Complexity Journal: 75g / NEW PICS 11-23! After the move. New plants!

**Karackle** · 08-22-2008, 03:33 PM

cool use of photoshop! And I really like the arrangement you came up with! I can't wait to see the real version

**cah925** · 08-23-2008, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karackle

cool use of photoshop! And I really like the arrangement you came up with! I can't wait to see the real version

Ditto.

**ingg** · 08-23-2008, 08:57 PM

You have viet nam, I am pretty sure it isn't najenshan. Only other possibility would be possibly some wallichii grown under some odd coditions, but I doubt it.

viet nam and wallichii both have needle leaves. Najenshen has some thickness to the leaves, trend to have a greener stem, and doesn't color up that way - it blushes, but not like what you pictured in your ID thread.

**Complexity** · 08-23-2008, 09:08 PM

Thank you! I can't wait either! I have the plants planted and I'm beginning to see the first signs of them perking up and growing which is great since they've only been planted for a couple of days. But most of the plants I have are itsy, bitsy pieces which will take quite a bit of time to grow into anything I can even see. But then thats part of the fun!

I decided to put the dwarf sag in my 20L since I already have the two long, upright plants in my 75g. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the different bacopas and the crype lucens. I think I'm going to simply plants them the best I can, knowing that as things grow, I'll get a better idea of what to put where.

**Complexity** · 08-23-2008, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ingg

You have viet nam, I am pretty sure it isn't najenshan. Only other possibility would be possibly some wallichii grown under some odd coditions, but I doubt it.

viet nam and wallichii both have needle leaves. Najenshen has some thickness to the leaves, trend to have a greener stem, and doesn't color up that way - it blushes, but not like what you pictured in your ID thread.

Yeah, I reached that conclusion, as well. Someone on APC clued me in on the stem colors, and the more I compared pictures between the two, the more clear it was that I have the vietnam species. So that's what I've named it now.

I just updated my plant ID thread with the final names that I believe are correct. I have it listed as vietnam now.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pl...s-several.html

**lauraleellbp** · 09-09-2008, 05:18 AM

Hey Vicki, what about an update?

**Karackle** · 09-09-2008, 03:29 PM

I agree, any updates?!

**Complexity** · 10-05-2008, 02:08 AM

I am way overdue for an update! Of course, many of you know why. I'll just make a quick note so my journal isn't missing important events in my tank.

I was trying very hard to get the new plants to take root and grow when Hurricane Ike hit. No power for a week. Canister filters lost all beneficial bacteria, requiring that I do a thorough cleaning before starting them back up. Lost one torpedo barb and my apisto was so sick, I euthanized him. No more apistos for me. My water just cannot keep them truly healthy.

I had hoped that this would at the very least kill out the BBA. Nope. As soon as the lights came back on, the BBA came back with a vengance! I noticed it had begun to spread everywhere in the tank, on the plants, the filtering pipes, the rocks and even the substrate! I bleached what I could (rocks, pipes), bumped up the CO2 another notch, and spot treated with Excel. Ran out of Excel too quickly, but my efforts still paid off since the BBA doesn't appear to be spreading anymore.

I realized that one of the problems I was having in getting my plants to grow is that I needed to give them more light. However, with so little plant mass, I was afraid that would be a recipe for an algae disaster. Fortunately, Tex_Gal saved me by sending me a whole bunch of really nice clippings (some even had roots!). I am soooo thankful for her help.

I quickly planted those plants and they are beginning to take off. I'm keeping my first 2 bulbs on for 12 hours while using the other two bulbs for 5-7 hours. I don't have the second set of bulbs on a timer, but I hope to fix that soon.

So far, it seems the lights, ferts and CO2 are balanced pretty good since I'm getting lots of oxygen bubbles and not having any algae problems YET. I am getting some GDA, but that doesn't bother me as it's pretty much self-limiting. Plus, once the plants grow in, they'll shade some of the areas where the GDA is growing. Also, the fish seem to enjoy snacking on it a little. The amanos love it!

I took some pictures of the tank earlier which I never posted so I'll see if I can get them online tonight. It's amazing to me to see the changes in the tank!

