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I think your oto is very happy & thanks you for very much for his/her dinner. If this is your plumpest, if your theory is right, it should be a girl - right?

Cheers
TW

Yeah, from the shape of the belly I would assume that this one is a female. I have 6 otos in this tank and only some of them are this fat. But all have the same food source, a tank full of algae .

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF,

You only have 6 Otos in your 125? I am running 10 in my 40G. You could probably add some more if you wanted to.

What are others Oto to Gallon ratio?

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

I have 4 in my 50. I'd like to get a couple more though. If I had an algae supply like LF(no offense ) I'd have 20 in there. Couldn't hurt at least.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hello LF

(Hello Bensaf! good luck with the move - was worried there for a bit, I have a six gallon tank that was inspired by your desktop tank - the little one?)

sorry LF, back on topic, your ottos made me laugh! I have started buying new gravel for the 35G, and will start the big scary re do in two weeks time.

I'll have to reread some of your log.

I can't believe its been a year. amazing.

GFG

_______________________________________
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone

Thanks Wings, Matty, and GFG

Well, more Otos is always a nice thing, but more fish is more poop. The 6 in my 40G have quite some significant output there, as I could always nicely see on the top of my Anubias leaves .

Honestly, I think at this stage of the tank they are more decoration than anything else.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I see your point for not adding any new fish in right now.

Half of my fish load are Otos (10) while the other half are med sized Brillian Rasboras (8).

When I start thinking about our tanks in general it really amazes me that some of use have little to no problems while others are cursed as we are all running very similar systems. The only major differences I can really think of is Plant choise and fish load. Maybe tetra and I got off easy be cause we worship the wisteria.

Any new thoughts on a Ingo redo?



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

this thread still going?!1

tank still looks great littlefish, just going to spend the next 3 days reading all whats been going on

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Karl,

How have you been? Long time no see. Was that all because of the early English exit from the world championship

Anyway, yeah - the log is still going, although I have to say that the entries are more sporadic these days. People must be sick and tired of hearing my complaints over and over again .

Talk to you later, have to work now,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The only thing I'm tired of is lack of entries. I hate when this site dies down like this.

*twiddles thumbs*

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

We haven't seen Mr. and Mrs Apisto in a very long time.

Nor have we seen the Pearls! Have they ever shown any signs of coupling off or breeding? How goes the espei management?

I haven't been posting much either. Busy with work AND life so that doesn't leave me much time. Trying to find the time to set up my own new tank, but that got put on hold because we may be getting the apartment painted... and I'm sure there's NOTHING in the world like trying to move a 700lb. tank away from a wall and keeping it properly protected so it doesn't get paint chips and fumes in it You can see my frustration with the project.

Just so I'm thinking of this right, LF, you have in the tank now:

espei
dwarf neon rainbows
pearls - 2
apistos - 2
and otos, correct?

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Back in the saddle!

The only thing I'm tired of is lack of entries. I hate when this site dies down like this

Tell me all about it, it ruins my average posts per day.

NowherMan6 - Sorry to hear about your crazy work schedule, but why should you be better off than me

Yeah, you got that right, these are the fish in my tank. I have never seen the Pearls showing any signs of interest in breeding. One reason why I held off with the second filter for so long was that I hoped he would build a bubble nest on the right tank side where the surface current was really weak, but nothing happened. Now I have loads of current and I assume that even if he tried to build a nest it would float away.

The Espei population seems stable now, maybe one or two fish came in since the last trade with the LFS. I am sure the Apistos and Rainbows have something to do with it.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF,

I used to have a lot of hair algae to say the least in my 42 hex. I even had it growing on the substrate. I tried several kinds of fish and the japonica shrimp that were supposed to be good at grazing on the hair algae, but they just couldn't keep up. Then I read about the American Flag Fish (Jordanella floridae). My LFS was able to order some for me and I bought one male and two females. Within 5 minutes of releasing these fish into my tank they began to feed voraciously on the hair algae and within 3 days there wasn't a strand of hair algae to be seen! I haven't had a problem with it since that time as I think the algae eating livestock I have more than keeps up with the pace now. I will say that I had to move them out of the tank into another one because they would nip at the fins of my Angels, but it was well worth it until there job was done!

Just a thought that I haven't read about anyone trying on here.

Dan

Dan,

Thanks for the tip . I have thought about these fish, but turned them down rather quickly. Mainly for the reason you mentioned, being rather aggressive fish. Also, they for sure would go after my smaller espei.

Weekly Tank Update - Week 54

Not much has happened to the tank this week, just feeding and ferting (new Ingo word ). The maintenance this weekend saw the trimming of the hygro and the star grass, plus the repositioning and trimming of a few stems of Alternanthera.

