# Tharsis' 75G Stumptastic Rescape ~5-22-12~



## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Current FTS 5-22-12










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FTS 12-27-11










FTS 10-30-11










FTS 10-19-11










FTS 10-02-11










FTS 09-08-11










FTS 09-07-11










FTS 08-28-11










FTS 05-24-11 












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I recently moved from Indiana to Southern Colorado. I decided to leave my tanks behind but bring my fish and plants with me and combine three tanks (46/20/10) into one 75 gallon high tech tank.

The move went ok, i lost a couple tetras along the way, but my apistos and rams were fine. Unfortunately my plants did not fair so well. During the road trip I placed my plants in the hotel fridge over night to keep them fresh, when I woke up the next morning and checked on them, half of the plants had turned to icicles. Many of them died, and the rest certainly are worse for wear at the moment. 

I had a brand new 75 gallon tank waiting for me at home (what a treat - I have only ever had used tanks in the past) and purchased a stand and canopy on craigslist. I was a little nervous since I was going to be setting the tank up without a cycle, but I figured that the plants would certainly help. I also kept all my filter media soaking during the trip thinking that the bacteria would stay alive. 

The tank has now been up for two weeks, and it is going ok. 




























The plants are looking a little rough right now but they seem to be bouncing back slowly. I have an algae problem as well because I have no CO2 set up yet.

I am waiting for a 5 lb CO2 tank to arrive in the mail. i have a milwaukee regulator waiting to be attached. I plan on attaching the CO2 to a Cerges reactor attached to a canister filter. 

Due to the frantic set-up from arriving with fish in transit, i neglected to paint the back of the tank. Today i made a black background by taping black garbage bags to cardboard. It leaves much to be desired, and I plan on fixing it soon. 



















Right now, my photoperiod is 4 hours, but i will ramp it up once the CO2 is set-up. I am also going to dose EI method.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Specs:

Lights - T12 VHO attached to the canopy, will likely be replacing them with dual T5HO in the near future

Substrate - gravel collected from nearby beach with a playsand cap. I made some osmocote gel caps to place in the substate. 

Filtration - Sun Sun canister filter and an eheim canister (can't remember what model)

Co2 - 5 lb aluminum tank soon to arrive, Milwaukee regulator set-up, connected to a cerges reactor which will be attached to the output of the eheim.


Flora:

anubias, java fern, dwarf sag, jungle vals, a bunch of crypts, java fern
dwarf hair grass, microsword, HM, creeping Jenny, 
Hygro Polysperma, Hygro difformis, pogo erectus, alternanthera reineckii, rotala macandra, and a few others i can't recall the names of....

Fauna: 

Bolivian ram pair
german ram pair
Apisto agassizzii trio
serpae, lemon pristella, tetras
tiger barbs
pepper corys
clown loach

The plants and fish are a little bit of a hodge podge right now since this tank is the combination of three separate tanks but I will slowly change things around to make it more cohesive. I am thinking of making this a rainbow fish tank eventually.


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

That driftwood is super cool! Where did you get it?

Nice setup... really like the scape.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks! I have been planning a scape like this for a long time now and i am glad that I finally have a large enough tank to do it. 

I got the driftwood from a beach near my house here in southern colorado. The beach is absolutely loaded with driftwood... Tons of stumps and rootwood.


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

You're lucky that you have access to driftwood like that... that is one of the best pieces that i've seen in a long time. Lucky you!


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## rickztahone (Jul 20, 2009)

subscribed


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I actually had this piece on the S&S awhile ago but the shipping for it is astronomical, and local pick-up is not an option since i am basically in the middle of nowhere. 

So I just had to keep it for myself and wait until i had a tank big enough to house it.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

This is a very nice use of driftwood. So many people try, yet fail. You succeeded. :thumbsup:


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> This is a very nice use of driftwood. So many people try, yet fail. You succeeded. :thumbsup:


So true. roud:
Wise words said by Sara.


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

This tank is amazing! I <3 it!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks for the comments! 

I was worried that it might look a bit rushed since it essentially was...I had been planning the layout in my head the entire 20 hour drive though so I guess the planning wasnt rushed, just the implementation. 

I am hoping that the plants will fill out how I want them to. My goal is to have the sort of jungly driftwood portion on the left transition to a sort of dutch style clearing on the right with a nice carpet and two rows of stems in the back. 

I lost a bunch of stems during the trip and all of my blyxa japonica (20+ stems) sadly. I was wanting to have the blyxa in the front left clearing and slowly tapering out into a DHG field. Time to start collecting plants from the S&S again.

I want my CO2 tank to arrive already!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

The algae is starting to get pretty bad, I may need to do a black out until the co2 tank arrives, I am just worried that that may be the final nail in the coffin for alot of my plants...


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## fishykid1 (Apr 5, 2010)

try taking out one or 2 of the t12 vho lamps. That should help as well. Less light= less demand for co2/nutrients.


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## Tamelesstgr (Jan 11, 2008)

Looking good, that piece of wood is beautiful. You might want to try black posterboard, it comes in thicker sheets also, or just spray paint the back of the tank.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

yeah i think am going to go with black poster board...I want something with a matte finish. I wish i had painted it when i had the chance but it is a little too late now.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Wow that looks really nice. You have a good eye for making a naturalistic arrangement. 

Don't worry yourself too much about the algae. I usually get algae in new tanks and usually get it under control as the tank ecosystem matures and as I figure out how to adjust things to favor the plants.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks for the compliments 

And your right, level heads will prevail. I think I will just keep the photoperiod short for now and wait before doing anything drastic. I haven't started a new tank in several years so I guess I am worrying a bit too much about it.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

I love this tank. Like others have metioned, it is very natural looking. Great pieces of driftwood as well. You did an awesome job with it.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Well I finally got my CO2 tank in the mail yesterday, so I filled it up at a welding gas supply shop today. I hooked up the milwaukee regulator and connected the co2 to a Cerges style reactor. Looks like everything is going smoothly, and I will slowly ramp up the CO2 over the next day or so.

I will do a water change tomorrow, trim back as much of the algae as I can and hope for the best. The Algae is getting pretty bad at this point, I am scared that it will choke out the java moss. 

I am going to start working on fixing my background now, will post pics in a while.


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Look forward to watching the tank grow in. I understand the moving with plants issue. I lots quite a few stems but all my hardy low light stuff did fine. It was a 15+ hour drive for me but it turned into 3 days with set backs along the way. 

I really like the driftwood also. Nice placement of it!


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## SleepyOwl (Sep 23, 2007)

Looks great! Another one here who likes that driftwood.


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

How are all your dwarf cichlids doing together? I was thinking about some apistos for my 75G. I don't know if I want to sacrifice my cherry shrimp though.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

SleepyOwl said:


> Looks great! Another one here who likes that driftwood.


Yeah I loves me some good driftwood 

I have tried rockscapes in the past but I always drift back to the wood...




Wingsdlc said:


> How are all your dwarf cichlids doing together? I was thinking about some apistos for my 75G. I don't know if I want to sacrifice my cherry shrimp though.


The dwarf cichlids are all doing really well together, they don't have any territorial issues probably because they have loads of nooks and crannies to hide in. They are a joy to watch and I really enjoy having them in the tank.


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## TobasB (Aug 11, 2010)

Looks brilliant!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

sweeet! I got crazy pearling going on right now..lol.

The plants are digging the CO2 big time. I have had some streaming before and mild pearling in some plants with DIY CO2....but this is great! I was just staring in awe for about 20 minutes


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Look amazing! Love the drift wood "stump and roots".


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

My latest update: some bad, some good. I have a few questions in this post that i could use some help with as well. 

I fixed the background for my tank but i am not too pleased with it. I spray painted a piece of particle board and tried to cut it to size, but it isn't laying flush with the glass so there is a bit of a reflection...grrr. I like the texture that the wood offers but at the same time the black isn't as dark as I would like. I REALLLLY wish I had painted the tank before it was filled.

Here are some FTS:



















Does anyone have any ideas on good black backgrounds?


You can see that my algae problem is very bad ATM...the plants are still recovering from the move, and the week of lights with no CO2 really did me in. 





































Should I stay the course? Just keep pulling it out and work on getting everything stable..or get more aggressive?

On a positive note, my plants are pearling consistently near the end of their photoperiod, so I believe the plants are certainly on the mend. 





































You can see the algae with tons of bubbles as well... I am assuming my algae is pearling as well..is this true?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

baahhhh this algae is maddening!!!


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## Tamelesstgr (Jan 11, 2008)

Are you dead set on a black background? With a light substrate I tried a light blue and was really happy with the natural look. Maybe a tan color, even some gray? Vinyl can be applied to the back also and is relatively cheap for a 4' section on eBay. Sorry about the algae issues.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I had a marine blue on a tank before and I really didn't like it. Maybe a light blue would be good though. A grey or tan may be a good idea, I will have to look at some pics for inspiration. 

The vinyl is a good idea as well, but my problem is that the tank has about 5-6 inches of space before I hit the wall, so there is not much room to apply the paint/vinyl etc.
I will probably just leave it as is, and just try to get it more flush with the glass to minimize the reflection.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I pulled out a ton of algae today but it was all on the older parts of the plants. There is lots of new algae free growth on the plants which is a good sign. 

I seem to be getting a diatom outbreak now, so I will let it run its coarse.

No problems with the milwaukee regulator, it is running great with stable flow rate. I was a little nervous about it but I am quite pleased with it.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

So i treated some of the java fern with a squirt of hydrogen peroxide yesterday, will see if that made a difference when the lights come on. The stems are looking better, the CO2 has been very stable and my dosing regime is consistent and that is showing in my plant growth. 

My Alternanthera Reineckii is looking pretty bad though, it isn't growing at all. Not sure whats up with that. 

Will post pictures when the lights come on this afternoon.


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## SleepyOwl (Sep 23, 2007)

If you could figure out a way to hide your cords and things, I think the lighted wall would look nice as a background. 
Something like this? http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/112343-i-made-my-wires-hoses-vanish.html

Why did you decide not to get a regular aquarium background? The texture? You could try just spraypainting it black with a spraypaint meant for plastic. I haven't tried it, but it might work better than a peice of plywood. Just a thought. 

I have no clue about the algae. I would probably just wait it out too, since you are seeing the algae free growth.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Yeah, the more I look at it, the more I like a lighter background, not sure I like the black so much. I may try hiding the cords like in the link. 

I didn't get an aquarium background because i am cheap  They seem so pricey for just a piece of laminated paper. I tried the wood because i thought the texture would add something nice. 

As for the algae, yeah it is slowly subsiding, I am still going on a 5 hour photoperiod for now, so once i have the algae under control i may try to slowly ramp it up to 8 hours.


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## Tamelesstgr (Jan 11, 2008)

The nice thing about vinyl is that with the soapy water you have time to play around with it to get it situated, even with 5-6" to work with. I'm really thinking about light gray for my next tank, of all things, a 75.


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## Ethics (Aug 23, 2009)

Sorry to hear about the algae, any updates on the battle?

I really like your driftwood too, looks like the root of a tree, perfect scape for a fishtank.

