# 180 Gallon Long Take#3



## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

Roselines and danios will absolutely love all that running room.


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## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

looking nice!

my pick would be roselines or congo tetra's about 20 of them.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks, I figured if 1" black neons liked 96" of swimming room bigger fish would be super happy. Guess I need to be searching for videos of these fish to see which one interests me most. Haven't had danios of any sort for a decade, roselines remind me of SAE - an interesting fish to watch and congo tetras are just magnificent. Both danios and SAE went overboard in an open tank, not going to be a problem with this set up!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Wow that would be amazing to have such a long tank lie that with so much room for fish to swim.

A bit group of some kind of species livebearer could look awesome in there.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Color me jealous!!!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

That tank would be my wifes worst nightmare. I already have my 36 gal PACKED with plants. I would end up doing the same thing with something that big lol I am excited to see its progress.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks for the help choosing fish. Congos, roseline, danios and species livebearers it is then. 3 of each?? What kind of livebearer? I have only had hybrid guppy/platy/swordtails.

Hairgrass is chugging along but I still have a really long time before deciding. My daughter suggested hatchetfish but from the videos I have seen I would be very frustrated when cleaning the tank.

I got to cut back a couple of plants this week! Attempted to glue stray java fern on wood but it really wants to take over the tank and bits keep escaping. Not much debris in the tank, may be over the hump and ready to grow.

Small hitch though. My 10 year old M3 regulator is acting very oddly. The big black pressure regulator knob is very hard to turn and the CO2 tank is nearly empty. Me thinks something is wrong here.

Finally put the cord cover on the wall. Modified the overflow mesh so it is less obtrusive and raised the overflow a bit.

This photo shows how this tank fits the 10' wall of the living room. I had to stand all the way to the far side of the room. This is a tiny house, I get one tank. Hehehe.


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## TwoStrokeKing (Mar 24, 2011)

What are those floating plants?! id love some for my pond!


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

3 roselines in that big tank of yours?!! No way. 9-12 minimum. Nick/speedie408 has 10 and they look awesome schooling around very energetically in his ADA 120P.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

The floaters are red rooted, Phyllanthus fluitans, and Salvinia minima I think. Neither are looking their best in the photo. In a pond they would be much prettier. They aren't going to look as good in my tank off to the side without much light either but they need to stay for grazing. The platies like RRF a lot.

Kidding, I will be buying a whole bunch of whichever larger shoaling/schooling fish - not a few of each. Tank looks busy enough at every level already. I don't know why the black phantoms are looking like a shoal now when I have had them for ages just hanging in the same area. Right now platies are all over but mostly at the top and feed together more than shoal, black neons are mid/upper level schooling when they decide to go for a tour of the tank, BPT shoal in bottom third of tank, corys hang out in small groups at the bottom.

My new overflow screen is great for keeping floaters away from the slots in the box but I had to rescue a platy and oto from it last night.


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## matt12 (Jan 16, 2011)

nikonD70s said:


> looking nice!
> 
> my pick would be roselines or congo tetra's about 20 of them.


 could not agree more! i'd do both. maybe 10 each


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Kathy that's a nice tank and big too, I have some plastic conditioner I use on the Harley windshield that will not only remove scratches but any yellowing of the acrylic, there are a lot of companies that make this product (Rain-X) for cleaning and removing fog from the new style car head lights. It requires a bit of elbow grease and I did the windshield about 5 times but results were excellent, it might be worth testing a spot on your new tank (in the corner on the back) to get rid of any scratches, good luck with your new tank.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks 150EH, I think the cloudiness is on the inside. It looks better in real life than in my crummy photos.

I am still doing searches, looking at everybody's tanks and poring over my fish books looking at new fish. No clear winner yet. Am wondering if just adding more black phantoms and black neons would get me where I want to be.

The regulator died so I put my spare one on and then of course the CO2 tank was drained and I had to start all over again pushing up the CO2, now I have some pearling and happy fish.

GDA and GSA has been growing very nicely on the tank's front pane. I think the tank is in a horrible GW state then I scrape it and everything turns back the nice colors again. Amazing I am fooled every time.

Loads of diatoms built up in the overflow box so of course the fool otos have to go in there for the great food. I cleaned it out and no otos have gone back. Sheesh, what nags those fish are! 

Most of the plants are really perking up. The C. balansae seems to have double the leaves or they are twice as thick this week. Staurogyne repens has really deepened its color and thickened up. The Brazilian pennywort is still thinking about leaving me again, I sure hope it pulls through. Still have the floaters, water spangles looks nice but RRF is nearly gone.

Noticed none of the plants had closed their leaves up when lights went out so I increased the lighting period to 9 hours. Now to remember to notice if they are closed at lights off. The dog is so confused, I used to feed him at 3PM when the lights turned on and now the lights are on for an hour before he is fed. 

Been taking photos of my purse surplus and hope to be making enough money at auction so DH won't freak out at a big fish and possibly new light purchase next month.










See the CLEAN overflow?









Got to trim the R. 'Green' again. HG is getting thicker but a long way to go yet.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

The tank is starting to look planted now! I lost a few species of plants and a couple are still in intensive care but most everything looks pretty robust now. Got the CO2 nearly where it belongs I think. 







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So far no surprises from the plants, they are behaving as anticipated, that will surely change. Fish are fat and happy, especially the otos. Apparently there are plenty of diatoms and GDA to please them.

Was admiring Amanda's new Melanotaenia maccullochi today. May visit my favorite LFS and see if they can help me out.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/fish/140379-i-got-6-mccullochs-rainbows.html

The water change yesterday was still ridiculous. 90 minutes to dump and fill 90 gallons. I could do 50 gallons in 20 minutes. Since all I needed to do was cut the Rotala 'Green' and Bacopa, scrape the front pane and thin out the floaters I don't understand why it took so long. Other than taking longer than it should and finishing up in the dark it was drama free, no water on the floor or balky pumps.

I cribbed feral13's most excellent light shield for the fishneedit metal halide fixture. I had a bit of thin acrylic and with taken apart hinges and some nuts and bolts made up this. I used hammered gray paint and it didn't want to cover completely but I am leaving it for now. Some light comes through when lights are on but the shields look opaque when lights are out. Maybe I will buy more acrylic and make shields for the back and paint the inside with white, might make them opaque. They don't seem to get very hot, probably ought to see how these do before making more anyway. Will buy the acrylic cutter too, scared the dog big time breaking it.








Here is feral13's journal.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank-journals-photo-album/120702-new-house-new-office-new-aquarium.html


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Kathy I didn't think the tank looked cloudy but I suggested the scratch remover/polish because you had mentioned it looked scratched when you purchased the tank, it looks clean and clear from my house. It looks as if growth is at a snails pace but I guess the tank is only a month old or so, do you use any substrate fertilizers or water column dosing???? Keep up the good work and don't forget to post a pic for every event, you know how we love pics and updates.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I am not the best photographer and had to rush to get the shot without my tripod as the lights were about to go out, lighting isn't helping and the changes are subtle. The plants are looking fat, thick stems and sturdy growth now. The fish are weaving among the plants now, somehow that wasn't happening before. 

January of '10 I replanted the 100 gallon tank with only sad anubias, C. pontederiifolia and wendti and loads of red lilies present. It took about 4 months to attain a state that looked fully planted. This time it looks like it will take about 2 months. Part was just adding more species of plants, part was recovering from the move and part was just growing out. Just wondering if I have learned enough over the many years I have had a planted tank to get this scape looking not only fully furnished but the way I would like it. Sort of doubt it. Poor fish, they don't care whether the hairgrass and C. wendtii is shoved up against the glass or not.

Tank is getting EI and big water changes. No substrate dosing which the crypts and stauro would like. I want to dig out some clay from the yard and make up little balls with osmocote and micros but haven't gotten around to it yet. I meant to under lay the substrate with a small amount of osmocote and clay but forgot all about it when I set the tank up. Hardness booster really perked up the plants and my soil is high in magnesium so perhaps it would be a good thing.

The only scratch that bothers me is a doozy. It looks like a couple bits of tape stuck to the lower front of the tank but isn't. How does that happen?


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I had fun making stuff for the tank this week. 

First, two days in a row a real smart platy went into the overflow. I made an oversized slip cover for the overflow box from fiberglass window screen, nylon upholstery thread and a couple cable ties as stiffeners weaving in the overflow slots and keeping the screen away from the walls of the box which I learned in only one lesson years ago reduces water flow and the tank will overflow. I learn pretty fast if the tank or sump threatens to overflow!









I got to go to my local planted tank club meeting, SCAPE, this past Sunday and had a very good time. I won a baggie with some daphnia. I want to use them to eat up my GW. This is 96" of water but it is definitely green! Oddly my other two new inhabitants are present here. A red calico bristlenose is on the left hand spray bar at the very bottom AND a Malaysian Trumpet Snail is at the bottom of the spraybar on the right! Hoping both do well. I hadn't been impressed by RCBNP photos but in person this one is just beautiful. I lost my horde of MTS at some point this past year, hope they do their thing again. Neat critters.









I cut the foot off a pair of pantyhose and put a strawberry basket inside for stiffening. I knotted it but should have used a rubber band and wedged it next to the sponge filter hoping some GW gets in the daphnia cage. They seem happy and are pecking away. They are huge, you can see two, they are white blobs, in the center bottom arch. Fun to watch, I really like inverts, hoping some sort of shrimp will work out.









Then DH fixed my memory card and I can take a bazillon pictures without downloading and deleting from the camera's internal memory so I had more fun taking pictures this week. 

No good full tank shots at all. The HOT is put away, just the biological medium holding thing is in the sump now. Just couldn't put it back, it looked so bad. I did put the larger powerhead back on the right hand side without the concentrator on it and covered with more nylon to keep leaves out. The nylon is doing a great job hiding it but not sure there is much flow!









My last DIY was fun for the fish. I use a metal kabob skewer for veggies. 
Three platies, an oto and a snail enjoying the zucchini.









The reason I am reluctant to get any shrimp just yet. The two Laetacara curviceps [not sure they are a pair] in the tank inspect every inch looking for stuff to munch on. I only have good sized ramshorn snails, never babies even though I see lots of eggs. Maybe if I start seeing small snails that are escaping the LC shrimp will have enough cover to survive.









Here is Mr. BNP. A brown calico?









I cleaned the GSA off the back and left side of the tank but missed some front and center. There doesn't seem to be any GDA left, no green ring around the tank at water change time.

Plants are doing great except for Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides which is looking very sad. HM has completely vanished but I found a 1/2" stem that could be a remnant, stuck it in where the Hs is doing best, will see.The floaters have mostly perked up which is odd as the upper antisiphon hole is making them whirl all over the tank now and floaters aren't supposed to like that. I pulled the Rotala 'Green' off the substrate as it wants to creep, not sure that will work or not. I also combed the bent over C. balansae leaves up and some seem to have decided to stay up.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Looks really good, so the daphnia got rid of your GW?? My GW got so bad and I was suprized at how fast my 2 new circ pumps got rid of it, just 2 days and the UV strilizer I ordered hasn't even arrived. It's nice that there's group close to you, here if I want to try one it's almost a 2 hour drive, keep up the good work.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

No, GW is in full swing yet. The daphnia have been in the tank for 4 days is all. If they can make a dent it would take weeks I suspect. Don't really care, I just love watching them and maybe they would increase enough so I could dump some out for a fish feed every once in a while. My plants don't seem to be moving much but the fish have to swim to stay in one spot in more than half the tank. 

SCAPE meetings are ~100 miles from me most of the time across LA yet. My sister lives over that way so I can spend the night and get twice the fun from one trip, might be able to do this on occasion. It took having Tom Barr as the speaker to get me to travel all that way! Been reading his info for a decade, hoping HEARING the words will get it into my brain better.

Thanks, it is looking better each week. It sure was scary the first couple of weeks!

Still haven't decided what school of larger fish is going in. Tank still looks too crowded as most all the fish are visible most of the time yet.

Day tank was planted.








To this, look at the big Anubias on the far right, completely melted. The tank looked worse in IRL.








Couple weeks ago, GW apparent!








Yesterday, the floaters have really taken off.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

So what happened to your old 100gal tank after you broke it down?

I have my eye on a 100 gal 60x18x24 inch tank at the LFS. He said he'd let me have it for $200 as he is having trouble moving it due to it not having a stand. Apparently 60" tanks and stands aren't standard and don't sell well.

My dream size would be a 180gal 72x24x24 inch tank, but I'm sure the cost would be several times more than $200.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I sold it and the home made stand and two Fluval canisters that were missing a lot of bits and the gravel I didn't use and the lights and top that came with the tank that I never used for $100 on Craig's List. As is usual I was very happy to get it gone and the buyer thought he was getting a great deal. I think the tank cost about $200 new over 10 years ago and the stand probably cost me $50 to make from 2x4"s and a lot of screws. 

That tank might be a good one to get as it is big but not huge. I doubt I will get to 1800 gallons of water movement in this tank but 1000 gallons of WM isn't too hard to get in the 100 gallon tank.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

audioaficionado said:


> So what happened to your old 100gal tank after you broke it down?
> 
> I have my eye on a 100 gal 60x18x24 inch tank at the LFS. He said he'd let me have it for $200 as he is having trouble moving it due to it not having a stand. Apparently 60" tanks and stands aren't standard and don't sell well.
> 
> My dream size would be a 180gal 72x24x24 inch tank, but I'm sure the cost would be several times more than $200.


What LFS are you talking about?


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Well, more fish in the tank, more light this week and less algae!

The daphnia? Anyway GW is better now. Even though my lousy photos don't show it there is good contrast even at the rear of the tank. I shaded directly below the lights and let the floaters take over the tank and not only does it look clearer the front pane seems clean.

Of course I couldn't let well enough alone and bought another FNI fixture so the light would be more even. Hoping hairgrass will be happier at the center back with more light and those shadows be gone from the back corners. I don't know for sure if the new center bulb is 8000K, look at the difference between 1 year old lamps and the new lamp! I have taken some precautions. Fixtures are up 6 additional inches, the top is completely covered with window screen [and driving me nuts] and I cut back on the lighting period a bit. Of course I did remove about 2/3 of the floaters too.

All three lights on.








Just the new light on.









Plus there was a big sale at my favorite LFS, TAT in Ventura so I went shopping. Got more Black Phantom Tetras and some silver hatchetfish now that I have a covered tank. BPT were thrilled to see more of their kind and were flirting and shoaling right away. The hatchets might not be my kind of fish. That platy saving overflow box cover makes a dandy hatchetfish trap as there isn't much room behind the box now and one is gone now. Oddly they venture away from fewer floaters but stay under cover if there are lots of floaters. Really neat to watch them though, they look especially great with the lights off with the big silver body flashing.

It is finally warm weather here, drat, and the tank is at 80*F. The Laetcara curviceps have disappeared and the last sighting was a vicious charge at a platy. Both fish were in excellent color. Could be I have a pair after all. It has been so long I don't remember what the nuptial colors are. 

I dearly want to chop down the Rotala 'Green' and plant the trimmings on the left hand side but I got a major blister and need to keep my hands out of the tank until it is better. The Bacopa needs a trim too. If the poor hairgrass was just holding up its end it would be about the way I wanted to see it. Probably should pull out some Bacopa as the HG is nearly dead center.

Just now saw both baby red calico bristlenoses! First time since they arrived.


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## kered (Jan 17, 2011)

audioaficionado said:


> So what happened to your old 100gal tank after you broke it down?
> 
> I have my eye on a 100 gal 60x18x24 inch tank at the LFS. He said he'd let me have it for $200 as he is having trouble moving it due to it not having a stand. Apparently 60" tanks and stands aren't standard and don't sell well.
> 
> My dream size would be a 180gal 72x24x24 inch tank, but I'm sure the cost would be several times more than $200.


keep searching craigslist...i found a 210gal 72x24x29 with dual overflows and all the pvc plumbing with a stand for $200...there are plenty of good deals out there you just have to be patient


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## kered (Jan 17, 2011)

o and to the OP that looks amazing!!!! im hoping to do something along those lines with my 210


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks, if nothing else so far it is maturing without any glaring planting oopsies. The C. balansae are a little creepy looking with the long curved leaves moving like alien arms in the current, didn't think that was going to happen! C. balansae would be amazing in a 28" tall tank. Or Crinium. 

