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Introducing my tank

84K views 151 replies 58 participants last post by  DutchMuch 
#1 ·
Introducing my tank (one of my tanks). I hope you will call it Dutch style...

160cmx50cmx50cm (400l, so about 92 gallon)
4 x 58 watt (T8) when photo's were taken, nowadays 5
DIY CO2
Additives like KNO3, KH2PO4.

This year I have to empty this (twice), because we will redecorate our living. It's my greatest fear, because I know I'll have to start again.



Details from 22-01-2010





Details from 22-12-2009


 
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#8 ·
that looks stunning. but whats tripping me out is you are using DIY Co2...... Are you using the DIY Yeat Method ? If so can we have look at your setup and how you are diffusing it? please and thanks
 
#9 · (Edited)
Beauty is in the eye of....

This tanks needs a lot of fine-tuning before it can be called a real Dutch style tank. At this point I like it, but I know I made some mistakes when I compare it with the real top-of-the-bill Dutch scapers who attend the yearly club-contest. Think about the Lobelia. It does not go from low to high. Or in other words, there are strict rules for Dutch scaping.

Beneath you'll find a photo from the my friend and winner 2008, Willem van Wezel. That's a real Dutch scape (200cm length, so 200/2.54=78inch)


source: http://www.nbat.nl

My DIY CO2 is a bottle (1.5 liter), with water, yeast, sugar, some fertilizer for indoor plants. It last a week. It is now diffused by a wooden "airstone", this gif more fine (granular) bubbles. I must admit that I use on non-regular base fluid C. THe product do not have a MSDS, but we all think it must be a kinf of solution of polycycloglutaracetal, but is has never been proven.

Tonight I'll take some pics.
 
#13 ·
My DIY CO2 is a bottle (1.5 liter), with water, yeast, sugar, some fertilizer for indoor plants. It last a week. It is now diffused by a wooden "airstone", this gif more fine (granular) bubbles. I must admit that I use on non-regular base fluid C. THe product do not have a MSDS, but we all think it must be a kinf of solution of polycycloglutaracetal, but is has never been proven.
Tonight I'll take some pics.
What do you mean by using a non-regular base Fluid C?
 
#11 ·
These are Neocaridina heteropoda (sp. Red), old name is Neocaridina denticulata sinensis.

They do not do as much work as a Caridina japonica to algea, but the Red Cherry Shrimp I think it's called in the US, is a quick breeder, and is nice to watch.
 
#14 ·
No, it is a standard brown background which is used for

Microsorium pteropus brassii ("small leaves" ?)
Microsorium pteropus latifolia
Microsorium pteropus windelov

And on some old leafs Cladaphora. But the worst problem is Utricularia gibba. I got it with some plants, now I have to get rid of it. A lesser problem is Caloglossa. Do not know where that came from, but it is also a species you do not want. In the attachment you see Calaglossa with measurement in cm (1"=2.54cm)
 

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#15 ·
@pminister,
I do not think I may name a brand beside Seachem. In Holland there is an alternative for Seachem Excell. Seachem has a MSDS. The brand in Holland not. We think the products resemble each other.

Normally you should dose it each day. I do not. Only when I have time/take time. So you have to take in account that beside DIY CO2, I use an second source of C.
 
#16 ·
C = Carbon gotcha ;) Just wasnt sure what you meant by it.

Are you using any special substrate at the bottom ?

Also since you are using 4 x T8 bulbs, are the bulbs in specific color ratings ?

Seeing the results you got, I feel like attempting at creating a Dutch Style tank for my 70G gallon tank that has been sitting empty for 6 months now.
 
#17 ·
Just plain sand.

front 890
front middle 840
back middle 840
back 890

And nowadays

back back 890

The 890 is a aquarelle, so 10000K. The 840 is 4000 K. 830 (3000k) is also used but that is IMHO to yellow.

Most of the Dutch use 840 en 865 (6500K).

I hope the numbers corresponds with the numbers in the States.
 
#18 ·
Not that it is heavily important, but how are you filtering you tank ?



You are a saint @catweazle ! Didn't think such beauty was attainable with a simple setup like yours, I though this was a complete high tech setup. With expensive equipment, and a strict regiment of dosing.

That's it by the end of August, I shall have a Journal setup for everyone to see. Thanks for the inspiration.

