# 45p iwagumi



## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Hey everyone, this is going to be a journal of my ADA 45p. The original plan was a 60f, but nature aquarium in Santa Monica, Ca was all sold out. I contemplated the 60p, but I didn't think my IKEA dresser would hold it up. I really like the iwagumi style tank so I will be following those foot steps

Equipment:
ADA 45p
Eheim classic 2213
Clear homedepot 1/2" hose
Jardli Lily Inlet
VIV Lily outflow
Alan Le dual stage C02 regulator 
5lb C02 tank
GLA Atomic bubble counter XL, Atomic inline diffuser, industrial check valve. 
Hydor ETH 200

Hard scape:
Seiryu stone
ADA power sand special, Amazonia regular, Amazonia Powder. 
(2"front -> 4" back)










I've hit a stump with what lighting I want to go with. I would really like to go t5ho, but the 2' 2 bulb fixture I was going to originally go with for the 60p will spill over too much light? I contemplated the Twin Star 450es, but I'm not too sure if that will be a suitable light for a hi light setup? My plans are to go with dhg-belem and some other tall stem hi light plants.


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## Powerclown (Aug 17, 2014)

Hardscape looks good,a little bit to much substrate in the front( 2 inches are ok)
I would go with the Twin Star 450es,great light btw.i would like to by one for my self,but I have already 6 different led fixtures to choose from.
Cheers and good luck


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Powerclown said:


> Hardscape looks good,a little bit to much substrate in the front( 2 inches are ok)
> 
> I would go with the Twin Star 450es,great light btw.i would like to by one for my self,but I have already 6 different led fixtures to choose from.
> 
> Cheers and good luck




I just measured the front and it is at 2". Not sure why the pictures makes t look so thick? Also I was going to use my a80, but I just borrowed a apogee mq-200 par meter from a reef buddy. The results were not all too good for a high light setup. 54 par in the center and around 40 in the corners. Being that this a80 is 15w, would you think that the 22w 450es would bump me up around 80par? Trying to grow dhg belem maybe some pearl weed 


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

For Iwagumis you wanna be careful how much light you are pumping in since most of the plants are carpeting plants. Stems like pearl weed are pretty hardy and won't need tonnes of light, you A80 would be fine.


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## Nigel95 (Mar 5, 2017)

Nice rocks what livestock are you planning to add?


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Heres a time lapse of me putting together the hardscape. Hope you enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAII42BBWyg


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Finally pulled the trigger on the flora I want for the tank. Went with three cups of Cuba since I want to start off with plenty so that it will fill in quicker. The three types of rotala will ,I hope with time, create a bushy transition from green to red. We'll see how it works out. I will be incorporating stem plants in my iwagumi; I feel that a plain iwagumi scape would get boring after some time. 

Lastly, I ordered an Ada garden mat and hydor eth200 a week ago from AFA. For some reason Paypal decided to send them a eCheck? Takes 5 days to clear. Weird. 

Anywho, I am off this weekend. hoping to get my co2 all hooked up along with the heater and Plant the scape.


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Got the tank up and running today. Final piece of the puzzle hadn't come in yet, which was my ada garden mat. Ended up driving out to nature aquarium again, since they had one in stock. Didn't want to have to drain the tank once it did come, so i figured id make the hour and twenty minute drive out. 

The thickness of my soil was really bothering me. So, i deiced to tank some out. In the process some of the super sand special ended up coming up, but once i layed down some amazonia special over it. You couldn't tell. 



Tissue cultured plants from AFA came in yesterday, but due to work they had to sit in the corner of my room:/ After i got back today from Santa Monica i started planting! Front carpeting plant is HC-"Cuba". I picked up some dhg belem from nature aquarium that was also form AFA and tissue cultured, planted that infont/along the two back stones. Back right corner is HM. The back left corner is a mix of Rotala Macrandra sp. Mini butterfly, Rotala sunrise, Rotala rotundifolia green. What i am trying to accomplish with that back left corner is a slow transition form green to red. green/sunrise/red. well see how it turns out. I know i said this was going to be an iwagumi, yet I've incorporated much stem plant. I just knew i would get bored of such a plain scape. 



