# BiscuitSlayer's 29 - Updated 4.1.08 -Welcome to the Jungle - (56K Unfriendly)



## khoile (Jan 27, 2005)

Nice tank... why are there so many tiny bubbles?


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## evercl92 (Aug 15, 2006)

Nice tank. Photos are a little over-exposed, but could look great. 

Turn down your (I believe it's called) aperture. The option that, typically, goes from -2 to +2. I set mine to around -1.


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Looks good bsmith, even with that camera. 
Its actually refreshing to see some algae for change...lol


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

Thanks guys. The bubbles came from feeding the CO2 into a limewood airstone and feeding that into a powerhead. The bubbles were misted all over the tank. I recently added an inline CO2 reactor and now there aren't any more bubles.

Evercl92 - Thanks for the tip. I know what you are talking about and I'll give that I try. The other thing I was thinking is to turn off one of the PC lights. That would probably help too. I'm also going to take some pics when the room is dark.

Jinx - There is algae in there but it is coming under control. All of the reading is finally starting to pay off.


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## TheOtherGeoff (Feb 11, 2003)

evercl92 said:


> Nice tank. Photos are a little over-exposed, but could look great.
> 
> Turn down your (I believe it's called) aperture. The option that, typically, goes from -2 to +2. I set mine to around -1.


no thats exposure compentsation. aperture is you f stop number ( f2.5, f4.5 etc etc ) its kinda like your pupil


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## evercl92 (Aug 15, 2006)

TheOtherGeoff said:


> no thats exposure compentsation. aperture is you f stop number ( f2.5, f4.5 etc etc ) its kinda like your pupil


gotcha
/\/


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

The picts were actually too big. They are supposed to be 1024 x 768 max with a max size of 250KB. Mine were about 400 to 500 KB in size, so I knocked them down to 800 x 600. I'll probably post some new pics today since there has been fairly considerable growth since these pics were taken last week. I might also get some different plants today.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Errrr, pardon my being dense, but what is the 'teetering on disaster' part?


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

macclellan - My bioload is pretty high. I have a lot of fish in this tank. I am hopefully going to upgrade the tank to a 75 gallon soon and move all of the fish and plants to that. The reason I say its teetering on disaster is because if I have to keep up with the tank or I am going to have some algae problems. As you can see in the pics, there are a few algae problems. 

Everything is starting to come under control, but I have to keep up with it. I am running a XP2 on the tank so I am over filtering quite a bit.

I should have explained that when I first started the thread.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

Since I posted the original pics and description, there have been a few changes. The biggest change was adding a DIY reactor for the CO2 injection. 

The DIY reactor:










The reactor is based off of Rex's type of reactor with a few of my own personal mods. I included a cap at the bottom ( you can barely see it ) where it can be opened up and bio balls can be inserted or the reactor can be cleaned out. I chose not to add bioballs based on the information that I have seen Rex post. To be honest with you, at this time I don't really see a need. I am getting some gas build up because I am pumping in about 3 bps into the reactor, but the gurgling sound is only noticeable when you open the cabinet and listen closely. So far, the growth with certain plants have been incredible. 

As you will see further down in the tank shots, I have removed the powerhead from the tank. This was my original method of diffusion. I used either a ceramic diffuser or a limewood airstone to produce fine bubbles that I had sitting directly under a powerhead. The result was misting CO2 bubbles everywhere in the tank. I personally didn't like the fact that I had the equipment in the tank for this, nor did I like the microbuble misting effect. I was getting plants to pearl within about 6 hours whereas now I am getting plants to pearl in about 4 hours. I still have not purchased my drop checker for CO2 yet.



Here is a pic of the inside of the cabinet with the XP2 and the 10lb tank and regulator:









I went with an XP2 with the intention of upgrading to a 75 in the near future and just buying another XP2. If I do get a 75, I think I will add on an XP3. For those of you out there thinking about a canister filter for your tank that is in the 30 gallon range, I think the XP2 is the way to go. It is a perfect match. My flow rate is great, but I don't think it is too much. The only time that it appears to be a little too much is when the plants reach the output of the spraybar. 


