# VeeSe's 55G Water Box (NEW FTS 8/16/12!)



## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

*Foreword*
Before I start, I’d like to say that I plan to keep this thread not just with pictures and updates about my tank, but with posts about my general learnings/views towards aquariums and planted tanks. I’m quite new at this, having just filled my first aquarium (the one that this journal is about) with water on April 2, 2011. Bear with me as I learn along the way. Feel free to skip to the pics if that's what you're interested in.

*Beginnings*
I thought I’d begin with a brief (or not brief, depending on your viewpoint) introduction of how I got into this mess in the first place. Feel free to skip over this part if it's too long. I recently quit playing online poker just before operations at Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars got suspended in the USA (and I still have a few thousand dollars that I can’t cash out at Full Tilt thanks to their mess of a company). Although disappointed that I would no longer have a hobby that could bring in significant money, I thought that I’d change gears and get a dog. As it turns out, I tested a dog out by having it for one weekend, and it was just way too much work. I’m a person who sleeps in, so getting up in the wee hours of the morning to walk the dog, having the smell of dogs in the apartment/house, and having to bathe it AND groom it regularly seemed like a little much, although I must say that dogs are awesome and probably the best pets you could have (man’s best friend indeed). I ended up with two cats who take relatively little work (other than training them to use human toilets). I’ve had cats growing up in my family and so I had experience this time, which always helps a ton.

One evening, I was just surfing around the interwebs and came across some aquarium stuff (who knows how I ended up there). Long story short, I got into reading some and looking at pictures of awesome reef tanks (non-hobbyists are always so amazed by those at the start, and I must admit they still look awesome to me today, even though I now know what a pain it must be to both shell out cash for one and maintain one). Pretty soon, I was looking at pics of fish and reading all about them constantly and thinking about if I should get one. This was probably in October 2010. 

Flash forward to late March, 2011. I had just moved into my new townhouse and now had space for a tank. My attitude at this point was that I just wanted to try this out and if after a year it was too much and I didn’t like it, I would just get rid of the tank on craigslist or some other way and sell off everything and get out. So I got a 55G aquarium startup kit from Petco with the wooden stand to boot (looking back, I would never do that again, since I used almost nothing out of that startup kit in my final setup except for the actual tank itself and the heater). And thus my first aquarium had begun.

*Attitude Change*
Over the few months that I’ve been at this hobby, I think my plans for my tank have pretty much been as “all over the place” as you can get. See, I started out with an interest in fish, but now I couldn’t imagine having a non-planted freshwater tank unless it was an African cichlid tank like a Mbuna or a Malawi tank with a nice hardscape and maybe some anubias or whatever they didn’t eat. Initially, I just wanted a “tank with plants”, not a planted tank. As I looked at more and more pictures of planted tanks, I realized that what I had absolutely sucked to look at (to put it bluntly) compared to what the absolutely stunning planted tanks looked like (youtube videos of awesome tanks really pushed me towards planting heavily). So slowly I transitioned to plans for a low tech planted tank.

However, as it turns out, I already had a T5HO light fixture (the ZooMed AquaSun), and I found out that this lighting was probably a lot for no CO2 injection (now I know that this fixture apparently has surprisingly low PAR reading at the substrate due to a combination of poor reflectors and I don’t know what based on a test done by a member here; I forget his name). So I slowly started dosing Excel, then got into DIY CO2, and eventually bought a pressurized setup from btimmer92. Now I’m getting into running pressurized with EI dosing, and I hope I’ll see some nice growth. I’ve been all over the place and somehow ended up at high tech with the recommendations of a lot of members here on the forum. I must say that it’s a ton more work than I initially imagined, so we’ll see how I feel about it once I’ve done it for multiple months. I don’t know what to think of it yet.

*Current Tank Specs*
Tank size: 55G standard long (48” x 12” x 20” à believe that these tanks are only 52.5G)
Lighting: AquaticLife Dual T5HO fixture à only running one bulb: ZooMed UltraSun 6700K
Substrate: Mix of coase aquarium gravel, Seachem Flourite, and CaribSea Eco-Complete
Fertilization: EI slightly modified as I see fit
CO2: Dual Stage regulator pressurized setup at ~3bps, atomic inline diffuser
Filtration: Eheim Classic 2217, intake: Tom Aquatics Surface Skimmer
Heater: AGA standard 200W glass heater

*Current Fauna*
11 Harlequin Rasboras (_T. heteromorpha_)

*Current Flora *
_Blyxa japonica_
_Rotala rotundifolia_
_Heteranthera zosterifolia_
_Ludwigia repens_
_Cryptocoryne wendtii ‘Red’_
_Hemianthus micranthemoides_
_Helianthum tenellum_
_Nymphaea zenkeri ‘green’_
_Cabomba caroliniana_
_Cryptocoryne wendtii ‘green’_
_Sagittaria subulata ‘dwarf’_
_Anubias barteri ‘nana’_
_Echinodorus argentinensis_

*Picture Timeline
*April 3, 2011: First full tank shot!










April 3, 2011: Shimming it up










April 24, 2011: Fish added April 21. My cat Gravy enjoys the tank too.










