Most Unimaginative Tank on Plantedtank or elsewhere

[samee]

Here it is. The story continuing from my thread here
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=260722

My 25 gal, 1st planted tank, all the way back in 2008. Thread is here:
http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2631

My DIY 45 gal thread is here:
http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4052
I read it again after a few years, i just ignored the comments :p ehehe Also go to last page for good pics.

So I eventually moved to high tek, diy setup. I had two shop lights pumping 2.9 w/g in my 45 gal tank with diy co2 bottles. I was really happy as everything was growing. Then I saw that there were holes in my plants and my anabius turned white. Later on I found out nutrients were also important. So I ended up buying dry ferts and dosing EI method.

The tank was going really well, loved it, regret not taking pics though. After a little while I got hit with the two worst things to hit a planted tank, U. gibba and Cladophora algae. I battled these two things for a whole year. They killed all my plants and destroyed my tank. In the end, through succession, my tape grass took over the tank along with clado. Both the algae and the carnivorous plant preferred healthy plant conditions meaning normal plants couldnt out compete them. Nor would high co2 or blackouts do anything. After a year I tore out the entire tank, threw out all my tape grass (buckets worth) and washed my tank and gravel in close to boiling water. I dried the gravel, threw it outside in my balcony in -10c weather for a few days and started over.

I tried scaping but it didnt work. I wanted wood and different levels of elevation. In the end I got rid of the mopani because it took up too much space and didnt look good. My lvl floor didnt work out either, Im not sure, they werent high enough and I just dont know how to do it.

So I loaded the tank with a few plants, didnt even spread them apart in the beginning. Went well and from there on forward its been like that since. My plants take over the tank and theres no space to scape. I feel bad throwing away bags of plants away. I sell them at low prices but as soon as someone hears "high light", no one bites.

So previously I used to take pics at random times. Recently, I take pics every month, I have a huge folder with mini folders for each month. My old HD crashed at lost a few months of pics.

My old setup at its prime. Dont know the name of the nice stem plant in the back left.


Old tank before teardown


New tank setup


Difference in water temperature


So it begins....


July 2011


Aug 2011


Sep 2011


Nov 2011


May 13, 2012


throwing away buckets worth


May 27, 2012


June 17, 2012


July 1, 2012


July 30, 2012


Aug 17, 2012



Sep 3, 2012


Sep 24, 2012



Dec 8, 2012


Jan 1, 2013


Feb 5, 2013


Feb 15, 2013



And a few random images from the timeline

[TheRiverRat]

Wow, you can sure grow some plants. Jan 1, 2013 is my favorite photo straight thick with plants.

[samee]

Originally Posted by TheRiverRat

Wow, you can sure grow some plants. Jan 1, 2013 is my favorite photo straight thick with plants.

ehehe thanks. I want it like that again, except without losing species (weed plants take over killing light to others).

[babydragons]

Beautiful!!! I wish I could get plants to go like this with out co2. I'm still working on balancing everything out. Just reduced my light and now my plants look healthy at least. I love your progression of photo's. It just proves that no matter how beautiful the tank looks it still had to get that way somehow. Lots of time and patience. I also love that you can find a few of the same plants throughout your progression. The bright red stem is amazing, the one from Feb 15. What is that one called?

[samee]

Originally Posted by babydragons

Beautiful!!! I wish I could get plants to go like this with out co2. I'm still working on balancing everything out. Just reduced my light and now my plants look healthy at least. I love your progression of photo's. It just proves that no matter how beautiful the tank looks it still had to get that way somehow. Lots of time and patience. I also love that you can find a few of the same plants throughout your progression. The bright red stem is amazing, the one from Feb 15. What is that one called?

Thank you The plant is Ludwigia sp. Rubin. I threw out like 10 stems last weekend. Local sale here is very slow. Shipping to US is impossible.

There was little patience to tell you the truth, everything grows like weed. A few of my rare, high demanding plants were out compete by others and as a result perished. I really want a bigger tank, but just no space.

Without co2 Im afraid theres no way to getting beautiful plants or colour, unless you have low light plants such as anabuis, crypts and mosses. DIY co2 really isnt worth it. in the beginning I just couldnt make the jump to pressurized because of the usual cost. But once I did, man its so worth it!!! In the long run its cheaper too.

