Reply With QuoteNice,simple and clean look...
This tank has crossed its 1 year mark and still chugging along.
I got really lazy after the last tank update and started to neglect plant trimming, which resulted in the fast growing background stem plants constantly looking wild and unruly. It became a real chore to keep up with pruning and maintenance every week... so 2 months ago, i pulled out all the stem plants and replace them with a few bunches of Cyperus Helferi.
So far so good, this background plant's growth rate is slower and much easier to maintain. The original few bunches have since grown into a nice thicket of tall leaf blades that are starting to curve at the water surface... the tank has officially become a "grass" scape.
Yeah, the whole tank looks very green now... luckily there is still a resident colony of cherry shrimps to help add a little bit of red accent to the tank.
Nice,simple and clean look...
What's the plant at the bottom of tank?
The carpet plant on the substrate are Eleocharis sp. 'Mini' from Tropica.Originally Posted by Cmlee
Here is are some info on them: http://tropica.com/en/plants/plantde...132BTC%29/4571
Wow!!! Very nice green scape. Thanks for sharing UA. Do you need to clean the lily pipes frequently? How do you maintain the clean look on the pipes?
I usually clean the glass lily pipes every 2 months during regular filter maintenance (sometimes procrastinate to 3 months if i'm busy... or lazy).
Quite straightforward to clean them, i just use a flexible pipe brush and pull through the glass pipes a few times (doing the same with the hoses and double taps too), then flush away all the dislodged dirt and algae.
Can it grow without substrate?
I see...thank you UA
It might be possible, i've seen normal hairgrass grown just tied to lava rocks or mesh without substrate... though overall growth would be much better and faster when its planted and rooted into nutrient-rich substrates instead.
Nice!! love the Cyperus Helferi replacement
Very nice, neat and well maintained!
Check where u get the glass dish with a sucker?
I ordered the acrylic feeding dish from eBay, just search for "acrylic shrimp feeding dish" on eBay and a whole bunch of sales listings will pop out.
Alternatively, you can also get them from LFS like East Ocean or Seaview (i spotted a few available at those places recently).
Note that the feeding dish isn't originally meant to be used with a suction cup, its actually meant to be attached to a vertical feeding tube... what i did was simply modify it by finding a suitable sized suction cup and attaching it to the acrylic feeding dish (the feeding dish comes with a set of acrylic nut and bolt which can serve as an attachment point).
Re: 64 Litre "Forest Edge" Tank!
This will be the final update for the tank... its been 68 weeks since startup back in August 2013. I plan to re-scape it very soon.
I didn't have time to do any plant pruning or maintenance since the previous update (truthfully, i was just being lazy again), so the plants had absolute freedom to grow and take over the tank.
Here is its latest look...
Cyperus Helferi grew crazy as expected, quickly covering the water surface and arching over to the other side of the tank... i measured the longest leaves and they were more than 110+ cm in length!
Blyxa Japonica also went nuts and ballooned into huge bushes, the cluster on the right has grown tall enough to almost the reach the water surface by a few cm.
Eleocharis sp. 'Mini' continued growing even more densely but still retained its compact and short growth height, interestingly even the areas under shade grew well too. I've still not had to trim it ever since tank startup (which was more than a year ago). Its indeed one of the lowest maintenance carpet plants i've ever kept so far.
It was enjoyable keeping and maintaining this tank for the past year... but i'm expecting less free time due to my increased workload in the near future, so the tank will be re-scaped to a much lower maintenance setup. It'll still be running the same equipment setup (ie. Co2 injection), but instead with slower growing plants and a simpler layout.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 27th Nov 2014 at 16:06.
Interesting to know Eleocharis sp 'Mini' is almost maintenance free. I wonder if they can grow in small sandy area with root tab inserted?
Sticky and Nutty in a Plastic Packet
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My Exciting Fishy Life My Other Not So Exciting Fishy Life My Non-Fishy Life
Occasionally, I would have some trimmings to give away in exchange for a can of Milk Coffee. PM me to deal.
Should be possible... i guess as long as the substrate has some nutrients or there are sufficient water column ferts dosed, they would be able to adapt and grow.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 27th Nov 2014 at 16:56.
let me know if you're selling some of these bad boys soon! you know what I'm looking for
I was checking your blog every now and then for your update, finally got to see the amazing outcome of your tank
Little disappointed to know that, you are re-scaping your wonderful tank....However we all know, it will be another good setup from you using lower growing plants and a simpler layout soon..
can I ask where can I find Blyxa Japonica?
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