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55 gallon Excel tank (NEW UPDATE 8/14/09 WITH PICS)

70K views 86 replies 34 participants last post by  Hilde 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello everybody.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and my fish tank. I want to first off thank everybody who participates on this wonderful website. I've learned so much here and I think it has helped me to get off to a good start. I took about a month to read up on planted fish tanks. My research included the following:

1) Ecology of the Planted Aquarium by Diana Walstad. One of my main goals was to try to keep maintenance simple. I also wanted to employ techniques to keep algae problems to a minimum so that I could spent my time enjoying my fish tank instead of fighting with it.

2) Nature Aquarium World vol 2 by Takashi Amano. This was more for inspiration in aquascaping.

3) The Barr Report website. I've decided to follow Tom Barr's Excel dosing method as my technique for carbon supplementation instead of injected co2.

4) This website of course.

I was lucky to find a 55 gallon fish tank and unfinished pine tank stand on Craig's list for $70. Score! I took it home, sanded the stand down and varnished it.

My equipement is as follows:
- Marineland Magnum HOT filter.
- Corallife compact flourescent light 55watts (6700 K) x 2 ( giving me 2 watts per gallon). I specifically wanted to avoid too much light which could potentially add to an algae problem.
- Maxijet 600 pump
- 4 bags of Eco complete for substrate. ( I love this stuff. Very little water cloudiness even with the first filling).

Plants:
- Amulia (Limnophila indica)
- Hornwort Ceratophyllum demersum
- Water Sprite(Ceratopteris thalictroides)
- Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis)
- Telanthera Rosefolia (Alternanthera reineckii)
- Ludwigia, Broad Leaf (Ludwigia repens)
- Vals, Jungle (Vallisneria gigantea)
- Baby Tears (Hemianthus micranthemoides)
- Regina Red (Syngonium podophyllum)

Fish:
- 14 Cardinal Tetras
- 10 Harlequin Rasboras
- 4 Otoclinus
- 2 Angelfish
- 2 Fantail Guppy Males
- 1 Pineapple Lyretail Swordtail Female
- 2 Bolivian Rams
- 1 Betta
- 4 Rummy Nosed Tetra

I dose the following:
- Excel 1/2 cap 3 x per week
- Seachem Flourish 1/2 tsp 1 x per week
- 1/4 tsp KNO3 1 x per week
- 1/16 tsp KH2PO4 1 x per week

Ok enough with the chit chat, here's the pics I promised. Please click on the individual pics for the original full sized pics.

1) Initial set up





2) 1 month of growth later.


3) First trimming and some minor rescaping work.


4)


5) Redfantail Guppy


6) Pineapple Lyretail Guppies (as of this date the male has unfortunately passed away)


7)


8) Soon afterwards, one of my male guppies moved in quickly to "comfort" the grieving widow swordtail. Frisky little fellah.


9 )


10 ) German Blue Ram


11 ) Betta


12) Harlequin Rasboras


13)


14) Zebra Angel Fish


15) Rummy Nosed Tetras


16) Cardinal Tetras


17)


18) Otoclinus hard at work.


19 )


Best regards,

- Hung
 
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#3 ·
Yep my thoughts also, GBR.


Anyway nice tank, I just setup a 55G low tech that is similar except I'm using some ODNO lighting to get me ~2wpg. I'm following the same dosing except no Excel yet(I just put an order in as I decided to try it).
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the comments. I am definitely adding more plants but in stages. For the first month I wanted to establish some fast growing stemmed plants to help combat any algae. As things stabilize, I will be adding more slow growth foreground plants. I have a shipment of Anubias Nana and Sagitaria Subulatta coming tomorrow I hope.

As far as fin nipping, I have only seen it with my Zebra Angelfish. It happens rarely. He took a bite out of my red fantail guppy and occassionally nips at the Betta. Not often though.

- Hung
 
#6 ·
Looks great but you'll need to remove the betta the angel well make short work of his tail in now time. And the don't care for all that current or depth.
Nice looking tank. Thinking I may use excel in my 75 gallon.
Hope you keep us updated on how this works out.
 
#12 ·
Ya I think you are right. My betta seems a bit lost. He tends to hide in the plants and I've seen my Zebra Angelfish nip his tail a few times. :icon_frow
I'll definitely keep updates coming as long as there appears interests. Thanks for the comment and goodluck with your 75 gallon.

- Hung
 
#13 ·
Thanks! I got my Pineapple Lyretail Swordtails from Tong's Tropical Fish in Fountain Valley, California. Not sure where else that can be found. This was the first time I've encountered them at a local fish store.

- Hung
 
#15 ·
thanks brette. i appreciate the comment. i have 2 blue german rams. they are active. they tend to scoot around the bottom of tank in and out of the plants. they will hover and extend their fins too. they seem to get along fine with the other fish. no agression that i have seen.

- hung
 
#16 ·
Great tank! I've been in very much the same situation as you, I spent a lot of time researching on planted tanks before getting into it and from your pictures and setup it seems like you did the same! Using Excel to start off is a great idea, I did the same and I couldn't be happier with it. My hairgrass took off like crazy and I managed to get a lot of growth while keeping all traces of algae at bay. Now that I have enought plant mass in my tank I have backed off with the Excel and have converted my tank (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/low-tech-forum/70598-10-gallon-journal-betta-haven-my.html) into a total low-tech tank.

Regarding your setup, do you have plans for a hardscape? Also are you going for a dutch type aquascape? I guess for now the key is to make sure you have enough plant growth and that you keep the algae away. Once your plant biomass increases you can focus more on the scaping.

Great photographs by the way, you're a very gifted photographer! What camera did you use to take these pics? Also did you use any special setup for the lighting for these photographs or are these just using a camera and a tripod? I'm looking forward to more updates.
 
#17 ·
Great tank! I've been in very much the same situation as you, I spent a lot of time researching on planted tanks before getting into it and from your pictures and setup it seems like you did the same! Using Excel to start off is a great idea, I did the same and I couldn't be happier with it. My hairgrass took off like crazy and I managed to get a lot of growth while keeping all traces of algae at bay. Now that I have enought plant mass in my tank I have backed off with the Excel and have converted my tank (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/low-tech-forum/70598-10-gallon-journal-betta-haven-my.html) into a total low-tech tank.

Regarding your setup, do you have plans for a hardscape? Also are you going for a dutch type aquascape? I guess for now the key is to make sure you have enough plant growth and that you keep the algae away. Once your plant biomass increases you can focus more on the scaping.

Great photographs by the way, you're a very gifted photographer! What camera did you use to take these pics? Also did you use any special setup for the lighting for these photographs or are these just using a camera and a tripod? I'm looking forward to more updates.
Hello Orion2001,

Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated. I'm still in the "experimental phase" of sorts. I'm trying different plants to see which grows well under my tank conditions. So far what I have found is as follows:

Plants that grow well
- Amulia (Limnophila indica)
- Hornwort Ceratophyllum demersum)
- Ludwigia, Broad Leaf (Ludwigia repens)
- Telanthera Rosefolia (Alternanthera reineckii)

Plants that grows but only so so
- Vals, Jungle (Vallisneria gigantea). It grows but some of the leaves turn brown and slowly disintegrate

Plants that did not do well
- Water Sprite(Ceratopteris thalictroides)
- Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis)
- Baby Tears (Hemianthus micranthemoides)
- Regina Red (Syngonium podophyllum). I should have never bought this plant because it is not really a submerged plant at all. It is used in terariums and must be emerged. I saw it at a local fish store in a tank with other submerged plants and bought it on a whim. Serves me right for not researching it thoroughly before hand. Tsk Tsk!


