# msnikkistar: "Where the trees grow" (7/21: Being Retired)



## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

That looks nice! Is it amazing how much a little knowledge (and alot of cash!) can go. Keep it up! 
Jake

Out of curiosity, are you a member at AC as well?


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

JakeJ said:


> Out of curiosity, are you a member at AC as well?


No I am not, what is AC?


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## williamsonaaron (Jan 27, 2010)

AC = aquariacentral.com I think. 

Also More pics please


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Still trying to locate the dang digital camera. Going to check the car, cause for some reason, I think it's there.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

My digi is really really crappy. Sorry guys...











































Notice my el cheapo diffuser? I broke my glass one while rearranging. Chalk that up to my clumsiness again.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

How do you get your diffuser to stay underwater like that? Mine always wants to float up.


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## NJAquaBarren (Sep 16, 2009)

Great transformation. You did a great job learning and doing. Nice work.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

VincentK said:


> How do you get your diffuser to stay underwater like that? Mine always wants to float up.


I've never had the issue of the diffuser floating up. But I bought the thicker tubing from wally-world, and then used my glass lid to pretty much pin it down where it curved from when it was originally wound up. As of right now, I am using a cigarette filter as a diffuser until my new glass diffuser comes in.


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## GlassCat594 (Mar 20, 2009)

msnikkistar said:


> As of right now, I am using a cigarette filter as a diffuser until my new glass diffuser comes in.


lol 

great start. I like the black sand. 
Try adding a sword plant behind the driftwood tree to fill out the tank a bit.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l really like your manzanita branch, it's really has a unique shape to it. That would be awesome if you had 2, 1 in each corner pointing towards each other. Also notice how the manzanita looks really good on the partially black, right side of the last picture, l think adding a black background would help a lot unless it's too hard trying to get back there which l know from experience.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I was actually thinking at attempting another moss wall. And I am anticipating (once all my sub comes in) to have the manzanita covered in little balls of sub, kind of resembling a bonzai tree.


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## AlexXx (Dec 1, 2009)

really nice looking! cant wait to see it grow in!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l completely forgot about doing a moss wall in there, actually that might look better than any background l can think of.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Yea, I have always had this "want" of a moss wall. Unfortunately, the moss I initially bought wasn't that great of quality as it is, mix that with my inexperience, and you get a BUNCH of dead brown mush. 

Now, to pick what moss for the wall....


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l hear x-mas moss works really well along with willow but it's all up to personal preference it's just some grow weird kinda like regular java moss: really stringy and flame moss tends to grow upwards when you usually want it to grown downwards. l'm thinking of the idea as well so i've kinda done your research lol.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Yea, I don't want anything stringy, and I know flame moss gross upward. I ahd been looking at x-mas moss. But hadn't looked at willow.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l always wanted to try willow, l think that might be a good choice as well it's just l haven't heard of too many people using it but there is nothing wrong with that you won't know until you try it.
lf you decide to buy it here is a good place to do so:
http://www.azgardens.com/p-1039-moss-willow-fontinalis-antipyretica-aquarium-plant.aspx

and here are better pictures of it (the link above has a crappy picture)

http://www.aquamoss.net/Willow-Moss/Willow-Moss.htm

^l like the second picture in that link, whatever you choose l know it'll look good.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Hmm, I think I may use willow moss, looks like. Too bad there isn't a place that would just sell me a pre-established moss wall. HAHA


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l think that's a bit too much to ask for


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I know, but I am sooooo impatient.


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## comatoast (Mar 11, 2009)

Just my opinion, but I think if you could get fissidens fontanus to grow into a "wall" it would be fabulous. It isn't stringy at all, and just looks thick and lush when it's doing well.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I was thinking about that too comatoast. But didn't know how it would grow in if I were to put it vertically.


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## comatoast (Mar 11, 2009)

I have some growing on a piece of driftwood that doesn't seem to care whether it's placed vertically or horizontally. I've attached new growth to bare areas of the driftwood with superglue and that's working fine. Seems to me you could create a "wall" in roughly the same way.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Hmm, I may have to try that. Mine is just barely growing in right now. Wonder how long it would take for me to grow enough to sufficiently start a wall.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Got all my sub, and I attached all of it using some fishing line. 

I am buying some manzanita stumps from badcop for the left side. Stay tuned


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

wow what a transformation l really wanna see what it'll look like on the left side. l think it'll complete it and give it a sort of mirror look and then on top of that, the moss wall should have this tank perfected. Now i'm going to have you bother you with updates like 10 times a day lol


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Haha, I am now going to focus on the left side. So hopefully, that will be done in the next week or so. I'm going to be putting weeping moss on the left side


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

That's awesome l have 6 clumps of weeping moss coming in so l'd like to compare growth and see how it grows in each of our tanks. l find different people using the same plant for different set-ups interesting and helpful in that you know what works for the plant and what doesn't and you actually see the results.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Nice beginning. Do you have any trouble with the window causing algae?


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Nope, no algae whatsoever. Surprising, I know. Ever since I started doing weekly 10% water changes of 75% distilled or RO, and 25% tap (I have high mineral deposit water), I haven't had any algae issues.  I'm lucky.

Plus, I never open that window. We don't have blinds and I don't like the thought of random people seeing into my house.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That's great news. I have one window that causes constant algae problems for me. I got smart and finally moved the tank. Only took me six months to figure it out.


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## arktixan (Mar 12, 2010)

Tank looking good  excellent job.

Gonna have to try an get some pics of the shrimps that live in their now well closeups that is

Keep it up!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I need a better camera to get better shots of my little shrimps...


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Update: So my fissiden and sub is growing in quite nicely. Ignore the hob intake, I was cleaning my sponge and doing a water change when I took these.

Here are some pictures of my little shrimp


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Did you buy all of those Fissidens mats individually, or did you grow them out and make them yourself?


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Bought them all individually for about 2-4.5 bucks a pad with free shipping.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

What do you guys think of the left side so far?

I have some marsilea minuta and hc coming in the mail right now. Then I am going to do a trade with someone for the CRS you you for moss and plants.

One of them being crypt parva that I will probably try to carpet with.

Last will be the moss wall, I have decided on christmas moss for it. Now to start trying to hoard all of it here.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

Hey, I like the left side, are you done with it? If not, I have a suggestion, I think you should do something similar to the right side, because, I really like the square of plants surrounding the driftwood on the right, making it more symmetrical down the middle. Also, what type of materials are you using for the moss wall and where are you getting them? Because I am thinking about doing one myself.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

The right side is waiting on some minuta and hc to come in, so it's actually going to be carpeted. Once that fills in, the marimo balls are probably going to be sold. Where the marimo balls are now, I will be filling in with a few background plants that are coming in the trade, and the left side will have the same plants in the same areas. I will also be doing an RAOK for the other plants on the left side that are in the background. I am buying more fissiden mats for the left side as well, so those you will see there too.

I am going to buy some plastic mosquito netting or plastic screen stuff from Home depot and I will cut it to size then use fishing line to sew it closed. Pop in the suction cups and viola! You got yourself a moss wall.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

msnikkistar said:


> The right side is waiting on some minuta and hc to come in, so it's actually going to be carpeted. Once that fills in, the marimo balls are probably going to be sold. Where the marimo balls are now, I will be filling in with a few background plants that are coming in the trade, and the left side will have the same plants in the same areas. I will also be doing an RAOK for the other plants on the left side that are in the background. I am buying more fissiden mats for the left side as well, so those you will see there too.


I like your idea moar, I also really like minuta, they look like clovers.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Yea, I want small leaf carpet plants. So that's the whole goal. Nothing is 100% right now, its more about 50% completed. Just wondering if the left side is starting to come together or not.


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## fishsandwitch (Apr 20, 2008)

My advice would be
Keep the co2 low
Keep the RCS population low or the BTs wont breed too much
Get a sponge! I can send one free with the plants if you need one.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I have a sponge  I took the picture before I put the edge back on the hob. Plus I have a fluval u2 coming in the mail =P


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Tank looks really great, especially that tree, it is one of the better ones I have seen.

The shrimp look great as well, keep up the good work!

-Andrew


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## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

I love your tank! :biggrin:

I'm soooooo tempted to keep my 10 as a moss tank for the shrimp...but UGH...I wanna do one of those white background, grass, and extreme red stem plant 'scapes. They are sooooo cool looking!

Anyways, If your subwassertang moss does well, you should totally consider sending me some! :hihi: 

Good luck with your tank, I'm definitely keeping track of this one! :thumbsup:


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I will let you know about the sub. It's only been in my tank for about 2 weeks, same with the fissidens. Give me a month or so and see how it grows in.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

just looking at your fissidens makes me impatient to get mines. l would love to have a carpet of just that, l think it would look awesome.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

It would look awesome, problem is finding enough fissidens to carpet the bottom. I've been bidding on it on ebay though. Have another 8 squares that I will hopefully win.


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## becks17 (Dec 21, 2009)

I love the tree/driftwood on the right. Is it all one piece? Cause it's amazing!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

It's actually 3 separate branches that I intertwined. 

THE MOSS WALL IS UP!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I am posting images so that I can document the growth of my moss wall.

Week 1:










On a side note, one of my RCS is so berried she is walking funny.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Arggggggg, so I didn't realize this, but some pond sail eggs hitched a ride on some of the plants I bought. Suddenly, I noticed 50-70 of these baby snails that looked NOTHING like my ramshorns about a week ago. Not thinking that I had any pond snails, I left them alone.

Fast forward to a week later, and they are grown enough to determine that they are pesky pond snails. So tonight, I went on a huge killing spree and squashed every single one I could find. I am sure there are more in there, but I killed probably 98% of the baby snails. I probably killed some baby ramshorns, but I will take that if I can eradicate the pond snails. Upside, the shrimp seem to like eating the corpses of the tiny snails.

If anyone has a good idea of how to catch these suckers for removal, please post it.


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## benon (Feb 18, 2010)

*Snails*

I don't have a very good method for discovering the snails.

But I do want to mention that my snails inhabit a world where all of my trimmings and unwanted plant material go to.

I pull the snails out and put them into this bucket that sits outside. This bucket has a bunch of plant matter from older tanks as well, so I'm pretty sure the snails are kinda happy


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## arktixan (Mar 12, 2010)

the colour in them eggs are so neat... is this with a flash or no? 
part of me is thinking no... cuz the quality looks like a mobile phone.

I may have skipped it... but what moss are you using for your moss wall?


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

It is indeed a cell phone picture. My camera was dead and I was too lazy to get new batteries from the store.

Xmas moss is being used for the wall.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Try some Assassin snails, Nikki! The floor of my 46gal is no littered in empty pond snail shells.. still plenty left, but you should have seen the tank shortly after I planted it! Couldn't even see leaves for all those nasty egg sacks :icon_eek:


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

lauraleellbp said:


> Try some Assassin snails, Nikki! The floor of my 46gal is no littered in empty pond snail shells.. still plenty left, but you should have seen the tank shortly after I planted it! Couldn't even see leaves for all those nasty egg sacks :icon_eek:



I have an assassin and plants with assassin eggs coming to me. But I read that assassins don't care for pond snails. My freaking sub is infested with either ramshorns or pond snail eggs right now. BAH


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

They sure are loving the pond snails in my 46! Eaten 100s of them at this point.

If the snails are in your substrate that would be MTS, except that MTS don't lay eggs since they're livebearers... so IDK what you've got? lol


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## Captivate05 (Feb 23, 2010)

I think she means her subwassertang moss :icon_smil


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Captivate05 said:


> I think she means her subwassertang moss :icon_smil


oOo *lightbulb* :hihi:


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Captivate05 said:


> I think she means her subwassertang moss :icon_smil


Yea, my subwassertang.


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## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

Great journal so far keep up with it!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

So I finally placed the order for my manzy for the left side from badcop...

Here's a sneak peek at what you will see...


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Oh and I forgot to add, if anyone of you is looking for marimo balls, I will probably be selling off about 5-6 in a blow out sale soon.


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## benon (Feb 18, 2010)

*asdf*

The right side looks like a little garden that could adorn my fantasy mansion or condo 

I like the moss wall idea. Moss everywhere! But don't forget some big leaves...

