Fred's 5.5 Gallon Cube Journal

[three-fingers]

Mine do that too XD. Though I cant put my hand in the tank any more...my rams attack it...
And the likelihood is I wont be able to enter the pfk compilation any more...because of my rams destroying my tank.... .
I still love them though...

Get more pics up when you can!

 

[Themuleous]

Also, something that has made me smile is, if i put my finger in the tank and wait a while a particular shrimp will swim right over, land on my finger and walk around cleaning. It tickles loads though lol and if i move my finger too much he'll ping off.

Haha thats quality

 

[RadaR]

Thanks for the replies you guys.
Three-fingers, thats a shame to hear about your tank. Glad you still like the Rams though. Theyre fantastic fish

 

[blue acara]

Fantastic tank Fred!
Been reading your thread for bout 20 mins now- some good words and great pics in here! new camara?-very nice quality of a small space.
Love that snail, and the foreground grass-like plant. I think ill have to order myself some.
Some new pics would be great

Dave

 

[RadaR]

Thanks very much. It means alot.
Ah yes, the new camera. Been recently using Olympus E500 digital SLR. It's stunning.
The nerites are very cool, there are always loads where I work. 3 varieties usually. You should definetly get some hairgrass. It's such a wonderful plant.
I will get onto the new pictures!

 

[RadaR]

Then till now there has been very very little growth

So I thought I'd do something about that. I concluded that there was just not enough light. So ive taken a 24W power compact t5 from another tank and balanced it ontop of the cover glass in a reflector. Growth has been splendid and the plants pearl nicely.
I went ahead and pruned the stems and I'll soon get the shape I want. Ive floated some riccia and it's really taken off! It shall be going into my Rio 125 later, tied onto slate.
Pics pics pics!

If the plants dont look green that's because of the camera. The plants are healthy

 

[cheesy feet]

Wow...Your tank is looknig goood

 

[Dave Spencer]

Healthy looking plants and algae free hair grass. Ain`t life sweet!

Dave.

 

[blue acara]

Very nice, plenty of growth there. Like you ive just added more light to my nano- the pearling increased instantly.

 

[Themuleous]

Isn't it time for a trim now?

 

[RadaR]

Thanks everyone.
Sam, yes I think you'd be right haha, however the pics do make the tank seem more overgrown than it actually is

 

[RadaR]

Ive taken out the riccia and put it in my largest tank. Growth has really taken off now which Im very pleased with. I pruned some stems after Sam's comment and the plants have sprouted new shoots already and some plants have grown an inch or so. When pruning should I prune them quite low or just go with the shape I want?
The internal filter doesnt seem to be working that well, it's slowed down and as a result of the poor circulation I have some stringy algae.
Heres some pics (theyre a little dark.. )

 

[Dave Spencer]

I tend to trim the plants with speed of growth in mind. If I want to grow two different types to the same height as an end result, I just cut back the faster grower lower down. I think the key for you is to make the wood look natural and overgrown, but without it being totally taken over (which is exactly what keeps happening in my 120l).

I have just been looking at your Rotala sp. "Nanjenshan" and I reckon mine is the same plant. I think yours was from Tropica right, so your ID is more likely to be correct. I got mine from Greenline and, although it looked just like the picture when it arrived, it changed its appearance when immersed. No worries though because i am dead chuffed with it and would recommend it to anyone with a smaller tank.

Dave.

 

[RadaR]

Many thanks for that Dave. Encouraging to hear other people's views. I like the idea about the wood.
The rotala was indeed from tropica. It's a fantastic plant. When introduced it all but nearly died and took ages to sprout new shoots. I blame the low light (22W), as ferts and CO2 were good. I like running the 46W

 

[Castellop123]

I like this tank... Looks like a jungle, natural ( the way I like it... ) Have you still got all of your Galaxies?