# Spirallassis



## Danny (10 Jan 2018)

So.... here I go again lol

I've named this spirallassis which I think is a totally made up word but it reflects how my head has felt getting to this point, after numerous ideas and attempts I have finally settled on what I hope to be a lush dense forest..... we shall see lol

Tank: TMC Signature 600x450x300
Light: ADA Aquasky 601, 7hrs a day
Filter: Eheim 2213 external
Circulation: additional 300lph pump
Substrate: ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia
Decor: Spider wood
Ferts: TNC complete
Co2: Yes inline
Plants: ( not all planted yet )

Alternanthera Reineckii ''Mini

Bucephalandra sp. "Deep Purple"
Bucephalandra sp. "Red"
Bucephalandra sp. "King blue"
Bucephalandra sp. "rainbow"
Bucephalandra sp. "saidil"
Bucephalandra sp. "wavy leave"
Bucephalandra sp. "mini black harund"
Bucephalandra sp. "mini harund"
Bucephalandra sp. "mini pagoda"
Bucephalandra sp. "Pink lady"
Bucephalandra sp. "Aridarum mini"
Bucephalandra sp. "mini varian"
Bucephalandra sp. "mini coin"

Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Rubella'
Cryptocoryne albida 'Brown'
Cryptocoryne beckettii "Petchii"
Cryptocoryne wendtii "brown"

Hygrophila pinnatifida

Monosolenium tenerum

Rotala rotundifolia 'Orange Juice'
Riccia fluitans

Vesicularia ferriei 'Weeping Moss'
Vesicularia sp. "Creeping Moss"
Vesicularia "Christmas Moss"
This is my first attempt at a high tech so will be an interesting experience, the tank was flooded today so full of o2 bubbles and co2 from playing with my bubble count.

The wood is still weighed down and the buces only wedged in temporary position, the AR mini and Rotala Wallichii are in a sorry state after being in a pot on the window sill for some time so hoping they recover.


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## alto (10 Jan 2018)

Well done 

My suggestion 
Add in some auxiliary plants ie fast growing stems (see Tropica's list on their website Guide)
as they will just give you some wiggle room

I'd do a 5-6 h photoperiod rather than your present 7, work your way up to the 7 once daily growth is visible (on the fast growers) 

Also this is ADA soil & their "Way" includes at least 50% - 90% daily water changes for the first couple weeks - or longer as needed - I suspect their model assumes steady plant growth after this time, so if not much is happening in your tank at this point, continue with large frequent water changes, tapering off frequency & size as growth becomes rampant 

I just did a total rescape a week Friday, using Cardamine lyrata as my fast stem (a fairly economic plant & one I've always liked though it doesn't seem popular)


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## Danny (11 Jan 2018)

I learned from my last scape that frequent/daily water changes are pretty much a must for a heavily planted start so will be doing that for sure, I'm considering Limnophila hippuridoides for along the back of the tank.

It will be in direct flow so need something sturdy enough to withstand a 300lph pump and my external return.


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## Danny (11 Jan 2018)

It's play time


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## Danny (11 Jan 2018)

A lot of moss still to attach to the wood but it's getting there.



 


 

A big thanks to Aquasabi for the quality of the plants.


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## Danny (11 Jan 2018)

That's it for tonight, all of the mosses will be added next week.


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## alto (12 Jan 2018)

Looking much more lively 

Looks like an awesome Cryptocoryne collection - did you keep track of what's where? Or go for the crypt jumble?

What plants are in the foreground?


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## Danny (12 Jan 2018)

I have a general idea of what's where but tried to just chuck them in naturally mixed really, the foreground is a mixture of;

Alternanthera Reineckii ''Mini"
Cryptocoryne rubella
Cryptocoryne albida 'Brown'
Cryptocoryne beckettii "Petchii"


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## Tim Harrison (12 Jan 2018)

Looking good


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## Danny (17 Jan 2018)

Well.... after a hurried planting on Thursday and going to New York on Friday morning I've come back to a bit of a mess which I expected.

Crypts have melted quite a bit, if it's just normal melting or not I have no idea, quite a bit of work to do on it but after landing at 9am this morning I think it will have to wait until tomorrow.


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## Danny (17 Jan 2018)

Very quick clean and 50% water change.


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## MirandaB (17 Jan 2018)

The Crypt melt is perfectly normal and they'll soon bounce back


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## Danny (18 Jan 2018)

MirandaB said:


> The Crypt melt is perfectly normal and they'll soon bounce back


Yeah I'm hoping it's just the adjusting melt, should know in a few days if they start putting up new shoots or not.


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## Danny (18 Jan 2018)

Another 50% water change today along with adding moss and putting the buces in their fixed places. Also removed the Wallichii as it was recovering but in a really bad state, I may replace it or go for something else.

Quite a mixture of mosses so will be interesting to see how they settle in.


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## Danny (19 Jan 2018)

Today's little update, 

Dosing 2ml TNC liquid carbon and complete ferts daily now and co2 at approx 2bps, I'll probably stop the liquid carbon in about 4 weeks once everything has settled in.


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## Danny (20 Jan 2018)

6 weeks today I first filled this tank, 3 scapes later and this is where it is and with it's first life finally! 

Planted 8 days ago so a lot of recovery and growing to do but it is now home to 6 cardinal tetra and 5 red sakura shrimp


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## Danny (20 Jan 2018)




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## Danny (20 Jan 2018)




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## Danny (21 Jan 2018)

For a while now I've been a bit concerned about the intensity of the ADA Aquasky light unit so decided to tape over a few of the led's to dull it down a bit, I only had blue tape but it's inadvertently given a lovely hue to the tank 

There is also a bit of a hair algae issue starting so I have been trying to eliminate possible causes which led to decreasing the light intensity, I have also increased co2 to approx 4bps, the cardinal tetra were not happy for the last hour of co2 so tweaked it slightly and will see how they get on tomorrow.


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## Danny (22 Jan 2018)

Since noticing some hair algae I've been paying very close attention to different areas of the tank to look for signs of it, one of the reasons for deciding to add co2 was the difference in colour from AR mini compared to non co2 tanks.

I have my external return which has an inline co2 diffuser attached along with a circulation pump both in the back left corner facing the back right corner and external outlet in the middle of the left side creating a circular flow, the bulk of hair algae I have noticed is in the front right corner on some AR mini. 

Now being in the front right corner in the L shape of flow I would expect that area to be doing best.....

However looking into the tank from above the AR mini in the front left of the tank is actually doing the best, it is pretty much algae free and the new leaves are showing a much improved colour from when there was no co2 added. 

Don't mind the melt in the picture it's recovering slowly.


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## Danny (23 Jan 2018)

Day 11, one from before lights out earlier.

I can see quite a good increase in growth from the first day already.


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## steveno (23 Jan 2018)

Danny,

If your still struggling with intensity with your Ada LEDs, and get bored of the visible blue tape consider picking up an DIM12C. 

There's a thread on here's about this dimmer.

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/led-dimmer-solution-but.35341/

Workings great on my ADA Moonlights.


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## Danny (24 Jan 2018)

Since I increased to 3ml TNC complete daily I have started getting a slight surface film and white foam so assume it is too much, I will decrease to 2ml again.

Everything is settling in nicely now and the lower light is definitely making an improvement overall.


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## Danny (25 Jan 2018)

50% water change, decided not to decrease the ferts but to increase the lco2 from 2ml to 3ml. See how that goes.

Overall algae is totally subdued so increasing photo period to 8hrs from 7hrs, co2 will also be increased for an extra hour to match.

Reason for light increase is mostly so I can increase the co2 period.


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## Danny (25 Jan 2018)




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## Danny (26 Jan 2018)

PH 6.4
GH 21
KH 10


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## Danny (28 Jan 2018)

Starting to get itchy fingers with this now, I really like the AR mini and am thinking of filling out the bottom with it.... not entirely sure yet but I'm looking into other plants too.

Haven't cleaned the glass for quite a while now, it's being used as a bit of an algae indicator.

Gave the Rotala and mosses quite a trim today too.

Everything seems healthy overall and the melted crypts are well on the way back but something just isn't working overall, perhaps I need to really fill it in.


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## Danny (29 Jan 2018)

This tank is quite simply annoying! No matter how much I think I've got it all right and going well it just keeps going backwards! 

Co2 @approx 3bps, daily dosing 3ml lco2 and ferts, reduced light intensity, ocd daily cleaning, 30% water changes every other day and still I just can't win. 

If I'm right I now see the start of BGA along with a come back in hair algae, really starting to feel like pulling it apart or just ramping up the co2 infinitely and letting it get on with it.


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## Fiske (29 Jan 2018)

Annoying. Did you remove the tape from the LEDs?
Have you tried to do a pH profile on your CO2?

I tried, by your advice btw, to tape over some of the LEDs on my Aquasky; that, and getting the CO2 into the tank rather than the cabinet has worked wonders. Then again my light period is only 5,5 hours. But I am slowly winning.


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## alto (29 Jan 2018)

Danny said:


> Co2 @approx 3bps, daily dosing 3ml lco2 and ferts, reduced light intensity, ocd daily cleaning, 30% water changes every other day and still I just can't win.



Up your water changes - this is ADA soil, so I'd try their recommended protocol of *large* (as in up to 90% depending on the tank, & 50% being the strarting point) daily water changes
That muck growing on the wood, means lots of organics, so again, I'd do larger, daily wc
I'd also be vacuuming most of that mold/slime off in daily maintenance
Add a crew of snails, shrimp, Otos to help control the mold/slime & consume algae's - these guys will be cleaning up algae before it's even visible really, not waiting until there are massive (visible) amounts
(which is why they'are so effective in new setups)

I rescaped a 60 x 45 cm tank 3 weeks ago, minimal algae (I noticed a bit of diatoms on the Anubias yesterday) BUT that's most likely down to rapid "auxiliary" plant growth (rather than my excellent care ) - the tank is basically full of green growth, in another week or so, I'll begin removing some of the fast stems, allowing more room/light for the slower plants. This is best done gradually (just like trimming) rather than all in one go

I realize this is just a few pics of your tank, but I don't see a significant mass of fast growing stems ...

AR mini usually takes 2-4 weeks to get going, & even then remains a moderate rate of growth stem plant so rather than getting more of this right now, I'd invest in "auxiliary" plants

You might try increasing CO2, but also ensure good oxygen levels - Twinstar Nano is defineitly good at this  -  you can also use a skimmer or raise spray bar in the off-photoperiod

This aquascape isn't an easy one to start


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## Danny (6 Feb 2018)

I gave up on this, for one reason or another it was just failing and badly.

After a week of no dosing I still had a thick oil on the surface, I put it down to the aqua soil along with the algae issues.

Being certain my co2 and distribution were fine along with maintenance routine I just couldn't put up with it so pulled it all apart.

This is the tank as of yesterday.


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## Hades (6 Feb 2018)

Danny said:


> I gave up on this, for one reason or another it was just failing and badly.



Oh no! 
That is quite drastic... You've just started. 
Did you do the waterchanges as advised by ADA?
Anyway, I hope it goes better this time.

But what did you do with all those nice bucephalandra???


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## alto (6 Feb 2018)

Fantastic stone work  and looks grand with the red & grey 

New plants or were you able to salvage some from above?


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## Danny (6 Feb 2018)

Hades said:


> Oh no!
> That is quite drastic... You've just started.
> Did you do the waterchanges as advised by ADA?
> Anyway, I hope it goes better this time.
> ...


The Buce became casualties of war unfortunately.


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## Danny (6 Feb 2018)

alto said:


> Fantastic stone work  and looks grand with the red & grey
> 
> New plants or were you able to salvage some from above?


All original, I have added some java fern and some I think bacopa sp I grabbed from the lfs.


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## Danny (6 Feb 2018)




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## Danny (6 Feb 2018)

Thread closed and moved to https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/a-clear-mind.52063/


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## dw1305 (7 Feb 2018)

Hi all, 





Danny said:


> The Buce became casualties of war unfortunately.


If you take them out of the direct bright light there won't be enough light intensity for the algae to grow, but there will be enough for the _Bucephalandra_ plant to keep ticking over. I haven't tried this with _Bucephalandra,_ but I've "cleaned up" _Anubias_ and _Bolbitis _just my tucking them under the plant mass, and forgetting about them

cheers Darrel.


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## Hades (7 Feb 2018)

dw1305 said:


> I haven't tried this with _Bucephalandra,_ but I've "cleaned up" _Anubias_ and _Bolbitis _just my tucking them under the plant mass, and forgetting about them



Exactly what i do now and then with algae-"damaged" bucephalandra and it works great like you say!

Algae covered Bucephalandra are easier to clean manually then Anubias ime because they are more easy-carbo-resistent then anubias. 
When the damage is big i take them out of the water. First remove as much as possible by hand and then give them a treatment with a syringe filled with easy carbo sollution (1part easy carbo/three parts water). Dose that directly on the leaves and rhizome and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then I threw them in a rather dark tank filled with Amano shrimp eager to eat the dying algae. 
Works great and in some cases you can even bring one back from the dark side... 




Danny said:


> The Buce became casualties of war unfortunately.



The ones in your tank can still be saved i'm sure. 
As long as the rhizome is healthy they will bounce back in most cases, i even revived some rhizomes without any leaves. 
They are nice plants, some of them probably straight from Bornean jungle so you should not let them go to waste that easy i think...


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## TomatoandEgg (9 Feb 2018)

wow you gutted the tank so quickly. the buces would have survived if you threw them into a bucket of water.


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