# Nano-Nater's ADA style 10gal Iwagumi-Super High Tech



## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

found what looks like to be a really really small flat shell snail on the glass today along with what looked like snail eggs(clear white goo with dots) I immediately siphoned out the eggs and used a razor blade to "scoop up" the tiny snail.

_*EDIT: Turned out to be Freshwater limpet and now theres quite a few but doesnt bother me at all. Beneficial actualy*_

Im guessing that he came from the plants as I did not dip them. 

Ill inspect tank tomorow again to make sure that theres no more surprises.


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## A.D.D.i.c.t. (Dec 9, 2012)

Looking good! Where did you source the substrate? I can't find much about it on the Web.


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

Bump:


A.D.D.i.c.t. said:


> Looking good! Where did you source the substrate? I can't find much about it on the Web.


thanks for you comment, I live in canada and i got the substrate localy from Aquaplus Montreal. They specialize in Nature aquarium goods.

http://www.aquaplusmontreal.com/

And They (the store owner and his wife) are the ones that told me that the tropica substrate is better than ADA aquasoil, im guessing that its because it doesnt leech ammonia and buffers water. I could be wrong anyhow i am satisfied with the substrate so far.


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

Well this morning I noticed that there are 2 tetras with a white dot on the dorsal fin(ick). I am glad that I bought a UV filter yesterday! should take care of the problem in no time

Also noticed that the HC is pearling and developping some nice roots that are going into the sustrate! even noticed a nice growth. Still no sign of algae, havent scraped glass once im very happy so far. hopefully it will stay like that.

Morning tests:


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

I re-aranged the under the tank setup and added a better reliable powerbar and 
added a small Touch flood light so thats its easy to see in there. looks alot neater and that light is really usefull.


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## reefcorgi (Mar 2, 2014)

Looks good. nice setup.


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

reefcorgi said:


> Looks good. nice setup.


Thanks for your input, I am glad that you like it!


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

I am Considering Buying a RO/DI unit with some Seachem Equilibrum and starting using The RO water when I receive my new liquid ferts.

Could someone tell me how to proceed on the parameters my new RO water should have to safely add to the tank?( PH, KH, GH,)

Thanks


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

*Update!*

Got some more stuff to work with, will receive the rest of ferts thursday. I Decided to add a little more substrate around the back area and in critical areas to help create a better depth perception, and better flow(will picture Update when the tank gets a little more growth). Overall im happy about the results although I did cover some portions of HC in the process.... oops.

Let me know how to proceed to switch to DI water.

Any input?

thinking about doing a 50% water change and matching the temperature PH-KH-GH before adding into tank

**mini update**
Well It took Hours But after countless tests and dosing, I Finaly got my first "recipe" to craft 10 gallons of DI water with hard to notice difference in KH-GH. PH is on the spot.
Ill Take a new tank test tomorow after work and compare them to tonights tank params and the same goes for my DI water that will have rested enough making sure all salts have been dissolved 100% and that the params havent changed. 

If everything checks out, ill start topping off with my DI water and do water changes also.

Let me know your opinion!

Now im trying to work out my ferts dosing schedule and amounts, I can post what I have made in mind so far..


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

*Update*

Well Everything is pearling and growing nice, I also Couldnt resist and decided to add 6 crystal red shrimps to the tank.
I will post new pictures this weekend 

So far everything is doing well, the shrimps are active and very interesting to watch!

I thought my thread would attract some interest but seems like everyone just looks and leaves.

Comments/tips/oppinions wanted!


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## The Big Buddha (Jul 30, 2012)

Great power bar, that's what I use in my stands. Gotta love canadiantire.
Where do you refill your Co2?


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

The Big Buddha said:


> Great power bar, that's what I use in my stands. Gotta love canadiantire.
> Where do you refill your Co2?


Hello Buddha, Theres a company called "Air liquide" www.Airliquide.ca 10 minutes away from me and they supply all types of industrial gases for welding and other applications. Im 110% sure that there will be no problem filling up my 10lbs bottle over there and for a great price.

Et salut! moi je suis de longueuil haha

Little update:

The tank is doing really good, the HC has grown alot and is sending runners along the substrate!

