# My Aquascape



## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Hello,

This is the re-scape, the previous one was attacked by green water, have done the blackout but came back. So here it is :

The hardscape









Day 01 after planting









Plants list :
Rotala sp Green
Hemianthus Micranthemoides
Hemianthus Callitrichoides
Ludwigia Arcuata
Microsorum Pteropus sp Narrow
Vesicularia Montagnei

Will be added Pogostemon Helferi later on the front left and right side. Notice that I still short of many H. Micranthemoides and Rotala on the back right and left side. Will wait for them to grow taller and then trim and replant to fill the empty space

Suggestions and comments are very welcome. Thank you.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

The hardscape is nice. It will look realy good with the _P. helferi _once everything fills in. What size tank is this?


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Very cool dw! So I guess the acruata is in the back? I'll be interested to check this one out once it grows out.


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## berniekooi (Jan 26, 2009)

That driftwood is really awesome, where or who did you get that from? 

I will be following this tank because this is pretty much the scape I've had in my head for while. Looks great!


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## orlando (Feb 14, 2007)

Well done! This will be a treat to see as it matures and fills in..

-O


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## Pejc (Jul 3, 2009)

Exellent!


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

yes i really like your wood. where is it from. nice and clean and lots of branches.

good job i like


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## cah925 (Jun 23, 2007)

Looks great, nice and clean. What size tank and what kind of substrate are you using?


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Thank you very much. 

I bought several pieces of that driftwood from my LFS soon after the woods were being loaded to the store . They were very dirty and many of them are still covered with mud. I cleaned and scrapped them with fine sand paper, soaked with boiling water and left water logged for about 1,5 months. Two of them have sink but the other one is still half float . I zip tied it with stone . I think the wood is still "young" but I have no idea at all what kind or where they are origin from, but surely from Indonesia as here is where I live .

The L. arcuata is planted behind the second stone and wood from the left. It is emerged, the color is still green and the leaf shape is still tiny oval sharp so I cut it short and hoping when the submerged leaf form grows out, the emerged form won't be noticed at the very bottom. 

The tank size is 80x30x40cm using ADA AS II as base substrate plus 10 Seachem root tabs.

Is it ok to have P. helferi shaded by M. pteropus Narrow? Will it grows? Thank you.


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## jocky (Jun 24, 2008)

You must be a very organized person. I noticed you planted them into neat rows. I would've had them all over the tank. LOL

Very nice scape.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

My experience with P. helferi is that it needs light. When mine was shaded it began to melt.


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## JapanBlue (Mar 12, 2009)

Very nice start!
Looking forward to see it grow in!


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Thank you very much.



Tex Gal said:


> My experience with P. helferi is that it needs light. When mine was shaded it began to melt.


Thanks for the info Tex Gal, I will reconsider its position again.


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## husonfirst (Sep 27, 2009)

I really like the wood. Should look great once it fills in.


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Thank you husonfirst 

A little update on day 12









Most of the H. micranthemoides was melted but just newly planted again yesterday and wonder if they will survive this time. I am most surprised to see that L. arcuata was melted too from emerged form, IME the emerged form has a higher chance to survive and transform into submerged form but not this time apparently.

The Rotala green has showed a significant growth and has adapted quicker and faster since they were from my previous tank setup but the others are newly bought.

I did some minor changes, that was repositioned the moss rock . Planning on getting some downoi next week to fill the empty space on the front left side in front of the moss rock. What do you think and hope that you like it. Thanks.


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## bratyboy2 (Feb 5, 2008)

ur HC kills me!

this is the cleanest and most organized setup i have seen! lol
but i get why u did it


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

bratyboy2 said:


> ur HC kills me!
> 
> this is the cleanest and most organized setup i have seen! lol
> but i get why u did it


Thank you bratboy2 but can you tell me why for I don't know myself .