Keep up the great work,
Mario


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Tamelesstgr said:


> The nice thing about vinyl is that with the soapy water you have time to play around with it to get it situated, even with 5-6" to work with.  I'm really thinking about light gray for my next tank, of all things, a 75.


Yeah I think I will just suck it up and get one of those vinyl backgrounds. Its funny the things that I rationalize as being worthy of spending my money on vs the things that are not... I am liking the idea of a lighter background as well. I feel like it gives a more airy open feel.



Ethics said:


> Sorry to hear about the algae, any updates on the battle? I really like your driftwood too, looks like the root of a tree, perfect scape for a fishtank.


Yeah the war on algae is slowly turning in my favor as the tank is equilibrating and balancing out. The algae growth is slowing considerably, the only place that it still seems to have a strangle hold is in the moss. Thanks for the compliment on the driftwood, i agree that there is really something very pleasing about the stump scapes.


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## Tamelesstgr (Jan 11, 2008)

Go to eBay and type in "24 gray vinyl" look for rolls, they can usually be had for $9+7 shipping for a 10' roll. I have seen a medium gray and a light gray. I can send you a couple of links if you have trouble finding it. You'll also need a squeege, those can be found in the hardware section or paint section for $2.


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

You want to get rid of that algae? 3-5 day blackout. Use tin foil and masking tape. Black it out for AT LEAST 3 days. Complete darkness. NO PEEKING! When you unwrap it, all the algae will be dead. Huge water change and vacuum as much out as you can. Then keep up on some 25% w/c and you will get all the organics out of the water. Also, you might need some better flow... 

I had a waaaaaay worse problem than you, and the blackout did the trick. Also, try overdosing excel for a week after you do the blackout.


Here's my tank before:











Here's after only 5 days of my certified treatment!!!:











Of course I'm completely lying... lol... the after pic is like a month... but you get the picture...


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks for the heads up Tamelesstgr, I will check it out. Yesterday i actually found a huge role of beige/brown thick paper that i added to the back.

*FLASH*









*NO FLASH*

























I definitely like it better than the dark background and has convinced me to go with a lighter background. I am not totally sold on this particular color though so i think i will look into the vinyl colors on [Ebay Link Removed] 

Wow Non-compliance, that was a serious algae problem,:icon_lol: 
Nice job eradicating it, the tank looks good, i really like that thin leafed radiating plant...what is it?

I contemplated doing a black out for a bit, but I was hesitant because my plants were already in bad shape from the move and I was nervous that the black out would pretty much kill them. In any case, the algae is slowly subsiding so i will stay the course. I did a major trim of all the stem plants yesterday, kept the new growth and threw destroyed the rest. I am going to start spot dosing excel on the moss and go from there.

On a side note, I am having a lot of trouble photgraphing this tank for some reason...the colors always look really washed out, I am wondering if this is related to the lights. I think i am going to sell the VHO set-up (ballast/endcaps/lights) and get a T5 HO set-up.


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## SleepyOwl (Sep 23, 2007)

Looks good!

Where did you get your stump?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks!

There is a large lake about 10 minutes from my house that has a glut of driftwood on the beach. Lots of rootwood and big ol' stumps. Entire trees will wash up during big storms, people will come and cut the trunks off for firewood and leave the stumps. There are probably several dozen stumps like the one in my tank over about a 1 mile stretch of beach.


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Your pictures are probably not colored because your white balance is off... some cameras will let you change it for florescent lights... or daylight... or whatever... see if you can play with that. If you can do custom, then that would be best... put something stark white in the tank and point the camera at it. It will know how to adjust the color for the lights based on the white item.


Yeah, that algae fest was due to me going on a 2 week vacation... I blacked it out, vacuumed it up, mowed the lawn, blacked it out again a few days later, and vacuumed... then w/c w/c w/c... took about a week to get most of it gone. All my friends said to throw it in the trash, but I liked the challenge.

The plant is blyxa japonica.

A 3 day blackout shouldn't hurt plants..even if they're not doing the best...


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Blyxa japonica... really?? The leaves seem a lot thicker/broader than normal, I had some in another tank before i moved and it was growing really well but it didn't seem as chunky as yours. It maybe just an illusion..what sized tank is that?

My goal is to get rid of all the Dwarf sag in the front left of my tank and replace it with Blyxa.


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Tank is a 5.5... and the REALLY thicker leaved stuff is dwarf sag....


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

cool yeah it must look thicker because of the scale.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

So it has been a month since my last update. Things are progressing well, I still have hair algae but it is definitely getting better as the tank is getting balanced. I have learnt alot about balancing the nutrients in a high light tank.

Here are some FTS:


















I finally decided on a black vinyl background, and I am very happy with it. I added a bunch of glosso in the front right, and it is starting to spread. I switched out my lights for an odyssea t5HO fixture. I got the 4 bulb fixture because I was told that the reflector is pretty crappy, so a two bulb fixture would likely only put me in the medium light region. I am happy with the 4 bulbs but I am still finding the right balance. I also switched out all of my substrate a couple weeks ago. I put a thin layer of osmocote and covered it with sand blasting silica sand. 

Between the new lights and substrate, it threw my tank out of balance again so I am just now starting to get it back under control. 

My plants have dramatically improved their growth since the new lights are in. My Cabomba furcata is growing really fast and is starting to color up a bit as is the rotala. 










My pogostemon erectus is finally starting to grow, it has shot up a couple inches over the last couple weeks and the new growth is algae free. I added a red lotus and I am looking forward to it getting big, but it is growing super well at the moment. The algae covered stump to the right is alternanthera reinekii which is doing abslutely nothing. I have never been able to get this plant to grow for me under any conditions...a little frustrating since it is so gorgeous. 










The tanks water parameters are finally under control, I was having some ammonia issues because I never cycled the tank, but these finally seem to have improved. and my fish are happier for it, they are much more active lately.

Here are some pics of some of the inhabitants:

the cories are digging the substrate, they are zipping all over the place, they are hard to get a pic of.


























Here are some of my dwarf cichlids:


































And here is a pic of the lone Amano shrimp...I had five but I unfortunately asphyxiated the other 4 with CO2 the first night I got them. I was sooo pissed at myself for not acclimating them properly. The lone survivor is as happy as a pig in ____. Sooo much algae to eat lol


















As for my schoolers, I have around 20 white cloud minnows and 12 red serpaes, but they are near impossible to take pics of. You can see the minnows in the this shot, I love these little guys. they are so active and they spend most of the days chasing each other and flashing their fins off at each other. A lot of fun. The serpaes are my favorite tetra as well, very rambunctious and a beautiful color. 










Anywho, that is the state of things at the moment. I am doing a water change tomorrow so I am going to scoop out a lot of algae and do a bit of rearranging, will post the outcome. i just ordered some MTS for the substrate, I am looking forward to addign them in to help aerate the sand. When the weather improves I am planning on buying a crap load of Blyxa and replacing the dwarf sag in the front left with it. I am also going to get more amanos, I think these are the coolest shrimp.


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## Aquahollics (Feb 1, 2011)

Your dwarf cishlids and rams arent eating your shrimp? Nice aquascape BTW =)


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

^ there is only one shrimp at the moment and the dwarf cichlids seem to be leaving him pretty much alone. The bolivians have shown a bit of interest but they have never made a move for him. The amanos from what I have read (since I have never had any other shrimp) are bigger so they may not look like a snack?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

So I got back from a week long vacation, i had everything automated while i was gone, and I thought that I had thought of everything buuuuut things did not go as planned...my CO2 tank ran out...

Came back to a crapload of BBA.grrrr. Luckily the gallon jug of metrocide arrived while I was away so I am starting a rigorous metro dosing regime to eliminate the BBA once and for all. 

My plants grew really well though while I was gone. My glosso grew about 6 inches as well, I had a forest of glosso that i just hacked back. I hope it starts to grow out instead of up soon. 

So I went to get my tank filled at the local welding shop today, came back and hooked it up to the regulator. I noticed that the psi was much higher than usual...2000 psi instead of around 600-700!!! Just as I was thinking that the tank was overfilled, the safety release valve blew and all of the CO2 rushed out. The sound was deafening! Once it had completely evacuated, I went to pick it up and my hand froze to it like a tongue on a frozen flag pole. I had to slowly peal my hand off of the tank. I brought the tank back and they said they would get it back to me tomorrow since there was ice that had formed in it.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Where in S. Colorado is there a beach with driftwood laying around??


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

haha...it is near Cortez. Here are a few pics that I took a couple weeks back. Access is closed off right now because of all the snow.










































Only the big stumps poke through the snow, there are tons of little pieces as well that are all covered up at the moment.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Long time since my last update:

Things are growing well. Still have some algae, and I decided to cut my light drastically. I am now down to 2 bulbs for 6 hours with a 3 hour 4 bulb burst in the middle. But at this rate I will probably cut that down as well. i got the 4 bulb odyssea fixture to compensate for the crummy reflectors but in the end it seems like 2 bulbs is plenty light. 

I took out the dwarf sag in the front left, and added a crap load of Blyxa. It grew tons and I just separated all the double stems and added them to the front right to replace the glosso. I was really annoyed with the glosso.

Here are some FTS shots:




























I added some black angels. I had 4 but 1 didn't make the trip from the LFS. The two smaller ones appear to have paired off. The larger one is the loner. 



















Here are a few other random shots:


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

very nice looking! i miss my bolivians. i want more!!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I love how natural this tank looks. Great job on finding that stump.


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

Man, your tank is filling in nicely. Looks good bud!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

SkyGrl said:


> very nice looking! i miss my bolivians. i want more!!


Thanks! I love them too, they are great fish, not as colorful as Germans but nowhere near as aggressive. They used to spawn regularly for me but i was never able to raise the fry unfortunately.These guys are getting on in years though and are not as active as they used to be, they are the grumpy elderly couple in my tank.



sewingalot said:


> I love how natural this tank looks. Great job on finding that stump.


sweet! Natural was what I was aiming for, haha. The stump certainly helps as does the copious amounts of algae 



justincgdick said:


> Man, your tank is filling in nicely. Looks good bud!


Thanks dude! It took awhile to get it balanced but I think I finally got it. I really was stubborn, refusing to admit that I had too much light. But cutting it back helped dramatically. I am actually getting new growth from my Alt. Reineckii. which is an absolute first. For a supposed easy red plant, I have failed miserably with it. So to see growth from it is a success story unto itself :hihi:


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I think I am experiencing weird behavior from my milwaukee regulator set-up. The CO2 is getting low, and it seems like my BPS is increasing alot. 

I know people of have mentioned the 'end of tank dump' with regards to this arrangement, is this what they were talking about? Is the steadily increasing bubble count a precursor to a potential fatal CO2 purge? 

I think I may just go get it filled to be on the safe side.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Sounds like it to me. I have a cheapo regulator and that is what happens to me, that and sometimes it'll not put out bubbles and then spray them out really quick. By the way, you definitely nailed the natural look. If I ever decide to go with rootwood again, I'll be getting you to help me with that.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Your tank is really natural looking and you are doing a great job of keeping it that way. I love all of the fish youve got in here too. Nice diiversity of color, shape, etc.. I had some black veils for a couple three years and they are one of the most beautiful fish when mature. Your tank makes me miss them bad. Serious angel envy


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> Sounds like it to me. I have a cheapo regulator and that is what happens to me, that and sometimes it'll not put out bubbles and then spray them out really quick. By the way, you definitely nailed the natural look. If I ever decide to go with rootwood again, I'll be getting you to help me with that.


