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Thanks guys for the comments and your display of appreciation of the "Summary Effort"

Yeah, I for sure am not at a stage with this tank yet where I could give it a long rest and not bother messing with it, if it weren't for time limitations (need a whole day at least per makeover) and actually the concern of having fish. If I had no fish in this tank then I would redo it even more often as I would be able to take breaks during the process. And no, don't suggest that I could get holding tanks for the fish, I would get in trouble.

New ideas are forming in my head recently, but it is too early to speak them out loud.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Update - Week 107

Not much maintenance has been done on the tank for yet another week, as such it is no wonder that it looks more and more like a jungle.

2 of my dwarf rainbows seem to reach the end of the line, similar to another one about 2 months ago. They are more or less just hanging and breath rather heavy. When this happens in small fish then it is usually a matter of days, but with the last rainbow it was an entire month. I will see.

Other, all is the same,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 107

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

New Ideas , Ingo , come on lets us in on your thoughts
Surely you can house your fish in one of your other tanks .
There not over stocked from what I can see.
I can feel the 'Ingo" style redo can't be far away .


Garry

2 of my dwarf rainbows seem to reach the end of the line, similar to another one about 2 months ago. They are more or less just hanging and breath rather heavy. When this happens in small fish then it is usually a matter of days, but with the last rainbow it was an entire month. I will see.

Sorry to hear about your rainbows. As you might remember, I didn't have great luck with them. It was a shame as I think they are really cool fish. How old do you think yours are? I wonder if they have short life spans.

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

Weekly Tank Update - Week 108

Garry - it will take a while until an Ingo-Style make-over is coming up, I will have to change the 40G first and only then would find time for this one. Maybe within the next 5 months though.

Wings - My Rainbows (one died this week, 3 left and one looking poor) are about 2 years old. I do think that they don't have a long live span, at least not in my water settings. I have done no research though.

On to the tank:

I spent 3 hours on Saturday to get just the small left side in order, not really prettying it up, just making sure it does not become a total jungle. In particular the trimming/replanting of the HM took a looooong time. Next week I will try to do the mid/right section, but I am not sure if I will have the time for it.

Here is the tank,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 108

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo , sorry to hear about your Rainbow . Understand the time issue , Just wanted
to know what you could possibly do to improve this marvelous scape .

Garry

Ingo

Sorry about the rainbows man. I have seen some upclose and they are really interesting fish and have some awesome color. I do like this scape. Infact im at the opposite of garry on this one and I think you should leave as is.

Shane

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Ingo, this is what I found:

Life span of rainbow fish: depends a bit on what you really have but the average estimate is 3 to 5 years with the bigger ones like the Boesemani topping it. It also depends where the fish are coming from and how inbred they are (inbreeding is only good for color, otherwise ...) and the conditions they were raised in (food, hormones, etc). Another factor might be water temperature: some rainbows require rather high temperatures like discus, while others stay healthy at moderate tropical aquarium temperatures. I don't know which ones you have. The Baensch, part 2 has some nice listings

Claudia

Weekly Tank Update - Week 109

Thanks all for the input and concerns about the Rainbows. Claudia, I have Neon Dwarfs, as the name says they are small and as such probably on the shorter end of the lifespan scale. Another one is going to bite the dust rather sooner than later, but that is the way it is, we all have a limited lifespan.

Anyway, I was way too busy at work, I literally worked 26 hours straight (ok, I napped 20 min) into Saturday and as such found only time for the water change.

Here is the tank,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 109

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Update - Week 110 and 111

Didn't have time to update last week, so here are both weeks. (seems like nobody cares anyway)

Week 110

Attached Image:

Week 110

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is the tank this week. Don't worry about the plant group in the open spot in the front, it is "on hold" for trading at the next NJAGC meeting this week.

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 111

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nice job, what species of Hydrocotyle do you have growing in there?

(seems like nobody cares anyway)

Ingo , Oh we care . We're just waiting for something to happen .

Garry

(seems like nobody cares anyway)

I think that we all know how busy you are.

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

I bet it would look spectacular in person. I doubt the FTS give it justice. Too much going on to take in one shot.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

They say it's a lifestyle and this tank reflects Ingo's. Busy and wild with a sort of reckless abandon. I'm envious

My Scapes

Terrible having to work such long hours but at least you get to come home to a really cool and peaceful looking tank. I can only dream of having a big tank all fully planted like that.

Weekly Tank Update - Week 112 and Week 113

Thanks guys for the input.

You will have to live with FTSs for a while longer, I am just not in the groove to get the details all worked out, LOL.

Here is a shot from week 112, a week ago from today. As you can see, more of the same "Busy and wild with a sort of reckless abandon", right tetratech?



Attached Image:

Week 112

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is a shot from today, week 113.

As you may note, a few things on the right side have changes, I will let you do the detailed comparison.

Let's just say that "other changes" made me do it.

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 113

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The tank looks Gorgeous. I am new here so i don't have a lot of input. I like the look of all the the pictures i have been reading this thread for 2 days now. And i am going to steal some ideas from you.

What did you do with all of your ferns? Are they going to the club? The right side looks much better. I am not sure what the other changes are though....

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

Ingo , Very tidy , dare I say it a very different look on the right compared to the left . Still thats right up my alley so I love it .


Garry

Weekly Tank Update - Week 114

Thanks guys for the input.

lotec25 - Welcome
Wings - I guess you figured out by now what the "other changes" are, aka 40G
Garry - thanks for being so patient and giving me your input although I shine with neglecting your thread

Otherwise, nothing new, didn't have the time to tidy up the left side, maybe some other week.

Here is the tank,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 114

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Dang that's a stunning tank !
That last pic is great and it's interesting how you're almost back to that island thing except it's shifted over. The first island shot is my fave. I'm having a hard time finding needle-leaf java fern around here.

The Amazon Nut...

Weekly Tank Update - Week 115

DaMossMan - hi there, long time no see

Actually, I think this tank resembles a Dutch layout the most of all my tanks, although not fully.

On to the uptate itself:

I did manage to put the left side of the tank into a more ordered layout, with new plants being Rotala clippings from the new 40G layout and Bolbitis from the old 40G layout, having been stored in a bucket with water for over 2 weeks. It is still rather small and may not take off at all, but we will see.

Here is the full tank:

Attached Image:

Week 115

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I am aware that the middle section now needs to be "cleaned up", but I am not in a rush.

Here is a closer look at the left half,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Left Half

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Little_Fish,

What are the red/green plants on the right and left side? i am looking for something like that for our 55 gallon to add some color to it.

Tank looks amazing i have been looking for a local aquarium group in my area still have not found one. I look how your tanks look just don't know if i want to run CO2 yet.

Rob

LF,

The tank looks a lot better with the left side cleaned up. How many different plants do you have in there now? It seems to be getting to quite a few.

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

Hi LF!

This is the first time i've seen your tank + log and lemme tell ya! It is Very Gorgeous. The closest thing im going to have to that is my Nano tank im setting up after christmas. This tank is an inspiration and i hope you keep it up!

Sincerely, Goby

Ps; Sorry for the loss of them rainbows! Thats too bad that they live <5 yrs! Hope they breed for you, and habe generations of rainbows!

><> ~=!Vote Today!=~ <><
-----> View My Dragons <-----

Thanks for a detailed shot LF, that is one whopper of an apisto in the front there. It's much easier to see what's going on the left side now. Looks great to me .

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Ingo , Ahhhh...our friend has reappeared ( I'm not game to use his name after your
comments in your 40 log). I must say this scape is now taking on a very different
aspect from the last few months . Could this be a new Ingo ... graudual change over
instant redo ... I don't believe it yet
Anyway enough fun I love the look, there is some focus again , but if I may be
permitted a small criticism...gulp... it still needs more IMO. Not sure what you have
in mind , but after seeing the amazing things you've done in your other tanks ,
I can't wait to see what you do next . Looking forward to it

Garry

Weekly Tank Updates - Week 116 and 117

Thanks guys for the input, here are some answers to your questions:

lotec25 - Rob, the red plants on the left and right are Alternanthera reineckii, I hope that's the plant you meant. Yeah, a local club is a good thing, I hope you find one.

Wings - No idea how many plant species are in there, maybe around 15, but I am just guessing.

GobyFan2007 - What? This is the first time you see this log? How can one miss it? LOL - Thanks for the input and the compliments though, I hope it helps you with your setup.

Matty - The apisto is of course my male viejita II, the pride of this tank. He and his lady are truly beautiful fish and I am glad I bought them based on the advise received from a knowledged employee at the LFS, there they were all gray and sad looking, about 2 years ago.

Garry - Given that you have done a great job on your super-sized tank you are permitted to "a small criticism" any time . LOL. The reason for smaller changes on this tank rather than one monster change is very simple: TIME. It would take me way too long these days to redo the tank completely, but trust me, I have thought about it. At some point I may do this, but not now.

Here is a shot from last week:

Attached Image:

Week 116

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Basically, I did nothing with regards to the plants over the last two weeks, instead I let it all settle. As such, this weekend's shot is the same than last weekend's, but with some plants showing some growth.

Thanks again for the input,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 117

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Updates - Week 118 and 119

Week 118 has not seen many changes at all, just some trimming of the Rotala and the Alternanthera. I didn't get around to do something about the HM hedge on the right front.

Here is the picture:

Attached Image:

Week 118

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Now this week I did find the time to trim the HM, and I added a few more bunches of Nana Petites to the layout. They are probably not in their final spots though as I did not have the time to think it through yet.

That's it,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 119

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

lol i remember this thread like 2 years ago when is topepd posting here.

good to see its still going.

edit, wut happened to taht other thread that was almsot as long as yours little fish??

his name was tetra tech or something. he had a 90 gal i think.

LF,

Your tank is looking much less like a jungle and more like you are planning things out. I like it!

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

Wings ...I agree ...looks much better . I still like to see the river/beach cleaned out . Would bring back the focus that the tank had a while ago.

Still the most beautifull tank I've seen at FP however .

Garry

Weekly Tank Update - Weeks 120 and 121

Thanks folks for the input, saltnewbie - that was tetratech's tank, he moved on to better things, LOL.

Wings and Garry, thanks for the compliments!

Week 120 has seen no changes except a water change, here is the picture:

Attached Image:

Week 120

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

During the current week I added some bunches of R. rotundifolia from the 40G as I had then left over after making more ground for the HC there.

I also removed a few plants from the open spot as they went to the NJAGC meeting with me for trades.

Here is the tank for now,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 121

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo ...Nearly ... just a bit more out of the beach . Looks fantastic as usual.

Garry

l,il fish omg wow i have not been on the site in so long and just glanced back to see the tank now i can honestly say it has never looked better wow i wish i was you lol

Weekly Tank Updates - Weeks 122 and 123

Garry and bratyboy2 - Thank you guys so much for the feedback!

Well, lots of nothing happened in the last two weeks, some minor trimming happened on the left section of the HM, and that was all last week. Here is the shot:

Attached Image:

Week 122

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And even less happened this weekend, LOL. As in: absolutely nothing, not even a water change (no time yet).

Here is the tank from this weekend,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 123

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo,

I really like the tank as it is (especially the A. reineckii spreading out). The only plant I would trim is the HM hedge in front if I am allowed to suggest.

LF,

I haven't responded to your logs in a while though I do stop in pretty often.

Do you happen to have any tricks up your sleeve for growing Alternanthera reineckii. I got a few stems about a month ago and they don't seem to be doing really well yet. When I first got them the lost quite a few leaves. Now the new leaves are growing in pretty small. How long after a trim does it take for them to settle in?

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

Weekly Tank Update - Weeks 124 and 125

Thanks catdancer and wings for the input. Some answers will follow, but upfront a word on A. reineckii:

I do not have a trick up my sleeve, sometimes mine grow well and sometimes they don't. I currently have a situation where difformed leaved stems grow side by side with beatiful stems, no idea why.

Update week 124:

Not much happened that week, the Rotala on the left grew way too tall and had to be trimmed. And while I was at it I gave the HM some haircut, but not too much.

Here is the tank last weekend:

Attached Image:

Week 124

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Then came this weekend, and I had a little more time available. I used it to re-organize most of the right side. Here is what I did:

Remove, trim, and replant all tops from the Alternanthera
Remove, trim, and replant all tops from the Lobelia cardinalis (small or normal form)
Remove, trim, and replant all HM on the right side of the tank
Remove, trim, and replant most of the Wisteria on the right side
Trim the Narrow leaf fern on the right side
Trim the Narrow leaf fern just a little on the main piece of wood
Trim the Pennywort on the main wood

Took quite a few hours, I have to say, as it also included a replacement of the head gasket on the 2028 which was leaking when the filter was turned off, an issue that some people already had as well. This of course also meant cleaning the filter itself, for the first time in months.

