Journal Dutchy Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

[FrankZ]

Wait you're in FL right? Just noticed your avvy says Delaware. I had FL in mind with the rice fish post

What waterfowl game is there in Fla, is duck hunting even a thing?

lol nope I’m in Delaware.

 

[Burr740]

Lol ok they probably cant winter outside in freakin Delaware

 

[gjcarew]

I don't remember where I saw it, but I remember you mentioning you use some kind of black trim on the edges of your tanks. What do you use for that?

 

[Unexpected]

I don't remember where I saw it, but I remember you mentioning you use some kind of black trim on the edges of your tanks. What do you use for that?

Great question, haven’t seen anything while looking through Home Depot.

 

[Burr740]

I don't remember where I saw it, but I remember you mentioning you use some kind of black trim on the edges of your tanks. What do you use for that?

Great question, haven’t seen anything while looking through Home Depot.

Its just regular wood, unfinished like in the trim section at lowes, home depot, etc

These are 1.5" wide, painted black and attached with thin double sided tape

Update coming soon...

 

[Burr740]

By soon apparently I meant two months, lol. Things have been rolling right along. Basically Ive just been trying different things, swapped a few species out, playing with the arrangement. Think Ive got the final layout set now. But let me catch things up a little bit first

This is the Lud white stumps 2-3 weeks after the last pic

Growing OK, still getting some algae because its not quite happy. And a few of the tops have some reverted leaves, also usually happens when its not entirely happy. Think I mentioned this is the first time Ive ever tried it in sand. It was getting shaded a lot of that time by the cuba laying over the surface, and the helanthium. So it mightve perked up but I didnt see it getting good enough to go up front in a show tank in the next month or two

So I moved it to the 75p, which is mostly a depository for scraps atm

Here's a beta I got from a pet store cup, labeled 'panda'. Got a little piece of food in the tweezers

Hes a pretty cool fish. After Id had him a couple weeks I put 3 female crowntail-somethings in there. And he wasnt having it! Immediately bowed up and started harassing the hell out of all three. So he's still by himself

Continued...

 

[Burr740]

Wasnt feeling the Bacopa colorata in back so I went with Ludwigia inclinata Meta, pantanal's twin. Started with a few stumps

About a week later

And here I sat with it for a couple weeks. Id gone with Ovalis pink in the front middle and ditched H laciniata for Syn macrocaulon

Mini aromatica front left was never staying, its just there growing out for a week or two while I figure something out. I needed a plant there to study the layout better

Behind the Syn I had a real conundrum over what to use, and how to tie all that in. In the pic I have a few Tulu and purple bacopa just seeing how they would look

I'll make a long story short and flash forward to about a week ago. Aside from a few tweaks this is the layout Im rolling with. Like @gjcarew said in his the other day, there comes a point to stop rearranging stuff and just go with it

 

[Joel Armstrong]

Damn! Stunning tank man.

 

[Burr740]

The yellow on the right is Rotala macrandra Kochi. It'll be taller than the super red behind it. Gratiola viscidula is front right, not sure about that one. Can tell better how its gonna look after the Kochi gets tall

Now with a yellow right there L cuba in back wasnt gonna work. Back there now is Hygrophila balsamica, three monster stems

Cut the roots off before planting

About those roots. The plant doesnt need them and wouldnt use them anyway. If you ever uproot a plant, whether its a stem, rosette, whatever, existing roots like that never survive. They just die off and new ones come in. Try it sometime. Pick any plant you want. Pull it up and replant with all those pretty roots. Then pull it up 2-3 weeks later, you'll see

In front of the Lud Meta is Limnophila wilsonii I got from my bro @OmidNiav . It might be my favorite "fuzzy green" ever, perfect size (dia) and grows thick and full

Decided to keep it simple this year with fish, just grabbed some fancy guppies from the lfs. Sticking with mostly cobras. Theyre small, active, and despite being so common really do have intricate colors. So dont be hatin on my guppies! lol

 

[Burr740]

Guess we're all caught up now. And bros let me tell you, this tank is FAST. There's 3 days between these pics, look at the Meta

Gotta tweak the Lobelia street a little bit. What ive tried here is to have it tallest about midway then take a dive in height as it disappears into the back. But the effect doesnt come across in pics, it just disappears. So Im probably gonna have to let it keep getting taller to the back

