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Superfish Scaper 45 - Dutch Style

Pogostemon Erectus starting to catch up now but still 3 inches or so short of target height. Everything else needs regular trimming. The tank is certainly starting to achieve the look I was originally aiming for now - almost.
Start trimming that carpet! The bottoms will start yellowing just about now. Anyway, fantastic looking little tank!
 
Did a major trim a couple of days ago as many plants were reaching the water surface. I cut back the Rotala R V Hra, Ludwigia P and Hemianthus Micranthemoides quite a bit.

Pretty much left the Pogostemon Erectus alone height-wise as this is a slow(er) growing stem, but it had begun to choke the Ludwigia P so removed a row or two to give the Ludwigia P space to grow. Seems criminal throwing bits of PE away after all the trouble I had getting it started, but there you go.

You might notice a couple of little cuttings bowls stuck to the inside of the tank. These are Rotala Macranda Type 2 “Pearl” in vitro specimens I’m trying to bring on. I also have some planted directly in the soil of my other (newer) nano - a second attempt as the first ones choked on GDA / Diatoms so trying to see if I can have any success with this plant in either of my tanks.

Yesterday added a dozen neon tetras which creates a nice bit of extra movement. The setup seems much more stable now I am controlling the lighting period strictly with a blackout cover and have employed an external canister filter with UV.



Pics attached - for some reason website doesn’t seem to let me add them in-line anymore….
 

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Pogostemon at about the right height now so just keeping everything trimmed in a slope to that side.

Here’s photos from both sides of the peninsula.
 

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Tank looking a bit sparse and sorry for itself now as I did a major cut back and replanting. I’m in two minds as to whether I should just rip everything out and start again or whether I should leave it as I have with just a Sever cut back on the Rotala and Pearl weed.

Well here’s what I did:

1. Removed the entire Monte Carlo carpet as I’d let it get too long and was yellowing underneath. Replanted with the green tops I could save.

2. Removed all the Rotala bonsai as this was getting too tall and yellow at the bottom. Replaced with the tops from another younger tank that needed its first trim.

3. Removed, trimmed and replanted the Alternanthera R.

4. Severe cut back on the Rotala Rotundifolia Hra - maybe I should have just pulled it all out and replanted tips, but let’s see how it recovers (or not)

4. Huge cut back on the Pearl weed - maybe I went too far with this one. Still I’ve got plants in another tank if I need to restock.

I didn’t do much with the Pogostemon Erectus. It’s so much slower growing than the other stems so I’m loathe to cut this back.

I’m going to give it a couple of weeks to see how things go and if I’m not seeing good enough growth I’ll pull all the stems and replant tips from my other tank. I’ll also replant the tips of the PE if I get to this state.
 

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I’ve since replanted this tank and that’s already now 3 months old. Here’s some pics of new layout. I don’t like it as much as the original and will try to revert to that on next rebuild in a couple of months.

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I would try to make a thicker group with that Ludwigia.
I do like your tank, regardless 🙂
 
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Those lilac coloured undersides of leaves amongst the Rotala Bonsai is R Macranda type 2 “Pearl” that has reverted from its “dwarf” form to this weird thing. I’ve been picking all the “mutants out from another tank and planted them here.

Hers what it “should” look like:
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