Mars 2212…..(Major 56K Warning!)

[Naja002]

100 Years after the Genesis.....


Just a Teaser video:

Segment:

1—Magnum 350 C02 Reactor
2—Pearling/C02 infested crypt.
And Tiger Barbs
3—UG and Tiger Barbs




Tank re-setup—7-08

55g
48” Catalina T5HO 4 x 54w = 2x 6,700K + 2x 10,000K….1.5hrs @108w + 6.5hrs @ 216W = 8hrs total
Black Flourite + Black Flourite Sand
XP3 + sponges, floss and purigen
Pressurized C02 dual outlet = Magnum 350 reactor + powerhead mist
Auto-dosing (daily)
Auto-water change (daily)
Eheim 3581 Auto Fish Feeder

Plants (currently):

UG
Crypt ‘Green Gecko”

Plants soon to be added:

Anubias nana 'petite' (-added)
Poaceae Sp. 'Purple Bamboo' (-added)
Red Tiger Lotus (-added)
Lobelia cardinalis-small form (-added)

Fish

Rainbow Shark-1
Tiger Barbs- ~22
Columbian Tetras-8
Red-eyed tetras- ~8
Serpae Tetras- ~8
Black Molly-male-1
BN Plecos-2
Chinese Algae eaters-2


1 long-term algae problem = GSA, but I think I’ve just about got it sorted out. I can keep it away for 10 days to 2 weeks, maybe a little longer….then it starts coming back.

The crypts went through a melt when the tank was set up. I did a quick cycle which was hard on both the crypts and the UG. I lost a lot of UG by adding some spixi snails that were apparently crosses and not pure spixi’s. The UG is finally starting to fill in completely. Another month or 2 and every square inch of available space should be covered with a thick mat of UG. UG really loves the “Wonder Gro” tabs.

Also a minor on-going battle with Ca/Mg. The water is hard, so adding extra MG has always helped. Things are not bad, but I would like to get them a bit more sorted out….

Here’s another teaser shot from just before the Genesis:



I’ll post some real pix once the UG finishes filling in and I get things cleaned up a bit….

[lauraleellbp]

LOL

Welcome back Najas!

I look forward to seeing the finished product.

That rainbow is spectacular!

[Naja002]

Man, your fast! You got a special new post line or sumthin'....?

Thanx!

It's only been about 4.5 months, but it seems a lot longer then that......

[Naja002]

Ok, Ok, tough crowd…tough crowd!

Let’s see…..we’ll call this 50 years after the Genesis…….

I’ve got 3 more types of plants on the way….still looking for a 4th: Lobelia cardinalis—small form, so if ya got any….Please let me know. (found it. )

The short version is: This tank is a high light experiment for me. I was running around telling everyone how to run their high light tanks, yet had not walked a mile in those shoes. What I had learned was academic, not from experience. So, it was time for me to put up….or shut up. Plus I’ve been busy with many other things….

There’s 3.9 wpg of T5HO lighting….sitting on the rim of this tank. No light hangers, no legs…it’s sitting on the tank rim pounding light into the aquarium =

0.5hr @ 108w >9hrs @ 216w >0.5hr @ 108w. 10hrs total photoperiod. (12-30-08)

C02 comes on 2hrs before the lights come on and goes off 30mins before the lights go off.

Short term issues..initially..with string/thread/hair algae…not sure which, but got rid of it and hasn’t been back. Long term issue with GSA, but I think that I’ve got that about sorted out….we’ll see.

Slow start for the reasons listed in the first post. The crypts look kind of raggedy, but I trimmed a lot of the older leaves that had small spots of GSA and/or were deformed and/or showing white streaks/areas. They looked much “fuller” prior to a trim, of course, but this is an experiment/learning curve. Even some of the leaves remaining still have issues. I have a Ca/Mg issue with this water. Adding extra Mg has normally taken care of it. But these plants are sucking up a lot of nutrients, so I’ve been having a few issues trying to find the overall “Balance” of this tank (hence the GSA). I’m getting there. And I consider this tank and its progress a success at this point.

Spent ~4hrs last night trying to get some decent pix…..and that’s all I got. Nothing Good, Great, etc….just decent. WW! How these folks get some of those shots—I’ll never know….

So, on with the show…..

