# Trying again - Jessie's 125



## Jessie

Hi everyone. I disappeared for a while. Basically, my tank was "out of my possession" for a good month and a half because I ran screaming in the opposite direction of my now ex-boyfriend who turned out to be....bad news. I moved out on a whim and the tank stayed. I was actually resigned to the notion that because it was potentially dangerous to go back and get it, then I would just have to cut my losses and kiss it goodbye.

BUT! I hired two guys from my favorite fish store and today, we went back into the house and got my tank back. Thanks to them, my tank was unplanted, drained and on the road in two hours. Disgustingly dirty, but back into my possession.

And now!
The fun stuff. Also known as the dreadful stuff.

Get the tank in the apartment, begin returning my kickass (/sarcasm) mix substrate of fluorite, pea gravel and playground sand. NICE and gunky. Also known as absolutely disgusting. Then, in the very front, I added two bags of AquaSoil Amazonia so that I can eventually grow a nice carpet of HC and downoi.

Also, start arranging my Manzanita wood that I soaked for about 3 weeks. So excited!










Working fast, trying to make every second count while I have the guys here to help me fill and plumb.










A friend comes over to help, and the photo shoot begins.

Since they need to get going, no dry planting. Just fill! Added about 40g of my old water and the rest new. Wait a second, I soaked that wood for 3 weeks, it sunk! But no. That's what happens when you run run run away from your house and leave everything behind, including an evaporating tub of buoyant wood:

















It floats. We're sad.









Whatever. Start planting, very overwhelmed, check out my workspace! I am the cardboad box lady.









Looking at this mess was really intimidating:










Trying to unfurl a mess of tropica swords, crypts, anubias and more valls than I knew what to do with:










Kazoo says "my mother is crazy." 









KNOCK ON WOOD, not a single death.









Planting, planting, glazing over, planting, planting. And I can't do any aquascaping, because the WOOD FLOATS and I can't see through all the crap!!!!!!!!! :< But... they're in there.









AND we're HAPPY WE HAVE AQUASOIL!









And we're done. Here is how it is now:









But that's ok, because I have my tank again and no one was punched and no confrontations, we're good!

So basically, now that I've been reunited, I can restart my journalling process and do big exciting things


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## Chuppy

Sorry to hear.

But that's a great comeback though. I couldn't comment much about how your tank looks now as i can't really see anything  Cute cat though.


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## slickwillislim

I would change the water every day or every other day and don't stop until your ammonia and nitrite are non existent. Most people try not to put fish in a tank right after adding aquasoil because of the ammonia spike it causes, from what I can tell only half of your substrate is aquasoil so your spike shouldn't be as bad. I don't want your fish to survive the transition only to suffer during an ammonia spike. 

I really like manzanita wood and can wait for it to sink to see what you do with it. 

HC and downoi can make beautiful foregrounds. You don't see too many HC foregrounds on tanks your size so I can't wait to see how it will all look. 

I am glad you got your tank back. I would be crushed if I had to leave my three tanks that abruptly, so much hard work.

Good luck with the restart.


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## Steven_Chong

Is it ok if I say that you got to be one of the cutest girls I've met doing aquascaping?  

Good luck with the manzanita. I'm sure it'll look great once you can get it to sink.


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## darkfury18

Steven_Chong said:


> Is it ok if I say that you got to be one of the cutest girls I've met doing aquascaping?


:tea:

Good luck with the restart.


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## Jessie

Thanks so much for the encouragement, guys. I'm blushing Steven, goodness!


slickwillislim -- Thanks for the heads up. That's something I had forgotten about, actually. This also being my first time using AquaSoil. I'm keep a close eye on the levels. I'm hoping that the masses of mulm and established substrate and filters will help stay on top of any spikes. I also use my Roseline barbs as one of my universal gauges of tank-health. They are pretty blatant about their "feelings."

While I'm disappointed that the wood floated because I had it sinking for a few weeks, I'm ok with the fact that it's buoyant right now because A) I have my tank back!! and B) Everything is so disheveled that it doesn't really matter, I need to get my ducks in a row and create a plan.

Since previously, my tank was a hodge-podge of unruly stem plants, I would like to go the lower-maintenance route this time and try to focus on just a couple nice accent stems and lots of Crypts, Anubias and Ferns. I STILL have my heart set on L. aromatica, so that's going to happen 

So, once I have a budget in place and things are settled, HC, Downoi, mosses, Crypts and ornamental stems will be on my purchase list.


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## MyCatsDrool

Try putting the driftwood in the dishwasher...no detergent. Will help it sink.

Let me know when you are ready to put in some new plants. I am local, and can help you out. I am currently overflowing (I happen to know someone who helped with the tank move ;-)).


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## Jessie

MyCatsDrool -- (my cats drool too)
HEYYY Do I know you??  I see you're a lady so you must not be one of my helpers. Do tell, do tell! And if you chat with one of my helpers any time soon, please tell them thanks so much. They helped in a very special circumstance.

One of my helpers actually recommended I use the dishwasher; I'll see if I can fit some of the smaller pieces in my little washer.

But I'd definitely be interested in buying some plants off you -- whatcha got?


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## Kelley

Jessie,
I am so glad you have got your tank back again!! Can't wait to see more.


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## Jessie

Kelley--- Thank you, You're fantastic 

Here's the tank how it is now, no 'scaping has been done and you'll notice a mess of Anubias floating around the top.

So far, I've had the Manzanita on roughly 7 (lost count) cycles in the dishwasher. I DO notice a slight difference, but since the dishes are piling up (haha, you know you're a fish person when....) the branches are back in the tank to finish out the rest of their soaking. I've also added some Purigen to my Eheim to get a handle on the tanins that are appearing.

So right now it's just a mess of randomly placed plants -- some of them VERY sad from neglect, but I'm noticing new growth on my Didiplis, Rotala and Alternanthera. Those are really the only stems that were salvageable from the apparent hack-job my ex must have performed in an effort to be helpful. But, the fish are all doing great. I'm starting to notice a lack of a few, must've bit the dust while I was gone. Nothing I can do now!

Some hilarious images of my salad bar:









Soaking wood. Kind of biotope-esque, no?









Java ferns, Tropica swords, some Aponogetons and a very depressed Alternanthera.









Full tank shot. Forgive the quality of the images -- I'm still battling my camera.









While the wood was in the dishwasher.

So, hopefully things will start to pan out over the next few weeks. Like I said, I'm just happy to have it back!

Oh! And MyCatsDrool -- I figured it out! Helper helped me grab some Emperors and Purigen last night at the store and the riddle has been solved! You know a very kind helper 

So I may run over to the store this Friday--they said they are getting a plant shipment in and named some species that kindled my interest. Anyone who is in Denver, go to Premier Fish & Reef. They are spectacular super-heroes.


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## cs_gardener

I'm glad you were able to get your tank back without any trouble. It certainly has cleared up nicely and it's rather appealing in a chaotic sort of way. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

p.s. I just love the look you caught on your cat's face. My cats give me that look all the time when I'm not doing what the want me to do.


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## Jessie

Thank you Catherine! It is sort of nice to look at. Especially seeing all the fish happy again. They missed their mom, I'm sure of it 

Kazoo, the kitty, is hilarious. I named him Kazoo because he doesn't have a regular "kitty voice" it's very raspy and sounds relatively deranged most of the time. A friend of mine believes that power he holds in his "jazz hands" can slice cheese just by pointing at it. Such a goof!


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## Jessie

Hi everyone!!

Today I received two wonderfully packaged shipments. One from *DJKronik57*, who sent me a generous helping of Blyxa japonica, sunset H. polysperma and a nice clump of Christmass moss. The other, from *houseofcards* who sent two heaping portions of HC.

I must say, I now have a new respect for those w/ HC in their tanks. After planting a 6-foot long span of it, I must say that is the most aggrivating, tedious and beer-inducing task I've experienced in a long time!  AND, tying moss onto branches. I have skinny little girl fingers and that was a PAIN.

I also arranged the Manzanita. It's not completely sunk, but I've managed to strategically position some rocks to keep it down until it can sit on it's own.

Pics!

The tank is still a little cloudy from tearing things apart.









Right side. Please ignore the obnoxios sea-monstor branch. That will be repositioned once it's not so damn buoyant.









Left of the tank. This is after I became very impatient with the HC and planted larger and larger clumps, haha.









Center of the tank, Uhoh, sad face. A clump of HC uprooted and floated up.









Quick little shot near the center with Alternanthera, Didiplis, and other mess.









Full tank shot.

Nothing is final... but it's getting there!!


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## mikenas102

Jessie, I feel your pain. I'm also going through the "I am Manzanita, see me float" period. It's been almost 2 weeks that I've been holding some down with rocks and there is a big improvement. If I take the rocks off it doesn't float but doesn't sink like an anchor either. It kind of just bounces around the bottom like an astronaut on the moon. I figure another week I'll be good. Keep the CO2 cranking so you don't get discouraging algae issues while you're in transition. 
Nice to see a hottie into aquascaping


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## slickwillislim

6ft of HC... I planted my 4ft tank a few times with glosso and recently with hc so I can imagine the struggle. I have seen Jsenske plant large clumps like that in aquasoil so your method is certainly easier then smaller clumps and your in good company. 

Lets hope the rest of your HC stays in the soil. I have Soil master select in one tank and HC just loves to float out of that stuff. Aquasoil tends to hold my HC better so thats good for you. 

I looked through your other thread on your old tank and can't wait to see it return and exceed its former glory. 

I love big tanks. I will have to get one some day.


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## Steven_Chong

I'm impressed with your resolve/effort and the shape of the scape thus far-- I think you will eventually have a really great 'scape on your hands.


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## Chuppy

Your tank is turning out to be great... Nice job


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## mikenas102

Did I miss something? Where is the link to the old setup of the tank?


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## slickwillislim

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquascaping/40857-jessies-125g.html

The sn "Jessie" and 125g sounded familiar so I searched posts by Jessie and I found her thread. I had seen it before but not commented. There aren't that many large well planted tanks on APC so I remembered this one.


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## mikenas102

Thanks for the link. I can't believe the growth in that tank with just an occasional splash of ferts. And just micros. I think that tank is solid evidence of how good root tabs are and how using them really cuts down on the need for water column dosing.


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## Bert H

Jessie, it's looking good! And there's nothing wrong with an occasional 'beer inducing task'  .


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## Jessie

*mikenas102* - Thank you!  I originally had the Manzanita soaking in a tub before I moved. It took a good 3 weeks to REALLY sink, however, after a month of being unattended and shoved to the side in the garage, it all evaporated and my efforts were for nothing. I have noticed that the dishwasher method helps. I put a few of the pieces through about 7 cycles and while we're not home free, there is a significant difference. For now, it's weighed down (mostly) by rocks, burying in the substrate, and lots of hopes and dreams, haha.

Once everything settles, I will add root-tabs again. I truly believe they contributed to the lush health of my Ozelot swords, Aponogetons and crypts back before it all went to hell. I considered EI, and am still considering it, but I would like to see how everything does before fixing what's not broken. Flourish Excel, Iron, Trace and Potassium seem to have done the trick before.

*slickwillislim* - Thanks! Planting 6 feet of HC was definitely a good way to throw me right in there for my first experience with it, but I've got my eye on the prize and am confident it will pay off. I did notice that some had floated up again this morning, but I'll have to fix it later tonight. It's good to know that my clump method is used by others, haha...It was a true test of patience. 
And thank you for posting the link to my old thread -- I had intended to do that from the get-go, but kept forgetting!

*Steven* - Thank you! It's been a real test. Probably more lessons wrapped up into this endeavor than I truly realize. 1) don't think a girl won't come back for her tank, no matter how huge! 2) I still have a lot to learn. So far, I'm happy with my menial efforts to scape. It will require some adjustments as I go, but the FEEL of it so far is what I was going for. Luckily I had some huge clumps of Java fern to squash into gaps to make some areas feel more "finished." I'm going to limit my stem collection, because as seen in my previous thread, it was absolute stem-pandemonium. Right now, I have Bacopas, Alternanthera, Didiplis, sunset Hygro, and some very sad Rotala indica. There is also some Myriophyllum aquaticum that is on thin ice because of how crazy it can get. I would like to add L. aromatica & Ludwigia glandulosa to my collection eventually, but may keep it at just that.

*Chuppy* -- thanks! I'm really excited this time around.


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## Jessie

Thank you Bert!


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## thwack

Hi Jessie, nice tank you have, and it's twice bigger than my current tank. I envy how you could manage to maintain this huge tank though. Hehe



> Center of the tank, Uhoh, sad face. A clump of HC uprooted and floated up.


If it happen again, you can use toothpick to hold them. Just my 2 cents.


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## Jessie

REALLY?! Just stab them on in there? Great idea! I never thought of that.

Thanks


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## houseofcards

Steven_Chong said:


> I'm impressed with your resolve/effort and the shape of the scape thus far-- I think you will eventually have a really great 'scape on your hands.


Easy big fellar!

Jessie, glad you didn't wait and put the HC right in. Once it gets acclimated don't be afraid to trim it here and there. Others might disagree but I find that accelerates the growth.

The tank already is impressive.


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## Steven_Chong

houseofcards said:


> Easy big fellar!
> 
> Jessie, glad you didn't wait and put the HC right in. Once it gets acclimated don't be afraid to trim it here and there. Others might disagree but I find that accelerates the growth.
> 
> The tank already is impressive.


LOL

I mean it though-- so many beginner's I see start off with a 2.5 gal, some eco complete and mondo grass. Here we have someone who seems like she's actually been following-- manzanita, aquasoil, HC, Dow noi, and the attempts at aquascaping look fairly good. With that type of effort, it'll get there eventually.


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## PapaLoc

Thats a huge tank! I read the original thread too (which was alot of fun), it looked awesome with that lush growth. I hope you can get it back in shape without too many hassles.

Good luck.


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## Jessie

Haha! Well, I have been taking notes and making plans [for years]. And of course I've had a lot of inspiration to work with here. Dave Chow, Guaiac_Boy, etc. Granted, I'm still a total doofus when it comes to much of the "science of things". To be honest, I'm math-challenged and even with Chuck's calculator, calculating doses makes my head tilt to the side like a confused puppy.

Speaking of Downoi, I need to buy some!

Most of my fish experience consists of the time when I was 16 and had a fish room dedicated to different parts of the world. South America with Uaru, Guianacara oroewefi and Black ghost knife (which I would get again for this tank if I didn't have itty-bitties that could be eaten). I was majorly into breeding Tanganyikan shell dwellers and other oddballs. Working at a fish store is definitely not something I would do again, but I learned a lot in my first years of the hobby and had access to a bunch of cool species. That's why one tank when to five, then 10....

My first attempt at a planted tank was when I was.....13. A 48g tall, half-a-watt per gallon, and believe me, I had the most lush and luxurious Hornwort, H. polysperma and water sprite. It was out of my ears. No ferts, no CO2, and a cool-white bulb. Attempts with Bacopa and Rotala were futile, but I'm pretty sure my endless supply of H. polysperma is the reason why it's now a noxious weed  Then I tried the whole two-liter DIY CO2 and didn't include a check-valve. Needless to say, 35 gallons of water was syphoned out of my tank overnight, onto my 2nd story bedroom carpet and the entire upstairs smelled like a brewery for months. That was the end of that!

Then I had a little slapped-together 2.5 planted with some killies and a 10g N. brevis "sunspot" growout.

Actually, I found pictures of them in my old archives. They're bad photos, but they're there!
My old 48.









10g Brevis growout








Holy algae!

2.5g with a white cloud









*
PapaLoc* -- Thanks much  I hope it gets back to that point as well. Granted, not as crazy, but just as lush and healthy!


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## Jessie

Ok, just to be a little redundant. Some pictures from tonight -- the tank is significantly clearer.


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## if_wishes_were_fishes

I like the arrangement. Reminds of those tanks at Shedd Aquarium, very natural  Lots of movement, I'd never get bored looking at it.


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## Jessie

Well that's a MAJOR compliment! The Shedd? Wow  thanks!!!


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## chunkylover817

wow, very nice


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## scott53326

Stunning. I would take your tank over any Amano style tank any day. I would agree with the Shedd comment. 

Good Job!

-Scott


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## Jessie

Thank you very much chunkylover817! I appreciate it 

scott53326 - Well I'm going to go have a coma from all the kind comments. I appreciate it, hopefully it'll bloom into much more from here! Thanks so much  This tells me I'm doing something right


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## Bert H

Nice, Jesse! The tree branches remind me of a live oak tree canopy from the South. :thumbsup:


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## Jessie

Thanks Bert  It's coming along one day at a time.

Kelley sent me a wonderous care-package of plants and I will post some photos of them soon.


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## Paul Higashikawa

Just got a chance to check out this thread. How funny and story-telling!!!

Especially loved the part of using facial expressions from people and cat to convey the mood of the scene, haha It was like reading a comic book


Other than that, good interesting way of using the woods. Definitely would be great to watch its progress over time!


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## Jessie

Haha Paul, I'm glad you got a kick out of it! It's definitely a circus in my little place. Someone's always disheveled in some way. Mostly the cats, but sometimes me.

Thanks for the compliments. Right now I'm very impatient about everything getting settled and grow, grow, grow!


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## Cliff Hui

Very nice work, and I think it should be a tough work for a girl (even a guy) to handle such a big tank.
The layout and the plants organized very well, and it is a layout with alot of potential.
the way of using driftwoods looks very special, and I do want to know does the foreground plant growing well now..?? 
I think it is hard to balance by this kind of layout when using this forground plant.. 

As Steven said, you are the cutest girl I ever see who doing aquascaping. ^^ Lovely cat also!!


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## Kelley

Hey sweetie, this tank is really coming along great! The manzanita looks so nice and will complement the jungle-style that you love so nicely. Can't wait to see what you do with the plants I sent! Knowing you, they will be tripled in bio-mass by next week! 

Great job on a tank that is definitely NOT just like everyone else's.


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## Jessie

Thanks Kelley!

I haven't gotten a chance to see how everything you've sent has begun to settle as I ran out of the house before the lights came on, but I'm sure things will be just fine. That water lettuce is very different from what I expected its texture to be!

What I would like to see happening with this tank is obviously my normal jungle-crazy natural style, but I'd like to practice more discipline this time and maybe even attempt more Dutch-esque (or maybe French? ) plant groupings to make everything very striking. 

And thanks!


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## Kelley

Water lettuce is kind of a funny plant. It seems to grow in size proportionate to the tank. The mothers of those plants I sent came from a friend's pond and were 8 inches wide. The 2 inch plants I sent were from an outdoor tub. The ones I keep in my aquarium are only 1/2-1". A very versatile plant!


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## Jessie

Well that's neat  I'm sure my oodles of platy fry will appreciate them!!


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## Squawkbert

It looks like it's all coming along very nicely! Congrats on successfully reclaiming your tank and making the most of it.


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## curt_914

Jessie, 
What part of colorado you in? I live in lakewood. Anyway Very Nice tank. I am curious on your Co2 system, what are you using for difuser's as well what type of regulator do you have, etc...

Curt


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## Jessie

Squawkbert -- Thanks  I'm so glad to have it back, especially now that I can do with it what I've been wanting to for a long time! Hopefully it evolves into my little vision.

Curt -- I'm in south Denver -- good to see another Coloradoan! For a diffuser, I use a Rhinox 5000 that I bought cheapie off Ebay. Works like a charm. The "misting" has proven to be much more efficient. For a regulator, I went to www.aquariumplants.com and bought their complete setup.


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## travis

Jessie, your tank looks ten times better than it did when I first saw it. I'm anxious to see things progress. Nice work


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## Jessie

Thanks Travis  The state I found it in was a shock to me too. Apparently, it was "trimmed" the day before we got there. And by trimmed, it seems my Ludwigia acurata, a few crypts and much of my Didiplis vanished. Oh well.

How was that plant shipment? Did you get the Barclaya you mentioned? I just need to come in and scope it out!


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## Jessie

Cliff Hui! Of all posts I didn't see until now, it's yours! I apologize - I hope you don't feel as if I completely ignored your post.

What I'm really focusing on with this layout is creating a definitive foreground and midground, then working as a last thought with the background. One of my weaknesses is settling with a major vertical wall of stems and not following-through to add depth. So this time, I've given extra attention to the Anubias, Tropica swords, Blyxa, Crypts and HC to create a scultped fore and mid-ground. Once I've gotten those areas where I want them, I'll focus on my usual jungle craziness in the background.

The HC and I have been having a mild disagreement on getting it to stay put. Or, should I say, sleeping or roudy Roselines keep uprooting it. Regardless, I may have to get a little brave and man-handle it a bit to make sure it stays. I've been generous with the Excel as from what I've read, HC seems to appreciate it.

Oh, and Kazoo and I say thank you =]


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## travis

The plant shipment was a pleasant surprise. They were very healthy and most of them were considerably larger than I expected. Robust would be a good term to describe them 

We did receive Barclaya longifolia bulbs and they are germinating now. I'm anxious to see how they look. You should definitely stop in and take a look at what we've got now.


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## Jessie

Awesome! Hopefully you didn't get any "dud bulbs!" 
I'll try to pop in tomorrow - I'm out of Excel anyways. Does the 20% off still stand from the mailer? 

When did you guys change back to being closed on Tuesdays? I drove up this previous Tues to check out the plant shipment and walked up like a doofus not knowing it was closed.


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## travis

I'm not sure when the closed on Tuesdays thing started again. It has been that way since I began working there.


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## Jessie

Then I must be delusional because I could have SWORN I was there on a Tuesday a few weeks ago. I remember it being that way in winter/early Spring. But for some reason...

Regardless, I'll stop by to see what I can add to my _collectoritis_ tank.


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## Cliff Hui

Jessie said:


> Cliff Hui! Of all posts I didn't see until now, it's yours! I apologize - I hope you don't feel as if I completely ignored your post.
> 
> What I'm really focusing on with this layout is creating a definitive foreground and midground, then working as a last thought with the background. One of my weaknesses is settling with a major vertical wall of stems and not following-through to add depth. So this time, I've given extra attention to the Anubias, Tropica swords, Blyxa, Crypts and HC to create a scultped fore and mid-ground. Once I've gotten those areas where I want them, I'll focus on my usual jungle craziness in the background.
> 
> The HC and I have been having a mild disagreement on getting it to stay put. Or, should I say, sleeping or roudy Roselines keep uprooting it. Regardless, I may have to get a little brave and man-handle it a bit to make sure it stays. I've been generous with the Excel as from what I've read, HC seems to appreciate it.
> 
> Oh, and Kazoo and I say thank you =]


hahaha..... that is okay. :bathbaby: I understand since I am that kind of person always skip things..haha...

anyway, I think you have a well organize planting plan, that is really good. just keep going and willing to see your final work..^^


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## Jessie

hi 

Just nearing a month later, here's an update:

Pics first, then babble. Sorry about the over-exposure - the finger-over-flash method only works SO well 










Right side of the tank









Full shot









from a bit of an angle










Left side -- waiting for crypts to fill in










Center of the tank.

So, I started EI (estimative index) dosing. I'm finally giving it a try. It's still too early to mark any notable differences, but I'm hoping that it will give a leg up to my Alternanthera (which seems to be stunted... seriously one of the easiest plants is not growing for me), Bacopa caroliniana and HC. The Blyxa japonica is doing remarkable, as is the Didiplis diandra and sunset Hygro .... even though it's not sunsetting much? The red headed step children of the tank are definitely the Alternanthera, HC and Ludwigia glandulosa. L. glandulosa is just something I can't seem to keep alive 

Anyhoodle. Woo-yay.


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## Kelley

All I can say is WOW! Things sure do grow fast in your tank.  

Has that little tiger lotus already grown that much? 

I love the way things are growing. It all looks so natural and organic. Keep it up girl!


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## Jessie

Thanks! 
The little lotus is doing GREAT, perking up and getting some confidence. I'm going to force myself to stay on top of it so it stays short. My other ones are leggy and grow VERY long, which is fine for the back of the tank. But I always loved the look of compact and well groomed lotus.

