# 120 Gallon Journal - 8/5/11



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Well to begin with, I moved from my beloved city (NYC) to Petersburg Virginia! I left my wonderful job with the FDNY to be with my family and basically have a better life more suited for me (slower paced and less expensive homes lol). So I had to break down this tank and start new. I'm glad I did because I realized a few mistakes I had been making and then learned from them. I feel better about the tank and how things are turning out for me. I learned patience and research are very integral in this hobby. I noticed making a habit of the good things aren't as hard I thought they were. I even have a "journal" or Record book of all the ferts, water changes and parameters for the week! I'm usually not that organized lol. I have a small room in the back of the house to keep all my things including the tank. I cant seem to find my CF card which had the original photos of the beginning of this tank ( I did mention I am not very organized right?) so we're going to have to jump right into this one. 

So here she is:

Moving day









The new home. Yes, that's a window but its only view is of the dining room lol.




























Some better shots of how it is now. It's actually gotten a lot more clearer.
























































All in all, the tank is doing fine. I had a bacterial bloom that lasted about 2 weeks maybe less. I just kept up with my normal routine with it. 

Plants list:

Blyxa J.
Giant HairGrass
Purple Bamboo
Rotala Macandra 
HC (I'm going to be ordering a lot from a member here, who I keep forgetting to email back, Sorry!)

Equipment and Ferts:

Giesemann AquaFlora x2 and Midday Sun x2 T5HO x8 hours.
Co2 via GLA 10 lb double manifold into 2 Inline Atomic Diffusers.
Two Eheim 2217s with full media and 100ml of Purigen in each.
ADA Aquasoil 2 with PowerSand Special.
RootMedic Root Tabs in the rear of the tank.
Dosing RootMedics Macro/Mirco solution.
Micro 12 pumps on Sun-Tues-Thurs-Sat. Macro is Mon-Wed-Fri-Sun.

Current inhabitants of the tank are a few dozen Pond Snails and about 50-100 Ramshorn Snails.

I still have a GH of 8-9 and KH of 2-3. I'm thinking if I can acclimate CRS/CBS or RCS very carefully I might be able to start a colony, but I don't know if that water might be hard enough to cause molting problems. I'll try anyway.

I need to get the HC ordered so I can get that carpet going. I was thinking about holding off on shrimp till the HC can get a good grip. ODing with Co2 should help this process.

I don't like the GHG. I would like to get E. Vivipara back there instead. This is just way too stiff! Blyxa is growing very very well. Purple Bamboo not so well. R. Macandra is doing ok.

Hope you enjoy and stick with me on this 2nd or 3rd journey lol.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

BTW that Eheim 2215 was added to help with the cleaning of the water. It's packed with about 500ML of Purigen and numerous fine filter pads. It worked lol.


----------



## im2smart4u (Dec 7, 2010)

I like the layout of your drift wood. I really like the piece on the right. How did you make it appear to float like that? Is it hooked to some slate or something that was then buried in the substrate?

I am sure it will look great when you get your carpet going and your other plants take off. I kind of like it now, though. The brown spots in the substrate in the full tank shot almost looks like leaf litter on the bottom of a forest floor. I don't know if you see that, maybe I am just crazy.


----------



## Wolfgang (Jan 23, 2011)

I like how your tank looks right now. I don't know, maybe it is just me, but sometimes to me less is more. Your tank is pretty bad arse as is.


----------



## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

nice! the move turns out to be a good thing  learning is always fun and the end result is always better. love this. it looks great. the layout is very nice and open.. now what will you stock it with?? not just snails i hope... :hihi:

Amy


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Im2smart, thanks. The branches on that piece actually come out of the tank and they just happen to hook perfectly onto the center brace. I see what you mean about the forest look. It looks good from far but once you get up close the possessor stones you see are actually kinda ugly lol. 

Thanks Wolfgang. I agree less is more. I was thinking about leaving the wood pieces totally bare except for one spot on the base of the really big piece. I want to attach HC. 

Thanks Amy. It was a great thing I go to start over because it totally sucked before lol. I'm going with a large school of Rummynose tetras. But that's a maybe because of the shrimp. I know Rummys can get aggressive sometimes. So I was think micro rasboras. 


I installed the Hydor Inline Heater today. Looks pretty good. Happy I got it. No more in tank heaters !


----------



## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

nice tank!


