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Somehow I was hoping you would not come across this thread, Wings. There was no way that you simply could have ignored that, wasn't there ?

Well you see I didn't know how to take it right off the bat. I thought about just laughing and saying haha LF has a thing! But I resisted.

Speaking of the original "Thing", you should read about it in my log.

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

Thanks Wings

Otherwise, this tank is still involved in the gender bending mystery of my Apistos, and I have no clue as to what is going on.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

One quick update shot of the QT this weekend. Since about a week or so I added a few additional "Hiding Options" to the tank. Given that I didn't want to lose any plant area I stacked a rock and a pot on top of the wood. I know it is not the prettiest, but at least it assures that even the most scared Apisto is getting some food.

On that frontier, all is the same - meaning that I believe to have at least two males, maybe even all 3 are males.

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Full Tank

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

What pot

Errrmmm, looks very ummm...functional is the word I think.










So how are the ?confused? apistos?

EDIT: Oh, do I see some of the bolbitis in there?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

What pot
I would much prefer you stand the pot upright and have some clowns head with flowers on it pop out every few seconds.




My Scapes

Yeah yeah, just keep on using my desparate situation to make fun of my setup, but I don't want the male gang in there to kill each other.

With regards to the Apistos, I added some comment to your offer in my 40G Log, as they are still confused.

And yes, I added some small pieces of Bolbitis (and micro swords) to this tank as well, just for the fun of it (and to see how it does under non-high-tech settings.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

What are you using for lighting and CO2 on that tank?

Mike,

The lighting on this tank is an AGA double flourescent strip light, with 2 x 20W 6,700K. But I ordered a new Coralife 65W PC strip for it which I hope to put on next week. Not because I really need it, just because

CO2: When the tank is not housing fish in QT (except the resident Platies) then the tank gets 10ml of Flourish Excel once a week after the water change (50%). Sometimes I only change the water every other week, depending on my time availability.

Well, I removed the pseudo female Apistos this week, and added Matty's real females. As such, the enormous structure on the left was no longer needed. Here is the tank now:

Attached Image:

Tank Now

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I still have two AquaClear 50 hanging on the tank, and if the neighbor asks for his filter then I will give one of them to him. I ordered another one anyway as I like the idea to have less current but with the same filtration effects.

Here is a closer look at the left tank side I like the little Wisteria in front of the wood that almost looks like a palm tree (didn't get light in the lower parts as it was smacked between the wood pieces).

Attached Image:

Left Side

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Here is one of the two female Cacs that I got from Matty, thanks again for that

They seem to settle in ok, although they still have problems identifying the white flakes that float in the water column as food. They rather wait until the flakes are on the substrate and then pick them up. All my Apistos started off like that until they realized that they get more of the food if they feed on the surface.

Attached Image:

New Female

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And lastly, here is a closer look at my Narrow Leaf Ludwigia. I have never seen it becoming so red in my 125G with way more light and CO2. Maybe redding has not so much to do with light as assumed

This plant, originally transported into the tank from the 125G as clippings, is now the sole survivor of Ludwigia in all my tanks as I got bored of it in the big tank. The leaf size is maybe half as large as it was in the big tank which makes it look quite a bit better, IMHO.

Attached Image:

Narrow Leaf Ludwigia

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In the last week the tank has seen one of its new filters go to the legitimate owner of it, my neighbor. Today, I added a few goodies to the tank, one being another new AC50 to replace the one given away. I like the idea of having 2 filters on the tank and run them at slow speed.

The other treat for the tank is a brand new 65W light unit that I bought. Of course Coralife, and of course 6,700K. We will see what the tank does with that much light, like what - over 3wpg?

Anyway, I just remembered that this tank is now a little over one year old and I think I would like to show some full shots that reflect the tank's changes over that year.

Here it is 2 weeks (or something like that) after initial setup:

Attached Image:

After Setup

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Then the tank saw some minor changes in the plants that it contained, you will have to read through the log to find out why things are the way they are at the individual stages:

Attached Image:

Growing

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Growing of these plants worked out so well that there was soon nothing left but plants and what seems just like a little water,

Attached Image:

More Growing

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Then the tank saw its first major change, the complete redo to contain moss and wood, getting a little more styled.

Attached Image:

Starting to Style

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This basic setup persisted for quite a while, I liked it and it gave the shy new fish a welcoming home. Nevertheless, it was not easily maintained as the moss needed constant trimming and the tenellus in the front didn't grow that well either.

Here is the tank with the same layout at a latter stage:

Attached Image:

Later Stage

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After another major overhaul, the tank got its current layout, although it went through some changes in order to house a few gender confucsed Apistos:

Attached Image:

Current setup

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And here is the tank now tonight, with the addition of the other second filter and the new light. I think my fertilizer routine for this tank has to be more stable now.

Attached Image:

New Light

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Last but not least, the whole tank again, this time including the entire light unit. I like the look of such a system more than I like the double flourescent fixture that I had on it before.

Attached Image:

With Light Unit

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Nice chronology of a planted tank. O.K. so now that this tank joins its other high-light cousins what are you going to do with dosing, etc. The tank will have to at least get a daily shot of excel and regular ferting to keep algae away.

On the current scaping, I've always liked the simplicity of the tank and the placement of wood and rock seemed to work, but now the rock on the left seems to have disappeared (or it appears that way) and it looks like there is wood only on the left and rock only on the right.




My Scapes

Thanks tetratech,

Not too many people come lately into my small tank logs, I guess I don't perform overhauls on them often enough

Yeah, more ferts are needed, I realize that. I will see how it all works out.

The tank, for the time being, will stay like this and once the Apistos are moved out I will do some minor changes to the layout. For example, moving the rock back to the area, as your keen eyes have already identified as changes

Thanks,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I noticed the left side, right side as well, but I did see that rock in the center of the tank. I think another one there would do nice. Much better than the round stones there, as much as I like the river stones, they just seemed out of place. I agree, those coralife fixtures are pretty sleek. I think I need some legs for mine to help spread the light around the tank more. Looks good.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Much better than the round stones there

I agree, and I only had the round ones anyway because I am too lazy to split a larger rock of the type that I have there. I still have round rocks, but they are hidden in the vegitation by now. I probably will take them out to fit more "green" into the tank

Yeah, the legs make such a unit look more high tech, and help with the cooling of the system.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And lastly, here is a closer look at my Narrow Leaf Ludwigia. I have never seen it becoming so red in my 125G with way more light and CO2. Maybe redding has not so much to do with light as assumed

I am playing around with the same question with my sunset hygro. In the 40G with lots of light, high ferts and CO2 it stays green. I put some in the 29G with no CO2, low light, and no ferts yet and it starts to turn redish pink. Therefore it is a posiblity of three things. I guess it is time to start eliminating one to see and for me thats going to be ferts.

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

Besides the fact that the growth form of the Narrow Leaf Ludwigia is so different from exactly the same plant (as it is clippings from that plant) in the 125, THE major difference is how close the plants are to the light. Much much closer in the 20. I am sure that has something to do with it. A few stems that I have all the way on the right of the tank are by far not as red as the ones to the middle as they only get some of the light.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I am sure lighting has something to do with the color but I don't know how much. I am really thinking that ferts play a pretty large role. At least in my case with the Hygro.

BTW I have never had good luck with the Ludwigia in my tank. I don't know what I do wrong with it.

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

I have never had good luck with the Ludwigia in my tank

Well, how did you not have good luck with it? I found it rather adaptable to different tank conditions, with one exception: When placed in a tank with a weak current, and being located far away from the water input, then it started to get algae on the leaves, BGA in particular (at least in my tank).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

For some reason it never takes off like other plants in my tank. It normaly just fades away, often rotting at the bottems. I can grow the stuff at work just fine but I bring it home and it dies.

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

Ok then,

This tank needed a major cleaning, with all the gunk generates with me making it "Apisto Friendly". So while I was at it, here is the first step of cleaning:

Attached Image:

All Gone

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That's right,

It was time for another Ingo-Style tank makeover. Everything had to go, the tank was vacuumed, refilled, revacuumed, and refilled again.

Having only my 3 platies in the tank, I thought "what the heck, let me play a little. I got some sticks that I collected over the year on the various beaches, scrubbed them off, and shoved them under some rocks so they don't float up.

Attached Image:

Fish Sticks

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Then I moved the sticks around some more, replanted the Wisteria, Tenellus (which did bad in the last installment), Ludwigia, and some micro sword all the way to the right.

Here is the finished tank:

Attached Image:

Eh Voila

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I know it is not my best work ever, and I assume the sticks will rot away rather sooner than later, but I wanted to have some fun.

Even if it is only for fun, let me know what you think. Here is a "Matty Shot" of the tank.

That's it for now,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Matty Angle

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I kinda like it. It's different at least. To me they either look like bones, or palm trees. Could be an elephant graveyard, or possibly a desert oasis. I like the tighter grouping of ludwigia in the corner, and the ground plants are nice and tight to the ground. Looks good as long as one can accept the fish sticks.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks Matty,

Yeah - overall I had worse designs, but I think the last two I had before this one (not counting the Apisto specific modifications) had been a little more "natural".

As in - no graveyard or Laurence of Arabia

But I like the term Fish Sticks, Fish Skewers may work as well.

I am rather certain that this design will be short lived, but the tank really needed a good cleaning.

Oh, almost forgot: for the last week and a half I had quite a bit of duckweed in this tank, from my duckweed production company in my 125. I addded it as I saw an increase in algae since using the higher light. I have not been a good boy when it comes to ferting this tank, I will have to work on that. This duckweed now had to go as it either bunched up under the water return in a ball or it got stuck on the filter intake. Not so pretty and usefull.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Could be an elephant graveyard

I like the plants & will just need a little time to decide on the fish sticks. Looks like you had a lot of fun playing around in there.

Cheers
TW

Whew... that is quite some change... I really rather liked the previous setup. For this one... Mhmmmm, I don't know, ask me again in about two or three weeks when the plants look like they actually like the place

ask me again in about two or three weeks

I don't know if this design will survive that long though

As I said, I felt like playing and I had nothing to loose. I always get carried away with this small tank, it is sooooo easy to redo the whole setup.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi,
I see... It looks like "Mr. No Body" Lives in your
home too. Somebody dumped some kindling from the fireplace
in the tank!

It'l will be interesting to see how the tank matures.
Frank


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

Very funny Frank, but will have no chance to see this tank mature.

The makeover of the 125G required me to strip some of the wisteria in here and as such I did not have enough left to make for a decent ground cover. On the other hand, I had some plants left over from the large tank that I could not use there anymore, like some hygro and narrow leaf java fern.

Here is the hoth-potch result:

Attached Image:

New Design - Yet Again

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I know, it is not the prettiest, but that was not the point. I spend quite some hours (maybe around 16) on the tanks this weekend and I had to get the show on the road.

Here is a Matty angle:

Attached Image:

Angled

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Make sure you see the latest design in full tank view on the bottom of the previous page

Also, one cannot forget about the permanent residents in this tank, my twin bar platies. Here is one of the mothers, with me for quite some time now and the producer of many many batches of fry:


Attached Image:

Mother Platy

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Here is one of her older children, maybe around 3 months old. By now he is already after the ladies and may be the producer of the latest batch of fry.

Attached Image:

Young Adult Male

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And here is one of the fishies from the latest batch, it could very well be that the male in the last shot is his/her brother and father

Matty, this one is not a challenge for you

Attached Image:

Fry

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Where is it

Yeah, I'm not sure about those sticks. It looks a little more natural without them. They sure where interesting though. This tank sure gets changed around frequently, hard to keep up. I think the left side of the tank currently looks good with a nice solid buncg of ludwigia, and the right side as you said is a bit hotch potch, but should look good when it fiils in. Tell those chain swords to grow too.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

These chain swords are typical representatives of my original batch these days, at best they stay static in all of my tanks. At worst, they die off. And I still don't know why. I tell you, my best bet is on the constant replanting that they have seen over the last year.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I can't say I agree. I had mine for almost two years in my 38 gallon tank, and replanted them every couple months because they would start growing over themselves and shading each other out. They usually respoded positively to a thinning and replant. They did well right up till the end.

It is true though that continually uprooting plants(without breaks inbetween) can kill them, but I've never seen it happen personally. I wouldn't know what else to guess though. So I guess constant replanting it is*shrugs*.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Yeah,

I blame the constant moving because I ran out of other explanations.

Initially, I thought that in the 29G the tank ran out of usable Laterite as it was about a year old when it started. But even with the change to Eco nothing has improved.

I can't blame any specific fertilizer routine as all tanks are so different, from EI in the 125 to underfertilization in the smaller tanks.

Then I thought it may be a light issue, but switching to a new unit in the 20 as well as replacing the bulb in the 29 did not cause any changes.

