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Dou's 90x36x30 (25G/90L)

Do you know your GH, calcium and magnesium? I've seen GDA mostly in tanks with low magnesium. I've fixed it multiple times with raising Mg. Perhaps if this is low in your tank as well, it might be worth a try.

I don't know the levels - are there actually tests out there to check? I've been doing trial by fire methods haha. My gH is 4-6 (200 TDS) and kH is 1-3.

Thank you for the suggestion! Actually that makes a lot of sense because I starve the tank of micronutrients (always worried about algae from past experiences). I confirmed that it might be a micro issue as well since I did not add equilibrium this week and noticed plants starting to melt as well (older growth). Going to try and up micros and buy a magnesium additive (searching for a liquid one now). Or perhaps I will dose with flourish trace...


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I forgot I actually started a separate post thread for this tank and posted an updated photo in my other thread. Going to start updating this one again. Here is the last post in my other thread:

Biweekly maintenance before lights and CO2 came on - 50% WC and trimmed where necessary. Main learning point so far: better to trim a bit everyday than to trim all in one go (destroyed my left side carpet...). Also trying to figure out how to get a nice beautiful rotala bush (just freshly trimmed it, and replanted some stems). I also had GDA issues which have been toned back after I started dosing every day. Started dosing Nitrogen (which I haven't been for a long time due to my perception that it causes BBA, which MIGHT not be true haha) to test whether this is why my rotala isn't growing crazy.

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And the next 90CM Update:
- After posting to another FB group, friends chimed in about BBA. My initial thoughts about BBA being caused by excessive Nitrogen was totally debunked. I actually went overboard and went beyond EI dosing - and found that all my algae was dying before my eyes. There were rocks literally half covered with algae and half sparkling clean - was really surprised. No photos here... which I probably should've taken (sorry!)
- I went further and I actually upped my CO2 as well, to the point where I killed off my amano shrimp (so sad... found them all white in the corner). My TDS also spiked to 450 with my dosing - so I think the death was a combination of those two factors.
- I tested a bit more, and noticed that even after upping CO2 there was not a super huge difference in growth - meaning what I had was enough. After adding my replacement amanos, I noticed them hiding near the inflow (point of lowest CO2 concentration most likely). Something was wrong, so I decided to turn on my CO2 only to the point where my drop checker turned green (and it would shut off after that, basically 2 hours less of CO2). My amanos are definitely happier and my plants are still growing well after it was shut off.
- I had an issue with blue green algae (BGA, Cyanobacteria) as well and it was starting to creep above the substrate level into the carpet. After doing some googling, I decided that I would go with hydrogen peroxide as a last resort and would instead opt for a blackout period.
- The blackout period lasted about 50 hours, and by the end of it, a lot of the BGA died off. I also noticed an interesting change in my amanos; they started turning blue! I think BGA was caused by excessive nutrients. I have sinced moved onto the Thrive+ fertilizer line (with pumps instead of mass dosing individual nutrients) and noticed that the tank is doing very well.
- The other interesting thing I noticed during the blackout period was that the plants were THRIVING! I decided that I would drop my light period by an hour. This resulted in less algae but also similar growth.
- Intuitively thinking, in the wild plants are only exposed to max light exposure for 2-3 hours most likely, and the rest of the time they are in the shade or exposed slowly. Ideally, we would have a ramp up and down period. When I take this tank down, I think I will test with the 24/7+ mode for both lights and see how the growth is like along with algae levels.
- I trimmed a bit aggressively again, and a lot of my carpet died on my left side. I'm thinking that I should try to keep it at a 1-2cm height rather than 0.5-1cm height, there seems to be a lot of dead leaves when I get too carried away =/. Same thing happened to the right front as well =(...
- Speaking of trimming, I also trimmed my rotala colorata a bit every day and it seems like it's starting to become a decent bush. Maintaining stem plants this way is quite manageable.

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Looks great, are there two types of marsila used in this scape? I would like to try this plant, has a great contrast with the MC
 
Really nice scape and great write-up of your experiences.
Do you perhaps have a photo taken from above? I am very inspired by the format of you tank, and am wondering how it looks when you stand in front of it and looks down.
 
