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APC, for some reason, is not really what I am after. I find that people there are somewhat strange, to some degree arrogant, and it takes forever to get a constructive response

Oops sorry I asked Well the two sites are completely different that's for sure. I don't even consider it the same hobby. This site of course is much more about fish or at most growing plants, while at APC it's more about using those fish and plants in an artistic expression of nature. I guess it depends what your looking for. I have grown to really like the APC website and the information sharing of so many very dedicated planted tank enthusiasts is really unparalled IMO.

Plus you don't have to be a paying member to show some pics.

EDIT: Doesn't your club have it's forum over at APC?

My Scapes

... while at APC it's more about using those fish and plants in an artistic expression of nature ... I have grown to really like the APC website and the information sharing of so many very dedicated planted tank enthusiasts is really unparalled IMO.

OMG - they have brainwashed tetratech

I know that we have something like an "Announcement" and "Sales" section in the Planted Tank Forum (actually one of our guys is a Mod there), but I don't know about having our own block at APC, maybe I should ask or even better - go on the site and look for it. Without a doubt, quite a few of our members frequent APC and probably are well known there.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

OMG - they have brainwashed tetratech

Isn't this your club's forum
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-jersey-aquatic-gardeners-club/



My Scapes

I'ma go ahead and jump in on LFs side here. APC isn't for me.

And about paying......it's 1.50 a month. I'm sure that's a pittance for anyone living in or around NYC.

But back on track....MH for HC? Are we just talking about penetration....or actual intensity? Cause PCs penetrate just fine to the bottom of my relatively short tank. Hearing that made me plug back in the second 96w bulb on my 50g tank. I've still had it off since I left for vacation.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Well, I guess it's good that there are all sorts of different sites, to suit the needs of various posters. I may have a bit of a sticky beak at the APC site, but it does sound like the expertise of the members will be above me. I have enough trouble keeping up & following you guys here . Don't get me wrong, I love my plants and need to keep learning about them. I love looking at all the beautiful planted tanks that all you guys create, but equally, I love Ingo's fish pictures and I love reading about the fish in the tank.

Even though this tank of Ingo's here is really about the plants, I like hearing about his resident drug addict & other occupants - more so that I do reading the random posts. I get to know Ingo's fish, just a bit, by his pics & his little bits of narrative about them.

I love my own fish too - particularly my apistos. When they have fry, I could sit & watch them for ages.

tetratech, I hope you don't vacate this site for good in favour of APC. You've helped a lot over the time of my membership & your input would be missed.

Cheers
TW

I think tetratech appreciates the intensity with which the folks over there are working towards the higher goals of the hobby. I very often get the impression though that "lighten up guys" would be a proper reminder to all involved that this is just a hobby. Although, on the other hand, some of the guys there depend on this hobby as it is their business.

Anyway, to move on with other stuff:

Isn't this your club's forum --> yeah, indeed it is, I guess we are all over the place as well. So one can see the summary of our meetings at APC then. If you wish to see more details of our meetings then you should go to our site directly and look at the events section. There are quite a few ugly mug shots of me (and my balding head, LOL).

Matty - you may not remember this, or you may have never known this, but by now I have 96w plus 65w over the 40G, and even that in itself is not enough for the HC to explode. hey, in addition, I heard in my club forum that HC grows really fast, when EMERSED. Maybe it would be worthwhile culturing it emersed first until one has a large amount and then planting it in the tank, who cares how fast it grows then in the tank? The only thing that would be needed to be figured out is "what does it do during the acclimatization process?"

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I think tetratech appreciates the intensity with which the folks over there are working towards the higher goals of the hobby. I very often get the impression though that "lighten up guys" would be a proper reminder to all involved that this is just a hobby. Although, on the other hand, some of the guys there depend on this hobby as it is their business.

I think that is is very accurate as well. But like most things in life, the population falls into a bell curve, where you have some extremists on one end who might appear as LF describes, but most are in the middle of the bell and don't have as much experience as you think.



My Scapes

Ingo,

I don't know if I'd say AS would necessarily make your HC grow. The big thing IME is CO2 - lots of it. Without it there's no point even trying. I started out a 2.5G with a few clumps of HC and now the bottom is completely covered. For a while it was stagnant, then added co2 and it took off. Granted, it does seem to enjoy the AS, but I really think you can substitute "AS" with "enriched substrate of your choice"

As for APC, it's different than this place. There are lots of serious 'scapers over there and you can learn a ton just by reading what they write and looking at their scapes. The worst thing about APC IMO is that the more time I spend browsing over there, the more I feel the urge to buy ADA products I mean, lots of people there spend $$$ on custom rimless tanks, high tech lighting etc. I'll admit, it's easy to get envious of all that, and at least for me anyway, I start to think "it's so gorgeous, maybe I should look into that too..." Makes me lose sight of doing things my own way and finding my own way, which is part of the fun of the hobby in the first place

Nevertheless, I'll keep reading and lurking there because there's so much useful info to go around. I'm sure it's more fun posting there if you're talented enough to roll with the big boys, but I'm not quite comfortable with it yet.

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Back in the saddle!

