my tank(s) update

[fcjchew]

Hi Lorba,

Nice tanks you have.

question for you --- what kind of lights you use for your 1.5ft tanks ? Look very powerful. where you buy it from ?

thanks.

Francis

[lorba]

some updates again, its as messy as before.









Link to album here

[juggler]

Nice!
Is your E.Oriental on steroids? How you make it grow so big?

[lorba]

i got 4 monster root underneath it! I cut one flower stalk almost every week.

[benny]

Oh my....I thought E. oriental stays small. I better watch the one in my tank. So far the E. ozelot and E. rubin have all turned out to be huge monsters.

But I must say that your E. oriental looks good here. Like the Cryptocoryne balansae too! Very nice.

By the way, is the E. oriental grown in a separate pot on it's own?

Cheers,

[lorba]

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On 10/2/2003 4:09:59 PM

Oh my....I thought E. oriental stays small. I better watch the one in my tank. So far the E. ozelot and E. rubin have all turned out to be huge monsters.

But I must say that your E. oriental looks good here. Like the Cryptocoryne balansae too! Very nice.

By the way, is the E. oriental grown in a separate pot on it's own?

Cheers,
----------------

I dunno why, I thought the oriental should be small too. But if you look at bioplast's, his is much bigger.

Not in a pot.. I fear for the moment when I have to uproot it...

[benny]

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On 10/2/2003 4:25:23 PM

Not in a pot.. I fear for the moment when I have to uproot it...
----------------

Oh. From your last picture, I thought they were.

Anyway, if you ever have to uproot it, you might as well rescape. The E. ozelot and rubin in my tanks didn't want to go peacefully and it was an absolute nightmare for me. Everything in a surrounding circumference of 50 cm was affect.

Cheers,

[BFG]

Lotus also have extensive roots system. If you happen to keep lotus for a year or so, be prepared to pull hard. Mine had roots as thick as a mouse cable. I've kept around 4 lotus plants and it mixed the gravel and substrate together as I pull them out. Major rescaping after that.

[hwchoy]

maybe just cut off the growing apex and leave the roots in the substrate.

[lorba]

A minor update to my 3ft, removed the overgrown E. oriental and replaced with a lot more cryptocorynes.

Tank Folder Click here to access the pbase photo folder.

[Davidd]

lovely tank; thats my dream tank; love the scaping and the whole natural look.

only thing is the tank deserves higher quality photography.

[PeterGwee]

Very nice except for the glass...algae? []

[lorba]

thanks davidd,

the right side is now rather messy, I hope to achieve some layered effect when the differnt crypts are fully grown. I am holding a G5, which i think is good enough, blame the hands!

yes peter, Algae!! The tank just recovered from BBA and the left side suffered a sever trimming of bolbitis, which look botak now!!

For BBA, increasing the CO2 does work. But as I was using the external reactor, the amount of Co2 dissolved is actually limited by the flow rate. BBA started clearing out since I connected the ext reactor to my higher flow rate filter.

[bttay]

Hi Lorba,

May I ask you what kind of CO2 do you use for your 1.5 ft office tank?

Nice tanks! I wish I can acheive some close to that for my office tanks.

[PeterGwee]

======================================
But as I was using the external reactor, the amount of Co2 dissolved is actually limited by the flow rate.
======================================

Yup, flow rate plays a part in getting the CO2 dissolved but the way it is being returned does play a big part as well. Where did you place the return from the reactor? I would suggest you place the return line towards the bottom back of the tank connected to a spray-bar and spray across the top of the substrate. This method allows CO2 rich water to flow through the plants and rise before being recycle again. Plants cannot swim so you would have to spoon feed them.[]

[aizaspurz]

Nice indeed

So, where is the E. Oriental 'hiding' now? []

[lorba]

bttay,

both my 1.5ft are running low light with infrequent remix of DIY CO2. But I notice their growth rate are poor and slow, probably because there isnt base fert and I dont dose any liquid fert at all. I've rescaped the second 1.5ft, will try to post pics when I can.

I had a new 30cm x 10cm moss-shrimp tank, no feeding and no fert at all. But the moss are growing really nice (22 C).


Peter,

I didnt use a spray bar, no space!! All occupied by balansae. Its just the normal output at the bottom left.


aizaspurz,

I've given the oriental to someone It was really a strong (and big) plant, put out 2 big new leaves and a flower stalk even I have uprooted it for few days. Too bad, my tank is too small. I still have a plantlet of it which I thought died off some time ago.

[Davidd]

btw,
what are those crypts that lie low on the right of hte tank?
where did u get them? I'm looking for some such crypts suitable for the middle ground.

How about a tripod for those shaky hands hahaha.Would really help, although I also wonder how one can take a tank without the fish being blur due to their motion.

[lorba]

Updates on my 1.5ft (Alpha) tank at office. Its quite messy as you can see.

The Folder

[lorba]

update on my 1.5ft (Bravo) at office.

The Folder