**Badcopnofishtank** · 10-05-2008, 06:54 AM

Im glad your on the rebound. I noticed somewhere in your last post you mentioned a photo period of 12 hours? Even if it is not full intensity that could be part of your problem as far as algae is concerned. You may want to consider less light, say 8-9 hours to avoid it. I run a photo period of 6-7 hrs and have pretty good luck with a very high light tank.

**rich815** · 10-05-2008, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Badcopnofishtank

Im glad your on the rebound. I noticed somewhere in your last post you mentioned a photo period of 12 hours? Even if it is not full intensity that could be part of your problem as far as algae is concerned. You may want to consider less light, say 8-9 hours to avoid it. I run a photo period of 6-7 hrs and have pretty good luck with a very high light tank.

+1. I was going to say almost the exact same thing. Until I finally brought my photoperiod down to 8 hours from 10-12, GSA was an issue especially on plants near the lights.

**Karackle** · 10-05-2008, 05:36 PM

i'm glad to hear your tank is on the rebound too! As for the BBA, not much advice to give other than what you're already doing, excel dosing has done the trick for me in the past, and it sounds like it worked for you until you ran out. Good luck with that battle!

But where're those pictures?!

**Complexity** · 10-05-2008, 05:54 PM

Pictures coming! I'll get them posted today.

I know the photo period is too long, but if all it's doing is causing the GDA, then I'm okay with that. I am mainly looking at how it's affecting the plants, and they are doing very well. I'm sure I'll be cutting back the photo period soon. I also think part of what's working to let me have the long photo period is that my first set of 2 bulbs are older so you know they're putting out less light than new ones. Still, I'm tempting fate so I'll probably have to bring it down very soon.

The BBA is what's driving me nuts. I'm seriously thinking that when I move my tank, I will nuke the tank with H2O2 since I won't have any fish or inverts in there. I have enough spare tanks to keep the fish away for a short while which may be my best chance of really killing out the BBA. If I lose some plants in the process, that's life. I have to get rid of this BBA. I really hate it!

Pictures coming in an hour or so!

**Complexity** · 10-05-2008, 06:49 PM

New pics! These were taken on Sept 24, a few days after I got the tank cleaned up from the hurricane Ike power outage.

Just before hurricane Ike hit, I bought a new red tiger lotus. It turned out to be much larger than I realized! I was going to plant it around the rocks on the right side, but because of its size, the only place it really could fit was was the driftwood.

While the power was out, the lotus was uprooted and just floated around. I couldn't see much of anything because it was so dark so I just left it that way until the power came back on.

In these pictures, I have it held down with rocks and have some of the leaf stems loosely held to the driftwood with non-lead strips. This is because I'm planing it on top of a piece of slate so the roots aren't planted deep at all and because this is my pleco's home. When I move my tank, I want to mound up the substrate to bury the roots, and then I can probably trim off the large leaves that are being held to the driftwood. I don't want the leaves to be quite so tall which I've read can be controlled with root pruning.

You can also see the GDA. I honestly don't mind it. The BBA doesn't show up in the pictures, but it's definitely there.

**Karackle** · 10-05-2008, 07:12 PM

Tank looks great Vicki! I'd never know it just survived a 1 week power outtage! It looks like it's filling in nicely despite Ike! Good work! I can't wait to see how it continues to progress!

When is the big move? How much time do you have to nurse it back to health before moving it?

*edit*

Forgot to mention, the photos are beautiful too!

**clwatkins10** · 10-05-2008, 07:12 PM

That tank really is great. I love how dark the blacks are, nice contrast

08-22-2008, 03:33 PM	#211 (permalink)
Karackle Tankaholic (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6) Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Albany, NY Posts: 1,185	cool use of photoshop! And I really like the arrangement you came up with! I can't wait to see the real version __________________ 5g Planted tank with 1 male Betta and 3 Otos 20gH Planted tank 2 Female Bettas, 7 neons, 5 glolights, 3 Otos, 1 Clown pleco, 1 female guppy and a few female endlers 30g Planted tank with 15 B. brigittae, 15 Ember Tetras, 6 pygmy cories, 4 male Endlers, 3 zebra danios, 1 male guppy, 1 sparkling gourami, a few RCS and 1 Bamboo shrimp 1 Crested gecko 2 Dogs, Leo an 11 year old Bichon/poodle mix, and Cody, a 3 year old Poodle. I enjoy having a zoo to care for!

