Marc's First! 55gal Journal! Updated 4/15/2006

[Marc]

Hello everyone!

I had some free time and decided to start my own journal.

The tank size is 55 gallons
100% Flourite
Filter XP3
Light 2x96watts

This is what my tanked looked like when i first started messing with layouts.

This is how it ended up.


At the time my co2 was not concistant. Algae took over so bad my plants never recovered

My try with glosso

My Cleaning KREW!

[teddo10]

Whatch out with cory's and gravel, they realy need sand or they will lose their "whiskers".
Ed

[Marc]

This is what is happening to the tank currently.
I got a really good deal on some Ludwigia...well as you can see
Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Plants on the left seem to be taking off well.
Right side seems a bit slower.

I moved some of the plants out of the middle and to the left. Trying to get some kind of scape going. Still now happy with the layout tho =/

Let me know what you guys think.
I really like the first lay out i tried before the algae out break.

[Marc]

Originally Posted by teddo10

Whatch out with cory's and gravel, they realy need sand or they will lose their "whiskers".
Ed

Hi Ed,

Ive had them in the same gravel for close to a year now...never had a problem with their whiskers. But i'll keep an eye on them.

[Steven_Chong]

That's some great looking ludwigia!! And the set up sounds like it has ample lighting. There ought to be no algae problem with all those stem plants.

Cannot imagine really having a lay out with 1 tall stem plant, and no hard scape. It just doesn't work.

If you are planning to make this a "display" tank, then I hope you have some plans for a lot of that ludwigia. Some how trading/selling a lot of it, especially once the algae is blasted away. A planted display probably won't emerge from so much usage of a single red stem plant. Red plants are usually "high lights," not the "body." A lay out's foundation comes from the hard scape, substrate positioning, and from the positioning and dense growth of the smaller plants. Especially the plants in the mid ground and those tied to the hardscape. These generally create the "structure" of the aquascape. Otherwise, we just have a row of flowers.

[Marc]

I was able to pick up some hairgrass from Jeff (magicmagni)
Im wondering if its time to trim?

[Aulonochromis]

That scape looks awesome. It looks like something you would see in nature.

[eds]

Add another cory keeper with several fish-years' experience on gravel, and no whisker loss.

[ThomE]

Maybe add the driftwood back to the left side of the tank. I like some hardscape in a tank, but that's me.

I like the picture will all the bubble coming up.

[hoffboy]

Barbel loss, according to my reading and experience, is caused by poor water / disease, not substrate abrasion. The red plants are lovely in this tank and I say let the hairgrass grow and see how tall it gets.

[PJAN]

Very good growth, Marc.
And not even boring with almost 1 plant species.

Planning any other plants yet?

Gr. PJAN

[Jdinh04]

Wow it looks nice, I love the coloration on the ludwigia repens. Nice job

[depthC]

Originally Posted by eds

Add another cory keeper with several fish-years' experience on gravel, and no whisker loss.

Me too!! Gravel is no problem at all ...

Great looking tank youve got there. It looks great with the dark reds from the ludwigia and the bright green from the hairgrass. But i suggest you start pulling some of that ludwigia and replace sections with new plants. Great looking tank anyways and ill keep my eye out for this thread as it progresses. Should become a great looking tank in time .

Andrew

[Marc]

Originally Posted by PJAN

Very good growth, Marc.
And not even boring with almost 1 plant species.

Planning any other plants yet?

Gr. PJAN

Thanks everyone for the positive comments! It really means alot. Its been a rough ride with algae and i was almost ready to call it quits.

Gr.PJAN- I'd very much like to try new plants, but the way this tank is set up, its exactly how i want it. Everything grows, my fish are healthy, algae is almost none.
IF i do plan on adding new plants, what do you think would work well? I would like to keep the ludwigia as my main plant for the time being.
I think the left side would be first to get new plants....

[Nolan W.]

That ludwiga looks great! What fish do you plan to keep in there?

I keep my cories on smooth gravel. Fluorite looks like it has rough edges, but your cories don't seem to mind.

Keep us updated on the tank's progress!