Never heard of a cigarette butt being used as a diffuser, I'll have to try that one out!

I really need to start trading things with other members, it can save me some serious $$$... AFA is one expensive shop.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

*Update: 4/30/10*
The scape is finally complete. Now its time to wait for my stuff to grow in. 

I changed it up a bit too.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

very nice fissidens l got mines to take off pretty nice too but are taking a bit longer to turn to that bright green l like. l'll try to take a couple pictures of mine.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

that's pretty cool. i can't wait to see how those "trees" grow in. that moss wall is going to be huge!


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## mightyoak (Mar 10, 2010)

Cant wait to see the moss wall. I have been thinking about it...


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

For those of you looking for awesome DiY co2 diffusion. Seriously, visit oldpunk's thread and make what he invented for diffusion. The ending result are co2 bubbles that are CRAZY tiny.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I forgot to mention, that while I was melting the plastic on the hagen mini elite to get the nano diffuser in it, some of the melted plastic dripped on my right hand. I now probably have a 3rd degree burn on my hand the size of a large nail head. It peeled my skin down to the white dermis layer of my skin. So be careful guys if you are going to try this yourself!

If you would like to see the burn on my hand, you can view it *here*.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

you melted it? i just used my pocket knife to cut away the bottom. an new exacto knife would probably work best.

edit - wait... then you'd probably have a cut, lol.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

oldpunk78 said:


> you melted it? i just used my pocket knife to cut away the bottom. an new exacto knife would probably work best.
> 
> edit - wait... then you'd probably have a cut, lol.


Yea, I am a bit of a clutz . Risk cutting myself (again, I have cut almost through the tip of my left hand index finger in the past), or soften the plastic with a lighter and use scissors to cut it. I choose the latter, and I still hurt myself. LOL


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## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

msnikkistar said:


> I forgot to mention, that while I was melting the plastic on the hagen mini elite to get the nano diffuser in it, some of the melted plastic dripped on my right hand. I now probably have a 3rd degree burn on my hand the size of a large nail head. It peeled my skin down to the white dermis layer of my skin. So be careful guys if you are going to try this yourself!
> 
> If you would like to see the burn on my hand, you can view it *here*.


Holy crap! I hope it gets better soon! I've gotten burnt like that by an extreme light over my lizard's tank[50gH] and it hurts to an extreme.

Tank is looking really good BTW. Make sure to keep your sore hand out of the water!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

demonbreedr16 said:


> Tank is looking really good BTW. Make sure to keep your sore hand out of the water!


Thanks!

And I am trying, but it is SOOOO hard especially since I am a righty lol.


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## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

LOL, I know the feeling. It's only when one gets hurt that one's tank(s) need modification. lol


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Update: 5/1/2010

During my weekly 10%-20% water change, I noticed this girl...She is my first berried BT since getting them from DK.


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## goddessjen (Mar 9, 2008)

Congrats! I just got mine this week and I can't wait for them to start breeding. Do you have something over your filter intake to protect the babies?


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

goddessjen said:


> Congrats! I just got mine this week and I can't wait for them to start breeding. Do you have something over your filter intake to protect the babies?


I have a fluval u2 submersible filter now w/ some cut tights over it. I don't have a hob anymore, but when I did, I used fluval edge sponges over the intake.


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## Jeb (Dec 28, 2009)

love your shrimp!


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

msnikkistar said:


> *Update: 4/30/10*
> The scape is finally complete. Now its time to wait for my stuff to grow in.


That is so adorable. What plant is that on the ends of the branches?


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Hilde said:


> That is so adorable. What plant is that on the ends of the branches?


The plants on the right is subwassertang, and the one's on the left is just xmas moss and peacock moss.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Short Update on the progress of my tank.

I realized my video camera had a photo mode with telefocus, so I started playing with it. Unfortunately, the pictures still came out a little grainy since I really have no idea what I am doing. So I hope it will get better with more usage and time. If anyone would like to tell me how to use my 25 megapixel handycam as a camera, please let me know. lol

The moss in my wall is finally starting to peak through the mesh. I'm hoping for bigger coverage and the moss to fill out within the next 2 months. Who knows though.

