The Celestial Swamp - A voyage through a flooded forest fringe (Shallow Riparium)

[hitmanx]

These are some of the saddest looking dwarf sag ever... out in the brightest spot, they are no larger then 1-2cm and in a great state of disrepair...

The ones over in the less intensely lit area are doing better, but still not the greatest and still not very large...

 

[Wookii]

I don’t think you need to risk adding the Osmocote to the substrate - they can risk releasing too much ammonia into the water column.

What water column fertiliser are you using?

 

[castle]

I guess, and this is a guess - something isn’t quite in balance. S.Sag is probably the easiest plant I’ve ever kept in an aquarium, in fact I found a jar outside which S.sag has lived in for years, in almost 0c through a couple of winters.

Could the emergent plants be taking any and all goodness from the water column?
Is the substrate exhausted?

I love this tank btw, inspirational for me.

Dodgy looking forgotten sag attached.

 

[hitmanx]

I don’t think you need to risk adding the Osmocote to the substrate - they can risk releasing too much ammonia into the water column.

What water column fertiliser are you using?

I do not remember any adverse effects the last couple times I added the osmocote tabs as far as the water column goes and leaching... I would imagine anything like that would be sucked up pretty quick by the emersed plants or absorbed by the substrate... I am using Thrive by NilocG Aquatics, and seachem equilibrium 3 times per week

I guess, and this is a guess - something isn’t quite in balance. S.Sag is probably the easiest plant I’ve ever kept in an aquarium, in fact I found a jar outside which S.sag has lived in for years, in almost 0c through a couple of winters.

Could the emergent plants be taking any and all goodness from the water column?
Is the substrate exhausted?

I love this tank btw, inspirational for me.

Dodgy looking forgotten sag attached.
View attachment 182248

I have dwarf sag growing in other tanks and it behaves differently with long leaves... nothing like these stunted examples... Yes I would imagine that the emergent plants are soaking every available nutrient up and by this point I would imagine that the substrate is completely exhausted unless I start adding osmocote tabs...

 

[hitmanx]

Just some under water action...

The Calathea rufibarba is definitely doing well...

The Ardisia is definitely rebounding from its dark slumber...

All seems well while I micro manage the tank as usual in February... we shall see how it looks in summer when I ignore it 😉

 

[19Lee81]

Just some under water action...

The Calathea rufibarba is definitely doing well...

The Ardisia is definitely rebounding from its dark slumber...

All seems well while I micro manage the tank as usual in February... we shall see how it looks in summer when I ignore it

What an amazing setup this is!!!..
Hats off to you!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PARAGUAY]

It’s the larvae you need not the adults. You should be able to collect them yourself in the Spring if you search hard enough, and don’t want to buy them - I often seen them on brambles and the like out walking:

View attachment 182241

They do pupate, so you could wait for that stage before collecting them up and putting them outside somehow.

I’ve not done it myself as I say, but it would be an interesting approach and could deal with the problem.

Sure a lot see these and think pest not beneficial Seeing aphids on the sweet peas every year l use spray washing up liquid rather than chemicals so before l realized what friend to the garden they are not too much damage done . Apparantly they are more voracious at eating aphids than adult ladybirds.

 

[Ajm200]

I must admit as much as I love the maidenhair fern I had in my old tank, I don't miss it since I took it out. The speed of growth just dominated the emerse growth and it suffered from random die off every so often that I think has been discussed on here before. It had a nice leaf structure and I'm still trying to replace it with something better so eager to see what you add as a replacement. I must admit I like the openess of your tank now it's gone and think something shorter on the wood will be an improvement.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I’m interested in how you got the maidenhair fern to grow emersed on your tank. I’ve had three attempts and the leaves have gone crispy and did each time

 

[mort]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I’m interested in how you got the maidenhair fern to grow emersed on your tank. I’ve had three attempts and the leaves have gone crispy and did each time

It's a nice thread to resurrect.

I just plonked the fern in the tank so that the only part in the water were the roots. It's a long time since I have done it but I don't remember any significant die off during the transition but ferns definitely can react badly and lose their leaves (they often grow back strongly). If the crown gets wet it will rot and might be why they have died for you. I would just wash the soil of the plant, make sure the crown is above the waters surface and only allow the roots to enter the water.
The one thing I have found with this species is that they are prone to drying up and losing lots of foliage if the humidity changes, they really don't like low humidity which is why they are perfect bathroom plants.

Perhaps @hitmanx can add more info and hopefully provide an update at the same time.

 

[zozo]

In theory, it's tridirectional

1. light (intensity)
2. fertilization
3. humidity​

In practicality, we need to find the perfect equilibrium in this combination... The difficulty is to find this perfect balance. And giving advice on where and how to find it is even more difficult since no 2 situations are the same and since we have no numbers to share it's hard if not impossible to compare.

 

[hitmanx]

Random update picture as it sits most of the time in ambient light (when the light timer isnt on), overgrown and neglected...

 

[MichaelJ]

overgrown and neglected...

I like it. Not looking overgrown to me ... neglected? well, perhaps a bit, but nothing wet hands for an hour or so can't fix

Always wanted a really shallow tank just never got around to it. And now I wouldn't know where to put it.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[hitmanx]

I like it. Not looking overgrown to me ... neglected? well, perhaps a bit, but nothing wet hands for an hour or so can't fix

I'm thinking of working on it tonight... cleanup... trim... pictures... no idea what kind of fauna I still have in there now beiades the bristlenose... I've just been topping off water and feeding every once in awhile... maybe a few fert squirts added since the spring... generally a very low maintenance tank ♻️

 

[hitmanx]

Oh man... it's dirtier than I thought... lots of mulm... thread algae is a problem... I hate it!

Spath roots are going crazy again, clogging up the overflow area and growing into the substrate...

Cool thing is an Otocinclus showed up... haven't seen any of those in years... still a bunch of cpds and emerald danios and a few remaining glowlight danios.... couldn't find any Amanos I added last winter...

I was thinking of adding some cherry barbs, as I can't find a source of the more appropriate rosy barbs... anyone have experience with these?

It's snowing mulm...

 

[hitmanx]

Still more work to be done...

 

[mort]

I think cherry barbs would be perfect. They are small and peaceful enough to not intimidate your other fish and colourful enough to be seen from a distance. They are also slower, more methodical, swimmers than rosy barbs which can be quite boisterous. Rosy barbs also get to a decent size and would intimidate your other fish.
Checkered barbs are a nice, more subtle, common barb that may work but I'm a little surprised you don't have easy access to rosy barbs as they are a lfs staple here.

 

[hitmanx]

I think cherry barbs would be perfect. .

I think I will try them and hope for no jumpers... it always seems that when I get to a certain number of fish in this tank, some decide to jump...

 

[hitmanx]

It still lives... basically not much maintenance and no ferts since last fall...

I just removed the H. Polysperma as it was collecting hair algae and also some bga...

6+ years... not feeling much motivation to be honest... it just exists...

 

[hitmanx]

Further clean up and organizing... planted more crypts wendtii in the middle and scraped algae off the wood... sucked out mulm from the sump...

Dwindling livestock over the years had me dream of fishes swimming to and fro... added 18 Celestichthys Erythromicron...

Now comes the part where I get temporary obsession for the tank, only to forget it exists for months at a time...

Something I am going to try is siphoning up the mulm and detritus into a micron sock in the sump intead of actual water changes.. not that i have kept up on those things anyways...

 

[hitmanx]

The view from the ol' sitting chair...

Maybe one day I will actually finish enclosing the stand and light fixture to make it look presentable... one day 😉