# 38G by rain- (56K), rest in peace



## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I have finally managed to move my apple snails to another tank so I can dedicate this tank for plants, shrimps and smaller snails. I haven't aquascaped the tank yet, plants are spread in a way that they all have room to grow and be.

144 liters, 38 gallons, 120x40x30(height)cm, 47.2x15.8x11.8 inches.

Sand blasting sand, 0,1-0,6mm. Tetra Crypto tablets and self made clay+peat balls as the bottom fertilizer, PMDD, KNO3, Seachem Flourish, Seachem Flourish Excel, DIY CO2. 2x36+2x18W fluorescent tubes, 2.8wpg. Eheim 2010. pH 7, GH 5, KH 4, NO3 10ppm, 26C. 

Ludwigia helminthorrhiza, Phyllanthus fluitans, Vallisneria americana var. biwaensis, Heteranthera zosterifolia, Cladophora aegagropila, Microsorum pteropus 'Red', Rotala rotundifolia, Shinnersia rivularis, Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Cuba', Hydrocotyle leucocephala, Hygrophila corymbosa 'Stricta', Echinodorus tenellus, Echinodorus angustifolius, Marsilea hirsuta, "Egeria najas", Drepanocladus aduncus.

All the plants are doing well and pearling, no algae (*knocks on wood*) and I need to prune them often. I think I will keep the plants this way until I get more plants (more delicate ones) and then actually plant them so it looks good. The ones in the plastic cups are the ones I have sold and are soon to be sent.

I can't wait to start doing plans for this tank


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Looks great, thats one heck long of a tank!


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thanks 

I like this tank, it looks bigger than it is and allows much deeper view since it is more wide than high. There's also more surface area and it is good for the oxygen levels in the tank. I had this and another similar made for me and I couldn't be happier.

Oh, and I have 3 metal halides, 70W with Philips Mastercolour bulbs. I am thinking about putting one or two above the tank, but it worries me a bit. They should be put really high and still there would be alot of light. I'm not sure if I'm ready for it. And the plants are growing nicely with these lights. Maybe after I get EI going.

I have just started to add NO3, didn't feel the need before since there were lots of apple snails, but now it's necessary. I haven't found the right balance yet with ferts, for example the Ludwigia 'Cuba' is too green now. I will start dosing by EI when I get my hands on KH2PO4.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Those are interesting dimensions on that tank and quite a list of plants you have...you will have your hands full keeping stems trimmed but it should fill out quickly and look nice. roud: 
Two 70w pendants would be fine if kept elevated and I think they would be perfect for your setup. Since you dont have to worry about jumping fish I would leave the top open for looking down into the tank. I cant wait to see what you do with the scape...

What is the name of the one in the 3rd photo ?


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

The moss in the third picture is Drepanocladus aduncus, I just got it from Netherlands where it is rather common in the wilds. Grows straight up. 

And yes, the plants give me alot of work. I pruned most of the stem plants a few days ago to max. 5cm height and yesterday I already had to shorten the front part of the Shinnersia bush when it started growin horizontally along the water line. As you see, it has grown fast. But I don't complain 

I just hope I can start the EI soon to get the best results, Shinnersia grows too tall and not thick and wide leaved enoug, others are too green and so on. But I suppose it was expected when I started changing my fertilisation routines. It's still not right, but I believe it will soon be 

I was thinking about thin apple tree branches to the back of the tank for the full lenght of it. And attaching mosses and ferns to them. A bit larger pebbles and small stones to the front to make it look more natural. And replacing the easy plants with more demanding ones. 

I would like to leave the top open, but (I forgot to mention) there will be zebra nerites and Crystal Red and White Pearl shrimps as occupants. The snails will definitely climb off, I'm not sure about those two shrimp species and their behaviour.


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

I think long thin branches would look sweet in that tank. The dimensions are unique. Definitely much bigger looking than it really is. I'm betting you won't end up keeping too many stem plants :wink: . This one will be fun to watch develop!

Brian.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I have this perversion with stem plants and pruning them. I actually love it. I am really anxious with this setup, I have a feeling this will be my greatest ever. If I just get it all to work :tongue: 

How high would you put the metal halides, btw? It is a shallow tank and I would hate to see it filled with algae.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

You know what, I love that new moss. It grows fast and looks pretty. It has grown this much in 3 days:









The moss came with some algae and I have been removing it when I see new threads. I'm not really worried, I think I can get rid of it before it spreads to other plants


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Those MH's are only 70w so I wouldnt worry much about the height... I would say 12-14" would be perfect. You should get beautiful growth and if it gets too crazy just raise them a bit more. :wink: 

CO2,CO2... and dont forget CO2 ... LOL


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Ok. I think I will switch to metal halides in the beginning of August since I will be on vacation for almost the whole July and well... It's better that I will be monitoring the situation 

And btw, it isn't a good idea to put a couple millilitres of liquid fertiliser inside the bottom sand as an experiment. I got my first BGA for ages (I remember only one time few years back when there was a tiny area of BGA in a withering stem plants leaves). I was like a little girl in Christmas opening presents: "Oh, BGA! So neat!". I did remove it, but first I admired it for awhile


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## chadly (May 17, 2005)

Looks great! I have a very similar size tank I haven't setup yet. This gives me an idea of what mine might look like. My tank is 48"x18"x12".


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

They really are nice dimensions for a tank. I was thinking that when I move next year I will only take the stand (120x60cm) of this tank with me and buy a new 120x60x40cm, 47.2x23.6x15.8, tank on top of it. I could put even more shrimps there and maybe shoals of Corydoras hastatus, habrosus and pygmaeus. But now I need to concentrate on this one 

I was baffled because Heteranthera and L. 'Cuba' seemed to grow really slow even though there is enough nutrients, CO2 and light. But I took a better look just now. No wonder they didn't seem to be getting higher, they are growing horizontally.

Heteranthera doing the limbo:









Today after I sent the plants in plastic cups and half of the annoying Shinnersia:


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## sugarlevi (Jan 18, 2005)

:bounce: 
Didn't know you also came here, than again this forum is not part of my routine, so I miss things. But I'm glad you like the moss. :icon_bigg

edit: I think that last setup will grow out looking wonderful. It sure is an improvement when compared to the first pictures. But well that was the plan wasn't it?


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Yes, I love this moss, thank you so much. The few threads of algae are gone too 

I think it's going to take a long time for this tank to be the way I want it to be (my vacation, then metal halides and EI, tree branches and other decoration, then some more demanding plants), but there's no hurry. 

I think I will try my luck with open top. I believe the shrimps will stay inside the tank if they are feeling comfortable, but I think I need to put the zebra nerites to another tank. And that blue looking black cardboard needs to be replaced with something black that actually looks black in pictures too.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Well, nothing has changed, everything doing great (exept some of the Vallisneria, they sort of dried when I was doing a 90% water change and forgot I really shouldn't do it anymore, but I'm sure they will grow back) and Ludwigia 'Cuba' is getting more beautiful every day. It really was good to move the apple snails to another tank and dedicate this only for plants, low NO2, high GH and KH with no CO2 addition isn't a good thing for planted tank. 

The change is remarkable as everyone could have guessed. I was a bit worried that maybe some plants will get annoyed because of the change even when it was a change for better. But lo and behold. Rotala wallichii which arrived almost frozen to me on february and was only couple of black stumps without leaves for these months has done a comeback. I thought it was dead


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

The tank is lookin nice rain... in a month or two you wont even recognize it. The cuba looks super and fear not...the wallichi is a fast grower once it starts, its a pretty tough plant and dont like to die. 

Yup....Im likin it :wink:


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

It really is a survivor. I hope my HC would have been the same, but my curious apple snails were too much for it (they didn't eat it, they just battered it :/). But well, I don't have apple snails anymore in this tank, now I just need to get some HC again.

Oh, and I feel bad for the Vallisneria. Only the tiny new leaves didn't dry out and die. But luckily it grows fast and I bet it does a comeback fast. And I will stop doing 90% water changes and go to about 50%. 

Only problem now is that I haven't found KH2PO4. I haven't asked from the local pharmacy since most of the stuff there is really expensive. But well, I have time to find it still.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

One of the new inhabitants.









_Neritina natalensis_ cleaning _Marsilea hirsuta_ leaves.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

That shrimp is amazing, what species is it?


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thanks  It is Crystal Red. From here you can find more about them if youre interested: ShrimpNow - CRS grading and ShrimpNow - Caridina sp. 'Crystal Red'


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## Salamastre (Jun 19, 2005)

The tank looks great, and that is a beautiful neritina.

New kind of animal to research


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Neritina natalensis is such a beautiful and useful species. They eat algae from tank walls and even from the sturdiest plants (like that Marsilea). Mine seem to like canned green beans too 

I got a picture of White Pearl with eggs, the face is overexposured, but the eggs (or well, shrimplets) are really visible in this picture 









Soon 6 am here, so off to bed I go.


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## StUk_In_AfRiKa (Jan 30, 2005)

Wow that last shrimp pic is amazing! The little shrimps seem quite big!


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

I could wish to have some of those N. natalensis, I dare say they are about the most attractive FW snails I've ever seen. N. reclivata is the only Neritina I have found for sale.

The pic of the white pearl is excellent.


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## amber2461 (Sep 26, 2004)

Those are gorgeous shrimps you have there rain, thanks for sharing and posting them.

Beautiful white pearl too.

Cheers


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

How big do those snails get rain- ? I love the look.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

It really is exciting having new shrimp species and waiting for those eggs to hatch roud: 

Neritinas grow to about 2-3 centimetres, around one inch I think. They aren't that active, they just move around the tank eating algae and other food they encounter, sometimes they lay white eggs that are hard to remove and wont develop in fresh water (the young also go through a larval stage so not easy to grow), climb off the water and cause worries for the owner, but most of the time they just are and look beautiful 










Oh, and I also have now Vallisneria nana, Riccia and Myriophyllum matogrossense. All of them are miracles and there's only tiny amount of them, they traveled for 10 days and most of the plants were brown liquid when they arrived, but I managed to save a little parts of those ones. I'm sure Riccia will thrive without any care, but others are projects like that Rotala wallichii.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I am a shrimpy momma now


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Sweet, those crystal red shrimps are beautiful but pricy!


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

The egg-laying is the only real disadvantage to Neritina spp. It is a significant one, though, at least IMO, since the stark white eggs are so noticeable and take a long time to dissolve away.


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## Fosty (Oct 17, 2003)

Those are some bueatiful shrimp and snails! The tank looks great too! So where can you get these Neritina snails. I've seen them on Aquabid once or twice but not often and they are pretty pricey.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I am so annoyed. I started to move the tank to another spot on my room yesterday (and I was moving other tanks earlier this week and rearranging everything here). And after that I finally got metal halides on top of the tank and what happened? Other ones capacitor basically exploded when I was standing next to the tank and replanting plants. I didn't go deaf, but my ear sure did hurt for a long time. And some yucky fluid dropped to the tank from the broken capacitor. This happened 24 hours ago.

So, what I am doing right now (4 am)? Yes, washing the tank, replacing the sand, hoping the plants didn't die. I haven't had much sleep, I've been working hard with rearranging my room, moving all my tanks for a week and now this happened 

I feel so tired and I almost wish to get rid of these all. I seem to be having some sort of birthday curse. I have my birthday on saturday and every year near my birthday as long as I can remember, I have been feeling down because of something. 

I did get some neat mosses and liverworts from Germany and Malaysia, so something fun happened too. Well, as Dory said in Finding Nemo, just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.


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## amber2461 (Sep 26, 2004)

Happy belated birthday rain, sorry to hear about your woes, but keep on swimming.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thanks. After a long day and night, I have the tank washed up, the new sand cleaned and most of the plants planted. It looks ugly, not much plants left at the moment 

The left part has two Philips Aquarelle (10000k) fluorescent tubes on top of it and the right part is lit with one 70W Philips Mastercolour (942) metal halide.









My new mosses and liverworts: Christmas, Taiwan, Erect, Weeping, Creeping, stringy and giant moss (native to Germany), Monosonelium tenerum, a seaweed like liverwort "Süßwassertang", Riccia and I also got on top of those Pogostemon helferi as a surprise.

There's only one way with the tank, to the better


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

wow, you are going to have a moss emporium there shortly!


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I hope the mosses will start to grow fast. I am going to put a moss wall to the back of the tank using filter foam plate as the uhm, base for it.

Here's a side view from today (the brown thingy is dead erect moss, I was hoping it would start growing again):









I am a bit worried for the plants, most of them were in a bucket for two days.

Downoi:









Süßwassertang:


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Woohoo, some of the Shinnersia is melting :/ Otherwise all seem to be alive and I heard that the other MH is ok, just the condensator broke, so it can be fixed. I took some more pictures today.

Microsorum pteropus "Red"









Riccia









Giant moss


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Downoi today with wallichii:


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## Carpet-Pond (Aug 9, 2003)

I really like this tank... and the plant layout behind it too is a very smart idea. I hope things are going better for you now!


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

I Love the look of that downoi plant so I googled it up and came up with Pogostemon helferi . What a kool lookin plant and it looks like its perkin up nice for you! roud:


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Good luck with the dow noi! That plant is uber slow and difficult . . . and I can't think of a way to use them in an aquascape . . . but healthy individual speciemens are so pretty . . .

BTW- what's the genus on the giant moss? Is it a proven true aquatic?


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## Clone (Feb 29, 2004)

[greenmiddlefinger: QUOTE]Good luck with the dow noi! That plant is uber slow and difficult . .[/QUOTE] 

I don't think they are all that slow or that difficult. It must be all the algae I feed them:tongue: 

Seriously, they do grow slowly vertically but they send out a lot of runners.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

OK, you're right, "uber" is probably an exageration :tongue:


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thanks all 


Downoi really does seem pretty and not as fast as the weeds I have, the wallichii grows much faster:

20.9:









22.9:









25.9:









I hope I can keep it alive and well. It is just too cute to be killed. And the mosses are all growing nicely. About the giant moss, the species is unknown, but it's from Germany and it is true aquatic (no moss growing above water in the finding place).

Whee, I will get the other MH on thursday and then I can get rid of the emergency lighting. And I will soon be getting Seachem Flourish Phosphate and then I can start EI (well, first I need to figure out the dosage amounts, but it shouldn't be that hard).


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

The tank today:


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

That is a lovely setup for the tank, with all the plants surrounding the tank it makes the tank look more like a terrarium. Dont you like going topless ? I would love to switch to halides just for the ability to walk up and look at the top of the water and into the tank without the obstruction of light fixtures or tops roud: 

Great photo :wink:


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thanks 

I do intend to go topless, but I am a bit shy and want to make sure the MH:s are working flawlessly before I take the glass cover off. I am also waiting for some items to arrive (one most likely really pretty moorwood piece and the filterfoam plate for the moss wall).

And bleh, just when it shouldn't happen, Excel is running out and I wont be getting more right now, but within a week or two. I don't like the gaps in the routine :/


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

Just seconding Buck's comments. Very attractive setup, congrats!


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

Your setup looks very nice rain- Excellent job roud: 

The Dow-noi, which means "Little Star" in Thaih, is a very slow grower, and is extremely sensative to sudden changes in water condition. I have several growing my highligh and lowlight tanks, once established they do well..


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I hope this will turn out to be a pretty setup 

Next week I will be getting the bogwood and stuff I need for the moss wall. Can't wait to be able to finally do some actual aquascaping. Oh, the Downoi had some babies, it has 3 new branches growing from the stem 

This Fissiden arrived today and I just dropped it to the tank, since the bogwood it is going to be tied to hasn't arrived yet.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

The stuff still hasn't arrived, they should be here by the end of next week and then I will be aquascaping and taking new pictures.

But I have a question. When I have the Seachem Phosphorus, should I add enough of it to raise the phosphate level by 1 ppm (1 mg/l)? There shouldn't be much phosphates in the tap water. I am adding KNO3 enough to raise the nitrate level by 10 ppm and as with the phosphates, there's not much nitrates in the tap water. And I'm not sure if I should add more potassium or not.


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## victortong (Sep 9, 2005)

Great looking tank, love the surroundings...would love to see it when everything fills in. Keep on swimming FASTER! :tongue:


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

rain you get some very interesting plants ! I like that one. roud: 

Have you seen this thread yet ?? Dosing Regimines by Craig 
He did a wonderful job and I think it is a must read for everyone here who is unsure on how to dose a tank.
However , just get your P04 up to 1 or 2 ppm to start and your NO3 in the 10 - 15 ppm range to start and you will be fine. 

Again... very kool plant rain- ! :icon_bigg


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thanks, I have been reading it and using the calculators available, but this phosphate still baffles me a bit. 

Looks like I'd need to add 30 millilitres of Seachem Phosphorus to get ~1 ppm of phosphate. Is that right?


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Ive never used Seachems but that sounds ridiculously high to raise it 1 ppm in a 38G tank. I dose with powder so I am of no use here. maybe someone else can chime in here that uses it... :icon_bigg


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Maybe it really is a weak solution. Looks like I am going to use alot of money to add enough phosphates to the tank with Seachem Phosphorus. Maybe I should buy a gigantic sack of KH2PO4, I won't be ever able to use it all, but it just might be cheaper than buying this stuff. 

Would sodium phosphate be a good choice if I'll be able to get it cheaper than KH2PO4? Fleet enema contains that, I think.

Oh, and the tapwater is rather pure, so I don't think there's much phosphates coming from there either (these are a bit old test results I got from our water company, but I don't think it could have changed much):

pH 7.9
conductivity <20 mS/m
carbonate hardness 1.4 dKH
total hardness 3.8 dGH
Ca 2.5 dGH
Mg 1.3 dGH
NO3 0,3-1 mg/l
NO2 <0.003 mg/l
Ammonium 0.01 mg/l
Fe 0.03 mg/l
Mn 0.02 mg/l
SO4 5.4 - 13 mg/l


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## Tino (Jan 9, 2005)

Use fleet enema. It's potent,it's liquid (means easy to dose), and it's cheap. Try to find something close to this:http://www.drugstore.com/products/p...p2=15093&trxp3=1&trxp4=0&btrx=BUY-PLST-0-SRCH.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Only thing close to it is this:

Phosphoral, 90 ml costs 19,95 euro (24 dollars). It contains 21.6 g dinatrium phospate dodecahydrate and 48.8 g natrium dihydrogenophosphate. To me it sounds expensive. And it is available in ginger or lemon taste.


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## Tino (Jan 9, 2005)

Ouch!
I guess getting KH2PO4 in dry bulk doesn't sound so bad...

Can't believe there's no cheap fleet over there.. :icon_frow


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Lots of stuff here is rather expensive and some are impossible to find. For example a gallon of gas costs 5.9 dollars.

Well, I have this Seachem Phosphorus now, so I have some time to find the cheapest source of KH2PO4. 

All the plants and mosses seem to be doing fine. Downoi hasn't gained any more height, but it has grown lots of side shoots, but I don't think I can detach them without breaking the whole plant.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I am still aquascaping, I need more bogwood and some moss to hide the part between the tank and the house plants, I also need to spray some water darkened with peat or soil to the blue filter foam plate above the water level to get it dark, the part under water will darken by itself and I hope the Fissidens will grow nicely to hide it. I'll be adding weeping moss to the right and left side of the plate and let Fissidens to fill the middle section.

I'm in the middle of replanting the plants and deciding what kind of order would be the best. And I've started to dislike the Marsilea. I was thinking that I could use Monosolenium tenerum to fill the bottom entirely. It might look cool. Mini Pellia might be even more cool, but that I don't have.

The tank today right after a water change, the water is still a bit cloudy because of the small bubbles. The large leaved plant on the left next to the plant is Golden Pothos, _Epipremnum pinnatum_, those leaves are HUGE, bigger than the leaves of my split leaf philodendron. I just had to have it when I saw it at the store. Too bad the new leaves wont be as big as these ones, not enough light and moisture here for it :/

(These are a bit dark, but I hope they aren't totally black on your monitors.)


















This is how I am dosing:
Saturday: Flourish 5 ml, Excel 10 ml, Phosphorus 15 ml, NO3 5 ppm, baking soda 2 teaspoons, Ca+Mg 2 teaspoons, K 1 teaspoon
Sunday: Excel 5 ml
Monday: Flourish 5 ml
Tuesday: Excel 5 ml, Phosphorus 7,5 ml, NO3 5 ppm
Wednesday: Flourish 5 ml
Thurday: Excel 5 ml, Phosphorus 7,5 ml, NO3 5 ppm
Friday: Flourish 5 ml

I was thinking that I'll change the micro fert every week, like first week I'll use Flourish, second week TMG and third week PMDD imitating TMG (but containing different kind of chelating agent). How much would you guys add TMG per week? And how much Flourish?


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I got today my KH2PO4 from Greg Watson and I'll be using it from now on. So much easier and cheaper than Seachem Phosphorus  

I still haven't decided what to do with the sides of the tank, they look really untidy right now. I took out the Marsilea and I will replace it with solid carpet of moss and Monosolenium tenerum. I also have HC, but I can't decide where to plant it if I'm going to fill most of the front and almost all of the middle part of the tank with moss and "Pellia". Maybe I'd better put HC around the Downoi. But still, I don't know where they would fit. Hygrophila corymbosa is flowering.


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## jimmydrsv (Apr 8, 2005)

Looks like it is growing right out of the tank.

Awesome. :thumbsup:


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## eds (Feb 12, 2003)

You are an artist, *rain*.
That is beautiful!


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

The tank looks huge. I thought it was over 100 gallons.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

The *rain-* forest... = 

Oh rain- that is absolutely gorgeous ! 
This is my favorite tank display on the entire forum. I could stare at that second photo for hours. You sure have had some nice growth in there, its filling in perfectly. I wouldnt bother with the hc if you are going with moss and pellia. Both would be great plants to put some elevation changes in the bottom of the tank. The _only_ thing I dislike in your tank is the bottom...its very flat looking. I use small pieces of lava rock for my mosses to grow on and they are portable , easy to clean and arrange. Just an idea  

The tank is looking beautiful rain- , like I said...its my new favorite forum display ! Wheres that rating button ! You are getting a 5 star applause from Bucky !


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Oh my, thank you guys 

Buck, you are right, the bottom really does need more variation. It really bothers me, first I meant to fill it with Marsilea, but it looked so lame, I'm sure the moss+"pellia" -combination will be much better. I think I'll be doing just what you suggested. Or then, If I can find some light stainless steel mesh, I could mould it to the right form. But lava rocks would be easier to obtain and use 

The part of the blue filter foam plate which is above water is now covered with peat and Riccia, I also stuck some Fittonia, creeping fig and prayer plant stalks to the plate and they have started to grow nicely. Oh, and I like the Hygrophila corymbosa, it is already about 55cm tall and sooo pretty


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

Buck said:


> The *rain-* forest... =


Perfect. Buckster, you nailed it.

Rain, I wouldn't be surprised if you start a new aquascaping trend with this tank. Gorgeous.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I think my tanks are a bit jungleish and not as organized as I'd want them to be. I would so love to be able to do an Amano tank, but it just doesn't work out. It always goes jungle. 

Oh, and btw, I _hate_ EI! Stargrass and others are growing way too fast for me to be able to keep them in shape. And I would so want to keep them and not take some slower plants instead. After I started to add also phosphates with nitrate and other ferts, they all went crazy, Giant Hygro started growing like a mad, uhm, madplant and is now flowering happily (well, that isn't a hard thing to achieve), and stargrass & co. are growing about 10 centimetres in 2 days and everything pearls nicely. Well, I don't think I should be complaining when things are going so nicely. But the pruning is so tiring sometimes


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Nice collection of plants rain  

I look forward to the day where you organize them into a beautiful aquascape


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Everything in due time and well, I sort of like this jungle of mine. As I said, I'd love to do an Amano tank, but my style is different and I bet my tanks will never be as organized as some people like their tanks to be 

I want to take this slow and not mess all up by being too impatient. Now I have the fertilisation routine fixed and I'll be getting the pressurised CO2 soon. I want all the basics to be in place first and after that to start playing with the scape. I do get anxious sometimes, it is a bit frustrating to know how I would want this to be, but not being able to do it yet. 

I am rather happy with the development so far, it has been only under three months when I redid everything from the scratch and there hasn't been any algae blooms or other problems. It was a rocky road at first, but the plants made it 

And thank you all for the support, I really appreciate it.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

rain- said:


> I want all the basics to be in place first and after that to start playing with the scape.


You are doing it right rain- .

I have found that the biggest mistake in this hobby for most is that they try to aquascape before they learn how to grow plants. All that will do is frustrate you. I would rather see a jungle full of healthy , easier plants , grown to their potential, before seeing a well scaped tank full of algae. 
_I loathe the *"rules"* of aquascaping !_


rain- said:


> I don't think I should be complaining when things are going so nicely. But the pruning is so tiring sometimes


You better not complain...I will bet you any money that I could find someone to switch places with you in hope's that someday they could get tired from pruning, thats a sign of success! :icon_mrgr

*I stand by my vote, its a 5 star display !*


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thank you Buck. 

Our finnish aquarium forum, Aqua-Web, publishes an online aquarium magazine, Aponogeton cf. AW (lace plant, Aponogeton, is verkkolehti in finnish and verkkolehti also means online magazine, verkko = net, web and lehti = leaf, magazine). Our first aquarium photograph of the year contest was just finished and the 12 best ones are used in the aquarium magazine's official calendar. One of my pictures is in the calendar, it's the number 6 in this page. I'm so happy.


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## shuks (Jul 10, 2005)

your tank is so god damn beautiful it makes me jellous... 

I love the way you have terestrial plants growing above the water. From the front it looks like the plants are growing right out of the water. 

If I didnt know any better I would swear that your tank was over 100 gallons. Keep up the good work, and keep us updated with pictures.


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## mrbelvedere (Nov 15, 2005)

Great tank. That would make Amano jealous.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thank you 


Oh my, I just found out that the url might not work for people who aren't a member in our forum. I have to find out a solution for that.


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## jeep8rus (Oct 17, 2005)

rain, I just wanted to say I love your setup and you've convinced me to do a similar setup!

-Russ


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## Takechanmanus (Oct 9, 2005)

WOW, I like your setup  . It's so gorgeous. It's like a little pond in tropical rain forest roud: 

Tak


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## Repz (May 20, 2004)

beautifully composed piece of art id say
i love the way the land plants look like there apart of the aquarium 
beautifully scaped


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thank you. I really enjoy the serenity of my room and that's mostly because of this tank. I also have some rainforest, stream, ocean etc. sounds in cd:s and it is really nice just to listen to the birds singing, water splashing and watch the plants moving gently in the current and shrimps swimming around the tank. 

Oh, and this is the picture of mine I was talking about before, the one in the Aponogeton cf. AW calendar.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I just have to share this picture with you guys. I was holding my camera when I saw one of my pretty Crystal Reds near the front glass:


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## toofazt (Jun 18, 2005)

WOW:icon_eek: Thats a nice looking crystal red... I wish I had some. Just out of curiosity do you know what grade it is?:thumbsup:


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I think it's grade A, not quite S yet. I started with 9 CRS which were grade C and B, now there's starting to be more and more white in them after couple of generations of not so strict selective breeding. I wish I could get my hands on some grade S ones to widen the gene pool, but I have to wait till spring to be able to even think about buying from abroad.

