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Rio 125 - Orphans Island. 5 Week update, plenty of pics!

Re: Rio 125 - Orphans Island. Lost track of weeks Update pic

skeletonw00t said:
Your staurogyne looks great! Really healthy!
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Thank's it's doing really well for me and I've started filling out the front. The last bit of BBA has been cleared with the toothbrush and plenty of easy carbo. :thumbup: It's only the 2 Echindorus species that are struggling. I'm thinking of outing them, the Quadriacostatus on the left can be replaced with some nice crypts but I might keep the Vesuvius for now. Started trimming the longer Staurogyne shoots and seeding the middle of the foreground. I think I will give up on P Helferi for now.

L Aromatica is coming on well from what I started with. Time for a trim and replant. I'll grow them out, then pull the lot and restart with the nice tips. Should have a nice bush of it in a couple of months.

Anyway, FTS, complete with floating Staurogyne trimming. Uprooted by angels no doubt. :evil:

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And just to show the diffent side views,

from the left,

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and the right.

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I'll get the tripod out soon. 😳



I had a couple of misshaps recently. Lost 2 black phantoms after last weeks water change. They were kinda floating around, gills still going. Not sure if it was something in the water or the temp shock as I add cold water straight to the tank slowly. I also couldn't find my API conditioner at the time.

The second misshap was this weekend. Sunday morning I did a full filter maintenance along with pipe scrub. I flicked the co2 on afterwards to check after putting the brush through the otimiser, forgot to turn it off. Monday evening comes around and the 3 angels are huddled up the back left corner gasping. Realised the error, cut co2 off, raised spray bar for and hour or so. Luckily all was well and no casulalties. A few weeks ago I forgot to turn the heater back on for 2-3 days. 🙁
 
Hi Spyder,
this tank is looking so healthy and has filled out well, that staurogyne in particular is rampant.
Im sure it cant be the 'Angels' :angel: that are continually uprooting your plants!!!
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
spyder said:
And rather central. May move and or replace it soon. 😉 I want to try some nice Ludwigia somewhere.
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If you are gonna ditch it, PLEASE let me know :thumbup: Just flick me a PM Ludwigia sounds GREAT, hehehehehe.
 
Antipofish said:
spyder said:
And rather central. May move and or replace it soon. 😉 I want to try some nice Ludwigia somewhere.
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If you are gonna ditch it, PLEASE let me know :thumbup: Just flick me a PM Ludwigia sounds GREAT, hehehehehe.
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Sorry I would probably drop it into my 60l, think I'm gonna sort it out and go low tech in there. They were fairly established tropica plants that went in but I think they were a bit crowded, I thought I thinned them quite hard the last time, maybe I should hack em back hard again, I was thinking of just trimming the tops of the longer shoots this time around to see how it responds. Have noticed a few newer shoots coming from low down so maybe it's just coming back.

Skipped todays scheduled WC due to too much cold wet white stuff on the ground. Will do 30% on wednesday when I have some time prior to the photoperiod, then back to normal service. It's been a long weird weekend so no pics but I'll try and snap 1 midweek. Not much has changed, just a little thicker n bushier I would say. The last of the BBA is gone thanks to easycarbo and a toothbrush. My hygrophila pinnatifida is losing some leaves now that look like co2, it's been in about 4-5 weeks. New growth is good with a slight red/brown tinge. That also needs a hacking back and replanting around. Staurogyne needs a good thinning and some is reserved up for some Ludwigia. Not sure where it's going yet but have a couple of places in mind. Maybe time to evict one of the Echi's. :lol:

Went and grabbed a quick shot. Angels have been at the blyxa again. :evil:

smayyc.jpg
 
spyder said:
Ady34 said:
Hi Spyder,
this tank is looking so healthy and has filled out well, that staurogyne in particular is rampant.
Im sure it cant be the 'Angels' :angel: that are continually uprooting your plants!!!
Cheerio,
Ady.
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Cheers Ady. I sat and watched them destroy the blyxa.

