Surmounted

[Tankless]

I recently rescaped the tank just under 3 weeks ago.

Hardscape:

I used glue to stick the wood onto the stones (which didn't work as more than half floated hence why the scape looks different currently as I'm still waiting for a few pieces to sink.

Plants used:
Microsorum Pteropus Trident
Anubias Petite
Bucephalandra Kedang
Eleocharis Acicularis Mini
Cryptocoryne Parva
Rotala Orange Juice
Rotala Yao-Yai
Rotala Rotundifolia

Lighting:
Twinstar 600s (several years old). 50% intensity at 6 hours with 30 minute ramp up and 15 minute ramp down (6 hours and 45 mins in total)

Subtrate:
Tropica Soil thing

Within the first few days of flooding the tank, I had the following issues:
1. Co2art Regulator went into 24/7 mode, I tried cleaning it and stretching the spring plus plunger as per the guide but it didn't work. I'm still in contact with co2art to fix it as I've only had it for 3 years. I replaced it with a co2 supermarket regulator.
2. Bubble counter started leaking which I then replaced
3. Aquael Ultramax leaked from the housing, couldn't get any customer support so I replaced it with a fluval 307

The co2 was all over the place for the first two weeks.

Fertilisation: 7ml of Evolution Aqua Complete Liquid Plant Food per day. I will look to swap over to TSN as the pump is easier to work with.

Fish:
1 cardinal Tetra (5+ years in age)
3 Ember Tetras (5+ years in age)
1 Rummynose (5+ years in age)
1 Bristlenose (3+ years in age and my enemy)

What the tank looks like at 2 weeks and 6 days:

My Goals:
1. Easy to maintain. I need to aim for slower plant growth.
2. Healthy plants, doesn't need to be perfect as I can live with a little bit of algae.
3. Not to give up when the BN uproot things

Next Steps:
1. Add the remainder of the wood back in when it sinks and remove the rocks holding the current pieces. Some need to be repositioned as well.
2. Add Riccardia Chamedryfolia and maybe another moss. Would also like to add Marsilea crenata or Hirusta and Cryptocoryne Albida.
3. Add new fish. Haven't decided between Green Neons or Trigonostigma Espei. Will go with a school of 20.

 

[Tankless]

I added one of the other pieces of wood back in. It's half floaty, most of the pieces are now half floaty except three which float straight to the top. I'm hoping everything will be waterlogged within the next month so that I can position them properly.

I've gone past the three weeks mark. Started to get diatoms and the green algae that grows on the glass and my rocks with the diatoms. Will reduce the fertiliser from 7ml a day to 6ml as my plant mass isn't that high.

Plans for the next few days:
1. Glue the Mini Christmas moss onto the wood when it arrives
2. Glue riccardia chamedryfolia on the rocks and other lower areas when it arrives
3. Found Trigonostigma Espei at a local MA so will pick some up on either Saturday and Sunday.

First Image: The Soil Scaper (my enemy)

A few images to mark the 3 weeks mark:

 

[Courtneybst]

Looking good!

 

[plantnoobdude]

I added one of the other pieces of wood back in. It's half floaty, most of the pieces are now half floaty except three which float straight to the top. I'm hoping everything will be waterlogged within the next month so that I can position them properly.

I've gone past the three weeks mark. Started to get diatoms and the green algae that grows on the glass and my rocks with the diatoms. Will reduce the fertiliser from 7ml a day to 6ml as my plant mass isn't that high.

Plans for the next few days:
1. Glue the Mini Christmas moss onto the wood when it arrives
2. Glue riccardia chamedryfolia on the rocks and other lower areas when it arrives
3. Found Trigonostigma Espei at a local MA so will pick some up on either Saturday and Sunday.

First Image: The Soil Scaper (my enemy)
View attachment 203303

A few images to mark the 3 weeks mark:
View attachment 203304View attachment 203305

Looks brill! User name doesn't fit so much anymore tho😆

 

[PARAGUAY]

You could try weighing the wood for now with rock or cable tie to pebbles

 

[Tankless]

Looking good!

Thanks, hoping that it'll better once settled and grown in.

Looks brill! User name doesn't fit so much anymore tho😆

Yeah, I was tankless many moons ago lol. It's too late to change the username 😔

You could try weighing the wood for now with rock or cable tie to pebbles

I've got a few of them weighted by rocks. Just didn't have enough small rocks to completely weigh them down. I've used some big rocks for the front two on the right and the piece in the back left which isn't too visible. I think in future setups I'll use glue but with pebbles attached to each piece of wood via cable tie. One of the many lessons I've learnt in the three weeks.

 

[Tankless]

My new goodies arrived, first is the mini christmas moss from @Konrad Michalski . I should've ordered double that as I didn't have enough:

My second delivery came from Aquarium Gardens:

I tried the Amano chopping up the moss into small pieces and dabbing onto the wood with glue Technique. Ended up leaving a few pieces of residue due to the wood being wet. The riccardia was difficult to glue onto the lower regions but I saw a post from @Wookii where you can glue underwater which helped.

