Newman's 40 Gallon Planted Tank

What do you think of the tank as a whole?

  • "I don't really understand what youre doing here...it looks weird"

    Votes: 5 12.2%
  • "The idea is half decent, but could use some improvements"

    Votes: 9 22.0%
  • "Overall it looks natural and good"

    Votes: 16 39.0%
  • "Awsome habitat for the fish and looks outstanding"

    Votes: 19 46.3%

  • Total voters
    41

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
idk about lighting being the issue, but probably your problem is that the vals arent the dominant plant in your system yet. something else is growing faster than them, and is slowing the babies down. Also my tank gets dosed. I dose a tiny amount of iron every single day, potassium 2x a week, and flourish 2x a week. I dose according to the online flourish dosing calendar they give you where you can input your tank's gallons and it will give you how much to dose of each product.

I just take what they give me, and i dose less, plus i dont dose everything obviously, just the potassium, and flourish mainly, and a bit of iron. My tap water has most of the iron already, the phosphate and nitrate come from my fish, so i dont dose those. I have to say everything grows great. i no longer dose excel because of pressurized CO2.
 

lauraf

Superstar Fish
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
Hmmm, don't know what would be outcompeting the vals - there's tons of them. Other than vals, there's only one swordplant, a couple tiger lotus, and some anubias. The val parent plants grow ridiculously well - it's just the babies that stay, well, babies.
But I don't specifically dose. I just use an iron-enriched general fertilizer pls DIY CO2.
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
they stay as babies? how much wpg do you have on your tank? is the light spread out or centered around one spot in the tank? if the vals do well, the babies, as long as they are connected to the parent plant, should also grow well. just give them time.
 

lauraf

Superstar Fish
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
I only have 1wpg. The lighting is pretty evenly spread out. I did just replace the bulbs a couple weeks ago, thinking that old bulbs might have been part of the slow growth, but the val babies are still only about 2" tall and have been that size for what seems like months . . . .
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
are you dosing any potassium? does your fert include potassium? my guess may be that something is missing for the young plants to grow up.... OR maybe the light isnt intense enough o reach them, but i doubt thats it.
 

lauraf

Superstar Fish
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
My fertilizer has potassium chloride . . . . the other low-level plants seem to do okay . . . wonder if I should cut the babies off from the parent plants?
And sorry Newman, I'm totally hijacking your thread . . . update on your tank???
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
no updates on my tank like i said. need to gather lots of good DW pieces first, and do a lot of plant removal and so on and so forth, will take a long time to change things around. I would want to do it slowly as to no kill all the fish and inverts in my tank =/

Dont worry about highjacking the thread, we can talk about plants since its very relevant lol. Idk, maybe you could cut the babies off. plant them in a brighter spot if theyre being shaded.
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
thats odd, maybe your temperature isnt cool enough? or warm enough, idk what you do. or maybe you just need to give them a few months, theyll grow if nothing's outcompeting them.
 

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
Didnt have time to do the big rescape yet (I dont even have the DW yet) and my pressurized CO2 tank ran out of gas a few days ago (is 10lb supposed to last only 6 months?! I run it at 1bps). I'm suspecting a leak, and I'll make the connection tighter next time. angel is living and growing well.
 

Attachments

Newman

Elite Fish
Sep 22, 2009
4,668
0
0
Northern NJ
I have not done the big rescape yet, but what i did get the chance to do is to finally trim off all that val matter. got a good bucket full out. Also cut the cyperus helferi down to a stub.
FTS:


Angel:


Otocinclus (the only one left):


Mollies:


Of course Cories:


Now it is not easy to do, but see if you can spot all the inhabitants of my tank in the FTS. Try to find at least one SAE, one Ruby Nerite Snail, some mollies, the Angelfish, the corydoras school, and the otocinclus. They are all in this FTS believe it or not. the only inhabitant not seen or photographed is the red cherry shrimps that also still live here. they are mostly nocturnal.