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also heard that Amano shrimp are not easy to breed in the community tank

They need brackish/ salt water for the baby shrimp to grow. Cherry's will breed in FW and can be raised in FW as well. Now if you can only find them...

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Back in the saddle!

Yeah, that's what I thought. I fear the worst for my cherries. Haven't seen them. I don't think the Amanos would have eaten them, do you? I'm thinking maybe the Bolivians, they were very small.

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Plus 2 Rams, 1 Oto, 5 Pencils, 1 Rummy Nose, and one fish I cannot ID (in the center, above the Rummy and parially hiding a Pencil).

LF, the hidden fish appears to be a blurred image of another rummy (see the tail) Actually almost all my fish are in that shot except (8/9 otos, 2 corys, 2 rummys, 1 card and 6/8 shrimp).

The store where I got my cardinals ($3 a piece ) has a great school of emperor tetras. I was tempted to add those in, but I feel they will just get lost in the tank with other fish I have of similar size and color. This store also has like 10 species of rainbows. As you could see from the cardinals prices he's very expenisve. I think he had huge bosemani for $40.

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Wings - Count the circles, 19

Yeah, the big Rainbows cost a fortune, tetratech. Remember that I paid for my juvenile Simple Neon Dwarfs $12, adults are $20. Supply and demand, man, they get you coming ad going.

Ingo

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Ring Fish

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF,

You the man!

My dwarf rainbows are 4 for $10.... that would be $2.50 each...

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

Count the circles, 19

Now if you could find the 20th. . I guess he's off-camera. I have such a good streak going with the cardinals that I almost don't want to spoil it, but I will attempt to add 5 or 6 more by the weekend. That will give me a total of 25 or 26 assuming they all make it.



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Well wasn't planning this, but I was at one of my lfs today looking for some more shrimp (bought 2 more cherries and two more yamatos and this guy was all alone in the shrimp tank and I caved and said "I'll take him too" Nice little fish. It's a variety of honey gourmai, really nice color. I couldn't get the best pick, because he went into hiding, but now he's exploring the place.





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Another pic:



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Pretty fish, tetra

There goes the SA theme!

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Back in the saddle!

Your right, this does it fishwise, but I already strayed with some plants species and of course the yamato shrimps, etc. If Amano does it, I guess it's o.k with me.

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Welcome to the graceful world of Gouramies

I've got one of these guys, your's has much better color though Nice fish very peaceful , always on the move hunting for something.

Like the new siggie too

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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.

Yeah,

I guess you couldn't resist the grace and charm of the Gouramies, couldn't you.

He (or she, don't know if you sexed the little one yet) looks very nice .

Now we need a mate

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the gourmai commments. I guess there's nothing wrong with having alittle grace.

Yes, I do like the way he pokes around the plants and marches to a different beat then the shooling fish.

I think it's a male based on the color, but not sure. There seem to be a few varieties of this fish.

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I am not sure if this fish can be identified by the dorsal fin shape, but looking closer at your picture it seems to be rather pointy towards the back. This, in quite a few Gourami species, is a sign of a male. The female's is rounder and shorter, although the length is really kicking in a little later (IMHO).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yes, I do like the way he pokes around the plants and marches to a different beat then the shooling fish

Exactly. My sparkling gourami tend to do this little thing where they move along a certain invisible line, move forward an inch, stop flare their fins, then poke at the DW/ substrate/ plant. Move, flare, poke etc. over and over. They're also the only species I have that consistently explores every level of the tank.

Take LFs advice on sexing them, the only way I can tell with mine is looking for their ovaries with a flashlight

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Back in the saddle!

Thanks Nowher, I'll give it a try

How big do the sparklings get, this guy only gets about 2". He's really not much bigger than my cardinals, just more graceful.

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He's really not much bigger than my cardinals, just more graceful

Sparkling gourami aren't that much bigger than my harlies. Actually, I think the harlies are more full bodied. The biggest is 1 1/4, 1 1/2 inches max. They also like each others company to a degree. It's very neat, like schooling gourami

It's funny, I saw one very similar to yours when i bought the sparkling gourami, again alone in a tank with bottom feeders. Maybe they don't get them in in big groups?

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Back in the saddle!

Might be, they didn't have any sparklings, but they had many other gouramis. The store I went to Aquarium Adventure.(LF has been there) had a 50% off sale. So the gourmai was listed for $4.99 and I only paid $2.50. The yamatos where listed for $3.99 and only paid $2 so it was a pretty good deal.

BTW - Before I went to the store. I did see one of my cherries for the first time since I put them in, so I ended up buying 2 more.

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Well so much for grace. Once my kids found out that this is a honey gourmai they named it Winnie. The pic of winnie-the-poo with his his head stuck in the honey pot doesn't exactly illustrate grace. Here's a few more pics: Not a bad fish for $2.50.



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And another:



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Winnie will just be its nick-name. In secret you can call it by its real name, Butch. Though that's not very graceful either...

If anything, don't think of Winnie-the-poo when you look at it, just think of Winnie Cooper from "The Wonder Years." She never got her head stuck in a honey pot, so that puts her at least one rung up on the gracefulness ladder

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Back in the saddle!

Thanks Nowher, I would definitely say that Winnie Cooper has grace.

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He's looking even better. They are very feline in their movements and the way they hunt about.

It's probably not an actual Honey Gourami ( Colisia? Chuna) it's more then likley a "Sunset" color variety of the Thick Lipped Gourami (Colisia Labiosa). They are often sold as Honey Gouramies.

Real Honeys are smaller and squatter like squat Dwarf Gourami with more of a red body and black undersides.

No matter, behaviour wise they are pretty similar the thick lipped will get bigger though.

He (and I'm pretty sure it's a he) will max out at about 21/2-3", but they take a long time to get there. If you can get a female they will behave like an old married couple and go everywhere together Very peaceful, they just hunt and poke about 24/7. They also become very very tame and in time will gladly swim into your hand. At least they are easy to move they swim right into the net

Great fish I've always had a couple in my tanks for as long as I can remember. I've got one in there now going on 2 years.