I am currently working filling out the foreground. I have added 6 Anubias Nanas and a bunch of Sagitaria Subulata as a test. If the Sagitaria Subulata grows well, I will buy more to fill out the middle as well.

I am planning on getting some Tiger Lotus, Sunset Hygrophilia or maybe a Sword to fill out the back right corner. I tried placing the Hornwort there to hide the filter intake but the strands just get sucked up against the filter intake.

I would like to add some driftwood but I have yet to find a piece that I really like. I guess I am too picky. LOL!

I'm glad you enjoyed my pics. I use a canon 20D with a tamron 90mm f2.8 macro lens for the fish shots. I used a tamron 17-55mm f2.8 lens with a tripod for the full tank shots.

I just cleaned out some of the dying plants (the last of the water sprite) and trimmed the Ludwigia repens and replanted it to spread it out more. I will try to post a shot of the current tank tonight.

best regards,

- Hung
 
#18 ·
Hey, I don't know if you've come across this before but Vals do not do well with Excel. They have been known to melt in the presence of Excel. This is why I stayed away from them so far although I plant to plant some now that I've backed off with the Excel dosing.

How do you like the Canon 20D? I'm contemplating buying a DSLR but I don't know which ones would suit me better...it's also harder for me to justify the cost, me being a poor grad student and all =)
 
#19 ·
I later read about how Vals are sensitive to Excel. I'll give the current ones in my tank a couple more months. If they do not improve, then I will probably replace them with Crinum thaianum.

I love my canon 20D. This model is pretty old actually. Canon is about to release the 50D soon. But I'm still getting great pictures so I am going to hold onto my 20D as long as possible. DSRL photography is expensive actually considering the lenses and camera body. But for what I like to shoot, it's absolutely necessary.

What are you studying btw?

best regards,

- Hung
 
#20 ·
Ok here is a shot from tonight, 8/27/08.



I after I realized that the Regina Red (Syngonium podophyllum) must be grown emerged, I noticed that the leaves were disintegrating. I hated to see it go, but I decided to pull it out now rather than have the leaves decay in the water. I also pulled out the all the remaining water sprite. It initially grew well in the tank but then the main stems would turn brown and disintegrate.

I spread out the sagitaria subulata more across the front of the tank. As long as it grows well, I will be getting more to fill out the middle. I'm hoping for a lush carpet of green with a nice piece of driftwood to emerge above it to fill out the open space in the middle.

I'm loving the Telanthera Rosefolia (Alternanthera reineckii) on the left side. It is growing very well and I have been able to trim it down and spread out the stems to cover a larger area. It really adds a nice splash of red color to the green canvas.

I also trimmed the ludwigia repens and spread that out across the right side in front of the rocks. I hope it creates a medium height wall to separate the mountain of Hornwort from the middle area which should just be a carpet of Sagitaria Subulata. There's also some Anubias Nana placed around the rocks now to create some depth to the foreground.

I still have an open space on the back right side. Not sure what to put there. Any suggestions?
 
#21 ·
I finally found some driftwood that I liked and I added 2 pieces to the center right area of the tank. I found that the tank really needed this hardscape to focus the tank better. I also did some minor rescaping. I swear this will be it for awhile. I am going to try to keep my hands out of the tank for at least the next month.



I also added 3 more plants. I placed a Melon Sword placed behind the driftwood. The 2nd plant is what I am guessing to be a type of Hygrophilia (sunset hopefully??). I placed this in the midground to the right of driftwood. It is pictured below so let me know the correct ID on this plant if I am wrong.



I also got tired of looking at my withering jungle vals on the left side of the tank. They were growing but struggling (most likely due to the Excel). So I pulled them all out and trimmed off the brown fading leaves (which left very little left actually) and replanted them elsewhere in the tank. I replaced them with Onion Plants (crinium thaianum). They are supposedly much easier and hardier. I like how their leaves are bright green and very robust in texture. I planted them along the left side of the tank and will let their long leaves grow across the top for some shade.

