# "Temporary Insanity", 60 gallon build



## Phil Edwards (5 May 2015)

Hello folks, 

Welcome to the most recent installment of "How long after setting up the tank will it be before Phil has to move again?".  After 5 months without a tank I finally broke down and put one together.  Rather than work on a couple different builds for testing and experimentation at the same time, I decided to really focus on one system and go all out.  I got really lucky and found all sorts of awesome hardware in storage when we moved and cherry picked the prime bits for use in this tank.  

Overall design philosophy: Over engineer, over engineer, over engineer, and cut no corners.  Since the stand is open, all of the hardware and plumbing had to be both effective and visually pleasing.  This meant sourcing manufactured items where needed rather than DIY.  Also, everything had to be modular for easy maintenance, modification, and moving.  This meant using lots of couplings and true union valves.  If I've learned anything over the years when it comes to plumbing sumps/wet-drys it's that one can NEVER have too many unions.  They make maintenance and removing hardware for pictures MUCH easier.

Before I get started, I want to give a *big shout out to the folks at CPR Aquatic*; especially their sales guy Russ.  He was very patient with all my questions, communicated regularly, and accommodated my OCD requests for sump customization.  This was my first time not making my own wet-dry/sump filter since I started high tech tanks back in 2001 and I wanted to make sure everything was just right.  I'm very, very pleased with the result.  

Specs:
*Stand- 1.5" steel frame with removable light hanging bracket.
*Tank- 60 gallon (48 x 24 x 13) effective volume
*Filter- CPR CR900 wet-dry with additional reservoir
*Overflow- CPR CS102
*Return pump- unknown brand, 3200 liters/hr (approx. 800 gph)
*Filtration media- 8.5 lbs Xport-NO3 (approx. 4000 gallons filtration capacity) with Poret foam for mechanical filtration
*Chemical filtration- Brightwell Aquatics OrganitR DOC adsorption resin in a CPR Mini Tumbler reactor with Fine Media Kit.
*Lighting- Aquatic Life 6x T5HO 
*CO2- Mag Drive 2 running a mazzei injector into a 3-stage Cerges reactor

Ok, I think that's enough talking, on with the pics!

"A Room With A View, or Plumbing Porn"




Preparing to seal the wood, or The Most Expensive Magnets Ever.  Yeah, I used the motors for two VorTech MP40s.  Paint was two coats of standard Killz.


Boards laid and sump in place.  The lefthand half of the reservoir is going to be a dedicated plant growing and shrimp keeping area so I wanted it in front for easy viewing.  Plus, the side-by-side arrangement opens up a lot of usable space so it's a win-win.  


Pump plumbing, expanded view


Mazzei adaptors.  I went with mazzei style venturis for two reasons; 1) I had them already and 2) the flow through the tank is a lot lower than what the overflow is rated for.  Russ told me that an Aqualifter would work, but it would wear out faster.  Rather than have to worry about the priming pump dying at an inconvenient time, and save a little money on electricity, I figured it would be better to plumb a venturi right into the return line.  Now I've got a self-priming system that injects a little air into the tank every now and then to boot.  Even better, I can use the Aqualifter as a dosing pump now.  




All put together and testing the lights.  Sadly, I underestimated how high the bracket would need to be to accommodate the hanging kits for my light and it ended up being too close to the tank.  A simple modification fixed that!


Soaking the wood while all of the plumbing joints cure.  I found a couple pinhole leaks in the sump bulkheads (that's what I get for trusting rubber gaskets) that needed to be siliconed.


It's alive!!!


Detail shots coming in the next post.


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## Phil Edwards (5 May 2015)

LET THERE BE FILTRATION!!!  The dual downdraft sump cover arrived today so I'll be using that soon and finishing up the plumbing as designed.  I was surprised to observe that there's been no issue having the full siphon line draining into the filter chamber and the open line draining into the reservoir.  This has interesting implications for when the filter chamber is sealed.  If it will work with only the single input once the whole thing's taped up then there will be no need to have the open line acting as a chimney that vents all the gas in the filter chamber.  I'll be trying that soon.


CO2 reactor; 3/4" line






Mini Tumbler with OrganitR.  The picture was taken after letting it run over the first night after adding the wood.  Look at all the tannins it removed! 


Tumbler working like a champ.  The valve on the powerhead allows for tweaking the flow.  It's churning everything in a nice gentle roil for excellent contact time and circulation.  Very impressed!  That's the CO2 return line next to the reactor.


Anti-siphon hole; one of the most important details to remember!


I think this is an excellent use of the bag I got at the AGA convention, do you agree?


Big rocks


Large to medium rocks


Pebbles for epiphytes and putting moss in small places


Potential wood arrangement.  The main light died so I'm using the 24 inch fixtures until the replacement parts arrive.


Thanks for watching!


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## kirk (5 May 2015)

Phil, some great plumbing/ fitration there, have just enjoyed going through it all. I'll be keeping an eye out for scape. 

You painting/descising the white inlet?


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## Phil Edwards (5 May 2015)

Thank you Kirk.  It's going to be a few months before the aquascaping happens, but it's something I look forward to as well.   Once I've decided if I want to keep the outlet as is or if I want to bring it up closer to the surface I'll probably end up painting it.  I don't want to have to mess with paint creating issues with the PVC cement if I end up changing my mind. Then again, I've got the parts, so I might just make a shorter one and paint them both.


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## ADA (5 May 2015)

Looking forward to seeing this progress .


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## EnderUK (5 May 2015)

monster tank, very nice.


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## Phil Edwards (5 May 2015)

Thank you ADA and EnderUK,

I've got some plants and new hardware here and will get updated pics tonight.  Once the mould/fungus on the wood is gone I'll get pics with moss on it.


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## tim (5 May 2015)

Can't wait to see this planted, keep the updates coming


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## Tim Harrison (5 May 2015)

That's some seerious plumbing...I hope this tank reaches maturity before you have to move again


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## Edvet (6 May 2015)

Looking fresh!. Any news on the basement tank?


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## Martin in Holland (6 May 2015)

wow...you have a man cave?....lol
Great plumbing and tank.


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## Phil Edwards (6 May 2015)

Here you go Ed,

What she looked like before tear down.  My company moved to a different state last year so I had to tear all the tanks down when it was time for me to go to the new facility.   The Aquaman Cave is no more.









Here's the 60 around the same time.


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## Phil Edwards (6 May 2015)

Someone on another forum was asking for detail photos of auto-prime venturi I hooked up for the overflow.  I figured if one person is asking other people are wondering too so here they are.

Rigid airline U tube


Airline running to the adaptor


Adaptor for the surgical tubing going to the venturi


The venturi itself


Lots of Poret foam sheets to play with, wheeeeee!


The 2" thick foam is just slightly too thick for the drip plate chamber.  It's pressing directly against the bulkhead, so I've got some 1" thick stuff coming that should work a lot better and not get clogged right away once the tank's actually planted and has fish.  The dark blue sheet is used as a final filter for the pumps and to separate the shrimp/plant nursery from the pump area.


The tank so far.  There's a big wad of moss hiding behind the wood on the left side. 


Anubias 'Petite' "garden" waiting for final hardscape arrangement before placement.


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## Edvet (6 May 2015)

Basement one looked impressive!
Good to see you're up and running. Welcome back!


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## Phil Edwards (6 May 2015)

Thanks Ed.  That was all emergent growth.  I wish I'd had the ability to flood it and run it properly for a couple months before having to tear it down.  I guess I could have, but it wouldn't have had a filter.   

I'm glad to be back and be wet again too!


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## luckyjim (7 May 2015)

Bloody hell, looks more sophisticated than a nuclear reactor, our American cousins certainly don't do things by halves!!!


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## Phil Edwards (7 May 2015)

(Un)fortunately no petroleum deposits were found near my house so I couldn't get special interest funding for the project.  HAHAHA  

Thanks Jim, I'll take that as a compliment.  

I intentionally went a bit overboard with the hardware for a few reasons:  
1- I love sumps/wet-dry filters, have been using them for years, and I got a good deal on this one so I could afford to go a bit bigger.
2- Life support best practices have changed a lot since I set up my last tank for aquascaping (vs. for testing/experimentation) and I wanted to include as many of those as I could.
3- I've seen too many insane reef builds online for my own good.
4- I had a lot of the non-filter parts already so why not?
5- The stand can accommodate a 120 gallon tank so I designed the life support system to be able to handle something that big if the time ever comes.  
6- I'm in the camp who believes dissolved organics are a significant contributor to algae issues and decided to fill the filter full of a medium that encourages bacterial growth with the expectation that it will increase DOC/DOM processing.  We'll see how it works. 
7- I could do it, so why not?  Designing life support systems is half the fun (to me)!

