Khuligirl's planted 20 long

[Caliban07]

It's looking lovely though high maintenance or not. Looks like it is progressing plant wise. I noticed especially when using liquid co2 the the H.Polysperma is a sponge. Very very easily outcompetes it's rivals.

Sorry about the shrimp deaths. Perhaps a pair of tights (pantyhose) instead of the sponge?

 

[Bert2oo1]

The ludwigi does have small crinkled leaves mine dropped all the round ones and all the new growth is the same as yours tank looks great!

 

[Fresh2o]

Same observation on the crinkled leaves. Only see them on the uppermost leaves, which also happen to be the reddest. The lower leaves tend to get paler and eventually fall off.
Nice CPDs! I once brought home sparkling gouramis unintentionally. They were housed with the CPDs in a tank with white substrate. All of the fish looked washed out (and similar in size and color). I ended up returning them the next day. Did not know they were SO colorful!
I don't blame you if you swapped out the plants for slower growing ones. But once you get past the algae issues, a variety of stem plants can be very pleasing to the eye. Their quick growth will allow them to endure aggressive trimming.
I found that I had better success with shrimp in a more established tank. Once I added calcium and got my shrimp from other shrimp owners, less deaths occurred. I think HANS sells stainless steel mesh screens designed to fit over the intakes of a popular HOB filter intakes. Won't prevent newborn and very small shrimp from getting sucked in though.

 

[Khuligirl93]

http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/5A4CA5DB-0E6A-4B22-B2AF-A73ED262404E_zpsjytd91gy.jpg

Ok, so lots has happened in the past couple weeks:

All shrimp are dead. I'm kind of glad though, because now I can dose more excel, and I have the option of getting a pea puffer

LOTS of staghorn algae is growing. At least the fuzzy brown stuff is slowing down though!
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/A94F3AE1-E3C5-487D-A5B5-D2D4650DCDCA_zpstrmhb2vc.jpg

I think this is due to the restricted flow I have been experiencing ever since my filter randomly started acting funny. I have to clean the netting over the intake at least once a day, or the water on the opposite end of the tank becomes almost stagnant.
http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/DD4D5A9A-B506-44C8-BD7C-02D14F0FBA82_zpsifkyksir.jpg

I removed all of the hygro, and moved the rotala and red ludwigia into its place, and moved the aponogeton to the back right corner so its more easily seen (i love that plant). The rotala and red ludwigia look thin and unhealthy and I am considering replacing them with a bunch of crypts. http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/AB44FAFC-83B0-45C9-A224-263C762BDCB1_zpswesgffqv.jpg

The ludwigia repens is doing great, but it is very high maintenance because it grows about 3 inches a week. Also considering removing it.
Downoi, AR mini and Staurogene all seem to be doing relatively well, as they have new (but slow) growth, but older leaves do have lots of staghorn on them.
I think I need to choose between keeping either the staurogene or the hydrocotle due to space limitations, and they are starting to grow over each other. http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/D247252C-7ED1-49AD-AD5C-8325F5219491_zpsaojxuxtg.jpg

The mermaid weed is an extremely slow grower for a stem plant, but also seems to be doing well despite algae on lower/older leaves. http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/4A119ECF-A090-4EB9-91AC-2A2E4BE5EAC8_zpst0s8s3le.jpg

Fish are all doing well (I did lose one CPD due to jumping, and one gourami that i never found a body). Kuhli loaches are becoming less shy every day and now eagerly come out to search for food in the daylight.

 

[Caliban07]

I think you definitely need more excel in this tank. Perhaps metricide 14 is the way forward?

Also I would say that (although I love it) tha that piece of wood is significantly disrupting your flow pattern and since I personally rate flow the second most important parameter after co2 I would look at removing the wood and buying a new filter when you can. What is the filter turnover?

Looks good on the whole.

 

[Khuligirl93]

I think you definitely need more excel in this tank. Perhaps metricide 14 is the way forward?

Also I would say that (although I love it) tha that piece of wood is significantly disrupting your flow pattern and since I personally rate flow the second most important parameter after co2 I would look at removing the wood and buying a new filter when you can. What is the filter turnover?

Looks good on the whole.

You're probably right about the driftwood, but honestly I would prefer for the tank to look natural and provide the most natural habitat for the fish than have it be perfectly aquascaped and manicured. A nice new canister filter (any recommendations?) and lily pipes are definitely on my wish list in addition to a 10lb CO2 canister and GLA regulator, but all of that is not the best financial decision for me at the moment.

The filter is an Aquaclear 70, so theoretically turnover should be 400 gph. But realistically, that only happens when the intake tube is completely naked. When I put that netting over it, it slowly diminishes as debris collects in it, and I would guess its at about 50-100 gph at the end of the day. Like I said, the water on the other end of the tank becomes stagnant. Very frustrating.

 

[jessipanda]

Caliban wasn't commenting on aesthetics. He recommends removing the wood because it is blocking the flow. Also, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on full blown co2 setups to add a bit of co2 to the tank. I add a half dose of Seachem Flourish Excel to my lightly planted 55g once or twice a week. Just gives them a bit of a boost and doesn't break the bank. As Caliban said, flow and co2 are important for planted tanks.

 

[Fresh2o]

I'm surprised about the low output of the AC70 in that size tank. I have an AC50 in my tank and, although there is not splashing, circulation throughout the surface is not bad. I added a plastic lip to the existing lip of the filter to give me some control of the output. I have a stainless steel screen in the intake because the MTS would get stuck on the stock intake.
Since there are no more shrimp, can you put the intake back on it? Is there a risk with the fish?
What media is in the filter? Just wondering if something else is affecting performance.
For added flow and not a lot of dough, you could put a small power head such as a koralia nano.

 

[Khuligirl93]

Caliban wasn't commenting on aesthetics. He recommends removing the wood because it is blocking the flow. Also, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on full blown co2 setups to add a bit of co2 to the tank. I add a half dose of Seachem Flourish Excel to my lightly planted 55g once or twice a week. Just gives them a bit of a boost and doesn't break the bank. As Caliban said, flow and co2 are important for planted tanks.

Oh, yes I understood that about his post. And I know how important flow is. I should have clarified I was implying increased flow/CO2= better environment for higher maintenance plants, but I would like to keep it lower maintenance and I really love the wood more than I love the high maintenance stem plants
And yes, if you read the rest of the thread, I dose excel *daily* (have increased to about 5ml lately).
I realize spending money on the highest quality equipment is not necessary, but I'd like to invest in some really good equipment that will both improve the appearance of the tank and last a long time.
Someday I will have my dream rimless tank just not in my current broke-recent-college-graduate state.

 

[Khuligirl93]

I'm surprised about the low output of the AC70 in that size tank. I have an AC50 in my tank and, although there is not splashing, circulation throughout the surface is not bad. I added a plastic lip to the existing lip of the filter to give me some control of the output. I have a stainless steel screen in the intake because the MTS would get stuck on the stock intake.
Since there are no more shrimp, can you put the intake back on it? Is there a risk with the fish?
What media is in the filter? Just wondering if something else is affecting performance.
For added flow and not a lot of dough, you could put a small power head such as a koralia nano.

I'm sure it has to do with the small sized mesh I have over the intake (I worry my CPDs or sparkling gouramis could still easily get sucked into it- thats what I suspect happened to the missing gourami that I never found its body). I may need to get one of those stainless steel screens.
The media is alternating layers of filter floss and carbon, with a bag of ceramic rings on the bottom. And I have been planning on getting either a small internal filter or powerhead to distribute CO2 better. Just haven't gotten around to ordering one!

So many of these little things I could do, in my mind seem like just "going half way'. I know eventually I will invest in a good canister filter etc, and so I'm questioning if its worth spending any money on it if I'm going to eliminate the issue by getting better equipment soon haha.

 

[shrimpandram]

Ok, so I've been dosing 1.5-2 ml of excel daily in addition to CO2. I've had a couple more shrimp deaths... I think there are maybe 7 or 8 left out of the original 12. One died tonight because it got sucked onto the filter intake. The black sponge I had over it started restricting the flow for some reason and multiple days in a row I came home from work to almost no water movement in the tank. So I cut the mesh off of an extra net I had, and rubber banded it around the intake. The problem with it though is 1) it still clogs after a few hours and the flow is diminished again, and 2) it sucks water in with extreme force and sucked a shrimp onto it. Anyone have any ideas to fix this? I took the impeller magnet out and cleaned it, thinking that it was possibly clogged, but it was fine.