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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.

Winnie also seems to have the perfect camouflage coloration for your plants. If he (and I also think it is a he from the latest pictures) hangs out just between the stems he would be in perfect stealth mode.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the comments on the new guy. I definitely enjoy watching him move about. I'll probably try to add a few.

Switching to plants. I've trimmed my riccia covered rocks twice and after the second trimming I'm getting increased growth and I might be ready to try and harvest enough to cover some more rocks in the foreground. Interesting that the riccia seems to be growing fine in the foreground with the blyxa improving by still not really growing (although slow grower). I think at the depth my riccia is growing it is considered high light.

Here's a current pic:



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Here's a full tank shot from tonite. The stargrass is growing almost too fast and it's presence is definitely too overpowering. You could also see a third rock is now covered in riccia in the middle of the foreground. It's a little too centered in relation to the others, but I plan on added a few more butted up against the new one to create a multi-level effect.



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A closer shot of the main grouping. The E.Stellata is really a strong growing and is starting to push some other plants out.



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Tetra, I have to say that full tank shot is the best I've seen your tank look

It no longer looks sterile. It has a warm full feeling to it while still retaining the shape and look you envisioned. There's much more interest now.

Is it just me or is the Indica the reddest it's ever been ?

I bow to you. Out of us all I think you have achieved the fullest most attractive growth on your plants

Give yourself one hell of a pat on the back.

For the Riccia it's not so much the centering that's the problem as that they go in a straight line. Groups of 3 like that should be done in a triangular shape. The center one should be further back or the the 2 on the sides brought a little forward. This will make a little triangle.
You can bring them a bit closer together too.

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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.

Yes teratech

Looking very nice. I agree with you that the Star Grass is growing really fast and begins to tower over the rest of the center group. I love the closeup shot of that group, very nice that the caridnals also decided they want to be in the picture as it makes for a nice comparison of size .

One reason why the tank looks better now (not that it looked bad before) is in my opinion the fact that you managed to create a flow towards the center from your side groups, you did this in particlar well on the left side.

I am with Bensaf on the triangular shape thingy for the Riccia, but:

a) I wouldn't know where the 3rd corner stone shoudl go
b) I know this is only the plant's growout spot and you have a much broader vision for the Riccia

Anyway, looking very nice, but I hope that doesn't mean you declare this tank as done .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Your making be blush

Bensaf,
Thanks! I'm glad your proud of your "young" apprentice.
It wasn't long ago that I almost quit with planted tanks when I couldn't fiqure out the problem with my old 46g.
The rotala has nice color. It is a deeper red than the E.Stellata . I've also been replanting the tops more which have more color than the bottoms so that's keeping the color fresher. I guess the UV isn't haven't too much of an effect on the FE because I'm running 24/7 and not even dosing a dedicated FE fert, just Flourish and Flourish Trace. I would love to get some color hues out of the Blyxa, but I don't think that will happen with the current lighting in the front of the bow.

LF,
In my tank I actually think the stargrass looks better low and wide and really cascading Once it gets too high it opens up to much and pulls the focus off the more colored group. In your tank as others have said I actually think the stargrass looks really good tall interwined with the wood. I'm finding hte riccia a dream to work with. As both of you correctly pointed out the current position of the 3 rocks in not great, so I could simply pick up the rocks and move them around with no mess in the tank. The hairnets are definitely the way to go, so much easier than using thread.

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Looks great, tetra.

The only thing left is to go all out. Get a bunch more rocks and a bunch more riccia. Cover them all and make a big riccia beach right in front. The rocks will make it look like rolling hills in no time.

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Back in the saddle!

Thanks nowher,
I'm definitely gonna have some fun with the riccia and rocks in the foreground

On another note: When I was taking some of my recent pics I shut of the filter because the flow was moving some of the plants around too much and guess what? I forgot to plug it back in. So my filter was off from 7pm last nite to around 8am this morning. What do you guys think will happen.

1. Nothing
2. Ammonia spike
3. Algae Outbreak
4. Both 2 and 3



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1

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- - - Humorous Bit of Wisdom - - -

Man,

If you are lucky then number one will happen.

If not it may be 2, or 3, or 4.

Did you empty the filter first and rinsed the media (in tankwater) before hooking it back up? If so then I vote for No 1.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Oh tetra, when your tank is covered in slimy brown staghorn and thread alage we'll look back and say that your hubris was your downfall. Reminds me of that famous ending line in Oedipus rex.

Most likely nothing too drastic will happen. Maybe ammonia will register, your tank is so big and full of plant mass that I can't see any major outbreak happening. Then again, this is coming from the guy who had ammonia present in his tank and didn't know about it, so don't take my word for it...

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Back in the saddle!

Did you empty the filter first and rinsed the media (in tankwater) before hooking it back up? If so then I vote for No 1.

LF your right, I should have done this, but I'm full of too much hubris. .

I just checked my nh3 level and it was zero after having the filter running for about 4 hours. So if I don't get an nh3 spike does this prove that in a large well planted tank the biofilter contained in the filter is overated?

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I don't even know what hubris is

Anyway, might be overrated when it comes to storage of bacteria.

May main concern would have been this "aerobic bacteria being converted to anaerobic bacteria based on lack of oxygen, which is poisenous to fish" thing. Not that I really know what I am talking about .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Not that I really know what I am talking about

It's one of those things that people with experience talk about, but is rarely looked into but oft repeated by others. More knowledgable people than myself say this can happen, so I'll take their word for it.

But in anycase, the 10 pounds of wisteria in tetras tank provides quite a biofilter itself, so that huge amount of surface area in the cannister probably isn't VITAL right now. But when starting up a tank it's VERY important to have that space available, as well as space for AC etc. So while maybe we can say the filter isn't all it's cracked up to be NOW, this was not so when you were establsihing the right conditions for this wonderful plant growth to occur.

