# The Flawless



## Hari Sankar (18 Apr 2014)

Pot Heads planted Tank 

*HardScape:*

Tank:40 Gallon (39''x14"x17")

Substrate: Aqua clay + Unknown bottom additives(Bottom layer) / Contro soil (Top Layer)

Rocks:Wood Rock

Light: SunSun HFL-1000 4x39W/T5

Filtration: SunSun Hw-302 Canister Filter

Cooling Eqipment: Boyu Fs-120A Cooling Fan

CO2 Pressurized - 8Kg Cylinder w/Solenoind pluged in Timer

Fertilizers: Seachem Flourish, An Unkown Macro Fertilizer (Name- Plant food)
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*Flora: UPDATE ON 4/10/2014*
DIDIPLIS DIANDRA                                         
GLOSSOSTIGMA ELATINOIDES                       
STAUROGYNE REPPENS                               
BACOPA CAROLINIANA                                   
HYGROPHILLA PINNATIFIDA                           
POGOSTEMON ERUCTUS                                 
ROTALA INDICA- HI RED                                 
BLYXA AUBERTII                                                         
HYDROCOTYLE TRIPARTITA "HONDA"                               
LUDWIGIA INCLINATA Var "CUBA" 
X-MAS MOSS
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*Fauna:*

15-Cardinal Tetras
2-Boesemani rainbow
Some sort of shrimps will be added

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*THE PICTURES*

*THE Tank-*






*Substrate-*

Aqua Clay



Contro Soil



*Canister Filter-*  SunSun Hw-302


*Aquarium Fan*




*Aquarium Timer*



*Rock*





*Co2 Eqipments:*

The Beast (8kg co2 Cylinder)



Co2 Regulator with Solenoid



Co2 Alloy Diffuser



Co2 Bubble Counter



[DOUBLEPOST=1397791609][/DOUBLEPOST]I called the lfs man to help me out in placing the rock and adding the substrate  

*Some pics taken @ the time of work*

















[DOUBLEPOST=1397791678][/DOUBLEPOST]*The Plantation Plan*

[DOUBLEPOST=1397791735][/DOUBLEPOST]Had a Busy day Yesterday (planting day) the awesome day

Plants Received Was awesome packing and the plants were fragile my sincere thanks to Seetharam sir (Aqua by nature)



The First plant which jumped into the tank-POGOSTEMON ERUCTUS



Other planting






I Have a question for all aquascapers how the hell do you plant glosso,Planting glosso is more harder even Mathematics is easy compared to planting glosso took 2hrs for planting those little creatures...




X-mas moss on wood rock My favorite part wass tying moss




After Filling RO water















The Aloy diffuser is too Sexy..



Finally The Full Tank Shot



*Please give more Inputs it may be postive or negative do help me guys*


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## ceg4048 (18 Apr 2014)

Hi Hari,
          As usual for most beginners, you are starting the tank with too much light. If you can disable at least 2 of the 4 bulbs it will greatly enhance your chances of success and will diminish the chances of algal blooms. This is especially true if you live in a country with high ambient temperatures. The photoperiod should start at about 6 hours per day and not more than 8.

I think you will also find that an in tank CO2 diffuser will struggle to maintain good levels of CO2. For a quick start, I would disassemble the grill on the filter inlet pipe and move the diffuser under the pipe so that the filter swallows as much of the gas as possible.

I'm really not familiar with your brand of filter, however, if that is a 40 gallon tank then the filter should ideally have a throughput rating of around 300-400 gallons per hour. 400GPH is better than 300GPH of course. If you are not in that range then you should really think about adding a powerhead so that when you sum the flow rating together, the powerhead and filter rating should be at the 400GPH value or more.

I can't really see where the filter output is. It appears that you are just depending on the "Shepard's Crook" but really CO2, flow and distribution are more important than anything else, and you really need to get these right, because they matter more than anything else that you do or any other equipment that you have.

I always advocate the use of spraybars combined with high flow mounted on the back wall of the tank pointing straight forward as described in the very old thread http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/water-flow-in-the-planted-aquarium.1167/

For your fertilizer, I'm fairly certain you should be able to get your hands on the simple nutrient salts such as Potassium Nitrate (KNO3), Potassium Phosphate (KH2PO4) and trace element mix. This is the same stuff that farmers use and they are the same ingredients in the bottles that you buy but are very much cheaper. Please contact our sponsors such as aquariumplantfood.co.uk to see if they will ship to your location, or if not, then check any garden center or agricultural supply house in your area.

