# 60 Gallon - First Freshwater Tank (New Equipment)



## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

We just setup our tank today. Here is a run down.

*Equipment*

60 Gallon Tank – 48 x 15 x 17
Hydor 350 Professional canister filter ~ 240 – 280 gal/h
Hydor 300W inline heater
Inkbird temperature controller
Finnex Planted + 24/7 light
120 lbs Eco-Complete
Driftwood and rocks
API Test Kits – PH, Nitrite, Nitrate, KH, GH

*Dosing*

Seachem Excel Flourish - planning on starting light (~1/4 dosage)


*Initial Setup – 12/4/2016*
Sprinked some Oscomote Plus lightly on tank bottom. Added eco-complete, approximately 2 gallons of treated water to keep from drying out and laid out driftwood/rocks. Large piece of driftwood still floated like a bobber, even after 4 weeks submerged in water and one boiling water bath. Using rocks (lots of them) to keep it weighted down. Received a good squeeze from filters at LFS and added to the tank. Will start dosing Seachem Flourish Excel tomorrow morning. Planning on keeping temperature at 76 F. Planning on lights initially from 10 AM – 4 PM at about 80% white/red custom setting.

*Planted the following*

Java Moss
Red Wendtii – front right, cutting on front left
Java Fern
Anubias Nana
Hygrophila Corymbosa (Kompakt) – mid left and mid right
Hygrophila difformis (Wisteria) – front left
Nymphaea Zenkeri (Red Tiger Lotus) – back right
Bacopa monnieri (Moneywort) - background

*Test results about 45 minutes after filling and running filter*

PH: 8.0 – 8.2
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 0
KH: took 9 drops, ~160 ppm
GH – Unsure how to measure. Should I wait until it goes bright orange and then count drops to green?

*Questions*

Should I be adding Ammonia (pure) to the tank to keep the level up to aid in the cycle or just let the tank run?
I wasn't planning on adding any ferts other than the Excel for a couple weeks. I did order the DIY EI liquid fertilizer from NilocG.
I realize that some of the plants are probably not ideal in the long term (monywort), but we wanted ones that were quick growing and would suck up the nutrients when getting started. Any problems with this?
Any criticism, constructive or otherwise is definitely welcome. Great way to learn.

*Pictures*


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

looks neato, that driftwood though isn't where I would think it should be. but when the plants grow out and cover it a bit, should look nice.


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Apr 9, 2012)

Looks nice, can;t wait to see how this develops. I never thought about asking the LFS for a filter squeezing, that's clever.


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## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

That's an awesome tank, neat dimensions. Is there no center brace on the top?


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

KayakJimW said:


> That's an awesome tank, neat dimensions. Is there no center brace on the top?


Thanks and there is a glass center brace on the tank. I found out how annoying that can be during the aquascaping.


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## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

Gotcha, the handle looked centered which threw me.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

All of the plants are doing really well, with one exception. The moneywort is growing like a weed and will reach the surface today. I'm sure I will be giving it away or throwing it away if this continues. The crypt has not started melting yet and the anubias has some new growth. The moss hasn't floated away yet. The tiger lotus is in a spot with too much water flow so it is not doing well and I'll probably pull it today. It probably was not a good plant for this setup in the long run any way so we are fine with that.

The PH is still somewhere between 8.0 and 8.2. The ammonia is sitting steady at 1.5 - 2.0 ppm. Haven't seen it drop yet but it has only been a couple of days. I'm dosing one capful of Excel each morning and the lights are running for 6 hours each day.


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Apr 9, 2012)

sdwindansea said:


> All of the plants are doing really well, with one exception. The moneywort is growing like a weed and will reach the surface today. I'm sure I will be giving it away or throwing it away if this continues. The crypt has not started melting yet and the anubias has some new growth. The moss hasn't floated away yet. The tiger lotus is in a spot with too much water flow so it is not doing well and I'll probably pull it today. It probably was not a good plant for this setup in the long run any way so we are fine with that.
> 
> The PH is still somewhere between 8.0 and 8.2. The ammonia is sitting steady at 1.5 - 2.0 ppm. Haven't seen it drop yet but it has only been a couple of days. I'm dosing one capful of Excel each morning and the lights are running for 6 hours each day.


If I didn't just have some fish die I'd offer to bring some bio media to you. Don't want to risk it now though.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

ArchimedesTheDog said:


> If I didn't just have some fish die I'd offer to bring some bio media to you. Don't want to risk it now though.


Thanks and I really appreciate it. Luckily I'm patient so I should be fine, just need to wait it out I'm assuming.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Guess it is time for the 1 week update. Everything appears to be moving along smoothly. Ammonia is at 0 now. I added enough yesterday to get it up to 1.5 ppm and it was back at 0 again this morning. Nitrites are still around though. Nitrates are high as well.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 2.0 ppm
Nitrates 40 ppm 
KH - 140 ppm
GH - 360 ppm (That is using API test kit. SD water analysis states it should be 251-323 ppm)

I have not done a water change yet (no need as far as I'm aware). Only addition has been 1 cap full of Excel each morning. I do have some new plants coming this week so there will probably be some rearranging and not sure if I want to keep the crypt (Red Wendtii). We will also probably remove some of the moneywort to make room for some diversity of stems. Everything appears to be doing really well, no real die off of any type. I was expecting some melting in the first several days but that has not happened either. Hopefully we can start adding fish in the next week or so if the Nitrites go down to 0. The moneywort is definitely a quick grower. The wisteria has new growth as well. Here are some pictures after one week.


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## SGdiscus (Jun 24, 2016)

Hi there, looks like a good start! Here's some suggestions you might want to consider:

1. I like the layout the driftwood and the rocks. The space underneath the driftwood allows you to put lots of slow growing stuff like the anubias nanas and java ferns.

2. The scape is looking pretty sparse because there is not enough plants. So rather than spreading the fast growing money worts and hygrophillas throughout, why not consider bunching them towards the left side of the tank and leaving your right side looking spacious. You can consider planting a simple plant like the Amazon Sword (or any variants of it) on the right side such that it takes centre stage later. 

3. The Tiger Lotus is also a good candidate on the right. Alternatively, it can be right smack in the middle with java ferns behind it to create a contrast. 

4. I am a big fan of the red wendtii. The red wendtii could be shifted to the left front.. so that it will be a contrast against the green hygrophillas and money wort.

5. There is a nana on the left side of the driftwood near the water surface. Do watch out for it... as green spot algae will grow on it when it is under strong lights.


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Apr 9, 2012)

Looking forward to seeing the new plants and all! Out of curiosity, why are you not sure you want the red wendtii?


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

SGdiscus, thanks so much for taking the time to look at our tank and offer advice, it is greatly appreciated. 

We do have some more plants coming tomorrow afternoon:

Marsilea crenata
Cameroon Moss
Anubias pinto
Anubias nangi
myriophyllum red stem
Ludwigia peruensis 'Diamond' - Ludwigia peruensis 'Diamond' - $0.80 : BamaPlants.com, Home of Aquarium, Bog, Pond, and Carnivorous Plants all Grown in the USA

I really like the idea of moving the red wendtii to the left side of the tank, especially since I'm planning on planting the new stems on the right side. There should also be a decent contrast with the wisteria on the right as we spread it out (going to keep it low).

We removed the red tiger lotus, there was way too much water movement on the right side and it did not do well (tangled leaves/stems). It probably would've been too much for our tank regardless.

I will definitely keep an eye on the anubias, especially since since we have several more coming. Unfortunately there are some rocks holding the driftwood down in the middle as it still floats like a cork, even after 6 weeks in water.



SGdiscus said:


> Hi there, looks like a good start! Here's some suggestions you might want to consider:
> 
> 1. I like the layout the driftwood and the rocks. The space underneath the driftwood allows you to put lots of slow growing stuff like the anubias nanas and java ferns.
> 
> ...


Bump:


ArchimedesTheDog said:


> Looking forward to seeing the new plants and all! Out of curiosity, why are you not sure you want the red wendtii?


I think I just didn't like the location of it. However, moving it to the left side is a great idea and we will try that when we receive the new plants.


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

Looks like you're off to a nice start! I agree with one of the others that the driftwood looks too centered but depending on how you plant around it this can be adjusted. I love the looks of Tiger Lotus, it might be an ideal plant to put just behind the piece of wood so that as it grows it pops up over the wood. Definitely looking forward to seeing it with the next batch of plants added!


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

johnson18 said:


> Looks like you're off to a nice start! I agree with one of the others that the driftwood looks too centered but depending on how you plant around it this can be adjusted. I love the looks of Tiger Lotus, it might be an ideal plant to put just behind the piece of wood so that as it grows it pops up over the wood. Definitely looking forward to seeing it with the next batch of plants added!


Thanks Johnson18. Unfortunately the red tiger lotus is not going to be part of this setup, too much water flow. I should have a new picture with new plants in a couple days once we figure it all out. I'm not expecting the Ludwigia peruensis 'Diamond' to do that well initially since it was grown immersed. 

I think the layout will look at bit better (less centered) once we can remove the rocks sitting on the wood, but that may be a while based on how buoyant it still is. We played around with the layout for a long time before settling on this one. Here is is "dry" when we were trying a bunch of different options.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Well, we got all the new plants into the tank. 


