# Jaguar's Low Tech ADA 60-P (Celebrating 6 Years of Failure!)



## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

LATEST FTS Jan 20 2018:










*TANK:* ADA 60-P (17 gallon)
*SUBSTRATE:* Flourite mix - original, black, onyx sand
*FILTRATION:* Eheim Ecco 2234 w/ knockoff Lily pipes
*LIGHTS:* 12 3w Cree XPG LEDs, cool white, dimmable, 8 hrs a day on a dawn/dusk cycle

Scape will be very lush and natural, lots of leaves, texture, mostly green with a splash of red. Spider wood hardscape. Dosing EI light twice a week. Excel when I remember to. Some Osmocote+ capsules in there too.

*FAUNA:*
6x albino corydora
1x ember tetra
1x bristlenose pleco, longfin
1x assassin snail

*FLORA:*
Java fern windeloev
Java fern narrow leaf

Crypt wendtii green/red
Crypt walkeri
Crypt lucens
Crypt parva

Hygro sunset
Rotala rotundifolia

Anubias nana


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I picked up a aponogeton crispus today. I think I'm going to bunch the wood up and have it all branch out from one back corner of the tank. Then put the crispus, java fern, and red wendtii in between the branches. Then some pygmy chain in the front. Vals in either back corner. Java moss (for now) on the wood.

Gotta wait for the manzanita to sink first though.


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## zchauvin (Apr 16, 2011)

Just go to youtube and type in ada gallery 2011. There you will see about 30 different ideas


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Hahaha... I wish I could come up with something nice like that... but my plant selection is soooo limited lol.


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## zchauvin (Apr 16, 2011)

You have quite a few things there. Crypts can be used to line the edges of driftwood to make nice transitions between carpet plants and background plants. From what I've learned its not how big your selection is, its how much you have. For example, if you put your driftwood set up in only one corner and leave the left/right side and small space in front then put glosso for carpet right... Plant maybe 1 species of hygro behind and through the driftwood. But plant densely, so that it grows very thick, then put e. Tennelus I'm a front corner ect, and then line the driftwood with crypts. Depending on the look you have in mind, I would be careful using java fern in a 60p unless its needle leaf. The leafs on it are rather broad and could easily distort the overall image of the tank, in other words you don't just one plant by itself with bigger leafs ect. larger than your driftwood lol. In a short time, the glosso or whatever your using for a carpet and the crypts will all grow in together, the objective is to have something natural looking. Unless you are shooting for a dutch style approach you don't want 15 types of plants in a 2ft tank with the exception of your foreground plants. You often seen riccia, glosso, and dhg planted together to give an over all natural look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5v1lbAFUhg

Those two tanks are a tad larger, but could be implemented into any sized layout- IMO they best fit your layout with what driftwood it looks that you have.
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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Yeah I see what you mean, unfortunately the only plants I have a lot of are the red ludwigia and the water wisteria, neither of which I really want to use in this tank. the crispus is just a wee little thing yet. I have no real carpeting plant, it's impossible to find anything like HC or glosso locally :S I am still looking for new stuff every few days though... like I found the crispus last night.

I see what you mean about the java fern though, mine really is a beast, it's probably taller than the tank LOL. It's just so nice, I want to show it off... it's shoved in the back corner of my 10 gallon and bent in half because it's so tall.


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## zchauvin (Apr 16, 2011)

I'm only giving ideas  you can always do what you please. Send me a address and ill send you some goods.

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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Haha, thanks, but I'm up in Canada so you might not want to ship, the weather has been fabulously warm for almost January but you never know 

In other news though, I managed to find some HC-looking plant (and a crypt mi oya) at a local store today... I raid their plant tanks every 2 weeks or so and have never seen HC till now. They had glosso too but I didn't get any. Gonna look for some needle leaf java fern and bigger crypts now.  I want to do something like this:


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## zchauvin (Apr 16, 2011)

Looks nice, should've swiped that glosso too 

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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Hahaha, couldn't think of anything to do with it and I'm pretty broke from recent vet bills from my cat so I talked myself out of it.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Conduit hangers anyone? 

You can't even see my desk under all the trash I have piled up :hihi:


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## zchauvin (Apr 16, 2011)

Jaguar said:


> Conduit hangers anyone? :hihi:


Looking good. What kind of light you plan on hanging over it?? ADA solar II?!?!?


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

12 Cree XPG's


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## TLE041 (Jan 16, 2010)

Why is your hanger so tall?


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## zchauvin (Apr 16, 2011)

They look only a little longer than what ada or anyone else sales. This way your light can hang 2inches or 12 inches with no problem.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

zchauvin said:


> They look only a little longer than what ada or anyone else sales. This way your light can hang 2inches or 12 inches with no problem.



This exactly, I cut them big so that I can raise or lower my light as necessary, and then once I find the "sweet spot" to hang it at, I can cut the conduit down to match. :icon_smil Better it be too long than too short.


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## zchauvin (Apr 16, 2011)

Yeah, I had my light about 4 inches above tank and now its about 12 inches above. The bba was eating me alive


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

And then there was light...

It's just temporary until I build an ADA style reflector for it... but I forgot to attach the optics LOL so I get to take it down do that now.


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## zchauvin (Apr 16, 2011)

Hmmm you sure that's going to be bright enough 

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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Ohhhh yeah. It almost looks TOO bright. That was at 50% brightness, and with my phone auto adjusting it. Plus I'm adding a reflector later on.

I have no proper silicone or epoxy to attach the lenses so that kind of stinks. I tried hot glue but they fell off as soon as it got warm again. Haha.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

This is at 100% brightness, with the lenses, about 2 seconds before they all started falling off LOL


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## zchauvin (Apr 16, 2011)

Hmm. Idk about those led lights. I'm sure its bright just doesn't seem so lol. Oh well, if you throw that hc in there you will be able to tell 

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## S&KGray (Nov 12, 2008)

The LED's might not look bright but a PAR meter will tell the true story.

Check out Rockhoe14er's build and the PAR he got at different heights with 14 LED's (12 XP-G cool whites and 2 XP-E Royal Blues). This is over a 29g.

h2oaggie is also using 12 XP-G's over a 29g.

I think you will have to keep your fixture raised and dimmed to not get too much light for a 60p. A reflector would be good for shielding the light spilling out from the sides of the optics; but won't do much for LED's since their light is directional, more so with optics. Not that your LED's would need any help from a reflector anyway, hehehe.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

zchauvin said:


> Hmm. Idk about those led lights. I'm sure its bright just doesn't seem so lol. Oh well, if you throw that hc in there you will be able to tell
> 
> Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk


Well, I am using an iPhone to take the pics after all. In both of those pictures, the lights in the room were ON... that's how much my phone had to crank down the brightness to get a decent picture :icon_smil

Can you give me a link to the thread S&KGray? I can't find it :icon_sad:


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## S&KGray (Nov 12, 2008)

added links to post above


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Wow those PAR readings are crazy... my light is at about 26 inches right now and with the optics on I can just tell 100% power is too much light. According to his info 26" would be ~130umol, not sure how much those 2 extra blues would increase that but it gives me a good estimate. Thanks


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

HC planted today. We'll see how many days I can stand to look at it before I give up and fill it. 

