phoenix44 Posted May 1, 2010 Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 And tomorrow I get to take some of the plants out. Mixed feeling about it all really, but the red arcuata will be cropped down as will some of the repens and the polysperma sunset on the RHS. Funnily enough there are fish in this tank, one of them even took the liberty of coming out just after I took these pics. I'v attempted to take pictures of the tank to show all its plants - though that is not possible as many many crypts and swords (at least 100+ plants) are hidden. Volume - 200L Lighting - 4 x 54W T5 HO @ 18000K powerglo 1x 6800K plant pro T8 1x actinic blue (flowering response) T8 DIY CO2 with pollen glass diffusers. Water - pH 7.0 natural Ammonia 0.0 Nitrate / Nitrite 0.0 Phosphate ? - will update Filtration - 2 x Fluval® 405, one with modded eheim expansion set. 1 x eheim® pro II 2028 with complete expansion set. Flora - Too many to name Fauna - Won't bother, but there are LOADS of fish in there somewhere. Other - 7 pieces of medium/large sized driftwood about 30 - 40 cm each (yes you can come over and count them if you don't believe me) 1 large piece of schist to ensure plants do not grow there. This acts as a grazing ground for my plecos, cories, synos and discus. Loads of salt. Background - Black Vinyl from Spotlight® Water Change Regime - 2-4, 30%-40% cold water changes per week. Mainly for the plants. Treatments - Seachem Prime Stress Coat Cycle Flourish Comprehensive NitraBan if I leave home for extended periods. In filter - Phoszorb, Nitrazorb Pictures - (This pic is stored in png format and the colours went a bit wonky. Least it looks like that on my screen). I am considering getting a fairly large shoal of ember tetras. Sort of want cardinals but I'll get bored of them I think. Will switch to Hi-Tech CO2 relatively soon. The foreground plant is s. microfolia. it is interesting to see how some has grow tall and some short. same batch of plants, same conditions. All were chopped to the roots and put in the tank so new leaves could grow. Guess which side of the tank gets CO2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisP Posted May 1, 2010 Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 the RIGHT side! umm.. If I bought a spray bar, would it be possible to combine the co2 into the spray bar? (it would be underwater) anyone done this/any ideas? Also, tank is looking good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted May 1, 2010 Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 wow, its a jungle out there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douwe Posted May 1, 2010 Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 very nice heavily planted, if you get it that far without CO2 why bother putting CO2 in? a real dutch tank Hopefully I will get that far some day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted May 1, 2010 Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 How do you keep the algae at bay with so much light and only DIY CO²? Looking great though 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2010 very nice heavily planted, if you get it that far without CO2 why bother putting CO2 in? a real dutch tank Hopefully I will get that far some day Thanks! I've always wanted to go back to having a pressurised setup, so I can grow a couple of other plants as well. How do you keep the algae at bay with so much light and only DIY CO²? I dunno. The only algae problem I've ever had in the years of keeping fish was that bad staghorn algae outbreak that is gone now. not sure what my phosphate level is but at one point is was really really high, and I had no algae. With all those plants, I only clean the gravel once every 6 months or so. This is also because there is no gravel vac that can reach the rear wall of the tank without destroying the plants. I really really like dutch tanks. Something about all the colours and the relative ease of setting them up and maintaining them is a positive for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 How do you keep the algae at bay with so much light and only DIY CO²? Looking great though 8) lotsa plecos? looking good bro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordayzbro Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 Sweet! \ 30 neons! They might stand out better with all the colour in your tank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 A large shoal of Lampeye killies would not detract from the coloured plants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 How about those new Odessa barbs that have come in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 Nah no barbs in this tank. Was actually just talking about clowin killies today, but they will definitely jump out really quick. Going back to get some cardinals tomorrow or so, and if i dont like them i can get rid of them and get ember tetras. Ill start with maybe 10 cardinals and work up from there. They may not like the tank, so I don't want to get ahead of myself and get like 30 of them. Maybe embers and cardinals, but a smaller group of cardinals. (very badly want lampeyes though). lotsa plecos? looking good bro. naah, none of my plecos will eat algae. the hypans eat hikari and raw prawns and the panaques eat hikari and courgette. spotty bn's eat courgette and hikari etc and prawn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 why would you think cardinals wouldn't like the tank? I found mine were more happy when the plants grew higher, the higher the plants the higher up the water column they would hang about in one of them could be especially quite scaredy after a prune Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 How many hours are your lights on every day? How many mL of flourish do you dose, and with what frequency? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 I will see what I can do about the lamps after I have sorted Stu out with some - seem to have an abundance of boys at the moment, but have a few juvies growing out. Mine are well trained in the 'do not jump or else', stakes And since I am now NZKA Species controller - you have to make an effort to breed them or I will not give you any! They should manage this in your jungle, providing you have no surface dwelling fry eaters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 why would you think cardinals wouldn't like the tank? I dunno. some fish just don't like me I guess. :lol: How many hours are your lights on every day? How many mL of flourish do you dose, and with what frequency? err... well. they come on when i wake up, and go off when i sleep, so any where from a minimum of 12 hours to a max of 15-18 hours a day? I put like 5-10mL of comprehensive when i do a water-change... not always though. sometimes i put it in just to make myself feel happy :oops: I have a 2L bottle that lives in the fridge. And since I am now NZKA Species controller - you have to make an effort to breed them or I will not give you any! They should manage this in your jungle, providing you have no surface dwelling fry eaters. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good... no wait.. i mean, I solemnly swear that I have no surface predators.... yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 they will love you if you give them live food... mine went from semi alive dither fish to cold hearted beady eyed killers who would chase each other to steal a worm from their mouths! and swimming at funny angles to get their eyes close to the worm before pouncing haha... much more interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 Very nice P44, with all that light it will be as if the tank is getting full sun. There is no algae because you have a lot of plants. If you remove any plants, do it only in small amounts or you will offset the balance. But why add nitrates and phosphates and then remove them with absorbers? Plants will not do well without phosphates and nitrates so with all that growth the absorbers must certainly be getting spent very soon after you add them (the ferts will be usable to the plants once the absorbers are spent). With that many plants, they will be the best absorbers you can get. Do you have substrate ferts? If so, I can see why you do weekly water changes, but you shouldn't need to do it more than once weekly. The plants will keep that water very clean - the only thing you will be adding with all those water changes is dissolved CO2 so if you change the water change regime, you will need to add a bit more CO2. I reckon a shoal of these would look unreal: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 I can see why you do weekly water changes, but you shouldn't need to do it more than once weekly. Ahem. Discus. Ron will beat me up if I don't do water changes hahaha. I reckon a shoal of these would look unreal: yeah, they would. pity about the outrageous prices though :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisP Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 Those fish look amazing. Outrageous pricing? How much per...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted May 2, 2010 Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 Ahem. Discus. Ron will beat me up if I don't do water changes hahaha. Oh, I thought you originally said you are doing it more for the plants. But that's right, with juvi discus you need to keep those water changes up!! yeah, they would. pity about the outrageous prices though :lol: Er, is this the same person with thousands of dollars of fish plants and lights on that tank? :roll: Come on, some Pseudomugil furcatus will be so cool. Green fire tetras are nice too though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2010 :lol: I suppose. haha. plants need loads of water changes so that they grow newer nicer leaves ive heard. the old leaves periodically get hacked from my tank. except for swords and crypts. Discus aren't exactly juvi any more, but its a good habit haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 I bought some cardinal tetras today. They are floating in the bag at the moment, but I think ive made the right decision cause they look very very bright and good with the plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 No regrets with this purchase. Will add more over the coming weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquila Posted May 3, 2010 Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 Ahhh can't see the fish the plants are too bright!! JK Looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted May 3, 2010 Report Share Posted May 3, 2010 lol... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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