The tank:



For those of you wondering if UG is difficult:


That’s the foam pre-filter to the Magnum 350 that I am using as a C02 reactor.


Here’s the bulk of the powerhouse—xP3 intake/output, heater, powerhead #1 for auto-drain cycle, powerhead #2 for C02 mist, Maxi-jet powerhead for flow. In addition to this is the intake/output of the Magnum 350 toward the other side of the tank….flow is better than good:

[Naja002]

Soon to be King-of-the-tank. I just added this guy ~10 days ago. He’s starting to build up his courage. Nothing like a wussy shark, huh? I’ve had plenty of these over the years. In 1 month he’ll be all over the tank all day long. In 3-4 months he’ll get “Moody” and go through fits of chasing anything and everything out of his “territory” in his darkest of rages. He loved teasing me while I was trying to get some decent shots of him…..almost like he knew what was going on.:












Not sure why everyone says these guys don’t do anything and are aggressive. They really are no more aggressive then the rainbow shark while in its “mood”. I’ve always found CAEs to be good little workers and have always taken care of low light, new tank diatoms, etc. These guys are fat and healthy and spend a ton of time working:



A couple of Buds hanging out together:

[Naja002]

And then there’s some of the Tiger Barbs. These guys are cool. Not hard to tell that they are what’s left after all the “selective breeding” for Green, Albino, etc. They are not very clean in appearance, which I don’t much care for….. The local fish store has some that are Very clean, so I may be adding some more:




A couple shots of 1 of the calico BN plecos:

[Naja002]

Ok, so on with the plants! Most of these shots are of the left side and middle. I just could not ( ) get a decent pic of the large crypt on the right side, but You can get the idea from the overall tank shot above and the video in the OP….







Shots from above:

[Naja002]

Other shots:




















Finally, the GSA seems to leave a white cloudy residue on the inside of the glass after being scrapped off. Never dealt with this before, so if anyone knows what it is and, more importantly: How to get rid of it….Please let me know:

[eyebeatbadgers]

Great looking setup man, fish and plants all look great! Looks to me like that UG doesn't mind living in hard water!!

[Wasserpest]

That UG carpet is awesome. Looks like this plant likes to be blasted with light. Mine failed miserably...

The shots of Crypts from above are nice too.

Now how about getting all that equipment out of the tank?

[Naja002]

Originally Posted by eyebeatbadgers

Great looking setup man, fish and plants all look great! Looks to me like that UG doesn't mind living in hard water!!

Thanx, ebb! It seems to be doing ok these days, but, Yes, it is growing in hard water. I haven't ckeck the specs in a long time, but traditionally they are about Gh18, Kh 14, pH 8.0-8.1. But this UG is a funny little bird....

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

That UG carpet is awesome. Looks like this plant likes to be blasted with light. Mine failed miserably...

Thanx, Wasser! I'm starting to get happy with it. Needs to fill in some more before I'll start being satisfied. It definitely likes light. Not sure how much of a requirement that is, but it will soak the light up if it's available. Honestly, I have no idea how UG does in lower light. I started it in a tub with ~8wpg of F + CF and high C02. It did the typical 2-3 week settle-in, and then started to grow, but it's somewhat strange. When it's happy it grows like a weed. But then it's not always happy. Personally, I think it likes a lot of nutrients. The stuff can be somewhat fragile, but on the other hand--it seems really tough too. Kinda hard to explain, but I don't watch all of my parameters worrying about the UG. The sponge pre-filter was not by my design....that's just a fluke of strands that found themselves a home. I've pulled a lot of "plugs" of UG from it and planted them in the substrate.

I know the spixi crosses did a number on it.....

After I get things further down the road, I plan to reduce the lighting (incrementally) in order to slow things down. But until then I'm going to keep pounding it with light!

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

The shots of Crypts from above are nice too.

Thanx! Amazing to me that the better pix are down through ~18" of water then through the glass. But whatever works, huh? Overall, I think the pix would have come out better if I had not trimmed the crypts. I didn't do it for the pix....it was done ~10 days ago, but it would have helped things look much more mature.

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

Now how about getting all that equipment out of the tank?

