Stan's freshwater 240 gallon extravaganza. Trials and tribulations of a sunlit aquarium

[PheonixKingZ]

Eventually they all come around!

 

[Stan510]

A new development!..My Echinodorus grisebachii is in stalk. What a turn around. In October I cut off all the bad leaves and had 3 or 4 thin 4" leaves left. THEN,the iron dosing started and its responded better than any other plant. I did plant it in dirt in 2018 but that must have leached out long ago in that pot. All that you see involves NO re potting,no fresh soils...just iron gluconate.

 

[Retired Viking]

Still looking very nice

 

[Stan510]

Thanks Vike. I also put the Java Moss on a stick on that horizontal branch to the lright For now. Why I use pots also. I move things all the time.
btw,Super Red Mini Ludwigia?..lives up to the name. Red and small. I may never have to prune a stem at this rate. It's no privacy hedge..its going to be more like those topiary shrubs in a garden.

 

[Stan510]

Some new twists... I treated the tank last week with ICHX or whatever its called and my Bolbitis? Turned black. So,with it looking worn and bad...I've moved it to the side,less light might help in this case. Whats really crazy is my first ever try with plants from Han Aquatics?..the stem has sprouted three fronds and all are perfect so far. No BBA or black fronds.
I will wait and see how the Han plants do..and if they do well? I will cut off all the fronds on the newer plants stem and force it to grow fronds born and raised in my aquarium.
Typhoid Larry has disappeared. Probably been recycled by the other fish and the yellow Ancistrus female. But it took with him a nice crescent tailed Mollie from the LFS who also had stopped eating. All other fish recovered. Even an Apistgramma that had looked worse than any other fish..perfect and happily swimming around again.
I removed some rockwork..just taking up space. I even added 3 gallons of water..thats what the rocks had displaced. Wood is all I really need in there. The rest is for fish and plants.
More to be done in the future. I don't really need that huge clump of Vallisneria..and might divide in half and keep in a smaller pot...again,giving more light to more of the tank for me to try some new plants one day.
IT NEVER ENDS!

 

[Stan510]

Let me explain this part better..in early 2019 I finally found Bolbitis for sale..from Han Aquatics. It started out well then just died back to a stem. Just a stem for about a year. Once I started dosing with Iron..it got greener and then started to swell with new stems with tiny,tiny.croziers (fiddleheads) and like I said right now has normal small green fronds.
Maybe that does mean you should cut off old leaves if the fern seems to struggle and make it throw out new in tank leaves? Getting closer to doing that.

 

[Stan510]

Ok..its looking done and only to let things grow now. Because many things are in pots or on wood I can move things around and have since the last photo. H.salicifolia is now to the left in back and Ludwigia Super Red was moved more to the middle of the aquarium so as to glow redder under the grow lights in the evening. NOT a fast grower..but super red is right even with no Co2.
Bolbitis is ca-razy. My old stem is growing now,and my larger new stem is not looking so hot. Old stem fern fronds have nice color too. Rachel O'Leary advises me to trim the worn fronds..makes the stem want to grow new leaves. I think that's how it works too.
Yes,I named dropped. Deal with it!✌

 

[Retired Viking]

So where is the picture of your rearranged tank? Enough talk let me see results

 

[Stan510]

Here's a few things. What time of day really messes with my camera. I should have done the photo shoot long before direct sun was near. But I did move the Trident Java fern to the left fronting the various Anubias,coffeefolia,nana,and frazeri. Star grass really is the star..its making a better background for the fish than my white gravel had ever been. Now that it's filling in..I like it even more. Remember..it's EASY to grow a carpet,its LOW cost..I paid 50 cents!..so cheap I ordered 10 for $5. I then chopped the 4" stems into 2 or 3 pieces. got me off to a fast start..wish I had ordered $10 and all that front would be fill right now. Its only been in the aquarium since December! The only downside is...you have to cut it back almost weekly in bright lights Just any scissors and cut like its a lawn. Longer pieces I replant and the rest netted and tossed.
ALSO MARBLE QUEEN. Echinodorus cordifolius. This might be the ONLY photos on the internet of somebody actually growing them in a home aquarium. They need more light and more feeding to get going. They will never be large or giant emerged

sword plants..a good thing I think.
Sorry about those gray spots. I can hardly reach them..and from above they are near invisible when I change the water. I'm not sure if they are algae or some calcareous freshwater algae as they are very hard to scrape off the Acrylic.

 

[Retired Viking]

The star grass really does a good job of filling in. I am slowly working on my 30 gallon sunk forest and that would nicely fill in some of the space between the stumps

 

[Stan510]

All I do Vike,is as much light as possible and my liquid Iron. No dirt,no Co2,no special fertilizers. It even looks deep grass green. Glossy. It's like a golf course fairway. If you want the putting greens,then Monte carlo for that,lol.

 

[Stan510]

Here's a night time photo op. My camera is fine with space,,but upclose is not good. But you can see that Ludwigia Super Red lives up to the name.

 

[Stan510]

It's more a matter of time,then more plants. I can add a few though if something hits me right on the internet plant seller ads.

 

[Retired Viking]

The super red does stand out, I have not had any red leaf plants yet.

 

[Stan510]

Don't waste money and time on the other reds..THEY need Co2. This one does not. It's a bit slow and I should have gone with the deal that said if you buy two,you get the third one free. THAT's who you want to order from Viking. Three bunches is not many plants it turns out..but makes a much better start than one bunch for sure.