08-23-2008, 09:08 PM	#214 (permalink)
Complexity Pelvicachromis Lover! (View User Tanks) PTrader: (14) Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sugar Land, TX Posts: 2,232	Thank you! I can't wait either! I have the plants planted and I'm beginning to see the first signs of them perking up and growing which is great since they've only been planted for a couple of days. But most of the plants I have are itsy, bitsy pieces which will take quite a bit of time to grow into anything I can even see. But then thats part of the fun! I decided to put the dwarf sag in my 20L since I already have the two long, upright plants in my 75g. Now I just have to figure out what to do with the different bacopas and the crype lucens. I think I'm going to simply plants them the best I can, knowing that as things grow, I'll get a better idea of what to put where. __________________ Vicki —Filstar pimp #142 (XP4, XP2) • Eheim pimp #301 (Pro II 2128) • 2.5 Nano Journal Tank torn down for now. • Four 5g Tanks No journals yet. Mostly used for Q/T, but one tank has my RCS colony. • 29g Tank Journal Journal stub with one pic. • 75g Tank Journal 31 New Pics posted on 11-23 — Click here! First pics of the tank after the move. The rebuilding process. Lots of new plants!

09-09-2008, 05:18 AM	#216 (permalink)
lauraleellbp Fresh Fish Freak (View User Tanks) PTrader: (39) Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Naples, Florida Posts: 9,134	Hey Vicki, what about an update? __________________ 10 gal Shrimpy Jungle http://forums.tfhmagazine.com/viewto...p?f=82&t=24524 29 gal Asian themed tank for Betta simplex (in progress) http://forums.tfhmagazine.com/viewto...p?f=82&t=24513 46 gal of Sword Addiction (in progress) http://forums.tfhmagazine.com/viewto...p?f=82&t=24542 90 gal New World Community http://forums.tfhmagazine.com/viewto...p?f=82&t=23207

09-09-2008, 03:29 PM	#217 (permalink)
Karackle Tankaholic (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6) Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Albany, NY Posts: 1,185	I agree, any updates?! __________________ 5g Planted tank with 1 male Betta and 3 Otos 20gH Planted tank 2 Female Bettas, 7 neons, 5 glolights, 3 Otos, 1 Clown pleco, 1 female guppy and a few female endlers 30g Planted tank with 15 B. brigittae, 15 Ember Tetras, 6 pygmy cories, 4 male Endlers, 3 zebra danios, 1 male guppy, 1 sparkling gourami, a few RCS and 1 Bamboo shrimp 1 Crested gecko 2 Dogs, Leo an 11 year old Bichon/poodle mix, and Cody, a 3 year old Poodle. I enjoy having a zoo to care for!

