XJfella95

So the tank is doing amazing. All of the java moss on the branches have grown out full due to good pruning practices. My CPD's have had their first batch of fry. The tanks looks amazing.

I have the light hood machined and I'm waiting to get all of the aluminum parts anodized black. Plus my driver backpack is all wired and ready to be plugged into the hoods. Things are coming along great!

lanceduffy

Congrats on your success. The light you've designed looks pretty cool. Nice to see your boat in the first shots. I am a fellow boater who used to live in MD. Live in Nor Cal now and the boating is good. What is the drop in your avatar?

XJfella95

Thank you.

You live in norcal and the boating is good? Lol. What part of Norcal do you live in? That place is everyones dream boating destination for the granite gorges and spring run off

The drop in my pic is on the Moshier section of the Beaver in NY, from last beaverfest this past fall.

Where did you boat when you where out east?

lanceduffy

Haha, yes the boating is good! I was just getting into things back then but I'd run parts of the gunpowder and potomac in MD. Nothing big, class 2,3.

Now I'm in Chico, a smallish college town half way between Sacramento and Redding. Put ins for runs on the Feather are 1 hour away and there are lots of other drainages. Most winters it rains or snows all winter long. With a dry suit the boating season can start in the fall and go from there. When the water dries up, the American has regular releases all summer long. It is 2.5 hours away though.

Sorry for the hijack folks. Being on rivers has given me the opportunity to see some amazing plant and moss groupings.

XJfella95

Lol who cares about the hijack.

I had a good guide friend of mine move out to Oxnard Ca. Still hasn't found anyone to paddle with.

lanceduffy

I didn't know where Oxnard is. I checked it out with google maps. This guy is in So Cal. With my basic geographic understanding, he should check out ocean surfing, SUP or um... I don't really know where or what you'd paddle down there. If this guy gal wants to travel to the north, I'm 10 hours from there I might be able to set them up with some boaters that fit. Put them in touch with me and I will take it from there.
aquariums are awesome but whitewater is AWESOME.

XJfella95

Hahaha. You're one step ahead if me, I never googled it. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Yes. Aquariums<Whitewater. It's something I do to fill my time between rainy days.

XJfella95

So I have finished up my LED project tonight and it is very pleasing. The backpack turned out great and the hood looks nice hanging over the tank. Within a half hour of turning on the new light the plants started pearling, more so almost immediately after dosing TPN+ and potassium.

I can't believe I put up with the other T5no fixture for so long. It feels like I can see everything so much better now. I swear that the fish and shrimp are more active too but then again it probably boils down to me actually being able to see them. Haha.

Total wattage is 18 for 4gal so 4.5 watts per gallon. I'm sure the par readings are stellar too. I plan in upping the CO2 and ferts slowly to balance everything out.

I cannot wait to trim the long leggy HC and have it grow into a carpet. I plan on adding some Erio C. And DHG, replacing the anubias nana with petite and so forth to bring the scale of the plans down from the large low-mid light species.

Here are the pics. Sorry if they are a bit washed.








Here is a before shot from awhile ago


Enjoy

XJfella95

Algae bloom!!

Apparently the hair algae that I figured was from the low light low CO2 wasn't from such. Couldn't nick it even with the high light high CO2.

I raised the light another 4" and kept the CO2 at 1bbs. Time will tell.

I even tried 50% wc's without ferts and it boomed. I guess it's trial and error from here on out, hopefully it's not all lost.

XJfella95

The algae is pretty much under control. I removed a bunch manually and trimmed out covered leaves.

My HC has tripled it's growth and have been trimming it back to make form a nicer mat. All the other plans are growing well and are coloring up nicely as well.