That Bacopa is finally starting to get back into a growing momentum --- it's got your name on it!


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## fishscale

Really nice tank. What's in it?

Tom Barr's been encouraging people to try a method of growing HC where you grow it in a tank with no water, just moist aquasoil. I just started it in my tank, and it's starting to take off. If you need to get a good growth mass, you might want to try that, then plant the whole thing in your tank.


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## Kelley

fishscale said:


> Tom Barr's been encouraging people to try a method of growing HC where you grow it in a tank with no water, just moist aquasoil. I just started it in my tank, and it's starting to take off. If you need to get a good growth mass, you might want to try that, then plant the whole thing in your tank.


But where would all of her fish live??

The method does have it's limitations.


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## BlackTop_Kings

WOW... I just found this thread and I will mark it for now on. This is amazing. I really like the styling of the aquascape it works for the size and makes it seem so much larger-wish i could see this up close though....deffently look forward to seeing more.


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## fishscale

Kelley said:


> But where would all of her fish live??
> 
> The method does have it's limitations.


I guess you don't actually need a tank per say. You could grow it in a separate container under another light or even under the sun. Then you could have a nice portion to plant.


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## mott

This is why I love a good tank journal.
Great scape! looks soo much bigger to me than a 125...


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## BryceM

Jessie,

Nice photos. The wood looks fantastic! I'm sure you spent a while getting it positioned.


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## houseofcards

Jessie,
Nice job. It's a very effective setup for your big tank. 

Listen, I think alot of people have trouble with HC because they'll over concerned with it being planted firmly by the roots. I personally have had much better success with it, if you treat it like any other stem plant. Just replant the stem into the substrate and forget about the roots. I would take a few of your patches apart and use a section of the tank and yes plant it stem by stem. I know it's a big tank but try it with a few patches and see if it starts taken off. Another thing you could do is trim the patches, again just like a stem plant. What happens when you trim most stems from the top, you end up with multiple headers. This will help it spread and develop an extensive root system.


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## tha_beeg

wow this tank has an amazing jungle feel to it. like cutting into an amazon hideaway and seeing whats goin on


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## lowfi

dear god....

that tank is massive!

*I LIKE IT!!!!!*

the wood is awesome, there are so many plant varieties it's driving me crazy. I bet you look at that tank all night (i would). how did you get the cash to fund a tank like that...im broke and I only have a 20 gallon lol!! good work


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## Jessie

Fishscale -

Ok, here we go ...at least what I can immediately recall

Flora:
-HC
-Blyxa japonica
-Crypt. wendtii "bronze", "red" and "mi oya"
-Anubias coffefolia, nana
-Aponogeton sp. 
-Echinodorus "ozelot"
-Java fern, regular and windelov
-Lotus, many
-Limnophila aromatica (grow, grow grow!)
-Alternanthera reinecki (I butchered the spelling)
-Bacopa caroliniana and monneri
-Rotala indica
-Jungle val
-Limnophila sp. "mini"
-Polygonum sp.
-Didiplis diandra
many more I can't spell or remember at this time of night 

Critters:
-Emperor tetra
-roseline barb
-diamond tetra
-harlequins
-SAE
-a few spare serpae tetra
-sunset platy
-gold tetra
-amano shrimp

I am very curious about that method of growing HC. Unfortunately, it's not possible for me as I have no room for another tank. The HC was sent to me in a gigantic established clump, which I broke apart to spread out throughout the tank. I don't think it's been a matter of it not "taking" to my Aquasoil so far, but merely the matter of getting it to stay down with my rough & tumble Roselines. I considered trying a portion of it under the sun like you mentioned, but now it's getting into the freezing months and even worse, my cats would think it would be their own peronal salad bar 

BlackTop_Kings -- thanks so much  I'm glad you like it. The worst part of having such a large tank is photographing it and trying to catch all the detail. There's a lot more going on in it than my overexposed pictures portray. Now if I can just get certain plants to color up!

Mott- thank you!! And believe me, moving it definitely made it FEEL bigger than a 125. 

guaiac_boy -- thanks! To be honest, I'm still afraid to even sneeze around the tank in fear that some of the wood will come bouncing back up. But I think I have most of it anchored down with rocks and magic juju. Eventually I'm going to remove many of the rocks to free up more planting ground.

houseofcards -- thanks for the advice. I'll definitely try that more extensively. On the ride side of the tank, I've unintentionally done so already. The only thing I'm worried about is the fish popping it right back up. I think I just need to stop treating it like tissue paper and really handle it.

tha_beeg -- wow, thank you! Hopefully once everything grows in and colors up I'll have the Amazon crayon explosion I've been hoping for  That Alternanthera is just so stubborn for me lately.

lowfi -- thank you very much! There is definitely a lot going on, and even though I said I wouldn't do it again, I've definitely fallen into the grips of collectoritis. My routine when I get home from work is to sit down in front of it with the cats (haha), stare at it and decompress at the end of a day. Funding it? Well, the tank, stand and filters were a gift via casino winnings, haha. Everything else was from saving up, friends in high places, Visa, Ebay, and lots of generous APC members here who have sent cuttings for total steals.


So here's my dosing regimen.......please keep in mind I really have no idea what I'm doing with this. Despite reading and reading and reading, I've been very hesitant to try it.

M/W/F - 1/2 tsp. Plantex
T/R/S/S - 1/2 tsp. KH2PO4 - 1 1/2 tsp. KNO3

Any ideas on a magic wand to help my Alternanthera grow and my Limnophila to color up? The Plantex has chelated iron, but would it help to also use Flourish iron? I'm totally clueless?


----------



## travis

Jessie, I would recommend reducing your dose of KH2PO4 from 1/2 TSP to 1/8 TSP and your dose of KNO3 from 1 1/2 TSP to 3/4 TSP or even 1/2 TSP. As it stands 1/2 TSP of KH2PO4 adds ~4 ppm of PO4 to your water column. You want to maintain 1-2 ppm PO4, or about half the amount you are adding every other day. And 1 1/2 TSP of KNO3 adds ~20 ppm of NO3. Target levels for NO3 are 10-20 ppm. With the current amounts you are dosing you will end up with very high levels of PO4 and NO3 by the end of the week, which may cause problems. 

Your current dose of Plantex is good, adding about .2 ppm of iron to your water. .2 ppm of iron is considered the safe limit for many fish, but you may want to increase your Plantex schedule from every other day to every day so that your plants receive a constant supply of iron and trace elements which may help improve their coloration.

Hope this helps


----------



## T-Bone

I must say I actually kind of liked the floating wood, from the second batch of pictures. It had a certain erienes to it. Kind of like looking into a forest lake with allot of debris in it, or even amazon riverish.

It still looks fantastic now though. What a big difference from what it started out as.


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## Jessie

THANK YOU TRAVIS!
I think you're the first person I've spoken to that's given point-blank feedback for my thick skull when it comes to this stuff. I will definitely take your advice and decrease the phosphate and nitrate, as well as increase Plantex to every day.

T-Bone -- I did too  I think a tank with floating branches, and tons of Anubias, Crytps and Ferns would really look spectacular and brooding. thanks!


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## fishscale

Those are some really nice diamonds you have there, mine never color up like that. What do you feed them?


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## Robert Hudson

Jessie,

Not only is your tank inspiring, but your enthusiasim is awesome! I love the Anubias coffefolia on the wood. Did I read you have water lettuce in there? Just remember floating plants block light, and your HC may need all the light you can give it. You have a deep tank for HC. Keep up the good work Jess! You are lucky you have Travis there to lend you a helping hand!


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## Squawkbert

^Agreed! Nice progress.

If Travis' suggestions aren't all the Alt. needs, consider Ca levels - may need increasing if your water's on the soft side.


----------



## Jessie

fishscale -- thank you! The school is actually a mix of parents and offspring. They spawned for me back before the tank was moved. I feed them everything. Omega One flake, shrimp pellet and freeze dried tubifex, frozen brine shrimp, bloodworms and mysis shrimp, freeze-dried brine shrimp, and fresh zucchini. Their color is also brought out by the lighting. 2x 6500K, 2X 10,000K, and 2X 50/50.

However, I'm thinking of pulling the 50/50's and replacing them with 6500K to see if that helps my pickier plants.

And thanks Robert!!  The water lettuce is kept to a decent minimum and I have positioned filter outflows to allow it to stay behind the HC. Hopefully it'll maintain it's good behavior.  I am very fortunate to have access to people are who are knowledgeable and helpful with the more scientific stuff. Travis and his store have been priceless so far.

Squawkbert -- thank you! The water is pretty hard in this area, but I need to get accurate (or as accurate as I can get) readings to be absolutely sure.


----------



## Robert Hudson

> Easy big fellar!


Yeah Steven, remember, its all for the art!


----------



## houseofcards

This is a very active thread. I think it's pretty funny how all the guys and lining up to help you with your tank. 

Personally I think your dosing is fine. EI is not about hitting a bullseye, it's an "Estimative Index". And if you resetting the tank every week (50% WC) than nothing should to far out of range for too long a period. It's better to have the stuff in there then to be short something. Color is tough in a deep tank and I think you have CF lighting. Even if the nutrients are there, you still need the intense light to trigger the color, that why plants usually color up as they near the light. 

I have an expression "Don't Micro-manage your macros"


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## Jessie

Hahaha, I don't think anyone is lining up. Travis helped me move my tank because I hired the help of his store. I'm just thrilled to chat away about my favorite hobby  Plus, Robert's known me since I was about...13 through old fish chats and just starting out in the hobby all together. It's good to see old fish friends still at it.

I have just a pinch under 4.5 watts per gallon. Granted, I know that rule sort of goes out of the window with deeper tanks. In retrospect, I definitely would have gone the halide route for this tank. Perhaps I can find a deal on Ebay and sell my current systems.

I'm going to experiment with the dosing. It's still too early to note anything since I'm just starting my second week.


----------



## Bert H

Jessie said:


> ...I have just a pinch under 4.5 watts per gallon. Granted, I know that rule sort of goes out of the window with deeper tanks. In retrospect, I definitely would have gone the halide route for this tank. Perhaps I can find a deal on Ebay and sell my current systems.


Jessie, it looks to me like you're growing everything you've put in there, so far, and pretty nicely at that! If it were me, I'd leave the lights be as they are. My 2 cents.


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## Jessie

That's what I'm thinking too, Bert  Switching out my lighting system would not be a very good idea financially. So one day I will (also because I love the look of halides) but for now, we're fine!


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## Cliff Hui

Very lovely work! Jessie,

Everything seems going well. I think your planting technique is very good, and I believe you can grow very healthy plants! Maybe I try to give some comments on the layout-ing. 
Firstly, I like the driftwood arrangement on the left side, very much, but there is a bit strange on the right side, that one is too big and it curved down-ward....does not match the whole layout.
Moreover, you've got mant speieces of plants but there is not any arranged as a fern. (as I only see the middle-ground of the left side is very good). if there is not fren(s) of plants, the whole layout will seems abit too complicanted.. too many lines... (forgive my english)^^

Just my opinion, hope you don't mind!! keep it up!!^^


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## Jessie

I appreciate your opinion very much Cliff! You have some great input and I agree with what you have pointed out. 

That weird-looking piece of wood you mentioned on the right is going to go either way, and soon. I will either allow the moss to fill in and push is back a little to only peek through plant mass, or remove it completely. I'm starting to lean towards complete removal because it is so bizarre. 

I'm going to work on pulling things together more to avoid two separate "poles" between the right and left. I'm working on growing in a nice frame-work of crypts on both sides so there can be more visual pull into the mid and background areas as well.

I definitely see what you're saying, and thanks for the input! It's an honor!


----------



## longhornxtreme

Nice tank! If only I could get my girlfriend to start her own tank


----------



## fishscale

My girlfriend likes comb algae out of my QT tank. She says it calms her


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## Jessie

wow.... I'd like to be relaxed by algae! If only!

Thanks guys


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## DonaldmBoyer

Nice work, Jess! Why not Cherries instead (or in addition to) Amanos? Whereas they don't clean quite as well as Amanos, their numbers would make up for that.....but I do love the tank.

As someone pointed out earlier in this thread, I may try securing my manzanita next time....could be interesting. Or just a huge pain in the butt!


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## papillon

Jessie said:


> wow.... I'd like to be relaxed by algae! If only!
> 
> Thanks guys


hi jessie! why not include an american flagfish to control some of your algae. i used them during the time my "HC Field of Green" was attacked by hair algae... here's the pic of my tank if you don't mind


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## Jessie

Hey Don! Haven't seen you around here in a long time! I fear Cherries would probably get picked off by my fish. If only they were larger! I do, however, have a little nano tank that I will post pictures of soon that will be housing some fun shrimps once I can get my hands on some.

I "secured" by Manzanita by simply piercing it deeply into the substrate and using some rocks to weigh certain points down. If I were doing it differently, I would definitly go the tie-wrap and slate method.


Papillon -- I remember your tank! I love how serene it is. Luckily, I've been fortunate so far and do not have any hair algae *knock on wood*, but I do have an issue with GDA. This is believe may be a result of trying to find the "sweet spot" of KNO3 and PO4 dosing. My small handfull of nerite snails seem to love it, but I may go get another Farlowella because I've had excellent luck with them in the past.


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## curt_914

Jess,
Good looking tank!! I am envious. I hope to eventually jump in to A Full planted Hi Tec tank in a couple years. Again Looking good, I will be having my 55 Gal South American tank up and Running in december I hope. See you around town!!

Curt


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## Jessie

Thanks so much, Curt!

Just do your homework, take your time gathering materials and have fun with it. Let me know if you need some clippings.


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## curt_914

Hey Jess Thanks,
I think I will take you up an some small clumps of the Jungle Vals, for sure. The tank is going to be a low light tank So If you have any excessive amounts of java fern I will take some clipping of that too. Any help in getting the plant stock up and going would be appericated. I am mainly looking into getting 2 medium size sowrds, My crypts, Some anibus, Vals an Java fern for this tank. The lighting is going to be A 130 watt CF fixture, No Co2 at this time. With Eco Complete and Play sand as a base for the substraight.

Curt


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## Tex Gal

I have a 125g community tank. I just got a CO2 and trying to learn how to use it. Your planted tank looks a lot like mine has in the past, minus the wood and tiny foreground plants. (Never was able to get riccia to grow since I didn't have CO2) I have driftwood and lava rock. I usually have a problem using too many varieties of plants. I just love the "perennial garden" look, all the textures, sizes, colors. I appreciated you putting your fertilizer schedule down. My plants are in dire need. I am going out tomorrow to get some at the LFS until I can get some bulk. I have had my CO2 in for 3 days. I wonder how long it takes to see some pearling on my plants? Do I have to have all the fertilizers balanced to get that? I saw your diffuser on Ebay. Do you think that works better than those with the bio-balls in them? I also have the same lights you do, but have 6700K in both units. I see you put 10,000K in one of your units. I was told that plants can't use that spectrum. Was that incorrect? Also, do you have your lights just laying on your glass on the top? I have done that for over a year and just in the last week have had the glass on one side break 2 times. The lights are fan cooled but for some reason I'm having trouble all of the sudden. I'm thinking I need to search for some type of holder but wondering if it will work in the middle on the glass brace. Sorry for all the questions but since your set-up is almost identical to mine I thought you might be able to help me.


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## Jessie

Tex Gal said:


> I appreciated you putting your fertilizer schedule down. My plants are in dire need. I am going out tomorrow to get some at the LFS until I can get some bulk. I have had my CO2 in for 3 days. I wonder how long it takes to see some pearling on my plants? Do I have to have all the fertilizers balanced to get that?


My fert. schedule is very tentative - I've been dealing with a bit of GDA and I'm also playing with the KNO3 levels. Red plants seem to have their best coloration when KNO3 is lower, so I am still trying to find that sweetspot. I'm still very new to the dosing game, so my understanding is very gradually growing. You'll notice your plants pearling once they are getting enough CO2, and the other conditions in the tank are good as well. My plants tend to pearl later in the day, after they've gotten plenty of CO2. Check out the For Sale or Trade forum, here. User Blacksunshine sells home-made drop-checkers so you can monitor if you're adding enough CO2.



Tex Gal said:


> I saw your diffuser on Ebay. Do you think that works better than those with the bio-balls in them?


In my opinion, yes. I tried the bio-ball diffuser and in comparison with glass, the fine mist seems to reach further in the tank and is easier to "grab" by the plants.



Tex Gal said:


> I also have the same lights you do, but have 6700K in both units. I see you put 10,000K in one of your units. I was told that plants can't use that spectrum. Was that incorrect? Also, do you have your lights just laying on your glass on the top?


I have four light units. Two of them have dual 96 watt bulbs. In both of those, I have one 6700K and one 10,000 K. 10,000K is absolutely usable by the plants - it IS at the top of the "optimal list", but usually people use 10,000k just out of asthetics. 6700K is a little yellowish to the eye, 10,000 is much whiter, crisp. I believe this combination creates a really nice visual appeal and brings out of the colors of certain plants. There is debate on whether or not actinic bulbs are usable by plants. Some say no, some say yes- to a degree.

My lights are resting on my glass canopy, yes. They only thing I need to keep an eye on is heat output. So far I have not had any problems with the glass. I do keep my heaters down so they only act as backup heating at night, if needed. I'm on the third story, very rarely have I needed to heat anything.

I hope this helps a bit! And thank you very much for the compliments! Create a thread for your tank, I'd love to see it!

Curt, cool! I will contact you when I can meet you - let me know what works for you too.


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## Tex Gal

Jessie:

Thanks so much for your help. I have a lot to learn. I think I will try my reactor for a little while and see what happens. I know the tank is taking in the CO2. I am trying to find a red sea drop checker. It was recommended to me by Billionzz. He sells the 4dKH solution and says he has tried many drop checkers including some DIY that he built. Looking forward to measuring the CO2. I have fertilizers on the way so I should be in business soon. I think the only thing I need to do now is reduce the size of my pea gravel so that I can plant the forground plants like the HC or riccia with their fine roots.


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## Robert Hudson

With all due respect to Jessie, I am amazed if she is running one little glass diffusor in an aquarium as huge as hers. Even Tom Barr who invented the whole idea of spraying mist bubbles on the plants says one diffusor in a tank over 100 gallons is ineffective. At the very least you would need two, one on each end of the tank, (so you have to rig up a splitter). This is if you buy into the whole idea of spraying bubbles on plant leaves, which has ben proven to be dubious at best.

In large aquariums people use reactors instead of diffusors. And most people have the reactor outside of the aquarium connected to the outflow of their canister filter. Now with a 100 gallon or 200 gallon aquarium I am sure you must already have a canister filter right? So why not buy something you can easily connect to it? A reactor mixes gas with water, a diffusor just bubbles gas into the water. Thats the difference between a reactor and a diffusor.

Now I know Jess has to buy everything from EBAY..

the power ball diffusor... is it this one?










This is an internal device, meaning it has to sit inside the aquarium, not outside. Why put more equipment inside your aquarium if you don't have to? Also, its too small for a 100 gallon or 200 gallon aquarium. Its only 6" long and 2" in diameter.

The Max Mix reactor is 12" long, 13" if you include the plug for the hose. It connects outside the aquarium to the out flow of your canister filter. If you do not have a canister filter, you can use a pump. It also has a propeller inside of it that breaks up all the C02 bubbles . It is extemely efficient absorbing all the C02 gas. It allows you to reach higher C02 levels using less gas.

The closest thing to it is Aqua Medic's Reactor 1000, which has bio balls instead of a propellar.


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## Tex Gal

Hey Robert and Jessie:

The Aqua Medic Reactor 1000 is what I have. It seems to be working well. I have 100% CO2 absorption. My pH is going down so I know it's going in. I have it on the outside, hooked up to one of my canister filters. Haven't seen pearling on my plants but I don't know how long it takes to get the CO2 up to 30ppm. Also when I started my plants sucked in all the nutrients I had in the tank. Just got some fertilizer and put a little in. Waiting for the good stuff I ordered. Maybe I'll see pearling soon


----------



## Jessie

Hahaha, hey, don't knock Ebay  I'm a student, gotta find the best deals! 

Thank you for sharing your input, Robert. I am by no means claiming to know everything, just sharing my experience/observation. I have my drop-checker at the opposite end of my tank, and it is reading green. My diffuser (Rhinox 5000) releases it's "mist" right beneath the outflow of my Fluval so it seems to carry. I SEEM to be putting enough in there, but...I'm no expert, so I'm ready and willing to absorb any info you're willing to throw at me! I'm always looking for a better way of doing it -- the Max Mix reactor eh? I shall look into this


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## skinns

Thats a crazy story. The size of the tank and your accomplishments is most impressive.


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## Jessie

Thank you Skinns! Luckily the scary-craziness has subsided. Now it's just plant-craziness.

So, which artist are you on Skinwerks? Tattoos are my other hobby; nice web design and portfolios on there!

Edit: nevermind, looked at your profile and figured it out myself. duh. AWESOME portfolio -- I believe I've seen a few of your interfaces before.


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## Questin

I changed from a reactor to a diffuser about 2 months ago, and I have had to up my CO2 a lot. It might be 3 times the bubbles now. I will be going back to a reactor very soon, and since you have the same size tank, I would look into this.

I hated the reactor because it was taking up too much viewing room, so I will be working it in behind some things this time, I also hated how I had to have a powerhead just for the reactor, but after 2 months of this, I can say the reactor is a better way to go with our large tanks. I would love to get the reactor inline with my filter, but the Fluval FX5 really does not have the tubing for this, that is unless someone knows a way.


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## jeff5614

Questin, If your FX5 has the same ribbed tubing as Fluval 404 you can hook up an external reactor with no problem. I use clear vinyl tubing from the cannister to the reactor. From reactor to tank the smooth rubber connector on the end of the ribbed tubing fits securely over a 3/4 inch barb.


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## Questin

FX5 has 1" diameter tubing and does 925 gph and stops every 24 hours to clear out air, so it really is not a good filter for inline anything. But thats for another thread, don't mean to take away from Jessies beautiful tank, just giving a heads up about CO2 for such a large tank.

Thanks for the info thou Jeff, I will still look into that possiblity, but I think I will be going to a 350 magnum with inline items and just have this second filter on the tank.

Jess, the tank is looking great =)


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## Jessie

*New pics - 11-5*

Questin! Thanks  You know... that's two pointers heading me back into reactors. Once I can spare the cash, I'm going to grab one of those Max Mix off Robert's store and use that.

Here's some recent shots of the tank. I'm still waiting for some crypts to fill in on the sides, but they are responding very well so far to their transition. I also removed the creepy sea monster-head piece of Manzanita from the right side. 



















Right side, after removing wood. Sorry about the glare!









The pathetic state my Alternanthera is in: 









An unclear image of Ludwigia repens and Polygonum:









Just for grins, here's Kazoo's new little sister who is definitely pleased with the big fish tank in her home. She seems to have a very close bond with the SAE's, I think they understand eachother.









and here's my WTF of the week. These little "eggs" are scattered all over, sticking to the glass, leaves, etc. I don't have any cories and that I know of, none of my fish would lay eggs that would stick to glass. How do nerite snails breed? That's the only candidate that comes to mind:









You guys like that nice algae on my Anubias leaf, don'tcha? 

all in all, it's coming along. I've begun piecing the HC apart and saying mean words to intimidate it into staying put.


----------



## Questin

Your cat pics are funny, always a goofy look from them =) Taking out that wood helped keep the focus on the tank and plants overall I think, the wood no longer sticks out like it use to.


----------



## gas

Really pretty tank
I like it. You are doing a very good job.
I can say this is nerite snail eggs on your leaves ... mine do the same and it's very difficult to remove them.


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## houseofcards

Jessie tank looks good. 

