[AquaAurora]

[11/3/16]

Submerged Flora: Leopard vals
Crypt parva
Crypts wedtii green
Crypts wendtii red
Crypts undulata
Crypt balansae
Crypt retrospiralis
anubias nana micro
water sprite
Crinium
Riparium Flora:
Helxine soleirolii

[12/1/15]

Submerged Flora: Leopard vals
Crypt parva,
Crypts wedtii green
Crypts wendtii red
Crypts undulata
Crypt balansae
Crypt retrospiralis
anubias nana petite
anubias nana micro
water sprite
N. taiwna
Riparium Flora: Purple Waffle
Dragons Tongue
Spathiphyllum
Sweetflag
Star Grass
Rain lily
Riccia
Hydro sp. japan
Helxine soleirolii
Tradescantia zebrine
Fittonia albivenis

[9/16/15]

Submerged Flora: Leopard vals
Riparium Flora: Purple Waffle
Dragons Tongue
Spathiphyllum
Sweetflag
Star Grass
Rain lily
Riccia
Hydro sp. japan
Helxine soleirolii
Tradescantia zebrine
Fittonia albivenis

[7/6/15]



Submerged Flora: Leopard vals
Riparium Flora: Purple Waffle
Dragons Tongue
Ruellia brittoniana 'Katie'
Spathiphyllum
Sweetflag
Star Grass
Rain lily
Polka dot/mosaic plant
Riccia
Hydro sp. japan
Helxine soleirolii
Tradescantia zebrine
Fittonia albivenis

[6/5/15]



Submerged Flora: Leopard vals
Riparium Flora: Purple Waffle
Chives
Dragons Tongue
Ruellia brittoniana 'Katie'
Spathiphyllum
Sweetflag
Star Grass
Rain lily
Polka dot/mosaic plant
Riccia
Hydro sp. japan
Helxine soleirolii
Tradescantia zebrine


[2/25/15]


[updated list 2/25/15]
Fauna: 12 White Cloud Mountain Minnows
?? Few Malasian trumpet snails
Submerged Flora: Anubias nana
Riparium Flora: Purple Waffle
Dragons Tongue
Ruellia brittoniana 'Katie'
Spathiphyllum
Dwarf Taro
Sweetflag
Star Grass
Lizard Tail
Prayer Plant
Rain lily
Riccia

[1/26/15] Old Manzantiawood is back and its going to be a riparium.. again


[10/21/14]No Flora or real Fauna, just ghostwood and snails

[10/3/14] Last Riparium Photos



[7/28/14]


[7/6/14]


[7/2/14]


[6/20/14]
More rescaping


[6/23/14]
Massive work and rescaping


6/12/14


6/6/14


[5/30/14]
Disease wiped out over half of the anubias collection. Whats left is in emersed quarantine until I can figure out which avoided the disease. New plants have been put in the tank but I have not updated plant list yet... photos will be posted eventually.. may mess with scaping new plants more first.

5/9/14

5/4/14

4/23/14


4/16/14


[updated list 6/27/14]
Tank: 20 gallon long
Heater: Ehiem Jagar 75 watt
Filter: Aquaclear 70
Lights: (x3) 13 watt 6500k cfl mini in work lamp reflectors raised 22" above substrate with chain links (may lower)
Substrate: Black Diamond
Stand: re-claimed 48" table
Fauna: Malasian trumpet snails
Submerged Flora:
Crypt (wenditt?) green
Crypt Parva
Dwarf lily plant
Needle leaf Java fern
Anubias nana var. petite
Riparium Flora: Pothos
Fittonia albivenis
Tradescantia zebrine
Cyperus Umbrella Sedge
Aluminum plant
Ruellia brittoniana 'Katie'
Spathiphyllum
Spathiphyllum "domino'
Dwarf Palm Neanthe Bella
Dwarf Taro
Syngonium
Riccia
Ferts:Seacehm Excel
Seacehm Flourish
Seachem Nitrogen
Seacehm Pottasium
Seacehm Phosphourus

[4/14/14]
I spent all yesterday setting this tank up once my husband hung the lights, then let fish drip acclimate and check out the tank with lights off for the night.
[strike]Hope to gradually move out the stem plants and fill this bugger with anubias, using floaters to keep the leave from being algae nightmares. [/strike]
Gotta say, really love the 'sand' substrate so much easier to plant in than gravel!

 

[Duck5003]

Oooooo, this looks so much better! Such a nice clean look, and i'm sure those plants will love all that extra room. I love that one top down shot of the anubias. 2nd pic from the bottom, very cool

 

[AquaAurora]

Oooooo, this looks so much better! Such a nice clean look, and i'm sure those plants will love all that extra room. I love that one top down shot of the anubias. 2nd pic from the bottom, very cool

Thanks ^^ I wish I could get the magic balance of good lighting but no glaring light reflection no the water, going to have to mess with taking more or shots; these were just quickly snapped with the cell camera
That's only about 1/2 the anubias in the shot (mostly nana, coffefolia, broadleaf, barteri, petite, and lanceolata) The dark green hard algae on the leaves doesn't show up as noticeably in the photo as it does in person (most visible on coffefolia in photo).

