my little eden

[callisto9]

They look like they're having fun. I love those little danio erythromicrons - they are so cute!

[bluestems]

Made some edits... brightened the video a bit and added some text at the gap:

fish playing in the bubbles & surf

Originally Posted by callisto9

They look like they're having fun. I love those little danio erythromicrons - they are so cute!

They've been surfing all day. I'll make a point to keep the grass much shorter seeing how much they love playing in the current. The pair of danios in the video are the two I'm keeping.

[bluestems]

Just finished doing a major trim of the dhg, and replaced the hair-algae infested clover with nymphoides sp. "Taiwan". The nymphoides should grow in taller and offer more cover.

The hc is finally filling in densely towards the back. I'm looking at doing the first major trim (not sure how low to go though), and possibly taking it out in the front of the large stone. Here's a fts as it is now:




and here's if the hc is trimmed back from the front of the large stone, and replaced with ADA Mekong Sand, or similar:




Part of the reason for removing the hc in front of the rock is that the stone comes within a 1/2" of the front of the tank, and the hc doesn't really have enough room to fill in nicely at that spot. The shrimp and khuli loaches frequently enter/exit the cave under the stone at this spot, so I thought the sand might keep it more accessible for them.

Here's a couple other shots of the inhabitants.


male danio in his favorite spot



an amano shrimp with one of the new cherry juvies


And trying out a side shot... look at all that bba!

[Green_Flash]

Nice! You have grown a nice HC lawn! Just careful you trim it frequently or it will start floating up. For the BBA on the rock, have you tried excel spot dosing and bacter 100 sprinkled on it?

On a side note AFA has the 45p stocked now on the website although they are sold out.

[bluestems]

Originally Posted by Green_Flash

Nice! You have grown a nice HC lawn! Just careful you trim it frequently or it will start floating up. For the BBA on the rock, have you tried excel spot dosing and bacter 100 sprinkled on it?

On a side note AFA has the 45p stocked now on the website although they are sold out.

How short should I trim the hc?

I have tried pouring excel on the bba on the top of the rock and using the floaters to block out the light directly above it. So far, it's turned slightly pink, however, I did loose one of my cherry juvies. Now that the hc is grown in, I may be able to lift the rock out without disturbing too much of the soil under neath it. Does bba survive bleach and boiling?

I'm hoping the 45p is a new standard stocking item as I'm not yet ready to buy. Probably looking at this summer, after we move.

[bluestems]

I've trimmed the hc... hopefully short enough. Also took out the large stone to do some bba removal and am kind of liking the potential of the tank without it:




The tank is so much larger feeling with the bulk of the big stone in it. The water flow is much better and maybe will help with the algae issues. Also, I like seeing my shrimp out during the day.

But, what to do with the big hole?

I can try to break up the large stone or at least chip a small piece off the bottom to place in the middle of the hole towards the back (for a balance of three rocks, and break up the dhg a bit).

But then I'm trying to decide...should I fill the hole with sand and keep it a lake like feature... maybe add a cholla branch across the sand for the shrimp? Or should I fill it with a new intermediate plant, like Staurogyne repens?

[bluestems]

Filled in the big hole with some fine sand from the Wet Spot in Portland, a few small stone pebbles and a lucky find: a small piece of manzanita wood for $0.99

I believe the wood was a broken piece off a larger branch, and the lfs owner didn't seem to think it very useful. It seems to suit the space nicely, and both the shrimps and fish really enjoy the new space.



















I may add some S. repens 'porto velho' once I can find some. Hoping to add a bunch of cherry shrimps or crs shrimps soon too.

[Green_Flash]

Originally Posted by bluestems

How short should I trim the hc?

I have tried pouring excel on the bba on the top of the rock and using the floaters to block out the light directly above it. So far, it's turned slightly pink, however, I did loose one of my cherry juvies. Now that the hc is grown in, I may be able to lift the rock out without disturbing too much of the soil under neath it. Does bba survive bleach and boiling?

I'm hoping the 45p is a new standard stocking item as I'm not yet ready to buy. Probably looking at this summer, after we move.

Hi, trim as low as you can toward the bottom leafs/undergrowth. With all foreground plants pretty much, this will keep them nice and low and prevent the bottom from dying from no light.

Yeah I think the 45p will be stocked all the time since they don't sell the Mini-L anymore.
Think you will put the stone back in?

[assasin6547]

I like it without the stone, and that piece of wood looks really good right there.

[bluestems]

Originally Posted by Green_Flash

Hi, trim as low as you can toward the bottom leafs/undergrowth. With all foreground plants pretty much, this will keep them nice and low and prevent the bottom from dying from no light.

Yeah I think the 45p will be stocked all the time since they don't sell the Mini-L anymore.
Think you will put the stone back in?

Thanks for the tip. I've been trimming it, but I don't think short enough. It seems to need a trim every 3 days.

I'm not sure I will put the stone back in. It looks better in person than in the photos though. It looks a bit undynamic in the pics, doesn't it? Without the hardscape interest, I feel there needs to be more texture and diversity in the plantings.

I think I'm going to let the grass creep in to the left of the small stones and bring in some staurogyne sp. 'porto velho" in around the wood to fill in the gap. The sand is there currently to hold the space until a friend can grow out some staurogyne for me. The nymphoides 'taiwan' is beginning to stretch out and grow upwards which is giving some needed vertical interest. Lastly, I'll probably look at adding some mini-fissidens to the wood.

It's doubtful I'll add the stone back in though as it really was just too big for the narrow depth of this tank. I may keep it though for that 45p.

[bluestems]

Originally Posted by assasin6547

I like it without the stone, and that piece of wood looks really good right there.

Thanks! I think the fish are appreciating the free space too. It has been easier to maintain without the big stone in the way, and I like that the shrimp are out all the time now. They seem to enjoy climbing on, picking algae off and just hanging out around the wood.

[bluestems]

new regulator arrived!





Very expensive, but after the mishap with the last one, I think it's worth it. Just won't be buying anything else for a while!

[gnod]

^wow.. nice. i really want to try their stuff. what mishap happened with the last one? sorry i must have missed it.
love your tank tho and would love to pick up one of those tanks also. google search shows it's not readily available..

[zzrguy]

Did you have any Otto's in the tank they seem to help with algae.

[bluestems]

Originally Posted by zzrguy

Did you have any Otto's in the tank they seem to help with algae.

Do they help with the string algae? I'm hoping the new regulator will maintain a more constant level and hopefully the algae won't be as big as issue.