# A Match Made in Heaven: 12g Long & Current LED+ (2017 PRL Update)



## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Following  stunning tank with an awesome light! Great work... can't wait to see it fill in.


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## primo (Jul 28, 2013)

I love the petrified wood hard scape! Totally doing that in a tank one day.

Beautiful tank.


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## Jack Gilvey (Jun 16, 2008)

Beautiful!


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## sevenportsOFFICE (Aug 5, 2013)

Awesome tank  of course haha. Yeah I really like that light as well, looks nice on there. Great job.


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## VJM (Feb 9, 2013)

Amazing. That petrified wood really is a knockout. any effect on water parameters?


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks for the compliments everyone!

All critiques are welcome too. 



VJM said:


> Amazing. That petrified wood really is a knockout. any effect on water parameters?


Not that I've noticed yet, the Amazonia is doing an amazing job lowering my KH down from 15-16 out of the tap to 6-7 in tank. Although I wasn't aware of how much ammonia it leaches or I wouldn't have attempted a fish in cycle with small delicate fish. I've been doing daily water changes the past few days to try to keep it under control, finally have it down to .5ppm but nitrites are still off the charts, I lost one nerite today and one of my ember tetras is really struggling tonight.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

I don't know what I'd possibly critique. I really like the tank and scape. The contrast with the green that the red rocks provide is stunning. I cannot wait to see this tank develop! Also, fantastic photography — it really makes a big difference seeing somebody's tank this well shot.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks! I love photography and it's where I've sunk most of my hobby budget the last few years.. I'm excited for this to get going too and I'll add some more shrimp, they'll be fun macro subjects. I'm going to practice more on video as well so keep an eye out for that.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Nitrites are out of control! With daily 60% water changes Ammonia has dropped close to zero, I suspect it's being crushed by the bio media in the 2026 but it's causing insane amounts of Nitrite.

The left Nitrite vial is immediately following today's WC, right vial is taken just before the WC.










Nitrite must be >10ppm before the WC then, right? The fish don't seem to be showing any signs of stress, I assumed they'd be dropping like files at this level. I did lose both Nerites yesterday, but that may have been starvation. I'm using Prime at about 1.5x dose to dechlorinate, maybe that explains why things seem to be okay?

Edit, just did a second big WC and this time the test came back slightly less bright magenta but I'd say it's still reading about 5ppm.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

I've been a bit worried about this high Nitrite, so I decided to give Tetra Safe Start a run for it's money, I've never used anything like this but I've usually had other tanks to jump start the cycle with in the past. Apparently it's a miracle product!

Left most vial - After the daily emergency 60% WC
Center - An hour after adding the Tetra Safe start directly into my filter and letting it sit for about 10 minutes before turning it on
Right - For the hell of it I took this sample about six hours after adding Tetra Safe Start, I was floored by the results.. this is 10 days in to the cycle.











Happy Amano finally came out of hiding.. kinda


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Great pictures! I've used TSS before to get my tank cycled. The stuff really works! I had to argue with so many old school nay sayers when they're so quick to shoot down BB in a bottle without even trying it for themselves.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks! I really wasn't expecting the TSS to do much but I figured it couldn't hurt, it's nice to know that this stuff isn't snake oil. I was getting a little tired of changing the water every day.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

So back to these stunning pictures... What are you using, camera and lens, to capture them?


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

These were taken with a Nikon D300s and Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens, no flash was used. I was kind of disappointed when I noticed the large amount of diffraction that gets in the way when trying to take close macro shots from any angle other than straight on, it makes things much more difficult. The shots in the OP were taken with a Sigma 30mm f/1.4.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Great work... keep the pics coming


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

zodduska said:


> I was kind of disappointed when I noticed the large amount of diffraction that gets in the way when trying to take close macro shots from any angle other than straight on, it makes things much more difficult. The shots in the OP were taken with a Sigma 30mm f/1.4.


I noticed this exact same thing. Even an inch to one side or the other makes a big difference.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

I might experiment with off camera flash and go hand held a bit to avoid having to adjust the tripod height for every shot.

Nitrites are back way up this morning, I'm not sure what to make of it.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I've got these two things now. I am planning on running an eheim 2232 on it. Keep the pictures coming I need some inspiration.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

zodduska said:


> Nitrites are back way up this morning, I'm not sure what to make of it.


That's part of the cycle. At first you just have ammonia. Then as you build bacterial colonies to eat the ammonia, the levels drop. But those bacteria give off nitrite, which is where you are now. Eventually you'll build bacterial colonies to consume the nitrite, and that'll start to drop. When that happens, you'll see nitrate usually start to rise, since that's what those bacteria convert nitrite too.

Also, since you have aquasoil, which leaches a lot of ammonia, you'll be converting ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate for a long time. As such, expect nitrate to possibly be high for quite some time once the nitirite bacteria can consume all of the nitrite that the ammonia bacteria are producing. You'll be getting nitrate in the end until the aquasoil stops leaching ammonia. Your plants will also help consume nitrate.

Just keep up on water changes for now.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks, I was just surprised to see the nitrite was actually consumed last night several hours after adding the Tetra Safe Start by what I assume are the bacteria that convert it to Nitrate. I'm not sure if that bacteria was overwhelmed by too much nitrite overnight or what but I only used half the bottle, I'm going to keep doing the water changes and just squirt a few ml of TSS into the filter every day until things stabilize.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

photo update, 13th day. I played around a little bit with free hand macro lens, I had an SB-600 (flash) positioned above the tank bounced off a diffuser for the first two shots.



















The only problem with bouncing the flash was that it created a lot of reflections.

This one I took with the flash pointing straight down in the center of the tank and shot from the end. I wasn't going to show it but in the end I thought it was kind of a neat mysterious effect.






























Added some Fissidens yesterday but I didn't want to pull any of the larger rocks to attach it. I ended up gluing it in small clumps to a few of the smaller rocks in the back, it's my first time with this moss and it has pretty much turned brown overnight.

I used AnotherHobby's tip of turning off the filter for a while to allow for cleaner full tank shots and had some nice pearling. Here's a quick video of the rainbows playing in it.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

Looking great! Excellent photos once again. You can see all the plants are spreading, and I'm still in love with the red rocks. 

Hydrocotyle grows like a weed in my tank, and I can see it's spreading quickly in your tank too. I often have to do a quick mid week trim. At least it's a super easy plant to trim.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thank you! You're right about the Hydrocotyle, it's the only plant I've trimmed so far, the rotola is about due as well. The crazy ottos have been swimming a little haphazardly on the HC end of the tank and doing their best to uproot it, I turned the light up a little to try to force it down more.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Here's my "stand"










behind the tank, set up the elbow yesterday because I was tired of the crooked filter inlet.










Finished cycling, took 15 days. Shrimp have been ordered.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Start of the third week, shrimp will be in tomorrow and I'm going to the GCCA swap on Sunday!

Japan is invading..










http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16nGTkm_LAA&feature=youtu.be


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Added two dozen fire red cherry shrimp, they're highly active and tricky to get nice pictures of.. I'll try harder later.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Start of the fourth week update




























I added a couple assassin snails from the GCCA swap this weekend. I also noticed and removed a single planaria this afternoon, hopefully there isn't more.. :angryfire


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

Looking good! Starting to green up quite a bit. They hydrocotyle is looking great along the rocks. Don't be afraid to trim that stuff a lot to keep it out of where you don't want it — it grows like crazy.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks! Just finished trimming a few things after I took those pictures, I think the hydrocotyle looks a little cramped going up the sides of the main rocks. I might keep it near the front of them and let the hairgrass take over the area on the sides. The Rotala got chopped to 1/3 height, I'm hoping it grows back a little more bushy and even.. the outside edges were getting shaded by the filter pipes. I'm going to have a heck of a time keeping the hairgrass out of the HC, so I might see how they look mixing together.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Your tank is beautiful as usual. Nicely kept and tidy. Planaria sucks... hopefully it was just that one (usually not the case). If not, Fenbendazole works like a charm. Anyway... if it were up to me, I think your tank is definitely dual or pro ramp eligible in that contest.


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## Jack Gilvey (Jun 16, 2008)

zodduska said:


> Start of the fourth week update


 So much...stunningness.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> Your tank is beautiful as usual. Nicely kept and tidy. Planaria sucks... hopefully it was just that one (usually not the case). If not, Fenbendazole works like a charm. Anyway... if it were up to me, I think your tank is definitely dual or pro ramp eligible in that contest.


Thank you! Does the fenbendazole have any negative effects on the tank? At least the planaria was easy to spot since the tank is relatively small. It would be nice to get one of those timers, if not though I'm kinda looking forward to geeking out and building one along with the dosing pumps from AnotherHobby's journal. 



Jack Gilvey said:


> So much...stunningness.


Thanks! :icon_mrgr


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Absolutely love your tank.

But seeing it perched on that ledge is panic-attack worthy!


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

somewhatshocked said:


> Absolutely love your tank.
> 
> But seeing it perched on that ledge is panic-attack worthy!


Thank you!

Haha, yeah I could see how it may have that effect. Originally I was going to have it come all the way to the end but wasn't comfortable with the risk of bumping into it coming around that corner. I had a sheet of plywood cut to the footprint size and screwed it into the top of that banister to level and secure it, there's also a placement mat between the tank and wood so it's not quite as precarious as it appears. No kids running around to mess with it either.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

zodduska said:


> Does the fenbendazole have any negative effects on the tank?


Not that I know of... I've used it twice to knock out planaria and hydra. 



zodduska said:


> It would be nice to get one of those timers, if not though I'm kinda looking forward to geeking out and building one along with the dosing pumps from AnotherHobby's journal.


Yeah I've been following that build too. Super nice! Those controllers and all the coding it entails is more than what I care to tinker with at the moment. Plug n' play for me! Haha


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Thank goodness! Because... hoo boy... FEAR and PANIC.

Can't wait to see how this great tank continues to develop.



zodduska said:


> Thank you!
> 
> Haha, yeah I could see how it may have that effect. Originally I was going to have it come all the way to the end but wasn't comfortable with the risk of bumping into it coming around that corner. I had a sheet of plywood cut to the footprint size and screwed it into the top of that banister to level and secure it, there's also a placement mat between the tank and wood so it's not quite as precarious as it appears. No kids running around to mess with it either.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

The ceramic co2 diffuser was irritating me, I can't stand bubbles all over the tank and it was noisy so yesterday I decided to rebuild and recommission an old Rex reactor. 

I didn't think the injection through the brass barb was completely ideal so I placed two small o-rings around a roughly 1.5" long piece of co2 tubing, then super glued that on the inside part of the brass barb to extend the injection point to the center of the water flow inside the reactor. I found a can of "hammertone" Krylon Fusion at hobby lobby on clearance for three bucks, I think it turned out kind of nice. 

I blasted hot water through the reactor with a python for an hour after letting the PVC glue and paint dry for two hours outside before hooking it up. I added activated carbon to the tank to absorb any acetone that may be leaching into the water, I also put some purigen in the filter the day before.. the stuff is amazing.











I also added four new Threadfin Rainbows, two male and two female, for a total of seven. The new ones are huge compared to the original batch. Two more ember tetras were also added to create a group of five. 

Here's a shot of the tank in the daylight, the lights are off, I apologize for the nasty reflection.. even a circular polarizer wouldn't help. I removed some of the hydrocotyle on the sides, you can see the carbon bag on the right.










Took a few more pics of shrimp the other night, hand held with off camera flash.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

One month update time!

I just got in the Eheim Skim350, I was having trouble with surface scum.. ran an airstone at night helped a little but didn't clear it completely. I'm very impressed with the Eheim unit, very well designed and smaller than I expected. I thought long about where to place it in the tank without it being too much of an eye sore, I didn't really have many options on the equipment end as the heater takes up most of the width of the tank at the back.

*Here's the new found surface clarity in video form (HD):*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM6EYu7OOqA&feature=youtu.be



















Here you can see the output of the skim350, added circulation over the heater and pushes expelled surface gunk towards the filter inlet.











Received the GLA wave scissors the other day so I put them to use by trimming some of the taller staurogyne as well as the HC, here's a couple updated full tank shots.



















Downoi is finally coming back from the dead.. zombie downoi!










Thanks for looking! :icon_cool


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

I like that eheim unit, pretty darn neat! Great pictures as usual. I'm getting my GLA aquascaping tools tomorrow. I'm excited to try them out.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> I like that eheim unit, pretty darn neat! Great pictures as usual. I'm getting my GLA aquascaping tools tomorrow. I'm excited to try them out.


The Eheim really works great, it even skims shrimp! Haha, just pulled two of the dumb buggers out. I knew it would happen eventually but at this rate they'd all be piled up in there by tomorrow afternoon. I had tried some plastic mesh drawer liner from IKEA but had some trouble, the design is very well balanced, not much room to mess with it. After finding the imprisoned shrimp I gave it another go.. The spillways are now partially blocked and it seems to be sucking more from the surface itself creating a small vortex- like depression. Whether this reduces the rate of shrimp incarceration remains to be seen. 

The GLA tools are nice, I think it was your thread where I saw the blowout prices so thank you for that.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

zodduska said:


> Whether this reduces the rate of shrimp incarceration remains to be seen.


Well it didn't :icon_neut

This morning a shrimp was caught upside down on the mesh with his tail sticking up above the water, he was fine. Two more were inside on the sponge. At least I figured out a way to remove them without pulling the unit: I powered it down, pulled the float off and squirt jets of water inside with a pipette until they swim out.. pretty quick and easy, not sure if I want to deal with this every day though. I'll try to come up with a better solution, anyone have ideas to share?


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

zodduska said:


> Well it didn't :icon_neut
> 
> This morning a shrimp was caught upside down on the mesh with his tail sticking up above the water, he was fine. Two more were inside on the sponge. At least I figured out a way to remove them without pulling the unit: I powered it down, pulled the float off and squirt jets of water inside with a pipette until they swim out.. pretty quick and easy, not sure if I want to deal with this every day though. I'll try to come up with a better solution, anyone have ideas to share?


Oh this is an unforeseen problem I didnt think would happen. I'm interested too as I have shrimp in my tanks.

What is the purpose of your surface skimmer? Just to get rid of that layer of surface scum or also for small clipping of plants? If its just the scum, maybe something like a stainless steel ring around the sides similar to that of your inflow? Or panty hose? 

Let me know what you end up doing.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Psiorian said:


> Oh this is an unforeseen problem I didnt think would happen. I'm interested too as I have shrimp in my tanks.
> 
> What is the purpose of your surface skimmer? Just to get rid of that layer of surface scum or also for small clipping of plants? If its just the scum, maybe something like a stainless steel ring around the sides similar to that of your inflow? Or panty hose?
> 
> Let me know what you end up doing.


Pretty much just to get rid of the surface scum. Thanks for the suggestions, stainless steel mesh might work but I don't have any, panty hose won't allow enough water to flow through it. I'm going to try cutting up a small fish net this evening and attaching it to the outside edges of the float to see if that works, if I double it up I think it'll be shrimp proof.. as long as the flow is okay and the shrimp don't climb over it.


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

zodduska said:


> Pretty much just to get rid of the surface scum. Thanks for the suggestions, stainless steel mesh might work but I don't have any, panty hose won't allow enough water to flow through it. I'm going to try cutting up a small fish net this evening and attaching it to the outside edges of the float to see if that works, if I double it up I think it'll be shrimp proof.. as long as the flow is okay and the shrimp don't climb over it.


Maybe when h4n gets back from his honeymoon he can make a custom cap for the skim350. If he does let me know so I can order one too haha. 

Small fish net or one of those loofa bath things may work too. 

You could also maybe use a stainless steel strainer to cover it (I don't know how big that strainer portion is though)


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Han made the strainer I have over my filter inlet, he does sell just the mesh by itself too so I might end up buying some of that and making one myself. I'll post an update tonight on the status of the fish net fix, if it works out I'll take a picture so you can see how I did it.


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## Chronados (Jan 28, 2013)

I have the same skimmer and ran into the same issue. The stainless steel mesh does not work very well (either outside or inside the floating cap), unless you get a VERY coarse mesh (holes ~2-3x bigger than the stuff H4n) sells. Otherwise, the water goes through, but the surface scum pools outside since the surface tension is too high for it to pass through the mesh. The problem with using a super coarse mesh, of course, is that shrimp and small fish can still get through. If you end up using the mesh, make sure to use some styrofoam to create additional floatation to offset the weight of the mesh too. Otherwise, the plastic floating cap sits too low in the water.

In the end, I just gave up and took it out of my 7.5g


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

lol, I had found your thread by googling the issue. Thanks for the reply and tips, if all the modifications fail I'll either just take it all off and empty the shrimp once a day or put the skimmer on a timer so it only runs for short periods throughout the day.


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## Chronados (Jan 28, 2013)

zodduska said:


> lol, I had found your thread by googling the issue. Thanks for the reply and tips, if all the modifications fail I'll either just take it all off and empty the shrimp once a day or put the skimmer on a timer so it only runs for short periods throughout the day.


Now that I think about it, you're right, a timer with a SS mesh filter covering the outlet is probably the best approach. It probably only needs to run for 10-15 minutes a day on most tanks, and the outlet cover would prevent curious shrimp from going into the impeller assembly. I did the emptying out once a day thing too, but oftentimes shrimp would be dead (and partially eaten) by the time I got around to checking!


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

I hadn't even considered covering the outlet assembly, it'd certainly make shrimp soup if left off most of the time, thanks for pointing that out! roud:


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

zodduska said:


> The GLA tools are nice, I think it was your thread where I saw the blowout prices so thank you for that.


Oh man, oh man...I just got my GLA shipment today... these tools are freakin' awesome! I have other aquascaping tools (kit) from eBay, but they don't compare to the quality! Very smooth operation and sharp. I can't imagine how GLA can improve on these. They're excellent, especially for the price we got them at!


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> Oh man, oh man...I just got my GLA shipment today... these tools are freakin' awesome! I have other aquascaping tools (kit) from eBay, but they don't compare to the quality! Very smooth operation and sharp. I can't imagine how GLA can improve on these. They're excellent, especially for the price we got them at!


Both your reactions echo mine. That was a heck of a sale. I only wish I bought more. 

They feel so nice! Huge improvement over my other chepo set. I understand the expensive tool thing now. 

Did either of you get tweezers? I wish I did. How do they feel? Just as good as the scissors?


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Heck yeah, they are really nice, an amazing value for the price.. I only got the 8" wave scissors, I wanted pointed straight tweezers since I already have (a cheap) angle one but they were sold out.


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

zodduska said:


> Heck yeah, they are really nice.. I only got the 8" wave scissors, I wanted pointed straight tweezers since I already have (a cheap) angle one but they were sold out.


That's the tweezer I wanted. Based on these we got I may have to see how much their new line is.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Yeah I got the 12" pincettes and some shorter curved tip ones. I recall some dude on my thread, where the sale was discovered, stated "why would anyone get tweezers without grips" or something along those lines... now I know why... these tweezers (or pincettes, whatever) are so light and sturdy, it takes very little effort to squeeze them together. Very easy and smooth like the scissors. I'm stoked!


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## carpalstunna (Mar 22, 2012)

GLA Tools still on sale or no?


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> Yeah I got the 12" pincettes and some shorter curved tip ones. I recall some dude on my thread, where the sale was discovered, stated "why would anyone get tweezers without grips" or something along those lines... now I know why... these tweezers (or pincettes, whatever) are so light and sturdy, it takes very little effort to squeeze them together. Very easy and smooth like the scissors. I'm stoked!


Lol that dude was me haha. 

Do they still hold things well without the grip tips? I know GLA also sells tweezers with grips.


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

carpalstunna said:


> GLA Tools still on sale or no?


Yes. Until they run out. They just don't have as many as before.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Psiorian said:


> Lol that dude was me haha.
> 
> Do they still hold things well without the grip tips? I know GLA also sells tweezers with grips.


Haha! Ohhh... it was YOU! Yeah I just tried them out and planted a blyxa japonica. Because the tips are so sharp, they easily insert and are withdrawn from the substrate after planting without disturbing the substrate much at all. I can imagine how nice these would be for planting HC and other small carpet plants. roud:

Edit:

Sorry zodduska, don't want to hijack your thread! I'll post a pic of my new tools on my thread and continue from there  
BTW, I need to bust out my DSLR... it's very 'entry level' coupled with my newb status on photography, I'm just hoping my pics can be a fraction as nice as yours! I'm going to give it a go soon, though


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

I don't mind. Any DSLR and most point and shoot camera can get nice shots, tripod is the key for aquarium pictures.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Chronados said:


> I have the same skimmer and ran into the same issue. The stainless steel mesh does not work very well (either outside or inside the floating cap), unless you get a VERY coarse mesh (holes ~2-3x bigger than the stuff H4n) sells. Otherwise, the water goes through, but the surface scum pools outside since the surface tension is too high for it to pass through the mesh. The problem with using a super coarse mesh, of course, is that shrimp and small fish can still get through. If you end up using the mesh, make sure to use some styrofoam to create additional floatation to offset the weight of the mesh too. Otherwise, the plastic floating cap sits too low in the water.
> 
> In the end, I just gave up and took it out of my 7.5g


After playing with a few ways of obstructing the overflow I've come to the same conclusion - anything with holes large enough to break the surface tension would not be shrimp safe. It's easy to make something that lets water through but every time it was pulling from just under the surface and not really skimming.

I'm giving the timer route a try, I set it to run five minutes per hour between 2pm and 3am. 

I shoved a bit of foam in the pump return flow to keep wandering shrimp out, I also cut out a ring of styrofoam from a cup bottom to help the float a little higher when it's off, though it still sits slightly below the waterline.


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## Chronados (Jan 28, 2013)

zodduska said:


> After playing with a few ways of obstructing the overflow I've come to the same conclusion - anything with holes large enough to break the surface tension would not be shrimp safe. It's easy to make something that lets water through but every time it was pulling from just under the surface and not really skimming.
> 
> I'm giving the timer route a try, I set it to run five minutes per hour between 2pm and 3am.
> 
> I shoved a bit of foam in the pump return flow to keep wandering shrimp out, I also cut out a ring of styrofoam from a cup bottom to help the float a little higher when it's off, though it still sits slightly below the waterline.


I like that foam idea. I would leave the styrofoam off though. In the case your shrimp/fish got sucked in while the skimmer was on, the height added by the styrofoam might prevent them from getting out. Without it, they would have free access and I'd imagine the shrimp would like picking a the biofilm on the sponge inside.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Chronados said:


> I like that foam idea. I would leave the styrofoam off though. In the case your shrimp/fish got sucked in while the skimmer was on, the height added by the styrofoam might prevent them from getting out. Without it, they would have free access and I'd imagine the shrimp would like picking a the biofilm on the sponge inside.


Ahhh good call! It didn't occur to me that the shrimp can swim back out after getting sucked in but I don't see why they wouldn't, I'll give it a try thanks!


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## Chronados (Jan 28, 2013)

zodduska said:


> Ahhh good call! It didn't occur to me that the shrimp can swim back out after getting sucked in but I don't see why they wouldn't, I'll give it a try thanks!


I meant when the skimmer is off, the shrimp will swim pretty freely in and out from what I've seen. Once they get sucked in when the unit is on, there's no getting out


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Yeah, I understood, my reply was a little unclear 

I have noticed, just testing it in short bursts with a few minutes on, some of the surface gunk floats back out when it goes off. I upped the on time to ten minutes per hour to see if that helps.


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

zodduska said:


> Yeah, I understood, my reply was a little unclear
> 
> I have noticed, just testing it in short bursts with a few minutes on, some of the surface gunk floats back out when it goes off. I upped the on time to ten minutes per hour to see if that helps.


Interesting let me know if the new time works out for you.

So you blocked the outflow with foam, so if the shrimp go in the top and the filter happens to turn on at that time... then its bye bye shrimp? Or is there a filter sponge block down there that prevents this? 

Basically the shrimp will have to wait out the 10 mins and then he can swim back out?


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## Chronados (Jan 28, 2013)

Psiorian said:


> Interesting let me know if the new time works out for you.
> 
> So you blocked the outflow with foam, so if the shrimp go in the top and the filter happens to turn on at that time... then its bye bye shrimp? Or is there a filter sponge block down there that prevents this?
> 
> Basically the shrimp will have to wait out the 10 mins and then he can swim back out?


There's a foam block before the impeller but not after. So with the foam piece in the output, it's perfectly safe


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Chronados said:


> There's a foam block before the impeller but not after. So with the foam piece in the output, it's perfectly safe


^This. So now with the addition of the foam after the impeller the shrimp can't crawl into the output and enter the impeller chamber while the skimmer is off.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

I'm happy to report that no shrimp were inside in the skimmer when I checked this morning.


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

zodduska said:


> I'm happy to report that no shrimp were inside in the skimmer when I checked this morning.


Yay! And no scum I'm guessing?

Now that I'm thinking about it, which timer do you have that lets you do 10 minutes an hour?


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Scum free! It's an Intermatic digital timer I bought about ten years ago, looks like this


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Took a time lapse video last night of one light cycle, one exposure every thirty seconds, nearly 900 images:

*http://youtu.be/DKbONKslDjY*

The nerite really earns his keep.


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

zodduska said:


> Took a time lapse video last night of one light cycle, one exposure every thirty seconds, nearly 900 images:
> 
> *http://youtu.be/DKbONKslDjY*
> 
> The nerite really earns his keep.


Nice time lapse. Man I gotta get me one of these nerites!


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks man! 

By the way, I've been running the skimmer for an hour every other hour and the shrimp have no trouble getting out.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Lost a few (4) shrimp yesterday, they just rolled over and died slowly, found two already dead under the hydrocotyle. 
I'm assuming its because I'd tweaked the co2 up a bit two days ago trying to find the upper limit, ugh.. I figured some of the fish would gasp first but I guess not. Drop checker wasn't yellow and the PH chart isn't all that helpful when using the liquid PH test kit and Aquasoil is messing with hardness. I measured PH drop with water sitting over night and it indicated about a 1.2 PH drop at my normal injection rate.. So it must have been quite high. RIP shrimp.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Lacking updates lately due to some algae issues, looks like some bba or look-alike starting on my old repens leaves.. some short fuzz algae on the edges of lots of leaves on the rotala, moss and hairgrass, worst of all just enough diatoms to generally make the tank look like crap. Can't really figure it out, everything is where it needs to be. I've been dosing macro and micros every day, meanwhile my shrimp population has dwindled down to just a couple. Pretty disappointing and proof positive to me that there is much more to this than rigorously following the ideas of EI, having excess Co2 with good circulation and clear rippling surface. If I could get rid of the diatoms I'd be okay with it.

Nitrates ~ 20-30ppm
Phosphates ~ 1ppm (dosed daily as it's being absorbed by the aquasoil)
K ~ ?

25% PWC Monday and Friday.


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

zodduska said:


> Lacking updates lately due to some algae issues, looks like some bba or look-alike starting on my old repens leaves.. some short fuzz algae on the edges of lots of leaves on the rotala, moss and hairgrass, worst of all just enough diatoms to generally make the tank look like crap. Can't really figure it out, everything is where it needs to be. I've been dosing macro and micros every day, meanwhile my shrimp population has dwindled down to just a couple. Pretty disappointing and proof positive to me that there is much more to this than rigorously following the ideas of EI, having excess Co2 with good circulation and clear rippling surface. If I could get rid of the diatoms I'd be okay with it.
> 
> Nitrates ~ 20-30ppm
> Phosphates ~ 1ppm (dosed daily as it's being absorbed by the aquasoil)
> ...


Well if you figure out the diatom thing let me know! I hate that stuff. Maybe the death of some shrimps have caused the diatom bloom?

Are the numbers at the bottom the tested values of your water? or the amount you're dosing each day? 

Hows the plant growth? Any signs of a deficiency?


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Everything I can find on Diatoms says it should burn itself out, it uses silicates which I'd guess my rock hard water is loaded with, doesn't seem to require much light as my filter and hoses are coated with the stuff. 

I'm really not sure what caused it but I have a feeling it might have something to do with increased PO4 dosage I've been adding. About a month ago I started testing PO4 and getting 0 readings the next day, even when I doubled the dose.. It turns out that Aquasoil absorbs PO4 so I decided to add 1ppm every day, because no PO4 in the water column is bad right? So many people using aquasoil but I can't find any discussion on this really, *shrug* 

Also because of aquasoil leeching ammonia I don't add much KNO3, only about 1-2ppm per day. The tank water stays between 10-30ppm (I'd have to calibrate the API kit to know for sure)

I think the fuzz algae might be due to too much iron, I'm guessing my water is already high in iron and I'm using the old "CSM+B plus iron" for trace. 

I'm going to cut back on all the ferts and light a little to see what happens.

Plant growth is excellent other than diatoms smothering a little.


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## Psiorian (Jun 23, 2013)

zodduska said:


> Everything I can find on Diatoms says it should burn itself out, it uses silicates which I'd guess my rock hard water is loaded with, doesn't seem to require much light as my filter and hoses are coated with the stuff.
> 
> I'm really not sure what caused it but I have a feeling it might have something to do with increased PO4 dosage I've been adding. About a month ago I started testing PO4 and getting 0 readings the next day, even when I doubled the dose.. It turns out that Aquasoil absorbs PO4 so I decided to add 1ppm every day, because no PO4 in the water column is bad right? So many people using aquasoil but I can't find any discussion on this really, *shrug*
> 
> ...


That is interesting you mention that Aquasoil absorbs PO4. I just googled it. The articles also mentioned that it would release it into the root system.

Maybe go back to your old doses of PO4 and see if that helps alleviate the problem, even though the test kit says it was 0, was anything else wrong with the system?


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

I've been going back and forth in my head about what to do. At this point I'm leaning towards DIY ADA fertilization scheme and watching the plants for deficiency.. They pretty much just dose K and trace? EI seems to work great for growing plants as fast as possible but I'm not really sure that's what I want now that its grown in. Hopefully the diatoms clear up soon on their own regardless.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

beautiful tank.

i don't think i've ever seen a mr aqua 12g L before. very unique dimensions


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks! They're really great.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Time for an update. Diatoms are gone! I trimmed the S.Repens down to stumps recently, it got pretty dense in this narrow tank.

I got a great deal on the 17mm VIV Lily pipe from Chronados, so I've removed the skimmer for now.









































































Thanks for looking!


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## mayphly (Jul 20, 2010)

Totally diggin' the ottos!


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

For some reason they love hanging out at that end of the tank all day.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

Looking good! Your tank is really filling in nicely.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

What a gorgeous scape for an already stellar tank


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> Great pictures! I've used TSS before to get my tank cycled. The stuff really works! I had to argue with so many old school nay sayers when they're so quick to shoot down BB in a bottle without even trying it for themselves.


The product may be expired/inoperative due to being on the shelf too long or being subjected to temp. extremes during any
storage/shipping. But if your anything like me in respect to "new" products that claim to do what in this case seems to be
"miracle" type things(Example: one such product claimed to keep you from "ever having to do a water change again") then
IF you did get a bad bottle of it...you would be a one man advertising firm against it from then on. Likely because you would
want to warn others not to depend on it or just not spend their money on it.
Especially if you had spent $15-$18 dollars on the stuff as it sells in most stores. Which brings me to this point...Petsmountain
has it for $6 as long as you can wait on it.

BTW: Seriously awesome tank/bet the favorite location for the Oto's is current related/and as I'm just learning plants the plants 
which are ground cover under the Oto's are which kind ?


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

zodduska said:


> Thanks! I really wasn't expecting the TSS to do much but I figured it couldn't hurt, it's nice to know that this stuff isn't snake oil. I was getting a little tired of changing the water every day.


One day...many many moons from now when they've had to eat their words time and again...they'll come around.
And don't forget that ineffective copy cats are messing it up for TSS also.
Now if we could just get them to lighten up on screaming that "Excel IS NOT CO2" we might get some peace...LOL...
For those who have the smaller tanks in which Excel would be cheaper to use...I'd suggest you go to the Sea Chem
home site and clic on the article at the right about "Carbon in the..." to read what a Phd has to say about it.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

AnotherHobby said:


> Looking good! Your tank is really filling in nicely.


Thanks! I think I'm at the point with the Hydrocotyle where I should pull it up and replant it, the bottoms are looking ratty. Same goes for the Rotala. I'm going to wait for the repens to come back a bit first so there isn't as much opportunity for algae to take hold. 



acitydweller said:


> What a gorgeous scape for an already stellar tank


Thank you! 



Raymond S. said:


> The product may be expired/inoperative due to being on the shelf too long or being subjected to temp. extremes during any
> storage/shipping. But if your anything like me in respect to "new" products that claim to do what in this case seems to be
> "miracle" type things(Example: one such product claimed to keep you from "ever having to do a water change again") then
> IF you did get a bad bottle of it...you would be a one man advertising firm against it from then on. Likely because you would
> ...


Thanks. I think you're right, the Otos seem to love sitting there in the current.

That's Hemianthus callitrichoides, HC aka Dwarf Baby Tears. For a while I had too much current and small section of it died off, since I've reduced the flow it's healthier and much more dense. 



Raymond S. said:


> One day...many many moons from now when they've had to eat their words time and again...they'll come around.
> And don't forget that ineffective copy cats are messing it up for TSS also.
> Now if we could just get them to lighten up on screaming that "Excel IS NOT CO2" we might get some peace...LOL...
> For those who have the smaller tanks in which Excel would be cheaper to use...I'd suggest you go to the Sea Chem
> home site and clic on the article at the right about "Carbon in the..." to read what a Phd has to say about it.


Agreed.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

*Thanks zodduska...*



zodduska said:


> Thanks!
> 
> Thanks. I think you're right, the Otos seem to love sitting there in the current.
> 
> ...


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Maybe check out Micrantherum umbrosum "monte carlo"

Looks really nice, I haven't tried it myself but its a slow grower so it may work with low light.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks to Indychus, Dahammer and mistergreen I now have an Arduino controlling my light! 



















I had a blast working on it and tweaking the lighting schedules, I highly recommend anyone with a Current LED+ that has any interest in electronics or coding to build one of these, even if you have no experience with Arduino.

check out the project thread here:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=391265

The cardboard box and breadbord are only temporary, I'm going to put it into a real enclosure and solder it next week.


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## inka4041 (Jul 27, 2008)

This is such a gorgeous little tank. Love the head on shot!


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks inka! That's the view I enjoy most often from the couch. 

Time for another update, I pulled 99% of the Hydrocotyle because it was just getting too dense and growing too fast to keep looking nice in the small space. Thinned out the Rotala indica quite a bit and added some Rotala mini butterfly as well.

































































These shots are mostly in memorial of the lush HC as it'll be getting it's first major trim tomorrow. If anyone doesn't mind paying shipping ($5) PM me between now and 5pm central tomorrow and I'll send a good amount of trimmings your way.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

Wow – this tank is filling in fantastic! I love it! I had a hunch the hydrocotyle would be too fast of a grower.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks man it means a lot!

Hah yeah, the hydrocotyle had been out of control for a while, I left two or three nodes in to laugh at it.

RAOK is claimed.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

zodduska said:


> Thanks man it means a lot!
> 
> Hah yeah, the hydrocotyle had been out of control for a while, I left two or three nodes in to laugh at it.
> 
> RAOK is claimed.


It's fun to have and it's a pretty plant. It grows fast and it's easy so you can just hack out 90% of it and give it away, and then keep a little that'll take a while to get started again. I just have 3 tiny leaves left right now, but they'll grow back in soon enough.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Yeah I agree. It even seems to do alright in low light although it won't really creep.


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

Man love how this tank pops and the flow of everything is beautiful! Great job, really tempting me to get a 12gal lol but I dont have anymore space haha


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thank you! The HC/Downoi/Repens are all similarly pretty bright in person, they tend to blend together in the pictures.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Please don't apologize as it's a LOL situation but you guys use of technical names ..."hydrocotyle"... leaves some of us
newby's running back and fourth from picture to picture looking for what is missing so we can match up a picture of
the plant in our mind/w the scientific name of it...like I said...LOL...
I'll put it back on you this way...DPW ? LOL...


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Hydrocotyle look like clovers.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

zodduska said:


> Hydrocotyle look like clovers.


Thank you zodduska...


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## dhsanti (Nov 15, 2013)

*Curious*

question : from the day you planted your HC how long did it take to get it so full? mine has been in for roughly a month its growing pretty good kind was just curious to know


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Is that bacopa that is red? Looks really nice.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

dhsanti said:


> question : from the day you planted your HC how long did it take to get it so full? mine has been in for roughly a month its growing pretty good kind was just curious to know


About three months. Switching to a lily pipe from a jet pipe seemed to make it really take off with the more even flow.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

zodduska said:


> About three months. Switching to a lily pipe from a jet pipe seemed to make it really take off with the more even flow.


So it is? thats great. They will grow like next level weed. The red on them is great, I think you should use their redness in other places. They seem to be hidden in a busy corner.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

samee said:


> Is that bacopa that is red? Looks really nice.


It's Rotala mini butterfly from h4n. Just added it last week so its still adapting, it'll be neat to see how it ends up.. hopefully staying red.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

samee said:


> So it is? thats great. They will grow like next level weed. The red on them is great, I think you should use their redness in other places. They seem to be hidden in a busy corner.


That reply was actually for dhsanti, sorry for the confusion. 

I might try spreading them around a bit, thanks


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Ah so it must be emersed grown. It looks exactly like bacopa australis except its 100% red, which I dont think exists. I have the butterfly and although its a very beautiful plant, its an annoying one. It also converts to rotala green or caterpillar. So you get two plants in one


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## dhsanti (Nov 15, 2013)

zodduska said:


> About three months. Switching to a lily pipe from a jet pipe seemed to make it really take off with the more even flow.


thanks for the reply


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Been a while since the last update, I moved recently, I didn't break down the tank just drained it as much as I could then laid wet paper towels over all the plants with cardboard braces to prevent the hardscape from shifting. Gave away all my fish except for the otos and nerites, I'm planning on stocking this with OEBT shrimp soon. Bought a stand, a BlackBrown 48" BESTA shelf with Bamboo pattern doors and drilled it for the hoses. The new house is on a well with a water softener so I invested in a refurbished Spectrapure RO-DI & Drinking water system, my first time messing with RO.. I probably didn't need the DI but whatever!

I also built a light stand out of conduit to suspend the SAT+

Changed the scape a bit, removed (most) of the Repens because it was just too dense for the small tank, and now the Downoi is getting the same way. Added some mopani driftwood to fill the gap it left and a few more plants.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Wow... nice update! Tank is still looking as good as ever -- despite the move! Besta cabinets sure make for a no fuss, easy on the wallets and eyes, tank stands! Great job on the light suspension. You didn't, by any chance, take pics and document what you did exactly to the Sat+ to remove the legs and attach the fishing line?


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## Jason K (Jan 3, 2009)

stand and light stand look really nice.

question...how long of a move was it? any issues with tank or plants based on your method?


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks Brian! I didn't get pics of the stand build unfortunately, basically once the legs are out (the one side is really easy, the other I needed to break the epoxy) I made a knot like this on the eyelet bolt swivel clip:










then measured and cut both loose ends of the fishing line to match perfectly, thread them through the end cap leg holes from the outside going in, then measured 1" on the end and clamped a small weight at that point and tied a regular knot back around it with the 1" of line left over. Doing it the exact same way for all 4 "line ends" I ended up with the light level and unable to shift. The ends are not tied together or anything inside, it's the fishing weights being used as a stop on the inside of the end caps that prevent them from pulling out.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Jason K said:


> stand and light stand look really nice.
> 
> question...how long of a move was it? any issues with tank or plants based on your method?


Thanks!! I didn't have any issues transporting the tank other than the fact it barely fit in the back of my golf, the move was short only about five minutes away mostly straight down a major road. I went slow and took turns carefully. I think the key is to remove as much water out as possible to prevent any sloshing. The plants didn't show any signs of distress, even after I filled the tank back up with very cold water. The fish were moved in a 5 gallon bucket with about 4" of water.


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## aaronbear (Mar 17, 2013)

Can you post a pic of your tank from the other side where the tubes come out of the stand? I have been considering drilling my stand for tubes as well and I want to see how it looks for you. 

Did you reinforce the stand at all?


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Setup looks super clean w the light hung over the tank like that. Wow


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## jbig (Jul 13, 2012)

great looking tank! I can't wait to pick one of these up when marine depot restocks them...

what length SAT+ is that?


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

jbig said:


> great looking tank! I can't wait to pick one of these up when marine depot restocks them...
> 
> what length SAT+ is that?


for a 12g long you need a 36" fixture


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## jbig (Jul 13, 2012)

lamiskool said:


> for a 12g long you need a 36" fixture


thank you! :icon_smil


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## Chris_Produces (Feb 19, 2014)

Incredible looking. Got to subscribe to this one.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

This tank is just beautiful. Your hard work and diligence has really paid dividends.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate your kind words. 



aaronbear said:


> Can you post a pic of your tank from the other side where the tubes come out of the stand? I have been considering drilling my stand for tubes as well and I want to see how it looks for you.
> 
> Did you reinforce the stand at all?


Sorry for the delay. I didn't reinforce the stand at all, I sat on it before putting the tank on it and it seemed pretty solid. When I drilled it I was a little surprised to find that the top piece is basically a glorified piece of corrugated cardboard, it's completely hollow with a cardboard support structure.

Here's the pics



















If anyone has a source for extra short 17mm glass intakes let me know as I'd really like to be able to replace the green Eheim pipe. 

25 OEBT shrimp should arrive tomorrow.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

It sucks the only way to get true good qauilty wood/cabinet/stand these days is many hundreds $ for OLD furniture or build it yourself, everything is glorifies particleboard/cardboard now x.x I feel so old knowing I grew up with true all (good quality) wooden dressers/furnishings and now you just can't find that...
As I side note I *HATE *the green tubing/piping filters use x.x give me clear or give me solid black damn it, I don't want neon green tube I can see build up in.


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## Charlest (May 24, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> It sucks the only way to get true good qauilty wood/cabinet/stand these days is many hundreds $ for OLD furniture or build it yourself, everything is glorifies particleboard/cardboard now x.x I feel so old knowing I grew up with true all (good quality) wooden dressers/furnishings and now you just can't find that...
> As I side note I *HATE *the green tubing/piping filters use x.x give me clear or give me solid black damn it, I don't want neon green tube I can see build up in.


You live in PA recruit you an Amish feller top quality woodworking.

Sent from my LG-D500 using Tapatalk


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

I was able to get a nice intake from aquaticplantfood.uk, finally the green eheim is gone. OEBT have been in a few weeks, I discontinued dosing and co2 this week to do my best to keep them alive and trying to dose minimally was causing a fuzz algae outbreak. Lighting intensity and duration have been reduced, it's handy to have fully adjustable lighting. 

So here's my low tech shrimp tank

*Feeding Time video!*


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## andygold (Dec 26, 2012)

The video in post #72....whats with that plant just above and to the right of the furthest large rock on the right. I thought the video was looping at first, but realized it wasnt. That one plant keeps stretching and then recoiling.... 

Edit: it starts about 35 seconds into the video.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

lol yeah, I noticed the same thing. It's pearling and as the air bubble builds up it draws up the hydrocotyle tripartita leaf with it, when the bubble breaks free it settles back down, happens a few times.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Took this macro video of my OEBT Saturday night, bonus shot of the babies at the end. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwOha9OeAB8


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Nice photo and macro video. I've yet to keep OEBT's but watching your video with that heavy rock soundtrack made these guys look pretty menacing I must say! Their eyes look like they're zombiefied shrimp or something! Pretty cool... lol


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks Brian! They're really fun to watch, very active shrimp.. I can't wait until the tank is overrun by OEBTZ's


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## Tihsho (Oct 10, 2007)

By far one of my favorite nanos on here!


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## Ptjameso (Jan 1, 2012)

Awesome tank! It's nice to see the evolution and beautiful shots along the way!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Really nice tank!!!. Clean water, organized equipment, amazing plant colors and scape. I'm really liking these 12g long tanks. They are really good for scaping and they are still small enough to feet almost everywhere. I'm craving one now.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks for the kind words! I'll post a whole tank update soon.

I'm surprised how well this tank handled the transition from EI/PPS & CO2 to Low Tech = zero dosing, no co2, no excel. I'm sure the aquasoil plays a role here but pretty much all the plants look fine, A. Reineckii is doing well with nice color and Rotala mini butterfly finally grows nicely.. which never happened with the ferts and CO2 although the leaf shape is a bit different. Downoi suffered a bit, I think mostly from the reduced photoperiod but the hitchhiker ramshorns have done a good job cleaning up the deteriorating parts. While it may not be as lush as it used to be, maintenance is so much simpler, no more shopping bags full of weekly trimmings to deal with or algae outbreaks.. just simple enjoyment.


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

It's been a while! This tank was mostly neglected and overgrown for the past year, a couple weeks ago I restocked it with some PRL which revealed that my substrate buffering capacity had expired. Replaced the Aquasoil with SL-Aqua soil on this past Saturday. Took some updated pics to share.


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## Hephaestus (Feb 2, 2017)

I was hoping there'd be a current update when I got to the end of this thread! This was/is an absolutely beautiful tank. Do you think you'll go back to dosing ferts and CO2, or stick with keeping it simple? Planning to add any new tankmates? I love the petrified wood. I picked up a piece recently to put into my little 5gal betta tank, and the colors are just amazing. Are the round stones granite?

I've had my eye on an AquaMaxx 12gal long rimless (36 long by 8 wide by 10 tall) for a couple weeks now, just haven't pulled the trigger yet. This thread has shown me the potential and I may not have run out of excuses not to buy it .


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## zodduska (Aug 14, 2013)

Thank Hephaestus, I really appreciate it! I'm happy with how it turned out. For now I'm gonna try to keep the conditions as ideal for the shrimp as possible, so no dosing ferts/co2 and minimal hands in the tank, hopefully they breed well and I get a nice colony going. Likely no tank mates, even the tiniest fish seem to harass shrimp in my experience, I had some rams horn snails in there but, somewhat intentionally, none seem to have made it in the substrate transition. 

The first 12 gallon scape I saw online had the petrified wood in it, to me it's one of the most interesting hardscape materials, great choice for the betta! The round stones are actually tourmaline mineral balls marketed for shrimp health, likely snake oil but I think they look really cool and the shrimp seem to like them, mine are "Ebi-Ken Shou" which are no longer sold but you can find some similar ones here Tourmaline Mineral Balls (large) 3 - BUYPETSHRIMP.COM

I don't think you'd be disappointed owning a 12 gallon long, they're my favorite tank dimension by far.


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