12long Coast of Maine Sunrise

Forumsnow

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Hurricane Journal:mad:

As i stated I have today off from work because of Sandy Vajj lol. This 12 long has been a work in progress since May or earlier. At that point i started collecting items for this tank starting with 10lbs of seiryu stone. I got the tank from amazon in June, only problem was I was still at my parent's house and they did not want another tank! Well i finally moved to my new apartment in Sept and got right to setting this beauty up! Was literally what i was looking most forward to. Sad i know! So on to some pics and info on the setup.

Tank: Mr Aqua 12 gallon long

Light: Deep blue 30" dual T5NO light, bulbs are only 24" long though, seems to be growing the hc fine for now in the dsm, will see once flooded, kinda want to try a new Ray2 led

Filter: Eheim 2213 with a custome 36" acrylic spray bar, hear this tank is hard to keep flow in

Substrate: Aqua Soil New Amazonia on told of old

Co2: Will be running co2 into another eheim 1103 i got, this one also leaks, really hope i can fix this. Not sure if it will be run on it's own with loc-line outflows. Or plumbed inline with the eheim to help with flow since it is above my 20 long on a rack with almost 5' of head height. We will see what works best.

Plants: Mostly HC Cuba, possibly et mixed in. I think i may be doing a large bush of rotala colorata in the middle as the "sunrise", think it is a small enough leaf to look good and add a nice red. Also just got 2 erios japans will be placing at the top of each "mountain"

Fauna: Planning on using this as mostly a PFR tank. Thinking i might add a school of 12 or so micro rasboras once the shrimp population establishes.

Here is what the tank looked like once i first started setting it up, hope you guys like the rock set up, any advice would be greatly appreciated:
View attachment 3747

The dsm of the HC and rotala colorata:
View attachment 3748
View attachment 3749

2 weeks into dsm, really coming in now:
View attachment 3750

As it sits today. Decided i had a my co2 split already so why not try running some in at maybe 3bps. I doubt it will help but co2 is cheap!
View attachment 3751


The dsm has really gone amazing! Could not be happier, all that growth is in a month or less. I have not over watered as it seems everyone does and have seen no signs of mold or fungus. People seem to miss the "dry" part in "dry start method" hahaha. I think i will flood it in another two weeks or so, have waited this long and i really want a full carpet before i flood.

As always i appreciate any negative or positive comments. I am no where near a pro at this and the main point of me posting this is to get some of the "pros" advice and input. I still need to get 2 more check valves for the co2 and figure out a way to plug my acrylic spray bar. Other wise i think i have all my bases covered knock on wood. I will give the tank atleast another 2 weeks of full on "nothing living" co2 blast once i flood to give the hc the best run at not melting. I think i will cry if it melts after this 6 month build. But we will see.

I will try to stay on top of this journal more than my 20, something like Gerry does. But i know that wont happen between building a new fedex building and a baby on the way. Seems like all i do is eat, sleep, work and clean my fish tanks these days. Poor me i know. Really cant complain with a baby BOY on the way, feb 18th cant wait!!! That's all folks, look forward to your advice.:D
 
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jerrybforl

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Good job overall! Your carpet seems almost filled in. I like the left side of the arrangement, but the big rock on the right is bothering me a bit. I would like to see it more in. If you could switch the big rock with the one in front of it, I think it will look even better!

In the end, it is your tank. I'm no pro by far either. But I think I got a good idea about flow of the tanks.

When you flood the tank, make sure that you are dosing EI. I was up at Gerry's when Tom came in and scaped it. I remember him telling Gerry to dose heavy and do WCs every few days. PM Gerry and see what he says.

You also want some current in the tank as well. Not sure how strong the Ehiems are. In my small tanks, I use Koralia nanos. Other than that, tank looks great!

Congrats on the baby boy...
 

DrGreenThumb650

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I really like the layout of the rocks; the vast space between them creates a great flow in the tank. Looks natural. I think once the HC grows in between the rocks it will look even better. What kind of micro rasboras were you thinking? Also, I was wondering how you go about adding CO2 in through the filter.
 