Red plant is Altenanthera reineckii
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I added this plant to my tank. Its growing well and the leaves seem to be getting pretty big. But yours looks a LOT pinker compared to mine which is reddy/browner (lol hark at my amazing colour descriptions). Any ideas why ? Just your pics or lights compared to mine ? Mine are under a reddish light so could be that I guess.
 
Antipofish said:
I added this plant to my tank. Its growing well and the leaves seem to be getting pretty big. But yours looks a LOT pinker compared to mine which is reddy/browner (lol hark at my amazing colour descriptions). Any ideas why ? Just your pics or lights compared to mine ? Mine are under a reddish light so could be that I guess.
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Your guess is as good as mine. I'm using stock Juwel T5's. There is one tube thet is a bit more pinky/reddy (and you thought your descriptions are shoddy) and that is at the back. If that changes anything I'm not sure. I don't hold back on any dosing of nitrates.

Not much has changed. Last week I took all Quadricostatus runners out of the Hygro in the corner and replanted them. I'm getting to the stage now and thinking "things are not going to plan" scapewise. It's kind close to my vision but not how I had imagined. I might evict both Echinodorus species soon and replace with some nice crypts. Setting up the tank I was more concerned with growing healthy plants, I seem to have that covered now and find myself thinking more about the aesthetics of the tank like why is the substrate so deep at the front? Why didn't I make the hardsacpe higher and bolder? Well I guess we live and learn.

Most trimming is either Staurogyne, L Aromatica or the Alternathera. The last two have been butchered again. Here's a shameful full tank shot. I seem to be struggling with my DSLR lately and not getting what I expect. Anyway here's the FTS from a few minutes ago.

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I'm still on the lookout for some nice Ludwigia stems or any other midground plants. I will have a good bunch of this Staurogyne available for trade in a week or two. Just want to grow it out so it's easy to deal with and replant.

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That stauro is stunning, you have achieved wonders with it. How tall is it, as its hard to tell from images. I love how close the leaf levels are.
 
spyder said:
It s about an inch to inch n half there. I'd like to get it to 2 - 2 n half inch to make it easier to trim and replant for whoever snags it. I'm hoping it gets a little more compact over time. I find it very rampant indeed. 😀

Cheers.
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I might be up for getting some when you are ready. Keep me posted 🙂
 
Seems to be about a month since my last update, not much changes just the plant mass increases, then I hack some out.

Here it is before any maintenance.

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Staurogyne was hacked out, right down to the wood as they say. I can't wait to see how it responds to that. A few Vesuvius runners were removed from the island, they are popping up all over the place now.

After brutally hacking back the Stauro.

2meeey0.jpg

Quite a bit came out of there and I think some clippings are stuck in other plants in the tank.

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WOW ! I can't wait for my portion of Stauro. That is in EXCELLENT condition.
 
Posted out today along with Mikeappleby's double portion.

I sat over a bucket of tank water fishing out the bigger stems and avoiding the smaller bit's for you guys. I'm glad I cut it off at 5 portions so you end up getting decent portions. at first it filled 6 bags but I condensed 1 bag into the other 5. 🙂

Hope it does as well for you guys as it has done for me.
 
Really healthy plant growth, tank is looking great 🙂 I have a Rio 125 myself and know how little depth it has to enable for good hardscaping 😉
 
Cheers LD.

I was inspired by your never ending journal when I acquired this tank, then amazed by your Iwagumi. Maybe I should remove all plants from foreground back corners and seed it all with staurogyne but I like the tall jungle look at the back lol. If I did that, it would make the island pop a little more. I should have had less substrate at the front and built up the island higher. At least I've learnt a few things from this tank so far.

For now though, I'm chuffed to have plants underwater that are growing well. That is a milestone for me in itself.

Cheers. :thumbup:
 
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