Journal UNS 150U - Nature Aquarium

[Capraquaria]

Thinking about any Corys for this tank? I bet they would love that sand.

Yes! I have 20 Pygmy corys in quarantine right now

 

[Koan]

but where the film pushes through the moss, that area of moss seems to die off

Fwiw. I had the same problem with Fissidens, died back brown what looked like all the way. I left it alone, and over about 6 weeks it has come back completely and is thriving.

I think moss probably only needs a little viable DNA down in there somewhere to light up again, the stuff is immortal

 

[Capraquaria]

I think moss probably only needs a little viable DNA down in there somewhere to light up again, the stuff is immortal

I think that's especially true of fissidens! I have some on a few smaller rocks along the sand. Most of it looks ok, but I had a couple where it mostly turned brown. I figured it was my glue job, although I tried to be sparing with it. Even the really 'dead' looking couple of rocks are coming back though! I have to laugh, I was worried about the Cyperus when I planted this tank, and almost didn't put any moss in the tank at all, for fear it would take over! Like, seriously, who struggles to grow moss? Well...me apparently

 

[JayP]

I think that's especially true of fissidens! I have some on a few smaller rocks along the sand. Most of it looks ok, but I had a couple where it mostly turned brown. I figured it was my glue job, although I tried to be sparing with it. Even the really 'dead' looking couple of rocks are coming back though! I have to laugh, I was worried about the Cyperus when I planted this tank, and almost didn't put any moss in the tank at all, for fear it would take over! Like, seriously, who struggles to grow moss? Well...me apparently

Yep. I've done resets on my tank and pulled out almost all fissidens, just leaving bits of the bottom layer brown behind. It all comes back lush in no time. I won't use it in any new scapes that have carpets because it does want to get in the carpet and choke out the other plants.

 

[Capraquaria]

This tank went through a minor bump in the road over the last couple of weeks, but overall it is filling in well. I have plans to replace some of the melted buces now that the tank is more stable, and replace a little weeping moss, but the background plants are growing in well. One of the three Nymphaea lilys is a monster! The one on the front right seems to be more green than red, though. My goal is to keep the two in front short, and just let the lily in the back run to the surface. Still debating adding a few Pearl Gourami's, and I think they would like that area under the Nymphaea, but with the heat I am not shipping in anything else until fall.

There is actually hope I might start to see the crypt spiralis red in the back, left corner in the next few weeks, as it's actually growing now. It's just not tall enough yet to be seen behind the Persicaria 'Fasset Green', which is due for a trim so I can replant the tops.



The issue with the tank was after I had transferred some CPD’s from quarantine, that were quite young and small, and I was a little concerned about them competing for food with my boisterous white clouds. The white clouds are smart, and even distraction feeding doesn’t work that well with them, they just have something akin to ‘there's food in the tank’ radar, and will find it anywhere you put it. The white clouds are absolute gluttons.



Anyhoo, to coax the CPD’s out from hiding under the java ferns, I caved and put some live baby brine shrimp in the tank for several days. It worked really well for getting the CPD’s out of hiding, and providing enough food in the water column that they had a chance to eat before the white clouds snarfed all the food.

Well, no good deed goes unpunished. Just enough extra organics in the water column from the LBBS, which happened to have coincided with a recent bump up in lighting, and in about 3-4 days the tank rapidly started to resemble a circa 1970's green shag carpet



There was no great mystery as to the cause. It was entirely my fault, and I know better. I should have just grown the CPD’s out more in quarantine, so no live or powdered foods end up in this tank. Oh well. At least the CPD’s are happy.

Fortunately, the tank was due its weekly water change. I scrubbed every rock, and the driftwood, within an inch of its life. Cleaned the sand for about an hour. Cleaned the glass twice. Cleaned the Oase prefilter, hoses, and the filter sponge in the Netlea, and changed out 70% of the water. That sent the Amano’s surfing around a bit for the afternoon (hence the plastic wrap is back on the tank so they didn’t climb overboard).



I then turned the lights off for several days, shut off the CO2, stopped ferts, and doubled my Amano shrimp army, along with adding 15 Pink Lady nerites (Clithon sowerbyanum).



