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Well,

I am having a problem

Last night we had a major storm coming through and the power went out. This morning, when the sun came out, I could see the extent of the damage. The whole part of the town I live in has loads of trees fallen over or broken off, 50% of the roads are blocked, in short - it looks like a war zone.

I am not expecting the power to come back on soon, our own power line has at least 5 trees on it, and that is only for the area of maybe 15 houses, I couldn't further investigate as I had to go to work (that's where I am right now).

So, to sum it up, I got no filtration on my tanks, no pumps, no nothing. I guess the tank get a black-out of a not-so-gentle kind

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Sorry to hear the LF? I really hope your power comes on soon, but if it doesn't what is your plan?

My Scapes

Thanks tetratech,

I have no plan. I have a single battery powered air pump at home that I could fire up and rotate through the tanks. This cannot start until I come home from work, whenever that is.

In any case, very frustrating

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ooh no, sorry Ingo. I know how worried you must be about that. I remember earlier this year, we had a blackout, which luckily only lasted a couple of hours. It was caused by a simple fault that the electricity people could attend to quickly, but that does not sound at all like your situation. Even though it was not for long, I was very worried at the time. I hope your power is not too delayed. I'm glad too, that it seems no tree actually fell on your house, car or family, so that would have been even worse. I guess it's quite likely that if many trees are down, that may have happened to some families.

Good luck with it all. Fingers & toes are all crossed that your electricity people get it fixed quickly for you.

Cheers
TW

Thanks Robyn,

The wife just called and the latest prediction is that, if we would be really lucky, we would have power again late tonight, so pretty much 24 hour after it went out. More likely though is that it may come back on sometime tomorrow, going then towards 48 hours. Darn

Yes, luckily nobody on our street seems to have gotten hurt directly, almost like a miracle most trees fell between houses and onto streets and yards. I am sure that some houses have been damaged to some degree, but none has been demolished.

I will try to get home early to hook up the air pump, but as you may know I am really busy at work as well.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yes, luckily nobody on our street seems to have gotten hurt directly, almost like a miracle most trees fell between houses and onto streets and yards. I am sure that some houses have been damaged to some degree, but none has been demolished.

Glad to hear it. We caught some of the storm, but nothing major. Had some of my deck furniture tossed around and lot's of leaves in the pool. Is it me or does there some to be much more devasting storms lately. There's was just a tsunami in Jakata (Bensaf's Home) and over 500 people died.




My Scapes

I think the weather is crazy lately, what with your storms, the tsunami(s), our news telling us today that at least some parts of US are going through a major heat wave, Sydney went through a major heat wave earlier this year & about 84% of the state I live in (NSW) is in a drought situation. Our dam capacity is well down & we have had water restrictions for a couple of years (I feel guitly about my 50% water change, when I think about our farmers).

I hope you are really lucky & get power tonight, otherwise, is it cold showers at the LF residence tonight - or do you have gas hot water & cooking?

Cheers
TW

LF,
What ever happened with your Stargrass flowers?

My Scapes

LOL,

Well - this question for sure caught me by surprise

I am wondering if my fish are dying right now and you ask about the flower.

Anyway - It withered away one day later, the flower stem hanging off the side. I assume I only had a flower stem in the first place because the whole plant top was on the surface and that was when it formed. After I trimmed and replanted, the whole thing was submersed and the flower for sure did not like that.

Ingo

STILL NO POWER

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I am wondering if my fish are dying right now and you ask about the flower.

Sorry for what appears as my insensitivy, but when you said you might have power tonite, it turned from major to minor problem (in my mind anyway). I know how frustating it is, cause I've lost power for only a few hours and was really annoyed. If it goes any longer I would do at least a 20% WC on all your tanks.



My Scapes

Eek! I hope everybody makes it Ingo. I'm sure the tanks will bounce back quick after the power comes back on. At least you don't have a reef tank. If power went out at my place I'd be blowing bubbles with a straw in my reef tank if I had to.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

There's was just a tsunami in Jakata (Bensaf's Home) and over 500 people died.

Funny you should mention that, I was just about to make a post about it.

It's been a bit weird, two quakes in the space of a week. I'd pretty much gotten used to them. Strange but you can sense them just before they hit, sudden nausea in the pit of the stomach and dizziness then you realize the room is shaking

But last nights was the biggest I felt yet, also the closest to hit, lots of screaming in the apartment building, including my wife - she near bowled me over in her rush to wrap herself around my neck !

Funnily the first sign that the quake is going on is the tank water sloshing and spilling over the edge (creepily the fish all stop swimming ). Lost one neon in the desk tank, thought being in a small glass box under a big lump of driftwood was not the safest place to be, and like my wife decided to run for it, he jumped and ended up on the carpet. It was a choice of calming the wife or saving the fish The wife won......just

A least I know the hardscape is solid, not a single branch shifted place ! All's well that end's well

Anyway LF, I think things will be fine. This is where having a planted tank comes into it's own. You have a natural filter in place and an oxidisor. Shouldn't be a major problem.

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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.

LF, what's the lighting situation. Hopefully your back in business by now.

Anyway LF, I think things will be fine. This is where having a planted tank comes into it's own. You have a natural filter in place and an oxidisor. Shouldn't be a major problem.

That is true. I accidently turned my filter off on two seperate occasions and all was fine the next day. Even if you go a few days I think you'll be fine LF. Especially in a large heavily planted tank what is the canister really doing besides flow. It's picking up some solid waste, etc, but if you don't have any huge fish you probably wouldn't even notice the difference if the cansister was replaced with a powerhead.

My Scapes

but if you don't have any huge fish you probably wouldn't even notice the difference if the cansister was replaced with a powerhead.

This comes from the guy who says that LF might not have enough biofiltration to handle the amount of waste from the espei, making his algae problems. Besides, I'm not too sure what the plants are going to be doing while the lights are out(no photosynthesis = no oxygen). At least they are probably covered in beneficial bacteria. That will help. I still think everything will be fine, but not because of the plants in particular.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well,

Thursday morning, and no power in sight

Our whole side of the street looks just like it did 2 days ago, with all trees and branches all over the power lines etc.

In my backyard, behind the garage, a tree from the neighbors behind us, I would guess with a diameter of about 2 to 3 feet, is lying across the main power line, and so are many others all over the place in my town.