From there i moved on to linking all the vital pieces of equipment together. I had originally went with a GLA atomic inline diffuser. I absoluetly hated it. Made my tank look like a soda can. Im assuming its because of its small size? Decided to part ways with it. Ran over to home depot and grabbed the materials needed to build an inline reactor. Let me just say that for 20$ in material, could have been cheaper but i chose to go with a brass barbed nipple for the co2 line, it is a night and day difference. I have no bubbles in my tank what so ever. Hydor ETH200 right after the outlet, water runs into the reactor, mixes with c02, then out the lily into the tank. c02 pressure is a 30psi working and I'm running 2bps. I couldn't figure our how to mount the reactor or heater up straight. I picked up some commander strips that are rated for 10lbs. Stuck them to the back of my Ikea Malm 3 drawer dresser and they hold up strong! C02 and light are on timers(Co2 comes on at 2pm;shuts off at 10pm. Light is on at 4pm; shuts off at 12pm). Excuse the mess, still need to organize the wires. 



All in all i am very happy thus far. As expected, water is cloudy. Heres a front shot. Even with everything attached to the filter. Flow has not been affected one bit.


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

Looks like you are off to a good start!


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Happy to announce that the tank is going well. The only melting I am having is the yellow leaves on the baby tears that were already starting to melt when they came in. I was a bit skeptical about the rotala sp mini. Since it was in bad shape. Today I came home from work to find that it is perked up and starting to recolor! All other plants are perky and pearling. Water has cleared up as well. Front shots of the tank from my iPhone seven plus don't come out too well. I'll have to have a buddy come over and snap some photos. 










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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

So far the tank has been doing absolutely awesome. I'm giving credit too the rodi water I've been using. Water at its purest form has allowed me to dictate what exactly enters. So far I have been dosing nilocg iron, micro and macro liquid ferts along with his GH booster. The extra iron has been for the red plants and oh boy have they popped in color. So far I have been changing out 50% of the water everyday. I will be cutting down to every other day now. So far, I have noticed my red plants really come back to life. Rotola green, sunrise, sp mini and pearl weed have fluffed plenty. Also, have started to send out runners. Baby tears have also shown progress. A small amount of leaves have had melt back, but nothing major. Really wish I had a better camera. My drop checker with 4dkh fluid is at a lime ish yellowish color. I have no live stock, which has enabled me to crank up the c02. 

























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## Stijn Grundeman (Feb 21, 2017)

Looks gorgeous! Really like the red rotala. It ads a nice touch to the scape.


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## Nigel95 (Mar 5, 2017)

How tall is your stand? I was looking into a hydor eth 200 but seems that I have no space for it to put it vertical between eheim and lily pipes.


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## irishspy (Oct 22, 2007)

Beautiful work on the tank, and glad to see Nature Aquarium get some attention: I love that store. Is there an article discussing the CO2 reactor you built? I'm curious if that wouldn't work for my situation.


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Nigel95 said:


> How tall is your stand? I was looking into a hydor eth 200 but seems that I have no space for it to put it vertical between eheim and lily pipes.




It's an IKEA malm 3 door dresser.. not sure on how tall it is? 


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

irishspy said:


> Beautiful work on the tank, and glad to see Nature Aquarium get some attention: I love that store. Is there an article discussing the CO2 reactor you built? I'm curious if that wouldn't work for my situation.




Yes, there is plenty of discussion on them. Google rex Griggs c02 reactor. Thanks for the compliments! 


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Here's another update. It is at this point, about 8 days in, that I can tell all plants have taken off. Baby tears are sending out runners like crazy. Finally. My red rotala sp. mini has popped even more, as far as color goes. Seems like I was doubting this plant since it was pretty beat up when it arrived. sunrise rotala, pearl weed and rotola green have become very dense. Loving this tank thus far. For being high tech, it has been pretty low maintenance. Aside from the water changes, but that's what's to be expected with this particular soil. It really does pay to invest a little more in equipment. 










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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Coming along nice!

Maybe I missed it, what kind of light is that?


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

burr740 said:


> Coming along nice!
> 
> Maybe I missed it, what kind of light is that?




Thank you! Twinstar 450es


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## Powerclown (Aug 17, 2014)

Looks great, I really like the Twinstar led,are you installing a background in the future?


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Powerclown said:


> Looks great, I really like the Twinstar led,are you installing a background in the future?




No I will not, i am going to let the stem plants in the back grow tall and thick enough to cover the back. The light is great! 


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Another Update. So soon? Well I'm rather excited about this one... Today after work i was going to do a wc, but i was feeling a bit lazy. I decided it would be of less effort to test the water. The main perimeters i was concerned with were Nitrate and Ammonia. Although i did notice just a very faint amount of algae on the big rock right off to the right. That was easily corrected with a tooth brush. I am using RODI water, so i know my phosphate is very close to zero. If not zero. After testing those main perimeters i got back a reading of zero ammonia and 20ppm nitrate. Now i know this tank has only been running for nine days now, but i would like to mention that the canister filter was already established. I had biomedica from my 5g nano tank that i mixed with the new bio media on the 2213. after that the canister ran for approximately 2 weeks on that well established nano. As a result, there was some bacteria in that filter. Which in turn has speed up the cycle process of my tank. Now i also know that right around week 2 or 3 there is a chance of a swing/spike. For that reason, i will keep on testing every few days. For now i will stop water changes and keep and eye on my parameters instead.


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

You may want to start dosing phosphate after a while, your plants may get hungry.


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Opare said:


> You may want to start dosing phosphate after a while, your plants may get hungry.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Nilocg macro liquid fert do come with p04 in it. i also have some seachem p04 i can start dosing if ever notice a deficiency. from what I've heard 2ppm or less is best to avoid algae.


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Here's another update... I've ran into two small issues with this tank. One the rotala sp. mini red is not the red that was advertised on AFA. I am not blaming it on them though. From the research I have done, some say along with tom Barr, that it is a bit difficult to find a pure strain of this plant. It It is odd though because the under side of the leaves are very red almost pink, but the tops are a maroon? The blades on the plant aren't very "bladed", actually more rounded. C02 is at about 2bps. I will run a test on all my parameters later tonight. I thought that it was the shape that they arrived in. I have given them some time to mature and come back, yet they are still not the same pink? Another problem that I have come upon is that my reactor is getting air bubbles inside of it. I am blaming this on the position of my c02 Inlet nipple. This is cause a watery movement sound that does get a little annoying after a while. I might try to make another one today with the nipple moved up far more.


edit: One other thing, if you notice the left side of my baby tears are not as filled in as my right side. This i know is blamed on the fact that once the water exits the lily pipe, water hits the wall and hits the right side more than the left. I am contemplating switching over to a ceramic diffuser?











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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

I wouldn't change things too much if the plants are happy, the HC is still almost completely spread on the left side, so it's not worth switching things up and possibly upsetting the system (this in regards to going for a ceramic diffuser). Although, I would try and fix the reactor/make a new one if the sound is annoying you, an inline diffuser is also an option which won't change how CO2 is distributed in your tank very much. Inline diffusers tend to be my preferance anyway.
As for plant colour not sure which plant is the one you are refering to but dang there is something that looks pretty damn red to me. The thing is the light you are using can heavily affect the colour of the plants you see. Lights with more red wavelength in their spectrum can make red plants 'pop' and appear more red. So sometimes it is not a matter of growth but a matter of sight. Another thing is that photos can also change how the colour appears quite a bit too. Maybe give it more time and as it gets closer to the light it may get more red. The leaf shape of Rotala macrandra isn't very blade like in the stable forms of the 'mini type' as well I've read. It is more similar to what normal R. macrandra looks like. Just some food for thought there really. If you want something that is just super red and pretty reliable look at the Ludwigia sp. super red 'mini', but the leaf shape is not very sharp it's more round so IDK if you want that. May be a nice contrast in leaf shape from everything else.


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Opare said:


> I wouldn't change things too much if the plants are happy, the HC is still almost completely spread on the left side, so it's not worth switching things up and possibly upsetting the system (this in regards to going for a ceramic diffuser). Although, I would try and fix the reactor/make a new one if the sound is annoying you, an inline diffuser is also an option which won't change how CO2 is distributed in your tank very much. Inline diffusers tend to be my preferance anyway.
> As for plant colour not sure which plant is the one you are refering to but dang there is something that looks pretty damn red to me. The thing is the light you are using can heavily affect the colour of the plants you see. Lights with more red wavelength in their spectrum can make red plants 'pop' and appear more red. So sometimes it is not a matter of growth but a matter of sight. Another thing is that photos can also change how the colour appears quite a bit too. Maybe give it more time and as it gets closer to the light it may get more red. The leaf shape of Rotala macrandra isn't very blade like in the stable forms of the 'mini type' as well I've read. It is more similar to what normal R. macrandra looks like. Just some food for thought there really. If you want something that is just super red and pretty reliable look at the Ludwigia sp. super red 'mini', but the leaf shape is not very sharp it's more round so IDK if you want that. May be a nice contrast in leaf shape from everything else.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



This is the link to the plant I'm referring too. In my tank it's the only red plant(middle). I will continue to allow it to grow out! This Sunday I will trim a bit since there are some dead leaves on the hc. Also the rotala is almost covering the small rock on the left. 
https://aquaforestaquarium.com/coll...dra-sp-mini-cup-size-tall?variant=18394095361

Here is a picture of my new reactor I just built. This time I went with 2" pipe vs. the 1.5 from before. I went ahead and raised the c02 Inlet far higher than before. I am not using any bio balls since I'm being a cheap skate. If the problem continues then I will go ahead and include them inside on the next one I built. I will be reusing the nylon 1/2" inlets from the reactor I am using now on this one. I'll post and report later ! 












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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Today was a clean up day. Scrubbed all the walls, 50% wc, scrubbed rocks with a tooth brush, lightly trimmed all my plants. Also, I switched my lily pipes to right side of the tank. Hopefully the hc on left side of the tank will start filling in some more. 
Last night before trim. Installed the new reactor/moved my Lily's.









Shots taken right now after arriving from work. Came home to some pearls. 
















I went ordered a spin pipe for amazon, "Jardli", I believe is the brand. That comes in Tuesday. For only 20$. Really been wanting to try one of those out. 


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Ever since I started the tank there has been a thin layer of bio film at the top of the tank. I had been holding off on buying a surface skimmer in order to give the filter a chance to catch up. Since I had read that the development of this film is due to lack of bacterial colonization; along with other things mentioned. Any who, it wasn't until the past few days that I would come home to the top of my water filled with micro bubbles. The c02 would get stuck on the film and just hang out. Very annoying. As the ADA fan girl that I am, I wanted to buy the vuppa. I just could not get myself to fork over 160$ for a skimmer that would have to be constantly adjusted. My local Petsmart had the Eheim 350. I will admit that the skimmer does do its job VERY well. Within minutes on this small tank, film was gone and I was left with a crystal clear surface. I know that the clear top water will in turn aid in better light penetration, but the skimmer is an eye sore!!!! Not too sure if I will be keeping it. Also, the lily spin pipe I purchased arrive well. I ended up sending it back after some thought. 

























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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

Nice tank! Here's something you can try for surface skimming. You can get a nice glass surface skimming intake pipe combo which will match the glass style. Another option you have is to direct the flow of the water upwards to the surface. I simply have a "V" shaped nozzle slightly angled toward the surface of the water to provide agitation. Then during the nighttime, i run an airstone for 2 hours to break up any film that might have accumulated. Otherwise, the top of the tank is pretty clean. You could also try the Azoo skim, they make a mini surface skimmer which looks a bit better than the ehiem one. My personal opinion: The Vuppa is way overpriced and although I love some ADA products, simply buying ADA for the sake of it just seems kinda dumb.


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

Yeah gotta agree the Vuppa is a bit distracting as well eventhough it does look nice. What I did on my tank was go for a surface skimmer inlet pipe like puopg suggested, works perfectly although I don't want to influence you in spending more money hahaha.
Tank is looking good BTW.


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

puopg said:


> Nice tank! Here's something you can try for surface skimming. You can get a nice glass surface skimming intake pipe combo which will match the glass style. Another option you have is to direct the flow of the water upwards to the surface. I simply have a "V" shaped nozzle slightly angled toward the surface of the water to provide agitation. Then during the nighttime, i run an airstone for 2 hours to break up any film that might have accumulated. Otherwise, the top of the tank is pretty clean. You could also try the Azoo skim, they make a mini surface skimmer which looks a bit better than the ehiem one. My personal opinion: The Vuppa is way overpriced and although I love some ADA products, simply buying ADA for the sake of it just seems kinda dumb.




Thank you for the compliment! I did go ahead and return the skimmer. May sound silly but it just really stood out ina a bad way. I have seen those combo pipes before on amazon. Contemplated buying one, just never have pulled the trigger. One main reason why is I think they will be too big? Also I will try that whole raising my violet pipe up at night. I have seen Ada videos do that. I just get lazy haha. I have also thought about the azoo.. is it the 250? 


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

Tnalp said:


> One main reason why is I think they will be too big?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


VIV sells them in multiple sizes the one I have is a pretty good size for a 60P.




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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Opare said:


> Yeah gotta agree the Vuppa is a bit distracting as well eventhough it does look nice. What I did on my tank was go for a surface skimmer inlet pipe like puopg suggested, works perfectly although I don't want to influence you in spending more money hahaha.
> Tank is looking good BTW.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




I would rather spend 40 on that glass combo than 160 on a shiny surface skimmer haha. Especially the fact that it doesn't self adjust, I feel like it would be a nightmare here in Southern California during the summer! Thank you!! 


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## puopg (Sep 16, 2012)

Tnalp said:


> Thank you for the compliment! I did go ahead and return the skimmer. May sound silly but it just really stood out ina a bad way. I have seen those combo pipes before on amazon. Contemplated buying one, just never have pulled the trigger. One main reason why is I think they will be too big? Also I will try that whole raising my violet pipe up at night. I have seen Ada videos do that. I just get lazy haha. I have also thought about the azoo.. is it the 250?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I have the VIV lily pipe, though I have never used it yet. I can snap you a picture of it with its dimensions if those aren't listed on the product specifications. Seems pretty cool, but can't say since I havent tried it yet. One day when i setup my larger tank.

I used to run a lily pipe, but heres my issue with it. Yes it creates a vortex but it works better based on two conditions. 

1. Good rate of flow to create a strong enough vortex.
2. Proper water level. 

I tried to do the raise the filter at night, but at that point, how could I do this if I went on vacation? Also, I have my high tech tank at my office, so I'm not even there when the lights go off at night. I was tired of topping off constantly and had no desire to even touch the filter each day. Hence why I opted for directing the flow upwards. Take a look here as an example of what im talking about: 
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/12-tank-journals/1155770-office-tank-2017-a.html
As for the skimmer, yea its the 250. Its around the same size but just looks a bit nicer. Again, no skimmer would be the best though. But surface scum is even worse sometimes haha.


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## RisingSun (Jan 5, 2014)

I would give the airstone suggestion a shot first - I run one overnight and it works great. It's the least distracting method out of the three as it just requires a small air stone in the tank.


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Thanks everyone for chiming in with some options! 

I'm debating what to do as far as live stock. Mix of shrimp and fish. Shrimp only tank? Hmm.. if I go straight shrimp I would maybe do a Taiwan bee black panda. I hear tb and c02 can be tricky but I would be up to try it out. If I go with a nano fish, it would be the galaxy rasbora. I would love to have a dwarf puffer, but that would mean no shrimp. I have been making very small decreases in my c02 in order to get the tank ready for live stock. 


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

I would go for some fish because that top space of your tank would be quite empty without them. That being said I do love Black Panda shrimp but I would do them without CO2 and without fish, just too much money to risk any needless losses. A mix of shrimp and fish would be good I think. Maybe go for Crystal Black Shrimp which are basically less fully coloured Pandas, they are still really nice and much cheaper. 
Celestial Pearl Danios (Galaxy Rasboras) are really beautiful fish, and mine have been quite active and lovely but some people find them quite shy. Also, they mainly stick to the bottom-mid areas of the tank. Maybe another nano schooler like Boraras species would be really nice? I really like them too. Sundadanio species possibly, Microdevario kubotai? You have a few options, there should be a sticky about nano-fish choices. Those are my 'go-to' thoughts for nano-fish.


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Hey everyone one! 
Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been more active via Instagram. If you're interested in following me, my page is "kaquatics". Enough with the promo. All in all the tank has been going well. The only mishap thus far has been, what I've been calling, a crash. A few weeks ago i got a bad brown algae break out. Along with that my rotola green melted back almost completely. What I ended up doing was up rooting all the rotala green, trimmed the melted parts, ordered another cup from AFA tc and lastly replanted it. I also stopped dosing extra iron. Now only dosing once a week with my micros. Another thing I ordered was seachem nitrogen. I dose .5ml on a day I dose macros... once a week. I also bumped up my c02 back up to 3bps. Seems like plenty of c02 for a 45cm, but my shrimp and fish are very happy. No gasping for air. My photo period went from 8hrs to 6hrs. Of course that was reduced slowly through time along with c02 adjustments. So far this has been working well. At this point my rotala sp mini red isn't doing so hot. So I have decided to switch fertilizers. I have read good things about tropica specialized fert. I order a 125ml bottle to try it out. From what I've been reading rotala sp. mini red is a tricky plant to keep. Let me tell you, it certainly is. If the tropica fert does not do the job at bringing back my sp red. I would like to go pps dosing method/dry fert. Hc has taken over all of the foreground. I do not let it get thicker than 1" in order to prevent it from floating up. I have read instances in which people's carpets float up if t gets too thick. I also pat it down post trim.. here are some photos. 

Tank went through some neglect. Didn't trim for about two weekish? 

























After a heavy trim


















I have about 8 amano shrimp inside the tank right now and 5 celestial danios. A timid/finicky fish but gorgeous!


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Besides two small hiccups, my tank has been running smooth. One of them being, rising temp. At one point the tank was at 85! Added a small jebo fan that I got from amazon, now tank sits right around 80 degrees. Thinking about adding a second fan, but the evaporation some the one is bad as it is. The second is green hair algae. I've got it under control by doing 2 water changes a week at 40%. Stopped dosing nilocg micro and macro ferts, as ive switched over to tropica specialized fert. I'm really enjoying it thus far. I dose two pumps after every water change. Lost a fish, cannot find him in the floor nor anywhere in the tank? I'm thinking he passed and the amanos took care of him over night? He's another over grown photo. The only plants I've been trimming is the hc. 











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## irishspy (Oct 22, 2007)

Beautiful tank. 



Tnalp said:


> Lost a fish, cannot find him in the floor nor anywhere in the tank? I'm thinking he passed and the amanos took care of him over night?


That happened to me recently: a large platy was dying, figured I'd fish her corpse out when I got home. But, when I did come home, I couldn't find her. Finally found just her tail. The amanos were looking very guilty... :surprise:


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## DanPlanted (Jun 15, 2015)

Wow! Such a great looking setup. I'm just starting to plan a new tank, either a 45p or 60p, or something along that size.


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Appreciate the comment! go 60p! i wish i did


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## BBogdan (Jun 23, 2016)

Really nice carpet and loving colours in there !


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

I'm sad to say that this tank might be torn down in the next few days.. green hair algae has been taking over... 


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## BBogdan (Jun 23, 2016)

Tnalp said:


> I'm sad to say that this tank might be torn down in the next few days.. green hair algae has been taking over...
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


But what could cause this "algae invasion" ?! , is because of the heat ?!


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Well, woke up yesterday and everything started melting back. Tried a whole tank dose of hp. Didn't work out to well. Instead of putting more effort into trying to bring it back to life, I decided to pull the plug. 

Didn't want to spend money on a rescape. Luckily I already had a piece of manzanita. So, I took a sludge hammer, the stone I had and smashed it up. Used some left over Ada la plata sand and Amazonia powder from the mini m tank.

This is the Kessil A80 Tuna sun, was thinking about going with a low light setup, but I might just end up using my twin star. 











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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

With the twin star.












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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

10g brute trash can with a spout. RODI storage. Ordered the RO Buddie with DI attachment. Plants for the new scape should arrive today or tomorrow. 













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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Buceplant was nice enough to provide the plants for this scape. Flora in this tank: Eleocharis Párvula, Hydrocotyle Tripartita, Xmas moss, Lilaeopsis Novaezeland. All plants Tc. Excuse the Amanos as they decided to kick out some dirt. 










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## Bleuwater (Aug 5, 2017)

nice restart, twinstar is looking slick.


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Bleuwater said:


> nice restart, twinstar is looking slick.


Thank you! Twin start makes a nice light. 



Also, not sure if any one will notice. I turned the tank around because i used one of those magnet two little fish algae snappers. Well, there was a small sand particles in-between the mesh and when i went to go scrub i hear.....EEEERRRRRRKKKKKKKKK.... the sand grain left a big scratch on the FACE OF THE TANK. so now the face is the neck background.


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## Tnalp (Mar 25, 2017)

Added Ludwigia super red and Ludwigia Arcuata. Tc from AFA. 



















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