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Back in the saddle!

the 10 pounds of wisteria in tetras tank provides quite a biofilter itself, so that huge amount of surface area in the cannister probably isn't VITAL right now. But when starting up a tank it's VERY important to have that space available, as well as space for AC etc. So while maybe we can say the filter isn't all it's cracked up to be NOW, this was not so when you were establsihing the right conditions for this wonderful plant growth to occur

A big yes! I think I mentioned in a previous post that if you stood my tank on it's side you would have a huge 4 foot wisteria tree that's has multiple levels that I'm sure is helping. That is what I'm talkin about mass,light,waste.

And a big yes again! The biofilter is a hugh part of setting up a new tank. And I use biofilter in the broadest of terms. Seeding the filter, seeding the substrate, adding large quantities of "weeds" both planted and floating.

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Hey,

So I voted for 1 largley out of optimism. But I am wondering if the bacteria we use are really that delicate. That they couldnt survive a few hours of stagnant water?

Just wondering.

Chaos

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Good question Chaos,

Once the canister filter stops the bacteria are deprived of oxygen since the o2 filled water isn't passing thru and they die off supposely within 4 hours or so. I don't know if bacteria in an HOB can last longer.

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Oh, OK.

So stagnat water without contact to air is bad because there is no oxygen exchange? This is why the canister is worse than HOB in this respect? That is good to know.

Chaos

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- - - Humorous Bit of Wisdom - - -

Hi Tetratech, I had the same thing happen when I went back home for a week in the summer time, my filter clogged up and quit working, when I got home I basically did the same thing, started it up again, I only cleaned the impeller, not the rest of the filter. Basically nothing came of it. You may want to add 'cycle' or 'biospira' whatever you normally use, but if your fish are doing fine then I wouldn't worry. The plants probably took care of any ammonia that the bacteria in the gravel, on the rocks and the plants and the glass didn't get. The last time I went away I made precautions for it happening again. I set up an air pump and airstone by each tank and asked my Mother-In-Law to check on the tanks, if the filters quit she was to unplug them and plug in the pump, then drop in the airstone, this would keep the water moving and keep the bacteria in the tank alive at least, as well as provide oxygen for the fish to use.

I hope the same thing happens in your tank, nothing at all!

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

Thanks Luv,
So far I don't have any nh3 buildup or do I notice any fish problems. So I think I'm good to go

There's still plenty of things I haven't figured out yet. I mean I know what pearling is and too be honest my plants really don't pearl that much and the growth is pretty good although I don't consider pearling a true indicator of plant health, it's still nice to see it. Tonite I have alot of pearling on my stargrass as you could see in the pic below.






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So,

Any guess why you have more pearling last night ?

What has changed besides the turned-off filter? If the answer is nothing then maybe you found a way to enhance the water-oxygen saturation by having filters off over night. This could be interesting.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Any guess why you have more pearling last night ?

The occurence of pearling is dependent on the O2 content of the water.
More fish, more O2 consumed, more bacteria more O2 consume.

Bacteria in our bio colonies are very o2 dependent, they use a lot. Tetra has already remarked on his preference for large bio media in his filter (a very good thing IMO).

Filter left off, a large die off in bacteria , less demend for O2 , water saturates quicker, more pearling. QED.

There was enough bateria on tank surfaces, plants etc, to prevent a major issue. Healthy plants keep the water clean and fresh. A dead filter for a few hours is nothing in a healthy plant tank. The system hardly misses a heartbeat. Lots of folks run planted tanks with no filter at all. Circulation and movement is more critical in our lovely planted tanks.

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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.

....as LF adds another timer to have his filter go off for a few hours once a week

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Another beautiful day in New York. One thing I've always enjoyed about planted tanks is that no matter how bad the weather is outside, within a few feet is a little tranquil tropical paradise (Assuming you have the protists under control! )



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Tetra, you lucky...

Right now in midtown manhatten all we're getting is sleet and icy rain.

But alas, only a few miles away in LI there is a tranquil snowy winter wonderland!

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Back in the saddle!

Right now in midtown manhatten all we're getting is sleet and icy rain.

You and LF in manhattan....interesting

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Hey NowherMan6, maybe we should do lunch sometime.

I am in Midtown East.

I have no idea how the weather is at home (yeah - Joisey - tetratech ), guess I have to call the wife.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

<--- midtown West side

Sure, sounds good... if only I could get out of the office more Starting to get busy around here, I don't know about anyone else...

Regardless, it's nice to know we can all enjoy our little tropical paradises in spite of the inclement weather.

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Back in the saddle!

Using my thread to make lunch appointments are we. .



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You are just jealous tetratech

You are sitting there way out on the island and the big city is too frightening for you .

Or is it Nowherman6 and I that are frightening, I don't remember

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Or is it Nowherman6 and I that are frightening

I picture a Don Larson cartoon of Littlefish eating sushi with the protist collaborator. A very scary thought indeed.

Well the pearling continues unabated. This is by far the most my tank has pearled since its inception. This is not from a wc. The last wc was Sunday.

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Stargrass Pearling

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Pretty much this is a first, every species of plant I have in the tank is pearling. It honestly looks like I just did a water change. Here you could see a couple of streams of bubbles coming up from the wisteria. I did not prune anything either. These vertical streams are all over the tank to the amusement of the cardinals.





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Cardinals and Pearling

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Even the E.Stellata got into the action. Might be hard to see, but definite pearling.

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E.Stellata Pearling

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And lasty. I was really excited when I saw the riccia pearling. It doesn't get as much light as I would like down there, but it's defintely pearling

BTW - Notice the BBA on the rock behind the riccia. See I'm not perfect either. I do have BBA on some of the hardscape, but nothing to get into a twist over. The plants are just growing I believe too fast to be affected by it. I might start dose some excel again to keep it in check.


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Riccia Pearling

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Yup,

Nice pearling

I assume this means that for the first time your tank has a sufficient plant mass to drive the oxygen to saturation levels.

Or you have a hidden air stone somewhere in there

The Riccia seems to require some trimming very soon though.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Pearling continues at a frenzied pace. This is a closeup shot of my stargrass with reflection at the water's surface.



