# Another NPT Conversion "Mezza Luna"



## frrok (May 22, 2011)

***5/2/2012***











Here is a 10 gallon that i converted to a dirt substrate over the weekend. I chose to name it, Mezza Luna (italian for "half moon") 
Pics are in this order, the before shot , layout of substrate then final planting . Let me know what you think of the scape, any critiques? Wood is manzanita that i ordered from badcop As far as equipment goes I am using a zoo med 501 for filtration(which I had to return to one petco cuz it was defective) Archaea 27w power compact fixture. Substrate is MGOCPM and Eco complete as cap. Only black gravel I could find that was the close to the size that needed, black and natural. After I planted I quickly realized how light eco was and some plants kept floating up. Very frustrating. I had better luck with super naturals gravel that I used in my 3.5. It's unfortunate that these companies do not make a fine black natural gravel(thats not sand) in 1-3mm. That would be ideal. Anyway, hope you enjoy. As it was a struggle to re-do it, especially with fish. I'm really happy with the outcome. And it is by no means finished. I want to added a few more species of stem plants and I have knock off lily pipes on order as I don't care for the intake and outflow.l on the zoo med. Dirt is awesome!


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## Chlorophile (Aug 2, 2011)

Looks great! Raise the water level on that baby though!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Chlorophile said:


> Looks great! Raise the water level on that baby though!


Ah ha! Thanks! I think I took that pic before I topped it off... Like I said I still have some finishing touches. I'm so impatient I wanted to take a pic and throw it up. I will post another pic once I have everything the way I want it.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Here's some more picks. Tank was dirted on Saturday. Water is just now starting to get cloudy. Not bad for freshly dirted tank. I didn't mineralize per se. But I did soak and drain the dirt a few times and left it out to dry one day. Plants are melting a bit but I chalk that up to being freshly submersed in new conditions. Water change is planned for the weekend. Enjoy.  
Side note: I ordered some black 2mm fine gravel from substratesource.com. I want to lay a very thin layer over the hairgrass to keep in place a little better. Some of it floated up a few times. Taking a risk with the hairgrass with no co2 and ferts. But I've seen pics of it growing well in Eco complete with nothing else. What do you guys think?


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## madness (Jul 31, 2011)

I definitely like the scape on this one better than on the 3.5 gallon.

Nothing wrong with the other one, this one just reflects a more mature style I guess.

Is that the Marineland 10g half-moon? If so, what are your thoughts on it? I have been debating taller (but still relatively small volume) tanks that are more 'display' friendly and that is one of the few tanks that fits the bill.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

That was a cute non-planted tank, it's was very interesting. But now it's fabulous! Are you worried about your betta jumping? I've lost my fair share to carpet surfing. I like the half moon look.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

Wonderful transformation! I'm really liking the darker substrates people are using, I'm going to add a small amount of the blacker FloraMax on top of the FloraMax/pea gravel cap I have on my 55 dirt tank. My fish will show up on it better, and it is a more harmonious look, in my eyes.
Love your tank - all these lovely dirt tanks have really motivated me to redo my 40b - but I'll wait until I can get the schematics of a Hobbit home down pat! lol (hey, I love old-timey ceramic decorations, too. Campy can be chic! - in my mind, anyway lol)


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

Really glad to see other halfmoon tank owners. I see that you upgraded your light and filter, how do you like the zoo med canister and what light is that.


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## firefiend (Sep 3, 2009)

sewingalot said:


> That was a cute non-planted tank, it's was very interesting. But now it's fabulous! Are you worried about your betta jumping? I've lost my fair share to carpet surfing. I like the half moon look.



you know, almost 20 years I've never had a betta jump out of its tank... I've lost gold fish that way, and an african dwarf frog once... but that's it, haha.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

madness said:


> I definitely like the scape on this one better than on the 3.5 gallon.
> 
> Nothing wrong with the other one, this one just reflects a more mature style I guess.
> 
> Is that the Marineland 10g half-moon? If so, what are your thoughts on it? I have been debating taller (but still relatively small volume) tanks that are more 'display' friendly and that is one of the few tanks that fits the bill.


Thanks. That's exactly how I feel. My little tank was sort of an experiment. Work out the kinks until I learned more then move on to something nicer. So no offense at all. I love this tank, but it is a challenge to scape and challenge to pick the right fish. Since taller than it is wide. I have one glo fish in there but he should probably be in a longer tank. But the small footprint helps. I live in small apt at the beach in nyc. I dint have much room for bigger tanks. The stand is DIY as well btw. It's epai(sp?) wood. 



sewingalot said:


> That was a cute non-planted tank, it's was very interesting. But now it's fabulous! Are you worried about your betta jumping? I've lost my fair share to carpet surfing. I like the half moon look.


