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The next two shots are all about the male Apisto showing him in two modes.

First off, this shot was taken right after he flashed to his girl, but she took off in the meantime. Take a look at his face:

Attached Image:

Male I

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And this shot was taken a short while later. As you can see, the bar under his eye is much more dominant than it was in the last shot. This is his "stay away from me" mode. Most Apisto people knew that, but hey, maybe someone not so firm on this fish may be peeking into this log as well.

Attached Image:

Male II

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Already here comes the last shot. It shows the Blyxa group on the left side of the tank. This plant is such a floater

The sole reason why there are a few plants that look taller than the others is because they become loose and float upwards, just to be hold back by either other plants or one or two tiny roots that still stick in the substrate.

Anyway, that's it,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Looks good Ingo. Everything's looking healthy. I'm still waiting for you to move the lotus

That's funny I recently uprooted all my wisteria, but only did one side and it took me a few hours only because I did it very slowly and keep removing water as things got stirred up. Only had to do this every 6 months or so, depending on how high you want the wisteria to grow. If you want it really low like a carpet you might have to do it more often, but mine sort of acts as the side of a mound so I can accomodate the height for longer periods of time.

Sounds like you have the same issue with the blyxa that I do. A small root system so the plant has a tendency to float up. I'm gonna try putting some root tabs right under the blyxa and see if it helps develop a bigger root system. I believe the ADA substrate works better in this regard, as I think nowher can atest to.

Nice apisto shots!

My Scapes

I'm still waiting for you to move the lotus

Well, I am holding back with this effort so I have you come into the thread more often and check if I finally have moved it

Yeah, the wisteria replant is time intensive. I had to redo mine because I used a lot of tops as plantlings for the 20 and the 29 over time. The new growth looked funny with the strong main stems and then the thin new tops coming out of it.

Root tabs sounds good, just this morning I was considering to order a few for some of my plants, Blyxa being the main one. Any particular brand in mind there, tetratech? I am thinking Seachem Flourish Tabs.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well, I am holding back with this effort so I have you come into the thread more often and check if I finally have moved it

Boy this is like old times. Unfortunately nowher is nowhere, matty is probably around somewhere and bensaf, well you know that bensaf. Anyway as far as the tabs, yes I'm using the flourish ones, I just put them in so well see, I think nowher also thought those were the ones to get.

Switching gears, I just saw the pics from your meeting. That's very impressive with the dosing computer, etc. Looks nice. I was looking at the setup that was a tek T5HO light right? That substrate separater was that also from ADA. I'm not sure how there going to keep the two substrates separate. Definitely no bottom dwellers and especially no kuli loaches. The loaches go through all the rock crevices and tend to mix the substrates, but even without them I would thing the substrates will still mix with too much current or water change situations.

My Scapes

Yeah tetratech,

Just like the old days, kind of at least

Anyway, yes - this guy's tank is truely high tech, from automatic water changer (10% daily) over automatic fertilizer addition to ADA stuff (including the tank itself), he has it all. Very very impressive!

So far, his tank looks really good, it is planted now (not final of course) and we will soon see how the separation of sand/soil will hold up. You may not have noticed it, but there is a line of rocks on the border between the substrate types.

Hey - did you see the last shot at the event review? I assume you have figured out who's hand that is there in the tank

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

You know I didn't notice the last shot with the hand. Tough to miss the orange sweater from the shot before and make the connection. Yeah I saw the rocks, but it doesn't take much to mix it. There are always little crevices, etc. So 'bout the lights are the Tek T5HO?

My Scapes

From his log:

Teklight T5 4x54W

Whatever that means

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I'm always somewhere tetratech. Things are just getting busy as I'm finally wrapping up my college years.

Teklights are very nice fixtures, though I would say that they might in fact be too much for most planted tanks, as they are more than plenty for most reef tanks. Since I switched out my icecap ballast, I now have a kind of DIY tek fixture on my reef tank as I'm using the same ballasts. I like

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Glad you still around. Congrats on the college thing. One chapter closes and another begins.

From what I'm hearing planted enthusiasts are using the tek T5HO lights because they have the power to be suspended above the tank and still penerate the WC very well. Any thoughts on that?



My Scapes

They look pretty darn sweet too!!!

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

IMO they will penetrate a little better than most other tube style lights because of the better reflectors. More light simply enters into the tank. It's the trade off of a consistent spread of light(uniformity), that penetration suffers. If penetrance(I'm making up words here, bear with me) is desired, a focused single source type of light should be used instead....like a metal halide. Pendant styles are very common here for a good reason.

OTOH you can suspend any light fixture you want with a drill and some wire, and if bright enough it will penetrate just fine. So I think the fact of the matter is just that they are bright enough and compact/light enough to raise off the tank a bit. Still, my choice for an open top aquarium would probably be a halide for convenience and expense. If quality of light is a concern, T5HO are a little better IMO than halides.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

OTOH you can suspend any light fixture you want with a drill and some wire, and if bright enough it will penetrate just fine. So I think the fact of the matter is just that they are bright enough and compact/light enough to raise off the tank a bit. Still, my choice for an open top aquarium would probably be a halide for convenience and expense. If quality of light is a concern, T5HO are a little better IMO than halides.

