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

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by mountaindew

Great thread!
Great pics!
And your detailed updates are good reading.
MD

Thanks, MD! I sometimes wonder if anyone reads the stuff I write, but I like to explain what's going on with the pics.

I think I have 16 pics left to post.

[jinx©]

Tanks looking great, and so are the fish.

I do my flame moss the same way and have found it's the best way to get a good patch of full even growth.
I have a small spare 10g around that I fill with water for trim times. You can just plunk your moss rocks in the tank and start snipping off little pieces to start another moss stone in the same manner. After pulling the freshly trimmed rocks out, I just swirl a net
around to catch all the snippets for the next batch.

[Complexity]

I do the swirl thing when I'm trying to get debris out of my RCS tank. I can't use a filter without a cover and I can't vacuum without a cover, so I swirl the net. I can get a whole lot of stuff that way!

I have some kind of Java Fern that I received as an extra that I want to grow out, as well. It has thin leaves, but I don't know if it's the short type or the tall one. I'd really like to put it in my 5g for my dario-darios. But I have to grow it out first. So that's also in my 75g tank for now.

[Complexity]

And here's the tank as it is now. It definitely needs a trim! This is the first tine I've decided to try to use the SNS for my trimmings instead of throwing them away so some of it got out of hand and is causing too much shade. That will all be cleared up this weekend.

It's going to be fun to see how it looks after I trim it and move some stuff around.

FTS view.



Corner view. This is the corner I see when I walk into the room.



Left side of the tank. Remember that Ludwigia peruensis/glandulosa stem I let grow out. Look at it now! And just look at those roots! The cool thing is that there are shoots coming out from every node on that stem so I hope to be able to cut the stem up, planting the shoots which will already have roots! This wasn't planned, but I'm not complaining!



Right side of the tank. Vals anyone? I think they like my tank. Maybe a little too much!



Far right side of the tank. This is the view from my bedroom door. The sword is in there just to keep it happy until I find another home for it. It's currently potted and on top of my large rock.

[Complexity]

This is a better picture of the Ludwigia peruensis/glandulosa stem. The old leaves look horrible, but the new growth is really pretty! I'm really looking forward to getting this cut up and planted so I can have a real planting of it instead of that one long stem.



Marsilea minuta filling in. I just about lost all of this in the move. Just a few small runners survived. But they're growing in now.

There's a spot in the middle there where it's not growing. That's because every time I plant some there, my torpedo barbs pull it up! I have no idea why! I'm going to have to protect them the next time I plant them to give them a chance to root.



And my Lilaeopsis mauritius is doing well. It's getting too much shade so it has stopped growing as fast as it was, but I'll be fixing that this weekend.



And here's part of the reason for the shade problem. My Crypt balansae has grown really well, but perhaps too well. It's covering the entire top of the tank now. So as much as I hate to do it, I'm going to pull it up and sell it. I think I'll put the vals in its, but I'm not sure. If I put the vals there, then I'm afraid I'll have too much bright green on the same side since it would be so close to the Limnophila aquatica. I've thought of moving it to the right side, but then I'm not sure I want it close to the Pogostemon stellatus with similar swirling leaf forms. Ah, decisions, decisions!



Trying to get a full shot of it, but I'm backed up into a corner so I'm too close to it to get a good pic.



Just a pic of the bottom part.



This is the other plant that's causing the shading, Limnophila aquatica, but it's easily controlled. I just didn't prune it back. I LOVE the way it pearls! So pretty!

[Complexity]

The last pics!! Not the greatest pics, but I took them just for fun. Every time I tried to get a picture of a plant, the fish would swarm over that area, getting in the way! So I decided to get a few "group shots" of them since they were all together at times.

"You wanted a pic of the creeping jenny? I don't think so! Hey, guys, let's all swim in front of it so she can't get a pic, okay?"



Terrible color in this pic! But I grabbed this one to get back at the fish for covering up my plants. So what was their response?

"Hey! She's trying to take a group shot of US! Swim! Swim away! As fast as you can!"



Yeah, so I tried to get them in front of my vals, kind of like a portrait type of thing. No way! Every time I got them in that area and then grabbed my camera, off they went!




Okay, that's a LOT of pics I've posted! That should do it for awhile.

[sewingalot]

Vicki - outstanding pictures! You make me with envy. Why is it you can have such a beautiful tank and I can't get mine to look half this good? (End whine) I am in love with that rainbow. He looks super happy and healthy! I am so glad I woke up from my nap to see this!

Sara

[Tex Gal]

Vicki your tank is beautiful! You have recovered nicely from the move. About your Crypt balansae, don't get rid of it. Just take sizzors and trim off the leave to the height you want. It will continue putting out new leaves, so that you will not have all blunt ends. You will be able to have it in your tank and it will still look pretty. That's what I do. I like this plant better than the vals.

I love the L. Glandulosa. I'm working on growing a stand of it myself. It's really a beautiful plant. I never thought of doing what you're doing. You are a smart cookie!!

Selling the plants will be fun, but it's certainly not a way to make money. It's so time consuming that it doesn't pay. I do it because I like sharing with others and can't bare to throw them away. I love it when the people who get the plants fall in love with them like I do. I love to see them in other's tanks!

[kyle3]

gorgeous tank -and fish
cheers-K

[BiscuitSlayer]

Complexity -

Your tank looks fantastic! You have some skills when it comes to scaping a tank and achieving a balanced look. I kind of prefer the overgrown look personally. At some point, I will definately be hitting you up on your SNS threads for some of your plants. They look great!

Originally Posted by Tex Gal

I love it when the people who get the plants fall in love with them like I do. I love to see them in other's tanks!

Tex Gal -

I actually have some plants that have come from one or more of your tanks through other users on the board. It is pretty cool how plants circulate through growth and trimmings from user to user.

[Complexity]

Thank you all for the nice comments! Biscuit, I started my first SNS thread late last night. I had way too many plants that were way too overgrown! I discovered, for example, that some of my C. balansae had grown to 36"! Wow! No wonder it was covering the entire top of the tank!

I ripped up almost every plant in the tank and either thinned it, trimmed it, or moved it. So now it's time for it to grow in again. I'll get pics once my SNS plants are gone. My poor fish don't know what happened! It's really funny!

I'm still not happy with the outcome. I'm not happy with some of the plants, and I have not acquired the skill of keeping everything balanced by color, shape and size, but I'll keep working on it. At least most of the plants are healthy and the darn BBA is gone!

So I'm passed the hurricane stage. Passed the BBA stage. Passed the moving stage. And passed the neglected and then overgrown stage. And now I've gone full circle to the "needs to grow in" stage!

That's actually part of the fun of planted tanks. They never stay still. They are forever changing.

[BiscuitSlayer]

Originally Posted by Complexity

That's actually part of the fun of planted tanks. They never stay still. They are forever changing.

That is one aspect that actually frustrates me. About a year ago I had my tank looking exactly the way I wanted it, but now it barely looks anything like what I had. It was mainly due to neglect on my part. It seems like the more species I try to have, the more complicated it becomes to keep up with "optimal" tank maintenance. If I run short on time for a few weeks in a row, everything goes awry on me.

[Complexity]

I know the feeling, Biscuit (or should I call you BS for short? ). My tank has certainly gone through its ups and downs, and the plants suffer when I get busy and don't keep up with my ferts or water changes. I hope to do better after I get rid of the plants in the SNS. Plus, I want to get some different plants than what I have now. Some I have are winners, but some just bore me now.

I will agree that having a lot of different species of plants really complicates things. When I got a whole bunch of different plants, I could not keep up with them. As a result, a bunch died. I've decided to take it much slower and not try to do so much all at once.

I really admire Tex Gal for her ability to not only grow so many beautiful plants, but to also scape them in a way that brings out the best in them while keeping the tank alive with contrast. Sometimes, I think I'll just copy her tank, but then she changes it to something even prettier, and I want to copy that!

Actually, I'd like to get my tank back to where it was before I moved. I used to just pass by the tank and was just captured by its beauty. I don't think it has that same beauty now. Maybe I should just copy my own self from back then!

[Tex Gal]

Biscuitslayer - so cool to be helping out others. That's why I sell. My husband says I'm spending my life in many hours boxing up and such with little reward. I tell him that I enjoy helping people get the plants I love. I always try to charge less than most or at least what I think is fair. I've found that when I give plants away there are usually some that don't take care of them and appreicate them. (with the exception of some that I know love them like I do ). As Vicki will find - it's not about the money. It just takes too long to do.

Vicki - thanks so much for saying that about my collectoritis. I feel guilty about it a lot. I just can't give up all the plants. I love their differences too much. Thanks for the encouragement. I know my style is not the "norm" or the recommended. I'm trying to appreciate my "differences. LOL

I've been waiting to hear if you kept your Crypt balansae. You didn't say... Can't wait to see what you did with your rescape!

[Complexity]

Your style is different, but that's part of why it's so beautiful to me. I can find a hundred Amano style tanks, and there's tons of highly manicured tanks, but to get a tank like yours is a true art. It is both balanced and natural. You are truly talented!

I'm letting go of the C. balansae. I have it in the SNS now. Some of the plants were 36" long!! I'm funny about cutting plants like that because I can't help but focus on the "unnatural" cut. If a plant grows out from the cut (such as a stem), then I'm okay. Otherwise, I just can't do it. Plus, I hope someone will enjoy getting such large crypts as they are not easily found in that size!

I want to sell plants because I honestly hate throwing them away. If you find my SNS thread, look at the Freebie plants at the end. I know I should throw them away, but it's so hard to do! I even had to force myself to toss some perfectly good, albeit very small, sections of my L. glandulosa because I knew they could grow into beautiful plants! But they were just not grown out enough to sell.

It's so much easier when gardening outside. When I find a plant I like, even if it's just a tiny sliver, I can usually find a place to put it so it can grow. If nothing else, I can put it in a pot. I have soooo many plants, including large oak trees, that started out as tiny babies that I could not bare to kill.

However, a tank is limited in space, and I can't pot any of the plants (but I am trying! I actually bought the rock wool and plastic pots!).

The problem is that I don't actually see the plant as it is, but as it could be, and I want it to have a home to live and grow. I wonder if there's a psychological term for that?