Jared's Underwater Jungle

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi frogmanjared,

Ah yes, the neverending root mass....been there done that! The good news is you must be doing something really right to have a plant that healthy!

[frogmanjared]

Well, I figured to show you all the root mass from the sword... sorry, can't figure out how to crop photos on the wife's mac! I'm 6'3"... it was as long as my torso!


I like the look of it being more open, but it feels like something BIG is missing. Maybe It'll grow on me once it grows in more. Please, any comments on the tank are welcome let me know what you think of the new layout!!!

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Dang if that doesn't look like it could be a blonde wig! LOL!

[frogmanjared]

The plants seem to be rebounding, especially the S. repens 049 tropica. The platys are uprooting a few of the microsword, but for the most part they look decent, it will take them longer to recuperate I suppose. I took out 2 males, so there is 1 male- 4 females now. One of the "males" is the size/color of a female, but has a gonopodium?!? Maybe it's a hermaphrodite, probably can't reproduce. The wisteria has finally started growing again, but it just looks out of place, maybe I'll put it in the 5.

[frogmanjared]

So on Monday, my usual water change/trim day, the wife and I go out to Petco to get a few things for the cat and hamsters... they actually had different, healthy plants! I was hesitant to get any because I had already done the tank work but decided to get some Ludwigia repens x arcuata. My brother had given me some and it did really well until my other tank sprung a leak... not going into that! At least that's what I think it is... can anyone tell me for sure?

The C. spiralis has really taken off in the 3 weeks since the disaster sword uprooting, and the L. brasiliensis is growing! Starugyne 049 is recovering, but I need to trim, as it did melt some from the stress of being moved twice in a few months time. Sorry about the yellowishness! I swear I'll find out how to take a good FTS sooner or later.


Here's the melting I'm talking about... but there is healthy new growth at the base.


... and here's one that was trimmed earlier in the day. Can I get an ID on the plant behind... I think its Ludwigia repens x arcuata?


Tried to get a shot of the snail trails on the anubias leaf... I need a tripod!

[Cardinal Tetra]

It looks much better now that the humongo sword is gone haha. More space for the fish!
The melting looks like it might be a potassium deficiency.

[frogmanjared]

Originally Posted by Cardinal Tetra

It looks much better now that the humongo sword is gone haha. More space for the fish!
The melting looks like it might be a potassium deficiency.

I hope that's not it, because I can't buy more ferts anytime soon. I really think its because I got the plants early Sept, and 3 weeks ago I had to take the tank and completely redo it, so they were in a dark closet for a few days, adding to the stress of the move. It looks like they're growing well now though, I guess we'll see when they get a bit larger. It could also be a combination of the two, when I first got my dry ferts I was dosing 1/2 the amount needed... have that corrected now!

[frogmanjared]

Wow! I can't believe the growth that's happened in 2 weeks! I thought the tank was going to crash after the sword dilemma, but it turns out that it was a blessing! The microsword is growing well, actually visible when looking at the tank from more than 3 feet away! The tropica is growing nice and lush after trimming the old/melted growth, and the crypt is flowing over the anubias as planned!

The only thing that's bothering me is the placement of the E. densa, and L. repens x arcuata... I might switch them and keep the E. densa shorter... I sense a month long experiment in the making! Probably switch one half/ keep the other the same and if all goes well, make the switch with the other side also.

Any suggestions/feedback are welcome, I'd love to know how you think it looks!

[frogmanjared]

Now that the L. repens x arcuata has some nice color to it, I decided to switch its placement with the E. densa, and I'm loving the look! Now I just have to see how the shading works out.

[frogmanjared]

My platys had babies! I had no idea they were even preggers, but one of them had about 6. 3 were gigantic babies and the others were very small, probably got eaten. Next time I'll be prepared and put them in the 5 when they're closer to giving birth.

[frogmanjared]

Wow, did I love the look of my tank 5 months ago... somewhere between then and now the tank has been forgotten. Maybe it's because I've been working 6 days a week, not including snow removal, the holidays, planning/planting seeds for the patio garden (post pics up in the lounge later) and getting ready for a baby in the fall ! It's time to buckle down and get this tank looking good again. The anubias have grown 4x their original size, the crypts have multiplied 4x, and the tropica 049 has melted to 1/4 the original pop, but they will be fine in time. Did a huge rescape this morning and I'll post a pic once it clears up.

[frogmanjared]

My last post to this thread was a year ago? Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming, expecting our first child. I was contemplating selling my tanks since I knew there wouldn't be time for maintenance, but my wife begged me to keep them (never thought I'd say that). Sean was born on October 17, and needless to say there has been little to no tank time . We were both home yesterday, so I decided to clean and rescape all 3 tanks. The anubias had gotten huge and overshadowed many plants, the S. tropica049 are now gone, and there are only a few, 12, clumps of microsword left. Here are some pics of the mayhem that ensued yesterday...

Yes, all came from my 10 gallon! And there are 2 anubias that I kept, probably around 5" long.








And here's the tank now... pretty bare, I know. I added what I think was E. tenellus from the 5 gal. I think I did a pretty good job considering the water was too cloudy to tell where I was putting stuff, but I'll fix that later this week.


Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the tanks since he can play on his own for a while each day now!

[frogmanjared]

The water is crystal clear today... and I found a surprise hiding from me tucked in behind the crypts... subwassertang!!! I was dissapointed when I didn't find any yesterday, since it was my favorite plant. It was about the size of a large marble, so it broke up into a few pieces that I planted behind the E. tenellus.

[frogmanjared]

Boy, did I have some wishful thinking... I didn't have much time to keep up with the tank, but it's been doing ok. It looks like I'll have more large Anubias to sell in the spring! My brother in law sent extra some spiral val yesterday. Here's an updated shot, I'll try to find time to take a night pic so there isn't so much glare.

[Turtlemaxxx]

Looking good man. My daughter was born sept 18th 2011 and there has not been much time for tanks either. It is fun now to see her peering into them and trying to grab the fish though. Happy to see you opted to keep the tanks going.