Cheers,
Phil


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## luckyjim (7 May 2015)

Good call mate, looks the business to me. But then my understanding of engineering ends at pushing a plug into a socket!


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## Phil Edwards (7 May 2015)

I've seen some pretty nice looking socket setups!


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## Phil Edwards (8 May 2015)

*5.8.15 Update-*

Got some plants in there.  Some friends sent me a batch of Crypts to start growing and I had to float some extras for a little while.  I was seriously tempted to plant them in the tank, but successfully resisted and went with the original plan of putting them outside.  Disaster averted!  hahah



What it looks like now.  Added a load of Bolbitis, a giant Anubias minima (hahah, what a misnomer!), some random stems that came with various packages from other hobbyists, 10 more pots of moss from the dealer, and the Bucephalandra I got at the AGA convention.  



I'm currently running approx. 60ppm NO3 and 7ppm PO4 with no signs of algae over the first week, only some fungus on the wood as it cures.  Let's see what happens over the next one.

Not so great picture of the filter.  Added the double input drip plate, switched out to 1-inch thick 30 pores per inch foam in the plate housing and put the 2-inch thick 30 pore per inch foam underneath it.  Even with approx 500 gph going through it, the filter's nearly silent and there's almost no agitation.  Goal achieved!



The 1-inch foam for those who are curious.


Let there be Cryptocoryne and Laegenandra!


Thanks for watching.


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## Phil Edwards (13 May 2015)

*5.13.15 Update*-

Spent all morning Saturday tying 3/4 of a gallon of moss onto the wood.  I think I need another gallon or gallon and a half to finish it and the rocks.    It amazed me how much that one step changed the feel and appearance of the whole set up.  Also, the hardscape layout plan may have changed too.  After randomly laying a couple pieces down horizontally instead of vertically to keep the moss away from the lights I was pleasantly surprised and figured I'd give it a go.  

Still running 70ish ppm NO3 and 9ish ppm PO4, dosed twice a week.  Everything's happy and growing.  







Thanks for watching!


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## Alexander Belchenko (13 May 2015)

It's quite a character now!


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## Phil Edwards (13 May 2015)

Thank you Alexander.  It's still got a ways to go before it's time for the final aquascaping.  I need to get some more wood, get everything mossed up and arrange the epiphytes before giving it some time to mature before finalizing everything.  Hopefully that will only take a couple more months.  There are a couple species of stems held down by rocks behind the wood.  It'll be interesting to see how they respond to that sort of treatment.


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## Tim Harrison (13 May 2015)

Interesting way of doing things...for me it'd be pushing delayed gratification to its limits, but I suppose the journey is all part of the fun...anyway it looks great even tho' there's a ways to go...


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## Phil Edwards (13 May 2015)

I'm with you Tim.  Every time I lay on the couch and look at the tank I want to dump a bunch of shrimp and fish in there.  It's not been easy to resist that temptation, let me tell you!  I know it will all be worth it though when everything is finally in place and growing.  I may toss a bunch of random stems in there just to see what happens.  If nothing else that would help to assuage some of my curiosity.


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## tim (4 Oct 2015)

Any updates on this one for us Phil ?


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## flygja (5 Oct 2015)

Wow, I have no idea how that sump of yours works. But it looks brilliant!


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## 5678 (5 Oct 2015)

Great build. Just skim read it but want to read through in detail to understand how the sump setup works.


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## banthaman.jm (7 Oct 2015)

great tank, coming along nicely
Jim


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## rebel (28 May 2016)

Any updates??


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## Phil Edwards (26 Aug 2016)

*8.26.16-*

Update time! I was finally released from cryogenic stasis (my head decided it had had enough and broke, which got tossed in the psych ward for a little while), got married, moved, and got a new job. The original tank seen in the previous pics got chipped along the bottom seam during moving and I don't trust my DIY skills enough to replace the pane and live in a 2nd floor apartment. Since I had to replace the tank anyway, I figured it would be wise to upgrade so I got the 80 gallon version made by the same company. That'll give me an extra 4 inches of vertical space to play with. I also cherry picked a few more nice pieces of spiderwood when the store I work at got their last shipment. Gotta love it when you get two giant boxes of the stuff to pick through! No pics yet as the tank's on backorder and the wood's soaking at the moment.

The past year and a half has been full of ups and downs and I've found myself lacking motivation/inspiration so any boosts/support would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Lindy (1 Sep 2016)

You survived so give yourself a well earned pat on the back. Put some hardscape together until you get something that makes you happy inside. Remember to smile.  

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## Phil Edwards (3 Sep 2016)

Thanks Lindy, I appreciate it!  The wood's soaking as I type this.  <3  Now if the damned tank will just get here...


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## Lindy (3 Sep 2016)

Impatience is one of my virtues too lol...

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## Tim Harrison (3 Sep 2016)

Good to have you back Phil...it'll be great to see your new scape evolve


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## Manisha (3 Sep 2016)

Beautiful original scape in your 60 gallon, nice to know there are other people that feel like throwing their tank out of an upstairs windows at times... You have to put so much work into maintaining a tank that if you are tired/busy/feeling crap is not easy so a break from it all is sometimes the best thing! Good luck with the new project ☺


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## Phil Edwards (4 Oct 2016)

*Captain's Log 10/4/16*- 

Thank you for the kind words everyone!

Well, the new tank and care package from Seachem arrived.  With the nano reef taking up valuable real estate on the big stand (needed the light hanger) while I searched for an appropriate and affordable stand and light the plant tank build was on hold for a while.  I'm happy to report that the reef has been relocated and the new 80 gallon has been put up on the stand and filled to continue soaking the wood.  As happy as I am to have that step completed, I think I'm even happier about getting the mosquito bordello/outdoor wood-soaking tub emptied.  

The plan is still the same as before; get as much Java Moss as possible tied to the wood and let it establish while waiting for the upcoming Aquavitro tissue culture plants to become available.  Once that happens it's game on.

Deep Blue Professional series 48x24x16 rimless 80 gallon.  They certainly know how to pack a tank for shipping!




Overlord approved


Extremely generous gift package from Seachem


Mosquito Bordello


We have wood!


Gratuitous nano reef shot.  Please forgive the haze, it had just been re-homed.


Thanks for watching,
Phil


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## Tim Harrison (4 Oct 2016)

Nice kit and wood...


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## Phil Edwards (5 Oct 2016)

Thanks Tim!  I can't wait for November to get the plants.  I've got something interesting coming.


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## Lindy (13 Oct 2016)

Looks like a great collection of gear to start off with!

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## Phil Edwards (13 Oct 2016)

Thanks Lindy.  This is something of a dream set up for me.  I've been planning something like this and gathering the hardware/hardscape for years but have been too nomadic to really do anything with it.  Now that I'll be in one place for a while it's time to finally put it all together.  Browsing UKAPS to get my "fix" while waiting is just making me more and more impatient though.   

It's official now, Aqvainnova will be supplying all the plants, except for the Java Moss which is coming from Rachel O'Leary.  Aqvainnova recently made a deal with Seachem to distribute their plants under the Aquavitro brand here in the US, which is really exciting news for we Yanks.    I guess that makes this my first sponsored aquascape.  Pretty cool now that I think about it.


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## Phil Edwards (25 Oct 2016)

*Captain's Log, 10/25/16*- Finally got the wood all mossed up and arranged.  The plan is to run the tank barebottom on low-light mode until the plants arrive in two weeks or so, at which time I'll add the substrate and plants together.  Oh yeah, I'll be adding the pair of Ecotech Radion XR15FW pendants at the same time. <3

Current specs:
Light- 2x 24w T5HO 12 hrs/day with an additional two on for 8 hrs/day.  The fixture's hanging 18" above the surface and the bulbs are old so there's not a whole lot of PAR getting to the tank.  Since it's just Java Fern that's ok with me.
CO2- 8 bubbles/sec with pH at approximately 6.7 and KH of 4 dKH. 
Ferts- 12ppm NO3 and 1.5ppm PO4 1x/wk.  This may get increased if needs dictate.

A little bit has changed since the original build in Alabama.  I've shortened the return outlet so it's closer to the surface and removed most of the hard plumbing.  The venturis worked well, but either drained the CO2 tank way too fast or reduced output flow too much for my liking.  This time around I decided to go with straight up vinyl tubing for simplicity and to conserve CO2/flow as much as possible.  I also changed the impeller running the CO2 from a standard to fractionating model to get better chopping of the CO2 prior to it being pumped to the reactor.  It's working very well so far.  One of the domestic online retailers had them on clearance for $5, which was a major bonus.