Ooooh, what a deal, bet you are having a blast planning it all. Go through the Tank Profiles to see what others have done with big tanks.

Adding the new light produced more green water despite the screening and all the floaters. The stauro is shedding old yellow with green veined leaves too. I wonder if the light+no water change meant hardness was stripped and there was a magnesium deficiency? I only dose NPK+trace. Why would I need GH booster if my GH is 4? This is my water report.
http://www.amwater.com/files/CA_5610040_CCR.pdf Likely I need more CO2, I STILL am moving it up a bit every other day.

Anyway, the blister was more or less healed so I got a water change in after 12 days. Trimmed the Bacopa and Rotala 'Green'. Bacopa trimmings were stuck in the bare right hand corner and Rotala was planted over the grave of the MM. Wisteria is looking so pretty and so in need of a trim but I didn't do it. I did cut/replant the tallest Myrio stem and the bit of diatoms it had seems to be gone. Pennywort is still sulking. I twice took out half the floaters. Red rooted floater is growing fine and there were tinges of pink on the leaves but virtually no roots as they are super yummy. Interested that the floaters are doing okay under cover.

I treated the BBA fuzzy wood with excel but no change after 3 days. Front pane was green at the top few inches probably because of the new light but no fresh GSA. I took the daphnia cage out for a couple days because of the excel and when I put it back there was a huge air bubble in it. Hasn't gone yet after a whole day. Very odd!

No baby Laetacara! Baby plecos are doing fine I think. They are persistent little things, on top of the food and all the other fish are on top of them! Another hatchetfish is lost. Loving watching them, they are different than I thought, quite playful and curious fish.

Baby platies can get though the platy suicide guard but haven't had any other fish get through. It seems to keep snails out as well and so far hasn't clogged up and overflowed the tank but I sure keep my eyes on the water level!

From last week as once again I haven't any new photos but I did play with contrast and color balance a bit to make it closer to what I see. Interesting that the off white plastic cord cover doesn't reflect the light the way the beige wall does. Guess I need to paint it when I take it off to stick the other light cord in there.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I finally painted the cord cover this week! Since the GW is rampant this week it blends in really well, hehe.

This is with only the center MH on just before lights out. Really more shadowy on the ends.









I hadn't cleaned the gravel or rinsed the sponges or cleaned the overflow box cover the previous week. That isn't going to help GW go away.

This week I did all of the above but didn't scrape the tank panes - not much on there. Keeping the screen on of course as well. 

Plants looked much happier with more NPK. Even the sulking Hydrocotyles aren't declining further. I have my first invasion of HG into the Stauro! Took out some of the java fern and will attempt to grow stems in the corner if the crypt decides to stay short. Annoying plant, 10" tall for a decade, grows 18" tall earlier this year and now that I wish it was tall it is staying low. Put a bunch of Rotala 'Green' in the right hand wood and a bunch of Bacopa in the right hand corner behind the crypt. Of course the Myrio will flourish since its spot is now filled.

Overflow box didn't have any BGA on it, just green algae. GSA is mostly gone, probably because of the Excel treatment. BBA is gone too. It never turned that satisfying pink, just sort of shriveled away without me noticing. Gravel had had some green on it, gone. Front pane is pearling so must have algae on it but cannot SEE it so it doesn't count, right? Fissidens that got undiluted Excel turned brown but is green again? That doesn't sound right. The Anubias leaves with GSA that got squirted got big holes in them. Shouldn't have bothered, just cut them off!

HOT filter is back as a powerhead, CO2 troubles this week. One of my tweaks was apparently a super tweak and fish were gasping. CO2 off and HOT on and all was well within an hour. Leaving it there until I have it dialed in. Easier to push the button than run around in a panic looking for it when it is needed NOW.


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## The_Finglonger (Jun 21, 2010)

you're not crazy, the new tank is very nice!

I would run the power cords from the lights up the light suspension, might have to use some extension cords.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

That is a good idea. I just hate looking at those cords. Only a foot or so is visible on each one now and only above the tank but it is still messy looking. 

The cords on these fixtures are ridiculously short and do have extension cords on them already. Not be difficult to just get longer ones though. The pendant on the right could be turned around so all the cords come off the pendants the same direction and I could put the cord cover at the corner of the tank. Then the shadow from the cord cover would be away from the tank and it would be completely disguised. Will have to ponder on this idea further.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Good week for the tank. Seeing small ramshorn snails - maybe I can attempt shrimp now. Female platies really need more company, the males are being horrible. Down to one hatchet fish unfortunately. Red calico bristlenose plecos are looking huge! They were about the size of the largest otos and now are longer than the platies. The brown male BNP's bristles are looking longer, he hates when I look closely to see if he has any branches in them. Nope, not yet.

GW is still bad but plants are happy. Lighting is 7.5 hours with lights turning on and off within about a 1/2 hour span. Still need the window screen obviously!

Rinsed ALL of the sponges in tank water today and scraped the front pane even though you could only feel the slime not see it. Did the water change before lights were on so didn't do any vacuuming. Pulled a bit of hairgrass out of the stauro, probably missed some though. 

Green water isn't always ugly.









Happy Staurogyne









Hoping the Anubias stays GSA free. Looks nice at the moment.









Waiting on the lily. C. wendtii and the Hydrocotyle but hairgrass, java fern and C. Balansae are looking nice.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

That Stauro is actually spreading very nicely!


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## NStarr (Jun 3, 2011)

This tank is absolutely beautiful! I was originally planning on a 72" tank but seeing this makes me want to throw everything away and get a 96". :hihi:


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

The tanks looking good and S. repens is coming along well.

Kathy do you run any air stones at night????


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

No air stone. CO2 is off 17 hours a day and there is a pretty good ripple on the surface. Even before the arrival of the solenoid fish were fine before lights went on. Sumps are good for air exchange!

I NEED my eight feet because I like big swaths of plants. If I have bitty little plantings then I lose species really easily. Six feet is plenty for a normal person! 

I need to cut the stauro back, it is getting tall and it does need to spread more. Hate pruning - and so the jungle returns!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Tank is chugging along okay but green water is back with a vengeance! This is during the water change Saturday and things have NOT improved a bit.










I didn't even need to scrape the panes, they were perfect so I have enough phosphorus for sure. Did ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests - all were fine [0-0-~30] and yes they have NOT been fine in the past, they do work. In the past GW would suddenly get worse 5 days after a water change which sounds like hardness is eaten up. Also Rotala stopped being stunted the week after I added hardness booster. My water is plenty hard, I don't understand how plants can need so much of it.

Since the last WC the floaters have been piling up instead of just covering more and more surface, weird. 

Today I got the cords covered up and on the wall and it does look nice. I even painted the cover. Thanks for the suggestion Sean. I do still need to add more cup hooks to neaten up the cords on the wood that holds up the fixtures though.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Plants are looking fine this week. No GSA but GW is still running amok. I upped the GH booster and added some iron chelate which I have NEVER used and RRF is much happier this week. 2 water changes in a row I haven't scraped the panes clean. There is BGA lurking in the gravel however. Don't much care if it stays there.

Not only have the Corydoras been spawning, I actually saw the eggs held by the female! Too cool.

Couple of lousy fish photos. Loving the red calico bristlenose plecos, so much personality. Have to get more female platies, there are 5 males to 4 females and the females are so harassed.

















Staurogyne repens is looking awesome. I pulled off a few stems that were shoved up against the front and planted them further back but of course I didn't exactly overdo it and next week they will look all crowded again. Going to have prune soon!









C. balansae has reached the surface. Most of the leaves are no longer curled up and look much better. Now if the GW goes away maybe I can enjoy the light through the bullated leaves which is why I LIKE this plant! Am putting the R. 'Green' cuttings between HG and the crypts as the HG is not stepping up and spreading well yet. The Fissidens is forming nice thick growths and I have had bits coming off, wonder where they will set up shop?









I nearly have the cords hidden. It will be super fun getting the last of them hidden - I really could use a wider board! Will put up more cup hooks and that should do the trick. I don't have enough cord length to put cover cover on the ceiling and down so will tie them up so they look a bit neater. 









Last week I found a 40 breeder at the thrift store. New sump! I am playing with a PVC overflow for it but really should just get the new sump out of the back yard and under the stand so something gets done. Be nice to be able to SEE what is going on in there. Since the original repaired store bought sump started leaking back 9-10 years ago I have used rubber maid tubs and done all the work in there by feel. I really like the work on the sump in there now, have to figure out how to cover it well and all that now.


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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

OMG!!! I AM SOOOOO FREAKIN' JEALOUS!!!

This is the first time seeing this post, and I haven't read it yet, but I just had to say AWESOME FIND!!!! I can't wait to read threw the whole thing!!! I bet your fish think they have died and gone to Heaven!!!

FREAKIN' AWESOME!!!
Drew


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks. It has been a lot of fun. I think the fish like it in there. I see lots of spawning behavior which is pretty neat.


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## sick lid (Jan 13, 2008)

I'm _so_ jealous of the extra 2 feet you have. Not to mention your 'scape is perfect for those dimensions. :thumbsup:


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## NStarr (Jun 3, 2011)

If I was a fish, I'd want to be in your tank.


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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

Just read through the thread, and again WOW!!!

I LOVE THE SIZE of the TANK!!! I am going to show the Wife tonight, and see what she says! LOL  I am going to have to start keeping a better eye out on Craigs List! 

Have Ya thought anymore about Rainbows??? They are some of my FAVORITE FISH! I had a bunch in my 55g a few years ago when I first started the planted tank, and I FELL IN LOVE with them! They are sooooo colorful, and VERY MILD TEMPERAMENT! Better color that Africans, and NO FIGHTING!!! One of my favorite types is the Parkinsoni Rainbow!!! At the Vet Clinic my Wife works at the Owner has a 180g custom built tank, and he used to have a bunch of Rainbows in it, and the Parkinsonis were FREAKIN AWESOME!!! They looked as if someone painted BRIGHT YELLOW splotches all over their silver/gray bodys! There are some 4sale on Aquabid now! Good pic of them too. I would post a link, but I am unsure if I can. 

Anyways keep up the awesome work on the tank, and keep the pics coming, so we little people who have small tanks can live vicariously threw you! LOL
Drew


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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

Oh I was going to ask about the vertical spray bars. Did You set them up like that or were they already installed in the tank that way? I am wondering because I am trying to setup my 55g so it will have better overall flow, and I haven't seen any setup like that before.

Do you like them better vertical or horizontal?

Thanks for the help!
Drew


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

PVC is grownup tinker toys. I buy a length and change the spray bar all the time. Well, not this time as they are attached to pipes under the gravel. Stuck this time! At the moment I really like it except the flow is quite turbulent with eddies so sometimes the fish swim against the current facing left and a couple inches over they have to face to the right to swim against the current. That is why the C. balansae is all tangled. When I put the spray bar at the bottom the plant growth blocks the flow quite soon and when I put it at the top it seems like the bottom is too still. I wish they could be closer to the corners but the corys like to take naps behind them which worries me so I moved them away so I know they aren't stuck. Have fun trying out different configurations and hole sizes and all that. 

I still want rainbows but being cheap I am probably just ending up with Australian Rainbows, no fancy [expensive] kinds. In the couple months I managed to keep them years ago [they all went over board] I loved them and am sure any will do. They all have amazing complicated color patterns. I do like the single remaining hatchetfish too. The silver hatchets are supposed to grow quite large and I am surprised at how interesting he is to watch. Chances of me getting a hold of a large number of sensible hatchets like him are sort of remote though. If I am being sensible, I will try rainbow fish again and not hatchet fish!

The tank has stayed clear for 2 whole days! I think this summer was cool and even overcast many mornings and I opened the living room shade early. That extra light might be why the tank was so green. Or it could be all that magnesium and calcium is needed. Or the phase of the moon. Or that I vacuumed the gravel.

I think my fish are pretty happy. It was awful when I had a 10 gallon tank and wanted lots of fish. These days I have all I want and the tank is only half stocked! I bet it is easier now with all the awesome nano fish and shrimp that are in the hobby these days. I see one Anubias flower bud too, guess the plants are happy now finally!


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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

Cool Deal!

Thanks for the info! I think I am going to give the vertical spray bars a try!

Again GOOD LUCK and keep the pics coming!
Take Care,
Drew


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

It is so easy to change it if you want, just swivel the joints and there you are. Do any swiveling with the filter off though. If it comes apart facing out you will have a mess on your hands!

Something very interesting only to a planted aquarist happened today. My generally algae covered U tube has nearly lost its lovely BGA/GSA/GA coating and is very clean. I generally scrub it out when I wash the overflow box out as the siphon has to be redone anyway but it hadn't been done for a while. Here it is August 26 and as it looks today. I had added a bit more nitrate to the pill minder this week. Tank is nearly clear now as well but now I can see a couple fluffy spots on the wood that are probably BBA.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

200g Aquarium - $125

I've been looking at this one, but I'd still rather have a new one that hasn't possibly been abused or has aging silicone seams.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

That is a sweet deal!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Good deal if you also have reptiles, could put a really nice set up together for one if it turned out to be too scary filled with water!

Ask lots of questions? If you go see it you will likely come home with it. I know.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

Kathyy said:


> If you go see it you will likely come home with it. I know.


That's what I'm afraid of... :icon_eek:


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Is that acrylic or glass, either way it could be cleaned and repaired with some elbow grease and patience. At worst after a good cleaning you could sell it for the same price if you couldn't get a leak fixed, but I think a good bead of silicone would do the trick, just remember to let it gas out for 10 days or better.

You'll hate this, our best LFS has gone belly up (new owner & no clue) here in MD., the store show tanks with lights, stands, etc $1 a gallon, they had a 200, 280, & 450 plus all the stock tanks 10 & 20's. They have moved a half block and now sell dog & cat supplies.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

$1 a gallon for acrylic and we're talking. Wow, big tanks for a sale like that.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Water has stayed clear all week so I dared to take the window screen shading off for a couple hours tonight! Plants seem fizzier with more light.

C. balansae has reached the top and leaves are less curled. Suspect they benefit from the GH booster as much as the stunted Rotala do.

Did a quick water change, floater removal, unruly stem cut back, light vacuum this week. Going to have to do a major trim soon and don't want to but Eleocharis has invaded the Staurogyne repens and the Rotala 'Green' looks silly so tall as the stems show more than the leaves.

Still searching for the perfect school of fish. Red Tail Hemiodus is definitely off the list but Congo Tetras and Hatchet fish and smaller Rainbowfish remain. Was all set to buy either Congos or Hatchets but the store didn't have them! Love the way Hatchets disappear when they are facing you and they have the silver flash to catch your eye. Congos and Rainbowfish might be plant eaters but no way Hatchets bother plants. If I got Hatchets I could get a group of Peacock Gudgeons which are really neat fish. I am positive I want more female Platies and haven't been able to find healthy fish in colors I like yet.

Still ruminating on the new sump. I think just using Poret foam as divider/biological filtration with the scrubbies is what I am going to do with no plexi dividers as I cannot understand how they work and looking at my wavy edged light shields pretty sure I don't really want to try to cut it myself anyway. The foam block that came with my sump 10 years ago is still doing a great job catching stuff and it isn't high quality Poret. Sponge is good stuff. So left hand will have return pump and CO2 reactor, middle will be bare, right hand will have heater and existing scrubbies. Might add in some ceramic media as well. Need to decide on pore size for the sponges and what to use as a sump cover and how to seal it up nice and tight. If I have to have a covered tank might as well get as little evaporation as I can.

Flower bud on the Anubias. Forgot to straighten this shot and it is making me dizzy!









You can see eight feet! Not perfectly but still. Eleocharis looks thicker this week too.


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## plecostomouse (Jun 9, 2011)

dude that sick, im loving the left side


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Dudette!!