It needs a new stand before I can fill it unfortunately :/ So the HC can fill in a bit while I pinch some pennies to get one.


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## zchauvin (Apr 16, 2011)

Looks good, shouldn't take but 4-6 weeks to show a lot of growth. Any particular reason your doing a dry start?

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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Haha sorry edited my post afterwards. The tank is sitting on an ugly temporary stand with no storage, so I did dry start so I can still pick up the tank and move it off the stand without draining it and such.


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## zchauvin (Apr 16, 2011)

Jaguar said:


> Haha sorry edited my post afterwards. The tank is sitting on an ugly temporary stand with no storage, so I did dry start so I can still pick up the tank and move it off the stand without draining it and such.


Very smart lol 

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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Grow faster.... RAWR!










I think i'm going to build my own stand, I contacted a few local cabinetry places and they wanted $300-500 for an ADA style cabinet which is ouch for me. I would not pay $500 for ANYTHING made of MDF. I could buy the tools and the supplies for 3 stands for that price.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I THINK it's growing.... lol


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## salmon (Apr 14, 2011)

Awesome start to what will be a very nice build. Currently building my ADA as well.....how nice is it to be able to have the option with ADA tanks and merch in our prov. now! Really like your LED DIY you've done, makes me want to go that route. Where did you order the crees and everything from? 

Also, where'd you get the manzy? Same place as the tank?

Looking forward to watching this!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I know right? Getting it here was a royal pain but at least there's Greyhound if I need (yes... need) another one in the future. I got lucky, Joseph from Miyabi was coming to Kelowna for Christmas so he brought it with him for me to pick up 

I got my LEDs from RapidLED, it's a plug and play kit so I didn't have to solder anything. It's really nice, I just need to build a nicer looking enclosure for it... I want it to look similar to an ADA solar light. 

The manzanita is from Aquariums West, same as the tank yes


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

HC is pluggin away... slowly... filling the tank by this weekend hopefully


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## nater3 (Nov 6, 2004)

What sort of life expectancy do you get out of those LED's ?
I'm looking at doing a 75cmx45xmx45cm tank with custom lighting.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Don't know. I've got them running too hot right now, but I will turn them down to 1mA when I fill the tank. I think they're 50,000 hours.


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## nater3 (Nov 6, 2004)

I'd like to see more photos of the leds in action. Are you happy with the amount of light you are getting from them?
I just ordered 14 xp-gs with dimmable driver and hope it will be enough light. 

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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I'm totally happy with them. I would have gotten smaller optics if I did it again but the 60s are pretty good. The tank is beside my desk so I get a bit of light spill in my face lol.

I'll try to take more pics, I've only got an iPhone though so they aren't the best demonstration.


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## nater3 (Nov 6, 2004)

Glad I ordered the 40 degree optics then.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Whoops... looks more like a solar flare LOL



















That one is more accurate.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Alright, welll..... bringing this back into the light again.

My 33g tank completely crashed, I tried to rebuild it about 3 times, it failed every time to rotting plants, mulm, and cyano. I tore it down and now I'm waiting for it to sell.

When I get some money for that I am going to purchase a CO2 system and *hopefully* find a stand for this tank and get it going. I am getting tired and sad seeing it sit in the corner empty for 6 months. 

My HC has exploded and I haven't trimmed it and it is probably a good inch and a half up the tank.

I hope to scrape up enough money to have the tank on a real stand and filled by the end of this month. We will see.


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## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

CO2 is key!!! And, having a nice, thick, and lush HC carpet already established will help you immensely!! 

You could start adding some hardscape now, if you wanted to. Do you plan on adding additional plant species, and if so, what? You should have enough lighting in order to grow just about anything in there!! Just be careful of algae; with so much light, it could be a potential problem. Go easy on the photoperiod for starters, and keep the water column lean. Then, gradually start increasing both after about three weeks. Especially if this is going to be an Iwagumi-style tank, take it slow, and be patient!! Best to go too slow rather than too fast and end up with an algae nightmare!!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

A stand and pressurized CO2 are my big two goals right now.

I am doing a driftwood and rock mix hardscape. Going for a lush look, lots of crypts, narrow leaf java fern, lots of thin leaves and grassy stuff.

I'm pulling inspiration from tanks like these




























I do love the looks of Iwagumi tanks but I just feel they're not practical for fishkeeping. They are beautiful as display tanks, or tanks for shrimp, but I can't see fish being very comfortable in such open spaces. My harlequins are spazzy enough as it is without having zero cover to hide under.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Here's some driftwood I picked up at the beach for the tank. I had bought some manzanita but I don't really like it any more for the scape I had in mind. It was too thin and branchy.










It is only half wet so it looks weird. Photo doesn't do it justice.

Here's the HC explosion.

Remember those tiny little bits of l. Repens that were in the tank before? Well they went CRAZY and took over the tank. I had to spend forever pulling them all out, some of the roots were 6" long. I pulled out about half an ice cream bucket of the stuff.


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## salmon (Apr 14, 2011)

Tank is looking good! Your HC has carpeted nicely, looks great.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Yeah not bad for 6 months of growth hey!

My 33g is FINALLY empty so I can drain it very soon. I get paid tomorrow and then I'm buying a stand and CO2 setup so I can get this tank going. Whee!

I also got a pack of free plants from a kind fellow on a local forum, finally got my narrow leaf java fern, some fissidens, peacock moss, downoi, subwassertang, and lobelia cardinalis. I'm happy!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I have someone building an ADA style stand for me this week, it should be done by the weekend. I can't wait!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Stand hasn't been finished yet because nowhere had solid gray laminate in stock. I should be done by next weekend (not this weekend) fingers crossed!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Stand is almost done! Can't wait!

Here's a glosso flower for now:


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

Good luck on your tank. It is so hard to emulate other peoples' tank. I am sure you will succeed on what you want. You seem like you have drive and passion.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

My stand is done!! 

It's great! Built well, finished nicely, only thing is the halfmoon holes on the side are upside down LOLOL but I blame that on communication failure so no problem, it might even work better that way who knows 

I have no way to drill the light bars to the stand (I can't believe I forgot about that) so I think I might just strap them to the wall for now.










AHH I'm so giddy I think I might explode!

Now the last big key I need for this tank is a CO2 cylinder. I am going to do some calling around this week to see if I can find one. I'm low on money but hey that's what credit cards are for right?


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## tropicalmackdaddy (Mar 7, 2012)

One seriously sexy stand.
Hopes me and my dad can make one that nice


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

All I can say is definitely don't cheap out... go with laminate! I'm so glad I did, it just really makes it look that much more sleek.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

FTS with the light bar on:


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I picked up 15 cardinal tetras today, Petsmart had them for half price (1.99). Now they can quarantine while this tank cycles 

ETA: The cardinals have columnaris and 6 of them have died already. Here we go again.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Just posting a quick update today. Tank's a mess, put too much water in it and now I've got cyano really bad. Not sure what to do at this point. Drained as much water as I could and manually removed what cyano I could by scraping off the top layer of Aquasoil and rinsing it... I'm scared ****less to flood the tank with no CO2 and end up with a huge cyano problem like my last tank. WHY is this stuff so evil. Seriously. This tank has been empty for almost a year. I want to cry.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Well, the tank was filled about 2 weeks ago. And now it's filled with cyano. I just finished dropping the amps on my light because these LEDs are deceptive when it comes to PAR. If this doesn't help I will nuke it with antibiotics. Cyano is awful. I'd rather any other kind of algae than this crap.

Photos to come.


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## bassmjm (Jun 1, 2011)

I've heard that some people have success against cyano with dosing Bacter 100. There's always h2o2, too, but I haven't tried either of these. Do you have close-ups of the cyano?


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I can't order anything from ADA, would get murdered by shipping costs. I could try h2o2 but there's so much of it I'd have to use like half a bottle lol

But yeah, here's a pic


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## ADAtank (Jul 26, 2011)

I have never seen anyone keeping cardinal tetras long tern especially if you don't use rodi water just my experience


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## Algae Beater (Jun 3, 2011)

Next time you're on the coast, let me know! 

for the cyan get some erythromyacin (maracin) and do a 1/3 dose ... that'll wipe it out.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

The 7 cardis I've got left have been doing good, my water is about 5-6 degrees hardness out of the tap, so not crazy high... pH is acidic from the Aqua soil

I've actually never been to Vancouver (other than driving through). Don't think I'll be going any time soon but I will let you know. I tried to order some Maracyn from J&L, but they wanted over $12 to ship a tiny little 8 packet box from Burnaby to Kelowna. I will have to wait until I can get to Petsmart next week :/


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## freph (Apr 4, 2011)

Just do manual removal and hit the rest with peroxide lol. It's like 99 cents for a small bottle. Remove livestock, lower water level good, hit it with peroxide, fill the tank back up. Good to go.

However, it's more important that you figure out why you have BGA. Low nitrates or lack of flow in that area?


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

^^+1 On my tank is was due to low nitrates but then again it might be both on yours. Every tank is different.


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

Jaguar said:


> My stand is done!!
> 
> I have no way to drill the light bars to the stand (I can't believe I forgot about that) so I think I might just strap them to the wall for now.


Hi nice stand good job. If possible and if you can try to hang the lights from the ceiling with hooks rather than those brackets it would look a lot cleaner and better but that's just my opinion. Good job. :thumbup:

sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2, an AT&T 4G LTE Quadcore Smartphone.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

The cyano was growing in there from having it DSM for over a year. I filled it up a bit too much once and the little amount completely took off. I have always had cyano issues in my tanks and I don't know why, maybe excess phos in my tap water... I have tried adding more flow (powerheads) and dosing KNO3, nothing has ever really made it go away. I took down my other tank because of it. I will try the peroxide.

Here is a pic from my old tank. yuck.










I don't want to put holes in the ceiling. Might have if it was my own place, but I'm renting


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

How's my tank look? Like a giant with a bad cold sneezed in it right? This is awful.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I manually removed everything I could, pulled out some of the HC that wasn't doing so well, drained the water down to about half, and put in about 60ml of hydrogen peroxide. Too much, but I'm going to let it sit for a while and then change out half the water.


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## maxwellag (Mar 30, 2012)

I suggest getting some erythromycin. You can usually get it for free from a pharmacy, if you tell them what you need it for (killing cyanobacteria). You can also get it on e-bay


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## DerekFF (May 24, 2011)

Hydro perox has only ever burned up my plants and fish before it kills cyano. Erythromyacin or any other _____cin antibiotic will work. Maybe $10-14 at a lfs

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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I'm going to try it out, it's not easy for me to get to the store, especially on the weekends. No car. If it comes back I will try antibiotics.


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

Black out for three days, up the nitrates.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Nitrates are there, around 10-20 ppm  I mean my test kit could be off, but I'm still adding dry ferts on water changes... tank looks good today, plants don't look like they suffered much damage from the hydrogen peroxide overdose, it is an older bottle so it is probably not as strong as a fresh bottle.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

You need some kind of a hardscape in there. Any plans?

Add more kno3.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Yeah I've got some cool driftwood soaking in my laundry sink  I will add some more.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

I've read a bunch a threads with folks from Canada that have had bga. What's in the water up there? Maybe try RO.


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## bluestems (Feb 7, 2012)

ThatGuyWithTheFish said:


> Black out for three days, up the nitrates.


How do you up the nitrates, is there something that you can add? 

I too have bga... so I know what you're going through, Jaguar. It began slowly, just popping up in small areas which were easy to remove manually and then bam! It's everywhere. :icon_sad:


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## sayurasem (Jun 17, 2011)

bluestems said:


> How do you up the nitrates, is there something that you can add?
> 
> I too have bga... so I know what you're going through, Jaguar. It began slowly, just popping up in small areas which were easy to remove manually and then bam! It's everywhere. :icon_sad:


Nitrogen fertilizer


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I have powdered KNO3, ordered it from Canadian Aquatics a while back... I also have CSM+b and magnesium sulfate (I am too scared to use this one lol)

My tap water is sourced from a lake that has cyano colonies... but it is still treated/chlorinated so I have no idea!


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## bluestems (Feb 7, 2012)

Thanks, *sayurasem* & *Jaguar *for the help! I did some more maintenance, cutting back the dhg to help increase flow, reduced my photoperiod and installed an inline heater to maintain a temp of 72. Just when I was ready to begin dosing the extra fert, the bga started to melt... yay! :smile:


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Good recovery. I had the same issue my 20 long scape before my current. I did a dry start for quite awhile with a ton more light than I would normally use and got BGA issues like crazy.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

There are still a few tiny spots with some green stuff but it's not spreading yet...

Tested params today.

ph 6.8-7.2 (can't really tell)
ammonia between 0 and .25 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 10-20 ppm (added a tiny bit more)


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Tank's looking OK, a bit of the HC is dying off... still lots of bright green growth though, I think it'll bounce back. There are still a few small spots around the tank with cyano - cm x cm patches... but they are not spreading... or they are spreading VERY slowly. I will do a bit more manual removal tonight 

The good news is, I am getting a CO2 cylinder tomorrow! My dad sent me a bit of money for Christmas and I decided it would be my present to myself this year. It is an aluminum tank, just hydrostat yesterday, he said some kind of valve had to be replaced on it?? So it is more or less a brand new tank. It should be here tomorrow morning, full too! Whee!


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

if the bga persists, you can do a small round of erthyromycin (maracyn) and it should clear up.
bga is actually cyanobacteria, a bacterium, and antibiotics can kill it. 
as long as you treated the underlying cause.
otherwise it just comes right back in a few weeks.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Yeah, I know, if you read back on my thread I really haven't established an underlying cause yet, I lowered the power of my lights quite a bit, my flow's good, I dose ferts including nitrates, and so on... I tried hydrogen peroxide and it seems to have worked really well so far, fingers crossed that when my CO2 gets hooked up today it'll be enough to keep it gone for good!