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Update coming soon. Planted 20 pots worth of HC. Unfortunately I think I still need another 20 lol,


----------



## JamesHockey (Nov 10, 2010)

I LOVE root medic (and over_stocked) but those frets at 12 pumps 3x a week is going to cost you like 10000&383839494949494747747374 dollars a year


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk


----------



## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

Wish I could see pics


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Should be able to see the pics now Shadow


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

New Update:


Water is totally starting to clear up very well!!! I'm so happy !!





































I ripped out all the Giant Grass in this back corner because the Rotola Macandra is really, really taking off now. I had to trim it because it grew over 24 inches lol! I chopped them in half a few weeks ago and they reached the surface again so now I have probably tripled the amount I had before. I am going to replace the entire Giant Grass from the background and corners with the Rotola Macandra. 










I have 3 stems of Purple Bamboo but they look pretty crappy. They have doubled and are peeking out of the water currently but the leaves look really bad.

HC is starting to spread now, but I just ordered a lot more to cover up the bald spots in the back. 

I also will be ordering more Blyxa to put in the center towards the rear in a half circle to match the corners, and have the new HC planted around them. In about a month I will be ordering from MsJinkzd aka Rachel aka awesome, a large, large school of Chilli Rasboras and then a massive order of CRS. No specific grade yet but I'll update as I find a good source.

I added a Koralia 800gph powerhead to help get the co2 mist to the bottom of the tank and man things are already looking better. I am upping my Macro Micro dosing up to 24 pumps per bottle, 3 days each. 

My waterplant DC keep leaking into my tank, spilling out all of the chemicals into my tank. Is that going to be a problem? I did a 60% water change yesterday, but that was just my normal maintenance. I think I am going to purchase a new glass DC because they also keep losing suction from the glass. 

Also I am planning on doing my own 42 LED DIY fixture for the tank with a sunset/sunrise feature (and maybe lighting haha lol maybe).

I think thats about it so far.

Thanks for looking!


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Lol Please don't mind the cardboard box blocking out the light. It really spills light everywhere. Pictures never come out right.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Any answers on the 4dkh question? Should it be a problem that the 4dkh spilled into the tank?


----------



## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

it shouldnt be a problem, especially with the amount of 4dkh compared to the tank size. 

i like it alot! and i really like the background of that giant grass. and the blyxa


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

I am really considering getting rid of the giant grass. I also have a ton of frogbit I need to get rid of as well.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

So I left my tank under the care of my cousin and I am pretty sure i wont do that again.

Looks like she or my nephew pulled on the cord for the Koralia powerhead and it came loose. It also raised the spray bar above the water level (pretty much canceling out any co2 being introduced into the tank because of all the violent spraying it did on the surface).

So the powerhead was pointing down ward and it made a 4 inch deep and 10 inch wide crater in the Aquasoil.

Those of you that know how bad AS is when it comes to being disturbed can understand my grief. Months and months of waiting for the water to clear up from this soil, it finally cleared up last week only to be thrust back into pee colored water yet again. Not to forget about all the freshly planted HC that is floating everywhere. About 10 pots worth I would say.

I didn't even bother fixing anything. Too exhausted from a 6 hour drive. I guess I have all day tomorrow to fix it. Hopefully it'll clear up soon.

Blah .....


----------



## anubiasnick (Mar 20, 2011)

wow your an artist !! I LOVE IT bravo


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks Nick! Well I am happy to announce ........ I am moving again. We just got an apartment at the Mayton Transfer Lofts in Petersburg, so I'm going to be draining this tank down and try to keep everything the way it is during the move. It'll be a 100% water change lol. Any advice?

All the drift wood is tied to the braces and to the spray bars.


----------



## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

lol just try to keep everything nice and wet? 
Is it close to where you are now? 
The HC might dry out during the move....


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

LoL about 15 minutes. I'm going to put plastic wrap on the top to keep the moisture locked in bus I need to empty as much water as possible. Any ideas on how to drain this sucker. At 8.5 lbs per gallon any water I can get out the better. The tank is at the back of the house with a maze of built in counters and hall ways haha. Worst and best place to have a fish room. I have a pond pump that can get the water down to about 4 inches from substrate which is 2 inches high. After that I'll use the python. Ugh. I'm not looking forward to this!!


I was think about salvaging about 20 gallons of the water plus what ever is in the two 2217s. Is that enough water to help prevent a bacterial bloom? I doubt any of the bacteria on the sub and wood will die but I don't want to chance it.


