FresH2O's 20g planted rescape

[PerfectDepth]

Hey Fresh! Nice hardscape. I also love how the ar mini looks in this scape! So simple but striking. The large rocks are awesome and if it were my tank, I think I could deal with letting them become covered in algae, or at least I that's what I would tell myself. The small amount of lace rock I have is covered in an assortment of algae.. the "natural look"

GDA, or green dust algae is a different type of algae than what you see growing on your rocks. It tends to stick to the glass at first, then quickly grows into a thick covering that eventually turns into this weird brown "dust" and falls to the bottom on its own. One of the most common "treatments", as Tom Barr also mentioned there, is to just let it run its course without even disturbing it until it falls off the glass, then it is easily siphoned out.

 

[Autumnsky]

Something I always wonder is why everyone wants such high lighting aka algae??? Hahaha, I am just starting to get into the learning about testing like one should and what to do (I don't know yet). The threads and info from a few of you and Caliban's threads especially have me knowing I DON'T know almost anything about it at all.

My 72G has a bit of algae even with algae eaters and SAEs.

Maybe I should read the book I bought at AGA by Karen Randall - she had some pretty nice tanks. Sunken Gardens: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planting Freshwater Aquariums Hmmm...now where did I put that - the nano fish book by Rachel O'leary is right behind my head, lol!

Will be following intently on the continued saga us vs. algae, and the search for the perfect tank. I need to step up my knowledge and abilities too.

 

[Caliban07]

Well I just added 2 litres of unconditioned tap water in to about 75 litres of water and my nerite snail (which was happy as Larry) just came out of the water and closed right up. That should give you an inkling of just how rotten my tap is. Maybe it's copper? But 2 litres. I was just topping up!

No more tap ever and that is a promise.

Autumn if it makes you feel any better I am in a group with some very adept hobbyists/enthusiasts who are all struggling to find the perfect answer. There isn't one. One person is making some good ground though I can't say too much because I was asked not to but all I will say is don't feel bad about 'not knowing almost anything' because if it were that easy to grow plants and keep algae at bay the main topic of discussion on planted tank forums would be which plant looks best here or which rock should I place there and that is not the case.

There are some plants that simply just don't care and get by either way with ferts and lighting but in the grand scheme of things 100 PAR is nothing compared to actual sunlight and plants have shown to grow perfectly healthy at this light level with co2 levels of 10-15mg/l that I can say for sure.

If you look at Barr's plants they are not perfect either.

Some people just happen upon the perfect balance and for some it takes longer.

Fresh's tank for me is the perfect example. He will be the first to tell you that finding the balance has taken time. Lots of trial and error. These are the best tanks for me because it shows not only the artistic nature of the scaper but also the dedication it sometimes takes to find the perfect balance.

 

[Fresh2o]

Sorry for the late reply.
PerfectDepth - I am going for something different. So easy to try to copy things I've seen (well, execute is another story). I've always wanted to cover the bottom with fore and mid ground plants. I am getting impatient with the AR mini growth; seeing some curled leaves. The regular AR is now easy to pick out.
The GDA is barely on the glass; mostly on the stones.
Autumn - we do high light because we are gluttons for punishment. One wrong move, then bang! The payoff is rapid growth but balancing it out can be a challenge. I would advise anyone to start with low or low medium and work your way up. I think Karen Randall is pretty high up there amongst the plant authorities.
Cal - You have terrible tap water! That must be awful. Well said on the balancing act. As you said, some plants are forgivable and reward us despite our mistakes. My tanks are constantly evolving and are the things I do to them. I have been pretty consistent though with the CO2 and modified PPS-Pro. I am currently stepping back on the lighting a bit in regards to the BBA. GDA on the stones might be something I have to deal with.

 

[Delapool]

I must confess I got lights as the bling factor [emoji41][emoji41](then it was just expensive after that lol). Any day now I'll swap to plastic plants!!

I really admire the low-tech setups as well. Some on here I think are incredible with CO2 but as they are no CO2 are just astounding.

 

[Fresh2o]

I must confess I got lights as the bling factor [emoji41][emoji41](then it was just expensive after that lol). Any day now I'll swap to plastic plants!!

I really admire the low-tech setups as well. Some on here I think are incredible with CO2 but as they are no CO2 are just astounding.

True, the slender fixtures are a lot sleeker, especially when used with rimless tanks.
Plastic is fine; as long they are not neon fluorescent colored.
Low light natural biotype setups are especially interesting.

 

[Bert2oo1]

Agree with both of you, a fully grown nicely scaped low tech really is amazing.

