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 L# Planted Aquaria
  L# Matt's new planted tank log
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SubscribeMatt's new planted tank log
mattyboombatty
 
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Thanks LF for the comments, I agree about the whole fraud thing. How many of us have actually "invented" anything for the hobby?

So OT again to the subject of cameras. I was looking at the cannon powershot A630. At tetratech's link up there I set it up next to the S3 IS and did a little comparason. Basically the two things the IS has going for it is the IS and the 12X optical zoom. It's also a bit better in a couple features like macro and shutter speed. The A630 has pretty much all the same features, but a couple more megapixel sensor, a larger lcd screen, it's about $100 cheaper, and is smaller and lighter.

Here's the comparason. I'd really appreciate input from you guys on this one.



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Post InfoPosted 24-Sep-2006 01:23Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
LITTLE_FISH
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Matty,

I wish I could help you with the camera stuff, but I had a lot of help from NowherMan6 figuring out how mine works. Plus, he was the one who recommended my lense to me. In other words, if you think I am bad with handling my algae issues wait until I start handing out camera advice

Sorry,

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 24-Sep-2006 01:58Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Nobody else on the camera?

Well I ended up getting few more fish today. The furcata rainbows were looking particularly fantastic so I got 3m,3f. Thier gold fins and blue eyes are incredible.



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Post InfoPosted 25-Sep-2006 04:39Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
TW
 
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Wish I could help Matty, especially since you've been so helpful on my pump choice issue.

I know nothing about cameras. My camera is a pretty shabby Kodak Easy Share, that takes ok pictures of things that don't move & pretty lousy pictures of swimming fish.

Sorry.

Cheers
TW
Post InfoPosted 25-Sep-2006 13:35Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mughal113
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EditedEdited by mughal113
Hi Matty,
The S3 certainly looks the better choice (quite heavy thought, half a kilo ). A difference of 2MP is not going to be a great deal, believe me. Above 5MP, everything is just about the same.
Along with the macro mode, look for a quickshot (fast shutter) mode. I have a cannon S60 and it has the feature. I can photograph a running fan using this mode with all three blades clearly visible without any blur. That helps a lot capturing quick fishies.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons60/
Post InfoPosted 25-Sep-2006 14:15Profile MSN PM Edit Delete Report 
LITTLE_FISH
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The furcata rainbows were looking particularly fantastic so I got 3m,3f.
So, while trying to get us all to talk about the camera options you are sneaking another school of rainbows into the tank. Now you have 3 different species there, right?

I one heard that Rainbows in general interbreed, what is your opinion on that?

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 25-Sep-2006 16:25Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Thanks for the help everyone, mughal, the A630 does have a sshutter speed priority mode, and just about any combination of shutter, ISO, and aperture can be selected in manual mode. My Nikon that I have now never leaves manual mode. I'm hoping that might change with whatever new camera I buy. I'm pretty much set on the A630 unless somebody has something very negative to say about it. It comes "highly recommended" from dpreview and has most of the options I'm looking for and falls within(or should I say closer to) the budget, than the S3. I know how cool the IS is supposed to be, but is generally more usefull for use at the 12X zoom region, which I won't have to worry about in the A630. I'm still mulling it over, and probably will be until my camera breaks or christmas comes.

LF - Rainbows of the same family will interbreed, yes. I have selected 3 rainbows from 3 different families. Furcatas are psuedomugil, Praecox are melanotaenia, and the threadfins are iriatherina. Unfortunately it's a moot point anyways, as I never have had anything want to spawn for me. In the (I think) 6 yrs of keeping fish it's never even come close, though I've never owned any live bearers or anything that breeds like rabbits. I have thought about keeping some live bearers, just to boost my confidence, but what if they didn't breed . This will be the last type of rainbow I buy, unfortunately, as I'm about out of common dwarf rainbows from different families, and out of room to house a large enough number of them. Plus I'll want to fill out the 3 species I have. Maybe just a couple more of each species. I know it sounds like a lot of fish, but they are all slim, small fish.



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Post InfoPosted 25-Sep-2006 18:33Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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More is not always more. Less maybe more at times. That is just my thoughts though. It is your tank and you have to look at it so you be happy with it. Don't let us bug you about it.

In my tank I only have 3 types of fish:

Brilliant rasboras
Guppies
Otos

I like it simpler...

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 25-Sep-2006 18:48Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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Matty,

Sorry to get here late re: the camera talk, but here's my two cents anyway:

The Canon A series is very hard to beat, you can't go wrong there. They're easy to use and come out with very good results. I never tested out the AF tracking with an A series, so I can't comment on that, but my guess is there will be similar limitations on this just the same as on any P&S. Also, with 8 million pixels crammed onto a tiny sensor it's going to be pretty noisy at high ISOs, so don't expect miracles. Using a +1/3 exposure compensation can help turn down the appearance of noise, but it'll still be there if your at 400 or above.

And just a rule of thumb for you pixel peepers out there re: resolution. For practical purposes mughal113 is pretty much right, when printing out up to probably 5X7, maybe 8X10, you wont notice the difference between 5 and 8 megapixels. However, that's still agreat difference in resolution and the amount of detail captured. As a rule of thumb, all things being equal, there has to be about a 50% increase in pixels in order to notice a difference when viewing up close. 5MP to 8 is over 50%, and you'd definetely notice. But going from 5 to 6 is negligable, as is going from 6 to 8, 8 to 10 or 10 to 12. Making small jumps like that is a waste if that's what one is basing a decision on, all it'll lead to is an increase in noise. better a smooth 8MP than noisier 10 IMO.

Actually, just looking at it now, the A630 does have a continuous AF mode, which is what you'll need (not need, but it'll come in handy) for shooting moving objexts like fish. Definetely a plus. Go for it.

Nice rainbows by the by


Back in the saddle!
Post InfoPosted 25-Sep-2006 18:57Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Nowher- thanks for the reply, late or not. I'm not into rushing decisions of this magnitude and above. So the fact that the A630 has more megapixels and a larger sensor than the S3 is a good thing, right? If the sensor were the same size and more megapixels, that would not be good? From the review(of the A620), it said that the camera handled the noise at high ISO's better than most similar cameras, and when the pics were lined up I could definitely tell the difference.

Wings- I tried the less is more approach with cardinals in my last tank. I didn't like how they sat in a corner by themselves all day. Not my thing. I decided with this tank that I would go for a bunch of active, attractive little fish. So far so good, as they buzz all over the tank all day. I guess I enjoy the activity, though some might say it detracts from the planted tank. And really, I don't have that many different fish. 3 types of rainbows, otos, and syno cat. I might think of a dwarf cichlid, maybe not. I know people who would have 2 of this and that with the same total number of fish(or more).



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Post InfoPosted 25-Sep-2006 19:43Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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Nowher- thanks for the reply, late or not. I'm not into rushing decisions of this magnitude and above. So the fact that the A630 has more megapixels and a larger sensor than the S3 is a good thing, right? If the sensor were the same size and more megapixels, that would not be good? From the review(of the A620), it said that the camera handled the noise at high ISO's better than most similar cameras, and when the pics were lined up I could definitely tell the difference.


Just the opposite, actually. The sensor on the A630 is smaller than on the S3, but there are more pixels crammed onto that smaller sensor than there are on the larger S3, which is why the A630 is noisier.

That said, compared to other cameras in its class, it's probably the smoothest of the bunch, canaon is just good at that stuff. For practical purposes the noise probably wont be an issue, but the above was just to clarify...


Back in the saddle!
Post InfoPosted 25-Sep-2006 20:48Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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1/1.8" = 14mm dia. (A630) is bigger than 1/2.5" = 10mm dia. (S3). So the A630 has a bigger sensor...no? Though I do see that most 8mpixel cams are 2/3" which is larger than the A630. Maybe that's what you are saying. I'm going off their info, I don't have any real camera training, so correct me on this issue if I'm wrong.



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Post InfoPosted 25-Sep-2006 20:59Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
tetratech
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EditedEdited by tetratech
Matty,
I'm certainly no camera guru, but I noticed on the side by side that the 630 doesn't have image stablization. That is a big plus when holding the camera under say 1/25 sec, otherwise I think your tripod bound. Also I couldn't tell from the review, but my s2 and the s3 have the supermicromode which let's you take a pic right up against the glass of the tank. The zoom issue isn't a factor with aquaria, but at 12x it does come in handy elsewhere.

My Scapes
Post InfoPosted 25-Sep-2006 21:15Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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1/1.8" = 14mm dia. (A630) is bigger than 1/2.5" = 10mm dia. (S3). So the A630 has a bigger sensor...no? Though I do see that most 8mpixel cams are 2/3" which is larger than the A630. Maybe that's what you are saying. I'm going off their info, I don't have any real camera training, so correct me on this issue if I'm wrong.


I was mixing up the pages I was looking at. I thought the former was the latter, and vicey versey.

In that case you should be right. Have you seen any examples of high ISO pics from the A630?

Either way, what tetra mentioned in IS should be a more important factor than noise. Pixel peeping is a horrible disease. Sometimes I look through a magazine, like People for example, and I'll think "ugh, how can they publish that picture of Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn - it's soo damn noisy!" It's not somethign to get caught up in, just something to consider.


Back in the saddle!
Post InfoPosted 27-Sep-2006 19:26Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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For the A630 the 400 ISO looks entirely useable in good light, and the 800 ISO looked like it would be ok to use to catch the fast stuff if the lights are good and if I'm going to be using for internet posting. At full resolution, the 800 ISO was pretty bad, but the 400 wasn't bad at all. Compared to other cameras of similar caliber the noise is less with the canon. I think the S3 IS is just as bad with noise. I don't think you can say that any non-SLR is great with noise, and I'm not going to get an SLR, so whatever camera I look at will have the problem. I was really impressed otherwise with the quality of shots to come from the A630. It would be like 5 or 6 steps up from my current camera, which in all reality has treated me pretty well for the last few years.

I'll still think about it for a while, maybe I'll plead with a couple family members to combine xmas for me and go for the S3 IS, or the A710 IS.



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Post InfoPosted 28-Sep-2006 01:15Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
It's been about a week since my last update, and I did a water change and a bit more trimming/removing etc. This time the nesea went. I guess I'll never learn the cause and solution to the stunting odd growth leaves. On a brighter note I saw both nynodontis cats today. one makes his home under the ludwiggia and the other makes his home under a rock on the death star.

So...to the pics:


An LF slightly tilted frontal


A matty special


from the left side


a bit of a closeup on the chain swords


I dunno what it is about those chain swords that hooks me.

There's still some green algae growing around on the glass and hardscape, but I would guess that it's my fault for continually adding groups of fishes. We'll see if that settles out now that I'm done with the fish buying for a while. I thought about checking all my parameters, but I'm feeling lazy and have laundry to do, so I'll do it next time.



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Post InfoPosted 28-Sep-2006 02:19Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
Dr. Bonke
 
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This tank is really taking off into something special, the waterfall already at this stage looks better than I ever would have imagined! In general, your tank looks beautiful and healthy, but why don't you do something about that background? I don't know it it's just me, but personally I hate seeing cables from equipment hanging in the back of my "garden" Just put a black or a blue piece of cardboard behind the tank and it'll look a lot better... if you like the white, then use a white piece, just so that the horrid cable is no longer visible.
Post InfoPosted 28-Sep-2006 08:19Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
TW
 
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It's looking really beautiful matty.

Cheers
TW
Post InfoPosted 28-Sep-2006 12:34Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
tetratech
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EditedEdited by tetratech
It's starting to look sweet, much better with the removal of the nesea, but someone put a thin black plant there instead. Is that "Vallisneria cable"? I'm not sure if that fits in. Otherwise very nice, I would like to see the glosso run more into the middle of the tank.

My Scapes
Post InfoPosted 28-Sep-2006 13:34Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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Is that "Vallisneria cable"?



Matty,

Your tank is looking very nice. Good changes! There is much more flow to the tank now!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 28-Sep-2006 14:08Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
nellis
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Hey Matt, finally got the internet hooked up here in beantown.
The tank is looking great! I have to admit I was pretty skeptical about the glosso covering the deathstar, but it's filling in wonderfully.

I was reading about your petricolas.... They're extremely nocturnal. Get a moonlight and you'll see a lot more of them. Mine would be out the minute the lights went off scrounging around for food (before they died of strange, seizing fits).

How's the Fish Hole holding up? Did Jake get some reliable help?
Post InfoPosted 28-Sep-2006 15:34Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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Is that "Vallisneria cable"? I'm not sure if that fits in.


It's falling on deaf ears, my friend.. but you might as well keep hammering the point home anyway

Any chance you can snap away a pic or two of these cats Matty? or, failing that, provide a link?


Back in the saddle!
Post InfoPosted 28-Sep-2006 16:10Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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It's falling on deaf ears, my friend.. but you might as well keep hammering the point home anyway


I continually forget to buy the background. It's on the to do list, I swear. I want to say that I'll get it sunday, but so far I have a bad track record of remembering the background. I'll get it eventually.

Nate, it's good to hear you made it to boston safely. Any updates at your forum yet? I'll have to go check it out and see how well the tanks travelled. I'll see into one of those moon lights. My light on my sump has them and I don't use them. Maybe I can tear them out of there . Jake got some new help, I haven't even met them yet. They've probably worked there for 3 or 4 weeks now. I don't really know anybody that works there any more, everybody has dropped to minimal hours or quit for school or other reasons. Makes me feel old to have the most seniority other than the managers.

Sorry nowhere, no possible chance of getting these guys in a pic. here's to planet catfish. Pretty ok article. I've never seen a 4" petricola though. We have a few at the store that have been there for years and are maybe a little bigger than 2 inches. They are in a heavily planted, well taken care of 75g tank. These aren't very nocturnal and are out all the time, which made me falsely beleive I'd see mine a bit more. Mine are probably a bit over half an inch right now and like to hide. Any pic I'd try to get would show little more than there hiding place .



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Post InfoPosted 28-Sep-2006 16:44Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Matty,

Looking very nice, the glosso really is growing in. But I wouldn't be me if I would not have something to nag about

I think one of the downsides of the water fall is that it curves in the back, meaning the plants that are growing there are not visible from the front (at least that is how my tired eyes see it at 4 in the morning).

With regards to the background: Go to one of these hobby stores, like what chain is out there? Moore or something like that. They have these $5 thick cardboard sheets in all kinds of colors (make sure it is 36" long) and that is a cheap alternative for "real" tank backgrounds. I have used about 3 of them by now for my 20G and I am thinking of a few more different colors, just for the fun of it, like a reddish orange to show a sunrise (sunset,whatever).

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 29-Sep-2006 10:17Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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What you are looking for is matting material (the stuff that goes around pictures). I picked some up for my 29G a while back as they were running a half off sale!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 29-Sep-2006 14:06Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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LF, with the construction of the falls, I tried my best to get it to match up against the sides of the tank, but unfortunately the pvc is rounded on the corners. It didn't end up matching perfectly so I pushed it as close as possible on the front right side, and decided that I'd stick some stems in the back left which I've done. I think the front right will fill in completely with glosso eventually, and that's the look I'm going for, and probably what people who aren't so darn picky will notice the most. The back will have to be as it is. Just an inherent problem I'll keep trying to cover up.



