Three Of A Perfect Pair

[Vinkenoog1977]

Hey guys,

Has some plants left, and was fed up with what was sitting on my hallway cupboard, so I decided to do some low-low tech pico "tanks". The square ones are 14 cm. by 14 cm. by 14 cm., the vase holds around 4 liters total I think. I have no plans for fauna as of yet, and since these will remain unfiltered and unheated, there aren't too many choices, except maybe for some Red Cherry shrimp. For now, I like things as they sit. The PP is about 9 hours, I am dosing with some liquid CO2 and EI, and will do weekly 50% WC. The flora is:
- Eleocharis Acicularis;
- Eleocharis Parvula;
- Pilularia Globulifera;
- Ceratopteris Siliquosa;
- Anternanthera Reineckii;
- Micranthemum Micranthemoides;
- Micranthemum Umbrosum;
- Ammania Bonsai.

Let me know what you think guys!

 

[Vinkenoog1977]

One week in, and everything is looking pretty good! The Micranthemum is doing great, and I've actually some very shy pearling going on in there! Plus, the Alternanthera is doing excellent as well, all the other plants are ticking along nicely!

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Vinkenoog, Wow these are fantastic Have you ever thought of doing a Wabi-Kusa

 

[Vinkenoog1977]

Thanks Roy!

That will be my next challenge; am thinking of doing another trio, for on my drinks cabinet; a giant cognac glass, giant wine glass and another giant whiskey-glass, and then do those Wabi-Kusa style. Probably somewehere in the next couple of weeks; will require moving the two 40L Nano's, but that shouldn't be too much of a hassle with a bit of help. Stay tuned!

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi, Looking forward to seeing you W-K

 

[Vinkenoog1977]

Time for an update; things are doing pretty good; I took out the Ceratopteris and moved in some Vallis which I had left after redoing another tank. The Alternanthera is growing good, the grasses are lacking a bit. The Micranthemum is actually pearling like mad, well, compared to the MC in Indiscipline, which hasn't pearled yet, even though that one does have flow, a heater, a filter, and CO2; go figure.
Did have a LOT of algae this week. Not too sure how to deal with that at the moment; will try dosing some EasyCarbo, and see what happens. Might add some Red Cherry shrimp to the middle vase, not sure yet.

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Vinkenoog, Liquid Co2 should help get rid of the algae In the vase Would the shrimp not clime or jump out ??

 

[Vinkenoog1977]

I figured as much.

And yes, that's what I'm afraid off, I lost one CRS today who somehow managed to get out of a tank WITH a lid, so not going to risk it. Time to get the syringe out!

 

[Vinkenoog1977]

Still going pretty good, although I did toss the Vallis out of the vase, as that appears to have been the cause of the algae bloom; am hoping everything will clear up. I've replaced it with some Lysimachia Nummeralia I had leftover, and I think it looks better than the Vallis did.

I've also added a second threesome. These were supposed to be Wabi-Kusa (sorry Roy!), but when I finished them, and took a longer look, I couldn't help but think: where's the bloody water? LOL So, they've become the second tripple-pair, and now sit proudly on my back window sill (natural light all day, around 2-3 hours of sunlight in the evening). I will be changing the lights to so downlighters, probably the same as used in the setup above. Plants used are:
- Micranthemum Micranthemoides;
- Micranthemum Umbrosum;
- Ammania Bonsai;
- Eleocharis Parvula;
- Eleocharis Acicularis;
- Alternanthera Reineckii;
- Rotala Walichii;
- Rotala sp. Green;
- Rotala Rotundafolia.
There's also some sort of terestrial moss in the one with the lavarock in there, no clue as to the species, found in the woods near my house. The plants appear extremely happy, as they have been pearling none stop!

Pearling...

 

[Ben22]

Cool!

Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Vinkenoog, Not a W-K you are forgiven They are superb One thing the terrestrial Moss will not survive under water for long As it starts to die it will pollute the water and affect the other plants I will be looking for a vase now. To start one of these myself

 

[Vinkenoog1977]

Hey Roy! Thanks for the tip regarding the moss,will keep a close eye on it. However, so far, so good; still pearling like mad! And it grows on wet, rotting old logs, so who knows, maybe it will adapt. Will try to ID the moss, to be certain.

They are fun, and look great, even if I do say so myself. And I think rotala is a great plant for these little setups; 4 days in, and they are already starting to grow emers, and look happy doing so! Saw that pic a while back of the flowering rotala, and that's what I'm hoping for as well!

These vases are simply not suited for doing W-K, maybe in future I'll have a go with it, for now, my attention, and money, will be going to the 200L I'm planning.

 

[Gruff]

Is that just small grain gravel in the lighter ones? The brown is cat litter or some specialist product?

 

[Vinkenoog1977]

Just regular aquarium gravel, I think this was some of the Dennerle Quartz stuff, both the brown and the white.

 

[Gruff]

They look good, I'm going to have a look round my local charity shops for a similar square container.

 

[Vinkenoog1977]

Right, well, I've added a couple more, 5 to be exact, and have restarted 4 of the original ones. Will add new pics probably tomorrow. The large, wide vases, will house a small colony of RCS each, the rest will remain fauna-less, except for the algae eating snails that regulary accompany the plant shipments (I should really do an ID on those btw). The new plant list is as follows:
Alternanthera Reineckii sp. "Cardinalis"
Amania Bonsai
Eleocharis Acicularis
Eleocharis Parvula
Heteranthera Dubia
Heteranthera Zosterifolia
Ludwigia Palustris
Ludwigia Palustris sp. "Green"
Micranthemum Micranthemoides
Micranthemum sp. "Monte Carlo"
Micranthemum Umbrosum
Pilularia Globlulifera
Pogostemon Erectus
Riccia Fluitans
Rotala Rotundifolia
Rotala Rotundifolia sp. "Green"
Rotala Walichii
Taxiphyllum sp. "Spiky Moss"
Taxipyhllum Barbieri
Vesicularia Dubyana

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Vinkenoog Wow Now that's a plant list Looking forward to the photos now

 

[Vinkenoog1977]

Living Room Table:

Mantle:

Dining Room:

Hallway:

Hope you guys like them, if you have any questions regarding planting of whatever, just let me know!

 

[Andy D]

They look great!

 

[Vinkenoog1977]

Thanks Andy, real happy with them, even though it is sort of frustrating that difficult plants that never grew in my high-tech tanks (Alternanthera Reineckii, Amania Bonsai, Eleocharis Parvula) seem to thrive in these über low-tech setups. LOL