I purchased the second place tank at the AGA convention, see the old journal here, but I was unable to maintain the scape. Lost the stems and the cyperus helferi very quickly, despite TPN+ and CO2 injection, so I gave up on that and the tank had been ignored since the beginning of December (crazy concert schedule and final exam week 
). Crypts were coming back and there was no algae, despite the low plant mass and higher light. But the big thing is that I have to downscale the hobby a bit, and Endor, being the largest tank, was the one to be dismantled. Sad to see Endor go, but literally, I don't know where I'm going to be in a year. It's easier to move empty tanks than full ones, and If I have to move a full one, it better be a small one! 
I didn't want to lose a lot of my submerged crypts, and since there would be some room in the ADA tank if I changed things around, I opted for a rescape of the ADA. For reference, the original scape so you can see what I ended up doing...
Wazeter's scape
Tank specs...
Tank ADA ~63l tank 60cm x 30cm x 35cm, tank volume ~15-17g depending on the substrate.
Lighting - 2x 24W T5 HO, I know seems like a lot, but I'm not inclined to think it is. Quality of the fixture doesn't seem as good to me. Growth has not been rampant, and for a time, I'll be treating this tank a bit how I treated my Dutch scape back in 2008. If it proves too much, I can easily downgrade the lighting. For now, we're starting with a 5 hour photoperiod. Should be able to up it to 7 or 8 once the tank ages. Tall spriralis & floaters will also shut out some light.
CO2 none for now. I can easily hook some up if I need it, but I've got a gut feeling I won't need it, especially if I know my crypts and know my water.
ferts TPN+
filtration Two Aquaclear 50s, you know me, I like big flow.
Flora Submerged crypts from Endor, anubias, bolbitis (was hiding in Endor), weeping moss, c. parva, dwarf sag (first time with dwarf sag). Planted densly, and will be adding more plants as things clear and a moss wall covering the entire back of the tank. So a very heavy plant mass.
Substrate ADA Amazonia aqua soil, I think, mixed with inert gravel. As soon as the the tank settles, I'll be treating this tank more like a Walstad type tank, less waterchanges.
livestock The inhabitants of the 36g, mostly just rasboras. Tank won't be densly stocked this time. Prefer smaller fish for this tank, and will offer these in classifieds then get a species I like better if I decide to keep this scape longterm.
This, of course, could all change. Right now, I have two Bolbitis, and I was getting tired, and put the short one where the taller one should be. Need to fix that. Also, need to go through the rest of my crypts and place them. Anubias too and some pelia. Then, there is also the wall. Have a huge pile of weeping moss for the job. Should be enough for a decent wall, but I have to buy two dividers to cover the whole back.
Some pictures for you...
I removed most of the rocks and a piece of wood to make room for more plants. There was very little plant mass before, again, lost anything that was a stem and lost quite a bit to bad root damage from fast planting too. TBH, a lot of the plants were not even planted, but just stuck there. Not good for development and growth. But with the former 4 hour photoperiod, I wasn't getting any algae except for some diatoms on the glass, which I attribute to the ammonia from the Amazonia leeching. I figure a higher plant mass will be ok.
Guys, don't follow my lead. Keep doing what you're doing. With my water quality and my particular circustances, often what will work for me will not work for anyone else. I have done higher light systems in the past with no CO2 and have had success. It makes my setups kind of quirky. Crypts also really don't like CO2 injection where I live and like more waterchanges, so this is going to be a strange system.
Here is a YouTube video. I'm loving my iPhone 4, I can take video now with phone...
Regardless, it's nice to finally get this scape going. I think it looks good. A definite sister scape to Endor. I think it helped to remove the third piece of wood as there's a lot more room for plants and it's easier to move around in there. Needed a few rocks to weigh down one of the pieces of wood that I kept, but they are hidden and not part of the scape.
