55 gallon update

[ArtistGardener]

Here is my 55 gallon after a little over five months. I am looking forward to yanking some of the wisteria as some of the other plants get bigger. I'm pretty happy with it considering I am not using CO2.

 

[Sidman24]

That is gorgeous !! What is the stock?

 

[molly100a]

Your tank looks great, I love the natural wild look. what kind of lights are you using?

 

[ArtistGardener]

I have a triple T5HO light from Catalina Aquarium with dual switches set on timers. I experimented a lot to get the right mix of light without a huge growth of algae in my low-tech tank (no CO2). I have the red plant growth and a 6500K daylight bulb on for 7 hours from noon-7 pm. I have a single 6500 full spectrum bulb on for three hours from 11-1, and again from 6-9 so there an hour at either end when all three lights are on. I am using Excel about 5 days a week.

My stock (I tend to stock heavy with this much plant cover; nitrates still hover around only 5ppm):
1 clown pleco
1 male dwarf gourami
8 pristella tetras
11 neon tetras
5 platy
2 SAE
1 albino cory (I have three new ones in quarantine, along with 6 rasbora heteromorpha).

 

[misterc007]

Wow, Your tank is sweet. Whats the plant just right of center there? Also what kind of Vals are those to the left. I've tried corkscrews but I can never get them to hold they always die off. What kind of ferts are you using and how often? Hope thats not to many questions but this is exactly the style of tank that I love. Awesome job!

 

[ArtistGardener]

Thanks! The large mass on the center right (and a bit on the left) is wisteria which I pinch regularly to maintain this shape. The vals are jungle val which grows like crazy--I have to both prune it and thin out plants. In addition to the liquid carbon, I also dose Excel Flourish once a week and API Leaf Zone about every other week. I use Root Tabs under the larger swords, a dwarf red nymphaea, the crypt, and my new alternanthera reineckii (time to pinch it and get it spreading out). Every other plant is dependent on mulm and liquid fertilizers.

 

[misterc007]

Thanks for the info. I just ordered some wisteria so I'll see how I like it. I think they could use a picture of your tank as a back ground! LOL I just ripped my 55 all apart to start over I might start a thread to force me to complete it. It looks pretty sorry right now

 

[molly100a]

Wisteria is a great plant, gets very bushy with high light and c02 but will grow without. I have it in my tanks. I love that you can pinch stems and start new plants, very easy. I have heard of people floating it.

 

[ArtistGardener]

Sadly, those rasbora heteromorpha had neon tetra disease. After two weeks of quarantine they looked OK to me so put them in my tank. Within days they were very sick and three died within hours. I pulled them out and put them in quarantine, treated with Maracyn 2 as I thought it was columnaris. All three died quickly. Soon my pristella tetras started acting funny and exhibited the loss of color on their backs associated with NTD. I started removing any that looked off, but have now lost 6 pristellas and a neon within a week. I am afraid my entire tank is going to have to be rebuilt as it seems impossible to get rid of this horrible disease any other way. It is heartbreaking! Quarantine for at least a month--two weeks is not long enough to catch all of these diseases.

 

[agrasyuk]

looks great!

 

[RobbieHadley]

This is a gorgeous tank, I'm jealous! I'm just getting into the idea of doing planted and getting a 10 gal together to try my hand. I hope I can have something this awesome some day