[kwheeler91]

Closest i can tell it looks like lucens to me.

Nice scape man it looks good. If you dont like your gh being so high you can swap out for some black lava stone or some slate or granite etc. The stones arent really a focal point in the scape so it wouldnt make a huge difference.

 

[frrok]

Closest i can tell it looks like lucens to me.

Nice scape man it looks good. If you dont like your gh being so high you can swap out for some black lava stone or some slate or granite etc. The stones arent really a focal point in the scape so it wouldnt make a huge difference.

Haha... I wish but there is no turning back on the hardscape now. I knew it would raise the GH but not by the much! I'll deal with it.

Thanks for the compliments.

 

[Tyrone]

Thanks guys. Just wanted to ask, I figured it might be C. Wilisii or C. Lucens.

 

[frrok]

Yo guys. Pretty much scratching my head here. I know I've been having some algae issues but I finally have it somewhat under control. For some reason I am having a lot of trouble growing Monte Carlo. It seemed to have slowly been melting away along with my s. Repens. Co2 is good. Dosing EI. And I would say my lighting is probably medium. I've had the tank running for a few months now. Could the aquasoil have already depleted it's nutrients? That and maybe cuz the seriyou stone has been raising my kh/gh are the only things that I see that can be a problem. I do 2 water changes a week to keep in a good range. The pic below was from last week but it's more sparse now. Any. Ideas?

 

[Brian_Cali77]

Sorry to hear the plants aren't doing so well. Are you using tap? Maybe try a 50/50 with RO.

 

[frrok]

Sorry to hear the plants aren't doing so well. Are you using tap? Maybe try a 50/50 with RO.

Yes but my tap is very soft. Less than 2.

 

[Brian_Cali77]

Have you tested the tap lately? Some municipals change water sources or alternate between them without notifying the public. Other factors like chemicals or whatnot can be in the system. I dunno, I know I'm stretching but it sounds like you have been doing everything else right. For example, here in AZ, the local planted forum announced that there was an accidental increase in the amount of chlorine they usually add to the tap. They had to bleed the system through the fire hydrants. Something pretty crazy like that.. LOL

Either way, hope it bounces back!

 

[frrok]

Have you tested the tap lately? Some municipals change water sources or alternate between them without notifying the public. Other factors like chemicals or whatnot can be in the system. I dunno, I know I'm stretching but it sounds like you have been doing everything else right. For example, here in AZ, the local planted forum announced that there was an accidental increase in the amount of chlorine they usually add to the tap. They had to bleed the system through the fire hydrants. Something pretty crazy like that.. LOL

Either way, hope it bounces back!

I know.. Thank you. I tested the other day and it was the same. Everything in the tank is doing ok including the fish. Stems don't look the best but they are not melting. Moss is growing wild. I think it may be my excel dosing. I friend just mentioned to me that the last time he was growing MC he dosed excel and experienced melting. That could be it. I was only dosing to help with my algae issues. So I'm going to stop dosing and see what happens. I would hate to buy more. Already spent too much on this plant.

 

[Brian_Cali77]

Oh good to know about the excel. Well at least you were able to narrow it down to a probable cause.

 

[talontsiawd]

The excel actually makes sense if it is at all similar to HC/HM. HC is pretty sensitive but HM is much less forgiving with Excel. It seems like they very well may be similar, I don't know how to figure that out off plant names myself.

 

[frrok]

Thanks for the input anyway guys.

 

[frrok]

I was able re-stock my mini-m with 12 true chili rasbora (boraras brigitae) from a fellow hobbyist in my area. I made a temporary DIY screen top to prevent any suicidal tendencies(it's ugly but temporary). I also shut off my co2 a day before and had my lights off all the through the drip acclimation. The next day I turned on the co2, very low. And turned my lights back on. I was pleasantly surprised to come home from work and see them colored up. The pic below doesn't do them justice. They are wonderfully red and healthy fish. I'm extremely satisfied. I'm hoping to eventually remove the screen top and go rimless again as it's a pain in the ass to work on my tank in between maintenance days. I've stopped dosing excel in hopes that my foreground plant begins to grow back again. I still have spyrogira hair algae and some BBA on the wood. Tough to kill it even with multiple h2o2 spot treatments. Also, my cal aqua inflow pipe broken trying to fit it over the edge of the screen top. So I replaced it with an old acrylic which is too big for the tank. But it will have to do for now. Until I save $ for a new glass one.

