My tanks

NoodleCats · Feb 15, 2024

fishorama said:
Sweet torture to see your pretty plants, lol, color me envious! I love the pygmy cory shot too. Who does like a soft perching spot?

I thought we'd tried crypt. becketti years ago but it never looked like yours.

With myrios the tops often look good for me for a while. They looked better behind bushier plants or scape.

I don't know why I labeled it becketti, duhhh brain fart. That's supposed to be petchii lol

This tank has become the most needy tank, given the number of plants and variety. It's definitely one I have to put effort into with the fertilizer dosing and with trimming. But, it should be rewarding.

jake72 · Feb 16, 2024

NoodleCats said:
I don't know why I labeled it becketti, duhhh brain fart. That's supposed to be petchii lol

This tank has become the most needy tank, given the number of plants and variety. It's definitely one I have to put effort into with the fertilizer dosing and with trimming. But, it should be rewarding.

Well... lets be fair as petchii is a beckettii

NoodleCats · Feb 16, 2024

Darn the crypts all having similar names, synonyms, and labels

NoodleCats · Feb 16, 2024

A day later and the myrio has already hit the surface!!

And bonus, my first hairgrass runner

fishorama · Feb 16, 2024

Go hairgrass! The hard part is removing the brown leaves without uprooting the entire plant. Maybe wait until the old parts are slimy & (eww) easier to pick off. By this time with mine I think I had 2 types of algae...better luck, better hairgrass or better ferts? I hope you win!

I don't want to discourage you but my myrios always had naked lower stems & happy tops. Just let them have long bare stems behind other stuff. If you cut them back to good growth they'll likely be too low for optimum light. Just my experience.

NoodleCats · Feb 17, 2024

fishorama said:
Go hairgrass! The hard part is removing the brown leaves without uprooting the entire plant. Maybe wait until the old parts are slimy & (eww) easier to pick off. By this time with mine I think I had 2 types of algae...better luck, better hairgrass or better ferts? I hope you win!

I don't want to discourage you but my myrios always had naked lower stems & happy tops. Just let them have long bare stems behind other stuff. If you cut them back to good growth they'll likely be too low for optimum light. Just my experience.

I'm letting the brown emersed stems melt off naturally and the snails to eat those. Not gonna uproot them and stress them out. Why poke the sleeping bear there lol

As for the myrio, thus far even the bottom leaves are staying intact, I've only had 1 stem melt at all, so that's a win thus far too.

But I know some plants don't like to be trimmed. I'm going to let it grow significantly before I trim it, to prevent it being too short. If possible I would love to fill the back corner with the plant. It's so lovely.

I kill cabomba so I'm super happy to have such a pretty fluffy plant actually living for me. I do have limnophila sessiliflora though too, which is also a nice easy fluffy plant. I'd love to find limnophila indica, its very very soft and fluffy too lol

I do get minimal algae, but the number of plants in this tank doesn't allow it to thrive much. I get cladophora, staghorn, and then green spot algae on the glass, but I use a scraper blade on the front glass, I leave the backs and sides. This tank I don't want much algae in, it's not exactly a "naturalized" scape. I removed most the wood because it was an algae magnet. My other more natural inspired tanks I embrace algae. In fact I love cladophora on my hardscape in those because it's again a fluffy soft algae.

Lol can you tell I love fluffy things?

Cladophora in my other tanks:

Same type of algae as those moss balls lol I love it in my 20g because it grows short and dense, makes fantastic "carpet" material. Grows long and flowy in my coldwater 55g though. I pull/trim it when it gets too long though.

fishorama · Feb 17, 2024

Ambulia (l. sessiliflora & maybe others?) is not legal in the US at least where I've lived. I did have it in MA & loved it. I used to give it away with a warning to be responsible with clippings. I think it helps that it has 2 different names. Hygrophila polysperma is illegal too but if it's a named variety like "sunset" I guess not. It was probably our first successful stem plant.

Now that I'm finally hoping to get new fish soon, I'll have to look closer at my 110g. I know it has hair algae. (oh yuck, the light just came on & there's lots, ugh) I need to fix its timer so the light is on when I'm awake & active. I know if I put in corys & an adult BN any plant less than very well rooted will be toast. I might need to have a plant rescue effort but I don't know where I can put them. Of course with fish in it I'll have to feed them & pay more attention.

I kind of like black beard algae if it could just stay in a smaller area & not grow on plants...& glass, & everywhere. So soft, my corys like to lay on the loose clumps.

NoodleCats · Feb 17, 2024

fishorama said:
Ambulia (l. sessiliflora & maybe others?) is not legal in the US at least where I've lived. I did have it in MA & loved it. I used to give it away with a warning to be responsible with clippings. I think it helps that it has 2 different names. Hygrophila polysperma is illegal too but if it's a named variety like "sunset" I guess not. It was probably our first successful stem plant.

Now that I'm finally hoping to get new fish soon, I'll have to look closer at my 110g. I know it has hair algae. (oh yuck, the light just came on & there's lots, ugh) I need to fix its timer so the light is on when I'm awake & active. I know if I put in corys & an adult BN any plant less than very well rooted will be toast. I might need to have a plant rescue effort but I don't know where I can put them. Of course with fish in it I'll have to feed them & pay more attention.

I kind of like black beard algae if it could just stay in a smaller area & not grow on plants...& glass, & everywhere. So soft, my corys like to lay on the loose clumps.

Some plants are doable with cories fine, just best to have them root well first. Sometimes good to gently weigh them down with some rocks too. Have to get creative at times hahaha.

Salvinia is illegal now here. But don't think they'd be going door to door to check every hobbyist who already had it.

I had it before they made it illegal, but it's now illegal to own, sell, propagate, trade, give away, or buy it. Not one species, but the entire genus of Salvinia.

Polysperma is okay for me, my water doesn't have enough potassium for it so it does appreciate a boost.

Funny enough some myriophyllum is invasive here but it is not illegal. Go figure.

Myriophyllum is now sending out new branches at the part that reached the surface.

NoodleCats · Feb 19, 2024

It had to be trimmed lol
I'm hoping I can get all the plants to grow evenly to the surface over time.
I even trimmed the juncus repens too, which is starting to put out some new growth (has been the slowest plant from that order to adapt)