Dr. Seuss Tank

[danakin]

That's some great looking rotala rotundifolia. Great looking tank, love how you've been going about it!

[zoragen]

Great tank!!

Thanks you for posting this. It's fun to see people try different stuff!

[DogFish]

Originally Posted by auban

this forum is much more friendly to new ideas than another forum I know of...
when I posted about this tank, I was pretty much attacked. plenty of people telling me that my lights must be lousy and (the lack of algae proves it! LOL), my substrate burns the plants... the diy CO2 couldn't possibly make a difference, etc...
I do, however, agree with a strong caution to anyone who wants to try something similar. if you do something crazy like this, you have to be willing to create a monster...

I can totally relate having done an "outrageous" Tank myself. In my "Toxic Ten" journal I got my share of Chicken Littles proclaiming the sky is falling.

I don't agree about it being a crazy idea at all. I did my tank to prove that very point. Our hobby plants grow naturally in high organic substrate with anaerobic bacteria present. I think all tanks should be researched prior to set up and appropriate measures taken for that build.

Maybe some day we will have "poop" sub-forum

[auban]

before i moved to california, i i found a ludwigia that grew a nice orange color in my tank(different tank). during the move, the plant got shredded into a thousand tiny little bits, but i managed to save a single stem. i should have moved it into the crazy tank sooner.

this is what it looks like now. as far as i can tell, it is an odd variety of Ludwigia palustris. it has the right leaf shape, and the flowers are similar, but it could very well be a hybrid.

this is what it looked like before the move



after the move, it practically vanished. all my plants got so beat up that i had to spend several days sifting though all the floating pieces leaf by leaf just to find it. same goes for some wild collected M. umbrosum. eventually i did find a piece that would grow, however. this is that plant now, as seen from above.


the odd thing about this stuff is that it loves to spread across the ground. its the only ludwigia i have ever seen that i think could be trained to work as a ground cover. even when i was in north carolina, it seemed more interested in growing out than up.(at least after it got past the vegetation beneath it)

[jhays79]

That Rotala is intense! I don't think I've seen it that red before, ever!

[shiloh]

This is great! Lovin' it.

[auban]

Originally Posted by jhays79

That Rotala is intense! I don't think I've seen it that red before, ever!

i use lights designed for a reef tank, mainly for the high output and because they have some bulbs that put out a decent amount of UV. uv stimulates the plants to form the red pigments.

[auban]

Originally Posted by DogFish

I can totally relate having done an "outrageous" Tank myself. In my "Toxic Ten" journal I got my share of Chicken Littles proclaiming the sky is falling.

I don't agree about it being a crazy idea at all. I did my tank to prove that very point. Our hobby plants grow naturally in high organic substrate with anaerobic bacteria present. I think all tanks should be researched prior to set up and appropriate measures taken for that build.

Maybe some day we will have "poop" sub-forum

i just thought of something that might make a real poop tank possible. as in, you would be able to toss in whole turds, a lot of them, and then cap it. im going to start working on the idea...

if it works, i may be able to line the bottom of a tank with poo and not have insane ammonia problems. i wonder how fast a tank like that would grow plants...

[shiloh]

Originally Posted by auban

i just thought of something that might make a real poop tank possible. as in, you would be able to toss in whole turds, a lot of them, and then cap it. im going to start working on the idea...

if it works, i may be able to line the bottom of a tank with poo and not have insane ammonia problems. i wonder how fast a tank like that would grow plants...

Just get like 3 plecs. My one large pleco effectively turned my 55 into a poop tank

[auban]

ok, so i was trimming my plants and, as usual, inspected the clippings for algae. i found something kinda cool...

these clippings have been completely submerged the entire time, yet look at what i found on them:



in total, i found four stems that have flowers. there is one more that is still connected to the main plant that i am going to leave be and see what happens. this is kinda cool, i have never seen ludwigia bloom completely submerged before.

[danakin]

Clearly, you are a wizard.

[DogFish]

Originally Posted by auban

i just thought of something that might make a real poop tank possible. as in, you would be able to toss in whole turds, a lot of them, and then cap it. im going to start working on the idea...

if it works, i may be able to line the bottom of a tank with poo and not have insane ammonia problems. i wonder how fast a tank like that would grow plants...

I'm pretty positive that would be too much initially. If you have ever walked in a cow pasture you'll notice a burn ring around a cow patty. You will also notice that aged patties eventually have weeds/grass growing through them.

Your tank works because it was aged manure. My tanks works because of the % of fresh organics in relationship to active soil was in a balance the plants would tolerate.

[auban]

Originally Posted by DogFish

I'm pretty positive that would be too much initially. If you have ever walked in a cow pasture you'll notice a burn ring around a cow patty. You will also notice that aged patties eventually have weeds/grass growing through them.

Your tank works because it was aged manure. My tanks works because of the % of fresh organics in relationship to active soil was in a balance the plants would tolerate.

you dont know what i have in mind...

when i set it up, IF i can set it up the way i want to, ill make a thread about it.

[DogFish]

Originally Posted by auban

you dont know what i have in mind...

when i set it up, IF i can set it up the way i want to, ill make a thread about it.

I certainly will look forward to seeing your project.

[auban]

the flower is opening up.
underwater.
awesome!