Do!aqua Mini-M: riverrun

[gotcheaprice]

Great looking tank! Looking forward to setting mine up. You've inspired me to use UG instead of HC.

[Ugly Genius]

Thanks, Kirk and got!

riverrun's bacterial bloom cleared by yesterday afternoon.

I'm really liking the AquaClear HOB filter. Perhaps due to the design inherent in a HOB -- in particular the gas exchange afforded by its open-top design -- the bio-filter seems more robust in that all the tell-tale signs of a less-than perfect bio-filter are not there: algae, suffering fauna, excess organics, et cetera. When I redo Riven Tanglewood (perhaps this weekend), I will use an AquaClear instead of the canister ZooMed.

[rrrrramos]

Originally Posted by Ugly Genius

This is my favorite picture of yours. It looks great!

[hyphination]

loving the hardscape!!!btw what are your ott-lites standing on?

[Ugly Genius]

Thanks, hyph.
The OttLites are standing on eight CD jewel cases.

[FrostyNYC]

I love the bladderwort. It makes it seem like that lush lawn is coming alive, reaching out, twisting, grasping, and moving. Beautiful.

[hyphination]

Oh and one more question how high is the substrate in the front and back of your tank?

[Ugly Genius]

Thanks, Frosty!

Hyph, the front's an inch and a half from the surface of the dresser on which it sits and the back ranges anywhere from three and a half inches up to about six at it's highest point in the center.
Note that without rocks and a solid root structure, a slope that steep probably won't hold. So if you want to have it that steep you need lots of rocks and you need to dry-start to the point that the plants throw down roots deep which can take up to -- if not over -- three months.

[Indignation]

I think this is the first tank I've seen that U. Gibba looks good in. The setup is amazing UG, bravo. Do the rocks affect water chemistry at all? (kH, gH)

[ES4]

My goodness.... relatively new to the forums here.... but talk about perfection. I can only hope that mine turns out 1/4 as nice.

[Ugly Genius]

Thanks, Indi. The rocks do affect the GH, I think. It's not so much a problem for me as SF's water -- so I'm told -- is very soft.

ES4, thanks, man.

The new Nature Aquarium Book 2009 is available at AFA now. (This is ADA's catalog, if you weren't aware.) This year's a really good one. Where last year's had a lot of info on layout design, this year's focus is on the technical side of things. Light, CO2, filtration, and ferts. Most of the stuff we already know, but it's a good primer on stuff we may have forgotten.

I really wish ADA would make a HOB filter. A beautiful clear glass HOB with stainless steal German-made mechanics. It would have a toungue-shaped glass slide for the water to gently flow into the tank with only the slightest ripple across the water's surface as if licked. It would have a built-in heater, too.

Anyway, enough wishing. Here are some photos snapped right now.

I raised the OttLites one more jewel case as I started to see Hair Algae form on the rocks.

[Randy Lau]

Hey UG I want to use my first post to comment on riverrun.

I'm loving this tank. I just read the entire thread and don't know if I can get up early tomorrow anymore to go rock hunting.

The pictures in post #152 are my favorite especially the macros! Best on the net.

[Ugly Genius]

Thanks, Randy. Glad you could join us here.
Good luck on the rock hunt. Hope you made it to the bonsai store in Japantown. That's the place to get your rocks.

Over-filtration is awesome, but I'm getting tired of rescuing shrimp from inside the filter. I really want to show these guys tough love and let them suffer for their mistakes, but I'm the type of person who won't allow people to kill spiders if I'm around (I'll scoop them up in my bare hands and take them outside -- even if they bite me in the process) so my sentimental pseudo-buddhist heart breaks once I walk away from the tank thinking, "You got yourself there; you get yourself out." Twice I've rescued shrimp today after thinking just that.
All the while me being this "compassionate animal lover", I can't bring myself to putting a sponge on the intake because they're ugly.
Sometimes it sucks to be me.

[trigun808]

haha like i said this is m favorite tank!
my ug is getting there! always great to hear from u and any advice on hair algae?

[Ugly Genius]

Originally Posted by trigun808

any advice on hair algae?

Yeah, try not to get it.

Just kidding. Lessen the lights and clean the filter.
It's pretty common for me in new tanks. Given time and the correct long-term balance of light, CO2, and ferts, it goes away for the most part. I haven't noticed a correlation between too much of any given nutrient and hair algae. Mostly it's too much light and a dirty filter that does it for me.