Cryptocopia

[bazz]

Is that C. spiralis Red or Tiger?

The one at the front is Tiger and at the rear is Red, strangely enough the new leaves of both have grown with pretty similar colouration under this light whereas they were easy to identify before.
I intended to say above that I'm definitely getting better growth down at the substrate level probably due to a better spread of light as opposed to the point source but I also think the addition of UVA is benefiting all the plants, all new leaves are slightly different than before.

 

[Zoe]

Wow!! What a tank!

 

[bazz]

Wow!! What a tank!

Why thank you!

 

[bazz]

Well, I was hoping to move but it's not happening yet and this tank has now been running for 3 1/2 years, with very little intervention from me (after the first 6 months or so anyway), Buce is slowly taking over, crowding out and overshadowing the Crypts so I think it's time to do something although I'm not really sure what yet although it will be mildly similar because I love Buce and Crypts. There's a good few tufts of BBA in high and low flow areas and the Buce are developing pin holes in the leaves, probably due to not upping the very lean dosing as the plant mass has increased, the Amano Shrimp don't help either
Here's probably the last photos of it's present guise taken with same old crap iphone 12 camera, the tank really is nowhere as blurple with the naked eye and it also loses all sense of depth, but anyway here goes.

Now I'm off to jump in the shower and nip to Aquarium Gardens for some inspiration.
PS I have a 100mm SAE and a 70mm Panda Garra looking for a new home free of charge and I don't mind driving a fair distance as long as they are well looked after if anyone is interested?

 

[Bradders]

this tank has now been running for 3 1/2 years, with very little intervention from me (after the first 6 months or so anyway),

I am just on my journey @bazz of a planted aquarium. 10 weeks in. Did you also go through a stage around that point with algae and things not going as great as you hoped? Interested to hear your personal 'path to stability!'.

 

[bazz]

Alright Bradders,

10 weeks in. Did you also go through a stage around that point with algae and things not going as great as you hoped?

No, I think keeping the light at a sensible intensity during start up is paramount, understandably people with new scapes want ot see instant success but playing the waiting game reaps rewards. However, I did plant some C Parva from the Nano and a couple of weeks later noticed BBA growing on the fringes of the leaves and I believe this was possibly the initial inoculation of it although it has never become problematic, just occasionally finding an odd tuft down at substrate level (close to any organic waste) or in the high flow area across from the outlets. I probably could have eradicated it if I had tried but never really bothered.

Interested to hear your personal 'path to stability!'.

I don't know if there is a path as such but I believe stability is the most important factor, even if the parameters are not ideal most plants will adapt to stable conditions provided, albeit growing suboptimally. Obviously we have to tweek to get things right but constant fluctuation is always going to leave your plants on the backfoot. There used to be an old adage banded about on here and it was 'make one change and wait a few weeks to see the result before changing anything else' not that this is relevant but it does explain that plants need a week or two to adapt to any changes.

I am just on my journey @bazz of a planted aquarium. 10 weeks in.

I'm keeping my eye on this and it is looking good, I would imagine you're happy with where you are now compared to a year ago.
Cheers!

 

[bazz]

No, I think keeping the light at a sensible intensity during start up is paramount

I also used FloraBase which is not saturated with Ammonia but still did daily 60% water changes for a month.

 

[Chez_]

@bazz thanks so much for this, it's inspirational. And the other thing that I'm taking away from it is that you have a Nano scape in your kitchen 🥰.

 

[Bradders]

Thanks @bazz for the answer and insights!

 

[Connswater]

Fantastic set of evolutionary photographs. Many thanks, not sure how I missed them until now.

Not a dissimilar story to mine, first tank 2 foot, 1969 with a box filter and some plants that did not die, then an angle iron tank with an under-gravel and a never ending battle to keep plants (apart from the challenges to plants posed by the undergravel (controversial I know, sorry) the tank was under-lit, as were many from the 1970s until recently, and then from the 1980s a few all-glass on stands with increasing plant success, extra lights and internal filters, and now, a-built in 4 foot, a mistake it should have been longer but the same height to complement the rooms dimensions, live and learn.

CO2 first used, early 1990s, Dennerle, with hardwater, it was a miracle working system.

Bicycles, chopper style 1970s, mountain bike 1980s, hybrid onwards, and soon, an e-bike, I need the assist up hill now!