Equipment? What equipment? Not sure if you mean for everyday or for the pix. But either way, I had considered it. For everyday I would have had to drill the tank....and with my luck.....it would have shattered or something. For the pix, I decided not to worry about it. These pix were just kind of an "update" on the tank. I don't have any intentions of ever entering it into any contests, so that's a moot point. But I would like to get some really nice shots once it finishes filling in. For that I will remove the equipment and clean things up "for the shoot" so-to-speak. First I have to spend more time learning how to use this frickin' camera. Great point and shoot--which is what those top-down shot were....but beyond that...I have a harder time. I understand the effects of apeture, shutter speed, etc.....just doesn't seem to work out. I'll keep trying though....

[Wasserpest]

Originally Posted by Naja002

Equipment? What equipment? Not sure if you mean for everyday or for the pix. But either way, I had considered it. For everyday I would have had to drill the tank....and with my luck.....it would have shattered or something. For the pix, I decided not to worry about it. These pix were just kind of an "update" on the tank. I don't have any intentions of ever entering it into any contests, so that's a moot point. But I would like to get some really nice shots once it finishes filling in. For that I will remove the equipment and clean things up "for the shoot" so-to-speak. First I have to spend more time learning how to use this frickin' camera. Great point and shoot--which is what those top-down shot were....but beyond that...I have a harder time. I understand the effects of apeture, shutter speed, etc.....just doesn't seem to work out. I'll keep trying though....

If it doesn't bother you, don't worry about it. Personally I don't enjoy ANY visible equipment in an otherwise attractive aquascaped tank. And I mean not only for the photo shoot. The only technical thing visible in my tanks is the thermometer.

Your photos are quite acceptable... for full tank shots I'd try to shoot from the center rather than angle/above.

The white stuff remaining after scraping GSA is probably calcium something. Not sure what to do about it... scrape some more? That's the struggle with very hard water...

[deleted_user_16]

that is some sexy UG, how long did it take to grow that nicely?

[lauraleellbp]

Looks fantastic!

Where'd you get that calico BN? (Now you're going to tell me your LFS carries them all the time... )

[Naja002]

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

If it doesn't bother you, don't worry about it. Personally I don't enjoy ANY visible equipment in an otherwise attractive aquascaped tank. And I mean not only for the photo shoot. The only technical thing visible in my tanks is the thermometer.

Trust me, we agree on this... I would prefer to not have anything in the tank, but I can live with it for now. I was psyched to get this going, so I made some choices. Plus I spent enough money--with other things going on too--that I simply didn't want to risk having to run out and buy a new tank. With my luck this one is tempered or something.... I would like to move up to a 75g or 90g, but atm that's not going to happen. However, since I realize now that I actually do have some decent understanding of all of this....the next tank will be drilled--one way or the other. I may even drill this one after this scape completes...who knows? I'm just going to make sure that I can run out and buy a replacement tank....

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

Your photos are quite acceptable... for full tank shots I'd try to shoot from the center rather than angle/above.

Thanx! I'm happy with them overall....considering. But I can do better....I'm just not at that point yet...still got a learning curve. I think the main issue is me, not so much the camera. I've gotten some really nice shots of stuff with this camera.

Originally Posted by Wasserpest

The white stuff remaining after scraping GSA is probably calcium something. Not sure what to do about it... scrape some more? That's the struggle with very hard water...

I hadn't thought about the calcium. Never dealt with this before, so I'm try to get it figured out. More scraping is about the only conclusion that I've come to also....not real happy about it....

Originally Posted by fishman9809

that is some sexy UG, how long did it take to grow that nicely?

Well, I set this tank up in 7/08, so ~4 months so far, but there's been a bit of a learning curve...both with the high light and with the UG, plus the spixi crosses. So, I am expecting (hoping) that the final fill in won't take much longer...

Originally Posted by lauraleellbp

Looks fantastic!

Where'd you get that calico BN? (Now you're going to tell me your LFS carries them all the time... )

Thanx!

I got them in the SNS here at PT back in july. Saganco apparently breeds them and has them for sale periodically. Here's the thread where I purchased:

Calico bristlenose (bushynose) plecos - shipping available

You may want to shoot her a PM.....I have absolutely nothing but Positive to say about buying from her. Everything was Great!



Some pix I meant to take the other night, but forgot. These are of the crypt roots:

Left (with the rocks):




Right (the lone crypt stand):




Got some more "Wonder Gro" tabs in yesterday. Added a bunch of 1/4's, so hopefully it will help flush a fill-in....