n00dl3's 180G Rare Crypts Collectoritis Journal - New Update 4-7-2013

[n00dl3]

Originally Posted by looking4roselines

Are there zebras in the photos? Or were those leopard frogs?

Zebra prices have gone down a bit. I miss them when they were $25 ea back in 2001.

Nice collection of plecos you got there Hung.

Xue - Thanks! Good eyes! They are L134 Leopard Frogs. No zebras in the picture. Those were the good o'le days!!!

[n00dl3]

Originally Posted by toksyn

Do I see zebras!? I've been really interested for a while but scared off by the price. They are so neat! Nice plecos!

Nope! They are L134 Leopard Frogs... Zebras are extremely pretty looking pleco.

[ikuzo]

that's a lot of plecos
very nice, did they breed in your tank?

please share their new tank

[n00dl3]

Originally Posted by ikuzo

that's a lot of plecos
very nice, did they breed in your tank?

please share their new tank

thanks... bristlenoses are all tank bred by me. L333, L134, and L260 are my new breeding project.

I have 8 33gal long tanks that they are house in with a ton of driftwood and a couple of caves. If you see one tank, you'll pretty much see them all. It is documented starting post 202.

But here are four out of eight tanks as of today. They are pretty much the same. I don't do anything fancy because they are breeding tanks.

[n00dl3]

A new plant for the tank. I wanted a red color plant that doesn't grow super fast like stem plant. So I'm going to give Alternanthera sp. 'variegated' a try. I've read they are a slower growing plant. Very cool looking plant! The vein in the leaves give the plant an extra pop.

[n00dl3]

I got two new specimens from Xue today. They came in excellent condition. First specimen is Auriculata Betong. I have been looking for Auriculata 'Betong' for the past year. Of course, when I saw this offerred, I jumped on it. Extremely cool crypt!
The other specimen is Auriculata 'Tiger stripes' Pakan... also very cool crypt! Now, I hope I don't kill them both.

Now for some pictures of them.
Auriculata Betong:





Auriculata 'Tiger stripe' Pakan:

[n00dl3]

On the maintenance side, I just changed out the light bulbs. I will be cleaning up the tank this weekend in preparation to switch over from eheim filters to a sump filter. And another round of osmocote.

[n00dl3]

Here is a sneak peak of my upcoming project for this tank. All parts and components are ordered. Just waiting for them to be shipped.

[n00dl3]

Overall the recovery process is rather slow because I was still battling the hair algae. I had to resort to chemical warfare, so the plants were not doing as well. I think I finally finally got the upper hand on them. By reducing the lighting to 6 hours, manually removing algae, algefix and excel, and double my circulation.

I did another round of maintenance yesterday, the tank is looking much better. I added 1/2 inch of used ADA aquasoil and osmocote root tab to all plants. The tank will be a pure grow out tank for the next couple of months because I want to do an all crypt rescape.

Also, I think I finally lost one of my favorite crypt. It is C. CF jacobsenii. I have been trying to baby this crypt for the past few months... but I have seen to lose the battle.

Onward to some tank pictures....

Full tank shot:


Left side:


Middle:


Right side:


Auriculata Betong and Auriculata 'Tiger Stripe' Pakan... It has been two days and no sign of melting. They look like they are perking up.


I can't seem to get away from Downoi... it is one of my all time favorite plant. They came in a little rough but I think they will be fine. Another one of my upcoming project.


C. aponogetifolia is doing pretty well.


Alternanthera sp. 'variegated' is perking up too!


C. sp Bukit Ibam "Yellow Ring" is slowing recovering.


C. Nurii 'Rompin'


Bullosa 'Sarakei' - They are actually recovering very nicely. Each plant has grew 1-2 new leaves since the last update.


Mimina 'Gasser'


Bullosa 'Bario', this crypt has too recover very well.


Cordata KR01


Kota Tingii


Cordata 'Rosanervig'

[DogFish]

C. Auriculata !!! Well done. I drooled over those myself. Fortunately, I have absolutely no place to put any more of anything. I just ROAKed out sink full of Crypts & asst. plants just to have room for my stuff to grow. Something i didn't think about when I downsized and sold 5 tanks.

[n00dl3]

Originally Posted by DogFish

C. Auriculata !!! Well done. I drooled over those myself. Fortunately, I have absolutely no place to put any more of anything. I just ROAKed out sink full of Crypts & asst. plants just to have room for my stuff to grow. Something i didn't think about when I downsized and sold 5 tanks.

yea... it is tough to downsize. I did that like 6 months ago, just couldn't decide what to keep and what to off load.

[n00dl3]

The Auriculatas after two weeks. First leave is sprouting, a very good sign that they are alive.


Random plecos pictures from my fishroom: They are great hiders so sorry for the not so good pictures.


Blue-eyed bristlenose


Red Bristlenose


Red male with fry


Longfin Green bristlenose


Longfin Green bristlenose fry


L333 Juvies


More L333 Juvies


L134 Juvies


More L134 Juvies

[n00dl3]

All of the sudden this show up on most of my crypts except for Bullosas. I have not changed my fertilizing dosage for 3 months or so because I have it set to automatic dosing of modified EI.

About two weeks ago, I added 1/2 inch of used aquasoil and osmocote root tabs to each crypts. Other than that, nothing has changed in the tank.

From my research, I read over APC that I have calcium deficiency but I when I did addition researched. I found another article/image that it looks like it is Manganese.

My water is cleveland city water which is hard water.

So what is my deficiency?



Image from APC

[n00dl3]

Originally Posted by n00dl3

All of the sudden this show up on most of my crypts except for Bullosas. I have not changed my fertilizing dosage for 3 months or so because I have it set to automatic dosing of modified EI.

About two weeks ago, I added 1/2 inch of used aquasoil and osmocote root tabs to each crypts. Other than that, nothing has changed in the tank.

From my research, I read over APC that I have calcium deficiency but I when I did addition researched. I found another article/image that it looks like it is Manganese.

My water is cleveland city water which is hard water.

So what is my deficiency?



Image from APC

Just for record keeping... here is the thread that we talked about the deficiencies.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=206473

[n00dl3]

My custom overflow box from Lifereef arrived yesterday. This will be my weekend project to convert from canister to sump. The box is well built and doesn't feel cheap. I love it so far.







Also I will be making a DIY spray for the return flow. It will based on the design below.


Last, I will try to take lots of pictures to document this...