# my little eden



## bluestems

Updated 03.11.13





































specs 
7g Aqua Pro aquarium (50cm x 20cm x 22cm) - a nice little inexpensive find from a lfs
ADA Aquasky LED 45cm (1st gen on a pre-order pricing deal)
Eheim 2210 filter w/ Do!Aqua lily minis, with purigen & bio media 
CO2 paintball canister w/[STRIKE] Aquatek mini regulator & solenoid[/STRIKE] upgraded to more reliable GLA Atomic Paintball regulator v2 w/ solenoid
Do!Aqua diffuser & bubble counter
Okho stone & mazanita wood w/ ADA aquasoil new amazonia 

flora 
eleocharis acicularis
hemianthus callitricoides
nymphoides sp. Tawain (added 2/13)
phyllanthus fluitans
dwarf red lily


fauna 
boraras maculata x9 (10 of orig. 11 died during co2 mishap; 8 reintroduced 1/25/13)
danio erythromicron x2 (male & female pair)
[STRIKE]corydoras pygmaeus x5[/STRIKE] moved to new home 
caridina multidentata x3 
[STRIKE]caridina cantonensis sp. Bee x2[/STRIKE] (RIP, lost during co2 mishap)
pangio kuhlii x2


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Hi all, I've been surfing the boards for some time looking for inspiration on a nano Iwagumi style tank. I've found a lot to consider, and thank you all for that! 

I've had many tanks in the past, from nanos to 75 gals, but this will be my first time using ADA method. After searching and patiently waiting for the soil, the setup is coming along... 










With the exception of the bulky light, I love it! :biggrin: I wanted a setup like this since seeing Amano's tanks many years ago. 

This is the inspiration I'm looking to base my tank on:










It's the flatirons overlooking Boulder, CO. My family and I moved to the Seattle area nearly six years ago, but I still miss the Rockies and the flatirons that I used to hike. This little tank will be sitting on the corner of my desk and it already gives me warm & fuzzy feelings as I sit here typing this. :icon_cool 

My husband doesn't get it... 

Here's a mock up a possible rock and soil layout. It's a little silly looking, but I think it's gives the general idea of what's in my head:










I'm still working out the plantings, but am thinking it will be mostly carpeting groundcovers with possibly a slightly taller planting coming through the valley. HC, Glossostigma elantinoides, & Riccia fluitans. I'm not sure yet on anything else. For fish, I'm considering a large skoal of ember tetras or a grouping of three types: dwarf spotted rasboras, crossbanded dwarf rasboras, and celestial pearl danios; possibly otocinclus.

But, first... I need to find the stone. The fish stores here don't really stock much in the way of nano tank sized stone, and the one ADA store in Seattle had a total of 4 pieces of seiryu stone that weren't very textured or shaped well for my idea. I've contacted the ADA shop in TX, and trying to find some bonsai shops with a good selection. If anyone has an idea of where I might pick up some seiryu or ryuo stone in the Seattle area, I would greatly appreciate knowing! 

Thanks for letting me share my little project!

ps- I have approx. 2 liters of the normal Amazonian style soil left over... anyone have any power type that they'd like to trade or sell?


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## radioman

The stones you have photoshopped in might be to small. If the stones your are looking for are placed that flat they will be hidden by the ground cover. Overall I like the layout just keep in mind that taller rocks would be the way to go if you want to see them.


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## acitydweller

very nice design. i would either let the rocks sit higher or use less substrate to allow for the greens to grown in and not overtake the stones. in other words, expose more of the stones


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## bluestems

Thanks for the suggestions! I definitely want the rocks to protrude above the plants. The height of my soil now is about where I would like the top of my groundcover, but I didn't have that yet so was using it for a visual on scaling the rocks. I'm most likely going to be taking it down quite a bit. 

I purchased a large bag and have at least 2 liters left over. If anyone is interested in it let me know.


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## bluestems

Had a chance to scan in the inspiration for the plantings (from the 2010 ADA book) to show the look I'm hoping to achieve:





























I think the deeply planted rocks and ground cover will mimic the flatirons and grasslands nicely. At least that's the intent.


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## Noahma

Nice choice. I live not more than 20 min. from the flatirons.


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## bluestems

Noahma said:


> Nice choice. I live not more than 20 min. from the flatirons.


How I miss coming over the hill on 36 and seeing the valley. *sigh* I moved to Boulder for college, met my husband and lived there for 14 years before moving to Seattle. Nice people here, but I miss the sunshine!

Do you live in the Golden, Longmont or Lafayette direction?

edited to say that I'm blind. Your profile clearly states that you live in NORTHGLENN.


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## freph

Your tank definitely shows promise. Can't go wrong with an AquaticLife fixture, either.  However, due to the height of that tank you may have to suspend it above the tank to avoid excessive algae. Your inspiration shots look lovely. Hopefully you can use it to your advantage and make something even better! I look forward to seeing this progress.


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## Noahma

bluestems said:


> How I miss coming over the hill on 36 and seeing the valley. *sigh* I moved to Boulder for college, met my husband and lived there for 14 years before moving to Seattle. Nice people here, but I miss the sunshine!
> 
> Do you live in the Golden, Longmont or Lafayette direction?
> 
> edited to say that I'm blind. Your profile clearly states that you live in NORTHGLENN.


HE HE, yea Northglenn, I am an Architectural Designer in boulder, I agree that is probably one of the most beautiful drives into a city in the nation. Go up over the hill and you have these great huge slabs of flat granite right in front of you.


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## bluestems

freph said:


> Your tank definitely shows promise. Can't go wrong with an AquaticLife fixture, either.  However, due to the height of that tank you may have to suspend it above the tank to avoid excessive algae. Your inspiration shots look lovely. Hopefully you can use it to your advantage and make something even better! I look forward to seeing this progress.


Thanks for the kind words.  I've been looking for a suspension kit for the light, but am not sure I want to keep it. The Marineland Double Bright was recommended in another thread... I might give it a try, although I've heard mixed reviews on LEDs.

Edited to say that I won't be going with the Marineland light fixture as it doesn't seem to be made well (lots of reports of bulbs going out).


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## bluestems

Noahma said:


> HE HE, yea Northglenn, I am an Architectural Designer in boulder, I agree that is probably one of the most beautiful drives into a city in the nation. Go up over the hill and you have these great huge slabs of flat granite right in front of you.


Were you there a few years back, gosh maybe 10-15 years now when the City missed out on buying the property at the top of the crest to the west side of 36, and a DIY homeowner snag up the primo real estate & put up the geodome house? roud:


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## chicken

I think you have some great ideas. I really like the look of scapes like the ones you've shown as your inspiration.

I agree that you want to be sure your plantings don't obscure the rocks too much. Rocks have a way of shrinking once the tank is fully planted! Even low carpeting plants like HC have a way of hiding the rocks more than you expect, especially in a small tank. You may need to go with larger rocks than you think you need. 

Also, it has been my experience that the substrate tends to flatten out over time, so that nice slope you've shown may not last. I try to use rock placement to reinforce the slope (this can also slow down hairgrass from completely taking over). That's sort of what I did with this tank, although eventually it did flatten out. This is a 2.5 gallon tank, and when I first put the rocks in, they looked huge!


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## GMYukonon24s

Them are some great inspirations. Also nice tank chicken.


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## bluestems

GMYukonon24s said:


> Them are some great inspirations. Also nice tank chicken.


Thanks, and I agree... that's a beautiful tank Chicken! 



chicken said:


> I think you have some great ideas. I really like the look of scapes like the ones you've shown as your inspiration.
> 
> I agree that you want to be sure your plantings don't obscure the rocks too much. Rocks have a way of shrinking once the tank is fully planted! Even low carpeting plants like HC have a way of hiding the rocks more than you expect, especially in a small tank. You may need to go with larger rocks than you think you need.
> 
> Also, it has been my experience that the substrate tends to flatten out over time, so that nice slope you've shown may not last. I try to use rock placement to reinforce the slope (this can also slow down hairgrass from completely taking over). That's sort of what I did with this tank, although eventually it did flatten out. This is a 2.5 gallon tank, and when I first put the rocks in, they looked huge!


I hope my gc will fill in as nicely as yours. 

Thanks, and I really like the ADA planting too in that one. It just reminds me of the rocky grassland in that area. 

I do hope to use the stone to reinforce the slopes. Although it looks like small rocks sitting on top of the slope, they actually used larger rocks that were placed first on some soil, then piles of soil were added in around them. 

In my tank, I'm thinking about 1/2-2/3 of the stones will be "planted" and hopefully this will keep the slopes in place. I do intend to lower the soil quite a bit, so the picture you see now is more of where I intend the top of the plantings to grow/be trimmed to. The soil line in the mock up was used just so I could get a visual of how the rock should look in the finished scape. I've heard Amazonian breaks down over time, which may also contribute to the compaction and sinking effect...? 

Going to a new LFS today, crossing fingers that I find my flatirons. :icon_smil


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## bluestems

Chicken, did you use a dry start or not for the HC to get established in the soil? I just noticed it looks like you used normal type Amazonian (or a substrate with similar sized granules). I wasn't planning on doing a dry start and am wondering if I should add a layer of power type soil to help the groundcovers stay put while the roots develop a foothold.


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## chicken

bluestems said:


> Chicken, did you use a dry start or not for the HC to get established in the soil? I just noticed it looks like you used normal type Amazonian (or a substrate with similar sized granules). I wasn't planning on doing a dry start and am wondering if I should add a layer of power type soil to help the groundcovers stay put while the roots develop a foothold.


No, I did not use a dry start for the HC. I planted with just a little water in the tank, filled it carefully, and it did fine. There was the occasional stem or clump that wouldn't stay planted at first, but it wasn't a big deal. 

In the long run, the dry start wouldn't have been all that helpful to me. After awhile, the HC would grow into such a thick layer that it worked best to pull it out and replant it. So a dry start might have worked well when setting up the tank, but not for subsequent plantings. 

Thanks for the compliments on the tank. :icon_smil That was from a few years ago. It looks like this now: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1744961-post21.html


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## Eholt

Any updates? I have the same inspiration for a future tank and would love hear about your experience setting up the aquascape.


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## kamikazi

Nice tank idea, looking forward to seeing some progress on this. I just visited family that lives in Colorado Springs for the first time and I can definitely understand the warm, fuzzy feeling and the thoughts behind the inspiration of your tank. It was gorgeous out there.


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## bluestems

Hi Eholt & Kamikazi, thanks for your posts. Sorry it's been a while since I've been on, I'm just seeing your replies now. :icon_redf

Since my tank is pretty narrow (only 20cm), it was difficult trying to create the depth of the foreground needed to get the original look that I was going for. So, I decided instead to create something a little more abstract... 











Here's the view from where I sit at my desk...










The angle of the stone pattern reminds me of the flatirons, as I imagine them closer, from a birdseye view. Even though flagstone wouldn't be as pitted... I liked the way the texture of this stone helps to create some depth to the tank.

The soil is not yet finished (thus the sloppy look of it now). I'm getting in some aqua soil amazonia powder for the top layer, and figuring out what plants to do. Thinking of staying pretty low with ground covers.

