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100 gallon, finally getting more interesting.


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On 8/13/2021 at 9:13 PM, Colu said:

Beautiful tank  gold nugget pleco are just spectacular

Thank you!  I’m still fighting some algae, I think because I’ve got too many mystery snails.  I need to feed them less and make them work more.  If I was going for a do-over I would only add an assortment of nerites and I would sex any mysteries before adding them so I wouldn’t have fertile eggs. I’m removing clutches from here forward for this tank.

S/he is my favorite in this tank and I didn’t even leave the house that day expecting to buy anything but some used lights from the guy where I got him/her.  S/he is far more active during the day than I ever expected to see.  I think it encourages my bristlenoses to be braver, too.  I love the beautiful bright spots of yellow on this kid and my blue eyed yellows.

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On 8/13/2021 at 9:28 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

I agree @Odd DuckA. Crispus. Looks great!

Thanks for the confirmation.  I suspected it might not be ulvaceus then was pretty sure it wasn’t once I saw the inflorescence since it didn’t match the pics for that split ulvaceus inflorescence I thought I remembered.  My schedule hadn’t allowed me a chance to do some searching and reading about it any earlier this week.  Finally looked it up again and figured out it was either crispus or one I’d never heard of before.

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On 8/13/2021 at 10:29 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@Odd Duckthe aponogetons that are easy to get are crinum, Madagascar lace, ulvaceus and crispus. I sometimes search for the harder ones crispus red, boivinianis and capuroni but I’m either distrustful of the sources or on eBay they’re in Talinn, Estonia! 

I had what was supposed to be a capuroni bulb for several months, but it never showed any sign of sprouting either roots or leaves.  I finally gave up on it and tossed it when it started floating and suddenly turned soft.

I tried to get ulvaceus bulbs for this tank but everything I got rotted before it got to me.  Crispus is doing just fine for me in the spot where I had planned to put ulvaceus.

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This is my A. crispus:

f1.jpg.eb0cce65145203602583e869c2be8fcc.jpg

 

And it is not bad;  but the one i really like is A. boivinianus (by far my favorite of the a's - the dark green long leaves):

bov.jpg.2eb418f38f37f5c472a0eba09d94e1a5.jpg

 

Then there is the ever popular A. Henkelianus (often sold as madagascariensis - which has a smaller narrower leaf; also a nice plant):

lace.jpg.835d6d1d340efaad7bbd399af77648c6.jpg

 

None of these have hibernated on me; but i strongly recommend you try a. boivinianus... assuming you like the plant... 

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The one I now hate is ulvaceus for two reasons. In my tanks it will frequently hibernate. You don't have to remove it but just remember that it is there as it will suddenly show up months later. The other problem is it gets way too big in a high-tech tank. My 120 can't handle it. 

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No pictures but a couple of crypts you might want to try if you can find them are:

Spiralis red 

Jacobensii pink

Both of these plants have a *lot* of red - can take pictures tomorrow if you want.

 

Also another bulb plant (if you buy it buy one that has sprouted; i've not had luck with unsprouted purchased; and do not shade it - it requires a lot of light):

barclaya longifolia

This plant is quite lovely a deeper red.

 

 

 

Edited by anewbie
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@anewbie Thanks for the pics, it helps confirm my ID even more.  I love my henkelianus’, in fact I like everything I’ve seen of the genus.  I do like the boivinianus a lot and have been thinking about trying them, just trying to figure out where.  I have a limit on taller tanks and have Jack Dempseys and the 2 x 12” common plecos in my 75 G, I already have LOADS of plants in this 100 G (not really any open spaces unless I pull something out) so neither is a good option.

Since I’m now planning on redoing the 29 G for the pea puffers and I need to pack that with plants, I think I can find room for one or maybe two in there, or maybe ulvaceus on one end and boivinianus on the other end if I can find them.  That would pack that tank and limit line of sight!

