gerryd

Hi,

I think personally that lowering the light is one of the 'easiest' methods to manage growth of virtually all species and thus the maintenance. Since light is what drives growth and subsequent c02 and nutrient demand..lower light should result in slower growth and less maintenance at least in terms of trimming.

Even crypts and anubias, etc will grow somewhat quicker under higher light levels IME providing there are NO limitations with c02 and ferts.

Just my 2 cents and personal observations. Nothing scientific to back it up....

Sorry again if this is off topic.

Thanks

BryceM

Not off topic at all. Thanks for the input.

vancat

Hi Bryce! Just wanted to say hello!
penny

BryceM

Penny,

Good to hear from you! Still have some tanks going? I think maybe this month I just succeded in killing the last of the narrow-leaf java fern you gave me. Maybe a bit will survive. We'll see.

vancat

Hey Bryce, just a 58g. With NO java fern! I wish I had some! How's your Moliwes- still have them? I got a pair of pulchers. Pretty. Female is getting really fat.

Bert H

Hey Bryce, hadn't noticed this thread, I have also been awol a lot lately. Anyways, looking forward to seeing your updates on this!

Tex Gal

We are all waiting with baited breath for a px. It's been a month now! Heck fire, what else do you have to do up there in Idaho in the middle of winter?!

BryceM

OK,

A belated update. I haven't changed the 180g much yet, but it is doing much better than it has been. I'm actually getting nice plant growth and I pruned a huge bucket full of healthy growth today. That's something I haven't done in quite a while.

The real story though is the 46g bowfront. I did a major re-do of it over the past weekend and I'm happy to report that I'm giving Aaron's mineralized substrate a try. I've been preparing some topsoil for the past several months in an unused corner of the driveway. It's been turned over a ton of times and with all the snow, rain, freeze, thaw, and sunny days it's seen I think it's about as mineralized as it's ever going to be. Four months where I live is probably as good as a couple of weeks where reasonable people live.

I put about an inch of the topsoil down and covered it with an inch of new charcol-colored Soilmaster Select that I've been hoarding. I topped that off with a half-inch of the old SMS that had been in the tank for the last 4 years.

I also tore down the Anubias 'petite' that had been growing on a little piece of driftwood. Holy smokes! I couldn't believe how much there was. It filled a gallon-size ziplock. I spend about two hours dividing it up and tying it to much larger pieces of driftwood. The tank still needs some attention when it comes to the driftwood placement. The wood was in my 180g tank years ago so it already leached out, but it needs a few days to become dense enough to stay put.

I'll post a photo when I get a minute. If that little experiement goes well, I'll consider doing a similar thing in the 180g. The plants are showing new growth and the fish seem happy enough. So far so good.

The native soil here is incredibly high in clay so I had to be tremendously careful to not stir it up too much. Even with the SMS cap it clouded up pretty bad for a couple of days. Theoretically though, the clay should be great for nutrient transport in the root zone.

Stay tuned.

genomecop

Hello. Your threads are great and actually got me to register here on the forums. Just curious..did you ever buy a new camera?

T-Bone

Hey I'm back too, lol. I'm glad to see I'm not the oly one dreading the thought of tank maintenance. I even have a smaller tank, with cichlids. I have actually downgraded from a 90 to a 40G breeder. I too am going to go low tech... well lower then before.

I had a crash, and all but 3 of them died. I can't even figure out how. Sold the remainder. So starting all over, right now doing a fishless cycle. That way, by the end the nitrate buildup will actually be beneficial, plus it gives me more time to plan as well.

Hopefully the both of us can do it better this time, and learn from the past