Here is the tank last weekend:

Attached Image:

Last Weekend

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

By this weekend, the star grass and the hygro had grown even more, so did the duck weed on the surface. I guess my plant food is working out pretty good (including the new tropica micros - on a much reduced dosage from the TMG, 20ml x 3 vs. 50ml x 3).

Here is the tank before trimming, almost all lower parts are shaded all the way to the front:

Attached Image:

Before Trimming

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is the tank after the trimming. Note the now larger group of Alternanthera towards the right. I used to have the individual stems more dispersed throughout the tank:

Attached Image:

Now

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Last shot for now, a closer look at the center area. A little off to the right, in front of the star grass, sits a larger Crypt Wendtii Red. This plant, for unknown reasons, melted pretty bad during the last week. Only some of the smaller leaves are still there. I don't think it got shaded too much and I have no explanation for why this happened.

Attached Image:

Where is the Wendtii?

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Just going to have a moment of green with envy induced meaness.

My crypts don't melt!!!!! *evil laugh* and I have moved them and washed them and every thing!

of course all my other plants die or fall apart, as well as some fish



GFGx

_______________________________________
Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself.
Harvey S. Firestone

That is funny GFG

I guess you like the rest of the tank then . Well, it is working its way back up to having more BBA, I can see the first signs on the wood again.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Wow, can't believe I missed this big change

Looks good LF. I'm very impressed with that mass of NL fern you have. It's a pretty fast grower I've found, and grows pretty large too (starting to outgrow my nano... ... not really, but still getting big)

Anyway, I think it's BEGGING to climb the ladder of that big DW piece. As it is it seems to be just forming a flat mat across the lower section - why not, at some point, break it up a bit and make it more dynamic? Tie some bunches up the length of the branch a little, similar to the way you've used the Bolbitus in your 40G. This would also work on the right side piece of DW.

Just throwing it out there, as usual

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Back in the saddle!

Good idea NowherMan6,

I have been thinking about that, but then decided to hold off until I know what to do about the big log, and with it the rest of the tank, in the first place. I think my current setup does not permit me to move forward and a change is needed, at least a change to the driftwood.

But I have neither time nor courage to do this right now

The NL fern looks so flat because there is quite some current in that area that pushes the leaves horizontally to the left.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I was going to comment on your fern too. It sure looks like it has grown a ton. I hope to get my hands on one either with our next plant order at work or at the auction I am going to next weekend.

I also like the idea of having the fern grow up the DW but I understand you wanting to wait to do it unitl you have things figured out.

Quite the trim job too! You can see the plants on the bottem now! Before it just looked back.

How is the chain sword doing?

Has work been a bear latly? Is tetra still alive? Maybe he just doesn't like his tank with the 4 foot light....

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

Maybe he just doesn't like his tank with the 4 foot light....

Maybe that's it. I asked to see a picture of the tank with the new light, and he just plain disappeared

Cheers
TW

I think the light is just a coincidence. I doubt that it messed up his tank soooo quickly, actually, I think that it probably made everything grow even better.

About the chain sword - what chain sword? I have maybe 3 to 5 plants left, spread out throughout the tank. I find that in all of my tanks, high and low tech, chain swords do not like to be moved. Once established and later moved they all did really poorly. I don't know why though, because all did really well when moved into the respective tanks.

Work is mad, but I am getting used to it a little better.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I find that chain swords do very well with being moved if it also involves a bit of thinning out so they get more light. Usually I pull them all up, take out the largest half and then replant the smaller half. Then in a month or two I have to do it again. I usually make a few bucks off of it though. In fact I may need to do that today.....I'm snowed in so there's not much else I can do. Good ol' Buffalo, Lake effect snow in October.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Yeah,

It was pretty cold down here this morning as well, but certainly no snow yet. Glad we got the Apistos shipped earlier this year.

My tenellus was behaving like yours in the beginning as well, maybe it takes a few moves before it has enough of it. I have no other explanation for it, as the tank conditions in my various tanks have not changed while tenellus growth got worse with each move.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

About the chain sword - what chain sword?

I thought that chain swords were fairly easy to keep. But I guess with any thing they probably do better for some people than others.

ood ol' Buffalo, Lake effect snow in October.

We got snow here but not snowed in at all. Don't really want to go outside so I guess you could call it snowed in. It did look pretty outside yesterday with the snow stuck to the colored up trees.

BTW: Come See!


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

But I guess with any thing they probably do better for some people than others

I do not know if it is the people that make the difference, as I grew it very successful in my tanks. But no longer

Anyway, I got up extra early this morning to upload, trim, and resize my pictures for this week's update (late, I know, but have been busy yesterday), but once completed the site was down, at least I could not post anything anymore

So, it will have to wait until tonight then, nothing major happened anyway

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Better late than never -

Weekly Tank Update - Week 55

Nothing happened to the tank this week, besides feeding and fetilizing. I think the increased water flow help, at least my duckweed grows by its name, weed

Here is the tank this weekend:

Attached Image:

Now

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Now on to some more or less detailed shots, in random order.

