# Rebuilding Mars



## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

*Basics*
The tank is 36x18x16 inches. Commonly called a 40 breeder, holds approximately 45 gallons:/
A glass top keeps evaporation to a minimum, keeps the fish in the tank and the cat outside of it!

Substrate is ADA AquaSoil Amazonia, hardscape is some sort of lava rock and manzanita.

*Fertilization*
The tank gets the EI treatment:
1/2 tsp KNO3 3xweekly
1/8 tsp K2PO4 3xweekly
1/4 tsp CSM+B 3xweekly
1/32 tsp iron (gluconate?) 3xweekly
3 tsp Grumpy's GH booster 1xweekly at waterchange

50% water change weekly with tap
dKH and dGH both <2

The amounts of iron and traces is well above the recommended EI levels, but I have found it necessary to maintain healthy green coloration of the plants. 
Less iron and some of the plants get pale and less attractive. 

Originally I was adding much less GH booster, and was having problems with contorted growth on my Tonina 'Lago Grande'. Raising the levels of GH added has straightened that out.

For a while I was adding 1.5x the current levels of KNO3 and K2PO4. During this time plant growth seemed to be accelerated, but there was no improvement in overall health.

On the rare occasion that I break out my test kits, the water column reads 2-5ppm PO4 and around 5-15ppm NO3, so it does not seem that using the EI method 
has caused any significant nutrient buildup in this tank.

*LIghting*

This tank uses a 2x55 watt AHsupply kit across the middle and a 2x21 T5NO Coralife fixture across the very back. 









The lights are on for 9 1/2 hours total:
12:30-3:30 pcs only
3:30-7:30 pcs+T5
7:30-9:30 T5 only

Originally only the pcs were used, but because of the depth of the tank, supplemental lighting was needed for the background plants. Having the second fixture evens out the lighting for the whole tank and allows for morning, noon and evening lighting.The fish seem to really enjoy the subdued lighting in the evening, and it looks really cool

Morning








Noon








Evening


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

*Filtration and CO2*

Filtration, flow rates and patterns, bubble counts and injection techniques... This is where all the problems started and all my headaches began.
Anyone surprised?

The tank started with an XP3 powering a Rex reactor at 1.5 bps, through a spraybar across the top of the left wall. This is the same setup that grew blyxa, lobelia, HC, Limnophila and others beatifully for me previously, but had mixed results with more delicate Rotalas. This time it failed spectacularly.

I'll skip all the intermediary steps I've taken the past few months, and get right to what is working 
now.

*Flow Rate*
Flow rate is driven by an XP3 and a Gen-x 1000 needlewheel pump run inline. The XP3 gets an approximate 160 gph, and the pump seems to nearly double that when on, so I am guessing there is 8x turnover of the water column per hour.









*Flow Pattern*
The flow pattern in the tank has been vastly improved by removing the spray bar, and replacing it with a marineland output, similar to a plastic lily pipe. The output is positioned in the back left corner, at a 45 degree angle towards the front glass. This pushes the water down the front, across the foreground and back into the corners. This pattern does a much better job of pushing the current down into the plant beds than the previous set up, which seemed to just circulate around the top of the tank.









*CO2 mist*

CO2 is pumped into the system just below the needlewheel pump at a rate of 3 bubbles per second. The needlewheel impeller chops the CO2 into a mist of fine bubbles that are pushed around in the current.

I'm not exactly sure why CO2 mist is more effective than dissolving the CO2, but it does seem to be. The same rate of bps through a reactor would kill all my fish, yet with this set up they are happier than ever, and my plants look healthier than I have ever seen them.

*Future Plans*

The tank is finally shaping up, but there are still a few changes in the works. Some plant species need to be moved or removed, and the middle section needs to get cleaned up. There is still some residual BBA that needs to be spot treated, and the substrate has leveled out a bit and accumulated in the foreground and needs to be removed (I am so not looking forward to this).

In additon, all my shrimp have been removed or murdered by my checkerboard, so it is time to copper the tank and kill off all the plant eating pond snails and foreground disrupting MTS:icon_twis
Once the MTS are gone, hopefully my UG will form a tighter carpet, otherwise I will switch to HC or maybe the mysterious microsword I have a tiny piece of will grow out.









Other than that, it is just letting the plants grow out, and hopefully soon I will have the tank I always wanted

Thanks for reading, Rupert says "Happy Holidays!"