Here is the tank this weekend,

That's it,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 125

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The side you got work done on looks fabulous! I know how long that HM can take to trim, remove, and replant. That's why I got into the habit of lawnmowering it. Looked horrible for two days, but I think it's a fair trade for the easy route.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

LF

Im really impressed with this tank and some of the plants you have named off I am really impressed with and I think i am gonna have to go back and see what else you have added to this tank.....The question i do have is, could you give a detailed explanation on what you use to trim your tanks and some steps on how you achieve that or are those a LF Secret??? LOL

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Matty - yeah, I often use the hair cut method as well, but it is messy, in particular when having floating plants and a 125 where both arms are submersed to the arm pits,

In addition, after a few haircuts the bottom sections don't look all that good anymore.

fishmonster - Thanks for the compliments. What I use for trimming? A secret? No, not at all, but all plants need different styles of trimming, from simple cutting off stems to rhizome separation. All is common (aquatic) knowledge and can be read about on the web all over the place. Nothing special, for sure

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nice job with the clean up of the right side. Also thanks for the info on your A. reineckii. I am getting some new leaves in on mine but they are way smaller than the ones that melted off when I got it. Maybe they just need more time to settle in.

Up to your arm pits? I so understand what you go through! My 55G is the stand I made for the old 40 long. Lets just say I have to stand on a chair and hunch over to take care of my ET. It's a pain but it's slowly paying off. Maybe someday I will get pictures of it.

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

Ingo ...Nice job..the tank is looking as good as I've ever seen it . Well done .

Garry

Thanks guys for the input and compliments!

Now I just need to find enough time to beautify the left side a little more, at least the HM needs the same routine than the one on the right had last weekend.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Updates - Weeks 126 and 127

Last week had seem the redo of most of the plants on the left side of the tank, similar to what I did the week before on the right side. It didn't take all that long though as less of a space needed to be handled.

Here is the tank last week:

Attached Image:

Week 126

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And this week the tank saw the final mayor trimming, this time it was the Rotala group on the left that was taken out and got the bottoms cut off before replanting.

I see already that the Alternanthera is getting to large again, so parts of the cycle will have to be repeated
Great!

That's it for now,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 127

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo

That Anthera is looking awesome. Also after what you said about looking online i found the ADA toolset but they were waaay to expensive.. What reasons are there for using those tools??

Is the emphasis on this tank almost like a mountain range of plants so that there is a large peak in the middle then dips, smaller peaks to the side then dipping again. That is what i am seeing from this tank.



Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Weekly Tank Updates - Weeks 128 and 129

Shane - Good tools go a long way in a planted tank, in particular good tweezers and scissors. But they don't have to be from ADA.

The tank has not seen any major changes for last weekend:

Attached Image:

Week 128

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And again no changes done for this weekend, except some minor glass cleaning for the NJAGC meeting.

That's it for now,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 129

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo ...looking spectacular as usual ...don't know if its the glass cleaning but thats the sharpist photo of this tank in some time .

I still think the beach / river needs more defination , but other than that the Alternanthera looks amazing and really gives this scape a fantastic lift . Still my favourite .


Garry

Weekly Tank Update - Week 130

Thanks for the comments Garry,

I am not sure what I would like to do with the river in the medium run, it ends at the wood now anyway as the road to the back is blocked by Nana petites.

Workwise, the tank has seen the trimming of ONE stem of Alternanthera, now that is what I call convenient maintenance, LOL.

Here is the tank today,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 130

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I am guessing that it is just the picture but the tank looks extra dark.

I am really quite surprised that this tank hasn't seen a make-over in quite a while. I guess you have been too busy with other things.

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

Yes Wings, the tank is not really that dark, but having larger plants now then a few weeks back for sure makes a difference. and that is being picked up by the camera 10 fold.

Also, I still play with post-shot processing

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yeah that was kind of my guess. I can't wait to see an updated picture. It has been quite a while. Hope all is well!!

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