# My Farm Tank



## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

I figured I’d start a journal here now. This is post beginning, the tank was setup May 11, 2014. So starting at July 8th, 2014. 

Specs
30”x30”x13” standard glass cube ?frag? tank (equivalent to around 50gallons)
Lighting: 2 30” finnex planted plus, 1 finnex original fugeray (started 1 month with the 2 planted plus only)
Filtration: SunSun I believe 303-b, uv sterilizer does not work, rated for 75 gallons I think
Co2: cheap unknown to me regulator, atomic gla largest diffuser, feeds into the filter intake
Substrate: ada Amazonia (2 9l bags), ada Africana (2 9l bags)
Water: pure ro water reconstituted w/seachem equilibrium

Fauna:
Pair japan blue endlers
Some royal blue tiger culls

Plantlist:
Some of these are single stems, looking to be propagated
Syngonanthus hybrid
Syngonanthus belem
Syngonanthus manaus
Syngonanthus madeira
Syngonanthus lago grande
Tonina fluviatillis
Tonina fluviatillis lotus blossom
Eriocaulon japan shiga
Eriocaulon aussie type II
Eriocaulon sieboldanium
Trithuria blood vomit
Eriocaulon parkeri
Ludwigia tornado
Ludwigia senegalensis
Ludwigia North Carolina
Ludwigia …. pantanal
Rotala Mexicana goias
Rotala pearl type?
Rotala Mexicana green
Rotala Mexicana bangledesh
‘monte carlo’
Elatine hydropiper
Rotala macrandra green
Rotala macrandra japan red
Alternanthera reineckii variegated
Buce brownie red
Lileaposis Chinensis 'Maryland'

Some key tips on how I was successful:

I must of tried like 5 times or so and failed each time with algae or plants melting. Well, try try and try again, I gave up many times, wasted a lot of money, but passion to grow the syngonanthus plant alone kept me coming back. 

First off if your gonna use ada Amazonia then you must do water changes. Water change is a must anyways, I believe in low tech and high tech, high tech being the greater amount. I did almost daily water changes in the start. Ammonia leech may or may not melt plans but it will cause algae, which nobody wants unless its that red algae.

Pack as many plants as you can in there

O2, Co2, get this right and it will solve most of your issues, I didn’t need to fertilize the first month or so on, diffusion method is vary important too. You can blast a glass diffuser and all the bubbles are going to do is rise to the surface with less diffusion rate. I’d suggest not adding fish right away so you can really mess around with the co2. Lots of flow is a good thing, keeps o2 levels up and mixes the co2 in the water level too. Proper mixing is important when doing a co2 tank.

Photoperiod, start off with 5 hrs a day, make sure you don’t get algae(it can get bad very fast), plants will do fine, then when the system is ready you can really up your lighting period

Start off with lower light, you may have a lot higher light then you expect. 

Learn to trim, plant. This will keep things neater and not let your tank get too overgrown(I am guilty of this). Propagation? Trim a sideshoot and replant or however a plant produces, do it fast and you multiply that plant fast.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

How I inject co2 into the tank. The sun sun is a huge filter and acts like a big reactor. The efficiency is pretty high, but I do get burpage here and there.






good streamline of o2


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

So I got my plants in from the Ukraine today, seems I got rear-ended on the deal. I got different erios but they’re not the ones I ordered. It took a week and a half to arrive so most plants are in such bad shape I can’t really tell them apart. Some look recoverable though. 

Heres what I ordered:
blyxa alternifolia
erio ratonagiriuuni
erio polaris
mayaca santarem red 
mayaca sellowiniana
mayaca paraguay red
rotala araguiia
rotala maka red 
erio an son river
limnophila belem

couple of pics of what I actually got. I hope to save these plants and import somewhere else.

looks like erio. japan needle leaf









some mayaca , looks like paraguay red, and looks recoverable so optimism here


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Best of luck - we want your plants!


v3


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

OVT said:


> Best of luck - we want your plants!
> 
> 
> v3


Thanks, I know you do


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

some snaps of plants from july 8th

blood vomit








ludwigia senegalensis, no matter how you grow this, always seems to look nice, so colorful








A. variegated








bacopa salzmanii, much purpler in person, couldn't pick it up








too much growth








rotala pearl type I? hiding in my tank


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I'd say that looks like pearl type 1.