May 5, 2011: Full tank shot --> lots of diatoms










May 15, 2011: Anacharis going out of control (eventually thrown out)










May 29, 2011: Full tank shot after a massive replanting and new plants. Removed that huge Mopani driftwood piece that was really stinking it up and taking up too much planting space.









July 9, 2011: Full Tank shot. Got lazy and didn't take pics for more than a month while I was getting all this stuff set up.









Picture of my stand setup and equipment underneath the tank:


















Surface skimmer works well except for stargrass getting stuck to the bottom intake =( Powerhead is turned off right now because I'm not sure I need the additional flow and it was blowing my background plants all over the place. I can't find a good place to put it and augment the flow too without blowing my plants all over.









I haven't seen the explosion of growth after I switched to pressurized CO2 that I was expecting. In fact, the only exploding growth I found after going pressurized was algae appearing all over the place. Also, my C. wendtii 'Red' started melting all over the place once I started pressurized CO2.

*Special Thanks*
btimmer92 (for getting me going in pressurized CO2)
plantbrain (for all of his informative and lengthy posts about EI that have given me a better understanding and his awesome tank pics)
Catsma_97504 (at fishlore.com for helpful tips in getting me started)
Anyone else that I've forgotten who I've had conversations with here and there and helped me out

Any comments, suggestions, critiques, subscriptions, and general merriment or dissent are welcome!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That loosk like it has progressed nicely and I look forward to seeing more update shots. Nice work!


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

This is great, seeing your progress. I think it looks much better without the second piece of driftwood, and you answered a question I had earlier about how the footed light fixtures sit on the tank. The last pic you posted was perfect for me! lol I noticed in the first pic, you are running a HOB filter - does it work ok with the footed lights? A canister filter is out of the question for me, for a while yet.

Love the dark gravel...


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

It's looking good so far, and I liked the backstory on how you got to this point too. I was in a similar spot a year and a half ago, I had some tanks as a kid/teenager but nothing fancy...some plastic plants, basic fish, and one fateful attempt at a cichlid tank (it was nice while it lasted, but I learned the hard way that they quickly ran out of space as they grew.) I had been kicking around the idea of a new tank for a while, and finally got a little basic nano tank on a whim. I later decided that I wanted to try real plants, still wasn't happy with my results in the nano, found this site, and then made the jump to a 55g also, better equipment, and better plants. As with all of my other hobbies, it has been a somewhat expensive, slippery slope, but having an awesome display tank that all my visitors ooh and ahh over is completely worth it


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Thanks everyone! I wonder if I can add the 2nd T5HO bulb to this setup without getting into too much trouble. I'm hoping to bring out some pink/red shades in the R. rotundifolia and L. repens as well as get L. aromatica going eventually.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I really like this tank. Maybe try turning on the second light for a few hours a day at first and see how it goes? Love the picture with the cat.


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## WaveSurfer (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks for the detailed backstory (didn't skip and read through everything ^^) and sharing your photos! Looking good and look forward to future developments!

The cat photo was funny; apparently he was more interested in the fishes (food!) than the tank itself~


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Thanks for all the comments! 

*Algae Creeping In*
I have recently run into a bit of an algae problem. After starting EI and pressurized, I've seen a development of GDA and also staghorn, thread, and hair algae. GDA grows on the glass but the staghorn, thread, and hair algae are really thriving on my anubias and crypt wendtiis. They are the slower growing plants so this makes sense, but it sucks that I still have this algae problem. I realized that this could be because of a dirty tank and filter (hadn't cleaned it in 3 months), so I rinsed out all the media in dechlorinated tap water and did a huge vacuum of the entire tank substrate (for the carpeted part, I just poked my vacuum right into the substrate through the plants). It looks a lot cleaner now and the filter is hopefully cleaner too, meaning that I'll hopefully go back to a nice, algae-free tank. Not sure what I should do to get rid of the existing algae (spot treat with Excel, 30 min filter off, bleach dip the Anubias, or what), but maybe some persistent leaf disturbance with my hand/fingers and a cleaner tank will do the trick.

I'll have new pics up for you guys soon, probably this week or during the weekend.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Ah, the algae bloom is finally here! Things should establish themselves in a few more weeks and generally the algae just goes away. If not, that's when you should address the issue.

Looking forward to more pictures.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

sewingalot said:


> Ah, the algae bloom is finally here! Things should establish themselves in a few more weeks and generally the algae just goes away. If not, that's when you should address the issue.
> 
> Looking forward to more pictures.


Yeah a whole bunch of algae springing up, but really it's not gaining that much momentum even as I leave everything alone. I did have to clip off a ton of crypt wendtii leaves though.

No pics this weekend as I initially stated because I didn't have time to wipe off some algae on my front glass, but they will be coming in the next few days whenever I have some time!


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Alright folks (aka sewingalot):

Here are updated pics. Get ready for the ugly:

Full Tank Shot:









Left Side Closeup:









Right Side Closeup:









Algae covering Anubias:









R. rotundifolia struggling:









Chain Sword browning at tips:









Blyxa japonica:









*Comments*
So there has been a struggle with the algae outbreak. There's BBA, staghorn, hair/thread, GSA, GDA, and diatoms everywhere. Pics were taken today on the first day when I added a 5000K T5HO bulb to make two bulbs total, but I'll take it off if the algae goes out of control. The reason that I added it is because I don't know what's causing my chain sword and R. rotundifolia to struggle so much. Growth is super slow on the R. rotundifolia and the new growth is really really small. I'm not sure if it's a lack of CO2 or what because I'm getting slightly more than a 1 point drop in pH every day. On the other hand, the chain sword is growing fast but the tips of the tall leaves are browning and not doing well. I'm not sure what that could be, but if it's light, I hope adding a light will fix it. 

Some of you will say, "What? You had one T5HO bulb on there already and you just added another?!" and you may be right. However, with my glass versa tops, the black bar hinging the two pieces of glass was pretty much blocking a lot of light and the tank seemed shady at some areas. I'm probably wrong though and I'll be forced to take off the 2nd light when the algae explodes I'm sure. For now though, it's on there. 

Any tips to help me out would be appreciated! By the way, you'll see a stem of half dead L. aromatica in the back left. It was a RAOK that I attempted to get to me in the 100+ degree heat that failed. We'll see if the last few stem stubs come around.

That is all! Comments appreciated.









-VeeSe


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

OMG! Those kitties are *so* cute! 
I'm too new to having planted tanks to be of any help, but I wanted to say I really hear you on the black plastic hinge on the versa tops. Why haven't they figured out clear plastic would be so much better? I have the same problem as you with it blocking light. And because of _my_ two cats, an open top with a suspended light isn't an option...


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

OIn my tops i remove teh hinge from them as they can create quite the shadow. Also I find it is easier to do maintence as I can jsut pick up and remove a section as I see fit.

Craig


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Craigthor said:


> OIn my tops i remove teh hinge from them as they can create quite the shadow. Also I find it is easier to do maintence as I can jsut pick up and remove a section as I see fit.
> 
> Craig


That's an interesting idea.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

VeeSe said:


> That's an interesting idea.


I also have my glass tops reversed to the larger section has the handle and the smaller section stays at the rear of the tank. Makes it really easy to get in the tank and work.

Craig


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## feh (Feb 13, 2011)

1 T5H0 at that height is plenty for a 55 gallon. If you're running your lights more than 8hrs I'd highly recommend cutting it back. I'd also take a look at how much CO2 is actually getting diffused. Not enough CO2 can cause algae problems. Also water flow around the plants is important for fertilizer uptake. Personally I'd add another 2217 on the other side of the tank with the spray bars on the back glass. I've had great results using 2 Eheim 2073s configured that way in a nonC02 55 gallon dosing full EI. 

As for the CO2 you might want to use the power head to push the water across the tank for better distribution. Maybe consider a smaller one if its too much for the plants. I'd also slowly increase the bubble rate a little at a time and give it a couple of weeks and see how things look and keep going until you have the results you're looking for. If you don't have one you may want to get a CO2 drop checker they can be handy. Just make sure you use a 4kh reference solution.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Can you put the two lights on separate timers? What I would do is have one bulb for the full 8 hours and slowly adjust the second bulb down an hour at a time until you see the algae start to loose foothold. Then back up another 1/2 for good measure. That way, you get to use two bulbs if you like the look of it.

The type of algae you are seeing aren't all the uncommon to newer setups, most will go away as the tank matures. Usually around the third month things just start healing themselves up.

You've really come a long way from the first picture to know. It is really looking good despite your algae woes.

Cute kitties!


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

sewingalot said:


> Can you put the two lights on separate timers? What I would do is have one bulb for the full 8 hours and slowly adjust the second bulb down an hour at a time until you see the algae start to loose foothold. Then back up another 1/2 for good measure. That way, you get to use two bulbs if you like the look of it.
> 
> The type of algae you are seeing aren't all the uncommon to newer setups, most will go away as the tank matures. Usually around the third month things just start healing themselves up.
> 
> ...


Unfortunately, both bulbs are in one fixture with just one switch so I can't put them on separate timers. I don't necessarily like the look of the 2 bulbs; I was just wondering what kind of difference in growth I'd see if I used both. 

As far as the algae goes, the tank is already 4 months old. Diatoms have been going strong the whole time, but the big algae invasion didn't start until I went pressurized and started EI dosing without changing my lighting. Something in that change (either going pressurized or EI) triggered a big algae explosion somehow that may be receding a little now.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Did you add the co2 first and the nutrients second or both at the same time? If you did just the co2 initially, the tank could have been munching on all available nutrients and therefore and algae bloom (this is based on other's peoples ideas, not my own).

Diatoms, diatoms, diatoms. They are the one thing that still haunts me. Our water supply is full of silicates and diatoms. Ah, the joys of living next to a turbid river. I feel your pain.

I think it is entirely possible to run your tank on two bulbs, it's not unobtainable. Just a little more maintenance and some practice. Has growth improved with the second bulb added?


