New betta planted tank/Journal

[Lauren A]

Hi, sorry for the delay responding.  I completely know what you mean.  I had to join a forum - the betta fish forum - when I first got into the hobby because some of the information I read online to learn would contradict each other.  It was the best thing I did.  I learned so much and continue to learn on these forums.  
 

Ohh and I love the wild bettas.  I always say I’d love to either build at least a 20 gallon community tank or a wild Blackwater betta tank.  I love the Wild sp. Api Api Jade.  A friend has them and they are so beautiful and fascinating fish to watch.  They do breed a lot though.  A real lot.  
 

And thank you for saying this too.  Penny, my little runt, is such a joy.  Just like Punk!  

Edited November 16, 2022 by Lauren A

[Lauren A]

Almost 3 months in and the tanks is doing great!

Just a quick run down on my plants status.

 My floating Water Sprite is much happier.  I am too, it really struggled and needed lots of TLC and trimming, but I’m happy with the progress.  
 

The Tiger Lotus detached from its main bulb a few days ago, so now I have 3!  Each has their own little bulb and enough roots that I think they’ll do just fine floating.  
 

Pennywort is always a tough one to grow for me submersed.  I’m switching to a different fertilizer - Thrive C - as soon as it’s delivered.  I’m hoping it may cover what I’m currently lacking - iron mainly.  I know it has a higher content.  I also read Pennywort is usually your first indicator of a nutrient deficiency in the tank.  It looks ok.  I’d love those big beautiful leaves but we’ll see.  Patience.  
 

The Red Flame sword looks great!  All of its emersed form leaves are gone and it grows on average one leaf per week.  Very happy!  It looks strong.  Same with the Crypt Wendtii.  Such a gorgeous plant!  Crypts are my current plant obsession!  Move over Anubias 😂!

 

Oh, and my Val’s.  Well, they are healthy.  I rarely see any deficiency except for a few brown or yellow blades and it grows soooo slow.  It’s spreading but if I can get it to grow a mm per week, I’m happy.  Lol.  Well, I’m ok.  I want some height in that back corner!
 

And the Crinum Calistrinum is AMAZING!  Another new favorite for me.  I have two more each with plantlets in my temp plant tank.  I will use one in the new tank I’m starting this weekend and I guess I will have to build another tank after this to use the other!  Or others!  

 

Almost forgot about the Sag Subulata.  It looks great but has not spread at all.  I have 4 in the tank and I do see a couple have roots spreading, but no new plants popping up yet.  Not sure why.
 

As for the rest of ny plants, no complaints.  Jasper ishappy, always has a nice bubble nest.  
 

I will include a pic of the plants i mentioned and post one of the tank tomorrow after cleaning.  If anyone reads this, don’t mind all of the reflections!  Just tracking the tanks progress!  
 

 

Edited November 16, 2022 by Lauren A

[Lauren A]

I also planted another Crypt Wendtii to the left of the sword a couple weeks ago.  I had a small one that didn’t look that hot so I figured I’d give it a chance.  As you can see, it’s not thriving.  I’ll probably remove it.  I’m not sure the placement was great and it was weak to start.  Looks like that lonely leaf is struggling.  An Indian almond leaf fell onto it and I forgot that the crypt was there, so it’s just not doing well.

[glenn anthony]

hey Lauren,

I once thought pennywort was like duck weed, bought some from the co-op and it took off some was submerged some was floating. it was growing like 1.5 leaves a day even had some extra in a bucket, I loved it big round leaves aprox, a quarter-half dollar size (i've seen some people say their leaves never get bigger than a dime, mine was practically bursting thru the lid, but I don't know waht went wrong 'cause it slowly started to melt away and die, the portion in the tank and in my little holding container/bucket 

wish i knew what happened (cause i was dosing extra ferts)

[Lauren A]

On 11/16/2022 at 6:16 PM, glenn anthony said:

hey Lauren,

I once thought pennywort was like duck weed, bought some from the co-op and it took off some was submerged some was floating. it was growing like 1.5 leaves a day even had some extra in a bucket, I loved it big round leaves aprox, a quarter-half dollar size (i've seen some people say their leaves never get bigger than a dime, mine was practically bursting thru the lid, but I don't know waht went wrong 'cause it slowly started to melt away and die, the portion in the tank and in my little holding container/bucket 

wish i knew what happened (cause i was dosing extra ferts)

Pennywort is so finicky for me.  I envy you for growing nice big leaves, even if short lived.  Mine aren’t even close to a dime - more like a pinky fingernail - even that’s generous!  They never die, but never grow.  Even when a new leaf pops up, they stay teeny.

I wish so bad that both of us could get them to thrive!  And speaking of the Thrive C, it helped all of my other floaters - Water Sprite, Anacharis and my Tiger Lotus is insanely gorgeous.  My other floaters benefited as well.  So, I don’t know.  I actually wondered if my dosing was too much so I’ve been half dosing twice a week for about a month now and my plants are doing great except the darn Pennywort!

If you figure this puzzle out, please let me know!!!  🙏🙏🙏