Shots of my 1000L tanks (bandwidth warning)

[luncheonMeat]

Simply amazing! really learned alot reading the thread. Can i ask, how many tanks do you have altogether? Including the giantic one you have outdoor. i guess 5?

[medicineman]

Just some humble one month growth update since tearing down the tank

then:



now:



Not much of changes in terms of layout and plants.
The crinum grows mad, spots filling in densely (uh.. may have to heavy trim again next month :icon_roll ) and I have lots of new succulent replacement shoots on the uruguayensis, perfect reason to trim all the old, ugly and BBA infested leaves.

Note the whitish cotton-like stuff all over some spots, as I have nuked those persistent BBA that comes along since the old setup. I've had enough of them surviving though actions like more CO2 was taken.

[uklau]

The tall, curly plant on the left, behind the rock is growing significantly. Is that Crinum Calamistratum?

[medicineman]

Yah bro, you are right.

The same crinum calamistratum that I got off from your hands as plantlet earlier on

[uklau]

MH does wonder to the plant. Mine is sending out very little new leaves as it is planted right below the end of the lighting tubes. Initially, I didn't believe that lights emitted from the end of the tubes is so much different from the middle area .

[dominik]

Hi, can post picture of your sump setup? I am thinking of making a planted tank with sump. Need some inspiration. thanks.

[medicineman]

I happen to have the simple diagram. It is just a classic chambered wet sump. Water flows down from the main tank (overflow, I suggest to make durso sytem to eliminate noises) via the pipe from the right part. Then into chambers filled with filter elements, starting from the coarse to the finer ones. I use in sequence : coarse sponge, filter floss, sand. Finally there is a water only chamber where a pump is placed to return to main tank.

[medicineman]

Destroyed. Battered. Ruined.

Words to describe of what happened before as per my last post on this tank. With the lighting gone for too long (days/weeks in darkness and extra weeks in very low lighting) stuff gone from bad to worse.

Now I have been looking for good opportunity to do a complete overhaul on this tank. Last time I visit, the pumps already chugging slower than optimal, the sump filter starts to somewhat clog and I need to fix those fluorescent tubes so they no longer blink.

A news arrived on time at last, the slow supplying, 1bps (yes, it will turn back to 1bps in a day or two thanks to faulty cheapskate regulator) CO2 cylinder is up and I'm to stop over for a swap. I did not paid a visit ever since late august because the house was under renovation and there seems nothing I can do to the tank, except to wait for a good time to tear it down.

What I found to my surprise is a comeback from the grave. A resurrection.





Plants made a comeback from the brink of death (extinction for the moss). From the rubble of mess and mush of dead matter, sprouts back life some sort of aquatic plants. Moss has taken over most of the tank, and there is pleasantly very little algae too that no cleaning required when I take this photograph (keep in mind those used are the same halides... well, burning slightly less now due to age). The thing is just that what grows in the tank does so naturally. Certainly could be better with more planning and care.

Nature has its own way, true as said.
The tank received just once a month 20% WC, very sparse dosing of ferts (something like only once a week or even every 2 weeks )and no trimming/planting at all.

[medicineman]

So far I have lost something like half of the bioload over 1+ year of setup and most of the echinodorus ever existed in the tank (including giant uruguayensis).

The shape might not be of the most desirable, however I do love the moss forms a neat carpet and complimented by contrasting hills, all sculpted naturally and no hair or string algae to bother too.

[Verminator]

What moss is that btw? Correct me if i'm mistaken but your tank went through a period of neglect and this is the left over result? It look simply stunning. So simple, yet creating a very powerful visual. I think you've stumbled across great fortune with how your tank has gone. BEAUTIFULL i must say

[blue33]

Just curious, what will happen if you just use T5 lighting without the use of Metal Halide in your setup before it got ruined?

[medicineman]

@Verminator,
Those are taiwan moss. Apparently they survived and stayed within crooks and nooks of the hardscape or even substrate. They just pop out of nowhere (I used none in the first place) and now taking over the tank.

So if you put it as great fortune, it really is.
Somewhat neglected, fatal equipment failure, left grown as much as possible and that is the outcome!

