Journal Kwyet’s 125 / now 140G Nature Tank

[JacksonL]

That light stand looks great, very sleek and professional! You have done a good job on the cables too, had to look closely to see them, nice touch

 

[Kwyet]

That light stand looks great, very sleek and professional! You have done a good job on the cables too, had to look closely to see them, nice touch

Thanks! I secured them with heavy-duty fishing line.

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

Looks phenomenal!

 

[Aquajack]

Great job!! Those T90's hanging like that look a lot nicer than the usual flat light sitting over the tank.
Have me inspired already for a future build!

 

[Kwyet]

Thanks! Lucky I was able to get them during a sale and before all the tariffs went into effect.

 

[Kwyet]

Well, quite a bit of algae has been showing up on the glass, rocks, and even plants, especially if I forget to clean the glass for a week or am a few days late getting the water change done.

I figured it was time to take my own advice. I checked nitrates before and after water changes. It only varies by 2-3 ppm over the course of the week, around 14-17 ppm. I cleaned the glass, lily pipes, powerhead, and prefilter sponges. I removed a lot of the older leaves that had algae. I’ll continue as new leaves show up. A lot of the crypts had changed form and were abandoning the old leaves anyway. I sprayed the exposed wood with hydrogen peroxide and let it sit for 10 minutes. I stirred up the unplanted substrate and between that and the glass. I increased the water change to around 40%.

I also finally checked the par with my phone. I hate trying to do that with a plastic bag over it, so I trusted its built-in water resistance. I take no responsibility if anyone else does the same, but it was so much easier and the phone is fine. Well, I was much surprised to find that the par at the top of the rock wall was 100 and at the substrate was 80! I suppose the 10-15 ppm CO2 I’ve been running kept it from complete disaster. I tweaked the lights until I got it down to around 60 and 50. I’ll give that a month and see how it does. Just looking at the pictures, I think I still need to turn the red down a bit.

I’ve also added 6 Otocinculus this week. I didn’t really do it for algae control. The diatoms had to be cleaned once and haven’t come back. I did want to provide some company for the single Oto that was already there though.






I’ve also ordered an Oase Optimax 1420 which I will use to power the Oase filter. I think then I’ll be able to take the Fluval off and save it as a backup, and hopefully also remove the powerhead. We’ll see. This seems to be the most economical option to improve the filtration and flow after reading through the filter thread.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I look forward to seeing that island pop with growth

 

[Kwyet]

I look forward to seeing that island pop with growth

Thanks, me too!

 

[Capraquaria]

I am glad your lone Oto has some new friends. I know many think of them as just part of a clean-up crew, but I honestly adore them, and think they are fun addition to any aquarium. I love watching them shoal together, or perching on leaves.

Looking forward to your next update and seeing how reducing the intensity of your lights improves things. As I am getting ready to plant tomorrow, and finally turn the lights on my own tank after a lengthy dark start, startup lighting intensity is something I have still have concerns about. I never thought much about it when I ran T-5 fluorescents. I haven't quite managed to pull the trigger on an Apogee, although in a perfect world I would love to, but after reading about the Photone app on other threads here it seems it is more accurate than a cheap PAR meter. Now seeing your post, and that your phone survived the plunge I really should do this. I just don't trust Ziplocs because I have had them leak! Did you use the paper diffuser method, or the Lightray diffuser accessory?

 

[JacksonL]

I love this scape, it’s going to look great when it grows in!

I am glad your lone Oto has some new friends. I know many think of them as just part of a clean-up crew, but I honestly adore them, and think they are fun addition to any aquarium. I love watching them shoal together, or perching on leaves.

Agreed, one of my favourites and so underrated. I have a group of 7 and they have great personality in a group. They will defend an algae tablet against all comers, no matter the size of the other fish, they team up to chase them off.
Once they settle in and are eating well, they are relatively hardy too.

 

[Kwyet]

I am glad your lone Oto has some new friends. I know many think of them as just part of a clean-up crew, but I honestly adore them, and think they are fun addition to any aquarium. I love watching them shoal together, or perching on leaves.

Looking forward to your next update and seeing how reducing the intensity of your lights improves things. As I am getting ready to plant tomorrow, and finally turn the lights on my own tank after a lengthy dark start, startup lighting intensity is something I have still have concerns about. I never thought much about it when I ran T-5 fluorescents. I haven't quite managed to pull the trigger on an Apogee, although in a perfect world I would love to, but after reading about the Photone app on other threads here it seems it is more accurate than a cheap PAR meter. Now seeing your post, and that your phone survived the plunge I really should do this. I just don't trust Ziplocs because I have had them leak! Did you use the paper diffuser method, or the Lightray diffuser accessory?

Thanks! It’s funny, I knew that SAEs would school with Denison Barbs, but now sometimed the Otos are doing it too. I guess any torpedo-shaped striped fish is “family”.

I used the accessory diffuser for the Photone.