FresH2O's 20g planted rescape

[Old Scales]

Me three! What's the deal? Does the algae know it's spring??
My old scape had no algae for months. So I think, "I got this figured out." HA!
I've struggled with GSA & GDA continuously with the new scape. I'm trying everything but still haven't hit the sweet spot. Apparently my "skill" wasn't anything more than dumb luck and I'm not as smart as I thought I was. The algae gods smite us with waves of humility every time we exhibit our pride. (I felt this way when I tried Golf also)
My "theory" (ha) at the moment is light period=OK. CO2=25-30ppm. PO4=3ppm dKH=5
pH=6.7 BUT NO3=only3ppm. Too low compared to PO4. My Glosso seems to devour NO3. Started dosing it again so we'll see. Going for 20ppm. I also suspect putting too many of David's magic root tabs in the tank at the build.
If I stumble upon any positive result from my "idiocy" I will let you guys know. OS.

 

[Fresh2o]

Here is an updated then (about 3-4 weeks ago) and now shot of the star repens:

There are signs of recovery but you can see where algae (GSA? GDA?) is taking hold on the older leaves. Fragments of java moss that I banished several months ago seem to appear out of nowhere. What is not depicted are the bushy fronds of BBA (or similar) on the older chain sword leaves. I think the great re-rescape will take place this weekend. The extra plants will either go in the holding tank or outside since the weather is finally getting decent.
When I was growing a crop of broadleaf chain swords last year (I kind of let them go and there was no sense of scaping; it occupied about 75% of the tank and no one said "Hey, what's with the crop of chain sword?"). Anyhow, I think they sucked up the nutrients and out competed the algae. The stem plants are a bit of a challenge for me.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Yeah my cyprus helferi plant is a BBA magnet. Makes me wanna ditch it. Wow... so a big rescape this weekend? What are you thinking of doing? Any new plants? I have plenty of pogostemon erectus I'm about to trim if you want it.

Why do you say the stem plants are challenging? I find those to be easiest... Just getting the red ones to color up can be daunting at times.

 

[Fresh2o]

Yeah my cyprus helferi plant is a BBA magnet. Makes me wanna ditch it. Wow... so a big rescape this weekend? What are you thinking of doing? Any new plants? I have plenty of pogostemon erectus I'm about to trim if you want it.

Why do you say the stem plants are challenging? I find those to be easiest... Just getting the red ones to color up can be daunting at times.

Nothing too major.
1. Going to pull all of the broadleaf chain sword out and MAYBE replant 2-3 specimens. It is a gorgeous plant; just grows too fast. I cut all the runners and the main plants gets so large that the leaves are reaching the surface. Might look better in a 29 or larger tank. The 20 long is quite shallow.
2. Going to remove all of the AR and plant the healthy growing tips that I put in the holding tank a few months ago. They have been growing under CFLs and some sunlight and PPS-Pro ferts. They are more colorful than the ones in my tank.
3. Remove all of the AR mini and replant only a few of the healthy tips.
4. Mow down the star repens, remove any algae laden leaves, and replant the a few of the cuttings.
Thanks for the offer on the pogo but I want to scale back on the plants because the current setup is a bit crowded. I may hit you up on it later. Funny, I wanted a lush full tank and now something minimalistic sounds appealing. I may even just grow the star repens and AR mini as a contrasting carpet (no background plants). That would draw focus on the manzanita branches. That would be an interesting look IMO.
On another note, the substrate is so full of detritus (about 1.5 years old, no vacuuming). I am guessing that is my source of nitrate since the 6-7 fish I have are not fed very much. I have a bunch on MTS in there but I hardly see them borrowing. During the rescape I might run floss only in both filters to help remove some of the waste and to clear things up.

