Journal 40B MTS Nature Aquarium

Today read through the whole journal thoroughly, what a journey!! And it’s looking great now. How did you get rid of the staghorn algae? I’m currently getting a burst of them on both older leaves and hardscapes. I may have played with too many variables(changed up fert dosage/light intensity/duration etc)and not patiently waiting for them to play out.
 
HarryL said:
Today read through the whole journal thoroughly, what a journey!! And it’s looking great now. How did you get rid of the staghorn algae? I’m currently getting a burst of them on both older leaves and hardscapes. I may have played with too many variables(changed up fert dosage/light intensity/duration etc)and not patiently waiting for them to play out.
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Yes changing too many things at once is a recipe for confusion and aggravation. Anytime I’ve had algae issues it’s been because of an instability with a parameter, or because of too much organic matter polluting the tank.
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
Yes changing too many things at once is a recipe for confusion and aggravation. Anytime I’ve had algae issues it’s been because of an instability with a parameter, or because of too much organic matter polluting the tank.
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The phoenix moss I have covering the drift wood is like a poop trap, looks clean but underneath is a ton of organic matter, I didn’t realize that until recently but at the same time I have lots of baby shrimp hiding in there making it difficult to siphon lol
 
HarryL said:
The phoenix moss I have covering the drift wood is like a poop trap, looks clean but underneath is a ton of organic matter, I didn’t realize that until recently but at the same time I have lots of baby shrimp hiding in there making it difficult to siphon lol
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What I do is push down on the moss with my gravel vac and you see all the detritus get sucked up, kinda like cleaning a carpet. Works well and keeps the moss clean underneath.
 
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Did my cleaning yesterday, thankfully just had to scrub the glass and trim some leaves here and there after 2.5 weeks of no attention. The e. Vietnam I got from @Burr740 is putting out new leaves and looking good. I moved my two flamingo baby crypts to give them more light and plan to buy a couple more to beef up the left side. On the right side I removed the crypt albida red and I’m gonna try them as a reophyte instead. That hole on the right id like to fill with some more Erio so I’ll prob have to order some. I’m also thinking of replacing the Ludwigia diamond with Rubin as it just doesn’t get as wine red as Rubin. I’m also not dead set on the juncus repens, just not sure what to replace with.

Overall I’m very happy with how this tank is doing, very stable and I’m enjoying it.
 
This tank is so peaceful to look at. The only thing I don't like about the juncus repens is you do not see it from the front panel. I think the color selection is right just needs another plant. Maybe like limnophila aquatica or limnophila wilsonii, aquatica gets pretty large in diameter so wilsonii maybe better for you but I've never kept it.
 
SkaleyAquatics said:
The only think I don't like about the juncus repens is you do not see it from the front panel.
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I 100% agree with you and that is my gripe with this scape, the driftwood really hides the back of the scape and it makes me wish I had a taller tank.

I’ll continue to look for another stem that satisfies that fault, thanks for the constructive criticism I appreciate it 👍🏻
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
I 100% agree with you and that is my gripe with this scape, the driftwood really hides the back of the scape and it makes me wish I had a taller tank.

I’ll continue to look for another stem that satisfies that fault, thanks for the constructive criticism I appreciate it 👍🏻
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I agree with the driftwood the left piece is so high. Though I will say that this tank inspires me to do a similar style and one day I'd like to try it.
 
I’m thinking maybe Potamogeton Gayi might be a good choice, similar structure to the juncus Repens but looks like it’ll reach higher and bush out more to get what I need for more visibility.
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
I’m thinking maybe Potamogeton Gayi might be a good choice, similar structure to the juncus Repens but looks like it’ll reach higher and bush out more to get what I need for more visibility.
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I was going to recommend that, just bought some to use as a background plant for my cube. Will update my journal tonight once I've planted them.
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
I’m thinking maybe Potamogeton Gayi might be a good choice, similar structure to the juncus Repens but looks like it’ll reach higher and bush out more to get what I need for more visibility.
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It is a nice looking plant and definitely gets tall, but be prepared for it to run all over the tank. It can be a bit of a weed, but I don't think I've ever seen algae on it once in my tanks.
 