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Post InfoPosted 29-Sep-2006 17:40Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
LITTLE_FISH
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who aren't so darn picky
- hey, I have nothing else to complain about, at least not when it comes to your tank

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 29-Sep-2006 21:27Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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HUGE update for tomorrow...you guys won't beleive your eyes. Just a warning.

*feels suspense build*

*shines new blue badge*



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Post InfoPosted 02-Oct-2006 05:14Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
TW
 
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HUGE update for tomorrow...you guys won't beleive your eyes. Just a warning. *feels suspense build*
*shines new blue badge*
Not fair, I won't have access to a computer for the next 4 days (not quite true, but not one that I can log onto FP anyway) So I guess, I'll be late for the update

Cheers
TW
Post InfoPosted 02-Oct-2006 13:59Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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Ok its tomorrow where is it???????

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 02-Oct-2006 14:01Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
LITTLE_FISH
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*shines new blue badge*
Well that is nice, congratulations. I have to say that I had something to do with it, as I voted for all the plant profiles you created (almost all, can't vote for the ones that I know nothing about).

Anyway, what is the surprise? You found a wallpaper for the tank?

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 02-Oct-2006 15:02Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
All apologies to tankwatcher, here's The HUGE update. LF totally ruined it. I got a background. Totally anticlimactic thanks to LF. I guess now it's just a regular ol' weekly update.

Aside from the background I got 3 amano shrimp and a crypt balansae that was only $0.50. The amano shrimp are in response to some more hair types of algae growing here and there. Nothing major yet. Hopefully they will help keep it in line. I also turned up the CO2 some more. I haven't even been measuring it, but the fish look just fine. The crypt was so cheap I had to get it. I'll turn it into some profit, because it fits in with the scheme OK now, but probably not when it gets tall.

So onto the pics. Frank will be happy, but tetratech might not, I got rid of his wire plant.


Frontal, notice the background


Nice angle looking at the falls.


The falls continueing to fill in.


My favorite spot in the tank right now...and a furcata.


View from the left side.


Matty special.

Welp that's it for this week. As usual comments/crits are welcome.



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Post InfoPosted 02-Oct-2006 22:04Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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Wow Matty!

The Glosso is filling in really nicely. You can hardly see the pvc any more. It looks like it was well worth your time of planting it all over the Death Star.

The full tank shot shows nice growth and a very nice flow to things. Nothing is overly distracting but it might be nice to find a way to make the DS not compeat as much with the sweet looking far left side. Having the red plan pop out of the sea of pearl grass next to the rock is very nice.

It might be nice to let the chain swords curve around from where it meets the glosso to the back left side. Then move the pearl grass and cool red plant in its place.

Your favorite spot in the tank is also one of mine too!

What did you use for a background? You seem to have the same problem as I with yoru background. It shows off the water spots on the back! I am too lazy to clean mine off right now.

Overall very well done!!

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LITTLE_FISH
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LF totally ruined it. I got a background. Totally anticlimactic thanks to LF.


Glad I could help ...

Anyway, I think the tank looks very nice now, to the point where I can envision it as almost complete. Besides the Glosso, the Pearl Grass seems to be growing really well in your tank (all others seem good also).

I think your Glosso is reaching the point where you will have to watch it more carefully for layered growth, the downfall of the Glosso in my tank. I am curious as how you will go about trimming it.

How is the Gayii (spelling?) doing? I had this plant for all of 24 hours and didn't like it too much.

Lastly, tell us more about the background. Is it a foil of some sort?

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 03-Oct-2006 13:44Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Thanks for the replys and nice comments guys,

Nothing is overly distracting but it might be nice to find a way to make the DS not compeat as much with the sweet looking far left side.


So you think the left side draws attention away from the falls? I suppose I could move the ludwigia closer to the falls. I'm not sure what kind of effect that will have though.

It might be nice to let the chain swords curve around from where it meets the glosso to the back left side. Then move the pearl grass and cool red plant in its place.


Yeah, I've been thinking of doing some more construction so things aren't in such obvious groupings. I do intend to allow more room for the glosso again during the next makeover. I'll probably want it to come right through the two rocks into the chainsword area. In the front I'll give it another 2-3 inches I think. That will give more of a water flow feeling I think. Right now it stops too abruptly. So everything else will be positioned around that.

What did you use for a background? You seem to have the same problem as I with yoru background. It shows off the water spots on the back! I am too lazy to clean mine off right now.


To answer both of you, it's just one of those plastic jobies you find at the lfs. It's double sided, so I can switch over to black if I feel the need, though I kinda like the blue. And I'm not sure that there are any water spots on the glass. I think the back was pretty clean. You may be talking about the bubbles though. That's from a water change. It may just be an effect of the pic too. I didn't really pay attention to them.

I think your Glosso is reaching the point where you will have to watch it more carefully for layered growth, the downfall of the Glosso in my tank. I am curious as how you will go about trimming it.


Hmm. To me it's not filled in enough. I'm sure it will be a couple weeks before I take scissors to it. I'll probably be pretty brutal with the trimming. Just cut it right back down. Maybe take some of the cuttings and place them into the mesh in addition to what is already there so it fills in faster each time. I don't mind if things look a bit weird for a few days or a week. And I guess I'll skip over the places that cover the pvc because it seems like that will take the longest to happen since I can't plant anything there.

How is the Gayii (spelling?) doing? I had this plant for all of 24 hours and didn't like it too much.

I like it. I think it's perfect for where I put it as long as it stays healthy and full. I did plant it real close together, so we'll see how that goes. I've already spread some trimmings around and thrown some out, so it seems to be growing well since I moved it from the front right corner which is really shaded. It's also the only dark green plant I have, so it makes a nice contrast with the super bright green plants. Thinking about that corner, I'm not sure the glosso is going to take well there. I may need to cover that spot with something, maybe some crypts or something else with lower light requirements.



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Post InfoPosted 03-Oct-2006 16:00Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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Looks great, Matty. It'll be no time flat before that glosso starts growing 5 layers deep and you rip your hair out pulling it up and replanting

The left side is very very nice. The challange as the tank grows in will be to have that side flow together with the glosso falls on the right. Something has to unify the two sides to make the scape conherent throughout. Right now it seems the tenellus is acting as just a divider between the two sides.

Excellent growth and plant health it seems - don't you want to give us a few patented LF close-up blemish shots to show the parts that aren't as perfect?




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Post InfoPosted 03-Oct-2006 16:32Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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What? six shots weren't enough. Closeup shots are VERY difficult with my camera, ones that you can tell any detail and are in focus anyways. A quick snap and post is impossible. I like to spend the effort on a good shot on the nice stuff . If that's what the people want though, I aim to please, I'll try to get up some shots of the nasties, but you don't have to worry about the imperfections, they are there. Like I said, I got some hair algae growing, and some green fuzzy stuff. I'm hoping not for long though. Extra CO2 and some shrimpies should help.

I agree about the tenellus divider. In my mind it was better that the baby's tears and glosso could be differentiated, but that might not be the case.



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Post InfoPosted 03-Oct-2006 16:43Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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I agree about the tenellus divider. In my mind it was better that the baby's tears and glosso could be differentiated, but that might not be the case


I agree with you on that, the leaf shapes may be too similar to have them close together.

Now that I look at the tank again, it seems to be taking on a "Dutch-style" garden look, and that works with the arrangement you have now. It may be a matter of seeing how everything fills in before doing anything major. My bad


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Post InfoPosted 04-Oct-2006 15:16Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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My bad


Nope, not bad, comments are always good. And you are right that it forms a street right up to the front. I think it's too soon to go messing around in there again, otherwise I'd try something else out. Maybe if the baby's tears grow up a bit so that you can see them just peeking up over the swords it might seem more like a natural patch than a dutch street. Anyhow, I'm going to let things settle in for a while before I go digging around again.



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Post InfoPosted 04-Oct-2006 21:46Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Hi Matty

Glad to see you have background now. It makes the tank look better. Very impressed with everything in the setup & growing of everying thing in there

Cheers
TW
Post InfoPosted 06-Oct-2006 00:54Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Thanks Robyn.


Well I'm still getting some weird algaes, so yesterday I decided to run some tests. pH was 6.6, KH was 6 for a CO2 of 45ppm. Nitrates were a bit above 10ppm. Nitrites were 0, but the weird thing was I had a tiny tiny amount of ammonia. It wasn't really a measurable amount, but it wasn't clear either. So I decided that my 204 isn't going to cut it, and I put a penguin 150 on the back of the tank. Turns out it doesn't fit over the edge real well and the output doesn't go down to the water line, so there is lot's of splashing. I immediately turned it off because I wanted CO2 in the tank. So today I have to jimmy rig some sort of extra output contraption.



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Post InfoPosted 07-Oct-2006 16:29Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
TW
 
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Ahhh, Mr Fix-it & do it yourself Matty. Now we would expect you to be the one to jimmy rig some sort of contraption

Cheers
TW
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Matty,

It seems to me that you are having tanks only so you can build stuff

Anyway - That sounds a little fishy to me. How can it be that you have ammonia but no nitrites? Under normal conditions, wouldn't that mean that your tank is at the beginning of a cycle? If I am not mistaken, don't plants like ammonia as food much more than nitrate? What do you think?

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Post InfoPosted 08-Oct-2006 11:25Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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Matty,

You must watched a lot of red green when you were growing up.

Rick
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Post InfoPosted 08-Oct-2006 14:43Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Ahhh, Mr Fix-it & do it yourself Matty. Now we would expect you to be the one to jimmy rig some sort of contraption

Well I used some eggcrate, aka light diffuser, and siliconed that to the output of of the penguin. looks like a mess, but I think it should work well. I'm going to let it continue to cure for the rest of today, and I'm going to pick up some filter cartridges while I'm at work.

It seems to me that you are having tanks only so you can build stuff


Isn't that half the fun?

You must watched a lot of red green when you were growing up.


I have no idea what red green is We talking about stop lights?

That sounds a little fishy to me. How can it be that you have ammonia but no nitrites? Under normal conditions, wouldn't that mean that your tank is at the beginning of a cycle? If I am not mistaken, don't plants like ammonia as food much more than nitrate? What do you think?


Well anytime I've seen an incomplete cycle(either underfiltration, overfeeding, over stocking), it's always ammonia, and sometimes nitrite, sometimes not. I've seen more samples of water while working at the Fish Place than I care to mention. For the most part people who use whispers always have trace levels of ammonia without nitrite(because you HAVE to trash the filter media every month). Same with the people that have aquaclears that go heavy on the cleaning. The people who have ammonia and nitrite seem not to take care of their tanks(no water changes, gravel vacs, filter maint.) at all and over feed/over stock. But I'm talking a real slight level of ammonia. If I didn't think there was anything there I woldn't have taken it into full light, put it on a white background....that sort of thing. It's not even enough that the fish are concerned about it, which is why I was a bit surprised. All the fish are really active and always begging for food. It's all just anectodal observation, so I'm sure some more scientific approach could negate everything I said there.
I bet you are right too about the ammonia, it would probably be worse, but the plants and algae are using some of it. Hopefully the filter will clean things up and help take care of the algae. If this doesn't work, I'm going to have to seriously look at my ferts and lighting, but I think I'm good there. The worst of it is on the glosso especially up towards the right. The chain swords have some on the older leaves, but the baby's tears and star grass seem immune, probably cause they grow so fast.


If you guys think think I like to DIY stuff, wait till you see my new project...it's already underway.



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Post InfoPosted 08-Oct-2006 15:59Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Hi,
I'm afraid to ask!

Frank


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Post InfoPosted 09-Oct-2006 04:53Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by LITTLE_FISH
wait till you see my new project...it's already underway
Either a hood for the tank or you build yourself a car

Anyway - As I am no longer opposed to overfiltration (see my 125 in the last 20 pages to follow filter discussion) I would say that you can always add this filter. But for the traces of ammonia, I would assume that your tank in itself (you know, plants and stuff) should be able to handle it.

And didn't you do this fancy ammonia cycling first? Where would now come this cycle from?

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 09-Oct-2006 10:25Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by TankWatcher
Not only are you making a hood and rigging up a filter - you are probably even cutting glass, sealing it together & building yourself a new tank out of recycled glass.

After that, you will build the car Ingo mentions.

Cheers
TW
Post InfoPosted 09-Oct-2006 14:35Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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You must watched a lot of red green when you were growing up
Watch PBS on Sunday nights. I think it is Sunday nights. I don't have a TV any more so I am a bit out of the loop.

http://www.cbc.ca/redgreen/ Check out the Handy Man Hall of Fame

If you guys think think I like to DIY stuff, wait till you see my new project...it's already underway
Can you use your old car for it?

55G Planted tank thread
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[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 09-Oct-2006 14:40Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Anyway - As I am no longer opposed to overfiltration (see my 125 in the last 20 pages to follow filter discussion) I would say that you can always add this filter. But for the traces of ammonia, I would assume that your tank in itself (you know, plants and stuff) should be able to handle it.

And didn't you do this fancy ammonia cycling first? Where would now come this cycle from?


LF, you don't think I remember your filter discussion , tetratech and I took part I think. I wouldn't call adding this filter overfiltration. More like adequate. I started out with the fluval 204, recommended for 40 gallons. I added the penguin 125(I know I said 150 earlier, sorry!) because I was underfiltering. The ammonia is coming from too much bioload for the filter to handle. It's too small for the tank. I started out on page 1 saying I might need another filter, and this whole time I was watching, thinking that same thought.

It's not cycling BTW. There's just a very small amount of ammonia that isn't able to be broken down. There is a lot of ammonia being broken down, but there's a limit on the filter and the tank, and I went past that. All the ammonia that IS getting broken down into nitrite is also getting broken down into nitrate, but the filter can't take all the ammonia, so it just sits there, and builds up inbetween water changes.

I'd say the tank is handling it, in the form of some weird hair algae stuff. I'd rather the extra filter handle it than the algae, just my opinion.

you are probably even cutting glass, sealing it together & building yourself a new tank out of recycled glass.


Well I have sort of done this already. For my sump I had to reseal the 30G that came before my 38G, which had busted. Every single peice of glass was removed cleaned and resiliconed. I also had glass cut for the divisions in the tank and had to seal those in there too. Not the same as making my own tank, but that process was bad enough that I haven't had thoughts of making my own tank since. I always used to think of building tanks. Not any more, that was a pain!

I really didn't make a filter, I just made the filter output a little longer so there wasn't any splashing. That's no big deal. Now making a filter would be pretty cool.

And no car building...except pinewood derby. I used to do those as a kid in boy scouts.



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Post InfoPosted 09-Oct-2006 15:06Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Watch PBS on Sunday nights. I think it is Sunday nights. I don't have a TV any more so I am a bit out of the loop.

http://www.cbc.ca/redgreen/ Check out the Handy Man Hall of Fame


Some reason I didn't see your post....sorry! I've seen those guys before, but didn't know what to call it. Unfortunately I didn't watch a lot of handyman stuff as a kid, or I'd probably be better at rigging things up on my own. Every time I start a project I have to figure out how to do it first.

