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60-P "Succession"

Very cool @zozo ! Is it C. parva growing aroumd the moss?

Thank you..:) No 99% of all plants are south american.. It's Lilaeopsis brasiliensis.. :)
 
Thank you..:) No 99% of all plants are south american.. It's Lilaeopsis brasiliensis.. :)
Haha I should have been able to see that since I have at as the carpeting plant in this tank..
 
they deserve a blackwater biotope to really shine..
I kept mine in a densely planted tank with lots of wood “underways” - they looked amazing, there are few photos that do them justice

A borelli is a good choice

There are some ukaps journals with A Bitaeniata ''Shishita'' (look for locally bred Apisto if possible)

Aquascaping Workshop by Nuno M.
 
I kept mine in a densely planted tank with lots of wood “underways” - they looked amazing, there are few photos that do them justice

A borelli is a good choice

There are some ukaps journals with A Bitaeniata ''Shishita'' (look for locally bred Apisto if possible)

Aquascaping Workshop by Nuno M.

Which water parameters did you keep yours in? I'm at around 180 microsiemens at the moment (mixing DI and tap water), I guess that's a bit too high for checkerboards.
 
Seriously Fish
Hardness: Again, can tolerate moderately hard water but will only thrive and breed with very little hardness (1°dH or lower recommended).

I kept these fish in Castlebar Ireland, water reports listed TDS ~150 - 350 annual range, pH 7 ish, as I recall, GH 4-6, enough that every shop sold limescale products ;)
I’d picked up that remaining 7 juveniles (small grey fish) in London from a (reputable) shop that predicted no problems
I ended up with 3 males, 3 females (that displayed breeding colours and spawned though initial attempts only made it to wiggles stage), 1 likely subordinate male masquerading as a female
They were almost always in a loose shoal, patrolling the tank (except when a given female would remain at a spawn site) BUT tank was 100cm x 40cm (Rio 180 with stock filter)

Sadly I lost all livestock following a water change (& unknown roadworks up the road) - I did have a complete test kit at the time, nothing adverse on the usual parameters ... a couple of the Dicrossus lingered a couple weeks before passing

In a 60P I’d begin with 6 juveniles and then remove fish as needed, I’d try for 2 males & 2 females (I hate to have only one of each as then something is bound to happen)
 
Hi all,
I kept mine in a densely planted tank with lots of wood “underways” - they looked amazing, there are few photos that do them justice

A borelli is a good choice
I guess that's a bit too high for checkerboards.
I'm a borellii fan as well.

In <"terms of looks">, Dicrossus are amazing fish and relatively easy to keep when they are young. This is my last D. maculatus male

dicrossus_clup_aug2012_flash_web-jpg.jpg


Like @alto says you can maintain D. filamentosus at that conductivity level, but they won't spawn successfully.

I've had them a couple of times (D. filamentosus and <"D. maculatus">) and I've never managed to breed them successfully. They are much more enthusiastic eaters than Apistogramma spp. and this means that they need careful feeding once they are mature.

cheers Darrel
 
I'm more and more tempted to get checkerboards.. For now I've gotten 2 neritina pulligera and some cherry shrimps that are living in my nano while I slowly acclimatise to the softer water in this tank.
 
@alto Beautiful fish!

Small update: I'm seeing some crypt melt, but that was expected. What I didn't expect was for all the hygrophila to melt away. Hopefully it grows back with vengeance.
qlY1tHl.jpg


The moss has started to become more greenish.
A2PZypY.jpg

I'm also seeing some melt on Bucephalandra 'wavy green', but apart from that the plants seem to do fine. I see oxygen bubbles on the bolbitis at the end of the photoperiod, which is a welcome surprise. Seems like it appreciates the softer water. Lilaeopsis seems to have no problems whatsoever adapting to submerged growth so far - hope it stays that way.

I must say that, so far, I really enjoy the simplicity of a low tech tank. I don't think I'm going to try and keep this too manicured and perfect, but more of a natural looking scape with happy inhabitants. In retrospect I might have chosen a sand foreground instead of Lilaeopsis for even lower maintenance. Maybe next time..
 
