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Pump that co2 if you aren't already!!
Ethan's 12 gallon long: New scape 12/20/2014!
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Oh yeah, it's pumping. Drop checker has been reading yellow since day one, haha.
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Hm, probably just an unbalance of setting up a new tank.
I take a new, clean toothbrush and gently brush the HC. It catches the algae real well, only thing you have to worry about is uprooting your HC.
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596 Posts
Ok, I haven't done too much to the HC for fear of making a mess and uprooting it. I'll try it out. I have been using a toothbrush on the rocks and hydro japan.
Yeah, I figure it's from imbalance of the new tank. I've been trying to dose phosphates at about half the EI level to counter the high nitrogen levels of the cycle, but maybe that's not the thing to do...
I'm not too concerned yet, I mean, the tank is only 3 weeks old... If I can't get a handle on it in the coming weeks I might start to get a little more concerned. :redface:
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596 Posts
Alright everyone, here is a long overdue update with pictures!
Overall things have been going well, HC is filling in quite nicely. The hydrocotyle tripartita has really grown...too much. I haven't trimmed the tank yet, but it's time. I particularly want to level out the "mound" look to the HC that resulted from my not breaking it up enough when planting... This weekend I should be able to and may post an update later. There is a patch of HC in the back that just will not stay down.
(You can see it floating again in the pictures) I'll have to break it up and replant the bits. At least it's in the back behind some rocks so it's not too obtrusive other than an annoyance. There's another spot on the right that's similar, so I'll need to address that as well.
Plants are about all the same, except I added some alternanthera reineckii 'mini' that I stuck in between two of the rocks on the left.
Otherwise the biggest issue now is some GSA/GDA, but that's to be expected on the rocks that are right under the light. If I were better at keeping up on the brushing, it wouldn't be as noticeable. Though I think the GSA/GDA adds a nice touch of green to the rocks, haha. :icon_smil
The tank for a while just had some amano shrimp in there to take care of the hair algae, which they did a phenomenal job of. Then I decided to redo my corner tank, so the inhabitants of that were moved to this one. So currently I would say this tank is overstocked, but it's been this way for two weeks and I haven't noticed any issues. Fauna are about 20 amanos (half were from the corner tank), 3 ottos, and 20 cardinal tetras. I do have the tank over-filtered, and considering the plant mass and my minimal feeding, I'm not too worried. So don't bother telling me I'm overstocked, I'm well aware and most of the inhabitants will be moved back to the 40 once it's cycled.
EDIT: Forgot to add that I picked up a few more of these same looking rocks last weekend. I'm contemplating adding them to sort of bridge the two rock structures. This would also require me removing some of the HC...but I that can easily be done. The rocks are about half the size of the largest one on the left. Thoughts on this change?
Anyway, time for some pictures!
FTS
Left side (see that stupid HC...)
Right side (You can see a little bit of that other section that's lifting up)
Well as always thank you for looking and all comments are welcome! (unless you plan on berating me over the fish load :tongue
Overall things have been going well, HC is filling in quite nicely. The hydrocotyle tripartita has really grown...too much. I haven't trimmed the tank yet, but it's time. I particularly want to level out the "mound" look to the HC that resulted from my not breaking it up enough when planting... This weekend I should be able to and may post an update later. There is a patch of HC in the back that just will not stay down.
(You can see it floating again in the pictures) I'll have to break it up and replant the bits. At least it's in the back behind some rocks so it's not too obtrusive other than an annoyance. There's another spot on the right that's similar, so I'll need to address that as well. Plants are about all the same, except I added some alternanthera reineckii 'mini' that I stuck in between two of the rocks on the left.
