Work in progress (long) , updated 09/10/07

[rkilling1]

The first thing I think is what you mentioned: plant mass. Are you replanting your trimmings?

Well, this quote kinda sums that up.

That doesn't include the many BBA killing hours I spent on it yesterday!!!!

BBA = losing a lot of plant mass.

Seems a little sparse in areas. A think foreground would also be cool.

yes it does. I finally got my hands on a whole lot of glosso, so in a matter of time the carpet will be forming.

I like smaller, strongly colored or oddly shaped fish to accent the tank. 20ish schooling fish could maybe add some more character, though that may mean cycling some fish out.

I would love to have a school of tetra's or some really colorful smaller fish, but so would my S. bichirs and I am afraid I cannot part with them. It has been a pain to try and keep oto's!

The award winners usually have way few varieties of plants, but I really enjoy having 30-something different species... I decided to turn down some Mayaca today because there is NOWHERE to put it, but I am kinda bummed...

That all depends on the style. The Dutch styles always have around 30 or so species of plants in them.

A better question, what do you think you need to do to make it better? What do you like and what don't you like about what you have now?

I think I need more plant mass inorder to 'paint' with.

 

[dapellegrini]

Dohhh... Guess I should also read the post, not just look at the pictures

Are you thinking of introducing more species, or are you just looking to fill in with these? I really like my Alternanthera Reineckii, incredible red/purple color.

 

[Jchillin]

Since I have some form of mental block in doing what you've done in your tank, my only comment would be the equipment on display in the right rear. Other than that, your tank has all the ingredients necessary to garner some nice comments from the gurus.

Great job and nice recovery.

 

[newfound77951]

I would second JChillin's comment about hiding the equipment on the right. Also, maybe a more dynamic piece of driftwood to replace the one there? I can imagine a low, horizontal branching piece kind of emerging from the plants and stretching out into the foreground.

You also have lots of plants with similar leaf shapes and sizes. Maybe try some plants with different forms to liven things up? One of the plants that has become quite striking in my tank is a narrow-leaf Java fern wedged into a piece of driftwood. Under the high light the leaves are shorter, and the whole plant has a lot of structure to it in contrast to the "lighter" stem plants. Maybe an Aponogeton or Vallisneria in the left background to replace some of the Limno sessiliflora? (which looks beautiful, so I wouldn't get rid of all of it!)

I like how the center is shaping up, although you'll have to trim the aromatica to keep it that short and you won;t get the red color that it develops when it gets closer to the light. That's one of my favorite plants, it looks fantastic wherever it is!

 

[rkilling1]

Thanks for the comments. I know that is a lot of stuff over there. LOL. I had a lot of Ludwigia repens to cover it and add some red, but I had to cut it up.

You are right about the driftwood. I will begin my hunt. I believe a more intresting piece would better suit that area.

I had lace ferns my some of my driftwood, but again I had to throw it out.

again I have many species of plants that are NOT in THIS tank. I have them in my 28 gal as well. I just don't want to keep adding more to a tank that is already flooded with plants.

Funny you should mention the Aponogeton's newfound77951, I had to throw them out as well. It has not been a fun week. This BBA is killing me.

 

[Satsumas]

Good job rkilling! I agrree with you there it does look better!

I'm not great with plant names yet but what are the tall plants at the back left corner?
and also what are the reddish-green plants in the second picture? They look great!

I would also say that the equipment on show is the only possible criticsm, but im sure the plants will grow and conceal it within time.

 

[czcz]

It's a nice layout man. Well done. So, thoughts:

I think you should separate L. aromatica and P. stellatus "Broad-leaf," only because I tried craming P. stellatus "Broad-leaf" and "Narrow-leaf" with L. "Cuba," mixed them up, and that section never looked great in my tank anyway. I used to think grouping such similar plants would let me appreciate their differences, but now I think it's a waste of unique leaf shape. I am confident you will keep them separated and have a vision in mind, but this is two cents.

I've liked Tonina in the foreground since the first times I saw Sherry and Piscesgirl do it, but FWIW I think you're wasting that cool piece of driftwood once they grow up. The placement of the powerhead near these plants is a good idea though.

The Hydrocotyle sp growing vertical just looks odd to me. If patient I think you should even pull it out and give R. wallichii plenty of room to take its place, or maybe your Bacopa sp. If you can keep it down I think it would be a great midground on the left.

I think the color of L. sessiliflora is nice.

HTH

 

[rkilling1]

Well it's been awhile since I have posted some pics, so here goes.

My BBA problems are finally going away. It was CO2 the whole time, or should I say the lack there of. Per the KH/pH I was on target, but further research shows this method to be very inaccurate. I am now using a 'drop checker' for my CO2 readings. I had to increase my bubble count from 2 BPS to almost 4 BPS to get my CO2 concentration up there. Once my CO2 concentration came up the BBA stopped spreading.

Now I am currenly Excel overdosing to get ride of what is left. As you will notice in my pics, my water is cloudy. This was from replacing all of my filter media at one time, instead of the normal 1/2 replacement I usually do. Replacing all the filter media was another step in getting rid of the BBA, but I should have done it over the coarse of a week instead of all at once. Live and learn. It is slowly going away and by weeks end I expect it to be clear again.