If Jessie's drop checker is correct it proves that the co2 is making it's way across six feet of tank, not necessarily with a direct mist on the plant leaves, but it's being diffused across that volume of water. I personally believe it is. I only run 158gph on my 72g and I've never noticed any difference in the plants on one side of the tank compared to the other side with my one ceramic diffusor. The plants grow, pearl and look the same. And that's 158gph out of the box it's more effectively around 80gph. I have similiar results on my 46g where I'm only running an eheim 2213 which is about 116gph out of the box. There is absolutely no difference in plant growth anywhere in the tank.


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## leelee

You certainly are diversified! Your last pictures show it really coming along, whatever your doing keep it up!


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## Jessie

Questin-
Thanks  My cats are my biggest critics, haha
I agree, too. I gave the layout a chance to work with that wood, but it became pretty clear that it was just too overbearing in general. So out it came!

House-
Thank you 
I'm always willing to increase the efficiency of my system, and I will gladly admit that I'm still "green" on the technical and scientific side of things. If it is possible that I can save gas by using a [correct] reactor, then that's a definite plus. I've done some research on the combination of diffuser + decent circulation in the water. Not necessarily surface turbulence, but I do try to maintain plenty of circulation throughout the entire tank to carry CO2 and keep the fish happy. Perhaps this is a good balance to strike?

Thank you very much Leelee!


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## Chuppy

Holy!!!! it's been a while since i visited this thread and that is very , i mean very beautiful and big tank.. everything is growing up real nicely.. all those vals were going-

Val #1: Let's reach for the lights!!!1
Val #2: Okay!
Together: weeeeeeeeeeee~~~~
Together: OUCH!!
Val #1: was there a rock??
Val #2 : no its the water surface.. we ran out of 'sky'... and i thought this was a big tank(it is though) =(

LOL just a little comic strip that appeared in my mind.. it's okay if nobody gets it.. i mean i sometimes even do not understand myself 

Drew


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## Jessie

Drew-
hahahaha! That's pretty much how they are. Actually, they're pretty upset with me right now because I chopped em up to let light through to the other plants.


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## redstrat

Wow, I can't beleive I haven't seen your tank untill now, looks great!! I really like your layout and woodwork the oportunities it gives to create points of interest are everywhere, it really works well for your tank size. I bet its even more impressive in person. Good luck with your Ludwigia Grandulosa


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## Jessie

Thank you Davis! I appreciate it. Like you said in your thread, Jason B.'s 75g was a ton of inspiration for me. Here's to hoping I can get my reds nice and red!


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## mott

Jess did you buy a reactor yet?
You seem like a DIY type of person why don't you build one yourself?

I didn't see that much foreground in the new pics.Did the HC you had die?
I think I see Blyxa? in some front spots now that could look nice as a foreground with a big ol tank like yours.Is that what you are trying to achieve?


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## Jessie

Mott -- I haven't gotten the reactor yet. Still needing some spare change to magically appear  But I'm still a little torn on whether or not I REALLLLY need it. Perhaps I'll split and do double diffusers? I would, however, like to get more out of less gas. So it's really 50/50 right now.

I am only quasi-DIY. haha! I might look into that though. Compare pennies.

The HC is just not agreeing with my fish. They tend to pull it up quite a bit, especially my emporter tetras who have been going through the spawning motions all week. However, last night I did get in there and firmly plant individual stems. Yes, that is Blyxa and it is HAPPY. Very explosive growth and I'm going to ride it out for a bit to see how the HC takes. I have thought about it before -- it is very likely that I will end up going with a Blyxa foreground since the tank is just that large. Or, splash in some chain swords or something of that sort as well.


----------



## Questin

The glosso I put in mine has started to take very well and is spreading all over the place, it was about 3 weeks before anything happening, but now it seems like new leaves are popping up all over the place daily. If you are looking for something that would cover the ground in a large tank a little faster, there is always Brazilian Moneywort. I know that might sound odd, but those leaves will get fairly big and ever one of them has a root system that will grab onto the gravel. Paperclips will keep it in place as you start out, just use one half of a clip and pin down the shaft. Its a pain I know, I am doing it now in a section of the tank, but it is working.

I put my reactor back in and left the CO2 at the same setting, and I noticed the bubbles increase from my plants a lot. Today I get my new reactor and will be putting that in, the old one was 5 years old and brittle so I needed a new one anyways, even if it was working better then the diffuser. Long tanks like these need all the help they can get.


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## Robert Hudson

I was just messing with you a litttle Jess! And trying to make a point about the reactor. If you are happy with it and it seems to be working for you, don't worry about it, but I think you would find a reactor much easier and more efficient. You could make one yourself as someone suggested. People use PVC pipe and other things. You have to take that diffusor out and clean it at least once a month or algae and sedimant will build up on it and block the pores making the bubbles bigger and bigger, (the bigger the bubble the more of the gas goes out of your water when it hits the water surface)


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## curt_914

Jess,
If you give me about a month or so I am going to be building a reactor for my tank. and I could just get some extra material and build you one to let me know.

Curt


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## orlando

Man, your tank is cool. You have done a good job and your hard work shows. Nice cat
by the way. Thanks


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## Jessie

Questin - the fact that you noticed so much difference definitely pushes me towards that option!
I acutally picked up some more plants yesterday -- a pot of Glosso just to try and see how it does (I'm all about experimenting), some Nasaea, Pogostemon stellatus 'broad', and Rotala sp. "magenta" which I think might be 'colorata.'

I also Switched out some of my bulbs on the foreground to 6700k and 10000k. Hopefully this will up the anti a bit.

Robert -- I definitely trust your advice, and it was definitely taken! I think I just may hook up a reactor.

Curt-- really? Wow that would be very kind of you. 

Orlando -- thank you very much! I should be posting some new pictures next week with my new additions


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## travis

Jessie, judging by the plants you just picked up it sounds like maybe you stopped by the store yesterday  The Nesaea sp. 'Red' is a very cool plant but I've had little luck keeping it red for long periods of time. Hopefully yours will be better. The Rotala magenta is supposed to be a narrow-leaved form of Rotala macrandra, but it's hard to tell until it puts out some new submersed growth. I grew the P. stellata 'Broad-leaf' myself and have been bringing it in to the store. It is one very robust plant. They should really help put some red in your tank.


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## Jessie

I sure was Travis!
My eyeballs shot out of my head when I saw the awesome plant selection. The guys mentioned that many of them came from your tank, too, so hopefully I can keep them just as happy.

Any secrets on what the Stellata enjoyed in your tank?

I'm aware of the difficulty of the Nasaea ... I figured it was worth a try! The tops have definitely responded and perked up in the last 24 hours, let's hope it agrees with my set up now that I've adjusted my dosing.

So the Rotala was grown emersed? It doesn't seem to have the leaf-shape of narrow leaf Macranda, but I'm sure that could very well change.

Those red-eye puffers you guys have made me shoot hearts out of my eyes. If I had more space, a puffer-tank would definitely be there!


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## Questin

Looks like we were all there yesterday. Its the place to be!


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## Jessie

Haha! Cool!

I've been passing positive juju mind-waves over to that store to get some Dicrossus filamentosus in.


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## travis

LOL, I'm really hoping to see more planted tank fanatics like you guys come in to the store. I'm sure they're out there.

I've got another customer who is looking for _Dicrossus_ too so I will definitely order some on Monday if they're available.

IME, the P. stellata 'Broad-leaf' is not really a very picky plant. I've grown it in everything from alkaline buffered Cichlid Sand (not recommended ) to Aquasoil and it has done well. It likes good light, CO2, and appreciates a lot of trace/Fe if you want it show its best color. It is not nearly as prone to stunting as the 'Fine-leaf' variety of P. stellata and, like the 'Fine-leaf' can get quite large (~5" leaf diameter and 3/8" stem width). I've got some in the display tank that is at least two feet tall now and still growing. It's one my favorites.

The Rotala magenta is showing some new submersed growth on a few plants that looks much more reminiscent of R. macrandra, though somewhat narrower. I'll be interested to see what it does in your tank.


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## Jessie

Oh I will definitely buy some Dicrossus from you guys if you can get them in! I've been looking for them for a LONG time.

I did notice how HUGE the stellata is in the display tank -- very impressive! It looks pretty healthy too with lots of full growth. What kind of lighting system is on that tank again?

The rotala is starting to throw out some fresh growth in my tank - it perked up very quickly. I'll see what it does over the next couple of weeks.

I also saw a few remaining cherry shrimp towards the back. Are they something that you guys order in from time to time?


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## travis

We do get cherry reds in occasionally. The tank in back should have around a dozen of them in it (along with several dozen shrimp of other species) but it is hard to find them because the tank is so large (for shrimp, anyway) and because of the amount of plant cover the shrimp have. The shrimp seem to love it, but it isn't a great way to show them off.


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## Jessie

I noticed  I only counted 2 semi-adults and one juvenile which took some major squinting. I thought about snatching them up, but my nano is not quite at the point where it's "critter ready."
I loved those butterfly barbs! Little bitty beauties!


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## curt_914

Jessie,
I isnt a problem I was thinkging about making 3 anyway. Also dont mean to hijack the thread but;

Travis I have been trying to get a hold of the store thru the website and no responces. I am looking for Echinodorus Bolivianus, Echinodorus Tenellus for my Bolivian Ram tank. I need about 4 plants Each. Could you see if they are available and what the cost would be?? Thanks in advance,

Curt


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## Jessie

*New pics 11-14-07*

Curt, you rock! Your vals are a-grownin.

So, here's this week's redundant update.

Tank needs a trim, a scrape and less collectoritis. But this wouldn't be Jessie's 125 if it wasn't at least a little crazy looking.









Angle









Left... holy Blyxa explosion. Crypts getting comfortable.









Center ... Also known as 'My picture taking skills are atrocious" AKA Hygrophila party AKA my unfavorite part of the tank right now.









Right ... begging and pleading for groundcover to grow in. Crypt wendtii "mi oya" getting comfortable as well. Time to trim the Polygonum.









Thinking I'm going to magically crack the secret to Nasaea sp "Red", here's a tad of new growth. Fingers crossed, but realistic.









(Travis,) Rotala "magenta" new growth, very striking.









Pogostemon stellata broad, getting comfortable.









Full tank.

Ps. My camera and I are against eachother.
Pps.








Here's a little something I working on.


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## redstrat

wow I like the changes I see, that blyxa looks awesome!! I still can't get over the sense of depth I get looking at your tank, I know its wide so you have a lot to work with but you really pull it off here with the jungle style, I've seen even larger tanks that end up looking much more narrow, its as if your tank doesn't have a back it just buts up against a natural val grove. the plants get so dense, in a good way that the perceived depth is far greater than it really is. 

so whats the little something... looks intersting to me  

keep the updates comming, its pretty tough for them to be redundant


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## Jessie

Thank you Davis!!
I'm so glad you're seeing depth in my tank - cause I'm not! haha. At least, not yet. I'm still waiting for my stems to completely recover from the move so I get them in dense groupings.

I have not applied a background to this tank yet. The Vals, Aponogetons and one HUGE Amazon Sword are doing that for me. I'm going back and forth on what I want to do with the sword. My tank is large enough to support it, so I may bring it out a little more and thin out more Vals to compensate for space taken from the stems.

The Blyxa is definitely ready to be spread out a little more, it's growing like wildfire! My crypts are finally perking up as well. I plan to have them frame both edges of the tank, as I have always loved the contrast between bright little HC/Glosso leaves and the dark textures of crypts.

Oh! and throw a party, my Alternanthera is finally growing!


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## redstrat

I think the lack of a background on your tank is helping with the sense of depth for me, maybe its the pictures who knows... looks great though  

there is an amazon sword in there? call me blind but I'm not seeing it lol. wherever it is it will definately grow and become HUGE!!! even in your tank I bet it will become a major focal point. I had one in my 75g a year or so ago and it took no more than 6months to outgrow the tank, and I only had DIY co2 for the last 3 months and NO root feeding just florite. when I removed it I think it was nearly 2' tall and very wide, it was consuming between 1/3 and 1/2 of my tank, beleive it or not it started at 4"-6" tall. I bet a rediculously huge sword could really make a major visual impact in your tank.


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## Jessie

Hahaha! Yea, there's a big sword in there alright. It's behind the stand of Hygrophila and is starting to stretch its legs. I believe it might be a Rubin sword. It's pretty dark. Either way, it'll be fun to play with it and see what I can accomplish with a huge focal point like that!


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## Jessie

Oh! Sorry I completely forgot to answer your other question.

That "little something" is a 2.5g nano. It's something I'm trying out really. Might get some shrimp!!


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## redstrat

looks like you've got both ends of the tank size spectrum covered lol good luck with the nano project, I haven't tried one yet myself but they look like fun, and a cool way to try out new ideas on a smaller scale, plus you dont have to fight with deep water cutting your light intensity. 

I'm still not sure i'm seein the sword, thought you said it was huge, lol that is a lot of hygro though I bet you could hide a horse behind it.


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## Jessie

Hahahaha! It is. It's just dark and my tank is so overgrown right now. The leaves are pretty slender and it's growing more WIDE than tall.

My HC in the nano is growing very well. I've also got a little buddha on the way in the mail to add it to it because yes, I'm ok with copying Oliver Knott. BUT, I collect Buddha figurines anyways.

Then I can get some Cherry shrimp and see what all the fuss is about!


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## jsenske

Very nice. So glad you made it through those early issues. Diligence pays! Seems Aqua Soil is performing pretty well for you now. Congrats!


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## SKSuser

Very cool! I miss stuff like this when I take a break from the forums. See, working while I'm at work really doesn't pay off after all. :-D

Have you replaced the 50/50 bulbs yet? I was underimpressed by plant growth in my friend's deep tank while he had them. The algae seemed to grow just fine though... :-| which is why I mentioned it.

PS, my wife is jealous of your tank.


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## Jessie

Jeff, Thanks so much! It means a lot. The AquaSoil is definitely wonderful, however I wish it had just a _little_ more weight to it. This could also be my impatience with the HC talking. 

SKSuser - thanks to you and your wife!
The 50/50's have been replaced with 6500k and 10,000K bulbs. It was a big "duh" moment for me, seeing how wonderfully bright the front of the tank is now. Seems like the Odyssea fixtures (or maybe just the new bulbs) are so much more intense than my other Coralifes. I can't imagine my Coralife bulbs being too dim, as they have only been used since Feb. But yes, the algae sure does love 50/50 light and I've had to hack most of my Anubias' apart because of it. Again, "duh."

In other news on the tank (since we're on the algae topic). I hate algae.
Seemingly every leaf of on all plants that is more than a few days old is quickly covered by it. GSA GDA. There's a very dark... almost reddish-black algae that grows on my Anubias. My Nerites like to lay their eggs ON it, but don't seem to show much interest in consuming it. Granted, I am still getting my dosing regimen finalized after being rather random with it to experiment. But my Alternanthera is slowly but surely starting to grow again and my Limnophila aromatica is really growing nicely. Yet to color up, but I'm being patient. I might have to seriously increase my iron levels. All I wanted was RED in there and it's been such a pain so far.

Still have plans to switch to a reactor, too!

I'll post some new pics soon!


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## DonaldmBoyer

Up your phosphorus, Jess! Like, double it. It'll help with the GSA.

You have BBA growing on the anubias, sounds like. Treat with syringe of Excel or H2O2....that'll kill it! You could increase your CO2 as well, which will help in preventing it too.

No problems, mate! I know how tricky dosing can be too!


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## Jessie

Phosphorus? I don't have any!! Don't tell me to go shop for some, I always end up turning into chatty kathy and buying other stuff too. 

The algae is colored similarly to BBA, but it's not bearded. Not fuzzy or anything. Just like green spot, but darker. Ugh.

I will try the Excel spot dosing! I've never had to deal with excessive algae before, so this is new to me!


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## redstrat

you dont have any phosphorus!! (definately explains the GSA) what are you using now?? have you thought about using dry ferts? especially on a big tank dry ferts can save a ton of $ plus you know exactly what your dosing and can adjust easily to meet your needs.


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## Jessie

Wait, am I mental? I am mental.

I'll up my dose.

I am dosing dry ferts, but you have to understand that I just had to watch a documentary on the marketing of *NASCAR* for school, so I'm pretty much useless right now.

I would just like to make this mention now that I am naturally BROWN HAIRED. Don't get any ideas.


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## SKSuser

Jessie said:


> documentary on the marketing of *NASCAR* for school


YAWN!
Now if it was Formula 1, that'd be a different story. 

Anyway, do your more current photos feature the newer lights, or are all the pics older than that?


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## Jessie

The last photos have the new bulbs  My photography is just so crappy that there's no way of differentiating the change. haha!!


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## curt_914

Jess,

What lighting fixtures are you using on the tank now? I just got a 130 w 48" CF, I am going to be getting 2 6700/10000k bulbs for it in a couple weeks. The fixture I got is an odyssea 48" cf, for my b-day a couple weeks ago. I should have your reactor built for the new year! Talk at you soon,

Curt


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## Jessie

You're awesome Curt, thank you so much! Please let me know what expenses I can cover for it.

The fixtures I use are two 36" Coralife Aqualights w/ two 96w bulbs in both. One 6500K and one 10,000K in both.

Then I have two 36" Odyssea fixtures. One containing a 96w 10,000K and the other containing two 36w 6500k for a total of 72w.

All CF.


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## Tex Gal

Jessie, where did you get your 10,000k bulbs that fit your 36 'Coralife Aqualife fixtures? Online? Did you switch them out to get less of the yellow look? Why did you add the Odysseas? Do you think they are the reason for the algae issues? So many people seem to say that the high light thing is overated (they even imply obsessive and unnecessary!). I have 3 wpg, you bumped yours up to 4.42wpg. (I was told I have too much light already.) I have been watching the Odessea lights on ebay and they do sound neat but that would cover the entire top of the tank. I would have to move them to feed/clean etc.... is that what you do now? I have also been planning on putting my lights on a 2 period photocycle instead of one long one as I have read that the plants don't mind but the algae can't keep up. With the 2 separate cords there are a myriad of possibilities. I have been fighting BBA since I just began EI about 2 months ago. I think I am finally winning. It's beginning to disappear - mostly. Maybe things are starting to balance out.

Ok so to be dumb - phosphorus? What adds phosphorus? I am doing the dry dosing. Are the phoshates phosphorus? Is that what davis.1841 means?


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## Jessie

Tex Gal --- I do indeed have a lot of light 

I got my bulbs online (can be a little hard to find), as well as at my LFS. Try: http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...ralife96watt10000kpowercompactlampstraightpin

I have a 10,000k and 6500k combo to reduce the yellowish tint, yes. I love the crisp look.

I added the Odyssea fixtures because my two Coralife fixtures were not penetrating the very front of the tank to create any sort of foreground. If I were to do it again for a tank this large, I would save a little more and get a Halide/T5HO combo instead of the compact fluorescents.

When I feed and clean, I do lift the Odyssea fixtures off the front of the tank and rest them on top of my Coralifes so I can access the glass canopy. This works just fine and is only a minor inconvenience. If anything, it deters my cats from sitting on top of the tank 

My lighting cycle is as follows: 264 watts on for one hour before the rest turns on. The tank is actually very dark when one or the other Coralife bulbs are off towards the back of the tank. The sunset cycle is the same. One hour of lessened light.

It is very clear that my amount of light has contributed to my algae. But in combination with learning a comfortable dosing regimen for my tank, the addition of AquaSoil and generally being a "new tank" again also contributes to the algae as well. I'm going to be outfitting a more efficient CO2 reactor (many many thanks to Curt) to replace my diffuser which will help as well.

Phosphates, yes  It tricked me too.

I wish you luck with your algae battles, you'll get there! I've noticed that Excel spot-treatment seems to help, as well as Farlowella acus and nerite snails to snack on the glass.


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## redstrat

Tex Gal said:


> Ok so to be dumb - phosphorus? What adds phosphorus? I am doing the
> dry dosing. Are the phoshates phosphorus? Is that what davis.1841 means?


Its not a dumb question at all. A source of Phosphorus is a vital part of the three "Macro" Fertilizers most people generally use for all plants NPK ( N-Nitrogen, P-Phosphorus, and the K stands for Potassium) We say Phosphates because they are chemicals produced when we add Phosphorus to the aquarium water. Chemical reactions occur when it dissolves producing phosphate ions. I know this is an extremely vauge but technical explaination but all I'm trying to explain is why in aquariums phosphates are the source of Phosphorus to our plants. To answer your question about where we get phosphate when using dry ferts, the most commonly used chemical is Mono Potassium Phosphate aka KH2PO4. The PO4 part is actually Phosphate.

I hope that helps clear it up for ya 

To add something the the lighting debate, intensity is just as important as photoperiod when related to algae issues. Personally I'm experimenting with Metal Halide lighting on my 75gallon, so far I've had some pretty decent success. I know with MH the wpg rules don't really apply but I have 300watts of HQI mh over 75gallons at a distance of 12", and I use a 6hr photoperiod. My plants are growing rediculously fast and look healthier than I've ever seen them, I have had a little diatoms but its about the same as I had with Power Compacts, plus its a new setup so we'll see how things go in the long term, like Jessie. Lighting intensity is definately a balancing act with photoperiod.


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## cs_gardener

Jessie said:


> When I feed and clean, I do lift the Odyssea fixtures off the front of the tank and rest them on top of my Coralifes so I can access the glass canopy. This works just fine and is only a minor inconvenience. If anything, it deters my cats from sitting on top of the tank


I'm glad the light fixture works as a deterrent for your cats. One of my cats (thankfully the smallest of them) loves to sit on the top of the light fixture to get warm. She only sits on top of the light for the 29 gallon aquarium in my bedroom, probably because it's a room she normally hangs out in and the tank is directly in front of the window offering excellent viewing of the yard. She was originally perching on a regular flourescent fixture that was only 4" across so she had to tuck her paws in neatly. I upgraded the light so she now has a Satellite Dual fixture that's twice as wide and she just sprawls on it. The downside is she got into the habit of just jumping up without really checking where she's going to be landing (I bet you can see where this is going). So this past Sunday I decided to clean the tank. I removed the light and the glass lid, scooped out a bunch of floating plants and went to dump them. Came back to water all over the outside of the tank, on the floor, across the bed, and on the far side on the floor. Another dozen feet of wet trail and there's a miffed cat cleaning her tummy fur (probably got a bit of algae and food from the rim of the tank smudged there). Has this stopped her from using the light as her own personal toasting bed? Not on your life. She does seem to be making sure her light is actually there to jump on though.


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## Jessie

Hahaha! I know how that goes Catherine. My oldest, Zoe used to sit on top of the tank all the time. It was her territory.

Now, since the move and addition of the other fixtures, I don't think she can figure out how to get up there. Even with a cat tree and gecko terrarium right within hopping distance.

Once, she jumped straight into the tank water as I was doing a big trim and had the canopies off. Luckily I caught her as I was standing right there, but she went neck-deep and scared the ever-loving bejeesus out of my fish. Not casualties, luckily.

I toweled her off and tried to pick all the duckweed of her fur asking "WHAT DID WE LEARRRN???" hhahaha. She was so freaked out she couldn't even meow, just lots of beeping.


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## Tex Gal

Ok Davis and Jessie - I do feel dumb. Of course NPK, how silly!! Thanks for humoring me.

Jessie where you referring to something like this - http://cgi.ebay.com/72-Metal-Halide-T5-HO-Aquarium-Light-Brand-New_W0QQitemZ330193834777QQihZ014QQcategoryZ46314QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem for the lights that you would get if you could do it all over again? I am not a DIY person. My husband already thinks I have entered the twlight zone and should get a pocket protector with all this fish stuff - no help there. (I showed him some of the member photos to prove that we all aren't nerds.) Whatever I get I need to have it ready made. I am wondering if I should try to fix my Aqualite fixtures or just try to sell them used and get the right thing. This unit has 15,000K and Actinic lights and super actinics - but he says will customize.


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## Jessie

Oh wow. That's an amazing deal on such a fixture. If I were you, I'd get it!!! Of course change out the bulbs for more appropriate Kelvin ratings, but yes. GET IT.


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## SKSuser

Heh. Now all you have to do is keep the rest of us from bidding against you.  

Lucky for you, I don't have a 72" tank.


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## hedson_25

nice tank...


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## Tex Gal

SKSuser said:


> Heh. Now all you have to do is keep the rest of us from bidding against you.
> Lucky for you, I don't have a 72" tank.


Not to worry... He is a wholesaler and will have more. I bet he even has a size for you!


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## Jessie

Thank you hedson!

You know.... tax returns aren't that far away... I'll have to ask him if he'll have a 72" by that time.

*thinks irresponsible things*


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## SKSuser

Yes.  
I noticed he also has the 24 and 48 inch ones at a wonderful price.  
They're bookmarked for christmas. We'll see.

Jessie,
I think the halide would add quite a bit to your tank. It would be irresponsible to not protect the investment you've already made. :heh:


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## rtman

very beautiful tank , im so glad you stuck with it , you,ve created something very special .


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## Tex Gal

Hey Jessie - Lets see your tank again. How is your foreground doing? I bet you have had a ton more growth. 

SO silly- I forgot about your nerite snails. I want to get some of those but am afraid my clown loaches will eat them. How do yours do with them? Can the snails out multiply your clown loach needs? I used to have MTS all over. Now I hardly ever see one. I know they have to be there because people say once you have them you always have them. Do you think the nerites are worth having for algae issues?


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## Jessie

SKSuser...you're a bad influence on me.  The halides would look amazing. *sigh*

rtman, thank you very much  I'm glad I stuck with it too. Granted, there was no way in hell I was going to walk away from such a big investment! haha

Tex Gal - I'll take pictures later tonight  The foreground is stupid. Stupid. Glosso is growing more upwards and the HC is basically a lost cause, even though I have a huge patch of it that I need to trim and spread out. The cories has decided that this patch is Fort Panda and enjoy wiggling themselves underneath it. Other than that, the growth on everything else is going well! I can't believe the explosive growth of the Blyxa. I'm going to take inventory and probably post a for-sale ad over the weekend.

The Nasaea sp. "red" is slowly failing. But that's ok, I sort of expected that but wanted to try anyway. The Limnophila aromatica is really growing well, but has not colored up. It's healthy and lush, but bright green. Not even tinted veins in the leaves. Depending on the weather today, I'm gonna go to the store and get some Flourish Iron to dose in conjunction w/ the Plantex. I really love the Polygonum sp. I have in there. It maintains color and has a really unique shape.

I love my Nerites. I fact, I need to get more. They DO make an impact on GSA and GDA. I can see their little tractor-pattern teeth tracks on the glass. My clowns don't touch them. I believe they are just too big and tough for them to bother. The clowns DO eat plenty of pond snail, ramshorns and MTS. They reproduce like crazy, but the Nerites just lay eggs everywhere. I believe Nerite larvae require saltwater to survive. Since I have cories and clowns and other shy fish, I tend to bottom feed the tank a little on the heavier side to make sure everyone gets enough to eat. This I'm sure nourishes the snail populations to supplement the clowns and have a crop to give to my new little pea-puffer in my nano


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## redstrat

I hate to say it but it really seems like your going to continue to struggle with any red plant or ground cover as long as your using Power Compact lighting on this tank, no matter the dosing, your limited by lighting here. Power compacts just can't get the intense light deep enough to make a difference. that is unless your vals or other tall plants are shading to much.

have you thought of trying riccia? its definately high maintenance but it might grow a little slower at the bottom of your tank.


----------



## Jessie

Don't confirm my fears Davis. We've already established that I'm emotionally unstable in Don's thread. 
Yea... I know. It's becoming very clear to me too. I'm gonna save up and take the plunge to MH one of these days.


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## BryceM

Don't wait too long! If nice reds are your goal, I really think you'll notice a huge improvement with MH lighting. There really isn't anything like it. For you 2 or 3 250W HQI bulbs would probably do it. Mine only come on for 4 hours a day, but it seems to really help, especially down near the substrate. There are some good on-line vendors with some nice ballast/reflector/wiring/bulb kits that won't be as expensive as the ready-to-go fixtures.

If you do it, be prepared for a little work. You'll probably need to find a new "balance point" with your fert dosing. Good consistent CO2 is the most important. Add lots of Fe, go easy on the nitrogen, crank up the CO2, throw in some MH, and watch the reds (and everything else) grow like crazy. The "shimmer" effect from the MH will add something nice too.


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## DonaldmBoyer

Can somebody please tell me the huge move to MH? I have two little MH fixtures on my 40 cube, and it seems like the light is very yellow.......does that really help? I wouldn't want a Jessie to put them on her tank only to have yellowish light blaring down on the plants that isn't very helpful for plant growth. How does that help bring out the reds of plants if the light coming out of the MH is close to the red end of the spectrum.


----------



## BryceM

This probably deserves its own thread, but there are two different issues here. The first is that plants often produce more red pigment in response to intense lighting. Metal halide is a great way to get this. It is not the only way. The second issue is that the same plant can look different under different light. Here, you need to be careful. The reds in my tank definately looked better after I switched to ADA's MH bulbs. Obvioulsy some MH bulbs are better than others. Many are pretty "yellow". Unfortunately, the selection is a bit limitted, with more choices available for SW applications than for FW planted applications. Surprisingly though, ADA's bulbs are priced fairly competitively. There are other acceptable options too if you look for them.

Personally, I think the "penetrating power" of MH is a bit over-hyped. Add an equivalent wattage of T-5 or CF (with good reflectors) and you'll probably get about the same benefit. It is easier to cram a lot of light over a small space with MH though. The shimmer effect is actually quite nice and is the real selling point IMO.


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## travis

Just as a side note to guaiac_boy's statement: I run MH lights over my 125G, too, and will attest to their incredible intensity. They truly do bring out the best in red, pink, and orange coloration in my plants.

Also: to avoid undesirable light color from MH bulbs in a planted tank it is advisable to use either the 8000K ADA MH bulbs (easy to find in the 150w variety, harder in the 250w type) or 10000K MH bulbs. The ADA bulbs are very nice, although I'm not a big fan of the "Green" variant of the 8000K MH bulb that ADA also sells. 10000K MH bulbs have a very strong white look and can wash out colors unless they're balanced with some lower K lamps like 6700K T-5 or CF. I use Giesemann 6000K Midday T-5s to balance out the white from my 10000K MH bulbs and I think they do a very nice job, providing a good rendition of natural sunlight.


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## DonaldmBoyer

Ha! Guiac said "penetrating"! 

Well, I hope that Jess gets those MH's then. What is recommended considering her tank size and that she is already running PCF's? Two 8000K MH's plus 200watts PC's?


----------



## Questin

Hey Jessie, I see you are still the talk of the big tanks =)

About lighting your 125, being that we have the same tank, I thought I would tell you how things are going in mine. I currently have two 36 inch light units over my tank, the All-Glass Compact Fluorescent 110 watt units. They both have two 10,000°K 65W bulbs in them and I do not have glass lids on the tank (because they kept breaking, and that is a common problem with All-Glass tops for the middle section). I have the lights on about 12 hours a day and I keep my pH at 6.7.

My Glossostigma has taken over every bare spot in the foreground, and it is creeping into the Tiger Lotus section.

I somehow got a single stem of Hemianthus Micranthemoides in the tank, and that single stem is now a bush of around 6 inched in diameter.

The Purple Cabomba that I put in the tank is doubling itself every week right now.

The Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Cuba' I got from Travis has a little red on top and grows to the water surface.

And that crazy bunch of tiger lotus are all coming out to play and I am now training them to sit up and roar!

125 gallon tank, 220 watts of light. 

You may not need to goto MH, but if you do I would recommend getting 10,000k bulbs. I have a few salt water tanks and my bulbs for those tanks range from 6,500k to 14,000k and the yellow from the 6,500k is not very attractive (its what I use in my frag tank, the coral love that light) The 14,000k I absolutely love! It is very blue with a strong white, and that is in the tank in my bed room and it makes an awesome look of strong clean ocean, but could be a bad color for a plant tank (I'll have to test that out one day). 10,000k is a great color of bright white for a plant tank.


----------



## Jessie

Wow guys, thanks for all the awesome input!

I will definitely consider MH down the line. It's something that I've always wanted to have anyways, so I might as well once I'm more financially secure. It's gonna be a long time though, my horsie passed away over the weekend so my credit card is now occupied with vet bills.

I would ideally like to get a MH/T5HO combo hood. Perhaps dual 36" or just one 72". I have well over 4 watts per gallon (I know I know...silly rule of thumb) of PCF, but that doesn't change the intensity. Glosso grows upright. Blyxa and Limnophila aromatica grow fast and thick, but the lack of color is driving me crazy. My Didiplis and Rotala get a really nice tint of orange and pink at the very surface of the water, but that doesn't count because I'm picky!

It boggles me because I see intense coloration in tanks with less light and/or same intensity that I'm dealing with. I'm still getting my dosing down pat but I believe this may be a testament to the notion that with big tanks, everything is different!


----------



## puttyman70

Jessie said:


> It's gonna be a long time though, my horsie passed away over the weekend so my credit card is now occupied with vet bills.


Is this the horse from the picture with the tattoo? Sorry to hear about your loss. It sucks to lose a long time pet. Like loosing a member of the family.


----------



## Jessie

Yup, that's my boy. He's been my best friend since I was 7, so it was a very shattering blow. But right now I'm in the denial/happiness to have known him phase. It's a definite adjustment not having his silly little neighs greet me. All in time though. I have another tattoo all about him so his "spirit" chin is resting on my shoulder always


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

I'm sorry Jess!  That sucks majorly!!

I know when I lost my first cat Mittens, I cried my eyes out. I was 24 or 25, and I was in my car and the tears kept rolling down. Then, I kinda had to laugh at myself because you have to realize that it was a pet, not a human being. Still hurts, though. They are like a member of the family, and remembering their little nuances that give them personality.

Just wanted to offer my condolences. For whatever that is worth to ya'.


----------



## Tex Gal

Sorry to hear that Jessie. 2 months ago I lost my cat of 12 years. He used to sleep with me every night. So sad, but his life was worth going through it. Good to look on that side of things. They're never really gone because we remember them!


----------



## Jessie

Thanks for all the support guys - it's very kind of you 

Parker was a very big deal to me and taught me more lessons than I can count. It was definitely a fall-down cry and still sometimes is, but I'm very grateful that I got to spend 16 years of my life with him. Plus, he's getting to eat all the heavenly alfalfa now that he has all his teeth again! 

Tex Gal, your kitty looks just like my Kazoo!  Pissed off, Jazz hands delight.


----------



## BryceM

Aggh. That sucks about your horse. When you mentioned how old he was I got a little nervous. He was probably something like 200 in dog-years you know......

About the reds, honestly I'd try nitrate restriction, good Fe supplementation, and position the reds where they won't be shaded. If all of that doesn't work, then try more light.


----------



## curt_914

Hey Jess Sorry to hear about your horse... How old was he when you got him?? If you ever want another one my grand pa breeds Paints down in rush, CO. 

Also it is always hard to lose a pet, cat, horse or otherwise... Just remember they will always be with you in one form or another.

Curt


----------



## Jessie

guaiac_boy said:


> Aggh. That sucks about your horse. When you mentioned how old he was I got a little nervous. He was probably something like 200 in dog-years you know......
> 
> About the reds, honestly I'd try nitrate restriction, good Fe supplementation, and position the reds where they won't be shaded. If all of that doesn't work, then try more light.


Yea, he was definitely up there. He actually had a bout with colic earlier in the year and was luckily saved. But we agreed that if it were to happen again, it would be a DNR situation. And of course he was too far into the woods his second time so he was euthanized. He was ancient 

I just don't dose nitrates anymore. I do 50% water changes every week and need to get off my rear and go get some Seachem iron to dose in conjunction w/ the Plantex. It better work!!



curt_914 said:


> Hey Jess Sorry to hear about your horse... How old was he when you got him?? If you ever want another one my grand pa breeds Paints down in rush, CO.
> 
> Also it is always hard to lose a pet, cat, horse or otherwise... Just remember they will always be with you in one form or another.
> 
> Curt


Parker was 16 when we got him from the CO Horse Rescue. Turns out he was an ex show horse with gold-mine bloodlines and was the last living grandson of a very famous Morgan sire.
Always wanted to own a Paint, even though I'm hooked to Morgans and Andalusians  We board w/ a gorgeous black/white overo with stunning blue eyes.
Does your grandfather have a site with his horses? I always like to look at bloodlines.
We won't be rescuing another horse anytime soon; I share two others w/ my mother. Parker was just extra special and mine 

Thanks everyone, Parker says thanks as well. He's probably chomping on peppermints and french fries, that glutton!!!


----------



## Jessie

Hi guys 

New pics of the tank. Keep in mind these were taken extra quick and are extra crappy.









I can't get rid of the hazy look. Notice the Glosso growing up? Jerks.









As you can see, there's some dark areas that I plan to remedy soon. I'm going to move some Blyxa over to the right to try to add some more continuous flow. As you see the Blyxa now, it's recovering from being hacked nearly in the half. The stuff just doesn't quit for me. Meanwhile, the Crypts on both ends are finally starting to fill in, so I'm happy about that.
you can also probably tell that my Manzanita has settled into it's own little comfort zones, if you compare w/ the photo in my signature. I'm not sure if I'm ok with that.









Some plant-age. Didiplis, Rotala, Alternanthera, Limnophila sp. mini, Stellata broadleaf, Vals, etc. Granted, the quality of the photos are so goofy that you probably can't really tell. I don't know what it is about my fish. Some people's fish will run the second they see a camera. Mine flock and I have to spook them away to get a picture.

Here's the nano that I've been working on. I'm proud to be corny and yes I totally ripped off the Buddha idea from Oliver Knott. This tank is still in progress, if ya can't tell. It's home to a Pea Puffer. Her name is a mixture between my best buddy, Gretchen and my name. "Gretchica" The brown goop on the center of the glass was an attempt to see if she likes freeze dried tubifex. She laughed, scoffed and zoomed away. Picky little priss.


----------



## Questin

Yeah, that glosso needs some light penetration, I wonder what you might have in the water. How often do you use carbon now? Maybe the wood is letting out a little something that needs to be grabbed out of the water with something.

One thing that caught my attention was when you said your fish don't run when you get to the tank. Maybe you feed them a little too much?


----------



## Tex Gal

WOW your vals are starting to fill in. Didn't know the blyxa gets so tall. Wonder if the hazy look is an algae bloom from the aqua soil. Been reading up a lot on substrates and the info out there says that everytime you mess with it, replant etc. it can trigger an algae bloom. Have your tried purigen to clear it up. Your Alternanthera is looking red.

What's your substrate in your small tank? What's your forground plant? Looks like it's really taking off.


----------



## Jessie

Questin,
Ya, that's some pathetic glosso huh? haha. 

I have Purigen in my Eheim and I need to replace the carbon in the Fluval. All things involving time and money in this current juncture. 

The fish are actually only fed every other day. They're also used to a lot of activity since my place is pretty small and the tank is right next to a high traffic area. Or maybe I'm just the fish whisperer 

Tex Gal,
The Vals, if you believe it, are actually thinned out significantly. Not only are they easy to grow, but they propogate quickly. The Blyxa gains a lot of height from the way they propogate as well.

The Alternanthera is starting to make a comeback, so I'm optomistic!

The substrate in the nano is AquaSoil Amazonia power-type and the ground cover is HC.


----------



## rountreesj

I will have to agree with all the guys sayin you're cute Jessie. its a relief to know that some chics actually dig all this nerdy stuff like fish tanks and video games...okay so maybe I'm the only the only one who enjoys both. but cudos to you for scaping a tank that size, I have enough trouble with my 55...lol


----------



## cs_gardener

Your plants are looking great and the overall look is impressive. I do miss the network of driftwood though, it really looked cool and most of it is hidden now.


----------



## curt_914

Jessie said:


> Does your grandfather have a site with his horses? I always like to look at bloodlines.
> We won't be rescuing another horse anytime soon; I share two others w/ my mother. Parker was just extra special and mine
> 
> Thanks everyone, Parker says thanks as well. He's probably chomping on peppermints and french fries, that glutton!!!


As for right now I do not believe so. I will gave to check with them.

Tank looks good jessie!! Cant wait to get my 55 up and going. Reactor will be coming to you like I said in a week or so. Buying parts this weekend.

Curt


----------



## SKSuser

I like that design on the wall behind the tank. What exactly is it? Its nice to see other portions of the room besides the mug shot of the tank.

I must admit, I laughed when I saw the terrestrial plant in front of the co2 setup though. It reminds me of the decorations I strategically place in a futile attempt to hide the mechanical stuff from my wife. 

I'm assuming you'll abandon the tubifex in favor of some live snails for your new puffer baby?


----------



## redstrat

WOW you surely are getting some serrious Blyxa growth! must be doing something right. I'm glad to hear your seeing a comeback from the Alternanthera, thats always been a finicky plant to me, I would have great success then it would stunt, I think its sensative to fert changes and the Ca/Mg ratio. If you let it grow tall I bet you'll get a nice red out of it, looks like its really close now  Probably going to be a common theme though if you can grow the red plants tall enough they will get the more intense light near the surface and really start to shine, some of them can be tough to grow tall enough though. By the way have you tried HYGROPHILA POLYSPERMA 'SUNSET' or Pogostemon Stellatus var. broad leaf? they might suprise you with your current setup. Carefull plant selection can really make the best out of just about any conditions. Good luck and keep the updates comming, Both tanks look great! 

The budda is workin for me in the nano, it definately adds the emotion of the tank if you know what I mean


----------



## Jessie

rountreesj, Thanks! I tend to keep the video-gaming tendency at work only. Sounds pretty silly, but we have a console and needless to say, the morale is high  Keep working on that 55 -- it'll come along!

Catherine, Yea me too. I'm going to start repositioning the wood back in more upright positions. At first I couldn't get it to sink. Now it wants to lay down all together 

Curt, cool! By that time, I'll have lots of clippings.

SKSuser, the design behind the tank is a Celtic knot tapestry in between some daggers. I've recently fallen in love with collecting tapestries, and as a result, have run out of wall-space 
Haha, that stupid silk plant is the "that's a not a big steel CO2 tank, what are you talking about?" distraction device. Also known as the kitten-jungle as they enjoy body-slamming it.
The puffer is now enjoying a diet of plentiful snails and bloodworms  I figured the Tubifex would be pointless to try, but figured there was a chance s/he might be attracted to the wiggling pieces in the current. Nope.

Davis, Ya, the Blyxa is out of control. Indeed it is very happy and grows really lush and thick. The Alternanthera is slowly getting brave and I'm confident that it will eventually go back to being really healthy like it was before I moved the tank. I actually have Sunset Hygro in there....it's the big thicket in the center of the tank. And guess what? The sun is not setting! :yell: I also have broad leaf Stellata in the back and it's growing, yet also not as vibrant as I know it can be. Basically, I'm trying pretty much any red plant that I can get my hands on to see what works and what doesn't. 

And I'm glad you like the Buddha... I collect those too! 

Thanks everyone


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

If your Sunset hygro isn't coloring even, you aren't running high enough CO2 or adding enough iron, chica.

Up those two especially, and have you begun to add Phosphorus yet? You'll need a lot of that too. Every other day with the iron and phosphorus!!! Because I am lazy and don't like to go back and read posts D), do you fertilize with micros and potassium often? The stellata needs that too!

Otherwise, the only other possibility that I can think of is that the plant/manzanita "canopy" near the surface is blocking needed light for those plants to color up nicely for you. It does appear that your lights are pretty far back, so you could move them forward by a few inches to see if that helps.

Hygro goes red easily, so I am even starting to get frustrated with this apparent lack of color that you are experiencing. GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Sorry; I don't mean to lecture. I hope I didn't come across like that......


----------



## hedson_25

i love the wildness of your tank....


----------



## rtman

Iwish i could somehow shrink , climb inside your tank and take a walk around , its beautiful. someday i will have a large tank and I hope its half as nice. nice start on the budah tank too.


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## Jessie

Don you're not lecturing, lol

I am currently dosing Plantex and Phosphate everyday. I also finally got my butt to the store and bought some Flourish Iron to add with everything. It's becoming apparent that the Plantex needs some assistance in the iron department.

I am dosing Potassium a couple of times a week.

Once I hook up a CO2 reactor (curt=hero), I am imagining I will get much more efficiency and won't have to increase. My drop checker is in the green, but I would like to see more pearling. There's a lot of GROWTH, but not color.

The majority of the Manzanita has fallen and doesn't canopy like the first few photos of the scape. If anything, I've been creating even larger "areas" for plants to have their own spot light just to make sure there isn't an issue there.

The entire top of the tank is covered with light. Every inch of the glass canopies are covered w/ fixtures (total of 4) up to the very front edge of the tank.

I vented on Travis for a good 10-15 minutes while I was at the store, hahaha! We all can't figure out why even the Hygro won't color up. It's pretty pathetic. Basically, I come home from work, crack a beer, sit in front of the tank and cuss it out.

Travis gave me some hopeful advice with the iron though. He's been getting great results with adding more than recommended fish-safe doses of iron and his fish are fine. Hell... if those altums are ok with it, mine should be too. I'm going to very gradually push the envelope until I see either A) color or B) stressed fish. Above all, the fish are my priority so if they say no, it's no it is.

*Hedson* -- Thank you very much  The wildness is a testament to my laziness/ attention span. haha!

*rtman* -- Thanks to you too! I'd like to walk around in it, too. Say "hey" to the cories and sneak up on the Emperor tetras in their afternoon naps. I'd probably ride the Farlowella like the luck dragon in the Never Ending Story, too.....


----------



## jaidexl

I'm surprised that pouty face didn't make the wood automatically sink. Heartless [email protected]$#@rds! 

Nice tank :thumbsup:


----------



## Jessie

jaidexl said:


> I'm surprised that pouty face didn't make the wood automatically sink. Heartless [email protected]$#@rds!
> 
> Nice tank :thumbsup:


Pretty much. Granted, I'm not quite done in the Chuck Norris school of Paralyzing Facial Expressions; I hope to perfect my skill over the next few weeks.

Thanks!


----------



## SKSuser

Nah, forget old Chuck. What you need are secret ninja moves from the government.

Anyway,
I thought I'd let you know that I spoke to the ebay seller after Texgal mentioned his hoods back on page whatever it was.

I thought I'd let him know that I was kinda partial to his 24" but was under impressed with his bulb color.
He said that he can swap the bulb for a different kelvin.
Oh yah! :heh:


----------



## jaidexl

> I'm not quite done in the Chuck Norris school of Paralyzing Facial Expressions; I hope to perfect my skill over the next few weeks


ROFL1


----------



## Tex Gal

SKSuser said:


> Anyway,
> I thought I'd let you know that I spoke to the ebay seller after Texgal mentioned his hoods back on page whatever it was.
> 
> I thought I'd let him know that I was kinda partial to his 24" but was under impressed with his bulb color.
> He said that he can swap the bulb for a different kelvin.
> Oh yah! :heh:


Hey if you are going to get a new light and I get a light and Jessie NEEDS to get one maybe he would give us a deal to sell more than one. ... What do you guys think??


----------



## Jessie

Group-buy deal of total amazement?

It's a possibility!


----------



## SKSuser

Perhaps, but barring the possibility of delivering it all on one of my wierd random trips to AZ where I drive through CO on the way there and TX on the way back, the secondary shipping would probably eat us alive.

Maybe our best shot is to get him onto the boards and then nail him when he gets all friendly. mmMuahahaha.


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

:hail: [smilie=w: :eyebrows: :hug: = :doh: 

'Nuff said......Yikes.


----------



## Jessie

Wait. What just happened?


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

So, Jess.....have we moved the lights closer to the front or started our Iron dosing yet? If so, what is the status of your Sunset? It should start showing hints of red if you have begun a few days ago.


----------



## Jessie

The lights have always been over the very front  The four fixtures are positioned to cover the entire top of the tank. AND IT STILL SUCKS. 

