# Mystical Mountains Journal



## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Hi everyone!

So recently I had ordered my custom tank through Concept Aquariums and picked it up through King Ed Pets, very happy with it, in hindsight should have made it 40" long instead of 36" long for a even more panaromic aquascape. 









36" x 13" x 14.5" 









Originally I wanted to put my bonzai wood but now I'm not too sure. Also got finnex planted+ 24/7 light. 









Sleek!









The controls









The structure on the right is going to be my waterfall. For the left side I was originally going to either get manten/sansui/koke rock but it's sooo crazy expensive that I gave up those type of rocks. 

Then I went to a landscaping supply warehouse on marine way and got these two big rocks instead, they were labelled San Juan pond rock, total weight of these two rocks was 25lbs @ 16 cents per lb, plus tax = $4.48 only! ! Cheapest stones I have ever bought, not counting the ones I got from mother nature  Compared to manten rock though, of the same weight will be like $200+ !

A little concerned about the weight of the rocks but I think should be okay, what do you guys think? Is the weight too much for the tank to be unsafe? 

























This is my hardscape so far, I'm trying to make a mountain scenery that I saw when travelling in taiwan, possibly a pathway, a waterfall. Don't know if I should still put the bonzai tree.

Suggestions and comments welcomed!


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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

This is gonna be sweet, I love those rocks. Are you gonna do all moss? or low growing plants? It would look great if you did.

Don't worry about the weight. I think you'll be fine so long as you use the eggcrate and have everything stable.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Mikeygmzmg said:


> This is gonna be sweet, I love those rocks. Are you gonna do all moss? or low growing plants? It would look great if you did.
> 
> Don't worry about the weight. I think you'll be fine so long as you use the eggcrate and have everything stable.


Thanks! Yes low growing plants for sure, maybe UG or monte carlo for the front. 

Okay that's good to know, I was a little concerned with the weight 

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## mot (Sep 17, 2011)

I have never had problems with a lot of rock. I always do the same as you with the eggcrate or foam to eliminate any pressure points on the bottom glass. I currently have 400 pounds of rock in my 120p all resting on eggcrate. Just make sure your eggcrate isn't pushed up against the front glass that way it will not be visible when you add substrate.

Are you going to do a sandfall?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

400lbs?!!! That's a crazy amount! Okay I'm not going to be worried about my rocks then 

Yup a sandfall and also a pathway. 



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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2015.11.21

I've done quite a lot this weekend, decided to cut off part of the structure to make it look more natural instead of a square edged mountain. Had to get some acrylic paint to patch up the whites. 









Then I siliconed the painted structure to the glass so that it won't float up and started to fill some substrate to make a slope on the left side behind the rocks.









Added some yamana stones that I got for pretty cheap, just needed a few anyway, to join the mountain to make it look more natural.









Then I proceeded to make my path, I went to Michael's crafts hunting for supplies I could make a path with, I needed it to be maleable yet hard enough to keep the two kinds of substrate from mixing. 

Found some soft clear plastic but it was way too soft for my liking, plus it couldn't make a nice curve. Hard plastic won't work either so I didn't get that either. My wife then suggested why not polymer clay? It is non toxic, maleable when kneeded, and after baking will become hard. Thanks wifey, that was a great suggestion! Even had 50% off coupon!









After lots of kneeding and folding, I rolled it out and cut to size I wanted. 









Then flattening and shaping the path I wanted, as the path goes to the back it gets progressively higher as well. 









As I was shaping the black polymer clay, and taking it out of the tank, this was tricky, because it was soft and long, it just de-shaped and no longer the shape I wanted it to be, so I had to trace the path on parchment paper and then take the clay out and follow the tracing on the patchment paper, this took me quite some time. 









And ready to bake! 275 degrees Farenheit for 20 minutes and let cool. As it cools it hardens. It holds very well and I'm very satisfied with how sturdy it is. 
Beige sand added, complimentary from Fuguman, thanks! 









ADA ammonia substrate added









View from sofa, usually I'll sit here most of the time









Should I add the bonzai tree? It seems rather large for the mountains, or maybe I should push it down the substrate to make it look smaller? 









One main concern I have now is when water is filled the ADA soil tends to leach out black water, before putting the substrate in I've already washed the substrate a few times partly to take away the black water and partly to remove some ammonia to speed it up a little. But I think there will be still quite some black water and that might make the beige sand darker.

Thanks for looking and reading! Comments and suggestions always welcomed! 

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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

mysticalnet said:


> The structure on the right is going to be my waterfall. For the left side I was originally going to either get manten/sansui/koke rock but it's sooo crazy expensive that I gave up those type of rocks.
> 
> Then I went to a landscaping supply warehouse on marine way and got these two big rocks instead, they were labelled San Juan pond rock, total weight of these two rocks was 25lbs @ 16 cents per lb, plus tax = $4.48 only!
> 
> A little concerned about the weight of the rocks but I think should be okay, what do you guys think? Is the weight too much for the tank to be unsafe?


I think in time it will cause a problem with your stand. For the side supports are not on the edge of the tank. Also you should have more support in the middle. Perhaps you can add some support inside the cabinet. Also when you put your hand in the tank to move things around some water will get on the wood of the stand. I ruined an oak bookcase with a 10g tank on top of it with the drops of water.

Love your idea on how to separate the sand. I saved in a folder. Can't wait to see how you make you waterfall. Just wonder if the water movement will move some of the substrate. I want to know more about it. If it doesn't work check out this allusion of a waterfall.


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## jun_celis (Nov 16, 2015)

Cool setup! Just want to follow your journal...


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Hilde said:


> I think in time it will cause a problem with your stand. For the side supports are not on the edge of the tank. Also you should have more support in the middle. Perhaps you can add some support inside the cabinet. Also when you put your hand in the tank to move things around some water will get on the wood of the stand. I ruined an oak bookcase with a 10g tank on top of it with the drops of water.
> 
> Love your idea on how to separate the sand. I saved in a folder. Can't wait to see how you make you waterfall. Just wonder if the water movement will move some of the substrate. I want to know more about it. If it doesn't work check out this allusion of a waterfall.


You have a good point regarding the tank not at the edge of the stand where it is strongest. I'll go to home depot and get some pine and reinforce it inside the cabinet. 

Hmm the water going to the wood will be less of a problem for me as I always drain some water before putting hands in the tank, and put the water back after. 

Yup I'm also interested to see if water movement will move the sand, definitely some loaches like a weather loach will ruin the path, so not getting them  

Thanks for the link!

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## Aquascapejackson (Feb 25, 2011)

Shaping up nicely, Pumped to see the sandfall. Are you going to use colored sand or white for the sandfall?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aquascapejackson said:


> Shaping up nicely, Pumped to see the sandfall. Are you going to use colored sand or white for the sandfall?


White sand  though that might take awhile as I'm planning to dry start the plants and let them root first. 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2015.11.22 - checking out my finnex 24/7 planted+

At sunny setting









At moonlight setting, too bright for a moonlight in my opinion, luckily I can play with the settings and make it less bright.









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## C10H12N2O (Nov 13, 2014)

This is looking really good so far! Love how you've done the rocks. Should look awesome once you get plants in it. I saw you mentioned UG and monte carlo, any other plant ideas?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

C10H12N2O said:


> This is looking really good so far! Love how you've done the rocks. Should look awesome once you get plants in it. I saw you mentioned UG and monte carlo, any other plant ideas?


Thanks very much!  I'm not too sure yet, probably mini pellia / coral moss on the rocks. Not really sure what plants to put behind the rocks though, maybe some red colour plants that stay small? 

If you have any ideas that would be great too! 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2015.11.23:

I sprayed all the rocks with water, the left side rocks turn quite a lot darker when wet, making it more similar to the right side. 









The bonzai driftwood that I took out is currently in a bucket full of water floating, as soon as it sinks I'll be able to use it. The main concern is the tree being too big and is not proportionate to the mountains, I'll try to stick it into the substrate to make it shorter or possibly cutting it slightly to make the tree shorter. 

The river or pathway was scenery I saw in Taiwan that ran between two sets of mountains. 

There were some concerns and private messages about the tank weight and the tank not being on both the sides of the cabinet where it is strongest. So to ensure that it is strong enough and can withstand the weight so it does not cave in I went to home depot to get some wood. 

They are pine, 1" x 4" and asked the home depot guy to cut 22 1/8" lengths for me since they have free cuts when you buy wood there. 









Drilled holes into the wood, screwed the wood into the underside of the cabinet top and installed 90 degree metal brackets to further help support the weight. I think the cabinet is pretty safe now, what do you guys think? Wood and brackets altogether not even $7. Pretty cheap for safety.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

mysticalnet said:


> Update 2015.11.23:
> There were some concerns about the tank weight and the tank not being on both the sides of the cabinet where it is strongest. So to ensure that it is strong enough I went to home depot to get some wood. They are pine, 1" x 4" Drilled holes into the wood, screwed the wood into the underside of the cabinet top and installed 90 degree metal brackets to further help support the weight.


Looks secure now. Great save. Don't forget to put something under the tank so the wood or veneer does not get damaged. On the oak bookcase I had my 10g on I have an area that is black where the tank was.


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## BettaBabe (May 1, 2015)

Polymer clay? That opens up so many ideas! Tell your wife she's a genius! I'm loving your 'scape btw.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

BettaBabe said:


> Polymer clay? That opens up so many ideas! Tell your wife she's a genius! I'm loving your 'scape btw.


Yes it does, doesn't it? You can make pleco caves, different rock formations, hanging roots etc... just remember to use non toxic polymer clay, once it is baked it is all good.

Haha okay I'll tell her that  Thanks! I'm glad you like it. 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Hilde said:


> Looks secure now. Great save. Don't forget to put something under the tank so the wood or veneer does not get damaged. On the oak bookcase I had my 10g on I have an area that is black where the tank was.


I think it is too late now, It's pretty heavy and I can't really move it anymore. I'm thinking of looking for some clear spray-on water proofing for the wood (if such thing exist) and that might help. 

Also forgot to mention, the middle of the cabinet where the doors meet there is actually a middle piece of wood that is 1.5" thick, and in the center, underneath the cabinet there's a thick metal support too. 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

e D said:


> Dope, I always wanted to do a sandfall. You have any pics on how you made the rock for the fall? Is that styrofoam?


Nope unfortunately, because I got it from Hong Kong. Yup styrofoam. 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

e D said:


> Ohhh nice, did you get it from the fish street in Mongkok? That place is awesome, every time I come back from there I get inspiration for new tanks. Theres one store thats big on aquascaping, they have a huge tank toward the front with 2 large sandfalls. So you bought it like that? Do you have any additional pictures of the styrofoam rock from up top or the back? I want to see if they made it hollow for the airline tubing or if theres a collection tray at the bottom for the sand. Trying to get a better idea of how they did it. Cant wait to see how your tank turns out, props


Hello fellow Hong Kong friend, haha you found my source! That is actually my favourite fish store (the one with the two sand falls) in mongkok and the owner is very friendly, he is an older gentleman; the last time I was back we chatted for hours! On the other hand, a few shops away from his shop, towards the MTR there's also another shop that has sand falls and lots of shrimps, that shop is really arrogant and they don't really care about customers. So I always go to the shop with the two sand falls. 

With regards to my sandfall, I cut some parts off and painted over the cut parts. I'll see if I can take some pictures of the workings of it later and show you. 

There are sooooo many fish stores on that street in Hong Kong it's amazing. I went to Taiwan too but didn't get to visit the fish street in Taipei yet.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2015.11.26

Today I added vertical supports!










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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Okay my wood in my bucket full of water finally sunk after three weeks. 

Dilemma, tree or no tree? Is the tree too big? 

If tree, which positioning?

Pos.1 left








Mid








Right









Pos.2 left








Mid








Right









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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2015.11.27:

Decided to try out the tree and see how it goes, since when sitting down it doesn't look super big and perspective wise, a tree in front usually looks bigger and rhe background is distant. The tree also connects the two sides that is separated by the "river".



















Also started some plants and let them grow emersed, Utricularia graminifolia, mini pellia/coral moss and alterneathera reineckii mini for now. 










Let me know what you guys think.

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

I can't figure out what plant(s) to put behind the mountains in the left. Currently the lower portion of the slope has done alterneathera reineckii mini but nothing on the upper slope. Any ideas you guys? 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2015.12.02:

The alterneathera reineckii mini and utricularia graminifolia are growing pretty well emersed, the mini pellia or some people call it coral moss, is growing rather slow except for the one just next to the rocks close to the tree.


















I also stuck one more sheet of the mosaic transparent self adhesive foil (from walmart) on the already existing sheet I stuck when I first started, on the back glass. Much better now, can barely see any wires from the front. 









Full view of the wall, this is on the right side of our living room. Just installed those floating shelves from IKEA (wife's favourite store) on the weekend, air plants up top, and our treasured teapots on the lower shelf. 








I actually also installed curtain rails and curtains replacing the blinds, but will show updated photo next time. 

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## dasit88 (Mar 13, 2015)

I like the tank a lot, but don't build a sandfall. It may increase the chances of your sand mixing together, and it looks very unnatural imo


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

dasit88 said:


> I like the tank a lot, but don't build a sandfall. It may increase the chances of your sand mixing together, and it looks very unnatural imo


It's too late lol it's already built, but I guess it could be switched off sometimes. I too am slightly worried that the sandfall will be a distraction. 

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## fishophile (Feb 6, 2012)

The tree looks great! You're right it does tie the sides together as well it fits perfectly in front what without the tree seemed to be too big of a background. Sure the sand might mix, I'd just say try to keep the current moving side to side low and risk it. The sandfall might just look amazing and it is really nice to see something like it used in planted tanks. We are bad at becoming imaginative besides natural landscapes. I subscribed.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

fishophile said:


> The tree looks great! You're right it does tie the sides together as well it fits perfectly in front what without the tree seemed to be too big of a background. Sure the sand might mix, I'd just say try to keep the current moving side to side low and risk it. The sandfall might just look amazing and it is really nice to see something like it used in planted tanks. We are bad at becoming imaginative besides natural landscapes. I subscribed.


Thanks for your kind comments and subscribing! I hope the sandfall will be okay and not too bad with mixing as well. This is my first time trying this kind of aquascape, thanks for the encouragement! 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2015.12.05: 

My bonzai tree wood is growing some fungus, it's quite usual and will go away, especially if there's a pleco but right now the whole tank is emersed so I decided to let mr.bonzai go into the hot tub for a bit:










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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2015.12.13

So my glass lid finally arrived after like 1.5 months since there was a miscommunication but now it's all good!

Went to Canadian tires to get some miracle grow plant fertilizer since I'm dry starting the aquarium, then the plants especially the UG will hopefully root and not float when I fill up the water. 










Misted the plants with the miracle grow diluted mix and saran wrapped the top where there's no glass. Green house effect. Grow plants, grow! 









As our air composition has only 0.039% CO2, I decided to help the plants a little, by injecting CO2, at 1-2 bubbles per second. Hopefully this will slowly saturate the saran wrapped tank with CO2 to accerelate plant growth. 









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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2015.12.16:

Ebay bought LED for back lighting.

Today my waterproof LED strip arrived in the mail from ebay Hong Kong; should have got it when I was there few months back visiting relatives. $9.50 includes 1 meter of LEDs (60 of 1amp), 44 key remote, the RGB control box, power adapter, packaging, and shipping was free!  very affordable. 









Note to all ebay sellers out there if you're reading, please please print the instructions sheet on a bigger piece of paper like an A4 or letter sized, not a 2" × 3" paper with a font size of 4.... I actually needed to take this picture so that I can zoom in on my phone to read it! 









1 meter has 60 LEDs, every two inches there are 3 LEDs, and you can cut every three if need to. 









The remote:









Initial try:









Then I tried to change colour with the remote but it didn't work, battery not included... so I had to go out in the cold and get a CR2025 - 3 volt battery - $5.39. 

I don't understand how can a battery be $5.39 in Canada while the whole LED set I got from hong kong ebay is only $9.50.......including free shipping. Things in North America is way too expensive!









Did I mention to print the instruction sheet bigger? It's like watch battery size!! My eyes!! 

Colour change success, hurray!









More updates to come, need to rest my eyes now 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Another update, LED back lighting is now in place. I stuck it to the back of the aquarium with clips that was left over from some IKEA furniture. 

















A short video with some colour changes:
http://youtu.be/n5UgBzX4YK8

Also tried blue sky colour, sorry about the awkward tube, I'm pumping CO2 1bps to aid in dry start plant growth. 









Comments always welcomed! [emoji1]


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## Mitashade (Jan 8, 2015)

Love the neatness of this layout. It's got this very high art style to it. Can't wait to see it flooded.


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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

I like the cool colors! Would those plastic holders melt if the LEDs got too hot?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Mitashade said:


> Love the neatness of this layout. It's got this very high art style to it. Can't wait to see it flooded.


Thanks!  Just waiting for the plants to root properly first, might take awhile. 


bereninga said:


> I like the cool colors! Would those plastic holders melt if the LEDs got too hot?


Good question! I hope not! I'll give it a try and see, if they start to get too hot I'll have to switch the plastic holders with silicon ones. 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

bereninga said:


> I like the cool colors! Would those plastic holders melt if the LEDs got too hot?


I tested the leds on the holders for 2 days, leds on 24/7 just to test out, was fine, not even slightly hot, seems like it will be good. 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Merry Christmas!! 









UG is growing but really slowly....









Alterneathera reineckii mini is growing pretty fast though









Coral moss / mini pellia established and growing good









Have a wonderful Christmas holiday and hope you guys get good boxing day deals!! 

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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Where did you buy all your ug from?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

AquaAurora said:


> Where did you buy all your ug from?


I'm in Vancouver Canada and I got it from Roger's aquatics. J&L Aquatics has it too.

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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

mysticalnet said:


> I'm in Vancouver Canada and I got it from Roger's aquatics. J&L Aquatics has it too.
> 
> Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk


Ah darn, I over looked you location.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

mysticalnet said:


> Merry Christmas!!


I really like this arrangement.
What is going on that bonsai looking tree?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Maryland Guppy said:


> I really like this arrangement.
> What is going on that bonsai looking tree?


Thanks! I'm glad you like it. I'm going to put some moss maybr fissidens or weeping moss on the tree when I fill up the tank. 

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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

mysticalnet said:


> I tested the leds on the holders for 2 days, leds on 24/7 just to test out, was fine, not even slightly hot, seems like it will be good.
> 
> Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk



That's good news! The look is pretty cool.


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## trujillp090868 (May 12, 2013)

What are you doing for The back of the tank ?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

trujillp090868 said:


> What are you doing for The back of the tank ?


You mean the blue colour? The colours are customizable using a waterproof LED light strip bought on e-bay


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## trujillp090868 (May 12, 2013)

The Glass ? You covering with anything?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

trujillp090868 said:


> The Glass ? You covering with anything?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yes. Covered with two layers of clear mosaic window film.

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.01.04

Happy New Year everyone! And the best of health!

Today I finally received my ebay package, I'm still waiting for my CO2 reactor though. Ebay is my favourite place to go to get aquarium stuff, cheaper than most local fish stores and on many occasions have things that local fish stores do not have. 

My eheim quick connector, some stainless steel clamps, pipe or tubing acrylic holder and glass lily outflow.









Assembling lily pipe and acrylic holder.









More to come  stay tuned.

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.01.06

So after dinner today I had some time so I played around with my equipment arrangement, particularly my inline heater, here's some pictures:

Got the 1/2" 90 degrees barbed engineered polyalloy elbows from home depot - 95 cents each. And some stainless steel crimps. These polyalloy elbows are supposedly superior to brass fittings. Though probably won't want to use brass anyway - brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Never know if the copper will erode out and poison invertebrates or not. Better safe than sorry. 


















Also put a ball valve just in case I need to shut off the water in this region for some reason. To the right of the ball valve will be leading to the CO2 reactor which I'm still waiting for to arrive in the mail. 









Comments? 


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.01.10

So I did lots for nothing this weekend lol... I had decided to fill the tank before my CO2 from ebay arrives because I have a CO2 diffuser. I connected all the equipment and no water leak, good! 

But... As soon as I started the filter running I realized that half the UG (utricularia graminifolia) have not rooted properly yet, they uprooted themselves and floated to the top. 



















This picture was short lived. It only remained like this for a bit before some UG patches floated to the top. 









Therefore I'm back to square one, drained water, saran wrapped and will wait longer and check periodically to make sure the UG has rooted enough before I flood the tank. 









I'm disappointed that after 6.5 weeks some UG are still not rooted. Previously when I first started my tank at work I had failed UG miserably, gave up and did HC instead. Hopefully this time planting UG will be better luck!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.01.11 : 

So after a weekend's work, flooding and then draining because half my UG have not rooted yet, I've decided to go the more aggresive way, root tonic!!

I went to a hydroponic shop near my work and got Canna Rhizotonic:










---------------------------------------------------
According to the canna site it is supposed to:

CANNA RHIZOTONIC made in the Netherlands is a powerful, algae based, vegetative stimulator for roots of fast-growing plants that already have roots or root initials. RHIZOTONIC stimulates further root development, increases the plant’s resistance to disease and promotes its inner and outer strength.
RHIZOTONIC is 100% natural, and contains multiple vitamins. RHIZOTONIC influences the root environment and is the ideal supplement for the crop environment created by the grower. RHIZOTONIC has a calming effect on plants, and is ideally suited for use when shipping or re-potting plants. RHIZOTONIC will also improve plants that are unhealthy or poorly developed.

RHIZOTONIC can be used regardless of the type of medium. It is suitable for cultivation in potting soil and hydro culture. RHIZOTONIC is often sprayed on leaves and can be used as a simple means for raising the pH level in fertilizer tanks.

Root stimulant

RHIZOTONIC adds more than 60 microbiological substances that considerably speeds up the growth of a balanced root environment. Various trace elements and vitamins such as B1&B2 have been added to RHIZOTONIC in to stimulate the plant production of hormones and root growth, thus providing better and stronger roots.

Vital plants

Good results start with a healthy plant. There are many different ways of stimulating plants aside from a healthy balance of EC levels, acidity, temperature, air and light. RHIZOTONIC does so during and in the rooting and growing phase. Another important element in RHIZOTONIC is the root-strengthening hormone Oligosaccharide. Scientifi c research has shown its beneficial effect in the creation of root cells without any negative side effects. Your plants will be certain to get beautiful, strong white roots with RHIZOTONIC.

Benefits of CANNA Rhizotonic

Aids in the immediate generation of lush, new root growth on cuttings and transplants.
When used as a seed soak prior to planting, it will speed up the germination process.
Enhances overall plant growth and chemical reactions in the plant to ensure a healthier, powerful and stronger plant.
Aids in the recovery process of any plant or cutting that has been subjected to stress in any way whatsoever.
-----------------------------------------------------
I hope it works! I need the UG to root properly, and grow into a tank like this:

https://youtu.be/xQVop_TVRKU

Oh and my CO2 reactor arrived finally, though since my aquarium is nowhere near flooding time because of the UG, I'm going to give the CO2 to my friend first, we ordered on ebay together, this is the first one that arrived so I'm expecting another of the same. Product of Taiwan.




















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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

"Algae based" scares me. But hopefully it works to help the UG! I'm surprised that it hasn't rooted after 6.5 weeks. I have zero experience with it so I don't have much advice. But wishing you the best of luck!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

bereninga said:


> "Algae based" scares me. But hopefully it works to help the UG! I'm surprised that it hasn't rooted after 6.5 weeks. I have zero experience with it so I don't have much advice. But wishing you the best of luck!


I know right? ! Hahah oh well it's a fun experiment. Worst come to worst I fail and I will try monte carlo instead, but still too early to tell  thanks for the luck ! 

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## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

Good luck! Monte Carlo isn't that bad of a backup option. It is an easier, but very beautiful carpet still in my opinion!


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## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

Looks very nice so far!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Kayen said:


> Good luck! Monte Carlo isn't that bad of a backup option. It is an easier, but very beautiful carpet still in my opinion!


Thanks! Yes it is  

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

onlycrimson said:


> Looks very nice so far!


Thank you! 

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## ebrammer252 (Jun 4, 2015)

Absolutely gorgeous tank! I'm envious of that scape, it looks amazing!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

ebrammer252 said:


> Absolutely gorgeous tank! I'm envious of that scape, it looks amazing!


Thank you for your kind words 

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## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

mysticalnet said:


> Thanks! Yes it is
> 
> Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk


Will look great either way though!
Where did you order your Max Mix from? The prices vary between it and the Ista Turbo Reactor (same idea) I find pretty wildly.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Kayen said:


> Will look great either way though!
> Where did you order your Max Mix from? The prices vary between it and the Ista Turbo Reactor (same idea) I find pretty wildly.


I hope so!  I ordered from ebay, was $20. I think the max mix is better because unlike the turbo reactor, the max mix can stand on it's own whereas the turbo has a round bottom. 

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## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

mysticalnet said:


> I hope so!  I ordered from ebay, was $20. I think the max mix is better because unlike the turbo reactor, the max mix can stand on it's own whereas the turbo has a round bottom.
> 
> Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk


Price isn't bad at all! I can get it locally for around the same. My concern was just build quality issues with the Max Mix, and I knew my reactor would be suspended anyways - so i went with the Turbo Reactor. Regardless should work well!

Forgot to mention that I also stole your idea for LED backlighting and ordered some off eBay when I saw your post a few weeks back .

Subscribed!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.01.17:

Some updates on the UG, because that's the only thing I'm waiting for before I can flood the tank. 

I've noticed that some of the UG have begun sending side shoots and spreading, merging with patches next to each other, hurray for rhizotonic!! Some are doing better than others, if you can see in the pictures below, some UG are bigger fatter plumper blades while some still remain sharp and tiny and have not sent side shoots out yet. 




























I









I think this is good progress, but slow, UG is probably one of the hardest plants I've ever encountered!


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## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

That looks pretty good to me!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.01.25:

Hello everyone! 

UG is growing well and rooting quite a little bit, however because of the saran wrap it's all fogged up so I didn't want to unwrap just to take a picture. 

Today I decided to do more with my hardware. First a picture:









As you can see, I had previously reinforced my IKEA TV cabinet (because wife loooooves IKEA) and it's relatively cheap, just need to make sure it is stable, which it is now. As you can see, plenty of space for fertilizers, fish food and other smaller equipment e.g air pump. 

The plastic rectangular container which I got at walmart is to make sure if there is any water leak from the filter directly, it'll be able to catch quite a bit of water before overflowing. Maybe I'll see if I can modify a smoke alarm to make it detect water in the container, if done correctly it will blast so loud as soon as there is water leakage and alert me. 

Okay the intake of the water is behind the mountain on the right, I had put a stainless steel mesh inside the eheim plastic mesh, just in case I decide to add a few shrimps. 









Then the water will be sucked into the canister filter on the left side of the cabinet, do what filters do - filter water and then exits the canister filter, leading to the right side of the cabinet. The water will flow through the in-line heater, then goes through the CO2 reactor. The CO2 is injected into the reactor (see black tubing).









I had fixed the in-line heater, bubble counter to the sides of the cabinet using home depot stuff, cheap, has double sided tape and I just put zip tie through and lock.









Actually all my hardware e.g canister filter, ADA CO2 system etc were all bought second hand or traded with on BC aquaria forum, the locals mostly in Vancouver, B.C. I've took about 1 year or so to slowly accumulate all these equipment. 









These are parts to be connected to my air pump and to the sand waterfall on the right. 









It's going to be a busy week at work and need to wake up extra early. I wanted to trim my work tank this week but I don't think I'll have time, it's getting overgrown though. I doubt I'll do much but I'll see what I can do with the home tank. 

Doing aquarium related stuff is very stress relieving and clears the mind!  stay tuned and have a good week ahead of you all! 


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## Beelzebubbles (Feb 14, 2014)

following along this build! I love the scape. And the aesthetic of the tank and placement. Very clean and contemporary. 

I'm not sure if this is valid, but I have heard that UG and fresh amazonia don't tend to get along. I think this plant is sensitive to the initial high ammonia. I could be wrong, I have never grown it. 

It seems like you managed to finally get it going though. Great work, looking forward to future updates! 



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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Beelzebubbles said:


> following along this build! I love the scape. And the aesthetic of the tank and placement. Very clean and contemporary.
> 
> I'm not sure if this is valid, but I have heard that UG and fresh amazonia don't tend to get along. I think this plant is sensitive to the initial high ammonia. I could be wrong, I have never grown it.
> 
> ...


Thank you for your kind comments! Hmm I hope the UG will be fine with the ADA substrate because it's too late now lol. 

Will update for sure!  

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.01.29:

So after 2.5 months I had got my tank and dry started the plants, I've finally flooded it yesterday night!









All seems fine, the plants like the UG will definitely go through some shock by me flooding the tank, some might not do so well later on but usually plants recover, I'm hoping everything goes well. I've added a hydor wave maker for better circulation, don't really want algae to proliferate at low flow areas. 

No UG patches except the one patch on the most right floated (which I suspected it will). I have now buried it back and hair pinned it to the substrate, hopefully it will root faster. 

Left side of tank









Right side









Top middle side, and in my opinion the UGs here grew the best, they have rooted greatly and spread like wild fire.









I think the middle grew the best because it's the lowest substrate vs. water level when dry starting, however more water means more algae, can you see the two blue green algae patches? I wonder if dilute H2O2 can get rid of it. 









I'm currently doing 4-5 bubbles/second for CO2, will need to gauge later today if that's sufficient. Meanwhile my lily pipe  I like it very much, almost invisible when view from front









Things yet to do:
- I've yet to determine a kind of moss for the tree.
- set up air pump etc for sand waterfall
- fill up pathway/river with more sand to hide the black trim. 
- H2O2 the two moutains on the left of the algae. 

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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

I'd get to that BGA as soon as possible. Otherwise, this setup is looking really amazing! Looks like a fairytale land.

I think some fissidens or weeping moss would look great on the tree. I'm glad that the UG finally rooted. No more floating UG patches. Hehe


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

bereninga said:


> I'd get to that BGA as soon as possible. Otherwise, this setup is looking really amazing! Looks like a fairytale land.
> 
> I think some fissidens or weeping moss would look great on the tree. I'm glad that the UG finally rooted. No more floating UG patches. Hehe


Thanks! Yup will get to it today after work!  yeah also thinking about fissiden or weeping moss. Can't decide which lol  

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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

mysticalnet said:


> Update 2016.01.29:
> 
> So after 2.5 months I had got my tank and dry started the plants, I've finally flooded it yesterday night!


Wow!! I don't how ou managed to wait 2.5 months. What an inspiration! I am going to try that in my 29g tank I am setting up. How were the plants you started with propagated by the seller?

Bump:


mysticalnet said:


> Then I proceeded to make my path, I went to Michael's crafts hunting for supplies I could make a path with.
> 
> My wife suggested polymer clay. It is non toxic, maleable when kneeded, and after baking will become hard. Thanks wifey, that was a great suggestion! Even had 50% off coupon!
> 
> Then flattening and shaping the path I wanted, as the path goes to the back it gets progressively higher.


That clay gives the path a sleek look.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Hilde said:


> Wow!! I don't how ou managed to wait 2.5 months. What an inspiration! I am going to try that in my 29g tank I am setting up. How were the plants you started with propagated by the seller?
> 
> Bump:
> That clay gives the path a sleek look.


Thanks!!! Yeah it was really hard to wait but I've tried UG before when I was setting up my work tank and I failed bad. So this time I really wanted them to root properly thus the wait. 

They were probably propogated like hydroponic plants in a green house.  

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Ohhhhh finally someone else who uses Bonsai driftwood. I have three in my tank and made a mini forest using weeping moss.

Awesome scape, reminds me of those Chinese paintings.

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Ohhhhh finally someone else who uses Bonsai driftwood. I have three in my tank and made a mini forest using weeping moss.
> 
> Awesome scape, reminds me of those Chinese paintings.
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


Thanks! Do you have a picture of your tank? Yeah it seems like bonsai wood is still relatively new or rarely used in North America. 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

This picture was taken a few weeks ago. I am yet to take an updated picture but things are growing in nicely. 

I did remove the grass at the front because it wasn't growing good. I will probably replace the sp mini with Eloecharis paruvlus or hydrocotyle sp Japan as I am having success with them.

Yeah it's a new concept. I'm in the UK and I accidentally stumbled upon it when I was think of making a forest aquascape. I ordered my small tree on the left from a site called shrimpcorner UK and the two trees on the right (medium and large) I got from an American site called Bonsaidriftwood.com 



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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> This picture was taken a few weeks ago. I am yet to take an updated picture but things are growing in nicely.
> 
> I did remove the grass at the front because it wasn't growing good. I will probably replace the sp mini with Eloecharis paruvlus as I am having success with it.
> 
> ...


Nice. I just got some weeping moss too today so I'll be working on the tree tomorrow. I think I'll keep trimming the moss on the tree because I want to be able to see more of the branches. 

I got my bonsai driftwood at Hong Kong goldfish street  best aquarium related stuff place to visit. 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Yeah i need to trim mine as well. It's difficult in my tank though because I have extra careful when I siphon the clippings or else I could suck up and entire branch.

Not to mention the moss gets everywhere. The joys of a high tech tank 😂. Though it's very rewarding 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Hahah yeah, do you switch off your filter when you trim? I find that in doing so, the trimmings float and you can net it all at the surface, this is for stem plants though. Moss might sometimes be a bit heavy and not float as well as stem trimmings.

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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Extremely cool tank. Really enjoyed seeing the build from start to finish.


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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> Hahah yeah, do you switch off your filter when you trim? I find that in doing so, the trimmings float and you can net it all at the surface, this is for stem plants though. Moss might sometimes be a bit heavy and not float as well as stem trimmings.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


I do. I switch off my wavemakers and filter. The moss settles at the bottom and I do my best to siphon all the loose bits, but sometimes I didn't siphon all of them and when I switch everything back on, they start blowing around 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> I do. I switch off my wavemakers and filter. The moss settles at the bottom and I do my best to siphon all the loose bits, but sometimes I didn't siphon all of them and when I switch everything back on, they start blowing around
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


And then they will start growing everywhere  

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

burr740 said:


> Extremely cool tank. Really enjoyed seeing the build from start to finish.


Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Not done yet though, still a few more things to do. 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> And then they will start growing everywhere
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


Exactly loool. It won't be so bad for you cause you only have one tree. I made the dumb mistake a while ago, by using excel. The plants grew, even the moss but then it got serious burns. Still recovering even till now but it's way better since then. Pressurised co2 seems to help it get along. 

Only thing to do now is trim off all the burn parts which is more labour  

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Exactly loool. It won't be so bad for you cause you only have one tree. I made the dumb mistake a while ago, by using excel. The plants grew, even the moss but then it got serious burns. Still recovering even till now but it's way better since then. Pressurised co2 seems to help it get along.
> 
> Only thing to do now is trim off all the burn parts which is more labour
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


Did you overdose? You're only supposed to put 1mL per 10 gallons. If you dose 2-3 times a week, it keeps algae away. 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Yeah i did overdose it. Never doing that again.

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.02.01:

On the weekend I went to a local aquarium store to try my luck in getting weeping moss, and I got the last one! 









Tropica plants are more expensive than any other plant supplier for sure but the good thing about it is, there is zero snails. And that's what I'm trying to achieve in the tank. 

Took out my bonsai drift wood and since new wood tend to grow fungus for a little while, I sprayed it with dilute 3% hydrogen peroxide to get rid of the fungus.









I was originally going to blend the moss and paint it together with yogurt and fertilizers onto the wood for a more uniform spread and humid start but since I've already filled my tank, that's no longer an option. Therefore I've superglued the weeping moss onto the wood instead. 









Then I added ADA la plata sand, I think there might be two types, mine is the fine particle size type. I add the la plata sand on top, capping my beige sand. La plata is heavier than my beige sand (prevent beige sand being blown away or mixing with the black ADA amazonia) and maybe less prone to algae, I guess we'll have to see with time. 

Hah made use of the tropica plastic cup, fill half cup with sand, mix with half cup water, slowly descend to place where I want to empty and empty slowly. Then sand won't go everywhere! 









UG roots grow..... grow! 









I've actually read on this site:
http://bubblesaquarium.com/images/home mid_photo/Article on UG/utricularia_graminifolia.htm
UG is really sensitve to change in environment and also when it is rooting it might prefer lower light, or at least that's how I interpreted it. 

Makes sense though, if light is so strong, the plant will want to grow more leaves, instead of concentrating on rooting, roots grow slower. Having high light the past few weeks also made my UG become whiter (burn?), and since I made my light less strong and pipetted a few mLs of rhizotonic into the water column, the plants have returned to be greener and sending out more roots. The combination of lower lighting, rhizotonic and CO2 seem to work well. 









One more photo for the day









I'll be working on my sand waterfall next! Stay tuned! ￼ 

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## davlee (Jan 6, 2016)

Very nice scape and thread. Will definitely follow...

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Ah man its looking so good. Can't wait to see the tree grow 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Thanks guys!

Took another picture with different light settings










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## stevieo (Mar 16, 2010)

looks awesome mystical! 

looking forward to your updates as well


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

stevieo said:


> looks awesome mystical!
> 
> looking forward to your updates as well


Thanks! 

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## vanish (Apr 21, 2014)

Never been a fan of scapes to look like land, but this one is pretty cool.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.02.03:

I've finally got my sand waterfall to work, but not without trial and error.

This is the cup which is part of the mountain and it catches the sand, I had to fix one of the two hard pipes here in the picture, the one on the right was way too long and sand got stuck in it as soon as the pump started.









The soft tubing was also faulty in the mountain, you can't see it and I've already painted it over with acrylic paint same colour as the mountain, but fixing that was a pain. 









The top of the mountain where the "reservoir" is, I've cut a thin piece of plastic and siliconed it to the top, preventing sand from overflowing into and out of the areas that cannot catch the sand back, basically anything that won't fall back down into the bowl. Pardon the poor silicone job.









The tubings up top that includes two check valves are connected to the fusion quiet air pump in the cabinet underneath. It is actually pretty quiet. My CO2 reactor is louder and the bubbling of water up top is also quite loud. Need to tweak this a bit, to minimize sound and just powerful enough for sand to be carried up the tubes with the air bubbles, and not too strong until sand is flying everywhere.









Finally, a short video.... notice the UG? Growing awesome! ! Key is not too bright, actually on the lower end of brightness, CO2, rhizotonic and soft water!
https://youtu.be/dQ6EXyA3gm8

Plants still need to grow, moss tree needs to fill in and the surroundings need to age, then it should look much better. 

One thing I've learnt this time, I still have lots to learn with regards to making the tank have much more depth perception and to make things seem far off. I did not succeed this time with depth. 


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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Looking good so far, will look awesome when it's complete. Though I think you should clean the cynobacteria from the mountains on the left. 

Looks a bit wierd having green mountains instead of grey

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## davlee (Jan 6, 2016)

Wow! Very neat!

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Looking good so far, will look awesome when it's complete. Though I think you should clean the cynobacteria from the mountains on the left.
> 
> Looks a bit wierd having green mountains instead of grey
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


I tried cleaning it with peroxide, some came off most didn't. I need a pleco.... I want the mountains to be grey too 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Did you scrub the rocks after putting the H202

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Did you scrub the rocks after putting the H202
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


Can't now unless I drain the tank. But good point, maybe I'll use a toothbrush 

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## andjo87 (Jan 28, 2016)

UV light in external filterpump or UV pipe as connect to the pump. May it help? I am not sure 100% 

I ve not problem because I got PPMD Haack fluid substant for plants. And UV in the pump. It works great. No bad for fishes and all. Less chems as possible  


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## andjo87 (Jan 28, 2016)

Btw.. PPMD fluid 3 x 50cl bottles and it gives 15.000 liters. Great. 


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

andjo87 said:


> Btw.. PPMD fluid 3 x 50cl bottles and it gives 15.000 liters. Great.
> 
> 
> Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk


I don't have UV sterilizer. The cyanobacteria on the left mountains are pretty much dead after my H2O2, just need to somehow scrub it out. 

What is PPMD fluid?

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## andjo87 (Jan 28, 2016)

Well. If u ve powerful pump (often better UV sterilizer in external pump) then you can scrub directly in the tank. And it kills mostly bad things during UV-filter. I never got algea problem from the start. 

PPMD Haack who is selling from Sweden. Plants love it and keep out algea off. 
PPMD Haack is nutrients for plants 3 different of bottles because it doesnt work if all mixed in one bottle but great into aqaurium. it gives weekly 10ml per 100 Liters.


Google: ppmd Haack 



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## andjo87 (Jan 28, 2016)

It is extremly cheap even that the brands. 
Ca 17 € for 3 bags and one small bottle, and you mix with 5 dl tap water, 3 x 50 cl bottles, give 15.000 Liters. Amazing good. 


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

andjo87 said:


> Well. If u ve powerful pump (often better UV sterilizer in external pump) then you can scrub directly in the tank. And it kills mostly bad things during UV-filter. I never got algea problem from the start.
> 
> PPMD Haack who is selling from Sweden. Plants love it and keep out algea off.
> PPMD Haack is nutrients for plants 3 different of bottles because it doesnt work if all mixed in one bottle but great into aqaurium. it gives weekly 10ml per 100 Liters.
> ...


Ohhhh I see now. Ppmd haack is basically like EI dosing of plants. Nothing really to do work getting rid of algae or cyanobacteria though? 

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## andjo87 (Jan 28, 2016)

It was why I said that I am not 100 % sure. I don't understand why my tank got never because PPMD and UV are using there tank, and one other tank got problem and it was without PPMD and non uv-pump...

Some strange... Hmmm


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

andjo87 said:


> It was why I said that I am not 100 % sure. I don't understand why my tank got never because PPMD and UV are using there tank, and one other tank got problem and it was without PPMD and non uv-pump...
> 
> Some strange... Hmmm
> 
> ...


It's your UV for sure 

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## TropicalAquarist (Jun 9, 2015)

WOW, your tank is so beautiful, well done! The sand waterfall looks incredible, I really like it!!!!! Can't wait for fish!


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## andjo87 (Jan 28, 2016)

Yes maybe. 


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

TropicalAquarist said:


> WOW, your tank is so beautiful, well done! The sand waterfall looks incredible, I really like it!!!!! Can't wait for fish!


Thank you very much!! 

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## TropicalAquarist (Jun 9, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> Thank you very much!!
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk



I've been following since the beginning! It really is a piece of art, the road, the tree, the waterfall and of course the plants!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

TropicalAquarist said:


> I've been following since the beginning! It really is a piece of art, the road, the tree, the waterfall and of course the plants!


Thanks for following!  I'm really glad you like my tank. I'm still learning different things. 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

You guys have any ideas on what fishes to stock the tank? 

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## TropicalAquarist (Jun 9, 2015)

Shrimp for sure! Red or orange would look great, I like Rilis.

For fish, a school of Marbled hatchetfish could be birds(they are always at the surface), and a school of ember tetras, CPDs would also look nice....

Dainty cories(C. Habrous) will contrast nice with the other fish.


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## davlee (Jan 6, 2016)

andjo87 said:


> It was why I said that I am not 100 % sure. I don't understand why my tank got never because PPMD and UV are using there tank, and one other tank got problem and it was without PPMD and non uv-pump...
> 
> Some strange... Hmmm
> 
> ...


I've got UV built in together with my canister filter and still am facing algae prob  

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.02.06:

Happy long weekend! Yesterday and today I got some fishes finally  

First of all, progress of UG is doing great, I find that not so high light with CO2 not only have much less algae, UG grows nicely and fishes come out more too. 









I've been searching for my hasborus corydoras but they are really good in hiding. So I only managed to take pictures of the other fishes I got. 

Dwarf pearl rainbows









Badis darios









Rummynose tetras









Full tank shot! Cleaned the mountains a little so it's less green now. 











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## andjo87 (Jan 28, 2016)

davlee said:


> I've got UV built in together with my canister filter and still am facing algae prob
> 
> Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk



UV:
It takes minimum 4 days, up to one week, then it begins keep out algae. You need some powerful plants which are growing faster. 

Lighting:
How much is kelvin? (Lighting's kelvin)
6500-8000 K is ideal for the mostly aquariums. 


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

davlee said:


> I've got UV built in together with my canister filter and still am facing algae prob


Where I don't see it? The rocks with green looks natural.

When I had cyanobacteria I found sprinkling aquairum salt along with excel killed it.


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## TropicalAquarist (Jun 9, 2015)

Looks great! Are you aware that the badis need live/frozen foods? They also are not competitive at all, so you need to place the food in front of their nose! I use a turkey baster to feed mine...


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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

andjo87 said:


> UV:
> It takes minimum 4 days, up to one week, then it begins keep out algae. You need some powerful plants which are growing faster.
> 
> Lighting:
> ...


Kelvin doesn't effect plant growth. It's a myth. I use 3 10000k bulbs and one plant growth bulbs and the growth is no different to 2 plant growth bulbs and 2 6400k bulbs. 

What he needs is to find a balance between co2, lighting and nutrients. However, this is very difficult for alot of people because alot of people don't use Co2 injection since plants are carbonic life forms. 

You're wasting your time with a UV steriliser if you don't find the root of the issue

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> Update 2016.02.06:
> 
> Happy long weekend! Yesterday and today I got some fishes finally
> 
> ...


Now they look like really mountains lool.

Interesting I to recently bought scarlet badis. They are very interesting to watch as the guard their territories or try to steal others.

Nice stocking 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Now they look like really mountains lool.
> 
> Interesting I to recently bought scarlet badis. They are very interesting to watch as the guard their territories or try to steal others.
> 
> ...


Yes haha it was a little too green previously. 

Yeah they are fun! Kinda similar to German blue rams. 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

I know right. Unfortunately females are almost impossible to find. I ordered six online and I think I may have two females since they are duller both still have some colour.

I was scared about feeding them but recently I have seen them with strings of poop so I know they are eating something 😂😂

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

TropicalAquarist said:


> Looks great! Are you aware that the badis need live/frozen foods? They also are not competitive at all, so you need to place the food in front of their nose! I use a turkey baster to feed mine...


Yeah they are so slow! I'm going to go get more live foods today. Interesting fish to watch. 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> Yeah they are so slow! I'm going to go get more live foods today. Interesting fish to watch.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


Why don't you culture your food like Brine shrimp or Mircoworms. 

I'm going to culture Mircoworms for a while until and then hatch some Brine shrimp. It's cheap easy and all your fish will enjoy it

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Why don't you culture your food like Brine shrimp or Mircoworms.
> 
> I'm going to culture Mircoworms for a while until and then hatch some Brine shrimp. It's cheap easy and all your fish will enjoy it
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


That's a good idea too! 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Man looking at your green carpet really make me impatient for my DHG to grow. It's soooooo slow but I have to wait. But I'm sure it will be rewarding.

What method of Co2 diffusion are you using

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Man looking at your green carpet really make me impatient for my DHG to grow. It's soooooo slow but I have to wait. But I'm sure it will be rewarding.
> 
> What method of Co2 diffusion are you using
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


Haha patience is key for aquascaping, you need to wait wait and wait! 

As for CO2 diffusion I'm using Ista max mix CO2 reactor, product of Taiwan, bought on e-bay. 



















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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.02.09 - Took a short video on the weekend:

https://youtu.be/LHI36FAlkN4

Fishes seem happy and schooling around.  

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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

dat UG carpet... nice job

Bump: wow what a surreal looking tank. the video does it justice!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

klibs said:


> dat UG carpet... nice job
> 
> Bump: wow what a surreal looking tank. the video does it justice!


Thanks! [emoji2] 

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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

Awesome video! Definitely looks surreal in that video. All that's missing are like little fairies and unicorns. Heheh Great job!


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## Doogy262 (Aug 11, 2013)

Fantastic


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

bereninga said:


> Awesome video! Definitely looks surreal in that video. All that's missing are like little fairies and unicorns. Heheh Great job!


Haha thank you!  maybe I'll find some fishes that look like fairies and unicorns!


Doogy262 said:


> Fantastic


Thanks!

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.02.16 update:

Good evening! Hope you all are having a good day. 

Originally I had put two "U" pins (from daiso, small box of it) to secure my two airline tubings for the waterfall. Those were beginning to rust. I don't mind the rusting but I didn't like the orange rust rubbing onto the mountain. Therefore I dipped two "U" pins into acrylic paint giving it a nice protective coat. 

Hung to dry and then baked at 350F for 30 minutes and let cool in oven.









Tubing re-pinned and held in place.









Got three tiny baby albino bristlenose plecos on the weekend that are approximately 1 cm. Almost blends in with the rocks. 









Weeping moss filling in









After water change today









There are actually 9 rummynose tetras, 6 dwarf pearl rainbows, 3 baby albino bristlenose plecos, 1 otocinclus, 6 badis dario but they are picture shy!

Thanks for reading! 

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## thatphotoguy (Feb 17, 2016)

That is actually seriously impressive! Good job man


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

thatphotoguy said:


> That is actually seriously impressive! Good job man


Thank you! 

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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

So much of the hard work has definitely paid off. At first I didn't like the tree addition, but it really doesn't take away from the scape and fits in well. This is a unique scape and style that, to me, is really intriguing!


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## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

Great work!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

bereninga said:


> So much of the hard work has definitely paid off. At first I didn't like the tree addition, but it really doesn't take away from the scape and fits in well. This is a unique scape and style that, to me, is really intriguing!


Thanks! Why didn't you like the tree initially? Just wondering. 


onlycrimson said:


> Great work!


Thank you! 

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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

mysticalnet said:


> Thanks! Why didn't you like the tree initially?


I thought that it was a bit big for the scape. But I think the size is pretty good and doesn't take away from it. It'll look pretty sweet once that moss grows in.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

bereninga said:


> I thought that it was a bit big for the scape. But I think the size is pretty good and doesn't take away from it. It'll look pretty sweet once that moss grows in.


I hope so too! 

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## abaker1961 (Jan 29, 2016)

Oh my, this is beautiful!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

abaker1961 said:


> Oh my, this is beautiful!


Thanks!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Anyone know what kind of algae is this? 










Going to do a water change today and maybe some trimming

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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

I had some algae similar to that. It was green slime. I got rid of it dosing with aquarium salt.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Hilde said:


> I had some algae similar to that. It was green slime. I got rid of it dosing with aquarium salt.


Hmmm okay thank you. I've never had this kind of algae before. 

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## dhsanti (Nov 15, 2013)

That looks to be black beard algae i have it too they say its from fluctuations in co2 excess nutrients and bad circulation 

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## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

It's not black beard, it's cyano bacteria of some sort. I would pull by hand as much as possible and if it keeps coming back you can treat for it.


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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Doesnt cynobacteria occur when you have poor nitrate levels 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Did water change and sucked quite some of the BGA away. Treated with erythromycin as well  will update in a few days.

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.02.24

Pictures of some fishies and bonus coral moss:

Male scarlet badis and rummynose tetra









Baby albino bristlenose pleco, approximately 1.5cm









Male dwarf pearl rainbow









Coral moss









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## Fissure (Jun 29, 2014)

Really nice looking nature-scape there. Why not throw in 20 amanos in the mix? Would make it easier with the algae issues?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Fissure said:


> Really nice looking nature-scape there. Why not throw in 20 amanos in the mix? Would make it easier with the algae issues?


Thanks! Yup, thinking about it, contemplating between amanos or siamese algae eater. 

Though because this tank is still relatively new therefore algae is slightly more than I would prefer. I'm trying to figure the balance between the light, nutrients, and CO2. Hopefully with time, it will be better, like my other tank. 

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## Fissure (Jun 29, 2014)

I am sure it will but most tanks get algae no matter how well you balance things out I would think 
Personally amanos is what I add directly to new scapes. I would think it makes it easier for plants to establish not having crap on their leaves. Totally unscientific opinion though 
They have cleaned out my 30G in a couple of days now and are now fighting small pockets of stagghorn (without success hehe).


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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

I would choose amano shrimps because their size won't ruin the illusion.

Cool scarlet badis, they are such awesome fish

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Fissure said:


> I am sure it will but most tanks get algae no matter how well you balance things out I would think
> Personally amanos is what I add directly to new scapes. I would think it makes it easier for plants to establish not having crap on their leaves. Totally unscientific opinion though
> They have cleaned out my 30G in a couple of days now and are now fighting small pockets of stagghorn (without success hehe).


Hmmm okay. I'm just worried that the amanos might shred the UG leaf blades like salad! 

Do amanos eat thread/hair algae?


Aqua Hero said:


> I would choose amano shrimps because their size won't ruin the illusion.
> 
> Cool scarlet badis, they are such awesome fish
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


Good point about the size! Yeah haha scarlet badis are awesome. They are rather picky with food though. 

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## Fissure (Jun 29, 2014)

mysticalnet said:


> Hmmm okay. I'm just worried that the amanos might shred the UG leaf blades like salad!
> 
> Do amanos eat thread/hair algae?
> 
> ...


Wouldnt worry about that. I have had some UG myself and the amanos did not destroy it (the angelfish did though) and I have a lot of big ass females around 5-6cm. I have never seen an amano eat a healthy plant. Though they are good at shredding dead or dying leaves and yes they do rip out thread and hair algea. They are not good with staghorn and BBA though.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Fissure said:


> Wouldnt worry about that. I have had some UG myself and the amanos did not destroy it (the angelfish did though) and I have a lot of big ass females around 5-6cm. I have never seen an amano eat a healthy plant. Though they are good at shredding dead or dying leaves and yes they do rip out thread and hair algea. They are not good with staghorn and BBA though.


Nice, I think that is great info and I'll get some amanos then. My wife doesn't like amano shrimps say they look scary but I'll convince her 

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## Fissure (Jun 29, 2014)

Same here but she has grown a bit fonder of them over the last 2 years


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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

I tend to feed mine microworms and baby Brine shrimp. But yeah they can be fussy eaters

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Fissure said:


> Same here but she has grown a bit fonder of them over the last 2 years


Hahah!  I hope mine will too!

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> I tend to feed mine microworms and baby Brine shrimp. But yeah they can be fussy eaters
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


I find that with microworms, bigger fish like tetras and rainbows can't really see them, so scarlet badis will get to eat more, which is good, since they are relatively slow and picky 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Here are some disgusting and sometimes a little smelly - worm cultures.

Grindal worms feeding on oatmeal, ADA amazonia substrate. 









Grindal worms can live in the aquarium for a few days until hunted down (if not immediately hunted down when put into aquarium, usually within seconds!) thus the ADA substrate so they get used to the same kind in the aquarium, just in case. Fishes go crazy for these worms.









Microworms eating oatmeal, see all that shimmering and glistening? That is not light reflection, those are all very tiny worms moving









My two main cultures and two backups









Enjoy the yucky pictures >. <

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## TropicalAquarist (Jun 9, 2015)

Looks cool! Are the grindals bigger than the microworms? 

Do the badis eat both?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

TropicalAquarist said:


> Looks cool! Are the grindals bigger than the microworms?
> 
> Do the badis eat both?


Yup grindal is bigger than micro. Microworms are usually for fry but badis eats both 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.02.26 - got two nice shots today. 



















Have a good weekend! 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.02.28

After treating my tank of cyanobacteria with erythromycin, a few water changes and trimming the UG a bit shorter, the UG has returned to being green and vibrant, some spots are still slightly brown but I would say 90% is good, yay! 










Mini pellia behind the tree on the rocks are growing great too









There's some thread algae on the weeping moss, so I bought 5 japonica shrimps to take care of it but they're all hiding. I only saw two today briefly. Alternanthera reinickii mini growing well and almost fuscia colour. Anyways, a full tank shot:









Will need another UG trim soon I guess. 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Wow things are really turning out awesome.

I hade Staghorn algae all over my weeping moss. I purged it with H202. It killed 90% of the algae but the amount of pink from the dead algae and brown from my past mistake of using excel I'm probably gonna remove all of it and start over

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

But seriously loving the tank. The UG reminds me a of windy day in the field 

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## newbieshrimpkeeper (Dec 2, 2014)

Wow those are nice darios!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

newbieshrimpkeeper said:


> Wow those are nice darios!


Thanks! I love them, they're so interesting! 


Aqua Hero said:


> Wow things are really turning out awesome.
> 
> I hade Staghorn algae all over my weeping moss. I purged it with H202. It killed 90% of the algae but the amount of pink from the dead algae and brown from my past mistake of using excel I'm probably gonna remove all of it and start over
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


If you just let it be it should regrow?


Aqua Hero said:


> But seriously loving the tank. The UG reminds me a of windy day in the field
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


Yes it reminds me of that too  maybe it's my fan that is on 24/7 is making them all swept to the right. 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Oh trust me I gave it plenty of time to just recover from the excel burns alone. After months it still hasn't recovered so I will do it over. It will give light to the carpet plants at the bottom at least 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

BucePlant said:


> Your aquascape looks very serene, I like it! Digging the Badis..


Thanks!  yes I think they're my favorite fish

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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Odd, I'd read grindals only live about an hour under water, can't recall where I read that though. I keep mine on scouring pads and feed good quality cat food, very minimal/almost no smell.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

AquaAurora said:


> Odd, I'd read grindals only live about an hour under water, can't recall where I read that though. I keep mine on scouring pads and feed good quality cat food, very minimal/almost no smell.


Really? Hmmm I'm actually not too sure myself, but they won't last for more than a minute before getting eaten anyways lol....

What are scouring pads? No smell is good!

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.03.04

Today my cheap very affordable ebay bought bubble counter finally arrived. Early last year I had also got on ebay a Wyin needle valve. My original intent was to complement the milwaukee CO2 regulator since it was very difficult to do fine adjustments only with the milwaukee alone. 










Then I got my current ADA CO2 regulator for a smashing deal so I didn't use the Wyin needle valve until now; ADA regulator by itself is not bad but definitely a lot easier to make fine adjustments with the Wyin needle valve added. 









The reason I got an ebay bubble counter is because I couldn't count properly with the crappy do!aqua one, it looks nice sure but in my opinion sucks as a bubble counter. 









My current CO2 setup, with the new ebay bubble counter and also switched the original ADA pressure resistant CO2 tubing to CO2 proof hard tubing. I can immediately see the difference in CO2 dissolution and can finally count, 3 bubbles per second! 

Thanks for looking. Comments always welcomed. 


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

mysticalnet said:


> Really? Hmmm I'm actually not too sure myself, but they won't last for more than a minute before getting eaten anyways lol....
> 
> What are scouring pads? No smell is good!
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


You use 3-4 pads in a container, put in water to over 1/2-entire bottom pad-this gives moisture for the whole culture without drowning the worms. Food is typically between 2nd and 3rd pad. TO remove worms easily for feeding you can use a small piece of glass, or, what I do-some cut out of craft mesh places over/under the food. The water needs strained off every few days (or every day). I do water changes where I stain into a cup, then add more and repeat a few times until water is pouring out clear (can get a little yellow from waste/food). Then check the cup for any escaped worms and put them back in their culture or use them to start a new one.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

AquaAurora said:


> You use 3-4 pads in a container, put in water to over 1/2-entire bottom pad-this gives moisture for the whole culture without drowning the worms. Food is typically between 2nd and 3rd pad. TO remove worms easily for feeding you can use a small piece of glass, or, what I do-some cut out of craft mesh places over/under the food. The water needs strained off every few days (or every day). I do water changes where I stain into a cup, then add more and repeat a few times until water is pouring out clear (can get a little yellow from waste/food). Then check the cup for any escaped worms and put them back in their culture or use them to start a new one.


Nice! That's a good way. I'm try that too for a new culture. 

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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

ADA co2 tubing is crap. At least the set I have. It's so flimsy.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

bereninga said:


> ADA co2 tubing is crap. At least the set I have. It's so flimsy.


Lol I'm okay with flimsy, as long as there is no leaking or lost of CO2 through the tubing. But I think you're right that's why I changed to ebay bought CO2 proof polyurethane tubing.

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## Hobbes1911 (Mar 2, 2009)

How are you making the grindal worm oatmeal?

Lovely tank btw


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Hobbes1911 said:


> How are you making the grindal worm oatmeal?
> 
> Lovely tank btw


My culture container has ADA substrate about 1cm thick, I pour hot water in a separate bowl and mix the oatmeal until it smells good. Then I pour it onto the substrate and sprinkle some yeast on it and spray water. 

Thanks! 

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## Hobbes1911 (Mar 2, 2009)

Oh just oatmeal and yeast? So like microworms but probably a little less runny?! I'll try that since I'm looking for a food that will last several days and won't mold so quickly. 



mysticalnet said:


> My culture container has ADA substrate about 1cm thick, I pour hot water in a separate bowl and mix the oatmeal until it smells good. Then I pour it onto the substrate and sprinkle some yeast on it and spray water.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Hobbes1911 said:


> Oh just oatmeal and yeast? So like microworms but probably a little less runny?! I'll try that since I'm looking for a food that will last several days and won't mold so quickly.


Yup, just like microworms but less runny, occasionally I put in algae wafer with yeast too. 

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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

I'm horribly lazy, my grindals just get various high quality fish food or cat kibble.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

AquaAurora said:


> I'm horribly lazy, my grindals just get various high quality fish food or cat kibble.


That works too! 

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## Hobbes1911 (Mar 2, 2009)

AquaAurora said:


> I'm horribly lazy, my grindals just get various high quality fish food or cat kibble.


Yea I do that too right now, but I want something that doesn't mold and doesnt require me to feed every day/two days. I'll try a oatmeal kibble algae yeast blend.


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## hachi (Jul 30, 2015)

AquaAurora said:


> You use 3-4 pads in a container, put in water to over 1/2-entire bottom pad-this gives moisture for the whole culture without drowning the worms. Food is typically between 2nd and 3rd pad. TO remove worms easily for feeding you can use a small piece of glass, or, what I do-some cut out of craft mesh places over/under the food. The water needs strained off every few days (or every day). I do water changes where I stain into a cup, then add more and repeat a few times until water is pouring out clear (can get a little yellow from waste/food). Then check the cup for any escaped worms and put them back in their culture or use them to start a new one.


Super informative! Thanks for the great write up. Where did you get your first worms from?


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

hachi said:


> Super informative! Thanks for the great write up. Where did you get your first worms from?


You're welcome ^^
Someone on here but they arrived dead (shipped with too much water-drowned), I had to wait for egg to hatch on the scourng pad they send and start culture from there (took long time to build up).


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.03.05

Full tank shot after a little bit of trimming, mostly the UG and a water change.










Hope you guys all are having a good weekend! 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Here's also a video I just took:
https://youtu.be/h16cO3ftABQ

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## onlycrimson (Sep 7, 2010)

Looking great! The UG looks very healthy! The current in there seems good.


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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Like how thick the moss has grown. 

Do you have algae in it

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Like how thick the moss has grown.
> 
> Do you have algae in it
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


The weeping moss has some hair algae on it. But yesterday I sprayed H2O2 on it so now it is almost all gone 

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## Chiplanted (Mar 9, 2016)

awesome setup. subbed


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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> The weeping moss has some hair algae on it. But yesterday I sprayed H2O2 on it so now it is almost all gone
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


Yeah i had a feeling there was algae, when I watched the video the colour of the moss was weirdly darker in some areas. Still looking nice though.

Hey I have a question for you, I recently removed all my weeping moss and other mosses from the trees and rocks because of that algae.

I know I'm gonna use weeping moss again on the trees but I don't know which new moss I should use on my lave rocks.



















I want to use a combination of two mosses from this list of mosses:
Phoenix moss 
Weeping moss 
Mini xmas moss
Mini pearl moss

Which two would you use for the rocks?

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Yeah i had a feeling there was algae, when I watched the video the colour of the moss was weirdly darker in some areas. Still looking nice though.
> 
> Hey I have a question for you, I recently removed all my weeping moss and other mosses from the trees and rocks because of that algae.
> 
> ...


Yeah the tree is a lot better now after the H2O2 treatment but the UG has some too, probably spread from the moss of the tree. I thought of a good way to remove hair algae and I'll post that soon after I reply you. 

In my opinion I think weeping moss for your tree is definitely a good choice, it makes it look like a willow tree  

As for the lava rock, mini xmas moss will look nice. What is mini pearl moss, I've never heard of that. You have a picture? Also have you considered mini pellia/ coral moss? 

Mini pellia/coral moss:









Alternatively you could just leave the rocks bare, it's nice to show some rocks like how they are in nature sometimes and plant e.g. mini pellia on the substrate. Shrimps love playing on and between mini pellia. 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.03.09:

I'm sure some of us have had hair algae at some point, no matter how good the tank is. 

Today I was manually removing the hair algae by twirling a toothbrush and noticed that small pieces of the hair algae will fly off and spread elsewhere. 

So I thought of an idea, use airline tubing tied to something heavy and trimmed the tips of my UG to remove the hair algae. The diameter of airline tubing is small, so as soon as I dipped the sucking end into the tank, capillary reaction will start and pull water out of the tank automatically. 

I find this way is much more precise, efficient and does not spread everywhere! Therefore want to share with you guys.

Picture:









Video:
https://youtu.be/jrrHAfTkhaI

Special thanks to my wife who took this video while I trimmed 


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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> Yeah the tree is a lot better now after the H2O2 treatment but the UG has some too, probably spread from the moss of the tree. I thought of a good way to remove hair algae and I'll post that soon after I reply you.
> 
> In my opinion I think weeping moss for your tree is definitely a good choice, it makes it look like a willow tree
> 
> ...


Mini pellia moss here is too expensive for the size we get. Mini pearl moss is very similar to anchor moss but is more demanding and grows slower. Hmmmm I think I will go with mini Xmas moss and phoenix moss since they can grow in shade. 

Yeah i know, some rocks will be left bare but not the bright brown ones because I hate their color


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Mini pellia moss here is too expensive for the size we get. Mini pearl moss is very similar to anchor moss but is more demanding and grows slower. Hmmmm I think I will go with mini Xmas moss and phoenix moss since they can grow in shade.
> 
> Yeah i know, some rocks will be left bare but not the bright brown ones because I hate their color
> 
> ...


Are you in London, United Kingdom or London, Ontario Canada? If Canada, when my mini pellia grows more I could possibly send you some.

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> Are you in London, United Kingdom or London, Ontario Canada? If Canada, when my mini pellia grows more I could possibly send you some.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


London

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> London
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


Which London? 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> Which London?
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


United Kingdom

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> United Kingdom
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


Too far to send. Unfortunately. 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> Too far to send. Unfortunately.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


Had a feeling 😂 it's alright. 

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

How has it been since you planted your weeping moss btw

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> How has it been since you planted your weeping moss btw
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


Not bad. I'll try to take a picture tonight and give you an update. 

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## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

I really like your scape! The only thing I'd change is the red plant, it just doesn't fit. I'd replace it with a smaller leaved plant (red or green, whichever you prefer), like Hemianthus Micranthemoids, to keep the scale of your scenery. 

Looking forward to your next update. 


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Tyrone said:


> I really like your scape! The only thing I'd change is the red plant, it just doesn't fit. I'd replace it with a smaller leaved plant (red or green, whichever you prefer), like Hemianthus Micranthemoids, to keep the scale of your scenery.
> 
> Looking forward to your next update.
> 
> ...


For both the front and back of the rocks? It actually grows small but I need to trim/train it haha

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## Tyrone (Nov 22, 2013)

Yes, both. They are the same plant, right? I just think that a smaller stem/leave plant would compliment the mountain better. Just my opinion. Other than that, it is a beautiful scape! 


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

mysticalnet said:


> For both the front and back of the rocks? It actually grows small but I need to trim/train it haha
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


Yup same plant  okay! Thanks!  I'll see if I can find some smaller plants. 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Update 2016.03.14

Over the weekend it was raining most of the time so I stayed home. Trimmed 1cm of the UG, did 45% water change and fertilization of NPK, trace metals and Fe. 

Hair algae seems to be much more under control now. On the other hand, some UG on the most left side of the tank is constantly uprooting, I think it's the alternanthera reinickii mini's roots that might be interferring with the UG roots. 



















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## Chandy (Mar 14, 2016)

Absolutely love your tank! The use of sculpey to create the path was an awesome idea, and I used it to separate my substrates as well! 

Please share your secrets at keeping the UG! I attempted with a clump and it melted within the 3 or 4 days. I'm growing it submersed.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Chandy said:


> Absolutely love your tank! The use of sculpey to create the path was an awesome idea, and I used it to separate my substrates as well!
> 
> Please share your secrets at keeping the UG! I attempted with a clump and it melted within the 3 or 4 days. I'm growing it submersed.


Thank you! Do you have a journal or picture of you tank? I've never done submerged from the start. You might want to use the same substrate and put in a shallow bowl of some sort and plant the ug emersed first then after it roots properly, transfer the whole thing into tank. 

UG is really difficult. The first time I tried it in my work tank I had planted it emersed for about one - two weeks before I filled the tank and it melted very quickly. But it did grow very nice and big before it melted. I was pretty disappointed. 

So this time for this tank at home I started UG emersed again because when bought there are no roots and I think the key is for them to root and to stay rooted. I pinned them down with toothpicks and stainless steel pins and they shouldn't be disturbed too much. 

