# 70 Gallon Bucephalandra tank



## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

Tom, are those all one species? If not, what species are you keeping in there?


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

I have always liked what you did with the hardscape on this tank. I still can't believe more people aren't using this type of wood to mimic rock work scapes. The buce is a nice change from the dhg belem that you had.



Phil Edwards said:


> Tom, are those all one species? If not, what species are you keeping in there?


C'mon Tom make up some nice fancy new name like most do for some of the buces that are out there. I love how there is a million different names for a plant that only has 3 different species.


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## spyke (Oct 14, 2010)

I'm jealous....and I like the iwagumi wood layout. This will be nice when they fill in.


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## ThatGuyWithTheFish (Apr 29, 2012)

How did you get so many?


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

thats a lot of buces....lol


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

ua hua said:


> I have always liked what you did with the hardscape on this tank. I still can't believe more people aren't using this type of wood to mimic rock work scapes. The buce is a nice change from the dhg belem that you had.
> 
> 
> 
> C'mon Tom make up some nice fancy new name like most do for some of the buces that are out there. I love how there is a million different names for a plant that only has 3 different species.


I could I suppose.

The tank is well run and the Buce's are a very nice change, very different from the other foreground type plants.

This would also fair VERY WELL as a DSM.

Ironically, I've been growing a lot of Elatine hydropiper and have a lot of that now, I was going to use that in place of the DH, but the shrimp keep pestering it before it got established. It finally took and started doing well, but I decided to do this instead.

I have about 20 White Anubias now after growing them out. I'll figure out some place for them for another tank at some point.
Certainly not... the cheap stuff:wink:


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## Tvadna (Jan 17, 2013)

What kind of wood are you using in this tank? I can't tell if it's more like Mopani or Malaysian.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

wow thats alot of Buces! very nice Tom.
Nice change up!


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## peachii (Jun 1, 2013)

That's going to be extremely beautiful when it grows in.

Won't even discuss how jealous I am of only one white anubias much less 20.


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Tvadna said:


> What kind of wood are you using in this tank? I can't tell if it's more like Mopani or Malaysian.


It's manzanita burls and he has some really nice looking ones for sale. 

http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/12529-FS-Gnarled-Manzanita-driftwood-batch-2-2013


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

I really have not done much, the soil was a bit sparse in some spots due to the wood being under it and I thought it was not there. So I'll redo a couple of the middle sections on the side of the main wood piece.

Plants are growing well, no algae on leaves etc, not much on the glass either. 
Some smaller bits of the White Anubias I added, but these are left overs, so it'll take a few weeks/months to get them looking decent.


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## Chronados (Jan 28, 2013)

I love the look of the wood here. Are you going to be selling any anytime soon?


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## c_gwinner (Mar 23, 2012)

Another awesome tank. Always wanted to do a hardscape with wood like that. This tank has everything I love, Buces and lots of awesome wood.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

I've seen a lot of recent rock work using Rock like wood, so I went the other way.

Then using all Buce's, no one is going to do this anytime soon unless they live in IN.


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## pianofish (Jan 31, 2010)

plantbrain said:


> I've seen a lot of recent rock work using Rock like wood, so I went the other way.
> 
> Then using all Buce's, no one is going to do this anytime soon unless they live in IN.


I can only imagine. Must be nice to have access to so many cool types. How many different sp do you have in the tank? I know they aren't scientifically classified, but with common names?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

New growth on some of the others is coming along nicely, the full scape view will not high light that however. Growth is good, no algae issues on leaves. Added some of the white Anubias. Want to see how well they fair compared to the Buce's.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)




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## Ebi (Jun 29, 2011)

Love the addition of the white anubias... I need more ^__^

Can't wait to see the buces fill in!


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Ebi said:


> Love the addition of the white anubias... I need more ^__^
> 
> Can't wait to see the buces fill in!


Mini pellia is growing well also. I'm just letting things sort of go and see what happens really.