Forumsnow

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Thanks for the comments guys! The funny part is the rock on the right was actually my favorite of course but maybe if I get the day off again. I asked for the advice so I will atleast give it a shot, I just removed most of the hc up there to make room for the erios so it should be to hard to move around. I have a koralikicking around I can throw in there if need be bit the eheim 1103 can do 700gph. I know it will not do anything close to that since it is a needle wheel but I am hoping it is enough. And to answer your question greenthumb co2 will be going into that pump not the filter. Was just unsure weather to run the pump inline with the filter.

Not super certain on the fish yet. Would really love some ideas. Probably whatever small schooling fish my lfs has.

And great advice on the ei, that is what I was planning on doing. I am a firm believer in ei. Also plan on doing lots and lots of water changes the first couple months. It's only 12 gallons so that shouldn't be to hard.

Thank you also I am super excited for my little guy to get here I am sure he will love fish. Thanks again for the advice and kind words I really appreciate it.

Looks like I am getting another couple of hours off of work again;) Guess fedex doesn't want me pushing dirt in the rain, this project has been a nightmare. So I'll try moving that rock and snapping a few pics.
 

Forumsnow

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Looks like I got another day off. Damn sandy is costing me money! Just ordered a reef keeper lite off a guy on APC last night I have to pay for! Oh well atleast now I have time to play:p

JJ I told my wife what you said about that stone and she agreed. And she had told me she loved it, she's always afraid to give me her real opinion for some reason, just supportive I guess. So I am starting to see what you two are saying. I will try changing things around today and take some pictures to see what people think.

Thanks again for the advice. This is the most planning and prep I have ever put into a tank. I really want it perfect.
 

Forumsnow

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Thanks alot drgreen. I have so much time on my hands today i am not used to so i decided to give JJ's idea a try. When i was playing around with the 2 rocks i think i like the one on the bottom the way it is but i flipped around the top one and saw it has this really awesome crevice running up the middle of it. I think it now looks more like a natural mountain top. Only trouble is now i am second guessing the left side! lol On to some pics

Here it is after i flipped it before i finished filling in the soil. Added maybe a cup of aqua soil more.
[attachment=1270:name]

Up close of the new config
[attachment=1271:name]

Another of the final out come. Still going to trim some more of the hc around the tank to fill in more in spots. I think one of the erios japans will look great up at the very top i have left a little open. Not sure where the second one will go.
[attachment=1272:name]

And finally the full tank shot. Cleaned the glass a bunch since the pics yesterday.
[attachment=1273:name]

Thanks for the input guys :)

12L 8.JPG


12L 10.jpg


12L 11.JPG


12L 9.JPG
 

beedee

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I'm liking that new right side man. It feels more gentle and natural to me. It's hard to tell from that angle, but would you say the right side is now the primary focal point?

I'm also doing a 12g Long Iwagumi dry start (see my signature below), so if you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it!
 

Forumsnow

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Beedee yes i would say the right side has total taken over as the focal point. Starting to think i used to much soil but it might look really good once filled in. Thanks for your opinion. :cool:
 

Forumsnow

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After 24hrs I am still liking the changes. I just stuck a co2 line in there yesterday and call me crazy but I think the plants looked a little more perky today :)

I have the light shifted more to the right to help the plants take back hold quicker. Unfortunately it looks like I will need to buy a shop light or something to get enough spread for the whole tank. It is a 30" fixture but it only has 24" bulbs and fixtures. It was the first light I ever bought so I was clueless at the time. So I have 12" of tank I need to cover.

Thinking about buying a Ray2 for it in the future. Does anyone know if these are dimmable? I have a reef keeper on the way that has the option to run dimming. Would really really love to try that out as I think it can really help with co2 and ati doesnt make a suitable fixture for this small of tank. Thanks ahead of time for any input.
 

Forumsnow

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Did some more trimming this weekend, the hc is growing like mad now. It seems like the added co2 has helped, or maybe just wishful thinking. Most of the plants are looking super healthy and still no sign of mold or algae.

