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First rimless, Third planted, mid-tech! Mr. Aqua 17g

27K views 117 replies 20 participants last post by  jess60901 
#1 · (Edited)
Here goes nuthin'!

I did it. I tore down my old Fluval Edge tank and upgraded to my first "serious" tank. It's a Mr. Aqua 720li (low iron), essentially ADA 60P clone. 17.1 gallon rimless. Lighting is a 24" Current USA Satellite+ LED, with a ramp timer. No co2. Flourish, Excel and root tabs. Let's see how it goes!

I'll reserve post #2 for current photos, and keep that updated as the thread progresses. I have a bunch of in-progress stuff I want to post before I get to the current state, though, so stay tuned...
 
#2 · (Edited)
Reserved for most current photos...

4/6/15: (Just did a major hacking back of plants, but cruising reasonably well at the moment)




12/31/14: (serious jungle, but algae problem finally getting resolved?)



12/16/14: (problem algae on the Alternanthera reineckii 'cardinalis', DHG Belem starting to carpet nicely)



11/10/14: (freshly hacked, DHG Belem getting a little better, algae still troubling but not out of control)



10/22/14: (some minor algae, freshly-planted DHG Belem, and not-yet-planted floaty Anubias Petite, but otherwise in decent shape)



9/6/14: (scrubdown branch for algae removal, replant all, new EBR and Mystery snail):



8/15/14: (new red reineckii, still fighting algae and sad anubias)



6/16/14: (Plants growing like crazy, I may need a partial rescape soon!)



3/8/14: (some plants need a trim soon!)



2/23/14:





2/17/14:


 
#3 ·
Here's the current lineup:

Hardware:
Mr. Aqua MA-720LI Rimless Aquarium (low iron glass, 17.1 gallons)
Current USA Satellite Plus Freshwater LED Lamp (24", PAR 36 @ 12")
Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm 50-Watt Heater

Finnex PX-360 Compact Canister Aquarium Filter


Fauna:
A Dwarf Gourami (Trichogaster Ialius)
Six Neon Tetras (Paracheirodon innesi)
A Golden Mystery Snail (Golden bridgesii)
A Zebra Nerite Snail (Neritina natalensis), and
Four Ghost Shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus).
... and something else, TBD (golden white cloud tetras, rummy nose tetras?)

Flora:
From old Edge tank:
Anubias Nana (Anubias barteri v. 'Nana')
Hygrophilia 'Kompakt' (Hygrophilia corymbosa 'Kompakt')
Crypt parva (Cryptocoryne parva)
Java Fern "Narrow Leaf" (Microsorium pteropus)
Glossostigma (Glossostigma elatinoides)
New for this tank:
Amazon Sword Plant (Echinodorus amazonicus)
Baby Tears (Hemianthus micranthemoides)
Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis)
Vallisneria nana
Rotala rotundifolia
Christmas Moss (Vesicularia montagnei)
Anubias petite (I think, mislabeled at PetSmart!)

Ferts:
Flourish
Flourish Excel
Osmocote+ capsules
 
#73 ·
Here's the current lineup:

Hardware:
Mr. Aqua MA-720LI Rimless Aquarium (low iron glass, 17.1 gallons)
Current USA Satellite Plus Freshwater LED Lamp (24", PAR 36 @ 12")
Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm 50-Watt Heater

Finnex PX-360 Compact Canister Aquarium Filter


Fauna:
A Dwarf Gourami (Trichogaster Ialius)
Six Neon Tetras (Paracheirodon innesi)
A Golden Mystery Snail (Golden bridgesii)
A Zebra Nerite Snail (Neritina natalensis), and
Four Ghost Shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus).
... and something else, TBD (golden white cloud tetras, rummy nose tetras?)

Flora:
From old Edge tank:
Anubias Nana (Anubias barteri v. 'Nana')
Hygrophilia 'Kompakt' (Hygrophilia corymbosa 'Kompakt')
Crypt parva (Cryptocoryne parva)
Java Fern "Narrow Leaf" (Microsorium pteropus)
Glossostigma (Glossostigma elatinoides)
New for this tank:
Amazon Sword Plant (Echinodorus amazonicus)
Baby Tears (Hemianthus micranthemoides)
Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis)
Vallisneria nana
Rotala rotundifolia
Christmas Moss (Vesicularia montagnei)
Anubias petite (I think, mislabeled at PetSmart!)

Ferts:
Flourish
Flourish Excel
Osmocote+ capsules

Is this the 18-24" or 24-36" Current USA light? I'm wanting to get one of the Orbits for my Mr Aqua 17g reef. But being 23.6" I'm not sure the 24-36" will fit. Thanks
 
#4 · (Edited)
This is the big update post! LOTS of pics to follow.

