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Echinodorus tank (the end)

Ian Holdich

Member
Joined
18 Feb 2010
Messages
3,313
Location
lincoln uk
before we get started, this isn't a 'scape' perse, it's more of an experiment/plant species tank. I for one am blown away by the ADA aquajournals and love some of the more simplistic scapes. There was one with just a single species Echinodorus with a glosso carpet, which i loved. There are also tanks on here which also inspire me, one of them was Mike (Clonitza) tank, he had one going with various stems and a single Echinodorus.

The other reason i wanted to start a Echinodorus tank is because they are under used and understated plants IMO. The tank may turn into a an absolute Echinodorus jungle, but i'm gonna try and keep on top of trimming with the smaller Echinodorus. At present it does look quite low and unfilled, but in a few months it'll be grown up. I have also gone for another try at a small HC carpet. This is the only non echinodorus in the scape. There is only a minimal amount of hard scape in the tank as well as i don't want hardscape as the main feature in the tank. I want the plants to be the feature.

here's a little run down of the plants in there...

4X E. Red Devil
4x E. Magdalen
1x E. Marble Queen
1x E. Ruben
2x E. Quadricostatus
1x E. Tricolour (main feature plant)
HC and Vesicularia dubyana

here's just a quick snap shot of the tank and bare with it, it 'should' look good once grown up and in. The plants still have their emersed leaves.


6956497869_037b11459c.jpg
Echinodorus by Ian Holdich, on Flickr
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

Hi Ian,
great to see someone trying something a bit different.
Looks great already and i love the fish choice. Marbled hatchets are one of my all time favourite fish, watch them with no lid though, especially at lights out time!
If you ever need any floating plants to ease them in the early stages just drop me a pm and ill send some silvinia natans foc.
Cheerio,
Ady..
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

I have got Red Devil, Marble Queen & Ruben in my tank.
I have found the Ruben & red devil quite fast growers, after about three weeks they started really moving but, the marble queen has been slow to get going.
The queen has lost all the old leaves & now has about 8 new ones however they are nowhere near the size or number of the other two Echinodorus species leaves!
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

Can i just ask Ian, did you re-use the old substrate and therefore enabled such quick restocking? (no ammonia spike etc as with new ada substrate)
Cheers,
Ady.
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

i like, will be sure to follow

thanks mate!

Hi Ian,
great to see someone trying something a bit different.
Looks great already and i love the fish choice. Marbled hatchets are one of my all time favourite fish, watch them with no lid though, especially at lights out time!
If you ever need any floating plants to ease them in the early stages just drop me a pm and ill send some silvinia natans foc.
Cheerio,
Ady..
Can i just ask Ian, did you re-use the old substrate and therefore enabled such quick restocking? (no ammonia spike etc as with new ada substrate)
Cheers,
Ady
Thanks Ady, much appreciated. I may take you up on that offer, the only factor that made me get them was that they were in an open top in the LFS and he hadn't lost any, and there were none in the surrounding tanks. The substrate is just topped of Florabase, it's only 7 months old. It did well after ripping everything else out, it kept it's shape and hasn't crumbled, the filter is also mature, so i stocked the Green neons from the other scape. I like them.

I have got Red Devil, Marble Queen & Ruben in my tank.
I have found the Ruben & red devil quite fast growers, after about three weeks they started really moving but, the marble queen has been slow to get going.
The queen has lost all the old leaves & now has about 8 new ones however they are nowhere near the size or number of the other two Echinodorus species leaves!

Cheers for that, did the Queen get larger leaves then?? I have tried to be careful not to get to many tankbusters. Thats why i only got the Tricolour (max 40cm lol) and the Queen (max at about 20cm lololol).

This is a very interesting idea. I think this will look great in a couple of months.

