All-Purpose 75 Gallon Journal

[Guppysnail]

Stunning as always. What are the beautiful red ones up front with the awesome large flat leaves please?  I’m sure everyone but me knows but I want these soooo bad 😍

[Vanish]

This is a really nice tank.

[Patrick_G]

On 9/28/2021 at 7:44 PM, Guppysnail said:

Stunning as always. What are the beautiful red ones up front with the awesome large flat leaves please?  I’m sure everyone but me knows but I want these soooo bad 😍

Those are red Tiger Lotus from Aquarium Coop. I got lucky with some really nice specimens. 

[Patrick_G]

Sometimes you get lucky with the Petco tube plants. I couldn’t resist this Windelov Java Fern. 

[Torrey]

On 8/21/2021 at 9:12 AM, GameCzar said:

That tank looks great Patrick!   I wish I wasn't so intimidated by sand, but cleaning it sounds like a nightmare.   Some day I'll put sand in a tank.

 

Once, I was intimidated by sand. It's easier to put down some fresh sand with the ziplock bag used like a cake decorating icing tool for gorgeous pictures (the trick to IAPLC photo quality pictures), and use specific fish (like khuli loaches) or snails (like MTS) or shrimp for the daily mixing and cleaning of the sand in the tank. 

Sand on top of soil or another bioactive substrate is consistently yielding some of the most beautiful plants with the fewest water parameter swings.

On 9/28/2021 at 4:07 PM, Patrick_G said:

I think the Spiralis is around 21” and it’s supposed to reach 24”.

My spiralis is over 2', and still growing. It is rapidly becoming one of my favorite plants and **thrives** in the sand!

Your tank is absolutely stunning. 

[Patrick_G]

On 9/29/2021 at 4:38 AM, Torrey said:

My spiralis is over 2', and still growing. It is rapidly becoming one of my favorite plants and **thrives** in the sand!

I think the consensus is tall crypts are super cool! 

 

On 9/29/2021 at 4:38 AM, Torrey said:

Once, I was intimidated by sand. It's easier to put down some fresh sand with the ziplock bag used like a cake decorating icing tool for gorgeous pictures (the trick to IAPLC photo quality pictures), and use specific fish (like khuli loaches) or snails (like MTS) or shrimp for the daily mixing and cleaning of the sand in the tank. 

Sand on top of soil or another bioactive substrate is consistently yielding some of the most beautiful plants with the fewest water parameter swings.

I agree, borrowing ideas from the more serious aquascaping side of the hobby can yield good results. I like that so many folks openly share their secrets. 

[Patrick_G]

I bought some Aponogeton Crispus. I’m sort of running out of room so they’re going to live in the foreground for now. 

[Eyad Jamus]

The tank looks awesome. 👌 

[eatyourpeas]

Indeed! It is maturing beautifully! 🌱

[Odd Duck]

Your tank is looking great!  I really like your balance and mix of colors and textures.  Nice blocks and not too scattered/mingled.  Let’s each type of plant speak.

I got my first A. crispus by accident but I do love the look of them.  Another of my “Crypt. ‘Green Gecko’” declared itself last week to be another crispus so I’ve pulled it from the 100 G and moved it to the back of my 29 G.  I’m wondering if all the rest of those “Green Geckos” are going to end up being A. crispus?

I bought A. crispus for the 29 G since the “new one” hadn’t showed it’s true colors yet, but they melted almost immediately.  They were plants instead of bulbs.  I’d rather get Aponogeton bulbs shipped in since shipping plants doesn’t seem to work out well for me (unless they’re shipped as Crypts 😆), but bulbs usually do.

[Patrick_G]

On 9/28/2021 at 5:31 PM, Odd Duck said:

Has your spiralis gotten that tall?  Mine is only about 10-12”.  I’m due for adding root tabs.  Maybe I’ll get a growth spurt.  Balansae is easy 22” tall and that’s after a recent trim.  Was more like 24” before the trim.

I just noticed your reply! Yes, my spiralis is getting taller everyday and the Balansae is to. It must love my conditions: medium light, soft, acidic water and slightly more Easy Green than recommended. Do you know if there is shorter Crypt with this type growth form? That would make a great sub for Java Fern in areas where I want rooted plants and not Epiphytes.

[Patrick_G]

On 10/4/2021 at 10:41 PM, Odd Duck said:

Your tank is looking great!  I really like your balance and mix of colors and textures.  Nice blocks and not too scattered/mingled.  Let’s each type of plant speak.

Thanks! I keep getting lucky finding good specimens at the local stores. 

 

On 10/4/2021 at 10:41 PM, Odd Duck said:

bought A. crispus for the 29 G since the “new one” hadn’t showed it’s true colors yet, but they melted almost immediately.  They were plants instead of bulbs.  I’d rather get Aponogeton bulbs shipped in since shipping plants doesn’t seem to work out well for me (unless they’re shipped as Crypts 😆), but bulbs usually do.