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

sewingalot said:


> Did you add the co2 first and the nutrients second or both at the same time? If you did just the co2 initially, the tank could have been munching on all available nutrients and therefore and algae bloom (this is based on other's peoples ideas, not my own).
> 
> Diatoms, diatoms, diatoms. They are the one thing that still haunts me. Our water supply is full of silicates and diatoms. Ah, the joys of living next to a turbid river. I feel your pain.
> 
> I think it is entirely possible to run your tank on two bulbs, it's not unobtainable. Just a little more maintenance and some practice. Has growth improved with the second bulb added?


I was dosing EI but 1/3 of the dosage before CO2 came, and as soon as I added pressurized I started full EI dosage amounts, so nutrients were never a problem. As far as the diatoms go, I believe that my tap water has ~10ppm silicates. I'm not sure how that compares to the norm or if that means I'll always have diatoms, but it is what it is. We'll see if they go away or not. I have no algae eaters in the tank but I feel like I've done ok limiting the light and providing good CO2 and nutrients so far and it hasn't blown out of control. I don't know if growth has improved with the 2nd light because I just added it today. We'll see what happens.

All in all, I guess I should have expected a subpar/ugly tank since it's my first try at aquariums. Over time, I hope I'll get all of these things under control.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Quick update:

Since my inline diffuser has a leak and the connection leading into my bubble counter had a leak, and my regulator inlet and nut is all messed up, I disassembled the CO2 setup and am now not running pressurized CO2 on the tank anymore until a replacement regulator comes in and I build a reactor. The tank has been going on just Excel for 1-2 weeks with the same lighting. The algae has almost completely died back, even off of the Anubias. I'm not sure why stopping CO2 and cutting back to 1/3 EI dosing while keeping the same lighting would cause a huge algae die-back, but I'll take it.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Maybe you had a lack of nutrients, it wouldn't be the first time I've heard someone say "I dumped in twice as much and my algae went away" it had to say but if this wasn't a PITA it wouldn't be any fun.

A reactor would work better on a tank that size, I think diffussers are very inefficient. I use the CabonDoser EXT5000 and it works very well and is very similar to the Cerges reactor in the DIY section, the RG works good as well.

Some good fish to help you clean, Otocinclus for diatoms and they are the hardest working fish I've ever seen plus they stay small at a 1.25 inches and 3 to 5 would be enough in your tank. Dwarf Chain Loaches will get rid of those pesky snails but get a bit larger at 2 inches or so.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

150EH said:


> Maybe you had a lack of nutrients, it wouldn't be the first time I've heard someone say "I dumped in twice as much and my algae went away" it had to say but if this wasn't a PITA it wouldn't be any fun.


Except I didn't up my nutrient dosing; I now only dose 1/3 as much as before. I don't believe that excess nutrients were causing the algae though.



150EH said:


> A reactor would work better on a tank that size, I think diffussers are very inefficient. I use the CabonDoser EXT5000 and it works very well and is very similar to the Cerges reactor in the DIY section, the RG works good as well.


Yep, I built a Cerges reactor and it's inline with my canister now, but no CO2 is going into it yet. Can't wait to get CO2 back up and running and see how it works!



150EH said:


> Some good fish to help you clean, Otocinclus for diatoms and they are the hardest working fish I've ever seen plus they stay small at a 1.25 inches and 3 to 5 would be enough in your tank. Dwarf Chain Loaches will get rid of those pesky snails but get a bit larger at 2 inches or so.


Maybe it would be a good idea to get some otos. I've just heard that they are so frail that it's hard to get them to make it through the QT period. Not sure on dwarf chain loaches since I have an eco-complete, regular gravel, and flourite mix, so it would be sort of sharp on their skin when they dig. Feel free to advise me differently if you think it could work though. Right now I'm thinking I'll eventually get 30 RCS or so to start up a colony in my tank.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll post a pic soon (going on a trip for Labor day so won't be able to do so until next week).


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Most accounts of fish needing a soft substrate is bull, they just spread their fins and perch anywhere they like, my SAE does it all the time, don't get an SAE they get way too big.

I don't quarantine or drip acclimate my stock anymore, with Oto's (or any fish) I get my breeders net (very fine and soft) and dump them into the net over a large bucket/kitchen pot (just not over the sink) and then put the net in the tank. What kills most Oto's is the fact they are a nervous reck and just want to hide, but we put them on display hanging there in a plastic bag until they have a stress attack. All my Oto's live as well as any other fish I put in the tank, as for algae, bba, etc. coming from the LFS, your water conditions have to be set up to support any given type of algae, so your not going to get it unless you already had a problem on the way.

I have always liked Richmond, 95 north with the Church Steeple (clock) is so cool and at the same time sad that they put the highway over the city, but I spent a lot of time in Mineral as a kid on my Gfathers farm, well water, chicken coop, out house, and now it's earthquake central.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

150EH said:


> Most accounts of fish needing a soft substrate is bull, they just spread their fins and perch anywhere they like, my SAE does it all the time, don't get an SAE they get way too big.
> 
> I don't quarantine or drip acclimate my stock anymore, with Oto's (or any fish) I get my breeders net (very fine and soft) and dump them into the net over a large bucket/kitchen pot (just not over the sink) and then put the net in the tank. What kills most Oto's is the fact they are a nervous reck and just want to hide, but we put them on display hanging there in a plastic bag until they have a stress attack. All my Oto's live as well as any other fish I put in the tank, as for algae, bba, etc. coming from the LFS, your water conditions have to be set up to support any given type of algae, so your not going to get it unless you already had a problem on the way.
> 
> I have always liked Richmond, 95 north with the Church Steeple (clock) is so cool and at the same time sad that they put the highway over the city, but I spent a lot of time in Mineral as a kid on my Gfathers farm, well water, chicken coop, out house, and now it's earthquake central.


