My Ei 15 Gallon - Rescape

[nry]

Update just because - hard to think this is only 4 weeks on from the picture above!

I have some windelov fern coming from AquaticMagic (£4 delivered!) which I will attach to the right of the low mopani, and the mopani will then move into the right of the tank - the fern should be better suited to the lower light here than the nanjenshan. I'll have to move some of the crypts to do this, unsure how they will go back in yet.

 

[rsands]

tank is looking very well. some amount of growth in the tank. as you know i hope the d & d setup i ordered will result in a tank looking like that!

How many bubbles are you currently running at? i know my powered diffuser is only giving a fine mist when it is getting constant CO2...after reading your problems with the powered one on the pressurised i might go and order the diffuser tomorrow

 

[nry]

I've never used the powered diffuser, I felt it was too big for my tank and would be really intrusive.

I am having to run ~45-50 bubbles per minute which seems large for my tank. I think the powered diffuser may be more efficient at diffusing and spreading the CO2 around the water column than either the Rhinox 1000 ceramic diffuser I have tried or the current Dymax Ceramic Atomiser. I think it is as much down to my filter not giving a strong current, bubbles float up beneath the filter outlet but many reach the surface without being blown around too much - the Dymax does create a finer mist than I managed with the Rhinox which seems to help the bubbles get blown around better, but the instructions for this kit suggest I start at 4bpm for my tank size which I seem to be miles away from!

 

[nry]

Updated picture:

Cut the wood in half, one bit to left and one bit to right with Windelov fern on - hopefully this is better suited to this area of the tank as it gets less light due to the filter box blocking things a bit. The bacopa to the left is only there because it was delivered as a free replacement for a recentish poor plant delivery - not sure if I will keep it long term. Added 6 copper harlequins at the weekend, still debating giving my tetra away or seeing if my LFS will swap them, they hide so much I rarely see more than 2 or 3 out of 9!

Also debating removing the crypts - I like them but they just don't work for me at present. I have some glosso which I am going to try at the next water change - I will move all of the p.helferi into a larger group. The H.C. just wasn't going well in my gravel, the glosso may do better as it is a bit bigger.

Most algae appears to be on the way out. I have had some staghorn appearing recently on older/slower growing areas of planting - I think this may be related to poor growth of some plants (namely the rotala nanjenshan) as they got a bit infested with hair/fuzz algae. I am also wondering if a combination of major substrate moves (wood move etc) and the way I clean the filter sponge may be adding or triggering the staghorn which apparently likes it if there is too much mulm and/or a dirty filter. I will change my filter cleaning methods from now on and also have no major substrate disturbances in the foreseeable either.

Overall I am liking the way the tank is going, taking the crypts out will really open up the front of the tank.

 

[rsands]

nice looking tank there in the pic. i think a good dwarf mini hairgrass would look amazing across the substrate

 

[nry]

Hairgrass is too tall for my tank I feel, I have wondered about it but don't think it will be too good...

 

[Themuleous]

Man that quality work Nry you'd never think it was only 15g

Sam

 

[rsands]

hmm true but if you were up for trimming it and keep it a low grass. i trim mine and it stays about 2cm tall or so. (but trying to let it grow across the substrate more so haven't trimmed it in a week and its longgg)

amazing for a 15g indeed

 

[nry]

Things certainly seem to have reached that 'settled' situation. Plants are now going nuts, the vallis must have shooted about 5-10 new plants in the past fortnight, I'm going to have to pull some out and pass them on or maybe re-use them. My 5-gallon is the same, 5-10 shoots from the vallis in there aswell - once it starts to grow well it really bushes out, the height of the plant really works in smaller tanks like this, no leaves are more than ~9-10 inches even after months of growth.

I think I am almost ready to switch out the rotala macranda aswell - last night I ripped out the majority of the remaining cabomba which I have slowly been taking out each week. I replaced it with some trimmings from the r.rotundifolia. I am wondering what to replace it with, part of me is wondering about a big batch of the vallis but I am not sure - maybe put all of the vallis in this area and put a bunch of r.wallichii in its place. My only 'issue' with the tank is that due to filter/water movement all the stem plants along the back take on a slanted growth, growing or being pushed to the left of the tank. The r.nanjenshan is also picking up now after it got swamped with hair algae - I will gradually remove the poor stems and re-plant the healthier trimmings from the top growth, I'll possibly pull some from my 5-gallon which is growing really well.

Glosso seems to be doing better in the foreground compared to the h.c. which didn't seem to like the gravel size for rooting. Still not entirely sure on the bacopa to the front-left.

 

[nry]

I'm probably tempting algae fate, and I don't think there is time for the tank to 'settle' ready for the PFK competition that ends in a few weeks, but the vallis went so nuts and the rotala nanjenshan was not doing well that I moved things around a bit:

I'll likely take some pics for the PFK competition in a few days, but my main focus for the comp. is my 5-gallon PFK at present. I may entirely redo this 15-gallon in a few months, I just can't get any carpeting plant to hold well in the gravel and would, at present, probably go for a very planned/scaped design next time around - with sand

 

[nry]

I still never believe growth rates until I compare pictures, given it is two weeks since the last photo, looking at it next to my tank shows how far things have moved on!

Anyhow, I've been talking about it for far too long - this tank is soon to be completely overhauled:


* Replace Juwel internal filter with TetraTec EX600 and likely lily pipes (filter from zooplus.co.uk for £42!)
* Replace 1x36w Interpet PC T5 with 2x15w T8 tubes to give a more balanced lighting level across the substrate and also to improve colours from the fish - placing a tube well towards the front of the aquarium really helps show the fish colours off. Side effect is also that it improves growth of low level plants at front of tank, I moved the current tube forward a bit and the glosso has really taken off (lights organised)
* Change substrate to Tropica covered with Hagen Black River Sand (bought sand, need Tropica substrate)
* Vine roots (LFS description!) as pictured below as the main hardscape material. I am going to try some large black pebbles aswell in the vain of a recent PFK picture which I liked but these will be removed if I feel they don't work well
* Existing D-D pressurised CO2, may look into building an external reactor for this
* Possibly consider an external Hydor heater, not that much more than a minimalist internal heater

Plants:

* Tropica Windelov fern at the 'base' of the vine roots (Have this plant already)
* Tropica P.Helferi in large groups around pebbles (Have some already, may need another pot)
* U.Graminifolia for the remaining substrate/carpet cover
* Possibly some moss on the wood, I will likely at least try some to see how it goes, never used moss before!

Livestock:

* 8 x amano shrimp (some to move in from my 5-gallon)
* 15 x Rasbora Maculatus, may go for 20 as they are teeny tiny!
* 4 x Corydoras Pygmeaus to which I may add another 3-4 as again they are teeny tiny!
* 6 x Otocinclus Haourani (some to move in from my 5-gallon)

All fish are very small so stocking density is not exactly a concern. I'm trying to go further down the illusion of scale route which I inadvertantly got close to with the current layout!

New wood:

 

[Themuleous]

Love the wood!

 

[nry]

Cheers - as per usual last time I visited the shop they had loads, this time they had about 6 bits left, had to chop it a bit, amazing how small a 15-gallon tank can be when at times!

 

[DevUK]

I can never find good wood! Err.. I mean, spindly branchy stuff like that.

 

[nry]

I only found one shop that sells this stuff and even then I've been going there for 12 months and they only got it in a while ago. If I say this bit was £20 then someone somewhere is making a darn fortune on wood! Still, my wife buys boots for £80 so I don't feel bad