New planted tank courtesy of GlitcH! (with pics of course)

[7Enigma]

Hello all. After recently inquiring to GlitcH about some glosso, he sent me a small care package for cost of shipping. Included was a 3" square of glosso as well as several bonus clippings! Here's a couple shots of the old tank, and new tank shots with pics with closeups of the new plants. (Please note the renovation took ~2.5-3 hours, the wife was not happy)

Original shot taken with the old setup (notice the 2 pots on the left, note one is practically hidden by the anubias and java fern):

The new setup with the 2 pots removed and new plants:

The glosso:

The christmas moss:

The lace java fern (unfortunately didn't make the trip in great shape):

Riccia (very pretty, had it floating last night, weighed it down with a rock this afternoon, havn't decided on how I want to keep it yet)

Unknown, possibly hornwort?? (GlitcH mentions is a fast grower and plantgeek's photo looks similar to this one)

Had to throw this one in. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's Rotala that I let grow across the surface after neglecting a trimming. It grew practically 3" and I only have a 20gallon high so it was beginning to cover the surface, but was getting a beautiful red coloration. I trimmed the plant, trashed the lower stems, and replanted the floating sections. Pretend you didn't read that!

Thanks again GlitcH!

EDIT: For those interested the other plants in the tank are:

-anubias (the large plant with the huge leaves in the middle-left of the tank).

-Back-center and back right is stargrass (I removed a TON of this during rearrangement as it grows nearly as quickly as hygro).

-Front right above tthe small anubias is a single stem of sunset hygro (my nitrAtes are usually high enough I don't get the red coloration), and I tend to keep VERY little of this plant in the tank since it grows so quickly and tangles up in everything. I just can't part with it yet!

-Back left (kind of hidden by the anubias is a huge bolus of java fern that has permanently attached itself to a rock I used to weigh it down.

-Finally floating at the top right is some pennywort (or moneywort I can never remember), the lilypad type plant. I had it weighed down by a rock but someone must have bumped it and now its floating.

 

[WaterPond]

its looking good!

The one is definately not hornwort. Not sure what it is though

 

[blazeyreef]

AWESOME! that Riccia is nice and I would love to see if I could get my hands on some LOL and your rotala is very nice as well!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[happygirl65]

Beautiful pictures! Wow!

 

[rich311k]

Fabulous, great looking plants.

 

[7Enigma]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Makes all that work yesterday (and listening to the wife's complaints) worthwhile.

blazeyreef,

Depending on how the riccia grows I would be more than happy to send you some. I tend to have a green thumb or death hand when it comes to plants. They either flourish or rot! You also might post in the barter/trade section as I'm sure someone would be willing to send you some. The piece I got from GlitcH is about 1" square.

Also wanted to mention these plants sent by GlitcH were in PRISTINE condition (except for the lace java fern). Not a SPECK of algae or signs of deficiency. I can't say that for the rest of my tank that's for sure!

Just to show you the power of a diatom filter compare the very first picture with the 2nd picture. The first one was after a diatom filter, while the second one was a day after redoing the tank. After that first picture was taken I dropped the diatom on the ground outside during cleaning, and it no longer works . I really need to pick up a replacement because the polishing it does and uses it has (completely removes GW and free-swimming Ich) make it tough to not have.

 

[Jchillin]

I like, I like!

I trimmed the plant, trashed the lower stems, and replanted the floating sections. Pretend you didn't read that!

Nope, you are gonna have to be held accountable for this outrage. LOL!

 

[An t-iasg]

Nice!

The unknown plant may be a Rotala wallichii or a Rotala sp. "Vietnam".

The one you're not sure of if it's moneywort or pennywort - If it looks like a little lily pad then it's a pennywort (Hydrocotyle genus).

Lace java fern does not like to be dry at all. When I was tying mine to a rock, it was getting limp from being out of the water for only 5-10 minutes.

 

[blazeyreef]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Makes all that work yesterday (and listening to the wife's complaints) worthwhile.

blazeyreef,

Depending on how the riccia grows I would be more than happy to send you some. I tend to have a green thumb or death hand when it comes to plants. They either flourish or rot! You also might post in the barter/trade section as I'm sure someone would be willing to send you some. The piece I got from GlitcH is about 1" square.

Also wanted to mention these plants sent by GlitcH were in PRISTINE condition (except for the lace java fern). Not a SPECK of algae or signs of deficiency. I can't say that for the rest of my tank that's for sure!

Just to show you the power of a diatom filter compare the very first picture with the 2nd picture. The first one was after a diatom filter, while the second one was a day after redoing the tank. After that first picture was taken I dropped the diatom on the ground outside during cleaning, and it no longer works . I really need to pick up a replacement because the polishing it does and uses it has (completely removes GW and free-swimming Ich) make it tough to not have.

HAHAHA I know what thats like! I was told that some would have some plants after thanksgiving! I (think) I can wait

 

[drobertson]

Great looking tank, I love the riccia

 

[czcz]

Beautiful plants! Plant Exchange rules.

 

[GlitcH]

Plants look great Enigma..........and I love the new scaping.

My favorite is the placement on the riccia.....it will look awesome if you could get the entire top/bottom of that pot covered with it.

I'll have to remember to pack the lace Java fern differently next time.
I figured it would be ok........oh well......live and learn.
It does look like it will recover though.