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Are you using the glass diffuser now ?

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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.

Are you using the glass diffuser now ?

Yes sir

Very good point, I've been using several weeks, but when I first got it, it was so efficient that I actually reduced co2 alittle from a fast moving stream to a slow one, recently I did open it up a bit, because I've been dosing alittle heavier because of the increased mass.



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Some fresh pics from today:

I think some of the add'l "interest" is the fullness of the grouping and how they are now layering over and into each other.

You could also see how the blyxa have started to get fuller as well.


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Another closeup shot:



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Good shot of the whole tank.
You could see alot of layer, also the colorful
E.Stellata is really exploding from
behind the rock adding more interest. Also on the left the wisteria wraps around and meets the stargrass as it increases in height.

BTW - This is before trimming and wc today. Ideally the stargrass should be shorter than the red plants in the middle.


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A final full shot further away.



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I am thinking you should pull the dwarf hair grass(?) and just wrap you crazy wisteria around your center grouping. It would make it simpler and more united. I am thinking about doing about the same thing with my wisteria in my tank.

Nice pictures BTW! Your tank has been looking really nice!

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

Still looking good. I won't say anymore, don't want to bring you unwanted attention from some of the more envious guys

If you could thicken up the Indica grouping a bit. The Stargrass and Stellaromatica are thick and bushy, be nice to have the Indica the same.

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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 your brief comments

Yeah the rotala needs to be fuller. I haven't really left any bottoms yet. Next time around I'm cutting the tops and leaving the bottoms.

BTW - Wingdsc that's blyxa in front of the rock.


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Ahh sorry!

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

Wingdsc,
No problem, sometimes it's hard to tell from the pics.

Anyway some bad news, not plantwise, but fish. My new little gourami didn't make it. I found it this morning.

I don't think it was water-related. The fish definitely had a hard time competing for food with all the schooling fish, but I don't think that's what killed it, because I did personally make sure it ate. This isn't talked about that much, but I notice a strong predatory response from my large school of cardinals. I did see them chasing and biting the gourmai. I believe when these schools get big enough they become bolder in numbers and take over a tank, in a smaller or similiar way that their cousin the pirahna does.

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Interesting observation about the cardinals, tetra. I think you're on to something. tetras and rasboras and most barbs are regarded as peaceful fish in that they won't kill anything that enters their territory like a cichlid, and won't kill their own like some gourami and other cyps. But they do have a hierarchy and that madates some aggression on their part. I've also read somewhere about harleys being aggressive towards newcomers in their shoals, i.e. once a shoal has been established they'll sometimes reject newcomers. I'm sure there's a territory thing going on here.

As for the tank, it does look lovely

Just to further what Bensaf said, the red-circle areas below I think could use a top clipping/ replant to make them bushier, especially on the right. i think it's grown enough to give it a haircut, fill that spot out a bit. it should grow up again fast enough, it'll just be fuller. And I also really dig how the wisteria has grown up on the left side, it's like a little forest over there.

And Bensaf, come on man, grow up already. You're just envious of my ability to control my envy.



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Back in the saddle!

This is before trimming and wc today. Ideally the stargrass should be shorter than the red plants in the middle.

Wow, you mean you guys don't read every word in my posts
These pics were before trimming and water change, so I agree actually with both of you.

Really liked the gourami, but maybe if I introduced 3 of them at the same time the results would have been better, but I'm not going to try to bring anything else in. I was thinking of adding a pair of apistogrammas. I think they can take care of themselves.

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I was thinking of adding a pair of apistogrammas. I think they can take care of themselves.

Beautiful fish, and you have lots of broken sight lines etc., but would breeding rams and breeding apistos get along? Theoretically you have plenty of ground cover and hiding spaces for it to work, but in theory you should also have enough ground cover and hiding spots for a few ram fry to survive, and that's not happening to this point...

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Back in the saddle!

Beautiful fish, and you have lots of broken sight lines etc., but would breeding rams and breeding apistos get along? Theoretically you have plenty of ground cover and hiding spaces for it to work, but in theory you should also have enough ground cover and hiding spots for a few ram fry to survive, and that's not happening to this point...

Thinking same thing. Speaking of the cardinals again, I also noticed they were even more aggressive than the pencils when going after fry. I really believe the more are group of fish establishes itself in your tank the more they will defend that "ecosystem" as their own.
The apistogrammar which I would have to spend a future to get a pair I think will fear o.k. concerning all the rock work etc.

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Sorry about the Gourami. At least you got to see how great a fish they are in planted tank.

Hard to imagine the Cardinals doing them in, but I've never had Cards. The Thick Lipped is about the most docile of the Gouramies, mine will let rummies snatch food out of it's mouth.

They are also very overbred to get that coloration which is not natural coloring, it could have been just a weak one.

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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 Bensaf,
I was rather surprised because he seemed to be well acclimated but I have noticed a difference in my cards now that there are 20 in the tank. I did see him get knocked around be them, but the possiblity exists that he was showing weakness when that began to happen.



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Sorry about the gourami, tetra.

I had a female betta that died for no apparent reason soon after I upped my cardinal school from 7 to 12. However in my case the cardinal number also dropped back to 7 within a week after addition, so perhaps the new cardinals had something that infected the betta too. I also noticed that the cardinals were "bolder" when they were in the bigger school, always patrolling the tank instead of hiding among the plants.

-P

Thanks upikabu,

So you've seen the same behavior with a large school. In my case 20 cards where there before the gourami was introduced.

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O.K. since LF is back I guess I'll chart some changes.
I couldn't leave well enough alone and decided to move the rotala from behind the e.stellata and give the stellata the lead role and move the rotala to a supporting role on the side to the left of the rotala w.

I also did a major trimming job on the stargrass, as I mentioned I didn't like it taller than the e.stellata in the middle.

Here's the tank last week when I got some nice accolodes.





