Garhan

Here is a discus of mine, female Red Turquoise

Welcome aboard. I have the same bug you have, when it comes to plants. i have been using a KISS method for sometime now. It has been effective on 10, 30, 50 and 150 gallon tanks. I also do alot of DIY stuff when it comes to plants and breeding of fish. Welcome again, and if can be of any assistance to you ,please feel free to contact me at anytime. :ml:

A great cave or hiding spot can be cut from black PVC pipe.2", 4", or 6". Cut to length coat exterior with silicone and dip in gravel or sand, or leave it plain for spawning tanks. This works well, or acciendtally break some of the wifes terracota pots, they work well also and can be coated with silicone and gravel if desired. Cheers, Garhan :ml:

Smokey, truely this one is really easy. The plants are so simple, but the rock picking is harder, and finding the right layout is tougher yet. There are some simple things to keep in mind when placing the rock structure. 1. Nothing should be built dead center. Use a ratio of 1:1.618 (takahashi amano principles) Even if this mean two different or blended rock profiles in the tank. Not sure if I was that clearin explanation. 2. Try to keep the vast majority of your rock the same type...i.e. all slate, all sandstone.all petrified wood. all the same colour or very close to it. But as you can see a small mix of rock type is OK too. Slate also does not mean flat sheets of rock. Go to a rock quarry or bulk supplier to source your slate...I mean big flat chunky pieces of slate. 3. Build yourself a back wall if desired at least 2/3 up the back of the tank, if you want a back wall or to the top.Make sure it is secured. Or you can paint the back of the tank a black or dark blue on the outside of the glass.. these colours really show your tank off well. Use your imagination here. i.e a sheet of plexiglass of 4-6mm- cut to the dimensions of your back sheet of glass, some waterfall foam on the plexiglass (laid flat for building your wall) and sprinkle sand , gravel, place rocks...your limitation is the lack of imagination. Waterfall foam can be purchased at places like Canar Rock Product, Burnco...etc. It is great stuff :thumbs: 5. If there is a slight colour difference in your rocks, boulders - meaning shade..light grey, medium grey, darker grey...so on, keep the lighter stuff to the back and as you move forward in the display gradually move into the darker stuff. This will give the impression of depth. Another example of this in a picture would be less detail further away and more detail the closer the foreground..right. 6. Try to point most of or even all your rocks upward at a angle, usually not more than 45 degrees. 7. Place rock structures in groups of 3,5,7,11. It balances the image better. Even numbers dont seem to work as well...I wont get into the theory of that comment...have faith, it works. 8. Pardon the expression and play with your rocks in the display.. this could take days. When you are really happy with it, walk away and come back in 2 days. If your still happy, you just got the yang in your rock pile. 9. Now work on the ying in your plant selection, 3,5,7 species, play colour the same. 10. Dont over do it, be concious of weigth. Remember :bang1: 1:1.618 ratio, draw lines on your tank if you have to with a water soluable marker. (tip) 11. go play, start with a 10 gallon tank. Pet Smart usually sells new on sale for 9.99 + tax. Drop me a line if you would like further discussion. Cheers, Garhan garhan

here isd a low light tank I setup a while back (2 months ago). The play is more with the rocks than the plants. Actually the plants were an after thought. having the anubias nana cascade down the Glacier Rock makes a reasonable effect. Especially with the gray/blue slate backgroung that is waterfoam adhered to the back glass plate. The brown rock is sandstone picked from a local river.The crypts are growing in and are immaculate in condition. But they still need more developement. The Red Flame sword and Osiris are in only to proof to myself that even high light requirement plants can do well in lower light condition with a good fertilizer program. They may not grow tall or even propogate, but that is not what I am trying to achieve in this enviornmentThere is no C02 and about 2 watts per gallon of light. Temperature is 74 F, PH 7.8-8.2 (tap water, so whatever it is at the time). Substrate is Silica Sand, 40/60 grain. No other base put into substrate. No algae either. Fish are peacock fry (8) and do not seem hard on plants. Water change once every 2 weeks at 30%. But I do add Trace Elements for Cichlids. Cheers, Garhan :ml:

Molino thanks much appreciated. Qxquo, yea I have some concern about the gymnogeophagus austarlis up rooting the glossostigma elatinoides and even the Lilaeopsis novae-zealandiae. Latter did super well this summer outside have lots to trade or sell. May look real good in a strigata tank as a low cover with the Tiger val and Echinodourus cordifolius ssp. fluitians- just to off set the mid ground Val in the back of course at about 3-4 feet long laying on top....mmmmsounds pikey to me. Going walleye fishin with the boys this weekend Oh, back to the 55 gallon But so far so good, currently the plants ARE OUTGROWING THE FISH...LOL. HOPEFULLY NOT A CONTINUED SIGN OF THINGS TO COME. That substrate I showed you seems to be working OK, at least the glosso is not having to much difficulty moving through it, unlike larger flourite gravels. were it is difficult to even get planted. The tank is coming along but not ready to show. I am also growing out a few select male Blue Gularis in this tank, I will have 1 realy good show fish- you ought to see it at three months he is almost 2.75" Garhan

Hey Oxquo, As you know I will help you anytime, maybe so far as coming down to check out the new shack and shop. Thank-you for the compliment, and comments. very much appreciated. humbled comes to mind.Call or drop a note anytime I will help if I can or at the least hopefully be able to pass on a sense of direction to were you might be able to resource your needs. For a guy as astute (?) as yourself, I am sure you would not have any seriuos difficulties in any project you take on. Cheers, Garhan i will miss our casual visits and chats in our fishrooms, thanks again.. We are :ml:

Hi Ryan, This tank at its best, runs at 11-12 hrs of light / day. when and if algae occurs after being established, I cut it back to 8-9 hrs./ day. That male Bosemani was an F1, now 00. It died sorry, but I kept 6 fry all females from his bloodline (F2). Cheers, Garhan

I see I surprized a few people. Here are the specs on this tank Water as finished product 50/50 RO and tap PH: 6.5 Temperature :74 F 100watt heater, Titanium type Lights; 8, T-8 Full Spectrum 30 watts each, I used 2, 4 way ballasts with a self made canopyfrom a melamine finished board. As you probably know the 2 most effective reflectors are a high metal finish and white paint. (chose latter due to cost and was more fun to make) Filteration: is a Fluval 404- choked back as to moderate the desired current. Substrate: is my own design. Here I mixed Tropical pottings soil, unfetilized of course with laterite at 3:1 and peat pellets to asssist nutriant access for those plants that have primary intake from root system. This was the foundation with 3-6" base depending on contour of aquascape. Top substrate is 20/60 grain granite based sandblasting sand (very red/brown in colour, nice contrast to plants)from a local wholesaler for sandblasting companies. I choice this because it is a intert substance according to the WHMIS documents. Didn't even wash it,.... because. (I was lazy) C02: DIY project from a 2 liter juice bottle and used the standard sugar, yeast mixture- being cheap, but effective. Began a fertilization program after the tank balanced out. This took about 1-1.5 months with a 20-30% water change twice a week. Once alage bloom was gone ( and this is normal, so dont fret.) At this point I began using Seachem fertilizers until I was broke. Then I switched to the Sears/Colin program PMDD (Poor Man Dosing Drops) found on The Krib websites. This when the photo was taken, and walla.... There is 35 different spieces of plants in this tank and that is my only regret. I now believe that you can achieve a much better composition on the tank by sicking with 4-6 species of plants that would complement each other in colour, texture, shape, and over all proportion. I also included another angle of some special plants to me, Rotala macranda I would be happy to rely to any other questions. Cheers, Garhan

Smokey here is the other one from last year. (55 gallon)

OK thanks for the advice. Cheers, Garhan

Just out of curiosity who is Randy L, and is there a specifc reason why I would contact a commercial supplier for plants...Just curious.. garhan :well: sorry Andy L

Just out of curiosity who is Randy L, and is there a specifc reason why I would contact a commercial supplier for plants...Just curious.. garhan :well:

I am frtom Edmonton. Born and raised, southside boy...lol

Just a short note to all to say hello. I am pleasantly surprized and enthusiastic about a Alberta fish site. I have regained the appreciation of aquarium life in the past 3 years. Prior to that I had not kept any fish since I was 17. Then came girls you know the rest. Since being back into the hobby I found my personal interests lying towards aquatic plants. Although raising and breeding fish is nice, and some what easy in most cases. I found the challenge in raising aquatic plants considerably more challenging for myself. Wether a low light tank or a high intensity light tank, it is interesting to play with all the new toys available on the market and then develope some DIY projects to cut costs and explore resources available outside the aquaria market. I did come to a relization this summer that most of the plants I keep can be raised outside during the summer with little care and maintance. More later about myself and fish I keep . G2G, cya :ml: :ml: