The GF's ADA 60-F - Shallow Rimless Build - Ohko Mountains

[MMantelli]

Man that's super cool! We've been too chicken to take the advanced course and dive beyond 40'. LOL

It's really not that much different. I would also reccomend the nitrox course breathing nitrox over air is sooo much nicer. You get more bottom time and you don't feel as worn out afterwards. Anyways I pm'd you so this thread don't get too far off topic. lol

 

[Autumnsky]

That is looking show worthy, GF, great job and great teacher! lol

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

WOWOWOW! That looks amazing! Sorry I've been offline forever. lol. Came back to see what the tanks were looking like! This tank looks truly amazing, great job guys

 

[Billbug68]

wowowow! That looks amazing! Sorry i've been offline forever. Lol. Came back to see what the tanks were looking like! This tank looks truly amazing, great job guys :d

he's allllivvvve!!!!

 

[Rivercats]

Tell her she did a beautiful job Brian!

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

WOWOWOW! That looks amazing! Sorry I've been offline forever. lol. Came back to see what the tanks were looking like! This tank looks truly amazing, great job guys

HolyMoly... Dan... buddy... where you been? We missed yah! Glad to see you're still alive! Haha.. Please do update us on your threads.

Anyways... thanks for the compliment on the tank.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

That is looking show worthy, GF, great job and great teacher! lol

Thanks Autumn.. I'll be sure to tell her. A lot of credit goes to her because she spent many days scouring the planted tank forums for inspiration. Her research paid off. I only setup the equipment and interjected my advice here and there to guide her.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Tell her she did a beautiful job Brian!

Thank you Janis, she'll appreciate your compliment. Still a work in progress. It's going to look much better filled in with growth and when she gets her shrimp colonies going.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

One more pic for fun!

I added one of those color changing RGB LEDs in the back. The etched glass film (aka: BBM) in the back diffuses the light to create an interesting effect. So at night we get a nice looking sunset beyond the Ohko Mountains! LOL

 

[Zimmanski]

So cool, that's perfect

 

[MMantelli]

Looks nice really diggin that little ADA sticker in the corner of the tank.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Thanks guys.. too bad that little sticker comes with a hefty markup, I'm sure. But it does carry a certain 'feel good' appeal from the reputation behind it...oh that Mr. Amano!

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

So after 'flooding' the tank from the DSM venture, a whole host of aquarium ailments are starting their onslaught...

First we have BGA (blue green algae)... So we started using Maracyn... here's a before and after shot... now we have major Diatoms! Wonderful We'll test the params and see if it's safe to add in some Otos to munch on the diatoms.

 

[Billbug68]

Dang dude, that was quite the break out there! Just makes me never want to try DSM, EVER!

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Yeah I think DSM has its perks, pros and cons... but in all honesty, if you have enough co2 injected in the water, I feel that the HC grew just as fast. I do like that the HC rooted in well though before flooding.. and the staurogyn repens did grow faster and bigger than when I grew it submersed. But IMO, due in partly by my impatience, I'd just start off flooded from the get go. However, it was a fun learning experience since we've never done DSM before.

 

[Billbug68]

Yeah, it just makes more sense to me to deal with any algae problems as things are growing in rather than growing everything then having algae and possibly losing plants you so patiently waited to grow... I dunno... Haha

 

[MMantelli]

Tank looks good that sucks about the algae what if you threw some nerites in there to keep the algae at a minimum while its cycling since otos can be pretty fragile from what I hear. So the bga is that blue green algae as in spirulina?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Not sure if the BGA is the same strain in spirulina... interesting though!

The tank is cycled now because I used my Fluval 106 from my other tank. Just tested the params and we have... 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 10 ppm of nitrates. So everything checks out. We just added two Otos for now. I thought about nerites but I'm worried that they might dislodge some HC when the slither over them...LOL Plus, I really hate their egg laying! I guess I'm OCD in that respect.

 

[MMantelli]

That would be something neat to find out if I where ever to get that specific spirulina holding outbreak I would fry it bake it a little powder it and add it to some diy food for my mbuna cichlids. Oh ok awesome man I must have missed that post. I'd like to put a pair of otos in my 20 but that may be pushing my stocking limits. I've noticed what you mean about the egg laying there EVERYWHERE! I knew about it before I put them in but man its like 4x worse than I expected. LoL

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Update Sunday!!!

Well.... we got most of the diatoms under control now. We used two Otos from my other tank to help with that. We also had our female betta (Red Sonia) in here for a bit to help keep the BB going in the filter. We decided to pay a little visit to our LFS and they had, to our surprise, Pumpkin Shrimp! I traded in some plants and came home with 2 females and 2 males -- one of which female is already berried!

In preparation to acclimate the shrimp, we removed the Otos and Betta and moved them to my other tanks. We replaced most of the tap water with re-mineralized RO to get a TDS at about 200 (+/-). I also had 1 tangerine tiger left from previous go at shrimp (long story).

Anyway... everything is looking splendid... now we're just keeping our fingers crossed for some Pumpkin babies! If all goes well, we'll buy some CRS/CBS when temps cool down here.

On another note... in terms of the plants.. everything is growing in nicely! The downoi we got from Petsmart has shed it's old tissue culture emersed self, and is starting to really develop more pronounced crowns! With the amount you get compared with what they used to sell for, oh man... it's a steal! We also moved the one blyxa I managed to grow back from the bring of oblivion. So we're hoping the move doesn't melt it...LOL

Here's some updated pics