Im really glad to have changed fish, the neon tetras were hanging low-mid tank level and were nipping at the shrimps...The rasboras are always mid-high level in the tank(Im much more pleased) and havent seen them nip a shrimp so far.

The shrimp are thriving, I noticed the rocks are alot cleaner too.

I found atleast 3 molts tangled up between the rocks inside the plants that im still wanting an ID on

I ordered the Ista Max Mix Co2 reactor(large model) from Doctor Foster & Smith
with this reactor I will be able to remove the ugly and not so efficient Ceramic diffuser from inside the tank and get 100% Co2 Dissolving into water! The ceramic diffuser is also pretty noisy oddly enough.. Everynight/day I can hear a high pitch noise caused by larger bubbles forming at certain spots of the ceramic disc..pretty annoying TBH..
Best of all: no more diffuser in sight and no more micro Co2 bubbles everywhere inside the tank, last but not least slight increase in total water volume(the more water you got the easier it is to be stable)

Now I just have to bee patient and wait for it to arrive which should be Monday! or more since I live in Canada...

Oh and still no Algae 
Edit:lol the next day I start seeing small faint browning circles upon some rocks! Shrimp food I hope


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## Rolo (Dec 10, 2003)

Great shot of the crystal red.


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## leemacnyc (Dec 28, 2005)

Tres belle Ben!


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

Little update:

Thanks guys for your input, Today I did a 45% water change and somehow while I was siphoning the tank one of the rasboras jumped I guess because I glanced inside the bucket and noticed the fish struggling at the surface of the water!(I used a contaminated bucket for waste water):icon_frow I tried to save him but he gave up.. 

Everything else is doing great, I slowly added back new mineralized DI water using airline tubing at first then topped off the rest with bottle. Went very well


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## sbowman1991 (Apr 14, 2015)

I'd love to get my hands on some rocks of that sort for my 10g shrimp tank. I feel like they'd look amazing with some java moss attached to them at the peaks.


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

sbowman1991 said:


> I'd love to get my hands on some rocks of that sort for my 10g shrimp tank. I feel like they'd look amazing with some java moss attached to them at the peaks.


Hi!

I beleive this rock is called seiryu rock or stone, If you cant find some localy try looking on No Ebay Links Allowed. Indeed moss would look very nice and shrimp love that! 

Today I cut the middle plant(staurogyne repens) Because I thought it drawed attention too much, I re-planted the top behind the left rocks for the shrimp to explore.

Results:


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

*Update*

Little update!:

looking good without diffuser


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## Nooob (Oct 25, 2009)

Very nice looking tank!


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

Nooob said:


> Very nice looking tank!


Thanks!

I did a very minor trimming and re-planted the clippings of HC around the edges and the back, Water change coming up too!
Im very pleased with the reactor, The aquarium setup is very silent and I sleep next to it so thats great, Barely any noticeable bubbles coming out of the reactor running at ~2bps

I Finaly went and got a Glass Intake for the filter, Major upgrade. Cant see a single thing in the tank which is great!

Heres are Recent pictures of the tank, The first one is from May 1st and the bottom one from May 2nd. You can notice Growth differnece even in a day!


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

*Update*

Well it has been a little while, the tank is doing really well. Diatoms have been trying to grow and coat everything but the clean up crew is doing an Impressive job at keeping it at bay, seems to already be going away anyhow was way less than compared to the diatom bloom I had with other tanks in the past. I Have cleaned the glass only 2 times so far and it wasnt really coated with alot of algae.

my Ei Daily Dosing seems to be doing the job, Lush and crazy growth as you can see. Cant wait to do the first decent trimming to the HC and get it to spreadout more and compact.

Heres a Quick FTS for May 8th 2015:


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## chanhonam (Apr 30, 2015)

How do you find the aquasky 451 chihoros compare to ada aquasky 451? 

I search everywhere but no answer! By far i know ada aquasky 451 is 0.4w x 45 = 18w. Where chihoros claims 0.5w x 54 = 27w. Big different in light. One of the ada shop told me that ada has all range of spectrums and specially red and green. He said he set them up side by side. Ada way brighter and look even spread out evenly. 

