10 gallon low-light with dirt

[Marconis]

Took two pretty hefty exams today. Trying to put it all behind me by laying in bed and watching my tank. The only annoying thing about a good aquarium is that you can't look at it too long before falling asleep; it's just too relaxing.

 

[fort384]

True!

Did the exams go well at least? College is great, but I definitely do NOT miss the exams.

 

[Fdsh5]

+1 on not missing the exams. Lots of stress. Staring at the tank is good stress management.

 

[Marconis]

I think the exams went very well. I'm the kind of person that attempts to remember every question and I smack my head when I realize I got one wrong!

 

[daileene]

+1 on not missing the exams too....i do miss my classmates... and the sleepovers for doing our projects...

 

[Marconis]

Aw man, I liked having a school of 7. Everyone else looks fine.

 

[mfdrookie516]

did it jump?

 

[Marconis]

Oh, no. Just wanted to take a dramatic photo of it . Pretty sure it was one that I bought on Saturday. He was acting off yesterday so I kind of anticipated it.

 

[Marconis]

Hey guys, got home tonight from work and saw my Rotala was doin' something weird. My Rotala, every night at 8:45, starts to close up like this until the next afternoon when the light comes on. Coleallensmom mentioned in another thread of mine that it will do this when light wanes...I'm assuming it happens becaues there is no more natural ambient light. Anyway, when I got home I noticed that the uppermost leaves were white, as pictured below. Now, that never happened before. What could be going on with this? On a side note, my Water Sprite is growing insanely well! Rooting like crazy and growing tall.

 

[Coleallensmom]

IMO, it looks normal and is not anything to worry about. Mine do the same!

 

[Marconis]

IMO, it looks normal and not anything to worry about. Mine do the same!

Do they revert back to normal color? Lol. Nice Rotala forest!

 

[Coleallensmom]

I think the underside of the leaves are sometimes just lighter in color and you're seeing it because the plant has closed itself up.

Thanks! I love your water sprite; very nice!

 

[Marconis]

I don't know, though. They do this every night and I never noticed a drastic change in color. I'll keep my eye out for any new changes.

 

[Coleallensmom]

Your Rotala is some of the greenest I've seen. Expect to see some changes in color in the future. Under the right conditions it can develope some very pretty red hues. Mine goes from a light green at the base to a yellow/orangish color and then has pink tops.

 

[Marconis]

White I guess was just on the underside, lol. Strange that it never appeared that way before.

I took another photo today. Here's a little series of growth progression (I'll show the big version of today's photo at the end):

March 16, 2011:

March 18, 2011 (Addition of Rotala):

March 25, 2011 (Addition of L.m):

April 4, 2011 (Addition of Water Sprite):

April 10, 2011

Larger photo from today:

Algae:

Note how tall the Rotala is growing alongside the Water Sprite. Lovin' it.

 

[Marconis]

So I think this 10 gallon here is giving me some issues. Why, you might ask? Well, because I am running out of places to plant! My initial aquascaping plan has gradually gone out the window. It wasn't supposed to be this centered. Despite this, I am unsure if it as bad looking as I think...you know, there is a stigma about having everything so centered. I am trying to decide if I should move the "middle forest" over a notch to the right and start trimming the Water Sprite (this is where I wish I had a grow out tank so that I could plant the trimmings with roots; soon, soon.). What do you guys think? Does it look good how it is? I also may trim the L.m on the right because it's all dying off as the new runners get established.

Help me decide!

 

[Aspencer]

My plan for my 10G was to make the whole tank full with open lanes running through it so the small fry can hide and there is still room from the middle up to let fish school if they want when or if I add schooling fish.

 

[Marconis]

I'm sure you guys are sick of my updates, but I made some changes a few moments ago. I trimmed the Lilaeopsis mauritiana down a bunch; was tired of looking at two chunks of dead grass. This will hopefully make it more appealing while it establishes itself. I removed some rooting Water Sprite from the tops and planted them on the right side so that it can fill in eventually. I know it's centered now, but I also need to trim the middle down. However, I kind of like it high, so this is conflicting. Before I do any trimming I need to order a scissor-thingy that is safe for the water. I just removed the L.m and cut it with a clean standard scissor out of the water, and as for the Water Sprite I just pinched it off with my fingernail...wasn't too hard. I don't want to risk uprooting that whole jungle, though.

I want to leave the left side relatively open, as I had initially planned. My Water Sprite are still busting out of the water surface, but I'll leave it like that for now.

 

[fort384]

Nick it really looks great.

Can you move the filter so the intake is behind the rotala?

 

[mfdrookie516]

Hey.. just want to hijack for a sec.

I'm slowly being convinced that dirt is fantastic. I have no algae in my 125 at all. I'm only runnign about 25 ppm co2 and high light. I"m having algae issues all over my 40, which is medium-high light and 30ppm co2. While I'm not able to scientifically say that the dirt is the reason, I'm pretty sure my 125 and dustins tanks all prove that it is. Time will tell, but I think we're on to something here.
/end hijack

Your tank is looking great!