Yeah that clock tower is really nice right next to the highway. They recently renovated it I think. Regarding the chain loaches and the substrate: don't loaches dig? Wouldn't sharp substrate mean that as they are digging under the gravel, they'll get scratched?


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

That might be true with some other loaches (I don't know) but my have never done that, I do provide wood & rocks for them to hide under but they are not shy and they are fat and tough. Oh, I also have one breeding cave and parts of my tank are thick with plants for hiding too, so.

I think Pleco's like to hide and dig.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

*10/8/2011 Journal Update!*

Hello everyone,

I've gotten really lazy and haven't updated in a long time, but long story short, I think I have pressurized CO2 working and not leaking now. Only time will tell. The BPS is still really inconsistent due to my JBJ bubble counter's check valve (most likely), but it's not inconsistent enough to where I can't deal with it. Still, I should resolve it sooner or later by getting a non-JBJ counter or making a DIY bubble counter from a plastic bottle.

Anyway, Here are some new pics. I took out a lot of the old chain sword and most of the dwarf sag, since they weren't doing well in the previous conditions, but the newer chain sword seems to be fine. Also, I can't really get Rotala rotundifolia to grow that well, but oh well. I also wish the new tank diatom bloom would go away. I may get some otos in a month or two (and to spite me, the bloom will probably go away right before I get to introduce them).

Last thing before the pics: I need some red in this tank. Unfortunately, I don't think my lighting is high enough to make L. aromatica turn pink at the top, which is sort of disappointing, but I don't really feel like increasing my lighting. Oh and I will probably try to fill in the main foreground with Staurogyne repens and move all the chain sword over to the right side of the tank. We'll see how that goes.

OK, enough talk. Here are the pics!

FTS:









Left side:









Right side:









My QT that I'm setting up and cycling for my next batch of fish (probably cardinals):









That's all for now! I'll continue working on it. Thanks everyone!

Gravy says to please leave feedback/comments:


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Looks good. Good levels of iron and micronutrients might help the aromatica color up some.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

I see my plants~~


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

2in10 said:


> Looks good. Good levels of iron and micronutrients might help the aromatica color up some.


I will try adding some Fe EDTA a couple times a week.



jkan0228 said:


> I see my plants~~


Indeed you do.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Where'd you get that desk lamp for your quarantine tank?


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

meowschwitz said:


> Where'd you get that desk lamp for your quarantine tank?


I got it at Walmart. It can swivel so that's why I picked it (it can swivel out so that it's centered above the tank). I'm not sure if all Walmarts have it, but I threw out the box already so unfortunately I can't provide more details. One of the downsides is that it's not a screw-in CFL bulb but a GU-24 two-pin self-ballasting CFL bulb which is a bit harder to find. It came with one though (4100k but it should grow plants just fine), so I didn't really have to do anything besides pay $20 for it and then take it out of the box.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

I've been looking for a good and cheap desk lamp for a 5 gal I'm starting. I might head down to a Walmart soon and see if they've got something like the one you have. Didn't think it was so difficult to find a stupid desk lamp.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Update rawrrrrrrrrrrr

So bad news first: I've got clado. It's growing on my substrate and I'm really sad because supposedly this algae is a huge pain to get rid of. I don't know what I'll do besides clean my filter, keep picking it out by hand, and see what happens... I'll eventually try to keep some Amanos in this tank to help eat it.

Also got some GDA on the back glass but just ignoring it for now because it's not taking off at all and I don't care too much about it.

Good news: some plants are growing... Rotala rotundifolia absolutely refuses to grow well... oh well... I think I'm giving up on it. Still have some weird kind of minor deficiency on my chain sword of small, yellow spots on some of the leaves. I'm thinking maybe it's potassium? But I'm already dosing 3/4 tsp GH booster 1x per week and 1/8 tsp K2SO4 3x per week, so I don't know what's going on with that. Should I up the dosage?

Here are pics:
FTS









Limnophila aromatica REFUSES TO TURN ANY SHADE OF PINK/RED/ANYTHING BUT GREEN AAAAARGH









Tiger lotus is getting huge









Pogostemon erectus is growing decently after getting it shipped in from jkan0228 2-3 weeks ago. You can see some sad, sad R. rotundifolia next to it.









I'll end with some obligatory clado :angryfire:









That's all for now. I'll be back with another update in 2-3 weeks or so if there are major changes! Just hope I haven't had to nuke the tank due to clado.

-VeeSe


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

It looks good and I'm a huge Crypt fan so I'm really like the back right, I'm glad to see your back in the game.

