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Ray's 90cm - Growing Pains Over?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ray
  • Start date Start date
Hi Ray,i think your layout is very very nice,its easy on the eye and the path on the left draws you through the scape nicely,i do agree with the pebbles thing Graham pointed out,i think they would finish it off nicely,well done,regards john.
 
3 months gone by already? Been kinda busy with work, family and a professional exam I'm planning to take...

So, its a whole new scape. The ferns have gone beserk, my nice moss stones are dying in the shade, I've still not got around to sorting out the stones on the sand, maintenance is every 2 weeks now but things are so mature that it doesn't seem to be a problem - a mature tank is much more forgiving. I have had the odd isolated patch of thread algae but that's most likely flow - the Koralia Nano is now too small. For months it sat in a drawer because it was too much and now its not up to the job... Or perhaps it is because I eased the CO2 back slightly so I'm now getting 2 months from 2kg. I'm only using Easycarbo after water changes also.

Anyway, its different, growing like crazy, crypts popping up everywhere (see the balansee sprouting in the front). Huge amounts of green need tearing out regularly to stop it looking overgrown and past its prime + to let some light down to the lower layers- I just this weekend pulled out all the bottom RHS hair grass as it was choked with moss, that's re-planted now.

I am not sure where to go with it next? Time permitting I'd like to get it really shipshape and enter it into AGA then rescape into an Iwagumi but we shall see... I had a lot of problems earlier on so for those of you who are starting out, persist - once you get there the pain is a distant memory. So, without further ado, a few rough and ready photos - the contrast between surface and depth is now huge so its hard to photograph.

P1000157.jpg

The guppies are refugees from my 25l, not part of the plan but actually they work OK - they are very active in a very different way to the tetras and the angels.

P1000145.jpg

P1000132.jpg

P1000130.jpg
 
:lol: those crypts are crazy! i've just had to go back to see it in its first few days to compare.

looking absolutely brilliant ray. excuse my ignorance, but when did the microsorum enter the scape? it's a beauty 😀
 
saintly said:
:lol: those crypts are crazy! i've just had to go back to see it in its first few days to compare.

looking absolutely brilliant ray. excuse my ignorance, but when did the microsorum enter the scape? it's a beauty 😀
Click to expand...
:lol: It was always there, for 10 months now - here is March 4th:

DSC_0237-1.jpg

You can see in 3 months it suddenly went "womph" and took over the whole scape. Before the photos in my last post I tore out about 1/3 of the ferns, would you believe. The crypts are even worse - how can I tame them? Should I just cut them back to zero and force them to start afresh, prune the biggest leaves, the oldest? I've no experience of this kind of monster growth. The Helfrei I had to remove it all - 10 stems had grown into over 50 crowns so I put just 10 back. Once things are established growth is exponential and you can't stop it...

Clive, George, good to see you still around 😉

Looking at this old picture I'm not sure if I prefered it in March or June...
 
Ray said:
The crypts are even worse - how can I tame them? Should I just cut them back to zero and force them to start afresh, prune the biggest leaves, the oldest? I've no experience of this kind of monster growth.
Click to expand...
Ray the problem is not with the leaves, it's with the roots. Uproot them and trim, then replant. You're likely to see massive root balls when you pull them up. This is the only way to tame high tech crypts...

Cheers,
 
ceg4048 said:
Ray said:
The crypts are even worse - how can I tame them? Should I just cut them back to zero and force them to start afresh, prune the biggest leaves, the oldest? I've no experience of this kind of monster growth.
Click to expand...
Ray the problem is not with the leaves, it's with the roots. Uproot them and trim, then replant. You're likely to see massive root balls when you pull them up. This is the only way to tame high tech crypts...

Cheers,
Click to expand...
Ah, thank you Clive, I didn't think of that. You are right - the crypts often have roots stretching 12 or 18 inches. Of course if I uproot and trim over 100 crypts plus all their babies, that wouldn't really be low maintenance anymore - it would be a rescape. :? Hmmm, I'll give this some thought...
 
ceg4048 said:
Mate, I never promised you a rose garden... :lol:

Cheers,
Click to expand...
"I beg your pardon!" :lol:

Another option is to brutally cut all the leaves right back and wait for re-growth. I've done this a couple of times, but of course, it doesn't reduce the "root cause" (pun intended!)
 
Ray, this is looking great! There's so many old scapes that are turning into mature beasts at the moment and it's fascinating to see. I love the jungle feel to it.
 
So its two years next month:

DSC_0351.jpg

Looking back its definitely not what it was. I had absolutely no time for it at all first few months of this year - through negligent dosing, CO2 running out, no water changes for weeks - all my moss died and there was a huge BGA outbreak, it covered everything. I cleared as much mulm as I could but only a blackout could get rid of it completely. I've got it back under control now but I lost the mosses, the grasses, the stems and the cyperus helfrei. Also I never ever got around to doing grading on the edges...

So, now its got to change, I fancy an Iwagumi and its got to happen in the next 3 weeks while I've got the house to myself.
 
Yours Tank is Beutifull and post is great
Sorry 2 years later i read this post 😀 😀

Best Regards,
 
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