# DeChied Chi



## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Older Picture - 10/13/2013​*






*↓↓↓Updated Picture and Data: 7/29/2017↓↓↓​*






​Lightning: Finnex FugeRay Aquarium LED. 4 blue LEDs/32 white LEDs. 4 watts. 7000Ks. 10 inches long 
Filter: Eheim 2211. with Purigen bag added to media
Inflow/Outflow CalAquaLabs Efflux F1 and Influx X1, both 13mm in diameter
No CO2 system 
Substrate: Aquasoil Amazonia I.

Flora:
_Utricularia graminifolia_ (grass-leaved bladderworth) (*Front carpet*)
_Staurogyne repens_ (*back right and front left carpet*)
_Fissidens fontanus_ (*on top of the ornamental rock*)
_Alternanthera reineckii_ 'mini' (*right middle (red plant)*)
_Lysimachia nummularia_ 'aurea' (Golden Lloydiella) (*Middle left*)
_Ludwigia repens_ 'red' (*Left background (red)*)
Rotala sp. green? (*background left*) - Not actually sure since I got it from a local lake
Ammania sp. 'bonsai' (*background right*)

Fauna:
2 Rummy nose tetras (_Hemigrammus rhodostomus_) 
20 to 30 Red Cherry Shrimps (_Neocaridina davidi_) 
some small snails

*This tank has been rescaped. Click link below to go to the new thread​*http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1...5-gallons-vertical-iwagumi-dutch-mixture.html​


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Hi all, this is a journal of my tank. it has been about two months since I set it up. I want to hear your opinions and ideas about it.

At the time the water has a yellowish tint. I have made water changes but the tint does not go away. I use very little ferts to prevent excess organic matter and algae. If anyone knows how to solve this problem please let me know.

I keem the water level like that because when I had it to the top a few of my fish jumped out and died. I am thinking of making a little glass cover or something so that I can fill the water without loosing more fish.

About the flora I want to add some more plants, but I am having a difficult time finding the ones I want, like Pogostemon helferi. But once I get it I will plant them to the left side next to the ornamental rock.


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

The yellow soil is from the Aquasoil. The new aqua soil is supposed to have fixed that. It will go away after a while. Mine took 4 months of weekly water changes. 

Tank looks good. I'd pull the cave, add a lid and let it grow in. Nice Job.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Thanks. I am working on the plexiglass lid. I need to make the perforations for the filter's intake and outtake tubes to go through. Also I am planning on changing those horrible green tubes for something more subtle, but that would be more into the future (not a big concern right now). 

The Amazonia that I used was bought some time ago but was stored until I used it recently for this tank, so maybe it is what is causing the yellow tint. I hope it will go away sometime.

I will put some more pics soon after I add some Micro Swords at the far right side.


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## aweeby (Oct 1, 2011)

i say change your hardscape. the plants look like they'll fill in great and look really healthy, the tint'll clear up in no time, but you're just holding yourself back with the resin thing and the weirdly smooth pebbles. Get some interesting stone and some driftwood, maybe manzanita twigs or something. the black base is also kind of visible. but to each his own. that's my 2c.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Thanks aweeby. the round pebbles are going to be removed. They were only placed for two reasons.

1- To anchor recently planted HC Cuba to the bottom until they rooted a little.

2- The ones at the left side were placed to prevent vegetation from growing on that area because I want to plant something else there and I dont know how soon I will be able to get it.

I think I will leave the cave ornament. It gives shelter for the shrimps and it just looks cool in my opinion. the black base.. well I left it there on purpose too. It serves as some kind of boundary to the marsilea crenata which btw grows uncontrollably fast in all directions and I did't want to have them colonize every inch of soil. In proper time It will sure blend with the vegetation and become unnoticeable.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Update: I planted the Micro Sword Narrow Leaf (Liliaeopsis Mauritius) at the back. I will let it grow a little before posting any pictures. Still working on the lid. I want to fill the water all the way up, but need that lid first. Apart from that everything else is the same. Fish looking nice with very strong colors and plants doing good too.

I want to use this opportunity to talk about something that happened some weeks ago. When I first installed the 26 watts lights (before I had any fish or shrimps in the tank) I noticed that the plants started to pearl quite a lot. I was excited about that because I don't have any CO2 and it was the first time my plants were pearling bubbles. But that just lasted 2 days. They have not pearled any more. I have the lights turned on about 8 ~ 10 hrs a day and the plants look very healthy whatsoever. Does anyone knows why might this had happened?


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## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

Wow, is that too much light for the tank, 26W? Pearls may be just from a water change, and oxygen getting trapped down below.

Anyway, nice to see a local Miamian. Love the tank, good thing you removed that annoying center piece / stock light 

I agree with aweeby that you should change the hardscape, remove the rocks and decor and get a piece of driftwood and tie some moss on it, for a more natural look. For hiding spots for shrimp, get some cholla wood or bamboo charcoal, easily hidden beneath plants. After your plants grow out more you really won't need a hiding place for the shrimp, as dense plants foliage is enough.


