# 10g "Submerged Aquatic World Project"



## patsplat (Jul 5, 2013)

so this is for shrimp, right, cause of so, they are gonna like it! i would add some small rasboras in with em also


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## Subtletanks91 (May 29, 2013)

I like that little cave on the right hand side. What is it made out of. It looks like your using black sand blasting substrate as well?

That piece of wood is nice, but I would move it up above the cave and have willow moss to grow and hang down like in a swamp over the cave, 

Dsm?


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## Scottyhorse (Mar 13, 2013)

I like the cave as well! I also think moving the wood above the cave and adding moss to it would look neat.


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

If you guys liked the wood, you gonna like the new one i got, 

Sorry for the incomplete post, i shall complete it in no time,

But for the questions, 

This is gonna house RCS, Neon inessi and 2 ramirezi, i gont no space for more, not i want more,

I would love some Corys but the gravel isnt soft for them unfortanely,

the substrate is a local gravel rock, vulcanic i mean, ithink i have a close up of it somewhere,

The cave is made with terracota, cutted in half ( i managed to melt my drill on the process) and i glued the gravel with aquarium silicone)

Thanks for the compliments, i had to redo the cave 3 times before i liked it, at 1st i wanted a rock made cave but that simply didnt work hehe


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Added the tank info to main post 

Here is the new drift wood, since i didint yet placed it to water, its too bright for now:




I think i better chop it a little, but in the other hand, if i place it more to the corner, it doesnt look good, i already tried it, but wasnt with some branches trimmed of course.

i like it like that, hides the cave a little bit and with moss on it, it should get more natural looking, plus its a powerful view due to the small tank, but thats my aquaspace inexperience talking i guess, some may say there will be just too much hardscape stuff in here.


I have to place both woods together today for the general picture.
Do you guys think it will be too much stuff placed together?


Since i will be using EI dosing and a nice stable CO2 system, im hoping that my low light system wont kill my plants,
Since Tom Barr says we dont need that much light to growth, if we have good CO2 and nutrients, im crossing my fingers that my case wont be the exception.
For now im DSM the Hemianthus Callitrichoides for a month now, with little growth and some melting, plus algae on the aquasoil and gravel and fungus lol..im not that lucky i guess

edit: here is my gravel:

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/11/02/original/ypa9e5ev.jpg

The price per Ton is 20 cents so they offered my 20kg or the cost of paper would be more expensive than offering hehe


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Ok, gone home and tried again with the wood, this tine wet so the true color an be seen and added my small wood:









I like this one since gives a nice hidden spot with the moss to the cave, allows nice hidding soot on the back and i loke the way that the bigger branch reaches surface and the middle one goes to the center of the tank, and optimizes the space of the tank.
Lets call it "X" form

Now this one:









Seems like a guardian with his hand on the ground protecting the cave, my mind is a lot imaginative 
So i like it since gives way to use the Tripartita on the back, could be nice with the bunch of Althernantera Reinickii mini on the middle with that branch and placing moss on the main body and branches, also gives a little shade and acts more naturally, like a part of a tree root.
The disvantage is really the lot of space it occupies.

So i would apreciate some opinions on this

Btw you guys like the smaller wood?
I think it gives a nice 3 point view of the tank instead of only 2 points of hardscape to view and browse and with moss and anubias nana petite would be nice and reenforce the dark theme


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## WestHaven (Jun 30, 2012)

I like that last picture the best.


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## Patson (Mar 4, 2013)

ya I like the placement of the bigger wood in the last picture. I kinda feel the smaller wood on the left is a bit distracting, maybe it's just me


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Im inclined for the 2nd as well 

Wanst it supposed to be distracting? looking at it, then the rock then the bigger one and going back to the smaller one?


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

The original tought was to place the anubias on the front of the rock, 3 pots of it would give enough anubias to fill the front, but you guys would put it elsewhere? like on the smaller wood and bigger one?

I may also cut the top of the bigger wood, the front branch to place less shade,


Looking at the back right corner, im thinking on placing a moss mat to fill that zone, great hidding place and low light would be problematic for any plant there,
thoughts?


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Update: Flooded the tank!

After almost 2 months of DSM the Hemianthus Callitrichoides, now was the tine to flood the tank,

Here is the pic:









Took me 2 hours with a 4mm tube to fill it,
Its foggy, but thats expected i guess,

A fellow aquarist offered me most of the Althernanthera Reinickii mini and the Tripartita plants,
I bought the Myrilofilum Mattogrossense red, crypto repens, anubia nana and anubia nana petite

The big wood wasnt full water logged so it inst stable noe, had to put 2 rocks for now lol

Co2 is pumping but dunno if the floe is the best, since the little bubbles doesnt resch to all the cubas,
For nos is flowing from upper right corner to bottom left corner, i guess tue hardscape doesnt allow full flow,

The external reactor is a chinese one and i may pay the price for it since i djnno if im having a good diffusion at all,

Since i have fertile soil should i start adding fertilizer?
EI dosing i mean, or should i wait?

For now the schegule is this:
10 hours light
Co2 starts 1 hour before lights and ends 1 hour before they go out
Air lump kicks in after lights go and and kicks out when co2 starts

I hope you guys like the reinickki, its the main plant here 

Hoping for critics since most of the stuff i did, im not sure i did them right lol


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Hi all, some pics :

See my little diy bubble counter?
well io placed baby oil inside it with a no return valve, 
the baby oil is leaking and even with hot glue it doesnt stop,
maybe some cooking oil it wont happen, i didnt want to buy an bubble counter, but oh well..
The reactor in that position traps the co2 bubbles on the top, i guess this will make them more dissolved?
the tank doesnt show much little bubbles, so i guess that happens,
when the co2 is off this morning, i didnt see any bubbles,

Drop checker was solid green this moring, co2 was off since midnight.


Little foxtail, one of them was floating this morning, i had to replant it,
the air stone is beneath them, so i guess it disturbed the root.




Lets hope the moss covers all this area 


The crypto wasnt on my plans, lets hope they thrive,
theres a white stain on one leave, is that a fungus? it came with the plant


Little cubas are a beaten up from the DSM, i hope they thrive from the melted parts.



Tripartitas are a pain to plant, Tropica recomends to press them down, but that will be hard to do lol


General view, the small wood will go away, i may place a small rock in there or may not place anything, the wood distracts the attention from the rock and big wood,


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Hi all, got a update:





































So bought a rotala indica, 2 pots free,
I still dont got usued to the leave format of them but with time i will
Bought 1 more pot of crytocorybe parva for the left side,
Tomorow is WC day and i will work a little with the anubia placement on the rock

Had to change waterflow, the rotala were trown to sides so the flow now is on a diagonal, lets see tomorow how co2 responds


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Hi all, did a 80% wC today and re-did some stuff, trimmed and cleaned,

Here is the aspect now
For now its trimming the growth forthe desired places of growth,

Started ei dosing today,
Added KNO3 for 5ppm, and KH2PO4 as well and MgSo4 to have 1 dGH,
Since my gH is low, i guess i dont have any Mg at all,
Tomorow is micro day,

Hope all enjoy:


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Today was a good day, 
dosed the 1st micro dosage, CO2 stable, 4 hours after solenoid kicked-in, dropcheck was solid green, 6 hours of photosynthesis plants are pearling!

I even saw some new growth 

Concerns: 
- Cuba seems still attached with green algae, mostly from DSM, cant say they are growing, too little, too sparse, may be still adapting from imersed state, rooting also,
- Anubias nana petite have black stuff on some leaves, seems black hair algae or something, lets hope EI dosage gets them kicking the algae off!


I Ordered a 2nd dropchecker, gonna aim this one for the yellow colour, for a more precise reading,

Temperature now is 23ºc, gonna aim for the recomendation for higher temp so plants get more stimulated,

Kh is on 3, Ph is low, didnt test, dont have to, gH is at 2,
Seems a perfect environment for plant growth.


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Well, some updates,
did a major WC sunday, had to clean the entire tank, remove Rhizoclonium from HC cuba, clean leaves, trimming, and more cleaning of a lot of dead matter,

Some leaves, mostly the ones i scraped of dirt, have GSA all over them, must it be due to the fact they were that dirty?