Also yeah my CO2 cylinder came today! Early Christmas present to myself!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Isn't that an exciting sight!! I just need to fashion some kind of makeshift diffuser until I can get a proper one, or some kind of reactor I could fit in my stand.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Safety valve is venting. It was fine for ~ 2 hours. I don't have time to deal with this right now, I am about to go on vacation for 3 weeks tomorrow. Ugh!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Bit of good news, bit of bad.

I left the tank unattended for the first 5 days of my holidays. Good news is, not much growth in the cyano department. Bad news is, my HC is basically dead. I am taking it all out tonight and putting it in some potting soil under the light before I leave. Hoping a little of it will bounce back so I can replant it when my CO2 is going.

On that note I still have no clue why my CO2 regulator is acting up. Will have to deal with it get back. None of my other plants are growing. Hopefully that will work itself out when my regulator gets fixed.


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## hedge_fund (Jan 1, 2006)

how is this going?


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Bad. Within a matter of days the cyano exploded and came back. The HC didn't survive, nothing's growing. I don't know, on the fence about draining the tank and selling it. I'm pissed beyond belief about my regulator being broken, and it's REALLY hard for me to get it somewhere to get fixed in the middle of winter with all the snow and no car.


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## TheGuy (Jan 6, 2013)

Hang in there bro. 

If you cant get co2 going, cover the tank with blanket for three days absolutely no light. That'll kill the algae, then don't use fertz and run the lights a shorter period. Itll keep the plants alive, but not provide a suitable growing environment... for anything. Then you can go back to normal once your co2 is fixed. 

Ps. Can you please take pics up close of your stand especially corners ect. Also, what kind of finish was done? I am trying to make one or have one made for that matter but without having the seams like when formica or something similar is used. Thanks in advance.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I've had it blacked out for 3 days now (just turned it on for pics) so I've got a head start 

I don't have a proper camera but I took some seam pics of my stand. Apparently I need to take some nail polish remover and clean up the glue! The laminate is Pionite in Banker's Gray. The closest Formica color is Mouse. My stand was custom made so there's a few flaws like the door isn't quite flush with the front of the stand and the side holes are upside down, but it still looks great from viewing distance and it's incredibly sturdy. I love the look of the laminate and I don't mind the seams. It's super easy to clean too.


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## TheGuy (Jan 6, 2013)

Jaguar said:


> I've had it blacked out for 3 days now (just turned it on for pics) so I've got a head start
> 
> I don't have a proper camera but I took some seam pics of my stand. Apparently I need to take some nail polish remover and clean up the glue! The laminate is Pionite in Banker's Gray. The closest Formica color is Mouse. My stand was custom made so there's a few flaws like the door isn't quite flush with the front of the stand and the side holes are upside down, but it still looks great from viewing distance and it's incredibly sturdy. I love the look of the laminate and I don't mind the seams. It's super easy to clean too.


Good job man, I had the same problem as you a while back before I switched to reefing.. Now I'm back. That stand looks nice, couldn't tell it was laminate at first. I guess I'll get to building mine. Thanks


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## koumchev (Aug 12, 2012)

Hi, I am sorry to hear about ur issues with the cyano. It might be the water or the spctrum of ur Light or the light too strong. I suggest to get RO system so fo r sure eliminate the problem with the tap water. I got mine for cheap from e-bay an it is very effective. Start all over again with the dry method following this http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2255889 I start according this article and it is all good so far. Develop a good bacteria may be add from bottle. May be add purigen in ur filter. It was too long waiting for that HC to fill in, to give up righ now. "Those who learn from it`s mistakes is smart, but those who learn from other`s mistakes is even smater!" Wish you luck from all my heart, and never surrender.

Kind Regards
Nikolas


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Thank you for the encouragement, I really appreciate it. It's been a rough past 2 years trying to find the right balance in my tank. I was told low tech was easy, but I've had SO much trouble with it! I can grow algae very well though...


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Okay... I spent some time tidying things up in the tank and it's not AS bad as it looked. The cyano was mostly spread on top of the dying HC - it was very easy to vac off and I think if I stay on top of cleaning it up, it will stay gone. After vaccing and cleaning up the HC I noticed that some of it is actually still alive, so for now I'm going to leave it and see if it bounces back. I think the H2O2 may have been what killed it like that, not the lack of CO2. We'll see how it does.

I also put some of the driftwood in there - it's still a bit floaty so for now I tied it to rocks and will properly arrange it when it's fully waterlogged. I tied some peacock moss to it and hopefully that fills out nicely.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Cue Jaws music.










Look who's back, my good pal cyano!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Tank as of today. It's looked better, but it's also looked worse... I don't know, maybe things are starting to balance out now.










I added 2 bulbs of aponogeton undulatus, I really like the crinkly tall leaves, we'll see how those do!


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

What happen to your ADA AquaSoil? It turn into mud?


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

If the cyano is gone, you may want to temporary get some fast growers in there. I usually use wisteria because it's super easy to get, even Petco/Petsmart has it in those tubes. You don't even have to plant it, let it float. That may help balance everything.

Glad to see the HC is holding on.


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

It looks like you are making progress, soon it will be a lush forest, just keep trying and eventually you will have everything fixed and stable. Usually high light is the cause of many a problem.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

My Aquasoil is fine, just all the vaccing the cyano off the top mixed up my powder and normal types so it looks bad... I hope to have very little or no substrate showing eventually, so it doesn't matter a whole lot to me.

Cyano's still there, I just did a water change last night and vacced most of it off. There's still some growing on the driftwood (which is STILL not 100% waterlogged yet I might add).

I looked at 2 LFS for some plants the other day but they had very little for fast growing/stems, lots of cabomba but I hate the stuff!

Dosing more P seems to be helping, I am dosing ~1ppm weekly. My fish are very happy, other than the one harlequin rasbora that died... but the cardinals look great. I was worried they were going to be stressed out from the move but they settled in really well.


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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

talontsiawd said:


> If the cyano is gone, you may want to temporary get some fast growers in there. I usually use wisteria because it's super easy to get, even Petco/Petsmart has it in those tubes. You don't even have to plant it, let it float. That may help balance everything.
> 
> Glad to see the HC is holding on.


+1 to that wisteria. That thing can solo algae.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Yeah I had wisteria in my old tank and it grew like CRAAAZY, along with vals... I will get some if I find it!


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## fishykid1 (Apr 5, 2010)

Jaguar said:


> Yeah I had wisteria in my old tank and it grew like CRAAAZY, along with vals... I will get some if I find it!


Cyanobacteria needs a lot of nutrients... which unfortunately aquasoil provides. Cyano thrives on both phosphates and nitrates alike so like others have suggested get some fast growers and let it take it's course. Doing water changes and other attempts to reduce it won't do anything but make it more out of balance.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Actually my cyano has significantly diminished since I started dosing P more heavily. Barely any in the tank right now and I have not done a WC or manual removal in a week. Fingers crossed!!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Pulled out the old rotten HC... I literally got a softball sized fist full of old root structure... crazy. Did a slight rescape too - definitely need some more plants on the left and the java fern on the right is just temporary.... would really love some downoi or a nice crypt variety...


