Journal It’s Miller Time!

[BenB]

Details?

That's a great story. Sorry you had the problems, but even if you are experienced and just looking for the answer to a problem, it can be hard to figure out who is full of BS. I'm glad you found someone who led you in the right direction.

I too have been having a bit of an algae dumpster fire, but I think I'm on top of mine as well. It's just going to take a few weeks to get back going at this point.... I hope. I'm at that point right now kind of like you mention. I'm at that breath holding point where I expect the light to come on and the algae has taken back over, but every day something seems to get just a little bit better.

Congrats! Keep posting. Your scape is awesome!

 

[BenB]

It does appear that the case to shift away from CSM+B grows day by day....

I've mentioned elsewhere that the last time I bought some, I could see the different layers of material when I opened the jar. Who knows what amounts of what were actually going into my tank when I spooned a bit out.

 

[SkaleyAquatics]

This tank is absolutely gorgeous and you nailed it.

 

[Pepere]

Well, I appreciate the compliment, but it still needs refining.

Its coming along nicely…

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

View attachment 9417

I really love that you didn't over-do the reds. Red plants are beautiful and eye catching, but too much red in a tank is super distracting IMO. This is the perfect amount, just a few brilliant pops.

As far as greens go, again what a good balance of different shades of green, but even better is the different textures and leaf sizes. This should be considered a serious tank goal right here!

 

[Pepere]

even better is the different textures and leaf sizes

I am thinking of changing out the Ranunculus foreground on the left for more contrast.

I have a new Aqualife light that @Jeff Miotke told me about that is due in on Monday. I expect that life will help with the colors of the reds a lot over the 2 Finnex Planted Plus ALCs I am running now at max brightness to get the PAR.

Once in I plan on taking comparison shots between the lights to send to Sevenports. I will post them here as well.

 

[Pepere]

Well gee, no updates for a few months..
It got a bit overgrown…


I trimmed it back hard




My Samolus Parviflora started melting leaves…



I swapped it for a Tiger Lotus…


Hoping the Stargrass, Cardinal Lobelia and SRepens recovers within 3 weeks…

 

[BenB]

That lotus is nice!

 

[Pepere]

That lotus is nice!

They sure do respond nicely to pruning, good ferts, co2, and good lighting….

Like night and day with how it looked in a low tech tank.

 

[SkaleyAquatics]

They sure do respond nicely to pruning, good ferts, co2, and good lighting….

Like night and day with how it looked in a low tech tank.

I completely agree with it being night and day from low tech to high tech.

What does typical maintenance session look like for you on your tanks?
Do you do them all on the same day?

You are killing it out here between this and the 75gallon.

Hoping the Stargrass, Cardinal Lobelia and SRepens recovers within 3 weeks…

The Cardinalis and S. repens look pretty good after trimming. Im worried about the stargrass. Ive never trimmed it and usually topped it but it would take forever to come back.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I have to stay my favorite is the Hygro, the pink and green leaves are fantastic.

 

[Pepere]

What does typical maintenance session look like for you on your tanks?
Do you do them all on the same day?

I spread maintenance out. I will prune and trim as I can sneak sessions in during the week redeeming the time as it is available. Sometimes 1 plant at a time. Generally water changes are done a few tanks one after another.. I will shut off canister, start draining a tank, scrub the glass with a melamine pad, brush out air risers, lily pipe, I have spare surface skimmers I swap out in the lily pipes that are clean ready to go. The dirty ones set aside and then placed to soak in bleach water in a mason jar, brushed and soak in another mason jar with dechlorinated water…

Im worried about the stargrass

Me too.

But I have another plant as a fallback I can substitute in. From another tank I am going to be working on this weekend trimming it down and shaping it so I can transfer it if needed.

I have learned a lot about pruning and time to peak with all of this. I sure would prefer a few extra months to get “Its Miller Time” ready…

 

[BenB]

I haven't had Stargrass in many years, but my experience was that it was pretty hardy unless ferts dipped. Some plants will hang in there if macros dip a little, but Stargrass would get black spots quick.

 

[Pepere]

I have to stay my favorite is the Hygro, the pink and green leaves are fantastic.

I was having a hard time finding a suitable plant for that very spot. I had been pulling and swapping a few different options trying to find the right contrasting leaf shape and color and height to work in that spot.

@Unexpected suggested some of my Hygrophila Corymbosa Compacta might fill the bill, and after trying it, I had to agree.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

@Unexpected suggested some of my Hygrophila Corymbosa Compacta might fill the bill, and after trying it, I had to agree

Yes his earlier scape, can’t remember if it was hygro kompact or regular corymbosa, but same stunning colors just on a bigger scale. Really beautiful if you can find a spot for it like you said.

 

[Pepere]

I submitted my entry last night…


Which means tonight, we get ready to evolve the scape again….



3 species removed tonight…

 

[Pepere]

Juncus repens placed in back right corner replacing the stargrass. Stargrass is all leaf on the exterior and a mass of roots and stems behind it. Trim it hard and it takes a long time to look good again, and that center mass tends to get choked with loss of flow and gets smelly and develops algae…. Juncus still looks good after a hard trimming and fish swim in and amongst it…



After planting…


After trimming back the Juncus

Pogostemon kimberly replaces the Ludwigia Pantanal. I wont miss having to shorten and reset Pantanal weekly. The plant is stunning but really only looks good for 1 day. Before it looks undeveloped, and the day after overgrown. I am going to lose points on the prior iteration for having more than 1 focal point in a tank under 36 inches. Kimberly will gain height to the top of the tank, but does so over 4-6 weeks so itwill decrease my workload. It also is a more sedate red giving me a second red in the tank yet hopefully acting more as a counterpoint to the Tiger Lotus rather than competing with it for visual attention.



Pennywort veil plant provides contrast and lightens up the corner. The shining Pondweed had too little contrast color wise with the Hygrophila.

 

[Phish Tank]

Really nice looking tiger lotus.

 

[Pepere]

Tiger lotus responds so nicely to co2, ferts and lighting. Its almost like it is a different plant…