Modernhamlet's 40g High-tech Planted Journal

[paulzogg]

That subtrate is to die for. What is it? Gravel, black gravel, black sand?
I love the stringy plant in the center, really nice.

Hi, this is my first post so be kind !

Dark or Black substrate not only looks good but stops reflected light confusing the plants & fish generally feel safer above it as many of them are dark when looked from above. However do not make the mistake I made.
I specifically asked my local fish store if the desired purchase would in any way effect the gh/ph/kh of the water & was told that it was inert & neutral. I am now fighting with a gh of 30 & a ph of 8.5 !!, these figures being way above my water supply. Don't take any ones word on this & do a test on a small amount first before putting it in your tank.

 

[modernhamlet]

Hi, this is my first post so be kind !

Dark or Black substrate not only looks good but stops reflected light confusing the plants & fish generally feel safer above it as many of them are dark when looked from above. However do not make the mistake I made.
I specifically asked my local fish store if the desired purchase would in any way effect the gh/ph/kh of the water & was told that it was inert & neutral. I am now fighting with a gh of 30 & a ph of 8.5 !!, these figures being way above my water supply. Don't take any ones word on this & do a test on a small amount first before putting it in your tank.

Hey Paul! Welcome to TFF!

I agree. In fact, using caution with anything you plan to add into an aquarium is good advice.

I'm curious, was the problem substrate you had Eco-Complete or some other dark aquarium gravel?

 

[modernhamlet]

At the end of Week 2, things are looking up a bit. Some changes since I last updated...

1. New fish! On Day 11 I added 4 otos, 4 amano shrimp, and 12 rummynose tetra purchased from a respected (if really messy) local LFS. The rummys are particularly good specimens, though they're really tough to get a good shot of... Here's the best I've got for now:

2. Did some serious maintenance on the tank this weekend and cleared out a lot of the algae. Things are looking a lot better.

3. Added a bunch of H. corymbosa to assist the stabilization process.

4. Pulled out the first failed experiment, eriocaulon setaceum. It was still alive, but doing very poorly and due to it's furry texture was attracting every bit of algae and detrius it could in the tank. I would only suggest adding it to a stable high-light, co2, and ferted tank in an area that doesn't see much gunk.

5. After the photo session, I replaced the shiny black plastic tank background with a matte dark blue art board. The color is great and there is much less reflection between it and the glass. I may experiment with different colors in the future.

And finally...

6. Discovered (on day 12!) the female cac leading a band of a dozen or so very small fry around the tank. The male has been on rummy corralling duty ever since. I'm simultaneously thrilled and bewildered.

That does it for now. Thanks for reading!

 

[paulzogg]

Hi, this is my first post so be kind !

Dark or Black substrate not only looks good but stops reflected light confusing the plants & fish generally feel safer above it as many of them are dark when looked from above. However do not make the mistake I made.
I specifically asked my local fish store if the desired purchase would in any way effect the gh/ph/kh of the water & was told that it was inert & neutral. I am now fighting with a gh of 30 & a ph of 8.5 !!, these figures being way above my water supply. Don't take any ones word on this & do a test on a small amount first before putting it in your tank.

Hey Paul! Welcome to TFF!

I agree. In fact, using caution with anything you plan to add into an aquarium is good advice.

I'm curious, was the problem substrate you had Eco-Complete or some other dark aquarium gravel?

Hi, I think the gravel comes under the heading 'some other dark a q' - I've managed to bring the ph/gh levels down to reasonable levels with r.o. water & am now awaiting a pressurised co2 kit to replace the nutrafin so that I'll have more control.

 

[George Farmer]

Nice progress.

I'm not too keen on the algae growth on your back and side glass though. Be careful if you intend letting it grow too thick, algae can produce plant inhibiting allelochemicals as well as possibly spreading onto your plants. Personally I scrape all my glass every week, whether it needs it or not - but then I am rather anti-algae obsessive!

 

[Dubby]

At the end of Week 2, things are looking up a bit. Some changes since I last updated...

6. Discovered (on day 12!) the female cac leading a band of a dozen or so very small fry around the tank. The male has been on rummy corralling duty ever since. I'm simultaneously thrilled and bewildered.

The tanks looking good. I love the Rummy noses and the way they their red nose loses colour when they are unhappy.... Yours looks very happy

I am waiting to see pics of the cac and fry!!!!!

 

[Griz]

Looking great! I really love the look of your tank.

Are those Rummynose or fireheads you have? I'll be interested to see how your shrimp get along with your cacs, I've been considering a few for my tank. And congrats on your new fry!

 

[modernhamlet]

Nice progress.

I'm not too keen on the algae growth on your back and side glass though. Be careful if you intend letting it grow too thick, algae can produce plant inhibiting allelochemicals as well as possibly spreading onto your plants. Personally I scrape all my glass every week, whether it needs it or not - but then I am rather anti-algae obsessive!

Nor was I... that was part of the big cleanup this weekend. No more algae on any glass now. Hopefully that will keep the otos off the glass and on the plants where they belong!