Here is my old Fluval Edge tank, (which I have now broken down completely). The new one is going in the same location.



I bought a fabulous piece of twisted root wood at Nature Aquarium in Santa Monica, and that will be the new focal point of this tank, instead of the Manzanita I had in my Edge.



The challenge, as step one, was simple: How to get the new tank up and running as quickly as possible, to get the new inhabitants in place as soon as possible without cycling issues?

Generally, beneficial bacteria primarily live in the filter media. My thinking is the second largest population is likely in the substrate. Obviously the canister filter is moving to the new tank. Frankly, I need the extra substrate, too, so I don't have to buy too much and don't waste what I have. The problem, of course, is disturbing established tank substrate unleashes a world of ickyness (not ich-iness, one hopes, but who knows!). If not handled correctly, it can unleash a massive bacterial bloom, or a huge algae infestation, or a massive ammonia spike as the cycle tries to reestablish.

So here's what I did:

I dumped one new bag of Activ-Flora to set the base layer in the new tank.



Moved all old tank fauna to a 5 gal bucket with a heater and an airstone, with a mix of old tank water and new (treated) water. Moved all old tank plants to another bucket with a mix of old tank water and new (treated) water. Pulled all old hard scape items that weren't transferring to the new tank. Filter was turned off and moved to the tank (still off for now, since it hadn't been flooded yet). I set up a temp HOB filter on the old tank to try to keep the water clean while I worked.

Once all that was left in the tank was water and gravel, the work started. I topped up the old tank with clean treated water. Then I filled yet another 5 gal bucket (good thing I have about 5!) with fresh treated water, and started cleaning gravel. I swished everything thoroughly inside the old tank, then handful by handful, started bringing gravel and into the bucket with the clean water. Once I had 10-15 handfuls in the bucket, I swished it thoroughly in there, too, and then started transferring to the new tank. It was pretty clean by the time it reached the new tank. I dumped the old water and put new clean water in the bucket 3 times during the process, and continued until all the gravel had been transferred.



Time to start the scape!



Add some water from the bucket with the plants:



Time to start placing the fauna:



The old tank was pretty gross, even with the HOB filter running, but the double rinse seemed to do a good job, because the new tank flooded great, with the mix of water from old tank (the clean stuff from plant bucket) and new treated water.

Here are a couple of shots from during the flood:





Barely hazy, and once I kicked on the canister filter, that cleared up quickly, too. :D

Only issue is the root was really floaty. I had a rock from an old setup on hand that did a decent job of holding it down, until it's soaked enough to stay put on its own.

I tested the water the next morning and the parameters were nearly perfect... pH 7.4, ammonia .25, nitrite 0, nitrate 20 (tap water tests at 5).

I added neon tetras and let them spend the day in the tank. That evening, parameters were even better, with ammonia down to zero. I added the rest of the critters and continued to monitor water conditions every 12 hours.

This afternoon, water parameters are pH 7.4. Ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 15, dead normal for my old tank.

I'm going to give it the rest of the week, and continue daily water tests, but by the time I have a chance to hit my LFS next weekend to pick up some new fish, I'd say this tank is done. There really was barely any cycle change. Success! (Ok, success for sure by the end of the week, but things are looking so good I'm willing to risk a little Mission Accomplished sign with reasonable confidence! )
 
#5 ·
My wife missed the burnt orange splash of color from the old tank. Also, the one thing I missed about the old tank was the clear glass top that the water covered, so you had a perfect clear view from the top as easily as from the front. Made for excellent ease of viewing.

So I decided to kill two birds with one stone:

1) I'll build a small platform for the tank that will raise it a few inches, for easier viewing, and

2) I'll paint it a similar orange color, bringing that splash of color back in the room. :)





I can already tell I'll likely do a 2.0 version of the stand, and spend a little more time on it, but this should do fine for now. It needs about 48 more hours for the paint to cure before I put a 17 gallon tank on it, though! Pics to follow.
 
#7 · (Edited)
And finally, we're current to today. Last night I pulled the root out and attached the Christmas moss, Anubias nana, and Anubias petite (PetSmart had a nana mislabeled AND marked down... $2 score!) with fishing line, inserted my Osmocote+ root tabs under the stem plants, and wedged the root into place a little more securely. It's still floaty, so I kept the rock to weigh it down, but it's not as bad as it was before. Maybe I can remove the rock by the end of the week.

Here she is:





I'll do a water change and put the stand in place in a couple of days. LOVING this tank so far. The Sat+ light is really awesome, too. Fits the tank perfectly and puts out a great amount of light. And the ramp timer is really cool, too. I'm loving the gradual lights, dimming on and off instead of the jarring transition my old mechanical timers had. They worked fine, of course, but this is just that much nicer. I'll have to see if I shoot a time lapse of the lights turning on and off... Perhaps later today and tonight!

