LJ's 75 gallon Walstad inspired planted tank

Everything turned out beautiful really...love the plant selections and placements and your fish (wow)...totally inspired by this...great work!!!

Thanks all! The tank setup is almost 3 months old now, pretty proud of the results

Anthraxx wrote:my only tiff with this whole thing is that your plants are so lush and full it just doesnt look like a 75g (or at least to me )

Lol, I assure you it's a 75 gallon, but I know what you mean. I always feel like tanks looks smaller in photos than what they actually are

Looks fantastic!

how about some more update pics?

BLERG!! Happy Birthday in advance, LJ!!

Ask and ye shall receive:
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I had a lot of undergrowth die due to not trimming and over abundance of frogbit and duckweed.  But I've scooped out all the floaters and gave the amazon swords a much needed trim, so the green temple should be growing back in force soon.

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And a pic of one of the leopard ctenopomas I got from theChad:
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PS- thanks Poke

Very nice LJ! Your Rainbows look amazing. The Ctenopomas are kind of an outcast being all brown against the colorful Rainbows. But, they are an awesome fish with different character traits than Rainbows. The Ctentopoma looks good & content. Im happy you gave them a good home. Thank you

Looks good man. nice meeting you the other day.

really liking all those oddball fish in that tank. not only are the plants fun but the fish as well. great job and keep the pics coming!

So it's been awhile since I updated this.  I've decided to make some changes to the tank, mainly I sold off most my amazon swords at the SWAP and moved the remaining to the back of the tank, that way they wont be blocking out the light like they were before.  I've also added some stargrass (thanks Poke) and some other plant that hobbyorobsession gave away at the last GSAS meeting.  Also moved the crypts together to one side, and moved the green temple to a back corner.  My goal now is to have more not as tall and carpet plants.  Added marsilea minuta and quadrifolia, and plan on getting some glosso in there.  No pics yet, but I'll get some up soon after things settle.  

Until then, here's how Conan O'Brian gets his super powers:
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...you're welcome

can't wait to see pictuuuuuuuuuuuures!!!

he said he "sold" the sword XD
MORE LIKE GOT A GIANT LOG OUT OF IT!!#!@#!@#@!#@!

tee hee.... all together now: "LOOOOOOOOOOOOOG!!!"

shoulda heard phil he was like "LOG"
 I was like xDDD

I hope he joins fishbox. He was a cool cat or nice gentle man for ppl who dont understand. Jk  

Lamental Jester wrote:

And a pic of one of the leopard ctenopomas I got from theChad:
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Look at that handsome beast

He is isn't he?  His partner is just as striking... tall, dark, and handsome type just like me

Snapped some pics.  So as I was saying before, I'm making some changes to the tank, most of the big swords have been cleared out, the rest pushed to the back, as well as the sunset hydro.  Also cleared out all the water sprite and wisteria.  I won a huge Aponogeton Bovinianus from the plant swap at Aquarium Co-Op that I stuck in the back middle.  Got some Blyxa Japonica at the plant swap too (thanks Angelman).  I also added some plant that I don't know the name of, Hobbyorobsession can you tell me what it is?  It's the plant you gave away at the last GSAS meeting.  Also, got a stem of mermaid weed from Hobbyorobsession, thank you!  Got some Staurogyne Repens out on the left side, hoping to get it to spread and fill out.  Stargrass got put in there too on the right side to fill inbetween some rocks (thanks Poke).  Anyways, here's what the tank look like currently:
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Blyxa Japonica, Marsilea Minuta, Stargrass, Mermaid Weed, mystery plant (left).  Green Temple moved to back corner, red crypts grouped together and moved to side:
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Staurogyne Repens close up:
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So I know the tank isn't looking at its best compared to other times, but once things fill out hopefully my vision will become reality, also been having trouble getting good pics out of my camera for some reason, but I will keep trying.  I might be switching up the lighting to LEDs soon too.

WOW LJ, TANK LOOKS GREAT!!

Have you thought about growing something on that big piece of LOG?

Thanks theCh... er, I mean fishNAbowl  (seriously, don't go all [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on me and keep changing your name, cause as you know, Wu-Tang Clan ain't nuthin' to *bleep* with  )

I've been thinking about attaching some moss to it for a while now, maybe some phoenix, and possibly some anubias to the base, but we shall see.

PS:  your leopard ctenopomas' are still doing great, the shy one has become a little more outgoing, I'll have to get some pics off them on my next round of pics

LJ - Looking good. Which rainbow species has the bright red tail? The one under the log?

your tank looks amazing!! I think you should attach an Anubias to your log.

@dwarfpike: Melanotaenia australis (aka Western) I think... I just call them the striped one's, lol

@Morgan: That's what she said! Boom!!! Haha, but yes, it'll probably happen

Looks great!  

But I think your clam is dead

pbmax wrote:Looks great!  

But I think your clam is dead

It prefers the term "Living Impaired"

Well, it's probably because you put it in freshwater.

Really though, the tank looks fantastic; you have a great mix of plant colors and the log fits in very well.  

The last plants I think I pulled were, ludwigia repens, lobelia cardinalis, and persicara kawagoeanum.

Your tanks look very nice.

Persicara Kawagoeanum! That's the one, thanks Daniel!!!

Lamental Jester wrote:

pbmax wrote:Looks great!  

But I think your clam is dead

It prefers the term "Living Impaired"

poor clam

Lamental Jester wrote:Thanks theCh... er, I mean fishNAbowl  (seriously, don't go all [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] on me and keep changing your name, cause as you know, Wu-Tang Clan ain't nuthin' to *bleep* with  )

 I couldn't stay away LJ, aquatics is part of my life. Without WashFishBox I would be a loner within my community .

Lamental Jester wrote:
I've been thinking about attaching some moss to it for a while now, maybe some phoenix, and possibly some anubias to the base, but we shall see.

           It does look awesome the way it is. That's the 2nd thing that popped into my mind so I threw it out there.

Lamental Jester wrote:
PS:  your leopard ctenopomas' are still doing great, the shy one has become a little more outgoing, I'll have to get some pics off them on my next round of pics

That would be great. They are my favorite medium sized predator. And the two had pretty neat individual personalities

Ok, so I got a bunch of HC from the GSAS meeting yesterday, and think I'm gonna try attaching it to the log:
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Thoughts?  Suggestions?

I don't have any experience with this plant. If it works it should look awesome!

Thanks, we'll see how it goes... I tried HC before but it didn't work out so well, I think because it was blocked out by other plants and wasn't getting enough light. This time it's not gonna be shaded and is much closer to the light. I might start dosing the tank with excel again too. Fingers crossed. Any HC experts with any advise would be well welcomed! lol

Wow that looks great! Have you ever considered EI dosing dry ferts? they are much cheaper than excel in the long run.

Thanks unikorn!  I haven't tried dry ferts yet, I might give it a try sometime.  Most of the nutrients are being supplied by the soil substrate however

Dry ferts are cheap, but be very careful not to over-dose. I destroyed a couple of my planted tanks doing that... "EI" dosing is designed for high light and CO2, definitely not for a Walstad. You can still use dry ferts of course (I do), but start out with far lower dosing levels than EI.

This page is quite helpful in that regard: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks pbmax! Haha, when I first glanced at the link I thought it said "pedafile", I was like WTF? lol

Heh, yeah, the name is very nearly untoward...