50G Low Tech Planted

[ChilliPepper]

Hehe baby is due tomorrow! We are picking up our new car Friday, so what's the betting he decides to come Thursday?

lol that would be sods law wouldn't it! Average pregnancy actually lasts 41 weeks rather than forty though, so you're probably good until next week and now to prove me wrong he'll come tomorrow! baby will come when he's ready

Yeah, he'll come when he's ready I agree. Tried loads of things to get him moving but no luck so far lol.

Patience Enjoy the last few days. Spend some time with your other half, get your hair done or your nails (maybe not your nails if you're gonna be putting your hands in the fish tank lol ), get a massage or some reflexology, go shopping or out to lunch with friends, because those are the things you wont have time for when he's arrived! Don't rush him - he knows when he is cooked, if you try to make him come sooner it can lead to all sorts of issues. Nature is better at judging these things than anyone else, so if he's not here yet, it's because he's not ready. Have faith in your body's ability to do it's job properly

Unfortunately the Riccia I won on eBay is not going to be posted out now. The seller very nicely let me know that it was coming away slightly at the corners (it's grown on mesh) and I said that wasn't a problem, to send anyway. But he's now had a closer look and it's coming off from the middle too, as he said he mustn't have fastened it properly. So he's refunding me.
I am now going to have a look about at other plants, so any other suggestions would be good

Riccia doesn't attach to things, so even if it was attached when it arrived to you, at some point you'd still have to take it off and reattach it. But if you want a carpet then you could do a moss carpet? Java moss attached/glued to slate has a similar effect, although less vibrant green. Or there are actual plants that you can plant for a carpet effect - grasses etc. There are some good examples in some of the other journals - Ianho has a HC carpet in his corner tank, and ps3steveo has some pogostemon helferi in his fry tank - you could have a look at those? Although they do require some effort planting at first I personally prefer they effect they give. But that's just me

Oh thanks Cazzie, I didn't know that about the Riccia. I thought it would root in and spread from the mesh. I'll have a look around and see what else I could try. Would like some sort of grass as my loaches would love it, but it needs to be fairly tough in case my plecs go over it.
I tried moss a while back and found it a nightmare. I attached it to some wood and to my coconut caves using black thread, as I had seen others do. One of my plecs, who is a wally at the best of times, somehow managed to get himself tangled in it as it had worked loose over time. And I had to physically remove him from it. He was fine, but it's really put me off using it. Plus it kept working free and ended up looking messy.

Unfortunately I can't walk very far as I have been suffering from severe pelvic girdle pain since 20-odd weeks, so am in pain pretty much all the time. Me and OH have had some time together over the Bank Holiday, which has been nice. Looked in a lot of fish shops, bought a few fish, bought some plants. Bought a car lol. I had my hair cut the other week. I'm just taking it easy really, but keeping myself occupied with sorting out my fish tanks, and bubs will come when he is ready. I've had a lot of pains, so think he won't be far off (I hope!) x

 

[coldcazzie]

Oh thanks Cazzie, I didn't know that about the Riccia. I thought it would root in and spread from the mesh. I'll have a look around and see what else I could try. Would like some sort of grass as my loaches would love it, but it needs to be fairly tough in case my plecs go over it.
I tried moss a while back and found it a nightmare. I attached it to some wood and to my coconut caves using black thread, as I had seen others do. One of my plecs, who is a wally at the best of times, somehow managed to get himself tangled in it as it had worked loose over time. And I had to physically remove him from it. He was fine, but it's really put me off using it. Plus it kept working free and ended up looking messy.

Hmm, yeah I can see why it would. You could try gluing rather than tying, but if you don't like the effect it gives anyway then there's little point. Riccia doesn't have roots at all, it just grows, so while it would have been ok for a bit, you'd still have had to re-do it, and depending on how you did that throws up the plec entangled in mesh/thread issue again.
Am not sure about which plants would be tough enough to root while having plecs rootling about in them - maybe one of the other members might have some ideas about this?

Unfortunately I can't walk very far as I have been suffering from severe pelvic girdle pain since 20-odd weeks, so am in pain pretty much all the time. Me and OH have had some time together over the Bank Holiday, which has been nice. Looked in a lot of fish shops, bought a few fish, bought some plants. Bought a car lol. I had my hair cut the other week. I'm just taking it easy really, but keeping myself occupied with sorting out my fish tanks, and bubs will come when he is ready. I've had a lot of pains, so think he won't be far off (I hope!) x

Oh hun pgp/spd/dsp type conditions are tough things to deal with during pregnancy, especially as many people don't really know how to deal with them, or what they really are. There should be independent practitioners locally who can come to you for things like massage, reflexology, facials etc. Then at least you don't have to go anywhere to be pampered! all new mums should have pampering
Just try not to get your hopes up in terms of when he comes, while the last few weeks can be excruciating long, and it's hard not to be excited about the prospect of meeting your new baby, babies have their own timetables and they shouldn't be rushed on them. I had stop-starting for 3 weeks for my youngest two but practicing is a good sign they do say practice makes perfect - well that applies to labour and birth too!