The current prediction is that, if we get lucky, the power will be on by 4PM today, but given that nothing has changed in 2 days I doubt that.

Anyway - I went home early yesterday and we rushed to Home Depot (a hardware chain) and I bought a generator. It took me over an hour to set up that sucker, but eventually I had it running (on gasoline) and managed to hook up all filters in my 4 tanks. I let it run for 4 hours before I had to turn it off, the wife started to complain about the funes (hey - what are some funes compared to my fishes lifes ). She prominsed me that she will turn it back on today at 9AM, but I have my doubts that she actually will do that (let's just say that the argument about funes or fish lifes didn't end on a nice note, but I gave in anyways).

That's where we are now,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

So have you already gone 48hrs with no power - that's too bad. I'm sure your wife will turn generator on, if she promised too. Maybe she just wants the kids out of the house & at school, before the fumes start up - or do you still have little ones at home?

How do your fish seem. Are they still acting normal. Is it warm enough there at the moment that your heaters aren't really needed? I know in my summer, I didn't really need heaters at all. They never turned on, as the room was always warm enough.

Anyway, continuing to cross all fingers & toes.


Cheers
TW

Were you running the generators indoors? I would be afraid that Carbon Monoxide would build up in the basement. Set it up out side or in a vented area and run an extension cord.

No sense killing your self to save the fish.

My family has a generator for hurricanes they run it on the back porch with extension cords coming in the back door.

Good luck with the power situation. We're crossing our fingers for you!

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

I am with rick on the generator thing. They are ment for outdoors.

A while back when I was in my first year of high school we lost power for at least a week. Living in the sticks this ment that we did not have any water either because we had a well. If it wouldn't have been for the gas grill we would have starved. I swear my mom can make anything on that thing! As for the fish I was keeping at the time. I think they were fine. I kept them in the basement so they stayed dark thus keeping them dorment.

Best wishes LF. I know that its not fun to have no power.

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

Sounds like if you can run it from outside, you, the fish & your wife will be happy - the fumes will be outside, bothering no-one. But, I can't help thinking that if you could have done that, you already would have, and that maybe, for some reason in your situation, it's not possible?

Cheers
TW

Hi,
If you haven't already, get a 100 ft extension cord, and
one power strip (like for computers, etc.) place the
generator outside and run the cord through a window.
Use old towels in a layer across the sill and close the
window down onto the cord. The towels will mold around the
cord and "seal" the window keeping out the bugs etc.
Hook up the filters and lights to the strip(s) and crank
the generator up. You just have to keep an eye on the
fuel once in a while.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

LF,
Glad you got your hands on a generator. I would keep doing daily water refreshing anyway to keep things fresh and oxygenated.

This comes from the guy who says that LF might not have enough biofiltration to handle the amount of waste from the espei, making his algae problems

O.K. how do I talk my way out of this one

What I meant was in a big tank isn't the primary "biological" and yes overall filteration the plants and substrate not the canister. Isn't that the case in salt too "live rock and live sand", but if there are big fish present you need mechanical to get that out of the water as well as the big food you feed those fish that goes uneaten. I do think if LF had a bigger filter, when I say bigger I mean bigger in terms of more water volume it would help, but the one canister I don't think is doing all that much in terms of biological when compared to what's inside the tank.

My Scapes

Of course it runs outdoors, you sillies

It just happen that you have to keep the door a notch open so the power cord can run into the house. Also, I have to have the generator in a position that is not favorable with regards to the winds, and although I point the exhaust outlet away from the house the wind occasionally blows it back towards it.

Kids are in day camp, so they will be far away from the fumes during the day. The temperature here was about 98F before the storm hit 2 days ago, the next day it was in the upper 80s. Last night, around 8PM, the temp inside the house was 84F (that is exactly 30C). The basement is a little cooler, but overall I for sure do not need the heaters in the tank. I unplugged all electrical equipment to the tanks, partially because I needed the extension cords to hook up to the main power cord from the generator, and partially to avoid anything starting up uncontrolled if the power should come back on while I am not at home.

Ingo

EDIT: Frank and tetratech - didn't see your entries until now. Yeah - I will have to work on moving the generator further away from the house, but there are 2 problems:
a) While the wife doesn't like the fumes, she also wouldn't like the idea of blowing them into the neighbor's window
b) a long extension cord uses up quite a bit of amps itself, energy that gets lost for the filters.

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Of course it runs outdoors, you sillies

Well, in my defence, I did say that I couldn't help thinking that if you could have done that, you would have already.

Anyway, sounds like you're doing all you can do. I didn't think you'd need to worry about heaters. Our news yesterday talked about parts of the US being in a heat wave - although I don't know if that is the part where you are. But I do remember you commenting on matty (I think it was him) wearing thick tennis socks when it was so hot.

Cheers
TW

OK,

So, first of all, I am sorry that I did not participate in my fellow hobbyists threads too much during the last few days, with the power outage and a tremendous work schedule I just did not find the time to do anything besides letting you know about my own events in this thread.

Power News: WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS

My wife managed to get the generator started sometime during the day yesterday, this gave my fish another 3 to 4 hours of filter activity. Once she turned it off, it took another 4 hours and then the real power came back on.

By the time I got home (after another 12 hour work session from hell) I just had enough time to plug everything back in and to adjust all the timers. I managed to feed all fish, for the 3 smaller tanks while their lights were out already (past bedtime for these tanks) and for this one with about half an hour of lights on. I could account for most of the fishies, as much as this is possible given that I don't even know how many Espei should be there. I did not see one of the Rainbows and the female Apisto, I will check more intense tonight when I get home. The other tanks were harder to check for fish (lights out), but it seems all are there.

In this tank, the Star Grass seems to have suffered the most, while certain plants seem to have thrived. It appears to me as if a few of my crypts (not the Wendtiis) have grown quite a bit, and the Alternanthera as well.

Maybe tonight I find more time to check on the damage that may have been done to flora and fauna, I theoretically also should drop off 35 Espei at the LFS, but I don't know if I will find the time.

That is it for now, off to another crazy day at work,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF,
Glad you are back with power. Must be a nice feeling! As for your fish I hope they are all ok and that you don't have a plant mess to clean up. In general I think fish and plants are tougher than we think they are. Best wishes!

