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How do they fight? Is there any biting?

They at least try to bite. I haven't seen them actually connect though. At one point they squared off like cichlids do and almost locked mouths. At the last second they swerved and started the circle dance. I was really surprised to see them do that. Most of the time it's chasing that leads to the circle dance.

About the sensitivity, the praecox definitely seem the stronger of the two types of rainbows. The weak little featherfin has disappeared now. I'm down to 8 of each, I think. All 16 look pretty good though. I'd be surprised if anything happened to any of them.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well I got my clean up crew today. I purchased 4 oto cats and a synodontis petricola cat. The petricola is about half an inch right now, so it will be a while before he gets big, especially since I won't be feeding him a whole lot. As soon as I feel he's a bit too big for the tank(say, larger than my rainbows ~ 2" I'll take him back to the lfs. He's really just a temp bottom feeder to take care of the little bits of left over stuffs.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Oh, the greg watson stuff already came in. That guy is good. I wouldn't have been able to get out to the pharmacy and back that fast. Dang.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,

I would guess if they square off in cichlid style it means that these two are really close in strength and so forth and as such none of them feels like taking flight first before being hunted down and confronted to pay his respect.

Yeah, Greg Watson is fast. So what did you order again?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The main reason for the order was MgSO4. Bensaf figures I was lacking there. I was nearly out of KNO3, so I got some of that, and decided to try out the CSM+B as well. I really mix and match with the micros. I have kents, julian sprung's, and now the plantex stuff. I'll probably buy some of the flourish as well. I don't feel like any one is the best, and they all have differents formula's and benefits.

Well I'm off to Zoar Valley for the day to check out an old growth forest for class. Should be a good time. See ya'lls later.

No comments on the fishies?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

No comments on the fishies?

I thought I was talking about your fishes, or did you think I meant you?

Anyway, CSM+B - that is plantex, right? Plus Iron, right? I found that that stuff is really hard to dissolve and I didn't like it all that much.

So you are mixing and matching micros, hm? How come that I don't see any TMG in your listing there

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I meant the otos and synodontis petricola. I should have specified new fish. I need to get some pics, but the perticola cat disappeared.

Anyway, CSM+B - that is plantex, right? Plus Iron, right? I found that that stuff is really hard to dissolve and I didn't like it all that much.

What did you use for water to dissolve it? Might do better in ro/di, than it would in tap.

So you are mixing and matching micros, hm? How come that I don't see any TMG in your listing there

I wish I had some non-internet access to it. I thought that stuff wasn't going to be around any more? I've heard it was pretty good, though. I'd like to try some, but I doubt it would be worth it for me to search up and down for it and then pay for the shipping and everything.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I meant the otos and synodontis petricola.

Otos are always a good fish to have. I sell tons of them at work for small tanked peoples. I guess I could start selling some Pitbull Plecos too.....

Synodontis petricola are really sweet catfish. I have yet to have one of the little slow growers but I had a feather fin for a while. I just like synodontis in general. Good buys!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Ah, the Otos - yeah, always a good call. Where the first fish in my 40 and 125
And the other cat I don't know, what is its common name? And dissapeared means he is hiding?

Might do better in ro/di, than it would in tap.

- Yeah, I will go out and buy RO water and then stirr for hours just to add micros to the tank.

wish I had some non-internet access to it. I thought that stuff wasn't going to be around any more?

Occasionally, reading through my logs helps . I stated last week that Big Al's has it for the time being, as I was informed that they got some into the online catalog from their local store. I bought a 5L bottle right away.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And dissapeared means he is hiding?

Well, yeah I hope he's hiding. There's a ton of ground cover in my tank, and plenty of hiding spots around the death star. Not to mention the cat is as big as my thumbnail. I don't think I'll see it very often, unfortunately. They are pretty sweet as wings said. I may just have to get another one. We have them listed in the store as syn. petricola, and I've never heard them called by a common name. Somebody else might be able to chime in here.

Yeah, I will go out and buy RO water and then stirr for hours just to add micros to the tank.

Well I didn't mean to suggest that you do it, I meant that I was going to try and see if it dissolves well that way. I hope it does at least.

Occasionally, reading through my logs helps

Easier said than done. I did read that, but I don't intend to buy it online. I only bought the plantex csm+b because greg watson had it and I was ordering from there anyways, and I thought it was silly to pay $8 in shipping for $8 worth of product, so I decided to try it out. Maybe trying to dissolve it at higher temps or in lesser concentrations would help too.

About the tank in general - Plants seem to be growing well, even if there is some algae on the old growth and hardscape. I did expect a little, so as long as this is a phase, I'll be ok. Since I've turned the lights down, I've noticed that the ground cover plants seem to be reaching a bit for the light, and the abulia is getting pretty leggy. The nesea, though crinkly, is growing pretty darn quick, and the chain swords are starting to multiply.
The remaining 16 rainbows are active, even if the praecox are a little over-active in the morning, and they are eating and look to be doing well overall. There hasn't been any noticeable marks on the male praecox from the morning romps, so I think they will settle in eventually, or just keep it up and not get hurt. Maybe as they get a bit older they will turn their attentions to the ladies? The otos are all visible, but seem a bit skittish, which is generally my experience with them before they end up kicking it a couple weeks down the road. I never have a good outlook on those guys. They are my problem fish, like other people have problems with cardinals or whatever.
I'll probably get some pics of the tank this week sometime. My(and my camera's) batteries need some charging, and the tank and plants are in need of a bit of work before I let the public see it.

I think I'm a bit long winded today must have been all the fresh air.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

So the micro that you bought is not exactly the one I used to use. Yours is the plain CSM+B while mine was something like "CSM+B plus extra Iron". Interestingly, I cannot find this one anymore on Greg's website. I wonder if I was not the only one who got issues with it.

But in all fairness, I have to say that after months of use it turned out that I most likely heavily overdosed the tank with this stuff as I initially worked of a pretty wrong assesment on how much to use (got some not so good advice).

I intitally had issues with Otos as well, from the (I think) 13 that I bought for the 125 only 6 made it, but they are still around, as much as I can tell. Only recently have I gotten lucky to having not lost even one in the 40G.

I guess your light is then to weak for some of your plants right now. Nevertheless, I assume that keeping it down will help avoiding larger issues until your plant mass is sufficient enough to handle more light. In case it helps, I started the 40G with only 8 hours of light per day and increased weekly by 30min until I had 10 hours, now I am up to 11, I think.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

TFH (Sept) Catfish Corner. From the caption on page 61. "The cuckoo catfish Synodontis petricola"

The profiles we have on this site call the Synodontis multipunctatus also as cuckoo catfish. We don't have a profile for the petricola.
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/625.htm

multipunctatus is called the cuckoo catfish here too!
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=95

petricola here is called False cuckoo catfish
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=103

Well that was fun to look up. I guess I should get on with my homework!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

My(and my camera's) batteries need some charging, and the tank and plants are in need of a bit of work before I let the public see it.

Booo, cop out! Just kidding, I used to do the same thing all the time.

Otos are a good start, but I would seriously consider adding ammanos, and a lot of them. They're amazingly effective algae eaters. Anything remotely stringy they'll eat, things that otos won't.

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Back in the saddle!

Good links there wings.

I heard the amano shrimp are also good dwarf cichlid food, please correct me if I'm wrong, so I was going to avoid those, because I'm going to eventually get a pair of something, probably some apisto.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well I know my kribs like CRS. The one Amano is still in the tank from when I added a batch of CRS but they didn't get all the CRS either. I wouldn't risk it.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I heard the amano shrimp are also good dwarf cichlid food, please correct me if I'm wrong, so I was going to avoid those, because I'm going to eventually get a pair of something, probably some apisto.

Well I think it probably depends on the situation. I have 7 or 8 Amanos in my big tank with the rainbow, bolivan and blue rams and they don't even look at them.

I would as Nowher suggested put the shrimp in now, let them grow alittle and get situated and then go ahead and had your rams. A few of my amanos are quite large, probably about the size of a full grown rummynose.

My Scapes

I never even saw my yo-yos go after them while they were in the 46 gallon. The gourami hunted them mercilessly though, like cats stalking prey. In a heavily planted tank where they've been assimilated they should be fine with whatever in there.

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Back in the saddle!

In a heavily planted tank where they've been assimilated they should be fine with whatever in there.

But you might never see them. Now that my kribs are in a different tank I see my shrimp all the time.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

But you might never see them. Now that my kribs are in a different tank I see my shrimp all the time.

Depends on the setup. the amanos are always on top of my dW pieces by late afternoon or moving around the riccia looking for scraps.

My Scapes

plus, although they're nice to look at, they're more functional than anything else. they'll do the job and stay in the shadows. No biggie

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Back in the saddle!

Hmm...I may try some out since it sounds like everybody agrees that if they get in there first and get a descent size, they will probably do fine.

Are CRS the same? or will they get demolished since they are smaller generally?

Might just go with a bunch of shrimp instead of apistos. Amanos, CRS, and wood shrimp are pretty common at my lfs. We even get others in occasionally. I've heard CRS breed pretty easily. That would just be downright cool if they could avoid all the fish, or even free food is nice.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Are CRS the same? or will they get demolished since they are smaller generally?

That pretty much sums it up. I had a few crs in my apisto agassizi and I went away for 3 days and when I came home I found pieces of red all over the tank. It was pretty gruesome.

My Scapes

hmm...figures. Decisions decisions....

There was one thing I forgot to mention. I mixed up 1tbsp CSM+B in 500ml room temp RO/DI water as per greg watsons recommendations(2tbsp per L) and gave it a shake and it mixed perfectly. I also added a bit extra iron chelate and that went in smoothly as well. I only added 1/2tsp because I was unsure of the quantities that I should be adding there. I don't think I even added anything significant, so if anybody knows if I should add more please tell.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Might just go with a bunch of shrimp instead of apistos

- What, give up on Apistos for some algae munchers? Never

gave it a shake and it mixed perfectly

- So what was I doing wrong then? I filled a liter bottle with tank water, added my Plantex Plus Iron, and shook it like crazy and it didn't dissolve completely

Matty, as to how much to use, I don't remember. I know it is buried somewhere in my thread, there is some entry where I discovered that I way overused this stuff. And I am pretty sure that if you had used the whole tsp in one session that this would have been too much as well. I think even 1/2tsp is too much.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

So what was I doing wrong then?

Well things just dissolve into pure water better because there is literally more "room" for it to dissolve into. Also, if you used more than 2tbsp, that much might just not be able to dissolve into the 1L water. There is only so much capacity for things to dissolve.

The 1/2 tsp I mixed into the 500mL with the plantex, you think this is too much? I'll be doing a couple mL of that every day or every other day along with a mL of each of the others.

About the shrimp - I'm still just throwing ideas out there, do'nt get upset.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I like those wood shrimps. They just stand there and sift the water like a filter right? They'll almost like minature fine pad filters.

My Scapes

Wood shrimps get pretty big, don't they? And, don't they need a rather high level of floating organics to survive, similar to these animals of the dark side ()?

Ah Matty, so you don't add the 1/2 tsp, aka 500mL, at once to the tank, but just some of the solution. I used to add about 1 to 1.5 tsp every other day, and that was way too much.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

They just stand there and sift the water like a filter right?

Yeah, but I've seen them dig around in the gravel as well, so I don't think that fine particles HAVE to be in the water column for them to survive. If they did they would probably have high mortality rates in captivity, like flame scallops of the dark side.

And yes they do get to be a few inches long, but they aren't really destructive IMO. They are still pretty dainty animals.

Ah Matty, so you don't add the 1/2 tsp, aka 500mL, at once to the tank, but just some of the solution. I used to add about 1 to 1.5 tsp every other day, and that was way too much.

Yeah I would think that would have been too much. So, I have the 500mL of water in a bottle with 1 tablespoon of csm+b and 1/2 teaspoon of the iron chelate. I was hoping if someone could tell me if that sounded like a good mix to dose a couple mL out of daily, or if I need to increase/decrease that. If not I'll find out eventually. If anything I think I'll need to increase it. I've read of people using as much as 2mL per 10g per day of a solution twice as strong as mine. I think that would be on the order of how much LF was dosing, maybe more.

Oh one more thing, I did a WC last night and dosed the Mg as per bensaf's instructions and topped the last inch or so with RO/DI water. Hopefully that will help the crinkly nesea. I had my RO/DI unit working all day(12hrs or so) yesterday to fill up my top off bucketfor sw, the fw tank and the water change bucket for the sw. Glad I'm not paying the water bill in this apartment.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Oh one more thing, I did a WC last night and dosed the Mg as per bensaf's instructions and topped the last inch or so with RO/DI water. Hopefully that will help the crinkly nesea.

If it's MG, wouldn't the plant make use of the mg in the Eco.



Attached Image:


My Scapes

I like those wood shrimps. They just stand there and sift the water like a filter right? They'll almost like minature fine pad filters.

I think you should have pulled an Amano when you had your Green Water and used the Wood shrimp!

I have seen them at a Petco back home but nowhere else yet. I don't know if we could get them into my store or not.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

If it's MG, wouldn't the plant make use of the mg in the Eco.

Well that could be said for just about all micros. So what is causing the crinkled leaves? I have no idea. Hopefully it's just new tank syndrome and it will shape up. Either that or I'm going to find something to replace it, cause it's kinda funky lookin'.

As for the wood shrimp taking on the green water, you would need a whole lotta shrimp for that I imagine.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

As for the wood shrimp taking on the green water, you would need a whole lotta shrimp for that I imagine.

Thats why I said to used the Amano method.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I guess I don't follow....what's the Amano method? A whole lotta shrimp?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

If it's MG, wouldn't the plant make use of the mg in the Eco.

Nessea and Ammania ( 2 plants that are almost identical in looks and the 2 plants most often suffering from this phenonomen) are plants that produce very little in the way of roots. I had Ammania for over a year that barely produced a root. I would assume from that they find it difficult to extract any nutrient from the substrate.

There's a hundred and one theories as to why these plants stunt while other plants are going gangbusters.

Mg is the one nutrient that gives most people a postitive result. Although I have to say adding it didn't do much for me.

But my own situation was different. It was a much older tank with an awful lot of old mulm built up. Really cleaning it up and keeping it that way worked wonders. Not just at stopping the stunting but the other plants picked up too pearling was much more intense.

Dirty or old tank syndrome is definately an issue in planted tanks. At least once a year you should be looking at giving the tank a real good going over. By that I mean uprooting plants, removing rocks and wood and vaccing good etc.

I know that goes against the stability mantra but it's a balance. There comes a point where the level of organics in a tank will cause more harm then a disruption in the stability. It also gives an opportunity to do that big re-scape you'd been planning (LF ) and keep things fresh looking.

In a tank like mine where 85% of the sub is covered with wood rocks and plants that don't get moved/uprooted on a regular basis (ferns, anubias, mosses) it's even more important as there is a huge build up of detritus trapped in there.

But this is a new tank.........

I did find the plant would grow nice for a while but then when it got tall and closer to the light the stunting would start. Maybe a high light / not enough Co2 thing.

Check other plants closely, they may not be so severe but maybe showing something small that could be missed at first glance.
If you can't solve the issue maybe better just to dump the Nessea , it will drive you batty. Shame though it's a really really nice plant when it's looking good.

Could be worse, could be Nessea 'Red' a plant which I've never known anyone to grow successfully. Me included.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

it will drive you batty.

what's the Amano method? A whole lotta shrimp?

Right on!











A Batty, Matty! I don't think we need that!


55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

A very batty matty. Well since the nesea was the last topic of conversation, I'll start with that. Looks like thenesea was very much in an emersed growth form. Here's what it looks like now:


The leaves are much smaller, the stem is now green, and thinner as well. Quite a change. Also, count the otos, I know LF likes this game.

Don't laugh too hard, but my cam isn't great, and I wanted to show you the colors on my featherfins. So here's a picture that shows its color very well(don't mind the blurryness). I really did take quite a few pics, none came out better than this:


A new addition to the tank, these are entirely functional in purpose, the fish have definitely become more comfortable since I put them in:

Plus it seems they enjoy snacking on the roots, you can tell

Here's a pic of the rainbows hangin' out under the water lettuce:


Stargrass makin' a comeback, about 4 tiny stems of it:


And finally a shot from the side and a shot from the front:




The algae has taken a severe setback. I think it's about done for, between the plants growing like crazy and the otos.

I still haven't seen my syno cat since I let him go. I'm starting to fear the worst, but I'm still not sure. He could be hiding anywhere, he's so tiny. I might get another this weekend.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

So comments are welcome, and expected. The one thing I'm not too fond of is that all the plants are the same color green. The baby's tears and the glosso are too similar in shape and color. I might try to exchange the baby's tears for the chain swords, eliminate the hygro, put the stargrass in where the ambulia is(once it grows a bit), keep the ludwiggia a bit lower(at least when it comes time to take pics), and find a way to work some blyxa and maybe some moss in there for some different shades of green. I'd also like a couple more rocks I think.

Oh yeah, and add a background

Lots to change on this tank. Lemme know what you think.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hey I see floating plants
Actually I give you alot of credit for putting those in. It's definitely more natural to have plants moving about the top.

As you pointed out the plants look really healthy and I like the look of the tank. It's got real potential once the glosso falls fill in.

From a scaping point I like the overall tank, but I'm not crazy about the left back and right front. The left back competes with the glosso falls for attention, mainly due to height and color. If you put a black background on the tank, swap out your heater for the black stealth and swap out the intake tube for something black as well and you won't feel the need to go high in the left back corner.
I also think the gayli is too tall for the right front. As you mentioned Blyxa would be perfect there.

I really like the size and position of the "falls" and some color in the middle of it all would be really nice.

My Scapes

It's looking good Matty. Have you seen the glosso creeping up the falls yet?


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Matty,

Nice set of pictures. Your rainbow sure looks like it had nice colors even though they are blured. (it is ok! I can't take good fish pictures either)You did make up for it with your very artistic plant shots.

In stead of buying a new heater why not stick it side ways towards the bottem of the tank?

The glosso looks like its filling in nicely. I am with Tetra on the gayi. Maybe try using it closer to the baby tears? Move the red stuff closer to the falls so that its one larger eye catcher?

For the moss are you thinking DW or Rocks? I think some DW would be nice. Maybe try building it pointing away from the falls.




55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Matty,

Nice set of pictures. Your rainbow sure looks like it had nice colors even though they are blured. (it is ok! I can't take good fish pictures either)You did make up for it with your very artistic plant shots.

In stead of buying a new heater why not stick it side ways towards the bottem of the tank?

The glosso looks like its filling in nicely. I am with Tetra on the gayi. Maybe try using it closer to the baby tears? Move the red stuff closer to the falls so that its one larger eye catcher?

For the moss are you thinking DW or Rocks? I think some DW would be nice. Maybe try building it pointing away from the falls.

In terms of an overall shape I think it should be a triangle from upper right to bottem left.



Just for you Matt

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Just for you Matt

Shakes fish at monty python.

Hey I see floating plants

AH! You got me, noe why'd I leave those up there in plain sight?

From a scaping point I like the overall tank, but I'm not crazy about the left back and right front.

Yeah, me either. I wouldn't want those ludwigia to be that tall, even if I kept the heater and stuff there, I just didn't get to trimming them down. I could move those over into the center somewhere to draw more attention. That would probably work out the best.

Your rainbow sure looks like it had nice colors even though they are blured.

Thanks, I just wish I had nowher's camera, I could get a nice shot of him flicking his fins at the other guys. Such a site to see. I definitely don't regret getting these fish.

In stead of buying a new heater why not stick it side ways towards the bottem of the tank?

Ah you guys know that I'm not going to be buying a new heater or any of that business. If anything, I'll take it out for you during picture time. I do know what you mean about feeling the need to build stuff up over there. I'll keep that in mind from now on, cause I think you're right about that. I'll try not to do that anymore.

For the moss are you thinking DW or Rocks? I think some DW would be nice. Maybe try building it pointing away from the falls.

I'm thinking a few more rocks. I don't feel the urge to put DW in there. I've never bought DW that I liked in a tank. I'll keep an eye out for some, but I'm not even sure what I would want. It would have to be small stuff, because the falls are supposed to be the big structure, any large DW would look weird. I do intend on getting a couple more of those rocks, and spreading them along the bottom.

As for shape, I'm thinking a little modded log curve. If you can remember back into trig class.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Never had to take Trig. Help me out!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

This is actually Y=-Ln(X), flipped sideways to fit my liking:



Attached Image:

y=-ln(x)

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

*shakes fish at fp code*

Well this is what I was trying to say before I had to give the fp code a beatdown. Red is a straight line, black is a natural log type curve, very slow in rising, not much room to plant . Blue is somewhere inbetween. That gives me a little room for some plants to grow up before we get to the glossofalls.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I love the tank, the glosso looks great and wants it covers the deathstar the tank will look awsome.
I see you trimmed the cabomba to. Your rainbows look very colorful by the way.

-Vincent

Matty,

OT question: what kind of camera and what WB setting? Shots looks great, especially one of your SW shots in that log.

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Back in the saddle!

Thanks Bud for the nice comments. I can't wait for that thing to get covered either. I was experimenting with cabomba as a ground cover. I thought I would like it more than I do. It's probably going to go eventually.

Nowher- Thanks for the compliments. I have a nikon coolpix 2100. It's probably over 2 yrs old now. It's great with anything that doesn't move, or moves really slowly. Fish are usually out of the question. The couple pics of my wrasse that turned out were probably one in 300(meaning I prob took 5-600 shots of that thing over the course of months). Even with non-moving shots it messes up the focus a lot, which is why if I ever get a new camera it will have a manual focus. I never take just one shot of something, because it's probably going to be blurry when I see the full size pic. I usually take 4-5 of non-moving things and one will come out ok. I can't tell using the preview screen either, it's only an inch big.

The white balance is always changing between tanks. When I have time I actually put a white plastic bag into the water, making sure it get a lot of light and use the manual option for white balance. It's really the best way to get the right colors. I just wish there were a way to save the setting. That way I wouldn't have to keep doing that. I know that newer cameras have that option. If I don't do that I use the auto white balance. For fish tanks it comes out better than any of the presets.

