# My First NPT



## [email protected] (Oct 15, 2007)

Having read Diana's book and experienced success with some of her techniques in my not-so-NPT; having lurked and joined the forum here; I decided to take the plunge.

The not-so NPT:









The new NPT home:









The major changes:

Substrate: 3" Flourite & gravel ---> 1 1/4" of the cheapest Home Depot soil & 1" Eco-complete
Lighting: 55w PC @ 8000K ---> 72w PC @ 6700K
Tank Top: AGA full lid ---> open top for emergent plant growth
Water: R/O DI modified to 6.6pH, 9dGH, 2dKH ---> tap at 7.6ph, 15dGH, 9dKH
Filtration: 2 HOB Aquaclear 20 ---> Aquaclear 30 Powerhead w/ Quickfilter

I stopped dosing ferts and removed the filter elements in the not-so-NPT months before 'the change of life' and do not plan to dose at all in the NPT.

Aesthetically, I think the blue paint on the tank back has a big impact.

Lots more plants! Specific choices made to optimize emergent and flowering growth.

Flowering Cabomba, 2 days after planting:









Having done all that I could, it was time to let go and see what happened.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I like the change, looks good. That was a beautiful crypt b, you had in the original tank though. I like the blue background also, _is it painted?_ Keep us updated on the proress.


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## [email protected] (Oct 15, 2007)

The root ball on the crypt was amazing - I guess it was happy.










I painted the back with a semi-gloss latex, four coats. If I had it to do over, I would add a layer of contact paper or shelf liner on top of the paint. When I was routing the power cords for the light behind the tank, the cord touched and stuck to the paint and pulled a small part loose. (You wouldn't believe the fits this gave me.) I think the poor adhesion between glass and paint requires an extra layer of protection. So, other than a small silver air bubble (thankfully hidden by plant growth now), I'm really pleased with the effect.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Wow! _What did you do with that Crypt b?_

I've painted several tanks with a product called "plastic dip", used for putting a rubber coating on tool handles. It comes in spray cans and easily peels off if needed. I used black, but it also comes in blue from what I've been told.


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## guppygirl123 (Sep 28, 2007)

Wow, it looks beautiful! And the roots on that crypt where really impressive...


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## Revernance (Aug 20, 2007)

I like that middle centerpiece! 

That crypt balanse is unholy. 
I've never seen cabomba flower before. Mine grows well, but never flowers!


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## [email protected] (Oct 15, 2007)

Welcome to the jungle. Or at least the portion of it that decided to invade my 29g during it's first month of life. And I had to cut the cabomba back about two weeks before the picture was taken.

Trena - While I considered transplanting I really wanted to try something new, and not having anyone close to give it to the crypt was, sadly, recycled. It has been reported that the crypt was overheard saying, "I regret that I have but one root ball to give to my aquarium." - truly a noble plant.

guppygirl123, Revernance - Thanks for the kind words.

*The livestock story so far:* I only had a week to change the tank over (my wife was out of town), so I think I pushed the limits too far and was impatient. I bought 10 cherry shrimp from a store other than my regular LFS. I don't know if the shrimp were sick or not, but they all died within a week. I bought six otos from my LFS at the same time, four died in the first week, the other two are still fine AFAIK. I also bought 9 GloFish from my LFS which seemed fine until about two weeks ago, when one of the fish developed a 'curved spine' and spent two days on the bottom of the tank. He then returned to normal behavior, except for the curvature, which seems to come and go. My original six cardinals developed ich after two weeks, which I am treating with 86 - 87 degree F water. Although the ich has clearly lessened, I still see a spot or two. The MT snails I bought from an alternate LFS are being fruitful and multiplying, as well as the inevitable volunteer ponds and ramshorns. I have a healthy crop of hydra and some type of small (2mm) white roundworms. And a few days ago I noticed this.








After a little research, I believe it to be a dragonfly naiad. (on a side note, I'm a little stressed about the dragonfly - what do I do when it comes out - let if fly around the house and starve or bump into windows, or put it outside to freeze - I'm looking for suggestions please - and yes, I know it's just a bug)

*The plant story so far:* Does anyone need some salvinia minima? This stuff is like the energizer bunny in my tank - it keeps growing, growing, growing. I'm using a tip I read here (I don't remember who posted it or I would credit them) with suction cups an fishing line to restrict it to a portion of the surface, and I have to take a fistfull out every couple days to keep it from overflowing the barrier. Which leads to the untimely demise of my dwarf hairgrass. It's not unexpected, although the hairgrass in the last incarnation of this tank did ok (not great, but did spread slowly) at 55 WPG, so I had hoped it might make it. The salvinia has great looking roots hanging down, but seems to block too much light for the hairgrass to survive. It also seems to be challenging the echinodorus tennelus, and my crypts (my crypts look like upstreached arms). I'm going to move the fishing line 'blockade' and see what happens. The tiger lotus is just too big for the tank. Again, no suprise, I just wanted to try. It's leaves reach the surface an overshadow the entire tank; it'll have to go.  Anyone want some cabomba? This one seems to be going great - requiring trimming weekly to keep it in check. The myriophyllum and anacharis are doing well, requiring weekly trimming too - but not as much as the cabomba. Most of the bacopa yellowed and uprooted, but a few stalks look like they might make it. The ambulia, which I bought as a 'low light alternative to cabomba' is growing slowly as well - I should have stuck with the cabomba, although the ambulia's leaves are different and really kinda pertty, IMHO. The alternanthera continues to grow out of the tank, as planned, and is a really nice red addition. The hygrophilia, potamogeton, and java fern are all growing - although much slower than the rest. The vals - which I though would be a strong player in the background are almost completey gone. Maybe they froze in shipping, maybe they don't like being so close to the filter, maybe their cabomba neighbors growth rate embarassed them to death, but it looks like they'll be gone soon. So, after some upkeep, the jungle has been beaten back.









And similar to other posters here, I have bubbles. Specifically H2S bubbles. I soaked the soil for three weeks prior to placement in the tank, but I guess there was too much organic matter in my cheap soil. Does anyone have experience with the bubbles tapering off? I guess it depends on the soil used. Anyway, I consider this to be an NPT success. It was fairly easy to set up, the maintainance is low, and the result is beautiful. Thanks to Diana for the book that made it possible.


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## guppyramkrib (Sep 5, 2007)

Beautiful tank! Great journey!!! Dragon fly nymphs EAT FISH! Get it out of the tank. Super job.Please update


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## mpagri (Dec 7, 2007)

That is a 29g right? Where did you find a 72w bulb in a 30" fixture? I have been trying to figure out how to light my 29g and 65w seems too low but 130w too high.


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## [email protected] (Oct 15, 2007)

guppyramkrib - Yeah, my wife told me the naiads (yes, that's plural, I found another one today) and dragonflies in general were carnivorous monsters. But she thinks they should stay. She likes dragonflies. I have witnissed the naiads eating snails, _I swear it ate the shell and all_, but they seem to be more timid around the fish. Thanks for the heads up though, I'll be keeping an eye on them.

mpagri - Yes, it's a 29g and I had a light dilemma as well. I ran a single bulb 55w for awhile, but when I was upgrading to the new set-up, I wanted one of the fancy open top coralife aqualights w/ MOON GLOW LED'S. Ok, I think they're neat and my glofish really glow when they swim through at night.
So, coralife only offers the two 65w fixture for 30" tanks; I was disappointed. I figured I could just change out the bulbs; no, the lower wattage bulbs are too short for the bulb clamps. Clamps, shmamps -I was going to 'figure it out'. I really wanted the moon lights - and I can be kinda childish (ok really childish) about what I want. I got the fixture and took it apart. The clamps which hold the bulbs in place are adjustable in the housing. All I did was make two holes in the reflector for the screws, and ta-da, my 36w bulbs now fit. 
I promise it wasn't that hard to do, if I'd had the good sense to take pictures of it, you could have seen. The trick is making the reflector hole in the right place. The anchor that the bulb clip screws into is adjustable in tracks in the light housing. Move the anchors to their new location, measure and dent the reflector, before making the hole, to insure a good fit. The reflector metal is very soft, I used an phillips screwdriver to make my holes. Good luck and happy modding!


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## mpagri (Dec 7, 2007)

So, to make sure i understand, you took the 2x65w fixture and made 2x36w bulbs fit into it?

The 2x65w fixture is out of my price range i think. I am thinking about doing just 1 65w.


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## [email protected] (Oct 15, 2007)

Yes, I modified the 2 x 65w light clamps to accept the shorter 36w bulbs. I haven't run across a 72w single bulb, and while I was comfortable using the ballast to drive smaller bulbs, I'm not sure that it would drive larger bulbs.

Regarding the dragonfly larve: I caught the larve chomping on my MTS. When it was the ponds and rams it was ok, but my substrate burrowers are sacred. I also did some additional reading, and found out that the larval stage can last years whith the larve reaching 2" long. So I think I'm going to foray into nano tank territory and set up a mini-tank for the larve and some snails. We'll see what happens. I have no experience with that small a set-up, so I'll be checking the fourm for knowledge and post what I come up with.


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## natureman187 (Aug 15, 2007)

are your bubbles you see in the substrate?


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## CrimsonKeel (Sep 3, 2004)

yeah those dragonfly larvae have this thing under there mouth that hinges out and has two prongs on it that it uses to stab fish to hold and kill them. get it out asap if you want your fish to live.
anyway thats a really nice tank you got started ill keep an eye on it to see how it turns out


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## [email protected] (Oct 15, 2007)

natureman187 - the bubbles are developing in the substrate. Was just curious if anyone who had this happen could recall how long it lasted. Again, I would imagine it depends mostly on my particular soil composition.

CrimsonKeel - thanks for the compliment, and not to worry, the larvae are out of the tank and into a mini tank of their own. We'll see how they do.


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## Mr Fishies (Apr 9, 2006)

[email protected] said:


> natureman187 - the bubbles are developing in the substrate. Was just curious if anyone who had this happen could recall how long it lasted. Again, I would imagine it depends mostly on my particular soil composition.


My 50G's soil started to bubble after several months of submersion, and continued for 4-5 months if I recall correctly. I didn't really commit to spending any length of time watching for bubbles. It didn't bubble a lot, some days I wouldn't see any, other days I'd see 2-3, but it was so rare (and far between bubble), that if my tank was not in my field of view near my desk I may have never seen any.


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