65 gallon build

[zach_1_6]

I have 192 watts on the tank and they are jungle vals and 1 corkscrew Val.

 

[tyspot1000]

Hmm, Im not sure then. Oh, With all that lighting, are you using any CO2 or dosing any ferts?

 

[zach_1_6]

Well I have a little bit of co2 in the tank now, not much though. And I will start looking into dosing ferts soon.

 

[zach_1_6]

Ok I have to do some aquascaping, my Raphael catfish keeps uprooting my vals because he doesn't have anywhere to hide, so I have to make him a cave of some sort to stop him, I was thinking dig under the wood maybe put a thin piece of slate under the wood and have a tunnel sort of thing going on in there. Well that's the plan not sure how it will turn out lol.

 

[zach_1_6]

ok so the cave is made so hopfully he will leave the vals alone and stay in his new home now

 

[tyspot1000]

Congrats on making the cave, any pics of the tank or cave? Keep us updated.

 

[zach_1_6]

Yes il get some, I woke up this morning and he is not in the cave hmm, I guess I will have to wait and see.

 

[zach_1_6]

here is a picture of the new cave, it is a little small and i will be diging it a bit bigger.
Plant growth:
Cobamba-doubled in size
swords-alot greener
crypts-2 new leaves out of each, alot greener
unknown plant- 2 inches + 8 new leaves.

 

[tyspot1000]

Awesome!

 

[zach_1_6]

thanks, hopefully he will find his way in there, woke up today with 2 uprooted vals ugh -.-

 

[zach_1_6]

Ok so I moved all the vals out in front to the left un till they have some good roots growing and some taller leaves on them before I move them back, I dug the cave a little deeper to see if my raph will go in there this time.

 

[zach_1_6]

ok here are some random pics, i will be going to my jfs soon and il try and pick up some more of the plant on the far right, it looks alot better with more of it in a patch. i want some more vals aswell as some anubias and il try for some moss and another type of forground plant fingers crossed! also 3 or 5 more serpae tetras.

 

[fort384]

Looking really nice!

 

[zach_1_6]

thanks fort!, here is that plant i dont know the name of can you help me out?

 

[fort384]

Cool looking plant... It looks like some kind of ludwiga to me, but I am not 100% sure. Someone will have a positive ID

 

[fort384]

Props on the SAE by the way. They are great fish for a planted tank. I loved mine! Tenacious little guys when it comes to algae on the plants.

 

[zach_1_6]

thanksa, it came with a whole bunch of others but these 2 are the only ones who rooted properly, the others kept rotting at the bottem and floted up, i want to buy some more but try and get some roots started on them before i move them, any advice to do so?

 

[zach_1_6]

Props on the SAE by the way. They are great fish for a planted tank. I loved mine! Tenacious little guys when it comes to algae on the plants.

um i dont have a SME if im not mistaken lol

 

[fort384]

That fish in the photo is not an SAE? Looks like one to me.

Not real sure on getting them established since I haven't grown them... you just have to keep them rooted as best you can... stem plants can be a pain to get started, but once the roots grow, they are tough to move. When I am starting stem plants, I just keep reburying them if they float up. Great advice huh?

 

[zach_1_6]

lol thanks i will keep that in mind, il plant them in my 10 gal easier to keep down that way, and once the roots go il move them over hopfully that will work, and no sorry no SAE thats probably 1 of my emperor tetras. i have 2 in the tank and 5 more waiting in that 10 gal i was talking about.