Hi all,
I thought i would make my first post here by posting the pics of my planted tank. I stay in India, Bangalore. Well we do get most of the plants here but some of the really exotic ones were really rare but no longer and can be found sometimes.
Here are my tank specifications:
54"24"21" , Substrate-laterite mix with gravel.
Ph 6.8, maintained by Milwaukee Ph controller.
Two Metal Halides- 150 Watts each.
Temperature-23deg-26deg
The empty space on the right side was filled with Glosso today, lets hope it does well.
here are the links to the pics:
http://www.killies.com/forum/modules...view_album.php
Any comments and suggestions will be welcome.
Thank You
Nikhil Sood
Hello Nikhil and welcome to the forum,
I like the varieties of plants you have. In the left side of your tank, is that an african fern, or Bolbitis heudelotii?
Looking at your tank, I think it needs something...perhaps a focal point? You could showcase the rare plants found in your country. Or you could put nice looking driftwoods--and add some mosses, of course.
Hi Randall,
Well the plant on the left side that you saw is "Ceratopteris Thalictroides". It is just a small cutting and hence has been planted in the foreground. Well as for the focal point i have an Echinodorous Horemanii 'Red' growing and that will form the focal point in the tank, somewhere at the left back side. I have a pice of driftwood on the right back side, just behind the glosso. I have Taiwan moss doing well on that, actually its just a little quantity right now and should increase if it gets going. Tried looking around for some Upright moss here but was unsuccessful. maybe sometime in the future i may get some.
Also the thing is that this particular tank was struggling with blue green algae and hair algae, but now all of that is gone and it looks very neat, it was partly due to the fact that the water i get here is pretty hard which hampers the growth of the plants, i have GH of 7deg and KH of 8deg which sometimes can also be 10deg, with the Ph being about 7.4 . This is the reason i had to invest in a Milwaukee Ph Controller. All this has just been done about a week back so i guess the tank will take some more time to get going.
Nikhil
It's fortunate that the blue green and hair algae in your tank are gone. I still have hair algae in my tankOriginally Posted by nikhilsood1
and right now it is controllable, but I never had blue green algae in my tank and hopefully never will.
When you said Upright moss, do you mean the erect moss? I, too, would love to have those. Your tank will look great as it mature Nikhil. Great job.
Hi Randall,
Well i stand corrected, i was talking about the Erect Moss as you put it. I can help you with the hair algae problem i think, well what i did was to stop adding Iron to the tank, secondly add a few Rosy Barbs and a few Sailfin mollies trust me they really do eat the hair algae well. But remember do not put in too many Rosy barbs as you will have to remove them after they have done their work as they do tend to nibble on the plants after the algae is gone.
We here in India use Terrestrial Fertilizers, the Tropica mastergrow and other such stuff is mostly not available and if it is, its just to expensive in the long run. So we here use lab grade chemicals and roll our own PMDD according to our tank needs, takes a lot of time and patience. Since we can make mistakes that is why we have come to learn that these fish can be used specially the Rosy barbs are really good.
Nikhil
Nikhil, Welcome to Killies.com.
Metal Halides and Ph controller - Wow!! That's state-of-the-art equipment. I'm envious
Your tank looks great, Nikhil but when Randall spoke of a focal point, I think he meant a point where an observer's eyes will automatically be drawn to. The problem, if you consider it as one, is you have too many types of plants in your tank. In such an aquascape, there's no focal point.
Is this your first attempt at a planted tank?
When one is new to the hobby, it's natural that he wants to grow every aquatic plant he can get his hands on. Over time, you will find that it's best to grow only a few varieties. By being selective, you will find your tank will need less work and look more beautiful.
You also have too much visible equipment in the tank. If I were you, I'll find a way to hide them. Are you using a rainbar as the outlet for your CO2? If you are, I would suggest you use a different CO2 reactor or diffusor.
As for Erect Moss, I can't help you there as the ones I have are not very healthy. For some reason which no one knows why, the Erect Mosses turn brown very easily. I can send you something else though. Would you like some Spiky Moss?
Loh K L
Loh K L
Hi Mr Loh,
Thanks a lot for the welcome, this really is an amazing website you people have got.
This is not my first attempt at a planted tank, the reason you find so many plants is that here in India all the varieties are not readily available, hence as and when a good plant comes by i do pick a few cutting to see if it will do well and if it can be used in aquascaping later. The large collection of plants is also to just get them going and then to use what i want out of them in the aquascaping i will trying my hand at. The rest will be given away to fellow hobbyists here, as that is the best way to keep plants going around in the hobby.
I am trying to work on a focal point, have decide upon one but i think it will depend on how the tank shapes up in the next month or so.
I do have a Co2 reactor, the reason why you see a lot of equipment is that the background plants haven't yet taken off and once they do i am sure the equipment will be taken care of.
Thanks a lot for the offer on the spiky moss, a friend of mine who is currently studying in Singapore will be coming down sometime in April, i will stay in touch with you and him to get me that moss.
Nikhil
Dear Nikhil,
Welcome to Killies.com!
I am not good in aquascaping but I do agree with KL's view. For the foreground plant, I would prefer E. Triandra than Glosso. See below pic.
It is easier to grow, it always stay low even under low light (it is a true creeper).
You may also try Star Grass. See pic for the mid/back ground plant.
It can be conditioned to creep.
Nikhil,
I can understand that living in a country where aquatic plants are not easily available, you'll be tempted to grow as many as you can in your tank. If you don't mind me saying, however, that isn't a good solution. A better way would be to set up more tanks. That's the reason I have 9 planted tanks at home
You don't have to wait for your friend to return to India. If you want the moss, just let me have a mailing address. I've sent hundreds of envelopes of mosses to people all over the world and no one has ever complained of receiving dead moss.
By the way, don't believe what Freddy says. He makes it all look so easy. I've tried growing the Elatine triandra many times but they always turned yellow and die. Freddy is one of the few I know who can grow practically any plant. To him, any plant is easy
Loh K L
Hi all,
Freddy, thanks a lot for the input on the E. Triandra but the problem here is that we do not get it here, never have actually seen it in any tank of fellow hobbyists in Bangalore.
Also Freddy i would be really interested in knowing how do you manage to keep the Heteranthera zosterifolia creeping like that, i do have it but growing nice and very tall.
Loh i will send a mail so that you can send me the parcel at my address, its really nice of you to do this. I am very grateful. Thank you.
Regards
Nikhil Sood
Hi nikhil,
I had rescaped my tank, the E. Triandra is growing very slowly. When I had enough (may be another 2 months), you can ask your friend to get from me.
Star Grass (you called Heteranthera zosterifolia, I am bad in Latin) will creep when you cut the side shoots and plant them on the gravel. When you insert them, face the leafs toward you, so that they look better. Insert them in an angle to encourage creeping. So long the light is not blocked, no critters bother them and enough space infront them them, they will creep nicely.
Freddy said-[I am bad in Latin]
Well you are amazing at growing plants and that is what matters,not the names. I will surely give the star grass a try lets see if it comes to what you told me.
Loh,you had asked me to make more tanks if i want to keep more plants rather different varieties, well the thing is that if i say the word more tanks i will be thrown out of the house, my father being in the Indian Army doesn't really relish the fact of having so many tanks while i am still studying. Says when you are working then do whatever you want to. But i still manage a few tanks.
Regards
Nikhil Sood
Dear Mr Loh,
I just received the Spiky Moss. It is in great condition, i have tied it to a laterite rock that i had, it should attach easily to it. I would like to thank you again, it was a really great gesture on your part to have sent it.
Regards
Nikhil Sood
I'm glad the moss reached you in good condition, Nikhil. But please take a look at this thread.
Loh K L
Hi Mr Loh, so what do you suggest i do? Treat it before i put it into the tank?
Regards
Nikhil
I'm not sure, Nikhil. But you can try to wash the moss as thoroughly as you can before you put it into your tank. I think just washing under a tap would be good enough.
What fish do you keep?
Glugea is species specific. In other words, only a few species of fish are vulnerable to the parasite. I keep Platies, Rasboras and Mollies in my tanks too and so far, they have not shown any symptoms.
Loh K L
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