Dutch/ plant farm 75 gallon (and other projects)

[Patrick_G]

Can you talk about the tower of Microsorum? Did you grow it horizontally and then move it? What variety is it? 

[gjcarew]

On 7/10/2022 at 7:32 AM, Patrick_G said:

Can you talk about the tower of Microsorum? Did you grow it horizontally and then move it? What variety is it?

I've moved them a bunch, but they did the majority of their growing attached to the back wall. I needed more midground plants so I attached it to a piece of mopani wood and they've been growing there for the past month/ month-and-a-half.

The variety is sp. India which I got from the mystery plant of the month back when that was a thing. It's a dwarf variety. Regular Java fern is a little too big for my purposes. If you like it and want to keep it let me know and I can get you a piece at the next GSAS event!

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by gjcarew

[Patrick_G]

On 7/10/2022 at 8:26 AM, gjcarew said:

If you like it and want to keep it let me know and I can get you a piece at the next GSAS event!

I looks great in that configuration. I’d love a piece to try, thanks!

[gjcarew]

On 7/10/2022 at 12:49 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Maybe this is a "beginner question" or just a very specific point in the fish keeping career, but I think it's an interesting one.

Where did you learn how to keep plants?  I enjoy the way you're discussing how to process the trimmings and I think it's something where myself, other hobbyists that might not be so in tune with plants, really can benefit from advice like this.

Corvus Oscen has been my best source for trimming advice and learning how to actually care for the plants. 

Love corvus' videos, he is very knowledgeable and I love how calm his vibe is.

I really like Dennis Wong's specific guides and general approach to caring for plants. Tom Barr also has some great info and club talks out there. 

This particular technique came from Christen Kasselmann who doesn't speak much English but probably knows more about aquarium plants than any one alive (Tom Barr and Holger Windelov would be others in contention, but they don't do social media).

[LaloJ]

Nice work. I haven't been able to read the whole thread so I apologize if you already talked about Co2, are you using it??

[gjcarew]

On 7/11/2022 at 9:01 AM, LaloJ said:

Nice work. I haven't been able to read the whole thread so I apologize if you already talked about Co2, are you using it??

Yes, I'm injecting CO2 with an inline diffuser.

[gjcarew]

Not much to update from last week. I replanted the hygrophila difformis which is still not great but is improving. I also gave the ludwigia ovalis a big "lazy" trim by just cutting it off halfway up.

A few specific plants are having problems. The tiger lotus appears to have made a baby and gone dormant, but at least the baby is still growing.

The eriocaulon Vietnam has some dying leaves on the bottom, plus the group just doesn't look very good. I need to figure out how to shape it better. I also don't know what I causing the dying leaves - it might be warmer water in the summer or some kind of deficiency.

The pogostemon erectus stunted and is throwing off side shoots. Not sure exactly what causes this either. Sometimes pogo erectus grows like clockwork and sometimes it makes a bunch of side shoots, I can't figure out what causes it.

Edited July 17, 2022 by gjcarew

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/16/2022 at 9:45 PM, gjcarew said:

The eriocaulon Vietnam has some dying leaves on the bottom, plus the group just doesn't look very good. I need to figure out how to shape it better. I also don't know what I causing the dying leaves - it might be warmer water in the summer or some kind of deficiency.

Looks like an awesome plant.  Very unique.  I hope things sort themselves out. 

[Mmiller2001]

Any time my Erectus acts funny, I know I am a bit too high on Nitrates. Mine likes between 16 and 18ppm.

I think the tank is looking good and can't wait to see it really grown in.

[Minanora]

My eriocaulon Vietnam likes the pH to be very low and it almost requires root tabs to keep it happy. Even then I have some leaves die on the bottom areas. I think it's due to my hardness levels. Or maybe not enough flow, but my gut says my water is too hard.

[Torrey]

On 7/16/2022 at 10:45 PM, gjcarew said:

The eriocaulon Vietnam has some dying leaves on the bottom, plus the group just doesn't look very good. I need to figure out how to shape it better.

Have you considered buying a submersible LED light, and attaching to the timer? I found I have much more even growth now that I am adding side lighting to several of my tanks. Sometimes in submersible LED inside the tank (at the base of a particularly light demanding plant), and sometimes I mount the submersible LED on the side of the tank to keep the view nicer.

the white between the two pico tanks is covering up a light focused on the tank to the right. Tank on the left isn't getting side light. It's an easy way for me to test for successes/failures.

