Brian's(Old Scales)Rescape Journal "Yikes!"

[pittbully13]

Sounds like what im going this weekend, but instead of gardening I'll be moving. The tank will be the last to go.

Dont be ashamed, I like the grown out look. Your tank is coimg along nicely and ill bet it will pop after the trim! Keep'em coming!

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Old Scales]

Thanks pitt. Oh my! Moving! What a pain. Good luck and be careful. OS.

 

[Autumnsky]

It looks great! Happy gardening

 

[Old Scales]

Week 8 Update

Good morning all,
Well, I'm actually on time this week. lol. I got the tank in pretty good shape. Trimmed the Cuba, as usual, and I pulled up the AR mini(red plants) and separated off side shoots. I threw away 22 sprouts of it and a big hand full of Cuba. Man! I need a grow out tank! Next time I pull extra sprouts(in about six weeks) I'll do a ROAK on somebody who wants them for just the shipping. I will have some extra Ammania bonsai by then too.
I really was brutal on the Glosso this time. Trimmed it down severely and pushed a lot of runners under the substrate. It's still trying to grow up some instead of out. I asked Brian and Brookster about some shrimp. I think they would help keep the debris out of the Glosso in places the Corys can't get to.
I think getting the PO4 up above 3 ppm has knocked the GDA in the head. Time will tell. I also increased the CO2 to 3 bps and it seems to help too.
I like the green Crypts behind the DW in back better than the Red Nesaea as it was too much red. The Crypts came from a med. light, no CO2 tank and with CO2 and high light they never slowed down from transplanting. They pearl like crazy. Happy little guys now. lol.
OK here's the update pic. Keep your tail fins behind you and your dorsals upright! Brian(OS)

 

[Sk3lly]

When you cut the stem of AR mini does it just grow straight on from the cut or does it send up two new stems from the last node?? Hope tht question makes sense lol. My AR mini is in serious need of a trim.
Lovely looking tank as always though

 

[Brookster123]

Looks very clean and tidy! And your see all the fish haha!! Keep me in mind if you need to lose some Vesuvius.. I just had another though about the shrimp. Mine were constantly out and about before I added a ram (largest fish in there), now they kind of lay low, with your angel and gourami the amanos may actually take refuge in the glosso which could end up being an ideal scenario!

 

[Old Scales]

Hi Sklly,
IME, the best way to trim down, thin and get more AR mini is to pull them up. You will see one or more side shoots growing up with the main stem on the larger plants. When you pull them off they always have some roots of their own. I replant these (if I have the room) and trim off the bottom of the parent stem and replant also. It's a good time to pull off any algae covered, old or misformed leaves. I found they like being thinned and spread out occasionally. You can just whack off the tops and replant, leaving the bottoms in place but they don't get nearly as pretty that way. Always keep a good root tab under them in the area also. I do it right before replanting them all. Hope this helps. OS.

 

[Old Scales]

Brookster,
When the Vesuvius puts on a baby plant runner, it is yours. lol. Yeah, I'm thinking the shrimp would LOVE playing and hiding in the Glosso. Os.

 

[jwh0818]

Tanks looking great!

 

[DragonFish71]

Hey OS,

Looks great as usual.

A friend of mine dropped off some extra hair grass yesterday, so I plan to work on my 40 today. Pics later.

What kind of shrimp are you considering?

I have an invading horde of Malawa Sulawesi in one of my 20 longs that I plan to cultivate in a new-ishly set up 10. They seem to be a rare shrimp to find. Not seeing them up for sale very often on the internet, and no one out here has them, I might have the market cornered!

 

[Old Scales]

LOL Hi Dragon, Yeah you might. I really am not familiar with all the types of shrimp at all. I know Amanos would work via Brookster. What other types would be glut hardy? Would be nice to get some with at least a little color. Any and all advice would be appreciated.
JWH, thanks a lot. Sucks that you can't find a C4. Take a pic from Brian's post and tell 'em you want a rain check! lol. OS.

 

[Kittykat364]

Looks great OS! The glosso does look a bit tall though. Dragon, I think your chant worked! Do you have a carpeting chant, not a 'grow taller' chant? Cuz that's what he needs. I suck at chants as we all know. XD Hope everything's alright OS, haven't been hearing from you recently. Maybe it's just the garden. sure it's your wife's...