Oh, and LF didn't ruin it this time. I'll let you guys know as soon as I get some pics of the first completed step and start a thread. That means it's *kinda* hobby related.



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Post InfoPosted 09-Oct-2006 15:13Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by LITTLE_FISH
Oh, and LF didn't ruin it this time.
- Come on, I know that you want people to guess what it is

I believe you threw the *kinda* word in there to throw us off, it is fully hobby related is what I would think.

Hm, maybe a sump for the freshwater tank, with holes drilling and all that kind of stuff.

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 09-Oct-2006 17:59Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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My guess is a PVC Canister filter

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 09-Oct-2006 19:26Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Come on, I know that you want people to guess what it is


But for the sake of surprise, I didn't give enough hints. Time's running out on the guessing.


And it really is only *kinda* hobby(fish that is) related. I wouldn't lie. I'm worried if I'll be able to post it up. Frank may have to delete it, joke Frank....please don't delete it. It does involve a fish tank so maybe it will slide.

Not a sump, and not a PVC cannister filter, though, I've thought of making a pvc housing for an in-line submersible heater. That's kind of similar. I think a pvc cannister filter would be pretty tough to make...or make well(and cheap) anyways. I can see using a mag drive(external pump) on the "out" side of the pvc filter so it stays clean. I guess using that large diameter thin walled stuff would be good, the hardest part would be bringing the fitting size down to 1/2 or 3/4 inch fittings though. That would be expensive unless there's only one part needed. and normally you have to buy a 10 foot peice of pvc. That's also expensive. I can't see that being cost effective, but it would be fun.

I'll go ahead and start up a thread in an hour or two. I gotta go take some photos.



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Post InfoPosted 09-Oct-2006 21:48Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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Check this out

The Planted tank forum has great DIY journals.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 12-Oct-2006 14:00Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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That's a very clean tank...equipment wise. All those unions and ball valves and fittings cost a fortune though. My guess is that if he didn't have a bunch of it lying around, is that he spent over $100 on plumbing alone. Might be worth it though. I know if I had the cash I'd make a clean tank like that, but it wouldn't do that to any silly 37 gallon tank. That's like a waste of time IMO . I'm thinking the tall and wide 120. But that's for another day.

Good link wings.



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Post InfoPosted 12-Oct-2006 16:22Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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We;ve gotta introduce that guy in the link to tetratech!


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Post InfoPosted 12-Oct-2006 17:42Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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...in the link to tetratech
I guess tetratech doesn't have much to say these days either



Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 12-Oct-2006 21:24Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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Perhaps, having perfected the large tank, and then the nano tank, he has moved on to more reefy pastures to begin his SW journey?


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Post InfoPosted 12-Oct-2006 21:55Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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he has moved on to more reefy pastures to begin his SW journey?
And that would be enough reason for him to drop us like a Riccia Rock?

I don't think so, I believe he would have invited us to the dark side forum to take a peak. But maybe he wants to set up his tank first and then come around.

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I really didn't know what the guy had into it but it sure looks nice. DIY doesn't always save money, sometimes it just makes things better.

I'm thinking the tall and wide 120. But that's for another day.
Are you talking about the 5 foot x 18" or the 4 foot x 2 foot. The discus tank at work is the 5 foot 120. It is a pretty nice tank but I really think I would like to do a 4 foot 120. It doesn't take up much space and you could take a bath in it!

drop us like a Riccia Rock
Nice wording!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 13-Oct-2006 14:31Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
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drop us like a Riccia Rock?

But I haven't seen him on the dark side, so I don't think that's the case.

I'm talking the 4 foot 120. 24" front to back is a lot of nice scaping room.



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Post InfoPosted 13-Oct-2006 16:57Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Yeah the 4 foot 120 looks like it would be a sweet tank to play with. Someday I hope to get my hands on one.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 13-Oct-2006 17:42Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Time for an update. This last week or two I added a filter. I used aquaclear media simply because I like their media more, but I like the penguin filters, so I combine the two. Works great with the sponge jammed to the right side(water flows past this first), and the ceramic rings on the left(tetratech would love this setup, as water hangs out in this area for longer than normal, contact time). The filter bottomed out the CO2, even after I reduced splashing with a rigged up eggcrate extended output thingamabob. Since that failed, I had to think of something else. I had half an aquaclear sponge left over cause I bought a size too big to fit in the filter. I cut a hole in that and slid it up onto the eggcrate thingamabob and the water flows through the whole sponge, slowly, before entering the tank water. Now it works like a trickle filter, with absolutely no splashing. Cool, and the CO2 is back up to where it was previously.

So, onto the rest of the tank. The glosso has been filling in the upper portion of the glossofalls wonderfully(except for the hair algae), but growth is real verticle at the bottom, and leaves are browning falling off the glosso, indicating to me a lack of light. I guess I'll have to abandon the glosso down there and try to cover up with something less light demanding. Growth is good everywhere else in the tank, and a bit of weird hair algae remains, but seems to be already diminishing. I haven't gotten to trimming anything, so you'll be seeing the overgrown look.

First I promised a pic of something that looks not-so-hot in my tank, here's a shot of the hair algae on the glosso at the top of the falls:


The rest are just different angles on the tank, I didn't take any other closeups:










Enjoy



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Matty,

Wow your tank is filing out nice! I have never really kept a lot of plants that spread out nice like that so I haven't experinced a fill out like many others have.

Looks great! Any ideas for dark area plants? Crypts?

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looking good, I like the beware of attack fish sign

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EditedEdited by TankWatcher
I haven't gotten to trimming anything, so you'll be seeing the overgrown look.
I like the overgrown look. It makes where the fall/slope joins the flat part look so much more natural. They just flow together so smoothly. If it doesn't cause too many shading problems, I'd leave it a little overgrown.

I like these shots the best.

Cheers
TW
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Thanks guys, yeah I like the overgrown look too, but I'll probably hack it all down in a couple days - it does tend to shade out the bottom of the falls, that's why I wanted to post up pics.

I'm not real sure what I can put there wings. The glosso in the foreground seems to be getting enough light so I want to leave it there. I'm thinking some kind of moss might be the only low light plant I can put on the falls that won't shade out the glosso in the foreground. Anybody know if there's a lighter shade of green colored moss? Something closer to the glosso?



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Sorry Matty, no moss expert here

Otherwise, the tank looks very nice, seems to almost have reached the max of what you can have in mass already (not the species though.

Yes, beware of the glosso overgrow, I cannot state this often enough as I don't want you to go the Ingo route with it. Having hair algae in it is not a good thing, I would assume that a major trim would be needed in that area to remove most of it. Bummer

I like the little red group maybe when it grows some more you could half a stem or two and make the group a little larger.

Have fun,

Ingo


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Thanks LF, I think tank conditions(trace ammonia) provided the hair algae growing conditions. I also think I corrected that. Hopefully it's on its way out. Don't worry, I'm listening to you about the growth layers...but it hasn't happened yet. I'll keep an eye out, I promise. I'll see about the red group. I've already trimmed it a few times, and I wasn't really tempted to make the group larger. I've just been trimming a couple inches off the bottom and replanting.

I was thinking today...how do you guys feel about some anubias nana petite down in the shaded area?



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how do you guys feel about some anubias nana petite down in the shaded area?
Basically, doesn't sound like a bad idea, but I wouldn't be me if I would not have a word of caution:

- First, you would need quite a few there, let's say at least 5 in order to have a small group (no, I do know that Anubias are not schooling plants ). The cheapest access I ever had to Petite was $7 a piece, so that's $35 plus shipping.
- Depending how shaded the area is, they may not make an impression anyway. Did you know that I have 5 Petites in front of my big log in the 125? One cannot even see them in the shade of the NL Java Fern.

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Here is a moss link for you! Odds of finding the stuff you want though are probably slim.

http://www.aquamoss.net/Moss-List.htm


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Post InfoPosted 16-Oct-2006 14:25Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
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First, you would need quite a few there, let's say at least 5 in order to have a small group (no, I do know that Anubias are not schooling plants ). The cheapest access I ever had to Petite was $7 a piece, so that's $35 plus shipping.


Well I do have some plant buying money, LF. I was thinkging of getting 7-8.

They'll be easily seen there, I think. I'm not thinking that will be a problem. It's too dark for glosso, but I think there will be plenty of light for the anubias. I'd even give it a 2wpg rating when both lights are on(the pictures are with just one light on).

Thanks for the moss link wings, I'll check that out before I make up my mind on the anubias.



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That's it, I'm officially starting the "Free Matty's Glosso Brigade."

Trim that stargrass or whatever it is that's eating up the glosso on the bottom of the death star! Let the glosso grow free and roam! It's starting to fill in perfectly over there. For the hair algae, I would hold off on the a. petite nana and spend that money on a bulk order of Amano shrimp. They'll eat it, just in a tank that large you'd need quite a few, say 20-30.

I really wish I could find a copy of Amano's "Hill Rug" online, it's just what you're going for.


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<-- Wonders where that money came from

Anyway, I was not really concerned that the Petites would not get enough light there. It was more that the spot is so dark that it will not be noticable from the front of the tank, at least in the pictures. I will post some shots of my 125 tonight and maybe you see what I mean.

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Well I did a major hack job on everything today, so you'll be happy nowher. I took out about 40 of the largest tenellus and some star grass to take to the store for $$. That still left maybe 20-30 little ones to replant with. I couldn't beleive how many were in there. In another month I'll be in the same position again.

Hmm...I'd think the petite would be noticeable there, but what I'm more concerned about I guess is that they'll grow and cover the mesh and pvc.



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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
I haven't done any updating here because I'm not really pleased with the tank right now, but thought I'd fill everybody in anyways.

The reasons I'm not pleased with this tank are that fish are dropping off, I only have 3/8 of the featherfins left, 2/4 otos from what I can tell, and 5/6 of the furcatas. I still have all the praecox but a couple of the females don't look too hot and the males lack color. I haven't seen the petricola cats in ages.

In addition I'm still having algae troubles, mainly on the glossofalls, but it's also spreading a bit everywhere else and requires harvesting every week.

I did a big water change today and pruned stuff and harvested hair algae, and cleaned the glass, so all in all it's looking pretty good so I took a picture. Here 'tis:




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Post InfoPosted 27-Oct-2006 23:39Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Now that is a bummer

I am wining about the loss of one fish and you loose at the same time about half your tank population without saying anything.

What are the symptoms in the rainbows? I remember that I lost my 3 female dwarfs within a matter of a few weeks, all became sluggish and started to breathe heavy, then developed dropsy, and then were removed from the tank.

The hair algae is hard to get rid off, I have a major issue with it in my 29G and even the best harvesting can not eliminate it and within a matter of 1 to 2 weeks it is back. Remember that I said you really have to give the glosso a major trim to get rid of the embedded algae? I think this would be the only way to remove it.

Otherwise, the tank looks very green, although all green is of the same color shade. There may be a chance to introduce some darker plant.

Sorry again for all the troubles,

Ingo


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So sorry about the fish loss, Matty. I hope the bad run is finished now.

It goes without saying that your tank is looking really good. Even though you say there is algae, it doesn't show in the pics & it all looks great in there.

Fingers crossed for your remaining fish

Cheers
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Well I saw a third oto so that's good news I wasn't positive I'd lost 2 of those as they can be tricky to spot. Also after the trim I was able to spot one of the petricola cats, still in its home under the ludwigia. The other is probably still there as well.

The featherfins have been disappearing for a couple weeks I'd say now. The symptoms appear to me like one gets weak and skinny and then vanishes. Then it happens to another one. I can't say they are starving or if they are it's their fault. I feed very small foods for my small fish. Baby brine or cyclopeez once a day, and every other day I mix brine or mysis in with it for the preacox. The second feeding is flake, and I make sure some of the flakes are crushed up pretty good for them. I dunno, maybe I need 3 feedings a day to keep these guys healthy?

The other fish do well, eat with gusto and swim around normally. Even the healthy looking featherfins do until they get skinny. The preacox don't seem really colorful, but they seem to be doing alright anyways. At least none of them are missing. Nobody is sluggish or breathing heavy. I think with the preacox the females are getting harassed a bit by the males, and the males are getting harassed a bit by the other males(remember the "fighting" I talked about awhile ago in this thread. They never stopped). I guess it could be parasites or something for the featherfins because they don't show any external symptoms. But I can't say that I'm going to try to treat for anything. I almost wish I'd have stocked this tank with 20 tiger barbs instead .

I agree I need some contrast in there Ingo, but I'm not going to be putting in new plants until I beat back this hair algae. That may be until fish stop dieing though, cause I never find them, and that means ammonia. So I guess this tank will go on the back burner for now till things settle.



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Good call on waiting with the new plants, control is better

About the dying fishies, again: Hm, the one thing I see in your last post is that you eat quite a meat heavy diet. I am not sure, but aren't most rainbows rather on the vegetarian side? Maybe that is why they get skinny. But on the other hand, there are enough threads in there that they could munch on if they wanted.

Just a thought,

Ingo


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I forgot to say the flakes were veggie flakes. That's all I ever use for flake food really, except my marine fish which hardly ever get flake anyways. I use frozen stuff for the meats like you said.



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Lost track of this thread...

Sorry about the fish loss Matty, I hope the tide turns on that soon enough

As for the plants, I like the lower look But I'm still interested to see how long your patience will last with that tennellus. I love tennellus, and if the whole bottom of the tank was tenellus I would say go for it because that would be pretty neat, but when you're trying to keep it controlled in a small space that's going to become a bi-weekly ritual, weeding it out.

Very impressive pearl grass


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Thanks nowherman

Unfortunately I've lost a couple more fish, including a male preacox. I think I might have gotten a bad batch of pvc or something like that and it might be leaching undesireables into the water. Could be internal parasites or who knows what else. Might be bad husbandry, but I'd argue with you about that. I'm thinking about tearing it down and starting fresh, but that won't be happening until xmas break maybe if at all. I barely have time to do the water changes every week much less to (re)set up a tank. Even the viv is on hold right now. If I do a tear down, I won't retry the falls. I'll do somthing entirely different. It would obviously include the tenellus whatever it is I do . And I can never lose patience with it. I just like it too much.



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Tenellus Obsessor = Matty
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Tank Redo Ingo Style = LITTLE_FISH

Who else is out there?

Anyway, sorry to hear about all the trouble that the tank seems to give you at the moment. I don't have any reasonable explanation on why things are the way they are, but I am most certain that there is no single culprit here. I would assume that the fish are/were sick (which would explain the deaths) and that it may have been better not to add all at once (may explain the algae). But hey, afterwards we are all wiser, aren't we?

Ingo


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Hey I want in with the names!

LF,
I think you are on to something with the too many fish right away and algae theory.

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Post InfoPosted 07-Nov-2006 14:53Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
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The fish might be sick, but if they are, then I have no indicators as to what it is. They look active and healthy then I find one taking a nap in the pearl grass(if I find it at all). The only ones that look at all weak or anything were 2 of the featherfins, but those died shortly after I bought them, and well before the recent problems. I now only have 2 of those and they appear perfectly healthy. None of the praecox acted weird before I found one dead. I'm no disease and treatment expert, but I know a healthy/unhealthy fish when I look at it, even if I don't know why.