Yeah I filled the tank up and everything went back to normal. I guess I will just have to keep an eye on it when it gets low. Other than the potential for total fish annihilation, the regulator is good.  




chad320 said:


> Your tank is really natural looking and you are doing a great job of keeping it that way. I love all of the fish youve got in here too. Nice diiversity of color, shape, etc.. I had some black veils for a couple three years and they are one of the most beautiful fish when mature. Your tank makes me miss them bad. Serious angel envy


thanks  I was going for the traditional south american dwarf cichlid/tetra type stocking list. The mountain minnows obviously don't fit in, but I really like them, and have seen them called the poor mans neon tetra :red_mouth. To be honest I find them to be much more entertaining than neons/cardinals/rummynose.

I really love the black angels. They really are very graceful, I am very glad that i got them.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

The stump look is awesome. Really sharp looking setup.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks 

I just order some plants from Crispino Ramos. Getting some Limno aromatica, rotala wallichi, Hygro kompact, and staurogyne repens. 

I think I am going to replace the sunset hygro with the aromatica and wallichi. I plan on putting the Kompact to the left of the stump and then the stauro will go between the two patches of blyxa. Looking forward to it


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I found a dead pepper cory this morning 

I have had these two for about 2 years now, they traveled with me out west and have been in many of my tanks. They have been doing fine in this tank and I actually thought that over the last couple weeks they had been showing mating behaviour. But maybe they were fighting?

In any case, I now have one lonely cory...


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Lots of pictures in this update :biggrin: I am pretty happy with where things have progressed. I officially have the algae kicked, so I removed the 
'algae farm' from my tank title.

Current FTS:










left:








middle:








right:









Things are going well, I did a minor rescape yesterday. Moved some plants around to make room for the new arrivals. I cleaned up the central opening to make room for the staurogyne repens. It is growing well and I hope to fill up the middle part pretty quickly. 










I had some left over HC from my 2.5 gallon tank so I decided to add it here to see if it would spread. It is just temporary along with the small patch of hairgrass until the S. Repens goes there.










I also added some HC in a crevasse in the stump, I am curious to see if it will root and spread. I also have some anubias and creeping jenny that is growing in the crack as well. And i have some moss that rooted all by itself on the top and is slowly spreading.


















i added some ludwigia repens in the back. Should fill in nicely. to make some room I moved the hygro augustifolia closer to the stump. I also plan on replacing the vals on the left of the stump with the hygro alt.


















Here are some pics of the current state of some of the plants:

A. Reineckii - very slow growth but atleast it isn't completely covered in BBA like it used to be 









L. Aromatica - the new growth has no color to it. Wondering if I should try to reduce the nitrates. I have alot of osmocote pellets on the substrate from replanting making it difficult to limit my nutrients. i have stopped dosing nitrates all together to see how that affects the growth. The L. Repens - arcuata and rotala rotundifolia are both growing really well but lacking color as well.


























The hygro. aug. is growing nice and tall and givign some shade for the anubias and java fern. The fern has really started to grow nicely for me..finally. 










The hygro difformis is looking good, but the bacopa is getting algae on the lower leaves. I may have to move it out into the open a bit more so that they are not shaded.










My lone pogo erectus is growing really well as well.










shot of an angel:

















Once the l. aromatica grows more I am going to trim and try to faze out the sunset hygro.










So that is where my tank is at the moment. This tank has turned into a natural pseudo-dutch style tank...if that exists 

My next goal is to just get everything to fill in and try to get some reds out of my plants.


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Don't know how I missed this tank, it looks really nice.
I really like the driftwood.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks  

Coltonorr, seeing your tank with the roselines and rainbows has made me reevaluate my stocking for my tank haha.


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

Looks excellent! Looks like you've gone through some tough times with the tank, but now, everything is perfect.


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

> the new growth has no color to it. Wondering if I should try to reduce the nitrates. I have alot of osmocote pellets on the substrate from replanting making it difficult to limit my nutrients. i have stopped dosing nitrates all together to see how that affects the growth.


 Going through the exact same thing. I dose about 1/6 the recommended level of KNO3 and still test around 10 ppm nitrates the day after. Can't imagine how much the roots are pulling out of there as well. I'm going on 7 months...so much for the coating lasting only a few months. At least on my next tank I know to go much easier on the Osmocote.

Beautiful tank, by the way.:biggrin:


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## night9eyes (Jan 12, 2011)

Great scape! And that stump is fantastic!! Being an angelfish person, I love the contrast of that black angel too against your lovely green landscape. Wonderful!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

PinoyBoy said:


> Looks excellent! Looks like you've gone through some tough times with the tank, but now, everything is perfect.


Thanks! This tank has definitely kept me busy, but it has been a great learning experience for a first high light tank. It seems like everything is dialed in and I finally have a balance. And of course now I want to mess with the balance and try to tease some red out of my plants...apparently I am a little masochistic. 



Hyzer said:


> Going through the exact same thing. I dose about 1/6 the recommended level of KNO3 and still test around 10 ppm nitrates the day after. Can't imagine how much the roots are pulling out of there as well. I'm going on 7 months...so much for the coating lasting only a few months. At least on my next tank I know to go much easier on the Osmocote.
> 
> Beautiful tank, by the way.:biggrin:


Yeah the osmocote is a bit of a pain, I see those little balls just sitting on the surface and all I think of is how they are polluting my tank. The osmocote is a good alternative as i have seen improved growth since adding them but moving plants around should be kept to a minimum. 

Since reading through the thread 'myths about low nitrates and red' in the fertilizer section, I think that I may forget about trying to limit nitrates since it appears to be an exercise in futility anyways. I may raise my light fixture up a bit to lower the light intensity and then increase my CO2.



night9eyes said:


> Great scape! And that stump is fantastic!! Being an angelfish person, I love the contrast of that black angel too against your lovely green landscape. Wonderful!


thanks, I love those black angels, I find that they look really elegant. Unfortunately I have a Ram in the tank that is really being a pain. He is constantly bullying the angels.


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

first time looking through this thread & i must say that its full of awesomeness..


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

tharsis said:


> Since reading through the thread 'myths about low nitrates and red' in the fertilizer section, I think that I may forget about trying to limit nitrates since it appears to be an exercise in futility anyways. I may raise my light fixture up a bit to lower the light intensity and then increase my CO2.


Thank you for pointing me to this thread. I'll link for others who are curious, if you don't mind. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/fertilizers-water-parameters/138098-myth-low-nitrates-red.html


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

no problem  

It is certainly a good read.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Well I just took all the fish out of my tank today. I am going to bring them to the LFS tomorrow and trade them in for some corals for my SW tank. 

I have been wanting to change the livestock for awhile and over the last few months I actually have been more interested in the plants than the actual fish. So I have decided to focus on the plants for a few months and run some nutrient limiting experiments to see how the plants respond. I really want to get a better understanding of how my plants are growing, reading about it is one thing but first hand experience should really help to get it to sink in. Eliminating the fish will provide me with a way to do this and not worry about killing them. Plus I moved fish once before and it was a royal pain in the butt, so this way I won't have to move fish...just plants. 

I will be moving at the end of the summer, so I will restock my tank with fish at my new home. I am already thinking of doing a really large school of corys with a bunch of rainbows and roseline barbs (I really liked ColtonOrr's tank).

I did a rescape as well, kind of separated everything a bit more so that I can monitor the plants a little easier.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

All the fish are gone, I traded them for some zoas and a large colony of pulsing xenias. 

The tank seems very empty...

Anyways, I just took a few quick pics today. I cranked up the CO2 out of curiosity to see if I could get some red growth, my drop checker has been VERY yellow for the last few days and I am getting alot of gurgling from my Cerges reactor. As expected the plants went crazy, pearling like never before. I feel kind of bad as it was apparently complete armageddon for all the snails in the tank, they were all hanging on for dear life at the surface of the tank, most of them died... the great snail massacre of 2011. 

FTS:









I have that stump with some fissidens just sitting in my tank temporarily. It will go in my 2.5 tank when I am ready to fill it. 

I got the Rotala Macrandra and Hygro Pinatifida in the mail the other day and they have both adjusted wonderfully, I am getting nice growth from them. The macandra appears to be keeping its color and the pinatifida is as well. Really beautiful plants, looking forward to them filling in. I am going to let the macandra grow a bunch and then I will probably move it to the back. The pinatifida will stay where it is I think. 



















The ludwigia arcuata is starting to color up, the newest growth over the last couple days has been much redder.









But nothing from my aromatica or wallichii unfortunately

















After the failure of my HC in the 2.5 gallon, i ordered a bunch more from Francis Xavier, I decided since I am blasting the CO2, I will plant it in the clearing of my 75 gallon and let it get established. Then I will harvest some and try the DSM NPT method in the 2.5 again.


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## TwoStrokeKing (Mar 24, 2011)

I love dutch! U seriously are amazing at what u do!!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks  

I think it is still a far ways aways from being Dutch-like, but the forms are definitely taking place. 

So I got my HC today from Francis Xavier, it was lush and green and beautiful. Sooooo nice, the roots were ateast 2-3" long, made it a breeze to plant  

It is already pearling away, which makes me happy. Hopefully this submersed attempt will go better than my emmersed attempt.










A pic of the shoddy HC planting job with a rock covered in BBA. I am channeling my inner sewingalot and embracing that BBA covered rock. Mainly I am keeping it as a memorial to the BBA destruction of several months ago. It is the last colony of BBA in my tank, but that is an example of how thick it was on my anubias and over my driftwood...before I killed it. 

Here are some pics of the pearling HC:


















And here is a pic of the Macrandra pearling, me likey..


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## tuffgong (Apr 13, 2010)

This thread is a great read with good pics. The tank looks great also! I love the Dutch look.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks roud:

So the pinatifida and macrandra are growing really well, and the HC is pearling away but no new growth yet. 

For some reason, my lone pogo erectus stem just completely melted within a matter of 48 hours. I am really baffled as to why...Kind of a bummer, I really liked that plant, I love how erect it grew.

I am still not getting much red out of the rotundifolia or the ludwigia repens, it is really weird. I just filled up my 2.5 gallon tank and added some stems of the rotundifolia and sunset hygro and they are already turning red after only two days.

Does the substrate effect the reds? The 2.5 G doesn't have any CO2, it has potting soil capped with sand. I haven't dosed any ferts in the tank either. Very confused.


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## Rockhoe14er (Jan 19, 2011)

great looking tank. Good work.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I decided to switch out my stock 6700K odyssea bulbs for wavepoint brand bulbs.

I got 2x6700K, 1x12000K, 1xredwave (pink bulb - what is the K rating for the pink bulbs anyways?)

It turns out the 6700K's were out of stock so I ordered some coralife bulbs instead, they should be arriving in a couple days. anyways the 12000K and redwave bubls arrived today so I switched those out and took some before/after pics using the same setting on my camera. 