Also can't wait for more pics........ :D You can never get enough of tank shots. This is what the green fever does to you...lol
 
#19 ·
Caloglossa looks neato frito, where can I find information about it? Is it a freshwater red/brown seaweed? Er actually that'd make it a macro-alga. Does it attach to supports like an epiphyte, or does it float freely like cheato algae? Or, possibly, does it only grow on leaves?

Lovely dutch aquascape. I love the lovely textures. It looks even lovelier from the room shot.

It is a Great tank, I was wondering why there were so many rhyzoids on the java ferns on the back.
 
#20 ·
@pminister

EHEIM professional III 250 (2071) (950 l/h)
EHEIM professional 2226 (950 l/h)

@Tausendblatt
I'll hope I understand your question. See the attachment. I think that you labeled the red algea as rhyzoids.

It took us a long time to id this Caloglossa species. You wanted more information. I hope I made the right assumption based on your name:

http://www.aquamax.de/HG06UG12.htm

It don't grow on leaves, but it wil use them as an anchor.

This one is also interesting:
http://translate.google.com/transla....php?p3249,caloglossa-cf-beccarii&sl=pl&tl=nl

It is the Dutch translation of a Polish site, where the sell it to my big surprise.
 

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#23 ·
@Miklo,
I did warn that it is not a real Dutch scape... But you are talking Dutch to me.... Do I know you? ;) Hi Mike!

@pminister

I promised photos from my CO2 bottle. I did attached them.

Do not ask me how the bottle cap is altered, I bought it at the club. As recipe I use about 200 gram sugar, 3.5 gram instant yeast (corresponding with 12 gram fresh yeast), a drop of fertilisator and plain water. Hot (not boiling), so the proces wil start sooner.

I do not weigh the sugar, so each week it can be a different amount, it can be to much, cause yeast kills itself during the proces. Other recipe exists, involving gelatin. Search on the internet or this forum.

In the tube I put a check valve (I do not know the correct wordt, but it prevents water getting into the bottle). It is diffused by a wooden airstone. In the past I used a little pump beneath the water to diffuse it. But there are many possibilities, by example a "CO2-sausage". When you navigate to this Dutch site, you will see a picture. The foam let the bubbles stay longer in the water. Or another possibility you find on this Dutch site. At the end of the page you'll find pictures. I think this kind of solutions are also known somewhere on this forum, but "this grumpy old man" is a bit lazy today.

When using DIY CO2, the main problem is, that it is not controllable. You can not shut it down. A long time each nigth I took the cap from the bottle. When I did forget it, I learned that was not nescesary in my case. An explanation is that the bottle is placed near the balasts for the lights. At night those ar cold, so the proces works much slower.

Still this does not mean, that it is normal to add CO2 at night. It is NOT.

Then my dosing regime I always plan ;) in the morning:

Su 30% WC, new bottle DIY CO2
Mo Fertilizer + liquid C
Tue KNO3 + KH2PO4
Wed Fertilizer + liquid C
Thi KNO3 + KH2PO4
Fri Fertilizer + liquid C
Sat KNO3 + KH2PO4

KNO3 50mg/500ml -> 100 ppm
KH2PO4 10 mg/500ml -> 20 ppm

KNO3 wil be 15-20ml, so I add about 3,5 mg/L total (presumed my tank has 350L)
KH2PO4 wil be 7-12 ml, so I add about max 0,5 mg/L

I tried several fertilizers. The one I use is cheap, no brand.

But in the morning I'm sometimes late. So I add nothing. Sometimes I ask myself the question if the adding is a Placebo effect for me. Which there is not. And somewhere there is a small echo of 10:1.

And yesterday I did the WC I had to do last sunday. The next will be the sunday after coming sunday. I think.

I do not measure water parameters. I do not have the equipment, and I gave up on drop tests. I can not read them, in winter the light is different so I wil read them different and when I ask somebody else they give a different interpretation.

When I do a WC, I also do some prunings. I did a rather rude pruning yesterday. So it looks now like this:








 

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#24 ·
A very long time ago I introduced my tank. Then I started redecorating the living. Result? Tank in the hallway, and big problems with the cabinet.

At this stage the new cabinet is almost ready, tomorrow my new tank will be delivered: 169x59x59 or in inch 66,5x 23,2 x 23,2. About 200 liters more then the old one.

So in a while, I can start al over again. (in a strange way this last sentence is for me always associated with a song from "War of the worlds" :confused:)

 
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