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DSM: Mr Aqua 12G (3ft Bookshelf)


AwwYea

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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)

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looks good!

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

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

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rxRJfJw.jpg

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

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

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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.

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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!
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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

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

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Very nice tank man,

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

haha

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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.

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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.

DytGuf5.jpg7oZxh7V.jpg

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

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

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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

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Looks fantastic well done:encouragement:

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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!
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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!

rbJjB72.jpg

Some photos of the rock groupings:

They are all made from 2 rocks each.

sW56hqc.jpgsznEvtq.jpg

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

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

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

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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. ;)

ItXMflT.jpg

Thanks for looking!

Next update will be of the tank flooded :)

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

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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:

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