Thank you for the info, I'll keep on the lookout for the stones

Nice write up! How has your co2 dial in been going?


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You're welcome. It's really great when you find a place that sells the stones that you are looking for. You can purchase them online but you never really know what you are going to get.

Hey Thanks! I've upped the CO2 a bunch and that has really made the plants happy. I haven't noticed any new growth of hair algae. I spot treated with hydrogen peroxide for 3-4 days and that seemed to have really helped.

Dear Me,

I added 5 pygmy corys 2 amano shrimp and 4 more cardinals. The corys are a lot of fun to watch. I especially like when they dart to the surface to take a breath and then zoom back down. A really cool addition to the tank.

I'm letting the bacopa grow out more and establish it's roots before I trim it and replant some of it. The only issue I'm having with it is from the curling of a couple leaves at the top. Some of the leaves are getting quite large on those stems that have the curled leaves. Did a 50% water change yesterday after noticing that some amanos found their way into the filter through the side of the skimmer. I have since modified the skimmer with a piece of fine foam from the filter guard for the fluval 20 HOB. So far so good. Added 8 ml of Thrive to the tank over two days to get the Nitrates up and everything looks legit. I've added 3/4 of a tsp of magnesium sulfate after every large weekly water change. Really enjoying the tank and the fish so far. Hoping that I don't have to add an acrylic top to the tank now that the cardinals seem to be more acclimated to their planted environment.

Mas Later-

Fat Guy

Dear Me,

Things are going well. Almost all of the hair algae has disappeared. Only noticing a little algae on the bottom front right glass. It's similar to the brown algae that coats the inside of your filter or lily pipes. Comes off no problem. The modification I made to the skimmer has so far successfully kept the shrimp out of the filter. The pygmy corys are awesome and a really cool addition to the tank. The Cardinals are doing great as well and there has not been any jumpers of late. They are more accustomed to my presence now and do not scatter when I or my cat or children approach. Cleaned my impeller for my aquaclear/fluval20 HOB and was getting a lot of filter noise. Added a little petroleum jelly to the impeller and it has turned the noise into a light murmur. Wanted to upgrade the HOB but the next step up take up to much space on the side and will force the light to move more towards the front of the tank. I am not fond of that look. The more central the light the better. But having the HOB and the Eheim 2211 running together gives a nice 1-2 punch for filtration and gaseous exchange.



Raising it up has been a real blessing in disguise. I don't have to move it to work in the tank and the algae on the rock has been reduced to only two green spots. Raising it up has done wonders. I'm very close to being dialed in with the water.

Right now I'm doing:

Day 1:
50% water change, and 4ml of Thrive, 3/4tsp of Magnesium Sulphate.

Day 2,3,4 topoff

Day 5:
2ml Thrive

Day 7:
50% Water change and repeat.

This has seemed to work well fertilizer regime seems to be working well.



I still have a little curling of the bacopa leaves at the top of the tank. But they are now growing out of the tank. I'm going to let the bacopa over grow this week and maybe next and then do a trim. I want it to establish a strong root system before I trim.

Happy with how things are going. Getting closer to the equilibrium horizon.


Thanks for those who are following this thread or who have stumbled upon it.

Mas Later,

El Gordo

ps added an old ACURA 50W heater that I have had in storage since 2005. It's keeping the tank at 76 degrees and working flawlessly. Surprised by the quality of the heater.

Dear Me,

Tank is roughly a month old and I seem to have a good co2, fert and lighting balance.

Did a 50% WC today and added 9ml of Thrive and 3/4 tsp of magnesium sulphate. After checking my nitrates throughout last week I added roughly 5 pumps total of Thrive to maintain a good balance of ferts. I decided today to just do one EI dose for the entire week before the 50% water change.

Things are looking good. Had to do a major trim of the bacopa. And then replanted some stems back into the substrate about 2" in height. I hope this will give me some more time between trims and will help the tank fill in the way I want it to.



The crypts are doing great as well. I did lose one cory (I think) possibly from not being patient enough when adding them to the tank. But I can't find him so maybe he hiding out somewhere. The cardinals are insane feeders and super active. I have the temp around 74-75 degrees which seems to be a nice medium for the fish. I turn the heater off the night before I do a water change so that the tap water and tank water are close to being the same temp on the day of the change.



Amanos hanging out on the rock.



