# Fiona's --Green Widow Forest--; lowtech Seaclear System II



## flowerfishs (May 6, 2009)

looks good


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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

COOL SETUP!!!

It will be very cool once the moss grows in! I really like the arrangement of the wood! 

How did you get the wood to stay in place?

Guppies have some VERY GOOD colors! Best I have seen in a while! I wish I could find nice guppies like that around here, but most of what I can find locally, while having some good color, are NOT healthy at all! Most die from move from LFS to home! VERY SAD TOO! A tank full of beautiful guppies is a awesome thing to me at least!

The previous sacpes were nice too! 

Keep up the COOL tank!
Drew


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## dhgyello04 (Jul 11, 2008)

Wow.. not to get off topic, but I gave the same bird cage as you in the pic of your work table. I have a green cheek conuore. What do you have?


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

BoxxerBoyDrew said:


> COOL SETUP!!!
> 
> It will be very cool once the moss grows in! I really like the arrangement of the wood!
> 
> ...


Thanks! 
I stuck the base of the wood pretty deep into the substrate. A couple of the branches are also supported by the rocks, and a few of them are leaning against the sides. 

I was really lucky to find these guys posted on craigslist locally, actually! The guy was quitting the hobby, and I got this beautiful strain from him for dirt cheap. :eek5:


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

dhgyello04 said:


> Wow.. not to get off topic, but I gave the same bird cage as you in the pic of your work table. I have a green cheek conuore. What do you have?


 Awesome- I have a female lutino cockatiel. All she likes to do is cuddle though, no cool tricks like other parrots.


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## sapphoqueen (Feb 9, 2010)

nice tank ! looks like a tropical forest


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

*One week in* :icon_eek:

Problems with hair algae and all other kinds of algae... I looked down and realized that I accidentally set my photo-period to *12 hours*. *facepalm* Too much for a tank just starting up, especially with slow stuff like moss and a couple swords. 

Soooo just now, I changed light hours to just 3 hours per day. I'll keep at it a few days and see if all that moss disappears. :icon_roll

And progress photos (with algae and all)... added some java fern plantlets all over the place. 

(my cardinals are all dark-colored, because I turned the lights back on in the middle of them getting ready to sleep. :icon_redf)










Side view










Wheee, acrylic distortionnn...


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## andrewluciano (Aug 28, 2012)

Looking good!


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## DBridges (Sep 22, 2009)

Very nice looking tank. Once it grows in some more, I bet it will look even better. I also like the guppies. Very hard to find nice looking guppies like that in my area.

David


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## ANBU (Oct 7, 2011)

Nice, it looks good.


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Thanks guys! 
I wish I could fast forward the growing process, so the moss won't look so stringy for so long.. and same for the java ferns.

I heard java ferns take a few months before starting any visible growth in a new tank. Sigh.


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## bitFUUL (May 14, 2010)

Great looking tank! Yup, or you could wait years to see any real growth on your java ferns too. Beautiful plants though.


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Haha, I do hope it's not years!
This is my first experience with java ferns... don't fail me now, plantlets. :icon_eek:


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## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

They are slow growers but they're hardy.



>


Loving this scape roud:


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## Islandx (Feb 26, 2012)

Beautiful tank. I was never a fan of black backgrounds but in your tank it looks great with the striking colors of your guppies and cardinals.


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Islandx said:


> Beautiful tank. I was never a fan of black backgrounds but in your tank it looks great with the striking colors of your guppies and cardinals.


Thanks much.  
It actually wasn't much my choice, since seaclear system II only comes in either a solid black or blue background. I always preferred a clear tank myself too, but my ~parental units~ insisted on a system II so that no tubing would show. :confused1:


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Still having a hair algae problem after just 3 hours of light for 2 weeks... grrr. It's practically vanished near the bottom, but the moss closer to the lights are still having major problems.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

The composition you made with the wood and the slopes is fantastic! Looks beautiful : )


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## hlaalu (Sep 24, 2012)

That tank is awesome, and the guppies are amazing


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## nerdariostomp (Aug 23, 2012)

Looks really nice! I had slowly built up a collection of 8 different strains of male guppies (nothing expensive but very cool) and had one sick fish wipe all but 3 or 4 of them out as well as a few platy and ottos. So I'm down to 4 male guppies now and a quarantine tank will now be used for Amy future tank mates. 

