# Libba's 60P



## Libba (28 Feb 2021)

Tank: ADA 60P
Cabinet: cheap Aqua One cabinet
Light: WRGB 2
Substrate: Amazonia 2
Filter: Biomaster 250
Hardscape: "Luohan" rock from Bioscape
CO2: Keg King dual stage regulator, Qanvee inline diffuser

Plants: I haven't made any final decisions regarding plants. I'll probably go with dwarf hairgrass or Glosso in the foreground. Possibly rotalas/Ludwigia super red/Ludwigia arcuata in the background. I was going to do soft water plants such as syngonanthus and toninas but I'm thinking this rock might raise my KH somewhat. I gave it the acid test and there was some significant fizzing occuring.

Fauna: Predominantly Australian native shrimp. I'll probably start with Paratya Australiensis and then try some Caridina sp NT nilotica and Caridina Longirostris.

This week I'll just be playing with different rock layouts. Hopefully by the weekend I'll have something I'm happy with so I can glue it together and flood the tank.


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## Libba (25 May 2021)

Plans changed pretty significantly with this one. The rocks didn't look good submerged; they had a bit of pink colouratuon that became visible underwater. I ended up breaking down my 30cm cube and moving the plants from that into this tank. So there's Rotala Green, Rotala Blood Red and Staurogyne Repens. I also added some tissue culture Glosso and some alternanthera reineckii mini that I had growing emersed in a mini greenhouse. There's also 10 North Queensland algae shrimp from my cube inhabiting the tank.

Day one:





Day seven:





Day Fourteen:


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## Jayefc1 (25 May 2021)

Wow that blood red is stunning nice tank


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## Libba (30 May 2021)

Day 21:

Added 50 Paratya Australiensis and 4 Harlequin Rasboras. The four Rasboras are because it's all my LFS had in stock at the time. Will be adding another 8 or so soon. I know it's a bit early for adding livestock but because I dark started the tank for a couple of months and because I have decent plant mass I think it will be fine.


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## Courtneybst (30 May 2021)

I admire how red your Blood Red Rotala is! Mine is a tinge of orange at best but I knew that would happen in my setup.


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## Libba (30 May 2021)

Courtneybst said:


> I admire how red your Blood Red Rotala is! Mine is a tinge of orange at best but I knew that would happen in my setup.



I'm only dosing K and micros so not much nitrogen in the water column. It will be interesting to see how long I can sustain that.


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## Courtneybst (30 May 2021)

Libba said:


> I'm only dosing K and micros so not much nitrogen in the water column. It will be interesting to see how long I can sustain that.


Interesting! 

I think I'll try that once my setup is nice and healthy, it's still a bit too fragile for me to attempt it yet.


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## erwin123 (30 May 2021)

Hi Courtneybst, I have Ludwigia super red and Rotala blood red in my tank because the 2hr aquarist page on red plants indicated that they will turn red without nitrate limitation.

I've found that to be the case and my Blood Red is a similar shade of pink(?) as the photo above. My tank nitrates measure at about 5-10mg

My Rotala H'ra remains orange which is fine, makes a nice contrast. Presume your blood reds are indeed blood reds and not a mislabeled H'ra or Colorata (I've seen it happen in local fish shops).


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## Courtneybst (30 May 2021)

erwin123 said:


> Hi Courtneybst, I have Ludwigia super red and Rotala blood red in my tank because the 2hr aquarist page on red plants indicated that they will turn red without nitrate limitation.
> 
> I've found that to be the case and my Blood Red is a similar shade of pink(?) as the photo above. My tank nitrates measure at about 5-10mg
> 
> My Rotala H'ra remains orange which is fine, makes a nice contrast. Presume your blood reds are indeed blood reds and not a mislabeled H'ra or Colorata (I've seen it happen in local fish shops).


Hey Erwin, tbh I don't know what my nitrates are. The test is red no matter when and red is high 😅

My H'Ra is green with a slight orange underneath and the blood red is slightly pink. It should be authentic Blood Red as it came with an EU plant passport different from the H'Ra.


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## Libba (8 Jun 2021)

Day 30:

Everything has gone pretty smoothly to this point. I had 12 Harlequins but now have 9 due to jumping. The water parameters are good so not sure why they're jumping. Maybe it's just in their nature? Hopefully I don't lose too many more. I'm not too bothered about it as long as I have at least six. I've also lost a few Paratya Australiensis to jumping and also had a few deaths when I first put them in. I'd still have at least 40 I think.

Plant growth has been slow but steady. The alternanthera adjusted extremely well considering it had been growing emersed. I haven't had a lot of melting at all. There's some dead and decaying Glosso which would be from the initial tissue culture. The new Glosso growth looks good and healthy. It's taking it's time to fill in but I'm hoping to have a pretty full carpet in another month or so based on current growth rate.

Algae has been pretty minimal - just some hair algae on some of the S. Repens and the decaying parts of the Glosso. My strategy has been to spot dose a bit of excel but I'm really not too worried about it because I think it'll go away once everything is mature and settled.


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## Libba (22 Jun 2021)

I started dosing a bit of N and now my AR mini is looking super lush. Growth on the Glosso has picked up too. Hoping to have a nice full carpet in 3-4 weeks.


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## Libba (25 Jun 2021)

Time for some problem solving:

Right now I've removed my driftwood to soak in H2O2 because it was starting to get some BBA and a thick coat of green algae. I was spot dosing but since the wood is easier to remove I figured I'd save myself some time and just nuke it.

So the problem I have is my Glosso carpet. Growth has been painfully slow and lately it feels like it has stalled. It might fill in with time but honestly in some spots it doesn't look as healthy as it could be.

What I have noticed is that in one corner it is really thriving and has carpeted beautifully:





So right off the bat I think I can rule out lighting. If it can grow that well in that one spot then light must be adequate. So what about nutrients or CO2? In theory there must be adequate CO2 and nutrients available if it can grow that well in one spot. So my hypothesis is that it's a problem with CO2/nutrient delivery, commonly referred to as _flow_. This is how the flow moves through the tank which is fairly easily observable due to dense CO2 mist:





So what happens is the current hits that glass panel to the right of the tank then pushes straight down hard into that corner. It then glides over the top of the middle portion of the tank towards the filter inlet. So the corner is receiving a good amount of direct flow while the middle portion is sitting just under the current.

So how do we solve it? I can think of two reasonable practical solutions.

The first is that I use a powerhead to push the current down more into that middle part of the tank. I'm not sure if this would work exactly how I'm hoping. I'd probably position it under where I have my skimmer and aim it on a slightly downward angle towards the middle bottom of the tank.

The second option would be to use the spray bar method.

I think the spray bar method is going to be the best option because in theory it will create better flow for the plants at the back of the tank too. But the spray bar I've ordered is coming from overseas and will take a few weeks to get here. While I wait for that I'll play around with a powerhead and report back here with how it's going.


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## Wookii (25 Jun 2021)

The tank is looking good, and even the glosso is putting on growth if you compare to your image from 6th June. Gloss is, but all accounts, a tricky plant to carpet and a bit of a CO2 hog.

I'm trying to understand where the outlet is on your skimmer - does it output from those vents in the base, down towards the substrate? And are you running it 24/7?

If so, I'd wager that is the source of your problem with the uneven glosso growth. Skimmers are great, but in a CO2 injected tank, they naturally draw water from the CO2 degassed surface layer, and fire it back into the aquarium. I have found this on several of my tanks, that the plants directly within the outlet path of the skimmer suffer from CO2 deficiency with stunted growth etc. I would recommend you put it on a timer, and run it just at lights out.

Also, what ferts are you current dosing? You mention dosing K, and have recently started adding N, but what about P? if you are running lean ferts, rather than EI, you may need to increase quantities as the plant mass increases, so you don't hit any deficiencies.