Hair algae is virtually non-existent. I am also not having any problems with the bacopa leaves curling like before. Maybe the magnesium addition had a positive effect. I did notice a little green dust algae on the glass but I think that is because the tank is too close to the window. The window never gets full sun, but nonetheless I think that is why I am seeing it.

Gave the bacopa to my neighbor down the road.



Thanks to those who are following this thread.

Mas Later,

Fat Guy

Dear Me,

Removed some of the longer crypts in the back and replaced with C. Wendtii. Also raised the slope in the back. Experienced a slight ammonia spike when I disturbed the substrate and lost one cory, but all is back to normal. Grabbed Karen Randall's book Sunken Gardens for fun. Really enjoyed reading it. I met Karen 16 years ago in Boston at the New England Aquarium Society. I purchased some of her Pearl Weed at the plant auction after meeting her. Cool to see that she has a book out.

Really like the way the tank is starting to look. Only running the light at 50% intensity and everything is gravy for far. Added some mermaid weed and another plant after pulling the bacopa colorata. The plant threw off the scale to much for my liking and grew like a weed.

Thanks for looking.

Mas Later,

El G

Really nicely done tank. Very relaxing looking. Looks especially nice set poised in front of the interesting abstract art.

Hey thanks a lot! It's been a constant work in progress. I like the art on the wall in that room with the tank too. My children are the abstract artists to credit for that work Thanks Again!

Dear Me!

Forgot to mention that the two plants that I added were myriophyllum tuberculatum (aka red water milfoil) and the other stem plant is either totals indica 'bonsai' or bacopa Caroliniana...I'm leaning towards the latter. Bob's Tropical Fish had it planted but unlabeled and they weren't sure which one it was. I liked the way it grew next to the milfoil so I picked it up. A real pain to plant as one the slightest disturbance with the tweezers sends two or three stems floating up. Anyway. Liking how it is looking now, especially with the slope in the corner. Excited to see how the new crypts fill in. The cardinals are awesome to watch in this setup. Also it's too bad about the pygmy cory deaths. Totally my fault from causing an small ammonia spike when I added some oliver knott soil over the UNS soil and kicked up a cloud of debris. I vacuumed it up as quickly as possible but I think it really did a number on the corys. The cardinals and shrimp have shown zero signs of stress however. It's just a bummer and I probably won't keep these little fish again. I also noticed what appeared to be some diatoms after the soil addition. I think that is attributed to the ammonia spike. It's a real balancing act. Enjoying the process thus far that's for sure. Thanks for looking! El G.

Dear Me,

Just a quick shot of the tank after a cleaning. Enjoying how things are starting to pan out now. Thanks for looking.

Mas Later,

el G

Everything has really started to take off. I've changed up some things. Made an addition with a DIY foggy white background. Added two otocinclus and lowered the light intensity to 50% on the LED. The crypts and s. repens are thriving. The stems in the background are filling in nicely. I was told from the LFS that it was mermaid weed (the stem near the middle) but it's actually rotala walachi. Pic below. When I get a chance I'm gonna snap a better looking image. The pic doesn't do it justice at all.

Thanks for looking. Mas Later.

El G

Increased light intensity back to 90% as I was reading some interesting stuff about the Beamworks Light PAR etc. Plants are bubbling like crazy. Gonna get a phosphate test kit mañana to test levels. I think with the bioload I've got the Nitrates covered, but may be running low on phosphates throughout the week as I'm getting a nice dusting of green dust algae on the glass every third day after the water change. We shall see.

Thanks for looking.

Mas Later,

-El G.

Great looking scape, Fat Guy. Nice to see you back on the forum. Not many of us here from 2003.

Hey thanks so much!! The 2003 crew represent!! Amazing that it has already been that long.

Built a DIY stand out of an old dresser. When I get a chance I'll post some pics on how I did it. Below is a vid of the tank. I've got some brown algae/diatoms from adding substrate a little while back. I don't mind it so much. It does mess with some of the rotala's beauty, but the fish and shrimp love it.

Going to upgrade the light.

Any thoughts on the Fluval 3.0 or the Chihiros RGB for this? Anybody want to chime in?

I like the 3.0 controls and think it will add some nice customizable color to the tank but wonder if having it at the surface will be too close. I do have the acrylic risers I made that I can always put it on. The RGB from Chihiros looks cool too. I just don't know about the longevity of that light.

Any thoughts????

Here's the vid:


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