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Nature Stylish -60x30x42 lowtech

Really like the look of the Monte Carlo. That gamble paid off big time. Maybe try a bit of HC Cuba now as well when you are on a roll :)
 
Thanks for the replies! I usually get lucky with MC, no idea why to be honest. Maybe it helps sticking to a schedule when it comes to maintenance and to be patient. Every sunday around 1100 AM I do the weekly water change (12 ltr), some pruning and removing any algae on the glass (front and left side) that the Oto's didnt clean up. After that I turn the filters back on, add the all in one ferts and I'm done. I won't try HC Cuba, I knów this one is kind of impossible to grow without co2, I'm happy with my MC, patience seems to be key with this plant. Next maintenance, I'll replant some of the cuttings to fill up the open spaces, hopefully I won't kill to many shrimplets or the MC it self while mowing my lawn ;)
 
It's been a while since the last update. Long story short, everything is still coming along nicely, had to trim the MC carpet (I think I can call it a carpet by now) serveral times in order to keep it healthy. Shrimp are doing great, stopped counting at 60 last time, fish are doing fine as well. Still looking for something to fill the open space, I'm open for suggestions! For now, I need to start trimming I think, it's looking kind of of messy and not like the full Jungle look I was aiming for.

This photo was taken before cleaning and I need to regen my Purigen so it becomes nice and clear again. Taken with my phone, so sorry for potato quality.

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The brown bits on the MC is the ADA soil, for some reason my shrimp like to play with it or something like that :D

So far, I'm still pretty happy with the tank. However, I'm running in to a couple of things that you guys might be able to help me out with.

- How to trim the crypto? Its growing like mad as you can see. Where the crypto is under the LED, it has minor BBA. I'm fine with that, since it stopped growing on the carpet, so my plan kind of worked.
- How to remove the green algae that is starting to take a hold on the front of the tank? I know it is probably there because it is in direct sunlight, although it's only for max one hour a day. Can I scrape it off with a old bank card?
- Is there a max thickness of the MC that I should maintain to keep it healthy?
 

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Thanks Alexander! Got some stuff to do tonight then, I might give it a brutal trim, trying to get some shape in the wild mess. I do want the crypto to keep blocking the light, so the BBA wont start to appear on my MC. Might just get a dimmer or something for the LED. Also been thinking to sell the complete tank with stand and get slightly bigger one, haven't decided yet.
 
Small update, I trimmed a reasonable amount of the cryptos, found out that Microsorum Pteropus Trident almost entirely died off in between the cryptos, so I pulled out the dead parts where I could. Also pulled out some javamoss, I'd rather see the fissidens. On top of that, I pulled out some MC at the back, which didn't feel like getting back in :( Ah well, patience is key, it will grow back again...

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Doesn't look like much, but it has a pretty big effect on the look of the tank. Gonna do some more trimming tomorrow and take a new shot when my is Purigen back in the filter.

Made a quick progession 'collage' to see the progress of the tank;

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March(start) - May(end) - August(end).

Guess the shot where the Purigen just kicked in :D I'll try to get back to how the tank looks in the 2nd shot, my carpet is a lot more grown in by now and I think it will have a nice look to it when its a little bit more trimmed. I want to see the wood again and some more of my moss. It basically looks like a crypto-jungle now imo, which I don't like.
 
Thanks, the cabinet was built with the help of the DIY topic right here on UKAPS, worked like a charm!

So, regarding the tank. I've cut out some plants and did something silly, pulled back the long leaves around the flowbar...I'm not sure if I like it like this, looks kinda weird. So, I'll do some more cutting tonight and cut all the long leaves back, then just pray the BBA wont take hold on my carpet...

On this photo you can see how the long leaves are blocking the LED lights, maybe I should get a dimmer before cutting back the long leaves to prevent BBA on the carpet. Choices, choices...

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Don't pay attention to the floating plant parts, I dropped my tweezers on the carpet and had to get it out before I took the photo :D
 
So, really quick n small update. In order to get some fish actually showing themselves, I've changed it up a bit. Might have a look at adding some other fish, as my daughter grows older, she wants to see 'fishies'. For now, they were hiding in between the plants so I wanted to make some minor changes to the tank so the fish would show themselves.

Anyhow, quick photos;

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I've got some cleaning up to do, gotta trim the MC (again!) and I will probably order a pot of MC to fill up the front. I've taken the plants that were at the front and moved those behind the newly placed wood, hopefully they will survive. It's nowhere near the tanks you people pull off, but I'm still happy with it and my daughter enjoys it too!
 
@Alexander Belchenko , thanks a lot for that suggestion! I was wondering which fish I could add, this seems like a great idea. Hopefully the shrimp group is big enough to survive, guess I'll just have to take the gamble and see how that works out.

@DanDanio , Thanks for the comment! I got lucky with the MC I guess, not even in my wildest dream I'd expected I'd have to trim the MC regularly in a low tech tank. The ADA soil probably plays a huge factor in this, whenever I've used this soil, MC just grows. Speaking of the MC, I think I'll just let the carpet creep, to see if it fills up the front, I'm kind of patient nowadays :D
 
Yes like you say, it would look good all the way across the front covering the aquasoil but with the rocks sticking up out of it or maybe baby tears micranthemum umbrosum trimmed a few centimetres higher than the Monte Carlo on the right side as a transition from the carpet to the ferns. Keep it updated with the progress would like to see it once its fully grown in its a really tidy low tech tank.
 
Very nice low tech, I grow MC in my high tech tanks and have been keeping the carpet about 5cm thick (grows very fast with co2) I have been told people grow it up to 10cm thick without issues as the roots are really quiet long compared to HC which can lift when it gets to thick.
 
Thanks for all the replies! I've just trimmed the MC again, is it a bad thing when I see white parts in it? It looks like roots of some sorts...Also added a small rock on the right, still not sure if it's gonna stay. I'm looking around for around 10 nanostomus marginatus, hopefully I'll find some soon.

Quick photo, probably the last for some time to come. Low tech just isn't that fast :D
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Update 2018.

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After months of neglect I finally decided to tear it down. I've learned a lot from this tank and my hands are itching to start something new. Roots were long, healthy and strong. I still give credit to the ADA Soil for this. I've learned a lot from this tank, that was my main goal.

I will be setting up the tank again the coming days, focused on fish. My daughter, who is now almost 4, still shows interest in the tank but likes fish better then shrimp.

For now, I'm thinking to keep it simple and go with a small group of Neon Tetra's and about 8 Oto's. If you have any suggestions, please do let me know!

I've pulled about 30ish RCS from the old tank, those are in my backup tank at the moment, those will probably go in this tank as well.

Right, plants. For now I'm thinking to keep this easy and clean too;

- Micranthemum sp Monte Carlo (Yup, let's see if I can make it work again)
- Vallisneria Spiralis (Background)
- Staurogyne Repens (Probably mid/around/near Seiryu stones and the wood)

Might mess around with some mosses as well, not too sure about this tho, since mosses in my tank usually end up as garbage/debris collectors... As with the fish, if any of you has some suggestions, feel free to let me know :)

I just wanted to thank you all for the comments and tips, still a lovely community and I will probably start a new journal for my new tank!
 
Oh wow, I've never seen this journal.
Started reading today from post #1 and I haven't looked at the dates, thought it's 2018 all along in the photos!
I hope you keep adding new tank photos to this same journal so it's easier to keep track of your glorious MC carpet shenanigans :D
 
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