"Passionately Curious"

[mdm]

Just capture some photos of the “Passionately Curious” tank tonight. My peaceful inspiration everyday is here.



Oh. Next to the main tank is my low-tech nano for betta: “The Betta Realm”. One day I might write up a small journal about this nano tank?


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nice!

can imagine it as a nice relax corner after a hectic day of work

certainly very stress relieving just by looking at it

[jackychun]

Hi guys,

Time has passed by so fast. My “Passionately Curious” tank has been there for 2 years plus. I am still trying to maintain the scape to see if it can last long.

Generally, the tank is still look good with weekly maintenance regime. The aquasoil is somehow less nutrients hence foreground plants do not develop as good as before. I have removed the foreground patch of plants recently, put it some root tabs and tried to plant in glosso. Hopefully it can make the foreground look better.

On the other side, background plants like Rotala Macrandra ‘green’ is very well growing together with Cryptocoryne wendtii ‘green’. The Cryptocoryne sends runner small baby plants everywhere!

Some photos update of the tanks as below. I am thinking of setting up a new layout for this tank in the coming time.











Hope you enjoy the update and keep on scaping!





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[torque6]

Thank you for the update. Tank is still going strong, though I don't see as much Cardinal Tetra/ Rummynose /shrimps compared to half a year ago.


Foreground plants are usually easy to grow but hard to maintain long term once the substrate loses it's nutrients. Root tabs do work in some instance, but not all the time. The acicularis mini started well in your tank, but subsequently, they will brown and thin out after a year into the setup. Quite sad to see the entire foreground die back slowly, and left 1 corner. But so far, the observation is the same for similar setup. Tanks I have seen with good foreground growth for > 1 year are all using chillers. Even my Eleocharis Parvula, marketed as easy by Tropica is slowly dying off after 1 year 4 months; even with root tabs + EI dosing. But there will be some exceptions.


Dennis in his recent 2hr Aquarist planted guide penned this comment "Deceptively simple, it takes skill to achieve the subtle balance.." for Iwagumi scapes, already showed how much respect he has for the scape's difficulty levels with regards to a scape with mainly foreground plants. Unfortunately, the rest of the users on Facebook disagree, recommending this type of scapes to numerous newbies ever so often.

Foreground plants are tough in my opinion. Unless you don't mind hitting the reset button every 1.5 years.

[jackychun]

Thank you for the update. Tank is still going strong, though I don't see as much Cardinal Tetra/ Rummynose /shrimps compared to half a year ago.


Foreground plants are usually easy to grow but hard to maintain long term once the substrate loses it's nutrients. Root tabs do work in some instance, but not all the time. The acicularis mini started well in your tank, but subsequently, they will brown and thin out after a year into the setup. Quite sad to see the entire foreground die back slowly, and left 1 corner. But so far, the observation is the same for similar setup. Tanks I have seen with good foreground growth for > 1 year are all using chillers. Even my Eleocharis Parvula, marketed as easy by Tropica is slowly dying off after 1 year 4 months; even with root tabs + EI dosing. But there will be some exceptions.


Dennis in his recent 2hr Aquarist planted guide penned this comment "Deceptively simple, it takes skill to achieve the subtle balance.." for Iwagumi scapes, already showed how much respect he has for the scape's difficulty levels with regards to a scape with mainly foreground plants. Unfortunately, the rest of the users on Facebook disagree, recommending this type of scapes to numerous newbies ever so often.

Foreground plants are tough in my opinion. Unless you don't mind hitting the reset button every 1.5 years.

Thank you, torque6!

Yes, I totally with you. I would like to try different method to keep the foreground plants but not really successfully done with deterioration of substrate. And root tabs seems not to be working well on foreground plants as you mentioned. I am trying to have Cryptocoryne parva for a small portion at foreground to see if it works. Hopefully with the strong roots and easy going behavior, it would thrive.

My next option is to siphon out the old substrate and put in new one partially. See if it could work.

And yes, the tetras also getting old and gone one by one. The survivors are a few of them. Since I am planning on the new scape, I just keep a low population of fish there and might got a new batch for the new tank.

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[torque6]

KopiC has updated his DHG tank last week, so at least his tank has finally taken off. Am waiting for sanjaypills55 now after he tore down his tank due to his "mini pelia" invasion. If he's is as good as KopiC, then I have a feeling it may be an issue with Tropica's Eleocharis species. My Tropica DHG don't look anything like those in KopiC or Sanjay previous tank, they grow low like your acicularis 'mini'.

[globali]

Very very nice.

[jackychun]

Hi All,

Thanks for your following on this long thread. The tank has some positive changes recently that I would like to share with you.

As per my updates previously, I had added some root tabs to replenish the substrate nutrients. And it somehow works after few weeks! Foreground plants like Glosso, Echinodorus tenellus green and Staurogyne repens start spreading around nicely. And other plants also benefited from that, too.

I also feel like the Chihiros A series might not be strong enough and change to Chihiros RGB. And I love this light! That really bring the colours of plants and fishes up vividly! Plants also grow better under this light as I can see less algae and more on plants flourishing.

I shall make a video update on this soon. For now, some of photos taken by my phone on the new lighting.