And I don't know what else could be the culprit

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Somehow, over the last two weeks I lost all Platy fry. I have no idea where they went, but gradually I went from 8 to none . I only can assume that the adults got a little hungry.

Anyway, here is the tank now, I added a little group of Micro Swords:

Attached Image:

Tank Now

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Here is a closer look at the Micro Sword. I am not certain if this is a good spot for it, but whatever. Overall, I think this plant looks actually pretty nice when added as a small group in a foreground.

Attached Image:

Micro Sword

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And here is a closer look at the 3 remaining tenellus. Somehow they neither die nor flourish. As you may see, the older leaves look pretty bad while new ones are still coming out. I always think that the plants will improve, but eventually the new leaves start to look like the old ones.

Weird!

Attached Image:

Not So Pretty Tenellus

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

IMO your tenellus might be stunted due to lack of macronutrients. You can either fert more regularly on the tank(especially excel) or maybe drop in a root tab by each. The tank I take care of at work has tenellus that do the exact same thing because I only get to look at the tank and do maintenence once a week. I'm pretty sure it's because the tank bottoms out every week and the CO2 levels fluctuate due to evaporation/splashing filter. They should continue to live like that indefinitely if you don't have the time to pay your QT tank more attention.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks Matty on your opinion why the tenellus is what it is. And I bet you that you are right (at least partially). It is not so much that I neglect the tank, it is more that I contiously opt not to fertilize in certain situations, like when I have new fish in QT. Also, I have never even thought about a proper fert schedule for the non-high-tech tanks (this one and the 29G), I usually dose 1/4tsp KNO3 and a pinch (not literally) of P, plus 10ml of Excel and about 6ml of micros - once every week (or other week). That, most certainly, is not consistent.

Ingo

EDIT: BTW, nice new colors

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Not too much new to report about this tank, except that it has 2 fish in QT again and that it got a few more plants based on redos of the other tanks.

Here is a shot of the current setup:

Attached Image:

Current Setup

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here are the new residents, for the time being. A new pair of Cacs that I simply could not stop myself from buying. There are more pictures of them in the 40G Log.

Here is the male checking out the female.

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Cacs

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Not quite as flaming orange as your last, but still a very nice lookin' fish. I do hope he does well for you.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Very nice re-do LF. I prefer it without the sticks, but I never really thought you'd leave them there too long.

I'm sorry to hear all your platy fry have gone - maybe because there is a lot of open space, so the fry can't hide so well. Still, I have never, never never had fry surive - no matter how densely I planted the tanks. I was going to blame your apistos, but I see they weren't added till later.

Your new male looks very nice & I hope he proves better behaved with his offspring (when the time comes).

Cheers
TW

Not quite as flaming orange as your last

Unfortunately I have to agree, but I also think this one may be still a little younger. And so is the female, maybe that is why she hasn't fattened up yet as she sure is eating away.

I'm sorry to hear all your platy fry have gone

Well, I am not . I have more platies than I care for as it is anyway. If one or the other makes it in this tank then he/she is transferred into the 29G.

I was going to blame your apistos, but I see they weren't added till later

Maybe it was the Apistos. During last week's water change I did not see any fry and the following day I bought the Apistos. Good chance that, if any of them hung out in the tank before being sucked into the filter, the Apistos got a snack (the older platies seem to tend to eat the fry after they have grown a little).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

the older platies seem to tend to eat the fry after they have grown a little

Ahh, so they like their meals with a little more fat.

Still, I have never, never never had fry surive - no matter how densely I planted the tanks

Re-read this & thought I should correct it. I meant in my community tank. My krib fry in their species tank are still going strong. If I have lost any, then the loss is too few to notice.

Cheers
TW

Wow,

I can't believe I didn't have an update on the tank in over a month, but here is one:

I had another one of the Ingo-Redo events last Sunday after I had been given a few plants during the NJAGC meeting in my place.

Here is the tank before the change:

Attached Image:

Previous Layout - Last Sunday

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Just like in the 29G, the tenellus became a totally static plant

Anyway - It went away. First of course I had to clean the tank. That took quite a while and included two water changes with vacuuming:

Attached Image:

All Clean

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Then I place the hardware where I thought I would like it to be, as you can see I reverted back to the wood arch layout, so far this has been my favorite and I would like to recreate it somewhat.

Attached Image:

Hardware In Place

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Then it was time to string some moss on the wood. I don't know how well this moss will do in that kind of medium light, low fert environment, time will tell.

It is Taiwan Moss that had been given to me during our meeting:

Attached Image:

With Moss

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Then I added the Background plants, one species only as I tried to simplify things a little, based on "less is more".

The Hygro had been trimmed and added back in:

Attached Image:

With Hygro

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Then I painfully added the new foreground plantlings, I think they are called Elatine Triandra. I don't know much about this plant, not even if it will grow in my tank conditions.

But it is for sure a pain in the neck, it tends to float up all the time and I am replanting it constantly. It also seems very fragile and breaks when I attempt to push it into the substrate with the tweezers.

Attached Image:

Foreground Added

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Here is an angled look at the layout, still from last weekend. By now, a few of the foreground plants are lost and others float in the tank or have already been replanted. As I said, pain in the neck. Otherwise, the tank seems ok as I see new platy fry for the time being.

That's it,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Another View

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I love the layout with the two bits of wood moss and back ground plants, I guess the foreground plants will grow in, I have a Crypt in another tank that is so little I am constantly poking it back in the gravel drives me NUTS.

I guess it must be easy to redo this one in comparision to the HUGE tank!

and you spent 16 hours on the tank? WOW.

gfgXX

_______________________________________
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

Hey!

I like this layout with the DW. I would though, move the center rock under either of the chunks of wood. Make it look like its being proped up.

Good luck with the new plant. It might be worth trying in the 40G or 125G too.

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

Nice re-do. It seems a lot of people are now going for a a less crowded look, with more low plants. I know that's they way I want to go. I may remove all my stem plants.

Nice job LF

Cheers
TW

Thanks for the compliments and comments, folks

GFG - "and you spent 16 hours on the tank?" No who said that? I spent 3 hours on the redo. Redoing the 20G is actually an exciting thing to do as it takes such little time.

Wings - for the time being, the rock will stay as the last time when I had "the bridge" there was no rock. Makes me think I actually changed something

Robyn - Well, with the hygro I still have stems in there, and I actually wouldn't dare to go without them as all other plants (wait a minute, there are only 3 species overall anyway) I would have too little of matter left.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Makes me think I actually changed something

Well the last time you had the tank set up like this you had the DW much closer together and used little rocks around the wood. This time the DW is farther apart and you used big rocks. There! You changed something! MOVE THE ROCK FROM THE CENTER!

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

Ingo,

I've paid you compliments on your 125,40 and I still really like the 29g, but this one I would change.
I've always like the bridge effect but the rocka don't look nautral at all in their current position. I would do something along this:



Attached Image:


My Scapes

You guys are sooooo hard to please.

First of all, I will have to see if this foreground plant even takes hold. And - if the Taiwan moss will grow nicely (not so convinced yet if I like it, seems to have much longer branches than Xmas moss).

If the above doesn't turn out well anyway then another change will have to happen no matter what.

So, even if you HATE the tank, for now that is what it is. But, "now" is of course a relative term

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

You guys are sooooo hard to please

Yup!

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

Anyway,

Not much to report on this tank. It is doing ok and the foreground plants have been replaced with Wisteria trimmings.

The platies have multiplied to 6 in the tank now.

And that is all.

Here is a shot,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Tank Now

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I really like the simple layout The moss bridge is especially appealing. The only way this tank could look better were if you had an extra 3-4 inches in the back for another row of the stems.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

The only way this tank could look better were if you had an extra 3-4 inches in the back for another row of the stems.

Unfortunately, the tank is not deep enough to allow me to move the bridge further forward. If I did that then the foreground would be just a narrow strip, not pretty

Thanks for the input Matty,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yeah, I know. I was just hypothesizing that if you had a bit larger tank, but you don't so I don't see how you could improve.

It was a backwards compliment.....sorry.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I was just hypothesizing that if you had a bit larger tank

Funny, as the wife was asking me this weekend when I will get less or smaller tanks

But in general, and as an advice for all hobbyists, depth is important

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Well,

I was time for another change to this tank again, I just love that I can remodel the whole tank in no time, ok - let's say 3 hours, LOL.

This time, no moss and no wood.

Here is the straight on shot:

Attached Image:

New Layout

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And here is an angled view that shows a little more on what is going on behind the rocks. There are only 2 plants in the tank, Java Fern Windelov and Wisteria.

Attached Image:

Angled

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Here is a closer look at one of the two Windelov groups, attached to a rock. I don't think this one is positioned too well, but time will tell. I may wait until the Wisteria in the back is taller then it may not stick out that much anymore.

Attached Image:

Fern

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And here is the other Fern group. That one seems placed better and I am looking forward to see it grow.

That's it for now,

What do you think?

Ingo

Attached Image:

Fern II

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I like the new simple look and especially the Windelov on the rocks. You have such a busy work load ingo, as well as your family commitments, so having mostly slow growth plants will make water changes & maintenance less.

I've decided only one of my tanks will ever have fast growers, the others will all be quick & easy tanks to maintain. That way, less pressure from hubby & I currently have his support (due to winning one of our deals or bets ) so he is financing my 2 new tanks I'm planning

If during this time when your work is so intense, your tanks take less time to maintain (eg less stems to be removed, trimmed & replanted on a weekly basis) your wife may forget to ask when you are getting less or smaller tanks.

Anyway, it's good to see your posts here again.

Cheers
TW

Robyn,

Thanks for the comments. Yeah, I am hoping that this layout will be a little easier to maintain than the moss one (last one and a layout that I had a while back as well). The whole moss trimming is a pain in the neck as the wood has to be removed to do so. And that stirrs up all kinds of gunk, yuk.

I probably will stick to ferting the tank once a week and to bi-weekly water changes though.

Ingo

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I probably will stick to ferting the tank once a week and to bi-weekly water changes though

bi-weekly - I'm still doing weekly on both low maintenance tanks, but I will join you in doing weekly fert & bi-weekly water changes only. We're currently in the midst of our worst ever drought (well - worst since they started recording such things) and our dams are below 30% capacity. We have water restrictions & what not & I do feel guitly about my large water changes.

Yep, bi-weekly from now on I think (except for the C02 tank).

Cheers
TW

I actually managed to be very organized and do weekly water changes on the low tech tanks only for a brief period of time. All other times I did bi-weekly water changes and I did not notice any difference. The only time this tank sees weekly changes is when there are new fish in there for QT and that hasn't happened in quite a while.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Wow LF! The tank looks really nice. I have a 20 long in the basement I want to do something similar with. I was thinking hair grass. Maybe someday....



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

Thanks Wings,

Yeah, hair grass may be nice (hell, hair would be nice too, LOL), but it is more complex to maintain than the good ole wisteria. Before I know it I may be thinking about frequent ferts, CO2, and what not. Not in the plan for this tank

Ingo

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It's always the case with this tank....as soon as I'm getting to like it, whammo total ingo style makeover. I'm sure I'll love this setup in a few weeks too. Nice job LF

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks Matty,

See - the thing is that this tank is so easy to change, with its small size and such. Having hardy fish in it helps as well as they are more forgiving with such adventures. This time around I actually removed them from the tank as I knew it is going to be way too messy.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Looks like there's a new wisteria-saurus in town. LOL.
Tank looks good. Not sure about the contrast between the wisteria and the fern.


My Scapes

Thanks tetratech,

Yeah, I really come to like wisteria for its ease of maintenance and its rather fast grow as a nutrient sucker.

I am not so sure about the Windelov as well, but given that I got the plant for free (trade at the last club meeting) and given that I never had this plant before I thought I will give it a shot. It may go to a different tank (probably the 29G) if I don't like it in here anymore.

Thanks again,

Ingo

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OK,

I declare the experiment of having a 65W PC light over a 20G Long that I would like to treat as a low tech / low maintenance tank as over.

And I conclude that it doesn't work too well. There is just too much light and the plants almost seem to burn out. My wisteria started not doing to well, the Windelov Fern burned out completely (could have a different reason though, as the donor's plan also didn't do too well).

So, back to the old 2x20w light hood. And I added some clippings of NL Java Fern from the 40G. BTW - doesn't look all that narrow to me

Here it is now:

Attached Image:

Tank Today

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doesn't look all that narrow to me

How narrow is it meant to be. My standard java fern is much wider.

Cheers
TW

Robyn,

Seems to me that you nowadays can get all kinds of Ferns, but the NL that I have in the 125G is much narrower, even after I planted some of it in the 40G it is narrower than the one that was always in there. And the NL grows taller, much taller.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Can you get your JF's to grow leaves off of leaves that look like flames?

2wpg = good
3+ = bad

I will have to keep that in mind.... I have a 20long I want to set up some day....

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

Not a lot has changed in the tank, the wisteria seems to finally settle in. I believe in the past it may not have done too well because of the intensity of the light and probably because I didn't have enough settled plant mass.

Here is a look at the tank today.

There are a few additions, in plant and fish. The tank functions as a QT once again and is the host of 3 (out of 4, one died within 24h) False Julii Cories, seen in the back left.

Attached Image:

Tank Today

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Here is a closer look at them, albeit not the best. I will try to get some nicer group shots in the next few days. I had one more photo of them all together, but one of them made a weird move and swam upside-down, so it looked in the picture like he was dead.

Attached Image:

False Julii

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Another addition to the tank is a group of Nana Petites that I removed from the 125G. They were completely invisible in there for quite a while now. I actually had 5 plantlets in the large tank but only could find 4 to bring over. I may have to hunt for the other one.

Attached Image:

Nana Petite

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This is also Nana Petite and I got it during yesterday's NJAGC meeting in a swap (for part of my giant Nana Barteri). It is all on one rhizome and I didn't feel like cutting it so I parked it this way for the time being.

It is also of a much lighter green and the leaves are slightly larger. It may well be that this is one of these "false" petites that eventually will grow normal sized leaves (have you heard of them?).

Attached Image:

Nana Petite Again

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Last but not least, I also moved one of the Tiger Lilly babies from the 125G over into this tank. It came loose one day and floated on the top so it was worthwhile moving it over here. I am curious to find out how it will do in these conditions.

Enough for now,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Baby Tiger

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What



Does this tank have a disease or why does nobody have to say anything about it?

Did it fall of your radar?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Did it fall of your radar?

Actually, yes, it did. There are lots of tanks going around, and this one has slipped off my radar.

I don't remember when it happened, but I like the all rock + wisteria combo a lot, especially since this is a Q tank as well.

Not sure why that one particular NL fern didn't grow as narrow as most, but different lighting conditions may have played a part. Maybe it was shaded in its previous position, thus grew broader leaves?

Good move moving the petites out of the 125 as well. Unless you have about 300 of them crawly along some bogwood in that 125, they're not going to make enough impact (and I don't know anyone who'd spend ~$2,100 on anubias petite nana... )

They may even get a bit lost in the 20G though.... that's what nano tanks are for!


And as for the "false petites", I had anubias nanas a loooong time ago that, in high light conditions, with no shading, and when grown with only a small bit of rhizome, grew leaves smaller than petite nana leaves. I think this was just part of the plant growing up in certain conditions. As they grew the leaves got larger and grew in more the usual nana heart shape (the small leaves looked like buttons) My guess is, some people get small pieces of nana rhizomes and see small leaves grow off of them and sell them as petite nana. A good way to tell the difference IMO is to look at the leaf shape. Petite nana leaves look EXACTLY like regular nana leaves - heart or spade shaped. These false nana leaves will be rounder, more button like.

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Back in the saddle!

Thanks NowherMan6 for re-discovering this thread

Yeah, the Nana Petites were not visible anymore since quite a while in the 125G, and I still have not found the 5th one,

The NL Java Fern was actually from my 40G and grew there closest to the light on one of the branches of the right hill. I added to that tank some NL java fern from the 125G and that one still grows narrower in the same tank, and it grows much longer. If it is the same plant then more light would mean shorter and wider leaves. I think it is a different variant, by now they have sooooo many of them. Come to think of it, it looks a little like this Phillipine Java Fern.

Thanks for the info on the false Petites. From looking at the leaf shape of the new plants, it seems like they would be false. On the other hand, the rhizome is rather long, maybe 5 inches, as both leaf areas are growing of the same rhizome (this is what holds it in place behind the rock).

Ingo

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Baby Tiger

They look very cute at that size. Remind me though, I am pretty sure this is the non C02 tank - but what about light. Is it high, medium or low, as I forget for the moment.

Cheers
TW

Looking at the fern again, it does look a lot like the Phillipine variety. Those "hammered out" marks on the leaves look different than my NL fern. Good call on that one LF.

