# Aquascaper 900 -  1 Year Update . Thinking of a rescape soon.



## PAYN3Y (23 Jul 2018)

Hi guys,

Decided to create an account on here as I'm sure I'll run into to problems soon and need your help. 

So recently my almost 3 year old decided he wanted some fish. I had two weeks paternity leave coming up so decided I would get a fish tank sorted whilst I was off. I spent a few days googling and moved from gold fish, to tropical fish, to marine fish and then came across planted tanks and aquascapes. Thinking the aquascape would be less maintenance than marine I figured this was the way to go. (Although I'm starting to realise what I've let myself in for.)

Anyhow, I came across George Farmer's videos and watched a fair few. I priced some parts online and ordered an Aquascaper 900. My newborn arrived so I got in touch with Dave at Aquarium Gardens. He has been very helpful and gave me some advice on how to get started and supplied me with various bits for my hardscape. I then ordered my filter, lights and set to work.

When I went to order some plants I was told that without CO2 I would have to use a dimmer as my light would be too bright for the plants without it. So I bit the bullet and took a fire extinguisher from work. 

The next day my plants arrived so in they went. The tank looked like it could do with some more plants so I ordered a few more which brings me to today. 

Things seem to be going quite well so far. The tank has cleared somewhat. I've been doing water changes every other day, my plants seem to be starting to grow and I now have 20 Amano shrimp, which after a day of trying to jump out of the tank, now appear to have settled. 

So 4 weeks ago I knew nothing about aquariums, especially planted tanks. Now I've got an unintentional new hobby that so far seems quite fun. I'm looking forward to adding some fish and not looking my first disaster. 

Here's a few pics. I would love to know your thoughts.


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## tam (23 Jul 2018)

Looks like your jumping in the deep end approach is going very well! Looking great so far.


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## Tim Harrison (23 Jul 2018)

Welcome, looks good. 
A dimmer is a good idea anyway especially when the tank is immature, most problems stem from too much light.
Or take a look at one of these http://www.hinterfeld.com/hinterfeld-programable-smart-controller-for-led-fan-dc-pump/
Just out of interest whats the length of your photoperiod?


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## PAYN3Y (23 Jul 2018)

Tim Harrison said:


> Welcome, looks good.
> A dimmer is a good idea anyway especially when the tank is immature, most problems stem from too much light.
> Or take a look at one of these http://www.hinterfeld.com/hinterfeld-programable-smart-controller-for-led-fan-dc-pump/
> Just out of interest whats the length of your photoperiod?



I actually have one of those dimmers which I ordered when I planned not to use CO2. I got bored of waiting for it to be delivered so set up the CO2 instead. 

My photo period is currently 6 hours which I had planned to increase to 8 hours once it was more established. Do you still think I should run at a lower intensity for the moment? The trident fern on the right appears to either be struggling/adapting or has some some of algae on it.


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## Tim Harrison (23 Jul 2018)

Yes I think it's always best to stick to a lower light intensity until the tank is mature and therefore much more stable.
Not sure what would be a good intensity with your light, which I'm guessing is a Twinstar 900E.
But I'm sure someone will be able to offer advice.


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## JackMartins (23 Jul 2018)

An impressive start for a "complete noob"; 
Congratulation, keep us posted;

In case of your "strong light issue", I would recommend not reducing(I also have a Twinstar E), but on the other hand, increase the "water change" frequency; 
Something like, every 2~3 days a new 30%~50% water change; This will reduce the excess of nutrients in the water;

Also, use the time you don´t have livestock and PUMP your CO2 (yellow on drop checker);

One other hint, do not start dosing fertilizers in the full recommendation; Start with half, check the plants evolution and increase the dose linearly;


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## PAYN3Y (23 Jul 2018)

JackMartins said:


> An impressive start for a "complete noob";
> Congratulation, keep us posted;
> 
> In case of your "strong light issue", I would recommend not reducing(I also have a Twinstar E), but on the other hand, increase the "water change" frequency;
> ...




Great, thanks for the advice. I have been doing 50-70% water changes every 2 days so far. I have been doing the aquascaper plant food at 10ml per day which I believe is around half the recommended amount already.

My drop checker has been going green but not a bright green. I think I'm about 5bps but didn't want to increase too much because of the amano shrimp. Will they be ok with more CO2?

I did do a water test the other day and was surprised at the results. I'm not sure why I have such a strong Nitrate level for a tank that's 10 days old. I've decided to ignore the results for now.


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## Zeus. (23 Jul 2018)

PAYN3Y said:


> My drop checker has been going green but not a bright green. I think I'm about 5bps but didn't want to increase too much because of the amano shrimp. Will they be ok with more CO2?



My Dc goes nearly clear and my Amanos are fine, so even if the DC is yellow you should be good



PAYN3Y said:


> I did do a water test the other day and was surprised at the results



We generally in the hobby dont bother with test kits as at the hobbyist level they are unreliable so there results are meaningless


BTW great start


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## paul_j (23 Jul 2018)

Great start! I like that the upside of the piece of wood is horizontal.


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## alto (24 Jul 2018)

PAYN3Y said:


> I did do a water test the other day and was surprised at the results. I'm not sure why I have such a strong Nitrate level for a tank that's 10 days old. I've decided to ignore the results for now.


Did you test your tap water as well?

You can (usually) find your tap water analysis online & confirm your test kit results,
 eg, if test kit yields 20ppm nitrate in tap water, but water report indicates 0-5 nitrate range for tap water, kit - or more likely  operator - may be in error

When testing tank water, other factors may contribute to results, eg, Seachem Prime will interfere with Nessler (reagent) Nitrogen test kits, instead use a Salycilate based kit
Read Seachem’s Prime FAQ 

I’ve a background in biochemistry & found hobby kits to be surprisingly decent
eg, I ran standard curves for known amounts of nitrate using RO, tap & tank water as the solvent, spiked given samples with known amount nitrate, tested an “unknown” nitrate sample (prepared by a colleague) ... while a couple kit brands yielded odd results, most kits were decent: some test kits include a “reference” sample which can be used to “test” kit & operator 

BUT kits can be expensive & it’s quite possible to run very successful tanks with nary a kit 

They can be helpful to starting aquarists, as lack of experience makes it more difficult to asses tank based upon fish activity (exactly what is “normal” for that species, is the stress water quality - or inappropriate tankmates, or illness or ???), plant growth/activity, also SMELL (fewer discussions lately on this but certain algaes contribute very different odours, also nitrates, excessive wastes etc)

What is your substrate? 
ADA, Tropica, Tropica Growth Substrate, Dennerle etc - nitrogen’s can be released, depending 

If you’re close to a shop that tests customer water samples, you can bring in fresh samples - my favourite is the dead fish included in water sample 


I rarely use test kits these days, but they can be a useful tool when communicating aquarium details on forums


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## PAYN3Y (24 Jul 2018)

Hi,

Many thanks for your detailed reply. I have annotated your comments below.



alto said:


> Did you test your tap water as well?
> 
> I haven't tested my tap water so far.
> 
> ...


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## PAYN3Y (24 Jul 2018)

So last night was my first panic. I noticed a few plants appeared to be dying and most of my Monte Carlo was gone. 

On further inspection it seems that the Amano Shrimp have been uprooting the Monte Carlo. Perhaps I should have waited for it to take hold before adding the shrimp? The plants that appear to be melting are the Crypts. After googling in a panic it seems that Crypts often melt after a move and recover or begin a transition to submerged growth. Hopefully this is the case. Should I uproot them to clean off the melting leaves/check for new growth or just pull off the melting leaves in situ? The shrimp seem to be enjoying the dead plant matter but I'm sure I need to remove it.


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## Nubias (24 Jul 2018)

Great work, look forward to seeing the tanks progress but looks like an amazing start.

Only wish I could have room for another tank to do something more like this. Also good work on taking a suggestion from your 3yo and turning it into an obsession for yourself. 

George does make a good video doesn’t he.... I think he should start doing a species spotlight series on different flora and fauna as I find him the most clear and concise out of all the YouTube I’ve watched on the hobby... and I’ve watched a lot.


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## PAYN3Y (30 Jul 2018)

I've added a few new additions this weekend. 32 RCS, 6 Cardinal Tetras and a few new plants.

As you can see from the pictures I've lost the majprity of my Monte Carlo. The Eleocharis seems to be holding in there and the Hydrocotyle Verticillata is growing new shoots pretty well. I've added a few new crypts around the mid-ground and a bunch of Limnophila Sessiliflora to the back left. My Ludwigia is growing well and has gone a lovely red that the pictures don't do justice.

I'm looking for suggestions on what to do with the big rock on the right. That was originally placed there to hold the wood in place with the intention being to move it later. I'm now thinking it should stay but its certainly needs something attaching to it. Should I buy 6 varieties of Bucephalandra, try to cover it in moss or something else?


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## PAYN3Y (2 Aug 2018)

Yesterday I decided to remove all of the Monte Carlo. The amano shrimp had ripped most of it up anyway and it was looking a bit messy. I've given that a good clean but it was interesting to see how many dead brown roots were under there. Personally I think it looks better without the carpeting plants but I'm starting to regret not having the front left of the tank as a sandy/beach area. Would it be a complete nightmare to do that now the tank has some livestock?

I also moved the C02 diffuser and added a power head yesterday. The power head is giving the trident fern some nice flow and really pushing the C02 bubbles around the tank. Hopefully this will improve flow and plant health overall. The Anubias are really starting to take off now and the stem plants are growing like mad. Some crypts are taking a while to recover and the Buce don't seem to be doing anything yet. 

I'm thinking off adding another 14 cardinals at the weekend. Undecided on the second shoaling fish. Harlequins?


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## tam (2 Aug 2018)

It looks good 

Yes completely normal for crypts to melt and grow back. They grow big root systems so often there is a lot going on under the substrate even if the top looks sad. 

Looks like your tap reads about 25ppm nitrate so not surprising your tanks around the same mark. I wouldn't stress over it.

I like to experiment a bit some plants do well others don't and you can try different things. Let things grow in a bit and see how they look. 

What's your substrate? If it's not layered you could insert some supports, syphon out the front and add sand, would be messy to do but not impossible.

I don't mind the rock, I think it looks like it fits in as an extension of the one under the wood. The front will soften as the plants in front grow. You can try a buce if you like them but I like it as is. A lot is down to what you like so you have to decide


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## Wulfen (2 Aug 2018)

Looking good


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## AverageWhiteBloke (2 Aug 2018)

Great start, have a look into each plant you buy mate. Some just don't grow very fast regardless of what you do with them like the buce, certain crypts and anubias so don't confuse this with poor growth. Sometimes it's best to plant such plants in shaded areas so they don't get too much light. Because they don't grow fast and you are not constantly trimming them you just end up getting algae on the leaves. Faster growing stems don't get the chance as you clip them out more often. If the fast growers are growing fine the slow growers will look after themselves.

Right off topic but I'm intrigued with the TV setup, what's going on there? Really like the look of that and was contemplating something similar. I was think about wooden lats on the wall with a black backing with similar led back light but I like what you've done there.


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## PAYN3Y (3 Aug 2018)

tam said:


> It looks good
> 
> Yes completely normal for crypts to melt and grow back. They grow big root systems so often there is a lot going on under the substrate even if the top looks sad.
> 
> ...



Substrate is Prodibio Aqua Growth Soil. Nothing else under it so I guess the support option would be doable. Perhaps a big unnecessary job really. I may attempt a carpet again in the future when the tank is more mature.

Thanks for your comments. Good food for thought. I think I'll leave the rock for the time being.




AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Great start, have a look into each plant you buy mate. Some just don't grow very fast regardless of what you do with them like the buce, certain crypts and anubias so don't confuse this with poor growth. Sometimes it's best to plant such plants in shaded areas so they don't get too much light. Because they don't grow fast and you are not constantly trimming them you just end up getting algae on the leaves. Faster growing stems don't get the chance as you clip them out more often. If the fast growers are growing fine the slow growers will look after themselves.
> 
> Right off topic but I'm intrigued with the TV setup, what's going on there? Really like the look of that and was contemplating something similar. I was think about wooden lats on the wall with a black backing with similar led back light but I like what you've done there.



Thanks for the info. I've not really researched the plants - just put a load in and starting looking into them afterwards. I figured it'd be a quick way to learn! Are there any options for fast growing plants that are not carpet or stem plants?