And here's my Downoi today, I divided the original a while ago and I managed to get most of it divided without killing them, now there's 6:









And an update: Downoi today, February 1st, 2006:


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Nice to see your downoi is doing good -rain and you successfully split it...that must have been a bit nerve-racking eh ?


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Well, I simply don't know how I missed this thread for so long. Add my applause to the room. The whole setup is simply stunning. Even through the cold, impassionate internet, I can "feel" that room.
Stunning inverts!


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Buck: It truly was.  The plant seems to be so tiny and fragile and some people keep telling how difficult it is to keep. I feared I would kill it by dividing it. But I have to say, it seems to be an easy plant (although it's annoying to divide) and it doesn't seem to get upset easily. 

And thank you unirdna. It's now -7 fahrenheit (-21,7 celsius) outside and I am so happy to be able to almost forget that it's winter outside. It's amazing how much an aquarium and some house plants can do. 

I tossed out the stargrass, it was starting to annoy me by growing too fast. And I had to cut down the giant hygro, it had thrips on it's leaves above the water line and I didn't want them to spread to another plants. It wasn't fun to do it, it was already 70 centimetres, 27.5 inches high (the tank is 30 cm (11.8 inches) high and there is 25 cm (9.8 inches) of giant hygro inside the tank, all the rest of it was above it). It had lots and lots of flowers and flowerbuds and it was really beautiful.

I think it's time to start replacing those fast growers and easy plants to some more demanding and slow growing ones. The tank seems to be stable now and I think it's soon time to start aquascaping. I just wish it would be spring too so I could order some plants from abroad.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Nothing new, but I wanted to show you my Marsilea, they are so cute when (growing emersed) they fold their leaves like this in the evening:


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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

Rain,

You have the TOUCH!!! The whole settup look GREAT! It is tanks like yours that make this hobbie so fun! You give me somthing to strive for!!

Good luck,
Drew:thumbsup:


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

nice looking tank! i remember seeing it when you first set this up then like never seeing it, then i found it again! i now understand ur avvy! lol


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

This is also one of my favorites. 

I love all the plants above the water line!

Mike


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## aquaverde (Apr 15, 2003)

It's as though you have one of the most attractive ponds right in your house, and you can see below the water line. I love trying to emulate at least what I think looks natural in my aquarium, but you actually succeeded to do that!

Once again, congrats!


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Oh, thank you all. 

BoxxerBoyDrew: I am happy that you like my tank. And there's no reason why you couldn't be able to do something similar if you want to. Your tank looks quite nice. 

Fish Newb: Thanks. This is a long project, I really want to take it easy and not hurry and try to do anything that doesn't fit me or my tanks style. The stick with the moss is one of my favourite parts of my tank. Stringy moss is such a nice moss to grow. 

Momotaro: Your tanks are my favourites, so I really appreciate it that you like mine. 

aquaverde: Thank you! I was just admiring your 65G with the cork wall as the background. Your aquascaping is just beautiful and ingenious!

About my tank. There has been lots of flowering going on on top of the tank, I'll show you some pictures as soon as I get all the programs and files re-installed to my computer. I am also starting to get a vision I want to follow in the underwater part of the tank. I have couple of small pieces of manzanita (still leaching tannins) waiting to be added and I might add some apple tree branches too (so they will partly stick out of the tank). 

I just wish the tank would be wider, it's now 40 centimetres from back to front and sometimes it feels too tiny. Well, I am moving this summer to another town, maybe I could get a new tank with the same height and width, but 20 centimetres wider (60 cm wide tank would be a perfect fit to the stand underneath it).

Oh, and I am still waiting to get a pressurised CO2 bottle. But thanks to Momotaro's suggestion, I started using champagne yeast instead of the regular one and now there's really enough CO2 and I am not getting as tired with the DIY as I did before.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Here's the flower pictures:

Hygrophila corymbosa "Stricta" flowers (this picture was taken around new year):









Prayer plant flower (they flowered both growing from the tank and growing in regular flower pot):









Morning glory flower (this plant grows from my tank, it has the roots in the water behind the filter foam plate):









Peace lily flower bud (this doesn't grow directly in the tank, it's behind the tank and gets aquarium water as the only fertilizer):









Sword plant flower (this is a new addition to my tank, when I bought it, it was twice as high as my tank and none of the leaves were underwater):









Painted nettle flower (this plant grows on top of the filter foam plate, the roots are in the water):









And since I am showing pictures here's one that's really close to my heart:


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

quite gorgeous!
The plant life, the mollusks and the shrimp are just beautiful. Nice job!


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## triple red (May 27, 2005)

i love the look of that tank....with all the plants blooming like that....:thumbsup: 
im so jealous


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## mecgeorgeneo (Aug 12, 2005)

beautiful flower pics!


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

Damn Rain, What do they have in the water over there in Finland anyways!!

You have just got this gardening thing down for sure! How much more serene can ya get in one room?roud:


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thank you all. 

The upper part of the tank is my favourite right now, the underwater part is still waiting for the pressurised CO2 so I could do the most drastic changes without messing up everything. If I'd do it now with the DIY CO2, I would most likely get an algae bloom (even though the Red Star champagne yeast is working wonders).


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Man, the stringy moss seems more beautiful to be above than below water. BTW-- are you doing anything to up the humidity? Seems like a lot of humidity loving emersed plants. :icon_eek: (I'm imagining walking into a room with rain-forest-like humidity)


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Very neat tank! I have been thinking of doing somethink like that for quite some time now. Maybe when I am not moving around because of college every year. 

What are you doing to get your Giant Hygro to flower? I have had this plant for a year or two now and I have to trim it back into the tank once a week it is growing so well but no flowers.... Any hints?


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## Martin (Jan 15, 2005)

very very nive tank....

The emersed plants... how many of them are actual tankplants?

and btw.. what's your "setup" for the emersed plants... are you using pots suspended behind the tank, or are they all attached to the blue Filter?


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

The air in the room was too dry before I took the top off. Now the humidity is 45% and I mist the emersed and house plants with tank water before I go to bed. And they do seem to enjoy the moisture rising up from the tank. 

Wingsdlc: I'd suggest to leave the plant alone for a few weeks without trimming. It does take some time for the plant to decide to bloom, I think I have usually spotted flower buds about 3 or 4 weeks after the plant started to grow above water level too. 

Aquarium plants growing emersed (or partially emersed): Riccia, Marsilea, _Hygrophila corymbosa_, stringy moss, Echinodorus sp., _Hemianthus callitrichoides_, _Lysimachia nummularia_, _Rotala rotundifolia_, _Shinnersia rivularis_.

House plants growing roots in the water: _Soleirolia soleirolii_, _Ficus pumila_, _Coleus blumei_, _Hypoestes phyllostachya_, _Ipomoea tricolor_, _Maranta leuconeura_ 'Kerchoveana', Peperomia sp., _Epipremnum pinnatum_, _Spathiphyllum wallisii_, _Monstera deliciosa_, _Philodendron scandens_.

