more crypt melt than normal, it blackened some fern, it should recover though
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update after putting in 40 more plants.
bunch more crypts and couple ferns on wood.
the heat to treat ich destroyed the existing fern
tank still looks empty. not sure i'll have patience for Val background w/o buying a pile of them.
tank is 26" high, i don't know another plant that will reach the top and not then grow over the top. means a lot of hair cuts to keep water surface open.
a BB tank is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much simpler!!!
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I have the 48" USA satellite LEDS and love them. Oh and they grow plants well too!
I can't believe you're going to grow those little guys out in a planted tank - whew - the work, the work! I grew out 2 batches in a planted tank, but the smallest was just a hair under 3" when I got him. He's 5.5" now (after 2 1/2 months).
Oh and I had to remove the plants in order to replace the sand...and ummm, that was weeks ago and I just can't bring myself to put them all back in. LOL
Your tank looks great, so good luck!
do you have the satellite plus pro? or regular? i got pro since my tank is about 26" deep
i wish they had a 60" it says 48" to 60" but that is because two 6" feet. it still works over my 60" tank, but the sides are dim at top before the light spreads. there were only 12 reviews i could find when i bought it, i see more now. the remote distance is short, and the touch pad is a bit well..touchy to use. but this is sooo much slicker than other lights i have had and uses 60 watts, NO FAN NOISE ANYMORE either. i just use the 6500 preset, the other modes are just a novelty IMO. the ramp up/down and no timers, nice. i thought about getting another strip, but it seems to be growing the plants in there, so i will save my money for the next tank that i'm fairly certain will house wilds.
growing out in this tank is a LOT LOT of bother. someone on here said that sand is easy to siphon, and acts like a BB, umm..not so much i have to hold he siphon at just the proper distance to remove the detritus, but leave the sand. unfortunately my assistance is too short to do this task.
I've have to remove several rocks and wood to be able to get the siphon around. the edges of a rock/wood seem to gather all the detritus.
thanks for complement, the tank has potential, but its not there yet.
the idea of runts is sounding better all the time, it will make my tank look bigger : )
Discus as algae eater, eating algae that is growing on moss ball
on left, fuzz algae on fern happened when raising the temp for ich
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Crypts coming in decent along front and mid, LOTS of melt post Clorox dip, but most survived.
the Val is not spreading much along the back, just keeps growing longer.....
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currently q tanking, learned lesson by not qtanking some farlowellas.
-school of metae cories
-more ottos
-butterfly plec
So sorry, I totally missed your question!!
I have the regular, not the pro and my tank is 31" tall. I generally keep it about 4" off the top of the tank, but sometimes move it up so that it's a foot above the tank for a few days at a time. Not on purpose mind you, I just move it up there in order to do my big big cleaning jobs and then tend to forget to move it back down. My plants don't seem to mind and continue to grow. I don't have Vals in there at the moment, but do have some coming in this week as a background cover, so I'll see how they do with the lighting. But the swords, crypts and anubias all love it.
I'm like you, I don't bother with the novelty modes. I just pick one color each day and leave it at that. The blues make my cards and eruption leopards look awesome and the orange and yellows make my red snakeskins and red cover pop. The standard 6500 is on every few days for max growth on the plants.
really, the regular works on a 31" tank?!
well the pro now runs for only 200 bucks on amazon, WAY less than i paid. mines sits a 1/4" off the glass canopy. i use the legs fully extended and it sags some. if i lift it up it sprays light all over the place, not down into the water.
mins is on 6500 then 5% only blue at night, its one auto pilot.
what do you used for substrate? i'm pretty much fed up with sand. the plants are doing okay (not great) in it. the sand is so dense the detritus just lays on top and never makes the transition to mulm.
watch your Val for snails (unless you want them)
added 5 ottos and 6 cories
they were quarantined for several weeks, treated with prazi and rid ich.
been in display tank for few days, seems fine
you can see some growth in the Ds,
of note, back right is the eggs, they were being eaten by the female as i took this photo
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fish are growing well jack. I just looked back at your first pic compared to this one and the fish seem to be coming along just fine. I liked the tank in your very first pic much better. The moss on the wood and all the crypts make it look a bit messy and crowded IMO. have you thought of putting a solid colored background on this tank? There is a lot going on here but it is a unique looking discus tank if that's what you were going for. the vals are my favorite part, those things are tall as all get out. I think it would serve your tank better to clump all the crypts into one or two spots instead of scattered like they are. maybe once they grow it will be better but I thought I would give my .02. the one bigger crypt in the mid right portion looks really good as a contrast to the browns of the wood.
thanks for your ideas, looking and comments.
a bit messy is an understatement, out of no where a new kind of algae appeared, is looks a bit like someone sprayed cotton candy on it. i'm just letting it takes its course, it will hopefully disappear in the same fashion it appeared.
my plan is for the entire back to become completely opaque with val, rendering a background hidden, but allowing viewing from the back if needed.
the vals grow and grow, i don't know if they would stop, they go to the top, then across and back down making a loop. i have been cutting these. i use a curved scissor as if you cut them and leave a straight line, it looks like they were cut.
the crypt you like in mid right, that is actually a compacta sword, its hard to tell from photo
the plan is to eventually to have a complete bed of low crypts across the entire front, that is why i have them spread out in a hope they will fill in.
crypts in middle will grow 12" or so with the the tall vals in the back.
been toying with idea to leave the sand behind.
was testing some API aquatic plant media. it drops PH from 8.4 to like 7.6 as well as puts out ammonia. maybe that ammonia would actually help plants, but tank doesn't need any more bioload.
their claim of not altering ph is bogus though, i've tested a couple times to be sure.