Weekly Tank Update - Week 52

Well this weeks update is a little different, a series of 13 ( lucky number? ) shots, celebrating:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANK

Yup, today a year ago I set up this tank, so without too much rambling, here is the first shot, taken right after the setup was completed. As you can see, only fast growers are in the tank:

Attached Image:

Week 0

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

3 weeks later, the fast growers did what they do best, namely grow fast. By then the tank had seen some trimmings and the addition of Otos (all still there, btw).

Without a doubt, having only fast growers to begin the tank sure helped settle it A LOT!!!

Attached Image:

Week 3

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Of course, this fast grower business could not go on forever, so here is a shot from week 7 showing the first attempt to plant the tank more permanent. Look at this lovely lawn of Micro Swords , the barteri that eventually outgrew even the 125G , and the small group of Nanas and Narrow Leaf Java Fern.

Attached Image:

Week 7

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

By week 11, the barteri had been replaced with the Bolbitis fern that is still in the tank today. I cannot even remember this plant ever being this small, kinda glad I made all these pictures just because of that.

Attached Image:

Week 11

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

By week 14 became fed up with the untidy and boooooring Micro Swords. I started to add more Blyxa and emptying out other areas to leave them open in the future. Also, a second order of Nanas came in, overall I think there were over 20 of them.

Attached Image:

Week 14

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

By week 20, pretty much all Micro Swords were out, some fast growers were added (hygro on tank left, for example) simply to keep the tank stable. As one may notice, the Bolbitis hasn't done much at this stage so far, it sure needs its time to settle.

Attached Image:

Week 20

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By week 24, the Bolbitis finally started to show some significant growth. The Narrow Leaf Java Fern on the right hill also started to kick into gear, it has received Needle Leaf Java Fern from the 125G in its center to make it appear fuller as well.

The fast growers in support a few weeks earlier had been removed again.

Attached Image:

Week 24

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Week 27 saw a continuation of that growth on both hills.

Actually, I forgot to mention that already in the last shot the newly added HC is visible in the opening of between the hills.

Attached Image:

Week 27

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

By week 33, both planted hills have reached a height and fullness that makes it hard to take pictures of the tank that show all areas in full light, shading of the opening between the hills became a small problem. In real life, the areas did get quite some light, it just didn't show that well in pictures anymore.

Attached Image:

Week 33

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Week 38 shows the problems mentioned in the last post even more clearly, I find the Java Fern hill in particular looks like a lettuce head

No plants on both hills though have yet caused a problem on the surface of the tank.

Attached Image:

Week 38

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

By week 42, the lighting on the tank had changed. In addition to the 96w PC, now being moved all the way to the front of the tank, a 65w PC that had been over the 20G had been added for the back of the tank.

The Bolbitis started to pierce the surface of the tank.

Attached Image:

Week 42

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By week 47, I had enough of the Blyxa, somehow I could not manage to keep it down (I know people with the same problems ) and the light addition made it look funky over time as well. So, all had to go.

In addition, and even more obvious, the Fern on the right hill got a major trim, acutally it caused the entire right hill to require a major redo, with sticks and everything.

Attached Image:

Week 47

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And finally, here is the tank from last night, week 52, not a very good shot for its birthday.

Overall, it has been a nice year with this tank, not one major crisis was there because of algae or something like that, except for the one day where the CO2 went crazy.

But, I think it has reached a point where it cannot be maintained easily much longer . The Bolbitis is simply too big for it now and something will have to happen to change that, meaning at least a major redo of the left hill. On the other hand, next years update would then look almost like a repetition of this year's, showing the bolbitis and fern grow tall again. How boring would that be?

Well, enough for now,

Have fun, and I hope you liked the review,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 52 - Now

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo , loved the review , the photo story makes it very easy to follow the development of the plants . I'll be very interested with what you do with the left side hill . btw there is nothing boring about you logs , the photos and commentry are always first class . Happy Birthday for the tank . I look forward to reading for another year
Garry

Ingo,

Looks so much better know with the Bolbitus dominating. Ideally if the left were alittle more centered, but it's good.

If I can be so bold, this tank could easily be made into one where the substrate in the front and middle is changed to sand. It would have great contrast with the dark wood. You could build up more rock along the inner and front edge of both islands holding back the eco and then simply siphon out the eco from the front and middle with a hose. If the eco hold you can than fill with sand, if not adjust the rocks some more. This would give you a makeover without totally making over the tank. Sort of what I did for my 72g.

My Scapes

Just wanted to comment on the HC again. It looked like it was in full light at week 27, then started to get shaded out until your recent trimmings. This is just what I see in the pics, but the HC seemed to grow for you for a few weeks, then die back as it got shaded. Could just be the magic of time lapse though.

Neat summary LF. I think my 50's B-day is coming up. Its summary wouldn't be as interesting as yours though.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I think my 50's B-day is coming up.

Wow Matty, I had no idea that you are already that old

Anyway, thanks guys for the input

Garry - It is not so much that I find my logs boring (although I would stop them if people stop caring about my ramblings), it is more that a tank that only needs trimming to continue to look the same is boring to me. I have a limited space available for tanks, and as such I increase my number of tanks by redoing them. In this faulty math, I already had at least 10 tanks, if not way more.

tetratech - I think the big challenge when trying to implement your suggestions (and believe me, I like them and I have thought about such changes as well) is the middle section of the tank. It is not "stoned" up at all, Anubias are planted in the Eco, it is hard to access without having the hills collapse, and so forth.

