Whatever Nano
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950 Posts
dude why so hard on your self? thats a great value pick up from yor LFS and you managed to plant a cryptocoryne to boot! i think you've done a great job and off to a good start.
its hard to tell by the picks but is your tank flooded? and was the crypt bought as a submerged plant?
the main thing about crypts are their tendency to "melt"... basically they dissolve into goop if they're unhappy. but it is perfectly normal for them to melt off some of their leaves when newly planted and/or when they "convert" from emersed to submersed states (and vice versa).
keep in mind crypts are primarily root feeding plants so your substrate shouldn't be completely inert. you can add root tab fertilizers or DIY substrate fert additives. the natural lowtech option of course to stock your nano with fauna and let your substrate "mature"... basically poop, uneaten food and other detritus build up (not excessive) just enough to enrich (fertilize) the soil. but that takes time, so in the meantime you can purchase liquid ferts to dose in your tank to keep your plant happy.
- thefisherman
its hard to tell by the picks but is your tank flooded? and was the crypt bought as a submerged plant?
the main thing about crypts are their tendency to "melt"... basically they dissolve into goop if they're unhappy. but it is perfectly normal for them to melt off some of their leaves when newly planted and/or when they "convert" from emersed to submersed states (and vice versa).
keep in mind crypts are primarily root feeding plants so your substrate shouldn't be completely inert. you can add root tab fertilizers or DIY substrate fert additives. the natural lowtech option of course to stock your nano with fauna and let your substrate "mature"... basically poop, uneaten food and other detritus build up (not excessive) just enough to enrich (fertilize) the soil. but that takes time, so in the meantime you can purchase liquid ferts to dose in your tank to keep your plant happy.
- thefisherman
Yeah guess I am a little hard on my self..lol..I'm going to try the dry start method to see if I can get it to grow any better then the ones in my 20l. I didn't have enough aqua soil so I have some dirt under my aqua soil. Not sure if that is a good idea or not, but I'm gonna try it. I would like to have a few fish in it by next summer.
Will do!
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950 Posts
well if you are using aquasoil as in the ADA stuff, i believe can be nutrient rich. i don't have experience with ADA soil but i am guessing at least you'll get all the trace elements your root feeder needs from the clay component of the soil. it may not hurt adding a root tab or other substrate macro (NPK) fertilizers. in your case osmocote could be an affordable option as you are doing a dry start.
emersed setups key to success is the "aerial advantage" plant leaves are exposed to all the oxygen and co2 it needs to metabolize, so you would definately see marked improvement in growth.
the trick with any DSM comes when you flood the tank. two major things to consider is what happens to your soil and what happens to your plants.
in the first instance, people use DSM to avoid algae blooms due to the use of and conversion of terrestial soil to a submerged state. as you are using aquasoil substate, its already in a stable submergable state, so no issue here. if not, would have to do a series of wc to flush excess nutrients released by the soil.
the second instance pertains to the plants... now you have emersed form plants that are being converted back into submersed form. basically going from unlimited O2 and CO2 to asfixiation. so definately CO2 injection or supplementation is required as well as a lightig and wc routine to ease everything back to a submerged state.
unfortunately i don't have successful experience doing this and defer to the other TPT members for their input. good luck!
- thefisherman
update..
Wasn't really liking the lava rock and moss so I went back to the LFS to see what I cound find. Found a nice piece of driftwood that was on sale and also something that was labeled "Cobra Grass (コブラグラス)". Couldn't find a wikipedia link in Japanese on it, but I think it may be this "Lilaeopsis novae-zelandia"..maybe some moss on the driftwood?
IMG_4949 by Ecopot, on Flickr
Wasn't really liking the lava rock and moss so I went back to the LFS to see what I cound find. Found a nice piece of driftwood that was on sale and also something that was labeled "Cobra Grass (コブラグラス)". Couldn't find a wikipedia link in Japanese on it, but I think it may be this "Lilaeopsis novae-zelandia"..maybe some moss on the driftwood?