I'd let it rebound a bit before I made any changes.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

You seem to be dosing a bit less for your gh booster. Which one do you use?


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

jkan0228 said:


> You seem to be dosing a bit less for your gh booster. Which one do you use?


I use the one from GLA. "Ultimate GH Booster" I believe it's called. Is 3/4 tsp not a lot for a 55G tank? I don't use RO water. I use regular tap, which already has GH 4.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

If I recall correctly, its 1 tbsp per 20G to raise it by 3 dgh. So I dose 5 tbs for my 95G


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Why do you want/need to raise it by 3 degrees? I also add 2 tsp of MgSO4.7H2O along with the GH booster, but I don't really want to raise the GH more. In fact, I think my Ca levels are fine without any GH booster; I'm just not sure about my Mg levels. I just stay around the general guidelines of the dosing thread in the fertilizers section. You'll see that they recommend 1 tsp GH booster per week even for 60-80 gallon tanks, so you are adding a lot of GH booster to your water. That's fine and all if it works out to what you want, but for me, I'm just trying to make sure my plants have enough Mg primarily.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Oh ma bad. I only use the GH booster...


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## Rockhoe14er (Jan 19, 2011)

Wow i didn't realize there was a fellow Richmonder with a high tech planted tank. You're tank is looking really good. If you ever need some plants let me know right now i have tons.

Also i used to play on pokerstars too and had to quit when they went down.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Hi all,

Just a quick update. Did a huge big cleaning of the tank today as well as some rescaping. Trimmed and replanted the tops of the Ludwigia repens since it was starting to crawl over the surface. Also trimmed off the highest two Limnophila aromatica stems. Sadly, the stemmed reached the surface (about 3-4 inches from the light) and showed no signs of turning pink or anything, so I'll just have to settle for the fact that nothing turns red in my tank. 

I pulled one sword and some crypts out of the right side of the tank to make some space. I might try some Hygrophila corymbosa 'kompact' and some jungle vals along the right side of the tank. Who knows. Removed the Rotala rotundifolia and a big chunk of the chain sword since I needed space and the swords weren't doing very well. Rotala rotundifolia was doing terribly. It completely stopped growing and was all stunted all over the place. There must be something in the water preventing it from growing, maybe a case of allelopathy. I moved the HM out from under the tiger lotus because it was starting to get choked out of light. Does anybody think that this lotus will get out of control in the future?

Lastly, the clado is getting more prevalent than I thought. It was all over the driftwood and has started appearing in various plants. I am pulling up as much as possible every single week during the water change, but it is still spreading. I cannot get rid of it and it is continuing to grow. I'm not sure if it will eventually get out of control or what I should even do at this point.

FTS:









I've also had these cardinals from Rachel for one week in my QT. They are waiting to go in the main tank. All are healthy so far.









-VeeSe


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## jeff721 (Feb 4, 2011)

Looking good VeeSe. 

I'd like to see ow some of the red Ludwigea sp. or hybrids would look. The new Stauro will look great once it's filled in. I also like the Crypts in the back center/right, is that C.Lutea?

I won't lie though - the latest FTS looks a little too organized for my liking.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

jeff721 said:


> Looking good VeeSe.
> 
> I'd like to see ow some of the red Ludwigea sp. or hybrids would look. The new Stauro will look great once it's filled in. I also like the Crypts in the back center/right, is that C.Lutea?
> 
> I won't lie though - the latest FTS looks a little too organized for my liking.


There is some clado on the stauro =(
The crypts are all crypt wendtii.

And yeah it does look sort of organized, but I don't mind it that way. It will look better when it grows out a little more too, I hope. I am also getting some Alternanthera reineckii for just shipping cost from Gordon Richards. They will go between the P. erectus and L. repens. Hopefully that will introduce a little bit of red to my tank, although the top of the leaves will most likely just be a dull brown in my tank. Yeah that super red Ludwigia sp. 'red' that's been going around would be very interesting, although at $8/stem it would be pretty costly if it didn't work out =P


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Hi all,

It's been awhile since I updated. Just thought I'd give some pics of everything before I do a relatively big trim tomorrow. I'm liking how I can still keep a CO2 injected tank relatively low maintenance by just using low light. This is how big the plants got since the last trim. I did take the biggest leaves off of the tiger lotus (otherwise it'd be ridiculously huge by now) and trimmed a couple L. aromatica stems. You can see the difference in L. repens from last picture to this picture: more than a foot of growth. 

Also got in some Alternanthera reineckii (RAOK thanks to gordon richards) and it's doing decently in my tank. H2O2 has helped a ton against the clado and it's no longer much of a problem anymore. I'll be introducing the 14 cardinals tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous about going from a non-CO2 injected QT to a CO2 injected tank. I hope the transition won't be too rough. I will dial down the CO2 for awhile and ramp it back up slowly (maybe start at 1bps and add 0.5 bps daily to ramp back up over a week or so). Here's to hoping all goes well!

