My A borellii tank

[Pickyswamp]

Hi!

This is 250l (now water 60-70l) a community tank with some cories, 1+3 A borellii, few Nannostomus marginatus (more coming In January) and 10+ Black Ghosts. This is low tech, no Co2, some fertz, no filters but a circulation pump, TDS 200 uS (going down slowly from 650uS), just rainwater top offs. The tank has been running as seen since last...ouh, April? Did a major trim a month ago, it will become a jungle again as soon as Ficus grows! Here with the led spot at night:

And above with T5s
Ludisia and Anthurium next to it are in bloom

Before trimming: all over Ficus and Hydrocotyle tripartita!!

Hope you enjoy! Feel free to comment and ask! Critisism, hints, tips and advice are always welcome!

Cheers, Maria

 

[Linus_Cello]

Interesting. I never thought of growing ludisia in water (or wet feet). I guess you don't have enough light to try phragmipediums? What type of light are you using?

 

[MonteSS]

Very nice. Any pics of fish?

...Bill

 

[Pickyswamp]

Very nice. Any pics of fish?

...Bill

Thanks, Bill! I try to add pics later but I can tell the borellii male must be the ugliest borellii male in the world! Really! But hes young so we have hope...!? Earlier I hade few with absolutely fantastic colours and brilliant shades of blue.

Interesting. I never thought of growing ludisia in water (or wet feet). I guess you don't have enough light to try phragmipediums? What type of light are you using?

The lightning is T5 2x39w, if I can remenber right, spectrums around 4000-6500K. Lightning is a bit tricky since I got algae bloom quite easily if the light is too low and when I trim emersed plants hard, waterpart gets too much light then until emersed culture grows again. Balance, balance...between everything. I can use only tiny/small plant species since the tank is so small. There is also growing Laptotes bicolor, but it has never bloomed. Ludisia is, I think, one of the most easiest plant to grow in hydro. It evernever looked poor when I removed it from soil to hydro (>leca). Actually many orchids can be grown well in hydro, but I havent tried. All of my other orchids grow in soilmix in pots.

Cheers, Maria

 

[Linus_Cello]

Actually many orchids can be grown well in hydro, but I havent tried. All of my other orchids grow in soilmix in pots.

Cheers, Maria[/quote]

Yes, some phrags do well in hydro. There is a technic called semi-hydroponic that works great for oncidiums, dendrobiums and miltionopsis.

 

[MickeM]

Hi Pickyswamp !

Very Nice pics...

Living in Finland?? If you travel to Stockholm ,don`t miss this shop at Södermalm.. Krukmakargatan 3 (in the basement??)

www.sodermalmsakvarieaffar.se

He usually have a lot of plants.. (And Apistos) Aquatic plants+Terrarium plants..!!

I don`t know if you can find every one of them on his stocklist./Not updated that often..
Mail/call him if you are looking for some specific plant..



/MickeM

 

[Pickyswamp]

Living in Finland??
/MickeM

Yep! Nice to meet another (swedish) neighbour here! Thanks for the link and you bet I will visit there if I ever had time to do it!

Heres couple of more pics to get the idea, sorry the front glass is not just cleaned, it gets dirty when I add new water every other day.

The tank was as a present for my two sons, it is in pretty poor condition after scratching glasses with God-knows-what by previous owners. Im trying to find a new big enought rimless tank, I think it would be more beautiful with this kind of emersed set up. Id also like a bigger tank in order to get some more Apistos since we can get better quality water from RO now. I love Dicrossus too!

This is sooo easy tank to take care of, just regular small WCs and feeding fish. Add some fertz when feel to do so. Id like to engourage more people to establish set ups like this, lots of green with minimal maintenance and technique!

One can see there on the left side close to water level two Black Ghost males are teasing eachothers, see postures of their bodies! I like these, so easy fish with lots of fun to watch! Unfortunately Im about to give some of them away (now 15, down to 8) when getting more N marginatus wich I have ordered long time ago.

Cheers, Maria

 

[gerald]

Ahhh ... so that's what you call "black ghost" in Finland - we call them black phantom tetra here in USA. I was wondering because "black ghost" over here is the knifefish Apteronotus albifrons and I sure didn't think you would put 10 of those in a tank with Apistos! Gorgeous riparium!

 

[Pickyswamp]

Ahhh ... so that's what you call "black ghost" in Finland - we call them black phantom tetra here in USA. I was wondering because "black ghost" over here is the knifefish Apteronotus albifrons and I sure didn't think you would put 10 of those in a tank with Apistos! Gorgeous riparium!

Thank you sir. Whoops, my mistake, of course we call them Black Phantoms too, sorry! Yep, with knifefish would all inhabitants become a snack, I guess...

 

[MickeM]

Here are some (poor) "terrarium" plant pictures of an old tank from my local fish store/ breeder ..(Apistos,killies,bettas,plants,live food etc.)
I will try to make him order a new tank to use.... , due to flashes I sometimes had to put away his original aquarium light..

(Prices are in Swedish kronor.. approx 9 kronor =1 Euro )