# 60g High tech-First ever planted tank



## UDGags (Sep 13, 2009)

That's a nice piece of wood! Should make an awesome scape


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

That's what I'm hoping  


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Today i injected silicone into all the sides and came out pretty good with only 2 very small air bubble not big enough to really see or worry about though. Thursday i will do the bottom then i will let it cure for about 10-15days before water testing it for a full day. 







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## Apistia (Sep 28, 2014)

do you have a link you followed for this? where'd you get the corner clamps, what's the injection technique, that kind of thing? much appreciated


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

I got all the clamps from harbor freight. the corner clamps i believe were about $3 a pop and the pipe claps were $5 a pop and the two long pipe clamps were like $10 a pop. I actually used this video to kinda get me going on how to do it but didnt really do it the same way because he put alot of tacks down when in reality silicone is a very strong material so if you are just using it to old the glass in place you would really only need about 2 tacks a side and maybe 3 at most for the bottom. Also as you will see in the video he was not very clean and did not pre-tape everthing to insure straight lines and clean edges. Use this link and i believe on the first page i have *Two *videos on how it is done, and those are the videos i used for the tank build. I also have a video and picture on how i get rid of old silicone on glass.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=763002
Also if you end up doing this method remeber you have to take into consideration the gap which would be 1/16in on each end for the silicone to go into which i used zipties for, so since this is the case you cant go out and make the glass normal dimensions, for example if i ordered glass from a shop and got each peace at, (2) 37 3/4inch x 20 1/2inch at 10mm thick(front and back pane, (2) 20 1/2 x 19in 10mm and one 37x19 at 1/2inch thick i would have to take the bottom pane which is 37x19 and shrink it to 36 7/8inch x19in to fit inside the side panes without pushing the left and right pane farther out than the front and back pane.


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## Zs_D (Dec 22, 2014)

This is going to be an amazing tank!!!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks i hope the same=) Fingers crossed and even after crossed try and cross them again lol =')


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Just a little update no pictures as I am out of town right now. Yesterday I finished the tank off by siliconing the bottom. Came out pretty good only a few bubbles overall which I'm not really worried about since I'm using good silicone and because there in the center of the seam making it the safest spot to have a bubble. Still kinda bummed though that it got bubbles, but hey I'm not an expert and I tried so that's all that counts and I'm sure it will be just fine  I plan on water testing it I think by next weekend to give it a good 5-7 days to finish curing. 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

So I am now done with the whole tank as of last Friday and now am just waiting the 7days before I water test it. Kinda bummed that it got a few air bubbles but good thing is that there in the center of the silicone seal making It safe. Strange thing is that two of them are a very thin strip that goes down the direct center of the silicone seam making me think that the outside edges cured faster causing it to pull on both sides creating the bubble because I cleaned everything with acetone and use rubber gloves for everything. It should be fine as it was a .5inch deal with a 2/16inch thickness of silicone so plenty strong and glad it's in the middle. Here is a picture of the overall tank and the air bubble I'm talking about

















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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

because of the airbubbles i will be doing a week long water test to insure the strength of the bead. Also if any airbubbles show up during the water test i will be redoing the tank but i do not think that will be the case. =) Things are really starting to move fast now and i am getting eager to put the substrate and driftwood in and then plan the scape of plants XD


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Quick update. Started the water test, going to wait about two days before taking the water out! So far so good no leaks and even better no added air bubbles showing up! 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Nice job on the tank, and man that wood is going to be sweet!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Haha yea I really hope it fits the way I want it to!!! Hoping to angle it toward the back leftmiddle so it faces more at the right side of the glass for a more natural look then just being head on 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

finally setup my quarantine tank for new fish arrivals! Cycling it with ammonia from ace keeping it at 3-4ppm and then ill do a water change when the nitrite spike occurs. Also as you can see there is some extra bio media in the aquarium that i am going to keep in there until the 60 gallon is setup, to try and kick start the cycle. This tank is not going to be my quarantine tank for sick fish but will be a tank for new fish until i feel that they are healthy enough to be brought into the 60g


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## Asu1776 (Mar 5, 2013)

Good stuff man! I love the complete start from scratch project. Subbed.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks . Here is a picture of a teak wood box I made for the canister filter to fit in since I do not have doors on my stand in going to hide the stuff with nice wood boxes. This box is about 3:4 the size of the canister filter to allow the tubes to have no problem moving around and to make it easier to take my t out. I also water proofed it on the inside so that if the canister ever has a leak it will be ok to drop water










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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Just finished drying the tank off and taking of silicone smudged off the glass. Here is two pictures of the tank on its stand! Getting closer everyday!

















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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

Seriously, nice work!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks it taken a long time and a lot of effort to understand ever aspect of the planted tank from lighting to tank building, but it is finally almost time to plant and I couldn't be happier with the results so far 


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## Garnkrevor Garnkrevor (Feb 16, 2014)

The setup looks really sweet, can't wait to see what kind of scape you are going to do. 

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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks  


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Forgot to add a hole in the back for the power cords so just took a 1 3/4 inch hole saw and now I'm going to just sand the edges down and stain the fresh cut 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

re- stained the area and also put a clear coat on 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Added two more holes on the left side for me to have the option on which side the filter can go on and also for me to be able to put the power cords from te light fixtures inside the stand to hide.








Also what do you guys think, do I need lie two more bags of Ada Aqua soil to aloe me to have a good 4 inch bank of substrate and 3 inch everywhere else? Idk if these 4 bags of 9L are going to be enough ?










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## kzeller (Dec 31, 2014)

I would get one bag og the aqua soil special. The big one, and put that down first. That should add enough. I think.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

yea i have a 6 liter bag of that. Was going to do bigger but that stuff is so darn expensive!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

its really starting to come along! I decided to add my substrate and driftwood into the aquarium to test the layout's and slopes of the soil, and also just to make sure i had enough soil. I think the layout looks pretty good and i cant wait to order the plants come probably two weeks from now at the latest. 








Now here is a picture of the layout with the plants number.








1-dwarf hairgrass
2- Hygrophila pinnatifida
3-anubias nana/petite
4-dwarf pennywort
5-pogostemon erectus
6-wendtii green 
7-pogostemon helferi
8-AR Mini
9-Fissidens mini
10- mini pellia
11-narrow leaf java fern

This is not a 100% for sure on the plants because i could change some stuff or take away some also. One thing that might end up having to go is the java fern. =/

Bump: here is a link to the last picture with the plant scape if you cant see it very well since for some reason it is pretty small.
https://plus.google.com/u/1/103925906698474085624/posts/CxuE5HQD65N?pid=6121459095189796002&oid=103925906698474085624


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## limz_777 (Jun 29, 2005)

is it filled up with water ? if not you can bank up the hardscape higher , using egg crate , btw is that a ktm ?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

No its not filled yet, i was testing to see if i would need more soil, so i am getting one more bag=). No its not a ktm =) Its a Honda crf 250r. Also might add that the java fern in the picture is a no go since there isnt enough shade for it.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Your substrate looks very thin on the right hand side! I like the slope, but you should add more if it is as thin as I think. Maybe the last bag will be enough.

Side note: I have a friend who lives in Bradenton! 

On topic again. Are you wondering what to plant in the back where the question marks are? Something tall? There is such an extensive list of plants to chose from, it is hard to recommend one!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

When I get home I'll name the tall red plant I have a question mark on! Can't think of the name off the top of my head. I think it's rotala rotundifolia, this plants get pretty red in the high light and co2 and really like the leafs 


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## Paks (Nov 18, 2014)

What online store did you bought your hydor Trey ?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Well I actually got it from Jacob Castro when he used to work at a Lfs. I don't believe I'm allowed to tell but I will say that honestly any place online will be fine just find the place with the lowest price and with the same warranty. 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Also don't get it from anything else other than a online store, so no e$ay and no a""azon or you won't be eligible for the warranty if you wanted it 


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## knm<>< (Mar 18, 2010)

You cant post eBay links but, you can say eBay and you can say Amazon. You can also post links to products on Amazon. You can say where you purchased your items as well, not a big deal if it's from a reputable online retailer. EBay has burned people many times, that's why eBay links are not permitted.

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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

ahh ok thank you for the information! Yea just was keeping it safe=). Here is a little update on the tank. I decided to do a little corel paint and add in some different plant layouts. Now the first one looks like a crazy rainbow, but thats because its very hard to find a good picture that will work for what im doing. Honestly i like the last two, the one with java fern as the main back ground plant, and the one with cyperus helferi as the main back ground plant. Which won would you guys like the best =) Any additions you might think would look good please do tell me! This is my first aqua scape so im trying to understand contrast from front to back and also just plant placement and how long certain plants get or big they get. Its been pretty hard but i think i can do this!!! 
1-








2-








3-








4-








5-








List of plants is...
Blyxa japonica
Ammannia bonsia
Pogostemon stellata(back of picture number 1)
Rotala rotundifolia(semi back of picture 1)
Hygrophila pinnatifida( on right side of stump kinda hard to see)
Pogostemon erectus( behind the AR mini)
AR Mini(behind drftwood root on left and right)
Dwarf pennywort(coming out of the driftwood middle and draping down)
Pogostemon helferi(the plant on each end of the driftwood)
Narrow leaf java fern
Anubias nana petite
Fissidens mini(the green stuff on the driftwood)
Sorry that i didnt label the plants in the pictures, its really late =/! If you have any questions about which plant is which just let me know =) HOpe you guys like them or one layout! Changes may happen(might add wendtii green) Not sure yet.


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## knm<>< (Mar 18, 2010)

I actually like #2. That DW is pretty epic and I like that it isn't swallowed up by a tall background. 

Also, from experience, using a low light, slow grower like Java in the background of a medium/high light tank is asking for a lot of algae growth on the plant. I had a lot of trouble keeping algae off my Java ferns and anubias when I had that type of lighting and they weren't at least partly shaded. Maybe you'll have better luck, just my 2 cents.


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## rezende (Dec 19, 2014)

I prefer #3. The tall background may have a better look when looking directly from the front.
The other ones are nice as well. I would just exclude #1.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

3/4/5 are all good choices. I like the tall backdrop for the tank.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks yall for the input, i am kinda going with what you guys are all saying. I like numbers 2/3/4/5 but i think that having the big driftwood is not going to allow for a good looking dutch style so i def am keeping choice one out of the picture for now. To be honest my favorete is actually number 5! If i can have that scape but do java fern narrow leaf that could be epic but also having the cyperus helferi would look pretty sweet when it gets tal enough to drape on top the water.


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## Sub1117 (Sep 21, 2014)

I like the last mock up the most! I suggest sloping the substrate from front to back more. It adds more depth to the scape. The driftwood looks awesome!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

yep i actally ordered 2more bags to do that!


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

Java ferns growth rate isn't intolerable. I think the needle leaf will look pretty good. It'll take more time for it to go out but at the same time there is almost no maintenance with java fern.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Yea I'm going to post a new Corel photo of the tank from the top so I can show some different ways I can't put the Java fern in. That's the main part I'm kinda confused about. Where do I put it in the back? Should I make it start at the back of the stump then go to the back corner of the tank or should it stay in the back corner of the tank separated from the driftwood? 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

this is what i was talking about with the which one should i do it like for the java fern in the back with the other plants 








as you can see in this first picture the java fern is cut off from the stump.




and as you can see in the scond picture it cuts down the middle from the stump to the back.










which one is going to give me the best results In your opinions?


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## Dzrtman (Mar 4, 2014)

Hi Trey,

I've enjoyed your thread, and admire your wide range of construction skills! 

Before responding to your specific question about the placement of the Java fern, I'd like to make a couple of observations about planted tanks... A planted tank is like a terrestrial garden, which is dependent on the climate, soil, and other environmental factors. Just like a terrestrial garden, the satisfaction of a planted tank can be the discovery of what works and what doesn't; easier said than done sometimes  

Since Java fern varieties don't want their roots buried in the substrate, they can be moved around fairly easily as you discover the best position. For example, over a 9 month period after setup, I moved 2 microsorium pteropus v windelov 3 times until I found a position where the light-level was suitable and they looked 'natural' alongside other plants. You see during the first 9 months after setup, some plants really thrived, others died (probably because they didn't like the high GH of my water), some got algae because they were too close to the light initially, and so I adapted the layout based on what the plants were 'telling' me. Also during the first few months of setup, you will be adjusting light, CO2 and ferts, which are all 'inputs' to your underwater garden, that will determine how the different plant varieties progress.

I'm looking forward to following the progress of your underwater garden 

Good luck!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Dzrtman said:


> Hi Trey,
> 
> I've enjoyed your thread, and admire your wide range of construction skills!
> 
> ...


Thanks! Yea i think i have found a layout that i like! And to my surprise its not one of the ones i showed so i think its going to be a surprise to you guys also


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

*My 60gallon tank journal*

alright guys i pretty much have my final idea for sure! I am very very excited!!!! Cant even hold it in hahaha! The scape is going to be like number 3/5 without the helfer or the large amounts of narrow leaf java fern as show in those two.Instead i am going to have wendtii green as the large portion of space behind the AR mini and the pogostemon erectus with some wendtii brown mixed in with the wendtii green so probably for every 3 wendtii green one brown for some good contrast, its eather i do the wentii in the back or i do the pogostemon in the back and have the wendtii infront of it and the ar infront the wendtii let me know what one sounds better plzzzzzzzzz, And for close to the back of the stump im going to put narrow leaf java fern! This to me feels like the best option and i cant wait to see it come to life and hope it comes to life the way i plan it to!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Sorry for the long wait guys,i am waiting to be able to order a bag of ada aqua soil since i am one bag short, soo...... They wont be in stock until next week=/ waiting game begins lol. ON the other hand i have started my emersed project to help fill plants in the aquarium faster and to help people in need of some plants so i should be buying those plants Friday and next week!!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

alright so i have the (pretty certain) date for approx aquarium planting! I will be doing it some where around april 4-10! This is the best time for me to do it as i am starting my emersed plant growth and can really kick start the process with how much plants i will end up needing to buy. Also i am planing this date because this is when http://www.aquariumplants.com/Tissue_Culture_Plants_s/289.htm will have all there tropica plants ready for shipping and what not! And i must say they are by far the cheapest for tropica plants! Idk how they can sell them this cheap but its sweet and i cant wait!!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Decided to try and make some light holders so that I could make the lights about 5inch from the glass. I had the extra acrylic in my school so I just cut some peaces and came out with this. Not the greatest eye pleaser but hey free is always great! I will be cementing them together some time this week. The lights will be roughly 23inch from the lowes point of the substrate. I don't think this will affect it that much since I'm going to be doing ei ferts and also co2 but let me know what you guys think  remember the tape will not be there lol!









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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

And I will also be sanding the acrylic on the sides to make it see through again since I cut it 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Alright so I have a few changes. I ordered 3 kessil a160we tuna sun lights with the gooseneck and I also finally got my last bag of ada awua soil in so I put all the soil and the driftwood in the tank just to see what you guys think of the new hight of the substrate from the back to front. Plant list is pretty much the same as before but I do have the final layout but won't be showing it until it's already planted! The only hit I want to give is that it's sort of like number 4/5. 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

*My 60gallon tank journal*

Here is the video and pics 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

https://vimeo.com/123674068


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

How much did you pay for the glass to build the aquarium? The tank and stand both look great by the way.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thank well if I can remember right I believe I payed around $500 with shipping, but it would have been like $340 had I not gotten the polished edges. Tbo I wish I would have looked into where I could get the glass, because after about a week of having it a person on this forum posted something about them getting a custom tank in and it would have ended up being around $550 for me to have just done that, but I'm not going to cry because I had a lot of fun doing the diy projects. Both the tank and the stand are both diy and of course the driftwood I did not buy I found  here is a picture of my emersed plant setup I am getting started to help with filling in the aquarium quicker and also just to help people get some plants 







I am keeping it at about 95% humidity with a water heater at 84* f. Lights stay on for 15hours a day and I'm getting about 20k lumens to the plants! And here is a picture of the tank with the humidifier on. It drops the lumens to 18k but def allows the humidity to stay around the 90% range!










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## Dzrtman (Mar 4, 2014)

That's an impressive grow-out setup !


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Dzrtman said:


> That's an impressive grow-out setup !


THanks =) Its really cool to see how the plants change when going from submersed to emersed=) Also much easier lol, i dont have to worry about algae so my lights are on 15 hours a day.


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## mistuhmarc (Oct 1, 2013)

I just read your work on injecting silicone into the seams. Impressive tank! I'm planning on re-siliconing an old 5 gallon tank I had and this helped me out .


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

mistuhmarc said:


> I just read your work on injecting silicone into the seams. Impressive tank! I'm planning on re-siliconing an old 5 gallon tank I had and this helped me out .


no problem now with your 5gallon remember if it does not have a silicone gap then you will not be able to do this, but you can follow all the steps but at the last step where you inject you would have to then use pipe clamps to pull the glass together so that everything is flush.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Well everything came in safe! Thanks marine depot! 










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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

just priced out the plant cost and i think i just lost an arm and a leg lol. If everything guess to plan i should be getting the plants in next week or the following week, just waiting to hear back from a website to see if they will be able to ship me all the plants at one time.


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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

Wow nice lighting, this is really a first-class build. Wood looks great in the tank! Can't wait for the next update!


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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

Sweet looking tank! That piece of driftwood is awesome too!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks  will be updating everyone here in the next few weeks on the scape with hopefully plants! Here is a picture of the lights on the tank on full. Now I will do a better job at making them spaced out correctly and what not but for right now it's just a little picture. Tomorrow I will be adding the Aqua soil and driftwood back in the tank for one last time so that I can add up how many of each plant I need, I'll be sure to take a picture of it with the lights on 











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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

pre ordered all my plants today! Should be ready for pickup in about 2weeks!!! Im going as dense as possible to start hoping to cut down on algae from the start! I also have some pictures of the tank with the substrate banked up about how i want it, might make the bank a little higher just let me know what you guys think. =) IT BEGINS(the wait lol)


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Well it's been about 2 weeks maybe more and I was able to get in some great mosses to start a dry start blender method with the moss on the driftwood since I'm still waiting for one plant to be in stock -_- cypress helferi. I plan to start the tank with all the tissue culture plants and what not by the end of next week possibly the following week depending on when this plant arrive to their facility since I will be picking them up at the distributors warehouse . Now for the info and pics on what I did today!!!
Blender method for moss- basically what you do is grab a good amount of moss of your choice or even two types and use a small amount of milk or yogurt or water and blend the moss up into thousands of not millions of peaces. Following this you take a small brush and brush the moss onto the wood or stone. After doing so you keep the tank covered with plastic wrap and or glass and try to keep the humidity up in the 70% range. Depending on the moss depends on how long it takes to take hold of the wood or rocks. 
How did I do it and what did I use?
Approximately
1/8 cup water.
1/8 cup of milk 
And one full cup of moss. 
I used fissidens mini and mini pellia which I ordered from members of the forum. 
So I forgot to take pictures at first when setting down the Aqua soil and all the additives and what not but I did start after that! 
As you can see I tried my best to keep the substrate at a slope from corner to opposite corner and I think I got it pretty close 






















Following feeling good about how the slope was and the overall look I then tried to slowly fill the tank with water upto the lowest point of substrate which is about 3inches. I did this to try and increase the humidity as much as possible. After this I blended up the two losses together and used a small paint brush and brushed all of it onto the wood and then took four small peaces I wasn't using and brushed the rest onto them so that I can check to make sure that the moss has connected before trying the submerge the whole tank wasting all that moss. I have the lights going on for 12hours a day so hoping that the fissidens wil be ready within two weeks. I'm guessing the pellia will take a little longer but only time will tell. I will most the tank twice to three times per day.



























































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## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

great piece of driftwood youve got there!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks it's definitely a fine looker  best part about it is the history behind how it came to be in my tank  


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

just a little update on when i will be getting the plants in and planting, should be around the 14th of may which will give me my full 3 weeks emersed for the moss to set in. It been hard waiting as long as i did to order the plants and now to just be getting them in two weeks time i am beyond stoked to plant this tank! I will be sure to take pictures through the whole process this time lol.


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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

Standing by for further awesomeness


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Hetzer said:


> Standing by for further awesomeness


lol alright, thanks =')


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## BoxxerBoyDrew (Oct 16, 2005)

VERY AWESOME BUILD!!!

Building the tank yourself is unbelieveable!!! AWESOME SIZE TOO!!! That driftwood as well as how you got it makes the tank even more special! Thank You for all the detail on the tank build and the moss dry start! I can't wait to see the tank planted and everything come together! I have on idea how you can stand to wait as long as you have!!! 

Subscribed!

Keep up the AWESOME WORK, and Take Care,
Drew


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks Drew  I will definitely keep everyone updated! 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Just a little update. I think next week on Thursday is when I will be getting the plants, not really sure I'm going to call the plant guy tomorrow lol :,). I ended up take small trims of some mini fissidens and pushing then into some of the crevices that I really want it to grow, so I made sure that there was some there by just adding me  other than that I found that the fissidens took around a week and a half to attach and the mini pellia is a 50/50 depending on where it is depends on if to was attached yet.































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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Big update!!!!! My moss have fully attached in a little over two weeks if not less. And in fact it is growing very fast surprisingly already grown about 1/16 of an inch which might not seam like much, but knowing that it was blended to a paste, 1/16" is a ton! So I plan to get the plants in for sure next week. I was suppose to get them in this week, but I guess the distributor has to go over everything on Thursday before shipping. Can't wait!!!! Not sure what I'm going to do with cycling out the ammonia in the Ada Aqua soil yet. I was thinking that since the soil is full of nutrients and what not that I could get away with not dosing any eu ferts for the first two week and just do 50% water changes every day the first week and every other day the second week. Let me know what you think! Here are the pics of the growth, hope you can see it!!!
























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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

better close up pictures of the moss growth! Love the way it looks =)


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## Dzrtman (Mar 4, 2014)

Nothing more rewarding than seeing nature respond; great husbandry!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Dzrtman said:


> Nothing more rewarding than seeing nature respond; great husbandry!


yes it is =)


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## Mitashade (Jan 8, 2015)

Looks great, that moss growth is awesome.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Mitashade said:


> Looks great, that moss growth is awesome.


Thanks =) Yea i had not looked at the moss at all for the last week and was just spraying it not paying any attention and when i looked two days ago i flipped hahaha.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Alright I flooded the tank!! Everything went pretty smooth and I am very happy to say it's almost time to plant . Filter might be a little to strong for the tank but we will see how it does when I add fish in three or four weeks. Here are the picture! I am turning the lights out for the next week with 50% or more water changes a day until planted then I will switch to only two 50% water changes a week. I ended up cutting some clastic bins and adding them into the soil for substrate supports! They worked great and they were free! . At first I used a bowl to poor the water onto but found that this didn't distribute the water good and cause the substrate to go everywhere, so I took a ton of paper towel and trough them in and that worked great! 


















































As you can see I had to use step downs in order to use the glass pipes as their was none with the rift dimension for the filter.









Well that's all for now. I will probably run into some algae while not having plants in the tank, but hope it's minimal since their will be no lighting 


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## saiko (Mar 30, 2007)

if you dont mind, can I ask a question on the tank build please?
Whats your take on the joint between the "old" silicone dab/patches and "new" injection filling silicone. Does it hold well, and look good?

no doubt you got a great journal going!!:thumbsup:


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

saiko said:


> if you dont mind, can I ask a question on the tank build please?
> Whats your take on the joint between the "old" silicone dab/patches and "new" injection filling silicone. Does it hold well, and look good?
> 
> no doubt you got a great journal going!!:thumbsup:


I think that the injection method is definitely a safer rout. Does it hold up better though? TBO i think if you have the right size glass thickness and what not, this is a little over kill='). I do believe though that it is a safer way because since your silicone gap is much bigger bubbles in the silicone are not going to be as bad as lets say the same size bubble is a tight silicone joint. I am definitely not good when it comes to building tanks though and mine ended up having bubbles and thats why i did it this way the second time around. =)


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## bennyjam (Nov 6, 2012)

Just wanted to throw in my two cents...I noticed you have one of the lights positioned above the piece of driftwood. I had a similar piece of driftwood in a previous tank just below a light. I had algae develop and covered the entire piece of driftwood. You might want to consider moving that light or raising it. Its just too much light at a short distance from my experience.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

bennyjam said:


> Just wanted to throw in my two cents...I noticed you have one of the lights positioned above the piece of driftwood. I had a similar piece of driftwood in a previous tank just below a light. I had algae develop and covered the entire piece of driftwood. You might want to consider moving that light or raising it. Its just too much light at a short distance from my experience.


honestly didnt even think of this!!!! Yea ill try to figure something out if not, ill just have to have trile and error with it =/. Thanks for pointing that out though! It would have happen with any light =/
I think what ill do is raise the light and move it forward more. =)


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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

looking great trey! /thumbsup


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## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

looks good, the DW is so nice


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks =)! Solved one problem today. The problem was that my filter was pushing water out to fast and was disturbing my soil making it cup out where the water was hitting so i just closed the ball valve about 1/4 closed and that pretty much solved that problem! Now i only have one problem to fix which is get the 90* peace for the kessil goose neck to allow me to have better options with adjusting where they are above the tank, but still allow me to keep the light perpendicular above the water


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

official plant arriving date!!!!!! Friday the 22nd of may!!!!! I am sososososos excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO far the tank is going good, i have a small amount of green algae on the driftwood and possibly some diatoms i believe. I also a a very god amount of bio film on the driftwood already! SO once the tank is cycled i should be god to put shrimp in!!!! Stay tuned for friday!!!!!!


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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

Great piece. I'm excited to see some more growth in this one. I think you should go with carpet/foreground plants to make that big stump stand out more.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Yep the main carpeting plant is dwarf hair grass. Also will have some s repens. That's all the hints for one! I will post step by step picks on what happens! That means u boxing pics and some of each plant and the. Deciding th plants and planting!!!! 


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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

Nice man, can't wait to see it!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

this is going to be a long two days lol -_-


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Well looks like I'm running into a small small little problem . First of many I say lol. I am getting what I think is a good amount of bio film on the driftwood and inside the tubing. Also think I have some diatoms on the driftwood but that's not to bad. 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

well i thought it was bio film but now i think it might actually just be bacteria!!! I added a bottle of bacteria in the tank when i set it up and filled it, so im guessing i added a little to much.


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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

Lets get to planting Trey!!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Mikeygmzmg said:


> Lets get to planting Trey!!


tomorrow hhaha! Well i ran into a slight problem. No biggie just have to make sure i can replace it in like 3days. Im sure the plants will be fine. My Aquatek co2 dual gauge regulator has a small leak! Ughhhhhhhh!! Brand new =/


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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

Can't wait dude, love the look of this setup.


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

Did it just spring a leak? It might be the o ring right after the threaded part and the little particulate filter. That happens when you twist the regulator body. You can buy a close enough o ring at the hardware and stretch it to fit. Good luck. The layout looks great.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

It's leaking through the threads. Looks like they didn't add as much of what ever sealing material they use onto the threaded area.

















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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

It's a very small pin leak. Its not that much pressure at all. I might try and put super glue onto it just while I'm waiting for the replacement. 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

well that superglue did its job, added about 4 coats to be safe and im not looking at this being a long term solution as much as just wating for a response from the dealer and since i plant tomorrow needed a fix. And on the bright side no leaks and i got all the co2 tubing and the do aqua co2 diffuser in the tank and did a test to see how it would do! One think i did notice is that their is a small cluster of bubbles that are larger that try to float right up unlike the others, but still very hapy with the unit. Ill post a video after this! One thing i dont really like is that for my bubble counter i added that thick oil water or what ever it is to the counter and it just makes the bubbles really big unless yu have it going 2 bubbles a second which i need higher so i think im going to remove the thick oil and just do water. If i choose to use water is it best to use ro water?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Here is the video of the diffuser and also a pic of the c02 drop checker. I plan to use the co2 drop checker for the first money then just take it out. https://vimeo.com/128555030










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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Quick update video!! Work is in progress to get this thing planted!!!!! More videos to come!!!! https://vimeo.com/128639099


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## kimchilee (Mar 2, 2015)

wow, how many tissue culture plants are there? it should take a while to plant them all.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

https://vimeo.com/128640603


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

I got 5 big portions of the erectus from the emerged setup. Probably close to 200+ stems. Finally able to cut down on all the plants on the emerged setup. 


Yea it's going to take a good 3 hours if I had to guess lol!!! 
So worth it though


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

Regular water is fine. It'll eventually disappear though but by then it won't matter since your bubble rate is set. Looking good!!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks ^^. I just got done with the emerged plants. They are all in bins with water and paper towels. I can't believe how much emerged plant stems I actually had lol -_- bad mistake buying the erectus tissue culture. Still going to use it though!










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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Some pics of the tissue culture plants!!! 






















I'm trying my best to get the gel off but if their is some o well, it would take years to do all this if I got every inch of gel off 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Some pics of the tissue culture plants!!! 






















I'm trying my best to get the gel off but if their is some o well, it would take years to do all this if I got every inch of gel off 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

https://vimeo.com/128644412


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

https://vimeo.com/128645811


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Sorry if you guys can't hear me!!! When the video gets condensed I guess it take away a lot of the sound to make up for the long video? I'll keep you updated!!! Probably will be done with the rest of the tissue culture plants in the next hour! 


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## Brian Mc (Feb 9, 2012)

Looking good man, that tank is gonna be slap full of plants. That's the way to do it, can't wait to see the finished scape.

Great looking TC plants, who did you get them from?

Edit: We need a live feed lol.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Lol!! I'm trying my best to make it like a live feed hahaha! I got my plants from aquarium plants.com. They are located only 30ish minutes from me so it worked out perfect! These are quit new for their website. So far I have only had one bad bin of plants. The roots had rotted and so I didn't even get half of the plants out of that bin, but other than that, they are awesome!!!!! 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Just one pic for now. Taking a little break to eat. I'll be back with a video in like 1 hour or less.










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## Donald Corbett (Apr 1, 2015)

That looks great!


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## Brian Mc (Feb 9, 2012)

treyLcham said:


> I got my plants from aquarium plants.com. They are located only 30ish minutes from me so it worked out perfect!


Wow that is really funny, that doesn't look anything like the TC plants I got from them at all lol. Look at this: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=861602&highlight=


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

I would have called them. They are truly nice people, I have been working with them for the past three weeks! They also just moved so idk if they got new workers or something also. 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

https://vimeo.com/128649273


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

this is going to take along time lol, about 1/4 way done with planting so around two more hours worth lol!!! I will post picks and any videos in the AM, Or will it be lunch lol ='). All i can say for now is, it is looking AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! So pumped on how well my first aquascape is turning out!!!!!


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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

How did the planting go trey? cant wait to see!!!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Went great!!!! Didn't finish till 3 am this morning! Sweet tea saved me lol. Here is a ton of pictures. All I have to say though, I'm never planting a tank this. If without a helper lol!! 

































































































































































https://vimeo.com/128680765





















































































Well that's a ton of pictures lol! Here is one more from this morning










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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I wish I had this kind of foresight while planting. I just sort of float them around, like how it looks, stick them in. haha


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Lol ^ insure if I didn't have the time I had I would have done what you said . This project only took me 9montha worth of research saving up and buying the needed materials. Definitely a long process, but definitely glad with my first planted tank! Can't wait to see how to grows in. One thing I am not sure about yet is if I should add a white background or leave it. Tbd 


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## danbayne (May 21, 2013)

Looks awesome man. Congrats on all the hard work. Cant wait to see what you stock it with....


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

danbayne said:


> Looks awesome man. Congrats on all the hard work. Cant wait to see what you stock it with....


Thanks =) Plant to stock it in about three weeks if the tank is fully cycled by then which i think it will be.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Well, since my ammonia lvls have been tamed at a solid like 2ppm at most without plants, today i checked and its down to .5ppm already. So, i decided i would add 5 of my top 3 pick of shrimp(ghost shrimp). Idk why i love these little guys sosososos much, i just like how some of them have the gold striping to them and the red claws and or what not. I have one that is a clearish yellow on its back with some small back dots, hard to see though. I will leave these guys in the tank until my ammonia lvls and what not drop down enough for fish and higher quality shrimp, but for right now i am loving watching them swim around in the water and explore the Great Stump. I will try and post a pic of one, but tapatalk has been super bad for the past week and keeps freezing and what not, but i will try!


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## Mitashade (Jan 8, 2015)

Very nice, like your plant choices. Is that pinnatifida? Love it. Great job with the planting.


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## jimbo662 (Aug 4, 2013)

Wow...can't wait to watch your tank mature.


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## Kindafishy (Jan 14, 2015)

You mentioned possibly adding a background. You could always tape on some posterboard, or the like, to see how you like it. That would be easy to remove, if you didn't. I think some of the glass frosting with some colored lights behind it would be amazing on that tank.

Have you considered adding a CO2 reactor to run that inline?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

treyLcham said:


> Lol ^ insure if I didn't have the time I had I would have done what you said . This project only took me 9montha worth of research saving up and buying the needed materials. Definitely a long process, but definitely glad with my first planted tank! Can't wait to see how to grows in. One thing I am not sure about yet is if I should add a white background or leave it. Tbd
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I think poster board has been suggested already, but give it a try. Should stay put with some simple clear tape for the trial period at least.

Also, 9 months is a long time! I guess I meant my vision isn't that good regardless of time. I could have years and I don't think it would make me any more creative with a planted tank! You did a good job. I really like how it is looking.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Freemananana said:


> I think poster board has been suggested already, but give it a try. Should stay put with some simple clear tape for the trial period at least.
> 
> Also, 9 months is a long time! I guess I meant my vision isn't that good regardless of time. I could have years and I don't think it would make me any more creative with a planted tank! You did a good job. I really like how it is looking.


Thanks =). Yes i plan on using poster board, and actually also plan on getting the strip stick led to put on it so that it has the sunrise look to the background =)!

Bump:


Mitashade said:


> Very nice, like your plant choices. Is that pinnatifida? Love it. Great job with the planting.


Yes it is! Love this plant! Cant wait to see how it matures!
Thanks!

Bump:


Kindafishy said:


> You mentioned possibly adding a background. You could always tape on some posterboard, or the like, to see how you like it. That would be easy to remove, if you didn't. I think some of the glass frosting with some colored lights behind it would be amazing on that tank.
> 
> Have you considered adding a CO2 reactor to run that inline?


I have, but i actually like having the bubbles for right now. Im sure im going to change as i already have a reactor, but for right now i am enjoying seeing the co2 bubbles.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

The reactor is far more efficient haha. Bubbles hitting the surface is CO2 loss  I know they are cool, I actually like the fizzy look. Also, the sunrise is a good idea. I've seen it and it does look good.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Freemananana said:


> The reactor is far more efficient haha. Bubbles hitting the surface is CO2 loss  I know they are cool, I actually like the fizzy look. Also, the sunrise is a good idea. I've seen it and it does look good.


yea i know that the co2 with the diffuser isn't as good =). I am running around 4pps right now and my drop checker is just barely over what color it needs to be so this is telling me that the Do aqua diffuser was definitely worth the price as most of the bubbles are super small and just pushed from the outflow of the canister filter since i have the diffuser almost under the outflow glass pipe. As long as i am not exchanging co2 canisters every three months then im fine with the 1/8 co2 loss that i probably loose. =)


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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

So sick Trey. The simplicity of the hardscape and the plant selection are awesome. Can't wait to see it filled out.


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## Xirxes (Aug 18, 2008)

is the second from rear left pogostemon erectus?

If so, is it emerged or submerged? I wish you luck if its emerged growth, i just planted a forrest of the stuff and it 90% melted.

If submerged, let me know where you got it!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Xirxes said:


> is the second from rear left pogostemon erectus?
> 
> If so, is it emerged or submerged? I wish you luck if its emerged growth, i just planted a forrest of the stuff and it 90% melted.
> 
> If submerged, let me know where you got it!


its immersed from my immersed setup. i get almost a 95% no melt rate on all my immersed plants, even my wendtii green and brown doesn't melt(i keep a true 90+% humidity).. here is a pic of the immersed setup. Also Just a little update! There is probably three plants that i can see pearling from and i hope that changes as they start to get more acclimated to their environment. I got a ton of root growth over the past i think 4days and also my erectus is growing like crazy!! I added some more ludwigia red to test out how good the lights are, because this plant seems to shift very fast from green to red, so i added some of it that i had gotten pretty green yellow ish and i will see how it goes! Ill post a pic on Wednesday when i do the water change! Almost forgot to say that my shrimp are loving it! And to my surprise the ammonia lvl keeps dropping, i am at around .25ppm ammonia and since my ph is in the lower range around 6.4 most the ammonia has probably changed to ammonium as i read that it changes in low ph i guess? Welp i just checked it and its reading 0ppm of ammonia now! HA didnt think the media was that filled with bacteria! Still waiting for the second stage of bacteria to grow so the nitrates drop, they might have already grown and im just seeing the ada soil pushing out a lot of nitrates(3ppm)

this pic is of right after i put the plastic rap on top and taped it, so its much easier to see the plants, or else lol....


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

looked at some backgrounds today and im loving the frosted background with the led at the bottom to give it a warming feeling! Looks like thats the plan!!

I have never put a background on a tank before, is it pretty easy to do? I do tons of dirt bike graphics so i think that will help with how well i am able to get all the bubbles out.


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## Sarraa (May 17, 2015)

I am beyond impressed with the whole set up you did! Seriously so in love with your tank haha. I can't wait to see everything grow in! 
Do you have a list of plants you used? I love so many that you put in your tank! 
I'm officially jealous. Wanna come and do a planted tank for me?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Second bacteria is nitrites by the way haha Nitrates are the things that are always going to be present unless you do a water change. Just in case you are doing the nitrate test instead of the nitrite test. 

Your planting is so neat and organized. I envy it!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Yea haha I always get those mixed up!! Haha!!!! 
Yea I can get a plant list done when I get home today! Thanks 


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

If you ever decide to stop using that red cedar drop me a line, I'll buy it off you. It so hard to find any decent OLD red cedar now that I want another piece >.<


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

AquaAurora said:


> If you ever decide to stop using that red cedar drop me a line, I'll buy it off you. It so hard to find any decent OLD red cedar now that I want another piece >.<


i will be sure to =)!


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## Sarraa (May 17, 2015)

Are you selling the plants you are growing in the emersed tank? If so, I would love to buy some from you! 

And if you're not, where did you order yours from? They look so much healthier than the ones I've gotten from PetSmart or my local fish shop


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

Looks good!!! whats the official final plant list looking like?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

chris.rivera3 said:


> Looks good!!! whats the official final plant list looking like?


*Plant list-*

AR Mini
Ludwigia sp red
Eleocharis sp. mini
ammania Bondsai(True Rotala)
S repens
Hydrocotyle tripartita "japan"
Anubias, Petite Nana( Anubias Bareri var. nana petite)
Hygrophila Pinnatifida
Pogostemon erectus
Pogostemon helferi
Cyperus Helferi
Mini Fissidens
Mini pellia

Im surprised its actually as long as it is, because it all seems to really flow good together even with the large amount of different plants.


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## coco4pr3z (Jan 28, 2010)

Amazing man.


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

You son of a bitch! I found your journal! HAHA, looking good man. You are doing an amazing job with this journal and setup. You should do more YT videos and show how you set up your emersed growth tank. That looks sweet. I need to get something like that going for my next project. Do you have egg crate in there with water running through it?

Peace


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Yea hahahha I figured you were on here haha! Yea it's the light defuser from Home Depot. Yea I should do some videos! I'm going to be doing some changes to the emerged here come like this weekend maybe so I'll try and make a video of both tanks.  


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Just a little update, I added like 6 of what I believe to be Pygmy corys, they could be the other small Cory but my Lfs labels them as that. I will be takin nth all my pics and videos tomorrow of how the tank is doing and what I plan to stock it with and what not! No algae other than some on the driftwood, but that shouldn't be to much of a problem want I stock it with inverts and fish!! 


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

is that the cyprus helferi in the back left corner behind the driftwood? 



treyLcham said:


> *Plant list-*
> 
> AR Mini
> Ludwigia sp red
> ...


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Yes it is  love this plant!!! 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

alright guys so i am really torn on what fish i should stock in this tank so i was hopping i could get some opinions on what my list is!

Green tetra
cardinal tetra
rummy nose tetra 

Hillstream loach
Oto cats

Skunk Cory
Corydoras habrosus 
Corydoras aeneus

Im torn between corys right now. I have like 6 of the salt and pepper corys which were in my other tank which i just wanted to see how i would like them in the 60 gallon since it appears to be fully cycled now!!! But i really am torn between if i want to keep them in their and get a larger cory species. I dont think the larger ones will pull the hair grass up.

I am also torn between what tetras i want to add. I was thinking of like half rummy nose and half green tetras, but then i really like the cardinals to. Jusst let me know what your opinions are!! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

I miss my salt and pepper Cory's. I have like 6 of the aeneus that have been with me since the beginning, 5 years or so. They do tear up the hair grass foraging for food. I love them, but not gonna have any hair grass soon lol. The salt and peppers may do better, and panda Cory's are always nice 

I think the cardinal tetras would be a nice contrast to the rummynose. I personally don't really like the green ones but can't say the green wouldn't be a good contrast either [emoji14] If you can find them, emperor tetras are really nice looking, but they get kinda big at 3".

I do love the hillstream loaches but I thought they needed pretty high flow? That's why I haven't picked one/some up yet... There's always some ancistrus as a replacement, the L183 starlights are amazing looking.

Edit: the Internet's say emperor tetras get 1.5" max but I've definitely had them at 3" from a local breeder..


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

HolyAngel said:


> I miss my salt and pepper Cory's. I have like 6 of the aeneus that have been with me since the beginning, 5 years or so. They do tear up the hair grass foraging for food. I love them, but not gonna have any hair grass soon lol. The salt and peppers may do better, and panda Cory's are always nice
> 
> I think the cardinal tetras would be a nice contrast to the rummynose. I personally don't really like the green ones but can't say the green wouldn't be a good contrast either [emoji14] If you can find them, emperor tetras are really nice looking, but they get kinda big at 3".
> 
> ...


yea if i was going to get a larger fish i would go with the Praecox Rainbow, which i one of my favorites and might end up doing this also.. So many options!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im killing my self over this hahaha. 
I plan to have some fire red shrimp and possibly some some blue dream or black tigers, but im not sure yet on that, depends if i am able to get the water temps to where i need them (73* ish) I am going to get a fan and test out how well that works come this weekend or next week and see how well i can get the temps to drop. Yea some poeple would say hell no to shrimp with fish, but i see plenty of fish keepers with really nice shrimp so im going to try it out and see what happens =). Yea in that case ill stick with the pepper. Ill probably get like 15 of them or more!!! Also i think what my plan will be is to see what the lfs has and if they end up having what i have listed ill just pick when im their since ill be able to actually see them face to face. Ill probably end up doing like 8 rummy nose and like 25+ green neon's or cardinals. The thing about the green neon'sis that they just seems to always flow with almost any aqua scape. The cardinals i also feel dont school as well but look amazing at the same time!!! Ugh..... Pictures tomorrow or Sunday, i got a race tomorrow lol so idk if i will post stuff tomorrow.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

All good points! Sounds like a plan to me ^^ and yeah definitely no emperor tetras then, I've seen them eat a full grown amano whole in one bite lol. I do agree on the cardinals not schooling very well so the greens might be better there. Always nice to have a shoal in the tank.

As a side note, I'd probably test the shrimp theory with cherries or something cheap first once you have the tank stocked with fish. I've had some fish that were supposed to be shrimp safe that just nom'd them and others that didn't.

Anyways, no rush but looking forward to the pics ^^


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

HolyAngel said:


> All good points! Sounds like a plan to me ^^ and yeah definitely no emperor tetras then, I've seen them eat a full grown amano whole in one bite lol. I do agree on the cardinals not schooling very well so the greens might be better there. Always nice to have a shoal in the tank.
> 
> As a side note, I'd probably test the shrimp theory with cherries or something cheap first once you have the tank stocked with fish. I've had some fish that were supposed to be shrimp safe that just nom'd them and others that didn't.
> 
> Anyways, no rush but looking forward to the pics ^^


yea i have heard that certain fish will be shrimp killers but the good thing is, my local fish store will take the same fish and trade it with an identical one for almost nothing =)
Now that you mention that about the shrimp, thats a great idea!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Alright, platinum rummy nose tetras are for sure on the list, the pepper cords are for sure on the list. Now just to figure out what I want green or cardinals. I will find out next week when I go to get some fish!!!!. I'm going to try and make a video on Sunday on what's going on with the tank. 


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## Sarraa (May 17, 2015)

My favorite corys are the julii or sterbais 

Not sure if you wanted to keep all the schooling fish the same thing, but why not have a mix of the green and cardinals haha. Personally, I vote for the cardinals the Galaxy rasboras (pearl danios) are pretty neat as well! 

I'm excited for these pictures!!


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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

Hi trey your planting came out even better than i thought it would, absolutely wonderful!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Aww so you didn't believe in me =*'(. Lol thanks! Undated tomorrow hopefully 


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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

hehe not at all sir, your skill and vision was simply beyond my comprehension


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

=) dont worry haha it was beyond mine when it was all done also!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Sorry for the quality of the video and for the background noise, my family was watching. A movie and I don't think it would have been nice for me to just make them turn their movie off. Everything is going great though!!! I am getting very little algae to no algae and most of it is on the wood and is green algae. Can't really do much about that other than hope that the fish and inverts clear it up once they are added. I would scrub it off with my brush but I don't want to mess with the moss while its growing in. Also I am getting a good amount of diatoms on some of the anubias and driftwood. I try and brush them off with the brush while I am changing water and that seems to keep them in check a little. 
I'll probably make another video later today after in done with all the maintenance! https://vimeo.com/129365305


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Done! Took like 2 and a half hours, not to bad for a weekly maintenance. https://vimeo.com/129378208https://vimeo.com/129378266







my ghost shrimp has small blue spots  she is a keeper! 








These little guys have the best personality! They are not afraid of me at all haha 






































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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

I'm digging the cory school  very cool


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Wow that looks awesome! 

And I love those Cory's! Totally want some now but I'll have to setup another tank first [emoji14]


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Yea I can't wait to have a school of like 15 of them!!! They are awesome, but just watch out they are extremely sensitive to ph change I have found:,(. I am getting on my stuff this week for doing water changes with water that has been sitting in a container with soil that will drop the ph to what it is in the tank! This is really going to be the key to me being able to keep the shrimp and nice fish!!! 


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## Mitashade (Jan 8, 2015)

Very nice, good to see everything showing growth and looking healthy.