As you probably know I'm not exactly Mr. DIY. So if I want a suspending light over a 60cm what would you recommend that's reasonable. I see the T5HO 24" Sunlight is like $250 plus the hanging equip. I could probably get a better deal on a single 150 MH. Two feet would probably be mix width for one MH bulb, correct. My apologized to LF, but I think he's cool with this.

My Scapes

Yes and no on the 2ft per halide bulb. First, the rule was created for much higher light requiring organisms...corals. I think that it could be stretched to 3-4ft with a very interesting lighting effect and a thought out selection and placement of plants. It also depends how high off the surface you have the pendant. Think of a flashlight here. Obviously it won't be as bright as high up, and there will be more light spray outside the aquarium(this may be a good thing for emersed growth?), but more of your aquarium will be lit, and light levels can be adjusted with a higher wattage system (a 450w bulb could be several feet off the aquarium and light the aquarium and houseplants around it). Also the shape of the pendant will have an effect - round vs. square/rectangle.

I agree that you could probably find a better deal on a halide setup if you keep your eyes open. Also used halide setups are more abundant, as they are older technology. Lightly used halide setups can be found pretty cheaply on the reef forums....that would be the route I'd go as I'm a poor college kid.

I'd say it would all depend on what affect you wanted as to what system you should get.

And sorry to Ingo for thread hijacking.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Hey,

No being sorry needed for this discussion, I am thinking about lights in general as well.

My concern is more with my 40G than this one though, but we can talk about it here as the pre-cursor is already in place.

The problem I see with MH or PC lights is its limited angled spread. Doesn't make sense I guess, so I try to explain:

As you know, I have a single 96W PC fixture over my 40G. Logically, it is in the middle of the tank. Giving the tree tops of the Bolbitis and NL Java Fern groups, many plants on the sides that are lower are beginning to be severely shaded. If I had a light that has less wattage by bulb and had more bulbs to make up the difference then I could have light shining in even on the plants at the sides. That's where I find the T5s come in handy.

The Tek Light is 11" wide, with a tank width of 18". If I primarily would have the outer lights on and turn on the center ones at "Midday" then I should get a better spread.

Or shouldn't I?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Though you won't believe me until you see it for yourself, T5HO bulbs may be less wattage, but put out more light. LF, a 4X39w setup would be more light output than a 2X96w PC fixture, probably more like a 3-4X96w PC fixture.

It won't be like your analogy of less wattage more spread. You'll get more spread, but you'll be at least tripling your light output at the midday 4 bulb peak. People who haven't used the T5s are still underestimating them, I know I did. This is just so you don't jump in unprepared, I know you could handle the extra light cause you have the CO2 and plant mass, not to mention the experience.

If you want less wattage bulbs with more spread I think you'd be limited to NO fluorescent bulbs, say 4 30w bulbs, or you could just tack on another NO fixture to what you have now.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Interesting info. Not all T5 are created equal, right. Your talking specifically T5HO right. Also the T5HO lights like TEK that have 4 bulbs across are wider than the 2x96 CF lights and thus look better when hung, right?

My Scapes

Hi,
I guess the problems I have with the metal halide lighting
are these:
The tank must be open, so you run the risk of dried fish
on the floor.
The pendant lights, at the normal height above a tank give
about a 2 foot "footprint" of light. This means that a long
tank would require more than one pendant.
They are heavy and must be secured into joists/studs,
and frequently the support is not located over the tank.
That requires an additional cross member that could disrupt
the "flow" of the ceiling and room.
metal halide lights give off a large amount of heat and
cumulatively, can affect the room temperature.

Use caution when purchasing the lamp and bulb. Most of the
time metal halide lamps are used for saltwater reef tanks
and come with very high "K" rating bulbs 20,000+.

Here is a site on aquarium lighting specifically the metal
halide bulbs, but along the left hand side are links to
the other lighting systems and their characteristics.

http://www.aquarium-lighting-guide.com/metal-halide-ansi

Frank


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

Tetratech, the important thing to get with your T5HO are the individual parabolic reflectors. Use a single reflector over the group of bulbs and your lights are now no better than any other HO bulb. They would be equivalent to PC or VHOs without the individual parabolic reflectors. I know tek lights have these, and the housing is VERY sleek. A definite bonus. I think they would look good hung...I think they would look good, period . And yes I think the light spread is wider, but also better deflected downwards due to the better reflectors, so I think moving them off the surface would look better as far as light spread goes too.

Also there are the icecap systems. The icecap ballast pushes the bulbs even harder than those found in other systems. I think it's referred to as ODHO. In conjunction with the icecap individual parabolic reflectors, these systems are brighter than the sun . I fried my corals with it. I'd only recommend these for deep tanks with very high light requiring organisms, and fish with sunglasses.

