# Planted Tanks > Aquascaping >  my tank(s) update

## lorba

Planted Tank Folders

 3ft @ home

 1.5ft Alpha @ Office

 1.5ft Bravo @ Office

 
Shrimp tank Alpha @ office

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## Simon

so r we expected this and yr office tank to be in the competition?

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## lorba

i will put this in... but only to beef up the number of participants..  :Smile:

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## hwchoy

lorba, can you tell me how to get the moss on that wood/rock? Did you tie it yourself or bought it pre-tied? I'm planning to tie moss on rock but not sure how to tie them to get that &amp;quot;hat&amp;quot; effect. Do I tie only the top portion of the wood/rock?

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## lorba

choy, u mean the pieces with java fern or the other one?

With Java fern and Nana
-----------------------
wrap the fern and nana like dumpling first.. then just spread a single, very thin layer of java moss over it, looks ugly for a wk or soon and then it takes off.

The moss grows somewhat in a same direction which look neat. You can shape it by pressing here and there when its thick enough.

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## eggz

Woah...great looking tank you gots there. What's the foreground? hairgrass? very nice!


eggz

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## lorba

thanks, and yup, HG.. but they look messy. always have to comb them for loose java moss and riccia.. quite fed up..

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## Mez

Nice!

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## pipsqueak

Nice..I like the balansae/c.natans(?) at the back..

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## kingpin

Very nice lorba. The moss and hairgrass are growing nicely.

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## FC

Nice. I like the the way you place the crypts among the hairglass which help to make contrast.

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## richy

Nice moss, Roland!

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## lorba

updated my office tanks, see above.

Really lousy handling the cam, the pics taken looks yucks.

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## juggler

Nice! 2 tanks in the office, how nice!
Can see a reflection of you holdng the camera in one of the pics.  :Smile:

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## lorba

yup..  :Smile:  mi really not good at the cam, look like gotta go study before i get my own one.

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## lorba

Have updated 
- shrimp tank A (1 mth old after rescaped) and 
- 1.5ft tank A (1 mth after rescaped)

*See the first post for links*. Will update my home 3ft, 1.5ft B and Shrimp tank B when i have time. Please throw me your spanners.  :Smile:

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## Simon

yr shrimp tank is VERY green [ :Grin: ] yr anubias tank is nice

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## lorba

the shrimp tank is very small, making it very difficult to clean and maintain. But the moss did better this time.

updated my 3ft @ home.

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## Davidd

your tanks look very good!

One personal opinion about the 1.5ft(thogh entirely subjective), the bright blue of the cardinals quite distracting and loud for the tank. something more subdued like lampeyes or the mini rasbora would look very nice.

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## lorba

yup, i agree with you. They are from the 100 cardinal tetras i bought months ago, can't bear to give them away.  :Smile:

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## lorba

tanks in cubicle

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## lorba

Updated on my 3ft @ home, see 1st post for link.

Rescaped the tank a month ago after I laid my hands on several pots of bolbitis. The scaping is still messing. What's worse, I've washed the filter too clean(?) and now, bacteria bloom.

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## chua

Hi lorba

Did you use any fan or chiller for your mosses?
They look very nice.
What is the temperature of your tank then?

Thks

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## lorba

> ----------------
> On 7/28/2003 12:01:55 AM 
> Did you use any fan or chiller for your mosses?
> They look very nice.
> What is the temperature of your tank then?
> ----------------


The mosses are only 1 month old in the tank, I am using 1 AC fan and the temperature is about 27-28C.

The bolbits don't look great, I suspects it might be due to the high light?

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## leafhorn

The hairgrass look like E tenelus to me, and the java fern look like bolbitis to me also, and its turning black?

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## lorba

there is only tenullus, no hairgrass.

Bolbitis are indeed not getting too good.

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## leafhorn

Yah I think high light, mine turned black at high light also.

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## mandz

hi lorba, do you mind sharing with me the specs for your shrimp tank? thanks.

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## lorba

mandz, the shrimp tank now is much thicker with the moss. Anyway, its 13W clip light over the 15x10cm(shld be) tank. No fert no co2. Water change per week.

