journal DSM: Mr Aqua 12G (3ft Bookshelf)

[AwwYea]

Week 19

Equipment

Mr Aqua 12G (3ft Bookshelf - 90 x 21 x 24cm - 45litres~)

UP Aqua Pro Z LED

Eheim 2217

Hydor ETH 200w

DICI Professional 2-Stage Regulator

KegKing 2.6kg Cylinder

Max Mix CO2 Reactor (Medium)

Cal Aqua Labs Lily-pipes (F2 Outflow and X1 Nano Inflow)

Plants

ADA New Amazonia (Full 9 litres)

HC (Hemianthus Callitrichoides "Cuba")

UG (Utricularia Graminifolia)

Hydrocotyle Japonica

Glossostigma Elatinoides

Fish and Shrimp

5 x Danio Margaritatus (CPD/Galaxies)

5 x Boraras Brigittae (Chilli Rasboras)

3 x Corydoras pygmaeus (Pygmy Cory)

2 x Otocinclus Affinis

∞ x RCS

3 x CBS

2 x DAS

Notes

Light Period

6 hours

Ferts

ADA Brighty K (Daily)

ADA Step 2 (3 days)

ADA Special Lights (3 days)

Excel (Daily)

[blindfisherman]

looks good!

im a fan of the ug and hc mixed :) about to fill my 2'with a carpet of it

[BlueBolts]

Looking great....very nice. Love the simplicity.... planning a shrimp colony ?

[AwwYea]

So the DSM has been going for 2 months now and overall the progress has been slow.

It took a good 2 weeks for the HC to establish it's roots. I experienced a lot of challenges during the first month as I frequently tried to find the best conditions for the HC to flourish.

Unfortunately this possibly hindered the process and I loss a lot of the initial clumps in the process (it's still recovering to this day).

I'm going to be patient and leave it for another 2 - 3 weeks then re-assess.

These are my personal findings:

• HC does not like high temperatures at all
  
• HC grows and crawls best when planted in individual strands rather than clumps
  
• Mold will literally appear overnight if conditions are too humid
  If I didn't remove them promptly with a cotton-bud dipped in Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2); it would start to spread and melt the HC. It's extremely aggressive!
  Spraying the tank with a 3:1 Water:H202 solution did not help as it created additional humidity
  
• New leaves will eventually sprout from melted HC
  
  
  
  Current Problems:
  
  • The top leaves on the stems that grow too tall seem to turn yellow then wilt away to brown crispy looking leaves.
    I can't figure out what's causing it. Humidity is well under control now and the only thing I can think of is the lighting might be too strong on such a shallow tank?
    
  • Some form of moss growing in between the HC
    Hitchhiked it's way with the initial batches of HC and I have to manually remove them (they grow so quickly).
    

[AwwYea]

im a fan of the ug and hc mixed :)

Same here! Hopefully it's easier to grow than HC!

planning a shrimp colony ?

Thanks! Starting to tinker with scape ideas now.Yes I will definitely be keeping shrimp in here! Hoping the filtration won't be too strong though.

[torface]

I love those bookshelf tanks... looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

I'm not having much luck with the HC :(

[blindfisherman]

Same here! Hopefully it's easier to grow than HC!

I need to out a section of mine and trim the HC as its getting a bit high. I can send you down a chunk of HC and UG if you wouldn't mind covering postage :)

PM me if you are keen.

[AwwYea]

I'm not having much luck with the HC :(

Haha... one of those plants were it's a breeze to grow for some and a b!tch to grow for the rest of us.

I can send you down a chunk of HC and UG if you wouldn't mind covering postage :)

That would be much appreciated. Thank you so much for your generosity!

[torface]

Haha... one of those plants were it's a breeze to grow for some and a b!tch to grow for the rest of us.

Funnily enough, I bought some HC about a year ago having no clue how hard it can be to grow. I planted it in gravel with no ferts and no CO2 and the stuff thrived! Now here i am with ADA soil, ADA ferts and CO2, and will the stuff grow? Nope lol

[Squiggle]

Looks awesome dude, really cool tank & I can't wait to see the end result :encouragement:

[fokhead]

Very nice tank man,

I'm also planning a 3ft bookshelf tank with same light and substrate as you!

haha

[AwwYea]

Very nice tank man' date='

I'm also planning a 3ft bookshelf tank with same light and substrate as you!

haha[/quote']

Awesome! I'm having second thoughts about the substrate so far. It's a DSM and some of it seems to be disintegrating already!

The light on the other hand is very beautiful... like a perfect match for this tank.

[AwwYea]

So I found some nice rocks today and in the tank they go!

The main rock has amazing texturing on it from all angles.

I'll have to find a few more smaller pieces as it doesn't look complete yet.

[fishmosy]

Very impressive mate. Will be good to see it grown in.

[Squiggle]

Love the rocks dude, your scape is taking shape quite nicely, well done :encouragement:

[BlueBolts]

Love the simplicity at the moment...you've got some seriously aquascaping talent there ! Very very nice

[Ziek]

Could be the morphine the hospital has me on but that setup looks magical. Really love those rocks, can't seem to find that sort up here in Brissy

[HexaD]

Awesome gear, awesome scape!

[ineke]

Looks fantastic well done:encouragement:

[AwwYea]

Thanks for all the kind words guys. Will keep you updated on the progress :)

Funnily enough, I bought some HC about a year ago having no clue how hard it can be to grow. I planted it in gravel with no ferts and no CO2 and the stuff thrived! Now here i am with ADA soil, ADA ferts and CO2, and will the stuff grow? Nope lol

HAHA! I shouldn't be laughing... but I feel your pain. It's like we give it the best possible conditions and care and it just goes NOPE!

[AwwYea]

Raised the rocks higher:

Planning ahead for the growth of HC. It was pointed out that some of the rocks should be raised in height so they don't eventually disappear.

Thinking I might angle the 1st and 4th rock lower tomorrow as it's looking a little too similar to the 2nd and 3rd rock.

From this photo I can now see how much light the glad wrap is reflecting. Didn't pick it up before!

Some photos of the rock groupings:

They are all made from 2 rocks each.

[Squiggle]

Very cool dude, I really dig those rocks, they are awesome :encouragement:

[AwwYea]

Bit of a small update:

I stopped using the gladwrap on the tank for the past 1.5 weeks and have been misting daily.

The HC actually grew a helluva lot better than when I had the tank covered up!

I also added some UG in between the rock formations and they are growing extremely quickly compared to HC... new leaves sprouting the day after planting.

From this angle you can see how I'm attempting to use the main rock to reduce the strong current.

CO2 setup hooked up and ready!

Picked up a KegKing 2.6kg cylinder today. Bit of an overkill for a tank this size but I'm guessing I won't be refilling for an extremely long time. ;)

Thanks for looking!

Next update will be of the tank flooded :)

[Dean]

Awwyea! your username says what i think when i see this tank :) very nice mate. how long before you start to fill it?

[BlueBolts]

Thanks for the update. I had the 2.6kg on my 26 lt, and didnt think it was too big ! The continued journal of when it's flooded will be a good read ! Please do keep us posted. :applause: