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
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Journal Kwyet’s 125 / now 140G Nature Tank
- Thread starter Kwyet
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #62
Kwyet
After every new tank—“This is my last one!”
Thanks! I secured them with heavy-duty fishing line.
Looks phenomenal!
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!
Have me inspired already for a future build!
- Thread starter
- #65
- Thread starter
- #66
Kwyet
After every new tank—“This is my last one!”
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!
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!
I look forward to seeing that island pop with growth 
- Thread starter
- #68
Kwyet
After every new tank—“This is my last one!”
Thanks, me too!I look forward to seeing that island pop with growth
Capraquaria
Active Member
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?
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?
I love this scape, it’s going to look great when it grows in!
Once they settle in and are eating well, they are relatively hardy too.
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.
- Thread starter
- #71
Kwyet
After every new tank—“This is my last one!”
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 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 used the accessory diffuser for the Photone.
- Thread starter
- #72
Kwyet
After every new tank—“This is my last one!”
Yesterday I turned down the lights just a little more, from 37% power to 30% power, since I was still getting some algae build-up on the rocks and glass. It’s been a lot better though since I turned them down 2 months ago. It’s not a big problem anymore if I forget to clean the glass. Actually, the fact that I can forget shows that it’s improved a lot. I didn’t check par again as now it’s just minor tweaking.
I also removed most of the accent rocks. They just collect too much detritus underneath and in-between them. Finally, I trimmed the Red Rubin severely because it was taking over, and put the large bolbitis on the left side. I wish the sword plants in the middle back would hurry up and grow tall, but nooo…
I keep toying with the idea of swapping the 3 pearl gourami in this tank with the rainbows in the 68 gallon. The gouramis don’t seem unhappy in this tank though even though it has higher flow, and it would be a chore to chase down the rainbow fish…
Oh yeah, I installed the new Oase pump on this tank and the 72g, and together they are too loud for my preference and make the floor vibrate under my feet. I’ve become accustomed to it now, but I think an upgrade is still on my wish list for the future. They are economical and get the job done for now though.
Here are some pictures from today. The last one is without the backlight off, because I think that look is pretty cool too.
I also improved my water change system. It’s nothing compared to what some of you have, but it’s definitely improved things for me. I was spending so much time just transferring water. I was also tired of dealing with long water hoses to reach the bathroom and “wasting” all of that water down the drain. I improved these things by buying a 1 hp pump, modifying the python tubing and attachments with double taps, and sending a short length of tubing out the window, up through the window well and out to the lawn. Then I fit the outlet tubing into 2 inch wide gutter tubing that I poked holes in for drainage and can send that to wherever it’s needed most (and the lawn is rough this year!).
BTW, if you run out of hose clamps, don’t think that you can get away with the tubing just being very snug on the pump. Just don’t.
Also don’t forget that you’re holding an open can of fish flakes when you decide to demonstrate to someone what happened.
To save on time, I’ve also starting adding minerals to the tanks as they are refilled from the tap, instead of sending the water to the Brute trash can, mixing everything in, and then filling the tanks from that. That change alone saves a lot of time.
That’s it for probably another couple of months. Thanks for reading!
I also removed most of the accent rocks. They just collect too much detritus underneath and in-between them. Finally, I trimmed the Red Rubin severely because it was taking over, and put the large bolbitis on the left side. I wish the sword plants in the middle back would hurry up and grow tall, but nooo…
I keep toying with the idea of swapping the 3 pearl gourami in this tank with the rainbows in the 68 gallon. The gouramis don’t seem unhappy in this tank though even though it has higher flow, and it would be a chore to chase down the rainbow fish…
Oh yeah, I installed the new Oase pump on this tank and the 72g, and together they are too loud for my preference and make the floor vibrate under my feet. I’ve become accustomed to it now, but I think an upgrade is still on my wish list for the future. They are economical and get the job done for now though.
Here are some pictures from today. The last one is without the backlight off, because I think that look is pretty cool too.
I also improved my water change system. It’s nothing compared to what some of you have, but it’s definitely improved things for me. I was spending so much time just transferring water. I was also tired of dealing with long water hoses to reach the bathroom and “wasting” all of that water down the drain. I improved these things by buying a 1 hp pump, modifying the python tubing and attachments with double taps, and sending a short length of tubing out the window, up through the window well and out to the lawn. Then I fit the outlet tubing into 2 inch wide gutter tubing that I poked holes in for drainage and can send that to wherever it’s needed most (and the lawn is rough this year!).
BTW, if you run out of hose clamps, don’t think that you can get away with the tubing just being very snug on the pump. Just don’t.
Also don’t forget that you’re holding an open can of fish flakes when you decide to demonstrate to someone what happened.
To save on time, I’ve also starting adding minerals to the tanks as they are refilled from the tap, instead of sending the water to the Brute trash can, mixing everything in, and then filling the tanks from that. That change alone saves a lot of time.
That’s it for probably another couple of months. Thanks for reading!
- Thread starter
- #74
Kwyet
After every new tank—“This is my last one!”
I have mine sitting on foam right now, but I’ll give these a try. Thanks!I use these under all my pumps and filters, fantastic sound / vibration deadening
View attachment 18354
That sword is awesome. My fav part of the scape. Looks great!
- Thread starter
- #76
Kwyet
After every new tank—“This is my last one!”
Thanks very much!
- Thread starter
- #77
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