So all T5HO systems are not created equal. I think the Current fixture has a single reflector and normal HO ballasts. The Tek lights have individual parabolic reflectors and normal HO ballasts, and the icecaps have individual parabolic reflectors and ODHO ballasts.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Glad we have that discussion as it most certainly put some doubts on me having a Tek Light over the 40G

The double unit of 96W from Coralife may not work for me, except if I could hang that one as well (I am not sure if I would have to do some DIY contraption for that, yuk).

I will investigate, but feel free to advise.

On a side note, I skimmed through my log yesterday in search of a shot from my Macandra and noted that somewhere in the middle pages (between 50 and 70, I think) all my images are missing. Given that I embedded them in the posts and that they are hosted by FP I am not a happy camper.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Frank,
Thanks for the info and link. That should be really helpful. It is a pain and your right about the the hanging issues. As far as the fish jumping out, you know us planted tank folk, we always put the plants ahead of the fish. I actually had tetras, cichlids and kuli loaches and shrimp in an open-top and never lost one to jumping in about a year, but certainly some fish will jump so you need to keep away from those.

Matty,
I'm definitely going for looks so as I said I think the Tek lights look good suspended vs the coralife's which as you pointed out can be suspended by simply cutting a hole in the top and using wire. I will never buy another Current USA product. I had one hood the ballast went just outside of a year and the company had really poor service. The 192watt reflector also had 4 plugs (2 for the bulbs and 2 for separate fans (that BTW were noisy from the getgo) If Teks are the BMWs and Coralifes are the Toyotas than Current USA are the Chevys (no offense Chevy owners)

LF,
Why wouldn't those lights (tek and coralife work for your 40g). Sorry must have missed something. I hope your pictures aren't lost.


My Scapes

I'm pretty sure that coralife has a hanging kit. All their fixtures should attach to it.

About the pics...I'd post something up in the site feedback forum, Adam might be able to recover those. Bummer though. That's why I use photobucket AND backup everything on my hard drive, I now have like 3-4gigs of pictures. I think that happened to me on a site upgrade one time.


EDIT:didn't see your post tetratech, I think LF didn't want something a lot brighter, like the tek lights will be. I said I thought he'd be able to handle it though, he's got the equipment. I wish they made 3 bulb units, each independant, but that would require 3 ballasts and be extra pricey. Just having a three bulb fixture at all would be nice I think.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I checked into the coralife hanging situation. They do sell a hanging kit, unforunately it only works with the pro and plus lights not the regular or deluxe ones.



My Scapes

Oh, I see how it is. *shakes fish at coralife* Well I guess that leaves my drill and wire method.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Oh, I see how it is. *shakes fish at coralife* Well I guess that leaves my drill and wire method

As far as the Tek lights for LF, he could run 2 or 4 bulbs with the timers, so I think he'd be already if he wanted that look. He could always play around with the wattage.

Matty, do you know if you can stick a coralife fixture inside one of these or would you have to order the kit from AH supply. I'm thinking you could put the light in one of these and hang the canopy over the tank.

http://www.ahsupply.com/finished_enclosures.htm

My Scapes

Most likely the coralife unit won't fit under there. They do give the exact dimensions though, so you could measure. But I know usually the coralife unit slips over the edge of the aquarium to prevent it sliding off one way or the other. And I think those sit on the tank edge.

The ones that all glass sell are held up by little studs in the corner and have a small gap between the tank and the hood. The coralife units fit uner those pretty well. Although the back is open, so it wouldn't work for LF's two-view tank. Might work out for you though. They are pretty similarly priced I think.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Weekly Tank Update - Week 75

Not much has changed during the week with the tank, I am continuing the trimming process of the Wisteria and this week removed and replanted the section in front of the island.

Here is a shot of the tank in Week 60, 15 weeks ago, the first week with the Wisteria in place all around.

Attached Image:

Week 60

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is the tank now this weekend, 15 weeks later, after the trimming.

As you can see, the Barteri and the NL Java Fern have grown like mad. The Barteri in particular is reaching a point where I don't know how much longer I can maintain it as such. I may have to cut it up and replant only half of it.

Attached Image:

Now - Week 75

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Otherwise, I have only one more picture to show. Around this time of the year there is a brief time period in the mornings when, given that the sun is shining, some light falls through the window (after bouncing off the neighbor's window) and into the tank. I think it looks pretty nice. It all lasts for maybe 10 min.

That's it,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Morning Mood

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

You're right, that morning shoot is pretty cool looking.

Your layout is at one and the same time, both lush, healthy & full looking as well as making the tank look large and open. Your fish enjoy the best of both worlds - plants to swim around in as well as lots of open space for swimming around.

You have Lucky Fish, LF

Cheers
TW

Thanks Robyn for the compliments

Yeah, overall no doubt on this being my best layout in this tank's history, and the most stable on top of it.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Interesting to note that those stems are headed straight for that beam of sunlight. I've been learning about the proteins that cause plants to grow towards the light. Pretty interesting stuff. However, with how short the phenomena is, I doubt that's the cause of the plants growing that direction.


It's great to have that problem with slow growers like barteri and j fern. I'd personally just hack out a few leaves on the barteri every week or two to maintain its size, as right now it's rather pleasing.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I'd personally just hack out a few leaves on the barteri every week or two to maintain its size

Hm, I will have to think about this as an option. See, the mother plant has quite a few rhizomes growing all over the place, including one half way up in the water column. This means that leaves from that rhizome will always come up very high in the tank, not so pretty when the leaves from the lower rhizomes would be trimmed off.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yeah, you may have to cut back adventurous rhizomes too then. But hopefully you won't have to rip the sucker out.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Just wanted to say the tank looks great, Ingo. I don't post comments in this area often as my knowledge is limited in the planted realm, but I pretty much read all of the posts when they are made.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Thanks Jim,

Feel free to post any comment you have, and don't be shy about it. If you have a question about the tank then feel free to state it as well. And who says that my knowledge is not limited?

Ingo

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Weekly Tank Update - Week 76

Well, doesn't look like I did a lot this weekend, but I did quite a bit.

During the week, half the Blyxa floated up. So I removed any Wisteria that used to be planted behind the Blyxa and stuffed all pieces of Blyxa in this extended area.

Overall, the tank is not doing too well. Neglect in ferting is probably the reason why the Star Grass is not growing that well, although it looks nice in the picture. And the Barteri is getting bigger and bigger, that cannot go well much longer. Let me tell you folks, if you have a barteri like this one you better have a 200G tank if you want to keep it for a few years

That's it,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Tank Today

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Let me tell you folks, if you have a barteri like this one you better have a 200G tank if you want to keep it for a few years

I think a lot of plants can get that way if you give them what they want and need!

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

Weekly Tank Update - Week 77

Not done anything to the tank during the week except for the 2 x dosing routine. I think the Star Grass does not like the reduction.

But I noticed yesterday that the tank looked a little more yellowish that I believe to remember how it looked in the past. This was during high-light time, so I thought that maybe the 5,000K bulbs are at the end of their usefulness. So, this morning I replaced them with 10,000K bulbs that I had since I set up the tank and never used.

What a difference in color of the tank. Soooooo much more blue compared to the green before.

Here it is at full light, with all the 6,700 and 10,000 turned on, compare it to the picture above from last week.

Attached Image:

Week 77

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Here is the male Pearl during the water change, a phase in which I only have the midday lights on, meaning the 10,000K as of today:

Attached Image:

Pearl

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is a shot of the center of the tank, with the Apistos firting and the Espei looking on.

With regards to plants in the shot, the Star Grass is not doing to well, the Pennywort is doing too well, and the Barteri is still a giant,

Attached Image:

Tank Scene

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Last shot for this series, the Pearls and some of the Rainbows during the water change.

I wonder what they are looking at, or what they are thinking (if anything) while looking at me with that camera, LOL.

That's it,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Rainbow Pearls

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The color looks a lot more realistic IMO with that 10,000K on there. That's the mix I have on my tank, one 6700 and one 10000. I really like that combination, though I am used to the actinic/10000K that I use on the SW tank. That tank looks white to me, and the planted tank looks a little yellow, but I s'pose that's the way it's supposed to be, right?

Nice clear pics BTW. love the shot of the apistos and espei.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Actually,

Let me add this zoom of the female Pearl from the last shot, it is rare that I get them in such a nice angle. I think she is looking right at me

Ingo

Attached Image:

Female Pearl

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Ah Matty,

Only now do I see your input, thank you very much. Yeah, I must have gotten lucky on these shots, or maybe the light made a difference as well. BTW, none of the shots were taken with the zoom lense.

Thanks,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Looks good Ingo. Looking at the pic, how 'bout bringing the Blyxa more to the midground, breaking up the fern on the right and putting it where the Blyxa was. Add some wood into the giant Anubias area for constrast. It looks very good as is, just throwing some ideas out there from where I'm sitting. The pic of the tank scene is really nice.

My Scapes

I wonder what they are looking at, or what they are thinking (if anything) while looking at me with that camera, LOL.

"Food?... Food?!?... Food!!!!"

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Back in the saddle!

I think she honestly likes me , it is not all about food

Tetratech - I think I have to part at least with some of the Barteri as it has reached its maximum size tolerable for this tank layout. I could certainly convert the tank in an Anubias only tank, but that is not my intention.

Once cut up I think I can see better what and how I can make the island more appealing.

Thanks,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Update - Week 78

This weeks update is earlier than usual as I took yesterday off from work so I have enough time to work on the Barteri.

And so I did , for better or worse. I needed the wife to help me with getting the huge plant out, then I trimmed off all bad leaves and cut the sucker up into about 10 pieces.

Here is the tank last night:

Attached Image:

Tank After Trim

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I also trimmed the Star Grass and some of the Alternanthera. In addition, I added some small stems of Hygro back into the tank, they may or may not stay, I don't know yet.

Here is a look at the new Barteri group (as now they are more than one plant I assume it is a group):

Attached Image:

Barteri

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And - because I was done earlier than I expected I decided to stop by the LFS and see if they have something of interest.

This is what I found:

Attached Image:

Cories

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I don't know in which tank I will eventually place them, for now they are of course in the QT.

Maybe I keep them in there for a while (like a few months) or as long as I don't get any other fish for QT.

Attached Image:

Cory I

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These cories have been labeled Corydoras julii - does anyone believe they are of a different species? I know quite a few cories look rather similar, so speak up.

Attached Image:

Cory II

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I saw them in the LFS in a tank further up. Out of the 10 or so that were in there 3 were active and the rest was hanging out in a corner.

I think the sales lady and I managed to get the active ones, but because 3 is not enough I asked for one of the lazy bums as well.

Attached Image:

Cory III

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So - since adding them late yesterday afternoon I mostly see 3 of them perusing the tank, usually as a team (that's what I was going for). But the 4th one is mostly hanging out and only once joined in.

Attached Image:

Cory IV

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

For most fish I would take this as not so good of a sign, but I will give it a few days to see if he/she perks up.

BTW, I am not referring to any specific fish in any of these pictures, they all still look alike to me, with one exception as one of them has a slightly different dorsal fin marking (can be seen in the pic above where they are in the bag).

Attached Image:

Cory V

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Last but not least,

The only shot so far that I got with more than one of them in the pic and at least half way in focus

I guess the macro lens will not do it for such kind of shots.

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Cory VI

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi Ingo,
I think I'd be concerned about the "lazy bum" one. They
should be swimming, as a group, all over that new tank
investigating and looking for food. If the one is just
hanging out, I would suspect some illness.

Frank


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

I think you are right Frank, and I am concerned.

I will give him one more day to "catch up" with the other ones. This morning he is still not swimming, actually he is breathing harder than yesterday.

I am not into treatment, so I may have to take action sooner than I thought.

I should have listened to my instincts in only getting the swimmers, but then I was worried that the FPlers will jump down my throat because I was not getting enough of them.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I was worried that the FPlers will jump down my throat because I was not getting enough of them.

Instead it will be because apparently julii cories don't exist from what I've read, not in the states anyways. I THINK they(the cory people) always say that what you are buying is the trilineatus or something like that. I'm not much of a cory guy though. Do a search on julii cories in the bottom feeders forum and you'll see what I mean.

I like the hacked down version of the anubias barterii. Looks great with the wood poking through again.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Ah, here's a link for ya with a little back and forth on the subject. I'm not sure why it's necessary to argue the point. The two species are so nearly identical that dissection would probably be needed to tell two apart. Honestly, those that say they aren't can't be sure they aren't either. It's like a lot of the saltwater coral arguments.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

They definately look more like C. Trilineatus to me. I have a group of five of them. I like them alot and they are freindly to my panda shoal. They are alot hardier than my pandas also. I think you will enjoy them.

Thanks Matty for the comments on the tank and the info on the Julii. Yeah, I don't care either what Cory mine are, as long as they look nice and don't cost me a fortune.

About 5 min ago I removed the lazy one, he didn't make it. He must have died within the last 2 hours or so as that was the last time I checked on them. He seemed to display some reddish streaks internally on the left side, mid-body, only.

So, down to 3 now, but they are party boys

Ingo

EDIT: Thanks PP as well, must have added your entry while I was typing

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Sorry about the loss, Ingo. I've come to trust my gut whenever selecting a fish for myself or a customer. My mind will notice something I can't point out about the behavior or look of a fish at the store and 9 times out of 10 I'll be pulling it out later in the day. Most of the customers I frequently wait on have come to trust my gut too .

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks Matty,

Yeah - should have trusted my guts as well I guess. I am kind of glad that I trusted them (the guts) when I did NOT buy the male Cac Double Orange that they had in a tank as well. He was at least twice the size of mine (the addict, that is) and would have made an end to the bubble eater in no time.

So, back to the cories, now I am worried whenever I see one just sitting on the substrate as I assume he/she is the next to go. This happened last night, but after feeding I saw all 3 digging for food, good.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I know what you guys mean about the "gut" thing. After a while you just know. I've had mixed success with Corys even though some say they are the easiest to keep. For a while I couldn't keep any alive, but I blamed that on the corrupted eco with all of this word po4 levels. I'm sure for corys that was a nightmare. I did have one live at least 18 months, but even that's not that long. Interesting during the last water change I found 6 otos and 6 amanos. The otos have been in there a really long time.

Just goes to show you everyone's tanks are different for fish and plants.

My Scapes

I actually was scared of getting Cories a while back as I heard that they should always be added to a settled tank (as they don't show signs of illness that quickly).

Well, this morning the three remaining ones are doing fine, at least that's what it looks like.

I will add a few entries to the 20G QT log with new pictures of the tank.

Ingo

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The tank looks good after the trim. Much nicer (not that it the "before" wasn't nice). You've good a good shape going there at the moment.

I like the corys. I have sterbais, but whatever yours are, they are much prettier.

I've had pretty good luck with my sterbais & I hope you do too. I have quite a bunch in mine, but despite what I was told, they don't all hang out together, even though they are all the same breed. They hang out in sub groups & sometimes singularly. As they all look alike, I can't tell if the sub group combination is a constant or if they chop & change.