My initial berried shrimp dropped probably half of her eggs, which leaves her with about 8 eggs left. Pretty happy, considering it was her first time to carry. On a sadder note, another female became berried yesterday, but dropped her entire clutch, and I am chalking that up to it being her very first time to carry.

I changed the mineral stone out for some seiryu stone that I purchased from boink here, and I removed the fissidens from some of the mesh wire and sugerglued it to the stones. I also added about 1 1/2 cups of AZOO soil substrate that I got from Orlando at GLA. The HC is starting to spread out as well.

New catalina lighthouse fixture should arrive in the next few days so I can swap from the 2x14w 24" Coralife T5 I currently have. It isn't really penetrating down as much as I would like and is only providing moderate lighting.

















Pearling 








Like those microscopic co2 bubbles?


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I also forgot to add, in the mayhem of me switching out stones, I accidentally squished a RCS to death. I feel so bad.


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

This is such a nice looking tank. Great shrimp as well.


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## arktixan (Mar 12, 2010)

Awesome update 
Go go Berried BT GO!
hopefully everything turns out positive


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## AquaNorth (Jan 27, 2010)

Very nice, I like the driftwood trees. Keep up the good work.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

liking the new look with the stones. for some odd reason l think if the fissidens covers the stone and barely shows the texture of them it'll look pretty cool. ln the 6th picture in the dead center you can see what l'm talking about at the very tip of the rock. yay 777 post


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

That's exactly what I am hoping for shadow


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## LedxZep (Sep 25, 2009)

Ooohh this tank reminds me of one of those japanese zen gardens! keep it up


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

msnikkistar said:


> That's exactly what I am hoping for shadow


you have very good taste in aquascaping


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

!shadow! said:


> you have very good taste in aquascaping


If you think that, what do you think about my next scape design?









Only thing is, is I may change the xmas moss to flame and I am thinking of adding mini pelia "bushes"

And I might as well add more pictures, since I was playing with a magnifying glass.



































Cory added to try and take care of some of the tubifex issues I have









HC finally growing in









One of 2 dwarf cories that won't stay still


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I forgot to mention, I also added 2 ottos just to add more of a clean up crew.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

Sweet tank idea. I can't wait to see it.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Youre fiss is awesome! Mine stays much darker except for the new growth. I dont run any co2 on mine tho.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Thanks Chad! My fissidens stays nice and green, and I have no real reason why it does, but it is.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l agree with kc that idea is going to be sweet once it comes to life. Nice HC by the way.


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## jeffvmd (Apr 16, 2010)

I just saw your HC. Looking good. 
I'm not having any luck with them right now. 
Any tips on dosing liquid fertilizer? I currently have flora pride and flourish complete and doing doses as advised on label. thoug instead of weekly, I do every 3-4 days.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Honestly, I only dose with Kent's Pro-Plant every 2 days and I just eyeball about a teaspoon. Other than that, its just co2. I won't dose any other ferts because I have shrimp, and from others experience, Kent's was the only fert that was added directly to the water column that didn't impact the shrimp. I will be trying out some rootmedic's soon, and I will post what I see will happen.

I initially bought a 4x2 mat of HC, and I didn't individually plant it either. I just stuck it in a spot and put some of my fluorite on top of it to anchor it down. None of it melted, and it is now starting to spread across my tank.


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## jeffvmd (Apr 16, 2010)

Hmm looks like I made the wrong choice of ferts and should've gone with kent. I'm planning to add shrimps in the tank i have set up.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

hc loves flourite from what l've seen in my tank and my lfs. i'm guessing because of the rich clay mix?


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Honestly, I really have no idea but the HC is loving my fluorite and started growing twice as fast once I added the Kent's.


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Tank looks good! Can't wait to see your moss wall all grown in. I have a moss wall in my 2.5g shrimp tank I'm using Taiwan moss but thinking of switching to Christmas moss since it grows a bit stringy. I only hope that my fissidens will be doing as good as they did in your tank  I will try some crazy glue method today on some rocks I have laying around.  Do you think fissidens would work to make a manzanita tree?