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

wow, nice writeup. Rupert is an awesome cat name


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## lopez_316us (Jan 25, 2008)

Nice looking tank:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


Can you tell me the name on these plants.......

thanks!


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Minsc said:


>


That's alot of BBA in the lower right corner:icon_eek:

But nice looking tank!


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

clwatkins10 said:


> wow, nice writeup. Rupert is an awesome cat name


Thanks! It has been such an adventure, I'm hoping someone can learn from what I've done wrong, or alternatively, point out something I can still improve on.

As for Rupert, I originally wanted to name him Glen Danzig, but that got voted down:icon_roll So now his full name is Rupert "Ripper" Giles Trouble Kitty. Or something like that



lopez_316us said:


> Nice looking tank:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
> 
> 
> Can you tell me the name on these plants.......
> ...


Thanks! Those are Cabomba furcata and Rotala wallichii. I'm surprised the Cabomba isn't more popular, it seems to be easy to grow, just light hungry.
Rotala wallichii can be difficult to grow at its best, it is actually a pretty good indicator species for CO2 levels.



ZooTycoonMaster said:


> That's alot of BBA in the lower right corner:icon_eek:
> 
> But nice looking tank!


Thanks! There is a rock under there somewhere...
Every single piece of hardscape looked like that not too long ago, until I started spot treating with excel.
Yay Excel!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Minsc said:


> *Filtration and CO2*
> the mysterious microsword I have a tiny piece of will grow out.
> 
> 
> ...


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Algae problems aside I've liked this tank a bunch since you first posted about it... not sure if I've ever commented on it. It truly does look like an alien landscape and I mean that in a very cool way. I'm not sure how I missed that it is a 40 breeder the first time.
I really like the evening lighting as well. Glad you posted up the fert regime too as I'm doing pretty much the same thing. Not doing the iron straight up but using a little flourish and epsom salt for a little GH boost. Must be working well for you, that Erio in the front has exploded during the timing of these pics.

Speaking of the pics... strangely they make me want a pint.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

sewingalot said:


> Looks a lot like Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae, or cobra grass to me. Does it curl some at the tips?


It curls a bit, I guess... hard to tell. All I know is that it was imported by AquaForest, so it probably isn't common. Do you know of any good pics I could compare it to? I would love to have a positive ID.



MrJG said:


> Speaking of the pics... strangely they make me want a pint.


Thanks for all the kind comments, I really appreciate it. I really like where you are going with your 40 as well:icon_bigg

Not sure why my tank is driving you to drink, but I approve:thumbsup:


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Where'd you buy the Marineland filter return output?


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Minsc said:


> Not sure why my tank is driving you to drink, but I approve:thumbsup:


Could have something to do with this haha:


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Where'd you buy the Marineland filter return output?


I bought it at my LFS. It used to be available at drsfostersmith.com, but I don't see it anymore... I'm not entirely convinced it is any better than just running the normal Rena output (no jet nozzle).



MrJG said:


> Could have something to do with this haha:


Gotcha:thumbsup:

[shameless plug]If you would like to drink a pint from a glass just like the ones pictured, they are available at the low price of $15 a piece at www.BreadandBadger.com. Proceeds from the sale of the glasses will occasionally go to supporting ThePlantedTank and it's sponsors and power sellers, The Aquatic Gardener's Association, My local LFS and small companies around the Portland area. Mostly just to my landlord and the bank that owns my car though. Remember, we believe drinking beer from hand etched glasses go into the heart and carry the happiness and relax time with Nature Aquarium.[/shameless plug]

As for tank news, it is very difficult to take quality pictures of my QT tank...


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

so how has mars been doing? any updates?


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

It's doing very well, thank you. There is a local plant swap coming up soon, so it is a big mess right now as I'm holding off on a big trim. Look for an update around the end of the month.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Minsc said:


> It curls a bit, I guess... hard to tell. All I know is that it was imported by AquaForest, so it probably isn't common. Do you know of any good pics I could compare it to? I would love to have a positive ID.


Sorry. I just saw your request for a picture. The Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae is behind the cory.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Thanks, it does look similar. Mine is much smaller at the moment, and is exceptionally slow growing.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Fresh from the barbershop and fly from the beauty salon...