The big algae problem at the moment is actually the fluffy brown algae. It's all over a lot of the plants and a constant struggle to keep under control. I haven't seen green algae anywhere but the glass so far.

Either way, death to algae of all kinds! I'm starting PPS this week. If I can get the ferts right, I don't see how the plants can help but outcompete it. Or at least that's the hope...

The tanks looking good. I love the Rummy noses and the way they their red nose loses colour when they are unhappy.... Yours looks very happy

I am waiting to see pics of the cac and fry!!!!!

Yeah, me too. Unfortunately, my camera isn't up to the task. Fortunately, my friend Hans will be over soon with his top-of-the-line digital. If anything can capture a mostly transparent 1/3 cm fry on dark substrate, it's that camera... *crosses fingers*

Looking great! I really love the look of your tank.

Are those Rummynose or fireheads you have? I'll be interested to see how your shrimp get along with your cacs, I've been considering a few for my tank. And congrats on your new fry!

Yup, I'm fairly certain these are true rummys (Hemigrammus bleheri) based on the criteria I found on this site.

I know it's a bit of a risk and I've seen posts on various forums stating both that they'll get along just fine and that cacs will eat the amanos in the blink of an eye, often in the same thread! Well, going on a week in, there are still at least 2 (and probably 3, maybe even all 4) of the amanos still around, so it's definitely not the latter. The problem is, these shrimp are next to impossible to find and spend most of their time hanging out in the floating plants. I'm not sure if this is due to the apistos or the fact that there is ample food there. So basically, the jury is out. I'll definitely let you know if I discover anything about it.

Thanks everyone. More updates to come!

 

[modernhamlet]

Updated: Day 21

As you can see things are starting to shape up a bit more.

Planted the HC yesterday. All I can say is to use small tweezers and a lot of patience. Only took an hour or so in total though, so I can't complain. Now let's hope it carpets nicely.

New inhabitants on Day 20: 4 more Amanos and 3 Tiger shrimp (Neocaridina sp.). Lost one of each overnight. Dead, but uneaten, so I don't think it's the Apistos. The shrimp stay mostly in the floating plants right now anyway. Shrimp population is currenty estimated at 5 Amanos and 2 Tigers.

Sadly, the cac fry disappeared about Day 16 or so. Hopefully, mom and dad will rebound quickly.

Plant update: All of the easier kept plants are growing very rapidly, especially the dwarf hair grass and all of the echinodorus. The tenellus "narrow leaf" is coming back after looking very poor. The tonina are still hanging in there, but not doing too much. I've had a couple of small new plants pop up, but the parent plants are still fighting with the algae and detritus.

Here are a shots from today after a 15% water change. Pearling was a bit out of control for good shots, but I'm not complaining...

Good tank shot:

Left side of the tank:

Apisto admiring the new lawn:

 

[RYO]

Here are a shots from today after a 15% water change. Pearling was a bit out of control for good shots, but I'm not complaining...

Good tank shot:


Left side of the tank:


Apisto admiring the new lawn:

Psssst someones nicked yer tank

 

[prankster705]

Nice tank, would probably look better with a hood, but it's still wery good.
***cough*plansonstealingtank*cough***

 

[modernhamlet]

Nice tank, would probably look better with a hood, but it's still wery good.
***cough*plansonstealingtank*cough***

That was a big debate in the planning stages. I decided to go with the sleek elevated fixture look and an open tank partly because I thought it looked cool... and partly because an open tank lets me grow plants that break the surface and flower. Turns out that I also spend a lot of time in the tank up to my armpits, so it's nice to not have a hood in the way.

I can see how a nice wooden hood would work as well though. One drawback of my current setup is that I'm limited to non-jumpers, which turns out to be more frustrating than you'd think.

All that said, with all the time and money I have sunk into this baby, you'd have to pry it from my cold, dead hands!

 

[Griz]

I'm curious about how your tank is getting on. Especially wondering how your shrimp are fairing with the cacs.

 

[modernhamlet]

I'm curious about how your tank is getting on. Especially wondering how your shrimp are fairing with the cacs.

I returned from an 8 day trip to England last week and haven't had much time for my fish forums. The tank wasn't out of control on my return (thank goodness!), but it's taken a bit of work to set things right again. Some trimming and algae removal are done, but I definitely need to get the lighting and fert schedules back on track. I'm fighting about 5 different forms of algae at the moment, including a bit of BGA (mostly on the HC) . I'll try to update my progress this week and get some more pics.

It's impossible to say how many, but there are still at least a few shrimp in the tank. They live up top on the surface plants and taller stems. I haven't really seen the cacs interact with them at all. Haven't seen any of the tiger shrimp since I got back though, just the amanos. If I get a chance, I'm going to pick up another few amanos and hopefully another small schooling fish before the new year.

 

[Genesis]

looks great, how do you get your plants to stay in the substrate?

mine keep taking off and floating upward