nabokovfan87

I went ahead and did a water change again. I was able to speak with Bentley on one of his streams and stuff and through a variety of questions, I've come to the conclusion that I need to reduce where I'm holding my nitrates at. Instead of a level of 40 I'm going to drop down to about 10-15. The unfortunate part is that this is very difficult for me to read on the test strips. I also went ahead and got some zip bags (seachem and their stupidity amazes me sometimes). I ordered the "medium size" and it's legitimately.... over a foot long and larger than the largest tidal bag they sell. I would hate to see how small a small is, miss you John Pinette! So I went ahead and split out the matrix back into its original back and then proceeded to stack the crushed coral in the new bags all rolled up. Hopefully this helps a big with bypass too, but that media box is pretty stuffed at this point. I will rerun some tests and edit the post below with the results. Basically I'm tracking PH, KH, Nitrites right now. Finger is healed up a bit so I can do a bit more now with my hands underwater. One other thing of note is that I went ahead and planted the pots of stereogyne repens. I am keeping an eye out for new growth and I'm hoping the lighting tweaks have helped a bit with that to get the dwarf hairgrass and stuff going. I also found a rock to use for a submerged mop. I had it in there for a few days already, but have since cut it a bit shorter to better replicate some moss on a rock. I am trying to find a good place for it to avoid blocking out the plants. PH 6.8 KH 50-60 GH 300+ Temp 73 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 25

I really love dutch style aquascaping. I am looking forward to seeing this continue to grow out.

Looks really good! Nice work on the video.

If you're really concerned with smell you can run carbon. Snails tend to make it stink. What you're showing off looks like.... You can also look up photos/pictures of people cleaning filter floss. That's the cartridge stuff you're showing in the first photo.

you're looking at 2x of the fluval e300's. If the tank is longer, over 4 feet long, I highly recommend dual heaters. If you're doing 10 degrees above ambient, I highly recommend the fluval e series.

Forgot to post this earlier. But here's a general sketch... layout for a side opening lid that doesn't have any of those plastic cutout pieces. This all uses existing parts, does not use anything outside of current manufacturing process and simply requires part numbers to be created. The point of this example is to simply say, there is options if the companies actually want to put out "innovative" products by releasing things we need and already make ourselves.

Just a heads up, you can also feed repashy without turning into a gel as a fry food. There is some varieties for shrimp... Repashy Bottom Scratcher

I'm getting to the point where I want to cut out the bottom of the basket and toss some eheim mech in the bottom. For canisters, if you have space, I'd try those out. Beyond that, for my own filters there is a specific type of foam I really like. It's very similar to the seachem tidal foam, I need to find a fine version. Everything else under the sun I've used. I just splurged and got some of the fancy zip filter bags. That's about how.... exotic my filters get.

LOL That's awesome. Woot woot!

I don't know what the other side of the wood looks like but I would try to.... 1. Move the sponges where the blue arrows are to try to hide them slightly. 2. Rotate the wood so it gives a hide in the back corner area and also blocks the sponge. Basically, take exactly what you have and rotate it so that the section marked "rear" is the back corner. If a different side of the wood is more appealing from the front, that's entirely up to what you prefer 🙂

The marineland bowfront I had as well was by far the best lid I've had. My versatop 75G has great lids with good spacing. They do everything you need them too. The glass is also very thick. My 55G wasn't as nice. The 29G I have doesn't fit the tank but I know the wrong trim piece was in the box. It would've been nice if the glass was the right size. My 10G as mentioned above, I just think it's not made for that tank for daily use and it would be much nicer if the lid was designed to fully cover the top of the tank with a segment cutout for a HoB, opening left to right instead of front to back. I'll sketch something up when I get a chance. I absolutely understand this! But.... You can literally fix or offer better lids using existing parts and designing it so it actually makes sense for the user. There are totally designers that have something that looks great in the CAD, but cannot he manufactured, or.... Furthermore, doesn't work well. That's the luxury of using computers and often the cost. I'm sure all of these were done the old way with some paper/vellum and some pencils, but there is a definitive way to rethink lids and it's absolutely easier without changing anything on the manufacturing side. Boxes are even smaller and that reduces cost.

