Amanda's 55g ~~tons & Tons Of Pics!

[ICEEGRL]

I have a few new plants that will be on the way in the morning. I got 20 pygmy val and 20 corkscrew val from aquabid.
I am also considering a box from bayleesfishees on there. He picks the plants he sends, but everyone loves his plants so much. It is a good deal on the price, and I have several tanks that could use some plants. There really isn't that much that he could possibly send that I couldn't use in one of them.
I am also looking at aquatic magic for a few things.
I wanted some hc and et really badly, but I didn't find any for a decent price yet. I will keep looking.

As you can see... I am collecting plants now. I am getting ready to try to fill in the tank. I plan to move some things around and add a lot of plants to try to get this tank looking good.
I am also planning to re-do the 20 long that my long fin corys are in. They just have a few plants thrown in. I want to get them looking good also. Theirs is a breeding tank so it will have to be done a little differently. Everything has to be removable in there for when I am collecting eggs.
I have lots of plans. Now... if I can get any of it done.

Thanks for looking.

 

[lljdma06]

I have a few new plants that will be on the way in the morning. I got 20 pygmy val and 20 corkscrew val from aquabid.
I am also considering a box from bayleesfishees on there. He picks the plants he sends, but everyone loves his plants so much. It is a good deal on the price, and I have several tanks that could use some plants. There really isn't that much that he could possibly send that I couldn't use in one of them.
I am also looking at aquatic magic for a few things.
I wanted some hc and et really badly, but I didn't find any for a decent price yet. I will keep looking.

As you can see... I am collecting plants now. I am getting ready to try to fill in the tank. I plan to move some things around and add a lot of plants to try to get this tank looking good.
I am also planning to re-do the 20 long that my long fin corys are in. They just have a few plants thrown in. I want to get them looking good also. Theirs is a breeding tank so it will have to be done a little differently. Everything has to be removable in there for when I am collecting eggs.
I have lots of plans. Now... if I can get any of it done.

Thanks for looking.

Hi ICEEGRL! Long time no see! Tank looks pretty good and I'm glad that your algae problems are going away.

For the 20 long corydora breeding tank, try an approach that features mostly anubias and java fern and possibly keep the driftwood pieces small so that they can be removed for egg-collecting. It all depends on where they place the eggs, though. Mine stick them all over the place. Yep, mine. My peppers are finally breedinng regularly. Unfortunately, an opportunistic platy has discovered this and follows the breeding pair around. When an egg is deposited, the platy scoops it up. Needless to say, it is a very, very fat platy.

Sorry Shay wants to get rid of her plants, but as a credit to you, it's pretty amazing that a 4-year-old has lasted this long in the hobby and hasn't killed anything.

llj

 

[ICEEGRL]

My corys usually place the eggs on the walls... all the way around the tank. Then my other corys eat them. I have to collect the very quickly if I am going to save any.

I am very proud of Shay. Her tank always looked so good. I was really sad to see it changed!
Yep... changed! I am not really liking the new look. I took some pics. I will try to get them on her thread soon. The only thing that she kept was the star grass and moss ball. She just couldn't give them up. I don't think it will be long until she is wanting a few more plants back.
I hope.

My plants should be here in one or 2 days. I will take pics and update again then.

Thanks for looking.

By the way... I spoke too soon! My algae eater bailed out of the tank and into a plant. He was the same color as the soil so I didn't see him until it was too late. Now my tank is turning green again. He was my first jumper. I don't like to lose fish. I get really up set.
I am going to have to find glass lids to fit that tank, and figure out how to do the light so it doesn't sit right on the plastic center brace. It came with some kind of extra legs, but I can't figure out what the heck you do with them.

 

[ICEEGRL]

My corkscrew and pygmy vals came yesterday evening. He sent me 35 of one and 40 of the other (if you count the little ones) instead of 20 of each. They look really healthy too. I am really excited. I will be moving things around and getting the new stuff in this after noon.
Here is what I got...


I will post new pics when I get it finished.
I also have some plants from other tanks that are going in here too. I hope this helps make it look better, and maybe having more plants will slow down the algae problem. Nothing else has!

Thanks for looking. Please keep checking back, and let me know what you think.

 

[Themuleous]

Healthy looking plants those

 

[ICEEGRL]

Well... here is what I ended up with.

 

[ICEEGRL]

The tank was really cloudy yesterday, but it has cleared a lot now. The wood in not in yet. It is still soaking. I can't convince it that it should sink. I guess it will go in when ever it decides to sink... or I find a good rock to tie to it.
It will eventually have a wood sort of arch way over where the anubias are. That will be a path when the wood is ready. I am planning to put the anubias on the wood that lays down at the back of the path and on the arch.