House plants behind the tank: _Soleirolia soleirolii_, _Epipremnum pinnatum_, _Spathiphyllum wallisii_, Microsorum sp., _Musa acuminata_, Nephrolepis sp., _Chrysalidocarpus lutescens_, _Asplenium nidus_, _Calathea rufibarba_, _Philodendron scandens_, _Maranta leuconeura_ 'Kerchoveana', _Aloe vera_

The house plants in the pots behind the tank are inside plastic plant boxes that are raised to the same level as the tank is.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Last night it was raining in my rainforest just before it got dark:


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## Martin (Jan 15, 2005)

Gorgeous!
Think that sums it up...
How do yor plants react to the high intensity of light. Do you mist them often to keep the laeves from drying out?


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thanks. 

Most of them would be fine without misting, only those leaves tend to dry that are really close to the metal halides (like under 20-30 cm), others seem to enjoy the situation. But I do try to mist all the plants every evening just before the lights go out (I do that because with lights on the water droplets would work as magnifying glass and consentrate the light to one spot and then burn the leaf tissue underneath).


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## awrieger (May 12, 2005)

That is quite simply an awesome set up. It'd be like having a jungle lake inside your house, I'm sure!


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

It sure is a nice additiong to my room. I am also trying to find out how to grow butterflies, would be neat to have them flying in my room and above the aquarium. I got that idea when one early butterfly flew in from the open window and came to check my room. It was so pretty. I also get small birds coming inside my room once in a while, but they are wee bit too big to be kept permanently inside. 

Oh, this is my latest addition to the aquatic plants growing emersed, _Pogostemon helferi_, I hope it will flower.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I suppose I should show you what's going on inside the aquarium. I've been growing a HC mat for a month now. I had a good patch of it then in my tank and I replanted about a handful of it. Now it is starting to look rather good. 

I also took out all the annoying fast growers and now I only have _Rotala wallichii_, _Vallisneria nana_, Echinodorus sp., _Hemianthus callitrichoides_, _Pogostemon helferi_, willow moss subspecies, _Microsorum pteropus_ ´Red´, "Süßwassertang", stringy moss + floaters and plants above the water line.

Not real pearling, just post water change thing:


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

I'm not sure which is more impressive, your plant growing skills or your photography skills. Mega-kudos on both fronts.

Thanks for sharing!!
Brian.


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## Martin (Jan 15, 2005)

Hopefully your tank will grow in again... It looks way too heavy above the waterline now that you've removed so many plants..

but still looks good!


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

BSS: Thank you. 

I can't wait to get a better camera and a macro lense for it, then I will propably spend more time with my camera than with people.  I am still a novice when it comes to photography, but I compensate the lacks in skill with a lot of enthusiasm. I really, really love taking pictures, there's just something so satisfying in capturing something beautiful in a photograph, making it eternal so others will be able to see it too, even after the subject of the photograph is long gone.

Symbiot: It does look a bit silly right now, like this shaved cat. 

I am waiting for the HC to fill in so will see how it looks then. I think I will get rid of the _Vallisneria nana_ and get some _Blyxa japonica_ and _Cyperus helferi_ instead. I fell in love with Blyxa when I saw Momotaro's photo album thread and his Blyxas. Well, Momotaro is a pure magician when it comes to healthy, deep coloured plants and stunning aquascapes, so the Blyxa might not look same in my tank, but I am willing to give it a try. 

I haven't decided a species yet, but I will need a bushy stem plant, something that looks good, but doesn't drive me crazy by growing too fast.

Shrimps seem to like their new carpet:


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## Martin (Jan 15, 2005)

damn nice shots....
What camera is it again?

How about a shot of the surface.... There's a few, but none of them are high res... Would be nice with some real highres shots for the desktops outthere,,,.. I know the one with the emergent moss on the wood would be on my desktop if it wasn't for the poor resolution...
Amazing feeling you get from that shot... seems endless...


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## Martin (Jan 15, 2005)

Blyxa is a good bet for a nice lush plant.
Lots of people have them.. I'd be willing to part with a few....


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Symbiot: Most of these are taken just by Canon Powershot A80, but there's also some Canon EOS 300D + kit lens pictures. I do have desktop size versions of some of the best pictures somewhere, I'll have to see if I can find some of them.  I'll PM you about the plant thing. 

Oh, I scraped some spores from the red java fern leaves and I'll see if I can get them to germinate. I have never done that before since it takes such a long time compared to the other ways, but it will be fun to see what happens.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

This is a bit OT, but I finally got tired of all the jars and plates above my tank, filled with sand or soil with Marsilea, Pogostemon helferi and Hemianthus callitrichoides, the final blow was the gigantic plate full of moist cotton pads with red java fern spores. 

So, I emptied the 38G snail tank next to this planted 38G, put the snails in a bucket to wait to be transferred to another tank, changed the substrate (and washed the new sand gadzillion times), made another DIY CO2 bottle and moved the Marsilea, Downoi, HC and red java fern spores to the tank. I'll be adding other species there later and maybe scaping it some way. It doesn't look like much now, but I have high hopes for it:


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

I trimmed the tank couple of days ago and it looks a bit sad now, I moved the HC mat a few centimetres away from the front glass (it is so cool to be able to treat the mat as a single plant, it was so easy to slide backwards, it's so thick) and rearranged the wood and did some other stuff. Last week I got some Blyxa, moss, crypts and Echinodorus ´Aquartica´ from Symbiot (thank you, they are really beautiful plants!) and I am starting to like my tank more and more. Or well, I like the idea I have in my head, the tank isn't finished, actually it's far from it, but it's moving along nicely. 

Sorry for the crappy picture, I love my metal halides, but trying to get a good picture of this tank with them on is just sooo hard.


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## nornicle (Dec 29, 2003)

this tank is .. just.. AMAZING.

can you please give us your technical details (i.e the filtration/light strength etc?)

also what is a HC mat?


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thanks.  HC mat = _Hemianthus callitrichoides_ carpet. There's two internal filters, Eheim Aquaball 2210 and Rena Filstar iV4, and lights are 2 x 70W metal halides (40 cm, ~16 inches above the water level) with 4200 kelvin bulbs, they are on 10-12 hours a day. 

And since we are talking about the tank stats, here's the rest of them. DIY CO2, KNO3, KH2PO4, Seachem Flourish, Tropica Master Grow, Seachem Flourish Excel, Seachem Prime (only when I do something really serious with the tank, no need for it normally). pH 6.5, KH 3, GH 4, NO3 10-15 ppm, PO4 1 ppm, temperature 22-24C = ~72-75F (for a short while in summer it will be around 24-26C = 75-79F). The tank measurements are 120x40x30 cm = 47.2x15.8x11.8 inches.


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## AlphaExPlus (Jun 19, 2005)

nice tank rain. i really dig it.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

By the way, how deep is the sand in that tank? from what I can see it looks very short ...


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## Gerald the Mouse (Jun 19, 2006)

It looks like a whole rainforest in there! Too bad its only a shrimp and snails tank, it would have looked nice with a lot of neons!


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thanks.  I think it looks really nice with 100-200 CRS and about 20-50 White Pearls, no need for fish. 

The tank loos horrible right now. On Wednesday I pulled out all the plants and caught all the shrimps (that was a lot of work... ) so I could wash the filter foam plate since it had collected a lot of junk. The HC had grown nicely again (I took half of it 3 weeks ago and it had grown back really nicely) and now I took out an area that was about 50-60 cm (20-24 inches) long and 20-30 cm (8-12 inches) wide. Thick, thick mat of HC and such beautiful white roots. But oh my... when I need to replant it, I will surely lose my mind.


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## TheOtherGeoff (Feb 11, 2003)

wow thats crazy to think its just a 38 gallon. 

where about did you find those halides and the fixtures they are in? thats what im kinda looking for.


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## the_noobinator (Jun 10, 2006)

that is so cool looking. stock it with 1 huge school of fish and you'll have a beautiful tank.


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

All I can say is "WOW"!


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## duff (Feb 26, 2006)

Oh Rain! What an amazing job you have done throughout this post! I had a wonderful time reading it all. The tank is amazing, you have done a wonderful job! I can't wait for futher updates... 

"sigh" as I sit next to a tank that pales in comparison!

Great job!

Duff


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

Wow Rain!!!

That is breath taking!! Super job!!

jB


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## Gawain1974 (Jun 30, 2006)

rain- said:


>


Wow, that's all I can say. This has got to be one of the most beautiful pics of a tank, saltwater or freshwater, that I've ever seen. I'm still a newbie with the typical newbie problems, but your tank and aquascaping (including the emersed plants) is truly an inspiration. You have a very keen eye for creating a beautiful scene, then capturing it on camera.


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## kzr750r1 (Jun 8, 2004)

How is the second tank and the java spores going?

I love your top water shot with the moss. Nice job with that arrangement!:thumbsup:


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## the_noobinator (Jun 10, 2006)

so do all of the plants have their roots in the back of the tank or are some of them spilling over from planters behind?


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## lehtis (May 16, 2006)

Very beutiful tank, but aquarium seem bare. HC mat is too big!

Suomi Finland of course.


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## QuantumCranker (Oct 16, 2005)

That is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!!!! Not a minute too soon as I was thinking the last few days of going over to the SW side....


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Oh my, so many nice new posts. Thank you all! Right now I am a bit depressed because of my tanks present stage (all the plants ripped out of the tank and just dropped back without any plan), it has been too hot to replant or even think, so I've been in near comatose state for couple of days now. So, your posts really make me feel more hopeful about my tank. I'm sure I will be able to put it back together soon. 

Jdinh04: The sand is about an inch in the front and 2 inched in the back. I have only a few plants with lots of roots, so there's enough space for them (although the large sword has grown it's roots to every part of the tank).

TheOtherGeoff: The metal halides brand is Zeiss Ikon and my dad made the metal, uhm, bars to hold them (the bard are bolted to the tank stand and you can adjust they height too) and also spray painted the lamps black with some heat enduring paint. He made a really nice job. 

the_noobinator: Nah, fish are boring.  I haven't had any fish for ages and I've been quite happy with my shrimps and snails. I am starting a new tank during this Fall, and there will be some rasboras, Otos and Cories. But that will be the only tank with fish in it. 

fshfanatic: Thank you!

duff: Thank you. Your tank looks nice too, there's a lot of potential in there. 

Jason: Thank you so much!

Gawain1974: I am so happy that you like the picture. It's definitely my favourite too. I love taking pictures of beautiful things. 

kzr750r1: I am actually selling that tank with the emersed plants. It's too big for my needs, since I just bought some poison dart frogs (_Phyllobates vittatus_) and I need a different shaped tank for them. I'll be transferring the emersed plants to the frog terrarium. The spores haven't changed a bit, I think there might not be enough moisture in the air and in the cotton pads they are in.

the_noobinator: The biggest plants are in a plant boxes behind the tank, you can see it better from this picture, and all the middle sized ones and the vine type of plants have their roots in the aquarium and are growing from there. There's also one large peace lily growing from the tank.

lehtis: Thanks. It's a work in process and right now I enjoy growing gigantic HC mats.  Welcome to the forum!

QuantumCranker: Oh, I hope this really helped you. Don't go to the dark side! Stay with us, don't let them seduce you to SW!


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## Burks (May 21, 2006)

I love those long, wide tanks. Height really doesn't concern me very much.

Now to find/build a tank similar to yours. Your tank looks fantastic.


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## the_noobinator (Jun 10, 2006)

oh i see. that's a really good idea.


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## Martin (Jan 15, 2005)

I see you have a new tactic for algae grazing...:biggrin: 

I never new sheep could live under water..

what useful info..! :bounce:


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Burks: One of the best things about tanks shaped like this is that there's a lot of water surface area and that's always a good thing. 

I would love to get a tank that's about 150x60x30(or 40) cm, it would be so great to put large _Cyperus alternifolius_ and sword plants to the background and still have lots of room for other, smaller plants in front. That way the tank would look so cool. 

the_noobinator: The house plants really love living behind this tank (I water them with the tank water too), they get lots of light and moisture. I am actually a house plant killer, but in a system like this, they stay alive and actually grow and flower. 

Symbiot: The sheep's name is LaNpas and it's a really good friend of mine. I like it a lot because it never argues with me. But I fear it's not good for eating algae, it might grow some algae on it's fur like sloths, but that's about it.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

It was a beautiful, serene and foggy day today:



















I think everyone who has an open aquarium should get an ultrasonic humidifier/fogger.


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## quilting chick (Jul 14, 2006)

Rain-,

Your tanks inspire me. I would love to have my BR set up as my own private oasis, like your room is. The fog is just too cool! Some tanks just look too busy, and not inviting, some are just too contrived for my taste. And then there's some tanks, like yours, that just bring a feeling of calm and peace.

Terri


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

lookin good rain!

ive been looking at pdfs for ages.... i just dont think ill get into the in the near future because of the food they need......:redface: but they are awsome.... and i think they are too cool in too many ways.... 


is that second tank a new tank to add to the collection? or is that the one u traded in for the pdf tank?

the fogger looks too cool as well!

- fish newb -

ohh and i joined killies.com.....


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

quilting chick: Thank you so much for the kind words. Sometimes I get really frustrated with my tanks and hearing something this nice gives me more energy and hope that maybe I am doing something right. 

I also have crickets in my room now and oh boy, they make such pretty noises, like baby birds chirping. It really adds more natural feeling to the atmosphere. 

Fish Newb: The second tank was sacrificed for the greater good (in other words, yeah, I sold it to get money for the frog tank ). Killies.com sure is a nice place, especially the moss knowledge there is just jaw dropping. 

I bet it's not hard to guess that I got the fogger for my pdf vivarium.  You can find some cool pictures of pdf vivariums from here: http://www.dendroboard.com/, there's really nice water features too with Crypts and mosses and all kinds of familiar plants. 