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## colemab (May 6, 2006)

If you don't mind my asking, what is your controller set to (i.e. duration, intensity, color)? Are you running 100% intensity all the time?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

I am running it at 100% intensity for 95% of the day with a color at 25% blue, and then for the last half hour I run it at 100% blue with what I believe is 5% intensity just for a nice tamp down for the last thirty minutes. Surprisingly I am getting pretty good growth and really not that much algae at all!!!!! Now I did find some brown hair algae? In the vertical impression on the stump but managed to get most of it out. I plan to slowly start to up my hours of light on once I start dosing full ei. Right now I am dosing almost full ei with the exception of kno3, and doing two water changes a week (Wednesday Sunday). Once I see that the nitrite levels are at 0 ppm when ever I test, then I will start dosing full ei. So around two weeks out from dosing full ei. Also another project that i will be hopefully completing this week is getting a holding run for distilling water for the aquarium so that all my ph lvls and temps are set at the same give or take one degree or .4 ph ish 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Fredrick the snail. Lol he is one of two that I have in the tank. I put them both in on the second day once planed and he has grown sosososos much!!!! Love watching him! 










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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

Man I love this tank... Lol Fredrich the snail.


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## crispin (Apr 24, 2015)

treyLcham said:


> Fredrick the snail. Lol he is one of two that I have in the tank. I put them both in on the second day once planed and he has grown sosososos much!!!! Love watching him!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice Tank, love it !
why would you put a pond snail in your planted tank ?! :icon_surp they eat plants and are almost impossible to eradicate them once they lay eggs. 

your hair grass look nice ! how often do you trimm it ? i just recovered from BBA. :hihi:


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

crispin said:


> Nice Tank, love it !
> why would you put a pond snail in your planted tank ?! :icon_surp they eat plants and are almost impossible to eradicate them once they lay eggs.
> 
> your hair grass look nice ! how often do you trimm it ? i just recovered from BBA. :hihi:


right now im trimming one every week or two,(Only had the tank operating for two weeks now). Where did you hear that they eat plants? They only eat decaying plants i believe and also clean the glass and will eat bba i found. I find that they dont reproduce as much when you dont over feed your fish or shrimp. Also i found a cool way to sex them very easy and that is by taking two at a time and adding them to a bin of water and wait for one to try and climb on the back of the other and if it does then its a male. I try to only add males


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## crispin (Apr 24, 2015)

treyLcham said:


> right now im trimming one every week or two,(Only had the tank operating for two weeks now). Where did you hear that they eat plants? They only eat decaying plants i believe and also clean the glass and will eat bba i found. I find that they dont reproduce as much when you dont over feed your fish or shrimp. Also i found a cool way to sex them very easy and that is by taking two at a time and adding them to a bin of water and wait for one to try and climb on the back of the other and if it does then its a male. I try to only add males


i got bba because i had too little nitrate. But now everything is fine with ultra high light and additional fertilizer. 
Let me tell you pond snails really can become a nightmare.. they favor everything thats green in your tank haha. Sorry for the bad news but pond snails are hermaphrodites so they are both male and female. You can check it on wikipedia or other sites. Just check this out http://mikesfishes.blogspot.de/2020/09/to-snail-or-not-to-snail.html


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

welp i guess the internet has false info then hahaa ='), yea anyways i dont really care i love them in the setup and if they do start over taking the tank i can resort to two options, one being the assassins snail and the other being the good oll veggie in the tank. I just did a water change today so i was able to clean out any of the snail eggs i found which i found one small clump. I ended up taking out three of the snails and just left my giant big girl/guy lol. I love how big he is!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

So I may have run into my first problem, or I'm just over thinking things and it's just normal melting, but just to be safe I'll ask what y'all's opinions as on it.before I tell you what it is, here is my test results 
Ph- 6.2 
Gh- 8
Kh- 2
Temp- 76/77
Tds- 175
Nitrite-very close to 0 if not 0 
Ammonia-.25~0 
Nitrates- 5ppm 
Phosphate- 1ppm I think this may be the cause? 

So what's happening is I'm getting holes and dead spots that are kinda melting in my s repens and my sp Japan. Idk if I'm just over thinking it or if it is a problem  guess I'll find out lol 



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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Just a small update video of the tank. 
Everything is doing well! Ended up loosing one of my three ghost feeder shrimp I had added, but the other two seen to be doing great! Plan to go to my lfs, actually it's not really local lol (45min), but it's the only one other than petco lol. I plan on getting 4 Otos to help fight the green algae that I'm getting on the glass and the anubias and ar mini and driftwood. It's not a ton, but definitely enough to where I'm able to use a razor blade and push a good amount off the glass once a week. I also decided to take Fredrick the snail out and add him back into his original home which is the 30gallon tall tank. I plan to do the next big update in about two week or possibly one if I end up getting the fish. 
( 5% light 100% color.(9k)) this is the light that I keep it at for the last 30min the lights are on, I feel that it's very nice to watch it drop down to this intensity and actually has promoted my corys to really come out during this time. They come out all day typically, but they seem to really school very well in the bottom to middle of the tank during this time! 
https://vimeo.com/129992666



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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Looking very nice!! 

Did you figure out the melting/pinhole issue? Looks like potassium deficiency to me.. Iron might help too but definitely potassium.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

HolyAngel said:


> Looking very nice!!
> 
> Did you figure out the melting/pinhole issue? Looks like potassium deficiency to me.. Iron might help too but definitely potassium.


yea im still working that out, not 100% sure yet. I was thinking potassium, but they are not super small holes, and the new leaf growth so far is not yellow, so that makes me think that it just might be something else. Not really if their is a cheap way to test for my potassium levels, but im going to be switching to full ei dosing next week i think, because all my levels have been great, my nitrates have dropped way down this week which i think is telling me my soil is finally done leaching, or at least close. I have had the tank submerged now since 5/14/15 so im under a month old with the soil, but i did have the soil level filled with water while i was doing the dry start with moss so that probably really helped out with things since i did that for two weeks also. And since i am not dosing the kno3 i suspect that the soil might have been good for a week or so now and thats why i am seeing the K deficiency =/.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Hmm for sure.. I dont think there is a cheap potassium test..I know every time I've ever had it though I never got the yellowing around the pinholes, but more K fixed it every time for me. Hopefully you get it figured out ^^


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## Donald Corbett (Apr 1, 2015)

I had algae starting to take hold on my 55g and I cut back lighting. I had a finnex 48" planted+ and a 48" aquaticlife dual T5HO. Growth was great but leaves were starting to take on Brown and Green algae. No hair algae though. Was I wrong in cutting the T5HO back to one bulb? 


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## Donald Corbett (Apr 1, 2015)

The AR Mini you gave me has gone crazy. Rooted like none other and spreading. 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Donald Corbett said:


> I had algae starting to take hold on my 55g and I cut back lighting. I had a finnex 48" planted+ and a 48" aquaticlife dual T5HO. Growth was great but leaves were starting to take on Brown and Green algae. No hair algae though. Was I wrong in cutting the T5HO back to one bulb?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I wouldn't say you were wrong so much as that you could have tried shortening the lights on time frame for one hour less and then if that didn't work you could have done that. As long as it works without loosing to much par your fine . I would lower my lighting but I'm just going to try to push through the brown and green algae by doing good maintenance and allow the plants to grow in better. 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Donald Corbett said:


> The AR Mini you gave me has gone crazy. Rooted like none other and spreading.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Yea hahaha idk what it is but any good soil with ar mini from my setup just seems to want to shoot out tons of roots haha! I had like 4 inches of root growth from stems in less than 3 days! 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Well kinda activated right now. First thing I was taking the co2 diffuser out and I have one of the ads 90* glass tubing line hose things and just barely pulled it up and t shattered in my hand..... Didn't cut my self but was just kinda bummed on that, then next I tried to scrub off all the algae from my diffuser which obviously I could have gotten the smaller one as my tank reads 30ppm co2 with the little space being used on the co2 diffuser so it's getting algae all over the disk








Probably going to switch over to inline soon as this sort of thing really gets to me easily, but hoping I can get it to go away and stay away. Other than that I'm totally cleaning the whole tank right now and plan to make a good video tomorrow of the tank, if everything goes to plan that is... I'm getting a good amount of brown algae and a little good amount of green algae, but can't wait to see what those otos do to that ! 
I'm now almost 100% sure it's potassium deficiency and I wil start dosing the kno3 tomorrow. Live and learn as they say. 


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Oh man, that sucks. That happened to my first in-tank diffuser too, so pissed lol. I switched to inline and never looked back. One of those Up-Aqua atomics, 16/22mm I think. It was cheaper than gla's and has lasted 2-3 years so far and still going strong. Definitely thinking inline reactor next though, the mist of tiny bubbles is kind of annoying but its not a big deal.

Glad you got the fertilizer thing figured out ^^


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

HolyAngel said:


> Oh man, that sucks. That happened to my first in-tank diffuser too, so pissed lol. I switched to inline and never looked back. One of those Up-Aqua atomics, 16/22mm I think. It was cheaper than gla's and has lasted 2-3 years so far and still going strong. Definitely thinking inline reactor next though, the mist of tiny bubbles is kind of annoying but its not a big deal.
> 
> Glad you got the fertilizer thing figured out ^^


yea i have an inline just sitting around lol. I ended up soaking all the glass and the diffuser in some 75/25 vinegar to water and im thinking this is going to work =). Only time will tell though! I also added two packs of purigen and my gosh does that stuff work or what =0. Yea i know people say you dont need it and that it doesnt do anything if your tank is already "perfect", but im thinking this stuff is magic in a bag lol =.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

That diffuser looks...gross haha. Inline all the way! Good luck with it, hopefully you don't have any more close encounters with glass ware.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Freemananana said:


> That diffuser looks...gross haha. Inline all the way! Good luck with it, hopefully you don't have any more close encounters with glass ware.


yea for sure haha, dont want that to happen again! today the amount of algae on the diffuser is half if not less! So, its looking like it might make a comeback for the better!!! Also as for the "potassium" deficiency, i am going to hold off on calling it that for a little while, because thats not the fastest growing plant in my setup at all and the other ones are not showing any signs so, im guessing its just melting.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

well just called the local fish store and they are all out of stock of everything i listed LOL, Looks like ill be waiting two weeks since this week they get stock on Thursday, but ill be gone from Friday till Sunday lol. I might end up just pre ordering for this Thursday, but for right now im thinking im going to wait it out a little.

Question, how many fish do you normally stock at a time? I have done 5 at a time on my other tank like 30 gallons, but never had a 60 gallon so idk if the rules change and i can stock double or something? I would love to be able to get 10 fish or so, to make the trip worth wild.


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

I just spray some hydrogen peroxide.


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

When I cycled my 30g, I added all of my fish at once. 10 neons, 6 cories, 3 otos. Never had an issue. But when it comes to adding fish to a running tank, I'd say 10 small ones is probably pushing it. The last thing you want is a visible mini cycle  I just went through that and daily water changes, sometimes twice a day water changes, just to keep ammonia and nitrite down is not fun. Even more so if you care for the fish.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Freemananana said:


> When I cycled my 30g, I added all of my fish at once. 10 neons, 6 cories, 3 otos. Never had an issue. But when it comes to adding fish to a running tank, I'd say 10 small ones is probably pushing it. The last thing you want is a visible mini cycle  I just went through that and daily water changes, sometimes twice a day water changes, just to keep ammonia and nitrite down is not fun. Even more so if you care for the fish.


yea i have like 6 salty pepper Cory's right now. And knowing that the media was already cycling for 2months before i setup the tank and then it had to deal with the super high ammonia lvl of the aqua soil, im thinking its pretty much ready for any big bio loads wouldnt you say?


