George's 29g tank New pics from 12/20/06

[Capt.]

Nice. Everything looks good in the tank. How long has it been set up for? My biggest complaint is the grass at the front when it bunches up against the glass. I think it makes the tank look less natural but other than that keep up the good work.

[George Willms]

Thanks both of you. This tank has been setup in various stages for somewhere around 10 years. It started as a plastic ornament and silk plant tank and then progressed through various stages to what you see now. The pearlweed (which is what at's front) has a tendency to do that. My shrimp love hiding in it though. I'm getting kinda tired with it anyway, I'm looking into trying something else up front. Would like to get my hands on some R. rostrata or dwarf hairgrass and give that a shot.

[Fat Guy]

I like the dwarf hairgrass idea. That could be cool.

That stellata looks familiar :P

I know the feeling with the pearl grass. It's funny how tall your plants seem when you initially pull it. However, it does a great job covering the bases of the stem plants.

Aah the grow out look. I've done that many times :P

Do you have a dosing routine down. Just curious, I'm trying to establish a routine now. I usually test every other day and dose accordingly which can be fine, but isn't as consistent as I would like... Considering once the Hemianthus Micranthemoides and Heternanthera Zosterifolia take off, I have to monitor my macros more with the more plants growing.

-

Walter

[George Willms]

I does NPK at my water change: 8 ppm kno3, 2 ppm phosphate, and 6 ppm K. Midweek I dose another 4 ppm kno3 and 1 ppm phosphate; 2 ml flourish daily, 1 ml flourish iron daily. My Anubias hide the bottoms of the stellata stems very well too.

The growout look: I've been half-jokingly considering turning my tank over to stellata and making a little extra money off of it!!!!!!!!

I'm looking to try some new plants soon. I'm currently bidding on a few interesting ones that I've never had.

[unirdna]

Originally Posted by George Willms

The pearlweed (which is what at's front) has a tendency to do that. My shrimp love hiding in it though. I'm getting kinda tired with it anyway, I'm looking into trying something else up front. Would like to get my hands on some R. rostrata or dwarf hairgrass and give that a shot.

I'm tiring of my pearlweed as well (and my tank is only a couple months old ). A dozen stems will cover the gravel with a 5 inch carpet within weeks, so it's a great plant to start with. ......but then comes the trimming :x. So I plan on removing my pearlweed "mat" and replanting some of my hairgrass in its place. I still plan on keeping pearlweed in the tank, but only in the 'upright' fashion.

George, next time you clip some of that stellata please drop me a PM. I'll pay you the going rate (whatever you would get on aquabid). Or, I could offer you my first born :lol: . I'd only need a couple stems, so any amount of clipping would do. Now that my tank has established itself, and my 'easy' plants have all become weeds, I'm feeling a bit more ambitious.

[Fat Guy]

Originally Posted by George Willms

I does NPK at my water change: 8 ppm kno3, 2 ppm phosphate, and 6 ppm K. Midweek I dose another 4 ppm kno3 and 1 ppm phosphate; 2 ml flourish daily, 1 ml flourish iron daily. My Anubias hide the bottoms of the stellata stems very well too.

The growout look: I've been half-jokingly considering turning my tank over to stellata and making a little extra money off of it!!!!!!!!

I'm looking to try some new plants soon. I'm currently bidding on a few interesting ones that I've never had.

The growout look:

I've been tempted to do that as well. Just specifically grow plants that are in demand....then I start thinking about the small business part of it (half-jokingly too) then look at the size of my apartment and realize that if I added another tank, it'd have to sleep between me, my girlfriend, and my cat.

My cat would love that, I'd eventually get used to it, but...

I've been dosing 20ppm K at each water change. Then 10ppm Nitrate and 1ppm phosphate.

Dosing 2ppm phosphate sounds interesting...I may attempt for a month and see if there are any effects. I've got flourish but I don't use it. I daily dose 5ml Kent Freshwater sup. Iron. And have about 30ppm co2 pressurized.

[George Willms]

Well, my recent stellata sellings have allowed me enough money to buy a nice set of test CD's for the stereo.

I keep my co2 around 20 ppm. It's kind of funny actually, with all of my success at growing plants I have never gotten more than slight pearling!

Uni.....I always post in here when I'm auctioning some stellata.

So, here are the new plants I'm trying to get: R. macradra "green, H. palustris, R. rostrata, Xmas moss, and H. sibthorpiodes.

[Fat Guy]

I've had a lot of success growing my plants as well without the pearling. The riccia I have floating pearls and so does the mermaid weed, but that's about it.

R. Marcrardra would be a cool one to grow.

One of my favorite stems that I rarely seen is "Mermaid weed."

It's got some great leaves.

Anyway, love the stellata.

[Messyroadkil]

Any New Pics???

[George Willms]

Stellata close up:


Full tank shots:

[unirdna]

Wow.....there are a lot of neons in there. What happened to the red temple (or was it hygro) on the left side of the tank? This gonna be a stellata grow-out?

What makes the stellata look so different? That stuff in the back is 3X the size of front stems. Age? Light?

Also (sorry for all the q's), when you cut stellata, will new growth start where you cut it? I've noticed that some plants can and some can't. My cabomba, for example, will not shoot out new growth if it is cut. Also, if new growth does emerge, does is grow directly from the cut portion, or does the plant have to send out a 'new' shoot?

Ted

[George Willms]

Hey uni...

they're mostly cardinals with a few neons thrown in for good measure...lol. Actually all the cardinals did was hide, so i put a half dozen neons in and they stayed out and out came the cardinals too.

The red temple is on the right side now. There are two or three stems visible in this pic. I'm trying a bunch of new plants lately. It does seem to have become a stellata grow-out. I can't bear to throw it out, that's why I've been auctioning them off and selling them....lol. I think age, light, ferts, and the size of the roots all come into play with the size of the stellata. I've also noticed that the more food at the roots the larger the stem will get. I usually just replant the tops of the stellata. Sometimes the cut portion will send out new shoots, but it seems to take a really long time before it does that, I find it much simpler to let it propagate by simply budding at the top of the stem.

[rumples riot]

Hey UNIRDNA I just got the joke, excellent. Never thought to look at your name in single letters (an acronym). Or Maybe I am wrong. Howver I got "you and I are DNA". Is that right?

Sorry George, incidently your tank is looking very awsome. Love the colour mix and the types of plants.

Paul

[George Willms]

Ok, it's about time for an update.

Added a few new plants, R. rostrata, and Blyxa sp "vietnam", Red Temple is in its growth phase again.

[rumples riot]

Fantastic shots George, very nice indeed. Love the colours and the almost pristine look to the tank.

Paul