As a designer, I look at a problem and try to find the solution. The solution for a lot of hobbyists is to go elsewhere and to use other materials to cover their tanks. I have been down that road and I have opted for glass lids. I also have found two major issues that buying a manufactured lid tends to help fix over any custom job. 1. I would cut the glass myself, notch the corners to give myself a food hole and/or a place for cords. The issue then becomes the filter cutout itself. The edges never look nice and it's very easy to mess up along the way, resulting in a bad fit or injuries. 2. The thickness of the glass is usually pretty thin for what I have access to. I have found thicker glass at a specific location and they use a tablesaw or something similar to cut it. Also, this typically this means you're not getting a tempered glass lid. Even if we wanted to make the lids ourselves, with quality glass there still is two major issues.... For a planted tank you want the hinge to not be in the way of the light. There is a high probability of this happening on certain tank sizes, others avoid it entirely. This usually isn't considered when they make the lids at aqueon or elsewhere. In the case of a long tank or certain tank sizes you have a raw measurement of glass and the hinge is common for all sizes of lids. The hinge/channel itself is not really based on small, medium, large tank sizes. For my 29G and 10G tank this means I have the front panel of glass that is 1.5-2" deep, the hinge that is 1-1.5" deep, followed by another piece of glass that is 2-2.5" deep. If I put the handle in the wrong spot, the door won't stay open. The hinge itself is also pretty much always right in the way. Compare this on a 55G tank vs. a 75G tank. The larger the tank, the easier it is to not have the black hinge in the way, but it is very often that the hinge piece itself is "central" on the lid. Isn't this where we want the light to be? I just don't understand the design logic and any way to avoid this. In smaller aquariums, 10G for instance, the hinge channel itself is so big and the glass itself is so light that is almost never stays open. The spring force on the hinge is not designed for this size of a lid and I've often scared the fish and thought it would break nearly every time I open it when I hear how hard it snaps down. The handle itself too could be a smaller size for smaller size lid, or heavier to ensure it stays open. I've had 3-4 custom glass lids shatter, one piece falls when you try to remove it, or it's placed on the floor and stepped on. This is because it's usually not a finished product and you have side trim or other pieces falling off all over the place when you're dealing with sharp, delicate, clear, wet items that have to be held with care. Or, you're trying to clean something with algae all over it and it's just slimy and slips. If the lid was manufactured by a company, assembled, it would actually fit together well and be one piece when used by the customer. Let's say you don't really care about the planted tank or the lights, but you're a breeder. Typically you're going to be using a rack and you're going to end up making something yourself. The tanks often end up sideways and lids in this orientation just don't exist (for whatever reason) from major manufacturers. There isn't an option at all to customize the panel. Yes you can order extremely expensive lids from other places, and often shipping is more than the cost of the item itself. Depending on tank size, this absolutely isn't an option and there's a very high chance you end up with a broken box of glass at your door when it arrives. (some even won't sell you a lid without buying a tank for a few hundred or thousand dollars). Lid with the light right over the hinge. Very typical for a lot of tank sizes. Custom breeder rack with custom lids, extremely well done. Of note, If you're running only air filtration, you don't actually need those plastic pieces at the back of the lid that often fall off. So..... I'd like to ask everyone. What bothers you about the "glass canopies" that are manufactured for the hobby and what do you want to see in a future, improved design?

As someone who spent many hours staring at pantone samples.... I definitely appreciate taking that mindset into these charts. They are absolutely tough to read sometimes.

Would there be the method to do this for hardscape by removing it and treating it? Is there a best way to do this if I fill a tub with peroxide trying to treat small nano size rocks and other small items in a shallow tub external to the tank? My thinking that by removing it I can exceed the 1.5 ml PER GALLON / 15 ml PER 10 GALLONS PER 24 HOURS and just rely on completely cleaning the rocks with a sponge or something as long as the algae starts to die off. I've never had success with in-tank peroxide, but going through your method above, I think the main issue I have had was not letting it sit long enough and turning off the flow entirely or not having strong enough solution from the store.

yep. You would have to mod the hang on style stuff. but most of the "hang on canisters" are going to allow you to use tubing or provide low enough power for a nano type setup. Most traditional canisters might not allow you to adjust the flow low enough. Depends what you can find. Best of luck in your search. Hopefully that helps.

There is something called a "hang on canister filter" that's pretty popular in the EU regions. That might be exactly what you need. All Pond Solutions has them and they are in the US under a different brand. PondGuru on youtube covers a lot of these too if you want to see them fully disassembled and ideas to mod them. You should be able to literally take that and just move it into the stand (add tubing, basically). Another method you can do is to run a "canister filter booster" and then feed that into the stand with a submersible pump in a small tank with your heater in that smaller tank (the booster does all of your real work, it's just full of sponge, then you have a nano/micro sump basically to do anything you need. This also gives you the higher water volume boost. This gives you an idea for the hang-on canisters. https://www.amazon.com/Odyssea-Aquarium-Canister-Filter-External/dp/B00UZG8B2I Also https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-External-Canister-Gallons/dp/B005DGHRU2/ref=pd_vtp_sccl_2_2/138-0243382-2562614?pd_rd_w=yOeZC&pf_rd_p=fbd780d7-2160-4d39-bb8e-6a364d83fb2c&pf_rd_r=MVV0SE5KC9KDSR7XDJ2Q&pd_rd_r=508b32e5-522e-4a98-8228-689ac5f762b9&pd_rd_wg=JaRZh&pd_rd_i=B005DGHRU2&psc=1

Less stress on the pump long term in my view. I always unplug everything but air/lights when I change water.

Extremely typical, unfortunately.

thread for this one said the red plant is ludwigia super red

rosy barb? how big is it? The little detail on the tail makes it look like this rasbora, but I know it's not this specific rasbora. I don't see other rasboras with the tail feature, but you are on to something.