Curious, is this tank plant only?


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

HybridHerp said:


> I'd say that looks like pearl type 1.
> 
> Curious, is this tank plant only?


I have 1 pair japan blue endlers, have/had royal blue tiger culls, but I think the co2 or something else killed most of them off, didn't know what I was thinking trying to successfully pull it off...


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

5 stems I pulled out for a customer today, too much overgrowth


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

That blood vomit, is that the full size it gets height wise ? Looks to be about 2" from that picture. Since I do 10g tanks only I'm always looking for a new plant that "fits"
that size tank. Tried Elatine Hydropiper once and it didn't make it. Then saw that 76F is the highest temp it says it will grow in.
The A Varigated and the Ludwigia senegalensis also both look very nice.
I will watch for "for sale" notices in here on these.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Raymond S. said:


> That blood vomit, is that the full size it gets height wise ? Looks to be about 2" from that picture. Since I do 10g tanks only I'm always looking for a new plant that "fits"
> that size tank. Tried Elatine Hydropiper once and it didn't make it. Then saw that 76F is the highest temp it says it will grow in.
> The A Varigated and the Ludwigia senegalensis also both look very nice.
> I will watch for "for sale" notices in here on these.


I haven't a lot of experience with blood vomit full sized, so I don't know, I always split it and sell it prematurely. I will contact you when I have them available, no need look and wait around for for sale thread. EH I'll send on the house if I get it going, no need pay for a plant thats just gonna melt on you and become a waste. Worth another shot, if not another, or another


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## greaser84 (Feb 2, 2014)

StrungOut said:


> I haven't a lot of experience with blood vomit full sized, so I don't know, I always split it and sell it prematurely. I will contact you when I have them available, no need look and wait around for for sale thread. EH I'll send on the house if I get it going, no need pay for a plant thats just gonna melt on you and become a waste. Worth another shot, if not another, or another


Contact me too!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want some blood vomit!


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

greaser84 said:


> Contact me too!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want some blood vomit!


A lot of other people have blood vomit too, gonna be a long wait, but sure, you got it! The plant in the picture is all I got at the moment


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## 180g (May 20, 2014)

even though its just a farm tank I love this tank. its sooooooooo GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

180g said:


> even though its just a farm tank I love this tank. its sooooooooo GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!


Thanks, I hope to get more reds going, I have pantanal which goes great with syngonanthus, but still working on getting it to tip top pinkish red condition


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## 180g (May 20, 2014)

good luck!


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Curious, what other species you want to try and get going in this tank that you don't already have?

Also, haven't forgotten about that trade we will do, I'm just a little busy atm :S


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

180g said:


> good luck!


No luck in growing plantsroud:



> Curious, what other species you want to try and get going in this tank that you don't already have?
> 
> Also, haven't forgotten about that trade we will do, I'm just a little busy atm :S


I'm not going to list, as the possibilities are endless, there are so many plants that the US doesn't have yet. 

Like Aj says, patience is key, or something, so take your time and get back to me when your read.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Sorry guys, I was getting algae and slime at the top even though the tank is packed, but flow was being blocked by certain stems as well. I don't know reason for the algae but I tore the tank down.



















multibranch stems I pulled out
syn. belem









lotus blossom


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## 180g (May 20, 2014)

wow. are you planning on putting the plants back in or are you selling them all? im so confused.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Mmm, are you going to re-setup the tank then in a different way or what's your game plan?


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Oh my bad guys, the tank is already setup again. I'm very tired, took 1 hr 25 mins to get all the plants out, and sort them, then total all together 12 hrs with breaks and sleep to plant everything, I'll update soon. I'm used to tearing down and rebuilding, but this one took its toll because of size of tank and plant size and the amount of plant mass I actually had..


