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A little inspiration.

First of all; thanks for appreciating :)

Yep........(again;)), correct trimmng at correct time is IMO the second most important thing in good plant health (first one is environment). I'm a gardener/nursery-man.......... So I trim a lot:p.
This tank is roughly 200 l. (very long, not very deep).​
Because of the very dense plant-mass and very high growth-rate (all conditions are "high end": lights, temp., etc.... and a lot of fast-growing stem-plants and carpeting-plants in there), this tank "eats" anything between 200 - 300 ml. fertiliser a week, mixing the two kinds according to current needs.
So I'm probaply overdosing a little too, to ensure enough of anything is available at any time.
- BUT........... there's really not a lot of fish, and about 1/4 of water is exchanged every week, to ensure things don't "pile up" in any way.

Mick.


So lets see. .. 200-300 ML a week will give a liter per month.. Wich means at list 30€ a month in fertilizers (Portugal prices) .. 360€ / year. :greedy:
 
Honestly (and I know others will have "secrets" to provide), I really believe it takes the same basic things to have success with red plants as with green ones : Ideal conditions !!! If you can grow perfect greens, you can usually grow perfect reds too !!!
First of all, realize that "red plants" aren't a homogenuous group. Different red plants have different needs and respond to different things. For some it's a matter of plenty light and ferts (iron and molybdaen are important, yes), for others you can "stress" them with starvation or too much light. For the Tigerlotus it's generally a question of genes, some "strains" of stemplants, just colour up better ( these are what I look for at Tropica ) also because of genes.........and the list goes on !!
- Sorry, I can't provide a "one-covers-all"-solution.
If I could, Tropica would be selling it by now ;)
Mick.


Well, i never had so good reds in my tank until i started to use a 4000 kelvins bulb. That is a point.
But i´m gonna say something else.

One thing else.. I never had saw to.. in a real tank... this reds performed by PHOTOS! Sorry but i´ve seen to many tanks and never have the luck to see these kind of reds alive. The photos bring a colour that in real life i never saw.. not even in any store here in Portugal. Not a single one!
I´m trying to get it.. but a normal red is quite diferrent to what these photos show us..
 
Hi Paulo
In this part of the forum, I'm actually allowed to comment on Tropica-related issues - so in this case, I will.
I agree, that a lot of heavily photo-shopped pic.s are around - even in respected contests, I'm sad to say.
To make general/all-covering conclusions on the fact, that YOU have never seen good red plants in a public displayed tank.....is really not serious, my friend - not to mention fair.
Tropica go on exibitions/expo's/general shows quite often, displayingin-grown tanks (usually grown in for 3 months at Tropica, and then moved to specific exibition). This we do for exactly the reason, you mention ; it's too easy to manipulaye pictures.
We realize, that seing is believing............and InterZoo in Nurenberg every second year, is our biggest "window-decoration". A lot of costrs have come to believe us after visiting and see
 
A lot of costumets have come to believe us, after visiting and see the aquariums in real life. It's a matter of credability.........
 
I live In Portugal my friend... and unfortunately we do not have any kind of exibitions/expo's/general shows from the hobby. Just a few stores that sometimes i doubt of their knowledge for themselves ..
It´s sad but true.
And my opinion is one from a guy ( myself..) who´s been working to progress in the hobby for a few years now, and only now i´m seeing some results. At list one´s i consider to be respectable.
But those reds in the pictures? Since day one i never believed it. I got reds in my tank. But not like the photos we usually see around the web.. that´s what i intend to say.
I do believe in what you say about the reds you got. But hey.. you´re the ones who´s a manufacturing and have all kinds of equipment.. and do all kind of tests etc. not a regular aquaristic.

Kindest regards,
 
Thx. for the kind words, Paulo - I'm glad we actually agree.
Tests are part of my job, and I do ofcourse use equipment to document measures and observations.
I have 40+ years in this hobby........and honestly this is what bring the results, far more than any equipment.
There is just no substitute for experience...........
 
There is just no substitute for experience...........

No doubt of that my friend.. i learn more from a careless and accurate atention to my tank then anything else. I used to say that the tanks talk with us! :)
Most of the times we are not paying attention to what is saying ;)
 
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