[OVT]

It looks great, but, in my personal opinion, you need more plants LOL
Pretty impressive.

[samee]

Originally Posted by OVT

It looks great, but, in my personal opinion, you need more plants LOL
Pretty impressive.

Thanks.

You mean more species? Some plants grow fast like weed, others medium and slow. So atm Im finding the balance and throwing clippings of anyplant that takes over too much. I try to sell for dirt cheap prices but no one bites. I just want 1 proper time where the back ground is filled to the top with greens reds, medium height plants in the middle and a nice UG or HC foreground. Just once...

[samee]

The last few months have been terrible. Its been really degrading. I got hit hard by diatoms and glue green. Past week its been alot better. Everyweekend I do the h2o2 dose before change, Ive increased my macro dosing and decreased my trace, Ive reduced lights from 9 to 8 hours, made a DIY co2 diffuser but its still not going away. Im slowly cranking up the co2. Its very annoying that theres no accurate way of telling the co2 level.

Heres a depressing pic. Its all a mess. I have a hard time clipping and planting because there are small plants everywhere on the gravel. If I place a clipping beside the plant I clipped from, it will end up blocking the light to another plant right beside it. I just want to do a total rescape. I even have a 31" manzanita wood waiting. But I dont want to put that in since the blue green and diatoms will attack it. I hate it!!! Im unsure whats the cause. Ive had this same setup with nothing changed for over a year yet this problem just started all of a sudden.

Whats really pissing me off is that the aromatica isnt turning red. Meaning something is off. How can co2 be that big of a factor? Everyone has a co2 indicator which isnt that great, yet they get brilliant colours...

[10gallonplanted]

I Love your tank man. Especially July 2011. A few plants can sure go a long way!

[Knotyoureality]

And this is why I love my medium-tech tank. I get a lush growth without being a slave to the pruning process or the constant frustration of balancing C02 and ferts.

And while I might not have bright reds, I still have a staggering array of plant textures and colors from deep bronzes to emerald greens, bright yellows and soft blushes of pinks and corals.

[samee]

Originally Posted by 10gallonplanted

I Love your tank man. Especially July 2011. A few plants can sure go a long way!

Thanks, the Ammannia Garcilis just took over. Im glad I found a buyer and sold all but 1 stem. Ive been selling it consistently, I love it. Its easy to grow, RED AND PINKISH and will occupy whatever space you give it. It will grow small and compact in tight spaces, big, fat and lush in open.

Looking back at these picks I just wish I didnt have algae like back then. Its been so bad recently. I have a thick film on top of my tank too, its so thick that my skimmer cant even break it. Nothings changed since I took these pics. I have not added any wood or sand. Maybe its because of the chelated iron Im adding with Trace?

[samee]

It seems that my diatom and bga are receding, but they are still pretty bad. 45% of my front glass gets covered with dia and then bga within 7 days. MY plants have been growing pretty fast so the algae has not had a chance to attach itself. the slow growing leaves though, stand no chance Im getting fed up with this. These two things have been taking over for 2 or so months now. Im thinking its the bulbs.

Clipped lots of dd and 2 stems of aromatica. Its pissing me off, the aro is boring green. When I had normal T8s, it was slight yellow with purple undersides.







Used a new method to take pics




Played around with settings in photoshop

[samee]

Heres an update. Just did water change so water a lil cloudy. I moved all the tall stem plants to the back. The problem is, I have no space to put the clippings even though there seems to be space. On top of that, I have 1 or 2 slow growing stem plants that are in the shadow and will perish. I dont want to move them forward because its a high water flow area. Plus, theres grass and other foreground plants. atm it looks messy, Im waiting till next week, hopefully it looks better.


Crappy pics, I might try taking pics in the evening with a dark room.

Also, Im experimenting with the emersed setup as well. Got indica/rodufolia and DHG. I put a crypt and Ludwigia senegalensis into the same container, they dried out. I think the crypt might survive. I seriously need a big container now that I know my setup somewhat works.








Replies of any kind would help.