It's too bad this is going to be a low tech tank. I think this is your second best hardscape (behind the 40G), and I think it would look great with glosso or hairgrass - a real amano type deal. Though I can't imagine you'd want to go through the gloso nightmare any time soon again!

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Back in the saddle!

I am pretty sure this is the non C02 tank - but what about light.

Yup - this is a non-CO2 tank with once a week (at best) the addition of 10ml of Excel, and some ferts. I just recently switched back to the old 2x20 T8 setup as the 65W unit was too intense, or at least that is what I blame for my plants not doing too well in that tank.

I think this is your second best hardscape

Oh - thank you NowherMan6

I don't think upping this tank to high tech is a great idea, too much work and my constant fiddling with this tank would not help either,

Also, new fish that come from the LFS will probably have an easier time to adjust to "normal" water conditions than to 50ppm of CO2.

Ingo

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50ppm of CO2.

That's it? I think mine is around 75-80ppm....

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

That's it?

Sorry Wings, I didn't know we have a competition going on as to who has the most CO2 in their tanks

But you are by far not the highest I know of. I have members in my club that run over 100ppm.

Ingo

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Beat this though....I only have 25-30 and no algae .

It's like the lighting wars on reef tanks. "I gots a 400w metal halide over my 2.5G tank for 160 watts per gallon."

All I have to say is that I have my corals under 2.8 watts per gallon and they are thriving, who seems smarter?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I have members in my club that run over 100ppm.

Wow thats up there. Do they have fish?

There are a lot of different things that come into play when trying to grow things. Each tank is going to be different depending on the goal.

I have found with my higher light of 5.26WPG my plants don't grow up as much. I don't remember the last time I trimed my sunset hygro.



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

Wow thats up there. Do they have fish?

Yes Wings, they do. Funny story: one of them told me recently that they introduced a fish too fast and it had a really rough time to adjust, but eventually did. It first behaved as if put into poison, jerking around like mad.

Anyway,

Not so good things to report about the fishies.

Here is a full tank shot:

Attached Image:

Full Tank

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In that last shot, there is a female adult Platy between the center rock and the rock on the right. I had to put her down last night, but she would have died within a few hours max anyway. She showed no visible signs of damage, but she was sitting motionless for most of the day (I first thought she will have fry, like soooooo many times before) but when feeding time came she did weird moves around the tank.

I hope that she died of old age as she is one of the original two that I introduced to the tank when I set it up initially, almost two years ago.

On the other hand, one of the cories is having a whitish patch on his/her left side, I will try to point it out in a later picture.

So, here are some Cory shots:

Attached Image:

Cory I

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Here is a shot that shows the Cory (on the left) with the whitish patch on his/her left side (on the right from your perspective). The patch is just before and below the dorsal fin.

The fish behaves totally fine, eats well, peruses the tank with the others. I will wait a while and then see what to do about it.

Attached Image:

Cory III

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So much about Cories needing open substrate to find food. Here is a typical shot on other areas of the tank where the cories look for food, the top of the Wisteria plants.

Also, note the rather "bad" look of the leaves on the lower right of the picture vs. the "healthy" look of the leaves on the left. The bad ones are old growth and the healthy ones are new growth. I almost gave up on the wisteria in the tank, but instead put the old light back on. The new one (65W) was just too much for a low tech tank.

Attached Image:

Cory IV

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Last shot for this session, another cory-eating-of-substrate.

I will try to get a better picture of the cory's white patch today,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Cory V

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As always, everything is looking very nice.

I just recently switched back to the old 2x20 T8 setup

So it will be interesting to see how your baby tiger lily does. I will use you as the experiment & maybe try it myself if it works for you.

My cories (sterbai) also seem happy in a planted tank & spend equally as much time in areas of solid planting as they do in the areas where they can get to the gravel.

Hope the white patch turns out to be nothing. Keep us posted.

Cheers
TW

Thanks Robyn for input and comments,

Things are going from bad to worst in a hurry.

Now the second adult female is lethargic and just hangs out either at the surface or the bottom. And the patchy cory just sits at the bottom, having a blossoming patch on the other side of his body as well. All does not look too good, I have to say. Only the juvenile and child platies are as active as usual.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi,
If you are concerned about the white patch, you might drop
a PM to LHG or Caili with a picture and see what they have
to say about it. I don't think they frequent this forum
very often and might pass over your concerns.
Frank


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