Now, on to the pictures!  Please forgive the poor quality, I've got a crap phone


















Another gratuitous shot of the nano reef:


Thanks for watching,
Phil


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## Alexander Belchenko (26 Oct 2016)

Great! It's taking shape.

What the device is on top of inlet overflow?


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## tim (26 Oct 2016)

Looks great Phil,
Look forward to seeing the rest of the plants in.


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## Manisha (26 Oct 2016)

Lovely scape ☺


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## Phil Edwards (26 Oct 2016)

Thank you everyone, I appreciate the kind words.  Since this is a mostly sponsored tank I'm feeling a lot of pressure to make it the best I've ever done.  That's not an entirely bad thing though since it's really pushing me to up my game.

Alexander,
That's a Tom's Aqualifter brand peristaltic pump.  It maintains prime and pulls air out of the weir section of the overflow.  I had previously used a mazzei venturi attached to the return pump to accomplish the same thing.  Since I wanted more simple plumbing this time I decided to use the pump that came with the overflow to see how it worked.  So far it's doing a great job and is fairly quiet.  The trickle sounds from the anti-siphon hole on the return are more noticeable than the pump vibration.


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## Phil Edwards (29 Oct 2016)

*Captain's Log, 10/29/16*- 

This past week has been one of great satisfaction and great frustration on the aquatic front.  The pair of Radion XR15FW showed up on Thursday to replace the old(ish) T5 fixtures.  This is something I've been wanting to do for some time now that LED technology has advanced as far as it has.  I'd been on the fence about which brand to use, Kessil or Ecotech, and after using Radions at the old job and on the nano reef the choice was clear.  Even though both brands are high quality, and are reputed to grow plants almost equally well, the programming and spectral customizability of the Radions pushed me over the edge.  I'm not a brand-whore, but I do follow the philosophy of "Buy the best in the beginning and you won't need to buy again later.".  I think I can safely say that I've got the best with what I can afford (sorry, ADA fans) and won't need to be replacing anything anytime soon.    

For those who are curious, the lights are currently running on a 12 hr photoperiod at 7K CRI and a parabolic increase/decrease in intensity maxing out (currently) at 35% total output which the program estimates is about 53 watts for two fixtures at max intensity.

On the downside, when installing the lights, I knocked the whole left side over and jostled the right side wood group enough to necessitate a re-scape.  I'd spent hours getting the arrangement just right and I don't think my wife has seen me as angry as I was that night.  That being said, the disaster created an opportunity for renewal.  As happy as I was with the old woodwork, I'm even more pleased with the new one.  Plus, now that I can dim the lights as much as I want I was able to put the substrate in and not worry about algae problems while waiting for the plants to arrive.  All of that combined has made for a very happy Phil.  

The substrate is 20 bags of AquaVitro Aquasolum with a little substrate additive I whipped up during my time with Brightwell.  I've been sitting on the jar for the past year and a half waiting to use it on this build.  I'm debating doing a fine cover of 1mm substrate for the fine rooters, but Seachem was so kind in donating the substrate that I'm not sure I should do it.  I've scrupulously followed the standard ADA set up method so far and I think if I didn't use the powder coat that it'll bug me every time I look at the tank from now on.  We'll see what wins out in the end, appreciation or OCD.  LOL!

On to the pictures!

Unboxing the lights-












New basic hardscape, now with substrate-













In honor of George-




Thanks for watching,
Phil


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## tim (29 Oct 2016)

Like the layout a LOT  has immense potential Phil, only that colander should be red for guaranteed success


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## Phil Edwards (29 Oct 2016)

Guaranteed success?  I like to live dangerously.


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## EdwinK (29 Oct 2016)

I feel a bit relieved when "Two Island" layout has gone. Last one sits here way better.


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## Phil Edwards (29 Oct 2016)

EdwinK,

The wood arrangement is very close to what it was before, with only some minor changes to make the hardscape slightly more linear.  I think I actually only moved the two smaller pieces which were in front on the right group.  That made a noticeable difference, but what really changed the feel for me was adding the substrate.  There was definitely a "two island" thing going on when it was just rocks and wood, and I'm with you; the tank feels much better now than it did before.  Thank you for the kind words about the tank as it is now, they're appreciated.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Tim Harrison (29 Oct 2016)

Been catching up with your journal Phil...great looking scape, love the wood placement, and definitely looking forward to seeing this planted.


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## Phil Edwards (30 Oct 2016)

Thanks Tim!  I'm looking forward to seeing it planted too.  Every new day brings delivery closer and makes me less and less patient.


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## alto (30 Oct 2016)

I'm with EdwinK - really like the new arrangement on the wood

I've been meaning to comment here but then got distracted by RL jinx (nothing substantive, more a comedy of errors but rather frustrating & energy consuming all the same)

So pleased to see you back here posting ... and congratulations on your marriage & overcoming personal challenges.   
I'm a great Seachem fan so really looking forward to this journal - none of the local shops that carry Seachem have any plans to bring in their substrate (perhaps shipping cost related, exchange rates ...) so would appreciate some closeups/impressions 




Phil Edwards said:


> As happy as I was with the old woodwork, I'm even more pleased with the new one.


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## Phil Edwards (30 Oct 2016)

Thanks alto, it's good to be back here and participating more in the hobby again.  I'm with you and Edwin, the small changes made to the wood arrangement have made a huge difference to the overall flow and feel of the hardscape.  The planting plan really hasn't changed, but I hope the new hardscape will enhance what is already planned.  

Having worked for a company that does a (relative) lot of business in the UK I can say for sure that shipping and VAT add a lot to the end-use cost.  When there are so many similar products in Europe already it's often in a company's best interest to do a limited selection of goods.  That being said, Seachem has been very good to me on a personal and professional/hobby level that I'm more than happy to give them any support I can.  

Initial impressions of Aquasolum:
1. The small bags hold a deceptively large amount of material.  They sent me 20 bags of the stuff and it was more than enough to do a solid 3" substrate, flat, in a 48x24 inch tank.  

2. The packaging makes it really easy to pour into tight spaces and fill in gaps in the hardscape.  Being used to working with 25lb bags (think Amazonia only larger) this maneuverability made a big difference and minimized the need to use other pouring vessels that may dislodge/displace the wood.

3. At first I thought the gain size would be a little too small, but the 2mm-ish diameter is the same size and my preferred type of silica sand so it should allow for strong root penetration while also aiding the finer-rooted species to establish.  We'll have to wait and see what the long term benefits/drawbacks will be.  I prefer a deep substrate and anticipate fairly strong anaerobic processes going on in the lower portions over time.  That's actually a good thing as it will mobilize some of the elements, such as Iron and Manganese, that are bound in oxic environments.  

This is one area where I've added something of my own devising so we'll need to keep in mind that there are additional non-Seachem minerals and bacteria added to the lower substrate.  One thing I noticed when using Amazonia and Power Sand Special was a strong rust layer about an inch or two from the substrate surface after about 4 months.  This was a good demarcation between oxic and hypoxic/anoxic strata that I hope to see with this material as well.    

4. Planting- I anticipate rooted plants like Crypts and the stem species will stay in place better during initial planting as the smaller grains should be more cohesive and hold them better.  I also anticipate less displacement of the slope.  Again, we'll see if I'm right when the planting actually happens.  Since most of the stems and fine-rooted species I'm getting are all tissue culture I plan on treating them as if they were wabi-kusa for planting purposes.  It'll be interesting to compare root development between the "wabi-kusa" and individually planted specimens.  

Look for updates on these topics in the future alto.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Phil Edwards (3 Nov 2016)

Frustrated impatience is knowing that your plants are in the US, but not knowing exactly when you'll get them.  It's pushing my ability to delay gratification to its limits.  Even so, much love for Aqvainnova!


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## Phil Edwards (7 Nov 2016)

Heya folks,

Quick update.  I did a 24 hour PAR log run at 7K CRI, averaging readings taken every 30 seconds each hour.  The sensor was in the front left corner of the tank where it's farthest from the light, both horizontally and vertically.  With the pendant on 100% intensity, the average min was 24 and average max was 65.  I haven't run log readings in more illuminated areas since it's the front corners that are what I would call the limiting factor.  However, in the more illuminated areas, at the substrate, individual samples read close to 100, which I'm happy with.  With these readings in mind, I've set the lights to max out at 75% intensity.  Being able to change intensity, light cycles, and CRI as needed was the big selling point for these lights and I couldn't be happier with them! 

