removed a lot of plants....

[houndour]

I've just finished ripping the plants out of my tank and I had to be really strict with myself and put back some not so good condition plants just to fill the tank up so I hopefully dont get an algae outbreak.

I've removed every bit of vallis that had been cut or was too long. I've moved the swords away from the filter outlet (maybe it was blocking the flow?). I now have a nice movement of water all over the surface now which is what I want.

So I plan to completely get rid of the vallis...I love it growing along the surface but it might have been a contributing factor to the bga.

I've binned my lily I know its the right thing to do, it was just too big for my size tank anyway.

I still have the dark red one which tends to have smaller leaves and I shall use that as a focal point. I also still have the 'conker' which is growing tiny tiny lily leaves, so I'll keep that for now

Swords will go...they're too big for the tank

So I guess I'm keeping is bacopa, java moss, hygro (if it makes a come back...its looking crap after blackout), red lily, and all the foreground plants.

So now I need help. I plan to make an order from greenline by monday afternoon.

I've just looked through the entire catalog on greenline and tropica, but cant find much that takes my fancy.

I like cabomba. But it died before. According to tropica I should be able to grow it.

Thats all I can find

I like MICRANTHEMUM MICRATHEMOIDES but I dont know if it'd do well in my 20 gallon. It was doing OK in 5 gallon till the blackout.


Would love some inspiration from you guys. I guess I'm looking for a stem plant that can be cut and replanted....like the hygro, so when it grows to the surface I can trim it back. Alternatively a plant that you're not supposed to cut but doesnt grown more than 12 inch high. I don't like crypts.

I like anubias alot...but this is very slow growing? I might do a design that I keep recommending to other people I huge bit of complicated looking wood with anubias nana tied to all the nooks and crannies. glosso carpet, java moss...dunno whatelse though.

I've rambled enough (sorry). Look forward to any ideas you have.

 

[nodding_dino]

Hi houndour...

thats some pruning session! Just one idea for you, Heteranthera zosterifolia (star grass) is a really pretty looking plant...a good colour and leaf shape. I bought some recently from Greenline and it's doing really well with my setup...I'm sure it would great in yours too! (picture in the hand holding thread)

I can't see why the Micranthemum Micrathemoides wouldn't do well...my observations are that it likes a bit of light shining on it...but other than that it seems reasonably hardy...although I wouldn't have said it's the fastest grower!

 

[zig]

Ok plants i currently have my eye on are.......

Rotola rotundifolia

Also known as Rotola indica, fast growth, easy care, requires medium-highlight, grows quite tall but doesnt mind being pruned regularily.

Ludwigia inclinata (cuba)

Growth slow, medium care, needs medium-highlight, max height 12 inches.

Juncus repens

Growth medium, care medium, light low-high, max height 12 inches

Those above you will find on Tropica, there are a couple of others that i particularily like from the tropica site but they are very difficult to grow or need loads of light.

Another nice plant i like is Blyxa japonica, you can get this on greenline, although the shots of it on the site will put you off, i think they are really bad, its like vallis except smaller and bushier and it doesnt grow that high 9-12 inches.

Also NDs suggestion i think is really good very nice looking plant.

I dont understand how you cant grow Cabomba, its was like a weed in my main tank it grew so quick, so i removed it to another tank, an alternative to Cabomba is Limnophila sessiliflora, a nice plant, if you like Cabomba you will like this im sure.

Thats all i can think of right now........well auctually i thought of another one, Bacopa australis, growth fast, care easy, max height 12 inches, light low-high, a nice midground filler IMO.

Let us know what you decide and off we will demand pics also (my camera is broken so no pics from me lately or in the foreseeable future as the camera repair people tell me they dont know whats wrong with it, so how the hell am i meant to know anyway looks like a new camera will have to be purchased)

 

[houndour]

thanks guys, I'll look these up.

I might be off to the LFS this afternoon for some fish...mine have been dying off slowly dunno why water params have been perfect. Altho the 2 dwarf gourami are apparently very prone to disease. Lost a cory yesterday...he had a scale missing and just died, really dont know why. The only thing I can think of is the botia attacking them? Never seen them attack yet though.

I might be tempted to buy some Cardamine lyrata if they still have it. I know gf says it prefers lower temps, but it's so pretty even if it lasts a month I'll be happy!! Plus it's fast growing and I'm a bit panicky about an algae outbreak from the massive prune.

 

[houndour]

I've got a rough plan Pseud i think it was inspired me to do my own drawing.

This is my shopping list so far. I set myself a budget of £30 max. And £4 of that needs to be postage. I'm well under at the moment, but I don't want to under-order cos postage is quite a lot.

6096 per 5 GLOSSOSTIGMA ELATINOIDES £2.00
7141 per 25 MICRANTHEMUM MICRATHEMOIDES (SMALL HELSINE) £6.00
6114 per 5 HETERANTHERA ZOSTERIFOLIA (SEA GRASS PLANT) £2.00
4441 per bunch ROTALA ROUNDIFOLIA / INDICA (PINK LEAF PLANT) £1.80
4432 per bunch LUDWIGIA REPENS (Extra red ludwigia selected quality) £1.50

I'm not convince glosso will grow in the tank, so I'm just getting a few and will see from there.

I wanted bacopa australis, but can't find it on greenline. Does it have another name? It looks nice and bushy on tropica.