On to the pics:


Here is a full tank shot:









My Purple Cabomba is going absoluely nuts. I actually trimmed this last Thrsday (12/20/07) and it has basically almost doubled in size since then. Here are a couple more shots where I tried to focus the attenion on the Cabomba.

Five days ago, the cabomba on the right was the same height as the Rotala Magenta right next to it.









These were clippings that I replanted from the center of the tank to the darkest corner. When I planted these clippings, they were either less than half or exatly half the size that they are now. One thing that you might notice is the acutal stalk growth. I am not getting many new leaves on these plants, but the stalk growth is about an inch a day (seriously)! I am thinking about planting 1 inch cuttings using the tips only and seeing how quickly they grow over a 1 week period. I have a feeling that they would reach the top of the tank within two weeks or less.











I would actully like to grow this plant thicker rather than taller. If anyone has any suggestions (other than lighting) please let me know. My lighing option that might work based on a thread that I read might be to go from the coralife fixture to an AH Supply fixture. Don't want to spend the money right now.


I moved my sword (which is alive, very green, but not really growing) from the back wall to the middle of the tank. I have a feeling that I might have moved it a bit too much within the last few months and I think I stressed it. The GSA that had a very strong foothold on this plant is starting to disappear to the point that you would never have known that it was there. In the same following shot, you can see a very small wisteria plant in the very front. It must have broken off the main plant and taken root where it is. When the wisteria first started growing where it is, I thought that the glosso either had a problem or it was a mutant strain or something. For a couple of weeks I just called it the mystery plant. It is growing like a weed too. It isn't out of control, but I can see giving it away or selling it soon.












Here is a close up shot of a little Java Fern plant that I attached to a rock. The funny thing is that this is a plant that has been in my aquarium for literally years. At one time, I had a crayfish in the tank and it wound up decimating my plants. It had a real appetite for salad or something. I salvaged this little stub along with 3 others. It has basically grown to about 400 times what it was when I salvaged it.












Last week, I added some Broad Leafed Luigia (sp?) and some Rotalla wallichii that I picked up from a lfs. Both are doing well and I haven't had anything melt. The Wallichii has grown about an inch since last week. While the plant was in the store, almost all of the growth was redish brown in color. The new growth in my tank is pretty green. Anyone have any suggestions as to what to do to keep the red color?











Thanks for the suggestions on the camera guys. I think things have impreved a little. One of the things causing that green glare/overexposre on the bottom right hand shot of the earlier photos was dirt on the lense. I cleaned the lense and it made a real difference. I also cut my lighting in half for the photos (65W instead of 130W using the 10,000K bulb).

Phtography is probably my biggest weakpoint.

Both my wife and I are very satisfied with the way that the tank is looking. I have upped the dosing of phospate and the GSA algae is dissappearing. The high CO2 is driving off the other types of algae present, and my 8 hour photo period appears to be just the right amount of light to keep things in balance. I am dosing nitrates even though my bioload is high and my expensive Sera test kit is telling me that the tank is at 40 to 50 PPM. I am also adding K2SO4 beause I think that the other K sources aren't enough with the amount of light. 

The only thing I need now is for my carpet to grow in.


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Wow...Things have taken off indeed. Looks great.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

Thanks Jinx. The cabomba is seriously going nuts. Actually a little too nuts for my liking. I wish I could slow it down a little and make it grow thicker.


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

Many plants that are usually green will turn red under high intensity light with the right concentration of ferts in the water column. I would suggest however, that possibly increasing your Fe once a week and you may notice an increase in this phenomenon...


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

Styxx,

I have actually just been going with the Flourish micros for Fe. I had a bad experience with FE once that has made me leary of using it.

Do you think it would have any affect on growing the cabomba thicker or is your reccomendaition just for color of the Wallichii?


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

Styxx, 

I took your suggestion and started adding FE on the micro days. I am adding about 2 - 3 ML every other day now.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Nice work, growth looks good and I love the different colors you have working off each other.

I wouldn't change out the lighting, I only have a 96w coralife on my 30gl and it's enough. Their reflectors are not that bad, the only downside is the standing fixture bleeds a bit of light onto the walls, but you have plenty of wattage to spare. You're cabomba could be climbing due to excess rather than lack of it.

Although I've had cabomba in the past, I have never grown it in ideal conditions. What happens when you trim the top and leave the rooted stem base, does it branch multiple stems back or just regenerate one stem? Try that, I lop off a few fast species I have and let them grow back at the top, the ones that multiply branches fill out nice and thick at the top on the same base of only a few stems, so the fattened top side plant mass doesn't require extra substrate space for increased stem grouping. If cabomba only regenerates one stem, then you may need to clear out some space there to add the clipped tops to the group to build more mass out of it, and clip them half way down to keep them in tune with the rest of the plants' speed of growth. You can trim a curved face into the group so the regrowth will hold a more evenly manicured form. Then there's always the option to scrap them completely like I did with wisteria, what a pain to keep in line that plant is. :icon_eek:


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

Thanks for the compliments jaidexl.

As far as the cabomba goes, I have trimmed the plants a couple of times and replanted just the tops. The last trimming, I left the bottom half of the stalk in the tank and I am waiting to see what sprouts near the cut.

I have read that if you take a stem of cabomba and attach it to the side of the tank with suction cups in a lateral fashion (somehow) that it will create new stalks from each of the leaf sections. I wish I could find the link for this.

It is really crazy though. I trimmed the cabomba back to about 3 inches on Thursday 12/27/07 and today it is already 6" to 7" high. If I can figure out a way to get more good looking tops, I could definately sell/trade this in the SNS.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I used to do that same thing with bacopa, ludwigia and tonina stems, but I would pin them sideways on the substrate with plastic Vs I fashioned out of zip ties, lead weights can be used also. Works well for quick propagation when you need more stems.

You might find that forcing the stem to regenerate from the base slows growth a bit, which I forgot to mention is another reason why I do that to some of my fast growers. But sometimes it takes them longer to have to reform a root structure from a bare clipping before sprouting upward, just depends on the plant and it's conditions I guess.


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## dr.tran (Oct 8, 2007)

wow that looks nice.

im about to do the excat same setup except im using flourite and im going to use these lights 

http://lightbulbsdirect.com/Merchan...=PROD&Store_Code=001&Product_Code=F55BX-AR-FS

i hope the lights will work out.

but i have to ask u, u said something about hard to get it balanced? well how did u do it?


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## loachlady5 (Dec 9, 2007)

Looks great! Hope I can get mine up to speed


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

dr.tran said:


> wow that looks nice.
> 
> im about to do the excat same setup except im using flourite and im going to use these lights
> 
> ...


Dr. Tran - Don't be intimidated by me saying it was hard to get balanced. If you get everything you need up front with regards to equipment, ferts, pressurized CO2 injection, and a good filter you will be in good shape. Most of the plants that I have in there I also bought over the course of about 3 weeks.

Your CO2 injection and ferts will probably be the biggest key to success, but having everything in order prior to setting it up will definately help. I didn't have everything in order because of finances and I had to buy things here and there. Thats why it was so difficult to balance.




loachlady5 said:


> Looks great! Hope I can get mine up to speed


Loachlady - You'll get there. I can't wait to see your tank when you do!


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

BiscuitSlayer, I know this may be late coming, but I have to say, you have one of the best looking planted tanks I have seen. Totally awesome. Excellent work! I am totally green with envy. :icon_mrgr


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

Thanks a lot Homer! I appreciate the kind words. Where are your jounal(s)? I have been patiently waiting for you to post some.


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

BiscuitSlayer said:


> Thanks a lot Homer! I appreciate the kind words. Where are your jounal(s)? I have been patiently waiting for you to post some.



You're welcome 

Lol, I entered the latest monthly update for the 10 gallon anti-algae repulsion tank on December 22 2007 and and update on December 30 2007 regarding the death of a Bolivian Ram. The next update will be Jan 22 2008
http://azdhan.googlepages.com/thelostworld

The next update for my low tech maintenance tanks is due January 4 2008
I am ashamed and embarassed to post pictures as the tanks are not as beautifully scaped as yours and the stupid city I am in has a very limited selection of plants to work with so it makes aquascaping even more challenging. Besides, I am a tester not an aquascaper.
http://azdhan.googlepages.com/thelostworld2

After testing with Schultz Aquatic Soil, top soil, fluorite, mixture of fluorite and schultz aquatic soil, and Seachem Onyx Sand, mulm, peat, and leonardite combo, I wanted to see what all the hype around ADA Aquasoil was about, so I set up this 15 gallon high test tank with ADA Aquasoil II. I have not officially entered it as a test tank or set up a web page regarding the details as I wanted to see how things would turn out after a month. Many of the plants in there were from another tank I tore down. The tank was overridden.....and I mean overridden with snails...... It was so bad the snails had taken up home in the HOB filter. I did not want to throw away $60+ in plants so I soaked them in 3 days alum and water to kill the snails and snail eggs, so I don't know how they will recover. One thing that p*s*es me off is that the stupid snails survived the alum+water soak. Do you believe it. I saw some in the tank yesterday.  As you can see, my HC and HM did not fare well, so I am floating some riccia right now and when I get enough, I will net it over rock and use that for carpeting.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

I have read you're Lost World pages, but I wasn't totally sure that they were yours or not. I love the statue surrounded by Java fern! I'm not usually one for decorations in the tank like that, but that is cool. :hihi:


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

BiscuitSlayer said:


> I have read you're Lost World pages, but I wasn't totally sure that they were yours or not.


Yeah, it is a little experiment I ran. To be honest with you, it has been a good tank as far as learning goes with respect to what plants, fert dosing seems to work best with my tap water parameters and what works as far as algae goes. The water parameters have been pretty stable, and the tank can be torn down anytime to make room for another experiment. That poses a problem though as far as relocating the fish. Also, I want to keep the tank running as long as possible to see how it evolves and what else I find.



BiscuitSlayer said:


> I love the statue surrounded by Java fern! I'm not usually one for decorations in the tank like that, but that is cool. :hihi:


Thanks. I know I might get flamed for posting this. But I went with the statue for a couple of reasons. (1) I did not want a tank scaped to look like everyone elses. I wanted something different, and (2) I really admire Amano's tanks and think that they are beautiful as well as those of others. The problem I have is the look kind of reminds me of a terrestrial look. Kind of like when I am driving in a rural area and see a boulder with moss growing out of it, surrounded by a bunch of stem plants. The Lost City Of Atlantis with moss covered ruins or a once thriving village civilization flooded and buried underwater is something that has more appeal to me. There is an air of mystery around such a scape, something that I don't see in a couple of neatly organized rocks and driftwood branches surrounded by stem plants and covered with moss. Sorry. Just my thoughts. But I guess, it is true what they say: beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so to each his/her own.


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## crabcake (Dec 19, 2007)

yeah man, the statue is a great idea--different enough from those traditional junky-looking aquarium decorations that it looks unique. 

it would be great to keep working on the plants to achieve more natural effect.


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

crabcake said:


> yeah man, the statue is a great idea--different enough from those traditional junky-looking aquarium decorations that it looks unique...


Thanks 



crabcake said:


> ..it would be great to keep working on the plants to achieve more natural effect.


I agree and you are totally right. My aquacaping skills suck  but I am working hard to improve them. Lol, got c02, Aquasoil, decent water and ferts, now if I only had some decent plants to work with, it may just not turn out too bad.


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## CmLaracy (Jan 7, 2007)

I haven't read the entire thread but I strongly recommend more frequent water changes, like 30% every other day, or evenly daily. Up your CO2 a bit to about 3 or 4bps, and drop that photoperiod about an hour to 7 hours, or even 6. You've been teetering on disaster for a reason, try these things out for a bit, I bet it will help you control the algae a lot better. Also, keep your ammonia below 1ppm as much as you can. Everything looks great!