Now that AE is over the plants should be coming in soon.  It's a good thing too, my patience is running out.  HAHAHA

Cheers,
Phil


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## alto (7 Nov 2016)

Phil Edwards said:


> I've set the lights to max out at 75% intensity. Being able to change intensity, light cycles, and CRI as needed was the big selling point for these lights and I couldn't be happier with them!


Yeah that's where Ecotech shines 



Phil Edwards said:


> the lights are currently running on a 12 hr photoperiod at 7K CRI and a parabolic increase/decrease in intensity maxing out (currently) at *35% total* *output* which the program estimates is about 53 watts for two fixtures at max intensity.



For me, this is the one failing of Ecotech's  Radion XR15FW, they chose to go with drivers that allow spectral change as Light Intensity changes - not a deal breaker for the plants, but given the price point of these lights, it is something the manufacturer should be more open about 

(I've been hoping for a revamp on this light after they updated the reef series, but haven't heard anything)


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## alto (7 Nov 2016)

Phil Edwards said:


> knowing that your plants are in the US, but not knowing exactly when you'll get them


aretheythereyetaretheyarethey???????????????????


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## Phil Edwards (8 Nov 2016)

alto, could you explain what you're saying about spectral change with intensity change a bit more please?  I've noticed that the intensity slider does increase or decrease as I've moved the CRI slider around.  I'm no electrical engineer or programmer, but it seems to me they're using the word intensity as a proxy for PAR as it's something the general public will understand better.  Also, I saw an Ecotech rep say that intensity and brightness are the same thing according to the wording on Ecosmartlive.  To my mind that tends to support the PAR Proxy Problem in my mind, but it also makes me think the opposite as well.  By changing CRI/spectral output to areas our eyes don't see as well (far right, far blue, etc) "brightness/intensity" is visibly reduced, but PAR may stay the same as far as corals and plants are concerned.  

Perhaps I'm just talking out of my rear.  LOL

Plants aren't here yet and my finger nails are all gone.  I'll be drawing blood soon.  

Cheers,
Phil


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## Phil Edwards (10 Nov 2016)

*Captain's Log 11.10.16*-

The plants arrived yesterday morning!  I have to say, I'm very impressed with the hardiness of the Aqvainnova plants.  The poor things spent a week and a half in a box getting to my place from Europe, with a stop over in Chicago for a few days during a convention.  The only species that didn't handle it too well was H. pinnatifida, which, in my experience doesn't handle prolonged dark periods very well anyway.  This is the first time I've used tissue culture (TC) plants extensively and have to say that for the most part they're easier to use than I'd expected.  The plants that were grown emersed in a greenhouse were EXTREMELY easy to use; thanks in no small part to the growing vessel.  All I had to do was gently pull the bunch out of the glass ring and presto, instant bunch with a root wad.  Ironically, due to the extreme density of fronds, the Needle Leaf Java Fern was by far the hardest to work it, being nearly impossible to tie down without creating gaps in the foliage.  Solution: let them grow for a while then tie and re-place.

For those not familiar with how Aqvainnova grows their non-tc plants, they use a little glass ring with plastic holder inserts for hydroponic culture.  Compared to my experiences with traditional rock wool in pots, they're clean and very easy to use.  Needless to say, I'm going to keep all of them for future use.  I'm not sure if this method is patented, but I would love to see it become an industry standard.

Enough talk, on with the pics!

Unboxing- 

 



















New to me Crypt species.  I look forward to seeing how this one does in the tank.







The tank just before planting.  Here's where my impatience got the better of me and created a small problem.  The inundated substrate in the fore and midgrounds wasn't very cohesive and shifted easily while planting.  Say bye bye to the nice even slope.  
















My variation on George's One Pot Challenge: 5 rocks, 3 species, in 60 minutes.  I thought I'd try a little emergent iwagumi set up with any extra plants.  We'll see how it turns out.  I'm not a fan of iwagumi in general, preferring the look of wood, and havent done a rock only hardscape in over 10 years.  It was a nice challenge and I'm looking forward to seeing how it matures.  I may have to start doing more iwagumi to increase my skill in that style for the sake of being more well rounded as an aquascaper.



Thanks for watching!


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## EdwinK (10 Nov 2016)

Quality of plants looks perfect. Cryptocoryne costata 'Green' is a commercial name of C. albida. From my point of view it's an 'easy' plant to grow.


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## Phil Edwards (10 Nov 2016)

Thanks for the info EdwinK, that's good to know.  I agree, the plants are excellent and I'm really looking forward to working with them more in the future.  For now I'm going to sit back, try to relax, and keep my hands out of the tank for a while.  HAHAHA, good luck to that!


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## Alexander Belchenko (10 Nov 2016)

Looks great. It seems you have some room at the back, do you plan to put there more plants or just dedicated to be empty?


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## Phil Edwards (10 Nov 2016)

Alexander Belchenko said:


> Looks great. It seems you have some room at the back, do you plan to put there more plants or just dedicated to be empty?



Alexander,

I had originally requested a variety of stems for the background, but shipping dimensions and other considerations limited the amount of plants they could provide.  I'm just grateful that they were able to provide the most important stuff; the midground anchor species and foreground.  If I need to look to hobbyists for background stems I can, but I'd prefer to wait to get more plants grown by the same company when they become available for sale in the US.


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## alto (10 Nov 2016)

Phil Edwards said:


> It's official now, Aqvainnova will be supplying all the plants, except for the Java Moss which is coming from Rachel O'Leary. Aqvainnova recently made a deal with Seachem to distribute their plants under the Aquavitro brand here in the US, which is really exciting news for we Yanks.


I missed this earlier - plants look great



Phil Edwards said:


> I guess that makes this my first sponsored aquascape.


and well deserved given how quickly you threw that Iwagumi together - rock placement impresses!



Phil Edwards said:


> alto, could you explain what you're saying about spectral change with intensity change a bit more please?


Sorry I was looking for the article but cant seem to find it ... seems I've deleted the email as well  
I'm certain to run across the article again while looking for something completely different 
(that was how I found the driver details the first time around as well  )


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## Phil Edwards (4 Dec 2016)

*Captain's Log 12.4.16*- Got stems and fish!

After a few week's waiting, I was finally able to order stems and fish for the tank.  It was about time too, with about 2 square feet of empty immature substrate things were starting to get a little brown around the petioles.  It was more difficult than I thought to balance the needs of the fully planted fore and midgrounds with not wanting to overdo it and have a huge mess with the unplanted background.  Now that that's been solved and a minor shitload of Otocinclus have taken residence, things are looking like they should again. 

I'd also been having some issues with CO2 microbubbles aggregating in reactor's input side, and the resulting poor dissolution, causing variability in concentration when it was needed most.  The fix was easy, add a bit of bio media to the bottom of the chambers and reverse the flow.  Now the microbubbles stay micro inside the reactor and there's minimal loss through the outlet.  This makes for happier plants and a happier Phil. 

Current species list:
(From Aqvainnova)
_Glossostigma elatinoides
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Bronze/Tropica'
Cryptocoryne costata/albida
Cryptocoryne x. willisi
Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow Leaf'
Anubias barteri v. nana 'Petite'
Bucephelandra motleyana
Rotala rotundifolia
Alternanthera reineckii 'Mini'  
Staurogyne repens_

(From Florida Aquatic Nurseries)
_Hygrophila pinnatifida
Hygrophila corymbosa 'Kompact'
Pogostemon erectus
Bacopa monneri
Rotala macrandra
Didplis diandra
Cyperus helferi_

2x Nymphaea sp. that are being rehabilitated for a coworker


FISH!
_Trigonostigma espei_ Espei Rasbora x 25
_Barbus filamentosus_ African/Angolan Banded barb x 11  I'd ordered Desmopuntius pentazona, but someone screwed up and sent these instead.  They're a pretty fish and may turn out even better than the 5 banded barbs in time.  We'll see.
_Otocinclus affinis_ x 23

1m and 2f feeder guppy juveniles that got included in one of the bags and thankfully found their way out of the main tank and into the overflow.  They're now living happily in the sump until I can figure out what to do with them.


Picture time














In other happy news, my brother's giving me his old camera for Christmas so photo quality should dramatically improve in the near future.