Thanks Andy...we'll see if it ends up being a jungle.
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

My tank has only been planted for about four weeks now, I have planted the queen close to the surface as I hope it will grow out of the water. The plant has been said to be more tolerant of a dry atmosphere & the leaves will remain healthy out of the water!
During the last week all the Echinodorus are showing strong growth...
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

I also read that about the Queen, i have read that they will loose the mottled leaves without good C02 distribution. I suppose thats a test in itself. I'm quite looking forward to this tank.
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

LOL, knew you must have had something else in mind if you had ripped your old one down (and once you have used the final FTS image for the purpose you mentioned earlier, please can I have a full or decent res image for a screensaver ? I loved that scape so much).

I like it already, though can you do an annotated image with details of which plant is which name so that newbies like me can learn what the plants are ? Hehe.

Marbled hatchets. Damn you ! Now theres another species I have been reminded about loving and want in my tank. GREAT CHOICE !!

This one is, of course, going on my "subscribe topic" list :) Cannot wait to see it growing in.
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

Oh and can we have tank/equipment specs please mate ? I for one always love to compare...:)
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

i do like echinodorus, trouble is their leaves change into long strappy affairs in my tank
 
Echinodorus tank

Nice one Ian. A man after my i
Own heart. Something much different from the norm. I personally loved all the varied E. species leaf textures and colours in my last tank so will be following this with interest mate.
Can't wait to see it grow in. I found mine grew at a rapid rate with lots of co2 and ferts


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

Keep coming back to take another look at that pic, hehe.
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

Very very nice. I love the dragon stones. Ian did you tie down the moss as it shows us in the tutorials section? I love echinodorus(es)
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

Thanks again Chris

Oh and can we have tank/equipment specs please mate ? I for one always love to compare

Tank - Ehiem 126 scubaline
Filter and curculation - 1 hydor Koralia 900 and 1 JBL e700
C02 @ 1bps through an in tank atomiser
Substrate - Columbo Florabase
Hardscape - Dragonstone (though i didn't want the hardscape to take over, thats why it's minimal)
Lighting - Arcadia original 2 x 18w T8's
Ferts - to begin with 6ml of TPN+ daily, 4ml of Easycarbo and some extra K from ADA.
Daily water changes of 25% for 2 weeks and then drop to twice weekly when the plants have settled into their new environment.

I do like echinodorus, trouble is their leaves change into long strappy affairs in my tank

this is one of the reasons i haven't gone for the good old Blehie sword, they really do get massive, saying that the max size of the Tricolour is supposed to be around 45-50cm

Nice one Ian. A man after my i
Own heart. Something much different from the norm. I personally loved all the varied E. species leaf textures and colours in my last tank so will be following this with interest mate.
Can't wait to see it grow in. I found mine grew at a rapid rate with lots of co2 and ferts

Thanks Al, they should be manageable under T8 lighting (hopefully), as said before i'm really looking forward to this tank. I'm also gonna try and keep the fish regional as well.


Very very nice. I love the dragon stones. Ian did you tie down the moss as it shows us in the tutorials section? I love echinodorus(es)

Thanks Faizal, yes the moss is just tied to riccia stones, expertly made by Mark Evans. The moss is the only thing to come over from the old tank.
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

Got a couple of shots of the new residents, the Marbles were added on Friday (and touch wood, i haven't lost one yet).

6959772567_a72f2bb1f2.jpg
Marbled Hatchet by Ian Holdich, on Flickr

and a new one for me, i got a pair of apistogramma cacatuoides double red, a very interesting fish. I have moved most of my Cherries into my nano as he started on them as soon as i put them in. I shall be off to get some more amanos over the weekend as they seem to leave them alone.

6959771333_d5118e261c.jpg
apistogramma cacatuoides double red by Ian Holdich, on Flickr
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

Great shots Ian, that apisto is a beaut, ive seen various types but was cautious about shrimp compatibility, if yours continue to leave the amanos alone i may well get some myself!
ianho said:
the Marbles were added on Friday (and touch wood, i haven't lost one yet).
Nice to hear that, they must be happy in their new home! :thumbup:
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Re: Echinodorus tank

Superb pics Ian. Loving the apisto choice :) Where do you get your Amano's from and how much is the going price for them can I ask ?
 
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