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"Dutch something or the other" 120 Gal

Gilles, nothing else mate.
Just the foam block.

I use to run an Ocean clear 25 st ft 20 micron cartridge but it clogged too much and affected the CO2 and flow rates.
PITA to clean and replace. Bag filters are about the only thing I might use in the future.
 
Tom, I saw somewhere in this forum a picture of a DIY glass filter I think you use. It was inside a white cabinet... Can't find the picture and I would like to learn a little bit about it. I'm sure there is a thread somewhere explaining how it works. Looked very simple and effective!
 
Found it, it is a picture of a sump and the co2 cylinder inside a white cabinet. Do you use it in planted tanks usually? Is there any advantage or are you using it just because you already had it?
 
tim said:
This is stunning Tom, the textures and colours are superb, tried my hand at e. Hydropier and just couldn't get it going do you think softer water or a particular substrate is helpful with this one ? Btw blood vomits just sounds like a plant I want 🙂
Click to expand...


EH is a bugger. Finer sediment, I suppose ADa powder type would be best, no fish and maybe only smaller shrimp, Amano's will pull some up.
It likes current. Hard to get it to pile on top of its self and get really dense looking from above, but if you go and uproot it, it's much dense than outward appearances would suggest.

Not sure about high vs low KH's.
GH does not matter as long as there is some.
Mostly just getting it rooted and then established, not critters pulling it up etc.

Blood vomits are great smaller(smaller than I thought they'd be) Erio like plant, but I like them more. Small, easy, hard to scape with though.


Ludwigia sphaerocarpa is looking good right now.

Roiwsofweeds_zps9bfc861d.jpg

Fulltank12-30_zps86bc71bc.jpg



I have some issues here, I'd like to move the Syngonanthus urapues over to the left, but it's too dark for it under the branch. I could try and pack more soil back in there and that would raise the level up more, but that will be tough over time.
I could call the Fissidens branch a green row and then move the Cuphea back one spot and add Rotala sunset in the more forward section where the Cuphea is now. Both the Syngonanthus and the Rotala need open areas and good current and CO2 to do well.



leftside_zpsbdd2fc38.jpg
 
The Erio compressum is an awesome plant, it's got a few nice new side shoots already, so it's really liking the tank.
E hydropiper also likes the new spot, none of the sprigs are floating up any longer.

I am going to switch around the lights this week and next. I'm sure I can get better color development by changing a few things.
 
I added more soil for the Syg. on the left side there. I have 3 types there, but it's hard to tell the differences between them, but it's there.
The Erio compressum have divided into 3-4 plants already. I'll nto divide them for sometime however, I want them to get to their full glory since this is the 1st scape where they have ever been used I'm aware of.
I might move the Blood vomits over to the right side also and add the Mic monte carlo in that spot or maybe Belem grass.

Trimmed 380$ worth of plants out of the tank the last 2 weeks. Not bad. and the scape has not filled in entirely yet.
Keeps me motivated to maintain the tank at least.
E hydropiper has rooted better this time and is getting thicker. I've never had it really pile on it's self and would like to see if I can have that happen this time around.
 
Switched the lighting bulbs around to what my 180 gallon has.
1 Giesemann Aquaflora, then a 2 Red wave Wavepoint, then a 3 Sunwave Wavepoint, then a 4 Red Wave Wavepoint, then an 5 URI Red Sun, then a 6 Sunwave Wavepoint, then 7 Wavepoint Red Wave and lastly a 8 Giesemann aquaflora.
There's 4 pretty red colored bulbs, then the Aquafloras which are slightly pinkish but look white compared to the Red Waves and the Red Sun.
Then the blueish 12000K Sunwaves add a bit of blue to offset it, but not as intense as the ATI blue specials.

I had more blue and white in the prior bulb set.
So this should produce a better red coloration.
I did a quick check, but a full day of viewing is needed to assess.
 
Just remember Tom, you won't grow any plants without a 6500k bulb ; )


The tanks looking awesome mate, I wish you lived closer, so you could lend me some of those plants!
 
Now now Ian its that kind of sarcasm that gives us newbies the wrong idea. It wasn't until I was far too tight to spend £15 on one tube and grew all my plants under £3 silvania 3000k tubes that I truly believed that.

Tom that is some major lighting you have going on there. Is this purely in favour of getting a darker red or more for a nicer viewing colour?

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aliclarke86 said:
Now now Ian its that kind of sarcasm that gives us newbies the wrong idea. It wasn't until I was far too tight to spend £15 on one tube and grew all my plants under £3 silvania 3000k tubes that I truly believed that.

Tom that is some major lighting you have going on there. Is this purely in favour of getting a darker red or more for a nicer viewing colour?

Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...


There's a few things happening:

1. Reflective color- Obviously, a red bulb will give off and reflect more red light colour than say blue or a white.
2. Intensity. I can vary this over a rather infinite range as far as hobbyists might even encounter. I use high light to grow the Farm faster. That's about it, not for color so much.
3. The bulb config certainly seems to be doing something. Can I prove it? No, can I show a lot of correlation? Yes, can I find any other real differences otherwise? No, and I've tried a few things.
My 180 has 2 of the same ATI fixtires, so I can add different bulbs to one side vs the other, get the PAr identical, add the same red plants to each side, then see what the colours look like after say 4-8 weeks against a white background out of the water in sunlight at noon.
This would show it's the lighting alone, so light test can be done.

A fairly simple test actually most hobbyists could do.

There's an edit in the above bulb list:
2 of the bulbs should be the Zoomed flora's

1 Giesemann Aquaflora, then a 2 Zoomed Flora, then a 3 Sunwave Wavepoint, then a 4 Red Wave Wavepoint, then an 5 URI Red Sun, then a 6 Sunwave Wavepoint, then 7 Zoomed Flora and lastly a 8 Giesemann aquaflora.

This seesm to do very well.
I suppose if you cannot get the Red or Sun Wave/Wavepoint brands, sub another Zoomed Flora(similar to the Red) and the ultra Sun(similar to the Sunwave).
The Zoomed bulbs are German made and quite cheap in price.
 
plantbrain said:
New lighting:
PAR is virtually identical, but the red shift is a fair amount more.
Might be from a few newer bulb additions.
Seems I'd tried this but did not like it in the past, but today, I seem to like it for some reason, so it shall stay.


Wholetank_zps52370191.jpg
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Cuphea_zps47e7f0d8.jpg
Side_zpsf2915018.jpg
Click to expand...
Looks gorgeous tom.
 
There seems to be a lot more blue & red in this setup than the previous making for a less intense viewing I'm sure.

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I tried the Coralife colormax bulbs, but they give a weird coloration, so I nixed them, they also reduced the PAR a considerable amount(about 20-25 umol less for 2-3 bulbs addition).
The mix of the 1 Red Wave, 2 Flora Sun Zoomed, Giesemann aquafloras on the ends, then the Red Sun with the 2 Sunpower (12000K's) (you could use the Zoomed Ultrasun) really give a nice mix.

I've done more bulb configurations than about anyone for T5's, but..........I've also spent over 1000$ in bulbs alone, but that counts the 60,90 and 120 cm lengths also.
 
Just one thing to say about this- Stunning :clap: :clap:

Cheers
Martin
 
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