Matty - granted, the area of the HC has not received the high light that it gets since the last trimming, but the images are misleading. This is a trick that the camera plays on you. In order to avoid enormous overexposure of the areas on top the camera made all other areas look really dark, much darker than in real life. BTW, we happen to have an HC expert at our NJAGC, I think you may have seen his time lapse video of HC growing for 6 days. His take on successful growth is a) light and b) Excel (not CO2). I find that interesting.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

tetratech - I think the big challenge when trying to implement your suggestions (and believe me, I like them and I have thought about such changes as well) is the middle section of the tank. It is not "stoned" up at all, Anubias are planted in the Eco, it is hard to access without having the hills collapse, and so forth.

You can do it! You just have to get big rocks and...

Place rock, push, siphon, place rock, push, siphon.

My Scapes

Weekly Tank Updates - Week 53

Well, the tank had been pretty much neglected this week, all concerns where on the tannins in the 125G (read that log for details) and eventually this tank got involved in that issue (more later).

Here is a full tank shot:

Attached Image:

Week 53

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

As you can see, there are a few new plants in this tank, they are the cubans that I am making a last ditch rescue effort for by planting the tops in the bright light areas. This angle reveals that there are a few tiny ones in dead center of the tank as well.

Attached Image:

Angled

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

As the cubans are in bad shape, I don't really expect them to take off here, it is rather a wishful thinking thing. As soon as I added them into the tank, as in having them float until I was done with the 125G maintenance, the Amanos were all over them, not a sign of a healthy plant. Here are two Amanos on the floating stems:

Attached Image:

Floaters being eaten

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The same continued one the plants were planted, here are more Amanos muching away.

Hey - doesn't it remind you of bees collecting honey from flowers?

Attached Image:

Amanos Eating Cubans

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

SEE PREVIOUS PAGE FOR FULL TANK AND HOW THE CUBANS GOT HERE

Here is a closer look at the Cuban line-up on the right tank side. All stems are really short now, I tried to trim off as much old growth as possible. The tallest stem is maybe 4 inches.


Attached Image:

Cubans Lined Up

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Here is another look at the cubans (with an unfocussed Amano on top of one of them) and the HC, taken straight from above. Under non-maintenance conditions this shot is not possible as the light is sitting right up there.

Attached Image:

Top Shot

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The HC has grown a little this week, at least that is what I tell myself

Here is a slightly-out-of-focus shot showing it from the side of the tank. You can see the little green dots coming up here and there, I assume there is an underground connection between the groups.

Attached Image:

HC

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And with all this Amano here and Amano there, I still have some Cherries, or at least one. Actually, once this week I saw two at once.

Here is one on the Bolbitis:

Attached Image:

Cherry

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Speaking of Bolbitis:

That plant is becoming a problem. Its new growth is waaay to large for this tank, the individal leaves on the stems don't even start to open up within the water column. This weekend I had to trim off 5 strong stems that were pushing against the top glass. Open top is not an option these days though, I would damage the light (help may be coming soon though).


Here is a stem that grew out of the small open area that I have there for feeding fish and adding ferts during the week.

And that is it for now,

Have fun, thanks for watching,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Bolbitis on the Run

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Tanks looks very nice, despite the issues with the Cubans.

Open top is not an option these days though, I would damage the light (help may be coming soon though).

In terms of what, a new light? BTW I plan on running my 46g with the 192watt coralife without a glass top. I don't think it will be a problem if it's raised up on the mounting legs.

P.S. Happy Father's Day

My Scapes

Your non-glass top thing may work, or it may not . One thing seems certain though, without a top you will have quite a bit of evaporation. The 40G managed to evaporate about 2 inches (depending on surrounding humidity in the air) within 7 days, to the point where the spray bar was almost exposed. I have a shot of my setup from a while back on page 4 in this log, you can see the small glass plate that I had under the light unit. In the morning, that glass was full of drops (under side, of course).

Anyway, yeah, I am thinking of a new light, but not before the end of August, maybe.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Your non-glass top thing may work, or it may not . One thing seems certain though, without a top you will have quite a bit of evaporation. The 40G managed to evaporate about 2 inches (depending on surrounding humidity in the air) within 7 days, to the point where the spray bar was almost exposed. I have a shot of my setup from a while back on page 4 in this log, you can see the small glass plate that I had under the light unit. In the morning, that glass was full of drops (under side, of course).

Well you just made me think of an advantage other than looks for the lily pipe. The large size of the funnel allows it to be way under the water line. The water returns back to the tank through the bottom part of the funnel. Since the co2 can be located below the funnel it sprays the co2 throughout the tank and their is little surface break caused by the funnel. In other words it would take alot of evaporation, before the funnel bottom was exposed. Of course if you want to raise the funnel higher to remove surface scum that can be done as well.

My Scapes

Yeah,

The high tech guy in our club adjusted the pipe return level when he had a crisis once, that's how I know that this is a feature,

Can't wait to see that log, I just hope that you don't let us hang until all is already established

Ingo

Oh yeah, Happy Father's Day to you as well. Turns out to be more of a Children's day as I could not resist and gave mine a Nintendo DS. Now I have to read all the in-game instructions for them

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Can't wait to see that log, I just hope that you don't let us hang until all is already established

I guess I'll have to decide what I'm gonna do. Got the rep and all now

The high tech guy in our club adjusted the pipe return level when he had a crisis once, that's how I know that this is a feature

What was the crisis?

