# teak root mini



## leonroy (28 Sep 2011)

Some of you might have read my journal 810l (210g) teak root tank but I thought considering that it's 1. my first planted tank and 2. going to take 6 months or so before it's even ready to fill with water (let alone plant) I ought to practice on something smaller first.

So after seeing this:





and this:




and this:




I thought I'd quit constantly calling TGM with _just_ questions and actually give them some of my hard earned cash so I've just pulled the trigger on the following:



ADA Cube Garden Mini M, 36 x 22 x 26 cm, 21L
ADA Solar Mini M (27w compact fluorescent)
Eheim Ecco Pro 130
Cal Aqua Labs Nano Efflux F1 13mm
Cal Aqua Labs Nano Influx X1 (13mm)
Do!aqua CO2 Starter Kit
ADA Pollen Glass Mini CO2
ADA CO2 Beetle Counter
ADA Stone & ADA Hornwood
ADA Aqua Soil Powder Amazonia and ADA Power Sand Special S
TGM Pinsettes & Scissors
Some other stuff I can't remember

I'm thinking some Hemianthus callitrichoides in the foreground, maybe some hairgrass and some Bolbitis heudelotii. Not 100% sure yet, will have to do some research into it.

As a stand I'll probably stick this on one of those teak roots! 

It's rather alarming that a tank so small can cost so effing much! I shudder to even imagine what the big thing will cost, but I guess trying to touch perfection comes at a price. I just hope I can live up to it!


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## gmartins (28 Sep 2011)

Looks promising and good inspiration...

Keep us updated

GM


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## foxfish (28 Sep 2011)

I think you have made a great decision as there is nothing like first hand experience....
I am excited about you 'big' tank too .....


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## Piece-of-fish (28 Sep 2011)

ADA porn full power uhuuuu...


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## nayr88 (29 Sep 2011)

Mate have you just dropped a grand on a nano!!!


Sheez this is going to be prett epic, haha.


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## Tony Swinney (29 Sep 2011)

That is some shopping list you've put together there !!! 8)     I look forward to seeing it all come together


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## leonroy (1 Oct 2011)

nayr88 said:
			
		

> Mate have you just dropped a grand on a nano!!!
> Sheez this is going to be prett epic, haha.



Yeah, pretty nuts...ADA remind me of Apple in a lot of ways


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## nayr88 (1 Oct 2011)

Yeh I hear you
I'm a big fan of Ada, lol

Self confesed! Fanboy!!


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## leonroy (1 Oct 2011)

Tony Swinney said:
			
		

> That is some shopping list you've put together there !!! 8)     I look forward to seeing it all come together



Wow, honored to have you stop by my thread Tony! I loved your Moniz inspired tank and your Power of ADA tank at TGM is truly terrific.

Thanks for keeping the EXIF tags intact on your images, helped me when photographing my tank, although I fear my lighting setup isn't as good as yours! (what kind of setup did you use for the Power of ADA pics? I'm guessing one upward flash behind the tank?)

Here are my pictures, I'm awaiting an RO unit before I fill it, so for the next week or so these will have to do...

Gaz at TGM was kind enough to go through my entire order and suggested I consider Cal Aqua lily pipes and drop checker over ADAs for my nano tank, it's both cheaper and more suited size wise. The ADA Beetle Counter and Pollen Glass Mini are definitely unnecessary since the Do!Aqua CO2 kit comes with a very nice diffuser/bubble counter but I've always had the hots for the Beetle Counter ever since seeing it a few years ago!  





And of course where would we be without some beautiful pieces of Dragon Stone and hornwood (both fantastic stuff):





The dog sat bored as I ran around with camera, tripod and table cloth taking pictures of the tank. Think she's giving me a hint!


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## leonroy (4 Oct 2011)

Okay, back to work 

First an empty tank and a 100V transformer for the Solar I lamp (which means I could turn it on!). You'd think it'd come with one for the price!