The only plants that aren't growing good are at each end. I think light is to blame on this, I am12" short and I just can't finish this up so I can flood! Decided to go get a shop light or 2 this weekend and some cfls to finish this thing off. Really want to get some shrimp!

On the lighting subject, how about a ray 2??? I got a reef keeper lite coming and itcan do dimming. Could I use this to dim the finnex light? Really really want to do some kinda dimming to just try it. So jealous of all the ati users. Will get some pics up soon.

Anyone else that has any input on my layout or maybe some plants to try let me know! I am always looking to improve and try out all different plants!

Thanks
 

Forumsnow

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Tank is flooded!!!!

So tuesday this week is decided it was time to flood the tank. I recieved some vivipera from Tom and they needed a wet home lol. I have been doing pretty much daily 80-90% water changes and the plants are looking pretty good. Two bad things are happening though.

First and foremost is the fact that my lights are just not going to cut it :-( I have to have the lights sitting on the rim to get any pearling what so ever out of the hc, and that is just not how i like my lighting. I want to go leds because of the rkl and i am thinking about http://www.buildmyled.com/freshwater-planted-tank/ this light. My only question is whether i should go with the 36" with narrow optics or the 24" with a wider optic. I plan on hanging the light from the ceiling plus with the rkl i can dim it to whatever amount of light i dean necessary. Wife is ok with me spending the money at the moment so i really want to order the light in the next couple days before she changes her mind. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I just started a thread in the lighting section with the same question so sorry for the redundancy.

Here is a pic of the HC pearling [attachment=1311:name]

Second problem is the diatoms, realise this is normal but it still sucks. I just ordered some supreme red neos from speedie over on TPT and he will be shipping them on dec 1st, early christmas present lol. I figure the tank will be fully cycled by then. Between running a sponge in my established 20 canister for a month and the dsm i imagine the tank will cycle quickly. I also would like to get a good school of zebra ottos, think they are awesome.

Just remember i switched from the leaky pos eheim nw pump to a danner supreme with fractioning impeller. I just installed it on it's own loop yesterday and i must say i am extremeley impressed with it so far. I ran it into a t with a loc line output on each corner of the tank. I put my 2213's spray bar in the middle. It's seems like i have pretty good flow at the moment but i have a 34" acrylic spray bar for the eheim i will install once i drill and cap it. I also made a acrylic intake that i need to do the same. This way i can get rid of the super ugly green eheim stuff!
FTS[attachment=1312:name]

It is insane how much flow you lose with 6ft of head and a fractioning impeller. I really hope i dont kick myself later for not getting the 500. I think since this tank will not be the jungle my 20 is i think i should be ok. Plus i am going for shrimp and some kinda micro rasbora so i dont want to much flow.

I really hope i can find out what to do with this led thing because that will be the final piece to the puzzle.
[attachment=1313:name] This is a pic of the right side of the tank that i move around as advised. I added a erios ban ba wah that was doing terrible in my 20. I am hoping the aqua soil and super high co2 will bring it back, the roots are still in great shape.

[attachment=1314:name] And here is the left side of the tank i added a great little erios japan to. I really love this tank

12L hc pearl.jpg


12L 12.JPG


12L 13.JPG


12L 14.JPG
 

Forumsnow

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Well the tank is continuing to grow algae :( I looked in the tank this morning and saw a few pieces of this white slimey looking stuff? Also the diatoms are still extremely bad, should i get ottos and lower the co2? Or continue to crank the co2 and leave shrimp and fish out of the mix? I have speedy tentatively sending me some supreme red neos on december 1st. He said i can change that though if it seems like i should leave them out longer. Some insight on this would be greatly appreciated.

On a high note the hc seems to be growing really good. I did notice some melted leaves but i do see a ton of new growth. It is amazing me the plants are growing so well with how bad the diatoms are. The vivipera seems to be growing good also, would really like to get a good background of this to hide the 2 pump intakes. The amount of pearling in this tank is truely a sight to be hold. Within an hour or two it looks like the whole tank is a shimmering christmas tree or something, really beautiful.