Oh yeah, Happy Father's Day to you as well. Turns out to be more of a Children's day as I could not resist and gave mine a Nintendo DS. Now I have to read all the in-game instructions for them

Yeah I spent my Father's Day mowing the lawn doing alittle emersed scaping and taking my kid to soccer training. I feel for you with the DS, you mean your kids don't want a Wii got up for in the morning last December to wait in line and get a Wii for them.

My Scapes

Got the rep and all now

The terrors of being famous

What was the crisis?

He switched over to mostly RO water and in order to boost his calcium he used some stuff that is often used in Marine tanks. He usually knows his chemistry much better than I do, but this time, a side component reacted with the water and created (most likely) an enormus biologial bloom. That in turn cause a major oxygen depletion in the tank, within half a day. By chance he saw the fish gasping in the middle of the night. He managed to get the Oxygen back up (raising the pipe) but too late for all Amanos.

you mean your kids don't want a Wii

They sure would want one, but I did such a rush ($$$) purchase on the PS2 and the original X-Box (both for myself, of course). Now I have the paitence to wait until the price is more "normal". But I almost bought one now. BTW, one night when we worked 36 hours straight (software release) I played WII tennis at 4 AM, that was fun

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo , I really like the way the Bolbitis looks now that you have reduced the right side of the tank .
Gives the tank that slightly unsymetrical look which I think is sensational . It would be a pity if it had to go .
Do the cubans stay that colour? Or will they green up ? I really don't like them the way they are maybe be just me
Good luck with the Nintendo , we got a Wii and they are fantastic ,my wife keeps beating me at tennis and I'm not even on the same page as my son

Garry

Here is another look at the cubans (with an unfocussed Amano on top of one of them) and the HC, taken straight from above. Under non-maintenance conditions this shot is not possible as the light is sitting right up there.

This confirms it! unshaded HC. LF was right all along. . Look at the explosion of growth you got from it. Looks like there was a continental divide though. I think the right group is headed east, watch out for minor tremors and liquid hot mag-ma.

Happy fathers day you geezers .

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Happy fathers day you geezers

The individual groups of HC have formed from individual plantings of the original small batch that I got.

Garry, the cubans are yellowish with a tint of orange/red when in good shape, a great alternative color in the background of a large tank, with green plants half way up in front of them, or in a street arrangement. This small picture from APC shows you a nicely colored up top.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Update - Week 54

Not much time to report anything, not much happened during this week anyway.

Here is the latest full tank shot:

Attached Image:

Tank 6/24/2007

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

As you may have noticed, the cubans are gone, they didn't do to well during this week (understatement) and I removed whatever was left.

Here is the battlefield:

Attached Image:

Bad Cubans

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And if you thought you noticed something different about the Bolbitis group then you were right. I pretty much ripped out a few rhizomes here and there, and before I knew it a bucket full was gone (5G bucket).

That's it for now,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Bolbitis

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo , thats a lot of fern you pulled out . It certainly didn't damage the look of the tank though .
Are you going to use the fern you took out in another tank?

Sorry to see the cubans were a bust . Got any ideas why they didn't work ?

Tank still looks brilliant

Garry

Ingo,

Tank is looking great! Still love this one. That is a ton of bolbitis fern. What are you going to do with it all?

Looks great!

Ditto what all the others say - tank still looks great (as ever).

Does your LFS give credit for plants? Otherwise, I recall from previous conversations you're not keen on bothering to sell on ebay.

Then again - you probably trade with your club when you can.

Cheers
TW

Wow! Even though you ripped out that much fern you still have a huge mass of it.

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

the shape of this tank has changed pretty significantly, from that "U" shape to more of a triangle now. it really works though, and I think it'll continue to work as long as it remains dense.

and congrats on the HC babies. in another 8 months you may have a carpet forming

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Back in the saddle!

Weekly Tank Update - Week 55

Not much time available to respond to your entries, just enough for an update and to read your other threads.

I could have posted last week's picture, the tank looks just the same,

The only special thing is that I havent seen the older Apisto female in a few days now (Matty's second).

That's it,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 55

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo , Sorry to hear about your Apisto female , hope she turns up .

Garry

Is it possible she is just gaurding a clutch of eggs deep in the plants?

Weekly Tank Update - Week 56

Not much happened during the week and the weekend saw the trimming of some additional Bolbitis leaves. A member of our club is currently doing away with his bolbitis as it had been trimmed so often (by removing sideshoot rhizomes) that the center portion does not procude enough new leaves to keep the group nice, maybe someday soon the same will apply to me.

To make my point a little clearer, this is what I deal with weekly:

Attached Image:

Bolbitis

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The female Apisto is back, I assume she must have been guarding some fry but as ususal this will not work out in this tank.

I also saw for the first time a female Amano carrying babies, this will of course also not work out.

Here is the tank in a Matty angle:

Attached Image:

Matty Angle

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The HC does not grow any further again and I also seem to see some disintegration.

Nothing else is to reporty right now,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Here is the tank in a Matty angle:

huh....wha? I'm here. I'm here.

Glad to see the female apisto is back. Lots of hiding spots in that tank.

I like the look of the tank in these shots. And to be honest I think I like it without a lot of ground cover.