 

[Fresh2o]

Regarding the stem plants being challenging; maybe that is not the right wording. Stem plants simply grow upward and maintenance is needed to prune and replant. At some point the base plants lose their vigor in producing new shoots and eventually need to be removed. I get that. Not to belittle this, but to me this is more like temporary floral arrangement (no disrespect intended). You get things just right and then a few weeks later it's out of whack. Non-stem plants such as crypts form clusters, typically grow to a certain height, and slowly send out runners as they spread out laterally. To me that is more of a natural effect. Okay, the broad leaf chain swords do the same thing but in crazy overdrive. Call me lazy but I would rather spend more time enjoying the tank than maintaining it. Back in December I was pleased with the potential of the current layout. It has filled in nicely despite the dayum algae and the bouts of wrinkled, malformed leaves. But at the same time it has been interesting to see how each plant did in this particular setup.
I think that the tank just needs some sprucing up.

 

[Old Scales]

Planted tanks are like flower beds. You prepare, plant, they grow and bloom and hit that prettiest stage, then blooms fade and plants deteriorate. You trim out, replant and start the cycle all over again. With tanks it's usually monthly instead of yearly. LOL OS.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Yeah to each their own... that's why I have Multiple Tank Syndrome where some tanks are the "flower beds" high maintenance tanks, while others are on cruise control a la low tech shrimp tank and betta tank Guess I have to have the best of both worlds

But for real though... clean out that substrate! 1.5 years of detritus is bad. I noticed my tanks when left that long reach a state of diminishing returns... once I gravel vac the gunk out it gets back into good health again. I use the smallest gravel vac / siphon for that as my larger siphon produces too much suction for the lightweight EC/Floramax gravel. Works like a charm, I recommend getting one if you don't have it.

 

[Old Scales]

That's interesting. All during my early years with aquariums when all we had was gravel, it was a rule that you needed to deep clean your gravel about every year. I forgot about that during this last two years of being back with aquariums, I guess it still applies even with better filtration. Thanks for the re-awareness. OS.

 

[Fresh2o]

Thanks for the tip on the gravel vac. Not wanting to damage the roots, I held off vacuuming. Most of the time 80-90% of the substrate was covered in plants, rocks, or DW.
It looks like my fish will be in a bucket for a few hours; I may hookup one of the filters and run it on low to keep the fish and media happy. That will give me an opportunity to remove ALL of the plants and give the EcoComplete a thorough vacuum. Or would it be better to remove it and rinse it outside in a bucket with a garden hose? Is this too much? How clean should I get it? At this point I may end up with a blank canvas...oh, the possibilities. This will allow me to add a piece of Malaysian DW that was in there initially but I removed it to make more room for the plants.
I also have some crypt wendtii growing in there. Several months ago I remove all of the C. wendtii but apparently some of the roots broke off and stayed in the substrate and sprouted.
Now I'm worried about my 1 year old shrimp tank. I tried to vac the gravel and did for a while, however, the plants really expanded their range and I did not want to suck up any shrimp.

 

[Old Scales]

If you are going to replant it back right away, I wouldn't totally remove and rinse the substrate. I'd vac it like half way down and leave some of the good stuff that's at the very bottom. Just my humble opinion. OS.

 

[Fresh2o]

If you are going to replant it back right away, I wouldn't totally remove and rinse the substrate. I'd vac it like half way down and leave some of the good stuff that's at the very bottom. Just my humble opinion. OS.

Makes sense. Thanks for the tip about the "shallow vac"; that will definitely save some time. Also, I just remembered that there are a lot of MTS in the tank. IMO the detritus is primarily snail poop from the looks of it. The vac might remove the smaller snails but I am thinking the larger specimens will stay put. Still, this is going to be quite a job but I am looking forward to it.

 

[Old Scales]

Hey Fresh!
How's the "20 long meister" coming along on the clean out? I saw your pic in the off topic post. After it settles down more you'll need to post pics here so more can see. How long did it take for the tank to get that clear? How many filter cleans did it take? I'm really close to gettiing a 20L thanks to your "infuence". There's an 80% chance I have a 30" BML fixtrure ordered soon. I'll move the T5HO fixture from the 29g to it and make a plant grow out tank. I'm throwing away too many hard to get, valuable plants.
OS.

