# Rusty's 30 gallon Satellite+ tank



## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

That's beautiful!


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Thanks  I'm still waiting for a couple of the plants to fill in. Then it will look more complete


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Weekly Friday night photo:


Idk why my wisteria is not growing upwards very much. Perhaps it prefers more medium light? It's putting off a bunch of side shoots trying to grow bushier, but it won't grow vertically. If It doesn't begin to grow vertically very much, I may look at trying something else there (back left corner), perhaps Myrio mattagrossense or something similar. Any thoughts? Suggestions?


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## thefisherman (Oct 15, 2011)

love your tank rusty, impressive growth on some difficult stems (at least for me) to grow. 


- thefisherman


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

thefisherman said:


> love your tank rusty, impressive growth on some difficult stems (at least for me) to grow.
> 
> 
> - thefisherman


Thanks.  Lots of CO2, plenty of Macros/Micros and plenty of light and circulation. Which stems do you have trouble with?


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## thefisherman (Oct 15, 2011)

AUvet14 said:


> Thanks.  Lots of CO2, plenty of Macros/Micros and plenty of light and circulation. Which stems do you have trouble with?


the Pogostemons for one...Tonina Fluvalitis, Eriocaulon setaceum to name a few others 


- thefisherman


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

I've never had too much trouble with the pogostemon. It took it a while to convert from the emersed form as I received it to the submersed form. It tends to grow a good bit slower than some of the other stems. I don't have the other two you mentioned so I don't know much about them.


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

Wow! Very nice. I like the way you've placed your plants. The Harlequins are fabulous! They compliment the reds and orangey yellows you have in the plants. Great job!


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Amandas tank said:


> Wow! Very nice. I like the way you've placed your plants. The Harlequins are fabulous! They compliment the reds and orangey yellows you have in the plants. Great job!


Thanks. It's taken quite a while for me to get it to this point. Now I need to figure out when/where to trim everything so that it all grows out the right length at the same time. Lol. That's probably going to take a lot of trial and error.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Thought I'd post the specifics of equipment and such.

Fliter: Fluval 306
CO2: Pressurized CO2, 5lb tank, GLA Atomic V3 regulator, GLA Atomic bubble counter/check valve, GLA Atomic inline diffuser. ~2-3bps, Drop checker lime green-yellowish
Lighting: 2x39W T5HO, IceCap SLR T5 reflectors, Aqua Medic Plant + Geissman Midday bulbs
Substrate: Seachem Fluorite Dark
Ferts: KNO3, KH2PO4, CSM+B, occasionally K2SO4, EI dosing


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## Crispino L Ramos (Mar 29, 2008)

Well done aquascape with lovely plants.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Crispino Labayen Ramos said:


> Well done aquascape with lovely plants.


Thank you. Can't wait to add the Myrio mattogrossense to it. It will be replacing the wisteria in the back left corner. The wisteria just wasn't growing the way I expected it to. It wants to grow outward, not upward,  which makes it useless for the purpose I intended.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Updated plant list:
alternanthera reineckii
blyxa japonica
cardamine lyrata
fissidens fontanus
glossostigma elatinoides
hemianthus micranthemoides
heteranthera zosterifolia
[STRIKE]hygrophila difformis [/STRIKE] (will be removed soon)
ludwigia repens x arcuata
limnophila aromatica
limnophila aquatica
mayaca fluviatilis
myriophyllum mattogrossense (coming soon)
myriophyllum sp. 'mini'
pogostemon erectus
rotala macrandra


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## hhk12 (Oct 29, 2012)

looks awesome!!!


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## fishykid1 (Apr 5, 2010)

AUvet14 said:


> Updated plant list:
> alternanthera reineckii
> blyxa japonica
> cardamine lyrata
> ...



Hey, when you do a trim would you be interested in off loading a few stems towards my direction (payment obviously)? I'm looking at a few on here and would possibly add them to my 75

Nice Tank, by the way.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Yeah, sure. No problem. I'm probably gonna do a trim here pretty soon, at least on some of them. I'll PM you about more details. And thanks for the complement. 

