davemonkey

I was thinking this tank had been set up nearly a year now, but it's only been 4 months!! I guess time went by really SLOW while battling green water. Anyway, here's an updated front shot. The tank is doing great, growth is slow but stable, plants are healthy, fish are fat and happy.



-Dave

cs_gardener

It's looking great. Is that the Hygro angustifolia on the left or something else? The leaves look so fine and it seems quite well behaved as opposed to the monster I have in my tank. How often do you need to trim the tank to keep it looking so neat?

Tex Gal

So nice. I bet she loves it when her fish have babies! I don't see that many babies in there, did you get all males?

Vadimshevchuk

Great tank Rita! looks way better then mine. Good luck.

davemonkey

HA! Rita feels like a "Star". Yep, she gets to read all the posts in her thread. Daddy is the one who is lucky. If it weren't for her wanting an aquarium, I wouldn't have this one to help with.

I'm not sure she can enter it in the aquascaping contest, though. Since she's too young for her own "username", it'd have to be disqualified because "Daddy" is a Moderator. And since I potentially have a hand in recommending judges, that would be a conflict of interest. But at least she'll have plenty experience for when her time comes!!

-Dave

FBG

I am surprised that a hex styled aquarium can look so nice! great job, mark me down as one of the envious adults!

davemonkey

cs_gardener, That is indeed H. angustifolia. It has been trimmed a coule times, but we don't have to trim the plants often at all. The lights are pretty weak (total of 30 watts t-8 ) on a 24" tall tank and the window light is only intense a couple hours per day (I guess that will increase this winter as the sun rides a lower path).

Tex Gal, there have about 3 dozen babies in there, but we've given nearly all of them away. There is another "batch" hiding in the thick plants now (about a dozen or so).

So far, the only plant that has been an issue keeping up with is the Nymphoides sp. It grows moderately until the leaves reach the surface, and then suddenly explodes, covering the top and blocking alot of light. At that point it gets a hard thinning from the bottom and starts over. In the picture you can tell it's been pruned back some (about 2 weeks ago).

-Dave and Rita

Tex Gal

Rita! You're a grandma! Congradulations! Do you spoil your babies like your grandma spoils you? Do you give them special frozen treat like Daphinia? Hope you have lots of money for buying them all birthday presents...

davemonkey

Today it was time for a trim and a little wiping-algae-off-the-glass training. The middle of the tank (open space for the fish) was getting crowded and cave-like, so Rita and I had to thin it out quite a bit. I was surprised how much plant material we removed. The Rotala was THICK!

Before Trim


Side View


After Trim (later in evening)


-Dave

Tex Gal

Rita we love your tank! You have done such a good job! Glad you let daddy help! We don't want him to feel left out! Maybe you can help him with his tank too!