Because of Thanksgiving my led will not be here till wednesday even though i had 3 day shipping and it shipped on Tuesday. I must say i have been beyond happy with buildmyled so far. Between the great customer service and the fast turn around on the light i have no complaints. I am like a kid on christmas eve waiting till the morning for this light to come. I also ordered the hanging kit from them that looks like it is pretty well put together. This will come in clutch as the alc i need to dim my reefkeeper is still not scheduled to be here till december 3.

I will also be moving thhis tank to on top of my turtle tank. It is a much bigger rack and it think it will allow me to view it alot better. I spent the money on a rimless tank and i cant even see the sides of the tank because the rack is exactly the same size.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving, i know it did. I am fortunate enough to have round 2 today with my parents this time. I truelly love this time of year.

Oh!!! And i ordered some Tonina Lotus Blossums from Tom. This has been my favorite plant i have grown so far and really look forward to growing it again. I had some in my 20 for quite awhile but i ended up losing it when I was messing around with co2 to much. I think my 12 with the super deep aquasoil and high co2 will really grow it great this time. I think i will be removing the colorata and replacing it with the tonina, not sure 6 stems will be enough though. Any suggestions on placement would be greatly appreciated~!

I am making a green bean casserol for dinner so i gotta jet. Look forward to any ideas you guys may have.

Karl
 

Forumsnow

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Today was a amazing day, first and foremost is i got to see little baby Mason today. We had a ultrsound and he is doing great! 2lbs 10 oz and he is already misbehaving haha. He would not turn the correct way so the doctor could see his little heart. I have a feeling he will be a handful.

The next great thing is that my LED came! I must say i am totally blown away by this thing. Really really sleek and it produces a great color. I was really amazed how small it was and how insanely bright it is! Amazon really needs to get my ALC to me so that i can dim it and do the sunrise/set. I saw someone on TPT had a 12" fixture and it produced 90 par at 16". I currently have it sitting on a rack shelf about 18" above the substrate till i can hang it. I think i may keep it around this height but will dim it if i have to. Really hope the tank does not explode in algae between today and next monday.

Final great part of this amazing day is my tonina lotus blossums came from Tom. The post office will not leave packages at my apartment though. I am really hoping it snows tomorrow so i can have the day off to go get them, if not my fiance will grab them for me. They really are my favorite plant.

I must say the led has totally blown me away. I would highly recommend buildmyled.com to anyone looking for a new light.
 

Forumsnow

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Does not seem like there is to much interest out there but i will continue to update for my own purposes to follow the tank. It is very interesting to be able to see the stages the tank has gone through so far and it will be very interesting to be able to go back through in the next year or so to track it's progress.

I got my ALC unit thursday night! Bad news is that it would not dim my leds. Well actually it did dim but they would just sit at the lowest dimming and not ramp when plugged into the dimmer. So i tried everything and finally called Digital Aquatics support last night. Turns out my used RKL system needed to be updated. Unfortunately my computer is ancient and i needed to update and download about 20 different programs to be able to run digital aquatics myreef program. I spent about 4 hours yesterday downloading programs and troubleshooting one thing after another, just about threw everything through the window!!!!! But i finally got all the programs downloaded and i tried to upload the new firmware. Of course their program would not recognize my RKL head unit! Thankfully after multiple restarts and the such i got it to work!

I am very happy to say i am able to sit here as i write and watch my lights ramp :) Truly awesome beyond happy with all this work, it is definitly all worth it.

Quick question for anyone using dimmable fixtures, what do you do for ramp times? If i don't get a response i will just send Tom and Gerry lol a message as i know they both use the ATI fixtures. Right now i am ramping from 0-100 over a 30 minute time span and it willl do the sunset the same.

I am going to go pick up a pair of ottos and a pair of amanos in a little while here. I tested my tank last night and it is fully cycled as i thought it would. I am really hoping they will take care of this diatom problem i got going on. The tank is growing AMAZING except for the fact that everything is covered!

