fordayzbro

From HHF, I usually buy a few nice pieces every now and then just to have a selection of hardscape materials

Looking forward to the tank build. Any ideas for the hardscape, plant choice etc? By the looks of the tank stand.... 2 x 150w MH's?

Running an Eheim 2224 with mech and bio. The wave maker is for extra flow to reduce the 'deadspots' The diffuser is now under the inlet pipe to increase Co2 distribution

UPDATE :oops: Due to a very busy schedule recently and being away from home a lot over the last 2 months, the tank has taken a slide. My family has been daily dosing ferts and keeping up with weekly water changes but it looks like my Co2 has run out at some stage resulting in a few algae outbreaks. I had to hack to glosso right back as it was growing all over itself causing the bottom layer to slowly die.

Before you throw your plants out and start again, you need to look at what plants are suitable for your set-up. It's pointless adding plants that need high light, Co2 and plenty of ferts if your running a low tech tank. Could you please list the tank specs and the plants you are having troubles with?

Not native's I know...... :oops: From my first tank in London Amano Red Crystal

Here you go http://www.fish-street.com/professional ... ory_id=104 works well for me but you would need an adaptor for sodastream

I think it only contains iron and potassium so lots of essentials missing. Try some PMDD from TM. should contain all micros and macros

UPDATE More moss and some Riccia added (thanks Sam!) Hairgrass and Glosso starting to spread nicely, the stems will be topped and replanted soon. A couple small outbreaks of diatoms but no other algae yet. Now full E.I dosing with 1.5mls of excel daily and Co2 running 1.5bps

I have one and he's awesome, he does have a fetish for toilet paper though..... :facepalm:

I got them from ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/Utopia-Tools-Profes ... 255447bc7b

UPDATE Needle leaf from the middle has been moved, I'm hoping now the glosso will fill that gap. Will switch to full E.I dosing this weekend. A few signs of diatoms but nothing major

They look nice...... Depends on what you're wanting to do, these sorts of 'out of the box' tanks have limitations with lighting and filtration. It's like buying a stereo, do you go for the all in one system or buy individuel components?.... components will always have more flexibility.

40w for 40L sounds a bit much. Turn off one of the bulbs, manually remove as much as you can with a toothbrush and daily dose with excel.

Thanks! UPDATE 10 Cardinals added. No signs of algae yet.... still waiting for the new tank diatoms to show, I'm reluctant to trim the plants until the algae stage is past. I'm only half EI dosing at the moment and have the Co2 running 1.5bps. Waterchanges are every 3 days. I'm not happy with the needle leaf in the middle, it's too distracting.

I have some setup photos if anyones interested........

Scapes finished... went for something totally different from the original plan, this should easier to maintain. :roll: This photo taken 3 hours after filling

How's that going?

This scape has finally come to an end..... &c:ry Lots of lessons learnt along the way, onto the next one. Cheers

100w is quite a bit of light.... Ferts make the difference IMO, you will see unbelievable growth from your plants with the correct dosing. I would stay with your current set-up and get the fert routine sorted before upgrading to high powered lights. BTW, glad your fish are o.k

Check out Tom Barr's site, he's the guru. I'm dosing straight dry ferts atm. works sweet

UPDATE Now a holding tank, some fierce pearling going on with EI dosing. Will be running this tank till the new ones grown in. Sorry for the poor photo, was mucking about with back lighting. Way to bright.

Start dosing ferts and your plants will grow crazy... PMDD

How heavily planted is your tank? It should be relevant to the amount of Co2 you are injecting. Also, all your fert dosing should be done in the morning before lights come on to encourage photosynthesis. By injecting Co2 you must match with increased fert dosing to make the most of it. Have you thought about investing in a dropchecker? I've seen them on TM for quite cheap and will give you an early warning when Co2 levels are dangerous.