Marsilea crenata (front left)
Cameroon Moss (upper left branch of driftwood)
Anubias pinto (lower left of driftwood)
Anubias nangi (tied to a rock for now, not really sure what we want to do with it)
myriophyllum red stem (back left)
Ludwigia peruensis 'Diamond' (back/mid left and some on the back/mid right)

I also did some rescaping based on the suggestions on this thread (thanks again). I moved the moneywort from the back left over to the back right. I think this gives a nice contrast with the red wendtii and hopefully the ludwigia does well although I'm not counting on it. I also moved the hygrophila corymbosa (kompact) from the shade in the driftwood towards the front. It was not receiving enough light there and was suffering. I'm hoping this change helps. It will also help break up the wisteria from the crenata. The cameroon moss was a huge pain in the ass and I have the superglue all over my hands to prove it. However, I really like the way it looks and I hope it does well. Here are some more pictures. I will be doing a water change and filter cleaning this weekend.


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## ArchimedesTheDog (Apr 9, 2012)

Looks really nice!


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Quick update.

The tank finished the fish-less cycle several days ago. All of the plants continue to seem happy. I performed a 50% water change last Sunday (brute trash can on wheels, a pond pump and some PVC "builds" made this really simple). I also changed the Planted + lights to 24/7 mode (6 AM - 10 PM) at that time. The other change I made was a very small dose (5 ml) of Nilocg DIY liquid macros on Monday and 5 ml of micros on Tuesday. This is the recommended dosage for an EI regiment in a 20 gallon tank several times a week. I figured this would be a good place to start once a week on a 60 gallon tank.

There are two other changes. Last night we decided to add a few animals to the tank. We wanted them to be hardy while adding visual interest to the tank. Hardy was a must since the tank just finished cycling and we will be away on a vacation after the new year. So we now have 4 male guppies and 3 nerite (1 zebra, 2 tomato) snails in the tank.

The other addition is the appearance and growth of brown diatoms. They are not terrible yet but have definitely been spreading at a notable rate. I just changed the lighting back to 80% white/red running 10 AM - 4 PM to help control this. I'm not worried yet as I've read that this is pretty common in new tanks.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Here are some lame, gratuitous photos.


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## Econde (Oct 13, 2015)

Niiiice. Congrats on the cycle! Tedious but worth the wait.

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## ArchimedesTheDog (Apr 9, 2012)

Any updates?


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Good timing @ArchimedesTheDog. I was planning on making an update in the next day or two but you gave me the nudge I needed. I would say things have been more negative than positive lately. I've been battling brown diatoms. It seemed like they went from 0 to 60 in the blink of an eye. One day there was a light dusting in a few spots, the next they were covering everything. Today I removed a bunch of rocks and scrubbed them down outside the tank. I also removed all of the moneywort, rubbed off the diatoms from every leaf, did some trimming and replanted them. I also used my fingers to rub down the plants that could not be removed. Finally I removed the Hygrophila Corymbosa and took a look at that as well. I thought it was diatoms but I think it is something else covering it. Many of the roots were rotting and some of the leaves were blackening (see picture below). I removed all the effected leaves and roots, then replanted it. Also, the Anubias nana has been losing some healthy looking leaves. It is glued to the back side of the driftwood so I may remove it to see what is going on with the roots and rhizome. The tank looks much better now but we'll see how long it lasts. 










I did lose one guppy two days (12/22/2016) after adding them to the tank. They looked a bit "bloated" and the other three guppies seemed absolutely fine. 

On 12/30/2016 we added 4 Corydoras Sterbai. They are all doing great as far as I can tell, swimming & eating. Then one day ago (1/3/2017) another guppy passed away. It was slowly swimming along the bottom of the tank the day before and at times swimming vertically (tail down / head up). All the other fish seem fine still and there are no visible signs of any problems. The corys and guppies are interacting fine so I'm a bit stumped. The ammonia and nitrites have continued to read 0. The nitrates are around 5 ppm after a water change and 20 ppm right beforehand. I did add some API Melafix to the tank this afternoon as a precaution.

I have some more plants coming in the next day or two and I'll continue to monitor the fish and readings. I have been dosing Excel (1 cap) every other day. I'll do a better update in the next week or two once I have a better idea of where everything stands. Here is a picture of three of the four new tank mates. I'm planning on adding another two once I'm sure all is OK in the tank with the fish.


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## Econde (Oct 13, 2015)

Sounds like everything is coming along nicely. Sorry to hear about your guppy. For some reason I cannot view your photo updates. 

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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Econde said:


> Sounds like everything is coming along nicely. Sorry to hear about your guppy. For some reason I cannot view your photo updates.
> 
> Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk


Thanks. For whatever reason all of my photos (even in the original post) are no longer displaying. They were all uploaded in this site via Resources / Upload Images. Even when I go there all my pictures are not displaying.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

I received another order of plants from @Bartohog. If you ever need plants and they are selling what you are looking for I would highly recommend them. I'm still fighting the brown diatoms and I feel like it is a losing battle. I've read conflicting information: turn off the lights for a couple of days, increase the lighting intensity, let it run its course. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will run its course. I may have to get some more Nerites (currently have 4) and/or some other livestock help.

I just finished adding the following to the tank.

Staurogyne repens
Helanthium tenellum red (Pygmy chain sword)
Marsilea crenata (this one took a lot of patience as I ordered a lot of this one)

The corys were extremely curious about everything and I will not be surprised if they have caused some floaters by tomorrow morning. Nothing else has changed. Here are some updated pictures (I apologize for the quality, just using a cell phone).


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

*60 Gallon - First Freshwater Tank*

Perservere with the diatoms! Plants looking healthy though, especially the P. palustris. You could probably put some more Crypts in the shaded areas under the wood.
Another thing make sure you don't dose Full EI with your fertilisers that would be major overkill, since this tank is low-tech. Stick to what you are doing with EI for a 20 gallon, once a week thing and you should be fine.
Alternatively you could use dosing calculators to find out what the dosing would be for the EI low-tech version or like PPS-Pro.
Also your Corys probably want more of their kin with them, I would say get at least 6 more, but you probably have space for more. They are so cute when swimming together as a big group!

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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Opare said:


> Perservere with the diatoms! Plants looking healthy though. You could probably put some more Crypts in the shaded areas under the wood.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks Opare, I'm not panicking...yet. The crypt in the front right is going really well and I believe I can separate some of the growths. I just need to figure out how to do that. I currently have the lights on at ~ 80% for 6 hours a day. I have no clue if that will help or hurt the diatom situation, or make no difference at all.

I did make a trip to the LFS yesterday. I picked up 2 more Sterbai Corydoras (6 in total now) and one more Nerite (5 in total now). I also got approximately 17 baby cherry red shrimp. They were about a 1/4" in length (at best) and it was all they had. I did get them for a great price so I figured it was a good way to see how they will do in the tank. I placed sponge over the filter intake to keep them from a journey they are not expecting.


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## SGdiscus (Jun 24, 2016)

It was good to see your updates! 

The diatoms will eventually go away as you established the plants. You just need to maintain good water conditions.

You may have to pay attention to the light setting as you do not have CO2. However I think there is no requirement to change it until you have a better idea how your plants are coming along.

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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @SGdiscus. Here is a picture of one of the tiny shrimp on a red wendtii from earlier today. Of course I cannot find a single shrimp now .


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## Tanks! (Dec 16, 2013)

Tank is coming along! Early days pass soon enough, and then you'll be wondering what to do with extra plants, like moneywort, that grows inches per week in my tank. More bulk/less light is better through this early stage, esp. w/o CO2.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @Tanks!, always appreciate feedback (positive and negative are both welcome). I think I'm starting to see a slow down with the diatoms but it is hard to tell since I'm being diligent about cleaning the plants each day as well. There have been a few additions to the tank since my last post:

6 stems of Rotala rotundifolia
2 additional Corydoras Sterbai
5 Amano shrimp
~23 red cherry shrimp

I do not have any good pictures of the tank right now but I'll try to some this evening...although it doesn't really look much different. The rotala was placed just to the left of the myriophyllum (which is doing great and I've already cut/planted new stems). We are down to one guppy who seems perfectly happy and thinks they are a cory. The other guppy exhibited the exact same signs as the other two we lost (slowly swimming along the bottom of the tank the day before and at times swimming vertically, not eating, looking way too thin).

The new batch of cherry shrimp were purchased from a person locally (craigslist) for $1 a piece and were added yesterday after a 50% water change. They are much more active/social than the original ones I added. I was only see the original ones if I shine a light in the tank after dark.

I'm going to post this in the shrimp sub-forum. However, I noticed several shrimp shells on the substrate this morning. Do you typically see these after molting or is this a sign of deceased shrimp?


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Here are some updated pictures of the tank. The brown diatoms are still hanging around but do not seem to be spreading as quickly. The Staurogyne repens and Marsilea crenata (added about 2 weeks ago) both seem to be struggling a bit. There is browning, a few holes in the lower leaves. I'm not sure if it is a deficiency of some sort or just because they are new to the tank. Everything else appears to be doing really well: plants, fish and shrimp.

The driftwood still easily floats if the rocks weighing it down are removed. Looks like that will be another test of patience. Here are some pictures.


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## SGdiscus (Jun 24, 2016)

Shrimp shells are the leftover from the molting unless you see white flesh in them. 

Looking good!

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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Not a lot of changes, but 9 harlequin rasboras were added to the tank. The guppy is now trying to school with them.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Nice tank and journal. 

With no CO2 dosing, I will be curious to see how the stems do. When I was low tech, I had great success with things like crypts, but stems never did very well. Like most things in this hobby, your experience could be much different.

Keep up with the journal. I look forward to seeing more updates.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @Greggz, appreciate it, I've enjoyed following your journal as well. The pictures & video are fantastic. I am dosing flourish excel, but that is obviously not the same thing. I also have what are supposed to be easy stem plants. I've already done several cuttings/re-plantings of the Bacopa monnieri (moneywort). The Myriophyllum has also been doing really well, I had to trim a couple of the stems so far. The Rotala rotundifolia is still too new to know how it is doing. 