The other major change was that I made a DIY co2 injection system. I have discovered that I am not as patient as I would have liked to think I am. I have given the fish tank time and stuck to Tom Barr's Excel dosing system. There is growth in the tank but I do noticed that some of the plants are also struggling. They will initially have good growth but then the leaves start to fade. I copied the DIY CO2 design from this site:

http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html#5

There was no reason to try to re-invent the wheel. So I stuck with a design that was simple. Plus I already had a Maxi-jet 600 pump.



For my initial dive into the world of DIY co2 injection, I will just a 2L bottle. I know that most people say to used 2L x 2 bottles for a 55 gallon sized tank but I will see how 1 bottle does first.

On a sad note, my zebra angelfish died a couple of weeks ago. I really liked him. Not sure what happened but he became very shy and reclusive in the last few days and would not come out to eat. Then I found his body on the substrate. He will be missed.
 
#23 ·
Thanks for the comment fishman! It's interesting how this tank has evolved in the last 2 months. I think I am pretty content with the scape now. I just need to leave the tank alone and let it grow out. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks for stopping by.

- Hung
 
#24 ·
What started out to be a simple project has turned out to be more complex than I anticipated. (Don't most DIY projects turn out to be like that?!). So I started up 1 2L bottle of yeast mixture. Not much happened over night. It does produce bubbles out of my ceramic stone in the co2 diffuser but only if I shake the bottle to mix things up. It soon peters out after about 15 seconds. I decided to add a 2nd 2L bottle of yeast mixture to the set up.

I also discovered that the Maxi-jet pump does not work when I plugged it in. It turns out there were 2 problems. First I had but an "L" shaped pipe to point the co2 diffuser downwards. I guess that caused some back pressure and the pump didn't like it and would make weird loud noises. I took off the "L" shaped pipe and it still didn't work. Turns out there is this flapping lid inside the siphon tube. It is designed to open only when sucking water up into the siphon. However in this design, I want water to flow out of it which automatically shuts the lid. I had to take some needle nosed pliers and basically rip that lid out. The Maxi-jet / co2 reactor finally works. If I can only generate some co2 from the bottles at enough pressure to come out the air stone.

Oh that's another thing I changed. I originally used a white ceramic air stone that is supposedly better for making fine tiny bubbles. I tested it by putting my lips around the input end and blowing. It is very hard to push air through this ceramic stone. I thought that maybe my DIY co2 generator bottles were not making enough pressure to adequately push the bubbles out the stone. So I went back to Petsmart and bought the cheapo 75 cent blue air stones. It seems to have bigger pores and the bubbles should have an easier time coming out.

The other thought as to why I am not generating consistent bubbles is that I may have a leak. The obvious source would be the insertion point where the silicon tube enters the soda bottle cap. However I ordered and used these nylon bulkhead fittings which are used for fuel injection systems for radio controlled airplanes. Supposedly it creates a mechanical seal instead of relying upon the inconsitent silicone seals. They seem pretty tight though.

Well I have 2 bottles set up now. One of which is new. I will see how things go tomorrow. Hopefully I will have some bubbles to show for my efforts.

Oh and another thing. The new driftwood pieces that I added to my tank this week and staining my water due to the tannins. I had boiled and soaked these pieces of wood for almost 1 week. Ugh.
 
#26 ·
#28 ·
Woo Hoo! I finally have bubbles! C02 bubbles that is! Jeez it only took all weekend to work out all the bugs. LOL. Ok here is what I found.

