"Suga Shack" - Sara's 55 gallon - (56K)

[sewingalot]

Originally Posted by sewingalot

What the?

Rotala Magenta, Rotala Roundifolia and Ludwigia Inclinata 'Cuba'

This was the last time I was really happy with my 55. I lost all vigor after trying EI. The 50% water changes, the overdosing of ferts, and the ALGAE kept compounding. I upped the co2 to the point of the fish gasping at the last hour each night with the cories getting very still for hours after massive water changes and at night swimming drunk. I felt awful watching the fish that I would literally cry. It got so bad, I had to start leaving the room before the last hour. I no longer enjoyed the hobby. I actually started thinking of quitting for the sake of the fish. As a last resort, I posted this in the plant section: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pl...tml#post933728

I started looking back at my notes (yes, I have taken notes on my fish tanks.....) and found a GOLDMINE. PPS-Pro, co2 diffused at 1 BPS with a powerhead and lighting on for 8 hours = happy, healthy plants and fish with a bit of GSA on the glass. Nothing that couldn't be taken care of at weekly 25% water changes.

And since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a few thousand for you (and this is just a week's time ):





















Notice how much healthier the new growth is? You can almost draw a line on the stop of algae growth. I am so stoked! Will update the progress in a week. Thanks for stopping by!

[AzFishKid]

Looks great Sara! What type of cory catfish is that? Emerald green? Kinda looks like the ones i have.

[sewingalot]

Plain ole' bronze cory. They get a little more gray with age. She's actually the one I've been worried about the most. She is nearly 5 and I want her to live many, many years. She's my baby.

[JennaH]

glad you got things figured out, tank is looking great! quite a jungle and lots of pearling looks like

[hydrophyte]

Hey that looks awesome. Nice job on the problem-solving. Your plants look so happy and you got nice pictures of them too.

[sewingalot]

Originally Posted by JennaH

glad you got things figured out, tank is looking great! quite a jungle and lots of pearling looks like

Thanks. I am not saying EI doesn't work, it's just not for me. I tried it twice now and hated the results. Others swear by it. My recommendation is to experiment with all types of fertilization and use what's right for you.

Originally Posted by hydrophyte

Hey that looks awesome. Nice job on the problem-solving. Your plants look so happy and you got nice pictures of them too.

Thanks, hydrophyte. Still not where I want it, but it's chugging along. Forgive me, I went a little picture crazy tonight trying to fix the settings. I somehow got it stuck on lowered light levels.





Look at this rebound growth!


Growing for my fry tank and it is doing a great job at sucking up those excess nitrates:










Look at my new girl!

[demonbreedr16]

Gorgeous Sara! I'm happy your tank is doing good again and you are happy! THIS is what I want the 52gal Flatback Hex to look like. Simple while complex, but, for the most part, easy to maintain!

[Karackle]

Wow the tank is looking fantastic! good work Sara!!!

[sewingalot]

Thanks, you two! The algae is slowly dying off and I am trimming as much as I can. The plants were stunted for a while, so I need to let them grow out a bit, top them and replant. I am debating about pulling out the polygonum sp. 'Kawagoeanum' and the Limnophila aromatica and placing them in my riparium. I am wanting to eliminate some of the bigger plants due to the inability to plant a larger group of them. It looks odd to only have a few of each, unnatural of sorts. My goal is to get smaller stems like some rotala, bacopa and lindernia sp. and to get a large group of them growing. Kind of like the blyxa is now. Decisions, decisions.....

I took this picture the other day of the emperor tetra. I wish I could find more of these fish, I would one day like to have a tank of just these guys, danios and cories. Look how beautiful his eyes are!


One disparaging note: my bristlenose pleco has become very territorial, has now decided he likes shrimp pellets & plant leaves more than algae, and has been beating up on two of my cories. I am not very happy with this guy and may have to send him packing if he doesn't straightened up soon.

And since I don't have a journal for my shrimpers: Look at this!




She had many babies and tonight I was able to count over 20! I was only counting 4 at first. I am excited to see them grow up, they are now about 2 weeks old and so cute. I feel like I am mama.

[Church]

I hope you can find some buddies for the emperor! I'd love to see a school of them myself.

[legomaniac89]

Hey the tank's looking pretty good! And the Emperor is so pretty! I'm considering a school of them for my new scape

[sewingalot]

I just called all the local fish stores and no one has any avaliable. I am so sad, I only have two. There teeth are wicked awesome. One actually nibbled on my elbow the other day and it hurt! But honestly, they are doll babies. I took a full tank shot for comparison. I am not stuck sticking to PPS Pro, but it is nice not having to do that 50% water change today. I just topped off and plan to change 25% every other week for now depending on the nitrate levels.

Right now, I am just taking pictures for progress sake. I love when plants "wake up." The lights just came on a 1/2 hour before the picture this afternoon and some plants have stretched out yet.

[hydrophyte]

That looks really nice. I can't remember is the red stuff to the left a Polygonum?

My bristlenise pleco is the same. He hunkers down on top of the Hikari wafer like a lion at a kill and holds up his armor and the other fish have no hope to reach it. I bust the wafers in half to get around this problem.

[sewingalot]

Isn't it beautiful? It is Polygonum sp. Kawagoeanum. I've been feeding the bristlenose his own special food and he still is aggressive. I am hoping he will calm down with a little more time, but I hear they get worse with age.

[funkyfish]

The tank looks great Sara
Love the emperor