 

[Fresh2o]

It's done.

Tank is still hazy. I replanted about 25-30% of the plants; some went into the holding tank and the rest outside in my small water feature (I refuse to call it a pond). No broadleaf chain swords. Flip flopped the star repens and AR mini. Reg AR stems behind the star repens. I could not believe the root structure of the star repens; rivals crypts in that aspect. Tried to minimize what went back into the tank.
I have not tested the nitrates yet. I did run the filters with polyfill for about an hour or so. I must have filled and emptied the tank about 3 times (I did go back and run the gravel vac primarily on the substrate surface to remove the silt, detritus, poop, etc). Gave the filters a good cleaning although one of them is "whining" a little. Changed the CO2 diffuser and had to adjust the bubble count. About a half hour after running the CO2 the solenoid would go in high gear for about 30 seconds. This repeated for about 3 times. I lowered the bps from 2 to 1. I figured since the plant biomass was significantly reduced, the need for CO2 would be less. I'm going to keep an eye on the bps. I also dosed the PPS-Pro back to the recommended levels.
About the haziness, it is probably because I added 2mL of API AccuClear earlier. It turned the chocolate milk into skim milk lol. I usually don't add clarifiers but this tank was filthy. I'll post a pic when things clear up.

 

[Old Scales]

The Accu Clear is a God send after stirring up microscopic sediment. We used flocculents like it so our industrial filters could catch more. It's great stuff. The whining filter is worrisome. Did you clean out the impellor chamber? I'm fixing to do the exact thing on my 16g. The Crypt wendi has been growing in place for 18 months now. I can imagine what their roots are going to be. As usual your scaping looks sweet. OS.

 

[Fresh2o]

The whining is not constant. It was when the tank water was all stirred up. Every now and then I hear a hiccup; it sounds like the cylindrical magnet is bumping up against the column wall. CO2 is reduced to 1 bubble per 4-5 seconds. It is producing a fine mist. I have no media in the second filter so it is just sucking up the mist and blowing it around the tank. I might put some poly fil in there although I am not sure if it will trap the haze.
I wanted to get this scape over with. It is a lot of work with the WCs, cleaning, pruning, trimming, planting. Yes it will be interesting what the nitrate levels will be now with less gunk in the substrate. I need to order more Aqua Fertz Total pellets; only have a few left.

 

[Fresh2o]

Update: Water has cleared up.

The tank has not been this clean since late 2012. Not used to seeing the back wall or substrate. So empty. Just like starting all over. The CO2 regulator appears to be behaving itself and the filters are much quieter now. Not silent but tolerable. One fish in a floating plastic breeder bc it was emaciated and had trouble finding food. Will keep it in there until it fattens up.
Still need to order more root pellets and do some baseline testing. DC is still showing blue; might be time to change out the indicator fluid.
Was too nice outside; so of course I spent it mowing, edging, and trimming the yard. My other scape.

 

[Sk3lly]

Tank is looking really nice Fresh!!

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Fresh indeed

 

[Old Scales]

Looks great Fresh! Man, it really cleared up well! You just keep me in 20 long lust! lol
OS.

 

[Fresh2o]

Looks great Fresh! Man, it really cleared up well! You just keep me in 20 long lust! lol
OS.

Thanks guys!
OS - 20g long paired with a BML with dimmer should be sweet. You should be able to grow anything (except the taller stuff); even the ones that have been giving you fits.
Most of the extra plants (AR, AR mini, star repens, broadleaf chain sword, dwarf sag) ended up in my small "pond" out back.

Some are planted in gravel/soil and others are floating around. I have some Bacopa caroliniana in there that survived a brutal VA winter. Going to see which plants thrive and possibly produce emersed growth. Right now there is ONE female mosquito fish in there. I think the rest plus the rosy reds did not make it through the extended and colder than usual winter.