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Wow....Thats a really nice looking tank
Great pics.
I wish i could manage to get it like that also
Is it lot of work to have a tank like that Bensaf..
Do the plants need a lot of light..and is some of your plants hardy?
Robby

Last edited by robby1619 at 14-Jun-2005 07:16

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

That i would appreciate very much bensaf
Some pics would be great so i can see how they look like...iam not an plant expert
I only have fake plants in my tank now..can't wait to get some real lovely looking plants.
Here you have 2 pics of my 75g http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mile_rd_8ball/album?.dir=/35d6
Thanks,
Robby

Last edited by robby1619 at 15-Jun-2005 11:27

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

Robby,

That's pretty low. Less then 1watt per gallon. This would limit you, plant wise to Anubias, Ferns and Crypts.

It's still very possible to do a really terrific and dense display with these plants as they are available in a huge range of shapes and sizes and even colors. The plants I mention in pic 3 (wendelov, narrow leaf and Lucens) would all survive well in your tank.

Problem is only the most basic of these would be available in the average store. The really nice varieties would only be readily available online so it will cost a few bucks. Probably more then a decent light fitting ! So there's a choice to be made. Bear in mind though that these plants are extremely hardy most damn near impossible to kill, require no additional ferts or co2 so there's a cost saving there.

Personally I'd go with buying a good selection of these plants and a decent amount of rock and driftwood create a design with those and then just sit back and enjoy.

If your interested I can give you a few names of plants that would work and some photos of stunning simple low light tanks for inspiration.

A set up like this is very easy to do and only limited by your imagination

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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.

Bensaf my lighting: Lamp 50-60HZ 30W x 2

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

Depends what light you have available. Co2 is definately not neccessary. There's a plenty of choices without using stem plants. Swords, Crypts, Anubias, Aponogetons, Ferns all come in many different sizes shapes and colors and are very easy and undemanding. Plenty of good sources in Europe. You may pay a little more for good quality plants but are good investments long term. The right choice of plants from somebody like Tropica should last you a lifetime and they have every species needed to make a really top notch display even with easy to care for plants.
You can fit most in a 75 gal just avoid the really big swords.
Glad to help if I can anytime.

Fish wise the tanks a bit of a mess. I'd like to cut then on the number of species and just have 3 or 4 in big schools.
At the moment I have Gouramies, an Angelfish, Rainbows, Penicilfish, Rummies, Otto's, Hengali Rasboras and a few female Bettas.

Last edited by bensaf at 15-Jun-2005 01:27

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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.

Thanks for the info Bensaf
I will try to get some plants aswell.
What would you suggest for a 75g tank?...i need hardy plants and not those that grows quickly...Ohh is Co2 a must have?
If i need some help i will just call for you bensaf..
I maybe getting some discus later..will the discus eat the plants?
What kind of fish do you have in that tank bensaf?
Robby

Last edited by robby1619 at 15-Jun-2005 00:58

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

I wish i could manage to get it like that also

You can, it's not that difficult. If I can do it.......

Is it lot of work to have a tank like that Bensaf..

Hmmmm....not really. The only real work involved is trimming.Growing the plants and taking "care" of them is pretty effortless. The tank doesn't look anywhere near as good at the moment as it can. Been too busy to trim and sculpt. The left side is very overgrown. The Pennywort,Ammania and Augustifolia have all grown too tall and become one big blur. Normally they would be layerd so each is highlighting the other and more attractive. The Red Temple is at the surface and needs to be hacked down a few inches.Keeping the "shape" would probably take a couple of hours a week.
Fertilising literally only takes 5 mins a week. There's a weekly 50% water change but that's pretty standard with any tank.
So it's all relatively easy. Growing the plants is simple -shove them in the gravel !
Algae is never an issue and you can see it's pretty alage free except for some spots on the older Anubias leaves.
I've said before and I'll say it again. Lot's of plants. Any tank with this amount of plants is as foolproof as it gets. With so many plants consuming nutrients it's hard for algae to get any kind of look in. Also such a density gives a lot of leeway with fertilising, I can screw up dosage from time to time by adding too much, but so many plants make that not such a big deal.
This tank has been stocked with a lot of plants from the start and never had any serious algae problems. Planting heavily from the get go is the biggest help to success.
Most of the work is done before hand -planning. Knowing what plants will work in any given set up and planting them in the right place. Once that's done it's surprisingly easy.Once they grow it's just a matter of "flower arranging".

Do the plants need a lot of light..and is some of your plants hardy?

Not a huge amount of light. It's a funny shaped tank. Only a meter long but quite tall and wide about 65 us gals of water. There's a light fixture with 4 x 36 watt pc bulbs which is a total of 144 watts. That's only about 2.2.wpg, some might consider that on the low side I find it fine for just about everything but the most light demanding plants. 50% 10,000K and 50% 6700K bulbs.
I would say they are all hardy. Most of the plants have been there for at least a year. There is a pressurised Co2 system but everything would be pretty much would be fine without it, most of the plants were there long before the Co2 system.
The spot in the center where the Sunset Hygro is has been an experimentation spot. It's right under the light so I've put in all kinds of plants to see what will work and what won't. Haven't found much that won't work. But some didn't look right, some where more of pain to deal with then others etc. I'm sure when I fancy a change something else will go in that spot.
Apart from the stem plants everything else is left to it's own devices.

Hooktor,
The filter is a canister, some Singaporean Eheim knock off. I think the brand name is Matrix. I think it's rated at 400 gph. Works fine. Media is 1 layer sponge, 3 layers of floss, 1 layer of ceramic bio rings and 1 layer of bio balls. Occasionally swap one layer of floss for a layer of AC for about a week.

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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.

<-- has always loved bensaf's tank
PLANTS

I am so jealous! (runs off to lfs and buys the entire plant section to attempt to achieve besaf's success )

What kind of filter do you use?

Last edited by Hooktor at 14-Jun-2005 20:10

That's a wonderful tank, bensaf. You're doing a great job.
:%) :%)


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Been a while so thought I'd post a few pics. A few changes made ( as always). A bit wild at the moment as a) I'm too lazy to sculpt these days and b) I'm growing out some emmersed Ammania Gracillis that was emmersed.

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.

Keith, that's Hydrocotyle Leucocephala a.k.a Brazillian Pennywort.

If you look at the last post in this thread http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/60295.html?200506072304 I ramble on about how good this plant is. Rambled on so much I apparently killed the thread

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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.

Bernard

A true Irishman green through and through fantastic as usual.
Question what is the tall plant front LH first photo it seems to have a smalish roundish thin leaves.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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Fantastic tank

Wow....forget about green thumb....more like green man. Looks great bensaf!

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Lastly some Hygro.Polysperma Rosenvirg. Not as pink as it could be. I keep the nitrates at about 15ppm which is just a touch to high to get a really deep pink color. Might try to reduce that but I like to keep the plants well fed

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.

A forest of Crypts and Anubias at the darker right hand side of tank.

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.

Wendelov Fern in the front, right behind that some Narrow Leaf Java Fern - beautiful plant and right behind that is a very tall Cryptocorene x Willisi "Lucens", fantastic plant gets to about 15-18ins tall, fast growing by crypts standards, dead easy. The perfect background or sword alternative for smaller low light tanks, great mid ground in bigger tanks even with low light

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.

It's a jungle out there

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.