Thanks for looking. What I don't end up using, I'll be getting rid of over at classifieds. Actually, have a lot of stuff to get rid of.
llj
). Crypts were coming back and there was no algae, despite the low plant mass and higher light. But the big thing is that I have to downscale the hobby a bit, and Endor, being the largest tank, was the one to be dismantled. Sad to see Endor go, but literally, I don't know where I'm going to be in a year. It's easier to move empty tanks than full ones, and If I have to move a full one, it better be a small one! I didn't want to lose a lot of my submerged crypts, and since there would be some room in the ADA tank if I changed things around, I opted for a rescape of the ADA. For reference, the original scape so you can see what I ended up doing...Wazeter's scape
Tank specs...
Tank ADA ~63l tank 60cm x 30cm x 35cm, tank volume ~15-17g depending on the substrate.
Lighting - 2x 24W T5 HO, I know seems like a lot, but I'm not inclined to think it is. Quality of the fixture doesn't seem as good to me. Growth has not been rampant, and for a time, I'll be treating this tank a bit how I treated my Dutch scape back in 2008. If it proves too much, I can easily downgrade the lighting. For now, we're starting with a 5 hour photoperiod. Should be able to up it to 7 or 8 once the tank ages. Tall spriralis & floaters will also shut out some light.
CO2 none for now. I can easily hook some up if I need it, but I've got a gut feeling I won't need it, especially if I know my crypts and know my water.
ferts TPN+
filtration Two Aquaclear 50s, you know me, I like big flow.
Flora Submerged crypts from Endor, anubias, bolbitis (was hiding in Endor), weeping moss, c. parva, dwarf sag (first time with dwarf sag). Planted densly, and will be adding more plants as things clear and a moss wall covering the entire back of the tank. So a very heavy plant mass.
Substrate ADA Amazonia aqua soil, I think, mixed with inert gravel. As soon as the the tank settles, I'll be treating this tank more like a Walstad type tank, less waterchanges.
livestock The inhabitants of the 36g, mostly just rasboras. Tank won't be densly stocked this time. Prefer smaller fish for this tank, and will offer these in classifieds then get a species I like better if I decide to keep this scape longterm.
This, of course, could all change. Right now, I have two Bolbitis, and I was getting tired, and put the short one where the taller one should be. Need to fix that. Also, need to go through the rest of my crypts and place them. Anubias too and some pelia. Then, there is also the wall. Have a huge pile of weeping moss for the job. Should be enough for a decent wall, but I have to buy two dividers to cover the whole back.
Some pictures for you...
I removed most of the rocks and a piece of wood to make room for more plants. There was very little plant mass before, again, lost anything that was a stem and lost quite a bit to bad root damage from fast planting too. TBH, a lot of the plants were not even planted, but just stuck there. Not good for development and growth. But with the former 4 hour photoperiod, I wasn't getting any algae except for some diatoms on the glass, which I attribute to the ammonia from the Amazonia leeching. I figure a higher plant mass will be ok.
Guys, don't follow my lead. Keep doing what you're doing. With my water quality and my particular circustances, often what will work for me will not work for anyone else. I have done higher light systems in the past with no CO2 and have had success. It makes my setups kind of quirky. Crypts also really don't like CO2 injection where I live and like more waterchanges, so this is going to be a strange system.
Here is a YouTube video. I'm loving my iPhone 4, I can take video now with phone...
Regardless, it's nice to finally get this scape going. I think it looks good. A definite sister scape to Endor. I think it helped to remove the third piece of wood as there's a lot more room for plants and it's easier to move around in there. Needed a few rocks to weigh down one of the pieces of wood that I kept, but they are hidden and not part of the scape.
Thanks for looking. What I don't end up using, I'll be getting rid of over at classifieds. Actually, have a lot of stuff to get rid of.
llj
But, boy would we want the plants...
), I put up the moss wall. Some pictures for you... & a youtube video. I'm not good at these vidos, I've really got to work on my skills. Ian, my iPhone 4 ia not letting me upload directly to youTube, though it's an option, so I'll be working on this this weekend. I think that's the key, TBH. Right now, I'm sending the video to my email and then uploading to Youtube and it loses quality during that second step. If I learn to upload directly from the iPhone to YouTube, I think the videos will be better. 