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Wow I cannot believe the difference in my tank since I started dosing P. I don't know why I just didn't "get it"... For some reason I was thinking fish food/waste would provide enough P for my plants, but the difference in just 2 weeks since I've been dosing it is astounding. My cyano is gone, there is very little other algae present (a bit of green dust on the glass and some diatoms on plants), and my plants are finally GROWING - my rotala is sending down those ugly sideroots but I don't care - they're GROWING!!! Now I just need more plants! 

There are a few guppy fry hiding in the plants, and also the biggest snail committed suicide by trying to crawl in the emergency hole drilled in the intake pipe.... stupid freaking thing lol


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)




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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Weekend update - looking good, my nitrates are kinda high (40ish) so I am going to start dosing half ferts but twice a week instead


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

One week later - still looking good! Did a minor trim, and also replanted some of the HC I had salvaged from before. Some had actually sprouted up from underneath the AquaSoil, so I'm really hoping it roots in nice, even if it spreads slowly in low tech


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

More plants, you say..?

MORE PLANTS, I say!

Stems! Stems! 4 kinds of stems. 6 bunches. I got em for $20. Manager gave me a discount. Cool!



















Nothing too fancy scape-wise, kinda want to wait for everything to open up and grow flat before I start trying to move it around - not a lot of room in there!

Pulled out the little piece of driftwood and also the big Java fern.

If you have any arrangement/scape ideas please tell me!

I am not 100% sure what plants they are exactly - I know I got heteranthera zosterifolia (stargrass) and ammania gracilis, I want to say the other 2 are Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig'
(sunset hygro), and hygrophila salicifolia


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## Green_Flash (Apr 15, 2012)

Nice turnaround!


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## Couesfanatic (Sep 28, 2009)

nice, we want pics.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Some excellent growth already - especially the stargrass (bottom left)! Due for a WC today and a minor rescape... I get soooo much tank evaporation... need a RO/DI water system for topoffs 

Also got a stowaway Ramshorn snail on a bunch of L. repens (back center)... I decided to keep it


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Here's a bit bigger FTS after a WC and glass clean today:











And a full shot of the tank/stand/light (forgot to take that little piece of wood out...)


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## TheGuy (Jan 6, 2013)

*Re: Jaguar's ADA 60-P : Plants! Plants! More plants!*

Looking good man

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Today after a WC  Not much to report, most things are growing great, a bit of melting on the salicifolia's (?) lower leaves, but new green growth on top so I'm confident it will bounce back, even if I have to trim the tops and replant em. Still hoping to get my CO2 back up and running in the future.


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## TheGuy (Jan 6, 2013)

*Re: Jaguar's ADA 60-P : Plants! Plants! More plants!*

Awesome man I actually just passed your thread a while ago to see if anything new was going on. 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Oh yeah... my tank... lol. I started a new job recently and haven't done ANY maintenance other than topoffs on the tank in about 3 weeks. It looks just fine, but I had about a MILLION guppy fry... lol!










Here's what I set up to take care of the guppy fry (for now)... just a spare 5 gallon tank


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## shift (Jan 7, 2013)

Looking good.. did u find the ada tank in kelowna or order it off the net?


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

I like I like, you can try some easy carpeting plants now. I did HC Cuba as my starter carpet and it was a very very unforgiving plant for starters. I'm glad you got the whole tank looking great now, maybe try some Dwarf Hair Grass? Plant and grow, that the way to go.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I bought the tank from Miyabi Aqua Design 

And... the HC is actually doing well. Definitely healthy and spreading, although slowly. In 6 months I may have half a carpet. haha!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Wow... again, been about a month since a WC and cleanup. Some plants are getting leggy at the bottoms and there is a large amount of staghorn algae... but otherwise, things look pretty ok considering how badly I've been neglecting the tank lately. 

Looks good from afar...









But up close... uh oh!









One of these days I will do a trim + replant. I want desperately to rescape it and get my CO2 going but I just have no energy to get ANYTHING done lately. Blah.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I did a massive trim and replant a while back. Good news/bad news... good is that the staghorn is gone, bad is that i have cyano again. Not so bad, but I need to mix up a new batch of ferts and I have no potassium left. Fish are all good, ramshorn snail died, plants are leggy and growing slow but alive - even the HC. There's proof that HC is a fairly hardy plant and can do just fine in low tech environments, even covered in cyano


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

No signs of staghorn since that explosion. Cyano is a bit crazy, but other than that, not much algae going on at all. I did a big cleanup and some trimming tonight, hopefully that will help my plants outgrow the cyano again. I really would love to get a scape down but I don't have a clue what I can do with such a limited plant selection.

Sorry for the bubbles, did a WC a few hours ago.



















One of these days I really want to get to Petsmart and pick up some new fish... I need something like ottos or some kind of small pleco.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

my fish have ich. i moved them into a quarantine tank. water is at 84, added a tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons. crossing my fingers and hoping for the best :x

after my latest rescape my aquasoil was SO powdery/dusty on top. since my fish were in quarantine, i decided to drain and empty the ENTIRE tank and wash the Aquasoil. I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out... at the worst i'd have to replace my substrate, but it worked well. no more powdery crap on top


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Nice and clean. Is that HC Cuba in the corner right side? I had an easier time growing HC Cuba carpets with emersed growth. 

We have very similar equipment, mind me giving you some tips? I feel your pain with the cyano, I battle that monster myself and had to redo some scapes. So yeah, I want to see if what I learned from my tanks can translate into another.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

yup it's HC. I let it grow emersed for a few months before I filled the tank and had a pretty awesome carpet going, but I treated the tank with H2O2 and most of it died  It's done pretty well in low tech, though I wasn't too excited to pull it all up and replant it.

So far I wonder if a filter with higher flow would help with the cyano issue. Maybe a classic 2217. Maybe a spraybar... or some big lily pipes? I'm clumsy so I need to find someone who makes acrylic ones. I am struggling with light, too... LEDs are so deceiving, I don't know if I have too much light or not enough... that and I wish my regulator wasn't broken.

Cyano's a tough one, though. P deficiency seemed to be causing mine. When I started dosing it frequently it literally disappeared. My biggest tip would be don't get lazy... I had finally found a good balance in my tank but have lost it now due to lack of routine maintenance, trimming and replanting, filter cleaning, etc. The cyano's come back with a vengeance


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

sadly it seems my fish are more sick than i thought, ive already lost one rasbora and another rasbora and one cardinal are looking sick as well. this just might be the last nail in the coffin for me and this tank.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

You could try starting completely new, removing all media and giving it a deep vac. Start with new fish? 

I had a terrible case of ick with cardinal tetras and neon tetras, I had to replace all my media in my AquaClear 20 and shut down the tank. 

RESTART!


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## keats (Apr 26, 2013)

Jaguar said:


> sadly it seems my fish are more sick than i thought, ive already lost one rasbora and another rasbora and one cardinal are looking sick as well. this just might be the last nail in the coffin for me and this tank.


Ill take that 60-P off your hands! Haha. Just kidding.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Hey Jaguar, maybe you try a dry start method for a carpet. It will keep algae out of the tank for a bit and then you can just blast Co2 once filled. 

Don't give up!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I would love to restart it and do CO2 right off the bat... I've got a great regulator and a full cylinder but the damn safety valve on the reg is either just screwy and needs replaced, or the whole regulator is damaged.  It's something really hard to get fixed, and the thought of messing with potentially damaged, high pressure gear just scares me, so I've been putting it in the back of my mind... 

