Looks like an awesome start, I will be following this to see how it looks in a couple of months. Interesting to read about how you use the Echo/Smart stuff!

 

This looks amazing. Great job! I will be following.

 

Thanks for the kind words.

The Rasboras have settled in and are exploring the tank. I do have one problem however. I have 5 silver tipped Tetras. Two are pale and three are a darker gold. The gold ones are bullies. They bully the pale ones and one in particular bullies the other gold ones.

I blew it. I had originally planned to rehome them when I netted everyone for the move. I relented, due to laziness and thinking that with more space they might chill. Wrong!

They are bullying the Rasboras, especially if they venture into the middle of the tank which the tetras seem to have chosen as their turf. I would love to pull them but having run into this with a white cloud in my old 75g I know how hard it can be to catch one in a well planted tank. Bummer.

 

Very nice setup. I have never had a planted tank so don't know how hard it is, but when I am going to catch a very fast fish in a big setup I usually feed some flakes that will get all the fish to the top and quickly dip my net in and scoop out the fish. Hope that helps.

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...when I am going to catch a very fast fish in a big setup I usually feed some flakes that will get all the fish to the top and quickly dip my net in and scoop out the fish.

Thanks. I will try that. Previously I put food in a net and waited until the fish ventured in but that took a loooooong time (days) as the fish had to get used to the net.

 

A big net is your savior. Get the kind with the black mesh, it looks like a nice inviting safe cave. Put it in the tank and let it open up but don't move it around.

Then, the scare hand comes into play. Herd the fish with the scary hand. It wiggles, it thrusts, and look, a nice safe cave!

Scoop.

It takes time and patience. You can also do it on water change day, with 50% they have less room to run.

But, do you like them? I had tiger barbs in my first adult tank. Mean little jerks. I later found out that I just didn't have enough. If you get a larger group they just interact with each other. Google around and find out.

Oh, great tank, before and after!

 

A big net is your savior. Get the kind with the black mesh, it looks like a nice inviting safe cave. Put it in the tank and let it open up but don't move it around.

Then, the scare hand comes into play. Herd the fish with the scary hand. It wiggles, it thrusts, and look, a nice safe cave!

Scoop. It takes time and patience. You can also do it on water change day, with 50% they have less room to run.

But, do you like them? I had tiger barbs in my first adult tank. Mean little jerks. I later found out that I just didn't have enough. If you get a larger group they just interact with each other. Google around and find out. Oh, great tank, before and after!

I am pretty tired of their endless chasing. Feeding time is the worst. They very seldom nip but I do like "peace in the land". For me the tank is like a mediation. There is enough aggression and stress in the world and especially here in DC already! So I do not think that I would risk adding more. I was hoping that adding the glowlight rasboras would chill them but that has not worked.

When I had to remove a white cloud "jerk" from my old tank I did just as you suggested. It took a while but worked.

Regarding the diffusor. In my reading I had found that they could be used on tanks much larger than mine but probably just not with the CO2 efficiency of the Cerges and Riggs. I had also seen a number of the YouTube greats like George Farmer use them so I felt safe. The bubbles are very fine and I have mostly easy, low light plants in the tank. I get a 1 point pH drop with about 2 bubbles per second so I am happy.

Thanks for the kind words about the tank!

 

Oh, and how is the inline diffuser working out? I had read that they aren't that effective on large tanks.

 

That sure is a pretty tank. I like your hardscape too.

I've moved most of my stuff over to smart plugs as well, but I think you may have just convinced me to get a few more for the filter.

 

Great start, agree with the others, very nice hardscape!

 

Nice start to the tank! I am seriously debating getting a waterbox 4820 (this tank?) because it is available now vs waiting an unknown time for a uns 120p. How is the quality of the tank?

Is the oase 600 producing enough flow for you? I am also debating filtration, whether to go canister filter and reactor or sump with a hang on back overflow.

 

Nice start to the tank! I am seriously debating getting a waterbox 4820 (this tank?) because it is available now vs waiting an unknown time for a uns 120p. How is the quality of the tank?

Is the oase 600 producing enough flow for you? I am also debating filtration, whether to go canister filter and reactor or sump with a hang on back overflow.