All I need now is my CO2 system and I'm looking to swap out the light for a sleeker version. 

Getting excited to seeing it come together. =)


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## MameJenny

Just thought I'd say that I love the idea behind this tank. I live in Boulder, so I see the Flatirons every day. I just love the idea of a tank based on them. Can't wait to see how this tank turns out.


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## moosenart

Gotta love Colorado!


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## bluestems

moosenart said:


> Gotta love Colorado!



roud:roud:roud:


MameJenny, thanks! It's really starting to come together and I'm excited to see it finished too. =)


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## acejohn

Nice rocks you got there! Can't wait to see this done!


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## bluestems

acejohn said:


> Nice rocks you got there! Can't wait to see this done!


thanks, John! I'm waiting for aqual soil powder type to be back in stock at AFA as I think it will look better as the top layer. 

In the meantime, I'm working on what plants to do... either a single, low ground cover or a trio that is mostly ground cover with two additional but I'm not sure what yet.


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## bluestems

Here's a sketchy idea for a planting plan:











the large plant in the left is a green tiger lotus (too big?) surrounded with dwarf hair grass (eleocharis acicularis); riccia fluitans growing in the holes on the rock and hc for the groundcover.



Another idea is to skip the lotus and just stick with the dhg, riccia and hc:


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## bluestems

I think these will be the inhabitants...










spotted dwarf rasboras x9










tiger shrimp x6










African dwarf frogs x2


I've had the frogs in tanks in the past and looking forward to having them again. :biggrin:

Also, I sold the light fixture and am all set to order this light just as soon as the aqua soil powder comes in... sometime this week! It's sooooo hard being patient. I thought about driving to Portland to visit the Wet Spot to get the items. :icon_wink


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## bawigga

Checking out this thread and low and behold, BOULDER, CO! Just did that hike up Chataqua to the Royal Arches a few weeks ago.

Looking forward to seeing your progress!


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## bluestems

bawigga said:


> Checking out this thread and low and behold, BOULDER, CO! Just did that hike up Chataqua to the Royal Arches a few weeks ago.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing your progress!



small world =) I've never hiked up to the arch, but I hear it's beautiful! Chautauqua is still one of my favorite parks... we were thinking of renting one of the cottages for a future family vacation.



I still need a few more items before I can plant. I'm awaiting a shipment of Mekong sand for a top layer and some ADA Brightly Step 1. All that is left is the CO2 setup, and a light. I was all set to purchase the Archaea LED, then ADA announces:










I *REALLY* want this light... but the Archaea is $80 vs. the initial pricing of ~$325 for the 45cm. 

Not sure what to do. :confused1:


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## tetra10

bluestems said:


> I think these will be the inhabitants...
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> Also, I sold the light fixture and am all set to order this light just as soon as the aqua soil powder comes in... sometime this week! It's sooooo hard being patient. I thought about driving to Portland to visit the Wet Spot to get the items. :icon_wink


oooooo! i have two of those lights! just be careful, the light don't have heat sinks so they get slightly warm, also the transformers they come with get HOT


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## bluestems

tetra10 said:


> oooooo! i have two of those lights! just be careful, the light don't have heat sinks so they get slightly warm, also the transformers they come with get HOT


Thanks, that's good info to know. How do the lights grow plants for you? Are they good with carpeting plants, like riccia and HC?


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## callisto9

LOVE the rock arrangement. I can't wait to see this setup! I am really enjoying seeing the layouts people are choosing for smaller tanks.


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## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> LOVE the rock arrangement. I can't wait to see this setup! I am really enjoying seeing the layouts people are choosing for smaller tanks.


Thanks =) It's really evolved from the initial idea, but I like how it's ending up. I've gotten some really good advice & inspiration here.


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## bluestems

*Update!*

I've made some decisions finally on a light, CO2 setup and heater. yay! Still *patiently* waiting on the Aquasky 451 to come in... it's supposed to arrive this week at ADA store in San Francisco. 

In the meantime, I thought I'd set up what I have, planted with a bit of dhg and hc to begin cycling.




























It's hard to see, but there is also a dwarf red lily to the left of the stones in front of the dhg, and I'm planning on purchasing more HC to fill in the right side. 

I dunno... it's not quite as I thought it would be. I'm not sure the setup is right for the tank dimensions. Maybe the stone needs another plant of some sort... something that will stay low. Also considering something that can take low light conditions under the rock overhang, and maybe bringing some dhg down into the cove area. 

Any suggestions?


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## ramen lover

What abbout the Archaea light you ordered? did you try that out or cancel your order?


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## callisto9

Looks great Sherry! Beautiful work.


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## bluestems

ramen lover said:


> What abbout the Archaea light you ordered? did you try that out or cancel your order?


I was all set to order the Archaea, then ADA announced the 45cm aquasky and I really like the styling of it. I'll be suspending it without the frame for this tank, but may move into a Do!Aqua mini L down the road. 




callisto9 said:


> Looks great Sherry! Beautiful work.


Thanks, Erin. Just getting it started... ran out of patience! I'll fill in the rest of the HC ground cover and add another to the rock (maybe riccia) after the light arrives. Will be starting CO2 then also. 

I'm so freakin' excited though just to have water in the tank. It's been sitting on my desk as a rock sculpture for months.

How's your tank doing? Has it cycled? Post an update :smile:


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## callisto9

bluestems said:


> How's your tank doing? Has it cycled? Post an update :smile:


Not well actually. Experiencing a lot of frustration. Don't want to sidetrack this thread though!


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## HybridHerp

The frogs will be shrimp safe?
I'm now considering having a few in my nano


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## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> Not well actually. Experiencing a lot of frustration. Don't want to sidetrack this thread though!


boo! what's going on? update your journal &/or let's chat


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## bluestems

HybridHerp said:


> The frogs will be shrimp safe?
> I'm now considering having a few in my nano


ADF do eat brine shrimp, but they don't have teeth (they swallow the food whole), are fairly slow, and seem to keep to themselves. There's mixed reports, but one report states that African clawed frogs are usually the aggressors, not ADF. So, I'm going to give it a try. No doubt, they'd most likely eat any juvies they can catch, but I'm not intending to breed so it'll probably work out.

If you get ADF, make sure to have a little cave or such for them. :smile:


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## HybridHerp

my tank is so much of a jungle, I'm sure they'd have more than enough hiding spaces lol
that and there are plenty of hiding spaces too for the shrimp I have as well


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## bluestems

HybridHerp said:


> my tank is so much of a jungle, I'm sure they'd have more than enough hiding spaces lol
> that and there are plenty of hiding spaces too for the shrimp I have as well


They'll like that. :smile: Just be sure they have a clear vertical path for their quick ascents for air. Love it when they 'zen' after catching a breath.


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## Green_Flash

Following along. 



bluestems said:


> I've made some decisions finally on a light, CO2 setup and heater. yay! Still *patiently* waiting on the Aquasky 451 to come in... it's supposed to arrive this week at ADA store in San Francisco.


I called them and they finally got them in from Japan on Thursday (10/11). 

They are not on the website yet, so I called again and ordered the 60P one. Can't wait for it! They also said the quantity they received was extremely limited, anyone who wants one should call asap before they sell out.


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## bluestems

*woot!*

mail came today! :bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:


And, despite one box coming in like this... :icon_eek:














all was packed very well and intact. :smile:

































The bracket is MUCH nicer than I expected. I'm seriously considering upgrading my tank to a 45P... if I can find one. Until then, I'm looking to suspend it without the bracket.
























Can't wait to put it all together! More HC is on order, expecting by the end of the week. It's hard to believe that after months of waiting and anticipation, it's finally all coming together. :biggrin:


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## Green_Flash

Awesome!! 

The new AQUASKY's are now on AFA's website it looks like too.


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## bluestems

Green_Flash said:


> Awesome!!
> 
> The new AQUASKY's are now on AFA's website it looks like too.



Glad you got one, it's really beautiful! :smile:


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## bluestems

bluestems said:


> mail came today! :bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:
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> Can't wait to put it all together! More HC is on order, expecting by the end of the week. It's hard to believe that after months of waiting and anticipation, it's finally all coming together. :biggrin:



So now it's the next day, my light is still sitting *next* to the tank while I ponder just how best to suspend it. 

The easiest/cheapest route would be to drill four small holes, two on each side to accommodate a y-shaped hanging kit. I'd need something to bring the cord out towards the side of the tank, as the light is shorter than my tank by about 10 cm. I'm also not sure how big the suspension kit components are, and whether they would look in proportion to the light.

It might not be too difficult to create some kind of mount similar to the acrylic one, but without the legs. See pictures above... the lighting unit has an overhang on each side that cradles it in the gap. I could make the mount as wide as the tank (50cm) and guide the light cord to come down directly next to the side of the tank. 

A third option could be to use some kind of small version of this metal gripper, two per each side along the metal lip of the light unit. I'm checking out what the hardware store has that might work...

Any other ideas?


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## Green_Flash

bluestems said:


> The bracket is MUCH nicer than I expected. I'm seriously considering upgrading my tank to a 45P... if I can find one. Until then, I'm looking to suspend it without the bracket.


It also would fit the Mini L (same as 45p, just not as wide) and 45-F (similar tank shape to the one you have).

How about fishing line to hang the light? That would be pretty easy, you said you were going to drill the stand? Or you could get a custom piece of acrylic cut that fits the light and drill two holes and have it suspended with clear fishing line.


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## andrewss

nice fancy light


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## bluestems

Green_Flash said:


> It also would fit the Mini L (same as 45p, just not as wide) and 45-F (similar tank shape to the one you have).
> 
> How about fishing line to hang the light? That would be pretty easy, you said you were going to drill the stand? Or you could get a custom piece of acrylic cut that fits the light and drill two holes and have it suspended with clear fishing line.


The Mini L would be a good option... I'm not sure exactly what the difference is between the glass clarity of the ADA and Do!Aqua line. It's a $40 price variance, so I assume there is some difference in quality? The 45F is about 3 inches shorter in height than mine, as well as a little less in width. I think I'd still have to suspend the light over the 45F. 

I thought about using fish line, but read somewhere that it can stretch out. I have a large piece of acrylic left over from cutting out the lid today. Pondering how it might be possible to do an interior cut for the light... not sure how ADA manufactured the bracket as one piece unless it was molded.  

For now, I've come up with a temporary solution so this bad boy can get plugged in:


































I'm using four binder clips (with the silver handles removed) and picture wire at each end, and running a length of wire up to ceiling hooks. Pretty cheap and actually pretty secure, just a little bit cheesy. :smile:




andrewss said:


> nice fancy light


I love this light! It is the most expensive part of my setup... but I feel like if anyone will do LEDs right, it will be ADA. 

I plugged it in to compare the amount of light to the 100w daylight fluorescent bulb currently over the tank, and it's like night and day! I can't wait to see how the plants respond to the new light. :smile:


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## Green_Flash

That looks like it is working pretty well. 

The difference between the fluorescent was that big huh?

I found the compatibility chart for the 45cm AQUASKY if it helps:

*AQUASKY 451 is compatible with ADA Cube Garden / Cube Glass in the following sizes:
W45 x D24 x H16 (cm) glass thickness 5mm
W45 x D24 x H30 (cm) glass thickness 5mm
W45 x D27 x H30 (cm) glass thickness 5mm

I believe the main difference between the Do!Aqua tanks and the Cube Garden is the glass, Cube Garden tanks use 5 sided LIG (Low Iron Glass) while Do!Aqua use regular (green) glass.


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## bluestems

Green_Flash said:


> That looks like it is working pretty well.
> 
> The difference between the fluorescent was that big huh?



Thanks, we'll see how it goes when I hang it tomorrow! :smile: I'll take a picture with the new light to compare with the existing florescent.





Green_Flash said:


> I found the compatibility chart for the 45cm AQUASKY if it helps:
> 
> *AQUASKY 451 is compatible with ADA Cube Garden / Cube Glass in the following sizes:
> W45 x D24 x H16 (cm) glass thickness 5mm
> W45 x D24 x H30 (cm) glass thickness 5mm
> W45 x D27 x H30 (cm) glass thickness 5mm
> 
> I believe the main difference between the Do!Aqua tanks and the Cube Garden is the glass, Cube Garden tanks use 5 sided LIG (Low Iron Glass) while Do!Aqua use regular (green) glass.


I don't have experience with LEDs, does the distance on the light matter? 

My tank is 22cm high and I was planning to suspend it 8cm+the bracket height above the aquarium. (Figuring this puts the light at the same height on a 30cm depth aquarium with the bracket) But, maybe I don't need to go that high above the tank?

Thanks for the info on the Do!Aqua. I'd definitely want to go with the ADA high clarity glass on the next tank.


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## bluestems

*broken lily pipes*

While cleaning the tank today, and installing the easy on/off switches along the filter hose, I broke not one, but BOTH of my lily pipes. :icon_redf










Apparently, I do not know my own strength... :confused1: 

(that's a joke, btw.)


Good news is that my light is up and is a-mazing! And, I received my shipment of HC from nilocg today! The roots on these were super thick & long, and much easier to plant with the more slender tweezers. (thanks for the tip, AzFishKid) :smile:










The open space in the upper right hand corner is reserved for S. 'porto vehlo' once I find some. The aquasky as only been on one day and the dwarf lily is already reddening up...










Now that the light is up, I have the CO2 paintball canister filled today and ready to go. Assuming that goes well and I get the water parameters stabilized, I'm hoping to get my spotted rassy's and danios this week.


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## Green_Flash

I am very sorry to hear you broke your pipes. 

How did they break, when you were removing the tubing?
Did you grip them where the U is ?
I think ADA recommends to hold by the outside tube glass part. 

Maybe a set of ADA stainless steel pipes? They are cool IMO.

Btw how do you like the aquatek mini reg?


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## callisto9

Oh, that stinks! Sorry to hear about the pipe breakage. 

However, your tank is looking awe.some! So cool! Excellent job. Can't wait to see fish in there!


----------



## bluestems

Green_Flash said:


> I am very sorry to hear you broke your pipes.
> 
> How did they break, when you were removing the tubing?
> Did you grip them where the U is ?
> I think ADA recommends to hold by the outside tube glass part.
> 
> Maybe a set of ADA stainless steel pipes? They are cool IMO.
> 
> Btw how do you like the aquatek mini reg?



The intake broke when I was placing the tube back on. I was gripping the outside tube part in my left hand and it broke off right at the top of my hand. The other one broke when I was trying to get the lily out of the suction cup and it came out suddenly, hitting the other end of the lily against the glass, and breaking at the top of the outside part near the U . :icon_redf

I really like the look of the glass, so I'm going to try them again... and be much more careful!


*Is there a way to install a quick disconnect?*


Installing the CO2 today... :smile:


----------



## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> Oh, that stinks! Sorry to hear about the pipe breakage.
> 
> However, your tank is looking awe.some! So cool! Excellent job. Can't wait to see fish in there!


Thanks, Erin! I'm getting super impatient for the fish... almost bought some yesterday, which I'm glad I didn't given the mess I made.


----------



## andrewss

sorry bout the glass ware...


is that ohko stone?


----------



## bluestems

It is okho stone. I'm hoping the HC will fill in the soil pockets.


----------



## Green_Flash

Oh. 

You mean something like the eheim quick disconnects? I think they might sell those somewhere as parts (?)


----------



## bluestems

I have the eheim quick disconnects for when I need to clean the filter. I was wondering if there's anything or a diy tip for attaching the tube to the lily pipes, so that it's easier to remove & reattach the tubing when the pipes need to be cleaned...?


----------



## Green_Flash

afaik I don't think so.


----------



## bluestems

Guess I'll just need to be much more careful (as the cut in my hand is reminding me) :icon_redf


The CO2 is up and running! It's the end of the second day and the glass checker fluid is green =) The CO2 isn't being well circulated around the entire tank though given the existing tube is too short to allow the eheim outflow tube to be positioned in the center of the tank to circulate the water better. Just temporary as I wait for the replacement.


In the meantime, my lfs is looking for some boraras maculata for me :smile:


----------



## CryptKeeper54

Very nice layout and equipment. I hope to rock that light soon. I am hoping they come out with a model that has some kind of suspension rig. Not to fond of the plastic legs. 

Keep up the good work.


----------



## GMYukonon24s

Nice setup!


----------



## bluestems

Thanks for the kind words! 

Cryptkeeper, the acrylic base on the light fixture is actually pretty nice looking. I'm looking at getting an ADA 45P down the road, and wouldn't hesitate to mount this light on it. In the meantime, I've suspended the light without the base above the tank using some binder clips and picture wire. It was inexpensive, looks ok and was easier to do than I expected. It would look better using cables as the light isn't heavy enough to hold the picture wire perfectly straight.


----------



## Green_Flash

How do you like the aquatek mini? 

I think if they ever make pendant LED lighting, it will be for modular use like over the 75p, 90p, 120p etc, like the Solar series. I just can't see ADA making a 4ft or 6ft acrylic light stand. Actually an aquasky heat sink retrofitted in a solar I body would be perfect lol, they will probably use more powerful LEDs though like CREE, hoping for dimming.
I heard Frank mention ADA is working on a larger LED lighting system for the 90p, no info or release date though.


----------



## bluestems

So far, it's good. :smile: This is my first time injecting CO2, so I don't have any experience to compare it to, but it did set up easy and I didn't have a problem adjusting it to a low bps rate. The unit is plugged into a surge protector with a built in timer. So far, it turns on/off without needing any re-adjustment. 

I also like that it includes an additional gauge to let me know when the tank is getting low.

You could suspend a couple of the aquasky units over longer tanks, or possibly make a diy bracket to hold them side by side.


----------



## Green_Flash

That's good to know, I was eyeballing that reg myself.


----------



## bluestems

*Fish!*

Yesterday my husband treated me to a road trip to Portland for my b'day, to visit The Wet Spot fish store. :smile: 

Came home with 12 rasbora maculatus (supposed to be 10), 5 danio erythromicrons (gorgeous!), 5 pygmy cories and 2 bee shrimp. 


























I'm feeling like I may have overstocked... we'll keep a close eye on the water parameters. Currently, the conditions are perfect for the bee shrimp with soft, acidic water (about 6.5) and 72 F. It's a little acidic and cool for the danios, but I think they can adjust easier than the shrimp. The others are all within their range of comfort. 














Everyone is doing great today. The rassys, danios and pygmys have been shoaling together, playing off and on in the current from the lily. Since yesterday, the danios have begun schooling more together, being fond of the dhg patch. Based on the danios coloring, I think I have two males, and three females. The corys are adorable when they school together. :smile:



This is what my kitty thinks...













Hoping to take better pictures soon! They freaked when I added a black cardstock to the back, so they'll need some more time to adjust. 

Just excited to finally have something moving in my tank that isn't the scud. roud:


----------



## callisto9

Awesome! How exciting! I love the fish you picked out. Everythink looks great.


----------



## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> Awesome! How exciting! I love the fish you picked out. Everythink looks great.


thanks, I'm happy that they all seem to be getting along well. Didn't expect the pygmy corys to school with the others.

The second picture above shows everyone, including the bee shrimp (if you look closely inside the top of the rock :smile: )


----------



## callisto9

I love it.  Can't wait to see how your tank progresses, though it's fab as-is.


----------



## bluestems

Looking forward to the plants filling in, esp the hc. 


They finally calmed enough with the background that I was able to capture them surfing together :smile:

The video is available at youtube: (sorry, not sure how to embed videos here yet)

*fish surfing the current*


----------



## callisto9

Awww, they are so cute. Does your tank have a top? Are you worried about them jumping out?


----------



## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> Awww, they are so cute. Does your tank have a top? Are you worried about them jumping out?


Lowe's has a glass cutting service and I was able to have a lid cut to size for $5 and I was able to get some extra ADA clips that hold the glass sheet in place. But, I keep it off during the day when I'm at the desk. They're not really jumping type of fish, but I've heard the shrimp can be little escape artists.


----------



## callisto9

bluestems said:


> Lowe's has a glass cutting service and I was able to have a lid cut to size for $5 and I was able to get some extra ADA clips that hold the glass sheet in place. But, I keep it off during the day when I'm at the desk. They're not really jumping type of fish, but I've heard the shrimp can be little escape artists.


Good call. My goofy guppies like to try and jump into the filter and they've spent some time in there in my old 6G tank. 

I really like your fish choice. They are perfect for your tank.


----------



## bluestems

Thanks, the rasboras are becoming one of my favorite fish. They are so playful 

Ditto with the Pygmy cories. They'll come over to the corner of the tank when I'm sitting at my desk to say 'hi'. Or 'feed us'... 

I think I may have hung my light too close as the ground cover is starting to yellow/turn brown. I also added some clover as a cover for the danios, who are still painfully shy, but the clover has started turning light green/yellow within a day. I raised the light a couple of inches. Hope it helps!


----------



## bluestems

small update... the rasboras and corys are doing great; the danios are _painfully_ shy. And the shrimp seem to not appreciate the bright light. I added 3 amanos which are not as shy of the light. 

Having a bit more of diatom algae now and am trying to combat it every few days with an air hose vacuum. The grass is coming back from it's trimming, but the hc is still looking very yellow with some brown patches. It almost seems like they were getting too much light, so I moved the light up 2" to see if it would help. 

A few pictures (sorry for the camera phone pics... hope to have better pictures up soon :smile




























Absolutely loving the little spotted rasboras. They are so playful and have begun coming to the corner closest to me when I'm at my desk. They know who feeds them. :smile: 

Any tips on what else I should try to help my hc? It does appear to be rooting well.

current parameters: GH 30; KH 40; pH 6.3; NO2 0; NO3 20; ammonia 0


----------



## callisto9

Looks good! What's the tall plant on the left - the leggy one... looks like clover.


----------



## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> Looks good! What's the tall plant on the left - the leggy one... looks like clover.


Thanks... but, and it's hard to tell from the pics, the groundcover looks horrible. I hung the aquasky at the same height it would be above a 45P with it's stand, and now it's a couple inches higher. I hope the hc recovers and fills in nicely.

At least the fish and shrimps are doing well :smile:

Yes, it is clover. :smile: Thought I'd give them a try as an open cover for the danios. Hoping they'll mix in with the dwarf hair grass patches.


----------



## callisto9

Yeah, up close, my tank has some crummy stuff, too. I still think yours is nice! 

Thanks for the ID on the plant. I like it.


----------



## bluestems

The clover is a cute plant. 

Looking forward to when/if my HC recovers. I hope moving the light up fixes the reason the HC yellowed and even browned in areas. Dosing ferts and using high light method is new to me. Always the uncertainty if you're doing things right when it's not thriving yet.


----------



## LyzzaRyzz

Wish I could find some rocks like that! 
Some floaters could really help with the light and your fish's timid ness.


----------



## bluestems

LyzzaRyzz said:


> Wish I could find some rocks like that!
> Some floaters could really help with the light and your fish's timid ness.


That's an interesting idea... what kind of floaters would you recommend? 

Would it affect the growth of my hc or dhg?


----------



## bibbster

Very nice!

I have purchased a 9 gal BiUbe for my daughter for Christmas, and though we probably wont be doing live plants, it is great inspiration to see these little setups. 

I love the Okho stone...I wish I had a couple 5 gal bucket fulls for my 75 gal Malawi cichlid aquarium. Sadly there is not really a good selection of stone/rock around here. I'd like to get some TX holey rock but nobody will let me in on the secret as to where it's found in TX...a far cry from here in West TN of course. :icon_cry:


----------



## bluestems

bibbster said:


> Very nice!
> 
> I have purchased a 9 gal BiUbe for my daughter for Christmas, and though we probably wont be doing live plants, it is great inspiration to see these little setups.
> 
> I love the Okho stone...I wish I had a couple 5 gal bucket fulls for my 75 gal Malawi cichlid aquarium. Sadly there is not really a good selection of stone/rock around here. I'd like to get some TX holey rock but nobody will let me in on the secret as to where it's found in TX...a far cry from here in West TN of course. :icon_cry:


Thanks :smile: My lfs has quite a bit of this stone in right now, but shipping it to you would be quite expensive! I think Aquarium Design Group has some from time to time too. 

What a nice christmas present! Some anubias and other low lights are super easy to keep and really help out with the filtration. :smile:


----------



## GMYukonon24s

I like the rocks


----------



## LyzzaRyzz

I would reccomend a plant with longer roots, like amazon frog bit or water lettuce. I have watersprite, and though it grows fast and my fish love it, it propagates from adult leaves, so the babies tear the leaves off the adult plant and the leaves rot. It's kind of unsightly. I also have regular frogbit, the smaller kind, and it is very annoying..it gets everywhere, and it's hard to do matnience without being covered!
Really any floating anything. If you have plastic plants, you could just float them to see if it helps them, before you buy.
I have these neat grid like plastic plants that are supposed to be for ground cover, but I used to let them float, to help the fish feel more comfortable.

Also as for the growth of your plants, I'm not exactly sure, I've never kept those plants, though to keep my floaters away from areas where I need more light, or to stop them from getting tossed around in the filter flow, I use plant corrals. I've heard of people using air tubing, though I used some random plastic sheet sled, and taped strips of it in different sized circles, and suction cupped them in place. Works like a charm.


----------



## bibbster

bluestems said:


> Thanks :smile: My lfs has quite a bit of this stone in right now, but shipping it to you would be quite expensive! I think Aquarium Design Group has some from time to time too.
> 
> What a nice christmas present! Some anubias and other low lights are super easy to keep and really help out with the filtration. :smile:


Yeah, costly to ship for sure!

Thanks for the heads up on the Anubias, we may look into that, though if I get one live plant it will most certainly trickle over into the cichlid tank. :icon_redf


----------



## bluestems

GMYukonon24s said:


> I like the rocks


Thanks :smile: They are lightening quite a bit after being in the tank for a month. And I thought I'd scrubbed them pretty good...



LyzzaRyzz said:


> Also as for the growth of your plants, I'm not exactly sure, I've never kept those plants, though to keep my floaters away from areas where I need more light, or to stop them from getting tossed around in the filter flow, I use plant corrals. I've heard of people using air tubing, though I used some random plastic sheet sled, and taped strips of it in different sized circles, and suction cupped them in place. Works like a charm.


Thanks for the tip! Originally, I planned for dwarf tiger lotus to help provide some cover, but wasn't able to find any at the time at my lfs and ended up trying clover. It's helped some but the new growth is staying pretty short so far... 

Do you find your floaters are hard to keep up with growth wise?




LyzzaRyzz said:


> Yeah, costly to ship for sure!
> 
> Thanks for the heads up on the Anubias, we may look into that, though if I get one live plant it will most certainly trickle over into the cichlid tank. :icon_redf


Why not put some in both? My daughter had this tank growing up: 










Sorry for the poor pic, it doesn't show the entire setup but if I remember correctly it was regular soil with a gravel top dressing, an anubia tied to driftwood, betta w/ 3 neons and 2 african dwarf frogs. A biowheel hob filtration and a sunlight spectrum light. We'd do water changes every month or so, but other than that it was maintenance free. I miss her little tank setup... so much easier than my current attempt!


----------



## LyzzaRyzz

I actually ignored my water sprite til they were all so horrible I couldn't stand it.
I'm now taking ea h and every plant I have and pinching off leaves that even remotely look bad. I have to grow everything out again...but when they were doing really good, it wasn't hard for me cause I have goldfish and they eat that stuff like a salad bar!!
They also eat my duckweed, so I just scoop excess into their tank when the surface gets covered too much.


----------



## bluestems

Thanks to some great tips from folks here and a few adult amano shrimps, I've gotten the algae under control! (for now) :smile: Here's some update pics... (sorry for the poor pic quality and reflections)


the amano troops in their favorite resting spot. If you look closely, you'll see one of the cories hanging out with them to the right... 









Seriously, look how picked clean they've gotten the rock in just days! 



Here, I'm attempting to capture the elusive red bee, and a trio of curious rasboras came over...













two of the amanos... love these guys!













Two of the five danios. They are never out at the same time, even when eating. They all seem to enjoy having the new red-rooted floaters.













When they're out, the danios shoal with the rasboras :smile: 












and the full tank shot... :smile:


----------



## callisto9

It looks beautiful Sherry!


----------



## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> It looks beautiful Sherry!


Thanks Erin! How's your 20g doing? I haven't seen an update in a while.


----------



## callisto9

bluestems said:


> Thanks Erin! How's your 20g doing? I haven't seen an update in a while.


All is going well. I never post too much on here, sadly.


----------



## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> All is going well. I never post too much on here, sadly.


Im figuring out that no news usually means all is going well with tanks. You do pop up here when I update my journal  thanks for the encouragement. It's nice to know I'm not always just talking to myself here on my journal. Lol

Glad all is still going well for you! I'm seriously thinking of ditching my aquasky for my desk lamp... Trying to find a good balance still and down to only 7 hrs of light.


----------



## callisto9

I keep my thread updated on another forum... :icon_eek: I fuss with the tank weekly and I'm never happy. LOL I want to rearrange and I'm 100% stocked now. I got two cory cats and they drive me nuts. Too busy!


----------



## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> I keep my thread updated on another forum... :icon_eek: I fuss with the tank weekly and I'm never happy. LOL I want to rearrange and I'm 100% stocked now. I got two cory cats and they drive me nuts. Too busy!


I'm the same... always tinkering with it. Trying to not add any more plants though until these grow in. I do want more of the spotted rasboras... I thought 11 was enough but they are so tiny. 

What's the other forum that you like? Is it more active?

Cories are always moving, aren't they? The pygmys are pretty adorable though when they school. They way the wiggle when they swim reminds me of a dog wagging his tail.


----------



## callisto9

bluestems said:


> I'm the same... always tinkering with it. Trying to not add any more plants though until these grow in. I do want more of the spotted rasboras... I thought 11 was enough but they are so tiny.
> 
> What's the other forum that you like? Is it more active?
> 
> Cories are always moving, aren't they? The pygmys are pretty adorable though when they school. They way the wiggle when they swim reminds me of a dog wagging his tail.


The forum is a good balance of noobs and experienced people without the experienced people being completely insane about fish keeping. I love this forum, don't get me wrong, but it's not as busy as I'd like and a little too complex for me. 

I'm still battling diatoms and can't seem to get the hang of some plants. 

I love your pygmys. 

My fave is my dwarf gourami; I named him Juicy Fruit. 

I also, as of today, have Japan Blue guppy fry! Six of them so far.


----------



## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> The forum is a good balance of noobs and experienced people without the experienced people being completely insane about fish keeping. I love this forum, don't get me wrong, but it's not as busy as I'd like and a little too complex for me.
> 
> I'm still battling diatoms and can't seem to get the hang of some plants.
> 
> I love your pygmys.
> 
> My fave is my dwarf gourami; I named him Juicy Fruit.
> 
> I also, as of today, have Japan Blue guppy fry! Six of them so far.


I'm glad you found a forum that works for you, but keep coming by here every now and then to say hi. :smile:

And just like that... you have fry already! What will you do with them- are you planning to keep them? I've been checking out breeder boxes myself... to breed moss. :smile: A recent buy of some mini-christmas moss didn't quite work in my tank, but I thought it might be good to put in an external breeder box for trades down the road.

btw, I love Juicy Fruit too... he's gorgeous. roud:


----------



## GMYukonon24s

That's a beautiful setup! Congrats on the baby guppies


----------



## callisto9

bluestems said:


> I'm glad you found a forum that works for you, but keep coming by here every now and then to say hi. :smile:
> 
> And just like that... you have fry already! What will you do with them- are you planning to keep them? I've been checking out breeder boxes myself... to breed moss. :smile: A recent buy of some mini-christmas moss didn't quite work in my tank, but I thought it might be good to put in an external breeder box for trades down the road.
> 
> btw, I love Juicy Fruit too... he's gorgeous. roud:


Yep, insta-fry! She must've been pregnant when I got her. I plan on selling back the fish to the LFS for store credit. They don't have a ton of these, so I'm sure they'd like to have more in stock. 

I updated my thread here.  

I do need to look into moss. Problem is, I take that manzanita out of the tank all the time and wow, aquatic plants dry out quickly!


----------



## bluestems

GMYukonon24s said:


> That's a beautiful setup! Congrats on the baby guppies


Calisto does have a pretty setup, doesn't she! Makes me think about doing a Dutch style tank next. :smile:


----------



## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> I updated my thread here.


Ok, I'll go check it out... :smile:


----------



## Amandas tank

Your tank looks very nice  I hear what your saying about missing "home". I am from Montana but live in Alaska and also tried to put a bit of "home" into my tank. I used Lake Rocks I collected from a place I went swimming every summer as a kid.

I love your cat btw! Beautiful! Looks like it is part Bengal. I have 4 Bengals. Great cats.

Anyway! Great tank! :icon_wink


----------



## bluestems

Thanks Amanda :smile: The lake rocks in your tank are very pretty! 

Although my tank has ended up a different scape than originally intended, it does still remind me of the flatirons. It's my "third flatiron" tank :icon_wink

Our kitty, Sam, found shelter under our deck when he was ~4 mos. old. We believe he's a brown tabby, but perhaps there's a little bengal in him. He certainty has the spunk and agility of one. :smile:


----------



## Amandas tank

bluestems said:


> Thanks Amanda :smile: The lake rocks in your tank are very pretty!
> 
> Although my tank has ended up a different scape than originally intended, it does still remind me of the flatirons. It's my "third flatiron" tank :icon_wink
> 
> Our kitty, Sam, found shelter under our deck when he was ~4 mos. old. We believe he's a brown tabby, but perhaps there's a little bengal in him. He certainty has the spunk and agility of one. :smile:


Thank you  The Kuhli Loach certainly approve of them! I think so too. After I looked at your inspiration, I can't shake it. You did a good job. You say this is your third? Are the others posted here somewhere? I'd love to see pics of the others if you got 'em up somewhere! My tank is far from what I intended, but it turned out alright in the end.


----------



## bluestems

Amandas tank said:


> Thank you  The Kuhli Loach certainly approve of them! I think so too. After I looked at your inspiration, I can't shake it. You did a good job. You say this is your third? Are the others posted here somewhere? I'd love to see pics of the others if you got 'em up somewhere! My tank is far from what I intended, but it turned out alright in the end.



"ever-evolving" is the perfect title... pretty much covers the nature of the hobby. :smile: 

This is still my first setup attempt in this nano. There are three flatirons, the largest in the picture, numbered from left to right... 










I see my tank as the third flatiron (the one on the far right) as if I was sitting on the second looking towards it. :smile: 

This is also my first high-light setup and working with hc. It's definitely been the most challenging so far! I've had many smaller tanks in the past, my first being a 10 gallon ~25 years ago. 

My favorite tanks have been a 120g aquarium at my daughter's Montessori elementary school, and my own 75g planted tank, setup the Walstad method with dirt substrate capped with sand, African root driftwood, pendant lights & no ferts or co2. The 75g was the tank with the gouramis, harelquins, a betta and khulis combo. I would love to have that setup again! Hopefully sooner than later. :smile: I wish I had pictures of those tanks... they are in a box of pictures somewhere. I will need to dig them up at some point!


----------



## Amandas tank

bluestems said:


> "ever-evolving" is the perfect title... pretty much covers the nature of the hobby. :smile:
> 
> This is still my first setup attempt in this nano. There are three flatirons, the largest in the picture, numbered from left to right...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I see my tank as the third flatiron (the one on the far right) as if I was sitting on the second looking towards it. :smile:
> 
> This is also my first high-light setup and working with hc. It's definitely been the most challenging so far! I've had many smaller tanks in the past, my first being a 10 gallon ~25 years ago.
> 
> My favorite tanks have been a 120g aquarium at my daughter's Montessori elementary school, and my own 75g planted tank, setup the Walstad method with dirt substrate capped with sand, African root driftwood, pendant lights & no ferts or co2. The 75g was the tank with the gouramis, harelquins, a betta and khulis combo. I would love to have that setup again! Hopefully sooner than later. :smile: I wish I had pictures of those tanks... they are in a box of pictures somewhere. I will need to dig them up at some point!


Oh I see. I thought you meant you had three differet tanks witht this as insiration. Gotcha now. You should dig them up and scan the pics into the computer! Would love to see them, especially the 75g! Sounds awesome with that stocking list.


----------



## bluestems

Amandas tank said:


> Oh I see. I thought you meant you had three differet tanks witht this as insiration. Gotcha now. You should dig them up and scan the pics into the computer! Would love to see them, especially the 75g! Sounds awesome with that stocking list.


Sorry, I didn't explain it the first time. :smile:

Here's the only pic I have scanned currently... it was one of my blue gouramis, Spots. 










I hope I can find more pics! Though I didn't take a whole lot of pictures of the setup, which I regret now. The space was the corner of our office in an unfinished basement. We had partly finished (tile flooring and drywall) just the corner with the tank prior to moving the tank in so that we wouldn't need to move the tank again. I think I was waiting for the space to be finished before taking setup pictures. It never happened as my husband was part of a layoff and we moved before having the chance. 

oh well... still hold the memories! :smile:


----------



## Amandas tank

So pretty! Very purpley. My favorite color  Memmories are always the best. Thank goondess we have them.


----------



## bluestems

Amandas tank said:


> So pretty! Very purpley. My favorite color  Memmories are always the best. Thank goondess we have them.


He does look a bit purpley in the pic, but I think it was the pink hue from the lighting. Spots had a great personality, as did my sparkling gouramis in this tank. :smile:

So, I went and picked up a couple of khulis! decided they could help out in the dhg where the cories don't seem to want to go. Will have to keep on eye on how everyone is feeding. 

They are so cute... super tiny! :smile:


----------



## callisto9

So you have cories and khulis in there now, too? I want to see pics!


----------



## Amandas tank

+1 on the pics!


----------



## bluestems

They're still acclimating, probably another 30 mins or so. :smile: Will post as soon as they get comfy in their new home... assuming the khulis don't go straight into hiding. 

I tried to thin the grassy areas yesterday by cutting out chunks in a checkerboard-like pattern... hoping to not loose them in the forest!


----------



## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> So you have cories and khulis in there now, too? I want to see pics!


Yep, going to try both! Khulis tend to like grassy areas, which I never see the cories in so I'm hoping with both, they'll cover the entire tank. I'm getting serious Blue-Green algae in the base of the grass. My suspicion is there is a lot of food debris being caught in there. I'm going to try reducing the feeding a bit and hoping the khulis take care of the rest.

I also picked up an oto. Hoping he'll do ok as a single, but with the shrimp I really only have excess algae on the glass and don't know if I should realistically keep more than one.


----------



## callisto9

I anxiously await pictures.


----------



## Amandas tank

You should snap some pics of them floating in the bag because as soon as you put them in the tank they will zip away lightning speed and you won't see them for awhile. When I introduced my 4 teeny ones not too long ago I didn't see them for 5 days and then even still not much. Now I see the big ones all the time, but the wee ones are still hard to catch a glimpse of.

I feed my kuhlis sinking pellets every few days and the days in between they swoop out at feeding time to snack on some flakes, brine shrimp and bloodworms that slipped past the other fish.


----------



## bluestems

Ok... here they are! Not really much choice on which you get... they are the hardest fish to catch, imho! So I was happy to see two of slightly different hues. One is a bit more pinky (they are all pale still from the shock). It will help to tell them apart. :smile:











So, I also picked up a betta... you can find his pic under the "fish" section as I wasn't sure the spots on his fins were an infection (see what a sucker I am for sick plants/fish?) Turns out, he's a carrier of the cellophane coloration gene. :smile:

The last addition is a little breeder tank that will hang on the backside of the tank with some small gravel and moss inside. Pics of that coming... :smile:


----------



## bluestems

ps- Amanda, I know what you mean about khulis being seriously hard to find. I once tore down a tank to move and thought I must have lost one. Could not find him ANYWHERE... everything was out of the tank except a bit of gravel and a little bit of water (just in case). 

He showed up fat and happy as ever when I began refilling the tank after the move, prior to adding the fish. roud:

They can really bury themselves and move stealthy in the gravel.


----------



## Amandas tank

Ahhh they are so cute! Love them!!! Congrats!!!! Who's the other fish who wanted to be a model? Very cute little fry I'm guessing.

I had found a dead one ( a couple times) and never saw the others so I thought they all died. When I did the rescape suddenly three huge once have been showing off for me


----------



## Green_Flash

Oh sweet, new fish!


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## bluestems

Amandas tank said:


> Ahhh they are so cute! Love them!!! Congrats!!!! Who's the other fish who wanted to be a model? Very cute little fry I'm guessing.
> 
> I had found a dead one ( a couple times) and never saw the others so I thought they all died. When I did the rescape suddenly three huge once have been showing off for me


That's the _very_ pale otocinclus. He's just now beginning to color up and swim around a bit. Won't be long now before they're in the new home. :smile:




Green_Flash said:


> Oh sweet, new fish!


:biggrin: 

and one more than I went for... the betta! Hoping I didn't make a rash judgement mistake... :redface:


----------



## Amandas tank

Oh my your little Otto is see through! Poor little guy. I hope he will feel alright being single. Best of luck with him/her.

I bet you will like your betta quite a lot. If he chases the other fish, remember he is swimming with long fins and will tire. Bettas seem to be quite smart and he will learn it is a waste of time to chase fish. At least, that's my experience when I had a very aggressive male crowntail in a community tank. After a couple weeks, maybe even less time? He settled down and co-exsisted happily.


----------



## bluestems

Everyone is in their new home! Mr otto has colored up. :smile: (he was _really _pale!)

Here he is doing his shamu impression...











I had a very difficult time getting the khulis out. Finally decided to perch the net on the bucket and gently pour out the bag with the khulis into the net. It worked, expect one jumped out of the net and onto the floor! :icon_eek: After much cursing and attempting to somehow pick up this very flat worm-like khuli off the floor, he jumped from my finger tip into the net. I hope he'll be ok. :confused1: 

Immediately after going into the tank, the khulis went off into the grass...










However, as I'm posting these pics, now "jumper" is not looking all that great. He has been darting around a bit, with a distinct red line running from head to tail that fades when he swims but comes back when he stops...











This really bites. I've never had a jumper before... and I'm pretty sure he has some kind of internal injury. Doubtful I can catch him again to move to a QT tank.


----------



## Amandas tank

Two of my largest kuhlis have the same line. It looks scary to me even still after having them so long, but it's never turned into anything. Your kuhli should be okay...at least I hope so  When mine first went in, they squiggled and darted too...but so fast I couldn't get a pic like you managed!

Your otto pic is the first that ever made me think ottos can be cute. I've never saw a cute otto until now.


----------



## bluestems

Amandas tank said:


> Two of my largest kuhlis have the same line. It looks scary to me even still after having them so long, but it's never turned into anything. Your kuhli should be okay...at least I hope so  When mine first went in, they squiggled and darted too...but so fast I couldn't get a pic like you managed!
> 
> Your otto pic is the first that ever made me think ottos can be cute. I've never saw a cute otto until now.


That's good to know. It's been a while since I've had khulis, but I don't remember them having a red line. They would dart back and forth three or four times when the lights first came on in the morning, other than that, they would calmly snake through the vegetation along the bottom. :smile:

Jumper stayed in that position for some 15 minutes before going under the big rock. Hope he does make it... though I may not know for a while if he's retreated underground. I may pick up another tomorrow just in case.

I agree, I'm not big fan of ottos looks, but I've had enough algae on the glass that it was time. This otto is pretty cute... he's doing his shamu on top of the main rock, and the betta and him are looking at each other. He may be the otto that changes our opinions!


----------



## Amandas tank

"The wee-Otto" with a big personality!


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## bluestems

Amandas tank said:


> "The wee-Otto" with a big personality!


Great name! wee-Otto is schooling with the pygmys now. :smile:


----------



## Amandas tank

Oh so cute!!!! Take a video


----------



## bluestems

Amandas tank said:


> Oh so cute!!!! Take a video


Their light is out for the night... will have to another time. :smile:

Right now I'm trying to figure out how best to install a hydor 200 heater with the on/off toggle switches on the eheim...


----------



## Amandas tank

Sounds good  

Can't help you with the eheim. Did you post in the equipment section?


----------



## bluestems

Amandas tank said:


> Sounds good
> 
> Can't help you with the eheim. Did you post in the equipment section?


No, not yet. Just needing to do a little research first to see if it's a simple solution. I'm not mechanically inclined in the least, so even the most obvious, 'oh that's so simple' solutions are never apparent to me until I read it. :redface:


----------



## bluestems

Some big changes today in the tank inhabitants. I decided it was best to rehome the cories. Although I loved their playfulness, having them with the khulis and shrimp didn't make a lot of sense. Not to mention that things were beginning to feel crowded. (maybe not to them yet as they are still all so small) As it was, I was at 103% capacity according to AqAdvisor. Although filtration is 400+%, so water parameters weren't compromised.

It was pretty bittersweet to part with them today , but they are going to a TPT member with a lovely, densely planted 105g tank where I think they will be very happy. 

The good news is that in pulling out the large rock to net the cories today, I discovered that both of the khuli's survived the transition to the new tank and all of my shrimp are still alive.  The bee shrimp have at least doubled in size! I took the opportunity to net and return the three non-Amano shrimps that were erroneously sold as Amanos. 

Mr betta also found a new home today. He wasn't aggressive in the least with the fish, however, it was another story with the shrimp. After he tried several times to dig into their cave, I decided it was best for the shrimp and him if he found a new home. 

So, my little eden inhabitants are now the original 11 rasbora maculatas, 5 danio erythromicrons, 2 growing juvie bee shrimp plus 5 Amano juvies and 2 khuli loaches. I'm still like to find a fish option for the top level of the tank, but am going to hold off for a while to let everything settle in and hopefully get the hc in fully first.


----------



## Digsy

The tank looks great Sherry, I really like what you've done with the hardscape! By the way, where are you buying fish on the eastside?


----------



## bluestems

Digsy said:


> The tank looks great Sherry, I really like what you've done with the hardscape! By the way, where are you buying fish on the eastside?






Thanks, Tara :smile: I haven't really found a good source for fish on the eastside yet. Blue Sierra in Issaquah closed and combined with the store in Renton. But, I haven't always been that impressed with the selection and the staff are limited on their knowledge. They've been good about checking their records for the specific variety of fish when I've asked, and are eager to help. 


Most of my stock came from the road trip to Portland at the end of October. I've also visited the Fish Store in Seattle and thought they had a decent selection of plants. I wasn't looking for fish at the time, but did notice they had a decent variety of shrimp and nano-sized fish.


Fishaholics was a good source, but Tommy's closed shop... and I wasn't sure that was the main business to begin with. :icon_conf


Where do you like to go?


----------



## Digsy

I actually haven't purchased fish locally in well over a year. I used to frequent Fishaholics for equipment but was never very impressed with their fish selection, though they did have a decent variety of shrimp. Once I moved to the eastside, I haven't really found any store that I thought the fish looked particularly healthy so, I've been buying from sellers on TPT for the most part. I was hoping that maybe you had a secret fish shop that I hadn't checked out yet.  A Place for Pets in Burien used to be a favorite but the drive is just too long so, I haven't been there in quite awhile either. 

Thankfully I've never needed to buy plants anywhere other than in the SnS because I've always been able to find what I needed there!


----------



## bluestems

Tommy/Fishaholics was good about ordering what you needed and was really patient in talking me through details. That's where my tank and a lot of my equipment came from, and he was the one who led me to getting the spotted rasboras and pygmy cories. :smile:


He closed shop though before I was ready to plant. I agree with you, it's much easier and usually very good deals right here on SnS. The majority of my plants and some of my equipment are from SnS. 


And, I'm glad my cories found a good home with you!


----------



## bluestems

Here's a picture of the pygmy cories in their new home, courtesy of *Digsy*:















Although I am already missing their playfulness and surfing the current, I think they'll be much happier in their new *105g* home! 


It's also interesting and not something I had considered before, that the shrimp and the danios are now out and cruising around the entire tank. :smile:


----------



## Amandas tank

Oh they are soo cute! Interesting that the other inhabitants are enjoying the tank more now that the cories are gone. Same thing happened in my tank when the Puntius Denisonii left. Kuhli loaches everywhere in plain sight! I'm glad your tank is calmer. I hope you will enjoy it more.


----------



## bluestems

I'll be happy when all the inhabitants are happy :smile: And maybe when the hc begins outgrowing the bga... Despite the bga though, the hc does seem to be filling in now, especially in two of the pockets on the stone. Yay for small victories~!


It probably wasn't the best decision to home the tank on my desk, where I can ponder what to do next way too often. :redface:


----------



## Amandas tank

HaHaHa...yes...maybe not a good idea to have it right where all you can think about is _it_. 

A hooraw for small victories!!!! Glad things a growing even though it's slow going.


----------



## Digsy

bluestems said:


> Tommy/Fishaholics was good about ordering what you needed and was really patient in talking me through details. That's where my tank and a lot of my equipment came from, and he was the one who led me to getting the spotted rasboras and pygmy cories. :smile:
> 
> He closed shop though before I was ready to plant. I agree with you, it's much easier and usually very good deals right here on SnS. The majority of my plants and some of my equipment are from SnS.
> 
> And, I'm glad my cories found a good home with you!


I agree, Tommy was great to talk to and was very responsive with custom orders. I didn't realize that he had closed his business though, that's a shame. It still would be nice to find a decent local shop, I've had the worst luck getting rummynose tetras mailorder and could use a couple dozen more to fill out my school a little more. 

Glad everything is settled down in your tank, hope to see some updated pics in the next week or so!


----------



## bluestems

Digsy said:


> I agree, Tommy was great to talk to and was very responsive with custom orders. I didn't realize that he had closed his business though, that's a shame. It still would be nice to find a decent local shop, I've had the worst luck getting rummynose tetras mailorder and could use a couple dozen more to fill out my school a little more.
> 
> 
> Glad everything is settled down in your tank, hope to see some updated pics in the next week or so!






I'm nervous about mail ordering fish too, but the Wet Spot does do shipments for $15 UPS overnight to parts of Washington. I thought about trying that in the future, as it costs roughly that to drive to Seattle's Fish Store and back for me, and it's not such a long distance to ship. But if I have the time, I don't mind the drive to Seattle to visit a good fish store. A Place for Pets in Burien is on my list. :smile:


There's not much change in my tank at the moment... will post pics again when the hc finally fills in. Do you have a journal of your existing tank? I would love to see your setup. The smaller planted tanks you had were just gorgeous. :smile:


----------



## Digsy

Looking forward to the update once your HC fills in! I haven't updated my journal for the 105 gallon since moving from Seattle and going low-tech and lost interest in keeping journals on here but I do enjoy looking at others! Thanks for the compliments on the smaller tanks, it was tough to give them up but I think keeping the one low-tech tank will be all I can handle for the next year.


----------



## bluestems

Digsy said:


> Looking forward to the update once your HC fills in! I haven't updated my journal for the 105 gallon since moving from Seattle and going low-tech and lost interest in keeping journals on here but I do enjoy looking at others! Thanks for the compliments on the smaller tanks, it was tough to give them up but I think keeping the one low-tech tank will be all I can handle for the next year.






I can relate... although my two girls are teens now. :smile:


----------



## bluestems

I finally caught the two bees out together tonight... :smile:












One of the amanos joined the party. 










Please ignore the bga. Although it's hard to tell, it is getting under control. New growth has slowed, nearly stopped and I just need to find some time to do a manual removal and cleaning.



Update: since then, the rasboras all suddenly died, but one. Here's the last pictures I took of them mid-December surfing the water current.























































































































































RIP little guys.


----------



## bluestems

A lot has happened in my little eden since the last update. But, first, a few pictures that my husband took... what a difference a quality camera makes! :icon_mrgr










fts with some danios darting in the back, and one of the khulis (nearly impossible to catch them sitting still these days). The khuli's have put on some weight in just the month that they've been in their new home. :thumbsup:










one of the danio males










Jeff, the lone rasbora maculata survivor (more on that below)










the other danio male; plus a good shot of one of the new algaes that recently popped up in the tank. :icon_conf


So, the good news is that since the last update, all the bga is gone from the tank! I finally found the right balance of water circulation, light, co2 and nutrients that it just suddenly began to shrink on its own and literally melted away within a few days. (I manually removed the larger clumps).

All was great during most of December. Then, last week the local tap water had a super fishy smell, and at the same time, at least two or three new algae appeared in the tank: a brush algae on the rocks and a stringy algae plus what I think is a staghorn algae. :icon_frow All the water parameters were normal. I tried manually removing as much of the algae as possible every other day, and did kick up a bit of substrate in the process but changed ~30% of the water each time.

Then, I found four of my rasboras behind the tank, all in a small pile together. Since water parameters were still good, and the shrimp all looked fine (the amanos were still very clear, not cloudy nor molting, looking stressed, etc) I assumed that one of the rasboras must have accidentially launched out of the tank while surfing the current, and since they do so usually in a school, three others followed.

A couple days later however, and four more of my rasboras are missing. I found one dead at the bottom of the tank, the others I couldn't find. Now I'm worried. Water parameters are still good and the other fish, and shrimp seem unaffected. Meanwhile, the algae has really gotten out of control. :icon_frow I bumped up the co2, a bit too much, as one of the shrimps launched out of the tank a few hours later. I readjusted, put in an airstone, and got her back in. She's doing fine now. The next day though, I'm down to one lone rasbora.

I ruled out many possibilities of what could be wrong, and ended up deciding to do a couple 20% water changes over several days with RO water. So far, everyone is doing great, including the lone rassy. I'm not sure if the tap water had something in it that the rasboras were impacted by, that didn't impact the shrimp is surprising. But, so far all is well, even the algaes are looking like they're slowing growth quite a bit.

Here are some additional photos, with my crappy camera phone but they danios didn't seem to want to come out for my husband. :tongue:












one of the bee shrimp on the new broadleaf pogostemon.










two danio males schooling with two of the females










Jeff, the lone rasbora has been adopted by the danios :smile:


















a bit blurry, but a rare picture of all of the danios with jeff (the fifth danio is the dark shadow just under and to the back of the bee shrimp on the broadleaf stem plant. :smile:


----------



## callisto9

Thanks for the update! I love the pics. Those danios are so cute. Sorry to hear you lost some fish.  

I want some kuhlis for my tank, but all I've seen are the boring black ones. I'm also worried about them on Eco Complete. 

Looks great Sherry! Pics are super.