Got some BBA on anubias, but on the leaves that already had when i bought them, doesnt seem to be spreading,

All this seems a sign that ferts and CO2 are good,
The Rhizoclonium on HC seemed to grow a lot, so im guessing CO2 down there inst enough, even tough i see water flowing to them..lets see if they grow a lot again, if so i must up CO2 a little and experiment..

Also got some snails now, hitchicked from the store plants, can anyone help me on identifying the snails? Ramshorn?

Pics before WC

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/15/original/y7eteqe8.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/15/original/qytumy2u.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/15/original/zajugy7a.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/12/15/original/ary3u4u7.jpg



Pics after WC

http://www.aquariofilia.net/forum/galeria01/gallery_70562_3905_698345.jpg

http://www.aquariofilia.net/forum/galeria01/gallery_70562_3905_1416683.jpg

http://www.aquariofilia.net/forum/galeria01/gallery_70562_3905_60027.jpg


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## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

Looking really nice and tidy. if you're having problems with your bubble counter fluid, try vegetable glycerine. tastes nice too, like liquid jelly beans!


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Im using DI water in there but right now the only concern i have is the fact that even with 2 non-return valves, water seems to almost enter the needle valve :/
passes the 1st, goes through the loop i made and enters the 2nd valve, stoping on the descend lol

If the solenoid blocks gas, it should block water as well i supose, or else i may risk damaging the regulator :/

Ordered a stainless steel non-return valve, hopefully its strong enough to stop liquid..


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Hi all, here is a video taken a few minutes ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzcciyQrZFg&feature=youtu.be


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## Regenesis (Apr 12, 2011)

Wonderful tank. Will be following along


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Thank you 

I did some changes last time i post here,
after seeing that the Alternanthera got some melting on new and older leaves, i checked water flow and little was going to them, 
So i placed outflow to the center so it circles the rock and catches the alternantheras, the rotalas, the mattogrossences with most flow, and the cryptocoryne and the tripartitas with less flow,

I bought a small return pump with a sponge filter to bring the upper water flow back down, so the Cubas can get fresh CO2 flow,
At least they are pearling, even if filled with green and brown hair algae!!

I cant seem to get rid of it yet, and i dont believe CO2 is the problem for now,
i cranked it up, from 1.5 to 3.3 BPS, both dropcheckers tell a solid green on lights up and yellow green on injection off,
the Ph meter accuses a 1 to 1-2 drop on ph so its a good indicator,

Algae must be due to new tank syndrome, 

But its good news for my soon to buy otocinclus affinis, gonna buy 2 pairs of them so they can feast with all the BBA and Hair algae!

Plus my RCS seem to adore the algae i give them to the smaller tank, so its good news 


My cryptocoryne wendtii seem to be more mature since some of the bigger leaves, and small new ones, are getting red on the edges,
i was worried but this is supposed to happen i guess, seeing other pictures,


One thing that i wont get rid of, at least wothout fish help, is the algae on the rock and anubias,
since they are under all the light, algae seem inedvitable, specially BBA that have dressed on of my anubias like a skirt!

Now i have to clean something everyday, or the dirt accumulates, and its a LOT of dirt!
I patted the moss beneath the branch and all the tank got dirty again haha, that was a pain to clean :/

The moss is growing really well o the light side, and also pearling, 
somone said it was magical to see moss pearling and it trully is..too bad most of it is the algar that is pearling hah!


I also got 3 little guppies, to test the water quality and so far the little dudes seem to love my tank!
2 males, 1 female,
should be the opposite but they are just for loan, i dont want guppies, not really my type even if those 3 are melting my heart already!
the female loves to snack in the branch, one of the males loves the bottom of the tank and foraging on the plants and te other mal likes to be on middle tank 


Im undecided between getting neon innesi, you guys recommend any other small fish not too flashy like guppies?
I saw ones that are pinkish with half dark coloration, but cant seem to find its name, and its on this layout: http://www.tropica.com/en/plants/plantdescription.aspx?pid=109

they are cute, could be a nice canditate

besides the neon/other fish type, i will have the 4 otos like i said, and a couple of ramirezi, besides the colony of RCS


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## Dantrasy (Sep 9, 2013)

I think you're after Harlequin rasbora.