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And here's the tank today:



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Closeup of the foreground. Note the add'l riccia in the middle. I spread the riccia further in the middle forward by using a plastic grid and covering it with riccia and a hairnet.

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tetratech,

Looking very nice there

I like that the Stellate took over THE leading role in the main group. It has grace and color, just beautiful. The Riccia also looks nice, its light green goes well with the darker one of the Blyxa.

I skimmed over the previous entries from this week (too many right now to read in detail). Sorry to hear about the loss of the Gouramie. I have not any "bully by number" behavior of my Espei towards any new fish, but this may be because they are all larger and have no problem messing with the Espei. I am also thinking about adding a pair of apistogrammas to the tank, if I am ever done with planting the tank, that is . Do you think you may get issues with the Rams and the Apstios breeding at the same time? I could see that happen.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks LF and thanks for glancing thru my log. As you could see you didn't miss too much. Yeah I was surprised when I lost the gourmai, but as I said I've noticed the cards being very aggresive of late. Maybe they gain too much power in a large school. As I mentioned they are related to the piranha.

By the way some of these cardinals are quite large, pushing 2 inches. As far a the apistogrammas, I think the tank could handle the two types of cichlids. There is alot of rock work scattering around the tank and alot of ground cover. I haven't seen to many of locally, mostly some orange flame type for about $20 each.



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Tetra,
I just finished going over 25+ pages of this thread to get some info on keeping Blyxa (which you added while I was away on Xmas vacation, right before your first Ram spawning and around page 25 for those keeping track ) - need to put some drops in my eyes now. So basically what I can gleam from your experience with it so far: no shading & no moving it around. Is that all? Does it grow upwards?

I just got some for my tank over the weekend. It was an impulse purchase at an LFS and hope won't bite me in the you-know-where. I'm putting it in the background for now as they were tall stems with multiple side shoots and I didn't want to cut off the side shoots yet (no space in the foreground for them anyway). I actually quite like where it is now and may keep it there.

Anyways, just wanted to say thanks for having the info.

p.s. This place desperately needs a functional search tool.
p.p.s. I thought it was amusing to see LF declared a self-professed love for blyxa just from your pics (somewhere in page early 30s). Wonder if he's still got the love now?

-P

So basically what I can gleam from your experience with it so far: no shading & no moving it around. Is that all? Does it grow upwards?

Well Background/foreground whatever floats your boat, but really I've never been one to say this is a background plant and this is foreground it really depends on your arrangement. In my 12gallon I have wisteria as my background and in my 72g it's my midground, but anyway yeah shade sames to be a major problem. It's a very fragile plant and could definitely melt if not taken care of. My blyxa is still holding on. I believe it will grow bushier with very strong light and taller with less light. Mine seems to be going more vertical than I would like because my light problem is compounded by my tank shape. The bowfront simply has pour light going to the middle foreground. It's also the only plant that does get alittle bba on it, because of it's slow growth. Bensaf has had it longer than me, not sure how his is doing, in fact he recommended it to me. I really love the texture of the leaves and I should probably put another light on the front top of my tank to see if it helps.




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Well after a visit to my LFES (Local Fire Extinguisher Store) and $10 bucks later I'm back in the co2 business.

One problem fixed and another reappears. I noticed a spot on two of my cardinals pictured below. It's not ich trying to determine what it is. And I thought my cardinals were made of teflon.




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Hm, if it was just one I would say perhaps it's just a missing scale or something like that, but that it's on both in the same spot makes me suspicious.

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Back in the saddle!

tetratech,

From the distance it looks just like NTD, but I am sure you would recognize that one. You say spot, as in something sticking on the fish or as in discoloration? If the first is true then could it be some fungus (or is it encrusted)? If the second is true then it still could be NTD.

I must be shopping at the wrong place here. My exchange bottle cost $30 (including tax) and is from a big welding supply store. But it is the only store around that I found.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

If the second is true then it still could be NTD.

Well whatever it is, it's even hard for me to tell looking close up I'm not planning on chasing the disease with meds.

As far as co2 refills, maybe the exchange program works differently, but $30 seems like a lot to fill a 5lb tank.
Maybe a piece goes to the crew in NJ - Bada Bing!


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Well, I have no idea where the money goes, but somebody is for sure happy to do business with me .

About the fish: I am with you on the no-chasing-the-desease statement. Let's see how it develops.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks!

I should get my bigals delivery today:

Flourish
Flourish Iron
Excel

This will be the first time I'm dosing a dedicated Iron fert. See if I can make my avatar more colorful.

I might start treatment for BBA, although it's not out of control and is really only affecting hardscape. I'm also concerned of a negative effect on the all ready fragile Blyxa. I need to find if anyone else has had problems with excel and that plant.




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Just watch out with that flourish iron, tetra. I've had little outbreaks of hair algae in the past when dosing too generously. Bensaf will probably tell me that if I'm going to spread such crazy conspiracy theories I might as well go ahead and join the International Flat Earth Society while I'm at it... but a conservative approach can't hurt IMO

And LF, you're not alone on those bottle fill-ups. I pay $20 at the local beer distributor

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Back in the saddle!

Just watch out with that flourish iron, tetra.
Thanks! The bottle says 1 capful (5ml) to maintian .1 ppm
for every 50 gallons, so I dosed about 7ml this morning, along with my regular 10ml of regluar flourish so I guess we'll see what happens.

I guess I got lucky with the refill on the co2. I got it refilled from an old man who runs a small fire extinisher store and the conversaton went something like this:

tetra: I need a refill
old man: Wow that's a big canister ya got there
tetra: Well it's for a fish tank
old man: heh!
tetra: a planted tank, plants need alot of co2
old man: heh!
tetra: oh come on, you must get alot of that
old man: heh!
tetra: O.K, what do I owe ya
old man: got $10 bucks sonny
tetra: here ya go, see ya in 6 months
old man: heh!




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I never had a conversation like that with the beer guys. They never ask questions.

