Her tank-sort of-(Low Tech).

[Nelson]

We/I stupidly over stocked the wife's little Home 40 tank,which of course meant we/I had to get another bigger one .
Had to keep costs low so got an old second hand Fluval Roma 125.
Asked her how she wanted it scaped,then did it how I wanted .Though she did choose the colour of sand .Wrongly I might add .
I thought I could grow Myriophyllum matogrossense low tech,low light.But clearly couldn't .



Tank-80x35x45cm
Filter-APS 1000EF
Light- ? T8 ? X2
Soil-Unipac Limpopo Black sand
Hardscape- Blackthorn(Prunus Spinosa)Collected locally

Plants.
Echinodorus ozelot green
Echinodorus ozelot red
Echinodorus red devil
Sagittaria sabulata
Eleocharis acicularis 'mini'
Limnobium laevigatum
Pistia stratiotes

Still need more plants,when funds permit.
Would really like some Helanthium bolivianum 'angustifolius' (not 'Vesuvius'),but can't locate any .

Plants are,obviously,still emersed leaves.

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Neal, Love the forest wood look When the plants grow in it will have a wild jungle look .With the Eleocharis acicularis 'mini' I would trim it down to encourage new grow the old growth will only get an algae attack

Following

 

[Nelson]

.With the Eleocharis acicularis 'mini' I would trim it down to encourage new grow the old growth will only get an algae attack

Oops.That's the only already submersed plant .

 

[Greenfinger2]

It will do better with a trim then

 

[Nelson]

Ok,will do .

 

[Greenfinger2]

It should send out new runners and new growth in a few weeks

 

[PARAGUAY]

Like the wood also how it's done

 

[zozo]

Asked her how she wanted it scaped,then did it how I wanted .

Reminds of my dad, he had the same kind of humor.. Asking everybody what they want for dinner, then go shopping and come home with something completely different and then laugh when you say something about it.

I'm also growing the Eleocharis acicularis 'mini' in a low tech, it came from the high tech and it starts melting and grow algae about imediately.. But once it is used to the lower conditions it'l come back with new growth nice and green, tho it'l be slow. In low tech low light, it realy stays as the name says mini, in high tech i grew it up to 20 cm long within a few months.

Nice bark experiement btw..

 

[AnhBui]

Like the way it's been setup. A few more stuff needed and it will be a perfect tannic tank


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[Nelson]

Reminds of my dad, he had the same kind of humor.. Asking everybody what they want for dinner, then go shopping and come home with something completely different and then laugh when you say something about it.

I'm also growing the Eleocharis acicularis 'mini' in a low tech, it came from the high tech and it starts melting and grow algae about imediately.

I'll trim it like Roy suggested.Will hopefully sort it.

Nice bark experiment btw..

Whilst searching google,to see if Blackthorn is ok to use,I found someone who'd been using it for years with the bark.Also saw on a forum that Cherry is ok to use with the bark.And although it's not Cherry,they're both Prunus

Like the way it's been setup. A few more stuff needed and it will be a perfect tannic tank

It will eventually have some leaves etc in .

 

[alto]

Are the branches "soft"?
I'm imagining fish startling into sharp bits (article I read mentioned "thorns" ... but also sloe gin ... are we all invited )

Add some E parvula if you find it, it'll fill in much faster

Interesting to see how this goes

 

[Nelson]

The branches are hard ,and I cut the thorns off .
No gin I'm afraid,you're still welcome if you want to visit.I'm not paying for flights though .

 

[Manisha]

How's the 'she did it wrong' tank going? ☺ Is helanthium bolivianum angustifolius tall and has thin leaves? Did you find any?

 

[Nelson]

Not a lot happening yet.

Is helanthium bolivianum angustifolius tall and has thin leaves? Did you find any?

Yes,tall and thin leaves.Haven't found any yet .

Though now after more research I've found some mention of hydrocyanic acid in the bark .Not specific to Blackthorn,but to Prunus in general.
So I might have to strip the tank down .

 

[Manisha]

Oh dear, sorry to hear that Does that cause toxicity to plants or livestock? I like the 'idea' of locally resourced hardscape & disappointed to hear it being unsuccessful I'm sure you will find a good alternative if necessary ☺

 

[Nelson]

Not entirely sure yet,guessing more the livestock.
I have got some baby snails in there and put some daphnia in.They're still alive.
It might be when the bark decomposes.

 

[Alexander Belchenko]

Why to strip it? Just remove wood by something really neutral, or remove bark

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I have got some baby snails in there and put some daphnia in.They're still alive.

Probably OK then. I think it would be the cambial layer (just below the bark) that could be a problem, so I would expect it to show any toxicity pretty quickly.

cheers Darrel

 

[zozo]

hydrocyanic acid in the bark

I realy wonder how that all works.... For example certain species of water milfoil are known to contain dangerous levels of cyanide for catle. But aquatic life seems not to be affected.. The plant grows in water, dies in water etc. and nothing much happens, still if you or a cow would eat it there is trouble, but no reports of aquatic life dying around it.. ?? There are several families of plants containing it, like bamboo, but Panda's still eat it for breakfast.. We have Water Bamboo (Blyxa) no idea if it is related.. But also just a side thought, how many aquatic plants we grow are edible? And why aren't they and why are they still save to use in the aquarium?

This all makes me kinda wonder..

Chemist where are you??

 

[Nelson]

This is going to be real slow .
The water is actually darker than it looks.Can't seem to get accurate pics .