# End of an era: Flooded Forest journal



## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

*Update 4/3: Here are a couple full tank shots. 12/07 - 4/08
Stand and specs are here. Read on through the journal if you're bored.*

Got a free 65gl tank and driftwood from some old lady's back yard, will make a great grow out for my angelfish. The plan is an SA biotope (edit 12/29; that's no longer the case and it never really happened here), but I'll likely be using non-region specific species here and there for whatever reason, so it'll be more of an SA interpretation, probably not a very good one at that, I'd rather not have a substrate of mud and dead leaves and I'm sure there are no play-sand valleys lined with purple rocks in SA. :hihi: 

First a few inches of Eco that was payed for with lfs gift cards, driftwood, and 20lbs of rock the lfs guy called jasmine.



















Now 1 to 3 inches of SMS, sand in the center, both covered with mulm from a filter sponge. *Update/Warning: SMS next to sand is super messy, it's much lighter than sand.



















Next I'll start adding stems.


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## Finch_man (Mar 21, 2006)

I really like your lay out but I don't like how the driftwood looks like.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thank you Finch_man, I agree about the wood. The tank and wood were freebies, so I'm doing what I can, was very aggravating at first but I'm learning to be less critical. I'm hoping it'll pull together more after the layout is complete.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I've come close to ripping the driftwood out of this one, but I decided to finish the idea I had first for the experience then rip it up later. The tank cycled in 12 days with the help of running it's Cascade1000 on my 30gl for a month, and using my nasty tapwater (amm 2ppm, nI 5ppm, nA 5ppm) to fishless cycle it. By day 11 nitrites dropped to .25ppm and ammonia 0ppm, I added an SAE, the next day nitrite was at 0ppm, the next week added angelfish and so on.
Anyway, here are some shots before removing starter plants. Vals will go in the back and I'll have replanted pics when everything comes in the mail. Tried to use the Chrome color setting on my new fuji and it wrecked the exposure on the second pic, but who needs it with starters in the tank. 

Start


One month. I put a lot of starters behind the wood, but for some reason they didn't really grow regardless of having the light towards the back 70% of the time.


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## RoseHawke (Mar 10, 2004)

Your plants and everything look great but I have to say it; for some reason that piece of driftwood suggests to me some prehistoric creature hovering over a stream!


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## Casty (Sep 28, 2006)

RoseHawke said:


> Your plants and everything look great but I have to say it; for some reason that piece of driftwood suggests to me some prehistoric creature hovering over a stream!


http://museums.ncl.ac.uk/flint/images/mammoth.jpg


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## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

Looks great. The wood is a little unique to say the least lol. Very nice though non the less.


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## RoseHawke (Mar 10, 2004)

Casty said:


> http://museums.ncl.ac.uk/flint/images/mammoth.jpg


Nope. Don't think so. More of a saurid of some sort. It's almost rorschach in a way!


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## LeapingGnome (Apr 15, 2007)

Looking good. I suggest putting some long stems back in the corner behind the wood, make that part tall height, the wood is already medium and the plants in front low, will look good I think.

EDIT: Oh yeah, that angelfish(?) is really nice looking!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

RoseHawke said:


> Your plants and everything look great but I have to say it; for some reason that piece of driftwood suggests to me some prehistoric creature hovering over a stream!
> 
> 
> Casty said:
> ...


That's funny, believe it or not I call it "the elephant wood", lol. 

Thanks for looking, everyone. :smile:



LeapingGnome said:


> Oh yeah, that angelfish(?) is really nice looking!


Thanks. Your right, that's Spike the anglfish, he's our bad apple. He's in with an SAE, a rubber nose and ten black neons. I have ten rainbow tetras (Nematobrycon lacortei) on the way and might put some apistos or rams in there.


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## Ryzilla (Oct 29, 2005)

that wood is very unique. I like it alot.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks Ryzilla.

Added some ET near the rocks, not sure if it clashes with the micro sword. Just finished planting tons of Valisneria nana. Tying down Peacock moss under water is no small feat!









Big thanks to all the members here and at APC that hooked it up in the swap and shop. roud:


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

Completely AWESOME tank. Love the wood, love the contrast, the sand, the mix of stones. Just a gorgeous tank. Makes me want to throw my 30G out in the driveway!
________
MARIJUANA SEEDS


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Tdon1md said:


> Makes me want to throw my 30G out in the driveway!


LOL, I know exactly what you mean, but your compliment might keep mine from flying out the window a little longer. Thanks!


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## Roc (Mar 16, 2007)

I would add some more A. reineckii just to the left of the stems you have now, this would draw the eye slightly from the wood. 

I personaly love the woods look


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

iroc said:


> I would add some more A. reineckii just to the left of the stems you have now, this would draw the eye slightly from the wood.
> 
> I personaly love the woods look


Thanks for the tip, my g/f was mentioning the same thing. I'm sure I'll be plugging some more in there soon. 

Any suggestions for another colorful plant to the left of that? There's some stargrass and ludwigia (cuba) there now but I'd like it to be all S.American at some point, leaving the L.cuba _is_ an option since I've already decided to do val nana in place of val americana for personal aesthetic reasons, but that's just a val, not L.cuba.


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## LondonDragon (Mar 15, 2007)

Great tank  plants are growing pretty fast


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

LondonDragon said:


> Great tank  plants are growing pretty fast


Thank you. Yes, that is a good thing.....for now. :icon_roll 

Here's the stand, It was hard finding anything with a 36"x18" footprint that looked decent and I didn't feel like making one this time. I ended up getting a 45"x18" TV stand from a local furniture store, I wanted something old world looking but still modern that could work with both an eastern or western theme, that could support the weight. 

The woman did some decorating.  Can't go wrong with Chinese Foo dogs protecting your tank. :thumbsup: 



















Nothing fancy, but at least it's clean today 


Time for some specs:

Lighting: 192w 6700k Coralife (replaces a smoky smelling Odyssea equivalent)

CO2: 5lb pressurized, Home built regulator: Cornelius built to near exact specs as Rex's with solenoid and Fabco NV55. I got the Cornelius with metal gauges since they're more durable then the plastic ones, but they're so noisy when the solenoid is on that I had to wrap hair ties around them. DIY BC to Limewood diffuser under filter return. 

Filter: Cascade 1000. 

Params: pH6.4, 3dKH, 5dGH

EI NPK CSM+B dry dosed

20gl weekly change water: 1/4tsp baking soda per 5gl RO/DI - 1tspn Barr's GH booster

Sub: Eco-complete capped with SMS charcoal, ~1/2" play sand pathway

Plants and stock: Val nana, Echinodorus tennellus, Alternanthera reineckii, Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, Elatine triandra, Hydrocotyle verticillata, Microsorum pteropus, Echinodorus 'rubin', H. traian, Proserpinaca palustris, C. thalictroides, Eleocharis geniculata, various Anubius nana & barteri.

Gold marble veil tail angelfish, 6 Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi, 5 Hemigrammus bleheri, 2 corydoras julii, striped rubbernose pleco, MTS, ramshorns.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Experimenting with different backgrounds. I like what the white does in the room, with the shades of color and ripple shadows, it has more of a tan effect in person. I think the plants pop much better against the black.

No photoshop, the glow is the effect of moving the light to the rear


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

....and the ugly

I've managed to create my first vat of green water (pic below). I tried to up the P and K, I always underdosed it and thought I'd try stepping things up. I also did the first real filter and hose cleaning a few days ago, maybe a bit too much but the water was really filled with debri, so there could have been a slight ammonia spike. I'll just wait it out, maybe I'll have some nice pics of thick green soup soon, great time to start a daph culture. Everything else is doing great behind the curtain, but I didn't seem to make a dent in the ugly H.zosterifolia black spots, which was my intention, maybe they're still acclimating but new growth is still getting spots.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Green water progression pics! Where else on the web can you get this great stuff? I'm oh-so happy to serve you all with this exciting material. :bounce:

day2









day3









day4









day6









I dunno, it's been soothing to look at up until day3, but I might get impatient and black out the tank for a few days.

On a side note, I've nailed it down to my Angelfish as to who's guilty of tearing out every bit of moss I ever tie down, I always suspected the SAE but he never does more than glide over it, the angel has been caught red handed too many times in the last few days. Hopefully, there is enough this time that some will attach before he gets it all, but I doubt moss grows fast enough to survive forever with this fish around, he tears it out of the thread like a dog ripping flesh. Thanks to milalic for the great price on the sacrificial moss.  (update 11/1 - now the angel leaves the moss alone and the SAE devours it, go figure)


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## dantra (May 25, 2007)

jaidexl, how did you make out? Did you get rid of it?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I just started a complete blackout last night, will probably leave it till monday. It's pretty much pea soup at this point with just a few inches of visibility from the glass. I got a few daphnia cultures going so some good is coming out of it, but I just can't stand all the green anymore.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Well, I decided to buy a UV sterilizer. 3 days wasn't enough to put much of a dent in the GW. I have another tank I'd like to zap with UV also, so I thought I'd give one of the little portables a try. It's the AA submersible that people on here have spoken of a few times, used to be carried by petsmart. I don't see too many reviews for it beyond reefers blindly fighting pathogens with them, so this will be a nice GW test for it.

Good thing I didn't leave the tank black any longer, I found some little tufts of fungus or bacteria on my angelfish's fins that might need some extra attention. Hopefully he was just perched on the substrate or rocks, crunched up his fins and picked up some fungus, but if it's columnaris or something, I'm glad I have a med stash and the UV is on it's way.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

I know this is the least of your concerns at the moment, but H.zosterifolia is a great indicator plant. Sounds like a nutrient deficiency to me.

Quoting Plant Finder at APC: "Small, stunted growth under high light is usually the result of too lean nutrient conditions, as this is a very macronutrient hungry plant (NO3 of 10 ppm or more and PO4 of 1 ppm or more for exceptionally large, lush growth). It reacts to a sudden lack of nitrate by turning transparent and melting away. Phosphate deficiencies result in very dark green, compact plants. Iron and micronutrient deficiencies result in white creases or black edging on the leaves."

I was just gone all weekend and came home to melted lower halves of mine...nitrate must have dropped when the tank missed a dose (96w AHS on 30g w/pressurized co2).


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks for that info, macclellin. I was steering towards macros, but hadn't thought about traces. I suppose I have been staying safe with them but still thought they would be at sufficient levels. I'll have to see what happens with a boost. I have quite a bit of Flourish to use up before I break out the csm+b. Could Flourish be inferior or insufficient in any way in comparison to csm+b, as long as it's dosed properly?

[side note: very cool synth work you've got through your link there  here's some of my stuff if you're interested, you might appreciate the latest downtempo one, the next one (darva) is my latest real pride but deserves a good polishing and more synth work.]


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Sorry, I don't use flourish and can't comment. If it is a full trace supplement, then you are probably all good if following directions.

I hope your angel pulls through and your GW clears up.

[side note:the top track is cool for being live but not enough variation in the drums for an album release (I'm a drummer, so...do the math). I can appreciate the second track too, but a bit more polish never hurts.  Not my style, I never got into the whole DJ-Icey breaks thing. As far as electronic music goes, I like electronica, dub, experimental, ambient, and select d 'n b for the upbeat stuff (again, drums). Ableton Live is the raddest software ever and Creamware SCOPE is the raddest hardware ever. out. /end rant]


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## SearunSimpson (Jun 5, 2007)

Get some weeping willow stemms/ branches and stick them in. You'll probs want a ****e load of them for pea soup though. When you put willow branches in an algae ridden tank, the branches sprout roots that suck up the micro nutrients that the algae eat, starving them out. Just keep an eye on the plants you keep in their to make sure that they aren't getting starved either, but you'd be amazed how quickly it works. If you decide to do it, please do a daily pic and make a quick little journal to show others how effective it is. Just a simple tip for ya.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

That would be a perfect solution if I were still up in Michigan, but by the time I hunt them down here in FL, either the UV sterilizer will be here, or I'll be too old to remember what I was looking for in the first place. :hihi:

Thanks for the idea though, I will definitely keep that in mind if I ever see any, but I honestly haven't since around 1983. 

Edit: after some searching, it appears we do have some down here, but a distribution map shows it in the furthest county to the northwest in the pan handle.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Good news update: The GW is dying, not so good that I just got the UVS in and I really wanted to test it on this giant vat of stew, oh well. More good news, the Angelfish is recovering without meds.


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## Roc (Mar 16, 2007)

Whats the tank looking like after 6 days of UV?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Oh, when I said I got the UV "in" I meant in the mail. I did, however get impatient and threw it in yesterday, seems to be a bit of improvement, but it's also dying on it's own, so I guess I won't know if this little contraption is really the "green machine" they claim it is until the next bout with GW. The tank basically looks like day 3 again. Plants kept growing, the lawn is much thicker now, My nitrates dropped to 0 during all of this (maybe GW sucked it all up) and as a result, my Ludwigia (cuba) started doing weird things, curling then branching, and my HZ has more spots. I also fell off the fert train for a week, but everything is back up today as well as increased CO2 bps. I'll have some pics up shortly, before I do any trimming.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

FTS









Microsword and ET filling in nicely









H.vert, microsword and SMS taking over the sand









HZ growing like mad









Val nana shooting runners









HZ spots









Some messed up looking L.inclinata (cuba)









The GW disrupted quite a bit by shutting off all but 2 inches of visibility for over a week, but things should be back on track soon enough.


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## Zer (May 23, 2007)

looks like its coming along nicely (aside from the green water). How is the green water treating you these days? Did it subside over the past week?

I know a lot of people (including yourself) may not be too fond of the driftwood, but I really like it. I think it would look amazing if a large body of moss hung down from that branch (though your angle might not tolerate that). Maybe there is something else that could be draped over the branch.


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## aquanut415 (Jan 21, 2006)

it totally amazes me how healthy plants can be even in the presence of some pretty thick GW. hope it clears up for you..


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Really clearing up these last few days. 

Here's a clearer view of the growth before trimming and moving things around. I think I might pull everything in front of the wood and do a low A.reineckii forest growing higher as it moves left.


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## CampCreekTexas (Feb 28, 2007)

Oh, man! That is looking _really_ nice, Jaidexl. I love the way the limb sticking out to the right and the valley under it look together. They accentuate each other nicely.


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## Chris267 (Jul 24, 2007)

jaidexl said:


> Here's a clearer view of the growth before trimming and moving things around. I think I might pull everything in front of the wood and do a low A.reineckii forest growing higher as it moves left.


I'm a newbie to the site but not to tanks and I have to say I love the way yours is in this pic... would not change a thing! I for one will def try the 'valley' thing you have going there & I love the driftwood, its amazing the difference a good moss cover makes, I can't get mine to grow, fish eat it all :icon_frow


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks for the compliments! 

The moss isn't doing very well, it sprouts out nicely then the angelfish has a field day on it, some of the patches I tied down have been completely removed and are floating around the tank. The HZ I stuffed in the wood is doing a good job of hiding that issue. At least it keeps him off the other plants, I'll probably keep tying down moss every now and then simply because I'd rather look at that than bare wood. The next tank will definitely not have an angelfish in it.


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## ringram (Jan 19, 2005)

The moss in my 90g was eaten as well. The culprit is either clown loaches or the Flying Foxes that were originally believed to be SAEs. Anyway, the tank looks great! I like how it's growing in. Everything looks so clean and healthy now.


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## Haeun (Mar 9, 2007)

Oh wow, the tank looks amazing now. I love how the plant mass softened the driftwood. I really love that red plant in between the greens. Looking good. I would've suggested more of a midground, but you said you were going to do something, so I'll just stand by and wait for the next update. 

Yea, those angelfish sure do like to snack on plants. I no longer do itty-bitty details in my tanks with angelfish; just stick some java fern and anubias together, with some val.


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## Zer (May 23, 2007)

maybe try riccia instead of moss?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks everyone 

The mid ground was originally going to be E.tenellus and low HZ, but the tenellus is taking it's own path, lol. I will probably try to create that more after a trim. The sneaky Val nana is trying to become a mid ground plant as we speak. :hihi: 

Riccia definitely crossed my mind, but IMO is much more of a pain to work with, and is especially a pain when you decide you don't want it anymore. I'm working on getting a few mats of it going again to use on slate for my 30gl's foreground, I might try to strap some to this wood, also.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

All clear now! Here's a few more shots before I stop being lazy and do a trim. Check out the val growth since the last pic. It looks hazy in the rear still. I bet some apistos would be loving that dark spot in front of the wood.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Looking outstanding! Great growth...looks very healthy.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks for looking, G!


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## nellis (Oct 27, 2005)

Looking real nice, but the angle ruins your sense of scale in there.

-Nate


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Well, it's his home, so I have little choice there. Thanks for the compliment though. I guess I'll start posting the pics where he is hiding.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

nellis said:


> Looking real nice, but the angle ruins your sense of scale in there.
> 
> -Nate


I am confused here...do you mean "angle" as in the angle of the photo or was that a typo for Angel.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Haha, I totally missed that, maybe it was 'angle'. Can you tell I'm a bit worried that my big @$$ fish is ruining my composition? :hihi:


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## Roc (Mar 16, 2007)

I can't belive that is a 65 gal tank, it looks a wee bit bigger then my 20 gal...........LOL anyway tank looks great, I was wondering how you planned on doing a "low" A.reineckii forest? esp since it is growing so fast and tall..........


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Lots of trimming, lol! It actually takes a bit of time to start taking off in this tank, if I clip then replant the tops. Definitely wouldn't be as tough as houseofcards' (on APC) use of wisteria as a foreground plant.

After looking at the pics longer, I'm leaning away from that idea more and more, I think there is enough keeping the eye on that side of the tank and that might be over kill. Still haven't really decided what to do there, though.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

I have a guy in my club that uses wisteria religiously as his foreground. I tell you it looks absolutly outstanding, but man it just looks labor intensive.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Ok, I did a quick shop-up of what it might look like. The first pic was the original plan and I think definitely destroys all composition without something big happening on the right. But the second plan, on both sides, might work out nicely. I would have to do some serious propagating of AR to do that, and yank some from my other tank, maybe hit up the swap and shop. Unfortunately, what was growing here has obviously lost all of it's lower growth during the GW battle and probably from the wood's shadow.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

gmccreedy said:


> I have a guy in my club that uses wisteria religiously as his foreground. I tell you it looks absolutly outstanding, but man it just looks labor intensive.


Yeah, just trying to keep that stuff under 24" is a pain in itself. Enough for me to pull it from all my tanks, but I still have a few leaf tips in a scrap bucket. I love how that plant can sprout roots and come back from an 1/16" leaf tip... amazing. If it didn't turn into a nice plant, it would be labeled a pest!


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## Roc (Mar 16, 2007)

Nice Photoshopping, I would do either of those plans actual, what you have now is great and good luch on swap and shop for AR I been trying to get some their for a month with no luck at all. It is a great plant and one of my fav's but at this point I have 2 tops left and they look alone  if you ever want to part with some let me know.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

iroc said:


> I have 2 tops left and they look alone  if you ever want to part with some let me know.


I'm going to have to read up on some AR propagation and requirements, then I'll def get back to you on that. At this point, mine isn't doing all that great, especially in my other tank, it looks picture worthy for a few weeks, then I flail in my regiment and it loses growth or curls up.


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## nellis (Oct 27, 2005)

gmccreedy said:


> I am confused here...do you mean "angle" as in the angle of the photo or was that a typo for Angel.


My bad. Meant angel...


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## pet-teez (Aug 17, 2007)

I love the stairway of moneywort on the right side of the tank, kinda funny.
Awesome tank though, and a great find 



jaidexl said:


>


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## Roc (Mar 16, 2007)

Did the water ever completely clear?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

iroc said:


> Did the water ever completely clear?


Yeah, it's been clear for about a month now, there's pics on page three. I've messed around with plants a few times since then and no sign of it coming back.

Pet-teez, that was just a floating clump that spent it's days flopping in the filter flow, I have it out now to get more light to the bottom. I might add some in the future, not sure.

At this point, all of the HZ and Cuba in the front left and the HZ on the right have been removed. The vals on the right are really filling in, I haven't decided what to do with the tank overall but I want to play around with it and see what comes of it. should have some update pics in a week or two once my hack job softens up.