Thanks! I really worked hard on it. I still have a way to go but I'm happy on how this started so far. 
I'm more worries about my Siberian kitten getting to the fish then the betta jumping out! Lol!! 



harrow said:


> Really glad to see other halfmoon tank owners. I see that you upgraded your light and filter, how do you like the zoo med canister and what light is that.


So far I really like the zoo med. It's quiet and it's functional. I didn't like the intake and outakes so I swapped them out for fake lily pipes. I had to rig them to fit the zoo med tubing tho. See next post. I will post a pic of it.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Excuse the poor quality. For some reason the app won't let me post the high quality version even tho I'm on wifi. Anyway. You can see how I had to rig the lily pipes. I needed to get reduction valves so the tubing would fit. The materials were cheap but it was a hassle putting it all together. 

Side note. Water is still a bit cloudy after a pwc this weekend. I may do another one today or tomorrow. Excess nutrients most likely from dirt + Eco. I actually drained and dried the Eco before I added it as a cap to the dirt. Frogbit has already doubled!


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## harrow (Aug 9, 2011)

Those lily pipes look a lot better then the stock ones.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

harrow said:


> Those lily pipes look a lot better then the stock ones.


Oh and the light is a 27w archaea power compact. Gift for my bday from the gf.


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

nice tank!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

nonconductive said:


> nice tank!


Thanks! It's really alot of fun. I got in there last night and trimmed the hairgrass. Man that was a pain! Lol


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Here is an update from the weekend. Did about 10 or 15% water change and added Bacopa Caroliniana and Rotala Rotundofolia in the back right of the tank. I'm hoping the bacopa becomes emergent and I'm planning to prune the rotala so it becomes bushy, I want to keep the negative space above the rotala. I really feel these new additions add some contrast with the bright green. I also added a black background to hide some of the wires from my light. What do you guys think of the black? I am also considering painting the same color blue I have on my wall onto a piece of cardboard because I kinda liked how that looked. Anyway.from here on out is a waiting game, hopefully the plants acclimate sooner then later. Thanks for looking.


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## firefiend (Sep 3, 2009)

Looks awesome. Looking forward to see how it all grows in.

I like the black as I'm not fond of blue; though it certainly wasn't an eyesore on your tank so I guess which ever you prefer works well. However, you do have a blue betta in there so I'd stick with the black to really make him pop.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

firefiend said:


> Looks awesome. Looking forward to see how it all grows in.
> 
> I like the black as I'm not fond of blue; though it certainly wasn't an eyesore on your tank so I guess which ever you prefer works well. However, you do have a blue betta in there so I'd stick with the black to really make him pop.


Cool. Thanks. Hey I made a video. Check it out>>>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzFy3A-FZdo&sns=em


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## firefiend (Sep 3, 2009)

frrok said:


> Cool. Thanks. Hey I made a video. Check it out>>>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzFy3A-FZdo&sns=em



Dude that vid is like a horror movie... you get all trapped in the tranquility of watching the fish and sway of the plants and then... CRASH!! LOL... awesomeness!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Hahaha. Yea sorry about that.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Here is my labor day update. Been a few weeks and I'm seeing really slow growth. This tank is taking forever to get established. But I have faith. I see new growth so that's good. The Vals are still struggling but I am optimistic that once the roots get established we will see an explosion. The dwarf hairgrass is not looking great. I think my mts snails are
uprooting it because everyday i see pieces of it floating. I'm thinking of pulling it and adding more dwarf sag and micro sword( e. Tennelus). The crypts are hanging in there, I see some new leaves starting to sprout. But this is very slow as well. Oh well. Must have patience. Java moss and bacopa look ok. Rotala has been the same since I planted it last week.I have a nice price of java fern "Philippine" on order. Super excited to add to my driftwood. I like the hammered look of it. So far I haven't done any water changes in a few weeks and parameters are stable. Question for the dirt frat people. Are you doing water changes? if so, why? Walstad recommends not too. I'm pretty low light so I'm sticking to her method for now. 
Here are a few pics and a YouTube vid. Apologies in advance for the tv reflection in the vid, I shot it with my iPhone. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3kiLkSPG_8&sns=em


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

looks great! give it time and things will get going.

to answer your question about water changes, i do them to remove detrius and debris.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

nonconductive said:


> looks great! give it time and things will get going.
> 
> to answer your question about water changes, i do them to remove detrius and debris.


Cool! Thanks.


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## jerkosaurus (Jul 17, 2011)

Tank looks sweet! 