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## mandz

hi lorba, thanks for your input. 

i have a 1ft tank with 11w PL. occasional CO2 tablets and i have DIY cooling fans bringing down the temp to abt 27 deg C. however, my moss doesn't seem to be growing well and my pH is always very high, about 7.5 to 8. hence, i have lots of trouble trying to keep the shrimps alive! you know whats the problem? whats with the high pH? i've been doing weekly changes and it's still like that....

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## mandz

oh i have a thin layer of base fert. should i be removing that?

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## lorba

could it be the co2 tablet? Or do u have ADA soil? I have only wood and moss, no gravel/substrate.

I avoid fertilizers as the shrimp poo are one big load in there. Moss can do well without the co2. When i am in the office, i feed rather heavily, 2 algae pellet / day.

My water change has always been 50% since its a small tank.

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## mandz

CO2 tablet? hmmm i dun know abt that. does your moss grow fast or slow? mine is extremely slow....

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## lorba

how long was it in your tank? As i mentioned, during the first month, they just look dirty and brown.

Forgot to mention, the water is about 22C, in the office.

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## lorba

More updates on my shrimp tank and office tanks. The smaller tanks are all rescaped a month ago.

Planted Tank Folders

[July 03] -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3ft @ home

 1.5ft Alpha @ Office

 1.5ft Bravo @ Office

 
Shrimp tank Alpha @ office

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## joe

I like ur 1.5ft Bravo office tank [: :Smile: ]

Btw, care to share the details of the tank and your fertiliation regime for this tank? How do you keep the polysperma so low? Mine keeps growing tall FAST! The center plant is e.stella?

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## lorba

i think you have to trim regularly. Mine was like, stunted?  :Smile:

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## leafhorn

Wow very nice small tanks! What is that moss that grows upwards? Very nice!

Very nice tanks!

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## lorba

those are java moss.

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## joe

Wats the plant in the center?

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## fcjchew

Hi Lorba,

Nice tanks you have. 

question for you --- what kind of lights you use for your 1.5ft tanks ? Look very powerful. where you buy it from ?

thanks.

Francis
 :Smile:

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## lorba

some updates again, its as messy as before.  :Smile: 

 

 

 

 

Link to album here

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## juggler

Nice!
Is your E.Oriental on steroids? How you make it grow so big?

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## lorba

i got 4 monster root underneath it!  :Smile:  I cut one flower stalk almost every week.

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## benny

Oh my....I thought E. oriental stays small. I better watch the one in my tank. So far the E. ozelot and E. rubin have all turned out to be huge monsters.

But I must say that your E. oriental looks good here. Like the Cryptocoryne balansae too! Very nice.

By the way, is the E. oriental grown in a separate pot on it's own?

Cheers,

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## lorba

> ----------------
> On 10/2/2003 4:09:59 PM 
> 
> Oh my....I thought E. oriental stays small. I better watch the one in my tank. So far the E. ozelot and E. rubin have all turned out to be huge monsters.
> 
> But I must say that your E. oriental looks good here. Like the Cryptocoryne balansae too! Very nice.
> 
> By the way, is the E. oriental grown in a separate pot on it's own?
> 
> ...


I dunno why, I thought the oriental should be small too. But if you look at bioplast's, his is much bigger.

Not in a pot.. I fear for the moment when I have to uproot it...

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## benny

> ----------------
> On 10/2/2003 4:25:23 PM 
> 
> Not in a pot.. I fear for the moment when I have to uproot it... 
> ----------------



Oh. From your last picture, I thought they were.

Anyway, if you ever have to uproot it, you might as well rescape. The E. ozelot and rubin in my tanks didn't want to go peacefully and it was an absolute nightmare for me. Everything in a surrounding circumference of 50 cm was affect.

Cheers,

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## BFG

Lotus also have extensive roots system. If you happen to keep lotus for a year or so, be prepared to pull hard. Mine had roots as thick as a mouse cable. I've kept around 4 lotus plants and it mixed the gravel and substrate together as I pull them out. Major rescaping after that.

