And then there was an empty 33G long tank!

I am jealous to see how well the micro sword is growing for you (in a good way ). Mine dosent want  to grow anything but a layer of diatoms on it, lol.

Looks really nice Donna!

Beautiful shots of your floaters, jealous of them and your camera  

Thanks Chad and Missgrumpygills. And I lost most of those micro swords too Chad when I planted them to the brown stringy hair algae but a couple survived (like 3 of them) and now then are trying to break out the front of the tank ... pushing against the glass and growing like weeds.

Do you know ... can you trim the tops of them if they get too tall?

Those look more like helanthium tenellum (pygmy chain sword) than micro swords (typically Lilaeopsis species) to me.

You'd be safer cutting the leaves of h. tenellum than a lilaeopsis species, I think (faster growth, more leaves per plant), but I've never cut my pygmy chain or micro swords so I couldn't say for sure. I thin these, rather than cut them, as they're a rosette-style root plant and not a stem plant that will re-grow from the next leaf node down.

After doing some looking around I'm thinking maybe I have dwarf sagittaria? I'm not sure ...closer looks at micro sword and I don't think it looks like that. I need to do up a new list on my tank plants..LOL...just so I can keep track of what the heck I have. So many are similar in appearance to me.

That's possible.. I'm looking back and forth between 2 10g tanks where I have both and your photos and I'm having a hard time coming up with a good way to tell them apart

Pygmy chain sword grows much faster than dwarf sagittaria and tends to have thinner, above-ground runners. Sagittaria Subulata is a pretty slow grower and has mostly under-ground runners that are slightly thicker. Pygmy chain sword can create as many as 1 - 2 new plantlets per day on a given runner, in the right conditions.

s. subulata can get much taller than h. tenellum - I've had some grow over 12" in the right conditions. When I had CO2, my h. tenellum got up to about 6" tall; without, it's shorter - maybe 4".

What a beautiful tank, Donna! I absolutely love the layout of this tank, and you've really did a wonderful job! Simply stunning!

Everytime I see an empty 33 gallon tank at the store (Aquarium Co-Op) I always think of yours

May your tank continue to inspire and motivate other aquascapists!

Thanks pbmax...I thought when I got this plant originally it was attached by the chain like things but I don't see those now on the plants...just a lot of plantlets so not sure

Angelo...you are too kind..really. My tank is off balance but its growing good. Plants are doing pretty well. I sure wish I still had all my original plants and could have seen it come to this point but losing almost everything kinda left me just grabbing whatever I could find. All beautiful plants but not a lot of rhyme or reason to things now.

I feel the mucking about stage coming as I want it more balanced and full on both sides BUT I don't want to lose my pretty fish either so I've been hesitant to do too much in the tank...its just getting to be time I think though.

Well...I haven't mucked about much but I have done the ROAK fish trade (and got some awesome plants) as well as picked up a couple of plants from the GSAS auction yesterday.  My mini CO2 unit came off when we went on vacation and I have yet to put it back on so I've just been dosing Excel at the daily rate for the tank.  I still would like to get a nice CO2 setup and have this tank and a 55G on a double stack stand and have both planted.  John and I have been working on the idea and I've picked up the 55G on the Petco sale.  

So to update the 33G long tank...I've added the following plants:

macsicia minuta
lobelia cardinalis
limnophilia sp. wavy
ludwigia glandulosa
Persicaria sp. "kawangoeanum"
Ludwigia sp. red
Fissedens fontanus (Its on the manzanita wood, towards the top right of the tank)

These are all new plants for me and I've upped the game a bit by adding in some reds.  I'm hoping that they will hold their color for me.  So, below pics are of tank with new plants just in.  I'll post up some more pics after another month to see how the reds held but I'm really liking the look of them and the POW they add to the tank.

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Oh yeah, that's awesome!! The reds along with all the shades of greens and pink contrast very well. Nice Donna, very nice. I think that Finnex will pull out the reds okay at that depth. Looks like you can lower the fixture a couple inches too so you got some room to play with to make the lighting a bit more intense if you have to. Lighting time may play a factor later too. Mine are on like 12 hours a day. Just make the adjustments as needed.

fishNAbowl wrote:Oh yeah, that's awesome!! The reds along with all the shades of greens and pink contrast very well. Nice Donna, very nice. I think that Finnex will pull out the reds okay at that depth. Looks like you can lower the fixture a couple inches too so you got some room to play with to make the lighting a bit more intense if you have to. Lighting time may play a factor later too. Mine are on like 12 hours a day. Just make the adjustments as needed.

