KevinVA's 75gal Journey in Planted Tanks

**KevinVA** · 03-14-2013, 04:52 AM

Thanks Gogi! Great idea. I'll keep that in mind for the next one.

**Gogi** · 03-14-2013, 05:01 AM

it works like a charm. I saw on youtube from a dude doing an aquascape demo.

**MandyK** · 03-14-2013, 01:59 PM

I think they do that on the Green Machine as well. Have you all heard of that site? Lots of great aquascaping tips if you watch the videos. VERY in depth -- we're talking 30-40 minutes long.

**KevinVA** · 03-17-2013, 05:04 AM

I decided to up my Oto school today. I purchased 5 from Petsmart. They definitely didn't have the vibrant grays/blacks that I'm used to, so I assume they were pretty stressed in the store. I'm not a big QT guy, as most of you probably know, so I acclimated them for about an hour and added them to the 20gal long. This will up my school to 8. Also, I count about 4 Amano Shrimp at any given time. I'm not sure if this means I only have 4, because one died, or one of them is always hiding. I do find molts nearly every 1-2 days... which is good, because it means they're growing. It's amazing how large they are, now. They definitely seem more comfortable in the tank, as they head out into open territory during the day, now.

I have also had a breakout of Pond Snails in my tank 20gal... thank you Petsmart. Obviously, I'm not going to be throwing Assassin snails in there to erradicate the population, but I may draw them out w/ lettuce leaves, so I can feed the Assassins in my 75gal.

I received my Christmas Moss & Glossostigma on Friday. Everything's looking great, so far - very green. I'm going to grow out the Christmas moss a bit, before I build the background. I don't think I have enough, yet, to cover 30" x 12". Hopefully it's easy to propagate. Never had moss before, so I've no idea how to do it yet. I received 5 pots of the Glossostigma (1 was free, which was nice - I only ordered 4). It took a bit to remove the Rockwool (and I couldn't get all of it), but I finally separated them into about 4 separate plants per pot, then planted them across the front of my 75gal. The last pot I placed in my Rabbit snail tank for holding (not sure what to do w/ it yet)... which is another story (that I'll leave for my snail breeding thread).

The Xmas Moss is in the back right, while the last pot of Glossostigma is next to the right rock. You can also see a couple of new Rabbit snails. =]

Here's a close-up of a bunch of Glossostigma planted in the 75gal.

Here's how it's situated throughout the tank.

**MandyK** · 03-22-2013, 12:28 AM

I love the Glossostigma! Is it a high requirement plant??

**KevinVA** · 03-22-2013, 01:19 PM

I like it too. =] To remain short, it requires med-high light. I noticed that it's doing quite well in the 10gal Rabbit snail tank with ridiculously low light, the only difference is that it's growing very tall already - "very tall" for a short plant, anyway.

**~firefly~** · 03-24-2013, 06:32 PM

Just catching up on this journal. Looking great Kev.

The algae was always a big distraction for me when looking at your photos so I'm glad you got rid of it from the sides.

That glossostigma is nice. I've never grown it myself. You've planted it in very dense bunches - if it's anything like other plants it may spread easier and quicker if you break it up a bit more. I may be wrong but I'm basing it on the way grasses and crypts grow in my tanks. They refused to spread until I thinned them out.

I'm looking forward to seeing this moss wall in your 20 - I've always wanted to try this.

Christmas moss is lovely. I had some last year but lost it in a heatwave we had. I now have masses of java moss, I'm considering other more attractive types like Christmas again soon.

**Carapar56** · 03-24-2013, 07:36 PM

@~firefly~ If i'm not mistaken glosstigma grows according to light. I think in lower light settings it tends to grow taller and more bush like, in higher light settings it stays shorter and spreads itself out. If KevinVA has the proper lighting he'll have no issue with it. Its a slow grower at first though. But soon enough you'll see random little runners shooting off and growing all over the place quite quickly when it finally adjusts to your water settings.

**~firefly~** · 03-24-2013, 08:32 PM

Ahhh right, ok. Thanks for the the info - I didn't know that.

**KevinVA** · 03-24-2013, 09:15 PM

Thanks Firefly. =] Yeah, I was getting sick of the algae, too, so I got rid of it on the sides. I got rid of it on the upper half of the back side, as well, but I'm finding it difficult to get around the plants and driftwood. lol

Anyway, After a few weeks of dosing fertilizers, I've noticed that I've been getting great growth (my Sword Plants are really flourishing (they're huge), in addition to the stem plants (especially the Water Sprite) I now have). The only problem so far, is that I've actually seen some new algae growth. SO, as of this previous week, I lowered the dosing of Phosphates and Nitrogen to half the suggested amount and reduced my dosing of Flourish Comprehensive to once per week. We'll see how that goes.

The Tiger Lotus has grown quite a bit, as well. I'm not sure how tall it's going to get, but it's certainly grown in girth and it has the coloring it's known and named for. I think it's a pretty interesting plant.

I've also noticed that my fish are seemingly happier these days. They're all over the tank eating, playing, chasing, and utilizing everything I've set up for them. The Raphael cats are still elusive, but I've caught them hanging out in the sword plants and the rock cave, in addition to their usual driftwood cave. I've actually noticed every species of fish utilizing the rock cave, which I'm happy about.

Here's a GBR & a couple SAEs (the Gourami, Raphs, Serpaes and even Killies love to hang out in and around there):

A while ago, I mentioned that the GBRs had been going at it. At first, they were hanging out together, swimming all over the tank... then they seemed at odds and looked as though they were having a couple's spat. Now I see them together again, all the time.

Since I got a new camera lens, I decided to test it out on these two, since they're the most colorful fish in the tank. It's been very difficult for me to find a happy medium with this lens. It's a 45-200mm panasonic lens for my Lumix G2, so I have to stand much further back than I normally would. Even then, I figured I'd be able to get much easier close-up shots... but I still find it difficult to zoom in. I have no idea how people do this. I've also found that it's much heavier, so I need to really steady myself, use a makeshift stand or eventually buy a tripod. I probably need a tutorial or something.

I couldn't get a real crisp photograph of these guys, but I at least brought out the colors and designs in their bodies/heads. They're such beautiful fish...

Here's the male: