# Nice Rack (4x10)



## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

*Current Picture* *See last post for more*








Figured the name would catch some attention.
I designed a rack, had a buddy build it and finally got everything filled up so I figured I would combine them all into one journal to help track the progress.

The rack is designed so that the bottom row sticks out about 8 inches further from the top rack. This was done for easier maintenance and to leave room for a shelf behind the bottom row to hide equipment. I have a friend who is a framer who built it in less then a half hour. Spray painted black with a prefinished shelf on top and it was done. It's been great but a few small changes I would have made is allowing more room between tank rows (for easier access) and upping the height a few inches (for viewing).

The rack, pre-tanks.









With all of the tanks filled.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Lighting: 2x36" Satellite+ Freshwater LED (one for each row)
Pressurized CO2 manifold from 20lb tank. All on CO2 except bottom right tank.

The tanks

Top Left:
Aquasoil/Driftwood
HC (dwarf baby tears)/Potamogeton Gayi
Newly setup. Probably will house shrimp or breeding rams









Top Right:
Aquasoil/Rock
Modified HOB Filter & CO2 diffuser & heater in one
DHG Belem/Potamogeton Gayi/Erio Parkeri
3 Gold Ram juveniles/Orange Rili Shrimp









Bottom Left:
Dirt capped w/ Eco Complete/Rocks/Slate
Modified penguin biowheel HOB filter & CO2 diffuser in one
Stauro Repens/Crypt Parava/Pogostemon Erectus/Rotala Green/Rotala Colorata
Breeding pair of Blue Rams/4 young Gold Rams









Bottom Right:
Eco Complete/Driftwood/Lava Rock
2x Sponge Filter
Java Fern/Anubias Barteri/Moss
Dozens of GBR Juveniles that have grown out from fry


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

BL
GBRs have spawned for their third time. The first two were in the gravel and not successful. They ate the eggs over night. This time is more promising already as they are on their third day with eggs and are guarding them fiercely. This is the first time they have chose a flat rock as their spawning spot. The other differences are that the lights are left on but dimmed down at night and there are other fish in the tank. I had no room in any other tank so 4 gold rams are in the tank with them acting as dither fish. They're not my first choice as dither fish since they are starting to take a beating but it has been working out so far. I expected the eggs to hatch today but I made the mistake of unplugging the heater last night when setting up the top left tank which may have delayed things until tomorrow. 
I don't expect fry from this spawning as the GBRs are still young at 6 months old but the progress is promising thus far.


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## dcutl002 (Apr 8, 2014)

So are you a believer in dirt substrate? I have considered rescaping a 10 gallon with dirt. Miracle gro organic maybe? It has DHG growing in plain sand now, but the growth is nothing spectacular. I thought dirt might make the plants grow better. then what is something good to cap with?


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

dcutl002 said:


> So are you a believer in dirt substrate? I have considered rescaping a 10 gallon with dirt. Miracle gro organic maybe? It has DHG growing in plain sand now, but the growth is nothing spectacular. I thought dirt might make the plants grow better. then what is something good to cap with?


Great question... If you asked 10 people you would get 10 different answers. I really believe it depends on the circumstances. If you plan on rearranging your tank, its not a great idea because disturbances and especially up rooting creates a mess of things. If you're going to be planting heavy root feeders like swords or crypts then it's probably a great substrate choice. I think the one thing I notice with dirt is that plants seem to do better long term. My stem plants seem to hold their bottom leaves better and are a bit stronger and healthier. One downside is that I get a slight bit more algae in my dirted tanks. I chose a fairly inert dirt that I attempted to mineralize by wetting and sun baking it a few cycles before using. If you use something that is loaded full of fertilizer you're bound to get excess algae at least in the beginning due to leaching into the water column.

As far as capping goes, you have some flexibility because your base substrate is the dirt. The cap just needs to be able to anchor plants down initially. The roots will eventually work their way down in to the dirted portion for nutrients. I wouldn't recommend sand however because I would think it would eventually just mix and settle into the dirt. I used eco complete because it is fairly cheap and small enough to allow me to anchor plants down. I have found that it should be about an inch or so deep, anything less just allows dirt to seep up through and cloud the water a bit. Also, when I vacuum the gravel the dirt gets sucked up through the gravel if I don't have it thick enough. 

I was planning on doing the top two tanks dirted until I found the aquasoil. I jumped at the chance because I got a 5 gallon bucket for $10. From what I can tell, aquasoil is dirt. It appears that it has been compressed at high pressure into little round balls. When I take an individual ball, I can rub it into dirt especially if it's wet. So far it has been an excellent substrate for my DHG Belem. Maybe its the shape in combo with the size but the hairgrass has been spreading all over with ease and staying deep.

Hope that answers your questions and makes your decision easier.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

BL
To my surprise the eggs have hatched and are still surviving. They are now at the wriggler stage. The female has lost interest in the last few days but the male is still as devoted as ever. He has even turned on his mate, guarding the wrigglers from her, one single gold ram that I left in the tank and any ottos that come to close. It will be interesting to see how much longer this lasts. I expect the fry to transition to the free swimming stage tomorrow and have prepared some BBS in the case that they survive to this point.

Here is a picture of the wrigglers. The only real visible portion of the fry are their eyes which appear to be bright orange dots or specks underneath the male.


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## serenityfate (Jan 29, 2014)

Tvadna said:


> Lighting: 2x36" Satellite+ Freshwater LED (one for each row)
> Pressurized CO2 manifold from 20lb tank. All on CO2 except bottom right tank.
> 
> The tanks
> ...




Maybe i have some crazy imagination, but the first tank.. The driftwood on the left looks like a persons face the driftwood on the right beside it looks like a pair of legs on its side... Anyways nice looking tanks lol


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## EndlerGame (Oct 19, 2013)

Really nice stand...
I recently helped my brother design and construct a stand for 4x 5 gallon tanks (for bettas) but I made it big enough to hold 4x 10 gallons. However, that stand has tanks directly above eachother...I really like how you offset the lower tanks to be in front. Alot easier to work on and even to just see the lower tanks. Nice work.

The tanks also look good...its fun to have a bunch of different aquascapes to work on and to see all in one view.

And congrats on the rams spawning, even if you don't have survivors from this batch, I'm sure it won't be too long!


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## dcutl002 (Apr 8, 2014)

Tvadna said:


> Great question... If you asked 10 people you would get 10 different answers. I really believe it depends on the circumstances. If you plan on rearranging your tank, its not a great idea because disturbances and especially up rooting creates a mess of things. If you're going to be planting heavy root feeders like swords or crypts then it's probably a great substrate choice. I think the one thing I notice with dirt is that plants seem to do better long term. My stem plants seem to hold their bottom leaves better and are a bit stronger and healthier. One downside is that I get a slight bit more algae in my dirted tanks. I chose a fairly inert dirt that I attempted to mineralize by wetting and sun baking it a few cycles before using. If you use something that is loaded full of fertilizer you're bound to get excess algae at least in the beginning do to leaching into the water column.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah, I went ahead and ordered some Aquasoil Malaya. I have used gravel for decades, then a year ago I upgraded one tank (35 hex) to Flora Max. The plants really do well in the Flora Max and the difference is very noticeable over gravel. So then I upgraded a 55 to Eco Complete and again the results were VERY good. Now a have another 55 and. 10 left. So I am gonna do the 10 with ADA Aquasoil Malaya because it is a small tank and the AquaSoil is expensive. I want to see if Aqua Soil is "all that". 

I went all out: I ordered the power sand special S, a 9 liter normal Malaya bag, a 3 liter Malaya powder bag, Penac P and W, Bacter 100, Tourmaline BC, and Super something. I purchased some Seiryu stones too. The lighting is going to be a Finnex Planted Plus. I have CO2 already and Metricide. 

This is going to be an "experimental" tank for me. I learn a lot from other people on this Forum and apply that knowledge to my tanks. Now I am really falling off the deep end with dirt. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## rick dale (Feb 26, 2014)

*nice rack*

nice rack .


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## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

Wanna share any tips on breeding the GBR?
I knew the pic was a tank full of juvis right away!
More then 1/2 of my pairs end up with male tending eggs and fry.
Only 2-3 pairs can stay together with fry,and even then only for so long?1 week free swimming,and they need to be separated.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Coralbandit said:


> Wanna share any tips on breeding the GBR?
> I knew the pic was a tank full of juvis right away!
> More then 1/2 of my pairs end up with male tending eggs and fry.
> Only 2-3 pairs can stay together with fry,and even then only for so long?1 week free swimming,and they need to be separated.


I don't mind givng some tips, I'm probably better at fish relationships since they're easier to figure out then women. Hah
It sounds like you're past the point of getting eggs or getting them to hatch so i'll skip anything about eggs or conditioning. 

There is actually two ways of raising fry. With and without parents. I've done it both ways. Leaving the parents in to raise them is certainly more rewarding though. 

I'm currently in the same situation you speak of. My female has lost interest and the male alone is the sole guardian of the free swimming fry. I have left the female in the tank, for now. In the past, my pairs have usually figured it out on their own. It usually takes around 7 spawns before they have it figured out to the point where they co-parent to get the fry to a decent size. This pair is on their 3rd so they are still beating my expectations with free swimming fry despite the female quitting.

A couple of things that have helped me in the past are:
*Dither fish* - Ottos or Endlers have worked great in the past because they pose little threat to the fry. Working against a common enemy seems to strengthen the parents bond. Usually one parent takes majority of the fry tending while the other guards and chases the dither fish.
*Removing other Rams* - It seems that even though Rams form pairs they can get distracted by other Rams. I haven't really seen any bonds broken but 3rd wheel fish often display and vie for attention of one of my pairs. This flirting seems to weaken bond pairs. (This may be where I went wrong this spawn)
*Leaving Lights On* - For some reason I've had much more luck when I leave a light on in the tank. It almost seems like if the lights go off, the fry are out of sight and out of mind and the parents don't pick their role back up. I dim the lights back considerably to prevent excess algae. Moon lights don't cut it for me, it has to be a bit brighter.
*Slow the flow* - Any flow seems to kill my parents will. Any flow breaks up the fry cloud because they aren't strong enough to swim against currents. The work of keeping the fry together tends to be too much. I've had the most luck when I turn off the filters for the first week or so and add an aerator. The downside is that I have to do daily water changes. (I haven't done this yet and it may be my undoing on this spawn. My fry are getting blown all over the tank even though the flow is weak.)
*Removing Threats* - If the parents give up, the fry have no security blanket and are doomed. Any fish that is a threat to eat them must be removed including parents if you want them to have a chance. 

It can wreak a bit of havoc on a planted tank for a few weeks if you're trying to raise fry. They don't necessarily go hand in hand but I've never had a tank not bounce back from a few weeks of raising fry.

I have in the past gotten impatient waiting for pairs to figure it out. I've had great success removing eggs and raising 90-95% of the eggs to juveniles. I have had zero success trying to remove fry once they are hatched or free swimming. Siphoning seems too much of a shock to newly hatched fish. Plus, any change in water quality just shocks them to death. The method I use when I remove them is a whole other topic. I'm more then happy to share about raising fry with/out parents if you'd like but I think I have covered what you're looking for.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

TOP RIGHT









The last few days but this tank is extremely cloudy. I haven't determined why and would appreciate some help figuring it out so I can fix it. 
Here is what I can say about it:
Tank has been up and running for almost 2 months.
All of my fish and shrimp seem to be doing just fine.
10-20% water changes help but only temporarily.
Tested the hardness. KH - 3degrees. GH - 7degrees

The two possibilities I can think of are a bacteria bloom. As you can see the tank is more of a white cloudy then a green so I doubt it is algae.
The other possibility are the rocks I have used to aquascape. I bought them at an aquarium store so if this is the case, I'll be pissed. When I first bought them I soaked them because they were dusty and it seemed to discolor the water for a day or two. Wouldn't my hardness be much higher if the rocks were dissolving? I use about 80-90% RO water and the rest is really hard tap water. I apologize because I don't remember the name of this rock.

Any help would be appreciated.


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## Mitashade (Jan 8, 2015)

If it's white cloudy (as it seems to be), bacterial bloom sounds likely to me. 90% water change should fix it. Maybe 2.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Mitashade said:


> If it's white cloudy (as it seems to be), bacterial bloom sounds likely to me. 90% water change should fix it. Maybe 2.


Sounds like a big risk with my shrimp in there.... I think i'm going to do 40% changes daily til it clears.

Is there any risk of bacterial bloom to shrimp, fish or plants?


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## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

First big thanks Tvanda for sharing!
Next 90% of "bacterial blooms" that are not green water(algae) are from overfeeding.
I'm not saying it has to be as blatent as extra food laying around rotting,as even if all food is eaten it will still be turned to waste(perhaps even quicker).
Most of the time water changes make no difference as you noted.
NO food for 3 or 4 day minimum.
You can change water also if you like.
If it is not your rocks then no food should clear you up.
most fish will be fine up to one week easy with out food.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Right

This tank is cloudier then ever.










Here is what I have tried so far with no luck.

40% Water changes for three days
No feeding for three days
Lights out for two days
One treatment of Seachem Clarity

It has taken on a slightly colored tinge. At first it appeared to be white but now seems a bit greenish. I'm leaning toward this being the reason but I haven't ruled out the rock work that has been named FRANK, dissolving into the water column. 

The other possibility could be the aquasoil? I did purchase it used and from what I can tell it is basically compacted balls of dirt or clay... Has anyone else had problems with aquasoil dissolving or clouding water?


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## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

UV usually takes care of green water(looking like green water now).
Blackouts usually require wrapping the tank to keep ALL light out.
I have never used the soil you mention,sorry.


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## Sub1117 (Sep 21, 2014)

+1 on the UV. I had one in my tank (25 gallon) for 4 days and it's crystal clear


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## aqua-botanicae (Jun 4, 2013)

The cheapest solution is to add Seachem Purigen to your filter media. It will clear your water in a couple of days. Purigen will reduce the ammonia and nitrates, which your algae otherwise feed on, and thus clear your water.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

aqua-botanicae said:


> The cheapest solution is to add Seachem Purigen to your filter media. It will clear your water in a couple of days. Purigen will reduce the ammonia and nitrates, which your algae otherwise feed on, and thus clear your water.


I don't have the test kits to confirm whether the nitrites or nitrates are high but I don't believe I have water quality issues (certainly not ammonia at least) because I would be losing my orange rili and crystal red shrimp along with my gold ram juveniles. 

That purigen idea set off a light bulb in my head... Until I find some free time go grab some, I'm going to throw in some floating water sprite. Hopefully it will act as a natural sponge in case I do have excess nutrients.

Until then it will be small water changes and maybe a few drops of hydrogen peroxide.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Bottom Left:
GBRs have spawned again on a clay flower pot and there are more eggs then ever. They have taken a step back on their parenting last time but I wasn't much help either. I have since removed all other rams from their tank and am trying a few yellow jacket endlers as dither fish. 
Bottom Right:
The Ram grow out tank has far exceeded its purpose. There are way too many rams that are way too big for a single 10. I've prepared a 30 gallon tank and will be moving about 50 remaining GBR into it. A few gold rams will be left behind in this 10 gallon to hopefully pair off.










Top Row:
I'm convinced I've got an algae bloom. I performed a test (accidentally left the lights on for about 36hrs) and now have two 10 gallon batches of pea soup instead of just one.
The strange thing is that I left my lights on all of my tanks and these are the only two that got the green water. The outflow from the filters makes the water look like smoke. They're the two newest tanks but they're also the only two with Aquasoil. 

I purchased the aquasoil used so could it be possible that the AS is leaching too many nutrients into the water column?

I know it is tough to tell but both the DHG Belem and the dwarf baby tears are growing rapidly and carpeting well. It's even tougher to see that my shrimp are doing well in both tanks and i'm fairly sure they're all still alive but since I can't see the back of the tank even, its hard to get a decent count.

Water changes make a difference in the short term but after a few hours of the lights being on, the tanks are cloudy as ever again. Suspended algae must be able to double in a matter of hours.

Where's a good place to get a UV light? I think it's time.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left:
The journals really do help track progress. I knew my dwarf baby tears was growing but looking back at an earlier post blew me away. Here is the difference three weeks make. Figured I'd put them side by side so its easier to see then on two different pages.

Jan. 23








Feb. 16









No more dry starts for me. 2 months of DSM and nearly all of my dwarf baby tears died off. 3 weeks of submerging them and they've blown up. Apparently aquatic plants grow better submerged.. DSM is dead in my book


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Green Killing Machines are pretty nice and not too expensive. I have a 9 watt that Ive used on as small as a 20H, one helluva current though. Be way too much for a 10.

Here's the 3 watt "mini" version. Ive never used this one specifically, but I can recommend the brand in general.

Great set up btw.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Thanks burr,
The slots look fairly small. How would shrimp fair VS this unit? I'm sure the shrimplets wouldn't stand a chance but adults would be fine, right? 
and roll tide?


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

No idea on the shrimps. Like I said Ive never used this exact model. My guess is you'd probably need to take precautions, esp for babies. Looks like it'd be fairly easy to improvise a protective sponge over the intake with a zip tie if you had a piece of sponge filter material.

RTR!


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Bottom Right

Just pulled out all of the GBR. I left the the 4 gold rams and re did the tank. I pulled out buckets full of extra java fern and anubias. I went back in with the same long piece of driftwood. It is still overgrown with java fern and may get trimmed back further to expose some of the wood. I added a few extra crypt. spiralis from a different tank trim in the back for some depth.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left
Did a 70% water change in the HC tank. It was so tough to see in the tank prior that it. The water change was like pulling back the curtain on a 2 week experiment. I'm not sure how clear the pictures will be but there are a ton of CRS. They're about 3/4" now. The Potamogeton Gayi has tripled in size since I last seen it. 
I also added a few Blyxa Japonica which have been my nemesis in the past. It simply won't grow for me. I figured that since anything that touches this tank turns to gold... maybe my luck will change. Here goes Blyxa4.0


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Bottom Left

The GBR pair is coming closer and closer to rearing their fry. The female keeps quitting though. The last spawn was enormous and resulted in a cloud of 100 free swimming fry which dwindled down to 20 before they all were gone. I know how to pull eggs and raise fry at a highly successful rate so this female is providing a strong test against my patience. 

As for the plants... They are overgrown. I believe that the substrate makes a world of difference acting almost like a buffer. I'm nearly certain I've had the CO2 off by mistake on this take for a few weeks and things keep chugging along. 

Further proof of the plants enjoying a dirt substrate is Rotala Colorata. It has sent out a side shoot along the substrate. This side shoot has ran the length of the tank and turned the corner going down the other side. This has resulted in around a dozen off-shoots from the side shoot. Rotala Colorata grows upward in every other tank I've had it in.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Bottom Right










My Gold Rams have finally spawned. It's not on the clay flower pot like I wanted though. They chose a small indentation on a lava rock. First noticed it today and the eggs are just hatching.

Here is the male and wrigglers









Bump: Bottom Left

The GBR pair has spawned once again... they're a bit like clockwork. Once they spawn the clock turns into an hourglass that lasts about a week and the fry disappear. Spawns are getting larger but they've yet to turn the corner on raising them.










Bump: Top Right

I finally bought a UV sterilizer.. Thanks to some advice on here. I went with the cheapest one which was a SunSun but it seems to have done the trick after about 5 days. I can finally see the whole tank and how nice it has come along. Because it was opaque I couldn't see the drop checker or filter to realize the aquarium had been with out CO2 for a month or so. A few blades of the DHG belem had yellowed but after a few days of CO2 everything looks healthy again. The Potamogeton Gayi is probably going to get plucked out because it has sent dozens of runners out to propogate and is starting to detract from the simple and clean look I had going.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left

This is day 1 with the UV sterilizer. It is one of the smallest I could find and still just barely fits inside the depth of the 10 gallon. If it's anything like the other tank, it should be clear in a few days. The small portion of the tank that is visible is crawling with 3/4" cherry shrimp. I can count 20 or so but that is only in the 1/3 of the tank I can see.


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## mackwes (Nov 20, 2014)

Cherrys ? are they the babies from me?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Hope this works for you. From what I've seen, if that is the brand mentioned earlier, they do work very well for _spot cleaning_. You don't plan on running it continuously, indefinitely, do you?


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

mackwes said:


> Cherrys ? are they the babies from me?


Hey Wes, they sure are! Those shrimp are great. I'm glad I took your advice and threw them in that tank. I'm excited to have the water clear up in a few days to see just how many are in there. Good to see you made the jump over to this forum too.

Bump:


Freemananana said:


> Hope this works for you. From what I've seen, if that is the brand mentioned earlier, they do work very well for _spot cleaning_. You don't plan on running it continuously, indefinitely, do you?


It's sole purpose is to clear up the green algae. It won't be in there for more then a few days. These things are so big and gaudy that I wouldn't want it in a tank permanently anyway.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left

Day and a half in with the UV sterilizer and you can see the difference. The tank is still not clear so it will be left in for another day. The progress comes at a cost however. I have lost a large amount of shrimp. A percentage of RCS have been lost but it's hard to tell, maybe 1/3 to a 1/2. In the Top Right tank, I've lost all of my Orange Rili shimp but none of my Crystal Reds.










Bump: Bottom Left

RIP: male GBR. 

He jumped ship and was found on the floor. Single parenting isn't easy. I'm regretting the decision to allow the parents to raise the fry. If I had a time machine, I would have pulled the fry.

Make for a brand new experiment though. Will my solo female re-pair?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Congrats on the UV progress. Sorry about the jumpers. Sometimes that nagging wife is too much D: Just kidding. But I hope for the best for the fry.


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## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

Tvadna said:


> RIP: male GBR.
> 
> He jumped ship and was found on the floor. Single parenting isn't easy. I'm regretting the decision to allow the parents to raise the fry. If I had a time machine, I would have pulled the fry.
> 
> Make for a brand new experiment though. Will my solo female re-pair?


 I have forced pairs in similar situations.
And on this note I will go move my proven pair from the breeder tank to the "suite" nextdoor since they have been tending freeswimming fry for 3 days now.
The force has taken time but I only tried in last month and they have spawned once.No yield.
Add I'm no shrimp guy but UV is PROVEN for green water and has NEVER caused an issue for any of my fish.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left

Water isn't crystal clear but it's not far off. 5 days of UV sterilizer and it seemed to do the trick again. I think most of the diatom algae is dead and free floating leaving a greyish hue to the tank. A few water changes should take care of it. 
I did have some loss of shrimp, maybe 6 while using the UV sterilizer. I'm not entirely sure it was the cause because my primary filter did stop worked for a while. I've got well over 35 cherries left though. Saddles are visible so i'm sure shrimplets aren't too far off.


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## Okedokey (Sep 2, 2014)

The UV wouldn't have affected the shrimps, but the decaying (dead) biological material would probably cause an oxygen issue at night, especially if you had a filter fail. I would ensure you have an airstone at night.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Posted some plants for sale on the forum. Most will come from the bottom left tank or my 40 gallon long.

If you've posted on my journal prior to this entry and buy a portion of Pogostemon Erectus, i'll double it for free. Just let me know when you PM me!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=836410


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left

Added the few Crystal Reds I have left from my other tank and it seems to make a difference. Although I didn't see the juvenile gold rams harass them, they seem to feel more comfortable without fish. I also rescaped, pulling the gayi from the right and adding a few seiryu stones and a few erio. parkeri from the other tank. My Cherry Shrimp colony is flourishing and half of a dozen females are berried. Water is pretty clear and the HC has carpeted. Hopefully the Blyxa Japonica finally works because I think it works well in this tank.



















Bump: Bottom Right

The adult Gold Ram tank is being over taken by black algae. Some seems to be fuzzy beard algae and the rest seems to just carpet. I added 6 Nerite snails to combat this but I think the final solution will be adding CO2. The dominant Ram pair has spawned for a second time and the eggs were pulled and added to the top right for me to act as parent.










Bump: Top Right

The water is sparkling clear but I'm experiencing black beard algae on the rock work. This algae is strong, not being phased by hydrogen peroxide spot treatments. All of the shrimp that haven't died off were pulled and added to a shrimp only tank. The Erio Parkeri was pulled and split from 3 plants into 10. The Gayi was yanked because it was spreading into the DHG and overtaking everything.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Bottom Right

This tank got a major trim. I think this helps the parents keep track of the fry. The replacement pair spawned once and I was too busy to feed them. The second attempt was and is still successful. There are about 50 fry that have been free swimming and are growing daily. Both parents are upholding their parenting roles but look to be getting ready to spawn again soon. A piece of filter floss was added on the output of the HOB filter to slow any flow in the tank to further assist the parents.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

This is the dirt tank?


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

BruceF said:


> This is the dirt tank?


Bottom Left with the GBR pair and fry is a dirt tank.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Oh I see I misread the captions. Are you having a problem with both the aquasoil tanks?


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

BruceF said:


> Oh I see I misread the captions. Are you having a problem with both the aquasoil tanks?


Yes, both have the same problem... my foreground plants spread too fast! Haha

Actually, the only problem with the Aquasoil tanks is a bout of green water. These two tanks were newly set up which probably had something to do with it.

I'm sold on the AS. If I were to set up a new tank, I would bite the bullet and shell out some extra cash for the AS over anything else I've used which includes flourite, eco-complete, floramax and dirt.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Bottom Left

This needs an update. My last post on this said both parents are looking to spawn again..... and I was right. They ended up killing their current batch so they could spawn in peace. I'm a bit angry with myself because I saw it coming. Lesson learned.
They did spawn again and did so with a huge batch of fry. All was well for a few days and the male jumped ship! I was standing there when it happened so I got him back in but when I returned the next day, he was floating dead in the Bottom Right tank which means he jumped again. Being a parent must not be easy..... because a few days later, the female abandoned ship as well. 

The good news is that I lost these two but their 100+ fry are still going strong at 2 weeks old. Sacrifice a few for the good of many?..... or just get a lid.

The Crypt. Parva is starting to spread and the rotala grows like a weed.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left

Since clearing up, this tank has been booming. At this point, I'm fairly sure I could grow a tulip in this tank. 
The shrimp have been breeding since I finally have shrimplets. Potamogeton gayi grows too fast but looks too good to be pulled out. Plus, I finally may have been successfull in growing blyxa japonica. For those who don't follow any of my other journals, blyxa jap. has been my unicorn. It's never done well for me until now. 

The main reason why I'm posting is for the shrimp keepers. I need some advice regarding temperature. I decided to add a small heater to bump the temp up to 76 or 78 but I noticed a slight decline in the number of shrimps. I pulled out the heater to return the temperature down to about 72. 

Do cherry and crystal red shrimp prefer low 70s?


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## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

Sorry to here about your GBR.
You should definitely get more!
Not everyone gets to raise them.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Coralbandit said:


> Sorry to here about your GBR.
> You should definitely get more!
> Not everyone gets to raise them.


I've got more! I kept a few dozen from my last batch (siblings of the parents). I'll have more time come summer for breeding. I'll probably ramp up when I get the free time. For now, I've got a batch of 50+ GBR from at a month old and a dozen Gold Rams that are about 6 weeks old.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left

I have a feeling that the HC in this tank needs to be trimmed. Does anyone have any experience in trimming it? From these photos does it look like it is time. I want to avoid so much over growth that the lower levels die off and portions float up. 

I recently purchased a few pairs of stainless curved and bent scissors. Do I just start hacking at it and mow it like a lawn? Or is it better to cut out whole sections like sod? Does anyone have luck replanting the trimmings?




























It is starting to become very thick but is still healthy. Is it time to trim?


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## kep (Feb 3, 2015)

Nice carpet! Did you get it trimmed? I had a thick carpet of Monte Carlo in my nano and decided to give it a go after I saw your thread about it. I used the bent scissors and just mowed the lawn. It looked like a terrible mess with all the floaters but everything pretty much went to the surface and was scooped out easily. 

Great looking tanks! I have been debating aqua soil for my new 20L and I may just pull the trigger. So far I have only used Flourite in my tanks. 

I was also thinking about sticking with GBR but was a bit worried that the heat would conflict with my plants too much. 

Nice rack!!!


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## du3ce (Jan 26, 2013)

what are those long stem plants that looks like palm trees called? hygro augustofolia?


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Potamogeton Gayi is the taller stem plant in the back corner. It grows almost 2 dimensional meaning that it would be flat if layed down. The leaves grow out from the stem completely left and right, not forward and back... If that makes sense.

It is really a neat plant. The growth seems to slows once it reaches the surface. It would be great for an aquarium without CO2. With CO2, it is extremely prolific sending out runners similar to a sword. These runners are always rooted and spread quickly.


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## rfloyd14 (Feb 12, 2015)

Tvadna said:


> Top Left
> 
> The main reason why I'm posting is for the shrimp keepers. I need some advice regarding temperature. I decided to add a small heater to bump the temp up to 76 or 78 but I noticed a slight decline in the number of shrimps. I pulled out the heater to return the temperature down to about 72.
> 
> Do cherry and crystal red shrimp prefer low 70s?


I don't currently keep cherry shrimp, but my crs do a lot better, and I have more babies survive, when their tank is kept in the low 70's (I keep my shrimp tanks at 73).


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

kep said:


> Nice carpet! Did you get it trimmed? I had a thick carpet of Monte Carlo in my nano and decided to give it a go after I saw your thread about it. I used the bent scissors and just mowed the lawn. It looked like a terrible mess with all the floaters but everything pretty much went to the surface and was scooped out easily.
> 
> Great looking tanks! I have been debating aqua soil for my new 20L and I may just pull the trigger. So far I have only used Flourite in my tanks.
> 
> ...


I did trim it. I don't think I went nearly short enough. I had the same thing with the mess. I need to shut off the filter next time I do this. This will keep all of the trimmings right at the surface. How did yours go? Did you ever pick up some aqua soil? I bet you won't go back to flourite ever again.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left

A few weeks post trimming. The HC seemed to bounce back extremely fast and as full as ever.










Bump: Top Right

Discovered about a 1/4 of the water in my aquarium gone one day. I marked the water line with tape, refilled and came back a few hours later to a puddle on the floor and the water had returned to the line on the tape.

The tank is about 6-9 months old and shouldn't be leaking. I've got to figure out what to do next. Here are my options.

Break down the entire tank and scrap the last 6 months of progress to replace the tank or try to get it covered under warranty....

Remove a few more inches of water, cut out as much silicon as possible and try to reseal the tank myself? I've yet to identify which joint is leaking but I'm nearly certain it's one of the back two. It should be pretty easy to identify if I fill it with water and watch it.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Does anyone know of a place I can get an electrical connection soldered? 

My Satellite Freshwater LED+ stopped working so I decided to take it apart to check all of the connections. They were all covered in a rubber silicone/goop and when I tried to cut the rubberized coating off, i pulled apart one of the joints. 
Shortly after this I discovered my problem was the 12vAC adapter that plugs into the outlet. When I replaced that and held the broken wire to where it belongs, it worked just fine....

I was thinking about calling a computer repair store. Would this be a good place to start or does someone have a better idea?


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Time for an update

BR









BL









TR









TL









Had to do major trims on every tank except the Top Right

The picture below shows how many Blyxa Japonica I pulled from the Top Left tank


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Bottom Right:
This shrimp tank has been slowly growing however the shrimp don't seem to be reproducing yet. 









Bump: Bottom Right
I recently traded for a pair of Scarlet Badis. They both turned out to be male but they are both pretty nice and seem to have staked out their own territory. If anyone knows where to obtain females, I would like to know! 
The Rotala was cut back and sold except for a single stem of both. It has since grown out and been cut back so it is turning into a bush. I didn't replant any of the cuttings. The closer moss rock was sold off to make room for the Stauro repens which has filled in well. The wall that separates the back and the front of the tank like a retaining wall has also covered nicely with moss and the Crypt. Parva is spreading very well in the dirted substrate.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Right
This tank was a mess. The aquasoil seemed to be breaking down and when i would siphon through the DHG belem the water I pulled out smelled/burned like ammonia. The DHG was starting to die off and pull up. This was either due to overcrowding and/or because a small amount of moss must have been mixed in with it initially and spread under neath it, coming out in clumps when i would pull it along with some DHG. About a month ago I pulled out about 70 extra plants of Erio. Parkeri and put them in a larger tank where they slowly all died off. 
After a bout with hair algae, I recently tried to pull out all of the moss and replant much of the DHG belem as well as added some additional rock work and a few small portions of dwarf baby tears from the top right tank that was uprooting.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left
This tank has under went some large scale trimmings. Quite a bit of the dwarf baby tears was pulling up since I can't seem to keep it trimmed and some moss has invaded under it. I am thinking about pulling out the drift wood and scrubbing it free of moss since it is such a hassle when it comes to foreground plants. The shrimp have prevented me from doing this though. I also pulled out all of the potamogeton gayi because of the numerous runners it would send. Other then that, I thought it looked pretty nice as a background. I replaced it with Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata "Cuba" and Alternanthera reineckii "Rosefolia". The Blyxa Japonica also had to be trimmed and replanted. 

