slickwillislim

Good to hear some one got over their brown goo infestation. Mine keeps coming back...

Cant wait to see some pics of the rescape. Hope you can keep the balance and get to your end goal with this tank.

This just shows how little we really know about our planted tanks. You did everything right and you are still struggling to keep the algae at bay.

BryceM

I don't know if I did "everything" right. If I did it again, I'd come up with more mulm from somewhere. I only used a little bit I got out of one Eheim 2215 from my 46g bow. Probably I should have avoided such a long period of "lean" dosing. It seems to be doing better with more NO3 and PO4. I started with roughly the same dose as with my 46g tank, but it has quite a bit less light and its fish load was usually higher. Finally, I would have waited longer to stock up on "harder" plants too. Some of them fell apart and all the dead & decaying plant debris certainly didn't help things any.

Jane in Upton

What a great thread!

Wow, your Congo tetras look lovely! I also kinda like that photo (of the brown algae pearling, ugh) with the Rummynose tetras as streaks in the photo - an interesting effect.

I just adore all the photos with your kids in them! Its great that they're involved in the process! And your wife sounds on board, too - that stepstool was a VERY thoughtful gift!

I've been completely fascinated with all the planning and plumbing. Wow!

My one caution would be along the lines of Dennis' thinking - the hinged doors on the canopy look like they could really be concussion-makers if they fell. For your family's peace of mind, is there a way to rig up a safety strap to make sure they're stabilized when up and remain up, even if accidenly bumped? Unpredictable things do happen. My uncle suffered a freak accident in his 30's, and had a cerebral hemhorage. He woke up and didn't recognize his wife or his kids! He did recognize my mother (his sister) but thought they were still in their teens, and was really surprised and exclaimed "What happened to you? Why are you so old?". Even something with a simple cord, or a magnet or something would be a good investment to insure that those solid wood doors don't clunk down on you. OK, I'll get off the soapbox now.

I like the layout, and despite your algae complaints, it obviously has made a LOT of progress towards becoming stable! Wow, the 20-minute water change thing is a REAL achievement! Congrats on that! Your prior planning really paid off.

So perhaps you mentioned this but it didn't register - is the EcoComplete under or on top of the Soilmaster Select? Or mixed together? Also, how are the small rooted things like HC holding up in that?

I love the way the tank is integrated into the rest of the room furnishings. I agree with a previous poster who said the tank is obviously the focus of the room. Boy, it sure is! The tile section really looks nice - I will have to keep that in mind myself!

Its looking good! And what a wonderful, thorough and engaging thread this is! I really commend you for keeping up with it so well - we all appreciate it.

Thanks for a great read!
-Jane

BryceM

Jane, I'm glad you enjoyed the thread. One of the things that kind of bums me out here in the middle of Nowhere, Idaho is that I'm not able to show it to anyone who understands it. My wife tollerates it and thinks it's "OK" - but she doesn't really care how it looks as long as it doesn't smell too bad.

I've had a few people over who take a look at it and say "Oh cool, is that freshwater or saltwater? What kind of fish are those? Why are there so many plants?" Sigh.........

As for the wooden doors, it's almost impossible for them to close accidentaly. It really takes a good tug to get them closed. The canopy design actually seems to work, despite how it appears in the photo. I understand your concern though. I was kind of wondering about using a canopy vs. going with an open top with pendant lights. For now, I'm perfectly happy with the canopy. It goes well with the stand.

The substrate in this tank is 100% Eco Complete and does seem to be almost perfect for plants like hairgrass and HC. My other tank has SMS. Lately it has been growing plants like crazy - actually much better than this "higher tech" setup. It doesn't really hold down the smaller plants though. In that tank I'm having a hard time getting even well-rooted Blyxa to stay put.

Jimbo205

Oh boy, sounds like where I live. You gave me a good belly laugh though. Including about what the wife thinks of it. I would say the only difference in my location is that people seem to know right away that my tanks are fresh water. If fact, sometimes they take a look at it and say, "Wow. Looks like you are good with plants."

But understand it? ONE other member. In my ENTIRE area. (I am thrilled about that 1 by the way.)
The local fish stores barely understand it or care. (Well, some of the staff tries and care.)

As for your friends with fatherly or motherly instincts.
Could you post a photo of how the canopy works again, so that some of us that are concerned about
you getting whacked, can stop worrying?

It would be such a waste for someone in your field to forget everything that they learned.

Bert H

Hey Bryce, I've just read through this entire thread, and it's a great one! You've done a heck of a job with that tank, plumbing, tiling, etc. I tip my hat to you, sir! Now that the brown goo has been defeated, let's see some gorgeous pics of that baby.

BryceM

OK, I've been waiting for a few plants to come in the mail before adding more photos, but they never arrived. They were shipped from a source that will remain anonymous, and they left their point of origin three weeks ago. I'm kind of suspecting that one of these days I'll get a package of frozen goo in the mail.

Despite this, I've done a bit of a re-scape and it's starting to take a few baby steps toward what I'm hoping it will become. There are still a few stemmies that will be removed and the whole thing needs a lot of work and time to grow in, but the general idea is coming together.

What I hope is obvious is an improvement in overall plant health. The brown algae is gone. Right now there are a few small areas of staghorn algae and a small patch of BBA here and there. What really worries me though is the green thread algae that is starting to show up in the moss. That stuff drives me crazy. Still, at least it's presentable now and it no longer induces feelings of nausea in those that see it.

My favorite photo below is the last one. It should probably be titled "Congo Posse."











There are things that bother me, like having Blyxa aubertii in front of C. calamistratum. The plant shapes are too similar. I also need to thin out the moss and stretch it a bit up and down the driftwood. The thing that will help the most is to get enough growth in the center background and back right corner to hide the plumbing. I'm planning on either P. stellatus 'Broad Leaf' or L. 'cuba' for the center background and Bacopa colorata for the back right corner. Patience, patience, patience.

It hasn't even really started to grow in yet and already the rocks are almost covered. Some of them weighed almost 50 lbs. Oh well.

The larger plants will be removed from the left foreground and it will become an open space with an HC carpet - that is if the HC cooperates. For now, the tank seems to be much happier. A little patch of L. 'guinea' is growing a bit and L. 'cuba' is making rapid progress. I did have to yank out the R. macranda. It basically fell apart, but it was probably on it's way out from the algae mess earlier anyway. I'll try it again one of these days.

Comments, critiques, ideas, & concerns are all welcome.

Jimbo205

guaiac_boy those photos are amazing. To me it is simply beautiful.

By the way, what is your first name?

BryceM

See Bert H's post above.

cs_gardener

The congos are beautiful, I had no idea they are such pretty fish. Your tank is looking good; it is so much healthier. I like the basic structure of rocks and wood, and with your description I have an idea of what your shooting for. I have no doubt it will be beautiful when it fills in. Please keep us updated on how its doing, its nice to see the steps along the way.