----------



## Rion (Dec 29, 2006)

From my experience of moving tanks 4 times a year at college for 3 years and then again 9 hours west after college, you should be fine with that amount of water you described. In particularly I've never had a bacterial bloom with a planted tank after a move. The biggest thing you might have is a algae bloom after setting it up again from kicking up the substrate, but if you stay on top of water changes it shouldn't be a problem.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks Rion. So should I even bother saving any of the water when I get it to it's new home? Just the water in the canisters should be enough correct?


----------



## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

From what I think, as long as the bacteria is still alive in your filter media you shouldn't have a bacteria bloom.  good luck with the move! 
It's about time you actually let the plants settle down! Lol


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Haha JKan. You're so right about that! I haven't been able to enjoy this tank till recently and then we moved again! We are in the new apartment now, but haven't moved the tank. I'm waiting for some help lol. My uncle lives across the street but I don't think I want him helping me lift this tank. There's about five 9L bags of Aquasoil in there lol.


----------



## Rion (Dec 29, 2006)

If there are no fish in the tank, which I haven't seen any pictures of fish so I assume not, than what is in the filters should be fine. Biggest clouding is gonna be when you stir up the Aquasoil moving the tank and filling it.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Yea I know how bad that can get with AS. Thats one other reason why I want to get out as much water as possible. Less sploshing and splashing of the water. Then I can fill it up super super slow. That's the only thing hate about AS. I'm wondering how this new aqua soil is going to be.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Well I am done! Moved the tank still scaled but without water. Unfortunately the person that was going to help me do it as soon as I finished emptying the tank, couldn't do it so I had to wait 3 hours for help moving this beast. Some of the plants took a hit even though I covered them with moist paper towel.

Tank is at the new apartment up against a very old brick wall (sealed) on top of a beautiful finished concrete floor.

Tank is cloudy as you can see in the photos.

I am in the works as far as getting my self a really nice stand with a small work table and extra storage and also the LED fixture I have been planning. I have allocated all the cash for it, I am how ever pretty nervous about pulling the trigger on that project. I keep reading more and more info on the DIY LED and it just all seems to be gibberish to me!

Anyway, time for a couple of bad iPhone shots. I will pull out the beautiful 7D this week coming. Till then, here yah go.

I used a pond pump to remove the water, which was pretty fast!



















Here is the tank being filled, if you fill it super slow there is almost no clouding. Except when I turned on the damn filters! It ruined everything! lol. I'm doing a 75% water change on friday.










My faucet doesn't have any threading on it so what I did was put a 5 gallon bucket in the sink filled it up and put that pond pump again and kept the water flowing.










Please don't mind the mess, I stopped helping my girl re-arrange and un-pack so that I could tend to my real baby! haha she was pissed but she loves me.










and here she is in all her cloudy glory:










I have to clean up the wiring a little bit more and find some sort of storage in the meantime till my stand is built.

Funny story, a guy that works at a near by coffee shop owned by girls boss happens to be one of those phenomenal handymen. Well on his spare time he decided, because he was bored, to build a 15 (+/-) foot boat. By himself. He's around 30. It looks amazing, about 80% done! This kid is good. I hope he can help me out with this stand. He's got skills lol.

N e way, it's late and I doubt anyone is even online so I'll find a reason to bump this thread tomorrow during normal business hours.

Hector.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Update coming up tonight ... Photobucket acting up for some reason.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Wow the blyxa really took a bad hit, so did the Rotala Macandra. The leaves are very bad. Transparent almost. 

The Bamboo has been doing this for a while tho. The leaves have been disintegrating for the past 3 weeks. It's been growing tall but its pretty bare. Its about 26 inches tall and I would say the leaves are gone from 20 inches down. It's also branching out and throwing out very long roots mid way! Once the plant grows out past the water level does it need to be sprayed with water at all??

I'm pumping Macro/[email protected] pumps each everyday except friday and its been the same thing.

Is there something else I need to dose? I have root tabs as well.

I found some BBA on some of the branches. I read that might have something to do with co2 fluctuations which I know I had this month, with me leaving every weekend. Sometimes they would turn it on and sometimes they would forget or it would be left running for 24 hours. When I moved I lost the timer, I never got around to replacing it.

I will be purchasing a couple of timers for the tank this weekend. Hopefully the plants can make a good comeback from this.

Thanks for any replies.


PS: I notice I don't get too many comments, do people not like the tank??


