Pics!

[Phlegethon]

Hi -

For the curious, just posted a bunch of pics in my gallery of my 5 month old planted 40 gallon community tank and a 2 month old 10 gallon.

All of your advice over the past months has helped me a great deal.

 

[Allivymar]

Oh the 40g is lovely Phlegethon! Great job

 

[Endgame319]

Wow are those plants real? They're so perfect they must be fake!

 

[Phlegethon]

Thanks Allivymar. And yes, the plants are all real. The camera makes things look a little cleaner than they really are, but they are looking pretty good now. Believe me I had a huge algae problem. I solved it with reduced feeding, quick growing plants, Amano shrip and American-Flag fish. That all combined apparently did the trick. I still get a tiny bit of algae but the Amano shrimp seem to take care of it. I had to get a bunch though - 15-20.

btw, if anyone knows what that red leafy plant is called, please let me know. It came with a shipment of riccia (long since discarded) as a "freebe" and I don't know what it is. It grows lighting fast and doesn't need a lot of light, really very useful stuff.

 

[Endgame319]

Not sure on teh red plant, although I think I have that one too . What fertilizers do you use?

 

[Menagerie]

Your pictures are wonderful! Beautiful tanks!!

 

[Phlegethon]

Thanks Menagerie. I'd like to see some pics from you, and some full views of Allivymar's tanks.

So far I really like the sand/worn driftwood/rounded rocks look with lots of grass, but for my convict cichlid tank I'm going to try something a little meaner looking with branchy, trecherous looking driftwood and sharp(ish) limestone and black gravel.

The only fertilizer I use are the Seachem tabs. Also a layer of flourite underneath the large-grain sandbed. 1st tank so I've never tried anything else.

 

[tsonnenl]

I have that same red leafed plant in my tank and it think it was labeled Broad-Leafed Ludwiga at the LFS, though I just did a brief search on that name and didn't find anything.

So how strong are those lights on your tank anyway? I'm at 2.7 wpg and the plant is really struggling. All of the lower leaves are turning brown and falling off, making it look really leggy. I think this is a losing battle with the amount of light I have. Reason number 47 why I should have at least gotten the 4x55 kit instead of 2x96. Maybe the CO2 that goes in next week will help...

 

[Phlegethon]

Ludwiga, great. I only have 110 watts (2x55w compact flourescent) on my tank, that's less than what you have, maybe it likes less light rather than more? Or maybe it's a different plant. I've found it grows very well in a 10 gallon with just a 15 watt flourescent as well...

 

[Guest]

Phlegethon, real nice tank, looks good, like your aquascaping too. Nice driftwood placement.

Ludwigia Repens, to be scientific. 2 varieties I know of, one is green, one is red, primarily on the bottom of the leaves.

So, You have Red Ludwigia.