I have to say, they are the prettiest little snails. I only intend to keep them in here for a couple of weeks as ‘insurance’ during the last of the algae cleanup, and then I will move them out to the 60F once it's rescaped, where the water parameters will be more to their long-term liking, but maybe they can help with the last of the algae cleanup in the meantime.

Honestly, turning the lights off (just to stall the rate of algae growth until I could commence cleanup), and then the manual scrubbing/water changes, were quite effective for everything except the Cyperus, Feather Duster, and Java ferns, but the otos are working through some of that, providing I keep the hardscape clean. Lights have been back on for several days, rolled back to 30%, CO2 and ferts are back, and so far things seem stable. Next water change is due on Saturday, which so far looks like it will be a bit more straightforward, and require a little less elbow grease! In the meantime at least the new additions are happy!


View attachment 20260709_190733_1_1 (1).mp4

(Ignore the peeling fissidens on the rock, I need to reattach it after bumping that rock with the siphon hose during my frenzied sand cleaning efforts).

 

[Capraquaria]

It's been a few weeks, and there's not much to update. The tank is cruising along. The algae has resolved, including a brief burst of some BBA on the hardscape, likely attributable to plunging the tank into darkness a few weeks ago and simultaneously turning off the CO2. The tank has been stable since, and it is definitely an exercise in patience with this many slower growing plants. However, when I roll back through previous photos and videos on my phone, I do notice how much things are finally growing in. Except the weeping moss.

I hadn't really accounted for just how dense this Manzanita is. I used it in the 60F, but never attached moss to it, just Buce and Anubias. The large pieces in this 150 are really dense. We shall chalk this up to a 'moss cotton' fail While I was cleaning the tank this weekend, I noticed that the moss on the taller arch was barely attached after a large chunk swiftly flew down the siphon hose, so I just pulled the rest off. It's green, and healthy, just not attaching the to the wood. I have had a suspicion for a while that I was going to have to re-tie this, and had picked up some DOOA Terra Line for just such an occasion. I could glue it, but I hate how glued moss looks, and it's not fun to chip glue off hardscape later, either. When I order the plants for the 60U I will order a couple of extra weeping moss cups, and do the same for the rest of the areas where I had it, but those areas have become quite sparse and weren't really worth re-tying. I have to laugh because I avoided using moss on driftwood previously because I didn't want to go chasing it all over the tank. Now I just want it to stay put, and fill in. Hopefully the Terra Line will do the trick.

 

[JayP]

Any updates on how your ARC backlight is working out? I assume you received a new power supply and have had some time with it. I'm considering buying a smaller version, but I'm pretty sure these are the same lights listed for really cheap on Alibaba, so between that and your early problems, I'm hesitant to pull the trigger.

 

[Capraquaria]

Any updates on how your ARC backlight is working out? I assume you received a new power supply and have had some time with it. I'm considering buying a smaller version, but I'm pretty sure these are the same lights listed for really cheap on Alibaba, so between that and your early problems, I'm hesitant to pull the trigger.

Well, I can confirm ARC is importing them from China, not building them in house, so certainly could be the same. It took months to get a replacement for the 150 because the ports and Customs offices were held up during the tariff fiasco. I did finally get a replacement screen for the damaged one, though, and I did burn through the power supplies almost immediately. I was concerned it was an issue with the screen, but it turns out the power supply provided with the screen was absolute . I replaced the power supply that was provided, with this one from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q7N14ZY

Didn't even need the adapters, the native plug was perfect. The ARC screen has been absolutely rock solid ever since!

I have to say, I really do like the RGB gradient option with the ARC screens, or at least having an option for a gradient. I got a UNS 60 ATMOS for my 60U tank, and it's ok, but I'm not wowed by it. I am actually ordering the ADA gradient foil for the ATMOS as the dimensions are the same as the screen for the 60U (60x36). The ATMOS can be any color under the rainbow, but it's single color only, and the white is a bit, almost, grey. Also took me a hot minute to figure out how to get the ATMOS to just be white, as white is not an option on the remote (turn on, double click power button, and the ATMOS defaults to white).

Anyhoo, if you can get deal on the ARC screen or similar, and it has issues, look to the power supply. They are so cheaply made these days, but for $16 I solved the problem!

 

[JayP]

Great info Thanks!