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In a 29 low tech i wuold recommend putting the boivinianus in the middle rear (about 2/3 - leave at least 4 inches from the back glass). The picture above is in my 29; you can move it off center of course but the leaves tend to grow out towards the sides and can be fairly long so you don't want it too close to the sides - i would recommend at least 12 inches from the side. My boivianus has not hibernated in 30 months; but the ulvaceus will hibernate frequently (not sure what triggers the behavior maybe cooler temps in the fall). In a low tech tank (the boivianus above is in a low tech tank) the boivianus is the larger of the two plants; or at least that has been my experience. Btw in a high-tech tank that lace plant will grow enormous leaves - well over 10 inches wide and 20 inches long. The picture above is in a low tech tank.

Edited by anewbie
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On 8/14/2021 at 12:34 AM, anewbie said:

In a 29 low tech i wuold recommend putting the boivinianus in the middle rear (about 2/3 - leave at least 4 inches from the back glass). The picture above is in my 29; you can move it off center of course but the leaves tend to grow out two the sides and can be fairly long so you don't want it too close to the sides - i would recommend at least 12 inches from the side. My boivianus has not hibernated in 30 months; but the ulvaceus will hibernate frequently (not sure what triggers the behavior maybe cooler temps in the fall). In a low tech tank (the boivianus above is in a low tech tank) the boivianus is the larger of the two plants; or at least that has been my experience. Btw in a high-tech tank that lace plant will grow enormous leaves - well over 10 inches wide and 20 inches long. The picture above is in a low tech tank.

Good information, thank you.  My biggest henkelianus is now about 16” at the tallest, about 4-4.5” wide is all.  All my tanks are low tech, but each leaf gets a little bigger.  The crispus is right about 24” tall if the tips weren’t bending over and you don’t count the surface leaves (which must be close to 30” if extended).

My goal in the 29 is for the leaves to spread and float across and then practically choke the tank so the pea puffers have zero full length sight lines and LOADS of leaves to swim and hide amongst.  They’re flat out jerks to each other with far more chasing than I like to see with 8 in a 20 long.  I want them to not be able to claim too much territory so I’ll be planting super heavy and moving everyone at the same time so they all have to start over at once when I move them from the 20 to the 29.

If I had realized what I was getting into with the puffers I wouldn’t have kept the one I rescued, but I promised to give him a life long home, so here I am now with 3 pea puffer tanks, and already upgrading one since I’m not satisfied with the quality of life of everyone in the shoal.  One tank has 6 that will be going back to my lfs shortly.  The last puffer tank has the singleton I rescued since multiple attempts at integrating him into a shoal has solidly proven him to be a complete jerk.  🤷🏻‍♀️  Soon only 2 puffer tanks and I can switch the 20 to a nice, peaceful nano fish tank.

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yes in the low tech tank the henkelianus is in some fashion larger than the boivinianus but it is a different largerness. The boivinianus has longer but fewer and narrower leaves. The henkelianus has shorter but wider and more numerous leaves. With regards to the puffers I'm not sure if they can 'see through the henkelianus leaves (i.e, if they work well for coverage). Another plant to consider is PSO - Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus; it takes a while to get established but can grow near the height of a 29 and become quite bushy. With a strong light the top portion will become slight tint of purple; and in a high-tech tank i had it easily break the surface and form a very nice purple flower. 

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Never had puffers. Consider putting on in my 5 gallon tank as there are lots of snails for him to chew on but kind of want to keep my shrimp colony.

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On 8/14/2021 at 1:28 AM, anewbie said:

yes in the low tech tank the henkelianus is in some fashion larger than the boivinianus but it is a different largerness. The boivinianus has longer but fewer and narrower leaves. The henkelianus has shorter but wider and more numerous leaves. With regards to the puffers I'm not sure if they can 'see through the henkelianus leaves (i.e, if they work well for coverage). Another plant to consider is PSO - Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus; it takes a while to get established but can grow near the height of a 29 and become quite bushy. With a strong light the top portion will become slight tint of purple; and in a high-tech tank i had it easily break the surface and form a very nice purple flower. 