Speaking of time lapse, I shot a time lapse video of the tank last night. It's an hour of the tank, compressed into just over a minute. As usual, the golden mystery snail steals the show. :) My Nerite snail was snoozing elsewhere, I guess. The Dwarf Gourami makes the rounds, and the tetras are their usual twitchy selves, schooling in area, then another, then back to the first. Oy. Well, the snail is fun to watch, at least. :)

Oops, the YouTube link helps:

 
#9 ·
No change in water params this morning, so all seems well. :)

Tonight, I'll do a partial water change, just because, and see if I can get the tank lifted to put the stand underneath. I'll post a full photo of the final setup then. :)

I did a quick video of the "sunrise" light ramp up yesterday, but unfortunately my phone ran low on battery and it interrupted the fade out video, so I'll have to finish that one, and combining the two into one complete video, this evening.
 
#10 ·
Ahhh.. so here's the build thread! Thanks for sharing the link in the club.

The tank is looking good. I'm glad you decided to roll with the high clarity version. It just shouts quality to me. Nice DW choice. Nature Aquarium is definitely one of my favorite LFS's. Toru, the owner, is like the Mr. Miyagi of planted tanks. My DW piece in my 60p originated from that shop...worth every penny. Mine was super floaty as well. I had to tie a rock to the bottom with fishing line and net to keep it down. You'll also run into that short phase where you'll see white fungus growing on it. Fun!

Anyways, nice timelapse video. You're lucky to get a Sat+ and Ramp Timer that works smoothly together. I've heard from some that they experience flickering or strobe effect.

Keep the updates coming, following :)
 
#11 ·
I hope that dang wood gets suitably sinky soon, or I'll look my patience and just screw a slate tile to the bottom. Effective, but a PITA if I never need to move it down the road! I had the white fuzz on my Manzanita branches, which cleared up on it's own a few days later, but so far nothing on this. But yeah, LOVE that root. I knew that was the centerpiece the moment I saw it. :)

Reading the Sat+ thread, I think the strobing effect comes from choosing custom colors? The stock colors aren't supposed to have that, per the manuf.'s claims in the posts they made in that thread. I do hope I can afford to pick up the higher end ramp timer at some point, though, because I'd really love to automate a kick-over to the blue moonlights at the end of the day, instead of just fade to black. I'll take what I can get for now, though... the fade definitely beats the *click* of my old mechanical timer. :) Oh, it'd also be nice to have more than one light cycle per day, while I'm dreaming. An hour or two in the morning gets the lights going at feeding time (so I don't have to manually turn them on and off... back to the CLICK!), then back off until the longer light period at the end of the day. That would be perfect. I'm fine with manually kicking off lightning storms and such when showing off the tank, but yeah. Automated Moonlights would be killer. (so would an hour of sunrise/sunset mode at the start and finish of the day, for that matter, but I'd still be a lot happier with even just the auto moonlight mode for an hour or whatever)

But that's just kvetching. Overall, I'm pleased as punch with my setup! Although I started noticing some bio-film last night, I make need to look into something to deal with that...
 
#13 ·
Ha! I was just looking over your tank build thread, trying to find the name of that skimmer. I knew it was in there somewhere but it takes a little while to go through nearly 30 pages. ;)

Tell me more of this DIY skimmer, though? I'm hoping to DIY some acrylic lily pipes, just trying to get the raw materials and things have been busy. If that doesn't work out, I'll try some fleabay hong kong glass ones, but I like the durability of acrylic better... plus cheep!
 
#17 ·
Thanks!

Got the tank stocked tonight, so we finally have more than some neons and the dwarf gourami. Photos as soon as I can take them. :)

Added Golden White Cloud Tetras and Rummynose Tetras. So much going on in there now!

Plants are not doing as well as I'd like, especially some of the new ones. I think I have a nutrient deficiency, even though I'm using Flourish. (and Excel)

I continue to resist the siren call of co2 ... although I admit I peeked at some pricing, and wow those regs are spendy! Perhaps if I give in I can make do with a DIY system with soda bottles and yeast and such...
 
#18 ·
PetCo had a big sale on plants, so I decided to pick up a few more. Can't have too many plants... right? ;) Naturally for PetCo, their immersed plants were rubbish, and frankly some of the tube plants were in pretty bad shape, too, but I was able to find a few tubes in decent shape.

Added some taller Java Ferns to the existing ones (and finally pulled them out of the substrate and tied them properly, onto a little piece of Mopani wood from my old tank). Also, the Vallisneria nana is doing horribly, although maybe it will recover. So keeping with the grassy theme, I put some Kyoto grass (Ophiopogon Japonica) next to it, which coincidentally fills in that one empty space nicely, along the back wall.