Thanks for watching,
Phil


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## alto (4 Dec 2016)

Phil Edwards said:


> _Otocinclus affinis_ x 23


that's an impressive # of otos  - hope yours are better trained, mine always end up feasting on any Nymphaea sp I might have 




Phil Edwards said:


> _Barbus filamentosus_ African/Angolan Banded barb x 11 I'd ordered Desmopuntius pentazona,


twice as much fish  just watch they don't sample a bit too much of the plant life 

Thanks for the update


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## Phil Edwards (5 Dec 2016)

I've noticed a bit of what look to be nibble marks, but they seem to be limited to the parts of the plants that are transitioning to submersed growth.  They're probably rasping at any algae on those parts and end up cleaning them off the plant in the process.  We'll wait and see what they do with/to the new and healthy growth.


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## rebel (5 Dec 2016)

Looking very schimck! Looking forward to the growth phase.


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## Phil Edwards (10 Dec 2016)

Thanks Rebel.  I just did the first trim today.  Some of the stems in the back had already reached the surface so it was time for a hack and fill-in-the-blanks.  There'll probably be one more major hack down after this to get rid of emergent growth then it's all grooming.


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## Phil Edwards (22 Dec 2016)

*Captain's Log 12.22.16*- Mixed reviews

I've been having trouble with CO2 and algae since the last update.  Thankfully, the shrimp arrived yesterday and a bunch of them quickly found their way into the overflow...of course.  Time to make a new strainer!  Also, there was some issue with CO2 and the reactor.  I got a needlewheel impeller for the CO2 pump and it chops the stuff up nicely, but somewhere between there and the first reactor chamber the little bubbles conglomerate back into bigger ones.  I've tried a couple different adjustments in hopes of fixing that, but no dice.  It's back to dissolving big bubbles old-school style.  I keep telling myself that in the end, as long as the gas is dissolving that's all that really matters.  I got a top for the overflow, made the trickle drain higher to reduce turbulence in the overflow, and got the drip tray sealed up nicely.  I'd previously only had a sturdy plastic bag covering the opening on the drip try box.  This time I taped it up completely.  Those changes seem to have worked well in the short term.  We'll have to wait and see how they do over the long term.  As far as plants go, the only species that aren't doing well are Cyperus helferi and Pogostemon erectus.  I'd expected that though, they've been notoriously hard for me to get adjusted to submersed form.  I'm not going to remove any of them in hopes that some little bit somewhere will start growing.  If not, then it'll be time to find something else to fill those spots.      

On the up side, most of the plants are growing.  I did the first trim and replant and gave the moss a major thinning a week or so ago and things are perking up nicely.  I also got a quartet of Scarlet Badis and hope that at least one of them is female.  They're tiny, tiny, tiny right now and are lost in the foliage.  I look forward to seeing them when they're larger.

Pictures will be forthcoming after Christmas.

Cheers,
Phil


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## AndyVox (22 Dec 2016)

Absolutely love the scape and the setup is great! Good work.

Out of curiosity, is that a hang on overflow? If so which one is it and how are you getting on with it? I really wanted to go sumped on my new build but didn't want the hassle of drilling and then having a weir box, a hang on could be ideal for me but I've always worried about the reliability of them, not keen to come home to a flooded dining room, but it'd be great to have auto top up and all the equipment hidden away inside the sump.

Thanks
Andy


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## Phil Edwards (22 Dec 2016)

Hey there Andy,

Thanks for the kind words.  Yes, it's a hang on the back overflow.  I've used them with great success from the very first high tech tank I did through today and I couldn't be happier with the one I've got now.  The worst thing about it is getting the mesh just right to keep the shrimp from getting sucked in...so far with only modest success.  The model I'm using is a CPR CS 102 with a full siphon mod.  Sumps require a little extra forethought and tweaking for CO2 efficiency, but with careful planning with the plumbing they're an excellent filtration option.  Current overflow design is leaps and bounds better than it was back in the day and I have almost zero fear of flooding.  One just has to be careful to get a box rated for the pump's flow to keep from losing prime (too low flow) or oveflowing (more flow than the box can handle), make sure the return has an anti siphon hole, and don't fill the sump more than it can hold when the pump's off.  You do that and you're off to the races.


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## AndyVox (25 Dec 2016)

Phil Edwards said:


> Hey there Andy,
> 
> Thanks for the kind words.  Yes, it's a hang on the back overflow.  I've used them with great success from the very first high tech tank I did through today and I couldn't be happier with the one I've got now.  The worst thing about it is getting the mesh just right to keep the shrimp from getting sucked in...so far with only modest success.  The model I'm using is a CPR CS 102 with a full siphon mod.  Sumps require a little extra forethought and tweaking for CO2 efficiency, but with careful planning with the plumbing they're an excellent filtration option.  Current overflow design is leaps and bounds better than it was back in the day and I have almost zero fear of flooding.  One just has to be careful to get a box rated for the pump's flow to keep from losing prime (too low flow) or oveflowing (more flow than the box can handle), make sure the return has an anti siphon hole, and don't fill the sump more than it can hold when the pump's off.  You do that and you're off to the races.



I'm definitely going to have a look into it then, I've got a couple of Ehein compact 5000 lying around from my marine days. Hopefully turned down the lowest setting at 2500lph and through a co2 reactor it would be low enough to work and give me some adjustability.
Great info!
Such an incredible setup!


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## Costa (26 Dec 2016)

Very nice set up. I'm curious as to how many otos you lost during the first days after they were introduced in the tank. I had like 40%


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## Phil Edwards (27 Dec 2016)

Thank you Costa.  I normally estimate 50% death with Otos.  At last count I was down to about 75%.  I'll have to do another count next time I do a big trim.


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## Phil Edwards (25 Jan 2017)

*1.25.17 Update*

Still battling the infectious, awful, horrible, extremely irritating stringy diatoms.  It got so bad that I tore the whole tank down, took all the moss off the wood; cleaned it and tossed the dying parts, scrubbed the wood with a sponge, kept the worst of the affected plants in the dark for three days, and redid the whole damn thing.  That only worked for a few days before the crap came back. 

On the up side, I got a 20" canister for the CO2 instead of the three smaller ones.  I was losing too much gas to bypass with the smaller cans even though there were three.  Now I'm dialing in how much I have to crank the pump down relative to the CO2 input to keep the microbubbles in the canister from flowing straight into the outlet pipe.  Previously, the stem plants were struggling badly and starting to die.  Since then I've raised the lights as high as they can go and increased the max intensity to 100% at photoperiod peak to get as much spread and light to all sections of the tank as I can.  I also raised the outlet and that's increased circulation.  Those things seem to have improved growth a bit, but time will tell.  Finally, all the plants were showing signs of Ca and Mg deficiency even though I had been dosing enough to bring concentrations past 20 and 5ppm, respectively.  My guess is the substrate's inherent softening (read: divalent cation adsorption power) capability was stripping the water.  My water's already VERY soft so I've since doubled dosages and increased frequency.  I sent an email to Seachem the other day to see if they have any data on this that might prove useful in the long run.  If not, the only option seems to be dose heavily until it reaches saturation.  

Long story short- most plants seem to be improving even though the algae is winning the war to take over the tank.  

Now for the pics:


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## EdwinK (26 Jan 2017)

Doesn't look that bad from the pictures.


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## Tim Harrison (26 Jan 2017)

Despite the diatoms it looks awesome Phil. I had the same problem with my latest
It burnt itself out eventually and disappeared...with some help from my Amanos


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## Phil Edwards (26 Jan 2017)

It's since gotten much worse Edwin.  Anything that has fine structure; moss, fern roots, foreground plants, etc are getting covered by the stuff.  The foreground now looks like our new President's hair.

Thanks Tim.  I was just talking with someone else on a US forum about how I've had diatoms at the start of every tank with soil-based substrates like this; regardless of the brand.  This just happens to be the worst case by far.  I attribute that to lack of experience with the new lights, tank dimensions that I'm not used to and how that affects flow and such, and not yet finding the sweet spot with the CO2 system.  Unlike past systems where I'd used the same lights, tank, filters, etc for years, this is a whole new ecosystem to learn.  There are a lot of variables I need to get a handle on before I can say I really know this system, not the least of which is how it changes as it matures. 

LOL shrimp.  I kill them.  I kill them all.    I'm surprised the SPCA hasn't put a court order against me keeping shrimp with as many as I've massacred over the years.

The hardest part is not falling into the ego trap of thinking {I'm a "seasoned veteran" and shouldn't be having these problems!!!} and letting that keep me from being patient andusing this as an opportunity to learn.  Patience, humility and an open mind are some of the most valuable things in this hobby.

<Edit>

Edwin, I just checked your journal and saw that you've got a thriving community of cherry shrimp.  I'd appreciate your expertise and advice on how to keep them in a high tech planted tank.


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## EdwinK (26 Jan 2017)

Phil Edwards said:


> Patience, humility and an open mind are some of the most valuable things in this hobby.



