The Fisherman's 20 Long Journal - The Workbench

[@marko@]

you can get it to crawl on the substrate, but any disturbance will peel it off with the first layer of substrate. i would get some flat thin rocks (slate works great) and attach it to that and lay them ontop of the area you want carpeted, or use stainless steel mesh squares. both are popular and both worked fine for me. however, the rock tieing seems to make a carpet faster (as the moss doesnt need to grow out through the mesh, just grow a touch to cover the string).

[thefisherman]

Weekly wc FTS 11-19-12

replanted my blyxa, but i'm sure i'll wake up tomorrow and see it floating again
i can't get this thing to root for the life of me

mowed some of the star repens down, i thought they were just gonna melt away as they were grown emersed... but it looks like a few of the plants like where they are sitting and took root. i was originally consdering trying a parva carpet again but, if the star repens comtinues to grow well... i might have my hands full lol


- thefisherman

[thefisherman]

FTS 11-29-12

it's been a full year now and although the tank has endured many changes (including kids "fishing")... i continue to learn from "the workbench"

A couple shots of the community (sorry for the iphone blurr)





- thefisherman

[thefisherman]

about to do some maintenance... contemplating retiring this journal as my tank has changed from a weedy free for all to a slow and steady old
man growth tank


- thefisherman

[talontsiawd]

Originally Posted by thefisherman

about to do some maintenance... contemplating retiring this journal as my tank has changed from a weedy free for all to a slow and steady old
man growth tank


- thefisherman

Sorry I haven't chimed in. I really like your tank. I think it looks more "sophisticated" now with a foreground and mid ground. I think if you develop a background group or plants you are set. Looks great my dude.

[thefisherman]

thanks matt no need to apologize man... i don't mind a low key thread lol

it only took me 12 months to figure out how certain plants grow and what conditions they prefer... now i feel more confident in trying actually scale my tank. my biggest challenge now is to scape around my crypts that seem to have chosen their spots in my tank lol

as for the background plants I totally agree and share the same intent. i got a beautiful hybrid crypt from gordon that i planted recently back there. i hope it wakes up and tuns into a beast, which should fill that space. believe it or not i have several crypts back there already one that just got huge (c. blassi) and too tall as the leaves are all at the surface of my tank and a c. moehlmanni that is looking healthy but still needs to get fuller.

i was able to get my hands on some
L pantanal i hope will flourish. i hope my crypts flourish back there and create a nice green backdrop for them to pop.

as for the foreground, i really didn't think i could get those star repens to take root from those emersed cuttings. last attempt was a failure as i didn't have co2 yet and they mostly melted. my other foreground plant is limno mini i plugged in there a couple weeks ago. i only planted 3 stems (from emersed cuttings) and they seem to have taken a liking to the tank as well. again probabbly the co2 as they shriveled up last attempt during exel only.

my biggest concern right now is some
BBA and an unidentified green slime, very little on the substrate. it seems its under control however as i have been rigorous with co2, hand removal and water changes

i feel its been a great learning experience for me as i've practiaclly tried almost every kind of available stem and rooter crammed into my little 20L... truly my beloved workbench.

[marioman72]

tanks looking good!, i like the s. repens in the forground, once that preads out it will look realy lush. I too have had many a plant in my 20L and through the good and the bad learned what works and what dosnt haha. its always a learning experience when trying new things! but cool tank ive recently thought about getting some rams for my 20 but not sure if i want to add any more fish to the giant school of harlequin rasboras i have. nice work!

[thefisherman]

Originally Posted by marioman72

tanks looking good!, i like the s. repens in the forground, once that preads out it will look realy lush. I too have had many a plant in my 20L and through the good and the bad learned what works and what dosnt haha. its always a learning experience when trying new things! but cool tank ive recently thought about getting some rams for my 20 but not sure if i want to add any more fish to the giant school of harlequin rasboras i have. nice work!

it means a lot coming from you marioman...i love the clarity you have in your tank, its has a simple palette but yet its soo full of texture and contrast. the DW the Flora and those rasboras work so well together.. your 20L puts mine to shame! lol.

ps. my L pantanal is NOT a happy camper right now... i have some top growth but the stem base looks like its melting

[marioman72]

Originally Posted by thefisherman

it means a lot coming from you marioman...i love the clarity you have in your tank, its has a simple palette but yet its soo full of texture and contrast. the DW the Flora and those rasboras work so well together.. your 20L puts mine to shame! lol.

ps. my L pantanal is NOT a happy camper right now... i have some top growth but the stem base looks like its melting

thanks! its slowly coming together to what i want its taken a long time but as with all scapes, it takes time for everything to fill in and become fully grown. im hoping with in the next few weeks or so the stem plants will bush how im hoping.

as for the L. pantanal, thats always the worst had it happen to some of my stems a while back then i got on a reg fert dosing schedule. do u dose any ferts?

[thefisherman]

ya i dose modified EI schedule macros and trace. right now i have only one bulb (T5HO) running. not sure if should turn on the other one as my super slow growth crypts don't like uber light and may have caused BBA in my tank.

dilema dilema :O

[marioman72]

that is quite the dilemma :/

[crazydaz]

You probably don't need two bulbs on, unless you want to keep you Staurogyne really short, or unless the Pantanal isn't popping. You could probably do a three hour burst without too much problem. The crypts don't mind, and it might help to get those nice colors that you would like!

Tank looks good, Ryan! Glad to see this thread up and running again!

[thefisherman]

Thanks for the kudos Don/Mario, its definately uplifting since I idolize both your tanks! :P

I'm in agreement with you Don about the light. I am totally paranoid about blasting the tank with light as I've developed greenspot algae on glass and some BBA on the slow poke crypt leaves.

I'm not convinced either that lighting is the limiting factor....because the star repens doesn't look too lanky, rather compact. I would take this as a sign there is ample lighting at the substrate.

What I DO notice is that the base of each stem is suffering and most likely will melt the tops have promising growth however...

i'm thinkimg the crypts and star repens are unaffected as they seem to be rooted well in the substrate (that is nutrient rich) BUT I noticed my Blyxa Japonica seems to be browning out as well...as I have been bombarding the water column with nutrients daily (target NO3 = +/- 30ppm) I am thinking now, could it be my co2?

(I use an inline diffuser and outflow positioned close to the surface... am I off-gassing?) OR the more I think of it, Could it be poor flow?! :O

I mean I have ample flow up top, but perhaps I have a deadspot close to the substrate resulting in poor co2/nutrient transport. maybe my needy plants are telling me something, perhaps I should invest in a nano powerhead or change up my outflow config?

my head hurts lol

[thefisherman]

so here's a shot of te remaining L Pantanal I planted last week. As you can see the tops seem to be sprouting new growth, but the base of the stems don't look happy

two out of the six stems planted melted from the base up... i have one stem section i'm allowing to float to see if it will bounce back.

still stumped on what could be the limiting factor

[thefisherman]

makin some room... muahhaaa!!