Journal 40B MTS Nature Aquarium

Mr.Shenanagins said:
Yes thank you, this is my life now, I get excited about shit scoopers 😆😆😆
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I’m in the ignore it and hope it goes away phase. Slime is still kicking my butt and I don’t have the time nor patience to deal with it like it needs.
 
FrankZ said:
I’m in the ignore it and hope it goes away phase. Slime is still kicking my butt and I don’t have the time nor patience to deal with it like it needs.
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Oh I know it all too well. I’m home for the next week and a half so time to really buckle down on maintenance.
 
This feels like the dumbest of dumb questions, but we're putting the soil in mesh bags here, yes? So, the plant roots are growing into/through the mesh? Does that make it difficult to move/replant them?
 
Schrute66 said:
This feels like the dumbest of dumb questions, but we're putting the soil in mesh bags here, yes? So, the plant roots are growing into/through the mesh? Does that make it difficult to move/replant them?
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Not dumb! And yes, roots grow through the mesh into the soil. Mess? Never, the purpose of the bags was to keep the soil contained, and that’s exactly what it does. I have zero problems pulling up stems that root, some require more tug than others, but I’ve never had an issue pulling anything out. This method counters the messy nature of using dirt, and I first learned about it from @Tim Harrison who used soil retainer fabric. Terrestrial use for it is erosion control but in our case, avoiding mixing the dirt with the substrate and open water column. I decided the bag method was easier for me.
 
While the kids are away, Dad doesn’t play, he rolls in aquatic shit 🤣 Maintenance day! Lots to do, last night I pulled all the stems, removed old dead growth and any algae I saw. If you don’t have a dedicated bin for plants, get one. I used to leave them floating in a bucket but for some reason that has failed me and killed my plants in the past so I got a $1 plastic bin from the dollar store and it’s perfect. Keeps them moist and can stay in there indefinitely until I can plant. I’d recommend keeping them in dark place though so the stems don’t migrate towards any light source and get all contorted. Fun planting stems that are completely sideways isn’t it 🤪 Anywho I have a lot to do, a lot of pruning the ferns, top layer of moss, and scrubbing the gunk off my garden of anubias up front. The flow cascades down the front glass which is great for feeding the hardscape but it also results in the nasty stuff getting stuck in the nooks and crannies. Alright, back to it 👍🏻💪🏻
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IMG_1599.jpegIMG_1603.jpegIMG_1602.jpegIMG_1600.jpegIMG_1601.jpegSo here’s the fruits of my labor from the other day. There was a lot of string algae, green spot, some other black/brown algae covering my ferns and anubias, and lots of detritus and mulm in all the nooks and crannies. I trimmed the top most layers of the moss, removed any dying or nasty looking fern leaves, and hand cleaned each and every Anubias leaf that had removable algae with a toothbrush (this was tedious, but worked EXTREMELY well, an upgrade would be snagging a cheap waterproof electric toothbrush to work faster!).

Prior to that work, I removed all the stems and cleaned them up. I examined each stem and focused on trimmed them down to where I saw the best growth and leaves that were most vibrant and algae free. I really zoned in on @Dennis Wong article on maintaining stems on his website and helped me realize that the best way to defeat the algae and bounce back from my poor maintenance schedule was too essentially start over with my stems. Within just the past few days I’m already seeing the benefits and enjoying watching the stems grow back and beautiful. From left to right not including the moss and ferns: Erio Vietnam variegated (thanks @Burr740), crypts green and flamingo, Juncus Repens, Limnophila Hippourides, Ludwigia diamond, Ludwigia Super Red mini, Ludwigia Alata, and Ludwigia Meta (thanks @HardeeParty, watching the emmersed form transform is really rewarding what a beautiful plant).

I’m going to work hard to keep up with weekly WC’s to keep this tank looking as clean as it does right now.
 
Oh I forgot to mention that the crypt albida “costata” is exploding on the right side. It’s unusually similar to spiralis tiger, and I thought maybe I got the wrong plant. There isn’t much info on the “costata” variety. I need to pinch the longest leaves to keep it smaller. I’ve also caught my female neon rainbows pecking at the crypts I mentioned were getting holes and melting. I’m not a fan of the girls to begin with because they are so droll looking, I got them on AquaBid a while back and I received 10 females and 1 male. I have a new local store that sells them and they are bright and robust so I will prob trade them in or rehome them.
 