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## aretreesfree (Jun 19, 2011)

whats the stand? looks good.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

xenxes said:


> Wow, is that too much light for the tank, 26W? Pearls may be just from a water change, and oxygen getting trapped down below.
> 
> Anyway, nice to see a local Miamian. Love the tank, good thing you removed that annoying center piece / stock light
> 
> I agree with aweeby that you should change the hardscape, remove the rocks and decor and get a piece of driftwood and tie some moss on it, for a more natural look. For hiding spots for shrimp, get some cholla wood or bamboo charcoal, easily hidden beneath plants. After your plants grow out more you really won't need a hiding place for the shrimp, as dense plants foliage is enough.


Yeah the stock light/filter piece was not good for plants. I struggled deciding whether or not to take it out because after all that is what makes that tank cost what it costs. I mean I could find a plain glass tank (bigger than mine) for less than $5 up in Hialeah :biggrin:. But well, I already had this tank and finally after unsuccessful attempts of growing plants under the crappy stock light, I decided to take it out and replace it with the current light.

Well thanks for the ideas and tips. But for the time being the cave is staying:icon_lol: Let's just see how it turns out and latter I will see.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

aretreesfree said:


> whats the stand? looks good.


Hi, I got the stand in a Bed Bath & Beyond. It has roughly the same base area as the tank and it fits perfectly. The only downside is that it has no doors. the filter and the rest of the aquarium tools are in the bottom and can be seen. I will probably get another stand or make one myself. One that has a little door where I can hide those equipments.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

There is not much going on in the tank. I bought some Flourish Iron to see if the Didiplis Diandra gets the reddish coloration. I am dozing daily along with the Flourish Excel. We will all see if this products does what it is supposed to.

I will post some pictures of the tank from when I was first trying to set it up (I have made some changes since then) Maybe I should have had started this journal from there, but anyways I dance to my own drummers and I do it backwards.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

This is the ADA Power Sand that goes under the substrate.








I left one inch on each side so that it would not be visible after adding the substrate.








I was going to try growing the _Marsilea crenata_ (here in the emersed state) with the not powerful stock light which is also a filter and a fountain. It is a cool piece except for the fact that the light sucks.








and here I finally planted the Marsilea which was not doing so good

As you can see I first had the substrate flat. Now I have chanched that as well. I added the extra substrate I had left to the back side to give it a sense of depth. burrowing some of the _Marsilea crenata_ in the process.








You can see here the first layer of substrate along with the buried Marsilea which by the way is still alive after a month of being under the substrate (that is one hardy plant)

Well that is all for now, thank you all for watching and posting comments.


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## dasob85 (Feb 4, 2012)

very pretty tank. thats a beautiful guppy too


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## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

Chizpa305 said:


> Yeah the stock light/filter piece was not good for plants. I struggled deciding whether or not to take it out because after all that is what makes that tank cost what it costs. I mean I could find a plain glass tank (bigger than mine) for less than $5 up in Hialeah :biggrin:. But well, I already had this tank and finally after unsuccessful attempts of growing plants under the crappy stock light, I decided to take it out and replace it with the current light.
> 
> Well thanks for the ideas and tips. But for the time being the cave is staying:icon_lol: Let's just see how it turns out and latter I will see.


Lol WHAT? Please tell me where you can find a glass tank for $5 in Hialeah. Probably won't hold water w/o some work?

As for the light, that's considered pretty high for a tank this size (5.2 watt / g). But if you're dosing Excel daily you might not encounter a big algae problem, and if you do, add Nerites until you achieve balance. I only use it as an algaecide, not sure if it helps that much with growth when you have fauna producing natural CO2. I haven't gassed any of my tanks and plan to keep them natural, they're all still growing fine.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

dasob85 said:


> very pretty tank. thats a beautiful guppy too


Yeah, those goopies are very pretty. The red tail makes a nice contrast with the green vegetation in the aquarium. I which I had a better camera to take nice pictures of them so I could show them to you with more detail. I love goopies because they can exist in an enormous variety of shapes and colors. 

Here is a link of a video I took.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYIBPSvboGo

It is not good quality either, but you can catch a glimpse of them.
Oh and sorry for the tilted video. That was my mistake!!


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

xenxes said:


> Lol WHAT? Please tell me where you can find a glass tank for $5 in Hialeah. Probably won't hold water w/o some work?
> 
> As for the light, that's considered pretty high for a tank this size (5.2 watt / g). But if you're dosing Excel daily you might not encounter a big algae problem, and if you do, add Nerites until you achieve balance. I only use it as an algaecide, not sure if it helps that much with growth when you have fauna producing natural CO2. I haven't gassed any of my tanks and plan to keep them natural, they're all still growing fine.


Lol I bet they are horrible quality but yeah in some places you can find them pretty cheap. I remember I went to a little store where they had simple tanks at very low prices but I don't quite remember the address. That was some time ago... Anyways, they also have some tanks for sale at decent prices at the Neighborhood Fish Farm. 

About the light, I have two types of bulbs. The other one is only 10 watts. For now I just have a little bit of algae but nothing out of control. In case of emergency I'll just exchange the light for the smaller one temporarily.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Update: I spotted a shrimp today with a bunch of eggs in its belly. I guess the fish will have some nice shrimp special dinner soon. Let the stronger and smarter ones survive.

Also, for those who might be interested, here is the blueprint of the lid I am planning on doing. I think I could have it finished in about a week.


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## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

Nice, DIY lid 

I found that when I didn't have a lid I wanted one, and when I had a lid I always left it uncovered.

Haven't been back to Neighborhood Fish Farm in a while, it's a bit of a drive for me.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Yeah well, I suppose a lid would be uncomfortable in many ways, but my fish are very suicidal and without one I'd be left with none. I don't like to have the water level too low either because it gives an unappealing look to the tank so I thought the only solution to this problem was to make one.


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## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

Have you tried using floating plants? I haven't had any problems with suicidal fish. Had a shrimp jump out once when I kept it with a betta, stupid idea.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

> Have you tried using floating plants?


Mhhh I don't know. That could be another solution. I like the floating plants in your Marina tank. The leaves look sexy from up top, though not a big fan of how the roots look from under the water surface. Well not a bad idea. Thanks for that

I bought the Diandra (back middle plant) to create some color contrast as it is supposed to turn reddish or at least pinkish. But it is completely green. I am giving it some iron supplement, but no luck with the red color yet. Is there something else that can enhance the red coloration apart from the iron?


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

ccc


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Glad to see another stripped chi on here. I really like that super sloped substrate and it looks like your plants are growing in good. You could try floating plants just for a month or so to get the fish to think they can't jump out then take them out if you don't want to do the lid. I did that when my betta first started trying to jump and he hasn't even tried since.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback JMex. It is nice to know that we both have the same tank. We can learn from each other a thing or two through our own experiences.

Update: 
- Bad News!!! I've been having some unfortunate problems in the tank. Ammonia levels have riced killing two fish so far. Apparently I introduced too many fish in a short period of time. I am trying to handle the situation by doing daily 30% WC, and reducing the feeding significantly. Hopefully the fish can hang on until the bacteria colony catches up with waste breakdown.

- I ordered a water test kit to help me detect problems in the tank before it is too late. 

- On other bad news,... Algae... Green dust algae to be specific, is spreading through the glass walls and making the tank look like a public toilet. I was reading an article online about how to handle this type of algae. It is very simple actually. I just have to... well... do nothing. Yes!! The article said that it is best not to disturb the algae for a period of three weeks. after that, I read, it starts to die out by itself and disappear for good. But if I try to scrape it before this period of time, it will repeat its life cycle and I would have to wait again. I'll try to be patient and wait.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> Thanks for the feedback JMex. It is nice to know that we both have the same tank. We can learn from each other a thing or two through our own experiences.
> 
> Update:
> - Bad News!!! I've been having some unfortunate problems in the tank. Ammonia levels have riced killing two fish so far. Apparently I introduced too many fish in a short period of time. I am trying to handle the situation by doing daily 30% WC, and reducing the feeding significantly. Hopefully the fish can hang on until the bacteria colony catches up with waste breakdown.
> ...


Sorry to hear about your fish. Hopefully the rest survive the mini cycle. You could try snails to keep the algae from getting too crazy gross. I had a nerite snail when I got GDA and the snail pretty much took care of it.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Update: 

- Ok so I finally finished the lid. Here are some pictures for you to see. The end result exactly looks just as I planned it. 
This is the rough piece of plexiglass that I bought.








This is the finished work. 






















Don't forget share your opinion. Thank you.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

I trimmed some of the plants today and took these pictures after. The HC Cuba is spreading nicely through the substrate and in a few more weeks it will hopefully cover the entire right slope. 
As you can see I'm getting some algae on the glass but I will try to get some Nerite Snails to help clean it up. Also, I'll add some carbon to the filter because no mater how many WC I do, the water keeps coming out a little yellow.
I saw some tiny baby shrimps this morning, they are very hard to see. Let's see if some survive to adulthood.

In the near future, I'm going to paint the background in black. I know I should have done it before setting the tank, but that phase is already over by now.

Let me know what do you think. Thanks.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

That HC is looking very good! I wish mine would grow in that well. If you want the shrimps to survive you should put a prefilter sponge on your intake or they will just get sucked up and eaten by your filter.


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## Red_Wall (Mar 14, 2012)

Tank is looking good! I really like it so far. Can't wait to see what it looks like when it gets all grown in.


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## philemon716 (Aug 14, 2011)

A bit off-topic, but would you be willing to sell me some of your aureas?


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

> That HC is looking very good! I wish mine would grow in that well. If you want the shrimps to survive you should put a prefilter sponge on your intake or they will just get sucked up and eaten by your filter.


JMex: I followed your advice and placed a little piece of sponge inside the tip of the outflow tube. It's not like I want every single one to survive, but just to keep the shrimp generations flowing.



> Tank is looking good! I really like it so far. Can't wait to see what it looks like when it gets all grown in.