Most people wouldn't complain about having too much bolbitus LF. I got lectured by a coworker today about complaining that I have too much HM. Made $10 today anyhow. Too bad you don't have an LFS to get $ or store credit. My plants generally sell like hotcakes....if that's a good thing . As I see it I'm making the store more money.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

I agree with Matty that this tank would look better with no ground cover. HC with all that Fern doesn't work well. I still think the this tank would look much better with a sand front and middle area. Build up both Islands with more rock showing, pour sand all around them and put some anubias,moss or whatever in between rocks and you'll have good contrast and more depth.

EDIT:

The HC does not grow any further again and I also seem to see some disintegration.

Are you trimming it? I have always found with most stems if you do some trimming it produces more growth.

My Scapes

Tank looks great. I think I contacted you about my bolbitis. It has finally taken hold and is now growing at a good rate. You have so much it looks great.

Why wont any apisto fry wont work out?

Tank looks amazing.

Why wont any apisto fry wont work out?

Perhaps it is a combination of:-

a) Water not soft enough for a large batch of fry to hatch. I've read that for the apisto eggs to hatch,the water must be really quite soft.
b) dad snacks on the fry

Glad the female's back. Yeah for the shrimpster baby. Finally saw one of these in real life the other day. So cute & tiny. Was advised not to get them though, due to my discus & apositos

Cheers
TW

Uh, lots of replies required here:

- Matty: Without a lot of ground cover, that was what tetratech was preaching since a long time, and I never listened. I could get some bucks at the LFS for my plants, but I am too lazy to even go there and ask. Maybe in one of the next months I will approach their plant guy (who I actually know rather well) on how such a "trade" could be arranged. Currently, that last thing I wanna do after a 4 hour maintenance routine is to drive to the LFS.

- tetratech: It is my honest conviction that it is just a matter of time until the Bolbitis is too large for the tank, in height and width. As such I am very hesitant to custom th layout around this plant. I need to have a better plan for the time after Bolbitis before I would go to any drastic step with regards to the design. Trimming the HC, no - I have never done that. I thought that the tiny amount that I have in there would do better if undisturbed.

- RNJ_Punk and Robyn: The fry does not work out for the reasons Robyn mentioned, plus the fact that except for once I cannot even see where the "nest" is as it can be in any of the 500 hiding spots in the tank. As such I would have to add huge amounts of fry food to the tank to assure they get something to eat. In addition, I have something like 15 Amanos in there and they would not hesitate to eat any fry they can find.

Thanks all for the interest and info,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yeah, I guess it's different. I HAVE to go to the LFS anyhow. Speaking of which, I gotta get to work. and then class. Won't be home for 14 hours. Now I know how you feel Ingo. To make things worse, they are going to start beating me in walk my plank.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Ingo, love that Fern it would be a shame if it had to go .
Wish I could find it over here , would look good in the future of my big tank .

Glad to hear about your Apisto female .

I really want to see what you do with this scape , there are so many possibilites all of which I find facinating .
Not least of which is Jeffs idea which sounds very interesting .

Oh well guess I'll just have to be patient and see where you take it.

Garry

tetratech: It is my honest conviction that it is just a matter of time until the Bolbitis is too large for the tank, in height and width

I hear ye! Another possibility is to remove the fern on the right completely and have just "Bob" positioned left off-center (which it pretty much is based on the way you trim) and have it cascade down to the right with more rock and than a few scattered pieces of rock all around. Sand or Eco would look fine with some moss cover rocks,etc., This way you could let Bob spread his wings alittle more. And we all know you have a special attachment to Bob anyway

My Scapes

Thanks guys for the input, time will tell what I am going to do about this tank.

In the meantime:

Weekly Tank Update - Week 57

This week has seen more trimming of the Bolbitis, some leaves were removed because they grew out of the water, some because they started to shade the HC again. Now that tetratech has it growing so successfully I have to take better care of mine .

Here is the full tank:

Attached Image:

Tank 7/14/2007

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is a closer look at the HC, now without a doubt in full light. I also dose about 3ml of Excel right over it during the water change as I have read that HC really likes Excel:

Attached Image:

HC

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The last shot for now is the tank from the back. The right side isn't really all that dark, but it for sure is not qualified to grow any light hungry plants. As you can see, the Bolbitis has created a huge umbrella over that area, making the tank not really surround anymore. Just one more reason to rethink this plant in this tank.

That's it for now,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Back Side

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I really love this tank ingo. Im hoping i can get my tank to look like that soon.

Shane

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

Thanks Shane, keep in mind that the tank is over one year old, so don't expect a natural growth too fast.

I have a few more pictures that I took today, just for the fun of it. First off, my biggest HC mountain

Attached Image:

HC Hill

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Next up, the female Apisto that was missing for a while but reappeared the other week. She looks pretty nice these days which for sure means that she wasn't sick or something when she was MIA. Must have been another breeding attempt.

Attached Image:

Female Apisto

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Last one, a female Amano. Not that I expect all these, or any of these, eggs to develop into little shrimpsters, but I found it cool that I got such a nice shot of it. It looks much clearer in the picture then when looking at the shrimp directly, that must be hundreds of eggs.

But I am not going to set up a salt water tank to hatch them.

That's it,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Amano With Eggs

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

nice pics, as usual, ingo. Great shrimp shot. Good news about the female showing up again.