UG takes a very long time to be properly established, and go though almost like a transplant shock. Mine took almost 3 months before it rooted nicely. I also used some hydroponic product - rhizotonic as detailed in journal here and that helped quite a lot with the plant shock. 

When UG is first planted emersed, less light is needed and not much fertilization is needed; then when established and submerged, high light and fertilization is required. 

Good luck!  

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.03.15

A video of daphnia feeding, recording a video with one hand and doing things with the other at the same time prove harder than I thought!

https://youtu.be/TBqqQ39poPg


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## stingrayness (Feb 14, 2016)

Your tank is such a huge inspiration for me and my aspiring UG carpet! I am so memorized by its beauty and harmony with the scape and the fish!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

stingrayness said:


> Your tank is such a huge inspiration for me and my aspiring UG carpet! I am so memorized by its beauty and harmony with the scape and the fish!


Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you like the tank and scape. Are you doing an UG carpet as well? You should post up your journal! 

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## stingrayness (Feb 14, 2016)

mysticalnet said:


> Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you like the tank and scape. Are you doing an UG carpet as well? You should post up your journal!
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


No, thank you! And yes I started a 12g long almost a month ago and scaped it with a UG carpet. My journal is actually on SCAPE if you want to see it! With some of your advice my UG is starting to grow in super well, but I am still fighting algae. I actually started it fully emersed and never saw any of it melt so I guess I'm lucky lol


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

stingrayness said:


> No, thank you! And yes I started a 12g long almost a month ago and scaped it with a UG carpet. My journal is actually on SCAPE if you want to see it! With some of your advice my UG is starting to grow in super well, but I am still fighting algae. I actually started it fully emersed and never saw any of it melt so I guess I'm lucky lol


Oooo I'll go check your journal out! There's not that many of us UG carpet tanks out there! Same username in SCAPE for you?

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## stingrayness (Feb 14, 2016)

Yea I know! It's my favorite carpet plant, but I've seen proffesionals even give up on it. And yes same user name but I also have a link to it in my bio


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

stingrayness said:


> Yea I know! It's my favorite carpet plant, but I've seen proffesionals even give up on it. And yes same user name but I also have a link to it in my bio


Found you  I think some thicker parts of my UG are starting to uproot a little so I'm going to trim this weekend and add some finer smaller substrate. Good luck to us on our UG!

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.03.20

Not much to update on so here's some pictures I took just few minutes ago. I did some more UG trimming and trimmed off about 1.5 to 2 cm. 

Enjoy the pictures. 

Japonica shrimp









Siamese algae eater and baby albino bristlenose pleco 









Dario and female rainbow









My favourite picture of one of my scarlet badis so far. 









Full tank shot









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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Awesome man, it's always nice to see an update on your tank lool. I just started my 2016 rescape journal on my tank. 

You should check it out

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Awesome man, it's always nice to see an update on your tank lool. I just started my 2016 rescape journal on my tank.
> 
> You should check it out
> 
> Sent from my D2303 using Tapatalk


Thanks buddy.  okay I'll go check it out now. 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Today I found out that my waterfall is actually a shrimp assassin!! 









Shrimps seem to like to crawl up the two internal tubings at night time when the waterfall is off and by day time when the waterfall starts running they have no time to crawl out and gets sucked up constantly until they tire and die.... horrible dealth...

I think only huge japonica shrimps cannot get in there. 

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## TropicalAquarist (Jun 9, 2015)

Oh no that's awful!! What are you going to do?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

TropicalAquarist said:


> Oh no that's awful!! What are you going to do?


I actually didn't do anything and no shrimps have entered the tubes anymore. I might use potato mesh bag and stick it to the tube entrance for the future.

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.04.08 - Don't really have an update so here's a video I took of some daphnia up close before they were fed to my fishes. Happy weekend!

https://youtu.be/Qo9XddAOkNE

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

Neat. So you don't use an airstones or anything like that


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Aqua Hero said:


> Neat. So you don't use an airstones or anything like that
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


What for? The daphnia?

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## Aqua Hero (May 8, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> What for? The daphnia?
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


Yep. Other do you just keep them in a jar and feed green water once in a while

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Recently I've been thinking of changing up the plants. Especially the foreground UG plant. Reasoning is because UG requires lots of work and is delicate. Also grows very fast once established. I'm also thinking of getting zebra plecos, so I need some other plant that is more robust. 

What do you guys think? Staurogyne repens? Monte carlo, dwarf hairgrass? 

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## Parahnoyd (Mar 8, 2013)

I would go with dwarf hairgrass "belem." It's about as low maintenance as you can get when it comes to carpet plants.

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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

mysticalnet said:


> Recently I've been thinking of changing up the plants. Especially the foreground UG plant. Reasoning is because UG requires lots of work and is delicate. Also grows very fast once established. I'm also thinking of getting zebra plecos, so I need some other plant that is more robust.
> 
> What do you guys think? Staurogyne repens? Monte carlo, dwarf hairgrass?
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk





Parahnoyd said:


> I would go with dwarf hairgrass "belem." It's about as low maintenance as you can get when it comes to carpet plants.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


I'd go with the above. If you're selling the UG, I'd be interested in some.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

bereninga said:


> I'd go with the above. If you're selling the UG, I'd be interested in some.


Thanks guys! Sure but I'm in canada!  

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Parahnoyd said:


> I would go with dwarf hairgrass "belem." It's about as low maintenance as you can get when it comes to carpet plants.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk


Is Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini' same as Eleocharis belem?

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## SwampGremlin (Dec 5, 2014)

Very nice looks great


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## Parahnoyd (Mar 8, 2013)

mysticalnet said:


> Is Eleocharis acicularis 'Mini' same as Eleocharis belem?
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


To be honest, I've wondered this myself. Hopefully one of the forum gods will answer this.  

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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

Yes, they're all the same:

The Origins of Eleocharis "Belem," "Japanese Hairgrass," and Eleocharis "sp. Mini" - Aquarium Plants - Barr Report

After Googling it, I couldn't find any information on its natural origins, and it looks to be classified as cultivar origin.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

bereninga said:


> Yes, they're all the same:
> 
> The Origins of Eleocharis "Belem," "Japanese Hairgrass," and Eleocharis "sp. Mini" - Aquarium Plants - Barr Report
> 
> After Googling it, I couldn't find any information on its natural origins, and it looks to be classified as cultivar origin.


Yeah I read that post too. Wasn't very conclusive though. I wish all people just refer to aquatic plants just by their scientific name (genus, species) and not their common name. It's much easier and less confusion. 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.05.02:

Upgraded my filter and added poret foam.



















My filter flow direction









Got some beautiful plecos. Enough said, pictures will do the talking.





































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## nel (Jan 23, 2016)

My favourite pleco! (only I don't own any) Beautiful little ones


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## TropicalAquarist (Jun 9, 2015)

Are those what I think they are???

Sweet!!!!!!! How many arms and legs did it cost you? LOL


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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

DHG is looking good! Where's the full tank shot? Didn't realize you bit the bullet to change up the UG to DHG.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

TropicalAquarist said:


> Are those what I think they are???
> 
> Sweet!!!!!!! How many arms and legs did it cost you? LOL


Yes that's exactly what you think they are  I got them from a reputable breeder, for a very good price. Less than half of what they are priced usually. 


bereninga said:


> DHG is looking good! Where's the full tank shot? Didn't realize you bit the bullet to change up the UG to DHG.


Yeah UG is still my favourite, but my UG was taking up too much time to be trimmed. I had to trim every five to seven days or so, grows like wild fire! 

DHG on the other hand grows so slow that I wished they grew a bit faster. Full tank shot when they've carpeted 

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## TropicalAquarist (Jun 9, 2015)

mysticalnet said:


> Yes that's exactly what you think they are  I got them from a reputable breeder, for a very good price. Less than half of what they are priced usually.



That's so cool, I've only seen them once and they look amazing!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

TropicalAquarist said:


> That's so cool, I've only seen them once and they look amazing!


You should get them too!  get from a breeder, don't get wild ones, they are critically endangered now so it's our responsibility to breed them to increase their numbers! 

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## payluder (Feb 3, 2016)

how much do they cost around? looks very good


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

payluder said:


> how much do they cost around? looks very good


They usually go around 250-300 in fish stores. I got them for less than half that 

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## payluder (Feb 3, 2016)

Holy molly thats the price my whole tank set up. I hope more people can breed them so there will be more supply than demands.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

payluder said:


> Holy molly thats the price my whole tank set up. I hope more people can breed them so there will be more supply than demands.


Yeah they are not easy to breed and they're critically endangered. Hopefully more people will breed them! 

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## TropicalAquarist (Jun 9, 2015)

Even for $100 that's a lot! But from what I've heard they are rather hardy.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

TropicalAquarist said:


> Even for $100 that's a lot! But from what I've heard they are rather hardy.


Yes they are but require good flow and fast waters. 

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## payluder (Feb 3, 2016)

Ive tried researching local breeders around the bay area but seems like they just disappeared. I found two with live websites but emails seems to be broken. So I'm wondering if they got busted or something. Prices are around $100 for small


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## hachi (Jul 30, 2015)

What kind of filter did you get?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

hachi said:


> What kind of filter did you get?


I got a second hand eheim pro 2073.


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

gorgeous fish! 

how are you liking the flow of the filter?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

monkeyruler90 said:


> gorgeous fish!
> 
> how are you liking the flow of the filter?


Thanks!  I love the pro 2073 flow. Very strong! 

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## Jamo33 (Feb 18, 2014)

L46's, my goodness that is just the best.
Are you going to set up a species tank for these beauties at some point (if you end up with a pair)?

A little story about L46's in australia, the first time I saw them I was honestly amazed at their beauty. Determined to own a colony I began researching them (I was a kid so had no idea about plecos however I am now pretty well taught in the ways of pleco's). As a 15 year old I thought paying 25 dollars for a peppermint bristlenose was a fortune, so when i realised that in Australia to buy a zebra pleco it would cost me $800 minimum, my dreams were quickly shot down. 
I am moving to florida soon and let me say, the first chance I get to set up a species tank with these beauties in it I will be buying enough to guarantee a pair and breeding them, these fish cannot die out they are just too amazing! Count yourselves lucky that you can get these fish for $300 each, in other places it is much worse.
Side note: I also saw these whilst living in England at 89 pounds each (A STEAL!!!!)

Beautiful tank as always!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Jamo33 said:


> L46's, my goodness that is just the best.
> Are you going to set up a species tank for these beauties at some point (if you end up with a pair)?
> 
> A little story about L46's in australia, the first time I saw them I was honestly amazed at their beauty. Determined to own a colony I began researching them (I was a kid so had no idea about plecos however I am now pretty well taught in the ways of pleco's). As a 15 year old I thought paying 25 dollars for a peppermint bristlenose was a fortune, so when i realised that in Australia to buy a zebra pleco it would cost me $800 minimum, my dreams were quickly shot down.
> ...


Hello! I think I'll get another pair next year and see if they will breed. I read that the first spawn is the hardest. I don't know about a species only tank, I like planted tanks a bit too much! 

My tank here actually has 6 caves but they are hidden. So I hope that will suffice for the zebras. The flow is also strong so that I'm not too concerned about. Temperature is on the high side as well. 

$800 is crazy!!!! I actually got them for $125 CAD each. So I think it's a steal too  even so it took me almost 20 years to finally get a pair.... 

Good luck with your florida move and I look forward to seeing you post a journal! Cheers! 

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## Jamo33 (Feb 18, 2014)

Species tanks definitely aren't a necessity, just what I'm used to over here, you can imagine if you have $5000 worth of fish in a tank and you're trying to get them to breed and produce successfully then any other fish in the tank is always a worry. I also prefer planted tanks, hell that's why we are all on here right? 

Fish spawn is the most difficult, and then its like clockwork generally, mostly these fish just want some privacy, if you try to force the spawn for a long time and keep checking on them they get shy and eventually everything new breeders try actually makes them less inclined to breed. Give space and let them do their thing, its all time and patience.

All the best!!! Hopefully I can post a journal once I arrive and settle overseas :thumbsup:

Also Imma subscribe, cause coolness!


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## jacob.morgan78 (Nov 30, 2011)

Man. Just went through your thread from the beginning... stupid work kept getting in the way and it took me forever!!! 

What a cool build; thanks for sharing!!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

jacob.morgan78 said:


> Man. Just went through your thread from the beginning... stupid work kept getting in the way and it took me forever!!!
> 
> What a cool build; thanks for sharing!!


Thank you! I really appreciate it when people like you read my journal!  cheers!

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Jamo33 said:


> Species tanks definitely aren't a necessity, just what I'm used to over here, you can imagine if you have $5000 worth of fish in a tank and you're trying to get them to breed and produce successfully then any other fish in the tank is always a worry. I also prefer planted tanks, hell that's why we are all on here right?
> 
> Fish spawn is the most difficult, and then its like clockwork generally, mostly these fish just want some privacy, if you try to force the spawn for a long time and keep checking on them they get shy and eventually everything new breeders try actually makes them less inclined to breed. Give space and let them do their thing, its all time and patience.
> 
> ...


You are correct, I forgot that we're on the planted tank forum hahah... 

Thank you for your advice, I'll make sure that I leave them to do their own thing and hopefully they will like their home and make cute baby zebra plecos. 

What type of fish are you going to get and set up when you get to florida and what size tank? Zebras too?  

Thanks for subscribing and bon voyage!

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## Sharon_hazan (May 5, 2016)

'Wait what? You want to tell me that polymer clay is aquarium safe?!
For years I am searching answer to this kind of thing
Does it apply to the fimo brand to?

Ohh and yes...Beautiful aquarium


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Sharon_hazan said:


> 'Wait what? You want to tell me that polymer clay is aquarium safe?!
> For years I am searching answer to this kind of thing
> Does it apply to the fimo brand to?
> 
> Ohh and yes...Beautiful aquarium


Yes I think so. As long as you cure - bake it at 275F for 15 minutes, I do mine in a toaster oven I no longer use for food and at 300F for 20 minutes, just in case.  I've got a few shrimps in the tank and it has been half a year now and they're still fine and breeding so I'm sure it's okay. 

Not sure about the fimo brand one but if the curing method that it states on the packaging is the same as the sculpey brand one then it should be fine I think. Many possibilities with polymer clay! I made the dividers and pleco caves with it. 

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## Sharon_hazan (May 5, 2016)

Lets the fun begin!


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## Jamo33 (Feb 18, 2014)

mysticalnet said:


> You are correct, I forgot that we're on the planted tank forum hahah...
> 
> Thank you for your advice, I'll make sure that I leave them to do their own thing and hopefully they will like their home and make cute baby zebra plecos.
> 
> ...


Hey, here to help 

I'm sure you'll be able to get them to breed in due course and it will be truly exciting when they do!

Unfortunately I will be only allowed rather small tanks (2), and I can only keep them on my desk once we are completely settled in. So my only possibilities are basically an ADA 5gal and maybe a 7gal cube. Honestly what I'd love is a couple species tanks for some L plecos but that will come later when I am more situated and have a decent job. So for now I will live vicariously through you :lol:

Im wanting to enter some tanks into contests, so I would say ill have a nano schooling fish for these tanks


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.05.20 - As most of you know, I've changed the UG to DHG, UG is still my favourite foreground plant but it grows way too fast. DHG on the other hand grows very very slow, less maintenance for me. 

Playing around with the lighting - cloudy during sunset.









Also got some green neon tetras, very cool and very visible, they look more blue in my opinion. 









My zebra plecos seem to have taken up residence in between the mountains. Not sure why they're not using the caves beside and under the waterfall near the back of the pathway I made them. Maybe they like really tight places. I might consider modifying or remaking the caves to be tighter if that's the case. 









Have a good weekend! 

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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

That AR got huge! I like the DHG. Glad to hear that it's less stress for you. I hate it when plants grow too fast. Sometimes it's just too much. This is looking awesome!


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## Sharon_hazan (May 5, 2016)

i am so jelly about that bonsai tree


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## Jamo33 (Feb 18, 2014)

Zebras like a really tight cave, built to the size of their body plus only a tiny bit. Tight with just a bit more length that their body, slate is a preference for them also FYI.

Loving the tank mate, looks gorgeous.


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Jamo33 said:


> Zebras like a really tight cave, built to the size of their body plus only a tiny bit. Tight with just a bit more length that their body, slate is a preference for them also FYI.
> 
> Loving the tank mate, looks gorgeous.


Yeah I figured out too that they like tight caves. I'll remake some new caves soon. Thanks! I'm glad you like it 

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

bereninga said:


> That AR got huge! I like the DHG. Glad to hear that it's less stress for you. I hate it when plants grow too fast. Sometimes it's just too much. This is looking awesome!


Thanks! Yeah I know, so huge! I might change to something smaller and finer yet grows slow lol. I wonder if there's any plant that will fit that criteria. 


Sharon_hazan said:


> i am so jelly about that bonsai tree


Hehee thank you. You should make one too!

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## jacob.morgan78 (Nov 30, 2011)

Absolutely gorgeous! Hard work and good planning pays off. 

Thanks for sharing!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

jacob.morgan78 said:


> Absolutely gorgeous! Hard work and good planning pays off.
> 
> Thanks for sharing!


Thank you very much! Yes preparation is the most time consuming yet most important part in my opinion. 

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## jacob.morgan78 (Nov 30, 2011)

mysticalnet said:


> Thank you very much! Yes preparation is the most time consuming yet most important part in my opinion.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


I remember reading in one of the many pages of your thread about what you used as a background on the glass. Do you mind telling what it is so I don't have to go digging??? 

Thanks!!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

jacob.morgan78 said:


> I remember reading in one of the many pages of your thread about what you used as a background on the glass. Do you mind telling what it is so I don't have to go digging???
> 
> Thanks!!


Haha sure. It is opague privacy window film people stick in their homes. You can get small rolls from walmart or home depot, and if your tank size is roughly like mine you only need one roll. 

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## jacob.morgan78 (Nov 30, 2011)

mysticalnet said:


> Haha sure. It is opague privacy window film people stick in their homes. You can get small rolls from walmart or home depot, and if your tank size is roughly like mine you only need one roll.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


Thank you so much!!! Really appreciate it!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

jacob.morgan78 said:


> Thank you so much!!! Really appreciate it!


You're most welcome! 

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## ScubaSteve (Jun 30, 2012)

Wow...beautiful tank man! Love it!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

ScubaSteve said:


> Wow...beautiful tank man! Love it!


Thanks man!! 

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## bevsies (May 22, 2016)

Can't wait to see it with plants and a sandfall!


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.05.25 - video of my darios flexing their fins at each other! 

https://youtu.be/_XlCeputa4Q

Sorry about the background exhaust sound, we were cooking in the kitchen!


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## yakal (Sep 4, 2015)

definitely beautiful but if you accept a comment on something and hopefully don't get it the wrong way (offended) 

i see a ratio mismatch regarding the red plants. i say this because it is titled mystical mountains and the red plants are too big for it or should i say the size of the leaves are too big. trying to imagine it like a tree along side of a mountain but its just that the ratio kinda off. maybe its just me. anyway, *beauty is in the eye of the beholder*


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

yakal said:


> definitely beautiful but if you accept a comment on something and hopefully don't get it the wrong way (offended)
> 
> i see a ratio mismatch regarding the red plants. i say this because it is titled mystical mountains and the red plants are too big for it or should i say the size of the leaves are too big. trying to imagine it like a tree along side of a mountain but its just that the ratio kinda off. maybe its just me. anyway, *beauty is in the eye of the beholder*


Thanks! ! Yes actually I'm looking locally to find something smaller such as rotala mini butterfly or rotala sunset to replace the AR roseafolia.

I originally got the AR mini and the container also printed AR mini but I think tropica had put the wrong plants in the container because now it's grown, it is not mini at all!! I think it's AR roseafolia .... lol

Yup definitely size mismatch compared to the mountains. I've asked around and waiting for a reply from a local fish store right now if they have rotala mini butterfly or sunset since I've got some store credit with them.  

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## TropicalAquarist (Jun 9, 2015)

I think while it doesn't necessarily look proportional to real mountains, I love it!

What kind of fish is the one photobombing? The badis are amazingly colored!

What's the current stocking?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.07.18

I've been doing a lot of home improvement projects recently so didn't really have time to update anything or do anything special, just regular water changes and trimming. I'll try to take some shots soon.

Meanwhile a picture of two male dario dario sizing each other up, they're one of my favorite fishes 










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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

I hope to do something similar to your tank in my 29g. I love the Alternanthera reineckii. How are you getting such a deep color.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

I read all of your quotes and the only fert I read that you mentioned was Canna Rhizotonic. You are not dosing anything else?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Hilde said:


> I hope to do something similar to your tank in my 29g. I love the Alternanthera reineckii. How are you getting such a deep color.


Sorry didn't see the message, I use fluorish iron and low nitrates. 


Hilde said:


> I read all of your quotes and the only fert I read that you mentioned was Canna Rhizotonic. You are not dosing anything else?


Yes I am, NPK, trace, Fe, all fluorish brand, just according to the instructions on the bottle.

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

2016.08.31

Haven't been doing much recently except my eheim 2073 hose adapter and red lever got stuck, my own fault, so I had to overwrite it and put maximum flow for now, while I order and wait for a new hose adapter to arrive so that I can replace. 

Also here's what's been taking up my time recently, hahah.... Adopted from SPCA two cute kittens:









Meet Mello - the Tabby and Ninja - the tuxedo! 



























This one loves my maple tree.

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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

mysticalnet said:


> Sorry didn't see the message, I use fluorish iron and low nitrates.
> 
> Yes I am, NPK, trace, Fe, all *fluorish brand*, just according to the instructions on the bottle.


That is expensive. Cheaper to do dry ferts. Dry fert you can get from greenleafaquarium, nilocg aquatics and aquariumfertilizer


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Hilde said:


> That is expensive. Cheaper to do dry ferts. Dry fert you can get from greenleafaquarium, nilocg aquatics and aquariumfertilizer


Actually it's not too bad. I only use a bottle of each a year.

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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

cute kittens. What is your avatar photo? looks like a ranchu?


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## dru (Mar 9, 2013)

Cute cats!


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## Ilikefish (Aug 25, 2016)

looks amazing. where you bought the bonzai driftwood?


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

AquaAurora said:


> cute kittens. What is your avatar photo? looks like a ranchu?


Thanks! Yes a calico ranchu 


dru said:


> Cute cats!


Thank you!


Ilikefish said:


> looks amazing. where you bought the bonzai driftwood?


Got it from hong kong!

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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

Got a few dwarf botia (loaches) on the weekend. 



















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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

mysticalnet said:


> Thanks! Yes a calico ranchu
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


Your fish? If so show your goldie tank! ^^


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## mysticalnet (Dec 2, 2007)

AquaAurora said:


> Your fish? If so show your goldie tank! ^^


Yes my ranchu, I had these goldies for many years but they got sooo big, like a fillet o'fish lol, eventually I sold them to someone that had a nice pond  

This is a 55G









Too big, didn't want to get a bigger tank, now they're in good hands in a pond.  










AquaAurora said:


> Your fish? If so show your goldie tank! ^^



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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

Lovely fish, shame you had to re-home them them but at least they went somewhere nice ^^


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