Sent from my HTC One S


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Well it appears I somehow got some Christmas moss mixed in with my fissidens :icon_conf so I'm going to end up taking all the moss off of the two stumps on the left. I think I have enough fissidens on the one other stump that I can trim it off and seed at least one of the other stumps. Mixed mosses = no bueno


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Well here's a some pics of a couple of the plants I got a couple weeks ago as they're adapting to my tank. Many of the stems of rotala macrandra are dropping old leaves and putting off new side shoots while the tips continue to grow upwards. I'm guessing this is normal behavior for this plant when it changes environments. I've seen similar behavior when I kept rotala rotundifolia. The myriophyllum sp. 'mini' dropped all of the old leaves but has about and inch and a half or so of new growth. It might be a while before I have enough of it to do much with, but it's definitely neat looking.  The Limnophila aromatica has a good two inches of new growth at the tips as well as a few new side shoots. Most of the old leaves have either fallen off or don't quite behave like the new ones do, responding to the photo period and pointing leaves at the light in the final couple hours of light.

Rotala macrandra


Myriophyllum sp. 'mini'


Limnophila aromatica


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

Wow your plants look awesome to me! The bubbles look fabulous  Great pictures too...I wish I had a camera so I could take descent photos. The cell phone is good for outdoor pics but inside, they are horrible!


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Amandas tank said:


> Wow your plants look awesome to me! The bubbles look fabulous  Great pictures too...I wish I had a camera so I could take descent photos. The cell phone is good for outdoor pics but inside, they are horrible!


These individual plant photos were taken with my phone.  HTC One S has an awesome camera, especially for a phone. I usually only pull out my D-SLR for good full tank shots or if I'm trying to get macro shots of something. I do have a old Canon Powershot with a waterproof casing for it. I have thought about trying to use that under the water just for fun  but i don't even know if I know where the battery charger for it is and I doubt I could get a new battery for it. It's probably nearing 10 years old at least.


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## synaethetic (Oct 4, 2011)

Very nice, the layout looks good and I like all your healthy stems. Good job!


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

AUvet14 said:


> These individual plant photos were taken with my phone.  HTC One S has an awesome camera, especially for a phone. I usually only pull out my D-SLR for good full tank shots or if I'm trying to get macro shots of something. I do have a old Canon Powershot with a waterproof casing for it. I have thought about trying to use that under the water just for fun  but i don't even know if I know where the battery charger for it is and I doubt I could get a new battery for it. It's probably nearing 10 years old at least.


What??:icon_eek: Shocked! My cell is not a savvy picture taker like yours!


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Okay, so this week has been pretty hectic and I probably needed to trim some stuff on the right side a few days ago. It's a bit overgrown. Lol.

Friday night photo:


Added tonight: Myriophyllum mattogrossense, removed hygrophila difformis.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

I feel like it looks pretty unbalanced right now. A ton of growth on the right and not a whole lot on the left, but now that I have the plants that I want on the right, it's only a matter of time before those grow in and it should look more even.


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

Oh my Rusty! Looking nice


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

After some trimming today before I head home for Thanksgiving break for the week.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Well, I came back from thanksgiving break to find I had a spirogyra outbreak  I've now uprooted all of the plants, cleaned them, manually removed as much of the algae as possible, soaked in an H2O2 bath, and everything is ready to be replanted. I've also blacked out the tank for that past couple days and I'm going to do a 50% water change today before replanting. I think I'm also getting rid of the moss for now since it is so infested with algae. It looks so bare now  Hopefully it won't take long for everything to fill in again once I get everything replanted.


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

Oh no Rusty!!!! I am so terribly sorry!!!! Crap I can't believe this happened to you! I will be keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you to have huge success and fast growth once you replant everything. May it be more beautiful than it was pre-algae.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Lol. It's all good.  everything is replanted now. I will take a photo here in a couple days. I think I was able to get rid of the algae, after some intensive labor :tongue: I haven't seen any more of the little green threads. Plants will regrow with time. Stuff had grown so dense, I probably needed to pull everything up and replant anyways.


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

AUvet14 said:


> Lol. It's all good.  everything is replanted now. I will take a photo here in a couple days. I think I was able to get rid of the algae, after some intensive labor :tongue: I haven't seen any more of the little green threads. Plants will regrow with time. Stuff had grown so dense, I probably needed to pull everything up and replant anyways.


Well that's good to hear! Your tank is so beautiful! And being in a mag even says so all that much more! BTW, your dog is too friggin cute in that hoodie!!! Love the Avatar!


