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Nowher you making fun of me . You've become quite cocky since your Nano Success. I believe Bensaf once stated it quite nicely "Checky Young Pup"

I hope I haven't been coming off as cocky I'm just excited about planted tanks again after having some success with the nano. It feels good to know doing something a certain way works, then actually doing it and having it work. Tetra, with your tanks you must certainly know how it feels. I feel like I'm getting my aquascaping vision going, I'm better able to imagine layouts and picture how something might grow, see it in my mind's eye - it's a good feeling My apologies if it came off wrong!

As for the bacopa thing, I was not making fun, I'm serious about the smell, it smells great and I know it - along with other plants, Pennywort being one - is used to season food in some places. I've tried it before, it has an interesting taste. It not going to make you throw out the fresh basil you're growing in your garden, though. Take a bite, it won't kill you. (This advice coming from the guy who once accidentally rubbed cyanobacteria in his eyes and had conjunctavitis for two weeks

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Back in the saddle!

Nowher,
No I actually thought you were making fun of the way I described the Bacopa, I honestly didn't know about the culinary benefits. No need to apologize either way.

Your not cocky just checky

My Scapes

Darn,

Another day that I am tied up at work and you guys get all feisty

Bacopa - Schmapopa

All I can say is that mine didn't smell and I cannot state its flavor as I have never tried it.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Schmapopa???? I tryed to google it and nothing even came up!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well last night there was a random power outage on our block. If you looked a couple of blocks down there was power.

Everything seemed to be just fine in the morning. The power came back on in the middle of the night and all the filters restarted except the one on the Hex.

Right now I am having a bit of a problem with my timmers. They are getting stuck and it is starting to bug me! I might have to go out and get some new ones....

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

The timer problem is fixed. Lets just say that I am not always the brightest cookie in the jar. What i had going on was a timer running a power strip and another timer on the power strip. If the Power goes out to the strip the timer on the strip doesn't keep time any more..... Somedays I don't know what to do with myself.


As for the tank itself. Things seem to be growing pretty well. I think my style is starting to lean more towards a Dutch set up. I wish I had a cammera to show you some pictures but I don't have one right now. My brother is moving into town and I will be able to steal his in the future.

One of my goals with the tank when I did the major thinning of Sunset was to get the Sunset to color up better. I am coming to a couple of ideas. One, Sunset needs lower N levels to color up like a lot of red plants. Two it grows too fast to change colores.

I was talking to a costomer at work about his Sunset that I sold him and he said that his is turning bright pink. The only thing I know for sure about his tank is he has way less light on a slightly larger tank than me. 55G with 30W. This is what has lead me to my two ideas.

Yesterday when I did my water change I trimmed it down pretty short to see if as it grows it will color up. If it doesn't then I will start lowering my N levels to see if that helps.

Any thoughts on this?



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wings,

Sorry, I have no idea on how to turn the Sunset to pink, not my realm of expertise (what is my realm anyway?). But I am interested on finding out what you were doing with a timer hooked up to a timer? Doesn't that always throw off the second in line. Believe me, when I thought about wiring up the 125 I came to similar constructs, but of course they didn't hold merit.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Doesn't that always throw off the second in line.

Thus the problem I was having. I didn't quite think things through. Good thing I didn't go out and buy a new timmer!

My new hook up is: Plug to strip, On the strip is two timers. One runs the CO2 and a non planted tank. The second runs the 40G with the lighting break.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well I am going a little expermental with my lighing. No I am not starting strait out with the 10WPG. That would be a bit nuts! I did add the second ficture to my tank though. I cut the lighting back to about 10 hours a day with the second light on for an hour in the after noon.

Goal is to try and get the Magenta Rotalla to take off and more pink in the hygro. I will keep you up dated. First signs of things going really bad I am going to pull the plug.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wings,

It is worth a try. And I think with 1 hour only and reducing overall lighting period not much damage should be done.

On the other hand, because the change is not too much, bad things may happen so slow that it will take a while to recognize a noticable difference, so keep you keen eyes open.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

keep you keen eyes open.

I look at my tank more than anything else except my wife. Though I do tend to look at my tank first when I come home........I mean its right there when I walk in the door...

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I look at my tank more than anything else except my wife

Glad your wife gets more looks, than the tank. Even though your tank is very nice to look at.

Cheers
TW

Thanks TW! She is a great woman.

I have found a problem with having two fixtures on my tank. I can't do anything in it without taking one of the lights off! The second fixture is a 4x 65W but I would have to get the square pin to strait pin conectors for it so I could change out some of the bulbs. Will have to check into that today at work.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I ran out of CO2 tonight. I started running it around college spring break which is in March. That put me at 6 months of run time on a 5Lb tank. If I can fill it up for around 10 bucks then I will be a happy guy. Tomorrows quest is to find a place in Kzoo to fill me up.

So far running the second light hasn't showed much change for the good or the bad. Hopefuly this week I will get the strait pin to square pin addapters so I can run only one light and actualy get into my tank without messing with a light.

Other news on the Homefront:
Oscars are at their new home which leaves me with an empty 29G because I moved the Green Sunfish back to his 55G below the 40G. The game plan is to have the wife take over the 29G for fish while I use it as a plant grow out tank. I plan on using a Life-glo 2 on it.

Has anyone used this bulb?

Today marked my first day of my last semester of classes. It was a great day until my instructors told me my class load is going to be "extremely intense". If this is going to be the case then I will see you fokes in December. Just a warning.

Doug

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Hey Wings

Have I learned a new thing tonight? I don't remember seeing your name before. Hi Doug

Cheers
TW

Now we learn more and more about Wings,

First we learned that he likes to wear a handkerchief on his head, and now we get his name

Wings, or Doug, I have never used that light, sorry I can't help you with that. But for the tank with temporary no CO2 I would reduce the light as well until you have a new bottle hooked up.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

No worries about the lighting my friends. It ran out late last night in the last bit of the light cycle and I have a new one hooked up before the lights are on this morning.

Bottle cost: $12 and some change. Not too bad for 6 months of use.

