Evolution of a newbie's Planted Aquarium

[Yams]

Hey all

So the story goes...

When my wife's goldfish of 4-5 years died, I received her 16 Gal Tank. This tank still contained 1x Common Pleco that is now a miniature beast of the topical seas.

Anyways, From that 16 Gallon Fish tank sprouted my fish keeping hobby! Now... 8 or so months later, that 16 Gal aquarium turned into a 55 Gallon...

And here are the images to go along with that


The Start, First addition of freshwater plants into my house (16Gal tank with 1x Hornwart / 1x Water Wisteria)


55 Gal Tank Initially (Cycled for 4-5weeks)with
Slate Rocks - 3x Rosy Barbs taken from 16 Gal that survived their Fin Rot Episode and 1x Common Pleco
Plants taken from other tank + some new purchases (I don't know their names...)


55 Gal Tank with addition of Blood Red Dwarf Gourami Pair and some new plants



55 Gal Tank with addition of MTS / and Java Moss + Water Lettuce I do believe


55 Gal Tank with addition of Marineland Double Bright 36'-48' LED System and 1x Powerhead in the back left corner
+ Chain Sword Plant from the garage sale (Not sure who I bought it from but thanks!)
+ Bolivian Rams x Pair I do belive, they always seem to be swimming on top of each other



And there are my Rams! 




Thanks for looking! I am proud so far, alot of learning along this road!

Also, there were 2x Bristlenose fry added in the mix sometime, not sure when... they are tiny, see them hanging out of the driftwood most of the time!


Edit ------------

Setup is now...

1 Ehiem 2227 Wet / Dry Canister Filter
Jager 250W Heater
Eco-complete Carrib Sea Substrate (front) Mixed black gravel + Pure Laterite underneath (back)
Marineland Doublebright LED 36'-48' Lighting
Maxi-Jet 900 Powerhead
RENA Air Pump 300 with bubble stone? (not sure what you call that)
and... I think thats is it for now...

Fish
1 Common Pleco
2 Fry Bristlenose Plecos
2 Bolivian Rams
2 Blood Red Dwarf Gourami's
3 Rosy Barbs (will add a few more at a later date, so far they are friendly and look happy)
Unknown amount of MTS

Plants
Hornwort
Water Wisteria
Chaining Sword Plant
Java Moss
Water Lettuce ? (floating at the top?)
the rest... are unknown...  (should have wrote their names down)

All plants seem to be growing 1,000X better under the Marineland LED light

[Brent Shaver]

Coming along nicely, keep up the good work..

[Vincenzo.]

nice man. looking good.

[Laura]

It's looking great.
If that's the water lettuce you got from me, it looks good - just don't let it take over and block out light to the plants below.

[Fishnut]

That large plant at the back...I can NEVER get it to grow!  Then again, I'm probably too low-tech for it:).  Way to go!

[fischkopp]

Great start! 

That large plant in the back in Aponogeton madagascariensis, better known as Madagascar Lace Leaf plant. It really does look good in your tank. The trick I believe is that you keep them in cooler tanks and free from debris. It isn't all that light demanding.

[Jeff1192]

Great start! 

That large plant in the back in Aponogeton madagascariensis, better known as Madagascar Lace Leaf plant. It really does look good in your tank. The trick I believe is that you keep them in cooler tanks and free from debris. It isn't all that light demanding.

Tank does look good. I think though that the big plant in the back is an Aponogeton Biovinianus. They look like a lace plant but their leaves are solid. I have 2 of them in my tank. They are pretty hard to find (I spent almost 2 years trying to track one down before La Niche got some in a couple of weeks ago). Root tabs are a must to get them growing well in my experiene. Also they can go dormant on you. They stop growing and disappear. But if you leave the bulb where it is it will start up again within a couple of months usually.

Jeff

[fischkopp]

I think though that the big plant in the back is an Aponogeton Biovinianus.

Yeah, you are probably right. Need to sharpen my eyes. 

[Yams]

Ya I got that from La Niche a few weeks ago, seems to be growing well though in the Pure Laterite under the gravel, almost doubled in size.

[Yams]

Laura, that is the water lettuce I received from you, initially all the roots fell off but it regrew with a vengence! and yes, its been cut back a few times already  some in all 3 of my tanks,

Also, as far as the Aponogeton Biovinianus, which I have looked up, there isnt much info on this plant. My question is, it is growing like wildfire, how to split it? Possibly? Could I cut the bulb in half...to propogate it? Or will that just kill it? I read it has not been successfully propogated yet, but with most bulbs is that not how you do it?

Tips? Experience?

[Jeff1192]

My understanding is that the only way to propagate that one is for it to flower which will then give you some seeds. If you google search "propagate aponogeton" you'll get lots of info.

Jeff

[Yams]

And...



Thats a few months down the road from what it used to look like... not the best camera..but thought I would share

**Setup added a MarineLand C-160 Canister Filter to go with the Ehiem 2227

Cheers!