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I am 125% positive that take #2 will be even more impressive then take #1.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Amandas tank said:


> Well that's good to hear! Your tank is so beautiful! And being in a mag even says so all that much more! BTW, your dog is too friggin cute in that hoodie!!! Love the Avatar!


Haha! He wasn't too happy with me when I put it on him but he likes it better when we get outside when it's cold out. I usually don't use that one on him unless it gets down into the lower 40's and below (Yeah, I know, that's a heat wave for you Alaskans :tongue. He has another one that is more of a lighter weight fleece jacket that doesn't cover his neck and ears that he wears most of the time. People look at me funny sometimes when they see a GUY putting "clothes" on his dog, but hey, he doesn't have any hair or fat to keep him warm!



OVT said:


> I am 125% positive that take #2 will be even more impressive then take #1.


Thanks!  I hope so. It is somewhat disappointing to see what it had become and now looking at it and it looks like I just started. Lol. Oh well, such is the circle of life of a planted aquarium. Btw, I agree with your statement on Amanda's thread. You can never have too many plants . What if you don't have any room for any more plants? I'm toying with the idea of starting a nano rimless tank, 6 or 7ish gallons, just as a fun side project. Something I can rescape every now and then just for the fun of it but without being an all day ordeal.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

If you care to read what I did to treat the algae, you can read this thread: My treatment for spirogyra algae


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

LOL! A GUY putting a coat on his dog is a rare sight to see :flick: Too funny but good man, good man. Grey Hounds are very much in need of something extra on those colder days. Dobermans too. And, Danes as well right OVT? BTW! OVT you changed you Avatar to a beggin dane with his cute face on the table top! Adorable!!! So, you must not have changed your socks this morning 

Good idea to have a small tank so that you have something to rescape when ever that urge to "tinker" in the tank arrises! I want a Fluval Edge for my bedside. Hubby won't go for it though :icon_roll Darn it anyhoo.

So my dober has a yellow raincoat, a "cunstruction" vest (for biking), a blue snowsuit, a giant red canvas/wool jacket, a couple other small wrap-on fleece and some Raindeer Antlers (just in time for Christmas!) He loves all of them LOL! He jumps in circles when he sees me get even close to a clothing item that belongs to him. Such a fashion bug _Hee Hee_.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

My Dane is a California dog. He has never seen snow in his life and he won't go outside if it's raining. He only got some antlers, he goes au naturale otherwise.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Well I feel better now knowing at least I don't have antlers for my greyhound. I did consider getting him one of those little jockey riders for Halloween because I think that would be hilarious, but his chest is too big. They don't make one big enouh. Lol. He came from a track in Florida so he's never seen snow, but it does get cold for him during the winter.  He refuses to go outside when its raining as well. Lol. 

Sent from my HTC One S


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## oliver77 (Oct 22, 2012)

AUvet14 said:


> Well, I came back from thanksgiving break to find I had a spirogyra outbreak  I've now uprooted all of the plants, cleaned them, manually removed as much of the algae as possible, soaked in an H2O2 bath, and everything is ready to be replanted. I've also blacked out the tank for that past couple days and I'm going to do a 50% water change today before replanting. I think I'm also getting rid of the moss for now since it is so infested with algae. It looks so bare now  Hopefully it won't take long for everything to fill in again once I get everything replanted.


Wow bummer! What caused the algae outbreak? did u ran out of CO2 or something during the break? 

It was looking reallllyy sweet before that.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

oliver77 said:


> Wow bummer! What caused the algae outbreak? did u ran out of CO2 or something during the break?
> 
> It was looking reallllyy sweet before that.


Not quite sure what caused the outbreak. CO2 remained good. Both CO2 and lights are one a timer, so nothing changed with that. I had a friend stop by each day to add the fertilizers. I'm thinking probably restricted water flow from overly dense plant growth and possibly mulm accumulation from lack of adequate cleaning, maybe an ammonia spike due to the addition of multiple new plants at once with some of the older leaves decaying. I have an updated photo I took last night, I just haven't had time to post it yet. I will try to do that shortly. It actually doesn't look TOO bad now, just a lot thinner than it was.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Friday night pic:


Doesn't look too bad, especially considering I dismantled everything, soaked everything in harsh H2O2, handled everything extensively, then replanted. I'd say that overall, the treatment seems to have helped (I'm not going to say it worked because as soon as I do, things will go south again) a great deal and the plants seem to have taken it relatively well. The blyxa japonica has many leaves that are melting, probably due to being burned in the H2O2, but they are still very much alive and should recover. Here's to a new beginning