Also as an aside, your drop checker is very light green/yellow, which means you're running it on the 'red-line', and is likely the cause of your livestock losses. You might want to dial it back a little, very slowly, over a number of weeks to get back to slightly greener drop checker colouration.


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## Libba (25 Jun 2021)

Wookii said:


> The tank is looking good, and even the glosso is putting on growth if you compare to your image from 6th June. Gloss is, but all accounts, a tricky plant to carpet and a bit of a CO2 hog.
> 
> I'm trying to understand where the outlet is on your skimmer - does it output from those vents in the base, down towards the substrate? And are you running it 24/7?
> 
> ...



Hey mate, thanks for your response.

You're right about the skimmer. But it is incredibly weak in terms of flow. It doesn't draw in much water and its output comes nowhere close to altering the general path that water moves around the tank. If you saw it in action I think you'd agree. There's still a very dense cloud of CO2 mist that passes over the Glosso in the middle. I will try moving it though just to rule that out as a possible problem.

I was dosing APT zero which is basically just K and micros. I switched to APT complete which has some N and some P, but it is lean by EI standards. I'm using ADA substrate with root tabs and all of my plants are rooted so I'm thinking nutrient deficiency is unlikely. Everything looks to be in great health apart from that middle section of Glosso.

Thanks for pointing out the drop checker. I actually installed a night light behind my tanks because most of the jumping was occuring overnight. I haven't had any fish jump since I did that so I'm hoping that is resolved now. I am working from home at the moment which allows me to observe my tank a lot during the day and I haven't seen any signs of distress in the fish. I will be purchasing a high quality pH probe very soon though so I can get my CO2 dialled in more precisely.

Thanks again for your input and for giving me a few more things to think about!


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## Libba (29 Jun 2021)




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## Libba (1 Jul 2021)

Mini update:

Added Syngonanthus Macrocaulon, Rotala Ramosior 'Florida' and some native moss that is supposed to grow similarly to flame moss. The tank is starting to have a bit of a Christmas vibe which I don't love. I'll see how things grow in and assess if I need to change anything after a few weeks. I also think it's time to get some glass lily pipes soon.


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## erwin123 (1 Jul 2021)

How to grow Rotala ramosior Florida

coincidentally, 2hr aquarist just released an article on Rotala Florida. It seems to like a bit of hardness, whereas Syngonanthus likes soft water. I have both in my tank too, so I'm trying to figure out whats the best way to grow both .  Also, with the 80 umols of PAR recommendation, I've just bumped up the setting on my WRGB2 which is currently only on 65%!


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## Libba (1 Jul 2021)

erwin123 said:


> How to grow Rotala ramosior Florida
> 
> coincidentally, 2hr aquarist just released an article on Rotala Florida. It seems to like a bit of hardness, whereas Syngonanthus likes soft water. I have both in my tank too, so I'm trying to figure out whats the best way to grow both .  Also, with the 80 umols of PAR recommendation, I've just bumped up the setting on my WRGB2 which is currently only on 65%!



I just read that tonight...

It's important to draw a distinction here between GH and KH though. What Florida seems to require is high calcium (GH) which Syngonanthus species might actually be okay with. Have a read though this article:

_Most "softwater" plant species are actually sensitive to high KH values and not GH per se. It is more accurate to then say that they prefer water with low carbonate hardness [low KH].









						How to grow softwater plants
					

How to grow softwater plants such as Tonina, Syngonanthus and Eriocaulon species. How to get softwater in my planted tank ? What parameters should I look out for when growing softwater plants? This page explores the water parameters and methods required to grow softwater plants.




					www.2hraquarist.com
				



_


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## Libba (14 Jul 2021)

_

_


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## erwin123 (14 Jul 2021)

wow very nice growth! Do you know what is the GH level of your water ?


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## Libba (14 Jul 2021)

erwin123 said:


> wow very nice growth! Do you know what is the GH level of your water ?



Thank you. I'm happy with the new growth. The internodes are much smaller and the leaves are much more purple. The stems I got looked pretty sad initially. I'm currently raising GH. Right now its at 8dGH and 0-1dKH. Syngo doesn't seem to mind the Ca and Mg.


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## erwin123 (15 Jul 2021)

Yup, I suspect the Flowgrow database entry is wrong is saying that Gh and Kh should not exceed 5.  Syngonanthus macrocaulon

My Gh is 6 and the Syntho is growing ok in my tank. Don't mind trying to increase it to 7-8. I read elsewhere that Bucelphandra also don't mind a bit of hardness.

Another thing about the flowgrow database entry in the link above is that it says you should only cut off the top 4cm and replant.... I always worry about cutting too short....


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## Libba (22 Jul 2021)




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## Libba (30 Jul 2021)

The tank is going through some changes now. I've removed the driftwood and ripped out the glosso because I just wasn't happy with either of those. The carpet is now S Repens and Monte Carlo. I've planted some Tonina Fluviatilis in the back right corner. I recently topped the AR because I was getting algae due to insufficient water changes. Hopefully once the AR grows back and the Tonina grows the tank will be looking pretty good. Rotala Florida has been extremely slow growing but looks great.


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## Libba (10 Aug 2021)

This plant was sold to me as Tonina Fluviatilis but it doesn't look like the images I see online of this plant. Is this a different varietal?


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## plantnoobdude (10 Aug 2021)

Libba said:


> This plant was sold to me as Tonina Fluviatilis but it doesn't look like the images I see online of this plant. Is this a different varietal?View attachment 172977


hi, looks like tonina sp "lotus blossom" looks better than fluviatilis and toncantins imo.


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## Libba (10 Aug 2021)

plantnoobdude said:


> hi, looks like tonina sp "lotus blossom" looks better than fluviatilis and toncantins imo.



Thank you, I think you're right


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## Libba (11 Aug 2021)

I had a lot of decaying old leaves of staurogyne repens stuck underneath new growth. The old leaves were becoming a bit of an algae farm. Because the old growth was under the new growth it was impractical to try to trim it all out. I decided to trim the entire plant right down to the substrate and let it regrow from scratch. That was about a week ago and it's starting to show some new growth. I also reset the syngonanthus by cutting off the tops, discarding the bottom and replanting the tops. Rotala Blood Red and Monte Carlo were trimmed back too. Rotala Green will be replaced soon because I don't think it works well in this scape. Tonina Lotus Blossom and Rotala Florida growing slowly but healthily. AR mini is the only thing that isn't really doing great. New growth is a little crinkled and algae develops on its leaves quite quickly.


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## CooKieS (11 Aug 2021)

Lovely plants in there!


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## Libba (19 Aug 2021)

Here's a video of me removing my Rotala Green in preparation for new plants. I find it really satisfying to watch for some reason so I uploaded the vid for any other freaks to enjoy:


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## Libba (20 Aug 2021)

Removed Rotala Green and AR mini. I didn't feel like the bushy appearance of the Green suited the tank's style. The AR hasn't been doing well since I increased my CaSO4 and MgSO4 dosing. I'm not saying its causal though, could be something else. But it went from being healthy and robust to really struggling.

I've added some Rotala Macrandra Green because I wanted a stem with a bronze-ish look. Also added some Tonina Fluviatilis to stick with the "soft water" theme. I might do eriocaulons at some point but they are a bit expensive. The other plant I'm trying is Ludwigia Sphaerocarpa. I don't see this plant used too much but Barr had it in his "Dutch something or other" and I wanted to give it a try. The plants aren't the most healthy so it'll take me a while to grow them out into a nice robust form. I'm gonna enter the tank in a local aquascaping comp in the next two months so hopefully I can get the tank close to its final form by then.


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## Libba (21 Aug 2021)

Photo taken under Chihiros WRGB 2 on 80/50/70 red/green/blue.


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## Libba (21 Aug 2021)

Images in the left column are from two days ago when I first put the new plants in vs today. Gotta love North Queensland Algae Shrimp. Algae never stood a chance.


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## Libba (26 Aug 2021)

Topped and replanted the rotala blood red. Put in some ADA bottom plus root tabs. Decided that its time to push down on the accelerator a bit and see what happens. Increased the light to 80% intensity for 4 hours of the photo period. I have a little bit of BBA showing up on equipment and substrate so I'm dosing Excel to hopefully combat this. Plant health seems good.


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## Libba (27 Aug 2021)

I'm really loving the look of the Ludwigia Sphaerocarpa. It makes for a great focal point. I hope it doesn't grow too tall.


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## PARAGUAY (27 Aug 2021)

Most Ludwigias can be trimmed to bush out and maintained nicely. The contrast between your reds and greens is nice🙂


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## Libba (30 Aug 2021)

It's Top-Down Tuesday here in Aus


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## plantnoobdude (30 Aug 2021)

those floridas. wow! any issues with droop or melt? @Libba


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## Libba (30 Aug 2021)

plantnoobdude said:


> those floridas. wow! any issues with droop or melt? @Libba



Nothing too significant. The oldest leaves do eventually droop and melt away but now that I'm at around 50ppm calcium this doesn't happen for quite a while. Growth occurs faster than the older leaves are dying off, so I'm able to maintain the plant pretty well with occasional topping. I'm gonna experiment some more with cutting the older stems right down to nothing and letting them regrow. Some of the younger stems now have a dozen nodes with the bottom leaves still intact.


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## Libba (8 Sep 2021)

Tank is just chugging along. Still trying to decide what to put in the back middle. I want to have a layer of green separating the Macrandra and the Sphaerocarpa. I'm thinking maybe some Rotala Indica and then a bush of HM behind that. I have a pinch of HM growing in the glass so I can see how it looks without committing to growing it in my substrate and then needing to rip it out if I change my mind. Trying to limit the replanting and removing of plants wherever possible to avoid disturbing root tabs.


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## Karmicnull (8 Sep 2021)

I'm loving that Syngonanthus macrocaulon - it would go straight on my shopping list was it not for the fact that I'm the unwilling grim reaper of aquatic plants (you name it, I can kill it), so seeing the 'very difficult' in flowgrow made me laugh out loud!


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## Libba (23 Sep 2021)




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## Libba (29 Sep 2021)




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## Wolf6 (29 Sep 2021)

Loving that rotala florida, intense colour!  Might just be tempted to give that a try someday.


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## Libba (1 Oct 2021)

I ran into my first algae problems with this tank just recently.  Tank had been running for 4-5 months at a guess without any algae issues or anything.  I noticed a bit of green hair type algae growing on my Monte Carlo one morning. Within three days it can absolutely covered all of the Monte Carlo and Staurogyne Repens and had started to spread to some of the stems at the back. The rate at which it had completely overtaken the tank scared me so I took dramatic action.

1. Reduced lighting intensity by about 15%
2. 2 x 90% water changes 3 days apart.
3. Adjusted filter outlet position and installed an extra powerhead to improve flow.
4. Heavy dosing of Excel.
5. Completely removed Monte Carlo, trimmed Staurogyne Repens down to substrate level and covered with a fresh layer of aquasoil.

I have a few hypotheses about what might have gone wrong. Given how quickly things went south I expect it was a flow issue and the plants weren't getting access to enough CO2. The flow rate on the Biomaster seems to be down despite regular cleaning and maintenance. I didn't suspect nutrient deficiency so I didn't adjust anything to do with dosing.

One week later and the tank seems to have stabilised very quickly. No traces of algae left. Plant health seems good. Its unfortunate that I will need to regrow my carpet from scratch because otherwise I was getting close to my end goals for the tank. Hopefully I can get it back there in about a month.


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## bazz (1 Oct 2021)

That's a shame mate, was looking good too, I'm sure it will bounce back, the remaining plants look healthy.


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## erwin123 (1 Oct 2021)

looks like all your other plants are fine. i've read  that Monte Carlo carpets are prone to waste build up under the carpet, was there a lot of waste when you removed the carpet?


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## Libba (1 Oct 2021)

erwin123 said:


> looks like all your other plants are fine. i've read  that Monte Carlo carpets are prone to waste build up under the carpet, was there a lot of waste when you removed the carpet?


Not really. I'd been pretty diligent with vacuuming it. They definitely are prone to waste build up though.


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## Libba (8 Oct 2021)




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## Libba (16 Oct 2021)




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## GHNelson (16 Oct 2021)

Nice journal with detailed up-dates!!! 👍
Love the Rotala's 👏


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## Alexv95 (17 Oct 2021)

Hello, very nice and helthy plants !
Could you tell me where did you buy your rotala blood red? And finally, what's your current fert regimen?
Thx


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## Libba (21 Oct 2021)

Alexv95 said:


> Hello, very nice and helthy plants !
> Could you tell me where did you buy your rotala blood red? And finally, what's your current fert regimen?
> Thx



Blood Red is widely available here in Australia. For ferts I just use APT complete at the recommended dose


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## Deano3 (21 Oct 2021)

Amazing colours and great tank will have a good read through jurnal when get 5 minutes but looks great 👍


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## Libba (29 Oct 2021)

The tank is bouncing back well after the aggressive trimming and removal. There has been some persistent green thread (i don't know what type it actually is) hanging around. Since most of my shrimp have jumped out of the tank by now and I only seem to have two left I decided to try out API algaefix. I dose a bit under the recommended dose and it absolutely murdered the last of the algae. It's incredibly effective. The shrimp were visibly agitated but were still alive the next day.

Rotala Florida is really thriving. I've propagated enough that I've been able to sell off a fair bit. I've sold about 50 stems so far and made a nice profit from it.

I'm not happy with the Blood Red at the moment. It's become very orange which seemed strange because I have my lights as high as they will practically go. I'm dosing APT complete which is about 6ppm of nitrate per week so I didn't think it would be nitrates. I finally checked my nitrates and they were at 30ppm despite the low dosing. I've been doing 50% weekly water changes so that seems weird. I have been using ADA root tabs so there must be a lot of nitrogen entering the water column from those. I'm going to start dosing APT zero and try to get those nitrates down below 5ppm and see how the plants go with that.

For livestock I'm down to one Harlequin unfortunately. All have jumped. It seems to happen pretty randomly. Thinking about trying a group of 6 Otos or something. Any recommendations for fish that are less prone to jumping?

I just planted some UG in the space formerly inhabited by Monte Carlo. I took Geoffrey's advice and planted it quite deep so there's not much visible right now. I also received some giant willow moss as a freebie so threw that in to see what it does. I'm half expecting it to die from the daily excel dosing.

Overall I'm pretty happy with how everything is going. Hoping to have a finished scape by the end of the year.


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## Wolf6 (29 Oct 2021)

With so many jumpers, are you perhaps pushing co2 too much or is there something that can startle the livestock around? I've had one jumper shrimp in the past 2 years in a tank full of cherry shrimp and fish with my open tank. Net cover could be a help too, like the red sea reefer cover which can be made to fit any tank really and is not an eyesore. Nice reds!


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## PARAGUAY (29 Oct 2021)

You may get a odd jumper but having a few seems like somethings not right do the fish spend time near the surface


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## erwin123 (29 Oct 2021)

Wolf6 said:


> With so many jumpers, are you perhaps pushing co2 too much or is there something that can startle the livestock around? I've had one jumper shrimp in the past 2 years in a tank full of cherry shrimp and fish with my open tank. Net cover could be a help too, like the red sea reefer cover which can be made to fit any tank really and is not an eyesore. Nice reds!



I unfortunately have first hand experience that too much Co2 (due to an accidental knock of the regulator) can cause jumping.....
the alternative is that the shrimp jump to escape predators?


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## Libba (29 Oct 2021)

Wolf6 said:


> With so many jumpers, are you perhaps pushing co2 too much or is there something that can startle the livestock around? I've had one jumper shrimp in the past 2 years in a tank full of cherry shrimp and fish with my open tank. Net cover could be a help too, like the red sea reefer cover which can be made to fit any tank really and is not an eyesore. Nice reds!



Yeah I guess it's possible that it's CO2. I'm waiting on some calibration solution to come in the mail so I can calibrate my pH probe and see what CO2 levels I'm hitting. I like the net cover idea, I'll give it a try!


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## John q (29 Oct 2021)

What colour is the dc going? In this picture from 1st October it looks yellow/clear.



Might be an idea to get the tank and co2 stable before adding any more critters.


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## Libba (29 Oct 2021)

John q said:


> What colour is the dc going? In this picture from 1st October it looks yellow/clear.
> View attachment 176138
> Might be an idea to get the tank and co2 stable before adding any more critters.



Thanks.


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## Libba (3 Nov 2021)




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## erwin123 (3 Nov 2021)

Any tips for ludwigia sphaerocarpa? Mine is growing pretty fast, has reached the surface so I need to trim it again, but its not the healthiest growth (algae problem on lower leaves despite it being right next to my Co2 diffuser so it gets plenty of CO2 mist) and the leaves are mostly green rather than yellow.


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## Libba (3 Nov 2021)

erwin123 said:


> Any tips for ludwigia sphaerocarpa? Mine is growing pretty fast, has reached the surface so I need to trim it again, but its not the healthiest growth (algae problem on lower leaves despite it being right next to my Co2 diffuser so it gets plenty of CO2 mist) and the leaves are mostly green rather than yellow.



High light and don't let it be shaded by other plants. Mine turned very green as soon as it was shaded by the rotalas.


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## erwin123 (3 Nov 2021)

Libba said:


> High light and don't let it be shaded by other plants. Mine turned very green as soon as it was shaded by the rotalas.






Thanks. I'm slowly edging up the light 1% at a time. My lights are set at roughly 50% and 55% respectively. I took it out today to cut the top and replant as it reached the surface. Lower leaves aren't in good shape though they are right next to the CO2 diffuser and getting the CO2 mist. pH is a stable 1.0-1.1 drop at lights on.


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## Wolf6 (3 Nov 2021)

Is that some Fontinalis antipyretica I spot there or is it another moss?  I love that plant, just a pain to get it to attach to something properly.


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## Libba (3 Nov 2021)

Wolf6 said:


> Is that some Fontinalis antipyretica I spot there or is it another moss?  I love that plant, just a pain to get it to attach to something properly.



It sure is. I received it as a freebie so threw it in to see what it would do. It seems to be growing.


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## Libba (3 Nov 2021)

erwin123 said:


> View attachment 176310
> 
> Thanks. I'm slowly edging up the light 1% at a time. My lights are set at roughly 50% and 55% respectively. I took it out today to cut the top and replant as it reached the surface. Lower leaves aren't in good shape though they are right next to the CO2 diffuser and getting the CO2 mist. pH is a stable 1.0-1.1 drop at lights on.



Yeah, I'd have thought it was a CO2 issue but it sounds like you've ruled that out. If you're sure that your CO2 and flow are both adequate then maybe more light will help as you slowly adjust it up. I'm guessing you've got nutrients covered.


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## erwin123 (3 Nov 2021)

Libba said:


> Yeah, I'd have thought it was a CO2 issue but it sounds like you've ruled that out. If you're sure that your CO2 and flow are both adequate then maybe more light will help as you slowly adjust it up. I'm guessing you've got nutrients covered.






Water column wise, my dosing is decent. My aquasoil is old so I've added Ferropol root tabs and Neo root tabs next to the stems as well, will probably add more and 'surround' the stem with root tabs
I have my last surviving Rotala Florida stems right next to the Ludwigias and since they are super difficult plants for me (not for you...)  and seem to be CO2 hogs, I guess they act as a 'canary in coal mine', if CO2 is no good, they will wilt much earlier than the Luwidigias   The CO2 diffuser is in the photo , and the mist travels from right to left, towards the Ludwigia.

p.s. i've said it before, but your Rotala Floridas are totally awesome!


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## Libba (3 Nov 2021)

erwin123 said:


> View attachment 176336
> 
> Water column wise, my dosing is decent. My aquasoil is old so I've added Ferropol root tabs and Neo root tabs next to the stems as well, will probably add more and 'surround' the stem with root tabs
> I have my last surviving Rotala Florida stems right next to the Ludwigias and since they are super difficult plants for me (not for you...)  and seem to be CO2 hogs, I guess they act as a 'canary in coal mine', if CO2 is no good, they will wilt much earlier than the Luwidigias   The CO2 diffuser is in the photo , and the mist travels from right to left, towards the Ludwigia.
> ...



Thank you. The newer growth on yours is looking nice and healthy now too with great colour.


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## Libba (7 Nov 2021)




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## Libba (9 Nov 2021)




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## erwin123 (9 Nov 2021)

with the Betta in the tank, do you have any more shrimp clean up crew?


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## Libba (9 Nov 2021)

erwin123 said:


> with the Betta in the tank, do you have any more shrimp clean up crew?



Sorry, the betta isn't in this tank. Hes in a 30cm cube next to this one. I just wanted to share a photo of him.


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## Libba (13 Nov 2021)

Getting close now. Just need the Blood Red to colour up a bit more and the UG to grow in and I think this tank will be finished.


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## Libba (19 Nov 2021)




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## Libba (23 Nov 2021)




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## Libba (26 Nov 2021)

I think Macrandra Green is a really beautiful plant under the right conditions. I've managed to get mine to turn a really beautiful bronze/slightly pink. No post-production colour editing - this is how it looks in person. I think its my current favourite plant.


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## erwin123 (26 Nov 2021)

The Rotala green's main job is to act as a contrast for the Floridas.  
For thin & leafy green stem plants, I like Limnophila 'Vietnam' as it grows much slower (you probably have to trim Rotala Green every week!)


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## Libba (26 Nov 2021)

erwin123 said:


> The Rotala green's main job is to act as a contrast for the Floridas.
> For thin & leafy green stem plants, I like Limnophila 'Vietnam' as it grows much slower (you probably have to trim Rotala Green every week!)



Actually not so much because I dose so lean I think it restricts growth rate. I chose HM as the plant to background my Floridas and provide contrast because it stays such a vibrant green and can grow so nice and bushy.


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## J-Bonham (27 Nov 2021)

Libba said:


> I think Macrandra Green is a really beautiful plant under the right conditions. I've managed to get mine to turn a really beautiful bronze/slightly pink. No post-production colour editing - this is how it looks in person. I think its my current favourite plant.
> 
> View attachment 177744


 You're right about the colours on Macrandra Green. 

Beauty!


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## Libba (30 Nov 2021)




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## Libba (7 Dec 2021)




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## Libba (10 Dec 2021)

Things were getting a bit out of control so I decided to reset the stems. The undergrowth wasn't looking too good so I topped them, removed it and replanted. I used this opportunity to put in some more root tabs too; I use ADA Bottom Plus. I also removed some staurogyne repens to allow more room for the UG to grow. I pinched a few little clumps from the UG and transplanted into the open space. The HM looks like crap so I'll probably reset that soon too. The tank doesn't look too impressive right now but it should grow back pretty fast. The willow moss was getting too out of control so I moved it to the betta tank.


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## Libba (15 Dec 2021)




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## Libba (17 Dec 2021)

Tank is bouncing back nicely from the reset. Plants are appreciating the extra N from the root tabs. The blood red is turning a bit orange but that's okay for now.


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## erwin123 (17 Dec 2021)

The Sphaerocarpas are nicely coloured despite being at the side of your tank.  They need a lot of light to turn yellow!


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## hypnogogia (17 Dec 2021)

@Libba what's that surface skimmer you are using?


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## plantnoobdude (2 Apr 2022)

any updates on this one @Libba ?


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