75G My latest obsession (56K)

[Tdon1md]

It was extra. I'm running a Coralife 260 w/ 4 65 watters on a dawn till dusk pattern, eg. one of the 130 banks is on from 10AM till 6PM. The second bank is on from 11:30AM till 3PM. I tried adding the additional 130 only durring the "midday blast" for a total of 390 durring midday and left the 1st bank untouched (if that makes any sense).

[jaidexl]

Ok, then wattage wasn't the issue. Maybe nutrients were involved, damage maybe. Is it reoccurring? Hopefully it was just a fluke thing or a shadow.

[Tdon1md]

I scrubbed the glass when I did the water change as per ei dosing. Haven't seen a reoccurance but again I dropped the extra 130 watts so I'm only running 260 at peak. If it wasn't a wattage issue then it might have been a nutrient or fluke issue. Something else that may or maynot be of interest is that I removed the twigs that were leaching sap. They were in the tank at the time of the hair algae outbreak on the glass.

[Tdon1md]

After a few weeks, it's become obvious that my PC lighting isn't going to be strong enough to punch through the density of my thick stems. As you can see, my Rotalla bases are rotting. It's happening to the Cambobia too although I don't have a pic of that but huge clumps of each were free floating this morning when I woke up:



I don't have a clue whether or not doing a diy hood using Halide lighting would be strong enough to penetrate deep enough to prevent this from happening. Even if it were, I'm broke!!!! so I decided to change around the scape a little.




I've been talking about doing a centralized rock scape and this seemed like as good a time as any. I kept all of the Ludwig and a few stems of Rotalla but ditched the Wisteria and Cambobia. I've also pulled some of the Blyxa from the right side hill and spread it across the tank behind the Dwarf Hairgrass, although it's impossible to see just yet. I jammed my crypts in between the rocks and hope it'll start to grow up rather then out adding a little contrast. I also picked up 2 Oto's and 2 SAE's. One of the Oto's bit it about 2 days later but the other 3 additions are constantly jumping from leaf to leaf. They're doing a pretty good job but I've still got some thread algae that's starting to show up. We'll see how that shakes out.

All in all, I'm starting to see the possibilities come together with this tank and am liking it more and more all the time. I know I dumped a considerable amount of plant mass so I'll have to start playing around with the EI dosing formula to fine tune my current nutrient demands.

I'm also now using a total of 390 watts, all 6500/10000K dual daylights. The pattern is 260 watts from 10AM till 6PM and a midday blast using the remaining 130 watts from 11AM till 5PM.

I'm leaning toward slower growing rooted plants rather then lots of stems that constantly need to be trimmed. Now all I need to do is be patient for the L. Aromatica that I've been promised and maybe pick up a few more varieties of Anubias and Swords. Any other species suggestions are warmly welcomed.

Happy holidays all! Hope Santa finds you and your family happy and healthy!!!!!! But most importantly, be safe! If you drink, please don't drive!!!!

[jaidexl]

the scape looks much better now. I would get the EI going for a while before upgrading light, just to make sure it's not a nutrient issue. I don't think you're lacking in lumens and I'm not so sure you'll be that much happier with MH. Have you tried pushing a root tab under those stems?

The LA is on it's way to the surface and should need a trim in a couple weeks. I let DIY CO2 waver a lot on that tank these last few months so it's taking them longer than usual. The good news is they are one of the best growing plants in the tank throughout all of this as well as a lazy fert regime, and the person in line for AR decided against them for lighting reasons, so you will be getting more than just a couple stems, probably around 6.

[Tdon1md]

That's awesome man. Thanks SOOOO much. I'm in no hurry so whenever you get around to it is fine with me. I'm only playing with the idea of HQI lighting at this point. I really have no desire to drop more money at this point. And besides, if I continue down the slower growth path, it won't be necessary anyway.

I've got some tabs that'll be here late next week. I picked up a half bag and split with mrkookm so when they get here, I'm going to see if they help. I also plant to play with EI on the light side of the scale and see how much is necessary to maintain 10+ ppm of Nitrate - 1 ppm phosphate. I removed quite a lot of plant mass and don't want to overdose resulting in algae issues.

Thanks again for your encouragement! Let me know how much you need me to send for the LA and your paypal addy. I'll work on getting you paid now. Then, whenever it works for you to trim and ship, you'll be taken care of monetarily.