KevinVA's 75gal Journey in Planted Tanks

**KevinVA** · 01-25-2013, 01:43 PM

Haha, those pesky little borders. Are you worried about the cost of shipping or is it illegal to import plants/animals?

**madagascariensis** · 01-25-2013, 04:01 PM

I wouldnt say its illegal to import these species but the cost of shipping and inspection will be ridiculous. plus if they inspect it its going to take so long that by the time it arrives it will be decomposing slime.

**KevinVA** · 01-25-2013, 04:14 PM

lol, that's a possibility.

**jeffs99dime** · 01-25-2013, 05:05 PM

Kevin- Those are great pics!

**KevinVA** · 01-25-2013, 05:12 PM

Thanks Jeff, appreciate it! =]

**MandyK** · 01-25-2013, 10:55 PM

Wow, I've missed quite a bit!!!

Sorry to hear about your phantoms and Apistos. :( Such pretty fish, but I'm glad that your rams are doing good.

Your plants look awesome as usual.

Good luck on the snail project! I recently had a snail die off. No idea why.... Good to be back!

**KevinVA** · 01-25-2013, 11:07 PM

Thanks Mandy! There have been a lot of pitfalls and hill climbing along the way, but it's been fun. =] I'm glad you're back!

**KevinVA** · 01-28-2013, 04:49 PM

In another couple of days I'll be receiving my true SAEs! I can't wait to see how they do in the tank and witness the job they do on algae. Finally, I'll be able to have something that can take care of the job without fear of being eaten. ;P

Last night I was taking a look at my tank and the pictures I have on here (before, when it was heavily planted, and now, where it's lightly planted). While I appreciate more swimming room for my fish, I do think it looks a little bare. So, while I was up late, I decided to do some looking around for plants that I could add to add more character and fill in the holes.

I ended up purchasing 5 different plants: 2 x Water Sprite, 1 bunch x Alternanthera reineckii roseafolia, 1 x HYGROPHILA CORYMBOSA STRICTA & 1 x Cryptocoryne undulata.

I plan on adding the more colorful roseafolia to the left side of the tank, right in front of the sponge filter and behind the driftwood/Amazon Sword. It should add some interesting contrast with the Amazon Sword and depth with the smaller Tiger Lotus (which will also be red - it's growing, just slowly to the right of the Sword).

Then, I was going to plant one Water Sprite behind the Malaysian driftwood toward the right side of the tank and the other Water Sprite to the left of the Red Rubin Sword and in between the branches of the Manzanita driftwood.

The other two plants are much smaller and will grow to about 6" at max height. The plan is to plant the Hygrophila Corymbosa Stricta in the mid-ground, in front of the left-most Water Sprite, giving that area more depth, while the Cryptocoryne undulata will be planted in the middle (and in front of) the two rocks in the center of the tank.

Maybe a visual would help. I'll see what I can do.

**Gogi** · 01-28-2013, 07:38 PM

Plants are looking great. I m excited for the arrival of the SAEs. I love mine. They might eat some of the red root floaters too. Mine eat the salvina I toss in from my shrimp tank.

**KevinVA** · 01-28-2013, 08:23 PM

Thanks Gogi! Hey, if they want to eat some red root floaters, I'm fine with that. =] That stuff grows with a purpose. I actually took out all of the Frog Bit from my 10gal Betta tank, because it overtook the tank. The roots were just too much for that little space. I imagine they'd look great in a much bigger tank, where the roots can hang free and not consume all of the swimming space. lol I'm pleased with the renewed clarity in there. I'm fairly certain it's responsible for eating all of the Nitrates, though, which is a good thing. If anyone wants a fast growing plant that'll clear your toxic nitrate... that's the one to get. ;P

So anyway.... here's the plant plan for now. I left several Ludwigia stems in there on the left. Not sure if I want to get rid of them, or propagate and plant a line of them back there. Time will tell.