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Beautiful tank


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## londonloco (Aug 25, 2005)

Beautiful tank....


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Look really nice Kathy, what are the two little green plants just to the left of the Anubia in the top photo?? I like the S. repens in the center, I almost bought some Staurogyne sp. 'Porto Velho' for my tank but I wasn't really sure what the difference was other than the second has a little longer leaf.

"Ivertabrates by Mzjinkzd" has some nice little fish for sale, I'm going to try some Chili rasbora (boraras brigittae) from her and they look pretty colorful but like dim brown water so I might add some floaters for shade.

Why a new sump is it not doing the job? New bio material, etc. sounds good and I've seen people seal them with a sheet of plastic and duct tape although I think it's a waste of time with so many other places for gas to escape, I would just get a bigger C02 bottle now that saves gas, time, & money.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

@ $1.25/lb CO2 is one of the least expensive things I buy for my tank after the initial equipment investment.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Here we do the bottle exchange thing, so no need to buy a pretty aluminum bottle cause your just going to give it away. But I had a 5# and paid $80 with exchanges for a full tank at $20.53, with a tank only lasting 50 days I upgraded to a 10# (20# was too tall) and it cost me $77 for a full 10# and exchanges will be $22.78. 

I save 50% on refills with the bigger tank going from $165 per year to $85, but the big savings is in the gasoline for the trip, so bigger bottle equals saved cash that I can spend on fish or plants.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

I could have gotten a 50# tank for $150, but if something goes South on a system that large, gassing your fish is the least of your worries. My 20# tank hits the economy vs safety sweet spot for me. I'll just have to build a taller stand so I can hide it


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## lbacha (Apr 13, 2011)

150EH said:


> Here we do the bottle exchange thing, so no need to buy a pretty aluminum bottle cause your just going to give it away. But I had a 5# and paid $80 with exchanges for a full tank at $20.53, with a tank only lasting 50 days I upgraded to a 10# (20# was too tall) and it cost me $77 for a full 10# and exchanges will be $22.78.
> 
> I save 50% on refills with the bigger tank going from $165 per year to $85, but the big savings is in the gasoline for the trip, so bigger bottle equals saved cash that I can spend on fish or plants.


My biggest issue is getting the tank filled, I'm only home on the weekends and all the shops around me are only open M-F 8-4 which makes it hard to fit in. Luckily I have only used like 150psi on my 10lb tank in 3 months so it looks like I may only have to change once a year if that.

Len


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I am lucky, Airgas is about 20 miles away near some great thrift stores so we have a good time on the errand. I am sure to exchange tanks last though. Not leaving a full tank of compressed gas in a car! I have a 10 pound one that doesn't last all that long but I also have a 5 pounder so I don't have to rush over that day.

That is Fissidens in the Anubias photo. Tiny bits were super glued to the wood and most of it is looking very nice. I don't know what to do with it though. Do you let it go and it creeps along or pull it off and glue somewhere else or must you use scissors? I just dotted it here and there and it grew! Had the same problem figuring out Java moss too. And Java fern. And Anubias. Doing okay with the others, I will figure it out eventually.

The bin I am using is fine but I cannot see into it to put the sponges back and a rectangular solid has more room. I saw improvements in the tank's condition with more biological filtration and hope this will be even better. That is a great reason, hasn't anything to do with me being a shopaholic. Bought the foam and it is on its way!

It has finally been hot here and the lighting ballasts are HOT. I put a desk sized tower fan in the stand to cool them and it seems to be working. Never had to do that before. 

I blew it with the fertz. I thought I was dosing CSM+B but it turns out it was macro/micro mix. Thus dosing about 1/4 the micros I thought I was dosing......


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

I'm going to buy a spare 2.5# or 5# tank just as a fill spare while the 20# is out for filling. Then after the 20# is back, I'll run out the spare tank and then exchange them. Then have the spare filled and store it until next cycle.

Kathy, how do you superglue your moss? Under water or drop the water level first?


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Probably glued the Fissidens underwater as it is low enough to be submerged in a 50% water change. It looked pretty awful at first as the glue shows but it grew! How I got nearly every scrap stuck down is a miracle as I am NOT good with glue. Looked back through my journal and this was planted in mid May so is almost 4 months of growth.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

What brand/type of super glue?


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Gel - I used the kind sold at the $ store 3 tubes in a pack.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I have some Peacock moss coming in the mail today, so I can super glue this stuff to a wet piece of driftwood??? Or do I have to tie it?


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

Under water or wet according to Kathy.



Kathyy said:


> *Probably glued the Fissidens underwater as it is low enough to be submerged in a 50% water change.* It looked pretty awful at first as the glue shows but it grew! How I got nearly every scrap stuck down is a miracle as I am NOT good with glue. Looked back through my journal and this was planted in mid May so is almost 4 months of growth.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Well, did the glue work? 

Long time no post here. No photos but big changes. 

I found an acrylic 40B at the thrift store and it is now the sump. I put in 2 sheets of Poret foam with the old biological media, scrubbies and sponge, between them pretty much in the center of the new sump dividing it in two. The CO2 reactor now stands up nicely as I put its tubes through the holes in the top of the tank. Nice having the suction cups on the sump pump able to stick to the bottom and having plenty of room for the heater. I haven't found its hanger yet so it is still in its egg crate cage to stay safe. I cut up cheap suspended ceiling light diffusing stuff for the cover of the sump and it still needs tweaking to fit nicely. Am using the Dremel and cutting wheel to fit it which is fun. Sort of make a perforated line and snap the plastic to size. My 12 year old cordless still holds enough charge to cut several feet of thin plastic on a single charge, love this little tool. Will lay a sheet of bubble wrap under the plastic to seal it up better. I am even worse with tape than I am with glue and don't really want to go there.

A very nice TPTer offered me his Congo Tetra school and I picked them up last Sunday. They are perfect for the tank. 14 gorgeous fish, all but one are male and full grown. They never skipped a beat moving in and have been perfect gentlefish. As I dumped them in they formed 3 groups. In about an hour they were all swimming together and moved to the left where they could see well in all directions but had cover. Over the next couple days they moved up in the water column and to the middle of the tank. They do a lot of casual sparring amongst themselves but have completely ignored the other fish and even the black neon tetras are gradually getting used to the huge fish.

The new sump had only been in a week when I picked up the fish so I have been feeding the tank fairly lightly, not much more than I had been. Will step it up this week as the filter should be up to speed with the big bump in fish load. Each Congo has to be bigger than 10 black neons or even 4 corys.

Strangely a plant that appeared out of nowhere in the old tank and was lost has reappeared. I think it is the easiest Ammania, a large scale red leaved plant. I could understand it reappearing before even though it hadn't been seen for years in the old tank but I moved to this tank. Was thinking [hoping] it was Polygonum 'Kawagoneum' which was actually planted in this tank but the leaves are opposite on the plant and Polygonums have alternate leaves.

No photos as all the stems are pulled up at the moment so the tank is a mess. Hope when I get them all straightened out I don't lose the water clarity again.


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## NStarr (Jun 3, 2011)

Is there a way that I can tell you how much I love this tank?! :icon_smil


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thank you so much!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Took a few photos this week as I sat in my chair watching the tank.

One of the adult male Congo Tetras. Be nice if I was good enough to get the amazing iridescence in light, either daylight or from the metal halide. They have been sparring constantly and are very fun to watch. No plant nibbling yet but one was very interested in the Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides in the left corner that is bobbing and weaving in the spraybar's turbulence.









Full tank shot with one light on. I am trying 9 hours of lighting. Center light on at 2PM then outer 2 on with center one out at 3PM then all on at 4PM and reverse at starting at 9PM. If it isn't too much light I very much like it. Did cheat and adjust the exposure a bit, it isn't quite as bright as this.









Just when the first light came on there was another corydora orgy. The large fish in the center actually is carrying an egg. Haven't seen any baby corys but a baby platy has made her appearance this week!









I am going to have to scrape the tank panes this week. I haven't for over a month! Going to scrape the BBA off the wood. There isn't very much of it and I am wondering if simple removal will get it gone as it is only on wood. The Blyxa I got along with the Congos a couple weeks ago didn't melt at all and look very nice if poorly placed. Water is very clear, I should have taken a shot through the whole eight foot length of the tank. Very surprised and pleased that the mess I made last week cleared up so well. Maybe the vastly increased biological/mechanical filtration?

Have stepped up feeding. Am now giving them a finely diced small cube of the frozen fish/shrimp/veggie/gelatin food I made a while back and commercial flake or crumble or catfish sticks a day. Suspect the frozen food is the reason for the extremely happy cory horde! Otos will even eat it, surprised by that.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

It looks really nice and I love the long look with plenty of hiding in the tall plants at each end and then plenty of open swimming in the center, I don't know about everybody else but I need a few more pics Kathy from straight on and some of the other fish and plants.

Keep us updated on any hatching or fry, and good food even works on my wife so I'd imagine that's it, now just put on some Barry White and dim the lights a bit.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

More not full tank views. I had a nice relaxing water change this morning. It is hot out and the water was fun to play in!

Congo Tetras after the water change. This is with the flash, I like the light ripple at the top. Too bad the fish eye's don't count as red eye, in my quick look through editing didn't see one to make their eyes black again.









First time I have pulled the overflow box out to clean it since I put on the new improved slipcover. Duckweed loves this thing. Without a slipcover the tank appears DW free. Guess not. See how it stands away from the box? Even if the top part is completely clogged with leaves water can flow from underneath. 









Never have I had such a tidy under tank cabinet. I actually have room to spare [don't tell DH or he will stick stuff in there]. The other half of this half contains the old sump tub that holds the water change hose/vacuum with another shallow tub that holds fish food, tools and fertz. I stuck a table top tower fan in there to cool the ballasts on hot days.









The new sump is an old acrylic 40 gallon breeder tank. It was fun getting the hose clamps on the CO2 reactor but it is nice and secure now. The pump is off and all the water has drained down from the tank that is going to come down as I drilled an antisiphon hole in the outflow from the sump about 1/2" below the surface of the water level I want. You can see the usual water level on the blue sponge, about 2" lower. Attempting to keep CO2 in by limiting air flow with the bubble wrap and suspended ceiling light diffuser stuff. I had had the thermometer in the overflow box outside the tank but it can be inside the sump too. Wonder what else I am going to find to put in there? I couldn't cut the plastic to fit the top until I lengthened the down pipe a little, don't know that the ball valve I used is really going to be all that useful, they are really hard to turn! This tank is maybe 4" longer than the previous bin+bucket sump but look at all the room. The bin was crowded and it was difficult to work in there especially as I couldn't see a thing. Need to get some sort of scrubbie corral bag so i can rinse sponges, can just imagine the mess when I try to take out a Poret sponge without a scrubbie bag!









I dumped the excess floaters and crypt leaves in the compost heap. I hadn't emptied the bowl from the last water change and pennywort was green and ready to go at the bottom of the bowl that had been in full sun for a week. How is shipping for a couple days harder on plants than that?


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## NStarr (Jun 3, 2011)

Kathyy said:


> Took a few photos this week as I sat in my chair watching the tank.
> 
> One of the adult male Congo Tetras. Be nice if I was good enough to get the amazing iridescence in light, either daylight or from the metal halide. They have been sparring constantly and are very fun to watch. No plant nibbling yet but one was very interested in the Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides in the left corner that is bobbing and weaving in the spraybar's turbulence.
> 
> ...


:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

roud: It looks good Kathy thanks for the pics.

Kathy you need to put a link to this journal in your signature so people find it and see what your talking about if you make a suggestion.


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

Tank is awesome Kathy, great job. Going to look into doing something around my overflow as you have. I got some floaters, and some in the mail, that I would LOVE to incorporate into my tank. Right now they are in a bucket because the screen I siliconed to mine got clogged with them every 5 minutes I like having them and my fish love them too. Does yours stick out the top, and if so, how far? Thanks! 

On my photo editing software it asks you to place a cursor on the trouble spot, regardless of the color. You could just click the eyes of anything and it turns them black


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I'm so glad I got you 2 together, now everybody is happy!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

This slipcover is just about as tall as the overflow box but it just needs to extend above the water level. The old one just barely managed to keep the floaters out at one low point. I would think this box cover would nearly stop the water skimming as the floaters would block the surface water from going through but my water surface seems fine to me. It isn't as pretty as a bare box but it doesn't get as gunky for some reason.

If you aren't trying to save suicidal fish and snails you could just put a band around the slots about an inch away that goes to the top of the slots and a couple inches below the water level. Might be easier to make that neat and removable than a full cover. I tried using 1/2" grid plastic hardware cloth for that at first but the fish surfing means I need smaller mesh than that.

Another way to keep floaters away from the overflow is to direct water flow at the box. For a while I had a small powerhead pointed at the overflow and floaters didn't clog up the slots. Purely accidental, where the overflow box is tends to be low water movement so that is where my powerhead goes and one time just happened upon this.

Have to work on the eyes more. Maybe I will figure it out. The fish look odd with white eyes, wonder why they aren't red, green or blue?

I did figure out how to put a link in the signature anyway. No luck putting a photo in though. Yet.

Today's big tank news. You can completely clog a sponge. The in tank pump's sponge was compressed as the pump tried to pull water through it. Got it rinsed out and there is a lot more water flow now.


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

I can't really make a true slip cover type thing, my overflow is only accessable on 2 sides.








 Whatever I need to do I am going to have to silicone it on there, which I can live with. I just got this tank and don't plan on getting rid of it any time soon Even if I do it will be easy enough to just scrape off. I need to get me some more screen and see what I can come up with. Thanks for the insight, it has been very helpful.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

When will you be trimming that S. Repens?!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Tony, what about a band of screen with tabs on either end? Stick the tabs into the slots nearest the sides of the tank. It probably will sag unless you can really pack the tabs into the slots so hook a bent out paper clip to the middle of it and hook to the top of the overflow. Basically what I did first but I have to take the overflow box off to get my contraptions on as the acrylic top to the tank is in the way and of course they would fall off when I put the box back into place. Or use suction cups or magnets? 

I thought I would be trimming the S. repens soon but it decided to hunker down and isn't growing up at the moment. Am going to have to just do it and am not looking forward to it.

Neither photobucket's or my computer's editing programs do anything for the white eye thing. I can c/p into Paint and make the eyes black though. Kind of harsh but better than white eyes.


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

wow very nice setup!


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

[email protected] said:


> I can't really make a true slip cover type thing, my overflow is only accessable on 2 sides.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You could make it "U" shaped so it hangs over top of the overflow with the screen just going into the water a couple of inches, just enough to catch the floating goodies with some extra room below for water to pass freely. You could also just bend some tabs toward the glass on each end to extend the end past the fast flowing water but there would be no silicone required and the whole thing would just hang off of the overflow, you just need to start bending and cutting and it will come to you, just make sure you get some extra screen cause you know how ideas hit you right after you've finished making one, good luck.

I wish I could just draw what I'm thinking on the screen!!! frustrating!!!


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

I did start working on something, using screen and fishing line as thread to "sew" the screen together. Hopefully this will give me nice crisp corners and edges. I plan on wrapping it around a plastic-coated clothes hanger I plan to use as a frame so that I'm able to hang this over the overflow. I received my floaters, unexpectedly early, in the mail the other day so I am diligently working on this to get it done. No pics yet, but I will get some and post them for all to see, here and in my journal. Will hopefully get it done today, but we'll see. Thanks for all the help, it has been very insightful and helpful.


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

Hey Kathy, took your and 150's advice, and here is what I came up with:








And, here it is installed:








Gotta do a little more tweaking, but it is already working better than having the screen flush against the side. This atleast has it 1/8th inch off the overflow, allowing for my water to flow freely. Going to set it at around 1/2 inch out, was just getting tired of messing with it after having to sew the screen on there. Thanks for all your advive, that is why I love this site


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## Gold Finger (Oct 13, 2011)

:thumbsup:Nice tank Kathyy. Am new to planted tanks but old to fish. I didn't really know if floaters worked with overflows until I saw your pics. It's good news to me becuase I have an overflow (blocked off with needle point mesh), and I'd love to use floaters in my tank. Are they better nitrate users than planted plants? My fish is gonna get pretty big and I dont want to pack my tank with plants to the point where she has no room to swim. Any suggestions fer a poor noob?


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Just a question, what kind of wire did you use for that net?


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## shrimpnmoss (Apr 8, 2011)

How often do you change the water on a tank this size? And how much per WC?


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## Gold Finger (Oct 13, 2011)

I see you don't have any lemna minor in your tank. Is it a pain? Should I stick to bigger floaters? Remembering that I want good nitrate uptake and have goldfish (which I know will eat the duckweed)


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I change about 40-50% of the water in the tank a week. It takes about an hour to drain and refill which gives me time to rinse out the sponges, do a little trimming, remove excess floaters, clean the overflow box and scrape the tank panes if needed. Usually I mess around for 2 hours though, not exactly sure what is taking so long.

I do have duckweed but it isn't a pest so far. The Salvinia covers more surface faster than duckweed as does does the red rooted floater. I clear out most of the floaters weekly, leaving more of the RRF and trying to get the Salvinia. At the end of the week the tank is about 1/2 covered with mostly Salvinia and only a few square inches of duckweed.


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## Gold Finger (Oct 13, 2011)

That's good news because today I added what I think is a mix of lesser and greater duckweed. I think one of my two fancys may be eating the lesser but not the greater. Still lookin for RRF and frogbit.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Long time no update!

More flora and fauna in the tank. I went to my local club's meeting, SCAPE, and there was one too many auctions of the small form of Boltitis and I picked up a number of cherry shrimp. Also bought red java fern recently and that red Ludwigia. The larger shrimp are in the main tank and the smaller ones went in the sump. Ferns haven't been planted yet, cannot find that last tube of super gel glue, so annoying but I put the Ludwigia in the Myrio's favorite nursery spot, will see how it likes it there.

Tank is showing the strain of the Congo Tetra addition with a lot of diatom growth but if I cut back on the nitrate the Staurogyne repens loses leaves.

The Corydoras have been spawning constantly and we have spotted eggs adhered to the front of the tank. They are there for only a couple hours then they are eaten right up.









I thought a platy baby was in the sump. Nope. A baby tetra! I can see a black stripe and a red eye so it must be a Black Neon. Too cool, only the second tetra fry I have seen in my tank.

Shrimp seem to be doing okay in the big tank. I saw 2 at the same time yesterday and the fish are ignoring them. Even Mr. Mightyhunter Laetacara just looks and doesn't charge.









Was going to spruce up the tank but ran out of steam. Lots of pruning needs to happen and that dratted lily has bamboozled me again, love those floating leaves until it gets dark in the tank. Najas is growing rampant too.


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## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

looking very nice kathy i love this tank and its size.

i think a nice school of roselines would look super nice in that tank with the congo's.


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## Yellow Jacket (Jul 27, 2009)

I really enjoy the pics of your tank - you've done a really nice job with it.


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## rockwood (Jun 19, 2010)

I really wish I could get my DHG to fill in like your grass has.....

With the lotus, I found when it started growing all its massive leaves up at the top, to pull it up, trim the root ball up, then clip off a lot of the big leaves. Just leave one or two at the top of the tank so it stays healthy. Then when it starts growing in the newer leaves go ahead and chop off the big ones at the top of the tank. Then just keep up with it. As they start to grow up and start sitting at the top, keep trimming them off. I got mine to grow and actually get kinda...... "bushy" I guess is the only way to describe it. I had a red lotus and the color was much better when the leaves were submerged too.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I know, pruning the lily works but this plant really isn't in a good spot anyway. I like the floating leaves too though. Charming plants generally win with me unfortunately. I haven't tried pruning all but one of the floating leaves though, that might work for me as they really tangle with the C. balansae leaves.

Love the roselines too. Have to see, maybe some day.

This is the tank from the side a few weeks ago. The HG is really thick at the front but thin in the middle of the tank. I think it likes the current plus light reflecting near the front.


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## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

kathy, i got a nice group of pretty big fat roselines that i might consider selling if your interested. would def look a lot better in your setup then my blackwater setup.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW................
Welcome to the jungle.....Love the jungle.


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

Hey Kathy! Do you have pictures of the small form bolbitis??? also, do you remember who was selling it at the meet?


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Wow, I have really been slow. I haven't been neglecting the tank, just no photos.

You can just see the Ludwigia 'Red' in the nursery. Plants love the flow, CO2 and light back there. There are unsprouted lily bulbs still. 









Here is the Bolbitis. Didn't lose any fronds but I haven't been paying much attention to it. It seems to have settled in anyway, looks great. Sorry Chris, don't remember who it was that had this neat little plant. I hope it stays smaller, early days yet.









Staurogyne has been invaded. There is some Hemianthus glomeratus, Hairgrass and Marsilea in there. Probably some Fissidens as well, I dislodged a clump of it and who knows where it has gone.









The Anubias resprouted well after its trimming. That is GSA, not pearling to the right. Oops. Love the way the Hydrocotyle sibthorbioides looks in front of the C. balansae. I am pulling tall growth and floaters and putting it in front of it. H. s. likes to wander around the tank and I keep finding bits when I remove floaters. The Fissidens looks amazing. Not sure Fissidens golf balls are the way to go with this stuff but that is sure what I have got! C. balansae likes the front of the tank. It is growing fast, I cut its leaves back when I trimmed the hairgrass and look how much taller it is than the hairgrass.









I finally got the courage to trim that lush hairgrass a couple weeks ago. Quite a mess finding and removing all the trimmings. It has grown back an inch at least at this point. The corys still act like they are stuck in it even though it is 2" instead of 6" tall.









Need to remove MORE Java Fern. Love this stuff. Marsilea is looking quite happy at last, too bad it has to share the tank with two other terrific ground covers.









C. balansae is standing up and draping across the tank as I hoped it would. Getting very little algae on the glass now, water is wonderfully clear and most plants are growing well. Loads of baby platies, the baby Black Neon Tetra is fat and sassy but hasn't been put in the big tank yet and there is a suspiciously small cory in the tank. Shrimps, no good. I don't see any at all, even in the sump. Snails are getting eroded shells so I have been dosing more GH booster. Green Rotala and Ammania are extremely unhappy at the moment but I am not going to give up on either of them!









So of course it must be time for a change. I want to 
[1]see if I can keep hg out of the stauro and the 
[2]C. balansae leaves get shredded in the flow from the spraybar and 
[3]C. wendtii is miserable in the shade of the Java fern and the 
[4]Java fern really ought to be between two lights instead of directly under one and the 
[5]manzanita shifting around is annoying and the 
[6]green rotala and Bacopa need to be uprooted. 
6 reasons to mess about in the tank. As soon as there is some decent green Rotala to save I am going to be making another big mess moving Crypts, anchoring wood and making terraces. I figure everything is going to have to come out of the tank except the substrate and plumbing. Fun.


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

Do you know how hard your water is? Snails need pretty hard water to grow healthy shells. My tap is soft, so I keep a cuttlebone in the tank to help them grow good shells. The best part is they are less than a buck 
Your tank is awesome, as usual. It looks really nice all trimmed and stuff. I can't wait to be able to cut mine, it is starting to look a little unkept. Good luck with the scaping, I know whatever you come up with will be awesome.


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## Benmightbehere (Jun 28, 2011)

Inspiration! I've got an acrylic 140g 8 foot tank. I've been trying to figure out my lighting and i like what you've done with the MH. LOOKS EPIC! keep the pictures coming!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks. The otos, snails and BNP are doing a great job, I rarely have to fish dead leaves out of the tank!

According to the water report Ca is 26-31 ppm which ought to be plenty of calcium. Magnesium is 11-12 and potassium is 3 ppm. I was seeing very few snails and when I started adding booster I saw more snails. Hoping that helps, I really like the little guys.


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## frenchymasters (Nov 28, 2011)

i rather like your tank!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks for the kind comments!

The rescape is in the works. Hoping to get started this weekend.

Today I took out the less than satisfactory manzanita frankenstump and redid it. Interesting, before I was fighting it and today it went very smoothly right into a nice tight formation that isn't wobbly. I ended up cutting a couple of branches to make the bottom of the stump and so the branches fit better and even ended up with a little cave at the bottom. I just need to decide exactly what angle I would like it be at and trim the bottom a little to fit something flat to it.









I pulled the ferns and anubias off the wood and temporarily fastened them to rocks and dropped them back into the tank. Hoping the little ones won't get lost. The Java fern is HUGE even off the wood. I have it close to the spot it is going to go in the tank. Hoping that if the java fern is between the lights it will cast less shadow.









I poked around the service area of the yard where I have been tossing rocks dug up in the yard and picked out rocks with more detail. Placed some of them roughly on a butcher paper plan of the tank's bottom to make sure I have plenty and scrubbed them down today. Very dull colored but they are mostly utilitarian anyway and will probably vanish into the inevitable jungle.


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## .Mko. (Sep 23, 2010)

wow i love the dense hairgrass growth. scratch that. the dense eveerything growth =D great job =D


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

The tank has really filled in and is looking good Kathy, it's been awhile since I've stopped by to visit. The wood looks nice too and I have always wanted to try Anubias.

That wood has some nice hiding places for a Pleco what else do you have that will hide in there.


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

Your tank is filling in rather nicely, and I LOVE the configuration of the wood. Even knowing they are different pieces, you cannot tell it to look at it. Your carpet has filled in really good. I'm hoping my sag will fill in half as nice as that. I planted it a week ago and, without needing to acclimate to my tank, it is starting to spread already.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Isn't it amazing? I have seen the wonderful frankenstumps others have made and thought it required lots of pieces to choose from but I used all the branches I had and threw away a 2" end and a wedge I cut so a branch fit well enough to screw it down. I don't know where the bristlenoses spend all their off time, hope they find the cave. Or I could get Kuhli loaches, love the little things.

The dwarf sag I had covered the tank and once filled in it grew up. Actually pretty nice as it didn't get so tall it needed to drape across the surface. 

I thought Anubias looked plastic and I like translucent leaves but those roots get me, love them hanging down. Not sorry I bought one, been in the tank for I don't know, 8-10 years I think.

Well I did it. Tank has been rescaped. Only half the plants are back in, half is going to a TPTer I hope and the rest is on the SnS. Hardest part was catching the dratted fish. I had to as to anchor the wood I needed to completely move the substrate over to stick the support under the PVC piping. I am really lucky it fit too! I am not done, more hairgrass, Marsilea and pennywort need to go in and I haven't even started on the H sibthorpioides yet. Plus Anubias, moss and ferns need to be replaced.

Fun part begins. Too bad I am already tired and out of sort after catching fish.









First fill. I drain this dirty water and refill and it comes out quite nice.









Ta Da! Too tired for a better photo. Maybe after I get more of the plants settled in. See how clear the water is now? I have put screen down, reduced the lighting and making good and sure my CO2 doesn't run out this time!


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

I kind of just skimmed after the first few pages. Your first scape looked really good after it started to fill in. The second looks even better, has a more "panoramic" feel that fits the crazy dimensions of this tank.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Ha, it will turn back into a jungle in time! The stems will thicken up and get tall and my poor starving C. wendtii will recover I hope. One of the plants I hope will come back is a monster when it is happy, Ammannia/Nesaea of some sort. I put it in the nursery, back left corner with lots of light and CO2. It has looked magnificent in the past, hope it comes back again.


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

And yet another awesome scape, great job. This is super nice, and I'm glad you left the wood visible. To me, the wood is a major focal point in a tank and should be viewable. How long did all that take you, drain to first fill? I'm still not done with my scape totally, but I'm gettin close


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## thrak76 (Aug 3, 2009)

Pretty cool dimensions on that tank. I look forward to seeing your scape after it's filled in!


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## rockwood (Jun 19, 2010)

The new scape looks VERY good and utilizes the width of that tank well. I'd love to have the ability to have an open spot in the center like you've done. 

That layout will be fantastic as it matures.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks!

My bristlenose plecos would have something to say if I tried to cover the wood with moss! I would like to get more Fissidens on some of it though and I have small form Bolbitis and Red Java Fern to attach as well as some Anubias without homes.

From starting to pull up plants to dumping most of the fish back in it took 14 hours to do but I took a 5-30 minute break every hour or so. Many of the corys and otos were too tricky to catch so they spent the night outside.

I like the open center too. The plan is the same as the previous scape, looming darkness on the right to more open grassy field with taller stuff. This time the taller stuff on the left should be lighter in color and texture unless the Ammannia/Nesaea perks up. Some year I may find my vision working out and the scape might not need such drastic changes. I HATE catching fish!

I haven't planted the rest of the stuff yet, other stuff going on today. The tank looks very clear and the water line I didn't clean has mostly been cleaned up by otos I guess. Guess I am the one that needs to wipe the water spots on the outside of the tank.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no way, it was looking so good Kathy I can't believe you did it. I'm sure it will look great with a new scape I was just getting to like the old one so much and it did look so good with that long panoramic feel.

I just got a Nano 2.5 gallon for RCS, it's a good distration from my other tank, I'm gonna have to send you one.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I've seen people do re-scapes one end at a time on large tanks with thick piece of poret foam cut to fit tight so you just drain off some water, pull your plants and insert the foam on the left and push it to the right, so now all the remaining fish and plants are trapped on the right side, it works OK. I know catching all those fish was no fun, that's when you go down to the LFS and give the pros a few buck to catch all your fish.

Kathy have you ever tried giving you Pleco a piece of sacrificial Malaysian Driftwood to chew on, just some small pieces you can put in a back corner where it's dark and they like to hang out.

Anyway good luck and it looks like you got a real workout, please post some more pics too, we need all the angles.


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## sublimescorpio (Nov 6, 2011)

I just love the jungle looking tanks, they are the best imo. The levels with "rock-step" is very cool looking. Only thing I don't like is how small my tanks looks after seeing yours, and its a 75gal lol..I hate catching fish too! Not sure if you ever tried this, but I picked up some kuhli loachs the other day and the guy used a small net to herd the fish into a big net...I moved 43 pygmy cories that night, works pretty good. Once the fish are in the big net just put the net up fast and it kind of closes the net, if you know what I mean..


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

2 net fishing is the only way I've ever been able to catch fish in my tanks.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I couldn't even do a good job getting the fish from the bin to the tank. I finally got around to emptying the bin and my husband saw a small cory hiding out. 3 days outside, poor little thing!

I couldn't believe how much time it took to finishing planting the tank. It was basically done, just needed to glue down the epiphytes and plant the extras. 2 hours Tuesday and 2 hours Wednesday. My right arm is still cold. And the Fissidens is still not sorted out at all. It was fun though, I had to set a timer so I would leave it and I still cheated and stayed a 1/2 hour longer. I should be able to take photos today, camera charged and nothing extra going on today.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Did get some shots in last night. Water is still very clear and I don't see any melting leaves. Fish are happy. I think I saw corys flirting a bit even. Ms. Bristlenose hasn't left her zucchini since I put it in but it is coming out today even if it isn't gone.

One light on.








Two lights on.








Fully lit








Crooked Bolbitis, the rock wall and zucchini skewer. Need to redo that small form Bolbitis, it looks amazing right side up.








Right side of the tank, hardly any floaters that need replanting! Still a mess though but I like the 'log' with the Blyxa in front at the moment. How that Ludwigia stem uprooted itself and turned upside down I don't know!


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## The Gipper (Sep 9, 2003)

love the driftwood stump, is that java fern on it?


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Yup, I think it is narrow leaf java fern. Or possibly a mix with needle leaved, if you look closely some fronds are wider and shorter than others. I got tiny shoots in August 2010 I think and they have been planning tank domination ever since. 

Thanks, the stump came out great, didn't know I had it in me.


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## .Mko. (Sep 23, 2010)

i know how active congos are they must look awesome schooling in that tank... jealous.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

They are wonderful! These guys do lots of chasing and sparring but If they get really bored they start knocking the cover of the tank which is a good inch over the water surface. I was concerned about predation but just saw one ignore a 1/2" platy that clearly could have fit in the Congo Tetra's mouth.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Wow those congos are pretty big. Didn't know they got that huge! Anyways, this tank is so nice. Just the dimensions make for a potentially really nice scape, which you are starting to get here!


