Jen's 90 Gallon Tank

[Themuleous]

It's just such a pretty colour, I couldnt bring myself to get rid of it.

Yeh it is, its what Im hoping I can get for my main tank, the colour is just something on other plant can give you.

Sam

 

[lljdma06]

It's just such a pretty colour, I couldnt bring myself to get rid of it.

Yeh it is, its what Im hoping I can get for my main tank, the colour is just something on other plant can give you.

Sam

I know, there's something about red Tiger lotus. Very few plants can match that color, other than alternantera reineckii and some rotalas. When it's red, it's red! What a difference a few weeks make, Jen, the tank looks amazing! Great job!

 

[Jen]

Hey guys. Did a bit more in the tank yesterday. Pulled a bunch of val out, and well, that's really it. lol. There was waaay to much in that back corner. I thinned out a lot, and moved my last little lotus around with the rest of them. I still hope to get a bunch of fine leaved stems... rotala or something to go in that corner. Get a nice bush happening there.

Any suggestions as to what I can put in the back right corner? Most of the val will go, leaving me with a tirangle approximately 12 inches by 12 inches by 17 ish. So I have lots of space for something big.

 

[fish boy]

Any suggestions as to what I can put in the back right corner? Most of the val will go, leaving me with a tirangle approximately 12 inches by 12 inches by 17 ish. So I have lots of space for something big.
[/quote]

You could put a large amazon sword there..i have loads of other plants which would be good there,but i don't know their names.Sorry.Btw tank looks great ,i'm also creating a large heavily planted tank but with discus and praecox rainbow fish it will be 90-110 gal,any good plants you could recommend?

Thanks ,ollie AKA cheeseyfeet on fishforums.com

 

[Jen]

I used to have an amazon sword in the tank, but once it got big, it looked horrible... I had rotala rotunafolia (I think that's what it was) in the tank a while back, but never did terribly well. I think the tank was too crowded, and the plant never got much light. A nice delicate bush with red and green leaves.

I don't know what to reccomend for your tank. I have never kept Discus before, so I don't know what they like. I always see Val in the tanks with them at my lfs. Other than that, I'm clueless.

(ps. You might want to edit your post and remove the mention of the other forum. That is breaking one of the rules for the site, and I would hate to see you get reported for it. Big no-no.)

 

[George Farmer]

Hi Jen

It's been a while since I posted here so here I am.

This layout is your best yet. The use of space is far better to your previous and I'm sure your fish prefer the extra swimming room. The H verticilatta with the lily looks very fresh and provides a powerful contrast to the darker, denser right hand side. The use of vallis is very effective at creating the wild-jungle look that for me is now synonymous with your tank!

If I had to suggest improvements I'd strongly consider replacing your vallis with some lower maintenance plants. Don't get me wrong their effect is ideal but you could acheive a similar look with slower growers like tall Crytocoryne sp. (i.e. retrospiralis) or Crinum calimistratum.

The lily for me is too dominating its current position, perhaps move it to the right a little and keep it pruned. If you allow the hydro to then carpet to the left and the rear then this would provide a lovely open space and keep in with a triangular composition (if that's what you are after?)

The lily is an ideal dominating feature (focal point) and if it were to be positioned right enough to conform with the golden ration then this would work very well.

Simply take your aquarium's length and multiply by 0.618.

So 48" x 0.618 = 29.7"

So if you place the center of the lily group roughly 30" from the right edge of the tank this gives your horizontal position.

Now for vertical.

Take aquarium's height and do the same.

So 24" x 0.618 = 14.8"

So prune the lily enough to keep its height at approx. 15" from the top of the tank i.e. 9" from bottom.

All these are guidelines (and an excuse for me to apply the golden ratio in a practical sense!)

Keep it up matey!

 

[Themuleous]

Just out of interest what species of lily is that Jen?

 

[Themuleous]

Just out of interest what species of lily is that Jen?

