# My old 180 rimless redone



## plantbrain (17 Feb 2010)

Decided to use the Staruogyne for a foreground. One of the few weeds that the royal plecos would not maul and uproot daily.
Tank has some work to do still for nicer grouping for the rear, still somewhat undecided... but it's on it's way.
See how many fish and critters you can spot. 


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Nick16 (17 Feb 2010)

i can spot 2 whiptails (plus a cherry shrimp i believe) but they are well camoflaged! 

how do you find the whiptails? ive been considering one or two for my tank.

are the visible during the daylight hours (e.g active, out and about)
do they eat much algae?
are they chronic uprooters of plants?


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## Garuf (17 Feb 2010)

I always look forward to your tanks, Tom. They're the healthiest and often most capably scaped tanks going and this one is no exception, the staurgauyne looks wonderful in such large ammounts and I love the whole dutch/nature thing that's going on.


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## mattyc (17 Feb 2010)

i love your tank it looks amazing, i would be happy if my plants grew as nice as yours!!


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## viktorlantos (17 Feb 2010)

looking good Tom   Plants looks awesome. 
Very intresting to see this plant as a carpet.


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## andyh (17 Feb 2010)

Tom 

Love the scape and plant selection, the plants look so healthy!

Any advice on keeping Blyxa?

Andyh


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## jonnyjr (17 Feb 2010)

Stunning looking tank! How long have you had it set up for like this?


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## plantbrain (17 Feb 2010)

Nick16 said:
			
		

> i can spot 2 whiptails (plus a cherry shrimp i believe) but they are well camoflaged!
> 
> how do you find the whiptails? ive been considering one or two for my tank.
> 
> ...



I have 
12 Lamontichthys filamentosus(Royal farowella long fin)
120 Cards
300 Super red cherries? I use a modified turkey baster for non colorful culls
3- Choc emperor plecos
1 vampire
1 P spinosus
1 Goldy toe, (S aureus)
No idea on Amano shrimp count(20-30)

The royals are great, much nicer fish than Sturisoma species. Very active and quicker. 
I do not keep plecos for algae cleaning. They mow wood aggressively, but I have tanks with them and the wood is still fine.

With things like HC, Gloss, Utric's etc, they will uproot, most plecos will.
Not with this plant or it's pointy leaf cousin:





I have 10 Leopard frogs in this tank, 50-80 RCS, and 70 super Brass tetra.
I hacked the fron basketball sized Bolbitus and took out a couple of handfuls of fissidens so it's a bit bare, but was getting overgrown and out of balance. In 1-2 months, the tank will be back to the way it should be.





Unlike the other weed in the 180, the plecos in this tank are able to grub through the canopy under the plants.
Both plants where chosen for their ability to cohabitate with the plecos and match well.

If all I ever did was put foo foo fish, small dainty tetra and few Amano shrimp, you can keep any plants you want, but that has almost never been my goal. I got into wood and plants for the fish I like.

I never forgot that.
Still, I cull about 30-50 RCS a month now, and the stems of the Staruo go for about 3-4$ a stem and I have a long wait list for sales. Like a farm that takes little work, I sell livestock and crops.
Low light, little work involved, have the fish species I want and it looks okay as well.



Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (17 Feb 2010)

Garuf said:
			
		

> I always look forward to your tanks, Tom. They're the healthiest and often most capably scaped tanks going and this one is no exception, the staurgauyne looks wonderful in such large ammounts and I love the whole dutch/nature thing that's going on.



I think few would call it dutch, much too open and likely far more current than any dutch tank I know of.
Tank is not at it's peak, it'll be a few more months, and I'm not decided really on the back ground plants.

I had a horde of Tonia for sometime, I liked that, but I cannot get at it easily where the tank is now placed. 
Tonia is a weed and harder to hack than P stellata which responds better to topping.

A nice group of uruguayan swords would do well, but they would become massive in this tank after 3-4 months and be tough to deal with. I had some taller grasses like Cypreus etc. L aromatica etc is also there, but I just do not like it for some reason here. I do not play the artsy rhetoric with why I do not like it, it's more basic and primal. I go with my gut, no need to analyze further for me. Some get turned off by Science mumbo jargon, I'm that way with art talk  

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (17 Feb 2010)

andyh said:
			
		

> Tom
> 
> Love the scape and plant selection, the plants look so healthy!
> 
> ...