Below is a link to the Glo light bulbs if anyone is interested. I will either try a Life or a Flora in the 29G.
Glo lights

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well the cost of the CO2 bottle just went from 12 bucks to very expencive. Here is the very stupid and sad scoop:

I hooked up the bottle and opened the needle valve. Somewhere I read that it was good to start a new bottle with it open. Needless to say I was planning on running up stairs for a minute to only forget that the valve was open when the timer kicked on. It ran full speed ahead for about 30 minutes. My first step was to turn the thing off. Once I did that I found my fish half floating and spinning circles. Next came a huge water change. I don't know for sure how much because I was pulling water out and filling at the same time. About half way through this I remembered I had an empty tank set up. I pulled out everyone I could find. All have been a counted for except one of the rasboras. Lost my SAE and 2 of 6 Rasboras. The kribs are still kicking but don't look great.

After the water change I found one Oto still in the tank swimming around so I figured anyone who looked good in the 29G was going to go back to the 40G because the 29G doesn't have a heater hooked up right now. Everything got a large dose of prime in the process of things.

While I was in the process I found 2 or 3 CRS still alive swimming around in the tank. Which is the only good news I have to share with you about the events that played out because I was an idiot.

Right now there is 1 rasbora and 2 kribs in the 29G. Each tank has an air stone running it it.

Now that I have told the story I am going to go beat my head aganst something hard for a while....

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Man really sorry to hear that. I hope most of them pull through. If you in this hobby long enough things like that are gonna happen, especially with a busy schedule.

I had a mishap recently, but it didn't affect my fish. I opened the cylinder and I didn't have the regulator knob opened and I thing I busted the low pressure gauge cause it always sits all the way to the right.


My Scapes

Sorry to hear of the mishap Wings. It happens though, that's all I can really say. Wish it didn't, but sometimes we make mistakes At least you didn't ruin any of your equipment, like when I waiting a month to clean out my filter system from the old 46 gallon

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Back in the saddle!

Hi Wings

Sorry for your loss of SAE & 2 rasboras. Hopefully everyone else will recover. I once came back to my tank to find it running far to fast & everyone at the top gasping & looking very poorly. I turned C02 off & added 2 airstones & left them running overnight. Everyone recovered, so I hope you will find the same.



Cheers
TW

Thanks for all your good wishes. I was a bit of a mess this afternoon when everything went down. So far all fish seem to be doing fine. The kribs are getting back on track but I don't think they like the cooler temp of room temp water. I will have to do some digging around to find them a heater. While they are in another tank I will add some of the larger cherry shrimp from the 2G hex and let them find some hidding spots before I put the kribs back in the 40G. I would really like to get the CRS established in this tank because they are super cool. Later this week I will probably add some more rasboras to up my school around 8-10.

Is it a good idea to have the needle vale all the way open when adding the new bottle?



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I usually never change my low pressure gauge and needle valve position when I change a bottle. I think the only one that for sure blows it our is if the needle valve is all the way closed.

Sorry Wings, what a bummer.

Forgive me for maybe not reading the details, but I seem to not have found the answers to a few questions that bug me about this:

- How long did you have the bottle open for?
- Why are the fish not back in the tank by now?
- Shouldn't a large water change have been enough to reset the tank?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

- How long did you have the bottle open for?
- Why are the fish not back in the tank by now?
- Shouldn't a large water change have been enough to reset the tank?

~ It was open for about 30 minutes.
~ Most of the fish are back in the 40G. If they looked good in the 29G they went back to the 40G. If they didn't look good I kept them in the 29G because it would be much easier to find them if they did pass.
~ The large water change did reset the tank enough that the one Oto that I didn't pull out was fine still in the tank.

This morning I am going to add 3-4 adult CRS from the 2G hex to the 40G. I will give them a few days to get used to the tank before I add the kribs back in. This should also help the young CRS in the 2G grow up.

Thanks for helping me out with the needle valve question LF.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well on my quest for CRS from the 2G hex I could only come up with 2 adults. I pulled out both chunks of DW and the large rock but I still could only find 2 adults and a couple that were not quite large enough for them to be safe in the 40G.

With this I should have about 4 CRS and maybe 1 Amono in the 40G. If we still have a few Amanos at work and the boss will give me a good price on them I might pick some up.

Right now I am tryin to take advatage of the Kribs being out of this tank. Maybe I will leave them in the 29G so I can pack the shrimp in the 40G.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

It was open for about 30 minutes

Interesting to read that 30 min will do so much damage. I would have assumed that the vast majority of the CO2 will not be absorbed by the water and instead degas.

Kribs: Who else is in the 29?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Kribs: Who else is in the 29?

My last dwarf neon rainbow. I might take her into my store or add her to one of my 55's.

Interesting to read that 30 min will do so much damage.

Interesting if it didn't happen to you! Actually I was kind of surprized myself as the water above the Glass Diffuser was frothing. I figered over 90% of it was getting out of the water but maybe that 10% was still a very high amount of CO2 in the water or the drop in PH was too much for them.

I should have saved out a sample of water to do a PH test on but I was a little worried about losing every fish in the tank.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I should have saved out a sample of water to do a PH test on but I was a little worried about losing every fish in the tank.

That was my first thought when I read about your desaster, but then I realized that this would have taken quite some cold heart to say "well, the fish are dying right now, but I need a water sample first anyway".

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

this would have taken quite some cold heart to say "well, the fish are dying right now, but I need a water sample first anyway".

I think we sit in the same boat on this one. Nether of us have that cold of a heart. In fact it didn't ever cross my mind until after words.

I think the wife would have killed me if I would have killed off everything in the tank. The phrase would have been "That's not in the budget!" This is one of our clasic full time student/young married couple quotes. Not that we are doing terible but we don't want to screw up either.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well I just wanted to give you fokes a little update on my tank.

Since the CO2 things have been going well for the fish. I didn't have any extra fish losses after the first 3.

Today was the first day that I have been around to watch the tank when the 2nd set up lights came on. This set of lights puts me at 260W's and 6.5WPG. It was quite interesting to see my plants start bubbling like crazy. I watched the tank for a few minutes before the lights came on and there werent any bubbles. I think they really go nuts photosynthesizing with the extra light.

Also since the CO2 issue I have had the Kribs in the 29G. I now see 3 CRS and my one Amano quite often.

My Otos today have been extra crazy too. I have never seen them so active. Everyone of them is out and about eating on just about every plant in the tank. I wonder if it has anything to do with our weird wet weather we are having.