And yes I realize it and the Acmella street mirror each other with the same curved ascent. that is by design and I think it'll be a good look when everything fills in, or it might look weird, idk lol. But thats what Im going with

Tank could be ready in a couple weeks now really. But the buces need to hit the nitrous switch. Ones on the far right wont be used. The other is brownie ghost Im hoping to use all that. It grows a lot slower than other buces Ive had. Im gonna split them up in the next few days, then theyre gonna need 4-5 weeks. We still dont know the AGA deadline because they havent opened it yet. Working out a new platform or something. So hopefully there's like 6 weeks left just for the buces

Might as well hit the image limit so heres a couple pics of other tanks

50 gal with 20 long on bottom

45 gal packed full of stems. Its 30"x18"x21" same footprint as the 75p just a little taller. Down low is the gratiola I used

75 gal, 20 long, same 45

 

[Yugang]

Amazing tank @Burr740

Substrate: Black Diamond blasting sand. Any grade will work but the courser the better. I stuck a few Osmocote Plus balls under the Physopstegia but otherwise nothing extra in the substrate

Still using this substrate, and have you always been? Would you see any benefit in going (back?) to AquaSoil?

I just took out some 20% of my aquasoil to clean it from dust, as I noticed that a probably too-compact-to-be-healthy layer of decayed particles made it difficult to plant. Considering to purchase blasting sand or similar, and let it mature for a couple of weeks in buckets with aquarium water so that microorganisms could build up in the new soil before going life in my tank? Have you exchanged substrate in a mature tank, and would this be your approach as well?

 

[gjcarew]

Damn you really are better stocked on plants than most pet stores. I'm both jealous of the number of planted tanks you have and horrified by how much maintenance that must be. I imagine you've gotten pretty efficient, how long is a typical maintenance day? Or do you spread it out?

 

[Burr740]

Amazing tank @Burr740


Still using this substrate, and have you always been? Would you see any benefit in going (back?) to AquaSoil?

I just took out some 20% of my aquasoil to clean it from dust, as I noticed that a probably too-compact-to-be-healthy layer of decayed particles made it difficult to plant. Considering to purchase blasting sand or similar, and let it mature for a couple of weeks in buckets with aquarium water so that microorganisms could build up in the new soil before going life in my tank? Have you exchanged substrate in a mature tank, and would this be your approach as well?

This tank has always been sand. About half the tanks are aquasoil-type sub, 1+ yrs old, the other half are blasting sand

As for benefits, I assume you mean soil vs sand.

Soil grows plants easier, no doubt, especially difficult species. Even old soil long after nh4 has run out grows plants very well. Probably from cec keeping it rich in certain nutrients, plus being more acidic. Or maybe its able to house different/more/better microorganisms and beneficial bacteria that help plants. Whatever the reason even old soil grows plants very well. Tougher plants I always put in the soil tanks first

However my experience is the vast majority of plants can do just fine in sand if everything else is good (co2, ferts, etc). Its mostly about KH for "difficult" plants, in the 0-1-2 range just about anything can thrive

Blood vomit, KH 0-1




Indica with 5-6 KH



Wallichii, 2' tall in a standard 75 gal, KH 5-6



Novo, KH 0-1



Syn, Tonina all do fine long as the KH is low. They dont make a lot of roots to begin with

As to your questiuon about adding blasting sand to it, I think thats what you mean? Ive done that a few times, recently as a matter of fact. The soil was old but still solid, wasnt turning to mud. So idk if itd help muddy soil or not. I did it because the sub had gotten too shallow and needed more depth, and I wasnt in the mood to buy more soil lol

 

[Unexpected]

Every time you post, I want to quit the hobby

 

[Yugang]

Soil grows plants easier, no doubt, especially difficult species.

This is really interesting, and I was not expecting this as you do EI water column dosing. A clear vote for soil, I will definitely consider before swapping from soil to blasted sand. I really like the idea that sand does not break down, as soil does, and from that perspective seems easier for a long term tank that does not require renewal of the substrate. I can rinse sand from one part of the tank, put it back in, and ready to go for another year or two.

As to your questiuon about adding blasting sand to it, I think thats what you mean?