Some of the plants aren't doing so hot. I'm hoping it's just the shock of being newly-planted (or transplanted in some cases), and that they'll bounce back, but we'll see. Some of the came from high co2 environments so I'm sure the shock of moving to a low tech (-ish) environment isn't helping. I won't admit to watching some YouTube videos of DIY co2 setups (yeast-style)...

My driftwood is still too floaty to take out the stone. I do look forward to that day, as it should help the looks quite a bit. Or maybe I need to find another reddish rock to use instead, meantime! (like the one the Anubias are tied to in the front right corner)

My Nerite snail continues to hide. He actually left the tank once, but stopped when he hit the base of the tank, fortunately. I found him the next morning. I know they can live a couple of days out of the water, once they seal up, but I worry about him going farther and me not noticing in time! He hides in the tank a lot, and I can't find him for a couple of days, long enough that I start checking around the outside of the tank, nervously, and then there he is the next morning, tooling around the glass as usual. *sigh* The mystery snail continues his usual bumbling hilarity, at least.

Also, I've been losing ghost shrimp. Water parameters are good, so I'm not sure why... perhaps the fish are chasing them in the dark so they pop out? Doesn't make sense, since there are way more places to hide in this tank than the old one, and I didn't lose any like this, there, where I had them for a good long while. (way larger opening on this tank compared to the Edge, however) I seem to lose one every couple of days. Well, at least ghost shrimp are super cheap.

I look forward to my cheap (eBay) glass lily pipes to show up, which will definitely make things look cleaner in there. I might also pick up some black posterboard to show my wife what it would look like with a black background. Maybe then she'll be ok with painting the back of the tank, which would further clean up the appearance since you won't see the heater wire or canister filter tubes. (btw, anyone have a good source for cheap canister filter tube? I want to lengthen mine slightly and need 12mm ID/16mm OD tubing)

Current shots:



 
#26 ·
I keep losing shrimp... Down to one ghost shrimp. My fish are hunting them at night, I believe (really). I'm down to one, so I decided to pick up a pair of Otos to keep the algae down. So far so good. :) After an evening of seeming fairly unhappy they seem to be behaving normally, from what I've seen of "normal" Oto behavior.

I will neither confirm nor deny the purchase of an Aquatek Mini paintball co2 system (which is returnable). And an EvilBay glass drop checker.

Nerite snail seems more visible, less hide-y these days. I think he's getting more comfortable in the bigger tank.

The %^*#=¥ wood is still floaty. It will eventually sink, right? Or should I yank it and bolt some heavy tile to it before I waste more time?
 
#27 ·
Ophiopogon japonicus (Mondo grass, Fountain plant, monkey grass; Japanese: リュウノヒゲ ryu-no-hige ("dragon's beard") or ジャノヒゲ ja-no-hige ("snake's beard") is a species of Ophiopogon native to China, Vietnam, India, and Japan.
It is also grown as an ornamental plant, providing an excellent groundcover. Several cultivars have been selected, including 'Albus' (white flowers), 'Compactus' and 'Kyoto Dwarf' (dwarf forms, not over 4–5 cm tall), and 'Silver Mist' (variegated, with white-striped leaves). It is often sold as a decorative plant for freshwater aquaria, but because it is not a true aquatic plant, it may flourish for a few months and then die. While hardy to temperatures of about -20 °C when dormant in winter outdoors in normal soil, when kept fully submerged it requires water temperatures of 18-25 °C. It grows well in full sun or partial shade. Propagation is from side shoots.[1][4]
 
#29 · (Edited)
Some stocking updates from my initial post:

Hardware:
Mr. Aqua MA-720LI Rimless Aquarium (low iron glass, 17.1 gallons)
Current USA Satellite Plus Freshwater LED Lamp (24" model, PAR 36 @ 12")
Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm 50-Watt Heater (for now, see below)

Finnex PX-360 Compact Canister Aquarium Filter

CO2:
Aquatek Mini paintball setup en route


Fauna:
A Dwarf Gourami (Trichogaster Ialius)
Six Neon Tetras (Paracheirodon innesi)
An Electric Blue Ram (Papiliochromis ramirezi)
Six Golden white cloud tetras (Tanichthys albonubes)
Four Rummynose tetras (Hemigrammus bleheri)
Two Otocinclus Catfish (Otocinclus sp.)

A Golden Mystery Snail (Golden bridgesii)
A Zebra Nerite Snail (Neritina natalensis), and
One Ghost Shrimp (Palaemonetes paludosus).

