Reply With QuoteNice scape! Noticed that you have the same tank size and using green element EVO too. Does your HC pearl?
How long ago did you setup your tank? Your HC looks lush.
Hi guys,
just wanted to share my current 2ft planted tank scape.
DSM was started in early Jan, tank was flooded on 08April14, livestock added 2 weeks ago.
So far the normal suspects algae have appeared and gone, but I am still trying to find the nutrient balance.
The photo was taken almost immediately after I trimmed the HM on the right hand background, so you won't be able to see it except from the reflection.
I did buy more Brevibora dorsiocellata initially, but 6 have gone to fish heaven by suicidal act of jumping.
I added floating plants to disperse the lights and so far none have jumped out...yet.
I couldn't think of a name for this scape, so I'm just gonna call it Bedrock since the tank is beside my bed.
Details.
Tank Size: 60cm x 30cm x 36cm Low iron tank
Lights: Green element (6 hours duration)
Filtration: Eheim 2215 + steel lily pipes + Gush inlet guard
CO2: 1bps (switched on an hour before lights are on, switched off an hour before lights are off).
Cooling: Dymax fan (27 - 29oC) x 2
Fertilisation Regime: Tropica specialised fertiliser + Tropica premium fertiliser
Soil: ADA Amazonia New (normal + powder)
Hardscape: Rocks
Plants: HC and HM
Livestock: Brevibora dorsiocellata x 2, Boraras naevus x 8, Otocinclus affinis x 4, Cherry shrimps
Front tank shot
Rasbora dorsiocellata
Boraras naevus
Otocinclus affinis
Neocaridina davidi
Please feel free to comment!
Nice scape! Noticed that you have the same tank size and using green element EVO too. Does your HC pearl?
How long ago did you setup your tank? Your HC looks lush.
Thanks! Yes, both HC and HM pearl, although I think its because I do pump quite a bit of CO2 before I added livestock. Now that it's 1bps, it does not pearl that often. Anyway, pearling is nice but it is not an indication of good growth.
The photos below were taken from the time of set-up, DSM, and flood.
Final rock placement. It was not fun bringing all these rocks home on a motorbike, and it was not easy placing the rocks in the tank. Took me about a week before I finally decided on this scape. On hindsight, I should have removed the front left rock, and maybe twist the right hand most rock to the right. I was expecting a resistance of flow due to rock placement so opted to put the lily pipe on the left. In the end, I moved it to the right and replaced the ugly skimmer with an inlet shrimp guard instead.
DSM comparison after 3 weeks. I failed miserably last time but this time it was much better. I followed what a friend's brother did for his DSM, which was to cover 2/3 of the tank with cling wrap and cover the rest with a towel. It seemed to work very well. Lights were on for 10hours, but only 4 LEDs were turned on as to not raise the temperature up too high.
Slowly flooding the tank with an air-tube. I stopped midway to plant 10 pots of HM, before continuing to flood.
Shot of tank immediately after flooding. This took around 2hours to fill up as I kinked the air-tube so I encountered minimal disturbance when flooding.
HM for background. Notice the corrugated board to hold up the soil.
HM pearling. Though it's not an indication of good growth, pearling does give a sense of serenity.
Added yamato after 2 weeks. The tank was cycled within a week as I used media from another tank.
This was taken a week after livestock was added, and before HM was trimmed.
Sorry for the many photos guys, just hope my experience will benefit others as I have benefitted from others here.
Feel free to ask me if you have any questions, and I will try my best to answer.
Wow bro... 2 months plus of DSM, I really admired your patience...
Btw I saw your SS jet style outflow is halfway submerge, are you doing it on purpose to get some aeration?
Haha, trust me, I almost flooded it within a week but told myself repeatedly to not do so. I will move the lily pipe slightly higher at night to increase surface agitation for aeration, & will move it back down in the morning just before my solenoid is switched on.
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One word, SWEE. (nice).
nice work. when the HM grows and starts to balloon over the rocks, will be nicer.
But do note that if HM don't get enough light at the lower tiers, the HM will brown out from the bottom.
I am balding but i am still young!
Thanks! I am planning to add another set of green element soon. It will probably be turned on half-strength, since I have minimal plant mass. I do notice that some of the HM have transparent new growth, and I've read that it could be a lack of micro. Anyone has experience with this?
