# Fisrts tank-First Journal-ADA Style



## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

well finally after months and months of preparation and investment i am ready to set my first ever tank in ADA style. to start with the hardware ingredients....

Float glass tank 90x45x45cm.
cabinet-DIY clone of ADA cabinet.
Giesemann Infinity lights 150wMH + 2x24w T5
Eheim Pro2 2026 external canister filter
ADA in & outflow lilly pipes.
Jaeger 150w heater
AquaMedic co2 injection with solenoid (ADA cabochon ruby, glass counter, and pollen glass beetle 30)
ADA old black wood
PowerSand 3x2l bags
AquaSoil Ammazonia 2x9l bags
Tourmaline BC
Clear Super
Bacter100

tank









power sand









added clear super









added bacter100









added tourmaline BC









AquaSoil on top
















nicely sloped









old black wood positioning


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

next comes planting. it is an ongoing process and more plants will be added as i go along.

filled the tank a bit with water...









planting process

























































a shot of lilly pipes...

















and the ADA difuser...

















a shot from the top...









the plants i have used so far are:

Glosso
cardamine lyrata
hydrocotyle vulgaris
golden creeping jenny
micranthemum umbrosum
hemianthus calitrichoides
and christmass moss (which i have left on the surface floating till i get the ferns and anubias from Richard)

oh yeah.. i have been adding green bacter (1 drop for every 10l of water every day) and Phyton Git (1 drop for every 5l of water once a week) as recomended by Mr Amano. in a couple more days will start adding BrightyK. using this little treat for it:









put a bag of TourmalineF inside the fliter canister as well. the filter is superquiet and there is a good flow everywhere in the tank (in every corner).

the pearling as you can see in the pics is caused by the substrate. for some reason every time i inserted the plants in with the pincettes a load of bubbles exploded out of the substrate.

some pictures of the inside of the cabinet:
pump..









tools and co2 canister and solenoid....


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

here is a picture of the Cabochon Ruby and the Drop Check:

















after receiving some advice regarding the planting of glosso i decided to empty the tank and replanted the glosso in single stems. 









the hydrocotyles have already released two new leaves so i thought better not to disturb them...









received 5 species today from AquaEssentials...

1 x anubias congensis
7x microsorium pteropus
1x tropica bacopa australis
1x tropica hemianthus micranthemoides
1x tropica ceratopteris thalictroides

planted the tropica ones around the tank back and midground

















and tied the java fern and anubia on the wood. i am happy with the ferns..









not sure about the anubia....









some pictures of the final result..


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

by the way the lighting is running for a total of 7hours on timers programmed as follows:

2x24w T5 for 2hours
1x150w MH for 4 hours
both above for the last hour.

CO2 is on 2 bps. plants are pearling like mad. i have not done any tests for Ph, KH, GH etc so i think i might do some tomorrow.

the first three days the tank only had GreenBacter(every day) and on the fourth i started adding BrightyK. this regime of dosing will continue for the next three weeks after which i will start adding Step1.


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

Nice looking tank bro! Is working with the ADA products great or what? I am addicted to that stuff :lol:

As for testing I have done a bit on my new set-up as well just to see. Ph & Gh were about where they were in the old set-up (Ph 6.6, Gh 7) & the Kh was 0 (was 5dH). Nitrites were 0 (I used a seasoned filter & a few cups of the old substrate), Nitrates 0.5, phosphates near 0. So it appears that the only factor I can see the AS lowering is the Kh.


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## xcooperx (Jun 24, 2006)

nice start, I love how the bubble diffuse on your Beetle difuser not like my Air Stone Rhinox 2000


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## snowhillbilly (Mar 29, 2006)

I wish I could get that stuff up here without paying an outrageous shipping cost. Looks like your setup should treat you well. Thumbs up for a job well done.


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## Skyfish (Jun 8, 2004)

I love it so far, great job.


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

xcooperx said:


> nice start, I love how the bubble diffuse on your Beetle difuser not like my Air Stone Rhinox 2000


Huh? Did you mean to say "I love how the bubbles diffuse on your beetle diffuser not unlike my rhinox 2000" ? It took me a few times re-reading that sentence to get it. If so that's good to hear because I'm getting some of the nano diffusers for Christmas and I really want to get a Rhinox 2000 for my 50gal.


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

Snowhillbilly I have heard that shipping from Aquaforest is like 1/2 price compared to shipping from ADG

for the 90p ADG was over $100 to ship
Aquaforest was only $48

worth looking into if you want ADA stuff.


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## Craig Tarvin (Jul 26, 2005)

Nice setup. If I could give any advice it's regarding using HC and Glosso. The Glosso will overtake it, unless you really stay on top of trimming it. Is the HC in the rear right corner?


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

Craig Tarvin said:


> Nice setup. If I could give any advice it's regarding using HC and Glosso. The Glosso will overtake it, unless you really stay on top of trimming it. Is the HC in the rear right corner?


Ah, i see.. i had no idea about that. the HC is in the right hand side corner but however it is melting away bit by bit. i have no idea why??!! maybe because of the fact that it is a newly setup tank..


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

Day 6

did a 75% water change on saturday and a 75% water change today. it might seem too much but it was neccessary because of the brown colour the wood had released in water and also i had to do some adjustments to the plants and add a blue colour Aqua Screen.

glosso and hydrocotyle have started to grow a bit. before changing the water today kept some of the old water sample and a few hours later did some tests. the results are as follows:

KH----2 
GH----4 
Ph----6.6 
amonia---between 4 and 8 
nitrite----0.50 
nitrate----between 20 and 40 
phosphates---- between 40 and 80

i have no idea if they are good or not but i am quite glad that ph hasnt droped too much.

currently i am still dosing 8ml BrightyK, 15 drops GreenBacter every day and 30dropsPhyton Git every week(water change).

the co2 levels are at 15ppm which is way below the 30ppm recomendation. i am currently running co2 at 2bps. is this too low? do i need to increase it?

what i have found is that the majority of bubbles goes straight up to the surface and only a tiny percentage is dispersed around the aquarium. no idea why.

here are some updated pictures:


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## Moody (Sep 14, 2006)

Try repositoning the Co2 diffuser under the filter out-let, This may help with Co2 readings!


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

i decided to do some water tests today. the results were:

ph--6.4
amonia--0
nitrite--0
nitrate--10
KH--2dKH
GH--4dGH

What do you think guys? are they looking good? do they indicate that the bacteria is colonising the filter? sorry about all the questions but i cant wait to introduce some shrimp in there because those brown diatoms (that new setups always get) keep growing.

changed the position of the beetle diffuser and the distribution of co2 around the tank is a lot better.

generally glosso and the rest of the plants are growing very good and fast. Added some narrow leaf java fern to the main piece of wood, an anubia nana to the small wood and some vesicularia dubyana to both. also planted a rotala sp green in the back right hand side corner and a marsilea hirsuta to the midground. the latter is a very beautiful plant by the way. ere are some pictures taken recently:


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

the brown diatoms have spread all over the glosso and they keep growing. does anyone have any suggestions how to fight them?


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## aquaphish (Jan 22, 2005)

Very nice setup!!!

With all the expensive gadgets one would think that algae and the problems with new tanks should not happen. That is why I stay with the cheaper (non ADA) equipment.

I see more than brown diatoms growing in your glosso. But I would try some nice healthy Otos. They will not do much for the green algae but will attack the brown stuff.

Start adding some fish and shrimp. Start with the shrimp and otos. What other fish are you planning?


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

aquaphish said:


> Very nice setup!!!
> 
> With all the expensive gadgets one would think that algae and the problems with new tanks should not happen. That is why I stay with the cheaper (non ADA) equipment.
> 
> ...


thank you. i went for ADA style purely for esthetic reasons. in fact from what i have read from other's threads i was expecting some algae problems.

since this is my first ever tank i have no experience at all with algae so i am learning as i go along. what else do you see on my glosso?

this week i will make a trip to my local LFS and get around 20 shrimp and 10 otos.

regarding fish i have planned to add tetras, some hatchet fish, platys, guppies and mollys.


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## fredyk (Jun 21, 2004)

I would drop back everything so get stability in newly planted tank. For example, less light and less ferts, just to get things going..cannot give exact recommendations. Pull out the algae. It will take some time to get the right adjustment.

I guess, while I'm thinking about this, the plants are just setting up roots. In the terrestrial world, one adjusts fertilizer to encourage root growth in new plants, then makes another adjustment to fertilizer, to get flowering. In the aquatic plant, one must think along the same lines..your new plants are just getting started growing, and so don't expect a carpet until you have established root systems, plants growing, etc. Meanwhile the algae is growing and consuming the ferts and light energy.

