120 Gallon ADA "like", ditched, Dutch style with lots of color instead

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by antbug

Another idea would be the just pull the UG between the L. sphaerocarpa and the L. red and replace it with a different green plant say hygro purple or similar....... food for thought.

Yes, I use to have the Elatine hydropiper growing there.
Starougyne purple would look nice there. But Starougyne would yield a better color combo/contrast vs Elatine. But Elatine hydropiper is a neat plant

[ua hua]

Originally Posted by plantbrain

I'm an idiot.

I was looking at all these different fish and thought, gee, these blue tetras look good. Nice smaller rummy nose sized fish. Perfect swimming patterns and schooling etc. Good color etc.

They bite every other fish's tail in the tank.

Ain't gonna work.

Back to the plan:

Boraras brigittae
Or the Red phantom tetras. The Red phantoms are nice fish, but sort of hugged the plants a bit too much for my taste, but bothered no one, never jumped out, ate well, awesome color etc.

Water change and net them all out tomorrow and in the 20 Gal garage tanks till I get a chance the return them. PITA.

Did I say I'm an idiot?

Not an idiot Tom, just made a bad choice like us humans do. The blue tetras are the most aggressive tetra I have ever kept. Even in large numbers they are always chasing each other and anything else that gets close to them. Too bad because they do have some beautiful coloration. What about some orange von rio tetras?

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by ua hua

Not an idiot Tom, just made a bad choice like us humans do. The blue tetras are the most aggressive tetra I have ever kept. Even in large numbers they are always chasing each other and anything else that gets close to them. Too bad because they do have some beautiful coloration. What about some orange von rio tetras?

At least they eat well.

Boraras brigittae is what I'll add, they will go well with the B sidthimunkii. Best loach in the business.

[jam]

very beautiful. landscape fascinates.

[kwheeler91]

Gonna need a whole lot of boraras to fill that sucker up.

[ikuzo]

looking forward to see nano size fish in a 120 gallon
how many of them do you plan to get there?

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

I had to put some s.s mesh in front of my cpr overflow so the boraras didnt fall through, i lost a few that way, even though i never saw them swimming at the top of the tank! Cool small fish though!

[plantbrain]

I have SS mesh already cut for all my tanks.

[plantbrain]

Side view needs a piece of wood to mount the Bolbitus and Buces on and to create a nice cave for plecos, Elelphant Noses, and Botia. I've been slacking on putting it together.

I'll be adding more and more Fissidens on the divider branches. Trying not to go over board with it though.

I'll be removing the Hydrothrix from all tanks, it's too weedy.
Erio setaceum type 3 is ideal, but temperamental when crowded.
L gigenta well, is too weedy. I can use it as a temp display though.

Still after a broader leaf non repens group red plant for the rear. Might have to go back to the R. macrandra. I have some A cardinalis emergent I could put in there, but it does well for awhile, then craps out. Too much light, even in the darker shaded spots, tank is just too shallow.

The UG continues to fill in and will densen up about another 2x as much again and then shorten itself some and the leaves will flatten out some more.

I still need to add more ADA AS to the Downoi row so it raises that bed up higher so it's easier to view. I could remove the Downoi and then add Erio's there. Then place the Downoi somewhere else, but that's always a PITA. Downoi is easier to reproduce and thus more salable than Erio's.

[Abhi]

Amazing colors and update.

[BeachBum2012]

Absolutely amazing. Every update leaves me in awe

[sumer]

It's my fav tank.
Learned too many things from this thread.

[zergling]

Looks amazing Tom! I still think the downoi should go back more towards the front, but I think you already did that before - so there must be a reason you changed its spot..

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by zergling

Looks amazing Tom! I still think the downoi should go back more towards the front, but I think you already did that before - so there must be a reason you changed its spot..

It's been a thorn in my side for some time regarding "Where" to place it really.
It's easy to move and repopulate and fill back in.

Too bad it is not a red plant.

If I did remove it, then what would I place in that spot?? A fine leaf bright green plant. Or a wide leaf bright green species etc.
Erios has not fared well due to crowding there. L gigantea is nice, but grows really really fast, not worth much $ wise, same for most others.

[plantbrain]

UG is starting to finally fill it and lay flatter. Many people kept pestering me with questions as to why it looked yellow etc.
I stated once it fills in dense, it's top greener leaves will flop over as it becomes a denser and denser mat.

Most never even get their UG this dense. And it's not yet done.
I do not trim it down to get it to stay short like this, it does this on its own. I'll trim errant runners, but that's about it and very very minor.

Other plants are coming along well enough. Be another month or two perhaps before it's in full bloom.
I'll add some more Fissidens to the branches here and there as it grows out also, some of the plants in the Rear Left corner need to grow in more.
I may also tie some Mini pellia to a few branches in the rear.