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I noticed you have 3 powered outflows in total and each pointed at different levels of the tank to get a counter-clockwise flow pattern... very interesting circulation layout!
That said, adding another set of lights would be my last resort. The way I see it, I don't have that much plant mass to warrant another set of lights. I'm hoping I can eventually find the right balance of nutrients.
Right now I'm pumping 1 pump of Tropica Specialised Fertiliser and 2 pumps of Tropica Premium Fertiliser (as recommended by Green Machine) every 2 days. I do add 1ml of excel daily. I do a minimum of 25% water change every week.
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Haha, I am obsessed with circulation after my last failed scape. The powerhead is on the same timer as the solenoid, & the skimmer is only half-strength so that the HM behind the rocks get some circulation. There are still dead spots, but I guess it can't be helped.
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Sweet!
How do you capture those macro images?
I used a Sigma 70-300mm with macro capabilities between 200mm to 300mm. Although not truly a macro lens, the effective range is good for skittish aquarium inhabitants.
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Nice scape, i like it.
Thanks for the write up about rocks placement as well as the trials and tribulations of dsm. Looking forward to more updates to benefit my future scape.
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Thanks Nicholas. I will be making an update soon, although it won't be much of an update. But I do hope my experience will benefit you as others have benefitted me.
Certain parts of the HC lawn have been attacked by hair algae. With no test kits available on hand (buying the API Freshwater Master Test Kit soon) right now, I have resorted to a few things I have read online. I have done a 3-day blackout, decreased my lighting by an hour (switched on for a total of 5 hours now), upped my CO2 to around 1.5bps, performed daily 20-30% water change for a week now, and I have stopped dosing Seachem Iron.
I have read online that red nose shrimps will eat hair algae, but also read that they munch on the leaves once algae have been eradicated. My issue with adding red nose shrimp is that I will be away for more than 2 weeks, and thus I cannot observe their behaviour. There will be someone at home to continue helping me pump Tropica fertilisers though. Any of the AQ members here have any experience with this?
Also, if you have battled and successfully won over hair algae your suggestions will be greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance.
Those steps you took should help reduce the hair algae growth to more manageable levels.
To further reinforce the battle against hair algae, perhaps you can try dosing AlgeExit. Run it though the 4 week treatment course, just follow the recommended weekly dosages, it's effects will be very gradual (not immediate). I noticed the treatment slowly kills off almost all the green filamentous green algae (including hair algae) in the tanks that i use it in, and it carries on working even after i stop dosing it, and the hair algae never came back.
Next step.... put in 100pc of malayan or cherry shrimps (and do not feed them). Not kidding, the difference in algae levels will very noticeable, and the smaller the shrimps the better as they are the ones that can reach in between the tiny HC leaves/runners and pick out the algae too. Since your HC carpet is already well established, the small shrimps shouldn't be able to uproot the plants.
Alot of people find that their shrimps don't have any effect on algae, its because they simply have too few to have any noticeable effect, 10-20 well-fed shrimps in a 2ft tank are only good enough for decoration purposes. On the otherhand, it needs a small army of 100s of hungry shrimps to really pick though and consume the algae.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 28th May 2014 at 16:12.
Hi Urban Aquaria, thanks for your suggestions. I forgot to state that I am in the third week of using AlgeExit, & have yet to see any difference. It might be working in the sense that it's slowing down the rampant growth, but I don't actually notice any significant difference yet. I'm dosing about 6ml every week or the past 3 weeks. I read your post that it worked for you, but somehow it's not working for me. Do you overdose?
Haha i never thought about putting that much shrimps in my tank. I have around 30 plus cherries now, & they already cost me quite a bit. Malayan should be cheaper though, I think I might just get that.
It's just disheartening knowing that I did not experience any melting for my HC & HM in the initial stages, to come to this stage where I have to battle hair algae again. I'm not sure if it's my dosing or my lights are too strong, but I hope it won't go too haywire when I come back from my holiday.
On the other hand, I just bought 10 red nosed shrimps from C328 earlier, & drip acclimatising them now. Hopefully they will do the job. Will also keep in mind to not feed the shrimps to encourage them to feed on the algae.
Thanks Urban Aquaria!
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