Plants have all nearly doubled in size.

FYI, this tank had very bad GDA and a few other species till I added the Bushy nose and Amano shrimp.
I've done no other changes.


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## Ebi (Jun 29, 2011)

Anything new?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Ebi said:


> Anything new?


Slow growing tank, not that much, but no algae issues or BBA growing on plants, no glass algae issues etc. Things do not change in this tank like my 120 Gallon.

Reef tank pace.

I'll get some pics up over the weekend.

I think it is time to add some of the intended livestock.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)




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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

Looks really nice. Is there any livestock in the tank besides the shrimp?

Edit: Nevermind I just read that you were planning to add some livestock. What are you thinking for fish for this tank?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Fish = SS and SSS grade CRS


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## c_gwinner (Mar 23, 2012)

Tank still progressing well? Still love this setup. Has the shrimp pop exploded yet? 

Which of the Buces is your personal favorite?


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

I second that. Hows this onw progressing? Slow as to be expected but hows it looking. Any algae battles? I love the wood set up in this one. Have you ever considered depleting the water level to make this emergent for a few months? Thats what I wanted to do with mine.


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## Shawn123 (Jan 24, 2013)

I don't think you'll see any more updates of this tank in the current form, Tom is redoing it as well as his 120. Here is a thread started for the planned rescape:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=468497&highlight=plantbrain


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

chad320 said:


> I second that. Hows this onw progressing? Slow as to be expected but hows it looking. Any algae battles? I love the wood set up in this one. Have you ever considered depleting the water level to make this emergent for a few months? Thats what I wanted to do with mine.





I've never had any algae issues since I added plants. 
I tested some algae and GDA with Bushy nose plecos prior to adding plants. It was cooking and filthy algae filled tank with GDA and diatoms on everything.
Added 30 Amanos and 20 baby Bushy nose, 3 days later......tank was clean and has remained so ever since. 

Light is relative low, about 40-50 umol at the peak of 30% for 5 hours, and 1.5 hour ramp up to 30% and then 30% down to 0% for the end of the day ramp down. Mini pellia does very well, not fast but nice healthy growth, the White Anubias have also done very well.

I'll have a new piece of wood/hardscape coming up so I'll have emergent growth and similar to the 60p Zebra tank I had in the past plus a nice foreground plant, and the wood will be covered pretty much entirely with Buce and Mini Pellia. Then some moss for the emergent parts.


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## amphirion (Nov 13, 2008)

this looks amazing! thanks so much for sharing!
which buce is the super blue wide leafed one in the shot above?


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Thanks for the update Tom. I saw the new wood and its pretty stellar. This new tank is going to be fantastic. I love the feel MP gives a tank. As for the Blue Buce, is it 'Shine Blue'? It looks alot like mine.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

chad320 said:


> Thanks for the update Tom. I saw the new wood and its pretty stellar. This new tank is going to be fantastic. I love the feel MP gives a tank. As for the Blue Buce, is it 'Shine Blue'? It looks alot like mine.


There are only about 3 species of Buce's, the rest are just made up Horse manure names. Localities have different populations perhaps, but the species are pretty much limited. Nothing like Crypts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucephalandra

From Bown and Deni 2000.

The Mini pellia adds well with the Buce's, gives some more scaping ability. 
It's random here, but the new scape will have more scaped thought put into that and the other plants. 

It should be noted, this tank is on the cooler side, about 76F in the summer and about 70-72 F in the fall/spring and winter. This slows demand down and certainly helps reduce algae. I want a tank where I can keep cooler temps to contrast with the warm 180 Gal which is 82-84F. The 120 is in between, roughly 78F, same with the reef.

The bluer colors come from good healthy growth after several months, they came in about 1/8th that size and green. I must have 100 now. The wrinkled leaf on the perimeter, maybe 200? The larger ones in the back, I have maybe 7-8, but I have not divided anything yet. 

