6G Fluval Edge Planted Tank With 10G Sump pt2: Reboot

Cgy_Betta_Guy · December 18, 2021

Continued from 6G Fluval Edge Planted Tank With 10G Sump (Pic Heavy)

Been away from the forums for quite some time and recently got the bug to do something with this tank again. It has been neglected and running for a couple years but the sump section was used to store crypts and other random plants on occasion. This was scaped and planted early October. Current occupants are 9 juvenile Amano shrimp, 10 fire red shrimp, 4 horned nerite snails, 1 big Malaysian trumpet snail and 20 phoenix rasboras added in late October. The fire reds are breeding well and adding to the colony. The shrimp and snails have managed to keep green dust algae on the glass to a minimum early on with only the occasional scrape being needed in the way of maintenance other than trims and water changes.

Flora:
Anubias 'Petite'
Anubias 'Pangolino'
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Flamingo'
Eleocharis acicularis 'mini'
Eriocaulon cinereum
Hemianthus micranthemoides
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Marsilea crenata
Myriophyllum ‘Guyana’
Rotala rotundifolia 'H'ra'
Rotala wallichii
Bucephalendra Kedagang
Bucephalendra Mini Red

Equipment:
Fluval Edge tank 6G
Hagen 10 G acting as sump
MR11 LED bulbs that replaced the original halogens that came with the Fluval Edge kit
2x 16" Finnex Fugeray Plant+ fixtures standing up on the glass on legs built from erasers glued together.
In line CO2 diffuser on the return line from the sump.
Marineland Maxijet 900 rated at 230 GPH

Substrate: Tropica Soil & Tropica Soil powder at foreground

If you want to know anything else regarding the build just refer to the thread linked at the top as the setup has remained the same.

20211001

Had some extra glass from an old broken edge tank that a friend of mine was going to get rid of. They had managed to break the front glass during a cleaning session years ago so I ended up taking it apart to use the glass for other things. Never did use the glass though. Stuck it back together using painters tape so that I could mock up my hardscape. Wanted to go for a mountainous look with some vegetation looking like small trees dotted about and a small cave up front where the shrimp might be able to hide. The cave itself hides breeding tube pyramids that extend into the substrate. Not sure the shrimp use it since the other end is buried, but whatever, its in there. Here is the result.

20211005

Next step was to clean out the existing tank which has been in operation with some fluorite black sand. Would basically use this as a quick plant storage tank but really it was running empty the majority of time. Scooped out the sand manually and managed to get it down to almost nothing left in the bottom in terms of sand and water. It was time to add the Tropica Aquasoil and transfer the scape from mock up tank to the display. Cant tell you how much fun that was to do through the opening of this tank but I managed to replicate the mockup fairly well. This process from cleaning the sand out and scaping took me about 6 hours and went to about 1AM.

20211006

Had bought my first tissue culture plant of Marsilea crenata to go into the tank the day before and next morning planted along with cuttings from other tanks of Anubias 'Petite', Rotala H'Ra, Rotala wallichii and Hemianthus micranthemoides (pearl weed). Had to do some interesting arm contortions to plant the Marsilea at the front and in the end I used about 2 thirds of the cup since I would knock things out of the soil again trying to plant the rest. Decided best to leave it to grow in on its own. The aqua soil had absorbed the water that I had left in the tank from the "cleaning" the night before so was damp and ready to be planted in. With the plants in, water was added. Photo period is 4 on 4 off 4 on for total of 8 hrs of light with a siesta period.

20211011

Found some more tissue culture plants to add in: Eriocaulon cinereum, Lilaeopsis brasiliensis planted on the side slopes and Eleocharis acicularis 'mini' planted at the back at the top of the hills with the intent to make it look further in the distance due to thinner leaves.

20211012

Added drop checker at the back to start dialing in a good level of CO2 and a big air bubble at the top glass on the left.

20211014

First trim of some of the H'Ra at the front happened. At this point I realized maintenance would be "fun" for the one I planted at the front right. Left it in anyways to see how it would look.

20211018

First bit of algae / diatom appears... its long and stringy puff at the front left in the H'Ra and between to the pearlweed. Interestingly it is the only visible algae at the moment. Fished out a large Amano from my main tank and added him in to see if he would take care of it. Was gone the next day.

20211020

Added in Phoenix Rasboras, Fire Red shimps. Added filter foam to keep the shrimp in the display tank and stop them from going into the overflow. 2 Horned Nerites also added as first spots of green dust algae are starting to grow all over the rocks from the lighting.