Pic 1 - 4 x stock 6700K Odyssea bulbs









Pic 2 - 2 x stock 6700K Odyssea bulbs, 1 x 12000K, 1 x redwave wavepoint bulb









Very significant difference IMO. Much brighter and whiter...that being said I don't know if I like it better. I think I prefer the greener darker color of the 1st pic. I guess it will grow on me haha.

I will compare when I get the new 6700K bulbs. That will be interesting to see if there is a difference in overall brightness between the coralife and odyssea bulbs of the same K rating.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

The 6700K's arrived and they made a huge difference, I am surprised at the difference in brightness between the coralife 6700K and odyssea 6700K bulbs. i wish I had a PAR meter. 

Here are some pics taken with the same settings. 

Pic 1 - Odyssea 6700K bulbs









Pic2 - Coralife 6700K bulbs


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Tank looks great! It has grown in nicely. The bulbs make a huge difference don't they! I probably should change mine out sometime soon. It has been a while....


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## x2h (Dec 23, 2008)

tharsis said:


> The 6700K's arrived and they made a huge difference, I am surprised at the difference in brightness between the coralife 6700K and odyssea 6700K bulbs. i wish I had a PAR meter.
> 
> Here are some pics taken with the same settings.
> 
> ...


wow, the coralife look so much brighter. are you sure the exposure (ISO, aperture, speed) are the same?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

yeah they were identical, I set it with an aperture speed = 1/25, ISO = 200 and fstop = 2.4 for both pics. No post processing other than cropping. 

I was blown away as well, I noticed the difference as soon as i turned on the fixture.


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## x2h (Dec 23, 2008)

the plants look nicer with the odyssea light, but if you have fish with warm colors (red/orange etc) then the coralife will definitely make the fish look better.


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## TwoStrokeKing (Mar 24, 2011)

Keep it up


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

x2h said:


> the plants look nicer with the odyssea light, but if you have fish with warm colors (red/orange etc) then the coralife will definitely make the fish look better.


Yeah it should look nice when I stock the tank again with some rainbow fish and redlines. In the meantime, I want to see if I get improved plant growth from the plants. 



TwoStrokeKing said:


> Keep it up


thanks  

i feel like the tank is in a weird transition right now and the plants are looking a little ragged and I had a minor algae outbreak from the increased photoperiod. Looking forward to getting the left hand side filled in with the hygro kompact


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## Janf (Jun 24, 2011)

Your tank is amazing! It has a natural looking and that's something really hard to get 
Those roots are beautiful, unfortunately I can't find any of them where I live in Portugal xDDDD
I have to go to colorado so I can get some ehehhe

Nice job


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

Very nice! Now next time you upgrade get giesemann, you'll be surprised...again 

This tank has really taken shape, I love it. One of my favorites actually. 

As for the Pogostemon erectus, could it have been too high of nitrates? I heard on another journal that this guy lost 15 some stems, each 14" high because of high nitrates. IDK if this is it, but maybe test the tank?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Da Plant Man said:


> Very nice! Now next time you upgrade get giesemann, you'll be surprised...again
> 
> This tank has really taken shape, I love it. One of my favorites actually.


thanks  It has been alot of fun watching it evolve, I will be taking it down and moving it back it to Indiana in about a month, I hope that I can recreate it when I get there. 

I would love to try the geissman bulbs out but I certainly don't love the pricetag  
Thew bulbs alone are more expensive that my cheapo fixture haha



Da Plant Man said:


> As for the Pogostemon erectus, could it have been too high of nitrates? I heard on another journal that this guy lost 15 some stems, each 14" high because of high nitrates. IDK if this is it, but maybe test the tank?


It is possible since my nitrates are indeed through the roof. All my replanting and rearranging keeps uproating my osmocote gelcaps, so I have the little pellets strewn on the substrate. I try to syphon them out but I am always finding more. i have actually stopped dosing KNO3 because of this. I stopped testing awhile ago because I could never get it down but it is certainly above 40 ppm I am sure. 

The only thing is that the pogo was growing well while I had the high nitrates, so unless it was some sort of cumulative thing I am not sure.

In any case I am not too happy with the dissolving gelcaps, next time I want to find some little cages of some kind...something that won't dissolve but will allow the pellets to dissolve slowly.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Well I moved from Southern Colorado to Northern Indiana...eesh. 

My poor plants did not fare to well. Due to organizational issues with the moving van the plants were out of the tank for over a week. Sitting in a larger tubbermaid tub with clip on desk lamps. I probably lost about 80% of my plants  

In any case, I essentially starting over from scratch... Here are some FTS of before and after. 

FTS Before









FTS Now









I painted the back before setting it up, and I am happy with that. I also screened some potting soil and laid that in the tank. capped it with the sand blasting sand. I like the addition of the soil. The few stems that did survive seem to be growing much better now than before (osmocote pellets buried in the sand). 

I miss my field of Blyxa...and my macrandra :frown:

Here are some pics of the new growth from the surviving plants. 


























Just going to sit back and let this sucker grow.


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## zachary908 (Feb 12, 2011)

Sorry about the plants, Tharsis. I'm sure the tank will be looking great in no time!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks  

I am bummed about the plants, but atleast it means I get to satisfy the collectoritis in me again.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

That sucks on the plants, setup looks very good though


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## kangared (Apr 7, 2011)

Tank was looking amazing. That does suck, but I'm sure you'll be able to get it back to it's former glory.


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## zachary908 (Feb 12, 2011)

tharsis said:


> thanks
> 
> I am bummed about the plants, but atleast it means I get to satisfy the collectoritis in me again.


Colectoris has infected me as well.... so has MTS.

My 75 gallon has way to many different plants, but I can't bring myself to get rid of any....


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

2in10 said:


> That sucks on the plants, setup looks very good though


Thanks, I decided to keep the same stump in my set-up, but I added another root and added a few more of the river rocks. I am planning on having shrimp in this new reincarnation so I wanted a lot of hiding spots for them. 



kangared said:


> Tank was looking amazing. That does suck, but I'm sure you'll be able to get it back to it's former glory.


Thanks :thumbsup: The plants are already showing some really nice growth. I think they are liking the soil. The few Blyxa stems that survived have already tripled in size. Its like an apocalyptic pandemic type scenario ...the few remaining survivors have to rebuild the population. 



zachary908 said:


> Colectoris has infected me as well.... so has MTS.
> 
> My 75 gallon has way to many different plants, but I can't bring myself to get rid of any....


Well if you ever decide to do a plant purge, you know where to send them :wink:


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## kangared (Apr 7, 2011)

tharsis said:


> Its like an apocalyptic pandemic type scenario ...the few remaining survivors have to rebuild the population.


Lol We shall rebuild! (what the plants are saying)


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Bummer about your plant loss. I lost most of my stems when I moved from MI to NC. It sounds like you have a good growing environment and things should bounce back quick. I will try and keep you in mind with my next trim.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

kangared said:


> Lol We shall rebuild! (what the plants are saying)


Congrats for being the 100th post!! 













Wingsdlc said:


> Bummer about your plant loss. I lost most of my stems when I moved from MI to NC. It sounds like you have a good growing environment and things should bounce back quick. I will try and keep you in mind with my next trim.


Thanks! Definitely keep me in mind  

I don't think I have the patience to wait for the repopulation of my Blyxa lawn so I may hit you up for some roud:


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

My blyxa is getting thick and about ready to be replanted.


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## ibmikmaq (Aug 19, 2011)

Amazing thread! Really enjoyed reading and seeing the progress too bad you had to move again! Tank looks almost the same as it did after the first move at start of thread but I am sure it will it be back up to how it was in no time at all! Now you have more experience and are better prepared. Look forward to watching it progress over the next few months! This time stay in one place! Lol


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Wingsdlc said:


> My blyxa is getting thick and about ready to be replanted.


Sweet! PM me when you are ready to hack away, and we can figure it out. 



ibmikmaq said:


> Amazing thread! Really enjoyed reading and seeing the progress too bad you had to move again! Tank looks almost the same as it did after the first move at start of thread but I am sure it will it be back up to how it was in no time at all! Now you have more experience and are better prepared. Look forward to watching it progress over the next few months! This time stay in one place! Lol


thanks  I should be here for atleast two years, so this tank will have lots of time to fill in. 

It is already making good progress, the plants are growinIg at lightning speed. If I stare at them long enough i swear I can see the sunset hygro growing right before my eyes! haha



















I am getting some diatom blooms in the substrate at the moment. I haven't tested the parameters but I imagine that I am close to ready to add some fish again. I am thinking of roselines and rainbows, not sure what else though. 










My crypts are turning a very dark red, i have never seen them this color before, pretty cool. You can also see my small stem of pinatifida to the left that survived the move. It seems to be growing well.










As I said, the sunset hygro is going gangbusters. 










Looking forward to having the carpet fill in and the anubias fill out some more.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Nice growth, I see I have something to look forward to now that I am using CO2.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

yeah you should see a definite increase with the rate of growth with CO2. 

I currently have it blasting, not sure what the ppm is, I never put the drop checker back in, but I am sure it is very high. I will have to dial it down alot when I add the fish, I should probalbly start acclimating the plants to a decreased CO2 now that I think about it, since I want to add fish soon.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

I think I am at 5 to 6 BPS no fish troubles and the bubble checker is a dark green. Lights have been on for over 3 hours and no pearling. I am going to need to add a sponge to the reactor to cut back on microbubbles.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Dark green after 3 hours is pretty low CO2. I am guessing that you are starting off low for the fish and you are going to ramp it up slowly? 

How much surface agitation do you have?


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

tharsis said:


> Dark green after 3 hours is pretty low CO2. I am guessing that you are starting off low for the fish and you are going to ramp it up slowly?
> 
> How much surface agitation do you have?


Yeah just trying to find the sweet spot. I just timed it and it was closer 2.7 BPS. I have 2 Koralia nano 240s pointed at the surface and a Cascade 500 canister with a spray bar as a return agitating the surface. I am sure I can go higher just don't want to jump too high.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

yeah slow is the way to go, you don't want to stress the fish out too much. It sounds like you have good flow and good surface agitation so you should be able to go quite a bit higher in the long run.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

I suspect so. When I first started the CO2 up I did not have the bubble counter in place. I put it in place and it looked like a non-stop stream of bubbles. The build up from that did not bother the fish after 1 hour of that flow.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

What was the name of the lake you found the driftwood? lol I might need to go make a weekend trip down there.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

haha

It is just outside of cortez, Lake McPhee is the name. It is actually a reservoir, the second largest artificial body of water in Colorado.... just did a Wiki search haha  .... Apparently, the reservoir buried a logging operation. Interesting...

The shores are literally littered with stumps and trees and logs of various sizes. A driftwood wonderland  Although I made a fairly significant dent in the abundance of wood on my wood collecting expeditions with the dogs. I brought part of my stash with me when I moved back to Indiana, the wife was not too pleased. 

"why the @#$ are we hauling all this wood halfway across the country!!!"


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

tharsis said:


> haha
> 
> It is just outside of cortez, Lake McPhee is the name. It is actually a reservoir, the second largest artificial body of water in Colorado.... just did a Wiki search haha  .... Apparently, the reservoir buried a logging operation. Interesting...
> 
> ...