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

Oh, that's good you have power. Don't worry too much about the apistos & rainbows yet. With all your plants to hide in & if lights were only on for 1/2 hour, then that wasn't much time to spot them all. My apistos (the ones that worry me - you know the ones I mean) I sometimes don't see the female for a couple of days at a time, but so far, she always turns up.

Good luck with everything.



Cheers
TW

LF,
Hope all is well with the tanks.

In this tank, the Star Grass seems to have suffered the most, while certain plants seem to have thrived

I really have a love hate relationship with Star Grass. When it's good it's really good and tough to beat for constrast and it's probably one of the best plants if your want that cascading effect from back to mid, but it turns very quickly to a unattractive mess when conditions aren't to it's liking.

My Scapes

Thank you all,

I am still trying to catch up with all the threads that I have not replied to, because of the power outage and the work load in the office. I hope the coming week will give me some time to do so, but for now I will just update my 4 logs and then I will be off again.

Weekly Tank Update - Week 43

This sure was an eventful week, having had the power outage and what not. I am too busy to write a lot, but here is one reason why the tanks did survive the 48 hours without a problem. The Generator was hummming for about 4 hours each day, enough to provide some agitation and oxygen enrichment in all 4 tanks:

Attached Image:

Generator

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Here is how the tank looked like on Saturday morning.

All seems to be fine, but a closer look at the tank reveals that the Star Grass has suffered. To my surprise, the Hygro angustifolia has suffered as well, and quite a few leaves fell off. The alternanthera and a few smaller crypts on the other hand seemed to have grown better than usual. All fish have been accounted for:

Attached Image:

Before Water Change

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Here is a closer look at the Star Grass. I don't know how visible it is, but all lower parts of the plants have withered away or at least suffered enough to better remove them. I think I got lucky when I reduced the size of this group, otherwise I would have a much bigger mess right now.

Attached Image:

Star Grass

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Here is the tank now after the water change, which included a cleaning of the filter. BTW, I did nothing to the filters during the blackout, if there were any "bad" bacteria in them then they do not seem to cause any problems in the tank now.

Attached Image:

Tank Now

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

As you can see in the full shot, the Star Grass is not even visible anymore, that is how short the trimmings had to be made in order to only keep healthy stems. Here is a closer look at the middle of the tank, slightly angled. You can see the tips of the Star Grass and some Alternanthera that I trimmed from other parts of the tank and planted between the Anubias on the left and the Star Grass.

Attached Image:

Peek-A-Boo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Here is another close-up, just for the fun of it. I like the color contrast that the Alternanthera creates in a green tank, albeit its particular positioning in this spot may not be the best.

Attached Image:

Just Some Color

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Last but not least, here is a shot of the top of the 40G. That tank created quite a Duck Weed carpet and I removed some of it and added it to this tank.

Some of you may remember that I once had Duck Weed and that it dissapeared on me. Well, my theory that the fish ate it seems to hold merit, they liked the new Duck Weed as well. I wonder when they will have it all munched up

Attached Image:

Duck Weed

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Glad all the fishies made it LF. That's good news. Your whole tank seems to have pulled though pretty well & still looks all very lush & what not.

48hrs without light & you can still taunt me with a very healthy looking splash of red.

Anyway, seems that generator was worth the purchase.

Cheers
TW

Thanks Robyn,

Yup - all fish that I can count have been accounted for. This excludes the Otos (too good of a hider, haven't seen all 6 in a few weeks now) and the Espei, as I don't know how many I have. Oh, I don't remember if I mentioned it already, but I have not had a chance to give some to the LFS yet, with the power outage and the work load. I will try to work it out this week.

Ingo

100 Pages, I hope Adam is still ok with me as a member

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF,

Is 100 pages a record? I bet its got to be close. All I have to say is "You the Man!"

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

Yep, I was just talking about Stargrass, very unforgiving plant. I like that Duckweed shot.

My Scapes

Congrats on a 100 pages. Here's to a hundred more!

I just hope it doesn't break the board or anything

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Here's to a hundred more!

Holy cow, can you imagine?

I re-read Ingo's TFH article the other day and there was one part where they mentioned the beautiful planted tank where his espei bred, and I couldn't help but think to myself... "Hmm, yes beautiful... so beautiful, in fact, that he tore it all up and did it again... then tore that one up and did it again..." So indeed, here's to another 100 pages! /:'

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Back in the saddle!

Is 100 pages a record?

I think we passed the record....say 40-50 pages back.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks guys for the compliments on the 100 thingy.

Workwise, I am being buried and barely had time to check into FP in the last days, if that continues then I can be glad if I add another 10 pages within the next year .

Anway, NowherMan6 is right, if there is one thing you guys can rely on then it is the fact that I like change, at least when it comes to my tanks

About the tank in itself right now: I still have all Espei as last weeks power outage cancelled the plan to fish some out and bring them to the LFS. I will try to do it this week then, maybe Thursday or Friday.

Thanks again,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ok,

Things have changed, some of the Espei have been traded in at the LFS. As usual, it is quite a challenge to catch them in the planted tank, but with one larger net being held in one position and the other smaller one used to herd them in it took me only about 30 min to get around 30 of them (I think it was 29).

Here is a last shot of the larger school before I got started.

Attached Image:

Large School

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here are the fish, ready to be brought to the LFS. If you want to, go ahead and count them as I come up with 30 or even 31 in the bucket.

That means, overall I already traded in about 60 Espei, all from the original 12 that I bought.

And - If you would like to know what I did with the store credit that I got, you will have to check in a few minutes into my 40G log

Attached Image:

Fish-Bucket

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

So being you have taken 60 out of the tank. How many would you guess you have now? Do you still think they are breeding?

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

Wings,

I would guess that I have between 30 and 40 left, maybe more. I will try to get a rough count during the next water change. I picked fish for the LFS that are not too small or too old (fully grown adults, most likely still my original 12), this way I should be able to have more of them in the future.

I still see one or the other rather young fish (maybe 1 to 2 months old), although I haven't seen any tiny fry in quite a while as they must be better at hiding these days - given that there are/were about 100 fish in the tank that all would not hesitate to eat fry.

Assuming that the cut in numbers is significant enough, and that the Espei are in fact still breeding, I should see a few babies in not too far of a future.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Update - Week 44

Similar to the 40G, this tank has seen a few changes within the last week, but nothing major. And similar to the 40G's weekly update for this week, I will first go and show a full tank shot before mentioning the details (and a few questions) in the detail shots.

