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I Donated 2026
I've been consuming tons of information from this amazing forum and decided its time to start my own journal.
One, to get constructive criticism/suggestions on how to improve which would be most welcome and two, just to show other approaches to starting a new tank as everyone thinks a bit differently and to see other peoples perspective.
I only started using pressurised CO2 about 18 months ago so haven't been in the hobby that long.
The first pic below was of said attempt starting with CO2. The other reason for showing that tank is I'm using the same physical tank and also starting off the new setup with plants from that tank.
Speaking of the tank, as you will see in the first pic of the new build it is an old second hand rimmed tank with less than stellar glass. In my list of planned upgrades one of them will be to order a low iron rimless tank so I can actually appreciate what's inside it. I can never get a photo to show a clear shot of the tank. Its not a great tank but it is definitely clearer than what the photos show. I think the camera really highlights how crappy the glass is lol.
No direct inspiration here apart from including a reasonable amount of hardscape and probably having a more nature style tank, so not so formal.
I've had a large piece of driftwood hanging around that I've wanted to use in a scape. I've used it previously in a larger tank but was a fish only tank. I do know after a year submerged (tied down) it still went straight to the top when released/untied so is basically unsinkable. Not sure of the type of wood though.
I also cut it in half depth wise as it was too large for a 4 foot tank.
After trying to glue it to rocks around it etc I filled the tank...and of course all went to hell. The driftwood wanted to get to the surface so bad it broke away from the glue LOL. So I had to start the scape with a large rock sitting on it and the driftwood in a different position from where it started. Temporary at first but now I plan to cover the rock with epiphytes etc so it should be ok eventually, just not so much right now. One of those it is what it is. I'm only playing around here anyways.
I'll also say, as per the heading of this journal, I'm treating this as an experimental tank, not even close to a show tank. I'll purchase a nice tank when I think I'm at a level where I deserve to bring it justice so not yet. Hopefully this tank will bring me a long way towards that point.
I've only previously used organic soil capped with sand (so the classic dirted tank). That provides good growth for around 6 months or so but if a lot of the organics start rising up and leaching into the water column, its not such a great setup for high tech tanks. Ask how I know!
I've never used aqua soil. I would like to try one day but for now decided to skip that and go straight to inert. Encouraged purely by some of you on here that have been using BDBS. That is what I would like to have used but not readily available in Aus so I'm using pool filter sand for this rendition.
Apologies for the rambling, onto the details.
Started around 5th January, did the full changeover from the old setup
Tank size:
Filter
Wave maker / power head
- Aqua One 8000 reef sim (apart from obviously to help circulation - was mainly put in here to help with the CO2 distribution - so is now situated at the opposite end of the tank to the filter outlet/inlet) Flow from 528 G/H to 2113 G/H. Have it on the lowest setting and probably still too strong
CO2
Water
- Tap (GH 7 KH 6), PH is around 7.6-7.8 out of the tank - at the moment
Substrate
- Pool filter sand only
Lighting
Initial plant list (as mentioned just selecting some from previous iteration of this tank)
I've deliberately not used what i call starter plants to kick it off as I find they can take over easily in a high tech tank, then you have to gradually rip them all out. I know a higher risk of more algae without them but lets go!
Ferts
Water change
- Currently around 55% weekly (I will be refining this a bit more too. I have a TDS meter now so will be working out exact water change volume using Rocco's TDS method which will also help with refining the fert dosing)
Current fish list
I plan to gradually increase the rainbow collection a bit too over time. Love the Boseman's
Other miscellaneous stuff
Upgrades planned
Ferts uptake and adjusting over time:
My initial aim is to try and avoid the infamous diatom stage by using a slightly reduced light schedule and ferts to start the tank.
First impressions for me is the driftwood is too large for this tank but it is a different piece so will persevere whilst in this tank.
Anyways the pic of the tank before I pulled it down;
Start of the new scape.
You can really see the crappy condition of the tank here with the scratches, water stains etc. I'm not too bothered though. It will make me more look forward when I eventually get a nice tank.
Just after filling up and initial planting. You can see the big heavy rock on the right. Without it, the driftwood shoots all over the place.
Noting that entire lot of MC melted soon after this, it wasn't in the best condition when it started though. Hoping it will eventually start up again. I'm patient, uhmm kind of!
One, to get constructive criticism/suggestions on how to improve which would be most welcome and two, just to show other approaches to starting a new tank as everyone thinks a bit differently and to see other peoples perspective.
I only started using pressurised CO2 about 18 months ago so haven't been in the hobby that long.
The first pic below was of said attempt starting with CO2. The other reason for showing that tank is I'm using the same physical tank and also starting off the new setup with plants from that tank.
Speaking of the tank, as you will see in the first pic of the new build it is an old second hand rimmed tank with less than stellar glass. In my list of planned upgrades one of them will be to order a low iron rimless tank so I can actually appreciate what's inside it. I can never get a photo to show a clear shot of the tank. Its not a great tank but it is definitely clearer than what the photos show. I think the camera really highlights how crappy the glass is lol.
No direct inspiration here apart from including a reasonable amount of hardscape and probably having a more nature style tank, so not so formal.
I've had a large piece of driftwood hanging around that I've wanted to use in a scape. I've used it previously in a larger tank but was a fish only tank. I do know after a year submerged (tied down) it still went straight to the top when released/untied so is basically unsinkable. Not sure of the type of wood though.
I also cut it in half depth wise as it was too large for a 4 foot tank.
After trying to glue it to rocks around it etc I filled the tank...and of course all went to hell. The driftwood wanted to get to the surface so bad it broke away from the glue LOL. So I had to start the scape with a large rock sitting on it and the driftwood in a different position from where it started. Temporary at first but now I plan to cover the rock with epiphytes etc so it should be ok eventually, just not so much right now. One of those it is what it is. I'm only playing around here anyways.
I'll also say, as per the heading of this journal, I'm treating this as an experimental tank, not even close to a show tank. I'll purchase a nice tank when I think I'm at a level where I deserve to bring it justice so not yet. Hopefully this tank will bring me a long way towards that point.
I've only previously used organic soil capped with sand (so the classic dirted tank). That provides good growth for around 6 months or so but if a lot of the organics start rising up and leaching into the water column, its not such a great setup for high tech tanks. Ask how I know!
I've never used aqua soil. I would like to try one day but for now decided to skip that and go straight to inert. Encouraged purely by some of you on here that have been using BDBS. That is what I would like to have used but not readily available in Aus so I'm using pool filter sand for this rendition.
Apologies for the rambling, onto the details.
Started around 5th January, did the full changeover from the old setup
Tank size:
- 122 cm x 47 cm deep x 45 cm high (uhmm so in imperial 48" x 18.5" x 17.5")
- Litres/gallons - 258 litres / 68 Gallons
Filter
- Just what I have on hand and had been using in the tank (Aqua One Nautilus 1100) so around 290 G/H so of course in reality a lot less than that. Only filled mainly with sponges though, limited the bio media.
- I have a perfectly working FX5 sitting in the shed gathering dust but I think too powerful for this size tank. That connected to a Yugang reactor though and one inch lily pipes could be a good combo. Will have to think about that for the future.
Wave maker / power head
- Aqua One 8000 reef sim (apart from obviously to help circulation - was mainly put in here to help with the CO2 distribution - so is now situated at the opposite end of the tank to the filter outlet/inlet) Flow from 528 G/H to 2113 G/H. Have it on the lowest setting and probably still too strong
CO2
- Aqualabs Pro dual stage regulator (recently added this, replacing a cheap chinese one from ebay - about 6 times the cost!)
- Aqualabs inline diffuser
- Gets to around 45 ppm but I need to do some more refined testing ( I only have the JBL CO2 kit but seems to be working ok)
- CO2 starts 3.5 hours before lights start and 4 hours before lights build up to their set level.
Water
- Tap (GH 7 KH 6), PH is around 7.6-7.8 out of the tank - at the moment
Substrate
- Pool filter sand only
Lighting
- Week Aqua L1200 (using Red preset at R - 64%, G - 71% B - 44% and UV - 90%) TBH not sure the UV light does much but it is what it is.
- So the lights aren't on that high, I started off the tank even lower but crept it up to what it is now.
Initial plant list (as mentioned just selecting some from previous iteration of this tank)
- MC as the front carpet
- Hygrophila corymbosa (restricted this quite a bit as it grows too fast with direct CO2 access) so hidden in the opposite corner to CO2 lol
- One amazon sword - I wanted to keep one in here to prove you don't need rich substrate
- Crypt wendtii brown - similar to above
- Ludwigia repens
- Helanthium bolivianum 'Quadricostatus (I think thats what it is or similar. produces runners like nothing on earth but a nice looking plant. Thats the one in the back right corner in the first photo of the new setup)
- AR Mini
- Hydrocotyle tripartite mini
- Limnophila Aromatica
I've deliberately not used what i call starter plants to kick it off as I find they can take over easily in a high tech tank, then you have to gradually rip them all out. I know a higher risk of more algae without them but lets go!
Ferts
- DIY Macros and micro mix - Rexolin APN (dosed for water tank volume)
- Started 9/2/20 now 10/2.5/20 (yes I know quite low for an inert substrate compared to most and will gradually increase this in time)
- Front load around 50% Macros, then the rest dosed throughout the week - only just started this method to try and limit the swings during the week
- Micros dose evenly throughout the week adding up to 0.45 fe / week
Water change
- Currently around 55% weekly (I will be refining this a bit more too. I have a TDS meter now so will be working out exact water change volume using Rocco's TDS method which will also help with refining the fert dosing)
Current fish list
- Around maybe 15 Rummy nose
- 4 SAE's
- Couple of oto's
- 4 Corys
- 6 Crimson spotted Rainbows ( i received these in a swap, plants for rainbows )
I plan to gradually increase the rainbow collection a bit too over time. Love the Boseman's
Other miscellaneous stuff
- Fluval SK400 surface skimmer (seemed like a little toy when I first set it up but does an ok job actually)
- Aqualabs pro skim lily pipes, and added quick release to the filter hosing to get to these easily. They are glass.