Flora:
From old Edge tank:
Anubias Nana (Anubias barteri v. 'Nana')
Hygrophilia 'Kompakt' (Hygrophilia corymbosa 'Kompakt')
Crypt parva (Cryptocoryne parva)
Java Fern "Narrow Leaf" (Microsorium pteropus)
Glossostigma (Glossostigma elatinoides) (tiny amount only)
New for this tank:
Amazon Sword Plant (Echinodorus amazonicus)
Baby Tears (Hemianthus micranthemoides)
Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis)
Vallisneria nana (practically dead)
Rotala rotundifolia
Christmas Moss (Vesicularia montagnei)
Anubias petite (I think, mislabeled at PetSmart!)
Dwarf Sagittaria (Sagittaria subulata)
Kyoto Grass (Ophiopogon Japonica) (apparently non-aquatic? if so not likely to survive)


Ferts:
Flourish
Flourish Excel
Flourish Potassium
Osmocote+ capsules

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I forgot to post updates about a few things.

Equipment updates:

Last weekend, I picked up some Purigen (100ml) and threw it in my canister filter. I don't see a huge difference, but then, my water was pretty clean anyway. I like having it there, though.

I'm trying to get all the equipment I can out of the tank. I have some glass lily pipes en route from EvilBay. Also, a 75w Eheim Jager heater is en route. I'm going to build a simple DIY inline heating container around it. It's a shame the Cobalt heater doesn't lend itself to those designs, because I really like it! The Eheim heaters are also well-respected, however, and should do well. The DIY inline heater systems are pretty simple to assemble with the tube style heaters.

On the equipment note, I need a new thermometer, too... the JW one I have at the moment is great, and easy to read (and magnetic so easy to move around!), but somewhat visually intrusive, compared to the LCD strips. I hate that most of those only show a very limited range of temps, though, and of course I trust my standard mercury thermometer more, but it'll still be around (in a drawer) to spot-check the accuracy of the strip. Anyone seen any extended-range temp strips?

I didn't like seeing the hoses for the canister through the glass. My wife says she likes a clear back, so painting was out. So I compromised and put some temporary black construction paper on the back for now, so she can see it blacked out and get used to the idea. I like it better, hopefully she will, too. Photos soon.

And now, the new fauna:

Since I kept losing ghost shrimp (see prior posts, above), with only one hardy survivor left, I thought I'd try something else. I've also been getting a bit of diatom growth, and the shrimp weren't doing a great job anyway. So I added a pair of Otos as the new cleanup crew. They haven't made a huge dent yet, but I'm sure they'll do fine. They seem to be settling in nicely.

The golden white cloud tetras and rummynose tetras seem to be doing great. Lost one white cloud, never found a corpse! Water params have been fine, though... I'm wonder if he was eaten? It's also possible he jumped, and my dog cleaned up the evidence. ;)

Today, I added what should be my last fish. My tank is a bit over-stocked at this point, but not (I think) excessively so, and I like seeing a lot of interesting things to watch in tanks. So we added an Electric Blue Ram, which I've wanted forever. Such a pretty fish! I'll post pics when I take some more, soon, I hope. He and my Dwarf Gourami have some territory issues to settle out, which should happen pretty quickly, I hope. My DG is clearly annoyed by the EBR's presence, and starts following him closely and occasionally moving in for a fin nip. The EBR is keeping a wary eye on him, however, and the DG only got one small nip in that first time. I think they'll work it out, it's only been a couple of hours after all.

Finally, flora updates:

I got a bunch of Dwarf Sag from a local ROAK. More than I knew what to do with, actually. Took a long time from paying to receiving so I had kinda forgotten about it, and thus there wasn't a huge amount of space prepared for it. I kinda put it off to the right and along the back wall... we'll see how it does.

Since some of the plants don't exactly seem to be flourishing (yes, low tech, and I'm sure it will take some time for them to all get really established, but still), I think I've had some sort of nutrient deficiency. I started dosing Flourish Potassium. I've read that potassium is a common deficiency in low tech tanks, so we'll see if this helps.

My anubias continue to do great, big shocker. New leaves shooting up on two of them.

And, finally, the dreaded co2. It's en route, and I'll have it early next week. I'm sure that will help, too. I'll put the solenoid on a timer and only run it while the lights are on, at a relatively low bpm count (like 1?). I'm thinking that'll stretch the gas supply, minimize risk to the fauna, and still give a nice bump to the plants. I also don't have a huge amount of light with only a single Sat+, so I don't think I should bump co2 up very high anyway.

Back to fish watching...
 
#32 ·
I know I promised more "beauty" shots, especially with the new stock, but first some more equipment discussion.