Thats it for now.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wow, sorry to hear about your disaster, wings. That's a real bummer. If it makes you feel any better, I'll tell you a story about my manager(I hope he doesn't read this). So in the store we have a 2000(that's 3 zeros) gallon freshwater planted setup with all sorts of little community fish and the star centerpeice(s): 4 Altum angels. Normally these don't do well in captivity, but they seemed to be making an exception in such a large tank, as we'd had them for about 8 months. We also had a breeding pair of albino BN plecos, shrmps, corys, etc etc. So.... water change day. 12pm: gravel vacuum(yes, large syphon). 2pm: continued draining main tank by syphon and total emptying of sump. At about 5pm a little less than half the tank volume is drained, start filling the main tank, add some dechlor. 8pm: start filling the sump and turn on pump in the basement. 9pm: close shop. 10am next day: clam chowder. He forgot to stop filling the sump and eventually the chlorine took out the fish and biofilter killing nearly everything in the tank. The survivors were mainly super sturdy barbs of some type. I forget which. Anyways, that should make you feel a bit better.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Wow your store must be huge! Does it have a website? Any pictures of this jumbo tank?

I think there are always stories like that with LFS's. We have Water Change systems at our store for all the fresh water fish which flood sometimes. More often the problem is the coral tanks. They have fill pipes for filtered fresh water and salt water to top them off or refill after a water change. It is pretty easy to turn on the water and go help a costomer and then another and another. The next thing you know you have water all over the store! Its a lot of fun to say the least!

We had some Altum Angles when I first started last year. They didn't do well. I have a feeling someone didn't aclimate them right. Very neat fish though.

Something else I forgot to add is that I bought some Bacopa C. to start a jungle of it in my tank. I like this plant because it has farly small leaves and doesn't grow out of the tank in a day or two.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Nope, no website and no pics of the big tank. We were going to start a website, but the owner didn't want to pay anybody to work on it(but didn't tell us that), yet told us to do so anyways, we put a whole bunch of time into it, and never got paid for it, so we stopped building the web site. I have pics of a few other things as I was starting to take pics for the site, but never got to that part of the store. At this point it's not worth taking pics for you, because there isn't anything back in the tank yet and it looks like doody. I'm sure someone has taken pics of it, but not that I know of. You'll just have to come visit us.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

That was quite some story Matty,

And I thought draining my tank takes long

And I don't like it when people ask you to do something and then don't want to pay up

Or was that during work hours? In that case I would have done it. But I guess that there is a good chance he would have been too cheap to rent space on a server for the site anyway

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

It is always too bad when the emploies are willing to make the store better but the bosses aren't game for it. It seems that most things cost money the bosses don't want to fork out for one reason or another. Like I tell most of the costomers "I am just a peon, I don't make the decisions".



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Another quick tank update:

Shrimp: Last night I counted 1 Amano and 4 CRS. One CRS was amazingly dark red compared to the to others.

Plants: I am seeing that my crypt is doing some wierd stuff. Its color has went from a dark brownish red to a tanish color. It has some wierd issues with its leaves too. They look like they have started to melt and look like a 3 g fork. I will draw some pictures some time this weekend. My guess is that it is missing something in terms of ferts or the extremly high CO2 issue messed with it. Most of my plants don't seem like they are growing like they used to.

Any ideas?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Or was that during work hours?

Well when I was taking pics it was after hours, but I included it on the time sheet, but all the work on the site was done at home. I easily spent a full day's work on it, and didn't get paid for it. And yes he is too stingy to pay for a server. We were using one of those free ones just to start out with, see how it worked out.

It is always too bad when the emploies are willing to make the store better but the bosses aren't game for it. It seems that most things cost money the bosses don't want to fork out for one reason or another.

This is the only thing I hate about our store. IMO it will never become any more than it is, even though it has a solid customer base(been open for 17yrs) and I'm sure it pulls in some serious dough. Almost all ideas are shot down, no matter how brilliant they are, even if they are low cost, high profit, and don't take up much space. About 10 yrs ago, the store was all about changing and growing, but the owner changed his business plan I guess. Other than that, it's a great place to buy healthy fish and plants.

About your plants...I'd give them a while to settle back in. Plants don't respond well to rapid change either.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Just a quick update before I have to bust my butt with homework!

My plants seem to be back growing well after the CO2 issue from a while back. On Friday I hooked up with Bob and he gave me some Rotala so I wanted to say thanks to him. I looks really nice in my tank. So far it seems to be growing well and even pearled last night.

I am going to try and steal a cammera this week to get some much needed pictures of the tank. Hopefully I will have some time.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

That is very nice of Bob, do you guys live in the same town? What kind of Rotala did he give to you, Indica? I think Indica is also called Rotundifolia, right?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yeah we live in the same town. I am not sure the type of Rotala because I haven't taken the time to look it up. Too many other things to do.

It gets pink tops though!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Here are some pictures of my tank!

Attached Image:

Most natural color

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Straite on shot. This gives you the best view of the layout.

Attached Image:

Strait on

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Dwarf Lilly and Rotala from Bob. The Rotala has some nice red to it. You can also see some of the Sunset is turning pink.

Attached Image:

Red

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Two of the three or four CRS. They often hang out in this spot.

Attached Image:

Cherry Red Shrimp

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Being it has been about a year since this tank has started I though I would give a little over veiw of the changes as inspired by LF. (Oct, 25)

Attached Image:

Starting out

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

This is still before I went to pressurized CO2 and a canister filter. The pictures date is from December '05.

Attached Image:

Look at that "THING"!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

This is from the end of Jan. '06.


Attached Image:

First days of the rainbows

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Mid March. You can see my new toys in this tank!

Attached Image:

Can we say growth!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

The end of march.

Attached Image:

Even more growth!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Things were getting a little out of hand! (April,10)

Attached Image:

Over growth!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

For some reason the tank is really dark... oh wait! The plants are growing across the top.

Attached Image:

I think I was busy then...

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

This is after I got married and moved and such... The tank was a bit over grown but I kind of liked it in this stage.

Attached Image:

Post Wedding Day

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

The Sunset hygro was a little over kill. (Mid Aug.)

Attached Image:

Hygro Monster

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well I guess that is all I have for now. Let me know what you all think. I should really get going on my water changes then try and get some homework done tonight so I can take I can take it a bit easier tomorrow.