Cheers
TW

The female apisto looks definitively slimmed down. Your water is pretty soft, right? I am assuming that the shrimpsters had some unexpected nutritious delicacies to pick from.

I admire your Bolbitis and would love to grow one myself but my water conditons are not to its liking. Your specimen is deserving of a tank of its own but its vigorous growth and dominance of the tank reminds a bit of "Audrey" in "The little shop of horrors", hope you take this comparison with a smile! Bolbitis fetches a good price in stores and getting the cut offs to the LFS the day after the harvest should not diminish its growth for the new owner and get you a nice store credit. Why not go for it?

Thanks Ladies for the input and comments

catdancer - nice comparison there for the Bolbitis . See, most of the time, my trimming is the cutting off of individual leaves and not the removal of an entire section of the rhizome. Only the latter would conclude in a sellable piece for the LFS. But, such a removal would mean that I seriously have to mess with that hill as Bolbitis attaches itself to wood really strongly. I only had the nerve to do this once so far, and then I didn't feel like spending the extra time with the trade stuff at the LFS (as, for example, the plant guy may not be in at the weekends and I may have to store the plants untils some evening during the week and so forth).

Thanks again,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And we all know you have a special attachment to Bob anyway

Ingo , you have names for your plants Ah well each to his own .
That is a seriously small but very healthy looking bunch of HC.
Have you worked out why it hasn't spread yet , or is that a delicate question
Great shot of the Shrimp , I did not know they only hatch in salt water .
I thought Tetra had some hatch in one of his tanks ????

Anyway , tank looks fantastic as always .

Garry

Ingo , you have names for your plants Ah well each to his own .

Yeah, whatever turns you on.

As far as the shrimp, I have cherry shrimp babies that breed quite easily in freshwater, but from what I understand about Amanos is that the adults live in fresh water in nature, but the eggs are carried down from higher elevation to salter waters where they hatch and then the make their way to fresh water again as adults or something like that.

My Scapes

Garry,

I have no idea where tetratech came up with the Bob-thing, but I thought I will play along, if it makes him happy

I assume that the HC is not doing sooo great because it is not getting enough light and because the substrate is not as full of goodies as tetratech's ADA substrate.

And tetratech is pretty right about the Amanos. I think there are basically two kinds of shrimp, one where the eggs turn into little shrimp directly and one where they go through a larvae stage first. The first group can be bread in freshwater just fine, like cherry and glass shrimp. The second group cannot, like Amanos.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo

Didnt i hear you wanted rid of those pesky amano's??? hehe Ill take em off ya hands for my planted tanks hehe

Shane

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

Shane,

Well, I did not want to get rid of them, what you have read must have been in reference to my 20G QT tank as I at some point had about 30 of them in there for QT purposes (and until I knew where they will end up).

Ever since then I added about 8 to this tank and 10 to the 125G. Now, with about 12 remaining in the QT things are better, but they soon will be moved to the 125G as well, I justed waited with that to see if the first batch added there will survive (because of the Apistos and Rainbows) and I can still see about 3 of them once in a while.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Update - Week 58

Well, I don't have much time and as such it comes in handy that there is not much to report about this tank anyway. I did the weekly water change, and that was it, LOL.

Otherwise, all is the same,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 58

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Update - Week 59

I take the non-existence of entries in this log as a sign that you feel about it the same I do, it might be nice, but over time boring.

Nothing happened this week again, except work. Today, after the water change, I started to see hundreds of Amano larvae in the tank, tiny little critters floating and jerking about. The male apisto ate some, but there are loads of them. Again, I know none will survive, no need to point that out.

Here is the tank,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Tank Now - 7/29/2007

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Looks good LF, how're my ladies?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Take down that tank, its making me look bad . But seriously nice job keep up the good work!

Ingo , No I for one am not bored . I'm just waiting for you to suprise with your next move with this tank.
You given lots of hints but you are obviously too busy with work to get to and plan your next moves .

Waiting expectantly.
Garry

Interesting about your Amanos. I am guessing at that point you could put them strait into saltwater. Not that you are going to but you could if you wanted. At least that is what I thought I read about them.

I don't think your thread is boring. I think we are all just busy at the moment. I know I am!

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

I'm getting worried that "Bob" ate Ingo

My Scapes

Ingo

Sorry i havent replied, i have been moving and have barely replied in my own logs. lol. Anyways I love the tank, i was gonna take the amanos off ya hands if ya didnt want them. hehe

Anyways I cant wait for new pics and what you are gonna do next with this tank

Shane

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

No Tetratech, Bob - whoever that is - didn't eat me

I am just very busy. For that reason, the update even had to wait until today.

Thanks all for the input

Weekly Tank Update - Week 60

Not much happened, I cannot see the second of Matty's females again for a week now, and the young female doesn't look to good either. And that is all that is there to say,

Here is the tank,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 60

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo , Life does get in the road from time to time .
I'm sure you will find time to look after Bob soon .
Tank as always looks great .
Garry

Weekly Tank Update - Week 62

Have been in the home country for 2 weeks, tank looks the same as before though, .

Not much happened in the tank at all, a big bore.

Attached Image:

Full Tank

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

The only thing nice is the slightly larger HC area, tetratech would be proud of my growing success, .

That's it for now,

Ingo

Attached Image:

HC

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hey Ingo

I look at this way. Something is better than nothing. Your tanks are never a bore btw.