CO2, CO2 and CO2.
It's a frigging weed.

Hardest plant in the tank to beat and hack back.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (17 Feb 2010)

jonnyjr said:
			
		

> Stunning looking tank! How long have you had it set up for like this?



A few months. About 6?

Tried to reestablish HC and other foreground plants, nope, plecos ripped it up.

Took about 2-3 months to fill in like this from about 10-12 stems.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Nick16 (17 Feb 2010)

and theres me struggling to even get blyxa to gorw, have had two lots now and both have just gone mushy in the tank. its a mystery believe me, i dont have anything in the tank so they co2 is cranked nice and high! 

would love to get my hand on some super red cherries, but they arent that common in the south of the UK. i had a topic on here before trying to get my hands on them. 

whats the difference between Lamontichthys filamentosus (or other plecs form the Lamontichthys family) and the whiptails. 

i cant see the difference between 'twigs' and 'whiptails'. or are they basically the same thing? 

cheers

EDIT: i realise that twig catfish are thinner and look more like twigs funnily enough!  i prefer whiptails tbh.


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## JamesM (17 Feb 2010)

Nick16 said:
			
		

> and theres me struggling to even get blyxa to gorw, have had two lots now and both have just gone mushy in the tank. its a mystery believe me, i dont have anything in the tank so they co2 is cranked nice and high!
> 
> would love to get my hand on some super red cherries, but they arent that common in the south of the UK. i had a topic on here before trying to get my hands on them.



Blyxa will in most cases melt like crazy when first introduced to a different tank. Just be patient with it. 

LondonDragon is the man for shrimp 


Beautiful tank, Tom. Loving the carpet


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## plantbrain (17 Feb 2010)

This plant is easy to handle and deal with. Pruning responds well. I pulled out 20 plants from this picture BTW that same day, you can see a little evidence of this, but not much.

The other side of the tank is filling in, but will take a bit longer. That's the side where all the feeding an dpleco munching goes on, so it's a bit tougher on the plant. But they have established well and are filling in.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Nick16 (17 Feb 2010)

JamesM said:
			
		

> Nick16 said:
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 but when its already battered and melted before you plants it, its not easy!


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## AdAndrews (17 Feb 2010)

Its amazing Tom! Shame about the trouble with the plecs, i thought maybe my Bn would rip up some plants in the new tank i have done, luckily, its all good.


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## George Farmer (17 Feb 2010)

Very nice, Tom.

The Staurogyne/Blyxa combo is a bit different, maybe a bit too regimented for some, but I like it.

The wood looks spotless for a mature tank.  Testiment to your plecs!


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## Gill (17 Feb 2010)

Amazing AS always


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## plantbrain (17 Feb 2010)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Very nice, Tom.
> 
> The Staurogyne/Blyxa combo is a bit different, maybe a bit too regimented for some, but I like it.
> 
> The wood looks spotless for a mature tank.  Testiment to your plecs!



Yes, I agree.
I went around a few times with the idea, but like simpler layouts at larger scales, easier to care for design and layouts. I could add texture and some variety here and there easily, but the shading of the wood and lower light are more important for myself. Adding some more "natural" look might be a goal of some aquascapers, however, as an aquarist, there's a lot more to aquariums than merely aquascapes. I chose this based on the plants and ease of care here, not anything to do with design some much, that's a secondary consideration actually, always has been with me.

If I added some textures around the base of the wood, different background and had a more sloping lay of the tank from the focal point, I would get more "points". However, that assumes I actually care about such points and scaping rules.
Some of my other tanks have the more natural feel and less ordered look, and another has a more garden textured look.
My taste might change and I might neglect things from time to time. 

Still, I pick at the tank, the plants, the fish, the filtration, the current patterns, the design etc and change it to better suit my goals.

This tank is much easier than most tanks folks have.
And it's a heck of RCS and stem plant farm, making about 100-200$ a month these days. More than enough to pay for it's electrical/chemical cost. But not labor..........

So that(labor) was minimized.

You also are only seeing part of the tank at a slightly off angle. Reflections are bad at that time of day, could had waited I suppose. The "pleco pen" is a stack of wood in the darkest corner, but I can still see them and check on them if need be.
 They gnaw, but not that much really, and the tips and spikes of the wood are where the BBA would start and stay if the CO2 was bad. They cannot/do not gnaw on those areas. It's(some BBA) happened before when I was at the other place. I like my wood, I'm not going to cover it up. I display it in it's full glory. When I do a water change, I can easily dribble Excel on those tips etc and kill any algae, but it's a hassle to do. Still, it's an option if I had to.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## keymaker (17 Feb 2010)

plantbrain said:
			
		

> This tank is much easier than most tanks folks have.
> And it's a heck of RCS and stem plant farm, making about 100-200$ a month these days. More than enough to pay for it's electrical/chemical cost.


I never thought of a superb tank like this, great idea.
A self supporting financial and biological ecosystem!    
BTW, spotless plant health and incredibly clean look - as always. Still a fan...


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## plantbrain (17 Feb 2010)

keymaker said:
			
		

> plantbrain said:
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Well, there's more to it than just the scaping.
That's one of the more over emphasized elements I think in the planted tank hobby.
Gets most of the press.

Really gets back to what are the goals for the tank from that person's/owner's persepctive.
Seems that many lose sight of that.

I can pick at that part as well, not to take anything away from that aspect either, but I have considerations that go wayyyyyy wayyy beyond anything to do with judge criteria. I suspect most aquarist fall into that group really.
Many fish only folks need brought into this hobby to keep it afloat and growing also.

So nice fish plant mixes are wise.
My tanks have much higher fish/critter loads than any winning scapes I've ever seen.
That's part of the element of the aesthetic rules applied to those tanks. 

I prefer to sit and have my eyes delighted and a really nice community since it's my personal home and aquarium that I, not the rest of world has to look at day to day. I also think a "working tank" shows good husbandry for livestock and good farming for the plants. 

I work around these same concepts professionally with agriculture and natural lands. 
 What are the best management practices?
What is a good sustainable model for aquariums?
Can it look good still and have a nice fish community and nice plant community?'

Do I need higher light?

This is much more holistic in it's goal than aquascaping is alone.
However, you can still do both :idea: 

It just adds another level above scaping to work on and improve as well  

Something to ponder more with a glass of wine or beer, or tea after dinner staring at the aquarium.

I'll actually be selling this tank and some equipment, stand, light etc, and switching to a nicer beveled edge starfire glass LeMar, much like the ADA style tanks, have a cabinet maker do a similar stand to ADA for this same tank size, then add a built in over flow on the outside and have a sump under neath, this is easier to care for and keeps the O2 levels higher for the fish than this system. It also keeps all the stuff out of the tank nicely.

I will do this for each of the tanks I have now and might change the shapes a little, adding a bit more width/height etc to suit since the stand and tanks are custom anyway.............

Regards, 
Tom Barr   

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## sanj (17 Feb 2010)

I have always leaned towards equal consideration for fish-plant mixes, although I am more of a jungle fan in the plant arena. I still need to solve the GSA issues with my plants and that tank looks incredibly healthy. 

Heres me with a 1,500 litre on the horizon.


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## CeeJay (17 Feb 2010)

Hi Tom
Stunning tank..........as usual


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## Mark Webb (18 Feb 2010)

This is a stunner Tom, I really like the Staruogyne. Do you think it would survive on lighting of 1wpg?


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## chilled84 (18 Feb 2010)

Did pm you, But no reply, How do you get staorgyne like that, I have been trying for 6 months and only have an area of aboy 4inch square lol, secrets please


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## zig (18 Feb 2010)

Wheres the full tank shot, the money shot   looks ultra cool nice use of the plants as well.


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## plantbrain (18 Feb 2010)

Mark Webb said:
			
		

> This is a stunner Tom, I really like the Staruogyne. Do you think it would survive on lighting of 1wpg?



Don't know.
Depends on the distance from the source, reflectors, good CO2 and other thigns that would need to be independent and non limiting to fully maximize the light use.