Thanks for all your help in the past year or so!

Edit: I am only doing a trial premium membership. I don't know what happens to the pictures after the 48 hours.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well congrats on the year .
Definitely a big improvement from the first pics when the "thing" was in the corner.

Why did you stop in mid "August". Is there a current pic.
Anyway based on the last pic it looks like the tank has more shape overall, but IMO what you need to work on are leaf shapes. Most of plants look to be big leaf plants and you need more constrast to show off the plants better.
I might have missed this, but why is the moss gone or is it there and playing a smaller role? You definitely need some fine-leafed plants. Even green cabomba would probably help if you could get it to stay in a tight group. somewhere in the left-mid back. Most LFS always have some.

Otherwise plants look nice and healthy and I don't see any protists from this distance anyway.



My Scapes

Tetra,

Sorry about the confusion. The first three picturs on this page are from last night before the water change. Durning the water change I did a bit of triming and thining.

Here is a simi-close up of the left side this morning. This should show you a little more of what is going on for leaf sizes. I still havent figured out how to take good full tank shots yet. It probably doesn't help that I am using a different camera every time.

Attached Image:

Thined crypt

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

That's what happens when you show things out of order. hey, that may actually not be such a bad idea, I could re-arrange my images so that the pretties ones show last. I will have to think about that.

Anyway, does that mean you have now a new light fixture from Current? How is that one working out for you?

And yes, big improvements ever since the "Thing" had been shown for the first time

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Interesting to see the transformation in the tank. I like how the tank looks, especially with the pretty new plants. Nice & pink

Cheers
TW

Anyway, does that mean you have now a new light fixture from Current? How is that one working out for you?

Not really new. It was a gift from a coworker of mine. Her dad gave her his old salt tank and this was the light on it. She is now doing Plants in the tank but had a different light that she wanted to use that gave her 2wpg.

I am not really happy with it i like my Coralife much better but it limits the amount of light. 130W, two bulbs with the Coralife where the Current is 260W, four bulb. The reson I don't like it is because something is messed up with the balist or something and the lights flicker sometimes. Most of the time I can turn it off and back on and it take care of the problem but not always. I never had issues like that witht he Coralife.

That's what happens when you show things out of order.

The year show off was kind of an after thought....

Thanks for the comments and input this far. Any ideas in terms of the scape?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Yeah, the coralife's are a bit better build than the Current fixtures. They are also more expensive, which brings about the though "you get what you pay for". Since your current fixture was free, you got a lot more than you paid for. They do tend to have problems like that, from what I've read. They just aren't built with as quality of parts(mainly ballasts) as the coralife. If the bubs are of the same wattage, you might be able to replace the ballast of the bulb that is flickering. It all depends on the wiring though. If they are the same(2 bulbs per ballast or 1 bulb per ballast for example) then you could just do a switcheroo. Also the coralife ballast would have to litterally fit inside the fixture. That's a lot of if's but it might be worth a try. All this is assuming that you've at least tried to switch the bulb out for another, that would be my first attempt before messing with anything else.

Nice 1 year summary by the way, things are continually looking better.

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Yeah, the coralife's are a bit better build than the Current fixtures

That's for sure. I had a current usa fixture on my 72g in the beginning and the ballast failed pretty quickly. Customer service wasn't that helpful. In Wings case as as you mentioned he got a for nothing so it's a win-win, but I will never buy another current fixture. Also the 36" fixture came with 4 plugs (2 fans, 2 lights, really annoying). Those fixtures run hot so you have to have all the fans on or it will crack you top. BTW their current usa satelite fixture 4 x 65watts is $200. That's pretty much the same price as the coralife one. Oh yeah they give you 2 lunar lights woo hoo!

My Scapes

Thanks for the ideas about pulling the good stuff out of my Coralife to fix the Crapo Current. Maybe if I can get an hour or so I will mess with it. I like to take things apart.

Also thanks for the coments on my tank and what it has been through. I really like your input in most cases.

Right now I am really swamped with school. It is my last semester of real classes before I go into my student teaching. Because of the work over load I am going to have to lay off of the FP. I tend to spend a lot of time here that I could be doing home work or wedding thank yous.....

At this point I have already cut my work hours back and plan on pulling some late nights. I will be back in full force when things settle down a bit or I have a major issue with the tank. I don't see that happening for a couple of months or so.

Take care and thanks!
Doug (wings)

Take care everyone!

Edit: Well my pictures are off the easy view able site but they are still there for the looking.....I should really spend the cash to get a camera and a real membership to this place....maybe that can be my Christmas present.


55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Things with school are going fairly well. I have been busting my butt and so far things are paying off. This week has gone well but that just means I have to start the work this weekend for next week.

Tank Update:
Plants are growing well with no issues.

I added 4 more brillian rasboras last weekend to up my school to 8 fish. The tank is much more alive now. It gives me a nice break from my school work.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I added 4 more brillian rasboras last weekend to up my school to 8 fish. The tank is much more alive now. It gives me a nice break from my school work

That's just what you want Wings, something soothing to look at during your breaks.

Your comment reminded me of a tank of I saw this weekend in a LFS. I am sure it must have been grossly overstocked. It was packed full of colourful male guppys, neons & cardinals. Just the prettiest sight of constant moving colour & activity. I'm not meaning that I think your tank is crowded at all, just that your comment "The tank is much more alive now" reminded me of all that lovely colour in constant motion.

Hope your school work continues to go well.

Cheers
TW

That's just what you want Wings, something soothing to look at during your breaks

Well along with the new fish I also started feeding more. Not really sure why but I think I had my head somewhere it shouldn't have been.

With the addition of new fish and more feeding came with it some BBA and Hair Algae. It isn't too bad right now but it sure wasn't soothing to look at during my breaks.

The Hair Algae is kind of floating around in different spots in the tank. BBA is on the dying leaves of the Aponogeton crispus. This plan hasn't put out a new leaf in months but had put out more flowers than I can count.

I have added another 5 CRS to the tank from the 2G hex. Some of them were getting big enough for the 40G and I have two females with eggs so I wanted to thin the population. I also added 4 more Amano Shrimp from work.

Shrimp numbers now are:
9 CRS
5 Amano

I saw the one Amano I already had in the tank chowing down on the BBA so I figured a few more would help matters.

