# 40 Breeder #2 - rescaped 10/12/08 - new pics 11/30/08



## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Woah those are the the reddest plants I've seen in a while:icon_eek:

What are the light req. for the Ludwigia?


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

Don't ya just love 'em!


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I have ~4 wpg over a 40 gal breeder for these plants.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Here's a few more pics from another tank. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the camera to capture how amazing this plant looks. This is the same plant from 3 different angles.


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## Naja002 (Oct 12, 2005)

Great job! The leaves themselves look beautiful.....:thumbsup:


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Here's a few shots of the 2nd 40 gal tank. I just trimmed a few plants tonight so it will need some time to fill back in. Also still looking for a few more plants to add in.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Would you run down a list of all the species in there?


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

These are the ones that I can remember for tank #2-
Blyxa japonica
Ludwigia senegalensis
Hygrophila sp. 'Pantanal'
Hygrophila sp. 'Bold'
Ludwigia arcuata
Ludwigia brevipes
Mayaca fluviatilis
Rangeri swords
Flame moss
Willow moss
Fissiden fontanus
Pogostemon stellatus
Polygonum sp. 'Kawagoneum'
Rotala sp. 'Green'
Hygro 'Low Grow'
Crypt wendtii

I also have a few stems of an unknown Hygro and another very tiny specimen that I planted in hopes that it will grow so I can figure out what it is.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Here's a pic of the unknown plant from yesterday. At first I thought this was a Ludwigia of some kind, but now it's looking more like a sword (?).


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## deicide (Feb 23, 2008)

cah925 said:


> These are the ones that I can remember for tank #2-
> Blyxa japonica
> Ludwigia senegalensis
> Hygrophila sp. 'Pantanal'
> ...


*Polygonum sp. 'Sao Paulo'* is really= Polygonum sp. Kawagoneum


> Rotala sp. 'Green'
> Staurogyne sp.
> Crypt wendtii


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Yeah, I figured that out but forgot to edit the post. Done! Thanks for the reminder!


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

A quick update on my 40B #2. This tank is way overdue for trim.

Left side


Right side


Right side back


FTS


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Current occupants are 2 otos. I would love to add some Pseudomugil gertrudae to this tank but I read they prefer a more brackish environment. I'm also interested in possible killis for this tank instead.


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## BottomFeeder (Jul 26, 2008)

They look great; really nice pics!


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## Tim S (Mar 18, 2007)

That Ludwigia glandulosa looks amazing. I have some with the same color but its only the new growth and the leaves are curly, the rest of the plant looks like crap or close to.


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## bolivianram123 (Jun 5, 2008)

p. gertrudae can live in freshwater. i think *waterfaller1* has some in her 20L. i would hope so, since im hoping to get some once the LFS gets them in.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Man! What do you feed those weeds!


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## kotoeloncat (Apr 12, 2006)

mmmm, I dig the L. glandulosa

nice deep purple, simply lovely :fish:


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Orlando said:


> Man! What do you feed those weeds!


Wonder-Gro Root tabs from Greenleaf Aquariums (shameless plug :icon_roll )


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

This tank grew out of control. During my last trim, plants were coming loose left and right. A lot of the stems were not getting enough light and started to rot away. So I decided to pull everything and replant. Here's the beginning of the rescape, same plants, slightly rearranged.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Oh, I did add some Hygro 'Porto Vehlo', and a couple Tonina species.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

*Time for a rescape*

I decided it was time for a rescape on this tank. I moved a few things around recently and just couldn't capture the look I was going for, so I tore the whole thing down and started over. This is the second tank I am using AaronT's mineralized soil method. The wood I used in this tank came from a large piece that was originally in my 75 gal tank. I had many comments about removing this piece and sizing it down. It's been siting on my back porch for a couple months so I decided it was time to use it. I cut just the top portion off to put in this tank. I plan on filling in the right side with Blyxa mostly. On this tank, I decided to slope the gravel from rear left to front right.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

I like the wood. Looking forward to a new jungle


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Current list of plants-
Blyxa japonica
Hygrophila sp. 'Bold'
Ludwigia arcuata
Ludwigia brevipes
Ludwigia glandulosa
Pogostemon stellatus
Polygonum sp. 'Kawagoneum'
Rotala sp. 'Green'
Tonina fluviatilis

and this unknown plant (this is the same plant from post #10 on this thread) any ideas?


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

One week later pics -
I added some stargrass, Marselia, and Lobelia cardinalis 'small'


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## fishbguy1 (Feb 29, 2008)

could that plant be a barclaya longifolia?


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I think it's a red temple


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## SeaSerpant (Feb 20, 2008)

I can't id that plant (sorry ) But i can comment on your tank. I think that it looks great. I can invision all the plants grown in and the fish swimming around. It will be a great place for all those little fry.


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## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

That red plant's _Alternanthera reineckii_ aka Red Temple, as someone mentioned earlier.

Also, P. gertrudae will do very well in fresh water. They're one of the few Pseudomugil that live inland. I had a decent sized school of them in my plant tank for years and they were always showing off to eachother. I usually take that as a good sign. 

I'm looking forward to seeing your tank mature.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Here's a few quick shots of future inhabitants of this tank, courtesy of brohawk. They are currently in the QT tank after a long journey across the country.

Fundulopanchax gardneri nigerianus
 

The juvie was the only one hungry enough for an afternoon snack. He was swimming all over the tank with this worm hanging out of his mouth.


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## brohawk (May 19, 2008)

Again, glad to see they made it safe and sound!!


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

It's been a month since the killis arrived. I have thoroughly enjoyed these fish, expecially the adult male. He is quite a character. Here's a few more pics of the inhabitants settled in their new home.

Male


Female


Fry - beginning to think this one will be a male as it is starting to show colors similar to the adult male, currently about 1/3 size of the adults


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

And some tanks shots-
I moved the Blyxa in towards the middle and added some new plants on the right. Details below.

FTS


Left side (plant list left to right, front to back)
Eriocaulon type II, Lobelia cardinalis 'Small Form', Ludwigia brevipes, Alternanthera reineckii aka Red Temple, Heteranthera zosterifolia, Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Cuba'


Middle
Lobelia cardinalis 'Small Form', Elatine triandra, Heteranthera zosterifolia, Blyxa japonica, Rotala sp. 'Green', Hygrophila sp. 'Bold', Polygonum sp. 'Kawagoneum', Ludwigia glandulosa 


Right
Elatine triandra, Blyxa japonica, Hygrophila corymbosa Kompakt, Rotala sp. 'Green', Myriophyllum tuberculatum, Bacopa caroliniana, Ludwigia glandulosa, Cabomba sp. 'silver leaf', Hygrophila sp. 'Guinea', Echinodorus Angustifolia 'Vesuvius'


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## brohawk (May 19, 2008)

Tank's looking great! That fry is definitely a male--the females' tails never color up.

Now get on breeding them!


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

I'll give some credit to the adult male, he has been trying. I catch him at least once a day putting the moves on one of the females down in the bushes. One female in particular doesn't seem to mind the courtship routine, the other looks like she just puts up with it and scampers off as soon as possible.


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## brohawk (May 19, 2008)

You've probably already had luck then. Get some moss or other ground cover going so the eggs/fry have a chance at not being their parents' dinner.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

The Elatine triandra has finally settled in and has been growing real fast lately. It still has a way to go before it completely covers the foreground. The male is really the only one that "plays" in the plants. The others like to hang out in the current provided by the Koralia.


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## kotoeloncat (Apr 12, 2006)

its filling in nicely, good work

just my 2 cent hopefully you dont mind, the red temple seems kind of out of place. Maybe because it is much taller than the rest of the plants.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Yeah, that pic was taken after a trim. Before the trim, the Ludwigias were much taller and complemented the Red Temple very nicely. Chris127 had a WTB on the Ludwigias so I sent those out over the weekend. Now the Red Temple stands out and is too big. It will probably end up on the SNS very soon along with some others that also need a trim.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

This tank looks great! Very impressive growth for a month and a half since the rescape. 

What type of stand do you use for your 40B's? I need a new look under my 40. You seem like the person to ask considering you have multiples.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Thanks for the compliment. I use a steel stand from Lowe's. I think it's 65" long and 6' tall with 3 shelves. The unit came with plywood shelves that I painted with polyurethane as waterproofing. Then I put several 1X4's under each plywood shelf for extra support. This is an older picture, but it shows the stand (excuse the mess).


So far I have only managed to scape the top two. The bottom two are grow out tanks/breeders for Kribs. I plan on upgrading the lights and adding CO2 to the bottom 2 tanks when I get my tax return next year. I have 2 scapes in mind that I would like to try. 1 tank will be a "green" scape with swords, anubias, vals, and whatever else I come up with. The other I want to try a sort of island surrounded by white sand using lots of rocks, wood, and mostly ferns.


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Tank is looking great and I really like the wood. roud:

I read a post elsewhere where someone was having issues with stargrass and mineralized soil. How does yours seem to be doing and are you using any root tabs etc. under it? I'm drying soil (or trying...lol) for my soon to be set up 75g. 

Thanks in advance.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

jinx© said:


> Tank is looking great and I really like the wood. roud:
> 
> I read a post elsewhere where someone was having issues with stargrass and mineralized soil. How does yours seem to be doing and are you using any root tabs etc. under it? I'm drying soil (or trying...lol) for my soon to be set up 75g.
> 
> Thanks in advance.


Thanks for the kind words and that was my post about the stargrass. Yesterday I added some Seachem nitrate and the results were immediate. The new growth from yesterday to today looked fantastic. As an experiment, I got some nitrate capsules (homemade) and put one in the soil this afternoon directly in the middle of the stargrass bush. As the cellulose breaks down, the nitrate will release into the soil for the roots to absorb. If this doesn't work, then I'll go back to dosing the Seachem nitrate once a week or as needed.


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Here's a few more random pics of the male killis. The second pic is the male fry that Brohawk sent me (original pic in post 31 above)-
 

I had one of the females nip my arm earlier today as I was doing some planting. It felt like they bit me with some teeth. I've had other fish nip at the hairs on my arm, but this was completely different.

Here's a shot of my Hygro 'kompact'


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

Stargrass growing nice and bushy-


It has practically swallowed the 2 pieces of wood in the tank.


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Yeah, stargrass is totally nuts. I love it, but it sure likes to grow in all directions - quickly!


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Looks really nice, can't wait to see it all grown in. Really dig the killies too, I assume you have a glass top on the tank which you may have mentioned and I just missed?


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

The killies are nice. I had my primary male die a couple weeks ago. Not sure what happened. I pulled him out of the main tank and into QT, but it was too late. I have another male in the tank that was a juvie when I got them. He's close to full size. The killies have been successful breeding and I have a good mix of male and female juvies.
I'm trying to install a GenX 1500 pump on the tank for CO2 and I'm moving around some equipment, so the glass tops don't fit right now. I need to take them in and get the corners cut so they'll fit again. Right now, I'm tempting fate by leaving 1/2 the tank uncovered. So far, no jumpers :knock on wood:


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