- The problem came from many sources actually. What I did was set it up and then place the yeast bottles into a bucket of water fully submerged. I could see bubbles leaking out from the plastic bulkheads so it did not create an air tight seal.
- The air stone I used both ceramic and stone created too much back pressure for the co2 to push against. Hence they would leak out at the bottle cap plastic bulkheads.
- I removed the air stone and just let them bubbles run straight into the diffusor chamber.
- The plastic bulkheads that I used to secure and access the yeast bottles leaked. They leaked from the hole in the cap and they leaked from where the silicone tubing attaches to the bulk head.
- In the end, I just removed the plastic bulkhead, widened the hole in the cape just a bit and pulled the silicone tubing through. It was still a tight fit so that was enough in itself to created an air tight seal. Woo Hoo.
- I also ran 2 silicone air lines into the diffusor chamber. So each bottle had its own line. This eliminated the need for a T air line connector which is another potential source for leaks.
- I changed the filter floss in the diffusor chamber to a finer material. This caught the bubbles vast majority of the bubbles and prevented them from escaping while allowing the water to still go out.

Here are some shots to illustrate what I have done.

1) My betta is checking out the DIY co2 diffuser. He seemed quite impressed.


2) Here is a shot of the precious c02 bubbles.


You guys don't know how frustrated I was this weekend with this darn diy project. What started out seemingly so simple and straight forward, ended up having so many bugs and kinks. It may be a small triumph but I happy that I stuck with it and got it to work. There were a few times where I was quite close to trashing the whole idea.

Now the next step is to figure out the optimal yeast recipe that will last the longest. Any suggestions anyone? I've been using the search function and there are many different opinions. Anyways, its late and I gotta get some sleep. Night all.

- Hung
 
#31 ·
lol. ya ya ya. i'll probably eventually get a pressurized system. however, this initial "craiglist list low cost tank project" is starting to rack up some bills! :eek5: heheheh. thanks for looking.

- hung
 
#30 ·
I just wanted to say that your tank and your photography are both stunning!

I'm totally low-tech and have never used DIY or any other kind of CO2 injection though, so unfortunately I can't answer any of your questions about that, but I'm glad you got it working! :)
 
#32 ·
Thanks Karackle!

I'm hoping the added co2 will help to fill out the tank more and create a more "lush scape." I will keep you guys posted with more pics as the tank matures.

best regards,

- Hung
 
#34 ·
Thanks asimkhatri. In regards to my camera, I use the canon 20D. For lenses, I use the tamron 17-55mm f2.8 for the wide angle full tank shots and I use the tamron 90mm f2.8 di macro for the close ups.

- Hung
 
#35 ·
I got me some sunset hygro. Yeah baby!

Ok here's an updated pic from tonight 9/14/08.



After 1 week of the diy co2 injection, I can really see some noticeble growth in the plants. Right off the bat, I saw for the first time, "pearling."



The anubias would create these small streams of oxygen bubble smoke that would drift up to the surface. It was very pleasing to "watch" photosynthesis happen. Especially after all the trouble setting up my diy c02 system gave me.



I tinkered around with the co2 diffuser chamber today. I had an extra siphon and used a longer tube so that the bubbles had more room to churn around in. Despite having the filter floss to plug up the end, some of the bubbles would eventually escape. Having a longer tube helps to prevent most of the wayward bubbles from getting out.



I finally got my hands on some Sunset Hygrophilia. Woo Hoo! Mucho thanks to dewalltheway for selling it to me on Swap and shop. Man that place is addictive.



Ever since purchasing the sunset hygro, I find myself going back to that place to look for more plants to buy. I seriously have to resist myself from buying even more! My 55 gallon tank is pretty much filled to capacity with plants at this point. Alot of the plants still need to grow taller and fill in their areas more, but I am planning on replacing some of the plants that do not seem to be growing well and looking kinda shabby. In particular the recent Melon Sword that I bought from the lfs is turning brown and there are growing holes in it's leaves. I had thought that the increased co2 would help as well as doubling my weekly fert dose, but the melon is still fading. I also plan on replacing the Amulia (Limnophila indica) and Hornwort Ceratophyllum demersum) at some point. I just purchased tonight 2 stems of Hygrophyla corymbosa "stricta" so those will be coming later this week. I will take out the dying melon and plant the hygrophila corymbosa stricta in its spot. Hope it works out better.

Ok one last shot for the night.



Here's my hard working Otoclinus taking a break on the Telanthera Rosefolia (Alternanthera reineckii) watching the oxygen bubbles floating by. Night all!

- Hung
 
#39 ·
Thank you Laura. I used a canon 20D and 2 lenses. I use the Tamron 90mm f2.8 di for the macro shots. I use the Tamron 17-55mm f2.8 lens for the full tank shots in conjunction with a tripod.

I can't wait for it to fill in. I really need more height in the plants in the background, but I just need to be more patient and give it time.

- Hung
 
#41 ·
Thank you cah925. I'm glad to hear that I was not the only person to have some trouble starting up a diy co2 system. When I read the how to articles, it all looked so easy. I thought to myself, this should be a piece of cake. When it didn't work like it should have, I was really frustrated with myself. I thought that if I can't get this simple project to work, I must really be a retard. LOL. Thanks for the support. I'll keep you guys posted with more updates.

- Hung
 
#42 · (Edited)
I recently got a shipment of plants from Carlos05. I had ordered 2 stems of Hygrophila Corymbyosa stricta. When I got the package, it turns out that he had included a bunch of extra plants for free. Woo Hoo. The package arrived on time and was carefully packed. If he sells more plants in the future, I highly recommend him as a seller. I love swap and shop!

I've been feeling the itch to do some minor rescaping. Each time I walk by my tank, there are aspects about it that bother me. Do you guys get that feeling too? I am fascinated by aquascaping and yet it is also very frustrating at the same time. It's like I want to express an idea but it comes out all jumbled and doesn't look right. Will I ever find peace of mind with my aquascaping?! Hahahah. Probably not.

Anyways, for now I think I will take out my Hornwort in the right corner. I have hated this plant ever since I first put it in my tank. Yes it is a very fast grower, but the problem is that it does not root well. I have tried attaching lead split shot sinkers, tying the base together with string and using the lead weighted strips to keep it down. Eventually what happens is that the base stem rots or freys and it breaks and floats up to the surface. Or it gets pushed around in the currents and taggles up with other plants. This has been a continual battle ever since I have started this tank. Enough is enough. I am tired of having to replant it every week. It has fullfilled its original purpose which was to be a fast growing stem plant to combat algae during the initial months of the new tank. Now it is time to go. Bye bye! I am also going to take out the Melon Sword behind the driftwood. I have come to terms that it is dying a slow death.

I also bought 2 new fish. I will take some pics this weekend and post them. Oh and my diy co2 first batch is now approaching the 2 week mark. I still see plenty of co2 bubbles perculating around my co2 diffusor chamber, but I noticed that the oxygen bubble streams from my plants have slowed down.

- Hung
 
#43 ·
Ok today I finally got some free time. I had to get my new plants (from swap & shop) into the tank, so I did a bit of rescaping too. Just like I mentioned in the last post, I have decided it was time to yank the Hornwort out of the tank. I was so happy. This plant just makes a mess in my tank and I am always having to replant it literally every week.

I moved the Sunset Hygro into the right corner to give it plenty of room to grow out and get bushy. I was about to yank the original Vals but they seem to be making a slow come back. I guess they have adapted to the Excel by now. I decided to give them more time. Here's a shot from tonight after the rescape.



I am so glad that I decided to go with Eco complete. Despite all my digging and constant rescaping, the dust really settles down quickly. I also tinkered some more with my diy co2 system. Using the long siphon tube for the diffusor chamber ended up being a mistake. It basically forced all of the outflow water right into the substrate. Slowly, it pushed the substrate and made a big hole. This was the reason why the Hornwort became dislodged and floated to the top. I ended up going back to the smaller siphon tube. I also changed where I inserted the silicone co2 line. Instead of going directly into the diffusor chamber, I rerouted it into the maxi-jet pump intake first. You can see the silicone co2 line going into the maxi-jet pump intake on the right upper corner of this pic.