I am struggling with the marsilea crenata, staurogyne repens and hygrophila Corymbosa. I'm going with the assumption that I'm not dosing enough macros/micros so I'm going to start increasing both. I am using nilocg diy liquids.

Just did a 50% water change, cleaned the filter and all the tubing (that was fun). All the fish & invertebrates all seem to be doing really well. The rasboras are having no trouble eating, they are like little piranhas every time we add food.

In another month or two we will probably add some new fish. We are leaning towards a couple of Rams at this point, but we will see.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Well, I realized it has been a long time (2 months) since my last update. There have been a lot of trials and tribulations…but mainly trials. There have also been a lot of changes.

Several weeks ago I finally bit the bullet and got a CO2 setup from CO2Art. I ditched the atomizer that came with the setup as I was unhappy with the bubbles in the tank and built a Rex Grigg reactor. I have had some problems with the regulator but I’ve been able to keep it working. The support at CO2Art has been exceptional and after some troubleshooting attempts they are sending me a new one.

I also built a new spray bar for the tank out of ½” schedule 80 PVC. The spray bar that come with the filter was in sections so you could adjust the length. However, I could not actually have it span the width of the tank (15”). On section was too short while two sections were too long. Yes, I realize I sound like Goldilocks. The filter, reactor and spraybar all work great together and still probably have too much flow in the tank.

I’ve removed the java moss from the right edge of the driftwood as it was growing like a week. I will be replacing it with flame moss. I’m also going to remove the java moss from the mid right section as well (I’ve realized I hate java moss) and replace it with Christmas moss.

My main struggle has been algae and to be more specific, staghorn and black beard. I believe I have it under control now. There has bene a lot of cutting, pulling stems, H202 dips/sprays/blasts. I had to several trim back the java fern.

I did add 6 otocinclus several of weeks ago. Unfortunately, one died about 9 days later. Another had some kind of wound near its head that never healed and it died two weeks later. The other 4 seem to be doing great. Also, the RCS are having zero problems in the tank and the population has multiplied many times over. All the other fish appear to be happy & healthy.

There have been some great plant additions to the tank thanks to an incredibly generous ROAK from @Doogy262. This includes the following:

Bacopa Caroliniana
Ludwigia Repens (Rubin)
Dwarg Sagittaria
Rotala Green
Limnophila aromatic
Hydrocotyle tripartite

All seem to be doing well. The hygrophila corymbosa (kompakt) has really improved and taken off. The staurogyne repens is finally looking good as well.

I was able to remove the rock from the middle of the driftwood this morning. Not because the wood no longer floats (it is still a cork). I finally used my brain and linked some zip ties together and attached it to the other piece of driftwood. This makes the layout much nicer in my impression. It also gives me a lot of room for plants now so I’m considering some bucephalandra.

Finally, I have 24 Pseudomugil furcatus on order that should be arriving sometime this week. I’m definitely looking forward to them and I’ll update this thread once they arrive.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

The fish arrived safe & sound this morning. They sat on the front porch for about 1.5 hours, but it was 70 degrees out so that was not a problem. I ordered 24 Forktail/Furcata Blue Eye Rainbowfish (Pseudomugil furcatus). It was tough to count but I believe I received about 30 of them. All of them were swimming about and I have not noticed any problems at all so far. They are tank raised and I threw some micro pellets into the tank about 6 hours after adding them (drip acclimated). They had no problems finding and eating the food which is a great sign.

I also received some hornwort (will be behind the spraybar), christmas moss and flame moss. Tomorrow I'm supposed to receive several different bucephalandra so I'll be staying busy. Sorry for the lousy pictures of the fish, but they aren't very cooperative.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

beautiful fish.


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## Doc7 (Apr 7, 2011)

Beautiful!


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## Pat24601 (Mar 4, 2017)

Great looking tank!


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

I received a package of bucephalandra from @junglefowl today. They were much nicer than I ever expected and would highly recommend him if you are looking for them. I wanted something to fill out the large piece of driftwood and some other "blank" spots in the tank. I'm not sure if it is the final resting place for all of them. I'm thinking of removing the large chunk of Taiwan moss and replacing it with one or two of the smaller buce.

The fish from yesterday are all still doing great, at least from an observational standpoint. Zero losses and they are eating pellets/flake food. They even seemed extremely interested in the algae wafer.

Here is what I ordered/received.

1 - Blue Velvet
2 - Brownie Jade
3 - Brownie Brown
4 - Sekadau
5 - Catherinae
6 - Arrogant Blue










This is the blue velvet along with the brownie brown to the left.










Arrogant blue, Sekadua (to the right of the pinto) and brownie jade










Catherinae










This is a better idea of the layout. The christmas moss on the substrate will be replacing the java moss between the blue velvet and catherinae this weekend.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

I've never kept Blue Eyes, but I think they are a great addition to your tank. Looking forward to seeing more close up shots if you can ever get them to cooperate.

And good luck with the Buces as well. Looks like beautiful specimens.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @Greggz, I will definitely try for some better pictures in the future although the blue eyes do not want to cooperate right now . They are pretty constant motion. The buces are much nicer than I expected, I really couldn't be happier with what I received. I still need to work on the layout, I'm pretty sure the taiwan moss is a goner.


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## junglefowl (Oct 30, 2012)

Very nice tank! I'm glad you got the CO2 system for it. Plants will grow much better and will save you time to add Excel every day. 

Looks like there's a new way to attach Buces on the driftwood . Great idea!


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

junglefowl said:


> Very nice tank! I'm glad you got the CO2 system for it. Plants will grow much better and will save you time to add Excel every day.
> 
> Looks like there's a new way to attach Buces on the driftwood . Great idea!


Thanks and I wish I could take credit for coming up with that attachment method. It works great and is much easier than than tying/gluing...at least for me. I saw this done in the tank journal by @burr740 and asked them about it. It is a great idea though .


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

It has been a long time since I've posted an updated so I guess I'm due. There have not been a lot of changes to the tank since the last update. In fact there have not been any additions at all. I have removed a couple of plants for various reasons. The hornwort was growing like a weed as expected but it was shedding needles and blocking too much light. The stems in the back were getting too crowded and I wanted more room for the Ludwigia repens so the green rotala has been removed. Finally, the Hydrocotyle tripartita (sp.Japan) was also growing too fast and I was running out of space in the foreground so it has also been removed.

I did replace the intake for the canister filter with the Eheim prefilter and a DIY PVC job. The main reason is that it made a huge mess every time I had to remove the sponge from the intake filter for cleaning (it was impossible not to squeeze it when grabbing it since it was such a tight connection to the tube). The Eheim is a bit large, but it is super convenient and so much less of a hassle/mess.

I'm still struggling with black brush algae (BBA). It isn't very noticeable but I also cannot get rid of it. It is especially problematic on the bucephalandra and I find myself spot treating almost daily to keep it under control.

All of the fish still seem happy. The red cherry shrimp are always out and multiplying. I even saw a berried amano shrimp last night, obviously they will not survive though. The buce (superblue velvet) has several flower stalks right now, I'm hoping they actually bloom. Overall, I'm happy with the progress. Now for the pictures. Sorry about the quality, I haven't cleaned the glass in over a week.


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## reddhawkk (Dec 28, 2011)

Very nice tank. I have never had much luck with stems in my low tech tanks, even the "easy" ones. The one exception is my present 29 gallon dirt tank, which has Ludwigia palustris, Langarosiphon madagascariensis, and Rotala indica growing nicely in. It also had Lindernia rotundafolia growing nicely until my cories decided they wanted to root around where they were planted. I had thought of going Co2 but so far I have stuck with low tech.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @reddhawkk. Stems were hit and miss for me before I added CO2. Bacopa and rotala both did fine. However, ludwigia did terribly. I also believe that your water conditions (e.g. hard/soft) have a more pronounced effect on the plant growth in a low-tech setup. I'm enjoying the learning aspect and variety that CO2 provides. In some ways it has made things easier but it has also added a new level of complexity.

The buce has started to flower, never thought that would happen.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Been a while since the last update, mainly because not much has changed. I will try to post some new pictures in the next day or so as I've made some minor changes to the 'scape. I still have traces of BBA that I cannot get rid of. I've tried everything, at least it is under control.

Main reason I'm posting is to describe my canister cleaning "nightmare" on Sunday. I change 50% of the water every Sunday and I clean the canister filter every 5 weeks. This past Sunday was a cleaning day. I removed the Hydor 350 like I always do, cleaned the various trays, replaced the filter floss and cleaned the impeller. When I went to hook the filter back up, I could not get any water to start flowing. I tried everything, multiple disconnects, re-seating the impeller, making sure water was siphoning, no air trapped, etc. Nothing was working. If I watched the impeller spin with the housing off of the "bucket" I could see it spinning but it was making a grinding noise as well.

After about 2 hours of this I was starting to panic a bit. It was now 1:30 PM and I had to leave the house by 4 PM. I quickly went to my LFS and bought an Aquatop Forza FZ9, mainly because it uses the same size hose (5/8") and was rated for a higher flow than the Hydor. I got it home, rinsed it well, add the biological media from the Hydor and hooked it all up. At this point everything seemed OK again. The water flow is almost comparable, it seems slightly stronger with the Aquatop but no need to reduce it at all.