Otherwise the biggest issue now is some GSA/GDA, but that's to be expected on the rocks that are right under the light. If I were better at keeping up on the brushing, it wouldn't be as noticeable. Though I think the GSA/GDA adds a nice touch of green to the rocks, haha. :icon_smil
The tank for a while just had some amano shrimp in there to take care of the hair algae, which they did a phenomenal job of. Then I decided to redo my corner tank, so the inhabitants of that were moved to this one. So currently I would say this tank is overstocked, but it's been this way for two weeks and I haven't noticed any issues. Fauna are about 20 amanos (half were from the corner tank), 3 ottos, and 20 cardinal tetras. I do have the tank over-filtered, and considering the plant mass and my minimal feeding, I'm not too worried. So don't bother telling me I'm overstocked, I'm well aware and most of the inhabitants will be moved back to the 40 once it's cycled.
EDIT: Forgot to add that I picked up a few more of these same looking rocks last weekend. I'm contemplating adding them to sort of bridge the two rock structures. This would also require me removing some of the HC...but I that can easily be done. The rocks are about half the size of the largest one on the left. Thoughts on this change?
Anyway, time for some pictures!
FTS
Left side (see that stupid HC...)
Right side (You can see a little bit of that other section that's lifting up)
Well as always thank you for looking and all comments are welcome! (unless you plan on berating me over the fish load :tongue
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596 Posts
Here's an update for everyone! Did a HEAVY trim on things, tore out all the hydro tripartita. That, as I suspected, wreaked havoc on the HC that it had grown over. This meant that I basically had to replant about 1/3 of the stuff. So that was fun. Also mowed the rest of the HC down and leveled things out a bit. I took the opportunity to swap out a rock as well. I took out the tallest rock on the left side and replaced it with a smaller one, let me know what you all think about that. Otherwise, things are good! Amanos are doing well, I lost one of the otos... and as mentioned, the cardinals are doing great! I also added some cherry shrimp, which are tiny, but I think they are all doing well! Hopefully I didn't accidentally pull some of them out when I removed the hydro...
Anyway, here are the pictures!
The cardinals and the one remaining oto hanging out in the corner. You can also see the scraggly bits of HC I replanted compared to the nice stuff on the front.
And here you can really tell the difference between the different HC, freshly planted in the back with the amano and old stuff up front with the cardinal.
Thanks everyone for the views and comments! Happy scaping!
Anyway, here are the pictures!
The cardinals and the one remaining oto hanging out in the corner. You can also see the scraggly bits of HC I replanted compared to the nice stuff on the front.
And here you can really tell the difference between the different HC, freshly planted in the back with the amano and old stuff up front with the cardinal.
Thanks everyone for the views and comments! Happy scaping!
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596 Posts
Yikes...
AR mini had overgrown, half the HC lifted cause I've been neglecting it, sold the rocks... time for a rescape. All the fish and shrimp out, now for the rock work... tomorrow...
Preview of the rocks to come:
AR mini had overgrown, half the HC lifted cause I've been neglecting it, sold the rocks... time for a rescape. All the fish and shrimp out, now for the rock work... tomorrow...
Preview of the rocks to come:
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596 Posts
New Scape!
Hey everyone, quickly put together this new scape the other day before I left for the holidays. I updated the OP with the new specs, but I'll summarize the changes: upgraded filter to an eheim 2215, rocks are dragon-scale stone, and added sand to the front.
Rock layout before putting them in:
What a mess...
Sand in:
Rocks in:
PLANTED!!
-right side-
-left side-
I really like the way the right side turned out, but I'm not sold on the left... just kinda ran out of creative steam. It can be changed.
Plant list (will change I think I don't like it all):
HC, replanted the bulk of what I had and chucked the rest. I would have considered selling it, but it was in pretty sad shape
AR mini, clipped the tops off what I had in there before and replanted
Blyxa japonica, I don't know if this will stay, I can't really decide...
Rotala mexinana goais
Couple mosses: mini pellia glued to the rocks in various places and xmas moss the become "pine trees" around the base of the mountains.
Thoughts are appreciated and any plant suggestions also appreciated. I'm not married to either the AR mini or the blyxa but would be up for something with small leaf structure behind the rocks. The rotala mexicana goais will be nice when it grows in, hoping for some nice small red leaves, might move it from behind the rocks to beside them, we'll see.
Forgot to add that I'd like to turn this into a shrimp tank, maybe some ottos, but otherwise I don't think I'll put any fish in there. Hoping to delve into the more ornamental shrimps. I have an RO unit to combat the KH/GH increase from the rocks, it'll take a little experimenting...
Hey everyone, quickly put together this new scape the other day before I left for the holidays. I updated the OP with the new specs, but I'll summarize the changes: upgraded filter to an eheim 2215, rocks are dragon-scale stone, and added sand to the front.
Rock layout before putting them in:
What a mess...
Sand in:
Rocks in:
PLANTED!!
-right side-
-left side-
I really like the way the right side turned out, but I'm not sold on the left... just kinda ran out of creative steam. It can be changed.
Plant list (will change I think I don't like it all):
HC, replanted the bulk of what I had and chucked the rest. I would have considered selling it, but it was in pretty sad shape
AR mini, clipped the tops off what I had in there before and replanted
Blyxa japonica, I don't know if this will stay, I can't really decide...
Rotala mexinana goais
Couple mosses: mini pellia glued to the rocks in various places and xmas moss the become "pine trees" around the base of the mountains.
Thoughts are appreciated and any plant suggestions also appreciated. I'm not married to either the AR mini or the blyxa but would be up for something with small leaf structure behind the rocks. The rotala mexicana goais will be nice when it grows in, hoping for some nice small red leaves, might move it from behind the rocks to beside them, we'll see.
Forgot to add that I'd like to turn this into a shrimp tank, maybe some ottos, but otherwise I don't think I'll put any fish in there. Hoping to delve into the more ornamental shrimps. I have an RO unit to combat the KH/GH increase from the rocks, it'll take a little experimenting...
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239 Posts
Nice rocks!
I like how you have arranged them on the right, but yeah, you look like you ran out of steam on the left. The last three on he left look a little out of place and are not "flowing" with the rest of the look. Now that I look closer, the second rock from the left looks too tall and is pointing in the wrong direction. Perhaps if you flip it on its end and lower it's horizon line it will compliment the tapering-off effect I think you are trying to achive.
Otherwise, looking great. You could get some pygmy Cories, a school of six or so would be great to watch digging in that sand.
I like how you have arranged them on the right, but yeah, you look like you ran out of steam on the left. The last three on he left look a little out of place and are not "flowing" with the rest of the look. Now that I look closer, the second rock from the left looks too tall and is pointing in the wrong direction. Perhaps if you flip it on its end and lower it's horizon line it will compliment the tapering-off effect I think you are trying to achive.
Otherwise, looking great. You could get some pygmy Cories, a school of six or so would be great to watch digging in that sand.
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596 Posts
Hmmm, well I will say that the tallest rock is actually a little right of center. I think it just looks that way in the pictures. I wanted it to be around 1/3 of the way from the left, but it looks like it's more 2/5 of the way in instead... I'm not sure I want the tallest to be all the way right.
I appreciate your comment though! Thanks!
Yeah, I had problems with that second to left one, haha. The other face of the rock doesn't have the same texture that fits in with the rest of them, I even considered just not putting it in there. I might be able to rotate it some to make it shorter and flow a little better. It does contrast too starkly with it's angle.
Pygmy cories would be nice. I think they would get along fine with shrimps.
Thanks for the suggestions!
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Loved watching the progress and changes. How's it looking these days?
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596 Posts
Haha, thanks. It's certainly been an adventure. I need to do some revamping on this tank, actually. It's become a storage tank for plants while I've been setting up another one so it's been neglected a bit...
I'll see about getting some pictures this weekend when I clean up some.
Edit:
Oops, I lied, haha. I actually had some pictures I can share now. I added some CRS and CBS a while ago, they're doing well, though I haven't noticed any babies yet but also haven't been scrutinizing the tank that thoroughly.
Anywho...
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