----------



## swoof (Jun 30, 2010)

I love the driftwood and the placement of it. Eagerly waiting for the finished look with fish and or shrimp. I like your TV stand . I was thinking of pulling the return line from my filter the next time i do a water change and just let it pump the water out. Just hook it to the hose for the python and hang it out the window like normal, lol.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks Swoof, I am excited to add some fish and shrimp to the tank but the plants aren't looking so good so I have to be on top of high levels of co2 to help them bounce back. Is the macro/micro dosing enough? Is there something else I need to be adding as far as ferts?


----------



## swoof (Jun 30, 2010)

I have to be truthfull that i didn't read through any of the thread yet, lol. If you don't have livestock in there you might as well leave the CO2 running 24/7 if you have a big enough CO2 tank. It will cause less fluctuations, as long as the lights are on a timer should be ok with just the plants. You might be able to reduce the bubble count of your CO2 also. I've not really used CO2 much so i don't know, i've only used the upaqua style CO2 setup.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks Swoof, I am going to leave the co2 running full time now at a slower BPS, still at a rate I cant count but it'll be a bit slower. I have a 5 lb and a 10lb so I should be ok for a while.

I don't get any pearling unfortunately, except the HC on the branches 3 quarters of the way up. I cant even tell if the HC is actually even growing.


----------



## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Well you can still keep it at a fast bubble count since you don't have any livestock at all so you can just blast it for now....


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Bummer, I'd say I've lost about 60% of my Blyxa ... It was so lush before. I cut down the Bamboo and replanted them. So no I have 6 Stems. Once they get healthier looking I'll sell them since they don't really go well in this tank. I want to order a small Koralia to help with better surface movement since I now I have the Co2 24/7. The bigger Koralia is being use to help push the co2 to the dead spots of the tank, which I think there are a few.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Jut ordered two bags of ADA Aquasoil NEW! Lets see how that goes. I need to cover up the Powersand thats showing up on the top of the substrate. Too many to push down since everything was all mixed up pretty badly.

Also getting some awesome advice on the LED fixture for the tank. I will be ordering parts this coming week.

Across the street from my building there is a huge ware house thats over 100 years old, anyway, I bought five 8 foot wooden beams. For 30 bucks. They are 4x5s, something like that, so these are going to be used for the frame for the new stand I am going to build for this tank. They also had some nice 2x6 planks that I will buy tuesday to use as the floor and the side and back wall of the tank. It's going to be really nice. It's a very dark wood. Reminds me of the wood on an old Pirate ship lol.

I ordered more Blyxa to replace the ones lost.


Ugh, it was so lush you couldn't even see the bottom portion of the tree!


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Oh, that sucks about the blyxa! I wish I had seen this before, I could have RAOKed you some of mine. Nice deal on the wooden beams. I can't wait to see the stand.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Oh thats wouldve been awesome but no worries I got a pretty good deal from AntBug. I'm excited about the stand, I pick up the beams tomorrow. I want to find some corner braces that would fit it, but I want them to be old and solid, gaudy pieces you know? Really make it look like this stand was built a long, long time ago!

We'll see lol.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Can Snails be gassed with Co2? I have it cranking pretty high for the past 3 days. I have noticed any of the snails dying at all. They aren't hanging out at the top or any where specific and they are still tearing up the little algae I do have.


----------



## JamesHockey (Nov 10, 2010)

4x5's sound like rail road ties.... thats gonna be sooooo overbuilt


----------



## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

but it will look nice! probably be a heavy stand...


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

JamesHockey said:


> 4x5's sound like rail road ties.... thats gonna be sooooo overbuilt


Hmmm, Nothing wrong with overbuilt. Matter of fact I think its going to look kick ass!

Yea Orchid, its going to be pretty heavy but the floor is all concrete. I'm excited, I pick it up tomorrow.

N e one wanna answer the Co2/Snail question?


----------



## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

not sure about the snails. hopefully the stand will be in a permanent place for a while then. would be a pain to move


----------



## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

orchidman said:


> not sure about the snails. hopefully the stand will be in a permanent place for a while then. would be a pain to move


Lol please don't move again.


----------



## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

hahah


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

HAHAHA! I wont! We are here for at the least one year. I was smart enough to buy a few houses out here in Virginia and I had the tenants sign 2 year leases so I cant move in yet for a little while lol.


----------



## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

lol!


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

The Rotala Macandra is totally bare except for the top 2 inches where there is new growth and boy is it RED!


----------



## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

You bought a FEW houses?.....


FDNY911 said:


> HAHAHA! I wont! We are here for at the least one year. I was smart enough to buy a few houses out here in Virginia and I had the tenants sign 2 year leases so I cant move in yet for a little while lol.


