75G – 2 Weeks In
December 21st, 2008I wanted to give an update on my 75G aquarium, roughly two weeks since I rescaped it. As you can tell, many of the stems in the background need a trim, but otherwise, the midground is pretty much intact. I still haven’t decided on a foreground plant, which I really need to do. Right now, I’m kind of thinking of using Echinodorus tenellus var. ‘micro,’ which is a small grassy plant that turns red under intense lighting.
The Hottonia palustris is growing really well in the right-background, and is a very unique looking plant. Right now it’s growing tall, and then trailing a little bit toward the front glass as it nears the water surface, which is exactly what I want.
The tank is also packed with about 50-70 Iriatherina werneri (Threadfin rainbowfish), and a few other Melanotaenia praecox (Dwarf Neon rainbowfish) that I had from another tank. While I was taking photos they all congregated in a single area underneath the arch, so it looks like they’re packed far denser then they normally are.
Also, the Proserpinaca palustris (Mermaid weed) that I found locally this past summer is growing nicely, and has turned a nice burgundy color under the lights. This particular variety appears to have extremely fine-tooth leaves, as compared to some of the ones I’ve seen in the hobby. I think I actually prefer this look.
Overall, I’m pleased with how this aquascape is turning out. As mentioned, I still need to work on a foreground and trim some of the stems, but otherwise, I’m looking forward to it maturing a little bit more. Comments/critiques welcome as always!
December 22nd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
>>>>>I still haven’t decided on a foreground plant….
May I recommend Runuculus inundata? Very unique and cool-looking plant. Grassy is good but everyone does grass-type foregrounds. I did an E. tellenus ‘red’ foreground and it’s not bad but once it takes off it gets very invasive on the edges I found. The rununculus goes a little nuts too but not as out of control I found and there seems to be a very steady and strong market for selling off the trims of the runuculus runners. The ‘red’ of the E. tellenus ‘red’ is sort of a misnomer I think. It’s only a stripe of red down the center of the grass blade and it’s more like maroon-brown than red in my book and not all that attractive. Just my opinion….
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Thanks for the comment Rich! I agree that Ranunculus inundatus is a very unique foreground plant. I had a scape full of it once along with Elatine triandra. I do want to use this plant in another scape sometime, but I’m not sure if it’ll work in this particular one. I’ve also considered using Ranalisma rostrata, which is another nice grassy plant.
December 22nd, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Ok, ok. So how about some Utricularia Graminifolia? This was just offered to me by Wö£fëñxXx over on Planted Tank and looks like some really cool stuff.
December 23rd, 2008 at 10:20 am
U. graminfolia would definitely be a cool looking plant. I had it as a foreground previously in this 75G, as well, and the biggest knock against it is that it has shallow roots, and can take awhile to get established. I’ve been having trouble with some trumpet snails uprooting plants in the foreground, so until I can rectify that situation, I’ll need something that anchors a bit better. You definitely ought to try the Utricularia if you’ve never grown it before, however.
December 26th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
I believe you have Proserpinaca pectinata instead of P. palustris. Pectinata has very fine, serrated leaves. Did it look similar in its emersed form when you found it?
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PRPE
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PRPA3
http://www.alabamaplants.com/Greenalt/Proserpinaca_pectinata_page.html
http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/node/347
December 26th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
As a matter of fact, I just noticed that the fourth photo from the left on the CAIP website is also P. pectinata.
December 26th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Kevin, actually, we think it’s probably a variant of P. palustris. The emersed leaves are not fine-toothed at all like P. pectinata. See this picture:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/2717747661_4be001d72c_o.jpg
I agree that this version is more pectinate than the pectinate-pinnatifid version that’s common in the hobby. I believe this is still consistent with N. Britton’s description in An Illustrated Flora of the Northern U.S., however:
http://books.google.com/books?id=6dEGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA502&dq=Proserpinaca+palustris+illustrated&ei=CV5VSYDlHIy4yATA9KiWAQ
I do appreciate your comment, however, and encourage corrections anytime you think I’m mistaken. Thanks!
December 26th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Aw, that’s disappointing, because I have been trying to find pectinata. Now I’m curious what variety of palustris you have. There are three accepted varieties of palustris: P. palustris var. crebra, var. amblygona and var. palustris. I can only find a photo of crebra, which has longer, narrow emersed leaves. Do you have an emersed photo of your plant?
December 26th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Kevin, the Flickr link in my last comment shows the emersed form of my plants. As does this picture:
http://flickr.com/photos/55011269@N00/2905367283/
I’m looking for P. pectinata too. Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait at least another 4-6 months before there’s any hope of finding any around here.
December 29th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Today I visited a local fishkeeper and her fish tanks reminded me of yours…she had a 200-something gallon fish tank with rainbows and she told me that they breed constantly. I was so tempted in taking some home, but I didn’t want to take them from the “ocean” they currently live in.
January 19th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
[…] I last posted about the 75G aquarium about a month ago, when it was only setup for 2 weeks. I hadn’t yet decided which foreground plant I was going to go with. After a fair amount of indecisiveness, I was at my local fish store last week, and impulsively bought a pot of Glossostigma elatinoides. […]