The journey continues...my rimless Aqua Forest

chonhzilla;4562730;4562730 said:

Could not have put it any better. Mine right now is losing all it's leaves and everything is pretty much horrible.

I could say the majority of the time I spend online is reseach lol.

I can also say I usually have a mess of dried up plants somewhere close to my tank.

The payoff is yet to come, but slowly coming along well.

Click to expand...

Ah dude I feel your pain! I was there just a little over a month ago. It's pretty frustrating and discouraging. But as with anything in life, you gotta hit rock bottom before things get better. And good things don't happen overnight. I'm sure you know the most important thing when it comes to planted tanks is patience (I have serious issues with this LOL).

I lost a lot of plants during the first couple weeks. Ludwiga Glandulosa, Pogostemon Stellatus, and other beautiful plants. I just sat back and helplessly watched them melt away, never to return

If I were to do it again, I may try ADA ferts for the first couple months. He's gotta be doing something right. Amano seems to have perfected the science of the break-in phase for planted tank. Too many of us just follow EI dosing right off the bat, but I don't think that's the right thing to do. Besides the ADA stuff, I'm not sure what else to do during the first couple weeks.

New pics! Plants continue to grow like weeds. Middle section is bare since I added a bunch more stems of L. Aromatica just today, so hopefully in a few weeks they'll look like the monster stem right next to them

Enjoy

chonhzilla;4583947;4583947 said:

Man I pulled out the Riccia, I'm going to need more Blxya. Looks great! You can see the fish now. LOL.

Click to expand...

Sweet! I think I'm gonna put it in the 2.5 and 3g tanks, because I'm at my absolute limit for plants in this tank!! We need some updates on yours

DaveB;4588709;4588709 said:

Your tank looks incredible, and I suspect that would be so even if you hadn't gotten so good at taking photos of it.

Was wondering if you have any issues with evap and/or humidity with that tank?

There's one spot in my house where I think a rimless tank with suspended (or wall mounted) light like that would be a great fit. I could do it very similar to yours with a plant or something tall on either side and it'd look great. (Narrower tank though - 12" probably).

But it's down below grade where I already have to run a dehumidifier sometimes. That makes me think putting a lidless tank would just be kind of a bad idea (and that the DH would just suck water right out of it).

Am I worrying for no reason?

Click to expand...

Thanks! Evaporation is more of an issue on open/rimless tanks. But I keep that in check by running a sump, don't have to worry about the water level in the tank! My sump is 10g, and in a week's time, it loses about 6" of water. I do weekly water changes so I rarely have to top off during the week, it can usually wait till the next water change. Hope that gives you an idea

DaveB;4588739;4588739 said:

But you haven't noticed any changes in the air, the room, the paint or anything like that, since putting that tank there and getting 6" of evaporation a week?

Refills I can live with. Mold and mildew issues downstairs not so much.

Click to expand...

None that I can tell. I will tell you though, having the 400g (no lids) caused a ton of mildew all over my garage's ceiling and inside the cabinets. And in the winter, I'd get tons of condensation on the ceiling. It was like walking into a tropical rain forest/green house lol! Maybe because it was a lot more water and a much smaller room?

This planted tank is in a large, open living room which opens up to the kitchen and another living room, so maybe that helps it out? Also keep in mind that this is 6" in a 10g, not the planted tank itself.