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

I've been moving hardscape, shifting plants, retying moss, and splitting erios. I finally am starting to really enjoy this tank The plants are looking closer and closer to how I've wanted them to, and the chocolate gouramis were great additions! I have a few more threadfins going in very soon, and I'll probably add some marble hatchets as well.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow I love that Tonina in the back!!!

What's your water parameters?


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

This tank is where it's at! I think getting the foreground in order will be the final piece of the puzzle. I don't know why i never saw this post on here before... i'm going to go look for your RCS tank... lol


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## Samarasa (Jan 31, 2009)

Hey, Minsc, what's that pinkish colored plant in the right background area called? Go for the eyes, Boo!


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Samarasa said:


> Hey, Minsc, what's that pinkish colored plant in the right background area called? Go for the eyes, Boo!



Cabomba Furcata. Minsc hooked me up with some of it and it looks fantastic!


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Wow I love that Tonina in the back!!!
> What's your water parameters?


Thanks. The parameters are: KH=very low, GH=very low, pH=I don't know.




MedRed said:


> This tank is where it's at! I think getting the foreground in order will be the final piece of the puzzle. I don't know why i never saw this post on here before... i'm going to go look for your RCS tank... lol


You are right, the eternally ugly/messy foreground is detracting from it a bit:icon_roll One of these days... I think I am going to switch over to HC once the assassins arrive. HC has a much cleaner look than UG, but it is a tasty treat for my pond snails



Samarasa said:


> Hey, Minsc, what's that pinkish colored plant in the right background area called? Go for the eyes, Boo!


As MedRed said, it is Cabomba furcata. It grows a bit fast for my liking, but looks really cool! I'm surprised it isn't more popular, it seems very forgiving.
Feel the burning stare of my HAMSTER and change your ways!


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## spiralin (Oct 16, 2008)

I have a 45 gallon , its not a breeder, mine is a 48" long tank,. so its shorter, at the begining I could grow anything , I have diy'ed sprial compacts , and diy co2. so now the bulbs seem not as bright as they used to be, and I know I need to re-do my co2. its a PITA BUT I can NOT afford the pressurized just yet  , your tank looks amazing !! I tried to grow belems, just could not do it ... I would LOVE some stems of the C.furcata , let me know if you trim those, I would love to try and see if I can grow them . all my tanks seem to be low ph. about 6.8 , and I think I am going to do somthing with my lighting . I used to have yje ghetto shop lights on this tank, But I went ahead let me BF make me a canopy, and wire in the spirals at 1st like I said everything looked great , now , not so much .. maybye I just need to replace all the bulbs it has been about a year. NIVE TANK < AND LOVELY PLANTS ~~ I will be watching to see what else you get in there !! ~


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Hey Spiralin, I have some Cabomba for you, but your pm box is full.


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## Burks (May 21, 2006)

Minsc said:


> As for tank news, it is very difficult to take quality pictures of my QT tank...


Sorry to quote a picture (I hate doing that) but what species of fish is this? Very interesting looking shape and color pattern.

Great job on your tank. Looks very nice!


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Thanks! Those are chocolate gouramis. They are a small gourami that enjoys being in a group. I think they might be for softwater only. Really cool fish!


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

this tank is unbelievable! you've done an amazing job with it


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Work in progress pic...


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

Lookin good! I love the valley effect


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Thanks Lego!

So the tank has been through hell and back in the last two months... which is pretty much par for the course at this point:icon_roll

I decided to split the filter output, to eliminate a dead zone in the center of the tank. During the procedure, I managed to break my Gen-x needlewheel pump and it took a couple weeks to find a replacement. (Danner this time:thumbsup I ended up injecting CO2 via a powerhead in tank.
The tank also grew in pretty rapidly and got a bit cluttered.

So it was a bit of a perfect storm. The flow pattern and velocity as well as the mist size was constantly changing, and no good came from it.
As you can see, my rocks are once again covered in BBA, and my erio type 2, Tonina lotus flower and Lago Grande all took it pretty hard.

Now, the good news. The BBA is in remission! Now that it is starting to fade, I'm hitting the tank with Excel to hasten it's demise. I'm going to be able to see my hardscape again soonroud: 
Also, my significant other has allowed my a new high tech 10 gallon, so I can spread my collectoritis between two tanks! The species that disappeared between updates, that is where they went.

Finally, in an effort to try to finally stabilize the tank, I'm taking it off the EI+50% weekly wc regimen. I've been slowly dropping the levels of nutrients dosed for about 3 weeks now, and I have yet to see any problems. We'll see...