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

I've been wanting a 180 gallon tank. Freakin' LFS wants over $800 for a 24"x24"x72" Aqueon. Looks like it's gonna be from Craig's List for sure.


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## .Mko. (Sep 23, 2010)

Kathyy said:


> They are wonderful! These guys do lots of chasing and sparring but If they get really bored they start knocking the cover of the tank which is a good inch over the water surface. I was concerned about predation but just saw one ignore a 1/2" platy that clearly could have fit in the Congo Tetra's mouth.


 
oh no they are actually quite fine in respects to predation. My tanks at work (LFS) have congos in them along with molly fry and really really small cardinals and they leave them alone too. Im so envious of your panoramic dimensions. Perfect for back and forth schooling. great tank =). I'll definately add it to my favourites


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thank you!

With those big teeth you would think they would eat everything they come across. The previous owner did a great job of raising and training them and here I go tempting them with yummy baby platies!

Steve, there are a couple places in Los Angeles that sell both acrylic and glass tanks super cheap, you might look further afield to see if there are any places like that around and then see if your LFS would cut you a better deal. My LFS was selling a very nice 5' rimless with stand for $800 last year, if it had only been a foot longer I would have been so tempted, it was nice.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Weekly update before water change. No algae on tank panes, don't see any new spots on Anubias, rocks are clean. Water is clearer still. I took the screen off the tank after the last water change and may increase the light this week to 5.5 hours per bulb which means there will be a 2 hour period with all lights on. Fussed with the sump and got it quieter.

Full tank shot. I really need to put those shields on properly one of these days. It is so difficult, push it over so it is centered. Reglued the Bolbitus but it is still weird. The new frond has completely opened up though. Pennywort is completely unplanted and looks very happy but wants to drift over the Ludwigia, not good!









Ludwigia and Blyxa are looking great. Zero melting on either one.
Stauro is staying down and I don't see any melted leaves floating about. C. balansae is melting away and the otos and platies are helping clean up the mess.









Hairgrasss didn't skip a beat being uprooted for 10 hours or so this time. Got my fingers crossed it doesn't do its usual meltdown on me. Not sure i am seeing new growth or just messy planting. The H. sibthorpioides isn't getting sulky either.









A large chunk of Fissidens fell off the wood outside and was left to completely dry out for about 10 days. I am wondering if it can come back to life. It looks nice and green at the moment.









Myriophyllum mattogrossense stalled out with blind shoots covered with diatoms but new growth is looking fine, I think that is a week's worth of growth on the new shoots. That is the largest of the gold wagtail platies, they have just started appearing after 2 years of various orange/red and black combinations.


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## jart (Jan 17, 2003)

Very nice tank. I really like your choice of fish.


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## thefisherman (Oct 15, 2011)

your tank looks great... cheers!


Sent from my iPhone


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

No photos this week. I had cut the Myrio back so the left side of the tank has stems going about half way up the tank and the right hand side looks about the same as last week although I am sure there has been a lot of growth. The Staurogyne looks a lot more like real plants now for instance.

Tank looks fine algae wise and all the plants except the Ammannia/Neseae are looking fine. The big lily bulb has sprouted several new leaves. There is a mystery plant coming up front and center, last time it was A/N. Right now the shoot is about the size of a pin head and has some red on it. Great location for a gigantic red stem. I will probably let it do its thing as long as it is happy if that is what it is.

There were a couple of BBA tufts on a couple java fern fronds and a bit of wood, nipped and scraped and it is gone. Haven't scraped the tank panes yet and rocks are very clean. There has been very little debris on the sponges and overflow notches. The otos, platies and plecos are looking very fat though. Fresh young algae is probably tasty and easy to eat and I am just not seeing it before it gets eaten up.

I took off the overflow box screen last week and 4 small platies and 2 otos went overboard. I got them out of the sump, will see if they go right back in there. The sump was very clean, they had been doing a boffo job eating the gunk that collects there. One tiny platy baby got left in. The corys have been spawning again, be a great nursery for baby corys. I had fished the baby Black Neon Tetra out the week before. It was nearly the same size as the others but the red eye and green stripe aren't as bright.

I made a Durso gurgle buster but the 2 added right angles and increase in the height of the down pipe dropped the flow rate to the sump too much. Looked like a flood waiting to happen but it sure was quiet! Back to fiddling with the airline placement. I can get it nice and quiet but it is a pain having to do it every week as it needs adjusting every time the pump goes back on after a water change. Maybe I will try a larger diameter Durso later. 

Increased the lighting this week. Still 9 hours a day but each bulb is on for 6 hours I, started at 5 hours each. I took the screening off and the water seemed greener so it is back on for now.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Tank has been growing away for the past couple of weeks. Have had to trim the Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides a couple times and it is now climbing to the top of the Bacopa, going to have to do something about that I guess. Just trimmed the Rotala 'Green' this week. Rotala rotundifolia isn't happy and stunted so I pulled it out and replanted the good stuff. H. leucocephala [pennywort] is going mad, I pulled a quart of it out today. Blyxa has been in quite a bit of shade as a result but is looking extremely happy. Ludwigia is looking better than you would think in all that shade. Old stuff stays red, only new stuff is green. 

Get to trim the hairgrass, Bacopa and H. sibthorpioides next week I guess. Hairgrass is a pain as it is hard to get all the cut leaves out. I am surprised at how little trouble it is to replant even large stands of stems and even got the Ludwigia cuttings down looking like they grew that way. I used to always get cuttings turned around the wrong way.

The Nesaea/Ammania hasn't decided whether it is staying or not and I lost the tiny shoot that might have been a bit of it messing around in the tank last week. Other than that and the R. rotundifolia all the plants seem very happy. Amazing. GSA and green water haven't appeared but I am having some BBA issues so will turn the light down this week and I did go over the substrate with the vacuum a little.

It took 90 minutes to dump and refill the tank today. I only pulled/cut back up and replanted 5 different groupings of plants in that time though. Oh, scooped the otos from the sump too. Did not need to scrape the tank but did do that last week.

Have put the Durso back in the overflow box and just lowered the inside box a bit to keep the water level safe, working fine and pretty quiet. Otos go overboard and two have died in the sump, not enough food for them apparently. The platies have stopped going over for some reason. 

Frankenstump with lots of fish. Looks like the lily is heading to the surface already, that didn't take long.









Room view with tank. Really have got to get new pillows. The black hole on the sofa is my faithful companion Max the fuzzy black dog. He isn't a fan of water changes as I keep asking him to move off the door mat where he can look out and keep an eye on the going ons in the house at the same time.


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

Tank looks great Kathy, as always. I love how you created all the extra viewing area with your rescape. How long do you think before it turns into a jungle again? I understand about the "black hole" on your couch. Mine aren't happy unless they are in your lap, or atleast on the furniture.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Don't know...... I like Myrio better when I can see the pretty rosettes at the tops so hoping I will be motivated to keep pulling and replanting them. The other stems on the left look better trimmed back as well. No idea what C. wendtii is planning back there, it looks happy now anyway. When I pulled it out of the 100 gallon tank it was 18" tall! The C. balansae will start sending runners out and the leaves will grow really long, that will be the point where the jungle returns I think. The Blyxa is already super thick and it is fun watching the little fish in there. If the lily gets happy I am powerless to trim it back. Enormous red leaves all pearling away, impossible to cut!

I do like some room in the tank and so do the Congo tetras. I can see the fish and shapes of the plants better when the lights are out. What I have always loved was pressing my nose up against the tank to watch the fish swimming through a maze of plants. At the moment I can do both.

Am predicting that the balansae have to go. Those leaves are just so long even this tank hasn't enough room to show them off plus they might create too much shade once filled out. Sure hope I am wrong. They are still all messy looking, they had just straightened out when I did this rescape, maybe they will shape up again.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

Kathyy said:


> Don't know...... I like Myrio better when I can see the pretty rosettes at the tops so hoping I will be motivated to keep pulling and replanting them. The other stems on the left look better trimmed back as well. No idea what C. wendtii is planning back there, it looks happy now anyway. When I pulled it out of the 100 gallon tank it was 18" tall! The C. balansae will start sending runners out and the leaves will grow really long, that will be the point where the jungle returns I think. The Blyxa is already super thick and it is fun watching the little fish in there. If the lily gets happy I am powerless to trim it back. Enormous red leaves all pearling away, impossible to cut!
> 
> I do like some room in the tank and so do the Congo tetras. I can see the fish and shapes of the plants better when the lights are out. What I have always loved was pressing my nose up against the tank to watch the fish swimming through a maze of plants. At the moment I can do both.
> 
> Am predicting that the balansae have to go. Those leaves are just so long even this tank hasn't enough room to show them off plus they might create too much shade once filled out. Sure hope I am wrong. They are still all messy looking, they had just straightened out when I did this rescape, maybe they will shape up again.


This is amazing design and massively great tank. What's the substrate?
I would agree with you about balansae.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I started with split pea sized dark gravel [liked the color but wanted something smaller even then] in the 36" tank, added 40 pounds of Schultz's Aquatic Soil when I moved to the 60" tank and in the 96" tank added 4 rinsed/bleached garbage bags of pea sized gravel so it is about half SAS and half gravel by volume and maybe 25% SAS to 75% gravel by weight.

Not crazy about the pea sized bits especially the stray rainbow colored ones but the pore size is that of the smaller SAS and I do like a variation in particle size and color. Just not bright blue, purple and pink ones.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

WOW, that's a lot of things to do for your substrate. As for the pea size, they don't seem to look bad. They kind of complement the size of your tank. Or is it because their color?


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## blkg35 (Aug 22, 2010)

I really like how the right side is lower than the left side and the use of the rocks to break it up. The best part of the setup is the two chairs in front of the tank!
Awesome.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I try not to throw stuff away! This stuff has been in use starting when the piano left the house and I realized there was room for a fish tank after all. I think that was 2 years before I got the first 60" tank in late 2000. All the colors in the gravel go together, they are all tan to brown tones. I thought the rough edges of the SAS would clash with the smooth gravel but it looks fine to my eye.

I am liking the slope thing too. Also liking that I paid attention to how it looked before it was too late - last time I had an unintentional dent at the front and did not want to replant the Marsilea. The reason for the rock wall is to keep hairgrass out of Stauro but it sure looks good having the Hydrocotyle there too. Wish I could have the substrate less deep at the front but the PVC going to the spraybar is 1.5" tall so I am stuck. Next time the tank gets rearranged I will definitely include rock again.

That is a sofa with moveable cushions. We love it, it can be a day bed and without moving the base put the back cushions on the other side so you are facing the tank.


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## thefisherman (Oct 15, 2011)

i love the dimensions of your tank.. its an inspiration to the custom glass tank i'm planning 

i admire your courage to constantly introduce new elements be it hardscape or plants to re-scape... ur fearless! 


Sent from my iPhone


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

Wait a minute. There are some chairs????? ahahahah, I miss them. Love the slope indeed.


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## williamsonaaron (Jan 27, 2010)

This Tank is so beautiful, I'm just starting a 120G this week and this tank was just the inspiration I needed.


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## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

Very nice!
Great looking display. 
The light system and tank form factor go well together.
mD


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thank you for the kind comments! I am very glad that it is easy enough to rearrange a planted tank as I never get it 100% right. This time I am happy with the center of the tank but the right hand side is not working for me yet. Love planning each version. Be easier if I could give up on the plants that don't work well for me but unless the plants give up the ghost they stay in the tank!

New scape has only been up for 8 weeks or so and there was a large increase in plant mass this past couple of weeks. I am doing the water change one day and plant trimming another day so I can enjoy the process more so the tank was full but the pumps turned off to trim. I am not happy with the Rotalas or the Ammannia/Nesaea but the rest of the plants look very nice. I needed to do a major Najas and pennywort removal and cut back the hairgrass. The tank panes haven't been cleaned for a while but I have been fighting a small amount of BBA on one Anubias, some rocks and wood and the Bolbitus with Excel and reduced light. It appeared when each fixture was on for 7 hours so back to 6 for each with an overlap of 3 hours so some light on for a total of 9 hours. I like it, the outer two during the day and the center one until 11PM. No green water and the water is very clear.

I counted *20* platies of various sizes this week. I was down to 8 for a while, good that babies are surviving.

Before Najas and pennywort trimmed back. Yes, really that dark but Blyxa still has some bronzing and I am so impressed with the Ludwigia.









Wide shot after tank was trimmed. I just pulled out wads and wads of Najas but tried something different with the pennywort. I have always pulled it up and replanted the strongest tips but it looked so good I just cut away the stuff growing past the rear 1/3 of the tank this time. The lily is going strong, glad it decided to show up again.









Before HG trimmed. Why the Myriophyllum looks so messy I don't know. Pretty and growing well though.









After most of the HG trimmed. With a full tank I wasn't real serious about getting it all. Last time I ended up trimming 3 times before I was happy with it, probably do the same this time. I did try to get the cut stuff out, not easy when the leaves go right through the fish net! Last time I trimmed HG it didn't grow tall again, that would be nice. It is thicker than I thought it would be.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Really enjoying the tank these days. Plants are mostly growing well, water is clear, fish are fine and except for a few tufts of BBA the tank is very clean. I did break down and polish the front pane this week as it was pearling a bit. It is still pearling, guess it wasn't just from the small amount of easy to remove GSA that was there.

I finally got up nerve to put in a two drain overflow so one can run full and silent with the second serving as an emergency drain. It wasn't easy, blood was shed and there were extra trips to the store but it is in, no water sounds at all and it doesn't leak. Hate the black skimmer box though.

The return has decided to drip however. I barely touched it and it is dripping. Hoping it will cake over and stop but it has been two days already. So I was looking through the head loss calculator here http://reefcentral.com/calc/hlc2.php and it looks like I could gain some flow if I used 1" piping. Suspect the single U tube would not be able to provide sufficient flow so I would need the second U tube. Since one of the reasons it was difficult to install the overflow was because the slot in the top of the acrylic tank is 1/4" too narrow for the standard U tube and I only cut the overflow enough to accommodate one tube I would need to either find a narrower tube to fit or..... modify one to fit. One of the U tubes that came with the overflow met with an accident and is cracked and leaking so I might as well try to flatten it enough to fit into the tank's slot before attempting to seal up the leak anyway. Heat guns are fun. I will probably have an easier time flattening the U tube than sealing the leak, me and glue don't get along.

I am going to make a more triangle shaped scape, sloping down to hairgrass on the left. I already pulled up hairgrass from the center rear and replanted in on the left, like it a lot. A small pile of new sticks is in the mail and I am hoping to have fun making another frankenstump with more cobbles from the yard for the Anubias and/or H. sibthorpioides trailing over it and the same sort of plant groups behind however it works out. This pretty much guarantees than the Ammannia will come back to life as it would ruin the triangular arrangement with its pencil thick stems and 4" long leaves. When I make a mess putting in the new wood I could install the larger return at the same time if the U tube thing works out.

View from side with one light on. See the poor Ammannia? Not a happy plant. Thought it completely gone twice and it returned twice. Looking forward to more hairgrass and a pile of rocks here. 









Full view with only one light on. Am letting plants grow out because I am planning the rescape. The otos and BNP are enjoying a kabob of zucchini and trying the new to them lettuce core. The right hand side is packed solid with happy Blyxa japonica. It is flowering and getting bronze even though the pennywort grows over and shades it. C. balansae is much happier without so much water movement and is starting to run a little.









Ludwigia and BBA on a Java fern frond darn it. Ludwigia's color is a bit lurid but I do like the wavy leaves. It doesn't look good tall in this spot, will move to the left and be kept shorter I think. I probably will like the color more nearer other red plants too.









Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides and Myriophyllum mattogrossense running amok. Hoping the hairgrass is still alive under there.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Well I did it. Almost done rearranging the tank. I did it in baby steps this time so I didn't get overwhelmed and could step back and decide how it was going better.

