GreggZ's Planted Rainbow Tank

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Greggz

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Feb 2, 2008
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Novi, MI
The tank and inhabitants look fabulous!!! You definitely have this down and in such a short amount of time is impressive.
Jay thanks for the kind words. You made a comment awhile back that with all those stems I would have to do a lot of trimming to keep enough room for the all the Rainbows. You were correct. The stems are growing fast.

The tricky part for me is I can't go too wild with the plants, as the Rainbows come first. Love the dutch style tanks, but not what I am going for. Like I've said, trying to create the right balance for fish and fauna.

The information in your threads was very helpful and gave me the inspiration to give it a try. Looking forward to any updates on your 180G.
 

Greggz

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Feb 2, 2008
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Novi, MI
Added a couple new plants tonight, and thought I would share my plant list and thoughts several months into this journey.

First off, for someone going down this road, I would start with fast growing easy plants. It will build your confidence and help you get light/ferts/co2 figured out (as much as that is possible). I had a few plants that failed on the first try, but were successful later with more experience. Believe me, it takes time to get things going, and you will probably lose some expensive nicer plants by rushing. I know I did.

For me, Ludwigia Repens, Ludwigia Brevipes, Bacopa Carolina, Rotala Indica were a few of my first plants. They grow like mad and propagate very easily. I started with a few stems of each and now have more than I can use. Of course, Crypts are easy, stay low, and fill out really nicely. Other easy foreground plants for me have been Lobelia Cardinalis Small Form and Hygrophila Corymbosa. I actually failed with Blyxa Japonica the first time, but now it going great in the foreground.

I never could get Staurogyne repens to grow very well. It stayed alive, but not much more than that. I ended up pulling it. I don’t know if my tall tank is too difficult to get light to the bottom? Or something else? Who knows. My attitude is some plants will like your tank and some won’t. Stick with the ones that do.

That being said, I also really can’t get Alternanthera Reineckii Mini to flourish, but haven’t given up on it quite yet.

So here’s a list of what I am keeping now. The new ones are AR Variegated, L. Glandulosa, and Pogostemon Erectus. As I told my wife when I showed her, now we just sit back and see how they like their new world.

Alternanthera reineckii Mini, Alternanthera reineckii variegated, Bacopa Carolina,

Blyxa japonica, Cryptocoryne Lutea Green & Red, Dwarf Sagittaria,

Hygrophila corymbosa Compact, Hygrophila difformis, Hygrophila salcifolia,

Hygrophila Sp. Thai, Lloydiella Golden, Lobelia Cardinalis Small Form,

Ludwigia Brevipes, Ludwigia glandulosa, Ludwigia repens, Ludwigia Sp. Red,

Pogostemon Erectus, Proserpinaca Palustris, Rotala Indica, Rotala Wallichii


And here’s a pic from a few minutes ago.
20160222_183810.jpg
 

myswtsins

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Looks great! Good luck with the new additions although you don't seem to need it. ;)
 
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Greggz

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Feb 2, 2008
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Always fun to add new fish. With Rainbows it helps to know something about the breeder and lineage. A species can look quite different at maturity depending on the blood lines.

I was able to get a couple of small F2 Bleheri Rainbow fish (Chilatherina bleheri). At only a little over two inches showing great color. They will take almost 2 years to get to five inches and full mature colors. With Rainbows, great patience is required.

20160307_192604 (Large).jpg
 

Wild West

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Greggz Greggz , gorgeous tank!! How many clown loaches do you have in there?
 

Greggz

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Feb 2, 2008
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Novi, MI
Greggz Greggz , gorgeous tank!! How many clown loaches do you have in there?
Only three clown loaches. They pretty much hang out together around and under the big driftwood in the center of the tank. They are about 3 years old. One must be a runt, because he hasn't ever really grown too much. At some point I will trade them in and start over with some little ones.

As long as I am the topic, here is a current list of my fish. Some are very old, some are young are growing out.
I tend to grow them out, then cull the herd and keep the best specimens for the long haul. Right now I'm growing out some very young F1 Lake Aytingo Boesemani's, as I don't think my 9 year old ones will live forever.

3 Boesemani Rainbow (Melanotaenia Boesemani)
3 Boesemani Rainbow (Lake Aytingo) (Melanotaenia Boesemani)
4 Turquoise Rainbow (Lake Kutubu) (Melanotaenia Lacustris)
4 Goyder River Rainbow (Melanotaenia trifasciata)
3 Running Creek Rainbow (Melanotaenia trifasciata)
1 Millennium Rainbow (Glossolepis Pseudoincisus)
3 Orange Albino Millennium Rainbow (Glossolepis Pseudoincisus)
2 Bleheri Rainbow (Chilatherina bleheri)
3 Neon Rainbow (Melanotaenia Praecox)
3 Pygmaea Rainbow (Melanotaenia Pygmaea)
1 Wapoga River Rainbow (Chilatherina alleni)
3 Clown Loach (Chromobotia macracanthus)
2 Roseline Shark (Denison Barb) (Puntius denisonii)
2 German Blue Rams (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi)
 
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