Also- I picked up 8 of these guys! http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/8B8FBB4A-8E5D-4CCE-A57D-E89BC698BE92_zps60lig6jp.jpg



And 3 of these little shrimp harassers (I doubt I'll have any cherry shrimp breeding with them in the tank) http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/B0BBA32F-3752-4053-95E3-30558BFA3041_zpspzz3k7ty.jpg



Red ludwigia looking good, but is it normal for the leaves to look a little small and wrinkled? At least compared to the repens. Or is it just unhappy because its a more difficult plant?

http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/83856FFE-928E-4F4E-855D-810650DD8753_zpsy5osrzkc.jpg



Today I did a water change and trimmed/ moved some things around. I removed the water sprite, the bacopa, and heavily trimmed the hygro. Both the water sprite and hygro have been growing like weeds, shading the plants next to them, and the bacopa was growing staghorn algae on its leaves and I needed more space to spread out the ludwigias and rotala colorata.



Before trim:

http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/75553574-24D8-4393-8D96-7BEDFD801351_zpsio5blc7a.jpg

After trim:

http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q381/bnz0429/678CE094-5FDF-4D7A-9483-5EA95E2F912A_zpsugfq24ni.jpg



This tank is turning out to be much higher maintenance than I had hoped. Considering tearing most things out and just doing crypts and some dwarf vals.

Sorry if I missed anything but what's the name of the fish on both of the pictures?

 

[Khuligirl93]

Sorry if I missed anything but what's the name of the fish on both of the pictures?

Celestial Pearl Danios (CPDs) and Sparkling Gouramis.

 

[shrimpandram]

Celestial Pearl Danios (CPDs) and Sparkling Gouramis.

They look really nice I hope my lfs stores carry them and research about them

 

[Caliban07]

You're probably right about the driftwood, but honestly I would prefer for the tank to look natural and provide the most natural habitat for the fish than have it be perfectly aquascaped and manicured. A nice new canister filter (any recommendations?) and lily pipes are definitely on my wish list in addition to a 10lb CO2 canister and GLA regulator, but all of that is not the best financial decision for me at the moment.

The filter is an Aquaclear 70, so theoretically turnover should be 400 gph. But realistically, that only happens when the intake tube is completely naked. When I put that netting over it, it slowly diminishes as debris collects in it, and I would guess its at about 50-100 gph at the end of the day. Like I said, the water on the other end of the tank becomes stagnant. Very frustrating.

That's fine I was just pointing out about the flow. You can create a very natural habitat without such a large piece of driftwood though. Having said that I really do like the look and cover it provides. Problem is plants and low flow areas don't normally mix. I'm just attributing some of your queries regarding plants to flow. As mentioned a cheap power head on the stagnant side may help.

Canisters are pretty much the same. Some slightly more quieter/easier to prime but in terms of output they do similar models around the same kind of turnover but you'll want 5 times turnover plus more to compensate for media, spray bars etc.

I was looking at SunSun as I believe they are cheaper and got some glowing reviews from users on here. I've had eheims, fluval and now a JBL. All decent filters.

 

[jessipanda]

If cost is your concern, and you're a handy DIYer, you could check out some of the youtube videos on DIY canister filters. There's one made with a pump and 5g bucket that works really well. Made one for a friend of mine and she loves it so much that I'm thinking of making one for my next tank. Wish I could remember which channel the build was from...think it was DIY King though.

Just an idea. For the time being though, a steel screen may help with flow over the fine mesh one.

 

[Khuligirl93]

That's fine I was just pointing out about the flow. You can create a very natural habitat without such a large piece of driftwood though. Having said that I really do like the look and cover it provides. Problem is plants and low flow areas don't normally mix. I'm just attributing some of your queries regarding plants to flow. As mentioned a cheap power head on the stagnant side may help.

Canisters are pretty much the same. Some slightly more quieter/easier to prime but in terms of output they do similar models around the same kind of turnover but you'll want 5 times turnover plus more to compensate for media, spray bars etc.

I was looking at SunSun as I believe they are cheaper and got some glowing reviews from users on here. I've had eheims, fluval and now a JBL. All decent filters.

