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SheKoi,

It will be interesting to see what the hair grass will turn into when "grown up" and acclimated to submersed growth.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hmm, I'm a little worried about the hairgrass. For most grass plants - or hell, most plants in general - when you cut the leaf in half the leaf usually dies. Think of vals and tenellus, sags - if you want to remove a leaf you pull it out from the base, you don't cut it in half because the leaf will die and rot. I'm wondering if this will happen to every blade of your hairgrass since you just snipped them all in half, like a barber cutting hair. I hope not, but keep an eye out

As for the balansae, it does look quite broad but the leaf texture looks right. Give it time

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Back in the saddle!

I actually thought (and still do) that you trim hairgrass by cutting it shorter, just like a lawn. Grass in the yard doesn't die when you cut it, does it?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I actually thought (and still do) that you trim hairgrass by cutting it shorter, just like a lawn. Grass in the yard doesn't die when you cut it, does it?

I stand completely corrected then. I didn't know it was like lawn grass, just cut the blade and it grows back. I was thinking of how awful vals tenellus and sags look when you just chop a leaf in half, didn't want shekoi to deal with all that

Thanks for the info, LF - that's good to know

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Back in the saddle!

Hey, I don't know that for fact NowherMan6.

I am just thinking that this would be the case.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yes you do trim hairgrass like a lawn. That pic above looks more like giant hairgrass cut down than dwarf.



My Scapes

most true grasses grow from the the base/root of the plant no the tip, so they can be trimmed like lawn grass - heres hoping anyway.



i've cut of the tips of my wisteria and planted them infront of the bogwood - which has been moved further back to help blend it in.



www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

day 1


day 15



www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

SheKoi,

Looking nice

The driftwood further back with plants in front and around it looks much better, IMHO, than before. I also notice nice growth in the tank. Overall, I find that the driftwood creates a nice balance to the large plant on the left and I seem to identify the area just to the right of that plant as a focus point (at least it could be one).

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I've cut of the tips of my wisteria and planted them infront of the bogwood

If I've influenced these young hobbyists in the use of wisteria as a carpet plant my life finally has some meaning. I think I'm going to cry

My Scapes

wisteria is doing great,

the 'Dwarf' hair grass is growing like mad, its doubled in size in some places - so it's a good guess thats it's not dwarf, so it will have to be moved further back.

leaves more room for tetras beloved wisteria



www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

SheKoi,

That's good news

Keep the dwarf hair grass if you can as I would like to see what it will become

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Shekoi,
I'd like to see a pic asap. Glad the wisteria is growing well.


My Scapes

i'm going to keep the grass i've moved it to the right hand side of the tank.

on the picture which isn't very good you can see the top of the grass near the otto, it's grown about 3-4 inches.



all the other plants growing well to, this is a picture of the criptus (spelling) it had to leaves and was about 1.5 inches in height when delieved last week now reaches near the surface, leaves opened out today for firs time.





www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

trimming plants.

some of my plants have grown huge - mainly the vals, how do i trim my plants, but still leave them looking natural.




www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

SheKoi,

Trimming Vals is a similar problem than trimming Crypt Retrospiralis, my super tall plant. The solution is to trim the whole leaf way at the bottom. Or, take out the entire plant, separate any young plantlet that might be attached to it, replant that one, and dispose of the main plant. What Vals are this again?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Cheers LF

i've got many different Vals.

why can't it be cut like grass, just take the tops of them?

different question now- as i havbe 4 tubes over the tank, is there a problem with having only two on most of the day and having all four on for say 3-4hours a day?

Karl

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Karl,

Reminde me again, how strong are these tubes?

I have 4 over my big tank as well, and I only turn on the second half for about 3 hours midday. Half the light gives me 1.5wpg, but remember - the smaller the tank the higher the wpg should be to achieve the same effect.

