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Thanks for the link. I'm actually looking for a new light for my 12g which is really a eclipse 12g bowfront with all the trimming removed. The light I've been using is a desklamp (26w cf) but it's kinda a pain and it doesn't look that great. The eclipse tank is 20in across.

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They have a 20inch model, either one or two 36 W bulbs - that's just the Lighthouse series, the least intese range it seems. I think they're made more for SW tanks. The only thing is you have to watch out with any kind of bowfront tank because the bow may make it impossible to use the legs properly if the tank is narrow. I had that problem with my 2.5 bow tank, but that may be because its so small. Just something to keep an eye on.

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I agree that the new set-up is a major improvement over the old one, in particular when it comes to the illusion of size. What I like about the old picture is that you have a standard thermometer in there, this gives away the real dimensions of the tank.

And - what was that plant on the left back side in the original?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Whoops, didnt even realize the thermometer was in there

The plant on the left is Potamogeton gayii. Very pretty plant, grass like, spreads like a weed after a while, tons and tons of runners. Deep forest green leaf blades off set by some brownish red ones. I used it wrong in that set up though, I dont think it works as a background plant, just as an interest plant, or as an accent to a larger group. Although if you were going to do a an "au natural" tank where you wanted the tank to look like a lake bed or something I'm sure it would be a great plant - it just looks like something that would spread like crazy on the bottom of a lake, and that can be a good or bad thing.

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I was wondering the same thing about the light. I have the 18W corelife too for my 2G hex. I used to have it hanging from my loft but now I don't have anything to hang it from. Might have to get out the wire feed at home and make myself something or I could just get a different tank... I have had my eye on one at anther LFS(not the one I work at). Might have to pick it up.

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

Sounds good Wings. There are a good deal of Nano set ups out there that are better than the average all-glass tanks you find. Catalina has some, also Finnex (ebay it) has a 4 gallon set up (mine, but I added a new light) and an 8 gallon, both rimless. Just search around.


One thing I just noticed looking at the two pictures of the initial set-up compared to the new is the Blyxa. Notice how tall, lean and scraggly it is in the early shot, compared to now where it's noticably fuller, denser and shorter leaved. I wonder if this is from stunting, or just a consequence of the intense light, considering the tank is only a few inches tall.

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I have no idea the brand of the one I am looking at but it looks much like yours. No rims and the front corners are rounded. Very sharp tanks! Thanks for the searching tips. You are always all over that stuff!

As for your plants from before and now. I have never kept them but I would like to get my hands on them. I vote is lighting. It seems to look more than healthy to me.

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

I wonder if this is from stunting

Like fish when they are in too small of a tank?

I also think it is the light. What do we know about plants in lower lights - they grow larger sections between nodes (stems, and Blyxa is a stem). And if they get more light - they grow fuller and some of them even tend to grow really low rather than erect themselves towards a sparse light.

But - as long as yours do not turn a reddish-brown, they can still use more light

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly update 1:

Well, I spoke too soon. No sooner did I think "Gosh, that Blyxa is staying low!" than a few tall leaves shot up from one of the plants Besides that there is some new anubias growth. I'm surprised how fast petitie nana grows, a new leaf or two every week.

I'm interested to see how the leaves come in, if they're cupped or not. That should say a decent amount about the water softening properties of ADA soil.

Here's the pic - I'm going to add another NL fern to the middle section there where the windelov used to be.



The little white dots are bubbles and baby snails That's the downside of having no fish. You realize how much of a clean up crew even fish like a tetras or rasboras are because in a planted tank they'd eat little critters like this.

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The blyxa sure does seem taller. It might be the veiw you took the picture from though. Overal the tank still looks sharp!

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

the tank looks really good...glad to see that people like the smaller aquariums too.
i like that you have a very natural but simple take on it it makes the tank seem so much bigger...i would reccommend a bit of veritety but thats just me maybe like a bushy plant but your call...hope everything else goes good i'll check back later to see some more results/:'

Still looking good Nowher It's even crisper now with the windelov gone. Looks like the groundcover is starting to spread as well.

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Nice looking tank Nowhere. I see what you mean by that thin leafed java fern.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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Thanks again,

bratyboy, I think one of the hardest things about keeping a small tank is finding plants that are manageable and maintaining that "looks bigger than it is" impression. In this case I think adding a bushy plant, a stem plant like HM could work short term but long term it's a royal pain to trim and uproot and replant tops and keep things looking good. Everything in here is pretty modest growing and neat.

Also, keep in mind that AS is pretty "Fragile", that is it crumbles easily when pressed between fingers, and soften considerably underwater. This means that when you pull up a plant it has a tendency to disperse in the water column, leading to cloudy water and possible algae issues from all those organics being stirred up. If I planned on having a tank with lots of stem plants I would use an inert substrate, makes things a lot easier for pulling up and replanting.

tetra, the HC is spreading a bit, but it's pretty branchy. I really think that in order to get it to grow bushy it needs CO2 in jection. I'm considering a DIY set up with a mighty mini diffuser, but that may just complicate things for me. I like the simple life with this one

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Just a few pics for the heck of it

Here's a head shot of one of the japonicas:



I let the water level get a little low, so two gs of wood were sticking up out of the water for a day or so. When I finally refilled it and the water covered it up the three shrimp were all over those spots. I wonder what made them pick so voraciously at the formerly exposed bits. Maybe little spores from the "outside" world were forming/ growing on it?



