Church's 10g Project

[VadimShevchuk]

would you sell your aquaclear filter?

[Church]

Hmmm. Probably not, only because it's nice to have a backup filter around... actually, that is evident right this very moment! If I didn't already have this thing laying around when the double-tap on my 2213 started leaking, I might have been up that proverbial creek without a paddle.

But why do you ask? I always thought these were the most common HOB's out there, second to the Marineland ones... I'm guessing you don't have a decent store around you? How about mail order? Big Al's has them on sale right now for $23.

[Church]

Okay, today is my first official day of having been completely moved out of my ex's apartment. In honor of that, when I woke up this morning, I went ahead and took care of all the maintenance this tank needed, but I was unable to provide because of the moving...

The CO2 bottle was changed out. I'm glad I'm finally remembering to document the exact day a bottle was changed, so that I can find out once and for all how long a 20 oz bottle lasts on 24/7.

The microsword was mowed down, and is now all very even, with each blade measuring about an inch or so. From previous experience, I believe this will cause more runners to be sent out, even faster than before, and each new leaf should stay shorter than they originally were after taking out of the rockwool cup.

I also pulled the L. aromatica, topped each stem at the area where there was sparse growth, during the move, and planted these tops in the same space as before. It all looks very composed now, like there's a bit more order in the scape now.

Pictures will come on Wednesday probably, as my camera is currently on vacation with my parents. And I'm expecting my replacement Eheim doubletap on Thursday, so the HOB will be out of here by the end of the week.

[sewingalot]

I am glad you kept this tank up and running. How did the move go. You are taking this quite wonderfully.

[Church]

The move went well, and I've been extremely exhausted the past few days, after all that heavy lifting. I hate moving. She and I are still amicable with each other, and I'll continue to visit her, and watch the TV shows we started watching together. We are both actually handling it very well.

But I'm fully moved in now, and I've had 2 days to rest and recuperate. I'm also about to setup a new tank, so that has me excited. The equipment is scheduled for delivery tomorrow.

[Church]

Okay, update time!

First some full tank shots:










A couple closeups of the aromatica:






My lone amano (with a couple of scared rummynose in the back, poor guys):






That's pretty much it. Just wanted to show where the tank is at. Thanks for looking.

[Orlando]

Looking good Do you plan to keep trimming the Aromatica and spreading it out, or just removing the clippings?

[Church]

No, it's just there for decoration, I guess you could say. I've been topping it, then pulling out the rooted bottoms, throwing them in the compost heap, and replanting the tops in the same spot. Once the lilaeopsis carpet is nice and full, I will then uproot the back left and right corners, where I will start shoving some stem plants and developing an actual aquascape.

For now, I just want the microsword to carpet up.

[Orlando]

I see now. It should not be to long before you have a thick green carpet.

[justin182]

looking good.
love to see the full lilaeopsis carpet.

[Church]

Thanks guys.

I'm taking suggestions, by the way, on what plants would look nice in the eventual scape. Everything behind the small rocks on the left, and behind the small rocks on the right will be shrubbery. I guess it will be one of those "U-shaped" aquascapes. I'm thinking something nice and bushy like the beloved R. rotundifolia in the back corners. Then maybe some downoi where the aromatica is. Some blyxa or dwarf hairgrass for a taller grassy look somewhere in there. And then maybe some "splotches" of manicured HM here and there. I don't know. It's still in pre-production at this point...

[Church]

I finally got my new Eheim doubletap, so I was able to remove the HOB and start using the 2213 again:



This was also an opportunity to give the canister a thorough cleaning, at which time I also replaced the fine filter pad. After setting it back up and turning it on for the first time, it blew me away how much flow there is!

I had forgotten what good flow looks like... I can see CO2 bubbles coming up out of the diffuser, getting immediately blown full circle around the tank by the spraybar, and then getting sucked right up into the intake. At this point, I'm literally scared that I am going to kill the fish from CO2 overdose. So I just lowered the bps and now I'm waiting, watching the drop checker and the fish.

Still...

[Church]

I don't really have anything new to report on this tank. But I want to keep posting pictures so I can document the growth of the carpet. Here's the newest pics:








Don't mind the slight cloudiness... I just dosed some liquid iron a few minutes ago.

[demonbreedr16]

Looks great! I've always wanted a Lilaeopsis carpet, and I was *VERY* tempted to do one in my 29, but I ended up with Glosso instead!

[Church]

Well I always wanted to do glosso, but never could find a good source for it, so always went with microsword carpets! I do love me some microsword! It's the quintessential foreground plant, IMO.