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## hwchoy

maybe just cut off the growing apex and leave the roots in the substrate.

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## lorba

A minor update to my 3ft, removed the overgrown E. oriental and replaced with a lot more cryptocorynes.

Tank Folder Click here to access the pbase photo folder.

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## Davidd

lovely tank; thats my dream tank; love the scaping and the whole natural look.

only thing is the tank deserves higher quality photography.

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## PeterGwee

Very nice except for the glass...algae? [ :Grin: ]

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## lorba

thanks davidd, 

the right side is now rather messy, I hope to achieve some layered effect when the differnt crypts are fully grown. I am holding a G5, which i think is good enough, blame the hands!  :Smile: 

yes peter, Algae!! The tank just recovered from BBA and the left side suffered a sever trimming of bolbitis, which look botak now!!  :Sad:  

For BBA, increasing the CO2 does work. But as I was using the external reactor, the amount of Co2 dissolved is actually limited by the flow rate. BBA started clearing out since I connected the ext reactor to my higher flow rate filter.

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## bttay

Hi Lorba,

May I ask you what kind of CO2 do you use for your 1.5 ft office tank?

Nice tanks! I wish I can acheive some close to that for my office tanks. :Razz:

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## PeterGwee

> ======================================
> But as I was using the external reactor, the amount of Co2 dissolved is actually limited by the flow rate.
> ======================================


Yup, flow rate plays a part in getting the CO2 dissolved but the way it is being returned does play a big part as well. Where did you place the return from the reactor? I would suggest you place the return line towards the bottom back of the tank connected to a spray-bar and spray across the top of the substrate. This method allows CO2 rich water to flow through the plants and rise before being recycle again. Plants cannot swim so you would have to spoon feed them.[ :Grin: ]

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## aizaspurz

Nice indeed  :Smile: 

So, where is the E. Oriental 'hiding' now? [ :Grin: ]

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## lorba

bttay, 

both my 1.5ft are running low light with infrequent remix of DIY CO2. But I notice their growth rate are poor and slow, probably because there isnt base fert and I dont dose any liquid fert at all. I've rescaped the second 1.5ft, will try to post pics when I can. 

I had a new 30cm x 10cm moss-shrimp tank, no feeding and no fert at all. But the moss are growing really nice (22 C).


Peter,

I didnt use a spray bar, no space!! All occupied by balansae. Its just the normal output at the bottom left.


aizaspurz, 

I've given the oriental to someone  :Smile:  It was really a strong (and big) plant, put out 2 big new leaves and a flower stalk even I have uprooted it for few days. Too bad, my tank is too small. I still have a plantlet of it which I thought died off some time ago.

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## Davidd

btw,
what are those crypts that lie low on the right of hte tank?
where did u get them? I'm looking for some such crypts suitable for the middle ground.

How about a tripod for those shaky hands hahaha.Would really help, although I also wonder how one can take a tank without the fish being blur due to their motion.

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## lorba

Updates on my 1.5ft (Alpha) tank at office. Its quite messy as you can see.

The Folder

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## lorba

update on my 1.5ft (Bravo) at office.

The Folder

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## lorba

> ----------------
> On 11/1/2003 10:16:38 PM 
> 
> btw,
> what are those crypts that lie low on the right of hte tank?
> where did u get them? I'm looking for some such crypts suitable for the middle ground.
> 
> How about a tripod for those shaky hands hahaha.Would really help, although I also wonder how one can take a tank without the fish being blur due to their motion.
> ----------------


Those are crytocoryne wendtii 'tropica'. I believe they are not full grown yet, so they might get a little bigger. The good thing is the leaf is not so 'vertical' as of many other cryptocoryne species.

I believe you gotta be taking tones of pictures before you can one with the fishes in satifactory positions and clear. :Smile:

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## Blue Whale

Lorba, is that the mountain minnows that I am seeing there? I got a few of em in my 3ft tank.

Seperately my 2ft tank just welcomed some 20+ new guppy babies over last weekend. By far, no casaulty rate yet. [: :Smile: ] still holding ground. 2 more ladies pregnant. Expecting them to give birth anytime within the next 2 weeks.

