FresH2O's 20g planted rescape

[Fresh2o]

Sunday Night Update:
Took a few pics just before lights out.
Left:

Left Center:

Right Center:

Right:

FTS:

I might pickup 6-8 kuhlies this week. My plant holding tank (actually where I dump trimmings and extras) will serve as a QT for all new stock. LFS has common filtration
Ember tetras and/or porkchop rasboras should make an interesting group. Need to see if the LFS will take the blue danios in.


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[Brookster123]

I like it fresh! Embers are awesome, don't pass of cpds if they have them though.. would it.be impolite to not compliment the tank anymore? Maybe ill.just point out negatives from now on because it always looks awesome.. hmmm if you zoom way in on the 3rd pic there is micromule of algae on the substrate.. get on that david...

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[pittbully13]

Digging the plant placement. They're filling in nicely with great contrast and that pogo....wowzers

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[Fresh2o]

Alright, you eagle eyed algae hunter. Enough of that!
I'm going to copy the Ammania crop you have and do the same. Currently it is behind the Blyxa and it will be tall and gangly before it is seen. I have a spot between the Downoi, Bacopa, and Ludwigia red. Right now there is some moss there from Dr. Nano but I can find another spot for that. Waiting for the weather to become less arctic so that I can send out some pogo.
Depending on how the Limnophilia does, it might give me enough red to give a good color balance in this tank.
I think a nice school of ember tetras will give a nice shot of moving red. The CPDs were a little costly (~$7 a piece). Embers were under $3.


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[TheresaM]

Kuhlis are great, one of my favorite fish! Unfortunately I don't have tank space for them.

 

[Fresh2o]

Harvested some plants last night:

Star repens patch has been thinned out. They have been meh lately but needed a good trimming. Last April I pulled out the entire patch and only planted about a dozen trimmings:

The limnophila aromatica from Thumper828 are starting to color up:

Cleaned the drop checkers; plants in the back growing well:

FTS:

The good thing is that the holding tank / QT is ready for the first occupants (kuhlis).


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[pittbully13]

Looking good as always; doesn't even look like you trim the s.repens.

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[Fresh2o]

Looking good as always; doesn't even look like you trim the s.repens.

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This is what it should look like (April 2014):

That was growing under a Finnex Fugeray and DIY CO2. By the first or second week of February it should be filled in with no evidence of being trimmed (I hope).
The pogo will need another trim soon. By the end of next week there should be several stems breaking the surface. The stalks are so rigid that they don't bow over; they continue to grow straight up.


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[Brian_Nano12g]

Looks nice.. green plants love the bluish spectrum of the FugeRay I bet. My greens grew and looked great under a Ray 2.

 

[fish wrangler]

How much of an area do your star repens take up and how many stems did you start with?

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[Fresh2o]

How much of an area do your star repens take up and how many stems did you start with?
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I started with a single TopFin gelpack. Maybe 25-30 plants from it. Probably more. I divided it into about a dozen small clumps. Frustratingly small plants that required replanting because they would get uprooted. Lots of toothpicks used. But after they got established they've been pretty steady. Here are some pics from OCT 2013 when I first planted it:

Here is the staurogynes repens about 8 weeks after planting. Growth is slow and steady (I like low maintenance):

Looks nice.. green plants love the bluish spectrum of the FugeRay I bet. My greens grew and looked great under a Ray 2.

I do leave the blues on if I want a cooler (rather, less yellow) look. Double bonus if the plants benefit from it.
With this current setup I'm not sure that I can get the deep reds with AR mini you get with the E series or OS got with the T5HOs. Not going to fall into the BML temptation. Trying to max out the potential of these.


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[fish wrangler]

I started with a single TopFin gelpack. Maybe 25-30 plants from it. Probably more. I divided it into about a dozen small clumps. Frustratingly small plants that required replanting because they would get uprooted. Lots of toothpicks used. But after they got established they've been pretty steady. Here are some pics from OCT 2013 when I first planted it:

Here is the staurogynes repens about 8 weeks after planting. Growth is slow and steady (I like low maintenance):

I do leave the blues on if I want a cooler (rather, less yellow) look. Double bonus if the plants benefit from it.
With this current setup I'm not sure that I can get the deep reds with AR mini you get with the E series or OS got with the T5HOs. Not going to fall into the BML temptation. Trying to max out the potential of these.


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Ok thanks fresh. I cleared a spot in my tank for something like star repens. Its probably a 10×4 inch area that I have opened.

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[Brian_Nano12g]

I do leave the blues on if I want a cooler (rather, less yellow) look. Double bonus if the plants benefit from it.
With this current setup I'm not sure that I can get the deep reds with AR mini you get with the E series or OS got with the T5HOs. Not going to fall into the BML temptation. Trying to max out the potential of these.

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Chasing reds is tough. After a while, even with the e-Series, I started to reach a point of diminishing returns. Only after I reset the tank by pulling all the old stems and replanting the new growth tips, is when they started to get real red again. But I also believe they look more red because I'm able to control the output of the colors and intensity in the LEDs. At full blast, the reds don't look as deep, maybe a tad washed-out.. when I dim and bump up the reds, it really reflects on the red plants.. Maybe it's just an illusion, or partly so.

BML is tempting. Maybe you can score a used one on the cheap. Or treat yourself to a new light with a refund from uncle Sam? You can recoup some of the cash by selling your current equipment as I know they have a pretty good resell value. Sorry to be bad influence!

 

[pittbully13]

Tax season, time for a new light!

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[Fresh2o]

Tax season...that's a crapshoot because my state refund usually pays what I owe in federal
Yes, a new fixture sounds tempting. You guys are the little advice demons sitting on my shoulder. As for chasing the reds, maybe I should pick another red. The AR mini has always been a challenge. The Ludwigia red is displaying a deep crimson with less effort. There are several other red plants I have not tried yet.
I am determined to make these fixtures work though I may need to redefine my goals. Two years ago I just wanted to grow some plants.


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[Fresh2o]

I know it's been less than a week since my last update, however, the tank was overdue for yet another trimming. I had a little room for it so I separated the Downoi stems because of crowding. The lone dying erio stem got suck up during a WC. The Ludwigia red, Pogostemon erectus, and limnophila were trimmed back to get a more balanced look.
*** Warning: pics are a bit larger than what I normally post ***
Left:

Middle:

Right:

FTS:

Still amazed at how the pogo erectus went from an almost 100% melt to a patch that allowed me to trim about 30 stems just this week alone.
The limno is bouncing back after a slow start. Even some of the leaves they had shed are forming roots and stems...crazy.
Now I'm just waiting on the star repens patch to grow back.


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[fish wrangler]

Why the two different DC's?

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[Brookster123]

Why the two different DC's?

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I sent him the glass drop type and he doesn't want to hurt my feelings, the white one is far easier to read and service

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[fish wrangler]

here i thought it was to have better readings

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[Fresh2o]

here i thought it was to have better readings

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Think of it as a "second opinion". They do agree with each other but the response times might be a little different. Also, I did not want to hurt his feelings (that Pantera loving exterior is not fooling anyone ).
I do like the look of the all glass model. Anyhow, they look nicer when kept clean and shiny.


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