Diatoms are starting to cover my eleocharis on the high flow side and I'm my cryptocoryne Parva is melting. I also had a power cut which continues with the theme of tank instability 😞

How the tank currently looks (one day before 4 weeks):

Next update will be with the new fish in a week's time after they've settled, unless something goes wrong.

 

[plantnoobdude]

My new goodies arrived, first is the mini christmas moss from @Konrad Michalski . I should've ordered double that as I didn't have enough:View attachment 203422

My second delivery came from Aquarium Gardens:

View attachment 203423View attachment 203424

I tried the Amano chopping up the moss into small pieces and dabbing onto the wood with glue Technique. Ended up leaving a few pieces of residue due to the wood being wet. The riccardia was difficult to glue onto the lower regions but I saw a post from @Wookii where you can glue underwater which helped.

Diatoms are starting to cover my eleocharis on the high flow side and I'm my cryptocoryne Parva is melting. I also had a power cut which continues with the theme of tank instability 😞

How the tank currently looks (one day before 4 weeks):

View attachment 203425View attachment 203426View attachment 203427

Next update will be with the new fish in a week's time after they've settled, unless something goes wrong.

Tank looks great. For riccardia I usually use cotton thread as it is quite a fast grower and attached well.

 

[Tankless]

Tank looks great. For riccardia I usually use cotton thread as it is quite a fast grower and attached well.

My thread tying skills are terrible. I put the riccardia on the lower most pieces which I couldn't take out of the water.

I had a clown pleco which got caught in the thread and ended up dying from it a few years ago because it was too loosely tied.

 

[_Maq_]

Within the first few days of flooding the tank, I had the following issues:
1. Co2art Regulator went into 24/7 mode, I tried cleaning it and stretching the spring plus plunger as per the guide but it didn't work. I'm still in contact with co2art to fix it as I've only had it for 3 years. I replaced it with a co2 supermarket regulator.
2. Bubble counter started leaking which I then replaced

My Goals:
1. Easy to maintain. I need to aim for slower plant growth.
2. Healthy plants, doesn't need to be perfect as I can live with a little bit of algae.

Why do you inject CO2? Both your troubles and your aims suggest to get rid of it. Your selection of plants can live and grow very well without CO2 and you wouldn't have to trim the green that often.

 

[Tankless]

Why do you inject CO2? Both your troubles and your aims suggest to get rid of it. Your selection of plants can live and grow very well without CO2 and you wouldn't have to trim the green that often.

I think having co2 makes things a little easier in terms of plant growth (but also for more things to go wrong).

The plant growth so far hasn't been that fast maybe due to the 50% light intensity which is around 60 par at the mid point from the fixture.

 

[Tankless]

Tomorrow will be the 5 week mark. I've had some issues in the past week and a bit in the form of staghorn algae which has mainly been on the wood and the bucephalandra which has deteriorated.
My thoughts with the wood are that I did not prepare it properly as I forgot to boil and clean it before putting it into the tank (didn't even wash it). I've noticed some bits being a little soft so presume it'll decay for a few months then eventually settle down.

With regards to the Buce, I noticed a lot of the leaves not have the tips which might have been damaged pre planting.

I cut off 70% of the leaves because they were like that or were just melting.

Reading the forums and 2 Hour Aquarist, the most common causes of Staghorn Algae are:
1. Tank Instability (I've had plenty)
2. Insufficient Co2 or Flow (It could be this as I did increase the surface agitation but didn't compensate for it by increasing the injection amount. I've cracked the elbow of the Aquario outlet pipe which means the direction changes with the slightest of touches. I've contacted AG to see if I can order a replacement. I don't particularly like the jet outlet as it makes the flow in the tank very strong at 50% filter power)
3. Inorganic Waste (Didn't vacuum the carpet for 3 weeks or clean the filter to allow the hairgrass to carpet plus had baby shrimp. I found a lot of waste within the filter and the carpet when giving it a proper clean today. I've probably overfed the size of algae wafer for my pleco as well).
4. Insufficient Fertiliser (I doubt its this one as I'm dosing 6ml daily. I've started to compensate for the amount of Fertiliser I remove during water changes as well).

Some of the Uglies:

I've added in Cryptocoryne Alibda Brown and 15 Espei Rasboras. 1 of the Espei Rasboras may have died within the last couple of days as I can only count 14. They school very well.

More pictures:

 

[Tankless]

I should have taken a picture of the tank just before I took it down. It needed to be moved into another location within the house so I had a quick rescape reusing everything hardscape and moss wise which I had trim heavily. Swapped out the rotala for M Guayana and Bacopa compact to decrease the frequency of trimming. Day 1:

Any idea on what these pod like things growing on the moss are?

Do you think a 60cm tank is too small to keep chocolate gouramis?

 

[bazz]

Do you think a 60cm tank is too small to keep chocolate gouramis?

Hi,
I'm no expert but I would it's think safe to keep a pair in a 60cm tank because, I bought six two and half years ago which were put in to my 90cm 230l tank and whenever I was observing the tank they kind of all swam around together but one by one they slowly started to die. I thought there was maybe something genetically wrong with them or I was not providing them with their requirements. It wasn't until I had thee left that I noticed two of them attacking the third, I caught it and put it a 60l tank that I keep Chili Rasboras in but it refused to eat and slowly withered away. The remaining two as I said earlier are two and half years old now and are the picture of health frequently breeding although due to tank mates and 65% water changes none of the young have ever survived. I do think though that these fish really do require soft water to thrive but no doubt someone will more than likely prove me wrong.
I know @Wookii kept or keeps these and has successfully bred them but if I remember correctly his tank was well overgrown whereas mine is more open plan so maybe breaking line of sight could be key.
Cheers!

 

[Wookii]

Do you think a 60cm tank is too small to keep chocolate gouramis?

Hi,
I'm no expert but I would it's think safe to keep a pair in a 60cm tank because, I bought six two and half years ago which were put in to my 90cm 230l tank and whenever I was observing the tank they kind of all swam around together but one by one they slowly started to die. I thought there was maybe something genetically wrong with them or I was not providing them with their requirements. It wasn't until I had thee left that I noticed two of them attacking the third, I caught it and put it a 60l tank that I keep Chili Rasboras in but it refused to eat and slowly withered away. The remaining two as I said earlier are two and half years old now and are the picture of health frequently breeding although due to tank mates and 65% water changes none of the young have ever survived. I do think though that these fish really do require soft water to thrive but no doubt someone will more than likely prove me wrong.
I know @Wookii kept or keeps these and has successfully bred them but if I remember correctly his tank was well overgrown whereas mine is more open plan so maybe breaking line of sight could be key.
Cheers!

A 60cm is fine for Chocolates, but they do like plenty of cover, and broken lines of site as @bazz suggests. They are quite gregarious, so that, combined with the fact that they are very difficult to sex as juveniles, means stocking six minimum initially is the best plan. Despite being gregarious, they can be quite aggressive to one another, and territorial when getting ready to breed. This can also give them a propensity to jump out of the tank as they swim away from a rival, unless there are plenty of floating plants around the edges of the tank to halt their exit.

They are a lovely fish though, with very interesting and intelligent behaviour.

 

[Tankless]

Yeah, I need to give the plants a month to grow back in before I consider adding in more fish. I’ve always wanted to keep Chocolate Gouramis. @Wookii , @bazz mentioned that they prefer soft water which is what I’ve read as well unless I can find tank bred versions for sale. Did you have soft water for yours?

 

[Wookii]

Yeah, I need to give the plants a month to grow back in before I consider adding in more fish. I’ve always wanted to keep Chocolate Gouramis. @Wookii , @bazz mentioned that they prefer soft water which is what I’ve read as well unless I can find tank bred versions for sale. Did you have soft water for yours?

Most of the fish we keep in our aquariums are from soft water habitats, so I personally think most of them do better in soft (as in low alkalinity) acidic water. Many people keep fish in harder alkaline water, and it's not detrimental to the fish per se, but I think you get the best from fish in terms of colouration and natural behaviours (like breeding) if you match their natural water parameters as closely as possible (and of course feed them plenty of live food). Chocolates are technically a black water fish, so at the lowest end of the water spectrum in terms of alkalinity and acidity.

If you get Chocolates from Maidenhead Aquatics (as I did) they will most likely be kept in tap water (MA are a franchise so it does vary, but I believe either of my local ones use RO). The same may apply at any LFS near you, but you can always check with them in advance.

 

[Tankless]

Ordered my self the swirly chihiros intake pipe. Works fine although I’ll need to re optimise the co2 again with the increased surface agitation.

Tank is now at the 2 weeks mark and looks better than day 1. I’ll probably remove the hair grass at the front and swap it with Marsilia crenata which should be smaller in size.

I’ve decided against the Chocolate Gouramis for now. The other fish that I’m considering are:
1. Scarlett Badis / Black Tiger Badis
2. Sparkling Gouramis
3. A solitary Dwarf Gourami

I’m also open to suggestions. I currently have:

• 3 Ember Tetra (Last 3 from the 10 I purchased in 2018)
• 8 Espei Rasboras
• 1 Bristlenose Pleco (Purchased in 2019)
• 1 Zebra Loach (Last one of the 5 I had from 2018)
• 100 plus dark blue shrimp
• Around 20 Tangerine tigers

 

[AlecF]

Sparkling gourami really like a lot of places to hide. They are feisty. I'm not sure such an open set up is entirely to their species habits? Mine lurk in corners and come out sometimes for jousts. They won't bother other fish, but they do love lots of leafage and floating plant roots to loom about in.

 

[Tankless]

Sparkling gourami really like a lot of places to hide. They are feisty. I'm not sure such an open set up is entirely to their species habits? Mine lurk in corners and come out sometimes for jousts. They won't bother other fish, but they do love lots of leafage and floating plant roots to loom about in.

Alright, I’ll remove them from the potential list as I don’t really want a fish to cause my Espei Rasboras to jump out. There are plenty of coves under the wood pieces and between the rocks although they were made specifically for the bristlenose and the zebra loach which I barely see until it’s food time.

I’ve removed the floaters, they covered the top and don’t work as well with a lily pipe outflow.