Dang return is still dripping, probably a drop an hour. Get on that one next.

I found some nice sticks here on the SnS. Thought I wanted to make short frankenstumps going from right to left but ended up screwing a couple together to make longer ones. Rubber banded together and taped to the front of the tank to see if I was on the right track. Have left the tank to grow out here, hoping I don't let it get quite so jungly normally.









Some of the stems are pulled up and loosely tied with rubber bands and left in the tank here. I had pulled out the old wood, scavenged the moss and Anubias, all that mess is floating on the right side of the tank. Screwed the wood together with acrylic screwed and zip tied to the wood and safely in the tank. I am attempting to grow Fissidens on the wood, spread it thin and wrapped with black cotton thread. It was sort of fun to do, will see if it works or not. Not sure when or how the one bit of wood got reversed. Fine either way.









I left the pumps running and water stayed quite clear to my surprise. Did clear out the skimmer and rinse the prefilter sponge a couple times though. The in tank pump's sponge needs rinsing very badly! 

Collected about 30 pounds of cobbles this time trying to go bigger. I failed, the largest rock pictured didn't go into the tank but did get about half the rocks in. Made the rock wall around the Staurogyne more irregular with varied rock sizes and piled them around the left hand wood as well. The tub is 12" across and I panicked and found and scrubbed another half dozen rocks as well.


Wood down, rocks in. 









Stems in. All but one MH was out for the day by this time and the right is still filled with unplanted stuff so no FTS. Anubias pushed in where it can stay naturally. H. sibthorpioides pushed in between rocks and put some Blyxa between rocks and Staurogyne.









I disliked the color of Ludwigia 'Red' surrounded by deep greens so am grouping it with the red/brown/bronze crypt and hoping the Ammannia will perk up. The Rotalas are on notice, I may be evicting them just because I like other plants better but they sure look cute right now. The round tub on the bottom has a few new scraps that may or may not make it, be great to grow them out. I have been able to do that with plants I grew that declined, haven't grown out such babies that are new to me though. The floating tubs have scraps of moss, hairgrass and Marsilea I need to find spots for. 

I will leave all the pennywort in and save the hairgrass trim for a couple weeks from now hoping to again avoid GW. Going to do a big water change going over the substrate to get gunk off the top and will rinse out the sponges as well. Will squirt Excel on the BBA I know about, just a couple rocks and the spray bars. Probably put screen down to soften the light too.

When I removed the back of the rock terrace I was interested to see how much room I had left for stems previously. Too much! Now I will have a foreground planting, wood and rock with plants midground and the rear is for stems but not 8" of real estate!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Finally was home when all the lights were on.









Like the way the new frankenstumps came out, a slope down to the left with the wood getting thinner as it goes. Fish are either enjoying the change of scenery or I can just see them better. They do seem to like the rock work and the plecos have been all over the new to them wood. My moss tying seems to be okay so far, only one bit that looks messy. The Anubias needs to be anchored better. I already tied one to a small rock and wedged it in, guess this one needs the same treatment. 









Probably far too early to tell but the Ammannia seems happier back between the lights so it gets light from two fixtures for 9 hours rather than bright light from one for only 5.5 hours.









Corys spawning. Also took 3 photos of an egg on the glass, will spare you that one!









Really glad I rinsed out the sponge on the in tank filter. I weighed it before and after and it was 16 full ounces lighter after rinsing out. Guessing that means it was very close to being completely clogged. 

So far so good, tank remains clear. I did put the screen on top, hope to take it off next week. I may have the Herbie overflow balanced and the annoying drip seems to have stopped. One good thing about minerals in water, they can build up enough to stop a slow leak! In a few weeks looking forward to cutting back the hairgrass again but after removing a gallon of green stuff I had better take my time taking out even more plant mass.


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## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

Great tank, Kathyy!! Very lush and dense growth!! I'm looking forward to seeing it when you re-do your hairgrass later!


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

It has really filled in and looks so nice now, I'll have to admit when you first did the tear down and re-scaped the tank I was baffled because I though the last layout looked so nice but I'm coming around and it really looks good.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Here you go, I did it, the grass is cut! What a mess to clean up, I really need to get a shrimp net! Every time I do it it gets easier though.

I keep rearranging the tank rather than pruning for some reason. It has been what, 2 weeks? I still like this arrangement just fine and am not annoyed by anything - a record. Suspect I need to give up some species of plants to get to where I really want to be and that is hard to do.

I did a better job cutting the hairgrass this time. Last time I somehow couldn't get the leaves next to the front pane so it looked thinner but not really shorter. This time it is is just 'natural' looking aka uneven with occasional long leaves. I did think I was shaving to the substrate, nope - it is at least an inch tall. I can now see why the fish weren't getting stuck in there, lots of room to play in. There were a couple long stems of H. sibthorpioides snaking through it, pulled those right up. Fun enough pulling hairgrass out of Marsilea and Staurogyne, now the sib is getting weedy in hairgrass?

Full tank shot. 









The cotton thread only lasted a week but the moss attached to my surprise. It is fighting a battle though, the bristlenoses love the wood and seem to be trying to dislodge the moss. Ms. Congo is pointing out that I forgot to clean the acrylic before I got the camera out. Oops.









Compare to the shot two weeks ago. Shorter hairgrass, taller everything else. I may be able to trim the stems next week. The H. sibthorpioides was cut along with the hairgrass and I left it in a big bunch. Put it in a bowl to rinse out the stray cut hairgrass and plopped it into the tank with a small rock on top to hold it down. I just did that Wednesday and the leaves have already reoriented properly, have to love weeds. 









A shot the length of the tank. Eight feet and clear. Ahh. You can see how the hairgrass is growing well next to the edge of the tank where it gets more light from the reflection off the acrylic. I am not real happy about that pointy stick right in the corner, looks like it is going to poke somebody's eye out. I need to soften it by breaking off the tip or tying moss to it or something. Really liking all the rocks in the tank and planting the hairgrass around this side is working out very nicely as well.









Have been seeing another baby cory this week. He is quite large, about 1/2" long and comes out and cruises through the tank every once in a while then dives back into the Staurogyne.

Black neon tetras have been going into the overflow box and refusing to go into the sump. There really isn't all that much current in there according to the fin flicks I count but I don't see how to get them out unless they go down into the sump where I can net them out.

I reduced the phosphate dosage a couple weeks ago and am seeing a bit of GSA forming so back up the dose is going. There are bits of BBA on the spraybars and elsewhere so I am dosing with Excel at water changes. The U tube in the overflow box is quite brown but I don't see diatom growth anywhere else save for blind shoots on the Myriophyllum. I really think I have to give credit for the lack of other algae to the continuous efforts of the ramshorn snails, platies, otos and bristlenose plecos. Maybe the CO2 is helping too, I haven't seen thready or furry green algae since I put pressurized gas on the tank a decade ago.


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## Angels7 (May 27, 2008)

LOVE, LOVE , LOVE your tank!!!!!! Simply Beautiful :icon_smil


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks! I am loving this big tank. It is really quiet now too. The Herbie overflow stopped the water noise and I squeezed a sponge under the sump pump which really reduced its hum. I was surprised the hose/pipe connection didn't start dripping again when I did that, the towel is still back there waiting to help out. I took out the CO2 reactor hoping water flow would increase and possibly the uncontrolled CO2 split would be more even injected into the two pumps' intakes. It doesn't seem to have helped the water flow but I do think the CO2 is more evenly distributed now. Close up you can see some tiny bubbles but nothing from a distance.

Trimmed the stems and moss and took out half the java fern on Monday but either I didn't take any photos or I cannot find them. It was fun trimming the shaggy moss down but it got all over the tank. Maybe I will gather some up and cover that pointy stick in the far left. It wasn't as hard to wind thread around wood in the tank as I thought it would be last time. No GW anyway, that is a good thing.

I only let the plants grow so tall to establish better roots and will be trimming it more often now. Hoping the hairgrass gets denser, the H. sipthorpioides stays low and gets denser and the Rotalas and Ludwigia get bushy. Figuring how to deal with Fissidens would be a big bonus!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Ah, a trimmed tank. To my surprise I didn't like the stems growing to the surface. It is so worrying waiting for new shoots to form though. I do see lots now 5 days post trim. Ammannia is doing its usual fake out recovery thing so I don't pull and toss it. It would probably come back anyway, it already has twice! Hairgrass is looking very nice, my uneven trimming is evening out or something. The bumpy Staurogyne is annoying looking, my next major trim I think.









I did tie moss to that pointy stick this week. It was harder because it is far to the side. I couldn't tie a good knot same as before so there will be strings in the tank again. I just hope the moss grows past that point. The plecos did dislodge all but one tiny bit of the moss I put on there before but it only had a week to attach before the thread rotted or was chewed off. I cut and unwound the thread on the wood in the middle that has been there for nearly a month, hope the plecos don't take the moss off the wood.








My favorite photo of the week. Trimmed Fissidens! Love those Congo tetras, they always want to be in the shot.


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## Fat Guy (Nov 19, 2003)

your tank looks awesome. great work and great fish!!


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## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Tank looks very nice and plants are healthy. I love Congo tetras as well and mine do the same thing when trying to take pics. Great job!


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## The Gipper (Sep 9, 2003)

Awesome, just read the whole journal!
Question: what is the purpose of the pvc under the gravel in an earlier shot?


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

A very short very low quality video of the tank last night with only one MH on, taken from my chair where I do most of my fish watching. 
A still


http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e139/msmaynard/aquarium/?action=view&current=a8b67cdf.mp4

The black neons were nuts, I had been fiddling with the sump and they were very happy about the change. It turned out there was a bit of foam stuck in the intake of the sump pump that was reducing flow. I am sure I put it in there for some reason....... I needed to open the ball valve almost all the way and put in another U tube or the tank threatened to over flow! The spraybar that had them so excited is from the sump and that water is probably more oxygenated than the front spraybar that is supplied with water from the bottom of the tank or it could be they were just having fun with something new in the tank. I gave them a few flakes of food and they stopped loitering around it.

Other than playing in the sump I just nipped and tucked a little this week. Glued down a couple of stray Anubias and java ferns, trimmed the moss again which is surprisingly fun as it is responding beautifully to it, removed some Staurogyne stems that are next to the front pane, pulled out gobs of Najas and such. 

Got a nice set of emerse grown Persicaria Kawagoeanum stems from zachary908 Wednesday. It is planted to the left of the C. wendtii between the two frankenstumps and just visible in the still photo. They are adapting beautifully. Overnight the bent stems straightened up and by the end of the first day roots were visible on the stems and now I see the tops of the plants getting red. If the Ammannia doesn't clean up its act it is out and P. Kawagoeanum is IN. I wouldn't mind having both as the color is very different but both have long thin leaves and I could live with just one of them.

The Gipper, the PVC is supplying water to the spraybars on the left. There is a pump at bottom right with a foam prefilter on it and a skimmer box to sump on the right as well. I am taking a page from 'river tanks' developed by loach keepers. Intake and outflow on the same side works just fine for shorter tanks but this tank is 8 feet long. I also want to maximize my mediocre flow of only 5x. I like it so far. http://www.loaches.com/articles/a-river-runs-through-it

Thank you dewalltheway and Fat Guy for your kind comments. After over a decade I think I am finally getting somewhere with this stuff. This forum has amazing people posting and after reading the same exact information hundreds of times some of it gets inside my thick skull.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Did a water change this morning. DH wanted me to go with him to get a haircut early and water changes take 2 hours on this tank so he was checking my progress often. I was done, turned on the pumps, put away the hose and other gear. As I was putting on my shoes he asks if I was going to turn on the pumps before we left.

Woo hoo!! The pumps WERE on. I have achieved a quiet sump!!!

I bleached and ran a scrubbie through the U tubes, too scary having them opaque with algae so I couldn't see if there were bubbles in them or not. If bubbles build up enough the siphon will break and the tank will overflow as the pump can put more water into the tank than there is room. Was pleased to see that both U tubes run well with no bubbles trapped in them.

In plant news, the Ammannia seems to have perked up yet again. The mowed Staurogyne is sprouting nicely and Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides is going wild. Persicaria Kawagoeanum is growing well with the top 3-4 leaves on each stem nice and red. Ludwigia 'Red' is starting to appear above the C. wendtii again. I am interested in seeing how the red tones and leaf textures look together. I should like it a lot better than deep red against deep green. 

The left hand side of the largest frankenstump is the weakest part of the scape at the moment. I cut out all the lily leaves except 2 that escaped, thinking a line of Blyxa makes more sense going around that largest frankenstump than the lily. Or I could put H. sibthorpioides back there to develop into a floaty mass. I dislike having Myriophyllum back there as I see the not as attractive stems below the Bolbitis so its planting will be reduced a bit soon. Or move the Bolbitis so there isn't as large an area of deep shade. There is a handy bend in a lower branch it could go on.


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## FlyingGiraffes (Jan 30, 2011)

Any idea how much par you're getting with the MH's that high up? I'm thinking about purchasing one of these for a 24"x18"x18".


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## sick lid (Jan 13, 2008)

Kathyy, this tank is absolutely stunning :icon_eek:


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thank you sick lid! I wish I could take better photos but that would involve studying up on how to use my crummy camera.

FlyingGiraffes, I have no idea how much PAR the tank has. Too much I am sure! With a small area of bright light like MH produces the higher over the tank the better to provide even lighting.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Full tank shot. Next week the stems should be showing their stuff better and I am going to place more Anubias in the center where it looks bare.









The mysterious jungle with red java fern, C. balansae, Bacopa, Anubias nana, Blyxa, narrow leaved JF, Najas, H. sibthorpioides and pennywort making a bit of a mess.









Rocks, hairgrass making a run for it and Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides. You can just see the new bud on the Staurogyne stem that should have been taken down a couple nodes further.









Weird angle that shows the extent of H. sibthorpioides's take over. Hoping it will do the same behind the right hand 'stump'. You can see how great that crypt is with the various red stems. Rotala 'Green' and Ludwigia 'Rubin?, Red?' are returning and the Ammannia and new 'Kawagoneaum' are showing better color.









Favorite photo of the week. That poky stick looks better mossed, looking forward to trimming it in a week or so.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Wow this tank is amazing! I really like that fish selection.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks. We are really enjoying these guys.

The hairgrass got trimmed this morning. I went and bought a fine net so I could net out the trimmings better but it was much easier today than before. I used a Mr. Clean sponge to wipe the panes down and my fingers to lift it out of the water. I didn't even have it hiding under the leaves of the other plants. Sheesh, maybe I am learning how to do this stuff? This is before I even started cleaning up with the net. It looks horribly thin yet and the part that was under the H. sibthorpioides is very pale. Am going to have to be firm with the H. sib! Feeding the fish before and after working in the tank has calmed them down a bit too much. I nearly cut the nose off a curious corydora this morning!








With one light on. I tried to level the lights. It is better but I guess they still aren't all the way level yet. I haven't done any stem trimming, wanted to take a break before tossing out more plant mass. The Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides is just floating in case I want it. Pretty sure some of the H. leucocephala needs to go too. This week I did get some Anubias nana tied to rocks [super glue didn't work on rock!] and it is bulking up the base of the central stump but I probably need to adjust it more as it looks a bit tippy and insecure. The lily looks nice now but it sure doesn't belong back there.








P. Kawagoneaum is looking very nice and blending well with the still too short Ludwigia and C. wendtii. Ammannia is being quite the martyr but showing some of its potential color and size in this photo.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

There's a 200 gal TruVu acrylic on CL for $400. Reminds me of your tank.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

It does! You crazy enough to get it???


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

FTS - Hairgrass looks pretty decent and I got nearly all the H. sibthorpioides planted somewhere in the tank. Lots of pennywort and Najas were removed though. I think I am getting where I thought I wanted to go thanks to those workhorse Crypts, ferns and Anubias with hardscape that shapes the scape.









Even without all the pennywort it is pretty jungly on the right hand side. C. balansae is planning a take over. That would be great as long as the leaves don't get all bent over because they are too long.









