OMG! Another tank part 3 MINI L Madness (updated Pics 1/10)

[defiant]

Well the wife and kids are still away and i decided to set up another tank. I think this will be the last tank i will set up for a while . This will fill in the missing spot on my table of tanks.

There won't be any more room for me to put another tank so this will have to do for now unless i decide to build me another stand

I will begine with the typical description of my setup.

ADA Mini L tank
Archaea 27 w light fixture
Eheim 2213 filter
Shou stones
Ada power sand
Ada Powder soil Amizonia II
Cal Aqua lily pipes
Ada Bubble counter and check valve
Pressurized co2 split between 3 tank.

I will be using HC and Marseila Minuta as the foreground
I will be adding some eriocaulin japan sp. Mini pelia, miramo moss,purple babmboo

for now there are 2 SAE's and bumble bee horned nerrite snails in there for algae control

here are some photos





I started out laying out with some zeebra stones but decided that the color look too much like the seryiu stones in the Mini m thats next to it. So i decided to change it out and use some shou stones.









I thought that the back right corner looked empty so i added another rock



I decided to dry start the hc to get the roots to establish faster.



after about 3 weeks i decided to fill the tank. plus i was just waiting for my co2 speed controllers since i decided to split the co2 system between the three tanks. I only went this route because i have the tanks sitting right next to each other on a stand.

here is the tank as i fill it up after 3 weeks worth of dry starting the HC





I was planning on building me individual ADA style stands again but i decided not to because of the space constraints. although i would enjoy the project

i also planted the marseila minuta


now here is another shot of the tank just one week after i filled it up.






I noticed that everytime i use this shou stones, this brown algae always pops up with a vengence. I really think that this is due to all that silica thats built up in the stones. Please chime in if you have noticed this same outcome when using this type of stones.

Here are some pictures of the tank today after a water change..





the algae is still there but the SAE's are helping to clean it up. the bad thing is that the roots of the HC were too short and when the algae built up, it lifted it out of the soil. so now there are only a few spots left of HC. I also got rid of all the HC in my 12g mr aqua so i will have to let this thing grow in without me adding more.

Ill kep you posted as i make changes to the tank.. again this will be a breeding tank primarily for SSS grade crs/cbs shrimps. I figured that i'd keep the lower grades in my 12g long. Im waiting for msnikki to start selling her cardinal shrimp again so i can put that in my other M tank

here is a shot of the tanks all together

[IWANNAGOFAST]

Wow that tank looks good and wow that algae is crazy.

[JulieR]

All that algae. Sucks that you lost so much HC, especially after being patient for the three week dry start.

I love the rock placement, nice angles. The tallest rock really gives it a bold look. I'll look forward to seeing updates on this one!

[defiant]

so here is an update to my tank... the MM is growing in nicely and so is the HC which is rebounding from that horrid algae problem.. I also added some vietnam sp stem plants and some downoi. i will be adding some eriocaulins later on.

here is a picture right before my weekly cleaning and before a trim



and here it is after the cleaning and trim

[Jaggedfury]

Holy moly! That's the first time I've seen brown algae like that. Crazy. That's alot of co2 coming out of the diffuser. The update pictures looks better!

[rountreesj]

Just an FYI, I have the exact same kind of algae from the rocks I use, and Mollies work GREAT to take care of it. They gobble the stuff up...

[Hyzer]

Another great looking tank. Excited to see it all grown in.

That brown algae is epic. Thanks for not just posting the shiny pictures.

[EntoCraig]

This is great proof that your tanks can go from an algae disaster to a work of art. Well done!

[defiant]

here is a quick update on this tank this is what it looks now as of today.

[rwong2k]

wow great comeback that brown algae's scary!

[Betta Maniac]

I would freak if algae like that showed up in my tank. Do you think pre-soaking the stones might help?

[EntoCraig]

Originally Posted by rwong2k

wow great comeback that brown algae's scary!

There is hope for some of us!

[Hyzer]

Looks great. Love the mars/hc combo.

[lasutaku]

beautiful!

[defiant]

Originally Posted by lasutaku

beautiful!

thank you all...

im trying to challenge myself with different varieties of plants and multi foreground plants. its a chore to maintain but the outcome is well worth it i think.

i will try and post updates to the other tanks later on tonight.