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Never had puffers. Consider putting on in my 5 gallon tank as there are lots of snails for him to chew on but kind of want to keep my shrimp colony.

I’m not a big fan of stem plants in general (not really a good reason why) but puffers definitely need more opaque plants than a lace plant.  One of the plants I was counting on to break up sight lines in the 20 long was Echinodorus vesuveus and it just isn’t enough, even very densely planted, so I don’t think PSO will be enough, either.

The peas are also not particularly happy as singletons, IMO, but I just can’t trust Bad Pea Daddy with anybody else.  He hides way too much to be a truly happy fish, despite loads of hiding places, soft sand substrate, no competition, no excess water flow, not too much light, or any of the other things that should be a problem.

They also aren’t really acting that happy in the smaller group of 6, but part of that may be that they are only in the 10 G I used as a grow out/quarantine tank.  They seem slightly better in the larger group of 8, but I just think they still need more room, different plants than I put in the 20 long, and a complete do-over for their territories to be on a more equal footing.

Your shrimps would for sure be goners with puffers.

Edited by Odd Duck
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On 8/13/2021 at 11:51 PM, anewbie said:

No pictures but a couple of crypts you might want to try if you can find them are:

Spiralis red 

Jacobensii pink

Both of these plants have a *lot* of red - can take pictures tomorrow if you want.

 

Also another bulb plant (if you buy it buy one that has sprouted; i've not had luck with unsprouted purchased; and do not shade it - it requires a lot of light):

barclaya longifolia

This plant is quite lovely a deeper red.

I’ve got some spiralis (right front, just left of the corner, but it’s not the red) which is interesting, but again, too narrow leafed to be very useful for the murder beans.  I bought a few Crypt. jacobsenii purple which all melted to death since the shipper didn’t pack them appropriately for Texas heat and didn’t send them priority (🙄).

I’ve been looking for Barclaya longifolia and haven’t found any in stock anywhere.  I’m also not sure it would be a lot of benefit in the 29 G due to fairly narrow leaves, but I want some.  I’m quite fond of oddball plants which is why this 100 G is becoming a jungle look, I just kept adding a little of this and a little of that.

It already looks better (less algae) since I pulled out about 60 or so baby to dime size mystery snails and I feel like I can feed a bit less without risking triggering plant eating from starving snails.  I still need to hit some staghorn with peroxide again and clean it up a little more.

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On 8/14/2021 at 11:42 AM, Patrick_G said:

I can emphasize with you on the unintentional jungle look! It’s hard for me to stop trying new plants in my 75. 

Now I’m limited to epiphytes since that’s the only space I have left.  The only exposed substrate is either heavily shaded or in the skinny little strip in front of the rock stack.  So, I’m at the point of only occasionally adding a particularly interesting epiphyte that I just can’t resist for doing a try out.  😆 

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  • 1 month later...

I DO still have a clown pleco!  I saw him/her day before yesterday but not able to get a photo.  I was able to take a very bad picture (right after feeding, of course, so lots of stuff floating around).  I haven’t seen this kid in MONTHS!  You can see the stripes on the pectoral fin and just a hint of the body and head back there in the rock stack.  😆 

 

 

3D4482F1-AC55-4132-A130-6309F0F46FA7.jpeg

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On 8/14/2021 at 12:14 AM, Odd Duck said:

Soon only 2 puffer tanks and I can switch the 20 to a nice, peaceful nano fish tank.

You just described how I make my fish stocking choices, these days.

On 8/14/2021 at 12:28 AM, anewbie said:

Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus; it takes a while to get established but can grow near the height of a 29 and become quite bushy. With a strong light the top portion will become slight tint of purple; and in a high-tech tank i had it easily break the surface and form a very nice purple flower. 

This I did *not know* was a possibility. 

 

I think I just figured out where I am putting my new PSO.

On 8/14/2021 at 12:14 AM, Odd Duck said:

Aaand.....

I am out of daily reactions 🤦‍♂️

 

Love your pleco!