Side lighting definitively supports thicker growth. I don't use CO2, so I use the siesta lighting schedule to prevent algae growth. I have followed Guppysnail's advice on feeding shrimp and snails more, and combined with Mmiller & Seattle_Aquarist's help with improving my ferts game, the inverts quit eating my plants.😁 (Except for melt, they take care of melt...except on El Nino fern... which is generating plantlets on the tips of the green area. Blackened area was due to underfertilizing... I think.🤷🏼‍♂️)

 

[gjcarew]

On 7/17/2022 at 7:34 AM, Minanora said:

My eriocaulon Vietnam likes the pH to be very low and it almost requires root tabs to keep it happy. Even then I have some leaves die on the bottom areas. I think it's due to my hardness levels. Or maybe not enough flow, but my gut says my water is too hard.

I'll pop some root tabs in there and see what happens!

[gjcarew]

On 7/17/2022 at 7:22 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Any time my Erectus acts funny, I know I am a bit too high on Nitrates. Mine likes between 16 and 18ppm.

I think the tank is looking good and can't wait to see it really grown in.

I'm dosing 13 ppm/week and it's currently in the 5-10 ppm range (at least on the aquarium coop test strips). I'm hesitant to raise nitrate dosing until I see signs of nitrate deficiency, since many plants seem to do better with lower nitrates.

[Mmiller2001]

On 7/17/2022 at 10:43 PM, gjcarew said:

since many plants seem to do better with lower nitrates.

Are those the plants in your tank? I'll admit, I've been contemplating the universe this evening 😁..so forgive me.

[gjcarew]

The pond out front is now chock full of rhadinocentrus ornatus fry. I finally bit the bullet on an Aquarium Co-op brine shrimp hatchery and it's way better than what I had before. The stand really does suck though, I have to figure out a solution for it.

Remember all that buce I removed from the 75? It's been hanging out in a little closed terrarium looking happy as a clam. 

 

Fun fact- that orchid (Ludisia discolor) grows in the same forests as bucephalandra in the wild.

 

Edited July 20, 2022 by gjcarew

[gjcarew]

Welp, the tiger lotus has gone dormant and is now a rootless bulb. The entire scape kind of needs it so I'm probably going to just get another. 

I kinda prefer just the sword there instead of having a crowded-looking ludwigia in the background, but that side of the tank needs some color. Anyone have suggestions for a non-green sword plant that grows really big? 

I replanted the erio Vietnam and it's looking a lot better now. I had a bunch of GDA on the glass this week so I assume that the problems from last week were not due to insufficient nitrate.

 

[Mmiller2001]

Ozelot Red?

[gjcarew]

On 7/23/2022 at 6:59 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Ozelot Red?

That's what I was thinking but all the pictures I've seen show it staying a bit smaller. Not the end of the world, but I would need something to fill in behind it.

[Odd Duck]

When my Zenkeri red lilies have been “resting” they didn’t lose their roots, just didn’t keep producing leaves.  They’re resting right now, so I need to add root tabs to trigger growth.  That seems to be the only thing that triggers growth in them, FYI.  I know you’re pretty much going with ferts in the water, but you might consider a few root tabs for the lily.  I would get a new one, though, since at least IME, they don’t go completely rootless.

[Mmiller2001]

How about doing a Barclaya longifola?

[Patrick_G]

There is a sword cultivar called Chocolate Marble. It’s green with brown/red spots. 

[Mmiller2001]

On 7/23/2022 at 1:14 PM, Patrick_G said:

There is a sword cultivar called Chocolate Marble. It’s green with brown/red spots. 

Throw a picture up please. This sounds interesting.

[gjcarew]

On 7/23/2022 at 10:02 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

How about doing a Barclaya longifola?

That's exactly the type of thing I'm looking for but from Greggz' journal it seems like they're prone to melting completely away, which is a bit risky from a contest standpoint.

[Mmiller2001]

On 7/23/2022 at 1:51 PM, gjcarew said:

That's exactly the type of thing I'm looking for but from Greggz' journal it seems like they're prone to melting completely away, which is a bit risky from a contest standpoint.

My experience was no melt any time I changed nutrients. But it definitely didn't like being moved. If I moved it, it'd through flowers. Cut those flowers off and it would get back to leaf production. It definitely did not like Eco Complete, so I'd imagine something finer is better. 

[anewbie]

I'd go with kleiner prinz (not bar) sword plant to replace the lily. It grows a lot easier than purple aflame and has a nice wine red colour. 

 

I have barclay in a couple of my tanks and while they last longer than lily between dormant period they do go dormant also their leaves are long and wispy.