As for the TV setup. I built a frame out of CLS and mounted a piece of MDF to it. I cut a hole in the middle to house the TV bracket and to get the wires through from the floating media unit below. There is 6m of Phlips Hue lightstrip around the edge of the CLS and then wallpapered the MDF and hung the TV.

I haven't got any fully finished photos but you can see what's going on here. There is a link with some WIP photos here too.

https://imgur.com/a/aVzEmgl  <<<<<< Work in Progress Photos


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## AverageWhiteBloke (3 Aug 2018)

PAYN3Y said:


> Some crypts are taking a while to recover and the Buce don't seem to be doing anything yet.



Was just referring to this mate, certain plant don't grow very fast regardless of what you do to them even in perfect conditions, in fact some prefer to be in a shaded area. Stems tend to be the fastest growers. Just don't worry if you see on plant in particular that doesn't appear to be growing much, sometimes its just the nature of the plant. It will prevent trying to fix things that aren't broken.

Nice work with the TV setup BTW. It's give me food for thought. I do interiors for a living, plasterboard features with led lighting in that kind of thing so as you'll guess my house tends to be a bit over the top that way  Was fancying doing something around my TV very similar to yours, mdf sheet with some black cloth I liberated from a sound studio I recently did  and Oak slats fixed with gaps between them backlit be LED like you have there. Hides all the cables and looks nice. Hopefully anyway but I like what you did there just not a fan of wallpaper (not yours obviously just in general). Once you start with wallpaper it's that way for life. Thinking maybe the same as yours but painting it out in a contrasting colour.


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## PAYN3Y (13 Aug 2018)

Yesterday I went for a visit to Wharf Aquatics in Pinxton who have a huge selection of tropical fish. They had some lovely male golden rams and I couldn't resist purchasing one. I didn't want two males so ended up with a female from another breeder. She isn't as attractive but figured I'd rather have a peaceful tank than one fish constantly getting bullied. I was set on getting some Harlequin Rasboras but decided I wanted something different. Ended up with 10 Black Phantom Tetras who so far seem to be rather active and have made the Cardinals more confident.

Many people only seem to have two types of shoaling fish. I'm tempted to add a third in a few weeks rather than upping the numbers of the current breeds. Any problems adding 10-15 rummy nose tetras?

Current stock list:

18 Cardinal Tetras
10 Black Phantom Tetras
2 Golden Rams
20 Amano Shrimp
32 Cherry Shrimp (although some are pregnant)

I've also added a new Buce around the large rock which I think softens the harsh lines. I gave the Trident Fern that was struggling a huge haircut, hoping it will bounce back. The other fern is doing very well.


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## TBRO (14 Aug 2018)

Looking really nice, the Rams are stunning. Do they need higher temps? I’ve got the same tank, only got cherry shrimp so far. Looking to stalk the answers to your stocking questions, I was thinking of Norman’s Lampeye, I’ve got a black background. 

Wish I lived near Wharf Aquatics, amazing shop!!!


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## PAYN3Y (14 Aug 2018)

TBRO said:


> Looking really nice, the Rams are stunning. Do they need higher temps? I’ve got the same tank, only got cherry shrimp so far. Looking to stalk the answers to your stocking questions, I was thinking of Norman’s Lampeye, I’ve got a black background.
> 
> Wish I lived near Wharf Aquatics, amazing shop!!!



Thank you. 

Apparently the rams are happy at 25 degrees upwards. I run my tank at 25 degrees and they seem ok so far. I'm hoping the pants will grown in a bit to provide a few more shaded areas as I've heard they like some hiding spots to feel secure. 

Wharf is amazing. I couldn't believe how busy it was last Sunday. Unfortunately I didn't feel the plants they stocked were of particularly good health. There was loads of them but nothing that really caught my eye.


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## Marc Davis (14 Aug 2018)

PAYN3Y said:


> Yesterday I went for a visit to Wharf Aquatics in Pinxton who have a huge selection of tropical fish. They had some lovely male golden rams and I couldn't resist purchasing one. I didn't want two males so ended up with a female from another breeder. She isn't as attractive but figured I'd rather have a peaceful tank than one fish constantly getting bullied. I was set on getting some Harlequin Rasboras but decided I wanted something different. Ended up with 10 Black Phantom Tetras who so far seem to be rather active and have made the Cardinals more confident.
> 
> Many people only seem to have two types of shoaling fish. I'm tempted to add a third in a few weeks rather than upping the numbers of the current breeds. Any problems adding 10-15 rummy nose tetras?
> 
> ...



Really nice looking Ram!


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## Marc Davis (14 Aug 2018)

PAYN3Y said:


> Thank you.
> 
> Apparently the rams are happy at 25 degrees upwards. I run my tank at 25 degrees and they seem ok so far. I'm hoping the pants will grown in a bit to provide a few more shaded areas as I've heard they like some hiding spots to feel secure.
> 
> Wharf is amazing. I couldn't believe how busy it was last Sunday. Unfortunately I didn't feel the plants they stocked were of particularly good health. There was loads of them but nothing that really caught my eye.



The colours of the rams become crazy at 28 degrees +. But as you say. They always seem fine behaviour wise at 25 and your colours are great anyway.


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## PAYN3Y (14 Aug 2018)

Marc Davis said:


> The colours of the rams become crazy at 28 degrees +. But as you say. They always seem fine behaviour wise at 25 and your colours are great anyway.



Thanks for the info. I've obviously only had them a couple of days so hopefully they don't start to fade due to the temperature. Any reason I shouldn't change my tank to 26/27 degrees? Will it affect the plants?


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## Marc Davis (14 Aug 2018)

PAYN3Y said:


> Thanks for the info. I've obviously only had them a couple of days so hopefully they don't start to fade due to the temperature. Any reason I shouldn't change my tank to 26/27 degrees? Will it affect the plants?


Ive personally not had any issues with plants at that temperature.

The reason i say about the rams colours is that my electric blue and gold were at 25 degrees and i considered them colourful.

I then got discus and upped the temp to 28/29 degrees and WOW that showed their REAL colour.


