[Tex Gal]

I just set up a new Betta & Celestial Pearl Danio tank. I have just stuffed it with plants. It's not really scaped. I have seeded it with mulm from another tank. It has DIY CO2. I dose EI with dry ferts. There are 3 panda corys in there. (They are so cute.)

 

[Tex Gal]

It's so funny. They all hide in the java moss. I hope once they get used to me they will swim around so you can see them. If you look over at the tank all you see is the betta. The only reason they were out for the px is that they came out to get food from the catfish pellet I had dropped in there for the pandas.

 

[Tex Gal]

Wanted to feature a couple of plants in this tank. The scape has changed A LOT! Need to pull a few out for Tex Guy's tank and then will snap some tank pxs.

Limnophia mini

Rotala Macrandra - green

Mystery Plant

 

[Tex Gal]

The betta terrorized them. They hid all the time. SO he is now on Tex Guy's desk in a 2 gallon bowl all his own. Tex Guy has named him Liberace. LOL He seems happy, and flails his fins "Hi" to everyone that goes into the room. He has trained us to feed him that way!

 

[Tex Gal]

Where's the Golden Ratio?

It got lost in all the plants! :badgrin:

Actually, I began with Flourite as a substrate. It was not growing things well. When I ordered Tex Guy's ADA Amazonia I got some for this tank. About 2 weeks ago, I added it to the flourite (about doubled the depth). I stuck in Najas sp 'Roraima' since it's a nitrate hog. The fish and tank have faired well. Now when Tex Guy's gets his tank and I pull some stuff out I'll be able to clean it up and post pxs.

 

[Tex Gal]

Sunstar - I've been following your Betta thread. Love the px of the egg spawning. I'll be interested to see how many fry you end up with. I love the entire fish spawning, breeding thing.

 

[Tex Gal]

NEW PX. It's turned into a jungle! I added ADA Aquasoil. Flourite just doesn't cut it. Look at the difference! I added the ADA by cupful on top of the Flourite. I was able to do this with the fish in the tank because I put Najas sp "Roraima" in there. It is a HUGE ammonia user. Saved cycling and fish. WONDERFUL! I will be taking some types of plants out as soon as Tex Guy gets his act together. Will also sell some soon.

 

[Tex Gal]

Thanks Dave. It'll look much better when the plants are thinned. Too many in there.

I used to do DIY CO2 but went pressurized about a month ago. I do EI dosing with extra iron. I have the regular hood that comes with the petsmart goldfish tank kit. I don't get the freshwater kit because it doesn't have the screw in light bulb kit. I use these bulbs. I did cut back to the 16/75 watt. (px'd is the 24/100 watt). My photo period is 9 hours.

 

[Tex Gal]

That mystery plant looks awesome!

No more mystery. It is Limnophilia sp 'Guinea' broadleaf. It's so petite and delicate. I really like it.

I also have Lino sp 'wavy'. It's a cool plant. Not sure what I'm gonna do with it. When I clear the tank from Tex Guy's plants I'll have to remove it. Maybe in my grow out tank. Not sure yet. It's a neat plant . I'll try to get a px of it...

I do have another one in the tank. I don't know where it came from. It's in the center of the tank. It's behind the Hyro. porto velho. I have no idea where it came from. It just appeared in my tank. (Wonder if it came from the ADA AquaSoil?) SO WEIRD!

 

[Tex Gal]

Thanks Darksome & Joycould! It will look a lot better when I get the extra plants out of there.

I found it at Fry's Electronics. They have an online store. If you google ECO bulb U shape screw in you can find lots of places. I've only found them in 2700K but the plants still grow fine.

http://www.google.com/search?q=ECO+bulb+U+shape+screw+in&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a

 

[Tex Gal]

Amazing array of plants. I especially love the Limnophilia sp 'Guinea' broadleaf and the Rotala Macrandra in the green. Where did you happen to find the Limnophilia?

Thanks for your comments. A member of our local plant club (DFWAPC) brought it to one of the meetings. Perhaps he may sell some sometime. It's really a beautiful plant. When I got the small pieces from him I thought they looked interesting but out of water didn't rock my world. When I got them in water and they began to grow I was really please at it's beauty.

 

[Tex Gal]

PX UPDATE! I just planted a foreground of Elatine triandra. Of course it has to fill in. Think I'm gonna take the Rotala sp 'Nanjenshan' out of the left corner and leave the Hotonina palustris there to fill in. Gonna take out the Staurogyne sp. Porto Velho. I have Microsorium sp 'Trident' that is on the rock on the right. It has had a hard time. It's finally starting to come back.

 

[Tex Gal]

really nice aquarium

what the red thing at the middle right ? a rock ? (right in front of the bacopa)

Red thing is a rock. I've had trouble with the Trident Java fern. It has been a magnet for BBA. So weird as no other bba but there. Finally took it out and dipped the entire thing. We'll see what happens now.

 

[Tex Gal]

I have the U tube florescent bulbs that are on for 8 hours per day. I do 1/8 tsp KNO3, 1/32 tsp phospates on M,W,F and 1/32 tsp CSM+B on T,Th,S and Flourish iron 1 ml once or twice a week. 50% w/c on Sunday. The U tube bulbs have less restrike. These bulbs are 10000K unfortunately. I can't find this wattage in a different Kelvin. It does get indirect sunlight as it's in a western facing room with 4 windows.

 

[Tex Gal]

PX update. It's been a while. A lot of travel, missing dosing and yet the tank continues. Plants are recovering. Some, like Rotala sp 'buterfly' and Rotala sp mini type 2, took a real hit.

 

[Tex Gal]

Things are so overgrown! Too much to do with too many holiday visitors. Hope to do a big trim and clean it up by the end of the week.