If you know these things you'll definitely overcome all problems. 



Phil Edwards said:


> Edwin, I just checked your journal and saw that you've got a thriving community of cherry shrimp. I'd appreciate your expertise and advice on how to keep them in a high tech planted tank.



Well I wish I could help but I do nothing special for them although I have "rule no.1" to all my tanks with soil based substrates - high oxygen levels due to surface movement no matter if I'm degassing CO2 or not. I find CO2 levels not that important as long as they are stable. High oxygen levels helps your fauna, flora, bacteria and archaea be in top condition and perform at maximum rate. Please pay attention at Amano's tanks, how could you reach 30 ppm of CO2 on 500 litre tank if you are using 25 mm glass diffuser? So personally I think that this digit is somewhat overestimated these days.


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## Phil Edwards (26 Jan 2017)

I think you're spot on about the oxygen Edwin.  That's one of the reasons I recently raised the outlet.  I've also been seriously considering adding an air bubbler to the sump that'll run during the dark period.  Back when I was an actual aquatic plant researcher (as opposed to an aquatics industry professional) I came to believe that dissolved organic carbon is the main cause of algae and increasing O2 in a system will greatly benefit the microorganisms that consume that DOC.  That being said, I've made a lot of changes recently and need to let things settle a bit before making any other changes.


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## Alexander Belchenko (26 Jan 2017)

Some note about shrimps, e.g. cherry shrimps. They seem to slightly prefer moderate hard water, then soft. If you say your water is very soft, I guess you need to re-think your re-mineralization routine, and up both GH and KH levels.


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## micheljq (26 Jan 2017)

One stem plant is not nice, the rotala indica or something similar to it.  Looks like it lack something, light?  Is it me or i am right?  The sixth photo from upper from this post, forgive my english.  Maybe it is just adjusting and needs time.

Michel.


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## Phil Edwards (26 Jan 2017)

So I lied when I said I wasn't going to make any changes to the system.  I made a rookie mistake and forgot a fundamental rule of fluid dynamics...pressure increases dissolution and to create pressure you need to restrict the outlet...which I wasn't doing.  All my tweaking had focused on restricting flow through the system from the pump end rather than the discharge end.  For the moment I'm using a true union ball valve at the end of the discharge line until I can get the parts I need to hard plumb a valve into the discharge pipe.  What a gross misuse of an expensive piece of hardware, LOL!  The valve is closed almost all the way; it's open just enough to pass enough water to keep the microbubbles from aggregating in the input line.  After a little examination, only the finest of the fine microbubbles are making it into the in-chamber discharge intake tube.  We'll see what the drop checker looks like when the lights come on tomorrow.  


Michel,

You're absolutely right, it's R. rotundifolia aka "Indica" and it's not doing well at all in that picture.  In fact, it was one of the indicators of something not being right with the tank as it's a species that normally grows like crazy under good conditions.  It's located in the right rear corner which is the far end of circulation (the outlet's in the front right) and it hadn't been receiving much light.  Raising the outlet improved circulation to that area.  Raising the lights and increasing their output to 100% helped to improve spread and increase light input to that part of the tank.  A week or so after taking that picture there's visible improvement.  Once I remember to bring the camera home from work to get update shots I'll put them up.


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## Phil Edwards (31 Jan 2017)

*1.31.17 Update*-

Bad news: the diatoms are continuing to grow at an embarrassing rate.  Nearly everything has at least some amount of infestation.  The worst part is that the most affected plants are the ones that are most likely to uproot or get dislocated during cleaning/siphoning.  That's making it extra difficult to effectively remove large amounts of the stuff.

Good news: A guy here in the US just sent me a big fat load of gorgeous and healthy cuttings for testing/observation.  Seeing how they do in the next couple of weeks will hopefully clue me in to what's going on in there.  

Current specs:
Light: 2x Radion XR15-FW at 7,500K 24 inches above the water's surface.  Photoperiod is a 12 hour parabolic increase/decrease (Natural Lake setting) with max intensity at 70%, approx 50 watts per unit.  There's about a 5 hour period where intensity is 50% or greater.  Glosso and Lilaeopsis are doing great in a zone that receives the least amount of light according to EcoTech's PAR diagram.  That's one thing that makes me wonder why the stems in the back aren't responding as well as expected.  

CO2: Still chugging away at 6-8 bps coming on 1 hr before the lights do.  Even though there's noticeable gas build up in the morning and significant build upas the day progresses I think I'm going to have to up CO2 even more.  The drop checker never gets that nice color on the border of lime green and yellow, but it does get to light green.  A number of plants have bubbles on their leaves, but I see no active pearling.  A number of the stem species are growing, just not as fast or as robustly as I'm accustomed to.    

If someone can lend experience to make a Cerges reactor even more efficient I would appreciate it.  A Danner 200 with a needle wheel impeller is running the thing.  For some reason the one on this tank isn't working as well as the ones I've had on larger tanks in the past.  At the moment water and gas are going in the inlet and out the outlet with a ball valve at the discharge point to create resistance/pressure and only the smallest bubbles are making it through.  I've considered adding bioballs and/or rigging up some sort of recirculation line but that would make things in the stand even messier than they already are.  

Ferts: NO3 - 2 tsp (21 ppmish), PO4 - 0.5 tsp (5 ppmish), K- 1 tsp (10 ppmish), Ca2SO4 - 1 tbsp (20 ppmish), MgSO4 * 7H2O - 1 tbsp (5 ppmish) three times a week; twice after water changes and one more for good measure.  CSM+B 0.25ish tsp once a week.  

Added a small powerhead in the rear to improve circulation to the right rear corner that receives the least amount of flow.


Cheers,
Phil


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## EdwinK (31 Jan 2017)

From my point of view is too much light for too long. Just a thought for you to consider. Can't think of anything else because it seems you are doing everything good and it just don't want to start.


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## Phil Edwards (31 Jan 2017)

That's definitely something I've considered and am open to either reducing peak intensity or decreasing photoperiod; perhaps both.  Even though circumstances are rather frustrating at the moment I want to give it another week or so before making changes.  It's difficult to be patient and make small changes with enough time to see the results, but I'm doing my best.    Things will eventually make a turn for the better.  Tomorrow would be nice.


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## Doubu (4 Feb 2017)

Hmm.. I don't have scientific research to back this up - just my experience - but when that happens it's because of excess lighting and nutrients - especially macro nutrient "N". If you are dosing, I would stop immediately. I would also on top do a 80-90% WC to get rid of all nitrates. If your plants haven't rooted, they will not be optimally growing. Also, sorry to the people who have to keep reading this, but I HIGHLY recommend ramshorn snails to combat diatoms. They are so good at eating dead leaves, eating diatoms, GDA, algae on the walls... its just such an efficient way to keep your tank clean. Don't like them anymore? Put an algae wafer, lure them in and take them all out. I have these guys in all my tanks and I just LOVE them.


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## Phil Edwards (5 Feb 2017)

Thanks for the input Doubu.  I've done just that, sort of.  Reduced the light, have been doing 2x 70-80% WC per week and dropped my N input by half.  

All of the plants that root in the substrate have rooted, it's just that the pull from sucking the diatoms is strong enough to uproot them if the siphon is moved.  That stuff's worked its way throughout quite a bit of the mass of glosso and lilaeopsis.  grrrrr


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## Phil Edwards (9 Feb 2017)

*2.8.17 small update*-

Well, I got the whole tank (read: substrate) cleaned the hell out and rescaped on Sunday.  I think there was 1/8 inch of fine silt in the tub after a drain/refill/drain cycle.  Good thing the mrs. didn't see it (I hope).  The hydrologist in me loved seeing the dendritic drainage lines, but I digress.  All of the rock got pulled out and most of the wood got re-aligned into more of an upright fashion, moved toward the rear a bit, and bunched a little more closely in the middle.  This will hopefully solve a couple issues:

1- Create space right under the lights for stems
2- Allow for better circulation around the tank edges and within the wood structure
3- Allow(ed) the attachment of all the Needle Leaf Java Fern, A. barteri 'Nana', and B. motelyana onto branches that get good flow

While the plants were out of the tank they all got a nice peroxide bath, only stupid me forgot to spray the wood so all the infected moss got put right back into the tank.  Here's to hoping the little bit that made it back in won't make the tank look like Trump's hair again.

Other notable things that happened:
1. The lights got put on their new 55% for 6 hours/day schedule.
2. I got fed up with the needlewheel blowing the microbubbles through the reactor and made a few modifications.