Sorry for the loss of one poor guy

Cheers
TW

Thanks Robyn for the compliments on the tank and the fishies. I don't think that sterbais look worse than juliis (false ones, ), they have a very similar appearance.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nice corys LF They'll be a good addition to your tank.

I've had similar experiences with seeing inactive fish in LFS tanks. But I do applaud you for trying to keep them in a big enough school. Keep an eye out for them whenever you go to the LFS, maybe you can eventually build the school up to 8-10 healthy individuals. Then they'd be in full frat house mode

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Back in the saddle!

Thanks NowherMan6,

Yeah, if the 3 that I have pull through just fine then I may add a few more, time will tell.

Strange thing is, I checked the one of my catalogs (the Dr's) this weekend and saw this fish offered for $8. Given that my LFS (AF) is usually way overpriced, I have to consider that they sold me a "bad" batch, as they charged me only $5 a fish.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Strange thing is, I checked the one of my catalogs (the Dr's) this weekend and saw this fish offered for $8. Given that my LFS (AF) is usually way overpriced, I have to consider that they sold me a "bad" batch, as they charged me only $5 a fish.

Not always the case. Sometimes the deals get passed on. I know thats how its works with my store at times.

Very nice fish by the way. I used to keep corries but its beena while. I never had problems with them. Cute fish. I think I like Loaches better though.

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/sidn1.jpg

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

Nah Wings,

Nothing is cheap in that LFS without a reason, and passing on rebates is not a known entity there.

That loach in your link is nice, a Chain Loach? Do you have them (as I assume one would buy a school)?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Looks like a monkey loach to me. Small, active, and expensive loaches. And yes, I'd get at least a few of them.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I do not have them. We have them at my store but I can't really buy anything right now. I graduate in a month and may or may not be moving to who knows where. Someday I would like to have a nice group of them though.

The ones at the store are called Monkey botia's but I think they go by many different common names. Right now I think they are going for about 8 bucks.

Loaches do, do best in groups. Quite social creatures.



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

Weekly Tank Update - Week 79

Not much to report about this tank, all thoughts are with the 20QT which seems to have caught an illness, 2 fish dead this week and 2 more suffering (see log).

About this tank here: I cleaned the 2028 filter this weekend, haven't done this in quite a while (at least 2 to 3 months ago was the last time).

Otherwise, I found the 5th Nana Petite (buried under some Pearl Grass) and put it in the 20QT (before I started to panik about the tank).

Here is the tank this weekend,

That's it,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 79

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Weekly Tank Update - Week 80

Just like in the log for the 40G, here is a quick summary of the tank development over time, in this case in 20 week intervals from the start.

Here is the tank after setup:

Attached Image:

Week 0

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20 weeks later, there was quite some growth, wood had been added, rocks had been moved, plants had been moved, algae had come and gone and come again, in short - one may call this the Dark Ages of this tank

Attached Image:

Week 20

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By week 40, the Dark Ages became very dark, the tank was in its least organized stage. Things were going ok, but nothing great was happening. I believe that at least 3 Ingo-Style makeovers had happend at that stage already.

Attached Image:

Week 40

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By week 60, the tank had reached its current layout, I can't believe it was that long ago that I had the last make-over. I would like you to look at the Narrow Leaf Java Fern and then compare it with the next shot after this one.

Attached Image:

Week 60

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Now here is a shot from this weekend, week 80.

As you can see, the few strands of Fern have turned into a solid bush, even after I trimmed quite a few pieces off to propagate in the 40 and 29 (and trade at the NJAGC).

The Barteri also had to be trimmed (last week) and cut into various pieces, only now do I notice that the group is actually wider than it was before. Also, I notice that the tall Alternanthera stems could use a trim.

Attached Image:

Tank Now

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Here are a few detail shots of the tank, not too many, I promise:

Beginning with the Blyxa - This plant is a blessing and a monster at the same time. It looks very nice as a group, if it stays down. My gravel substrate is not very good for holding the plants down, and every week I have to stick about 10 to 15 of them back into the ground. There is almost never a day when I don't have to do this.

Attached Image:

Blyxa

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Here is a look at the center of the center. The Star Grass is not doing too great, although this doesn't show itself too well in the pictures.

You may note the re-occurance of Hygro, I saved some from the 20G when I redid that tank and planted it back into this one (where it originally came from). I know I cannot really maintain this plant in here as it is too close in shape (and color) to the Fern.

Attached Image:

Center

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The fern in itself has become the main hang-out place for the Espei, or the area around it to be more percise. At nighttime I see some Rainbows and a Pearl "sleeping" amongst the leaves, seems like the fish appreciate its protecive nature.

It is due for a trim though.

Attached Image:

Fern

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PLEASE LOOK AT THE PREVIOUS PAGE FOR FULL TANK SHOTS OVER THE LAST 80 WEEKS AND MORE DETAIL SHOTS

Here is a look at my diffuser, based on a comment I made in tetratech's log. As I noted there, last week I gave it the first bleach bath in quite a few months. I haven't had the plate this shiny in a looooooong time.


Attached Image:

Diffuser

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The last shot for now shows you the most colorful of the fish in the tank, the male Apisto. He is swimming on the left side of the tank where I have the most intense bubble collection from the diffuser. All bubbles in this shot are CO2 as it has been taken before the water change and I only see O bubbles right after the water change (with the exception of the NL Fern that bubbles in the evening).

That's it for now,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Apisto in CO2

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The tank looks very good. Are you planning any changes soon?

Beginning with the Blyxa - This plant is a blessing and a monster at the same time. It looks very nice as a group, if it stays down

Very jealous of your Blyxa even if it does float up. This is one of those plants that simply doesn't grow in my tank. I think it actually looked better under my previous lighting system 2x96 instead of 4 x 65.

Stargrass - Didn't you say you were dosing less these days, I think that will show in stargrass very quickly.

Diffusor - I'm gonna start trying your excel idea I always forget at water change. Are you lighting the end of tubing to secure it to the diffusor? What's with the rubberband?

Is there any algae issues at all these days.



My Scapes

I was going to ask about the algae too, but I assume we'd hear about it, so I would guess things are going well.

Nice little recap LF. It's always interesting to go back and look at how you got here. That fern definitely does need trimming. I guess I would say I liked the compactness more around week 60 than 80. This week just didn't look much like and island anymore. I dunno where you are going with it though.

I was looking back to the beginning of my 50G. Oh, you guys were so very against the fishless cycle, especially bensaf. It worked out really well IMO. I never saw any real amounts of algae.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Didn't you say you were dosing less these days, I think that will show in stargrass very quickly

I have thought about that, as around the time when I reduced to two doses per week the decline started. But I think I can handle the tank without it, if need be.

Are you lighting the end of tubing to secure it to the diffusor? What's with the rubberband?

That is only to hold the hose in place, and the rubberband is to attach the not-so-well fitting Air Tube suction cup to the diffuser, it previously always fell off.

Is there any algae issues at all these days

None in particular, there is a little hair stuff on the wood and old anubias leaves, once in a while a little BBA (spot treatment once kills it right off), and some green spot on the glass.

It worked out really well IMO

- Good for you. Oh wait, is that the tank where loads of the fish died?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yeah, loads of fish died...during a prolonged interval starting more than a month after I put them in the tank. I'd think they would have died sooner if they had a problem with the cycle.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

i know this is a thread for people unlike me but i have to say i wish my plant was as nice as all of yours! ive been having trouble starting with my plants any ways goood job with the aquarium!!!!!

33 gallon 7 neon tetras-5 platys-3 bleeding heart tetras-2 corys-1 rainbow shark-2 L83 gibby plecos

i know this is a thread for people unlike me

No platy boy, this is a thread for everybody. If you read through the massive amount of info in the last 130 pages you will see quite a few sections where this tank and its plants didn't do all that well (based on my impact, while learning).

Anyway - All,

Sorry for not posting in a while, I had replaced the viewing of my tanks with a more Amano like landscape as can be seen below. Tank updates will follow sometime later

Ingo

Attached Image:

Iwagumawuma

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Weekly Tank Update - Week 82

There was no update last weekend as I went on vacation (see above). Just like with the 40G, I did not do a water change this weekend either as I will do one later in the week to prepare for the next Club meeting at my place the coming Saturday.

Seems like all fish are well, but when I came home there were maybe 20 Blyxa stems floating around the tank. They sure stick lousy in gravel

Here is the tank this weekend (after putting all the Blyxa back in),

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 82

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I came home from work today ad half mine had come up. I dunno what's up with that. They just don't seem to root at all. Mine are turning a bit red, so they may be worth it in the end.

The tank is looking very healthy, very nice.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

i would just like to say your tank looks awesome and tommorrow on my day off im gonna have a look throughthe whole thread from start to finish to see how it all came about!

fandan,

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. I noticed that for whatever reason there seem to be some images missing around page 50 or so, but the text is all there (with some minor issues in the beginning as it was written in our old site and certain characters did not carry over into the new one).

Take you time with reading all of this, and enjoy the lighter notes of the Plant Crazies ().


Matty,

As I mentioned in the 40G log, the red also seem to mean less vertical growth. I am not so sure if I like it that much, it almost looks stunted

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I have only had my blyxa for a couple of weeks now. I reallyl havenet had any floating issues.

Do you happen to have any close ups of how this spreads? Does it just get bushy?

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

Hope your holiday was fun

I've been lucky too, with non floating blyxa. LF, this tank doesn't have Eco Complete, does it? Do you have the same issue in 40G breeder, which I think does have the Eco?

Cheers
TW

No Wings, I don't have a close-up right now. My Blyxa spreads by growing multiple stems (branches) on one base stem. These stems have no roots, of course, and when one of the bigger ones comes out then replanting it often means that the branch breaks off. So - on I go and replant the two sections seperately, which causes the float (mostly).

Robyn, to my regret, this tank has plain gravel (with Laterite in bottom part) and not EC. But that is more for looks than the Blyxa. It does not do too well in my 40G either anymore and I believe this started with my light changes there. Some is floating up while others don't grow as fast as they used to. What can I say, Blyxa does not seem to be my fortune, or I have to use the weights on each stem in the future (and I have about 20 to 30 stems in this tank).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the blyxa info LF. Right after saying that I haven't had any float ups... I saw one in my tank this morning. It can stay there until I do my water change....