The only time I've ever worried about cleaning the detritus is when I had sand substrate. It should fall through the eco complete and fertilize the plants further.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

I'm trying not to do any water changes in order for the plants to have as many nutrients as possible in the water. some, like Dustin from dustins fish tanks, do weekly water changes because he believes that the plants benefit from it. I'm trying for the most natural method as possible.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Quick update:
Added Java Fern "Philippine". Plant is a stunner. Really love how hardy and green it is. Tying it to the wood submersed was really big PITA! ugh, I still don't really have it the way I want it exactly but it'll have to do until the roots attach to the wood. Everything else is still the same. Thx for looking!


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

You are going to need LOTS of patience for them Vals. It took mine around 3 months to see some noticable growth from after I got them. Now, though, they are growing so fast I can almost watch them grow.

On another note, the tank looks better every time you update. A much nicer look than the original configuration. I wish mine looked that nice just weeks after planting, good job.

Oh yeah, almost forgot. I do not change my water, just topoffs. I did weekly 25% wc's for the first 3 weeks after I put my wood and dirt in just to get rid of most of the tannins. Now, though, it's just topoffs.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

[email protected] said:


> You are going to need LOTS of patience for them Vals. It took mine around 3 months to see some noticable growth from after I got them. Now, though, they are growing so fast I can almost watch them grow.
> 
> On another note, the tank looks better every time you update. A much nicer look than the original configuration. I wish mine looked that nice just weeks after planting, good job.
> 
> Oh yeah, almost forgot. I do not change my water, just topoffs. I did weekly 25% wc's for the first 3 weeks after I put my wood and dirt in just to get rid of most of the tannins. Now, though, it's just topoffs.


Cool! Thanks for the input. The vals are def taking their time. I soaked my wood for 2 weeks or so. then did two 25 or 30% water changes after I set up. Now I do the same as you, just top off. I just read another good article based off of Tom Barr's low tech method. It stresses no water changes in non-c02 low light set ups.the idea is that if you change your water it will introduce too much c02 at once and can trigger algae blooms. Although they suggest to dose once a week, I'm going to try not to until I see some noticeable deficiencies. 
Thanks for the compliments, my idea here is to combine the npt method with the aesthetics of amano's nature aquarium. I now realize how diffuclt that is. But learning is what is so fun. And patience is key!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Just another little update here. My plants are really slow to acclimate here.And some are even melting a little. After doing some research I found out that my water here in ny is soft! Ugh! I always tested ph but I don't have a kh/gh test kit. Ph was always neutral. Maybe sometimes slightly acidic. Anyway, I had some left over crushed coral so i put a little bit of it into some mesh and made a little bag and threw it into my filter. 
Questions:
I didn't have much of it left. Do I need a significant amount to raise the hardness?
How long does it usually take? I obviously would want it to start going up slowly, as ton not shock fish and plants. 
Anything else I could do? I saw in anither thread that baking soda will work. Its a ten gallon, how much would I need. Or should I not bother since I have the crushed coral in there?

Ok. Here's hoping my plants start coming back. Luckily they are not all completely dead. The dwarf sag actually had some new growth. But it's very slow.


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## mjbubbles (Aug 26, 2011)

I love the look! Lucky betta to have so much space.
I've just started a planted 3 gallon for my betta and want to go for the look you have.
Thanks for the inspiration.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

mjbubbles said:


> I love the look! Lucky betta to have so much space.
> I've just started a planted 3 gallon for my betta and want to go for the look you have.
> Thanks for the inspiration.


Yea. They betta is stoked. But he does have some friends in the tank. I actually added 3 Endler's from my 3G into this tank because a couple of females look like they are about to burst! I don't want the fry eating my baby shrimp. If I get endler fry in this tank I'm pretty sure betta and his friends can keep the population in check. I consider it a natural process but I do feel bad for the babies.
And thank you for the compliments! I'm pretty new at this(just started planted tanks this year), it's so fun!


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## GoldenTetra (Jan 17, 2009)

love the tank!! I've never seen a 10 gallon shaped like that!!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

GoldenTetra said:


> love the tank!! I've never seen a 10 gallon shaped like that!!


Thanks! It's a Tetra half moon. 

Can anyone give me advice on my soft water issue?


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Did some research... Brain hurts,, i def have soft water out of the tap. So i added a small mesh bag of crushed coral to the filter. After two days my ph went up. Fish seem to be ok with it. I need to get a gh/kh test kit but rather not order online to avoid shipping. Anyway, I also ordered a combo pack of dry fertz from gla. It's npk and CSM+B. I'm planning dosing very little to help my plants rebound, once a week. Plants that are hurting are the Vals, bacopa, crypts and dhg. <-- although the last one really needs c02. The height of my tank puts me at low-medium light. java fern probably will do better with more hardness as well. But I just added that plant to the tank so I can't really tell if its doing bad. That's it. Hope to have some more pics up as soon I see some improvement.


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## ridethespiral (Aug 5, 2010)

I love the simplicity of this tank! It makes me want to get my 10g running again and buy a betta again.

The last one I owned is pictured in my avatar and he died way before his time 


edit:

I hope you plants begin to settle in. I'm not sure what's up with your vals as you said, mine really really took off. I lost much of my ludwigia repens, and my moneywort is missing, and a couple other plants really didn't hold on strong but they're still there


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

ridethespiral said:


> I love the simplicity of this tank! It makes me want to get my 10g running again and buy a betta again.
> 
> The last one I owned is pictured in my avatar and he died way before his time
> 
> ...


Thanks! i really think its my soft water. I did everything right. about 1 to 1.5 inches of soil, same with cap. MGOCPM. very little filter media. no carbon. only 1 or 2 water changes since initial setup. and pretty heavy plant mass... feed fish everyday. 

sorry about your betta. my dude is named Rocco. he is pretty tame tho, he lives pretty peacefully with the other fish in this tank. and TOOL is one of my fav bands...im a drummer. nice to see some other musicians on here.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

tested my tap water KH 2 and GH 2. the culprit. I tested my tank and I guess with my crushed coral my kh was 5 and gh was 4. low but not too bad. I added some calcium carbonate(crushed calcium supplement mixed with water) and epsom salt. kh 5 and gh 4. weird that it stayed the same?? Will it go up with time? i also got my ferts, so added some potassium nitrate. barely 1/8 tsp. and tomorrow i am going to add some trace csm+b. I am seeing growth... so thats a good sign. my crypts and java fern have new leaves growing in. so I am optimistic. here is some more shots....


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Latest update on my tank. Growth is sooo slowww... It's torcher. Got in The tank today and trimmed all of the dead or unsightly Val leaves. I also pulled up a small Val that was just not growing. It had no roots at all! Also thinned out the floating plants. I think that blocked alot of light. I'm already at low-medium light on this tank because of its depth. Small leaf coming out of the dwarf sag and some of the crypts. But it's growing at a snails pace. The bacopa is really leggy and there is one little side shoot coming out of the bunch of Rotala in the corner. I'm letting the hornwort growth thick because three of the female Endler's are pregnant. Oops. I saw a baby last week but he must of been preyed upon by now. Haven't seen him since. 
I think for my next project I may try CO2. Just to try... But don't have the funds for a new setup right now. So I'm enjoying trying to troubleshoot my issues with this one. I successfully raised the GH in this tank to 7. So let's see of the plants use the extra minerals. I also dose very little no3 and csmb once a week. 
Moss is doing well! See pics:


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

So I think the reason why some of my plants are not doing well is that I may have anaerobic pockets. I've been noticing that bubbles were being released every now and then. And alot if I disturbed the sub or touched the wood. I thought that my mts would be able to aerate it enough to not form pockets of sulfur. Well I think it happened. I poked at my substrate today and when the bubbled came up it smelled like rotten eggs! I also trimmed away my jungle vals and when I pulled up a plant the roots were black. So the question is, can I overcome this problem without tearing down this tank? I think the eco-complete is a bad cap for dirt. it has too many mixed grain sizes... I thought that if I didn't go too deep I would be fine. thats not the case obviously...


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

I think I am going to pull out the Bacopa and Rotala in the right corner and just let the dwarf sag take over. They are just not looking good. Good news is I have fry. Managed to pull one yesterday after about 2 hours of trying an found another one today. But he's staying, it's a pain in the but to try and net these little guys. Let me know what you guys think about pulling the stem plants. I let the hornwort grow in so the fry have some cover.


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

it shouldnt be a cause to tear it down. you just have to ride it out and use some good rooted plants. and poking the substrate regularly doesnt hurt. most of my tanks have anaerobic pockets.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

nonconductive said:


> it shouldnt be a cause to tear it down. you just have to ride it out and use some good rooted plants. and poking the substrate regularly doesnt hurt. most of my tanks have anaerobic pockets.


Cool. Thx. I am def not tearing it down. There is alot of trapped gas tho. If I even touch the wood a bunch of bubbles come up. All My crypts have new growth. So that's a good sign. I will keep putting in dwarf sag in as well as it grows out ok my small tank.


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

I periodically bump my stand real good when I'm passing the tank or sitting by it. This will release LOTS of the gas. I also bump the sub when I gravel-vac, or push on it when my hands in there. I have had my share of browned/blackened roots as well and they all grow eventually. As soon as the plant gets used to the dirt they will grow new roots and grow as they always had. That was my problem with my Valls Gigantae's, and they started growing again after about a month. If you are anything like me I know you are a little (lot) impatient, but just give it some time. The tank will straighten out for you. It already looks WAY better than when you started.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

[email protected] said:


> I periodically bump my stand real good when I'm passing the tank or sitting by it. This will release LOTS of the gas. I also bump the sub when I gravel-vac, or push on it when my hands in there. I have had my share of browned/blackened roots as well and they all grow eventually. As soon as the plant gets used to the dirt they will grow new roots and grow as they always had. That was my problem with my Valls Gigantae's, and they started growing again after about a month. If you are anything like me I know you are a little (lot) impatient, but just give it some time. The tank will straighten out for you. It already looks WAY better than when you started.


Haha! Thanks for the encouragement. I'm super impatient! Plus the fact that I have alot of time on my hands lately(unemployed) and I'm just fussing over it way too much. 

Question. The bacopa has def grown taller but the bottom leaves have disappeared. If I trim it, will it grow new shoots from the bare stems? If not, guess I'll just let them grow to the surface them cut and replant. And chuck the stems.


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## Mxx (Dec 29, 2010)

If you started dosing Excel that might enable the plants to up their metabolism and therefore pump more oxygen into the substrate, as well as grow faster as it sounds as if you're a bit impatient on that point. The plants may nevertheless have localized zones of aerobic activity just around their roots. 

I had some aneorobic gas initially, but it seems to have disappeared when I increased my water circulation, which you could try temporarily just by adding an airstone for instance. But my fish never had a problem with it meanwhile.

I suppose that if you didn't go through the full mineralization process and still had a lot of organic matter in your soil then as that continues to decompose it will deplete all the oxygen in the substrate faster than the oxygen could seep back in, (if it can at all for that matter). It's suggested there be a maximum of 10% organic matter, so I heard. The extra organic matter might nevertheless have the longer term benefit of providing a long lasting supply of CO2, so long as it eventually balances out to achieve an anaerobic state. Sounds as if you might have to help it along manually in the meantime, and you already have trumpet snails which should help keep it somewhat stirred up as well.


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## sssnel (Nov 8, 2011)

I too have soft tap water and do the same type of set up with the MGOPS bottom layer. I learned very quickly to add some crushed coral under the gravel layer on top of the soil. It has made a big difference. My older set up has the coral in the filter, been running 3 years now...
Your tank looks wonderful. I have passed by this tank so many times at the pet store. I love the footprint and the look. You are really doing a great job...


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Things are finally looking up. I am seeing new growth on the jungle val starting to come through! finally this plant is starting to settle in. I am hoping it will spread its roots and will help distribute oxygen. dwarf sag has new growth as well, albeit slow. much slower than in my 3g. I let the hornwort grow in pretty thick, I am thinking of cutting that back big time. I know crypts like shade but combined with the frogbit and driftwood it may be too shaded? what do you guys think? Also, some advice on the bacopa and rotala(pic below) The bacopa is def growing taller but the lower part of the stems have lost their leaves. Should I let it grow to the top then prune it and re-plant, and chuck the bare stems? Or should I trim and leave the stems, will shoots come up off of the bare stem? and the rotala is finally starting to re-grow as the tip of the tallest stem is growth fresh new growth with longer leaves. Thinking about hacking this up as well. but may wait until that one stem grows longer as I want to re-plant that.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Anyone have any advice on what I should do about the bacopa? Thanks


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

frrok said:


> Also, some advice on the bacopa and rotala


Yes hack them. It is typical for stem plants to get leggy at the bottom. Cutting them down makes them bushy. New stems will grow where you cut. Many cut them down to 3 in.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Well I decided to do a trim. It needed to be done... Hoping things will start to balance itself out soon. Getting new growth on the vals. So i guess that's good. I'm considering using DIY Co2 for awhile to help give the plants a little nudge. Let me know what you think.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Decided against the DIY co2 in this tank. Did some research on the DIY method and there is no simple way to diffuse the co2 into the tank without having something large and obtrusive in the tank and my space is limited. I would have liked to use a glass diffuser but according to my research it is not recommended with DIY co2 because there is not enough pressure to diffuse it. Anyway, I have decided instead to change the cap over my dirt from Eco-complete to black beauty blasting sand. I started another thread inquiring about it in this forum. I will most likely document it in this journal or the other thread. One thing new in this tank is the new plexiglass top I made. Looks pretty good although it's already bowing. Oh well it was cheap. The other plastic top that came with this tank bent also.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

ANother update on my low tech ten gallon half moon. The Acrylic top is not really working out too great. it bent like crazy but it will do for now. I made a glass top for my mini-m, thinking about doing one for this tank , but cutting the curve may prove to be challenging. we'll see. I took some shots with our new canon camera. I am still getting the hang of the settings sorry if they are not the best shots. and excuse my water quality. Its a bit cloudy due to all the dirt that has settled on to the top of the eco-complete. I am in the process of slowly siphoning it all out. I have been doing weekly water changes but I am trying to avoid tearing down the whole tank. The fish and plants seem fine even though alot of the dirt is exposed. The plan here is to just get as much of it out as I can then monitor plant growth. If I have to I will had root tabs eventually if all the dirt is gone. there is no way to tell really. Anyway, I also added sone needle leaf java fern to the wood. can't wait until that settles in. I am getting new leaves o n my Philippine every two weeks. hoping it does that well. 

oh and if anyone can give me some advice as to why my Java moss turned completely brown that would be great. I was thinking of trimming it down short and maybe it will grow back green again. I suspect not enough water flow. the zoomed i have on this tank is rated at 79gph but i suspect its way lower than that.

half moon - right angle by frroK, on Flickr

half moon - front by frroK, on Flickr

half moon - left angle by 

rocco - Betta splendens by frroK, on FlickrfrroK, on Flickr


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## synthorange (Feb 1, 2012)

If it's really brown, it's probably dead. Quite an achievement, because java moss is practically indestructible!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

synthorange said:


> If it's really brown, it's probably dead. Quite an achievement, because java moss is practically indestructible!


haha,,,i know. picked up some more moss and going to try again. I'll post a pic when I'm done. here is a pimped out shot and you can see the moss in the middle how brown it is. i pulled most of it though after i shot this. got some plans for this tank. if anyone cares to see...stay tuned.


r


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

frrok said:


> My Java moss turned completely brown.


What ferts are you dosing? 
Moss seems to thrive in my water for it has a lot of chloride in it. Thus dosing with potassium chloride (NO-Salt substitute) may help it.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Hilde said:


> What ferts are you dosing?
> Moss seems to thrive in my water for it has a lot of chloride in it. Thus dosing with potassium chloride (NO-Salt substitute) may help it.


Thanks. I have stopped dosing for now. I have an issue still with the dirt substrate that has spread out all over my cap. So until that is all gone I'm not going dose. I don't want to spark an algae bloom. 

Otherwise. I did in the past dose a little potassium and trace weekly in a low tech regiment.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

frrok said:


> Dirt substrate that has spread out all over my cap.


Sounds like putting some sand over it would help cap it. My favorite sand is river sand, which is brown. Here in Georgia a 50lb bag is sold at landscaper for $3.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Hilde said:


> Sounds like putting some sand over it would help cap it. My favorite sand is river sand, which is brown. Here in Georgia a 50lb bag is sold at landscaper for $3.


Thanks for the advice Hilde. I've thought of that. But I just don't have the time or patience. I would have to take some plants out and the wood. I'd rather not disturb the roots too much. The other plants are actually growing really well. Especially my crypts. I'm just planning on siphoning out as much as I could slowly and replacing whatever gravel gets sucked up with extra Eco that I have.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

frrok said:


> I've thought of that. But I would have to take some plants out


Moving things would make a mess in the tank. You can put sand or Ecco down without moving anything. Just put some in a sock and open the sock at spot needed.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Added some plant clippings from my other tank to fill in the right corner of this tank. Also the red ludwigia I think gives it a little color splash. The tank is really maturing nicely and got almost all of the dirt from the top of my substrate. And my Phillipine java fern is getting huge! I thought they grew slow , mine starts a new leaf almost weekly.


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## zherico (Mar 19, 2009)

looks good. doesn't seem like your having any major problems with the soil on your cap.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

zherico said:


> looks good. doesn't seem like your having any major problems with the soil on your cap.


Thanks... for the most part things are fine. The betta in this tank did develop some fin rot and I had to remove him and treating it now. could be from the dirty water. kind of weird though becasue Altough there is still some dirt in it. the water is really clear. I guess its becasue of all the plants. Here is an udpated shot...

3/16/2012


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

very nice!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

nonconductive said:


> very nice!


Thanks! Pretty amazing what you can do with a little patience and dirt!


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## nonconductive (Jan 29, 2010)

frrok said:


> Thanks! Pretty amazing what you can do with a little patience and dirt!


yea i know, patience being key.


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## ShawneeRiver (Aug 31, 2011)

I love how your tank looks. I hope mine will look half as good as that. I just set up a Half Moon 10 two days ago. 

Do you like the light? Would you recommend it?


