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"Dutch something or the other" 120 Gal

I am going to move the UG to the far left and add Elatine hydropiper in the UG space.
I have some moss and perhaps another red plant for the far Right hand corner.


topviewOct21st120g_zpsc20e124e.jpg

Close up of the UG recovery post Rummy nose removal:
UGcloseupOct21st_zps071ea2aa.jpg

Top Right rear corner:
backrightcorneroct21st_zpsd39ad85b.jpg

The Ludwigia "pilosa"(old incorrect name) does very well for me, but only recently started to grow straighter.
I removed the H "pinnifata". Also added a Bolbitus short leaf form, will see if it stays small in the 5-6" range.
Lpilosa_zpsa735dfcc.jpg
 
Rotala magenta seems to be doing well, nice color and location. Hope to see this one bloom nicely in this spot.
Tonina emergent seems to really be branching lately.
 
I spread the UG out and placed it as the main theme for the foreground.
The E hydropiper came in mush. I'll try again.

I decided to bring out the wonderful Ludwigia sphaerocarpa(old name incorrect: L. pilosa) again for it's own row, this time flanked by UG's bright green grassy color on both sides.

There's a lot of dust settling on the plants after such a massive trim fest.

This will clear up after a week or so. I'll fluff and preen plants and lightly vacuum off the mulm this weekend.

I still need to attend the rear groups, I removed some species and then am filling in others like the Ludwigia senegalensis. I will expand the L. tornado variety more and move a few others around. I removed the Rotala "sunset". It will have a permanent home in my 180 Gal and not be trimmed so often.
I also returned 3 nice Fissidens covered branches. R vietnam is also growing at a break neck pace. Nice plant, but may grow too fast for this tank. I tried to kill it a few times, it keeps worming it's way back.

I've removed the Buce's for the time being, they are in emergent culture for now.
I'll add them back at some point once I figure out "Where", likely in the back Right corner.
Or on the 60p ADA tank and phase out the Anubias.

The white Anubias has doubled in size over the last month or so.
Have plans for that one. I still owe Greg a plant from 10-12 years ago, so he will have the 1st dibs if I sell any.








retrimmednov6th_zps22a8b731.jpg



From the couch:



120couchshotnov6th_zps7edd4b85.jpg
 
Nice couch view :thumbup:
Is the fissidens another plant farm addition or simply for aesthetics? also, what is the small unit sitting on top of the outflow weir?...is it an air pump?
Cheerio,
Ady
 
hinch said:
at a guess a peristalsic (sp?) water pump to keep the siphon going in the overflow
Click to expand...

Yes, but cheaper........12$ USD.

Fissidens is both aesthetics and farm, we get about 15$ for a golf ball or two's worth.
 
UG is starting to take and fill in. I'll likely Fissidens the wood next to the Ludwigia sphaerocarpa(incorrect:L. pilosa) on the Right side to add some more contrast there.

stillgrowigninNov14th.jpg
couchviewNov13th.jpg

Prior to hacking today:

redone120Nov14.jpg



I likely will fill in the L. tornado in the rear more.
I have some R vietnam in the Right corner that's growing fast and will contrast with the R wallichii.
I plan on having a pretty good sized bunch/patch of L senegalensis and in about 1-2 more weeks, it'll be a massive sight.
The L. sphaerocarpa(old incorrect pilosa) is a fast grower and does very well, better behaved for some reason that in the past. Easy for me to propagate.
S. belem is a decent plant in the rear. Might try something else other than it however.

The Rotala "sunset" is now in the 180 Gal and I'll keep it in the back ground. It does very well and can grow and branch all it wants in there.




Need to add some more fish.
 
couchview120Nov18.jpg


120galNov18th.jpg

Nov18th120B.jpg



I will likely try some Rotala macrandra or some type similar in this hole in the corner.
In the opposite corner, I'll whack the Rotala wallichii and remove it. Then allow the Rotala " vietnam" to fill in.

