I have been working on a Dutch aquarium for the last month and half or so with a little documentation here and there on the status of the aquarium. I have decided to consolidate all the information onto one source and post links on the various forums I follow. All the aquarium info is available here with plenty of photos:
http://canaquaticgardens.wordpress.com/
I have taken the dutch tag off this tank. I'm not sure how to classify it now. I think more jungle but really not much of a traditional style. I've done some major trimming and replanting on the right side of the tank. All the species in there couldn't survive long term and be healthy. I have scaled back to growing only a Nasea 'Tropica' species, Limnophilia Aromatica, Ludwigia vent. 'Cuba', HM and Rotala Walichii. I've also expanded the Blyxa Japonica towards the front and moved the Red Rubin Sword more towards the back where a plant of its size belongs. Here's the tank the afternoon after the trim.
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I've also moved the rocks around a bit as they were getting lost in the plants. I realized they cannot be anywhere near the back and contribute anything to the tank. Midground is about right for the sizes I have. I seem to have won the war with the algae in this tank. The final corrective action that balanced things out was moving the light up about 3" from the original height above the tank. It is now about 6-8" above the tank. I haven't seen any BBA or hair algae in weeks. There has been some GDA on the glass but it is pretty minor and is receding. The dry ferts have been great so far. Tons of pearling on the plants and some great colourations and no algae. The fish seem to be doing very well too. Active and eating lots. The raspboras are starting to get to a decent enough size that they should be able to hold up against the discus they eventually will be hanging out with. I'm hoping the right side should be back grown in and should be more sustainable long term within 2 weeks. I need to hide that ugly equipment somehow. I'm still working out the camera settings that take the best pics so stay tuned for more pics as I try the new camera out.
Thanks for sharing, you have really took to the green side ;), i hope this encourages more people to share their tanks & ideas
Thanks Charlie. I have had the green bug ever since I got this 70G tank almost 15 years ago now. It has been through many different setups but now that I am a tax paying citizen and have a permanent residence of my own, it was time to get back into it. Of course, the explosion of information and new technology available in the internet age makes it that much more fun.
Since the big hacking and rescaping I haven't had much to do with this tank other than re-planting the stems that have unrooted and floated to the surface. I did another trim the other day. Even the slow growers are starting to grow at pretty good rates now. I have noticed that 1 of the Red Rubin leaves has some holes in it. Potassium deficiency in dosing maybe? I've been using Fertilator on APC forum to calculate ferts and have kept the N and K dosing to the lower end of the range. I've been slowly increasing the K dosing with the new dry ferts but don't think I'm quite there yet.
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The blyxa japonica has been taking off since being put directly under the light, towards the front of the tank. It's getting pretty red as well. The crypt balansae on the right side are well over 18" now. I can't see any runners of small balansae yet though. Anyone have any experience with balansae reproducing in there tanks they can share?
Right now I am thinking I am going to trade the rotalla wallichi in the front right for the didiplis diandra in the 10G tank. It just doesn't fit with this tank. I'm going to let it grow to the surface before I decide but right now it is overwhelmed in this tank....I think anyways.
It seems like the green algae on the front glass pane has been expanding its presence of late. Any thoughts on working this algae out of the mix? I'm thinking it is low water flow to the front of the tank that is causing this. I haven't been keeping up on cleaning the filter intake screens to make sure the flow in the tank is optimum. Am I on the right track here, or just hoping?
I would have to say, as a nylon carpet fibre spinning process engineer by profession, I love the troubleshooting process of algae in an aquarium. About 15 variables maximum (if you include the obscure stuff), and usually only dealing with 1-2 variables at a time. In my job I deal with hundreds of process variables and hundreds of human interactions and get paid to optimize them all. Working in aquariums is a simple and rewarding as testing gets. I really appreciated some of the commentary by Tom Barr on the recent The Planted Aquarium Podcast (http://"http://media.podcastingmanager.com/3/3/2/1/0/211730-201233/Media/PAPE3c.mp3") on testing in tanks and using your current situation as your control. Spot on comments and some great synopsis of the danger of trusting the forums. The forums are some of the best sources of information on the net, actually, the best, but as Tom stated, you will always have someone who replies to your post saying it won't work. His ultimate point is perfect; if you have a theory, just test it and see what happens. See the results and then refine/rethink your hypothesis and move on to the next test. These aquariums we run are complex systems but there are limited variables that influence the outcomes we are looking for. Test the variables, note the results and learn. That is how to approach the hobby and your own setups. Eventually you will get things dialed in precisely....and then you will change it all.
Looking good
In regards to you sword developing holes on some leaves, I would agree that it could be a potassium deficiency, but that does not always ring true. I would lean towards putting a root tab under the sword, my reasoning is that since swords tend to do their largest nutrient uptake through it`s root structure, the root tab approach will work well with your nutrient limiting ( P &N) approach in the water column.
BTW Tom Barr himself has suspected that CO2 can also be a culprit in some plants having issues with holes in leaves, if i remember right , i think you are on a DIY co2 system, DIY on a 70 gallon can prove to be tricky in maintaining adequate levels on such a large & dense planted tank, just another angle to consider.
The GSA on the glass issue, i can tell you from my personal dealings with it on one of my tanks sometime ago, what worked for me was ensuring good Nitrate levels & slightly overdosing Phosphate, i have never had the issue again.
Just my 2 cents ;)
Thanks for advice Charlie. Was originally on DIY CO2 on this tank. Now pressurized. Runnning 30+ppm on CO2 as far as I can tell but flow is a bit of a concern for me. I am upping the K dosing on the tank and will see what happens. By old leaves here , I mean several months old too, so even the snails could be doing it. Also I have been uping the N dosing a bit. When I switched to dry ferts I conciously sandbagged on the dosing to protect the fish...just in case. I am now ratcheting it up a bit. I have increased the bioload on the tank by about 1/3 in the last week so the N factor may take care of itself but I am still going to dose a bit heavier on the N. I have been dosing about 30% increase in N and K this week.
These guys are my favourite fish in the tank. I think they are a type of pygmy or miniature cory. At feeding time these guys are really active. Most of the time they are foraging through the plants for food. The blyxa japonica seems to be a favourite hang out in the tank right now. I've got a few shots but nothing super close up. They move too fast to get them focused for a good closeup.
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4 Pandas with a Bronze Cory
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Diggin' for food
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Pandas sucking on some worms
I've added a bunch of new rummynose tetras to this tank again. The total is up to 13 now, but I have yet to count 13 in sight at once so one or two others may have died as well. I'm normally not a big fan of silver based fish but these guys are quite nice. Very active and the larger ones have some pretty distinct red faces and striped tails.
When I introduced the new batch of rummy nose there was an outbreak of ick on them after 2 days in the tank. Some ick guard and leaving the drip system going for a few days seems to have cleared it up. This has been an issue before from a certain LFS.
Here's a full tank shot. Soon all the riccia floaters will be gone and you will be able to see the left side better.
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