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## lorba

> ----------------
> On 11/20/2003 12:50:50 AM 
> 
> Lorba, is that the mountain minnows that I am seeing there? I got a few of em in my 3ft tank.
> 
> Seperately my 2ft tank just welcomed some 20+ new guppy babies over last weekend. By far, no casaulty rate yet. [:] still holding ground. 2 more ladies pregnant. Expecting them to give birth anytime within the next 2 weeks.
> ----------------


Which tank are you referring to? I don't have any minnows in my tanks, probably the lamp eyes?

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## juggler

3ft tank still looking good!
How's your lighting and fertilising for this tank?
See only a few Cardinal tetras. So you need to dose NO3 and PO4 as well?

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## zysfer

Lorba,

Hi, nice tank you have! Notice the shrimp tank, wonder what's the moss on the front left? They are growing upwards?

Regards

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## lorba

> ----------------
> On 11/20/2003 10:54:05 AM 
> 
> 3ft tank still looking good!
> How's your lighting and fertilising for this tank?
> See only a few Cardinal tetras. So you need to dose NO3 and PO4 as well?
> ----------------


I have 144W PL, 50ml TMG twice weekly with K2SO4, MgSo4, Liquid Fe, and a tiny bit of KNO3. I am not sure if I should add PO4, seems like BBA boomed once i added it some time ago.

There are actually pretty lot of fishes in my 3ft :

-30+ cardinals
-6 bleeding heart
-4 emperor
-8 rummy nose
-4 copella sp
-3 three striped pencilfish
-8 C Hastatus
-10++ assorted corydoras
-7 dwarf loaches
-2 kuhli loaches
-50++ assorted shrimps

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## lorba

> ----------------
> On 11/20/2003 11:21:45 AM 
> 
> Lorba,
> 
> Hi, nice tank you have! Notice the shrimp tank, wonder what's the moss on the front left? They are growing upwards?
> 
> Regards
> ----------------


Thanks, the shrimp tank pic was taken long ago. Its the taiwan moss I bought from NA. I do have a bit of the so called erect moss in my 1.5ft Bravo, if you notice it.

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## lorba

Some more updates to my 3ft. Did a minor rescaping and accomodation of more java ferns on both sides of the tank.

Click here to access the Tank Folder

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## PeterGwee

Lorba, nice work... :Wink:  You are low on the CO2 though...The peat effect from the ADA soil is making CO2 measurement off?

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## lorba

> ----------------
> On 11/22/2003 2:30:52 PM 
> 
> Lorba, nice work... You are low on the CO2 though...The peat effect from the ADA soil is making CO2 measurement off?
> ----------------


Why low on CO2? Because of the BBA?  :Smile:  Actually they are dropping all over the shop, but some are still sturbornly clinging onto the balansaes.

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## hwchoy

lorba, very nice… never managed to do moss myself other than the cold cold tank in the office [ :Knockout: ]

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## lorba

Hey choy, thank. In this tank, the moss grew best with direct light over head. Those under the shade tends to be stringy like javamoss. Temperature is about 28C.

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## hwchoy

my tank also 28C, but the moss never do well [ :Knockout: ] interestingly some scraps of moss managed to lodged itself amongst the hairgrass and managed to fight its way out of the grass, creating a moss/HG mesh, but still the fronds are rather stringy.  :Mad:

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## YES

nice looking tanks!.. ur 3ft &amp;quot;green&amp;quot; tank gives a very good contrast for the cardinal tetras u have there.. ur balansae look great. cheers  :Smile:

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## lorba

The bleeding hearts and emperor tetras are actually quite big, how i think they are camera shy.  :Smile: 

The balansae was not doing well all along, guess the base fert is exhausted. I inserted a number of root monsters around the balansaes 2 months ago, and the results seems good. The longest leave i have is around 2.5 - 3 ft.

The Echinodorus Oriental that I still had earlier of the month outgrew the tank because of the root monsters too. I was having 5 underneath it..  :Smile:

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