That's all for now.

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tetra, the HC is spreading a bit, but it's pretty branchy. I really think that in order to get it to grow bushy it needs CO2 in jection. I'm considering a DIY set

Are you dosing the excel daily? Surely the co2 would make it grow faster and fuller.


Great closeups of the Amanos. I've really grown to enjoy shrimp over the last few months. They just bring another dimension to the tank. The Cherry's are definitely the most tolerant of water conditions, but he Amanos are fine. I have at least 4 in my 72g and 1 in my 12g. I think I lost one when I moved the 12g downstairs. They do jump when netted.

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In my 40G the other day one of my cherries swam up to the top and was eatting off the duck weed. Yesterday I had one just about out of the water eatting on a peice of sunset that has grown to the surface. My guess is that the closer to the light source the more food there will be for them.

Nice pictures BTW!

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

closer to the light source the more food there will be for them.

Wow Wings, that is so smart of you (I am being a wise behind) . I agree, the more light, the more algae, the more food.

NowherMan6, how come I haven't seen this thread in a while? I must have missed it because it is such a small tank

Very nice shots of the shrimpsters, looking good there. Did you lose any at all?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Wow Wings, that is so smart of you (I am being a wise behind)

What am I the local idiot and didn't know it?

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

Well, it's been a couple weeks since the last update, so here's a few more pics. I haven't added any other livestock to the tank just yet. Haven't seen any cherries in good shape any where. I've also been tinkering with the idea of getting a few small rasboras or cherry barbs, but every time I go to bite the bullet I can't go through with it for some reason. So for now the only thing I did was add an extra NL fern in the middle.

I noticed an interesting thing while adding ferts. As noted above, I've been dosing Excel more regularly for the past two weeks or so. When I first kept it up daily I noticed a burst of hair algae growth on the glass - not thick, just long individual strands a few cm apart from each other, nothing not easily removed. But after about a week I noticed they started receding and were reduced in size. I attribute this to having a more steady flow of C, rather than it fluctuating as it had been.

As for the growth, I remember being worried that the wood on the right looked too bare on its right side - well, the blyxa has taken care of that, filling in and growing up nicely. it adds a nice accent to that part of the wood. The HC is also filling in, however some bits are growing up and floating off, while others are being pushed out by the blyxa. Just goes to show you, leave enough space for plants to grow in - now I'll have to do another minor uproot and replant of the HC. No big deal, but still have to do it.

Here's a pic of the tank as of this morning. i was playing with using my wireless flash along with natural window light. This is the only way so far I've gotten the tank to look exactly as it looks like color wise. Usually it's too green, or the wood looks purple and the background looks blue instead of black. Just goes to show you the power of natural light



And this one, well what can I say: Blyxa fields forever



That's all for now, I'll add more pics after the HC replant and when I add some fish or cherries

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Back in the saddle!

Nowher,
Tank looks good, that Blyxa looks really healthy. Almost tempting to let a grow right across the front or have it on the left too and left as well and leave a little beach in the front after you ever decide to forget the HC.

Interesting that the Blyxa is all green with your light.
What are you currently dosing?

My Scapes

I really like the pic with the natural lighting. The colors are really nice. deep greens from the plants and the wood actually looks real as well. The plants are really coming along. As soon as the foreground fills in, I think it will be stunning. I'm definitely going to have to use some of the blyxa in my new tank.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Very nice Nowher. The side lighting is really great!

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

well what can I say: Blyxa fields forever

I'll 2nd that. It looks really good.

Cheers
TW

Thanks everyone

Considering how well it grows under these conditions it certainly is tempting to let it grow across the front, but that would change the whole dynamic. It would easily overgrow the petite nana, and may not contrast as well with the similarly shaped leaves of the NL fern. If I have one regret about how it's placed, I wish I had sloped the substrate in the back more so that some appeared higher than the others. Right now it feel a little flat, but its no big deal.

Right now I'm not dosing all that much. Excel daily, K after a water change. I used to dose a pinch of N here and there, but I've stopped recently. As you can tell by the growth, nothing has been hurt by this. The HC has filled in more since upping the Excel dosing, and the Blyxa is full and healthy looking. I imagine at this point it's pulling whatever it needs from the substrate. Once I up the stocking in this tank there'll be more N to go around. Just trying to keep things low maintenence, so far so good

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Back in the saddle!

Well just wanted to add a few pics. I know I said no fish originally, but I saw a school of these at the LFS the other day and bought a bunch. They're pretty tiny and behaviorally they seem fine in the 4G. Introducing P. simulans:

(apologies for the noise in the photo, it was dark and I needed high ISO







This one is a little blurry, but was taken after lights out with just some ambient room lighting filtering in. I think their colors are brighter with less light than with more light - you can really see how they're able to find each other in those murcky SA blackwater spots.



