Amanda's 55g ~~tons & Tons Of Pics!

[ICEEGRL]

I was planning on planting mine. I like the way it looks planted... like in a corner.
If I had known all that I have now been told... I probably would not have ordered it, but... I have already ordered it now, so I guess we will see what it does...

Thanks for posting.

 

[jollysue]

You can send me something for my patio Goldie tank.

It's probably a good plant, hornwort. I just didn't know what to do with it so I lost it. It was recommended I think for Gpldie tanks. But I need pond stuff that won't need planting or go up the filter.

The hornwort most likely can't be much worse than Java moss for cloging up the works. And won't give up my Java moss!

 

[ted28]

I've always had hornwort in my tanks. It's a great plant to suck up excess nutrients in a tank. it grows faster than any other plant I've seen. You can leave it floating or plant it in the substrate. It doesn't grow roots but modifies the lower leaves to anchor itself. Give it a chance.

 

[ICEEGRL]

I already have it on order, so it will go in a tank and I will see what it does. I hope it does well. I do really like the way it looks. I am glad to hear someone had good luck with it.

Sue... My plants should be here on Wednesday. I had hoped it would be here Tuesday so I could get some things out to you on Wednesday. It won't be here in time, so it will be next week. I am trying to ship so it gets to you on Thursday or Friday. That means shipping Tuesday or Wednesday. I will try for next week. (Remind me!) I do have some things waiting to come to you, and I thought I might share some of what I ordered...

Now that I finally got the co2 going... Things are growing! I will have to take a pic to post to show the difference. I hear about it in peoples tanks, but this is the first time I have seen actual growth in one of my tanks like this. It is really cool.

Thanks for looking and posting.

 

[ICEEGRL]

Here are a couple of pics to show how much it has grown. You can now see plants that you could not even tell were in there before. It still needs to do some growing, but I am proud of the progress it is making.

View attachment 51496

I have not seen anything pearl... nor am I getting growth that can be seen from one day to the next. I am getting more growth than I have in the past though. That is a step in the right direction.

I am planning on adding a second nutrifin kit, and I am looking into some different diffusors for the co2. Are the little glass things better than the ladder? I am thinking of splitting it and putting one on each side of the tank... I just don't know what size to get or which ones are better.
I also need to know about drop checkers and the fluid that goes in them. I have read a lot, but I really don't understand much of it. Could someone explain this for a true beginner?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks for looking and posting.
Amanda

 

[aaronnorth]

I think you need some taller plants, the ones you have at the mo are to small, it amkes the tank look to deep.

 

[ICEEGRL]

I have just ordered a bunch of plants yesterday. They won't all be going in this tank though. I will just have to see how much it takes to fill it and what will look best.
I am getting 10 val asiatica var biwaensis that will go on the left side. 1 bunch of alternanthera reineckii to go with the tiny ones in the center left side. 2 bunches of ludwigia natans (repens) to go on the left side.
The rest I am not sure if it will go in this tank or one of the many others.
I also got:
anubias barteri var nana
anubias barteri var coffeefolia
bacopa monieri
cabomba caroliniana
hornwort
crinum thaianum
crinum calamistratum
egeria densa
hc

These are the plants that I will have to work with in a day or 2. Any suggestions as to which you would use and where you would put them?

Thanks for looking and posting.
Amanda

 

[ICEEGRL]

The plants are here.
since no one came by in time to tell me which ones would look best... I will just have to guess at it.
I will post pics when I get them all planted.

I knew they said they would be here today, but I really didn't expect them to get here until tomorrow... I am not ready yet. Some of them will just have to stay potted and some will just have to float for a little while.
I am going to go ahead and plant the stuff that I know where I want it. The rest I will let float while I decide. At least they will be in water and getting light while I am making up my mind.

I took pics of all of them as they came out of the paper. They came from www.sweetaquatics.com ... I will let you decide what you think of the quality. Oh... and they came complete with SNAILS!!!!! Good thing I got those loaches. Their customer service is great. I can say that about them...

