Stan's freshwater 240 gallon extravaganza. Trials and tribulations of a sunlit aquarium

Also,you would be shocked to see how much C. balansae I have to remove every now and then. If I didn't it would block all the light from the window and also pretty much use up the swimming space the Rainbows need. In fact,because I have to remove so much greenery for the Rainbows you might think that the openness is from me waiting for plants to grow in...no,its me removing plenty of java moss,stem plants and thinning things out. Its why I would have an even better Lisbon tank look if I had went with small fish.
From this point on any fish replaced I plan on keep them to the smaller scale. But..no fish are dying-lol.

Gave the weekly cleaning..it's now a 2 hour and 15 minute process. Whew. I might start pumping the water out as opposed siphoning into the yard or barrels in the yard like now. Might cut at least a half hour or more. But glass wipedowns,cleaning the 5 gallons of floss,and trimming plants means wearing the beater t shirt as you will get wet on a tank 24" deep and with only three cutouts adding 8" more inches of reach and I'm no NBA player with a loooong reach.
Have not added fish and some plants have returned from the dead sprouting new foliage. Trident Java has come back. I think months ago I overdid the hydrogen peroxide and mosses and ferns hate that stuff. Bolbitis look larger than ever. Cooler temps- low to mid 70's fit much better. A current over it helps also.

Bolbitis has really grown even more. I've made cleaning the filter a weekly thing with water change,I've dosed iron much less to avoid black and black fur algae,but I do dose fully with potassium tablets and that seems to suit Bolbitis and Java ferns of all types very well.
No new fish or plants. Just growing out what I have and some plants like Pearlweed are so dense I can prune it with scissors into a mound. It can take all the sun it can get. Great plant. Unlike my Ludwigia palustris that the fish ate,they ignore the Pearl.
Photos soon.

Any updated pics?

I should. It's not perfect looking..but its growing much larger leaves and more of them. On low tech conditions. One tip is that potassium seems to really suit the fern family. Bolbitis and Java fern and moss really soak it in. I now add less iron because of it .Like they always say about medications,the less you need to use the better? I think the same for aquarium additives.
Its not an easy grow..slow and not easy. Just so beautiful in form you have to try. More tips? Trim off algae infested leaves. Some guy on youtube got me to bite the bullet and remove whole dark and hairy fronds. Sure enough,it responded with new croziers ( fiddleheads) and lush new leaves. I also do spot treat with Hydrogen peroxide at 3% and then I dilute it more on top of that. What's the hurry?..slowly you get on top of the algae that way and no dead fish or rotting mosses.
The fern with a row of Anubias under it is a look stolen straight from Amano. It's a great combo!
Its now over 3 years and a couple of months since I set this up. Where does time go?

I had to move "Kong Island rock" a few more inches to the left. I never would have guessed that Pearlweed would become a centerpiece stem plant. Its gotten taller and wider and I think its doing a great job of making algae work harder. So,by moving the island, Pearlweed can get even rounder. Amazing how it looks like it's on Co2 and steroids. Green as can be.
This is before moving. You can see its flat from the shade of the rock. Now it can round out more.
All from a $1.98 or $2.30 with tax plant. It looked so dainty..and its not!

Nice tank!

My last Greenline Rasbora is gone. She was almost three years old and I would bet that is much older than they survive in the wild. She outlived two males by more than a year. Three was all the fish store had. They are perfect fish for plant tanks and will not only play and school..they interact with fast Danio's like they are one of their own.

I need to read through this from the beginning. Skimmed the last few pages and this is a beautiful tank with a lot of useful information tucked away in here as well.

How's this for a kick in the pants? My wife said to me "Why are you changing the water when it looks clear?" I thought..she's right. So instead of the weekly water change of 40-50%, I just cleaned the tank..wiped the inside,stirred up the gravel here and there,pruned..and then topped off the 10 gallons that evaporates per week. Right now days later,the plants are green as can be and I cannot see any (real) tint to the water. With the window as the background,tints are easy to see. It's pretty much normal. Algae growth is way down.
Once again we learn the each tank is different..and things can change in each tank. Nothing looks needy for iron or potassium- so far.
I can't tell you when the next water change will be. Going by day to day for now.

Thanks Barney,I appreciate that!

Stan510 said:

How's this for a kick in the pants? My wife said to me "Why are you changing the water when it looks clear?" I thought..she's right. So instead of the weekly water change of 40-50%, I just cleaned the tank..wiped the inside,stirred up the gravel here and there,pruned..and then topped off the 10 gallons that evaporates per week. Right now days later,the plants are green as can be and I cannot see any (real) tint to the water. With the window as the background,tints are easy to see. It's pretty much normal. Algae growth is way down.
Once again we learn the each tank is different..and things can change in each tank. Nothing looks needy for iron or potassium- so far.
I can't tell you when the next water change will be. Going by day to day for now.

Click to expand...

The problem with just replacing evaporated water if you are using tap water is the mineral content will build up. Also many fishes release this and that into the water and it helps to dilute it. If you have a tds meter you can see the change over-time as solvent buildup. Does this mean you have to do water changes - well there are a lot of factors as to the long term impact depending on fish density; chemicals you put into the water and so forth. So while you might not require 50% a week; long term you will probably want to do some water changes....

Oh,I would be very happy for water changes to be 50% every other week. Maybe 25-30%? I'm saying that for now- not replacing half the water per week that seems to have aged just right,is working.
Before when the plants were slow to get going...the weekly change was a must. Three years into it and growth has made the system more stable.

So far the less water changes is holding. Plants look better than ever and minimal algae on the glass..I wipe it off. One observation on this 8' aquarium? As I let the Pearlweed and Crypt balansae grow larger and larger..same for other plants? Its making my tank look like a big nano aquarium! I never would have guessed- but when you go with a half dozen strong growers instead of the scaped tank and Co2 that might have 50-100 species of plants in this sized aquarium,the less,but larger really does make that illusion. Huh. I still want to see pearl weed get like 2' wide and tall..then prune rounded in a half hemisphere look. See if it looks good or not.

And that algae? Its that "good" algae thats a lush furry green..and yes the Ancistrus and Panda Garras are taking care of most of that. You can see their teeth marks on it.