Journal 20 gallon Rotala florida tank

[Dennis Wong]

Added a couple more fish - Black arrow tetras. Slightly thin from the shop but eating well.
Contrasted against yellow kerri tetra

 

[Dennis Wong]

Top view of Hyphessobrycon myrmex aquarium



Much less problematic fish compared to the Peugeoti/kerri tetras~



Spot the laggard stem plant bush crater when the trimming/replanting cycle is not done well.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Me every time I see this tank:
Anyone know where I can get some Syngonanthus 'Lago Grande' in the US???

What an awesome plant (and beautiful tank).

 

[Dennis Wong]

Me every time I see this tank:
Anyone know where I can get some Syngonanthus 'Lago Grande' in the US???

What an awesome plant (and beautiful tank).

The funny thing is... the plant came from the US lol. I forgot from where, but it originated from US many years ago

 

[JacksonL]

Me every time I see this tank:
Anyone know where I can get some Syngonanthus 'Lago Grande' in the US???

What an awesome plant (and beautiful tank).

I have the same thoughts about the anubias white, we just don’t seem to have it here in Australia.

 

[Dennis Wong]

I have the same thoughts about the anubias white, we just don’t seem to have it here in Australia.

It can be imported under the anubias species blanket, since anubias is already in the market there, could try suggesting it to local importers. Many south east asia funds produce it.

Imperial lapis tetras,
Not sure if these are hyphessobrycon cyanotaenia or melanostichos

 

[Dennis Wong]

Top view shot, around 250-300ish umols of PAR at mid substrate. Main reason to use more light is that it allows greater plant density for the bushes.

 

[TRyan]

Amazing tank! Do you have any visible GDA on the glass at week's end running at that PAR level?

 

[Dennis Wong]

Amazing tank! Do you have any visible GDA on the glass at week's end running at that PAR level?

This is the amount of build-up after a couple of weeks. Its not visible in zoomed out shots, but the dots are visible in macro photographs, so I will scrape the glass before the macro shots. If not it can appear as green dots like below.

I don't think every well planted tank reaches this stable point easily, though the few folks who have stable systems make it seem like it is the default state, that every well planted tank becomes automatically algae free - which is an extremely disingenuous assertion. Hence my long thesis on how algae in different tank types should be handled from a multi-pronged approach from having a leaner water column to light control depending on the style of tank and what difficulties the tank is currently facing:

Algae Control 101: How to prevent algae in an aquarium?

Key steps in preventing algae in an aquarium. Discussion of the role of CO2, light, nutrients and biological filtration in managing algae in a planted tank.

www.2hraquarist.com

 

[TRyan]

It's really quite incredible how little algae is on the glass after 2 weeks at that light level. Thank you for linking this great article. There are some good tips and tricks in there!

 

[Dennis Wong]

Short vid:

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

 

[Dennis Wong]

View attachment 14221

haa I edited and uploaded a more comprehensive vid !

 

[Dennis Wong]

Full side view shot before the next trimming cycle

 

[Dennis Wong]

Fish getting fatter day by day ha
Slightly worried about the aggression between the fish, saw a couple of torn fins Hmm.



Thinking about restarting a series of parameter experiments with shrimp culls. Wondering if this would actually produce data that changes people's minds

 

[ElleDee]

Thinking about restarting a series of parameter experiments with shrimp culls. Wondering if this would actually produce data that changes people's minds

You gotta* grow a tank in with your usual method and then stop dosing K entirely and document what an actual potassium deficiency looks like over multiple species.



*I mean I think it would be neat if you did, you don't have to obviously

 

[Dennis Wong]

You gotta* grow a tank in with your usual method and then stop dosing K entirely and document what an actual potassium deficiency looks like over multiple species.



*I mean I think it would be neat if you did, you don't have to obviously

haa this would actually be useful, but its so troublesome to isolate K entirely. Even my tap water has some K so I'd have to use RO for that specific tank. Hmm and if aquasoil contained some K, it might take really quite some time before I can document symptoms.

 

[ElleDee]

haa this would actually be useful, but its so troublesome to isolate K entirely. Even my tap water has some K so I'd have to use RO for that specific tank. Hmm and if aquasoil contained some K, it might take really quite some time before I can document symptoms.

I forgot you aren't already using RO. I also have super soft tap water with a few ppm of K. Depending on how much K you are getting in your water, you may be able to push the rest of the tank hard and it would induce a K deficiency in species that are sensitive to it. Being able to identify a few indicator species would also be useful. But yeah, it's a deceptively complicated problem to sort out.