IMG_4949 by Ecopot, on Flickr
week 2 update 11/19/2012
Moved the driftwood and Amazon Sword to my 20L and replaced it with the extra river rocks I had laying around. The lilaeopsis is doing well I guess, which after more research I found out that the Japanese translated from Copra Grass not Cobra Grass..lol..lost in translation..anyways its hasn't grown much, but all the yellow leaves that I got from the lfs has melted just leaving the nice green looking ones so it does look a bit better. Oh forgot to mention that the only light its been getting is natural sun light that comes through the window.
IMG_5020 by Ecopot, on Flickr
Moved the driftwood and Amazon Sword to my 20L and replaced it with the extra river rocks I had laying around. The lilaeopsis is doing well I guess, which after more research I found out that the Japanese translated from Copra Grass not Cobra Grass..lol..lost in translation..anyways its hasn't grown much, but all the yellow leaves that I got from the lfs has melted just leaving the nice green looking ones so it does look a bit better. Oh forgot to mention that the only light its been getting is natural sun light that comes through the window.
IMG_5020 by Ecopot, on Flickr
Not really wanting to flood this yet, but I think I may have to move my swordtails out of my 20g. I have 3 females and 1 male in there. 1 of the females doesn't want to mate with the male so all she does is get chased around the tank all day. Now she has a ripped tail. Will it be ok to just leave that 1 female in the 20g and put the other 3 in this tank? Do swordtails need company from their own species?
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that drift wood was awesome i need to find me a piece like that. it would look nice with a full carpet of plants around it
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Youre going to learn fast only having a tank a few weeks and rescaping it 3 times already By looking at you pics, I would guess your plant is Lilaeopsis braziliensis. It spreads by runners to form a carpet. You are in luck as it does like ADA aquasoil. it it notorious for taking some time to get used to a tanks environment, but when it does, it will spread around pretty fast. Give it a few months. It looks like you are off to a great start though!
By looking at you pics, I would guess your plant is Lilaeopsis braziliensis. It spreads by runners to form a carpet. You are in luck as it does like ADA aquasoil. it it notorious for taking some time to get used to a tanks environment, but when it does, it will spread around pretty fast. Give it a few months. It looks like you are off to a great start though!
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3,578 Posts
Nice startup
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3,578 Posts
Your welcome. I see that you say this tank gets whatever is leftover from the other tanks. What is the experiment?
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3,578 Posts
Oh ok good luck with it. I've never did the DSM in a tank but I have used a cool whip bowl and it worked so I hope you have the same success.
Built a stand for the tank. Bought all the wood, screws, and had it all cut for under $10. All I had to do was think up the plans and screw it together. Just need to add a shelf to hold my DIY co2 bottles.
IMG_5033 by Ecopot, on Flickr
My fish room(more like fish closet)/man cave.
IMG_5037 by Ecopot, on Flickr
The heater and filter pump doesn't look too good, but ahh well it is my left over tank. Also now that the tank is filled and there is a proper light over it, I can see all the scratches on the glass. Can't really complain for the price I got it for, just happy it doesn't leak.
IMG_5030 by Ecopot, on Flickr
IMG_5033 by Ecopot, on Flickr
My fish room(more like fish closet)/man cave.
IMG_5037 by Ecopot, on Flickr
The heater and filter pump doesn't look too good, but ahh well it is my left over tank. Also now that the tank is filled and there is a proper light over it, I can see all the scratches on the glass. Can't really complain for the price I got it for, just happy it doesn't leak.
IMG_5030 by Ecopot, on Flickr
Its been about a week since I flooded the tank. DIY co2 is going good..fishes are happy..plants haven't melted. No new shoots that I can see, but the roots seem to be doing very good. Also the swordtails went through and found all the leaves that I didn't plant very well and floated them to the top. So now after having to replant a few here and there things are a bit more spread out and just looks like it has grown.
IMG_5057 by Ecopot, on Flickr
IMG_5057 by Ecopot, on Flickr
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