You may need a little bit of a midground... lol :hihi:


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

CmLaracy said:


> I haven't read the entire thread but I strongly recommend more frequent water changes, like 30% every other day, or evenly daily. Up your CO2 a bit to about 3 or 4bps, and drop that photoperiod about an hour to 7 hours, or even 6. You've been teetering on disaster for a reason, try these things out for a bit, I bet it will help you control the algae a lot better. Also, keep your ammonia below 1ppm as much as you can. Everything looks great!


Actually, I am at about 3 to 4 bps on the CO2. When I say that I teeter on disaster, I mean that I am on the good side right now. A small tip in the wrong direction will put me on the bad side. So far, after about 4 months I haven't had any problems. My algae issues have been brought into check with a combination of CO2 and phosphates. What algae I have had has stoped growing and has been slowly receding on its own without any manual intervention. 

My ammonia is at 0 PPM and holding (actually for years now).

I need to post an update with some pics of the tank. Growth has really taken off and algae is pretty much completely at bay except for the normal GDA on the glass and a few tiny tufts of BBA that I just haven't been bothered with.

As far as the 30% daily water changes go... Um... No thanks! If it comes down to that, I don't think I want to keep the setup. One reason I am not turned on too much with discus tanks.

Thanks for the input CM.


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## loachlady5 (Dec 9, 2007)

BiscuitSlayer said:


> I need to post an update with some pics of the tank.


Yeah - I want to see how much your generous plant gifts to me stripped your tank:icon_smil! Hopefully it's just a little thinned out.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

loachlady5 said:


> Yeah - I want to see how much your generous plant gifts to me stripped your tank:icon_smil! Hopefully it's just a little thinned out.


Actually, I could probably send you more. The little amazon in my earlier pics has probably trippled in size since those pics. It is starting to get a lttle too big for my tank. The glosso is starting to get a bit overgrown too. I would imagine that the wisteria will need to be cut back in about a month or two and the repens need to be trimmed weekly now.

I'll try to get some pics up this week. You'll think that the plants I sent you came from someone else's tank.


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## beyondanytherapy (Jan 14, 2008)

Wow, what a beautiful tank! 

I noticed you're in Acworth! What a small world! My parents and I lived up there for around 5 years before I moved out. They still live up there now, but I'm down below Atlanta. I was just up there yesterday, though.  Nice to see there's some fish people in that area. Where do you get your plants and everything from? Do you order online or have you found a secret fish store in the area? I know there's some nice ones in Marietta, but nothing around Acworth better than the Petco/Petsmart.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

beyondanytherapy - Hi and thank you! Sorry I didn't see your post until now. For some reason I didn't see it this week. I get my plants from Petland in Kennesaw, Marine Fish (on Johnson's Ferry), and on the swap and shop on this forum.

I need to get new pics up. I did a minor tear down on the tank which lead me to ditch several plants that weren't doing so well. I also thinned a lot of stuff out.

The bottom line is that I just need a bigger tank. This 29 is cramping my style.


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## loachlady5 (Dec 9, 2007)

can't wait to see it:bounce:


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## JoeWhiteFish (Feb 21, 2008)

Hey Biscuit, where did you get the barbed fittings for your DIY CO2 reactor? I need to find a couple for my DIY reactor. 

Thanks.
JW


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## garuf (May 30, 2007)

I'm certain there where at least 3 buddah statue scapes in the ada comp last year, none scored very high at all.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

JoeWhiteFish said:


> Hey Biscuit, where did you get the barbed fittings for your DIY CO2 reactor? I need to find a couple for my DIY reactor.
> 
> Thanks.
> JW



JW -

I had to use 5/8" barbs because I am using a Rena XP2 filter. I was able to find 90 degree barbs at Ace Hardware. I know there is one in Woodstock, but if you have problems finding them there you can find them at the store on Highway 92 between Bells Ferry Rd. and Wade Green Rd. I believe that they are white/translucent in color. Ace is the place to find a lot of stuff that you can't find at Lowes or Home Depot.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

Well, it has been quite a long time since my last update on this journal, so I thought I would snap a few pics this morning and post them before I tear the tank apart AGAIN.

