26g Bow Front - My First Dutch Inspired Scape Journal

[Brian_Nano12g]

Oh... BTW... the cloudiness is back with a nice little surface film with bubbles. I've noticed some white fungus on the DW so I'm assuming that it's the source of "extra" organics in the water -- which results in cloudiness due to a bacteria bloom.

Never had a bacteria bloom before... Am I suppose to just let it run its course or do I do some PWC's???

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

@Bettafantatic - Thank you... glad you're here Anyway... I probably should have used some kind of divider. I just separated the Floramax and created a channel. I then just filled that area with sand. It seems to be holding together... time will tell but it might very well mix eventually?

@Predfan - I'd love the idea of an Apisto trio. I've had an apisto before but he was just grey-bluish. IF I can ever find some Apistogramma Agassizi 'Flame Red'... I'd be all over it in a heartbeat! Check these guys out on this youtube vid... wow!
Apistogramma Agassizi 'Flame Red' at Tyne Valley Aquatics (near Newcastle) - YouTube

Check Aquabid for those kind of Apistos. ApistoDave has a pair up for 20 bucks right now and I'm sure he would be willing to sell a second female. They guy is a little crazy...but hey. Who isn't.

 

[CharlieKlein]

Pictus?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

They guy is a little crazy...but hey. Who isn't.

LOL... why do you say that? What was your experience with that transaction? I never ordered fish online like that before.

 

[Aquatic_Adam]

LOL... why do you say that? What was your experience with that transaction? I never ordered fish online like that before.

He can be temperamental. Just go with his jokes and he is very amiable. Sometimes, especially through text, his jokes don't always come across as jokes. I've seen other people who have had bad experiences with him with that kind of stuff.

My transaction went fine with him. The Apisto Macmasteri trio that I got is now with my friend. They are actually spawning for him now

I've ordered many a fish (only one real LFS here). As scary as it seems, 9 times out of 10 the fish will make it there fine.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Update Time! Just Over 2.5 Weeks Since Planted

As promised... I organized the stand by buying a cheap $5 corner bathroom shelf from Ikea (Bolmen Shelf)... here's a before and after.. not a big deal, but I'm still proud of the solution I came up with

So as for the status of the tank... the bacteria bloom has dissipated. There was a good amount of diatoms everywhere so I took a toothbrush and cleaned away. Did a nice 50% PWC and voila.... nice crystal clear tank

To my delight, the Finnex Ray 2, despite being on a taller tank is pretty effective in growing plants. However, I'm not seeing the red come out as much in the rotala colorata and the r. rotundifolia... For now, I'm attributing that to the reduced PAR from the increased distance (re: PAR vs. Distance). For the heck of it, I increased the iron and potash supplementation to see if it will help.

The alternanthera reineckii and the ludwigia red are displaying very nice colors for me regardless. The flame moss is starting to reach vertically from the manzanita branch as planned. The hydrocotyle tripartita sp. Japan is really taking off and growing in nicely as a midground plant. Last but not least, the DHG is still green w/ some yellow and dead blades, but from my experience with DHG, I'm assuming more time is needed for it to acclimate to this new tank (originating from my 12g nano cube) before it bounces back and thrives.

Enough talk... here are the pics

Close-Ups of my Angel-Babies... I'll be sad once they get too big to be housed in this tank!

Next step... adding in some Current Truelumen Lunar LED lights (2 blue + 1 white) over the weekend. Once again... thank you guys for reading

 

[Bettafanatic]

UGH!! I'm so jealous!! I'm just sitting here hoping that one day I'll be as good as aqua scape as you are.

 

[Rivercats]

It's looking really good Brain. Have you considered adding alittle Purgen to your filter? That will actually help remove excess organics and actually if often helps with the cloudiness. What kind of red stem plant is that?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

@Bettafanatic - Oh stop it.. you're making me blush! haha... Naw.. we'll see if I can get good at manicuring and cutting the stems appropriately to create that bushy look thats quite prevalent in dutch aquascaping. But thank you for the kind comments!

@Rivercats - I've heard good things about Purigen. That's actually a good idea and I think I will implement that ASAP. I'm really pleased with the Fluval 06 canister filters. There's plenty of room to customize the media!!!

As for the red stem plant in the foreground, it's alternanthera reineckii. I was lucky to find some at my LFS on the cheap. After researching that plant a bit, it's seems to be pretty hardy and is quite common in dutch aquascaping. Thank you for the kind words as well

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

It's looking really good Brain. Have you considered adding alittle Purgen to your filter? That will actually help remove excess organics and actually if often helps with the cloudiness. What kind of red stem plant is that?

Rivercats.. In terms of Purigen, I have it in my Amazon cart but now I'm wondering if i need to also buy "The Bag" sold by Seachem? I have media mesh bags but not sure if they'd hold up to recharging Purigen by bleaching. Plus, from the pics, Purigen looks really fine compared to activated carbon. Not sure if it would just fall through a standard media bag and if "The Bag" is also needed to prevent this?