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## dr.tran (Oct 8, 2007)

Any pics?

Its too bad to hear of such troubles since ur tank has so much potential from the start.

Its even more hard to believe that u have problems when u send me such beautiful plants. I can't wait to see how ur tank looks now.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Those plants are looing great, minsc!


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Thanks guys!

Tran, on one hand, this tank has been endless problems, on the other, I've learned a ton!

The tank is definitely on an upswing at the moment. I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but I really think I've turned the corner this time:knock on wood:
Cleaning out the middle of the 'scape helped a ton, and I've been weaning the tank off of EI and onto a much leaner dosing schedule. 

Overall, the tank still looks a lot like the most recent picture. In person I can see improvements in the plants health and a reduction in BBA, but it still is in a transitional phase. With any luck I'll have some very pretty pics in a couple weeks


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

*Aquascaping advice requested!*

I need some help, I just can't figure out how to arrange the right side of the tank:help:

Here is the right side currently:









Here it is in theory, with the type 2 and purple bamboo grown in and a HC carpet:









My question, what should I be putting in area 1 and 2? (If you have a brilliant idea on a complete right side overhaul, feel free to share that also!)
Here are the plants I'm thinking about:
Ludwigia 'Cuba', Cabomba furcata, Proserpinaca palustris, Erio type 3, Ludwigia 'Pantanal', Rotala colorata

Currently 'Cuba' is in area 1 and type 3 is in area 2. I'm thinking of moving the type 3 to the background and putting one of the other plants listed in front of it. I just don't know.... what do you all think?

Here's the FTS, if that helps:


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

wow, this looks great! i agree, the valley effect really works for this tank. I think that for the right side, area 2 looks kind of weak right now. try putting in something that will fill it up really well. Maybe if you put some tonina fluviatilis in there and got it to grow really thickly? ive never worked with it, so idk how hard that would be, but it would look cool if it was sort of beside and in front of the plants behind it. (is that ludwigia 'cuba' right now, in area 1, i mean? or are you thinking of putting 'cuba' in there later? i'm not too familiar with that plant, sorry!).

as for area 1 though, i think it looks great as it is now, you should keep that plant there. And also, the purple bamboo and HC idea is a good one. I can sorta picture what it will look like in my mind, and its a sweet picture. haha good luck!


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

oh, and also, the tonina belems on the left are AMAZING! dude, you are my hero for putting this together.


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## rbarn (Mar 21, 2009)

trim your stemmed plants in the back.

trim
trim
trim
trim
trim



trimming makes stemmed plants fill in and will make
your tank look lush and "dense"


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

area 2 might benefit with a plant having broader, more rounded leaves, to contrast with the, what is that, _Ludwigia_ 'Cuba'?

maybe even something red or pink, like an _Alternathera_.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Thanks for the ideas, guys!
That is 'Cuba' in the back right. I hacked it down, and am waiting for it to regrow before I start messing with the layout.


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

actually, if you like hydrophyte's idea, i have some alternanthera that i've been trying to sell, if you want it.

btw, x2 to what hydrophyte said.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

demosthenes said:


> actually, if you like hydrophyte's idea, i have some alternanthera that i've been trying to sell, if you want it.
> 
> btw, x2 to what hydrophyte said.


Thanks for the offer, but I think Alternanthera is too wide a stem. I do think the advice is good though, maybe I'll try a macrandra or sunset hygro.


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## Vladdy (May 6, 2008)

That's a beautiful tank, but what does it have to do with mars.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Thank you. The intent is to use oddly shaped plants to give the tank an unearthly impression. It is meant to be a counterpoint to all the Nature Aquarium style tanks that give the appearance of a terrestrial view.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

*Comedy of errors*

Ugg, the tank still lives, but just barely. I think I caught it on the cusp of catastrophe, hopefully it will bounce back soon
It might be hard to see in the picture, but BBA and diatoms are threatening to become a problem, and I've lost a lot of plant mass.

For those who are interested, here are a couple good ways to wreck a tank:
1)Switch from EI to a very lean dosing schedule, then constantly go on 3-5 day trips where even these minimal ferts are not added.

2)Don't purchase new light bulbs, even though the current ones are a year and a half old, and obviously losing brightness and changing spectrum.

3)Decide (erroneously) that your CO2 levels may be bothering your fish, and think that increasing flow rates will compensate for lower CO2 levels, which ties into 3...