I suppose many plants would do well at that light with T5's and say 40cm depths from the source light. Just a guess though.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (18 Feb 2010)

chilled84 said:
			
		

> Did pm you, But no reply, How do you get staorgyne like that, I have been trying for 6 months and only have an area of aboy 4inch square lol, secrets please



The "magic dust" I use?
No secret here, never was any,.
AFA has the same issue, but I do not have any issue with any species, I either grow it as fast, or faster.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (18 Feb 2010)

zig said:
			
		

> Wheres the full tank shot, the money shot   looks ultra cool nice use of the plants as well.



Once I get my lazy bum around to deciding what I want in the background and allow the other 1-2 sqft of this plant to fill in, then yes, I will.

I'm not decided on some things still. I'm slow and often lack some motivation, but that "patience" as I call it(yea, right!), allows plenty of time to consider and think about what I want. It's a process, not something that goes right in perfectly.

Even when it does fill in, I might not like it once I see it realized, then might rip it out and try something else.

Never know. Rarely entirely happy.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## keymaker (19 Feb 2010)

plantbrain said:
			
		

> (...)I also think a "working tank" shows good husbandry for livestock and good farming for the plants. (...) This is much more holistic in it's goal than aquascaping is alone.
> However, you can still do both :idea:


 :idea:  This is an absolutely new approach (to me), I kind of like this idea and  "natural" goal. Not to live up to contest-style expectations but to follow a pragmatic approach that has an added bonus (secondary goal if you wish) of looking good.



			
				plantbrain said:
			
		

> I'll actually be (...) switching to a nicer beveled edge starfire glass LeMar, much like the ADA style tanks, have a cabinet maker do a similar stand to ADA for this same tank size, then add a built in over flow on the outside and have a sump under neath, this is easier to care for and keeps the O2 levels higher for the fish than this system.


So is the time of bottom-drilled tanks over? Do you actually think that theres not enough O2 with the current setup?
What about the CO2 being driven out by the sump?


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## plantbrain (19 Feb 2010)

Not everyone's ultimate goal with aquariums is anything to do with placing in top competitions.
I'd say many like those tanks, but many do not have such goals either.

Still elements of both leak through, some competition scapes have good ideas for less scaped systems, and ideas from working, practical tanks also apply. It's a two way street, there's no way someone can honestly argue that a a top 10 ADA tank is  better than what my own personal goal might be with an aquarium.

It's a personal reflection of your own goal and whether or not you achieve that goal or not.
Some like Japanese food, some like Italian, depends on the judge. 

Likewise, a good aquarist, like a good chef, can do BOTH.

So good tank for practical matters, low tech, high tech, etc, as good experience with fish, appropriate plants for them etc, good use of scaping materials that also suit the fish, use of marine systems as well as fresh, reef, marine plants, brackish, emergent etc.

Jeff and Mike Senske in the USA, and I'd say Oliver Knott in Germany fall more inot those Clades than Amano certainly does. Amano kicks everyone' bum with photography. So there's another element that shares the hobby to work on.

Maybe some are better exploring the wild lands looking of new plant species, some more academic, point is, we all have a great diversity, so do not pigeon hole yourself into one area. Over time, you get better at many things.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (19 Feb 2010)

> So is the time of bottom-drilled tanks over? Do you actually think that theres not enough O2 with the current setup?
> What about the CO2 being driven out by the sump?



No, but for myself, yes.
I'll use all sump systems on everything over 40 gal/90cm basically.

I know the sump systems are more stable as far as O2, and as far flow rates/clogging.
They are more flexible and easier to add different media to, change/remove carbon, add as much and as different types of media without stopping the filter lugging it all out etc, no surface scum either!
The water level stays the same, evaporation top off and automated dosing can be done below.

I can still do a much better job of mechanical filtration post wet/dry filter using a pleated ocean clear etc.
Those stay cleaner longer.

Few bad points to the wet/dry sumps, CO2 is not an issue if you seal the dry sections and reduce the overflow spill distance. They are not as quiet, but can be made pretty quiet still, not much else really, more good than bad at 40 Gal and up. Smaller tanks it is not really worth it.

