Miller's Journal

[Betsy]

I am very impressed with your precision!!!  What's the plant in the middle of the tank (I pulled a screenshot, see below!)?  I love the variation in color as you look from left to right...and I'd love to achieve that kind of contrast...but I'm a Java fern girl, living in a low-light Java fern world! 😜

 

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/29/2021 at 6:34 PM, Betsy said:

I am very impressed with your precision!!!  What's the plant in the middle of the tank (I pulled a screenshot, see below!)?  I love the variation in color as you look from left to right...and I'd love to achieve that kind of contrast...but I'm a Java fern girl, living in a low-light Java fern world! 😜

 

Thank you! That is Myriophyllum Roraima, and you are in luck, it does very well in both low and high tech tanks. This is a very fast growing plant so be warned Java fern girl. 😆

[Jungle Fan]

On 7/5/2021 at 7:41 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Thank you for the kind words! 2 years and counting cancer free!

@Mmiller2001Good for you! I'm at 4 years now and down to 2 check ups per year!

[Mmiller2001]

On 8/29/2021 at 6:50 PM, Jungle Fan said:

@Mmiller2001Good for you! I'm at 4 years now and down to 2 check ups per year!

Awesome man, glad to hear that for sure! I hit 3 years in January, and I can't wait to have less CT scans. The contrast makes me so sick. 

[Patrick_G]

On 8/29/2021 at 5:42 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Thank you! That is Myriophyllum Roraima, and you are in luck, it does very well in both low and high tech tanks. This is a very fast growing plant so be warned Java fern girl. 😆

Beautiful in the aquarium but the bane of lakes in my area. 

[Mmiller2001]

Water change day today. I will be moving GH to a 3:1. 

New stats here.

 

[Mmiller2001]

New fertilizer in and had a surprise this morning. I tested Nitrates and there was basically non. Interesting! This hobby never gets dull. 

So I've increased dosing and here are the new numbers. Micro dosing with the new DTPA has been updated to reflect the split dosing.

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by Mmiller2001

[Mmiller2001]

Again, I have no idea where the 40 is heading. The wife is telling me to remove the dwarf Sag.. It's an option. We will see.

Here's a few angled shots.

[Patrick_G]

It’s  a well tended planted aquarium. If the purpose of the tank is to just have fun growing plants it looks great! The sag looks prime and I bet the fish love it too. It’ll look even better if the brown crypts grow out a bit. How big will they get?  

[Mmiller2001]

On 9/4/2021 at 1:42 PM, Patrick_G said:

It’s  a well tended planted aquarium. If the purpose of the tank is to just have fun growing plants it looks great! The sag looks prime and I bet the fish love it too. It’ll look even better if the brown crypts grow out a bit. How big will they get?  

The solo one in the front can get about 5 inches. The back right corner should get about 15 inches, but they may have goofed the info sheet. It's staying pretty small.

There's some green Crypt under the Polysperma that should get about 12 inches. It's starting to take off, so hopefully it maxes out soon.

CRYPTOCORYNE MIOYA back right. 

CRYPTOCORYNE HUDOROI under the Polysperma. 

And I think the small one in the Sag is Crypt Affinis.

Edited September 4, 2021 by Mmiller2001

[Jimmy]

On 4/11/2021 at 5:30 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

So in my research of CO2 and nutrients, I settled on PPS Pro coupled with root tabs. It made sense, I have an inert substrate, dose heavy with tabs and lean water column dosing, has to be perfect, right? What a disaster. This is when I learned the 3rd single most important information. Root tabs are Hocus Pocus, Black Magic, problems waiting to ruin the unexpected aquarist. I can not tell you the level of algae I had. I called my blackwater buddy, "dude, I'm redoing everything". His response, the 30 year response, "dude, don't". "Just stop growing algae", was his exact response. I thought about his comment, what a "jackass", but it made it clear what I had to do. After all, he was the 30 year aquarist. And so, more research began. And you know what, I found the holy trinity, the one person who turns over every thing you learned. The person, who is so good at their task, that they invalidate 90 percent of everyone's regurgitated replies.

https://www.plantedtank.net/threads/greggz-120g-rainbow-fish-tank-scapecrunch-interview-1-18-2021.1020497/page-194#post-11406312

Do yourself a favor and read.

Zero root tabs, an inert substrate. He has recently gone over to an organic substrate, but proof is in the pudding.

I will have this tank some day? 

 

Bit older response but I use PPS Pro, I’ve loved it. Real easy and crazy economical, hard to mess up

[Mmiller2001]

On 9/4/2021 at 11:38 PM, Jimmy said:

Bit older response but I use PPS Pro, I’ve loved it. Real easy and crazy economical, hard to mess up

I tried it early on when I was figuring things out. I now do a lean EI, it's pretty similar to pps pro. I just didn't like mixing up bottles. I really like just tossing in dry powder, but who knows, maybe I will try it again. I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of Eco Complete and going Landen Soil. PPS Pro makes sense with aquasoils.