Yes. I have the 4820. It took almost two months to get it. When I was shopping I could not find any 120P's in stock anywhere. I would have bought the stand from them but I wanted one that was not so high as to make access tough. The Archaea is a bit shorter.

So far the 600 seems fine. I kept the 250 from my old tank thinking that I would need it but am just keeping it for backup for now. Plus I only have one filter to clean

I debated over the sump and hang-on overflow but decided that the Biomaster is quiet, has a built-in heater and the great removable prefilter so I went with that.

 

Video. I have since added 20 Glowlight Rasboras who are very active and do not hide. My Pygmy Cories are shy and mostly come out when I feed. Too bad as I really enjoy them.

 

Some glamour shots...
Oase Biomaster 600 Thermo. Love it. I installed a pull out shelf to make cleaning the prefilter easy.
CO2 atomizer working well. I tried a Griggs but it made too much noise. The heater and pump are on separate cords but both plugged into the same smart plug.

Great regulator by @Bettatail working well. The solenoid is on a Kasa smart plug also.
Jebao dosing pump is waiting for the reservoir to arrive. I plan to just use premixed Thrive and dilute it to give a daily morning, pre-light dose.

Plants are doing great with very little algae. Buce is flowering. Shrimp are now multiplying after a baffling start where adults were dying. Rasboras are wonderful and are still schooling in open view all day long. Wish I could say the same for the Pygmy Cories. I have to sneak into the room to see them!

I may pull the giant sword in the back left. I feel that it is out of balance with the rest of the scape. Also trying to figure out what would take it's place, tall but not needing frequent trimming and will fit in with the easy care low light tankmates.

 

Can Spring be near?

I setup my Jebao doser today. I am using liquid Thrive mixed with some APT in a 5L reservoir with RO water. I am diluting the fertilizer to give a calculated conservative daily dose mixed with 100ml of RO. I figure that the added RO water will help with top-off.

 

Rapid transit...

 

What are you using for substrate? That pic of the shrimp and nerite looks amazing!

 

Thanks. They are racing along on pool filter sand that makes up the first ~6" in the front of the tank, forming "The Beach". It is really just meant to form an open area where fish can be seen and where feeding can happen. The rest of the tank is a mix of Seachem Fluorite and Fluval Plant and Shrimp Stratum for the rooted plants...

For the photos I have moved from my iPhone to my camera. which is a Sony 7R using a Leica R 60mm Macro. Still trying to figure out how to avoid flare from the LED lights.

 

I remembered to turn off my pump so that I do not get "shooting star" CO2 bubbles in my shots!

Things are mostly going well except for the beginning of some BBA. In my last tank it was always the hardest to keep away. About a week ago I turned the lights up by just 5% and turned on the auto doser. I will probably need to push some Easy Carb on the affected areas during my weekly water changes today. Otherwise starting to really fill in.

 

Tank is starting to fill in and headed toward "jungle" territory. Hygrophila is doing well and now even needs to be tamed a bit.

I had a brief problem with my lily pipe skimmer "bobbing" to the point of pulling in air to the filter but I moved it closer to the filter output and the oscillation stopped.

I would like to add one more small school to Tetras but hate to tip the balance which is pretty good currently.

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Hi this is so beautiful. Can you tell me those orangey-brown stones? I am getting Frodo stone, and have most of the, acquired but still need some driftwood. The ones I want from GLA are out of stock, but any river wood would do, so long as it's bigger. Maybe I shouldn't go with river wood. Who knows. I see you mentioning your tetras. I am planning on the following:

40 ember tetra
40 chili rasboras
40 cherry shrimp
40 amano shrimp
3 or 4 otos
6-10 pygmy corydoras.

I have 90 gal. I wonder if this is too much? The only other ones I thought about were some threadfin rainbows as a centerpiece fish because most everything else will either get too big or mess with my shrimp or my tetras. Someone was saying another type was also nice called pearl gourami but I don't know if this fish is big enough to bother the other fish or shrimp. Someone recommended a Congo tetra too, but I am not sure. You have any suggestions here for like a center piece fish or if I am over stocking?