I also have the overflow boxes on the outside of the tank, not built inside.
Does not take up space inside etc.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## keymaker (19 Feb 2010)

Thanks for the answer, Tom. I am looking forward to your new setup - please post us some tech pictures and description if you have a chance. I'm sure we can learn from it. I still have your old images of your bottom-drilled solutions (both this one and the small tank of yours) as well as your "DIY" Ocean Clear Red See external filter images in a "read-this-before-you-start-a-tank-by-Tom-Barr" folder .


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## plantbrain (22 Feb 2010)

I did  a RCS count today, I have more than I thought, maybe 400.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## LondonDragon (22 Feb 2010)

plantbrain said:
			
		

> I did  a RCS count today, I have more than I thought, maybe 400.
> Regards,
> Tom Barr


400 in that tank they are almost invisible, I had 400 in a 54 liter lol Lucky cherries


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## Mark Evans (22 Feb 2010)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> I had 400 in a 54 lite



blimey!


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## Steve Smith (22 Feb 2010)

plantbrain said:
			
		

> I also have the overflow boxes on the outside of the tank, not built inside.
> Does not take up space inside etc.



Hi Tom.  Would be interested to see some photos of "behind the scenes" if it weren't too much hassle.  Does sound very interesting


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## LondonDragon (22 Feb 2010)

saintly said:
			
		

> LondonDragon said:
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Haha I did think I only had about 100 or so, but when removed plants and rocks and left only the substrate I was amazed! lol Got rid of all bar 40 after that, kept the really dark reds to start all over again, only now (9-10 months later) having enough to start off loading again. Now I have more reds red offspring than the transparent cherries, but those still come through.


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## plantbrain (23 Feb 2010)

SteveUK said:
			
		

> plantbrain said:
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Little giant QMSC4, 2 parallel Ocean clear filters, UV, pleated cart, Sponge pre filter, 2x hydor 300W heaters. 
I use a Rio 1100 for the CO2 needle wheel, and a Vortech MP40 for current. That's it pretty much, a coralife aqualight pro 72" long, but no HQI usage. Just the 4x 94W at about 30cm above the tank.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## jonnyjr (23 Feb 2010)

Good to see sum one else is also a fan of the Vortech pumps I was ridiculed for having one (mp10) but enjoy how most of the pump is outside the tank, variable flow, differing flow patterns etc. Being adjustable in terms of angle is not needed with the large flow pattern.


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## plantbrain (25 Feb 2010)

jonnyjr said:
			
		

> Good to see sum one else is also a fan of the Vortech pumps I was ridiculed for having one (mp10) but enjoy how most of the pump is outside the tank, variable flow, differing flow patterns etc. Being adjustable in terms of angle is not needed with the large flow pattern.



I have a MP10 on my 60cm cube.
Very user friendly device.
I think that is one of the keys.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (25 Feb 2010)

Need to whack the Blyxa back even further, uproot and replant to keep it lower. The back is still in the grow in phase as is the left side in general. Lots of current and the wood blocks a lot of light. Back ground will be mostly P stellata eventually, it'll take another 1-2 months worth of trim, grow out for it to look somewhat where I like. 
I may switch back to Tonina.  Both do well in current.  The Starougyne responds well to pruning. I pinch off the tops, about 1-2" down, leave the rest still rooted. On higher clumps, I'll thin and take most of the larger dominate stems. Then the other stem tips fill in. This was less than  a week after I removed about 70 plants. So it looks fairly good not long afterward. Nothing is worse than a  foreground trim/plant etc that looks bad for a long time after wards. I tend to try and hack the plant in the front more aggressively, trying to keep it a safe distance from the front glass. The plants will fill back in those spots in the front in about 2-3 weeks.  Cardinals and other critters are happy, frisky, well feed, eat most anything.  Sorry for the point and shoot photos, I may actually do a real photo shoot someday. This tank is admittedly a long way away from any of that.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Steve Smith (25 Feb 2010)

Stunning Tom!  That is an amazing scape.  So lush and green


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## andyh (25 Feb 2010)

Those last 3 pics are stunning! 

I normally prefer the NA style aquarium with dense planting but this is really stunning!

Thanks also for the detail about the Staurogyne, very useful indeed!


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## Alastair (9 Nov 2011)

Was having a read about this set up over on anothe forum Tom and absolutely gutted to hear what happened with it. Speechless mate.......