The best was the time a few weeks ago when i refilled the tank but hooked it up improperly and all the gas leaked out over the course of the week. So there I was the following Saturday, another tank to refill, same place, same guy who helped me. No questions asked though. I think they just figured I was a drunk.

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Back in the saddle!

I get mine refilled at a local gas supplier. A little Indonesian mom and pop shack that sells o2, argon etc.

They don't get many westerners in there I can tell ya

It was the same shock when I told the guy what I was using the Co2 for. Since then the pop has turned up at my apartment twice to see this miracle that the crazy foreigner is doing.

Second time was to inform me that he bought an aquarium, he took some plants from the garden and dumped in some pupuk, which is the kind of fertilizer you'll throw on your roses and attached Co2. Couldn't figure out why the water was green and his "flowers" and fish were dead.

I tried to help but while my Indonesian language skills are pretty good they don't quite extend to the finer points of planted aquariums.

I don't open the door anymore and am looking for a new supplier.

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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.

Second time was to inform me that he bought an aquarium, he took some plants from the garden and dumped in some pupuk, which is the kind of fertilizer you'll throw on your roses and attached Co2. Couldn't figure out why the water was green and his "flowers" and fish were dead.

If only he had used a test kit!


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Well there seems to be alot of protist collaboration lately. Some have done this accidently others have declared their outright love for the little guys and others have been rebelling.

Regardless of the reason the show must go on: This full tank shot shows the changes I've made maturing alittle. You'll notice the rotala r. now is on the right side next to the recut rotala w. The tank is actually alot easier to maintenance this way with the rotala r more accessible. The rotala and the stargrass which were recently trimmed alot are starting to come in, but have some more growing to do.



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Also this riccia stuff has really been a pleasant surprise. I actually find it very easy to work with inconjunction with the hairnets. Here's a closeup of the center riccia which is a combination of rock and plastic grid underneath hairnets.



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Looking very nice tetratech,

But first:

With regards to the previous entries.

Now to the tank. While on one hand I envy you for the completeness your tank displays on the other hand I am wondering what else can be done to the tank. I mean to say that your tank appears finished and there is nothing (major) left to enhance. Aren't you getting a slight feeling of boredom with nothing to do? As much as I would like my tank to be more presentable, as much I dread the day when I stand in front of it and think "what now".

Well, here are some minor questions/observations:

- The Riccia looks great. Given that you trim it outside of the tank I assume that the distribution within the tank of broken pieces is minimal. Did you find any pieces growing in your other plants yet?
- The Wisteria (in particular on the right) seems to develop a rather large leaf size. Is that just my old eyes or has the size (structure) changed?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

It's always funny to see that one ammano shrimp sitting on top of that one DW branch. I know you mention it all the time, but still, there he is, sure as the sun rising

So last night replaced all the DW in my tank with new pieces that freed up some floor space for more plants and overall helped the scape. On the left side of my tank as you may be able to imagine I used to have that one suspicious piece of DW in there branching upwards. Well, i took that on eout and tried to mimic that effect with two a little bit thicker pieces. I stepped away and i thought, wow, that looks great!

Then I looked at the pic you just posted and realized, Oh, the reason it looks so great is because it's nearly the same thing that tetra did with his. Damn. Back to the drawing board

It does look very nice, and I like that the rotala has been replaced by that other large bushy plant. Same effect - adds a big spot of color - but much fuller

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Back in the saddle!

Tetra,
Tank is looking really nice!

LF,
Scary thought of having nothing to change in a fish tank. I guess that's when you start a new one..

Nowher,
Copy Cat! I know what you mean though. After looking at each others tanks so much I think we star to play off of each other. It kind of goes back to does the real world represent the media or the meadia the real world.

(All I have to say for my currant situation is blasting black beard algae! It't not getting out of hand too fast but its just starting to bug me when I look at my tank close. I guess I need to make a rule where I have to stay at least 4 feet from it.)

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

Thanks for all the comments everyone. The tank I guess is kinda complete in a way, but look I just moved the rotala r last weeek and I'm still tinkering with the foreground in the main area. Not sure how far I want to go with the riccia, because I do like the black sandy look and if I put too much riccia it will ruin that constrast, but building a carpet on top of rock seems to be within reach.

To answer LFs question about the riccia, yes it's easy because you just lift out the rock, trim in in a bowl of water and put it back in the same spot or move it around. It's actually fun to play with. The cut off riccia is then used to cover another rock and so on and so on. As far as pieces in the tank, yes there are a few pieces floatng around the tank, but nothing that is nuisance. Actually if you look close at the center dw where nowher spotted the shrimp you could see a piece of riccia clinging to it. I decided to just leave it. Speaking of the center dw I'm also getting the feeling that the moss isn't necessary and there would be better contrast with the green, kinda what happened in nowher's tank.

As far as the wisteria observation that LF made. It does seem that there are some bigger leaves on the right side, but I think this is a result of pruning frequency and where I made the cut. The right side get's prune more, but I think the support leaves under the leader have remained more if that makes sense.

Nowher, I wouldn't worry about copying my look. Planted tanks are rock, driftwood and those green things, rock and dw poking out of plants is gonna be in every tank pretty much so just do what works with your layout.

In light of wings comments I think a good theme song for the planted tank forum is "From A Distance" Bette Midler





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O.K. so I dosed Flourish Iron for the first time the other day. The bottle says dose 5ml per 50g to maintain .10mg/l.

So bascially without a test kit that means very little since I have no clue to what me fe levels are and I'm sure the test kits s&*#!

So anyway I dosed the 7ml plus 10ml of regular flourish so I get the other micros as well, but when I go the "Fertilator" and plug in the 5ml for a 50g it tells me that will give me .26mg/l That is 2.6 times more than the flourish bottle says, plus I dosed the 10ml of regular flourish which according to the fertilator gives me another .17mg/l. So based on my 72g tank according to the fertilator my fe level is .38mg/l based on the flourish / flourish fe dosing.

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Tetra,

Your sig has made your feelings on micromanaging macros well know to all - however, the question remains: how do you feel about micromanaging your micros?

From the looks of things you're quite open to it!