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## thefisherman (Oct 15, 2011)

dam rusty... maybe you should crash your tank every six months or so cuz your rebuild looks great! cheers 


- thefisherman


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

thefisherman said:


> dam rusty... maybe you should crash your tank every six months or so cuz your rebuild looks great! cheers
> 
> 
> - thefisherman


Haha. I'd rather not... That was a day and a half of labor to dismantle, clean, pre-trim, then replant everything. But I do agree, it looks pretty nice now, just not very full yet. Thanks though!  Too bad I had to cut away most of my moss . I did leave tiny stubs that had attached to the driftwood, so maybe it will regrow with time, hopefully algae-free this time.


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## Amandas tank (Oct 2, 2012)

What the fisherman said! I can't believe how good this looks after seeing the last picture! Good Job!


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Wow... the tank looks great! It looks well planned out and I'm diggin' the substrate color!


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## Fishies_in_Philly (Dec 8, 2011)

sorry to hear about the outbreak, that sucks. but the rebuild looks outstanding!! it's gonna fill in a lot better than you probably imagined it would originally. 

and for what it's worth? i put clothes on my dog as well. she's a little toy fox terrier, and she's a prima donna too, she will not go out in the rain. forget snow, she won't even go near a door...LOL


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Fishies_in_Philly said:


> sorry to hear about the outbreak, that sucks. but the rebuild looks outstanding!! it's gonna fill in a lot better than you probably imagined it would originally.
> 
> and for what it's worth? i put clothes on my dog as well. she's a little toy fox terrier, and she's a prima donna too, she will not go out in the rain. forget snow, she won't even go near a door...LOL


Haha. That's funny.

About the outbreak, it appears to have worked, at least for the most part. Only today I've started seeing what might be a little green hair here and there. If it turns out this is the case, I will try to catch all or most of my shrimp, place them in quarantine for a while, and use the AlgaeFix treatment that Tom Barr suggested. Not looking forward to catching those little shrimpies though... If only they knew their lives depended on it. Lol.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Weekly photo:



Not looking its best, but considering I pulled up just about all the stems so I could catch the shrimp to quarantine them while I treat this tank with AlgaeFix, it doesn't look too bad. The rotala macrandra didn't seem to like being handled all that much. It's not looking too hot but it does have a few healthier-looking side shoots growing. The water looks somewhat hazy due to the AlgaeFix. Hopefully this time I'll get rid of the spirogyra for good.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Last Friday night photo of the year 2012


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Well, bad news... It looks like my CO2 ran out while I was gone and now the tank is completely algae-ridden.  I believe at this point, it would be easiest to scrap everything and start over with all new plants. Any tips for getting BBA off of all the driftwood? The driftwood is completely covered and unless it can be killed and removed, I might have to scrap the driftwood as well.  I'm trying AlgaeFix to kill the hair algae. I think the shrimp must have died shortly after I added them back to the tank after treating with AlgaeFix before I left. That probably set off this super algae bloom. Any way you look at it, it's a bad situation.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Oh man I'm sorry to hear that this planting was looking so nice. I am certain however you will make something equally as wonderful.

Have you considered H2O2 for cleaning the driftwood? You could apply that and then use a plastic brush to scrub the dead algae away.


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## seahawkshos040 (Nov 27, 2012)

love it!


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

hydrophyte said:


> Oh man I'm sorry to hear that this planting was looking so nice. I am certain however you will make something equally as wonderful.
> 
> Have you considered H2O2 for cleaning the driftwood? You could apply that and then use a plastic brush to scrub the dead algae away.


I did consider doing that. I could remove the driftwood, treat with H2O2, allow the algae to die, then try to brush it off, though I'm afraid it could return again .

I did consider scrapping the hardscape and perhaps doing something more Dutch style, focusing on color variety and neatly trimmed groupings. Any thoughts?


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## tex627 (Jan 11, 2009)

Dutch is awesome, but really hard to find well done. Tom Barr's dutch inspired scape is pretty well done and has really good plant choices.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Well now that the AlgaeFix has taken care of a lot of the hair algae, I think I'm going to try to salvage most of the plants. If I can figure out how to eliminate the BBA that has already established itself all over my driftwood, I might even keep the driftwood. If not, I might just do a rescape with a piece of manzanita or something.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Update: I've been doing an overdose of Excel (2x recommended dose) daily for about a week now and the BBA appears to be dying off. It's all turning reddish pink. I am going to continue the Excel treatment for another week to see if it eventually completely dies and then falls off of the driftwood. So far it looks promising though.

Keep in mind that I have fixed the CO2 again so the levels are back to 30+ ppm. I now have 3 drop checkers throughout the aquarium (one is a DIY, one will be for my nano tank once I get it filled, and the other is the one that's been in this tank) and all 3 drop checkers show a lime green color consistently throughout the day. I've also adjusted my photoperiod and CO2 timers as follows (I'll double check this when I get back to my apartment):
9am- CO2 on
10:30pm- lights on
3pm- lights off (CO2 stays on)
4:30pm- lights on
8pm- CO2 off
9pm- lights off​I have also raised my light another 2 or 3 inches inside the canopy. I've maintained my normal fertilization routine.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Well, the more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward a dutch or dutch-inspired rescape. Here's the tank after using an Excel overdose for around a week and a half to kill off the BBA.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/8406511652/

I think it's done pretty well as far as killing the BBA. (Note: I have some new bunches of plants in there that I'm holding for a friend, so a lot of that will be leaving shortly)

As far as my rescape, here's my ideas so far: I'm removing the 5 pieces of malaysian driftwood that I've had in there. I may or may not use this piece of manzanita:
Plants I'm taking out:_limnophila aquatica
mayaca fluviatilis
cardamine lyrata
myriophyllum mattogrossense_ (maybe)
_fissidens fontanus_​Plants I'm adding:_ludwigia peruensis (glandulosa)
nassaea pedicillata 'golden' _ (maybe, I'll have to see how I like it after it grows a bit)
_didiplis diandra
staurugyne repens _(might be taking the place of some of the blyxa)
_pogostemon helferi _ (also might take the place of some blyxa)
_syngonanthus 'belem'_ (maybe in place of myrio mattogrossense)​I might even throw in a red tiger lotus for a little while.
Here's kinda what I have in mind as far as positions:_glossostigma_- thin carpet along front
_
blyxa japonica_- midground
_staurugyne repens_- fore/midground hedge
_pogostemon helferi_- fore/midground hedge
_hemianthus micranthemoides_- fore/midground hedge

_didiplis diandra_- mid/background hedge
_heteranthera zosterifolia_- mid/background hedge or street

_pogostemon erectus_- background cluster
_ludwigia peruensis_- background cluster/focal point
_limnophila aromatica_- background cluster
_nassaea pedicillata 'golden'_- maybe a background cluster, if I decide to keep it
_syngonanthus 'belem'/myriophyllum mattogrossense_- background cluster

_myriophyllum sp. 'guyana'_- street
_rotala macrandra_- street​This is by no means a final plant list, as any given plant is subject to removal at my discretion. Lol.

Sorry for the novel of a post, but maybe some of you can manage to follow it and maybe share your thoughts/suggestions.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Nice to see that the Excel worked to kill the BBA. Although I don't see many dutch (inspired) scapes using stones or DW, I think that piece you have there would look pretty nice and add a little more dimension IMO. I'm also a big fan of s. repens and p. helferi, so I applaud that decision to utilize that flora in your rescape. Perhaps more shades of colored plants would help instill that 'dutch' look? Something like ludwigia glandulosa, rotala colorata, (purple) cabomba pulcherrima, and/or limnophila aromatica?


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> Nice to see that the Excel worked to kill the BBA. Although I don't see many dutch (inspired) scapes using stones or DW, I think that piece you have there would look pretty nice and add a little more dimension IMO. I'm also a big fan of s. repens and p. helferi, so I applaud that decision to utilize that flora in your rescape. Perhaps more shades of colored plants would help instill that 'dutch' look? Something like ludwigia glandulosa, rotala colorata, (purple) cabomba pulcherrima, and/or limnophila aromatica?


I've got several colored plants in there. Limnophila aquatica (still recovering from no CO2 in my absence), rotala macrandra (all of it died, but I have more on the way), I do have ludwigia glandulosa, didiplis diandra can sometimes show some red/orange hues on the tops under the right conditions, and nassaea pedicillata 'golden' hopefully could add a nice yellow/orange shade to the tank.  Not a big fan of the cabombas. Idk why, but I just don't like the look of them. Lol.