LOL, Your scape is GREAT! I might have to make a weekend trip up there next summer and grab some wood. Its quite a drive, I am 15min. north of denver lol


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Yeah it is a heck of a trek. About 6 hours to Denver from Cortez, quite a drive just to get some wood haha. Go up to Durango for a weekend and do some white water rafting. Durango is roughly 30 minutes away. 

If you do make the drive though, I would suggest coming either in the late fall or very early spring. Most of the wood is submerged by the end of May. The water levels rise about 20 feet once all the spring thaw starts coming off the mountain, making it slim pickings. It would be a shame to drive all that way only to discover that there is no wood!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Thanks for the suggestion. I might just do that next spring around that time lol


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Wowo! Filling out quick! I think if I am going to do a replant of the blyxa it should be soon. Have a baby on the way and it would give it time to regrow for a club auction in October. How much would you like?


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## kangared (Apr 7, 2011)

> congrats for being the 100th post!!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

^ I was thinking more along the lines of this...












I rearranged some of the rocks, and consolidated some plants. I like the new layout with the pile of rocks. 










There are alot of caves in there and I have been thinking of getting some kribs for the rock pile. An LFS near my place is selling them for $2 apiece...cheapest I have seen them anywhere. So I was thinking of getting 4-6 of them. 

I think the left side of the tank is pretty much done, save for the Blyxa carpet. I have a large pile of brazilian pennywort in the back left, which should grow in fairly fast as well. 

On the right side I am thinking alot of stems, I may try to snag one of Crispino's package deals soon and just let the stems grow out. I also want more Blyxa for the forefront on the right side.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Beautiful rework, well done,

I drool over Crispino's plant packages. That would get the right side filled in no problem.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks  

Yeah I have gotten plants from Crispino in the past and they are always in beautiful shape.

His packages are like an instant fix for collectoritis, so I am looking forward to snagging one. You have to be pretty quick to get them though haha.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

I know I got a Ludwigia inclinata 'Pantanal' and a Rotala macrandra 'Japan Red' from him. They are really awesome and doing real well.


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## Kosey929 (Mar 27, 2011)

I love your tank! The 'scape is sa-weet!! :drool:


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## Janf (Jun 24, 2011)

I think this tank is really amazing!!! But there is one thing that I think is not linked to the rest of the layout, those plants on the right. Maybe if you replant more of them along the back line it would be better, don't you think?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

^ thanks! Yeah my stems took a pretty big hit in the move so those are the few survivors. I plan on having the right side heavily loaded with various stems. I am hoping to have the blyxa in the forefront to tie the two sides together.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Sounds like a great plan, can't wait 'til you get the new stems.


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## Janf (Jun 24, 2011)

tharsis said:


> ^ thanks! Yeah my stems took a pretty big hit in the move so those are the few survivors. I plan on having the right side heavily loaded with various stems. I am hoping to have the blyxa in the forefront to tie the two sides together.


That's what I talking about! Perfect D


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

^


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## kangared (Apr 7, 2011)

Oh crap, I thought it was sarcasm. I'm sorry. :icon_redf I need to spend a little less time on xbox live lol. The tank is making a good recovery :drool:


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

haha... yeah XBOX live will certainly do that to you. 

The lack of trolling on here certainly takes some getting used to but it is very refreshing.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Woohoo!!! I just added the first inhabitants for this tank. I was picking up a 20 long from Petco and I saw some peppered corys on sale. So I picked up 8 of them. They are munching away on shrimp pellets as I type this. 

On another note, I saw at Petsmart that they were selling Roselines for $6.59 apiece. I couldn't believe it, unfortunately (and not unsurprisingly) they were sold out. They are supposed to call me when the next batch arrives.

I am excited to start stocking this tank!


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Congrats on the new adds


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks  

I am really liking the corys, I have never had more than 2-3 in my tank at a time, so it is awesome to see them schooling.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Definitely cool to have a school.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I just added 4 kribensis to the tank, got a great deal for them at my local LFS. They are loving my rock pile.

Hopefully I will be able to pick up some boesmani rainbows tomorrow. And then the roselines in the near future.

EDIT:

I was able to snap some pics of the Kribs, they are already coloring up quite abit, they are actually showing alot more color than they were in the store. I tried to get some pics of the corys but it was pretty fruitless. 















































On another note, the LFS that I got the Kribs is in the process of setting up a Discus and Altum tank. They had 3 wild caught Altums in the tank and i have to say they looked really spectacular. I have never seen them in person before, and i was quite impressed with the elegance of this fish.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Congrats on the new fish.


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

The kribs look great! I had a pair in my old 40G long back in the day. They really color up on cherry shrimp. Needless to say, I didn't keep them long. So far I haven't caught my rams scarfing any shrimp. They better keep being good little fish.

Now where is all that blyxa I sent you!?!? = )


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks, yeah they are great! 

I just added three roselines and three neon rainbows to the tank this afternoon, I will try to take some pics in a bit. The roselines are really sharp looking. Hopefully petsmart will get a few more next week, I would really like to have atleast six in the tank. I think a few more rainbows and then a school of cherry barbs and I will be done with the fish stocking. 

Your Blyxa arrived and is floating in my tank at the moment, it looks awesome! I am going to have a beer or two and get to planting it. Will post some pics once my insta lawn is in place. Thanks again!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Alright! Got it planted! 

Here are alot of pics of the new arrangement with the new additions. 

Its hard to get a pic of the roselines haha, they don't have much color on them at the moment, hopefully that will change once they get used to their surroundings and they mature abit. 

























Here are the neons, they are pretty freaked out at the moment but they were starting to color up abit by lights out. 

























FTS with the blyxa, all the fish are hiding under the stump. 









































I am quite happy with the blyxification, I will add a ton of stems behind the blyxa on the right. Not sure what to do for the clearing in the middle. I may try to make a carpet with fissidens. I have pretty much given up on HC, after failing so many times.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Awesome shots, tanks looks good, I like the open area of sand


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Very nice!


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## zachary908 (Feb 12, 2011)

Looks great, Tharsis! Your roselines should color up in no time! They really like flow, so that helps.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

Those neons will always be freaked out lol, one of the most paranoid species I have ever kept lol


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Looks Great!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

2in10 said:


> Awesome shots, tanks looks good, I like the open area of sand


Thanks, yeah the sand in the front definitely gives it a more natural look. I was wanting to fill it in but I may leave it for the time being.



Wingsdlc said:


> Very nice!


Thanks!



zachary908 said:


> Looks great, Tharsis! Your roselines should color up in no time! They really like flow, so that helps.


I definitely have a lot of flow in this tank, so they should be surfing in no time. I hope they color up, I am a little worried because they are from petsmart... time will tell. 



Noahma said:


> Those neons will always be freaked out lol, one of the most paranoid species I have ever kept lol


Great haha, I will see if I can tap into my inner fish whisperer and coax them out of their shell.



Gatekeeper said:


> Looks Great!


Thanks!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

The neon rainbows are actually really cool, they are by far the LEAST skittish of all the fish in the tank. I really love how they shimmer, the mix of the red and blue in their gills has a real understated awesomeness. I hope I can pick up some more of these guys next week.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

They are beautiful fish that are always out in the open. Great looking schools.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Woohoo!! My plants from Crispino arrived. I am always impressed with both the quality of the plants and the packaging.

Here they are in their holding cell, awaiting their planting in the promised land. 










I think that there are too many plants for the real estate available haha...time to get planting!! 

I will post some pics when I am done.

EDIT: ALL DONE

I will take pics of the tank when the clouding has gone down. But here are some pics of my 4 year old daughter, she wanted to help me plant so I gave here some rotala rotundifolia and sunset hygro to 'plant' in a 2.5 gallon tank. She is taking quite an active interest in my aquarium stuff, much more so than her twin brother. 




























The tank had dirt covered in play sand, so her less than delicate approach to planting wreaked havoc on the substrate...



















One of her favorite things to do is to play with the snails that i fish out of the tank for her. She will keep them in a small bowl and play with them.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Those are some awesome cute shots, congrats on her being interested. 

Get looking selection for Crispino. I expect to see a much more robust planting of your tank when you take pics.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks, yeah I am pretty excited that she is into it. I will enjoy it while it lasts haha. 

I managed to get all the plants jammed into the tank...when they grow in the tank will be absolutely busting at the seams!


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## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

amazing looking tank. very natural looking, i would love to have something as nice set up


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks so much!!

I have some pics of the new plants, FTS and close-ups. The plants were not individually packaged so it I am still trying to figure out what plants are what haha. We can turn it into a game, name that plant species!

I tried to put all the plants in their permanent resting places but some of the smaller stems I put in the front to allow them to grow in a bit more. I am looking forward to monitoring their growth. 

now on to the pic dump! I will update the species names when I have the time.


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## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

i received a plant package from Crispino as well and that would be my only gripe, no documentation or separation of plants. I would most definitely purchase from him again though


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

yeah I agree, it is a little daunting to receive a gallon ziplock bag stuffed with 15 different species of plants with no differentiation between them.

But I see it as a challenge now to match the names I have with the plants I received


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Looks awesome, congrats


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

tharsis said:


> Thanks so much!!
> 
> I have some pics of the new plants, FTS and close-ups. The plants were not individually packaged so it I am still trying to figure out what plants are what haha. We can turn it into a game, name that plant species!
> 
> ...


A couple IDs in red


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I think I have figured out most of the plants, I will post them in a bit. In the meantime here are a couple quick pics of the tank right now. The plants have rebounded nicely and are all growing already.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Looks great Kevin


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## Janf (Jun 24, 2011)

So healthy, so GREEN! Wonderful  Love it!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Here are a bunch of pics that I just took. I have been messing around with setting up a 20 gallon saltwater tank for the last couple weeks so this thank has been a little neglected. I trimmed a couple days ago, the plants are growing well but the anubias are getting some bba grrrr.... I wasn't paying attention and i just noticed today. So I raised the lights a bit, I couldn't find the legs to this unit so i cut some 2x4's haha. 

I also reduced the photoperiod a couple hours and will dose with metricide until it is gone.

Anyways, here are a bunch of pics:


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Looking great!


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## SkyGrl (Jan 7, 2010)

looks great! i love the plethora of pictures! your krib looks so cute!.. aaaaahhh bba, the curse of planted tanks for some ppl. as soon as i embraced it.. it went away lmao!!

Amy


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

Wow man. This tank is really looking nice. I must say, I'm impressed.


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## ibmikmaq (Aug 19, 2011)

thats beautiful, I love the stump! I found one just like that last week along the bay of fundy shore line! cant wait to use it!


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Beautiful and filled in nicely. Dump the Metricide directly on the BBA for best results.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Craigthor said:


> Looking great!


Thanks! BTW the overflow is working like a charm, it is perfect for my new 20 gallon SW tank. 



SkyGrl said:


> looks great! i love the plethora of pictures! your krib looks so cute!.. aaaaahhh bba, the curse of planted tanks for some ppl. as soon as i embraced it.. it went away lmao!!
> 
> Amy


Haha, yeah I like to take lots of pictures, I figure if I am keeping a journal i might as well have a detailed recording of the progression. It is also good because I am slowly figuring out how to use my camera, lately I have been playing with the white balance trying to get the most out of the colors. 