[shameless plug] Bigstick120 is selling elantine triandra in swap forum.
Mark


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

Tank is looking good! Don't worry too much about the algae it will subside soon. With the ADA system you have a bunch of nutrients right off the bat, and it will take a few weeks for everything to settle. I think the main reason you may have so much algae is that you are kinda lightly planted as far as stem plants go. Having a bunch of stem plants from the start will suck up those nutrients real quick.

I think you'd be ok to throw some shrimp in there now. You may lose a few, but just make sure you pull them out before they start to decompose (if the other shrimp to pick them clean first!). With my first scape I waited like a week and a half before throwing 3 Amanos in there, and all 3 lived.

So did any of the HC make it?


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Tank's looking amazing, been looking at it on the aqua esentials site too!
Sure you'll get the algae under control soon. Platys are great algae eaters too and might be good to put in early with the shrimps and ottos.

What's happened to the Anubias congensis? I remember you moved it so it's leaves were out of the water, but can't see it now. I've just ordered one off Richard and was thinking of doing similar to you with it!

I'd be very, very wary of putting hatchets in an uncovered tank. I kept them for years and they are great, but I've found them dead on top of cover glasses after they lept through a small gap and had one kill itself when it jumped into the cover glass. Every time they get even a little spooked they jump a long way out of the water, or try. Think you'll find them on the floor, up to 3 metres away!


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## Mud Pie Mama (Jul 30, 2006)

Yes! Definately agree, you're off to a fantastic start with the tank.

I have a few, what I hope will be very helpful hints for your stocking.



SUBORPHAN said:


> regarding fish i have planned to add tetras, some hatchet fish, platys, guppies and mollys.


Just a few thoughts about this fish selection:

1.) TAKE YOUR TIME! Look at a lot of the other ADA tanks and see how selective they've been in the stocking of the tank. You have a _Porsche or Ferrari_ of a set up for your fish tank but your fish stocking list is _Ford of Chevy_!

2.) From what I've read hatchet fish are BIG TIME jumpers. A very bad choice for an open top tank.

3.) If you have a passion for the livebearers, just choose one: Platy OR Guppy OR Molly. A tank full of livebearers can be constantly hectic.

4.) With the tetras, again, select just a single variety and get a big school. With a medium size tetra you could do 12 or 15.

5.) When I'm selecting fish to stock a new tank I like to look at fish which fill different rolls and have contrasting appearances

Different Rolls: I.e.., Swims near surface (guppies, platys, rasboras) another which prefers mid water (tetra, rainbowfish, angelfish) and low or bottom dwelling, (corydora OR Dwarf cichlid - i.e.., German Blue Rams, Apistos, Checkerboard Cichlid). If one of my selection likes to scatter all around the tank - a loose shoaling fish - then I try to put in at least one variety which sticks together - a tight schooler - i.e.., Rummynose tetras or rasboras.

Contrasting Appearances: One, I look at body shape. If my top dweller is long, torpedo shape (think of Zebra or White Cloud Mt Minnow) then for the middle I'd look at more rounded - silver dollar shaped. Perhaps Emperor or Congo tetra. (Of course you can do it the other way; Round shaped on top, long in middle - Harlequin rasbora for top, Rummy nose for middle. Then Two, I also look at mature sizes. I don't want a community tank of all two inch fish. I try to get a contrast in sizes, small - one inch, medium - two inch, and larger - three to four inch size.

Please don't think I'm being snooty, my tanks are ALL bargain basements. I just try for fish which look really well together and sustain my interest for the long run. There's nothing worse than daily being dissatisfied watching a fish that's oh so happy and healthy in your tank and wondering if they have a short life expectancy!?! Because now you've seen those great schoolers in a plant club buddy's tank and wish you had room for them. Its easy enough to change your plant choices in the future; however, its much more difficult to change your fish. It's one thing to put all your Ludwig repens in the compost bin to now grow Ludwigia sp. 'Guinea'; but for most of us, it's another story if it's a tank full of zebra fish you no longer love.


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## fredyk (Jun 21, 2004)

> There's nothing worse than daily being dissatisfied watching a fish that's oh so happy and healthy in your tank and wondering if they have a short life expectancy!?! Because now you've seen those great schoolers in a plant club buddy's tank and wish you had room for them.


so true.
Mark


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

fredyk said:


> I would drop back everything so get stability in newly planted tank. For example, less light and less ferts, just to get things going..cannot give exact recommendations. Pull out the algae. It will take some time to get the right adjustment.
> 
> I guess, while I'm thinking about this, the plants are just setting up roots. In the terrestrial world, one adjusts fertilizer to encourage root growth in new plants, then makes another adjustment to fertilizer, to get flowering. In the aquatic plant, one must think along the same lines..your new plants are just getting started growing, and so don't expect a carpet until you have established root systems, plants growing, etc. Meanwhile the algae is growing and consuming the ferts and light energy.
> 
> ...


there must be too much nutrients in the AquaSoil because the only thing i am dosing at the moment is 7ml of BrightyK and 15 drops of Green Bacter per day. and about a week ago i changed the lighting regime to T5 48w(3hrs)--MH 150w(3hrs)--T5 48w(3hrs). From what i read in another post here this noon burst regime is apparently meant to be good.

i would have bought some elatine from Bigstick120 but unfortunately he is in US and i am in UK.


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

Ajax said:


> Tank is looking good! Don't worry too much about the algae it will subside soon. With the ADA system you have a bunch of nutrients right off the bat, and it will take a few weeks for everything to settle. I think the main reason you may have so much algae is that you are kinda lightly planted as far as stem plants go. Having a bunch of stem plants from the start will suck up those nutrients real quick.
> 
> I think you'd be ok to throw some shrimp in there now. You may lose a few, but just make sure you pull them out before they start to decompose (if the other shrimp to pick them clean first!). With my first scape I waited like a week and a half before throwing 3 Amanos in there, and all 3 lived.
> 
> So did any of the HC make it?


Thank you. Amano recommends that after the third week one should start dosing Step1. so if the nutrients are still high does that mean that i still wait for a bit longer? the tank is just entering in the fourth week.

i think there is only a few strands of HC that are still surviving. quite a lot of it melted away. i guess it was to fragile for the unstable conditions of the first couple of weeks.


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

ed seeley said:


> Tank's looking amazing, been looking at it on the aqua esentials site too!
> Sure you'll get the algae under control soon. Platys are great algae eaters too and might be good to put in early with the shrimps and ottos.
> 
> What's happened to the Anubias congensis? I remember you moved it so it's leaves were out of the water, but can't see it now. I've just ordered one off Richard and was thinking of doing similar to you with it!
> ...


cheers, mate. Congensis unfortunately is half dead. i guess the heat of the MH was too much for it. so i had to remove it. might get another one soon to plant under water.

thanks for the advice regarding the hatchets. do you know any other peaceful surface fish?


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

Mud Pie Mama, thank you very much. your advice is really helpful. it has made me look at the planning stage of fish population in a different light. :tea: 

i will have to et the encyclopedia of fish out and study the different types. Amano's tanks usually have only one type of fish in them (mainly tetras) but i do quite like a variety of them(shapes, sizes and colours).


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

I doubt adding Step 1 would have any affect on your algae. It is just a trace elements fert, so I think you would be safe to add it. Your algae really isn't that bad. I've seen a couple of start ups now that the whole tank is filled with 3 different types of algae. Once you add the shrimp & the o-cats it's probably gonna disappear quick.

As for the fish, Amano definitely matches the fish to his layouts. If you look closely it seems that the more wild looking layouts with numerous plant species he usually has a few different types of fish. Whereas the layouts with moss, anubia & ferns he tends to stick with a single type of fish. I also notice he use fish with brighter colors in those layouts.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

> thanks for the advice regarding the hatchets. do you know any other peaceful surface fish?


I've got 12 _Nannostomus eques_ now in my tank now that spend most of their time up at the surface. They are very cool!
They don't seem to be jumpers, but i've got a lid and some floating plants in the tank! Maybe someone else can offer advice who keeps them in an uncovered tank???

I'll probably keep my _A.congensis_ under water then for now! Thanks for that!


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

i decided to move the co2 diffusor at the fron right underneath the inflow pipe. ow the co2 goes straight through it and into the filter. hopefullly this will increase the co2 absorption. What do you guys think? this move has another positive aspect because it allowed me to move the outflow pipe in the middle and now the background plant are growing vertical. before when the pipe was near the back corner because of the strong flow it was making the background plants grow sort of horizontally which wasnt very pleasing visually. here is a pic:


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

in order to improve the appearance of the tank i have decided to add a few more plant species mainly in the background. the plants that i have planned to add are: 

Aponogeton crispus 
gymnocoronis spilanthoides 
heteranthera zosterifolia 
hydrocotyle leucocephala 
hygrophyla corymbosa angustifolia 
ludwigia arcuata 
nesaea crassicaulis 
shinnersia rivularis 
vallisneria spiralis tiger 

and limnobium laevigatum for surface.


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## apistaeasy (Jul 16, 2004)

all the stem plants you are adding should help with your algae problem. Right now you need something to use everything up. MH is a lot of light!

I'm not so sure about adding floating plants, personally I feel as though it distracts from the beauty of a rimless tank. In addition, it will grow quickly and begin to block light from your plants below. Although, Limnobium is probably one of the better choices of floating plant due to its larger size and ease of removing it when you are done with it.


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## uttoshii (Sep 13, 2006)

i think that you you should stop step1 as long as you have algae problems ,that is what ada suggests anyways ,i also think that you put too much brighty-K and especially green bacter ,personally i put 3mg/day brighty-K ,and green bacter only when i change water 1drop/10Liters water changed once a week(tank is 240Liters) .


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

Apistaeasy: i have the lights set in a noon burst set-up. T548w 3hrs-MH150w 3hrs- T548w 3hrs. so i think that doesnt have too much negative effect. regarding floating plants i intend to keep them well controlled so they dont spread too much.

Utoshii: the following extract was taken from ADA website. since i am a newbie and inexperienced i adhered to it and that is the reason for the dosage i have been applying.

"During the first three weeks following the construction of the aquarium, use only BRIGHTY K and GREEN BACTER daily. Dosage: BRIGHTY K : 1 ml per 20 l (one sprinkling). GREEN BACTER: 1 drop per 10 l

During this period, partial water changes are essential (30% every 3-4 days). After about three weeks, when nitrites are below 0.2 mg/l, it is essential to add "algae eaters" (Otocinclus affinis, Epalzeorhincus siamensis and Caridina japonica). Reduce the dosage of GREEN BACTER to 1 drop per 10 l every week (when changing water). Once this period is over and if there is no algae begin fertilization with ECA and STEP 1"

the new plants arrive tomorrow. meanwhile a few days ago i purchased 3 ottocinculus, 2 ghost shrimp(1 of which is pregnant) and 4 cardinia japonica. the difference that they have made in only 4 days is amazing.(you can see it in the pics below). 80% of the algae is gone and the remaining is dying and i presume will be eaten in the next few days. i am also expecting 20 algae shrimp to arrive soon.


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## whitetiger61 (Aug 12, 2006)

If you want your glosso to stay short..i would start thinking about trimming it.... i crop mine at the substrate and it looks great..


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## uttoshii (Sep 13, 2006)

ada's recomandations are quite heavy on the use of their products ,you should adapt it to yout tank ,that's what i did and i have an algae free tank ,never putted more than 6 drops of green bacter a week ,your water doesn't turn to green using that amount of green bacter?


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

whitetiger61 thank you for the advice. i will definately give it a trim this weekend.

utoshii, i never knew that green bacter turned water to green!! never has happened to me anyway.. i think you are right when you say that ADA are quite heavy on the use of their products. i suppose it has to do with their marketing strategy.. Any advice on step1 (bear in mind that 10 more stem plants mentioned above will be added to the existing load in my tank)? how much do you use? it is a 180l tank but it holds only about 120-140l.


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## uttoshii (Sep 13, 2006)

japanese do heavy water changes and keep an aeration pomp turning at night to help the bacteries ,then green bacter can be useful ,but still i think that once a week is enough .step1 must be stopped as soon as algae appear (dixit ada) .

i use 3mg brighty-k and 1mg step1 a day(sometimes i dont use step1 ,depends on the tank condition)+ ECA once every 2 or 3 days about 15 drops
,tank is 240 Liters (120*45*45) must be around 180 Liters of water inside


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

decided to do some major work in the tank yesterday because the new plants arrived, the external heater arrived and i got some fish too. cleaned the filter, tubing and the lilly pipes. also repositioned the wood and many of the existing plants as well as adding the new ones. the downfall was that with all that disturbance the AquaSoil brought up quite a bit of dust and even after a 75% water change the water was still cloudy. anyway left it to settle overnight and when i woke up this morning all the cloudiness had gone. so here's some pictures of the tank.

cloudy yesterday:









today

















one of my red lipped gouramis









some cherry barbs









the fish enjoying their home:

















a view of the plants from above:

























there have been 3 casualties so far:
when i bought the tetras i placed them in a bowl so i could sort the tank out first. two of them had jumped out and i found them on the floor. they must have been there for a few minutes. i put them back in the bowl and they just floated in the surface so i left them there for a while. one recovered and the other died. one of the ottos i found dead on the floor under the tank and the other was sucked half way into one of the holes of the inflow pipe. got it out but it was dead anyway. anyone knows a way how to cover those holes without disturbing the suction power?

the fish load so far contains:

4 red lipped gouramis
4 cherry barbs
8 neon tetras
4 rummy nose tetras
3 ottocinculus
10 shrimp
4 siver tip tetras
5 glowlight tetras
5 serpae tetras
6 x-ray tetras
7 harlequin rasboras


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

here are some shots of the tank now that all the plants have been added. so far it contains 30+ species of Tropica plants in it.


























and some of the fish stuffing their faces


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

been a while since my last update and quite a few things have changed.

i removed the ferns from the wood on theleft and also yesterday i decided to make a few changes. put a new piece of wood in the right hand side and while i was cleaning the filter and pipes unfortunately i managed to break one lily pipe. i am using the Eheim pipe temporarily until i get a reducer so i can use the ADA metal pipe. the reducer is needed because the tubing in the Eheim 2026 is 17mm and the metal pipe is 13mm.

by the way does anyone know if using the metal pipe with a reducer will reduce the flow considerably or not?










I have tied moss to the new piece of wood and and Anubia nana so it will fill up in a few weeks i presume. here are some images of the tank now:


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## David Hui (Dec 10, 2004)

My nightmare broken lily pipe! Nice tank BTW


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## Ajax (Apr 3, 2006)

:frusty: Man, weren't we just talking about busted lily pipes :lol: Sorry to hear that. Tank is looking good. I think the addition of the wood on the right was a good choice. The piece on the left always looked lonely to me  The only other critisizm I will add is that the plants between the wood now seem to be to large for the layout. I think something with a smaller leaf might fit a bit better.

John


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## Dave Spencer (Mar 4, 2007)

Ay up Orchid, you clumsy pillock!:doh: 

Shame your stainless tubing doesn`t fit your filter hoses. Using a reducer will definitely reduce filter output, so you may not want to go down that road.

Good choice with wood. Have you thought about leaving some negative space between the two, or maybe a very low stem bush?

Dave.


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

David and John thank you. i needed some reassurance. my eyes are still not used to the new look. i think it may be because before there was all that greenery on the right hand side and now the wood blocks it a bit. however i think it will look better when the moss has grown a bit.



Ajax said:


> :frusty: Man, weren't we just talking about busted lily pipes :lol: Sorry to hear that. Tank is looking good. I think the addition of the wood on the right was a good choice. The piece on the left always looked lonely to me  The only other critisizm I will add is that the plants between the wood now seem to be to large for the layout. I think something with a smaller leaf might fit a bit better.
> 
> John


What i did notice is that the thickness of the glass is a lot smaller compared with the thickness of the glass on the 2 extremes of the pipe. I got some metal pipes and am planning to use metal inflow and glass outflow (i still have a metal jet outflow pipe in the cupboard though just in case ).

I agree with you about the plants. I might remove the ceratopteris from behind the left wood, plant the plants in between the 2 woods instead of the ceratopteris and get some new plants for the midground.do you have any suggestions as to what might work best?


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

Dave Spencer said:


> Ay up Orchid, you clumsy pillock!:doh:
> 
> Shame your stainless tubing doesn`t fit your filter hoses. Using a reducer will definitely reduce filter output, so you may not want to go down that road.
> 
> ...


i know, when it broke i heard my heart crack too.

regarding the reducer, i may not have to use one. i found out that the metal pipe fits nicely in clear tubing of the JBL Aqua In Out and the latter in turn fits nicely within the ADA clear tubing that i have now. so that should work a treat i hope.

By the way pardon my ignorance but what is 'negative space'?


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## SUBORPHAN (Apr 20, 2006)

Quick update, 3 and a half months on:

got rid of the blue background. i had to empty 75% of the water in order to pull the cabinet and tank out so i could get access to the back. gave a good triming to the background plants as well and replanted some of the shoots that were healthy. Found 5 dead shrimp in the back of the tank. they must have jumped. built a little shelf on the left hand side of the tank as well for the air pump and the Air Sweeper. the tank does look a lot better without the background, a lot brighter and natural. here are some pictures:


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Looks much better I think, without the background too nah . . .


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