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ADA 90P Iwugami (56K Warning) Updated 5/16/2013

74K views 295 replies 52 participants last post by  styxx 
#1 · (Edited)
Well I have decided to take the plunge. I have begun yet another tank and this time it's to be a ADA 90P. I wish that I had the $ for the 120, but for now a 90P will have to suffice. Please note, I have switched to an Iwugami style as of 7/27/2012! So here are the specs and photos to follow:

Flora
Anubias Barteri Nana Planted
Microsorum pteropus Needle Leaf Planted
Lilaeopsis mauritiana Planted

Fauna
Cardinia Japonica Arrived
Otocinclus Affinis Arrived
Harlequin Rasboras Arrived
Assassin Snails Arrived

Equipment
Fluval G6
Hydor 300W Heater
5Lb. CO2 w/Milwaukee Regulator, Solenoid & Bubble counter
GLA Atomic+ CO2 Diffuser - with Check Valve - 75mm
GLA (Cal Aqua Labs) Glass Lily In/Outflow Pipes
2 x 30W Growbeam 1000ND, 6500K LED Tile
EchoTech Vortech MP10
ADA: Iron Long Bottom, Multi-Bottom Long, Tourmaline BC, ECA, Phyton-Git, Brighty-K, Brighty Lights, Step 1-2-3,
45Lbs. Seriyu Stone (not cheap )
60Lbs. Seachem Fluorite Black

And without further delay:
















 
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#240 ·
Thanks boxhead1990!

Do you feel like the rocks are just way too underwhelming due to the height of the microswords? Have you considered to add larger stones?
Tex627, I do, but unfortunately they're the biggest Seriyu stone that I could get and afford. I wish that I could find some that are twice to three times as large (and afford them) but unfortunately finding some and affording them are both extremely difficult. I'm always on the lookout but rarely do I find any that are sufficiently tall enough to suit my needs. The truly massive ones are rare and usually outrageously expensive. Eventually I will move to glosso or HC so by then the stones that I have now will be sufficient with a much lower foreground plant.
 
#242 ·
Yea I want to get a couple of big pieces of Seriyu stones. I have a few small pieces in my tank. I love the white and grey contrast they give. They are expensive. I am over the drift wood look, I think. However, I would like to try some flame moss but with moss it is a PIA to cut and then it gets all over the place in the tank (from experience). In the past I wold have to take out the wood and cut the moss in my bath tub. Anyway, if you find any let me know and vice versa,
 
#247 ·
Oh I'm just using a workshop Gorilla stand; nothing fancy. I think I'm getting tired of my iwugami and I'm considering a rescape to Glosso and switching out the fluorite for some Aquasoil. But with the fish and the cherries in there I don't know if my biofilter could handle the abrupt increase in Ammonia. I'm still twirling things around in my mind at this point. :hihi:
 
#254 ·
Amanos galore!!!

Well they have arrived and they look like an army of crack fiends at work, as you can see below (please excuse the dirty glass). But even more fascinating is the assassin snail. OMG! This bad boy works fast. Not even a minute after being unceremoniously dumped in the aquarium and he's at work killing off my snails! I've fallen in love, lol. And you'll note in the photos below how the green of the foreground changes - I still can't seem to get my photography skills to reflect reality; underexposure, overexposure, I really need to take a class and learn at least the basics.




A close up of one of the adults Amanos at work:



My ninja assassin at work, thanks so much Msjinkzd!!!

 
#258 ·
Quick Update



Haha nice! That assassin will hopefully be the only snail left. :D
Just read the whole thread. Lots of good info. Your tank is beautiful, keep it up. I love the shrimp.
Thanks everyone for the support. I think I might need to add another 25 Amanos just in case since almost all of them have disappeared into the damn java fern! But I did notice that quite a few came out into foreground and got to work with today's water change. And boy do the Rasboras love Sundays because of it, lol. As for the Assassin, I think I'm going to need to buy a few more of those two since they're good but perhaps a little overwhelmed by the task in my aquarium. Since some have asked for another video, I shall do my best to supply you with one. Here's one from today, and though it's not a very long one, it does show you how crazy they get on water change days (I do 50% 1x week). Water Change Fiasco

Please forgive the lack of clarity (even in HD) as I'm using my iPhone camera to record the video. My water is actually quite pristine, I just wish I could accurately capture it but alas, I don't have the $$ for a decent camera when I spend it all on my aquarium and its equipment and livestock, lol.
 
