Complexity Journal: 75g / NEW PICS Mar 26! Several pics posted with more to come!

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by @marko@

your enormous posts are pretty intimidating.

LOL! I understand. Just read what you want and skip the rest. It's just my nature to be highly detailed, but I know it's not for everyone.

which plants do you need? im sure plenty of people on here would be willing to give them to you. i only have 2 established plants ATM, but if you need either of them, i can give them to you for shipping.

I mainly want red plants again. I'm willing to pay for them. I just need to find them.

There are a few I will definitely try to get, but I'm pretty open to most plants. I'm a nut for red plants so I like just about all of them.

Given that our SNS is currently disabled, I posted a WTB thread at APC:

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...ad.php?t=57107

Originally Posted by cah925

Geez, you had to go through a lot and it looks like you have some more to go through yet. Glad to hear the animals made it even though the plants are iffy at best. Good luck in the hunt for your camera. I can't wait to see some pics later. I hope you can recreate the beauty of the last scape you had.

I'm hoping to recreate the beauty I had before, too. I miss the way it looked. But then I also keep in mind how the tank looked just after the power outage from Hurricane Ike and how quickly it grew once I got the CO2, ferts and lighting figured out. I have some Blyxa Japonica that I had bought before the move, but weren't shipped until later that already seem pretty happy in the tank. They're already pearling! So I feel hopeful that things will grow well once I get some more plants.

[Characins]

Things will clear up, you can put things back to the way they were and more.

I know you can do it, it just takes time.

[Complexity]

Thanks, Characins. I'm feeling okay with the plants dying. I didn't want it to happen, of course, but it's not the end of the world.

I just ordered some plants from aquariumplants.com that should be fun. But I sure miss the SNS forum!

[Hungry Wendigo]

I haven't been around these forums long, but what time I have spent on them has been spent lurking in this forum and yours is (or, was) without a doubt my favorite of the tanks I've seen. The plants, the layout, the fish; everything. I really hope you're able to get it all back up and running. Good luck.

I'm in love with your denisonii barbs, how are they handling the move? I'm stocking my first planted tank at the moment and I just discovered that a few peaceful species of barb exist. My LFS has a few odessa barbs, which are also supposed to be less aggressive, have you seen these?

[Complexity]

Welcome to TPT, Hungry! Nice to have you join us. And thank you for the really nice compliment. I'm using the same scape design so it should come out about the same. Some of the plants may change, but I fully intend on using some of the plants I had before, as well.

The Denison (torpedo) Barbs did very well with the move. It was a bit hard on all the fish because they were in the holding tanks longer than I had planned, but after being back in the tank for 24 hours, they're all behaving like normal. The Denison Barbs were highly stressed when I moved them, sitting at the bottom, shivering and gasping, but in an hour or so, they started to swim around and group back together. They ate okay last night, but tonight, they were like piranhas! They are very hearty feeders when the food is first put in the tank.

I haven't seen the Odessa Barbs yet, but I just looked them up. They're very pretty, especially the male! I looked them up on LiveAquaria.com, and they're listing them as semi-aggressive and comment that they may nip fins. But then my Pelvicachromis are also semi-aggressive and will kill other fish, but so far, they haven't harmed anything (except one female Pelvicachromis that was, apparently, rejected from the start). So sometimes it's a matter of their personalities and environment.

I hope you get some Denison Barbs one day! They're really pretty fish in the tank.

[Torpedobarb]

I will donate some plants to you when they are ready.. I don't have them going great yet because of the topsoil change.. but it will in the next few weeks.

[Complexity]

Ken (or it that Barbara? ), that is so nice of you. I think I'm about to get it all covered. With the SNS forum down here, coupled with no response to my WTB thread on APC, I decided to just buy some plants the old fashioned way. So I placed an order on AquariumPlants.com. Here's what I ordered:

1 of : Limnophila ‘hippuroides’ (Limnophila hippuroides)
1 of : Lloydiella, Golden (Lysimachia nummularia)
1 of : Ludwigia Peruensis (Ludwigia peruensis)
1 of : Ludwigia, Broad Leaf (Ludwigia repens)
1 of : Myriophyllum tuberculatum
1 of : Pogostemon stellata (Eusteralis)
1 of : Rotala Indica (Rotala roundifolia)
1 of : Telanthera Rosefolia (Alternanthera reineckii)
1 of : Vals, Contortion (Vallisneria asiatica) 10 Plants per order

Surely, from all of those, I can find some nice red plants. And I'm still wanting to get some more Polygonum 'Sao Paulo' from Tex Gal. Of all the plants I lost, that one was my favorite. Also, lescarpenter was very kind in offering some of his plants to me at no charge (I'll get to return the favor later with some of my new plants). So I think I'll end up with more plants than I'll know what to do with.

