"Dutch something or the other" 120 Gal

[plantbrain]

I LOVE this pic Tom ! Is there any chance of you annotating it with the full names of each plant for us newbie mortals ? 🙂

Names might change if I do any changes. And if you have followed, you know I play legos with the groups often times.

If you have an interest in a few, just ask.

 

[Iain Sutherland]

This tank just keeps getting better! What is the third from right stem with pink hue?

 

[Antipofish]

OK Tom, thanks, so what is the first orange on the left, carrying across that line to the right as far as the last purple one, from left to right please 🙂 Thats 7 sp in all as I count 🙂

 

[plantbrain]

L to R from the front: UG, Fissidens, Ludwigia inclinata, Bacopa lanigera, E. hydro piper, Ludwigia Red, Erio setaceum Type 3, L. vertilicillata var pantanal, Tonina lotus blossom, L peruninesis, Ech agust. var vesuvius

E triandra big bright green mat in from and H sibthorpides, there's some Downoi and Starogyne purple in very small amounts also in the front.

 

[plantbrain]

Here is a pic of the Ealtine, which the triandra was plants about 3 weeks ago now, as you can see, growth is impressive. The E. hydropiper has also grown in nicely........and will form a solid rug in another week or two I'd estimate.
E hydropiper is a nice new HC alternative so I'm excited about it and I have a good sized patch.

I was worried it might do well due to higher temps some had mentioned it was a cold water plant only etc. That does not seem to be the case.





Here's a high res slice shot.

 

[G H Nelson]

Blimey your the King
hoggie

 

[Antipofish]

L to R from the front: UG, Fissidens, Ludwigia inclinata, Bacopa lanigera, E. hydro piper, Ludwigia Red, Erio setaceum Type 3, L. vertilicillata var pantanal, Tonina lotus blossom, L peruninesis, Ech agust. var vesuvius

E triandra big bright green mat in from and H sibthorpides, there's some Downoi and Starogyne purple in very small amounts also in the front.

Yeah Tom, DOH ! Now I am totally confused cos I was only wanting the 7 plants as I asked for a couple of posts above. You have included a whole bunch more and I dont really know what direction/order you are going as you have included some at the front too. Can I be a pain and ask you to just list the ones I described please dude?

 

[plantbrain]

If it has 2-4 leaves per node, sort of pink....... then it's the Ludwigia inclinata(far Left). If if a more cherry red and semi middle, then it's the L. inclinata verticillata var pantanal. If it's Far left and round with many leaves per node, Ludwigia pilosa.

 

[plantbrain]

I cut out some sod from the Elatine patches, sold the E triandra for 90$ and the E hydropiper for for 50$. Not bad for 3 week's worth of growth for 2 plants.

I can mow E triandra like Gloss, but I think for selling, I'll stick with sod cutting.

 

[Antipofish]

I cut out some sod from the Elatine patches, sold the E triandra for 90$ and the E hydropiper for for 50$. Not bad for 3 week's worth of growth for 2 plants.

I can mow E triandra like Gloss, but I think for selling, I'll stick with sod cutting.

So when you say "sod cutting", what substrate makes up the sod ?

 

[plantbrain]

By sod, I mean pretty much like the grass you have on a lawn. You cut the sides, edges and then gently pull the entire mat up and roll it and off to market it goes. I use a plastic paint scraper for make the cut, and this leaves the remainder intact to regrow out to fill that area you just cut, back in with new growth.

Works well with foreground weeds.

 

[Antipofish]

By sod, I mean pretty much like the grass you have on a lawn. You cut the sides, edges and then gently pull the entire mat up and roll it and off to market it goes. I use a plastic paint scraper for make the cut, and this leaves the remainder intact to regrow out to fill that area you just cut, back in with new growth.

Works well with foreground weeds.

Cool, and presumable the substrate that comes away in the "sod" also provides a useful method of replanting?

 

[plantbrain]

No, I shake the ADA AS loose, but I'm gentle.






This is about 150-200$ worth of plant sales the last 2-3 weeks and this does not count any other plant species.
So it's a nice farm that makes a profit and still looks good, interesting etc, and even changing.

Not many tanks can say that.

 

[foxfish]

You are right there Tom in fact not many tanks, if any, I have ever seen can compete with the exceptional plant growth.
It is the quality of the growth that really impresses me, somthing you only normally see when plants are grown out of the water.
I seem to have mastered the basic principles of successfully growing aquatic plants but what you are showing us is on a different level!
Can you give an indication of how long it takes to exhaust your gas cylinder, it looks about 5-7lb?

 

[plantbrain]

I'm cooking through CO2. I have no idea what the flow rate is , I'd need mass flow controller meter for that, eg an Alicat or something. I use those on large 500 gal+ display tanks. Only way to measure, bubbles per second cannot be done.

I use a 10lb tank, so ~ 4kg since it fits well under the stand. I might use one in 4-5 months?

The point of the tank/goal is multidimensional:

1.Farm, but it needs to look good, so different trim and harvest method are done and the trade off between profit and aesthetics afterward and recovery are weighed.

2. The scape, the aesthetics overall

3. Livestock: these are also sold, the fish? Maybe. Fire shrimp and high grade CRS's? Definitely(maybe 100$ a month)
But these are aesthetics also.....but I happen to be able to make a profit off them also.

4. Contrast and texture in the scape.

5. A scape where I can try new trim methods and new plant species.

6. Generally balance new eclectic species with species that just fit the right spot in the tank. Rare new plants will sell better and some are just nice and easy to care for, others are weedy and removed if a suitable replacement is found.

Very few scapes perform well as sales and farm like production, and also look good. There's a trade off for that.


Many Dutch scapers have spent a good 20-30 years doing what this tank has done in a few months.
But I took risk to get it there and I also..have a good 20 years experience to boot like them also 😳

But when folks tell me that EI is bad for plants, causes algae, or that there is a better way to do it.....I have to compare it to this and see if they are selling plants and growing them like this or selling shrimp etc by the hundreds every month.

It's no newbie tank, that's for sure.
But one reason it does well is the light and CO2.
Ferts are a relatively minor aspect but the one I get the most questions about.

 

[George Farmer]

Probably the best example of a high-energy planted aquarium system there is. It sure ticks lots of boxes.

 

[Antipofish]

Probably the best example of a high-energy planted aquarium system there is. It sure ticks lots of boxes.

Including the "keeping the bank manager happy" box 🙂 Effort being rewarded ultimately, and well deserved.

 

[plantbrain]

Probably the best example of a high-energy planted aquarium system there is. It sure ticks lots of boxes.

I've been doing that as a method to learn, explore risk, toxicity, algae, mostly by falsifying hypothesis(if possible) for a good 20 years now.

This was what my tank looked like 20 years ago:

 

[plantbrain]

Probably the best example of a high-energy planted aquarium system there is. It sure ticks lots of boxes.

Including the "keeping the bank manager happy" box 🙂 Effort being rewarded ultimately, and well deserved.

Well, last year, I've made about 3000$ USD selling weeds from 4 tanks.
About 1000$ for fish/shrimps.

If you do this for 5 years, the cost of the tank and equipment has long paid for itself.
While I spend more on electric and labor, there is a reward for it.

 

[plantbrain]

Probably the best example of a high-energy planted aquarium system there is. It sure ticks lots of boxes.

Maybe it is the aquarist, not the method.