Funnily I have slightly gone in reverse, I am getting a bit less tech focused. Interesting, the now long now forgotten Dennerle substrate heating cable, helps root cuttings in a propagator but did nothing for my aquarium plants that I could ever see. But then I found the electrolysis steriliser algae inhibitor ineffective. And skimmers I don't need, I like floating plants, though they are handy for getting rid of the last irritating bits of duckweed if someone has given you some inadvertently. And my lighting, well keeps keeping more cheap and domestic than horticultural, though of course, a blue red light definitely saves electricity, you get more growth for every watt consumed. I'm planning soon to get rid of the solenoid and go back to a low dose 24 hours a day CO2 regimen, less bother, and I think the stability works a treat. And, when my Fluval external dies, it will be replaced by a decent sized HOB, as I age I find externals a complete maintenance pain. And, finally, next time I re-scape there definitely will be no fancy expensive Ammonia laced soil pellets, good old pond soil with a mix of horticultural grit and silver sand on top. Last time I didn't use soil, only inert substrate and added root tabs, I think pond soil works better.

One bit of fancy kit I do really recommend, not for plants but for fish health, a UV filter, but a cheap in-tank one, rather than a fancy in-line external one. The bulbs for the latter are a bit too pricey for me and a pain to change.

 

[Iain Sutherland]

I'd somehow missed all this thread, nice throw back and a great reminder of how experienced so many of the members are and what a credit they are to our little community.

Great looking tanks too pal, id forgotton all about your corner tank👍 ❤️

 

[G H Nelson]

My kind of Plantscape!...
Lovely Kedagang.

 

[bazz]

So, New Years Eve was strip down day. My intention was to keep my Little Lava Rock wall but removing the Spiralis Red lifted this and the whole substrate, it measures a meter long in the photo but I had to scissor off most of the roots to get it out of the tank.
I was unable to use my own preferred tank start up method as my fish and plants were in a 85l container in the middle of my living room floor and the fish were not happy (probably the plants too), and I wanted to get them back in the tank ASAP.
For some unknown reason during Lockdown I purchased 4 bags of Lava Rock, which I decided to use again as this tank is not designed around aesthetics, and I want to see if this rock rather than the usual wood benefitted Buce development. I built my wall again, this time only one stone wide, backed by Expanding Foam and with the top course adhered to prevent the substrate shift I experienced last time.



In the rear section went 1 bag of Power Sand Special-M, 1 pot of Volcano Powder, 2 bags of Colombo NutriBase and 2 1/2 bags of ManoBase (still topping this up right at the back), in the front section 1 bag of NutriBase and 1 bag of ManoBase. I chose this as my substrate because (A) it isn't loaded with Ammonia and (B) because I like to try something different from the norm especially if it hasn't been endorsed. However, I subsequently learnt that it does leach what I assume is Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium, I have brought the value down from an increase of 100ppm/2 days down to 20ppm/2 days with the use of soft water changes, it is drastically subsiding.

Let's get some water and plants in.



The phone camera makes it look blue later in the day, weird.



I could have put huge clumps of Buce back in but decided to just glue little sprigs back as half of my enjoyment is watching plants grow from being small to fully grown. However, pretty much all of the leaves of the transferred Buce and Crypts were attacked by BBA, I have never seen it so voracious. The cuttings were dipped in Hydrogen Peroxide (probably this is what damaged the leaf structure allowing the attack), it seemed to be like a last ditch attempt at a takeover. It is disappearing now as the existing leaves melt and/or removed, and all new growth is algae free.



For info;
I remineralise RO to 4 dGH & 0.3 dKH using CaCl2, CaSO4, CaNO3 (Nitrate deducted from fertz), MgSO4 and KHCO3 (K deducted from fertz) with a Ca-Mg ratio of 3-1 (K is most probably out of whack).
For fertz, I'm now front loading KH2PO4 and KNO3 with separate daily dosing of Urea and Trace. I'm targeting 10ppm NO3, 1ppm PO4 and 4ppm K.
I may have to tweek this down the line to include more Mg.
All thanks to @Zeus. and @Hanuman for the fabulous IFC Aquarium Fertilizer Calculator, there are some amazing people on this forum keeping UKAPS at the forefront of Aquatic Plant information, experimentation and technology.

For now though, plant growth is well under way.



And the Nano in the kitchen, home to Eirmotus Octazona.



Cheers!