Here's a decidedly non-beautiful shot of the top of the tank with the lights off:


All that junk on top is what we want to get rid of. The two black canister lines and the heater wire. Enter, LILY PIPES! :D

Intake:



Outflow:


(Yeah, I know they won't stay crystal clear/clean forever, but I'm sure enjoying it for now!)

Next up, I need an inline heater, then that heater wire will go away. I mentioned above, I have the new heater, I just need to get to Home Depot to buy the PVC bits needed to rig it.

Except, I seem to have added something else:





WOOHOO! CO2, fizzing happily away. This glass nano diffuser seems to be working quite nicely considering the cheap price. But that hose needs to go away, so on the list of projects is an inline reactor for sure.

Paintball tank and Aquatek Mini reg, hiding under the side table:


I wish the reg wasn't quite so vertical, then I could get it off the floor and onto the shelf above. But it'll do for now, I guess. It's on a timer, the solenoid kicks in and starts the flow at the same time the lights come on. So far so good, all the fishies still acting normal after 2 days. I don't have a bubble counter (or drop test kit) yet so I just have turned so that the bubbles are barely in existence by the time they reach the top of the tank. I'll fine tune it later, but I don't want too much co2, after all, I'm barely into Medium lighting PAR levels as it is. Plus, you know, I prefer my fish swimming, not floating. ;)

I had the co2 flow a little higher at first, but I was getting this bizarre film on top of the water, of teeny tiny bubbles. Is that normal? I turned it down a bit and the problem is noticeably less. I also raised the lily pipe overnight to add more surface agitation. I still want to look into getting more flow out of my canister, however... or upgrading it. And manually moving the outflow pipe up and down isn't a long term solution.

Bizarre bubble film:



(As a bonus, you can see a preview glimpse of the EBR in the corner in that first shot!)

One complaint about the lily pipe is I can't really "aim" it the way I'd like. Since it suctions to the glass, it sort of needs to be perpendicular to a wall, whereas I'd like it at 45 degrees, which "arcs" the water flow through the tank. I can do this by letting the pipe dangle, so the hose pull down and actually keeps it pointed mostly the way I want, but then I have to lift it and suction it normally to raise it overnight and get the agitation I wanted on the surface. (can't leave it there or I'll lose co2, of course, plus again, wrong angle)

Does anyone make a vertical glass spray bar? That might work better. My old spray bar did a better job of aiming than the lily pipe does. Cheap eBay pipes, so I'm not entirely against yanking it and trying something else.
 
#33 ·
Nothing major to report. Tank seems to continuing on fairly well... I think.

Hardware updates:

My glass co2 drop checker tester thingie finally came in, along with it's bottle of 4dKH fluid. Silly me, apparently it did NOT come with the ph fluid needed to actually make the darn thing work, so I guess I have one more thing to buy before I can start checking levels. It looks cool in the tank, though, even empty. LOL

I still have bubbles at the surface but it's not quite as bad as it was... more a border all around the edges of the tank, and around the one piece of wood that sticks out of the water. I lowered the co2 a smidge, as I said, and have started raising the lily pipe at night up so it gurgles on the surface, for increased agitation, and then I drop it in the morning when feeding. I still need a more permanent solution. Suggestions appreciated. :)

My hunt for a super short height canister filter continues. I'd like to replace that Finnex with a higher flow unit, as that might help with the bubble problem, among other minor issues. Tough to find one short enough, with the low clearance of the shelf below the tank.

I haven't built the inline co2 reactor or inline heater yet. Crazy busy at work, and still need to find a local source for clear rigid PVC pipe, and fittings.

Plant updates:

A bit of good news, my Christmas moss that's tied down on the wood in a few places finally seems to be greening up. Nice pretty green color starting to show through! It had started to do this just before I started with the co2, but it's definitely picking up speed and getting more noticeable not. Not sure whether to attribute that to co2 or simply getting more settled. I've also started dosing SeaChem's Potassium supplement for about two weeks now (albeit a little sporadic with the dosing), so that could be a factor also. I'm still running under the assumption that I don't need to add iron, given the Activ-Flora substrate (which is supposedly iron rich and means you don't need to add laterite). On the downside, I'm seeing some stringy stuff and kind of praying it's not the beginning of a small algae battle. Opinions? (photos below)

Also, I'm noticing more growth in my plants in general. My Java Fern is creating little babies along it's leaves like crazy... it finally got me a little annoyed tonight and plucked off a bunch of java fern babies. Should I toss them, or ROAK them? They're seriously juvenile, but I suspect they'll continue growing in another tank. I stuck them in my old tank for now, which still has water in it but the lights, heat, and filter are off so it's not going to stay good for long in there.