My game plan is to do my weekly water change. Making sure to do a heavy gravel vac and get any extra junk floating around. Remove what I can of the BBA and hair algae and start dosing excel.

I think I can take this stuff!

Any thoughts are more than welcome.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Not many thoughts here from the master of all algae

I guess you must have been right on the edge between good and evil with your setup, and the few fish and addditional food just pushed you over it.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I guess you must have been right on the edge between good and evil with your setup, and the few fish and addditional food just pushed you over it.

I like to say that I walk the line my friend. 260W on a 40G long is a lot of light. Something was bound to happen. It is really not that bad. I just need to keep a close eye on things.

Something I should have did was do some test before the water change just to make sure things were not out of wack. I have not changed my dosing really since adding the second light. Maybe I am causing more up take than before and running low on things.

Who knows! I will keep you posted. Thanks for stopping in. My log tends to be kind of dead but I don't really have time to play around much any more.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well being I am slacking off today and I have my brothers cammera still, here is a little photo update:

BTW: These are probably some of my better pictures. I have been setting the camera for sports shots and also using a tripod with the camera on a timmer so I am not touching the camera as the picture is being taken.

Full tank Matty style


Some closer shots
Center: No fish
Oto on DW
Center shot1: Rasboras
Center shot2: Rasboras

Amano on Anubias As you can see from this picture I have some Green Spot on the Anubias. I have been upping my Phosphate but how high does it need to go to get rid of the stuff? Should I cut back on the lighting a little too? Right now I am running about 9.5 hours with the second light on for 1.5 hours.

I still have some BBA on the Crispus leaves but that is the only spot. I don't see any Hair algae floating around any more either. I am going to keep the excel flowing in this tank just to make sure things will be ok.

Here are some 2G Hex shots too...
Last picture
New Picture

Alright I guess I should get to my homework! Let me know what you think! Good, Bad, and Ugly comments are all welcome.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Nice clear shots Wings. I guess the tripods & auto timing must help a lot with that. I was hoping to see a peek of your kribs - any chance?

Cheers
TW

Thanks Robyn!

So I don't have the Kribs any more. Taken from the words of Tetra... "you can't be all things to fish, plants, and inverts." I really wanted to have CRS in this tank (and Amanos now too). Not that I didn't like the kribs but they prevented me from doing the shrimp. Lets just say that they were shrimp eaters! I moved the kribs into another tank (29G) for a while. One day at work one of the regulars came in and we worked out a deal. The last I heard was that they died. I guess she is having some problmes with her tank. It was a little sad to find this out but things happen.

Sorry I never got good pictures of them. They were quite pretty fish.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Oh, that's too bad that they died.

Cheers
TW

Well nothing much new on the tank this week. I did get a few couple of new crypts. Bob had some tank problems and had to strip his tank down. For this he hooked me up with a ton of plants. Most of them went into work but some went into the hands of a couple of my co-workers that I have been planting the plan geek seed into.

I ended up bring home a sword for the 55G Convict tank and a few of the smaller Cryptorcoryne balansae or retrospiralis. I am not 100% sure how to tell the difference in them. Next time I see Bob I will have to ask him what it is.

Sorry but there will not be any new pictures for a while again. I gave my little bro back his camera. Not that many checked out the pictures anyways, or at least commented on them. Oh howith my log is dead! Or the forum in general.

Edit: I almost forgot to talk about my algae issues. Last night I did a PH test and it was at 6.6 right before the lights when out. The fish seem to be doing fine with this low of a PH and high of a PPM of CO2 (121 ppm). I am going to leave it cranked up and see what will happen. The BBA doesn't seem to be really spreading but just there in the tank. I am also not so sure if the shimp are touching this stuff any more. Feeding has been a light feeding about every other day.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Sorry wings, I checked out the pics before but had to run and forgot to comment. The tank looks great, plants look healthy, but seems to me to have too many small bunches of plants. I think each species needs a bit more continuity, and maybe a couple less groups of plants. Other than that it looks great to me.

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

What happened to Bob's tank?



Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

What happened to Bob's tank?

He had a power outage and his canister filters seal leaked on him = big mess. When I stopped over there yester day he had the tank drained and moved with a chunk of the carpet pulled up.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

He had a power outage and his canister filters seal leaked on him = big mess. When I stopped over there yester day he had the tank drained and moved with a chunk of the carpet pulled up.

Yikes, poor guy That's every aquarists worst nightmare. Not that this is what happened to him, but always secure your tubings and pipes!

Reminds me of the time in my pre-cannister days when the outlet pipe from the UV filter slipped out of the tank and started pumping water allover the bedroom carpet Messy and scary, and amazing that I woke up just as it happened.

---

Back in the saddle!

Uh, that is pretty bad (your story too, NowherMan6).

That was his discus tank, right? Where are the fishies now? If he kept them, why did he get rid of the plants?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

This was his discus tank. He did keep the discus. I believe he said that they are up in a hotel right now. He did also keep some plants. I guess his game plan is to try something a little different this time around but he wanted to keep some of what he already had.

I think the leak came from the actual seal from the filter where the motor clamps down to the canister. I didn't really talk with him long so I am not 100% sure.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

You wouldn't happen to know what kind of filter, would you Wings?

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Back in the saddle!

I think it was an Eheim of some sort.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Sorry Wings to use your log for this line of comments on Bob's tank, but it relates to all our tanks - and filters.

If I am not mistaken then Bob has a 2028 and an AC 110 on the tank.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Sorry Wings to use your log for this line of comments on Bob's tank, but it relates to all our tanks - and filters.

Thats fine... Now say something about my pictures posted above!

If I am not mistaken then Bob has a 2028 and an AC 110 on the tank.

Yeah that sounds right...

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well I guess LF is too busy worring about his 125 to talk about my pictures. I guess it doesn't matter much any more anyways because it has changed since then!

In light of Matty's comment...

I think each species needs a bit more continuity

I did a little work to group things together a bit more. At the time of getting some new plants I kind of spred things out to see where I liked them best. I am still not so sure abou tall of my groupings but it seems a bit better.

Also, I did an experment with Java Moss on the little plastic mesh things and hair nets that Tetra uses for his Riccia. I wanted to be able to pull it out and trim the moss easier. Right now it looks kind of dumb because the moss is not grown over the plastic mesh and through the hair netting. Thus you can see the edges of the plastic. I will give it a couple of weeks to see if it gets any better. If it doesn't I am not really out much. The plastic mesh was only $.35. The hair nets were $20 for 144 of them but I could use them for other things.

Tetra,
If you ever come back in look in my thread I would like some input on what it did with the moss.

In the corse of the mini rescape I pulled out the mother Java Fern, slit it up and took it into work along with some Sunset hygro and Wisteria.

I also now beleive that some of my algae problems is due to flow in the tank. I found one stem of wisteria that was covered in BBA. It was growing behind the tall grouping of Rotala that blocked the flow to it. Some time next week I will do some PVC plumming and move the out put of the filter to the other side of the tank.

Matty I might want your help for this!



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wings,

The pictures look great. Don't forget to show us the rework you just did. I have a question for ya? Are the stem plants in the three center picures Bacopa?

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Are the stem plants in the three center picures Bacopa?

Bacopa caroliniana

Right now I don't have a camera on hand any more so pictures might be a while.

Thanks for stopping in slickrb!

I was doing some looking around at This algea page I would have to say that I have Staghorn algae not BBA.

Also I am going to a fish/plant auction tomorrow. Any plant sugestions? Kind of looking for something with smaller leaves that is darker green.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well I guess LF is too busy worring about his 125 to talk about my pictures.

I have to say I am sorry, but I think I didn't even see the entry that had the links. Must have had my mind on the 125

But it did look very nice, Wings.

Fish/Plant auction: mostly you will have to go by what will be available. Don't they usually first have a showing where you can check what is there? I would suggest to bring a plant book to quickly read up on the plants offered. This would be in case you find one that fits your size / color needs but you don't know what it is.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the in put on bringing a book. It would have been good idea for fish. As for the plants there wasn't much there that I have not seen before.

We got there about an hour after it started so we were left with the second half left overs. I picked up a combo package of Riccia and Java fern. I really didn't care to have the fern being I have some and just got rid of a bunch of it. There is probably about a cup and a half of riccia though. I got the combo for $5 plus a $2 fee to have it put up for auction early. I figgure $7 isn't bad being I have seen small squares of it going for more.

I also almost came home with a bunch of BN plecos. You could pick them up for about a buck each. Overal there was a lot of both plants and fish there but the fish were really the best deal. Will probably be getting some fish from auctions in the future.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Riccia,

First, I rip off tetratech by using a wisteria lawn in the 125, now you come around with the Riccia

He is going to regret to have made his bet with his wife as he may have missed his chance on stopping us to copy cat his successful features.

Are you planning on Riccia-Rocks?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Are you planning on Riccia-Rocks?

That or using the plastic mesh stuff. I would kind of like to inter mix it with Java moss rock to creat some contrast.

Most of all I just want to play with it a bit. If I can get it growing pretty well I will probably take some into work for sale. I know there are some plant geeks that come in the store that would be into it.

Poor tetra....

Edit: BTW

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/31544.1.htm?0.9783042#

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well I started playing with the riccia yesterday. I am a bit worried that I wrapped the hair net too tight but we will see.

Also tetra is going to have to help me with this plastic mesh stuff. I couldn't get it to stay down.

Anyways I had enough riccia to cover about 6 smaller rocks and 1 larger one.

Now I just hope it likes my tank and will grow!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Good going Wings,

For the mesh, why don't you place a few small rocks on top of it to hold it down. Tetratech also has it slightly buried, at least that's what it looks like in his pictures.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

For the mesh, why don't you place a few small rocks on top of it to hold it down.

Good idea! I am going to be taking out my Java Moss messy meshes soon. I really don't like how they look. Plus I picked up some more plants last night.

Bolbitis heudelotii and Marsilea quadrifolia (4 leaf clover)

My game plan is to have the 4 leaf grow around the riccia rocks. It is dark in color compared to the riccia so it will be a nice contrast. Right now the stuff is really tall as it has been grown emersed. Once it start to settle in a bit I will trim the emersed leaves and pray for lower growth. I am guessing with CO2 and 6.5wpg it will stay low and travel around.

I am not 100% sure what I am going to do with the Bolbitis yet. I am kind of thinking of spliting it and leaving the smaller chunk in the 40G while adding the larger chuck to my 55G. I am actually starting to get a plant mass in that tank, which is cool being I have convicts in there.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wings,

Hey - did you get the Bolbitis idea from me?

Anyway, I have toyed with the idea of getting 4-LG as well, actually quite a few times. The downsides that struc me most is that it does not seem to form a dense carpet by itself, plus that it is rather tall for a foreground plant (unlike glosso), and that it usually does not maintain its 4 leaves per stem but rather often has only 1 or 2. You show me otherwise, ok? As I would like to see how it goes for you and then maybe get it myself

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hey - did you get the Bolbitis idea from me

Well I have seen the plant around online and thought it was neat. I love how it looks like the ferns I see growing around my fishing spots. I amost picked some up twice this weekend. First at a shop I stopped at then at the auction. I held off both times for some reason. Last night when I went into work I saw the sweet shipment of plants we got and had to bring some home. In the shipment was the fern and the 4-LC amonst other plants I wouldn't mind trying out.

I guess you could say I got the idea from you but I have seen the stuff around for a while now and wanted to play with it.

Here are a couple of links I have pulled up on the 4-LC.
http://www.floridadriftwood.com/aquariumplants_marsilea_quadrifolia.html
http://naturalaquariums.com/plants/marsilea.html

From these two links I think the plant will work out really well. The pictures make it look good at least. I don't really care if it keeps its 4 leaf pattern or not as long as it stays short, though a blanket of 4-LC would look sharpe.

Something I didn't know was that it is actually a fern. (I think I learned that from tropica).

Anyways... Thanks for stopping in and I will keep you posted on how the 4-LC does.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wow, we get that stuff in all the time, but I never knew that it was the emersed form we got and it was so much bigger than the submerged growth. When it comes in the leaves are about the size of a quarter each and stems are six inches tall or so. I'm quite surprised how nice this plant looks in an aquarium and don't know why I haven't seen it used more.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I'm quite surprised how nice this plant looks in an aquarium and don't know why I haven't seen it used more.

I know what you mean. That is why I am trying the stuff out. It is also a darker green so it will create a nice contrast to the lighter great everywhere else in the tank.

One of the biggest issues in my area is that doing live plants isn't really big. I am constently trying to tell people they can do it if they pick the right plants for what they want to put into it for equipment. It seems that half the people that come into my store for fish are either the people that don't care about what they are doing or are big salt water geeks. I have had a part in getting a few of my co-workers hooked on plants. Both their tanks seem to be doing well too. This will help them talk with costomers about plants.

Wait a mintute... guess that didn't really have to be said... little bit of a rant...with some...

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wait a mintute... guess that didn't really have to be said... little bit of a rant...with some...

Nah it's best to let those frustrations out everynow and again. Just take a deep breath....close your eyes and imagine you are on a white sandy beach with the clear waters swashing back and forth all soothingly...Warm sunshine on your face, no worries in the world.....you are feeling sleepy....very sleepy...now when I snap my fingers you will think you are a dog...



Anyways I was looking at your profile and I can't figure out what guppy grass is...wanna clue me in?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

wanna clue me in

Ok fine! But then I have to get working on the last bit of homework for today!

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_viewer.php?id=174
close up from the same site

My profile is a bit of a mess right now I am sure. I haven't looked at it in a while....

Edit: for some reason I feel the need to scrach behind my ears!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

don't give in to it

Ah I know that as najas grass. Thanks. Now get to that homework. I've been bogged down the last few days as well.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Wings,

That marselia looks pretty cool. I've never seen it down here in Houston though. Did you order it from FloridaDriftwood.com or did you find it locally?


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Just to get back to the 4-LG thingy:

Yes, I have in the past seen both of your links, but instead of going for the FD site image, which is indeed very nice, I looked more at your second link, by Rhonda Wilson. I have very high opinions of her, although she is not a high light/tech person. If you look at her pictures then the 4-LG looks more like a really bad growing of Glosso.

And that is why I never thought of getting it.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ah I know that as najas grass

Yeah I know it as that too but guppy grass is easier for me to remember.

Did you order it from FloridaDriftwood.com or did you find it locally?

It came from the store I work at. We just got a big shipment of plants from a place in FL. I do know know who it exacly came from.

I have very high opinions of her, although she is not a high light/tech person. If you look at her pictures then the 4-LG looks more like a really bad growing of Glosso.

I know what you are talking about with the bad growing Glosso. I am guessing though that with my 6.5WPG and CO2 the stuff is going to stay lower and grow thicker. It is suposed to grow much slower than glosso so it should be easier to handle.

Time will tell!

Thanks for your input though!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

the stuff is going to stay lower and grow thicker. It is suposed to grow much slower than glosso so it should be easier to handle

That's what I am hoping it will do for you as well. As, if it does so, I will get it then, too

I wonder if it grows even slower than HC

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Marsilea sp. are easy to grow Aquarium plants. These plants tolerate low light levels

That looks a really nice plant Wings and looks like it would work in my tank (low light), but I take it, it will grow higher & not be as nice as when with higher light.

Don't worry Wings about there not being enough interest in plants where you are, here I think the interest is even less. I have never even seen NL Java Fern, so I doubt I will find 4-LC - but I will look out for it - very nice plant. Ricia can only be bought from other hobbyist on ebay - at least from what I can see. Finally won a bid & my fish ate the lot. .

I look forward to seeing pics (when you can beg, borrow, steal) a camera of when the plant is established in your tank.

Cheers
TW

I wonder if it grows even slower than HC

I will do some poking around to see what I can find out about it. I have never messed with HC or 4-LC before.

I will try to let things settle in for a week or so then try and steal a camera again.

Thanks for stopping in!

PS. LF Java....I want to get my hands on that but it is never on a list when I get to make the order.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

LF Java

Little_Fish Java? I am not selling

Anyway, while walking around my backyard yesterday (no, I did not bury the Apisto) I looked at all the regular Clover that is replacing the lawn in some spots ( ) and I was wondering: has anyone ever tried to add this one to the tank? Why would 4-LC work but not 3-LC? I know, one is probably a land plant while the other is probably a marsh plant (which, btw, makes it also questionable for long term submersed growth), but did anyone ever try?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The vast majority of plants we keep in our aquariums aren't true submersed plants. Most are bog/marsh plants, but will do fine submersed. The clover you find in your backyard is a different story. It's never in it's biological history been consistantly under water and wouldn't last long there. You can try though.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Little_Fish Java? I am not selling

Dang it! TYPE-O!

What I ment to say was NL-Java Fern. I think this plant would work much better in my set up than the normal JF. I guess if you don't want to sell me any LF-NL-Java Fern I will have to just keep looking......

As for the Clover talk... I am with Matty! I think they are two very differnt plants. If the 4-LC doesn't do well then I am not really out much as I got them as a trade off for other plants I have brought into the store.

One more thing: Last night was the first night that the riccia has pearled for me. It was only one rock though. I am starting to think that I put this stuff on too thick/ too tight. If by next week I don't start to see some growth I will cut the hair net and try again. I guess its a good thing I got the 144 pack of hair nets!

Is tetra ever coming back?!?!?!?!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Is tetra ever coming back?!?!?!?!

If this weren't the internet we'd have scrapped his tanks for parts by now. <----calls dibbs on new lights.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

If this weren't the internet we'd have scrapped his tanks for parts by now

First call - I take his Riccia scape

Wings, you may have to give it some time to settle, don't rip it apart after one week already.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I wasn't going to rip all of the rocks a part just a couple of them that look too think and too tightly wraped.

Last night a couple of them were starting to look a little better though so we will have to wait it out a bit longer... Maybe two weeks worth...

I want his Rotala and the tank...



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well last night we had a power outage. I think it went off around 4pm and didn't come back on until 12ish (who really knows when there is a time change!)

When I got up to reset the timers I found one of my rasboras in bad shape. It was simming in a shakey jolty way. This fish also had some weird red streaks through the mid part of its body. I don't know if someone in the tank kicked its butt or it has some sort of infection. Being I am not a big fan of treating a take with meds I just put the fish out. I didn't think it would hang in there for too long anyways.

For the next couple of weeks I am going to keep a close eye on the rest of the fish. I really don't want to get into a habbit of losing them.

As for the plants:
The old leaves of the 4-LC are starting to die off. It looks like the plant is starting to root itself in well so I will be trimming the old leaves off tomorrow and will start hopping for some new growth.