----------



## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

jkan0228 said:


> You bought a FEW houses?.....


i thought he was kidding


----------



## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Lol, buying 2 houses is already pretttyyyy pricy... lol
Do you need any other stem plants?  I got alllotttt  or like a few.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Well I didn't buy them all at once! Every two years I bought one for investment purposes while I worked in NYC. I'm totally not rich or anything like that lol I wish!


----------



## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Lol, more than 1 is enough! Now GROW PLANTS GROW!!


----------



## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Btw, i got some stems for sale if you need any


----------



## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

FDNY911 said:


> Well I didn't buy them all at once! Every two years I bought one for investment purposes while I worked in NYC. I'm totally not rich or anything like that lol I wish!


wow! i thought you were just teasing! you must get good income from renting them out.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Jkan what do you have ?

I'm ordering some RCS from Epic.

Orchid, not much at all. It's long term investing so I didn't put so much as far as down payments. I put the minimum down, renovated and I will hold on to them till the right time. I rent with option to buy after two years. Usually the price of the house is not low enough for them to want to purchase so they usually just re-up the lease for another 2 years. This way I keep tenants there and once the market gets better I'll sell it. I bought my first house when I was 22 I think. I went half and half when I was only 19, with my father. It's not really something one can live off comfortably or at all most of the time.

Its always a good idea to buy a house if you can find the right place.


----------



## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

still pretty cool.


----------



## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Here:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/swap-n-shop/136672-fs-t-lots-o-trimmings-rooted.html


----------



## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Btw, how many did you order?


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

I am only ordering 20 RCS for now just to see how well they do in this tank.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Nice plants bro but I am good for now. I was only looking for blyxa and R Macandra.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)




----------



## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

excellent!!!! nice update! that "floating" driftwood looks awesome!! what a great look!

Amy


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks Amy. It's my favorite part of the tank.


----------



## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

i can understand that! such a nice piece too.  keep up the awesome work! 

Amy


----------



## swoof (Jun 30, 2010)

The tank's really looking great 

Ben


----------



## orchidman (Dec 15, 2010)

looks like its coming along great! i love the blyxa and those stems in the back!


----------



## jart (Jan 17, 2003)

The Blyxa really makes the tank. And that driftwood is sick. Good job.


----------



## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

I love the depth this tank has!


----------



## radioman (Oct 29, 2007)

I love the empty part under the driftwood. I always love to fill everything with plants but that space just looks good.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks everyone!


----------



## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

WOW What a KICK ARSE TANK!!!!

Love the Drift wood too!!! It sure has taken off now you have had some time for it to settle in!!! Does the tank now have the LED lighting??? How about the New Aqua soil, how did You like it??? Also what about the stand, did ya ever get it built? Can You give us a plant list, and dimensions of the tank please.

AWESOME TANK!!!
Keep up the GREAT WORK!!!
Drew


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks Boxxer, 

Unfortunately I havent gotten around to building the stand or the LED fixture. I have everything but I have been really busy to get anything done =(

However, I did use the new aquasoil to cap the old as 2 I had and I LOVE IT! No ammonia spike, no dust, no clouding and Everything is growing beautifully! They actually made it great this time.

Hopefully sometime this month I will be able to get started on those 2 projects. 

Thanks again everyone

Plant list is only Rotala Macandra, Blyxa J, HC and a couple of Styrogen Repens.

I currently have 8 Ottos, 3-5 RCS and 3 amanos. I want to get more Amanos, they really are awesome. 

I have to constantly trim the R. Macandra, the tips reach out of the water and turn into a ridiculous red, I mean RED. I haven't decided yet on wether or not I am going to put it behind the left side Driftwood. Not sure how it will look though. What do you guys think? The R.macandra is like 4 inches deep. It's kind of too much.


----------



## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Gorgeous tank, love the driftwood design

I think you should keep it where it is. Maybe find another plant species for behind the left driftwood. Maybe Limnophila aromatica?


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

Thanks 2in10. I forgot I also have purple bamboo. Maybe I'll throw that in the background. It's actually mixed in somewhere with the Rotala.


----------



## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

EVERYTHING FOR SALE ! http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/swap-n-shop/151120-out-hobby-sale.html


----------



## ciscokid (Aug 4, 2011)

That was (is?) a beautiful tank. 
Amazing work dude!


----------



## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

WOW,

That SUX!!! IT was a BEAUTIFUL SETUP!!!! Hopefully all is well with You! Best of luck to You, and when Ya set up another Planted Tank don't forget Us!!!


Take Care,
Drew


----------