On a similar note, my wisteria (back center, just to the left) has really noticeably grown, and actually reached the surface. Time to trim! Not sure how and where, exactly, I'm supposed to cut, though. Any advice? Ditto for the Java Fern, again... I need to trim a few leaves, especially the two that are sticking about an inch above water, and not doing so well in the dry air. Do I just clip them above the rhizome and they'll grow back along the same stem, or do they grow back elsewhere along the rhizome? It's tied to a piece of mopani wood back there, so all is above the substrate.

The Rotala also seems to be taking off. It's nearly reached the surface as well. Color is still kinda varied, with pretty intense green growth coming in at the bottom (still very small, but there), but the top is way less green, except some of the tips where it has grown. I'll be need to prune this soon. Do I just literally cut the stems shorter? I swear there needs to be a primer thread somewhere of how-tos for each species, with basic info like this so I don't have to search the plant forum hoping to stumble across the right instructional thread!

My Amazon swords, ironically, are merely holding steady. Not taking off like I thought they would. Perhaps they just need more time to establish their roots. Or I should stick another root tab near them. The leaves are starting to get a lot of diatoms, however, I hope the otos discover them soon because they're on the verge of being less nice looking. Still nice overall, but I don't like the trend. Still, we'll see.

Another downer, my baby tears, however (non-dwarf) don't seem to be doing so hot. On the upside, there is some small, new bright green growth at the bottom, similar to the Rotala. New stems coming up! The original plant, however, seems to be continuing it's die-off. I pluck a 2" limp stem, or two, out of the water daily, it seems, and lots of little floaty leaves are ending up stuck to the intake pipe inlets. Perhaps that's just the way of these, and as the old plant dies off, the new growth will take over and be nice and healthy. That's what I'm hoping for!

The dwarf sag from the ROAK seems to be holding it's own. It's still establishing, however, so I'm not worried that it's not flourishing madly at the point.

Interesting note: The Kyoto grass is looking about the same as when I got it, which is good. It'll die eventually, I'm sure. But meanwhile, if you recall I bought it originally so I'd have another grass-like plant since the Valisneria was practically completely dead mush, again, with lots of dead bits needing to be plucked from the tank. Last night, however, I noticed that it's bright green and apparently the remnants have made a strong comeback in a short amount of time! Nice and green and healthy looking. Hopefully it makes a full recovery and starts to spread by the time that I need to yank the Kyoto grass, so it can just resume it's originally-intended place and function in that corner. Not visible in these dead-on shots since the Rotala is hiding it, but I'll see if I can get a shot at some point as the recovery continues. I don't know if it just needed time to establish and no matter how dead it was looking it bounces back, or perhaps the fact that it is one of the closest plants to the co2 diffuser helped it back, but I'm glad. I don't need to find a replacement grass to replace the replacement grass, now. ;)

Oh, hey, another piece of really happy news, my driftwood is finally staying put when I lift the rock, so that's finally gone from the tank! Much nicer without that there, although I'm sure some of my critters will miss the extra hiding space. My otos liked hanging out on the rock, too (among other places).

Update shots (just quick iPhone shots, sorry, mo' better shots still to come):

Full tank. Notice how the wisteria and rotala have hit the surface! And notice, no more rock holding down the wood! :D


Christmas moss, looking a lot greener. Another month, maybe less, and hopefully it'll start looking like real Christmas moss and get nice and bushy! Meanwhile, however, please let that algae-looking stuff be no big deal...

Stringy algae on my newly-greening Christmas Moss: A big concern?
 
#34 ·
Tank is coming along I see. Too bad for that surface scum, hate that stuff.

If you don't mind extra equipment in the tank, you could try a Eheim Skim350. Works well on my tank. Plants help conceal mine. You can always remove it for pics. But if you hate the idea of extra equipment in the tank, there's a DIY skimmer you can make to fit over the Lily pipes intake.

Like this:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=293066

Would a fluval 106 be short enough? Are your Lily pipes 13mm?
 
#36 ·
Tank is coming along I see. Too bad for that surface scum, hate that stuff.

If you don't mind extra equipment in the tank, you could try a Eheim Skim350. Works well on my tank. Plants help conceal mine. You can always remove it for pics. But if you hate the idea of extra equipment in the tank, there's a DIY skimmer you can make to fit over the Lily pipes intake.

Like this:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=293066

Would a fluval 106 be short enough? Are your Lily pipes 13mm?
Yeah, I think you linked that thread when I was inquiring about the Eheim unit in another thread of yours. I might end up trying that DIY method, or even the Eheim skimmer. I'm still sort of hoping to find another option, though. If I had the stock pipes on my canister instead of the glass, Fluval makes a cheap one, too, that uses the same principal as the DIY method. There's an glass skimmer with the same theory on eBay that I could try, too. Again, though, still not sure which way I want to go with that. Once I get the heater out of the tank, I'll consider putting the Eheim skimmer in that location, since it's relatively hidden by plants (and will continue to be more and more hidden as they grow out).