After returning home around 7 PM I found a nice puddle of water by the stand. It turns out the new filter has a leak. It wasn't by the o-ring but above it. I cleaned everything up, took apart the filter and tightened all the screws. This seemed to solve the issue...for now at least. In the meantime I've been able to get the Hydor working again although I'm still not sure why it stopped in the first place. When it is time to clean the filter again I will look into it a bit more. The good news is that I did not have any casualties at all, I feel very lucky about that.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

sdwindansea said:


> Been a while since the last update, mainly because not much has changed. I will try to post some new pictures in the next day or so as I've made some minor changes to the 'scape. I still have traces of BBA that I cannot get rid of. I've tried everything, at least it is under control.
> 
> Main reason I'm posting is to describe my canister cleaning "nightmare" on Sunday. I change 50% of the water every Sunday and I clean the canister filter every 5 weeks. This past Sunday was a cleaning day. I removed the Hydor 350 like I always do, cleaned the various trays, replaced the filter floss and cleaned the impeller. When I went to hook the filter back up, I could not get any water to start flowing. I tried everything, multiple disconnects, re-seating the impeller, making sure water was siphoning, no air trapped, etc. Nothing was working. If I watched the impeller spin with the housing off of the "bucket" I could see it spinning but it was making a grinding noise as well.
> 
> ...




Man that is crazy and why try say when it rains it truly pours. At least like you said no casualties. Glad you got it worked out. Time to get you a Fluval fx6 . Seriously this is why on my 60 Gallon I run two filters. A Fluval fx4 and Fluval 306. Not only did I get the 306 to have a dedicated co2 filter and inline heater but also as a second filter. What's funny is I did not think about the second filter in case one fails at the time and in fact removed all media from it making it basically a pump in a canister. Well later on like a couple months ago after I cracked and broke the drain on my Fluval fx4 I had to run a spare HOB. Luckily the part I broke was replaceable and got in a couple days to get the fx4 back online. This made me realize it's super beneficial to have two working filters with media and all. So I loaded the 306 up with media like it should. I do not mind having two canister filters run since you see very little in the aquarium. And also this way I stager filter maintenance with little to zero disruption of filtration. 

Just glad yours is good after all. You going to run both filters now?


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @clownplanted. I've actually followed your 60 gallon journal as well and I like your setup. For me, running the two canister filters at once would be overkill and way too much flow unless I throttled them both down. My plan is to just have one as a backup for now, you obviously never know when you will need it.

Here are some pictures of the tank from tonight. I removed the Anubias nangi and Hygrophila difformis (Wisteria) as they were both out of place in the tank. All of the other plants are growing really well and I hope to offer a ROAK at some point. I just haven't had enough at once, although the LFS has appreciated the donations. The limnophila aromatic, ludwigia repens (rubin) and bucephalandra are all doing great. The Pseudomugil furcatus are great fish and really fun to watch when two males start flaring & dancing with each other. Of course they are not very photogenic.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Not a lot of changes since last month although I did a major trim/replant of most of the stem plants. @burr740 inspired me in his journal so I pulled almost all of the bacopa, ludwigia and rotala, then replanted the tops. Part of this was due to them growing like weeds. The other part is I still cannot get rid of the BBA. There are traces of it around the tank even though I'm spot treating with H2O2 and metracide every day. The most frustrating part is this is the only algae present in the tank and everythig is doing great.

Here is a picture of the tank after the major trim & replant.










Here are all of the plants I had to throw away. I would love to do a ROAK but I will not do so until the BBA is gone.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

Was waiting for your update. Looks very nice especially after the trim. I had to do the same. Stuff was really growing like crazy in mine since the substrate swap. That was the previous trim but I just did another trim today because allot of the plants suffered pretty bad during the substrate swap. I had them all out of water for a good 6 hours while I did the work. A lot of the stems like ludwigia took a bad hit and this last couple weeks ended up getting string algae due to this. But I had to wait for them to grow out enough before trimming and replanting. I did just that this morning as the new growth was good so hacked a ton and got rid of all the struggling stems. So I think now that's behind me the plants should do much better with substrate that doesn't add calcium and can actually root. So far looking really good. 

I would say if you want to kill the BBA you need to triple dose excel. This is what I did when I had a BBA and stag outbreak and has not come back since a month ago. None of my livestock minded the extra well in my case metricide dosing. 


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

Your tank looks tremendous! Are those Buces on the wood new plants from your previous purchase or did you buy more? They look fantastic but that's alot of plants! I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with the driftwood in my 75. Fissidens or some other moss and bucephelandra for sure. I just need to keep what I have alive until I can get a CO2 system together. Are you still running just the single fixture?


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

@clownplanted, glad to hear things are coming around on your tank. Seems like patience & persistence are two valuable traits in this hobby. I actually do not think extra metricide is going to help too much at this point. I've spot dosing H2O2 on the BBA, waiting 5 minutes and then spot dosing metricide on the same area. Still cannot shake it though. It really is not noticeable at all, except to the person maintaining the tank (e.g. me). I also have to be careful with the metricide as I have a ton of RCS in the tank. I've done a major trim like this one once before, although not quite to this scale. Things grew back quickly and much nicer than the initial plantings. I have a feeling I will see similar results.
@The Dude1, I appreciate the compliment. All of the buces are from my purchase on 3/30/2017. They have been doing really well. There is several different moss on the wood (flame, xmas and Cameroon) along with a java fern and anubias pinto. The xmas and flame moss both grow like a weed. Fissidens would be a great choice for a slower growing moss. I'm still running the single Finnex Planted + 24/7 light. I have it at 7 hours/day at the max setting. My tank is pretty short (17" height) so it is seems to be plenty of light for the plants I have. I may actually increase the light to 8 hours/day as it may actually help with the BBA.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

sdwindansea said:


> Here are all of the plants I had to throw away. I would love to do a ROAK but I will not do so until the BBA is gone.


Tank looks great by the way!:grin2:

You should offer the ROAK anyway just state the BBA and be honest.
I cannot begin to count the rescue plants I have taken on, even from Petco, brown and tissue cultured. From my LFS covered in hair algae( I hit hard for a low price though).
Buyers knowing this to begin with are only paying shipping and are told upfront.
To some of us (plants you have may not be available locally) who feel like we can bring things around for the good.

You never know, if no one bites after a few days toss it!


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @Maryland Guppy, appreciate it. I will definitely do a ROAK next time, especially since it would be extremely easy to offer plants with zero visible signs of BBA. I was just of the understanding that the "spores" can be present any way and that is how it is most likely introduced into a tank.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

After seeing some fantastic pictures of the livestock in the tanks of @Greggz and @Immortal1, I was motivated to attempt to capture some of my tank's inhabitants. I didn't do nearly as good a job as they did, I guess I can blame my lack of photography skills, a cell phone camera (should've used a real one) and the subject matter moving too quickly. Regardless these are decent pictures of the shrimp (RCS and amanos) and the Pseudomugil furcatus (forktail rainbows). As you can see, the RCS have no problems around the rest of the critters.

A bit of a photobomb by one of the otocinclus.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Had a bit of surprise today when doing the weekly water change and tank maintenance. There was a small fish fry in the bucket I use for siphoning. It was impressively small and I'm not sure which fish it would (could either be a sterbai cory, harlequin rasbora or pseudomugil furcatus). Unfortunately I'm not setup for breeding (no space) so it was carefully placed back in the tank. I'm sure it will find its way into the belly of one of the tank mates, but it was really cool to see and there is a small hope that there others and a few will survive. Time will tell.

No other additions/subtractions to the tank for a while. Everything is growing fast and everyone seems happy. The buces are consistently flowering but the blooms only last a day or two. I've been trimming them and attaching them to small pieces of cholla wood as I have more than needed. I will be doing another ROAK next weekend as I have a ton of plants that will need a new home (including some buces).


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

I searched, but how did you attach the moss? I used thread and it dissolved in 2 weeks and the moss isn't adhering. Also the buces keep coming up. I found one that somehow made it into the mess of moss weeks ago and it's grown to like 3 times the size of my largest Buce that gets full light. I tried a group of Furcata, but they disappeared one by one. I also noticed them at the surface gasping when the CO2 was one when no other fish were having problems. They really are awesome. How many of your original 24 are alive? I think once my group dwindled they started taking a turn for the worse. The tank just looks amazing. Are you dosing EI? Any additional iron?


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

@The Dude1 - Thanks for the kind words. I've had the best luck using fishing line for attaching moss. When I've used thread it disintegrates in about 3 to 4 weeks...which some times is enough to for the moss to attach. Superglue also works well but can be a bit challenging.

My buces do well in various sections of the tank with various water flow and light. They do not seem to be that demanding. As far as the furcate are concerned, I've only lost one that I'm aware of and that was last week. One of the males started swimming vertically, upside down and backwards. I'm not sure what the issue was but it was getting worse so I decided to euthanize it to protect the other fish. Everything else is fine and they are always swimming in the open. I'm guessing my CO2 level is around 20 - 25 ppm. I know 30 is ideal but it works well for everything I have in the tank. I do dose EI, but only 2x a week instead of the typical 3x. My tap water is extremely hard and there are already enough nitrates/phosphates in the water so 2x works perfectly for me. I use the Nilocg DIY solution (DIY EI Liquid Fertilizer| Premium Aquarium Fertilizer | NilocG Aquatics) and nothing else.


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

*60 Gallon - First Freshwater Tank (livestock photos)*

Wow I saw your RAOK thread (didn't win ); But I was wondering if you had a tank journal. Glad to see I found it, it's looking beautiful 


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

@SKYE.__.HIGH, thanks for the kind words.

Here is are some new pictures from tonight. Not much has changed (including my photography skills)...


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

May I ask what type of buce that is and where you purchased it from. I'm trying to find hat type and the only one I can find is the one from amazon but they are 10$ each little plant. 