Since my last update, I think I have torn the tank apart about 5 times. I have to tear it apart to trim plants, rescape a bit, etc. This week will be no exception. As you can see in the following pic, it has turned into quite the jungle:










A while back, I bought some Blyxa Japoncia which appears to be doing very well. I don’t know if you can tell by the plants, but I think they are ready to separate and propagate two times the number of plants I originally bought. Not bad, considering that they are pretty much completely shaded by some hygro I bought at around the same time.











Here is a good shot of some sunset hygro I got through a RAOK on this site. I have to tell you that I am quickly becoming a fan of different types of hygros. Fantastic plants! I think that the Sunset is my favorite, but my rasboras have their favorite too. You can see it in the larger tank shot. It is the plant in the right hand side (middle) that has the long leafy leaves. As soon as the lights turn on to start the photo period, my entire school of harlequins rushes under the cover of that large hygro. There, they chill for long periods of the day. Here is a pic of the Sunset. I have about 5 stems groing in there right now:










As you can see in some of the pictures, my glosso is growing lateral and looking sparse. I let the tank get a bit overgrown with taller plants and it just isn’t getting enough direct light. I have a bit of HC on the other side of the tank that is growing slowly, but it doesn’t seem to need quite as much direct light as the glosso. At some point, I will probably get rid of whatever glosso I have remaining. I just don’t think its for me.

Here is another shot of some harlequins and an esepi hanging out together:










After my next tear down and clean up, I’ll try to post some pics to show the before and after results.


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## CobraGuppy (Sep 23, 2007)

wow, really nice plants!

Whats that plant on the left hand side in the back?

When you trim the stem plants, do you cut it in the middle and replant it so there is double or do you remove the whole stem, cut it in half, and replace the top part?


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

i like it but you need some dark green plants. all the green plants look the same shade in the picture.
they are extremely healthy though.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

CobraGuppy said:


> wow, really nice plants!
> 
> Whats that plant on the left hand side in the back?
> 
> When you trim the stem plants, do you cut it in the middle and replant it so there is double or do you remove the whole stem, cut it in half, and replace the top part?


CobraGuppy - 

The plant on the left hand side in the back is Wisteria. Believe it or not, I thin it out about every 6 weeks and wind up giving a portion away or taking it to my LFS for store credit. I love it. It really is a great plant.

I trim both ways. Depends on how lazy I feel. I also will wrap a weight in the middle of a stem and let it sit right on the bottm. A lot of times, I can get it to grow several new shoots.




@[email protected] said:


> i like it but you need some dark green plants. all the green plants look the same shade in the picture.
> they are extremely healthy though.


@[email protected] - 

The picture is actually probably over exposed because of the light. The plants are greener in person then they are in the picture. Someday when I can afford a decent camera, I'll be able to post some pics that are closer to real life.


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## CobraGuppy (Sep 23, 2007)

really? I cant believe thats wisteria xD

My lfs has water wisteria but its so full of algae and the leaves arent as big. I didnt recognize it either because my lfs's wisteria has roundish leaves.

I love the look, it fills out nicely.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

CobraGuppy said:


> really? I cant believe thats wisteria xD
> 
> My lfs has water wisteria but its so full of algae and the leaves arent as big. I didnt recognize it either because my lfs's wisteria has roundish leaves.
> 
> I love the look, it fills out nicely.


I think it might grow differently depending on the light driving it. I believe (I may be wrong) that when it is grown with lower light, the leaves are rounder and bigger, but when grown under high light, the leaves are pinate (sp?).


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## CobraGuppy (Sep 23, 2007)

ah, i see. Thanks for clearing it up.

Do you know what type of anubias you have? My barteri anubias are so big lol, they fill up my 20 gallon tank and make it look so small D:


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

I think they are just nana, but I could not tell you for sure. I have one plant that grows larger leaves than the other two. I need to take that piece of driftwood out of the tank and just take some pictures of it.

