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Back in the Saddle - Update... pics to follow

Aeropars

Aeropars

Member
Joined
9 Jul 2007
Messages
818
Location
Leicester
Hello All,

Its been a while since i was last here. Totally disgruntled with not being able to get a pristine tank like a lot of you which i think might have been down to fish load. So now only a few fish are left so i am going for it again.

Tank: 180l Juwel Rio
Lighting: 4 x T8
Ferts: EI + 5kg FE.
Plants: Crypt Wendtii, Blyxa Japonica, Anubia Nana and another who's name escapes me.

Before the pics, I have a question. How tall will Crypt Wendtii grow? I'm using it as a background plant but its never seemed to reach the height i thought. The crypts in the pics are not juvenile, they have been in the tank for years but this is as tall as they have got.

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Re: Back in the Saddle

Welcome back! :thumbup:

Most C. wendtii varieties won't grow over 15cm, perhaps 20cm max for the larger 'Mi Oya' etc.

C. wendtii 'green', which is what I assume you have will reach 15cm or so. Some crypts also spread out their leaves if there's enough room so the height isn't so much. If you plant then as invidual plants, and close together they tend to grow more vertically.

All the best with the set-up - it looks like an excellent start. The hardscape is lovely. What wood and substrate are you using?
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

WOW What a fantastic new start. I love the hardscape on this. That wood is awesome. I too would like to know what substrate you are using :) Looking forward to this developing.. I have subscribed :)
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

Hi George,

Its good to be back and having some focus on the tank again. I'm determined to get a healthy growth on the tank at last. Its never been quite right!

The substrate is my old Seachem Onyx sand with a base layer of Tropica clay based stuff. I forget the name of it but it made hell of a mess of the water when i uprooted the crypts! The wood is Redmoor wood form Aqua essentials which again is old stuff I've had in the tank

Thanks for the information on the crypts. Looks like I'll have to look for something a bit bigger to get a nice background. Any suggestions? I'm trying to stay away from the stem plants as I want this to be a low main tank.

I've also got myself a beginners DSLR camera so I'll be trying to play around with that to get some good pictures. It's a Nikon D3100 and im really impressed with it so far.
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

Hi Aeropars,
great looking set up already. :thumbup: for the hardscape.
Aeropars said:
Thanks for the information on the crypts. Looks like I'll have to look for something a bit bigger to get a nice background. Any suggestions? I'm trying to stay away from the stem plants as I want this to be a low main tank.
Click to expand...
Try cryptocoryne balansae or retrospiralis for height, they are a tall narrow leaf crypt which will do just the trick in your lower maintenance set up and blend nicely with the other crypts already in there and the grassy blyxa.
Hope this helps,
look forward to seeing the progression.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

Hi Ady,

Thanks for the input. I was thinking about balensae. Not sure how much this would cost for the amount i might need. Perhaps mixing it out with some other plants might offer better contrast but i have no idea what to stick in there. A nice plant shop near Leicester would be handy but theres nothing about worth visiting that I know of.

Lee
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

Aeropars said:
Hi Ady,

Thanks for the input. I was thinking about balensae. Not sure how much this would cost for the amount i might need. Perhaps mixing it out with some other plants might offer better contrast but i have no idea what to stick in there. Lee
Click to expand...

Once balansae gets going its supposed to be rampant so should fill in quickly, however its taken its time in my set up, probably due to softer water conditions...its belting out some runners now though. Worth noting as well that tgm do an exceptional value range and the balansae is in it, i split each pot into at least three plants which can then be arranged to give the illusion of many! Maybe also look at mixing it with additional taller species like vallis nana or cyperus halferi which will go nice with the blyxa, or for contrasting leaf shape (but nice colour blending) hygrophila pinatifida looks good.
Sorry for spamming but this is what balansae and pinitafida look like together (left of tank)...

feb20122064.jpg


Aeropars said:
A nice plant shop near Leicester would be handy but theres nothing about worth visiting that I know of.
Click to expand...
Yeah i dont really have a great selection in Co. Durham either but have been to TGM a few times and ordered all my plants from them with no issues.
Just get yourself onto the tgm or tropica websites and have a look through the plant lists for something that catches your eye.
Cheerio for now,
Ady.
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

also i notice there is a green planting theme, so perhaps for a non stem suggestion which will add a little height and be low maintenance, perhaps a microsorum pteropus windelov attached to the rock rear centre? Slightly unusual leaf formation and will fit nicely with the scape.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

Welcome back Lee :) .
Great start mate,really like the layout :thumbup: .
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

Ady34 said:
Aeropars said:
Hi Ady,

Thanks for the input. I was thinking about balensae. Not sure how much this would cost for the amount i might need. Perhaps mixing it out with some other plants might offer better contrast but i have no idea what to stick in there. Lee
Click to expand...