 

[Rivercats]

Rivercats.. In terms of Purigen, I have it in my Amazon cart but now I'm wondering if i need to also buy "The Bag" sold by Seachem? I have media mesh bags but not sure if they'd hold up to recharging Purigen by bleaching. Plus, from the pics, Purigen looks really fine compared to activated carbon. Not sure if it would just fall through a standard media bag and if "The Bag" is also needed to prevent this?

Purgen is fine but I've used it in knee-hi panty hose for years without problems. You can also double nylon it if your worried. I like the nylons simply because you can make the bags any size you want/need them to be, tie them in a tight knot of two, and cut the excess off. Whereas pre-made bags come in certain sizes which often times are too big for many applications especially in really small tanks. And you can always pour used media into a new nylon quite easily if needed. For me custom sizing plus cheap works for me

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Cheap and custom sizing sounds great to me! Thanks for the insight

Along with a lot of great folks on here, especially the moderators, you've been an awesome contributing member IMO.. The question is, how do we get you moderator status too? Haha

 

[Rivercats]

Cheap and custom sizing sounds great to me! Thanks for the insight

Along with a lot of great folks on here, especially the moderators, you've been an awesome contributing member IMO.. The question is, how do we get you moderator status too? Haha

I don't mind being one of the plain folk at all! Just glad I can help and since I'm retired I have alot of time. That's why my tank has so many plants, especially stem plants... it gives me something to piddle around with especially in the cold months.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Rivercats a mod? Hell yeah! I'll throw you my vote in a heartbeat. We have great mods already thankfully. It's just nice to have really educated members as well.

I always use The Bag for Purigen these days but I love the idea of using panty hose (though us guys here may not have that on hand like other members). The 100ml version that comes in it's own pouch isn't as good as it used to be. The last THREE that I bought all leaked. The Bag has never let me down though. I actually cut the last one I bought to get it to fit in my daughter's Fluval Spec 5. They hold up for years and years.

 

[Rivercats]

Rivercats a mod? Hell yeah! I'll throw you my vote in a heartbeat. We have great mods already thankfully. It's just nice to have really educated members as well.

I always use The Bag for Purigen these days but I love the idea of using panty hose (though us guys here may not have that on hand like other members). The 100ml version that comes in it's own pouch isn't as good as it used to be. The last THREE that I bought all leaked. The Bag has never let me down though. I actually cut the last one I bought to get it to fit in my daughter's Fluval Spec 5. They hold up for years and years.

I started using knee-hi pantyhose for all media, carbon included, since I started using canisters. It's never let me down ever and if in doubt double hose them. Plus figure you can make at least two bags by cutting the hose in half as they stretch out really far. You just have to tie knots at both ends.

 

[gman42]

I used pantyhose for ceramic rings, and it works great.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Update... Current Truelumen Lunar LED's installed!

So I decided to get some moonlights to install on this tank for some night time viewing. The Current Truelumen Lunar lights come in both white or blue and you can string up to 12 with one transformer plug. I was torn between trying to figure out whether to order all blue, white, or mix the colors. I decided to get three so I went with 2 blue and 1 white. After installing them, I kinda wished I either got all white or 2 whites and 1 blue... But overall, I'm still pleased with them and I don't feel like going through the hassle of exchanging them.

Here's how they came packaged...

I installed them with the included screws on to a piece of wood that I cut to size. I spay painted it black to be more discrete sitting on top of the tank.

Fits perfectly next to the Finnex Ray 2 fixture. I'm glad that the Finnex is slim enough to share the limited space that the glass window allows on top of the Aqueon stock hood.

Pictures don't do it justice because they appear with way more contrast than what you see in-person... but these lights do look nice at night IMO. It's not overbearing but just enough to view the fish at night (taking in to consideration that this tank is pretty tall). I do notice a much different behavior from the fish with these lunar lights on. Like I mentioned earlier, I think the white lunar lights might be better and provide a more natural appearance - especially for FW.

I do like how the single white lunar light module casts a faint white light straight down the middle. It reminds me of a lunar ray penetrating a canopy of a forest or something...LOL It's pretty neat when the fish swim by this particular point... the shimmering effect that these lunars create around my tank is peaceful and mesmerizing.... I like!

Thanks for reading

 

[Rivercats]

They look nice. My moonlights are all blue and honestly there needed to be more in a tank that size but since they are built into the fixture that is how they are staying. I like being able to have night viewing.

 

[aqua_chem]

I was never pleased with the flow through pantyhose. Instead, I went to the dollar store and got cheap polyester mesh laundry bags to hold all my filter media. They hold up very well and allow a lot more flow through them.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Great looking setup! I got the same moonlights and definitely agree about the whites looking so natural. I had ordered one white and one blue for my 20H and it was to strong with them both. I have only the blue on now but I plan on swapping it out with the white. It's 1000x more natural looking than the blues, even if it's a bit to bright. I'll place it so the main light shadows most of the tank and it'll just be on one side.