Zergling's ADA 120-P "Peril Unknown"

[zergling]

Hi everyone! This will be my journal for my ADA 120-P. Please be warned that I don't have good photography equipment or skills that some of our members have....so we all have to "make do" with my iPhone and very old Canon point-and-shoot

This is the 3rd scape since I acquired the tank in 2007, and you can see some pics on the previous scape here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=169357

Some of you might have seen the pics below already, as I posted these back in April after the initial fill-in:

Step 1 - setup stand, lights, and tank.


Step 2 - mulm from two established canister filters


Step 3 - Seven 9Liter bags of Aqua Soil


Step 4 - Add rocks


Step 5 - Initial fill


Step 6 - Leave XP4 running overnight.

Thanks to suggestions from TPT and ASW members, I adjusted the hardscape a bit, and you can see it on the next two pics.

Since the initial setup in April, my aquariums haven't been anywhere near the top of my priorities this busy year. It was only last week that I started to pay more attention to my tanks. I decided to do a semi-reboot last week because I got non-'belem' dhg mixed with the 'belem' that I got from a fellow sfbaaps member. So I decided to rip out all the hair grass, and re-plant only the 'belem'.



The picture above is about 15 minutes after I ripped out all the hair grass, thus the slight cloudiness. Right after I took this picture, I ripped out all the HC to re-distribute on the left hill.

[zergling]

Here is a pic I took last night, after I finished planting the e.hydropiper.



Left hill - HC
Right hill - Elatine Hydropiper
Front - DHG 'Belem'
Rocks - Fissidens


.....and now the wait for the grow-out begins :lol:

[c_gwinner]

Looks really nice. Got some nice depth.

[junglefowl]

It is a really high tech planted tank right here...
Nice scape, do you plan to put more other plants in?
I have a question too, how do you plant fissident on the rock? Sr i'm still a newbie.


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[bassmjm]

Remind me of the difference between "belem" and regular dhg?

[IWANNAGOFAST]

man that hydropiper is gonna look good!

[zergling]

Originally Posted by c_gwinner

Looks really nice. Got some nice depth.

Thanks! It's harder to show (or give illusion) of depth - hopefully I do well on this part when the tanks grows in.

Originally Posted by junglefowl

It is a really high tech planted tank right here...
Nice scape, do you plan to put more other plants in?
I have a question too, how do you plant fissident on the rock? Sr i'm still a newbie.

I've reduced my lighting compared to what I used to run before. I'm only using 2 bulbs of my 4x54W T5HO fixture, so around 70umol at the substrate - much slower growth and nutrient demand than the 110+ umol at the substrate on my previous scape :lol:

I superglue gel'd the fissidens to the rocks. I lowered the water level enough to expose the 0.5" of the lowest rocks. Then I dried the rocks as much as I can with paper towels, applied superglue gel on the rocks and placed fissidens on it. I left the it to "cure" for however much it can for 10 minutes, then I filled the tank right back.

Cyanoacrylate on superglue gel is supposed to be aquarium safe, you'd find it commonly used by reef folks.

As for other plants, I should be set with the four that I have. I *change* the fissidens to weeping moss later on, whenever I can get my hands on some haha!

Originally Posted by bassmjm

Remind me of the difference between "belem" and regular dhg?

The 'belem' variant is much shorter, probably less than an inch in height. The regular DHG I got mixed it grew around 3" tall.

Originally Posted by IWANNAGOFAST

man that hydropiper is gonna look good!

Thanks, and it better! I actually grew hydropiper on the right hill well, but they all decided to die when I had a CO2 mishap. Hopefully I stop making these mistakes as this plant has been unforgiving to me

[bassmjm]

Ah, okay, thanks for the clarification. And FWIW regarding CA/superglue, from my woodworking experience, you don't really need much to get maximum bonding strength, which for most CA recipes far exceeds what we need in aquaria. Also, the thinner/less CA you use, the faster it will cure. A glob can take as much as a day to harden fully, but a paper-thin spread of the stuff will cure in about a minute, IME.

Curious though: is the CA glue showing up white underwater?

[junglefowl]

Thanks for the info, really detail...


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[FisheriesOmen]

AMAZING scape man!

Sc2 player I presume?

[zergling]

Originally Posted by bassmjm

Curious though: is the CA glue showing up white underwater?

Yep, that's the white stuff you see on top of the rocks. Eventually most of the white goes away and/or gets covered in plants/algae.

Originally Posted by FisheriesOmen

AMAZING scape man!

Sc2 player I presume?

Thanks! Yes, played Starcraft 1 and Broodwar casually back in my high school days. Got really into SC2 when it first came out - worked my way from Silver to high Diamond. Very rarely have time to play now, though

[sjb1987]

It's probably in your other journal but what light fixture are you using... I like the sleek look of it

[Green_Flash]

that looks sweet! where did you buy the e. hydropiper at?

[zergling]

Originally Posted by sjb1987

It's probably in your other journal but what light fixture are you using... I like the sleek look of it

ATI Powermodule 4x54W T5HO, have had it since 2007. Only running two bulbs though, as this fixture is designed for reef tanks and can put out serious PAR.

[zergling]

Originally Posted by Green_Flash

that looks sweet! where did you buy the e. hydropiper at?

Got it from a local member. I think I exhausted his available supply, so let's pray I stop making mistakes, so I can keep this plant alive and propagating