I haven't done the rescape yet, so right now I'm just kinda in limbo, growing plants until I have time to do a full rescape. I'll have to track down some staurugyne repens and pogostemon helferi too...


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Okay, here is it after grooming the glosso and HM. Things are still recovering a bit, so it's a bit of a random mess right now.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

It's been quite a while since I've updated this thread, so here it goes. I've pretty much been sitting back and watching some new plants grow so I can decide how I want to use them. Here's what I have now:

Green plants:
hemianthus micranthemoides
heteranthera zosterifolia
myriophylllum sp. 'Guyana'
myriophyllum mattogrossense
staurogyne repens
didiplis diandra
glossostigma elatinoides
blyxa japonica
pogostemon erectus

Colored plants:
rotala macrandra
rotala colorata
ludwigia sp. red
nassaea pedicellata 'golden' (I'm probably getting rid of this one)
ludwigia peruensis
red tiger lotus

I'm thinking I might have to replace the ludwigia peruensis with something else. It is growing nice and healthy, but the leaves and resulting stem width are just too large for me to use the way I would like to in this tank. I'm open to other suggestions of what I could use in it's place.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Looks good but if you want something more narrow, perhaps some Rotala Magenta (macrandra narrow leaf) or Aponogeton crispus 'Red' would fit the bill?

Edit: i guess the latter is hard to come by in the US, so scratch that one.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> Looks good but if you want something more narrow, perhaps some Rotala Magenta (macrandra narrow leaf) or Aponogeton crispus 'Red' would fit the bill?
> 
> Edit: i guess the latter is hard to come by in the US, so scratch that one.


I think rotala mageta might look too similar to the rotala colorata and rotala macrandra. I'd kinda like a different leaf shape. Aponogeton crispus 'red' is one I haven't even considered. It's not a stem though, is it? I'm kinda wanting something that will form a background bush.

I'm considering alternanthera reineckii but I've kept this one a few times before and the pink color is so intense I'm afraid it won't blend well with the other colored stems I have. I'm also still trying to get the hang of getting the rotala macrandra healthy. It seems when something does get out of whack, it declines in healthy pretty rapidly and takes a while to recover. I just need to make sure I'm staying on top of things and make sure I am always meeting its needs.

The tank looks like a complete mess right now. Lol. There's not really any organization to anything. Hopefully I'll change that before too much longer.


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## tex627 (Jan 11, 2009)

Looks like a full recovery! Rotala rotundifolia or Rotala indica could make make good replacements for the Ludwigia.

Best of luck,
Justin


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## hisxlency (Jan 26, 2013)

lovely tank and layout.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

So... I guess since it's TECHNICALLY the same tank, I'll just update this journal thread. I got tired of the maintenance of the high light tank. It just didn't fit with my clinical schedule, so I invested a little bit of money in a variety of crypts and anubias. I took out all of the stems i had previously. I got a Current Satellite LED+ and started growing a low light tank.


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Just after rescaping the tank (July 21, 2013):



Plants:
c. wendtii 'green'
c. wendtii 'red'
c. wendtii 'bronze'
c. wendtii 'Florida Sunset'
c. lutea
c. undulata
c. crispulata var. balansae
c. cordata var. blassii
c. retrospiralis
c. parva
c. pontederiifolia
anubias barteri var. barteri
anubias barteri var. nana
anubias barteri var. nana 'petite'
anubias frazeri
anubias hastifolia
bolbitus heudelotii
microsorum pteropus
staurogyne repense(only temporary)

Fauna:
20-ish harlequin rasboras
7-ish otos
1 clown pleco
8 or 9 amanos


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Approximately 1 month of growth. (August 20, 2013)


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## AUvet14 (Apr 11, 2011)

Now: After a couple more weeks of growth plus some rearranging of some driftwood and some anubias plants. I've also tied some fissidens to several pieces of driftwood which should add a nice touch here in a couple months when it fills in. I think it's looking better and better each week. The best part... practically zero maintenance required


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## pmccrory (May 12, 2016)

Do you think the 24"-36" Sat Plus would grow a nice DHG carpet from 12" to substrate on a 20L?


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