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Your sig has made your feelings on micromanaging macros well know to all - however, the question remains: how do you feel about micromanaging your micros?

That's pretty funny nowher, but a micro is a micro and a macro is a macro . Not that the .38 fe is incredibly high, but I don't like to go there in one swift dose. Actually the iron depletes very quickly so I'll have to fine a good daily dose. I think the fertilator is way off anyway.

Gotta go call all my LFS's and see what Apistos they have in stock.

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Gotta go call all my LFS's and see what Apistos they have in stock

Good luck to ya

LF certainly upped the ante in the Apisto wars with that move he pulled yesterday. Imagine that - going out and getting those pretty fish without even giving us 24 hours to catch up.. the nerve!

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Back in the saddle!

LF certainly upped the ante in the Apisto wars with that move he pulled yesterday.

Yeah well I guess he's living up to his sig

In honor of St. Patrick's Day I'm turning off my UV for the day .

All protist collaborators - As you were

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Who's The Man?

I am sure that there are many ways you can beat that, tetratech.

For one thing, I am still in shock over my sudden loss of German Rams a few months back. So hopefully I will not suffer the same destiny here as well

Another option would be to get the same fish for half the price, that would teach me a lesson

BTW, Double Red Apisto Agassizi sell in the store for $20 a pair.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Double Red Apisto Agassizi sell in the store for $20 a pair

Why so cheap? Those are $65 a pair at Drs F&S, plus shipping

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1658

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Before I got my shellies a while back I was thiiiis close to buying a pair of a. cacatuoides. They, along with a few others like Agassizi or even Njessini, always appealed to me more because of their greater availability and the availability of F1 and F2 generations. It seemed like a big risk to take on a pair of rare but wild caught apistos, especially if things didn't turn out well. As it turned out, I wound up with the shellies, and then sold them because I was made an offer I couldn't refuse.

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The sales person explained it this way:

Supply and Demand!

They can have the Double Red every day if need be, not rare what-so-ever.
Mine, on the other hand, have to be ordered from a specialty fish wholesaler.

The sales person explained to me at least 3 times that this is the reason mine are so expensive. He wanted to make sure that I don't feel ripped off.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

But in all reality of things how much do you have into them. Did you basicly steal them because you traded in some of your fish that you may or may have not been planning of taken over your tank?

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

O.K. LF, so you want to play rough.
Here's my breeding pair of Neocaridina denticulata sinensis ($5.99 for the pair)



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Very Nice ,

I cannot beat that as my breeding pair of Pond Snails did want to be in a picture

But seriously, glad to see that the little buggers are still around. One thing about this photo: I thought you had Moss only at the end of one piece of driftwood. Did it grow down on that wood to its base?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

One thing about this photo: I thought you had Moss only at the end of one piece of driftwood. Did it grow down on that wood to its base?

Your powers of observation are quite amazing
You are right, that is not my 72g it's the 5g I setup for bolivan fry that I kinda started to scape. Details will follow.......

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Your powers of observation are quite amazing

Thanks tetratech

So, when can we see the 5G log? Even if it is not finished I would love to take a look at it.

And while you mention it, we haven't heard anything recently about a possible breeding attempt by your Rams. Wouldn't it be that time again soon?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

So, when can we see the 5G log? Even if it is not finished I would love to take a look at it.

Yeah, let us know. I want to know when I should start up my 2.5 gallon log

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So, when can we see the 5G log? Even if it is not finished I would love to take a look at it.

Yeah, let us know. I want to know when I should start up my 2.5 gallon log

Don't we all have nano tanks in our "closets" somewhere.

Should be able to get to it within the next few days...

And while you mention it, we haven't heard anything recently about a possible breeding attempt by your Rams. Wouldn't it be that time again soon?

Havent' seen anything. Maybe they gave up after two failed attempts. Although I did see them really color up last week so they might have spawned but didn't care for the eggs. Still debating whether I should add the apistos.

BTW - Water change today and removal and cleaning of centerpiece rock. Yes there is some BBA on it - I'll update later with the exciting results.

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Don't we all have nano tanks in our "closets" somewhere.

I got nothing

Would I ever not tell you guys if I would be working on a new tank ?

And I doubt that I will have a tank to enter the competition any time soon. I just cannot convince the wife that we really need another one . And I also think an overhaul of the 29G will have priority, but also not now.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Compitition? Fill me in! Of is the the game of the mini tanks? I have one too! Needs some help right now though. I have some dream in mind but I need to go rock hunting. I think I found some on campus that I like...

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

Did a wc and cleaned my centerpiece rock. Look at the before and after.

I also just be coincidence developed a triangle going up from right to left, because I didn't clip the last stellaromatica stem on the left to make more of a mound shape.


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Yup, that for sure is one obvious triangle

Looks like you don't have much more time before you need some major trimming if you desire to maintain the "less is more" perception of the tank, which I think looks great.

How did you clean the rock? Just scrubbing or bleaching. Whatever it was, it sure made quite a difference. Overall,the triangular slope has reached a height where the mossed branch has been consumed. It seems like your tank does not only look nice but growth is also excellent all the time .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

How did you clean the rock? Just scrubbing or bleaching

I just scrubbed it with a stiff brush. I kinda like it alittle darker, but that will happen soon enough. After a cup cuts here and there I'm back to a mound shape (maybe a little more stargrass on the left and the wisteria needs to be a little shorter in the left back corner)

Right now I'm in a good space and I feel this tank is very easy to take care of.



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I really like the mound much better then the triangle. It looks much more natural.

BTW go look at my pictures!

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

Yup, very nice

I like how the Riccia shines in the front, with its much lighter green coloring (or is this because of the air bubbles that are trapped in it) than the rest of plants.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Riccia carpet, riccia carpet, riccia carpet...

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Thanks for all the comments. A few more pics. First here you could see a compare pic from lastnite and this morning. On the bottom I clipped more wisteria on the extreme left and now the mound shape is even more obvious, simple. The ricca doesn't have the false pearling from last nite in the bottom pic as LF noted), but the riccia is still a light shade of green. You could also see the difference between pm and am as the leaves are more open in the bottom am photo.


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Riccia carpet, riccia carpet, riccia carpet

Is that a challenge Protist Collaborator?

I actually thought of a good idea with the riccia, so I guess this tank isn't "done"

Here's a closeup shot of the riccia area in the foreground.



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And finally a closeup of the stellaromatica a la hudson.



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One thing I forgot to mention concerning maintenance. I recently removed two big pieces of hardscape to clean. My center rock and a few pieces of wood. These pieces have not been removed since I started the tank and I was amazed. No mess. I mean alittle came up but nothing that I even had to worry about vaccumming up. I reached a few possible conclusions.

1. I feed vary sparingly
2. Plants have been sucking it up.
3. Grounds crew has been working overtime (cory's, shrimp)



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Interesting

1. I feed vary sparingly - Poor fishies must be starving if they don't even poop
2. Plants have been sucking it up - can be, but isn't the generation of mulm natural?
3. Grounds crew has been working overtime (cory's, shrimp) - I don't think they eat everything, they are rather picky with their menu

4. Larger parts have been broken down and fell through the gaps in your substrate further down. Do you rocks simply sit on the substrate or are they partially buried? Does something come up when you uproot a plant?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Larger parts have been broken down and fell through the gaps in your substrate further down. Do you rocks simply sit on the substrate or are they partially buried? Does something come up when you uproot a plant?

I'm not a big feeder. It's one of the most common problems with new and even some experienced aquarists. Less is definitely more here. Better for the fish and the tank's health in general.

I could be off here, but I'm wondering if the eco is better at breaking down this waste than say regular gravel


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My money is on ground crew. I'll be making a post later on this very subject. Just need to prepare some pics.

I'm getting envious from looking at tetra's gorgeous tank.

Time to pull out the big guns and show some pics of my own tank. I've been growing some Aromatica and Wallichii. If nothing else the pic will show tetra what Wallichii is supposed to look like . I've managed to grow it huge and bright bright pink

On the stellaromatica - I think I've figured that one out.
When I ent to the market (who know's these plants probably came from the same Indonesian grower Mr.Hudson buys from ?) They had , what from a distance seemed to be identical plants. But on closer inspection it was obvious there were actually 3 quite distinct species.
#1 was a much finer plant, thin almost transparent leaves with a very light pruple underside. I reckon this to be Limnophilia Aromacatoides (sometimes known as Gratiola ?).

#2 and #3 very similar in color and shape. But both had quite different growth patterns. One grew very straight and vertical with no branching. The other had a more angled 'leaning" growth and quite a few sideshoots. I reckon the vertical one to be the Broadleaf Stellata and the other to be Aromatica.

I would reckon yours to be (as it does lean toward the light and be more bushy) L.Aromatica.

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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,
Thanks for the comments. I am not worthy and only an apprecntice to "My Master"

I'm glad I could intice you into showing some more pics and I look forward to seeing them. I would love to know your secret with the Wallichii. I've recut mine and it is starting to grow in better but certainly not pink except the very tip so I'm thinking it's a lighting issue, but I have a feeling you'll tell me otherwise.


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It's a very picky plant. Way more picky then Macrandra IMO. All rotals like nutrient levels fairly low but The wallichii in particular.

I'd say at above 15ppm it stops growing completely

I've been messing around with nutrients. Part of the reason I changed the plants a bit. I went so high as to stunt my Ammania. Nutrients were high enough to kill a plant, but NO ALGAE !

I find with really low levels it gets dark red, high and it's a dull brown. The pink color seems to be when everything is in the middle ground. Of course light is part of the issue, I've got it right under the lights. But to me the pink is more of a nutrient thing,light is more of an issue for deep red color.

I'm running at about the lowest levels I've ever run at , at present - about 10ppm No3.

The playing around told me a lot , particularly about K

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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.

The playing around told me a lot , particularly about K

What? That you need to dose "K" if you run N and P to low.
Yeah, that could be the problem. I've been running high for the stargrass and some others, now what to do? I don't think I'm gonna chase the Rotala W. by changing al my dosing. Have you lowered co2 as well?

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What? That you need to dose "K" if you run N and P to low.

Quite the opposite. If it gets too high there's problems. I've suspected this for some time.It's been quite the bone of contention in some places. But I mean really high.
It's a long story but if you're interested drop me a PM.

Have you lowered co2 as well?

Good God no Never lower the Co2. That's the one you don't play with. All bets are off has regards experimenting if the Co2 is off. 99% of the time what you are seeing is the result of bad Co2. It's the one given. Got to be up there no matter what.

Anyway here's a pic of the Rotala taken this evening

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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.

Here's one from a different angle. Side view.

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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,

Very nice and colorful, strong as well.

Looks to me almost like a monument, some form of dome or stoneage upright rocks.

I love it, but given all your commitments on running things low - nah, no way I am going to get into this plant .



Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Very nice Bensaf. That's certainly the way it should look.
So is this a case where "You can't be all things to all plants" I mean the stargrass is n hungry, my rotala r stunted when it was to lean in there. I have the aromatica a la bensaf growing insanely (I'd like more red).

Here's a pic of my wallachi when I first got it. It always cracks me up wheh my LFS sells hard to keep plants to "joe aquarist" who has no clue what they are getting into. Then the plant dies and the aquarist get's turned off. The store I bought this plant is a regular petstore nothing extreme.



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tetratech,

Yours are not ugly either . Rather than a dome their tips look more like spot lights, a nice appearance as well.

And of course Mr. Shrimp has to sit on his branch . Are you sure he isn't a plastic animal from your kids

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nitrates seems to be the main one. It doesn't like too high. Up to 15ppm is ok. That's a fairly decent range that shouldn't harm the others. It doesn't like high K or Mg either but there's no reason for them to be high enough to cause a problem anyway. P , it could care less. Micros should be decently high also. So it's really well within EI range.

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

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