These people who do water changes once every few months with minimal filtration and lighting are extremely skilled if you ask me [emoji106]

 

[Fresh2o]

Got a new API GH/KH test kit. Got a reading of 15/8, respectively. The last time I tested (a few years back) it was GH 9, KH 5. I attribute most of the increase from the Black Mountain Seiryu Stone (was mentioned on the website where I purchased it). Not too concerned as this was never intended to be a shrimp tank.
I also tested the pH in the evening. It was between 6.6-6.8 with the pH kit and 7.4 with the high pH kit. In the AM the pH was the 8.0 based on the high pH kit. That means that there is a drop of 1.2-1.4 during the day. I'm sure there's a formula to calculate the ppm CO2 but I cannot recall what it is.
Otherwise, just patiently waiting for the plants to fill in. Perhaps someone can tell me what the paler areas of the leaves mean:

Nutrient deficiency? It appears to be consistent with all of the staur repens. No recent changes except for the removal of the secondary light (Planted+). There have been days I've skipped the daily PPS-Pro doses. Whatever it is, it is not affecting the production of new leaves and side shoots.
In the next pic I believe the red plants with larger, pointed leaves are regular AR and the rest are AR mini.

There is a slight improvement in terms of the curled up AR mini leaves. IMO some plants just don't recover from that. Yes, 90% of the snails are on the stones.
Finally, a FTS. The evening spectrum is emphasizing the reds.

The downoi are growing well and getting pretty crowded and the BBA that was on their leaves is pretty much gone. I might remove some of the staur repens in the area in front of the stones to make room for the downoi.
All for now.

 

[Autumnsky]

This is interesting to read through
http://www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/...P/00/001/053/Signs of nutrient deficiency.pdf

 

[Fresh2o]

This is interesting to read through
http://www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/...P/00/001/053/Signs of nutrient deficiency.pdf

Yes it was. Thought I'd be asleep in the back of chemistry class zzzzz
Could be magnesium, iron, and/or manganese. I dose macros and micros at the same time and wondering if the iron is being bound by doing so. My macro solution is down to the dregs so it is time to mix up a new batch. Still working on the PPS-Pro kit I got back in 2013.

 

[Bert2oo1]

Looks great fresh [emoji106] I had a similar issue with my repens and found that increasing the micro dosage fixed the problem [emoji16]

I get the odd twisted AR leaf also and have never managed to find the reason why they do it. Definitely nutrient related, most likely a micro I'd imagine.

I've found if you cut the top and grow the side shoots out and replant them they seem to come good after a while [emoji106]

Growth and colour is looking good, keep up the good work [emoji106]

 

[Fresh2o]

Tank update: Moved the AR to the right rear corner, spread the downoi towards the center, removed some of the AR mini with stunted growth:

FTS

 

[Autumnsky]

Love the Downoi next to the red.

 

[Fresh2o]

Love the Downoi next to the red.

Thanks! Did not know how it would look. Was killing me that the downoi was getting over crowded in the corner so I got off my behind and moved things around. Briefly entertained the idea of an ALL RED tank with a few green accents of green (usually it is the other way around). In that case, Microdevario kubotai would pop. Eh, then realized it may take a while to grow that much AR mini.
Decided that I can live with the algae on the stones as long as it's not BBA.

 

[TMaier]

The stones greened up quickly. All that great light and ferts.

 

[Delapool]

I was wondering on what was happening with the stones as well. Looking good though.

 

[Bert2oo1]

Have you tried pushing your co2 abit more fresh? I've noticed the twisting of the AR and the green dust algae generally seems to fade out a lot more when the co2 level is higher.

Might not be a great idea for you tho with the snails but just a suggestion [emoji106]

 

[Fresh2o]

^^^ There are times when I wish I had a plant only tank. When I started the DBT back in December, the fish were in another tank for 5 weeks and I was generous with the CO2. I believe that is why it did so well.
My other tank is now home to a colony of yellow Neos.
I can bump it up in increments and see how it does. I did remove the mini AR that had twisted leaves.

 

[Bert2oo1]

^^^ There are times when I wish I had a plant only tank. When I started the DBT back in December, the fish were in another tank for 5 weeks and I was generous with the CO2. I believe that is why it did so well.
My other tank is now home to a colony of yellow Neos.
I can bump it up in increments and see how it does. I did remove the mini AR that had twisted leaves.

So true, my fish have adjusted to the tank over time. My drop checker is yellow for the last 2-3 hours of my photoperiod and everyone's happy. Will they live a shorter life? Maybe. Snails certainly don't like it tho. Every pond snail that's gone into the tank on plants etc have ended up dead pretty quick.

 

[Delapool]

Looks great fresh [emoji106] I had a similar issue with my repens and found that increasing the micro dosage fixed the problem [emoji16]

I get the odd twisted AR leaf also and have never managed to find the reason why they do it. Definitely nutrient related, most likely a micro I'd imagine.

I've found if you cut the top and grow the side shoots out and replant them they seem to come good after a while [emoji106]

Growth and colour is looking good, keep up the good work [emoji106]

Was it much more micros? I've just cut mine back to just standard dosing (no sneaky extra dose top-up just in case). I can't keep up lol with dosing more or less except one aponogeton seems to like less.