 

[Old Scales]

Hi Kitty,
Thanks, Yeah, you gotta watch those chants! Lauryn tried Dragon's chant and ended up doing a fertility chant and ended up with a tank full of guppy fry! LOL. I've been just shutting up and watching the threads instead of running my mouth. Also been playing with my new camera a lot. I've been testing the tank a lot as I try and get the green dust algae defeated. I think I've done it. More CO2 and phosphates seems to have stopped it.
Brian(OS)

 

[DragonFish71]

Looks great OS! The glosso does look a bit tall though. Dragon, I think your chant worked! Do you have a carpeting chant, not a 'grow taller' chant? Cuz that's what he needs. I suck at chants as we all know. XD Hope everything's alright OS, haven't been hearing from you recently. Maybe it's just the garden. sure it's your wife's...

Ha, I had to stop my own chant. I look at my 40 every day but today when I looked at it, I started singing "welcome to the jungle."

 

[DragonFish71]

LOL Hi Dragon, Yeah you might. I really am not familiar with all the types of shrimp at all. I know Amanos would work via Brookster. What other types would be glut hardy? Would be nice to get some with at least a little color. Any and all advice would be appreciated.
JWH, thanks a lot. Sucks that you can't find a C4. Take a pic from Brian's post and tell 'em you want a rain check! lol. OS.

OS,

I honestly couldn't tell you. I try to avoid glut as much as possible these days. Seems I'm allergic to it. I've also had some bad reactions from a few fish here and there when I use it, and that was starting out low dosing then raising to the recommended dose. Had lots of gasping, ended up having to do water changes to even it out. I know amanos are fine with my pressurized CO2 and other ferts, well, they were until my GBRs wanted a snack.

 

[Old Scales]

I just came home with the only two FW shrimp in town. Two little 1/2" ghost shrimp. I have them acclimating right now. I gave all the fishys an extra meal so hopefully the shrimp can get into the Glosso safely. I'm going to "insert" them with a turkey baster bulb, I hope. LOL. OS.

 

[Kittykat364]

Cool! I hope they make it. I had one at one point (a ghost shrimp) but it was a bare bottomed tank and we weren't feeding it so it died poor shrimpy but it probs lived a better life than if it we're fed to an oscar!

And that was me that tried to copy the voodoo chant, and the serpae tetras started breeding like crazy. I stopped when I realized I had guppies, and didn't want millions XD

 

[Brookster123]

Nice find! "Hi I'm Brian and I will be needing all the shrimp in this fine establishment.." If you need any more I'd be happy to send you some! My Lfs has a few different types, the big amanos are pretty cool!

 

[Old Scales]

I "basted" them straight into the Glosso. The little boogers went straight to under the DW. I turned the lights out for the day so they should be safe for awhile. lol. I really need some that are at least an inch long. Local shop said they will get some more types in next week. I'll check them out. OS.

 

[Ian086]

Good morning all,
Well, I'm actually on time this week. lol. I got the tank in pretty good shape. Trimmed the Cuba, as usual, and I pulled up the AR mini(red plants) and separated off side shoots. I threw away 22 sprouts of it and a big hand full of Cuba. Man! I need a grow out tank! Next time I pull extra sprouts(in about six weeks) I'll do a ROAK on somebody who wants them for just the shipping. I will have some extra Ammania bonsai by then too.
I really was brutal on the Glosso this time. Trimmed it down severely and pushed a lot of runners under the substrate. It's still trying to grow up some instead of out. I asked Brian and Brookster about some shrimp. I think they would help keep the debris out of the Glosso in places the Corys can't get to.
I think getting the PO4 up above 3 ppm has knocked the GDA in the head. Time will tell. I also increased the CO2 to 3 bps and it seems to help too.
I like the green Crypts behind the DW in back better than the Red Nesaea as it was too much red. The Crypts came from a med. light, no CO2 tank and with CO2 and high light they never slowed down from transplanting. They pearl like crazy. Happy little guys now. lol.
OK here's the update pic. Keep your tail fins behind you and your dorsals upright! Brian(OS)

Hey Brian. Tank looks cool mate. I'll take some AR next time.....if you can fit it in an envelope....haha