10-05-2008, 02:08 AM	#218 (permalink)
Complexity Pelvicachromis Lover! (View User Tanks) PTrader: (14) Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sugar Land, TX Posts: 2,232	I am way overdue for an update! Of course, many of you know why. I'll just make a quick note so my journal isn't missing important events in my tank. I was trying very hard to get the new plants to take root and grow when Hurricane Ike hit. No power for a week. Canister filters lost all beneficial bacteria, requiring that I do a thorough cleaning before starting them back up. Lost one torpedo barb and my apisto was so sick, I euthanized him. No more apistos for me. My water just cannot keep them truly healthy. I had hoped that this would at the very least kill out the BBA. Nope. As soon as the lights came back on, the BBA came back with a vengance! I noticed it had begun to spread everywhere in the tank, on the plants, the filtering pipes, the rocks and even the substrate! I bleached what I could (rocks, pipes), bumped up the CO2 another notch, and spot treated with Excel. Ran out of Excel too quickly, but my efforts still paid off since the BBA doesn't appear to be spreading anymore. I realized that one of the problems I was having in getting my plants to grow is that I needed to give them more light. However, with so little plant mass, I was afraid that would be a recipe for an algae disaster. Fortunately, Tex_Gal saved me by sending me a whole bunch of really nice clippings (some even had roots!). I am soooo thankful for her help. I quickly planted those plants and they are beginning to take off. I'm keeping my first 2 bulbs on for 12 hours while using the other two bulbs for 5-7 hours. I don't have the second set of bulbs on a timer, but I hope to fix that soon. So far, it seems the lights, ferts and CO2 are balanced pretty good since I'm getting lots of oxygen bubbles and not having any algae problems YET. I am getting some GDA, but that doesn't bother me as it's pretty much self-limiting. Plus, once the plants grow in, they'll shade some of the areas where the GDA is growing. Also, the fish seem to enjoy snacking on it a little. The amanos love it! I took some pictures of the tank earlier which I never posted so I'll see if I can get them online tonight. It's amazing to me to see the changes in the tank! __________________ Vicki —Filstar pimp #142 (XP4, XP2) • Eheim pimp #301 (Pro II 2128) • 2.5 Nano Journal Tank torn down for now. • Four 5g Tanks No journals yet. Mostly used for Q/T, but one tank has my RCS colony. • 29g Tank Journal Journal stub with one pic. • 75g Tank Journal 31 New Pics posted on 11-23 — Click here! First pics of the tank after the move. The rebuilding process. Lots of new plants!

08-23-2008, 08:57 PM	#213 (permalink)
ingg Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (33) Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Maryland Posts: 484	You have viet nam, I am pretty sure it isn't najenshan. Only other possibility would be possibly some wallichii grown under some odd coditions, but I doubt it. viet nam and wallichii both have needle leaves. Najenshen has some thickness to the leaves, trend to have a greener stem, and doesn't color up that way - it blushes, but not like what you pictured in your ID thread.

10-05-2008, 06:54 AM	#219 (permalink)
Badcopnofishtank The driftwood dude (View User Tanks) PTrader: (147) Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Northern Arizona Posts: 800	Im glad your on the rebound. I noticed somewhere in your last post you mentioned a photo period of 12 hours? Even if it is not full intensity that could be part of your problem as far as algae is concerned. You may want to consider less light, say 8-9 hours to avoid it. I run a photo period of 6-7 hrs and have pretty good luck with a very high light tank. __________________

10-05-2008, 05:36 PM	#221 (permalink)
Karackle Tankaholic (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6) Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Albany, NY Posts: 1,185	i'm glad to hear your tank is on the rebound too! As for the BBA, not much advice to give other than what you're already doing, excel dosing has done the trick for me in the past, and it sounds like it worked for you until you ran out. Good luck with that battle! But where're those pictures?! __________________ 5g Planted tank with 1 male Betta and 3 Otos 20gH Planted tank 2 Female Bettas, 7 neons, 5 glolights, 3 Otos, 1 Clown pleco, 1 female guppy and a few female endlers 30g Planted tank with 15 B. brigittae, 15 Ember Tetras, 6 pygmy cories, 4 male Endlers, 3 zebra danios, 1 male guppy, 1 sparkling gourami, a few RCS and 1 Bamboo shrimp 1 Crested gecko 2 Dogs, Leo an 11 year old Bichon/poodle mix, and Cody, a 3 year old Poodle. I enjoy having a zoo to care for!

