Thanks. Just for the sake of discussion

Yeah I agree about the chiller. Its a deal breaker for many cases. Without chiller, my temp goes up to 31-32C. And I don't like to use fan.

As for SAE - here's my experience. There are many mistaken identities where the Flying Fox is sold to unsuspecting customers as SAE. The Flying Fox looks almost identical, but that is the one that you described - eats algae when young, and when it grows up, it becomes aggressive and eats only pellet food. Whereas the original SAE eats algae all its life and is never aggressive.

I had a similar fish last time which I thought was SAE. At first it was okay, but after a few months, it started to bite my shrimps and became aggressive. I returned it to the LFS, and I got the true SAE from another trusted source. I see my SAE now is always busy nibbling on the plants and it leaves the shrimp alone - although its over 3 inches long now. I may be wrong about this conclusion - but this is only from my experience.

I have no experience with Nano. Do you need to cycle the filter and how will you be controlling the temperature and algae?

I've always toyed with the idea to setup a Nano for my study room - but these uncertainties held me back.

yeah maybe you should try a nano tank and see.

yes, i will let the tank and filter run for about 2 weeks before adding live stocks in. I will only be using a DIY fan to keep the temperature at about 28-29 degree c. algae issue I will deal with it with lighting control as well as excel treatment.

I would be using only ADA amazonia, about 2 inch thick only, no power sand, no 5 elements etc. to keep the cost low and i tend to always rescape on yearly basis, so no point for me to use all those.

Unfortunately apart from the center part of the tank, the rest didn't grow much. In fact left part turned a bit brownish. Do you guys think now would be a good time to flood the tank, or should I wait longer?

2 months progress:




Unfortunately apart from the center part of the tank, the rest didn't grow much. In fact left part turned a bit brownish. Do you guys think now would be a good time to flood the tank, or should I wait longer?

Wow..i salute your patient sir..2 month is a really long time..at least for me..  

for flooding i cannot help..i give up after 1st month and flood it.. 

find out whats the problem ad?

i would have already put water in since day 1. but thats me.

I would wait another month. The grass is not dense enough.
What soil is that you are using? Need to have good light for this.

lamp is on timer, so 2 months of pretty much forgetting it. 
not sure what's wrong. the middle part seems to be doing okay. since the soil is all the same, my best guess is light and water level variations. maybe i could use a mirror to maximize the lighting. 
Im using amazonia. the light is LED, set for 14 hours per day. probably gonna try mirror for the time being, see if it helps.

which kind of LED light are you currently using?

up aqua pro z series.

should be good enough right..... for the hair grass to grow properly....

my guess is due to the rock positions, some area probably arent receiving as much light. i've placed a mirror on the left side. gonna see how it goes within the next few weeks. if still no change, then im just gonna flood after a month or two

good luck trying!

got CO2 injection ?

thanks

i'm actually going the excel route, hence the reason im holding onto the DSM for as long i could but if it fails, then might resort to CO2.

What CO2 are you referring to? This is DSM right?

I have no experience in DSM, but the main reason why I didn't start my tank with DSM is because of the temperature in Malaysia is too high. Have you checked out the temperature requirements?

Also, what grass is that? Is it Eleocharis acucularis (not sure spelling)?

And what is the thickness of your soil, in the middle and the sides? I don't scientifically know how many inch is enough, but I know when I planted Elocharis sp mini in my old tank, my center was around 2-3 inches thick. And the sides thinned out to slightly over an inch. The sides did not do well. Yes they grew there, but it could never be dense.

I learned later that certain plants need a thick soil to root its growth. When I restarted, I made sure my soil is no less than 3 inches thick at the thinnest. During setup, this means it must be at least 4 inches thick, because after a few months, the soil compresses and from 4 inch, it becomes 3 inch.

At the spot where I have planted Rotala, its 5 inches thick. I know for a fact plants like Rotala needs thick soil for good root growth.