Really nice scape and great write-up of your experiences.
Do you perhaps have a photo taken from above? I am very inspired by the format of you tank, and am wondering how it looks when you stand in front of it and looks down.

I don't but I can take one for you the next time I start taking photos - and thank you!
 
I love this tank, thanks for the tips too...I'm still trying to find the good level of CO2 and lightning for My 60F, that is the hardest part...get balance! :)
 
Very interesting write up, thanks for sharing it Doubu. This is a really pleasing aquascape, feels like staring off into the distance
 
It's been a long time, but I am finally back! I have been using Facebook more often but it can be very toxic... so I think the forum environment is a bit more suited to my personality.

Here is the last photo I took of the tank... I didn't get an actual final shot because I was in a hurry to make space (and did a fresh trim, so it didn't look right anyway). I've gotten a new tank in its place which is on its way soon.

My final notes:
- When dosing with all-in-one fertilizers (Thrive+ Nilogc), you really need to keep up with water changes. I did a test where I did not change water for 7 days while continuing to dose, and noticed a lot of cyanobacteria and green dust algae. On a possibly related note - everytime I did this, I would lose a few Amano shrimp (sadness).
- When I did a 50% WC each time I dosed, the tank remained spotless and algae was quite minimal.
- I swapped to a reactor instead of the bazooka diffuser, it was very sleek and you didn't see so many bubbles in the water. I think I enjoy this look a lot more - and it also feels much more efficient than before. I stopped using a Co2 drop checker and relied more on plant growth and fish happiness.
- I was wondering why some of my carpet started turning yellow, and not growing so well. Upon closer inspection - the substrate underneath was GONE! It decomposed or something, leaving the roots crawling towards what used to be there. I had to replenish the Amazonia (pouring powder on top of the plants, shaking it until it fell below). The plants instantly rebounded (especially the monte carlo and dwarf hair grass mini). I didn't realize that for tanks with heavy carpet growth, it needed to be replenished.
- A multiple-carpet tank is NOT easy to maintain. the Marsilea Hisuta went crazy and it was by far the "Strongest" plant. It tried to invade all sections. I dont think I will try a multicarpet tank for quite some time after this experience (unless I figure out a way to nicely section things off so it doesnt start creeping/invading into areas.
- I was wondering why the carpet up front always had spaces in the very bottom (why wasn't it super thick and lush like other tanks on this forum?). I finally understood why when I saw my ember tetras hiding underneath the plants... Looks like when they freak out they go for cover.
- All in all, constant water changes seemed to yield the best results.

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Looks really good, I got some embers recently and they are not scared of anything, I can be poking around in the tank and they don't hide, they actually swim around my hand looking for food, perhaps they are starving (I feed them twice a day!)

Im going to try a mixed carpet in my next tank, tho also will not section things off and expect the most dominate plant to probably take over, but its something I want to try!
 
Looks awesome, I really like the textures given by the carpeting plants and the rock placement too! Well done.

Ember tetras can be ridiculously shy, and when they get frightened, they can swim right into the soil and then won't move, like they're dead...survival technique! :)
 
Looks awesome, I really like the textures given by the carpeting plants and the rock placement too! Well done.

Ember tetras can be ridiculously shy, and when they get frightened, they can swim right into the soil and then won't move, like they're dead...survival technique! :)

I noticed that when I was netting my embers from a friends tank, they would play dead, but now they are in my 60p its like nothing will spook them, very weird!
 
Looks awesome, I really like the textures given by the carpeting plants and the rock placement too! Well done.

Ember tetras can be ridiculously shy, and when they get frightened, they can swim right into the soil and then won't move, like they're dead...survival technique! :)

That's what happened with mine basically - they weren't really exposed to humans walking back and forth cause I only enter the fishroom once a day to do maintenance/feed and whatnot =(... Whenever something hits the stand they also all jump.

I noticed that when I was netting my embers from a friends tank, they would play dead, but now they are in my 60p its like nothing will spook them, very weird!

The funny thing is I noticed this with my rasbora! In my fish tanks at home, my rasbora are always hiding and scared. At my work tank, whenever someone walks close by, they SWARM the top of the tank as if they are looking for food. I think exposure to shadows walking by makes a huge difference in fishes personality.
 
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