The tank is currently fishless and biomedia-less - just an empty aquaclear to keep the water flowing. If all my fish don't die from columnaris they will go back in the tank, but I'm slowly coming to terms with the idea of having to replace all my livestock soon.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Got pictures of the regulator? I built my regulator too, maybe I can help.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

You replied in my other thread but here's photos of it from the seller

















And on my own tank, while it was working briefly...


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Hey Jaguar, 

I'm not familiar with the forged construction type of regulators (welding type), so I'm not too sure about that valve. I know you can get a relief valve for cheap and use it to test. Pick the same size as the one you have, 1/4 npt most likely.

You can plug it like other people suggest, it's about 2 dollars at home depot. I would honestly get a new relief valve. 

If your regulator does turn out to be broken, you can always just buy a new one and add the post-body kit.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Still working on getting the reg fixed. Been busy dealing with my sick fish in quarantine.

In other news, my tank looks pretty good. I mixed up a new batch of ferts and am dosing them double now. The tops of my plants have much larger, more green, fast growing leaves... I must've really had a nutrient deficiency... probably P. I don't know if the tank is habitable for fish right now (nitrates are probably through the roof) but I will get around to testing it one of these days.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

All right. Seems like the columnaris outbreak is over. I put my fish back in my tank, including the guppies. I have 3 harlequins and 6 cardinals left.

I've got 7 more harlequins and 3 otos in quarantine as well. One of the otos gave me a near heart attack this morning... I couldn't find it (bb tank w/ a lid) so I knew it was still in there somewhere.... it had swam in a tiny tiny gap between my filter intake and prefilter sponge... i thought it was dead, so i was squishing and poking at it trying to get it out and suddenly it flailed widly and I nearly threw it across the room it scared me so bad. I hope he'll be okay, I was pretty rough in trying to get him out...


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## tylergvolk (Jun 17, 2012)

I just read through your entire thread. Wow, what a bummer man. I feel your pain. IMO your failed fill after your dsm was attributed to your LEDs. (Too much light) not positive but that usually the case. During the dsm you want lots of light and when you fill you want less. Your right though, it's hard to determine par with those LEDs. 

Ick is just part of the deal sometimes. Stress fish are more prone to getting it. You did the right things to erratic ate it though. How are your other harlquins reacting? Did they die too?

All that expensive equipment, time, and energy... Just remember its not the end result your REALLY looking for, it's the learning process along the way. Im impressed with these guys that create pristine tanks with minimal equipment. Even by using sun light and no filter, it's crazy.

Your tank looks good now that its plants plants plants.

Be strong young grasshopper! lol


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Yeah, it's been a rocky road for sure. I bought everything anticipating going high tech, especially the lights - they've been very difficult to work with. I wish I could get the reg fixed, but at the same time, if I can hardly handle low tech I'm not sure I should even try high tech. I don't think the lighting is too high, considering my overall lack of any other kind of algae. I haven't touched them in a long time and nothing's really gotten worse. Just waging cyano battles now lol.

Overall I lost 3 harlequins and 1 cardinal. Not bad considering it ended up being columnaris after all and I did not treat with any meds (just salt and cold water). Sticker shock at replacing the harlequins though, wow. 7 of them and 3 otos was almost $40. I had the other harlequins for nearly 2 years though, and they survived a lot. Hardy little guys.


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## tylergvolk (Jun 17, 2012)

In my experience, when going low tech (no co2) suspend lights so you have low light and wait for growth to show. It will be very very slow if your par is on the lower end of low-par. Then, increase your lighting after to speed things up. Don't increase all at once. Just lower a few inches one week and increase duration the next. You will notice the growth difference.

In other words, the lighting is like the gas peddle and your plants are like the speedometer. By working with these 2 and playing around with them, I've learned a lot. 

Remember you don't have a chart available to help you determine par for your LEDs. So, if your having problems with your low tech try decreasing your lighting by either duration or intensity.

Hope this helps.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Actually there is some PAR info for a build very similar to mine



> Par measurements were also made using a ruler All 14 LED have optics
> 
> At 0 inches from light 2885 par
> 4 1015
> ...


He had 2 extra royal blues and a bit longer heatsink than mine, so they were spread out a bit more. It still gives me a rough estimate - my lights are hung at 26" so that would be around 130, then at 50% brightness would be 65, and then i turned my SVR2 down even more so I really should have between 40 and 80 par, give or take.

Main tank had a dead guppy this morning, just a small one. I did a small WC as my nitrates were 40-50.

QT tank looks good, rasboras are eating good, though the oto that got stuck in the filter had his fins clamped up. The other 2 were happy snacking on an algae wafer. Gotta test params today.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I did some maintenance and moved some plants around a bit. Looking a little better now, I think.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

^ Jaguar, you're going to hate me for saying this but I would like you to consider the following.

That Anubias Nana has to go. Cut off the black bread algae infected leaves, they most likely won't recover. The HC Cuba is also in bad shape, it's going to have a hard time growing. You want it to grow (some-what) in this style - 









Yours look like it's covered in a bit of algae, get some healthy HC and it will grow faster.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

A lot of the anubias is okay. The bigger piece in the front does have some weird hair algae strands around the edges. I will trim up some old leaves when the lights come on in a few hours.

Yeah, there's cyano on the HC. It looks like that because I keep trying to vac off the cyano and pull the HC out. If I left it alone it would grow in. It grew pretty well while I had no cyano:



>


But then I moved it and it hasn't recovered yet.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Sup Jaguar,

Your tank is starting to come around, I like the arrangement. We have such similar equipment, I'm sure there is something you're over looking. What is your tank's stats again?


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

All of my tank specs are on the very first post. I just updated it a couple of days ago.

Our main difference is CO2. I don't have any. Regulator's broken.


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Maybe you can get one of those cheap Aquatek, or maybe just a new regulator and add the post body. I got a retail regulator and a custom one, to tell you the truth - 

*whispers "They're both doing the same thing..."


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

money money money... if i get some spare cash i'll see if i can find one, but they're really expensive to ship here. 

i think i may move the quarantine fish into the main tank today. they've been in there about a week which isn't long enough but i desperately need the space in my storage room :/


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

How is this low tech if you have (or should have) CO2?


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

The tank hasn't had CO2 at all in the 9 months it's been filled. No CO2, low light, and low fert dosing... it's low tech in practice, even though i have some "high tech" gear (ADA tank, custom LEDs, etc)


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

Your regulator's been broken for that long?


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Yeah.... getting it fixed is on my ever growing to do list. I need to order a replacement safety valve and then find someone who has a bench vise and stuff to get the valve out... and then whatever kinda glue to put it back in place. That's best case scenario though, there's still a possibility that the regulator has some kind of internal defect or failure and I could need a whole new body...