I made an artsy wallpaper for myself (well, actually there's just a wee bit blur added), here:


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## Y0uH0 (Dec 19, 2005)

The fog really brought out the beauty of your tank(like it's not already so beautiful).Love the effect it brought about,just like the way you mentioned,waking up to a foggy day.Great job done!


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

yeah i figured the fogger was pour le froggie tank! 

as per the crickets.... i have a feeling you must be crazy at this point. i had bought crickets for 4 years every week to feed my whites tree frog. (who just died over the weekend) they get quite annoying in the summer but heck you get used to them. but i sure hope they arent just running around the room... they will eat your plants and lotsa other stuff you wouldn't expect.

when the pdf tank shows up we're gonna have to see that too!

- fish newb -

ohh and yeah ive been to that board. its always nice once and a while to go over there and look at the froggies.


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## Badcopnofishtank (Jan 20, 2004)

Excellent tank. Love the paludarium style. 

Can you show us how you did the dry plants on the back of the tank? Any problems with heat transfer from the halides? 

Keep it up.:thumbsup:


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## the_noobinator (Jun 10, 2006)

how much does a humidifier / fogger cost?


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## TheOtherGeoff (Feb 11, 2003)

thats just too cool.


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

the_noobinator said:


> how much does a humidifier / fogger cost?


29.99 - 39.99


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## Gill (Mar 20, 2005)

Hi Rain, 
Your tanks are gorgeous, always an inspiration. Gives me loads of ideas.


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Thank you all for responding to this thread and following the path of this tank from a plant growout tank to a small piece of something that looks like a part of a rainforest. It was a fun journey. I got plants, wood and lots of other stuff from Momotaro, plants from Symbiot, mosses from AquaticMagic and others. And I got lots of new ideas and suggestions from you guys. It sort of felt like I was the mother of this tank and the Planted Tank was the father. 

Well, the tank is now empty and on it's way to the new owner. I caught 130 A-S grade and 150 C-B grade (there was couple C grade females that I wasn't able to catch before this, that's the reason for so may low grade ones) Crystal Reds and almost 80 White Pearls from the tank. 

Here is the last picture of the shrimps in the tank:









Now I am setting up two smaller tanks for the plants and shrimps and then I'll be waiting for the frog vivarium to be finished so I can start building the cube that will be my next aquarium project. That will happen in September-October, I think.

Y0uH0: Thank you! I am happy that I managed to take some pretty pictures before I tore the tank down. 

Fish Newb: Yeah, the crickets live in an empty tank (it has a leak and I don't want to replace the silicone). They are silent field crickets / jamaican field crickets, _Gryllus assimilis_, so that might be reason for theis pleasant chirping. The males are a bit noisier than the females, but this is the sound that I usually hear.

Badcopnofishtank: Thank you. In this picture there isn't anything behind the tank. In this picture you can see the plastic plant box where the plants are placed in separate pots. Then there is a middle area, that blue filter foam, where I planted some house plants and aquarium plants growing roots inside the foam plate. After a while it looked like this. 

Some of the plants tried to grow right against the metal halides and of course they would have gotten burned if they'd be allowed to grow freely, so I needed to guide them further away from the metal halides. But otherwise there was no problems. I think it was a nice combination of moisture rising up from the tank, regular misting, watering with aquarium water and lots of light and enough warmth from the halides. The plants really liked to be there and flowered regularly.

TheOtherGeoff and Gill, thank you both. 

So, here ends the story of my rainforest tank. The tank is dead, long live the tank. 

*Thank you all!*


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## standoyo (Nov 6, 2005)

Truly inspiring, makes me want to trash a wall and make a paludarium. Beautiful.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

its gone!!

well we all had fun following this! 

what happened to all those shrimp? ^_^ ill trade my stringy moss for some =-p

with end comes new beginings tho! make sure to post pics of ur new vivs too!!

that is ALOT of shrimp.................. i remember when u just started this tank and got a few of them... lol...

well goood luck with the next tanks. 

- fish newb -


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

standoyo: Thanks.  I think when you add one more element to the aquarium, it really makes it even more appealing and interesting. It's like going from 2D to 3D.  

Fish Newb: 

The shrimps went here:









And yeah, it didn't take long to breed these shrimps in order to get better grade ones, and they sure do multiply quite fast.


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

It is just me, or do they look like candy?  Yummm... or maybe not...


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## the_noobinator (Jun 10, 2006)

it's weird to see such bright shrimp on a plain glass bottom of a tank.


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## Y0uH0 (Dec 19, 2005)

I am going to miss the old setup. It was so natural looking and such a treat for the eyes. But then again,i would be looking forward to your future setups as i am confident that you are capable of even more. Love the effect you've got on the photograph of the shrimps in the bare bottom tank.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

gahh i want those shrimps!:eek5: 

hey who eddited my nooo..... lol... i was gonna change it later jenn you didnt really need to take the time to do that... ohh and congrats on that green name.... looks like your algea spread there too...:flick: 

well good luck rain... i hope you get some nice new tanks to play with!

- fish newb -


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

rain- said:


> The shrimps went here:


Since I talked about the shrimp in this thread, I'll post an update one final time before I let this thread rest in peace.

So, that was 4 months ago and there was about 50 adult A-S grade ones. I added sand and plants a bit after taking that picture and today I emptied the tank, took the plants and sand away and put the shrimp back. It's easier to catch them from bare bottom tank and they'll be moving out next week and I will change the substrate after that. Now there's too many to count, maybe 200-300, lots of tiny babies, youngsters and adults. I've removed about 50 shrimp from the tank during these 4 months.



















They look so cool! Most of them are still A grades and the minority are S grades, but the ratio is getting better all the time and I am going to leave only S grades to the tank when the others move out next week.


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## bigstick120 (May 23, 2005)

WOW, very nice! What are the water parameters of this tank?


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Fun Fun Fun!!


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## CardBoardBoxProcessor (Sep 17, 2006)

hey what lights are those and where did you get them?


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

The lights are 70W metal halides usually used in stores and work areas, the brand name is Zeiss Ikon. They are still in the same place, on top of two 14 gallon tanks. I really, really love the lights. 

bigstick120: I suppose you mean the 38G? When the tank was still up and running they were: pH 6.5, KH 3, GH 4, NO3 10-15 ppm, PO4 1 ppm, temperature 22-24C = ~72-75F. DIY CO2, KNO3, KH2PO4, Seachem Flourish, Tropica Master Grow, Seachem Flourish Excel, Seachem Prime. 50-90% WC once a week.


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## bigstick120 (May 23, 2005)

Is that the tank that the shrimp were in? I was wondering about the shrimp tank? Thanks


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## rain- (Mar 29, 2004)

Ah, that one.  

It's a 14 gallon tank, normally heavily planted, 70W metal halide on top of it, the water parametres and other stuff are about the same, pH 6.5-7, KH 3, GH 4, NO3 10 ppm, PO4 1 ppm. And usually I leave just enough water for the shrimp to stay underwater when I do a water change, so 90% or more WC once a week.


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