Cheers


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## kimchilee (Mar 2, 2015)

nice setup. looking forward to seeing how this progresses.


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

chanhonam said:


> How do you find the aquasky 451 chihoros compare to ada aquasky 451?
> 
> I search everywhere but no answer! By far i know ada aquasky 451 is 0.4w x 45 = 18w. Where chihoros claims 0.5w x 54 = 27w. Big different in light. One of the ada shop told me that ada has all range of spectrums and specially red and green. He said he set them up side by side. Ada way brighter and look even spread out evenly.
> 
> Cheers


I cant really answer your Question because I do not own or have not used ADA aquasky 451.

but heres my 2 cents:
The fixture is very bright, blinds you really quick if you stare. I cant give you PAR numbers or anything specific other than I really love the light and its so bright I actualy had to dim it down a notch because green algae was starting to grow at the tip of the rocks. Also cant beat the price vs ADA. oh and the plants seem to love it too

Edit: one thing I noticed is that my light may have a defect, theres an extra LED that seems to have been placed as extra/defect, ill post a picture of what im saying later,


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## kep (Feb 3, 2015)

Looks great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## chanhonam (Apr 30, 2015)

Nano-nater: pic would be great. 
Thanks


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## waddo (Jan 24, 2013)

I heard that light is much brighter than the aqua sky (which I have) so you should be very careful about how many hours it's on.


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

here are 2 pictures of the light defect, The Led Seems to be "wired" but not working and it looks as if it shouldnt be there

The light running 7 hours day so far dimmed one notch and thinking about dimming it some more, im getting some I beleive to be GSA at the tops of the rocks. Ill post a picture when the lights turn on today.

Is this generally from too intense lighting in my setup? should I not dim it another notch? I read about nitrate to phosphates ratio needs to be around 10:1
It hasnt been like that I wasnt dosing enough phosphates at the start I increased Dose since yesterday

Edit:Ya I decided to dim it another notch. There are 8 levels and im now running it at 6/8~ Will this have any negative impact on the HC?(yellowing mainly)

im trying to keep nitrates around 10ppm and phosphates at 1 ppm now, 

Have a look!


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

Heres a picture of the green algae im getting on the rocks(look slightly brown in picture but its bright green, not BGA), can someone tell me which kind of algae? im thinking GSA or GDA, its only growing on the rocks Please help me thanks.
I increased N03 and P04 and decreased lighting intensity by another 12.5% so 25% less intensity since start-up of the tank, is this good or bad? the HC still pearling crazy so far today.

Edit: Well the dimming seems to help alot I noticed it seems to be slowing down, diatoms are almost gone too

I also Include a new FTS for May 11th :hihi:


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## chanhonam (Apr 30, 2015)

Nano-Nater: Thanks for the pics... Look to me the diode was left there (faulty bit).

I decide to get the ADA Aquasky 451 for $50 more than the Chihiros, from lfs and warranty from lfs too. Chihiros is from online and hk (ebay). price not much different.

pickup mine this weekend and i should have pretty much start cycle my tank.

Edit: by counting your diode, 18 rows x 3 diode = 54 led, according to spec, 54 x .5 = 27w

Cheers


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

chanhonam said:


> Nano-Nater: Thanks for the pics... Look to me the diode was left there (faulty bit).
> 
> I decide to get the ADA Aquasky 451 for $50 more than the Chihiros, from lfs and warranty from lfs too. Chihiros is from online and hk (ebay). price not much different.
> 
> ...


ya 50$ difference isnt huge, I too would have chosen ADA if I had the option between the too.

Update:I decided to upgrade my filter, I found cleaning a hassle and the flow is reduced quite abit using the inline Co2 Reactor and UV filter and soon to have inline chiller so I needed a stronger/better filter.

I ordered a Fluval G3, very curious about it and cant wait to set it up, it has real-time Temperature and TDS meter which is a big plus to me (I wanted to get one). It also displays graphs about your Temp and TDS flunctuations throughout time, I have since removed the thermometer I had inside the tank.