If the algae were only from putting too many fish in at once I wouldn't still have the problem. Especially since I have less fish now than I originally put in the tank(and more algae than the same). I've beat back algae before by dosing things right and upping the CO2 and what not. This time it doesn't seem to make a difference, but if the algae were the only problem I wouldn't be overly concerned, and I really don't mind a bit of hair algae, it's easy to harvest and grows pretty slow. IMO it's probably from fish dieing and not finding them, and the majority of the algae is about 6 inches away from the lights. The rest of the tank has some here and there. It's growing slower than the ludwigia glandulosa on the bottom of the tank, and I'd guess the ludwigia grows about 1 inch per week or two and there's only a little algae on the oldest couple leaves.

*shrugs*



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Post InfoPosted 07-Nov-2006 23:37Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Sorry to hear of the continued bad luck.

I certainly hope that things pick up & you don't have to re-do the tank. It would be a shame to lose the waterfall after all your hard work.

Hope all improves. I agree with what's been said. Although I read an article about fishless cycling which said you can add all fish at once with this method, I wouldn't trust to do that myself. If you decide to re-stock this tank, maybe go back to the tried & true method of gradually stocking a tank over a period of six months.

Anyway, fingers & toes are crossed for a change of luck with the tank.

Cheers
TW
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Matty,

Yeah, that sounds kind of strange, how they just drop dead all of a sudden. I know that my female rainbows showed at least a few days of weakness symptoms, with standing still in one spot, close to the surface. And 2 actually developed dropsy. Actually, none of mine died so sudden that I found them dead in the tank, they usually died because of my action to remove their "pain".

Ingo


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Matty, sorry for the fish loss.

Something must have shifted to lose all those fish in short order as well as your current algae issues. IMO the best way to avoid and combat problems is to do things slowly. I think most know this, but it's tough to resist when you see something good at the LFS. Algae like other forms of life at opportunisitic. The spores are there, just like parasites and other microscopic life forms. When conditions are right they come out and multiply. The biofilter, ecological balance in our tanks are very sensitive, they have to slowly adjust to any changes you make to the tank. Look at fish, when the temp changes quickly the fish can't adjust and they get sick, but the same fish will tolerate a temp shift if it comes about slowly. Your tank is the same way. When alot of fish are added at once (which means more food, more poop) the biofilter and other necessary components in the tank can't adjust either and creatures like algae get a foothold.

I think a full planted tank can hold alot of fish, but it needs to be stocked very sloooowly. Matty when you talk about all the food your feeding your fish to get them to eat, etc. it's very tough to invision your tank without algae. EI is an "Estimative Index" I don't think it matters if your off center that's the whold idea, you can be, it's estimative.




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Post InfoPosted 08-Nov-2006 15:50Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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Matty when you talk about all the food your feeding your fish to get them to eat, etc. it's very tough to invision your tank without algae


I'm not overfeeding. The food gets eaten, and quickly. It's not hanging around in the tank. I'm not an overfeeder, I'm an underfeeder. My boss at work tells me to feed more, and he's usually telling people to feed less. Food is not the problem. It may have sounded like I feed a lot from my post above, sure I feed lots of types of food, that's called good husbandry. I'm not feeding lots of each type of food. I'm trying to slow the fish death carnage so I'm feeding them well(note well, not overfed) and doing waterchanges. Anyways, algae is a secondary concern right now as I said before and probably coming from all the fish I didn't find when they died(that would be a good foothold, right?). That's so likelly that I'm not really considering any other scenarios. It's not even all that bad, especially in the lower portion of the tank(read the majority) and especially compared to the loss of fish. Since I can't seem to do much about the loss of fish, I've got an experiment going that's controlling the light a bit directly over the glossofals area.

As far as something shifting to cause fish deaths, I agree, and I don't because it's not anything I can test for, and it's happening over an extended period of time. Also, the last change I made to the tank was 6 tiny little fish 3 weeks before I started having problems. I've ran temp, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, PO4, pH, gH, and KH tests and had them double checked at work. I've tested at multiple times during the day and for the past couple weeks since the fish first started dieing. The only thing I did find was that my ammonia test is bad and gives a slight ammonia reading when there is nothing, but reads fine otherwise. I probably never even had to put on the extra filter. IMO it's either internal parasites or some odd chemical leaching from the supplies I used during setup. I've ruled out internal parasites in my own mind because the fish are never lethargic and only the 2 first threadfins got skinny. Even now the male rainbows are all displaying back and forth to the females.

Oh, and I'm not much for the EI - remember, I'm the micromanager of macronutrients.

Anywho, thanks for the condolences and opinoins, even if it seems I'm a stubborn blockhead unwilling to listen to good advice. I'm really taking all into consideration.



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Post InfoPosted 08-Nov-2006 20:32Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Matty, I'm not picking on you the whole point of my post was that there are less problems when things are done slowly. Who really knows exactly why a fish might succumb, maybe there are things needed in the whole balance of things that we can't measure, etc.

The food gets eaten, and quickly. It's not hanging around in the tank. I'm not an overfeeder, I'm an underfeeder.
.
See here's the thing. That's great and I'm sure you doing that. If your feeding those different foods for good husbandry it doesn't necessarily mean it works in a high-light planted tank setup. I have one rainbow in my tank and the thing eats and poops nonstop. None of the food makes it to the bottom of the tank, but what about the other end of the feeding process. If the fish are eating and none of the food is making it to the bottom aren't they pooping more.

IMO I don't think high fish loads and high light planted tanks mix. I'm not talking about your tank, but in general. It's very difficult to keep the organics in the tank down where the light won't fuel algae growth. If one wants to increase his chances of success the fish load must be extremely gradual.







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I'm inclined to believe that sometimes fish just die I know in my 4G I had to purchase probably 10 or so Green Neon tetras before winding up with the final three that remained healthy. Wherever they're rasied - unless raised in small numbers in the tank of a hobbyist - many times they just don't cope well with transport to LFS, then transport to new tank. I've seen schools get shipped to an LFS in decent shape, then just die off. No one's fault really, maybe just poor genetics?


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mattyboombatty
 
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Food in doesn't equal poop out. It matters whether your fish eat the food or if it gets to the bottom. If it gets to the bottom and nobody eats it then the whole peice of food and all of it's nutritional value ends up as waste. However, if your fish eats it, a large portion of the nutritional value is stored and used for metabolic processes and growth and what not.

Other than that, I agree, and I was only trying to convey that I'm not overfeeding. I understand that the amount of food in a system can cause problems. But that doesn't have anything to do with the number of types of food I feed.



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Post InfoPosted 08-Nov-2006 22:41Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
tetratech
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This is what I hate about online forums. I think your misinterpreting what I'm saying. By the way are you a Taurus. Because I am

Food in doesn't equal poop out. It matters whether your fish eat the food or if it gets to the bottom. If it gets to the bottom and nobody eats it then the whole peice of food and all of it's nutritional value ends up as waste. However, if your fish eats it, a large portion of the nutritional value is stored and used for metabolic processes and growth and what not.


Thanks for the bio101 lesson. I agree with your statement (I was a bio major in colleague for two years), but not in relation planted aquaria. Let's take two identical tanks. They are exactly the same. One aquarist feeds their fish twice a day 7/days a week and other feeds their fish once a day (same amount each feeding) are you telling me the poop is the same. Doen't the fishes body only use what it can and the rest is waste. So if you agree with that there is more waste in the tank where the fish are feed twice a day. And that assumes all the food is eaten. Take it a step further and say the tank that is feed twice a day now has double the number of fish. Isn't there that much more waste accumulating in the tank compared to the other tank?

So would you agree it's harder to keep the tank that has double the fish and double the feeding clear of algae because of the built-up organics. Forget overfeeding/underfeeding I'm simply saying it's easier to maintain an algae free tank especially in high-light situations with less fish and less food going in. Who's to say what is overfeeding. Every tank is different, but when compared to a tank with less stock and less food your chances are better.





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Post InfoPosted 08-Nov-2006 23:51Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Nope I'm a leo...preeeow

I agree with what you said in the above.

Yes if you feed more it can lead to more algae. If there are more fish, the need to feed more is there too, and it's easier to get algae.

In a fairly empty tank(like mine is now ) there is less waste and less foods for algae.

I wasn't trying to disagree, just trying to point something out that needs to be taken into account IMO. This is what I was trying to point out. If you have two tanks that are fed the same amount, but one has a few more fish in it than the other. In the tank with more fish all the food is eaten. In the tank with less fish not all the food is eaten. The waste in these two tanks are not the same even though the food input is. The one with less fish and uneaten food will have more waste problems than the one with more fish and no uneaten food. However, if you were to feed both these tanks a certain amount per fish(so you are feeding the tank with more fish more food) then yes, the tank with more fish and more food input will have a greater succeptability(sp?) to algae.

That's all just an exception to the rule.



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Post InfoPosted 09-Nov-2006 01:11Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
tetratech
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Agreed!!!

Geez, I post a few comments a week and I get into a debate about poop?

Where's LF? I guess I'll go pick on him for a while. Something about his flat 125g?

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Post InfoPosted 09-Nov-2006 01:20Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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Matty, another Leo. Checked your profile and your BDay is 9 days before mine.

Cheers
TW
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mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
I knew we could come to some agreement this time.

At least I don't have to apologize to LF for cluttering up his log like last time.

So we decided that maybe my algae got a foothold because of my fishless cycle, but did we decide what to do about it now(without talking more about feeding, for the record I'll be continuing with 2 small feedings per day)?

Happy almost shared birfday robyn



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Post InfoPosted 09-Nov-2006 01:38Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
tetratech
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but did we decide what to do about it now(without talking more about feeding, for the record I'll be continuing with 2 small feedings per day)?
O.K. I can't mention feeding, can I say nutriential servings

I guess the only thing to do is reduce lighting if possible to 6 hours and don't add anymore stock.

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Post InfoPosted 09-Nov-2006 02:24Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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don't add anymore stock.


The thought hadn't crossed my mind

I'll bring the lights down a bit then I think I'm at 9 hrs right now.



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Post InfoPosted 09-Nov-2006 03:43Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Where's LF?
I am right here, just happen to have had all day meetings and such fun things. So this is what happens when I leave you guys alone for two days, wars are declared, alliances between birthsigns are formed, poop is thrown around, and what not

Anyway, glad that you guys at least agree somewhat on what may be the cause. All of this does not explain the deaths though. I am with NowherMan6, sometimes fish just die. But not in a short interval with zero sign of sickness. That is mindboggeling. Unfixable stress from shipping?

Oh, I am an archer (sagittarius, or how do you spell that), so no funny business here, ok?

Ingo


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EditedEdited by Wingsdlc
While we are at it....
Aries (Mar 21- Apr 19) - is the cardinal/fire sign. Aries people need to keep physically busy. They accomplish many things simply because of their restless energy. They need to learn how to make constructive use of their energetic efforts. The typical Aries urge is to take on more than can be done reasonably well. Though others may find it difficult to keep pace with an Aries, they are attracted to their animation and spirited personality.
This seems to make sense right about now in my life...

At this point Matty I wouldn't make any large changes just to see what happens. Once you start making changes, who knows what the causes are.


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Post InfoPosted 10-Nov-2006 15:05Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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But not in a short interval with zero sign of sickness


I think it can happen. If these fish were relatively new stock, i.e. only at the store for a few days before being brought home, I can see them dying off in large numbers. Call it poor genetics of the fish, stress from relocation, whatever. I just think it happens sometimes.

Heck, look at tetra and his cardinals pre-UV. His would just turn up dead, as I remember. Some fish are just weaker and can't deal.


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Post InfoPosted 10-Nov-2006 16:20Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Nah, I never buy fish at the store when they just come in. The threadfins I remember were in the store for at least 2-3 months and the praecox were in at least one month. The furcatas were there a very long time, as I remember I didn't want to buy them as tiny as they were. They probably nearly doubled in size at the store before I bought them. For some reason rainbows aren't the most popular fish in the store, I guess.

These fish shipped fine and were never treated for anything at the store, they were fine there too. Then they spent a good monnth or more in my tank before they decided to start kicking off.

It's something about my tank conditions that these fish aren't pleased with. There's no doubt about that. Weak fish, maybe, but they sure looked good for a while.



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Post InfoPosted 10-Nov-2006 17:15Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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That changes everything then. It's interesting.

Maybe some species just need to be in an established tank to thrive? And maybe there's more to an established tank than 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrite? I don't know

The second question, of course, is how a school of threadfin rainbows managed to stay unbought for 2-3 months


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Post InfoPosted 10-Nov-2006 17:43Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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I dunno how they didn't get sold, it's not like they are that expensive at $5 each. A lot of our customer base doesn't really know what's up. "I want something colorful" "gee those, umm...they aren't...colorful? " I get frustrated with the customers at times, if you can't tell. Those are the costomers that usually end up buying dalmation mollies, perhaps one of the least colorful fish ever. I guess I shouldn't talk though, I can't even keep the rainbows alive.

Yep, maybe I should have stocked with something less sensitive, but that doesn't IMO explain why they are still dieing. The tank is what I'd call established now or even a month or more ago, and that's when they started dieing. I guess I'm just going to have to wait it out with waterchanges. If I end up with no fish left in a couple months, I'll know that I need to change everything.



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Post InfoPosted 10-Nov-2006 18:40Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Matt... don't stress put too much about them. I had problems keeping the furcatas and threadfins alive for a while too. I gave up on the furcatas and now i have threadfins and gertrudes, which are finally doing fine, despite occasional neglect.

I think dwarf rainbows just tend to be weak. They're little fish. Maybe there's something going on inside their tiny bodies that we simply just don't understand yet, despite our best efforts. I think eventually your stock will thin to a few strong guys that will never die. Things just have to sort themselves out.
Post InfoPosted 11-Nov-2006 06:48Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Thanks Nate, hopefully that's the case and they are just weak. I just get upset about it because I haven't had a problem with fish dieing in 5 or 6 yrs.



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Post InfoPosted 11-Nov-2006 17:58Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Well I got my new camera, and was giving it a whirl on the 50g tank. I haven't quite got it down yet, but I'm feeling confident I will after another couple sessions. Right now I only have the 16mb card that came with the camera, so I get like 10 pics at a time, so I haven't gone all out yet because of the back and forth to the computer thing. I'll be getting a bigger card for xmas. I can't help but like this camera 100X more than my old one already. So much easier to get good pics. The one thing I'm really having to re-learn is basically the right settings to get the right light and shutter speed and whatnot. Everything else is cake. So on to the pics I guess.

Here's the outcome of photo shoot 1 and 2:











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Post InfoPosted 17-Nov-2006 02:27Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
And here's another sampling:











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Post InfoPosted 17-Nov-2006 02:53Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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Nice pictures Matt! I can't wait to see them after you have every thing figured out with the new camera.

The colors seem to look pretty realistic with this camera. Nothing is overly bright or too dark. Nice work my friend. BTW what did you get for a camera.

Your red plant is a type of ludwigia right? I really like how deep red that plant is.



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tetratech
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Nice Matty, It's a shame you don't know how to use the camera

I really like the first pic and the one with the big pearl.
Your rainbow pics will give LF a run for the money.



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Post InfoPosted 17-Nov-2006 16:15Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Thanks Guys, I think LF's pics of the rainbows are better than mine, cause he caught them shining blue, I've yet been able to do that. I also have some pics of my salt tank. Go check those out cause nobody else will. I've been talking to myself over there for the last couple months. I'm having a little harder time taking clean, properly colored pics of stuff in that tank, so the pics aren't quite as good.

I ended up taking your advice tetratech, and I got an IS. I also kept with the smaller point and shoot style too. The camera is a canon A710 IS. It had all the features I wanted, IS, big 6x zoom, manual focus, large viewing screen, super macro, and all that other fun stuff. I found it going as cheap as the a630 and no shipping charge, so I couldn't pass it up.

I have to admit tetratech, the IS is a pretty cool feature, one that would be impossible to pass up now that I've experienced it first hand. Glad I listened to you that much.

And yes the red plant in my tank is the ludwigia glandulosa. It's gotta be one of my favorite red plants, not too difficult to grow either.



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Post InfoPosted 17-Nov-2006 18:20Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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I have to admit tetratech, the IS is a pretty cool feature, one that would be impossible to pass up now that I've experienced it first hand. Glad I listened to you that much.

Glad you take my recovery room advice.

Anyway, great camera, I'm sure you'll have a good time with it. If you haven't upgraded your memory card you might want to consider this. http://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-SDSDPH-1024-901-Ultra-Retail-Package/dp/B0009HTB0Y/sr=1-2/qid=1163782146/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/103-1830850-9147837?ie=UTF8&s=electronics

It rotates into a USB connection, so you don't have to worry about a card reader or attaching a cable. I've had one for about 4 months and it works great.

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Post InfoPosted 17-Nov-2006 18:50Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Glad you take my recovery room advice.


Hey! So far I've turned the lights down and haven't bought any fish, despite seeing some nice stuff at work every week.


Wow that's a pretty cool little gadget. I'll look into getting one of those. Right now I just plug the camera into the computer, which isn't too much of a hassle, but I'm sure that would be easier.



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Post InfoPosted 17-Nov-2006 18:58Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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EditedEdited by NowherMan6
AHEM! full tank shot, please, full tank

:: cough cough ::


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Post InfoPosted 17-Nov-2006 20:40Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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You have to at least comment on the pictures already posted to request a full tank shot nowher .... where's your nettiquite?

Anyways, I have to wait until the second light comes on or else the pics come out dark. I'll post it up later.



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nellis
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I second the l. glandulosa shot... it looks amazing back-lit. You should let it grow to the surface and creep sideways a little to give that corner a reddish cast.
Post InfoPosted 18-Nov-2006 06:11Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
TW
 
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Your pics are so clear now. Very nice.

Is that good "nettiquite". Can I ask for a full shot now please?

Cheers
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Is that good "nettiquite". Can I ask for a full shot now please?


Yes, and thanks for the nice comments. Sorry I've haven't gotten around to taking this pic. I've switched gears over to the viv again. I'll get to it in the next couple days, I promise.



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Post InfoPosted 19-Nov-2006 16:43Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by FRANK
Hi Matt,
I was looking at those pictures and the tank is indeed
beautiful and the photography stunning.
It got me thinking... You know, that eighth picture.
The solitary picture of the red plant, properly cropped
would make an amazing avatar.

Frank


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Post InfoPosted 19-Nov-2006 17:58Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
The solitary picture of the red plant, properly cropped
would make an amazing avatar.


Thanks for the comments Frank. I think it would make a nice avatar as well, but then I can't be the tenellus obsessor. I couldn't decide how much to crop it in the first place This is what the original looks like, how would you crop it?:





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Post InfoPosted 20-Nov-2006 01:24Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Nice detail shots, but I miss the overall that shows the destruction you mentioned a while ago, aka algae.

And nice new camera work there, too

Hey, as a side note, when looking at your Pearl Grass shot, seems like we both do not have MM but HM. I saw last week some Amano Pearl Grass and it looks different, like only two leaves per node and not like a rosette like we have

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 21-Nov-2006 00:26Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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seems like we both do not have MM but HM


ermm...what's MM? I've always thought I have hemianthus micranthemoides. I thought that's what pearl grass is. Maybe what you saw wasn't pearl grass? Maybe I'm confused(most likely)?

and not like a rosette like we have


The only rosette plant I have is E. tenellus. The rest are stems, including the hemianthus micranthemoides. I agree It has 3 leaves per node, but it's definitely a stem. Or are you saying the stuff you saw was a rosette?

Anywho I'm confused as I've always thought that what I have was HM, and I've thought we agreed that HM is pearl grass. Is HM not pearl grass? I'm pretty certain that what I have is HM. I did a lot of looking around about that one too.



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Post InfoPosted 21-Nov-2006 16:46Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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You have to forgive the old man, I think I am getting lost in the aquatic plant jungle.

Somehow I managed to get almost everything confused

I guess what I want to say is that I have seen Amano Pearl Grass, and ours does not look like it, although it is called Pearl Grass as well. That's all

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 21-Nov-2006 20:20Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Sooo...we have pearl grass, but not Amano pearl grass?

Whatever the case may be, whatever plant we do have is a stunner, and quickly became one of my fav's.



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LITTLE_FISH
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quickly became one of my fav's
Oh oh,

Are you working your way to become a Pearl Grass Obsessor?

In any case, I agree, the plant is very versatile and can be used all over the tank in varying heights.

But yeah, we don't have Amano Pearl Grass, but that's ok.

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 22-Nov-2006 10:27Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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I don't think there's enogh characters for me to be labeled tenellus/pearl grass obsessor.



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Post InfoPosted 23-Nov-2006 05:32Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Ok, I promised a FTS so here I am to deliver. It needed a trimming desperately so I didn't want to take a picture before I got to it.

FTS:


Side angle:




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Post InfoPosted 23-Nov-2006 21:54Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
LITTLE_FISH
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The ludwigia is really pulling all the attention, even more so than the glosso fall . I know you just trimmed the tank, so I don't know how it looks under "normal" conditions, but the tenellus is almost worth a background plant in there as it is much taller than the rest of the bottom plants.

Otherwise, very very green

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 24-Nov-2006 04:15Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
tetratech
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Looks great Matty

Looks like the lud is floating on a sea of pearlgrass.


My Scapes
Post InfoPosted 25-Nov-2006 15:15Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Thanks guys

The ludwigia is really pulling all the attention, even more so than the glosso fall


Yeah, I've decided that the glossofalls didn't work out the way I wanted and I'm going to be taking it all down over xmas break. The rest of my tank is doing great and is completely algae free at this point. I'd love to take it down in little steps over a couple weeks, but I'm not sure how I can do that with that little obstacle I've put in there. For the rescape I'm thinking about another low scape without too much in the way of fast growing stem plants, maybe a small group in one corner or something. I like how easy it is to maintain this setup. I'm thinking about doing more with shaping the gravel and rocks (more than I have now) to create the depth instead of tall stems and driftwood, but If I find a real nice piece, then I might go for that too.



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Post InfoPosted 25-Nov-2006 20:48Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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I'm thinking about doing more with shaping the gravel and rocks
Sounds good to me, but I would be a little careful with the gravel as a shaper as it tends to even out after a while. Rocks seem better suited for that job.

Yeah, I guess if you would like to remove the Glosso-Falls then there is only one way to do it: All at once. And I can imagine that this is not a task that one is looking forward to. I will keep my fingers crossed once when you get to it.

How is the algae in the falls? If it is still pretty bad then you may want to act sooner as it will spread into the Pearl Grass meadow before you know it.

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Post InfoPosted 26-Nov-2006 13:20Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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The algae seems to be receding in coincidence with the fish not dying much anymore. I couldn't make time to do it now if that weren't the case anyways. It's about time for finals and whatnot. My fish will be lucky to get fed during the next 3 weeks.



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Post InfoPosted 26-Nov-2006 16:23Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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My fish will be lucky to get fed during the next 3 weeks
Oh oh, I guess that means that we are not going to see a lot of entries from you in the next 3 weeks

I wish you a lot of luck with your tests and papers and whatever else you have to do.

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 26-Nov-2006 17:01Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Oh oh, I guess that means that we are not going to see a lot of entries from you in the next 3 weeks


FP is my "get away from it for 15 mins" thing. So I'll pop in here and there, but not as much as I normally do. And thanks for the luck, I'll need it



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Post InfoPosted 26-Nov-2006 17:34Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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So I'll pop in here and there
Well, maybe you can use that time to also visit one of my logs, or maybe even more than one

Ingo


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Matty,

Good luck with your finals. Once I make it through this week things are going to be smooth sailing after.

I have been tempted to so a set up mich like your next one. they seem so much simpler. More thining out then triming and replanting.



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Post InfoPosted 27-Nov-2006 15:23Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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Matty,

Looks really great, I love the HM on the left, it really looks stunning with the Lud.

I can see what you mean about the glosso falls, but as far as experiments go it was a good one and didnt result in a scaping disaster. Agree with LF about taking it down at once. Also do a HUGE water chnage after.

But there will be more time to discuss that in about a month.

Good luck with finals!


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Post InfoPosted 27-Nov-2006 22:11Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
TW
 
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Good luck with exams Matty

For the rescape I'm thinking about another low scape without too much in the way of fast growing stem plants
I like the sound of that. I thought you needed a bunch of those fast growing stems to suck up the nutrients & keep the algae at bay?

Will it work to have no fast growing stems at all?

Cheers
TW
Post InfoPosted 27-Nov-2006 23:13Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Thanks guys

I like the sound of that. I thought you needed a bunch of those fast growing stems to suck up the nutrients & keep the algae at bay?

Will it work to have no fast growing stems at all?


Well I think it will work out fine. Pearl grass is technically a stem, and a very fast growing one in my tank. Tenellus also grows pretty quick. I just took another 50 to my LFS tonight along with some pearl grass and got $40 for the group. I did the same 6 weeks ago. Those things grow at warp speed sometimes. Just harvesting those easily takes care of maintenence costs for the tank. I'll keep both those in the tank and maybe some stems in a corner. I think it should be OK.



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Post InfoPosted 28-Nov-2006 03:03Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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We might have to work something out for the pearl grass sometime if you are up to it.

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Post InfoPosted 28-Nov-2006 05:31Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
DeletedPosted 01-Dec-2006 23:20
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Just let me know and I am sure we can work something out Matt.

Being you have a salt tank. Try and breed them?

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Post InfoPosted 02-Dec-2006 17:23Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Are they supposed to be pretty easy to breed? I doubt they'd last very long in my SW tank (the baby shrimpsters) and I would have to acclimate them over a period of weeks I think, so that's probably out of the question, unless I set up a dedicated tank to acclimate them to full SW salinity.

You got a how to link on raising amanos?



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Post InfoPosted 02-Dec-2006 18:07Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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I think you're right about the shrimp matty. I don't think it's worth the effort. tiny shrimp will not last long at all even if you get them to hatch and catch them and transport them. probably much easier to just buy more.


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LITTLE_FISH
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Nice shrimpster pictures Matty

Yeah, I also think that you won't be able to raise them. But keep on trying to find a link on how it would have to be done, as I would be interested myself. Maybe a brackish environment would be good enough? No idea ...

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 03-Dec-2006 15:32Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Well I thought the carnage had stopped, but it seems that I was wrong. I'm now left with 13 fish. 7 preacox, 3 signifers, and 3 otos. A couple days ago I noticed the first signs of actual disease, and I've been looking this whole time. Kinda odd IMO that it pops up now.

Anyways, Heres a couple pics. Only one of my bulbs has turned on, so the pics are a bit dark. If you can't see it I'll try and get pics later.

These are both the same fish, no others are showing anything like this:




Lemme know what you guys think I should do. I'm not very good with diseases, I'm not really experienced in that department



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Wingsdlc
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I'm not really experienced in that department
I wish I could help you out but I am in the same department as you are. For the most part I haven't ever had too many issues since getting serious about the hobby. Working in a LFS is interesting when people come in asking for meds for their sick fish... Have the same problem?



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Post InfoPosted 11-Dec-2006 19:03Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Yeah, I do, but most people that come in asking for meds don't really have sick fish though. The fish are dieing because of NH4(new tank) or prolonged high NO3/pH drop(old tank, no water changes). If fish really are displaying symptoms of anything other than ich, I tend to get help with it. Our managers are really pretty good with IDing illness. They basically take care of 300 tanks of fish so disease happens all the time.



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Post InfoPosted 11-Dec-2006 19:21Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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Matty,

One of my old sparkling gourami had that:



Unfortunately she didn't respond to treatment, and eventually became more and more reclusive. I had to put her down. Keep an eye on him, but be prepared to send him to fishy heaven if he doesn't get better.


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Post InfoPosted 11-Dec-2006 19:31Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Dr. Bonke
 
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It looks a little bit like what my original trio of black mollies developed. According to the people at the LFS it was most likely fish tuberculosis. However, they also told me that most fish in general don't develop this desease even if the bug itself is present. The mollies were just more e to develop it because the water in Finland is very soft, while the mollies thrive better in harder water.

Take a look here and see if the symptoms you see are a bit like it:
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Keefer_FishTB.html

I'd also suggest you start a thread in the hospital forums where someone more knowledgable may be able to identify the cause.
Post InfoPosted 11-Dec-2006 19:32Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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Hows the fish doing Matt?

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Post InfoPosted 12-Dec-2006 14:52Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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As of lights out he was still alive. Lights come on in about an hour, but I won't be here. I suspect he'll hang on for a couple days at least. He was eating and swimming normal. That could be said for all the others that died though.

I put up a post in the hospital like you suggested Dr. Bonke.



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Post InfoPosted 12-Dec-2006 17:16Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Well the infected rainbow made it through the day, but a healthy looking oto kicked the bucket. I'm not sure what to think about this anymore.



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Post InfoPosted 13-Dec-2006 05:02Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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Doesn't sound good Matt. I wish I could help but I am of no use to you. Have you showed the pictures to your bosses?

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Post InfoPosted 13-Dec-2006 15:08Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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I've tried to describe it to them, but I don't have a good way to get the pic into work, my printer is no good, and you can't really see the problem on the original picture on the camera's screen. From what I described they said it could be a few things, and the best would be to dump x,y, and z in there at the same time for a couple weeks. which they said would probably annihilate the plants and bacterial filter.



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Ouch... Thats not good at all. What are you thinking of doing?

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Post InfoPosted 13-Dec-2006 22:44Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Guess I'll have to wait it out. After xmas I'll redo the plant scape so that will take my mind off things. I was thinking about nuking everything, but then I remembered the amano shrimp that are doing just awesome in there. They would probably die from whatever parasite meds I use...most just target inverts. Summary - No clue.



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Wingsdlc
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Yeah don't kill off your Amano's they cost too much! I would guess they probably are not holding the issues at hand either.

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Post InfoPosted 14-Dec-2006 03:53Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Amano's don't cost much for me...but that's no reason to kill them. You are right. They are fine and dandy, all someteen of them.



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The perks of working at a LFS. Cheap stuff for our addictions.