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## Roc (Mar 16, 2007)

This pic is the last one I see










it still looks green to me, but maybe that is you background color or a trick with the lighting (I know my pics change drasticly when I set the auto color in PS (for me it really makes a huge difference )

tank looks really nice in that pic though, I can't wait to see what you do next, both you and I had problems at around the same time only yours got better and my whole scapes changed and I still have PH problems.......I guess you win LOL


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

That's the last decent pic of the tank since the hack down. GW is gone there, besides the crummy exposure, it looks hazy in the back because I have the light up front for the lawn. I kind of wish I'd have gone with a T5 fixture being that the wood shadows so much with only two pc bulbs over it. A proper T5 fixture for this tank would have been around 15 inches front to back, spreading the light out better with six bulbs.

Other than that, the background does reflect a lot of the green from the plants, in real life it's more of a tan, sometimes a blue. In the first pic with that white background, somewhere in here maybe page 2, I have the light all the way to the back and the vals are glowing off the background, looks like a cool photoshop glow or something, does the same thing in the room as it does in that first pic.


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## danepatrick (Jul 17, 2006)

you should be very proud of that tank.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks DP


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

I'd love to see updated pics. I'm sure your hack down/slash n dash has softened by now. I'm in need of some new inspiration and ALWAYS find it in your journals!
________
CreamyHotCumTS4U


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Ha, actually the tank went through another hack job of a higher degree. As it was growing in, I became fed up with it and yanked every val on the right side. So now there is an empty island on the right, I have a few new plants I need find a place for, and I have to replant the microsword that pulled up when I took out the vals, will have a pic up as soon as I get that done. Another change is the Elatine triandra that I'm filling the entire sand valley with, I got sick of cleaning the sand every week and the ET didn't look good mixing with the microsword, it might end up looking corny, but we'll see.


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## mpodolan (Mar 27, 2007)

I really like your tank. I'll be interested to see the changes. Once you have too much elatine, let me know. I've been looking for some to add to my tank


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Ok, you asked for it. Just spent half the day chopping some more, so it's pretty rough to look at. I lopped off the AR, it was getting tall and gangly, and mowed down some of the HZ in the back. I think I'm going to remove that cloud of HZ to allow the vals to fill in there, but I'm clipping things slowly since the tank is on the verge of being minimally planted. Sorry, yellow exposure, can't figure out my cam, anyone have tips for an s5200?










Just planted 5 stems of H.traian to the left of the AR...









Had to remove and replace half the moss that was getting chewed up and taken over by an old hair algae attack, the moss on the left is doing ok though (it was hidden by the HZ cloud, saving it from herbxorz and hair algae)









Moving ET to the sand, you can see the patch I'm taking it from on the left, that will be gone eventually. Pulled up half of the microsword carpet on the right when ripping vals, had to replant some clumps. There is a small, unseen E.'Rubin' growing in the middle of that hill, the g/f said the tank needs a sword, so we'll see what happens with that. Some temporary HT and AR stems in the back corner while I think things over...









Was thinking something like this on the right, or maybe a lotus or waterlily if I can find one, I really like how the waterlily looks in PJ. Magnin's "Old Chinese Garden", and also the lotus in Scolley's S.O.K.


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## RachPreach (Jan 16, 2006)

the angel needs a friend.....no really they do better in groups....I have 5


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Better? Did they tell you that? Angels do fine as centerpieces, if someone runs into health issues there, they should look at other factors in their husbandry. Anyway, you're the third person to say that... I'll think about it, no promises.


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## RachPreach (Jan 16, 2006)

yes the angels told me.......thanks for the sarcasm.


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## JustOneMore21 (May 23, 2006)

Angels do fine singly as well. When you get more than 1, its hit or miss as to whether they'll get along or not. 

In a tank with an established Angel, its probably best not to add more.....the old one may not like new Angels in their territory (learned from this myself....).


This tank is beautiful! I wish my 55g could look 1/2 this good. :icon_roll


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

He was bought with a friend, that friend got his butt kicked on the daily. When the dog or cat stares at the tank, he flairs in their face and tries to rip chunks out of the glass to get at them. Sorry for being sarcastic but it's pretty funny imagining another angel being thrown into this tank. I've entertained the idea of trying to mate him (her?) with another, but what's the point? Why put another fish into that scenario? But RachPreach, I am thinking about it.... maybe. Ideally I'd want to have a mated pair by starting out with three or four and narrowing it down, but throwing one or two new guys in with this one that has been by himself for a while just seems like too much of a hassle.

Just1, thanks for the compliments.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Replaced the black background since the water color paper was bending and throwing shadows, helps with the yellow/green glow too, these coralife 6700Ks really need the help of some 10000Ks. Hemigraphis sp. 'Traian' is kicking in better now. Had to remove all of the tetras since they were mobbing Spike's fins, half of a ventral is completely devoured.... well they _are_ in the piranha family after all. :icon_roll Next I'll attempt to stock some male endlers once they're big enough to [maybe] not get munched by Spike. Any suggestions on other not-known-for-fin-nipping schoolers (or 'semi' schoolers)? Do hatchetfish nip fins?

I need some votes. Who thinks I should replace all of the microsword with ET while leaving the bare sand bed? Would I be losing too much dark green contrast maybe?


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

I love the microsword myself and the val. nana is really nice! It looks almost like Cyprus Helefri (sp?) too bad about the moss and the Angel's bad behavior!


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## organic sideburns (Dec 22, 2005)

i think the sand would look good, plants look nice and healthy, good job


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks guys. organic sideburns... Haha, love the s/n, got a funny image in my head


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Its filling in nicely! Yah seems something nice should go on the right side there like you were saying...

Hair algae on the moss, is the only thing to do is to rip out the moss? I've got a bit of it myself in the 29g...


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

In hind site, I would have left it there, I just acted on impulse, plus some of the thread was coming loose. The SAE and Angelfish weren't helping by eating the moss, but they were also eating the hair. I think it was Spirogrya. I removed some manually for a while, Exl spot treated a few times (don't know if it worked, seemed to make the algae look bad though), got some ferts in check (P and K) and also wiped a lot of it out by removing that particular patch of moss, I think all of that along with reintroducing the SAE really helped. It's pretty much a goner now and I'm just waiting for the moss to bounce back since removing the SAE temporarily. I'm going back to following my experiences with the 30gl that all algae will eventually go away for good if I'm just patient and stick to the important stuff, this tank is fairly new so I'm not sweating it much.


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

> I'm going back to following my experiences with the 30gl that all algae will eventually go away for good if I'm just patient and stick to the important stuff, this tank is fairly new so I'm not sweating it much.


Nice post...I've got a little (hair? clad?) algae popping up in my 29g low-tech, was starting to get frustrated but that's inspiring...


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Yeah, I used to have BBA (or one of the others that throws short hairs off the leaf edge) in my 30gl forever, all throughout DIY _and_ pressurized which ran on that tank for about 3 months. Now it's back on DIY and I do an even worse job of keeping it consistent, my dosing on that tank is all willy-nilly now, yet that stuff as well as any other kind of algae that used to exist are history, all this after quite a few months of straight up ignoring that tank. I just think the tank is well aged now and balances things on it's own to an extent.


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Its just hard to sit their patiently for a few months...I think I'm going to try some SAE's in there to help out until then and work on a steady fert routine.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Just make sure you have another tank you can put them in after they knock the algae down. Once they finish it off they might go after your moss. I'm doing that in this 65gl now, in for a day or two to knock down hairs, then out to the 30gl until/ if I need him again. He did a great job last time but I left him in for an extra week with no more algae and he picked all the fresh buds of my moss, left it nasty looking, then went after my angelfish's fins and broke all the tips off with the help of the black neons (I guess they recently learned that from him, they're gone now).


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## mpodolan (Mar 27, 2007)

Weekly photo update?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Hardly any change since the last pic. Hemigraphis sp. 'Traian' is about two inches taller, the ET is a bit thicker but probably not noticeable in a pic, and the AR is sprouting tiny buds at the top where I lopped it off. Should have some pics up once the AR fills back in.


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## mpodolan (Mar 27, 2007)

Just trying to keep you honest! Sounds like it's still coming along nicely


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Yeah, slowly but surely. I need to think up some more SA plants for mid ground and contrast, this small selection is very uninspiring. I'm thinking of breaking down on the whole biotope or 'region specific' thing and throwing some anubius in there. It wasn't till I stopped trying to be strictly SA on the 30gl that it developed into a nice tank, and this one is already far from being a biotope from SA. But, I might try my hand at Tonina again now that I have better substrate and dosing practice than the last time I killed it.


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

jaidexl said:


> Yeah, slowly but surely. I need to think up some more SA plants for mid ground and contrast, this small selection is very uninspiring. I'm thinking of breaking down on the whole biotope or 'region specific' thing and throwing some anubius in there. It wasn't till I stopped trying to be strictly SA on the 30gl that it developed into a nice tank, and this one is already far from being a biotope from SA. But, I might try my hand at Tonina again now that I have better substrate and dosing practice than the last time I killed it.


I personally love Anubius of all varieties. What's the status of the tank these days, I'm a pic fanatic, lol.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Status is horror and dismay. Ok, not that bad, but I pulled the microsword up on the left, cleaned the ET from the sand and moved it to the left, pulled all vals from the back left corner so as to let the HZ cloud fill in all the way to the left, and subsequently yanked all the HZ out of the back as it was entwined with val runners. I replanted the entire back with HZ and it should be looking like it was before within a few weeks, only with a longer HZ cloud. The idea wasn't quite what I was planning, but my g/f suggested I pull the rear vals and trim the HZ to look like a lawn coming to the edge of the wood, similar to the eroded water's edge that you see at a lot of the golf courses around here. I left the front left vals for looks and to not upset the tank so much, whether they stay I'm still not sure, I will probably scrap the HZ cloud once it's back and gives a few good pics, then replace it all with vals again, which was what I wanted to do before my GF planted evil seeds into my head. I'm still ignoring the right side island until the E.rubin grows in as a centerpiece, I'll probably pull the microsword carpet on that side and replace with ET, while leaving pygmy chain to fill the back right corner.

Still filthy from detritus and mulm landing everywhere, need to clean the sand, I'm letting the tank settle and HZ and ET root for a week or two before going back in to tidy up.


















Little rubin


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## mpodolan (Mar 27, 2007)

Looking good. And the ones you ripped out will look great in my tanks! Keep up the good work!


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

Well I really love the changes you've made and I especially am keen on the Java and the Val. nana that you have growing on the driftwood and on the left hand side. I hope that you'll post a few recent pics? Its been a while since we last saw an update and I'm curious to see how things are going!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Well, you caught me at the perfect time, just yanked the rest of the microsword and the column is filled with detritus, lol. I'll go grab a shot. Last week I moved the front right E.tenellus over in front of the AR on the left, it really pulled that side together with more midground, I'd like to kram some anubias under there too if I can find some. brb.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I literally just pulled that microsword fifteen minutes ago, so it's very dirty in there. In a week I'll chop the H.traian half way down and plant the tops on the right. The moss is doing great since the SAE was removed, the angel isn't messing with it so much these days. I'll probably be hacking that down in a few weeks also, hopefully help kick the hair algae out of it for good as it's making a come back, probably because I keep tearing everything up and the SAE isn't on it. I don't think I lopped the AR off low enough last time, might be doing that again shortly to get some lower branching. Now I'm off to move the right side ET into the SMS.


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

looking good! What kind of moss is that? Christmas moss?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

"peacock"

Thanks for the compliment. I've got Anubias barteri Golden and Anubias barteri 'eyes' on the way from aquaticmagic. They'll probably go on the wood to the right of the AR.


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

Dude, I've said it before and'll probably say it again. You're my hero!!!!! Awesome looking scape!
________
Paxil Settlement Information


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Woah, that compliment filled my cup up fast and poured over the edge a little  

I don't know if I could fill hero shoes just yet, but I'm hoping to evolve the tanks for the better over time, I'm still learning new species all the time and stumbling around with their placement and requirements like a numbskull sometimes. Comments like that really help me see the potential though, thanks :thumbsup:


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Added five Corydoras julii

WMV 

MOV


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## Subotaj (Oct 16, 2006)

wonderful.


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## esarkipato (Jul 19, 2005)

good stuff!! there's nothing like a group of happy cories 

your tank is really looking nice. I love the mix of different plant shapes in there, very nice contrasts and I can see that it will get even better!


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## mpodolan (Mar 27, 2007)

jaidexl said:


> Added five Corydoras julii


Nice choice. Those guys are great!


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Beautiful tank...I love the rise in the right rear corner. Plants selection is nice with just a splash of red... its gonna be a beauty !


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Buck  welcome back!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

esarkipato said:


> I love the mix of different plant shapes in there, very nice contrasts and I can see that it will get even better!


Thanks E! I hope it pulls together even more once the anubias is in.



Buck said:


> Beautiful tank...I love the rise in the right rear corner. Plants selection is nice with just a splash of red... its gonna be a beauty !


Do you mean from the wood or also the tall stems in that corner? I'm debating whether to leave short ground there (ei removing the stems) or fill it with those stems. I think eventually I'll plug clippings in there just for the sake of experiment, and if it flows I might try a different species or two. Thanks for the encouragement! 


Subotaj and MP, thank you too. 

The cories are a hoot, I knew they'd be a good addition. they've really livened the room up a bit since pulling the tetras. Still waiting for endlers to grow out before adding some males, but the two I had in already were either spooked to death during rearrangement or became angel food cake.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

The hair algae or spyro, whatever it is, has once again infested the highest point of moss on the tip of the driftwood branch. So, I set my second bulb to come on 2 hours late and shut off 2 hours early to see if it has an effect. The angelfish is doing a good job manicuring it out of the moss, I hope he doesn't go "mossinator" again.

Just to be even more lazy than I already am, I think I'm going to divide my dry ferts into daily amounts and start dosing them with a multi-compartment autofeeder.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

The H. traian has broken the surface. I was told this is a slow grower, but it isn't as slow as I'd expected. 










Looked good for a day then started drying out...










E. Rubin is kicking in...










FTS. Haven't done anything to the tank at all since the last one. Just posted to prove how lazy I am nowa'days. I think the tank looks hella stupid right now, my anubias still hasn't arrived.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I'm majorly PO'd right now after getting my anubias in the mail, finally. I guess this is what I get for taking a free shipping deal, should have known better. And this is the second and last time I ever order anything from Singapore, I thought the last time I got mush was because the plants were too delicate, but I received a bag of turds once again, I should have followed my self made rule to never ship over seas again, but I didn't feel like paying $16 for one plant from a hobbyist. They weren't even boxed, they came flat as a pancake in an envelope. All leaves are mush, I _might_ have one rhizome of barteri I can save, honestly though, it's so mushy I can crush it under two fingers, the 'golden' is a straight up pipe dream, disintegrated into complete freakin' mush, we'll see. If this stuff grows as slow as I think it does, it's going to be a long time before/if they come back and are in the 65. I don't even feel like it's worth it to report dead arrivals, for one they'll probably just tell me the rhizomes look good in the pics like they told me the crack in my finnex tank was considered acceptable, . Also, I'd just be waiting another two and a half weeks for more mush, I've lost all faith in Singapore suppliers. Below are pics of the massacre, I had to use the hands of a surgeon just to keep them as intact as they are in the pics.
Now I'm off to spray some air freshener to get rid of the hot turd smell crawling through my house. If anyone has some extra anubias that they aren't trying to get rich off of, hit me up.



















This is the side view of the compressed baggy, there's actually plants in there.









Don't be fooled, this is all mush. There's no point in even showing pics of the 'gold', it just stuck to my fingers like mud and was washed down the drain.


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

That bits a whole bunch. What type of Anubias are you after? I might be able to get you just a couple of plants for not too much. I do know how to grow them!


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

try planting the rhizomes, you might be able to save it.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Anubias should be a hardy plant and shouldn't mush like that. Buying Anubias overseas shouldn't be a problem, although they just don't ship them with water or at least something moist.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I expected rhizomes to fair much better than the plants I ordered from Sing in the past. I think the issue here is a combo of them packing it in nothing more than a plastic baggy with no paper as we usually do it, and the fact that it was in a flat envelope, looks like it got sent through a few conveyor belts and compressed in those momentum wheels (I made that name up, whatever they're called, that move envelopes down the line), basically squashing them like a meat tenderizer.

bsmith, I think I'm going to pin them to my driftwood and see how it goes, for now they're in a scrap/grow bucket since they were a bit too pungent for me to feel totally safe introducing them right away, just want to make sure they're not going to completely melt and foul things up. For now, some ramshorns are doing a good job of cleaning up the mush.

Wingsdlc, that pic is making me drool. Just name a price and provide a paypal address and I can send money immediately. I don't need a lot and I'm not picky about varieties, just plan on eventually having a combo of gold nana constrasting with a larger, darker barteri type.


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

i've cut down anubias down to only rhizome before. it will grow new leave sprout after a while, but somehow the leaves are a lot smaller. some even say that leaving the rhizome to float will help the growth much faster.


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

I'm so sorry that's happened to you...but I can say that if you decide to buy here in the us www.azgardens.com always has excellent, vibrant and algae free plants. There is, I believe a $35 minimum and I sometimes suspect that they're shipping fees are a scam, but then again their customer service is awesome and they'll give you credit for anything that doesn't look even remotely decent upon arrival. FYI...


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Yeah, I'll never order from them or anyone who has a limit like that. It all seems like a scam to me, just a way to make more money, hell, I can go out back or down the road and get a bunch of the plants they're selling out of the ditch, I guess they think everyone is hard up for $50 worth of plants and will pay anything to get them. In the meantime, us hobbyists are cramming 5 or more species in a ziplock and shipping it out for $4. No disrespect to AZgardens, I'm just still in a crappy mood over this whole deal, if it weren't for hobbyists sharing clippings, I think I'd either quit or just stick with locals. The only reason I went with these is the free shipping, and the price was 4 and 5 dollars. So, I should have just sent AquaticMagic $9 for letting me look at such beautiful pics of anubias on their website, then called it a day.


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## nellis (Oct 27, 2005)

I spent a whole bunch on rare plants once from a hobbyist here on S&S... came the same way. Compressed turds in an envelope. I was seething. Why as a shipper would you even waste your time?

Anyway, hope you manage to scavenge something of it...


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## Vonzorfox (Nov 22, 2007)

The wood looks nice once the plants grew. At first it didn't look too good but now it looks quite nice. Personally I would keep it. Nice job!!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks dogfish 


Well, I went ahead and let AQmagic know about the flat mush and the paper thin envelope. One barteri rhizome looks savable, but the other barteri and 'gold' were completely consumed by ramshorns over night, gone with the wind. I didn't want to bother them before since it was a cheap transaction with free shipping, and now I'm working them for more than they're getting out of it, but I figure I _did_ pay for goods, so I should get them, and I'm sure they have anubius growing out of their noses. Hopefully they'll do something better with the packaging this time. At least I'm giving them a chance to redeem themselves.

Trim time pics, you can almost make out the barteri 'eyes' rhizome a few inches to the right of the A.reineckii....

Before:








After:


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

Wow dude, this thing just keeps gettin better and better!!!!!
________
WettLuciousClit live


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks Todd, it's a slowww evolution, lol. 


Anyone have a rhinox2000? I just bought the one in S&S, we'll see how it goes. I imagine it should be more efficient than the limewood block, I'm not looking forward to cleaning a glass diffuser again though. :icon_conf


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

I totally missed your post about Singapore suppliers. I feel ya. I had the exact same experience with some Blyxa Japonica about a month ago. Same Turd smell, only unrecognizable mush is what I ended up with. Thanks for the reminder. It's good to know that I'm not the only one, not that I'm happy that your Anubias came in ruined, but it removes all doubt that my experience was not the exception but the rule!
________
HOW TO ROLL A JOINT


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Hmm, AQ responded to ask for pictures of the anubias so they can "take appropriate action to ensure [my] satisfaction". That was four days ago.:icon_ques 

Maybe they're in a giant meeting room deliberating as to whether or not it's worth it to send me two more rhizomes. :icon_neut


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

jaidexl said:


> Hmm, AQ responded to ask for pictures of the anubias so they can "take appropriate action to ensure [my] satisfaction". That was four days ago.:icon_ques
> 
> Maybe they're in a giant meeting room deliberating as to whether or not it's worth it to send me two more rhizomes. :icon_neut


lol. Oh they're probably around the boardroom laughing to themselves about the American who got taken...corporate b*******s...


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

8 days, no communicado. I'm wondering how long I should wait before they get some sh!tt! ebay feedback. :icon_conf I wonder if I should give neutral or negative feedback seeing as I was dumb enough to go with free overseas shipping, ie 15 day sailboat race. I guess better packaging could've compensated for lengthy shipping, so that might constitute negative. Always risky giving neg ebay feedback since pretty much everyone is vindictive in their response.


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

Agreed about the responses but if you tell the truth objectively, then you have nothing to worry about. And again, I appreciate you talking about it here so I know not to buy from there again. Hopefully others here will pick up on the hint. I think that's probably as good as you can hope for unless there's some sort of PayPal dispute you can wage. It's been a while since I went down that road so have forgotten the exact procedures and who knows, they may have changed it since then.

Good luck whatever you decide! For what it's worth, you have MY support!:thumbsup: :icon_cool
________
LIVE SEX


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

In the end I'll probably just forget about it and add it to my list of stupid decisions to remember.


I got a Rhinox2000 from Erk, he threw in a free nano diffuser. The 2000's disk isn't being used to it's potential with my bubble count, I'm actually happier with the mist from the nano diffuser, so I'm running that instead. This replaces an old used up limewood airstone. I didn't get a chance to check pH, but everything was covered in bubbles and there was a good bit of pearling in comparison to the limewood. Fish were doing good, I'll have to monitor the pH tomorrow and see how much more efficient I am now.


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

Well I'm of two minds on this. One side of me says that to not post negative comments will leave future customers in the dark about the ****ty behavior of this business thereby facilitating their deceptive business practicies against other hobbyists. But the other side of me says, why bother when they're probably not going to change what they're doing anyway (much less give you a refund) because of you posing negative commentary about them....whatever you decided remember that you must balance your decision in your particular case against that for other customers that they might have and decide the best course of action for you. Just a suggestion!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

updizzle









(My java fern heard this was originally meant to be an SA tank, so it's flipping us the bird :hihi


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## cleekdafish (Jun 13, 2007)

awesome:hihi:


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

cleekdafish said:


> awesome:hihi:


most def. I'm really feeling this tank. Mad skillz.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks guys. You can see the E. rubin is finally shooting up on the right, I put some hygro corymbosa around the back of it but they're still acclimating and hard to see. I think the next trim involves putting all vals behind the wood and putting hygro in it's current place. 
I think I see a small sprout on my sorry looking anubias rhizome. :thumbsup:

No pH change or need for adjusting bubble count after adding the new glass diffuser, still much happier with the amount of bubbles getting knocked around, I'm not totally convinced it's not more efficient than the limewood being that plants are pearling sooner and more than before. No DC anymore, but according to the chart I'm getting 42ppm, which I tend to believe since the tank sits at pH7.2 (3.5dKH) before CO2 and settles at pH6.4 after ~2bps, I'll call it >30ppm.

I'm starting to think I'll never get rid of the hair algae in the moss. I've got a dawn dusk effect on the light timers, doesn't seem to help. I'm going to start full blown EI again and see what happens. If that doesn't work, I'm going to shorten the light cycle to about 4 hours to try and starve it of light.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

hey jaidexl, that isn't the lil' sword I sent, is it?

Anyways, the tank is looking nice!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Sure is! :icon_mrgr 

It took a long time for that tiny runt to look like a plant but it's going good now. It was the perfect freebie as I was combing the net for a possible red sword to go there... you read my mind, lol. I forgot who sent it, need a bigger inbox. Thanks!!!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Round 2 of Operation Rhizome. I bumped another message to AQM, asking if they've made their decision.......


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Thats pretty funny! Someday you can have some of my anubias!


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

jaidexl said:


> Round 2 of Operation Rhizome. I bumped another message to AQM, asking if they've made their decision.......


OMG....that s*it is funny as f*ck! LMAO.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

:hihi: :hihi: 




I started a more strict EI regime this week, instead of the weekly dosings and barely any water changes I've been doing for a few months now. I'm starting with something very simple:

1/8 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
1/8 tsp K2S04 3x a week
1/8 tsp CSM+B 3x a week
20gl weekly water change (this hits the mid point of the tank and exposes the wood down to the java fern, good enough I guess)
Tap supplies nitrates and nitrite, fish and tap keep NO3 around 5-9ppm

If all goes well, I'm going to crack open a beer, crank the zeppelin and invite some friends over. Then we'll dump huge piles of powder onto the living room table, where I'll carefully use a credit card to dice it up into small, well calculated portions that will then be dispensed into the separate compartments of this thing. If anyone's ever tried this contraption for the same purpose and flailed, please let me know. I figure it can drop food, it can drop ferts too. We shall see.


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

jaidexl said:


> :hihi: :hihi:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Great choice, althought I'm every bit as biga' Hallen freak as I'm a Zep head.
________
Laguna Bay II Condos


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Bwahahahaaaaa! You must like that Nirvana song about being easily amused too.... j/k :flick: 

But alas, there is no comparison, power of numbers (symbols?) defeats the finger tapper hands down.


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

jaidexl said:


> Bwahahahaaaaa! You must like that Nirvana song about being easily amused too.... j/k :flick:
> 
> But alas, there is no comparison, power of numbers (symbols?) defeats the finger tapper hands down.


Actually I HATE Nirvana. Just never got it :angryfire :bounce: :icon_wink . Zep, Hallen, Sabbeth, Maiden, Kiss, Disturbed, Nickelback, etc. That's my taste. But I'm pretty much convinced that Hallen (either new or old, your choice) rules all!!!!!!!!!!!! (IMHO)roud:
________
Laguna Beach Resort Jomtien Condo


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Fair enough, it's a free country. There are days I'd rather hear the Thompson Twins or the Beastie Boys, so I guess I'm not one to judge 

Sabbath is on my list too, Alice In Chains, Janes Addiction, super old Outkast, Fugazi, the list is very long and gets way too funky for forum etiquette.

And I _always_ turn Eddy's Eruption up to 11 when it comes on in the car.


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

Not to mention the intro to "Mean Street"! New pics added btw...... in case you care, lol. Thanks for the tips and encouragement so far!75G
________
OG KUSH SEEDS


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Let's not forget the Crüe. I used to hate them back in the day, but for some reason they give me the goose bumps now.  roud:


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

And somehow I've developed an admiration for Poison. Ratt and Dokken were always pretty high on my list though.
________
CALIFORNIA MEDICAL MARIJUANA


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Now we're just showing age :icon_redf

We could have played it off as youngsters who just like good bands, but when we start running around singing 'nothin but a good time' the jig is up!


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Nice tank, nice bands and it took me 2 reads to put that big piles of powder on the table into context...lol

p.s....Old is when you've seen most of those bands in concert...lol


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

LOL, we'll just call that "wise". 

Thanks for the compliment


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Look! Down on my driftwood... it's a zit... it's a flee...


it's a TINY MICROSCOPIC ANUBIAS LEAF!!!! WOO WOO WOO!
























AQmagic responded with another question, "is the rhizome firm or mush?", so I had to repeat the whole story again. :icon_neut



.


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

jaidexl said:


> Look! Down on my driftwood... it's a zit... it's a flee...
> 
> 
> it's a TINY MICROSCOPIC ANUBIAS LEAF!!!! WOO WOO WOO!
> ...


Congrats! Where there's one there should be more, given enough time and the right conditions which it would appear you possess. As for the AQMagic question it seems to this observer that its just a delaying tactic that seeks to wear down your resistance to futile surrender. These methods are employed by many companies in the hopes (often proven correct thus to proliferation of such methods) that the customer's complaints will eventually go away with enough time. IMO- Justice delayed is justice denied.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I feel you on the delaying tactics and I suspected it myself, but I am a pest, and I kill with kindness  This morning they asked if I want refund or reship. I told them reship. If the plants don't make it the second time around, I won't bug them. They can't suck that bad, I just live too far away maybe. Hopefully they won't sandwich it again. I'm still never ordering plants over seas again even if they do make it, I'm gonna try not to anyway.


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

jaidexl said:


> I feel you on the delaying tactics and I suspected it myself, but I am a pest, and I kill with kindness  This morning they asked if I want refund or reship. I told them reship. If the plants don't make it the second time around, I won't bug them. They can't suck that bad,.


jaidexl.."no comment" lol

Looks like your rhizome will shoot, so don't worry. It will come back, I assure you! Keep playing it Alice in Chains...it will grow happily!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

fresh_lynny said:


> Keep playing it Alice in Chains...it will grow happily!


Woohoo! 

They come to snuff the rhizome?? You know he aint gonna die!

:hihi: 



Just added some Purigen to the Cascade1000 to see if it'll help clear some debris from the water, also added an extra black sponge insert and some filter floss stuffed down the sides about a week ago. All the Purigen hype was convincing enough for me to spend the $8. For those who think Purigen will suck up your ferts, read this sentence over and over until you hear a ching...

_"Purigen™ controls ammonia, nitrites and nitrates by removing nitrogenous organic waste that would otherwise release these harmful compounds"_

That sentence was specifically designed by professional marketing writers, and maybe a lawyer, to state the disclaimer "this product will not remove ammonia, nitrites and nitrates". Just so happens that's perfect for us!


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## tropicalfish (Mar 29, 2007)

Perfect... temporarily...
You still want your fish waste and the such to act as a fertilizer.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Very true, I like my mulm and I never vacuum, for the most part. I plan on using it sporadically like a diatom filter, just to help clear my dusty water column up a bit, if it'll work for me. The next step will be a diatom, it would be nice to run one while I mess up the tank.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

tropicalfish said:


> You still want your fish waste and the such to act as a fertilizer.


I thought about that one for a sec and it's not necessarily true, not for me right now anyway. I'm doing strict EI on this tank now, so other sources of nutrients aren't necessary or even wanted. I've run plenty of tanks dirty and spotless and both have had their deficiencies, both can have no problems at all. The setup specs have everything to do with that and my dosing practice has some. This tank is currently setup to run full on high tech, every aspect manipulated and exaggerated by man; light, CO2, as well as nutrients and parameters. I don't see a need for the extra buildup accept to provide a small buffer when the regime flails. I'm not convinced this stuff can remove that buffer anyway, not without restricting the flow through it, which is definitely not the case with this tiny bag in my canister. And I know that buffer isn't going to save the leaves when I F up.

But yeah, my sole intention is to clean up the water column, I don't care about the rest right now, just don't want anything absorbing my ferts.


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

jinx? said:


> p.s....Old is when you've seen most of those bands in concert...lol


With the exception of Hallen and Zep, I saw all of the older bands in one show. Monsters of rock, 87' in Frankfurt Germany when I was in the service. AWESOME show...................... least what I remember of it anyway!.......... I was told I had a GREAT time!:hihi: 

Well put about the waste nutrients. It seems that everytime I rely on waste to add to the nutrients in the water column, I end up with Algae out the wazooo. Actually controling the nutrient levels by dosing seems to work much better for me.


It's been a while since I read your progress with the plant vendor. Tickled they offered to re-ship. As far as stall tactics, sounds like we're describing insurance companies. God I HATE those guys. They know they got ya by the nads and exploit that to the hilt! At least we don't HAVE to order plants from overseas just because there's no other option. I just wish I could find someone with some L. Aromatica, domestic or otherwise......... but I digress. Congrats!
________
Maraclara


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Tdon1md said:


> At least we don't HAVE to order plants from overseas just because there's no other option. I just wish I could find someone with some L. Aromatica, domestic or otherwise......... but I digress. Congrats!


Baaah! I just found ten anubias at my LFS today, they're cruddy and covered with old GSA and holes, but still would have been better than waiting two and a half weeks for what I got, plus the month and a half for the second part of my order that might still be dead when I get it. That's my life in a rhizome (haha, get it, rhizome/nutshell<<too much wine in my glass right now). Anyway, I'm going to _try_ to never ever order overseas again.

I have L. Aromatica for you, you'd be second in line for the trim in a week or two, 1 or 2 stems, unless you want to wait about a month for a gaggle of stems.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

A side note for you, Todd. I drove by a group of mexicans on the way to work yesterday while BLASTING the freakish intro to pretty woman, my speakers were cracklin and they were lookin at me like I was ****** loco supremo. Anyway, I was thinking of our coincidental convo at that precise moment, the look on their faces was priceless. Oh, and it was two fer tuesday, next up was hot for teacher, my coworkers didn't know what to think of me slamming chords down onto my steering wheel while I pulled in. :hihi:


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

I always say there's NO inappropriate time or place to BLAST HALLEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoever doesn't get it, well, F*@k em', they just don't get it and are missin out!!!! Anyway, that would be awesome to get some Aromatica. Whenever and however much you have, I'm not picky. Shoot me your paypal addy and let me know how much when convenient.

Just for clarification, maybe I've got rocks in my head but did you say something about the 2nd half of your order? So they did or didn't offer to make the mush debacle good?

And GEEZE, I hope you don't work for an insurance company......:icon_redf
________
Electronic cigarettes


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Yeah, they haven't informed me that anything's been sent yet, so I expect it in more than two weeks if they do.

And heck no, not an insurance salesman :thumbsdow 

The LA, I'll keep you posted. I think your tank can turn a couple stems into many with few issues, it's not the hardest plant I've ever grown, almost as easy as my ludwigia repens in the same tank, not quite as much pest behavior. It's been growing well since I've gotten lazy on dosing, responds well to a CO2 recharge, and I put root tabs under it every few months. One 3" stem plugged into my 65 grew over 10" within a week or so. As long as you're needing to trim other plants in the tank every few weeks it should be good, otherwise you might want to start with more stems, which I can provide in a month once they've grown back full from the next trim. That way if you kill a couple, you still have a few to save.


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## Tdon1md (Jun 3, 2007)

Yeah, my Camboba and Rotalla under the same water conditions in the 30G were trimed every 2 weeks. They've grown from about 8" in the two weeks since I set up the 75G so just a few should be fine. I'm assuming you propogate it the same, snip a side shoot and re-plant?
________
PrettyNastya


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

jaidexl said:


> updizzle
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Love it..and I really like the wood. Glad you left it.:thumbsup:


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Tdon1md said:


> Yeah, my Camboba and Rotalla under the same water conditions in the 30G were trimed every 2 weeks. They've grown from about 8" in the two weeks since I set up the 75G so just a few should be fine. I'm assuming you propogate it the same, snip a side shoot and re-plant?


I chop them down half way, right over the wood, and let them branch back from there. Then send off the stems in S&S. I've killed two stems doing that so far, but the existing stems shoot at least two or more new branches to fill out the top.

Thanks for the compliment, Waterfaller1 :thumbsup:


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

*REDEMPTION!!!*







AQmagic pulls through in the end!! That's barteri 'eyes' on the left and nana 'gold' to the right of it. If you look directly under the 'eyes', you can see that my other 'eyes' rhizome already has about 4 or 5 new leaves.  I am finally the proud keeper of anubias! I NEED MORE!!! ANUBIAS IS LIKE CRACK!!! :eek5: 

And here's today's FTS, no change accept for some growth and trimmed out pygmy chain on the left.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Yes, Anubias nana rocks, I bought $5 worth at my LFS and it has now filled my whole 75 gallon.


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## cleekdafish (Jun 13, 2007)

thats a sick tank! u r my idol!


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## Badcopnofishtank (Jan 20, 2004)

If they mess this one up LMK and I'll gladly RAOK you some sweet anubias. Love the tank.


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## BiscuitSlayer (Apr 1, 2005)

jaidexl,

Your tank looks awesome. It is a true source of inspiration for me. I saw earlier in the thread where you listed the ferts that you were dosing and you say now that you are following EI closely. I did not, however, see where you started dosing KNO3. Are you dosing nitrates now?


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Thats the best part of rhyzomed plants... as long as they are healthy they will grow back ! Even those ones you saw at the LFS, you should try and offer them just a couple bucks for those "crappy, algae infested plants" and see if they bite. Then you just cut off those leafs and sit back for beautiful plants...works every time and you get a good deal.
I have been waiting a month for moss from your favorite dealer :icon_cry: I allready gave up...


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks for the inspiration, Cheekdafish!

Badcopnofish, AQmagic pulled through with flying stars IMO. The post office cooperated greatly this time by not flattening my envelope.  But I am into a whole new realm of plants now and have a tank tear-down planned which entails a rescape with lots of anubius, needle leaf java and crypts. So, keep me in mind the next time you yank anubias, I would be glad to pay or make a trade!

BiscuitSlayer, my fish and tap water help keep NO3 in the 5 to 9ppm range as far as my API test states. I do use mainly RO/DI now though and I've already seen nitrates start to disappear faster, so I'll most likely be adding about 2 grams of dry KNO3 about once or twice a month. That's basically the only one I'm still testing for, not very often though. Eventually I may figure out how much I can add at every WC to maintain a constant level.

Buck, thanks for the input. I was wondering whether or not anubias would recover quick enough to be able to do that. I have absolutely no experience with it and was worried after someone stated they might only grow a few very small leaves back. But after your statement, Urkevitz's account of an overgrown 75gl, and my own pathetic rhizome shooting numerous leaves within a few weeks, I think I will go ahead and give the crappy, algae infested LFS anubias a shot. :thumbsup:

Don't give up on your moss! AQM was very responsive to me and in the end I got what I paid for even though it was a small price, I believe them that customs and the post office makes their job harder since I read numerous accounts of Europeans and Asians receiving their orders in no time. It just so happens that AQM is reading this thread  They shot me an email to tell me it was funny and once again apologize for my wait, that's very cool IMO. I guess I was hoping someone would notice it anyway so I wasn't forgotten. I had to explain "hooking up ******" though, haha, hopefully they'll see the humor there, I don't want to racially offend anyone here :icon_eek: Anyway, they certainly know you are waiting for your moss now. :thumbsup:


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

the HM clump looks awesome. i'm about to start one myself, any planting advice?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

No HM in this tank, you may be looking at the ET. I have HM in my 30gl. Chop it down to 1" height periodically and it will thicken and crawl horizontally faster. Or you can sculpt it into a rounded bush.


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## Ashok (Dec 11, 2006)

That tank looks fantastic!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thank you, Ashok


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## super_smirky (Dec 24, 2007)

I wish I read this thread first before my order on singapore anubias. Mine arrived the same way. Real stinky and real mushy. Flat as a pancake. NO more orders from them is all I can say. Real disappointed


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

That's a major bummer. Let them see pics and they'll take care of it for you. 

It really is a gamble shipping plants overseas, but customers on their side of the ocean seem to be very pleased with the shipments. The prices really can't be beat, especially if you took advantage of the free shipping. Depending on how you look at it, it can be a risk worth taking.



That said, Wingsdlc really hooked it up in a trade, I was running around my house with giant anubias in my hands like a kid with a new transformer.

I'm still trying to adjust the tank around them, will have update pics when I'm happy.


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

> That said, Wingsdlc really hooked it up in a trade, I was running around my house with giant anubias in my hands like a kid with a new transformer.
> 
> I'm still trying to adjust the tank around them, will have update pics when I'm happy.


jaidexl, Come on now. It took me over two hours to plant what you sent me in trade for the anubias. I think I was the one with the hook up.

I can't wait to see pictures of my plants again. I am expecting great things from you!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Well, since the AR was ragged and the LR was still young and short, I didn't feel like it all equaled what I usually send out. Maybe there's something about these toughed leaved plants that's making me hold them in higher regard than the delicate stuff I'm used to. I was griping before about anubias prices, but I can honestly say now that I can better understand the markup.

I'm climbing walls trying to get this tank right. I think my problem is that I'm trying to use all of the anubias, I should probably just hit a few accent points and put the rest in the 30gl until the rescape.


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

> I'm climbing walls trying to get this tank right.


