58g Planted w/overflow and sump

[myswtsins]

Lights came today! Playing around with them, figuring things out really cause the instructions are in Chinese or Japanese or something. lol While I play with them, any suggestions for how I should run the lights? I was thinking about an over lapped 24/7 cycle with one light starting the cycle at the 6 am setting but at 10am and the other starts at the 6 am setting at 12pm. Making the "noon" burst a little stronger and longer. Make sense? I haven't thought that through completely yet though...

Also I am going to plant some of the smaller leftover crypts in my shrimp tank in a bit. If I have anything left over is anyone interested in buying some? Or if you difinately want something in particular left me know and I won't plant it. I'd like to ship out tomorrow.

And are there any light settings pictures you guys would like to see in particular?

 

[fishorama]

I don't really understand, & I've read 4 times. I get the noon blast part. Is it just the clock setting vs your actual time? How long a "day" total? My fish are slackers, don't get tank lights until early pm, then off before my early bedtime. Unless I get motivated early then I turn the timer to "on" to WC or scape...often I don't notice until way late...or even the next day, oops.

Of course we wants pics, am, noon & pm please, for starters. I don't think I'd have more than 6- 8 hours total including "dawn" & "dusk".

 

[dougall]

I get what you are doing with the timers, I think your cycle will be squashed, so lasting longer overall, but with less maximum par at the middle, at least for a shorter time, it might be fine, but may be too long overall, I think personally I would be having them on similar cycles... but see how it goes and how you like it.


And Eff photos, what about timelapse videos so everyone can see how your lighting changes.

 

[myswtsins]

Ok.... We'll come back to the light setting topic later.

Did I say how MANY plants I got!? Geez, still going through "extras", didn't even finish tonight again. I wish I had counted them beforehand! I've learned the difference in the nurii and the affinis so I am going to move the couple that are mixed so one spot is nurii and one is affinis...tomorrow. lol

I gave the plants a short light cycle today and it's winding down now so no settings pictures tonight, sorry. A time lapse video!? What do you think I am!? .... I can run the demo and video it. Here is about 7pm on both lights. Funny, the background doesn't looks as blue and the gravel doesn't look as red in person. lol But it does give the plants a nice REAL color. Notice it's almost not cloudy? Don't mind the random buce and java fern!!





I planted a bunch in the shrimp tank, I will update that thread too.

 

[fishorama]

I need hardscape! Really, but it looks great! A very generous seller!! A ton of plants!

My crypt nurii issue is telling the "mutated" from the "regular" form, lol. I have or had both...something about the stem/mid-rib color, until they both melted...sigh, they were (or are?) on opposite tank sides, maybe I can tell in some future time...

Time lapse is WAY beyond me (I can barely do pics at best)...but I'd love to see, if you're so inclined. Sounds dougall like knows what to do...

 

[myswtsins]

Hardscape!? No hardscape! I will add something...at some point. Jungle style has minimal hardscape though so I'm not even thinking about it yet. Well, a little, like the fact that I have to get some wood soaking so I can have a hardscape at some point.

I have NO idea which variety of nurii I have. I just know it's pretty. I'm horrible with that and the seller didn't specify. I am sure they are a good one though. I know the hudoroi is pretty rare in the aquarium trade and he paid A LOT of money for them a few years ago. Can barely find any info about it online either. Makes me a little nervous that I'm gonna kill it but I'm pretty good with keeping crypts alive, not so much java fern but crypts I got!

How long ago did they melt? Still possible they will come back?

 

[fishorama]

Hudorii is not difficult for me, just pretty & bulliatious (is that a word? puckery prettiness...bullation), yours will be fine!

Baby nurii are another story, between melting & other crypts nearby...I may have to have my plant club over to say which or either I have surviving...I love my club!

Jungly doesn't mean no wood or rocks, I like either or both, I need them!! jn any scape...& so do you...said the bossy 1, a fan of "Dutch-style" but not a rabid adherent of "avenues" of just plants...I like some anchoring hardscape, always.

 

[myswtsins]

Bulliatious, I like it!!

The nurii did have the tiniest roots, some didn't have any actually. :/

I will get some hardscape, geez! I love hardscape actually, I just hate doing it and I'm not very good at it. lol

 

[myswtsins]

Yay, I got all the crypts planted (besides a bag of random I might sell/roak) and all the buce attached to some wood, that I can later attach to other wood. I decided to plant everything that I could positively ID and will thin it out at a later time.

I also got a rough count on the # of crypts.
17 hudoroi
50 affinis
30 nurii
13 balanse
25 usteriana
12 randoms
Total - 147! Plus several feet of Buce! No wonder my back hates me right now!

Some pictures of the 24/7 cycle. Sorry for the blurriness in some. And of course I just finished planting again so water is a bit messy, not as bad as I was expecting though!
Sunrise


Early morning


Noonish


Peak


Sunset - kinda missed the red part of this phase cause it is short


Darkness approaches (bluer IRL)


moonlight (bluer IRL)



And the video! I turned off all the lights/tv for this but forgot about the shrimp tank light. lol Of course during the dark scenes there is more light than it appears.

The crypts have really perked up since yesterday, you can tell which plants were just planted cause they are flat. The melt count is currently at 2 leaves, 1 balanse and 1 affinis. Mentally preparing for 100s!

 

[fishorama]

Oooh, I like it! I'm not sure about the blue period near the end, I'll watch again tomorrow to see if that holds. Might the video, stills look great!