Will update once everything arrives and is up and running! Oh and, I might change the tittle from " High-Tech" to " Super High-Tech" lol

Any tips for the Algae on the rocks? Im thinking GSA, Phosphates at 2ppm and nitrates at +/- 15ppm.
Heres most recent Picture, You can spot a huge pearling bubble in the shotroud:


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## EmilyKale (Mar 9, 2015)

The tank looks great! The picture of the growth you got in a day is really impressive. Are you going to stick with just the rasboras and shrimp in the tank, or are you planning on adding more later? Have you ID'd the plant in the back yet?


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## chanhonam (Apr 30, 2015)

Yeah, The Chihiros Aquasky 451 ebay is $160. Shop is $170 + 10 post.
Where i can get Ada aquasky 451 from retail $232 ~ about $62 different

I first was sold, on their Chihiros Superjet ES150 $180 and E300 $340 thought to be cheap. Till i worked the differences, I found out they not much cheaper than ada superjet. Because the Chihiros, doesn't come with media or lily pipe (spin or lily)

So I work out the ada es300, Lily pipe v2 inflow 13mm is $95, lily pipe outflow 10mm $89, ada Active carbon $30, ada cube bio $14, clamp & tube $35 = $263 - 430 = $167 (for the canister itself)

Hopefully i am doing the right thing 

ehhehe


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

EmilyKale said:


> Are you going to stick with just the rasboras and shrimp in the tank, or are you planning on adding more later? Have you ID'd the plant in the back yet?


Hi im thinking about replacing the rasboras with another kind of fish eventualy not sure which as of yet..

I made research about the plant, seems to be Staurogyne Repens.


I have done the weekly waterchange, Performed the first "major" trim to the HC, Brushed the algae off the rocks. Diatoms is almost completely gone too.

I got myself a better camera, its a Nikon coolpix p600. Im still looking at the settings, heres a quick shot of the tank, all the bubbles are oxygen produced by the carpet, the fish are out of focus....but the quality is so much better *UPDATE:*I returned the Coolpix P600(Wasnt providing me with what I wanted, well besides being pretty affordable, Its more of a long distance camera and not an DSLR) and got instead a Canon DSLR, its the Canon 5d Mark II(full Frame). Also bought a Canon 100mm f2.8 L Image stabilizer(which is Super awesome BTW) Macro lens along with a Polarized filter and Canon ring flash. These 2 pictures are with the Coolpix, future Images will be from the Canon DSLR 

My new filter should be here soon this week, probably around tuesday. I will make another update soon folks!


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## bprinehart (Mar 31, 2015)

You have a beautiful tank Ben! I will be following along to watch your progress. I'll be setting my tank up in the next 2-4 weeks. Just waiting on a few last pieces.

Good luck!

Brian


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

Well I received the filter, Seems to be working good so far. It made me discover a problem by the way... MY TDS is sky high ~1050 how can I lower TDS while making a water change, safely?


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

*Update Time*

Hey guys I figured I would do a little update as to what I have been up to with the tank.

I Have the Fluval G3 installed for like 2 weeks now and I really like the design its really simple to clean and I am running 2 bags of purigen inside the Chemical portion.

I have no more surface bio-film forming ontop of the water which is really great, im guessing the increased Flow and addition of Purigen solved the issue and im also cleaning the Pre-filter every 3 days so that helps

6/8 of the Rasboras manage to jump outside the tank throughout time because of the strong water flow near the edge of the glass a shrimp also jumped, I have since lowered the water level abit. Since I was down to 2 rasboras I have decided to add a couple of rummynose tetras which I find really neat. I am feeding them bloodworms and pellets on occasion.

Now for my algae issue I have Increased lighting intensity and decreased the photoperiod from 9 hours to 6, Started dosing some Excel and the Algae has since slowed/stopped growing and the plants are pearling more and growth has increased.. So seems thats doing good for now I will increase photoperiod slowly to around 8 hours and see if it stays in the good path.
I have not really changed the Dosing schedule and amounts beside the addition of daily Excel..

My TDS hasent really change too much, I tried lowering it during water changes but it stays around 1000-1050.. Everything seems fine anyhow..

Ok now Photography: Harder than I thought but im getting the hang of it, Im getting really incredible Nature Macro shots of like flowers/insects/stuff in general Especially when using the ring flash but I seem to have a hard time getting really great Aquarium close ups,I got a couple but im still working on the Images with software so ill post only a few at the moment. more to come later on...