My glosso is not filling in very fast. My, Pain in the butt, rainbows keep picking at it and uprooting it. So everyday I have to replant it!!

Here is the center of the tank. Grown in very nicely.

The right side.

The left side. I rearrange the chain sword and Blyxa japonica. I believe it looks better this way.

Here is the center foreground. The Micranthemum umbrosum is looking great, but as you can see the glosso is not doing to well. It is growing nicely, but agian by fish will not leave it alone!!

Here is the whole tank. Nice and cloudy huh? That's what I get for making the mistake of changing all the filter media out at one time. And I know better then that, but my head was too into getting rid of BBA instead of maintaining my bacteria.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

WOW, what a forest, lol. Those barbs must love it... Looking awsome....

 

[drobertson]

speechless

 

[rich311k]

Looking great.

 

[rkilling1]

WOW, what a forest, lol.

No doubt. I want to trim it back, but I am afraid that if I do I will get green water. Since I destroyed my biofilter, I need as much plant mass as possible to keep the NH3/NH4 down.

EDIT: Man, I guess my plants must be happy. Just look how much they have grown in 10 days:

This also makes my cloudy water so much more apparent.

 

[Glenc]

That's some crazy growth! What a beautiful, healthy tank.

 

[rkilling1]

Figures, one more day and my tank is about crystal clear.

Here are some better pics:

Better pic of the left side. I moved the Didiplis diandra infront of the Limnophila sessiliflora. My Pogostemon stellatus and Rotala wallichii are also in the pic.

Here is a nice pic of my Limnophila aromatica. This was from one stem I received from sherry.

Here is the baby Ludwigia inclinata I also received from Sherry. Compare this to the previous pics. It is all the way to the top of the aquarium and every node has a new stem growing.

Here is how I received it 25 days ago: (this was a hitchhiker BTW)

Much better pic of the whole tank. I also had to trim some of the plants to send to a member.

 

[Zezmo]

This tank has looks consistanly nice for a while. The hard work you put into it really shows.
Also, I really dig the colors on your rainbowfish.

 

[dapellegrini]

Nice rebound! Everything certainly looks happy.

With growth like that, you should have enough to overrun all of your tanks in no time. You may want to consider getting rid of some of those really fast growers before they drive you crazy. Weekly trimming can become quite a chore, as I have recently discovered!

 

[maxwell1295]

Looks great...as usual! Some of you guys just make me sick!

 

[rkilling1]

Nice rebound! Everything certainly looks happy.

With growth like that, you should have enough to overrun all of your tanks in no time. You may want to consider getting rid of some of those really fast growers before they drive you crazy. Weekly trimming can become quite a chore, as I have recently discovered!

I agree, the fast growers are a pain in the rear, but I also like to give plants away to other members and the LFS. Having those fast growers allows me to do this more often. Now that the BBA is gone, I am finally starting to send plants out to AA members.

So if you want something, just let me know.

Anubias barteri v. 'nana'
Bacopa caroliniana
Bacopa monnieri
Blyxa japonica
Cabomba palaeformis
Didiplis diandra
Echinodorus bleheri 'compacta'
Echinodorus osiris
Echinodorus quadricostatus
Glossostigma elatinoides
Hemianthus callitrichoides
Heteranthera zosterifolia
Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Hygrophila difformis
Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig'
Limnophila aromatica
Limnophila 'green' (Polygonum odoratum)
Limnophila sessiliflora
Lobelia cardinalis
Ludwigia inclinata
Ludwigia palustris
Ludwigia repens
Micranthemum umbrosum
Microsorum pteropus
Myriophyllum heterophyllum
Myriophyllum simulans
Pogostemon stellatus
Ranunculus papulentus
Rotala macrandra
Rotala rotundifolia
Rotala rotundifolia 'Colorata'
Rotala wallichii
Tonina sp. 'Belem'
Vallisneria americana (currently melting because of Excel)

I will also be getting Downoi (Pogostemon helferi) in the mail today.

 

[rkilling1]

Time for some pics of the 28 gallon.

This tank had a major BBA problem. I fixed that by increasing the CO2 injection and now I am killing what is left with Excel.

The foreground is growing in nicely. I also received some Downoi today.

Here is two of the four stems of Downoi I received today.

The Ranunculus papulentus is starting to take off.

Here is the right side. I recently received some Rotala macrandra from sherry and it is going to make a nice addition to my tanks (red plant in the corner).

The glosso carpet that is growing in nicely.

What a beautiful site. Dead BBA.

The whole tank. This has become more of a grow out tank vs something that I would aquascape.

Someday I plan on adding some hardscape and putting some time into aquascaping, but for rightnow, I have plenty of work with the 75 gallon tank.

 

[Glenc]

Very cool, glad to hear you beat the BBA, it is a real pain and very frustrating when you think you are doing everything right. C02 is usually the key.
I am looking for Downoi, Tropica now has it available. I'm trying to get my LFS to get some in for me, we'll see if they can come through. I needed to order alot to get him to order it, asked him to get it even if I have to order 10 pots! If it goes through I'll have lots to share. Love that plant.
My American friends will have to wait for warmer weather for me to ship, it's to cold up here in Canada now, plants would'nt make the trip. When I do land this beauty I will gladly share