There is a black leaf type that does poorly in the aquarium. Not even sure it's actually a Buce. 

I have maybe 22 or so White Anubias. All these are/were grown emergent, they do not collect or grow these submersed. 

Same is true for wild populations fo Anubias, I know some West African Fish collectors who have spent many years/decades collecting, never seen one in submersed conditions. Like these plants, they like get submersed for brief periods. 

They do well growing emergent in moss. I'll try a few in this tank when I redo the wood.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Wood for the 70 gallon:




The thinner bush at the top will be emergent. I'll wrap moss around it and then add pennywort and other plants. Sort of an emergent Wabi Kusa type of thing. The piece was resized and trimmed just right to fit perfectly in the tank because I have a decomissioned 70 Gallon I used to scale the wood designs before I washed and soaked the wood. I have 4-5 more pieces of wood that will go along with this piece, but it will all look like a single piece.

I have to say, it will be one of my more epic wood designs.
But, most of the wood will be planted.

I can say this because I already know what the scaling is like and I know how these plants grow and have been very successful with them, no algae and frankly, find the tank very enjoyable and very easy to care for, it just needs a nice aquascape and I think a more nature style lends better to these plants than say a dutch regimented approach which requires more work. 

I would have loved to use EH, and I might be able to at some point, I can certainly use it in the moss emergent parts. But Gloss might be the best choice due to it's slower growth in cool water and lower light requirements. Starougyne, but it's too large. HC, but it's harder to prune than Gloss and the gloss color and growth pattern will look better I think, it'll send runners into the very darker sections under the Buces and wood, whereas most other foreground plants will not. 


My new 120 Gallon wood



I set up a tank for someone using these:


ADA seemed to enjoy these but used stone:



I'll do one of these styles at some point, not sure when though. 

I'll also add live emergent Cypress trees. Should be pretty neat.


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## jczz1232 (May 8, 2008)

Love your buce tank Tom. Yup the white anubias that got I believe was also grown emersed. But I believe they are now completely submerged now. At start it was not happy. Every leaf color was different never completely white. Also very easy to have algae and they grow pretty slow. I took them and put them under shade. And now all leafs are pure white and started to grow quicker. Not 100% sure what happened. Maybe it took it sweet time to get use to submerged condition. What about yours? What the size of the leafs on the white anubias?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

jczz1232 said:


> Love your buce tank Tom. Yup the white anubias that got I believe was also grown emersed. But I believe they are now completely submerged now. At start it was not happy. Every leaf color was different never completely white. Also very easy to have algae and they grow pretty slow. I took them and put them under shade. And now all leafs are pure white and started to grow quicker. Not 100% sure what happened. Maybe it took it sweet time to get use to submerged condition. What about yours? What the size of the leafs on the white anubias?


This is normal, takes time and patience. Which is why many want it, but fail.

They are roughly 1 cm sized.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

I'm going to allow the Ricciacardia and the Buces to over take the wood almost entirely. 
I drilled a few holes into the larger piece of wood and pushed the Ricciacardia into those holes, this is much easier than trying to tie with string and frankly works better. 
The holes also can simply have the Buce's pushed into them and in a month or two, they look like they have been there all along.

I'm basically occupying more and more space/real estate with Ricciacardia and Buces. 
So when I redo the tank, I'll have plenty of plant stock on hand.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

So the urge is back to change the hardscape and redo the tank.
I wanted full peak growth before I do that and everything is doing well.

This is a good idea if you want to have the tank bounce back and have plenty of plant biomass to add to the tank, not having enough because you are impatient is a bad idea.


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## h4n (Jan 4, 2006)

Wow Tom very nice!!

I can't wait to see the new hard scape!


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## Ebi (Jun 29, 2011)

Looks yummy! Where's the plate and fork? 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

plantbrain said:


> I set up a tank for someone using these:


http://s171.photobucket.com/user/plantbrain/media/Cypressknees_zps24a09940.jpg.html

Do you sell pieces like this Tom?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Centromochlus said:


> http://s171.photobucket.com/user/plantbrain/media/Cypressknees_zps24a09940.jpg.html
> 
> Do you sell pieces like this Tom?