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

*Update*

Hey folks,

The algae is almost all gone, I raised Co2 levels and added Excel daily and raised lighting intensity, plant growth has increased alot since

My photography skills are increasing=better pictures(I still have alot to learn),
Heres a recent FTS one hour after the waterchange.








Let me know what you think!


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## Cmeister (Jul 5, 2009)

What do you do to prevent a water line at the top?


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

Cmeister said:


> What do you do to prevent a water line at the top?


I just try to clean it as often as I can(Mostly before the lights turn on I take the fixture off and run my finger along the entire edges), that way its easy to clean when it appears. Simply use my finger tip and rub the glass edges until clean, If the line persists I take out my Kent Pro Scraper and attach the stainless blade to get rid of any residual/stubborn water/mineral marks.

Also I noticed that if a surface Biofilm Develops the water mark caused by evaporation are more pronounced.


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## second (Jan 31, 2005)

Beautiful tank


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## bprinehart (Mar 31, 2015)

Looking really good Ben! How do you like the Rummy noses? I'm think of getting a school for mine, do they school or shoal at all?

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk


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## Powerclown (Aug 17, 2014)

Nice tank,love the super clean set up,good job...


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

bprinehart said:


> Looking really good Ben! How do you like the Rummy noses? I'm think of getting a school for mine, do they school or shoal at all?
> 
> Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk


Hi Hart, I love the rummy nose they are very active and swim in the middle of the water column. As for Schooling, yes they do school quite well and interesting to watch. The school isnt too tight unless they are frightened abit.


second said:


> Beautiful tank


Thanks! hehe.. Professional Paper Shuffler? 



Powerclown said:


> Nice tank,love the super clean set up,good job...


Thanks alot!! 

I havent done an update in a while, I shall upload a New Recent tank shot soon. The staurogyne has grown-in Alot and the tank looks the tits!:hihi: 
I also pulled out the far right rock because it was 90% covered with HC and you could barely see the rock.I also planted some S. Repens. frags around the rock, Looks much better now and will look awesome once the Repens grows-in around the rock like the others.

"ill be back":icon_cool


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## bri66799 (Jul 5, 2015)

beautiful tank


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## Nexus6 (May 29, 2015)

Yes great job! What happened to your crs?


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## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

Very nice scape!


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## Nano-Nater (May 28, 2007)

bri66799 said:


> beautiful tank


Thank you!



Nexus6 said:


> Yes great job! What happened to your crs?


^^ the CRS just disapeared/jumped/rotted I dont know honestly... my guess is my TDS was way too high. (still is) 


Dantrasy said:


> Very nice scape!


Indeed, simple can be beautifull!

Man Ive been so busy with life and its problems... Update in the making...The growth has been very very good in general and everything looks really healthy.

Well 95%. I performed a pretty "harsh" or "deep" trim last week and I accidentaly cut too deep at one spot of the carpet.. I reached the level where the light stops entering the carpet(yellowing/whitish/pale)leaves and that area Has been growing slower than the rest of the carpet but im not worried that much.. looks like its slowly coming back..I also brought back from the dead(lol) the right rock near the front because it had either slowly sunk inside the substrate or because the HC grew so much You could barely see the rock anymore.... So i pulled it out by about 3-4 " and planted some S Repens Clippings in strategic points around the rock so that when it grows in it flows with my theme...

Its still needs a couple weeks to grow in and start to see the effect im going for...

Im trying to acheive a look of a water current that has eroded the rocks a certain way/angle and that over time this erosion provided shelters from the Harsh current allowing for plant to have grown in the decreased flow area. well thats the Idea.. haha

I dont know if that makes sense >< 



Anyhow folks, Thanks for taking the time to read/view my thread! I promise to upload some fresh pictures of the Tank sometime soon!:hihi:


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

Hi Nano-Nater,
I like your tank, simple but striking in its simplicity. Nicely done!


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

Have you tried growing red plants with that LED?


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## BJRuttenberg (Apr 27, 2006)

How has the Chihiros Aquasky held up?


-BJ
Sent using TapaTalk


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## Cmeister (Jul 5, 2009)

Updates?


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