All in all it's a neat little point and shoot camera that actually has some manual options, but it's a little out dated now. I think 3 years ago it was a hot little peice of plastic. It's definitely ahead on the use vs. cost, but until it breaks or dies, I'm not sure I can justify a new one.

especially one of your SW shots

Just one? I guess I should ask which one?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Weeeeelp,

I got a quote from nowherman here way back from page 8.

I was also hoping you'd pain-stakingly plant each glosso plant through the mesh so that it would spread faster

This is a work in progress. I'm a bit tired, so took a break to upload pics and post 'em. I've only been at it for about 3 hrs now...I'll be going back to work in a couple minutes.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Wow Matty,

Nice work! Thought I bet it was a pain in the BUTT! I think this will help the Glosso fill in better. Keep us posted!

Edit: Whats with the heater above the falls?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Oh, it was a pain, and there's still more work to be done tomorrow. I didn't get the whole thing done, and there's uplanted sections elsewhere in the tank. mainly the back left corner, where the ludwigia was. I pulled that out to trim and move it. While I did that I decided to move the heater into flying position by the filter output. I don't see that part of the tank as often, with eye level above the tank.

Tomorrow I'll continue planting the glosso and moving the baby's tears and chain swords and.... well everything. Plus I got another rock for some more flavor or character or whatever. So I guess expect more pics tomorrow.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I feel your pain,

Planting Glosso stem by stem (or rosette by rosette, whatever this would be in this case) must be a killer.

I also see in the last full tank shots that the tenellus is running wild already, keep a close eye on it as it will have posession of your tank soon and push the Pearl Grass out of existence.

Have fun,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I'm more worried of the baby's tears pushing out the chain swords. I have had to trim them back a few times from out in the middle of tenellus group.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Just one? I guess I should ask which one?

Whoops, lost track of this thread. It's the full tank shot, taken on an angle on the last or second to last page. Very crisp, bright and clean colors, there's no color cast to speak of. Seems your FW pics are like that as well. Very impressed with the WB, something my SLR doesn't handle well. Will consider a switch to Nikon because of this

Anyway, glad to see you taking on that glosso, it's already looking better.

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Back in the saddle!

Will consider a switch to Nikon because of this

Hmm...I was considering a switch to canon for their manual focus options in the point and shoot types(affordable options). What camera do you have?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hmm...I was considering a switch to canon for their manual focus options in the point and shoot types(affordable options). What camera do you have

I have a Minolta Maxxum 7D. Minolta went out of business a few months ago and sold their lens mount and assets to Sony so they're not making them anymore, though they are still being sold in some places. The color cast from the way it handles 6700K light is disappointing. It's fine for what I do now, but when I upgrade I don't know if I'll switch to whatever Sony has out or to Canon/ Nikon. Canon's high ISO in their SLRs is second to none and there's the promise of full-frame cameras with them, but the way your Nikon handles tank lights is stellar.

Word to the wise: manual focusing a digital P&S camera is usually a fruitless labor. In order to do so you have to make use of an Electronic View Finder (EVF) and no one really makes one capable of precise and fast manual focusing. There was only one camera ever made that could handle the task, and that's the Minolta A2, now defunct. Its EVF was a full 1,000,000 pixels - compared to most EVF's if seen now that are 200,000 if you're lucky. Even then it wasn't fast or accurate to manual focus because it's still electronics you're working with. If you want to stick with the p&s lines, stick to getting a good autofocus camera - I think Canons S2-S3 IS series is good with that. If you want real, fast, accurate autofocusing and real, accurate manual focusing get one of the budget DSLRs from either company - can probably get a set up for as little as 600 bucks.

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Back in the saddle!

I think Canons S2-S3 IS series is good with that. If you want real, fast, accurate autofocusing and real, accurate manual focusing get one of the budget DSLRs from either company - can probably get a set up for as little as 600 bucks.

As you probably know I have the S2 IS. Good overall camera. Great optical zoom (12x) and supermacro mode both with the standard lens. I believe the newer S3 has an ISO setting up to 800, while mine only goes to 400.
Nowher, I think you were trying to tell me something about lenses and such for the camera. Were you referring to something I could get for my camera? Sorry Matty, don't want to steal the thread, but you guys are talking cameras.

My Scapes

Sorry Matty, don't want to steal the thread, but you guys are talking cameras.

Don't be sorry(err except to the mods maybe) I'm interested in talking cameras. Actually I'm very interested, as my camera's lense froze up on me today. I had to turn it on and off several times to get it to work again. I'm afraid that means it's going to go soon. So by all means...we can talk cameras.

So is manual focus bunk for every situation, or is it still nice for still objects, as you said it was slow? I have a very hard time getting focused on some corals in the back of my tank....only a foot away. It will insist on focusing on something random, but closer. Maybe there's a reasonably priced P&S that has a good autofocus and manual focus. I'm looking at or around $300.

About how much are the S2IS and S3 IS going for? Also, tetratech, how big is yours? I don't really like those bulky cameras that are as big as my head. It doesn't have to fit in my shirt pocket or anything though.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty I've seen the S3 for $399 locally, might even be cheaper online. I bought my S2 for $425 about a year ago.

If you don't know it this
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons3is/
is a great review site. Here they review the S3 and compare it to the S2 (mine). It probably has the exact dimensions as well.

My Scapes

Yeah, that's not a bad size, a little less than 12 cm long. The price is a bit more than I like though. Some places have it for $340 or so. I guess I could hold off on any more corals for a month or two.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I would go for it. For that money I think it's tough to beat. It also has a great video feature 640 x 480 30fps.

Oh yeah, one more thing, the new one is in stealth mode.


My Scapes

I finished the LF style makeover challenge. It looks a bit like a new tank. There was only one group that I didn't touch...the nesea. True...the stems are a bit tall in the back, but I've spent over 6hrs on this tank in the last two days. I don't feel much like doing any more trimmings. Other than that, and the glosso planting which you know about, I aforded the glosso a bit more room, moved the tenellus over to meet the glosso, pushed the potomageton into the back, stargrass in front of that, and the baby's tears make up the left side along with a small bunch of the ludwigia. New rock is the one on the left. I kinda like it there, but I'd like to know what others thought. Comments, as always, are much appreciated.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Oh yeah, one more thing, the new one is in stealth mode.

yeah, I saw that. I liked it a bit better than the silver one. I don't think that alone is worth an extra $50, but there's a couple other cool upgrades.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty, Matty, Matty....

You know the tank looks good, it's starting to look "damn" good.

Now that the falls are filled in more I could really see this thing being beautiful.

The additonal rock looks good and I'd love to see the glosso just run right through all those rocks, but in order to do that you'd have to move the tenellus which I know you just moved. I think the glosso should pretty much run through the tank with maybe alittle tenellus here and there breaking it up. I also thing the nesea takes away from the falls. I know you know it's too tall, but it would be much cleaner looking without it. I could almost see the tenellus back in there behind the glosso and also small patches of it around the tank.

Now it's fine tuning and keeping everything healthy. Really nice. Can't wait to see the glosso fill in more.

My Scapes

I don't know about damn good, but thanks tetratech. It was tough working with the falls and the glosso. If you go back to the other pics and look at the amount of glosso and how much I used for this you'll realise I'm about two good fist sized clumps short. I tossed a lot of glosso due to breakage and bendage and plain ol' frustration. The size of the holes in the mesh were a little too perfect for my liking. But I think it will be worth it if it grows in nice...and preferably fast.

