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.

This certainly is not a maverick pick, but it’s been awhile since I actually did a tank with good ‘ol glosso, so I thought it would do well. You may notice that in addition to the foreground, I’ve also begrudgingly removed all of the Blyxa japonica from this aquascape. Where I had it previously was just over-powering the foreground a little bit.

I also got some Cryptocoryne parva, which I have planted on the edges of hardscape underneath the archway. I’m sure that eventually I’ll have to rescue it from the glosso, but I also added some slightly taller Cryptocoryne willisii, which should stick out.

I have a few other plants in this tank that I’ll likely need to remove to the benefit of aquascape once I have places for them in one of my other aquariums. Mostly, those plants are Lamiaceae sp. and Proserpinaca palustris on the right side of the tank.

The other plants in this tank are all doing quite well. You can see Hottonia palustris pearling in the photo above. Overall, I’m looking forward to finally having the foreground filled in, so that I can just tweak the rest of the plants into a finished aquascape. Comments/critiques welcome as always!

I was sitting across the room, watching some television, which I noticed a huge mass of cherry shrimp, all congregated in the front of my 75G aquarium. The 75G has been close to algae-free lately, so I have been feeding extra algae wafers for the plecos, but hadn’t really paid much attention after doing so. Apparently, the population of cherry shrimp was quite interested in the algae wafers, and called of their friends to join them in the feast.

Of course, with that many shrimp in one place, all of the rainbowfish in the tank wanted to see what was so interesting. They dove in and out of the population of shrimp, but didn’t seem to bother the shrimp any by doing so.

Finally, the Ancistrus sp. ‘L279’ bristle-nosed plecos realized that I dropped in algae wafers, and stormed into the middle of the shrimp. In some instances, they swam in fast enough to a send the shrimp flying out of the way.

All in all, it’s pretty entertaining to watch these critters interact with the rest of the tankmates. As you can tell, the cherry shrimp have had no problem breeding in my 75G aquarium!

I 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!

I guess you could say that the Aquatic Gardener’s Association Convention last month inspired me to work on my tanks. After setting up my 50G, and moving my 40G, it was finally time to rescape my 75G aquarium. I usually don’t do a whole lot of planning prior to starting a new aquascape. Usually, I just pick the materials I want to use, and kind of fit them together, trying different combinations, until something clicks. Well, this time, I decided to try something new.

The day prior to the rescape, I pulled out my porous mossy rock and African bogwood, and began working on a hardscape on the floor. Eventually, I decided that I wanted an archway, slightly off-center, with piles of rocks around it. Then, the next day, when it was time to rescape, it was simple to transplant the hardscape into the tank.

Obviously, once in the aquarium, I made a few adjustments, spreading out the hardscape, and adding a few extra pieces of rocks and wood to fill it out. I also knew that Narrow leaf Java Fern would feature prominently in this aquascape, after receiving a huge amount of it from a very generous GWAPA member. (BB, thank you so much!) Microsorum pteropus is a wonderful plant to use to fill in the gaps between pieces of the hardscape, making the whole thing look like more than a pile of rocks and wood.

After quite a bit of planting, I finished the aquascape. A lot of growing needs to happen, and actually, I still need to plant the foreground, but otherwise, I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out. Of course, I’ve spent a number of hours staring at it, so I’m sure I see things a little bit differently than a fresh set of eyes.

So, with that in mind, I’d love to hear your comments and critiques!

As promised, here is a picture of my 75G after some trimming and cleaning up. I didn’t end up changing the aquascape very much, but that will hopefully come before too long. I have changed the fauna in this tank, however. I managed to fish out about 15 Corydoras paleatus, which I sold in the catfish convention auction.

75G - Click picture for larger image.

I replaced them with about 60 Threadfin Rainbowfish (Iriatherina werneri) that I had kept in quarantine for the last few weeks. I also intend to fish out the Goo Obo Gudgeons from my 54G tank to turn this into more of an Australian/New Guinea themed tank. My hope is that the Gudgeons will breed without the Corydoras in there to disturb their eggs. We’ll see! Let me know if you have any suggestions for the aquascape.

I’ve been quite busy this week with a number of non-aquarium related things going on, so it’s no surprise that I haven’t been able to post, or tend my aquariums as much as I would normally like to. I have continued to dose my 75G every morning, however, and when I do that, without much attention, it soon turns into this overgrown jungle.

Click for larger image

The Stargrass, in particular, in the back right/middle has completely taken over the area, shading out everything in front of it. Fortunately, all I have are a bunch of crypts, anubias, and other non-light-hungry plants there. I hope to be able to clean up this tank a bit this weekend, so that it’s back in tip-top shape in a week or two. If I’m really ambitious, I might change up the aquascape a little bit because I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile. We’ll see. I’ll post an updated picture once I have it back to a more presentable state.

I’ve changed a few things around in my 75G since my previous update last month. Most noticeably, I have thinned out a ton of the Blyxa japonica that was in the front right. Overall, I think this gives the right side a little bit more definition because it allows a small amount of foreground all the way across the front of the tank. I’ve been continuing my extra attention to this tank, ensuring weekly water changes, consistent CO2 output, and regular dosing. The payoff has been increased growth and a small reduction of the black brush algae that seems to love the rocks, wood, and Anubias leaves in this tank.

75G - August 27, 2008. Click for larger image.

As you can tell, however, I still probably need to dose more fertilizers, nitrates in particular. That is evident in the bright pink color of the Limnophila aromatica and Ludwigia glandulosa on the right side of the tank. In addition, I probably have too many species of plants in this tank. I’ve recently added Vallisneria americana var. ‘natans’ to the right side of the tank, which is supposed to be a shorter and thinner version of the otherwise monster grassy plant that is Vallisneria americana. I also planted Hygrophila sp. ‘Porto Velho‘ in the front-right of the foreground, and have a number of other species of plants jammed in, particularly on the right side. All of this said, I’m pretty happy with the direction that this aquascape is going in. I wish the Eleocharis sp. ‘Japan’ hairgrass would pick up it’s growth rate, and actually create a lush lawn in the foreground, but I suppose it’s just a matter of time for that. Comments welcome!

It’s time that I post an updated picture of my 75G tank. (Previous version here.) Besides my recent disaster with not quarantining fish, I haven’t worked too much on this tank. I removed one of the pieces of driftwood in the front middle to make the scape flow a little bit better. The Blyxa japonica in the front right has grown by leaps and bounds. The Eleocharis sp. ‘Japan’ has grown, but not filled in near as full as I’m hoping for in the left foreground. Otherwise, in the back-right I’ve removed all of the Pogostemon stellatus and put Ludwigia glandulosa in its place. I still have a stem of Ludwigia sp. ‘Cuba’ back there, but I’ll likely move that to my 40G tank once it has stabilized. I’ve also added Hygrophila corymbosa ‘Kompact’ to the midground-center.

75G - July 24, 2008. Click for larger image.

I’m working to fight off a minor black brush algae attack that I believe was caused by medicating the tank. Otherwise, it’s growing fairly well. I looks a little bit unbalanced now with the hairgrass being so sparse, and the empty background on the right side, but once those plants fill in, I’ll be fairly happy with it. I’m open to comments and critiques, however. 🙂

At the last CCA meeting that I attended, I picked up a pair of Apistogramma similis that the speaker had collected himself when in Bolivia. I’m hoping that they really are this species because they don’t exactly look like the pictures in my Cichlid Atlas Vol. 2, but they aren’t that far off either. In any case, Apistogramma similis is quite similar to Apistogramma inconspicua, with a different number of dorsal spines. The extent to which this species is distributed is unknown, being found a couple jungle rivers in the Bolivian province of Beni.

I don’t expect these guys to be terribly difficult to breed in my 75G aquarium, and hope that I’m able to garner a small population of them. These aren’t the prettiest apistos available, but still have their appeal, and if my juvenile specimens color up a bit, they’ll be nice to look at nevertheless. I’ll post updated pictures of these guys as they mature.

It’s been about a month since the last shot of my 75G aquarium. Since then, the Eleocharis sp. ‘Japan’ has continued to grow in, and is still exhibiting the fantastic downward sloping growth it’s known for. The Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia in the foreground/middle has really started to explode. I suppose the roots have reached critical mass, and now there’s no getting rid of it. (not that I would want to!)

Otherwise, I have a few signs of collectoritis showing on the right-hand side of the aquascape with stems of Pogostemon stellatus, Ludwigia sp. ‘Cuba’, Eriocaulen sp. ‘Type 3’, and Ludwigia sp. ‘Pantanal’ all growing in close proximity. I ought to decide on just one of those, and go with that. Not to mention that I’ve totally mixed up Limnophila aromatica and Limnophila hippuroides in the middle of the tank! Honestly, I’m wondering if what I bought as L. hippuroides is really L. aromatica anyways because they look the same to me. Finally, the Java Fern sp. ‘Fingers’ in the top/middle/left is looking fantastic! All-in-all, for not paying much attention to this tank, I can’t really complain too much about its appearance. It could definitely benefit from a couple good trims, but otherwise, it’s maintaining itself pretty well, I think. However, suggestions are always welcome!