If you cut the vals like grass then:

a) the lower half of the leaf that is still attached will die, from the cut downwards
b) it looks really ugly

Bob and I discussed this a few pages back in my log when I asked about trimming Crypt Retrospiralis.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LF the bulbs are 39W each, giving total just over 2WPG.

i'll see what i can do with the vals then, might have to remove them, they are starting to shade all the other plants.

got any idea for a plant that grows tall about 15 inches plus, doesn't need much or any substrate and can grow in about 1.5wpg?

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Right then update.

i've been very busy in last few weeks, with my final year project, which is know complete!

so it's time to catch up on the tank, because apart from water changes i've done nothing.

all the plants have grown crazy, i've just removed about 100cm leaves off my vals. i've also removed the java fern from the lefthand side, this has now been broken up and added to my 40g low light tank.

i've removed the RTS and exchanged him at LFS becasue he become to aggressive, stressing all the fish. i loved that little guy, wll be sadly missed.

this does leave room for 2 male rainbows and maybe couple more females, i also want 5 more ottos as i've got a real problem with hair algae, it covers every leave in the tank. my ottos are trying their best all are very fat.

i also removed my clown pleco he is now living it up in my 40g. several reasons for removal
1) never saw him
2) created lots waste which help nothing but the algae
3) removed most of the bogwood which he eats into 40G so he went with it.

i've spread out some of the plants because they were crowding each other, i now have areas that are a bit bare. any suggestions for some nice plants, maybe red colours?

2.2wpg, plants no bigger the 15inches tall for middle of tank.

i'll post pictures later, as friend has my camera at the momment.

Karl

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Update 30/3/06

algae still going mad - going to get some excel will this help?

brought 2 male neon dwarfs, just been added to the main tank - been in a total of 10 minutes and they are already chasing the females who are twice their size. the colours have really come out, can just being added to mature females do this?

still can't get hold of anymore ottos? how many in total can i have? the more i fit in the better the algae should be managed? might even add some shrimp?

stock at moment
1 angel
3 ottos
6 neon rainbows
6 glowlights
5 cories
12 H. Rasbora

also brought some small grases today (max 2.5 inches tall) - look like dwarf sag but can't be sure, brought three bunches, got about 23 smalls plants out of it, so now the front of tank is nice and full.

i'll post pictures soon as, camera still out on loan, project work or something!

vals still growing like mad, must be growing 1-2 inches a day?

Karl.

ps - the dwarf hair grasses i order that were delievered at about 8 inches long have gone brown and dying off - most not have liked being cut down.

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Hi shekoi,

without pics it's ahrd to tell, but instinct tells me that with that amount of light without CO2 is the problem...

also, are you doing any fert dosing besides the regular fert mix? I.E. are you adding any Excel, nitrate etc?

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Back in the saddle!

adding nothing but the fert mix, i've started a diy co2 reactor to get some co2 into the tank, i've also ordered some excel, which i'll use along side the diy kit for now!

should this help?

i'll post pics as soon as i can.

cheers shekoi

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

The Excel will help with plant growth, not necessarily the algae. To start getting rid of it, remove affected leaves and wipe it off any hard object you can.

As for ferts, a dosing regimen should be taken up, but maybe scaled back to reflect the lack of C. 1/4 teaspoon KNO3 3 times per week sound sreasonable to me, unless those with more EI experience think otherwise.

As for your spot algae, dosing P should take care of that. maybe 1-2 mls per week?

It's hard to say without the constant supply of CO2

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Back in the saddle!

diy co2 working a treat, the plants are bubbling away like mad.

i've added 5 more ottos, taking stock up to 8, they look slightly different from the first three i had. could be due to just being transfered, and not eaten well in LFS

i've also added some excel to both my tanks, and even the java ferns in my 40G are bubbling away under 1.5wpg?

a new LFS near me had a large bunch of java moss for sale so i've added some to both tanks - it finishes the bogwood of really well.

i've cut away most of the affected leaves, tank looks much cleaner, hope algae doesn't come back now adding some co2 and the new ottos.

Cheers Karl.