Who needs an airstone when you have an impeller in the pump that sucks the bubbles in and turns them into super fine bubble mist. Most of the fine bubbles either dissolve into the water in the diffusor chamber or get trapped in the filter material. Some bubbles eventually pass through the filter material and merge into bigger bubbles underneath the diffusor chamber. These bigger bubbles don't seem to escape to the surface luckily since they like to hang out underneath the diffusor chamber.



I think this latest version of my co2 diffusor system has the best results for diffusing the co2 into the water. Making and collecting co2 from yeast doesn't do any good if most of it just bubbles back up to the surface and then escapes the tank. I wanted to make sure that as much of the co2 that is generated by the yeast, gets diffused into the water to get to the plants. Hopefully this will be my last version my of diy co2 system.

I bought 2 new fish this week. I'm really starting to like lyretail swordtails. I originally bought a pair of male and female pineapple lyretail swordtails. Unfortunately the male eventually died. I stopped by the lfs and saw that they had some Red eyed, Red velvet Lyretail Swordtails in stock. I quickly bought a male to keep my pineapple female company. Check out those eyes! Its like the red eye effect on pictures when you don't use the correct flash setting on your camera.



Looking around the store, I also saw some Killifish. I have never had one before. Watching them swim at the surface, I liked their irradescent yellow/green color. I bought one just so that I could take it home and photograph it. It seems these days that alot of what goes on in my decision making in regards to which fish to buy, is influenced on which fish I would like to photograph. LOL. I got lucky on this shot. I snapped it right when he turned at the right ankle to show off his pretty irradescent colors. Most of the time, he just looks yellow. He tends to loiter at the surface most of the days until it is feeding time, then he starts zipping around.



Oh I forgot to mention that I found some new runners coming from the Sagitaria Subulatta. That made me very happy to see that they were growing and spreading across the foreground. I think the diy co2 injection is speeding up that process nicely.

Ok folks that is it for me for tonight. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will keep my hands out of the tank for the next few weeks. I really need to just let it grow out instead of constantly fussing over the scape.

- Hung
 
#44 ·
Tank is looking beautiful! VERY cool red eyed swordtail! I've never seen anything quite like it, and the killifish is beautiful :)

Don't worry, you are definitely NOT the only person who finds it hard to keep their hands out of the tank :hihi: I think we all see that one little thing out of place that we just HAVE to fix pretty much every time we walk by our tanks.....ok maybe that's a slight exaggeration....every other time we walk by our tanks ;)
 
#45 · (Edited)
Tank is looking beautiful! VERY cool red eyed swordtail! I've never seen anything quite like it, and the killifish is beautiful :)

Don't worry, you are definitely NOT the only person who finds it hard to keep their hands out of the tank :hihi: I think we all see that one little thing out of place that we just HAVE to fix pretty much every time we walk by our tanks.....ok maybe that's a slight exaggeration....every other time we walk by our tanks ;)
Thanks karackle. I think I just need to learn to be more patient and give the tank and plants the time it needs. I am satisfied with the current scape since I have finally gotten rid of some troublesome plants. As long as no further plants become dislodged, I should have no problem keeping my hands out of the tank. Hehehehe.

I've decided to increase my dosing schedule since I am injecting co2 now. I have adopted the EI method:

1/2 tsp KNO3 3x a week
1/8 tsp KH2PO4 3x a week
1/8 tsp traces 3x a week
1/2 cap Excel 2x a week

I still would like to keep the water changes to every other week, but I will watch the plants and fish and see how they look. I'm also keeping a close eye on the algae. I have noticed green spot algae on some of the plants now. I have 4 otos. Do they eat GSA? What if I got some Siamese Algae eaters?

- Hung
 
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