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Post InfoPosted 14-Dec-2006 15:24Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
DeletedPosted 10-Jan-2007 23:17
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Matty, so sorry to hear of all the troubles here. I haven't check in for a while to this thread - what happened with the sick fish - any improvement?

Shame you had to tear down the deathstar after all your hard work. I'm sure something nicer still is coming.

Good luck with the re-do

Cheers
TW
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mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Thanks robyn, the fish with the cyst was a serious fighter, but he died today. I now have 8 rainbows left.

The deathstar was a fun little project, I don't mind that it didn't turn out well. I could have made it work with some lower light plants...a moss or nana petite.

I did get some nana petite, and I have a few other new plants for the redo. I'm keeping the pearl grass, ludwigia, star grass, and obviously the tenellus. I bought some ammania, a new batch of gayii, r. wallichi, and hydrocotyl. Not sure if I will keep the hydrocotyl though.



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Post InfoPosted 11-Jan-2007 03:23Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
TW
 
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poor guy.

Look forward to your new pics

Cheers
TW
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With the destruction of the Death Star, the elite Catfish Stormtroopers are in stunned disbelief.

Sorry couldn't help it. Can't wait to see the replant!


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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Here's another little sneak peak:



Enjoy



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Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2007 00:48Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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From what i can see it is looking really good, i can't wait to see a full tank shot.

†Aquapickle†
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What is that pretty plant?

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Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2007 05:14Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
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Thanks, it's rotala macrandra. one of a few reds I'm trying out for the new scape. It's kind of war of the red plants in my tank right now.



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Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2007 05:50Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Are you still keeping that Ludwigia G.? I like that stuff..... Need to find some around here sometime.

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Well from what I can see it looks really full and healthy. I like that plant as well. I'll need to look it up.

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Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2007 23:18Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Yep, I still have the ludwigia, it's got a permanent spot in the tank.



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Post InfoPosted 26-Jan-2007 23:35Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Yep, I still have the ludwigia, it's got a permanent spot in the tank.
Thats good to hear. It looked great with the pearl weed. Any updated pics???

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Have I missed something, or is there only the one little sneak peak picture.

Are you going to show us more soon?

Cheers
TW
Post InfoPosted 28-Jan-2007 15:43Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
The pics of me tearing down the tank were a sneak peek.

I also have this one:


I'm holding out on the full tank pics until I pick out the plants I want and get it scaped.



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Post InfoPosted 28-Jan-2007 16:50Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
LITTLE_FISH
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Matty,

Nice shots of the cats, I have never seen them before. I hope all is going as planned with the tank now, just take it easy and don't install some other funky object, like a ferries wheel or what not, LOL.

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 09-Feb-2007 14:42Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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Wow, how did I miss the destruction of the deathstar?!?

Looking forward to seeing the new layout


Back in the saddle!
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Alright... It has about about 10 days now. It's time for a new picture!

55G Planted tank thread
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Post InfoPosted 09-Feb-2007 22:42Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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I guess I'll give you a small update. I'm probably not keeping the wallichi. I like the macrandra and the ammania. That's all I've decided so far.



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Post InfoPosted 10-Feb-2007 00:27Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
TW
 
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Is it time for another small update?

Cheers
TW
Post InfoPosted 14-Mar-2007 23:13Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
I'm still unhappy with my plant layout and the health of the red plants. I can't keep them from wrinkling up, even the ludwigia now. So I really don't have much to share with you, sorry. I wish I had something nice to show, maybe a new shrimp pic, will that tide you over?







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Post InfoPosted 15-Mar-2007 05:21Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
TW
 
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Well the shrimp is very nice matty - thanks for sharing that. I know pics don't always show up the faults we are so critical of, but the red plant & the greenery looks pretty nice as well.

Cheers
TW
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Wingsdlc
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Nice shot of your Amano! Very clean.

I am guessing you would rather not have our input on your tank by you not showing it to us?

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Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 01:59Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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I am guessing you would rather not have our input on your tank by you not showing it to us?


I love your guys' input, but it's just that I'm in the middle of playing around with it at this point and just haven't had time to try and scape at all. It would be like your input on the 5.5 right now.....get some plants in it . It just looks like the tank before I took down the death star, just with some random plants in that corner.



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Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 02:32Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
LITTLE_FISH
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I wanna see disaster
I wanna see ugliness
I wanna see disarray



Truly, I somehow do not understand why people never show the tank when it is going downhill, except the few times that pictures were posted in a thread to show the tanks from various people at their worst.

I see the purpose of log as a reflection of what is going on in a tank over time, and there are good things and bad things happening.

I hope that others don't look at my logs only for the "pretty" pictures and the best way I can provide them with additional information (including moral support in case of failure) is by letting them know how frustrating this hobby can be once in a while. And what is better to demonstrate such frustration than the display of a photo showing the reasons for the upset?

So - to all of you - be a little more open about this, it is not a competition and I for sure will not value you and your tanks less because you reveal its failures, I actually will respect you more (than I already do).

Sorry for the rant,

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 13:54Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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I'll post a picture for you guys later on, when the lights come on, since it seems you want to see but:

I see the purpose of log as a reflection of what is going on in a tank over time, and there are good things and bad things happening.


It's really not that bad looking, for the most part things are pretty healthy, just not well taken care of or scaped well. In that respect it's not frustrating(in the case of the plants, the fish are a different story), because it's mostly from lack of trying. Mostly it's just that there's nothing going on to show you guys. Like I said, it looks like I took out the deathstar a few days ago and threw some plants in the corner.



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Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 17:08Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
tetratech
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Mr DIY. The guy that show us the inner workings of so many creative approaches all of a sudden is showing some vanity.

Yeah I kinda know what you saying when there's nothing new to report. We all don't do makeovers as often as LF. I haven't seen Nowher's little 4g in quite some time either.

My Scapes
Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 18:35Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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I haven't seen Nowher's little 4g in quite some time either.


You wouldn't be able to handle the BBA. It's so thick on the driftwood, my shrimp think I installed shag carpeting for them.

LF is right, of course, about showing how our tanks look regardless of whether we think they're in show condition or not. IMO, I'm still 3 years into planted tank husbandry. I'm sure in Amano's first 3 years he did a lot of crummy scapes and killed a lot of plants and fish I'm sure.

In a forum like this, I see everyone else's tanks and they look good, and it's a bit embarrassing when I think mine don't look as good. Just have to remember we're all friends here, and it isn't an ADA contest... yet...


Back in the saddle!
Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 19:50Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by tetratech
Back in the saddle

yippee kay ya

You wouldn't be able to handle the BBA. It's so thick on the driftwood, my shrimp think I installed shag carpeting for them


Don't think for a second those really nice tanks you see from the Senske brothers, etc, don't get bba on the driftwood. Your just seeing the end photo. MY tank get's bba on the dw, that's why it's important to be able to clean it. Do you also think those glass lily pipes stay crystal clean like they came out of a dishwasher and white sand stays white. If the tank is up long enough that stuff is gonna get dirty. Some of the well-known scapers you see have not desire to keep a tank long-term. They set it up, get it to mature and then take it down and start all over again. That's how they get good at doing scapes. They are constantly creating new ones.

My Scapes
Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 20:11Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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Do you also think those glass lily pipes stay crystal clean like they came out of a dishwasher and white sand stays white.


Oh I know that. Afterall, that's why ADA sells a piece of pipe-cleaner wrapped around a coat hanger for $50. It's the same illusion that all modeling creates: the image of static beauty. But in reality, the make-up comes off, people age, buildings get torn down... or, in our cases, plants grow and age and die, and the whole scape changes.


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Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 21:00Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
What used to be rotala macrandra:


This used to be "pink telanthera" :


And here's a FTS:



I think you can see all 7 of my fish that are left. I've now had 7 for a couple months. I'm thinking about getting some more this weekend. Don't know what yet, but I might just get whatever takes my fancy ant the time. I've also recently decided that I'm going to be using 50% RO/DI for water changes (12g RODI, 12g tap). I believe there's something up with the pipes in the building or the tap in general. I know a few people in this building who have been having the same troubles as I have with their fish. My salt water tank doesn't have a problem because I start with pure water. It's not too hard to connect the dots IMO. I just hope 50% will dilute whatever it is enough to help, cause I'm not doing full 100% RODI - I'd rather not have fish.

It's working it's way towards scaped, but these reds are stalling out on me cause I haven't paid them enough attention. I used to be trying to dose Mg and Ca and K in addition to N, P, and micros. I've also recently started just dosing N,P, and micros, whatever K comes with is good. If the plants look better than it's either the softer water from RO/DI or I was dosing too much of something. If they still look crappy I'll maybe start dosing that other stuff again.

So my recent dosing is every other day .5ppm KH2PO4 and 3ppm KNO3. Between is 2-3 mL of micros via flourish.

I think that's everything, questions/comments/crits welcome.



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Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 21:55Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
Wingsdlc
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Matty,

Thanks for posting picturs.



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[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 22:15Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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What no input?!?!

Sheesh

What's a guy gotta do around here



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Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 22:20Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
tetratech
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What no input?!?!

Sheesh


I thing Wings said it all

Well you could alot of different ways, but my first reaction is a center mound with branchy pieces of wood poking out. The mound could house the reds with some green inbetween. I think that would work with the pearlgrass and the rocks already there. Plants are definitely hard to fiqure out sometimes. I still haven't been able to my Aromatica going again after it grew like gangbusters and I never slacked off the ferts. Very strange. I even upped my dosing just for the hell of it and nothing, I also added root tabs, nothing. Maybe my water is too soft and acidic, who knows.

My Scapes
Post InfoPosted 16-Mar-2007 22:39Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Thanks for the comments tetratech. I don't really want to try and get branchy DW, there's never any locally and I can't much afford anything I don't get my discount on. Especially if it involves shipping. I agree that would look great, but also look an awful lot like someone else's tank. I'ma keep the red plants real low, so the rocks can be seen (and maybe get another or two), and throw in something behind them, I'm thinkin' the gayii that has been growing real nicely for me in the corner. TI and the pearlgrass were made for this tank I think. The gayii will have a different leaf texture and color than the pearlgrass, so that and the reds will provide good contrast.

Something else worth mentioning I guess. The rigors of DIY set in today as my plumbing sneakily started slowly leaking. I lost maybe 3 gallons of water on the floor. About 7 towels and a sore back later it cleaned up ok and the leak got a good strong fix.



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Post InfoPosted 18-Mar-2007 02:29Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by LITTLE_FISH
Yes Matty, it looks very nice, given that you were hiding it for soooo long.

It doesn't matter that the tank hasn't changed in a while, even that is part of the game, called consistency

I am sorry to hear about the leak, I hope you don't have any downstairs neighbors that had to take an unscheduled shower

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 18-Mar-2007 22:03Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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I haven't heard from the guys downstairs so I'm hoping that it didn't make it through the floor. It is completely dry up here now.

The reds seem to be maybe growing in better than they were before. I don't want to get my hopes up though. Maybe I was ODing the Ca, Mg, and K or maybe it was the tapwater, and maybe the RO/DI is doing the trick. This week's inch or so of growth looks to be a lot less wrinkly and distorted. Maybe I can pull it off after all. There certainly is a lot more pearling, but that might be the new CO2...



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Post InfoPosted 18-Mar-2007 23:06Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Very nice carpet of green you've got going there Matty. Contrasts nicely with your splashes of reds.

Cheers
TW
Post InfoPosted 19-Mar-2007 23:15Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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So, matty, will we still see you here in planted tanks, now your a SW moderator?

Congratulations again. /:'

Cheers
TW
Post InfoPosted 23-Mar-2007 14:32Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Nope, now that I'm the "man" I have too many responsibilities to hang out in the planted forums

Of course I'll still post around here. I wouldn't be a mod if I couldn't talk plants and scapes. And thanks for the congrats Robyn .

So I guess I'll let everybody know I got my blyxa yesterday. It came in very poor shape. It was half mush. I talked to the guy I ordered from and he was very concerned even before I got them asking me if I had received them on wednesday. He assured me that I will get some more if these don't make it. If it all works out well I'll definitely recommend him to everybody here. Only ships in the US, but he's really close to you NYC/Jersey residents.



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Post InfoPosted 23-Mar-2007 17:40Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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If you got them from aquabid, does he go by the name "Lowcoaster"?


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Post InfoPosted 23-Mar-2007 17:43Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
I didn't get them from aquabid, but I did get them from Lowcoaster, yes.

Do you have experience with his plants or business? If so please do tell, even if it's already after I made a purchase with him. A pm might be best.



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Post InfoPosted 23-Mar-2007 18:14Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by LITTLE_FISH
What?

Matty is a Mod?

Things must go really bad on the dark side!!!



Congratulations

Say, how come your Avatar thingy does not reflect the mod status? Is it only showing over there? Interesting!

Ingo

EDIT: Ups, now I see it has changed, I guess mods are not that fast


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Post InfoPosted 24-Mar-2007 13:18Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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Say, how come your Avatar thingy does not reflect the mod status? Is it only showing over there? Interesting!
I guess his powers only work on the darkside.

55G Planted tank thread
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[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 24-Mar-2007 13:34Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
DeletedPosted 24-Mar-2007 14:20
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I guess his powers only work on the darkside

Really funny

Congrats Matty!

My Scapes
Post InfoPosted 24-Mar-2007 14:20Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
LITTLE_FISH
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Hey,

While we are congratulating Matty, I just noticed something with the last post I made in my log.

Check my award banners below my Avatar

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 24-Mar-2007 16:51Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Say, how come your Avatar thingy does not reflect the mod status? Is it only showing over there? Interesting!


I think I have my title and award banner now. I've been updated by Adam. Thanks for the congrats guys.

Check my award banners below my Avatar


Congrats on the top 5 poster LF. Gotta think those fingers get tired .



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Post InfoPosted 24-Mar-2007 17:53Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Ok, finally got this thing scaped a little. I tossed a lot of plants. The macrandra was just awful, so it went. Lots of ludwigia went as well, only the decent looking stuff stayed. That's why the reds section is a bit sparse. Hopefully that will fill in a bit soon. The stuff that stayed is what has grown well for me. The pearlgrass, some of the ludwigia, and the ptomageton gayii. I also got my blyxa in and wanted to comment about that. I got the plants from lowcoaster, found on aquabid I guess. I found him elsewhere. The first shipping ended with mush, maybe they froze even though there was a heatpack in with them. I told Charley, and without delay said he'd send them again, no charge. Great guy to deal with IMO. Plants look real healthy this time around. If they die it will be all my fault . You can see them on the right side of the tank.

So on to the pic, and please give constructive criticism, at this point I feel like the tank is taking shape towards how I want it, so little tweaks would be nice to hear about. But no DW (sorry tetratech). If you think I could use some more rocks, that won't be too hard to accomplish. Anything else is doable.





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Post InfoPosted 30-Mar-2007 22:00Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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That HM is beautiful matty, well done with that. Did it naturally start growing sideways along the bottom, or did you press it in?


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Post InfoPosted 30-Mar-2007 22:12Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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Thanks nowher, I think the combination of strong light and heavy trimmings keeps it nice and low. I don't pysically push it down or anything like that.



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Post InfoPosted 30-Mar-2007 23:03Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Matty,

Looking very nice and clean (as in organized and structured)!

