Updates on my 75

[nacra99]

Well.. its been 2.5 months since I first set up the my tank in this thread
http://forum.simplydiscus.com//showthread.php?t=49206

Thought i'd post some updates :D

http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/751.JPG

[nacra99]

The Glosso has really grown in big time!

http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/752.JPG

[nacra99]

Somehow the discus love to hang out on the grassy corner...

http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/753.JPG

[nacra99]

They refuse to leave the glosso!... I think they like it too :D

http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/754.JPG

[nacra99]

.http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/755.JPG

[nacra99]

Thought i'd shamelessly throw in a pic of my mac :D

http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ehmwong/simply/mac1.JPG

[greyhoundfan]

your heckels recovered beautifully!! I would be happy swimming in that tank too!!:D

[pcsb23]

Marc, tank and fish are doing really well. Like the glosso too!

[yeomans]

Wow, what a beautiful tank, I love your heckels and the small ground covering plants. A job well done,congrats . josh

[Clay]

Glosso grows so fast that at times it's annoying. lol You should spread some over to the other side maybe to and then you will have afull glosso floor. lol I wonder if glosso can grow is just normal sand. What time of substrate are you using?


Oh, and your mad you called it, is some type of betta, right?

[White Worm]

I love the grass look, this is what I want to do with mine (BB right now. I too, would be curious if it grows in sand only. Shrunk the picture for you so we could see a little better. Nice wilds and nice tank! Mike

14901

[nacra99]

Thanks guys for the comments. I have the people from this forum to thank for my glosso success...

Clay, you're rite, once the glosso gets going, there's no stopping it. It overtook the poor amazon sword which i had growing in the corner, so i had to move it. It's also starting to "crawl" up that piece of driftwood. As it is, i prune it once a week and regularly give some away to fellow aquarists. It still keeps coming.

I intentionally trimmed the edge of the glosso mat so that it stopped spreading to the other side. I might just let it grow out and see how that looks.

Thanks Mike for the resize. I didn't realize how big it was... My home computer has a larger resolution and sized larger, so it fit just nice. But now as i view it in the office, it looks wayyy bigger. I'll try to do better next time.

btw.. Clay, that's a Betta Macrostoma, the rarest of the mouthbrooding bettas. I just aquired 2 pairs from singapore to replace my aging breeders and hopefully they will breed soon. A handful of us in the betta scene are trying to rehabilitate this endangered species... Hopefully the more readily available they are in the market, the less unlawful collection there will be.

Cheers!
Marc

[Clay]

Thanks guys for the comments. I have the people from this forum to thank for my glosso success...

Clay, you're rite, once the glosso gets going, there's no stopping it. It overtook the poor amazon sword which i had growing in the corner, so i had to move it. It's also starting to "crawl" up that piece of driftwood. As it is, i prune it once a week and regularly give some away to fellow aquarists. It still keeps coming.

I intentionally trimmed the edge of the glosso mat so that it stopped spreading to the other side. I might just let it grow out and see how that looks.

Thanks Mike for the resize. I didn't realize how big it was... My home computer has a larger resolution and sized larger, so it fit just nice. But now as i view it in the office, it looks wayyy bigger. I'll try to do better next time.

btw.. Clay, that's a Betta Macrostoma, the rarest of the mouthbrooding bettas. I just aquired 2 pairs from singapore to replace my aging breeders and hopefully they will breed soon. A handful of us in the betta scene are trying to rehabilitate this endangered species... Hopefully the more readily available they are in the market, the less unlawful collection there will be.

Cheers!
Marc


If you ever get them to breed, I'll buy some. :) I know a bit about bettas I just couldn't remember that last bit of it... I used t obreed them big time. Not just Betta Splenden but another type. I wish I had pictures of them. Anyways, if you get them to breed, I will buy. :D

[ItsGeoff]

lookin great man! arent ya glad you took the 18000 hours to plant the glosso right? hahaha

[Clay]

lookin great man! arent ya glad you took the 18000 hours to plant the glosso right? hahaha
He probably planted a few pieces or a mat of glosso and they just grow fast and like to cover the entire bottom of the tank. I don't think anyone would be crazy enough to take that much time to plant all that. lol

[kdazzel]

I really like that grass, wonder if could get it to grow in my tank. what would you do, just vacuum the grass:confused:

[nacra99]

lookin great man! arent ya glad you took the 18000 hours to plant the glosso right? hahaha

haha.... it was a truely "back breaking" job at first, but it has definitely paid off.

Clay, Geoff was refering to my first attempt at planting the glosso. I had originally planted the glosso in clumps, but it looked horrible. I then had to uproot all the clumped up glosso, seperate them into individual strands and then plant the individual strands. But you're right, it was definitely much sparse-er when i started out, and the entire mat gradually thickened over time to the state that it is in today

Btw, the Mac (short for macrostoma) is a pretty challenging fish... it's challenging enough as it is to keep the water a constant pH 4.8 without the thing crashing...Not quite the ordinary petstore B.Splendens..=)

[nacra99]

I really like that grass, wonder if could get it to grow in my tank. what would you do, just vacuum the grass:confused:

IMO, glosso is a pretty low maintainence plant. The only thing is that it needs strong lighting. If not, they tend to grow upwards. I once had the tank on 72hr blackout due to greenwater, and when i uncovered the tank, i was pretty surprised to find that the glosso continued growing another inch or so in the darkness, and they grew straight (and i mean STRAIGHT) upwards... I had to prune it down to prevent it from continuing to grow up.

The glosso holds the substrate pretty well, so to vacumn, i just plunge the end of my python straight into the grass and wiggle enough to loosen the substrate a little but not dislodge the plant. Lots of dirt comes up from under the mat.

[kdazzel]

I have no idea what type lights I have, since no real plants in my tank, it's bright, its a deluxe, double flourescent LOL. My tank is 24 inches tall though.....I really like the look of that grass. You think it would work:confused:

Kdazzel

[kdazzel]

nacra,
That looks so awesome

kdazzel

[Beth]

Love it :thumbsup:

call me ;)

Beth

[dan888]

Nice planted tank. I think it'll look better and more complete once the glosso have covered the entire tank bottom.
Your discus looks great too.

[Apistomaster]

Hi nacra,
You have good tastes in discus. I have 10 in my 75g but the tank has only the back third planted in a 3 inch high glass planter box and the front bare. I've never been able to grow glosso. OH! I forgot to mention they're all Heckels. It might seem they're crowded but I have a huge wet/dry filter the large sump adds another 25 gals to the system plus 75% w/c Every other day.
My pump is returning 900gph and after a deworming they've grown an inch in diameter in a month. Heckels have aways been my favorite discus species. I'm moving them to a 125g in 6-8 weeks where I hope some pairs will form. Your's are looking good.
Larry Waybright, Clarkston, WA

[tpl*co]

nacra99,

What type of lights did you put in your canopy? How many watts do you have? Do you use CO2?

Tina

[Kindredspirit]

Hey Marc ~ I love your tank! Esp the glosso! So you do want it to cover the whole tank? Itz beautiful Marc!

And that pic of your Mac ( which i have no idea what it is ) is awesome w/ his mouth open!


Marie ~ http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/16/16_2_8.gif

[senso]

Marc

the tank and fish look very healthy, and hence great.
Quick question regarding set up
Tank size, substrate, temp, ph, KH, dH, water changes, Co2.

Keep up a great tank

[nacra99]

Oh my... just when i thought this thread was dead....:D

Thanks guys for all the comments. They are very much appreciated :)

Apistomaster
Glosso needs pretty strong lighting with a steady carbon source. I managed to get some glosso growing in my low tech tanks with the addition of Flourish Excel... but don't overdose... the tank inhabitants tend to get high on that stuff.
Sounds like you got a great setup there. Great choice of discus too ;) . I'm sure they'll love their new 125g. I'm hoping for pairs too, but i'm not getting my hopes up too high.... breeding pairs of heckels are not easy to come by. Do let us know if you get any pairs =)

Tina
It's a 75g tank. I have 4 x 55W CF lighting up there in the hood which I ordered from AH supply. I have 2 x 5400K and 2 x 6700K bulbs in there.
Yes. I have a pressured CO2 system going on in there. (details in senso's answer below).

Marie
Thanks ... I love that little puppy icon :D

Senso,
Thanks for the praises. Here are some specs
Tank Size: 75g
Substrate: 100% Fluorite
Ferts: Seachem Flourish daily at 1/7 th weekly dosage
TDS: approx 100ms
GH: 4
KH:3
pH: CO2 controlled and adjusted to 6.3

50% weekly W/C


Cheers!
Marc

[nacra99]

Update:
The Ludwigia has exploded in the last 3 weeks.
I think the roots on the Ludwigia are rather unsightly... i'm thinking of trimming them off.
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~hmwong/simply/IMG_0566.JPG

[ItsGeoff]

good ahead and trim them off..thats fine if you do. looks great though

[pcsb23]

Update:
The Ludwigia has exploded in the last 3 weeks.
Marc, your not kidding, but it does look good. Still one of my favourite tanks on here. Don't know why, just is. :)

[lhforbes12]

nacra99,

What type of lights did you put in your canopy? How many watts do you have? Do you use CO2?

Tina

Tina,
You already have lights for your tank :-p