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On 9/29/2021 at 2:13 PM, Odd Duck said:

I DO still have a clown pleco!  I saw him/her day before yesterday but not able to get a photo.  I was able to take a very bad picture (right after feeding, of course, so lots of stuff floating around).  I haven’t seen this kid in MONTHS!  You can see the stripes on the pectoral fin and just a hint of the body and head back there in the rock stack.  😆 

 

 

3D4482F1-AC55-4132-A130-6309F0F46FA7.jpeg

clown plecos seem to be about the best fish at hiding in the aquarium hobby. ive had a few over the years, and they are rarely seen.

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On 9/30/2021 at 12:30 PM, lefty o said:

clown plecos seem to be about the best fish at hiding in the aquarium hobby. ive had a few over the years, and they are rarely seen.

I was warned when I bought it that I wouldn’t see it much, but I didn’t realize it would be almost never!  I like the look of it when I’ve seen it.  It’s probably working hard for me, but who can tell?

I’m up at all hours with my crazy schedule and spend way too much time for the good of my fat old hiney sitting in my easy chair in clear view of the tank.  I see the other plecos on the front glass, moving around doing pleco things.  I see the cories at ALL hours doing all the very busy cory things.  I never see this guy, well, every 3-4 months, so almost never.

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On 9/30/2021 at 12:30 PM, lefty o said:

clown plecos seem to be about the best fish at hiding in the aquarium hobby. ive had a few over the years, and they are rarely seen.

I didn't see mine for close to a year but recently he moved to a small piece of driftwood right in front of the aquarium (probably for more food); so now I see him every couple of days; or at least his tail.

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I had another Crypt. ‘Green Gecko’ declare itself as an Aponogeton (presumed another crispus).  It has been moved into the 29 gallon towards the back about 1/3 from the right. Seems to be settling nicely so far.  I thought I was going to have to buy an Aponogeton for this tank.  All I had to do was wait and I was able to supply myself.  😆 

Even better, I finally feel like my Ich bout is fully over (it’s been more than 40 days since the last spot was seen) so I ordered Kuhli loaches and more Amanos to go in the 100 G.  Amanos are in (probably won’t see one for weeks, they were pretty small) and the Kuhlis will get to go into a big new playground after their 30 day QT.

I’m hoping the Amanos do their magic and start cleaning up some bits of staghorn algae that’s still hanging on.  I need to hit it again with peroxide. Between Amanos, snails, and otos, they should finally get it all cleaned up after I hit it this next time or 2.

I keep pulling mysteries out of here and any ramshorns (although I’m not seeing many of those now) since I’d like the nerites to have first shot at the algae.

I need to get an updated pic but I know it won’t happen until this weekend at the earliest. 

Edited by Odd Duck
Typos
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  • 2 months later...

Sooooo, I fairly recently said this:

 

And I apparently jinxed myself.  🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

I had a beautiful new Buce clump arrive and I wanted to put it right into my tank on my favorite piece of driftwood.  I cut it into smaller pieces so I could wrap it around a kind of knobby piece on the driftwood.  Glued it all up using the Dab and Dive method - the new D&D (tiny dab of glue, swoop the hand into the water and quickly place the chunk of rhizome into the selected spot).  As a person who has just come off a 14 hour overnight shift is standing there, holding still for 10 seconds at a time as glue sets, your mind does get to wandering.  Looking around the tank and thinking, “Man, I’m so overdue for cleaning up some old sword leaves.”

Done gluing, start removing old sword leaves, working mostly around the middle and right side wood pieces because that’s where most of my swords are in that tank.  Keep looking at the zip ties in there holding pieces of rock to the wood pieces to keep them in place.  Exhausted mind thinking, “I’m so tired of looking at these zip ties.”  This wood has been in here since March and was soaking for months before that.  It should stay down by now.  I’ll just cut these zip ties today once I’m done with the swords.”

Sigh.

FB1D2F40-062A-4649-8453-86A15418C2DE.jpeg

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