The most exciting addition to this tank was the addition of numerous Buce plants. I don't remember which is which because I had to get them in a bucket after picking them up but I know I have firebird and phantom, mini catherine and helena at least. I picked up all of the Buce at the local aquarium societies annual plant event for the shockingly low price of $3 each!


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## Cmeister (Jul 5, 2009)

In terms of your LED, clean off the gunk as best as you can. Find someone with a soldering iron, or buy a cheap ish one and just solder the wire back in place?


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Cmeister said:


> In terms of your LED, clean off the gunk as best as you can. Find someone with a soldering iron, or buy a cheap ish one and just solder the wire back in place?


I must not have updated that situation. I found a local electronic repair store and the owner soldered it back on in within 5 minutes of showing up and it worked perfectly. The best part was that he was kind enough to do it for free.


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## Cmeister (Jul 5, 2009)

Tvadna said:


> 5 minutes of showing up and it worked perfectly. The best part was that he was kind enough to do it for free.


Ahh, you probably mentioned it and I missed that part! Awesome dude.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left

The HC in this tank desperately needed to be trimmed. It was 2" thick in some spots and beginning to uproot because the lower sections of the plant were blocked of light and dying back. These sections were removed. Much of it was infested with moss so I tried my best to pick that out and trim it from the driftwood also. I will never let moss enter any foreground carpet tank again. 
The Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata "Cuba" had to be pulled. It was too large for this tank and the root system was extensive in the aqua soil. I planted Myriophyllum Filigree in its place.

Before the trim









After the trim


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Here is a picture of my CRS in the top right tank. Are these sexable from this angle?


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Tanks








Bottom Tanks


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Right

Moss had taken over in this tank. The rock work was covered in moss and it had infiltrated and crept along the DHG Belem carpet. I manually tried to remove it for months but it only seemed to come back stronger then ever. I decided to break this tank down, completely. I removed all of the plants, and plan on cleaning them of all algae. The rocks were removed and bleached over night. I nuked the tank with hydrogen peroxide. I will have to hydrogen peroxide the filter as well to be sure. Hopefully this will remove all traces of moss. 

I have rescaped the rock work in this tank using nylon filled with cheap gravel to build the terrain. This really seems to help give a better look with out using expensive materials to achieve it. Here it is before re-planting.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Right
Finally got this tank planted after hopefully eradicating all moss. Went back in with DHG Belem in the foreground, Erio Parkeri in the middle and right side. I'm trying Blyxa Japonica in the back left corner to give a bigger fuller look then the erio's give but still keeping with the same shape.

I added some AR Mini, mostly because it's something I've always wanted to try. I'm not sure it will work in this tank though. I thought it would soften the hard lines of the rock but I have a feeling it will over grow it. Anyone experienced with AR Mini want to weigh in? 

The plant in the back right is lobelia cardinalis and was a bonus thrown in when I bought the AR Mini. I'm also not familiar with it so if anyone wants to let me know if Its going to be counter productive to the layout, let me know.

The other option for this tank would be to pull the AR Mini and go back in with Buce.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

TOP RIGHT

After re doing the tank, I thought I had a better hard scape until I showed my girlfriend. She is much more artistic then me and didn't like that the tallest stone had a flat top so i told her I agreed to soften it. After re doing the top left tank, I had some extra Buce. I have the names wrote down somewhere so it will take me a while to figure out which ones I've used. Hoping the roots attach so I can ditch the rubber band.

Softened mesa on the tallest rock









Whole tank - Starting to get a bit of algae but it's nothing I didn't expect









After a few minutes of realizing I have way too much Buce (greatest problem ever), I started looking for other spots to place it. It then hit me that I can jam it in just about any crevice, hole or tight spot there is. Then I added a few more in the tank for a total of 6.









The AR seem to be doing well. I'm not sure if they're right for the tank or if they'll work with the Buce either. Right now the tank is looking somewhat desert/southwest like with the colors.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

TOP LEFT

This tank was much more difficult to re-do. I have a ton of shrimp in here and couldn't just nuke it like I did the other tank. I had to keep some water in the tank while pulling all of the plants, rock and wood. It is a huge pain with older Aqua Soil. I am so sick of dealing with java moss that I did bleach the wood and rocks. I wouldn't at all be surprised if some survived because moss might be the most resilient organism on the planet. If we ever want to terraform Mars, all that needs to be done is send some java moss.

I spent hours picking moss from the Buce and separating small sections of HC and removing the moss from it with tweezers. Hopefully all of the hard work pays off and I can get a carpet again. Because of the shrimp, I couldn't do anything too drastic with this tank. It is a similar lay out but I really like it. Last time I tried not to put the wood at an angle and off to one side so it looked natural. It is so gnarly and natural that I put it dead center and all of the way back against the glass and tilted more forward. I think it works much better this way.









The tank is still slightly cloudy since these were taken immediately after planting. I made use of the Blyxa Japonica and began adding some extra Buce.