But you're right, it's starting to look like my vision. At least a little.

So you think just the falls and the short stuff huh? No stems at all? Just glosso and tenellus even. I know I'm going to want a splash of color with something. All that bright green will be boring. I'm really liking how red the ludwiggia stays without being picky about ferts, because I know they aren't fine tuned yet, but the new growth is staying red. I also have some wallichi in there, but I don't think it's too happy right now, but I reduced the water lettuce up above to hopefully give more light.

I know the nesea will probably have to go, but it really bugs me, this weird growth I get from it. It makes me want to get it right. Determination and all that. Plus I've seen how beautiful it can be.

Thanks for the nice comments. You're right, mostly just fine tuning from here, hopefully. I'm trying to view a tank just full of glosso with only a coulpe chain swords to break it up. Not a bad vision IMO .

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I think you could have some stems in there and definitely color here and there, but anything tall takes away from the falls. I like that "anything tall takes away from the falls". Anyway I could really see that glosso cascading down across the tank.

My Scapes

I could see the glosso spreading across the remainder of the tank after several months, covering the rocks and creating its own contours along the way - and to break it all up, just have a big red tiger lotus reaching up on the left side. Trippy man.

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Back in the saddle!

Well, so far so good. The glosso seems to want to stay planted in the mesh. I was afraid the stuff would go popping out of there. Hopefully it will take firm root soon.

I happened to see all 4 otos today, so I decided to do a fish count.

8/8 praecox rainbows
8/10 featherfin rainbows
4/4 otos
1/2, maybe 2/2 syno cats.

I can't beleive I still have 4 otos, this has never happened before. It's still early to say they will be permanent residents, but who konws. Up until today I had only seen 3 of them at once, so I feared the worst for the fourth. I did buy a second syno petricola cause I never saw the first one. I've since seen the second(I can tell which because the second cat I bought was markedly bigger), but not the first. It's still possible I didn't see him during the whole makeover procedure, but it's unlikely. The second has a preferred hiding spot that I know about, so keeping an eye on him will probably be easy.

That's all really. I, like tetratech, am trying to keep it at least a little busier around here. One thing I have been thinking of is making an effort to do some plant profiles. maybe we can get the team together and divvy up some plants so we all know what's going on. This way we won't have to point newbies to sites like tropica.com(which I think is relatively slow and lacking in actual photos, however abundant in info)....they can just browse our profiles. Just a thought, but I'm going to try to do one a day or a few a week for a while...until I start getting into exams.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,

I really like the idea of doing plant profiles here. We probably have enough crazy plant people to do it but I wont be any help until after new years. This semester is killing me. I think this is the first day this week I have spent any time on the forum.

As for your tank. Looks much nicer. You have a lot of different textures. I think that is a good thing. Something I am lacking in my tank.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well I got anubias nana done and hygro polysperma. Thanks to whoever voted for them....it was like magic. I submitted them before I went to bed and in the morning they were profiles. At first I'm going to do the ones I have pics for, then move on to other stuff. Wings, they really only take about 20 minutes to complete...one a week won't be so tough. Really though I understand when it gets to that point where you want to do anything but sit at a computer and do work. Good luck with the semester

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I also like the idea of doing plant profiles, every now and then I open one up to start on but then i feel like a fraud doing it. I feel like I'd basically just be copying info from tropica, because their info is very good and pretty much spot on.

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Back in the saddle!

Your LF style makeover looks pretty darn good.

Congratulations on the plant profiles too

Cheers
TW

Thanks for the compliment Tankwatcher

i feel like a fraud doing it.

The way I look at it is that if I've never kept the plant in my tank successfully then I don't know enough to make a profile. If I have, then I can reliably tell people how to grow the plant. Tropica doesn't have to be involved. I don't bother going to other sites to see what sounds better, I just do it from what I know. I'm sure you can do the same. Anywho, don't copy, just put down personal experiences, and others can always add on later. The most important thing IMO is that we get down the basics for the plant, lighting requirements and care level. After that I guess height and things like that are important, but unreliable at best. I'd be happier if we could just put down short medium or tall, because any attempt to be accurate is innevitable to fail with things like height. Besides tropica is lacking a bit in the personal department anyways. Our profiles can include a bit of what the author thought of the plant without getting carried away, and that is more important than height IMO.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

After that I guess height and things like that are important, but unreliable at best. I'd be happier if we could just put down short medium or tall, because any attempt to be accurate is innevitable to fail with things like height.

That's actually a great point about the size. I'm uncomfortable saying how many inches anubias barteri grows to - look at keith's, his are huge, much larger than the norm. Tank placement would be another good category that would compliment the size category, because that's what someone is probably looking for anyway.

Maybe we can petition adam to adjust the categories for plants when he gets the time if we promise to actually fill them in... ?

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Back in the saddle!

I've already posted a want for the plant profiles in the site feedback area, a searchable field for lighting. I think once we get enough profiles up he'll feel like it might warrant the effort. Right now there's no reason for searching. Feel free to add to mine or post your own. I think it's a good idea. I've just been including that info into the care section or the comments section.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I really am all for the idae of plant profiles because I am starting planted tanks now and I want to learn about the individual plant requirements and not have to go site to site

-Vincent

I hear you on the fraud thing, but you have to see it this way:

Basically, we all are frauds

Well, not really, of course. But we all once knew nothing about fish and plants, and then we learned something. No matter if most knowledge that I have about plants comes from Bensaf () and you folks, I sure do know my own share of things now, like first hand experience in seeing Anubias covered in BBA

And yeah Matty, the tank looks nice now and seems to be a good basis for future style corrections

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks LF for the comments, I agree about the whole fraud thing. How many of us have actually "invented" anything for the hobby?

So OT again to the subject of cameras. I was looking at the cannon powershot A630. At tetratech's link up there I set it up next to the S3 IS and did a little comparason. Basically the two things the IS has going for it is the IS and the 12X optical zoom. It's also a bit better in a couple features like macro and shutter speed. The A630 has pretty much all the same features, but a couple more megapixel sensor, a larger lcd screen, it's about $100 cheaper, and is smaller and lighter.

Here's the comparason. I'd really appreciate input from you guys on this one.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,

I wish I could help you with the camera stuff, but I had a lot of help from NowherMan6 figuring out how mine works. Plus, he was the one who recommended my lense to me. In other words, if you think I am bad with handling my algae issues wait until I start handing out camera advice

Sorry,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nobody else on the camera?

Well I ended up getting few more fish today. The furcata rainbows were looking particularly fantastic so I got 3m,3f. Thier gold fins and blue eyes are incredible.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Wish I could help Matty, especially since you've been so helpful on my pump choice issue.

I know nothing about cameras. My camera is a pretty shabby Kodak Easy Share, that takes ok pictures of things that don't move & pretty lousy pictures of swimming fish.

Sorry.

Cheers
TW

Hi Matty,
The S3 certainly looks the better choice (quite heavy thought, half a kilo ). A difference of 2MP is not going to be a great deal, believe me. Above 5MP, everything is just about the same.
Along with the macro mode, look for a quickshot (fast shutter) mode. I have a cannon S60 and it has the feature. I can photograph a running fan using this mode with all three blades clearly visible without any blur. That helps a lot capturing quick fishies.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons60/

The furcata rainbows were looking particularly fantastic so I got 3m,3f.

