2.5 Gallon Photo Log

[Purrbox]

Picture!!

[travis simonson]

Very nice I can't believe how big that Rotala rotundifolia looks in a 2.5G tank. Looking good. Now to watch it all fill in

[crazycat]

lookin gooooooood!!!!!!!

[rich311k]

Looks great!!!

[czcz]

Very nice!

If you think your scape will call for smaller leaves, a trick with R. rotundifolia is to chop up stems and lay it down horizontally whereever you want to squeeze it in. It will come back with smaller leaves, which is real nice in small tanks (pictured one is a 12" tall 8gal) and you can trim it back a few times before it gets so bushy or long leaved you have to start over. Maybe doing this kept it from going red in my case though (cuttings from it turns orange-red in other tanks). [acronym:d2064bd908="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:d2064bd908]

[Purrbox]

Two week update. Everything is doing extremely well.

[rich311k]

That looks fabulous. Nice job.

[czcz]

The arching R. rotundifolia over Ammania and Hydrocotyle sp. is especially neat. Very nice.

[Purrbox]

Thanks all. I think I'm actually getting to the point where I'm finally happy with this tank. I've still got a few things that I want to tweak, but they're all pretty minor.

It also appears that I've finally found a balance (or very nearly found it) between plant growth and fertilization. The algae has receded dramatically in the last two weeks. It had gotten a pretty strong foothold while the tank was down to just the Crypts and Hairgrass. Now there's just the faintest dusting on the glass and a few specs here and there on the plants. Less and less every day.

Practically all the plants are showing new growth, but it's not so fast that I'm going to be having to remove half the plants in the tank every month. I will have to keep on top of the Rotala Rotundifolia so that it doesn't shadow the other plants too much as it gets longer, but other than that everything is growing in nicely. At my next water change I'll be topping some of the longer Rotala Rotundifolia stems and planting them along with trimming back some of the Elatine Triandre and Hemianthus Micranthemoides that are crowding in on the Downoi. The Hemianthus Micranthemoides is showing some definate horizontal tendancies, despite being the "erect" variety.

Even without topping the Rotala Rotundifolia yet, many of the stems are already showing side shoots. It definately won't take long for me to have a nice bushy backdrop of the Rotala Rotundifolia. In person it has some really nice red tinting to the leaves, especially at the tops. Some of the older leaves have a deep purple hue to the underside of the leaves. Absolutely gorgeous. Oh and that arch affect that you like czcz, it's because their all reaching for the brightest point of light. I think I might have to start rotating my lights!!

I would definately recommend this setup to anyone who's looking for a challenging yet extremely saticefying tank. Give me a little time and I'd even be able to send you the plants to get a nice start. It was a wonderful feeling the other day, showing a pic of this tank to someone and having them comment that it looked like at least a 55 gallon tank. Must be doing something right.

[Jchillin]

Missed this yesterday, so I'll comment now. Indeed the tank doesn't look anything near 2.5 gallons. Kinda amazing what live plants with a little 'scaping can do.

Keep up the good work.