Sumer's Super Tree Root Scaped 60-P (Pic HEAVY)- Updated #May 4; Pg-3

[LyzzaRyzz]

Wow, what an awesome haul! Lucky you get to buy it all first, instead of stumbling around after figuring out you did everything wrong! Lol
Nice hardscape, and love the FTS!! Can't wait for it to grow in! =]

[diamondd7711]

Very nice...I like it a lot

[Ach1Ll3sH33L]

Why not hook up the surface extractor to your eheim. will get that big bulky powerhead out of the tank.

[kwheeler91]

a better question is why use it at all?

[sumer]

Update Feb 17th- '13

Just a small update about some shrimps and Eriocaulons. The Erios I got a month back have started flowering. Where one side it adds to the success of my tank but on the other side, it also is a potential harm to my Erios. If flowers wont be plucked, Erio may die. still talking to hobbyists about when to pluck the flowers. Will definitely update you all on this.
The interesting part is- Once the flower is plucked, Erios will start to divide in 2 Erios. This is how they reproduce/ grow or whatever :P
Here are the pics-
The Bud


Every plant has 2 flowers


The Clan -


Guess the plant-


And here are some "Blueberry Shrimps". Haha.. their name sounds fun. A friend had them. So traded them for some plants and moss. They look cool though-






Gangnam Style :P




This one is the darkest of them. Close to black-


See the brown/maroon on them-


And this one is lightest of them-


And these unclaimed eggs.. Dont know who abandoned them. Currently there are only 3 fishes are their. L183, L184 and Peacock gudgeons. L series are so small to do this. This must be Peacock's.. -

[Green_Flash]

Beautiful erios! I think I spot hygrophila pinnatifida, a stunning plant, where did you find that at?

What camera are you using? The photos are great.

[fishboy199413]

Those are snail eggs, probably pond snails. I really like you tank. Do you plan on adding any more fish?

[sumer]

Originally Posted by Ach1Ll3sH33L

Why not hook up the surface extractor to your eheim. will get that big bulky powerhead out of the tank.

That's sounds like a good idea. Will try that.

Originally Posted by kwheeler91

a better question is why use it at all?

Surface skimmer helps a lot in gas exchange. Even after a month, if I don't switch on skimmer, in just one day I can see a thick layer of oil.

Originally Posted by Green_Flash

Beautiful erios! I think I spot hygrophila pinnatifida, a stunning plant, where did you find that at?

What camera are you using? The photos are great.

Yeah there's a pinnatifida too. I got a leaf of it in a Christmas moss clump that someone sent me. I just planted it without giving much of a thought. And in a month it has grown this much. Back in India, we have acres of land covered with pinnatifida. I'll upload some photos soon.

And I use a Canon 1000D. I don't know what you call it here on the states. I think it's The most basic Rebel. It was the cheapest dslr that time. I like to invest in lenses. But now my camera has lived his life. It's been 3-4 years. I'm saving up to buy a 5D Mark 2. Hopefully I'd buy it in April.

Originally Posted by fishboy199413

Those are snail eggs, probably pond snails. I really like you tank. Do you plan on adding any more fish?

Ohh. So they are pond snail's eggs. Don't know why but I don't mind snails in my tank.
I have already got the fishes. They are in a quarantine tank. Peacock gudgeons will go in a friend's tank. So the fish I've selected for this tank is- Pseudomogil signifer aka Signifer Rainbow. 8 males and 4 females. I hope they would like my tank. It's like inviting someone to live in a house that you made. Hehe...

[JoraaÑ]

I see algae all over Erios...Howz that?