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## 180g (May 20, 2014)

awesome! can't wait!


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Ah, alright. I've only ever re-done my 75 once, its a massive chore. What'd you change around?


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

HybridHerp said:


> Ah, alright. I've only ever re-done my 75 once, its a massive chore. What'd you change around?


Its pretty much the same just shorter stems, erios in the front, I put red plants right in the middle and syngonanthus surround the whole tank. Right now it doesn't look too good, waters cloudy (will clear up by tomorrow), and once growth hits, it'll look better.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

When 9,999 tanks is basickly the same out of 10,000...yet someone will bring up that one tank and say look your wong about that...LOL...
Someone on here has as their signature "there are two kind of people on here. Those who have algae...and those who SAY they don't"...I dressed it up a bit.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

hehe, hey I had a algae less tank before, its possible.

Well heres everything I uprooted. Belem won the fight and seems to be the fastest of all the syngonanthus I have. Madeira had the least roots and was very easy to pull out. Took 1hr and 25 mins to tear all this down.


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## 180g (May 20, 2014)

lots of plants you got there!


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## mythin (Jun 26, 2009)

Wow, that is a huge mass of plants indeed. Cant wait to see the rescape!


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

180g said:


> lots of plants you got there!


Sure is a lot, can't believe all that fit in my tank



> Wow, that is a huge mass of plants indeed. Cant wait to see the rescape!


Well here it is:

Not much to look at, water cloudy and debris all over the plants. Maybe I should get a better clean up crew, any recommendations? I'd like to get zebra ottos and panda loaches, but no source at the lfs's. What I don't like is the eriocaulon watery eyes on the left side that says in the current so easily and the thin leaves get on the other plants. All the syngonanthus you see were mainly sideshoots pulled off, the hybrid I kept most of as its a personal favorite, with all the sideshoots, I was able to fill the whole tank up again. Everything for the most part is planted very closely together, I had to use my planting tool along with my fingers(hold the plant straight up while planting). Including the short tear down, total time with many breaks and sleep took about 12 hrs to do so. After tank setup, ended with a 15g water change. I siphon the water out and pour the water onto the lights or onto the mini pellia as not to disturb the substrate or the plants from uprooting. Right now, I got pantanal, rotala sunset and eriocaulon goias added to the tank floating. Pantanal is planted already


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

some plants in my tank, with debris

Erio goias itaberai









A. Variegated n pantanal









mini pellia, only clean plant in the tank









tonina fluviatillis put in the foreground


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## 180g (May 20, 2014)

nice! how much did all those plants cost you anyway? must be a lott. I guise you propagated a lot of em to get where you are tho. the lights were fine with you pouring water all over them? there might not be any thing wrong with doing that but I'm not trying it with mine! to afraid I might get shocked!


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

180g said:


> nice! how much did all those plants cost you anyway? must be a lott. I guise you propagated a lot of em to get where you are tho. the lights were fine with you pouring water all over them? there might not be any thing wrong with doing that but I'm not trying it with mine! to afraid I might get shocked!


Plants cost a lot, over and over again, I must've tried growing high light soft water plants, so I spent a bundle, I do turn around and sell em for cheap so its not about the $, don't get me wrong its fun for me to sell. Yes I did propagate a lot, but mainly the plants I liked a lot and focused on. Ya the lights are fine, they're finnex and protected by a case. When I don't pour on the lights I pour straight on the mini pellia which doesn't get uprooted or float off.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Got a lil algae in my tank I hope to rid of asap. Brown algae on the glass and tiny bits here and there of a green algae on certain tops. Not sure if its diatoms on my erios or just collectoritis, but here to you I showcase my erios. Shows all except the floating erio goias I have as well.

frontal pics of erios
watery eyes left, malaytor? right








goias ibateri








sieboldanium








parkeri








cinerum








japan shiga








aussie II








blood vomit


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

water change day


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## flowerfishs (May 6, 2009)

nice plant collection, buddy. if you can keep them health and clean, that will be a plus.
you should have a very low ph for those plants.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

flowerfishs said:


> nice plant collection, buddy. if you can keep them health and clean, that will be a plus.
> you should have a very low ph for those plants.