Thanks


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## finfan (Jun 16, 2008)

Nice tank, I like the natural look and love your buce


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

@SKYE.__.HIGH - the bucephalandra on the left is a "Brownie Brown" and the large clump is a "Super Blue Velvet". I actually have 6 different varieties in my tank, but the main plant is the super blue. They were all purchased from a forum member, @junglefowl. Here is their latest for sale post - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/153-sale-trade/1186825-ferns-moss-plantspackage-shrimpfood-minerals-acces-sories-ssprefilter-spongefilter.html


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## junglefowl (Oct 30, 2012)

Wow, your Buces looks stunning beautiful! You keep and grow them even better than before I kept them. 
Lots of flower there too!


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

Incredible. I don't know if the condition of my buces is my fault or if they were grown emersed and are still transitioning, but I will be going to where ever you got yours for my next purchase hopefully this week for sure. Yours look incredible


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

The Dude1 said:


> Incredible. I don't know if the condition of my buces is my fault or if they were grown emersed and are still transitioning, but I will be going to where ever you got yours for my next purchase hopefully this week for sure. Yours look incredible


The buces I received where submersed for at least several weeks before they were shipped to me. I had zero problems with the transitioning to my tank. I probably have less than ideal water parameters (high ph, hard water) but they seem happy. I think a lot has to do with the seller and how they were handled before they ever got to me.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

In case anyone actually follows this tank journal and wants some plants, I will be doing another ROAK this coming Sunday - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/156-wtb-raok/1189273-another-plant-trimming-ends-sunday-8-27-%40-4-pm-pst.html


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

sdwindansea said:


> In case anyone actually follows this tank journal and wants some plants, I will be doing another ROAK this coming Sunday - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/156-wtb-raok/1189273-another-plant-trimming-ends-sunday-8-27-%40-4-pm-pst.html


Yes, someone actually does follow your tank journal, and that's a nice RAOK.

And by the way, the tank is really looking great. Love the scape, and everything is looking lush. Very, very nice work.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @Greggz, appreciate the kind words. My other post wasn't meant as a "why aren't you looking at me" type comment although I can see how it could come across that way. I'm happy with the tank and I'm not making any changes to it besides daily/weekly maintenance. Everything I have seems happy with the conditions so it is pretty easy now. Part of me would love to start up another, different style tank but luckily I don't have the space .


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## DutchMuch (Aug 19, 2017)

wrong post***

Mod: Speaking of wrong, this is BettaBettas - a permabanned user. If anyone dealt with this scammer or is owed funds, contact me privately and I'll help you with PayPal and/or contact information so you can provide it to your local police department.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

During a major plant trimming today for the ROAK I managed to siphon another small fish fry. I even got a picture this time. Who knows if it will ever survive but I was surprised (it is definitely not the same one). I have no clue which fish it could be though.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

The buces continue to flower...a lot. The ones higher up in the tank flower more often than those lower, but they are also more mature. I haven't seen any of the fish fry, but I'll be doing another water change and canister cleaning today so we'll see. I figure if they are in the tank and still alive, I shouldn't be able to see them.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Boy those plants sure look happy! Nice work.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @Greggz, that is why I'm not changing anything for a while . Although the java fern is starting to get out of control...lots of small plantlets sprouting out with roots. Guess those will be part of the next ROAK. I did see another fish fry swimming near the surface when the filter was disconnected for cleaning. There appear to be a lot of fish eggs on the large java fern leaves, you can see them in the upper left of the photo above.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Another ROAK from my tank is available, it includes almost everything I'm currently growing - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/156-wtb-raok/1195290-plant-trimming-stems-buce-rarer-moss-crypt-fern.html


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

Man I love your tank, may I ask, you said your tank is "medium tech". How long does it take you every week to do maintenance? Man I wish I had that buce, where did you get it from? Next time can you please post in the FS forum, because I never win raok's LOL


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @SKYE.__.HIGH, appreciate the compliments. I got all my Bucephalandra from a forum member here - junglefowl. You should definitely contact them and their prices are very reasonable.

I dose EI two times a week instead of the typical three. However, I also have very hard water with a high TDS and less demanding plants. It seems to work well for me right now. I do a 50% water change once a week and I also take care of plants during that time. I almost always have at least some of the stem plants to trim each week. I also thin out the moss the best I can (flame/xmas, the Cameroon grows extremely slow).


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

sdwindansea said:


> Thanks @SKYE.__.HIGH, appreciate the compliments. I got all my Bucephalandra from a forum member here - junglefowl. You should definitely contact them and their prices are very reasonable.
> 
> 
> 
> I dose EI two times a week instead of the typical three. However, I also have very hard water with a high TDS and less demanding plants. It seems to work well for me right now. I do a 50% water change once a week and I also take care of plants during that time. I almost always have at least some of the stem plants to trim each week. I also thin out the moss the best I can (flame/xmas, the Cameroon grows extremely slow).




Thanks for the info, I'm looking to do a less than high tech setup myself. Glad to see great results from it.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

I believe the reason I only end up dosing 2x/week is due to the lighting. I'm pretty sure I'm under a medium light PAR instead of high light. I still get a lot of growth but I also chose my plants (and critters) to fit the tank I have.

Here is a picture of the Cameroon moss (Plagiochilaceae). I really like it, especially since it is very slow growing compared to the other mosses (flame/xmas). However, it is also a major pain to attach initially as each strand easily separates. When I first received it I almost tossed it in the garbage as I struggled.


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

sdwindansea said:


> I believe the reason I only end up dosing 2x/week is due to the lighting. I'm pretty sure I'm under a medium light PAR instead of high light. I still get a lot of growth but I also chose my plants (and critters) to fit the tank I have.
> 
> Here is a picture of the Cameroon moss (Plagiochilaceae). I really like it, especially since it is very slow growing compared to the other mosses (flame/xmas). However, it is also a major pain to attach initially as each strand easily separates. When I first received it I almost tossed it in the garbage as I struggled.




Maybe you already stated but what is your lighting setup?


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

Did you glue the Cameroon moss? It's looks tremendous


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## giwan (Sep 11, 2017)

wow, your tank looks amazing!
great to see the progress you made, and how the plants filled in nicely.
I also just love the shape of the piece of wood, keep us updated 
I love the pictures where you can view the complete tank.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

@SKYE.__.HIGH - I have the Finnex Planted Plus 24/7 light. The tank is only 17" deep and the substrate is about 3" high. I have the light on max for 8 hours / day. CO2 comes on about 75 minutes before the lights and turns off 60 minutes before the lights.
@The Dude1 - Thanks. I did use superglue for some of the Cameroon moss but I would not do that again. I had way more on my fingers (glue & moss) than I ever managed to get in the tank using that method. I did tie some down. What worked best was to wedge them into some of the cracks in the wood and let them attach on their own from there.
@giwan - Thanks so much for the compliment. I'm very happy with the way it has turned out, especially since I've never had a freshwater tank before. That being said I've kept it simple and it pales in comparison to most of the other tanks I've seen here.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

sdwindansea said:


> I'm very happy with the way it has turned out, especially since I've never had a freshwater tank before. That being said I've kept it simple and it pales in comparison to most of the other tanks I've seen here.


sdwindansea you SHOULD be happy the way it turned out. And I would guess to many what you have there doesn't seem so simple.

And believe me, I'm sure your tank is an inspiration to many, and pales in comparison to few. It has a unique look, and the plants look happy as a clam. 

And I didn't know this was your first freshwater tank. For some reason I see an even bigger tank in your future. Double the size, double the fun!:grin2:


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @Greggz, much appreciated. I wish I could do a bigger tank or even multiple tanks. Unfortunately (although my wallet may disagree) neither is in my future due to living in a smaller house. I will just have to keep on looking at your tank video and live vicariously through you...just don't video moving a tank or dealing with a leaking one.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

sdwindansea said:


> I will just have to keep on looking at your tank video and live vicariously through you...just don't video moving a tank or dealing with a leaking one.


Yeah you got it right there.......you don't want to see that sausage being made. It wasn't pretty. But like most things in life, a little perseverance can go a long way. It's surprising what you can do when you have to.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

No changes to the tank, but I did another major trimming. I removed a ton of the xmas moss since I did a terrible job of "planting" it many months ago. I tried to bend the steel mesh around the wood but that never worked well and it constantly moving around. I pulled it off the log and then the mesh. I reattached a smaller portion using fishing line.

Another ROAK ending tonight from my tank - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/156-wtb-raok/1199410-moss-stems-anubias-ends-tonight.html. Lots of ludwigia, moss and s. repens.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

The tank continues to do well and I have not made any additions except for a couple of assassin snails last weekend. The only major changes have mainly be subtractions. The last guppy from my original four died about a week ago. No signs of illness, disease, etc., it was probably just his time. I've thinned out a lot of the plants, especially the xmas and flame moss. I had the same issue with the flame moss that I did with the xmas moss. I tried to bend the steel mesh around the driftwood but it never really held in place very well and the moss was unable to attach. I removed the entire bunch and re-attached a much smaller portion using fishing line. The rest of the moss and a bunch of other plants found their way into another ROAK (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/156-wtb-raok/1203010-plant-trimming-stems-buce-rarer-moss-crypt.html).

I'm thinking about adding some ember tetras or celestial pearl danios to the tank. We shall see...

Here are some pictures of the tank from this evening.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Not many changes since the last update a week ago. I thinned out the s. repens on the left side of the tank and did more stem trimmings. There is a large rock holding down the driftwood, it is on the right third of the tank on the back side of the driftwood. The wood has been fully submerged for 11 months now so I figured I would try removing the rock. Zero luck, the wood still wants to float like a cork. Not much I can do at this point besides leaving the rock there. It is not very noticeable but it does take a way a bit of planting options and probably affects the water flow a little as well.

Still seeing a lot of RCS despite removing a bunch of their moss "homes" over the last couple of weeks. Still want to add some more fish but I do not want to do it at the expense of the shrimp. The buce continues to do great and is consistently flowering.


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

11 months or 11 weeks? If 11 months then you are very patient.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

SKYE.__.HIGH said:


> 11 months or 11 weeks? If 11 months then you are very patient.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


11 months and I think it is beyond patience now. That rock is going to have to be a permanent part of the tank...


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

sdwindansea said:


> 11 months and I think it is beyond patience now. That rock is going to have to be a permanent part of the tank...


You are probably the only who even notices the rock......all I see is a bunch of beautiful healthy plants.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks as always @Greggz. I must just be a good photographer with a cell phone to be able to hide the rock and the unhappy plants . You are correct though, I'm sure no one else would notice the rock. Like my most people, I'm my own toughest critic.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

The RCS continue to thrive, even though they have a lot going against them. Harlequin rasboras, forktail rainbows, weekly 50% water changes, extremely hard water and a clueless owner.


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## Channing.Miskel (Oct 27, 2015)

Your tank is doing amazing. I've read through this entire thread over the last two days. 

I sympathize with your Driftwood issue. I similarly have a piece that I love that's been submersed for nearly two years and it still wants to float. 

Keep up the good work. And keep posting. 


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

Great tank!


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

How long is your photoperiod? I've recently reduced mine, but I'm still having some algae on my bucephelandra and wood. How many Furcata do you have now? I really liked them, but I lost all but a single female. I'm thinking of getting another group. Have you noticed any breeding?


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

The Dude1 said:


> How long is your photoperiod? I've recently reduced mine, but I'm still having some algae on my bucephelandra and wood. How many Furcata do you have now? I really liked them, but I lost all but a single female. I'm thinking of getting another group. Have you noticed any breeding?


I have my photoperiod set for 8 hours on max (1 PM - 9 PM). I still get the random spot of BBA but it is very easy to spot treat.

Hard to count the furcatus, I started with 30 and I can't imagine I've lost more than one or two (never saw any dead ones though). They have been breeding, I've seen the random fry a couple of times but none have survived past that from what I can tell. I did purchase mine as tank raised and purposely chose them over the gertrude as they are more suited to harder/higher PH water.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

I've been looking at various species of fish to add to the tank. There are a lot of really nice, larger fish that would do well...but most likely at the expense of the RCS. I also wanted to support my local fish store. I considered ember tetras, but they would get lost from a color standpoint with all of the forktail rainbows. They also had really nice white cloud minnows, but I run my tank around 77 degrees which is a bit too warm for them in the long run. So, based on size, appearance and the hopeful (keeping my fingers crossed) ability to not be too harsh on the shrimp I ended up with a dozen cardinal tetras. I know they are nothing special from a fish standpoint but they do look great in the tank.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Well, it has been several months since I've posted. There are a few reasons for this. First, not much has changed with the tank, everything is doing really well and it has basically been status quo. Second, work has been extremely busy so I haven't had much free time to take pictures and respond to threads.

That all being said it looks like the tank will be going through a major update over the next couple of months. One of the joys of living in California is termites and having to fumigate your house every 7 to 10 years. We are now scheduled to do so in the beginning of March. I've thought about trying to preserve the tank/livestock but realized that it would end up being an impressive amount of time, work and cost. So instead I'm looking at this as an opportunity to start from scratch, take what I've learned (almost all of it has been from these forums and the extremely generous members) and try something new. Still have no clue what I will do next but I'm positive it will be freshwater and will have live plants . I will probably try to keep some of the buce in an emersed form during the tank transitions.

Look for more ROAK's over the next several weeks. There will also be local give aways of the livestock as we get closer to the tenting. Here are some pictures from last night.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Good to see pics of your tank, it has been awhile.

I forgot how striking it is. Beautifully scaped with healthy looking plants. Just a very serene calming presentation. 

I really, really like it. Too bad to see it go.

Will be looking forward to seeing what you come up with next. I'm sure whatever it is, it will be equally spectacular!


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

@Greggz, thanks for the kind words, both in this post and in your journal. Every week I'm surprised with the way this tank turned out. I definitely spent a lot of time doing research, was as patient as possible and never missed any maintenance. With all of that being said, there is also a large component of dumb luck. I admit I'm looking forward to a new and different start, but tearing this one down will be bitter sweet.


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## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

That's looking great! Kinda sorry to hear about the fumigation, but I'm with you, it's a perfect opportunity for a renovation and chance to put your increased experience into practice. I wish I were closer, I'd take all those Pseudomugils and shrimp off your hands. It feels like there's a continent between us at times.


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## litzel (Oct 25, 2017)

looks very nice, congrats!!!


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

Your tank is looking spectacular. I'm sorry to hear that you must take it down. It is one of my favorites.It would be very interesting to hear how the buces transition for you. Many of mine were doing poorly and I tried them in an emersed set up. They continued to decline. As a last ditch I tossed them into my 150 where they once thrived... and then we're eaten by my now rehomed African cichlids. 
I want to try one more time to have an area covered in thriving buces like you had.


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## abovo (Jul 27, 2017)

The tank looks beautiful. I'm sure your next one will be great. I unfortunately have to get my house tented this year as well. How do you end up finding homes for your fish? 


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @The Dude1. I'm going to be curious to see how the buces transition as well. I've never tried an emersed growth but figured this is a good opportunity to give it a shot. I'll definitely keep a new journal on the transition and new setup. I can definitely send you some clippings if you would like, just let me know.

I still need to figure out what to do with the substrate (Eco Complete) during the transition along with storing the equipment while not in use. Shouldn't be too difficult though.

@abovo - Thanks so much. I'm hoping that local enthusiasts will want some free livestock when I list them as a ROAK on this forum. If that fails, I'm planning on contacting my LFS. The biggest downside is I know I will not be able to get all of the shrimp out of the tank .

My anubias finally flowered two days ago. Not a great picture but it looks good in person. I'm not sure what it is about my tank but the buces are constantly and consistently flowering. It is very rare if there is not at least one flower "blooming".


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Another ROAK - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/156-wtb-raok/1239730-stems-buce-rarer-moss-s-repens-ends-2-19-10am-pst.html

I will probably start breaking down the tank in the next couple weeks so I'm sure there will be a few more of these along with free livestock to those in the San Diego area who want to pickup.


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## underH20garden (Dec 19, 2017)

wow just read through the whole thread...how needs sleep anyway..lol 
sorry to hear that you are tearing down your tank, but I am sure it will be fun and excited to start over with all the skills and knowledge you have gained. 

very inspiring as I am in the process of setting up my 1st planted tank. its good to know did a great good on there 1st tank wish me luck.

I am a few weeks out to bad a nice RAOK from your take would be amazing


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @underH20garden. It has definitely been a fun learning experience for me and these forums/members have been invaluable. The best advice I received through all of this is exercise patience in almost everything you do related to the tank. Good luck with your new setup and looking forward to reading about it.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

I spent most of this past Sunday clearing out the tank in preparation for the termite tenting. Like most projects it took a lot longer than I was expecting. The large piece of wood on the right still floated after almost 18 months underwater . I removed all of the rocks, wood and plants in order to get the livestock out of the tank. It was still extremely difficult to capture all of the fish. Especially the Sterbai corys who kept on trying to burrow into the substrate. I thought I only had 3 remaining but 5 of them were still there. Attempting to scoop the fish near the substrate invariable churned up the substrate and made it that much harder to see. 

All of the fish were re-homed with the exception of one otto. I never noticed it until I returned home from the LFS later that afternoon. I'm hoping that it survives the tenting (it should in theory). It would be extremely difficult to capture at this point since I've replanted all the plants I wanted to keep. I will know more when I return to the house after the tenting and I will update this thread. I figured I had a lot of shrimp, I just didn't realize how many. Especially since I gave away a lot of them (intentionally and unintentionally). I'm still going to run the lights and CO2 with a reduced fertilizer schedule.

I'm still unsure what the next iteration of this tank will be but I will start a new journal entry when I get to that point. I do know it will involve a lot less wood (I have a smaller piece of spiderwood I'm planning on using), no fast growing moss, slower growing stems and new varieties of fish.

Here are some parting pictures.


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

I'm sure you're excited for something new, but your tank was one of my favorites. It was quite literally the epitome of what I would like to reach. Buces, crypts, moss, and ferns... can it be more perfect? What are you considering for stocking?


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

The Dude1 said:


> I'm sure you're excited for something new, but your tank was one of my favorites. It was quite literally the epitome of what I would like to reach. Buces, crypts, moss, and ferns... can it be more perfect? What are you considering for stocking?


Thanks for the kinds words, really appreciate it. I thoroughly enjoyed this tank and it was a great learning experience. As far as what I want to do eventually with a new setup, I have some basic thoughts. The dimensions of my tank are great for livestock but make planting tricky at times. Especially in the center with the large glass brace at the top of the tank. I'm going to avoid any wood in the center of the tank so I can get to the plants.

I want slower growing plants overall and I'm not planning on getting anything overly exotic. I'm keeping the cameroon moss as it is unique, didn't grow too fast and dealing with trimmings is so much easier than ones like java, xmas and flame (I'm still picking bits of moss out of the tank). I've been looking at lot of tank journals trying to get ideas/inspiration (not difficult at all). I planning on contacting a few members once I've figured it out to see if they will sell me some cuttings. Not going to do a thick carpet of any type.

As far as livestock is concerned, I really like having smaller, shoaling/schooling fish instead of larger "centerpiece" ones. I'll probably lean towards fish that may be OK with the RCS. I've had my eyes on several species including threadfin rainbows, smaller rasoboras, CPD, gobies, corys, ember tetras. We shall see .


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

sdwindansea said:


> Thanks for the kinds words, really appreciate it. I thoroughly enjoyed this tank and it was a great learning experience. As far as what I want to do eventually with a new setup, I have some basic thoughts.