Was kind of wondering what was with the Blyxa the last couple weeks but it is back looking good again. The Staurogyne is coming back nicely too.









Worked with the level and the lights are a bit better now.









Guess this shows the color palette, yellow greens to greens to oranges to pinks to reddish manzanita browns. Color isn't quite right, the balansae and Bolbitis are more true green than blue green but I have no color balancing skills.









This tank was set up the first week of May 2011, here is a short slide show of how it has developed.
http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e139/msmaynard/?action=view&current=efabb4bd.pbw


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Wow, the tank is just about where I was going now! Going to switch the Ludwigia and Kawagoeanum around though and would love for the C. balansae on the right to thicken up more. Am seeing lots of new runners though. Be great if I could get the H. sipthorpioides trimming down better.









Be better if I took the drop checker out but this is one of my favorite views of the tank. 8' of clear water, amazing after all the GW issues I had before investing in those Poret sponges.









Corydoras are up to something.









P. 'Kawagoeanum', Ludwigia 'Red', Crypt. wendtii 'Brown'?, Myriophyllum mattogrossense in back, Eleocharis acicularis in front and Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides in between.









Squadron of Congo Tetras in the center of the tank under the Bolbitis with Myriophyllum on the left and Narrow leaved java fern on the right with Anubias nana and Blyxa japonica in the middle, Staurogyne repens and Marsilea sp. in front and Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides behind


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## Akira (May 21, 2008)

audioaficionado said:


> There's a 200 gal TruVu acrylic on CL for $400. Reminds me of your tank.


I dunno if id trust those legs to hold up all that weight..
Also, nice tank! Giving me plenty of idea's how I want to plant my ada 120p


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

I'd have used that table in the potting shed and built my own stand, but I didn't get it.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks, I have even more ideas now. I subscribed to the ADA youtube channel and constant exposure to those tanks is shaping the way the next scape is going to go not that I am in any rush.

You were wise not to get the tank. It is really old school. Mine has seriously annoying bulging and warping going on but the price was terrific and it was nearby. If I had built a stand and the tank didn't work out it would have been near impossible to find a tank to fit the stand.

I wouldn't want an open stand even if I thought the tank was safe on such a thing. Under my tank is neater than it has ever been but it isn't pretty. I don't know what I would do with a ~24" tall 96" long table. That is a major table! I could cut it in half and make a better contact trainer for agility but Max is retiring this summer. I would probably have taken the tank the first trip and not come back for the table!

I bet the owner did use that table for a stand. Perhaps it was used for reptiles and not as a fish tank.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Your tank is looking really good, every photo looks awesome!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Tank has been doing just fine for the past couple of weeks. I experimented with shading the tank with window screen and got unhappy Myriophyllum with back turned terminal leaves. It managed to deal though and filled plenty of the tank anyway, I just took out about half of it. Loving the way it drapes across the Bolbitis and wendtii or did, no photo of that! Pennywort was fine with that, some leaves were at least 3" across, took out half of it too. It was creeping across the water surface to the left in spite of the surface ripple. Najas wasn't happy and I only removed about 1/3 of what was there. It colored up, just grew slower. Lower leaves of P. Kawagoeanum are rotting but the tops are fine. Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides was looking peaked too, I saved it all and it is busy growing all over the place like the pretty weed it is, I left it floating. Staurogyne repens is looking good as is Eleocharis and the ferns. C. wendtii has lost a couple leaves but I suspect they were just old ones knocked loose. C. balansae, not so good. I suspect it wants some more root fertilizer, hasn't had anything since it was replanted in December. 
Full tank shot.









My wallpaper for a couple weeks, the smoke monster. Pretty sure it is a dead stem but so glad the gardeners left it! This is Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. I generally get to go there on Mother's Day and we had the best time this year going on trails new to us.









But this week new wallpaper. I love this photo of the tank with the left light turned out for the night.









Going to rescape the tank soon. 

The vertical spraybars are going to be replaced with clear ones I just finished today. I cut a slit in them instead of holes and the cap is removable so hoping they will be easy enough to clean. Quite a production to make. The size of the slit is important so I tried out a number of saws. The regular hand saw won with a kerf of 1/16" so the area of the inside of the tube and the area of the slit are nearly the same. I was rooting for the circular saw as it would have been so much easier but its kerf is 1/8". Had fun polishing the cut edges with 3 grades of sandpaper that were on hand and diatomaceous earth. Nowhere near perfect but the saw scratched up the tube anyway. 

The in tank pump with sponge will be pushed right under the overflow box, not sure why I didn't do that originally. Increasing the pipe diameter to 1" as that is supposed to allow more flow. If so then the flow should increase from 4x to 5x tank volume per hour.

Going to redo the wood with a couple of new sticks my daughter collected for me at a friend's ranch plus the stuff I already have. Been going through the yard collecting cobbles that have texture and finding a few on hikes and such to make a riverbank with ground cover in front and the left side, wood in a tangle rather than a stump to support the ferns with stems behind. At Santa Barbara BG the stream bank is supported with huge sandstone boulders rather than an earthen bank so the big cobbles I found should make that sort of bank up just fine. Here is the sort of thing I have come up with, this is about 1/4 the length of my faux tank I set up in under the apple tree.









I found half a dozen red volcanic rocks one place and for this week I am hiking around to see if I can find more. Unlikely as the ones I found in my yard and else where are in low places and I hike around hills but will have fun looking. Am so NOT hiking in low spots. The day of the big eclipse we hiked through a low spot to get to a nice spot for viewing it and the poor dog got absolutely covered with ticks. I have never seen so many ticks here in California. Pulled a couple hundred off Max, sometimes 5 in one stroke of the flea comb. All dog ticks and lots were males, unusual to see so many male ticks.

All very frustrating because I cannot play with the wood before the tank is torn apart and I am not positive exactly which bits I need to attach the pumps to the pipes/tubes until they are out of service. My fish were just fine last year for 5 days in a bin but the plants weren't. Okay there is no way my concerns will take more than a couple extra hours to resolve but still driving me a bit nuts.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

OMG, you're rescaping the 180????? that would be interesting and fun. I just did my 140g. Those rocks are cool. But not easy to scape with them.


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## sweefu (May 22, 2012)

Very nice tank  I think a background of some sort would help the overall appearance of the scape/plants/fish ... even just a plain black backing


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

I really like the current 'scape, very nice!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Sweefu, the photos look worse then the tank does in real life. This tank is old and the acrylic cloudy so it never does look super clear. Photobucket seems to take away the small changes in contrast and shadows I put in to make my photos look like what I see. If you check my first journal you can see the experiments I did changing the background after I got tired of looking at the faint shiny lines on the fabulous black trash bag that served as backdrop for 10 years. I did more backdrop experiments on this tank and if I ever move it I would probably put on frosted window film to somewhat obscure the wall and soften the light line. The old 5 foot tank was quite a black hole when lights were out, this 8 foot tank would really be overpowering with a dark background and lights out! If, quite a big if, I don't let the plants grow into a complete jungle I can see fish and the rounded tops of plant groups when lights are out during the day.

I liked a lot of the scape too but there were some annoying points. One, Marsilea was being stuck where ever and I really like the stuff. Two, Bolbitis was too high and the space under wasn't leading anywhere. Three, the C. balansae just isn't working for me. Gave it three chances and never looked right. Sad, I wanted that plant for years and years. Four, the big frankenstump wasn't right, too balanced and static for the rest of the tank. Could be a different planting around it or perhaps putting it at an angle would have made a difference. Five, that heavy curved wood planted with Anubias and moss wasn't integrated into the scape at all and kept falling over on the poor Blyxa.

So, looking around [all those beautiful 12 gallon longs with the same 4:1 aspect were a great inspiration] and observing my tank I came up with a sort of riverbank look. Rocky bank with tangle of wood covered with ferns and Anubias with stems behind. Not a chance the stream bed would be bare either!

Hardscape in with the tank partly filled showing how the new spray bar works.









Main plants in.









And done. There is a big place in center rear that is in need of a nice stem plant. Najas Roraima is holding place for the moment and actually cooperated in planting by not breaking into bits as I put it in, maybe it will win the spot. I am contemplating another wendtii and Bolbitis somewhere but suspect when the plants continue growing it it wouldn't work out. 









I loved Anubias+Blyxa+Marsilea and kept that. Loved wendtii+Blyxa+rock and that is there as well. Loved Staurogyne against rock. The way pennywort draped over Myriophyllum draped over Bolbitis was nice and it is there again. Liked my keeping the red toned plants in the same area and am doing so again. Am reflecting a bit of the red on the other side of the tank with another Kawagoeanum+Red Java Fern planting. Hairgrass will grow taller than the rocks, fine, trimmed fine too. I like it either way. Wondering if wendtii will shade the very front of the tank so hairgrass won't spread into the Staurogyne. Suspect the current is too strong and it won't grow that way, drat. Hoping I am doing right by the Blyxa this time. It was suffering from shade and crushing in the old scape.

I did mess up and the enormous Java fern is still too far forward and going to shade the whole right front of the tank again. That enormous Anubias is dead center when I intended Bolbitis be the focal point of the tank. Oops, T. Amano did say Anubias nana is too heavy and put Bolbitis in its place while scaping one tank. Easily changed if I can figure it out though. But wow, that plant is amazing and I don't really want to break it up.

Catching fish was less stressful this time but still took hours. I used the thin acrylic tank tops to make a V in the tank when the water level was 3-4" and got a lot of those crafty black neons by herding them into the V with a net just behind. All the bristlenoses hid out. One was in the in tank pump and one was hiding in the frankenstump and plopped on the patio when I took it apart. Fish were in the 26 gallon bin for 3 days but the water quality stayed fine as I didn't feed the fish the day before or while they were binned.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

Well well well, look what we have here. Good scape.


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## whiteblaze 27 (Apr 17, 2012)

looks great i like the driftwood!


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

Nice job roud:


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## jart (Jan 17, 2003)

Bolbitis is one plant that I would like to have as the centrepiece of a large tank like this one. The other would be Nuphar. Have you considered a Crinum calamistratum as a replacement for the balansae?

I'd like to see a video of this tank... something you can keep in mind for the next rainy day. You seem to have a knack for trimming... feel free to video the next trim day as well 

Very nice tank!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks for the nice comments.

You would get seasick watching any video I make. The combination of a not so great camera + me = really bad video. 

Crinium is on my list of plants to grow some day. Am thinking an interesting 'skyline' helps the lights out appearance of this tank and Crinium certainly has an interesting profile.

Nuphar? Not sure I am up to handling those gorgeous huge leaves, the red lily gives me enough trouble. I think it needs a tank with more front to back width than 18" too. 

I am good at trimming? Thanks!


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Wow, it looks really good so far and you really like to pull that tank apart, this has to be the third scape in 18 months or something like that, keep up the good work and have fun.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Third major rescape in 13 months! Maybe I should glue the hardscape down, that would stop me. I just keep learning more and wanting to try it all out.

Small update. Water has become as clear as it was before I ripped everything out. Amazing. It is tinted a bit from the 8 new sticks in there is all. I only saw that fungus on one of the new sticks and it is getting eaten up by the otos. Fish seem happy and are eating well but I did put in a bit of zucchini for the algae eaters just in case. The spray bars are still beautiful and clean but that will change very soon I expect. A few small hairgrass plants have floated up and there were lots of Blyxa leaves the first couple days but that has stopped. Watching the Staurogyne closely. Both Hydrocotyles weren't happy out of the tank but seem fine now but early days on all those.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Little update.








This is after I collected and replanted the floaters and pushed the NLJF and Anubias back where they belonged. They stayed this time.

Some hairgrass plants coming loose and I am just throwing them out. Lots of Blyxa leaves yet but the plants themselves look to be perking up nicely. Lost all of 2 crypt leaves, a surprise since the plant was out of the tank for 2 days. I saw new hairgrass shoots and Marsilea fronds yesterday, Najas and Myrio are filling the vertical space a bit and all the rest look bright and shiny. H. sibthorpioides is making a return, good.

There was a lot of wood snot on a couple bits of wood which the otos and BNP took their time cleaning off. The new spray bars are not perfectly clean now, we will see if I get them off and clean them next time the pumps are off. Water is getting quite yellow between water changes but it isn't GW. 

Fish loving the runway in front and are having fun traveling the jungles. Congo Tetras are enjoying the now open area behind the NLJF unfortunately, I liked it better when they were always front and center. Easily changed, CT won't travel through Najas I can just let it grow back there again.

The skimmer box is being annoying. I need to rinse the prefilter sponge and remove the Blyxa leaves daily or flow slows enough that the tank threatens to overflow. Perhaps I will make a new sponge from a bit of Poret or leave it off for the time being as the issue seems to be I cannot pick or rinse all the debris out of the Eshopps sponge. Need to reorganize the sump anyway, might as well take out the prefilter sponge and just clean the coarse sump sponge at the next water change.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Mame makes a nice little skimmer/prefilter, runs 250-400$ though.


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## Termato (Apr 12, 2012)

Kathyy said:


> Little update.


I just finished going through the thread and I have to say that from what you started out with and the rescapes to this is amazing. A lot of work has been put into this tank. 

I find it really interesting that even though you moved around so much and added new rocks and everything, the general profile of the tank looks the same because of the plants used. 

Have you ever though about doing a black background on the tank? Or even like a wall of moss with wood or something?

Beautiful tank btw, very inspiring. Can't wait until I get to play around with something this size.


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## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

Kathyy, this tank always amazes me! It's so peaceful and clean looking, not overly complex even though there is a lot to look at. I love the hardscape and your choice of plants perfectly compliment that. It is the type of tank that I could just look at for hours and doze off to. 

Very inspirational! Fantastic job!!


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

I think smoked bronze window film would look better than just plain black.


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

Frosted glass window tint! I bet it will look great and it adds way more depth than black.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

That Mame overflow is a beautiful and elegant design, my tank definitely doesn't deserve it. I saw it when I was researching the PVC overflow. 

Overflow is behaving right now. It was burbling like a brook last night because the skimmer teeth needed to be cleared off of something like 3 Blyxa leaves and a tiny Anubias floater but the water level was where it belonged.

This tank is on a 10.5' wall by itself. With a black background it would dominate the room. With a pale background it is part of the room and when lights are out I can still see the fish and plants. Back when there were bookcases on either side of the 5' tank it looked okay to have a black background.









I much prefer the zero rim on the current tank to the black rim and silicone on the 5' tank. 

















Usually the blind is down in the morning but this is how the tank can look with the lights out. Of course it is possible this is with a flash, don't remember!









A recent back drop test. White plastic bag is just visible on left [would probably buy a cheap plastic tablecloth and somehow get out the wrinkles before putting it on the tank] and wax paper on right. But this isn't with lights off, that is important as well. With lights out the tank looks very shallow with any background but either of these isn't bad with lights on. Possibly a combination of shields and a translucent paper is what I am looking for. Possibly the tank would look deeper if the backdrop paper was the same color as the wall as I think that is part of what bugs me when lights are out.


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## Fortheloveofplants (Apr 15, 2012)

I liked the first look. Now the tank looks a bit bare. But 180g's would always be something beautiful to look at for hours any way you set it.


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

Pretty tank

Wow this whole thing reminded me of my dhg carpet,it was beautiful but a pain to trim


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

It won't be bare for long. The wendtii will thicken up, the java fern do its usual takeover and the stems in right center are just starting to show over the ferns and Anubias. The fish seem to like this arrangement quite a lot, lots of swimming among the plants and sticks going on.

Agree about the tank watching. Very happy to have a large enough tank for nearly any fish I might want to keep.

You know, the more often I trim the hairgrass the easier it gets. The worst part is collecting the trimmings. First time they hid all over the tank and I went after them 3 times but the last time I did a fairly respectable job of getting it all out the first go round. 

Went all around town this afternoon. One stop was the party store looking for a cheap not white plastic tablecloth. Found one and it may be a winner. Will see what the tank looks like tomorrow morning with the lights off. This is with the plastic taped to the tank on top and to the wall below. Hoping the plastic doesn't flatten out the tank when lights are out and there is still a bit of a light gradation showing like this. Of course I better get the wrinkles out of the plastic before I hang it for good - I spent $2, likely it is getting used! Hair dryer maybe?









Another stop was Petsmart.! I ended up using the last of my gift card on a Crypt. wendtii 'Green' gel pack and an impulse buy of Bolbitis heteroclita in a tube. I hadn't seen the gel packs before, all the plants looked like miniatures. Hoping 'Green' is green, the melted leaves had some color to them. They seem to have be there a while as the roots and leaves had a lot of mush but the crowns were very strong. The little pack easily divided into 4 divisions each with a lot of crowns.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Love the look of the tank


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Thanks, I may get there yet.

A couple morning shots. See how the backdrop flattens out the tank? For a change it looks better in real life, the color is closer to the wall color than it looks in the photos but the shadows of the plants look better against the wall than the backdrop even when I taped it to the wall so it is set back a little.

















Will see if I can get the wrinkles out and put it up today. Now the poor dog needs some attention.


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

You need something that doesn't show the shadows too strongly. Did you decide on a backdrop, or are you applying it to test it out.

After trying the frosted glass I'll never go back. It's transparent enough to let light through, yet not so much that it looks weird, so it looks kinda like when you are under water looking through the distance. Plus you can add a light behind tank to make shadow box backgrounds or horizons which really, do look very nice.


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## sidefunk (Apr 22, 2010)

Ooo, this tank looks great.


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## Termato (Apr 12, 2012)

Hi Kathy, 

The tank looks great! 

I think if you use either a gradient blue on bottom to white, or a black background, or blue to black, or something like that. Just not completely white. If you do that then I think it would not only make the colors pop (especially black) but it wont take away the dept, but actually maybe even add it depending on which one you choose.

Looks amazing though regardless hahaha.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I put the thing on. How it looks on the wall now. Not bad.









Just did another fussing in the tank. Cut back the Najas a bit but left the cuttings floating, replanted some Myrio and pulled up the pennywort to trim it back and replant. The wendtii 'Green' looks like it has settled in after one day? The leaves are solid and green and have oriented to look like they have been there for a while.

I ironed the plastic tablecloth between two dog towels so if it dissolved only 2 old towels would be ruined. Still didn't really get out the main crease as well as I would have liked. I tested it on the bare iron and using the towels was a really good call. And of course my taping job is no where near perfect but since the wrinkles are pretty flat it doesn't look that bad.

There is a bit of a gradient as I taped the bottom of the background to the wall. The off white works much better than the white I had tried in other attempts but definitely think frosted glass stuff would be the best. It does need to be off white though. I have to find something on a roll as it cannot be stuck directly to the tank.

The new spraybars are working as planned. Need to make nicer not white wedges to hold them down though. They just need a little help, without a wedge they pop out when pumps are turned on. 









And I rescued a cory that went overflow surfing. If I pull up the pipe inside the box the fish will go down to the sump. Now to fish them out of the sump.....


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Back from vacation! We were gone only 10 days but algae took advantage of no water changes big time. Even though the tank was fed, fertilized, CO2 and lighting were fine, prefilter rinsed and skimmer teeth cleaned BBA ran amok. I cannot see it from my chair and you cannot see it in the FTS but it is everywhere. I treated it with H2O2 and see quite a bit of improvement already. 

Hairgrass, Najas, the pennyworts, Ludwigia and Blyxa are completely free of BBA. Anubias, Kawagoeanum, C. wendtii, S. repens and Narrow Leaved Java fern have a little. Bolbitis and Marsilea have the most especially on old growth. Nothing on the rocks or wood. Myrio is very unhappy, growing tips are small and there are lots of blind shoots but no BBA.

This is after replanting the pennywort, removing some invasive Najas, cutting back and replanting too tall Kawagoeanum and Ludwigia 'Red' shoots. Najas was supposed to grow up but it went sideways.









BBA is at its worst on the old Marsilea and Bolbitis growth. 









Love my branchy wood and so do the black neons. Just the right amount of cover here I think. The skewered zucchini was put there this morning when I changed the water. Ms. Bristlenose was very very hungry. There are two other BNP, otos and platies that like zucchini but she REALLY likes zucchini. Apparently they need to get to work on the tank panes. Or I do. I vote they do the work.









I changed the spray bars a bit. The solid plugs have a wedge sanded off in order to get them into the tube as the inside diameter is just larger than the diameter of the rod. With the wedge at the slot in the spray bar I get lots of surface ripples. I turned the plug the other way and exactly as planned there is much less surface ripple - on the right side that air bubble is just filling the 'wedge' in the plug. Fish don't seem fussed by the change. I also cut the slot completely through the tube which went surprisingly well except for a small slice of my fingertip. I could have destroyed the tubes AND lost blood!









Still haven't gone fishing in the sump. There are at least half a dozen juvenile platies, a couple otos, a corydoras and a black neon in there. Hope to get to that next water change when I will also slap the mulm out of the sump sponges on the sidewalk. Quite a messy job that is.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Long time no update! 

Tank is looking nice and clean and plants seem to be bouncing back from the BBA. I did have to clean the tank panes this week. First time in over a month it has been done and it was easy, no scrubbing away at GSA. 

I don't know what happened but the color balance is right on this full wall shot. I finally got the red slipcover done for the sofa and am now working on smocked round pillows for the finishing touch. Did the smocking today and it was hard work. Not so much that each stitch must be knotted, more that the suedecloth is very hard to get a needle through. I was using needlenose pliers quite a lot of the time. With a lot of luck both pillows will be done and in the next update.









Been changing water twice a week this summer. It takes 90 minutes to drain and fill but with a bit of screen over the mouth of the siphon I can go do whatever I like while the tank is chugging away if I don't need to do any maintenance on the tank. Well, don't leave if I am filling the tank. Real bad idea to get distracted when doing that! I actually started the sofa pillows while the tank drained this morning.

I get very little GSA in the tank proper. One of the U tubes but not the other does get it. Either the light is just that much brighter a couple inches above the tank or it is softened up by the phosphate so critters can eat it easily when it grows in the tank. I know it is tasty stuff, when I had a lot of it long ago the Rosy Barbs about sliced their heads off to get some when I cleaned the tank panes with a razor blade.

I took off a lot of older C. wendtii leaves and damaged Anubias and fern fronds. Fern fronds get dead spots if too strong a solution of H2O2 gets on it, crypt leaves just looked old. Myriophyllum is greener with bigger growth buds and has been pulled, trimmed and replanted. I got tough trimming pennywort which had no issues with anything and just kept on pearling away. It has stayed down instead of floating up and looking messy since Monday. Should be looking great by next week if I don't accidently uproot it. Probably ought to fluff out the big clump of Narrow Leaved Java fern though. It got squished down when I put the sponge back on the in tank pump. 

I made several small and very cheap changes this past week. Found a translucent plastic drop cloth and wire drawer organizing baskets at the $ store. The plastic is so thin and stretchy I could get most of the wrinkles out and if I wasn't taping to the tank top and the wall below the stand plus around the overflow box I think it could have been perfect. Taping it that way seems to reduce the reflection off it in the morning before the lights go on. It does seem to help balance the shadows in the tank and doesn't make the tank look yellow like the off white plastic tablecloth did. Last thing I did was just about free. The 3/4" perforated PVC pipe that is inside the prefilter sponge is just a bit too large for the in tank's pump intake and falls off when the pump turns off. I put a zip tie through one of the holes and the end of the pipe and it wedges on the pump perfectly now. Only been bugged by this for a year! Now to do the same for the sump pump's intake.

Showing the change in shadows with the plastic on and also a spraybar with only 1 week's worth of grunge. Snails and otos aren't happy with the delicious stuff being just out of reach. See the ripple on the water's surface? Fish like it better this way and it makes for better ripple lines on the bottom of the tank, guess I will leave it this way.









I don't know how I missed these baskets in the past! They are perfect. Found washers and screws and they were up in a jiffy. Wish I had more small stuff so I could put up more of them!
 

Female Congo Tetra, pretty in her own right.








Center of tank. Blyxa starting to do its thing I hope.


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## AussieDIYFK (Aug 13, 2012)

lookin great there im glad those halides light up your 96 long tank


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

The tank, the room, the back yard when the window cover is up.........

Good thing really as we only have two 1960's era lights in there and they are practically nightlights in intensity.

Oooo, a 240 gallon tank! Nice, I sure wish I had the extra depth in this tank! 8 feet is terrific though.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

I think an 8'x30"x 24" tank would be very lovely. Only 300 gallons.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I would have to hang a sling from the ceiling to hang from while working at the back of the tank! 

The 60x24x24" was hard to deal with even with a stepstool. There is a company on CL that lists an acrylic 72x24x20" tank that sounds very nice to me at the moment. I think I have reached my limit with this tank but feel free to put a 240 on my porch for me to adopt. Cannot say no to a tank in need, can I?

Just did a water change and remembered to fluff up the java fern clump this time. Amazing how much better it looks fluffy. The pennywort has just reached the top of the water so I will have to take photos tonight. Tall stuff is looking like my vision, it is the low stuff that isn't developing as quickly.

Bought a group of small Congo tetras. Hoping for a couple females but not sure when you can tell male from female with these guys. Mine are about the size of my platies right now. They are in the 5.5 gallon tank with some Anubias and Bolbitis to remind them of home. The store has never led me wrong and told me they had been in the store for weeks but I decided not to risk it. The HOT filter is driving me nuts, the motor sound is much louder than the big tank now that I have that Herbie overflow thing going on.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

This week's photos. Perhaps when the next trim grows out the tank will look as I envisioned it. The hairgrass and Staurogyne need to get thicker. Slow growing Marsilea is beating out the both of them. 

FTS Pennywort and Myriophyllum are just past their prime and need to be trimmed. Narrow Leaved java Fern looks much nicer fluffed up.








Wow, Congo Tetra finnage!








Right side of the tank with sneaky lily that came from nowhere. Anubias looks good between the rocks. Bit of BBA on it and I didn't get the gunk out of the Marsilea yesterday when I changed the water. I see another java fern type showing up. Not Trident, drat.








Quarantine tank with young Congo Tetras. A week to go. They are eating well and no spots or anything. Bolbitis, Anubias and a sprig of pennywort for protection but they seem fine with no cover. Tank is overfiltered with a HOT Magnum with the intake covered with an overflow box's prefilter sponge I had sitting in the sump.


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## Termato (Apr 12, 2012)

The tank looks beautiful! I have a week left with my QT'ed cories as well!

Those are some serious fins on you congos, very elegant.


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## pandacory (Apr 18, 2011)

Fwiw I found trident java fern, at least windelov or whatever it is called, at petco of all places. Never seen it anywhere but online, then stopped in and there it was. I assume since it is a chain, you may be able to find it there also, probably the only true aquatic they sell!


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Goody, an excuse to go have a look see. My BBPS have pretty good aquatics sometimes, jave, anubias, wisteria and the gel pack hairgrass and such. Haven't seen trident yet. 

I always thought fish poop going into the filter was not a possibility but the bottom of the quarantine tank is spotless and I never see the fish down there and haven't seen any snails either. Just put a HOT designed for a 50 gallon tank on a 5.5 gallon tank and the bottom stays clean!

Thanks, I am really enjoying this scape a lot.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Long time no update! The pennywort either was growing out or was a day past prime and that sure makes a difference to the tank's appearance. I am taking pictures anyway even though it is too short at the moment.

I think this scape has nearly achieved what I was going for. I love the way the plants have grown over that too even row of rocks on the right forming a dense jungly undergrowth, the way the Anubias looks and the way pennywort and P. Kawagoeanum are filling the top of the tank but not obscuring the back completely. I would love more peeking through the wood to bright growth further back and the plants are still bossing me around so I don't prune off excessive growth on the java ferns but it is a satisfying composition.

The clear spraybars and painted overflow do reduce the presence of hardware in the tank. If only I had anchored the pipes down better and managed to get the spraybars truly vertical.... It is interesting that the spraybars look great for a week then quite rapidly get gunky the next. I cleaned the spray bars last week so they will get gunky this week. So far no GSA in or on them although there is GSA in the U tubes at the moment.

There are plant and algae issues however. Kawagoeanum is growing in nicely at last, was a bit stunted for a while. Staurogyne is stunted although it is growing and hasn't any algae. The hairgrass and Marsilea are going great, Marsilea does have some BBA on old growth. I am picking off a dozen or so BBA infested leaves weekly on certain plants but not others. Am still thrilled that I can see through the length of the tank so well - no green water since the sponges went in last year! Yesterday there was a smear of BGA on the sump return pipe and today it is gone, strange. The Myriophyllum has some diatom buildup and is stunted. I can see there is some algae on the front pane but no GSA. Last time I wiped it down was two weeks ago.

I increased the lighting duration to 6.5 hours per fixture and will increase it another half hour next week. I think that is why Kawagoeanum and hairgrass are taking off. Hoping that is the problem with the Myrio, not enough light.

Somebody has decided Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides is delicious and it is getting mowed down in the rear of the tank. Hoping that will just make it grow thicker. It sure looks great weaving around and through the other plants.

Full tank shot








Center of the tank








Wood, rocks, Anubias and Staurogyne








Curious fish through eight feet of water


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## Termato (Apr 12, 2012)

This tank is looking really nice! I love your plants! I have the same plants basically but their not as grown as yours, it's wonderful to see what they will look like when fully grown.

I have never ran lighting under 8 hours, but than I started dosing C02 and I can now finally understand why everyone runs such short lighting periods. I got BB within the first week and had to tweak everything.


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## tomfromstlouis (Apr 2, 2012)

Kathyy,

I confess I have not read every bit of this thread, but I do need to tell you how much I love your tank. Not sure which iteration is my fave, but each shows a fine sensibility and deft touch by its creator. Not sure how or why you managed to tear down that last version, but this is looking darn good right now, so how can I complain? 

Keep us posted as it evolves. We are enjoying this!


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## mikeross (Nov 28, 2012)

wow beautiful tank and awesome journal. 

Do you think your lighting setup would have any issues growing HC? I am asking because I currently have a 300gal african cichlid tank that I am planning to switch over to a iwagumi setup. I wanted to throw a couple large boulders with just HC ground cover. Do you think 3 150w MH would be enough or should I upgrade to 4? The tank is 30" tall.

thank you


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

I have no idea, I am not a good enough gardener for HC, I even killed all my HM with H2O2. One suspects it could with a good enough supply of CO2. That is a big issue in big tanks. Get enough flow in there, would help a great deal.

A reef tank needs MH every 2' but this tank had a fixture every 2.6' and seemed very bright with no shadows - fixtures were 40" off the substrate though.

This tank is gone. Taken down, sold and replaced with a normal 180. 6x2x2' but it is drilled. No more U tubes!!!! Since you aren't supposed to put halides over any acrylic bracing the tank has only 2 halides. Since there is a 5" wide overflow at the end of the tank I only need to light 67" so each fixture is now lighting 2.8' of tank. I still see even lighting and no shadows at the ends or in the middle.

The tank is foggy in the photo but wasn't much better dry. Gone to a turtle fancier who carted it home in a 4 door Prius!


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## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

the tank looked so good! I liked the long look


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

It was fun while it lasted. Looking forward to your new deeper tank.

Please link the new thread so we can find it easily.


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## MikeS (Apr 27, 2008)

Loved the long look of the tank, it looked good too. Can't wait to see the next one.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

The new tank is linked in my signature.

I miss the long look too but that tank stand was on its last legs and the tank itself wasn't much better. There were 6" of shims under that stand, the new stand has zero shims. Problem is not with my floor! 

You will note that I didn't change much about the way the new tank is scaped, this last scape was very close to what I want to achieve.


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## audioaficionado (Apr 19, 2011)

I like the new tank's front aspect ratio better than the eight footer's. That extra 6" of scaping depth helps too.


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## jart (Jan 17, 2003)

Might I ask what species of Marsilea you had? I've never tried any, but would like to some time.


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

That was a splendid scape! I would have had a hard time tearing it down! Off to check out your updated scape now


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