Iron dosing has begun. I'm going to do a large trim and water change tonight, as I am on a plane w/ a bloody mary in my hand come the morning!

The sunset Hygro hasn't shown any improvement yet. Stupid!

BTW... what does it mean when its leaves curl up and in around the edges?
EDIT: Duh Jess, do a forum search.

I've found a lot of mixed ideas on what would cause my Hygro to curl. Lack of calcium, magnesium or potassium for the mineral/fert deficiency theory. Too much light, lack of CO2, too much KNO3, too little KNO3. The reasons seem to be endless. I know my water is pretty hard. I no longer dose nitrate simply because of my medium-large fish load and hope for red pigments.

Ugh.


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

You are able to dose nitrogen, even with your fish load. However, I am not certain if that is causing your hygro to curl. I doubt that it is lack of CO2 because the hygro grows well even when CO2 isn't injected; and if you have hard water, than I would be surprised if your tank is lacking in calcium. Potassium deficiency usually results in yellowing of the leaves, not curling. Perhaps a lack of Boron, but you dose Trace, right?

I don't know. I'm sure some Star Trek nerd who knows more than either of us will know, though.


----------



## Jessie

I really meant it when I said I cuss at my tank every night. HAHA

I add the Plantex stuff which has Boron. And I pretty generous with it too.

Maybe it _is _Calcium. Darnit!!!


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

Basically, there are many instances where I show my tank a certain finger on both of my hands to say "I hope this makes you as mad as you have made me, so there."

With your tank, I would probably end up taking a baseball bat to it; perhaps adding cooking grease and igniting it aflame. How can you be so patient? 

Well, if you never get water spots on the outside glass, then you probably don't have enough calcium. I highly doubt that, though. Especially living in/around the Rockies.....you should have tons. Unless you have a water softener?


----------



## mistergreen

It depends on how it curls... But it's most likely that you're low on GH (calcium & magnesium).

You can get a premixed GH booster or you can make it yourself... 
I mix 2 tbls calcium chloride & 2 tbls MgSO4 (epson salt) & 4 tbls of potassium sulfate & 1 tbls of trace in 500ml of water... And squirt in 1-2 ml of the mixture in everyday.


----------



## BryceM

Leaf curling is a classic sign of calcium defeciency, but much of the recent buzz suggests that the probelm is actually casued by an overabundance of certain nutrients that can render the plants unable to use Ca effectively. Mostly this has been linked to NO3 excess, but it's usually worse in hard water conditions.

My suggestion is to add small but frequent doses of NO3, really work on increasing micro ferts, keep CO2 up, add a little PO4, and, most importantly, add supplemental potassium. There is a reason that ADA pushes "Brightly K". Plants seem to get enough K with heavy-handed traditional EI KNO3 dosing, but unless you're adding it in another form K deficiency can show up very quickly. Reds only get red when they're happy and growing like crazy.

Do a search of Kekon's recent threads about K, Ca, and NO3 dosing. He's been doing some good work with the "curling leaf" stunting thing.


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

WAIT A SECOND!!!!! BACK UP!!!!

I have used up all of my emoticon quota for the rest of the week, so add whatever smiley's you wish where you feel is appropriate.

-(that's a "minus" sign) 25 Cool Points for Jessie, and here's why:

People who are allowed to drink Bloody Marys:
1. The Emperor from Star Wars
2. Any older person who belongs to a country club and wears a green-tinted sun visor
3. Doctors or Judges
4. Dictators

Jessie fits none of these profiles, at least, not yet. Unless she really is some mid 50's, ultra-rich country club attending lady in early retirement playing golf.

Why anyone in their early 20's enjoys the taste of a drink mostly concocted of tomato juice laced with vodka and tabasco, with a stick of celery the size of a six year old's leg is WAY OUT OF MY LOGICISTICAL UNDERSTANDING, AND THAT BOTHERS ME!

Honestly, nobody who drinks that swill can tell me the purpose of aforementioned celery, other than the fact that it annoys me. Can somone please tell me the purpose of the celery? 

I would ALMOST say that you deserve your plant problems, but even I am not that sadistic.


----------



## mistergreen

it's a summer drink. 
It has to be like 103F outside & your air conditioner is broken for bloody marys to taste good.


----------



## Jessie

Thanks everyone for the input on the curling. I'm going to look up some more threads and most likely get a plan going for Calcium supplementation. Which baffles me, seeing how Denver water comes out in chunks.

But hey!! On the plus side, my regulator appears to be faulty. Either that, or I need some serious man-hands (my best buddy's husband) to tighten the seal because I only got a newly filled CO2 cannister two weeks ago and it's now empty! Did I mention I cuss a lot?


minus a million cool points for Don since he OBVIOUSLY doesn't get it when it comes to Bloody Mary's. It's a "breakfast" drink and you would know what I'm talking about when I say I love them if you've been to Belize and had a REAL bloody mary there. They make the best bloody mary's that it makes me speak in acronyms. OMG. Amazing. But, you have to be a V8 lover like I am. And a hot sauce fan...

But really, that's the only Vodka drink I really like. I'm more a whiskey girl. They call me Jess Daniels. And Jess Daniels needs to get her toosh into bed so she can get up in the morning to catch a flight to Vegas!!! I'll take pictures of the Mirage tanks while I'm there for everyone!

I appreciate all the input everyone  Have a splendid weekend.


----------



## BryceM

Adding more Ca is not the answer, especially if you have hard water. See my post above and the links to Kekon's recent posts.


----------



## Questin

my CO2 has done the same thing a few times. I have heard it leaking at times and had to tighten it up. What happens is the cold gas shrinks the seal and that is where the gaps get made that let out the CO2 in mass.

Just have to get the big grip tools and make it pretty damn tight the first time and check it once in a while. Also, every time I get CO2, I get new seals, most the time they just give them to me, I am sure your "Chick" Norris look will get you those seals =P


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

Yeah, -10^6 cool points for me because I DON'T LIKE V8, AND I AM OBVIOUSLY IN THE MINORITY ON THAT ONE!!!! YOU ARE A FREAK!!!  I will say that I like the "idea" behind V8, but the taste is horrid. I would rather eat dirt than take a sip of that stuff. Yuck! And you still haven't explained the celery.....is that some sort of breakfast item as well? To me, orange juice and champagne is a nice breakfast drink. NOT hot sauce and vodka!!!


----------



## mistergreen

guaiac_boy said:


> Adding more Ca is not the answer, especially if you have hard water. See my post above and the links to Kekon's recent posts.


You can have lots of Mg and little Ca, and vice versa in hard water.


----------



## jaidexl

I came to the conclusion that squirting a package of ketchup in my mouth is more enjoyable than a swig of V8 or bloody mary. I'm down w/ V8 Splash though, and hot sauce all over my eggs.


----------



## SKSuser

Bah. The good old sunset hygro. Mine is very wierd. When it gets more care, it doesn't seem to do as "good" for me.

I put good in quotes, because I like both looks. When its getting what all my other plants need, it curls, turns very red in the leaf, and white in the veins midrib and petiole, and grows compact.

I have another tank with enough light, but I don't give it any care past that. I tell myself the plants are getting nutrients through the fish food, but its mostly an excuse for laziness. Anyway, the leaf portions are very smooth with a bronzish color, the veins are red, and parts of it are currently growing recumbant (which IMO is awesome) while other portions are growing upward and aren't compact.
When I had my 55 set up, it sometimes grew recumbant, but it was curled.

I can't make sense of that plant. I just plan on it doing the opposite of what the other plants are doing in the tank.

Anyways, hope you're having a merry Christmas there in Vegas, and good luck with the hygro.


----------



## Jessie

Happy holidays everyone!!

Thanks everyone for the feedback! I've been back since Sat, but things are finally calming down in the life department so I can continue here 

I'm going to do some more research on the curling issue. None of my more "picky" plants are having this issue, so things shouldn't be THAT off. I need to do a massive trim this week and out of vacation mode with the tank. I love the Hygro because it's a quick grower, but I'll probably end up getting rid of it because ..... it's such a quick grower and is wearing out its welcome with this whole lack of coloring issue.

I put some serious [girl] force into tightening my regulator. I use a wrench to be sure, so maybe I need to check the seal and get some more plumber's tape for good measure. Regardless, this is the third time it's run out in a month. That's ridiculous. I keep giving it Norris looks, but cold hard steel doesn't seem to be phased :/ haha.

I'm a V8 FIEND. But it seems to be a love/hate drink, definitely. I could down a gallon of it a day, and bloody mary's extra hot are just my thing. Ketchup and V8 aren't even comparable! lol

And Vegas was great!!! Even though I lost. My brother and SIL came out over a grand ahead from their obsessive black jack playing. I hit a few good times on the slots, but not enough to break even. Eh! The nature of the game. I did get a free blanket and buffet from using my player's club card though! HA!

ps. check out the view we had! Upon seeing this, my friend and I made many very high-pitched noises.


----------



## slickwillislim

Check all of your seals with soapy water.

Were are you using the plumbers tape? If you have a washer you shouldn't have any in between the regulator and the tank. 

V8 tastes like dirt, really acidic dirt. 

And nice view.


----------



## redstrat

Jessie said:


> this is the third time it's run out in a month. That's ridiculous.


are you still using a diffusor??? if so whats your bubble rate? I wouldn't be a bit suprised to find out your not leaking co2 its just taking that much to keep 'adequate' leves in your tank. Definately try the soapy water thing though its a great means of finding leaks and such. I'd love to hear what kind of bubble rate its taking though with a diffusor in your monster tank.

Merry Day after Christmas


----------



## Tex Gal

I had the same thing happening with my CO2. I ended up having leaks around my bubble counter. Once I tightened them my CO2 lasted 2 or 3 months. Use soapy water and you'll see where it's leaking. Also the welding place told me that you don't need silicone tape on the threads. Several different people told me that. Good luck finding your leak.


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## DonaldmBoyer

I'm sorry, but do girls know how to use wrenches?  Remember, Jess: righty, TIGHTY; lefty, LOOSEY!!!!! HA!

Has anyone suggested the idea to this poor woman to use teflon tape? I mean three refills in a month????? I JUST got mine re-filled after a solid 14 months of use for my 100 gallon!! What gives? A leak that bad wouldn't need soapy water to detect......you would be able to hear the thing leaking. That type of leak has gotta be close to the solenoid.......


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## Jonesy

slickwillislim said:


> Check all of your seals with soapy water.
> Were are you using the plumbers tape? If you have a washer you shouldn't have any in between the regulator and the tank.





Tex Gal said:


> I had the same thing happening with my CO2. I ended up having leaks around my bubble counter. Once I tightened them my CO2 lasted 2 or 3 months. Use soapy water and you'll see where it's leaking. Also the welding place told me that you don't need silicone tape on the threads. Several different people told me that. Good luck finding your leak.





DonaldmBoyer said:


> Has anyone suggested the idea to this poor woman to use teflon tape? I mean three refills in a month????? I JUST got mine re-filled after a solid 14 months of use for my 100 gallon!! What gives? A leak that bad wouldn't need soapy water to detect......you would be able to hear the thing leaking. That type of leak has gotta be close to the solenoid.......


The welding place was right - CGA fittings don't need any teflon or plumbers tape. The seal is made at the flat face with the washer. If this face-seal is compromised you could epoxy the threads and all the CO2 will still leak out through the nut at the stem. The danger of using teflon on the threads is getting a stray bit in between the washer and face causing a leak. Check your washer to make sure it isn't damaged in some way, then like others suggest check for leaks with soapy water. Oh, and a leak that bad won't necessarily be audible - you'd be surprised how big of a leak it takes to generate noise. Hope you find the problem.

cheers


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## DonaldmBoyer

Humph, Jonsey! I was making that "audible" comment slightly tongue-in-cheek.  But, you are right. The tape wouldn't help you out, Jess the way the fittings are made....unless you completely stripped the threads. Do you still have that plastic washer, yes? I know that sounds pretty stupid, but sometimes we overlook the obvious.


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## Tex Gal

Maybe you need a new plastic washer? Mine was only lasting 1 week! I had leaks on both sides of my bubble counter AND.... I couldn't hear or see a thing - even tried spray windex like the welding place suggested. Didn't find it until I used soapy water. I went through 2 10lb tanks before I found where it was leaking.


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## JACK SOBRAL

Hello Jessie 
Beautiful tank, very natural layout ...!!! 
How goes the development of Hemianthus callitrichoides cuba?

HELLO PEOPLE ... 
I wish everyone a "HAPPY NEW YEAR ...!!!" that everyone can achieve their dreams in 2008...!!! 


That hug special 
JACK


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## jaidexl

8 times out of 10 it's the nut that's leaking. (ok, I have no way of knowing that, but that's what I think)

I'm a pretty strong guy, hold chipping hammers over my head all day at work, was able to break the original adapter loose by hand when I built my regulator, but I still didn't get the damn nut tight enough. Even though I followed Rex's advice to give her all she's got on tightening the nut, It still leaked everything out of the canister within 2 weeks and I caught it at zero, no audibles at all. After a refill and getting a new washer, I summoned the inner gorilla strength and tightened the bajeezes out of it until my face was beat red and my eyes were about to pop out. My hands hurt bad for about 5 minutes after, but there has been absolutely no leak since then.




Happy new year, Jack! And everybody!!


----------



## Jessie

I hope I address everything here 


This is my technical/mechanical expertise becomes laughable  This tank has been such a pain, I'm glad I love this hobby as much as I do. 

My regulator came with plumbers tape already on it. Silly me, I'm assuming that's the norm.

There are no audible leaks, either.

I should be getting a reactor installed here soon to ditch the diffusor.

I'm unsure of this whole soapy-water test, so I shall research that!

I wonder if the welding place will have washers? Why can't everything just be fixed with knives? I have plenty of those!

JACK - thank you and happy new year to you and everyone else too!


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## Tex Gal

Jessie said:


> I hope I address everything here
> I wonder if the welding place will have washers? Why can't everything just be fixed with knives? I have plenty of those!


I got extra washers from the welding place. Your's should have them too! Good luck!


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## Jessie

Awesome! I will give them a try then  Thanks.

On a side note, my tank is disgustingly over grown right now because I'm A) waiting to do a big trim to give plants away and B) have been busy with the holidays and C) so lazy. I pulled out a handful of water lettuce and some various trimmings to check on the inlet of one of my filters and noticed some really beautiful red tips of Sunset Hygro and L. aromatica that have been baking at the surface among duck-weed soup. So at least I know the coloration HAPPENS... but only when the tank is ugly and I can't see it to enjoy it.

HAHA.


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## jaidexl

They should be giving you new washers every time you refill to replace the old one. Or else you can get one of those Perma-Seals from Rex and they'll last longer.

The soap test is how I found my leak and every other one I've had in the past. It's the only way to go, I do it to all my setups, DIY or otherwise, as soon as I'm done building it.


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## Ultimbow

Hello jessie If your bottle still leak you can bring the regulator where you fill your bottle and they will check and fix for you but make sure to ask the prise before cause it might cost you more then the regulator itself. My regulator was broken at the pinpoit needle and they were charging me twice then a brand new one.

Me being a welder if you have to tight the regulator on the bottle with a wrench more then 1/2 a turn to finish tighting it somting is wrong with the seal or the thread has been damage from over thightning. If that the case use teflon tape but make sure not to put to much like it been said earlyer. Use the soap test with spray bottle to make sure everything fine after. Always do the test at every bottle change help prevent big leak. 

Happy New Year To Every Body.


----------



## Jessie

jaidexl & Ultimbow -- I will definitely make it a point to get a new washer this next time around. I'm still learning about the whole realm of welding-->home-->tank deal.

I'm going to try the soap test once I get a refill and make sure there isn't anything else I need to address. One thing is for sure, this is a major pain! 

Ok -- new photos as of last night. And ladies and gents, it's a Blyxa foreground for me. (at least for the time being). the HC and Glosso were just too.... too EVERYTHING I didn't have time for or could accommodate. So I've broken up my massive jungle of B.japonica and will be using that for my foreground until I find something else I'm willing to try.

Center of tank. That's the Sunset Hygro grove that only has a few more tries in it before moving on. Before I trimmed, there were tops that reached the surface and SAT there under the lights over the holidays. They turned nice and pink. But it doesn't make any difference if it can't be seen!









Center of tank. My fish are such hams.









Right-Center. I moved some of the twigs "back into position"









Left. Having completely overgrown and disgusting cleaned up a lot of the encrusting algae on the ferns and anubias. 









Angle









Full 









My largest/dominant Roseline









I love this picture-- my male Diamond tetras doing their regular evening dances.









Izzy and my male Sailfin molly - I joke you not - have become friends. He's the only fish she looks for and everytime she's on my lap in front of the tank, he comes up to her. Granted, you can't see him in the pic.









Tank has the only light in the room. The two glowing red dots towards the bottom are Kazoo giving us his best Chuck-Norris!









Tank as it is part of my goofy-girly apartment. In my first post, I was the crazy cardboard box lady after moving in. Well, now I'm the crazy DVD lady while my friend consolidates all his crap before moving out of state., haha.


----------



## Tex Gal

Your blyxa looks great. I like it has a foreground. The tank is big enough to carry it well. I love the one with the lights off! It's really pretty. It's like having the botanical gardens right in your own house. I love it!!

Cute with your cat and the molly. My old cat had a favorite cory cat. My new cat couldn't care less.


----------



## cs_gardener

Your tank is looking great. I agree with Tex Gal that the blyxa looks great as a foreground. I'm glad you've pulled some of your branches back up and into the open, they add a lot to the look of the tank. After all, why have them if you can't see them?

Love your kitty, Izzy - such a cutie. I wonder why only the sailfin molly has caught her interest. My cats find the long fins of my gourami and angels enticing and the fast, flashy giant danio also drive them crazy. Both interests are proven by the innumerable paw and nose prints on the glass. 

Those diamond tetras are beautiful, it's great how you caught them in action. How big do they get and do they school well?


----------



## jaidexl

I'm sorry Jessie, I might be missing it in one of these 25 pages, but what type of needle valve are you using? If it is a clippard needle valve plus low pressure regulator that was all the hype before Rex's other needle valve options came along, then I think the very first place you should soap test after the main regulator nut, is the tiny bleed hole on the low pressure regulator. That hole will bleed out about 200psi within a few days if the LPR pressure is lower than the main working pressure on the regulator, possibly even more, and IME has very little room for error. Just wanted to point that out if you have this part, sorry if I missed your regulator specs.

Further, if you do have an LPR that's bleeding, it needs to be cranked in more and the needle valve backed out to regain the target bps, or the main working pressure on the reg needs to be dropped to around 5-10psi, once it's below the setting of the LPR, the leaking will stop, but needs to be checked every few weeks if adjustments are made. Or you can do like me and call Rex for an NV upgrade. 

Whew! I hope I didn't just type all that for nothing, hopefully someone will get some use out of that info.


----------



## Jessie

Tex Gal -- Thanks! I just need to keep myself disciplined in maintaining the Blyxa. It explodes so quickly for me that within weeks it'll be completely out of control and floating up. 
My other two cats couldn't really care less about the fish. My oldest likes to sit on top of the warm lights, but Izzy's still so young that every day is a new discovery. She LOVES that tank. Perhaps I'll name her Molly. He's got hilarious floppy lips and is a total perv, so I think I'll call him Borat.

Catherine -- Nose prints, you betcha! haha. Izzy just got over a bad case of the kennel-cold so I still have to scrape off residual boogers from the glass. She likes the SAE's too, but is just enamored with the molly. It's adorable.

The diamond tetras stay around 2" total. In my experience with my original school's "kids" running around as well, the juveniles are going on roughly 8 months old and their growing has slowed. My oldest are probably around a year and half old and were full grown roughly 4 months after I bought them. They are terrific schoolers, too. Especially at dusk, they form a tight shoal and stream back and forth in the tank. Definitely a fantastic fish, especially in a large school. They're funny - before I owned them, I always thought that diamond tetras were very timid and fragile. Mine have shown that not to be the case. They are robust and very gregarious, but do not harass others. They stay out in the open and are always displaying to each other.

Thanks!

jaidexl - Your info is completely useful, thanks! Keep in mind I'm still very naive on the whole mechanical and technical side of these things, so I'm only quasi- "getting it" when it comes to this stuff. This is my regulator:

http://www.aquariumplants.com/AQUARIUMPLANTS_com_s_Co2_Regulator_The_BEST_p/co2-1.htm

It states that my needle valve is "Brass top quality "Laboratory grade" check valve (Clippard)(made in USA) "

And believe me, I'm *this* close to calling Rex. Speaking of Rex... where has he been lately?


----------



## jaidexl

Ok, you don't have the LPR, just wanted to make sure, they are testy little leakers for sure.


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## orlando

Thanks for sharing this huge thread. I just read the whole thing. Your tank is awesome!


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## Jessie

jaidexl- Ok that's good, even though I'm not quite sure what the differences are. Luckily I'm out-experienced by so many on here in cases like this =]


Thanks Orlando! I'm glad you like my tank. This thread is pretty huge, isn't it? Hopefully people can take something from it, even though a lot of it is just my relentless babble


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## Jessie

P.S.

Santa gave me a H.O.T. Magnum w/ a micron filter and if anyone is having cloudy water issues like I was, GET ONE. My tank was crystal clear within about 15 hours.


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## Fiki

Beautiful tank... and huge too. 

rgds,

fiki


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## Amazon_Replica

it is a great tank, I'm glad you got it back


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## JACK SOBRAL

Hello Jessie 
I would like to see photos of the actual tank and chemical parameters of the water. I will start the assembly of my tank week that comes and I think to change the layout of the aquarium frustration due to the waterfall and I will probably inspire me in your assembly, because both aquariums have similar structure. 
You replaced the carpet of Hemianthus callitrichoides cuba by which plant? (Byxa japônica?!) 
It was more natural and wild! 
Congratulations by the aquarium, one of the most beautiful of the forum! 
So ... You are to have problems with algae?


That hug 
JACK


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## redstrat

Your tank is looking REALLY Great!!! I love how huge all your plants look, most tanks can't pull that off it has to be really impressive in person


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## Jessie

Fiki --- Thank you very much! 

Amazon_Replica -- me too. I would have been a very sad girl if it had stayed. Thanks!

JACK SOBRAL --
Would you mind being more specific with the sorts of photos you'd like to see? I need to recheck my water parameters and post those later, since I rarely check them unless there seems to be a problem 
I'm glad you like my tank so much and that it can be of some sort of inspiration for you too.

I did replace the HC with Blyxa japonica, yes. The HC was too delicate, slow-growing and hard to keep planted with my fish and would often lose competition for space with the faster-growing Blyxa. I also believe that my light intensity wasn't enough for it, so out it went. I'd love to try HC in a larger tank again, however with this tank, I've learned to go with what works. And the Blyxa has yet to give me any issues, so as much as I wanted a HC foreground, the Blyxa works better  

Algae issues have been relatively slim in comparison to other tanks. Lots of green spot and green dust algae on my Anubias and Java fern leaves, as well as the tank glass. Over the holidays, my tank was pretty much left on its own which resulted in wildly overgrown plants that limited light significantly. After the period of prolonged shade, the algae was nearly wiped out on the newer Anubias growth. My tank is in that odd middle-ground where the light is too bright to keep Anubias algae-free, but not intense enough to bring out the colors I'd like in some of the stems. Oh well, though. The tank is sort of teaching me to let it go on it's own and follow it patiently. 

Davis --- thanks so much! It means a lot to hear that my tank is so liked here. I see it everyday, so I'm used to it and it almost loses it's charm


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## Questin

Ok, I need a list of your DVDs cause we need to do some trading you and I!

Your tank water seems to be a more clear from last time, and the plants look pretty happy, I like your new ground cover =) That rose line you have is getting to shark size! You better let that kitty have a bite =P

edit, I just saw post #242, glad the water got cleared up for you with that.


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## Jessie

Thanks Questin!

