Zapins

Yea I was wondering what that lily lookalike was. You had me confused when you said riccia was in the tank... I thought it was UG!

Ahhh anubias is such a good looking plant, submersed or emersed... How long have you been growing them in there? My anubias took forever and a half to grow emersed. Certainly a lot slower then submersed.

mudboots

The Riccia still has a way to go before it grows in and up a bit; I had just grabbed some of the "dead" stuff that I had tossed in the yard before it completely dried up.

I'm not sure how long I've had that Anubias; I've trimmed it several times, and given/tossed several rhizomes here and there, but yes, it was pretty slow for quite some time. Now that it has massive roots per rhizome it grows pretty quick, but it is very easily burned by bright light, so I loose leaf edges here and there. This was never a problem when I had the tank completely covered by plastic wrap, but I now leave most of it open so we can see it without looking through the "rain" on the glass.

mudboots

A few pics while I have a free moment. These were taken with a phone while I'm out of town. I cropped them a bit. I have removed a small portion of Anubias in the left-front corner to allow more light to that spot. There is a tuft of Eleocharis (maybe acicularis) there that I want to get up a little. The Crpytocoryne spiralis in the back is starting to grow some to fill in the void.

Michael

I love this! Do you normally keep a lid on it, or is it open-top?

--Michael

mudboots

I usually keep plastic wrap over it, and then trim it really close to the rim so it's not ugly looking. I then cut a small 1" x 3" reectangular hole in the top near the very front, which allows just enough moisture to escape that I can look through the glass without a haze, but also keeps enough humidity to keep the Crypts happy.

I also noticed recently two Mediterranian geckos in there. Apparently the kids went lizard hunting...too cute...

I need to eventually attempt a pic of the small, white worms in the substrate. They gross Melinda out, but they are pretty cool if you think about it, and are my little nutrient transports to the plants.

mudboots

This is how it looks with the "lid" on... (I did not bother to trim the sides for this pic, but normally it's nice and tidy)


This is the rectangular hole I mentioned earlier...


And these are the worms that make the world go 'round! I have NO IDEA what they are, but THEY ARE AWESOME (and probably make Tex Gal gag...)!!!

HeyPK

The worm is an aquatic oligochaete called Aeolosoma. I see them often in my tanks, jars, etc, but never in numbers like that!

mudboots

Sweet! Thanks for the ID HeyPK!

They are only in those numbers because of the organic substrate plus I feed them in order to also feed the plants. This is what my baby bettas feasted on while they were growing up to the point they're at now. I originally began encouraging their growth when I was keeping pygmy banded sunfish (all but one have passed away over the past few years).

giypsy

Man your substrate structure looks fantastic! I wish my MTS would do as thorough
a job in the fish tank. Oh wait, I better shut up before my rebuilding population
goes south on me again.

mudboots

Some recent pics:


While this has nothing to do with the tank, it was just a nice picture of why I enjoy an outdoor office


Here are pics of the wetland-n-a-box: