# ua hua's 90 gal. High Tech(Equipment upgrade 4/6/17)



## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

Looks great but I demand a closer full tank shot.

Glad to see I'm not the only one with collectoritis. Nice plant list.


----------



## OoglyBoogly (Oct 19, 2010)

Hyzer said:


> Looks great but I demand a closer full tank shot.
> 
> Glad to see I'm not the only one with collectoritis. Nice plant list.


Collectoritis sure is "fun" :tongue:

I really like your enclosure/stand for your tank.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Hyzer said:


> Looks great but I demand a closer full tank shot.
> 
> Glad to see I'm not the only one with collectoritis. Nice plant list.


I will try to get a closer FTS later today. All the FTS I have right now are kind of crappy. I only have certain times of the day that I can take pictures or I end up with horrible reflections in the shot. The collectoritis is something that I'm working on but with so many cool plants and only one tank to put them in it is hard to avoid. Most of the plants listed were bought from Crispino Ramos in a package. I wanted to try a few different plants at once to see what ones I really like and the ones that don't work in my conditions. Here are a few more pictures from a month ago.


----------



## AquaNorth (Jan 27, 2010)

Your stand and canopy are amazing is it a piece of furniture or a aquarium stand ? I also like to try a variety of plants and see what works. Good job.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That has to be the single most beautiful piece of aquarium furniture I have EVER, EVER seen. :drool: The plants are just the icing on the cake!


----------



## wkndracer (Mar 14, 2009)

*Beautiful *:drool:


----------



## q8vw (Apr 20, 2010)

Amazing tank, great work!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> That has to be the single most beautiful piece of aquarium furniture I have EVER, EVER seen. :drool: The plants are just the icing on the cake!


Thank you very much. Now if I can get the inside of the tank to look as good as the stand and canopy I will be a happy guy. I looked for a long time before I found a stand that would look like a piece of furniture since it is the first thing someone sees when they walk in my front door. I was about to have a custom made stand built until I came across this one and it just happen to have the exact same finish as the rest of my furniture in my living room. I don't have the cabinet making skills like fellow TPT member northey87 has. His stand and canopy have to be one of the nicest looking I have ever seen and can't wait to see it in when it's all finished.


----------



## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

We actually have a lot of mission type furniture, and I just know that would look great in our living room. Let me give you my address so that you can bring it to me. :biggrin: It really is a fine piece of furniture, regardless if it is custom built or not. Now you have me looking up northey87. I am almost tempted to just shut the computer and go to work early so I don't get more envious.


----------



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

That is one beautiful stand/canopy. Must be a real pain to take off all the photographs and candles to feed your fish. looking forward to updates!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

VadimShevchuk said:


> That is one beautiful stand/canopy. Must be a real pain to take off all the photographs and candles to feed your fish. looking forward to updates!


There is actually 2 doors on the front part of the canopy that open up and I usually reach around the back of the canopy to feed and dose. There is just enough room to get my arm back there.However it can be a pain during weekly w/c but that is the price you have to pay if you want a canopy. The candles and pictures are my wifes doing.


----------



## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

very nice  

Amy


----------



## EntoCraig (Jun 7, 2010)

I really love tanks like this. The natural, dense look is my fave.


----------



## fjord (Feb 1, 2011)

ua hua,

Are you using any other heat source than the Hydor hyrokable with Hydor hydroset? I have, but haven't yet put into service, the hyrokable with hydroset, and a Hydor ETH for a new tank setup. I'm just wondering if perhaps I don't need the ETH? I've wondered if using both is redundant, and if it might make temperature adjustment more of a challenge, as the hydroset uses a temperature probe in the water column.

Oh, incredibly beautiful setup! My compliments!

Mike


----------



## v369 (Nov 14, 2010)

tank is amazing


----------



## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

very beautiful


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

fjord said:


> ua hua,
> 
> Are you using any other heat source than the Hydor hyrokable with Hydor hydroset? I have, but haven't yet put into service, the hyrokable with hydroset, and a Hydor ETH for a new tank setup. I'm just wondering if perhaps I don't need the ETH? I've wondered if using both is redundant, and if it might make temperature adjustment more of a challenge, as the hydroset uses a temperature probe in the water column.
> 
> ...


 
I haven't checked on this thread for awhile so sorry for the delayed response. The Eheim 2126 has a heater in it but never turns on except after a water change. The hyrdokable keeps my temp. around 80F but I believe that the CF lights inside the canopy also play a role in the temp. of the tank. In the middle of summer my tank can reach 82-84 without the hyrokable even turning on. I can't say for sure for your setup if you need the ETH in conjuction with the hydrokable but it can't hurt to have for backup just in case something happens to your hydrokable. Thanks for all your compliments and if I can ever figure how to take better pictures with my fancy new camera I will update this thread as I have added a few plants and have narrowed the species of plants down to the few that seem to thrive in my conditions. About 2 months ago I added 45 rummynose as I was down to 5 left from my original school of 30 that I have had for over two years.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Well after having this tank setup for well over 3 1/2 years I'm sad to say I have to tear it down. And not for good might I add but I have been wanting to put my wet/dry sump back on this tank and need 3" between the tank and wall to put the overflow box and only have 2 1/2" right now. So needless to say I have to break this down and take everything out for 1".

It felt like Christmas today as I finally received the new equipment for this tank. Today I got my Tek 4x54 light fixture with 1 Geismann Midday, 1 Geismann Aquaflora, 1 ATI blue special, and 1 ATI purple plus. I also got a new Eshopps overflow box as the old one I have is pushing 10 years old and needs about 4 1/2" between the wall and tank. The pump I got is a Mag Drive 7 with fractioning impeller that I plan on running through my Aqua medic 1000 reactor using the dual venturi method. I also got a hydor koralia evolution water pump to help with the flow as the old maxi jets I have in the tank now are about on there last leg being they are over 5 years old and I definitley got my moneys worth out of them. I will try to post some pictures of the process of the rescaping of this tank and I'm very curious myself as to how this CO2 diffusion method that I will be trying will work out. I have tried many different pumps with different flow rates on my reactor and always had false gas in the top of the reactor by the end of the day and got real tired of always having to bleed this false gas off. I'm hoping this new pump with the venturi method will solve this and the worst case senario will be I ditch the reactor all together and just run it through the needle wheel although I want to avoid the micro bubbles in the tank.

I will be using some lava rocks in this new scape along with the drfitwood that is in the tank now. I will be using all the plants that are in the tank now and more than likely will be trying to acquire a large amount of fissidens and a few others than have yet to be determind. I would like to find a foreground plant that my roselines don't eventually take a liking to. I have elatine triandra in the tank now and about the time it starts to fill in they rip it up and I have to replant it every week. I have tried just about every foreground plant there is and the only one that they didn't seem to bother was marsiela minuta but that stuff became such a weed that I got rid of it. Right now I'm going to keep the e. trianda and might also use some lilaeopsis along with it and hope the roselines leave it alone long enough for it to take root.

Nothing like starting a tank over that has been doing great and has been stable for 3+ years for 1" but I'm kind of excited for a new start. So here goes nothing and I will try to keep this updated more than once every year.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Let the cussing begin. I started the massive chore of tearing this tank down last night and just like Murphy's law nothing was going right. The bulkhead fitting for the overflow box I ordered was defective and wasn't allowing the nut to screw on all the way. So I have a new one that should be here tom. so I can finish. The fish were all put in my 20 gal. quarantine tank and my power was shut off this morning by the power company to put in new transformers and I come home for lunch to find 16 of my rummynose dead. If it wasn't for bad luck I would have no luck at all. I'm hoping to finish everything by this weekend and will post some pics of the progress. Things like this is what makes people quit the hobby but it's not the first time I have bad things happen and I can almost guarantee that it won't be the last. I hope this is worth all the headache that it has/will be but I'm trying to stay positive.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Here is some pictures of the progress so far. I was hoping to plant it today but it was my daughters 1st Birthday party so it will get planted and flooded tomorrow. Sorry for the dirty glass in the tank photos but by the time I got done doing the hardscape I was exhausted.


----------



## fjord (Feb 1, 2011)

*Rebuild*

Man I hurt for you and really admire your determination. I was just wondering if you are planning to use mineralized top soil as a substrate this time? I'm planning to switch over to MTS as soon as I can find the time to take down and rebuild my tank as well.

Were did you find those wonderful pieces of mopani wood? I really covet the piece on the left!

Best of luck to you with your hard work and condolences on the fummynose.

Mike


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

fjord said:


> Man I hurt for you and really admire your determination. I was just wondering if you are planning to use mineralized top soil as a substrate this time? I'm planning to switch over to MTS as soon as I can find the time to take down and rebuild my tank as well.
> 
> Were did you find those wonderful pieces of mopani wood? I really covet the piece on the left!
> 
> ...


I'm not using MTS in this tank. The substrate is flourite and flourite black sand. I already had flourite in the tank but added a few more bags to get the slope in the back. I have some smaller lava rock under the base of the substrate that has been in there since I set this tank up several years ago. I have several different types of root tabs so should be good to go for a few months. I lost all of my two favorite plants while redoing this tank. All my elatine triandra and bylxa aubertii melted away to mush while in the holding tank. I also forgot to cover up the 5 gal bucket of anubias nana barteri that I was going to RAOK on here but all the leaves dried up and the by the next day when I noticed it was too late. I have some more plants to purchase and plant then I will post some pictures. The tank is still a little cloudy but I really am liking the new layout. Now just to finish planting and wait for it to grow in.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Trying something new with the co2 diffusion on this tank for awhile. I was running a mag-drive 7 with fractioning impeller through my aqua medic 1000 reactor and using a dual venturi method but was losing a lot of flow from the reactor and it was causing an air pocket in the top of the u-tube for the overflow box. So i bypassed the reactor completely and put the co2 into the venturi of the pump and feeding it directly from the sump into the aquarium. The amount of flow that was lost to the reactor was amazing. The flow through the overflow box is like a night and day difference to before. The only thing that will take some getting used to is the millions of bubbles in the tank. The one good thing about misting the co2 is I can see exactly where the co2 is distributed throughout the tank and the flow is pushing the bubbles to every corner of the tank.

I'm going to leave it this way for awhile and see how it goes and if the bubbles still bug me then I will purchase another pump to feed the reactor and use the mag drive for the return pump. I'm not sure on what pump would be a good choice to run through the reactor as I have tried several different pumps and none of them I have tried so far could keep the false gas from building at the top of the reactor except for this mag drive. 

I should have the rest of the plants I need by the end of this week. I have some e. belem, ludwigia sp. red, elatine triandra, rotala mexicana goias, rotala magenta, and anubias coffeefolia to plant and I think that will be it for plants. I will need to be purchasing some more rummynose as I lost 17 rummynose during this rescape and I will also be getting some cories either gold laser or adolfo's.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Finally planted for now and some amateur pictures....


----------



## Jonnywhoop (May 30, 2012)

^Cant wait till it grows in. looks dope already!!!!!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Jonnywhoop said:


> ^Cant wait till it grows in. looks dope already!!!!!


Thank you. There is quite a few crypt green gecko and mi oya in the back on the right side but they melted to nothing but roots when I did this rescape. These crypts were 8"-10" when I took them out before redoing this and within 1 day of putting them back in the tank there was barely a leaf on the plants. After a week I have several new leaves coming up from them. Crypts don't like being moved and they have a way of telling you by melting to mush.


----------



## zzrguy (Jul 11, 2012)

Looking good.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

zzrguy said:


> Looking good.


Thank you. I'm having a hard time keeping the e. belem rooted. My roselines did this before when I had dhg and they did the same thing when I had Hygrophilia 'Araguaia'. The grab on to the plant and yank on it until they pull it out of the substrate. The don't mess with the Elatine triandra but everyday I have to replant strands of dhg and it's starting to get annoying. I even thought about putting a piece of plexiglass over the area were the dhg is but don't want a fish to get stuck or hurt. Does anyone else have any suggestions to get this plants roots established enough that I won't have to worry about them pulling it up. If they keep it up I may have to get rid of the dhg and try something else in it's place because I don't think I will be getting rid of the roselines as they are one of my favortie fish. Maybe a lilaeopsis sp. could be an option in the place of the dhg belem.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Its been a little over a month since initial planting and everything is growing really good except for the rotala magenta. It got really stunted in the process of me trying to get the co2 dialed in a trying a couple different diffusion methods, not one that I'm settled on yet. The new growth has looked a little better but will probably get rid of this for some other red plant. I would like to put Ludwigia var. Patanal in it's place or rotala macrandra. The elatine triandra is a weed in every sense of the word. I have trimmed it a couple of times and you can't even tell 3-4 days later. I planted some Hygrophilia sp. 'Araguaia' and hoping this time my roselines leave it alone long enough to take root. I planted more than I needed in case they started ripping it out. They finally have left the dhg belem alone but I haven't seen much growth from it. It has put out some more runners but it is slow growing from my experience thus far. I will be putting 40 more rummynose in the next few months and will try to get my school back to the numbers they were before. Now for some more amateur pictures. One of these days I will learn to use this camera and take some better pictures.










My favorite plant. Heres hoping my fish leave it alone.


----------



## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

looking good, love the hardscape layout


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Well I have came to the conclusion that I can't grow rotala macrandra. I have added it twice and both times it just starts to melt away. I don't know what I'm doing wrong or if it just doesn't like my water. All the other plants are doing great and growing like the weeds they are. I ordered 50 rummynose from my LFS and they came in today and by the time I got there to pick them up 20 were dead. Against my better judgement I took home the 30 that were left and during the 2 hours I was drip acclimating them another 14 died and here we are 4 hours after adding them to the tank and 2 are all thats still alive. This must have been a bad batch and will be going back tomorrow to get my money back or have him order me some more. Hopefully the next batch comes in looking better. I have been checking some other sources and may end up ordering some online. Still trying to decide what plant to put in place of the rotala macrandra. Really wanting a redish colored plant and I'm debating between Ludwigia sp. Patanal, Pogostemon stellatus, or Ludwigia sp. red.


----------



## thefisherman (Oct 15, 2011)

pantanal :O


- thefisherman


----------



## tex627 (Jan 11, 2009)

wow, sweet tank!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

thefisherman said:


> pantanal :O
> 
> 
> - thefisherman


That is what I'm leaning towards. 



tex627 said:


> wow, sweet tank!


Thanks.


----------



## scotty82 (May 9, 2012)

The tank is looking great! I hope to have something half that nice here soon when I set up my 75. Question on your hardscape. Those bigger rocks you have in there, are those just big lava rock?


----------



## Cashmere (Sep 10, 2012)

The tank looks awesome. I love the look of the blue bulbs, and the large school of roselines and rummy nose. Something to aspire to, it makes me reconsider not using co2.


----------



## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

The depth of this tank is phenomenal


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

scotty82 said:


> The tank is looking great! I hope to have something half that nice here soon when I set up my 75. Question on your hardscape. Those bigger rocks you have in there, are those just big lava rock?


Yes that is lava rock. I have 4 huge boulders that were in my back yard that were about 150lbs. each and after a hammer and chisel that is what I came up with. It was interesting to find pieces of metal and nails that were picked up by the flowing lava at one point that were inside these huge boulders.




Cashmere said:


> The tank looks awesome. I love the look of the blue bulbs, and the large school of roselines and rummy nose. Something to aspire to, it makes me reconsider not using co2.



Thank you. I have always used blue bulbs in combination with other bulbs in my tanks as it makes the colors of the fish really come out. I'm hoping to get my rummy school back up to where it used to be at about 50-60.




Chrisinator said:


> The depth of this tank is phenomenal


Thank you. That is what I was going for this time. I have never really tried to scape a tank before. I'm very happy with the hardscape, now just need to see how the planting will turn out. Trying my hardest to not let the collectoritis set back in and only stick with a few species of plants which is hard when you only have one tank but after years of trying almost every plant out there I gained experience in what I like and what plants like me.


----------



## thefisherman (Oct 15, 2011)

ua hua said:


> Trying my hardest to not let the collectoritis set back in and only stick with a few species of plants which is hard when you only have one tank but after years of trying almost every plant out there I gained experience in what I like and what plants like me.


amen my brotha... i had it (collectoritis) bad and only recovering now, i guess everyone goes through it. can't wait to see how your plants setup in your tank. i love the dimensions of your 90, now i'm inspired to start a new planted tank... if my wife doesn't kill me lol :O



- thefisherman


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

My winter project and a few more amateur pictures:


----------



## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

This is one of my favorite tank & stands on the site. I'm looking forward to seeing it grow in.

It's a curious thing that with bouts of collectoritis we don't see many Dutch aquascapes.

Personnaly, I I had a single sp. strain of the virus. Which lead to 4 tanks of potted crypts at the peak of the affliction. :icon_redf


----------



## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

It is a great stand. Every time I see it I think about copying it. Hardscape is great just needs the plants to finish filling in. Great design.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

DogFish said:


> This is one of my favorite tank & stands on the site. I'm looking forward to seeing it grow in.
> 
> It's a curious thing that with bouts of collectoritis we don't see many Dutch aquascapes.
> 
> Personnaly, I I had a single sp. strain of the virus. Which lead to 4 tanks of potted crypts at the peak of the affliction. :icon_redf


Thank you for the kind words. And yes this collectoritis is a hard disease to rid ones self of.



BruceF said:


> It is a great stand. Every time I see it I think about copying it. Hardscape is great just needs the plants to finish filling in. Great design.


Thanks. I just added some Ludwigia sp. cuba, Rotala sp. nanjenshan, Rotala mexicana Araguaia, Pogostemon stellatus, Myriopyllum mattogrossense, and Hydrocotyle sp. Japan. Hopefully I can get the right side to fill in more to what I have in mind.


----------



## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

Nice work, Ua Hua! It will look fantastic once it's filled in, without a doubt!

Sorry....where did you get the new regulator from, out of curiosity? GLA?

+1 to Frank.....the stand and the "enclosure" are truly a highlight of the tank. It really adds to the set up and it looks terrific!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

crazydaz said:


> Nice work, Ua Hua! It will look fantastic once it's filled in, without a doubt!
> 
> Sorry....where did you get the new regulator from, out of curiosity? GLA?
> 
> +1 to Frank.....the stand and the "enclosure" are truly a highlight of the tank. It really adds to the set up and it looks terrific!


Thanks Don. It can't fill in fast enough. I'm really liking the Rotala mexicana sp. Araguaia a lot. Hoping it fills in the right rear corner along with the Ludwigia sp. cuba. 

The regulator is a brand new HPT-500 from that auction site. I looked for months before I found what I wanted at a decent price. It was a little pricey but it's new and don't have to worry about getting a dud. The rest of my fittings will be here some time next week so I can start putting it together. I got a 2" 6061 aluminum alloy cga 320 nipple because I couldn't find a 2" one from anywhere except from Victor. I may just end up getting a stainless steel 3" one from J&R even though those run about $60 for the nipple, nut, and in port filter. The aluminum nipple just feels cheap compared to the all the other parts being stainless steel. A word of advice to those wanting to build your own regulator. While it may be true that you can build your own for cheaper than you could buy one from the members here that build them. I must say that it's not a whole lot cheaper than these guys sell them for. It takes hours and hours of searching the internet and finding all the right parts can be a pain. I will have around $260 in this unit and countless hours of my time looking for parts. So to those that aren't looking for the learning experience of building a regulator(that is the only reason I didn't buy one from a member here) I suggest you purchase a high quality unit that Oldpunk or Bettatail builds. The price they sell these units for is very fair as far as I'm concerned because I know now how much time and effort go into getting everything you need for one. If it wasn't for those two members answering my numerous questions I wouldn't have even attempted this even though I built my current regulator setup, but this new one is all high quality parts and all new to me. So a big thanks to Oldpunk and Bettatail for being very helpful members to this community. Hopefully by next week I will be sporting a very shiny new regulator that will last a lifetime.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I added 50 more rummynose tetras on Friday and all look great and have only lost 1 so far. I don't plan on adding to many more fish but do want to add some cories after the carpet plants have completely filled in. I'm having a hard time deciding between gold laser cories and Corydoras aldolfoi. I have had aldolfoi's before and really like them but I don't see them for sale where I live very often. I may regret trying to add cories to a tank that I want to have a carpet in but will just have to see.


----------



## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

As long as its taken root already shouldnt be a problem. What plant are you going to use? HC might have a little trouble with them but I think of cories more as grazers than diggers like loaches are fond of doing. That said I had MM with C. melanistius and Y. sidthmunki without any trouble.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

kwheeler91 said:


> As long as its taken root already shouldnt be a problem. What plant are you going to use? HC might have a little trouble with them but I think of cories more as grazers than diggers like loaches are fond of doing. That said I had MM with C. melanistius and Y. sidthmunki without any trouble.


I have elatine triandra and dhg belem right now. The roselines won't leave the dhg belem alone. I watch them as they pull on the blades of grass and then suck the roots off. It reminds me of my koi in my pond the way the eat on the roots. I was hoping it would take root and spread fast enough that it wouldn't matter if they pulled some up but I don't see that happening. I may try something else in its place or just let the elatine triandra fill in that side also. The elatine would have already covered that side of the tank if I would have let it. I have been trimming that stuff pretty hard and tossing out loads of it. There is also some Hygrophilia sp. 'Araguaia' in the front on both sides but it's hard to see in the pictures. The roselines seem to like that plant also, as I planted a lot of that and they managed to pull most of it out before it had a chance to take root but a handful of plants managed to take root and now they don't bother it. As far as marsilea minuta goes I had that in the tank before and that stuff is a weed once it gets established. I had that stuff cover the entire footprint of the tank and was choking out everything in its path. Nice plant just wanted something different this time.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Its been awhile since I've updated anything on my journal so here's whats new. I finally got my new regulator all put together and tested. It was about a 4 month process as I have been really busy the last few months and I ordered the wrong power supply and I finally found one from Hong Kong and it took almost 2 months to get here. So here's some pictures of the new regulator that was built with the helpful advice of Bettatail and Oldpunk. Also a few crappy pictures of the tank in its current state. I really suck at taking pictures and some day will learn how to take a decent picture of my tank but until then these will have to do.


----------



## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

*Re: ua hua's 90 gal. New pics of progress 5/8/13*

Looks dramatic, love the colors.

via Droid DNA Tapatalk 2


----------



## vbaykut (Apr 12, 2013)

Tanks colors scheme is very good and fish suits very well.


----------



## Jiinx (May 28, 2012)

The rummies look great with your scape!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

OVT said:


> Looks dramatic, love the colors.
> 
> via Droid DNA Tapatalk 2



Thank you Oleg, the roselines like the taste of the Hygro brown that I got from you as they have with several other plants. I woke up the morning after planting them and several stems had little bites taken out of the leaves, and after watching when the lights went out I caught them munching on it. I wasn't sure if it was them or the rummies as they have both been caught munching on plants that I have put in the tank. At least they get a well balanced diet, I just wish it wasn't at the expense of the plants that I purchased. Hopefully they got full and will leave it alone long enough to grow like the Hygros do then I will be all good. They must like the taste of hygro species that aren't green as they did the same thing to all my Hygro 'Araguia'.



vbaykut said:


> Tanks colors scheme is very good and fish suits very well.


Thank you.



Jiinx said:


> The rummies look great with your scape!


Thanks. The rummies are a great schooling fish although they like to munch on some types of plants. The fish will not change in this tank so I will have to plant accordingly.


----------



## sjb1987 (Feb 23, 2012)

looking good man... that reg is sweet lookin... i love rummies but i like my plants more lol... i have to tell my wife "no" every time she mentions rummies


----------



## manzpants92 (Dec 6, 2012)

Great set up! You don't see many tanks with the denisonii's because they need such a big tank but they are definitely my favorite fish. Can't wait to see things progress


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

sjb1987 said:


> looking good man... that reg is sweet lookin... i love rummies but i like my plants more lol... i have to tell my wife "no" every time she mentions rummies


I have to agree with the rummies not being the best choice in planted tanks as they love themselves some plants. I have been having problems with them and the roselines munching on the new growth of certain stem plants. They have taken bites out of the new leaves of L. repens x arcuata, Hygrophilia brown, L. gigantea, and L. sp. red. It was really starting to get frustrating to the point last week I talked to the owner of my LFS to see if he would be interested in taking the roselines and rummies in on trade but thought I would give them one more chance and try to add more greens to their diet to see if they will leave the new growth on the stems alone. I have been feeding them a piece of zucchini and a piece of spinach every night. By morning both pieces are almost entirely gone. I will try this for the next week or so and see how the new growth looks. If not I will be seeking out new stocking ideas for the tank.


manzpants92 said:


> Great set up! You don't see many tanks with the denisonii's because they need such a big tank but they are definitely my favorite fish. Can't wait to see things progress


Thanks, I really love the roselines also but if they can't stop taking bites out of my stem plants they will be looking for a new home.



Now for a little update. 

After a long weekend of cleaning my pond (pictures to come some time this week) and doing a long overdue project of painting the floor in the garage, adding new shelving and reorganizing all my crap in there, I managed to add some new plants to the tank late last night. I had to make the wife happy and finish all my honey do's before I could even think about working on the tank so needless to say it was a late night last night.

I added several different kinds of moss. Mini christmas moss, mini pellia, flame moss, fissidens tied to several rocks and a few pieces of wood. I also added L. arcuata, H. araguaia, and replaced the whole right side of my foreground with L. nova mini. I really like the elatine triandra but it grows like wild fire and want something that doesn't take so much maintenance. The et needs to be trimmed all the time or it piles on top of itself then starts to uproot. I may be replacing the rest of the et with monte carlo in the future. 

I also changed my diffusion method, instead of running co2 using the dual venturi method through my reactor I decided to just run it into my needle wheel pump then use the reactor as a bubble collector after the needle wheel pump. I will see how this works for a few weeks but I have to admit after seeing it run this way for almost 24 hrs. the pearling is way more than I was seeing running it the other way.

Well that about sums up whats new with the tank and I will end with some more of my awesome photography skills as represented by these pictures.


----------



## snausage (Mar 8, 2010)

That's going to be a really stunning tank once it grows in a bit!!!


----------



## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

Rotala mexicana sp. Araguaia =??? Is it gone or still there? Add a few more lights and make that the carpet for the tank!!!

Is it possible that the rummies/Roselines are simply going through a "phase" similar to what my Rainbow cichlids when through? They ate and destroyed particular plants for about 2-3 months, and then were fine. No additional supplementation was provided, and i was even able to add in the exact same plants again without any nibbling and such. My guess would be "no," but it might be worth researching a little bit.


----------



## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

Looking Nice!

Have you tried offering Seaweed Sheets to your fish? 

http://www.sfbb.com/Seaweed-Salad™-Green_46.php

I cut a 2" x4" pc. and place a vinyl coated paper clip on one end then stick the paper clip into the substrate. In seconds my Cherry Bartbs and SAE are on it with the Amano shrimp going at the scraps.

And my Orandas love the stuff


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

snausage said:


> That's going to be a really stunning tank once it grows in a bit!!!


Thank you. I'm hoping it will fill in with the plants I want and not what plants my fish decide they want.



crazydaz said:


> Rotala mexicana sp. Araguaia =??? Is it gone or still there? Add a few more lights and make that the carpet for the tank!!!
> 
> Is it possible that the rummies/Roselines are simply going through a "phase" similar to what my Rainbow cichlids when through? They ate and destroyed particular plants for about 2-3 months, and then were fine. No additional supplementation was provided, and i was even able to add in the exact same plants again without any nibbling and such. My guess would be "no," but it might be worth researching a little bit.


The rotala mexicana sp. Araguaia is gone. Another expensive meal for my fish. It really sucks because I love the look of that plant. They really like fine leaf plants and Ludwigia sp. I really hope this is a phase but I doubt it because they have been doing this for awhile. I placed a rock completely covered in mini pellia late Saturday night and today at lunch it looked fine but when I got home from work tonight it was gone except for a few little pieces and after watching at a distance I saw the roselines picking at the rock. It is really not making me too happy. The wife asked me why I keep putting plants in if I know they are going to eat them. My response.. "because I want those kind of plants"... Her response... "Isn't that the definition of insanity, doing the same thing and expecting a different result". Yes it is but sometimes this hobby has a way of making you insane. But if they keep it up I will have the last laugh as they will lose their beautiful home and be making a trip to the LFS to live out the rest of their life in a clown puke gravel tank with a bubbling clam.

The wife actually really loves my fish as I do as I have had them for awhile now so I will see how it goes in the weeks to come.


DogFish said:


> Looking Nice!
> 
> Have you tried offering Seaweed Sheets to you fish.
> 
> ...


I used to feed something very similar to my tangs when I had a reef tank but may try to get some and see if that helps any. I have been feeding them a good size chunk of zucchini, yellow squash, and spinach every night and they eat the entire thing in less than 24hrs. You would think they would be full especially since they get fed flake, pellets, and frozen food also. But apparently they just love the taste of my plants so much they can't resist. It must be like fish crack. The funny thing is in a book I have from TFH called "Culturing live foods" they list Hygrophilia angustifolia as a good plant to culture to feed fish. This stuff grows so fast in my tank that they could eat all of that they want and I wouldn't care one bit but they have never touched it.


----------



## sumer (Feb 6, 2010)

Loved the scape. Colors are looking wonderful.


----------



## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

hope you still have the roselines. imo, they get better the bigger they get.

beautiful tank!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

sumer said:


> Loved the scape. Colors are looking wonderful.


Thanks



trailsnale said:


> hope you still have the roselines. imo, they get better the bigger they get.
> 
> beautiful tank!


Yes I still have the roselines and they are all now between 5-6" and still eating some of my plants. I'm trying a new thing with some dwarf hair grass I planted. Everytime I have planted it in the past they pull it all up within 24hrs. and munch away on it. This time I put a small piece of eggcrate over it hoping that would deter them from pulling it up. Needless to say they are figuring out how to put their mouths between the squares and pull pieces out. I don't know if any will make it past them but a few more days and I will know.

The elatine triandra is getting to be a pain in the butt to maintain as I have to trim it hard almost every week or it piles on top of itself and starts to look bad. I have some Monte Carlo coming in the first part of next week and will be trying this out and will more than likely phase out the elatine triandra but may keep a little patch of it because I really like the light lime green color of it. I also will be planting a few crypt affins metallic red next week. I can't wait for those as I have been wanting to get some of them for awhile now. 

For an experiment for myself I made some root tabs with natural clay similar to the ones in this thread :

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=187077

but decided to add a little something different to see what the results would be. After asking around and searching the web for anyone that has tried using kelp meal in their substrate and finding very little info I thought I would give it a shot and it would either work or I would have a disaster on my hands. 2 months in and I have noticed that the heavy root feeders such as the crypts have went crazy and have sent out several daughter plants all over the place including places I don't want them to be. You can see in this picture where one has even started sprouting up in the middle of a big piece of lava rock.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

*New co2 reactor/bubble collector*

I have been wanting to do this project for the last 6 months or so and finally found time to build it. I have been running an Aqua medic 1000 post needle wheel pump for some time now and while it has worked okay I really haven't cared for the Aqua medic reactor. The flow is really restricted by the bio balls especially after they get dirty and it's a pain to clean out so I decided to build a cerges reactor using a whole house filter. I don't really like the term reactor since the only reaction going on is the contact time co2 has with the water so I would rather refer to it as a bubble collector since that is the goal is to keep the micro bubbles out of my tank since running a needle wheel can make your tank look like seltzer water. 

For the most part the Aquamedic has kept most of the bubbles out but I feel I can get the co2 to dissolve better with this new set-up and the maintenance should be a million times easier, I guess only time will tell though. Another thing about the Aqua medic that was really annoying was the gas build up that I would get in the top of the reactor about halfway through the lighting period. I ended up opening up the false gas bleed valve slighty and letting it run into my sump right by the return filter but as the gas would purge out I would get burst of bubbles in my tank. All in all I have about $40 in this new setup and I'm hoping it works as I planned. Here are a few pictures of the pieces used and it all assembled.

Dupont whole house filter and mounting bracket



2 3/4" mnpt elbows and 3/4"mnpt 18" flex riser







1/2" pvc inserted into top of filter housing



If you were going to use this as a reactor and injecting co2 into the filter it would need to be inserted were the red pressure relief button is.



And after all of about 10 minutes of assembly:







I will add a prefilter sponge on the strainer to help slow down the bubbles but might try running it without it as that is just one more thing that will need cleaned constantly. I have a ball valve on the outlet side to control the flow if need be. The return to this goes back into my sump and points directly at the main return pump for my tank. 

On another note I will be adding some new plants tomorrow and doing some major trimming. The elatine triandra will be getting a major hacking and I'm not sure where I will be using it yet but it won't be allowed to take over the entire foreground like it has been. I will be adding some monte carlo from Tom to the foreground and I'm hoping it will be a little easier to maintain and stays closer to the substrate. I got it today and it looks great. 

I will also be putting in a good amount of crypt affins 'metallic red' from Don on one side of the foreground. It should be here tomorrow so it will be a busy night tomorrow. I will try to post some new pictures after all this maintenance and planting is done


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

A non picture update>

This tank will be getting a complete rescape sometime in the next week. I'm not quite sure on the direction I will be going with the new hardscape but I have a few ideas that I have been thinking about but I have a tendency to just go with the flow when it comes to putting the hardscape in place. 

I have 7 bags of Aquasoil that should be here sometime tomorrow. I just want to add that there was a mixup on my end when I placed the order and my payment never went through even though I received an order confirmation 2 weeks ago. I called ADG and spoke with Jeff and I must say that he is a great guy and not only did he get everything figured out and fixed but we actually had a nice conversation and he made some nice suggestions to me about some questions I had. I will definitely be a repeat customer with them and I think ADA made a mistake terminating them as a ADA distributor as I would think they would want to be associated with a company that has top notch customer service, especially in this day in age when that is hard to come by.

I also added a 2x54w TEK retrofit so I can play around with some different bulb combinations. I ordered a UVL red sun and some new Geismann Aquaflora and midday bulbs. I really like the look of the UVL red sun bulb although it takes some getting used to as it not normal seeing a red bulb. I have a quite a few new plants that I have been just sticking anywhere and everywhere in the tank for the moment as I knew that this would be getting redone fairly soon. 

I still haven't decided 100% on the fauna yet but I do know that the roselines have ate their last plant in my tank. While I do love them I actually would like to see the plants not getting chewed up constantly. There is 8 of them and they are all around 5-6" and quite large. The 40+ rummynose will be going into a quarantine tank until the cycle runs it course since I will be using Aquasoil, so it may be a month or two before there's any fish in the tank. I will be trying to acquire some Apisto panduro or Apisto nijsseni. The only other fish that I plan on getting is some bushynose plecos and maybe cory adolfoi or orange lazer cories. I would like to add another type of tetra but I'm not sure what would be a good choice so any suggestions would be taken into consideration. I thought about ember tetras or von rio flame tetras. 

I may or may not start a completely new journal thread but if not this will be updated in the next few weeks with some more of my crappy photo taking skills.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

Will be looking forward to the new layout. I always found it enjoyable to redo the tank (though I hated trying to get the fish out of the tank).


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

dewalltheway said:


> Will be looking forward to the new layout. I always found it enjoyable to redo the tank (though I hated trying to get the fish out of the tank).


Yes Mark I know exactly the feeling. Part of the enjoyment for me is trying new things and tinkering with the system. I'm not looking forward to catching the fish either but more than anything I'm dreading scooping out 150+ lbs. of old substrate. I have only rescaped this tank once in the last 5 years and I didn't have to remove any substrate that time, I just removed the plants and hardscape to start anew.

I'm one step closer as I was pretty excited today when the UPS guy showed up when I wasn't expecting them because when I tracked my Aquasoil this morning it said it was in Oklahoma City. I told the UPS guy their site must be off but after opening up the box I realized that maybe it wasn't because there was only 3 bags of Aquasoil so apparently the other box with the rest of the Aquasoil got seperated from it's friend along the way so hopefully the rest will be here tomorrow. I plan to get started sometime Thursday evening after the kids go to bed and I took off Friday so I can finish it while their at school and daycare. It's not easy redoing a tank with a two year old running around with fish crap everywhere. I'm hoping the two other packages of plants I bought show up by Friday or Saturday at the latest so I can get it all planted by the weekend.


----------



## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

I am excited about your re-scape! Hope you post 10,000 photos of the whole process.

You've done great work so far, so I'm sure the new setup will be terrific.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

somewhatshocked said:


> I am excited about your re-scape! Hope you post 10,000 photos of the whole process.
> 
> You've done great work so far, so I'm sure the new setup will be terrific.


I will try to post pictures along the way but if I took 10,000 photos then I might have 50 good ones to use. Did I mention I suck at taking pictures.

The other box of Aquasoil arrived today so sometime tomorrow night the redo will begin. I have 2 huge lava boulders that were in my backyard when I moved in and my wife thought they looked like 70's landscaping (whatever that means), so they were put in the shed as I knew that someday I might want to use them for something. Some of the rock in the tank now is from busting some of them up a little. Tonight I went to town with the chisel and hammer and broke off some pretty cool looking pieces. Two of them are really good sized pieces as the 2 biggest lava boulders that I have been taking pieces off of are about 3'x3' and really heavy considering lava rock is porous.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

2 1/2 hours later.....

Hardscape out, plants out, fish out and in quarantine tank, and a little over half of the old substrate is out. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow morning. Scooping out the substrate with a small cup is taking way too long so the shop vac will be getting used tomorrow to get the final little bit.

One thing I learned tonight is Roselines can fly or at least that can jump from one side of a 4ft. tank to the other even with only about 4" of water.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Everything is done. I started on it yesterday morning at around 8 and finally finished it about 5. I'm really happy with how it turned out and amazed at how clear it is after only about 14 hours. It was pretty cloudy after filling up yesterday. I ended up only using 4 3/4 bags of Aquasoil and I guess I will have plenty left over to fluff up the substrate if I need to or if/when I ever decide to redo it. I have to say that planting plants in Aquasoil is a night and day difference between planting in Flourite. I always had a hard time getting some stem plants to stay in the substrate. I would plant them and they never felt like they were secure. With Aquasoil no problems whatsoever.

I also added another 2x54w Tek retrofit that I put into an old cf housing that I had. I will not run this light for very long but I really love the look the UVL red sun puts in combination with the other bulbs. So right now for bulb combos I have (2) Geismann midday, ATI purple plus, ATI blue special, Geismann Aquaflora, and UVL red sun.

I have my co2 cranked really high right now since there is no fauna in the tank. I will be doing 50-70% water changes every other day and checking ammonia readings. I'm in no hurry as I'm still undecided on what fish will go back in the tank. I'm still pretty set on some Apisto panduro or nijsseni. I will be taking a few pictures later today after the water clears up a little more


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

The new scape...



















































That's all for now. I still have about 2 dozen nice size crypts that I haven't decided if I will use yet or not. It's planted pretty heavy now except for the foreground which will fill up in no time as elatine is a weed.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Everything is doing really good so far I haven't even seen the crypts melt much except for the crypt affins metallic red lost all of it's leaves but all should be good in a week or so. All the stem plants have perked up real nice after a full day of light and co2 blasting. I can't begin to say how much I like the Aquasoil from the looks to the ease of planting in, I should have switched a long time ago.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Day3 of the new scape and yet another 50% water change. All the plants are looking good except for I started to see some melting in the H. 'Araguaia' and bylxa(which is to be expected). The water is completely clear which is a surprise after reading many say their tank was really cloudy for a few days after using Aquasoil. I will continue to do 50% w/c every other day for the rest of the week and then just start doing the normal 50% w/c every week. 

It's nice to see the new growth on the plants without having bites taken out of the new leaves. It became common seeing it with the fish I used to have in the tank. I'm now debating whether I want to put the rummynose back in also. I have 44 rummynose as I was finally able to count them when removing them from the tank. I have decided to get about a dozen Inpaichthys kerri(blue emperor tetras) and a group of 4-5 Apisto panduro. I would like to add some cories also but will wait until the groundcover is really established. I have narrowed it down to gold lazer or adolfoi. I would love some green lazer cories but the cheapest I have found is $130 for 5 or $150 for 6. That's a little more than I'm willing to spend on some cories although they are really cool looking.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Day4:

I finally tested my water today just to see where I was sitting with the ammonia levels and I was quite surprised that the NH3 was not higher. 

Parameters are as follows:
pH: 6.2 (7.2-7.4 out of tap)
NH3: .25 ppm
NO2: 1.0 ppm
gH: 3
kH: 6

My kH before the Aquasoil was always around 12dkH so the Aquasoil has drastically lowered my kH which is a good thing. I always had problems growing Rotala macrandra and for some reason I attributed that to my high kH as I know it does best in lower kH so may try adding it in the future to see if it was in fact my water or if it was just me that can't grow it. I still have nothing but a good experience with the Aquasoil so far. The stem plants are all staying well rooted which I always had a hard time with more fragile stem plants using Flourite.

For those that use Aquasoil I'm curious how long the buffering capabilities last for the Aquasoil?


----------



## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

You are well on your way to another beautiful jungle.

The new AS seems to leach about 1/2 ammonia then the old one. With a tankfull of plants and established media, the cycling now takes 5-10 days based on the amount of AS. My very first AS tank took almost a month.

I cannot speak to AS buffering ability as my tap and tank water hover around 3 kH 6 dH. I cannot find any real data on how they actually achieve it. I am guessing that a ton of organic matter does not hurt. Another good news of old vs new is that the balls stay intact longer. My oldest ~3 years AS is all of a sudden in a rapid decline: I am seeing more and more AS dust on top of substrate and plants.

v2


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

OVT said:


> You are well on your way to another beautiful jungle.
> 
> The new AS seems to leach about 1/2 ammonia then the old one. With a tankfull of plants and established media, the cycling now takes 5-10 days based on the amount of AS. My very first AS tank took almost a month.
> 
> ...


I was really surprised at the low ammonia levels after only 4 days so at this rate it should be cycled in less than a month for sure. I did keep my filters running while doing the rescape so I would hopefully save the bacteria so that should help speed things along. The sooner the better as I finally found some Apisto panduro but was going to wait until the cooler weather to order them. They are only sold as unsexed pairs so hopefully if I order 4-6 I won't end up with all the same sex. I will also be getting some blue emperor tetras to put along with the rummynose.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

One week update:

Another huge water change yesterday and I think in another week my ammonia levels should be safe to add fish but I will have to wait and see. The L. sp. red had quite a bit of melt and only 2 stems are ok as the other were turning to mush so hopefully the two that are left will fill in or I will have to get some more. I'm thinking of another red plant but haven't yet decided if I will try my luck with my nemesis rotala macrandra. I have some white fungus growing on some of the branches that I hope goes away soon as it really bugs me.


----------



## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

looking forward to seeing your blue emperor tetras. never had them myself. some pics look fantastic and others, sorta washed out.

your new scape looks great.

thanks,


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

trailsnale said:


> looking forward to seeing your blue emperor tetras. never had them myself. some pics look fantastic and others, sorta washed out.
> 
> your new scape looks great.
> 
> thanks,


Thank you. The blue emperor(Inpaichthys kerri) are really beautiful if you see them in person. I have had them before and I really liked them. They can be a little aggressive for a tetra but if you have a large enough school they are fine. I will be placing an order with Wetspot sometime at the end of Sept. and will be getting the blue emperors and some Apistos. 

I'm looking to add my plant nemesis rotala macrandra to the tank to see if the lower kH will help me with this plant or if I just suck at growing it. I'm also trying to find some Ammania gracilis even though I know this plant gets huge I think it would look nice it the background but I haven't seen too many people selling this plant for some time so might have to look for another option.


----------



## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

ua hua said:


> Thank you. The blue emperor(Inpaichthys kerri) are really beautiful if you see them in person. I have had them before and I really liked them. They can be a little aggressive for a tetra but if you have a large enough school they are fine. I will be placing an order *with Wetspot *sometime at the end of Sept. and will be getting the blue emperors and some Apistos.
> 
> I'm looking to add my plant nemesis rotala macrandra to the tank to see if the lower kH will help me with this plant or if I just suck at growing it. I'm also trying to find some Ammania gracilis even though I know this plant gets huge I think it would look nice it the background but I haven't seen too many people selling this plant for some time so might have to look for another option.


i've been tempted to get some from ab too. from some pics, i have no doubt they're gorgeous once settled in a nice tank. i'll live vicariously thru you for the time being!!!! best of luck and looking forward to seeing them.

thanks,


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Day 12:

pH: 6.2
NH3: 0 ppm
NO2: .25 ppm
gH: 3
kH: 7

I don't see any NH3 detectable on the test kit but with the NO2 at .25ppm I know that there is still some NH3 but with those crappy test kits it's hard to tell. I will wait another week before adding any livestock to the tank. I plan on getting about 25 amano shrimp to keep the any algae at bay during the first month or so after starting.

I have been having GDA forming on the glass after a few days which is annoying to say the least. I wish I knew what to do to keep this algae from growing on the glass but I'm at a loss. No other signs of algae and the plants are growing really good. The P. stellatus has put out several side shoots and has grown about 6". The bylxa has grown considerably also. I will be adding my nemesis rotala macrandra some time next week, so fingers crossed that I can grow it this time. I would also like to add some Ludwigia inclinata red at some point but may wait for another week or two.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Day 18:

Everything is growing exceptionally well and faster than I expected. The elatine has been trimmed twice already and will need another major trim by next week. The P. stellatus has grown to the top of my tank and has been shooting out about 6-8 sideshoots on each of the stems. I added some "true" sagitaria sublata, l. cuba tornado, ammania gracilis, hyrgo brown. I don't know how the h. brown will work in the tank as it grows really fast but will wait and see. I don't plan on adding any more plants except for rotala macrandra. 

I have been getting GDA on the glass a couple of days after cleaning it but if that's the worst for the algae I can deal with cleaning the glass. I just wish it wasn't there so worst case scenario I will do the wait 21 days then wipe treatment. I was having this brown stringy looking algae that I think was some kind of diatom algae but after doing water changes every other day it's gone. I will be adding 20 Amano shrimp and 10 otos from Rachel for the time being next week before adding the rummies back into the mix.

I wish someone could give me a tutorial for idiots on how to take photos of an aquarium because no matter how many I take they all look like crap. I have a decent Nikon dslr camera but the operator knows absolutely nothing about using it. I bought it to take pictures of my kids and taking photos of a tank is a whole different animal.


----------



## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

ua hua said:


> I wish someone could give me a tutorial for idiots on how to take photos of an aquarium because no matter how many I take they all look like crap. I have a decent Nikon dslr camera but the operator knows absolutely nothing about using it. I bought it to take pictures of my kids and taking photos of a tank is a whole different animal.


First off, cool tank! I think it's really going to look excellent as it fills in. With regards to your photos, I can give you a few tips. The first thing I'll say is that you either pushed saturation in your most recent photos, or you are doing it in camera. Either way, I'd avoid that, as it makes the tank look unnatural. You lost tons of detail in your greens and the reds look off.

For taking photos of a tank, here is a list of tips off the top of my head:


Use a tripod and a remote shutter release or a timer, it makes a big difference
Use the lowest ISO you can get away with (this is why the tripod is needed)
Use the highest aperture (f-stop) you can get away with (also why the tripod is needed)
Turn off your pump about a minute before you shoot, and let the water stop moving the plants
Shoot in RAW, or set things such as vivid to neutral or 0 
The closer you are to straight on square with the front of your tank (left to right and top to bottom), the sharper
Play around with zoom and the distance your camera is from the tank.
A low aperture number will give you less objects in focus. If you can shoot at at least f-8 and ISO 100-400 on a tripod, that will go a long way. The only thing that may get motion blur is your fish, as long as your turn off your pump. 

Shooting straight on makes a very big difference. As you get off center, the water distorts things and causes chromatic aberration and less focus. Shoot square to the glass, and things will be much sharper. I know this limits your options with shooting angles, but the more off square you are the less sharp your pic will be.

With regards to distance, I tend to shoot about 4' from my tank and zoom in a little. But try shooting closer with a wider angle, or a little further way and zoomed in more. You'll get a different feel from each one.

Rather than just snapping a pic, play around for a half hour and test out different settings. Compare them and see what you like.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Your right about the saturation in the photos as I just started changing settings without knowing a thing about what they do. Did I mention that I know absolutely nothing about photography. I have a hard time shooting my tank straight on at any distance because of where its located. I do have a tripod but I can't shoot straight on. I will try the suggestions you mentioned but they always turn out blurry or too bright. I appreciate the help as it's frustrating trying to get a shot that looks decent. The first few photos I posted are not very representative of what the tank looks like because the colors are way off. The last couple of close ups of the plants are the most natural. 

By the way I have been following your thread on your tank and I have to tell you it looks beautiful and your photos always look awesome. Maybe you can just make a road trip and take some photos for me.


----------



## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

ua hua said:


> I have a hard time shooting my tank straight on at any distance because of where its located. I do have a tripod but I can't shoot straight on.


Is there a wall right there? That might make it tough. If there isn't, the tripod doesn't have to go on the floor. You can get creative with it and put it on stuff or attach it to things if need be. I have a chair in the way that I move when I take shots, so don't be afraid to take a minute or two to just move some furniture out of the way.

With regards to blurriness, without a tripod and a straight on shot, it will be hard to get sharp photos. You are fighting light and diffraction forces that won't bend to your favor.

That said, even with the photography struggles, it's easy to see how nice your tank is.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

AnotherHobby said:


> Is there a wall right there? That might make it tough. If there isn't, the tripod doesn't have to go on the floor. You can get creative with it and put it on stuff or attach it to things if need be. I have a chair in the way that I move when I take shots, so don't be afraid to take a minute or two to just move some furniture out of the way.
> 
> With regards to blurriness, without a tripod and a straight on shot, it will be hard to get sharp photos. You are fighting light and diffraction forces that won't bend to your favor.
> 
> That said, even with the photography struggles, it's easy to see how nice your tank is.


I wish it was just a matter of moving some furniture but it's because it's about 3' away from my railing to my entryway, which is a level down. I would have to setup a ladder or something if I wanted to get straight on. I may have to get creative or better yet I may just take a video. It's hard to screw that up right.


----------



## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

Yeah, that's a real pain. Bummer. 

I know it's a bit of work, but it's probably 5 real minutes of life to grab a step ladder. Yes, it's a bit of effort just to take a pic of your aquarium, but it might be worth it to you, and probably won't take as long as you think. The real trick would be getting a stable shot from a step ladder.


----------



## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

Is that Pogostemon erectus?


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

ThatGuyWithTheFish said:


> Is that Pogostemon erectus?


No it's P. stellatus and it has grown like crazy. I got a few huge stems from Tom and within a week they were to the top of my tank. I trimmed them down and they have shot out several side shoots. I have had this plant a few times and never seen growth like this. It must be the Aquasoil because that's the only difference.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Just a quick update. My cycle is finally complete after 3 weeks of changing 60% or more of the water every other day. That happened a lot faster than I was expecting but I did have 2 filters that I kept running while I did my rescape to keep the bacteria alive so I believe that played a big role in jump starting the cycle along with the massive water changes every other day.

I was having a issue with GDA forming on the glass as fast as a day or two after I would wipe it clean. Yesterday afternoon it was covering about 2/3 of the glass with a light green dust. By last night I noticed it was starting to disappear a little and by today when I got home I couldn't believe what I saw it was completely gone. Not even a light little dusting of green, but perfectly crystal clear glass. Now I have battled GDA a few times in my tanks over the last 7-8 years and never understood why it appeared or what to change to get rid of it. The couple of times I had it before it was not that bad but I also had a few bristlenose plecos in the tank also but I have no fish in the tank right now. The only thing is some snails that managed to hitch a ride into the tank. I have no idea what changed in my tank in the matter of 24-36 hrs. but whatever it was I wish I knew. All I know is I hope it stays away for good now as that was the only issue with algae that I was having since I did my rescape. 

I wish I would have taken some pictures of what it looked like yesterday and then what it looks like now. If I wouldn't have seen it in my own tank then I wouldn't believe it had happened. I will be putting in about 20 Amano shrimp and 10 otos in the tank sometime next week that I ordered from Rachel. After that I will probably wait another week before putting the rummynose back into the tank. Then no more fish until the first part of October when I will be getting some Apisto panduro or nijsseni(I'm actually leaning towards the nijsseni now) and about 10 blue emperor tetras.

Another Hobby gave me some good tips on taking pictures of my tank and after messing around for awhile I still have problems getting a decent shot. I will keep trying to learn how to take a nice picture and if not then more crappy, bright, and over saturated shots will have to do.:hihi:


----------



## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

AnotherHobby said:


> First off, cool tank! I think it's really going to look excellent as it fills in. With regards to your photos, I can give you a few tips. The first thing I'll say is that you either pushed saturation in your most recent photos, or you are doing it in camera. Either way, I'd avoid that, as it makes the tank look unnatural. You lost tons of detail in your greens and the reds look off.
> 
> For taking photos of a tank, here is a list of tips off the top of my head:
> 
> ...


Great tips, I'll add two more:

Shoot in Manual Exposure mode so you don't have to rely on your camera's metering. Set the aperture to either f/8 or f/11 then play with different shutter speeds until you get a nice result.

If your camera has an "Exposure Delay Mode" this can help minimize vibration and give you sharper long exposure photos.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

zodduska said:


> Great tips, I'll add two more:
> 
> Shoot in Manual Exposure mode so you don't have to rely on your camera's metering. Set the aperture to either f/8 or f/11 then play with different shutter speeds until you get a nice result.
> 
> If your camera has an "Exposure Delay Mode" this can help minimize vibration and give you sharper long exposure photos.


Thanks for the tips. I will try to find time to mess around with the different settings and see if I can get a clean shot. 

As far as the tank goes everything is growing really well. I got 2 huge stems of P. stellatus from Tom when I redid the tank and after a little over 3 weeks I have over a dozen + stems and it puts out sideshoots daily. I took a huge portion of elatine out as it was completely filling in my foreground and covering up my "true" sagitaria sublata. That weed grows so fast it can be a pain to keep up on but I just can't bring myself to get rid of it all as the color is really nice. Maybe after the sagitaria fills in more I may phase out more of it.

My 20 amano shrimp and otos will be here tom. that I ordered from Rachel. I'm excited to get some life into the tank but will probably wait until the end of next week to put the rummies back in. I also put some rotala macrandra in the tank yesterday. That plant has always been a pain for me for some reason. I always attributed that to my really high kH that I had in my tank before the use of Aquasoil bringing it way down to the point that I think it should be. The L. red has been growing really nice but finally just now started putting out sideshoots. All the other stems I have trimmed a few times but I only had 2 stems of the L. red that didn't melt so I wanted to make sure that it was growing really well before trimming it up.


----------



## WendyF (Sep 19, 2013)

Very beautiful aquarium. I have really enjoyed this thread! In the first set of pics you posted, the bottom pic is a close up of a green lacey looking stem plant. I collected something from a local lake that looks just like it - what is yours called?


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

WendyF said:


> Very beautiful aquarium. I have really enjoyed this thread! In the first set of pics you posted, the bottom pic is a close up of a green lacey looking stem plant. I collected something from a local lake that looks just like it - what is yours called?


Thank you. If your talking about the last picture in my first post, that is myriophyllum mattogrossense.

I added the 20 amanos and otos today that I got from Rachel and I have to say I was very pleased with the quality of the fish/shrimp and the packaging was top notch. I will be buying from her again next time I need some fish that she stocks. It's nice to see some life in the tank after being lifeless other than the snails for a month now.


----------



## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

Very nice tank sir! Please post your dosing routine and what you dose.
Details in micro and macro will be appreciated


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

zetvi said:


> Very nice tank sir! Please post your dosing routine and what you dose.
> Details in micro and macro will be appreciated


Thank you. I dose 1 tsp KNO3, 1/2 tsp KH2PO4, 2x a week and traces every other day(CSM+B and Fe), Excel daily and CaSO4 and MgSO4 at water change. I have been dosing a little leaner recently since I just rescaped the tank using Aquasoil and it has plenty of nutrients. The CO2 is around 1-1.5 ml per second using a inverted cylinder to measure it.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

One month update:

Everything has been growing really well. I got rid of a big portion of the elatine and pretty much started the carpet over from a few little pieces. After awhile the et grows so thick even after heavy pruning that it's just easier to pull up the entire carpet and trim some stems off and start new.

I lost about 5 of the 20 amanos which is less than I was expecting as I have never had the best of luck with shrimp before but the survivors are doing great along with the 10 otos. I will be putting the rummies back in some time this week. I have a little bit of a snail problem that will be taken care of in the next week after some assassins go to work. They should be well fed that's for sure.

After messing around with my camera for quite some time I still can't get a good shot but I haven't gave up yet so these below average pictures will have to do for now. Don't mind my makeshift shrimp/oto guard on my overflow box but I got tired of pulling them out on a daily basis so until my stainless steel mesh gets here later this week that is keeping them out.


----------



## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

hi ua hua,

new scape looks great!!!

unless i've misunderstood something, you refer to using excel and co2 (?), i thought they were mutually exclusive in use....either or.

what is the rationale here?

thanks,

ps looking forward to your blue tetras!


----------



## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

trailsnale said:


> hi ua hua,
> 
> new scape looks great!!!
> 
> ...


They are not mutually exclusive I use both. I find excel very useful for spot treating algae.


----------



## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

carpalstunna said:


> They are not mutually exclusive I use both. I find excel very useful for spot treating algae.


thank you, had no idea. (i currently 'practice' on 2 40b's using ei/excel. my new tank is due shortly and co2 system/reactor sit on the basement floor...waiting-so new to the co2 game!)


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

trailsnale said:


> hi ua hua,
> 
> new scape looks great!!!
> 
> ...





carpalstunna said:


> They are not mutually exclusive I use both. I find excel very useful for spot treating algae.


This is exactly why I use it in conjunction with CO2.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

A quick video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_DxCFSwfZk&feature=youtu.be


----------



## Jack Gilvey (Jun 16, 2008)

Beautiful! What's this?



ua hua said:


>


----------



## keats (Apr 26, 2013)

Jack Gilvey said:


> Beautiful! What's this?


Looks like it's Elatine Triandra. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Jack Gilvey said:


> Beautiful! What's this?





keats said:


> Looks like it's Elatine Triandra.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2


That's exactly what it is.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I finally put the rummies back in there home and even after dripping them for almost 2 hours I lost 4 of them overnight. It's nice to see some fish back in the tank other than the amanos and otos. I did a major trim a few days ago and took out another huge portion of the elatine as the true sagitaria sublata and ech. tennelus red is starting to shoot runners all over. I will be slowly getting rid of places that the elatine will be allowed to grow as I want the sagitaria and ech red to fill in. I have been really happy with the growth that I have been getting and all the colors look good to me except for the rotala macrandra which was a lot redder when I got it from Tom but it's growing well so I will take that as I have tried this plant several times and failed but finally success(with growth, not color).I have some places where the BBA is showing up on the wood but I have been spot treating with Excel and it's not getting any worse or on any plants but just seeing it in my tank really annoys me. Here is some pictures of the progress of the tank over 1 1/2 months.

DAY 1: Hardscape

DAY 1: Planted

1 WEEK:

1 MONTH:

Today:


And a few more pics.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I have a question for anyone that is keeping or has kept Ammannia gracillis, when you trim do you just trim and replant the top portion? I left the bottom part of the stems but have yet to see it branch off from the cut. How do any of you trim/propagate this plant?


----------



## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

I had this plant for a good 2 years, its one of my favourite. I plant the top part and the bottom usually produces 2 new stems. After a while though, the main stem turns black and dies out. By then the 2 plants are big enough to be snipped away.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

samee said:


> I had this plant for a good 2 years, its one of my favourite. I plant the top part and the bottom usually produces 2 new stems. After a while though, the main stem turns black and dies out. By then the 2 plants are big enough to be snipped away.


Thanks for the info. I trimmed the plant about 4 days ago and haven't seen any shoots coming out of the cut stem so was wondering about this one as my other stems show new growth from the cut after a day or two.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Quick little update. 

I changed my mind on getting apistos for this tank for the time being. I was a little worried they might start digging around and uprooting some plants and was having a hard time finding the A. panduros or nijessini local and my shipping window is getting smaller as it's getting cold at night. I did add 16 Orange flame Von rio tetras to the tank and may or may not try to find some blue emperor tetras in the next month or so. The plants are growing like mad and some days I question going with a heavily dominated stem plant tank again but I love the different colors and textures so I guess I will just have to buck up and trim every 3 days for now. I will also be adding some mini pellia to some rocks in the next week.


----------



## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

von rios are great! love mine.

thanks,


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

trailsnale said:


> von rios are great! love mine.
> 
> thanks,


I had the normal von rio tetras quite a few years ago but the orange von rios are a lot better looking I think. There was 3 really small ones in the tank that they asked me if I wanted and I said sure but after getting them home and acclimating them I noticed the bars on their sides so they are the normal version of the von rios that were mixed in with the orange von rios.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Did a huge trim tonight as the tank was turning into a jungle. I wish I would have had time to take before pictures because it was amazing how fast some of these stems grow. The H. brown is insane in the amount of growth that it can grow in just a few days. I don't know how much longer it will stay in the tank but I really do like the color of the leaves on that plant. I will be adding about 100 cherry shrimp tomorrow as I will be meeting a member on here and trading a bunch of plants and old aquarium supplies that I have no need for anymore. I will post some updated pictures tom. evening after I get back home and get the shrimp acclimated.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I added the 100+ cherry shrimp to the tank tonight. Thanks again Steven they look really nice. I'm seeing shrimp on every corner of the tank and I'm sure some of the little babies will get ate but I'm hoping there will be enough cover to allow a population to get established.

Here is a few shots of the tank as of tonight after a huge trim last night.


----------



## BHolmes (Aug 23, 2012)

Those plants are massive! The pictures don't do this scape justice.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

BHolmes said:


> Those plants are massive! The pictures don't do this scape justice.


Yes I'm no photographer that's for sure. I wish I could get some nice sharp pictures but I'm still learning how to take pictures of my tank. Here is a picture of the new shrimp.


----------



## steven p (Jun 22, 2012)

There's plenty enough cover... You'll be seeing them everywhere in no time...


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

steven p said:


> There's plenty enough cover... You'll be seeing them everywhere in no time...


I hope so. I haven't seen any of the amano shrimp that I put in the tank for awhile now and all of a sudden tonight I saw a couple of them out and about so I don't know if all the cherries roaming around made them come out of hiding or what.


----------



## steven p (Jun 22, 2012)

They probably just feel more comfortable, more at home... More of their own kind hanging around.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

steven p said:


> They probably just feel more comfortable, more at home... More of their own kind hanging around.


That's what I was thinking. I put 20 of them in the tank and I didn't see any of them for almost 2 weeks and assumed they were all dead until I put the cherries in and the next day I spotted 2 of them roaming around. So tonight I was checking in my overflow box and I saw about 5 cherries in there and after looking closer I see 5 more shrimp and they are all amanos. I have no clue how they got in there since I put s/s mesh over the overflow teeth. I also don't know how long they have been in there but I would like to know where they disappear to so that I can't see a single one for 2 weeks. Sneaky little critters.

On another note the mini pellia that I put on a branch is not looking too good. It's starting to brown in spots but hoping that it will survive. Another neat observation that I have noticed is I'm having fissidens popping up all over on my driftwood and I haven't had any fissidens in the tank for over a year and it never did good for me, as do most mosses. It's showing up on branches and rocks that I never placed it on and growing nicely. It will be cool to see it after it starts to fill in, but it still baffles me how after a year it starts to show up all over the place.


----------



## steven p (Jun 22, 2012)

Moss spores? That's cool though. 

I've heard that amano shrimp are notorious for swimming down overflows...


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

The tank has been turning into a jungle lately as I haven't been trimming it as much as I should have been. I will be doing a major hacking in the next day or so as I didn't get a chance to do it this weekend. I will try to take a before picture to show just what I'm talking about. I have almost completely eliminated the elatine as it just becomes too much of a pain to keep up on trimming along with all the other stem plants in the tank. I may or may not try to get some monte carlo but may just wait out the true sag but it's such a slow grower.

I will have a medium flat rate box full of plants that I put up for sale but if no takers by tom. evening then they will get posted as a RAOK so be sure to keep an eye out(for those of you that participate on this forum other than trying to get a freebie).


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Well I never had a chance to take pre-trim pictures so you will just have to imagine the entire tank covered with plants except the very front section with just enough room for the fish to swim around. After the huge trim I had some problems with the L. tornado. The very top inch of each plant started to melt within a day of doing the trim. I'm not quite sure what caused it so I just trimmed off the tops of all the stems and they have recovered but don't look quite as nice as they did. Also I have noticed that the rotala macrandra has lost a lot of it's color in the last week. It was a really nice red and it has turned into a pinkish orange and the leaves kind of look variegated. I know the tank temp is about 7-8 degrees lower than it usually runs as the temps have been really cold where I live so don't know if that has anything to do with the rotala color changing or not. A few quick pictures from tonight. The A. gracilis in the back left has been hacked clear down and will be at the top in no time. The stems that I pulled out were as thick as my pinkie finger and around 24" long.


----------



## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Looks beautiful. Ah the ammannia. My old love. They along the aromatica grew the width of pinkies.


----------



## Bserve (Nov 4, 2012)

Awesome. Send me some trimmings!


Sent from my Canon 70D


----------



## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

Very nice, I wish my 90 looked half as good!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

samee said:


> Looks beautiful. Ah the ammannia. My old love. They along the aromatica grew the width of pinkies.


I really do like the Ammannia, the color is a really nice orange but man do the stems get huge.



Bserve said:


> Awesome. Send me some trimmings!
> 
> 
> Sent from my Canon 70D


You would end up with plantsicles if I sent out any trimmings right now. It has been in the single digits for over a week and a half now and this last weekend was -34*F with the wind chill. Not ideal for sending plants. I have a few people that were wanting some plants but I don't feel comfortable sending anything in this weather so will have to wait for awhile to send out anything. 



xmas_one said:


> Very nice, I wish my 90 looked half as good!


Thanks for the compliments but I saw some really nice shots of your 60p that looked really nice so you definitely have what it takes to make a nice tank.


----------



## Bserve (Nov 4, 2012)

ua hua said:


> You would end up with plantsicles if I sent out any trimmings right now. It has been in the single digits for over a week and a half now and this last weekend was -34*F with the wind chill. Not ideal for sending plants. I have a few people that were wanting some plants but I don't feel comfortable sending anything in this weather so will have to wait for awhile to send out anything.
> 
> 
> Thanks for the compliments but I saw some really nice shots of your 60p that looked really nice so you definitely have what it takes to make a nice tank.


Brrrr that's REALLY cold! Here it's extremely cold with a daytime high of 45. Lol, that winter SoCal for ya, hehe.


Sent from my BRAIN


----------



## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

bro that is cold... 

I would guess the loss of red color is due to more nitrate being available with less plant mass. im not an expert though 

next time it gets all jungly make sure to snap a pic. I love seeing tanks overgrown, or grown in as I like to call it.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

kwheeler91 said:


> bro that is cold...
> 
> I would guess the loss of red color is due to more nitrate being available with less plant mass. im not an expert though
> 
> next time it gets all jungly make sure to snap a pic. I love seeing tanks overgrown, or grown in as I like to call it.


It is cold. So cold that you don't even want to walk outside. I planned on taking a pre-trim picture but I had so much work ahead of me trimming and cleaning up the tank I didn't want to spend any time trying to snap pictures but I will try to next time I let it get out of control. The nitrate might be the issue but I try to adjust my dosing after changes in plant mass so it's hard saying. Hopefully the color will come back but as long as it's alive and growing I'm happy.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Another non picture update. Did another huge trim last night but can't take any pictures because I let my sister borrow my camera so she can decide if she wants to get a dslr. The L. tornado keeps melting on the tops for some reason. It's really weird because it grows really well and then the top inch or two will just start to turn black and rot off. I cut the stems where it starts to rot and then it will make sideshoots and grow nice for awhile then after some time in starts to do the same thing. Not sure what's going on but everything else is doing great. I want to add a few new plants but the weather needs to be a bit warmer before I feel comfortable with shipping. I'm going to get some Christmas moss and give mini pellia another shot but this time I'm not going to tie down the mini pellia and just shove it in some spots and see if that works better.


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

I missed your 12-9 updated pics and man.....your plants are beautiful! I love the color. I could never get my plants to bring out the red and I tried everything so I just gave up and went with simple, low maintenance plants but you have the aquatic thumb!

PS...I am going to have plenty of Christmas moss for you!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

dewalltheway said:


> I missed your 12-9 updated pics and man.....your plants are beautiful! I love the color. I could never get my plants to bring out the red and I tried everything so I just gave up and went with simple, low maintenance plants but you have the aquatic thumb!
> 
> PS...I am going to have plenty of Christmas moss for you!


Thanks Mark. The L. sp. red is by far the easiest plant to get to stay red. It's red no matter what. The Rotala macrandra on the other hand is a different color every other day. It was super red when I got it from Tom and then it turns a light pinkish color then the closer to the top it gets the more red and after I trim it looks orange and the leaves look variegated. I'm no expert on how to get the colors out on plants so as long as their alive and growing I just let them do their thing and if they color up then that's a bonus. The Ammania gracillis and H. brown have a nice color also as does the L. Atlantis. Let me know when you get done with your rescape and tell me how much of the Christmas moss you have to part with. I don't need a bunch of it but would like to try it in a few spots. Hope you have a good new year.


----------



## newbieplanter (Jan 13, 2013)

ua hua said:


> Its been awhile since I've updated anything on my journal so here's whats new. I finally got my new regulator all put together and tested. It was about a 4 month process as I have been really busy the last few months and I ordered the wrong power supply and I finally found one from Hong Kong and it took almost 2 months to get here. So here's some pictures of the new regulator that was built with the helpful advice of Bettatail and Oldpunk. Also a few crappy pictures of the tank in its current state. I really suck at taking pictures and some day will learn how to take a decent picture of my tank but until then these will have to do.



The part where the checkvalve is connected to is that a hose barb?


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

newbieplanter said:


> The part where the checkvalve is connected to is that a hose barb?


If your talking about where it connects to the elbow it's a tube adapter that reduces it to 1/8" I believe. I can't remember the part # off of the top of my head right now but I will try to see if I can find it. Try looking through this thread and it may be of some help until I can see if I can remember the part #.

http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/8226-How-to-use-Swagelok-tube-fittings


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I still haven't got my camera back from my sister so no new pictures until next week when I get it back. Everything is growing really well and some plants are almost annoying with their growth rate. I want to add some H. pinnatifida and Rotala wallichii in to the tank along with some Christmas moss. I haven't had R. wallichii in quite a few years and thought it was time to use it again.

I got rid of almost all the Elatine triandra even though I really liked the plant it became a pain to keep up on trimming. On top of that the "true" sagitaria sublata and E. tenellus red have almost completely filled in the foreground. I don't know about the tenellus either as it's sending runners all across the front of the tank and now starting to go along the sides and towards the back. I like the red color of the new growth but may end up just having the sag. for a foreground as it's a super slow grower and stays under 1 1/2". Also I have been seeing tiny tiny baby shrimp around the tank so I guess there is enough cover for them to breed and actually survive. That's it for now and will try to have some new pictures up by the middle of next week.


----------



## FishStix (Sep 19, 2013)

ua hua said:


> I'm not using MTS in this tank. The substrate is flourite and flourite black sand. I already had flourite in the tank but added a few more bags to get the slope in the back. I have some smaller lava rock under the base of the substrate that has been in there since I set this tank up several years ago. I have several different types of root tabs so should be good to go for a few months. I lost all of my two favorite plants while redoing this tank. All my elatine triandra and bylxa aubertii melted away to mush while in the holding tank. I also forgot to cover up the 5 gal bucket of anubias nana barteri that I was going to RAOK on here but all the leaves dried up and the by the next day when I noticed it was too late. I have some more plants to purchase and plant then I will post some pictures. The tank is still a little cloudy but I really am liking the new layout. Now just to finish planting and wait for it to grow in.


 Looks great, are you still using the fluorite and fluorite black sand? I am thinking of just going with the fluorite black sand for my new tank.

Thanks


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

FishStix said:


> Looks great, are you still using the fluorite and fluorite black sand? I am thinking of just going with the fluorite black sand for my new tank.
> 
> Thanks


No, I'm no longer using Flourite in this tank. I switched the substrate to Aquasoil back in August.


----------



## rdmustang1 (Oct 20, 2013)

ua hua said:


> No, I'm no longer using Flourite in this tank. I switched the substrate to Aquasoil back in August.


Do you notice a big difference between Flourite and Aquasoil? Also, I really like the school of roselines. I was thinking of getting some but the price tag is hard to get over.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

rdmustang1 said:


> Do you notice a big difference between Flourite and Aquasoil? Also, I really like the school of roselines. I was thinking of getting some but the price tag is hard to get over.


I do notice quite a bit of difference between the Flourite and Aquasoil. While it's true that you can still grow plants in Flourite if you have root tabs in the substrate. The biggest difference for me was the buffering of the Aquasoil. My kH was around 12 before Aquasoil and now it's around 5. I always had a hard time with Rotala macrandra and now it grows fine. I believe it does better in lower kH. I also find it easier to get plants to root in Aquasoil. Finer stem plants and plants that don't have a large root system always were hard to get started in Flourite. 

As for the roselines, they are gone. I really did like the look of them but after awhile they acquired a taste for some of my plants. I put up with it for quite some time before they finally ate their last plant in my tank. Some plants were fine while others must have been tasty because they only ate certain stuff. I ended up selling all 8 for $30. Needless to say someone got a really good deal because I needed them gone.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

A little update on the tank. I finally got my camera back today and quickly took quite a few pictures but I can't post them right now because my laptop decided to crap out on me a week ago so right now all I have is an iPad. I have no clue how to get pictures from a sd card onto the iPad so I will have to wait until I can get to a computer and upload them to photobucket. 

I added a FEW new plants to the tank yesterday. First of all I need to give a huge thank you to a friend of mine that i think is the most giving, funny, and just all around great guy Oleg(OVT). This is a person that knows the true meaning of RAOK is. Those of you that have dealt with him before I'm sure already know and those that haven't I need to tell you that this guy is an asset to this hobby. If I didn't live 2,000 miles from him I would definitely hang out with him and buy him a FEW adult beverages. And if I ever find out where he likes to go have dinner he will be getting a gift card in the mail. So with that being said Thanks again Oleg. 

After adding the plants and doing weekly maintenance I noticed my hose from my overflow was dripping water on top of my sump. Apparently there is a pin hole in the hose right next to where it attaches to the sump inlet so I placed an order for a new hose and while I was ordering it I decided to get a new return pump. I was wanting to get another koralia pump to help add some flow now that its grown in fairly thick and keep the co2 flowing well but decided I didn't want another pump in the tank. So now I will be using a Mag drive 9.5 for a return pump instead of the Mag drive 7 that I'm using now. This should help out quite a bit with the flow.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Well I got my new overflow hose and pump yesterday and after my weekly maintenance today I installed the new hose and return pump. I also replaced all the return plumbing to the tank. I was not expecting the Mag 9.5 to be so much more powerful than the Mag 7 but its almost too much for my current setup. The overflow box I have is rated at 800 gph and the Mag 9.5 is rated at 740 gph at 3' of head which is where I'm at but my overflow box can't keep up. It's not that big of a deal because for now I have it throttled down with a ball valve but I have planned on replacing my sump for a bigger one in the near future so I can eliminate my Eheim Pro 2. I have been talking to some of my buddies from my days in reefing and kicking around some ideas of a design that will work for my tank. I will either try to design something myself or will have Lifereef build me something after I come up with a design that I'm happy with. I have a few ideas of what I want to do but I'm still in the planning stages. I will also be getting a new overflow box that will be able to handle the added flow. I still haven't had a chance to put any of the new pictures I took on to Photobucket yet so maybe I will get time this weekend.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Some new pictures of the tank.

Pictures from about 2 weeks ago.





And some of the tank tonight


----------



## tomfromstlouis (Apr 2, 2012)

Gorgeous. Splendid. Rich. Inspiring.


----------



## The Trigger (May 9, 2012)

Wow man everything looks beautiful!


----------



## tomfromstlouis (Apr 2, 2012)

I had to come back and look again. This tank is a really great example of how to deal with plant collectoritis. You've got lots of different species in there - too many by almost anyone's advice - yet the harmony and balance in that last picture is exquisite. They work together beautifully.

I do not envy you trying to keep this balance what with CO2 and all those stem plants, but let's acknowledge this much: you have grown many different plant species - some quite difficult - into a balanced and serene scape of riveting beauty. Love the textures and colors.

It is really very Dutch, but with a spare and more open feel that gives it a more angular and less overstuffed vibe that I like.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

The Trigger said:


> Wow man everything looks beautiful!


Thank you



tomfromstlouis said:


> I had to come back and look again. This tank is a really great example of how to deal with plant collectoritis. You've got lots of different species in there - too many by almost anyone's advice - yet the harmony and balance in that last picture is exquisite. They work together beautifully.
> 
> I do not envy you trying to keep this balance what with CO2 and all those stem plants, but let's acknowledge this much: you have grown many different plant species - some quite difficult - into a balanced and serene scape of riveting beauty. Love the textures and colors.
> 
> It is really very Dutch, but with a spare and more open feel that gives it a more angular and less overstuffed vibe that I like.


I appreciate your kind words but this tank and myself still have a long ways to go. While its true that I'm not fully cured of my collectoritis I have tamed it down considerably from the past. The Dutch style scapes are what drew me into this side of the hobby and I'm trying my best to create something similar. While its not a Plantbrain tank I have been happy with the results thus far. I'm still learning the trimming and shaping techniques which makes a huge difference in what a tank like this looks like. I spent the first few years in this hobby just growing plants and learning the growth rates and habits of certain types with no regards to actually aqua scaping a tank. The last few pictures I posted are after it has grown in after a week or two and I will try to post some pictures of what it looks like after I trimmed again this week. It takes a lot of work to maintain a heavily dominated stem tank and I have a whole new respect for those that create Dutch style tanks or hybrid style such as Toms tank and manage to keep them so well manicured and polished looking. Maybe I should take up Bonsai to help learn some of these techniques and styles.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Another little non picture update. Sometimes I think I'm talking to myself in this thread but that's ok I do that in my everyday life also. At least I'm hoping that someone that's lurking or just reading through the thread can get a little information from my rambling.

I changed my return pump to a Mag 9.5 a few weeks ago but had to throttle it back almost half way as my overflow wasn't keeping up. I thought it was strange that a pump rated at 740 gph at the head height it's running at was overpowering a overflow box that's rated at 800 gph. I was thinking of solutions so that I could run my pump without having to throttle it back. I was going to split the return to two lines(which I still may) but didn't think it would make any difference as I would still be getting the same volume of water in my tank whether it was from 1 line or 2. After doing my weekly maintenance last night and cleaning my s/s mesh that I have on the overflow box to help keep the shrimp out which it does but some still end up in the overflow box by climbing over the mesh. I decided to leave it off for awhile and run my return pump full power. It worked perfectly. The mesh was slowly down the flow quite a lot and now I have some major water movement going on throughout the entire tank. I can only hope that this added flow helps move the co2 around especially when the tank gets overgrown between heavy trimmings.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Tuesday morning I woke up and checked on my tank as I always do. I looked under the stand and noticed a little puddle of water and couldn't for the life of me figure out where it was coming from. After taking out everything from under the stand I narrowed it down to my Eheim filter. I couldn't see any leaks from around the pump head and filter housing but after a closer look I could see a small dribble from the pump head where the power cord comes out. I had an extra o-ring for the pump head and filter housing and replaced it. I also put my canister filter in a plastic tub just in case the leak was still happening. I didn't see any more water dripping so I thought the leak was fixed. 

Well tonight after doing my weekly maintenance I saw that the little channel where the power cord comes out had water in it again. It was a little baffling to see it was still leaking even after putting on a new o-ring so I decided to do a little searching and found that this is a common problem where the primer o-ring goes bad. The only problem now is that Eheim doesn't make a replacement o-ring for the primer button. They want you to buy a whole new pump head. I was about ready to put this filter to bed as I have had it for awhile and already have a wet/dry on the tank also. The plan has been to replace my current sump and Eheim 2126 with a bigger sump sometime in the future (which may have come sooner than planned). 

So with a little more browsing I find this link from the NJAGC that shows step by step instructions with how to replace the o-ring and where to get it from. I ordered the parts needed and will see how this works when I receive them. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this using the Eheim Pro II models but if you have I would like to hear. 

Even if this does fix the problem I at least have an excuse to get the ball rolling on the new sump setup. 

http://www.njagc.net/wp/filtration-...riming-o-ring-on-eheim-pro-ii-series-filters/


----------



## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

It's stuff like that that makes me wish I had a simple HOB. Tanks looks great. Love how clear the water is.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Jalopy said:


> It's stuff like that that makes me wish I had a simple HOB. Tanks looks great. Love how clear the water is.


It's frustrating when stuff like this happens but it's not the first time nor will it be the last. It has at least got me moving forward with this new sump idea.


----------



## MB2 (Feb 6, 2007)

Very beautiful and colorful tank, ua hua. Are those DW? They have a unique look!

Regarding filter leaks, if it was me, I would go for a bigger sump and don't have to touch the canister filter again. Life will be simpler a lot. I have a Mag 12 for my sump and do need to throttle down more than 50% as well to get the gentler flow I would like.


----------



## Cardinal's Keeper (May 19, 2012)

Ua, I have changed that exact gasket on my thermofilter pro 2 twice over the 10+ plus years I have had it. I bought two though this last time just to have a back up, which I ended up needing as the first o-ring got pinched on the reinstall and leaked. One thing I found on the second try was that it was much easier to push the pump head out the bottom, install the o-ring and then slide back up while carefully avoiding the pinch point. Pushing it out the top and then back in made it bind and pinch the o-ring more. Use lots of gasket grease to. 

Any questions feel free to hit me up.

The way the describe it in the link you posted is exactly the way that I found was best.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

MB2 said:


> Very beautiful and colorful tank, ua hua. Are those DW? They have a unique look!
> 
> Regarding filter leaks, if it was me, I would go for a bigger sump and don't have to touch the canister filter again. Life will be simpler a lot. I have a Mag 12 for my sump and do need to throttle down more than 50% as well to get the gentler flow I would like.


I will definitely be getting a bigger sump and at that time I will get rid of the Eheim and my current wet/dry sump. For now I will try to make the repair on the Eheim until I decide on the final plan for the new sump. 



Cardinal's Keeper said:


> Ua, I have changed that exact gasket on my thermofilter pro 2 twice over the 10+ plus years I have had it. I bought two though this last time just to have a back up, which I ended up needing as the first o-ring got pinched on the reinstall and leaked. One thing I found on the second try was that it was much easier to push the pump head out the bottom, install the o-ring and then slide back up while carefully avoiding the pinch point. Pushing it out the top and then back in made it bind and pinch the o-ring more. Use lots of gasket grease to.
> 
> Any questions feel free to hit me up.
> 
> The way the describe it in the link you posted is exactly the way that I found was best.


Thanks for the tips. I should have the o-ring sometime this week and it should be a simple enough repair but if I need some help I will get in touch with you.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I got the o-rings the other day and before doing my weekly maintenance this week I replaced the primer o-ring and a couple of other o-rings on the inside of the pump head. It works like new now and was a fairly easy repair. I'm still trying to decide on a new wet/dry filter for the tank and will replace my current wet/dry and Eheim. I was thinking about having a sump custom built but the quotes I have got are more than I'm willing to spend. So right now I'm looking at the ADHI wet/dry:

http://www.aquacave.com/ADHI-Wet-Dry-BIO-30-Trickle-Filter-by-Aquatic-Design-Habitats-P996.aspx

It's a not a cheap filter by any means but way cheaper than I have been quoted for a custom built one. I would like to hear what other brands of pre-built wet/dry or sumps others use. I have used an Eshopps and Amiracle brand filters but want something with more volume and interior room for pumps. 

On another note I got some really nice Ludwigia brevipes from MB2 and I'm really liking it so far. The H. Brown was almost all but eliminated as it grows insanely fast. I still kept a few stems because the color is not like any other plant. I also planted a few stems of A. reineckii that MB2 sent. I'm hoping these plants grow well because they look really nice. If you haven't seen MB2's tank you need to take a look as its one of my top 5 tanks on this site. 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=541881

I will try to get some updated pictures put up next week sometime.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I got some new fish about a month and a half ago and tonight they got introduced into the tank. I snapped a couple of pics on my iPad. Everything is growing really well except my anubias are showing some signs of a deficiency. The new leaves are really curled. It's kind of puzzling because all the other plants are not showing any signs.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

It won't let me post more than one picture at a time so here's another tank shot.


----------



## 180g (May 20, 2014)

wow you have gone through a lot with this tank.
what type of fish are those ones that kinda look like sae but have red on um?

very beautiful tank.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

If your talking about the fish with the red noses, those are rummy nose tetras. The new fish are Madagscar rainbowfish. There is four of them for now but have plans to get at least 5-6 more. They look a lot different when they become mature. I also added another 10 orange Von rio tetras last month.

Edit: actually I just realized you were probably looking at older pictures and those fish were Roselines. They were rehomed after catching them munching on several plants. Very beautiful fish but I like my plants also.


----------



## 180g (May 20, 2014)

ok, yea I was looking at older pics. eating plants is a no-no so I guess im not going to own those in the feature. pretty fish tho.


----------



## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

ua hua said:


> I got some new fish about a month and a half ago and tonight they got introduced into the tank. I snapped a couple of pics on my iPad. Everything is growing really well except my anubias are showing some signs of a deficiency. The new leaves are really curled. It's kind of puzzling because all the other plants are not showing any signs.



Oo Madagascar rainbow fish! I had a couple before (last ones at lfs and wouldn't get any more in), the biggest one bullied the other to death so now I have a solo 5" Madagascar rainbowfish gal. I really want to get a school (8-9 minimum) of them for her, but they are usually so small when sold.. I think she could eat new/young ones now lol


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Last picture of this scape as I have plans to try something new after a year of this layout. I have new rocks and some new driftwood from Tom that I'm hoping to get sometime next week. I'm not quite sure of where this new scape will be going but I have some ideas. A year is a good run and time for a change.


----------



## zetvi (Jun 12, 2013)

Keep us updated with whatever you up to ua hua, its sure been a successful tank! Very inspired and informative !


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

zetvi said:


> Keep us updated with whatever you up to ua hua, its sure been a successful tank! Very inspired and informative !


I will either update on this thread or I may just start a new one. I'm not sure when the rescape will happen for sure as I need to play around with a few different ideas after I get my new wood. Either way it's always fun (and a little stressful) starting fresh.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I got my wood today from Tom and started messing around with some ideas. Nothing is final as I have plenty of time to try a few different layouts. Here is one I put together tonight.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

A couple closer shots.


----------



## ChadRamsey (Nov 3, 2011)

this is going to be AMAZING!!!


----------



## dewalltheway (Jan 19, 2005)

ua hua said:


> A couple closer shots.


Love it! You did an awesome job with that arrangement. Can't wait to see it all come together.


----------



## DvanK (Feb 27, 2009)

This is going to be Awesome!!!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

ChadRamsey said:


> this is going to be AMAZING!!!





dewalltheway said:


> Love it! You did an awesome job with that arrangement. Can't wait to see it all come together.





DvanK said:


> This is going to be Awesome!!!


Thanks for the compliments but it has a long ways to go before I would consider it amazing. A lot can happen after it gets started as a new scape. I have been soaking the wood for the last week and a half. I'm changing the water every other day to remove the tannins and another week or two and it should be ready. I think I've settled on the layout that I like but once I start putting everything in the tank things have a tendency to change. My current scape has been turned into a complete jungle as I have just been letting plants grow. I will use some and get rid of some others. I will post pictures of the progress when there is something to show.


----------



## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

holy epic wood


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Well, it's just about time to finally do this rescape as I have almost all the new plants I was waiting for. I'm still waiting for some Rotala Vietnam and Rotala wallichii that should be here by the first of next week. The wood has been soaking for a month now and is no longer leaching any tannins and no longer floating. I took a day off of work on Monday to hopefully get this all done. I need to do it when no kids are around as it just makes it a headache with a 3 year old grabbing at stuff that's laying around. 

I will be doing a Monte Carlo foreground as I have not kept this plant before and was able to get a large portion of it that will fill up most of the footprint of the foreground. Hopefully it will be more manageable than Elatine triandra because I got sick of constantly trimming that. I'm not sure which of the current plants that will or will not be used but I'm sure that most of my anubias will not be used. I'm pretty excited for a change and starting over and hope it turns out like what I have in my mind.


----------



## andrewq (May 22, 2013)

This is going to be LEGEN.................DARY!


----------



## tomfromstlouis (Apr 2, 2012)

I love that tangle of wood on the right!

It sounds like you will be continuing with lots of stem plants, eh? I kind of find that an awesome hardscape like yours leaves to few spots for planting, so I will be watching to see how you pull this off.

ps - keep the same journal


----------



## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

That is some serious hardscape! You've given yourself a lot of cool planting options. I love it! Are you going to do sand in front? If not, do you think most carpet plants would cover the smaller rocks? Either would look great.


----------



## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Damn, loving that hardscape. I gotta reshape my 75 soon, totally going to be looking at your reshaping closely for ideas.


----------



## trailsnale (Dec 2, 2009)

have always enjoyed your journal. informative as well.

thanks,


----------



## MB2 (Feb 6, 2007)

The DW are very nice! Depending on how you cape the tank, the rocks may be a bit crowded. Are rocks going to be covered with plants eventually?


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

tomfromstlouis said:


> I love that tangle of wood on the right!
> 
> It sounds like you will be continuing with lots of stem plants, eh? I kind of find that an awesome hardscape like yours leaves to few spots for planting, so I will be watching to see how you pull this off.
> 
> ps - keep the same journal


Yes it will still be heavily dominated by stem plants. I love all the different textures and colors you can get using them and I got really bored using slower growing plants like crypts and ferns. I used mostly slower growing plants when I first got into the planted side of the hobby. I'm actually removing a few of the stones from the pictures I posted to allow for more planting space. 

I will keep the same journal going just so I can reference back myself and see the changes that have happened over the years. 



AnotherHobby said:


> That is some serious hardscape! You've given yourself a lot of cool planting options. I love it! Are you going to do sand in front? If not, do you think most carpet plants would cover the smaller rocks? Either would look great.


I thought about doing sand in the foreground when I originally had this scape in mind but I don't want the added maintenance of constantly picking Aquasoil out of the sand. I'm sure things will change as I start planting and I'm sure some of the smaller rocks will get swallowed up by the foreground plants. 


HybridHerp said:


> Damn, loving that hardscape. I gotta reshape my 75 soon, totally going to be looking at your reshaping closely for ideas.





trailsnale said:


> have always enjoyed your journal. informative as well.
> 
> thanks,


Thank you. I hope some people will learn from my constant rambling. 



MB2 said:


> The DW are very nice! Depending on how you cape the tank, the rocks may be a bit crowded. Are rocks going to be covered with plants eventually?


I will cover some of the rocks but I'm trying to avoid mosses in this tank as they become a mess getting tangled up in other plants over time. I'm actually not using all the rocks that I posted in the pictures to allow for more planting space and better flow throughout the tank. I'm not even sure what the end result will look like until I start placing stuff in the tank. I'm hoping with this scape that the hardscape doesn't get completely covered by planting like in my previous attempts. I would like more of it to remain visible.


----------



## ChemGuyEthan (Apr 13, 2014)

Your previous work is great, but this is an incredible hardscape!

Excited to see it planted!


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

ChemGuyEthan said:


> Your previous work is great, but this is an incredible hardscape!
> 
> Excited to see it planted!


Thank you. 

Well I started tearing down the old scape this morning after I dropped the kid off at school and just got done with everything about an hour ago. It's a little cloudy yet and I'm too exhausted to take any pictures tonight. I didn't use all the rocks that I had in earlier pictures to leave more room for planting and overall I like it but will still be making minor tweaks as I go. A couple of the pieces of wood still want to float and that's after a month plus of soaking. I have one more plant coming and then I will just wait for it to grow. 

Almost all of the anubias and crypts were left out. I pulled a crypt out that had roots go from one end of the tank to the other and is about the size of a grapefruit. In the process of removing the plant it pulled up the heater cables, which was not that big of a deal because I wanted to add some new Aquasoil anyway so just had to remove the soil from the front 1/3 of the tank. I will try to get some pictures posted in the next couple of days.


----------



## Zuzu (Sep 1, 2014)

D'oh, I've neglected my laundry to sit here tonight and read this entire thread. Beautiful stuff! I can't wait to see what's next.


----------



## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

ua hua said:


> I will cover some of the rocks but I'm trying to avoid mosses in this tank as they become a mess getting tangled up in other plants over time. I'm actually not using all the rocks that I posted in the pictures to allow for more planting space and better flow throughout the tank. I'm not even sure what the end result will look like until I start placing stuff in the tank. I'm hoping with this scape that the hardscape doesn't get completely covered by planting like in my previous attempts. I would like more of it to remain visible.


personally i like this hardscape because lots of common scapes are using two branchy wood on each side. this one use stump on the left instead of both branchy wood. 

about the rocks just leave them there for now. once you want to create more planting space, take some that does not look good here and there. i saw one of amano's scaping video where he just threw a lot of rocks and then pick out the one he don't want


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Here's a couple of shots I took with my phone at lunch today. It has cleared up nicely and I will continue to do water changes every other day.


----------



## Xiaozhuang (Feb 15, 2012)

i like the complexity in this one. So much to see~


----------



## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

Wow! So much going on! You'll be able to stare into this for hours. I love it!


----------



## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

I can't believe you tore that whole thing down and restarted it, deserves a new thread. Looking forward to see the new scape fill in.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Xiaozhuang said:


> i like the complexity in this one. So much to see~


Thank you. Your tanks are absolutely beautiful and I can only hope mine will look half as good 47 gal. Your tank is in my top 10 on this forum for sure. Someday I hope to have time to try a smaller tank and use only a few species of plants and keep it simple. 


sjb1987 said:


> Can't wait to see this in a couple months  looks great jason


Thanks Sean. Your Rotala Vietnam looks really nice. I have never kept this one before and I don't know why because it's really nice. 


AnotherHobby said:


> Wow! So much going on! You'll be able to stare into this for hours. I love it!


Thanks. I'm still waiting for you to come to my house and take pictures for me since it's been proven time and time again I have no clue what I'm doing with my camera. So phone or iPad pics are much easier for me. 


xenxes said:


> I can't believe you tore that whole thing down and restarted it, deserves a new thread. Looking forward to see the new scape fill in.


It was running for over a year and I was ready for a change. Some people can't even let a scape go for a couple of months without changing it. I will keep this new scape in this thread rather than starting a new one for the simple reason that all my ramblings and crappy pics are in one place and I like to look at the evolution over the past four years. I wish I had pictures from the years before I became a member here but most of those pictures were taken before digital cameras and are all on film and I'm too lazy to put them on my computer. 


Here's a few more iPad pics from tonight after adding some Rotala wallichii. The water is a little cloudy from planting but it was crystal clear before I started messing. I'm also adding some Ludwigia sp. red and mini milfoil from Tom and replacing the limnophilia on the left side because it just grows so fast. It was sold as Limnophilia giagntea but it grows just like sessiliflora(insanely fast).

Bump: Bump


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I got some didiplis diandra from a local today and thought I would give it another try. I have tried this plant a few times in the past and not had the best of luck with it. I'm hoping maybe this time will be different. 

I really think this plant does better with lower temps but I'm not sure. They said they keep it in a tank that has a temp around 74-76. My tank runs around 80-82 so I guess we will see. It's a really nice plant that is used in a lot of Dutch style Aquascapes but don't see too many people that keep it. The first time I had this plant it did good for awhile then the stems started turning black at the bottom and slowly disappeared. Maybe it will do better with Aquasoil substrate not being sharp like the flourite substrate that I used the times before when I tried it. 

I will take some more pictures sometime next week after I add the L. sp. red and mini milfoil.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

New plants and some new crappy pictures. Maybe after it grows in a little I will break out my camera and take some mediocre pictures with it.

Bump:

Bump:

Bump:


----------



## plantman25 (Aug 17, 2014)

Tank looks really good man. If you ever need to get rid of trimmings let me know. I'm in Fremont, where nobody keeps planted tanks. Do you have an update pic?


----------



## tomfromstlouis (Apr 2, 2012)

I think we are due for an update. Can't wait to see how it evolved!


----------



## dragam21 (Mar 23, 2014)

Just an amazing looking tank! But when I was really looking at the pictures the one piece of rock really stood out to me! Looks like a troll head popping out. Kinda made me laugh.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

This is the last photo I took of this version of my tank. It looked a lot better than the picture after a couple more months of growth but in December I sold my business of 17 years and started a whole new career path and it goes without saying the tank went down on my priorities list. I'm going to be redoing this current layout with plants that will be more manageable since I'm at work 12 hours a day 6 days a week now. I just don't have the time that I used to have to keep up with the fast growing stem plants. I'm not sure what it will look like or what plants I will be using but I will try to take some new pictures when the changes are made.


----------



## ChemGuyEthan (Apr 13, 2014)

Wow, good luck with the new direction in life!

Looking forward to seeing new updates!


----------



## HunterX (May 19, 2012)

How is the new tank coming?


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Well I know I'm horrible about keeping up to date with this journal and it has been a long time since I have posted anything but I thought it would be time to document the state of my tank. I have changed the scape a long time ago after a career change and just life getting in the way. I don't have any pictures to post at this time but promise to find the time to take some in the near future. I got several new plants from some members here and all are doing well. 

I have been kicking aroun the idea of replacing my current filtration for some time and getting a new sump. I finally decided it was time as my current sump is pushing 20 years old and the quick disconnect on my Eheim broke. I will be adding a new Trigger saphire sump and ATO sometime in the next week or so. I just don't have the time to constantly add water to the sump and need to make it as easy as possible to maintain. I have a few other things I will be doing with the tank equipment and will try to take some pictures of the finished result.


----------



## Dempsey (Oct 27, 2009)

Looking great but we need an update!


----------



## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Dempsey said:


> Looking great but we need an update!


 very true


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Dempsey said:


> Looking great but we need an update!





BettaBettas said:


> very true


I will try to get some pictures sometime next week. My new sump and ATO should be here by next Thursday or Friday. I also will be cleaning up some of the wiring under my tank. I ordered a rack mounted power supply center so I can individually turn off certain pieces of equipment just by flipping a toggle switch. It can be difficult to know exactly what cord goes to what piece of equipment and with several wires in the stand this should make it more organized and easier to maintain. Here is the sump and ATO that I ordered.

Trigger Systems Sapphire Sump - 26 inch - Marine Depot

Trigger Systems Sapphire ATO Reservoir Tank - 5 Gallon - Marine Depot


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Everything arrived today minus the poret foam for the sump. I'm hoping it shows up tomorrow so I can work on it since I have the day off. Here is a few pictures of the sump and the ATO reservoir. I'm making lids for the sump using the same blue acrylic.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

A couple pictures of the lids. Still need to make a handle for them and stops on the inside to sit inside the frame of the sump. The cutout areas are for the return hoses,the probes and ATO pump hose.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

A days worth of work and I still have new bulbs and a ballast to do. I replaced all of the plumbing. New tubing and fittings throughout the entire system. All the pumps and filters are able to be turned on/off with the flip of a switch. No more guessing which cord goes to what.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

A few pictures from my phone.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Finally got some time tonight after coloring Easter eggs to replace one of the ballast in my Tek light fixture that has been out for over a month. I also am trying out some new bulbs since my Geismanns are pushing over 2 years old. I found some Truelumen floras for $10 a piece and they were buy one get one free so for that price it's worth trying. I saw Burr was using them on his tank and liked the look of them. I took some pictures of different bulb combinations and along with my other 2 bulb fixture that has a UVL red sun and Geismann mid day bulb I think it's a good combo. 

The first picture is Truelumen flora on each end and a Geismann midday along with a ATI blue special. The second picture is the same combo except instead of the Geismann midday you can see the old Geismann aquaflora bulbs.


----------



## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Tank is looking good man! Nice to see pics of the sump build too.

As far as color rendition, how it looks to the eye, how would you say the TL Floras compare the the Geishman Flora when it's new? Just curious because Ive never used Geishmans.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

burr740 said:


> Tank is looking good man! Nice to see pics of the sump build too.
> 
> As far as color rendition, how it looks to the eye, how would you say the TL Floras compare the the Geishman Flora when it's new? Just curious because Ive never used Geishmans.


I actually really like the color combination but will probably replace the ATI blue special with an ATI purple plus in the future. I have used the purple plus but that was one of the bulbs I had that finally crapped out. As far as color goes compared to the Geismann aquafloras the True lumen is quite a bit more pink. Even when new the aquafloras are more of a peach looking color. I will have to see how these do but I have 4 of them now since 4 bulbs for $20 was too good to pass up. 

Right now I have 2 Geismann midday bulbs, 2 Truelumen aquafloras, an ATI blue special and a UVL red sun. I really like the UVL red sun even though it looks really weird to look at by itself it looks really nice with other bulbs to tame down the extreme red. I wish I could find some more somewhere but I think they discontinued that bulb. If I knew where to get some I would buy a few of them just to have. 

By the way sorry to hear about your a/c issues. Hopefully everything goes well until you get it fixed. Your tank journal is a wealth of knowledge for everyone involved in this hobby whether they are a newbie or an old timer like myself. I have learned a lot by reading through your experiences.


----------



## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Thanks! 

About a year ago somebody was able to get Red Suns by emailing the company directly. They sold him a couple, so you might try that, Ive been meaning to do it myself. Iiirc they only still make the 48"


----------



## Greggz (May 19, 2008)

ua hua said:


> As far as color goes compared to the Geismann aquafloras the True lumen is quite a bit more pink.


First of all, beautiful tank. And an exceptionally nice stand as well. Interesting the changes over the years. Have been following along and enjoying seeing the progress on the reboot.

And yes, the TrueLumen is quite a bit more pink.


----------



## forrestcook (Jan 25, 2008)

I'm curious, why t5 over led? I'm getting back in after 7 years and when I left the hobby LED was the new hotness, though expensive. I had t5 back then but thought for sure LED would have taken over by now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

burr740 said:


> Thanks!
> 
> About a year ago somebody was able to get Red Suns by emailing the company directly. They sold him a couple, so you might try that, Ive been meaning to do it myself. Iiirc they only still make the 48"


I think I remember reading that somewhere as well. I may have to try that and see if I can get a couple of them. 



Greggz said:


> First of all, beautiful tank. And an exceptionally nice stand as well. Interesting the changes over the years. Have been following along and enjoying seeing the progress on the reboot.
> 
> And yes, the TrueLumen is quite a bit more pink.


Thanks. Your tank is very nice as well. I really love the rainbows. 

Yes this tank has went through many changes throughout the years, some better than others. 




forrestcook said:


> I'm curious, why t5 over led? I'm getting back in after 7 years and when I left the hobby LED was the new hotness, though expensive. I had t5 back then but thought for sure LED would have taken over by now
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


I have never tried a led fixture myself but have seen several tanks with them and to me the colors you get with t5's is hard to get using led's even though they are far more advanced than they were just a couple of years ago. Maybe sometime in the future I will give them a try but for now I'm happy with my t5's.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I had a hair algae issue that I'm trying to get under control. The P. stellatus was a big mass of algae intermixed with the stems that covered the entire surface of the tank as I was not keeping up with maintenance on the tank since changing some things. I also got a nasty fungus that killed all of my serpae tetras and left all but 3 of the brilliant rasboras with deformed mouths. All of this happened after switching my filter to the new setup and removing my uv sterilizer that I couldn't find room for under the stand. This time of year is hard to find the time needed to keep up on the tank with busy kids, outdoor plants and the pond. I'm debating on some new fish but I'm not yet decided on what I want yet. Picture today after removing a cantaloupe size ball of algae and trimming the Pogostemon way down.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

More crappy pictures.


----------



## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

Seems to be coming along quite well, Crypts look great


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Opare said:


> Seems to be coming along quite well, Crypts look great
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Funny thing about the crypts is I didn't even plant them when I redid this tank. I took all my crypts out from my last tank but apparently there was some roots left when I tore them out and all of these have came up from that. I'm actually going to remove most of them. They are mostly green gecko and the one in the middle that is really tall put up a spathe today.


----------



## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

L brevipes(?) looks great, nice contrast with the green geckos


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

burr740 said:


> L brevipes(?) looks great, nice contrast with the green geckos


I'm looking for some L. brevipes and Limnophilia gigantea. I think I have found some of the Limnophilia but I'm still searching for some brevipes. The plant behind the crypts is actually Ammania gracillis. I have kept both the Limnophilia gigantea and brevipes in the past and really like both of them. I was wanting a fine leaved light green plant to put next to the Ammania. I plan on moving some things around after I get the plants I'm looking for. I will remove some of the crypts at that time.


----------



## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

Wow that's pretty cool considering the Crypts are pretty massive now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I found some L. gigantea and L. brevipes thanks to Dempsey and a member of another forum. Thanks again. I should be getting them in the next couple of days. I plan to move a few things around when I get the new plants. Next thing will be getting some buce to put on the right side of the tank where the big cluster of wood is. I have been trying to decide which kind to try as this will be my first time using buce. I think I have it narrowed down to Catherine variety and mini velvet.


----------



## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

New pics.


----------