So far it hasn't been too bad for me. I got most of the blyxa with a good set of roots. It think that helps matters.

BTW!
I have new pictures!!!!

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

Weekly Tank Update - Week 83

Not too much to report about this tank, the blyxa keeps on floating up and all attempts to settle it conclude in smaller and smaller stems.

I told the gang at yesterday's NJAGC meeting that I begin to be bored with the tank layout, I think nothing much has changed in about 6 months now, like 27 weeks straight with the same concept. Maybe it is time for a change soon.

Here is the tank,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 83

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I told the gang at yesterday's NJAGC meeting that I begin to be bored with the tank layout, I think nothing much has changed in about 6 months now, like 27 weeks straight with the same concept. Maybe it is time for a change soon.

I was wondering when the next LF tank makeover challenge would take place. I really like the current layout, but as always, I can't wait for the new one!

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Maybe it is time for a change soon.

How about adding some rock work and a different forground plant?

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

How about adding some rock work and a different forground plant?

That would not be a makeover that is worthy the "Ingo-Style" classification

It will be a while until I have a solid vision on what to do, so far I only have a concept for maybe a 3rd of the tank.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Actually...
I vote for another tank, and leave these the way they are.


Frank


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

Maybe something small...

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

I told the gang at yesterday's NJAGC meeting that I begin to be bored with the tank layout, I think nothing much has changed in about 6 months now, like 27 weeks straight with the same concept. Maybe it is time for a change soon.

It's about time!

I think start out by removing the black background. That's very 1990's Amano, it's time to go 2000's Amano style

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Back in the saddle!

Hi Ingo, I just recently picked up your thread and I thank that your tank looks GREAT! I like the idea of a change, but I like it just how it is. (But I'm not the one who has to look at it everyday )
As for me, I dream my tank up, put all the plants in there, and let it grow, grow, grow (at least I hope they do!)

Great job and keep up the GREAT work!


~Morgan~

I think start out by removing the black background. That's very 1990's Amano, it's time to go 2000's Amano style

What is 2000 Amano? White?

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

Haha, I guess all I have to do is to threaten another Ingo-Style redo to get some entries and life back into this log.

NowherMan6 - yeah, what is 2000 Amano? White, no background, rimless, or what?

MoFish - Thanks for the input, I always appreciate comments from people as it shows me who is actually still looking at my tank logs (and who is new to them). I am basically doing the same then you do, think up my layout and the let it grow.

Wings and Frank - I don't think small changes will keep me occupied for long . I will perform some changes this weekend though, most certainly I will dump almost all of the Blyxa and add some of the Ferns from the 40G in that spot.

Actually, changing the background of the tank is easy enough, all I would need is some new cardboard in another color. Maybe I will do this some time soon as well.

Thanks to all so far,

Ingo

EDIT: Did you guys see that I added new entries to the 20 and 29 log last weekend? I guess the info there doesn't interest you at all

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most certainly I will dump almost all of the Blyxa

Want to mail me some???

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

Wings,

Trust me, you would not be happy with the package. I pretty much lost any root system these plants ever had, the constant replanting caused serious damage to the stems. Over time, these plants have gotten smaller and smaller on me instead of growing. I believe that even the strongest and tallest of them right now are maybe half the size they were when I got them a few months back.

Packing this stuff and sending it to you would be a waste of my time and your money for shipping (I would not charge you for the plants anyway).

Ingo

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Ok. No problem. Thanks for being up front about it.

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

I am so up front that I even tell you that I would not dare to swap these plants at our NJAGC meetings, that how sad they are

I say - Out in the garbage with them

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Pretty sad I must say. I guess I will have to try and talk to my other guy.

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

Weekly Tank Update - Week 84

This week saw a continuation of the Blyxa floating contest, I said enough alright!!!

So, this weekend, after a half-major redo of the 40G (report will follow in a few min), I took all Blyxa out and placed some narrow leaf Java Fern on a piece of wood and filled that space (btw, the fern on the right, it turns out, is not narrow leaf but needle leaf). On top of it, the redo of the 40G also allowed me to add some Anubias Nana in front of the fern and all the way to the right of the tank.

I am most astonished how little was needed to remove the entire Island Effect.

Here you go:

Attached Image:

Week 84

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Here is a closer look at the new Fern group. It did actually not take long until the Espei decided that this is an excellent spawning spot. But I think I have seen them eat the eggs.

Attached Image:

Fern

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And because all is so pretty, here is, for the maybe 20th time since introduced, the male Apisto viejita II, as colorful as usual, LOL.

Attached Image:

Apisto

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And - at least as often as I have shown you something like the viejita did I show you something like this, a flowering Nana.

But I found this one very nice, as the background is better than green or black.

That's it for this tank, now on to a smoke and then the 40G.

Oh, and look at the 20G log for new Cories in the QT, if you haven't done so already.

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Nana Flower

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