I decided to snap a few updated pictures of my 75G tank today. I’m still figuring out all of this photography stuff, so bear with me as I try to get better and better pictures of my tanks.

(Front/Angled view)

(View from right side)

(Left – Apisto. cacatuoides, hovering over some anubias barteri, where his fry are swimming between the roots.)

(Right – Two Nerite Snails cling to one another. I don’t want to know what they’re doing!)

As you can see, the glosso is growing in quite nicely. The Rams have taken a particular liking to swimming in the open “glosso field.” That is, of course, when the female apisto. cacatuoides is not chasing them away from her fry.

As you can see to the left, the elatine triandra that I had planted, in hope that it would fill the hill in my 75G has grown unmanagable. It looked fabulous for about a week, and then it overgrew itself, to the point where half of it wasn’t even rooted in the substrate anymore.

So, I decided to rip it all out, and instead try ranunculus inundatus as my “hill plant.” This is a funny little plant that is somewhat new to the hobby, and isn’t likely to be found in all but a few local fish stores.

Planting this plant is quite similar to planting glossostigma elatinoides; you break it into sections of 1-2 nodes, and plant them individually. Before long, each node will send out new nodes via runners, covering your substrate. From the picture below, you can tell that the leaves can be a number of inches above the substrate. These plants were transplanted from a more shaded aquarium, so they are quite high. I’m counting on the new growth to hug the substrate a little bit more tightly, as I have 220W overtop of this tank, with the top of the hill only being about 10″ from the lights.

Ranunculus inundatus is a relatively fast growing plant when in the right conditions. Generally speaking, the required conditions are similar to glosso: decent light, plenty of macros, and CO2. You might be able to grow it in less-than-ideal circumstances, but the growth will likely be leggy, with deformed leaves.

I got home this evening, and I noticed that my apistogramma cacatuoides pair was acting a little bit. The female had sectioned off the middle of the tank, guarding a bunch of anubias roots. Upon further examination, I saw that she had a small shoal of baby apisto. fry! I immediately ran and got my video recorder, and tried to record the event. Unfortunately, you can’t see any of the babies, but if you look closely, you should be able to see the mother acting quite standoffish. I also zoomed out a bit, to give a better overall of the tank layout itself. The camera angle is shot from the right side of the tank.

I finally got around to snapping a few pictures of my 75G’s new aquascape. Unfortunately, the water is still cloudy from the water change, and the angle is kind of weird. Despite, my best photoshop magic, this is what I turned out with.

(This picture was originally taken at an angle, and skewed/cropped, so it might be out of proportion.)

As you can see, the glosso hasn’t quite covered the substrate yet. The elatine triandra is growing like crazy. Everything is growing quite well.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. I’d love to hear any comments you have on the aquascape!