Without CO2 it’s not unusual to see quicker melt of emerse leaves - I don’t know what the determining factors are (it seems complex rather than simple)

Trim back and remove any “melt” - there seems to be no benefit to these (complex) organics in the tank, from what I’ve observed, they seem to have (only) negative impact (contagious “melt”)

Lower water temp seems to slow the emerse leaf deterioration process, while new growth is steady
eg, maintain tank 20-22C rather than 24-28C
(this may just reflect increased gas (CO2 & O2 etc) levels in cooler water, also slower bacterial activity (depending)

Buce ‘wavy green’ does seem more melt prone than the ‘sp.red’ (assuming Tropica), good flow and cooler temp seems to help, ‘red’ is also much faster grower

I suggest removing all the brown spot (algae?or particles) from plant leafs, trim leafs if it’s structural damage - toss in some fast growing floaters if this means tank looks low on leaf density

Lilaeopsis seems like it “holds” old growth for a god long time - watch for new growth (roots and rhizomes)
In CO2 tanks, some will trim the Eleocharis and Lilaeopsis to substrate level as it’s very difficult to individually remove old growth later without also trimming out new growth (you’ll see an odd yellow leaf and new green leaf stage that can linger for ages)


Disclaimer
I am the GREAT MELTER of Tropica Eleocharis montevidensis
 
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Sand often looks “dirty” or algae or Cyanobacteria- it needs weekly sifting and cleaning to look good AND occasional replacement (unless you end up with the magic balance with sand sifters & environmental conditions)
 
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Sand often looks “dirty” or algae or Cyanobacteria- it needs weekly sifting and cleaning to look good AND occasional replacement (unless you end up with the magic balance with sand sifters & environmental conditions)

Second this. In sand, makes you insane, with all that vacuuming and what not. I keep mind super thin though to prevent anaerobic conditions which may lead to Cyanobacteria.

Still a good substrate for corydoras and other sand shifters.
 
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Thanks for the advice, Alto. It's much appreciated. You're right that the melt seems to be contagious in some way and I have trimmed off the melting hygrophila and cryptocoryne leaves. I'm unsure if there's enough of a root system left for survival in the Hygrophila, but we'll see. I have exactly the same observation regarding 'wavy green' and 'red' bucephalandra.
This is how it looks after the trimming.
9jm9wEG.jpg
 
If this melted, I’d contact the vendor - it really should be quite bullet proof
BUT
if plants overheat during shipping, that can lead to considerable (cellular) damage and subsequent melt
I planted some of it my nano where it seems to do fine.. So I don't think the vendor is at fault. I also used the nano as a holding tank for about a week before planting so the melt seems to be a response to the specific conditions in my 60p..
 
The more I look at it, the more unsure I get about the hardscape. Not sure I like the flow and shape of the roots anymore.. Maybe it just need to grow in or can be tweaked, but I'm almost tempted to get some other pieces of driftwood and redo the hardscape. What do you guys think? Wait and see how it looks when it grows in, keep the overall design but tweak it (if so suggestions are welcome) or redo it with new materials?
 
The more I look at it, the more unsure I get about the hardscape
I always have an ongoing Love Hate relationship with my scapes

Wait for it to grow in before any drastic changes

Plants and trimming/shaping can dramatically alter a scape


I recently just settled on hardscape, planted, then saw all it’s overwhelming flaws as soon as it was filled :eek:
:oops::oops::oops:

I did leave it a few days, but it wasn't going to meet the fish needs either (Betta hendra that are very shy)

So compete rescape - everything out, wash soil (properly this time) ...

Much better for fish (and me) - though it still looks rather stark until stems grow in
 
Thanks for the suggestion, Matt. Really nice scape you linked to! I've also thought about making it into more of an island layout instead of the v shape I have now.
If you want to try and get the v shape working, I suggest some really tall stems on the left and right sides...
 
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