I guess I need to go get to work. I have them just stuck in a bucket right now. I need to go get them in a tank where they can get some light. I will try to take some pics tonight.

Thanks for looking and posting.
Amanda

 

[ICEEGRL]

Here are a couple of shots of how the tank sits right now. I am not happy with the look... Some things are going to have to be moved around a little. I am just undecided what needs to go where. I was not really in the mood to plant today, and no matter what I did it just wouldn't look right. I decided to leave it alone for now.

View attachment 51524


Suggestions would be great.

Thanks for looking and posting.
Amanda

 

[ICEEGRL]

Some of the plants did go in other tanks, and I am still considering taking a few things out.
I am not happy with the bacopa on the right around the cave. I think that may go to another tank.
I think the hc that never made it out of the pot will be going in another tank also.
I do like both the alternanthera and ludwigia, but not planted next to one another. One of them needs a new position. I just can't decide where or which one to move. Where would you put them?
I put the crinum c. in the middle for water flow and light... I really like it, but didn't know what to do with it once it was here.
I do really like the crinum t. and green cabomba in the left hand corner. I also added some vals over there. You can't see them very well though. They will need to grow a bit more. (The val wasn't really healthy.)
The cabomba is a lot prettier than I expected. I really hope it does well in here. I would like to get it a bit thicker.
I am just really not happy with the way it looks in the middle where the ludwigia and alternanthera is. I love both plants and would like to keep them in there, but not like they are now. It is just not working for me.
Help me out with how to make this look a little better. You can see pretty much where I am trying to go with this. How do I fix the middle section?
Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for looking and helping.
Amanda

 

[calderfisher]

Hi Amanda,
I think it looks great as it is. I would give it a couple of weeks to see how things grow and spread before changing anything.
Good luck with the Co2, I'll get mine set up sometime!

Craig

 

[aaronnorth]

Looks great, i am still unsure about the path under the bogwood, but i supppose i like to keep my tanks natural - plants, rocks and bogwood. What is that small, light green patch in the centre?

 

[ICEEGRL]

The green patch is a pot of hc that I need to get planted. It is going in a smaller tank. It is just here in this tank waiting.
The path was meant to have grasses growing between them so it would look more natural, but the fish won't leave it planted. They keep digging the plants out of the cracks. With it planted right you don't see that much of the stones and it looks a lot better. I keep sticking them back in thinking some of them will eventually get a chance to take hold. A few have so far.
I love natural looking tanks, but I also like the "land nature" look too. I have been hunting branchy wood for 2 years now to do "natural", and I have still not found any. Around here brancy does not happen. I have ordered a few times what people called branchy, and got chunky. I gave up on that. A path I can do.
I still have a lot to learn about scaping. This is why I ask for suggestions.
I do like the path. I think it is pretty, and the fish play under there instead of hiding in the plants. They feel safe which allows me to watch some of the fish that I almost never got to see before. I like being able to watch them play under there intead of hunting in plants to see how they are doing and if they are even still in there. It will look better once I get enough of the little plants to stick in the cracks. (I think)
I guess I will leave the plants where they are and let them grow a little. Right now I don't know where I would move them to anyway, and nobody has suggested an alternate position... so I guess I will wait until someone suggests something or I come up with something that I think would work better.

I do have one question about the co2. How do you know when to refill the nutrifin canister? It is getting slow, but it is still making bubbles. How do you know when to redo it?

Thanks for looking and posting.

 

[aaronnorth]

Every week is preffereable, 2wks max.

if you have 2units, change one midweek, and 1 at the weekend.

 

[lljdma06]

I am hunting sunset hygro. I just can't get my hands on any. That is what I really wanted on the left side. What I got will have to do until I can find some. I am still hunting.

I doubt you will find sunset hygro in the US anymore. Last time I checked, it was banned as a noxious weed in quite a few states. Check your state noxious weed list. Most online retailers will no longer ship it. Shame too, it's a gorgeous plant that I had in IL. Should have kept that one.

Isn't that funny about greenwater. You can try all the remedies in the world, sit and give up, and then it just goes away. I'm glad for you.

Tank is looking good.