Journal of a Mad Scientist: ADA 120-P (56K warning!)

[jazzlvr123]

beautiful work man I especially like what you did the the anubias nana petite. youve got a very clean look going way to go

[rekles75]

Beautiful tank, ADA tanks are great, but the ADA tubes look like a hassle to keep clean. You had me shook when you took all the plants out and pulled out the saw. LOL. But no, you definately have a WET green thumb though.

I just spent my last hour at work reading this thread and it was the best hour tonight.

[Raimeiken]

How do you grow beautiful anubias like that without getting any gsa on it? Mine always seem to get it

[ununknown]

Wow. It took me 2 hours to go through the 31 pages of this thread. Truly amazing tank, although I don't understand whats going on in the cabinet of your stand...(the 'laboratory' stuff) Approximately how much money do you spend on each bottle of CO2?? Anyways, nice tank. I am jealous. Very jealous.

>>>NOTE I am not using Exclamation marks because they aren't enough to describe what I'm trying to describe....you know..by saying that... your tank...well....you know... it only FRICKEN ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SuRje1976]

Thanks everyone! There hasn't been much in the way of changes, except that I've replaced all of the Rotala macrandra with R. rotundifolia 'Colorata.' I would update with pictures BUT the next NJAGC meeting is going to be at my place in May, and I want to hold off till after then for pictures.

Originally Posted by LondonDragon

Whats the tall grass on the right hand side that sticks out of the tank?

I think we've settled on Poaceae sp. 'Purple Bamboo' as it's identity.

Originally Posted by Raimeiken

How do you grow beautiful anubias like that without getting any gsa on it? Mine always seem to get it

I've actually had a bit of trouble with this since the re-do. Maybe because I increased the burst lighting period, maybe because I let PO4 drop a bit low? I'll let you know what works to get rid of it (IF I get rid of it! )

Originally Posted by ununknown

Wow. It took me 2 hours to go through the 31 pages of this thread. Truly amazing tank, although I don't understand whats going on in the cabinet of your stand...(the 'laboratory' stuff) Approximately how much money do you spend on each bottle of CO2??

I think you're referring to the flasks/funnels. I spent WAY TOO MUCH. I remember having figured out at one point that all that stuff cost almost 3 times the amount of the tank itself. It can be done for MUCH less!


I'll be back with pictures in just over a month!

[ebichu]

Very impressive work !!
Although, I have 1 question. The rotala macaranda in the middle are growing very nice and bushy.
Does the leaves on the bottom stem disintegrate ? Or you have leaves all the way to the bottom?

Thanks

[rountreesj]

I have a question as well. How do you keep the SAE's from eating your moss. Mine devoured my Taiwan moss in a few days, and I would love to use some flame/weeping moss, but I don't know if it would survive.

[ringram]

SAE's will eat moss. I always thought that I just couldn't grow moss, because it would consistently wither away and look sickly.
I no longer have SAEs and moss grows very well.
I wonder if there's a way to train them to only attack algae, but not moss? Eh, probably not.

[lauraleellbp]

I really love the balance of color in this tank... very, very impressive!

[roybot73]

Is this thing still on?

[CmLaracy]

Originally Posted by roybot73

Is this thing still on?

It sure is, and it's only like 5x more amazing today too! I saw it in person at the NJAGC meeting and I was FLOORED!

It's really an amazing tank that only gets better as time goes by

[SuRje1976]

It is! It's in another transition phase at the moment. Here are some recent pictures:













I removed the Rotala macrandra and replaced it with Rotala sp. 'Colorata'. As can be seen, the colorata looks too similar to the R. rotundifolia, and in person actually makes the rotundifolia look washed out. So the rotundifolia will be coming out. I'm trying to figure out what to replace it with at this point. As always, suggestions are welcome!

I've got to get more wood too. What I have in there - all 30lbs or more of it have been swallowed up by the plants. Thinking ADA Blackwood. A few large and a few smaller pieces. Will place an order soon!

[rountreesj]

I was going to ask if that was colorata...it looked a little too yellow/orange for rotundifolia...Rotala magenta is nice...it is a very dark red...or you could do sp. green for a bright green to accompany all those dark greens from the anubias and the ferns... looking Awsome by the way! You don't see many people using that many "colored" plants. I used to like only the "all green" tanks, but now I appreciate tanks with color. The only thin I would think about changing if I were you, would be to change the ferns for something smaller in leaf size...like narrow or needle leaf fern...

Looking great as always!!!--Stephen

[@marko@]

wow its beautiful . i love the rotala (it is really bright and nice, but the leaves DO look like the rotundifolia.

did you try putting something black behind the tank? it may make the colors stick out a lot more (especially since you have a pale substrate), but the whole tank is bright and use a lot of negative space, it may be too much black and would look morbid and darker, making the oranges look more like decay then healthy growth.

[dewalltheway]

I am just amazed and I bet it is even better to see it in person! I would like to know how you get your rotala to look so great in that bush form? Do you top and replant or trim and let shoots form? Please share!