Everything else seems to be doing fairly well. I am probably going to do a small replant tomorrow if I have time. Right now I am thinking of just moving two groups of plants (Baccopa and crypts). Pictures will come in a couple of weeks......maybe if you and I are both lucky!


55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wings,

Sorry to hear about the fish. I have to say that it is, IMHO, doubtful that the issues are purely power outage related, maybe the fish was sick beforehand and the outage intensified the symptoms. 8 hours is nothing, except:

- If your filter was really dirty (cannister, right?) and your tank did not contain any good bacteria (unlikely)
- If the temp in the tank really fell far down and then heated up really fast again after the power came back on (or did you add hot water?)

About the 4-LC: Take your time with the trimming, is my suggestion. How long do you have it now, one week?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Sorry for the loss Wings.

Good luck with 4-LC

Cheers
TW

Losses happen. More often than I would like sometimes but it happens.

I don't really think the loss came because of the loss of power. It just so happened that I noticed the fish at this time.

The temperature might have been an issue but its hard telling now. I did not add any hot water to the tank. I would guess that the Air temp in the house couldn't have gotten below 55 degrees. The water temp would have been much less effected.

I got a few plants from one of my co-workers yesterday. One of them I thought was Anubias Nana Petite from his picture. It for sure isn't the Anubias but could be some type of ludwigia as the under sides of the leaves are redish.

The Riccia is doing pretty well. I am seeing some growth in all the rocks but one. The one without any growth I think is wraped too tight. Will try to fix it up sometime this week.

Thanks for stopping in once a again.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wings,

The tank looks good. I still think you need tigher groups and some more constrast. Don't worry about the riccia being wrapped too tight. It usually takes about 10 days to start taking off.

My Scapes

WOW WOW WOW! Tetra is back in action!

Thanks for the in put with the riccia. I will run with it for a while if you don't think I should worry about it yet.

As for the tighter groups. That I something I have been slowly working on.

Contrast is another issue too. I am having a really hard time finding plants that fit was I want. One of the biggest things I am looking for is something with small leaves. I think this is going to help the tank look much larger than it is. The second things is it has to have dark leaves or something with a bit or color too it. I was thinking that Ludwigia would be nice but I have never had good luck with the stuff. I guess I will have to make an online order sometime..

Thanks for stopping in tetra, you have been missed around here.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Well I did make just enough time to do a little replant. I only moved two groups of plants (Cryptorcoryne balansae and Baccopa). The baccopa is now in a much tighter group and looks much better. I think I need a few more balansae though to make it stronger. I guess I will have to do some digging in the discus tank at work to see if I can find some smaller ones.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Just a couple of new things.

I had one set of lights go out on my tank the other day. Last night I picked up two new bulbs. I went with the Coralife 10,000K. They are much cleaner in color than the 6,700K. I probably would have went with the 6,700K but we only had one bulb and i wanted to get two.

I also picked up some rotala wallichii (sorry tetra!) I like this plant because it has super small neadly leafs and had a bit of color to it. I also might try some Ludwigia for something darker in the tank later this week.

Everything seems to be growing really well right now. Over the past couple of days the Sunset Hygro has growing inches from the very short tops I left in the tank. I am really impressed with the riccia right now. It is starting to fill in nicely.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I had one set of lights go out on my tank the other day.

What, it literally went out? It must have been in bad shape then for a while already, except if you dropped it or something like that.

No wonder your plants do great now.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The bulbs were a little over a year old. I have also had some issues with the bulbs flashing every once in a while. I am not sure if it was an issue with the bulbs getting old or the ballast is going out. I messed around with using differnt bulbs in the ones that flashed with out any problems so I figured I would get new bulbs because one of the originals burned out.

Today will be the first day with the new bulb. So the extra growth can't be contributied to the new bulbs. I am guessing it has to do with me being better about water changes and the ferts.

Also I forgot to tell you all about the 4-LC! It is putting out new leaves. The new ones are a single leaf and the stem is only about 1/2 inch tall. If it starts spreading around I am going to be quite happy with it.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I just replaced my CO2 a month or two ago and it went dead last night! Now the question is, is there are leak or did I drain it down when I had my CO2 issue? Or both?

The lighting has been reduced to about 6 hours.... With a lighting nap time to see if I can get rid of the GS algae again. I also dosed with excel this morning just to keep some carbon in the tank. I am not sure when I will get a chance to refill it again....maybe friday....


First the lights then this!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Good news on the 4-LC, or should I say 1-LC?

Bad news on the CO2. Hard to tell what caused it to empty so quickly, just one thing is for sure: that was way too fast.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

For the C02, I would guess it to be from your C02 mishap. From memory, you had it running for sometime (was it 30mins) at almost full throttle. That would sure go through a lot of C02.

I hope that is the reason and not that something is faulty.

Cheers
TW

CO2 for sure ran out way too fast. I am guessing that it was due to the "full throttle" issue or at least hoping for that. If there is something actualy broken or leaking then I probably wont replace it for some time.

Just to add to my issues with equipment I came home last night to strobing lights! I am guessing that the ballast is bad so I will have to start looking into getting a new one. If I can't get one or its too much $$ then I will probably just go back to the 3.25WPG. Things grew just find with that before so it shouldn't be that big of a deal.

First the lights then this!

Then right back to the lights!


Should I be cutting back on my ferts now that I don't have CO2 and my lights have been cut back? I am dosing Excel everyday thus far.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Sorry you now have light problems too. Well you what they say, "it never rains, but it pours".

I don't know how to work out the amunt of reduced ferts, but the others will quckly pipe in with advice. I would say yes, you do need to reduce. In my non C02 tanks, which are only half your size, I dose excel daily and KN03 1/4 tspn once a week & just a pinch of KH2P04. Once a week 5ml traces.

I don't think I have things quite right though, as I am having some algae in both tanks.

Cheers
TW

Yep, I'd cut back the ferts to less than half what you'd normally do. That's if you are running at the 3 wpg or whatever. If there's no light, then no ferts. If you are going with the 3 wpg I'd definitely make sure to cut it back so the high light is maybe only an hour a day and the lower light is on for 8ish.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Yes, cut back, but not to nothing. As you know, plants do a lot of food uptake during night, so they still need stuff.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club