The Fluval 106 is too tall, unfortunately... about a foot tall, IIRC. Finding units under 10" is tough. (or even 10" but with hoses that don't need another couple of inches above them) My Finnex was the only one I found at the time I first bought it.

Yes, my lily pipes are 13mm. Happy with their look (and reasonable eBay cost), it's just the surface scum issue that's the problem. Might be solved with stronger canister flow, however. Hopefully the thread I linked turns up a good replacement option!
 
#35 ·
And finally, the fauna update photos I've been promising. These were from the same night I added the co2, so even in the week since, things are a little greener and nicer (as discussed in the post above), but I think these are still worth posting. :)

The new star of the tank! The Electric Blue Ram. Finally starting to eat, had me a little worried for a couple of days!


Dwarf Gourami. NOT happy with the new EBR. Hides a lot. Hope he gets over it... because I'm not giving up the EBR! At least he doesn't chase him as much now.


Oto (1 of 2). Sad for him, and happy for me, his favorite perch is no longer in the tank, since the wood is no longer floaty.


Otos (both). Fortunately, the rock is not the only thing they like. I wish they'd get to work on the diatoms on my Amazon sword leaves, though...


Golden White Cloud Tetras (5 of 6)


A rare "still" of the Rummynose Tetra. (1 of 4) They never stop moving!


Golden White Cloud Tetras, and one of the Rummynose tetras.


Family photo time!


One ghost shrimp, determined to stick around (by being ghosty, as you see here). The others have gone onto better places, over time. If this one goes, I might try an Amano just for kicks. The ghost shrimp are pretty chock full of personality, though, I'll miss that. Hopefully the EBR (a cichlid) doesn't realize how tasty Mr. Shrimpie would be.


My Mystery snail continues to amuse. He'll be the star of his own time lapse video empire yet, as he bumbles around the tank. Say "cheese!"


I think the only critter not represented well here is my Nerite snail, who insists on hiding frequently of late, particularly, it seems, when I have my camera in hand! I guess no closeups of the Neon tetras, either. I'll have to do that sometime. But who hasn't seen all the neons they'll ever want? And man are they twitchy and hard to shoot...
 
#37 ·
Some days, you should have stayed in bed...

A series of small disasters. :(

First off, apparently my pretty glass lily pipe's intake is a mystery snail death trap. I lost my mystery snail when he apparently decided it was an interesting thing to climb on. Parts of him were sucked into the very fine openings, and within a couple hours he was dead, stuck in place where I discovered him. :( I turned off the filter immediately but it was clearly too late. Getting him *removed* from the pipe was ... unpleasant. Very sad, as I've him for nearly a year and he was always entertaining, especially in time lapse videos.

I chalked it up to sad, sad fluke and bought another mystery snail a couple of days later. Cute little guy, smaller than my last one. Almost as speedy as his predecessor! Last night, he was fine when I went to bed, but this morning, once again, the intake claimed a another victim! Again, I turned off the filter immediately and hoped for the best, but, sadly, it was not to be. Hours later my wife confirmed no joy, and she started the filter until I could get home to deal with the issue. Gruesome photo here, which I won't post inline for those uninterested in the details, or potentially otherwise horrified/saddened. :(

Needless to say, for the moment, I have switched back to the old plastic intake that never had a problem, and I ordered another set of lily pipes with a slightly different intake. (evilBay, so this will take a little while to arrive) Super sad about my snails, though. I guess the deadly intake will go into the spare parts bin, and I won't use it without a sponge prefilter in the future. My Nerite doesn't seem as prone to the problem. I'll replace the mystery snail ... again ... shortly.

Next issue: Algae (I think)

So, this stringy junk growing out of my Christmas Moss? What is it (I assume it's algae, I pray it's not one of the nightmare varieties) and how do I make it go away?



Oy. While I had the filter off this morning, I tried the excel trick, and squirted about 3ml of excel directly at it. After about 10 minutes, I turned the filter back on for about 5 minutes to mix things up again, then turned it off (see above) to leave for the day. Maybe that will help? Or do I need to repeat this for a while? Or am I doomed? HELP! :icon_frow

On the up side, the co2 seems to be working well. The fish are doing fine, and my plants are even pearling. :) (At least, I'm pretty sure they're pearling, because some of the plants that should definitely not have picked up bubbles from the water flow moving diffused tiny bubbles about still had similar bubbling action)



Bio film issue continues, although not as bad since I cleaned it up with a paper towel this weekend. My finger is getting closer and closer to pulling the trigger on the Eheim Skim350...
 
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