- Inkbird wifi heater control
Upgrades planned
- RO/DI - Just received but need a few more bits and pieces then I'll introduce the RO water over a 4 week period (25/50/75/100). I plan to remineralise to around 5dGH (4:1 for CA:MG), wont be adding any dKH, again following you guys lead here. I think this will be a huge upgrade as my tap water is sourced from a creek and is inconsistent. PH varies between 7 and 8 and KH has risen from 4 to 6 over the last few months.
- CO2 reactor - Looking at the Yugang of course. This will also I think make a big difference compared to inline diffusers. When setting up the tank I put in some work to try and determine the best flow to maximise CO2 distribution but still think I haven't got it right.
- New tank - as mentioned above
- Possible auto fert doser for the next tank
Ferts uptake and adjusting over time:
- The NO3 seems to provide a consistent 10 ppm before each water change which is the same amount I'm dosing now. Coincidence or is it only using what's readily available in the system. I know with slower growing plants and not a huge plant mass the uptake is obviously less.
- PO4 - similar story, test (which I'm not sure how accurate it is) seems to provide a consistent result of 2 ppm, again similar to what I have been dosing.
- I'll gradually increase both and see where I can find the sweet spot but may wait mainly till after the RO/DI is running.
My initial aim is to try and avoid the infamous diatom stage by using a slightly reduced light schedule and ferts to start the tank.
First impressions for me is the driftwood is too large for this tank but it is a different piece so will persevere whilst in this tank.
Anyways the pic of the tank before I pulled it down;
Start of the new scape.
You can really see the crappy condition of the tank here with the scratches, water stains etc. I'm not too bothered though. It will make me more look forward when I eventually get a nice tank.
Just after filling up and initial planting. You can see the big heavy rock on the right. Without it, the driftwood shoots all over the place.
Noting that entire lot of MC melted soon after this, it wasn't in the best condition when it started though. Hoping it will eventually start up again. I'm patient, uhmm kind of!
38 Replies
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3315 views
Supporting
I Donated 2026
Rockstar
Journal Attempting a True Dutch
This tank was a Dutch-ish tank before we moved 2 months ago. This was one of its last pictures, very overgrown I know.
This time I want to make it a true Dutch, so anyone can chime in and help me.
After we moved, it ran low-tech with just a few tissue cultures until this week when I finally had time and materials to finish setting it up. This is what it looks like now:
I know there’s some bubbles showing in the vinyl cling. I’m having trouble reaching back there to smooth it out. I’ll have to think about how to fix that, although when the plants grow in it may not be visible anyway. I did read that you can have 1 rock in a Dutch scape, so I kept one. I may put Monte Carlo on it again, I haven’t decided.
So, details…
Tank: UNS 90U, 68 gallons
Light: Week Aqua P900 Pro, current settings R 40%, G 51%, B 20%, UV 0, Fan 100, Power 51%.
8 hours of light with 30 min ramp up/down
Par—no idea
Filtration: Fluval Fx4, currently running at 75%. Any higher blows the fish around. I expect to be able to increase it when the plants are grown in.
CO2: Yugang stainless steel reactor, 370 mm long, working really well. I had to turn down the CO2 a bit today because the drop was more than I expected (from degassed 7.4 to 5.9). I’ve already changed the end cap to the medium setting, but I think I’m just going to make further adjustments with the regulator. Call it laziness, but since there aren’t any double taps available for the Fx4 tubing that’s going to be easier for me. Anyway, I really like it. It’s completely silent and does its job well.
Substrate: Aqua Natural Galaxy sand, with a few Aquarium Coop root tabs.
Other: Oase CrystalSkim 350 skimmer, Kactoily 6-in-1 water quality monitor
Fertilizer: Until today I’ve just been using Easy Green. Today I installed the Chihiro’s dosing system with PPS-Pro, 6 ml macros and 3 ml micros daily. On water change day, I’ll add another 2 ml macros. I’m currently changing 20% of the water once a week. I’ll increase if necessary.
Parameters: Ammonia and Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10 ppm, gH 6, kH 2, TDS 222, 70-74 F
Plants (mostly from @Burr740 thanks!):
Leopard Val
Echinodorus Aflame
Hydrocotyle Tripartita (coming)
Penthorum Sedioides
Crypt Wendtii Sindoor
Lobelia cardinalis mini
Bacopa colorata
Rotala (? back left corner)
Limnophila wilsonii
Nymphae Peru Puerto Maldonade
Rotala macrandra Kochi
Nymphoides Taiwan
I’m not sure I like the Leopard Val in there. Should I put it in my 125 gallon instead, and move the Limnophila wilsonii to that spot?
Fish:
1 Honey Flame Gourami
4 Ember tetras
8 Otos
2 Pygmy sunfish
4 Red neon blue-eyed rainbowfish
9 Pygmy Cory catfish
9 male Lime Green Endlers
1 Leopard Danio (last of a group)
A few random Amano and Neocaridina shrimp and snails
The fish list will change as I get more tanks set up. I would like to end up with just the gourami, Otos, Rainbowfish (but more of them), and Pygmy Cories.
Well, that’s a start. Thanks for reading!
This time I want to make it a true Dutch, so anyone can chime in and help me.
After we moved, it ran low-tech with just a few tissue cultures until this week when I finally had time and materials to finish setting it up. This is what it looks like now:
I know there’s some bubbles showing in the vinyl cling. I’m having trouble reaching back there to smooth it out. I’ll have to think about how to fix that, although when the plants grow in it may not be visible anyway. I did read that you can have 1 rock in a Dutch scape, so I kept one. I may put Monte Carlo on it again, I haven’t decided.
So, details…
Tank: UNS 90U, 68 gallons
Light: Week Aqua P900 Pro, current settings R 40%, G 51%, B 20%, UV 0, Fan 100, Power 51%.
8 hours of light with 30 min ramp up/down
Par—no idea
Filtration: Fluval Fx4, currently running at 75%. Any higher blows the fish around. I expect to be able to increase it when the plants are grown in.
CO2: Yugang stainless steel reactor, 370 mm long, working really well. I had to turn down the CO2 a bit today because the drop was more than I expected (from degassed 7.4 to 5.9). I’ve already changed the end cap to the medium setting, but I think I’m just going to make further adjustments with the regulator. Call it laziness, but since there aren’t any double taps available for the Fx4 tubing that’s going to be easier for me. Anyway, I really like it. It’s completely silent and does its job well.
Substrate: Aqua Natural Galaxy sand, with a few Aquarium Coop root tabs.
Other: Oase CrystalSkim 350 skimmer, Kactoily 6-in-1 water quality monitor
Fertilizer: Until today I’ve just been using Easy Green. Today I installed the Chihiro’s dosing system with PPS-Pro, 6 ml macros and 3 ml micros daily. On water change day, I’ll add another 2 ml macros. I’m currently changing 20% of the water once a week. I’ll increase if necessary.
Parameters: Ammonia and Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10 ppm, gH 6, kH 2, TDS 222, 70-74 F
Plants (mostly from @Burr740 thanks!):
Leopard Val
Echinodorus Aflame
Hydrocotyle Tripartita (coming)
Penthorum Sedioides
Crypt Wendtii Sindoor
Lobelia cardinalis mini
Bacopa colorata
Rotala (? back left corner)
Limnophila wilsonii
Nymphae Peru Puerto Maldonade
Rotala macrandra Kochi
Nymphoides Taiwan
I’m not sure I like the Leopard Val in there. Should I put it in my 125 gallon instead, and move the Limnophila wilsonii to that spot?
Fish:
1 Honey Flame Gourami
4 Ember tetras
8 Otos
2 Pygmy sunfish
4 Red neon blue-eyed rainbowfish
9 Pygmy Cory catfish
9 male Lime Green Endlers
1 Leopard Danio (last of a group)
A few random Amano and Neocaridina shrimp and snails
The fish list will change as I get more tanks set up. I would like to end up with just the gourami, Otos, Rainbowfish (but more of them), and Pygmy Cories.
Well, that’s a start. Thanks for reading!
285 Replies
·
29892 views
I Donated 2026
Expert in Residence
MOTM Winner
I have always liked Rotala florida as plant due to its strongly colored leaves, but realized that I haven't actually aquascaped much with it - meaning to integrate it as part of a layout and not just growing a bunch of it in farm/collector style tank. Using plants in a layout in tighter bunches, and in competition with surrounding plants/hardscape is much harder than growing it farm style in a single patch - it also means be able to shape/trim the bushes to match the overall curves of the layout.
Back in 2016 or so when I first received Rotala florida samples from north america, I could only grow it in sparser bunches. It looked nice in macro photographs but I could not envision using it an bush that would show off well as part of a layout unless I can grow it much denser. In the recent years, there were two main discoveries that I found in my experimentation, the first is that it grows better in moderate GH (5 dGH+) compared to super soft water (say <3dGH), and that it grew better in certain soil mixes (I experimented with different garden soil mixes when engineering the composition of APT Feast). Eventually I integrated some of the soil data into APT Feast's composition, and paired with the higher power lights readily available today, I find that I could finally grow the plant the way I envisioned as part of overall layout. I could prune it dense, as the base stems were healthy enough to sprout dense side shoots after trimming - and the secondary/tertiary shoot tips were as fully colored and sized similar to a primary shoot tip that hasn't been subjected to topping yet.
As a midground stem, it works very well due to its slower growth rate vs other colored stem plants.
Against the deep purple of Rotala florida, I found that Golden white clouds worked quite well. So now they are the main inhabitants of the tank.
Tank this week (25/6/2025)
Tank started out like this:
A week or 2 after initial planting (5/5/2025). I reused old aquasoil from the previous scape, so I planted all plants up front rather than waiting more time for the tank to stabilize, with the idea that I could out-grow any algae issues. Initially wanted to add H. Chai but it really didn't fit the overall color scheme, and the bushes by the side were too invasive to be compatible with having a chai patch I think.
Since it was going to contain Rotala florida, I thought I might as well throw in other high demand troublesome species such as the Red Eriocaulon quinguangulare, blood vomit. I settled on Rotala tulunadensis for the background as I wanted something dense and shapeable.
Tank specs:
60x36x36cm
Filter: Oase biomaster 250, all sponge media
CO2 injected through inline atomizer
Substrate: APT Feast
Water column: APT Sky to raise GH to 5dGH, 2ml of APTe per day.
Light distance. Interestingly, not crazy high PAR - just around 200-250 umols PAR at the substrate level.
Trimming and shaping: Most bushes were shaped by cutting individual outlier shoots one by one. Only Rotala blood red and the Rotala tulunadensis was straight trimmed across the entire top once.
This is how the Rotala tulunadensis looked like after a straight trim on 29/5/2025. About 3 weeks from when the top picture at top of this page was taken. It took the plant a whole week + to show new shoots. It seems straight trimming slows down the plant quite a bit, but allows for a very dense & neat canopy afterwards.
There are some interesting plants stuffed here and there. Some Eriocaulon caulescens? bolivia? that local hobbyists passed on to me. Carved out a patch for Syngonanthus vichada - slow grower, but the couple of babies that came have doubled in size so I think they should be alright. I think I will move them to a larger tank with more space.
Only discovered the color combination with the Golden white clouds when the tank matured, but its one of my favourite fish-plant combinations now. I think that while some of the species are a bit picky about growth conditions, one thing I really like about this tank is that most things have moderate/slow growth rates, which makes maintenance with regards to removing excess growth less tedious.
Elatine triandra is used as a low growing green filler plant - it does this role well. As it does not root very deeply, I can easily cut and pull off excess growth easily. Its the fasting growing plant in the layout that requires frequent removal of excess growth.
Some more close-ups.
I'm trying to replicate concepts of this layout (slowing growing bushes) into my 4ft tank.
Back in 2016 or so when I first received Rotala florida samples from north america, I could only grow it in sparser bunches. It looked nice in macro photographs but I could not envision using it an bush that would show off well as part of a layout unless I can grow it much denser. In the recent years, there were two main discoveries that I found in my experimentation, the first is that it grows better in moderate GH (5 dGH+) compared to super soft water (say <3dGH), and that it grew better in certain soil mixes (I experimented with different garden soil mixes when engineering the composition of APT Feast). Eventually I integrated some of the soil data into APT Feast's composition, and paired with the higher power lights readily available today, I find that I could finally grow the plant the way I envisioned as part of overall layout. I could prune it dense, as the base stems were healthy enough to sprout dense side shoots after trimming - and the secondary/tertiary shoot tips were as fully colored and sized similar to a primary shoot tip that hasn't been subjected to topping yet.
As a midground stem, it works very well due to its slower growth rate vs other colored stem plants.
Against the deep purple of Rotala florida, I found that Golden white clouds worked quite well. So now they are the main inhabitants of the tank.
Tank this week (25/6/2025)
Tank started out like this:
A week or 2 after initial planting (5/5/2025). I reused old aquasoil from the previous scape, so I planted all plants up front rather than waiting more time for the tank to stabilize, with the idea that I could out-grow any algae issues. Initially wanted to add H. Chai but it really didn't fit the overall color scheme, and the bushes by the side were too invasive to be compatible with having a chai patch I think.
Since it was going to contain Rotala florida, I thought I might as well throw in other high demand troublesome species such as the Red Eriocaulon quinguangulare, blood vomit. I settled on Rotala tulunadensis for the background as I wanted something dense and shapeable.
Tank specs:
60x36x36cm
Filter: Oase biomaster 250, all sponge media
CO2 injected through inline atomizer
Substrate: APT Feast
Water column: APT Sky to raise GH to 5dGH, 2ml of APTe per day.
Light distance. Interestingly, not crazy high PAR - just around 200-250 umols PAR at the substrate level.
Trimming and shaping: Most bushes were shaped by cutting individual outlier shoots one by one. Only Rotala blood red and the Rotala tulunadensis was straight trimmed across the entire top once.
This is how the Rotala tulunadensis looked like after a straight trim on 29/5/2025. About 3 weeks from when the top picture at top of this page was taken. It took the plant a whole week + to show new shoots. It seems straight trimming slows down the plant quite a bit, but allows for a very dense & neat canopy afterwards.
There are some interesting plants stuffed here and there. Some Eriocaulon caulescens? bolivia? that local hobbyists passed on to me. Carved out a patch for Syngonanthus vichada - slow grower, but the couple of babies that came have doubled in size so I think they should be alright. I think I will move them to a larger tank with more space.
Only discovered the color combination with the Golden white clouds when the tank matured, but its one of my favourite fish-plant combinations now. I think that while some of the species are a bit picky about growth conditions, one thing I really like about this tank is that most things have moderate/slow growth rates, which makes maintenance with regards to removing excess growth less tedious.
Elatine triandra is used as a low growing green filler plant - it does this role well. As it does not root very deeply, I can easily cut and pull off excess growth easily. Its the fasting growing plant in the layout that requires frequent removal of excess growth.
Some more close-ups.
I'm trying to replicate concepts of this layout (slowing growing bushes) into my 4ft tank.
244 Replies
·
36537 views
I have a wonderful stand of erio feather duster that has been algae free for well over a year.
Wnen I firts got it, tufts of bba would form on it on tips and I would just pull them off…
This summer my display tank has been struggling with simmering algae issues.
Still doing weekly 2/3 water changes, keeping nutrient levels and all stable, trimming away degraded leaves…
My erio is in sad shape…
I have tried spraying peroxide on it when doing water changes, laying the mass on a cafeteria tray and spraying on full strength and letting it set for 10 minutes before refilling to no avail.
I gave the fikters a thorough cleaning out, andremoved and reset plant groupings after thoroughly gravel vaccing the bdbs to remove organics…
Iam starting to think giving the erio a good hair cut way down low and letting it send up all new leaves.
Figure I would poll the audience before taking any such action…
Wnen I firts got it, tufts of bba would form on it on tips and I would just pull them off…
This summer my display tank has been struggling with simmering algae issues.
Still doing weekly 2/3 water changes, keeping nutrient levels and all stable, trimming away degraded leaves…
My erio is in sad shape…
I have tried spraying peroxide on it when doing water changes, laying the mass on a cafeteria tray and spraying on full strength and letting it set for 10 minutes before refilling to no avail.
I gave the fikters a thorough cleaning out, andremoved and reset plant groupings after thoroughly gravel vaccing the bdbs to remove organics…
Iam starting to think giving the erio a good hair cut way down low and letting it send up all new leaves.
Figure I would poll the audience before taking any such action…
6 Replies
·
117 views
Rockstar
Journal 62G AIO Dirty Soil Lagoon
Well I’m done talking about it, it’s time to get this journal started.
I have been really out of it the last year or so in terms of maintaining my own tank, mainly out of frustration with time constraints and inconsistency with dosing etc. However, I have now acquired a dream tank, rimless and with low iron glass like I’ve always wanted. While I loved having a sump and prided myself on putting it together, I’m past that desire. The AIO allows the same benefits with hiding equipment, and overall easier maintenance without climbing in and out of cabinets. Now onto the details of this build.
Tank: Planet Aquariums Tideline 62 Gallon AIO Lagoon
Filtration: (2) 250gph pumps on either side of the tank with center overflow into socks (I’m going to punch holes in the socks for now and stuff with polyfill, reviews state the socks clog way too quickly and there is no replacement sock as the insert is not the common round style). The baffles will be stuffed with the poret foam I have already from my sump for extra mechanical/biological.
Substrate: The bottom layer will comprise of bagged pond soil/peat/earthworm castings/ STS. This will be a thin layer and will mainly act as filler to raise up the cap of APT Feast. This is similar to a substrate setup I did when I first started back up in 2020, And that tank did very well. While capping with sand and relying on the dirt to feed the stems worked well, it did require a little more effort on my end with dosing. I don’t trust myself to be as diligent as some members on here are with their inert subs, so I’m taking the mulligan and using aquasoil as a cap, hence, “dirty soil.” This will be another island style layout, and the surrounding substrate will be comprised of Caribsea Carolina Creek Sand.
Hardscape: River rock (local hardscape center sourced) and malaysian driftwood. I have recently acquired another large piece of wood and I’m sourcing new stone this week, as what I have just isn’t meshing with my current vision for the tank.
Plants: …. I have not solidified my vision of what this scape will look like just yet as I haven’t been able to setup the hardscape to outline the island. The plan is to use a good amount of colorful stems, epiphytes, and potentially moss.
Lighting: I will be ordering the Week Aqua Z400 this week and am excited to test it out.
That’s all for now, more pictures and details to come. I should hopefully have the hardscape setup by the end of this coming week after acquiring more stone and wood.
CO2: Almost forgot, for Co2 injection I have made a DIY Yugang with a locking food storage container. It will be stored in the cabinet and the hook will feed into the return pump chamber on the right. I initially was bummed that I had to sacrifice storage to fit a 5lb CO2 tank under the stand, which also meant getting rid of of the 20lb tank I’ve only been having to fill twice a year. @GreggZ Will appreciate this, my awesome father in law suggested that I hide the co2 tank in the pantry closet which is directly behind that wall and just drill a hole for the co2 line. Since my father in laws word is pure gold in my wife’s eyes, that suggestion was approved! He’s just as much my dad too so I appreciated him supporting the project
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Browsed the Sreepadma booth at Aquashella briefly today. I'd not heard of them but they are the largest aquatic plant farm in India and have been selling their TC offerings in the US for about 2 years. I was actually impressed with the qualty I was seeing of their TC cups and wish I had room in a tank for some (and some ADA TC). Has anyone else purchased any of their plants. One of the first that I spotted was Red Tiger Crypt which was a coincidence since we have a thread discussing it.
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Well...let's spend more money! I had thought about attending Aquashella - Chicago a few months ago but decided to pass this year. When I was thinking about it, they still didn't have the specific VIP guest list posted. Out of curiosity, I checked today and to my surprise, the man himself, Yusuke Homma, will be presenting the masterclass on Saturday. I can't pass that up when it's only an 8 hour drive. Ticket purchased, room booked. Anyone else attending?
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I hadn't seen it mentioned by others that attended Aquashella, but if you hadn't already heard about it or seen it in Aquashella videos, ADA has come out with Amazonia Pro. It's not a replacement for Version 2, but an addition. It is essentially Version 2 on steroids with higher nutrients and of course the negative side effect of potentially higher initial ammonia leaching and, if your not prepared and skilled, more chance of algae. That's even from the mouth of Homma-san himself. The scaping competitors were using it in the competition and AFA was selling 9l bags at the show. They said it would be available on the website within the next couple weeks.
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Hello Welcome, TheBurn
Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @TheBurn!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
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PVAS Fall Fish Shrimp Plant and Dry Goods Auction is this Saturday!
Twice a year PVAS holds an All-Day Auction & Tag Sale: Auctions are free and open to the public.
Registration opens at 9:30 am, Tag Sale opens at 10:00 am, and auction bidding begins at 10:30 am. Sometimes there is a short break for lunch. Raffles usually occur about 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm. Bidding usually wraps up about 4:00 pm but continues until everything is sold.
All buyers and sellers must be registered at
www.MyGroupAuctions.com. 
Sign in to see what's available! 14 pages of auction items are listed so far
Twice a year PVAS holds an All-Day Auction & Tag Sale: Auctions are free and open to the public.
Registration opens at 9:30 am, Tag Sale opens at 10:00 am, and auction bidding begins at 10:30 am. Sometimes there is a short break for lunch. Raffles usually occur about 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm. Bidding usually wraps up about 4:00 pm but continues until everything is sold.
All buyers and sellers must be registered at
www.MyGroupAuctions.com. Sign in to see what's available! 14 pages of auction items are listed so far
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Journal MrJG - UNS 90L
@Sb1415 Apologies I totally snagged the format of your journal post for this so thank you!
Many moons ago I was an active and contributing member on plantedtank.net, I think at one point I had around 14 scaped tanks going before burnout and life changes. Instead of weekends consisting of maintenance I transitioned to camping/boating and life has been great. I’ve always missed it. After downsizing and making a move to a new home I kept only a small 12x12 cube tank that started life as an amateur iwagumi layout, Seiryu and hairgrass only. I put it on the nightstand beside my bed and added some of my favorite Anubias and crypts from taken down tanks. Its been sitting there running for 5-6 years now, low light, top offs only w tap. Maintenance when it got out of control. Super old aquasoil now flattened out to a thick 4-5 inch thick layer in a perfect line front to back.
In Aug/Sept 25 had a bit of a health issue that kept me in bed for several weeks recovering while I looked at this sad little cube, mostly healthy but not truly thriving. No fertilizer being added for years, GDA covered anubias leaves that also were many years old and I thought to myself I should make this better… that was the tipping point. OK I’ll do a deep clean on the substrate, get some stems to throw in there, maybe get a carpet going. Tissue cultures/stems ordered and I got to work. No more top offs, 10% water changes instead. TDS ~900 when I started. Ultimately everything melted back and didn’t grow well. I’d been keeping the lighting so dim all these years to maintain just the crypts/epiphytes without it turning into a mess and I was ok with it again. That was the spark.
I decided I wanted to build out a new tank, most of my old hardware/tanks I had let go of in a bulk way so I was going to have to start new with everything sans some 5 gallon buckets of Amazonia that I’d placed in the basement of the new house.. Phoenix rising from the ashes? Most likely more like algae emerging from the depths. I still consider myself a beginner and maybe amateur at best so yeah…
So I got to work again reading, researching, what’s new, what has changed since I’ve been out of the loop for so long? Ooo dark start that sounds much better, in line CO2 diffusers cool! CO2 reactors, pretty awesome sounding, 2Hr aquarist read every article, and I’m back in baby!
Tank inspiration
None really hence no name, it fit right into a slot to occupy my mind from a not so great situation that I was in and I’m ok with that. Ultimately I’d like this to be a low-mid energy tank that can have minimal amounts of weekly maintenance while still looking the part. I’d prefer to keep it as simple as possible while still having some high tech bits. Get all the equipment out of the tank, co2, low-mid level lighting, minimal/simple fertilization. I got busy ordering equipment and started brainstorming layouts and what hardscape materials I could find. Instagram was my friend for a while, seems that everything that kept grabbing my attention were island style layouts with a very thin layer of sand surrounding. I’ve also always been partial to big chonky pieces of driftwood, I thought to go the manzanita route but wysiwyg pieces were fetching stupid prices. I ran across this ironwood in a listing and couldn’t let it go. The deep lines in the bark were just calling me so I quick snap ordered it before my brain could process dimensions, I knew it would fit but didn’t fully visualise how much it would ultimately limit the layout. I wanted to stay mostly inert with stone and eventually/begrudgingly ordered the tumbled lava stone with the intention of keeping it to a island/river layout style and mimicking some of my found instagram muse tanks. It will mostly likely end up more nature style although the start will be more Willy Wonka than anything. Thanks @Burr740 for that, I shopped like a kid in a candy store.
Equipment
Tank
Many moons ago I was an active and contributing member on plantedtank.net, I think at one point I had around 14 scaped tanks going before burnout and life changes. Instead of weekends consisting of maintenance I transitioned to camping/boating and life has been great. I’ve always missed it. After downsizing and making a move to a new home I kept only a small 12x12 cube tank that started life as an amateur iwagumi layout, Seiryu and hairgrass only. I put it on the nightstand beside my bed and added some of my favorite Anubias and crypts from taken down tanks. Its been sitting there running for 5-6 years now, low light, top offs only w tap. Maintenance when it got out of control. Super old aquasoil now flattened out to a thick 4-5 inch thick layer in a perfect line front to back.
In Aug/Sept 25 had a bit of a health issue that kept me in bed for several weeks recovering while I looked at this sad little cube, mostly healthy but not truly thriving. No fertilizer being added for years, GDA covered anubias leaves that also were many years old and I thought to myself I should make this better… that was the tipping point. OK I’ll do a deep clean on the substrate, get some stems to throw in there, maybe get a carpet going. Tissue cultures/stems ordered and I got to work. No more top offs, 10% water changes instead. TDS ~900 when I started. Ultimately everything melted back and didn’t grow well. I’d been keeping the lighting so dim all these years to maintain just the crypts/epiphytes without it turning into a mess and I was ok with it again. That was the spark.
I decided I wanted to build out a new tank, most of my old hardware/tanks I had let go of in a bulk way so I was going to have to start new with everything sans some 5 gallon buckets of Amazonia that I’d placed in the basement of the new house.. Phoenix rising from the ashes? Most likely more like algae emerging from the depths. I still consider myself a beginner and maybe amateur at best so yeah…
So I got to work again reading, researching, what’s new, what has changed since I’ve been out of the loop for so long? Ooo dark start that sounds much better, in line CO2 diffusers cool! CO2 reactors, pretty awesome sounding, 2Hr aquarist read every article, and I’m back in baby!
Tank inspiration
None really hence no name, it fit right into a slot to occupy my mind from a not so great situation that I was in and I’m ok with that. Ultimately I’d like this to be a low-mid energy tank that can have minimal amounts of weekly maintenance while still looking the part. I’d prefer to keep it as simple as possible while still having some high tech bits. Get all the equipment out of the tank, co2, low-mid level lighting, minimal/simple fertilization. I got busy ordering equipment and started brainstorming layouts and what hardscape materials I could find. Instagram was my friend for a while, seems that everything that kept grabbing my attention were island style layouts with a very thin layer of sand surrounding. I’ve also always been partial to big chonky pieces of driftwood, I thought to go the manzanita route but wysiwyg pieces were fetching stupid prices. I ran across this ironwood in a listing and couldn’t let it go. The deep lines in the bark were just calling me so I quick snap ordered it before my brain could process dimensions, I knew it would fit but didn’t fully visualise how much it would ultimately limit the layout. I wanted to stay mostly inert with stone and eventually/begrudgingly ordered the tumbled lava stone with the intention of keeping it to a island/river layout style and mimicking some of my found instagram muse tanks. It will mostly likely end up more nature style although the start will be more Willy Wonka than anything. Thanks @Burr740 for that, I shopped like a kid in a candy store.
Equipment
Tank
- UNS 90L
- 90 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm
- 79 liters or 21 gallons by volume, 62.5 liters or 16.5 gallons actual w hardscape
- Oase Thermo 200
- Replaced the charcoal media with more ceramic from Oase
- Replaced w Fzone stainless steel -Fzone glass Lily w skimmer ⅝”
- Replaced tubing with UNS pro tubing ⅝”
- Fzone Quick release ⅝” so Lily pipes can be cleaned without having to reprime filter
- Gla inline atomizer - replaced Fzone Co2 inline diffuser ⅝”
- GLA dual stage - replaced Fzone pro series dual stage regulator w/ 5lb tank
- Timed on 3 hours before lights on, off 1 hour before lights off
- Using distilled by gallon, remineralized with salty shrimp GH targeting GH around 4-5
- Hoping for 0-1 KH
- Dark start cycled with prime dechlorinated Tap and APT Start
- 80% old used ADA Amazonia v1, small bits sifted and bagged to create slight slope
- 2HR Feast topped to around 2 inches
- UNS Bora sand
- UNS Kona pebbles
- Fzone Bright 90 - 90CM
- Before hardscape made rough par map using photone with diffuser iPhone 15 Pro
- At 100% top 404, mid 219, base 127 PAR
- At 50% top 190, mid 110, base 62 PAR
- Will be starting tank with 45-50% lighting intensity
- Timed at 3pm-9pm photoperiod with 60 minute ramps
- Current Colorcast LED strip w/frosted background
- Timed scenes for dawn (orange 1 HR during pre-ramp) /daylight (green during ON cycle) /sunset (red 1 HR during post-ramp) /night (indigo 1 HR after lights out)
- Arizona Ironwood
- Black tumbled lava stone
- APT 1 and 3 dosed at recommended levels per calculator
- APT Jazz - in 3-4 months as Feast gives out
- Trying to keep it simple with fertilization to start
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