55 gal, lower light trial continues, 9/24/07, new pics!

[newfound77951]

Trimmed again...second time since the jungle pic above.

Whole tank shot:

Some plant closeups:
Limnophila aromatica....compare the last whole tank pic to see how much this has grown in a couple of weeks! I really like this plant.

Ludwigia repens: not quite red yet but a nice orangey-pink. Crinum calamistratum in the background.

Myriophyllum mattogrossense...also a really pretty plant

 

[czcz]

Nice and lush. Cool plants. Great tank!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Looking great. Love the colors.....

 

[Glenc]

Beautiful!!

 

[JustOneMore20]

Wow, your tank looks great! Makes me want to put that much light over my new 55g. I would have to do DIY CO2 also...no money for pressurized.

Your plants look so healthy!

How often do you fertilize and what do you use? That's one area I haven't got yet...

 

[newfound77951]

I use mostly dry ferts from Greg Watson, except for potassium phosphate, which I "borrowed" from work (only needed 1 g....figured buying 1 lb was overkill). I also use Excel to supplement the DIY CO2. I dose CSM+B (Greg's trace mix) to 0.1 ppm iron every other day (I need to increase this), 0.5-1 ppm phosphate every other day, about 20 ppm potassium each week (split up over a few days), nitrate as needed (not much since i have a pretty high bioload), and Excel 5 mls every day (when I remember!). Most of my plants are doing well; except for the Alternanthera, and a giant hairgrass that I ditched a few months ago.

If you upgrade the light on your 55 JustOneMore, get 2x65 watts....that would be much more manageable in my opinion!

 

[newfound77951]

New picture....after a week's vacation and a huge pruning....The Limnophila is gorgeous and growing like crazy. I chopped the top off the Rotala as it was getting out of control and didn't look good. Not sure what to do with the left side, the sword plant is out of the water now and the tropic sunset is nice but messy. I think I need to find some plant that doesn't grow fast that will stay mid-ground sized...I don't mind pruning but any of the plants I have would need trimming every couple of days to stay compact.

Any suggestions? I'm also thinking of adding/changing the hardscape, either more driftwood or some larger rocks. I think the tank needs a focal point. Also still looking for a foreground plant; my one try with Glosso didn't work out, I don't think my DIY CO2 is enough for it.

And here's a good picture of one of my striped loaches....I love these guys, they are so cute!

 

[rich311k]

Wow! What a great looking jungle you have.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Great looking tank and loach. He looks very happy.

 

[Wood_Dog]

I love this tank! I think another rock or two would look good in there. Maybe something with some sharp edges to catch the eye. IMO more driftwood would get lost in there, since you have quite a lot of red and earthy coloured plants.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Your tank looks so good! I wish my new one could look like that. I'm tempted to get a high light fixture and some DIY CO2 and see what I can do. Probably not near as good as yours though. I also love this tank. The jungle look is what I like!

What do you use to diffuse your CO2? That is something I haven't found yet is a good diffusor.

 

[newfound77951]

I use the diffuser that came with the Red Sea turbo CO2, which is what I use (x2) on my tank. I have both bottles hooked up to one diffuser. The diffuser is just a little venturi pump with a nozzle that breaks up the CO2 into little bubbles. The idea works very well, but the pump and nozzle get clogged a lot and stop working. Whenever I change one of the CO2 bottles I take the pump out and clean it, sometimes it's a pain to get it working properly again. So basically it's efficient but somewhat unreliable, but not bad for $20 online.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Definitely not bad for $20....your plants seem to love the CO2. Do you use your own mixture when you change the bottles or do you use the Red Sea stuff?

 

[newfound77951]

I've been using the Red Sea refills, which is probably a waste of money, but they work well so I'm a little scared to mess with success, right now. I order the refills online when I need other things, and buy a bunch at a time, which keeps the cost down. I'm sure with the proper type of yeast it would be fine. I also do not empty out all the water each time; I leave the last little yeasty bit in there to jump start the new mix. Using tank-temp water I get bubbles almost immediately.

 

[newfound77951]

OK....it's been a while since I've updated this thread. I've been really busy this summer so I haven't done much with the tank but I've had some ideas floating around in my head. So finally last night I tore everything out and completely redid the tank. It definitely needs to grow in a little but I think in a couple of weeks it will start to look good. I made a concerted effort this time to keep a significant open area in the foreground, which I hope will soon be covered in a variety of foreground plants (I was missing this in the last scape). Right now I have 1 Pogostemon helferi, a patch of Elatine triandra, various small crypts, a bit of dwarf hairgrass left, and some M micranthemoides, so once they get going it should fill in nicely. I found the large piece of driftwood on the left in a lake in NH earlier this summer, it dried out and hasn't quite re-sunk yet, hence the rocks holding it down. I hope to get some moss growing on it once the rocks leave. The only plant that I did not pull out and move is the large ozelot sword in the center.

OK, pictures: the tank before....the overgrown jungle look:

Step 1: remove the plants on the left, add new driftwood (it looks way bigger in the tank!)

Starting to add plants back in on the left and center. Haven't touched the right side (the fish appreciated having a place to hide). Added some granite, also from NH....looks a lot whiter than I expected. Oh well.

Tank complete! Whole tank shot. Water is still a little cloudy.

Left side: H zosterifolia, L repens, tiger lily, Bacopa caroliniana, Crinum calamistratum, Crypt becketii (to the right of DW), Aponogeton crispus, Rotala wallichi hiding in back. P helferi and Elatine triandra in the front. Ozelot to the right.

Center: Ozelot, Limnophila aromatica, a bit of H polysperma ceylon, Crypt wendtii "green gecko", M micranthemoides in front (looks a bit pale)

Right: Myrio mattogrossense, narrow leaf java fern (who says JF is low light???), Ludwigia arcuata, Hygro salicifolia, another tiger lotus, Crypt parva, Bacopa monnieri, Hygro tropic sunset

Tank view from couch!

 

[czcz]

Great job and really cool plants. I like the new scape and its easy to imagine the flow once the driftwood stays down and the plants grow out.

I find the two white stones distracting fwiw. Feels like there should be another similar stone. Maybe I am reading too many aquascaping guides emphasising odd numbers.

 

[newfound77951]

yeah, there are actually three rocks but the third is hidden behind that sword. The rocks are a lot whiter than I expected, and are the part I am the least happy with....I might change those.

 

[Purrbox]

The nice thing about the rocks, is that over time they will get coated with algae etc and won't be as stark white. Maybe give them some time to blend in before making a final decision.

 

[newfound77951]

I promise I will update this thread soon...tank looks good, has filled in a lot, but the lights are out now, so no pics tonight. Also, I've been running on 1 bulb for a week as the other fixture fried itself. I ordered new fittings and reflectors from AH supply but need to modify my canopy before I can get them in. So it looks a little dim, and some of the plants aren't too happy. But pics and an update soon, I promise!

 

[GlitcH]

waiting patiently