The Blyxa seems to fit in nicely, and I know that it doesn't show its full potential in pictures very well (tends to blend in). I have quite a bit in my 125G by now, but the gravel substrate makes individual stems come loose almost on a daily base, it drives me nuts.

Overall, I think there are two ways which this tank could go now:

1) a rock only tank (what's that called - iwagumangiugaga ? ), in which case the center group of taller plants would have to go
2) a tank with a nice center group, in which case the group has to grow some more to achieve its dominant position. In this case, I also would suggest to have the red plant (ludwigia) not as the foremost in that group but to put something shorter and green in front of it.

Ingo


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Post InfoPosted 31-Mar-2007 12:18Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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How about letting the ptomageton gayii grow around the Ludwigia?

Everything I heard about PG was that it was an easy plant to grow. Mine never took off for me. Maybe it was a bad batch.

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Post InfoPosted 31-Mar-2007 14:41Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
mattyboombatty
 
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I think I'm going to skip on the iwigimiboogy LF :

I'm definitely going after a nice little center group, though I do want to keep it low. As for green in front of the reds, the HM is trying to make its way past the rocks in front. I may move the reds back a little on your suggestion and have a little more HM in front, but I don't want the reds as the back group.

Wings - I like the p. gayii enough to give it more room, and I think I'll try to fill it in more as it grows upwards. It does a good job of producing runners on its own so hopefully that will help too. Sorry to hear that you had a hard time growing it. It's probably just one of those can't grow everything deals.

Thanks, and keep 'em coming



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Post InfoPosted 31-Mar-2007 15:59Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by LITTLE_FISH
I think I'm going to skip on the iwigimiboogy


- What? No iwigigloowombly for you?

I may move the reds back a little on your suggestion and have a little more HM in front, but I don't want the reds as the back group.


While I agree on the latter part, the "not making them a back group", I am not too wild about the first part, the "letting the foreground come up the main group. I would try instead to think about a different green plant to distinguish between surrounding and main group. What is that one plant again - Downoi? I think that could be nice.

Ingo

EDIT: Wings, nah - I think the 29G with the platies would not be good either.


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Post InfoPosted 31-Mar-2007 18:26Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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You guys always gotta pick plants/hardscape that are inaccessible. I do like the downoi, I'll see how much that would run me, then decide if it's worth it. Any other ideas for plants that would serve the same function? My nana petite is growing, but still not large enough to make any sort of difference anywhere. Maybe I could get some more of that. I found a reasonable source for that.

Oh, how 'bout pelia? I've never tried that stuff, looks neat. Would be a different color too.



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Oh, how bout pelia?


You mean Monosolenium tenerum, right?

Seems like a nice plant, but I think one would need a larger patch to make it look nice. Also, doesn't it have to be affixed to rock and such?

Ingo




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You mean Monosolenium tenerum, right?


Yep, I think that's the stuff. I've seen it grow solitary and not float around. It's much more dense than java moss or riccia from what I remember. Could be wrong though .


I also wanted to add that I finally got a few more fish since the tank seems to have been stable for the last couple months. Pictures tomorrow evening I think.



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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Got some pictures of my new fish, a nice male pearl gourami. I also happened to snap some shots of the furcatas while I was at it. I left out the preacox, I took 190 pics of the pearl gourami and the furcatas, and didn't get to the new preacox. So on to the pics:

Pearl gourami:




And a few of the furcata boys:








Hope you enjoyed





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Post InfoPosted 04-Apr-2007 00:06Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Nice fish. Haven't ever seen those furcata boys - but I sure think they're pretty. Oh, and your pearl is nice too.

Cheers
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EditedEdited by LITTLE_FISH
Yep, I think that's the stuff. I've seen it grow solitary and not float around. It's much more dense than java moss or riccia from what I remember.

From what I know, Pelia has an overall appearance similar to Riccia, when looked at from the distance, up closer its leaf structure is very different though, and the color is of a darker green. In addition, Pelia is naturally a sinking plant and as such leaves that come off do not float up but would spread with the current along the substrate. As it is (just like riccia) a non rooting plant, such spreadings can produce new cultures anywhere in the tank as well.

I am not sure, but I think there are two forms of Pelia out there, one with significantly smaller leaves than the other. Now, why do I feel hungry and why am I thinking of paella?

On to the fishies:

- Why just a male Pearl? Will he not be bored? I see my couple hanging out together for most of the day, although once in a while the male shows the female who is the boss (but all without injury).

- The Furcatas look very nice and colorful, I hope they will do well now that your tank seems more stable. I assume they are very active as I am accustomed to seeing very sharp and clear pictures from you and these are a little "rushed". How frustrating must that have been for you!

Ingo


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The furcatas have been in the tank the whole time, it's the preacox I got new ones of. I just felt like taking pics of the furcatas. It was very frustrating taking almost 200 pictures and none coming out great. They are incredibly swift fish darting all over the place. Like a danio or barbs or something. I'll probably get a the male pearl a mate. They were just really big, he's near 4 inches I'd say, and didn't want to rush the stocking. I don't think he'd really be too bored though. They do ok solitary, I've had them that way in the past. I'm also going to get more furcatas when I get the chance, they aren't quite as commonly stocked as the others.

Yeah, that's what I remember of pelia too. Sounds like it might do the trick, no? And go get yourself something to eat....pelia

Thanks for the comments



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Sounds like it might do the trick, no?

Hm, maybe

I have seen it more as a true midground plant itself, not as a "hedge" in front of a midground group, and that is more what your arrangement looks like.

I think that a small stone (or a few small ones) covered with it might not make an impression, except if you should get your hands on the small version of it (not that I remember what that is called).

Sorry about not being able to keep up with what fish are new and what are "old". So you say the Pearl is already 4", that means he is pretty much all done growing, right?
If I am not mistaken then they can live quite a while, like 7 to 10 years or so, right?

Ingo


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Nice fish shots Matty!

Those are some very pretty fish!

I think you guys are right on the ball with the Pelia. Check tropica's web site. They have an article on the front page right now, i think...



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Hmm...so the naysayers say nay. I'll have to maybe check on the possibility of downoi too. I'm just worried that the color of downoi will be too similar to that of the HM and get lost. Maybe I can come up with some other ideas in addition. I'll think on it.

So I think that yes, the pearl gourami is about full size. It was a really nice batch of them that came in. I have a soft spot for pearls and had to have one. I'm sure they live a number of years like you said LF, so I should still have him for a good while.

Thanks for the comments guys, I'll check out tropica, thanks wings



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Really like those furcatas. How are they in the schooling department?

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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
When I had a bunch of them they schooled OK. Unfortunately, I only have 3 now....so they don't school real well. That's why I intend to get more. I wouldn't compare them to rummys or cardinals though. They school as well as other rainbows IMO, but are more active than others. They tend to zip around the preacox.

Forgot to mention the best part. Unlike any tetra I can think of, the males REALLY like to display. No aggression mind you, just "who's flashier." This happens on and off all day. The picture with both males in the picture and the one in focus extending his fins is what I'm talking about. Really fun behavior to watch.




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Another option would be a small group of low growing rosette plants, I have one in mind but cannot think of its name now.

Your description of the Furcatas makes them even more appealing than the photos already did. I like the male display thingy, I see this in my Dwarf Rainbows all day as well, but of course their finnage is not remotely as nice as the Furcatas'

Ingo


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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Did you happen to think of those rosette plants?

SoMy fish must really be liking something I'm doing nowadays, as my new male pearl is building bubble nests:



I think I'll have to buy him a lady friend. I'll do a little reading first to see what the deal is on the whole breeding aspect of the gouramis, see if anything like aggression goes on. I've only ever kept males by themselves and never had bubble nests. I wouldn't really intend to get babies, but if it helps them live a fuller life, then I'm for it. The behavior would be fun to watch anyhow.





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Spring is in the air....

Frank


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Post InfoPosted 11-Apr-2007 01:36Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
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Looks very nice. If I were you I would try to expand the tank upwards... Besides the bare top. It's very nice.

Chris
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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Finals have been outcompeting my tanks for attention. However, finals were done yesterday, so today is tank maintanance before I go on vacation tomorrow. I just wanted to show the insane amounts of of HM that I had growing in the tank. Don't mind the debris....I algae wiped the sides of the glass and stirred things up a bit. It's already settled out.

Here's what finals do to the HM:




And this is on a 2.5g bucket....about a 10in diameter ball:



I'll update later with the after pics. The tank is filling with RO ATM.

It seems that I'm having the same problems with my blyxa that LF did in his 40, it's wrinkling up and red. Not sure what's up, but I blame it on the neglect. This week won't be a whole lot better since I'll be away. Hopefully it can pull through.



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Post InfoPosted 11-May-2007 18:50Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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Red blyxa is good, isn't it?

As for the HM - Yep, that's what finals will do alright. Although I'm sure the extra plant mass was nice for WQ.


Back in the saddle!
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Red is good....wrinkling and stunting is bad. It's not growing much, but I want to blame it on my lax maint. in the last couple weeks.



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Nice Pearl Grass, I hope you can sell it to the LFS or something.

Yeah, Red and Stunted is not good, but I don't think it is the maintenance. As you may remember, mine turned this way as soon as I added a light and moved the main one right over the plants (within 2 weeks). Meanwhile, maintenance had not changed of course.

I think more likely it is based directly on the light, at least the reddening, and on top of it it requires some specific micro fert to keep on growing, maybe iron.

Ingo


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Is it possible that we are pushing the blyxa too much with our high tech systems? I am getting a couple of side shoots with mine but not a lot. The tops are turning quite red now so we will have to see how it goes.

Nowher,
Did yours turn red in your 4G?

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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Well I'm pretty sure the blyxa isn't going to do it for me. Ah well. I really would have loved for it to work. I'll have to find something else now.

Thought I'd give an updated pic of the tank as I never showed it after the trim....but this is over a couple weeks later after having been on the trip....minimized lighting and ferts so not a whole lotta growth. I still haven't gotten around to changing the layout. We'll see what this month has to offer .





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Post InfoPosted 29-May-2007 22:19Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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show the insane amounts of of HM
So what is HM - is the same plant that LF refers to as Pearl Grass? How do you plant it? Is it one of those fiddly little plants, that are difficult to plant. I think I'd like to try it out as foreground in the new tank, if I can get my hands on some.

Cheers
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Yep HM = hemianthus micranthemoides = pearl grass.

It's pretty easy in my experience. High light will encourage low growth as well as "mowing" the lawn frequently.



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Wow, the Gayii looks great. Maybe it's me but I really like open and simple with lots of swimming space just like this tank. I really think it would even better with yes you guessed it. Thin pieces of branchy wood poking out about the Gayii and no background.

My Scapes
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Thanks tetratech. I'm pretty pleased with the tank, and would get pokey DW if I could find some locally. I'll at least get a few more rocks or something.



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"mowing" the lawn frequently
How do you do this? Do you just trim the tops and, if so, doesn't this result in a mess in the tank? What is your method?

Cheers
TW
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So what is HM?


And I thought it was Hetal Malide (got it?)

Anyway, Matty can cut this plant any way he wants to as he has it all over the tank anyway

I actually remove my plants (which are planted with about 6 to 8 stems per bunch) and trim off the bottom (depending how tall it got, maybe between 2 to 5 inches). Then I divide the tops into bunches (the previous bunch usually doubles at least in stem numbers) and replant them - which, btw, is really easy, just plug it into the substrate between 1 and 2 inches deep.


Matty - nice shot of the tank, tetratech pointed out the lack of background and hardscape, so no further comment needed here. All looks healthy and well maintained, very impressive for the fact that you went away. Any negative effects of that time period?

Ingo


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Yep, I take the scissors horizontally and hack off the tops. It's too much work to pull it up and cut the bottoms and replant as LF suggested, but I do that once in a while. The stuff floats real good so I just catch it all at the top with a net. It creates a mess, yeah, but during the water change I can suck up most of the small bits.


Hetal Malide, LF?

Actually all the plants save the blyxa looked better than when I left, oddly.

Thanks for the comments.



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EditedEdited by tankwatcher
Hmm, that sounds like a lot of work to keep it low - all that replanting of tiny stems. If I try this plant, I think I'll try Matty's mowing method.

Thanks for explanation. I'll have to think on it

Cheers
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Actually all the plants save the blyxa looked better than when I left
When I went down to NC a week ago I cut down to just 96W's on my tank. It was kind of wild to see the growth I got from the need to get to the light.

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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Look what we got in at work this week, going to be recarpeting tank :





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EditedEdited by LITTLE_FISH
Uhhhh,

Nice, I take it that it is an emersed growth form, right? I have never seen it emeresed, but I would guess it behaves like most plants, meaning loss of all leaves and such.

How much of this is going to end up in your tank, and for how much does the store sell what size?

Ingo

EDIT: Actally - your shot looks like a grave with a hedge planted on top and the head stone in the back


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The pearl grass never lost its emersed grown leaves until I cut them off. I'm pretty sure with the round tiny leaves that this is emersed though, but I'm expecting a pretty smooth transition. We'll see though. I'm wanting to entirely recarpet the tank, hoping it will grow a little slower, and stay a little lower.

They come overflowing out of the 2" round plastic pots for 4 dollars to the general public.

I only got 2 pots yesterday. I want to see how well it grows before getting any more. Plus the store will only buy back so much of my pearl grass at one time.



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Well Matty, I really would like you to document the planting of the HC, I found it pretty hard to keep it in the substrate, but I only had a small batch with little roots available.

I assure you that it grows reeeeeaaaaalllllllyyyyy slow, actually - I was going to ask here and in my club why they think mine in the 40G has just doubled in its tiny size since being added like 6 months ago.

Ingo


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There's not going to be a whole lot to document. I'm not going to be planting individual stems or anything to speed up the process. I'm going to take it out of the pot and remove the potting medium as best I can and put the whole thing into the gravel. I may pull each in half, so I have four patches, but that's it. I had more than I could take of tedious planting when I did the glosso in the death star . I'll remove the pearl grass as the HC grows or buy more HC if it does well but grows too slow.

I will document growth for you, so we know what's up in that department. Yours was shaded quite a bit in the 40 for a while I can imagine, so that may be the problem, but who knows?



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Post InfoPosted 02-Jun-2007 19:47Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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EditedEdited by FRANK
Hi,
Matt, the problem I had with trying to "plant" this type
of plant was that I could not get it to stay where I put
it. I tried holding it down to the surface of the gravel
with a net. I tried placing some stones or gravel at the
4 corners and a spot in the middle and virtually
nothing worked.
I finally tossed it when it became "infected" with algae.
When (if) I try a plant similar to this again, I'll plant
each plant individually with some tweezers and space them
about 1/2 inch apart and see if it won't grow into the
spaces. I've also decided that I needed "finer"
gravel/sand when next I try.

Frank


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Thanks LF, Frank. I'll try what I can without the tweezers, like I said, and will let you know how it goes. You are all probably right, but I've never had to use tweezers on anything before, even the glosso in the death star.