So, while trying to get us all to talk about the camera options you are sneaking another school of rainbows into the tank. Now you have 3 different species there, right?

I one heard that Rainbows in general interbreed, what is your opinion on that?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the help everyone, mughal, the A630 does have a sshutter speed priority mode, and just about any combination of shutter, ISO, and aperture can be selected in manual mode. My Nikon that I have now never leaves manual mode. I'm hoping that might change with whatever new camera I buy. I'm pretty much set on the A630 unless somebody has something very negative to say about it. It comes "highly recommended" from dpreview and has most of the options I'm looking for and falls within(or should I say closer to) the budget, than the S3. I know how cool the IS is supposed to be, but is generally more usefull for use at the 12X zoom region, which I won't have to worry about in the A630. I'm still mulling it over, and probably will be until my camera breaks or christmas comes.

LF - Rainbows of the same family will interbreed, yes. I have selected 3 rainbows from 3 different families. Furcatas are psuedomugil, Praecox are melanotaenia, and the threadfins are iriatherina. Unfortunately it's a moot point anyways, as I never have had anything want to spawn for me. In the (I think) 6 yrs of keeping fish it's never even come close, though I've never owned any live bearers or anything that breeds like rabbits. I have thought about keeping some live bearers, just to boost my confidence, but what if they didn't breed . This will be the last type of rainbow I buy, unfortunately, as I'm about out of common dwarf rainbows from different families, and out of room to house a large enough number of them. Plus I'll want to fill out the 3 species I have. Maybe just a couple more of each species. I know it sounds like a lot of fish, but they are all slim, small fish.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

More is not always more. Less maybe more at times. That is just my thoughts though. It is your tank and you have to look at it so you be happy with it. Don't let us bug you about it.

In my tank I only have 3 types of fish:

Brilliant rasboras
Guppies
Otos

I like it simpler...

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Matty,

Sorry to get here late re: the camera talk, but here's my two cents anyway:

The Canon A series is very hard to beat, you can't go wrong there. They're easy to use and come out with very good results. I never tested out the AF tracking with an A series, so I can't comment on that, but my guess is there will be similar limitations on this just the same as on any P&S. Also, with 8 million pixels crammed onto a tiny sensor it's going to be pretty noisy at high ISOs, so don't expect miracles. Using a +1/3 exposure compensation can help turn down the appearance of noise, but it'll still be there if your at 400 or above.

And just a rule of thumb for you pixel peepers out there re: resolution. For practical purposes mughal113 is pretty much right, when printing out up to probably 5X7, maybe 8X10, you wont notice the difference between 5 and 8 megapixels. However, that's still agreat difference in resolution and the amount of detail captured. As a rule of thumb, all things being equal, there has to be about a 50% increase in pixels in order to notice a difference when viewing up close. 5MP to 8 is over 50%, and you'd definetely notice. But going from 5 to 6 is negligable, as is going from 6 to 8, 8 to 10 or 10 to 12. Making small jumps like that is a waste if that's what one is basing a decision on, all it'll lead to is an increase in noise. better a smooth 8MP than noisier 10 IMO.

Actually, just looking at it now, the A630 does have a continuous AF mode, which is what you'll need (not need, but it'll come in handy) for shooting moving objexts like fish. Definetely a plus. Go for it.

Nice rainbows by the by

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Back in the saddle!

Nowher- thanks for the reply, late or not. I'm not into rushing decisions of this magnitude and above. So the fact that the A630 has more megapixels and a larger sensor than the S3 is a good thing, right? If the sensor were the same size and more megapixels, that would not be good? From the review(of the A620), it said that the camera handled the noise at high ISO's better than most similar cameras, and when the pics were lined up I could definitely tell the difference.

Wings- I tried the less is more approach with cardinals in my last tank. I didn't like how they sat in a corner by themselves all day. Not my thing. I decided with this tank that I would go for a bunch of active, attractive little fish. So far so good, as they buzz all over the tank all day. I guess I enjoy the activity, though some might say it detracts from the planted tank. And really, I don't have that many different fish. 3 types of rainbows, otos, and syno cat. I might think of a dwarf cichlid, maybe not. I know people who would have 2 of this and that with the same total number of fish(or more).

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Nowher- thanks for the reply, late or not. I'm not into rushing decisions of this magnitude and above. So the fact that the A630 has more megapixels and a larger sensor than the S3 is a good thing, right? If the sensor were the same size and more megapixels, that would not be good? From the review(of the A620), it said that the camera handled the noise at high ISO's better than most similar cameras, and when the pics were lined up I could definitely tell the difference.

Just the opposite, actually. The sensor on the A630 is smaller than on the S3, but there are more pixels crammed onto that smaller sensor than there are on the larger S3, which is why the A630 is noisier.

That said, compared to other cameras in its class, it's probably the smoothest of the bunch, canaon is just good at that stuff. For practical purposes the noise probably wont be an issue, but the above was just to clarify...

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Back in the saddle!

1/1.8" = 14mm dia. (A630) is bigger than 1/2.5" = 10mm dia. (S3). So the A630 has a bigger sensor...no? Though I do see that most 8mpixel cams are 2/3" which is larger than the A630. Maybe that's what you are saying. I'm going off their info, I don't have any real camera training, so correct me on this issue if I'm wrong.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,
I'm certainly no camera guru, but I noticed on the side by side that the 630 doesn't have image stablization. That is a big plus when holding the camera under say 1/25 sec, otherwise I think your tripod bound. Also I couldn't tell from the review, but my s2 and the s3 have the supermicromode which let's you take a pic right up against the glass of the tank. The zoom issue isn't a factor with aquaria, but at 12x it does come in handy elsewhere.

My Scapes

1/1.8" = 14mm dia. (A630) is bigger than 1/2.5" = 10mm dia. (S3). So the A630 has a bigger sensor...no? Though I do see that most 8mpixel cams are 2/3" which is larger than the A630. Maybe that's what you are saying. I'm going off their info, I don't have any real camera training, so correct me on this issue if I'm wrong.

I was mixing up the pages I was looking at. I thought the former was the latter, and vicey versey.

In that case you should be right. Have you seen any examples of high ISO pics from the A630?

Either way, what tetra mentioned in IS should be a more important factor than noise. Pixel peeping is a horrible disease. Sometimes I look through a magazine, like People for example, and I'll think "ugh, how can they publish that picture of Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn - it's soo damn noisy!" It's not somethign to get caught up in, just something to consider.

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Back in the saddle!

For the A630 the 400 ISO looks entirely useable in good light, and the 800 ISO looked like it would be ok to use to catch the fast stuff if the lights are good and if I'm going to be using for internet posting. At full resolution, the 800 ISO was pretty bad, but the 400 wasn't bad at all. Compared to other cameras of similar caliber the noise is less with the canon. I think the S3 IS is just as bad with noise. I don't think you can say that any non-SLR is great with noise, and I'm not going to get an SLR, so whatever camera I look at will have the problem. I was really impressed otherwise with the quality of shots to come from the A630. It would be like 5 or 6 steps up from my current camera, which in all reality has treated me pretty well for the last few years.

I'll still think about it for a while, maybe I'll plead with a couple family members to combine xmas for me and go for the S3 IS, or the A710 IS.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

It's been about a week since my last update, and I did a water change and a bit more trimming/removing etc. This time the nesea went. I guess I'll never learn the cause and solution to the stunting odd growth leaves. On a brighter note I saw both nynodontis cats today. one makes his home under the ludwiggia and the other makes his home under a rock on the death star.