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

^ Hey Jaguar, 

If there is a local welding shop near you, they would most likely help you out for free. Have you tired looking fleabay for a regulator? Another option is buying one of those beer making regulators and then just adding the post body kit. I think a Micromatic is around 40 - 50 bucks new.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I accidentally dropped one of the harlequins down the drain today. Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. I'm so mad at myself. I should know better than to move them near the sink... or at least to put the drain covers on... I was so happy about them all surviving quarantine, too. Idiot mistake :'(


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

^ If you knew how many fish die during transport, you would be pretty mad at the hobby itself.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Not once in 2 years have I had a jumper.... until today. Not one, but TWO crusty, cat haired covered harlequin rasboras on the floor. 7 left now.

Anyways, pics I guess.... tank looks okay.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Been a while. Quick pic:


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

Looks good Jaguar, much better. How strong are your lights? Might want to lower them, the HC Cuba should be hugging the substrate.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

no pics of my tank, but one of my "helper"... lol


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

A cardinal jumped today. So sad....


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## FlyingHellFish (Nov 5, 2011)

I reduced the suicides in my tank by avoiding turning off the tank's light and the room light. The tank's light goes off a few hours before the living room lights do. 

Any new pictures of the tank?


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

So much horrible powdery crap on my AquaSoil again. I hate the stuff. I think I may tear the entire tank down and redo the substrate.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

On that last note...

Tank teardown will happen in January. I've swapped out my cyano problems for cladophora and honestly I would rather have the cyano back than this. I'll be removing the AquaSoil and replacing it with Flourite, replacing all the plants, and seriously cutting back the lighting power.

Any tips to make the transition less stressful for my fish?


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Substrate replacement never did happen, though I eventually pulled out all the HC (too hard to pick the clado off it). I had one more rasbora die, but that's to be expected... some of them are nearing 3 years old now. Tank's ok, gonna go out and see if I can find some more plants tomorrow. Clado is still a big issue, but I haven't seen cyano in months. Not sure if good or bad. Will update later... maybe.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Small update... husband accidentally knocked over my co2 tank and broke the needle valve off, so I've basically considered the reg a loss at this point (*sigh*) so still low tech... one more cardinal jumped and an otto died but otherwise nothing new really... maybe I'll post pictures eventually.

Oh, got some cheapo lily pipes - $20 shipped - aquahk8 on fleabay - not bad, curve down a bit too far I think, but I can't complain too much for the price.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

After 2 years of battling clado I finally threw in the towel and chucked almost everything. It was absolutely brutal, if I had taken pictures I probably could've won some kind of award for ugliest tank.

I got a coupon for Petsmart, picked up a bag of Flourite, and spent a good 8 hours tearing down and redoing my tank last night. The bottom layer is a mix of onyx sand, regular Flourite, and black Flourite, with just regular on top. I have one trooper of a harlequin rasbora, a guppy, and a betta. The only plant that did decently well in the cladocalypse was my anubias, surprisingly. Round 4? 15? 45? Who knows. Here we go again. Once it's been running for a few days I will add some more fish. I am going to get harlequin rasboras again, they always do really well for me. I put a local ad up for some plants, I wanna load it up right away to choke out any chance of the clado coming back (I Excel dipped everything). Making pump bottles for my ferts so I don't forget. I would like a Hydor inline and a glass cover eventually. Oh, and my LEDs need replaced, some of them are really green.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I got a good selection of plants from two local stores. Needle leaf and trident java fern, 3 crypts, wisteria, sunset hygro, and stargrass. Also got a nice gnarly piece of spider wood


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

All right, I'll read this whole thread once my battery is charged again  I got 2 60P going that I like a lot, maybe we both learn from each other.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

I would fix a screen to the conduit stand's legs and train an immersed plant to climb on it.
It would also make good use of the spilled light above the tank. A beautiful planted wall piece always looks good.

P.S. CO2 tanks should be strapped in or fixed in place. You already saw one reason why.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

OVT said:


> All right, I'll read this whole thread once my battery is charged again  I got 2 60P going that I like a lot, maybe we both learn from each other.


It's a rollercoaster! I have never had success with any of my tanks, maybe this time. I think the AquaSoil was the cause of a lot of my failures, I was having to manhandle it so much during algae removal and replanting that it just turned into muddy powder that the clado just loved to grow in.

Bump:


Nordic said:


> I would fix a screen to the conduit stand's legs and train an immersed plant to climb on it.
> It would also make good use of the spilled light above the tank. A beautiful planted wall piece always looks good.
> 
> P.S. CO2 tanks should be strapped in or fixed in place. You already saw one reason why.


Yess, I have a pothos vine I'm considering moving over there. The issue is my cat loves to eat houseplants, so I don't want to do anything that might attract her into trying to jump into my tank.

I will strap the tank in next time for sure, but it was only in my stand for maybe 2 hours before the reg blew and I had to move it into storage. My bf dropped a car tire in our storage room and the tire hit the tank, just one of those weird things you can't prepare for. :eek5:


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Wood is 14" long for reference  Still want to stick to my original plan of a very lush scape.


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## Nordic (Nov 11, 2003)

That is the best way to start if you can, plant densely.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Nordic said:


> That is the best way to start if you can, plant densely.


Yup. One of the crypts in there is absolutely massive. Most the plants I want in my scape are slow growers, so I grabbed some wisteria to hopefully grow fast and keep the algae away. Back when I had BGA, adding more plants completely eradicated it. I don't think I could've added more plants with the amount of clado I had though. When my plants thrived, so did it, and it was impossible to get out of the aquasoil without ruining it. If it comes back, I should have an easier time getting it out of the Flourite.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Not quite sure what I'm doing with the right side, but I managed to cram everything in there. I'm gonna give it all a few days to get established before I poke some Osmocote tabs in there for the crypts. Gonna pick up fish some time this week, I'm thinking ember tetras.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Bit more clear today. I replanted a few things on the right and stood up my rotala; forgot it was under there lol. I hate the color of the Flourite, I'm going to see if I can find some kind of carpeting plant to cover a lot of it. Don't really know what would get decent coverage in low tech though


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

DUH, I just realized that plant in the foreground on the right is s. repens, if I don't kill it all I should be able to get a bit of a carpet out of that


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## Julie7778 (Apr 21, 2015)

Sorry about the tough journey! The tank is looking really good right now though. I have a 60P as well, but itook it down because I wasn't happy with it and couldn't get a co2 system. This really inspires me to bring it back! Thanks for sharing.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Julie7778 said:


> Sorry about the tough journey! The tank is looking really good right now though. I have a 60P as well, but itook it down because I wasn't happy with it and couldn't get a co2 system. This really inspires me to bring it back! Thanks for sharing.


Thanks! Tearing it down and redoing has been a long time coming, but I'm confident it will go better this time. I had gone into it planning on doing high tech, but it all just flopped without CO2. I'll still try to get my regulator fixed, but in the meantime I'm going to enjoy low tech for now... means less maintenance 

Gonna pick up some fish this wekeend, debating between 20 ember tetras OR 10 ember tetras and 10 espe's rasbora with 4-6 oto cats... my betta will go back in my 5g Spec. anyone have an opinion on that?


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Once upon a time, that was an immaculately cut, bent, and brushed aluminum reflector. Unfortunately I didn't store it properly and it got trampled on and oxidized something awful. I got most of the oxidized fingerprints off it but it still looks terrible. I'll spray paint it this weekend, maybe silver or a flat grey like the stand.

I broke the power cord to the light controller when I was redoing the airline cable... oops. Fortunately it was an easy fix


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

The Great Crypt Melt of 2016 has occurred!

Even with a tank full of decaying leaves, my params are excellent. I was worried I'd lose my cycled media, I accidentally left my pump disconnected for a few hours. Trimmed back the crypts, did a good water change, and all is well. Gonna stock tonight, leaving the fish choices up to my partner. I think he'll pick the ember tetras. I told him to pick out something else too... the LFS guy knows what I like and will suggest something good I'm sure


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

15 ember tetras and a bolivian ram 

I will snap some pics later


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)




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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I love the way the lights reflect off the corner.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Fish are all doing great. I'm so used to half my stock dying in the first week that I'm counting them constantly in paranoia. I used to always buy fish from Petsmart because they were cheaper than the LFS, but never again!


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## Immortal1 (Feb 18, 2015)

Jaguar said:


> Fish are all doing great. I'm so used to half my stock dying in the first week that I'm counting them constantly in paranoia. I used to always buy fish from Petsmart because they were cheaper than the LFS, but never again!


Hate to say this, but in my area that is a hard fact! We are fortunate enough to have 2 LFS's that I would consider exceptional. One caters a little more to the salt world and the other is only freshwater. Honestly, I only use PetSmart/PetCo for pre-packaged items that just happen to be on sale (like the $1/gallon sale)
@Jaguar, your tank is looking pretty good. As you said, the nite time lighting in the corner is pretty cool.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Immortal1 said:


> Hate to say this, but in my area that is a hard fact! We are fortunate enough to have 2 LFS's that I would consider exceptional. One caters a little more to the salt world and the other is only freshwater. Honestly, I only use PetSmart/PetCo for pre-packaged items that just happen to be on sale (like the $1/gallon sale)
> @Jaguar, your tank is looking pretty good. As you said, the nite time lighting in the corner is pretty cool.


It's always been a cost thing, unfortunately. The LFS is very well cared for, but the extra $1-3 per fish adds up fast. That and Petsmart does 14 day guarantees...

But everyone looks good, fingers crossed they'll continue to do this well... and WON'T try to go carpet surfing


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Lost one ember, but the other 14 are doing great. Ram is ok too. Need to get him some better food.

Tank and CO2 situation are on hold though, I have a bad cold that's kicking my ass. Will update eventually.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

FTS 9/15

Haven't done much maintenance, couple water changes and a single trim & replant of the hygro. Added some Osmocote + caps in the back with the crypts. Still not dosing ferts but I will soon.

The s. repens and wisteria completely melted to nothing... they are just starting to recover now. The hygro is very leggy on the bottoms, I've bumped my lights up a little bit and hopefully it helps.

2 ember tetras must have jumped as I only have 12 left. The ram is doing great, as is the straggler harlequin rasbora which I was certain was going to die from the stress of the transition. All in all, the tank is doing well. Just some diatoms to clear up!


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## HaeSuse (Aug 18, 2016)

Jaguar said:


>



Ooooooh, such a pretty longfin Bolivian! I approve of your partner's tastes.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

HaeSuse said:


> Ooooooh, such a pretty longfin Bolivian! I approve of your partner's tastes.


I agree! I've always loved rams but I never had much luck with the blues. This guy (or gal) seems to be doing very well, though. :thumbsup:


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Ram died today. Didn't get to it quick enough and an ember tetra died shortly after. Starting to remember why I wanted out of the hobby, I just can't keep anything alive but algae and I can't afford to keep redoing the tank every time


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

quarantine everything!!! nothing is more frustrating than fish deaths...


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

A year late, but I have an update.

Reviving the tank once again! My embers just didn't do well at all. Most of them jumped. On the other hand, my algae (clado/cyano) never did come back, and I've got some really established plants that are doing great. I just recently picked up a gorgeous piece of malaysian driftwood to finish my hardscape.

The big news is that I'm moving this weekend - to an area with really nice tap water! I hope this helps with my constant struggle to keep things alive. I've always had to fight my hard, high pH water. After that, I'm going to revisit CO2 - maybe with something cheaper like a paintball setup.

Anyway, expecting a big crypt melt and some general chaos during the move, so it might be a while before I update again.

I keep trying to get out of this hobby, but I always come back - I hope my persistence will pay off eventually.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

So, I'm all settled in from the move. I ended up only draining the tank down to the substrate and packing it on a piece of plywood. It worked out great. I even packed my single ember tetra, who didn't shrug at 5 hours in a leaking bag and 3 days in a bucket.

Getting the hard water scale off was tough, but I managed. I did a big trim and moved some crypts around. Nothing looks fantastic, but nothing looks terrible, either, which is an excellent thing for me and this rollercoaster of a tank.

I'm living on table scraps, so fish won't happen any time soon, but the plan is pygmy cories and either espei rasboras or green neons. I'd go with embers again if they weren't so suicidal!


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Got three albino corys, a longfin bristlenose, and some assassin snails from my mom, who is downsizing her tank(s).

Everything is looking good


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

I personally think your tank looks great. As someone who has had ALOT of failures in this hobby I can tell you that you aren't alone in the struggles.. but ever so slowly my skills and tanks are getting better and more enjoyable. I can tell you a full nice C02 setup was the smartest decision I have made to date. The growth and success of the plants just makes the whole hobby so much more enjoyable.


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## torque6 (Jun 7, 2008)

The Dude1 said:


> I personally think your tank looks great. As someone who has had ALOT of failures in this hobby I can tell you that you aren't alone in the struggles.. but ever so slowly my skills and tanks are getting better and more enjoyable. I can tell you a full nice C02 setup was the smartest decision I have made to date. The growth and success of the plants just makes the whole hobby so much more enjoyable.


Same, the tank looks good. Well maintain low tech. Great sustainability.

Nice tank Jaguar, hope to see more updates.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

I've moved again (!) back to hard water territory, but everything is still looking good. Fingers crossed I'll do better with more frequent maintenance and water changes. Need to trim some old leaves off my anubias and find a replacement for the horrible stems on the right - but that'll come with time and money.

Thanks for the support, guys! After 6 years I can finally look at this tank and feel pretty good about it.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

A lot has changed for me in the last 6 months! I left a dead end relationship, moved out on my own (twice!), and met a wonderful new partner... who also happens to be a fish nerd! Life is good. 

He gifted me three more albino cories for my birthday, which fills out their swimmy shoal to 6. Their adorable antics have me enamored, but the pleco does not feel the same. Her life mission is to chase them - constantly. My assassin snail also recently survived an entire night stuck in the filter intake, which is amazing.

More crypts, more rocks, more fish. That's the plan for now. Until then, everything is looking good and I'm happy to finally be in that maintenance sweet spot after 6 bloody years.


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## Jaguar (Oct 13, 2011)

Life changes in unexpected ways! Just as I found success with this tank, I ended up having to give it up. My mom now has the entire setup and will hopefully continue finding success in it as I did. Thanks for supporting me through the years, TPT! I will be back, and I can't wait to apply everything I've learned to a new setup in the future.


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