Thanks Red, I appreciate the positive feedback :biggrin: keep it up. I'm glad you like it!



> A bit off-topic, but would you be willing to sell me some of your aureas?


Philemon: I would be glad to, but unfortunately the cutting I made yesterday were discarded right after, But if you want, once the plant grows back again I'll let you know. If you can, send me a PM with the plants you have. Maybe we can exchange.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Here is an update:
- I already painted the background glass in black. Let me know what do you think. Does it look better now or before??

- I've noticed that the Didiplis Diandra (the tall one in the middle) grows a lot faster than its neighbor. For this reason I will be changing the Diandra to the corner and the Aurea to the middle once they both grow tall enough.

- I see the baby shrimps everywhere. they are getting a little larger and redder. The fish swim near them but don't seem to care.

- Algae is slowly dissapearing! If this rate keeps like that I'll have no algae in no time.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Looking good, I have always liked a dark background to make the plants and fish stand out.


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## Mablisboa (Apr 10, 2012)

Love it... I have the same tank, but i'm still trying to work around the light stock ... Lets see for how much longer :/ lol... Mine just finish cycling 4 days ago and i was having some algae problems too... Went to my lfs and got me some Otos ( Otocinclus sp.) they cleaned my whole tank in 3 house... They are pretty awesome and it only grow to about 1" so is perfect for our tank. I'm thinking on getting some shrimps for it today too. My neon tetras are not eating very good... they don't come to the surface and the flakes end up sinking  any tricks for feeding the tetras??


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## Mablisboa (Apr 10, 2012)

Oh BTW... Love the black background!!


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

> Looking good, I have always liked a dark background to make the plants and fish stand out.


Thanks 2in10. yeah the black background does help to bring out the color on the plants, and at the same time it helps to hide some cables and things behind the glass. 



> Love it... I have the same tank, but i'm still trying to work around the light stock ... Lets see for how much longer :/ lol... Mine just finish cycling 4 days ago and i was having some algae problems too... Went to my lfs and got me some Otos ( Otocinclus sp.) they cleaned my whole tank in 3 house... They are pretty awesome and it only grow to about 1" so is perfect for our tank. I'm thinking on getting some shrimps for it today too. My neon tetras are not eating very good... they don't come to the surface and the flakes end up sinking any tricks for feeding the tetras??


Hey Mablisboa, my neons were shy at the beginning. They are naturally afraid of the light so they would not go to the surface. However what I did is I left them without any food for two entire days. after that I just dropped a very small amount of flakes on the surface and at that point they started to loose the fear and come up. Nowadays they are not scared of anything they would go right away to the surface and eat whatever I give them. Try that and see what happens.


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## alfalfa (Jan 19, 2012)

I love your tank. I did something very similar my wife's Chi. A couple of more things you can do to totally deChi it:

The white logo in the front is a sticker. It comes off a lot easier than you might think.
That black filter mount thing on the back is held on by a piece of adhesive foam. It will come off with a little bit of effort. You just need something long and flat to slice through the foam.  A hotwire would probably work great.


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## Mablisboa (Apr 10, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> Thanks 2in10. yeah the black background does help to bring out the color on the plants, and at the same time it helps to hide some cables and things behind the glass.
> 
> 
> 
> Hey Mablisboa, my neons were shy at the beginning. They are naturally afraid of the light so they would not go to the surface. However what I did is I left them without any food for two entire days. after that I just dropped a very small amount of flakes on the surface and at that point they started to loose the fear and come up. Nowadays they are not scared of anything they would go right away to the surface and eat whatever I give them. Try that and see what happens.


Thanks.. I'll deff try that


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

alfalfa said:


> I love your tank. I did something very similar my wife's Chi. A couple of more things you can do to totally deChi it:
> 
> The white logo in the front is a sticker. It comes off a lot easier than you might think.
> That black filter mount thing on the back is held on by a piece of adhesive foam. It will come off with a little bit of effort. You just need something long and flat to slice through the foam.  A hotwire would probably work great.


Haha, I liked the expression 'To DeChi it' Classic!! Lol. I'll remove the white sticker in the front, but I'll leave the filter holder piece because I don't know if I'll need it in the future. The good thing is that since I painted the background with black, that piece is hardly noticeable (That was one of the reasons why I painted it in the first place).


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## alfalfa (Jan 19, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> but I'll leave the filter holder piece because I don't know if I'll need it in the future.


I took it off permanently knowing I'd never use that filter on it again. Besides discovering the trick to restarting the filter (do the "maybe this will work" thing for 20 minutes), fish swim up into the open C-shaped part of the filter arm that slides on that mount. They die because they can't turn around. After it happened to us, we decided to deChi it. 



> The good thing is that since I painted the background with black, that piece is hardly noticeable (That was one of the reasons why I painted it in the first place).