Here is a closeup of the Alternanthera group. Hard to believe that all these plant are from one small accidental plant that I got when the tank was initially set up:

Attached Image:

Alternanthera

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is a closeup showing my diffusing style, in case you forgot. First I have the diffuser hack the CO2 bubbles in small pieces, then the above sitting powerhead redirects them vertically (and makes the bubbles even smaller).

I have not cleaned the diffuser in at least 2 months except for dripping Excel on top of it during the water change.

Ups- have to read a story now, will continue in about 30min.

Attached Image:

Hack Em

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nice, the wife will be reading to them, so on with the entries:

Here is a closer look at the Narrow Leaf Java Fern. The main focus though is not intended to be the fern, as you will be able to see better in the next shot.

Attached Image:

NL Java Fern

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

This one is specially for Matty, as he toys with the idea of putting $40++ of plants in a darker spot of his tank. Nana Petites will grow well there, but noone can see them in the pictures. When I hole the camera real close and extremely overexpose the image then one can see that I have 5 petites lined up in front of the fern. Actually, a waste in my tank:

Attached Image:

Nana Petite

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Here is one group of my Pearl Grass, I guess it will need some trimming soon. This one is in the left front corner of the tank.

Attached Image:

Pearl Grass

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here are my 5 Rainbows. After I had to put one of the original 6 down a few weeks back it seems like nobody else is getting sick. I remember that I lost my 3 females within weeks of each other with similar symptoms.

Attached Image:

Rainbows

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

With all this picture taking, my male Apisto did not want to be left out. He paraded along the tank front for me and gave me plenty of options to capture a shot of him:

Attached Image:

Apisto

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

But after about 10 shots that I took he got bored and started to yawn.

Sometimes he does that, I assume to keep his mouth flexible so he can eat huge snails


Attached Image:

Tired?

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And just to prove that I am having my own Wisteria Creepery in my tank (what is going on tetratech, did you break your hands and can't type?), here is one of my two Wisteria patches:

Attached Image:

Wisteria

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Look At The Previous Page For Way More Pictures

And the last two shots are in Matty style, aka crazy angles. I usually don't see my tank in this perspective, but it shows the duck weed on the surface. This was after I removed about 50%.


Attached Image:

Duck Weed

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And an even weirder shot is this one, again showing the duck weed. Don't worry, what seems like loads of algae on the back is just a reflection of the the duck weed on the surface.

That's it,

Have Fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Crazy Shot

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nice pic of your apisto yawning LF. I also like the upward angles on your tank. I can imagine you laying on the floor taking pics . I have to say the larger group of alternanthera is stunning. That should have happened much sooner. Larger groups of plants seem to make a better impact on the viewer IMO. The star grass needs to pop back up a bit, and then the tank will look very nice I think.

I happened to notice the petite nana in the first pic, but I can see why you would say they are pointless there. You don't need them there. That's a very nice little portion in your tank with the NL fern. However, I do need something in that spot in my tank. Otherwise it's an eyesore. Mesh and pvc don't lend themselves to a natural planted tank, like most people would think. I'm just trying to come up with the best possible solution as I can see the glosso doesn't cut the cake....or cheese(maybe that's what those bubbles are ). I need something that isn't large(won't shade out the glosso below it on the substrate which gets plenty of light), grows in lower light, will attach itself to mesh, and doesn't need substrate. Any other ideas?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

see the glosso doesn't cut the cake....or cheese

Thanks Matty for the input (sparse these days, my tank must be too boring for words)

Yeah, I really way lying on the floor when taking the upwards shots

Also, I agree, the Alternanthera group has never been prettier.

And with regards to your "dark spot", I feel your pain. Moss is no good as it would creep out of control. Anubias Nana Petite cost $$$. How about narrow leaf java fern, grows slow enough to be maintainable?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Scrolled back over an earlier page of pics, where you can only see a hint of your alternanthera. I'm so glad you've given it room to shine. I also like that we can see beyond the plants to the back of the tank. I used to think that all of the back wall of a tank had to be covered in tall stems, but I like this look, where in places you can see the black beyond. More interesting & gives more depth. Hard to maintain that though, as some of these darn stems grow so fast. Always needing trimming to keep them the right height.

Does the floating duckweed block your light & cause shading. I don't think I'd dare try it in my low light tanks, but I guess you guys with better lights, have the wpg to spare?

Cheers
TW

Does the floating duckweed block your light & cause shading

Yes, it does. I currently run an experiment on my 29G with 65W and almost the entire surface covered with duckweed, we will see how that goes. On a positive side, it is a major nitrate sucker upper , as much as I know.

Robyn, thanks also for the overall comments on the tank, and I agree with all of your points. Just last night I looked at the Alternanthera group and thought about its time limited beauty. In not too long of a future I will have to trim that group and it will never look the same again.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ok,

So I didn't want to make a big deal out of this, but I jst cannot resist. I ordered a few more plants:

- 3 Bunches of Ludwigia peruensis
- 6 Pots of Tenellus
- 3 Crypt Wendtii Green

All entities arrived, although the Wendtiis are way more than 3, but little plants for that. Here is the order:

Attached Image:

Plant Order

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

As I will not really plant anything today, I cleaned and "parked" the plants for the time being.

Here are all the individual peruensis stems planted in the 125G:

Attached Image:

All Peruensis

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

One thing that this last shot made ovbious is that they appear from the distance very similar to the Alternanthera.

In a closer shot of the main planted group one can appreciate them more:

Attached Image:

Peruensis I

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is another look at the peruensis that I lined up in front of the tank, as I said - just parking them for the time being.

Are these the ones that Matty has in his 50? I forgot.

Attached Image:

Peruensis II

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The other plants are parked in the 20G, I didn't even remove the Tenellus from the pots. I guess that is all right, right?

The Crypts are most likely to stay in this tank, but for sure not in that spot. I ordered them because I felt like making the order worthwhile.

Attached Image:

Park Em

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The reason why I ordered potted Tenellus was because the explanation made it appear as if they were grown submersed, and the loose ones where grown emersed.

But the bud endings on some of them make me believe that these were grown emersed as well.

For the "I Spy" fans, there is a baby platy in this picture as well

Attached Image:

Emersed?

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Now,

"What does that all mean?" is probably a question that you all ask yourselves (or not).

Anyway, if I tell you it has to do with me taking Friday off and use it on this tank, I assume you know what it means

So, if you have any suggestions, you have about a day and a half to let me know about them.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well, good luck with your Ingo tank re-do. Is it a major or a minor redo. Anyway, I'm nowhere near enough of a scaper to make useful suggestions - but I hope you have fun.

Have fun with your new plants, they look very nice.

I'm at work, so this is a very quick visit. With only time for a quick glance, I didn't spot your baby platy - only what I thought might have been a snail or two. I will play "I Spy" later when not at work (and won't cheat by looking at any other's answer first)

Cheers
TW

The potted chain swords are definitely emersed grown. They'll do fine anyways.

The ludwigia peruensis aka peruvian ludwigia is usually the false name ludwigia glandulosa is sold under. That is what I've gathered from my searching around. Yours have 2 leaves per node though, and every picture of ludwigia glandulosa I've seen only has one leaf per node. Otherwise yours looks very similar to mine when I bought it, green on top red underneath, real thick stems. If it ends up changing forms from emersed to submersed and only has one leaf per node and turns bright red(top and bottom), you know what you have.

BTW I can't find the platy

Good luck with the makeover

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks for the input and Matty - thanks for the ludwigia glandulosa info.

Yeah, I think I should explain why I am willing to do another major overhaul again. During the last few months I mentioned quite a few time the fact that I am not too happy with the location of the wood and that relocating it would mean that it a) has to be removed first and b) that it has to be cut in managable pieces. Now that I have the 40G, which has its hardscape pretty much in place, I can see how rather easy it is to do small changes to enhance the scape. I would like to lay out this tank so that following changes are managable, but to get to that point a more permanent arrangement of hardscape has to happen first. And unfortunately this means that I have to pretty much remove most of the plants and excisting scape first anyway

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

That's the LF we know!

Hardscape on the left is needed, and go heavy on the hardscape throughout the tank if you can. Plants will grow in around it and you may not notice a bunch of it, but it's important that it's there to give some structure.

The tenellus looks less emersed than when I first got mine - many of the leaves are short and flat as they should be, but there are also some tall stringy ones with the seed pods, and that's a sign of emersed growth. It'll be a little messy in the first few weeks, but they'll shed quickly enough.

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Back in the saddle!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/photo-album/36681-75-gallon-gallery-56k-warning.html

This tank is pretty impressive. At lest it is to me. The thing I wanted to point out about it the amount of DW in it. Once the tank is planted most of the DW is gone.

My only sugestion would be to keep the plants low in the front and work your way up in the back. I think this makes the tank look much deeper than it is. Right now your NL fern is just too huge up front.

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

Thanks guys for the input

Wings - why do you have to show me this picture and make the stakes so high? . I cannot live up to this by a long shot.