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tetratech
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EditedEdited by tetratech
What you need to do with a plant like HC is you push it in to the substrate so you basically don't see the plant anymore and then you pull it back up slightly with tweezers. This will allow the substrate to fall in place tightly around the roots. As long as you guys don't blow your supercharged, flow-crazy filters over it, it should stay put. Certainly bottom dwellers like corys or loaches are not gonna help. BTW - According to Robert Hudson of Aquabotanic some suppliers are now calling HC Dwarf Baby Tears.

My Scapes
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TW
 
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keen to see how this works for your Matty. I've never used tweezers either, but I guess I coud try it Jeff's way.

Cheers
TW
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The only plants that I plant by hand rather than by tweezers are the ones with a massive root system (like a large crypt, sword, etc) where I have to dig a huge hole in the substrate first anyway. All other plants go in with a tweezer, I find it so much easier to keep the plant in the substrate and undamaged during the plant.

Ingo


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Special plant tweezers? Longer than normal ones I guess

Cheers
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NowherMan6
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Matty,

It's going to be VERY hard to plant the HC while the tank is full of water. Ideally you would take out just about ALL of the water so that there's just enough to keep the substrate wet. Then plant them as tetra said. Break them into little clumps and space them an inch or so apart. Then refill the water carefully as to not create a disturbance. I've found it EXTREMELY difficult to keep it down when planting with any water on top of it.

Good luck with it! I've said elsewhere, i haven't had problems growing the stuff as long as there's a lot of CO2, but that may be because I have it in a 2.5 so there isn't much space between the light and the substrate.


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I have about 6 different plant tweezers, straight and bent (at the bottom). 99% of the time I use the smallest of them, about 4 to 5 inches long. Only once in a while do I use a taller (and wider) one, usually when the plant base (roots) is wider than the small tweezers but doesn't rectify me digging holes with my fingers.

Someday I may take a picture of my tools,

Ingo


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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Took some shots, ended up getting side tracked by the amanos. Ah well. Hope it won't bore you to death. Also a couple pics of my temporary HC solution. I'll get around to actually planting it, though I guess nobody will like the way I go about it.

And finally the last thing before I get to the pictures is to mention the sort-of redo I'll be undertaking soon, probably tuesday. It involves a bit of a surprise, I won't give a hint yet, I know how insightful LF can be with the slightest hint. I'll only say it's a little bit more exciting than the background.

And to the pics:














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Post InfoPosted 10-Jun-2007 04:58Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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I'll only say it's a little bit more exciting than the background.

Ha, that's easy - Either it is T5/MH high tech lighting or a rimless replacement tank.

Or maybe you got your hands on a lilly pipe or something along these lines.

Anyway, awesome pictures, and I am glad to read that the HC salad head plant style is only temporary

Ingo


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tetratech
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Nice shrimp pics. The second one reminds of the race between the Rabbit and the Turtle, but this time it's a Shrimp and a Snail.

Nice HC. Suppliers are starting to call this Dwarf Baby Tears now. Somehow HC Cuba sounds more exotic and

My Scapes
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The second one reminds of the race between the Rabbit and the Turtle


- That was my thought as well, tetratech, but I couldn't come up with the name in English .

Ingo


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Yeah, the supplier we got it from has it all goofy. micranthemum umbrosium is giant baby's tears, HM is baby's tears, and HC is dwarf baby's tears. Ah well. It's just nice to see them get it in. Maybe they will start working on nana petite.

I guess I'll have to give you that hint now. Tetratech will be happy about the surprise.

Thanks for the comments

Oh and I think it was the tortoise and the hare.



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tetratech
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EditedEdited by tetratech
Oh and I think it was the tortoise and the hare.
O.K. Do you want to start communicating by exact words on this forum, because that could be really dangerous.

Tetratech will be happy about the surprise

Do you want me to try and guess?

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Tetratech will be happy about the surprise.

Pool Filter Sand, or Petrified Wood, or Green Water?

Ingo


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O.K. Do you want to start communicating by exact words on this forum, because that could be really dangerous.


Sheesh, someone's a bit touchy. I just thought the rabbit and the turtle sounded funny 'tis all.

LF still isn't on target...and of course you are welcome to guess Jeff. It's something you keep telling me to get for this tank. I thought LF would've gotten it on that hint.



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tetratech
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Sheesh, someone's a bit touchy. I just thought the rabbit and the turtle sounded funny 'tis all

No I'm not touchy, , just trying to feel out the conversational tone.

LF still isn't on target...and of course you are welcome to guess Jeff. It's something you keep telling me to get for this tank. I thought LF would've gotten it on that hint.
Well, it sounds like you got a hold of some nice wood

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Ding ding! A winner!

It's branchy driftwood...yay!



I'll get a couple shots up here in a few of the dw in the tub....still soaking. I'm thinking I'll actually have to tie some rocks to it. It's been a few days and this thing doesn't want to sink. It's pretty good sized, might stretch across 2/3s of the tank with the branches. I hope it will look good, and not over dominating or something.



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Matt , great shots of the shrimp etc . Look forward to the next installment with the new Driftwood . Should be fun .

Garry
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It's branchy driftwood

- Oh well, I thought you may have something really special

In any case, I am for sure looking forward to seeing your driftwood as well,

Ingo


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Thanks Jeff, Ingo, Garry.

Oh well, I thought you may have something really special


Sheesh, I hope this lives up to the hype. I said it was only a little more exciting than the new background .

So without further ado;

The new DW soaking....still doesn't sink on it's own after five and a half days:


DW in, a lot of potomogeton removed:


Potomogeton back in, filling:


Filled, and one on angle.....I remember there being a lot more potomogeton




And one with the 5.5 shrimp tank (new crypts yay!):


So I really like it, it's a little large....so I'm not sure if everyone is going to go for it. The right most rock is out of place. Any help there would be appreciated. Comments and crits please, lay it on me.



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Post InfoPosted 12-Jun-2007 21:41Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
FRANK
 
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Hi Matt,
Great start for the tank. Yes, the placement of some
of the hardscape "bothers me" but I'd prefer to have
the tank mature for a couple of months before suggesting
something specific.

Frank


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I think it looks good. The Potomogeton seems to flow with the driftwood. I think that the far left rock is also a little out of place, maybe if you buried it halfway?
Another thought, the far right side of the tank loos just a little to empty now that the wood is in so it isn't balanced like before. If you add some more Potomogeton on that side it may fit in nicely.


-Vincent
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tetratech
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Well, when you want to create a focal point, you don't mess around.

I would lose all the rocks they don't do that nice piece of wood justice. You need to decide how your going to support that focal point.

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Matty,

Looks great! Very "pond shore" looking if you will Wish I could get mine looking like that. Great job!

Nice shrimp tank too.
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Matt , love the driftwood . Its a great piece .
I think I agree with Tetra its a great focal point and needs to be supported with some great rock and maybe a lighter color gravel to draw the eye .
Anyway just a thought , but this is going to be a sensational looking tank when it develops .
Already looks fantastic .
Well done .
Garry
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Matty,

It actually does look pretty nice. I am with tetratech on the rocks being rather disturbing, but I also assume that you need quite a few of them to keep the wood down. Did you read in my 125G log that the driftwood branches which I removed during the last makeover had 2 of them that were still floating up, after being in the tank for at least a year (or something like that)? Be prepared for a long term solution on holding your's in place.

Otherwise, very nice. I think the wave shape of the branch could somehow find a similar wave in the substrate, to complement each other. Now the substrate seems just flat.
Also, what about some Nana Petits on the extended part of the branch?

Ingo


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Thanks everyone for the input. I really appreciate it. I was really happy not to hear anyone say "move it to the ___ a little bit" . Or "it would look better if you cut the long arm halfway". So far I'm willing to go with all the suggestions.

Be prepared for a long term solution on holding your's in place.


I did tie a rock to the underside of the DW using some fishing line, and that will hold the peice under water, but the arm wants to go up still. It seemed to continually sink more and more, so I'm hoping, but you may be right LF. Those other rocks really helped with that, and they are holding some pellia in place for now. Does that stuff like to attach to wood? I could possibly use that instead of the petite nana. I wouldn't mind using petite nana though. Or maybe a fissidens sp. might work, what does evreryone think?

Looking at it in real life I do really like the three big rocks (not the ones on the DW). I'd like to keep them and possibly use them to balance out the right side. I also really like how the potomogeton kinda pops out between them and the DW. To me it creates depth, it's just I thought the one closest to the front and right looked odd. If I pushed it back right it might look good. Also, once there's some plant material in front of them, they might be less disturbing. I'm keeping my thoughts open to removing them though.

I like your comment on the flatness Ingo. Maybe that was what Jeff was getting at saying to support the focal point. It would be easy to throw a rock over there and have the pearl grass grow up over it. Might add some three dimensionality. otherwise I guess we are talking stems or hardscape?



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Matty,

I think, but I am not certain, pellia is overall like Riccia from its growth form, meaning I don't think it attaches itself to anything. Its advantage over Riccia is that it sinks naturally and as such doesn't push itself upwards.

Fissidens is the plant that you cannot have, I am planning on having it so it is booked - In other words, a great idea as well.

About the even substrate. Yeah, I was thinking hardscape, but not woods or rock, I thought more in line with changing the substrate itself to have some higher and lower areas.

Ingo


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That's a nice piece of wood you have there Matty. What is the plant you have on the left hand side?

Cheers
TW
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Fissidens is the plant that you cannot have, I am planning on having it so it is booked - In other words, a great idea as well.
Well LF, My Downoi is gone so you can have that and let Matty take the Fissidens. I also think that Fissidens would look nice on the wood. Pella would be too heavy looking and I think riccia would be too light.

I am with you Matty about the rocks. I think that to do work pretty well. Maybe just play with the big one on the right. That's the only one that doesn't seem to fit for me.

I think you should move the DW an inch to the left.... Just messing around...

Now you have my 2 cents and can go one with life...

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[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric
Post InfoPosted 19-Jun-2007 15:34Profile AIM PM Edit Delete Report 
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Glad everyone likes the fissidens idea, there's some in the mail right now. Will probably take a week to get here though.

I also got some super cheap tenellus from work to maybe grow up over the HM on the right and create a little texture. Moving the rock back there might help a bit too (glad you like the rocks wings ).

So far work has been eating my life, so I haven't gotten anything done on the tank other than dump a couple plants and some ferts in there. The store got some furcatas in, so it looks like I'll be adding to my current group of three.



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So I'm due for my monthly update. I hope LF doesn't mind I'm a little late. I just got done with a water change. Major trimming of the lawn from last week is still a little noticeable...the HM is usually shocked for about a week, then takes right off again. It won't be so flat in a few days.

I moved the rock on the right back and a little more to the right. I think it looks a lot better. The tenellus is more apparent this week, and the stargrass in the corner is doing pretty well. I'll have to decide what I like and don't still.

The weird black things are the fissidens "containers". The fissidens is starting to grow out of them, so they must like it here. I'm kind of growing attached to the pelia on the dw though. It's interesting. I also got a new batch of petite nana....and happened to get a pearling shot . Those things and the bare patch where the HC is slowly growing (look mom no tweezers!) all detract from the aquascape, but are a little part of my collectoritis.

So on to the pics:

I'll start with the aforementioned petite nana pearling shot. Talk about macro:


Finally a nice clear shot of a furcata:


And finally the FTS:


Sorry about the lax in posting in everyone's threads. I don't blame you if you don't respond . I try my best. I've been working 45hr weeks, have 6 hrs. of classes, my mod duties here and my new duties at Adam's new site here, and some social life. AND I got sick on my last day off. Ack, what happened to summer breaks?



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Post InfoPosted 18-Jul-2007 02:49Profile Homepage PM Edit Delete Report 
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wow mate sounds like your busy, busy at the moment! why not grab yourself a six pack and forget about it all for a couple of hours. thats my cure for being busy (/pretty much any ailment). any way dont wear yourself out mate.
okey enough from dr dan- the tank looks brilliant mate. i actually like the rocks, they kind of stand out with their brash shapes. a bit of contrast always looks good.
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Sorry about the lax in posting in everyone's threads. I don't blame you if you don't respond . I try my best. I've been working 45hr weeks, have 6 hrs. of classes, my mod duties here and my new duties at Adam's new site here, and some social life. AND I got sick on my last day off. Ack, what happened to summer breaks?


Hate to break this to you buddy, but it get's worse. Wait to you have kids, have to work 45hrs in one day (look at poor Ingo) and become a mule for your family. Taking them to and fro and carrying all their &*$#.

Anyway, I really like the center with the wood and the Gayi. I know you've been "busy", but the rocks don't do it for me you need more exposed substrate and smaller rocks to work with that size wood.

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Post InfoPosted 18-Jul-2007 17:03Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
NowherMan6
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lol, tetra. Thanks for painting such a rosy picture for us young guys. Maybe I'll hold off on buying that ring for the GF...

Matty, I too like the center section. And I don't really mind the rocks. I just want to replace all that HM with HC, and maybe you do too. The scape is right, I just wonder what it would look like with some nice thick HC.

And good shot of the furcata. They must be tough to freeze, buzzing around like flies.

Finally, don't worry about being MIA. I'm there too my friend, it happens.


Back in the saddle!
Post InfoPosted 18-Jul-2007 17:38Profile PM Edit Delete Report 
tetratech
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Finally, don't worry about being MIA. I'm there too my friend, it happens.


Yeah I see why they call you Nowher
Anyway, I'm telling you the bad stuff, but the good stuff far outweights it. It's kinda like an HC foreground. It's a lot of work, but the reward is great
Just remember when you have kids, they don't leave and you can't either. It's a big ad if you have a good support network.

Matty, forgot beautiful macro shot!

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Matty, forgot beautiful macro shot!
Nice fuzzy stuff too!

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EditedEdited by mattyboombatty
Thanks for the compliments everyone, I appreciate the comments.

have to work 45hrs in one day


I don't mean to be rude, but I think you are making things up here . As I recall, there's only 24 hrs in a day. Also if you can remember that far back You'll remember 6 hrs of classes never = six hours of work. At least not in my fields. Just had to get you back a bit there for making me sound like a whiner. I'm not whining, I'm explaining . 45 hours a week of fish is plenty for me. I do on the order of 200-300 water changes per week.

Just remember when you have kids, they don't leave and you can't either.


Sounds terrible....I'm sorry. I don't think I'm the kids type. Thankfully my gf isn't either. We'd rather have a few animals.

Nice fuzzy stuff too!


Hey! *shakes fish at nowher* Lets see some of your slow growing plants that close up! Thanks for the compliments on the furcata shot at least .

Well back to the tank. I agree that if I end up with an HC (and I would like that wings )carpet, that I'll need smaller rocks. As they are in person, they don't look real big or obtrusive or even as angular. I'll give a matty angle sometime to illustrate that. Anyhow this was more to show I was alive and that the tank still has water in it more than anything else. Thanks for the crits I'll keep working it towards where I want it, it isn't there for sure, but better than it was.

Oh yeah, for you moss lovers out there....I forgot to show more of my colectoritis. Theres a bit of flame moss front and center. I'm thinking of throwing that in the 5.5 and removing the moss that's already there.



Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients
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