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

A fissidens tree would look great, BUT, it will take FOREVER to grow in.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

*Just say no to seiryu stone.*

5/21/10: Update

For those of you who want shrimp and seiryu stone, you can't have both. I knew the stone would raise my ph and gh, but since I only used about 4 lbs, I thought it would be manageable. WRONG.

I continued my weekly water changes as usual. I got lazy last week, and didn't test. So today I did a water change. My parameters were soooooooooo off.

My gh went from a steady 4 to 8, and my ph went from a steady 6.6 to an 8.0. I immediately removed the stones, and I hope my water stabilizes again to the correct parameters. Because of this increase, my 2 berried BTs dropped all of their eggs, and reproduction stopped completely. 

So warning for those who want seiryu stones, don't plan on keeping soft water shrimp if you do.

All the stone has been removed, and I have again replaced it with the mineral stone that I had before hand.


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## kcrossley (Feb 22, 2010)

Blah, blah, blah. Hey how about some more tank photos?

Just kidding msnikkistar. Your tank looks good. Hope you're well.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I'll post some tomorrow. Just sad I can't have the pretty stone in my tank


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## jball1125 (Mar 9, 2010)

Are you sure its the stone and not your tap water (if thats what your using)

You should test your tap waters ph as soon as it comes out of the faucet and then test it after 24 hours of airing it. Maybe you will see that dramatic change. Meaning that if you age your water you will still be able to keep the stones. :icon_smil

Just trying to find a solution for you.

Cant wait to see more pics, your tank is stunning


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## nemosreef (Oct 19, 2007)

Nice tank. Sorry to hear that you can't use the stones. Also that your shrimp dropped their eggs.


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

what about using rainwater to counteract the change from the stones?


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

jball1125 said:


> Are you sure its the stone and not your tap water (if thats what your using)
> 
> You should test your tap waters ph as soon as it comes out of the faucet and then test it after 24 hours of airing it. Maybe you will see that dramatic change. Meaning that if you age your water you will still be able to keep the stones. :icon_smil
> 
> ...


Not my tap, I test and age my water for 3 days before even using it.

I use 75% distilled and 25% tap.

As of this morning, after the removal of my stones, my ph has dropped to 6.6 and my gh dropped from 8 to 6.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

F22 said:


> what about using rainwater to counteract the change from the stones?


I wish I could have done that, but in order to counter the stones, I would have to use a lot of distilled and the ph would drastically drop too much. My TDS increased so rapidly in 2 weeks, that I would rather just remove them and go back to what was working before hand. As it stands, even with the addition of more soil substrate to help soften the water, the stones were increasing it faster then it could counter.


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## benon (Feb 18, 2010)

*asdf*

What you do is get a much larger tank. Then you can put the stone in


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

LOL, the larger tank won't be up and running until I move to Roseville in a month. At that point, I have already decided to buy stones from boink for my mountainscape. At that point, I can perfect what I need to do to keep the GH levels bearable, or choose to find another stone to do it lol


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

msnikkistar said:


> *Update: 4/30/10*
> The scape is finally complete. Now its time to wait for my stuff to grow in.
> 
> I changed it up a bit too.


The tank looks great! Can't wait to see it all fill in. I wouldn't have ever thought to use süßwassertang that way. It is cool to see how others end up using it.

Oh, and those shrimp look great too!
-Andrew


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

*Photo Update: 5/23/10*

Thanks Andrew! My tree is actually slowly growing in, but it has finally stopped trying to die off, and is now throwing out a lot of growth.

Now for the photos...








Back to my original mineral stone. 









HC is nice and bright green. Fissidens is trying to get back to where it was after I had to remove it from my seiryu stone. 









Added UG 









Peacock moss is taking off.









Sub is nice is lush 









Moss wall is starting to fill in nicely 

Comatoast was nice enough to give me an old Catalina PC Solar 2x65W light fixture he wasn't using, and now my plants are just going NUTS with the pearling. The HC itself has started to pearl 10 times as much. I now have my light fixtures on timers to simulate day light. So the first strip turns on at 7:30 am. At 12 pm, the second strip turns on. At 2:30 pm the first strip turns off, and the second strip remains on. At 7, both bulbs turn off. And my plants couldn't be any happier.


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

l need to get my hands on some peacock moss, my weeping moss is waaaay too slow due to my conditions of the tank being warm(around 80). l have to keep it there to accommodate the german blue rams. lf it wasn't for them l'd probably have the weeping spreading wildly.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I'm just waiting on my new scissors, should be in on Monday or Tuesday. Shipping was postponed a little. PM your addy, and I will send you what I trim


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## benon (Feb 18, 2010)

*asdf*

I feel you on those fish and moss, shadow... I've had some willow moss completely destroyed by an algae shark. An entire 4cm by 4cm wire mesh of moss gone in one week.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

nice blue tigers!


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Tank is looking really cool.. mosses look great!!! Nicely done. You're getting there!! Sounds like the extra light is doing the trick.

if that UG fills in the whole plateau where the tree is, that is going to look sick!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

That's what I am hoping for with my UG  

I just put some rootmedic in last night (THANKS JUSTIN!), and from what Craig and others have told me, it will make my plant growth double. Here's to crossing my fingers.


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

I just got some root tabs too for my crypt forest.... Root Medic to the rescue I hope!!!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Copycatter! lol


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

msnikkistar said:


> Copycatter! lol


 
Pffft.. I put mine in last week, YOU copycatter.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

Trade out that Pellia for Mini Pellia, it'll look super fancy then 

And nice shrimp, I may be looking into those next


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Mini pellia would make my impatience level go WAYYYYY to high lol.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

msnikkistar said:


> Mini pellia would make my impatience level go WAYYYYY to high lol.


Would it make you go :angryfire :icon_mad:? I love MP other then the slowness of growth it is a beautiful plant.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Craigthor said:


> Would it make you go :angryfire :icon_mad:? I love MP other then the slowness of growth it is a beautiful plant.


It would make me go







, then







, and then I would end up like this







.

I would love to have had a MP tree, but after researching how epically slow it grew, I decided against it.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

msnikkistar said:


> It would make me go
> 
> 
> 
> ...


:biggrin: You have more paitence then that I'm sure. Did the filter arrive yet?


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

You read my mind, I just called my mom in law, she said it got there today  That sucker is going into my 33 gallon rimless. I am excited!


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

msnikkistar said:


> You read my mind, I just called my mom in law, she said it got there today  That sucker is going into my 33 gallon rimless. I am excited!


Glad it arrived!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Now, if I could just get my hands on some ADA soil from here. I have to make the sojourn to SF soon for some.


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## Digital (Apr 4, 2008)

Coming along nice Nikki!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Small Update: I have 2 BTs that are berried now after removing the seiryu stone.  

So that tells me that seiryu stone is out of the question for my next scape. So I am either going with Manten (Uber expensive) or Ohko stone. Anyways thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. I could also just go the cheap route and get stones for my local creek, but I don't really want to do that with my mountainscape.

For those of you who didn't see it on a previous post...









I would appreciate everyone's input on my next scape and ideas about it.

Also, I went ahead and bought a Mr. Aqua 33 gallon tank, as I was able to find someone local selling it for $135 with local pick up.  So that means I will have more money (eventually, as most of my money is being sucked up into my move to Roseville at the end of June) to buy substrate and stones. I think I may go with GLA's aquasoil instead of ADA, not because it is cheaper, but because Orlando is awesome!

So please input


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## icepotato89 (Apr 3, 2009)

wow, very ambitious.


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## AoxomoxoA (Apr 22, 2010)

msnikkistar said:


> It would make me go
> 
> 
> 
> ...


:hihi:

Your shrimp are beautiful, & I love your tree. I tried that too with limited success. Your new plan looks very cool & fun.:icon_mrgr 
I'm tagging along, hope you don't mind:bounce:


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

msnikkistar said:


> Thanks Andrew! My tree is actually slowly growing in, but it has finally stopped trying to die off, and is now throwing out a lot of growth.


Once it acclimates and gets comfortable watch out, you'll wish it was trying to die back again...  That tree really reminds me of the trees in Dr. Sues books like horton hears a who.