The main concern is to move and cut the driftwood, although I don't have a clear vision on what to put where. Nevertheless, I feel more confident now than ever before as I think my 40G setup worked out pretty well (and don't you guys dare to tell me otherwise now ).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

To go along with what I previously said, LF, I would check out AF for driftwood options, they have probably the best stock I know of and it's not too pricey. Avoid blocky pieces, look for branchy pieces with long bits sticking out. You can also use smaller pieces together to look like one piece. I would suggest not skimping, as Wings has said.

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Back in the saddle!

Interesting

I was actually not planning to add new wood to the tank and have not even considered this option.

Instead, I plannned on cutting up my big piece and use the branches individually. This should eliminate that big trunk in the front.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

That will work as well, but just in case you pre-plan and find you may want more to work with, give AF atry, they've had some very nice pieces.

How will you make sure the branhces dont float?

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Back in the saddle!

If I get new wood from AF then the color etc will not match (see the critics that I got a while back for my 20 QT). So I would need all new pieces.

The existing wood is in there now at least 6 months, I hope it will stay down by itself. If not, some rocks will have to be either used as weights or I will squeeze some wood between 2 rocks.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

So....hmmmm.....where was the platy?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Forgot all about the platy fry

BTW, currently there are maybe around 8 fry in the tank. And here is the one that was the subject of "I Spy":

Attached Image:

See It?

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is a super zoom closeup of the fry, in case you thought I sell you a small leaf in its place:

Attached Image:

Closer

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I can't beleive you guys didn't see that thing! It is only bright white(or yellowish) and happened to be right in the middle!

LF,

Good luck with the redo today! Rock it out my Friend!/:'

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

The big tank is looking pretty good. Good luck with your fish day.

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

Thanks guys,

Just a very quick update:

I am almost done, but I have to take a family break before I can finish.

So far: belh

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well,

All done for today, took me only overall 8 hours,

Here are the steps:

First, the tank before the start, this morning:

Attached Image:

Tank Before Change

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Next, I removed all the plants and placed them in tubberware containers, one of which I even quipped with a heater. The water was from the tab, but I used prime.

Then the wood was removed.

Here is the tank right after the messy removal:

Attached Image:

All Nekkid

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The I performed a water change and vacuumed almost the entire substrate. Only one corner was left out as the water level was falling too low already.

Here is the tank after a refill:

Attached Image:

Water Changed

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Once I started working on removing the plants I could for the first time in quite a while account for all of my Otos. After the water change I tried to find them all but was one short. I checked the tank over and over again, but could not find it. I ran to the laundry room (where the sink is with the wood and the python) and sure enough, in the empty and barely wet sink was the missing Oto , still alive. It must have been in there at least an hour and a half as it must have traveled on the wood.

I scooped the Oto out with my hand and immediately returned it to the tank. He wiggled in my hand, then swam off and was still fine an hour later. Ever since the tank is replanted again I cannot see the Otos anyway.

Here is the escaper after release:

Attached Image:

Oto Runaway

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

After cleaning the back and one side panel I cut the driftwood into individual branches and scrubbed them all off. The it was time to place them into the tank (they sink by now) to outline the main group.

Here is the first, and almost last attempt:

Attached Image:

Branches Outline Main Group

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After extending the main group a little it was time to place the plants back into the tank. First, I added the ones that surround the main group.

In this stage you can see the main layout of the new tank very well. Once I was finished planting it wasn't all that clear anymore. But the point of this change was to allow me future updates without having to rip the tank apart again.

So keep that in mind, this is the basic setup now:

Attached Image:

Basic Setup

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Then it was time to add the remainder of the plants, without adding the ones back in that I don't like anymore I(don't fit into the layout).

As such, I am short on plants right now

Anyway, here is the tank after I finished, what do you think?

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

All Done

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Ingo,

The new layout looks very nice. It kind of feels like an island almost. Very neat effect. Plus you can really spot the fish!

Rick
See all my pictures at Google Web Albums

I found the platy...I found it!!

Ooo...I like it. Looks like it could be a tropical island there in the middle, especially if the wisteria were to grow around the main groupind to form the sea. Lots of different scapes could form around the central group though. Very diverse, very attractive, I like it.

EDIT: well I second rick I guess.

Oh, I can't tell from the pic but did you find a more suitable place for the nana petite?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Nice work LF! I really like the Anubias work! The nana petite (bottem left in front of the DW?)

Will get back with you more later! I have a marching band show/fish auction/Chicago marithon to watch this weekend....

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

Thanks guys for the input

Yeah, it looks like an island, and I am sure that some plants will change over time. Most important to me was to create a more "styles" overall layout and, based on your comments, I guess that worked out.

The Nana Petites are spread out throughout the main group border from left to the middle. I will take some detail shots of the tank today and I will make sure to include them.

The tank is really short on plants and I may have to add the wisteria from the 20G to fill it up a little.

Oh - interesting side note: I assume that the Espei have made a packt when the tank was empty. Somewhere in the line "if we survive this then we have to strenghten the group". As soon as the main group border was in with the Anubias they went at the reporroduction ritual like mad. The were hushing under the anubias leaves even while I was planting the wisteria right next to them .

The Apistos seem to have been the ones mostly stressed by the replant, the male was hiding for the rest of the day.

Ingo

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Wow, what a change. Looks very nice LF. I like your anubias & nana petites. It's right, it does have the feel of an island & now you can have separate groupings, on both sides.

Good job with the make-over

Cheers
TW

Hi Ingo,
The overhaul looks great!
I like this placement of the driftwood with some of it
a little further into the back of the tank. The placement
along with the use of the ground cover, adds depth to
the tank and enforces the "island" concept.
I'm curious to see what it will mature into.
With the Espei's - in many cases a large water change
will prompt the spawning urge.
It looks like you put in a solid days work. The thing that
never ceases to amaze me is how elaborate a root system
our plants develop over sometimes, a very short time.
When they do it in my flourite, I always have my Vortex,
diatom filter, primed and ready to run.

What did you do with the plants you were no longer
interested in?

Frank

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

Thanks Robyn and Frank, your input is very welcome

Here is a weekly tank update, although there should not be much of a secret on what I have to tell, but it is a tradition

Weekly Tank Update - Week 56

Well, it was time for another major tank overhaul, Ingo Style. I know I am risking all kinds of things with this, but I had to get some more favorable structure into the tank upon which I can build future updates.

I am currently a little short on plants and I hope that this is not coming back to haunt me (except on Halloween, ).

To stir things up a little, I will start with some details. Here is the left side of the tank, the one that got the really short end of the stick. I grouped here all my crypts, except my red wendtiis, on the left back and side. On the right side, bordering the island, is a group of taller Pearl Grass, in between the new tenellus and some wisteria from the 20G:

Attached Image:

Left Side

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Here is the right border of the island. It has some of the reddish lugwigia still hidden in the back, then some NL Java Fern on the wood, then some red Wendtiis in front of it, and some Anubias in front of them. To the right is Wisteria only, I hope tetratech will not call me a copy cat

Attached Image:

Right Side

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Here is a look into the island, without showing all of the borders. I know it is a little on the red side , but that is ok.

You may notice that I use the Star Grass as a border between the red Ludwigia / Alternanthera and the Anubias. I discarded most of the star grass, it is not worth the helluffa maintenance and dying of lower parts. I will try to keep it short, even if it means at least bi-weekly trimming:

Attached Image:

Main Part Of Island

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Here is a look at the front border of the island, containing the 5 nana petites. Can you find them?

The Anubias in general received a major trimming, all kinds of algae infested leaves were cut off, as were old and leaveless parts of rhizomes.

Attached Image:

Anubias Row Coast

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The most worrisome part of the replant (besides the "lost" Oto) was the Apisto pair. They both seemed really scared and hid behind the heaters and filter intakes

By now, almost all seemed fine again, although the female doesn't come out much. The reason may be some egg laying though, as she was defending the right side of the main group with the wood.

Here is the male again:

Attached Image:

Male Apisto Viejita II

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Last but not least, here is a full tank shot from this morning. Compared to the last full shot from Friday there are a few more plant on the left tank side, collected from the 20.

Please make sure to also check on my 20, 29, and 40 logs as all have new entries and in particular the 20 and the 29 have changes a little.

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Full Tank Shot - Today

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Well,

There seems to be something going on in the breeding department with the Apistos (while the male in the 40 is doing really bad and may die).

The female has found a spot in the wood on the right hand side of the island and is almost never coming out. If she does then only in the immediate are of the wood.

Just now, the group of Rainbows came pretty close, and here is the male's response:

Attached Image:

Go Away

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Then the female Pearl joined that group, but the male Apisto even challenged her, although she is for sure number two in the tank (after the male Pearl).

Here he shows her the way as well.

That's it, we will see.

Ingo

Attached Image:

And you better leave as well

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LF,

Very

I like the structure of the middle-right section. Defintetly the right direction. I can see the island thing, I can also see moving more in that direction if you see fit, using glosso or HC or something to make a "sea" around the left side.

Well done, and nice little story about the oto

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Back in the saddle!

Thanks NowherMan6,

I wish I could have the red plants on the island grow some more and the freeze the entire island and just keep on working on the surrounding "sea".

Unfortunately, that is only a dream as all will grow eventually out of shape and then it will be time for a redo . But I think I can handle the island for quite a while, with all kinds of options.

The one thing I am considering is to replace the Star Grass border with maybe didiplis diandra, which I believe is not as messy as the star grass and also grows on stronger stems. The star grass is blowing slightly sidewards.