I wanted Ludwiga Inclinata, but they dont have the pink one readily available, only the yellow one. But it looks different to the pictures I've seen of the AGA tanks. So I've settled for Rotala rotundfolia for some colour.

The idea is hopefully I will stick to my original plan and have a triangle shape going left to right (right being highest).

The Ludwiga Repens I've seen on AGA look green, yet the one greenline is red For £1.50 I thought I'd try it.

I've seen the h.zosterifolia plant used lots in AGA tanks and I love it. It has different leaves that give a different texture.

I might add another anubias nana which I will use for 5 gallon when bga is sorted.

OK, so what am I asking? I need a substitute for the bacopa australis, I wanted something bushy, shortish but bigger (in leaf size) than the h. micranthemoides.

And do you think 5 of the h.zosterfolia is enough? Or should I add another?

And do you think I have enough of the other plants. I'd much rather have enought to fill the tank so I can do a complete swap for the vallis at least.

Thanks!!

 

[nodding_dino]

for what it's worth, I ordered 3 of the 'premium' sea grass which were a little bit more expensive, but much larger than the 'normal' Greenline cuttings. They have grown considerably since and now cover a circular area of about 5" in diameter and to a height of about 8 or 9 inches.

 

[pseud]

Ooooh, love it!

I'm totally jealous about the heteranthera zosterifolia!

Maybe when I upgrade my lighting next time I'll be able to get some.

Good luck, can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[houndour]

ok this is what i got:
6096 per 5 GLOSSOSTIGMA ELATINOIDES 1
£2.00 £2.00
7141 per 25 MICRANTHEMUM MICRATHEMOIDES (SMALL HELSINE) 1
£6.00 £6.00
6114 per 5 HETERANTHERA ZOSTERIFOLIA (SEA GRASS PLANT) 2
£2.00 £4.00
4443 per bunch LUDWIGIA PALUSTRIS (GREEN LEDWIGIA) 2
£1.30 £2.60
4432 per bunch LUDWIGIA REPENS (Extra red ludwigia selected quality) 1
£1.50 £1.50
4441 per bunch ROTALA ROUNDIFOLIA / INDICA (PINK LEAF PLANT) 2
£1.80 £3.60
4008 each ANUBIAS NANA NANA (ANUBIAS SPECIES) 1
£4.50 £4.50

I have no idea how the red ones will do, but to be fair when I first started out and they all died I didn't have as technically good a setup as i do now. So we'll see.

 

[George Farmer]

Great plan Sam.

Should be a nice Dutch style layout if you stick to it - plenty of colour and texture (and pruning with all those stems!)

I wouldn't worry about filling the whole tank from the start - most of the stems will grow soon enough and you can cut and re-plant them thus filling space quickly - and saving you cash.

Has that Maracyn arrived yet?

 

[houndour]

Thanks gf.
I don't mind the pruning at the moment, but I am sure in time I'll want to minimise maintenance so I can see myself gradually replacing for slower growing plants. But right now I'm trying to get a balance to fight the algae

My post is just rediculus I was hoping it might arrive on Saturday...but when the post finally came at 11:30!!! no tablets and no plug for my co2

Will have to wait till tonight to see if anythings arrived today. I didn't bother cleaning the 5 gallon as it just comes back in a day. I'm waiting for the tablets and then I will do a thorough clean to try and combat this bga once and for all

 

[zig]

The red plants will be fine, they might not get as red as you see in some photos, what people usually do is bring the nitrate levels down really low to about 5ppm and try and keep them there (but as you know this is a dangerous game, low nitrates can give you bga ) another better way to do it is to up your phosphate levels and keep your nitrate levels where they are, but just let them grow and see what happens and you could play around with that when they get established.

Im looking foreward to see your progress as a lot of those plants i really like, id say it will look great.

 

[houndour]

Got plants, but didn't have a lot of time to plant them as most of the evening was spent on 5 gallon. Here it is so far. Yet to plant the baby tears properly and the glosso. I'm not sure if I like it. I think I ordered too many red plants I like the sea grass, and the ludwigia...well I like all of them, just not sure about my arrangement, but it all takes time to fill out.

Finally bought a plug for co2 diffuser It's working great. Have just reduced the flow as pH dropped to 6.6. I will sort out the timer at the weekend.

oooh and you can make out some of my new cardinals I was very close to buying 2 blue rams, but the lady said they might be aggressive toward the guppies.

 

[nodding_dino]

so glad to see your back up and running!

I think the different colours may work quite nicely...and I think you've got the right idea in waiting for a few weeks to see what happens with everything! It takes a while for the plants to grow into the tank. In fact, I think that's what (pleasantly) suprised me most about this aspect of the hobby....I had (naively) though that once the tank was planted up, that would be pretty much it...the best bit for me though is the fact the the tank never really looks the same from week to week...everything seems to change size and position...it keeps the whole thing interesting!

 

[pseud]

Looks good so far!
I wouldn't worry about the red, yeah it looks like alot at the moment, but don't forget the baby tears and glosso are gonna spread and fill out the tank. Nice!

 

[zig]

Looks great Sam, it looks very mmm.....red, only joking the reds will look cool you can remove one of them later if its to much and put in some more greenery if you feel its needed, in a few weeks the tank will look great, totally different.