 

[Jen]

Thanks George. I appreciate the input. I will try and apply the golden ratio to the tank. I actually have about 5 lotus plants clumped together in that section. They were baby plants that were in a few different places in the other layout. I will thin out some leaves, and trim to a better height [edit]I just went back and read your measurements again... So I should only keep it 9" That seems a little short to me. I'll play with the height.

I don't know the exact species... It was just lables Red Tiger Lily in the store.

Thanks for the input everyone.... keep it coming!

 

[Jen]

George... I've been looking at some other plants to replace the Val... is crinum sometimes called Onion plant? I know I have seen plants called Onion plants in my lfs that are quite tall, but i don't know if I have seen many Crinums.

 

[Jen]

Well, I was a bad girl and didn't check my co2 for 3 days, and when I had a look at my diffusor, the bubbles were coming out like mad. The tank is almost empty, and it gets spuratic in it's pressure. So I checked my pH, and it was 6.0... possbily lower. I noticed that I am missing 1 of my albino plecs, 1 angelfish, and I found the carcus of 1 of my pretty new shrimp - hopefully it was only 1 I lost. I think I may need to invest in a solnoid in the near future.

I did some pruning of my lily yesterday, but cant get in the tank to move it since I injured my fingernail and have to keep it dry for a few more day while the nail hopefully re-attaches. So the lily is now 15 inches at its tallest leaf. Once my finger can get wet, I will be moving it over to the right as George suggested, and keeping it shorter.

I have been mulling over something for a while, but I'm not to sure about it. Those of you who keep or have kept glosso will understand where I am coming from. My hydro. verticulatta is driving me batty. It is getting so thick that it is growing out of the substrate, and is looking way to dense. After a few months it gets to the point where I have to pull it all out, and clip each plantlet apart and replant. It's getting to be a pain in the rear. So was thinking of replacing it with a hair grass or something of the sort that will still give me that lush field looking area. Any thoughts?

 

[George Farmer]

Sounds like you learnt a valuable lesson there Jen. CO2 is the only thing I regular test for, well not even test actually. Once I have figured what bubble rate I need I just check the bubble counter regularly - at least twice a day.

Crinum thaianum is known as an onion plant as looks like vallis with its leaves. http/www.tropica.dk/productcard_1.asp?id=093

I think Crinum natans would suit your tank - http/www.tropica.dk/productcard_1.asp?id=094

Also Cryptocoryne crispatula var. Balansae - http/www.tropica.dk/productcard_1.asp?id=125

Haigrass would look good but it's fairly high maintenance. I would also consider Echinodorus tenellus or Sagittaria platyphylla in your size tank. I think their leaf shape would suit the other plants better than hairgrass.

 

[geezer]

Brilliant tank Jen nice colours!

Can I ask what bubble rate you use for such a big tank? What sort of diffuser are you using?

The lotus plant is brilliant

 

[Jen]

Ok. A few more changes in here. I moved the lily a bit to the right. I didn't really measure, I just eyeballed it. I trimmed a few leaves off to get it a bit shorter. I also pulled a bunch of val from along the back of the tank, and today added two tiny crinum that will hopefullydo ok. When the store gets more in I will pick up some, and remove all or most of the val. It just grows to fast in the tank, and is a pain in the rear to keep up with. I'm not too sure about the val in the left corner. I guess if I want to go with a triangular layout, I should get rid of it, and go for something smaller. I did like the moss covered rock idea. We'll see. I don't want to make too many changes at once.

I don't really know what my bubble rate is honestly. I know what it should look like, and once I get 38mg/l I keep it there. My diffusor is one of those glass things with the coil inside... I know, I'm such a girl. I can take a pic of it if you would like.

So with out further adieu....

 

[Jen]

I'm very excited right now. I have noticed some mating behaviour in my male rosey barbs, so I must be doing something right in there. It doesnt matter if they mate, as I don't really have room in there for a bunch of fry, but it just confirmes that the tank is in harmony! Yay!