120cm Office Tank

macclellan said:

Yet again, a beautiful J Bal tank.

If I had to say one thing critical, it would be that the hardscape got lost.

And if I could ask one question, it would be: "Is the the background photoshoped, or did you add a background, or did you just underexpose the shot?"

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Thank You

Yes, it does sort of fall away to the plants. The thing about this tank is that i can only get to the office once every 3-4 weeks. At that time i do a little trimming and a 30% WC. With this in mind i really had to select some easy low maintenance plants. If i tied moss to all that driftwood, i would have a daunting task every time i went in there HAHA

I did both, I under exposed a little and then used the "Burn" tool in PS to really make it dark.

jinx© said:

I commented in the other thread, but it looks just as fantastic in this thread...lol

Great looking wood, but as mac points out it got lost in the beautiful plants. That always becomes a factor though I suppose, just like deciding whether or not to grow moss on nice driftwood.

Is that peat under the sms?

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Exactly on the moss vs plants

Nothing is under the SMS. The darkness is just some water that was in the tank when I put the SMS in.

Thanks

jB

jaidexl said:

Jason, how do you come to your measurement of K in the tank? I'm tightening up my EI regime right now but K I am totally lost as far as knowing what is in the tank when. So far I'm just sticking to a common teaspoon amount per most EI regimes and pretending it's right for my tank.

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Yikes!! I will have to change my specs....they are incorrect. This layout is underdosed due to the extremely infrequent WC's. I approach it more as a ratio then a target. The office owner doses daily, using a solution that is 10:1.5:20 NPK. I have never tested the tank, but i would assume that there probly isnt even a measurable value for N or P by the end of the day.

In my own tanks i take a similar approach. I dose everything daily (very similar to the PPS-Pro approach), but my solution is a little different....more tailored to my water conditions. I just dose a little more in my tanks because i can do WC's weekly

For K, i just guess. I know what i am putting in there because my solutions are created by me.

I understand what you say about EI and "pretending". "Dialing in EI", is like saying im going to be a sharp shooter with a rocket launcher. HAHA It is very hard to make small changes with EI. You are always pedal to the metal with EI, so how do you add a little more of anything? ....add 1/32 of a teaspoon....sounds ridiculous. HAHAH

It is absolutely possible to grow beautiful plants with a low nutrient approach. All my tanks are an example of this (not that i am a pro or anything). It is no harder then EI, frankly i think its easier. Things just grow slower

To get back to your question. I create the solutions using dry nutrients and an accurate scale. I dose them daily. I estimate my nutrients based on what i am putting in the tank.

jB

Thanks for the input, I guess I will just do as usual and keep an eye out for deficiencies to point the way. I'm dosing everything dry and separate for now until I tighten them up, then I'm mixing dry macros and dividing them up into a little auto dry dosing scheme I have planned.

I like the method here and ask the Qs because I really need to step back and do some more observation before I go back to lower maintenance. When I did it a few months ago, I was always antsy about whether there was enough of this or that and when I needed it while I slacked on WCs. Test reagents, gram scales and little piles of powder everywhere. Too paranoid for what I expect to get out of low maintenance, maybe I need yoga instead of coffee. 50% WC is easy enough for now to take away the burden, but I don't want that or supersonic growth forever. :icon_neut

neilfishguy said:

I like the hardscape. the rocks and driftwood are subtle but you still see them and the only things i can think of are that I think its anooying the big leaves that stick up in the center-right, its an awsome tank though!

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I kind of dig the anubias accents there Kind of cool how they make themselves known HAHA

ikuzo said:

there are cherry barbs there!
love the bolbitis bunch JB.

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Yup they sure are....compliments of cpc1007!! He needed a good home for them before he moved

khoile said:

Beautiful! I like your aqua scape better than Amano.

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Thanks for the very generous comment. Can you describe what differences you prefer?

Thanks for the comments and encouragement

jB