I think it was you and @Beardedbillygoat1975that got me interested in the Apons. They’re really fun. I’d rather have bulbs too. I was a little annoyed that these came as just bare root plants. I might see about ordering a selection of bulbs to grow out in my tank.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Patrick_Gif you look carefully online you can find 4-5 types of aponogetons online. The only problems is they’re always sold out. 

[Waka88]

This is something I want to do in the future, slightly smaller at 55.  Quickly finding a 20 gallon is too small with most of the plants and the density I want to go for.

This is looking awesome!

[Patrick_G]

On 10/9/2021 at 6:19 PM, Waka88 said:

This is something I want to do in the future, slightly smaller at 55.  Quickly finding a 20 gallon is too small with most of the plants and the density I want to go for.

This is looking awesome!

I was going to do a 55 but the 75 is almost the same footprint and only about $30 more. If you have room for the extra six inches it’s worth it. 

[Vanish]

Having owned both, I can say the 75 is a much better dimension when it comes to aquascaping. Its probably my favorite standard size aquarium. I owned 3 55s at one time, sold 2 and turned the third into a sump.

[Waka88]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:54 AM, Patrick_G said:

I was going to do a 55 but the 75 is almost the same footprint and only about $30 more. If you have room for the extra six inches it’s worth it. 

Good to know, didn't know it was an extra 6 inches, was thinking was like a 1.5 feet.

What kind of lighting people use for a 75? 

I see you used Nicrew x2.  Did you use 2 like in tandem to span the width or 2 in parallel to cover more back to front of the tank?

Edited October 10, 2021 by Waka88

[DannyBWell]

I would pay for a stand like that wow.

[Patrick_G]

On 10/10/2021 at 12:14 PM, DannyBWell said:

I would pay for a stand like that wow.

It’s a DIY design that’s been going around the net for a while. It’s just building lumber and some brackets from Lowe’s. I think it’s called the raw industrial aquarium stand. 

 

On 10/10/2021 at 5:24 AM, Waka88 said:

What kind of lighting people use for a 75? 

I see you used Nicrew x2.  Did you use 2 like in tandem to span the width or 2 in parallel to cover more back to front of the tank?

I use two 48” in parallel. The plants were doing ok with one, two is better. It’s not just the back to front coverage, using two actual boosts the par level at a given depth, but as a bonus you get the back to front. I choose the Nicrew mostly because of budget, but so far it’s been pretty good. 

[Odd Duck]

On 10/8/2021 at 6:16 PM, Patrick_G said:

I just noticed your reply! Yes, my spiralis is getting taller everyday and the Balansae is to. It must love my conditions: medium light, soft, acidic water and slightly more Easy Green than recommended. Do you know if there is shorter Crypt with this type growth form? That would make a great sub for Java Fern in areas where I want rooted plants and not Epiphytes.

I don’t know of another crypt that gets that crinkled except spiralis, balansea, and apparently C. aponogetifolia can, plus usteriana I think can be wrinkled under certain conditions.  I haven’t had my usteriana long enough to see that.  Mine are still babies, but growing fast.  Some varieties of wendtii get rather crinkled margins under moderate to higher light, my ‘Red’ gets pretty wrinkled margins.  I’ve read ‘Tropica’ gets rather crinkled leaves, too, but I haven’t grown that one myself.

You can actually root Java fern.  You just have to keep the rhizome from getting buried.  The roots can be buried.  My fastest growing Java ferns are on small pieces of rock or wood where they can reach all the way to the substrate and have rooted.

[Patrick_G]

I did a big round of tank maintenance today. I trimmed out about a 20 gallon tank’s worth of plant mass. I totally removed the Ludwigia Repens and Rotala Wallichii. I trimmed about 80% off the Mayaca and Java Moss and cut the Wisteria and PGO down and replanted the tops. The Aponageton ulvaceus was about 35” long. I cut off most of the leaves as an experiment. We’ll see if it recovers. 
Before and after pics:

[Atitagain]

What a difference, it looks great. Those reds a little off center left is great positioning, really draw you in then circle around the tank.👍

[Mmiller2001]

Looks nice and clean! 

[Patrick_G]

I lost my large male swordtail to an unknown ailment. He went from acting normal to gone in less than a day. The upside is that I’ve got a good number of swordtail fry and hopefully one is a nice looking male. 
The other fish the tank are doing great.  The Japan Blue-Gold Guppies are slowly reproducing and have become a favorite. I think I’m going to try and breed some in an outdoor tub this summer. The females are a nice gold color that should be look great  from above. 

 

Fat and happy

Edited January 9, 2022 by Patrick_G

[Torrey]

4th image from the top, what is that fish?

The blue contrasts nicely with the yellow.