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One Tree Hills

kadoxu said:
Tropica made some tests on algae eaters that says Cherry Shrimps are the next best thing right after Amanos, specially if considering their weight/size (and for me also more cost effective).
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You'd need a boatload though, if you have more than a tiny bit of algae. I have quite a bit of GDA on rocks and wood in my shrimptank at the mo' (it actually looks kinda... good😵), and while its not spreading much; it isn't diminishing much either. And I have somewhere between 50-100 shrimp in a 45P 😀 They did clean the hair algae of the pinnatifida thoroughly, so there's that :woot:
 
Fiske said:
You'd need a boatload though, if you have more than a tiny bit of algae. I have quite a bit of GDA on rocks and wood in my shrimptank at the mo' (it actually looks kinda... good😵), and while its not spreading much; it isn't diminishing much either. And I have somewhere between 50-100 shrimp in a 45P 😀 They did clean the hair algae of the pinnatifida thoroughly, so there's that :woot:
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I never had Amanos, so I can't really talk from experience... but the Cherries have done a great job in my tanks so far! My tank also had a lot of hair algae (enough to clog the pre-filter foam in just 2 days) and it completely vanished just 2 days after introducing the Cherries.
For GDA and GSA I have the snails, the Nerite does wonders with it and it's awesome to look at while grazing the tank's glass! 😀

In the end, there were 3 things that made me choose Cherries instead of Amanos:
  1. Cost - I got a few cherries for about £0.50 each and the cheapest Amanos I could find were at least £3 each. Considering Tropica's tests, it's probably the same having about 6 Cherries or 1 Amano, but having 6 instead of 1 makes me happier! :woot:
  2. Colors - I have 40 Red Cherries in the tank and can't usually see more than 10-20 at a time... Imagine my disappointment if they were transparent! :lol:
  3. Breeding - Amanos fry need brackish water to breed. Cherries should breed like wildfire in a tropical tank... I say should, just because they apparently hate me and haven't done it so far.😡
 
Having a single point light source of low intensity creates lots of shadows which makes it more magical and mysterious IMO. The four kessils a have I've setup on a moonlight Passover period - one light on lowest setting for 15mins then it changes to the next, my favourite viewing time already. Plus it feels more natural with the lights dimming down then passing over.

Sent from Mountolympus via neural interface
 
Zeus. said:
Having a single point light source of low intensity creates lots of shadows which makes it more magical and mysterious IMO. The four kessils a have I've setup on a moonlight Passover period - one light on lowest setting for 15mins then it changes to the next, my favourite viewing time already. Plus it feels more natural with the lights dimming down then passing over.
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Completely agree! And in my case, I think that the light also having red and blue LEDs makes a bit of a difference in colouring as well, because the green seems to pop up a bit more.

I am trying to stop myself from buying a Chihiros RGB light to replace the current one... 😛
 
Thinking about doing a custom LED array myself, then to have the different colour LEDs on separate circuits add a PWM or 0-10V controller which ever is required then control the array via my PLC. Think it would complement my kessils nicely.
Nice to change the appearance/mood with different lighting.

One Tree Hills is looking good at it's early stage, should look great once it's all filled in with the TLC it's going to get 🙂

Sent from Mountolympus via neural interface
 
Week 9 Update

1 of the Rasboras died just 4 days after arrival with an ulcer on it's side. I believe it was the one that jumped out of the acclimatisation container.

I saw a tiny little shrimp the other day, making me believe the shrimp are finally breeding! :woot:

Plants producing O2 like crazy?!
 
Coming along nicely hardest part I would find is keeping that white sand soil free shrimps and corys love to spread that soil for you 😉

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
 
A bit cleaner now, eh?
DSC00455.JPG

gareth777 said:
Coming along nicely hardest part I would find is keeping that white sand soil free shrimps and corys love to spread that soil for you 😉
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The hardest is actually getting something growing under the tree... the sand won't be hard to maintain when the carpet sets and holds the soil in place. Until then, I have to vacuum the soil when doing water changes and top the white sand up.
 
Almost 4 months old now. Sorry about the crappy phone pic... I was too lazy to get the camera.

IMG_20170618_131155.jpg

Not much to say here. I'm a bit bored, as there isn't much to do but wait for things to develop.
  • Automated daily dosing 5ml each (MACROS and MICROS).
  • Same CO2 & light period.
  • Cherry Shrimp seem to be finally breeding.
  • Harlequins seem to be trying to breed, saw a pair "dancing" the other day.
  • Removed a few Endler females to stop breeding. I have a few stunning males now.
  • Neons and Cories seem happy.
  • Still having a bit of a hard time with growth under the tree.
  • Having a bit of an issue with thread algae.

IMG_20170618_131242.jpg
 
After a 3 week holiday... (check out the wolves lurking behind the tree)
IMG_20170723_102513.jpg

I was hoping to have a bit less algae, but it wasn't that bad. I reduced lighting intensity and period, CO2 period, and fertz to half during the holidays and left a EHEIM auto-feeder feeding the fish once a day.

I didn't change the CO2 cannister before leaving, so it was empty when I came back.

Shrimp just multiplied during the holidays, no fish lost, so it was a good first holiday experience for me! 😉

I'll post a post-cleanup picture when I get a chance.
 
This tank is almost 5 months old now... 🙂

I promised a photo after the cleanup, but I keep forgetting to take one...

The bad news is I'm still struggling with algae in the moss, so did a big trim on the moss to see how it goes. I also seem to have a few bits of BBA here and there, but nothing that worries me so far. Also, There is a snail outbreak going on the tank, but I don't mind it too much, and the Endlers were moved to another tank after I killed all the fish in it with CO2. 🙁

The good news is that the shrimp are finally breeding like rabbits and the carpet is finally starting to grow bellow the tree. And it seems like the Water Lettuce is flowering?! I didn't know it did that...
IMG_20170805_114202.jpg
 
Hi Kadoxu, I've just went through all your threads, quite a journey and you have came a long way! I'm looking forward to seeing further updates, brilliant!
 
Hi all,
kadoxu said:
And it seems like the Water Lettuce is flowering?! I didn't know it did that...
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They flower in high light, I think it is when the leaf rosettes form a complete carpet, which may have happened while you've been away?

If you look at the flower, with its <"spathe and spadix">, you can see that they are actually Aroids (like Anubias, Bucephalandra, Cryptocoryne etc.)

cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,They flower in high light, I think it is when the leaf rosettes form a complete carpet, which may have happened while you've been away?

If you look at the flower, with its <"spathe and spadix">, you can see that they are actually Aroids (like Anubias, Bucephalandra, Cryptocoryne etc.)
Click to expand...
Thanks for clarifying that for me Darrel.

I left a few in a propagator in my conservatory as an experiment to confirm what you usually say when someone talks about 'Dwarf' Water Lettuce here in the forum! :lol: And I've confirmed it myself: Dwarf Water Lettuce is just regular Water Lettuce that doesn't grow, because it's not on stagnant/slow moving waters. As soon as I move them to my pond or the propagator, they become larger than the ones in the tank and even flower in the sun.

I only realised it was flowering after moving a couple back to the tank.
 
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