# TDI's  Blyxa-Blyxa Journal



## TDI-line (17 Aug 2008)

*Tank:* Akva-Stabil Effect line 720, with Effect-line cabinet with doors clad in aluminium.

*Volume:* 720 Litre., measures 2000 mm x 600 mm x 60 mm.

*Filtration:* Eheim Pro 3e 2078.

*Heating:* 300 Watt Hydor in-line heater, with Dennerle Duomat Evolution controller.

*CO2:* JBL Regulator & Magnetic Shut Off Valve, with Dennerle Evolution PH controller, fed from 2 KG CO2 bottles to in-line Aquamas CO2 reactor.

*Lighting:* 4 x D+D T5 Razor Light Twin 2 x 39 Watt, with Giesemann Powerchrome Midday 6000 and Aquaflora bulbs.

*Circulation:* Tunze Nanostream 6045.

*Substrate:* 120 litres of ADA Aquasoil Amazonia.

*Tank decor:* 40 KG of mini-land scape rock from AE, Sumatra wood.

*Plants:* Alternanthera reineckii 'Purple' , Blyxa Japonica, Cyperus Helferi, Vesicularia Dubyana 'Christmas'.

*Fish:* Shoal of Paracheirodon axelrodi, Ottocinculus, Badis Bengalensis, Corydoras sterbai, Caridina japonica, and Splendens betta.

Ok then, after a complete strip down and removal of Dennerle's heating cables and gravel, and a heavy dent to my wallet from Mr Amano's aquasoil, i have finally managed to scrape together a collection of photos for a kind of journal...

So we last left off with a murky tank of aquasoil and mini-landscape rocks, and some serious planting to be done.






Then some not so mini-landscape rock was added, thanks to Richard at AE.





Dennerle CO2 diffuser and tank heater was removed, and hydor heater and Aquamas reactor was added.









Then the tank was allowed to grow for a few weeks and ....





























And a few full tank shots ....










There's still a few things i'm not happy with, the hardscape needs some work to reach above the Blxya, and i may ditch the wood too, but for now i'll just leave things alone. 

Hope you enjoy,

Dan C.


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## planter (17 Aug 2008)

Nice one Dan!

The Blyxa has gone bananas  
Like you say the hardscape could do with some adjustment, I would try stacking the rocks to get some nice peaks protruding above the plant.

im sure your proud of your lawn ( I would be ) but I think it could do with breaking up a bit. some open spaces amongst it would add some interest IMO. 

fantastic plant growth, well done.

(edit) Ps.spare any Blyxa?


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## Dan Crawford (17 Aug 2008)

WOW! nice one mate, looks great. I can't believe how much Blyxia you have, what a carpet! It all looks so healthy too.
If you plant the stems behind the wood it would create a nice contrast to the moss and help it blend in a bit?


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## Mark Evans (17 Aug 2008)

good god!  fantastic!   

looks real healthy. great plant. i need some of that stuff. where do you get it from?

mark


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## Garuf (17 Aug 2008)

Holy Â£$%*! 
Dan I'm lost for words that's amazing I especially love the moss wood rock feature. Fantastic work!


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## JamesM (17 Aug 2008)

That looks awesome, I love it!


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## durtydurty (17 Aug 2008)

Im not at all jealous of your taank, its awful........Okay maybe a little green with envy. 

Lovely lovely set up. 

Off to buy some Blyxa for my foreground.....


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## LondonDragon (17 Aug 2008)

WOW never seen so much Blyxa in one tank!!! Looks awsome, problem with Blyxa is that it will just keep growing taller and taller, and sooner or later you will have to sort that out.
Love the effect it creates  keep up the good work


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## jay (17 Aug 2008)

Sure once it starts growing up, all u'll have to do is uproot the front, then you got a superb midground feature, and a new foreground to play around with.


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## Joecoral (17 Aug 2008)

TDI-line said:
			
		

>



I love this pic with the cardinals swimming just above the blyxa! Looks cool as
Tank is looking top notch matey!
Whats the orange fish in the first pic, a killi of some description, what sp. is it?
Joe  


EDIT - just noticed species in OP, is Badis bengalensis. Ignore me


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## Garuf (17 Aug 2008)

It's a scarlet badis, Badis Badis.


