[Crazygar]

Thanks, this is not the final look. That will come in April when I resettle for the last time. At that point, I will be in full swing mode again. Stay tuned.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

20 minute session today. As per my holiday mode, I have been picking at the tank all week making my Sunday maintenance session simply a water change. The large clump of Buce on the left side decided to float around during the week. Made it easer to clean it.

I have not seen the Amano Shrimp for a bit so I dropped in an algae water in thirds. Immediately two of them arrived and each snatched a third for themselves, guarding against;

• The Rasboras
• The other Amano Shrimp

They (The Amano Shrimp) remind me of the Seagulls from Nemo, "MINE!". Surprisingly enough, I still have one Red Cherry Shrimp left.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

15 minute session. While last week was the longest year at work ever, I still managed to pick away at things at Artificial Island. Call it a soothing relaxing task amongst the chaos I called work.

I have started to clean up the substrate so that only black sand remains, the orange laterite is pushed back below the surface. I know I keep saying it, but I will eventually produce another picture. No Blyxa removal this week, first time in a long time.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

30 Minute session today. I did not have much time during the week to pick and tweak as I had during the holidays. It is going to be a long year.

Aquarium wise, I removed quite a bit of Blyxa again, cleaned up more areas, gave the Buce its rinse and shake out. Overall, I am really anxious to get the final aquascape started.

During the maintenance session I watched the AGA announce the winners live on the their first WebCast. Holy crap was the competition tight and man, seriously awesome tanks. It feels good just to have participated but I really need to step up my game for this year. Incredible.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

Some changes and a 20 minute session...

The small Powerhead is on the way out. I fought with it for 3 hours on Wednesday and decided to use my Emergency HOB instead. Since then, the water has been clearer, the proper flow has returned to my Canister Filter (the Powerhead flow must have been preventing full flow) and algae has almost but disappeared. As I figured early on, my major concern was flow.

Now have proper circular flow in the tank. I understand the HOB is a bit of an eyesore, but man does it do the job. I have retired the Powerhead for now. I know that in April when I start to redo things, the Powerhead and current canister filter is spoken for when I install my new equipment.

Removed a large piece (massive piece actually) of Blyxa from the center that somehow was a daughter plant and grew floating with only one root into the substrate. Such a shame to throw out such nice plants.

I am so looking forward to working on the final scape. This will give me the enthusiasm and drive again.

This weeks album was "Infesissumam" by Ghost B.C. (which was the last band I saw in concert before all this insanity)

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

30 Minute session today. Mainly because it seems everyone decided to text, message, call during the one time where I am actually busy. Never mind that I did nothing all day up until 2pm and not a boo out of anyone. Animals.

Did some clean up of the Buce Cluster on the left side of the tank. It was getting a little unruly and starting to spread into my Blyxa Forest. 2 months, and the hardscape and the tank transitions into the concept I want to explore.

Other than spending some time cleaning up the Buce cluster, I did my usual water change yada yada yada…

Album this week was "Time Frame" by First State. A little more upbeat music to work with today.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

33 Minute session today, as per my usual, spot checking for algae (or large amounts that would I consider not good), flushing of the Buce Clusters, water change and refill. Nothing really new to report. I have been hearing reports from local hobbyists about mass fish die offs recently, turns out the City has adjusted the make up of the water that arrives out of our taps.

Using only RO/DI water, I have spared myself the angst. I feel bad for them, but I am glad I use non-tap for Artificial Island. When my next big project starts to progress, I plan to make my own water as well. Honestly, the rewards and expense outweigh the risks, which is replacing all your stock.

Gary

 

[rzn7z7]

Nothing really new to report. I have been hearing reports from local hobbyists about mass fish die offs recently, turns out the City has adjusted the make up of the water that arrives out of our taps.

Wow, that's awful - any idea what the change was to the city water? I'm RO/DI, too, and won't consider going back to tap

 

[Crazygar]

Wow, that's awful - any idea what the change was to the city water? I'm RO/DI, too, and won't consider going back to tap

Not a clue rzn7z7. The losses locally were gut wrenching. From Angelfish to rare Corydoras. Seems all the hobbyists that were using Tap Water had some sort of issue. A few reports say the pH is no longer neutral but 7.4. It is colder here and the City usually alters the makeup to compensate. But this seems pretty drastic this time.

I feel bad for them, I really do.

Gary

 

[Nebthet78]

Not a clue rzn7z7. The losses locally were gut wrenching. From Angelfish to rare Corydoras. Seems all the hobbyists that were using Tap Water had some sort of issue. A few reports say the pH is no longer neutral but 7.4. It is colder here and the City usually alters the makeup to compensate. But this seems pretty drastic this time.

I feel bad for them, I really do.

Gary

For this reason, where I live, I never do a water change in the winter, especially when the water smells like strong chlorination. I always wait and then just do a top up, but use 3 times the amount of dechlorinator. It's one of the reasons why I typically let my planted aquariums grow like crazy, especially this time of year and do trimmings when I have no other choice but to.

 

[Crazygar]

Just glad that i do not rely on tap water as my sole source. From time to time I do use it but only in emergency situations and yes, I dechlor the heck of out if and let it churn and heat for a day before introducing to the tank.

Sounds like you have a system that works Nebthet78!

Gary

 

[mourip]

I have been hearing reports from local hobbyists about mass fish die offs recently, turns out the City has adjusted the make up of the water that arrives out of our taps.

Hi Gary.

What city is that? I live in Washington DC and periodically our source purges the city pipes by cranking up the chloramine. It is so strong that I can tell when they do it by just turning on the tap or walking into the bathroom. I always use a generous amount of Prime for my 75g tank water changes.

Thanks.

 

[Crazygar]

Windsor, Ontario across from Detroit (literally one mile). Yes, the sniff test is usually the best indicator as we have the same thing happen here during extremely cold/hot snaps (we almost share similar weather @mourip).

I found that when I originally started the tank (Office Space found here in journaling section) I was getting bloom after bloom with algae. Tap water was a major contributor this is why I switched.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

15 minute endeavor. As usual, with no plants to trim, just a simple matter of spot cleaning and water change things go past rather rapid. I will say, I am really looking forward to April. I cannot wait to start this Aquascape idea and get it show ready for September.

My interest has started to increase over the past week with a few more ideas on how to achieve the look I am aiming for, one new plant slated for the scape, Downoi. One plant I have been wanting to try for a long time.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

40 Minute Session today

I started trimming back some of the Blyxa and Buce that are now competing for space in the tank. Seems I have a lot more than I originally thought. First time I have trimmed them since I first planted the Blyxa in the "holding pattern" as I refer to it.

Most of my Aquascaping materials are now packed away and labeled, awaiting the move to the new location.

Since the introduction of the Amano Shrimp (still only two left) into the tank. no more surprise Chili Rasbora in the tank. No surprise there. Population control and I have noticed them working their way through anything they can find to eat. They truly are greedy inverts.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

45 minute session! It has been a long time since I spent that much time with the tank. It felt good. I did a massive cleaning up of the Blyxa and Buce. I have formulated a game plan on how to move the tank without upsetting the balance. Going to require a bit of manpower, but I have that readily available.

I have noticed that the algae has spiked again, which also coincides with the more light since we are approaching Spring again. In the new location, I may find a corner that is "perma-dark" or at least at place where the light cannot affect the tank too much as it is currently.

I am also going to get some fast growing plants for the time being to help soak up those extra nutrients, and after today's trim it is going to need it. I know that my local Petsmart has Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosenvirg' (aka Sunset Hygro) so might get a few stems just to help with nutrient uptake.

On my list after the move is a whole bunch of things, I spent the time cleaning up the detritus from the water column and planning my moves. It was rather therapeutic actually.

I will post a picture tomorrow and the album this week was my "Release Radar" on Spotify.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

30 minute session today.

Added some Hygrophila corymbosa 'Kompackt' (Compact) to the far back left corner (Saturday afternoon) to help with Nutrient uptake. It also seems a few floating pieces of Lemma minor (Duckweed) arrived with the plants as well.

I may leave them in for the time being to help with nutrient absorption.

My usual maintenance which always seem to include removal of daughter plants from the endless supply of Blyxa.

Albums this week were "20 Minutes" CD Single (with 20 Minutes (which is 20 minutes now) and Leaves Extended Mix) by Carbon Based Lifeforms and three songs off All India Radio's, "Vega" album.

Vega has three songs there I am currently hooked on, Monsters, Holding and Anja's Eternal Light.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

A very quick 10 minute change today. I simply cleaned the glass, changed the water, picked at a few bits of algae, refilled and started everything back up again. I have an appointment this afternoon so I more detailed approach will be conducted during the week.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

Another quick water change. Getting a few things prepped and ready for the big move. I have a lot of work to bring this tank back into life but I have no doubt in my mind that I will.

First is to move the tank to its new location. I have a spot where it will not receive and direct (some indirect) sunlight and may offer a bit of respite in my war against removing the last few pieces of stubborn algae.

Gary

 

[Crazygar]

A 40 minute session. I did a major removal and prune of the Blyxa, which seems to grow like a weed in the tank. Once again, a good amount of nice plants in the trash, but with the recent algae issues, I would rather throw it out than possibly infect someone else's tank. Better being safe than sorry.

The fish are puzzled, they lost their jungle of planted, semi-floating and floating Blyxa to weave in and out of and lay eggs (which they never seem to stop doing, which in turn feeds the Amano Shrimp) in.

The Hygrophila "Kompackt" is doing well and serves as a good background plant. It is dramatically larger than the original purchase size and may have a future use for it in either this tank or my bigger tank project.... ohh... I know...

Next week is a good trimming and weeding of the Buce. It's time to cut down the bunch to a smaller, more manageable size.

I also have started dosing Flourish Excel again, this seems to help with those little bits of stubborn algae. I usually target dose areas where I deem needs more attention than others and as it dies, the Amanos happily eat it.

Yes, I will eventually put more pictures up, but the tank is in a bit of a sad state, so for now, just text.

Gary