 

[AquaAurora]

damn...

Well pulled out the dwarf lily bulb, since adding it its gotten a white fungus like film and the top has been dissolving off. I'd contacted the seller, they recommended rinsing it, did... same thing still so plopped it into the 10g quarantine to see if it just keeps rotting or actually sprouts.
Sadly I lost an oto he did not have an enormous nor sunken belly, no visible damage, and still had color when found dead.. netted and frozen to take back to lfs in a few days (want to wait in case more pass, though I hope none do). I'm assuming it passed from a spike in ammonia from the 'rotting' plant (API test showed tiniest bit). I'd hoped to avoid such spikes, since I was transferring the same fauna stock, adding more live plants, and more water volume... I'd also taken all the filter media from my 10g's aquaclear and stuck it into the 20's filter so didn't expect a mini cycle. Anyways did a 5g water change and did large dose of Prime as directed on bottle to help detox ammonia/nitrite (though nitrite was still 0). Hopefully won't loose anymore, all the fish seem fine for now.. still active but not acting erratic/irritated.

 

[AquaAurora]

Grabbed some plants at the garden center today. Was hoping for aluminum plant but they did not have any. So from left to right: maidenhair fern, fittonia albivenis, tradescantia zebrine, and pothos. I tried to get the smallest but healthiest specimens.. may need more hob or some riparium hanger baskets. The betta seems very excited/curious about the plants hanging out in front of the tank on the table..doing a quick water test and possible water change then adding these to the filters and will post more photos after.

 

[AquaAurora]

And they're in! Buggers were a pain to rinse all the soil out of their roots.
May adjust their placement as they grow but for now want to see how they do.
I'd like to add riparium rafts so the leaves can grow safely over the water and give more shade but really don't like the idea of exposed velcro in a tank with a betta.. he'd manage to shred himself on it.. Still trying to settle on a name for the betta too.






on anotehr note.. this is the dwarf lily bulb i bought from a pt member.. its now in the 10g tank for obvious reasons... 'cause thats not normal.. right?

 

[Duck5003]

Looking good!

Well, except for that dwarf lily bulb :icon_sad: i dont have much experience with those, but that seems to be in ROUGH shape. Hopefully it bounces back or someone can give you some better input on it!

 

[AquaAurora]

Looking good!

Well, except for that dwarf lily bulb :icon_sad: i dont have much experience with those, but that seems to be in ROUGH shape. Hopefully it bounces back or someone can give you some better input on it!

Thank you ^^ Want to try to add moss or something to hide more of the blue foam but like the plants. Even have one pothos just strapped to the side of the hob (by zip tie) with its roots free floating in the water. Give the fish something more to explore/play/hide in.

I contacted the seller about the bulb. They're away on vacation and said (to paraphrase) "..the bulbs I have left should be sprouted by the time I get back, if your's is a dud and does not, I'll replace it"
Its got this white fungus film (kinda like what mazantia wood gets when first soaked) and it even was given off bubbles I've rinsed it in the sink but it grows right back.. Its my first aquatic bulb plant.. but that just seems bad... I have a hard time finding info on these in bulb only stage (pre-sprouting), most people post/write about trying to encourage the leaves to stay compact or go to the surface.

 

[umarnasir335]

A quick test to see if a bulb is dead:

Squeeze it. If it makes a squelching sound and seems hollow inside, then it's more than likely dead.

My Madagascar Lace bulb did the same thing - the leaves fell and it became dormant, but the bulb itself was as hard as ever. I gave it a couple of weeks and am getting new stems now.

 

[AquaAurora]

A quick test to see if a bulb is dead:

Squeeze it. If it makes a squelching sound and seems hollow inside, then it's more than likely dead.

My Madagascar Lace bulb did the same thing - the leaves fell and it became dormant, but the bulb itself was as hard as ever. I gave it a couple of weeks and am getting new stems now.

Ok, thanks for the info I will test it later ^^

 

[AquaAurora]

Testes bulb, still firm surprisingly but no sighs of sprouting yet.. but still covered in nastyness... Wonder if any shrimp/snail/algae eater would munch that stuff or if it would kill fauna..

 

[umarnasir335]

Testes bulb, still firm surprisingly but no sighs of sprouting yet.. but still covered in nastyness... Wonder if any shrimp/snail/algae eater would munch that stuff or if it would kill fauna..

You shouldn't worry about it killing your fish. Algae, for the most part, is harmless.

 

[johnson18]

You've got a nice start here! Have you thought of covering the blue foam? I've got some Riccia that needs thinning in my 55 as it's has almost completely blocked the light on one end, if you want some let me know. There are several aquatic plants that will work well growing emersed in this set up.

I got a Red Tiger Lily earlier this year, all the leaves melted and the bulb went dormant for almost two months before it started growing. I was almost ready to toss it out when it finally started growing.

 

[jmhart]

Looks like a lot of fun!

 

[AquaAurora]

You shouldn't worry about it killing your fish. Algae, for the most part, is harmless.

I'm just not sure this white film-y fuzz is an algae (it covers whole bulb not just top). It doesn't look like hair algae.. have had my own battle with that in the 55..x.x
btw that's a dead anubias leaf and rhizome next to it, not a lily leaf.. was hoping it would grow but nope dead >.<


this is 2 days in a cup, no fauna, no water movment.. rinsed before adding, used Primed water (kept by tank to get a little light but mostly shaded by fern and betta food bag).. You can se part of the bulb is exposed (lighter part instead of dark brown outter) its just dissolved and bubbled away into this.. You sure that's an algae? If so can you tell me what type so I can lok into it.

You've got a nice start here! Have you thought of covering the blue foam? I've got some Riccia that needs thinning in my 55 as it's has almost completely blocked the light on one end, if you want some let me know. There are several aquatic plants that will work well growing emersed in this set up.

I got a Red Tiger Lily earlier this year, all the leaves melted and the bulb went dormant for almost two months before it started growing. I was almost ready to toss it out when it finally started growing.

Thank you for the offer! I'd actually bought some black foam yesterday with the intent of making a DIY foam filter.. but its way too air-y (no where near dense) so I'm thinking of switching out the blue for black in the HOB, and thinning it a bit. I'd gotten some riccia on Thursday (came with shrimp.. which i wanted to make the diy sponge filter for.. ended up just ordering some on amazon) I might try slapping it on top of the black foam, if there's still open gaps I'l give you a poke and see if any is still available ^^ I'm just kinda winging it, with the riparium part. I'm only slightly hesitant about using some aquatic plants as emersed grown as the area of the house they're in is not humid, and I don't want to have to remember to mist this __x a week. Riccia on top of foam should be ok since waters flowing over/just under it... wonder if i should sew it on until it grows in a bit?

Photos of bulb in a cup shown above, if you've seen anything like this while yours was dormant please let me know... or if you know if that's an algae, and not some fungus/rott/etc.

Looks like a lot of fun!

Thank you, it is ^^

 

[johnson18]

If you've got shrimp or fish such as ottos, I'd probably toss the bulb in with them and let em munch away!

I usually pull the Riccia into strands and spread them out. They seem to multiple better that way. Don't hesitate to ask if I've got some left, I just snapped this a minute ago. It's about 3" thick in most areas! Haha

 

[AquaAurora]

Nice blob-o-riccia! is that 4 leaf clover ontop?
I managed to have enough to cover the black foam

Also just fed betta peas for lunch (with tweezers), and otos blanched lettuce last night... i swear only 1 oto is smart enough to figure out I'm putting food in there >.>

 

[johnson18]

Yup, it is some Hydrocotyle tripartita that came loose during a water change and has started growing emersed on top of the riccia.

Where in the tank is your stardust? I've got some in my 55 and it seems like a super slow grower compared to my other nana/petite.

 

[AquaAurora]

Yup, it is some Hydrocotyle tripartita that came loose during a water change and has started growing emersed on top of the riccia.

Where in the tank is your stardust? I've got some in my 55 and it seems like a super slow grower compared to my other nana/petite.

I was really interested in the aquatic clovers, until i realized the photos i liked were emersed growth, and it looks more like.. glosso than 4leaf clover when grown submerged.
If you look at the top photo of my first post, almost far right of the tank, smallest tiny leafed nana on the right is the stardust. Its very subtle, I can take a photo of it tomorrow (don't like to turn the lights on and stuff my hands in the tank after lights out). I think was emersed grown, two leaves have melted off :/ Only got it 2 weeks ago so can't say anything about growth rate. Several of the other anubias I got with it are starting to grow new leaves.

 

[johnson18]

The same Hydrocotyle sp. that is submersed in the 55 looks almost identical shape wise but more compact. Definitely still the same shape though. I've also got MM in there, it does exactly what you're describing. Emersed looks like clover, submersed it grows MUCH closer to Glosso.

Found the Stardust! Thanks! Yeah, mine had three leaves, with a fourth on the way, when I got it about a month and a half ago. Two have died and it is just now starting to put out it's first new leaf since I got it. Definitely seems to be taking longer to adjust and start growing than most of my other Anubias.