Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

It's been a while since I posted any pics of my planted tank (mainly because it looked--and still does to a degree--horrible). I have at least gotten things healthy again and I plan to redo a bunch of things in the near future. Anyway, I also have some pics of the mess I pulled out of there right before I got it going again. Enjoy.

Umm, what is that monstrous growth.

Err, that would be what happens when you let red ludwigia go INSANE. That is what it looks like when it grows out of the water--actually kinda pretty when it isn't filling up the entire tank.

That looks familiar.

If that first pic is new, the tank looks good! What kind of moss is that in the center? Looks nice. Now you'll just have to make some room for that Hottonia.
I see one little Ottocinclus, any other fish in that jungle? Mine like the security of lots of plants.

sb1227 wrote:That looks familiar.

If that first pic is new, the tank looks good! What kind of moss is that in the center? Looks nice. Now you'll just have to make some room for that Hottonia.
I see one little Ottocinclus, any other fish in that jungle? Mine like the security of lots of plants.

Thanks, and good eye on the Otocinclus (I didn't even notice it until now, lol). That is actually Riccia fluitans. It is on a rock and some screen, though the screen isn't fully grown in yet. I am waiting for the emersed grown (i.e. found it in back yard ) Hydrocotyle verticillata to begin growing its submersed foliage and get a lot shorter. And as far as fish go, there are 4 Crossocheilus siamensis (one a grown out baby), pair of Microgeophagus ramirezi, 3 Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis (1 a grown out baby), 3 Corydoras aeneus, 2 Hymenochirus boettgeri frogs, and one renegade Synodontis obesus (didn't have the heart to get rid of it). Incidentally, the fish spawned and babies hatched while I neglected the tank. I found them when I cleaned it all out.

I would like some type of live plant in my tank. Problem is, I have under gravel filtration. Is there something that floats or doesn't require a root system in fresh water? When I got my last fish, two weeks ago, while getting my fish out of his tank (B&B) the guy grabbed a piece of something live that has been floating in my tank the whole time. It's just a couple of small leafs, but it's still alive, so I "assume" that I can sustain plant life. Any ideas?

Most people's guess would be duckweed (Lemna minor), but we have some sort of Salvinia species which is most likely what you got. On a specific basis, I have no clue, though.

The Anubias species, java fern (Microsorum pteropus), most mosses, liverworts (Riccia fluitans), water sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides and C. pteroides, C. cornuta) are all potential candidates, since they do not need intensely bright light and don't need to be planted in the gravel.

Duckweed is good for ponds, and goldfish, but it becomes a pain in the ass in a tank. It does grow easily though.

I agree on the Java Ferns and mosses, and really, they look awesome when grown on peices of driftwood. I have Anubias coffefolia, and the poor thing has to be kept under everything else, it likes more shade and does just fine...I just don't get to see it much. It would also do well on Driftwood in a low light tank. You might try one of the less demanding, easier to find Anubias though.

Andrew have your G. Blue Rams (Microgeophagus ramirezi) ever spawned in your tank? I adore them, and kept them for years in my smaller tank. They just don't do well in this one for some reason. I may try again with them in another couple of years. Oh well, the cardinals are doing quite well, it would be a dream come true to see little ones out of that bunch. I won't hold my breath for it though....

sb1227 wrote:Duckweed is good for ponds, and goldfish, but it becomes a pain in the ass in a tank. It does grow easily though.

I agree on the Java Ferns and mosses, and really, they look awesome when grown on peices of driftwood. I have Anubias coffefolia, and the poor thing has to be kept under everything else, it likes more shade and does just fine...I just don't get to see it much. It would also do well on Driftwood in a low light tank. You might try one of the less demanding, easier to find Anubias though.

Andrew have your G. Blue Rams (Microgeophagus ramirezi) ever spawned in your tank? I adore them, and kept them for years in my smaller tank. They just don't do well in this one for some reason. I may try again with them in another couple of years. Oh well, the cardinals are doing quite well, it would be a dream come true to see little ones out of that bunch. I won't hold my breath for it though....

It is actually funny that you ask that, since this is a new pair (2 weeks old) and they actually did spawn just last night. The female laid about 200 small orangish eggs and the male became vicious. We shall see what happens, since I am not going to set up a breeding tank, or anything. Hopefully the jungle will provide them the shelter they need.

Something else that comes to mind, Sue, is your hardness parameters. What do they run? All of my water is very soft with an acidic pH (~1 dKH, 2-3 dGH, pH 6.2-6.0.

That's very close to what the parameters were in my 30 that they were in. The 90 is nothing like that, the ph stays at 7.4 only because of the CO2. If I'm remembering right, I think the kh is about 5 and the GH is 8 or so. I've never had this happen with a freshwater tank. I can only attribute it to the substrate, I added a few pounds of onyx sand with the eco-complete, mainly because my other tanks after a couple of years would have the drop in PH to about 6.
I am a little surprised, as I added very little of the sand, and do use peat and driftwood to soften the water a little. I hope the parameters will begin to lower a bit, it may take a couple of years though. If it doesn't, it'll be time to redo the substrate.

The 37 that has the breeding Emperor tetras has very soft water and ph of 6 (great for breeding Tetras. I wish I could put the cardinals in there). Rams would do fine in there, I'm sure...but the emperors are not the nicest tankmates, especially when breeding.

Hmm, they have had some problems with bad batches of Eco-Complete raising the KH and GH pretty badly. I think they have ironed out the problems now. Maybe you got one of them, because I don't think the onyx would have done it that much (then again, maybe it was a bad batch of onyx).

I would be less surprised if it was the eco complete, as I probably used less than ten pounds of the onyx. Hopefully whatever it is will wear itself out in the near future. It's been there for 2 years now, and the water is a tiny bit softer, the PH doesn't spike as much when the power is off.

I'm just trying to find that mid ground, using CO2 I would have a big problem with a low PH to begin with.