Shane

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

Ha the HC spreads , very interesting .
Maybe it's just a matter of time and Patience .
Thats not boring its facinating .

Garry

LF,

The HC is looking quite a bit better. Maybe it just takes forever to settle in.

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

Hey LF, if you had a tank with the dimensions of your average ashtray you'd have a nice lush HC carpet.

But seriously, as Johnny Cash would say, that HC is in good shape for the shape it's in. Nice and clean.

Not sure where you stand on this, but are you getting to the point at all where the 4 tanks are too much to concentrate on? You seem to be a bit bored with the 40G, and the 29 and 20 are low tech so change is very incremental. Just curious about your 'mental state' with the tanks, 4 is a lot and some burnout is understandable.

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Back in the saddle!

Hey Ingo, as usual everything is beautiful in your tank. I'm sure the missing female apisto will turn up (she usually does) but sorry to hear the smaller one isn't looking so great.

That's an interesting comment NowherMan6 made about whether 4 tanks are too much to concentrate on & I'm interested to hear what you think on that?

Hope the home country was lots of fun for you

Cheers
TW

I agree. I'll be getting rid of two of my setups here soon. Too much work right now. Looks like it will be the 5.5 shrimp tank fw planted and I'll move the reef tank into the 50.

Sorry to hijack. I hope the trip was nice. You deserved a break. The tank looks great as always.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Guys and Gals,

Yes, you are right, I sure have these burnouts once in a while, and currently I am getting over a big one.

Having had no opportunity to "update" my tanks for a few months now, given the knowledge that I will go on vacation and didn't want to leave any tank in an unsettled way, the great boredom with the only tasks being maintenance, feeding, and ferting, was (and still is) making me think of either cutting back, or changing the high techs to low techs, or whatever along these lines.

Probably for the same reason I cut back on my participation in all forums that I am a member of, mostly here and the NJAGC. Yes, I had much to do at work as well, but I could have tried harder to participate in other threads.

Overall, my thoughts about the tanks are somewhat like this these days:

125G: Looks ok, but needs major changes to make the new scape really work. That was planned anyway, but had to wait until I was back from vacation. Too many similar plants in there right now, almost all would be fine in a low tech setting.

40G: Needs a major redo, the Bolbitis is way too big and the Narrow Leaf Fern is too boring. This will be a major act and I don't have the energy yet for it. BTW, a Tek light with 4x35w is on the way to me.

29G: Will get a major redo soon, probably within the next few weeks, but will stay most likely low tech. For this tank I am pretty much done with a vision for layout, just the final plant selection (being most likely a limitation of the current plants in the tank) is still in question, all scape material is already in the house. Also, I have by now way too many platies in there.

20G: Albeit people say it is conceptually the best of my tanks (iwagumayumi), I am also bored with it. That is an easy tank to change, but I probably will re-invent it as a QT again, my school of Espei in the 125G is becoming rather small now as fish keep dying (most likely of old age) and I will add some other schooling fish at some point.

So here you have my thoughts, in short at least.

Thanks,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yes, you are right, I sure have these burnouts once in a while, and currently I am getting over a big one.

My solution to multiple tank burnout is to have each tank with a completely different focus. Wouldn't work for you, as I recall reading you wouldn't consider a non-planted tank. But I'm the opposite. I might get chased off the Planted Forum here, but must say I would be bored with 3 tanks where plants were the main focus in each. Two of my new tanks will be planted, but only in one will the plants be the focus (even then plants will share the limelight with my discus). The other planted tank will have C02 (bought another set on ebay, so may as well use it) but it's focus will be as a divided tank, with an apisto pair on either side that I hope to breed. The 3rd tank will be an African Cichlid tank, completely different with no plants.

Because for me the fish are equally important as the plants/scape, just their presence keeps me interested. Too big for you I know, Little_Fish, but I am in love with my discus & they are spoilt rotten. They threaten the ongoing existence of the African Tank. I'm determined to do the African Tank, but if it doesn't last, it will be the fault of discus.

Narrow Leaf Fern is too boring

You wouldn't say that if you lived here. Never seen it or Needle Leaf Java Fern either. I'm so excited, as I bought a bunch of each from an ebay seller in Thailand, who says he sends to Aus. Still waiting & I hope it survives the trip.

I hope you find your own solution to the boredom Ingo. Sorry to take up too much room in log.

Looking forward to seeing the changes you mention.

Cheers
TW

Yes, you are right, I sure have these burnouts once in a while, and currently I am getting over a big one.

If your having a tag sale let me know!

My Scapes

Me too!

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

Ingo , After all the dedication you've put into your logs over the last couple of years,
I'm sure there are times you think why am I doing this . You have your own reasons
and motivations but I simply wanted to say from myself and from a lot of others here at FP :
Thanks , you have helped, entertained , informed and given me pause for thought on so many occasions .
Your fantastic Tanks and your wonderfull logs are an inspiration.
This place is much poorer in your absense .

I hope you rediscover your desire & enjoyment soon .
I'm sure its only one major "Ingo Style " redo away .

Regards

Garry

My cure for aquarium burnout:

Have a non-fish person come to your home.

Show off tanks.

Watch as their jaw drops to the floor.