[sumer]

Oh yeah. There was a lot of thread algae. I think it loves the plant with thin needle-y leaves. Erios, Blyxa, tonina. But spot treatment with excel and H2O2 for 3-4 days with 50% WC every day made the algae go away.
But still my Christmas moss has a lot of it. I'm gonna take that moss out and use it in my Viv.
Erios are doing amazingly well. Even the tonina. All 6 parkeri produced 2 flower each. I plucked all the flower except one. I just wanna see what happens. That flower thing is just getting long and long every day. As of today its maybe 4-5" long.
But one thing I'm not getting is- Why Pogostemon Helferi isnt doing good in my tank ? I mean the growth is stunned. They are not dieing but not even growing. 3-4 small leaves look like malnutrition-ed. LOL. My parameters are quite good-
pH : 6.2
TDS : 65-75ppm
Temp : Normally lies between 21- 23 D Celsius
KH : 3dKH
GH : 4 dKH
Ammonia, Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrates : 10-20 ppm
Substrate : Power Sand + Amazonia New + Pfertz Root tabs
Light : Around 80-90 PAR with Sunrise and Sunset effect
Photo period : 7 hours as of now
CO2 : 3-4 BPS for 20 hours a day. 4 hours for Air pump at night.
Filter : Eheim 2215 running 24x7 + a surface skimmer with a powerhead running 24x7
Ferts : ECA + Green gain + N, P, K, Micros from Pfertz. + Chelated Iron when leaves seem to lose red.
DOnt know.. I think I'm more interested in Erios now. i have started liking them. Maybe Aussie or Japan would be the next in my list

[JoraaÑ]

Originally Posted by sumer

But one thing I'm not getting is- Why Pogostemon Helferi isnt doing good in my tank ? I mean the growth is stunned. They are not dieing but not even growing. 3-4 small leaves look like malnutrition-ed. )

This is why?

Originally Posted by sumer

But spot treatment with excel and H2O2 for 3-4 days with 50% WC every day made the algae go away.

[sumer]

Updates March 10 '13

Lot of things happened after the last update.
My peacock gudgeons started breeding. So moved them to other tank. Then got some Pseudomugil signifer and they started jumping.dont know why...
Then finally got panda loaches and they are doing good in my tank.
Here are some photos -
Got this as Rotala sunset but people told me that it's Rotala colorata. Don't know what is this. Comments are welcome-


Dreaming Rotala


Tonina are flourishing I'm happy


Never mind the algae though-


Ludwigia tornado. Such a wonderful plant-


And then I got a vintage vernier handle on eBay. The paper says its been made in 1983. It was in its original packing. New... Unused...


My regulator looks cool now


Erio Cinereum is a new addition to my erio list.


Crypt Nurii doing great too


Signifer rainbows are so cool-






And here are panda loach-




The reason why they are called Panda-


Trimmings are getting done frequently now-


And my camera has a new place to be every time


Feels so good when I enter my apartment




And here's my Viva la Vivaria


Enjoying moss like a boss


Dendrobates Auratus "Nicaraguan green and black"


That's all for today. Will try to keep this thread updated.

[Green_Flash]

Super awesome! Those panda loaches are amazing! The erio garden is nice, I see they have white areas on the base and leaves, is that normal? I remember I had a Erios pakeri and it turned white on the leaves when the lights came on, I always thought it was dying, but was never really sure.

[nikonD70s]

very nice plant list. the panda loaches are nice when they are juvies. but they are pretty ugly when they get into adult stage. wish they would maintain that juvie pattern to adult.

[sumer]

Originally Posted by Green_Flash

Super awesome! Those panda loaches are amazing! The erio garden is nice, I see they have white areas on the base and leaves, is that normal? I remember I had a Erios pakeri and it turned white on the leaves when the lights came on, I always thought it was dying, but was never really sure.

Same happened with me. And you won't believe what I did. I trout it's getting white due to low kH and I added baking soda to increase the kH. Haha.. Then I asked a few experts and they said its completely normal and healthy. The new growth is whitish.

Originally Posted by nikonD70s

very nice plant list. the panda loaches are nice when they are juvies. but they are pretty ugly when they get into adult stage. wish they would maintain that juvie pattern to adult.

Yeah when I was reading on them, I heard the same thing. But it will take at least 1 year or so.. Will move them somewhere else.

Glad that you all liked my tank