It was hard enough to accept free plants when hurricane Ike took out the power, but that was a situation I had no control over. But the move was completely in my control. I could have found some way to float those plants long before they died. I just didn't do it. My fault so my responsibility to replace the plants. It's just right in my mind.

So... with two day air shipping, I think the plants should arrive next Wednesday. I'll definitely have some fun planting when they come in! I can't wait to see what the plants will look like in my tank.

[Torpedobarb]

the sao paulo I have too.. it is starting to grow out of control.. so if I have some coming up soon.. i will hook you up with some.

would you want some of the low growing sunset hygro I have? I would send some your way if you like. LMK.. Barbaratorpedoken

[Complexity]

Oh, you know I'd LOVE to get my hands on some Sao Paulo again! I was hitting up Tex Gal for some more, but she took off to have a great time giving away lots of her cuttings at the AGA convention, leaving me with Sao Paulo withdrawals. Let me know when you have some clippings available and we'll work something out. I'm hoping I can share some of the plants I just ordered when they grow out so we can all enjoy a wide variety of plants for our tanks.

Oh, the low grow sunset... If it's truly low grow and not the regular one that's just trimmed low, I'm interested. Otherwise, I have the regular Hygro 'sunset'. It's coming back very nicely so that's a plant I will definitely be able to save. Let me know if your sunset plants are the same or different from what I have.

Also, look at the list of what I just ordered and let me know if there's anything on the list you'd like. Obviously, I won't have cuttings right away, but if they take off as well as my previous plants, it won't be long before I'll have some available.

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by Torpedobarb

Barbaratorpedoken

Are you sure that's not KenTorpedoedBarbara?

[Torpedobarb]

I must have a target on my back.. as everyone is shooting their "torpedo's at me"

hahaha ha ha hh aaaaa.. ok.. bad joke.

I think everyone has had a advanced college course.. SMARTASS 101! in room # BLAH BLAH BLAH!

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by Torpedobarb

hahaha ha ha hh aaaaa.. ok.. bad joke.

I certainly can't disagree with you on this one!

I think everyone has had a advanced college course.. SMARTASS 101! in room # BLAH BLAH BLAH!

What's really funny is how it always seems to follow you, no matter where you go, from thread to thread, with each person arriving at the same thoughts.

Maybe it's not smartass school. Maybe it's a conspiracy against you?

But there's no need for paranoia. That would mean you fear something that's not true, and in this case, it just may be true!

[Karackle]

Hey Vicki,

I'm sorry to hear you ran into more troubles (darn those movers and putting stuff in random boxes!!!)

But I'm so glad to hear you got the tank up and running again and that your fish did well! I'd offer some plants, but it sounds like you got it covered and I don't have much to spare other than possibly some flame moss if you want it! Most things grow quite slowly in my tanks

Do let me know if you'd like some of my powder mix for the bamboo shrimp though! I'd be happy to send you some if you just cover shipping!

Can't wait til you find your camera and get some pics posted!

[lauraleellbp]

Originally Posted by Torpedobarb

I must have a target on my back.. as everyone is shooting their "torpedo's at me"

hahaha ha ha hh aaaaa.. ok.. bad joke.

I think everyone has had a advanced college course.. SMARTASS 101! in room # BLAH BLAH BLAH!

We only pick on people we like (and who wear targets on their backs... )

Looking forward to seeing the new reincarnation soon, Vicki, your last one was so amazing! You've definitely persisted through some really really frustrating stuff to get this far! You go, girl!

[Complexity]

Thanks to both of you! Karackle, your offer is so wonderful on the Bamboo Shrimp food. But I think I'll be okay. I have enough tiny foods and grinders to powderize just about anything. I started doing this for my Boraras brigittaes and B. maculatus.

As far as plants, I'm getting so many, I know I'll have problems finding places to plant them all. So I'll need to find homes for some (or at least find homes for clippings). People have been so generous to me, I'm going to enjoy returning the favor!

LL, no kidding on the frustration! But it's all been a learning experience which will serve me well this time around. I'm not expecting any hurricanes and have no moves planned for the next decade so I should be good now.

Actually, the worst part of the plants dying is that many of them came from people I really enjoy. Every time I'd see one of the plants, I'd think of the people from which I either bought them or received as a gift or an extra in a plant deal. There was a part of each person attached to those plants. But at the same time, at least I have no reason to go through any of that again so plants I get from anyone now should stay with me for a long, long time!

No pics yet. I still have to rummage through the boxes to figure out where they put my camera. It's going to be sad to see the condition of the tank right now, but it'll also be fun to watch it blossom back into a vibrant, lush tank. I hope it will encourage others who have had setbacks.