----------



## bluestems

A lot has happened in my little eden since the last update. But, first, a few pictures that my husband took... what a difference a quality camera makes! :icon_mrgr










fts with some danios darting in the back, and one of the khulis (nearly impossible to catch them sitting still these days). The khuli's have put on some weight in just the month that they've been in their new home. :thumbsup:










one of the danio males










Jeff, the lone rasbora maculata survivor (more on that below)










the other danio male; plus a good shot of one of the new algaes that recently popped up in the tank. :icon_conf


So, the good news is that since the last update, all the bga is gone from the tank! I finally found the right balance of water circulation, light, co2 and nutrients that it just suddenly began to shrink on its own and literally melted away within a few days. (I manually removed the larger clumps).

All was great during most of December. Then, last week the local tap water had a super fishy smell, and at the same time, at least two or three new algae appeared in the tank: a brush algae on the rocks and a stringy algae plus what I think is a staghorn algae. :icon_frow All the water parameters were normal. I tried manually removing as much of the algae as possible every other day, and did kick up a bit of substrate in the process but changed ~30% of the water each time.

Then, I found four of my rasboras behind the tank, all in a small pile together. Since water parameters were still good, and the shrimp all looked fine (the amanos were still very clear, not cloudy nor molting, looking stressed, etc) I assumed that one of the rasboras must have accidentially launched out of the tank while surfing the current, and since they do so usually in a school, three others followed.

A couple days later however, and four more of my rasboras are missing. I found one dead at the bottom of the tank, the others I couldn't find. Now I'm worried. Water parameters are still good and the other fish, and shrimp seem unaffected. Meanwhile, the algae has really gotten out of control. :icon_frow I bumped up the co2, a bit too much, as one of the shrimps launched out of the tank a few hours later. I readjusted, put in an airstone, and got her back in. She's doing fine now. The next day though, I'm down to one lone rasbora.

I ruled out many possibilities of what could be wrong, and ended up deciding to do a couple 20% water changes over several days with RO water. So far, everyone is doing great, including the lone rassy. I'm not sure if the tap water had something in it that the rasboras were impacted by, that didn't impact the shrimp is surprising. But, so far all is well, even the algaes are looking like they're slowing growth quite a bit.

Here are some additional photos, with my crappy camera phone but they danios didn't seem to want to come out for my husband. :tongue:












one of the bee shrimp on the new broadleaf pogostemon.










two danio males schooling with two of the females










Jeff, the lone rasbora has been adopted by the danios :smile:


















a bit blurry, but a rare picture of all of the danios with jeff (the fifth danio is the dark shadow just under and to the back of the bee shrimp on the broadleaf stem plant. :smile:



callisto9 said:


> Thanks for the update! I love the pics. Those danios are so cute. Sorry to hear you lost some fish.
> 
> I want some kuhlis for my tank, but all I've seen are the boring black ones. I'm also worried about them on Eco Complete.
> 
> Looks great Sherry! Pics are super.


Thanks, Erin. I'm pretty bummed about the sudden death of the rassys, especially since I really have no idea why... water parameters were good through the entire episode and the shrimp all did fine and are still fine (I think of the shrimp as the canary in the coal mine of fish tanks). The only thing that was different was the fishy smell in the tap water, and the sudden algae bloom. Since using the RO water, all is well again, so I suspect there must have been something in the tap water that week that didn't show up in the usually water tests. 

I'm not a big fan myself of any other loaches except the brown khulis, and I've heard they do not usually ship well. Hopefully a lfs will get some in for you. Is Eco Complete sharp edged? You might be able to cap it with some small grained gravel, almost but not quite sand. The Wet Spot in Portland uses s.g. gravel to cap their aquasoil normal size without the gravel sinking through the soil.


----------



## callisto9

It's scary to hear that city water could do that! 

Yes, Eco Complete is sharp-edged. However, several people have said they have kuhlis with it and they do just fine. I'm not sure yet if I'll get them or not. 

I have heard the same about them not shipping well, too.


----------



## bluestems

I'm not positive it was the water, but it's the only change I'm made so far and all is doing well. We're in an unincorporated area here with a lot of rain and vegetation that could potentially cause an extra _something_ to get in the water supply. It's probably not harmful over the long term, but for my tank, it seemed to be fatal to the rassys, imho. No idea why it wouldn't have impacted the other fish or the shrimp... or maybe I'm just completely wrong about the cause. :icon_conf

I am glad that the danios have adopted jeff, the lone rasbora survivor. I was worried about adding any new fish until I knew for certain the cause, but may not since they are getting along so well. 

Good luck with the khulis if you decide to get them. :smile:


----------



## bluestems

The red-rooted floaters are in bloom :smile:


----------



## callisto9

How pretty! I like those.


----------



## ophiophagus

Nice tank I like it. But I REALLY like those danios. This is the first time I've seen them. I'm starting a new tank around this size soon and I think I will definitely be getting a school of those.


----------



## bluestems

callisto9 said:


> How pretty! I like those.


I really love these little blooms! They are super tiny, only about 1-2mm in diameter.


----------



## bluestems

ophiophagus said:


> Nice tank I like it. But I REALLY like those danios. This is the first time I've seen them. I'm starting a new tank around this size soon and I think I will definitely be getting a school of those.


Thanks! The danios are super shy. They are out a lot more since the more active inhabitants are no longer in the tank. However, they only seem to shoal in pairs and tend to be territorial. 

I thought they would work in my tank given it's length, but for the two males, I think they needed a bit more separation. A male/female combo might be a good for a similar tank size.


----------



## ophiophagus

Cool thanks for the advise


----------



## ses601

VERY nice flowers you have there!


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## bluestems

ses601 said:


> VERY nice flowers you have there!


thanks so much! 





ophiophagus said:


> Cool thanks for the advise


yw :smile: If we lived closer, I'd offer one of the pairs to you. Hoping to re-home them a larger, more densely planted tank. 

Good luck with your new tank! ps- I really love the little nano cube that you've done. You did an amazing job scaling it to look bigger than it is. How do the pygmy gouramis do with the shrimp?


----------



## AirstoND

Do the red rooted floaters have scented flowers?


----------



## bluestems

AirstoND said:


> Do the red rooted floaters have scented flowers?


No , just pretty to look at.


----------



## bluestems

I've discovered the co2 regulator was not maintaining a constant bps at the increased setting. Unfortunately, I discovered this after coming home to my indicator being light yellow and having lost a couple of my danios and my bee shrimp. One Amano, the largest, was outside the tank, still barely alive. I placed her back in the tank and she's since made a recovery. Amazing.

I've since lowered the co2 back to 1bps and all has been well for a week now. It also seems possible that the swing from high co2 to being aerated over night could have caused stress that led to the fish deaths too. So, I've decided to keep the co2 on 24/7 at the lower 1bps. 

My lfs had in some Rasbora maculatas (not usually seen in lfs here!) so I decided to go ahead and reintroduce seven maculatas into my tank. I'll be monitoring the co2 more closely and may just turn it off, and switch to Excel dosing if it's still not regulating consistently. I also added six cherry shrimp. 

The good news is that the lone surviving rasbora was immediately interested in the new rassys, he even began schooling with them while they were still acclimating in their bag. Everyone is in the tank now, and the cherries are already about the tank during their business. It's so nice to see playful rasboras in my tank again. :smile:


----------



## bluestems

*halftime fun*

I did a major trim in the tank today. It's been a while since the tank as been this open and the fish took advantage of the space to surf the current and play in the co2 bubbles... 

check out the video here. :smile:


----------



## callisto9

They look like they're having fun.  I love those little danio erythromicrons - they are so cute!


----------



## bluestems

Made some edits... brightened the video a bit and added some text at the gap: 

fish playing in the bubbles & surf





callisto9 said:


> They look like they're having fun.  I love those little danio erythromicrons - they are so cute!


They've been surfing all day. :smile: I'll make a point to keep the grass much shorter seeing how much they love playing in the current. The pair of danios in the video are the two I'm keeping.


----------



## bluestems

Just finished doing a major trim of the dhg, and replaced the hair-algae infested clover with nymphoides sp. "Taiwan". The nymphoides should grow in taller and offer more cover. 

The hc is finally filling in densely towards the back. I'm looking at doing the first major trim (not sure how low to go though), and possibly taking it out in the front of the large stone. Here's a fts as it is now:











and here's if the hc is trimmed back from the front of the large stone, and replaced with ADA Mekong Sand, or similar:











Part of the reason for removing the hc in front of the rock is that the stone comes within a 1/2" of the front of the tank, and the hc doesn't really have enough room to fill in nicely at that spot. The shrimp and khuli loaches frequently enter/exit the cave under the stone at this spot, so I thought the sand might keep it more accessible for them. 

Here's a couple other shots of the inhabitants. :icon_mrgr









male danio in his favorite spot










an amano shrimp with one of the new cherry juvies


And trying out a side shot... look at all that bba!


----------



## Green_Flash

Nice! You have grown a nice HC lawn! Just careful you trim it frequently or it will start floating up. For the BBA on the rock, have you tried excel spot dosing and bacter 100 sprinkled on it? 

On a side note AFA has the 45p stocked now on the website although they are sold out.


----------



## bluestems

Green_Flash said:


> Nice! You have grown a nice HC lawn! Just careful you trim it frequently or it will start floating up. For the BBA on the rock, have you tried excel spot dosing and bacter 100 sprinkled on it?
> 
> On a side note AFA has the 45p stocked now on the website although they are sold out.



How short should I trim the hc? 

I have tried pouring excel on the bba on the top of the rock and using the floaters to block out the light directly above it. So far, it's turned slightly pink, however, I did loose one of my cherry juvies. Now that the hc is grown in, I may be able to lift the rock out without disturbing too much of the soil under neath it. Does bba survive bleach and boiling? :angryfire :icon_wink

I'm hoping the 45p is a new standard stocking item as I'm not yet ready to buy. Probably looking at this summer, after we move. :icon_bigg


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## bluestems

I've trimmed the hc... hopefully short enough. Also took out the large stone to do some bba removal and am kind of liking the potential of the tank without it:











The tank is so much larger feeling with the bulk of the big stone in it. The water flow is much better and maybe will help with the algae issues. Also, I like seeing my shrimp out during the day. 

But, what to do with the big hole?

I can try to break up the large stone or at least chip a small piece off the bottom to place in the middle of the hole towards the back (for a balance of three rocks, and break up the dhg a bit). 

But then I'm trying to decide...should I fill the hole with sand and keep it a lake like feature... maybe add a cholla branch across the sand for the shrimp? Or should I fill it with a new intermediate plant, like Staurogyne repens?


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## bluestems

*crater lake*

Filled in the big hole with some fine sand from the Wet Spot in Portland, a few small stone pebbles and a lucky find: a small piece of manzanita wood for $0.99 roud: 

I believe the wood was a broken piece off a larger branch, and the lfs owner didn't seem to think it very useful. It seems to suit the space nicely, and both the shrimps and fish really enjoy the new space.





























































I may add some S. repens 'porto velho' once I can find some. Hoping to add a bunch of cherry shrimps or crs shrimps soon too.