Here is the tank last weekend:

Attached Image:

Last Weekend

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is the tank now this weekend, after trimming and water changes.

As you may notice, the Star Grass still has not reached a visible height behing the main wood group, I really had to trim it way back after the power outage.

More obvious is the change to the right side of the tank, in particular the Hygro group. Here is the full tank shot:

Attached Image:

Last Night

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

This change was required as the Hygro group occupied way to much space in the tank and also reached a height that shaded everything else on that side of the tank. Remember that I planted them in such a large area to be able to reduce the size of the Star Grass group while still maintaining a large number of fast growers. Here is a shot of that hygro group before trimming:

Attached Image:

Hygro Jungle

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is a close-up of the same area after trimming. I have to confess that I did not take this shot to show the hygro, but rather the rainbows and a few of the Espei. It ever so happend that the hygro formed the backgroud for this come-together.

Attached Image:

Lower Hygro and Fish

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Overall, I did not only remove and trim every hygro stem in the tank, I went a little further:

I went ahead and removed all remaining green Wendtii plants from the right side of the tank, they were located at mid level, were mostly invisible from the front of the tank, were heavily shaded by the hygro to the point where 2 of the original 5 plant plugs were compeltely wiped out.

These green Wendtiis have been replanted between the Anubias (to their right) and the brown Wendtii (to their left) in the area formerly know as Rock Valley. I dont know how they will handel the replant or the larger amount of light, but I pretty much had to do something.

This also concluded in the right area being all available for the hygro and I planted it there rather densly but overall in much less of an area than what it occupied beforehand.

Here is the Wendtii

Attached Image:

New Wendtii Spot

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ok, shift of topic for a while, on to fishies. I actually did not want to show any Otos, but I was happy to see most of them in the tank. Nevertheless, I only counted 5 out of 6, but that is more than I can account for most of the days.

So, here is an Oto

Attached Image:

Oto

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is a shot of two more Otos. If you look at the one in the background, doesn't he/she look somewhat like one of these leopard Otos or whatever they are called?

I like the way Otos "freeze" when approached, their way of defense.

Attached Image:

2 Otos

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The main fish of this week was the Espei. I managed to sell 30 of them to the LFS (trade in for Apistos, in case you didn't know). I avoided selling the fully grown original 12 and very young ones. I attempted to count how many are left in the tank during the water change, I guess it must be somewhere between 35 and 40, hard to tell.

This means that I have in the tank:

- 2 Pearls
- 2 Apistos
- 6 Rainbows
- 6 Otos
- 40 Espei

= 56 Fishies, that should be a managable number. Given tetratech's persistent statement that my lare number of fish is part of my algae problem, let's see if this makes a difference.

In honor, here is an Espei (female - middle aged):

Attached Image:

Espei

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Here, almost simply for the fun of it, is a colorful shot of the area where my Nana and Barteri (and Congensis) are located. In the following two pictures I will ask a question with regards to the smaller crypts in the foreground, but they are hard to identify in this shot. This side of the tank looks very natural, with all the plants growing into each other.

Attached Image:

Field

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

On to the last two pictures of this series, but have a question attached (actually, it is the same question).

I purchased a bunch of different Crypts over time and lost track of which one is which. Two of them started off looking almost the same, but one grew quite tall compared to the other and its leaves also look a little different.

I believe that one of them is a Lucens, while the other is a Lutea. Any idea which is which?

Here is the taller one, approximately 4 to 5 inches tall:

Attached Image:

Crypt I

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is the smaller one, the shot was taken from the top of the tank when the water had its lowest point during the water change. The plant is at max 2 inches tall, most leaves are beween 1 and 3 inches long and grow pretty much sideways rather than up.

That is it for now,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Crypt II

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

56 Fishies, that should be a managable number. Given tetratech's persistent statement that my lare number of fish is part of my algae problem, let's see if this makes a difference.

For how long, with those rabbits in there. Let's go back to basics:

Sing to the theme of "One Fish, Two Fish"

More fish, more poop
more poop, more waste
more fish, more food
more poop, more waste
*Chorus*


My Scapes

This was probably discussed a while ago and I missed it, but LF, rather that cull the fish, why not just get an extra filter?

It's not that I disagree with the low-bioload being easier idea because that's pretty well set, but to what degree? I don't think you have a ton of fish in there for a 125 gallon tank. How is it that Amano is able to keep schools of 100+ fish of similar size as espei in similar sized or even smaller tanks without problems? And this is a long term deal as well, not just for a photo shoot. I think the algae outbreaks have more to do with stirring up the substrate and not enough filtration than just having too many fish.

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Back in the saddle!

rather that cull the fish, why not just get an extra filter?

Culling? Who is culling? I only ever culled fish in my 29G, but never in this tank. If you call a trade culling then so be it, but otherwise

Ok - here are a few comments to this quote:

- The number of Espei in the tank was too large. If you have fish of one school spread out throughout the tank you rarely have a chance to see them parade as a school. Yes, they do hang out in formation, but real perusing did occur only after feeding, I guess they had some form of a workout program to stay in shape. With a smaller number of fish this school swim thing happens more often.

- My main reason not to get a second filter is the current. I find my tank to have more than enough current for my fish, actually they mostly like to hang out in the area below the spraybar current, I assume because it is the least strong there.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

If you call a trade culling then so be it, but otherwise

Please take no offense, it was a poor word choice, just meant thinning out the populations.

Those are good enough reasons, I was just trying to think of some other ways that didn't invlove thinning them out...

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Back in the saddle!

No problem NowherMan6,

I just feel very guilty when I cull fish, taking its life although the fish is perfectly healthy and what not (not so if it is sick, I have no sorrow in that case).

Trading fish in is very hard for me as well, I never know where they will end up, but I can be almost certain that it will be at best equal to what I have to offer. So, in most cases, they will end up less fortunate than before

That are the times when I try really hard to remove myself from the emotional attachment to the fishies and try my best to see them as goods, but more often then not I am aware that I fool myself, they are my babies

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

- My main reason not to get a second filter is the current. I find my tank to have more than enough current for my fish, actually they mostly like to hang out in the area below the spraybar current, I assume because it is the least strong there.

Current also means food movement. Thus why I caught so many small mouth bass last night....

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

That are the times when I try really hard to remove myself from the emotional attachment to the fishies and try my best to see them as goods, but more often then not I am aware that I fool myself, they are my babies

Spend some time in a LFS and you'll lose your emotional attachment very quickly. No offense LFS workers, but with the volume of fish there are so many casualties, etc. in any given day even in the best stores.

Your "too much flow" ponders another point. Eheims are marketed as a superior biological filter because of the size and contact that the water has with the biomedia. If you compare othe brands to the Ehiems their flow rates are much higher for the same tank size, because eheim claims the slower flow brings more contact with the biomedia thus filtering the water better. So if you took two filters and slowed the flow on both of them. You would have double the biomedia compared to the one filter but slower flow thru each. Wouldn't this solve your current problem and also increase filtration.

My Scapes

The 2nd crypt is definately a Willisii, not sure if it's Willisii "Lucens" but could be.

I believe the first one to be Lutea.They get quite big about 8ins.

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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 for the Plant ID, the Lutea took forever to reach its current height of 4 to 5 inches, so I assume I would have to wait quite a while longer for it to get to 8.

I guess I will have to see when I am willing to shell out another $200 for a second filter for the tank. I promise I will think about it.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I'm unwilling to beleive that the tank has too much flow, sorry LF. If anything your fish are just being lazy couch potatoes, they can definitely handle more flow, and will probably be more fit as well(yes, there's such thing as a "fat" fish, SW tanks are notorious for too little flow, thus creating lazy fish) At the same time, I would think that it would be able to keep up with the bioload, it is a bit overrated for your tank, but I'm not experienced with eheims. I find fluvals expensive.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

just being lazy couch potatoes

Well, you may be right, but the only fish that hang right in the current are the contenders for the "Espei of the Day" award, aka upcoming younger males that use the current as a fitness studio.

Plus - I have a small Rio 50 power head in there to help shooting the CO2 bullets all the way to the other end of the tank.

And about Fluval being , I am surprised you haven't shown us you DIY canister filter yet, Matty. Rigged from an old blender engine, an old coke bottle, and bycicle tires as the hoses

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I'm unwilling to beleive that the tank has too much flow, sorry LF.

I would have to agree with this.
Plants and hardscape also break up flow so the fish would have plenty of room to move out of the flow, etc.

Actually the 2028 has about 40% more gph than my ecco 2236 and your tank is about 40% bigger, so I think we are in the same ballpark, although your tank is only about 30% bigger from left to right. In my tank I could see the wisteria all the way on the right (opposite side of spraybar) swaying gently in the current.

My Scapes

Rigged from an old blender engine, an old coke bottle, and bycicle tires as the hoses

I've thought about rigging up a cannister, but once you add it all up it's probably pretty similar in price, and less functional.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I've thought about rigging up a cannister

I am not surprised, if there is anyone I know who could do that then it is you, Matty

Tetratech - I can't let go of the second filter topic just yet. If you say that proportionally we are in the same ballpark with our filters, and if I count our fishies (in which case I actually now have less than you), then shouldn't my current one filter setup be sufficient?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Tetratech - I can't let go of the second filter topic just yet. If you say that proportionally we are in the same ballpark with our filters, and if I count our fishies (in which case I actually now have less than you), then shouldn't my current one filter setup be sufficient?

LF,
I don't propose to be a scientist, I try to use my gut and keep things simple. If your algae issues are ending then this is a moot point, but yes I believe our filtering capacity to be similiar, but that's where the similiaries end.

For starters you are running more light. I'm not sure exactly what your midday burst is but you have alot of light. IMO it is very difficult to maintain an algae free tank by traditional means with that light, fish load/feeding. Feeding and hight light is one of the most understated problems in planted aquaria. Because not only are you leaving behind uneaten food on the substrate, but you are causing the fish to poop more. It's a double-edged sword that combined with high-light is lethal combination.

If you continue to have algae problems and your plants are growing than something is out of balance and it's not your ferts.


My Scapes

Good points, and it makes a lot of sense, tetratech. Thanks a lot

My midday burst is only 1 hour (3 to 4 PM), my total light duration is 10 hours (11 AM to 9 PM - and keep in mind that the tank is in the basement, ergo has very little natural light coming in beforehand).

Feeding has been reduced, based on your advice, and includes at least one non-feeding day per week.

I am slowly changing the tank around little by little, trying to make it nicer and to create more of a scape. This process may increase the chance of algae temporarily, but we will see how this evolves in the long term.

Thanks again,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Slooow moves, baby, slooow moves .

My Scapes

Tetra provided a nice summary of the extra filter idea. Just to add my own two cents: it seems to come down to whether you want sufficient filtration, or extra filtration, and rule of thumb is when it comes to filters, go with too much rather than too little.

If you look around on other plant websites like APC and plantedtank.net, look a the set-ups for larger tanks, especially long ones. There's just about ALWAYS two filters on those things. As tetra said, the idea isn't necessarily strength of flow, but the amount of bio-media available for bacteria to colonize, which in turns allows the removal of the things that cause algae in high light tanks. You could always turn down the flow rates to stop water of swishing around so much and bending the plants, but this would still allow for more fitler colonization. Just an idea... and it is a lot of money to put in for something that may not be necessary.

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Back in the saddle!

Nice follow-up, Nowher, glad someone is one the same page as me.

Just an idea... and it is a lot of money to put in for something that may not be necessary.

To be a true protist buster, I believe in attacking from both ends, so ideally you would want to go with a bigger or another filter and you reduce lighting, fish load/feeding, but any of these would help. The filter isn't necessary, but hey if LF wants stock which most people do than you need the filter.

I'll give too extreme examples with and without much "visible" algae.

Outdoor fish pond:
Closed system with a high waste load and all that light (sun) causes most of these systems to always have unslightly algae problems. Plant mass usually isn't all that great.

Natural Coral Reef:
Ever snokel or scuba thru these. Crystal clear water teeming with life. Same sun, but an endless biofilter from the reef,live rock, etc.

So in order to come closer to nature, one must increase the capacity of the filter so the system is larger. Isn't this the whole idea in saltwater, with hugh sumps, etc.

My Scapes

What if you just add an extra bio area to the filter. PVC in line with your can. filled with bio balls?

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

All are very good ideas, thank you very much guys.

I will consider each option carefully (meaning - it will take some time for me to change something).

Now a days I am enjoying the increased swimming activities of my Espei, finally they have some space to move around

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Outdoor fish pond:
Closed system with a high waste load and all that light (sun) causes most of these systems to always have unslightly algae problems. Plant mass usually isn't all that great.

This hits home. Tons of people come in every day asking why they have algae in their ponds. My answer: Light and waste. Then I get this look: . I ask what filter they are using, and they tell me what kind of pump they have for their waterfall. "That's not a filter." Then I get this look: . I show them our setups which are 5Gal. buckets ghetto rigged with bioballs and filter floss. They either walk out with a tetra brand or a good idea in their head. I also ask how many plants they have floating on the surface(light) or something else to block the light. "Oh, I got a couple of these, and a couple of these." I tell them that having 1/2 to 3/4 of the pond covered will help reduce the amount of light that hits the pond, and the extra plant load will help pull out waste. I get this look: . The ones that follow my suggestions then give me this look a few weeks later .

What if you just add an extra bio area to the filter. PVC in line with your can. filled with bio balls?

DIY - I like it

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Yeah,

Me and DIY .

I would spend so much time on research and development that, if I calculate the hours times the money I should be paid for this time, it will run way more expensive then if I simply go out and buy an off the shelf unit.

But maybe I can contract Matty to rigg me one

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

WOW

I just came back from the Big Al's website and to my surprise I cannot find Tropica Master Grow there anymore?

What is going on, am I just not able to find it?

If it isn't sold anymore (and I need a BIG bottle) what is a feasible replacment? They have 2 liter bottles of Seachem Flourish, would that be the equivalent, or i Flourish Trace missing in that equation?

Any help would be appreciated,

Ingo

EDIT: They also have 2 liter and 4 liter bottles of Flourish Trace, should I go for both together (Flourish and Flourish Trace)?

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I just came back from the Big Al's website and to my surprise I cannot find Tropica Master Grow there anymore?

LF,
You have to call them. They are overhauling their website and it's all screwed up. I have all these VIP points and it's not showing up

My Scapes

Aih

I have thousands of points as well, and would like to add more. I guess if I call them then I would not get the points for this order, right (I am also buying a AC 50 filter for my neighbor, I can't stand his catridge throw-out filter for his 10G)?

Thanks so far tetratech,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I have thousands of points as well, and would like to add more. I guess if I call them then I would not get the points for this order, right (I am also buying a AC 50 filter for my neighbor, I can't stand his catridge throw-out filter for his 10G)?

They might accomdate you on the points if you call.

BTW - I stopped buying set catridges for my filters. I have an AC 20 on my 12g and I have some efisubstrate in a bag and the sponge that comes with the filter, so I never have to replace anything.


My Scapes

And I use only sponges (2 on top of each other) in my AC50 and AC70.

But, to get back on topic, let us assume they don't have TMG anymore, is Flourish AND Flourish Trace its replacement that I should use? And if so, in what proportions (50/50 or 25/75 or what)?

Thanks,

I will wait for the answer before I call,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

But, to get back on topic, let us assume they don't have TMG anymore, is Flourish AND Flourish Trace its replacement that I should use? And if so, in what proportions (50/50 or 25/75 or what)?

I could only speak from my own experience, but I don't use trace anymore, I just use Flourish 3 times weekly. I haven't used Flourish potassium, trace as long as I could remember and I'm not really using Flourish Iron anymore either.

My Scapes

Boah,

there is actually a thread on APC with regards to Tropica and the TMG. Supposedly they have a marketing change and do all kinds of stuff.

Just type Tropica Master Grow in the search at APC and then select the ""Tropica Plant Nutrition+ Liquid" - new Tropica products availability?" thread.

Guess I am out of luck

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yup,

So I called Big Al and guess what:

They do not have TMG per se anymore, instead they are getting this week the whole new line of Tropica plant care products.

I had a very nice and knowledged gentleman on the phone, he informed me that instead of one mix there are now 15 or so components that one would have to buy (I guess he included the macros) .

It is not on the website yet as not all products have been shipped from Tropica just yet, but keep your eyes open - it should be there within this week.

I bought TMG for its simplicity, what are they thinking!!!!

I guess I will go with a smaller bottle of Flourish for the time being until we know more about this Tropica Attack.

Thanks,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I bought TMG for its simplicity, what are they thinking!!!!

Then I think you'll be fine with the Flourish (It's got FE in it) I havent seen any difficienies and my Rotala has nice red hues to it.

I'd like to say a small pray, for all of us living thru this heatwave that we don't lose power. My unheated swimming pool is reading 90F.



My Scapes

Can someone clarify for me: what exactly was Tropica master grow? Was is a combination of macros and micros? Just Micros and traces? Did it contain Ca and Mg?

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Back in the saddle!

By Flourish you mean the Seachem Flourish right? It's funny that this came up as I was asking a similar question in my 25 log.

As for the heat... well not much sympathy here! After spending my whole life in Sunny Central Florida and now Houston that is pretty much the norm in the summer time. It is kind of funny that you all are pretty much hotter than us right now though.


Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Rick - Sure, tell us what softies we are, but for notherners like us this is pretty hot, plus about 5000% humidity ().

I used TMG for my micros, and I think this is what it was mostly composed of. I don't even know the exact content, I believed Bensaf and Untitled that it was good as they introduced me to fertilizers by telling me I always have to carry a bottle of it around, no matter where I go.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

TMG is a micro fert. The best for me. It seems to give plants a sheen that others are lacking. Flourish is good too. No need for the Trace if using the regular Flourish.

The change in the Tropica products is a bit confusing but no means does it mean you need a lot of bottles to replace TMG.

A bit of background - Tropica was bought out about a year or so back. There is a new CEO. This new range is his idea it would seem.

While I would agree with the idea of the new products - which are basically a response to the hobby becoming more sophiscated and high tech, the insistance on producing products that "contain no nitrate or phosphate" is now old hat - the name change is a marketing disaster IMO.

