plantbrain

I will trim again this weekend and then take another picture to show the trimming and then post the regrowth. I sold 220 Plants this week so at 1.5$ each, that's 330$ worth of plants, or about 500 euros More about 280-300 really. Not bad. Tank pays for itself well every month and then some. Not many can say that. Regards, Tom Barr

I use scissors. Just like mowing a lawn of grass. Regards, Tom Barr

I'll be trimming again tomorrow: I'll show the trimmed group of plants again. Regards, Tom Barr

One more week: Time to trim the plants again! Regards, Tom Barr

The eggs would get eaten if they bred in this tank. Regards, Tom Barr

Pics of the cards, Royals(Sturisoma) and the Shrimp if you look. Regards, Tom Barr

Pre mowed: Mowed: About 2-3 weeks later: helps to see pics and not be told what to do for trimming. This can newbies a lot if you illustrate the trim methods. I use scissors. I trimmed like you would a hedge in front of the house. Simple. You can also do this with HC or Gloss etc. Regards, Tom Barr

As long as it's been dead a long time, and well soaked, none of this matters. If you worry, then use activated carbon, it removes such chemicals. Also, so does water changes. But make sure it's been soaked and been pulled from a long dead tree! No fresh wood ever, no matter what type of tree. Regards, Tom Barr

Bald Cypress is used in many aquascapes. It's a common swamp tree in South East USA. It's a deciduous also, no many confiers are. So it looses its leaves in the winter. Some are extremely old also, up to 3000 years or so. They are perfectly safe for the aquarium and do not turn the water dark, but then again, any wood that's been soaking and dead for a long time will be safe also. Another common wood used from the same region is Swamp Cedar, the Tampa Bay Aquarium uses it a lot in most of their displays. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxodium_distichum Most pieces are light weight and need slate or glued to the bottom of the tank. Swamp cedar roots are often used. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_virginiana I've collected nice pinwheel root systems for several years there. There's also a western cedar I use for this 180 Gallon tank: Looks better than most folk's wood:) Fish bred and are happy. Regards, Tom Barr

Well, I think aquarist should break the rules, try to turn things the other way around. If it looks good, it is good. The plant is Starougyne species. Not sure of the species name. It's widely grown in the USA, and this species is also being grown a lot now under Starougyne Tropica # 049: Since I already have a lot of this plant, I have no use for another similar tank full of it. I have downoi in yet another tank, so not many choices left here. The plecos can move under and through the plants and not uproot them. This acts like a forest canopy for them. The Cypress wood is soft and easy to drill and make caves for them. The wood's grain also looks like the fluted volcanic cliffs in the tropical south Pacific islands, Hawaii etc. Here is at 1300 meters on Kauai: You can see the fluted cliffs on the upper right. But yes, using wood like rock is something I prefer more. I have plenty of wood and can drill, attach it, modify it much easier than rock. Regards, Tom Barr

Actually we make salty codfish and I grill sardines as good at the ones we had in Portugal. CA, USA has some good cod and excellent fresh sardines. So I got some good cooking ideas from there. It takes some time to get every aspect going right, but I'd still rather have some different foreground plant. Never happy. Regards, Tom Barr

I'm a cheap date Regards, Tom Barr

It's just a piece of bald cypress, common in Florida, swamp pine tree. Very soft, nice grain, one large piece. I tried to pick the Fissidens moss off, it keeps coming back, but people pay a lot of $ for the extras A toothbrush seems to work best keeping the wood free of moss. Still have work to go. I rarely take equipment out simply for a photo or shut CO2 off etc. This is what the tank looks like when people walk by. Breeding fish, nice plant growth and production, this aquarium pays for itself. Uses little light, easy to care for, suits the goal and the habitat for the livestock. Regards, Tom Barr

This tank has gone through a few different changes, but has settled in. I'd originally wanted some finer foreground leaf shapes, but the plecos would have none of that, this plant does not uproot and and allows a nice understory place for the plecos to grub around and the RCS to pick and clean anything missed by the plecos. I have 15 caves made into this piece of wood for the plecos(Leopard frog). the brass tetras are about 2 years old, this is as big as they get, very pretty and excellent schooling, lively fish. Maybe 100 RCS in here. Simple display, but low light + easy care, makes it a nice tank. Good current, flourite sand, wet/dry filter, 1.7 w/gal and about 30 micromols along the bottom. Recently send a basket ball sized piece of bolbitus off for sale, and about 50 dwarf hygros. 30 RCS are culled about once every month or two from the filter. Now if I can get some Leopard frog fry or have some tetras' spawn, I'm in good shape. And the leopard frogs: Regards, Tom Barr

No, the dosing is richer if anything. I add 3x a week: 2 tsp KNO3 1 tsp KH2PO4 50 mls Traces After water change, I add GH booster, about 3-4 tsps Aqua Soil lacks N as it ages, this is 3 years old now. Plants, and bacteria transform most of N out of the ADA AS. Most of the other nutrients are still there and close to the starting new ADA AS. Here's the tank about 3 years ago: Regards, Tom Barr

Need to whack the Blyxa back even further, uproot and replant to keep it lower. The back is still in the grow in phase as is the left side in general. Lots of current and the wood blocks a lot of light. Back ground will be mostly P stellata eventually, it'll tkae another 1-2 months worth of trim, grow out for it to look somewhat where I like. I may switch back to Tonina. Both do well in current. The Starougyne responds well to pruning. I puinch off the tops, about 1-2" down, leave the rest still rooted. On higher clumps, I'll thin and take most of the larger dominate stems. Then the other stem tips fill in. This was less than a week after I removed about 70 plants. So it looks fairly good not long afterwards. Nothing is worse than a foreground trim/plant etc that looks bad for a long time after wards. I tend to try and hack the plant in the front more aggressively, trying to keep it a safe distance from the front glass. The plants will fill back in those spots in the front in about 2-3 weeks. Cardinals and other critters are happy, frisky, well feed, eat most anything. Sorry for the point and shoot photos, I may actually do a real photo shoot someday. This tank is admittedly a long way away from any of that. Regards, Tom Barr

The cardinals do school well time to time, particularly in the middle of the day. I also have high flow so they follow each other with the current. Rummy nose tend to school more consistently. The layout of the scape can also influence how the fish school. Brass tetras also school very well. It depends I think, in an open tank, fish do not feel as comfortable, so they will school in the LFS, but not in a nice planted tank, they get too relaxed maybe? Regards, Tom Barr

I like cardinals, bland color fish had better have a nice personality. I keep double trunk elephant nose and ghost knife, my brass tetras are very intense personality wise, as are the Congo tetras. The plecos can be bland colors to some degree also, but they have other traits. The cardinal tetras do not always school tightly, but when they do and move around a nice long tank 180cm or more, it looks very nice, same for rummy noses which also would look nice in here. The darker wood and color in the upper parts of the tank make the cardinals a good choice. There are many different school smaller fish out there. I think pictures are terrible at seeing what is nice in the aquarium, you must see the fish in person to decide. So many fish and so few aquariums!! Regards, Tom Barr Some other tanks also a after a bi gtrim and removal of plants, pardon that:

You should be able to see: RCS, at least 1-2 2 or more Lamontichthys filamentosus Cardinal tetras Amano shrimp There's a lot more fish in this aquarium but it gives you an idea how I like fish aquariums. I like to see fish in schools and then the closer you look, you see larger or more colorful fish/shrimp hidden in the wood or plants. This draws the viewer's eye to the aquarium. If it was a school of large active fish, it makes the aquarium look smaller. Since the schoolign fish are smaller, the tank still looks bigger, but then the size of the Lamontichthys filamentosus is contrasted better and surprises the viewer, since they blend in with the high current and the driftwood perfectly. You do not notice them at first, same with the red cherry shrimp, they are very small, but they make up for it with their blood red color and give a entirely different look/effect, but still the same overall principle. Regards, Tom Barr

I moved and tore this tank down and a few months later: Decided to use the Staruogyne for a foreground. One of the few weeds that the royal plecos would not maul and uproot daily. Tank has some work to do still for nicer grouping for the rear, still somewhat undecided... but it's on it's way. See how many fish and critters you can spot. Regards, Tom Barr

The plants do better if you use less light, otherwise they dry out and die. I live in CA, USA, same climate as Portugal:idea: Any dead, dry leaves are trimmed off also. Treat like you would a house plant. Too much light = dead leaves. Regards, Tom Barr

And Fish are in there but hide. 100? CRS are also in there. Bolbitus is growing without any CO2/Excel etc. Regards, Tom Barr

An older picture. regards, Tom Barr

Hard to take a phot with the moon light, lots of blurs would be it. I added two small stingray today. They seem much happier now in that nice sand. About 12cm across, really neat looking. the fish stocking is really fun and lots of rare plecos are in here, large schools of tetras. I will add two Vortech Wavemakers pumps next week. MP40's, these pulse 300-3000gph and there will be two added for a nice strong pulsed current down the front sandy length, just like a stream. Should give a nicer effect. Regards, Tom Barr

As long as we can communicate at some level in some way, the language itself matters little. Never apologize for your language. Your English is much better than my Portuguese as many there are well aware of :D The tank is 240 Cm x 70cm x 70 cm. Regards, Tom Barr