These plants came from my shrimp tank.......which means they were grown with no co2 or ferts .......so they will be lovin life in your tank.
The unknown plant:

I've got some in my 92G and with the co2 ferts and high light it just takes off and wow is it a looker when it's pearling.
Check it out:

 

[7Enigma]

After looking at the tank today I wish I would have scaped it low in the front high in the back. It's kind of uneven right now, but there is just too much PFS in the foreground so it doesn't look as good.

That unknown plant looks a little worse for wear this morning. I watched my tigers and they were playing right around it and it seems the needle-like leaves are not as forgiving as most. They bend over and seem to have broken in that form. It's only a couple of them right now, but I'm worried algae might start growing at those wound points. There is no way I'm going to try to remove that plant to remove 3-4 needles, that's for sure!

Of the 2 small pieces of lace java fern the one I took the picture of is much worse off. The other one (smaller) looks fine in the tank right now, I originally had planted it in the PFS, but after learning it was a form of java fern I have the better looking piece suspended near the top of the tank (its held down by a wisteria bunch).

It seems the tiger's are at the glosso again. This morning I have a small handful of single leaves floating at the surface, but fortunately I was lazy when I first put it in, because the large 2X2" piece seems anchored pretty well. Now if the tiger's start to work together it might be over!

I love your idea of the riccia carpeting on the pot, but I was under the impression it never rooted? Can it still attach itself to the pot without roots or do you mean it needs to be tied/glued down? There really is no way to tie anything to the pot due to its shape, that's why everything is held down by the rocks!

My GW is more apparent today. I might be going to PetSmart tomorrow if I can't fix my diatom, but I'm pretty sure its a lost cause (it just hums, but the blade doesn't turn).

Thanks again for everyone's comments.

EDIT: Had to add this pic I just grabbed. I have not seen my cory unless I look in the middle of the night, as he is always hiding (since my tiger's nip). It's slightly out of focus since I took it without the flash or tripod (looked bad with the flash and was worried my cory would move before I got the pic taken), but he/she is resting IN the glosso!!!:

 

[GlitcH]

The mystery plant is.......drum roll please........Lagarosiphon madagascariensis

 

[7Enigma]

The mystery plant is.......drum roll please........Lagarosiphon madagascariensis

Uh, oh....Plantgeeks description:

A light demanding plant that will do better in soft acidic water. Propagation by lateral shoots

Let's hope this will adapt to my tank (65w CF, 20gallon high), and GH10 degrees....In your large tank where you say this is flourishing, what are your water conditions?

Also wanted to update on the GW issue I've been having since the big renovation. Oddly enough it looks WORSE in the morning prior to lights on than right before lights out. There is very little if any residual light that gets into the tank when the lights are off. It's the office so other than 2 computer monitors and the occasional overhead room light, that's it. I'm thinking for the next couple days (it looked nearly gone as of this morning) I might put my front cover back on the tank.

When I first started the planted scene I only had a 17w NO on my tank. Obviously this was pathetically low so I went to all lengths to get the most out of my tank. I covered the sides with mylar (highly reflective), and made a mylar front "curtain" that could be removed or kept in place by a couple pieces of tape. Wife thought I was crazy when she came home and saw baby balloons (from the party store, cheapest they had) all over the tank. But it really helped keep the light level up, and more importantly, even throughout the tank. This has the added benefit (why I'm going to use it again) is to basically blackout the tank from the outside since light will not penetrate the mylar. I do now have a glass top which if I don't see further results will have to cover as well!

 

[GlitcH]

Let's hope this will adapt to my tank (65w CF, 20gallon high), and GH10 degrees....In your large tank where you say this is flourishing, what are your water conditions?

Close enough to yours...you shouldn't have a problem...my tank is 20G L BTW.

 

[7Enigma]

Let's hope this will adapt to my tank (65w CF, 20gallon high), and GH10 degrees....In your large tank where you say this is flourishing, what are your water conditions?

Close enough to yours...you shouldn't have a problem...my tank is 20G L BTW.

Thought you mentioned in the PM's it was in your 90 or so odd gallon one...glad to hear it should hopefully flourish. I'd love to get some bunches of it to replace some of my Rotala or stargrass...my anubias is just getting rediculously large now (the new leaves its throwing off are GIGANTIC), I just can part with cutting it!

Beautiful plants! Plant Exchange rules.

Just wanted to personally thank you again (from a couple months ago). The stargrass, hygro, and rotala were all clippings you had so graciously sent me WAAAAAYYYYY back when I had 3 java fern plantlets and a single 2" rhizome of anubias. You also sent a small amount of glosso but it was picked at by the barbs!

Just went back through my old pictures. This is what the tank looked like before czcz's contributions:

LOL! March 19th was when I took this picture!

 

[GlitcH]

Yep......it's in my 92G and in the 20G........but the clipping you got was from the 20G.

 

[7Enigma]

The mystery plant is.......drum roll please........Lagarosiphon madagascariensis

My barbs have begun to take a liking to the new buds that sprout off the main stem. I came home a couple days ago and the plant was back to its original height. I looked around the tank and found the piece floating. Thought maybe someone had gotten in a scuffle with another barb and the plant got damaged. A day or two later a new small bud from the original plant started to come up. Next day it was nibbled down. This has happened another 2-3 times...I'm really bummed since its definitely one of my favorites...

Pic after a recent trimming, and using my new diatom XL filter. You can see the stump that is now smaller than the original piece GlitcH gave me, its in the foreground slightly to the right of the glosso:

 

[GlitcH]

It's time for another trimming [in a big way] if you would like some more 7.

So are the barbs leaving the glosso alone?

Wouldn't ya say I'm overdo for a triming?