The UG is still filling in and rooting well, it tends to grow up, then a bit ratty, needs a little trimming etc, then it starts to make a nice dense rug after wards, check back in 3-4 weeks and it should be nice and dense.
Many seem to think it's not doing well at this stage, but a little patience rewards well.



siddeview120Nov18.jpg
 
Looking very nice Tom, I really like the freshness it brings to the dutch style. You should really do soon a proper front photo. 🙂

Mike
 
viktorlantos said:
Still an amazing colorful forest Tom. It's an amazing journey testing out this much plant gives a great experience for sure.
Click to expand...

I'll do a video before Xmas.

I want some nice schooling fish and more shrimp in here before I shoot a video. I've been pretty good about not choosing more common easier species and ones I can sell for decent $.

I plan on adding more ADA aqua soil to raise the Downoi up higher for better viewing and more sloping front to back.
One of the original goals was to have each row running a nice 15 degree slope from the front to the rear in classic dutch trimming methods. I do this a little, but have not focused much on this. For a good photo shoot, and video, I'll need to do that.

I have some new plants coming in from Asia this week, so I'll see what works out nicest.
 
Close up of the UG. You can see some older original leaves covered in algae buried in there, but all the newer growth is clean. This was without the aid of algae eaters that pick off such algae, eg a horde of Amano shrimp.
Every so often I'll run a high light tank without any significant algae eaters to see. I'll be adding a horde tomorrow, but it's nice to see what happens even without them.


UGcloseup12-2.jpg


The Couch view is a nice spot to look at the tank. I replanted some of the UG closest to you. I hacked the pantanal and the Tonina, but really hacked and spread out of the Ludwigia senegalensis. This next cycle will grow and fill in a pretty large space full of that, and I moved the Syn belem to the rear corner.
This pictures illustrates the main piece of wood pretty well.

Someone said like a T rex or a squid.

Couchview12-2.jpg

Close up of the mucky mulm corner. This is where all the filth will end up.


rightside12-2.jpg


The right side again: once this grows out 1-2 cycles, I'll be reasonably happy with it.

Rightside12-2topview.jpg



The left side? Well, I need to try a few more things still.


resizedtopvuiew12-2.jpg


I'm not entirely happy with the color of the Ludwigia sphaerocarpa. I need a nice shade of red, but this is not it. I can move this plant to the middle rear or the left corner so there's a home for it.
But I'd like a different contrast around that UG to balance the other reds which are stronger. As is, the color combo is very weak on the left side vs the right.

The rear left corn needs some work to make the plants I desire and the color and textures to come together.
I'm not willing to forgo the Buce's and put them elsewhere, they need to stay in this shaded region as understory plants.
I also still want to see them some also.

I will need to find a suitable piece of twisty wood to put back there to elevate them and then plant a bright red larger leaf or green thick bunch plant back in there.
I also have some Mini pellia that needs a home and the darker color against the UG will look good in the corner.
I also need to add some more ADA soil to fluff up the downoi and make replanting easier in a few of the rows.
 
Like an idiot, I thought adding Blue tetras to the tank in my impatience might be nice. I caught them all today and removed them. Meaner than a Manx.

Boraras brigittae is the real plan and I could not find them but ...since....... have.

I added about 30 Botia sidthimunkii, they always do well.
And added about 100 white back and 100 Amano shrimps.
The double trunk Elelphant nose, gold nuggets and the fire shrimp remain. There's a few pencil fish and a red phantom I've not been able to catch also.
 
I considered blue teras for my tank too, but after seeing them squabbling in the shop I thought better of it.....doesn't make for relaxing viewing!
I bet 30 dwarf chain loach is a beautiful sight, will be good to know how they fare with the shrimp as I like these loaches a lot but fear they may eat my shrimp. Amanos may be ok. Would be nice to see some photos of the loaches :thumbup:
Cheerio,
Ady
 
They really never bothered the shrimp. I've kept them for years, these small Botia did not bother the CRS's either.
 
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