#260 ·
Update 3/30/2013

Wow, has it really been that long since my last post! Well a few things have happened that I didn't expect. First, I accidentally left my CO2 on too long and gassed all but 4 of my harlequine rasboras; All but 2-3 of my Amanos died and all but 1-2 FRC survived. :angryfire Then after that drama, my microsword stopped growing and I had an algae infestation took over. After much trouble shooting and a reduction in my dosing schedule, I finally figured out the problem. I needed more Fe in my substrate, so I bought another bottle of ADA Iron Bottom Long and Multi Bottom Long. You may also note that my photos no longer have as much microbubbles as they used to. I've since bought an inline CO2 diffusor from GLA and it works like a charm. The one that I had before worked well but its CO2 seemed to concentrate in only certain areas. Now its widely distributed after passing through my filter. And now things are back to normal, algae free growth. Additionally, my Needle Leaf Java was becoming truly monsterous in size and I literally had to cut it in half down the rhizome and I threw out a massive quantity that was algae infected and kept the best that was left. Once that plant gets going with CO2 and high light, forget about it. I was going through K light it was nothing! I've completely stopped additional Fe and P liquid dosing until the microsword starts to grow back again and I did a drastic cut & pull of the algae infected patches. I added some Phyton Git and now things are back to normal. Here are a few photos of the results as of today...Much thanks goes to Frank Wertzer from ADG and George Lo from Aqua Forest Aquarium for their sage advice and wisdom.



And lo and behold you can finally see my Seryiu stone again. I think I'm going to let the Microsword just grow all around it. I like the centralized background of the NLJF right now. My plan is to let it grow to twice its height and to add a few more pots in the spotty patches that are empty. Another additional benefit has been the amazing proliferation of my anubias nana. They are in spectacular condition, aka, "Amano perfection" level; Algae free and with a depth of green that I am perpetually amazed it. They've even sent runners all across the stone and now down into the substrate. I actually tried to pull them off the stone and they wouldn't budge - I think I'd have to cut them out now, lol!! My next project is to buy another larger seriyu stone for the middle and restock the tank with Amanos, FR cherries and the rasboras that I've lost. Amazingly, I didn't lose a single Otto in the entire escapade, they are some tough little bastards, lol. Sorry for the lengthy post and update. I'll try to be more productive, life is a little hectic right now around contract renewal time so please be patient with me (all three of you who are reading my thread, lol).

 
#261 ·
Re: ADA 90P Iwugami (56K Warning) Updated 3/30/2013

Very nice!!
The NLJF is looking good!

And did I read correctly you have the inline co2 diffuser attached to your intake hose??

-Sent from my Samsung Note, a "Phablet"
 
#264 ·
thats still a tank to be proud of, regardless of any issues you may be recovering from. its a great looking display.

yeah, otos handle CO2 quite well. they were the only fish that never gasped on me when i was turning up my CO2 (of course they later died when my solenoid failed, but that killed everything else too).
 
#269 ·
Thanks Green Flash!

miceoswords look nice. I hope the ones i planted on my new tank will eventually be as successful.
Yes, they're doing really well now, but be patient, they will take quite a while to get going; it's definitely not the easiest plant in the world, lol.

Tank looks great man. How are you liking the led grow beam panel? I have one over a 60p and am loving it.
Snailer, I'm in love. I'll never buy anything but LEDs from now on.
 
#279 ·
Whoa!! I Need To Get On Here More Often!!



Well I definitely don't give a damn about that substrate line, lol. It's almost been a year come this Fall, so the fact that there is a line at all is a sign of impressive diligence on my part, lol. I do agree however that otos can pretty much survive almost anything and when I give them algae wafers, forget about it!!! At night Ive seen them go crazy over those things, lol!

Now all you need is that glass ADA feeder. :biggrin:
Yes, I think you're right, but at the moment, I'm using ELOS vacuum sealed packets and my Rasboras go crazy for it!

Beautiful tank!! Took me forever to read this whole journal. Lot's of ups and downs for your setup in the past year.

The reason I came across your post was because I searched GroBeam. Last week I purchased a GroBeam Ultima 1500, if you haven't heard of it it's the upgraded version of the 1,000.

