New World 90gal Low Tech- a Pictoral Journey!! 11/13 Replanting Begins

[lauraleellbp]

OK OK- here goes... I just snapped a few shots before I clean out the salvinia and do a water change, so you can see how murky the water is. I wish it WERE GW, b/c that I could figure out how to address... *sigh* Sorry about all the reflections, I normally take pics at night to avoid them.

This first shot shows the true color of the water, the rest of the shots look green b/c of the plant reflection.



This is the Salvinia being blown all over the tank, and stuck in the E. tenellus




Here's the new sword


And a FT shot:


Sooo... I now have some stargrass, Hydrocoytle, a few more Bacopa stems, and another E. angustifolius plant on the way next week from macclellan

I've got a WTB ad posted in the S&S for the remainder of my plants... I'm going to give Pistia a try this time.

I'll post some more shots later after I've done a cleanup so you can see the difference.

[Wingsdlc]

E. angustifolius plant on the way next week from macclellan

I guess we are playing pass the plant! macclellan got it from me and I got it from jaidxl.

[lauraleellbp]

Originally Posted by Wingsdlc

I guess we are playing pass the plant! macclellan got it from me and I got it from jaidxl.

That's pretty funny! Went all the way around the US just to come right back where it started- next time Jaide should skip all the middle men and give it straight to me

Were you the one who snagged that Red Rubin of his I was looking at too? Ya owe me!! JK

[waterfaller1]

I like the e. vesuvius on the first page...is it hard to find?

[Justbeginningfish]

are you running purigen in your filter, when mine was stuck on murky for weeks no matter what I did the purigen in conjunction with a boatload of fine filter floss cleared it right up. I love the stuff!

[lauraleellbp]

Carole- you'll see it occasionally in the S&S. I got mine from AaronT.

JBF- I'm actually working on an order from DrF&S now... Purigen and a stand for the 29gal QT tank are on there for sure, trying to prioritize the rest of the order to fit in my budget I love shopping!

[Justbeginningfish]

I actually used an entire jars worth on my ten gallon for about a week to clear it up, then I went to about a quarter of that amount and now have a jars worth running on the big tank.

I managed to cloud up the water something fierce yesterday planting and moving stuff around so I am keeping my fingers crossed I didnt cause an algae bloom!

[Buck]

Lookin good Laura. When the plants grow in and you get that water cleared its going to be a real nice tank. The wood is growing on me now, it looks much better with the plants around it.

[lauraleellbp]

Thanks Buck I think once the E. vesuvius and the E. africanus have grown and filled in more that will also make a big difference. I'm also considering adding some L. repens stems in there for some red. The new leaves on the E. africanus also come in red (well, pinkish-green in my case), but so far they're so small ya can't see them LOL

JBF- I just ordered the Purigen so it should be in later this week.

I also finally got a stand for the 29gal QT tank, and hooked up the AquaClear 50 to my 46gal last week to get it cycling... so I may place my first fish order in about 2 weeks! Woohooo!

Got lots of new plants that should be in later this week... hopefully adding some stems will help keep the algae better in check.

I think I'm prolly going to get some red root floater for the tank to replace the Salvinia. Been debating back and forth between that, Amazon frogbit, or Pistia, and I think the Red root floater looks the best and will prolly work best.

[lauraleellbp]

Wed 5/22/08

OK so I got a ton of plants in today from Macclellan and customdrumfinishes; a few more stems of B. caroliniana, a ton of Ludwigia repens, some E. angustifolius mother plants, and stargrass are all what went in this tank

So here's a few shots, pardon the cloudiness from the air bubbles floating around- I drained the tank down to a few inches of water for the replanting and also to make it so I could see through the LOVELY green water that sprung up as soon as I took out the Salvinia

The right side of the tank is planted pretty much planted now, though I may move the Ludwigia back and pull the E. 'vesuvius' in front, depending on how it all grows in:



FTS from angle:



Straight on



One more bag of Fluorite black should come in tomorrow, and then I'm also going to plant the Hydrocoytle (that's still floating in the pic) all around the back of the tank and around the sword; it will outline the "river" that will be left just in the front left corner.

And this is the reason I had to drain the tank, to see to plant!!! Pea soup, anyone?

[macclellan]

I hope you can get that green water sorted. enjoy the plants & good luck!

Originally Posted by Wingsdlc

I guess we are playing pass the plant! macclellan got it from me and I got it from jaidxl.

You sent more than I needed, so I included freebies with the plants I sold Laura.

[lauraleellbp]

OMG you sent me a TON of plants! I'm saving the rest for my other tanks, though... I'm totally redoing the 10gal, I'll be setting up the 29gal as a QT tank this weekend, and then I'm going to redo my 46gal... and I'll need all the plants I can get

[rasetsu]

A UV sterilizer would clear that up in 24 hours.

[lauraleellbp]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not too fond of UV sterilizers, I usually prefer to tackle issues other ways.

The green water came from removing all the Salvinia. I plan on adding some Red root floater to the tank instead.

I keep playing around with my midground in my head... I'm thinking the Ludwigia needs to be further back in the tank. I may add some Lobelia cardinalis in its place?

I'm also about to give up on the B. 'pantanal' and move it all over to my 10gal where it will stay closer to the light. I'm thinking about moving the E. 'vesuvius' there where it will be more visible; it's such a lovely plant!

[lauraleellbp]

Mon. 5/26/08

OK so it's been a busy weekend.

I'm in the process of taking down my 10gal and putting up the 29gal that will serve as a QT tank till I get the 90gal stocked. So that's one project.

I also rescaped the 90gal.

I pulled out about 2/3 of the black gravel, replaced with black Fluorite, and replanted the big sword into the far corner where it won't shade as many plants. The L. repens wasn't doing so hot in the shadow of the driftwood, so I moved it over next to the sword.

I pulled up the B. 'pantanal' and moved it to a different tank- apparently it needs to be closer to the light to do well. Was getting too leggy. I moved all the E. 'vesuvius' in its place. I planted all the Hydrocoytle around the driftwood, I really like the look and hope it does well there? I then filled in all the remaining area with the last of the E. tenellus 'narrow' from the 10gal.

I also put down some more Wonder Gro fert tabs. I can tell a dramatic difference with the E. tenellus that are over fert tabs versus those that are not!!

E. tenellus WITH WonderGro:


E. tenellus without:


I'm very happy that the E. angustifolius is putting out runners!


Right side of the tank:


Left side:


I like this shot:


And the best FTS I can get ATM with my office in total disarray LOL