mangisda

Donald, where did you get your Rotala Vietnam? Would you sell a few trimmings?

DonaldmBoyer

Hi Mangisda--I wouldn't mind at all, but I don't like to ship anything during the winter. I've had a few bad experiences in the past, and it is easier for me to just say carte-blanche "no."

It isn't hard to find....post a "WTB-Rotala Vietnam" in the For Sale or Trade section here or over at The Planted Tank. You will get many responses from people who aren't as scared as I am about winter shipping!!

If your need isn't "immediate," then I would be happy to give you some later in the Winter or early Spring.

wabisabi

I love this tank! I'm so jealous of all the 'real estate' you have to play around with. Good job!

davemonkey

I'm so happy to see this tank get posted again! It looks really nice. I noticed the Marsilea (I hope I am seeing this right) is having a bit of trouble. How are you phosphates? Mine only did really well when I was dosing heavy on the mono-potassium phos...like 3x the "normal" dose.

DonaldmBoyer

Ugh. Been so incredibly busy lately running around my six state territory that I haven't had a chance to post any updates of the tank. Anybody hiring in the Nashville area, by chance?

Anyhow, things have improved with the tank. I've added more plants and seen some excellent results, so long as I trim the tank by "thirds" every week instead of all at once. I've also added hygroriza aristata which is a fast growing floating plant to help absorb extra nutrients, and added some ferts to the substrate in the form of osmocote capsules. Algae is not completely gone, but it has gone down very dramatically over the past two weeks.

Dave--Good to see you again! I was able to get some nice growth once I resumed my fert schedule; but, I decided to throw most of it out to make room for the hydrocotyle Japan to be the foreground. I still have some, just in case I change my mind down the road.

New pics as of 2/1/12:

Back Left side-


Left Side-


A little bit closer-


Some crypts-


Barclaya-


Left Oblique-


Front-


Front Left-


Front Right-


Limnophilia Aromatica-


Right Oblique-


Hyg. Aristata-


Top of one stem-


Emerging Amcella Repens-


Alpha Male Rainbow-


Close Up-

inareverie85

Those reds are lovely!

Bert H

Don, you've done a wonderful job re-resuscitating the tank! I'll echo the above comment - love the reds!

DonaldmBoyer

Thanks a lot inareverie85 and Bert!! It's starting to come together, and it is very nice to see some nice color developing after dealing with everything being covered in algae!! It is ridiculous how much pearling I can get in that tank....it's more like a can of soda than anything!

DonaldmBoyer

I was somewhat surprised today to find that a breeding pair of Rainbow Cichlids had formed. Evidently, they are substrate spawners. Which is kind of annoying if you have a planted tank. Oh well, not much I can do. I suppose that I am surprised because I tried to overstock the tank to prevent this from happening. I didn't want the fish to pair off and beat the crap out of each other, but I have to say that what I've read about Rainbows have been mostly true: they have a nice temperament. They chase, but only for about a foot, and it is all for show. But they will even go after the tetras!

A few more pics to add to the ones that I took and posted yesterday; they are in "high def," so if you want to click on them, you should get a closer view:

The "breeding area" is between some driftwood and some Ludwigia Grandulosa. If you look closely, you can see the pair:


Better Shot of the pair in their chosen spot:


The male has very dark blue pectoral fins and the female is very dark blue on the entire lower half of her body in the background:


Another angle:


Look at the somewhat striking contrast from the dominant male as compared to some of his other tank mates:


Picture of the female alone:


Here is a picture of the two, female on the left. This would have been a great shot, but the female is so shy that she only darts around now. But, it gives you an idea of her stark coloration!


Nice shot of the male, alone:

davemonkey

This is an amazing shot! Your hydrocotyl 'Japan' is doing really great...but I'm most impressed right now with the clarity of the water. I've never seen a tank this large with water this clear. Aren't we looking through something like 68" of water here?!