20211102

Rock surfaces noticeably getting greener so added 2 more horned nerite snails and my big malaysian trumpet snail to keep on top of it.

20211112 Added tissue culture Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Flamingo'. Saw a number of fire red shrimplets dotted around the tank which I didnt take pics of

20211119 Did a trim and then it was feeding time and quite a few juvenile fire reds showed up. Didnt think they could grow so fast.

Had to do almost daily replanting of Crypt flamingo as it was displaced probably from the Amano but more likely from this guy.

Notice the black brush algae outbreak in both pictures along the front in the marsilea. Spot treated with the one two punch of excel and hydrogen peroxide which turned it pink over night. This was picked over by the shrimp and snails over the course of a week. Lighting also reduced by removing 1 of the 2 Finnex lights to slow growth of the plants.

20211203

The LED bulbs which I had for quite a number of years were pretty faded and not giving much light to the tank anymore. My replacements finally arrived and installed. Here is the tank pre trim with just the Fluval Edge light arm turned on. Pretty neat feel to the tank like that. Dropped in full tissue culture cup of Bucephalendra Kedagang as full portion weighed down with plant weights the day before.

20211212

Pre trim photo after adding small cutting of Anubias Pangolino. Had done something (cant remember exactly what) the previous day along the right side glass which caused some of the substrate to spill down to the front. Will leave the spill for now since I can really reach it easily. Also shimmed the base of the display with coins which helps reduce the large bubble getting trapped under the glass along the left side to a smaller bubble in the back corner when I turn off the pump. Still get all the bubbles accumulating at the front from all the photosynthesis happening.

20211214

Moved the Buce Kedagang to a better spot. Added in Homolomena Sp. 'Sekadau South' tissue culture to the tank. Had tried this one previously with no success unfortunately. Pushed out all air bubbles from the top glass for this pic

20220101

Dropped in full tissue culture cup of Araguia to see if I liked the plant in this scape. Photo period increased to a straight 8 hrs. Getting lots of green dust algae on the glass of the tank visible possibly due to the lack of water changes I did over the holidays and lighting change. Some evidence of black brush algae starting to grow again as well. About a week later I ended up pulling the pearl weed out as it was becoming a pain to maintain due to its fast creeping growth and it was choking out the Eriocaulon cinereum and Myriophyllum ‘Guyana’

20220110

Green dust algae growing in quite fast now on the glass since I still hadnt done a water change since before the holidays. Homolomena pretty much melted which might have contribute organics to help feed the algae growth. Couple stems of Monte Carlo from other tank dropped in to float and grow at the surface. Calamity! Left the Araguia in too long and it ended up sending out substantial roots into the substrate. Didnt think it was in there long enough to have done that. Ended up pulling up the marsilea crenata up front in order to get it out of the tank. A bit disheartening since I was liking how it looked. It will grow again!

20220115

Green dust algae continuing to grow quickly for some reason and black brush starting to creep more along the front marsilea. Fire red population has doubled with a steady mix of generations being visible at dinner time!

20220125

Rapid spread of the black brush algae again, this time it got to the buce and up the side slopes. Once again the room these tanks are in were getting hot due to the cold weather outside. The first time was back in December and Tank temps were 28 degrees. Once again spot treated day before with excel and peroxide combo turning most of it to purple for this pic.

20220208

Things are starting to balance once again after getting back to consistent water change schedule. Removed the drop checker and installed new hang over rim drop checker to make it more discreet.

20220214

Trimmed and rearranged the Myrio Guyana. Marsilea starting to grow in again. Found an empty Nerite snail shell so might have died during the past week.

20220225

This week removed the flower stalks from the erio cinereum as they look to be struggling to grow new leaves. Also had to tighten up the top of the bubble counter near the regulator. Somehow was loose and I dont know for sure how long it had been like that. Possibly the reason for the erio not looking great and maybe even the black brush and other algae taking hold last month with the hot tank?

Side by Side shot with my other tank

20220430

Noticed some staghorn algae and possibly some early string algae coming out of the spray bar in March and ended up doing another 1, 2 punch of peroxide and excel which cleared it up nicely. Been neglecting maintenance on the tank which is probably why it started. Other than that nothing else major happening in this tank except for a horned nerite snail death recently.
Tank before and after a major trim. Contemplating replacing the Rotala H'Ra with something else that is lower maintenance. Just dont know what yet.