[Jimmy]

On 9/4/2021 at 11:53 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I tried it early on when I was figuring things out. I now do a lean EI, it's pretty similar to pps pro. I just didn't like mixing up bottles. I really like just tossing in dry powder, but who knows, maybe I will try it again. I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of Eco Complete and going Landen Soil. PPS Pro makes sense with aquasoils.

I think it’s a good general solution that provides basic nutrients without a over complicated schedule. I’ve further modified my dosing schedule with it. It’s simple enough for a dummy like me lol. I have to make sure to add 10 ml to the plant mix or I get mold overtime

[Mmiller2001]

On 9/5/2021 at 8:22 AM, Jimmy said:

I think it’s a good general solution that provides basic nutrients without a over complicated schedule. I’ve further modified my dosing schedule with it. It’s simple enough for a dummy like me lol. I have to make sure to add 10 ml to the plant mix or I get mold overtime

Another reason I like just pouring in dry powder! The mold made me nervous.

[Jimmy]

On 9/5/2021 at 1:29 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

Another reason I like just pouring in dry powder! The mold made me nervous.

Lol. I like the dosing bottles cause it’s so quick. Little bit of excel and it last for months 

[Mmiller2001]

Not too much to update. Mostly headaches. 

Had a plant melt and disintegrated in the tank, along with an injured fish that went missing caused quite the algae outbreak. So did a more detailed clean of the substrate and removed some plants. I'm thinking I'm over stocked on plants and will be removing some permanently. I'll update those when I do it but the Pantanal is out now. It's not worth the struggle. 

Also, I've started front loading all Macro's, and dosing Micros 3 times a week. Quality of life improvement for sure. Basically, I'm dosing the water changed to the numbers I want. 33 Gallons to 25ppm NO³, 7ppm PO⁴ and 27ppm K. I upted P a bit to see if would help with a bit of GSA.

Also, I've returned to 2:1 Ca:Mg and bumped them both a bit. Now 18ppm Ca and 9ppm Mg.

Cleaned out the 40 a bit more and no number changes there, just front loading.

Permanently suspending the use of Excel. I see no reason to continue with it. It causes more problems by hiding the root cause.

 

[Patrick_G]

Are you going for the Dutch competition look? If that’s the case I agree, on removing some plants. I haven’t tried the style yet, but I think it looks better with less plants but larger groups. 

[Mmiller2001]

On 9/18/2021 at 2:14 PM, Patrick_G said:

Are you going for the Dutch competition look? If that’s the case I agree, on removing some plants. I haven’t tried the style yet, but I think it looks better with less plants but larger groups. 

No competition, I'm a terrible scaper 😭 They are all pressed together and they need some breathing room. I agree, larger groups, less species seems like a path I'm going to take. Managing so many needs is getting to me.

[Patrick_G]

On 9/18/2021 at 1:22 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

No competition, I'm a terrible scaper 😭 They are all pressed together and they need some breathing room. I agree, larger groups, less species seems like a path I'm going to take. Managing so many needs is getting to me.

I think American standard 75 gallon tanks are difficult for this style  because of the height to width ratio. 

Did you catch Tom Barr’s talk? One thing I took from it is the need to trim plenty of space around each plant in plant only aquascapes. He also talked about how this style burns out aquascapers. 

Edited September 18, 2021 by Patrick_G

[Tihshho]

@Mmiller2001 are you running 3 heaters?

[Mmiller2001]

On 9/18/2021 at 2:42 PM, Patrick_G said:

I think American standard 75 gallon tanks are difficult for this style  because of the height to width ratio. 

Did you catch Tom Barr’s talk? One thing I took from it is the need to trim plenty of space around each plant in plant only aquascapes. He also talked about how this style burns out aquascapers. 

I missed it. Is it archived any where. I've heard that before and I'm definitely breaking that rule. Could be a big part of my troubles.

On 9/18/2021 at 3:21 PM, Tihshho said:

@Mmiller2001 are you running 3 heaters?

2 heaters and you are seeing 2 intakes with skimmers.

Edited September 18, 2021 by Mmiller2001

[Tihshho]

On 9/18/2021 at 6:00 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

2 heaters and you are seeing 2 intakes with skimmers.

I was going to say, I know the dual heater setup was a common place for some, but I thought you were taking it to a whole new level! 

[Mmiller2001]

On 9/18/2021 at 4:03 PM, Tihshho said:

I was going to say, I know the dual heater setup was a common place for some, but I thought you were taking it to a whole new level! 

I wish non were showing. All future tanks will have sumps just to hide equipment. I never intended to go high tech, so everything is an after thought.

[Patrick_G]

On 9/18/2021 at 3:05 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I wish non were showing. All future tanks will have sumps just to hide equipment. I never intended to go high tech, so everything is an after thought.

I think I’ll get a canister with internal heater when I start my fancy pants aquascape. 

[Tihshho]

On 9/18/2021 at 6:05 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I wish non were showing. All future tanks will have sumps just to hide equipment. I never intended to go high tech, so everything is an after thought.

I'll have to dig it out, but someone used to make inline heaters, problem was the sizes. I think they were all 200W or 300W, but they had been one of the most reliable heaters I've used on small tanks.