Hey buddy! Ya hope to do that, I don't know the ph but I'm pretty sure its very low. africana and amazonia buffer plus ro and remineralizer


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

After the water change, youtube really downgraded the video, so you can't really see all the mass and rapid pearling in the background....


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

mirror image


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

No real update, just the tank is overgrown again

Some new plants into the US
Was able to salvage them and they're starting to take off little by little
If any id's are wrong please correct, thanks
Rotala maka red

































mayaca santarem red

















blyxa alternifolia

















I actually am trying to turn these plants red by tuning down the co2 as I've been blasting it starting today


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Tuning down co2 would make them red why?

Also that rotala reminds me of Bangladesh no?


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

HybridHerp said:


> Tuning down co2 would make them red why?
> 
> Also that rotala reminds me of Bangladesh no?


I've tried everything else well mainly non dosing to dosing, I figure I try to tone it down since I had it so high to see if things start changing red.

I thought so, but the leaves are smaller and the top is pinier. Definitely reminds me of bangledesh, will see how it turns out.


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## mikeh7172 (Feb 22, 2013)

now if I had a tank like that I could get my fw ray. that is exactly what I would need a big ass square.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

mikeh7172 said:


> now if I had a tank like that I could get my fw ray. that is exactly what I would need a big ass square.


Its a nice tank, might not be enough space for a stingray though. its 30"x30", go custom, they're the best


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## mythin (Jun 26, 2009)

What is that goias ibateri, an erio or something erio like? Do you have a better shot of that, that looks like a neat plant.


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## andrewq (May 22, 2013)

Your tanks awesome!! So green, and colorful. 

Just a question, but why not switch to a inline reactor or atomizer?


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

mythin said:


> What is that goias ibateri, an erio or something erio like? Do you have a better shot of that, that looks like a neat plant.


Yup its a eriocaulon. ibateri vs. the regular goias, ibateri has more narrow, condensed yet softer and less thick/strong leaves than the regular goias. I wish my comparison were side to side but that would mean I would have to rescape that small area and I'm just so lazy besides doing water changes.:icon_lol:

ibateri

















regular goias hidden in the syngonanthus in the back

























Bump:


andrewq said:


> Your tanks awesome!! So green, and colorful.
> 
> Just a question, but why not switch to a inline reactor or atomizer?


Its outta convenience, I had a sera reactor just for this tank for the start up and it got thrown away on accident! I was mad, I didn't do the deed..So with the atomizer going into the canister is working well for me, so I don't see why I need to invest in another reactor or reading (which I dislike) to build a good one. Thanks for compliment, hopefully I can get some red in there.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

I got a great tip from a barrreport member in which if you do a 10% water change daily you'll never have algae. Instead of h2o2 and glut, I find water changes are way better at getting rid of algae, it doesn't happen over night but if you keep working at it, it disappears. I'm stoked on this tip but its a lot of work with jugs instead of having an auto changer, i use ro anyways to fill jugs, so I might do every 2 days or so...but it really makes a huge difference, i've been secretly battling algae and its pretty much fully eradicated.

just some snaps
maka red








santerum red








dead center was told was erio polaris








rotala sunset reaching the top








lago grande








newly added tornado








blood vomit uprooting


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Interesting, I could see how small water changes would help remove excess nutrients. What algae are you dealing with specifically?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

HybridHerp said:


> Interesting, I could see how small water changes would help remove excess nutrients. What algae are you dealing with specifically?


I have added plenty of ferts and done water changes and the ferts are independent, has nothing to do with inorganic ferts.

Frequent water changes help every plant species I know of grow better and every CO2 or Excel enriched tank do better. Daily is the best, but lots of work unless you automate, but 2x a week if pretty effective and generally, once a week is good.

Generally, you do the water change right after the lights come on.
I add th ferts back right after the water change, so this notion it's something to do with excess ferts is easily falsified and has been. 

I modified Discus routines and took the daily water changes and 2x a week and simply made them once a week for reduced labor to support EI methods. 

Water changes plants love, algae hates, but it's not a ferts issue at all.
Light is the same, so what's really left?

Mostly CO2/O2.

Algae eaters and pickers would also help, say 200-300 RCS pickign or 50-100 Amano's, that helps clean up the tanks fast also, 4-6 bristle nose plecos, better them than you.

Bump:


StrungOut said:


> Yso I don't see why I need to invest in another reactor or reading (which I dislike) to build a good one. Thanks for compliment, hopefully I can get some red in there.


I'd suggest the internal dIY one I have listed on my site, very easy to make. 
I use to make externals and others, but no more, not much $ in them.

You can DIY and clear water filter(see 10" with 1/2" ports at bulkreefsupply dot com) and use a small powerhead to pipe the water out and into the reactor water filter housing. Bubble the CO2 into the powerhead suction side or drill a hole and put a tube to bubble the CO2 up into the water filter countercurrent.


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## erimar (Oct 19, 2013)

Like the plant species!


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

sorry for late replies guys:



> Interesting, I could see how small water changes would help remove excess nutrients. What algae are you dealing with specifically?


I keep dosing the same amount everyday. I was dealing with some sort of green hair algae if I recall, slimy stuff at the top of stems too. 



> Quote:
> Originally Posted by HybridHerp View Post
> Interesting, I could see how small water changes would help remove excess nutrients. What algae are you dealing with specifically?
> I have added plenty of ferts and done water changes and the ferts are independent, has nothing to do with inorganic ferts.
> ...


I agree on water changes.

I'll keep that in mind, heck I should build one for back up...the venturi seems easy to do



> Like the plant species!


thanks

Tank is all overgrown now. Thinking about redoing again. Update pics of certain plants

mayaca santerum red








pearling








lago grande ton of shoot plants
















rotala maka red side by rotala vietnam to see if its same plant









Pics of overgrown tank to come


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

overgrown


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Someone needs to trim.

How long you thinking taming that jungle will take?


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

HybridHerp said:


> Someone needs to trim.
> 
> How long you thinking taming that jungle will take?


redoing it, iono like 3 hours? But when I redo I take a lot of breaks so it takes me a day to redo the 53 gallon....

Redone, looks like crap right now, but things always look nicer once grown in, nothing compared to a nice scape though


























mayaca
santerum red looking a lot nicer and redder


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

FTS


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## flowerfishs (May 6, 2009)

getting better.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

flowerfishs said:


> getting better.


Look closelier...not better, yet
buddy

After the redo, my plant mass shrunk a lot. Now I've got algae! So discouraging and a confidence downer. Can't give up now, gotta battle it. Imma up water changes and do the triple threat - algae fix, glut & hydro P. I don't know how you manually remove this besides syphoning it as its just too slimy. If I syphon it I don't want to uproot plants so maybe airline tubing. So I won't try manual removal yet, just the other two above. When your able to grow plants and get algae don't give up, u can get rid of it. Im also disabling one light which I struggle cause I'm tempted to use the third light. 

lets see if I can get rid of this


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

That type algae gone within couple or so days for most part. All I did mostly was siphon it up with an airline tubing, the plants stay in root and the algae just sucks up. Chemicals used, and water changes. 


























upped the oxygen levels by moving the spray bar just right at the surface

















wannabe centerpiece, nymphea micranthra









great new purchase, erio hainan islands









ludwigia senegalensis along with rotala maka red

















everysideshoot i see when long enough to plant I trim off, trying to propagate more of this plant fast
e. diversifolia-i have no idea why stems partial or full black

















tonina fluviatillis lotus blossom, also propagating this one fast i can









mayaca santarem red


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Just redid the whole tank again.

This time I cut the stems down to about 3 inches on almost all my plants. The tank is short so gets overgrown way fast. Most plants besides erios, nymphaea have no roots at all. So lets see how well growth is vs algae. I force split my goias ibateri and it looks toast now, bummer losing this plant, i hope it'll throw new leaves each plant. Added back my third light again. I do have blue-green algae on like a few stems of syngonanthus.

Pics and more to come


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

As you can see I've got algae on the walls, as well as the blue green on the syng.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

We need to get this man a 75 or something lol

I'm curious, have you ever thought about doing an emersed farm to complement this one? That way you have more space for certain harder to find species that can only be grown submerged, and you'll have specimens that are emersed grown of things that can be emersed grown and have less algae worries


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

HybridHerp said:


> We need to get this man a 75 or something lol
> 
> I'm curious, have you ever thought about doing an emersed farm to complement this one? That way you have more space for certain harder to find species that can only be grown submerged, and you'll have specimens that are emersed grown of things that can be emersed grown and have less algae worries


Ive already done emmersed, its cool cause its so easy. I might start a natural sunlight emmersed tank, but this more challenging and I like it. Especially the fact that if get algae can eradicate vs b4 when I would give up. Thanksb for idea, I might just do one


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Got some emmersed rotala sunset in the tank now, been 2 days now, I predict no melting at all. Its all because I blasted the co2, yes, I blasted the co2 up. I can't think of any other reason why partial stems aren't melting.


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## MB2 (Feb 6, 2007)

This tank has quite a collection of hard-to-find plants. I got some plants from his tank today. Although there is a bit of green algae, but the plants are super healthy. And thanks for your generosity with bonus plants.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

MB2 said:


> This tank has quite a collection of hard-to-find plants. I got some plants from his tank today. Although there is a bit of green algae, but the plants are super healthy. And thanks for your generosity with bonus plants.


word.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

MB2 said:


> This tank has quite a collection of hard-to-find plants. I got some plants from his tank today. Although there is a bit of green algae, but the plants are super healthy. And thanks for your generosity with bonus plants.


major factor in keeping plants healthy, co2, i learned this by reading and just by observation. Everything despite algae will push for new green growth with co2.
I'm on the co2 bandwagon now.

day 3 rotala sunset


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

some newer plants of my tank

eriocaulon polaris, my favorite








eriocaulon hainan islands, grew a flower stalk already, was recommended to pull the flower stalk not cut the stalk, reasons unknown, but there is a difference i know that








aciotis, just one stem doing well even though entangled with mayaca competing








E. Diversifolia








nymphaea micranthra, nice colors








some cuphea, entangled too, surprised it doesn't melt, anything entangled with anything seems to melt but it doesn't








syn. madeira, found out that this is the fastest grower out of all my syngonanthus, even belem, belem may throw out more sides but madeira reaches the top the fastests








rotala sunset progress, no melting, good crap








recently added downoi, it would always melt on me in ro and not tap, first time I've been able to not have it melt








blyxa alternifolia, trying propagate as fast as I can, sold two stems, now have 3 left








sad, i lost eriocaulon goias ibateri, so sad, from force split, I'm weary of the force split now, its toasted and i should just remove it








For the FTS winners!


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

I switched to a co2 reactor and it impeded my flow majorly. As a result I got major major major algae. Its almost all gone now, I've added a powerhead, a lot of chems, and manual removal. I can say the reactor is iono like 30% more effective than how I have been diffusing. Bubble rate I kept the same. Pearling rate is a lot more rapid and faster.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Just redid the whole tank. Got new plants in...

Rotala pearl type 2
Rotala macrandra unknown
Rotala rotofundia sp. red
Limnophila belem or sulawesi
Persecaria palustris


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

www.youtu.be/oERTCycN8R4

youtu.be/oERTCycN8R4


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## Aquaticz (Dec 26, 2009)

U 2 Bro


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## foster (Sep 23, 2012)

Merry Christmas!!
After looking through your tank journal I see lots-o-plants I would like to purchase from you!!


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

*fishy-platties*



Aquaticz said:


> U 2 Bro


Thanks to the both of ya!

measy pic update...


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Redesigned the whole tank again. Only gets easier and easier and faster as well..









blyxa alternifolia










*Can someone please id this plant?*


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

To all those getting Ray2’s and not hanging them usually light is overkilled. Lighting is the most important thing when starting a tank. Its gonna determine how much co2 and nutrients is needed. If you don’t get lighting down correctly you ain’t gonna get anything else correct but algae growth abilities. Co2 I’ve been finding easier and easier to fluctuate with less light. I switched from 3 hoods to 2 now. Co2 ranges and dialing it in is much more fluctuating and not as accurate now but lower light it doesn’t need to be. I’ll say it now, lighting is a key success to a planted tank. Since I dose EI fertilizers are ruled out, even pps fertilizers are ruled out. Its very hard for myself to spot a deficiency


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

starting up agin
June 7, 2015, tank redone again again again again


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## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

Great thread, I'll stay tuned, hoping to learn a few tricks.....


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

6/13/15
tank is clear now, I'm going to replace canister with wet dry filter soon








eriocaulon vietnam








current setup is canister and co2 atomizer inline


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## dru (Mar 9, 2013)

Do you find the inline atomizer is more efficient than diffusing below the intake?


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## mot (Sep 17, 2011)

StrungOut said:


> To all those getting Ray2’s and not hanging them usually light is overkilled. Lighting is the most important thing when starting a tank. Its gonna determine how much co2 and nutrients is needed. If you don’t get lighting down correctly you ain’t gonna get anything else correct but algae growth abilities. Co2 I’ve been finding easier and easier to fluctuate with less light. I switched from 3 hoods to 2 now. Co2 ranges and dialing it in is much more fluctuating and not as accurate now but lower light it doesn’t need to be. I’ll say it now, lighting is a key success to a planted tank. Since I dose EI fertilizers are ruled out, even pps fertilizers are ruled out. Its very hard for myself to spot a deficiency


This is some great advice.


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Thanks mot.

So went and upgraded to wet/dry filter. Things looking very clean
This filter provides more oxygen and since oxygen and co2 are independent, allows me to add more co2 if i wanted to


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

Happy Father's day!

Had some melting of my lago grande and a other syn. or two, removed my peat from the filter, advised to add more calcium so did it. Pics current 6/21/15, advised to also water change but I'm not going to do that for a few days. Tank has become way more balanced. Reds could be way more, purps are good though. If hadn't already stated, running two dual t5's now instead of 3 finnex planted plus, liking them better. co2 is via reactor over atomizer now. I am really enjoying things now, seems so much more simple, and enjoy watching things change and grow.

full tank shots


















Echinodorus joyo bright star, hoping its correct id.









syngonanthus belem vs. macrocaulon, any difference? seems so but very argumentative
*macrocaulon*
















*belem*


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

New Addition!***

Eriocaulon King Crimson


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

Nice man, its looking great! What other swords are you currently growing? Also, wanted to ask, what are you using for co2 injection now?


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

HybridHerp said:


> Nice man, its looking great! What other swords are you currently growing? Also, wanted to ask, what are you using for co2 injection now?


Man sorry C....I am using a sera co2 i think model 1000 reactor

swords or erios?


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## JennieEilerts (Dec 1, 2015)

What can you tell me about this Lotus Blossom plant? I love how compact the leaves are!



StrungOut said:


> Sorry guys, I was getting algae and slime at the top even though the tank is packed, but flow was being blocked by certain stems as well. I don't know reason for the algae but I tore the tank down.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## DennisSingh (Nov 8, 2004)

tonina fluviatillis lotus blossom

Cut in half and the bottom will sideshoots, in poor conditions the bottoms will melt
high co2, high light, soft water
takes nutrients from the water column
float the stem will stimulate and produce sideshoots too.
If conditions are not met it will just melt on you. rapidly too.


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