Fat Guy's ADA with hand made lily pipe

[frrok]

have you considered the gla inline diffusors?
Anyway, I totally missed this thread. I liked your previous idea of a plant/stem focal point but the new stone iwagumi seems interesting as well. I love hairgrass setups anyway. do you have shrimp in this tank? why the steel intake? just curious. one more question, did you make that drop checker? if so, i want one! hahaha

[Fat Guy]

Originally Posted by FlyingGiraffes

New rock looks nice! Looks like you're due for a trim soon.

thanks flyinggiraffes....funny you should mention that....check out the photos below.

hey frrok, I have considered the gla inline diffusors. I'll admit, I don't like seeing the diffusor in the setup. at one point I had an external diy diffusor. wasn't as happy with it as I thought I was going to be. I may invest in the gla one though. do you have any experience with it? I have a ton of cherry shrimp in this tank and felt bad how many would get sucked into the intake. the steel filter cap has done a great job since I installed it. I also don't mind the way it looks. I did make that drop checker too. Works very well.

Here are some more photos. from echinodorus to the brainstorm to the the rock placement and trim. Thanks all for looking!! best, el g

wabi wabi wabi

brainstorming with rocks to the right and left of the tank.

adios old/plant scape and back to the rocks

the big trim

a few steps back

[frrok]

I dont have experience with that diffusor, they look really well made though. Im sure someone can chime in... I actually dont mind the look of the glass diffusors myself.

I see why you have that intake. I have sakura grade cherries also, but I don't have anything on my intake at the moment. was looking to get one of those as well. I probably will at some point. right now i don't have many tiny babies and none of my shrimps are berried so I'm hoping its ok for now.

[Couesfanatic]

I have a GLA inline atomic diffuser. Works really well actually. Its nice to have one more thing out of the tank. I did have a slight mist in the tank though. I've heard that can be overcome by having more tubing between the diffuser and the tank. You would have to look close to see the micro bubbles. I'll sell you mine if you want. Just broke the tank down a week ago.

[FlyingGiraffes]

Originally Posted by Fat Guy

thanks flyinggiraffes....funny you should mention that....check out the photos below.

Well I'll be darned! Looks great after the trim.

[Fat Guy]

same rocks. new scape. different plant. glosso

[frrok]

Very cool. Can't wait to see it grow out.

[Fat Guy]

Originally Posted by frrok

Very cool. Can't wait to see it grow out.

thanks man. I'm enjoying the glosso. Looking forward to it growing out and filling in.

just watched your tank video. Looks awesome. Really think there is a cool balance in your tank with the driftwood and placement of your plants. good work!! very natural and serene scape.

[frrok]

Originally Posted by Fat Guy

thanks man. I'm enjoying the glosso. Looking forward to it growing out and filling in.

just watched your tank video. Looks awesome. Really think there is a cool balance in your tank with the driftwood and placement of your plants. good work!! very natural and serene scape.

Thanks! , there were some bumps along the way...But for my second scape, I really liked how it turned out.

I take inspiration from all the great tanks I see on TPT. Yours included.

[Fat Guy]

quick update:
Added 10 crs shrimp (s grade) from speedie here at TPT. They are really great. Also added a gla inline diffuser which I have to say is awesome. Without a doubt, one of the better purchases I've made for this tank. did a quick trim to keep the glosso low and transplanted the rest form the trim. Moved the filter down to the floor and added new eheim quick disconnects that I got from Pacific Aquarium on Delancey. I broke the original disconnects on my intake a while back.




Have to say I'm super happy about the new additions. the crs and the gla inline seutp are great. looking forward to the tank filling in.

If you look closely in the below photo, you can spot some of the crs as well as the rcs and amanos. shimp and snail only as for now.

[Fat Guy]

Things are looking good. Loving the gla inline diffuser. Thinking about investing in some wave type scissors. Getting a little green spot algae.
Trying to narrow down a dosing regiment. Thinking about just doing twice a week dosing after water changes.

right now:
4.1ml seachem phosphorus
2.75ml seachem nitrogen
5ml seachem potssium
1ml seachem comprehensive
CO2 is at about 1 to 1.25 bps inline





Plants are happy and growing. Shrimp are doing well and behaving like they should. razor blade and toothbrush are now the best cleaning devices I've found.
Hoping to get a better grasp on ferts and trying to get the glosso to grow low low low...

[Fat Guy]

The glosso is growing well and I'm learning a lot about the tank with it. Noticed a tiny bit of staghorn on one leaf which I removed and then the testing began. I learned that seachem nitrogen will give a reading of ammonia on an API ammonia test kit because of the ammonium contained in the fertilizer. This was actually great news because I started to think that I was having filter issues which completely perplexed me.

Here's a photo of the test I did with ammonia free water and then the same water with seachem nitrogen added to it. You can see the color change.


So I've ruled out my filter being the issue. But now wonder if the ammonium present in the seachem nitrogen fertilizer is somehow promoting some staghorn growth.

So I've dialed in the co2. I've upped my dosing of phosphorus and potassium and have cut off dosing seachem nitrogen into the tank. I have nitrates present in the tank according to my tests each day and am changing the water twice a week (more or less depending on the condition). I'm also going to wait a little longer before I trim my glosso again. I've been pretty aggressive with it and I think that may have something to do with staghorn appearing. We shall see what happens. Considering adding pfertz to my arsenal now that there is a sale, and also because I'm running low on my seachem products. I'd like to do dry ferts but with a baby on the way and a small new york apt, the convenience and visual appeal of those bottles will go a long way.

he likes the tank as much as I do...and the crs on the rock...but really he's just waiting for an algae wafer snack...because that acrylic top is near bullet proof!!

[GMYukonon24s]

Nice looking tank

[sunyang730]

Did you ever make extra drop checker? LOL

[Fat Guy]

Originally Posted by GMYukonon24s

Nice looking tank

thanks!! go tigers!!!!!!

Originally Posted by sunyang730

Did you ever make extra drop checker? LOL

I never did. I have all the stuff to do it though, just haven't gotten around to it. maybe one of these days i will...