Planted 75G Make-Over... Many New Pics 8/5/07

[Lonewolfblue]

Update:

I'm not doing a PWC til the weekend. Reason being is that the reason for the high nitrites was partly due to the decrease in plant mass, but more importantly, with all the stuff that was in the water, my filter was clogged. Now with the filter running properly, nitrite disappeared overnight.

My current levels:
0ppm ammonia
0ppm nitrite
Approx 20ppm nitrate
Phosphate not tested
gh 100
kh 70
Slowly bringing temp down, since all GBR's are gone. Will take my chances that the ick is gone. Fish are showing signs of stress from all that's gone on, plus the high temps. Will let them get back to normal and see if I get any ick breakouts or not.

Edit:
My only concern is that the water isn't as clear as in my 29G. Will keep a close eye on everything til the plants start making their come-back. Also, a sword is looking very bad. May have to replace it. Think I did too much to it, and the leaves are just discintigrating. But the shoot I left on it is getting taller, and is now out of the water. Maybe I'll leave it to see if it starts putting out new leaves, and will cut off the worst leaves.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Good news, good news......

At first I thought I only had 2 BN's left, because I could only find the male and 1 female. Even when I did the tank make-over, I only saw the 2. This is quite strange, but this morning I saw what I thought was 2 females. Then I thought, could the male lose it's whiskers? So I looked, and looked, and looked. No male anywhere. Walked away and came back and looked again. Still no male. Then all of a sudden, he popped out from in a crevase in the driftwood, and I see all 3. So 1 didn't mysteriously disappear. Was strange because I never saw any dead BN bodies floating around, even when doing the make-over, so I thought it died and had been completely eaten. This was for over 2 months that I was thinking this. Then all of a sudden, today, after 2+ months, I see 3, lol. WOW...... I'm happy now. 1M and 2F.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Some new pics....

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Nice pics LWB!

I like the first one of a ram (6th pic from top).

 

[drobertson]

Very nice, the colors on your fish are breathtaking.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

This morning was peas day. They love peas, lol. Tonight will be flake food, with maybe a little bloodworms. They also have some french cut green beans in the bottom of the tank today too.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Here's new pics....

 

[rkilling1]

WOW. Looks MUCH better. Way to go.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Here's a few more....

 

[rkilling1]

Looking good, no doubt. I may have to take back saying that plant in the front was stargrass. By now mine would have doubled in size and been at the top of the tank. So I would think it may be Eichhornia diversifolia instead.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I believe it's stargrass......

 

[rich311k]

Looking good, Wolf!!!

 

[triazole]

great tank.
but i have to add that it lacks a dash of red somewhere in the sea of green. there are nice contrasts with the various green leaf-shapes, but that doesn't cover up the lack of a different color.
but overall, excellent job.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Actually, I do have red plants in the tank, but as you can see, they stay green, lol.......

 

[Glenc]

Your tanks all looks great! You are a testament to what hard work and patience can achieve. Good work LWB.

 

[drobertson]

Great looking tank. Everything looks so healthy.

 

[maxwell1295]

What plant is this....the one you're using for ground cover? That looks really good...

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Elatine Triandra

Does not need high light or CO2 to do well. I have it spreading like wildfire in my 10G with 2 20W bulbs and no CO2. Does well even in the shade under the Wisteria in that 10G.

Here it is in my 10G:
Pic stinks, lol. It's not yellow like that, but the green like in the 75G pic.

 

[czcz]

Man, you're doing a great job pruning and shaping on the 75. It looks great, You might know this already, but you can let Stargrass/H. zosterfolia (sp?) grow tall then bend it back (planting the top of the stem), and it will side shoot and send aerial roots so you can slope/shape it up towards the back of the tank. Lots of stems are like this with enough light/etc, but I think Stargrass and R. rotundifolia work best, fwiw.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Stargrass is filling in a little more. Here's a couple more pic....