With some nice solid aquasoil the tank will be awesome and look even better!

Although, you guys post too much! I feel like I posted in this thread yesterday and it already has a few PAGES!!! lol!

-Andrew


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I was going to switch out all the substrate for aquasoil, but I didn't want to stress out my BTs. So every water change, I am changing about 10% of the substrate for AZOO's aquasoil. Slow process, but work it to me.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Disaster strikes.....

Lost 3 BTs due to a co2 issue. My ph dropped to 5.0


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## pianofish (Jan 31, 2010)

:hihi: love the christmas trees in that sketch, hehe. Your actual "trees" look fantastic though!

Bummer on the shrimp, your ph musta really been pumpin to get it that low.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Nix that, I only lost 2. One came back to life after I did a 50% water change 

No blues lost however.


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## bgssamson (Mar 16, 2004)

msnikkistar said:


> For those of you looking for awesome DiY co2 diffusion. Seriously, visit oldpunk's thread and make what he invented for diffusion. The ending result are co2 bubbles that are CRAZY tiny.


Care to share where to find the thread?

Thanks!

-Brian


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

bgssamson said:


> Care to share where to find the thread?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> -Brian


Sure. 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank-journals-photo-album/76421-oldpunks-29g-56k-23.html


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## bgssamson (Mar 16, 2004)

msnikkistar said:


> Sure.
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank-journals-photo-album/76421-oldpunks-29g-56k-23.html


Thanks Nikki!

-Brian


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Np


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

hello!!! any new updates?? did your berried blue tiger give birth successfully???


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

I will update tonight 

She is still berried atm.


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## dxiong5 (Sep 28, 2008)

Nice journal. What is your experience with Azoo Plant Grower Bed? I'm just curious as to why you decided to switch it out for ADA Aquasoil. Was it not working well? 

Anyway, the scape diagram is awesome, updates?!


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

That mineral stone is a bummer huh? I have about 20 pounds of it sitting in a box.

Very soon though (when i get a few extra hundred dollars) I'm going to be starting a sulawesi tank with snails and cardinal and harlequin shrimp, which prefer a high pH and GH/KH.

Maybe you can do that sometime. You're actually lucky that you caught the spike in GH and pH, I wasn't so lucky and lost about 12 CBS/CRS and a whole bunch of RCS due to molting issues caused by the GH rise.

Your tank looks great though, and I'm hoping it survived your move! 

-- Liam


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

mordalphus said:


> That mineral stone is a bummer huh? I have about 20 pounds of it sitting in a box.
> 
> Very soon though (when i get a few extra hundred dollars) I'm going to be starting a sulawesi tank with snails and cardinal and harlequin shrimp, which prefer a high pH and GH/KH.


It is also good for cichlids. Seems it would be cheaper to get a pair of cichlids and breed them.


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Soooo, update on this tank. It is soon to be retired and in it's place is my 33G Mr. Aqua Rimless, and my up and coming ADA 30-C.

Goodbye my old friend


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

dxiong5 said:


> Nice journal. What is your experience with Azoo Plant Grower Bed? I'm just curious as to why you decided to switch it out for ADA Aquasoil. Was it not working well?
> 
> Anyway, the scape diagram is awesome, updates?!


I am waiting on the stones to come in from jeff at ADG. As soon as those come in, I can start scaping my 33. As of right now, all I have is the slope I made with Seachem's medium and regular red fluorite.

I also moved the tree in this scape to my 33 because well, I love it.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Nice pick up on the 30-C, cant wait for a journal =D


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

You can never pass up on a good deal in the SNS for ADA stuff. lol


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## Finalplay10 (Jun 29, 2010)

Ahh so your the one that snagged it ! I was literally going to send him the PM when "SOLD" popped up ... !


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Hehehehe, I couldn't pass up a good deal like that


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

enjoy it!
(i'm not even remotely bitter i didnt get it)


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

Uh huh, somehow I think you are telling a tall tell Swampuation. lol


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

how did you know?!


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## msnikkistar (Mar 23, 2010)

LOL, I am psychic!


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