dantra's ADA 60p

[dantra]

This is my first planted tank and its still evolving. It is two months old. I'm usually adding and rearranging plants but here is what it looks like now. I'm thinking about adding a splash of red to the right side of the tank. Although you can't really tell but the right side is pretty bare. I recently got some Rotala H'Ra and Singapore in so perhaps that will fill in nicely.




Dan

[naturalmystic]

Bro dantra,

Nice growth.
How often do you trim the plants?
Planning on any plants tied to the DW?

[Ben555]

Nice setup.

I see no life stock in your tank.

How do you manage the algae problem?

[alien54d]

hi, very nice

what livestock do you have in mind?

[dantra]

Bro dantra,

Nice growth.
How often do you trim the plants?
Planning on any plants tied to the DW?

I don't trim the plants very often because I don't have all of the lights on at one time. I use very little light. I have a T5HO Tek light Fixture with 4 lights 2 switches. Each switch controls 2 lights. The thought of tying plants to the driftwood never crossed my mind.

Nice setup.

I see no life stock in your tank.

How do you manage the algae problem?

I had very little algae problems because I manage to control the urge to give the scape a lot of light. The most important thing I think was giving the tank all the CO2 it can take without killing the fish. (I used Rasbora Espei at the time) I ignored the drop checker when it was yellow and kept looking at the fish I had in there to let me know when I had enough CO2.

When the fish would start gasping at the top of the tank for air I would back off just enough to stop them from gasping. I used Estimative Index dosing method. Once you get your CO2 just right, dose macro and mirco nutrients (non-limiting), the first and last thing you should be worrying is your light. Control light, get CO2 just right and dose enough macro/micro so the plants don't fall short of nutrients and you will for the most part be algae free.

I raise my light fixture to control the intensity of the lights going into the tank. I realized algae will explode in any tank with too much light and not enough CO2 (of course Macro/micro being non limiting). Here is the light hangers I built for my light fixture.

I'll begin with the pipe I used to hang the Tek lights from:


This little guy was great at getting the shavings nice and smooth:


When I was done with that I put the cable through the pipe after bending it of course Oh, I also used some old hole covers (spares that were laying around) for the end of the pipe from my leather office chair.


When both sides were done, I screwed the brackets on the back of the stand for the poles and this is the end result:


Here is a closer look at the leveler:


This is what it looks like from the side. I decided to go with the One Point Adjustable Cable Hanging Kit. The cable is so long that you can see the extra in the tank:


This is what the setup looks like:


Here's another shot:


Now you can see how I raised the lights and lowered them as I needed to. Hope this helps.

Dan

[dantra]

hi, very nice

what livestock do you have in mind?

I added German Blue Rams, Oto and amano shrimp. Here are the photos:

This was on Dec 31:


These was taken Jan 02, they seem a bit more comfortable:
















Here is the Amano shrimp:


Dan

[blue33]

Nice setup there. I like those Tek light, they are really nice, cant find it in singapore. You make those cabinet yourself?

[dantra]

Nice setup there. I like those Tek light, they are really nice, cant find it in singapore. You make those cabinet yourself?

Thank you. Yes I made the cabinet myself. It was very simple to make. Here are the photos:

This is when I just finished screwing the pieces together. (Rough Finish)


Primed


Finished Product



I will try my best to answer any question you may have. I always lurked in the background of this forum and like it a lot. The members here are very creative and excellent aquarist. In fact, my scape has been influenced by this forum very much.

Dan

[blue33]

I see that you have a very supportive wife, bought you lots of aquarium stuff. I wish my wife like yours, so supportive. Your previous rockscape just need some tweaks would look good, those rocks are nice, but KH tends to goes up, more suitable for HC.

[feide]

Hi Dan
your scape looks great!
Yup, the right side is a bit bare. But if you wish to try red plants, you might have to increase the lighting which you have been trying to avoid. I think green stems will look good too.
IMHO, the big leaf sword (off centre right of the wood) is a bit distracting. Smaller leaf stems might look better.
The foreground looks a bit bare, I am guessing you are waiting for the moss to grow in?
Lastly, great DIY cabinet!

[Morgan01]

I see that you have a very supportive wife, bought you lots of aquarium stuff. I wish my wife like yours, so supportive. Your previous rockscape just need some tweaks would look good, those rocks are nice, but KH tends to goes up, more suitable for HC.

haha! I hope your wife does not read this or you be in serious trouble! Actually not bad lah because you already have 3 tanks at home...how much more support you want? Ha Ha!

[blue33]

haha! I hope your wife does not read this or you be in serious trouble! Actually not bad lah because you already have 3 tanks at home...how much more support you want? Ha Ha!

LOL... she hoping all tear down instead.

[o2bubble]

bro blue, your tanks so nice, I don't think she will seriously want to tear down lah Thanks for the glosso btw!

[blue33]

Dont mention. Lucky my 2nd son love aquarium. He saves the tank from getting demolish by the finance minister. One of these day i will try to get a big tank to play around.

[dantra]

Well I renovated the condo for her and I got some equipment for the aquarium... who do you think got the better deal?

I changed the plants around a bit, added these:





As soon as they grow out a bit I will take some pictures.

Dan

[blue33]

Thats a very good deal.

Is there a Singapore rotala? I only know there are 3 type of RED rotala around, saw it in ADA Aqua journal, from very red to orange colour beside the green rotala. If i've time i will post the pic.

[foocp]

Nice diy skills.

By the way, are your light hangers standalone by itself or need to secure to the back of the cabinet with screws?

[dantra]

Nice diy skills.

By the way, are your light hangers standalone by itself or need to secure to the back of the cabinet with screws?

Sorry I don't have any pictures to show you but I used these, EMT Straps. That is what I used to mount the conduit pipe to the back of the stand. I also used a "L" bracket under the pipe sort of as a stopper for the conduit pipe then use the emt straps to mount the conduit pipe on the back of the stand. On the "L" bracket itself, I glued some neoprene to prevent any noise that can come from two pieces of metal touching each other, especially from vibrations.

The "L" bracket isn't necessary but I used it because it gave me a peace of mind.

Hope this helps
Dan

[dantra]

Thats a very good deal.

Is there a Singapore rotala? I only know there are 3 type of RED rotala around, saw it in ADA Aqua journal, from very red to orange colour beside the green rotala. If i've time i will post the pic.

Blue, please post your pics if you can. I was told when I got them that they are Rotala Singapore. I've seen them on several other forums as well.

Dan

[dantra]

I got some rotala macrandra in
Please excuse the reflection and glare but this photo was taken with daylight coming in and lighting up the room.

Rotala Macrandra:


I just put it in the tank last night but so far it has responded nicely. The leaves and stems are becoming redder by the hour. That's just using two bulbs on the Tek light.

Dan