That background looks really great! I have black posterboard on mine at the moment.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Update:
* The algae is persistent. I mean it is not expanding any more, but it isn't going away either. I am looking for Nerite snails. If someone is willing and able to sell me a few of those snails LMK please. 
* I bought some Ludwigia (don't know which kind). I am planning in redoing the background plant configuration. I think I will plant them in this order from left to right: Ludwigia, D Diandra, and Lysimachia aurea. For now this will be my next step, but I will wait until the plants grow taller.
* One last thing, I've been noticing my neon tetras are attacking each other and acting a little territorial. I don't know if this is natural. I thought that neons were passive schooling fish.


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## Mablisboa (Apr 10, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> View attachment 47451
> View attachment 47452
> 
> View attachment 47454
> ...


What kind of algae you been having? 
My Neon Tetras were doing that too, I did a little research and as long as they are not hurting each other is perfectly normal.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Mablisboa:* I have Green Dust Algae in my tank. I have had it since almost the beginning and probably came along with the stem plants that I currently have in the tank. But there is also like a light brown dusty algae looking thing on the glass too. It is hard to see from a picture, but it is there and it is extremely hard to remove physically. I took a clean toothbrush and scraped it for several minutes and nothing!!!. I tried using different tools, my hand and whatever came to mind but it is just very very hard to remove. I suppose it is some kind of algae but it could be something else. Another thing that came to my mind is iron rust.. I wonder if it is possible to get iron rust on the glass from dosing iron ferts (I doubt it). The am dosing the suggested amount of Iron fertilizer according to the instructions on the bottle which is 0.5ml in my < 5 gallons of water


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## Mablisboa (Apr 10, 2012)

Ohh so it's a hard one to get rid off... Mine tank had, well still has a little tea color water but is was because of the driftwood... My otos took cake of the diatoms i had... I had a little problem with hair algae too but it was too much light and too much fish food and the food i was using had a lot of phophate on it and that can cause algea problems too (that's what i was reading not sure if is right).


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Update:*

* Hello everyone. As you can see I did the changes I wanted to make to the background plants. I added the Ludwigia with hopes of getting some red color to the left corner, but let's see how it behaves... It'll probably just turn green like the rest. Now I will let them all grow tall and thick.

* I know that the HC needs some trimming. But I was kind of lazy. Maybe this week I'll do it. 

* Also I am waiting for some orders I made. Including three Nerite Snails that will hopefully help me fight the algae. ((((Nerites to the rescue!!!:angryfire Vs :bounce:algae))))


Let me know if you like or dislike the new plant configuration or anything else in the tank. 
Thank you!!


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> *Update:*
> 
> * Hello everyone. As you can see I did the changes I wanted to make to the background plants. I added the Ludwigia with hopes of getting some red color to the left corner, but let's see how it behaves... It'll probably just turn green like the rest. Now I will let them all grow tall and thick.
> 
> ...


I feel like it makes the scape look a bit stagnant with all the stems just lined up on the back like that. Golden ratio and all that jazz. When they grow out try to make some slope to them and/or add more coming towards the front to give it depth I would say. You should tell me how you do with trimming HC/what you use. I am having problems getting mine trimmed good since the tank is taller than it is wide. Also, nerites will decimate the algae. I started to get some GSA on my rocks and within a day they had it all cleaned up.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*JMex*: Yeah I agree with you that it looks very artificial. I think I was a little inspired by dutch style. I am planning in getting more plants in there. in front of the background plants. It's just that it's been difficult to find the one I want. To trim the HC I use a very small scissor, but even tough it is very unconfortable. That is precisely why I've been slacking lately about it.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

I have had the Nerite Snails now for about 5 days and they have made a very noticeable difference. I'll post some pictures latter of the algae before and after the Nerites so you guys can see for yourselves.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> I have had the Nerite Snails now for about 5 days and they have made a very noticeable difference. I'll post some pictures latter of the algae before and after the Nerites so you guys can see for yourselves.


Good to hear!


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Before*---------------------------------* After*

Here is the comparison. There is still a lot of algae, but the difference is big. Nerite snails eat lots of algae daily. If you are wondering why the two pictures at the right look more red in color, it is because I had to change the bulb. The one I had stopped working after an electrical surge and now I don't know where I can buy the same bulb model since they only sell those in Europe. I'm a little worried that if I put a lower wattage bulb the plants might not look as healthy... And no, the light had anything to do with the algae reduction since all that happened just a few minutes before I took the last two pictures.

I planted a new plant on the left too. Its Pearlgrass. Thanks to tbonedeluxe here in the forum who sold them to me. They still look a little deteriorated because its delicate leaves had to suffer from a long trip, but I'm sure they'll look very green and bushy in a little while.