From your pictures, it looks like you'll have no problem with the third part. If you're like me it'll help. I hope with whatever you do you have at least as good luck as you've had with your plants! And ditto what tetratech said about the tag sale!

><>

Ingo, Your tanks are what made me want to start a planted tank. Please dont give up as we all enjoy your beautiful tanks

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

Don't worry folks, or maybe I should say "don't be disappointed" as there will be no tag sale

As you all probably know, as long as we are not too full of ourselves we are our own worst critic. It doesn't help me if others find my tanks nice as long as I don't think they are. With this I don't mean to say my tanks are bad, I mean this as a general statement. I guess I am in a philosophical mood

The Tek light for this tank arrived yesterday, sadly enough with 2 wrong bulbs, 15,000K

I tested the other 2 bulbs, which also were not what I ordered (6,000K) but actually 6,500K - a better value. And what can I say, that is some bright light

Currently I have no idea on how to affix the unit, I thought of hanging it but there are ceiling issues to consider, more to this maybe later.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo, Just good to see you online , Mate . Sorry the lights were not what you ordered .
15000 thats some light . Should give it a try see what happens

Garry

If you can't get those 15K bulbs replaced, please send them my way lol. Although I still have about 8 months to a year before I have to replace my bulbs. T5s last forever. I think you'll really love them if they aren't too much light.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks Garry and Matty,

Garry, the problem with the 15,000K is not the intensity but the temperature (not heat, but K), a really wrong spectrum for plants.

I agree Matty, that is quite some light. I tested the 2 6,500K bulbs yesterday and boy-oh-boy, that was bright.

I am planning on using mostly 2 bulbs (on the outsides) and only the second set for midday, starting with an hour or two.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I spent the weekend at the beach, so the water change was today:

Weekly Tank Update - Week 63

Nothing new on the tank, saw one of the females and she looked pretty bad, then she went back into hiding.

Tek light is still missing two bulbs and I have to define how I would like to affix it in the first place.

Here is the tank,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 63

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Update - Week 64

The better light K range bulbs for this tank are ordered, and I also have to think about how to affix it to the tank (the Tek light, that is).

Nothing new inside the tank though. Here is the tank this week with the male Apisto over the HC. The females all are MIA since quite a while.

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 64

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Wow ingo, that bolbitis is getting rather large, any plans for a trimming on that? Also what kind of range are you talking about for the bubls and how will you have to change the fittings to accomodate the changes?

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

fishmonster,

The new range is either 10,000 or 11,000 K, not sure which ones were ordered for me.

I meant to say that I need to figure out how to "hook" the Tek Unit to the ceiling or some form of stand.

Weekly Tank Update - Week 65

The tank has seen little maintenance this week, next week I may cut off some Bolbitis rhizomes to trim the group back and to bring it to our NJAGC meeting for trading.

Here is the tank,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Update - Week 66

I don't have much time, but here is a quick shot of the tank. Not much has changed, I just trimmed the Bolbitis a little to bring some parts to the NJAGC meeting yesterday.

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 66

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF,

The tank seems much brighter. Are you still running the old light or do you have the new one up? Maybe it was just the trim. We would all like to see pictures of how you end up hanging it.

How are the fish doing in this tank?

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

Yeah i agree with wings, did you get your new lights? how are the fish doing? Is it this tank that also has the shrimp?

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

Hanging lights would make maintenance easier, although I don't think hubby would allow the holes in the ceiling. Would like to see the pics of how you've done it though. Tank is looking very nice & healthy.

Cheers
TW

Hi,
I'm not so sure that hanging lights make anything easier.
One generally bumps head on them, or smacks a hand or
elbow on them while doing maintenance. To avoid that one
sometimes hangs them higher, but that lessens the intensity
of the light on the tank and widens the "footprint" of the
light.

Frank


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

Weekly Tank Update - Week 67

Not much happened during the week for this tank, but I managed to give the Bolbitis a larger trim than usual. It was basically a removal of rhizomes that have grown closer to the middle of the tank.

Here is the tank after the water change:

Attached Image:

Week 67

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

That was yesterday and today I finally found the time to hang up the new Tek Light. Not really a "job-well-done" as it was rather sloppy DIY just to see it in action.

That should answer all the questions between this series and last weeks update.

Thanks folks for showing interest!

As you can see here, the image is a little green. That is because I only run the 2 6,500K bulbs in this shot.

Attached Image:

With 6,500K lights on

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

You can also see that I don't require any additional lighting in the room anymore as the unit shines about everywhere. This is why you see the wall behind it soo much better now.

Here is the tank with the 10,000K bulbs turned on as well, you may note that it is a little bluer in the coloration. The camera compensates for the extra light so you cannot really see the brightness increase.

Attached Image:

With All Lights On

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Now I wanna see the HC take off, just like it did in tetratech's tank,

Last but not least, a shot of the setup including the new light unit.

That's it, have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Full Setup

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

It's pretty bright huh? What do you think, 2-3 X as bright as pc watt for watt?

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Ingo,

Thats a great looking setup my friend, love the light and the way you have your filters. How did you fit the filter pipes in the tank like that if you dont mind me asking?

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

Now I wanna see the HC take off, just like it did in tetratech's tank,

I like the light, but why on this tank? Isn't "Bob" going to go ballastic. Your so busy you might not look at your tank for a few days and you'll come home and find Bob has taken over the basement.

My Scapes