The rebuild

[farm41]

The fun is beginning, getting to setup my 60g for apisto's. I've already added the fluorite, filled it up and started planting. I have pulled up 2 small Ozelot Swords from my 55g and 38g and also robbed numerous crypts, dwarf sags., bacopa, ludwiga, and java moss. The co2 and lights are on, tomorrow I'll pickup some otocinclus and bristlenose.

I had previously made a small order of C. Balansae, C. spiralis, C. retrospiralis, and R. Walliichi. I especially like the C. Balansae, and the R. Wallichi, I just hadn't planned on setting up another tank. It looks like another order going in on monday.

Any ideas on favorite plants?

 

[aspen]

yep, my 2 favourites are r. walachii and red ozelot swords. i don'tlike java moss. you would do well with more quicker growing plants. (aawww, shut up he knows what he's doing!! he he.)

i love the first planting of a tank. have you found the taopa discussion list yet? (the art of planted aquaria) it's an offshoot of the apd list, but less towards the technical, and more towards artful planting.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/taopa/

also comes in digest form.

rick

 

[farm41]

No, I haven't visited the taopa group yet. I get the APD and the apisto list, those two already use up to much of my time.

I think the lfs had some R. rotundifolia, I think I will grab some of that too. The lfs that has the best fish and the smartest people just isn't into plants yet, I've been trying to get them to get more involved with planted tanks. I take them alot of plants, but, this time I am going to have to buy some.

 

[aspen]

farm, i treat all of my new plants with potassium permanganate. 10 or 15 mins, in a solution strong enough to maintain a pinky purple, is enough to kill all hair algae, and snails. i pull everything out of the spike cubes, they will harbour snail eggs. so (knock on wood) i've never had a snail or hair algae problem since i started doing this. not to mention the removal of any unwanted bacteria that might infect your fish.

imo, pp is one of those things every aquarist should know how to use and have on hand. it is a real good treatment for gill flukes and other external parasites, but imo it is good to have some exp with it, without fish involved. it is nasty stuff if mis-used.

rick

 

[farm41]

I don't have any, but, I would like to use it. Where is it available at?

 

[farm41]

They had the pp at the lfs and gave me enough to last a very long time.
It sure doesn't take very much for 1.5 gallons of water.


The only stem plants they had was creeping jenny, I bought some, I know nothing about if it's an aquatic plant or not.

Thanks

 

[aspen]

gee, farm, o shoulda' given you this link before you went ahead. sorry, buddy. that stuff should be used carefully.

http://members.tripod.com/discus_australia/

there is an article on there, explaining what to do with it, and how to mix and use it. it is good stuff when used appropriately, and VERY bnasty when mis-used. i use it 1/8 tsp to 1 litre of water as the stock solution, then use this to mix with water as i need it. keep it away from kids!!!

rick

 

[farm41]

I used about 3 granules in a 1.5 gallons water, it didn't look like to much. It was just pink.

 

[farm41]

Well, when I dismantled the tank before the sterilization, I stuffed all the plants in a cooler. I just opened it tonight to dispose of the dead plants and they still look great. I made the base solution with the pp, and gave them a 30 minute bath. I guess I'll see what happens when I attempt a replant tomorrow.