Basically TMG will still be the same product but with a new name Aqua something or other.Still a micro fert. The other products are a macro fert with N+P, a potassium fert, a root tab and I think an Iron only fert. Pretty much like the Seachem range. If you are using the dry chems you'd still only need the micro fert. The other are a replacement for the dry chems which can be pretty hard to get in some parts (especially Europe), after all KNO3 can be used in bomb making, it was certainly an old favorite of the IRA before Cemtex was so easy to get hold of.

Check the Tropica website for more info.

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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 am mostly with you on the marketing blunder of this move. I also assume that I will have to read up more on these new products, all I can say so far is that the guy on the phone from Big Al's said that there is not ONE product that will replace TMG, but multiple that need to be used in combination. I easily imagined that the new series will include a "most micros in one shot" product, but also that Iron would be excluded from this product and has to be bought seperately. Besides that there may be other micros (mostly calcium and magnesium) that I could see in individual products.

Guess we will find out soon enough.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF,

Sorry to hear that your Micro Fert is on its way out. Change really sucks sometimes! It seems that people are always out there trying to make a buck and that makes our lives a pain in the butt.

I have been using Flourish in my tank with Flourish Iron. Flourish has low % of your Macros and all the micros including iron. The only reason I am using Iron on top of reg. Flourish is an expermental thing. I am finding that my crypts are much more red in color with it. Other than that I don't see any real change.

Hoped that helped!

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

Sure did help Wings,

The more people confirm tetratech's usage the more reliable the information becomes (at least if the right people confirm it).

All we will have to do now is to find a Guinea Pig to test out the new Tropica stuff

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The more people confirm tetratech's usage the more reliable the information becomes (at least if the right people confirm it).

What me and my exciting "still life" tank isn't proof enough.

Remember you also have alot of goodies in your eco. Well 3 out 4 ain't bad. I think that's a song, or no that's 2 out of 3

My Scapes

Come on Tetratech,

Don't get too angry at us for talking about your Still Life.

Without a doubt is your tank in much better shape than my 125, in any aspect (well, I may have closed in on the proper fish count with the latest trade though). We bring this up because there is nothing else to bicker about

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

All we will have to do now is to find a Guinea Pig to test out the new Tropica stuff

NOT IT!

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

Flourish is good too. No need for the Trace if using the regular Flourish.

For traces, I've been using Flourish Trace - but should I be using regular Flourish instead?

Cheers
TW

Trace
Flourish

I think that Flourish has everything that Trace has and more. I haven't look really super close at it though. Personaly I would do Regular Flourish for your micros. For no other reason than the iron. Though I think we get quite a bit of micros from our WC's. Thats just me though and my two cents.

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

All we will have to do now is to find a Guinea Pig to test out the new Tropica stuff

If I can get hold of it I will definately be trying it. I have a lot of faith in Tropica. Anybody who's tried their plants will tell you that. The quality is miles ahead of anything else. My Anubias and Crypt Spiralis came from Tropica - stunning quality.

Micros are very hard to get hold of here. I'm on my last dose of TMG (which I had to pick up in S'pore). There's is nobody selling TMG here anymore and only 1 place I know selling Flourish but it's in the middle of Chinatown and a bugger to get to. All I have at the moment is some unknown S'pore brand.

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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.

So I guess there is no way that you would get this stuff right away, except if you would take a "short" trip to Singapore over the weekend .

I have a while to go (maybe two months at least) before I will be in crisis mode again, at least when it concerns micros, otherwise I am in crisis mode all the time anyway .

I ordered 2 liters of flourish and will see how it works out. I would assume that regular dosage volumes, based on Seachem instructions, is sufficient, right?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I would assume that regular dosage volumes, based on Seachem instructions, is sufficient, right

That's pretty much what I do, 3 times weekly.

My Scapes

So that is what I will do then as well, as soon as my TMG is totally empty (I may have about 2 to 3 weeks of stuff left).

Thanks tetratech,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I think the bottle says 1 or 2 times per week, so I'm going alittle over. Following Master Hodge Podge

BTW - I just ran out of my first container of Stump Remover (NO3) since I started the tank. It was a 16oz (454grams) container of powdered (no3)

My Scapes

tetra, are you going to switch to greg watson KNO3? I like the fact that it's much more powdery than Green Light (which I have), seems to dissolve better right in the WC.

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Back in the saddle!

tetra, are you going to switch to greg watson KNO3? I like the fact that it's much more powdery than Green Light (which I have), seems to dissolve better right in the WC.

I actually bought two containers when I first purchased at Lowes. So I have a full 16oz to go. Your right it's a larger grain size then the more powdery stuff. I basically take a plastic cup scoop some tank water into it. Pour in the no3 and po4, stir and pour it into the tank.

My Scapes

So I don't know if it is true around your neck of the woods but Lowes doesn't have Green Light Stump Remover any more. I have checked both stores in my area and nothing. They have another stump remover but it doesn't say what it is inside! GRR! I think I will be making a greg W. order sometime in the next couple of months. I am down to about 1/2 my contaner for Green Light.

In terms of Flourish I am doing 1 capful of Reg. Flourish (2L cap) and 1 cap of the Iron (small cap). This I do 3 times a week.

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

Thanks,

I will try to get by without adding additional Iron, as I didn't purchase any

Then we have to manage to get Bensaf some of the new Tropica products so he can try them out for us.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Update - Week 45

Not too much to say at all this week, the tank is growing and the ferts are flowing

Overall, not too much has happened, most concerned the end of the TMG era as Tropica is now selling new products that are not yet available. So I will try Flourish for a while, I will let you know when the TMG stock I have is depleted.

Strangely, I still see maybe 5 to 10 hyro leaves floating every week. This started after the power outagae over two weeks ago and had never happened before. Any ideas?

Here is the tank last weekend (comparison):

Attached Image:

Last Week

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is the tank now this weekend after the water change. I have to remember to turn off the light in the 40G as its reflection always creates a line in this tank when taking a picture, sorry about that.

The Star Grass is just becoming visible again, I find the growth rather slow these days. It may also be related to the fact that I had to cut them so short after the power outage.

Attached Image:

Now

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is a shot of the top part at low tide, during water change.

I like how the wood, anubias, and Alternanthera peek out of the water. Maybe I should reduce the water level permanently to this height and make it a palladium. But I guess that means that I have to get rid of even more fishies.

And this is it for this week, nothing more to show.

