Saltwater & Reef

TonyWazz · 06-02-2014, 02:00 PM

Hello! I had a few aquariums when I was a teen, but nothing too complicated. I'm (much) older now and have the spare coin to get back into this. I've had my tanks up and running for about 2 months now. Here are my details:

I'm a little worried about a recent purchase of Trichomanes javanicum (aqua fern), as it is sold as aquatic, but doesn't seem to be as such. Since it is new I'll have to keep an eye on it.
I don't have a whole lot of choices for pet stores, so I'm pretty much stuck with my local shop, which has occasional dead fish in the tanks, or Petsmart, or Petco.

I have medium light with CO2 and a medium substrate in all three tanks. The big tank is capped with blue and white gravel, but I'll eventually take that out. The 29 gal has bottle CO2 and 5 gal quarantine tank uses a daily liquid addition product. All tanks are kept from 77ºF to 79ºF. My ph is a bit high at around 7.2 to 7.6. I do weekly water changes of 5 gallons in the 29 gal tank, and 2 gallons in the 5 gal tank every two weeks. I change the 1.5 gal tank water about every two weeks of about 50%.

The plants I have so far are:

Bacopa Carolina: This has seen the most melt, but I have it spread across the tank as a medium plant. It seems very dependent on rooting into the substrate. What I mean here is that if I planted it too shallow into the cap gravel, it has melted a lot, but the deeper plantings have new growth.
Eleocharis acicularis (Dwarf grass): I have this broken into several 'tufts' as foreground filler. It hasn't spread, but it is getting taller and fuller. I did trim it once.
Echinodorus amazonicus (Amazon Sword): I have this as a medium plant and boy does this grow! It has doubled it's leaves and grown about 4 inches taller in a month! I have one of these in the quarantine tank, too. The second one is only about 2 weeks old in the tank. seems stable with some new leaves coming up.
Anubias afzelii: I have this dead center of the 29 gal. It has a nice dark green to it and almost looks fake. I initially had it planted too deep into the substrate and it still grew two leaves. I since moved it up and am waiting to see any significant changes.
Pogostemon helferi downoi (Little star): I have this set as a foreground plant in about 5 bunches. It experiences a bit of melt and growth at the same time. The new leaves are longer and wider than the original leaves, but after a few weeks it is already sending out shoots. I have a a couple single stems growing in the quarantine tank, too. I like the bright green color and compact shape.
Hygrophila difformis (Water wisteria): I have 4 of these in the quarantine tank. After a few weeks they have been growing new leaves of a different star type shape and the initial round leaves have been melting off very slowly. The new leaves are larger and very bright green. I tried to move one earlier this week, but it REALLY rooted into the substrate! I decided to leave it where it is.
Staurogyne repens: I have about 8 bunches of these in the quarantine tank. minimal melt (a leave or two per bunch) and a lot of new growth. I love the darker color and the compact shape. After a few weeks, this is also sending out shoots.

New additions: Anacharis bunch (Elgeria densa) and Trichomanes javanicum. These are brand new. The fern doesn't seem to be an aquatic, but I have the roots fairly exposed and in a back corner that has a lot of light. I'll have to keep an eye on it as there seems to be mixed success among many different sight forums.
The Anacharis I have in both the 29 gal and the 5 gal. I remember reading I can plant it and/or use it as a floater. So, I'm attempting both so see what sort of success I have with both ideas.
I did have an El Nino Fern, but I butchered the planting so bad that it died. Which is the only failure so far.

My thoughts so far is about tank care and water quality. The vendor aspect has only been a concern with the Trichomanes. I'll have to see how it goes.

As far as fish, I just have 6 tetra and 3 guppies (all males) and a Danios in the 29 gal with 2 guppy fry in the 1.5 gal. I had a fungus wipe out 4 Danios and 4 guppies (females), but after 2 weeks of treatment, my survivors are healthy. I'll note that the Serpae Tetras (Hyphessobrycon eques) were completely unaffected by whatever fungus I had invade.