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## PAYN3Y (16 Aug 2018)

Unfortunately Mrs Golden Ram isn't doing very well. Yesterday I thought she must have jumped out and the dog may have eaten her as I couldn't find her for hours. She didn't show up when I did a 60% water change either. Eventually she came out from beneath a piece of bog wood looking very very pale, breathing heavily and not moving much at all. I haven't tested the water but like I mentioned I did a big water change yesterday. 

Possible reasons are that she doesn't like the higher PH water? - The other fish, including the make Ram all seem very happy though. Maybe shes in shock and struggling to get used to the Co2 levels? Or, I have seen the male having a bit of a pop at her. Perhaps he isn't too fond of his chosen 'mate' and has been bullying her. Hopefully she picks up.


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## PAYN3Y (6 Sep 2018)

Following on from another thread, the tank is currently in recovery mode. After a few too many changes my plants were suffering from co2 deficiency and diatoms. I've been doing water changes every other day and set the light to fade from 70-50% over the photo period, rather than being on 100% the whole time. So far things seem to be improving rather quickly.

Yesterday, after some advice, I changed to an inline JBL diffuser. I am getting very fine micro bubbles and I'm enjoying the look of the tank with less equipment but today my drop checker is not as bright green as it was with the intank diffuser. I didn't adjust the bubble rate on the regulator either. I think I'll have to crank it up a little tonight. I also turned off the power head as I'd like to remove it if the inline diffuser can circulate the bubbles efficiently enough. It doesn't seem ideal having the powerhead blasting the stem plants for hours each day.

Here's some photos from last night.


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## Lee iley (7 Sep 2018)

PAYN3Y said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> Decided to create an account on here as I'm sure I'll run into to problems soon and need your help.
> 
> ...


Can you use any fire extinguishers for c02 or are there only certain ones. I have a few kicking around work. Cheers Lee


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## Edvet (7 Sep 2018)

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/fire-extinguisher-co2.266/


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## Aqua360 (7 Sep 2018)

Great start to the hobby! Well done!


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## Grant Binnie (8 Sep 2018)

Great looking tank!


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## PAYN3Y (17 Sep 2018)

So week 12 and I appear to be just about over the diatoms and my plants seem to be responding well to the stable co2 levels.

New additions are 3 pearl gouramis - 2 of which are very shy and spend most of the time hiding.

I've added a Eleocharis carpet to the front. It looks a bit messy at the minute but I'm trying to leave it until it's established before trimming it. Some of the fish and shrimp like to uproot it so probably on half will survive.

I've given the stem plants a heavy trimming so they're not overly visible in the pics. I'm thinking of replacing the Limnophila Sessiliflora with something else as it grows a bit leggy. Any suggestions?

I'm going to keep the lighting at the current reduced levels for a little while longer. The tank still looks good with a bit less light and I don't want to upset the balance again just yet.

I feel the tank is becoming a little 'messy' and perhaps certian plants just need a decent trim. Although I',m inclined to just leave things a little while and decide what to cut back later.

Any comments greatly appreciated.


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## Lee iley (17 Sep 2018)

Really nice looking tank. Well done love the plants and colour.


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## CooKieS (17 Sep 2018)

Lovely tank, keep up


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (18 Sep 2018)

The tank looks great by the way  but... In response to your thoughts that the tank looks messy and wanting to replace the Limnophila... I would suggest removing it and expanding the adjacent plants / using some trimmings to fill the gap. I believe you possibly have to many different plant species at present and this may be lead in to the 'messyness' that you referred to. Or how about using that lobelia from the front to replace it as this will eventually grow quite a bit taller?

Plants also look more natural when planted in groups together species by species so to speak as this is how they grow in the wild. If you look at some photos of Dutch style aquariums you will see what I mean.

Hope that helps!


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## PAYN3Y (18 Sep 2018)

Matt @ ScapeEasy said:


> The tank looks great by the way  but... In response to your thoughts that the tank looks messy and wanting to replace the Limnophila... I would suggest removing it and expanding the adjacent plants / using some trimmings to fill the gap. I believe you possibly have to many different plant species at present and this may be lead in to the 'messyness' that you referred to. Or how about using that lobelia from the front to replace it as this will eventually grow quite a bit taller?
> 
> Plants also look more natural when planted in groups together species by species so to speak as this is how they grow in the wild. If you look at some photos of Dutch style aquariums you will see what I mean.
> 
> Hope that helps!



Hi Matt, thanks for the response. I completely agree about having too many species. Being inexperienced I had no idea how much some of the plants would grow and after planting originally I wanted to fill the gaps with as many plants as I could get my hands on. I'm not sure how many plants can be replanted from cuttings, apart from the stem plants. 

I think I may get rid of all of the stem plants on the left hand side. After cutting them back I actually think the negative space accentuates the middle stump/mountain and the tank looks a bit cleaner. Like you say, I could move the front lobeila and maybe the hydrocotyle tripartita towards the back left instead. The addition of the carpet has also led to the tank looking a bot messier as there is no contrasting substrate. I'm undecided if I prefer it or not but I'll let it grow in and see what it looks like after it's first cut back.


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## PAYN3Y (20 Sep 2018)

Tuesday night I got to work and made the changes noted above. I removed the stem plants on the back left, moved the lobelia and tripartita to the back and moved a large crypt from the right hand side to the back left to fill the space. Overall I think the makes the front and back left look much neater. I still need to work on the right hand side but I think I'm going to have to remove all of the long thin leaf plants - whatever they are called and concentrate on the s/repens.


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (22 Sep 2018)

It does look a lot better, congrats! 

Also have a think about the rock work... to me it could do with a large rock near the front on the left hand side to balance with the right hand side?


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## PAYN3Y (11 Oct 2018)

So a few weeks on and things have stabilised nicely. I've given the right hand side a bit of a tidy by removing some of the thin leaf plants (no idea what they were called!). I've recently increased the lighting back to 100% fading to 70% over the photo period now the diatoms have disappeared. Hoping they don't come back. 

Fish seem happy and plants are growing well now. The inline co2 is definitely making a difference.


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## SDIESEL77 (11 Oct 2018)

Really nice design and colors !
Everything look healthy


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## TBRO (11 Oct 2018)

Really nice, looking spotless! Terrible diatoms for me ATM hoping they go away soon like yours! T


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## PAYN3Y (11 Oct 2018)

TBRO said:


> Really nice, looking spotless! Terrible diatoms for me ATM hoping they go away soon like yours! T
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Thanks.

I just took the advice from here and lowered the light intensity for a couple of weeks. I also bought 6 ottos and manually cleaned the rocks with a toothbrush. I was already changing 70% of the water twice a week anyway. Things improved very quickly. Hope they do for you too.


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## TBRO (12 Oct 2018)

Cool, impressive regimen! I manage 50% once a week. I’ve got some H.Pinitifada growing and I don’t want to upset it by reducing my light  

Got 8 Ottos last week they are awesome. My shrimp and SAEs weren’t really touching the diatoms but the Ottos are doing the business 






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## PAYN3Y (5 Nov 2018)

Here's a little video update. A couple of weeks ago saw the addition of a pair of flame/fire red apistos. My gut told me not to add them due to aggression with the rams but oddly they all get on rather well considering there are 3 males rams, one make apisto and one female apisto. The male sometimes get a little defensive of his mate but she is holding eggs at the moment. 
I have had a light sprinkling of BBA covering almost all plants. I have no idea where it has come from but it seems to have slowed now the co2 has been turned up even more. I'm not sure how to go about removing it all as it's on almost every leaf in the tank. Any suggestions? Spot treating isn't an option due to the amount of leaves covered. The video doesn't show it very well/at all. 

Other than that the tank seems very healthy. Both plants and livestock growing well.


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## Marklj 1967 (5 Nov 2018)

Great looking tank


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## AverageWhiteBloke (5 Nov 2018)

What's the Orange/Purple cichlid looking fish? Ignore that haha, I should read instead of watching videos. What a beautiful fish, never seen one before.


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## TBRO (5 Nov 2018)

The plants look v.healthy on the video! I have a bit of hair algae at the moment, think it was due to daylight savings, messing up CO2. Most algae should settle if parameters are consistent. Do you use any liquid carbon? 


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## Lee iley (5 Nov 2018)

That is a really good looking tank. Love the fish. Do you have cherry shrimps in there?


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## JM155 (5 Nov 2018)

Great looking tank and nice variety of fish!


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## PAYN3Y (6 Nov 2018)

TBRO said:


> The plants look v.healthy on the video! I have a bit of hair algae at the moment, think it was due to daylight savings, messing up CO2. Most algae should settle if parameters are consistent. Do you use any liquid carbon?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



I've got a bottle of TNC Liquid Carbon that I bought with the tank -  I was originally going without a proper co2 kit but that soon changed and I never used it. I heard you can use it for spot dosing but do you know how I would I use it to help remove BBA in my tank? 



Lee iley said:


> That is a really good looking tank. Love the fish. Do you have cherry shrimps in there?



Yes there are hundreds of cherry shrimp. I started with 32 but they have babies all the time. The German Ram spends most of his time hunting them out of the carpet at the front and the apisto has a go every now and then. They still seem to be out-breed the rate they get eaten so it's free food basically.


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## Jayefc1 (6 Nov 2018)

Just put it in syringe and spot it on to the BBA will kill it off are you putting any of the liquid cardo in the tank


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## PAYN3Y (6 Nov 2018)

Jayefc1 said:


> Just put it in syringe and spot it on to the BBA will kill it off are you putting any of the liquid cardo in the tank



The problem is there is a only a light amount of BBA but its on almost every leaf of every plant in the left side of the tank. If I spot it onto all of the BBA I fear it will gas the fish. 

I haven't put any of it in the tank before.


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## Jayefc1 (6 Nov 2018)

Just do a bit at a time over the next week or two the day before your water change I like to put a little I n the tank in genral it seems to help keep algee at bay  mines in a pump and I do one pump when I put my ferts in every day


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## PAYN3Y (6 Nov 2018)

Jayefc1 said:


> Just do a bit at a time over the next week or two the day before your water change I like to put a little I n the tank in genral it seems to help keep algee at bay  mines in a pump and I do one pump when I put my ferts in every day



I've read that it's the glutaraldehyde in the liquid carbon that kills off the BBA, but that you need to overdose (by 2/3 times) to really affect it. If I dose just the recommended amount of liquid carbon won't that increase my co2 levels too much if I keep injecting co2 at the same rate I currently am? and will this be enough glutaraldehyde to affect the BBA?


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## Jayefc1 (6 Nov 2018)

Just do a little see how it goes can't harm anything


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## AverageWhiteBloke (6 Nov 2018)

PAYN3Y said:


> I've read that it's the glutaraldehyde in the liquid carbon that kills off the BBA, but that you need to overdose (by 2/3 times) to really affect it. If I dose just the recommended amount of liquid carbon won't that increase my co2 levels too much if I keep injecting co2 at the same rate I currently am? and will this be enough glutaraldehyde to affect the BBA?



Co2 and Liquid Carbon are two different things. They don't add together to make more co2 so if you maxed with both you would just have more carbon in general but still the exact same amount of carbon dioxide. LC converts to a source of carbon but not to carbon dioxide the gas if that makes sense. Best way to keep on the right side of both is to work out the correct dosage of LC that should go in your size tank per day and put this in a syringe or pipette and dose it directly on the affected area. Turn off your filters so water movement isn't blowing the LC away from where you're spot dosing it so it has as long a contact time as possible with algae.

If it's on old leaves and you have new growth just trim the leaf off and concentrate spot dosing on new growth and any hardscape that is getting infested. The algae will change a red/purple colour and begin to die off.


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## PAYN3Y (6 Nov 2018)

AverageWhiteBloke said:


> Co2 and Liquid Carbon are two different things. They don't add together to make more co2 so if you maxed with both you would just have more carbon in general but still the exact same amount of carbon dioxide. LC converts to a source of carbon but not to carbon dioxide the gas if that makes sense. Best way to keep on the right side of both is to work out the correct dosage of LC that should go in your size tank per day and put this in a syringe or pipette and dose it directly on the affected area. Turn off your filters so water movement isn't blowing the LC away from where you're spot dosing it so it has as long a contact time as possible with algae.
> 
> If it's on old leaves and you have new growth just trim the leaf off and concentrate spot dosing on new growth and any hardscape that is getting infested. The algae will change a red/purple colour and begin to die off.



Excellent. Many thanks for the explanation! I’ve just done a 70% water change and dosed 4ml (1ml pet 50l) onto a couple of the worst affected leaves. I had switched the filter on by this point though. I’ll try without in future.


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## Tim Harrison (6 Nov 2018)

Looking great


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## Lee iley (6 Nov 2018)

When you spot dose lc onto affected areas in the tank. Do you do it out of the water or whilst it's under water.

Thanks lee


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## AverageWhiteBloke (6 Nov 2018)

You can do both mate. As long as the LC comes into contact with Algae it will do its job, it's a lot better algaecide than it is carbon source. Just be aware some plants don't get along with it and if you put it on out of water it could burn the leaves although you will get better results with it than under water as obviously the second it comes out the syringe it is more diluted.
Best time to spot dose is before lights on so you  get the benefit of it also being in the tank through the growth period when you get a slight elevation of available carbon for the plants. 

Sent from my STH100-2 using Tapatalk


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## PAYN3Y (12 Nov 2018)

This weekend I decided to add a frosted white background and install some Philips Hue light strips behind the tank. I'm really pleased with the background as it reflects the white light and makes the whole tank look much brighter and cleaner rather than being able to see the sand colour wall through the glass. I also installed some ambient lighting to add a splash of colour and make the tank look a little more interesting when the lights are off. I've only had them running 3 hours before and after lights on as I don't know what effect they could have on algae? Presumably they will have little effect if I stick to colours that are not in the spectrum for plant growth?

Excuse the floating moss at the top of the wood. I've re-glued than down since!


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## CooKieS (12 Nov 2018)

Nice mod, how much is the philips kit? Thanks

Ah, nice hifi btw


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## PAYN3Y (12 Nov 2018)

CooKieS said:


> Nice mod, how much is the philips kit? Thanks
> 
> Ah, nice hifi btw



It's just a standard Hue Light-strip which are about £65. You could use a cheap one which are usually brighter but I like to have them controlled along with all the other lights in the house.


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (18 Nov 2018)

Where did you get your flame red apistos from? I have been searching for them for a while since I lost this guy and now have a female that needs a friend...

I really like the backlighting effect btw


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## PAYN3Y (18 Nov 2018)

Matt @ ScapeEasy said:


> Where did you get your flame red apistos from? I have been searching for them for a while since I lost this guy and now have a female that needs a friend...
> 
> I really like the backlighting effect btw



Hi Matt,

I got them from Brookfields Garden Centre which is in Mapperley, Nottingham. They have a decent selection of fish there. Not many Chiclids but I did see a few of these Apistos left yesterday when I went to pickup some Aquascaper plant food.


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (18 Nov 2018)

Thanks! Only 2 and a half hours drive for me then! Lol


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## Stu Worrall (19 Nov 2018)

Lovely hardscape and the plants have filled in really well with it.  The Hue background looks great and its something Ive been wanting to try but I was considering going with frosted perspex like the ADA ones.  I hadn't thought of just doing a film with the Hue.  The blue night glow you've got going around the edges looks awesome!

Thats a great floating wall too!  I did mine a few years back starting with rope lights which eventually burnt out then replacing with Hue LED's



Floating Wall Build by Stu Worrall, on Flickr


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## PAYN3Y (3 Dec 2018)

Getting very disheartened with BBA now. It started out as a small tuft on a piece of the bog wood but after some co2 instability it slowly spread around the majority of my plants. I believe my co2 and flow has been quite stable now but things are not improving. 

I dosed 2.5x dose of TNC Liquid Carbon daily but that hasn't made any difference apart from melting a couple of crypts and my pinnatifida which was very healthy before I began dosing that. I can't sport treat as there is a gentle covering on almost everything now. 

It's such a shame as this seems to be the algae that is feared the most and there is the least remedy for. A complete rescape is about all I can think of but I was ideally hoping to keep this scape closer to 12 months, rather than 5.


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## tam (3 Dec 2018)

I pluck it... if you pinch a tuft an pull it usually comes away. You could try tweezers, but I just use my nails. Rocks can be scrubbed with a toothbrush or plucked, same with equipment. Or anything removable, take out and spray with liquid carbon. Substrate - scoop the surface off or push individually effected gravel/pieces down underneath. Plants - trim off the worst and pluck anything with just the odd piece. Spot treat anything left. It's time consuming but you can split it over a few sessions.


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## PAYN3Y (3 Dec 2018)

tam said:


> I pluck it... if you pinch a tuft an pull it usually comes away. You could try tweezers, but I just use my nails. Rocks can be scrubbed with a toothbrush or plucked, same with equipment. Or anything removable, take out and spray with liquid carbon. Substrate - scoop the surface off or push individually effected gravel/pieces down underneath. Plants - trim off the worst and pluck anything with just the odd piece. Spot treat anything left. It's time consuming but you can split it over a few sessions.



Thanks for the advice. I'm going to try a huge trim this week and cut back all the worst affected plants. There is just a small amount on virtually every plant in the tank so it's very difficult to spot dose. My trident ferns are removable though so will try and give them a blast out of the water.


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## Barbara Turner (3 Dec 2018)

Just read through your thread.
Few other things you could try before a re-scape..

I love your hue back lighting, but does the timing of this addition, link in with the BBA, just wondering how much light leaks into the tank, is the algae managing to photosynthesis for 14 - 15 hours a day? 

Can you increase the flow? Do you still have the powehead? This will all help to win the battle against BBA. Have you tried moving the drop checker to next to the worst affected plants. 

Plant mass..
Can you increase the plant mass and therefore o2 levels in the water. Can you add any fast growing plants? This will help combat BBA.  And /Or add floating plants.  Once your winning the battle you can always rip them out. 

Have you tried a 3 day blackout? The plants and fish will survive, but it will give the algae a really hard time.

Can you cut your lighting period down to 4 hours and intensity right down, are you still at 8 hours?

Snails..
Probably harder to get rid of than BBA algae, I can send you 20 rams horn snails and they will breed like rabbits but will eat algae. But once you add them I doubt you will ever get rid.

Watch out with liquid glut, I tried dipping some algae covered plants in a 3:1 solution, it killed the algae but turned everything I dipped into mush. I'm sure there is a sweet spot over what is recommended where it will reduce Algae does  but use with care. I don't believe low levels do anything to algae.


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## PAYN3Y (4 Dec 2018)

Hi, thanks for the reply. I've added my comments below. 



Barbara Turner said:


> Just read through your thread.
> Few other things you could try before a re-scape..
> 
> I love your hue back lighting, but does the timing of this addition, link in with the BBA, just wondering how much light leaks into the tank, is the algae managing to photosynthesis for 14 - 15 hours a day?
> ...


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## alto (4 Dec 2018)

Just watched the video (previous page) ...

What’s your present maintenance schedule?

I wonder if you just have more organic waste that’s contributing to the algae presence ... those are some pretty chunky fish (possibly the fattest cardinal I’ve ever seen    )
What are you feeding? How much? How often?

If you aren’t including a “fast” day, try introducing this weekly - I tend to do this the day before maintenance

Increase water change frequency - this is always one of the most effective “algaecides”
Clean filter and tubing (I’m always putting this off for some excellent reason )
Trim and tidy tank, syphon areas that maybe you’ve not been cleaning all that well  - carpets and moss can trap/build up surprising amounts of detritus
Make sure there’s no surface film that is limiting gas exchange (the Eheim skim 350 is brilliant at this)

Treat with an aquarium safe glutaraldehyde based liquid carbon - I use Seachem Excel (it’s also the product that FO used in his algae VLOG - he includes instructions) after a large water change
Recently I noticed some lovely BBA tufts on wood (and small amount on a few plants) - of course once I really started looking I found a surprising amount on the wood (hidden beneath an aggressive Bolbitis)

Seachem Excel Instructions



> On initial use or after a major (> 40%) water change, use 1 capful (5 mL) for every 40 L (10 US gallons). Thereafter use 1 capful for every 200 L (50 US gallons) daily or every other day. For smaller dosing please note that each cap thread is approximately 1 mL.



Mostly this just sits in the cupboard - I feel guilty subjecting shrimp and fish to daily doses - so I decided to try FO’s method ... well sort of  

I did a large water change, cleaned filter etc, then syringed the Excel into areas where I saw the BBA - following the 5ml/37litre dosage level - I’d already refilled the tank and filter was back on albeit at a reduced flow rate (I just decrease filter flow rate during water changes ... back when I had altums, they seemed much more stressed during tank maintenance with filters completely off)
I meant to repeat water change + Excel the next day, but actually ended up doing the 3 treatments, every other day (or so  )
Despite my lackadaisical approach, BBA mostly turned pinkish and reduced greatly
Week 2, I again dosed the 5ml/37litres just adding this to the water as not much left in BBA patches
Week 3, again dosed as above
Note, weeks 2 & 3, I only dosed Excel once per week as very little BBA visible

Excel has once again taken up its post in the cupboard


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## alto (4 Dec 2018)

I only ever seem to see BBA in the one tank - it lives in an alcove and receives very little sunlight
It actually has the best flow of my tanks
CO2 is likely also “better” and since the Rotala ‘Vietnam H’ra’ forced me into a more regular scheduled photoperiod, the plants have responded by growing too much, too fast

And as I’m basically a lazy person ... or I just hate to hurt a plant’s delicate feelings by cutting it and tossing the unwanted bits into a bin, this tank tends to cycle from
Overtrimmed
Growing back
Looking Good
Perfect
Hmmmm needs some scissor work
REALLY needs some scissor play
Wow I can’t see any fish or wood (or the back of the tank)
Overtrimmed

and so it goes 

I recently completly rescaped this - including new substrate - and am presently enthralled with my prodigious scaping talent 
- or at least I was, until I watched Green Aqua’s video from Adam Paszczela ADA Idea Studio Poland

I’ve been listening to Jurijs mit JS and Green Aqua (& Filipe Oliveira) discuss the effects of replacing substrate, so thought “why not” - it’s been very interesting watching the tank regrow
I mostly reused plants so not all that different from my Overtrimmed episodes (I banished the world dominating Bolbitis)
- the Rotala H’ra has been growing predominantly lateral
- the MC has almost completely carpeted in 2 weeks 

hmmmmm how did I get from BBA to this 
Sorry


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## PAYN3Y (4 Dec 2018)

alto said:


> Just watched the video (previous page) ...
> 
> What’s your present maintenance schedule?
> 
> ...



Thanks Alto,

I feel I maintain the tank fairly well. I work at home on a Wednesday which I call 'Water Change Wednesdays'. I typically use the Phython to siphon out around 70% of the water, including vacuuming the substrate and carpet as well as removing the filter, cleaning the pre-filter, glassware and changing the Purigen in the main filter. I will often do another 50-60% water change at the weekend without cleaning anything else but I've started to leave this some weeks as most online videos only talk about water changed once per week. Pipework has been removed and cleaned 3 times since setup. 
There are obviously a few places in this tank that are virtually impossible to clean, such as directly behind the large piece of bog wood and in some of the gaps. I do use a turkey baster to blast out some of the detritus from some of the areas but the bog wood breaks down so much it's a never ending job. 

I don't know why the cardinals are so fat. They were very large when I first got them. The entire tank gets fed two pinches of flake food each day and occasional some blood worm instead. Most of it is gone very quickly and I have no idea if its too little or too much. I don't think much of it finds its way to the floor. I occasionally don't bother feeding them but I'll perhaps make it a routine to not feed them on a Tuesday.

I shall go back to two weekly water changes. It's not a great deal of hassle but sometimes feels as though it could upset the balance if I don't get it complete before the co2 usually comes on. Perhaps adding the liquid carbon dose directly after would be a good idea. 

I'm going to give it a huge trim tomorrow. The worse affected plant appears to be the Alternanthera Reineckii. The Anubius was quite bad originally but this cleared up after I spot treated it. From 1m away you can barely tell I have BBA. It's on close inspection you can see tufts on almost every plant and after a water change the microbubbles stick to it which make it look obvious. Such an obnoxious algae!


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## Daveslaney (4 Dec 2018)

It would be a shame to have to break the scape down. It looks fantastic.
Judging by yours and post from others on here. I would suspect it is the organics from the wood breaking down in the water that is causing your BBA problems. Very frustrating and hard to get rid of, I know from past experience.
All I can suggest is you keep up with your water changes and maintenance and hope it subsides.
Good luck.


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## PAYN3Y (28 Jan 2019)

It's been a while since my last update. BBA really got on my nerves and I was getting ready for starting again with a new scape. However, I didn't want to be too hasty as I feel that there is still things to learn from this scape which will help me with the next one. 

BBA appears to have stopped growing. It's still visible on some of the older leaves but new anubius leaves don't show any signs of BBA. I corrected my co2 levels and also dosed liquid carbon. One downside was that my hygrophila pinnatifida completely melted away. Before the liquid carbon it was one of the fastest and healthiest plants in my tank that I had to trim every few days. It also seemed to have an effect on the alternanthera reineckii. Do some plants not respond well with liquid carbon? They haven't really recovered to this day. 

It's strange how the plant growth has adapted. After 4 months I hadn't noticed much growth in the buce, anubius or crypts. H.pinnatifida, lobelia and a.reineckii all grew really fast. Now it's reversed. My crypts have started to grow really fast and the buces have almost doubled in size. All in a few weeks! Perhaps it's time to remove the a.reineckii, the small cryp next to it with BBA and the remaining bba covered leaves. My anubisus petit also has some yellowing, holes and some renaming bba. Any idea what is causing this? 

Both of my pearl gouramis committed suicide! I think they were a little big and fast for an open top aquarium this size. The female apisto has also disappeared. She never really settled into the tank and I never saw her eat anything. The male is now the king of the tank. 

Here's some pictures from last night. I think I'm going to keep this going for another few months and try to get it looking it's best before dismantling it.


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (29 Jan 2019)

You're right that some plants done like liquid carbon. How did the vallis do? It is one that classiclt doesn't like liquid carbon... that said I've never had any problem with it in a liquid carbon dose tank!


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## PAYN3Y (29 Jan 2019)

Matt @ ScapeEasy said:


> You're right that some plants done like liquid carbon. How did the vallis do? It is one that classiclt doesn't like liquid carbon... that said I've never had any problem with it in a liquid carbon dose tank!



The vallis was only added last week to replace the ludwigia that melted with the liquid carbon too. It was a bit of a nuisance stem to maintain anyway but did provide some nice contrast. I don't know much about the vallis but thought it looked interesting. I'll be interested to see how it develops. The fish seem to like it, although something has been nipping the tops off some of them!


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (29 Jan 2019)

They should spread by runners from the base and would be classed as a root feeder... so they might be ok!


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## CooKieS (29 Jan 2019)

Hi,

That looks like severe NPK deficiency, what are you dosing?

Cheers,
T


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## PAYN3Y (29 Jan 2019)

CooKieS said:


> Hi,
> 
> That looks like severe NPK deficiency, what are you dosing?
> 
> ...



I've been dosing The Aquascaper Complete Liquid @10ml/day from day one. Plant growth and health was previously was previously very good. I've since upped it to 15ml/day hoping it will improve things. I think the recommended dose is 20ml/day for a 200L high tech tank but I think that may be a bit OTT. The anubius was completely overshadowed by the h.pinn and trident fern until I trimmed them recently. Perhaps they were blocking it's access to ferts and light?


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## PAYN3Y (5 Feb 2019)

Picked up a few new tank additions at the weekend. First was a Twinstar Nano+. Don't care if it does anything or not, just fancied one. Second was 8 rummy nose tetras. These are awesome and wish I'd got them from the start. Such great swimmers!

Lastly was this little stunner!



 

Oddly, I bought him back from the shop and couldn't see my golden ram anywhere. To this day he has not turned up. No idea how he could have disappeared so quickly. 

I've really been struggling with all the co2 bubbles in the tank. Using an inline diffuser they really distract me from the rest of the tank. As soon as the co2 goes off the tank looks awesome and the fish seem so much happier and more active. Is a reactor the only solution to this?


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## TBRO (8 Feb 2019)

Reactor sorted the bubbles in my tank. Like you, I found them distracting. Lovely Ram. T


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Tom Michael (6 Apr 2019)

Really like the hue back lighting, thinking of the same. Did you use the 1m light strip and did you attach to the back of the aquarium, cabinet or on the wall please?

Thanks


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## GlenD (12 Jul 2019)

PAYN3Y said:


> This weekend I decided to add a frosted white background and install some Philips Hue light strips behind the tank. I'm really pleased with the background as it reflects the white light and makes the whole tank look much brighter and cleaner rather than being able to see the sand colour wall through the glass. I also installed some ambient lighting to add a splash of colour and make the tank look a little more interesting when the lights are off. I've only had them running 3 hours before and after lights on as I don't know what effect they could have on algae? Presumably they will have little effect if I stick to colours that are not in the spectrum for plant growth?
> 
> Excuse the floating moss at the top of the wood. I've re-glued than down since!
> View attachment 119435
> ...



Very nice


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## PAYN3Y (12 Jul 2019)

Well it's been over 5 months since an update. The tank has been through various high and low spots. All my rams died within a few months. I think one may have had a disease and infected the others, along with the apisto but I also think the cooler temps and conditions of an aquascape make it a tough life for some cichlids.
One day I came home from work to find a huge leaf stuck on the filter intake. This pretty much stopped all water flow and caused the co2 level to rise and gassed about 10 of my fish! Two rapid water changes saved the rest. Live and learn I suppose but shows how finely balanced these tanks are.

BBA has subsided but it still apparent in the tank although over the last couple of months things seem to have stabilised. The slow growers (buces, anubius, crypts) have been growing rapidly and need constant trimming. Some of the older fast growers became untidy or died leaving the tank lacking a bit of colour in my opinion.

The carpet at the front had too much fallen moss growing in it and I accidently pulled half of it out when trying to remove the moss - so the rest has gone.

Overall, I've been pretty satisfied with my first attempt at an aquarium. I think I've learned enough now to attempt a rescape soon.


Here's a video of how the tank looks today.


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## Tucker90 (12 Jul 2019)

Even with all the mistakes it still looks incredible! 

As does the room! 

Great video! What did you use to film it? 


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## PAYN3Y (12 Jul 2019)

Tucker90 said:


> Even with all the mistakes it still looks incredible!
> 
> As does the room!
> 
> ...


Thank you! I filmed it with a Fuji X-T3 mirrorless camera that I picked up a few weeks ago.


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