Thanks Chad. I'm only running lighting about 9.5 hours a day right now. And yes, that light could be lowered also with no problem. I'll keep an eye on those great reds and see how they are holding up over some time. I'm really having fun with this tank and learning process.

Donna, you're starting to speak a language I don't understand, but the tank is really looking nice.   

Betty wrote:Donna, you're starting to speak a language I don't understand, but the tank is really looking nice.   

Thank you Betty and yes  I guess I have branched out from only cichlid and fish talk    It is fun ... I am really enjoying it.

Well...another update.  Only about 3 weeks but the tank is growing like crazy.  I'm loving the reds that have been added and how they are looking.  Some other things are not doing so well so another plant is coming in on Monday hopefully to do a replace.  Anyway...added the following:

Alternanthera Reineckii 'Variegated'
Myriophyllum Mattogrossense
Syngonanthus sp. 'Madeira'
a Buceplandra Sp

and here's the updates:
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Beautiful tank!!! The reds really pop out from the lush green plants you have!

I've got a question though, the third picture down, what is the plant that's towards the front of the picture? I have something that looks similar to it, and I've been trying to figure out what kind of plant it was... =P

PokeSephiroth wrote:Beautiful tank!!! The reds really pop out from the lush green plants you have!

I've got a question though, the third picture down, what is the plant that's towards the front of the picture? I have something that looks similar to it, and I've been trying to figure out what kind of plant it was... =P

lobelia cardinalis
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Syngonanthus sp. 'Madeira'
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Oh hah! Lobelia Cardinalis... huh, it's so weird how mine is growing... maybe because I haven't cut it. LOL... anywho, thanks for the additional info!! I'm really loving your 33 gallon!! You should do a video of that tank!

PokeSephiroth wrote:Oh hah! Lobelia Cardinalis... huh, it's so weird how mine is growing... maybe because I haven't cut it. LOL... anywho, thanks for the additional info!! I'm really loving your 33 gallon!! You should do a video of that tank!

The Lobelia was a ROAK plant...(lucky me...yes)...and the video...well..this camera takes great videos. I just can't edit them which sucks big time. At least I haven't found a program that will do it yet that is "reasonable" to purchase. And I hate to put up unedited videos.

Wow, look at that tank!!

Love the variegated form of Alternanthera Reineckii!  I just got a 1" trimming of it as a surprise addition in a plant order.

Looks like worries about lighting are now over. Growth looks magnificent, colors outstanding. Nice clean leaves Donna. I see no algae there. I think you've successfully created a garden underwater

Donna: If you can figure out a way to get me the raw video footage, I could probably whip something up together for you.

If you've seen some of my fish videos, you'll know what to expect. Hehehehe

Thanks everyone. Chad...yes that A. reineckii variegated form is gorgeous. I love the color it adds to the tank. And Angelo...if I can figure out how to get the raw stuff off the camera I'll see what I can do.

Donna, If you have Google Drive, you could upload the files on there, and then share the links to me, so that I can download them. usually, if you have a gmail or any google account, then you should have a google drive account.

OK...update time again.  This tank is just busting at the seams.  Planning to move everything up to a 75G tank within a month or two.  Hope I can make it that long.  Still dosing dry ferts and traces, running pressurized CO2, lights on 9 hours a day.  Have a little green hair algae starting to show up.  I need to read up on what adjustments to make for that.  No plant changes just lots of growth in everything.  Lost my beautiful red ludwigia...it just faded away

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Persicaria sp. "kawagoeanum" poking out the top of the tank
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According to my readings green thread algae is caused by overabundance of iron. Hmmm...I'd up-ed my iron dose a little because I was losing the red plant...yes...question answered. Back to normal dosing of that then

Nice , very nice! My Ludwigia red died too. It may be something to do with nutrient competition. In my 140 the mosses seem to reach a critical mass, then for no apparent reason will die way back. Then creep forward again. Wierd. ..

Tank looks awesome Donna. I'll be anticipating your new project

fishNAbowl wrote:Nice , very nice! My Ludwigia red died too. It may be something to do with nutrient competition.  In my 140 the mosses seem to reach a critical mass, then for no apparent reason will die way back. Then creep forward again. Wierd. ..