So...to the pics:


An LF slightly tilted frontal


A matty special


from the left side


a bit of a closeup on the chain swords

I dunno what it is about those chain swords that hooks me.

There's still some green algae growing around on the glass and hardscape, but I would guess that it's my fault for continually adding groups of fishes. We'll see if that settles out now that I'm done with the fish buying for a while. I thought about checking all my parameters, but I'm feeling lazy and have laundry to do, so I'll do it next time.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

This tank is really taking off into something special, the waterfall already at this stage looks better than I ever would have imagined! In general, your tank looks beautiful and healthy, but why don't you do something about that background? I don't know it it's just me, but personally I hate seeing cables from equipment hanging in the back of my "garden" Just put a black or a blue piece of cardboard behind the tank and it'll look a lot better... if you like the white, then use a white piece, just so that the horrid cable is no longer visible.

It's looking really beautiful matty.

Cheers
TW

It's starting to look sweet, much better with the removal of the nesea, but someone put a thin black plant there instead. Is that "Vallisneria cable"? I'm not sure if that fits in. Otherwise very nice, I would like to see the glosso run more into the middle of the tank.

My Scapes

Is that "Vallisneria cable"?

Matty,

Your tank is looking very nice. Good changes! There is much more flow to the tank now!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Hey Matt, finally got the internet hooked up here in beantown.
The tank is looking great! I have to admit I was pretty skeptical about the glosso covering the deathstar, but it's filling in wonderfully.

I was reading about your petricolas.... They're extremely nocturnal. Get a moonlight and you'll see a lot more of them. Mine would be out the minute the lights went off scrounging around for food (before they died of strange, seizing fits).

How's the Fish Hole holding up? Did Jake get some reliable help?

Is that "Vallisneria cable"? I'm not sure if that fits in.

It's falling on deaf ears, my friend.. but you might as well keep hammering the point home anyway

Any chance you can snap away a pic or two of these cats Matty? or, failing that, provide a link?

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Back in the saddle!

It's falling on deaf ears, my friend.. but you might as well keep hammering the point home anyway

I continually forget to buy the background. It's on the to do list, I swear. I want to say that I'll get it sunday, but so far I have a bad track record of remembering the background. I'll get it eventually.

Nate, it's good to hear you made it to boston safely. Any updates at your forum yet? I'll have to go check it out and see how well the tanks travelled. I'll see into one of those moon lights. My light on my sump has them and I don't use them. Maybe I can tear them out of there . Jake got some new help, I haven't even met them yet. They've probably worked there for 3 or 4 weeks now. I don't really know anybody that works there any more, everybody has dropped to minimal hours or quit for school or other reasons. Makes me feel old to have the most seniority other than the managers.

Sorry nowhere, no possible chance of getting these guys in a pic. here's to planet catfish. Pretty ok article. I've never seen a 4" petricola though. We have a few at the store that have been there for years and are maybe a little bigger than 2 inches. They are in a heavily planted, well taken care of 75g tank. These aren't very nocturnal and are out all the time, which made me falsely beleive I'd see mine a bit more. Mine are probably a bit over half an inch right now and like to hide. Any pic I'd try to get would show little more than there hiding place .

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,

Looking very nice, the glosso really is growing in. But I wouldn't be me if I would not have something to nag about

I think one of the downsides of the water fall is that it curves in the back, meaning the plants that are growing there are not visible from the front (at least that is how my tired eyes see it at 4 in the morning).

With regards to the background: Go to one of these hobby stores, like what chain is out there? Moore or something like that. They have these $5 thick cardboard sheets in all kinds of colors (make sure it is 36" long) and that is a cheap alternative for "real" tank backgrounds. I have used about 3 of them by now for my 20G and I am thinking of a few more different colors, just for the fun of it, like a reddish orange to show a sunrise (sunset,whatever).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

What you are looking for is matting material (the stuff that goes around pictures). I picked some up for my 29G a while back as they were running a half off sale!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

LF, with the construction of the falls, I tried my best to get it to match up against the sides of the tank, but unfortunately the pvc is rounded on the corners. It didn't end up matching perfectly so I pushed it as close as possible on the front right side, and decided that I'd stick some stems in the back left which I've done. I think the front right will fill in completely with glosso eventually, and that's the look I'm going for, and probably what people who aren't so darn picky will notice the most. The back will have to be as it is. Just an inherent problem I'll keep trying to cover up.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

who aren't so darn picky

- hey, I have nothing else to complain about, at least not when it comes to your tank

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

HUGE update for tomorrow...you guys won't beleive your eyes. Just a warning.

*feels suspense build*

*shines new blue badge*

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

HUGE update for tomorrow...you guys won't beleive your eyes. Just a warning. *feels suspense build*
*shines new blue badge*

Not fair, I won't have access to a computer for the next 4 days (not quite true, but not one that I can log onto FP anyway) So I guess, I'll be late for the update

Cheers
TW

Ok its tomorrow where is it???????

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

*shines new blue badge*

Well that is nice, congratulations. I have to say that I had something to do with it, as I voted for all the plant profiles you created (almost all, can't vote for the ones that I know nothing about).

Anyway, what is the surprise? You found a wallpaper for the tank?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

All apologies to tankwatcher, here's The HUGE update. LF totally ruined it. I got a background. Totally anticlimactic thanks to LF. I guess now it's just a regular ol' weekly update.

Aside from the background I got 3 amano shrimp and a crypt balansae that was only $0.50. The amano shrimp are in response to some more hair types of algae growing here and there. Nothing major yet. Hopefully they will help keep it in line. I also turned up the CO2 some more. I haven't even been measuring it, but the fish look just fine. The crypt was so cheap I had to get it. I'll turn it into some profit, because it fits in with the scheme OK now, but probably not when it gets tall.

So onto the pics. Frank will be happy, but tetratech might not, I got rid of his wire plant.


Frontal, notice the background


Nice angle looking at the falls.


The falls continueing to fill in.


My favorite spot in the tank right now...and a furcata.


View from the left side.


Matty special.

Welp that's it for this week. As usual comments/crits are welcome.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Wow Matty!

The Glosso is filling in really nicely. You can hardly see the pvc any more. It looks like it was well worth your time of planting it all over the Death Star.

The full tank shot shows nice growth and a very nice flow to things. Nothing is overly distracting but it might be nice to find a way to make the DS not compeat as much with the sweet looking far left side. Having the red plan pop out of the sea of pearl grass next to the rock is very nice.

It might be nice to let the chain swords curve around from where it meets the glosso to the back left side. Then move the pearl grass and cool red plant in its place.

Your favorite spot in the tank is also one of mine too!

What did you use for a background? You seem to have the same problem as I with yoru background. It shows off the water spots on the back! I am too lazy to clean mine off right now.

Overall very well done!!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

LF totally ruined it. I got a background. Totally anticlimactic thanks to LF.

Glad I could help ...

Anyway, I think the tank looks very nice now, to the point where I can envision it as almost complete. Besides the Glosso, the Pearl Grass seems to be growing really well in your tank (all others seem good also).

I think your Glosso is reaching the point where you will have to watch it more carefully for layered growth, the downfall of the Glosso in my tank. I am curious as how you will go about trimming it.

How is the Gayii (spelling?) doing? I had this plant for all of 24 hours and didn't like it too much.

Lastly, tell us more about the background. Is it a foil of some sort?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the replys and nice comments guys,

Nothing is overly distracting but it might be nice to find a way to make the DS not compeat as much with the sweet looking far left side.

