pearl danios? I have been looking for some.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Sure am. I have tuns. I quit form the past month or two cause I am running out of tank space. Shoot me a pm if you are interested in some


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)




----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

I added 10 red phantom tetras today!
















Kind of cool little guys


----------



## April (Apr 21, 2010)

Can I have my tank back now? Lol. Looks beautiful!


----------



## greenfin (Nov 4, 2013)

A-Ha! Been shopping, I see! It's a gorgeous tank, shift. Even better to see in person than your already great photos! I like those tetras a lot. Where from?


----------



## shift (Dec 21, 2012)

Thanks guys! 
April - my room would be so empty with out it.. Unless you have a bigger one to trade 

Greenfin - Pet city on spall.


----------



## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Any update?


----------



## UnderseaGal (Mar 4, 2014)

Looks fantastic so far! Can't wait to see it with the CPDs in there.


----------



## opt-e (Jan 25, 2014)

Wow I just found this journal.. Fantastic looking tank. Updates please!!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------