What ever you decide to do I am very much looking forward to it.

Your presentation skills have been excellent, and I suspect that will continue.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @Greggz, I'm hoping I can get lucky a second time in a row...


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## ChrisX (May 28, 2017)

sdwindansea said:


> Thanks for the kinds words, really appreciate it. I thoroughly enjoyed this tank and it was a great learning experience. As far as what I want to do eventually with a new setup, I have some basic thoughts. The dimensions of my tank are great for livestock but make planting tricky at times. Especially in the center with the large glass brace at the top of the tank. I'm going to avoid any wood in the center of the tank so I can get to the plants.
> 
> I want slower growing plants overall and I'm not planning on getting anything overly exotic. I'm keeping the cameroon moss as it is unique, didn't grow too fast and dealing with trimmings is so much easier than ones like java, xmas and flame (I'm still picking bits of moss out of the tank). I've been looking at lot of tank journals trying to get ideas/inspiration (not difficult at all). I planning on contacting a few members once I've figured it out to see if they will sell me some cuttings. Not going to do a thick carpet of any type.
> 
> As far as livestock is concerned, I really like having smaller, shoaling/schooling fish instead of larger "centerpiece" ones. I'll probably lean towards fish that may be OK with the RCS. I've had my eyes on several species including threadfin rainbows, smaller rasoboras, CPD, gobies, corys, ember tetras. We shall see .


You have a green thumb.

You had such great success with the Buce, you might consider making it a major presence in your new tank. But that suggests a good bit of hardscape. I would love to have an all Buce tank. I agree that fast growing stems are a PITA in a short tank. I think if your tank was taller you would appreciate faster growing stems.

I really liked this tank because you put your own stamp on it, you weren't copying an "accepted" design and it looked great.

Question.. was the left-side intake and flow bar the only water circulation?


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks so much @ChrisX. For whatever reasons, the buce did fantastic in my tank. Probably for similar reasons that some other plants were always a struggle (e.g. Myriophyllum). I've never given thought to how a taller tank would change my impressions of different plants until you said that and I completely agree. I will say that the shorter tank makes it much easier to do daily/weekly maintenance.

You are correct there is only a single intake/and spray bar (left side of the tank) run by the canister filter. It actually creates a lot of movement (almost too much) and I have not had any issues related to flow, at least that I'm aware of.

Some of the buce seems to be doing fine in the substrate so I may go down that path for a least a section of the tank. I'm still pretty clueless at this point since most of my thought process had been centered on breaking down the tank, not setting up a new one. It is amazing how well the buce thrived though (wonder if the hard water contributed). Here is what I started out with almost exactly a year ago, the only buce I purchased.


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## Nefarious (Jan 22, 2018)

I read this end to end, such a great build. I’m especially interested as I have the same tank that I’m prepping to transfer my 20long to. As you experienced, the quick growing stems are extremely high maintenance in these shallow tanks. 


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Well, figured it is time for an update. Our house was tented this past Monday and I got home on Wednesday evening. As far as the tank is concerned much went as expected along with a few oddities/surprises (good and bad). 

The Friday night before I left I noticed at least three blue-eyed forktail fry swimming around the tank. The eggs must been on some of the remaining plants. Unfortunately none of them survived the tenting. Also, the otto did not survive as well (not a big surprise, but still disappointed).

I kept five different varieties of bucephalandra in the tank. What is interesting is that two of them did terribly. Leaves melting & falling off until there is not much left but the rhizome. One other suffered a bit, but not terribly from what I can tell. The other two look no different than before the tenting. All of them were on the substrate in the same general water flow (some even side by side). It is strange how differently they handled it. Here is a picture of some of the "arrogant blue" that was pretty much decimated. I am leaving it in the tank for now to see if it ever recovers, that is the patience part of the hobby speaking to me. The anubias pinto also has several melting leaves, while the crypts (red wendtii) had all the leaves melt away. Again, I'm leaving what is left to see if it ever recovers. The ludwigia repens and limnophila aromatic also had a good amount of damage but should recover as well. The bacopa, mini chain sword, cameroon moss and myriophyllum all seemed like they didn't nothing happened.

Here is a picture of the buce that did terribly.










There were a few dead RCS in the tank, but surprisingly few (I found maybe 4). The colony seems to be thriving. No wonder I was able to successfully keep them, they are basically underwater cockroaches . I did a 50% water change first thing Thursday morning. I would've done it Wednesday night but the water was too cold (gas did not get turned back on until Thursday afternoon). I did another 50% water change today along with a full canister cleaning. 

I also picked up a piece of spiderwood before I left, it has been soaking for about 2 weeks. I attached some slow growing buce and a bit of cameroon moss. It is not in its final resting place yet, I'm still working on the layout and potential plants. If all goes well over the next week or two, I'll start re-adding other livestock as well.


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

You're Buce are gorgeous. Have you noticed a difference in hardyness between the round wide leaf plants and the thin long leaf plants??


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

The Dude1 said:


> You're Buce are gorgeous. Have you noticed a difference in hardyness between the round wide leaf plants and the thin long leaf plants??


Thanks. That is an interesting question of which I do not have a good answer. I'm sure it will vary between tanks based on water composition, lighting, spacing, etc. The longer leaved buce like the arrogant blue and sekadau were the fastest growers in my tank. Both are of the long-leaved variety. The brownie brown and jade both grew fine, just nearly as quickly. The catherinae (tiny, elongated leaves) grew the slowest by far.

Ironically, the tenting did the most damage to the arrogant blue and sekadau. The brownie and catherinae showed little to no affect from it. All of the buce were in comparable spots throughout the tank during the tenting.

I'm planning on using the slower growing buce on the hardscape (spiderwood) moving forward. My goals for the next iteration of this tank are a less "bulky" layout with medium to slow growing plants. I'm sure I'll still get some quicker growing ones as well. I also want to try some new species. I've already proved to myself that I can be successful (was a bit of a surprise). I'm currently trying to determine what I want to use for the next planting and will probably start acquiring them over the next week or two. I need to send out some PM's to forum members where I've been stalking their journals :wink2:


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

I had contemplated creating a brand new journal entry but decided against it for several reasons. Primarily it is still the same physical tank, it is just undergoing a transformation. I also wanted to keep everything in one place since this is a constant learning experience for me.

I introduced six Corydoras Julii to the tank today, along with two nerite snails. Outside of the RCS and plentiful bladder snails, this is the only livestock in the tank. I also threw in some pogostemon erectus and a second piece of wood. It must be a subconscious thing, but I was shocked at how similar the layout of the new wood is compared to my prior version. It just a lot less dense/bulky and will allow for more flexibility in the planting. I just placed an order for a large variety of plants from a forum member that will be here later this week. I'm going to be removing a lot of the bucephalandra (I have too much). I seriously doubt I will keep every species of plant I ordered but I wanted to "audition" them to see what looks good in the tank and more importantly, what does well. For example, the myriophyllum red stem I have has done terribly. The stalks are extremely thin and they never keep the leaves on the lower portion. Almost everything I ordered should be manageable in my tank from a growth standpoint, at least that is my hope. I'm also still trying to figure out what other livestock I want moving forward...


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## ipkiss (Aug 9, 2011)

sdwindansea said:


> I had contemplated creating a brand new journal entry but decided against it for several reasons. Primarily it is still the same physical tank, it is just undergoing a transformation. I also wanted to keep everything in one place since this is a constant learning experience for me.


Plus, you don't want to inconvenience your subscribers to your journal (e.g. me) to have to find the new journal to resubscribe :wink2:


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

Julii's are so pretty. It seems you don't see them often, but they are one of the best looking more common Cory I think. I understand wanting to start something new, but man... youve got the Buce touch. Packing that long branch from end to end with Buce would look killer! I hope you go with something more unusual than what we normally see... there are numerous gorgeous planted tanks on here, but with few exceptions the fauna selection is redundant. I'm currently no different, but my new tank will be home to lamp eye Congo's and some other obscure African tetra species with some Nigerian Red Kribensis and Syno lucipinnis. Are you thinking big group of small fish or smaller group of larger fish?


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

I do have buce on the long branch and some of the other parts of the wood as well. I went with the smaller leaf/root varieties as the other ones would overwhelm the perspective/wood over time. I'm most likely going to be getting rid of some of the buce as I just won't have space for it. I won't know for sure what is staying and going until I get the new plants. There will definitely be a good variety but I doubt it will involve anything you've never seen before (with the exception of a sloppy layout).

I really like the smaller fish and will definitely be going that route. I'm hoping to try some different species than the last iteration. I've always liked threadfin rainbows, ember tetras, espei rasboras, etc.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

I purchased a decent varied of plants from @Bartohog earlier in the week and I had them just sitting in the tank using plant weights while I figured out where I wanted them to go and had the time to work with them. As usual, the plants were in excellent condition and I’ve never been disappointed by my purchases from them. I only ordered a couple of each variety to see what actually does well in my tank. Here is what was purchased:

Hydrocotyle Leucocephala (pennywort)
Bacopa Colorata
Proserpinaca Palustris (Mermaid Weed)
Rotala Wallichii
Limnophila Sp. Dwarf Bonsai – This was actually a mistake on my part as I meant to order Ammania sp bonsai. However, it is a beautiful plant and I’m hoping to keep it although it is bending over quite a bit from the current. I must’ve been drinking too much that night…
Hygrophila sp. Araguaia
Lobelia Cardinalis 'Small Form'
Hedyotis Borneo Orange

I also kept the following in the tank and did a full re-scape of all the plants in the spots I’m hoping to keep them in. Should be interesting as the fill in. 
Several varieties of bucephalandra

Bacopa caroliniana
Anubias Pinto
Helanthium tenellum red – I’ve had this over a year, it is really starting to show its colors now that I’ve moved it into its own space
Limnophila aromatic
Cameroon moss
Cryptocoryne wendtii red
Pogostemon Erectus

So, obviously nothing that exciting or out of the ordinary in what I currently have. However, I think it should look really nice as it all fills in and will hopefully be a bit easier to manage on a weekly basis although that may just be wishful thinking. I guess if I kill them all then it is really easy to manage. I already know the pennywort will require constant attention as it has grown ~4" in four days. I did place it in a area that is easy to work with.

