Sam's Nano Journal

[Themuleous]

Just had a quick look through tropica found these plants, anyone have any info on them? Yes/no for my tank?

Hygrophila corymbosa ''Compact''

Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica'

Echinodorus schlueteri 'Leopard'

Im not breaking any copyright here am I? Seems like some free advertising to me!

 

[Luke_e]

Looks much better without the hornwort imo, very nice Sam.. any other plans for it or you going to see how it goes?

 

[Themuleous]

Will see how it goes, it still needs to fill out and will need more selective pruning to get the shapes that Im after. If you have any ideas for replacing the wood arch let me know.

Sam

 

[Luke_e]

Your removing it? How come, i think it looks great like that, unless you plan on swapping it for another piece of wood or plants.. Would you probably replace it with plants, rather than another piece of wood.

 

[Themuleous]

Oh yeh I would def replace it with something, and something tall to keep the height in the tank, if I got some reddish plants it would also add some more colour to the tank. I has originally had java moss on it but the thread algae just got to much. I was also going to transplant the liverwort on the right piece of wood, but its growing so slowly that it would take years to cover it. I may replace it with some plants, and see if I like it can also put it back I guess!

 

[lljdma06]

I would probably say that for a nano of your size, probably no on the E. schlueteri and the H. corymbosa. They would just get too big. I've used H. corymbosa as a background plant in a tall tank before, and according to sources, E. schlueteri is a background plant, not so great for your nano. I say a guarded yes on the E. parviflorus. It seems to be a very nice foreground plant and may look great as a specimen tank in your nano. It is easy to care for, but that could be the problem. My main concern is it growing like mad in your tank and becoming hard to control. Echinodorus species, when grown under the right conditions, can become rather invasive, and I'm not sure if an invasive plant is what you would want in your nano. I just wouldn't want you messing up your pretty HC field and Pogostemons trying to remove a wild Echinodorus with their heavy roots.

I rather like the wooden arch, it was a great focal point to the tank, but I can see the need for some red. Have you considered Rotala rotundifolia? They can be kept small with regular pruning, and their leaf shape would complement your plants well. When grown under ideal conditions the leaves get a really lovely pink blush. R. macrandra might also work well. This plant is a bit more finicky and fragile. You can't move it around much, the stems will break and the plant will die (as I learned), but the color is an intense red under the right conditions and would complement the crypts well if you removed the wood.

llj

 

[Themuleous]

Thanks Llj for your time and effort with that reply, just what I needed. I had come to the same conclusion about the E. schlueteri and the H. corymbosa, they'll just get to big, shame really.

Interesting point about the E. parviflorus, didnt realise it had heavy root growth (although I should have guessed being a Echinodorus! ) I have noticed the HC has very shallow roots and is easily uprooted, so a plant like E. parviflorus may not be the best idea I guess.

Will look into the Rotala rotundifolia and R. macrandra, are these not stem plants?

Maybe I should keep the arch after all, you guys seem to like it, could just be me and incesent need to change things!

Thanks again

Sam

 

[lljdma06]

Will look into the Rotala rotundifolia and R. macrandra, are these not stem plants?

Yep, they are stem plants, easier to manipulate IMO. I have R. rotundifolia as both midground and background.

 

[Themuleous]

Right thought so, dont you have to keep cutting and replanting them then? My concern is that the eco-complete is very light and wont look very good if Im forever having to disturb it to plant things. Was looking for somthing that would root better and that wouldn't need replanting to often?

Found this pics of Rotala macrandra on the green line website, its looks very pink! I know its photo, but I didnt think I want something quite as pink in the tank! Is it really like this?

I guess my biggest problem is the size of the tank, if it was bigger it would be much easier to find suitable plants! My own stupid fault I guess!

 

[lljdma06]

I guess then the only thing I could recommend then is to continue the crypt theme, just get a few larger varieties. They sell larger red wendtii mother plants that may suit your needs. I will have to think this over to come up with a better solution.

 

[Themuleous]

I guess then the only thing I could recommend then is to continue the crypt theme, just get a few larger varieties. They sell larger red wendtii mother plants that may suit your needs. I will have to think this over to come up with a better solution.

Well see waht you can come up with, but dont bust a gut just for me. I found this pic, it looks far more red here, would love this sort of red in my nano, it really is RED!

Justed looked at your journal Llj (dont know why I didnt think if this before! ) R. macrandra it is shall order some when I get a minute. Good bye wood arch!

 

[Neal]

I love that wood arch!

 

[Themuleous]

Hi all,

Just a quick update, as it’s been two weeks since the last major prune. All seems to be filling out nicely, but I do need you advice on a few things. Sorry this is going to be a list but saves you having to read all my waffle!

i) I have noticed the HM and HC, whilst growing well (they are both quite thick) are getting what can only be described as black leaves. I think they are the older leaves, especially on the HM. Is there anything I can do about this or is it just the older leaves dieing off? Also, should the HM be pruned and replanted like a stem plant or should I just cut it right back every now and then to get new growth from the base?

ii) The P. helferi is growing a bit too well, the pics don’t really show it but its getting leggy with long stems. In growing fast it’s also pulling the HC around it out of the substrate. Thinking of removing it completely? Or should I prune hard to encourage shorter growth? Zig?

iii) I have every sort of algae under the sun in there at the moment; BGA, Hair, thread and green stop. Any advice would be very much appreciated. None of them are at present unmanageable, but here are my own thoughts on possible solutions.

Hair - I only have 3 shrimp in there, should I add another 4/5?

Thread - this seems to only be on the glass so it gets removed each week during the clean, but if I could prevent it that would be best, of course. Would more shrimp also help with this?

Green spot - it seems to only be on the crypts at the moment. I don’t have any ottos or sucker mouth catfish as there isn't the space really, but I could add one or two ottos at a push? Or is there something else I can do?

BGA - I don’t know what to do about this one. I could go down the blackout route, but this doesn’t really address the cause. The water flow in the tank is very slow but I could increase this using a spray bar (although that'll just mean another piece of kit in the tank, something I’m trying to keep to a minimum).

Anyhoo please advise if you can, it would be good to sort this before it gets out of hand. Current tank stats below, I would add the CO2 has been off over the weekend as I was away and it stopped (Dam JLB regulators!).

pH - 7.0 (this is normally around 6.8 but the problems with the CO2 allowed it to rise)
CO2 - 30ppm (I try to keep this on the high side so is often between 30 - 40ppm)
NO3 - 20 (again trying to keep this at 20ppm, often higher)
NO2 - 0
NH3 - 0
PO4 - 2
KH - 6
GH - 7

And now the pics, sorry to keep on, hope you're not bored!

Top of the tank so you can see the HM, it looks much better from the top IMO, that’s the trouble with such a short tank!

Full tank - I removed the arch, any views on how it looks without it? Better/worse? It is a very big feature in the tank, thinking perhaps too much of a feature?

Full tank - including the arch

Side

Close up of arch

Close up of moss - no real change, this stuff grows really slowly!

 

[chrismr]

That tank is simply stunning

 

[Themuleous]

Thanks Chris, I should be more proud of it than I am, I understand now how people can be so self-critical! But glad you like it, the cunning photos using a blue towle to cover the lights help show it off IMO

Sam