A place 4 my questions & ponderings as I build a 34 Gallons (127L) tank

[DAnCSF]

They call them bonsai but they are crafted driftwood and then I had to attach lots of xmas moss. The fish absolutely love it. They burrow into the moss, hide under it, nap on it

Just goes to show how long I've been away....who would have thought to do that....LOL way back in my day we were just happy to grow elodea...LOL...

 

[AilyNC]

The moss has come off the tree quite a bit so something i need to do again at some point. I planted Vallis again today in the hope it'll take as I've no tall plants and there's an empty space up top. Fish are doing well and I'm thinking if attempted to breed Corys. As in get eggs to hatch.

 

[mbsqw1d]

The moss has come off the tree quite a bit so something i need to do again at some point. I planted Vallis again today in the hope it'll take as I've no tall plants and there's an empty space up top. Fish are doing well and I'm thinking if attempted to breed Corys. As in get eggs to hatch.


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Tank seems to look bigger than I remembered somehow ?
Wish I could've sent you all my vallis, I love the stuff but I just got bored with it.
You had some cory eggs once didn't you? Were they eaten before you had chance?

 

[AilyNC]

Tank seems to look bigger than I remembered somehow ?
Wish I could've sent you all my vallis, I love the stuff but I just got bored with it.
You had some cory eggs once didn't you? Were they eaten before you had chance?

I tried Vallis before and it melted. The root is there with tiny growth so added fresh TNC plugs. It's just looking bare because not much grows above the height of tree.

I had some fry hatch but my set up sucked & then got in to the tank & disappeared. I get lots of eggs every week but hadn't tried collecting again.

I've eggs in hatchery now just on the hope the stay there if they hatch. But I'll make something better for them tomorrow and try safely transfer. Everything is very easy with the tanks now so I feel up for the challenge!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Very nice! I find that vals either grow like weeds, or they die--no middle of the road. I'm about 50% with them in the tanks I've tried.

 

[AilyNC]

Very nice! I find that vals either grow like weeds, or they die--no middle of the road. I'm about 50% with them in the tanks I've tried.

The tank is quite packed with plants so I'm hoping they will take as they don't take up as much width space.

Part of me wants to pull the tank apart and start again I think I prefer the more chaotic and less planned out smaller tank

 

[AilyNC]

I'm now at the point that this tank is minimal work but a bit bored by set up

I need taller bushier plants. Any tips @mbsqw1d @AdoraBelle Dearheart @seangee @Wills ??

 

[Wills]

I'm now at the point that this tank is minimal work but a bit bored by set up

I need taller bushier plants. Any tips @mbsqw1d @AdoraBelle Dearheart @seangee @Wills ??

What’s your tap water like? I’m guessing reasonably soft from the fish you keep?

Some of the rotala species do well in low tech and grow nice and bushy surprises your limnophila and hygro 53b haven’t bushed more.

Is your light a full spectrum light and do you dose ferts?

 

[mbsqw1d]

Some Hygrophila ones worth considering, maybe h.difformis. Rotala indica is quite 'bushy'.
Maybe go for some red? Alternanthera rosaefolia (small, front-mid ground) and Alternanthera reineckii (large, mid-background) - neither require co2, just good light and ferts.
Also some crypts, balansae and crispulata (tall, background), wendtii and spiralis (front-mid) - provide thick growth, but are slow.

Theres also a skill to trimming plants that make them grow bushy (I'm yet to learn this skill myself) - probably a few YouTube vids on that knocking about

 

[AilyNC]

Some Hygrophila ones worth considering, maybe h.difformis. Rotala indica is quite 'bushy'.
Maybe go for some red? Alternanthera rosaefolia (small, front-mid ground) and Alternanthera reineckii (large, mid-background) - neither require co2, just good light and ferts.
Also some crypts, balansae and crispulata (tall, background), wendtii and spiralis (front-mid) - provide thick growth, but are slow.

Theres also a skill to trimming plants that make them grow bushy (I'm yet to learn this skill myself) - probably a few YouTube vids on that knocking about

Yeah I was thinking trimming might help. Great suggestions here.

 

[AilyNC]

What’s your tap water like? I’m guessing reasonably soft from the fish you keep?

Some of the rotala species do well in low tech and grow nice and bushy surprises your limnophila and hygro 53b haven’t bushed more.

Is your light a full spectrum light and do you dose ferts?

Lol. I have cherry barbs, bronze Cory & WCMMs in this tank.

The water is hard - I think it's 250ppm

 

[seangee]

Theres also a skill to trimming plants that make them grow bushy (I'm yet to learn this skill myself)

Not sure I'd call what I do a skill. For most of the stem plants I just lop the tops off. If I want more of them I plant the bits I cut off in between them, this works especially well for plants like hygrophila. When they start getting too leggy (long straggly stems with all the leaves near the top) I do pretty much the same thing, but in this case I lop off the tops, pull out what's left and then re-plant the tops lower down. Or you could not pull out what's left, just cut it right back and a few weeks later you will have a lot of shiny new plants. Of course you can still replant the tops to give you a much denser coverage.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Not sure I'd call what I do a skill. For most of the stem plants I just lop the tops off. If I want more of them I plant the bits I cut off in between them, this works especially well for plants like hygrophila. When they start getting too leggy (long straggly stems with all the leaves near the top) I do pretty much the same thing, but in this case I lop off the tops, pull out what's left and then re-plant the tops lower down. Or you could not pull out what's left, just cut it right back and a few weeks later you will have a lot of shiny new plants. Of course you can still replant the tops to give you a much denser coverage.

Would you, @mbsqw1d or @Wills know what's happening with my siamensis 53b? Getting lots of holes, especially on the lower leaves, and losing leaves. I've added TNC root tabs, and Tetramin liquid ferts, both of which it was thriving with before. Light hasn't changed, except the frogbit tends to take over and block the light sometimes, but it's happening with the shaded plant and the one that's more in the open.

Any chance the MTS might be eating it? Problem seems to have developed as the MTS have multiplied.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I'm now at the point that this tank is minimal work but a bit bored by set up

I need taller bushier plants. Any tips @mbsqw1d @AdoraBelle Dearheart @seangee @Wills ??

I'm not much help, sorry love! I'm gonna try getting some subwassertang (sp?) soon, but don't know how tall that gets. Maybe the Brazilian Pennywort that @mbsqw1d and @CassCats have? Mb has his tucked into the substrate to have bushy low cover, but casscats lets hers grow tall, and that looks pretty awesome too!

 

[mbsqw1d]

Would you, @mbsqw1d or @Wills know what's happening with my siamensis 53b? Getting lots of holes, especially on the lower leaves, and losing leaves. I've added TNC root tabs, and Tetramin liquid ferts, both of which it was thriving with before. Light hasn't changed, except the frogbit tends to take over and block the light sometimes, but it's happening with the shaded plant and the one that's more in the open.

Any chance the MTS might be eating it? Problem seems to have developed as the MTS have multiplied.
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The plec isn't in here yet is he? What's the flow like around that section of the tank?