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Experimental jungle - 20G long

J Art

J Art

Member
Joined
10 Apr 2016
Messages
97
Location
USA
Day 2

7Q7B1802.jpg


Well guys, here we go. Yes, that's a 20 gallon standard with 2 HOB's. Don't judge me, HA! Planted half 2 days ago and the remaining plantsyesterday . The goal of this densely planted scape is to learn how every one of those plants behaves and grows. I'm pretty sure the planting arrangement is sub-par, but let's see what nature does to this thing. All I'm worried about is growing everything as best as I can and as plants out out compete each other and start to expand, I'll make alterations to accommodate what takes place.

Still chugging along with my DIY LED's, pressurized CO2, and 2 AquaClears on opposite ends. Reading about 85 PAR on the left side substrate level and 65 or so on the right side. I will likely put a ND gel over the left light to lower it's output.

Started with full EI fertilization dosing and initial tests show my CO2 up around 35ppm at the lowest corner running almost 4 bubbles per second.

One of the filters is directly from the last scape, so we have some start up bacteria working already.

Once everything starts to root and grow healthy, I'll start trimming and scaping a bit more. Expecting some melting to start any second until things establish.

I sporadically planted hairgrass around the tank to lessen the formality a bit and add some randomness.

Any input is welcome, I'm sure there's a lot to improve upon.
 

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Tank looks good. Im not overly knowledgable about high tech setups. I also went for the jungle look and am now slowly beginning to shape all the plants. I dose EI ferts daily and liquid co2. Run LED lights 3 hours on 4 off and 5 hours on. Reduce/increase total time to go with season.

For your aquarium i would like to see more hard scape, probably tall pieces of wood?

Heres mine before trim, 7 months growth.
image.jpg
 
Looking nice. I would be concerned about getting dead spots due to the filter arrangements. Still, great experiment. See how it goes!
 
@fleetEWD just the local big box store. Nothing special, cost about $30.

@rebel I tried a bunch of different configurations and this one (opposite ends the long way) seems to work best. The only somewhat dead spot is the back right, but there's still some movement there. CO2 distribution is great however.

@Daz2162 thanks! Things have begun to melt a bit unfortunately. But those are the new tank growing pains everyone goes through. Let's hope I don't lose too much and new growth starts to appear.
 
@J Art Could you kindly post a pic top down to see the dual hobs? I think it's kinda unique in a high tech planted tank.
 
Ah, your from the states? We can't get them in the UK unless custom built, someone please correct me on that though. I really want a 12G long. The thread over on the plantedtank.net has piqued my interest.. Keep the updates coming please.
 
fleetEWD said:
Ah, your from the states? We can't get them in the UK unless custom built, someone please correct me on that though. I really want a 12G long. The thread over on the plantedtank.net has piqued my interest.. Keep the updates coming please.
Click to expand...
I can't imagine you UK guys are jealous of an old school American rimmed 20 long...
Those 12 gallon Mr. Aqua's are pretty cool. It's hard to not like a panoramic aspect ratio.
 


Ok here's a quick video update. Don't mind the underexposed and shaky hand held filming. But I wanted to get everyone's take on the surface agitation I'm getting with my 2 HOB filters. Is it too much? There definitely is some movement going on, but so far I've found really good flow and my CO2 has remained steady at 35ppm at 3bps from the regulator. Got some melting going on, especially with the fine leafed stems, but after 5 days I'm starting to already see positive growth already. Doing 5 gallon water changes every day with full EI dosing (which is actually not full EI considering the water changes).

Going to rearrange and replant some clippings once everything settles in a gets healthy again.

Maybe the left side will be more of a bushy fern area and the right will concentrate on the stems. I'm all ears for some ideas.
 
It's a lot more surface agitation than I run but as long as you maintain CO2 levels (which you are) it's fine - just realize that when CO2 goes off, it will gas off quickly so take that into account if you're turning off CO2 before lights.

When you see melt at the base of stem plants, remove the upper shoots, examine the stem & trim a bit farther (away from the melting end) than you think & gently replant so as to minimize physical trauma to stem (some plant stems are very sturdy, others rather delicate)
The melting bit that is left behind is often best removed - you can check a few, if they're all mush, remove completely, if there are new roots starting, you can just trim all the melt & new shoots may appear.
Shrimp are very good at cleaning up the deteriorating plant matter & often limit spread of the "melt", good water circulation between plants also helps (why it's recommended to plant small distinct shoots rather than larger clumps ... though if you're good at all this, it's quite possible to manage the larger clumps with minimal melt & almost instant growth)
 
@J Art, dude, get rid of those platies and put some chilli rasboras in there. :p Seriously nice pictures man. Did you use a snooted flash or something?
 
@J Art, for a moment you had me worried. All is well now. :)

You sir are using those 10W LEDs to the maximum effect. Kudos.
 
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