Jmex, I appreciate all the feedback. I will put more middle plants to help decrease the symmetrical appearance of the background. I am planning to add some Stauragyne repens in one of the front corners and also some small red plant to the right of the cave. I will go little by little so that I can think what to add next and where to add it.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> Here is the comparison. There is still a lot of algae, but the difference is big. Nerite snails eat lots of algae daily. If you are wondering why the two pictures at the right look more red in color, it is because I had to change the bulb. The one I had stopped working after an electrical surge and now I don't know where I can buy the same bulb model since they only sell those in Europe. I'm a little worried that if I put a lower wattage bulb the plants might not look as healthy... And no, the light had anything to do with the algae reduction since all that happened just a few minutes before I took the last two pictures.
> 
> I planted a new plant on the left too. Its Pearlgrass. Thanks to tbonedeluxe here in the forum who sold them to me. They still look a little deteriorated because its delicate leaves had to suffer from a long trip, but I'm sure they'll look very green and bushy in a little while.
> 
> Jmex, I appreciate all the feedback. I will put more middle plants to help decrease the symmetrical appearance of the background. I am planning to add some Stauragyne repens in one of the front corners and also some small red plant to the right of the cave. I will go little by little so that I can think what to add next and where to add it.


You have the fluval light fixture right? Amazon sells the bulbs for that for $10 I think. You might be able to fit a lower wattage CFL from home depot too, I tried the 25 watt ones and they don't fit though. The pearlgrass looks really good there! It's already detracting from the symmetrical feel it had.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

> You have the fluval light fixture right?


No, that's not the fluval light. It is the finnex nano refugium. Isn't that the same as the one you have? From the pictures I think it is the same one. I'll pass by home depot tomorrow and see what they have.


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## JMex (Apr 8, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> No, that's not the fluval light. It is the finnex nano refugium. Isn't that the same as the one you have? From the pictures I think it is the same one. I'll pass by home depot tomorrow and see what they have.


Doh, finnex is what i meant :icon_conf Yes, they have the bulbs on amazon. I would try to get the smaller CFLs if you are going the home depot light cause the bigger ones, i think 20+, were too wide to fit in the casing. But even then I'm not entirely sure cause I have just been using the special bulbs for it


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Wow! you're right. I looked for it everywhere not too long ago and could not find any. I was searching it under "aquatic nature solar lux" which is what the bulb has written on the side, but under that search it doesn't come up in amazon, and in google only some Europeans sites appeared to sell it. I'm happy I can get it again. thanks for that.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

I thought it was looking sexy today, and I decided to post these pics.


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## jncme (May 29, 2012)

Looks good man, do you use any ferts? and how long do you leave the light on?


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

jncme said:


> Looks good man, do you use any ferts? and how long do you leave the light on?


 I use Excel and Seachem Iron, I leave the light for 12 hrs/day


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

It's been a while since my last update, but the tank is still running. I'm going to make some changes in the coming days since I bought some new living photosynthesizing multicellular eukariotic organisms generally known as plants. XD. I'm going to post some new pics in a few days.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Hello guys.

I decided to upgrade the aquarium with a DIY CO2 system. It is the first time I try this, but I think is going well... more or less. I bought one of those Nutrafin CO2 bubble counter/diffuser (one of them ladder types) for about $13 and connected it to the fermentation canister. At first I thought the diffuser was too big for my 5 gal aquarium, but when I installed it, it does not look that bad. Right now I am using the regular baker's yeast that you find at most food stores. I've read that the Champagne yeast is better for this because it lasts longer, but since this is my first try I just wanted to get the yeast quickly to try it. Maybe in the future I'll change to the champagne yeast if the price is low. 

I planted some new plants too (Staurogyne repens and Pogostemon helferi) so let's see if the CO2 does really enhance the appearance of the plants.

I'm sorry I don't have any pics to show you. My phone was not waterproof and I took it for a swim and I don't currently have another camera... I know, it's embarrassing. But I'll see what I can do to show you my setup and scape soon.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

I recently planted the staurogyne repens and some pogostemon helfery. But it is still not very settled in.








Here you can see a close up on my most loyal plants so far.








I am trying to grow HC here on the rock. I don't know if I am going to be successful at this. I want it to look sort of like hanging gardens of Babylon lol.








Another image on the Staurogyne's progress.
















Update: Very soon I will finally replace those green tubes with clear glass ones. I already ordered them and should be on the way from China or something like that. 

Since now I have installed the co2 system I will probably be able to get some really red plants in there too. But for now I'll see how it develops with the new additions.

Share any opinions that you might have.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

CO2 doing its thing...









The hanging gardens are not looking so good. The leafs are turning dark. 









Baby Pogostemon Helferi growing up









HC Cuba doing a nice carpet

Update:
I got one of the glass pieces for the filter, (the outflow), but I'm a little disappointed since I did not receive the inflow part which was supposed to be included. Also the piece is longer than I thought, still I can install it. I'm showing some pics next time.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Update: 10-13-2013
Plants filling in. I would still want the pearl weed to get a little more bushy, add some red plant there (maybe replace it with the _Didiplis diandra_), and see the HC on top of the rock to grow more, but everything else looks pretty much as I wanted.

Let me know what are your opinions.


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## QFire000 (Oct 17, 2013)

You've just inspired me to try my own planted nano. Awesome thread, tank, and pictures. Thank you! Keep us updated


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

QFire000 said:


> You've just inspired me to try my own planted nano. Awesome thread, tank, and pictures. Thank you! Keep us updated


Thanks for that. I'm happy that I can give you inspiration:icon_smil. To be honest, when I look at the first pictures in this post I realize that the tank has improved a little. It has not always been a success. I have had all kinds of problems like ammonia spikes that made the fish want to jump out of the tank, different types of algae taking over every inch, yellow water, plant diseases that ended up killing some plants, etc... just to name a few... But well, that is what it's all about: the challenge, the journey. I have learned many things along the way and there are many more to learn still. Wish you good luck in your nano and looking forward to check it out.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Update: October 24th, 2014*

Hello everybody. I return after a long time during which I left this aquarium under very little maintenance due to some issues that I ran into. The aquarium is still running, however it has undergone through a lot of deterioration. Green algae took over every inch of glass. Stem plants grew too large and shaded all of the plants under them. The HC carpet completely came off due to this poor lighting getting to them with the exception of only tiny pieces. In summary.. complete disaster. 

But I am now back and willing to get it back to pretty again. 

First, I completely removed the Didiplis diandra and the Hemianthus micranthemoides because they simply grow too fast and this aquarium is too small for them. I am leaving all of the other plants that have a slower growth rate.

I then tried to scrape off the algae, but at some parts I couldn't completely eliminate it as it is very hard stuck to the glass... I hope that it will start to go away by itself once I get the tank healthy again.

I replanted some healthy stem tops and added an otocinclus to help with the algae. 

As for the HC carpet, I could just buy more and plant it, but I am going to take on the challenge of making a full carpet out of the very little pieces that I have left. It will take time, but it will be fun seeing the progress through time if everything goes ok. 

Here are some pictures








Removed fast growing stem plants at the back








King of the castle








Only remains of HC left. I will try to make a carpet out of that.


I will keep you posted.


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## hryder77 (May 24, 2012)

Chizpa305 said:


> *Updated Picture and Data: 10/13/2013​*View attachment 221433​
> 
> Lightning: 26 watts with 3 U-shaped bulbs (one blue and two white)
> Filter: Eheim 2211. with Purigen bag added to media
> ...



WOW! that's a gorgeous little tank! Very bright and healthy. I saw your icon from the lovely comment you made on my post and had to check it out.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Update 11/22/2014*








*^^Barren land - still a long way to go to cover all that area^^*













*^^I'm planning on letting the background grow slowly with a combination of only two stem^^
plants (Lysimachia nummularia 'aurea' and ammania bonsai)*







*^^The Red Baron^^*


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## second (Jan 31, 2005)

Wow
I like what you've done with that tank!


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Update: 1/7/2015*

Ok so, not much going on here, just boring slow progress. Plants are growing in really slowly, specially the HC. That's ok because I am not into high maintenance. It's just that it is taking for ever for that carpet to spread out although it is looking healthy and bright green, which is good. I did start with very little HC this time, so it is normal that it takes long at the beginning. It will surely increase in growth speed exponentially as time goes by, so I am being patient. 

I have been adding a normal amount of fertilizers, but I am thinking about adding an extra bottle of yeast produced CO2 to see if I get a red coloration out of the Ammania bonsai. I have always struggled with getting out the red colors in plants... If anybody has some insight into this please help me out. 

















*^^**Before (11/22/2014)**^^*









*^^**Now (1/7/2015)**^^*


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## MoreyFan (Jul 3, 2014)

the repens still looks fantastic. How did it do during the "dark times"?


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

> the repens still looks fantastic. How did it do during the "dark times"?


The repens did pretty good. It was just growing upward due to poor lighting, but it was ok for the most part. The one that took the heavy hit was the HC Cuba as you can see... But it is doing a nice come back. Here are some pics of the progress so far on a 2.5 month interval. As you can see the progress has been somewhat slow but it will surely speed up now since the HC has broken the growth inertia already.








^11/30/14^







^1/4/15^







^2/16/15

I will be adding some _Alternanthera reineckii_ 'mini' pretty soon. to see if I can add some color contrast in there.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

The Red Baron keeps getting bigger. He is the size of a Neon Tetra now. He easily stands out in the crowd of shrimps because the second biggest one is only 2/3 it's size. This is a completely isolated population of currently ~50 shrimps. All of those shrimps are the descendants of the previous 4 shrimps I got back in 2012. And this is the biggest RCS that I have ever seen. Does anybody know what is the maximum size that these shrimps can reach?


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Update: 3/1/2015*

Here is a small update. Background plants getting bushier, but I am not too happy with the left background contrast. There are two different species but the colors are so similar that they cannot be distinguished very well and don't give the contrast that I was looking for... On the bottom picture the two species can be better seen from the side view, but the front view is not that clear. I'll let them grow more for now and see how they turn out in the future.
























Getting somewhere. Probably next week I will trim a little and replant to speed up the spread.








Side view.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

Today I discovered something interesting. For the past couple of days I was noticing that bubbles were appearing on the surface of the water. I cleaned them every day only to find them again the next day. I thought it was caused by proteins and organic matter on the surface of the water, but by looking at something else I accidentally realized what was causing it.

Here are the bubbles I saw.