I can't sing enough praises about the HOT Magnum. Near instant clarity. I've fallen in love with my Roselines all over again because now that the water is so clear, I can see the plant colors reflecting off their pretty silver scales 

I've got a pile of DVD's that I'm going to buy off my friend and then the rest are going to be divied up between others in the group of friends. I got dibs though -- seniority for feeding him popcorn and whiskey! haha  But I highly doubt anyone is going to take "Hustle & Flow" and a few others, so if you want em... they're yours! Haha. 

I might have fallen into an incredible deal on a 20g Long w/ stand and lights. Fingers crossed!

Also, I want to thank those who covered shipping on the Blyxa I sold off before Christmas. Tex Gal, Neon Shrimp, Halibass & Helgymatt. Your shipping funds went to a local animal shelter, so your karma points are going cha-ching!


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## Questin

I love breeder tanks, I have a 33 long that I am turning into a shrimp farm once I get rid of all the salt water frags I have in it. I had to look up Hustle & Flow, never heard of that one, and I watch a lot of movies. Looks like I need to watch more =P

I have the mag 350 filter also, and it is used for that very reason, water cleaner. It is a perfect little filter and easy to go from tank to tank. For years it was the only filter I had on my 125 if you can believe that. More then once (more like 10 times) I let the filter go unchanged for too long and I crushed the media container because I let the prefilter sleeve clog up. Once that sleeve gets full of tank waste, it sucked that media container into itself and deforms it to a point it has to be replaced. Just a warning if you are constantly using it, but if it is being used for water cleaning only and the micron catridge is all you are putting in there that should never be a problem. Of course I have let the micron catridge go thru the same thing and its pretty funny what happens then. The filter will twist it and pull it down. As you can see, I used it a lot in the past, it is very worth it for anyone.

Oh, and if you are a Quentin Tarantino girl, Death Proof is my favorite movie right now, I recommend that one =)


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## Jessie

Don't even bother with Hustle & Flow. (I was being sarcastic when I mentioned it ) I watched it out of curiosity thinking it was going to be more of a "triumph over hardship" kind of deal and was let down immensely. Not only is the acting bad, but the music is bad, the subject matters are offensive (and I'm hard to offend) and the fact that one of the songs won an Oscar is just ridiculous. It is complete garbage. I like to walk away from a movie thinking I at least gained a new perspective or feel fulfilled. And the only thing I got from this was the under lying theme of beating prostitutes. 

ANYWAYS! Now that I've taken this thread to the most unlikely tangent possible....!
I've never had a breeder tank. In fact, most of my tanks have been on the tall and narrow side. Minus a 75g I had when I was 16 that was home to various South American oddballs. I would like to experiment with the different results I can get in plant-growth when it comes to depth and light penetration. Obviously it has been established that this is an ongoing issue with the 125g. But given the much different settings of a 20L....I wonder what I could do! 

I'll put Death Proof in my queue!


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## Fiki

Jessie,

I know how difficult can be having a tank such as 125Gal, like yours. For an instance, mine is 130Gal and all a time I'm trying to provide as much as possible to have plants and fishes satisfied. Sometimes it looks impossible to have everything in order.

Best regards,

Fiki


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## DonaldmBoyer

This is Don Boyer, respectully requesting an update, over.


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## Jessie

10-4!


Fiki - thanks! The tank is definitely a handful, but a fantastic handful to have around. Now if I could just get certain aspects to figure themselves out, I'd be set! You're right though. When the plants are perfect, the fish need some special attention. And in my case, the fish have been effortless *knock on wood* and the plants are giving me headaches!

In other news, my tank is currently CO2-less as I have had the flu for the last week and there is no way in the world I had the strength or time to lug a 20# cannister down three flights of stairs. So, we're on 4-5 hours of light per day and very minimal feeding to keep the algae demons away from me. I gotta say...it was awesome not having to trim this week! haha!

My java ferns have perked, which is fantastic, too.

Also, the HOT Magnum seems to quit on me every few days leaving tell-tale murky water, so I've twice now had to take it apart, check for seals and clogs and set it all up again. It just wouldn't be Jessie's tank without cussing! :violin:


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## redstrat

At least you’re able to adjust for lower CO2 in the mean time, and you’re still getting some good results. Things will get better  sure hope you feel better soon, I'd love to see an update once you are able to get things going full bore again. 

Ferns in my experience just take patients, more than mosses even unless you start with a ton of excellent specimens. They are hardy as hell but take a while to really pop in a new place as well as look like they were meant to be there. 

just keep doin what your doin and you shouldn't run into any major bumps in the road.


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## puttyman70

Jessie said:


> It just wouldn't be Jessie's tank without cussing! :violin:


That was funny. I think we've all been there.


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## TFMBIGDOG99

nice


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## kakkoii

WOW! that is an amazing tank! glad you got it back. It can be very hard aquascaping a tank of that size.

AMAZING!!!

regards,
kakkoii


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## Jessie

Puttyman - This has definitely has been a tank of testing. Before I tore it down and moved it, it was basically just a plant farm so I didn't encounter any of the issues I am now because I wasn't really TRYING for anything. But now, I'm definitely learning much more.

TFMBIGDOG99 - thanks 

kakkoii - thanks so much! I'm glad you like it. And yes, scaping this tank has been a pain, but worth it


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## curt_914

Jess,
Hope your feeling better. I sent you a PM but your reactor is ready!! I just need to know if you want the ball valves installed or not. Give me a call an let me know what you want to do. I hope to get the 55 up this month. I have to as the rams have seriously out grown the 10. To let everyone know I will post an article about my DIY Reactor if you want me to. It is basicly rex's design which I found very helpful and straight forward. Later,

Curt


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## 1ALFREDO

beutifull tank, beatifull fish, beatifull girl....... can be better?


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## waterfaller1

Fabulous tank Jessie! Great threads too..


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## Tex Gal

Hey Jessie- been waiting for a tank update... Are you feeling better. How is you tank going?


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## Jessie

Curt! Awesome. I don't know if I want the ball valves installed? What does that mean? HAHA. I'm clueless on the mechanics and parts of stuff.

I need to get my schedule squared away with school, but I can have $20, Vals, Swords and some other clippings for you once we're all squared on time and day.

1ALFREDO - Thank you 

waterfaller1 - thanks so much!

TexGal - I am feeling much better! Thanks! However, I still need to get my CO2 tank filled. It's been forever, I know. With school and the weather, it's been hard to lug the thing downtown to get a fill. However, I have noticed some major differences with my plants since the temporary change to no CO2, shorter photoperiod of high light.

I have changed my photoperiod to roughly 5 hours in order to dodge algae issues. However, the light is still full blast and all bulbs are on. I've noticed a few things:

1. My Blyxa japonica in the foreground definitely fares better with CO2 (obviously). However, there's a significant difference in the Blyxa on the side with 10,000K directly over it, and the side w/ 6700k directly over it. To the naked eye, I can't tell the difference between the light spectrums, but I'm seeing the the Blyxa under 10,000K is wimpy, pale and not as robust as the 6700k Blyxa.

2. My Myriophyllum aquaticum (at least, that's what I believe it is) has much thicker, less leggy growth with no CO2. The foliage has nearly no spacing on the stem. It's very foxy.

3. My Crypts and Java Ferns have exploded as well. Granted, this could be due to finally settling. It has been about 4 months since the tank was torn down and moved.

So, it's an unintentional experiment, but interesting nonetheless!


----------



## Tex Gal

Jessie said:


> I have changed my photoperiod to roughly 5 hours in order to dodge algae issues. However, the light is still full blast and all bulbs are on. I've noticed a few things:
> 1. My Blyxa japonica in the foreground definitely fares better with CO2 (obviously). However, there's a significant difference in the Blyxa on the side with 10,000K directly over it, and the side w/ 6700k directly over it. To the naked eye, I can't tell the difference between the light spectrums, but I'm seeing the the Blyxa under 10,000K is wimpy, pale and not as robust as the 6700k Blyxa.
> 2. My Myriophyllum aquaticum (at least, that's what I believe it is) has much thicker, less leggy growth with no CO2. The foliage has nearly no spacing on the stem. It's very foxy.
> 3. My Crypts and Java Ferns have exploded as well. Granted, this could be due to finally settling. It has been about 4 months since the tank was torn down and moved.
> So, it's an unintentional experiment, but interesting nonetheless!


So glad you are feeling better!!!

Very interesting indeed! Are you still dosing ferts? Have you added any excell? Except for the Myriophyllum the others are root plants. So have your other stem plants slowed down, making more carbon available to these slower growers?

Also interesting about the Blyxa. So that would contradict those who say the type of light is just a matter of aesthetics. Since transferring my Blyxa (formerly known as Jessie's) to ADA Aquasoil it has begun to get healthy and grow. I think it just couldn't get a foothold on my big pea gravel.

I have grown the Myriophyllum in low tech conditions and it is a FAST grower. It always was a leggy thing though. I never did ferts though so maybe that is the difference.


----------



## redstrat

Jessie said:


> My Blyxa japonica in the foreground definitely fares better with CO2 (obviously). However, there's a significant difference in the Blyxa on the side with 10,000K directly over it, and the side w/ 6700k directly over it. To the naked eye, I can't tell the difference between the light spectrums, but I'm seeing the the Blyxa under 10,000K is wimpy, pale and not as robust as the 6700k Blyxa.


You know, looking back on my experiences with Blyxa J. I've had similar results. I just never put it all together like this. Granted I can't quite pin all of the growth differences on lighting alone because I've grown this plant in many different substrates and lighting conditions but never really had any experimental control. I can only make generalizations from many varying experiences. I have however seen the best growth from blyxa j. generally under 6700k lighting as opposed to 8000k or even 10,000k. Granted I have achieved in my opinion pretty good growth under the other lighting options 6700k seems to be the biggest and most robust growth, even compared to 10,000k MH in aquasoil with regular ferts. There is a certain aesthetic value to the higher Kelvin bulbs though. Blyxa is also the only plant that I can remember ever showing color temp preferences like this. It's definitely interesting to see that you too have experienced this Jessie


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## curt_914

No prob jess, I am still in a holding patern on the plants but hope to know something in a week or so (Waiting on $$$ for tank supplies). But if you need to get the sowrds and vals out I can throw them in my 20 for now.

Talk at you soon,
Curt


----------



## Jessie

Thanks Tex!

Currently, I am dosing a few glugs of Iron and Potassium when I feel like it -- which is usually once a week. Nothing too special right now. The fish are fed, the lights go on and off and that's about it.

My other stems have slowed down, yes. The Bacopas are nearly stagnant, my Didiplis has slowed down considerably (even though it is also showing much more compact growth) and the L. aromatica has grown to the surface, but guess what? Has no color. Oddly enough, the Sunset hygro has tiny little veins of pink! But...we'll see if that lasts.

Redstrat -- That's interesting that you have experienced the same thing! It's amazing what having no CO2 and relatively bare-bones conditions can do to make some "true" behavior come out of the plants. Aside from the immediate over-head differences in light spectrum, both sections of Blyxa are in the exact same tank, with the same concentration of current, root tabs and substrate in general. In fact, I need to get on it and get my CO2 filled back up because the 10,000K Blyxa is really not happy. The 6700k Blyxa is maintaining it's color and thickness, but is growing much slower, obviously.

Curt - I'm still get some school stuff out of the way, so I might have to push further into the weekend. I'm in no hurry to get rid of the swords, but if you want em, I'll bring them when we arrange a time. I'll give you a call this weekend if everything pans out!


On a side note -- I got my package of Pfertz "reject bottles" the other day. I'm looking forward to experimenting with them to see what kind of differences they may yield from my previous EI method!


----------



## Tex Gal

Hey Jessie, do you think that we might get that beautiful red look in our tank if we put those 9325K bulbs in the single strip fixtures? Or do you think it will just look weird in the front?

Have you seen this thread?
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/science-aquatic-lighting/723-9325k-difference.html


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## DonaldmBoyer

Yeah.......it's the LIGHTING'S fault that you guys aren't getting your Red's. Not at all YOU! 

You can change the colors of the bulbs, but until you get a regular fert regiment that includes a ton of iron and phosphorus, you aren't going to get your reds! My eyes are rolling in the back of my head so hard that they are about to detach from my retinas.

monkey pointing at your Aquasoil


----------



## Tex Gal

DonaldmBoyer said:


> Yeah.......it's the LIGHTING'S fault that you guys aren't getting your Red's. Not at all YOU!
> 
> You can change the colors of the bulbs, but until you get a regular fert regiment that includes a ton of iron and phosphorus, you aren't going to get your reds! My eyes are rolling in the back of my head so hard that they are about to detach from my retinas.
> 
> monkey pointing at your Aquasoil


Maybe it's your eye problem that can't see our beautiful reds, right Jessie?


----------



## Jessie

HEY NOW DON. Gear down, big shifter, GEAR DOWN! :boxing:

Even when I WAS dosing with lots of iron and phosphate, I wasn't getting color. What's the deal?

AND....The stems that are supposed to be red are planted in the Flourite/pea gravel back of the tank. The AquaSoil is only in the front.

PSHHHH!!




Tex - my fixtures won't fit the 9325k  Even though I love em!


----------



## Jessie

Hi everyone. Time for a not-much-has-changed photo update!

It has been interesting to watch things change with the lack of CO2.













































I really need to create a sense of continuity from the left to right side. It's very unbalanced.

Like I was talking about earlier ---
10,000k Blyxa:









6700K Blyxa:









Critters:









HOPE!!!!!!!????


----------



## BryceM

There's nice red in those denisonii barbs!!! JK. 

The tank looks great. Keep after it and those colors will eventually pop out. You can always find some red wendtiis or some Polygonum 'Sao Paulo' to jump start things.


----------



## Jessie

Bryce,

haha! Well, at least you have a very valid point. I spend so much time complaining about the colors of the plants, when really, I am VERY grateful for the health and vitality of my fish. Those Denisonii are seriously some spectacular fish, they are worth every cent!!

Once I get my CO2 refill, regulator mystery solved and get things back into some sort of normalcy, I'll focus on the the plants again.

*Dwight Schrute voice*
QUESTION. If I were to score a MH lighting system but could only get my hands on a 48"... would the light disperse enough to compensate for the 12" on both sides that wouldn't be directly covered? I have never used MH, so I have no idea how the light spreads in comparison to my stupid PCF's.

Obligatory cat picture.


----------



## redstrat

Jessie said:


> *Dwight Schrute voice*
> QUESTION. If I were to score a MH lighting system but could only get my hands on a 48"... would the light disperse enough to compensate for the 12" on both sides that wouldn't be directly covered? I have never used MH, so I have no idea how the light spreads in comparison to my stupid PCF's.


it would probably spread enough, the great thing about it is in planted tanks we like our MH bulbs to be farther from the surface of the water to cut the intesity a little and make them a little more uniform. if you look at my tank, i have 2 bulbs over my 4' tank, they are pendants though so I can spread them how ever far I want them to be, they are centered on the two openings in the top of the tank, so really they are 1' in from each side and 1' from the center too. the bulbs are also more than 1' from the surface of the water, and I get a lot of stray light outside the tank right now(issue i have a solution for but no $ to followthrough with it) anyway, the bulbs light every corner of my tank far better than PC's could have ever done even with the best refectors on the market. the guestion I guess I have is how are the bulbs spaced in the fixture your talking about? can you tell or even approximate also are the HQI's or regular MH bulbs? definately dont spend the cash till you know it will work for you.

Dwight: Brain teaser. I have two coins totaling 15 cents and one of them is not a nickel. What are they?


----------



## Jessie

The second one is a nickel 

BEARS, BEETS, BATTLE STAR GALACTICA!


Ok. That works. I don't have a specific fixture in mind so I'm unsure of what I'd end up getting. I do know that it would end up being suspended over the tank or hung from the ceiling, that I can guarantee. Not sure on the bulbs, either. But I figured I would ask before approaching this concept further. 

Thanks for the input!


----------



## redstrat

Jessie said:


> The second one is a nickel
> 
> BEARS, BEETS, BATTLE STAR GALACTICA!
> 
> Ok. That works. I don't have a specific fixture in mind so I'm unsure of what I'd end up getting. I do know that it would end up being suspended over the tank or hung from the ceiling, that I can guarantee. Not sure on the bulbs, either. But I figured I would ask before approaching this concept further.
> 
> Thanks for the input!


don't worry about it, your tank is lookin great even though you haven't been able to do everything you want with it. I forgot to mention you can pretty much estimate your MH needs by figuring 2'x2' spread for each 150w bulb at an average height but you could possibly stretch it to a 3' square by raising it, but also losing a little intensity, with fw plants you'd probably never notice though but the top middle and corners may be a little dimmer.


----------



## Tex Gal

Beautiful growth! Everything looks so happy and healthy! It really is a pretty tank. What a difference with the blyxa. That is amazing!

Yes, I see your sunset hygro getting pink!  and I don't see it near the top in the big px. so it sounds like you are on your way! Now you just have to sit back and wait for it to grow taller.

One thing that you could guarantee red at a lower level is a red tiger lotus. I see you have a variegated one. I can't believe it's a light issue. You have so much light now. I'm getting reds the 3 wpg - same fixtures. It has to have something to do with the water... So weird. I know you have tried so many things.

LOVE THE CAT!!! Love his white little wiskers.


----------



## duzzy

Hi Jes, 

tank looks spectacular from where you started until now, awesome

Regards Darren


----------



## curt_914

hey jess tank is looking great even with no Co2!! Just let me know when you want to get your reactor. Also do you need A Buble counter or do you have one??

Curt


----------



## Jessie

redstrat - Thanks for the pointers! Many of my plants can deal with some dim areas. If anything, I'd have a reason to re-scape a little and move anything needing more intensity beneath MH, if I even end up getting it.

Tex - Thanks! I'm keeping a close eye on that pinkish hygro, and making sure I keep adding iron in order to maintain it. If some sort of change occurred that I'm not aware of, I want to keep pushing it forward in hopes that I can maintain some sort of pinking equilibrium haha!

Kazoo is Chuck Norris in cat form 

Darren - thank you 

Curt - so sorry about the lag! It's been a crazy couple of weeks with finances and mostly some hefty school projects. I've been sort of a prisoner to it lately. This coming week should let up a little, however -- I'm going to give you a call on Tuesday. No need for a bubble counter, I have one on my regulator. Thanks though!!


----------



## gibbus

Hi mam I was wondering if your having a hard time with HC as a carpet because of lighting issues, why not try a low light carpet lke marsilea? just my two cents
Its sill a nice looking tank though


----------



## Jessie

Hi Gibbus! Thanks! Right now I'm using Blyxa japonica for my foreground plant. However, it gets pretty unruly in my tank so I doubt that will last too long. Once I get a more organized idea of which direction I'd like this tank to go in the future, Marsilea is my #1 choice for ground cover. I actually have a little bit of it in my nano!


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

Hope? You call that little bit of light pink/green hope? Tsk, tsk. 

Maybe a red sharpie would help in your quest, Jess? Heh, heh! Spray paint?

In all honesty, though, your tank is kickin' major tail. You don't really need any red coloration in there anyways, you know?


----------



## gibbus

marsilea is easier and more forgiving IME when it comes to lighting and CO2.


----------



## Jessie

Donny, you're out of your element!



But I want reds!! SO BAD! What's the deal?! I dunno. We'll see.
Thanks though! It looks great from a distance, and then as I inch closer to it, I cry and cuss. haha

Gibbus - That's what I have experienced as well, in my little nano as well from the experiences of others. I'm sure I will end up using it down the road!


----------



## Phil Edwards

Jessie,

I feel your pain! I've got R. rotundifolia 'indica' and 'colorata' in my 20 that's pushing 130w of light and I still can't get my plants red/orange/pink. The greens are nice but the other colors just aren't showing up well.  

I really enjoy the look of your tank. One of the styles I've always wanted to do was a big tank with lots of thin branches and a forest of different plants. There's something very gratifying about seeing a school of fish swimming around in what could be close to an actual natural environment. Keep up the good work!

Kazoo is adorable! I think we need a planted aquarium lolcat with him as the star. "I is in ur tank, stealing ur macros!"?


----------



## Questin

Hey Jess, my tank does not do reds either, I try them and they do terrible. The Red Tiger Lotus are a different story but not really that red of a plant. If the plant is mainly green and some red can get into it, a tint, a hint, then it will do fine, but red reds are out out.

We have Red Rocks, and Garden of the Gods in Colorado, but we can't get red in our tanks?

What is the secret?!


----------



## Jessie

Phil, you have created a monster 

I actually have a picture of Kazoo doing something next to the tank, but I can't find it right now. I will make one! For now.....










Anyways. The reds are definitely driving me crazy. As soon as I get my CO2 back up and running, I'm going to try the Travis method of pumping as much Iron in there as possible without becoming toxic. Even when I was on a set schedule of EI dosing (I nearly cut the KNO3 out), I couldn't get the push of red. Which is why, despite having a lot of *watts*, I feel as if I may not have enough intensity.
Thanks for the encouragement!

Questin - I hear ya. Maybe I jinxed my tank when I dyed my hair red......


----------



## Questin

Red heads, always trouble. I should know, my mother and brother are! =P


----------



## BryceM

Jess,

About them reds..... Just for fun, would you mind restating what exactly you're using for light? What fixtures, what bulbs, what photoperiod, what reflectors, etc.

Despite having plenty of watts, I still suspect the light has something to do with it. Oh, and, didn't your CO2 run out ages ago? Getting that going again will help tons.


----------



## Jessie

Bryce -- Here's my lighting set up:

2) 96wx2 Coralife CPF fixtures. Both holding 6700K and 10,000K bulbs. Bulbs are probably about a year old now. Time to change regardless.

2) Odyssea PCF fixtures. One holding one 96w 10,000k. The other is a total of 72w with 6700k bulbs.

Reflectors in all fixtures are stock -- I'm going to assume aluminum?

All in all, 552 watts/ 4.4wpg

For the time being, while my CO2 is empty, the photoperiod is about 5 hours.

I should be getting my CO2 back up and running this week, pending finances. The reds were struggling even with the CO2 however. I'm stumped.

My plans are to replace my glass canopies as well because the hard Denver water creates a caked on sheet of gunk that I can't scrape off. I'm sure that effects the diffusion of the light.


----------



## aquanut

i tried forever to make my plants redder by reducing nitrates, never had any success with it. 

in my tanks, red plants are all about intense lighting.


----------



## Jessie

aquanut - I'm going to agree with you on this one. That seems to be the only thing I haven't tried.


----------



## jaidexl

I seemed to get more purple hue out of my A. reineckii by keeping N at 5 or less, I have no way of confirming that was the reason though. And given that other things started to suffer from it, I've bumped back to 10ppm. The AR seems less purple-ish these days, for what it's worth.

You can always experiment with iron and micros, I remember I was keeping root tabs under it then as well.


----------



## aquanut

it just stands to reason... 

my reddest plants are usually the ones closest to the lights. even on stems with multiple shoots, the ones closer to the light are redder than shaded shoots of the same stem.


----------



## Questin

grats on TOTM!


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

Congrats, squirt, on TOTM! 

You aren't going to get brilliant reds running a five hour photoperiod, I do know that.

Of course, you don't need to listen to me anymore b/c:

TOTM for Jessie=1 TOTM for Don Juan=a big fat stinkin' 0 

Moving to ADA contests now?


----------



## Brilliant

Congratulations on tank of the month. You deserve it.

I am glad aquanut has cleared up the confusion on the red color. 

Keep up the good work!


----------



## Jessie

Questin, thank you! 

DONNN - thanks! And, the Hygro has only colored up after the photoperiod was reduced. Strange huh? I'm at a loss. But yea...lack of CO2, very little dosing right now and the short photoperiod puts me in no place to wonder at this point. It'll get back on track hopefully soon.

Brilliant, thanks to you too! 

This TOTM thing is really flattering and makes me giggle. When I found out, I fell down a little 
I told the guys at work and solidified my strangeness


----------



## duzzy

Hey Jess, congrats on tank of the month the work you have put in is warranted great stuff. And what do work people know! lol

Regards Darren


----------



## redstrat

CONGRATS ON TOTM!!!! you definately deserve it Jessie!!


----------



## Jessie

Thanks so much guys  I appreciate it.

The guys at work are used to me. My brother is the boss, so there's plenty of "back in the day" mullet jokes going back and forth. ;P


----------



## Questin

Are you looking for any plants? I am about to do a trim of my Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Cuba' because it has tammed my tigers and is now the boss of the tank.


----------



## Jessie

Oooh! Maybe! How demanding has it been for you?


----------



## Questin

Its weed like, I will go take a pic, I will update my thread so I dont go off topic of your tank here


----------



## andrew__

I would trade you my bright pink sunset hygro to be able to grow b. japonica! 

Wish I could tell you what I did to make it colour up, it just sort of did one day.

Have you tried using excel while your CO2 is down? I gave up on CO2 'cause pressurized is not in the budget and the liquid rock I have to deal with makes diy on a 75gal an unrealistic task.

Also congrats on totm :-D


----------



## duzzy

Hi Jess, 

aren't mullet jokes the best lol people with mullets cop a flogging (teasing) down here in Australia but the biggest laughable mullet i think is Billy Ray Cyrus lol

Regards Darren


----------



## ed seeley

duzzy said:


> aren't mullet jokes the best lol people with mullets cop a flogging (teasing) down here in Australia but the biggest laughable mullet i think is Billy Ray Cyrus lol


Don't know about that, one of the props for your Rugby Union team had got the worst mullet ever in the World Cup!

Back on topic..., I love your tank Jessie, wish I had the room one the same size (or bigger!). Congratulations on the TOTM!


----------



## Jessie

andrew, duzzy and Ed, 
Thanks so much 

I had a pretty bad mullet back in the day. Kind of a scary bouffant/rat tail mix. wow.... 

About lights:

http://www.fishneedit.com/150w-metal-halide-pendant-lig.html

I like these. A lot. Does this seem a little too good to be true?


----------



## BryceM

Looks good to me! The only downside is that it comes with a magnetic ballast. Electronic ballasts are supposedly better, but off the top of my head I can't remember why. You'll probably need two or three of these for a tank of that size. They say one 150W MH is good for a 2'x2' area. You may end up going with a different bulb. I used some 6,700k halides for a while and it made everything look yellow. I ended up going to ADA's 8,000K bulbs and REALLY like them. The major disadvantage is the $85 per unit price tag.


----------



## gibbus

I think magnetic ballasts can be noisy and also causes sometimes the light to flicker but they are cheaper.


----------



## Jessie

I've never used MH, so this is good information to hear. I can deal with a little noise. But I would like to be assured that the low price isn't suggesting something 

So... you believe three would be necessary? the 2'x2' guideline is good to know. Here's what I could do:










The yellow are obviously placements for MH.
The green are my two smaller PC's that I would keep.

Depending on plant placement, I might switch the third (if I need it?) to the other side of the center brace. Then again, I'm novice on just how MH light spreads, so it's entirely possible I wouldn't need to do that.

HMMM!


----------



## Tex Gal

:cheer2::clap2:Congrats Jessie!! TOTM WOW!!! As much as you have futzed, tweaked, trimmed, and work so hard, it sure has paid off. I can imagine how great you must feel!!! Way to go, girl!!


----------



## Jessie

Thanks lady! It's neat; I'm definitely honored


----------



## BryceM

The height of the fixture above the water makes a difference. I'm assuming your tank has a single center brace. I think it might look a bit odd to put one off-center. My lights sit about 12" up from the surface of the water and easily spread out to cover the entire 2'x2' footprint at the surface. I'd probalby just mount the middle unit dead center and realize you'll loose a bit of light to the brace. If you are closer than 10" to the water the brace will be an issue though.

The other option is to use 2 lights and center them over each opening. I suspect two lights would provide pretty good coverage if you get them high enough, but then you risk lots of light spillage into the room. Intensity also wouldn't be quite as great, but then sometimes that's a good thing. If the main goal is to produce better coloration two units will be plenty, especially if you're supplementing with CF. If 2 MH's don't get the job done, adding one more won't help.

Before you make the plunge make sure you're prepared to see some drastic changes in the tank. Some of these will be algae-related.  CO2 and a solid fert routine will beome much more critical. You'll be pruning more  /  but your ability to grow a good foreground carpet and the color in the plants should be much improved .

You'll also be able to fine-tune the photoperiod to just where you'd like it. Most people run MH's on a planted tank for only 4 or 5 hours per day.


----------



## Questin

I think its either 2 MH centered over the tanks open areas, or go with T5s

Now, I looked at their T5s a few weeks ago, and I e-mailed them to ask them about their T5s and they were unable to answer my questions.

If you ever needed any kind of parts, you would have to go back thru them because I was unable to find these same lights anywhere else. Plus I found no one that already had some lights from them.

The price is very good, but their service is lacking as is their knowledge of their own product.

They also have one reflector for all the T5s bulbs, and you really should have a reflector for every single T5 bulb. This is one of the reasons they are so much cheaper in their T5 unit.

Looks a little more into T5s first, less heat, more color spectrum, more options in arrangement.


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

Along what guaiac boy suggests; I would only run MH for a "burst" period, Jess. It will be helpful for you, but you don't want to leave them on for too long, or you will likely end up with pea soup!


----------



## Jessie

So many options. HMM.

I like the MH fixtures because I can clamp them on the back of my tank. However, when it comes to light dispersal, hanging them might be the best option. Would replacing (4) 96w CPF's with (8 ) 39w T5's give me the same/comparable results as MH?

Ok. I'm going to do a Dr. Zoidberg and deduce things.

MH Pros: shimmer, intensity, penetration
MH Cons: heat, dispersal, algae

T5 Pros: penetration, less heat
T5 cons: these particular fixtures only come in 10k "blue" and 10k "white", no dreamy shimmer.

Obviously the WPG rule sold of goes out the window w/ big tanks like mine, so I'm really not considering that too much.


----------



## BryceM

Jess, I went with 3 of these:

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1532

You could certianly get by with 2. They seem to be fairly decent units and the people at hellolights were actually knowldegable and very helpful over the phone. If you go with these I'd order them without bulbs and find some ADA 8,000k bulbs somewhere else, assuming you can stomach the price.

These reflectors are retrofit units and probably would look best inside of a cabinet or hood, but you could use them as a free-standing unit if you wanted to. They're not as flashy as the ones above but the balasts are probably quite a bit better. You'd need to figure out some way to mount them. I really like the glass lenses that keep the bubls from getting splashed.

If you wanted a fancier hanging unit, these would be nice and not too terribly expensive:

http://www.hellolights.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=547

T-5's are certainly nice and would be perfectly fine, but they really don't hold a candle to the MH's. When I first set up the system I almost decided to go strictly with T-5's. I'm sure glad I didn't. It would have been cheaper in the long run (cheaper bulbs, bulbs last longer) but honestly I don't think I'll ever set up a large tank again without MH's over it.

The shimmer effect is something that is hard to appreciate until you see it in person. As long as it's not in an enclosed hood the heat isn't that much of a concern.


----------



## Jessie

See that's what I'm going back and forth with right now... price vs. shimmer, essentially. I know MH would create the sparkle I love, but at the same time, T5's would just be just as efficient and not as expensive. I'm going to shop around and do some more comparison. It is very clear that I need to upgrade... I guess it will just be a matter of preference!

The guys at the store had a returned 72" 3x 250w MH w/ 8000k ADA bulbs and Geissman (sp?) T5's. All for $800. If I was foolish, I'd go for it, hahaha!


----------



## travis

It actually has 3 x 150w MH ADA 8000K bulbs and 8 x 39w Giesemann Midday T-5 lamps. It would be a great fixture for your tank if you want to spend that much. I really like the color of the ADA MH lamps and the Giesemann Middays are the best T-5 daylight tubes I've seen so it's the best of both worlds light-wise. But it is pricey and some might consider the total wattage overkill.


----------



## Jessie

Oh really? I was told 250w, but still that's a lot of light. And a ton of money that I don't have. Sure is an attractive setup though! Wooooweee.


----------



## nickman

wow, just blazed through all 33 pages and I'm def impressed. awesome tank. love the manzanita branches, great fish and nice collecting of plants. also, congrats on the TOTM. 

i have a few comments based on recent discussion.
1. take some muriatic (sp?) acid to your glass tops to take the hard water stains off...or lemon juice.

2. As a reefer (guy with a reef tank not a Phish fan  ) i am a big fan of both MH and t5s. that light with both for 800 actually sounds like agreat deal but might be overkill. I have, and love my IceCap ballast driven MH set up and am getting ready to finish putting together an IceCap t5 set-up which I hope to replace my MHs with. Power is big $$$$ here in MD and t5's will def save power. I'd recommend 4 or 5, five foot bulbs (as long as they get, unfortunatly) on high quality reflectors, over-driven on a good ballast. not sure how big on DIY you are though. you'll need fans as well to make the bulbs last longer and burn brightest.

3. Those lights from fishneedit.com look just like Aqua Medic pendants but at about half price...unfortunatly no company is giving away high quality light fixtures in this hobby, we all know that.

4. if you do go with MH try 2 x 250's on lumenarc or lumen max reflectors. should get great coverage (around 3' by 3') and with a good bulb (XM are big with the reef crowd) get great growth. that way you cut down on bulb costs and ballast costs. the reflectors are about 100 each but you only buy those once. bulbs are good for about a year depending on who you talk to. in theory you break even on the reflectors in a year.
....ok, its 2:42 am, time to go to bed.

keep up the great work
-nick


----------



## Bert H

Hey Jessie, belated congrats on TOTM! :thumbsup: Rotalas - are they supposed to be red???  I am beginning to think AS and soft water are musts to have that come to fruition. Good luck!


----------



## Jervis

Very natural looking tank you got there... amazing!


----------



## Jessie

Nickman, thanks so much for the great input!! You mentioned Aqua Medic pendants -- seeing how I have no personal experience w/ MH, is this a bad thing? I'm wary of them simply because their prices are SO much lower than any other retailer I've seen - but at the same time, attracted to them for the same reasons. And thank you for the lemon juice pointer!!!

Bert--- thank you very much! Unfortunately Denver water is pretty hard. I do have AS, but not enough of it to cover then entire footprint of the tank. Only the foreground. But hopefully if I upgrade, I can push those reds out. 

Thank you Jervis!

So right now, T5's are the front-runner. If I can get the same penetration for a lower price, I can deal with no shimmer. What is definitely selling me on the T5's is the price. If I were to swap out my two Coralife fixtures, I would be replacing them with two T5 fixtures -- for a total of 8 x 39w T5's. That's going from 384 watts PCF to 312 watts T5. I would still keep the supplemental PCF 96w and 72w over the front of the tank. So I would be taking a hit in wattage, but yet again... in big tanks...

Right now, I just really need to think about the price tag and the efficiency for my dollar. I LOVE Metal Halide, but have to keep it realistic with my budget.

So... I dunno. haha


----------



## Questin

When it comes to T5s, watts per gallon is out the window. You would go down in watts, but it wont matter, T5s will be able to do everything your old lights did and more to be honest.

I have MHs and the heat and electricty cost are too much of a con if the only real pro is you were wanting to get that shimmer. I never notice the shimmer to be honest.


----------



## Jessie

Yea... I realize the WPG thing is mostly out of the window w/ tanks our size. But I'm still a little programmed to notice. The power and heat (and cost) are definitely the big drawbacks to MH. The more I think about it, the more inclined I am to go w/ T5.


----------



## BryceM

Jess,

As you can probably tell, I'm a huge proponent of MH, but honestly T-5's are fabulous. You'll really appreciate them a year from now when they're still working and you don't need to replace the bulbs. Most people say you can use them until they burn out, which probably won't be for a couple of years.

If you go that route, I'd suggest installing them such that you can vary the number of bulbs that are on at any given time. I think it makes lots of sense to use a 10 or 12 hour photoperiod with only a few lights with 4-6 hours of more intense lighting in the middle. Also, you'll be able to ramp up the light levels gradually, which might make the transition period easier. Absolutely make sure you get the reflectors that clip directly onto the bulb. They're much more efficient than a solid mounting. If you end up going with T-5, there are a few bulb combinations that will make reds stand out better.


----------



## redstrat

guaiac_boy said:


> If you go that route, I'd suggest installing them such that you can vary the number of bulbs that are on at any given time. I think it makes lots of sense to use a 10 or 12 hour photoperiod with only a few lights with 4-6 hours of more intense lighting in the middle. Also, you'll be able to ramp up the light levels gradually, which might make the transition period easier. Absolutely make sure you get the reflectors that clip directly onto the bulb. They're much more efficient than a solid mounting. If you end up going with T-5, there are a few bulb combinations that will make reds stand out better.


thats a great point and one of the biggest benefits of t-5 lighting, since your using more bulbs if you set them up correctly or have a decent fixture you can control the number of bulbs lit at any given time allowing the ultimate in photoperiod control. thats one of the MH drawbacks, if your sole source of lighting is MH. with t-5 or PC you also get the added benefit of being able to mix and match color spectrums to create your own overall appearance of the tank from the lighting, accenting cetain colors and really customizing it.


----------



## Jessie

Thank you, thank you, thank you all so much for this great info.

I'm feeling 90% sold on the T5's. Like I'm already doing w/ my CF fixtures, I can maintain individual bulb control and vary photoperiods, so that is a definite plus.

While the "FishNeedIt.com" fixtures definitely have a tempting price, I don't like the fact that they don't have individual reflectors. But still, with price being a major factor, I'm looking at these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...Track=true&ssPageName=VIP:Watchlink:middle:us

36" 4x 39w. Individual reflectors. $129.99 not incl. shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/36-SOLAR-T5-AQU...ryZ46314QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

36" 6x 39w. Reflectors, $199.99

http://cgi.ebay.com/36-SOLAR-T5-AQU...ryZ46314QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
4x 39w, reflectors, $149.99

These are all from the same seller. Having fixtures that don't necessarily match is not a problem for me. I'm looking at the inside of the tank anyway.

*gears turning*


----------



## puttyman70

I just noticed this thread has had 35,735 views. lol. Go Jessie, woot woot. Long overdue for tank of the month!


----------



## nickman

those are great prices on the fixtures but, unfortunatly, not all individual reflectors are created equal. you could probably get away with 1 or 2 fewer bulbs per side with really efficient reflectors. Sunlight Supply has a new design out and IceCap's SLR reflectors are both great. they put 300% more light into the tank than a bare bulb to put it into perspective. An inferior design will still be much better than a flat sheet of metal but go for efficiency. less bulbs, less juice, less money in the long run on a higher initial investment. 

I def agree with the multi switch point and that you can tune your lights almost infinitly with the number of bulb choices out there. Look into geissman aquablue plus bulbs to cut some of the yellow if you prefer a whiter look. great PAR values although im not sure how well those apply to plants vs. coral...should be the same. 

Im so glad im only setting up a 9 gallon planted tank....for now.

ok, back to cell bio homework.

-nick


----------



## ingg

I thought long and hard about using a different brand of T5 fixtures when I set up my 180g, it would have saved me a couple hundred dollars. In the end, I bought TEK's. (Should note here: I'm looking at those Catalina fixtures for an upcoming 75g, hehe.)

I'm not bashing Catalina's fixtures at all, I think they are nice, and they did redesign and address the individual reflector thing. Haven't seen one in person yet, but it will do nothing but improve the old single flat reflector design. CurrentUSA recently released a revamp, called Extreme Pro's, also with individual reflectors. 

Why'd I bit the bullet on the TEK's? They are proven, I knew what I'd get. I'd seen them in action in friends' tanks, and it was unreal. I don't regret that money one bit - some of the best money I spent in the setup, honestly.

They don't use fans, which was a plus. They don't come with legs, but do come with hanging brackets, which is what I wanted to do anyhow (and we can show you a very inexpensive and easy way to make a very nice hanging bracket setup). They are typically outfitted with Geisemann bulbs, which I knew I wanted to do as I'd used them on other fixtures and really liked their color. 

Funny thing about those bulbs. Total cost comparisons ended up much closer than I thought looking at list prices anyhow, mainly due to bulbs. The bulbs added cost to all other fixtures I was looking at, as the "savings" of buying a fixture with bulbs went out the window, once I knew I was going to use Geisemann bulbs.


PS IMHO there is no way you need 6x39 fixtures for a 125 unless you are pondering turning it into saltwater someday. I'm running 4x39 (twice, obviously) in my TEK's over a 180g, and you saw my tank's growth...


----------



## Jessie

Nick, ingg -- thanks so much for all this wonderful information. I truly appreciate it -- it's very helpful.

The Tek lights seem to be the best out there for T5's. The *only* thing that is stopping me right now is the price. While I'm sure they will pay for themselves over time, the cash is immediate right now. So perhaps I should just wait until I can afford the Tek's. Unless there is anyone who wants to do a group buy!? 

Puttyman -- thanks! haha. I'm still shocked at how much traffic this thread gets.


----------



## Fishonthebrain

WOW.

Nice tank yada yada, but that is not why I am posting.

You know this is pretty wierd Jess. We have um... not to be creepy...A LOT in common.

List from this thread so far-

Named jessica
125 gallon tank
3 Cats
Manzanita
Still say things relating to Chuck Norris
Have something to do with belize
DRINK when you said your buds call you jesse daneils i nealry died laughing
Um I thought there was more to make you go OMG but now that I type it out its not really THAT much.

Oh yeah almost forgot girl on a fish forum. I think you also said something about threadfins which I also love and have a few of.

Good luck getting them reds!


----------



## Jessie

Fishonthebrain said:


> WOW.
> 
> Nice tank yada yada, but that is not why I am posting.
> 
> You know this is pretty wierd Jess. We have um... not to be creepy...A LOT in common.
> 
> List from this thread so far-
> 
> Named jessica
> 125 gallon tank
> 3 Cats
> Manzanita
> Still say things relating to Chuck Norris
> Have something to do with belize
> DRINK when you said your buds call you jesse daneils i nealry died laughing
> Um I thought there was more to make you go OMG but now that I type it out its not really THAT much.
> 
> Oh yeah almost forgot girl on a fish forum. I think you also said something about threadfins which I also love and have a few of.
> 
> Good luck getting them reds!


Hi Jess! 

That's so neat - it's always good to find people who are so similar in this hobby. Not a lot of us girls - especially with big tanks! I love your kitty. Sometimes I make my oldest girl wear a Puppy-Love dress when she's been naughty 









You can't see it on her, but the top of the dress has Dalmations. She hates it, haha

I'd love to get some threadfins one day. I just don't think they'd be appropriate for my tank with where it is right now.

I just saw your thread--- BEAUTIFUL tank. I'll go post more on it in a bit.


----------



## jay973

rayer:Jesse I'll start by saying I'm jealous and inspired.rayer:

So I went home and went to town on my 120gal tank which was just over grown and ignored. I've had very little luck with HC and think it due to lighting limitations 4x55CFL. I hope to put T5HO 2x80w over it soon. After that I'll be on a mission to find a better selection of plants in NJ. 

Congrats I look foward to more pictures of your tank.


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

GAWD, Jess! That poor kitty! And, how could you consider that to be a dress? Looks more like a shirt than anything. 

DON'T BE MEAN TO YOUR KITTY!


----------



## Tex Gal

Jessie and Fishonthebrain love your kitties. Can't say a lot about their outfits... (so sorry!). Here's a px of my kitty. She's a mess. Her name is Molly.

















BTW gotta tell you Jessie that I am having great growth with the Marsilea as a foreground plant. It is spreading and looks like glosso but darker green. I also have a few patches of HC that is so tiny but spreading. I think as far as scale is concerned the Marsilea is better. The HC is so little it's hard to see. Tried glosso and my plecos and probably also loaches uprooted every plant!


----------



## jay973

Well Jessie just thought I'd share my pix with you since your thread inspired it. It's still a work in progress as all planted tanks are, but I think it's a step in the right direction. I have some crypts I put in pots I hope to trade locally to make room once I get my hands on lighting more for new plants.

After the initial shock my girlfriend came around and thought it was starting to grow on here after explaining my vision. I must admit the answer to her 1st question "what the heck did you do to the tank" was "Jessie's thread inspire me to make changes". Her 2nd question was "who is Jessie" so I just point her to thread. The fact that you won tank of the month I think kinda won her over....LMAO

There's a big boat on the left I'm trying to make disappear in background home to a large cat fish. We came to the compromise I don't take out house he won't up root my plants over night...lol

Before (After my last hack job.)








After (Plants still have to grow in.)


----------



## Jessie

Jay973 -- thanks to you and your girlfriend!  I'm glad you enjoyed my tank and all the babble that goes with it. Lighting tanks our size is difficult. Definitely go with the T5's...I'm heading in that direction too! As for finding plants, definitely visit the For Sale or Trade forum here on APC. Homegrown, awesome prices and you have the comfort of knowing that you're dealing with a fellow hobbyist.

Your tank looks great. I love the crypts. Make sure you take the rest of them out of their pots and it looks like that Rotala is still bound up in a tie. Undo it and plant them the stems in lose groups and you'll notice a much happier plant without constricted or dying stems.


hahah Don, it's a shirt-dress, you're right. For some reason I still have the thing as it was a dress on a doll from years back. Wow. I just admitted that. HAHA.

Tex Gal -- your kitty is SO beautiful. I love long haired cats and the silly faces that comes with them. Cutie pie!

Zoe only wears the dress when she's been bad. She has some diva-entitlement issues, so sometimes I have to knock her down a peg  Which is probably once a year if that. It's all in good fun.

I think once I get my ducks in a row and start going full-swing with this tank again, I'm going to give Marsilea a try. From what I've heard from so many members on here, it seems like the best bet for my tank.


----------



## Tex Gal

Thanks Jess for the kind words about Molly. I just love her. She is a mess. She loves to get into any small area, box, hide out. She "talks" to me all the time, follows me around like a dog.... She will be a year in April. I got her when she was about 4 1/2 months old. Right now she's about 7 lbs but should get to be about 14 lbs. She's a ragdoll cat.

I took some px of the Marsilea and also the HC so you can see what I mean about scale. Still fighting cloudy water so hope you can see it. I finally gave up and ordered a diatom filter. My luck it's backordered until March 10th. When it come I should finally get some clear water. Yea!!!  BTW my blyxa is finally taking off. It loves the AquaSoil. (Yes, Donald, you heard me say it! )


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

I....ummm..........bought some for the new HUGE tank.......a little bit down the road...................figured......that...I should........at least...................................................try it.......SO, SHUT UP!

So, actually, my blyxa does quite well without it, though....I think that it love high light and iron.


----------



## Tex Gal

DonaldmBoyer said:


> I....ummm..........bought some for the new HUGE tank.......a little bit down the road...................figured......that...I should........at least...................................................try it.......SO, SHUT UP!
> 
> So, actually, my blyxa does quite well without it, though....I think that it love high light and iron.


.... another one bites the dust!!....


----------



## Jessie

In your face, Don. In-your-face. 

Tex, I saw your pics! The tank and the REDS are coming along awesome!!


----------



## puttyman70

DonaldmBoyer said:


> I....ummm..........bought some for the new HUGE tank.......a little bit down the road...................figured......that...I should........at least...................................................try it.......SO, SHUT UP!


Never. The biggest word I ever heard. Stop dead.


----------



## Jessie

Don's just worried we're going to see him a trend-following little Nancy. But it's ok. He'll soon see the light. Not ALL "designer" products are shammy!


----------



## Robert Hudson

This has to be the longest thread in the aquascaping forum and its way off the beaten path! rayer: 
Jess you could put a smile on anybodys face! 

Here is one of my two cats, this is Fatso. He is well over 20 pounds. I tried to put him in a cat carrier once and he busted the metal door off its hinges in less than five minutes!

Oh and you won't catch me putting any clothes on him! Thats just WRONG!










So wrong... WRONG!