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

I have zero experience with aqua soil! haha. I would take it easy and see how fast you can add fish. I added 15 cherry barbs to my tank without issue and it is 'similar'-ish in size. The most important thing is to just check your levels for a few days. Different tanks handle bio load differently, so I can't make any guarantees.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Freemananana said:


> I have zero experience with aqua soil! haha. I would take it easy and see how fast you can add fish. I added 15 cherry barbs to my tank without issue and it is 'similar'-ish in size. The most important thing is to just check your levels for a few days. Different tanks handle bio load differently, so I can't make any guarantees.


hha yea i understand completely!
What im going to do is get 5 of both tetras and then 3 oto cats to start with and go from their =)


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## kzeller (Dec 31, 2014)

Subscribed. This is spectacular!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

thanks man!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Alright I have the fish acclimating as we speak! Going to drop them for 1 hour since I had them in their bags for 1 hour before I started, the water temp is the same . I ended up only being able to get 1 oto :,(, tank really needs like 6 of them right now!!! Green algae all over the place hahaha. The other two are green neon tetra and rummy nose!!!!















I ended up going to fins and skins for the fish and they had some great looking tanks!! No fish were dead in any of the tanks ether! Very impressed with their knowledge of the fish and also they walked right up to you the second you walked in the door and had no problem talking your ear of lol. Definitely going back their again! 


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

I wouldnt rely on the oto's to keep it clean, I have 3 oto's in my 29 as well as numerous ones over the years and they are damn lazy lol. They either stay on the glass or lay on the plants/substrate. I don't think they do anything about the algae. Last I read they prefer the diatoms over standard green algae but I could definitely be wrong ^^

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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

HolyAngel said:


> I wouldnt rely on the oto's to keep it clean, I have 3 oto's in my 29 as well as numerous ones over the years and they are damn lazy lol. They either stay on the glass or lay on the plants/substrate. I don't think they do anything about the algae. Last I read they prefer the diatoms over standard green algae but I could definitely be wrong ^^
> 
> Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


the older they are the more lazy they get. =) Just got to get little ones that dont look as old and they go ham on algae haha!

definitely not going to rely on them though =) Changes are being made to help tame it down.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

well its an update video, but not a good one hahaha. When i downloaded it off my phone to youtube the quality went from alright to complete "____" (fill in the blank lol). Still an update. Let me know what you guys think! Next video will definitely not be my phone hahaha. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKqUHoOqDV4


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

DANG! 240P, maybe it was just an upload issue. The bacteria bloom is pretty normal. I just never get use to a tank with no surface agitation. It is so weird to me. 

It was fun, maybe just try and get some more shots at tank level. I was sorta half watching and half doing some other things, but video updates are always cool. I would definitely see if uploading it to YouTube had some low quality/fast upload selected. Were you on WiFi?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Freemananana said:


> DANG! 240P, maybe it was just an upload issue. The bacteria bloom is pretty normal. I just never get use to a tank with no surface agitation. It is so weird to me.
> 
> It was fun, maybe just try and get some more shots at tank level. I was sorta half watching and half doing some other things, but video updates are always cool. I would definitely see if uploading it to YouTube had some low quality/fast upload selected. Were you on WiFi?


yea i was on my wifi with the iphone 6. I just finished taking some nice video with an actual camera/ recorder(sisters lol). Its not so much of the whole tank as to say, but it is a very close up of the oto just chilling in the current. Pretty cool though none the less. I also took some nice photos on macro or is it micro? lol who knows hahaha. Ill post them soon.


edit, im going to wait for my moms camera hahahaha! I got one shot that is very grainy lol, still kinda cool though.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

I'm scared lol, I have been gone for two days now and going home tomorrow lol. Wish me luck hahahaha. 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Omg it is an algae bloom!!!!! Ugh!!!! This is going to be a mess and a half!! So, any suggestions on what caused it? To much frets or to much light or what???? When I get home I. Going to do a big water change and go from their!!! 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

lol that's pretty bad haha! Idk why I'm laughing right now.... I guess you could say it was not a bacteria bloom lol. Any suggestions on what could have caused it would be great! I'm thinking it was the lighting and not the ferts as I was doing half the ferts and having two water changes a day so I think it's the lighting? 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Anyone have any suggestions on a good uv sterilizer that is around 100$ ? 


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## mot (Sep 17, 2011)

I suspect you have way too much light for your CO2 levels. Also your Co2 diffuser placement looks like its not in the flow. You may want to try moving it to the opposite tank wall to your outflow.

You may want to check out msjinkzd fish acclimation procedure and reason behind it. Just do a web search for "Msjinkzd acclimation".

Your emersed setup is awesome! Keep up the good work and enjoyed the video.

Hope that helps.


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

When I had green water, it was caused by me disturbing the substrate in a big way such as vacuuming the entire substrate and then replanting. It happened to me twice. I've since vowed to never disturb more than 50 percent of the substrate at any given time. I've not had a reoccurrence in years. Its been said it was caused by the release of more ammonia than the bacteria could handle.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

hbosman said:


> When I had green water, it was caused by me disturbing the substrate in a big way such as vacuuming the entire substrate and then replanting. It happened to me twice. I've since vowed to never disturb more than 50 percent of the substrate at any given time. I've not had a reoccurrence in years. Its been said it was caused by the release of more ammonia than the bacteria could handle.


yea im guessing it was an ammonia spike caused by some of the plants melting. I would say it was the fish, but this problem had already started before the fish were added and that would lead me to believe that it in fact was not the fish. i Did a 1 hour and 35 min if not more acclimation before adding the fish to the tank(the water doubled if not a little more) and also examined the fish the best i could. First time i have ever had a fish in my life come home with something. Its in my quarantine tank and i will be dealing with that asap. =) Looks as if it might just be that he slammed into the glass when distressed and hit is nose. I will let everyone know if thats what was the problem in one week or so if it goes away. I have the co2 diffuser under the outflow and it seems to push most of the bubbles. I might end up switching to the inline since i am getting tired of this thing turning green lol. Should i even rely on what the drop checker is showing then? I have gotten it to turn the light green in color. I am going to order a uv sterilizer as i stated in my last comment and add that to the setup.


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## Jalopy (Aug 11, 2013)

The Green Killing Machine from Petco works fine. I'd cheap on it since I've only used it once. Also I find that my drop checker is useless since at light green it was killing my nerites. As long as your plants are growing well it doesn't matter what color it is. Some of the best tanks I've seen have the drop checker hidden behind a ton of plants out of the flow. As long as you have good flow out of the filter I think your fine, just turn down the lights.

So in short add the UV sterilizer and don't worry too much about the co2 bubbles getting dispersed.

Your tank is looking great by the way. I love the whole layout.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Jalopy said:


> The Green Killing Machine from Petco works fine. I'd cheap on it since I've only used it once. Also I find that my drop checker is useless since at light green it was killing my nerites. As long as your plants are growing well it doesn't matter what color it is. Some of the best tanks I've seen have the drop checker hidden behind a ton of plants out of the flow. As long as you have good flow out of the filter I think your fine, just turn down the lights.
> 
> So in short add the UV sterilizer and don't worry too much about the co2 bubbles getting dispersed.
> 
> Your tank is looking great by the way. I love the whole layout.


thanks for the info and nice comment =). I might just opt to not do the three day black out and just order the uv sterilizer? what do yall think? I am going to raise the co2 levels and start dosing the full ei method as some of the plant are having some phosphate/potassium problems. Also one strange thing i might add. All of the dust algae that was on the ar mini and all the plants is now completely gone since the green water came along! i think thats strange 0_o

forgot to add- what does everyone think about the coralife turbo-twist ultraviolet sterilizer? Might get this one.


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## mot (Sep 17, 2011)

Ive used the coral life UV in the past and it worked well for me. The only issue I had was the lamp burned out after a year or so but found a replacement at the local hardware store in the pond section.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Yea a year is pretty good for a uv bulb(typically they should be changed every 5month for best results)


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## ovenmit331 (Mar 27, 2007)

mot said:


> Ive used the coral life UV in the past and it worked well for me. The only issue I had was the lamp burned out after a year or so but found a replacement at the local hardware store in the pond section.


I've still got mine hooked up, just not turned on currently. Love it. Simple and it works. Bulbs are easy to find on amazon.com and cheap!

Also, when mine IS turned on, I only have it set to come on when the lights are off. Mainly because that was the only slot left on my timer controlled power strip that wasn't on all the time. Thinking it may help the bulb last longer...


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Ah the lovely green water. Think everyone else got it covered. Definitely 3 or so days with the UV sterilizer will take care of it. I've gotten it a few times over the years and that's the only thing that gets rid of it. Blackouts never worked for me. 

As for cause, most likely lighting is too high, but I found its also common in general in new setups. Once the UV got it cleared up I almost never needed to use it again, I'd just dial down the kessils a tad ^^

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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

HolyAngel said:


> Ah the lovely green water. Think everyone else got it covered. Definitely 3 or so days with the UV sterilizer will take care of it. I've gotten it a few times over the years and that's the only thing that gets rid of it. Blackouts never worked for me.
> 
> As for cause, most likely lighting is too high, but I found its also common in general in new setups. Once the UV got it cleared up I almost never needed to use it again, I'd just dial down the kessils a tad ^^
> 
> Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


i think what im going to do is actually instead of lowering the lighting just raise the lights up, which actually will help me with two thinks! First being that i needed more light for behind the driftwood and second being now i wont see the beam of light from the kessils being closer to the water!!! Whoot whoot! lol

Bump:


ovenmit331 said:


> I've still got mine hooked up, just not turned on currently. Love it. Simple and it works. Bulbs are easy to find on amazon.com and cheap!
> 
> Also, when mine IS turned on, I only have it set to come on when the lights are off. Mainly because that was the only slot left on my timer controlled power strip that wasn't on all the time. Thinking it may help the bulb last longer...


yea im thinking once i get it and i clear the water up, that i will only leave it on like 1hour each day or maybe every other day. The water has cleared up since the last picture i shot so im going to do another good water change today and then just add the uv when its comes in, but for right now i am not dosing anything and the lights are still off. I am going to start dosing and lights back on tomorrow! Also i am going to go get a milligram scale today.


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Yep that'll work, sounds good to me ^^

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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BJMiWf6Y0A


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

i am in shock right now lol! I went over to my tank about one hour ago to start my water changes or two hours, idk, but when i got to it and turned the lights on, to my surprise the green water was 1/3 what it was when i made the video this morning 0_o! I guess having the lights on after the 24 hour black out did something to the green water? I did a good 90+% water change and now its pretty much where it was at when i was thinking it was a bacteria bloom. Pretty stoked on getting the new UV sterilizer for the tank and i also am raising the lights to 7" above the water level, as they were 4" before. i am going to start the full EI dosing tomorrow and go from their. Wish me luck lol!


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Ha nice. could still spike up again once the lights are on but once you get that uv in you'll be good for sure! Good luck ^^

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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Here is some pics of the tank after the water change. Big difference lol 
g[/IMG]























Lighting is raised up 7". Hoping I'm able to keep it this high and get sufficient plant growth as that would be awesome!!! 


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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Oh wow yeah, that's a huge difference! Those lights are pretty powerful so should be good, only one way to find out tho! ;p

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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Lol yep one way... Good thing these plants are pretty easy to care for lol. I have not one clue on the par of these lights, but I don't see them being under 40 par each. So I would say it's good upper medium light and possibly high light in certain areas 


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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

Almost looks like nothing happened, tank looks wonderful trey


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Hetzer said:


> Almost looks like nothing happened, tank looks wonderful trey


thanks


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Ugh I'm so torn on what shrimp I should get!!! I'm thinking blue rili, but the. I'm thinking royal blue tiger, but the. I'm thinking the blue dreams!!! Oh and I think I'm going to get some cherry shrimp next week to start with to see how they do. 



Ohhhhh also forgot to add!!!!!! I added 8 more salty pepper Cory's to the tank after a good 45 min drip acclimation. Would have done longer, but I tested the water they were in. And the tds and temp was the same, and the ph and the of course co2 was why I did it. They are all doing great! Oh and two of my tummy nose tetras are prego and one of my salty pepper Cory's is as well.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

i got the uv sterilizer in today. Going to install it tomorrow! Good bye green water =)


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Just a teaser pic








I think it's been two weeks now maybe? Time for the next update  will try and make it on Monday if not Tuesday. Stayed tuned! 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E9PytzNUM0
if you just want to see the tank skip to the end, about at 5 min is where i go to it i believe.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WDtXYdprgs


bigbigbigbig difference wouldn't you say?