Mr.Shenanagins said:
So here’s the fruits of my labor from the other day. There was a lot of string algae, green spot, some other black/brown algae covering my ferns and anubias, and lots of detritus and mulm in all the nooks and crannies. I trimmed the top most layers of the moss, removed any dying or nasty looking fern leaves, and hand cleaned each and every Anubias leaf that had removable algae with a toothbrush (this was tedious, but worked EXTREMELY well, an upgrade would be snagging a cheap waterproof electric toothbrush to work faster!).

Prior to that work, I removed all the stems and cleaned them up. I examined each stem and focused on trimmed them down to where I saw the best growth and leaves that were most vibrant and algae free. I really zoned in on @Dennis Wong article on maintaining stems on his website and helped me realize that the best way to defeat the algae and bounce back from my poor maintenance schedule was too essentially start over with my stems. Within just the past few days I’m already seeing the benefits and enjoying watching the stems grow back and beautiful. From left to right not including the moss and ferns: Erio Vietnam variegated (thanks @Burr740), crypts green and flamingo, Juncus Repens, Limnophila Hippourides, Ludwigia diamond, Ludwigia Super Red mini, Ludwigia Alata, and Ludwigia Meta (thanks @HardeeParty, watching the emmersed form transform is really rewarding what a beautiful plant).

I’m going to work hard to keep up with weekly WC’s to keep this tank looking as clean as it does right now.
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It is very tedious removing algae that way, I have done it more then once and will probably continue to do it as needed but It is rewarding when it you no longer have the algae. The Erio Vietnam variegated is such a sweet plant, I really hope mine develops more variegation.
The tank is looking good overall though.

HardeeParty said:
Nice! Cuba and Meta are really difficult to tell apart sometimes when emersed and it looks like some got in the mix. I feel like that’s a win. Transition to submersed is my favorite part.
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Is Meta the one I circled in blue? Mostly just curious because I have never really seen them side by side like this.
 
SkaleyAquatics said:
Interesting. You should get a picture if you can. I am not doubting it but its weird that they are making holes in the leaves, id suspect they just tear off at the edges.
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I caught a female neon yesterday tearing away at a green crypt leaf. Guess I needs to feed more, friggen pigs.
 
Tim Harrison said:
All looking great, love the scape 👍
Any updates?
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Thanks Tim, not too much to update at the moment. I’m continuously messing with the stems to see what I like best and where, interesting where some plants thrive in the tank and others fail or are just unhappy. My current goal for the left side is for the crypt flamingo to take off. It’s been unhappy due to some shading by the juncus repens (what a great grassy and wild addition) so I’ve thinned it out immensely to allow more light to hit that hodge podge of crypts. The other issue with the crypts are my female neons, they keep nipping at them when they are hungry and it’s rather annoying. I haven’t the heart to be rid of them yet (rehome of course). The moss, anubias, ferns, and buce are all doing excellent. My colorful stems consist of Ludwigia diamond and limnophila hipp, with a couple of wimpy stems of Meta (it hasn’t been thriving so I keep moving it around to see where it’s happiest. On the far right I moved the Crypt albida because although beautiful, it was catching my eye too much with those long pink leaves. I’ve since moved it to the center of the driftwood in front of the Ludwigia. My hope is it will slowly bush out and flow with the current. I tried to replace its original location with crypt Petchi pink and crypt albida red, but the pink all melted away. The Red melted but the thick roots remained intact, it has since started putting out small red leaves. I can’t find anything online with examples of albida red so curious how it pans out. I’ve only found that if it does grow, it’s very slow. Don’t mind the foreground, I’ve been a little lazy with upkeep of the decorative stone and gravel 😆IMG_1778.jpegIMG_1779.jpegIMG_1780.jpegIMG_1781.jpegIMG_1782.jpeg
 

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Love this tank! I really like your choice of plants and driftwood. What kind of wood is that?
 
TRyan said:
Love this tank! I really like your choice of plants and driftwood. What kind of wood is that?
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Thank much. It’s Malaysian driftwood, very dense great to work with and doesn’t float. It’ll release tannins for a hot minute but it’ll eventually stop leaching at an accelerated rate.
 
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