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## matador1982 (9 Nov 2011)

Alastair said:
			
		

> Was having a read about this set up over on anothe forum Tom and absolutely gutted to hear what happened with it. Speechless mate.......



What did happen?


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## plantbrain (10 Nov 2011)

I "is" stupid, that's what happened.............should quarantined.........got some weird super ich, could not stop it. Took 99% of the fish.

Watched as there was nothing I could do, jacked the temp up the 1st day I added that plecos who had some ich........and added the full dosing of Malachite green........3x a week 60% water changes.........added more GH and KH2PO4 salts.........some KCL also.........nothing stopped or even put a slight dent in the ich.........35 years of experience and ..........a tank for full of dead fish, about 30 a day..........for 2 weeks.........sucked to watch.........I do not care a hootannie about the $, I've had these cards for 5 years now.........to watch them die...........and I've had a bout here or there of ich in the past also.....never an issue, and never like this, I was always easily able to catch and address it. 

Some very strong strain of Ich is all I can think of, I added 2 larger Q tanks now...........that is about all I can do, the other Q tank was full of left over fish I had not done anything with so I did not Q the pleco.

Son of a basket weaver...........

Shrimp? Heck, they are all over and not one of them died.


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## plantbrain (5 Dec 2011)

New cardinals and new life:


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## sanj (5 Dec 2011)

Tom, what is that plant growing emersed? It looks a little like bolbitis.


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## schraptor (5 Dec 2011)

Tom,

Do you get some spot algae on old leafs of Staurogyne, cause looking at your pictures you don't. Any tips on how to get rid of this (beside constant cutting and replanting)? New shots and leafs are looking super healthy in my tank, but after some time old leafs are getting some spot algae.


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## plantbrain (9 Dec 2011)

Maybe after a big trim, the old leaves, there are not many...sometimes get a little BBA or GSA, the plant stops defending these leaves and focuses on new growth, at least in that tank, other tanks, never get much of any on the plant's older leaves. Algae is rapidly buried and smothered by the growth rate.

If I just let it grow up and out, the algae is no longer anywhere.

But I trim often to keep it low, since it's 70% of the tank, this is a huge change and that's likely why the algae comes in a little bit, but it's 100% manageable. I dose the same thing to all my tanks except the reef/Non cO2, so I know it's not the dosing, it's the % biomass removed along with the high fish load.


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## schraptor (9 Dec 2011)

Tom,

I get some some amount on old leafs as seen below (zoom pls).




Any tips on how to get rid of it? Any potential imbalance / lack of nutrients?


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## plantbrain (14 Dec 2011)

Allow the plant to keep growing as it looks fine, except the old leaves, then trim the top and remove any ratty stuff below and leave only the nicer part.
I tend to wait 1-2 weeks longer than I would like before trimming plants when doing this.


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## schraptor (14 Dec 2011)

Thanks Tom, will try to do that although Staurogyne is not a fast grower as Glosso or Hydrocotyle, so I'm not cutting it so often.


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## plantbrain (17 Dec 2011)

It will grow back and if you give it more light and less shading by other plants, should do pretty well recovery after 1-2 weeks


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## plantbrain (8 Mar 2012)

You can see post trim regrowth, color difference is due to new light fixtures and 2 days of blackout due to fixture swap (Old Coralife to new ATI)
Time difference is about 9 days. 

Prior to trimming:


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## Ady34 (8 Mar 2012)

Another lovely scape Tom.
Out of interest (and sorry for reminding you of unpleasant past experiences), but how did the royal farowella fare with the ich issue, are there any still present in this tank hiding amongst the branches? Do they mind the covered substrate at all, or do they just stick with the branches?
Thanks,
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## plantbrain (8 Mar 2012)

1 male survived.

I have 3 smaller fry I saved before they got infected. P leopardus all survived, I'd figure they'd be the 1st to go.


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## plantbrain (18 Mar 2012)

If you compare the trimming, roughly 16 days since the vicious mowing job has elapsed.


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## Radik (18 Mar 2012)

Crazy growth  I would get tired from trimming


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## plantbrain (18 Mar 2012)

Radik said:
			
		

> Crazy growth  I would get tired from trimming



@1$ per stem, I do not tire of growing this plant.

