[ikuzo]

This is my current conversion of my previous tank.

I had to tear it down because hair algae is growing out of control on my moss.

AT the new tank, I want to create a simple grassland theme... I just planted the Eleocharis acicularis last night, the Anubias nana is from my last setting, so here are the pics :

Whole tank

Side view

Anubias nana

Some close ups

DIY Fans

Suggestions?

 

[Green Leaf Aquariums]

Cant wait to see it grow out

 

[ikuzo]

Do you like it? I can't wait either, but i think it's going to be a long time to see the acicularis fill in, because I bought it in the emersed form so it will take time to adapt and grow new leaves. Sorry about the crappy picture quality. I only have my old digital camera which is like 5 years old.

Some specs of my aquarium :

10 gallon
45 watts of lighting
3 DIY DC fans
2 bottles of DIY CO2
No CO2 reactors yet, i'm still trying to find a good one, for temporary I used a wood air stone to break down the CO2 gas into tiny bubbles and place it under the filter output so the bubbles will spend more time inside the water.

One thing I always worry about is the lighting, is it too strong for the anubias? in the previous setting I placed my anubias under other plants shadow, but now it's receiving direct light and the leaves turns from dark green to light green. Is this situation ok? because i'm planning to put some Anubias nana petite at the wood in the middle which will receive the same direct light.

 

[FelixAvery]

looks nice needs more of a hardscape
good effort and keep it up

 

[ikuzo]

well I'd love to add more woods, but haven't find any good one yet. just a little more fauna informations on my tank :

15 red cherry shrimps
4 rasbora harlequin
1 sae
10 snails, didn't add them but they appear out of nowhere, have them removed the other day because they like to dig the hairgrass clumps to the roots, dunno why.

 

[Gerald the Mouse]

I would add some type of stem plants to the back corners.

 

[ikuzo]

I'm planning to add something at the right corner behind the standing wood, probably something like red, any ideas?

Still looking for more Anubias nana to put under the right wood, good plant with the right shape is hard to find. Can't find a petite either to tie on the middle wood piece...

 

[ikuzo]

some update shots :

DIY CO2

close up

new leave or flower?

sae and RCS gathering

 

[FelixAvery]

tanks looking nice be sure to give us lots of full tank shots,
i tried a setup like this, but i dident know to cut the hairgrass really low, so it got really algaefyied

 

[ikuzo]

FelixAvery do you have your old setup pics? or maybe tell me the problems you dealt with this kind of setup, it will help much.

 

[ikuzo]

Update :

new Anubias

full tank shot

what i worried about, came true, my old anubias got brown spots on it's leaves, how do you fix this problem? sae and cherry won't eat them...

 

[Gatekeeper]

rub off the algae with your fingers. should come right off. You could have "thinned" out the bunches of grass even more. It will grow and spread faster. Your going to be waiting a really long time for that to grow out and thicken to the density of what you have planted. The thinner you plant it, the quicker it will spread and fill in.

Love the hardscape! Some more anubias or java fern would be nice on there. Even some moss.

 

[AnneRiceBowl]

How are your Harlequin rasboras and the shrimp getting along? I tried the same combination, but I caught one of my harlequins with a RCS hanging out of its mouth. The RCS were immediately moved to their own tank after that. Also, I tried an SAE in a 10 gallon, it was so cramped, that it would jump out every time I opened the hood--one time, it even landed in my hair!

 

[ikuzo]

this morning i tried to rub it a little and got some of it off, is there a way to prevent it? more water change maybe? i'm doing mine at about 50% weekly.

i know i should go thinner. at first i did plant my hairgrass thinner, but it was a 11 pm to 1 am planting, i was tired and can't take it anymore. but i'm pretty happy about it. my friends call it rice field lol.

about the rasboras eating the cherries, well i have never heard or experience it. as far as i know, they're a peaceful fish and never bother my shrimps. for your information i only feed the fish once per 2 days.

sae can stress easily, i bought mine and it was stressed during the transport. when i put it in my tank, it was pale white, very jumpy, and hide behind the wood most of the time. now at about 2 weeks later it's doing okay, grazing here and there but still pretty shy.

 

[Gatekeeper]

just keep rubbing it. You going to have to fight through it for a while. Are you dosing? whats your light duration? Just keep rubbing it off during your WC until it starts to subside. This is very normal for a new tank setup.

 

[ikuzo]

i use flora pride as a temporary ferts, but i'm gonna change that into something better next week, should i stop it for a while without endangering the other plants? my light duration is 10 hours/day, should i reduce it?

here's the pic, what kind of algae is this?

 

[ikuzo]

added some Rotala wallichii last night, i hope it will survive..

 

[Casty]

I think that's green spot algae... but whatever it is, do something before its too late. Same thing happened to my Anubias, and now its COVERED in algae! Bleach dip or excel treatment would probably be good, or move it out of direct light (might be impossible in your setup though).

 

[ikuzo]

alright i bleached the anubias and decided to move it to a low light tank i'm currently working on. but there will be an empty spot there right under the big wood. what plant should i put there? is bunches of riccia a good choice?

 

[medicineman]

Is that black substrate "pasir malang"?

I hope you have clear idea of what kind of substrate you are using.

Pasir malang or volcanic sand particle might originate from any volcanic region, and I found out the hard way that some are not suitable at all for planted aquaria (seriously disasterous result). Not trying to scare you, because some have had good luck with the stuff.

Lets see.... some low growing crypts would do nice in the place of the anubias, surrounding that wood. Want to create wilder look? then try saggitaria subulata.