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## Aquaticz (May 22, 2009)

What does HC stand for?
Thx


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Aquaticz said:


> What does HC stand for?
> Thx


I believe it is "Hemianthus Callitrichoides".


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## EQUINOX (Nov 19, 2008)

Nice setup.
Not taking any red plant for a focal point?


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

EQUINOX said:


> Nice setup.
> Not taking any red plant for a focal point?


Yes actually, the Ludwigia arcuata but they were melted away from emerged form though . Planning on plant them again. Wish me luck.


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## shark1505 (Jan 24, 2010)

Where did you purchase your HC, looking online but with shipping, there aren't any reasonable prices.


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

shark1505 said:


> Where did you purchase your HC, looking online but with shipping, there aren't any reasonable prices.


I bought it from my friend whom grow it in buckets, so it is emerged.


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## shark1505 (Jan 24, 2010)

What fish are you planning to put in? The tank will look great with the HC ground cover, I really would like to get some from someone at a reasonable price...


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## shark1505 (Jan 24, 2010)

Oh thanks, didn't see your reply, sorry.


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Small update on day 34









5 Ottocinclus affinis and 17 Paracheirodon axelrodi have been introduced. Pogostemon helferi and Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite' were added. Having hard time to make Hemianthus micranthemoides and callitrichoides grow healthy this time.

The HM are melted at the lower stem after growing to some point of height as some other 'forumers' said the AS II has not been cycled fully or due low kH as I'm confused myself too. As for HC still haven't rooted yet but have start to formed tiny submerged leaves and hoping they will start to spread soon.


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## Kova (Oct 21, 2009)

Your tank is nice i love that but why your hemianthus cuba doesn t grow ?


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

You tell me


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## Kova (Oct 21, 2009)

Light ? are you have 1 w on 1 litres and co2 boubles ?


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## Alexpatrascu (Feb 9, 2010)

Man, I love your wood....damn.....congratz...


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## EQUINOX (Nov 19, 2008)

How big is the tank?
What are you using for light?


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Kova said:


> Light ? are you have 1 w on 1 litres and co2 boubles ?


No, My tank size is 80x30x40 and having 2x21watts T5NO so I guess it's 1.6 wpg or 0.4 wpl only. On my previous setup I turn the third bulb on making it 3x21watt and had thread algae and GDA  so now I'm too afraid to light it up more.



Alexpatrascu said:



> Man, I love your wood....damn.....congratz...


Thank you.



EQUINOX said:


> How big is the tank?
> What are you using for light?


It's 80x30x40 and I use Dymax lighting fixture that consists of 4x21watts T5NO but only turn 2 bulbs on. Is anybody here ever use this product? Is it any good? I'm in search of its bulb specification (would like to know its color temp, lumens etc) and can't find it anywhere and also have email the company but still got no response till now.


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## EQUINOX (Nov 19, 2008)

I think you should light up the third one soon.
Thread algae is not necessarily a cause of over lightning.
You need to remember that the biomass effects the fert's consumption and fertilization and CO2 supplementation should change accordingly.
Take another week to observe and decide whether you use the 3rd or even 4th bulb.


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## Dantra (May 15, 2007)

Steven, if you add more light, that will just accelerate and add to the problems you are experiencing. Before you turn on more bulbs why don't you add more CO2 and get your dosing right. If I remember correctly thread algae is caused by not having enough CO2 and nutrients.

Every time I added more lighting to my tank I had to turn up the CO2 to compensate for the extra demand the lights put on the plants. I also had to adjust my fert regimen because the extra lights would put more of a demand of ferts on the plants.

So I started working on getting the maximum amount of CO2 into the tank no matter the lighting I used. Once I got the CO2 level in the tank where it didn't bother my fauna I left it there. That was the amount of CO2 that my tank tolerated so no matter what, I had maximum CO2. So if I felt like using 2 bulbs or 4 bulbs it didn't matter, I was covered CO2 wise. Let your fauna tell you when you have too much CO2 in the tank, not the drop checker. (I'm only going by my experience) Once I removed the drop checker and added more, more and more CO2 until my fauna couldn't take anymore, the plants perked up a lot. Then I concentrated on nutrients.

Then I started working on my dosing. I use EI as a start but I adjusted the dosing of certain nutrients because my plants used more of one nutrient than another, hence the estimative part of Estimative Index. The beauty of it is that I adjusted the amount of nutrients to suit my tank. I hardly ever added less but almost always added more. The more light I used the more the demand for nutrients so what I did was add enough ferts where my plants weren't lacking but had an abundance.

My water is very soft and because of certain plants I have in my tank I had to dose more Calcium and Magnesium. Once I got that right I had to add iron. You have to remain patient, take your time with it and have fun. I really hope it works out for you because you have a beautiful looking tank and when it fills in it will be awesome!









Dan


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I will add more CO2 fisrt and then the dosing lastly, the light. 

Actually I've increased my CO2, NO3 and switch from CaCl2 to CaSO4 as Edward mention in some post that "Cl2 will cause trouble even in low concentration". The first plant that I noticed from getting better is Rotala green, although HC and HM seem to still stunt in growth. I've removed all of my HC and will try to plant again in short time (busy right now ), so as for the HM and then will replace the xmass moss for flame moss.

Thank you.


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## AguaVerde (Feb 27, 2010)

Great driftwood I really like.


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

It's has been a while since the last update as I'm struggling to grow healthy plants. It's day 72









Hemianthus callitrichoides was stunt in growth , Hemianthus Micranthemoides was melted away and so as the Ludwigia arcuata but they were just replanted again a week ago after I made some changes to see if there's an improvement or not.

Notice that I rearranged some rocks formation and replaced Vesicularia dubyana with Taxiphyllum sp. 'Flame' and Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow' with 'Needle Leaf'. Added some downoi and nana petite.

Actually I have increased the CO2, the light and fertz and although the first plant that responded better was Rotala green (the leaves growing bigger now) but the others like Ludwigia arcuata was not. It only took 4 days since planted to melted . What is really wrong here in my tank? Also the leaves of downoi turning smaller these days. The only plant that doing well since from the beginning is Anubias nana petite, they are sending new leaf each week.

About algae, there are several spot on driftwood with BBA, I spot treatment with excel almost every week but they keep coming back but in the past recent days I noticed the early stage form of BGA (cyanobacteria) starting to form in front glass panel beneath the substrate. What a nightmare. Will it be effective just to sticking a black tape along the front panel glass (hinder the light from front side) to get rid of it?









Finally, a close up shoot of my fat belly otocinclus affinis  and hope you enjoy it. Thank you my fellowship aquarist.


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

ok from experience maybe you should test your water source. for ph and hardness and stuff it might have ammonia in it or something. i had that problem in houston one time everything stunted. then one day after a water change everything exploded with growth cause i changed to RO water. so you might check your water source before its added to the tank.

hope that helps


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

I use RO water too. I just tested my tank water parameter :

NH3/NH4 = 0 ppm
NO2 = 0 ppm
NO3 = 25 ppm
PO4 = 0.1 ppm
Fe = 0.1 ppm
kH = 0 dkH
gH = 4 dgH
pH = 5.2-6.8
Temp = 27-28C

For gH, I added CaSO4 and MgSO4 once every week raise it up to 5 dgH and at the end of week, it will remains 4. 

PO4 and Fe are on the low side, I think I should increase them soon enough. 

The most I don't understand is NO3, I dose NPK and micro (Flourish) thrice a week, I'm dosing KNO3 target 4 ppm each time for a total of 9 ppm a week but it end up 25 ppm, something is continue to leach the NO3 and the best guess is ADA AS II but how is it possible? The tank has been running for 75 days now? What should I do? Stop dosing KNO3 for a while? I remember the first time I use ADA AS until now is that my tank is always high on NO3 but also why BGA is seems to start develops? Doesn't it that the existence of BGA is the sign of low NO3?  Could the excess of NO3 causes stunt growth? 

Anybody can help? Thank you.


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## shark1505 (Jan 24, 2010)

I'm dealing with a similar problem, maybe we can compare strategies and find a working way.


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

shark1505 said:


> I'm dealing with a similar problem, maybe we can compare strategies and find a working way.


Could you be more specific? Eg. stunt growth, tank spec and plant list etc.


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## shark1505 (Jan 24, 2010)

I'm going to post a rescape of my tank the second day of spring break (the 4th I believe). Being a student supplies you with limited funds and limited time but I manage 3 tanks. Tell me what you think when I post it up. It's a 55 by the way.


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## NowMed (Feb 10, 2009)

Your tank is incredible!! When it’s done right it shows.


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## xJaypex (Jul 22, 2009)

wow your tank is looking amazing!

i liked the way you planted the hc, very clean!


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## n4y28r (Mar 31, 2010)

I wonder how's your HC now.


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

I have removed all the dead HC, still struggling to grow some plants. Will update again if there's improvement.


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

you got some updated pics?


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

doubleott05 said:


> you got some updated pics?


Here you are...on Day 170









This tank has been running for more than 6 months and I still don't see any other way to be able to grow Ludwigia arcuata and Heminathus micranthemoides . I believe that the ADA AS II combine with my very soft water is the culprit here.

I tried lighting from low to medium with no success, increase and add more fertz, crack up the CO2 until the mist is all over the tank or the whole plants leaves look like they're pearling, still the that I mention above fail to grow, they tend to grow at some point and just melt completely without warning. They barely forming root under the substrate that making me wonder if something is wrong with my substrate. Somewhat I guess that my routine of cleaning the filter every fortnightly is not good too that will lead to nitrifying bacteria be washed away. Too bad is I persistent on growing those plants that I like very much, I have to be able to grow them no matter what .

Now, I'm thinking of rescaping the tank. This time I will use AS I as for what I know is richer in nutrient but will not reduce the pH/kH that drastically than AS II but to anticipate the water cloudiness issues with so many peoples experiences in this forum, I will cap the AS I with AS II on top of it and finally will clean my filter to once a month. Also I will add Bacter and Clear Super prior to the lowest substrate to see if I can change my history . What do you think? Any suggestion or advice? Thank you.


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

did you try usind distilled water?


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## leena_aries (Jul 4, 2010)

The driftwood is really nice.. I should try something with my newly set up tank too...Thanks for sharing.


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

doubleott05 said:


> did you try usind distilled water?


What's your point? My water kH/gH is 3 and one day after 50% of WC will drop the kH to 0 and the gH is reconstituted by adding CaSO4, CaCl2 and MgSO4 to become 5-6.


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## yumewhiz (Jul 30, 2009)

Hi there steven, there's something wrong with your water or fert. I believe to grow arcuata and most of the plant there you'd need to add more light. Just my opinion


Regards,
Aldy


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## stevenlau (Jul 21, 2009)

Hi there too yumewhiz.



yumewhiz said:


> Hi there steven, there's something wrong with your water or fert.


How's the water could be wrong? Toxic? Too much something? Copper? Chlorine? And what about the wrong with fertz?



yumewhiz said:


> I believe to grow arcuata and most of the plant there you'd need to add more light. Just my opinion


I believe I have more than enough light in there, I first tried T5NO 2x21watt and failed then I added an extra 1 bulb (3X21watt) still no luck in 80x30x40cm tank with the suspended 7-8cm between water surface and lighting fixture. I also have made a comparison in case just like you said "need more light", I moved 2 stems of the arcuata to my office's tank (75x30x40cm, same height with my home tank) but the lighting is only 2x18watt T8 without CO2 at all and substrate is barely plain gravel + several root tabs and guess what, they are growing only very slow...

Thank you anyway.


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