Obligatory pics:

FTS









Left Side doing well:









Staurogyne growing in nicely:









Using pennywort as a floater! It's looking great in my opinion! Each leaf is like a small lily on the surface. Here's the view from below the surface looking up:









That's all for now! As always, feedback and comments are appreciated.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Alright folks,

Here is a little pre-holiday update for everybody (aka me, the only one still reading my journal )! Let's start with the obligatory photos:

Full Tank Shot:









Pennywort as a floater looks great and is easily removed since they are all connected:









Left side looking decent. Just need to trim the stauro and replant and propagate to make a carpet. Then it will really look nice (hopefully).









*Questions for anybody who wants to chime in:*
1) Should I put a background on my tank? If so, should it be blue or black? I'm thinking black right now.

2) I recently cleared out all the chain sword on the right side of my tank. I didn't quite like the look. Now it's open for some new ideas, but I don't know what to fill it with. I have some Marsilea minuta on hand but don't know if I should try that. Thoughts? Here's a closeup picture:










_Other thoughts:_

Things are going decently well. I've been working on getting good flow throughout my tank. Finally found a spot for my Koralia Nano 240 that won't blow things over. We'll see how it goes.

Also got the cardinals into the main tank. One of them apparently got frightened sometime and slammed his head so far down into the substrate that he got stuck like that and died. Really unfortunate, as I really like those cardinals. The other 13 have not shown any of the same signs of stupidity, so hopefully I'm ok.

Thanks for reading!:thumbsup:

-VeeSe

edit: oh yeah! I forgot to ask! Bottom feeders: what do I choose: 8-10 dwarf chains loaches or go with RCS/Amanos? I can't decide.


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## .Mko. (Sep 23, 2010)

i love your schools of fish. Do they like playing in the flow of the koralia? go for amanos! and lots of them to keep your tank nice and tidy =)


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## .Mko. (Sep 23, 2010)

VeeSe said:


> Using pennywort as a floater! It's looking great in my opinion! Each leaf is like a small lily on the surface. Here's the view from below the surface looking up:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Brilliant use of pennywort here. I love the look of it, looks like lilies indeed


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

.Mko. said:


> i love your schools of fish. Do they like playing in the flow of the koralia? go for amanos! and lots of them to keep your tank nice and tidy =)


They definitely enjoy the flow. Thanks for the recommendation of Amanos.


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

Your tank is doing very nicely!

I'd definitely put a background on it. I favor black, especially since you have black in your substrate. Blue would just detract from the plants.

I also agree with amanos. Put a ton in there! They're so much fun to watch! Get like 20 or 30 if you can afford it, but definitely no less than 10.

As far as the red, some plants require high nitrates to turn red while others require bright light. You may want to look up the plants you have that aren't turning red to see what triggers them to show off their red colors, and that might give you a clue as to what to do to help them along.

What is your substrate? I may have missed it in your first posting. When you have a plant that just refuses to do well, sometimes you can add a fert tab into the substrate to feed it through its roots. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but it's worth a shot. Just be forewarned that your lotus will adore root tabs and will go nuts over them! If it ever grows too out of control, you can rip it up, trim its roots and leaves and replant it. That will set it back for awhile. Don't be surprised to discover that its roots have grown all the way to the other side of the tank. They have really awesome root systems! If you don't get all the roots when you pull it up, that's fine. They'll decompose over time and end up feeding the other plants.

I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised at how adding a black background will change the overall look. Can't wait to see pics of it!


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## plecostomouse (Jun 9, 2011)

i like your plants!
the blyxa looks great.
i would get the black back ground, the plants and cardinals will really look nice!


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## Chaos_Being (May 18, 2010)

I vote for a black background as well, it creates a nice illusion of depth that is otherwise lacking in a 55g tank (it did for me, anyways!)


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

I say Blackground also.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

So... What's up folks?

I realize I haven't updated this in a LONG time... not since 2011! So I'll just check in with a quick update here. 

Obligatory FTS:










I have 6 otos, 5 amanos, and 1 Neocaridina palmata waiting to go into the main tank from the QT next weekend. Then, I'll have almost filled out my stock. Maybe some more amanos but otherwise, a couple of rams should fill it out (haven't decided GBR or bolivian yet). I originally was going to fill it out with sidthimunki loaches, and I still want to, but I can't make up my mind which one I would like. I'm thinking rams would be nice, as long as my amanos don't all get eaten.

I have had some recent problems with cardinals growing weird white bumps and dying coinciding with a nitrite spike when I planted too much osmocote plus root tabs, but hopefully that is all past me now (never found out what it was, but last cardinal suddenly relapsed and died 2 days ago when the spike was a month ago...). Lost 2 cardinals to that and can only hope it's over with now.

Wishing I had a 75G for the extra depth and bioload capacity 

and still haven't put in a black background. Lazy me.

Have a good one! Comments/feedback appreciated as always.

-VeeSe


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## radioman (Oct 29, 2007)

That black background would really bring this whole tank together. Looks good!


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

The sid loaches will eat your shrimp and larger snails like Nerites etc. and are great if you need to get rid of pest snails.

Your tank looks nice but I agree a dark background would help the plants pop a little and make your tubing disappear.