Yes, but few folks seem interested. I have all those.
Easy to modify, need slate bottoms, they are light weight but do not rot for decades.

Some folks debark them, I prefer the darker color and texture though.

Each group (basically 12x12" packed onto a slate slab) is roughly 50-60$. 
You can saw through them to adjust the height easily, try this with stone sometime


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

h4n said:


> Wow Tom very nice!!
> 
> I can't wait to see the new hard scape!


I've hedged a couple of times now, but I think it's time.
The tank is really a joy and such little work. The Riccardia is doing well and I've sold a fair amount, and added a lot to the 120, so I have plenty to work with and now......sell.

Plenty of Riccardia
Plenty of nice health white petite anubias.
Plenty of different types of Buces.

Still pondering different lawns for the new scape.
I would not mind E hydropiper, but that would take some time, and it's finicky.
Monte carlo is okay. 
HC is a PITA but would work, I think Gloss is the best option and it can handle a lot of abuse.

Belem grass is another good option, but it's too fine to go well with the other plants and colors.

Placing the White Anubias will be a challenge.


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## ua hua (Oct 30, 2009)

This is such a unique tank, from the hard scape to the planting. I really like it a lot. I hope I can get the mini pellia to look as nice as yours. This time I will just shove it in some cracks and crevices rather than tying it down and hopefully I won't kill it.


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## ryannguyen (Feb 27, 2013)

Those driftwoods are amazing. Do you have your own website to sell them?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

ryannguyen said:


> Those driftwoods are amazing. Do you have your own website to sell them?


Yep


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Im new to this buce thing. I actually discovered them last year. Though theyve been in the hobby since 05, Im surprised at how rare they still are. From all the buce Ive seen for sale here, the thin, long leaved ones, like yours, are my fav. They are the most different looking plant and I love their colour. The other buce that look similar to anabuis is not worth it to me. My dream is to one day start a huge low light tank and have atleast one buce, that looks like/similar to yours.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

I'm resoaking the wood I have planned, not sure when I'll redo the tank, but it'll happen sometime this week or next. 

It'll be a departure from my past prior tanks.


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## lamiskool (Jul 1, 2011)

awesome, cant wait to see your new work! are you going to use the same stock of plants for the new scape or different set?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)




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## umarnasir335 (Mar 2, 2014)

Plant for plant, I think this tank is probably the biggest financial investment for you Tom...am I correct here? 
The (somewhat) high prices of buces is the reason why I havent taken a leap yet and I cant see myself buying only a plant or two to start off....


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

All of the original livestock I started with was sold long ago, this is all material I have grown myself in this tank. 

So the investment paid off and then perhaps 4 figures more. 
And still going......even better as the plants grow better and faster, the White Anubias are growing much better now they are all at the or near the surface. 
Those all grew out from the stumps and ratty pieces many toss away.

Bump: All of the original livestock I started with was sold long ago, this is all material I have grown myself in this tank. 

So the investment paid off and then perhaps 4 figures more. 
And still going......even better as the plants grow better and faster, the White Anubias are growing much better now they are all at the or near the surface. 
Those all grew out from the stumps and ratty pieces many toss away.


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

Current picture?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

All my tanks have lids, these are for reducing humidity during winter. 














the Freaky red near the upper part is due to the URI Red sun sitting right on top of the tank. Otherwise, there are many reflections.


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

Doesn't glass reduce PAR by like 25%?


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## kwheeler91 (May 26, 2009)

There's a nice vacation sitting in that tank.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Borneo called....they want their Buces back  Nice looking set up Tom!


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## whitepapagold (Aug 19, 2010)

Damn...

Every tank thread of yours.

Damn.

But this one just KILLS!


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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

The plants look just like kush : )


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