I am pretty sure that I don't have any barteri though. Those have ribs in the leaves don't they?


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## TheCryptKeeper (Mar 9, 2008)

wow... the plant growth is crazy! I'm glad I am getting advice from you! I will end up asking more ?'s when I get my dry ferts. I read that link you gave me.. but it is a little confusing to me. I guess I will just have to learn what works for me. but I will still ask.. lol

awesome looking tank!


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## phanizzle (Jun 28, 2007)

Tank looks great!


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

pwrmacG4 said:


> wow... the plant growth is crazy! I'm glad I am getting advice from you! I will end up asking more ?'s when I get my dry ferts. I read that link you gave me.. but it is a little confusing to me. I guess I will just have to learn what works for me. but I will still ask.. lol
> 
> awesome looking tank!



pwrmacg4 -

The growth is crazy. Sometimes a little too much. There are times where I dread trimming and cleaning the tank up because of the insane growth. Right now is one of those times .

As far as the ferts go, you'll get a handle on it. It really isn't hard at all, and the adjustments come slow. Don't sweat it.

Thanks for the compliment!




phanizzle said:


> Tank looks great!


Phanizzle - 

Thanks! Once I get to trimming it a bit and thinning things out, I hope it is still decent enough to take some pictures of. I usually start to like it again after a few weeks of being replated.


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## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

Your tank looks GREAT. Love the Blyxa in your tank.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

James From Cali said:


> Your tank looks GREAT. Love the Blyxa in your tank.


JFC - Thanks! Pretty soon, the Blyxa will be looking good in your tank.  

I need to take some pics today. I trimmed it back quite a bit so it looks like there is actually some room to swim in there now.


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## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

Thanks there will be some detials about how the blyxa will look in my tank in my thread. I cant keep my hands out of the tank. Who needs swim space.....its all about root space!


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## fishboy87 (Feb 19, 2008)

We need some updates on this tank


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## lescarpentier (Feb 2, 2008)

Man,that is one beautiful tank!
I'd love to see it now!:icon_wink


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

I promise an update this week. Things are starting to settle down for me a bit and I am going to start some projects that I have let fallen to the wayside.


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)




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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

waterfaller1 said:


>


x2

DIY Canopy and Stand, anyone? :flick:


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## lescarpentier (Feb 2, 2008)

Hope to see an update soon.:icon_wink


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

Ya know, I kind of let things go and basically the only things I had left were Dwarf sag (which was a big mat that smothered everything else at the bottom level of the tank), and an anubias forrest that has completely covered my driftwood.

I guess the pressure is going to be back on me with some new plants coming.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Did you ever get your new plants? I saw you called your tank a disaster on EBB's 29 journal, but the last pic I see here is anything but disaster, but that was forever ago. :icon_smil

Let's see an update!


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)




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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

eyebeatbadgers said:


>


uh, there are a lot of pics.

Nice tank bro.


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

fshfanatic said:


> uh, there are a lot of pics.
> 
> Nice tank bro.


Well, the I guess it should read "This thread is worthless without new pics"


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

OK, I am going to take some pictures of my tank on Monday night and post them either the same night or on Tuesday morning. 

Right now, though, my tank isn't looking so hot. I am using it to grow out several different plants and I haven't been as concerned with how it looks as much as quick and good growth of certain plants. I bought a few very small amazon swords that cost me about 8 bucks and my hope has been to grow them quickly so I can trade them for store credit at one of my LFS. Because of this, it is pretty chaotic and unorganized in my tank. When I do post pictures, you will see what I am getting at.

lescarpentier was gracious enough to send me some great plants that I am also growing out a bit. I have become much more aggressive with keeping up with my fertilization and tweaking my CO2 injection to get the plants to where I want to get them, but my scape doesn't look as good as it did a year ago. LOL 

Ultimately, I will probably keep a handful of the plants in my tank and start over with several new ones. Then I will basically recreate my scape to look more pleasing and organized. It will probably be at least 3 or 4 months until I get around to doing that though.


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