when 2 become 1

both, but the new one looks cool! i like how dark it is!

 

thanks,thats the t8s lol,dont know what im going to use it for,either quarantine tank,breeding tank(nothing to breed yet) or mini predator tank.

 

little bit of an update.tank was rescaped to make more swimming space.trying hard to get better quality pics will have to borrow a camera.was able to split red tiger lotus now have 2 growing on either side of the tank(growth seems to be little leaves growing over night to the surface).my hemianthus has all but dissappeared.crypts are fine vallis is bouncing back after the excel was abolished.a funny type of algae is growing on the plants and hardware looks like the algae you find in dirty rivers(i dont know whats causing it) have cut the lighting down to X2 tubes for 10 hours a day.some halfway decent pics of some of the inhabitants if anyone can make out a male or a female would be nice.

 

very nice fishies dude!

 

dankie baie,can you spot any females i'm positive 1 is a male

 

nice fish man

 

thanx i wish the tank looked as good as the fish i'v got BBA again:evil:

 

the bolliwoods are looking good athol lets hope u got a pair and i have enough tanks by then lol ,put a pic of the 3 foot if its cleared up or start a seperate thread

 

update.
BBA got the best of me till i couldnt take it no more,the low light routine seemed to have slowed it down but also the growth rate of the plants the tiger lotus was growing in reverse.i cant seem to get a hold of any liquid carbon source besides excel so im back on it.i hope it can kick start the plants and kick the BBA as well again.i'v added a whole pile of peat to the filter again to help soften the water and believe it deters algae as well(hope every little bit helps),i got myself a sera test kit and got a ph reading of 8(a bit much for amazonian fish i need to work on it) on the big tank and 5.5-6(it was one of the 2) on the small tank with ada amazonia.nitrites was 0 before the water change(is this a bit strange),gh and kh were 5 if i remember correctly(will check the diary i started:embarrest,decided to rescape again(no wonder the plants are not growing lol.funny thing these fish are,the big deacon in the pics has been a recluse ever since i got rid of his big buddies,whenever i approached he tank he would swim for his life probably fearing his time had come as well,he would stay motionless in the same spot for days what seemed like,he didnt come out to eat for months and i thought it was just a matter of time before he kicked the bucket well something must have clicked with him and the new scape cause he's a new fish all of a sudden wont move from the front glass and swims like he just learned how.

 

Had to add these my pride and joys

 

The struggle continues.

no one said it was going to be easy and now i know just how.just because you have pressurized co2 and lots of lighting etc doesnt mean you going to have a wonderland all of a sudden or because something works in on tank(nogal in the same room) doesnt mean its going to work in the other.these are some of the things i'm learning as i go along.it really is a complex balancing act that needs careful attention to detail all the time.its amazing how quickly things can go wrong and all at the same time and how long it can take to get it back on track but you have to look at it as a long term goal not an overnight success or you will very quickly throw in the towel(which is how i feel every now and then).but as i go along i hopefully get a little wiser and better at it.

just a few things i' learned so far:

to keep an eye out for fading tubes,was so used to keeping same tubes for years because there were no plants involved and oscars look so cool lurking in the dark.well there's no more oscars only plants that were'nt getting enough light and so started regressing.so i go and buy 4 new tubes put them in they work fine for a day then 2 give in,take canopy off check all connections,plugs and tubes cant find any fault anywhere so assuming its the ballasts which means have to replace 2 + the new tubes i just bought= more money.no one said it was cheap either but these are things we learn as we go along.

pressurized co2 sounds nice till you try and connect it for the first time.before you can start bubble counting you have to first get the gas flowing at such a rate that it doesnt blow the all the connections to hell after its raced into the fish tank releasing a million bubbles.finally got the hang of it after much cursing and swearing never again never again.and then once you've got it going how do you know how much to add?its recommended bps this and ppm that but a handy tool to make life easier is a drop checker which i wish i had invested in a whole lot earlier(and still waiting for @firemanmuzz).i realise now i must have total balance somewhere because no sooner were the lights renewed so to did the co2 have to be.but we learned and it was a smooth operation much to my delight.

in the meantime while i was learning all these things the algae was getting a foothold and its digging its heels in but i'm not giving up i'll learn patience if kills me or the algae.

also learning as i go along that what i want to create and what i'm actually doing is not the same so i'll carry on learning and one day i'll day i'l put it all together and be happy

 

Eish, Athol... keep plugging away - I'm quite sure the tanks look pretty amazing despite all the learning curves.

I must admit that your prez CO2 tales gave me the heeby jeebs - I took a slightly different path (I think cos I'm terrified of the whole CO2 thing) and decided to stick with low/medium tech... and collect ferns and crypts and work with lowertech plants... after 2 yrs, I still haven't managed a scape that pleases me much either. To those uninitiated in planted tanks my mad emerald jungles are impressive but to my critical eye - barely controlled chaos!

But we're learning, yeah?

 

i wish.but im being all zen about it one day i'l get it where i want it.

 

Athol - you're tomorrow's expert. I'm about to start on this journey - I'll be coming to you for advice and help if that's ok?

 

anytime jenn i'll do my best not to lead you down the wrong path.

 

finally almost completely happy with my tank,want to make a few changes as soon as the angels stop attacking me.

 

Looking great Atholl.

 

wel its green i'l tell you that lol,and not because of algae

 

No don't change the tank! I am loving the look of the tank!

 

Its really awesome. How about sharing some of your key learnings to get it looking that great?