75 was fine for me. 50 and 110 I had issues with every change. the 110 would literally cost me an impeller every time I went to clean it. After I had 2 on hand and the shafts I just gave up. I went to get the shaft out, slipped, dropped it on the floor, attachment fin broke off and that was the end of my time with ACs. Highly recommended to avoid. If you hear the pump making noise, you hold the lid from rattling and it's quiet, and you hear the pump still. It's rubbing on the shaft and slowly damaging itself over time. I always do. whether I go below the line or not. There is a type of brass that has oil / lubricant imbedded in the material that releases over time. Steel should not have ANY issues if you choose the right material. It blows my mind they won't change out materials or run any tests. It's been the same design, impeller / shaft for how long..... 30+ years? 50+ years? The sicce pumps I have are metal shaft. Aqueon one is metal shaft. Everything I've seen is a metal shaft. The material on the impeller might be different, but they all look to use the same material with variations in plastic (not the magnet) and fin design.

I wouldn't go beyond 50% normally. I'd clean the filter monthly. It's a sump so I understand.... but I'd focus on more stable water over time and keeping an eye on the sponge / fine pads.

It's been a pretty hectic few days, week and a half or so, for me here. We had another major construction project at the house randomly "get going" which resulted in drywall coming down, crap all over the air in the house, a lot of sneezing, cutting my finger via some glass dishes, and the return of my enemy of this tank....... Staghorn and black beard algae. I ordered a 2nd time from the co-op, but let me give a quick TLDR breakdown of where we are at and where I need some advice. I'm frustrated, and not sure which of the following would be the issue. 1. KH is "kind of low" if I don't change water, so I've added 1/2 a lb of crushed coral, probably slightly more, to the HoB filter in both of my tanks. 2. PH is not really an issue, 6.5-6.8, but given that I'm adding crushed coral, I added some botanicals as a means to keep the PH where it currently is. This also gives the corys a surface to lay eggs on and gives the shrimp a place to graze. 3. I've been VERY light with the food this week as an effort to encourage the shrimp to knock out as much algae as possible. 4. Because of the finger, I haven't changed water this week, I'll end up doing it today. (usually weekly, this is going to be about 10 days) 5. I've been keeping an eye on PH and KH with daily testing and I don't really see much change. Questions and Possible reasons for this algae bloom: A. I am dosing too much (2x weekly, every 3 days) B. I am not changing enough water (weekly, 40-50%) C. The light just isn't made for this tank (24" light, Fluval 3.0 Planted, on a 29G tank that is 30" long) D. The light isn't set correctly for the load, which changed this week. Meaning intensity or duration is off, or both. (see end) E. Plants just don't like the water and the algae thrives (I swear there is just something in the water here) If you had the following issues, had just added a bunch of plants, what would your method be. Given the plants are melting, what would you do to try to save them? Possible Solutions: I. Add some more shrimp (8-10 currently, 2 otos) II. Dip the filter, scrape the glass, dip the wood or spot treat everything as much as possible (see attached photos) III. Lighting and dosing changes (see end, this is the current route) I will start here with a reference to my initial post, This is the same plant, currently. The middle plant shown in both photos. I am also concerned with how well this algae is growing on this filter, I really want to clear this up. I tried Hydrogen Peroxide and it didn't do much of anything on the wood. Because the light was shifting from the front of the tank to the middle section, the wood right below the light and filter have really grown a lot of algae back. In terms of overall "health" of the tank and my fight against this algae, I look at the rocks and anubias to track down what is winning. The second plant I have trying to survive is the Stereogyne Repens. The first photo is the 2 pots I added intiially. One of those pots was a pretty good quality, the second was extremely short and only had one stalk. I purchased 2 more to replace them and have left them in the pots to give the plants a better chance to adapt to my water. I really am beginning to get frustrated again, which is just the norm with algae, but I would like to make the right adjustments here in terms of "fixing" this issue. I may have mentioned it before, but I will mention it here again briefly. I planted the tank last week, move the light location to be more central to the tank. I increased dosing after 2-3 days of plants being in the tank, and I slightly increased the light intensity (5%) and duration (4 hour window to 6 hour window). This morning I still have this feeling like the plants are not getting enough light. I'll go ahead and re-test the water before changes and share the results below. This is after dosing this morning. I am also going to return back to adding the easy carbon daily. I upped the pure white intensity from 80% to 90% to try to give the light a better chance with the water depth of this tank. Because the wood is basically in the center of the tank and the plants around it, I'm concerned that the majority of the light might not be reaching where it needs to. This is also where I go back to.... maybe this light just isn't the right length for this tank despite being the one that "fits" the tank via fluval's ranges. PH 6.5 KH 50-60 GH 300+ Temp 71 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 40

I give you your template. Cory, The Aquarium Hobby Sage. Ask him your questions.

I'll order one please. Looks awesome! Nice work.