The kribs are really awesome. They stick together for the most part but will sometimes join the roselines for a race around the tank. Very cool fish. 



jcgd said:


> Wow man. This tank is really looking nice. I must say, I'm impressed.


Thanks 



ibmikmaq said:


> thats beautiful, I love the stump! I found one just like that last week along the bay of fundy shore line! cant wait to use it!


Thanks! I really like this stump, it lends itself very well to a natural scape. I would imagine that fundy must have some really good pickings in the more remote areas. All the places i ever visited were the super touristy areas so there was never much to pick. 




2in10 said:


> Beautiful and filled in nicely. Dump the Metricide directly on the BBA for best results.


Thanks! I did a waterchange this morning and squirted the metricide directly on the leaves. I am not too worried about this outbreak, I honed my BBA killing skills during my last outbreak in Colorado haha.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Kinda bummed out, looks like petsmart won't be getting any more roselines...I only have three and I really wanted atleast 6. Everywhere else they are 2-3X what petsmart was selling them for.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Wow! Nice job on the tank! Looks clean and tidy!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks! but I think all the crud and messiness just doesn't translate to pics haha. 

I decided to check out the other petsmart on the other side of town, low and behold they had a tank full of roselines (15+) for $8 a piece, so I picked 3 more up woohooo! 

I also got 3 more Dwarf Neon Rainbows.

The fish are acclimating right now, looking forward to seeing them all together. I think I am going to pick up a large school of cherry barbs next week and that should do it. 

pretty excited!


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## beastoise (Apr 17, 2011)

Did you pick up the dwarf neons at Petsmart? I bought the last one from my Petsmart only to find out he was just thrown into a shipment as a filler and they wouldn't be getting anymore. Beautiful tank btw, good luck with the algae.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I did get them from petsmart. They are apparently only going to be available for a short time and it seems to vary from store to store. 

The store I initially went to said they will not be getting any more of the rainbows or the roselines for that matter, but the store on the other side of town is filled to the brim with them...go figure. 

The algae is already on the retreat, I have been spot dosing with the metricide and it has mostly all died away already. Raising the light fixture up has ceased any new growth so it looks ok. 

BUT my CO2 tank ran out yesterday, so I think I will be lights out until I can get it filled up again tomorrow, to avoid a resurgence.


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## binders (Mar 22, 2009)

Tank looks really GOOD! Sorry about your CO2 being empty. I recently developed a leak in my CO2 and by the time I realized I had a problem and was able to solve it my tank was a disaster. I am now getting some nice growth at the top of the bare stems so hopefully I will be able to replant. Hope you don't have to go long without.

Looks great!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I will try to get off work early today and fill up the CO2 tank. Shouldn't be that big a deal, I have had the lights on about 2 hours for the last couple days until I could get it filled. I have been dosing alot of metricide to deal with the Algae so I think that the plants will be fine. 

I was going to leave them off completely until I filled up but I missed my fish haha

I am glad you recovered from your CO2 mishap, its always nice when you can salvage the plants.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I adore this tank, BBA and all. That stump is just out of this world fantastic. I am coming to you if I ever need a hard scape again.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

I love this tank. The use of rocks and plants on it are awesome! I won't rest until I find a piece of driftwood like that - lol


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks guys! Sadly my driftwood collecting days are over for now... South Bend doesn't offer much in terms of driftwood haha. 

I miss Colorado and I miss my driftwood collecting hikes with the dogs.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

bahh... I just found a dwarf rainbow on the carpet. Looks like he jumped ship, he was the most skittish of the new recruits so it is not surprising. I think I caught him soon after he jumped because he still was flopping a bit, in shock, I just scooped him up and threw him back in the tank still covered in doghair... but he didn't make it. 

Poor little guy


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Sorry to hear on the Rainbows and the loss of collecting trips.


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## aretreesfree (Jun 19, 2011)

Seriously awesome tank. I'll be watching.


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## Alastair-T (Jun 5, 2011)

Wow I love your tank. I'd be over the moon if I can do something half as good. I'd be sat staring at it for hours. Very nice


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

I agree - I'd love to try and emulate this in one of my 55s, or the 40b. The way the tree trunk is tipped at an angle with the rocks, creating a cave - really, really fantastic!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks AT! I do stare at my tank for hours, it is way better than any television show I can think of. My wife thinks I am crazy, but atleast my daughter joins in with me haha. 

dh - I think a 40B would be great for this kind of scape, the added depth to height ratio would make for some very interesting variations. I have to admit, I LOVE the cave opening between the stump and my rockpile. It is so cool watching the stream of roselines zooming out from the cave. The Krib's are occupying the various nooks and krannys in the rock pile and they tend to freak out abit when this happens though haha!

I think I am going to get a large group of cherry barbs (~15-20) over the weekend.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

That cave really makes the tank for me - it's mysterious.
Do cherry barbs school/shoal, or do they go about, doing their own thing individually? I almost bought cherry barbs today, but I wanted to check out their swimming habits first.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

They are not very strong shoalers, they will tend to break off into groups and spread out throughout the tank.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

Thanks, I think I'll stick to my plan of getting harlequin rasboras and rummies...


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

OK so I am procrastinating like crazy right now, don't want to work. I have been thinking about the golden rule and I wanted to see how close my tank utilized this theory. 

I was inspired by a post by Kathyy where she linked to this website.

I decided to add some of the 1/3 lines and some triangles to see where my focal points landed. 










I like that my rock pile is centered on the left side 1/3, I think I will move the large crypt over a tad to be right on the right side 1/3. I am also going move the ludwigia inclinata to the right to try to fill in the shaded triangle on the right. 

It is interesting to look at how the plants and driftwood conform to the various triangles (large and smaller). 

I need to do a trim soon, so I think I am going to do the rearrangements that i have marked plus a few others to try to compartmentalize the various plants more. Hopefully this will make it more aesthetically pleasing while not taking away from the naturalistic look.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Just did a major reorganization and the tank is a mess now haha. There is dirt all over the place, this is the MAJOR negative of a dirt tank. 

Uprooting that big crypt was a HUGE PITA but I like it now. I will take some pics when the dust settles. I ended up just compartmentalizing the plants a bit more, I now have loads of extra space for more plants!!!


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

Lol - 'fess up - you really did this just to make room for more plants...


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

haha...yes yes I did:redface:

I think its time for a new tank...


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Took a few more pics...I am having a heck of a time getting the white balance right. It either comes out too yellow or too blue...

But anyways I like the rearrangement of the plants.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

How many roselines do you have in there?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I have 6 right now, but I am thinking of adding 3 more.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

I'd say go for it!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

haha...next paycheck I will!


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Haha the only bad thing about them is their price....


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I agree, ~$16 apiece is ridiculous. I am so glad I was able to find them at petsmart for $8. 

I have wanted them for a long time but just couldn't justify the price tag.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Here is an fts, nothing big, just did a trim and I am letting the plants on the right fill in.


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## aXio (May 29, 2011)

Looking very good! All the colors work very well together and I like your plant arrangement/placement.


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

Man, that tank looks epic. It looks so good I'm willing to use my 1000th posts to tell you that.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks! I am honored to have your 1000'th post in my thread  

Congrats:thumbsup:


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

tharsis said:


> Thanks! I am honored to have your 1000'th post in my thread
> 
> Congrats:thumbsup:


Only took me 7 years. Haha.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Your tank looks awesome congrats.


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## zachary908 (Feb 12, 2011)

Very nice as always, Tharsis!


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## john90009 (Oct 21, 2011)

i was wondering what color bulbs do you have over your tank? i have t-5 to from my old saltwater setup so im trying to learn and see what other peoples lighting is. Thanks


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## Ben Belton (Dec 12, 2008)

Awesome aquascape. I like on the first page how you can see how it has progressed over time.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks guys, I am really happy with where it is right now. I have some algae but I am ok with that. I think I have become one with it ha.



john90009 said:


> i was wondering what color bulbs do you have over your tank? i have t-5 to from my old saltwater setup so im trying to learn and see what other peoples lighting is. Thanks


I am using 2x6700K, 1x10000K and 1xpink flora bulb

The odyssea fixture does not put out as much PAR as a higher end fixture so I am using 4 bulbs which allows for more mix and matching. 



Ben Belton said:


> Awesome aquascape. I like on the first page how you can see how it has progressed over time.


Thanks! I really like to refer to the progression to remind myself how far this tank has come.


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## Ben Belton (Dec 12, 2008)

tharsis said:


> Thanks! I really like to refer to the progression to remind myself how far this tank has come.


Some of these threads are many pages and hundreds of posts long. It gets old fishing through them to find what everyone is looking for which is the latest tank shot. I like it when people update the original page.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

That's a good point - updating the original page - I may try that next time. Of course it's pretty easy to just click on the last page, too...something for me to think about!


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## Ben Belton (Dec 12, 2008)

driftwoodhunter said:


> Of course it's pretty easy to just click on the last page, too...


Yeah, as long as it wasn't posted the night before and then by the time you get home from work the next day to look at it, the newest pic is buried behind 3 pages of compliments/comments.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

lol - I _dream_ of getting 3 pages of compliments - lol


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Is your tank that red looking or is it your camera settings?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I have actually been having a little trouble with my camera settings as you can see from the first page, the colors are all over the place, either it is coming out too red or too blue. I changed the settings along time ago and am now trying to get them back to normal. 

That being said, the last pic is a fairly close representation of the true colors. It is a little pinker than in reality as can be seen by the substrate, but overall the colors of the plants are pretty close. 

The blyxa really does look that rusty in person. The crypt and the various stems are very close to that color in reality as well.


I actually would love to get some input on how to get an exact representation of the colors using my camera.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

tharsis said:


> I have actually been having a little trouble with my camera settings as you can see from the first page, the colors are all over the place, either it is coming out too red or too blue. I changed the settings along time ago and am now trying to get them back to normal.
> 
> That being said, the last pic is a fairly close representation of the true colors. It is a little pinker than in reality as can be seen by the substrate, but overall the colors of the plants are pretty close.
> 
> ...


Let us know the make and model of your camera. I have my red, green and blue colors along with contrast at their highest settings. I use daylight or bright fluorescent for my white balance selection. Place the pink bulb behind one or two of the white bulbs to minimize its effect on what the camera picks up from the light.


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## TactusMortus (Jun 28, 2011)

Wow! Your most recent FTS is amazing absolutely loving your tank.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

2in10 said:


> Let us know the make and model of your camera. I have my red, green and blue colors along with contrast at their highest settings. I use daylight or bright fluorescent for my white balance selection. Place the pink bulb behind one or two of the white bulbs to minimize its effect on what the camera picks up from the light.


Thanks for the help !

It is a canon powershot...i will have to get the other details when I get home. 

I have been doing auto detection for my white balance select, aiming it at a piece of white paper. I can't remember where my pink bulb is placed in the bank but I have a feeling it is the first bulb...again i will have to check when I get home. 

As for the color and contrast, I know I have played with those alot in the past but I can't remember what I have them set at right now. 