I've had some java fern plantlets in my 10 gallon work tank show some slow growth with HO T5 lighting and Excel dosing so hopefully you'll start to see them grow as well. Its been pretty slow for me though


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Thank you guys. =) 

nerdario: Oh no.. fish illnesses can get really nasty and hard to cure in my experience too.  I've rarely had sick guppies that manage to recover from medication. 
Ah, yeah I heard the javas were quite slow. Sometimes I wish I could fast forward a couple years just to see what the growth looks like right away LOL.


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## Bserve (Nov 4, 2012)

Any Progress?


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

There's not been much... attractive progress, since I've been having a hair algae problem all over the moss. :S The moss has grown all around by 400%, but so has the algae.

Growth is generally slow, since I'm low-tech. 

I've begun dosing 2 capfuls of excel every day just starting a few days ago, so I'll see how that goes on the moss and algae...


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Heeeeey, an update! 

So things are going not quite as planned... but tolerable? It seems like I don't have enough light for the amazon swords along the bottom, so those are pretty much all gradually dying. :\ 










The right branch is actually doing very well. There's no algae growing at all on that! But the left side... hmmm. My main problem is that the string that was attaching the moss to the branch seems to have loosened too early, causing the moss to float astray- and this is the result. I've been too lazy to take everything back out and re-tie. 

Algae is growing quite easily on the left side.

I feel like I should trim the moss, but I'm afraid of cutting off too much of the good stuff pointlessly. o.0 Anyway, here's what it looks like now!

I also haven't replaced the guppies that have passed away. So currently, there are five tetras and six guppies in this big place..

And maaaaan, java fern sure grows SLOWLY in my tank. LOL.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

java fern grows faster when there's sufficient current. Are there any dead spots in the tank? root tabs would help your sword plants


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Ah, really! That's helpful info- thanks. I put them in dead spots so that they won't float astray easily. But my tank actually has a lot of current in most places.


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Random fish update.

NEWS FOR EVERYONE: guppies don't do very well in a Seaclear System II.  The current is WAY too strong for them... Every few weeks, I will find a large juvie or even an adult caught in the filter area.

So my guppies have been dying out/vanishing, minus the apparent six stronger ones left. 

Thinking about just gradually filling the place with 30 cardinal tetras or the like. :\ 

AND SOME SERIOUS TRIMMING IS IN ORDER, or my substrate plants don't get enough light. The beautiful curves of the manzanita aren't even visible anymore under all that... algae and stray moss. 
I'm just using a single t5ho bulb over a 24" tall tank. I assume two t5ho's over it with no pressurized co2 is too high, and will result in an algae bloom? But what do you guys think? Any advice?

My original plan was inspired by these types of forests:


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## JEden8 (Jan 5, 2011)

Those branches look good covered in moss! Nice setup!


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

After a swift trim and some tying down.... and moving around a couple branches.










maybe one day, I'll have the courage to drag out EVERY branch to tie down the moss.

I sure wish I had some more java ferns...

And I should probably get more cardinals soon, huh. 3__3


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Hah. Took awhile to get this thing away from a fail, but trimming's slowly getting there!


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

the moss is just mesmerizing!


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Today, I had the sudden realization that my pH of 8.0+ might be the root to all of my planted aquarium woes ever since I started the hobby 3 years ago. D:

Bought Seachem Acid Buffer today, and planning to use half RO water for future water changes.
According to Seachem, this acid buffer isn't phosphate based. But it directly converts KH in the water into CO2, making it beneficial to plants. (Anyone have any idea how this is done?)

Is this really the truth? Can it be that I can finally not murder wisteria, java fern, moss, water sprite, and all the rest of the easy plants? D: Is it time to buy more variety of plants and try again? CAN IT BE THAT MY PLANTED AQUARIUM WOES ARE OVER?

Or am I fated to grow moss and java ferns forever? O_O


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