Sophia

hmmmm very interesting, do the leaves on the other plant look emersed to you too?

is this crypt melt? I think so but just checking... happened sometime today - it's the long leaf, none of this anywhere else that I can see. I believe I am to cut the leaf off now then?

HFF Mt Roskill have (or had) some huge stuff - leaves look the same as my verticilata (the kind that doesn't seem to get taller than 10-15cm before the top leaf starts to get grubby) but leaves are the size of an old 50c piece or bigger and the stems are 20+cm long. WHen I was there it didn't have a label but I thought it was hydrocotyle.

have rescaped the tank today with a small piece of bogwood for the remaining ferns (bolbitis ratty leaves removed so practically just rhizome now), couple of bits of java fern and needle leaf, and the little piece of windelov. Bolbitis is facing into the current and all the ferns are now lower and not underneath the lights. That's the best I can do for them other than ferts and now it's up to them. Space left by other wood is now filled with a retrospiralis crypt and a walkerii crypt. I have given them some JBL balls to chomp on and asked them very nicely to grow and not to melt.

very nice land_lubber

it's a ghost leaf gobbler!

not boring :bounce:

it looks great, don't worry about it if you want more action maybe you could add more cardinals

there is an amazonicus on TM at the moment, looks far too huge for my tank - maybe an exception to the rule. have been looking here http://www.aquahobby.com/e_aquarium_plants.php at crypts, they mention these 3 in the 1-20cm size range: • Green Wendtii Crypt (Cryptocoryne wendtii 'green') • Brown Wendtii Crypt (Cryptocoryne wendtii) • Undulated Crypt (Cryptocoryne undulata) does anyone have any alternative experience that would suggest they wouldn't be happy in my tank? I don't want to plant something that I think will stay small but ends up taking over. I like the brown leafed one for something different but don't know if I have sufficient iron for colour, unless a daily dose of F/Comp would give enough. And if F/Comp & JBL balls is enough iron would I be able to have rotala with red leaves too? I heard that likes iron and more light than I've got to stay pink.

thanks for the interesting comments, I am absorbing! The challenge for me now is deciding on the new layout, what fixtures such as rock or wood I can get away with in the small tank. After I took the wood out last night the fish were rootling around in the gravel and then later I found the main 'couple' up to fishy business again in one of the hollows. They obviously aren't as concerned about lack of cover as I thought they would be!!

Joefish your plant sounds crazy like you :lol: (in a good way!) I won't be getting into Co2 but some new bogwood may be in order when I have settled on a new layout.

thank you P44 by the way

I've seen hydra and it wasn't that but anyway it is now gone. the fish are now a bit naked! hello yes, thank you for your comments, good to hear of another's experience. I have been giving a daily dose of Flourish comp. I had windelov for a short time before I took down my other tank and I enjoyed it then. I have instructed them all to perk up again or else :-?

hello nameless HFF person, thanks for your comments. Did you grow it with Co2? what lighting was it grown with originally? I've pruned off the obviously rotted leaves and weighted the rest on the bottom so hopefully it will pick up again that driftwood was smellier than I thought too :roll:

got JBL balls :bounce: I will now offend my big killie and take out the wood Stella, you can breathe a sigh of relief haha :lol: tank rescape on the way :roll:

maybe I should be asking instead are there other non stem plants I could be using that would prefer the conditions? I prefer the non stem plants as it's rather like planting your garden with perennials than annuals, longer lasting and a little more interesting

I don't think I can get bulbs less bright than 8w but if I take them off and plant on lower wood or weigh them down to the gravel it will reduce the amount of light they get. Or do you mean to reduce the Ks?? the congo fern was submersed when I bought it HFF had been teasing me with it as being not for sale for a couple of weeks already too anyway I will take out the wood shame as it is such a good shape it does smell but i don't really know if it's a bad smell, is just a smell

artistic

too much wattage or spectrum? the lighting at the shop was pretty bright I thought the wood is rock hard, it's not rotting as in going soft

here they are the algae doesn't grow on the plant, only the wood

these killies are not shy! I had my hands in there earlier messing with the plants and they were nibbling me! I think Barrie bred some killer killies!! :lol:

need some thoughts of yours.... I have java fern and bolbitis and they are not thriving. The java fern was healthy and green when I bought it many weeks ago and it lived happily in a bucket with incandescent lighting until the last couple of weeks when it has been in the tank. The bolbitis was bought at HFF and was nice and green and crispy leaved but since I put it in there it's slowly getting blackened and floppy (sorry HFF :oops: ). Other plants that are doing well: tiger lotus, riccia, lily pad verticilata thingy, cabomba. Water parameters normal/good, daily dose of flourish comp, 1 x 8w 14000k T5 for 10 hours. The only thing I can put it down to is that the ferns are attached to wood that is undergoing algae transformation as it beds in, OR that it wants to be in the current and it's not, OR that it doesn't like the wood. There is a piece of windelov wedged into a piece of smaller piece of the same batch of wood but it's in the current, and it's still happily green. The algae looks like this: it started as a wispy slime that could be blown off with a dropper to this penicilin like creature that is attached like a fine fur. if you blow it around the white bits float like snow.... it's quite attractive actually haha. so any thoughts? have I overlooked something vital in fern care? I understood that they are low maintenance, that you stick em to a bit of wood (in this case they are wedged) and eventually they attach and grow.

Some new pics. Now have some cabomba that is growing very fast. Hopefully thinking about laying eggs in the riccia. Had to have burrowed through to get this far to the top, her head was touching the surface of the water. Me snooping over her head did not bother her at all. Little Guy posing in the jungle Girls Big Daddy warming his back??

it's nice, thanks for the photos like mine, looking forward to it growing... I've been feeding mine a dose of flourish comp every day and it's doing it's thing with all but the slow growers. I got 3 pieces of cabomba last Friday and they've already grown about 4cm to touch the top of the water

thanks, I thought so