BTW when I was a kid we used to get black foil backgrounds that were oversized and make a big dent in them to give the illusion of a cave or something, ahhh the foil cave days.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Yeah, if I could go back, I'd spraypaint the back of the tank black before I started, but unfortunately, I do not have a means of time travel (yet). Now, it'll have to be something put in after the fact. I sort of like the idea of finding a black cloth or fabric and just hanging it against the back of the tank. Seems like it might look nice, but I don't know what to use or how to get it besides to just walk into a fabric shop and ask.


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## sketch804 (Mar 2, 2011)

Wow that tank is looking great VeeSe! everything is filling in so nice, looks like all is coming together nicely! those stems of Hygro I gave you not work out for ya? I didn't see them in there, but I might be blind also ha! either way ya you should def.ly get a black background it would make all the colors of fish and plants POP a lot more! Keep it up! Just remember that GB rams need some hot water to keep them alive for a while (like 80+), think Discus tank..Cant wait to see some more!


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

You could just use a pint of flat black latex, regular old house hold type paint and it would also come off easier if you wanted to sell the tank later.

I wanted to mention something about your S. repens, first off they look great and have gotten really bushy but if you want them to grow horizontally just cut or pinch off the tops only leaving one or two pairs of leaves, after that they will put out horizontal growth, you can also replant the trimmings to help fill in and repeat the process until you start having enough clippings to sell in the SnS.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Sketch, I am planning on Bolivians for now, although GBRs do have much better coloration.



150EH said:


> You could just use a pint of flat black latex, regular old house hold type paint and it would also come off easier if you wanted to sell the tank later.
> 
> I wanted to mention something about your S. repens, first off they look great and have gotten really bushy but if you want them to grow horizontally just cut or pinch off the tops only leaving one or two pairs of leaves, after that they will put out horizontal growth, you can also replant the trimmings to help fill in and repeat the process until you start having enough clippings to sell in the SnS.


I'm not sure I could spraypaint back there, as there's not really room to get the can far enough away from the glass without hitting the wall. If it was easy then I'd just spray paint it.

As far as the S. repens, I've been propagating purely by replanting. Only one or two stems have gone horizontal for me. I will see what happens with the trimmed stems now that I am trimming them more. Thanks for the tip! If you look up to the previous update before this one, you'll see that it was much sparser in terms of foreground than it is today.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

That's why I was suggest brush on paint, it will look perfectly flat and without any brush strokes looking at it from the front.

I have S. porto velho and after the first trim it grew horizontal, S. repens should do the same and is mentioned on Tropica's website but you have to butcher it and after you waited all that time it's hard to do. I did notice how much you have fill it in and I know mine grows really slow.


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## fishboy199413 (Jan 20, 2010)

Hey I would love to see what happened to this tank. Did you ever get any Bolivian Rams? They do have a much better personality than GBRs but you are right that GBRs have way better coloration. Very nice tank.


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Alright fishboy, your prompt is making me update, so here goes:

It's been awhile, so I thought I'd show what's up with the tank these days. Here it a FTS of the tank taken a few hours ago:










In the last 6 months, I did add some new creatures, including:

-5 Amano shrimp and 1 Neocaridina palmata (just came in with the Amanos)
-1 Bolivian ram male
-6 otos, of which I only ever see 4 at a time so who knows if the other 2 are still alive
-5 Corydoras paleatus aka peppered corys

Those are the additions to the previous stock:
-11 Harlequin Rasbora
-9 Cardinal Tetra
-tons of pond snails and MTS

I've also had a couple cardinals die, and I'm not sure of the reason. Shortly after I introduced the bolivian ram, the rasboras and cardinals became really skittish at any movement near the tank, so they are always hiding out in the crypts at the right side of the tank now, so most of the time, the tank looks like it's empty, which is sort of sad, since they used to swim out in the open all the time. I'm unsure of the reason why the change in behavior happened, but it doesn't really seem related to the ram, as it isn't very aggressive toward them, and they don't seem to fear it at all. They still all come out enthusiastically for food.

Here are the cardinals and rasboras, as well as the bolivian ram. I chased the rasboras out of hiding with my hand on the outside of the glass so I could get a decent picture of them. Cardinals didn't even leave the crypts.





































And here is a random shrimp chilling out:









As far as plants go, I raised the lights so that now I'm only running really low light (1x T5HO bulb ~26 inches above the substrate, with glass tops in between), injecting about 6-7 bps of CO2, and dosing EI at 1/3 strength with 50-60% WC weekly. I've ditched the Limnophila aromatica that never seemed to grow well in my tank and decided to feature the vals and Hygro more. Still in the process of growing out the Hygro more, but the Blyxa is going nuts, and the crypts and lotus have taken over the right side of the tank where the fish hide all day.

In general, I think it looks more filled in now than before. Seeing a little bit of BBA but it doesn't really spread much and seems under control. You never know though with this stuff. So that's a summary of my tank.

Any feedback and comments are appreciated, as always!
-VeeSe


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## Only One Haze (Nov 10, 2011)

Looking good VeeSe! Glad to see the Ram is doing well after that initial scare.


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## fishboy199413 (Jan 20, 2010)

Wow the tank is really coming along. Are you going to get any more Bolivian Rams? Nice tank.


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