Next just over half a bag of 2l Power Sand S. I kept it away from the edge of the glass so I don't have to see any of the 'sand' through the glass.





Camera on auto timer and pour some Aqua Soil Amazonia (Powder):





I ended up having to use nearly the entire bag to create a banked effect (I left the far left corner lower so I can place the inlet pipe here and collect the mulm which accumulates - apparently it's a good idea...?):













Iwagumi with Dragon stone (1st attempt):





2nd attempt:




Think I'll leave it for now and see if I hate it in the morning before filling with water.

A question:
Do I need to run the filter on a tank with Amazonia for a week or two before planting?


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## Stu Worrall (4 Oct 2011)

Looking like a very nice scape and great set of kit   Great photos of the setup too and I see the new ADA logo is filtering through to the new tanks now (even if it is just a sticker!  )

re the question you can run it while the ammonia leaches out but you can also plant it and run it too providing you do plenty of water changes.  If youre planting a carpet then I'd watch the two lower stones. before you plant you may want to lift them out of the substrate slightly as they'll get buried in no time.

The other thing, although not important to everyone, is that youve got an even number of stones in the tank.  that will probably be less important if the front right one gets buried but with iwagumi (and bonsai forests) you tend to try and go with odd numbers of stones.


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## Ian Holdich (4 Oct 2011)

looks like you have nailed it on the second attemt! 

Nice photography as well, re the planting, i'd plant straight away, the plants will get the best start then. If it's a new filter, the Amazonia will help mature the filter. Also if using new filter media, i would use a pouch of Purigen to start with. I have used this on a few new set ups and swear by the stuff.


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## leonroy (4 Oct 2011)

stuworrall said:
			
		

> Looking like a very nice scape and great set of kit   Great photos of the setup too and I see the new ADA logo is filtering through to the new tanks now (even if it is just a sticker!  )
> 
> re the question you can run it while the ammonia leaches out but you can also plant it and run it too providing you do plenty of water changes.  If youre planting a carpet then I'd watch the two lower stones. before you plant you may want to lift them out of the substrate slightly as they'll get buried in no time.
> 
> The other thing, although not important to everyone, is that youve got an even number of stones in the tank.  that will probably be less important if the front right one gets buried but with iwagumi (and bonsai forests) you tend to try and go with odd numbers of stones.



Hi Stu, to think I was about to peel the sticker off - ah, status symbols  Truth be told it was because of that little sticker sticker that I got into planted aquarium. I saw one on the corner of a tank in a magazine and out of curiosity stuck 'ADA aquarium' in Youtube - I had to pick my jaw up off the floor when a video tour of Amano's gallery came up...   

Thanks for the tip on cycling the tank with the soil first. If I'm using a mature filter does it still take 2-3 weeks to cycle?

By luck I popped into the Aquatic Design Centre in London on the way home from work today. They had Dragon stone at £3/kg. I picked up a little piece and I think an odd number of stones has actually resulted in an improvement!


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## NeilW (4 Oct 2011)

Stunning little setup. I would LOVE one of those Solars in black and an ADA CO2 system. I'm interested to see how you get on with that Do!Aqua set as I got my eye on one of those - I wonder how long the little cylinders last.


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## nayr88 (5 Oct 2011)

The rock work is spot on, just I can see it getting lost in no time j less you keep the carpet very veeeerrry compact.


get some supports in the substrate to help hold it in place and stop levelling out
Coming along though mate


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## leonroy (6 Oct 2011)

NeilW said:
			
		

> Stunning little setup. I would LOVE one of those Solars in black and an ADA CO2 system. I'm interested to see how you get on with that Do!Aqua set as I got my eye on one of those - I wonder how long the little cylinders last.



I think they last 6-8 weeks. I've bought a CO2 solenoid to turn off the gas at night so hopefully they'll last the full 8 weeks. It's only £25 for 6 bottles. TBH the enviromentalist in me would rather get one big bottle and refill that once a year, but for now I'll see how this kit does and post back here...


