And then there was an empty 33G long tank!

[Anonymous]

I am jealous to see how well the micro sword is growing for you (in a good way ). Mine dosent want  to grow anything but a layer of diatoms on it, lol.

Looks really nice Donna!

 

[Missgrumpygills]

Beautiful shots of your floaters, jealous of them and your camera  :spoton:

 

[cichlid-gal]

Thanks Chad and Missgrumpygills. And I lost most of those micro swords too Chad when I planted them to the brown stringy hair algae but a couple survived (like 3 of them) and now then are trying to break out the front of the tank ... pushing against the glass and growing like weeds.

Do you know ... can you trim the tops of them if they get too tall?

 

[pbmax]

Those look more like helanthium tenellum (pygmy chain sword) than micro swords (typically Lilaeopsis species) to me.

You'd be safer cutting the leaves of h. tenellum than a lilaeopsis species, I think (faster growth, more leaves per plant), but I've never cut my pygmy chain or micro swords so I couldn't say for sure. I thin these, rather than cut them, as they're a rosette-style root plant and not a stem plant that will re-grow from the next leaf node down.

 

[cichlid-gal]

After doing some looking around I'm thinking maybe I have dwarf sagittaria? I'm not sure ...closer looks at micro sword and I don't think it looks like that. I need to do up a new list on my tank plants..LOL...just so I can keep track of what the heck I have. So many are similar in appearance to me.

 

[pbmax]

That's possible.. I'm looking back and forth between 2 10g tanks where I have both and your photos and I'm having a hard time coming up with a good way to tell them apart

Pygmy chain sword grows much faster than dwarf sagittaria and tends to have thinner, above-ground runners. Sagittaria Subulata is a pretty slow grower and has mostly under-ground runners that are slightly thicker. Pygmy chain sword can create as many as 1 - 2 new plantlets per day on a given runner, in the right conditions.

s. subulata can get much taller than h. tenellum - I've had some grow over 12" in the right conditions. When I had CO2, my h. tenellum got up to about 6" tall; without, it's shorter - maybe 4".

 

[PokeSephiroth]

What a beautiful tank, Donna! I absolutely love the layout of this tank, and you've really did a wonderful job! Simply stunning!

Everytime I see an empty 33 gallon tank at the store (Aquarium Co-Op) I always think of yours

May your tank continue to inspire and motivate other aquascapists!

 

[cichlid-gal]

Thanks pbmax...I thought when I got this plant originally it was attached by the chain like things but I don't see those now on the plants...just a lot of plantlets so not sure

Angelo...you are too kind..really. My tank is off balance but its growing good. Plants are doing pretty well. I sure wish I still had all my original plants and could have seen it come to this point but losing almost everything kinda left me just grabbing whatever I could find. All beautiful plants but not a lot of rhyme or reason to things now.

I feel the mucking about stage coming as I want it more balanced and full on both sides BUT I don't want to lose my pretty fish either so I've been hesitant to do too much in the tank...its just getting to be time I think though.

 

[cichlid-gal]

Well...I haven't mucked about much but I have done the ROAK fish trade (and got some awesome plants) as well as picked up a couple of plants from the GSAS auction yesterday.  My mini CO2 unit came off when we went on vacation and I have yet to put it back on so I've just been dosing Excel at the daily rate for the tank.  I still would like to get a nice CO2 setup and have this tank and a 55G on a double stack stand and have both planted.  John and I have been working on the idea and I've picked up the 55G on the Petco sale.  

So to update the 33G long tank...I've added the following plants:

macsicia minuta
lobelia cardinalis
limnophilia sp. wavy
ludwigia glandulosa
Persicaria sp. "kawangoeanum"
Ludwigia sp. red
Fissedens fontanus (Its on the manzanita wood, towards the top right of the tank)

These are all new plants for me and I've upped the game a bit by adding in some reds.  I'm hoping that they will hold their color for me.  So, below pics are of tank with new plants just in.  I'll post up some more pics after another month to see how the reds held but I'm really liking the look of them and the POW they add to the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah, that's awesome!! The reds along with all the shades of greens and pink contrast very well. Nice Donna, very nice. I think that Finnex will pull out the reds okay at that depth. Looks like you can lower the fixture a couple inches too so you got some room to play with to make the lighting a bit more intense if you have to. Lighting time may play a factor later too. Mine are on like 12 hours a day. Just make the adjustments as needed.

 

[cichlid-gal]

Oh yeah, that's awesome!! The reds along with all the shades of greens and pink contrast very well. Nice Donna, very nice. I think that Finnex will pull out the reds okay at that depth. Looks like you can lower the fixture a couple inches too so you got some room to play with to make the lighting a bit more intense if you have to. Lighting time may play a factor later too. Mine are on like 12 hours a day. Just make the adjustments as needed.

Thanks Chad. I'm only running lighting about 9.5 hours a day right now. And yes, that light could be lowered also with no problem. I'll keep an eye on those great reds and see how they are holding up over some time. I'm really having fun with this tank and learning process.

 

[Betty]

Donna, you're starting to speak a language I don't understand, but the tank is really looking nice.  :spoton: 

 

[cichlid-gal]

Donna, you're starting to speak a language I don't understand, but the tank is really looking nice.  :spoton: 

Thank you Betty and yes :affraid: I guess I have branched out from only cichlid and fish talk  :  It is fun ... I am really enjoying it.

 

[cichlid-gal]

Well...another update.  Only about 3 weeks but the tank is growing like crazy.  I'm loving the reds that have been added and how they are looking.  Some other things are not doing so well so another plant is coming in on Monday hopefully to do a replace.  Anyway...added the following:

Alternanthera Reineckii 'Variegated'
Myriophyllum Mattogrossense
Syngonanthus sp. 'Madeira'
a Buceplandra Sp

and here's the updates:

 

[PokeSephiroth]

Beautiful tank!!! The reds really pop out from the lush green plants you have!

I've got a question though, the third picture down, what is the plant that's towards the front of the picture? I have something that looks similar to it, and I've been trying to figure out what kind of plant it was... =P

 

[cichlid-gal]

Beautiful tank!!! The reds really pop out from the lush green plants you have!

I've got a question though, the third picture down, what is the plant that's towards the front of the picture? I have something that looks similar to it, and I've been trying to figure out what kind of plant it was... =P

lobelia cardinalis



Syngonanthus sp. 'Madeira'

 

[PokeSephiroth]

Oh hah! Lobelia Cardinalis... huh, it's so weird how mine is growing... maybe because I haven't cut it. LOL... anywho, thanks for the additional info!! I'm really loving your 33 gallon!! You should do a video of that tank!

 

[cichlid-gal]

Oh hah! Lobelia Cardinalis... huh, it's so weird how mine is growing... maybe because I haven't cut it. LOL... anywho, thanks for the additional info!! I'm really loving your 33 gallon!! You should do a video of that tank!

The Lobelia was a ROAK plant...(lucky me...yes)...and the video...well..this camera takes great videos. I just can't edit them which sucks big time. At least I haven't found a program that will do it yet that is "reasonable" to purchase. And I hate to put up unedited videos.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, look at that tank!!

Love the variegated form of Alternanthera Reineckii!  I just got a 1" trimming of it as a surprise addition in a plant order.

Looks like worries about lighting are now over. Growth looks magnificent, colors outstanding. Nice clean leaves Donna. I see no algae there. I think you've successfully created a garden underwater

 

[PokeSephiroth]

Donna: If you can figure out a way to get me the raw video footage, I could probably whip something up together for you.

If you've seen some of my fish videos, you'll know what to expect. Hehehehe