It's been almost a year but Buce just became my new favorite plant. I've added it everywhere! It fits almost everywhere as well. If I see a crease, crack, hole or crevice it got Buce jammed into it. There are two pieces on this rock. I began to use the rubber band just like the other tank but quickly found better ways. This is just a preview, I'll be sure to post more pictures of the other 8-10 spots I found for it.









Curious to see if anyone else likes the new lay outs better then the old. Feel free to let me know or if you have suggestions


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

This rock had a hole in it. Threaded a Buce stem through the hole which became a snug fit with the roots.









This is a tight crease in the wood and I found that the smaller varieties could be jammed right into it.









It really felt like I was putting together a puzzle. When I would find a spot, I could visualize what size and shape stem was needed to fill the void and I could go over to my pile of Buce and find one that would fit. 




































I hadn't planned on doing this and I actually forgot all about the Buce when I started. In the end I think it will be the best feature of this tank. I think a lot of people spend hours going over the lay out of a tank and coming up with designs. This is a great way to plan out electrical, plumbing, chemistry and maintenance but I feel like this isn't a logical way to imitate nature. I like scaping tanks with out a plan. 

Another mistake I've made in the past is to put everything front and center where it is clearly visible. Most of these Buces are almost hidden or partially hidden. This should add depth and dimension, making it more interesting to look at. When your eyes don't have to work, the lay out becomes less enjoyable. Part of the enjoyment is searching and discovering. If everything is front and center, you don't have to look at the tank for long to take it all in. This should be an interesting tank in a few months.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Forgot to add a picture of the whole tank










Top tanks


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

Nice work with the buce. Looking good.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

New phone, better pictures. Hopefully. 
Up until now, all the pictures were shot with a LG G3. Here is the new LG V20.










AR Mini is steadily filling in, so is the DHG Belem. The Erio Parkeri has never been better but the Blyxa Japonica doesn't respond.









Buce is having a hard time staying put but the HC is starting to rebound and grow.









Crypt Parva spreads like a weed in a dirted tank.


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

Lol. Still laugh every time I see the title. I'm like 5 years old, huh?


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

mrfiock said:


> Lol. Still laugh every time I see the title. I'm like 5 years old, huh?



Well it was either this or something ridiculous like: *Magical peace wind misty-fire garden mountain sunset- A newbs 60P journey*. Which still makes me laugh when I read titles like that.


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## mrfiock (Nov 15, 2015)

Tvadna said:


> Well it was either this or something ridiculous like: *Magical peace wind misty-fire garden mountain sunset- A newbs 60P journey*. Which still makes me laugh when I read titles like that.



Oh man, another great title.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Having some nutrient deficiencies with my AR Mini. Holes in the leaves, loss of pigment in older leaves and possible stunted if not slow, new growth.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

What a difference 3 weeks makes for foreground plants. 


















The AR Mini has responded nicely with some EI dosing as well.


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Growth continues. Need to buy a snail eater to take care of the pond snails that ruin the pictures.


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## MUTigers (Oct 26, 2016)

Nice tanks!

What are the plants sending up tall chutes?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

MUTigers said:


> Nice tanks!
> 
> What are the plants sending up tall chutes?
> 
> ...


Ericaulon Parkeri. The stalks look like they could be flowers but I've read that they're seed pods. The plants send them every time I replant them. They all do it within a day or two of each other. It seems like it happens when they are either ready to be split or just before they're ready to be split again.
Anyway, I got them as a substitute for Blyxa which struggles in all of my tanks except the top left one. The Parkeri has done really well. I've gotten well over 100 plants in a year and I started with 3 or 4 of them. I'm looking forward to obtaining some more Erios in the future so I can push my luck.


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## MUTigers (Oct 26, 2016)

Thanks! They look very cool!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Only have two RCS left and I Saw this the other day.








Now I've seen at least 2 of these. The plant in the photo is Dwarf Baby Tears for sizing.









Bump: Whole tank, Top Left








Top Right after trimming the AR mini. I also bought 2 dwarf puffers and within 2 days I can't find a single pond snail. They are tenacious to say the least


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

Top Left
Hair Algae is taking over my shrimp tank. Typically I treat it with Hydrogen Peroxide or Flying Foxes but neither are options with shrimp. A 4 day black out didn't work. I'm trying three Amano Shrimp instead but doubt they will work. Any shrimp keepers have suggestions?









Top Right
Tried a 4 day blackout to eliminate hair algae in the adjacent tank so this tanks lights were off to. The result was my cardinal plant in the corner getting really leggy and ugly. Probably will have to pull it. Picked up some Chili Rasboras and Scarlet Badis for dirt cheap at my LFS. Added some less colorful shrimp to see if they can last with dwarf puffers and they didn't get bothered so that experiment was a success. The 3 Scarlet Badis I picked out were all potential females but since I've had them, I believe they were just less impressive males and are starting to color up now. I'm currently 0 for 7 on getting a female.









Bottom Right
Moved the 3 dwarf puffers to this tank and they have cleared house on snails almost instantly. Going to have to redo this tank soon. It looks terrible.









Bottom Left.
This tank has held a pair of breeding Gold Rams. Typically I'll pull the eggs but they have laid in the gravel so I've let them raise multiple batches and fail. After about 4 tries they got it right, fry were free swimming for a whole day. With all of the extra work, I forgot to put the lid back on the tank and left it over the light. This left a 1.5" gap above the rim. This was the first time I forgot to put the lid back on and it cost me. When the lights dimmed for the night, the female must have gotten aggressive toward the male and he found the gap and jumped out. Luckily the female has done a good job at raising the fry after her domestic assault on the male. There are 160+ fry and they're 8 days old now and have tripled in size.


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