Tank looks awesome Donna. I'll be anticipating your new project

Thanks Chad. The 75G will give the tank a lot more room but with it I'll have to learn things over again I'm sure. One question I had was should I move the existing substrate or should I just put new in the tank. I wasn't sure about that or if that Eco-complete can even be "moved". What will be nice is that my sword will have room to grow (if I haven't chopped it to death already). It really is a beautiful plant but is lost in the 33G as there is no where for it to go.

I don't see why you couldn't use a new substrate. The new stuff may not be as rich in nutrients as in your 30 but should be suffice. I do notice better growth in established substrates. After a few months organic debris work into a planted substrate making it much more rich.

If you where planing on using the old substrate it can be moved. I've done it a few times, and without rinsing. If you don't rinse it, may take a while for the black cloud of death to settle but your new set up will be near instantly cycled...

Thanks Chad...thinking maybe I'll split the difference....half new and half old.

Thank you everyone for following along on the 33G planted tank journal and my journey with my 1st truly planted tank. As some of you know I have now moved most of the 33G plants to my 75G tank and am starting my planted journey over again and hoping for the best.  I started a new thread for the 75G tank ... you can find it here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

For this journal and in closing of it the 33G long tank has been converted to low tech planted tank as most of the plants I had in it were moved to my 75G tank.  What remains from the original setup is a big bronze crypt, some Hydrocotyle leucocephala and an E. kleiner bar.  I also replanted a few of the pygmy chain sword.  Lighting is now a Current LED and no CO2.  The other plants were pulled from my 9G nano and one wood piece with anubias from one of my 20G tanks.  The pieces filled the tank right up.  

Fish stocking will be my golddust mollies, dwarf panda guppy babies, threadfin rainbows and purple harlequin rasboras for the time being.  I will have to see how this works.

Not sure what I will do, if anything, for ferts in this tank.  I was thinking maybe Flourish as I had ordered some erroneously when I was first getting ferts in for the original 33G tank and planting.  Maybe 1 or 2x a week of daily dose.  I'll see how that goes.

Final pic ... the new low tech setup.  I still love this tank       
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And again...thank you everyone for all your comments and support of me and this 33G project. Without your help I could not have had the successes that I did. Love you all   

Very NICE DONNA!
I too am dealing with the hair algee sindrome but have leaned to live with it. PULL< PULL< PULL
I found that the light spectrum has everything to do with it. I don't import ANY plants that had this growing on them including spores.
Its also the harder water too.
Question??? Does your fixture have the blue LED actinic feature on it???

Awe.... in closing? It's more like " An Evolution of a 33 gallon long"

If the plants do okay and start to fill out under the current lighting perhaps update? I would be interested.

Livebearer wrote:Very NICE DONNA!
I too am dealing with the hair algee sindrome but have leaned to live with it. PULL< PULL< PULL
I found that the light spectrum has everything to do with it. I don't import ANY plants that had this growing on them including spores.
Its also the harder water too.
Question??? Does your fixture have the blue LED actinic feature on it???

Thanks Livebearer.  I have done a bit of reading on the green hair algae and as I stated above, most of what I found indicated that an overabundance of iron can be a key factor (and this makes sense because I had upped my dose of iron because of the red plants dying back thinking that would help them)...anyway...here's a couple of what I think are the better sites for research and solution purposes on algaes, causes and resolutions

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Having now moved my plants to my 75G tank I had the opportunity to clean what little visible green hair algae I had out.  I'm unsure if that will do the trick or not.  And setting up the new tank is a whole new journey.  I may have various algaes abound...I had brown algae obliterate my 1st plantings in the 33G.  Not sure what I will run into with the new 75G.  

Spores and not importing plants with them? I am uncertain how I would tell if plants had "spores" from algae on them...my assumption is that they would be microscopic or very small.  As a new planted tank person, I sourced my plants from multiple locations: pet stores, auctions, here on the box, other forums.  If plants came to me contaminated with algae, unless I could see it, I did not notice. And I'm uncertain how you would know when purchasing plants, other than disclosure from someone, whether your plants had "spores" or had been in a tank with algaes.  I think most people trying to learn how to grow plants and planted tanks fight algaes at some time, its a learning experience.  In the end, its one you hope you will win

LED...all my LED's have blue lights in them.  Some have them as part of the standard color spectrum, others have them as a seperate switched option, like night/day.

And Chad...as always...thanks.  If there is something worth posting with the changed up tank I'll do it and keep things updated but my thought was that it will become rather static...LOL...anubias and javas are slow to change, at least in my tanks and waters they are.