And for good measure, a shrimp shot:



Right now the simulans are on the shy side, they spend a lot of time on the left side of the tank, in the shading of the DW and java fern, but I see them coming out and playing around in the Blyxa field every now and then. They'll need a few days to adjust, I'm sure once they start associating "out in the open" with "food" they'll be more outgoing.

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They don't look very green to me. Maybe it's the lighting though. Healthy looking fish, hope they work out for ya.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Pretty sure they're not supposed to be green They're a neon mimic, just less red than either neons or cardinals, and they stay smaller. I've seen another type of tetra called the green neon that actually was green, but that's using common names, and I don't know its scientific name.

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Oops, I thought p. simulans was the green neon tetra. My mistake....as I said nice healthy lookin' fish

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

matty, P simulans IS called the green neon tetra, but it doesn't really make sense because they have the same turquise blue streak and a bit of red as regular neons. Just another reason to NOT rely on common names.

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I'm so confused

I get it now, so the green ones I've seen aren't p. simulans, they're something else entirely. I gotcha

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

NowherMan6,

First of all, the tank is coming along very nicely, I like your Blyxa forest.

Otherwise, I am with Matty. A fish that is - and not - the fish that it is supposed to be, green vs. blue and what not. I also think that it is maybe the light that makes the colors appear more or less greenish. Or wasn't there something about a greenish hue to the horizontal stripe?

How many did you get and how many do you still have?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well, this is a pic of P simulans from google images

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://nscontact.com/Images/Produits/G/277_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://nscontact.com/catalogue/-nsc-es_60_52_01_277_1_Paracheirodon_simulans_Green.aspx&h=238&w=400&sz=9&hl=en&start=15&tbnid=L2wZwTuSmyOVPM:&tbnh=71&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3DParacheirodon%2Bsimulans%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG

It looks just like the first fish shot I posted. Also look at the fishbase.org shot of P simulans. It's spot on. It's call the green neon but it looks just like a regular neon, with less red.

As for the number, I started with 8 but I'm left with 4 after the weekend. This is my first experience with delicate neons

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Back in the saddle!

NowherMan6,

It doesn't really matter if they are green or blue, Here Is A Link that shows them more green. But this site (in German) names them blue Neon / green Neon, so both are good.

To bad that you lost 50% over the weekend. Any signs in the dead ones? Any signs in the living ones? How did they die?

Ingo

EDIT: uh, that site linked above says they need a ph of 5.5 to 6. I hope they are wrong.

EDIT AGAIN: This site, also in German, lists the same ph requirements. Further, the first link mentiones that they are all wild caught, so no adjustment through farm breeding would have been given. The second link also mentiones their sensitivity to Nitrate.

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well, I never really bought into the stuff about fish needing a certain ph, as long as they're acclimated slowly enough they'll be alright. perhaps that was my problem. I used the drip method, but only for an hour and fifteen minutes. Perhaps 2-3 hrs would have been in order. I'm goign to bump up the school again, as the 4 still seem a little skittish and shy. They're feeding well and have actually colored up some since I did a water change yesterday. When I do I'll certainly acclimate them more slowly this time.

The only other strange thing that has happened is my three shrimp are MIA. Not unusual for them but usually they show themselves more than this, haven't seen them for 2 days now

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Your shrimp might be a little skidish with the new fish swimming around.



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

Definetely possible, though the shrimp are nearly twice the size of the fish

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Yeah I'm back. Had a soccer tournament near Hershey, PA and then went to Hershey and did the coasters

Speaking of shrimp I didn't feed my apistos for three days and I think they ate my CRS. They were in there for several weeks without a problem when feed daily, but when I came home I noticed some red pieces all around the tank. At first I thought they were eggs, but it looks bad.

I also noticed in my 72g the fish ate up pieces of Blyxa after not eating for 3 days.

Nice fish, I hope the other's make it. I'm not sure how this fish will do in such a young tank, but we'll see.

My Scapes

Hey tetra, good to see you again.

Sorry about those CRS. I always thought that mixing cherries with cichlids or loaches would be disastrous, only because they're so small. Amanos are big shrimp, they can hold their own, but cherries are little things. I know this sound shorrible but I laughed when I read how you phrased it - "little red things all over the tank" I can imagine coming home, seeing that and thinking "Ah, crap..."

As for the fish, yeah, we'll see if I'm able to build up a few more of them. Keep in mind the tank itself is a few months old, the filter and plants for the most part the same from before the redo, so I'm not too worried about it being too immature to handle the load. These are pretty tiny fish afterall, and the tank gets a decent WC every week. I'm more concerned with acclimating them slowly enough this time.

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I know this sound shorrible but I laughed when I read how you phrased it - "little red things all over the tank" I can imagine coming home, seeing that and thinking "Ah, crap

No, it's not horrible of you. It kinda reminded me of the movie "War of the Worlds" and yes you did have concerns about CRS and the apistos. As I said they were fine when feed, although the crs did hide all day and come out at nite after putting in the apistos, so I'm not sure if the "red things" are both of the crs or one of them.



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