 

[mistuhmarc]

I was able re-stock my mini-m with 12 true chili rasbora (boraras brigitae) from a fellow hobbyist in my area. I made a temporary DIY screen top to prevent any suicidal tendencies(it's ugly but temporary). I also shut off my co2 a day before and had my lights off all the through the drip acclimation. The next day I turned on the co2, very low. And turned my lights back on. I was pleasantly surprised to come home from work and see them colored up. The pic below doesn't do them justice. They are wonderfully red and healthy fish. I'm extremely satisfied. I'm hoping to eventually remove the screen top and go rimless again as it's a pain in the ass to work on my tank in between maintenance days. I've stopped dosing excel in hopes that my foreground plant begins to grow back again. I still have spyrogira hair algae and some BBA on the wood. Tough to kill it even with multiple h2o2 spot treatments. Also, my cal aqua inflow pipe broken trying to fit it over the edge of the screen top. So I replaced it with an old acrylic which is too big for the tank. But it will have to do for now. Until I save $ for a new glass one.

Quite interested on how you did your screen top. I want to make a top too, just without it being too noticeable. How did you do yours?

Have you done the 1-2 punch with h2o2 followed by excel? It should do better off.

 

[frrok]

Quite interested on how you did your screen top. I want to make a top too, just without it being too noticeable. How did you do yours?



Have you done the 1-2 punch with h2o2 followed by excel? It should do better off.

Hi. I ordered the materials I need for this site. http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/diy-aquarium-screen-top-kits-1-4-netting-1.html. There is a how to video on how it is done. That's where I got the idea. I really didn't have time to make it near and less noticeable. I only had a day to put the top on before the fish came.

I tried a lite version of the 1-2 punch. I'm nervous about killing my livestock and or bacteria. And plants for that matter. Some plants don't like h202. That's why I'm having difficulties as the moment.

 

[frrok]

Update. No pic... And I lost track of what week or day it is. Frankly, it doesn't really matter to me anymore. My fish are super happy. They seem to have adjusted fine to my co2 levels at this point. It's about 1,1.5 bps. Hard to tell... Every time I walk Into to the room they school up immediately and get excited to be fed. They are awesome fish. That's about the only thing I am satisfied by at the moment in regards to this tank. I still have spirogyra problems and BBA. My plants are not really doing well at all. Growth is slow or stunted. In some cAses melting. The Monte Carlo on the right side is sort of growing but not to my satisfaction. I really believe that the hardness levels of the tank(constantly rising) is what giving me issues along with algae. I try to do water changes during the week but it's kind of frustrating with my work schedule he way it is. Once a week is much better for me. At this point, I've sort of given up. I was going to try and do a 3 day black out to take care of the spirogyra but I don't know if it's worth it. The seriyu or limestone stones are too big and causing a lot of issues. I think I may re-scape with lava rock since it's inert. I love this hardscape but it's not worth the water troubles...especially since my tap is so perfectly soft for plants. What do you all think? Would love some feed back.

 

[Projectp]

I had my mini M with seriyu, doing 50% water changes weekly with very soft tap water. My plants grew like crazy but I constantly had algae no matter what I did. When I broke it down I tested the water and the water in my 28G before I moved some fish over. Both tanks are 50% water changes with the same water. The 28G was 2-3 gh the seriyu tank was 15

 

[frrok]

I had my mini M with seriyu, doing 50% water changes weekly with very soft tap water. My plants grew like crazy but I constantly had algae no matter what I did. When I broke it down I tested the water and the water in my 28G before I moved some fish over. Both tanks are 50% water changes with the same water. The 28G was 2-3 gh the seriyu tank was 15

That's interesting... Could be a cobination of things then. Not just the rise in gh/kh

 

[frrok]

Quick update: just completed a 3 day black out to try and kill this hair algae. It did kill some but not all unfortunately. It seems I have a bad case of it. Oh well. Plants and fish are fine. I guess I'll just keep chugging along. I'm going to let this this one go until I'm happy then take a final photo and start new. Kind of sick of trying to fight algae.
Came up with a title. "ANCIENT MYSTERY"

Cuz it's a mystery why I always seem to get algae...lol

 

[mot]

I really liked the original concept on this with the wood embedded into the rock. Have you considered removing the moss? I think removing like 90% of the moss off both the rock and wood would really make this aquascape. Its just too nice to cover.

 

[frrok]

I really liked the original concept on this with the wood embedded into the rock. Have you considered removing the moss? I think removing like 90% of the moss off both the rock and wood would really make this aquascape. Its just too nice to cover.

I agree with you. I just haven't had the chance to do a proper trim on the moss. It's a pain in the butt to trim cuz it doesn't float and creates a mess. I did remove some moss on the top of the stone near the surface. Thanks for the post!