zonkkie's first rock scape

[zonkkie]

Woke up today 7am and saw a 10cm worm amongst my tall hairgrass. Wonder how fast do earthworms (at least I hope that's what it is) grow... it's only 2 weeks and I definately never see anything more than 1cm when I checked my plants before planting.

[EvolutionZ]

trim those jap HC to your liking.. my E.tenellus is invading my HC area also.. have to trim every week.. HC i guess needs a pretty long time to lawn.. my tank is 3 weeks old and i still haven't seen any spreading.. but at least they stop melting already.

[zonkkie]

yaya, same here! My lawn 1 week behind yours (and half the tank length) but stop melting already. But maybe like what bro Alvin said, I never plant deep enough (or it's my Yamatos). Some floating up daily.

[alvinchan80]

yaya, same here! My lawn 1 week behind yours (and half the tank length) but stop melting already. But maybe like what bro Alvin said, I never plant deep enough (or it's my Yamatos). Some floating up daily.

Poke deeper.. Cover with soil more or if you can, actually get a pack of fine ADA soil or GEX soil pour on top of the already planted HC.. Those HC will creep and try to get their shoots above the soil and 'viola'! HC are well and ready to become a lush (trouble trimming) bunch...

[zonkkie]

hey Alvin, actually i still have ADA powder soil left. But if I pour into the water, they actually float instead of sink. Have you experience it before? Any idea how to get the powder soil to sink? Maybe I should add water to the packet first before pouring.

[alvinchan80]

hey Alvin, actually i still have ADA powder soil left. But if I pour into the water, they actually float instead of sink. Have you experience it before? Any idea how to get the powder soil to sink? Maybe I should add water to the packet first before pouring.

I experienced some floating as well.. What I did is to make a small funnel shape.. Den see where I want to cover with powder soil, den pour.. There will be some that floats around.. Those I just net and throw.. Kind of messy at start, but after awhile, it will be ok...

[jeffteo]

Alvin really is the king of HC. When I fill my nano, you definitely will be my tank's savior.

[alvinchan80]

Alvin really is the king of HC. When I fill my nano, you definitely will be my tank's savior.

No la bro jeff... I am noob to all these.. Consider myself lucky at first time and can get these results.. Who knows second time when I try again, all crash.. Maybe considerations I guess from water, soil, lights, co2, etc etc...

[hayabusa]

hi bro zonkkie, how do you plant your HC's? i watched a video that HCs are planted with 1cm of sponge still attached to it, saw the link somewhere here in AQ. are you using that method?

[jeffteo]

Yeah zonkkie, does your HC come attached to the rock wool? Mine seems to be wrap around with the rock wool and the roots are not attached to the rock wool. Ended up I got to plant without the rock wool and directly sticking the roots into the soil. You get what I mean?

[eviltrain]

Next time get those with sponge. Better and easier to unroot them from the sponge.

[jeffteo]

Mine was not even rooted in the first place so no issue removing it. So far I never see sponge one before. Is it the brown wool or filter kind of sponge?

[alvinchan80]

Advise.. Get those unwool type.. Because past experience tells that wool normally has 'pest' in them.. Be it algae, worms, or parasites...

Planting with unwool HC is just breaking them and planting them 2cm apart from each segment you plant... I think of perimeter are correct, 3-4 months then HC will be growing nicely and lush while waiting to be trimmed (irritating task)...

[hayabusa]

Advise.. Get those unwool type.. Because past experience tells that wool normally has 'pest' in them.. Be it algae, worms, or parasites...

Planting with unwool HC is just breaking them and planting them 2cm apart from each segment you plant... I think of perimeter are correct, 3-4 months then HC will be growing nicely and lush while waiting to be trimmed (irritating task)...

thanks for the tip bro, will be careful of my selection of HC. where do you guys get them from? i was thinking of getting it from the one beside NA, good idea?

[zonkkie]

I actually have both rock wool pots and filter sponge type. Initially (you can see post #1) I have 5 pots of HC with rock wool and later added the filter sponge type and planted using the Tropica method. Agree with bro Alvin that the rock wool method is cleaner. I have later removed all the filter sponge HC as the filter sponge keeps getting exposed and is unsightly. Maybe I didn't plant deep enough.

Second thing though, I have removed all my yamatos and my HC doesn't float up anymore. I think they dig deeper and my HC is not well rooted yet.

Third thing I removed is my Jap hairgrass which is growing very well but taking over the HC area. So I made the choice and decided to go full HC lawn. Next round, maybe will just do Jap hairgrass.

HC with rockwool I got from mizuworld. Not sure where else sells those. The places I see - Petmart/C328 all sell with the filter sponge type.

[alvinchan80]

thanks for the tip bro, will be careful of my selection of HC. where do you guys get them from? i was thinking of getting it from the one beside NA, good idea?

I think you are talking about Colorful.. They have moved to West Coast and I don't think they sell HC, do they?

You can get from PolyArt (beside C32 & PetMart but both you would need to order.. Just tell them you want HC that isn't grown on any sponge.. Much easier to plant and cleaner...

[jeffteo]

Ha, I got my HC from Mizu World also. Their plants are quite clean and nice. Ben must had selected only the best for delivery.

[zonkkie]

update! Another FTS... like I mentioned earlier, pulled out the Jap hairgrass in hope of a HC lawn. The vivipara grow very fast, I cut 4 days ago and it reach the top again. I think I need to cut them shorter but hope that doesn't kill them!



My tank's new occupants.... my wife keeps calling them (cooked) prawns.

One of them is berried one day after I got them, but the egg color seems a bit funny. Not sure if one of the shrimp experts can shed some light if it is ok.

Oi... stare what stare?



Another feller.

Berried Mama?


Group shot. They love the rocks for some reason. Which makes it great for taking photos.


Mama with funny colored eggs. Not sure if they are supposed to be this color.

[alvinchan80]

Very nice backdrop there bro...

The eggs of that color is normal.. Slight greenish right? Don't add any more of those sakura or fire red anymore... They will breed like rabbits & in no time, your tank will be flooded in red...

[zonkkie]

Alvin - thanks for advice. Will introduce birth control for the shrimps soon.

Need some advice from HC experts. Some of my HC crawling on the ground but I have some that are climbing towards the sky. If you see the picture below, you will see 2 stalks climbing towards the sky while the surrounding HC are crawling on the ground. Any idea why? If it is due to light, then shouldn't all be climbing? Thanks in advance.



Also, any suggestions on schooling fishes to add? Thinking mosquito rasboras or ember tetras.