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

ShawneeRiver said:


> I love how your tank looks. I hope mine will look half as good as that. I just set up a Half Moon 10 two days ago.
> 
> Do you like the light? Would you recommend it?


Thanks! I'm sure it will work out. What are you setting up , lo tek or hi tek? That light is good for low-med light on that tank. And I would recommend it for that sort of a set up. Carpet plants not so much...


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## ShawneeRiver (Aug 31, 2011)

That sounds perfect! Low tech for me, and I'm not looking at much plant variety. I have crypt wendtii, red or bronze crypt, willow moss, Asian val, duckweed, pennywort and java fern. Here's a photo of what I have so far.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Nice tank.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

ShawneeRiver said:


> That sounds perfect! Low tech for me, and I'm not looking at much plant variety. I have crypt wendtii, red or bronze crypt, willow moss, Asian val, duckweed, pennywort and java fern. Here's a photo of what I have so far.


I would def change out that LED light as soon as you can. It doesn't grow plants. I emailed tetra and they told me its not powerful enough. The light I'm using currently is an archaea 27w twin power compact. Go to Adana-usa.com. It's about $70. With the plants you have it will grow plans perfectly. Are you using an enriched substrate? I'm using a dirt substrate with Eco-complete cap. Read through my thread and you can find more info. Good start!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

GMYukonon24s said:


> Nice tank.


Thank you.


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## ShawneeRiver (Aug 31, 2011)

I'm supplementing it with a desk lamp now. It should keep the plants alive and maybe even grow a couple. 

Except for the val and moss, all the plants and the substrate were moved from my Fluval Edge. It was a great-looking tank, but I hated trying to maintain it. The substrate is a mix of Floramax and Tahitian Moon Sand. I had decent growth in the Edge. 

Here's a picture of the Edge, shortly before I took it down. The plants looked more impressive in there because the tank was shorter.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

ShawneeRiver said:


> I'm supplementing it with a desk lamp now. It should keep the plants alive and maybe even grow a couple.
> 
> Except for the val and moss, all the plants and the substrate were moved from my Fluval Edge. It was a great-looking tank, but I hated trying to maintain it. The substrate is a mix of Floramax and Tahitian Moon Sand. I had decent growth in the Edge.
> 
> Here's a picture of the Edge, shortly before I took it down. The plants looked more impressive in there because the tank was shorter.


Nice. Good luck with the half moon.


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## maxthedog123 (Jul 23, 2007)

Patience is the key with an NPT tank. It takes a while for the dirt to settle down and then things will get growing. I think you will be happy you didn't do DIY CO2. It is hard to control and the idea with low tech/NPT is to let the ecosystem do the work and not mess around with CO2, etc. No that there is anything wrong with that - just two different modes of keeping a tank. If you start with CO2, chances are you might need to start doing ferts.

I have 5 tanks - 3 are true NPT. This is the newest one that has been up for about 3 weeks.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Finally hooked up my EHEIM 2211 filter to this tank. I really like this filter, its quiet and it has a nice flow for this tank. plants sway gently. I also like the quick disconnects it comes with. it makes cleaning and messing with the tank much easier. I didnt get enough 9mm tubing for the outflow so I used the green eheim tubing that came with the filter for now. This tank has really come together nicely. THe jungle vals have finally taken off...and are sending runners everywhere. I keep trimming them and moving them to the background. I want the whole back left to be jungle Val. I dont want to see the black background. I made a mistake the last time I trimmed and that one piece of Ludwigia is kind of messing up the balance a bit. Hopefully the bacopa will grow back tall and fill in behind it.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

I'm actually away on a work thing but I've been thinking about this tank alot. If you see the previous pic of this tank, you'll notice that I have Bacopa carolinia, Rotala rotundofoila an Ludwigia sp 'red' as stem plants in the right background portion of the tank. I'm thinking of getting rid of the Bacopa and Rotala and adding Hygrophilia Pinnatifida instead. I think it will compliment my crypts and keep the theme I have going with this tank. And I'm kind if getting tired of topping the Bacopa anyway. It doesn't look so good when it gets tall. The only issue is what to do with the Ludwigia. I want to incorporate it in somehow. Anyway. What do YOU guys think?? Love to get some feedback. No co2 in this so not sure if I'll kill the hygro or not.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Decided against the Pinnatifida for now. Here is an updated shot of the tank. I'm having trouble trimming the Bacopa. Some stems grow tall, others stay short. I really need to get in there and trim everything down to an even length and also trim away some of that jungle Val to let more light in. But it's a lot of work that I don't feel like doing. Lol. It's much easier to let things grow wild!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Been awhile since I updated this thread. This tank took a bit of a beating after I moved. Lost 3 of my 4 ottos and some plants melted. The jungle Val survived and in fact is growing extremely well. Almost too well. It sends runners frequently. I have to keep trimming them off and re-plant. I'm having a little issue though. This sp. of Val is the gigantae variety which grows very long almost double the height of my tank. Which causes issues as it blocks the light from above. I believe some of my other plants are suffering because of it. Namely the stem plants. I also removed the black background and added a small blue LES light at the base of the tank in the background. It becomes back lit at night which looks kind of cool. The tank is sitting in a big open space in the living room which gets a lot of in-direct light during the day. My next plan for this tank is too remove all the jungle Val, trim the old longer leaves add some more height with substrate in the back and replant all the Val's. I considered getting a small species of Val, like val nana but I would have had to have it shipped and it's too hot to ship plants here right now. Besides, eventually this tank will be broken down and a 120p will go in its place. This tank looks much smaller in a larger space. I don't want to put much time into it at the moment. Any time I get goes to the mini-m. Here's a couple of new shots. Thanks for looking.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Jungle Val going nutso... Rescape coming soon.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)




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## fishboy199413 (Jan 20, 2010)

Got Val? :hihi:


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

fishboy199413 said:


> Got Val? :hihi:


Lol. Too much!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Spent the better part of this Sunday doing a semi-rescape of this tank. What a headache. I'm ready to completely tear it down... But I replanted all the Val's and the rotala and Bacopa. It looks like when I first set it up. A complete start over. Im not really happy with the way it turned but The fish seem happy they have more swimming room. 














All done.


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## zherico (Mar 19, 2009)

Don't be to hard on yourself!! I'm pretty sure we all go through points when we say "why am I doing this", esp. when rescaping! It looks good, enjoy your success


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

zherico said:


> Don't be to hard on yourself!! I'm pretty sure we all go through points when we say "why am I doing this", esp. when rescaping! It looks good, enjoy your success


Thank you! I really needed the encouragement. It's amazing...it's a completely different tank now. I also raised the height of the substrate on either side to try and create more depth. I will say my fish are a lot happier now that they have more swimming room. It makes me feel better. I will probably only keep this tank running up until about february or so and then a 120p will be going in its place. Planning on an NA setup with all new fish. Will most likely give the fish in this tank away. But first I'm hoping to get a few more pretty male endlers out if this batch. Well see.


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## drazend (Sep 17, 2012)

WOW! That is some incredible Val! I think it is enjoying its environment. Great look tank by the way. I like the look of a half circle tank, i think this is the first i've seen on here. I am new to all this though, so all you others out there, please don't get offended.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

drazend said:


> WOW! That is some incredible Val! I think it is enjoying its environment. Great look tank by the way. I like the look of a half circle tank, i think this is the first i've seen on here. I am new to all this though, so all you others out there, please don't get offended.


Why should anyone be offended at all. Thank you for the compliment. 

I liked the tank but I'm moving on to bigger and better soon.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Tank is recovering well. Ludwigia is redder in this tank than my high light tank with co2! Val's are already sending out new runners. Will have more plantlets soon.


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Ludwigia 'red'








Here I a shot of the tank in my living room and house plants.


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## tomfromstlouis (Apr 2, 2012)

That is a great looking tank frrok.

You could of course get the same look with a different val that does not grow as tall and your cronic rescaping syndrome would be solved. 

You knew this. Carry on.


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Beautiful tank


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

GMYukonon24s said:


> Beautiful tank


Thank you!


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## Silmarwen (Sep 21, 2012)

I've been considering a half-moon recently, but I wasn't sure what sort of things I could do with it. But this is absolutely lovely, and an inspiration to boot!


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## frrok (May 22, 2011)

Silmarwen said:


> I've been considering a half-moon recently, but I wasn't sure what sort of things I could do with it. But this is absolutely lovely, and an inspiration to boot!


Thank you for the nice compliment. The half moon is def a challenge to scape. But if you do it right it can look fantastic. Tall plants look great in it.


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## ShawneeRiver (Aug 31, 2011)

frrok said:


> I would def change out that LED light as soon as you can. It doesn't grow plants. I emailed tetra and they told me its not powerful enough. The light I'm using currently is an archaea 27w twin power compact. Go to Adana-usa.com. It's about $70. With the plants you have it will grow plans perfectly. Are you using an enriched substrate? I'm using a dirt substrate with Eco-complete cap. Read through my thread and you can find more info. Good start!


Ahh, I'm still loving your tank. I just looked at this thread again, and I wanted to say that the light that came with the tank is not so bad. Here's my tank with the stock lighting and a bit of supplementing with a desk lamp. I'm surprised it grew in so well.


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