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Added a second Diy co2 bottle today, the addition of co2 and excel has caused massive growth lately. algae is still around, can't tell if getting any new out breaks.


This is the tank today.


this is how it was in early Feb


www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Nice Karl

It's getting pretty full by now .

About that one fine leaved plant that you have in 3 positions in the back there - What did you say it is? I would think either Ambulia or Cabomba, right? What happened to the large Java Fern on the left?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

i can't remember off hand what it is, it grows like mad, the middle one is the one i brought the rest are cuttings.

if you have a look in the photo booth i've just posted picture of my new look 40G it will answer your question about the java fern.

cheers Karl

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

i've just moved the bristlenose from my 40g into the 70g.

hopefully he will eat all the alage i have and not damage the plants.



www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Karl,

Yeah, now I know what you did with the fern. Were all these ferns in the 40 derived of that one in this tank?

About the BN, yeah, he may eat some algae, but he also will poop a lot . More work for you to keep the tank clean

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

i don't mind doing the cleaning more - have to do it in 40G so makes no different, just want the algae gone.

will the bristlenose affect the ottos?

most of the ferns are from the same plant, i broke it up and reattached it in the 40G, i also got a bit out of my 20G. i'm hoping it spreads out and fills the tank with java fern.

would adding co2 to a low light tank help much? the 40G is only 1.5wpg, java fern looks ok, just wondering if co2 would help it grow more,

at the moment i'm adding excel!

shekoi

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

I believe your BN will be just fine with the Otos. If I remember that right then tetratech had an albino BN in his tank with the Otos, no issues were ever reported. Well, except for the digging of the BN and the produced waste.

About adding CO2: That is never for nothing, well ok, if you have no light then it would be for nothing. The question here is if going with a DIY, or even a pressurized system, is worth the trouble. You may see some small improvement, but you also introduce the inconsistency of DIY or the cost of pressurized. Neither nor would, IMHO, create a major change in growth. Excel every other day (or even 3 days apart) seems to be the easiest solution to me.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

cheers LF

i'll just continue adding excel then.

i've now connected my co2 outlet into the back off an odd internal filter and fitted it into the tank

the co2 dissolves better and then is puched around the tank

i've read that some water movement is better for the plants, it aids uptake co2 and nutients and stops any dead spots in the tank.

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/blog.php?blogid=17

haven't seen any massive difference yet, but i did only fitted it Tuesday.

i've ordered 20 amano shrimp, should be here a week on Friday.
Think 20 is over kill?

should i remove my cories? might be hard to feed them, when i had shrimp before they always pinched the pellets.

i'll take out the bristlenose before adding the shrimp, he's only in to try remove some of the algae that has built up.

cheers Karl

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Up date 8/5/2006

since i was last on i have added a siamese alage eater to the stock, he loves the algae, the diy co2 is working great, i'm still adding excel - algae problem is nothing towards what it was.

i've removed two clumps of what i think is Cabomba caroliniana, i've also added some new plants, including a large sword.









as i think alot of my problems with algae have been the amount of fish, i'm getting a 4ft tank to replace my 40g and i'll swap over some fish from the 72G, the bristlenose, and glowlights for now.

Karl

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk

Karl,



It looks very nice, all plants seem to be doing well.

as i think alot of my problems with algae have been the amount of fish

Yeah, tell me all about it. That is pretty much what we have identified in my 125G as a reason for algae (besides a few others, maybe). I guess 100 ++ fish are maybe too much .

The one thing I think you could change is the bvack part on the left side. It looks like some taller plants are nissing there, maybe something to balance out the right side (or maybe that is just me).

Overall, you did a better job than I did. It seems like in no time you got that tank up and running and looking natural.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

know about the left hand side, there is three differnt types of tall plants along with the grasses and wisteria there, just need time to let them grow.

there is two cryto balance (spelling?) plus two stem plants like in the middle and 2 plants which i'm not to sure about names, i reomved plants to allow more light in that area to help them grow.

cheers for the comments LF

Karl

www.blooming-brilliant.co.uk