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Simple Planted Tank

The Eriocaulon Vietnam arrived today, I split the pot placing most in the back left corner with the piece left over front and centre. Let’s see how it takes. Tank will need a good prune this weekend to tidy up some of the crypts.
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Also used the ultra-wide lens this time, I think it’s an improvement as it gives a better sense of depth.
 
I gave the tank a good trim with today’s water change. Anubias keep getting uprooted, doesn’t seem to be the Gourami but will keep an eye on them, more likely they are just taking a while to root.
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And here’s a slightly different angle:
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So brief update, I should have done some research on the Gourami before I bought them. I assumed they were a dwarf variety but they are Gold Gourami that can grow up to 12cm and need a much larger tank 90cm+. I was told at the time they would be fine in my 54L tank but they became territorial and one was getting constantly bullied. The place I got them was understanding and accepted them back, fortunately.
In other news, the central Anubia’s rhizome rotted so I had to remove it, even though none of it was under the substrate. The other two seem fine for now.
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I like this tank. Nothing excessively sophisticated, but that's the point. Just a bit of green underwater. :happy:
 
Thanks @_Maq_ I’m definitely presenting this tank with warts and all!
Another Anubia’s rhizome rotted, they definitely need to stay out of the substrate as far as I can tell, I won’t be trying that again! I wedged the remaining healthy bit in between two rocks, which should do the trick.
Some more crypt melt going on but the new growth is starting to take over and look much healthier, I’m hoping the same will happen with the C. Helferi so I keep pruning the worst of the leaves.
I didn’t have time for a comprehensive prune so I’ll settle for little and often instead and will give it another go later in the week. Must remember to clean the glass on the right while I’m at it!
Here’s the latest pic:
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goldscapes said:
Another Anubia’s rhizome rotted, they definitely need to stay out of the substrate as far as I can tell
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Anubias is sometimes suffering from a kind of disease the source of which remains rather unclear. There seems to be no remedy for that, unfortunately. Let's hope this is not your case, otherwise all your Anubiases would be most likely lost.
 
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One step forward, two steps back. I was trying to wean my tank off CO2 but reduced it too much and caused a lot of the crypts to develop pin holes or melt. Here’s a shot of the tank after the resulting trim. The remaining anubias are doing okay now they are out of the substrate. Gave the tank a shot of TNC Complete and upped the CO2 a touch, let’s see how it recovers. Pogos are doing well though 😀
 
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Libba said:
May I ask why you're wanting to wean your plants off of CO2?
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Of course, it’s a simple tank with easy grow plants. In theory they shouldn’t need CO2 and after some previous comments on this thread (that have since been moved to a separate thread) it got me thinking and I decided to try to reduce this tanks dependency on CO2. Partly out of curiosity, to see if it could be done, but also because I’m planning to retire this tank soon and start another one. The new tank is much larger so I was hoping to reduce the maintenance overhead (it’s an hour and a half round trip to refill the CO2 canisters). It’s not like I’m planning a high tech ADA worthy tank or Dutch style forest just something simple and low tech for me and the family to enjoy ☺️
 
The Simple Planted Tank has run its course. All livestock were successfully transferred to The Roots, unfortunately I had to sacrifice the plants to catch the final Cardinal, a tough decision but the right one:
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Thank you to everyone that followed and supported the journey.
 
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