@blue33,
Well, I suppose things would grow normally and I would have much more array of plants while trimmings could be done whenever I have the opportunity even though it is late (to keep those moss in check, they do already grow lush even before the accident).
Much of the demanding plants can survive from substrate nutrition alone for a very long time after all (I use Wonder-Gro Root+ tablets), so a slight neglect would be OK.

[medicineman]

As promised, this setup is going down.

So it did in late November 2008. Long haul of job it was. Me and my assistants over 3 days. Total teardown from substrate to sump filter. The plants, like usually, were tossed out into huge bucket and live under shaded sun.

I used back most of the old plants and added in a few hardscapes.

2 months later, here it is (sorry for the blurry mobile phone shot) :



Capet has formed back and the plants have taken over the tank again. It is amusing on how correct combination and right treatment could bring to a setup within a short period of time.

List of flora :
Hygrophila corymbosa siamensis
Hygrophila poliserma
Ceratopteris thalictroides
Echinodorus "amazon"
Echinodorus rubin
Cryptocoryne wendtii (assorted)
Vesicularia dubyana
Microsorum pteropus mini
Tiger lotus

Lighting : 3 x 150W metal halide, venture bulb 6000K
CO2 : injected 3bps via internal reactor
Ferts : Wonder-gro macro+, micro+, root+

[Verminator]

WOW - stunning. You never fail to impress with remarkable tanks. Congratulations.

[medicineman]

Thanks, I kind of get addicted with moss carpet.
I used plenty of narrow shale stones and painstakingly tied up scraps of moss and place them in the foreground. Initially it doesn't looked pretty, but later on it pays up handsomely. As shown above the result after 2 months or so, they all spread nicely, covering all the shales and the distance in between forming moss carpet.

Wait for another 1-2 months I think the moss might take over most of the lower space. It is getting too thick, and I need good thinning session soon.

This round it has been quite perfect. Very little algae, trace of weak GSA and very little brown algae even though the only algae squad are just 2 CAE. It seems the addition of strong growing stem plants (ceratopteris, hygro poliserma) helped alot, other than the small quantity of fauna I'm using now.

A simple tips for folks : use black cotton thread and power glue for you moss and small ferns.

[medicineman]

Tried more proper pocket camera, but doesnt work that well.
Just not sharp enough and too much grains. Pockets are not built for this I suppose.



The blurry side glass makes it even worse. I'll never be able to shot this tank like before again, thanks to a mishaps before this setup is done.





I guess the next round I need to take out the "big guns" SLR!

[medicineman]

Latest update feb 2009,

The tank is left to grow as in original plants and layout. They just fill out and gets pruned to keep things in place.


So far I'm facing BBA problem which does not cease so easily. Making sure CO2 spreads well, I revert back to fine CO2 mist method utilizing ceramic diffuser in line with powerhead. Now the tank is looking like some carbonated drink whenever CO2 is on.
Other than blaming the lack of CO2 distribution or concentration (the tank use CO2-robbing overflow filter), I suspect another thing, and will share it if my suspicion proves true.

[medicineman]

And so... the tank is overgrown again.
Making good use of long weekend, I did a bit of unrooting job of most plants in the tank. Since most of the part is now ruled by crypts, the job is quite easy.
I decided to swap the massive rock on the left with a wood stump.
Good deep vacuuming, plant trimming and algae disinfection (on anubias and hardy plants) later, and the tank is set.



Most of the original plants are re-used while some others are actually evicted.
Notably is echinodorus uruguayensis by the right side, which is now moved to more spacious pond setup.


The plant is this tank sure take up space and overshade many other shorter plants.

While in exchange a plant from the pond is introduced. Here is a plantlet of red special/indian/whatever (which I happen to lost track name of). As this one grows up, it should be easier to ID later on.

[Verminator]

Stunning. After seeing the Echinodorus Uruguayensis you removed i'm having second thoughts adding one to my 3ft Jack Dempsey set-up. Especially if they grow to THAT size. Yikes.

After seeing this i'm going to go roll up my sleeves and enter my underwater world and do some small rescaping.

[JadeIceGreen]

That is one BIG plant.