[Anyone with outdoor tub experience?]

I thought about doing exactly this, but never got around to adding the pump. Fish and tub have been doing great since last February. 

[charts or data on water parameters throughout a cycling]

 

[Sagittaria Subulata: Are there different strains for height?]

Years ago I had short Sagittaria (< 1") and tall Sagittaria (6-10"). The tall ones would sometimes flower.

Today, I have only the short ones, which grow thickly. Everything else with the tank is basically the same as years ago.

My question is: Are there different strains by height or is the difference purely due to cultivation?

[1930s historically accurate planted aquarium]

I just realized that the beautiful fish tanks I remember my parents had in the 1960's were only 30 years after this historical tank and a more shocking 50+ years ago from now. I believe their 50 gal had a slate bottom. 

[My fishless cycle experience, with numbers]

I did a 50% water change on day 18 before adding fish. I usually added the amount of fish food for a fully stocked tank. 

[My fishless cycle experience, with numbers]

In case this is useful for anyone, my fishless cycle with fish food and a little seeding from a mature tank went smoothly and took 18 days. YMMV

Here's the numbers I observed:

[Some plants die, others thrive]

Update: I have returned to the siesta method, but it involved a little DIY project which I'll describe here in case someone else wants to do it too.

I have a Hygger light, but the timer allows only for one photo period per day, and defaults to blazing 100% brightness if you use a cut-power timer.

I bought a N***w timer with 6 programmable events, light ramp up and down, and 100 brightness levels for $13, but the connecters did not fit the Hygger light.

I cut out the old timer and spliced in the new one, leaving the 3rd yellow wire unconnected as I don't use the red/blue LEDs. Light didn't work.

Trick was the light reverses the red and black wires, which you can see if you look very carefully at the connection, perhaps to prevent such cheapskate tomfoolery as I was attempting. 

Soldered them and wrapped with tape, turned out nice for the cost.

 

 

[Tank not level]

I'd make sure the floor is level and shim the stand as needed. I have a laser level but there are ways to do it with water and tubing. 

I live in an old house with warped floors and used a slightly compressible pad under my tank. 10 years, no problems. 

[Help with heating a 10g]

I would not worry about that small a difference. I just measured a half degree difference in mine and my fish have been happy for years

[Preparing for Power Outages]

Yup, that's one. They come in many sizes.

I powered my 50 watt heater and hang on filter for almost 12 hours on a core (won't start a car, worth $15), and little math and you can figure out based on the Amp hours of the batteries you have and the load.

This is my cheapskate solution as I'm home all the time. A real UPS will auto fail over but is expensive and in my experience fail at the worst times.

[Preparing for Power Outages]

A DC to AC power inverter has clips to connect to a car battery, and 115 AC sockets on it, so you can plug in the heater, etc. The small ones I use are about $35 and are pretty efficient. 

[Black worms]

I get mine at the LFS. I keep them in the fridge in a jar and rinse them with cold, dechlorinated water whenever the water looks cloudy, which can be daily or up to once every 4 days. If the water is too cloudy or too deep, they will die quickly in my experience

[Some plants die, others thrive]

@Patrick_GIt was in a pot for several years and could not spread. It's about doubled in the last year since I finally planted them separately

[Some plants die, others thrive]

@Beardedbillygoat1975I'll pull some of the PSO out, though it is so good at hiding the heater and the fish love it. It's not quite as bad as it seems because it is pressed up in the back half of the tank.

I've also set up a siesta system again and we'll see in a few months.

I might have had two types of sag, and one type died off during the Time of Too Much Light

Thanks!

[Some plants die, others thrive]

@Beardedbillygoat1975 Good to know. My dwarf sag used to grow like crazy before I used root tabs though.

I forgot another difference, I used to have two 5 hour photo periods several hours apart, which when I think about it now is kind of like doubling the C02 available for the plants each day. Unfortunately the new light doesn't allow me to do that easily. Maybe the siesta method had a bigger impact than I realized?

[Some plants die, others thrive]

It is. About 5 years old

[Preparing for Power Outages]

When I replace a battery from the cars, I keep the core and use it with an inverter to power the filter and the heater. If it got colder than that I would heat dechlorinated water on the stove

[Some plants die, others thrive]

I bought one Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus, one Vallisneria, and one Cryptocoryne Wendtii from Aquarium Co-op, within a few weeks, the Vallisneria melted and then disappeared, the Crypt melted and has now two small leaves, while the Pogo grew profusely (see picture, this is after pruning)

My Dwarf Sagittaria, which used to grow out the top of the tank and flower, stays only about 1-2 inches high now.

The Bacopa caroliniana used to overgrow the tank, but now grows very slowly and loses lower leaves.

I would normally think a nitrogen deficiency, but the Salifert NO3 test shows at least 25ppm and I dose with up to 8 squirts of Thrive low-tech fertilizer and SeaChem root tabs.

What could I be missing? Thanks!

One difference is since I got the puffer, I feed live black worms which the CPD's eat a lot of before the puffer gets enough. As a result, I feed less flake and pellet food. Could I have a phosphorus deficiency?

The many details:

1. 25% water change (we have soft water) every week or every other week, dosing: 1/4 teas potassium bicarbonate (KH: 4, I manage KH instead of pH), 1/4 teas Equilibrium (GH: 4-6), 4 squirts Thrive low tech twice a week. Root tabs. (I have have used Flourish with no improvement. Occasionally add potassium and Flourish Iron.

2. Lighting: 6 hours Hygger LED set at 20% of full brightness. Experimenting with more light (over a 3 month period) produced cyanobacteria with no increase in plant growth. Normally have some black beard algae. The first 4 years I had the tank, I had no algae at all. 

3. 20 gal, stocked with 11 CPBs, 4 endlers, 1 pea puffer, one ancient panda cory, two kuhli loaches

4. 74 deg F

5. Tank turning 10 years old next year