My biggest problem is that I don't like the amazon sword and the ozelot sword where they are. That section just did not turn out very well. I just don't know what to do about it.

There is some very pretty bolbitis behind the swords. I would love to get it moved to a position where it could be seen.

I sloped the eco complete so that the back is higher than the front, and it is recessed where the path will be.

The pygmy val was taller than I expected, but I still kind of like it there in the front center. When things fill out a bit I am hoping it will look pretty good.

What do you think so far? What do you think would make it better?

Thanks for looking!

 

[Themuleous]

I love the scape Amanda, this has lots and lots of potential. The egera on the back right should prune nicely to give you a nice bushy, dense clump feature in that area. The lotus will also look nice once it fills out. If it were me I'd be tempted to let it get near to the surface and then plant other things underneath. You might find that the valls in front get too tall so moving the anubias back a bit would fill the space under the lotus, that would also give the sags more space to breath. BTW keep on top of the sags, as they will spread like mad. Each week I prune the longest leaves off mine to keep them short and to thin them out as they will get very dense if given half a chance. You might also want to either move the swords out of the way or move the bolbitis forward.

Keep us posted on progress, it looks great so far

Sam

 

[lljdma06]

I agree, Sam. I wonder where the bolbitis came from? Is that Egeria? The growth can vary so much that I am second-guessing myself. I just ordered some E. najas. How is your fert regimen coming along? Your A. reineckii could probably benefit from a root tab or two underneath them.

Really looking very good, though.

I want a big tank.

llj

 

[ICEEGRL]

Thanks Sam. I do want to move the swords, but I don't know where to put them. I can't let the lily have leaves on top. It gets too much slime algae when I do. I have to keep them an inch or two below the water. There are 2 more in the front, but they refuse to get big. They stay tiny.
That egeria is rotala, and the sag is pygmy val. My corkscrew vals refuse to get tall. (The new ones might get taller though.)
I was planting in a fog so I couldn't really see what it really looked like. Now that the water has cleard a bit I can see that some of the corkscrew vals do need to back up a little bit. I am just afraid of backing everything up on that side too much. I don't want to let the lily shad the a. reineckii too much. It has to get decent light to do well.

I may remove the amazon swords. Then I could bring the bolbitis where it can be seen, and bring the ozelot up a little so it can stretch out a little. It is really pretty when it isn't squished.

llj... You should recognize the rotala, the a. nana petite, the a. reineckii, and the bolbitis.
They really look a lot better than the pics show. My auto focus and color balance has decided to be moody for some reason, and I have no idea how to fix it. I just have to keep taking pics until I get one that is half way decent.

Oh by the way... my a. nana is about to bloom! I am so tickled. It is from Shay's tank. Her plants always do so good. I hate that she didn't want to keep them. I think she will want them back eventually though. She did keep the star grass and moss ball though. They are her favs.

You can't really tell what is what so I labled one so you can get a better idea what is in there and how it might fill out.

The pic is still crap, but maybe this will help a little.

Should I go ahead and shift them around now or should I wait a little while before I mess with it again?

Thanks for looking and helping!

 

[ICEEGRL]

I have been attacked by algae. I have green slimy hairy stuff on the leaves of all the anybias and such.
I will try to do some clean up today with the water change. I will take some pics before and after to show you all. I am planning to add some wood and a little shifting while I am in there.

I hope it helps the look a little. I guess we will soon see.

Thanks for looking. Keep checking in!


Before...
View attachment 48675

 

[ICEEGRL]

I shiftedd things a bit and added a few pieces of wood. One piece I had to tie rocks to in order to get it to stay down. I hope to be able to remove them before long. Please over look the rocks for now. I think it looks better. It will look tons better when some of the plants grow a bit more. There are a few that you can't hardly see right now, but when they get bigger they should look really good.

View attachment 48673

 

[ICEEGRL]

The path between the wood is wider than it looks in the pics. I may need to make it a little wider though.
I think the wood makes it look tons better. I still have a few pieces soaking that will go in later. (when ever they finally decide to start sinking)

Let me know what you think so far and what I might need to do to make it a little better.

Thanks for looking and taking the time to post.

 

[Themuleous]

You're right about the wood, adds a new dimension to the tank

Sam

 

[SuperColey1]

You seem to be getting the hang of this planted Lark. lol

Nice greens in there and a nice variety.

Keep it up.

Andy