#1: Added a gas input line at the reactor's input.  The expectation is the larger (regular size) bubbles will resist flow better and result in more efficient gas use and faster drop in pH.  I've been blowing through enough gas to run a system three times the size of this one only to have it take five hours or so for the drop checker to turn lime green.  On the upside, the system holds onto the CO2 pretty well once it gets dissolved.  It's getting it dissolved without using a ridiculous amount of gas that's the trick.  This is pretty much how I ran the last Cerges reactor I used.  This time I let a few "gurus" influence my decision making that lead to running the gas through the needlewheel.  I can see how this sort of arrangement would be awesome for direct input of mist into a tank; it just hasn't been optimal for efficient dissolution in my system.

#2: Added a ball valve on the outlet side plumbing to control flow in a more elegant way than having a big gray true union valve in the sump.  Everything looks a lot cleaner and streamlined. 


If these changes don't make a significant difference then the last resort is to slap a 5 micron sediment filter into the 10" filter unit I've got laying around and plumb that sucker in.  If that doesn't work then it's time to start pulling out hair and consider selling the whole sump to finance canister filters.  These options are last resort options as I'd rather not do either for various reasons.


PICS!!! 
Before-




Yes, that's algae in the reactor.  I had a DSM tank (for future shrimp use) set up on the floor next to the stand.
In between-




After-




Tank pics will have to wait until I can bring my good camera home from work.  The junk cell phone was good enough for the plumbing.


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## Phil Edwards (11 Feb 2017)

*2.9.17 photo dump*-

Sorry for the crap pictures, still getting used to the new camera and lower tank lighting.  Pics taken on 2.7.17





















































Thanks for watching!


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## Lindy (11 Feb 2017)

I hope you get to a happy place with this tank soon, it can be so demoralising.  I've had a list of hindrances to me setting up my big tank but slowly plugging away. At least it has water in it now but that's about it!

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## Phil Edwards (11 Feb 2017)

Thanks Lindy.  I don't want to jinx anything, but it's seeming like the corner has been turned.  If it had been two weeks ago the Trump Hair Tank would have already come back.  Just need to get the CO2 up enough to get the plants to the point where I see good pearling.  That's one of my big indicators of plant heath, especially with the lights I've got. 

As frustrating as this experience has been, I've learned a lot about all of the new hardware I'm using and hope to continue learning the ins and outs of the ecosystem as a whole.  I'm sure there will be other Times of Trouble ,and I hope Mother Mary will come to me speaking words of wisdom, in the future.  I hope that when those times come I'll have a good enough feel for things that fixing them will be less troublesome.

I hope you can get your tank up soon!  I look forward to seeing its progress.  

Cheers,
Phil


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## Daveslaney (11 Feb 2017)

Looks to be coming along real nice to me Phil.Once its grown in it will be stunning.
As a matter of intrest how much flow do you get through the overflow box?Thinking about converting my current tank to a sump system.


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## Phil Edwards (11 Feb 2017)

Thanks Dave,

The pump has a nominal discharge of 3200 lph, so accounting for head pressure I estimate it's pushing 2700 lph or so.  The overflow's been handling it all like a champ.  Sometimes I wish I'd gone with the next larger model simply to reduce turbulence in the weir, but so far it's been great.

I've used sumps in almost all of my 90 gallon or larger systems and love them.  It can take a bit of time to get everything set just right, as this current systems attests to.  Once you get it done though they're awesome.


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## Daveslaney (11 Feb 2017)

Thanks Phil.
That kind of flow rate would work well for me.


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## Lindy (11 Feb 2017)

I've just changed over to a sump on my big tank. It's been running since yesterday and totally silent. Just slight hum from the pump but the eheim xlt thermofilter was noisier. 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## Phil Edwards (12 Feb 2017)

*Happy news, 2.12.17*-

Ran a pH test this morning and got a 1 point drop, 7 to 6, in an hour.  It was with an API test kit so the actual values are a bit suspect.  A local friend is going to lend me his Hanna pH pen at some point so we'll see what the actual numbers are.  Even so, it's a good start.

Current stats for future comparisons
1. Light - 50% for 6 hrs/day
2. pH - 1 point drop after an hour
3. 50% WC 1x/wk
4. Ferts - 1 tsp KNO3 3x/wk, 1 tsp KH2PO4 3x/wk, 1 tsp K2SO4 2-3x/wk, 3 tsp CaSO4 (Plaster of Paris) at water changes and 1 tsp mid-week, 3 tsp MgSO4 (Epsom Salts) 1x/wk, 1/32 tsp CSM+B 1-2x/wk
5. Excel - 60mL after water changes and 15mL daily (a little less than 2 times recommended dose).  Will be tapering this off slowly as presence of algae dictates.

I'll be sticking with this regimen for the foreseeable future.  Now the fun of taking regular pictures for time-lapse comparisons comes. 

The next goal - Once the tank has matured and is stable for a while it'll be time to start adding shrimp.  I've only ever had one planted display where I didn't outright massacre the poor buggers.  Being able to keep shrimp alive for the long term is my next personal challenge in aquarium keeping.

*Lindy,*
Do you have a build thread?  I'd love to see it.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Phil Edwards (26 Feb 2017)

*2.26.17 Pre-WC Photo Dump*-

Switched up some things with the camera and shut the filter off.  Still at the "really fancy point and shoot" stage, but learning and progress are being made.  


















This Crypt is quickly becoming my favorite plant in the tank.  Can't wait until it hits critical mass and explodes.








New plant that I grew from some Asian seeds.  Not sure what it is yet, but it's been doing well in the tank at work so I decided to bring some home.




S. repens that got tossed in there a week ago.




Sad panda 












Little lily lost in leaves
















Another promising species started from seed.  Have no idea what this one is either.




Poor Rotala.




Best shot I could get of the P. erectus, it's in a really tough location for photographing.




More Ludwigia!




Overhead shot to see how fast that S. repens grows.  It's a race between that and the L. brasiliensis to see which one takes over the foreground first.  At this rate I'm tempted to bet on the Staurogyne.




Second competitor for King of the Foreground





Thanks for watching,
Phil


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## Phil Edwards (12 Mar 2017)

*3.11.17 Update*-

The lenses are coming, the lenses are coming...well, actually they're already here.  It looks like I'll be doing an inadvertent comparison run between the standard 80 and 120 degree lenses.  The last screw on the 2nd light was stripped just enough to prevent changing the lens.  Talk about getting upset.  EcoTech's customer service has been great so far, but now it's time to really put them to the test.

Things I've noticed: 1- the wide angle does a lot better job of blending the different light to make a whiter looking light.  2- looking at it is bright AF, moreso than the 80 degree.

I also got a nice little care package from a US hobbyist of some beautiful cuttings.   I still can't remember what they all are, but they're nice. Most of his plants ended up in the front to get as much light and circulation as possible with the exception of Proserpinaca palustris/pectinatus which went in back to fill in empty space.   

Oh yeah, and the tank got a full rescape.  Since I'm going to be gone for 10 days I had to do a major trim so I figured I may as well move the wood around to get better circulation.  That ended up freeing a lot of room, especially in the front and left.  Even so, I think I'm going to have to take some of the wood out eventually, it's just taking up too much real estate.  Now that I can't do the scape I'd originally planned it's time to start thinking about the next step.

I'm not sure the pictures are good enough, but you may notice a lack of Crypts in the midground.  I'd been having issues with shadows from the wood taking up a lot of light-space in the last arrangement so this time I shoved most of the Crypts in the shadowed areas to make room for the more light-loving species.

Oh yeah #2, I was so pissed off with that damned screw that I ended up finally cleaning all the aquarium crap out of the living room.  That made the wife very happy.  Plus, it gives me more room to take pictures.


Random shots of the wood while out of the tank
























80 degree lens at ~22 inches from surface and 120 degree lens ~ 16 inches from surface.  Both fixtures are at 50% intensity and PPFD/PAR is almost exactly the same at the surface and along the substrate.









No species were removed, in fact some got more due to topping and replanting.  It's amazing how re-arranging the wood opened up space.












80 degree lens




120 degree lens




That's all folks!


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## Phil Edwards (16 Mar 2017)

*3.16.17 photo dump*-  

I'm heading out for a work trip until the 26th and am leaving all the tanks in the care of my wife.  I figured it would be a wise thing to get some before-trip and after-trip pictures.  I trust her ability to follow directions and am not worried about some disaster from lack of care, but I do want to record what happens when I'm gone for that length of time.  

Just after putting cuttings from a US hobby friend in.  They're hard to see, but I think I got some closeups in the massive photo taking binge.




Why yes, here they are!




























Mystery plant #1- I hesitate to call it by any genus or species name until I've had it identified.  Thankfully I've got seeds to go with the plant tissue.
























Nelsonia still just holding on








More of Greggz's Ludwigia




Top-down of whateverthehelltheseare












Still my favorite plant in the tank, but the P. erectus is quickly catching up








Hmmm, what could be wrong with the Buces, I wonder?  Too close to the lights?  Roots still not recovered from the H2O2?  Screwed up nutrient supplementation?  All of the above?








The Anubias don't seem to mind.  In fact, I think I saw one flipping the Buces the root.








That big piece of wood I mentioned a few posts back.  Finally got it smuggled out of the warehouse.  There's a lot of potential, but I need more rocks and stuff to be able to play with more angles.  When I put it up to the tank it fit the space nicely.  I'm thinking it would look really nice covered in H. pinn.

















KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!.....get out of the photo frame!








That's all for now (but look for equally large updates to my other journals).  I'll have my laptop with me on the trip, so I'll be watching you guys.  No trashing the place while I'm gone.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Grendel (18 Mar 2017)

+1 for the update and pics, but +1000 for the straight shot of nostalgia some of those RPGs gave me.  It's like I'm looking at the bookshelf of the 15-year-old me...


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## Lindy (18 Mar 2017)

This looks fantastic Phil. I don't have a build thread for the sump as I figure it has all been done before. I have a jebao dc 7000 pump running the sump and very happy with it so far. Takes a bit of extra time when doing wc to get levels balanced again and have bought a wee tmc auto top up for the pump part of the sump.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## Phil Edwards (26 Mar 2017)

Lindy said:


> This looks fantastic Phil. I don't have a build thread for the sump as I figure it has all been done before. I have a jebao dc 7000 pump running the sump and very happy with it so far. Takes a bit of extra time when doing wc to get levels balanced again and have bought a wee tmc auto top up for the pump part of the sump.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk



Even if it's "been done before" I'd love to see some pictures of your system.  There's always something to learn from other people.  I'm curious, why do you have trouble getting levels balanced again?  



Grendel said:


> +1 for the update and pics, but +1000 for the straight shot of nostalgia some of those RPGs gave me.  It's like I'm looking at the bookshelf of the 15-year-old me...



LOL, I've had a lot of those since I was 15.  Sadly, I had to get rid of most of my collection of primarily first printing sets of other games during a move a while ago.  Before I got back into aquariums, I spent most of my free money collecting RPG books.  These days I only buy source material for the older editions of the games I currently have.  No more current edition purchases for me.  It's Old School or No School!  Finding a sourcebook I didn't know about back in the dusty corner of a hobby shop is half the fun, and most of the excitement.


*3.26.17 Update*-

Finally made it home after an exhausting, but exciting week at a huge pet industry trade show.  Seeing old friends and all of their cool new stuff was certainly a highlight.  Snagging free samples of TC plants to test and a new double output regulator was pretty nice too.   The Mrs. did a bang up job of caring for the tanks so I came home to much less algae than I'd expected.  There was the anticipated outbreak of "Trump Hair Algae", as my wife calls it; the diatoms I've been battling for so long, but I think I may have figured out a cause.  Misaki followed my regular dosing regime to the letter so that's a constant and the lighting wasn't changed at all.  HOWEVER, the substrate in the front left corner got seriously disturbed/moved which undoubtedly caused a release of nutrients into the tank.  Thankfully the alga was mostly confined to the Java Fern and moss with only little bits in other places that was easily sucked out.  The remedy?  Pull out all the ferns to give to a friend requesting a lot of it and do a serious thinning/removal on the moss.  With a little luck, this will set it back enough that normal cleaning will take care of it.  

The only disappointing thing is some of Gregg's stems kicked the bucket as well as about half the S. repens.  Not sure why it happened, but there's a good bit of everything still left so nothing was completely lost.

Thanks to a friend who's recently started repping for Denerle I was able to get a bunch of new stuff to test so the empty space in the substrate is getting taken up bit by bit.  

List of species; some new to me and others not.  Either way I look forward to working with them to see how they compare to other TC plants I've used.  Pics will be forthcoming when the tank lights come on.

A. reineckii 'mini'
A. reineckii 'Lila' (testing these two to see what the differences are)
C. wendtii 'Kompact'
C. species 'Flamingo'
C. cordata (LOVE this plant and am really happy to have it again)
E. pusilla
H. callitrichoides
M. hirsuta
R. indica
P. erectus

I'm curious to see how the P. erectus and Crypts do compared to the stuff already in there.  I hope that the substrate isn't too light to keep the foreground species down if the Corys decide they want to snuffle around them.  

Some of the HC and E. pusilla went into Super Simple Setup 1 to grow emersed just in case.

Cheers,
Phil


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## Lindy (26 Mar 2017)

The difficulty is that the sump needs to go back to its usual running level, the tank needs to be at its optimum level and the water in the overflow needs to be at its optimum level. I'm still finding levels in the overflow go up or down as it is difficult to make tiny adjustments to flow with the gate valve despite it being "a good one" lol.. I think the faster the water is being pumped through the sump and overflow, the quicker you need to adjust your gate valve. 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


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## Progen (27 Mar 2017)

The little plants with the long thin seeds which you'd grown from seeds look like Hygrophila Polysperma "Tiger". I have the same rubbish too and the Chinese are flooding the market like crazy through eBay, Alibaba and other online trading portals. Even a lot of supposedly respected shops are selling them, using the "manufacturers'" sales pitch of HC seeds which is total crap.

In a way, I'm glad that they're aquatic unlike some other similar packages which contained seeds from terrestrial plants.


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## Phil Edwards (27 Mar 2017)

Progen said:


> The little plants with the long thin seeds which you'd grown from seeds look like Hygrophila Polysperma "Tiger". I have the same rubbish too and the Chinese are flooding the market like crazy through eBay, Alibaba and other online trading portals. Even a lot of supposedly respected shops are selling them, using the "manufacturers'" sales pitch of HC seeds which is total crap.
> 
> In a way, I'm glad that they're aquatic unlike some other similar packages which contained seeds from terrestrial plants.



Thankfully they weren't sold as HC seeds.  They came in as part of a sample one of my bosses got at a major Chinese trade show.  It's a pretty plant, but had to go.  Perhaps I'll try it again sometime.  Then again maybe I won't; H. polysperma is federally banned where I live.


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## Phil Edwards (27 Mar 2017)

*3.26.17 Update 2, admitting defeat*-

After doing a major water change and algae suck I noticed that the Trump Hair was a lot more pervasive than I'd originally thought.  After three outbreaks the ref called TKO and the bout was finished.  Algae 1, Phil 0.  

The result was I took out all of the wood, gave two pieces a serious scrub and wash routine, attached all of the A. 'petite' to one and all the H. pinn to the other.  Those are the only pieces in there and they're strictly for structure.  All the buces got pulled and put in SSS2.  If they grow, great.  If they die, too bad.  Their roots were too tangled and the algae got in there really well.  All the stems got a good wash and rub down, and those with algae on them got hacked back.  If I see any part of any plant with that crap on it it's getting removed.  Full scorched earth.

Everything got replanted while doing an 80% WC with the stems finally able to be directly under the pucks.  Thankfully the Dennerle package I got had a lot of foreground species in it so there's not an obscene amount of empty space.  I hope all these changes mean better circulation and better plant growth.  Time will tell.

Before-





























After-

































New plants-












































There we have it.  An FTS will happen when the water's cleared enough to get a decent one.


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## Progen (27 Mar 2017)

This is how they're usually sold but I definitely didn't pay this price. Perhaps they've gotten bolder with the scam and started charging more.


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## Phil Edwards (28 Mar 2017)

Progen said:


> This is how they're usually sold but I definitely didn't pay this price. Perhaps they've gotten bolder with the scam and started charging more.



Progen,

The L size is an unknown Hygro and the S size is Hygro polysperma 'Tiger'.  Those look exactly like what I grew out.  Both of those are Federally listed illegal plants in many states here in the US.


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## Phil Edwards (28 Mar 2017)

*3.28.17 Photo dump*-


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## Phil Edwards (29 Mar 2017)

I just spoke with Seachem and they're sending me some Flourish Advance to try out on the tank since everything is either a) new, b) got hacked to the ground, c) moved, or d) a combination of b and c.  I can't think of a better time to try out a product intended to enhance establishment and regrowth than now.  If it doesn't violate rules regarding discussion/review of products from a non-sponsor, I hope to share my thoughts and results.  Unlike last time I tried answering a product question, I don't work for the company who makes the product.


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