4)Increase flow rate as a supposed fix all, and then not have time to clean filter for months.

And most importantly, 4)Not having time or mental energy to really pay attention to the health of the plants.

So, the filter has been cleaned, the CO2 has been cranked, large water change was performed, back to EI dosing and bulbs are on their way.
I will hopefully be purchasing a house by the end of summer, so this tank will most likely be broken down in a couple months, and I am hoping it can still go out on a high note.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

oh no! from here it doesn't look like a disaster atleast.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

MedRed said:


> oh no! from here it doesn't look like a disaster atleast.


It certainly isn't a disaster of the type you have dealt with, but lets say any close ups would be ugly
It really crept up on me, then one day my aussie reds started melting, and I realized how bad everything else looked. Looking at the previous picture in this thread really hit it home for me how far it has drifted.

Oh well, I've done everything I can, hopefully it will bounce back quickly.


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

in spite of disaster: um..... still my hero.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Lol, thanks
I have to say, I'm exited by the idea of rescaping once (if?) the tank gets a new home.
I'm going to go for a similar feel, but try to make it more tightly focused...


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

i like all the different plant species. that collecteritis has really kicked in.


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## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

the way you described the disaster, I expected to see a real mars landscape = barren . But your tank is far from that. At least in picture it looks as good as the first few


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

monkeyruler90 said:


> i like all the different plant species. that collecteritis has really kicked in.


What are you talking about, this tank has half the number of species from my last tank:hihi: I clearly need more tanks to spread the plants around!



malaybiswas said:


> the way you described the disaster, I expected to see a real mars landscape = barren . But your tank is far from that. At least in picture it looks as good as the first few


Thanks. The plant health is a lot lower than I've witnessed in the past, and there is a major oil slick on the surface. Seemingly little things, but it seemed to be plummeting very quickly, and although nothing seems to be getting worse anymore, I'm not seeing any signs of recovery yet either.


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## mizu-chan (May 13, 2008)

Oh wow, I don't know how I missed this thread. What an amazing tank you have. The plant choice is perfect for the title and you're placement it spot on. I really love this tank.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

You somehow missed my thread, and I somehow missed your post. Thanks for the kind words, Mizu.

There have been a couple changes to the tank, basically I've just been shoving any healthy stems I can find in there. All the plants were recovering and starting to look really good, until a small bit of string algae turned into a massive ton of string algae and started choking everything out:angryfire

My weekly trim/waterchange took over 4 hours yesterday as I attempted to remove as much of the algae as possible, and now I'm really hoping continued pouring of excel into the tank will clear it up soon. I've never dealt with this stuff before, it really sucks.

It's really hard to photograph, can you see my new nemesis?









So here is the FTS, this might be the last one, as this tank has 2 1/2 weeks left to live at the most.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

You have made the tank look very nice thus far, so I'm sure you will prevail in this fight. Keep it up, your tank looks great

On a side note, what color bulbs are you using?


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Thanks Orlando. The tank has two AGA 8000k 55w over it, and a Coralife T5NO fixture over the back with the stock bulbs.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Final Update, tank tear down tomorrow.

The good news: I bought a house! I somehow convinced my wife that one of the bedrooms should be a tank room, with future plans for a large in-wall in the living room and a reef tank in a bar type room with pool table:biggrin:

The bad news: I've been so incredibly busy painting, ripping up carpet and doing general this and that handyman stuff, I have had no time to take care of the tank... my thread algae problem has gotten a bit bigger...


























I'm thinking these plants might need a few days in total darkness:hihi:


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

wow kind of a bittersweet ending, eh?

just wondering, are you going to sell any of the plants that don't have algae? it'd be an awful shame to let all of that go to waste 

this tank was really amazing in its prime, and even when you thought it started dying, it still looked great to the rest of us. If (when!!) you re-build rebuilding mars, i'm sure itll be awesome. good luck with the move!:icon_mrgr


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

That thread algae is horrid stuff. I ended up trashing my 10g shrimp tank and starting all over. I hate that stuff. I read the thread about the power outage and how it took care of the thread algae. It's awful stuff. I'd be interested if you can salvage the tank. One little sprig can end up spoiling an entire tank!


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## Sven (Dec 3, 2002)

How many chocolate gouramies do you have in the tank? Have they been nesting at all? 
I´ve really wanted to get some chocolate gouramies but I've been nervous about them jumping out, since gouramies are notorious jumpers. Have you had any jumpers in your tank?