----------



## Jessie

Haha! Fatso is awesome. I sort of hope Kazoo turns into a behemoth. He's only a little over 1 yr old though. He's got a long way to go.

Don't lie everyone, if you saw a cat running around in a puppy dress, you'd laugh.

The only other time I'd consider putting clothes on my cat is if I got my hands on a custom made Ninja Turtle costume for Kazoo. Kazoo is just that cool. He even has his own Myspace page with a third-party written biography. Here's an excerpt!

*ahem*

He can slice cheese just by pointing at it!

Kazoo donates his blood to mice so they can grow stronger... and be less laughably pathetic when being chased by Kazoo...

Kazoo is also a known actor. He is best know for portraying Godzilla but he doesn't speak about the movie much, claiming he didn't have any artistic rights during the production of the movie and his abilities were greatly downplayed. He subsequently landed a starring role in "Cats & Dogs" but he took the title too literally and ended up euthanizing 641 canines before he had to be tranquilized and removed off the set. He is unhappy about Hollywood's common portrayal of cats as villains' pets so to prove a point he went out and got himself a completely shaved pet Chuck Norris!


----------



## puttyman70

Jessie said:


> Don's just worried we're going to see him a trend-following little Nancy.


oh, oh. it's on, it's on.:boxing:

Edit: All in good fun.


----------



## Robert Hudson

Mice? I don't let Fatso outside. There is too many dogs around here, and I am afraid he would hurt _them_. There is a little foo foo dog next door to me thats half the size of Fatso. Fatso is a long haired, but I cut it. Except for the mane I keep it moderately short. Thats all body weight! My other cat is a short hair seal point siamese mix male with blue eyes. They're about the same age. I actually got Fatso as a companion to ****ens cause he was so hyper. ****ens is still the dominate one. They are both about seven years old.


----------



## Jessie

My cats are strictly indoors as well. Even if I didn't live in a metropolitan area, there is still too much risk for contracting FIV, FeLeuk, etc. Not to mention, foxes, coyotes, stupid people, etc. It makes absolutely no sense.


----------



## curt_914

I am with jessie, our cats are indoor cats as well. I will try to get some pics up next week. Any way Jess, did you install your reactor yet? just curious how it is going.

I have got all my AS for the 20 gallon now, as well got my Nove extreme Lighting for it. it is a 48 watt fixture with 1 10000k current bulb and one geisman 6000k bulb. Thanks for the help travis! I also ordered my JBJ Regulator assembly and 2 way manafold today. I hope to get a job in the next couple weeks so we can get the 55 stuff as well as I need to get my Rams out of the 10 gallon. I will post a link to my thread as soon as I start it in a couple weeks for the 20 at least. 

But any way jess let me know how the reactor works for ya.

Curt


----------



## MyCatsDrool

you should get the fixture =). MHs did amazing things to travis's tank...brownish dull red and greenish pinks went to REDDD and PINK!

Looks incredible.



















That is Cosmo (A.K.A. Fatty McRetard), Travis's favorite cat. I want dave to let me bring her to the store and let her be the store mascot.

Speaking of dave....if you are still single....=).

Forever the matchmaker. Sorry =).


----------



## Jessie

Hey Curt!

Glad to hear you're getting substrate and everything for your tank. Let me know when you are ready for plants!

MyCats --

See, if I could afford that fixture, I would definitely be all over it. I probably would have walked out with it that day. If it were a few hundred less, then I'd be there tomorrow. But the funds just aren't there  It's such a perfect find....*sigh*

I love your kitty! The name cracks me up. I also love how many members have posted their kitties here in general. My cats, after all, are the only ones who don't whisper profanities at it 

and haha, oh man. I think I'm little too young for the guys at the store. They're all fantastic though, and have helped me out a lot.


----------



## Zapins

Aww cute cats!

We let ours go outside. One was born in the wild and can handle herself and the other does fine too. Although they have gotten into quite a few scraps with other cats in the neighborhood and gotten lost for 1 month and 6 weeks respectively. Plenty more expensive to let them outside (from the vet bills) but oh well they enjoy themselves.



Jessie said:


> Don't lie everyone, if you saw a cat running around in a puppy dress, you'd laugh.
> 
> The only other time I'd consider putting clothes on my cat is if I got my hands on a custom made Ninja Turtle costume for Kazoo. Kazoo is just that cool. He even has his own Myspace page with a third-party written biography. Here's an excerpt!
> 
> *ahem*


Hehe, oh I laughed when I saw what my sister did to my cousin (2-3 years old at the time). She dressed HIM up in a pink tutu ballerina dress from when she used to do ballet as a child. Not to mention now I have bribery pictures for when he gets his first girlfriend (hes 11 now so not long) muahahahahaha


----------



## ingvey

Great tank and love the descriptions you have great spirit keep us informed Good Job


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## bratyboy2

any new pics?


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## jay973

I'm getting a little closer Jess. Got my T5 Retro fit kit but my bulbs were crushed in shipping.

Just the same don't have the cabinet to put them in yet.

If anyone's interested check out there prices. 
https://www.aquariumplants.com/


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## stewy098

yea same here any new updates on the tank


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## Jessie

Zapins -- NICE  I have a great photo of my nephew having a spaz-attack while wearing a lion costume. I fully intend to strategically place it within view for the background of his prom pictures....in about 8-9 years. 

ingvey - Thank you very much!!

Jay - one step at a time, you'll get there! I've had great luck with Aquariumplants.com - I got my regulator and some plants from them before - very happy!

bratyboy & stewy - No pics yet, I'll try to take some this weekend.

I am updating two of my fixtures to T5HO lighting this weekend - I'm pretty excited. Now that I have my CO2 hooked back up, my plants (esp. the Blyxa) are revived and much happier. I've been keeping on top of my "glug" method for Flourish Iron as well as EI dosing Phosphate and I have noticed that my plants ARE COLORING UP! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

The L. aromatica has purple-tinted leaves towards the tops, Rotala indica is pinkish and my new stems of Rotala macranda are pearling, growing and maintaining most of their color. I'm hoping the T5's will kick it up some more. So right now I'm pretty happy with the tank!


----------



## cs_gardener

Glad to hear your getting the color you've been fighting to achieve for so long. I can't wait to see how it looks!

Btw, will your tank know who you are if you aren't cussing at it?


----------



## Jessie

HAHAHA It might not! The fish are going to hide, "you're not our angry momma!"

But see that's what you have to do sometimes. Verbally assault it into submission. That's really the only reason things are beginning to color up. Science-schmience.


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

Need pics, please. The proof is in the pudding; I don't believe in your coloration "picking up" until I see it with my own peepers.

If it is coloring up, perhaps in a month or two your tank will be the first one ever to be named Planted Tank of the Month twice!! We all need goals, now don't we?


----------



## Tex Gal

Jessie - what lights are you getting? I think I'm gonna get the TEK T5HO, either two 36" 4 bulbs or 6 bulbs. I read all the recommendations on your thread and talked to a couple of people. I kinda hate to hang them because of the light spillage, but I guess that's what it takes so I have to just accept it. I don't think I want to the MH because of the energy costs and heat issues.


----------



## slowhand35

Looks like you made a quick recovery, Excellent!


----------



## Jessie

Since Don is a Doubting-Debbie, here's some pics ;-)

Limnophila aromatica:









a refugee sprig of Polygogum (REALLY doesn't like lack of CO2)









****** Rotala indica:









R. macranda:









R. magenta: 









Here's the tank in need of a serious trim and top off:

















Left:








Right:









I need to clean it up, obviously. But it's on it way!

Tex - I ended up going with two 36" Current Sundial 4x39w T5HO. I REALLY wanted the Teks, but there was no way I could afford it. After three nights with the Sundials, I'm already noticing more pearling and my Baby Tears and R. indica is already starting to slant. So far, I'm very happy. Also, the "glug,glug,glug" method of dosing Iron seems to work as well 

slowhand35 -- thank you!


----------



## BryceM

Nice progress! If I'm not mistaken, there are a few non-green plants in there now.

As I look at your tank, one thing that might help with improving your reds would be to reduce the plant material at the surface. It looks like you have tons of floaters and other plants that stretch across the surface. Most of my reds don't tollerate any shading at all. Just a thought....

Let that R. mac grow up along the surface and watch what happens. It's pretty cool.


----------



## Tex Gal

Hurrah! You've got reds! Don't ya just love it! There's no stopping you now! You go girl!!!


----------



## Jessie

YAY!!! Thanks guys 

Bryce -- the floaters are at their top-mass that I allow right now. I usually take about 80% of the water lettuce out every week. These photos were taken before I did that. But you're right -- my plants do not tolerate too much shading and I have maintain some serious discipline in keeping on top of the floaters. 

And I LOVE R. mac. WOW it's such a wonderful plant.

YAY Tex Gal! The cats and I are dancing a little


----------



## bratyboy2

jessie,
the tanks is gorgeous!!! the red is noticable but cant wait to see it in another weeek with the before then the after then the NOW!!!! lol one question though...what lighting do you like the most and why and what do you feel works the best for you planted tank?:bathbaby:


----------



## cs_gardener

I love this tank! I can see the red starting to peek out here and there, oh it's so much fun!


----------



## curt_914

Looking good Jess!! Let me know on your reactor as I can Change the barbs to get closer to your hose Diameter so you can hook it up!

Talk at ya soon,
Curt


----------



## Bert H

Quite the jungle you have there, Jessie! Looks good. :thumbsup: So how long will it take you to prune/replant that baby when it's time?


----------



## Jessie

bratyboy2 - Thank you!! The reds are slowly, but surely popping out. I'm looking forward to getting a lot of it going so I can create thicker bunches for a stronger presentation. The lighting that I like the most, so far, is T5HO. I've already noticed a significant change with the coloration and pearling. However, if I had the cash, MH + T5 would be the way I'd go. But for now, this is working just fine.

Catherine -- thanks so much for all your support! It's fun for me too 

Curt-- thanks! I need to get a handle on some school stuff and figure out what my free time is like and then I will let you know. Also, I forgot to tell you that I have a few Tropica swords (the little compact dudes) if you want them too once the time comes to get you some plants.

Bert - thanks to you too! Pruning usually takes me about 30 minutes. Right now I'm just hacking chunks off without any real technique to it. Once I get the colors going where I want them and some of the other plants back in decent condition, I'll get my act together.


----------



## Tex Gal

Hey there Jess. Guess what I got today..... YEP some diamond tetras. Got em for $2.99 each. I got 5. They aren't full grown yet. I can't wait to see the color up!


----------



## Jessie

Awesome! You'll love em. They are such bafoons once they get an ego.

New pics!

R.magenta









L.aromatica shoots growing









R.mac









P.stellata 'broad'









All my roselines, barely in the frame









Farlo









My little nano. Ignore the mental-patient trimming of the HC


















I think an orange shrimp was accidentally bagged. Anyways, here's a crappy pic of him and a young cherry


----------



## bratyboy2

jessie those plants look so gorgeous!!!! they look so happy im hoping mine look that good
the nano is quite cute whats wrong with the orange shrimp?!?!?! you can send him to me!


----------



## Jessie

Actually, now that I think about it, the orange shrimp is a female since she was berried when I got her in my tank. And there's nothing wrong with her, she's very pretty!

Thanks Brad =]


----------



## bratyboy2

haha nice i love the lil shrips i ordered them in for the pet store


----------



## curt_914

NP Jess And thanks on the plants. Substraight is on the way and be about 2 weeks till I am planting. I need to get me lighting situation in line. I just got 2 Current dual sunlight CF lights that will be going up for sale $25 Each + shipping. I am going to be getting a Current NOVA Extreme T-5 fixture and 2 Geiseman Day light bulbs for the 55 gallon. so I also have a straight pin CF 48" fixture 130 watt for $65 (Local pick up only). Any one intrested PM me. Any way jess just let me know what you want to do. Substraight in the 55 by the way is Eco Complete 40lbs, Florite Black Sand 15.7 Lbs, and Quickrite Builders sand, for dressing sand.

Curt


----------



## Jessie

I'm camera happy lately 

Little guy:


----------



## DonaldmBoyer

Yummy, Jess!  Now, I can see the reds! Excellent work, and have to say that you have a stunning tank now! 

I think I will nominate this as "Tank of the Month"!


----------



## Jessie

ROFL Don, thanks 

It's still got a long way to go in my book


----------



## Bert H

Jessie the tank looks great! With a little bit of PS'ing that pic would be fantastic. I hope you don't mind - I did a very minor tweaking to your pic, lightening up some of the shadows then adding a little contrast back:


----------



## Jessie

oooh thanks Bert!

I fly right through the editing process of my photos, so that looks MUCH better!

Thanks for posting it!!


----------



## jay973

Jess,

It's official I manage to finish my DIY hood with 2 80W T5 GE 6500K and 2 GE 9325K. The T5 GE's alone even managed to make Red's look green. Still working on the plant layout didn't want to spoil it by taking the picture from the front, but your right one step at a time. When it comes to a planted aquarium patience is your friend.

Still have to add trim, stain, and blind hinges so its not so plain, but I couldn't resist getting up there. Ignore the funky wall colors long story... 
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh251/jay973_photos/hood/Picture3019.jpg

OK maybe a peek at the corner were the R. mac is, it's never perled like that with the 4 55w that were up there.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh251/jay973_photos/Perfecto120G/Picture3199.jpg


----------



## SKSuser

Jessie said:


> Little guy:


I believe he's a girl. 

The tanks looking good.


----------



## bratyboy2

jeese just took a look at the new photo shots wow it is amazing!!!! you can really see the difference!!! keep it up!


----------



## Questin

Hey Jess, wanted to give you a little update on that plant I got from you, the Echinodorus horemanii










the angels seem to like it =P


----------



## Ultimbow

Hello jessie i realy love your tank the red is coming good keep up the good work.

here is a picture of my cat to chear you up.


----------



## jazzlvr123

aquanut said:


> i tried forever to make my plants redder by reducing nitrates, never had any success with it.
> 
> in my tanks, red plants are all about intense lighting.


Tom Barr showed me the same thing last time i was at his house he has some R. macrandra and alternanthera in a 60p that were Bright fluorescent red. Its kinda ironic how everyone says low nitrates bring out this trait when toms NO3 read 30 ppm and i quote tom "my nitrates are high and no one can say my plants aren't red" and i agree. The tank was getting about 6 wpg and high Co2 there in lies the true recipe to a good red coloration Ive noticed the same thing in my 75 dutch. Anthocyanin, responsible for the red coloration in plants, contains elements derived from nitrates in its structure so i don't see what low nitrates would bring it out.


----------



## xpistalpetex

that is one cool cat, i like the eyes


----------



## Jessie

Hey everyone! I've been pretty busy so I haven't been able to check in too much.

Jay - looks like you're coming along! Nice work. Be sure to post a journal!

SKSuser -- haha, I think you're right! She is pretty plump.

bratyboy2 -- thanks!

Questin -- AWESOME!!! I'm glad they like it  Let's see the whole thing though!

Ultimbow -- PRETTY kitty face =]

jazzlvr123 - I think I'll have to agree. Light, light light. (and iron)

So, I got a hold oh my friend's camera for the week. No tank pics, but I did have fun snapping some fish shots:























































Here's that plump girl again:


----------



## Jessie

Doo dee doo... camera happy!





































Mystery Nasea! I thought I killed it!


----------



## travis

Wow, you've got some seriously lush growth going on there. Very nice  The new lights look like they're working.


----------



## bratyboy2

jeesie the tank has come along very nice!!!! the fish pics are really nice but a lil advice for next time...clean the algae off the glass and the water spots lol but wow i cant say that enough!!! i really should fly you here and have you get me a tank going lol i really would like to get your advice on my next tank i decide to get going depending if it is the 20 high or the 55 idk im getting very frustrated!!!!


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## Jessie

Thanks Travis! The lights have really made a difference in growth and pigment. I'm finally getting the tank in the direction I want it. Now I just need to create some more organization and I'll be good to go.

bratyboy -
haha, ya I know. I took those pics at whim and was also lazy to clean the glass and algae. I'm not about to pretend that I don't have algae, so take it as a sense of realism


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## bratyboy2

yah algae happens to the best of us lol....


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## Bert H

> I'm not about to pretend that I don't have algae, so take it as a sense of realism


Truth in advertising - we should all be so honest! 

Tank looking real nice, Jessie!


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## Tex Gal

Jess your fish are so pretty! They look like such happy little guys! 

Your tank is really coloring up!  I tried to look "into your tank" for a closer view of all the plants. Can you take the tank in 3rds and choose a larger px so when we click on it we can see the larger px? That way we can see all the individual plants! I think I saw anubias coffeeola.. Did I?


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## SKSuser

>


Heh. If she's the same one, I was right, and she's really ready. Congrats!
Watch for her and a mate on the undersides of leaves during the upcoming days. You might just post with an account to the second Oto spawn on the boards in as many weeks.


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## dirrtybirdy

wow your tank really came a long way since the first page. looks great


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## curt_914

hey jess It is looking good!! I am looking at either the nova extreme or the sundial for the 55. Got a job so I am getting caught back up on bills and what not. I need 2 more bags and the lights and I will be ready for plants. Let me know when your availiable so I can change the ends on your reactor and pick up plants. I can swing by your place so I make sure to see which hose Dia I have to work with. Let me know,
Curt


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## Sparg93

Very nice!


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## redstrat

Lookin Great!!! dunno how I missed the update, hmm. The fish look like they are really happy too


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## bratyboy2

any updates for us jess?


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## jasonc

Wow! You have such a huge tank and lots of plants......my eyes really pop out for awhile. Jessie, you are so wonderful, can manage such a huge tank.


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## gibbus

any updates?


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## Jessie

Hi everyone 

I really appreciate everyone's comments, thank you!

I'm still around- just extremely busy and haven't been able to do much with my tank lately. It's ugly right now 

I promise I'll post some updates soon!

Hope all is well with everyone


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## SKSuser

Whoa!
Iiiits aliiiiiive!
Weclome back.


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## bratyboy2

yay pics soon!


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## travis

Since I know you've been looking for them, we've got some _Dicrossus filamentosus_ in if you can find any room in your tank. It's taken me several months to get my hands on them - I had no idea how hard they were to come by. And you're right, they are one very unique looking fish


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## curt_914

Hey Jess Looks like we should try next week to get together for some trimings. Tank is looking good, and the Dicrossus filamentosus that travis got look Great!! Talk with ya soon,

Curt


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## Jessie

Hi everyone - hope all is well.

I disappeared for a while -- had some life stuff happen again and couldn't devote much attention to fishie things.

But all is well - tank is going good, turned the CO2 off for a bit and took a bunch of the stems out. Fish are happy - more diamond tetra kids and a few emperor tetra babies.

I'm so sad I missed the Dicrosuss shipment! Curt - how is it going with your tank? Sorry I dropped off the planet - it was a rough summer.

How is everyone?


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## cs_gardener

Welcome back Jessie! Sorry to hear you've had a tough time, I hope things are going better for you now. I've missed seeing what's been going on with your tank.


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## Jessie

Good to see ya!

What did I miss?


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## cs_gardener

Let's see, you missed the switch of APC from the previous host to CrowdGather so there are no more donations needed. During the switch there were periods of extreme slowness and a few glitches, now fixed (you chose a good time to be away). Also the T-shirt design contest (should be on the front page - I almost never look there  ), and several great Tank of the Months. Everything else is much like normal. You'll have some fun getting caught up on the journals and other threads.


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## ghengis

G'day Jess. Just read this Thread...43 pages??!! There's 2 hours my boss ain't ever gonna get back! :bounce:

Sounds like you've had a pretty rough go of things, but your tank is a testament to your resilience and an inspiration. 

Very pleased to meet you, and welcome back. Any update pics??


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## Jessie

Catherine-
Good to hear they got an upgrade!
I've skimmed through the last couple of journal threads -- WOW there's a lot of great new tanks!
How's yours?

ghengis -
Nice to meet you too! I'll try to take some photos tomorrow night - I left my memory card at work. Oops!

On the plus side, Kazoo missed you all! And says hello.


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## MartialTheory

Wow nice. I just finally saw this thread. Now I am in the process of stealing ur tank. lol


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## blue33

Wow... beautiful cat and tank you got there!


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## redstrat

welcome back jessie, hows the tank these days?


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## Jessie

The tank is good! Pretty much on it's own for now, minus water changes and feedings. The fish are happy and spawning, the plants are slower since I have turned the CO2 off. It's pretty much self sustaining right now.

Two new friends that were a gift:









My first Anubias flower! PARTY!









One of a bazillion baby Diamond tetras:









Mom: 









Child with gold tetra in front:



























The right is really uneven right now since I just took out POUNDS of over grown HM and red Ludwigia, and replaced with a Rubin Sword that the angels have already claimed.


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## BryceM

Hi Jess. Good to see you back! Keep us updated on things ok.

Did I miss something about the diamond tetras? Are you breeding them? If so, please expound.


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## cs_gardener

It's looking pretty darn good for reduced maintenance. The angels are beautiful and the rest of your fish are obviously happy and healthy if they're breeding. It's good to see that Kazoo is still doing well, such a beautiful cat!

It can be very liberating to have less maintenance for a tank and more time to just enjoy it. My tanks are all lower tech and can go at least a month with my only input being feeding the fish and adding gluteraldehyde. I can sit back and watch the tanks and decide what, if anything, I want to change at the next maintenance session - whenever that happens to be.


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## Squawkbert

Looks good! Hope to see you around more often - Wonderful looking Angels.


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## Jessie

Thanks everyone!
I wish I had more time/cash to keep this tank running at the lightspeed it was previously, but it's just not in the cards right now. I'm also going to be moving it - again - come spring/summer, so I'm gearing down so I can go through this whole mess all over again 



BryceM said:


> Did I miss something about the diamond tetras? Are you breeding them? If so, please expound.


The diamonds have been spawning on and off since Feb 06...completely without any of my help. I'd say there's been two or three (perhaps four) broods where 2-6 will survive. I think cool water changes and LOTS plant coverage is the key. They're just extra randy in my tank, haha

I also had the remaining 3 of 8 emperor tetras spawn. Only one little made and it, but WOW they grow quick!!


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## curt_914

Hey Jess good to see you back as well. I have only been skimming the forums lately as time and money has been tight. Also going to be a dad as our first baby is on the way. Here is a link to the 55 gallon, http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquascaping/51861-curt-s-55-gallon-sa-tank.html
Keep in touch.

Curt


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## matt1045

wow turned out great. Congrats


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## dawntwister

What lushes growth you have. Love that it is not scape to perfection. I love the wild look. I am envious!!


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## derekp

Very nice. Im glad your fish are spawing for you. Have you gotten the rainbows or barbs to spawn yet?


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## Jessie

Curt -- congrats on the baby on the way!!!! The tank is looking great too!
I'm so surprised to see how Premier/AquaMart has changed - I'm kicking myself for missing out on the Dicrossus!

Matt, Dawn - thank you 

Derek - The rainbows and barbs love to dance around and flirt with each other. They seem to display courtship behaviors quite often. However, I'm unsure if there has been any documented community tank spawnings of Denisonii. If they did spawn, believe I would throw a parade, haha


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## freydo

yikes... i remember this journal from a while ago, and just saw it again... 44 pages!

even with the gearing down that you've done, your tank still looks awesome jessie. hope to see more updates


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## taz81

I LOVE your tank. If I had known about it when I was in Denver last november (during the election), I would've totally come over to steal your tank ...assuming I also knew I wanted to do this whole planted aquarium thing back then. . I LOVE the wild look, especially when (as it appears to me) plants are growing on random parts of large limbs. Just makes me happy to look at, it must be a wonder in person. Would you happen to have any updates?


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## Greenland77

It's wondeful ! Congratulations ! :smokin:


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## dabrybry

Wish I could meet a chick like you


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## Ultimbow

any update on the tank?


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## Zapins

I'm not sure if Jessie is still around I haven't seen her post in ages and this thread is 3 years old. I'd also like an update though.


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