*750x400x400mm, 5mm float glass
*White foamcore background
*2x 50 watt cool white/~6500 kelvin LED floodlights, 8 hour photoperiod
*JBL CristalProfi 120 - 600lph canister filter, Elite Mini 150lph internal filter for circulation and CO2 diffusion
*AquaOne 150 watt stainless steel heater with external temperature control
*DIY CO2 with unbranded glass and ceramic diffuser
*Layered substrate - unwashed Brunnings propagating sand, coir peat, Osmocote Native, marble chips, Blood & Bone, terracotta clay, unwashed Brunnings propagating sand, washed pool filter sand - recipe courtesy of 2Toned on Aquariumlife.com.au
*Fertilisation is maybe 5ml a week of a mix of potassium, phosphorus, iron, trace nutrients, glutaraldehyde, and a teaspoon of Seachem Equilibrium.
Livestock including but not limited to: Bolivian ram pair, blue ram pair, three angelfish, a discus, an Ivanacara adoketa, 8x Corydoras sterbai, 4x Macrotocinclus affinis, a Crossocheilus siamensis, 4x pencilfish, 5x ember tetras, 10x neon tetras, Malaysian burrowing trumpet snails.
Plants including but not limited to: Nymphaea lotus, Staurogyne sp., Blyxa japonica, Lymnophyla aromatic, Ludwigia repens, Hemianthus micranthemoides, Vallisneria sp. spiral, Vallisneria sp. snakeskin, Rotala sp., Glossostigma elatinoides.
Had this aquarium running for over a year now. It has DIY CO2 provided by 4 litres of yeast/sugar/water, which requires warmish temperatures to ferment productively, so in my cold house the plants died back over winter. The return of warm weather increased CO2 production and plant growth. This is growth from the first replanting at the end of cold weather to the present.
13-9-2013
Pretty sparse. There's a clump of emersed-grown Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, Eleocharis parvula, Hydrocotile sp., and Utricularia sp. in the middle foreground, cut from an outdoors shallow pond. The Ludwigia brevipes in the middle-left background was brought in from a deep outdoors pond.
Hygrophyla polysperma in the middle-right background, Echinodorus amazonicus in the back left corner, a few crowns of Helanthium tenellum hidden in the middle, and a Cryptocoryne sp., maybe wendtii. The Nymphaea is a tiny stunted trio of leaves just below the filter intake on the back right, it barely survived the winter. The Limnophila aromatic and Rotala sp. are a few struggling scraps on the far left. There is one tiny crown of Blyxa japonica in front of the H. polysperma, all that survived of the Blyxa forest I had six months prior.
26-9-2013
Thirteen days later. H. polysperma is taking off, it's probably the easiest plant I've ever grown. Added a single emersed-grown Rotala sp. stem on the right, just out of curiosity. The emersed leaves are bigger, darker and rounder than the immersed growth.
29-9-2013
Three days later, the L. brevipes and H. polysperma growth is apparent.
30-9-2013
The next day after a water change and trim. The H. polysperma has been mowed, the tips of the L. brevipes cut and replanted.
23-10-2013
23 days later. Nymphaea sp. and B. japonica are finally picking up. Added some Rotala sp. to the middle, H. tenellum is spreading, group of L. brevipes is thickening up after pruning and replanting tips, H. polysperma has been mowed again. L. brasiliensis and E. parvula have started sending out runners. I don't think the Hydrocotile sp. is an aquatic variety, it struggles to put out new leaves.
4-11-2013
12 days later, H. polysperma's rapid growth has become a problem, quickly shading the plants around it. V. sp. spiral is spreading runners across the front and back right, V. sp. snakeskin on the left is developing some long leaves.
5-11-2013
The next day after pruning, replanting and water change. H. polysperma removed, Rotala sp. planted in its place. E. amazonicus at the back left is getting a bit out of hand.
23-11-2013
18 days later, not sure what changed but everything is growing really well. E. amazonicus is shading out everything on the left. Rotala sp. stems are doing well. From a single emersed-grown stem, there's now a dozen or so substantial stems on the right with the V. sp. spiral. E. parvula and L. brasiliensis from the clump in the middle foreground are spreading, as is the H. tenellum to the left. I'm going to pull all of them out next water change.
There's a great big clump of Glossostigma elatinoides temporarily planted at the front right that I got for the ridiculously low price of $3. G. elatinoides is probably my favourite aquascape groundcover, all the other foreground plants are being removed to make way for it.
The oxygen bubbles rising from the big red leaves of the Nymphae sp. at the back right remind me of a haiku I wrote about the same plant a year prior.
Oxygen bubbles
Rising from red lotus leaf
Photosynthesis
23-11-2013
Same day, all other foreground plants removed, great big E. amazonicus pulled and moved to an outdoors pond. Its root system must have covered the entire footprint of the aquarium. Uprooting it completely would have churned up the entire substrate, I had to cut it free of its roots. The disturbance lifted clay, peat and silt, clouding the water pretty thoroughly.
24-11-2013
Late evening/early morning after pruning, replanting, cleaning, and ~75% water change. G. elatinoides planted in the foreground, L. brevipes in the back middle mowed, a few kilograms of fine washed sand poured into the crater left by the E. amazonicus removal.
24-11-2013
In the evening of the same day, after a ~50% water change, cloudiness finally gone.
12-12-2013
18 days later, as of just before lights-out at the time of writing, everything's getting enormous. G. elatinoides is sending out runners, hopefully it will grow into a proper carpet. Added a couple rocks to the back left sandpit, would like to add a single large rock but don't have one I like. Middle background L. aromatic will need to be trimmed and should grow back looking even better. Rotala sp. between it and the Nymphaea sp. is so long it's growing across the surface of the water, thinking of planting it at the back left in front of or instead of the unidentified fine-leaved green stem plant. V. sp. snakeskin at far left is growing extremely long leaves across the surface of the water, it will only become more of a problem over time. Thinking of removing both Vallisneria sp.
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