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## Green_Flash

bluestems said:


> How short should I trim the hc?
> 
> I have tried pouring excel on the bba on the top of the rock and using the floaters to block out the light directly above it. So far, it's turned slightly pink, however, I did loose one of my cherry juvies. Now that the hc is grown in, I may be able to lift the rock out without disturbing too much of the soil under neath it. Does bba survive bleach and boiling? :angryfire :icon_wink
> 
> I'm hoping the 45p is a new standard stocking item as I'm not yet ready to buy. Probably looking at this summer, after we move. :icon_bigg


Hi, trim as low as you can toward the bottom leafs/undergrowth. With all foreground plants pretty much, this will keep them nice and low and prevent the bottom from dying from no light. 

Yeah I think the 45p will be stocked all the time since they don't sell the Mini-L anymore.
Think you will put the stone back in?


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## assasin6547

I like it without the stone, and that piece of wood looks really good right there.


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## bluestems

Green_Flash said:


> Hi, trim as low as you can toward the bottom leafs/undergrowth. With all foreground plants pretty much, this will keep them nice and low and prevent the bottom from dying from no light.
> 
> Yeah I think the 45p will be stocked all the time since they don't sell the Mini-L anymore.
> Think you will put the stone back in?


Thanks for the tip. I've been trimming it, but I don't think short enough. It seems to need a trim every 3 days. :icon_neut 

I'm not sure I will put the stone back in. It looks better in person than in the photos though. It looks a bit undynamic in the pics, doesn't it? Without the hardscape interest, I feel there needs to be more texture and diversity in the plantings. 

I think I'm going to let the grass creep in to the left of the small stones and bring in some staurogyne sp. 'porto velho" in around the wood to fill in the gap. The sand is there currently to hold the space until a friend can grow out some staurogyne for me. The nymphoides 'taiwan' is beginning to stretch out and grow upwards which is giving some needed vertical interest. Lastly, I'll probably look at adding some mini-fissidens to the wood. 

It's doubtful I'll add the stone back in though as it really was just too big for the narrow depth of this tank. I may keep it though for that 45p.


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## bluestems

assasin6547 said:


> I like it without the stone, and that piece of wood looks really good right there.


Thanks! I think the fish are appreciating the free space too. It has been easier to maintain without the big stone in the way, and I like that the shrimp are out all the time now. They seem to enjoy climbing on, picking algae off and just hanging out around the wood. :smile:


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## bluestems

new regulator arrived! :bounce:












Very expensive, but after the mishap with the last one, I think it's worth it. Just won't be buying anything else for a while!


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## gnod

^wow.. nice. i really want to try their stuff. what mishap happened with the last one? sorry i must have missed it. 
love your tank tho and would love to pick up one of those tanks also. google search shows it's not readily available..


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## zzrguy

Did you have any Otto's in the tank they seem to help with algae.


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## bluestems

zzrguy said:


> Did you have any Otto's in the tank they seem to help with algae.


Do they help with the string algae? I'm hoping the new regulator will maintain a more constant level and hopefully the algae won't be as big as issue.


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## bluestems

gnod said:


> ^wow.. nice. i really want to try their stuff. what mishap happened with the last one? sorry i must have missed it.
> love your tank tho and would love to pick up one of those tanks also. google search shows it's not readily available..


thanks  I'm liking the tank more as time goes by. It really suits the space on the corner of my desk nicely, is not too deep but is wide with a good height. The tank was sitting, filled with dust at a lfs. I don't think they are made anymore unfortunately. 


The solenoid on the Aquatek regulator stopped working, and prior to that it was fluctuating the co2 levels. Unfortunately I didn't discover this until I came home to a light yellow indicator and some lost fauna. It may also explain the bba and string algae outbreaks.

Amazon is being gracious and accepting the return of the Aquatek for a refund. 

Now that I've seen them side by side, there is a noticeable difference in the quality of materials between the two. And after installing it tonight, I noticed the pressure guage on the GLA shows a jump between off and on (both still within the green), which the Aquatek never did. I'm hopeful it will function much more reliably over the long term. 

Really, really happy now that I went ahead with the purchase instead of trying another less expensive model.


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## zzrguy

bluestems said:


> Do they help with the string algae? I'm hoping the new regulator will maintain a more constant level and hopefully the algae won't be as big as issue.




I really can not say but they are funny fish and do clean the tank somewhat.


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## Green_Flash

bluestems said:


> thanks  I'm liking the tank more as time goes by. It really suits the space on the corner of my desk nicely, is not too deep but is wide with a good height. The tank was sitting, filled with dust at a lfs. I don't think they are made anymore unfortunately.
> 
> 
> The solenoid on the Aquatek regulator stopped working, and prior to that it was fluctuating the co2 levels. Unfortunately I didn't discover this until I came home to a light yellow indicator and some lost fauna. It may also explain the bba and string algae outbreaks.
> 
> Amazon is being gracious and accepting the return of the Aquatek for a refund.
> 
> Now that I've seen them side by side, there is a noticeable difference in the quality of materials between the two. And after installing it tonight, I noticed the pressure guage on the GLA shows a jump between off and on (both still within the green), which the Aquatek never did. I'm hopeful it will function much more reliably over the long term.
> 
> Really, really happy now that I went ahead with the purchase instead of trying another less expensive model.



My experience with the aquatek mini was similar as well, it came riddled with problems. My solenoid never worked, the gauge never moved between on and off and levels went from high to low and to high again without me touching it. I ended up returning it as well. I will stay away from all their products from now on.


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## bluestems

zzrguy said:


> I really can not say but they are funny fish and do clean the tank somewhat.


I may try out a couple after seeing how things go with the new regulator. Also hoping to add in some cherries soon which may make a difference. 




Green_Flash said:


> My experience with the aquatek mini was similar as well, it came riddled with problems. My solenoid never worked, the gauge never moved between on and off and levels went from high to low and to high again without me touching it. I ended up returning it as well. I will stay away from all their products from now on.


Can't say that I'll be purchasing anything from them again either. It did work perfectly for several months, but I think the pressure ended up being too much for the parts and led to the fluctuations. The solenoid just stopped working entirely one day. In the end, the GLA was 2x the cost, but 10x better quality. 

What regulator did you end up going with?


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## Green_Flash

I ended up just going low maintenance and tech for the foreseeable future. 

If I decide to try CO2 again it will probably be a 20# tank and full reg.


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## bluestems

Green_Flash said:


> I ended up just going low maintenance and tech for the foreseeable future.


I was >>>this<<< close to doing the same, but now that my hc has grown in, I really like it and didn't want to loose it. :smile: 

This is the last attempt though. If I can't bring the tank into balance over the next few months - 6 mos. then I think I'll start a low-tech tank for my shrimp, danios and rassys, and keep the high tech setup for just plants and maybe some pygmy cories.

At least with the new regulator, I'm hopeful there won't be any more drastic fluctuations.


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## bluestems

added a new etched backing today :smile:


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## mistahoo

*Re: my little eden - added etched backing*

That is badarse! What was the damage?

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


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## bluestems

mistahoo said:


> That is badarse! What was the damage?
> 
> Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


Thanks! It wasn't too expensive, as I was able to find a smaller roll. I do have enough left over for at least two or three more nano tanks.


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## callisto9

Looks great! What's the circular thing on the top of the tank in the wateR?


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## bluestems

Thanks, and that's a piece of airline tubing holding my red rooted floaters together. 


The backing has some translucency, so I'm looking at light strip options to illuminate the back from the base. Wondering if a white light would fade out towards the top.


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## mistahoo

*Re: my little eden - added etched backing*

If you don't mind me asking, where'd you get the etched backing? I found frosted window privacy sheets that you stick onto glass but it isn't translucent.

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


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## bluestems

mistahoo said:


> If you don't mind me asking, where'd you get the etched backing? I found frosted window privacy sheets that you stick onto glass but it isn't translucent.
> 
> Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


From a local hardware store. It's semi-translucent, so it does allow some filtered light and objects behind are somewhat visible the closer they are to the tank. I really like the effect!


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## CryptKeeper54

I'm digging the background. Something I want to try on my tank.


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## JerSaint

Love the tank and the backing!


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## bluestems

CryptKeeper54 said:


> I'm digging the background. Something I want to try on my tank.


If you're interested, a still have a couple of short pieces left (for 6"h or 8"h nanos).



JerSaint said:


> Love the tank and the backing!


thanks! :smile:


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## mistahoo

bluestems said:


> From a local hardware store. It's semi-translucent, so it does allow some filtered light and objects behind are somewhat visible the closer they are to the tank. I really like the effect!


Do you know the specific brand name or no? I'd love to try this out on my new nano (1.5gal).


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## bluestems

mistahoo said:


> Do you know the specific brand name or no? I'd love to try this out on my new nano (1.5gal).


It's artscape. If you pm me the size of your 1.5g, I might have a scrap piece left that I could mail you.


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## Green_Flash

I agree with everyone, that "mist" background looks great, much nicer than a black or blue background I think.


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## Kai808

That's Nice! Have you tried using different colored lights for the background yet?


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## bluestems

Green_Flash said:


> I agree with everyone, that "mist" background looks great, much nicer than a black or blue background I think.


thanks :smile: I like that it allows some filtered light in from the window behind, but it states it gives UV protection, so it will maybe help with reducing algae? I'm not sure as it's not of lot of sunlight to begin with, but we'll see. 



Kai808 said:


> That's Nice! Have you tried using different colored lights for the background yet?


Not yet... but I want to try out some strip lights with it. I thought I'd try this one from Ikea. I'm wondering if it would create a bright white horizon, fading to light-greyish at the top.

Colors like dark blue would probably look nice too, but that was the typical look I was hoping to avoid. Maybe a pink or orange hue for sunset?


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## bluestems

My little eden was selected to be featured at Aquarist Magazine this week. :smile:


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## Green_Flash

Congrats! That is awesome.


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## MABJ

Congrats!!!!!


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## bluestems

Thanks :smile: I admit that I thought he was joking when I first received an email asking to feature my tank. There are so many better tanks out there! 

It made me realize that it has been a very educational process along the way and I do like the way it has come together in the last month or so, even if I did stumble into it.


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## MABJ

How'd they come to pick you?


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## bluestems

I think they just came across my journal here at TPT.


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## assasin6547

Well congrats. It is a very nice tank anyways.


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## MABJ

bluestems said:


> I think they just came across my journal here at TPT.


Very nice! It is a wonderful tank.


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## bluestems

thanks :smile:


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## OVT

JerSaint said:


> Love the tank and the backing!


+1

via Droid DNA Tapatalk 2


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## bluestems

Thanks, OVT, I'm loving it too  Hoping to pick up that Ikea strip light this weekend to try out.


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## Chyrol

Congrats on the feature! You deserve it. 

Also I can't help but notice that the background looks just like Washington sky most of the time


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## bluestems

Chyrol said:


> Congrats on the feature! You deserve it.
> 
> Also I can't help but notice that the background looks just like Washington sky most of the time


ha! that's very true! Lovely week we've had though


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