 

Starting to fill in nicely. Used a bit of EasyCarbo with my last water change and the BBA has lost it's momentum. The autodoser is running like a clock, which I guess it is

I have a daily dose of Thrive mixed with 100cc of RO water that goes in an hour or so before the lights go on. The reservoir is 5 liters so this is pretty much hands free now. Hopefully the Thrive will not settle to the bottom too much.

 

A couple of current pics. The Val in the back is creating a nice screen but is starting to take over with lots of runners. It has also produced two extremely long white extensions that look like they may end up as flowers. My guess is that they are ~48" long. I think that I may eventually remove the Val once the Rubin swords get taller. I also am starting to have way more shrimp that I had planned for. My guess is that there could be 100 in there with lots of juveniles. Last week I probably pulled 20 shrimp out of my Oase prefilter when I cleaned it. I think that I may post for a local pickup of a couple of dozen (Washington DC)

 

A couple of current pics. The Val in the back is creating a nice screen but is starting to take over with lots of runners. It has also produced two extremely long white extensions that look like they may end up as flowers. My guess is that they are ~48" long. I think that I may eventually remove the Val once the Rubin swords get taller. I also am starting to have way more shrimp that I had planned for. My guess is that there could be 100 in there with lots of juveniles. Last week I probably pulled 20 shrimp out of my Oase prefilter when I cleaned it. I think that I may post for a local pickup of a couple of dozen (Washington DC)

Looking really great! Scape, fish, and those proliferous shrimpses.
Vals tend to get a bit of a nuisance when they do really well... trying to take over. Same can be said for certain large swords. Have you looked into 'Vesuvius'? I couldn't really get that to grow, but it may look great in your tank if you are looking to replace the Vals. Crinum calamistratum is also very showy in the background (with awesome smelling flowers, if they can poke out of the water).
Nice pics. I just got back into Sony, with an A7C, I like the compactness. Pretty good images too.

 

Just came across this thread and subscribed to it. The scape seems to be filling in nicely and it looks very nice!


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Hygrophila Pinnatifida not doing as well as my other plants. Auto-dosing Thrive daily at recommended amount. Adding a small amount of Excel with it. Other plants doing well.

 

Thanks. I think that I will boost a bit for a couple of hours as a "mid-day sun".

 

Feeding time in the inadvertent shrimp tank...

These are the bigger ones. Normally the "beach" is populated by their kids!

If I sneak up on the tank the Pygmy Cories are there too...

 

Hygrophila Pinnatifida has changed it's mind and is doing very well. I will probably need to start trimming it now that is seems to be attaching to the wood. Photos to follow soon.

I am now trimming the tips of the Val and that seems to be working well. They are not melting and keep growing.

I am finding local takers for my shrimp which are still proliferating. The tank has found a good balance.

I would like to add more fish but feel that may start me on a fresh cycle of rebalance. Currently I have 18 Glowlight Rasboras, 12 Pygmy Cories, 5 Silver Tipped Tetras and 3 Otos for my 75g tank. Plus some Nerites and a LOT of shrimp.

 

Did you end up increasing the light a bit for the hygro?

 

I did, but just by a bit. Probably 5%. I think that my original issue was just having patience while the plants had a chance to acclimate.

I think that they are a great looking plant. I love the leaves. Once they are firmly rooted on the wood I may trim them way back to get a more thick look as in some of the more legendary Amano tanks.

Thanks.

 

Tank is starting to fill in and headed toward "jungle" territory. Hygrophila is doing well and now even needs to be tamed a bit.

I had a brief problem with my lily pipe skimmer "bobbing" to the point of pulling in air to the filter but I moved it closer to the filter output and the oscillation stopped.

I would like to add one more small school to Tetras but hate to tip the balance which is pretty good currently.

 

Pretty sure those are trigonostigma espei AKA lambchop rasboras and not glowlight tetras

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Pretty sure those are trigonostigma espei AKA lambchop rasboras and not glowlight tetras

They were sold as GlowLight Rasboras. They do certainly look like Lambchop Rasboras though...

The are very active, school continually and always in view. Great fish. They must have been tank raised as they always approach when I move toward the tank. Food please?