Andy D's Splendid Tank

[Andy D]

Thanks Rob!. The emersed plants are doing very well. I am pleased to see there is a white flower growing. Prior flowers have been green and stunted.

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Andy, Wonderful Growth there and plants look super healthy Congratulation
Looking forward to the flower photos

 

[Andy D]

Time for an update although not much has happened.

I had to remove the spider plant from the left side. It had started to rot at its base. I suspect it was not getting enough light due to this being blocked out but the rather large Peace Lillie's on that side as well.

I have some normal flowers which is nice!

I have taken some pics just now but they are not great. Sorry.

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Andy, Looking fantastic

 

[Jose Duarte]

It looks great, and the 2nd aquarium side by side makes a great effect!

Cheers,
Jose.

 

[Andy D]

A short while ago I added a small Calathea to the tank. The main plant was in the decline so I simply saved the healthiest looking bit. I stuck it into the tank - just for the sake of it more than anything else - by attaching it to the front of the tank with a bog-standard airline sucker.

Today I was pleased to see some new growth:

 

[Andy D]

Had a massive hack of the Peace Lillie's today. Some were blocking too much light from above and others were just making access to the tank impossible.
I've never kept Peace Lillie's alive long enough to have to prune them before so I hope my random cuts are fine and they are ok.

 

[Ryan Thang To]

your tank still going strong. good job man

cheers
ryan

 

[sciencefiction]

I've never kept Peace Lillie's alive long enough to have to prune them before so I hope my random cuts are fine and they are ok.

I started mine from a plant that was feeling sorry for itself on the window sill for years. So you are not alone
But they do love it in fish tanks. Mine is flowering right now again and I am down to one pot from 3 peace lilies at some stage because they blocked all the light even in a 5f tank and I had to bin very healthy plants. There was no point condemning them to the window sill again .
But they are so worth it. I now have constant nitrogen deficiencies I moved a large bunch of fish recently to that tank, was curious if I'd cause a spike adding so many fish at once but not a dent.... I hope more fish help out with the nitrate/nitrogen as I am going through a jar of kno3 powder like sugar these days. I don't know whether I am keeping the plants to help with the fish or keeping the fish to help with the plants

 

[sciencefiction]

Hey Addy, took a picture today of my peace lily. It's gone mad flowering. It seems they do twice a year at least but mine took at least a year or more to do so since it adapted to the water conditions first time 2-3 years ago. Mine was actually nitrogen deprived when it started this time recently because at first I sawe yellowing old leaves all over the tank including the lily but then the lily started flowering(or maybe triggered it) However, I noticed that lack of micros can cause twisted flowering buds in my "pink" flowering plant next to the peace lily(forgot the name of the plant) It's recovered since I added some micros but the flower is not as big as it should be. But they are flowering nevertheless.

 

[JohnC]

loving this peace lily action. nice work both of you

 

[Jose Duarte]

Top aquarium! I love it!

 

[banthaman.jm]

Andy, great looking tank, really healthy
Jim

 

[Andy D]

Well the Peace Lillie's are gone.

Due to condensation issues in winter I really needed to minimise any evaporation from the tank. My plan was to substitute the caddies with square pond planters. This serves 2 purposes. One, they would be easier to get between (there would only be 2) to cover the tank and reduce the evaporation and two, they are black so would blend in with the background of the tank.

I decided to crack on with this today. I had the pond planters set-up and planted a few weeks ago. I added them to the tank but hit a snag. The front facing side was sagging and ended up under the water. I tried a couple of things to prop them up but with no joy.

Therefore I had to revert to plan Z. I have removed all of the emersed planting so I can now fit a full cover. I have changed the substrate over to Uni-Pac black micro-gravel to match my other tank. I cleaned up the wood and replanted most of the Anubias. I still have about 4/5 left over. I do plan to add a Buce or two and some sort of stem plant to add more height on the right hand side.

The Ember Tetras, Chilli Rasbora and RCS that were in here have all been moved over to my other tank. In a few weeks I will be looking at stocking this. Most likely with CPDs.

 

[5678]

How many cpd are you looking at? I've had them in small numbers before and hardly saw them. I think down to lots of other active tank mates though.
Thinking of 30-40 in my 45c.

 

[banthaman.jm]

looking forward to seeing this new set up evolve
Jim

 

[sciencefiction]

Hey Andy, nice changes. I am looking forward to see what you do. Good luck.

 

[Andy D]

How many cpd are you looking at? I've had them in small numbers before and hardly saw them. I think down to lots of other active tank mates though.
Thinking of 30-40 in my 45c.

I was thinking about 30.

 

[Andy D]

looking forward to seeing this new set up evolve
Jim

Thanks!

Hey Andy, nice changes. I am looking forward to see what you do. Good luck.

Thanks!

Current plan is to get more micro-gravel to top up the shallow areas.

I shall get a few more pots of Lilaeopsis to plant in the open areas.

Maybe some Hygrophila Difformis for the right hand side.

 

[sciencefiction]

That sounds nice. Something fast growing would be good to make a balance in the mean time.
You anubias looks very good and clean which is a tough thing to achieve. I've noticed that it does well in tanks with black background because light is never bouncing at it that much.