"Passionately Curious"

[torque6]

Don't think it's insufficient light as your Rotala Macrandra are doing well and that rotala needs high light and is a very demanding plant. It should be much harder to keep than Ludwigia SP red. By the way, Tropica has Ludwigia SP red mislabeled as Ludwigia Palustris. I just started having both of these plants in my tank.

[jackychun]

Don't think it's insufficient light as your Rotala Macrandra are doing well and that rotala needs high light and is a very demanding plant. It should be much harder to keep than Ludwigia SP red. By the way, Tropica has Ludwigia SP red mislabeled as Ludwigia Palustris. I just started having both of these plants in my tank.

Oh. Very sharp eyes!

Ludwigia sp.red was planted at the right rear corner last time and that corner was not receiving well lighting and water current. So I guess that was the issue.

For now, due to high lighting requirement of Rotala Macrandra, it is located at the foreground where highest lighting can be received. However, I still cannot get its super red "true color" yet. Might need to increase the light intensity gradually to see if any improvements.


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[jackychun]

A year has gone since I have "Passionately Curious" tank. I have made a video to mark the event. This hobby is really great! It combines most of my favourite hobbies in one: gardening, fish keeping, aquadcaping, photography, videography and especially keep me closer to Mother Nature.

Thanks Aquatic Quotient fellows for all of the supports during my journey. Hope you enjoy the video. Cheers!

https://youtu.be/G07XRdfChRU


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[tarzanboy]

Nice video especially the relaxing guitar music it make my day

[earthworm]

Which co2 regulator and solenoid are u using?

[jackychun]

Nice video especially the relaxing guitar music it make my day

Thanks bro. Glad that you like it.


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[jackychun]

Which co2 regulator and solenoid are u using?

I used Ocean Free solenoids at the beginning. Once the first CO2 bottle empty, I changed the whole set with JBJ solenoid valve.


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[earthworm]

Thanks. What's with Oceanfree solenoid? Is it reliable? How does it compare against JBJ? I am looking for a regulator solenoid set.

[jackychun]

Thanks. What's with Oceanfree solenoid? Is it reliable? How does it compare against JBJ? I am looking for a regulator solenoid set.

My personal experience about Oceanfree Solenoid is not so good. My first one was OK. My 2nd and 3rd got some leakage at the pressure gauge and need to go Nature Aquarium to repair. After repair, it is good again.

JBJ seems like more reliable to me, although I only have one for now. It is sturdy and tough. Work perfectly in my view.

Of course, buying 2nd hand solenoid valve sometimes you need to inspect carefully before getting it or try to get personal warranty.


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[jackychun]

My "Passionately Curious" tank has been running for almost 1.5 years. Still evergreen and I have no reason to decom it. Love it! ✌️






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[TheAquarist]

Envious of your set up!! Hows the current stock count?


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[jackychun]

Envious of your set up!! Hows the current stock count?


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Thanks a lot for your compliment!

For now, I have about:
- 9 Rummynose tetras
- 7 Cardinal tetras
- 4 Otocinclus affinis
- 6 Amano shrimps
- 1 SAE
- 1 Black Lyretail Molly
- 4-5 Horned nerite snails
- 2 guppies

Quite many of them but the tank is at matured state and I can see them all happily moving around. So, should be alright.




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[torque6]

You've changed the light stand from metal back to acrylic? Is that better? I thought the metal stand can adjust height for better coverage.

I also see you have replenish your Otocinclus. They are quite hard to keep. The 3 Amano shrimps you had previously should be sufficient, you added 3 more... ?

You managed to transfer all your fire red shrimp to the 1FT, did it take long to catch all of them? You use trap is it?

[jackychun]

You've changed the light stand from metal back to acrylic? Is that better? I thought the metal stand can adjust height for better coverage.

I also see you have replenish your Otocinclus. They are quite hard to keep. The 3 Amano shrimps you had previously should be sufficient, you added 3 more... ?

You managed to transfer all your fire red shrimp to the 1FT, did it take long to catch all of them? You use trap is it?

Hi torque6,

Yes, I changed back to acrylic stands sometimes ago. The metal one was OK with better light coverage but it was quite flimsy. And somehow, I like the look of the tank with acrylic stand since it looks more chic and neat.

Otocinclus is quite difficult to keep, yes. I need to replenish them time to time in this tank. The longest one can stay in the tank was around 7-8 months ago till now. I have been trying to keep other Otocinclus in other tanks recently to see if any difference.

For Amano shrimps, they are quite hardworking on algae scraping and cleaning all other debris, so I just keep the good numbers of them there.

Fire red shrimps were all moved to my 1ft tank. Whenever I saw them pop out somewhere, I would use net to scoop them out. So gradually, all of them are moved to the new home. And they really happy there in the 1ft tank since there is no predators there. They breed like rabbits now.


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[Fujisasuke]

Hi Jackychun

Very nice thread, you have just got me passionately curious again. Think i will restart a 2 feet setup again soon after reading your posts. Thanks!

[jackychun]

Hi Jackychun

Very nice thread, you have just got me passionately curious again. Think i will restart a 2 feet setup again soon after reading your posts. Thanks!

Thanks a lot, Fukisasuke! I am glad that my posts inspired you to creat a new tank again!


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[jackychun]

I have recorded a time lapse video of a weekly maintenance for "Passionately Curious" tank.
You see, only less than a minute to clean and clear it, so need to ask wife for permission to do another tank!

https://youtu.be/oaJxdCBWPQA

Cheers and hope you guys enjoy it!

[fireblade]

nice video... time to upgrade to a bigger tank!

[jackychun]

nice video... time to upgrade to a bigger tank!

Thank you. Now still wait long long for the approval.

[torque6]

I have recorded a time lapse video of a weekly maintenance for "Passionately Curious" tank.
You see, only less than a minute to clean and clear it, so need to ask wife for permission to do another tank!

https://youtu.be/oaJxdCBWPQA

Cheers and hope you guys enjoy it!

Surely, it takes more than a minute to do maintenance . Filling up a 20 Litre bucket and adding dechlorinater already takes 4-5 mins. After maintenance, also need to do dry floor and clean/dry the pails, dry scissors, tubings, etc.

Realistically, it takes me 2 hours to maintain my 185L tank. That includes all the above and cleaning the canister filters, bi-weekly. If need to clean canister tubings, lily pipes and intake will take even longer....

Large tank has the advantage of not needing to do water change every week if no algae, low fish/shrimp stock.