2 week trimmings and I sell out. So 200$ 2x a month.


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## plantbrain (23 Mar 2012)




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## viktorlantos (24 Mar 2012)

The Stauro Carpet(R)  

Looking good Tom. I need to try this sometime, looks awesome! The original


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## plantbrain (25 Mar 2012)

It's a good carpet plant for tougher larger fish that dig or disturb plants, they root like crypts and trimming is 100X easier than HC.

I think you'll like it, but do not allow it it to pile up too high, it'll bounce back after 2 weeks etc or so and look quite nice.


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## George Farmer (25 Mar 2012)

Looking good, Tom. Nice simple, crisp and clean lines.

I really like Staurogyne but it's maybe a bit ornamental, bright and too large a texture for smaller Nature Aquariums.  

I also concur about the maintenance. You can be really brutal with it; responds really well to being hacked right back! I prune mine here and there almost every week.

I have lots in my latest 'scape mixed up with other carpeting plants to give it a more naturalistic appearance.


shallow LHS by George Farmer, on Flickr


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## plantbrain (25 Mar 2012)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Looking good, Tom. Nice simple, crisp and clean lines.
> 
> I really like Staurogyne but it's maybe a bit ornamental, bright and too large a texture for smaller Nature Aquariums.
> 
> ...



Yes, it does not lend well as a foreground plant in smaller tanks, I've seen used very effective in 60p's as an accent and midground plant with HC, hair grass etc.

Due to the tank size, this makes a really optimal choice for the 180 Gal tank, the HC lawn over that same space? Brutally hard. It tried to re establish HC a few times, forget it. Not with these fish(plecos).

I could use the H sibthorpies in a similar way etc also, but it's a lot more work that this plant.
I have not pulled a single plant up from the sediment in the last 2 years+, I just mow the tops right down to the soil for the most part.

I have thr ATI lights now on this, but only at 30%. Pushing around 200W for 9 hours. Not much light but the PAR is around 100 now up from 40-50 with the old coralife hood with PC lights.


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## darren636 (25 Mar 2012)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Looking good, Tom. Nice simple, crisp and clean lines.
> 
> I really like Staurogyne but it's maybe a bit ornamental, bright and too large a texture for smaller Nature Aquariums.
> 
> ...


get your pics out George


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## plantbrain (26 Mar 2012)

This tank has been more stable in terms of the design, I need to really redo the rear back Left and put some more plants back there and make a higher platform for the plants.

I can try new species and rotate various foreground plants in the 120 Gallon Dutch fusion thing
I'll eventually settle down with the 102 Gallon tank, but I sort just keep upgrading every few weeks, some plant species or try something till it's illogical end.

This tank, not as much.

The foreground choice was frankly much more practical, it survived the pleco onslaught and did not get uprooted. 
Much like the 120 Gal, or most of the so called different designs I tend to do, they are anchors in the practical, not in some "artistic vision". They tend to be loosely based on something I've seen before and often I do not copy things things very well, but the tank ends up going it's own unique path.

So my error/practical side ends up producing something relatively okay. Whatever the process, it works for me. 

Eg, 17 years ago:





Cork backed walls have been around for decades, this was not new, but many loved this 90 Gal. This tank had about as much light as possible back then. And it had DIY yeast CO2(about 20 liter's worth). It evolved and I ended up effectively hiding every piece of equipment in the tank itself.


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## LancsRick (8 Jul 2012)

Love this tank Tom. 1 plant question please:

- What is the "wispy" moss on the branch ends?


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## plantbrain (8 Jul 2012)

LancsRick said:
			
		

> Love this tank Tom. 1 plant question please:
> 
> - What is the "wispy" moss on the branch ends?



Riccia


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## plantbrain (28 Jul 2012)

I'll be adding a few new plant sin the background over the next several months.


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## tim (28 Jul 2012)

staurogyne looks super healthty tom are the conditions the same for the porto vellho sp ?


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## plantbrain (28 Jul 2012)

tim said:
			
		

> staurogyne looks super healthty tom are the conditions the same for the porto vellho sp ?



I'd say S repens it a tougher plant overall. But fairly similar in demands.


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