180 Gallon rimless staruogyne sp

[plantbrain]

I moved and tore this tank down and a few months later:

 

 

Decided to use the Staruogyne for a foreground. One of the few weeds that the royal plecos would not maul and uproot daily.

Tank has some work to do still for nicer grouping for the rear, still somewhat undecided... but it's on it's way.

See how many fish and critters you can spot.

 

 

 

 

Regards,

Tom Barr

[LuisVentura]

its amazing

 

i can see at least 3 diferent species

corydoras

Royal pleco

Cardinal neon

[Hugo R. Silva]

Very nice tank,

 

I see one litle thing red, maybe red cherry shrimp?

[Tugz]

Very nice tank, congratulations.

 

I see two royal pleco, some neon tetra and the cherry shrimp.

 

Corydoras? Where?

[gervas]

Awesome tree trunk! Awesome Tank! I want one like that=P What is the plant at the back?

[plantbrain]

You should be able to see:

 

RCS, at least 1-2

2 or more Lamontichthys filamentosus

Cardinal tetras

Amano shrimp

 

There's a lot more fish in this aquarium but it gives you an idea how I like fish aquariums. I like to see fish in schools and then the closer you look, you see larger or more colorful fish/shrimp hidden in the wood or plants.

 

This draws the viewer's eye to the aquarium.

 

If it was a school of large active fish, it makes the aquarium look smaller. Since the schoolign fish are smaller, the tank still looks bigger, but then the size of the Lamontichthys filamentosus is contrasted better and surprises the viewer, since they blend in with the high current and the driftwood perfectly.

 

You do not notice them at first, same with the red cherry shrimp, they are very small, but they make up for it with their blood red color and give a entirely different look/effect, but still the same overall principle.

 

Regards,

Tom Barr

[Quo]

very sharp picture.

 

the idea of the blended plecos on the driftwood is what impressed me the most in the picture, because i didnt noticed them at first . what is the grass-like plant near the wood-area? blixa japonica? I also like the idea of hidden fish in the aquarium, it makes the aquarium look much more interesting. I agree with the schooling fish, although I'm not personally fond on neon tetras... colours are too strong. A dozen of sumatra barbs in there would look amazing

 

best regards

Editado Fevereiro 17, 2010 por Quo

[plantbrain]

I like cardinals, bland color fish had better have a nice personality.

 

I keep double trunk elephant nose and ghost knife, my brass tetras are very intense personality wise, as are the Congo tetras.

 

The plecos can be bland colors to some degree also, but they have other traits.

 

The cardinal tetras do not always school tightly, but when they do and move around a nice long tank 180cm or more, it looks very nice, same for rummy noses which also would look nice in here.

The darker wood and color in the upper parts of the tank make the cardinals a good choice.

 

There are many different school smaller fish out there. I think pictures are terrible at seeing what is nice in the aquarium, you must see the fish in person to decide.

So many fish and so few aquariums!!

 

Regards,

Tom Barr

 

Some other tanks also a after a bi gtrim and removal of plants, pardon that:

 

 

[Quo]

yes, that's another reason why I'm not fond on neon tetras, not a good schooling fish. those red phantom tetras look great in contrast with the plants. they seem a good school in the picture. great.

[plantbrain]

The cardinals do school well time to time, particularly in the middle of the day. I also have high flow so they follow each other with the current.

Rummy nose tend to school more consistently.

 

The layout of the scape can also influence how the fish school.

 

Brass tetras also school very well.

 

 

It depends I think, in an open tank, fish do not feel as comfortable, so they will school in the LFS, but not in a nice planted tank, they get too relaxed maybe?

 

Regards,

Tom Barr

[gasolino]

the Staruogyne looks great and that piece of wood is just fantastic. congrats

[plantbrain]

 

Need to whack the Blyxa back even further, uproot and replant to keep it lower. The back is still in the grow in phase as is the left side in general. Lots of current and the wood blocks a lot of light. Back ground will be mostly P stellata eventually, it'll tkae another 1-2 months worth of trim, grow out for it to look somewhat where I like.

I may switch back to Tonina. Both do well in current. The Starougyne responds well to pruning. I puinch off the tops, about 1-2" down, leave the rest still rooted. On higher clumps, I'll thin and take most of the larger dominate stems. Then the other stem tips fill in. This was less than a week after I removed about 70 plants. So it looks fairly good not long afterwards. Nothing is worse than a foreground trim/plant etc that looks bad for a long time after wards. I tend to try and hack the plant in the front more aggressively, trying to keep it a safe distance from the front glass. The plants will fill back in those spots in the front in about 2-3 weeks.

Cardinals and other critters are happy, frisky, well feed, eat most anything.

 

Sorry for the point and shoot photos, I may actually do a real photo shoot someday. This tank is admittedly a long way away from any of that.

 

 

Regards,

Tom Barr

[João Paulo Viegas]

Congratulations Tom for this litle aquatic world you built.

 

…and the photos are great.

 

Keep the good work

[plantbrain]

Tom, still using Aquasoil and reduced dose of EI ?

 

No, the dosing is richer if anything.

 

I add 3x a week:

 

2 tsp KNO3

1 tsp KH2PO4

50 mls Traces

 

After water change, I add GH booster, about 3-4 tsps

Aqua Soil lacks N as it ages, this is 3 years old now.

 

Plants, and bacteria transform most of N out of the ADA AS. Most of the other nutrients are still there and close to the starting new ADA AS.

 

Here's the tank about 3 years ago:

 

 

 

 

Regards,

Tom Barr

[plantbrain]

Update:

 

 

Tom Barr

[gervas]

Seems a bit diferent...Did you remove anything in particular? Love your Staurogyne! Is is repens, sp porto velho or some other variety?