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Indeed i am, i would never guessed that it would be a rasbora, thank you 

Since my tank of all goes well, will have more of a red tone than a green one(rotala, mattogrossense all mature to a redish colour and alternanthera reineckii) should it be a good ideia to have a red fish in it?


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

Hi all, here is some update from my tank last Sunday:





















































So i removed the 2 rocks, the bigger one brake the flow too much for my liking, being an haren for BBA and all the other algae,
I placed some stems of Alternanthera Reineckii so now i could have a nice bush of big AR and smaller AE being them the mini gene, im betting on it to be pretty once the big ones grow and thicken,

Also, a friend gave me 2 floating plants wich i dont know what name but seems water lettuce due to the roots,

I added a colony of RCS, until now most of them are hidden but more and more are going to the open cleaning the tank, wich needs desesperately lol

during the water change, and when the log was exposed to atmosphere, i added a 9% H2O2 solution to the BBA making them red, hoping to kill them,

The anubias from the rock and log are now on the substrate, attached to rock wool and ceramic rings so the rizome is on the water column,
before it i bleached them for 3 minutes, BBA got translucend and hoping to be dead,
this new spot for them, i hope, will make less likely to gain BBA again,

On the pics it isnt seen but after i saw 2 RCS getting suck on the filter outlet pipe, literally being ripe appart if i didnt aid them, i placed the same net you can see above the cave, so now they arent sucked..had to place a multi layer since flow is strong there..its a temporary mrasure since i ordered a S.S Guard,

Last thing was the removal of the Inline Reactor and placement of a inside reactor made by the Hagen Mini Filter 200gph wich impeller chops the co2 and the sponge holds it so its better dissoluted...so far so good, no crazy dissolution with the same bps rate, but thats due to most of the bigger bubbles getting off water...
Due to this, i ordered a Hydro Koralia Nano Evolution 240, so i can remove the air pump and the smaller Eleas filter..if the flo gets too much(wich i bet it will :icon_mrgr) i will place a sponge inside besides the net due to shrimp safe measures lol.


Parameters now are:
pH 7.3
kH 2
gH 6
TDS: 260
Temp: 23ºc


Overall good growth, rotalas are growing, with some diatoms on the lower ones (betting on co2), tripartitas are growing nicelly with the porpouse of carpetting the front the max possible, alternantheras are having nice new healthy leaves but the older are still bad, i guess a major pruning may be in order hm!
oh and cryptos are growing too, some more, some less due to different light exposures, but the ones near the log are making me wondering if i must remove some of the leaves lol


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## Aganor (Oct 6, 2013)

*Tank revived*

Hi all, so, for about 2 Years, the only thing i would do to my tank were the ocassional top off with DI water. Most of my plants were gone, only having some fern, java and anubias remaining.

Even like that my fish did not perish, having equilibrium between the waste and filter it seems.

About 1 month ago, my life changed a little and i started again with this tank

First things i did were a complete WC on it, scrape the glasses, put some gravel in, cut some of the anubias leaves that were too damaged by GSA and cleaned my filter (the amount of waste inside was enormous!!!). 

After all of the cleaning, i added new plants:
Starogyne Repens;
Althernantera Renekii Mini
Rotala Indica Bonsai
Rotala Indica (at least it seems to be so)

I bought a new CO2 canister but i decided to wait 1 month until activating it and i must say that i love how the plants are growning without it! I think i will be without the CO2 for some time.

I started 1 Month of Excel overdose (adding 7ml after WC and 3ml daily) and i.m doing 1/2 EI, aiming at 15ppm NO3; 15ppm K.
Now i'm adding the normal Excel dosage at 5ml WC and 1ml daily.

Beside my 5 Black Neon Tetra and 4 Glowing Neon Tetra, i added 30 Paracheirodon innesi.

So overall the tank jumped quite nicely


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