10-05-2008, 05:54 PM	#222 (permalink)
Complexity Pelvicachromis Lover! (View User Tanks) PTrader: (14) Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sugar Land, TX Posts: 2,232	Pictures coming! I'll get them posted today. I know the photo period is too long, but if all it's doing is causing the GDA, then I'm okay with that. I am mainly looking at how it's affecting the plants, and they are doing very well. I'm sure I'll be cutting back the photo period soon. I also think part of what's working to let me have the long photo period is that my first set of 2 bulbs are older so you know they're putting out less light than new ones. Still, I'm tempting fate so I'll probably have to bring it down very soon. The BBA is what's driving me nuts. I'm seriously thinking that when I move my tank, I will nuke the tank with H2O2 since I won't have any fish or inverts in there. I have enough spare tanks to keep the fish away for a short while which may be my best chance of really killing out the BBA. If I lose some plants in the process, that's life. I have to get rid of this BBA. I really hate it! Pictures coming in an hour or so! __________________ Vicki —Filstar pimp #142 (XP4, XP2) • Eheim pimp #301 (Pro II 2128) • 2.5 Nano Journal Tank torn down for now. • Four 5g Tanks No journals yet. Mostly used for Q/T, but one tank has my RCS colony. • 29g Tank Journal Journal stub with one pic. • 75g Tank Journal 31 New Pics posted on 11-23 — Click here! First pics of the tank after the move. The rebuilding process. Lots of new plants!

10-05-2008, 06:49 PM	#223 (permalink)
Complexity Pelvicachromis Lover! (View User Tanks) PTrader: (14) Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sugar Land, TX Posts: 2,232	New pics! These were taken on Sept 24, a few days after I got the tank cleaned up from the hurricane Ike power outage. Just before hurricane Ike hit, I bought a new red tiger lotus. It turned out to be much larger than I realized! I was going to plant it around the rocks on the right side, but because of its size, the only place it really could fit was was the driftwood. While the power was out, the lotus was uprooted and just floated around. I couldn't see much of anything because it was so dark so I just left it that way until the power came back on. In these pictures, I have it held down with rocks and have some of the leaf stems loosely held to the driftwood with non-lead strips. This is because I'm planing it on top of a piece of slate so the roots aren't planted deep at all and because this is my pleco's home. When I move my tank, I want to mound up the substrate to bury the roots, and then I can probably trim off the large leaves that are being held to the driftwood. I don't want the leaves to be quite so tall which I've read can be controlled with root pruning. You can also see the GDA. I honestly don't mind it. The BBA doesn't show up in the pictures, but it's definitely there. __________________ Vicki —Filstar pimp #142 (XP4, XP2) • Eheim pimp #301 (Pro II 2128) • 2.5 Nano Journal Tank torn down for now. • Four 5g Tanks No journals yet. Mostly used for Q/T, but one tank has my RCS colony. • 29g Tank Journal Journal stub with one pic. • 75g Tank Journal 31 New Pics posted on 11-23 — Click here! First pics of the tank after the move. The rebuilding process. Lots of new plants!

10-05-2008, 07:12 PM	#224 (permalink)
Karackle Tankaholic (View User Tanks) PTrader: (6) Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Albany, NY Posts: 1,185	Tank looks great Vicki! I'd never know it just survived a 1 week power outtage! It looks like it's filling in nicely despite Ike! Good work! I can't wait to see how it continues to progress! When is the big move? How much time do you have to nurse it back to health before moving it? edit Forgot to mention, the photos are beautiful too! __________________ 5g Planted tank with 1 male Betta and 3 Otos 20gH Planted tank 2 Female Bettas, 7 neons, 5 glolights, 3 Otos, 1 Clown pleco, 1 female guppy and a few female endlers 30g Planted tank with 15 B. brigittae, 15 Ember Tetras, 6 pygmy cories, 4 male Endlers, 3 zebra danios, 1 male guppy, 1 sparkling gourami, a few RCS and 1 Bamboo shrimp 1 Crested gecko 2 Dogs, Leo an 11 year old Bichon/poodle mix, and Cody, a 3 year old Poodle. I enjoy having a zoo to care for!

10-05-2008, 07:12 PM	#225 (permalink)
clwatkins10 ¡ɐɯɯoɯ 'ɐoɥʍ (View User Tanks) PTrader: (27) Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Lexington, Ky Posts: 2,709	That tank really is great. I love how dark the blacks are, nice contrast __________________ EHEIM PIMP #298~~~~~~~I said it's great to be a TENNESSEE VOL! 55->Low-Tech - 20->High Tech - 10-> Vertical Terrarium - 7.2->ADA 30-C Moss Scape - 2.5->Rimless "Little Mountain"

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