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## Joecoral (17 Aug 2008)

yeah i noticed to species in the OP just as you replied. Thanks anyway Garuf


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## Joecoral (17 Aug 2008)

TDI-line said:
			
		

>



Its almost like looking a picture of a field or meadow, with a tree in the middle, and an ancient moss covered cave in the left corner


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## Calum (17 Aug 2008)

That blxya carpet looks amazing! I ordered some blyxa online but the plants werent in such good condition when they arrived, leaves were glassy and broken


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## spaldingaquatics (17 Aug 2008)

I never thought you'd make it look that good! 8) 

not that I ever doubted you  

Brilliant Dan I'd love to have a tank that well planted


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## John Starkey (17 Aug 2008)

Hi Tdi,well what can i say except it took my breath away when i saw the full tank shots,beautifull really beautifull,regards john.


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## TDI-line (18 Aug 2008)

Wow, thanks for all the kind comments from everybody. 

I'll probably have a little pull of the blyxa later in the month, maybe even cut through the tank front to back with hardscape, set about 1/4 of the way along.

Mr Farmer kindly gave me a few good bunches of Blyxa a few months ago, and i have been splitting and growing it ever since. Thanks George.  

When i planted this, alot of the Blxya had been nibbled and stripped. I returned a few assorted fish to my lfs, and i think the Bristlnose catfish was guilty. But now not a stripped plant in sight.


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## aaronnorth (18 Aug 2008)

I looked at everyones comments while the pics loaded and i thought they were a bit OTT but wow that is a lot of Blyxa!!!


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## PM (19 Aug 2008)

YOWZER!   

Really nice tank!

How you gonna prune it with a lawn mower?  

Uh I crack myself up sometimes...


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## TDI-line (19 Aug 2008)

I wonder if there is an ADA lawn mower?  

You crack me up too PM.


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## Joecoral (19 Aug 2008)

TDI-line said:
			
		

> I wonder if there is an ADA lawn mower?



If there was it would probably be made of glass and cost about Â£10,000!


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## Dave Spencer (19 Aug 2008)

Original use of Blyxa as far as I know. Great stuff TDI.   

I do think your tank lacks some kind of transition from front to rear, though.

Dave.


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## Brenmuk (19 Aug 2008)

Great tank . The blyxa makes a strong impact and as an earlier poster said the cardinals look great swimming over it.


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## Voo (19 Aug 2008)

Nice tank you've got there!

How'd you cope with the ammonia spikes from the aquasoil? Did you keep all the fish/shrimp in there since it was added?


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## JamesM (19 Aug 2008)

Good question Voo. I'm hesitant to change to AS because I have no holding tank for my fish...


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## TDI-line (19 Aug 2008)

Voo said:
			
		

> Nice tank you've got there!
> 
> How'd you cope with the ammonia spikes from the aquasoil? Did you keep all the fish/shrimp in there since it was added?



Hi Voo,

i left the inhabitants in another little tank for one week only.

After a few days after initial setup from near scratch, i  did a 50 % waster change every 3 days for about a week. Then i just put everything back in. My fish load is soo small though, and i can't remember the last time i did any water parameter checks.    I have lost a few cardinals, but they do seem to be the larger ones, so are probably getting old.   

I was really apprehensive about the AS, but i am a total convert now. It is well worth it.


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## TDI-line (19 Aug 2008)

Dave Spencer said:
			
		

> Original use of Blyxa as far as I know. Great stuff TDI.
> 
> I do think your tank lacks some kind of transition from front to rear, though.
> 
> Dave.



Thanks Dave.

My thoughts too about the transition, will have to get my thinking cap on.


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## LondonDragon (19 Aug 2008)

a couple of large pieces of redmoor roots in there would most likely look awsome too, and give it a little more scape, rather than just a big carpet of blyxa, which looks great anyway  I love the effect


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## Dave Spencer (19 Aug 2008)

Yes, I reckon some nice hardcsape would give you a midground.

Dave.


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## George Farmer (6 Sep 2008)

Looking good, Dan.

I have a load of spare wood lying about at home.  When I return you can have a gander and buy me a beer in my local.


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## altaaffe (6 Sep 2008)

It certainly looks great as it is though, I can't keep myself from coming back to this post to look at it !!


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## zig (6 Sep 2008)

I don't think I have ever seen so much Aquasoil in a UK tank either, respect! Just watch those rocks with it though if you are moving them around. You could make a few quid on Blyxa sales as well to fund this project  

Agree with the other guys though it needs a hardscape, a half decent hardscape and this tank could look pretty special. Good work so far.


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## aaronnorth (6 Sep 2008)

just looking at your reactor, what are the taps for?


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## TDI-line (6 Sep 2008)

aaronnorth said:
			
		

> just looking at your reactor, what are the taps for?



One opens up the bypass, and the other one shuts off the flow through the reactor. You can also adjust the flow through the reactor, or just incase you may have too much flow through the reactor, like that is going to happen.


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## TDI-line (6 Sep 2008)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Looking good, Dan.
> 
> I have a load of spare wood lying about at home.  When I return you can have a gander and buy me a beer in my local.




Deal.  

I'll hopefully be doing another complete rescape later in the month, i want to rescape all the rock work, so it's more obtrusive at the front, and adjust the Aquasoil so i'ts more graded too.

So i will have some Blyxa spare, but i'll keep you posted.


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## JohnC (24 Nov 2008)

hi,

and wow.

my corner tank has a blyxa carpet growing nicely for the last year but suffers so badly every time i split it out and expand it out. you have inspired me to keep going though and finish my more minimal vision. interesting people mention redmoor wood as that is my hardscape.

the cardinals have a great home.

best regards,

John


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## TDI-line (25 Nov 2008)

Hi John,

thanks for the reply. 

I'm just in the process off rescaping this tank again, after i just let it grow, Blyxa nearly reaching the surface, which then affected flow, and then BBA growing on most of the plants. Yuck. 

My mistake though, there just isn't enough hours in the day.  

I'm thinking about sumatra wood only scape this time, with Blyxa, some of the rarer crypts and some bushy stems, and maybe adding another power head.


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## LondonDragon (25 Nov 2008)

Looking forward to the rescape, always like large tanks  
Btw if you have some Blyxa spare let me know


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## Aeropars (25 Nov 2008)

TDI-line said:
			
		

> When i planted this, alot of the Blxya had been nibbled and stripped. I returned a few assorted fish to my lfs, and i think the Bristlnose catfish was guilty. But now not a stripped plant in sight.



You know i have the exact same problem. I actually thought it was a deficiency! It can grow great for weeks and then all of a sudden starts looking worse for ware and and bare at the bottom of the stems... I have a pleco as well which i want rid of but the missus loves it so it has to stay


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## Aeropars (25 Nov 2008)

TDI-line said:
			
		

> Hi John,
> 
> thanks for the reply.
> 
> ...



If you want rid of some of that Blyxia i'll donate


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## Nick16 (25 Nov 2008)

where did you get the blyxa from mate? how many plants did you use?


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## Dan Crawford (25 Nov 2008)

TDI-line said:
			
		

> I'm thinking about sumatra wood only scape this time, with Blyxa, some of the rarer crypts and some bushy stems, and maybe adding another power head.


If your after some sumatra then TGm have some uber pieces of jumbo sumatra in, I have some and Saintly has had some and it's really nice!


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## TDI-line (25 Nov 2008)

Thanks for the replies guys.

I was given the Blyxa by a very kind member of the forum, probably around 7 good stems. I then basically let it grow it more mature pieces and split every piece and replanted, again, and again, and again until i could cover 200 cm x 60 cm roughly. There would off been a good hundred specimens. 

I then killed 90% of the blyxa with hair algae after neglecting my tank with working 7 days a week setting up my own business.  

I am now trying to save the remanding pieces, oh boy. Funny, the hair has now turned red after doing a 50% water change and dosing with Florish excel and more TPN+.

And thanks for the heads up Dan.


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## Nick16 (25 Nov 2008)

does AE still sell the mini land scape rock? im after something small that stick up but not massive if you get me, like yours.  tank is superb by the way mate.


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## Vase (18 Jan 2009)

I know I'm months and months late to this one, but Christ on a bike!    Just shows how awesome these tanks can look when they've been brilliantly set up and cleared of their stupid, pre-formed backgrounds.

Right thats it, the gloves are coming off....just you wait....


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## TDI-line (18 Jan 2009)

He he, good luck, you'll need it.


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## Vase (18 Jan 2009)

You're not wrong!


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## hellohefalump (18 Jan 2009)

what's going on with the tank now?  Love it how it was... update?


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## TDI-line (19 Jan 2009)

hellohefalump said:
			
		

> what's going on with the tank now?  Love it how it was... update?



It's had a major rescape, i've removed all the mini-landscape rock, plants and tetras (which was not fun), and i have used new pieces of hardscape, but a new Journal will follow, once i have intsalled some new equipment, and a new shoal of fish.


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