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## leonroy (6 Oct 2011)

nayr88 said:
			
		

> The rock work is spot on, just I can see it getting lost in no time j less you keep the carpet very veeeerrry compact.
> 
> get some supports in the substrate to help hold it in place and stop levelling out
> Coming along though mate



Thanks nayr88, I'm thinking some Hemianthus callitrichoides (Cuba) for the foreground, maybe a few springs of Glossostigma (kept short) and some Elocharis acicularis as the background plant. Tempted to have some riccia in there too...or maybe that's too many plant types for an Iwagumi?

Incidentally how deep does the Aquasoil need to be? With the Power Sand layer nearly 2cm thick I've only got at most 5-10mm of Aquasoil right in the front. Will that be enough for Cuba?


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## gmartins (6 Oct 2011)

hi,

cuba is not a problem. It has tiny roots and it can be grown epiphytically so no real need for a substrate.

cheers,

GM


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## NeilW (6 Oct 2011)

leonroy said:
			
		

> I think they last 6-8 weeks. I've bought a CO2 solenoid to turn off the gas at night so hopefully they'll last the full 8 weeks. It's only £25 for 6 bottles.


This sounds promising, which solenoid did you go for?


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## leonroy (7 Oct 2011)

NeilW said:
			
		

> This sounds promising, which solenoid did you go for?



The Aquamedic M-ventil one, but apparently a company called Luna makes solenoids just as good for half the price on ebay.


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## spill50 (7 Oct 2011)

I've really struggled to find the Luna solenoids on eBay. I was looking for one a while back. Ended up just going for a reg with one built in.


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## leonroy (27 Oct 2011)

Finally received and installed the RO unit so filled the little thing up with water:














Ammonia and nitrates are high at the moment so going to wait a few weeks for them to fall back down before planting...


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## leonroy (27 Oct 2011)

btw. running O2 through there, not CO2...


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## leonroy (29 Oct 2011)

Got some Hemianthus Callitrichoides, Eleocharis Parvula and Acicularis and am all planted and CO2 connected now 

Planting a nano sure requires a knack, everything is so fiddly and the plants kept coming out with the tweezers:




All filled and ready to watch grow:


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## nayr88 (29 Oct 2011)

Looking smart
But plleeeeeease get a solid background and move the co2 def to the left side of glass, please  

Also trim the hairgrass right down low...like really low 

Thank you


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## leonroy (1 Nov 2011)

nayr88 said:
			
		

> Looking smart
> But plleeeeeease get a solid background and move the co2 def to the left side of glass, please
> 
> Also trim the hairgrass right down low...like really low



Thanks, what sort of background do you suggest? Black?

I've trimmed the hair grass down low, although the hairgrass at the back is acicularis and at the front it's parvula. Also The Green Machine in this videorecommend trimming only the roots if the hairgrass is to grow tall.

At the moment I'm doing:
Light 6 hours (1pm-7pm)
CO2 7 hours (11am-6pm)

Ferts:
ADA Brighty K (daily half a pump
ADA Step 1 (daily half a pump)

Water change:
40% daily - (remineralized RO water)

Am I doing the right things?


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## Piece-of-fish (1 Nov 2011)

All looks about right. Nayr is right about trimming eleocharis, trim it right to the ground first, these leaves will rot eventually anyway as it is emersed growth. Later in the areas where you want it to grow taller trim it less, the rest where you want it short once carpeted needs to be trimmed like your garden lawn every 4-6 weeks.
Hope this helps


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## leonroy (6 Nov 2011)

Trimmed the Eleocharis back (it grows fast) and glad I did it too. I see what you guys were talking about, some of the existing growth is melting away.

Here's the current state of the tank. Dosing Step 1 and Brighty K (stupid name) daily. Can't believe the price of those two bottles (must cost a fortune maintaining a large ADA tank on ADA ferts!)