I really really love the tonina! It seems to be doing great and i could not be any happier. I think i will be replacing the colorata with tonina if they continue to grow good. I think that would give an amazing look, almost like a forest of trees.

I am going to warranty my ipod today as it has completely shit the bed :-( This will allow me to take me some better photos tonight or tomorrow. I will also be taking some video of the lights ramping. I will shorten the ramp time to say 2 minutes to show it's true awesomeness hahaha.

Off to get my algae crew, good day to all!
 

jerrybforl

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Congrats on seeing your son for the first time! :)

I got my ALC unit thursday night! Bad news is that it would not dim my leds. Well actually it did dim but they would just sit at the lowest dimming and not ramp when plugged into the dimmer. So i tried everything and finally called Digital Aquatics support last night. Turns out my used RKL system needed to be updated. Unfortunately my computer is ancient and i needed to update and download about 20 different programs to be able to run digital aquatics myreef program. I spent about 4 hours yesterday downloading programs and troubleshooting one thing after another, just about threw everything through the window!!!!! But i finally got all the programs downloaded and i tried to upload the new firmware. Of course their program would not recognize my RKL head unit! Thankfully after multiple restarts and the such i got it to work!

I am very happy to say i am able to sit here as i write and watch my lights ramp :) Truly awesome beyond happy with all this work, it is definitly all worth it.

Hard work does really pay off huh lol.

Quick question for anyone using dimmable fixtures, what do you do for ramp times? If i don't get a response i will just send Tom and Gerry lol a message as i know they both use the ATI fixtures. Right now i am ramping from 0-100 over a 30 minute time span and it willl do the sunset the same.

I'm sure it depends on the fixture you are running. I know Gerry doesn't ramp up his that fast. IIRC he only has 85% or so only for an hour or two during the photo period. Those ATI lights are very powerful, so it will be hard to really guage off of his finds. Although, I think he can point you in the right direction.

It would be good to review over his thread...I know there is a lot of pages lol. You should PM him. Gerry is very helpful with spreading his knowledge.

As far as your diatoms go, you need to do daily or every other day >50% WCs. Diatoms come from excess silicates in the water column. All you can do is wait it out and WCs.

Post some more pics of the tank.
 

Forumsnow

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Thanks for your continued input JJ I really appreciate it. So I figured I would do one better for you and make a video of my tank and the LEDs doing a sunset. [video]http://vimeo.com/user15029328/leddimming[/video]

I am beyond happy with how this tank is shaping up to be :). I got 2 teeny tiny ottos yesterday and 3 even small amanos. I'll tell you what though they have already cleaned a ton! Truly amazing how much they have cleared in 24 hours.

I have been doing 75% water changes everyday or every other day and it had no impact on the diatoms. I think it will just take some time and a few more ottos to clear up. All the lfs had was the 2 so I may grab at least another 2 when they get them. It is the only local store i trust to get fish from.

Speedy shipped my Supreme Red neos yesterday so they should be here tomorrow or Tuesday cannot wait.

I am really hoping Gerry sees this so I don't have to pm. I am currently ramping from 0-50% over a half hour. Does that sound normal? I am torn between a fast ramp time so it is more noticeable like in the video. Or a longer so the co2 has more time to build? I'll probably just end up sending Tom a pm to see what he thinks.

I will continue to dial in the co2 at a lower light level and then once algae is gone start to increase. Really looking forward to getting a big ol school of micro fish in there at some point
 

Gerryd

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Forumsnow;91424 said:
How do you change the title of the thread? I wanted to added that there is a video if the LEDs dimming but I can't figure it out. Thanks in advance.

The overall thread title, or the title per post? Advanced edit should get you the latter. The former may be by mod request....
 

Gerryd

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Forumsnow;91326 said:
Does not seem like there is to much interest out there but i will continue to update for my own purposes to follow the tank. It is very interesting to be able to see the stages the tank has gone through so far and it will be very interesting to be able to go back through in the next year or so to track it's progress.

Folks follow but don't always reply or want to take their time doing so :) I post MOSTLY for myself and as a historical archive. It has been great to simply go back in time to a thread and see what I was doing at the time..