About Glosso or HC, I may try first to surround the island with wisteria, in good old tetratech fashion . If the tenellus ever settles then I may use any runners to "refresh" the culture in the 29.

Ingo

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Well I'm sneaking this one out

I like the makeover much better as you said it's more "styled". I think it's more managable and something you could have fun fine-tuning as you go along. It's very tough to create a "bensaf-like" tank in a 125g without being "semi-retired"

About the didiplis diandra:
I had this plant way back when I purchased my aromatica and blyxa. It's the only plant that didn't make it. It's very fragile and light sensitive. It's also going to be a big pain when trimming. You know Blyxa might work in that spot and is not a fast grower.

About the Wisteria:
Go ahead knock yourself, but be prepared to see Jersey vs New York wisteria comparisons. Since I've seen about 5 FP tanks with creeping wisteria, maybe the Mods will give me a special contributor award.

Ingo Style Makeover in regards to Algae:
Most important if you haven't done so aready, reduce your lighting cylce to 7.5 to 8 hours tops and gradually increase as the tank matures and is stable. Same goes for ferts reduce to lower EI range and increase with mass.

I think by this weekend I'll be back to some tank updates and responses to Matty and other threads.

My Scapes

Most important if you haven't done so aready, reduce your lighting cylce to 7.5 to 8 hours tops and gradually increase as the tank matures and is stable. Same goes for ferts reduce to lower EI range and increase with mass.

Shouldn't that go without saying at this point?!?

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Back in the saddle!

Shouldn't that go without saying at this point?!?

We can only hope!



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

Well,

First of all, glad to have been able to get a response from tetratech, just for that the makeover was already worthwhile. If I only could get one from Bensaf as well, although he hasn't been on in a few days now

Thanks tetratech, I forgot about the issues with the diandra. I don't think the Blyxa would work as it seems to take forever until it even reaches any height (meaning, it is too short and would not even be seen. The plants I need there would have to be about 5 to 6 inches tall (above the substrate).

Next:

Shouldn't that go without saying at this point?!?

Actually, I did reduce the ferts a little, but not the light. I begin to have my doubts about my philosophy regarding light duration and intensity. I maintain my 10h and actually increased the "high light" about a week back to 3.5 hours.

Ingo

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I begin to have my doubts about my philosophy regarding light duration and intensity.

and your philospohy would be???

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

and your philospohy would be?

Well, I stated that I have doubts about my philospohy, which is in sink with you guys.

The "new" thoughts are not well formed (yet), but there is of course the notion that the plants actually do not get enough lights to perform at their best. 1.5wpg is not quite much for almost all day (except the one hour I used to beef up the lighting).

Ingo

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The new structure is looking good & it seems the change may have prompted your apistos to mate. That should be very interesting, although any fry would probably struggle to survive in the community tank with the plant mass lower. But then, I'm talking about my tanks - where my adults are all notorious fry eaters. You have had success with platy & espei - so fingers crossed for you.

Cheers
TW

Thanks Robyn,

Nah, there will be no fry, not even my Espei fry has a chance now, and they are going at it like mad all the time .

There are simply enough fish in the tank to extremely limit the chances of any fry not to be detected.

As a side note, and unrelated to the upcoming loss of an Apisto in the 40G, this tank is seeing its first Espei death rather sooner than later. Given the signs on the fish (fading coloration and less transparency in the fins, combined with holding a static position in the water column rather than swimming all over the place) makes me strongly believe it is a case of old age. It for sure, by its size, is one of my original batch purchased over a year ago, which then was already in mating age. Nothing to worry about, just the way of life.

Ingo

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Well,

Given that the Apisto in the 40G is gone and given that I placed an image of it in that log, I thought I owe you an image from the Espei mentioned in the last thread.

Here you see the "old" Espei, and I am rather certain that he/she is suffering from old age only (please tell me otherwise if you should identify an illness). I thought I owe this picture as it completes my Espei life cycle of images, from small fry over juveniles to adults and seniors.

As you can see, the body coloration is fading away, in particular in the front body section. Also, the fins are less clear and have mostly a whitish base color.

Ingo

Attached Image:

Old Espei

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Ingo: Good Job on your new tank overhaul i see how you have a lot more room for future development. I hope you're algae problem will be a lot less then in your previous layout. I cant wait to see how it will look in the next few months to come.

Cheers

Shawn

Thanks Shawn, I appreciate the comment

Just like you said, I am also happy that this layout will allow me to change things from now on a little more slowly rather than having to perform 10 hour makeover sessions every few months. And like you, I am very curious as to what it will become in the next few months.

Thanks again,

Ingo

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hey there lf -

great work on the tank - i can't believe how much work you do on your tank!! i love watching it progress from stage to stage. i just did a big clean out, thinning out all my swords, and propogating some tiger lotus pups - not a bad sunday arvo at all.

hope you are well,

justin

Thanks Justin

I appreciate your input and compliments, keep em coming

Anyway:

Weekly Tank Update - Week 57

The tank has been doig quite ok during this week, I was hoping not to see a major outbreak in algae (from the redo) and so far I have been lucky. The duck weed on top grew rather dense and needed some major thinning out as the two spray bars on each end concentrated the weed in the middle of the tank and that led to shading of the main group, not so good.

I have quite a few shots to show, so here is the first set, taken during the water change.

This is the diffuser at low tide, as you can see there is some algae on it. I have not cleaned it in months and the green part is the one where the diffuser never let out any bubbles (ever). My cleaning consists of dripping Excel on top of the plate (after drying it off with a tissue) when the water gets below the rim. That is all I do since months.

Attached Image:

Diffuser

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Here is a look at the main group from almost above, a little from the side. I cannot really get a straight down shot as I would have to make a hole in the ceeling of the room and take a shot from the first floor .

I am always surprised to see how bright blue the background of the tank actually is. It seems so much darker when there is water in the tank.

This reminds me, maybe I should play with the background for a few weeks.

Attached Image:

Low Tide Main Group

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Here is a look at most of the fish that are in the tank, almost all shots were taken during low tide. Usually, most fish are hiding in the plants during water change, but this weekend they were parading around.

Here are the Espei swimming along the island perimiter, supervised by the male Apisto:

Attached Image:

Espei School

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Here is the female Apisto, above the Wisteria. I assume her "fry" from last was either non-existent or had been eaten/abandoned/died.

Attached Image:

Female Apisto

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Just for completion of the Apisto pair, here is a shot of the male, taken a few hours after the water change. Besides showing him, I would like to point out the little bubbles in the water which are finely diffused CO2 bubbles. And that is on the other side of the tank from the diffuser.

Attached Image:

Male Apisto

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On to some other fish of the tank, here is a neon dwarf rainbow looking into the camera. I wonder if they wonder what it is that I am doing there. But I guess I give them too much credit

Anyway, it is very nice of him to give me this pose:

Attached Image:

Rainbow I

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And here are two of the rainbows, side by side. I would assume that the one with the larger hump is superior to the one in the back, right?

These fish (the rainbows) are the most active in the tank and are constantly busy chasing each other and showing off to each other.

Attached Image:

Rainbow II

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Here is my female Pearl Gourami. She holds the number two spot in the tank, at least when it comes to respect by the other fish. She is also less shy then her mate.

You can also see a few of the very healthy duck weed with roots on the left.

Attached Image:

Female Pearl

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And here is the king of the castle, the male Pearl. Nobody questions his authority and I am sure that his size alone gives him this respect. He is pretty much at least 3 times the lenght of most Espei. If the other fish would take a closer look when he behaves like a chicken (for example during water change) then they may change their mind and try to take dominance in their own hand .

Attached Image:

Male Pearl

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Enough about the fish in the tank, let's move on to the plants and the tank overall.

Here is a look at the Wisteria on the right after the water change. I was very tempted to thin it out already and use the clippings on the left side, but I rather wait one more week to have a fuller and healthier growth first.

Attached Image:

Wisteria Lawn

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And here is a look at the left side of the tank, the one that needs improvement/filling the most. I had no chance this week to go to the LFS and see if they have any Wisteria that I could plant there to fill in the empty gravel, maybe this week will be better.

Attached Image:

Left Side

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Many, Many More Pictures Are At The Bottom Of The Previous Page

As we all know, my tank is not known for pearling

But this weekend, after the water change, the tank pearled for hours. I know, I know, that is not something all that special, but even this has not happend in this tank for quite some time (many months).

Must be the Jersey water that has changed, .

Here is the Star Grass with its pearls:

Attached Image:

Pearling

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Here is a closer look at the tops of the Alternanthera Group. I had to trim away a few leaves that had a rim of BBA on them, still from the previous setup. In the past, most of these stems were spread out throughout the tank and actually did not receive the light (and respect) they need to shine:

Attached Image:

Alternanthera

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Right next to them (actually on the left),completing the center group of the island, are the Ludwigia peruensis's. So far, all stems still develop new leaves at the double per node.

Matty - If I understand the statement that you made about this plant a while back, then this should either change to single leaf per node or I actually have Ludwigia peruensis, which - by your statement - is not an aquatic plant.

Attached Image:

Ludwigia peruensis

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Ok,

The last 4 shots are of the full tank and/or the full island.

Here again is the tank from last week, shortly after the Little_Fish style makeover:

Attached Image:

Last Week

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