So you think the left side draws attention away from the falls? I suppose I could move the ludwigia closer to the falls. I'm not sure what kind of effect that will have though.

It might be nice to let the chain swords curve around from where it meets the glosso to the back left side. Then move the pearl grass and cool red plant in its place.

Yeah, I've been thinking of doing some more construction so things aren't in such obvious groupings. I do intend to allow more room for the glosso again during the next makeover. I'll probably want it to come right through the two rocks into the chainsword area. In the front I'll give it another 2-3 inches I think. That will give more of a water flow feeling I think. Right now it stops too abruptly. So everything else will be positioned around that.

What did you use for a background? You seem to have the same problem as I with yoru background. It shows off the water spots on the back! I am too lazy to clean mine off right now.

To answer both of you, it's just one of those plastic jobies you find at the lfs. It's double sided, so I can switch over to black if I feel the need, though I kinda like the blue. And I'm not sure that there are any water spots on the glass. I think the back was pretty clean. You may be talking about the bubbles though. That's from a water change. It may just be an effect of the pic too. I didn't really pay attention to them.

I think your Glosso is reaching the point where you will have to watch it more carefully for layered growth, the downfall of the Glosso in my tank. I am curious as how you will go about trimming it.

Hmm. To me it's not filled in enough. I'm sure it will be a couple weeks before I take scissors to it. I'll probably be pretty brutal with the trimming. Just cut it right back down. Maybe take some of the cuttings and place them into the mesh in addition to what is already there so it fills in faster each time. I don't mind if things look a bit weird for a few days or a week. And I guess I'll skip over the places that cover the pvc because it seems like that will take the longest to happen since I can't plant anything there.

How is the Gayii (spelling?) doing? I had this plant for all of 24 hours and didn't like it too much.

I like it. I think it's perfect for where I put it as long as it stays healthy and full. I did plant it real close together, so we'll see how that goes. I've already spread some trimmings around and thrown some out, so it seems to be growing well since I moved it from the front right corner which is really shaded. It's also the only dark green plant I have, so it makes a nice contrast with the super bright green plants. Thinking about that corner, I'm not sure the glosso is going to take well there. I may need to cover that spot with something, maybe some crypts or something else with lower light requirements.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Looks great, Matty. It'll be no time flat before that glosso starts growing 5 layers deep and you rip your hair out pulling it up and replanting

The left side is very very nice. The challange as the tank grows in will be to have that side flow together with the glosso falls on the right. Something has to unify the two sides to make the scape conherent throughout. Right now it seems the tenellus is acting as just a divider between the two sides.

Excellent growth and plant health it seems - don't you want to give us a few patented LF close-up blemish shots to show the parts that aren't as perfect?

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Back in the saddle!

What? six shots weren't enough. Closeup shots are VERY difficult with my camera, ones that you can tell any detail and are in focus anyways. A quick snap and post is impossible. I like to spend the effort on a good shot on the nice stuff . If that's what the people want though, I aim to please, I'll try to get up some shots of the nasties, but you don't have to worry about the imperfections, they are there. Like I said, I got some hair algae growing, and some green fuzzy stuff. I'm hoping not for long though. Extra CO2 and some shrimpies should help.

I agree about the tenellus divider. In my mind it was better that the baby's tears and glosso could be differentiated, but that might not be the case.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I agree about the tenellus divider. In my mind it was better that the baby's tears and glosso could be differentiated, but that might not be the case

I agree with you on that, the leaf shapes may be too similar to have them close together.

Now that I look at the tank again, it seems to be taking on a "Dutch-style" garden look, and that works with the arrangement you have now. It may be a matter of seeing how everything fills in before doing anything major. My bad

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Back in the saddle!

My bad

Nope, not bad, comments are always good. And you are right that it forms a street right up to the front. I think it's too soon to go messing around in there again, otherwise I'd try something else out. Maybe if the baby's tears grow up a bit so that you can see them just peeking up over the swords it might seem more like a natural patch than a dutch street. Anyhow, I'm going to let things settle in for a while before I go digging around again.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi Matty

Glad to see you have background now. It makes the tank look better. Very impressed with everything in the setup & growing of everying thing in there

Cheers
TW

Thanks Robyn.


Well I'm still getting some weird algaes, so yesterday I decided to run some tests. pH was 6.6, KH was 6 for a CO2 of 45ppm. Nitrates were a bit above 10ppm. Nitrites were 0, but the weird thing was I had a tiny tiny amount of ammonia. It wasn't really a measurable amount, but it wasn't clear either. So I decided that my 204 isn't going to cut it, and I put a penguin 150 on the back of the tank. Turns out it doesn't fit over the edge real well and the output doesn't go down to the water line, so there is lot's of splashing. I immediately turned it off because I wanted CO2 in the tank. So today I have to jimmy rig some sort of extra output contraption.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Ahhh, Mr Fix-it & do it yourself Matty. Now we would expect you to be the one to jimmy rig some sort of contraption

Cheers
TW

Matty,

It seems to me that you are having tanks only so you can build stuff

Anyway - That sounds a little fishy to me. How can it be that you have ammonia but no nitrites? Under normal conditions, wouldn't that mean that your tank is at the beginning of a cycle? If I am not mistaken, don't plants like ammonia as food much more than nitrate? What do you think?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Matty,

You must watched a lot of red green when you were growing up.

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Ahhh, Mr Fix-it & do it yourself Matty. Now we would expect you to be the one to jimmy rig some sort of contraption

Well I used some eggcrate, aka light diffuser, and siliconed that to the output of of the penguin. looks like a mess, but I think it should work well. I'm going to let it continue to cure for the rest of today, and I'm going to pick up some filter cartridges while I'm at work.

It seems to me that you are having tanks only so you can build stuff

Isn't that half the fun?

You must watched a lot of red green when you were growing up.

I have no idea what red green is We talking about stop lights?

That sounds a little fishy to me. How can it be that you have ammonia but no nitrites? Under normal conditions, wouldn't that mean that your tank is at the beginning of a cycle? If I am not mistaken, don't plants like ammonia as food much more than nitrate? What do you think?

Well anytime I've seen an incomplete cycle(either underfiltration, overfeeding, over stocking), it's always ammonia, and sometimes nitrite, sometimes not. I've seen more samples of water while working at the Fish Place than I care to mention. For the most part people who use whispers always have trace levels of ammonia without nitrite(because you HAVE to trash the filter media every month). Same with the people that have aquaclears that go heavy on the cleaning. The people who have ammonia and nitrite seem not to take care of their tanks(no water changes, gravel vacs, filter maint.) at all and over feed/over stock. But I'm talking a real slight level of ammonia. If I didn't think there was anything there I woldn't have taken it into full light, put it on a white background....that sort of thing. It's not even enough that the fish are concerned about it, which is why I was a bit surprised. All the fish are really active and always begging for food. It's all just anectodal observation, so I'm sure some more scientific approach could negate everything I said there.
I bet you are right too about the ammonia, it would probably be worse, but the plants and algae are using some of it. Hopefully the filter will clean things up and help take care of the algae. If this doesn't work, I'm going to have to seriously look at my ferts and lighting, but I think I'm good there. The worst of it is on the glosso especially up towards the right. The chain swords have some on the older leaves, but the baby's tears and star grass seem immune, probably cause they grow so fast.


If you guys think think I like to DIY stuff, wait till you see my new project...it's already underway.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hi,
I'm afraid to ask!

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--