Actually I was considering taking all old soil out, and replace that with 'conditioned' (keep for a few weeks in aquarium water) blasted sand. Rethinking this, and considering your argument pro soil, I may just start adding sand to my soil substrate and have the soil gradually washed out when it degrades over the next couple of years or so.

 

[Burr740]

This is really interesting, and I was not expecting this as you do EI water column dosing. A clear vote for soil, I will definitely consider before swapping from soil to blasted sand. I really like the idea that sand does not break down, as soil does, and from that perspective seems easier for a long term tank that does not require renewal of the substrate. I can rinse sand from one part of the tank, put it back in, and ready to go for another year or two.

Actually I was considering taking all old soil out, and replace that with 'conditioned' (keep for a few weeks in aquarium water) blasted sand. Rethinking this, and considering your argument pro soil, I may just start adding sand to my soil substrate and have the soil gradually washed out when it degrades over the next couple of years or so.

Really I dont even like new soil. First month you gotta deal with excess nh4 and it sucking all the po4 out of the water. Both require adjusting nutrients. Then theres a glorious honeymoon period that might last 6-8 months where things grow marvelously. Then the nh4 at the roots starts running out and you have to adjust the dosing again with more no3. Two months later its gotten even lower. Some dont really notice this. Others will and be wondering where the new algae came from and why this or that plant sucks all of a sudden. Low NO3 routines are esp susceptible

Thats why personally with new soil I just pretend like the extra nh4 at the roots isnt there and dose for a normally rich water column. With inert sub you dont have any of that. It is what it is from day one and all you gotta do is nail the water column

About soaking the sand in a bucket first. My guess is that wont help much because the microbes/bacteria we want probably need the by products of roots and stem bottoms running their life cycle. Im just speculating here

And really Ive never seen much issue with brand new sand. Yes it tends to 'mature' or whatever after 2-3 months, there's a definite sweet spot that happens around then, water turns crystal clear, plants get even happier, you can just tell. But even from day one I dont see any real issues when its new

 

[Burr740]

Damn you really are better stocked on plants than most pet stores. I'm both jealous of the number of planted tanks you have and horrified by how much maintenance that must be. I imagine you've gotten pretty efficient, how long is a typical maintenance day? Or do you spread it out?

Haha, it can definitely turn into a nightmare if I let things go. I try to keep most of the trimming done between water changes. Not major trims and uprooting, that always needs a wc right after. But like stem groups that've hit the surface or its time to split some crypts or downoi. I like to have all that pretty much done that way wc day is mostly drain and fills with some light vacuuming. Where no tank is a major project

Also Im not manicuring all these groups like if they were my main tank. Stems get topped and sold, bottoms left in place to make new ones. Restart with tops as needed. Im not worried about keeping a certain look. So theres that

Another thing that helps immensely is when the plants are all healthy. the happier the plants are the less algae there is to deal with. Things like shabby old leaves and rotting stem bottoms cause a lot of extra work and algae too which is even more work. So keeping the plants happy is the number one thing, as it always is

I spend probably 30 min to an hour most days just picking and pruning. I actually find it relaxing and try to approach it like a meditative exercise. But its not always, lol. Sometimes it feels like work

I try to keep water change day the same for all tanks, that way theyre all on the same dosing schedule. I can do all 10 in 4-5 hours if its mostly drain and fills

 

[Burr740]

Two days later. Meta starting to lay over the surface. In my experience with it, if it lays over the surface very long it starts throwing side branches up close to the top, kinda ruins the look. So I need to shorten these asap

Here's what I did for anyone curious

Reach in there and get the whole group, roots and all

Made one stem already at the height I want, its on the bottom. Im using that for a quick measure how much to pinch off the rest of them

Only need two different heights so I made two piles, one slightly taller than the other. Just pinched the bottoms off

Going back with 2-3 at a time

It all took less than 10 minutes. They'll poof back out in a few hours

Normally Id go a lot shorter but Im trying to keep it in the general range its going to be in. Leaving it this high itll have to be done every week

 

[Art]

@Burr740 thanks for showing this. We need more "how-tos" of techniques like this.

By the way, the name of this thread is amazing.

 

[Burr740]

Did I mention this tank is fast? First one is the last pic I posted after trimming the Meta. Second pic is 8 days later, I'd pulled a few Acmella and Lobelia for sales

Got some work to do tomorrow..