BTW, great looking tank, in spite of some off-season slacking


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## Strick (Apr 6, 2009)

I'm just a noob compared to most of you guys, but... jeez. What a waste. Why don't you try a few days of darkness first? The algae will die before any of your plants will.


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

Strick said:


> I'm just a noob compared to most of you guys, but... jeez. What a waste. Why don't you try a few days of darkness first? The algae will die before any of your plants will.


If you've never had this stuff or tried to fight it you have no idea. Just be thankful....:confused1:


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Demosthenes: Thanks, that means a lot to me! I thought the tank was pretty cool too

Tex Gal+everyone else: This is one of the most stubborn algaes I've ever encountered, Excel and H2O2 seem to slow it down a bit, at the most.
I will try blacking out the plants for a few days before I replant, and see what happens. Maybe I'll try that potassium permawhatsit stuff if the blackouts don't work. Some of the plants I would like to keep, some I would like to sell, and this algae is starting to hurt my pride

I put my fish into a brand new tank, so I can take my sweet time thinking about my next 'scape and do things like go overboard with the CO2, and maybe try to get a carpet going without my bulldozer bristlenoses interfering.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

I went for the answers in your quote style response, it was easier that way


Sven said:


> How many chocolate gouramies do you have in the tank?
> 
> Currently 7, down from 10.
> 
> ...


Thanks!


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

Minsc - look at this thread. There are some suggestions in here.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/algae/91752-hair-algae-woes.html

I've been experimenting a little bit. I increased my w/c frequency. I did a 3 day black out. Next I hit it with peroxide with the filter turned off. I've limited light. I think I may be putting a dent in it. I've pulled out big pieces. After the peroxide treatment it seems to change color to a darker green. 

The stuff they use to kill it in ponds and lakes is sodium percarbonate. I haven't tried that yet. Hoppy did an experiment with the sodium percarbonate and didn't see any change. I'm beginning to think that the key to killing this stuff is to weaken it by black outs, less light etc. and then it opens it up to chemical treatments. I guess time will tell. I do have a lot of Sodium percarbonate. Maybe I'll try it if the H2O doesn't work. It's basically the same idea - an heavy oxidizer. The only difference is the sodium percarbonate is power so it stays where you put it - as opposed to the H2O which can be displaced by water current.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Good thread, thanks!
So far I'm enjoying the blackout method. The plants are all in a bag, and I'm free to worry about fixing my electricity instead of playing with my plants.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

To those interested about the algae issue:
When I moved this tank, I unceremoniously dumped all the plants into a couple gallon bags, and left them in the dark for four days. The good news is that all the algae completely died!
The bad news is that it killed over half my plants as well. All my wallichii, macrandra green, HC, and UG was completely wiped out, and I'm down to a single stem of fluviatilis and erio type 3. Most of my erio type 2 is still alive, but it is brown instead of green. Many of the other plants suffered as well.

It wasn't a complete loss though. YikesJason and MyEdSul provided me with a ton of plants to fill the tank in again (thanks, guys:thumbsup and with the current regimen of easy on the lighting, heavy on the CO2, all the wounded plants look like they are starting to come around.

An interesting contrast is what happened with my 10 gallon during the move.
I drained the tank, but left the plants and substrate in place, and partially refilled the tank within hours. The plants went just as long without light, CO2, ferts, etc as the plants from the big tank, the only difference being they were in a tank with water instead of crammed into plastic bags.
With the exception of fluviatilis 'lotus' and a couple stems of downoi, all the plants from the 10 gallon look great. Some of the stems were pale and a bit distorted/misshapen, but everything bounced back within a couple days of firing the tank back up again, and now look as good as ever.


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

Glad we could help. I can't wait to see that the "Rebuilding Mars" rebuild is going to look like.


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## newbieplanter (Jan 13, 2013)

Nice tank, I just wanted to know what's the purpose of havin the pump on your filter output? I thought about it so it would be more pressure for a DIY spray bar. Or to put my co2 to it an have better diffusion of it in the tank an mainly just to see if it would give my filter a boost.






Minsc said:


> *Filtration and CO2*
> 
> Filtration, flow rates and patterns, bubble counts and injection techniques... This is where all the problems started and all my headaches began.
> Anyone surprised?
> ...


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