Just did a little searching and the Sunsun 302 seems like a good fit, is a great price, and does have good reviews. Apparently the instructions are hilarious, I'm kind of excited to read them haha. Now I'm looking at lily pipes.. didn't know there were so many options. Whats the difference between the jet, lily, and violet outflow pipes? If I want strong flow is a jet pipe the best option, or would it create too much surface agitation and dissipate CO2?

 

[Caliban07]

Just did a little searching and the Sunsun 302 seems like a good fit, is a great price, and does have good reviews. Apparently the instructions are hilarious, I'm kind of excited to read them haha. Now I'm looking at lily pipes.. didn't know there were so many options. Whats the difference between the jet, lily, and violet outflow pipes? If I want strong flow is a jet pipe the best option, or would it create too much surface agitation and dissipate CO2?

I almost bout the sunsun but I'm glad I didn't. Only because i just spent £160 on a new JBL canister. I was worried it would be too much for my new tank

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/cals-aquaopti-85l-352135.html

But turns out it was fine. Phew!

Jet pipes I think are just different plastic mouldings and shapes of outflow pipes. One of which is the spray bar (long one with the holes in) I use one of those mounted on the back aimed at the front glass to create a circular motion. I get fantastic flow and co2 spread this way. You can aim the bar down slightly to minimise surface agitation or you can aim it up for better o2 exchange and turn the co2 up to compensate. Many people do this. Problem with spraybars are that they can reduce the strength of the output. Although the pump output is the same, the longer the spray bar and the more holes in it the less the water will travel from each so you need a go bigger on the pump to compensate.

I think Lilly's and Violets are one and the same thing according to google. Perhaps the name Lilly has been patented and so a slightly different shape 'violet' pipe was spawned.

In a long tank like yours I'd go bigger on the filter and mount a spraybar along the back.

 

[Bert2oo1]

+1 on big canister and full length spray bar. I have 11x tank turn over on a full length bar on the back of the tank and u can see how good the co2 spread is. Highly recommend this setup.

 

[Khuligirl93]

I almost bout the sunsun but I'm glad I didn't. Only because i just spent £160 on a new JBL canister. I was worried it would be too much for my new tank

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/cals-aquaopti-85l-352135.html

But turns out it was fine. Phew!

Jet pipes I think are just different plastic mouldings and shapes of outflow pipes. One of which is the spray bar (long one with the holes in) I use one of those mounted on the back aimed at the front glass to create a circular motion. I get fantastic flow and co2 spread this way. You can aim the bar down slightly to minimise surface agitation or you can aim it up for better o2 exchange and turn the co2 up to compensate. Many people do this. Problem with spraybars are that they can reduce the strength of the output. Although the pump output is the same, the longer the spray bar and the more holes in it the less the water will travel from each so you need a go bigger on the pump to compensate.

I think Lilly's and Violets are one and the same thing according to google. Perhaps the name Lilly has been patented and so a slightly different shape 'violet' pipe was spawned.

In a long tank like yours I'd go bigger on the filter and mount a spraybar along the back.

Your tank is beautiful, Caliban! Glad it worked out well for you. I just ordered my sunsun302 and it should be here in a few days It outputs 264 gph, so thats just over 13x turnover for my tank, maybe more like 10x once media is in there.
I'm trying to find spray bars but having a bit of trouble figuring out what the hosing diameter of the sunsun is, so I can find one that fits.
Also, because the wood is up against the back of the tank, do you think it would still be beneficial if I put a spray bar on the left end on the tank, and the intake on the back right corner?

 

[Bert2oo1]

Your tank is beautiful, Caliban! Glad it worked out well for you. I just ordered my sunsun302 and it should be here in a few days It outputs 264 gph, so thats just over 13x turnover for my tank, maybe more like 10x once media is in there.
I'm trying to find spray bars but having a bit of trouble figuring out what the hosing diameter of the sunsun is, so I can find one that fits.
Also, because the wood is up against the back of the tank, do you think it would still be beneficial if I put a spray bar on the left end on the tank, and the intake on the back right corner?

Not a bad idea. That kind of power in a small spray bar will have some serious push. If u mount it fairly low on the side of the tank so the flow gets under the wood in the middle I would imagine u would get some decent flow. As for the spray bar I'm pretty sure the sunsun comes with an adjustable spray bar?

If u need to buy one I recon the hose size for the filter would be 16/22.