Review the Tutorial http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/ei-dosing-using-dry-salts.1211/

Your CO2 should be turned on earlier than the lights sufficient enough so that you can drop the pH by around 1 unit. This should show on the dropchecker as a lime green or yellow color.

If I were you I would forget about fish or shrimp for the moment and concentrate your energies on developing your CO2 and plant husbandry skills.

Cheers,


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## Vivian Andrew (18 Apr 2014)

Great Advice Clive as always , Hari do follow this u will see good result.


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## Hari Sankar (18 Apr 2014)

ceg4048 said:


> Hi Hari,
> As usual for most beginners, you are starting the tank with too much light. If you can disable at least 2 of the 4 bulbs it will greatly enhance your chances of success and will diminish the chances of algal blooms. This is especially true if you live in a country with high ambient temperatures. The photoperiod should start at about 6 hours per day and not more than 8.
> 
> I think you will also find that an in tank CO2 diffuser will struggle to maintain good levels of CO2. For a quick start, I would disassemble the grill on the filter inlet pipe and move the diffuser under the pipe so that the filter swallows as much of the gas as possible.
> ...



I had already cutoffed 2 bulbs and only 2 bulbs are running and  6hrs per day lighting  is enough Then Ill make my schedule like this
Lighting Period - From9:00am to 3:00pm
Co2 Period       -From8:00am to 4:00pm
           (Is this ok??)
Yup for the good water flow ill get a new wavemakerand btw replacing the filter inlet would be a bit impossible..Some issues which cannot be said..

Ill get the fertilizers soon,Ill receive my Co2 indicator in a week time...

Thankyou very much awesome info...


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## harryH (18 Apr 2014)

Hi Hari, Welcome.

You are indeed fortunate to get that reply from Clive (ceg4048) There is absolutely nothing to add and I would advise you to study the advice in his post and try to follow it to the letter, that way you will quickly see the results you are looking for. Good luck.

Harry.


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## OllieNZ (18 Apr 2014)

Co2 from 7am (or earlier if  needed  so you have max co2 at lights on) then co2 off at 2pm


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## Hari Sankar (18 Apr 2014)

harryH said:


> Hi Hari, Welcome.
> 
> You are indeed fortunate to get that reply from Clive (ceg4048) There is absolutely nothing to add and I would advise you to study the advice in his post and try to follow it to the letter, that way you will quickly see the results you are looking for. Good luck.
> 
> Harry.


Yes am going to follow evrything he said in that post hoping for good results..[DOUBLEPOST=1397826856][/DOUBLEPOST]





OllieNZ said:


> Co2 from 7am (or earlier if  needed  so you have max co2 at lights on) then co2 off at 2pm


You say that the co2 timing should be from 7:00am to 2:00pm


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## Vivian Andrew (18 Apr 2014)

yes it's better to start ur co2 before u switch on the lights


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## Hari Sankar (18 Apr 2014)

Then here's the final
Lighting period (2x39w)-9:00am to 3:00pm
Co2 period@ 2bps -7:00am to 2:00pm
If wrong correct me please..


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## OllieNZ (18 Apr 2014)

Have a read of this http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/my-ph-profile.31565/


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## Hari Sankar (18 Apr 2014)

OllieNZ said:


> Have a read of this http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/my-ph-profile.31565/


Ok Ill check it out..


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## Hari Sankar (18 Apr 2014)

Vivian Andrew said:


> yes it's better to start ur co2 before u switch on the lights


And I should I off the Co2 before lights off right??


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## stu_ (18 Apr 2014)

Yes


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## Hari Sankar (18 Apr 2014)

Is this Compulsary, Because I have only one timer and only pin can be attached 
Please Experts suggesions please..[DOUBLEPOST=1397832044][/DOUBLEPOST]Why not like this 
Lighting period and Co2 period both 9:00 am to 3:00pm


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## harryH (18 Apr 2014)

You do need to try and get another timer fixed up.

CO2 on at least 1 hour BEFORE the lights as ceg4048 has said above. Also it should go OFF 30 minutes to 1 hour before the lights go out.

Harry


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## Vivian Andrew (18 Apr 2014)

Do it manually for 1 month till your plants get well settled or get a timer from ebay just 700 bucks


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## Hari Sankar (19 Apr 2014)

Vivian Andrew said:


> Do it manually for 1 month till your plants get well settled or get a timer from ebay just 700 bucks


Ok Ill do manually for a month.And Ill buy a new timer afterwards,Now coming to Co2 Bps ,How many bps should I set it,Its too hard to count the bubbles with bubble counter..


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## Hari Sankar (19 Apr 2014)

Oh my god new trouble    what are these creatures..


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## RichardJW (19 Apr 2014)

Looks like Daphnia , which is good free fish food !! I don't see any fish in there , which you'll find will relish eating them up when you add some  !, 


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## Vivian Andrew (19 Apr 2014)

Hi hari don't worry abt the creature looks like water flea, i think it came through the plants you bought, And about your co2 keep 4-6bps  till you add fish, if you find hard to count the bubbles then use a co2 indicator.


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## Hari Sankar (19 Apr 2014)

Thanks for the reply guyz 
But many people in other forum say they look like Scuds,seed shrimp,copeheads

btw co2 of 4-6 bps that is too high I think


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## Vivian Andrew (19 Apr 2014)

Yes it's high this is for intial stage only and do dose ferts


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## Lindy (19 Apr 2014)

The critters look a little like mosquito larvae.  Are they round or do they have a tail end they thrash from side to side? Google mosquito larvae. ...

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## Lindy (19 Apr 2014)

Actually maybe the pupae stage of mosquito. 

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## harryH (19 Apr 2014)

Hi Hari,
don't worry, just aim to keep to the system you have been advised on here. Your fish will eat the critters when you eventually put them in but don't be in too much of a hurry. you should be able to net out a lot of the 'creatures' with a fine net if it bothers you.

As Vivian says, it won't harm if your CO2 is a bit high BEFORE you introduce livestock and may help to keep algae at bay but remember, once the fish go in you will have to manage the CO2 at acceptable levels.

Harry.


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## Hari Sankar (19 Apr 2014)

ldcgroomer said:


> The critters look a little like mosquito larvae.  Are they round or do they have a tail end they thrash from side to side? Google mosquito larvae. ...
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk


Wonderfully said man, I found it I saw 2 mosqito laying eggs,Yes they have a tail and move zigzag and googled and saw it perfect matching..[DOUBLEPOST=1397901339][/DOUBLEPOST]





harryH said:


> Hi Hari,
> don't worry, just aim to keep to the system you have been advised on here. Your fish will eat the critters when you eventually put them in but don't be in too much of a hurry. you should be able to net out a lot of the 'creatures' with a fine net if it bothers you.
> 
> As Vivian says, it won't harm if your CO2 is a bit high BEFORE you introduce livestock and may help to keep algae at bay but remember, once the fish go in you will have to manage the CO2 at acceptable levels.
> ...


If I keep @ 4bps for a month would I get any algae problems..??


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## aliclarke86 (19 Apr 2014)

No fish = lots of co2, the more the better. The only danger of co2 is suffocation to fauna.

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## Hari Sankar (19 Apr 2014)

aliclarke86 said:


> No fish = lots of co2, the more the better. The only danger of co2 is suffocation to fauna.
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk


But if I keep more bps the co2 bubbles form bubbles on the surface of the water.....[DOUBLEPOST=1397915034][/DOUBLEPOST]





Hari Sankar said:


> But if I keep more bps the co2 bubbles form bubbles on the surface of the water.....


I am very frightened about algae boom...


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## Vivian Andrew (19 Apr 2014)

Algae boom mainly from light that's y Clive told to switch on only 2 bulbs and you are going to provide high co2 till u introduce fish, after that you can bring it to normal, coz providing high co2 will make your plants to settle fast, and for surface agitation if you kept your filter outflow in correct position you won't face this issue.

High co2, proper fert dosing and water changes at initial stage will help your plants to get settle fast.


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## Hari Sankar (20 Apr 2014)

Ok all cleared but coming too water changes when it shoul be done? How it should be done?


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## ceg4048 (20 Apr 2014)

Do a minimum of 2X-3X water changes per week of at least 50%. Keep the tank as scrupulously clean as possible.

Cheers,


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## Hari Sankar (20 Apr 2014)

I did a 10% water change today morning some oily flim floating on the surface of the water Don't know what is that..

What chemicals should I buy for Macro Fertilizer.


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## Vivian Andrew (20 Apr 2014)

No idea how the oil film forms, if your water flow is good then it won't be there, Check the below video for macro fert


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## ceg4048 (20 Apr 2014)

Hari Sankar said:


> I did a 10% water change today morning some oily flim floating on the surface of the water Don't know what is that..


A 10% water change is not really very much. A 100% would be better.

Oily surface film is related to malnutrition, any combination of poor Macro and poor CO2 or both. See http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/surface-film.13603/

Cheers,


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## Hari Sankar (21 Apr 2014)

Vivian Andrew said:


> No idea how the oil film forms, if your water flow is good then it won't be there, Check the below video for macro fert



Can you please mention  how much quantity I should buy these following chemical :
1.Potassium Phosphate
2.Potassium Nitrate
3.Magnesium sulphate

And in what bottle did you mix


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## Hari Sankar (21 Apr 2014)

Changed the filter inlet and outlet as suggested by ceg4048 and Andrew







Should add a power head asap.. for Co2 flow.

Added Activated Carbon as a part of Filter media..


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## ceg4048 (21 Apr 2014)

Hari,
        You need to calculate the amounts you will buy. Look at how many grams you will be dosing per week and buy enough so that you are not constantly running out. I imagine you can start with a  hundred grams or so of each and see you get on.

In those photos I see still that a lot of ga goes right out the top of the tank. Remove the filter inlet grill and place the diffuse right under it.

Cheers,


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## Hari Sankar (21 Apr 2014)

Yes did as you said Ceg4048 This is temprorary for one month right?? Because it looks odd
And after adding fishes the fish may be sucked in..


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## Hari Sankar (21 Apr 2014)

Bought the chemicals for EI macro dosing going to start from next week from Monday


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## ceg4048 (21 Apr 2014)

Hari Sankar said:


> Yes did as you said Ceg4048 This is temprorary for one month right?? Because it looks odd
> And after adding fishes the fish may be sucked in..


Yes, but we are not worried about looking odd right now because rotting plants look even more odd in a planted tank.
Also, we are not even thinking about adding fish right now because we have a lot to learn about the art of growing plants in a CO2 injected tank, right?

Cheers,


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## Hari Sankar (21 Apr 2014)

Ok ceg4048 I'll follow you


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## Hari Sankar (22 Apr 2014)

Hi ceg4048,
The co2 indicator shows totally yellow colour it means High Co2 no problem right?? Or should I reduce the Co2 and make it to green


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## Omegatron (22 Apr 2014)

As long as you dont have any live stock in your tank  your fine.


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## Hari Sankar (22 Apr 2014)

Will it cause any algae growth or lead to any bad situations..??


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## Omegatron (22 Apr 2014)

Hari Sankar said:


> Will it cause any algae growth or lead to any bad situations..??


 
Overdosing Co2 will not cause any harm to plants, it will not cause algae growth or any other bad situations. When dosing Co2 you only need to worry about not killing your live stock by adding too much of it. Since you dont have any fish or shrimp yet your fine to give as much as you can, the more the better.


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## Hari Sankar (17 May 2014)

*1 Month Update*

Added Many New plants 
Amano Shrimp-10 nos.


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## Hari Sankar (5 Jun 2014)

*Rescaped*














Added Ada Amazonia soil,Driftwood,BambooRocks...


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## Iain Sutherland (5 Jun 2014)

Looking good. Don't forget Amazonia releases large amounts of ammonia when new so if you still have livestock in the tank, large water changes will be needed daily. 


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## Vivian Andrew (5 Jun 2014)

looking good hari


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## Hari Sankar (6 Jun 2014)

Iain Sutherland said:


> Looking good. Don't forget Amazonia releases large amounts of ammonia when new so if you still have livestock in the tank, large water changes will be needed daily.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Ya sure will do it..[DOUBLEPOST=1402018560][/DOUBLEPOST]





Vivian Andrew said:


> looking good hari


Thankyou bro..


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## Hari Sankar (29 Jun 2014)

*Day-26*

1)The Glossostigma is carpeting very fast

2)The red cherry shrimps are breeding

3)The snails are doing thier job great...

Yet to add some ottos and Corries

*Pictures-*


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## Hari Sankar (12 Jul 2014)

*Day-40*

Before Trimming



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Trim


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## Hari Sankar (24 Jul 2014)

Day-52















♦Glosso is doing awesome 85% Carpeted

♦Staghorn algae on glosso and anubias


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## Vivian Andrew (24 Jul 2014)

wow great job hari , so wat magic you did


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## Hari Sankar (24 Jul 2014)

Vivian Andrew said:


> wow great job hari , so wat magic you did


Thnx.... No magic All we need is patience..


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## Vivian Andrew (24 Jul 2014)

yep, so you doing EI dosing and aquabynature got micro nutrient ?


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## James D (24 Jul 2014)

Looking really nice now Hari! I like your fish too.


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## Hari Sankar (24 Jul 2014)

Vivian Andrew said:


> yep, so you doing EI dosing and aquabynature got micro nutrient ?


Nope I am using only Seachem flourish.[DOUBLEPOST=1406203519][/DOUBLEPOST]





James D said:


> Looking really nice now Hari! I like your fish too.


Thankyou your tank also looks amazing..


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## Lindy (24 Jul 2014)

I would take the Anubias off the wood as it will get covered in algae being so close to the lights. By the looks of it, it has a fair amount of staghorn algae already but I might be wrong?


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## Hari Sankar (24 Jul 2014)

ldcgroomer said:


> I would take the Anubias off the wood as it will get covered in algae being so close to the lights. By the looks of it, it has a fair amount of staghorn algae already but I might be wrong?


I want to keep anubias are there any other ways to make staghorn algae disappear


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## Fern (24 Jul 2014)

You can keep them, just put them on some wood or rock closer to the substrate so they are not so close to the lights, they prefer it a bit shaded


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## Hari Sankar (25 Jul 2014)

Fern said:


> You can keep them, just put them on some wood or rock closer to the substrate so they are not so close to the lights, they prefer it a bit shaded


Sure..!!


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## Fern (25 Jul 2014)

Trim off the leaves that have the algae, they should soon recover and send out new growth


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## Hari Sankar (25 Jul 2014)

Fern said:


> Trim off the leaves that have the algae, they should soon recover and send out new growth


Ok..


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## Hari Sankar (29 Jul 2014)

*Day-57*


1)Did some trimmings on the LHS,RHS Corner 

2)Raised Co2 1bps too 2bps


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## Hari Sankar (10 Aug 2014)

*Day-69*

*Before Trimming*




*After Trimming*


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## Vivian Andrew (10 Aug 2014)

Nice growth hari


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## Hari Sankar (10 Aug 2014)

Vivian Andrew said:


> Nice growth hari


Thankyou !!!


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## Vivian Andrew (11 Aug 2014)

you using full RO water or mixing 50% with tap water or Vaigai water, need to know how fishes are doing with it.


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## Hari Sankar (15 Aug 2014)

Vivian Andrew said:


> you using full RO water or mixing 50% with tap water or Vaigai water, need to know how fishes are doing with it.


100% filled with can water and for evaporation filling with RO water daily


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## Hari Sankar (13 Sep 2014)

Been a very long time for an upload   

Many changes

1)New Fishes added (2 Whiptail Catfish & 10 Assasin snail's)
2)Changed the left back ground plants
3)Added a Subwassertang on rock
4)Made a huge trimm


Day-103 (13/9/2014)















Very busy so cannot upload frequently


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## Ryan Thang To (13 Sep 2014)

Nice tank. How your nerite snail doing in your high tech tank? 

Cheers
ryan


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## Hari Sankar (13 Sep 2014)

legytt said:


> Nice tank. How your nerite snail doing in your high tech tank?
> 
> Cheers
> ryan


Thank you...
My Nerite Snail's do good there are no problems


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## Hari Sankar (19 May 2017)

After a Gap(4.5.2017)




Water change and trimmed(19.5.17)




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## Vivian Andrew (20 May 2017)

Hi There so you are back huh, love your syringe idea


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## Hari Sankar (20 May 2017)

Vivian Andrew said:


> Hi There so you are back huh, love your syringe idea






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## Hari Sankar (26 May 2017)

Internal co2 reactor doing its best 

LER IT GROW


Day - 23 



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## Hari Sankar (6 Jun 2017)

Day 34 








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## Hari Sankar (13 Jun 2017)

Day 41
















Dosing schedule
Seachem flourish once in 3days
lab grade  potassium nitrate,phosphate and magnesium sulfate as needed
And seachem iron once in two days 5ml



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## Hari Sankar (29 Jun 2017)

Top view Back 





Top view Front 





Full tank shot 





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## Hari Sankar (16 Jul 2017)

Sunday update 









Lhs





Rhs





Mini xmas moss






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## Hari Sankar (6 Mar 2021)

New Scape,New tank. 
Re-entering the hobby after 4 years.
120cm x 50cm x 50cm
76days old









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## Hari Sankar (21 Mar 2021)

Day91.
Added 3pcs of wood.



















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## Michael1212 (23 Mar 2021)

Love the colors, and the pleco


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