From reef to planted: musings and build thread

[Anonymous]

You could tuck a bunch of the Hemi in that left front corner, just to see if you liked it.

Dang, that tank itch is getting stronger just watching yours! By the time I got mine setup, you'd have cuttings to trade

 

[Anonymous]

Go for it. I'll keep the cuttings on stand by, ready to spring into action

I'm having a lot of fun with this tank. Can't recommend doing one enough.

 

[Anonymous]

looks good 8)

 

[Anonymous]

looks good 8)

\threadjack

good to see you!

/threadjack

 

[Anonymous]

looks good 8)

Heya amigo. Thenk yew. Gimme another coupla weeks with it yet, I'm figuring by about week 6 or 7 it'll be solid

 

[Anonymous]

I've just about made up my mind that the ludwigia has to go. It just has too many negatives:
1. Overall "messy" look, between aerial roots, side shoots and the occasional dropped leaf.
2. Needs constant trimming. It's not quite as fast growing as caulerpa, but it isn't that far behind.
3. Because of the constant trimming, I'm seeing an overabundance of side shoots wherever a cutting is made. While it makes the planting look nice and full, it also is starting to overshade the blyxa located in front of it.

I just don't know what I'm going to do in it's place. A couple things I've been thinking about are:
1. Java fern. It's tall enough, it's slow growing, it's indestructable, and I think it's leaf-shape would fit in well.
2. HM. It's not tall enough, but I might be able to coax it up to 4-6" height. Bushy, and would complement the HC already in the tank.
3. Corkscrew vals. Would need regular trimming, grass like leaf shape.
4. Cyperus helferi. Another tall, grass-like plant. Slow growing.
5. Let the blyxa have that entire corner, at the cost of the tiered effect that I have now.
6. No plant at all; put in a tall piece of driftwood in that back corner and let the blyxa fill in all around it.

Anybody got any thoughts while I try to figure this one out?

 

[Anonymous]

Oooh, hadn't thought of Java! I would like that.

 

[Anonymous]

my suggestion might be taken as CRYPTic

 

[Anonymous]

Which species of crypt were you thinking of, Vitz?

Right now what I'm leaning towards is a stump-like piece of driftwood, to which I would tie java fern and maybe something like anubias nana 'petite' towards the very top of the wood. I'd pull out all the ludwigia and place the driftwood stump in it's place, and fill in the empty space to it's sides and back with blyxa.

 

[Anonymous]

Small update today, bigger update coming tomorrow.

I'll be removing the ludwigia, all of it. I have an order being delivered from aquabotanic tomorrow of a couple java ferns, a few anubias nana 'petite' and a stump of driftwood who's base is covered in HC growth. The stump will go where the ludwigia is now, with the java ferns tied onto the lower portion and the tiny-leafed anubias tied to the upper branches. I'll redistribute the blyxa around the sides and behind the stump as well.

Last weekend I stumbled across five tiny threadfins in an LFS for $1.75 each, so needless to say I scarfed them up and added them to the tank. They seem to be settling in well.

The tank continues to do well at the six week mark now. I had a few specks of algae show up on the glass last week, but otherwise the tank remains algae free. The HC carpet has covered about 98% of the exposed soil. The first of the 74 oz disposible CO2 cans I'm using still hasn't given out, running at 1 bubble per second during the photoperiod. I had some concerns about what the longevity of those tiny little cans would be, but I'm happy to say they seem to have been unfounded. It's a nifty little system that ADA offers, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to someone wanting to set up a small planted tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Okay, got my stuff from aquabotanic today. Here's the updated pics:

 

[Anonymous]

I do like the 'nana', it makes a nice effect on the driftwood. That plant always was a fav of mine due to its keeping so compact

 

[Anonymous]

Any feeling on the HC-encrusted lump o'wood with java ferns anchored to the back?

 

[Anonymous]

In truth, I'm not sure yet which is why I didn't comment

 

[Anonymous]

No worries. I'm not sure about it myself just yet, it may need more in the very back to fill things in I'm thinking.

 

[Anonymous]

Just so!

 

[Anonymous]

I think I'll give it a few weeks as-is to really see how I end up liking it. If I'm still not satisfied maybe I'll thicken up a row of java ferns back there.

In the meantime, going to try to arrange to get my hands on some pseudomogil gertrudae next week.

 

[Anonymous]

8) 8) 8)


I can't wait to do one these!

 

[Anonymous]

lookin sweet cj

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys. You have anything planned yet, Jim?

In other news, it looks like I'm going to be able to have 10 pseudomogil gertrudae delivered tomorrow courtesy of Fish2U.com, who were the only people outside of Aquabid I could find with any in stock.

I decided to go with more p. gertrudae because I just can't find a source of female iriatherina werneris. Males, no problem, but it seems everyone sells males only. Since one of the goals of this tank is to keep a breeding population going and that's kind of tricky to do when you can only get one gender, the gertrudes are switching to center stage.