 

[ChilliPepper]

Oh thanks Cazzie, I didn't know that about the Riccia. I thought it would root in and spread from the mesh. I'll have a look around and see what else I could try. Would like some sort of grass as my loaches would love it, but it needs to be fairly tough in case my plecs go over it.
I tried moss a while back and found it a nightmare. I attached it to some wood and to my coconut caves using black thread, as I had seen others do. One of my plecs, who is a wally at the best of times, somehow managed to get himself tangled in it as it had worked loose over time. And I had to physically remove him from it. He was fine, but it's really put me off using it. Plus it kept working free and ended up looking messy.

Hmm, yeah I can see why it would. You could try gluing rather than tying, but if you don't like the effect it gives anyway then there's little point. Riccia doesn't have roots at all, it just grows, so while it would have been ok for a bit, you'd still have had to re-do it, and depending on how you did that throws up the plec entangled in mesh/thread issue again.
Am not sure about which plants would be tough enough to root while having plecs rootling about in them - maybe one of the other members might have some ideas about this?

Unfortunately I can't walk very far as I have been suffering from severe pelvic girdle pain since 20-odd weeks, so am in pain pretty much all the time. Me and OH have had some time together over the Bank Holiday, which has been nice. Looked in a lot of fish shops, bought a few fish, bought some plants. Bought a car lol. I had my hair cut the other week. I'm just taking it easy really, but keeping myself occupied with sorting out my fish tanks, and bubs will come when he is ready. I've had a lot of pains, so think he won't be far off (I hope!) x

Oh hun pgp/spd/dsp type conditions are tough things to deal with during pregnancy, especially as many people don't really know how to deal with them, or what they really are. There should be independent practitioners locally who can come to you for things like massage, reflexology, facials etc. Then at least you don't have to go anywhere to be pampered! all new mums should have pampering
Just try not to get your hopes up in terms of when he comes, while the last few weeks can be excruciating long, and it's hard not to be excited about the prospect of meeting your new baby, babies have their own timetables and they shouldn't be rushed on them. I had stop-starting for 3 weeks for my youngest two but practicing is a good sign they do say practice makes perfect - well that applies to labour and birth too!

Yeah, SPD is awful, have had several physio sessions. Just get on with it really, know my limits. Battling against swollen feet as well now though lol. I'm sure he'll be well worth everything though. And he will enjoy watching the tanks

So, back to the journal

I decided against getting any HC as think my plecs will probably wreck it. So have gone for some new plants today:
Hygrophila Rosae Australis, Juncus Repens, Phyllantus Fluitans, Aponogeton Ulvaceus Bulb and two small moss balls for my shrimps.

My other plants came today. Ordered 20 Vallis, there is loads there, enough for three good clumps of it. And my 5 Java Fern is actually 6! However can someone please check that these aren't snail eggs or anything on the back of the leaves? I know ferns do have knobbly bits on them, but wanted to make sure

I've given them a rinse under the tap.

 

[coldcazzie]

they look normal to me, but on the other hand my ferns don't have any (just checked) so I'm not sure...

 

[ChilliPepper]

Thanks Cazzie

Does anyone else know?

 

[BigTom]

They look like normal fern sporangia to me - nothing to worry about.

 

[ChilliPepper]

They look like normal fern sporangia to me - nothing to worry about.

Thanks I know my garden ferns have a similar thing on underside, and when I picked some off it was a gritty texture. Just worried as don't want to be overrun with snails lol.

So, I've put the Vallis and Fern in, as well as some food tabs. I wedged the fern between two rocks, so the rhizome isn't buried. Looks quite good like that.

I'll take a pic in a bit. Fish seem quite happy, swimming about. Though my Rainbows haven't been as dark as they were when my substrate was a bit darker and the silk plants were in. No silk plants in there at all now. I'm hoping when the plants fill out a bit more they will go back to how they were before. The new substrate looks lovely, but it is a lot brighter as reflects the T5's better.

The plan is to put the Aponogeton ulvaceus bulb at the back right as it's a bit bare there. The Hygrophila Rosae Australis mid-right, and the Juncus Repens - not sure yet Moss balls at the front, and the floating plant; half in here and half in my Betta's tank. That will be me pretty much sorted now, and just got to see what grows well etc.
Oh the Nymphaea has been moved over to the right near the coconut shell as my plec kept shifting the sand around there

 

[ChilliPepper]

Here's some pics with the new plants in:

Please excuse the reflections, there is a window on the right and it's quite sunny today. Will probably take some more pics later, gone photo mad lately

 

[PDSimon]

Looking good You could try eleocharis parvula, I have some in my tank with kuhli loachs and they do try to dig it up but it holds pretty well...

 

[coldcazzie]

looks good the extra plants look much better

 

[ChilliPepper]

Thanks

My new plants arrived today, along with some pebbles and a shrimp net I bought as I want to get some more shrimp at the weekend (baby permitting!). So will have a play around arranging them in a bit.

The moss balls are tiny, OK they were labelled as mini, so fair enough But will they grow? I got them for my shrimps really. Wish I'd got three now.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Well, baby decided to start to make his appearance a little later on on the 5th May, so it took me until yesterday to sort my plants out

Here's some shots from last night:

 

[StandbySetting]

These are reproductive organs, new plantlets will grow on these nodes and then the leaf will die off.

 

[ChilliPepper]

These are reproductive organs, new plantlets will grow on these nodes and then the leaf will die off.

Thanks

 

[Verminator89]

Ahhh, great you had the baby, and you still find time to update TFF - brilliant! Haha.

Loving this tank, loving the Geo too! Nice to see you over on the planted side also!