For the other settings, I don't think these will control the color much but for good measure this is typically what i have it set to:

Fstop = 2.8
ISO = 200
shutter ~ 1/60 or 1/125 (i think)





TactusMortus said:


> Wow! Your most recent FTS is amazing absolutely loving your tank.


thanks :biggrin:


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## Rion (Dec 29, 2006)

You can always change the color balance post production in a digital darkroom program of your choosing. GIMP is free and easy to use. Correct on-board camera color settings are a tricky business to use as shooting conditions constantly change unless you are shooting the same thing repeatedly in the same light. color balance is also difficult as every monitor is slightly different when it comes to color balance even ones of the same make and model.

The tank looks wonderful by the way I am jealous of the wonderfully lush growth of all of your plants.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks for the advice and compliments  

I just downloaded gimp and was playing around with the color balance. Pretty cool that that is free, I was certainly able to change the colors but I still had difficulty making it look just like it does IRL. I will keep playing with it and post the results...


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

tharsis said:


> Thanks for the help !
> 
> It is a canon powershot...i will have to get the other details when I get home.
> 
> ...


I have a powershot SX20IS. Set your ISO to 80 and use a tripod, use a slower shutter speed like 1/25 or slower. I usually set mine to where the adjust for brightness is at about -1 2/3.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I think I need to get myself a tripod :icon_redf

Once I have one, I will try those settings and see what I end up with. 

Thanks for the tips :thumbsup:


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Some random shots of plants and fish


Bacopa Colorata




























Kribensis


















Rotala Macrandra and Alt. Reineckii









Roselines and Neon Rainbows









I am getting some hair algae recently, haven't had that in a long time. I have been pretty lazy with my ferts dosing so I am attributing it to that. I have been more occupied with my saltwater tank over the last few weeks and this tank has been a little neglected.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Great looking pics. Hard to balance the two tanks if you are doing more than just maintenance.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Yeah I have been battling algae in the saltwater tank so it has been taking up a lot of my allotted tank maintenance time. 

Not to mention the shrimp tank that I recently started, I fear I may be overextending myself. I was cycling a 2.5 gallon nano SW tank but I think I will have to take that one down.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Sounds like a lot. I have a bad case of red slime in my reef. Sort of taking care of it for a week then the planted the next.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Het Tharsis, its been awhile since ive visited your thread. I just wanted to let you know your tank is looking great! Then again, I havent ever seen a bad tank you did  Is the Bacopa colorata hard to grow?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks Chad! The Bacopa Colorata is a breeze, it is growing quite fast and increasing in color as it reaches to the light. I am actually getting much better growth out of this then the regular Bacopa.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Things have gotten a lot busier for me lately and my SW tank is taking up most of my time so I have let this tank go over the last few months, stopped dosing and monitoring CO2... With the christmas break I decided to do a huge trim and rearrange abit.

I decreased the light cycle to give me more lee way with my lax dosing etc. I still have CO2 but it is much less. I plan raising the light fixture up ~6" to increase my photoperiod back to 10 hours.

Here are a few pics:














































Hopefully this will be lower maintenance and a little more forgiving if I forget to dose.


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## bighollywood (Nov 27, 2011)

I think your tanks look awesome.


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## cujarrett (Dec 11, 2011)

Love your tank! Do you have any videos of it?


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## Janf (Jun 24, 2011)

Looks so damn healthy man!!! 
AWESOME!!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks guys  

Here is a quick video I took today actually. It is pretty over saturated but you get the idea


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Wow! This tank looks really amazing too. Made me travel on over from your shrimp tank . I can see why you have nearly an endless supply of anubias! After the dirt storm clears I wanna see a before/after picture with how much you trimmed off haha.

Wish it snowed here . It's just freezing out


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks  

I will take a pic tomorrow, amazingly it really doesn't look much different. I probably trimmed about 20 3-5 leaved anubias rhizomes and you can't even tell lol. 

I probably have a couple hundred dollars worth of anubias and it all started from a 3-4 20 leaved plants that I got off of the swap and shop! It has traveled from Indiana to Colorado and back again over the last 2 years. I love my Anubias!


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

I'm a huge fan of anubias too. They just don't grow well at all with only shrimp poop lol. I had 3 anubais petite rhizomes. They grew all of NOTHING for 3 months. Then I started to dose ferts and they finally started to grow leaves haha. 

If I had nice pieces of DW like you I'd use a lot more anubias. But since I don't I have to use stem plants fight height :\


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

yeah I love the look of anubias on driftwood. These anubias grow very rapidly for me, they are really really dense too. The biggest problem I face is the algae on the older leaves and it can be tedious to keep up with the trimming/maintenance of the shrubbery.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Were you able to determine how much SS mesh you want? I can buy that for you and swap you for your DW ?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Sounds like a deal...I will have to check out how much mesh I need when I get home. I will PM you when I get an estimate. 

We got another 5" of snow last night though so it may take a day or two to dig the wood out haha.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Wow, with that much snow they still expect you in at work? No rush on the wood! Dig out your driveway first haha. New picture on your backyard?

Over estimate on the mesh! You can always make funky shapes with it if you have extra haha. Any ideas on how you're gonna hold the moss down on top?


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## Alaizabelle (Apr 7, 2011)

Oh my goodness, your tank is amazing!! I love all the anubias!


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## seahunter (Nov 29, 2011)

Tank looks absolutely gorgeous! Love the wood!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks guys  

I was jsut doing a little organizing and tidying so i took a pic. I added the piece of fissiden covered wood on the right (taken from my shrimp tank) and I moved the crypts in the middle to my shrimp tank. 

Everything is chugging along, ran out of CO2 today though so it will be lights out for a couple days until i can fill the tank up.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I was just doing a water change and some trimming when I noticed that the water was reallly cold. I went to check the heater and I found the outer casing broken on the substrate!! WTH?? So now I need to buy a new heater... #@$%#$%!#[email protected]@#$!!!


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Dude, that sucks. I should probably get a backup. Your scape is looking fantastic as always. Youve got alot of color w/o it being too much.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks! 

I have a 100watt heater in there now to keep it warmer but yeah I think I may buy two heaters so I don't have this problem again.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

You used all the mesh in your shrimp tank?


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## doncityz (May 17, 2011)

Daym. this tank is booyakasha!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

It has been a very long time since I last updated. things have gotten super busy and I haven't had time to maintain the tank. i literally didn't touch my tank for two weeks...the sessiflora and hygro tiger were completely overtaking the tank. I must have hacked away 2 pounds worth of plants lol. I think I may get rid of those plants altogether, they are such a pain to keep up with. 

In any case, I did a major chop and I am happy with hopw things are looking, the plant groupings are looking bushier and my blyxa is finally starting to grow again. 

My wife recently got a video recorder so i took it for a spin last night and recorded my kribensis showing off for each other. Pretty cool behavior and i am glad I got it on tape.

Here is the video!


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## LetThereBeFish (Dec 7, 2011)

Nice!...No, that word doesn't fit this tank. Superincredibulastical! There we go. Always wished I could keep roselines, but my tank cant fit them.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

thanks, yeah the roselines are super fish. very active and interesting, I wish I had a larger group of them. 

the kribs are my favorite though. I love absolutely love their behavior and their coloring. Their little pink bellies are awesome.


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## Cason (Mar 4, 2012)

Oh my... The 10-30 shot just leaves me in awe!! Very well done! I hope my tank looks this good! Plantbrain is going to be hooking me up with some driftwood and I am super excited! I love how the moss is growing on parts of it. Wait... who am I kidding? I love this WHOLE tank! Great job!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Its been awhile, I added the contents of my now retired 10gallon tank to this one, so it is a little crowded in here! 

I also ran out of CO2 about a month ago and have neglected to have it filled up, partly out of laziness and the rest out of lack of time...but mostly out of laziness. I raised the lights up and reduced the photoperiod to compensate.

As a result though, I have been getting abit of algae and some of my plants are starting to look ragged. The alt. Reineckki especially is looking pretty bad, but i was never really able to get it to look good anyways so no big loss. 

Here are some FTS and random pics.


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

Amazing.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

What happened to the moss rolling hills?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

They are in there, it is harder to see them in this tank, they sort of blend in. But you can see abit of the SS mesh under the anubias bush on the left in the last pic. Also directly to the right of the stones beneath the same bush. I also have a couple in front of the Blyxa on the right side of the tank. 

I kinda just stuffed them into the substrate with little thought about placement. I will take some close ups of them tomorrow.


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Little wild but I like it that way! You have some really nice stuff going on with plant color and textures of plants.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

tharsis said:


> They are in there, it is harder to see them in this tank, they sort of blend in. But you can see abit of the SS mesh under the anubias bush on the left in the last pic. Also directly to the right of the stones beneath the same bush. I also have a couple in front of the Blyxa on the right side of the tank.
> 
> I kinda just stuffed them into the substrate with little thought about placement. I will take some close ups of them tomorrow.


Oh yea I see them now. Not as noticeable when not bunched up together


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Very nice my friend, looks like a rain forest or tropical island. Fish complement it well


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## Hyzer (Mar 9, 2010)

tharsis said:


>


Beautiful tank and pictures tharsis. I really like this tank and your choice of fish.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

*Winsdlc:* Thanks! I really like the wild look as well, I find the ultra manicured tanks beautiful but a little dull for my liking. I prefer a little wildness to add some mystery. I have really been trying to get contrast with textures so thank you for noticing!! 

*diwu13:* yeah they certainly don't have the same impact when they are spaced out, I may rework a part of the tank so that i can group them all together again. i need like another 4" of foreground in this tank...time to upgrade lol. 

*
kwheeler91 and Hyzer:* Thanks  These fish have brought me a lot of enjoyment, I strongly recommend them to anyone. The roselines zip around the tank like torpedoes, the rainbows are constantly flashing their colors and the Kribs are always engaging in some from of territorial warfare...good times haha


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## crazydaz (Mar 18, 2007)

Love the tank Tharsis! What the foreground species on the bottom left corner....the green plants to the left of the barclaya?


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## vincenz (Jan 29, 2012)

Looks great, like a freshwater equivalent of a reef tank. Little pockets of plants here and there like corals on live rock. Having all different textures of plants helps the look. :thumbsup:


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Hyzer said:


> Beautiful tank and pictures tharsis. I really like this tank and your choice of fish.


I couldn't agree more, congrats and well done


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

crazydaz said:


> Love the tank Tharsis! What the foreground species on the bottom left corner....the green plants to the left of the barclaya?


Thanks! It is actually Limnophila sp. wavy, I have been keeping it cut fairly short as I am trying to quickly propogate it. My goal is to let that area grow to about 5-6" for a nice little shrub effect. 



vincenz said:


> Looks great, like a freshwater equivalent of a reef tank. Little pockets of plants here and there like corals on live rock. Having all different textures of plants helps the look. :thumbsup:


Haha, thanks! I probably did a better job at recreating the feel of a reef tank here than I did with my actual reef tank! 



2in10 said:


> I couldn't agree more, congrats and well done


Thanks john


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Update?


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

You're moving in June right?


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Hopefully you mean tharsis, because that would be wierd if you knew details about my life


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Haha yea I meant tharsis . You're moving as well I guess?


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Yeah lol


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

kwheeler91 said:


> Update?


I just went to trim a couple plants this afternoon and then I decided to move a few things around...20 minutes later I find that I have removed all my plants and am in the midst of a total rescape...oops lol. 

So my tank is now half scaped and the plants are in a bucket. Will post pics after dinner!



diwu13 said:


> You're moving in June right?


I am moving end of june, I am really not looking forward to it. I hate packing and moving, it is probably my least favorite thing in the world. 



kwheeler91 said:


> Hopefully you mean tharsis, because that would be wierd if you knew details about my life


looks like you got an e-stalker


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Nice! Looking forwards to your rescape. Hope nothing dies from the substrate stir.

Oh I see. Any idea what you'll be doing with all your shrimp and fish during the move?


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

ooouf...I am starting to regret the spontaneous rescape!

Three hours with my hands in the tank and I am still not close to being done. I have the hardscape and anubias all done but I still have all the stems to replant. I think I am going to have a beer and then call it a night...finish it off tomorrow. 

I want to highlight the wood abit more on this go around so I hope it comes out ok. I don't have nearly as much room for stems though so we will so how it works out. 

I plan on moving the plants and fish in the move. I have done it several times now so I have it down to a science


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Ahhh the good ol spontaneous rescape  thats how my 55 ended up the way it is, "hmmm ill just pull this out, then put this here, and..." 3 hours later you are forcing your light timer into manual override to finish what you never intended on doing in the first place 

Looking forward to some pics.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Your tank looks really nice and it's also super clean. How old is your male Kribensis, I have one that was born in my tank around 5-30-2005 and I have photos of all the fry, he now has hole in the head, his back looks arched, and he appears to be getting smaller, but he shows up for role call every morning.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

kwheeler91 said:


> Ahhh the good ol spontaneous rescape  thats how my 55 ended up the way it is, "hmmm ill just pull this out, then put this here, and..." 3 hours later you are forcing your light timer into manual override to finish what you never intended on doing in the first place
> 
> Looking forward to some pics.


lol yup pretty much how it went down. I woke up this morning and redid my rescape again, and then went to the beach with the family. So this is how it looks right now...I was going for a fallen, submerged tree, the base is on the right with the branches leading to the left of the tank. 

I am not sure how to work the rest of the plants in yet. I will tackle that tomorrow morning, tonight i have to nurse my sunburn with a couple beers. 





















150EH said:


> Your tank looks really nice and it's also super clean. How old is your male Kribensis, I have one that was born in my tank around 5-30-2005 and I have photos of all the fry, he now has hole in the head, his back looks arched, and he appears to be getting smaller, but he shows up for role call every morning.


Thanks! It looks very different now haha. The water is still loaded with dirt and sediment, I think it will take a few days of turkey basting to get rid of all the dirt from the plants. 

My group of kribs are about 7 months old, I got them all when they were juvies. I really love these guys, I would like to have a large group of them just to watch their interactions. They are feisty and entertaining!


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

LOL, a good way to take care of the sunburn. Good looking start.


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## jcgd (Feb 18, 2004)

tharsis said:


>


Wow man, that really cool. You don't see hardscapes that look that natural and unique very often. I would do all anubias because I know it would be easier, but I can't wait to see how you incorporate stems and your other plants. I find it really hard to keep stems because I just don't know how to make them look wild, organized and natural all at the same time like you do.

This is my DIY thread for wild dutch. This is a good thread to see someone who has a natural talent for planted tanks.


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Just rememer sometimes less is more my friend. Just because you have 34 species to work with doesnt mean you have to use them  my new little eclipse is one of my favorite scapes yet, and its only wood, rocks and some moss tied on the wood.

I like the new scape though, if that piece of wood was in there before i would have never known it.


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## izabella87 (Apr 21, 2012)

your plants are really magnificent


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

jcgd said:


> Wow man, that really cool. You don't see hardscapes that look that natural and unique very often. I would do all anubias because I know it would be easier, but I can't wait to see how you incorporate stems and your other plants. I find it really hard to keep stems because I just don't know how to make them look wild, organized and natural all at the same time like you do.
> 
> This is my DIY thread for wild dutch. This is a good thread to see someone who has a natural talent for planted tanks.


Thanks! I definitely think that I am going to minimize the number of stems in this go-around. Of course this scape is going to be short lived as I am moving in a month lol. 



kwheeler91 said:


> Just rememer sometimes less is more my friend. Just because you have 34 species to work with doesnt mean you have to use them  my new little eclipse is one of my favorite scapes yet, and its only wood, rocks and some moss tied on the wood.
> 
> I like the new scape though, if that piece of wood was in there before i would have never known it.


Thanks! I agree, minimalism is something that I have had trouble with in the past, I have to battle the urge for collectoritis! I think for this incarnation I am going to go with only 4-5 species of plants.

The main thick piece of wood was my stump that I started with in this tank. I trimmed a limb off yesterday and rearranged it on its side. I added some accents to the main piece to give it a more tree-like appearance. 

I am definitely wanting to highlight the wood in this scape...so this will be a good excercise in minimalism 



izabella87 said:


> your plants are really magnificent


Thanks!


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Looking good man! I love all the anubias you have haha. Really digging the fallen tree scape as well! I recently got my hands on tons of anubias from a local so I added those all to my shrimp tanks as well. It was really hard not to just throw ALL the anubias in ! 

I see some cloudiness in the water. Watch out for some ammonia spikes due to the substrate stir!


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## izabella87 (Apr 21, 2012)

All of your tank set ups were really beautiful!!


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

izabella87 said:


> All of your tank set ups were really beautiful!!


Thanks!



diwu13 said:


> Looking good man! I love all the anubias you have haha. Really digging the fallen tree scape as well! I recently got my hands on tons of anubias from a local so I added those all to my shrimp tanks as well. It was really hard not to just throw ALL the anubias in !
> 
> I see some cloudiness in the water. Watch out for some ammonia spikes due to the substrate stir!


Yeah it is amazing how many anubias I have, all from about 5-6 large plants...I am surprised to look back and see how much they have grown, this is the beauty of keeping a journal! 

I have finished my scape finally, I ended up trading most of my stems for some corals for my reef tank. I kept a few stems and I plan on letting them grow back in before the move. 

Here was the first round of anubias addition:









I then drained the tank and added MORE anubias, some java fern and mosses. I kinda like the look of this as a riparium, haha. 









And here it is after filling it again:









I think added too many anubias, I may remove the ones on the stump right in the middle, I find them abit distracting there. As it is I have tons of anubias left over that I am going to put up for sale in the SnS. 

The stems need to fill in alot as well to give it a more fuller feel but I think I am happy with it...it took forever lol, too bad I have to tear it down in a month :hihi:. The water is still pretty cloudy with dirt, I am going to have to do some turkey basting and water changes over the next couple days. I am sure my filter is total caked with soil right now.


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

Leave them all. That talk about too much is nonsense  besides that your taking it down in a month


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

tharsis said:


> And here it is after filling it again:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


reminds me of my old outdoor tank
there is no such thing as too much anubias 
just group them together in various spots
it will look natural that way


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

How are you attaching the anubias onto the wood? I'm having problems keeping mine on things already in the tank (like.. I don't want to take the entire thing down to tie the anubias onto it).


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

I just glued mine onto the wood  
or for the large bushes I just wedged the rhizome into a crevasse. 

I become enraged trying to tie these things on with either sewing string for fishing line, so I decided to do away with that altogether. I glued all the anubias in my 10 gallon shrimp tank and it was so much easier that I decided to do that again here. The downside like you said is that you either have to take the wood out or drain the tank...

Kwheeler91 used thumbtacks to attach moss to his stump which i thought was a great idea. You could probably do that with the anubias as well, just pin the rhizome between the wood and the underside of the plastic part of the pin...could be an fast easy way to attach it.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Love the last look, no need to pull the Anubias out either I think also.

Good luck with the move.


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## diwu13 (Sep 20, 2011)

Hm... great ideas on attaching it. But yea.. I'm trying to attach anubias on the way BOTTOM of my driftwood. So I can't really drain the tank. I tried plant weights (they work) but the problem is the amanos move the plant around the tank to their liking ._.


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## ophiophagus (Mar 5, 2012)

what type of glue did you use? I was think of doing the same thing in my new tank


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

2in10 said:


> Love the last look, no need to pull the Anubias out either I think also.
> 
> Good luck with the move.


Thanks John, man I am really not looking forward to the move...we haven't even been in south bend for a year and we are already on the move again. I am hoping I will be able to stay in Providence long term, and set-up a REALLY big tank haha.



diwu13 said:


> Hm... great ideas on attaching it. But yea.. I'm trying to attach anubias on the way BOTTOM of my driftwood. So I can't really drain the tank. I tried plant weights (they work) but the problem is the amanos move the plant around the tank to their liking ._.


Maybe you could use some sort of saltwater epoxy... John would be able to help with a brand, but alot of Saltwater people use putty for attaching corals underwater. You may be able to try one of those. 



ophiophagus said:


> what type of glue did you use? I was think of doing the same thing in my new tank


I just use super glue, anything with cyanoacrylate is aquarium safe. I have used it with no problems to attach moss and anubias in FW tanks as well as corals in SW tanks.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

The epoxy heats up when curing and would most likely damage the plants. I doubt it will adhere to wood well also. It is meant for metal, rack and similar surfaces.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

^bummer, that would have been great if it was a viable option. 

I don't think I am ever going to be doing another dirt tank...I play around too much with my plants and scapes and as a consequence there is always dirt either on the sand/plants or in the water column. I exposed so much dirt from the last rescape that I am still trying to get rid of it! It is clogging up my moss and getting stuck in my anubias. i have been turkey basting all of my plants everyday and I STILL have dirt floating around the tank. I have also cleaned out my filter three times since the rescape and it is totally clogged with dirt each time. Barhhhhhh!! 

/rant

other than that, the plants are filling in nicely. 

My solenoid is not working and I need to get that fixed..until then I am going manual with my CO2.


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Bummer on the basting and solenoid.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

Yeah the solenoid crapped out on me last week, I am hoping that it is just something that has clogged it. I will try to blow it out when I have some more free time.

If that doesn't work, I will probably save up a bit of cash and get a good CO2 set-up. This milwaukee regulator has served me quite well over the last couple years, but i would like to get a nicer regulator and a better needle valve.


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## WoodRiverTroutBum (Jun 15, 2012)

Read just about all of this thread and your tank is just amazing. Especially knowing all the blood sweat and tears that have been shed dealing with algae and long distance moves. It sucks that you have to move again but it is AWESOME that you will be so close. Really looking forward to what the tank looks like when you set it up again! Any ideas what you might replace the soil with, if anything? I am tempted to try flourite capped with sand.


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## tharsis (Oct 9, 2009)

So I made the move to Rhode Island, unfortunately my Penske truck had an electric failure halfway through Pensylvania so I was stranded on the side of the highway for 7 hours...

needless to say the fish casualties were 100%, my fresh and saltwater fish all gone  

I also had to leave all of my driftwood behind in Indiana, we had absolutely no space left in the moving truck and unfortunately the driftwood was sacrificed.

So that means I am going to start a brand new tank thread!

http://plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?p=1930282#post1930282

woohoo!


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