I also added 15 Espei (lambchop) rasboras to the tank today. Here are some pictures, none are very good but will at least be decent for comparisons to future pictures.


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

Hey nice tank!


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

Wow your tank was gorgeous. I love the blue buce on the left of the tree- is that the 'arrogant blue'? (I have not had time to read the whole thread yet) I also really admire that ferny-looking fluffy moss that's on the left of your first layout- can't remember the name of it now


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

Thanks @JJ09, really appreciate it. The moss is cameroon moss. I've kept some for this new layout as well. Much slower growing (and manageable) than the flame and xmas moss I had before. I'm still finding bits of that in the tank and picking it out. The buce on the left of the tree is brownie brown. The arrogant blue has longer leaves and grew much faster in my tank as well. You can see it on the substrate to the right of the wood (back of the two buces).


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

Coming along pretty quickly now.

I am really going to enjoy watching this fill in.

Can already tell it has the makings of something special. 

Keep the pics coming.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

It is definitely time for an update since it has been close to a month.

There have been a few livestock additions.

3 more Espei rasboras (18 in total now)
3 black horned nerites
4 amano shrimp


My LFS also had some nice Rotala Wallichii so I purchased some more to add to what I already have.

I wasn't sure how well the plants are progressing until I looked at the pictures from a month ago. I always seem to focus more on the problems than the successes. Of course the pennywort is growing like a weed, which I was hoping for. It provides a nice "niche" on the left side of the tank where the flow is the calmest. It also gives a bit of a floating plant at the surface without blocking any light.

The existing bacopa, limnophila aromatic, helanthium, crypt, pogostemon, buce and moss are all doing great. I'm not surprised as they did well in the prior version of the tank.

Of the newly purchased plants, the bacopa colorata, mermaid weed, lobelia cardinalis, and hygrophila are all doing fine. However, the rotala wallichii, limnophila dwarf bonsai and hedyotis borneo orange are all struggling in their own ways. It will be interesting to see how the store bought rotala does compared to the one I purchsed about a month ago. It may be acclimation issues to the water in my tank. I also think I placed them in areas with too much water flow.

I did get a Dwyer RMA-151-SSV flow meter installed. After some necessary learning, it is working great and I really like it. The downside is that I've come to realize that my regulator is not very consistent at all. I can set the working pressure to 30 psi and everything seems fine. However, the next day when the solenoid activates, the working pressure may only be 22 psi. This is making it difficult to maintain a consistent CO2 rate and is probably contributing to the trace amounts of BBA that I find and deal with. So I'm in the process of building my own regulator, I found a great deal on a new Airgas Y12-244B. I'm just waiting for everything to arrive. Thanks again for the quick advice/help @jeffkrol.

This weekend I'm going to be removing the homemade intake with the Eheim pre-filter and replace it with a modified version of the intake/skimmer that came with the Aquatop Forza canister. I'm hoping to reduce the footprint in the tank, utilize the skimmer and have a better fitting (the current one is not that great). ALso gives me an excuse to clean and replace various tubing.

Now for the obligatory pictures. I'm still working on plant placements...


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## OreoP (Aug 12, 2016)

Looking good....will get better as the plants fill in. Liking the buces'!!

Go to know that you joined the Dwyer group..LOL


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

There have been some changes to the tank, most are pretty subtle from a visual standpoint. I moved all the rotala wallichii to the left, rear of the tank and shifted the p. erectus to the right. The limnophila dwarf bonsai still does not seem to be doing so well, sheds lower leaves and growing slow. Maybe not enough light at the substrate for this plant (or any other number of possibilities). Everything else seems to be growing well and I've been doing some basic trimming.

The mermaid weed has been interesting. Two of the stems are exhibiting the same growth pattern/colors while the stem at the right is doing something different. They should all be receiving the same amount of light and are almost exactly the same height. All of the lower leaves on the three stems are identical as well.

The "major", behind the scene changes are a new intake and a new regulator. I replaced the DIY intake with the Eheim pre-filter with the Aquatop intake with the surface skimmer. I had to do some cutting and pirating of other pieces to make it all work since the height of my tank is so shallow. I do have a large, course sponge over the intake to keep as many shrimp out of the filter as possible. A smaller sponge has been placed in the skimmer. So far I'm really happy with the new intake but the next water change will be the real test. I'm hoping it is easy to deal with taking off the sponge underwater. It has a much less prominent footprint in the tank which is a good thing.

As I mentioned in a prior post, after installing the Dwyer flow meter I came to realize just how inconsistent my CO2 delivery has been with the old regulator. Every day I've had to adjust the output pressure of the regulator and/or adjust the flow meter to get a consistent value. So I had purchase a new Airgas Y12-244B for what I believe was a killer price. I finally had a chance to get it all put together using the post body kit from diyco2regulators.com. Extremely easy to do, especially since the regulator already came with the CGA-320 setup. The regulator passed all the leak tests with flying colors. Several things I noticed compared to my old CO2 Art regulator.

The new setup is much larger/heavier. I knew that going in, but it is probably 2x the size.
The control valve for the low pressure is much, much more precise and easy to adjust.
The Fabco needle valve is much nicer than the one on the CO2 Art. If I had this setup several weeks ago I may not have been enticed to go with the flow meter, although I'm not complaining.

I did lose one of the Julii corys this morning. It did not have any visible signs of infection or bodily harm. I'll be closely monitoring the other fish although everyone else seems fine at the moment.

Now on to the pictures.

New regulator









Mermaid weed









Left side of tank with new intake









Full tank shot









Gratuitous Julii-fest


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## ipkiss (Aug 9, 2011)

Nice regulator, I like! And yes, mermaid weed is such a mystery to me too.


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

I always wanted to try mermaid weed.... maybe that one plant off to the side has its roots in an area striking or missing a nutrient the others do or don't have? just an odd idea


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

JJ09 said:


> I always wanted to try mermaid weed.... maybe that one plant off to the side has its roots in an area striking or missing a nutrient the others do or don't have? just an odd idea



Anything is possible. However, the only difference that I'm aware of is that the one to the far right receives the most water flow. I did chop the top of that stem and the one on the left and replanted them. It will be interesting to see what they do. Assuming they do well and I'm able to continue growing them I will gladly send you some.


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Great looking regulator! So many regulators I see being built have gauges that are capable of reading much higher than we would ever use (i.e., 200psi on the low pressure side). Yours maxes out at 60psi which is more than we would ever need - makes it much easier to read where 20psi is. And yes, big 2 stage regulators can be heavy. My first setup included a 5# aluminum tank - had to build a support to hold everything up as the regulator was so heavy it wanted to tip everything over.

Tank is looking very nice as well!


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## JJ09 (Sep 11, 2014)

@sdwindansea that would be kind of you! perhaps in the fall, if what you have multiplies enough (already too hot for shipping now IMHO)


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

@JJ09, I will definitely send you some in the fall...if I haven't killed them by then 

No major changes to the tank in the last two weeks. Just the standard pruning and replanting. The limnophila dwarf bonsai continues to struggle. Everything else is growing well although I'm definitely not getting the coloration on the bacopa colorata that I've seen from others.

I did add 3 more Corydoras Julii and 12 Golden White Cloud minnows (Tanichthys albonubes) last Sunday. I figured the minnows were comparable in size, behavior and mouth size to the rasboras. They probably are, however, this batch was a bunch of killers. I assumed that they would go after the RCS fry (most fish would). However, they were picking off and killing several adults every day. For some reason I'm pretty attached to the RCS, or if I knew they weren't going to last I would've have gone a different direction with the fish. So today I was able to capture all 12 minnows without much trouble (two nets, a bit of food and surface dwelling fish made helped a lot). They were returned to the LFS.

I did replace them with 12 Emerald Eye Rasboras (rasbora dorsiocellata). They are already schooling/shoaling with the Espei as I hoped they would.


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## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

sdwindansea said:


> No major changes to the tank in the last two weeks. Just the standard pruning and replanting. The limnophila dwarf bonsai continues to struggle. Everything else is growing well although I'm definitely not getting the coloration on the bacopa colorata that I've seen from others.


Come on, you should know by now..........pics or it didn't happen!:grin2:


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

Emerald eye rasboras are gorgeous... I've always loved them. Good choice.


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## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

I was recently reminded that I've not posted an updated in a long time. I was surprised at how long it has been after seeing the last post dates. Not much has changed, it has basically been status quo with normal maintenance and a lot of trimming. We were away for a week in July and of course a nice heat wave hit San Diego. When I got home the tank was at 83 degrees, I normally keep it around 77. Surprisingly nothing seemed to have suffered, including the RCS.

I have not added any new livestock or plants. I've actually removed all of the Rotala Wallichii. For whatever reason(s) it does not do well in my tank, stunted growth, thinning stems and attracts BBA. This is very similar to how Myriophyllum did when I tried to keep it. All of the other plants are doing great from what I can tell. I am starting to up the CO2 a bit more and I've recently started a full EI dosing schedule (previously was about 2/3). I'm laying low on changes for now since we will be on a two week trip at the beginning of September. I just completed some major trimmings, here are the latest pictures.


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