I originally purchased one grobeam, problem being my tank being a 20 gallon long, it's 30" long. There is not enough spread with just one tile. Now that I received my second today, it is very bright!! Now keep in mind I purchased the tiles since I require high light to grow a HC carpet but am starting to think I went overboard.

I've been trying to determine the proper height above my tank. I have the same ceiling cable mount as you, and today mounted 12 inches above the water line, so 2 feet from the substrate total. I'm starting to think based on your results that 100% power is overkill especially on such a shallow tank. I think I'll run 50% for 3-4 hours, then 2 hours 100% then 2 hours back to 50%. Curious what you think at this point after experiencing the strength of these lights. Any advice would be great. Thank you
Did you get the dimmer? Can you add it later?
I'll try to reply to both of your comments at once; Yes, I don't run my 2 tiles at more than 80% ever. I learned very early that I could achieve very high growth (at a high CO2 rate) initially, but that things would wind down precipitously after 6 months at which time I had to dramatically stop all liquid ferts and reduce the light intensity to 75% full time to avoid algae. Part of that rationale was related to the fact that my substrate was not Aqua soil, but also to the fact that the light intensity was driving everything in "overdrive" and to achieve equilibrium necessitated something having to give. In this case it was a dramatic reduction in biomass volume and liquid ferts (I dosed nothing but K for weeks) combined with stability in CO2 concentration. I can't being to imagine what the 1500 tiles must be like, OMG! a 50%-100%-50% ratio would sound good though I'm tempted to recommend less depending on your biomass load. You really have to have a LOT of plants to accommodate that 100% photoperiod (depending on the duration and length of exposure)...It was very much a balancing act, but things have certainly balanced themselves out by now.

There is someone in the UK, George Farmer, who has the same lights. He took PAR readings and got 50 PAR @60 cm(or about 24inch) that's extremely high light. Just for your reference.
That's very true. I don't think I would ever run these at 100% intensity unless I absolutely had Aquasoil (and even then only in short, mid-day bursts, but never 100% of the time). Which is NOT to say that having 2 tiles isn't beneficial. I think that having the spread of light is more important, depending on the relative length of the aquarium (thus my decision to buy a second tile, though I didn't need the additional intensity, but spread of light to the furthest reaches of the aquarium).

I did not purchase the controller it's expensive. With two tiles you need two timers if you want 50% to 100% output control. You just swap the connections to the bricks and one timer will control the inner most LED's of both tiles and the other timer can control the outermost LED's of the two tiles.

The only info I was able to find about height was that George Farmer write up where he had two TMC 1,000's at 60cm. Keep in mind the new 1500's are even stronger!

I already have hair algae growth coming from my HC, it hitched a ride from the nursery. Snails too. My setup is a week old fyi.
Yeah, I won't ever try 100% intensity again; the multi-controller is WAY overpriced but I bought it and the initial set up is a REAL PITA but once done, its effortless to maintain. Once you go LEDs like these, you never go back, IMO.

I swear by that thing and love it.

On topic:
Tank is looking great man. That fern was a monster!
Thanks. Yet that fern was a monster but this CO2 diffusion and circulation + the lighting is already making me look at it and wondering how long it will be before I have to chop it in 1/2 again, lol!! I hope this answers some of your questions and I'm happy to reply to whatever additional queries you might have; these GroBeam tiles have definitely convinced me of the value of LED lighting's ability to replace the wattage heavy CFL and even Halide lighting.
 
#274 · (Edited)
Beautiful tank!! Took me forever to read this whole journal. Lot's of ups and downs for your setup in the past year.

The reason I came across your post was because I searched GroBeam. Last week I purchased a GroBeam Ultima 1500, if you haven't heard of it it's the upgraded version of the 1,000.

I originally purchased one grobeam, problem being my tank being a 20 gallon long, it's 30" long. There is not enough spread with just one tile. Now that I received my second today, it is very bright!! Now keep in mind I purchased the tiles since I require high light to grow a HC carpet but am starting to think I went overboard.

I've been trying to determine the proper height above my tank. I have the same ceiling cable mount as you, and today mounted 12 inches above the water line, so 2 feet from the substrate total. I'm starting to think based on your results that 100% power is overkill especially on such a shallow tank. I think I'll run 50% for 3-4 hours, then 2 hours 100% then 2 hours back to 50%. Curious what you think at this point after experiencing the strength of these lights. Any advice would be great. Thank you
 
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