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I've been running a pressurised Co2 system now for a month.Has it made a difference? Heck yes ! Do I like the difference ? Heck......actually I'm not sure I do

Problem is everything has got so darn big. The shape has gone as a result. Where as before there were levels and depth, mow I've just got big plants and oh my God would ya look at the size of that thing plants.

Problem is the plants that need moving are the biggest. I 've got a sword that more then 2 feet tall, can you imagine the root structure on that thing. Same with the Crypts. I've got one Wendtii that's the biggest I've seen anywhere. So pulling these up is basically a complete tank tear down Something I really don't want to do.

Anyways see what you think. Any thoughts gladly accepted.

This is the before pic

bensaf attached this image:

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

This is the after pic. One month of Co2 injection later.
Notice the sword and the crypts - they have doubled in size. The sword throws out one of these huge leaves every 2 days. The more I trim it the bigger it gets Also the Hrygro Augustifolia has also taken off with much more bigger leaves more side shoots and super short internodes.
As you can see the mid ground has almost completely disappeared.
Admittedly some the stem plants are in need of a trim but even cutting them back is not going to make much of a difference. Even the Anubias are on a charge.

bensaf attached this image:

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Either way the tank is gorgeous but I see what you mean about everything getting big. I wish I had that problem.

Steph~ she with an aquarium black thumb

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I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West

Both are gorgeous. In the second picture, is your angel pressed against the glass, or is it just making faces at us like a little kid in the back of a car? because your plants are pressing it against the glass....I'm a nerd

Last edited by mattyboombatty at 24-Nov-2004 11:55

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

GOODNESS
Pics from 2 months before co2 was added would also be helpful for the comparison ....in anycase the growth is impressive.

^_^
[link=H2g2]http://hitchhikers.movies.go.com/upgrade.html" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link] 2005 Don't Leave Home Without it[/font]

I liked the old miniature/organized foreground feel of the first tank, and the lush sword and crypt foliage of the second, combine the two, and you'll be golden. I don't even know why I'm offering suggestions, though, as I haven't the green thumb for aquatic gardening. Both tanks look awesome.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 24-Nov-2004 12:40

Thanks to all for the comments.

Noodles touched upon my dilema. The swords and crypts are pretty lush and magnificent but as such need to be moved back and something smaller put in front. This will give more shape and depth. BUT the root structures are probably so massive now that moving them would entail uprooting everything around them - equal to complete tank re-work, something I don't have the heart or patience to do.

I can't trim the sword, the more I trim the bigger and stronger it gets. The growth on this thing is phenomenal. It trows out a new leave almost daily which reaches a height of 2 feet within 3 days, every new leaf is a little bigger then the last - they are now piercing the surface. It pearls almost constantly.

The crypts I don't think can get any taller, just fuller, so I'll try to work around them.

I have a couple of ideas for little touch ups that might help bring a bit more shape to the thing.

I've also decided to re-organise the fish stocking a little in line with the environment. No more schoolers - not enough open water. More of the poking pecking type fish that like this kind of dense foliage. The Gouramies love it , as do the rams, Ive just got a small school of Cherry Barbs who are right at home in this dense jungle.The mollies and platies are constantly cleaning the plants and are as fat as fools. Active swimmers and bottom feeders are out. The actives would keep bumping their heads against something, and the bottom feeders won't have a bottom to feed off (that last bit reads really strange !).

Anybody any other ideas on either the aquascape or suitable stocking

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Hey Bernard,

A nice little jungle you have created there. CO2 indeed tends to have that effect, especially on well lighted tanks, you still haven't had the need to add fertilizer? I can imagine that the trace elements run out quite fast when you have fast growth like that.

Anyway, to come up with a solution is a bit difficult without tearing the entire tank apart. I think one reason why evertyhing gets so big is because the surrounding plants get big too... sort of like progressive competition, you can compare it with an arms race, one plant has bigger leaves, so the next one has to make bigger ones too in order to survive. I think that in order to slow their growth in the vertical direction you need to give them more space in the horizontal direction, which means a lot of trimming/removing. Some of the cryptos you have in the front could be moved to the middle and the sword... well I think I would remove it alltogether and either replace it with a variant that is known to stay smaller or leave it out altogether.

For the foreground take some plants that you know for sure of that they will stay low, Glossostigma elantinoides for example, it should make a nice carpet and supposedly doesn't come any bigger than 3 cm high. Besides that, trimming, trimming and more trimming. Now your tank will start taking a lot of your time

Hey Bonke,

Been a while ! You may have a point there. Strange thing. The big sword. There is actually another sword exactly the same, bought at the same time , the same species (they were 3 inch plantlets when I got them) beside the big one. But you can not even see it in the photo, can barely see it in the tank. Got plenty of leaves but never got near the same height. Always assumed it was being shaded, but could be just out competed.

Yes, I now have to fertilize. 15ml of Tropica MG 3 times a week. The Polysperma is like a barometer. When I first get the Co2 you could see the different stages quite clearly. Small leaves before Co2 , then big lush leaves, then deformed leaves when the nutrients ran out, then big leaves again when fert added. Looked quite weird.

More maintenance ? Aw man...

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Babel,

This is the tank back in July - 4 months ago.

BTW. All the wood and rocks in this pic are still there, in the same place......I think - haven't seen 'em in a while
bensaf attached this image:


Last edited by bensaf at 25-Nov-2004 07:52[/font]

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

It's been a while indeed, lately I have been a bit too busy with my upcoming dissertation (friday next week) to pay much attention to what's going on here on these forums. But now in the final week before it all happens I am having trouble concentrating and ended up browsing around over here

The pants themselves usually show quite nicely when stuff is running out, in my tank the sunset hygro shows it quite nicely, and i think that next year I will also make the switch to bottled CO2, the DIY setup works fine for a week or two, but it is far from optimal. three days after changing the micture I usually get way more than I need and then after a week or two it gets too low. I'll probably also need an additional pump to drive my reactor... so many things to buy, so little amount of money to spend .

Maintenance is the big downside of planted tanks, after a trimming session/water change the tank looks great for 3 dasy, then the first plants start getting too big and after a week it looks like I haven't touched the tank in months... somewhat frustrating every now and then, especially when you don't have too much time to do the maintenance. I fear for when I come back from a two week X-mas vacation.

So ditch the co2 and rearrange the tank if you don't like it man... We don't have to look at it every day like you do.

Here's a thought for moving plants with a big root structure (in case you do decide to move the giant sword further back).

If the plant doesn't have to move very far, don't pull it out of the substrate and expose the roots. It takes too much effort to get them all planted again! Just remove the plants in the area it's going to go to and make a "track" in the substrate where there are no plants. Then reach your hand under the substrate, take as much of the root system as you can, and 'slide' the big plant to its new destination.

I hope this description makes sense! :%) Admittedly I haven't tried it with a plant quite as big as yours (if only I had the opportunity!) but it has worked for me with biggish plants. Some roots will break in the process and it does create some disruption, but better than ripping the whole tank apart.