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Manzi island 180L

I've got my light (Twinstar 900SM) running for 5 hours (+ 30 min build up and 30 min down) on 50% intensity for this first week. What do you guys think should be my next step, increasing the intensity or the photoperiod? I was thinking about upgrading the photoperiod to 6 hours along with 60% intensity. Does that make sense? Or should I stay a bit more safe and only tweak one of these for the second week?
 
Increase both but take it slow, perhaps duration first? Having the light on for such a short period of time, like you do now, I'd be more worried about my plants not getting enough light tbh. When are you planning to add a cleaning crew? Around the 2 weeks mark when diatoms start to appear it's great to have some help before algae problems potentially escalate.
Tank looks ace btw, will be nice to see it evolve.
 
Increase both but take it slow, perhaps duration first? Having the light on for such a short period of time, like you do now, I'd be more worried about my plants not getting enough light tbh. When are you planning to add a cleaning crew? Around the 2 weeks mark when diatoms start to appear it's great to have some help before algae problems potentially escalate.
Tank looks ace btw, will be nice to see it evolve.
Thanks! So you’d suggest upping the period to 6 hours starting maybe today? And then next week slowly up the intensity as well to 60%? The cleaning crew will be added in the second week I think. The tank has already cycled, but there is not really any algae atm, so that’s why I thought second week will be fine. Or do you think adding them next week already will be a better idea?
 
Thanks! So you’d suggest upping the period to 6 hours starting maybe today? And then next week slowly up the intensity as well to 60%? The cleaning crew will be added in the second week I think. The tank has already cycled, but there is not really any algae atm, so that’s why I thought second week will be fine. Or do you think adding them next week already will be a better idea?
In my experience the first diatom bloom can range from very light to 'cover your tank in brown gunk' levels so I would keep checking until you can spot the first signs of diatoms and add the cleaning crew when you deem it necessary. 👍
 
It also depends on what cleaning crew you're going for but you can always start small and add more if it's needed. Which critters were you actually planning on getting to help with the algae?
 
It also depends on what cleaning crew you're going for but you can always start small and add more if it's needed. Which critters were you actually planning on getting to help with the algae?
My plan is to add some Amano shrimps and otocinclus. Will be a challenge to find a store where I can buy them though..
 
Day 60: finally added some livestock to the tank! 20 amano shrimps are currently very actively investigating their new home. Good to see some activity in the tank!

The tank itself is very stable. Plants are looking really healthy and are pearling away each day. Dropchecker is mostly lime green during the photoperiod which means my co2 finally runs stable. Ive been doing 2 water changes since planting. Rotalas seem to grow nicely, but not very vertical. So might have to trim them soon and replant the tops. Which will be a pain considering I’ve already quite fully planted the background of the tank.. still doubting whether I should buy otocinclus. Reading mixed stories about them: hard to keep them happy/alive and not that great of a algae cleaner.. do you guys have any advice regarding oto’s? Also there is a little bit of fungus on the manzanita wood. Already removed quite a bit of it, but seems to come back. Hopefully the Amanos will take care of it!
 

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Day 65: added some otocinclus! Really cute little fish :) amanos are doing pretty good, unfortunately 2 jumped out of the tank. Put some plastic foil over the top, hopefully that will resolve it.. The tank is still surprisingly clean and algae free, hopefully I can keep this up 😆
 

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Day 72: still going strong! I’ve been doing weekly water changes and consistently dosing ada ferts. Still no signs of algae which is what really surprises me. But it has been 3-4 weeks since planting, so it will definitely show up soon enough. I’ve slowly adjusted my light to be on 6.5 hours, along with an intensity of 60%. Want to push the photoperiod towards 8 hours, but I think I will keep my intensity on 60%. Seems like the plants are healthy and don’t grow super fast.

Ottos and amanos doing great and I’m going to buy some cool fish this week. Thinking about rummy nose tetras or Rasbora galaxy. I think the tetras will be a bit too big, would love to have a school of around 20-25. Which fish do you guys recommend for my tank if you were to choose between these two?
 

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Day 79: Added my first non functional livestock: 19 rasbora galaxies :) They're super small and a little bit shy, but really pretty fish! I've also spotted a really small dot of green hair algae, but other than that the tank has been running very stable. Rotala's growing like crazy. The H'ra going up and the rotala green going sideways, which is interesting.. My pinnatifida's are also growing like crazy, but just trimmed them and hopefully they will start to grow a bit more dense and horizontally!
 

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Day 98! Added 5 more rasboras which adds up to a total of 24. They have really nice colors and are no longer shy, so I’m seeing some interesting behavior :)

The bolbitis has finally started to create new shoots, hopefully it’s gonna get a bit more dense soon. Especially the left side of the tank I’m not completely happy with yet, it needs to fill in with plants a bit more. On the right side I think I will add some extra plants. Now there is only crypts, which don’t grow really well at the moment. They are a bit yellowish, which could mean a growth deficiency?
 

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