Eric's starfire 25 gal rimless

[exv152]

The LFS don`t stock it any longer, Big Al can order it in or you go direct on line.
Errol

Thanks for the tip Errol!

[jackpine]

Gotta get me one of those starfires.

[charlie]

Gotta get me one of those starfires.

There is one @ the OVAS giant auction tomorrow(48 gallon), even comes with ADA soil, Rocks, Driftwood & T5 HO lighting with moon lights.

[exv152]

Small update, been dealing with more algae, diatoms and brown algae due to the new setup, ammonia and having to switch to a new co2 regulator...but hopefully I'm on the right track now.

[exv152]

Another quick update, algae is obvious as the cylce is about a week old/just beginning, any comments welcome....thanks

[Cheebs]

Very, very nice!! Clean and crisp, and pretty to boot!

[Peekay]

I like how you put another one of those "you know, that one" plants in front of the driftwood on the right.  I think it looks better with it there.

Nice work. 

[exv152]

Thanks chubs and peekay. The grass-like plant is sagittaria subulata. I've had this stuff growing for years in my other tanks, but never seen it grow so tall as it has with pressurized co2. I'm actually wanting something red to put in there, but something with finer, smaller leaves to not take away from the scale...any suggestions for red plants?

[daworldisblack]

Thanks chubs and peekay. The grass-like plant is sagittaria subulata. I've had this stuff growing for years in my other tanks, but never seen it grow so tall as it has with pressurized co2. I'm actually wanting something red to put in there, but something with finer, smaller leaves to not take away from the scale...any suggestions for red plants?

Rotala wallichii ?

[exv152]

Rotala wallichii ?

Thanks daworldisblack, the plant on the right rear side of the tank is actually Rotala wallichii but you wouldn't be able to tell. For some reason it has gone green and somewhat spindly, not sick, just not red and bushy. My pH is somewhere between 6.2-6.4 and virtually no KH, or 0.5ppm. I heard water hardness can affect the plant's red colouration, but I'm kind of stumped with this one.

[charlie]

Thanks daworldisblack, the plant on the right rear side of the tank is actually Rotala wallichii but you wouldn't be able to tell. For some reason it has gone green and somewhat spindly, not sick, just not red and bushy. My pH is somewhere between 6.2-6.4 and virtually no KH, or 0.5ppm. I heard water hardness can affect the plant's red colouration, but I'm kind of stumped with this one.

I have never experienced any KH/colour issues as far as i can tell, i wll check my KH & repost, but i don`t mess with it, from the tap to the tank Ph 5.75, i should try some wallichi & see.
I would suggest you try some Ludwigia glandulosa for your red plant & see how that grows.
Errol

[Peekay]

It's not small leaved, and I'm not sure about the scale in your 25, but some red lotus leaves planted behind the wood and hovering in front of the wall of rotala would be cool.

Where are you picturing the red being placed?

[daworldisblack]

Thanks daworldisblack, the plant on the right rear side of the tank is actually Rotala wallichii but you wouldn't be able to tell. For some reason it has gone green and somewhat spindly, not sick, just not red and bushy. My pH is somewhere between 6.2-6.4 and virtually no KH, or 0.5ppm. I heard water hardness can affect the plant's red colouration, but I'm kind of stumped with this one.

I dont know the requirements of it actually. Just threw it out there as i thought it fit the bill I need to look it up as I was looking to use that plant too. As for alternatives, Lugwigia Arcuata or Brevipes and Mermaid Weed seem cool too!

[touchofsky]

I was looking at your original plant list, and wondered if you added the crypt that you were thinking of using.  That would add a bit of colour. 

[charlie]

I have never experienced any KH/colour issues as far as i can tell, i wll check my KH & repost, but i don`t mess with it, from the tap to the tank Ph 5.75, i should try some wallichi & see.
I would suggest you try some Ludwigia glandulosa for your red plant & see how that grows.
Errol

Sorry Eric , missed the small leaf requirement, so out goes the ludwigia  glandulosa , like Rah suggested the Brvipes or arcuata.
Errol

[exv152]

Touchofsky - It's funny you mention the bronze crypt wendtii because I was just thinking about taking some out of my 75g and 125g to transplant, I think I'll be moving some plants around this week.

Errol, the low KH is just something I threw in there to say that my water is in fact soft (pH 6.4) I read somewhere that rotala wallichii is a notorious soft water loving plant and seems to show its best red colouration in low alkalinity. This is really a mystery for me since I haven't kept many red plants in the past, with the exception of ludwigia repens, and I went through something similar with that. I know Tom Barr talked briefly in the recent podcast about not doing anything special in his tanks to obtain the red colours, so I'm maybe leaning towards Fe as being a possible culprit. I do dose flourish comprehensive 3 times a week, so I think I'm going to begin also dosing equilibrium to be sure.  Between those two ferts I'm sure I'll "hit the nail on the head".

I like the suggestions of ludwigia arcuata, brevipes and p. palustris, thanks Rah and peekay!  

[fischkopp]

If you just want to replace the sagittaria subulata with something else, try Helanthium tenellum (previously know as Echinodorus tenellus). It can look very different depending on your conditions, and has a very nice reddish color under high light.

As for red, I find it helps to keep the nitrates low, and assure calcium is available. I find dosing Calcium Nitrate gives good results. The rest is light and CO2. I never found the KH being a problem, unless the bio-load is high, or a water change a long time ago. Low KH is good, it assures low pH, and that tends to be better for the nutrient uptake of plants.

[exv152]

As for red, I find it helps to keep the nitrates low, and assure calcium is available. I find dosing Calcium Nitrate gives good results. The rest is light and CO2...

As for red - I dose equilibrium and flourish comprehensive, both have cacium, and there's certainly enough CO2. Maybe my light is not intense enough. Thanks for the tip.

[exv152]

Update, added some glossostigma elatinoides, thanks to Errol, and some red crypts wendtii and undulata. But as you notice the glosso has begun to grow vertical, and the crypts are not intensely red, meaning my light is not intense enough...

[bizfromqc]

It looks really nice Eric.
Is that a Hagen Elite mini you have in there (top-left)? Are you using it for circulation?

Eric