 I feel the same way about my tank. I have a bit of a vision now but I need to wait until some of the new plants grow out a bit for a trim and replant. How do you suggest trimming the star grass? Chop the tops and replant, leaving the bottoms?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Yeah, you can leave the bottoms as long as they hold, eventually they tend to separate from the sub as the top thickens and blocks more light, but until then you can sculpt a face or stand into it and it'll bush up more and hold a nice shape. The more light and CO2 the better. I've had them going like that behind my driftwood for months before the bottoms let go. It's one of my favorite plants as far as "ease of use", I just wish I saw a place for it in the 65gl, but for now I think it's too much.


Here's an update on the new placement of things so far, still waiting for all the stem plants to rebound from the last clipping, and for vals to fill in the back left. Removed all of the moss because it was way overgrown and infested with spirogyra, I have some flame moss now that might go on the driftwood but I'm liking the bare wood with the small anubias for now. I think I'm finally pulling something together on the right, but still having a bit of a mental block there. I ended up clipping a lot of the anubias up and putting some in my 30gl. I guess this placement of them is ok for now. Oh, and I added a driftwood branch on the left to simulate a few roots turning down into the sub, originally intended to hold anubias but they just didn't look right slammed over to the far side like that.


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## NeverEndingNinja (Jan 4, 2008)

Your angelfish looks fake, his color is so intense.

Very nice tank. I really like the driftwood, actually. I wish I could find a piece like that for my tank. Unfortunately, I don't have $200 to spend on a big piece of wood...:hihiI know yours was free, but most people charge way too much for a piece that large)

I guess I'll just have to go down to the river and dig some up myself someday!

Looking forward to the AR growing out again. And sorry if I didn't pay enough attention...whats is the green/brown plant in the front right corner?


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## NATURE AQUARIUM (Dec 16, 2007)

Good looking tank, I hope to get my plants for my 65gal. today!!!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks for the compliments 

I guess you could say my angelfish is fake, technically, lol. I bought that fish a long time ago before I realized how much I like Altums, but now I wouldn't put any fish that large in a planted tank unless it was over 100gl. I usually try to catch the good photos while he's hiding behind the wood.

That front/right plant is a young Echinodorus 'rubin', it should look really striking when it gets larger, I'm just worried it'll clash with the wood at some point. I'll probably keep it clipped down.


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Wow I am impressed and that anubias is just killer! = )


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Ccape is looking sharp. 



jaidexl said:


> That front/right plant is a young Echinodorus 'rubin', it should look really striking when it gets larger, I'm just worried it'll clash with the wood at some point. I'll probably keep it clipped down.


Yes, it probably will. Its mother now sends out a leaf about weekly that max out at 4"x10" or so on 2" stems. These are supposedly 'dwarf' swords, but I guess dwarf is relative for Echinodorus  The only sword that stays nice and small for me is the Tropica (except tennellus of course).


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## NATURE AQUARIUM (Dec 16, 2007)

NeverEndingNinja said:


> Your angelfish looks fake, his color is so intense.
> 
> Very nice tank. I really like the driftwood, actually. I wish I could find a piece like that for my tank. Unfortunately, I don't have $200 to spend on a big piece of wood...:hihiI know yours was free, but most people charge way too much for a piece that large)
> 
> ...


The drift wood I found for my old tank was in the bottom of the river. ( I love swimming with gator's don't YOU!!!)


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## Jimbo205 (Oct 12, 2006)

That is what a tank should look like. 
I have tried my hand at Nano Reef tanks, but this is where my heart will always be. 

That is so beautiful!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks Jimbo 


I think I finally got a good idea for the right side "island", just a low stand of Hygro 'Porto Velho', rounded a bit higher in the back (maybe 3" or so) with the E. 'rubin' where it is now, and ET at the edges where the rocks are. (?)

I'm at least thinking I need to keep it low over there rather than having stems run up into the wood.

Anybody have some spare Hygrophila sp. 'Porto Velho'?


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Your angels look very colorful. This reminds me of when I use to go canoeing in Panama down jungle infested rivers.


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## Growerguy (Feb 12, 2008)

This tank does look amazing! It was a good read following its transformation and Ill be watching how it comes along.


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## tacks (Jun 19, 2006)

A real nice set-up. I love the path that disapears towards the back. That gives a look of depth. Just a great job Ed


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## hpt84 (Feb 6, 2008)

I'm new to this forum, but your tank blow my mind away. And it also inspire me to do a lot of change to my current tank.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks for the compliments, everyone, it really means alot


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

jaidexl,

Any new updates on the tank? You should come check out my 55G thread too and see what I did with your plants.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

This tank is hosting some test subjects at the moment, imagine the last FTS with almost every available open-light spot, other than the shallow sand, filled with emergent and transitioning stems that were collected locally. Images of a few of those are posted in the "plants practically in my back yard" thread in the plant forum. I'll try to grab an FTS tomorrow, it's really cluttered in there, lol, but it's my best growing tank for the job ATM. :redface:

Oh yeah, this tank has ich in it now. Added five new rummynose and they passed it on to a few of my black neons, so all eleven tetras were pulled out, just completed ich treatment (knock on wood) and are back in QT for observation. No signs of ich on the cories or Angelfish so far (k-o-w).

This brings up the new 10gl QT tank I setup with a small hardscape and a bunch of starter plants. I'll post that in my user gallery now.


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## hpt84 (Feb 6, 2008)

sry to hear about the ich. I hope your tank don't back to normal, also hopefully no lost in the process.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks Hpt. All the fish are in good shape so far. roud:


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Update


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

I'm starting to fizzle dizzyle...


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

LOL, yeah, that wasn't workin out


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

jaidexl,

That is a really nice picture of your tank. 

How often do you replant the ET?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks  I tried a lighting trick, moved the 192w fixture to the back and covered the front with an All-glass T8 fixture that happens to have a slight purple hue. It brought some color out in the reds but wasn't quite bright enough to illuminate things, didn't help that I turned the exposure down a little too far.

It was every three weeks before I changed my light schedule four weeks ago. Now I only have one of the bulbs on for 6hrs mid day, while the second runs all 9 hours. That slowed growth enough for me to skip two more days of dosing and now the ET grows pretty slow, haven't trimmed it since the light change. I don't know if it's going to be dense enough this way, some sprigs grow tall enough to need a clip but it's doesn't seem to be "pluming" out like it was. It's kind of nice that it's a lower maintenance plant now, but honestly it doesn't take too long before the older leaves get some yellowing or holes, so it's almost better to hasten ET's growth, IMO. 

I'm slowly increasing my doses to see what happens.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

If you don't like replanting often (like me), E. tennellus 'micro' is a GREAT S.A. carpet plant. I got about 10 from bigstick a few months ago, and it's creating a real nice, maintenance free carpet in my 30L. I could throw in a couple in the big box if you want if your friend doesn't flake on you/me.


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

wow nice microsorum growth!
it's been a while and looks like there's no problem at the anubias nana there which i was worried about back then. your angel looks lonely.


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## TheCryptKeeper (Mar 9, 2008)

that is an awesome tank! the koi angels look nice!


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## CobraGuppy (Sep 23, 2007)

wow, very nice tank.

Your java fern is awsome.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

macclellan said:


> E. tennellus 'micro' is a GREAT S.A. carpet plant


Actually, that's exactly what I've been thinking of doing, I have some in a few tanks already (thanks for the offer though), I figure the color could be a nice contrast to what I'm about to do, maybe better than the ET. Or else I'm going to plug a bunch of locally collected hair grass (Eleocharis geniculata) that's looking pretty sweet right now in the far right corner, over the rock. 



ikuzo said:


> wow nice microsorum growth!
> it's been a while and looks like there's no problem at the anubias nana there which i was worried about back then. your angel looks lonely.


lol, I was just saying today how crazy that thing looks compared to how puny it was when this tank started.  I'm about to rip all the plants out of the right side and put another java fern there, to try and balance things out better and get some simplicity back.

Most of those good looking anubias came from Wingsdlc, it was an instant change in the tank. Just trying to get them all situated nicely for now. Someone told me to take the petite off the extended branches to let them flow unobstructed, I tried that and the fiance and I decided it was more interesting here in our living room with it on the wood. So it stays for now.

Oh, and I can assure you that fish isn't lonely, probably gets too much attention, there's a lot of action going on in the room all day and it takes twenty shots to get him to hold still like that, lol. Plus, he's constantly bickering at his reflection whenever he isn't staring cories down while they search for _his_ food. :tongue:



CobraGuppy said:


> wow, very nice tank.
> 
> Your java fern is awsome.


Thanks CobraGuppy!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Ch ch ch changes...


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## Mueller777 (Feb 6, 2008)

.....Turn and face the strange..... :icon_eek: lol


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## hpt84 (Feb 6, 2008)

I miss the rubin. So, is it just going to be java fern?


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## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

Its so pretty and natural *jaidexl*. Its like an untouched swamp-in a good way .


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## garuf (May 30, 2007)

I love the new look, what are you going to plant infront on the right hand side? Anything?
Best of luck with the new scape, it looks like its going to be a real winner!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I miss the rubin too, it's packaged up and gone to Kentucky. :*(

Anyway, yeah it's just the java now, will be surrounding it with locally collected hairgrass, Eleocharis geniculata, you can probably see some in the right corner, over the rock. I have a lot more of it acclimating in another tank. When I'm sick of that I'll replace it with E. tenellus 'micro'. I think the Elatine triandra looks tacky now so it's all going as well.

The new java had some rear die off in the tank I pulled it from, so there's a gap back there for now, over time it should fill into the corner nicely. It's attached to a big rock, by the way, not buried. That's actually the mother plant of the one on the wood, so it's a family affair in there now.


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Tanks looking great jaidexl. roud:


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks, Jinx!


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## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

*jaidexl*, is it me or is the water a bit green in that pic. Maybe its just the lighting reflecting off the plants but it looks green in that pic, at least to me. Still looks nice though.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Nope, just dirty from ripping out plants. I've got UV anyway, GW wouldn't even have a chance to get that bad. :icon_twis 

Here's one I took for my S&S thread, all clear. Will have an FTS up after making some more changes.


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## James From Cali (Dec 15, 2006)

"Fear my UV's"


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Speaking of the waterborne storm cloud...

I need a diatom filter. Anyone have recommendations or experiences?


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## hectorjohn (Mar 21, 2008)

very beautiful tank! i wish my plants would look like that


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

jaidexl said:


> Speaking of the waterborne storm cloud...
> 
> I need a diatom filter. Anyone have recommendations or experiences?


I'd say the Vortex line are the best but the HOT Magnums are real nice units for a budget filter.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

jaidexl said:


> Speaking of the waterborne storm cloud...
> 
> I need a diatom filter. Anyone have recommendations or experiences?


Homer_Simpson recommended one recently- good price- I thought I'd saved the link (since I've been toying with the idea of getting one for my 90gal) but I can't seem to find it ATM...

Wonder if this one's still available in the S&S? http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/swap-n-shop/62536-more-big-spring-cleaning-equipment-sale.html

This might have been the place? http://www.diatomfilters.com/index1.html


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Thanks for the info, J&L :thumbsup: 


Hector, thanks for the compliment.


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Back in the day when I worked at the LFS I sued the Vortex line. They seemed to work pretty well.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Wingsdlc said:


> Back in the day when I worked at the LFS *I sued the Vortex line.* They seemed to work pretty well.


I really had to read that several times! :icon_eek:


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Ok, this conversation derailed from CmLaracy giving advice to me journaling my own tank issues. Restarting here.

Topic: 5 months of brown diatoms. Cause was most likely rescaping the right side and removing so many fast growers. There was also a regulator mishap in the middle of the issue, CO2 is all good now. Many dosing experiments have given varying results. Just when I thought it was gone I restarted full EI (thinking maybe my dosage tinkering was a reason for such a long battle), and now I'm back at diatom central. My d/w and rocks are muddy, and I've been removing java fern leaves as they become overly infected, it's now a shaggy mess  ....

5 or 6 months ago 









Today, also notice the rocks and the gold on the wood (overall gold tone is camera setting +DTs)









Any comments, suggestions? I'm going to jump, I swear.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

In addition to the ambient light issue, how long has it been since you replaced the bulbs in your fixture?

Is there anyplace in the tank that you notice the DA grows on first? (Looks like your big gorgeous java fern really took a beating )

It's still a beautiful tank though Jaide!!!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

The bulbs are still pretty new with the fixture, which I bought at the beginning of this thread. (1.5 yrs old)

As far as the affected areas in the tank...


lauraleellbp said:


> I never get DA in tanks that aren't close to ambient light sources.


You are really turning me into a believer now. I remember when this all started in the old apt, I was complaining that the window was the culprit, since the affected areas seemed to confirm it. I have no idea why that slipped my mind. It's still growing on spots that are exposed to the window, the face of the tank and d/w, but I think it's gotten bad enough at this point that it's making that less clear, as it spreads almost everywhere but the shaded areas of the tank.

I am definitely on a mission to black the tank out until the CO2 and light cycle start.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Sounds like it to me. When you thinned our your Vals you probably reduced the shading quite a bit more, too.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Hey, while you're here.... Do you remember what this stem was that you gave me?

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/general-planted-tank-discussion/72241-stem-id.html

It's also the one in this pic (New fish, everyone. Thanks Laura!)


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Those stems were all originally from ashappar's tank, so he should be able to confirm. Was it red when I first gave it to you? If so then it's L. 'cuba'. I had no idea what the all-green stem was, I was guessing a Myrio, but wasn't sure.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

No, I'm propagating the cuba stem in the back right now, luckily it's out competing the diatoms but feathery stems are a favorite treat for Spike. :/

I'll have to ask ashappar. I was originally thinking myrio too, but I still can't pin it.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

If you get the L. 'cuba' going, I may snag some clippings back from you at some point. Mine were doing OK for a while, and had doubled in size, but then pooped out on me when I left the lights off for a few days while I was out of town. They were already looking a little deficient at that point. I want to try it again but know I'll have to start dosing the tank...


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I searched his threads and it looks like it's Rotala verticillaris. 
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/swap-n-shop/65393-fs-rotala-goias-rotala-colorata-rotala.html

Googled this up, looks like a match only mine's not pinning out like that yet.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

That really looks like a winner to me. :thumbsup:


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I chopped it in half and let it sprout on the surface before planting. I now have about four stems going, seems to be an easy grower in a high tech setup but is rather slow growing so far.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

lauraleellbp said:


> If you get the L. 'cuba' going, I may snag some clippings back from you at some point. Mine were doing OK for a while, and had doubled in size, but then pooped out on me when I left the lights off for a few days while I was out of town. They were already looking a little deficient at that point. I want to try it again but know I'll have to start dosing the tank...


Yes, that plant definitely requires attention to nutrients. Def don't let it run out of nitrate, that's how I killed it one time. I just hacked that stem in two, replanted the top and the old base is now sprouting 4! new branches. This is the spot where I find out if it's going to thrive, should be ok as long as it keeps the diatoms off, or if I decide to starve the tank to fight them.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Well I don't want to jump the gun yet, but I think both Laura and Tom Barr will be getting a point on their scoreboard.

Why Laura will be getting a point - it's been a week since keeping the blinds closed on the window, still no notable diatom growth. (K-O-W)

Why Tom? Because my PO4 is over 4ppm, and NO3 I don't even wanna mention publicly (people really should test during EI and adjust accordingly, if only to save money on ferts), I need to go do a big WC and adjust my doses a bit. But the point is, if things stay the same, then excess ambient light was the culprit, not an excess of nutrients.


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## Saraja87 (Jul 18, 2007)

How have you been trimming your l. cuba? I have some and have been worried about chopping and replanting it because everything online says the bottom stems will rot if you just lob the top off :/


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Well that's what I'm doing and the old stem has six new sprouts, two of which look like sure winners so far. The old stem and it's leaves look like old swiss cheese covered in dirt, but it's a breeder for sure. :thumbsup:


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

thats whats good about stems being old and ugly. they put off a gazillion side shoots, and as you cut them off, it keeps growing more.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I sure hope so, I'll be cutting again in a few days hopefully.

Sara, once/if I have a nice group up stems making a decent stand, I probably won't trim this plant that way. Things like Ludwigia repens yes, I would lop it off and shape it, let it grow back, but I'll eventually top and replant/discard bottoms with the cuba. I'm just trying to propagate it right now.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I really hope it does well for you Jaide, and I'm really glad your diatoms have taken a turn for the better!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

The wood was the epicenter of algae, there were soft spots all over it and some of the branches could bend completely over. There was also the smell of a wet dog coming from the tank. So this is the end of the "flooded forest"...


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Aww, what a shame  Are we gonna see another set up?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I might build another hard scape out of manzanita and a few rocks (new ones), if I can find any. Haven't really decided what I want to do with the scape.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I might do something like this. I have all these plants already or they're on the way, and need to make space for them even if I don't have any rocks yet (guess I'll use the jasmine that's in the tank already). I might switch the val nana with balansae + Hygro 'angustfolia'.



















And here's some manzanita brainstorming with a right side or middle hill in mind. Was done a few days before the sketch above so it doesn't really match up with that idea. Just throwing things out there cuz I have ants in my pants. I'm making this tank 'scape practice' for the low tech 110gl I'm collecting parts for.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

I like that wood


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Badcop special 

I have a 30gl filled with it, what you see there, and a whole other mess barely fitting in the box. Somehow he got all of it in that box. :icon_eek:

So, needless to say, the wood used may not be what's shown today. Just toying around still.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

What about the scape, too "paint by numbers"?


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## NATURE AQUARIUM (Dec 16, 2007)

I hope to see some new pic of the new scape soon!!! 

65 gal. tanks are TALL!!!


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

jaidexl said:


> What about the scape, too "paint by numbers"?


Heh, glad to see that my intentionally provocative expression has entered the planted-tank lexicon. :icon_cool


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## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

I think the new 'scape has a lot of potential. Screw the "paint by numbers" crap. If you like it, go with it. The aqascape will always be yours and will have your own personal touch to it. Do it how you like it and keep at it until you're satisfied.

I hear ya about the Badcop Special! I've still got half a tub of wood after doing a 90, 75, and 20 with my packages! Jake certainly gives you enough to choose from. :icon_excl


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

macclellan said:


> Heh, glad to see that my intentionally provocative expression has entered the planted-tank lexicon. :icon_cool


Ha, you like that, huh? One day you'll be famous as the antichrist of nature aquariums. :hihi:



Phil Edwards said:


> I think the new 'scape has a lot of potential. Screw the "paint by numbers" crap. If you like it, go with it. The aqascape will always be yours and will have your own personal touch to it. Do it how you like it and keep at it until you're satisfied.


Thanks for the support, Phil. It's hard to be original these days, falling into something right when it's popularity skyrockets and everything seems to have been done. I'm still learning plant placement and tend to just jab things in then move them around as I see fit. Hopefully one day I'll be able to develop my own style, with more of that "personal touch".


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## SearunSimpson (Jun 5, 2007)

What is that apisto in post #230? I've been trying to ID this guy forever. I have one too, and I havent seen anyone with this besides me. Great fish eh, and Great tank. I can't wait to see the journal!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

SearunSimpson said:


> What is that apisto in post #230?


Heh, your guess is as good as mine. Come join in the fun, http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/fish/67705-apisto-id-post709855.html#post709855

And thanks for the compliment!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

double post


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

jaidexl said:


> One day you'll be famous as the antichrist of nature aquariums. :hihi:


Ok, that got a good laugh out of me...lmao

Sorry to see the old scape going, but they all do sooner or later, either out of necessity or boredom...lol

I like the new wood layout you're playing around with. 
I would'nt worry what's been done or overdone. Sounds like you have a vision in your head that you like, and you're the one living with the tank day in and day out. 

I'll be looking forward to your updates. roud:


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

NATURE AQUARIUM said:


> I hope to see some new pic of the new scape soon!!!





jinx© said:


> I'll be looking forward to your updates. roud:


http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank-journals-photo-album/84760-65-gallon-low-tech.html


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## Nikhes3 (Jan 18, 2012)

Please tell me if this tank is still up and running. I have been browsing for inspiration and I love your tank. I will be trying something similar in my 350ltr but the opposite way around. Thanks for posting your pics and journal. Love it!!!


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

This got rescaped 3 years ago and then the glass popped off. Thanks for the compliments.


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