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Top Part

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

http://www.aquariumdesigngroup.com/detected.php?page=&pass=
Ok the link only goes to the main page. Go to the gallory, planted tanks and it is #18.

This is probably one of my favorite tanks.


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

For me #15 is an abosolute masterpiece. A great layout for a big tank. It's a tank that anybody with the vision could grow. Fairly low maintenance which is important for big tanks. It's very similar to a tank by Luis Navarro which is just slightly better.
I get the sense this was a look Ingo was originally aiming for but it got off track.

#26 is also a nice layout for a big tank but a lot more work.

While we're at it take a look a pics #6 thru 8. This is what I envisioned the 40gal breeder to look like. Very simple but clever design.

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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.

So for LF to get the effect of 5-8 he would have to use Nana and nana pittea or whatever it is.

I think he was really on the right track but then his plants drowned the hard scape.



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

Thanks guys, I will have to take a closer look at the suggested numbers, but I am pretty sure that I had seen the one for the 40 before, and yes - I tried something like that.

But I assume that is what seperates me from Jeff Senske.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

But I assume that is what seperates me from Jeff Senske.

Ingo don't sell yourself short. Nothing against Jeff S he is very talented at what he does. But he does this for a living and I'm sure has a large inventory of wood, plants, rocks etc to choose from to make the layout look just right. It's becuase of this reason in my opinion why it's very hard to judge aquascaping contests, etc on an equal playing field. I know they have budget scaping contests as well, but it's still difficult.

My Scapes

I'm sure has a large inventory of wood, plants, rocks etc to choose from to make the layout look just right.

This is true to a large extent. A lot of us start with a vision in our head - then out out to get the wood, rocks and plants and then can't find what we're looking for and end up "comprimising".Having high quality materials readily at hand is a huge bonus.

The opposite can be true also, some just pick up a pile of stuff and then try to make a 'scape out of whatever is at hand. That rarely works.

But desipte all that I do believe certain people just have a "gift" for this thing - an eye. If you or I had access to the same materials that some of these guys have are you still confident you could do as good a job? I'm not

Some seem to have the ability to see how the tank is going to look 6 months down the line and allow for that (but that's probably mostly experience and observation of plants). Self control (of which I'm sorely lacking) is a necessity. An eye for detail and balance.

Look at the rocks in the pic I mentioned as a masterpiece, there's a lot of them, yet I can't find one in the'scape that's in the wrong place or the wrong size. They all look perfect and natural as if they've always been there. The fact that the guy may have had to choose those rocks from hundreds he had on hand, to me, makes the achievment in the 'scape more admirable rather then less !

Remember the old story? If you leave enough monkeys alone in a room with a typewriter in time maybe one of them will do a Shakespeare. Maybe if you left us in a room with a tank and a pile of ADA kit, rocks, wood and plants , maybe one of us would pull of a tank to rival Senske or Amano.
Maybe. To my mind a big maybe. Fair dues to these guys, they have a genuine sense of creativity. They're arists we're merely artisans.

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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.

I certainly couldn't guarantee how my creations would fair, but I could tell you that I'd rather have a closet of DW, rocks and plants to choose from than none at all. Look how good Imelda Marcus looked with all those shoes to match her outfits.

I've tried to make the most out of crappy DW, a few stem plant species and a whole lot of weeds (Wisteria).
Yes some of us have an eye for this others do not. I think it's easier to make a rock front look natural when you have more to choose from (statisically there is a greater likelihood that you'll fine ones that achieve harmony) In addtion to inventory Jeff S also has the advantage of multiple canvases to practice what works and what doesn't. When you do somthing hundreds of times you do tend to work out the kinks. Most people do get better when you get more touches.

I'll end as I began, I'm not taking anything away from Jeff S he obviously has alot of talent, but I would still rather be able to work with all his toys, both in and out of the tank as opposed to my sorry little collection of sticks and stones.

My Scapes

No doubt does availablitlity of high quality and quantity of scaping material and plants (and fancy ADA soil, one may add) have something to do with the outcome of a planted tank design.

And also, no doubt does talent and experience play a major role in the scaping process.

Given that I have None-Of-The-Above, my tank is what it is. Pretty good for an average dude, but nothing more.

On the other hand, exactly this is what gives me the option to constantly fiddle with it. To be honest, an perfect tank frightens me as I would not know what to do with it. In some stages of tetratech's tanks (both) I am looking at the pictures and think to myself "and what now".

I, for one thing, fell in love with the ability to change things around all the time, called a tank redo "Ingo Style". The most pleasing of all tanks to change is the 20G, as a whole redo takes me as long as a regular water change and trimming on the 125G.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi there all,

10 days with no entries in my log, neither by me nor anybody else.

Anyway, I have been ultra busy at work, at the same time I had friends over from Germany for a few days, and then I went on vacation and replaced the view into my tanks (which, btw, are going down the drain, the 125 is now BBA paradise, but more maybe tomorrow or Sunday about that).

I just came back from the trip and thought to let you know that I am still around. Gotta go and unpack now, till later,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Last Week's Highlight

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF,

Glad to see you're back. Sorry about the tanks - you didn't go crazy and start dumping SW fish into your FW tanks now did you?

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Back in the saddle!

No, I did not add salt to the freshwater tanks, although it wouldn't make much difference in the 125 anyway these days, inconsistent fertilization and a lack of attention have done quite some damage.

But glad to see that you haven't lost your humor, makes me feel good.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo, Midnight Madness is coming up at ABS. It's going to be my first time as a customer. Just wondering if you planned on attending. I'd like to catch up!

Mike,

I guess Midnight Madness is in a week, right? I will have to think about it, there is really nothing at the moment that I would need, except maybe a huge load of plants for this tank, which I am sure they don't have.

Can you think of something that would make it worthwhile standing in line forever?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

...you mean aside from keeping me company?

Ummm, I really don't know. I don't really want anything either. I'm going to pick up a bag of Eco Complete and see if I can win some free stuff. If I have to wait in line I'll be pissed!

Welcome back LF, hope your visitors & holiday gave you some great chill out time.

Anyway, what's the story with the clown You can't just put a pic up without telling us what it all means. Is there soon to be darkside log for LF. BTW, it's a nice clown.

Cheers
TW

was wondering why you hadnt posted ingo, hope you had fun on holidays







one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen , thats all you need.

OH TOLEEDY!