Once balansae gets going its supposed to be rampant so should fill in quickly, however its taken its time in my set up, probably due to softer water conditions...its belting out some runners now though. Worth noting as well that tgm do an exceptional value range and the balansae is in it, i split each pot into at least three plants which can then be arranged to give the illusion of many! Maybe also look at mixing it with additional taller species like vallis nana or cyperus halferi which will go nice with the blyxa, or for contrasting leaf shape (but nice colour blending) hygrophila pinatifida looks good.
Sorry for spamming but this is what balansae and pinitafida look like together (left of tank)...

feb20122064.jpg


Aeropars said:
A nice plant shop near Leicester would be handy but theres nothing about worth visiting that I know of.
Click to expand...
Yeah i dont really have a great selection in Co. Durham either but have been to TGM a few times and ordered all my plants from them with no issues.
Just get yourself onto the tgm or tropica websites and have a look through the plant lists for something that catches your eye.
Cheerio for now,
Ady.
Click to expand...

I know its off topic (sort of) but MAN i really love this tank Ady.... got any spare balansae, or how big were the ones you got in the TGM value range ? (in height I mean)
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

OK, Had a look through some plant catalogs and I'll be going for a couple of pots of C. Balansae but I also think i need something for the foreground. I dont know if carpet plants will suit the low maintenance side of things but i would like something to give some interest to the foreground. does anyone have any suggestions?
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

I have a very low enery set up that would not suit glosso or HC type carpets so I use crypt parva. Its a very small leaved green crypt and I spread it out across the foreground.

Andy
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

Well I have gotten home today and found that my Blyxa has serverly melted and I don't know what has caused it. I've previously dosed AE liquid carbon without an problems bot today its looking pretty sorry looking. I feat that it might actually die off completely! I'll get some more pictures this evening and post them for all to see.

Lee
 
Re: Back in the Saddle

I cant speak for the liquid carbon you used but Easycarbo seemed fine with my blyxa. Was it the amount you used perhaps ? If you are going to buy Crypt balansae, get it in the next few days from Aqua Essentials and check their thread on 25% discount ;)
 
Re: Back in the Saddle - blyxa starting to melt

given the Blyxa is melting I've snuck away from the other half and bought a few other plants to add further interest to the tank. I've got the following coming tomorrow!

Ranunculus inundatus
Cryptocoryne balansae
Hemianthus callitrichoides 'Cuba'

I did say I didn't want a carpet and I still don't but i'm hoping to get the HC to only grow in certain places to give some patches of low lying greenery.

I'll post some more pics when I've planted!
 
Re: Back in the Saddle - blyxa starting to melt

Hi,
its awful when you have your tank looking all lovely and something like that happens. Ive heard of blyxa doing this when first introduced.... how long has it been in?
I was reading over in the general planted tank section and leaf melting came up, this is what ceg4048 had to say:

"Hello,
Melting is caused by insufficient CO2 for the given lighting level. Add more Excel or reduce the light intensity, or add more flow, or any combination of these.

Cheers,
Hi,
I really cannot say. Melting is dying, so it depends on how much has melted. If the roots have not melted, and if there is a little bit of stem left then the plant might have a chance to recover - assuming that the CO2 has improved sufficiently. Sometimes, the leaves melt but the plant is able to adjust to the CO2 level so it puts out new growth and is fine afterwards, without any change in the CO2. It all depends on the plant as well as how much light, flow and CO2 are available and whether these values cause enough damage to kill the plant, or whether the plant is able to make the adjustments quickly enough to save itself. I've seen large scale meltdown followed by complete recovery as well as permanent meltdowns...

Cheers,"
The whole thread is: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=20421
Basically its differing c02 amounts (or demands due to changed light levels), a change from what the plant is used to results in melting, crypts are also particularly susceptible.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Re: Back in the Saddle - blyxa starting to melt

The Blyxa has been in the tank for about a year however Its been in a bucket for 1 day or so while i did the rescape. It was fine for about a day in the tank then it all went to put. I was only running 2 x T8s at the time so i doubt it could be due to not enough CO2 for the lighting levels however I'm no expert. Hopefully the stuff thats not too bad will recover and I can get this back on track. I've noticed Blyxa is hard to come by so i hope it doesnt all die off!

Lee
 
Re: Back in the Saddle - New Pics!

Here's a new pic after the HC, Balansae and another plant who's name escapes me, has gone in. I'm just about to head off to the football so I'll post some more pics tonight or tomorrow for all you photo geeks out there :D

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