Hmm well I don’t want something that’s going to run across the tank. Maybe I’ll see if the juncus can continue to grow vertical.
 
ElleDee said:
It is a nice looking plant and definitely gets tall, but be prepared for it to run all over the tank. It can be a bit of a weed, but I don't think I've ever seen algae on it once in my tanks.
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Hmm well I don’t want something that’s going to run across the tank. Maybe I’ll see if the juncus can continue to grow vertical.
 
SkaleyAquatics said:
It can defiantly grow vertically however I am unsure of the condition it needs to do so.
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I’ll just keep it clean and let it grow, hopefully it’ll reach a little taller. I partly don’t want it to grow too tall because I don’t want it to completely block the view of the Ludwigia from the side. A flaw of the hardscape I’ll have to deal with.
 
So I just fed my fish and I saw this guy swimming around like this and was like wtf does he have in his mouth because I just fed some fluval bug bite flakes.

Closer inspection when he came to the glass revealed it’s a fly! One must have got in the house and landed in the water and this young boesmani snagged it lol
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As promised in the spring cleaning thread, time to clean the shit show:

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Glass is covered in green on all sides, spots of thread algae, leaves covered in heavy slimy green algae, and dead leaves all over. The petite Java fern is PISSED, doing its classic black spot takeover. This I’m honestly not too bummed about, it neeeded a good thinning. I’ve chopped all my stems down to nothing, only 4-5 leaves at most to expose only the healthiest leaves and stems. My next goal will be to trim the moss and wipe down the leaves of buce and anubias. Speaking of buce, take a look at the my “skeleton king” producing new shoots. It’s doing this in sub par water column conditions so I’m excited to see how it does when it has more available nutrients. I think some might look at this and say it’s not that bad, and I agree. The lesson here I think is that enough plant mass and maturity (and a rich substrate) can buy you time from impending doom. This tank has not been maintained just shy of a month. No ferts added, no WC, just daily light and Co2. I’m by no means advocating this, as it’s a product of my current life situation and limited time. I’ve thought many times over to just tear it down, but I can’t muster the strength to do so as it’s a focal point in my house and my children enjoy it. Not to mention, blood, sweat, and tears, and I don’t quit.

Off the soap box, back to work. I’ll post when it’s clean again 😎
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
As promised in the spring cleaning thread, time to clean the shit show:

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Glass is covered in green on all sides, spots of thread algae, leaves covered in heavy slimy green algae, and dead leaves all over. The petite Java fern is PISSED, doing its classic black spot takeover. This I’m honestly not too bummed about, it neeeded a good thinning. I’ve chopped all my stems down to nothing, only 4-5 leaves at most to expose only the healthiest leaves and stems. My next goal will be to trim the moss and wipe down the leaves of buce and anubias. Speaking of buce, take a look at the my “skeleton king” producing new shoots. It’s doing this in sub par water column conditions so I’m excited to see how it does when it has more available nutrients. I think some might look at this and say it’s not that bad, and I agree. The lesson here I think is that enough plant mass and maturity (and a rich substrate) can buy you time from impending doom. This tank has not been maintained just shy of a month. No ferts added, no WC, just daily light and Co2. I’m by no means advocating this, as it’s a product of my current life situation and limited time. I’ve thought many times over to just tear it down, but I can’t muster the strength to do so as it’s a focal point in my house and my children enjoy it. Not to mention, blood, sweat, and tears, and I don’t quit.

Off the soap box, back to work. I’ll post when it’s clean again 😎
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Not only is that skeleton king throwing a new leaf it looks to be throwing a flower!

Also I kinda envy your no maintenance for a month, not going to lie. I don't mind the main tank getting weekly work but the farm tanks I'd love to cut back to every other week but if I do they become algae farms. Plus it then just takes much longer to clean them back up and my weekends have been extremely busy the last month.
 
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