Journal Art's tank(s)

Well, I'm tankless at the moment due to circumstances so will post a few of my last ones. Nothing near the masterpieces of others but I try.

Had a Dutch-inspired a few years ago when I was trying different techniques. This one had a sump and I ran carbon to minimize water changes.


Then I moved to an apartment so I changed it up with a more fitting UNS 90 with more traditional equipment. I first wanted to go traditional aquascape with stone.


Then I said, forget it. I like the stems too much! Ended up with a Dutch-inspired, wabi sabi combination.


Thinking about what's next for me.

 

[Count Krunk]

Looks great!

 

[Joel Armstrong]

I've been traveling for work the last two weeks and catching up now. In the meantime, here's how I found my tank when I got back. Not bad. Pearling away.

View attachment 3098

I've been coming back to your build thread several times over the past few days since you've posted your recent tank picture.

I especially love the colours. Your tank is inspirational. I'll rerurn with a few questions when i have more time. Well done!

 

[Art]

You guys are awesome and kind! Thank you very much.

 

[Art]

Mine never looks' that good

Why do you think that is? Soft water, good nutrients and plenty of light is my recipe so far.

 

[Unexpected]

Why do you think that is? Soft water, good nutrients and plenty of light is my recipe so far.

My lower leaves always gets white spots or something. Not sure what it is.

 

[Immortal1]

Tank is looking great Art!

 

[GreggZ]

Tank is looking great Art! A great group of healthy colorful plants. Well done.

On a side note you must have to trim that Pantanal daily in that tank. That is very ambitious to keep it in a smaller tank.

To what do you attribute your success to? What's dosing like?

 

[Art]

To what do you attribute your success to? What's dosing like?

I'm currently auto-dosing so daily, small additions provide a steady dose that is consistent. Dosing the above with DIY macro and @Burr740 micros.

As to why I think the plants are doing relatively well, it's a few things:

• Being patient as the tank matures - not making too many changes at once;
• Enough light, CO2, nutrients for the plants;
• Accepting that some plants won't do well in my tank, at least at this stage;
• Weekly 50% water changes with substrate vacuum; and
• No fish so far.

The last point is probably the hardest for many. I'm a plant first, fish second kind of guy. I like to get to know my tank first, get it dialed in and then add fish. Fish will bring a variable to the tank that I prefer to manage when everything else is going OK.

Once I add fish, I will take my time to fine tune a new balance for the tank and how I run it. Likely go through a few algae waves, but it will ultimately settle at a new point where the plants and fish co-exist without disturbing the balance.

As many say, no magic nutrients or additives. I'm using tap water with dechlorinator. That's it. Patience and good husbandry will win every time.

 

[Art]

you must have to trim that Pantanal daily in that tank. That is very ambitious to keep it in a smaller tank.

Yes and no, IMO.

Yes, a smaller tank forces you to be more mindful of the mature plant size than larger tanks. A one inch diameter young plant can turn into a four inch diameter monsters that would ruin the look in smaller tanks. This makes it difficult as real estate is so limited. Frequent trimming is necessary.

This one is "Meta" which I find easier to grow and also more forgiving of replanting. So, while it does require trimming probably every two weeks (my tank is rather tall), I like the fact that it recovers quickly and fills in. This means that it looks great about 80% of that two week period.

I balance it with slower growers that allow me the time to focus on taming the Meta during water changes. In the end, the small investment of time is well worth it given the benefits it adds to the tank with its ability to look good quickly.

 

[Joel Armstrong]

Hi

@GreggZ was kind enough to loan me his Seneye and I was able to take PAR readings.

My light, the Netlea AT6 Pro is about 8 inches from the water surface. I took measurements at 1 inch below the water surface measuring in a 9 point (back middle front and left middle right) grid. I did the same thing at the substrate level that is about 21 inches from the light.

Here is PAR at 1 inch below the surface:
View attachment 2553
Here is at substrate level:
View attachment 2554

The horizontal grid readings were all within 10% of each other meaning even light spread. No hot spots.

This thing is a beast!

I am running it at 50% power or 96w. I’m using only RGB with white turned down all the way.

I don’t know about you but I think this is more than enough light for the plants I will be keeping.

At this point in time, I’m happy with my purchase. I would recommend.

Hi Art,

Did you start with this amount of light to begin with, or did you work up to this level of light?

 

[Art]

Hi @Joel Armstrong, sorry for the very late reply.

No, I always ramp light up slowly.

 

[Joel Armstrong]

No need to apologise Art

 

[Art]

This picture was taken about three to four weeks ago if I remember correctly. I then went into a very busy work and personal travel time that meant no water changes or trimming.

Finally, last weekend my wife came around and asked, "What's going on with that?" After 30 years of marriage, I know that's her way of saying, "Your tank looks like crap. Do something about it."

So, I did. On Sunday I took a weed whacker to it. Chopped down A LOT of the plants.

I do have some really annoying green hair algae growing that is proving to be very resilient. I've started my usual Excel + H202 to see if it has some effect, along with manual removal.

Lastly, inspired by @BryceM, I finally ordered fish. I'm having 20 Orange Von Rio Tetra's delivered tomorrow. It's been a while since I've cared for fish so I will have to relearn a lot. Setting up the auto-feeder now.

Oh, how can I forget, I did switch from DIY to the 2Hr Aquarist APT 3 as my main fertilizer. This is now the backbone of my automated fertilizer regime. Of course, I'm still using @Burr740's kick-butt micro formula in addition to it. I realize that APT 3 is a complete fertilizer but at the leaner dosage that I'm using, I can use supplemental micros and Joe's formula is the best.

 

[Yugang]

I do have some really annoying green hair algae growing that is proving to be very resilient.

I checked your thread, but can't find confirmation if your CO2 is enough and stable enough at your light level? Are you still at 50% of your light's power, or have you ramped further up? I would always prefer to find the root cause of your hair algae.

 

[BryceM]

@Art

Good to hear about the fish, and Von Rios are a fantastic choice.

 

[Joel Armstrong]

View attachment 3656
This picture was taken about three to four weeks ago if I remember correctly. I then went into a very busy work and personal travel time that meant no water changes or trimming.

Finally, last weekend my wife came around and asked, "What's going on with that?" After 30 years of marriage, I know that's her way of saying, "Your tank looks like crap. Do something about it."

So, I did. On Sunday I took a weed whacker to it. Chopped down A LOT of the plants.

I do have some really annoying green hair algae growing that is proving to be very resilient. I've started my usual Excel + H202 to see if it has some effect, along with manual removal.

Lastly, inspired by @BryceM, I finally ordered fish. I'm having 20 Orange Von Rio Tetra's delivered tomorrow. It's been a while since I've cared for fish so I will have to relearn a lot. Setting up the auto-feeder now.

Oh, how can I forget, I did switch from DIY to the 2Hr Aquarist APT 3 as my main fertilizer. This is now the backbone of my automated fertilizer regime. Of course, I'm still using @Burr740's kick-butt micro formula in addition to it. I realize that APT 3 is a complete fertilizer but at the leaner dosage that I'm using, I can use supplemental micros and Joe's formula is the best.

Thanks for updating Art.

I have been curious about your tank.

Is the Ludwigia white gone from your tank?

Tank is looking great

 

[Art]

Is the Ludwigia white gone from your tank?

No, it's there but VERY slow growing.

 

[Art]

I checked your thread, but can't find confirmation if your CO2 is enough and stable enough at your light level? Are you still at 50% of your light's power, or have you ramped further up? I would always prefer to find the root cause of your hair algae.

Hey thanks for asking about this.

Yes, I ramped up and sitting at about 75%. I have a 1.4 pH drop daily that is consistent and controlled via a pH controller. The drop occurs over an hour period and remains throughout the photoperiod.

My current thought on culprit is tank neglect so user error. I'm on 50% water changes every other day at the moment. Let's see if that makes a dent. I do note that algae growth has slowed.

 

[BigWave]

@Art I remember you said you switched to autodosing APT. This is a friendly reminder, when was the last time you calibrated your dosing pumps? I have to calibrate my Jeboa ones about every 2 to 3 weeks or it wanders off.

 

[Art]

@BigWave, thanks. That is good advice. It's been a while.

I think I will calibrate this weekend.