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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

Nice update trey


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks  definitely a big one for me!! 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

im going to take some update pictures on Wednesday!! Its been along time since i last made a video or put pictures, so im excited to show yall the update =). Also havent really been on this forum in awhile since i have been sosoos busy soo looking forward to getting back onto it more often!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

So here are the update pictures =] 






















So the first three are from Monday before I did my big trimming after being gone for 10days.




























.jpg[/IMG]
So during the 10days that I was gone as some of you that live in Florida might know we got some very heavy rain for like 4days in a row last week which I'm guessing we had power outages at least once during this time. That cause my co2 for some reason to slow te bubble count down to about one bubble a second LOL cause a big out break of bga and what I think was spot algae on the glass. Now that I'm home I will also be ordering some shrimp today and hopefully getting 25 ish green tetras. I ended up taking the rummy nose tetra out and have them in a different tank while I get the shrimp in and let them settle before re introducing the fish. Hope to shoot some more images, but as of now the tank is really where I want it to be and I don't see me doing any big changes with it anytime soon. Also thought I might mention that I can't believe how much growth I got out of the mini fissidens!! It is so awesome!!! 
I'll post an update when I get the shrimp!!!! 


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## Dzrtman (Mar 4, 2014)

Very nice !! The fissidens looks so healthy, and growing in a very appropriate place. Great job!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks!! Yea one thing that I wish I could go back and have done would have been to more strategically brushed the fissidens on instead of just smothering it all over the wood LOL. Would like to see more brown from the wood showing! But I do love the moss!!! 


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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

Wow, nice update trey. Everything is stunning! Can you selectively prune moss back to reveal the bare wood? I think it looks great as is of course. Did you ever get the UV sterilizer installed? sorry if i missed that in a post..


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Hetzer said:


> Wow, nice update trey. Everything is stunning! Can you selectively prune moss back to reveal the bare wood? I think it looks great as is of course. Did you ever get the UV sterilizer installed? sorry if i missed that in a post..


Yes i did get the uv sterilizer installed! Ill add some pics of that actually! Yes i could prune the moss back and i actually am going to be doing that probably on the next trimming date. I will be using a scissor and a small tube attached to it to insure the moss trimmings do not go to waste! Im scared to trimm the moss though since its very hard for me to reattach it to the driftwood if i dont trim it right lol... Wish me luck haha. Im really stressing over where to get my shrimp from rigth now. I really want to try some low grade crystal red shrimp to see how they do in the setup. 
Ph-6.2ish
temp- 74-76 
tds- a great 180 from the hose! 
now my one problem is that i do use regular hose water so my ph is 7.2 ish un buffed from substrate, but im thinking it will work out becasue my kh is like 1 so im thinking the water will just have a good ph swing to the 6.2 ish ph when doing my 50%water changes. My gh is a little high at 8 but still not to bad? What do you guys think? Again im not looking for any high quality shrimp jsut some low grade crs


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Just some pics of the uv placement. 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

currently doing the biggest trimming i have ever done on this tank. It almost looks like day one again ='). It needed to be done though, because some of the bases on the plants were starting to die(i could see the sign of it) so i decided to just do a big big trimming. Probably going to add some root tabs tomorrow or something as well.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Night time photo after the big big trim!! I love how it came out!! I'll post the day time pics tomorrow!!! xD










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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

Dang Trey looks awesome bro. It looks like you fixed that algae problem too. Super clean man.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Mikeygmzmg said:


> Dang Trey looks awesome bro. It looks like you fixed that algae problem too. Super clean man.


thanks man! I added 6 Oto cats today! Hoping they do well though as they were from pet Supermarket and you know how they get acclimated their lol. Anyways when i got home i added them to a tub and then tested the waters tds and temp, temp was at 77.6 not bad and the tds was only 170 ish. I was shocked knowing how fat they are figured they would have pooped the water up to 500 lol. Well my water is 76.5 ish degrees and the tds is 204. Well after drip acclimating for 30min i went to go test the water and the damn tds went up to 650!!!!! And the temp went down to the temp of the tank. So i waited another half hour or so and the tds had not changed even after their had been double the water from the beginning, So i decided it would be best for me to move them over before they got messed up from the high tds. Well as you would think, it shocked them when i moved them over, but all seem to be doing much better right now. I am getting 10 Green tetras on wednesday so cant wait to post some pics of a big school(bigger than my 3 Right now lol). Really crossing my fingers on the oto though!

Also someone on another forum wanted a plant list with whats where so i decided to make one. Hope you guys can figure out whats what and where it is.

Carpeting plant is* Dwarf hair grass *
The plant at the front of the stump and the two sides is *helferi *
moss on driftwood is* Fissidens Mini*
Plant that is around the whole front he of the driftwood and sides is *S repens *
Plant behind driftwood to left and right is *AR Mini*
Plant to the right of the ar mini on the left side of the tank is *True rotala *
Plant behind that is *Pogostemon Erectus *
Plant in far left back corner that looks like long strands of grass is* Cyperus helfer *
Plant that is on the driftwood in multiple spots is *Anubias nana var petite.* 
Plant in front of the driftwood in the middle of the water collum is *Sp Japan *
Plant Directly behind the driftwood is* Hygrophila Pinnatifida*
Plant mixed in with Hygrophila is *Ludwigia sp red. *


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## SwampGremlin (Dec 5, 2014)

Yeah your build looks super clean for a diy give your self a pat on the back my friend =)


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

SwampGremlin said:


> Yeah your build looks super clean for a diy give your self a pat on the back my friend =)


Thanks =). Alright guys so i have decided to just wing it and instead of doign the srhimp wrong im going to go ahead and get a ro unit. Probably going to get a four stage unit.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

so...... i got my first batch in!!!! 
here is the holding tank they are in atm but will be moved to the other tank sometimes at the end of next week i would guess. But as for now the parameters are perfect for them. here are some pics


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## Grubbles17 (Aug 3, 2015)

Wow those shrimp look amazing as well as your tank. I hope one day I can have the skill you do to make my tank look that great. keep up the great work!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Grubbles17 said:


> Wow those shrimp look amazing as well as your tank. I hope one day I can have the skill you do to make my tank look that great. keep up the great work!


Thanks =)


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## bucky (Aug 22, 2013)

Really awesome tank! Enjoyed reading through this thread the other night.

I'm kicking around the idea of building a similar size tank. The glass panels you received from glasscages...were you happy with the precision of the dimensions?


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## Sub1117 (Sep 21, 2014)

Nice shrimp! Where did you buy such fine shrimp?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

bucky said:


> Really awesome tank! Enjoyed reading through this thread the other night.
> 
> I'm kicking around the idea of building a similar size tank. The glass panels you received from glasscages...were you happy with the precision of the dimensions?


I can message u details on it but i dont think i am allowed to talk about a particular company or companies on a thread. 

*Long read but worth it! Just a little info on my way into the hobby*

Its really a fun process doing the whole diy thing but it does take tons of time and thats one thing i struggle with. When i was completing everything i was still in school so finding the time for building the tank and stand meant only on the weekends and thats why it took me i think it was i started buying stuff in September or October of last year and didnt finish everything until i would say around the middle of July. But for me i also was doing tons of research as this is my first ever time even touching plants for an aquarium let alone owning a tank above 20 gallons that didnt just have gold fish that i didnt care for wisely.(We all have done it lol). But it was worth doing IMO. I can look at the tank every day and jsut feel great knowing that i put together the aquarium and made the stand from scratch without anyone's help. Thats also why i opted on doing the injection method on the tank, because i didnt have an extra pare of hand to hold the glass and or put silicone down or remove the tape. I am honestly surprised i didnt run into that many problems through out the process. Other than some air bubbles which when your adding a 1/16 inch gap and someone forgets to make sure everything in the room is perfectly clean your going to get lol. I will say that if i ever decided on making another high tech tank i will wait to buy my lighting until i have put everything together and figured out whats going tin the tank and what not, because i would watch YouTube videos and see oh that light some said is the "best" and got into buying it and then blah-blah reselling and finally made the right purchase after going through two sets LOL. wow i wrote a lot haha. *Long read but worth it! Just a little info on my way into the hobby*


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

I am amazed at how blue the dream blue shrimp actually are!!! even after being all stressed out they are still super deep blue!!!! I will be posting pictures of the new shrimp added to the holding tank very soon!!!! I also made a video on youtube if u want to check out how they look atm you can go to my channel!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcJYbuRxwH2TPyzsSM954sw/videos


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Omg they are sosoosos awesome together!!! Dream blue and crs













































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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Alright so it's been some time since I actually added a picture of how the tank is doing so thought I would add a few of that and the. Also a few pictures of the shrimp! I ended up loosing 3 out of the 14 blue dream shrimp and no crs. 
The crs and blue dream will be introduced to the tank probably on Sunday of next week. Or Monday. 













































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## HolyAngel (Oct 18, 2010)

Wow the tank has really grown in fantastically! Looks great! And the shrimpy look good too ^^

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## mishe (Apr 27, 2015)

Your tank looks amazing! How long did it take for it to get to that point?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Well I planted the tank I would say around the middle of June so roughly 3 and a half months ! Thanks! Yea the shrimpy's are really one of my favorite thing atm!!! I'm actually considering just keeping that tank running and possibly getting some blue pandas for it  


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Just thought I would add some pics of the Monte since it is looking so awesome!!

















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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

After trimming I had a load of trimmings! If only I had another setup hahha!! 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

i plan to use them for a shrimp tank possibly!!!


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## spiderguardnano (Aug 8, 2015)

treyLcham said:


> After trimming I had a load of trimmings! If only I had another setup hahha!!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



what plant is this?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

It's Monte Carlo trimmings! Typically I use them for emersed setups or just dry starts for aquariums in general. It's trimmings from the Monte Carlo in the picture above 


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

It been soso long since i made any updates on the tank or posted any pictures, but i can assure y'all that have been following my thread that it is still chugging along. I will be posting a update early to mid dec once i add in all the fish i have been wanting to add. I think a lot of you will be surprised at what i have done with the tank since the last update! SO just be looking out for the update =).


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## Kramflowz (Aug 6, 2014)

Awesome! Been dying to see how it all turns out !


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks =). Yea the reason for really not doing any updates is school started for me and takes about a month or two to get into the hang of things again, but now that i am, i will be much more active =).


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

quick update before the re-scape begins. Going to be cleaning the whole tank this week of all the blue green algae to the best of my ability. Shrimp are doing great even at an average of 300-400 tds with unknown levels of nitrate or nitrite, also pH has not been monitored for the past 6 months on top of the nitrate and nitrite levels. I will say though that after monitoring my levels and tds and all the above for 2 years strait, prior to stopping, you end up knowing what the levels and tds will be after waiting X amount of time to either do water changes for clean the tank along with the rate of CO2 allowing for change in pH. Back to the shrimp though. I started the first generation of crystals in a small 15-20g tank where i used RO/DI water at the parameters needed with the exception to water temps always being at an average of 75-77*. After the tank had been running for 1 year i started to get board with the shrimp always being in such a basic plain glass bottom tank and started neglecting the tank, and in doing lost about half the colony due to the changes in water parameters over the course of about 10 months. Finally i was down to about 5 shrimp(started with roughly 10, peek of colony was around 60). Took the 5 shrimp i had left which had been in rough water conditions with moderate nitrite levels and around 250 tds, and added them to the 60gal which runs at around 150-400 depending on if i am on top of water changes and what not. After 5 months now i have IMO created a pretty damn hardy shrimp that doesn't mind 50% water changes at all and has no problem with the tds level. Since they have been moved over i have lost one shrimp and that was within the first couple weeks. Other then that the colony is amazingly tough as nails and growing. Starting with 5 and today being around 30. At the beginning i was skeptical as only one of the 5 shrimp was a female, but thankfully it worked out for the best. 

Now that i am out of college for the rest of the summer i have a lot of time on my hands and i will be changing the foreground of the tank along with adding new fish species. As for the shrimp, im going to add Angelfish and hope for the best by keeping them well fed. If they don't go together well (which i know will probably most likely be the case) then ill add just adult amano shrimp and move the crystals over to a 10g display planted tank which i will have to build XD. 

Sorry if my two paragraphs are really scrambled around and what not, im just typing whats on my mind atm and will keep everyone undated on what happens and fish unboxings and possible shrimp unboxings as well. LMN if yall have any question about anything involving the shrimp, or my current fish or this tank or the old shrimp tank and ill try to answer. 

Its been about 1 year since ive been active on this forum, and i hope to bring back some good knowledge and information about how i keep my fish and tanks/plants.

Little random update as of today. Bad quality srry, but it just shows you the state of the tank i guess. https://youtu.be/blZYV-Rpo8c


Emersed tank journal: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/832146-emersed-tank-journal.html
Info on my old shrimp tank: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/88-shrimp-other-invertebrates/911298-lets-get-into-shrimp-hobby-why-not-%3D.html?highlight=


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Ordered my Angelfish today! Was going to get Manacaparuru red backed angelfish, but after looking around and seeing prices and what not i decided it would be best to start off with a less costly fish considering i have never owned angels. I went with a Wild-Cross Philippine Blue Silver Angelfish. Planning on filling my old 55gallon up and using cycled media from the 60 gal to quarantine the fish for a couple days while i get my water parameters corrected over the next week. 

Question: Should i keep the foreground of the tank with just the aqua soil, or should i replace it with sand? I dont want to put any plants in the foreground anymore, and possibly get some Cory cats. My main concern with leaving the aqua soil would be the algae build up, but i have not had it without plants yet, so lmn if any of yall have experience with the sand vs aqua soil with algae growing.


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

Sand would be better for the Corys and will look better. I don't think algae buildup will be a greater problem on aquasoil than sand, plus it would be more noticeable when the sand is dirty.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Opare said:


> Sand would be better for the Corys and will look better. I don't think algae buildup will be a greater problem on aquasoil than sand, plus it would be more noticeable when the sand is dirty.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Im going to have to try to find a video on what the best way is to undergo taking the front half of the soil out without disrupting the back side and making a cloud. I have about 30 ish shrimp. DO you think i would be fine taking the shrimp and putting them into a separate container for the time being. (i would guess a max of 1/2 hours). Idk if i would have to re drip acclimate or not though.


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

I think as long as the container has tank water it should be fine


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Opare said:


> I think as long as the container has tank water it should be fine
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yea, thats true. Im going to recycle at least 60% of the water into a clean container for when i refill the tank.


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## LinaS (Jul 14, 2015)

picture of new angels?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

LinaS said:


> picture of new angels?


They will be arriving sometime at the end of next week. (Shipping out on the 10th). Here is a picture of the parent.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Finished putting the sand in. Took me a solid 2 hours to get all the fish and shrimp + all the babies out! Counted 34 shrimp in total. If you haven't taken out half your tanks aqua soil before all i have to say is, WHAT A MESS. But it didnt turn out too bad. I think after i add some Cory cats to the tank and the angelfish it will look content with what i was hoping for. Really wanted to get the Colorado ada sand, but with the cost its just not worth it for this tank setup. I did add alot of substrate supports to where the sand and soil meet along with alot within the different depth of sand as it gradually slopes down in hopes of the sand not settling flat after a couple weeks.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

the angels ship out today. Really looking forward to seeing them in this setup. They will be pretty small at only dime size, which gives the bio filter time to not have a big load thrown onto it all at once. I plan to get some cory cats next week or at the end of this week as well. 

Just an update picture after a couple days with the sand. I need to add some more substrate supports where the soil meets the sand so the soil doesnt slide down and over the sand. If you look under the log thats where all the soil is coming from thats on the sand. Hopefully by using clear plastic it isnt too noticeable.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Fish arrived today! I will post a video later on when they are acclimated to the quarantine tank, but for now here's a quick video tip on cleaning aquarium filters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OAx7F1U2Rs


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Angels just got acclimated and placed into the tank. They seem a little stressed with their colors and bars lightening up big time. Hopefully they like it though! I am having a little trouble with cleaning the dirt off of the sand. Looks like the best way to do it is with a peace of hose and sucking out the dirt with the water pressure, but I will have to do that during a bit water change day probably. Here's a picture of the angels from above and a picture of Amy big peace of my moss growing

















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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Well they are doing much better today. Was glad to see they are schooling together for most of the day, and interested in me when i am around the tank. Here are a few images of the baby Wild-Cross Philippine Blue Silver Angelfish. Really looking forward to seeing their colors as they grow.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Just found out all my images weren't showing up, so I had to change where I got my image linked url from, hopefully everyone can view the images from this last page finally.


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## geektom (Dec 17, 2012)

Wow- what a gorgeous tank! Looks phenomenal with the new sand, and I am looking forward to seeing those angels grow!


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

geektom said:


> Wow- what a gorgeous tank! Looks phenomenal with the new sand, and I am looking forward to seeing those angels grow!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


thanks =). Tanks has been doing good. Its been a good month with the angels and sadly i did loose two during my vacation. (unsure of how they died, came home to two missing). Now i am at my original set number of angels which was to be 4. Hoping now that ill be home for the next 4 months that they will get a chance to grow and thrive to adulthood. Ill probably only update the tank once a month or so because not much is going to change other then the angels size and possible fish adds, but all the shrimp seem to be doing great.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Little Update on the tanks; Not much has changed since the last update as far as hardscape goes, but since the last update sadly i did loose one baby angel fish. Current stock is 3 angels now and they have been thriving and seem to be doing very well. Two of them have grown a tremendous amount since the last pictures posted and one seems to be slowly growing, just not at the same rate of the other two. I am getting in some gel caps to make some root tabs for the only plant that is currently rooted in the substrate. this tank has been running for about two years now and with that being said the majority of the nutrients in the aqua soul is dwindling and showing in the quality of the plants leafs and roots, so im hoping adding root tabs will help fix this problem. Heres a quick picture i managed to snap of the largest angel. He/she seems to be the dominant fish. 

I am going to try to use my Actual camera to get some better update picture this weekend of the tank and its inhabitants! 
(this image has no filtering what so ever. taken at nighttime and with only aquarium lighting on gave the surrounding area a very interesting dark shading, but i can assure you it was not edited to increase any coloration.)


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## The Bungulo (Aug 28, 2017)

IMO it looked better with the grass carpet. What did you do with the extra soil? (i need some)


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

The Bungulo said:


> IMO it looked better with the grass carpet. What did you do with the extra soil? (i need some)


Yea it 100% did look way better with the grass carpet! With being a full time student in college and working, and trying to have some sort of life outside of the classroom or work, i needed to lower my maintenance on the aquarium as it was taking up a large chunk of my time every week. With the new setup, i have no had to dose any ferts since the changes have occurred, and water changes have only been once every three to four weeks. Trimming is only done on one plant and take 2min tops. I might go back to high tech, but for now i really am content with the setup and the work needed to keep it looking clean and half decent.


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## The Bungulo (Aug 28, 2017)

treyLcham said:


> Yea it 100% did look way better with the grass carpet! With being a full time student in college and working, and trying to have some sort of life outside of the classroom or work, i needed to lower my maintenance on the aquarium as it was taking up a large chunk of my time every week. With the new setup, i have no had to dose any ferts since the changes have occurred, and water changes have only been once every three to four weeks. Trimming is only done on one plant and take 2min tops. I might go back to high tech, but for now i really am content with the setup and the work needed to keep it looking clean and half decent.


i think you should plant some groups of crypts or anubias in the sand. in my experience, they dont require much ferts.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

The Bungulo said:


> i think you should plant some groups of crypts or anubias in the sand. in my experience, they dont require much ferts.


Ive actually been thinking of adding some crypts to the sand haha! Wish i still had my Emersed setup!!!!!! Would make it 10x easier to get plants LOL.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Purchase some new fish this weekend! Hoping to have them in by next week depending on shipping date! Ill shoot some pictures when they arrive and give the names as well! For now ill just say they are all angel fish.


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

The suspense is rising !!! [emoji23]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

Just added the new Angels last week! Decided to add a heater to increase the water temp from 74 to 77 for a couple weeks while they are first introduced just to keep their immune systems working at their best. Other then that, everyone seems to be getting along nicely. I was actually surprised to find that the two biggest angelfish do not seem to be bothered at all by the new little ones, while the smaller of the three larger angels seems to be very interested in them, showing the new angles their place lol, but after two or three days that halted and now everything is going great!

Heres a few pictures i managed to get with just my iphone. Plan to take some with the camera soon. 

New additions are called: Electric Blue Marble Veil Fin Angelfish, which i have three of.


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## Alkhashab (Jan 2, 2016)

that's really insane journy!!


i love it


can i swim inside the tank? lol


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

Gorgeous! Those angels wouldn't happen to be from Carol would they?? She had the most stunning Angels. Your tank looks tremendous. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but are you not injecting C02? I don't think I've ever seen a tank with such perfect aquascaping without a good amount of C02. Any chance on some updated full tank shots?


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

The Dude1 said:


> Gorgeous! Those angels wouldn't happen to be from Carol would they?? She had the most stunning Angels. Your tank looks tremendous. Perhaps I'm mistaken, but are you not injecting C02? I don't think I've ever seen a tank with such perfect aquascaping without a good amount of C02. Any chance on some updated full tank shots?


Angels are from a breeder in NY. Believe his name is Lee. Thanks for the kind words! Currently the tank has not had CO2 for approximately 2 months now. On top of no CO2 i also have not added any fertilizers in over 5months, and recently added root tabs to help promote better growth, but other then that i have no CO2 and no water column ferts added. Honestly the only reason i have not been using CO2 is because i have not seen much change in the quality of the plants or moss since my CO2 tank ran out, but i am going to get it refilled this week. One strange thing i did notice is that my Crytal red shrimp went from having bold white and red striped to their colors fading about 50%, so now i can almost see right through there exoskeleton lol. Not sure if its from CO2 or something else. Ill try to get some better images of the tank tomorrow, with better updates on the tank as well. 

Thanks.


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

treyLcham said:


> Angels are from a breeder in NY. Believe his name is Lee. Thanks for the kind words! Currently the tank has not had CO2 for approximately 2 months now. On top of no CO2 i also have not added any fertilizers in over 5months, and recently added root tabs to help promote better growth, but other then that i have no CO2 and no water column ferts added. Honestly the only reason i have not been using CO2 is because i have not seen much change in the quality of the plants or moss since my CO2 tank ran out, but i am going to get it refilled this week. One strange thing i did notice is that my Crytal red shrimp went from having bold white and red striped to their colors fading about 50%, so now i can almost see right through there exoskeleton lol. Not sure if its from CO2 or something else. Ill try to get some better images of the tank tomorrow, with better updates on the tank as well.
> 
> Thanks.




So much for “tomorrow” lol (JK)

Updates on this awesome tank would be an awesome start to a day. 

Thanks skye


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

SKYE.__.HIGH said:


> So much for “tomorrow” lol (JK)
> 
> Updates on this awesome tank would be an awesome start to a day.
> 
> Thanks skye


haha, completely agree! College along with working out and also working can make it hard to find time lately! Hopefully soon! Thanks =)


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

treyLcham said:


> haha, completely agree! College along with working out and also working can make it hard to find time lately! Hopefully soon! Thanks =)




Lol, I agree, busy is better than not though


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

SKYE.__.HIGH said:


> Lol, I agree, busy is better than not though


Most definitely!


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