Stay tuned for the coming video!




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[torque6]

Chihiros RGB should have improved it's diffuser after getting feedback that they had warped due to overheat some years back. But do take note. The PAR value is also lower but provides much better spread and coloration than a single A series.

[diazman]

yo, mind if i ask how many liters of soil was used in this glorious project?

[jackychun]

yo, mind if i ask how many liters of soil was used in this glorious project?

Thanks diazman! I used one bag of 9L ADA Aquasoil Powder for this project. :-)

[rogerlim]

Thanks diazman! I used one bag of 9L ADA Aquasoil Powder for this project. :-)

Any plans to reuse the Ada powder soil for your next project? I see the pellets still holding up really well even though it has been 2 years old?

[jackychun]

Any plans to reuse the Ada powder soil for your next project? I see the pellets still holding up really well even though it has been 2 years old?

Hi rogerlim,

Yes, I am happy to see that the pellets of ADA Aquasoils is still in good shapes over 2.5 years. It’s definitely can be reuse for the next project, if any. For now I am still happy with it and won’t decommission it anytime soon. It can be seen substrate can still be used over years with regular replenishment of fertilizer (root tabs).

I am currently using this JBL roottabs time to time and found it is great!



I would take this chance to update the “Passionately Curious” scape as of now, it is still running at its prime, again.



I recently added in a pair of Apistogramma Cacatouides. They are so interesting to watch!









I hope you enjoy the updates and have a pleasant day ahead!


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[toolkit]

Hi,

Just to confirm, you are not running chillers, right?

[jackychun]

Hi,

Just to confirm, you are not running chillers, right?

Hi toolkit,

There is no chiller. I am only using a cooling fan for the setup.


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[toolkit]

Hi jackychun,

It is amazing that you can maintained your beautiful tank with a cooling fan!

After reading torque6 and your comments, it clarified some mysteries
on growing plants without chiller and about aging soil.

I used to run a 2 feet tank without chiller or fan and face strange
issues of not getting the foreground plants (mc) to root after
initial success. Another time, my alternanthera reineckii I remembered
was growing quite strongly, was quite proud of it, when it suddenly
start shedding its leaves.

Faced leaking issues, and decided to start over
again with a new tank, this time with a chiller.
If I have the time, will post a thread on it.

Thanks for all your posts!

[jackychun]

Thanks for your compliment, toolkit!

IMO, tank temperature is only partially affect the plants grown. In Singapore, the tank temperature is quite stable and most of tropical plants and fish are OK with that.
With cooling fan, the water is cooler about 2-3 deg, so the average temperature in tank with fan is varied from 27-29 degC. So far, with that temperature range, my tanks are totally fine.

The other factors like lighting, CO2 and fertilizers regime are more important for plants to reach the best condition.

Waiting to see your update on your new tank soon! Cheers!

[ccw.first]

Well done jackychun!

I was inspired by all the aquascaping’s gurus here and started my project 5 days ago.

I have bought an used 2” tank, hang-on filter and invested in new CO2 system and lights. Bought a few plants including Lobelia Cardinalis, Staurogyne Repens, HM, Pogostemon Erectus etc.

Since yesterday, day 4, I observed some of these plants’ leaves had been turning into brown.



What’s the root cause and what should I do next?

Thanks in advance for the advices.


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[Fujisasuke]

" Brown or Black Leaves: If the leaves of your liveplants start to turn brown or black and die it might be an indication of excess phosphate levels in the tank – an excess of nitrates may also cause this problem. "

Since your tank is newly cycled, im guessing there is excess nitrates now in your tank. Just need more regular daily 20% water changes, should help improve the situation.

[ccw.first]

" Brown or Black Leaves: If the leaves of your liveplants start to turn brown or black and die it might be an indication of excess phosphate levels in the tank – an excess of nitrates may also cause this problem. "

Since your tank is newly cycled, im guessing there is excess nitrates now in your tank. Just need more regular daily 20% water changes, should help improve the situation.

Appreciate so much for your advice, @Fujisasuke. I’ll increase my frequency of water change to daily.

What’s the likely cause of high phosphate level in a tank?

I have replaced 90% of brown Lobelia C. with the new Lobelia last evening. I am still monitoring Pogostemon E. and HM which half of them are not looking good (brown). Shall I keep them for a while or time to replace?

Thanks.


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[jackychun]

Appreciate so much for your advice, @Fujisasuke. I’ll increase my frequency of water change to daily.

What’s the likely cause of high phosphate level in a tank?

I have replaced 90% of brown Lobelia C. with the new Lobelia last evening. I am still monitoring Pogostemon E. and HM which half of them are not looking good (brown). Shall I keep them for a while or time to replace?

Thanks.


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Hi bro,

Some plants will need to adapt to the new environment from emersed to submersed under water. During that period, the leaves might be melted. And as per bro Fujisasuke mentioned, the excessive of nutrients might affect the plants as well. Give them sufficient CO2 and lighting (about 6hrs per day for the initial stage to prevent algae), plants will thrive and develop better. Once the plants roots developed, I think your plants would be fine.

For those with leaves damaged, if it is too bad, just remove the leave or plants out. It might affect the water quality.

Cheers!


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