# 12 Gallon Long



## tenthe (Dec 29, 2013)

Tank: Mr. Aqua 12 Gallon Long
Lighting: Current Satellite LED+ 36 in.
Hardscape: Ryouh Stone
Substrate: ADA Amazonia Powder
Flora: HC and staurogyne repens at the moment. After I flood the tank this weekend, I'll plant blyxa japonica in the gaps behind behind the rock groups. 






























So far, the dry start has gone very smoothly. I began with a lot of HC, around 15 pots. I kept the water level below the substrate surface to avoid algae and mold. The tank was loosely covered with plastic wrap, with gaps on each end to allow for gas exchange. I also didn't mist it, I just added water from my other EI dosed tank as necessary to counter evaporation.


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## Vermino (Jun 14, 2012)

looks good, always loved the satellite freshwater LED with the 12 gallon long. fits like a glove =)


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## horsedude (Nov 10, 2012)

looks really good! I love the scape
good luck...


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## Mike00726 (May 23, 2011)

Very nicely done. Simple but perfect.


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## tenthe (Dec 29, 2013)

Added water:











The HC started pearling after a few hours of blasting CO2:










I cut a hole into the top of the stand I'm using (Ikea besta) and installed a bristled outlet cover so that I can run tubing and cords down into the cabinet. I got the idea from one of the journals in the 12 gallon long club thread and loved it.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

This looks great! I also think you've chosen really good plants for the layout and tank size.


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## zgibbs (Feb 13, 2014)

The rocks are an awesome choice. Looks great!


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## tylergvolk (Jun 17, 2012)

How's the tank doing now?


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## tenthe (Dec 29, 2013)

Not great. I'm trying to turn it around, though.

The first few weeks after flooding went pretty well.









Then, a patch of my s. repens started melting. 










Over the next month, all of the s. repens melted, but they grew back. I believe it was a delayed reaction by the plant to being submerged. The emersed leaves were very broad, while the new leaves which grew in were much narrower. 

The blyxa japonica grew like a weed. Unfortunately I dont have any pictures of it, but it started taking over a corner of the tank. I pulled it all out because it was growing too fast and too tall. 


I planted alternanthera reineckii mini on the left side, and lilaeopsis mauritiana on the right. The lilaeopsis hasn't done much of anything for a couple weeks. I'm not sure what to make of it. 










The alternanthera is doing very well.










I'm struggling ith green spot algae. It's growing on the glass, rocks and plant leaves. I'm dosing phosphate daily now to try to counter it.


My dry started HC carpet died off. That was a bummer. It got to a point where it was too far gone, so I ripped all of it up. I saved what little was still alive and am growing it emersed in a tupperware. I bought a few new pots of HC and planted them. I'm going to try and grow the new HC, then supplement with my trimmings once they've rooted.

I think that low flow was what killed the carpet. I've added a powerhead on the far side of the tank and it's greatly increased water circulation on that side. The blyxa was also blocking the filter current quite a bit, and seemed to be outcompeting the other plants for CO2 and nutrients because of its growth rate. I'm also increasing the CO2 carefully to find the most I can inject before the fish are affected.

The new HC pearls, and has kept its green color but I'm losing some of it to green spot algae. It seems to be slowly spreading, though.










So right now the main issue is the green spot algae.


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## neilshieh (Sep 6, 2010)

dry start seems pretty stupid imo. As you, I, and others have experienced, there's lots of dieoff when you go from emersed to submersed. I've had the exact same thing you described happen to me with the same plants and all. Imo if you kept it as an emergent setup it'd have looked hella nice too. just say the water is so clear you can't see it haha. 

As an iwagumi scaped tank you really should turn 2 or all of the rocks on the right to face the other direction for the contrast. All of the rocks facing the same way isn't as natural. 

you might want to try some different carpeting plants like monte glosso and monte carlo. bigger leaf size but you'll still get a nice perspective. 

otherwise great work!


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## yellabelly (Mar 24, 2014)

As an iwagumi scaped tank you really should turn 2 or all of the rocks on the right to face the other direction for the contrast. All of the rocks facing the same way isn't as natural. 

Looks great to me. ^ hasn't done enough research or doesn't see a great deal of natural landscapes. Winds change but almost always has a specific channel it travels through in forests and mtns unless your on flat desert. I dont think a desolate rock formation is what they were going for.


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## jimmytruong87 (Oct 16, 2012)

neilshieh said:


> dry start seems pretty stupid imo. As you, I, and others have experienced, there's lots of dieoff when you go from emersed to submersed. I've had the exact same thing you described happen to me with the same plants and all. Imo if you kept it as an emergent setup it'd have looked hella nice too. just say the water is so clear you can't see it haha.
> 
> As an iwagumi scaped tank you really should turn 2 or all of the rocks on the right to face the other direction for the contrast. All of the rocks facing the same way isn't as natural.
> 
> ...


 I agreed with you. 
When you started to add water, then you must run a lot of CO2 . Otherwise , HC will start to die offfn


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## tenthe (Dec 29, 2013)

The hard scape went through a few iterations. It could certainly be improved, but I think it's good enough for now. I don't want to disturb the HC by replanting while it's barely hanging on. 




jimmytruong87 said:


> I agreed with you.
> When you started to add water, then you must run a lot of CO2 . Otherwise , HC will start to die offfn


You're right. I cycled the tank for a few weeks after filling it, and during that time I just blasted the CO2 because I didn't have any fish in there. It wasn't until I turned down the CO2 to add some livestock that everything went south. I way underestimated the amount of CO2 they could tolerate.


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## MsNemoShrimp (Apr 25, 2011)

Welcome to the club!!! 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=168088


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## tenthe (Dec 29, 2013)

MsNemoShrimp said:


> Welcome to the club!!!
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=168088


Thanks!


The new HC is spreading a bit, but it's also being covered by hair algae. My alternanthera is growing very well so I started to propagate it. The microsword hasn't done anything at all. I trimmed it very short, almost down to the substrate. I'm going to give it a few more weeks, then replace it with a different species if there's no new growth.

Unfortunately, the s. repens is starting to melt again. I'm pulling any plants that show signs of melt as soon as I see them, but the melt is popping up all over.

This weekend I did some more troubleshooting. I replaced my 2232 with a 2236. I also built a modified Griggs style reactor to replace my Ista Max Mix. Finally I replaced my lily pipe with a jet outflow. There's much more circulation in the tank now, especially at the far end. I'm not sure how the new reactor compares to the Max Mix in terms of efficiency. I was pumping 10+ bps into the Max Mix to get a lime green drop checker, so hopefully the new reactor will be better.

I reduced the intensity of the light. Photoperiod is still 10 hours. I'm continuing to dose extra phosphate. I also doubled my dosing of excel. The green spot algae seems to be growing much more slowly, but hair algae has taken its place. I'm just going to keep slwoly dialing up the CO2 and hope that, combined with the increased flow will take care of it.


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