At what point do I need to trim the HC?
How often do I need to trim the Eleocharis and HC?

Otherwise it's looking good, stats are:
NO2: 0 mg/l
NH4: 0.5 mg/l
pH: 6.5
gH: 6
kH: 3


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## NeilW (6 Nov 2011)

How's the CO2 bottle holding out? Still on the first one? Looking good btw


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## Piece-of-fish (7 Nov 2011)

You have still left eleocharis too long. Trim ir right to the ground. Leave 1cm max. Old leaves will just attract algae.
With HC i cant give 100% confident advice as havent grown it much. Trim it in couple weeks for the first time. If you can trim dieyng growth as well. Its a small tank so easy to stay on top of maintenance. 
Later you will see how plants behave and feel when they need to be trimmed.
Pity a lot of new guys didnt introduce themselves to everyone during ADC meet 
Good luck.


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## leonroy (7 Nov 2011)

Piece-of-fish said:
			
		

> You have still left eleocharis too long. Trim ir right to the ground. Leave 1cm max. Old leaves will just attract algae.



Wow, that low? Alright, I'll do that.



			
				Piece-of-fish said:
			
		

> Pity a lot of new guys didnt introduce themselves to everyone during ADC meet



Hey, I was watching Jim and taking pictures! You were there? What did you think of Jim's scape?


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## Piece-of-fish (7 Nov 2011)

It was a nice scape. 100% symmetry though. His huge volcano scape is a masterpiece


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## leonroy (8 Nov 2011)

His volcano is indeed superb - he gets better with each tank he does. One of my favorites of his was the large Iwagumi he did in the current angel tank.

I trimmed the eleocharis right down on my tank:




I just took readings today:
NO2: 0 mg/l
NH4: 0 to 0.25 mg/l
NO3: 0 mg/l

Now I'm using RO water and doing 50% water changes every, single day but surely I shouldn't be at 0 mg/l NO3?


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## J Butler (8 Nov 2011)

leonroy said:
			
		

> I just took readings today:
> NO2: 0 mg/l
> NH4: 0 to 0.25 mg/l
> NO3: 0 mg/l
> ...



Hi Leonroy,

ADA green brighty step 1 and brighty K don't contain any nitrate if I recall. They keep water column dosing quite lean and rely on the aqua soil heavily to supply most of the macro nutrients. Also, hobby grade test kits for NO3 are notoriously inaccurate so you probably want to take any readings with a pinch of salt, even with laboratory grade equipment, I think it is still very difficult to get accurate measurements.

Depending on how long after you did a water change, that might also be a slight factor as any trace of NO3 would have diffused from the soil.

I'm loving the setup by the way, and eagerly awaiting updates on the 210g behemoth!


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## Ian Holdich (8 Nov 2011)

and never trust an NO3 test kit (unless it's a lab kit). The ones of the shelf are pretty much worthless. 

nice pics though!


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## matador1982 (8 Nov 2011)

Hi Leonroy,

Nice chatting to you at the meet on Friday. I took the plunge and signed up to the forum and have placed a short journal on here of my set up. Your tank is looking great really look forward to the progress on this


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## Mark Evans (8 Nov 2011)

nice tank mate. That grass needs to be cut lower


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## Piece-of-fish (8 Nov 2011)

Mark Evans said:
			
		

> nice tank mate. That grass needs to be cut lower


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## leonroy (15 Nov 2011)

Some of the leaves on the HC (Cuba) are yellowing slightly and melting away, is there anything the tank might be deficient or imbalanced in?


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## Piece-of-fish (15 Nov 2011)

Must be old leaves. I would not worry if you can see new growth.


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## leonroy (21 Nov 2011)

Added some shrimp Caridina multidentata and Neocaridina heteropoda (cherry) and two Otocinclus. They're really keeping the tank clean and removing any traces of algae on the leaves:










The yellow leaves of HC are slowly clearing:


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## leonroy (28 Nov 2011)

Got some green spot algae the past two weeks. I've reduced lighting period from 1300 to 1800 hrs and CO2 from 1100 to 1700 hrs.

Upped the CO2 slightly to 1.5-2 bps and drop checker (seems such an imprecise instrument) is green. Also bought some ADA Brighty Lights (wth is with these ridiculous names!) which adds PO4 which coupled with higher CO2 should bring the GSA down?

I was given a few free pots of HC and planted one in this tank. I've noticed the new HC is pearling but the old HC isn't...does that signify something lacking with the existing growth?

Also running through 1 of those DoAqua CO2 cartridges a month (they're so very small...)


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## gmartins (28 Nov 2011)

Hi,

DCs are used as a proxy for the amount of CO2. They cannot be regarded as accurate tools.

In my experience, HC is a heavy CO2-dependent. So this needs to be provided at large amounts. 1.5 bps sounds good but this measure is also very inaccurate so use your fauna as a guide as well.

I find pearling highly variable. Without changing anything, somedays my HC pearls a lot, others it pearls little. I suppose it depends on its mood   Of course, after a trim or WC it pearls like never before.

GSA is all about lack PO4. So you're doing right in providing this nutrient. However, note that ADA fertilizers apparently have very low concentrations. Check wet's website for calculations (http://petalphile.com/#splash)

Nice tank and evolution btw

cheers,

GM


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## mitchelllawson (29 Nov 2011)

I like the look of that first tank.


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## NeilW (29 Nov 2011)

leonroy said:
			
		

> Also running through 1 of those DoAqua CO2 cartridges a month (they're so very small...)


This is the insider info I was looking for, thank you! One month seems pretty reasonable for such a nice looking piece of kit. When I get some spare dollars this is one of the first things I'll get


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## leonroy (29 Nov 2011)

Wanna buy my DoAqua CO2 kit off of me? 

Won't be using most of it now that I've bought a fire extinguisher and CO2 regulator to use instead.


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## leonroy (20 Dec 2011)

Tank's still ticking over, what with work haven't even had time to see the tank during the day let alone take some pictures!

The teak root base finally arrived (all 150kg of it!). The tank looks amazing sitting on it. I also decided to (finally) buy some fish and saw some lovely yellow glass tetras at Aquatic Design Centre in London. Bit dear, but wow are they gorgeous...


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## leonroy (21 Dec 2011)

The little nippers:




A closeup:




Teak root *mini*:




(yeah I know, clean those pipes)


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## Arana (22 Dec 2011)

Now that's a serious piece of Teak :!:


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## awtong (22 Dec 2011)

What a piece of furniture! 

Andy


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## leonroy (29 Dec 2011)

I've been prone to leaving the tank full to the brim. As a result two tetras and six shrimp have 'escaped'. I didn't notice and kept feeding the normal amount which resulted in a cloud like fungus over the uneaten food.

The substrate which was banked originally had collapsed while scaping and I hadn't noticed this until after planting so with these two points in mind I tore the whole thing down and started again:

This time I used old cut up loyalty cards to bank the substrate much like TGM do with their bigger tanks. I also had to plant every single leaf of HC and blade of eleocharis individually. And...I trimmed that eleocharis right down...   

There was some erosion of the ADA Amazonia granules but it seems stable enough to give at least a few months of good service. I'm taking things slow with feeding until I can get more shrimp and keeping CO2 high.

One thing I noticed with the tetras is that they really dislike high flow so I swapped the Cal Aqua outlet for a Gush Poppy one. It appears to have done the trick, giving me lots of turnover with little turbulence but I have had to significantly increase the bps on the CO2 counter form 1.5 bps to about 4 bps.


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## ghostsword (29 Dec 2011)

Great piece of wood! The fish adc has now are cool, amazing fish for nanos.


___________________________

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year


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## Lewisr (2 Jan 2012)

Great blog mate look forward to seeing it grow. Good photos too.

Lewis


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## doobiw55 (2 Jan 2012)

That is simply the best tank stand I have seen! Where did you get it from, if you don't mind me asking? 

Tom


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## greenink (2 Jan 2012)

Liking this a lot. Am going to use dragon stone in my next tank.


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## leonroy (5 Jan 2012)

Thanks for all the kind words guys. Have to say it's a shame I can't get a bit of wood as good to put inside the tank 

doobiw55 the wood's from a store called Raft.


Characidae gen. sp. &quot;Yellow Glass Tetra&quot; by TheLeonRoy, on Flickr


Cherry Shrimp by TheLeonRoy, on Flickr


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## leonroy (5 Jan 2012)

This morning before heading into work I did a quick count of the fish and noticed only nine. Fearing one had jumped out I was looking around the tank for it when another tetra jumped out right in front of me straight into my hand. It was jumping all over the place but I managed to pop it back into the tank without delay.

Water parameters seem alright, low nitrates, zero nitrites and ammonia, low CO2 levels at the time it jumped. Water level was about 1-2cm below the rim of the tank. They are very skittish fish and dart around *really* fast come feeding time. Doesn't help that they're situated near a doorway as anyone walking by sends them darting for cover.

As the plants grow it should afford them more privacy but until then it looks like I'll need to get the cover glass otherwise I'm losing £10 everytime one of the buggers jump out!


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## ghostsword (5 Jan 2012)

Why not use some floating plants? Frogbit is nice and large, easy to remove.


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## sarahtermite (11 Jan 2012)

What a stand! And your scape's beautiful - it's been great to see it evolving.

Can I ask a dim question, though? I'm going to be setting up a tank very similar is size to yours soon (being delivered from TGM tomorrow - woohoo!), and I've got the Do!Aqua CO2 system. Back on page 2 you were talking about a solenoid - is that basically a timer for CO2? (Physics was never my strong point   ) If it is, what should I be looking for when I buy one? Thanks for any advice you can give


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## jalexst (5 Feb 2012)

Just re-discovered this post.

Great scape, and that wood is stunning!!


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## leonroy (11 Feb 2012)

sarahtermite said:
			
		

> What a stand! And your scape's beautiful - it's been great to see it evolving.


Thanks, although the scape has fallen on hard times (more on that later).



			
				sarahtermite said:
			
		

> Can I ask a dim question, though? I'm going to be setting up a tank very similar is size to yours soon (being delivered from TGM tomorrow - woohoo!), and I've got the Do!Aqua CO2 system. Back on page 2 you were talking about a solenoid - is that basically a timer for CO2? (Physics was never my strong point   ) If it is, what should I be looking for when I buy one? Thanks for any advice you can give


Congrats on the TGM order, you'll love the quality of their stuff. You're dead on the money, a solenoid is basically a timer for CO2. I'd recommend the Aqua Medic Solenoid but I'm sure you can find one on ebay that's cheaper. You'll want it to have 1/4" fittings and you'll also need a plugin timer to turn it on and off at the right time (CO2 on 2 hours before lights on, CO2 off one hour before lights off).


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## leonroy (11 Feb 2012)

Alright so I went away for a few weeks and totally messed the scape up. No ferts were applied while I was gone, light was on for 6 hours per day and the CO2 was a dribble when I got back.

Plant growth has been pretty slow these past few months, but algae is really taking over. Any idea what kind of algae I'm seeing here (BBA and staghorn?):





Light's are on 2pm to 7pm and CO2 is on 10am to 6pm 3bps.

Ferts are half a pump of ADA Step 1, Brighty Lights and Brighty K (I know, I know, rip off stuff but I figured I'd make a success with ADA ferts before moving to EI).

Any help or advice would be (very much) appreciated


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## Ady34 (11 Feb 2012)

leonroy said:
			
		

> No ferts were applied while I was gone, light was on for 6 hours per day and the CO2 was a dribble when I got back.
> 
> Plant growth has been pretty slow these past few months, but algae is really taking over. Any idea what kind of algae I'm seeing here (BBA and staghorn?):



Hi there Leonroy,
def staghorn and bba. Its so frustrating what a couple of weeks can do to your pride and joy, however algae can be beaten and the answers as i suspect you just need confirming, are in your above post.
No ferts, same light, reducing c02.
To outcompete algae plants need ferts, light c02 in the right balance, over the last few weeks while youve been away the plants have had no food (ferts and c02) so havnt been able to outcompete algae.
Get your ferts back on track, stabilise c02 to the right level again, bi daily 50% water changes (alongside liquid carbon as an algae killer if you want fast results on staghorn and bba) should get things going nicely again in a couple of weeks. Staghorn and bba are results of poor/fluctuating c02. In my experience water changes, flourish excel and an increase of ferts solved both. You can spot treat bba with liquid carbon for more effective results, just drain the water to below the level of affected decor/or remove decor and dab with a paint brush, wait a few mins then refill.
Stick with it and youll get your scape back!   
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## leonroy (14 Feb 2012)

Thanks for the advice and words of encouragement. Excel ordered, will report back in a fortnight!


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## leonroy (31 Mar 2012)

Thanks for the helpful advice Ady34. Reporting back (slightly!) more than than a fortnight later. I applied Excel on the hardscape and am also dosing it daily. In addition I've kept up with ferts and CO2 which all together really reduced (but didn't elimated) the algae.

It wasn't until I introduced 10 amano shrimp that the algae disappeared from the hardscape and plant leaves. After adding 6 ottos a week later the glass is now squeaky clean as well  
I think that's all the live stock I'm willing to put in a 20 liter tank. Here's the before from December:




Here's how it looks now:




I'm not certain why the plant growth is so slow however (or is that normal growth). I'm dosing 1 pump of ADA Step 2, Brighty K and Brighty Lights as well as 2.5ml of Excel daily. Light is daily 5-6 hours as is CO2. Drop checker is on the lower side of lime green however since the last time I turned it up slightly I began to hit yellow by the end of the day and noticed some of the amano shrimps jumping out!

Am I perhaps neglecting some vital trace elements or merely expecting too much?


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## taggerz28 (13 Apr 2012)

Any update on this one? How are you getting on with the algae? Hope your winning the fight!


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## leonroy (26 Jun 2012)

Well ladies and gents, it has been a bumpy ride over which I have come so very close to packing it all in. Initially I struggled with green spot, then BBA, slow growth and the loss of many, many little glass yellow tetra fish (which at £10 a pop was a costly loss - and alas the distributor are unlikely to be getting any more of the beautiful, little critters).

Despite all that, I'm pleased to say that I stuck with it and finally figured out that with regular water changes (once weekly seems to do), daily ferts, not too many hours of light (and not too few) and a good, *constant* supply of CO2 things really start heading in the right direction.

Here's the tank as it stands, it's not perfect I'll grant you and I just did a fairly heavy prune but the algae is subsiding, the HC is growing fiercely and maintaining the tank has become a little more manageable.

This planted aquaria lark is a LOT more work than I realized (no doubt due in part to my inexperience) but I have to admit, despite all the effort involved I do get a LOT of enjoyment from sitting in my study and watching the fish and shrimp swim amidst my own little green and pleasant 'scape.





(Edit: I should add that the fish died from jumping out the tank. They were very fast swimming and very jumpy and coupled with filling the tank to the rim most of the time meant I lost nearly all of them.)


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## Ady34 (26 Jun 2012)

Hi there and great to see you stuck with it through the tough times. It looks great now, and a full carpet of hc shows how things have improved.
Unfortunate about the fish, they were very nice, but im pleased your finding time to enjoy it none the less.
Cheerio, and nice to see an update.
Ady.


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