And here is what was causing the bubbles...
http://youtu.be/HbJQ4bwZB1k

Turns out those are CO2 bubbles


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Update 3/11/2015*

HC carpet spreading out little by little. I trimmed it a bit and replanted very small portions to speed up spread. Cutting tops and replanting stems at the back left to make thicker bush of _A. bonsai_ and _L. nummularia_ 'aurea'. _S. repens_ also growing dense and with less damaged leaves. Algae retreating slowly but surely. New plants coming in a couple of days. Bought new glass inflow/outflow for the filter (CalAquaLabs Efflux F1 and Influx X1, both 13mm in diameter). I will install them once I buy the clear tubing.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Update: 3/15/2015*

I installed the new inflow outflow and replaced the green tubes with clear ones. That was something that I was wanting to do for sometime and I finally did it. It helps in making all that equipment a bit less conspicuous. Still waiting on the new plants (supposedly will arrive this Monday). I will post some pictures once I get them in the tank.







^Lateral view^







^Glass inflow/outflow from CalAquaLabs^







^My DIY Co2 setup. I want to place some kind of dark curtain there to cover all that stuff up.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Update: 3/18/2015*

I got new plants in this past Monday. I wanted to add some color contrast in my tank and I am trying my luck with some _Alternanthera reineckii_ 'mini', _Ludwigia repens_ red, and _Fissidens fontanus_. The plants are still settling in so the current color might change over time, but hopefully I can maintain a good red coloration on the _A. reineckii_, and the _L. repens_. I had _L. repens _in the tank before and I didn't have great success with it, but back then I didn't have any CO2 system installed (you can see in page 4 of this thread). Now, with the DIY CO2 I hope to get better colors out of it. I anchored the _F. fontanus_ on top of the ornament using a rock in hopes that it will start to attach to the ornament, so that I can remove the anchor rock in the future. This is my second attempt with the "hanging gardens" idea. I don't know if this is going to work but I am going to give it a try.








^Right now I am just farming the red plants. I will change the position configuration once they grow some more.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Update: 3/21/2015*

Just adding some cool pics. Not much going on. I will trim it a little tomorrow, but first had to take these shots. Red plants still adapting. That Ludwigia really grows fast. I don't like fast growing plants since they mean high maintenance, but I might give this one a try just because of the color contrast it gives. I have been thinking about placing the Ludwigia in the left background and the _Lysimachia numularia_ with the lime green in front of the Ludwigia to enhance each other's colors, and then put the _R. bonsai_ to the right background by itself. I noticed that there was also some small pieces of dwarf hairgrass mixed with the new plant shipment (small as in only two leafs lol). I planted them in the front together with the HC and if it grows I will leave it as part of the front carpet. I welcome any ideas. Enjoy. 









^ Side view^







^The cube^







^_Fissidens fontanus_... Let's see how it developes


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Update: 3/29/2015*

Still farming the new plants to make enough stems for the background scaping changes. I probably need one or two more weeks to do this. Everything keeps growing steadily.








^This week the Alternanthera reineckii 'mini' is looking paler, since it is adjusting to my not-so-high CO2 levels. I think it will stay with this color (which is acceptable for me).








^This downoi looks like a mini palm tree, but I am leaving it like that on purpose... for now.








HC carpet growing more each week, but slower than I expected.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

*Update: 06/21/2015*

Ok. Here is an update with the tank now maturing nicely. Plants are growing in thick and healthy. The HC carpet still needs a little more growth to cover the entire foreground, but it's almost there. The "hanging gardens" idea on top of the rock ornament have turned out well, and now I would want to add more of that Fissidens on other horizontal surfaces of that ornament.

Let me know what are your opinions/suggestion.

Thanks for watching.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

It's been a while since my last update. I upgraded the light to a Finnex LED fixture Which is great. Plants like it a lot. I've got a nice carpet of _Utricularia graminifolia_ mixed with some _Staurogyne repens_, but there is still some work to be done on the background plants.








Here is a top view showing the Finnex fixture, 10 inches long, with some blue LEDs in the center and White LEDs on the laterals








Lateral view


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Gorgeous!!! Lushhhhhhh


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

That looks amazing... how long is your photo period? How often are you recharging the CO2? That really looks amazing.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

The Dude1 said:


> That looks amazing... how long is your photo period? How often are you recharging the CO2? That really looks amazing.


Hi, thanks. 12 hr. photo period. No Co2 at the moment. I realized that without the Co2 the plants still look very healthy, they just grow a bit slower which is a good thing because that means less maintenance for me. Algae is not very disturbing, just having some type of black algae. It doesn't grow on the leaves, just the rock ornament in the center (which looks completely black in these pics). But to be honest, it's not unpleasant, it kind of gives it a cool, mysterious vibe to the rock. Anyways, if someone knows how to remove it let me know.


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

End of Journal



I recently dismantled this aquascape, and I felt like I didn't end this long thread with a proper goodbye. After all, this was my first planted tank scape and it served me as a great source of knowledge in the hobby. So, here is one last picture. You can follow my new thread here: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/1188961-5-gallons-vertical-iwagumi-dutch-mixture.html


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