# New 75g



## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Week 1:

This is my new 75g. Just re-planted it. No hardscaping at all, but here it is. It has much growing to do
before it looks ok-- Not going to keep the tank like this though.

There is no background yet. I'll post pics as it grows. I'm going to try a trimming technique on _Rotala rotundafolia_, and _Rotala sp. 'Green'_.
If I do it right, I should be able to get it to form a nice bush.

Rena XP3, Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil, AHSupply 4x55w bright kit, and pressurized CO2.
The lights are cut back because there isn't much plant density in there. 110w for 8.5hrs, and a 110w 'burst' for 3.5hrs, 2.5hrs into photoperiod.
I will slowly increase photoperiod as plants grow in.
Plants:
_Limnophila aromatica
Rotala wallichii
Rotala sp. 'Green'
Rotala rotundifolia
Blyxa japonica
Cryptocoryne willisii
Cryptocoryne wendtii 
Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia
Cryptocoryne balansae
Eleocharis acicularis
Ludwigia repens
Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Hygrophila corymbosa 'angustifolia'_
Creatures
Red Cherry Shrimp
3 Crystal Red Shrimp
4 peppered cory cats
and a bunch of White Clouds


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

looks good, cant wait to see it grown out.


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## LS1FDRx7 (Mar 6, 2007)

Very nice setup. Where do you get your plants at? Did you take it from other planted tanks that you had? How's those cherry shrimp doing in that only layered Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil? I'm thinking about redo mines also and dump all my 102 cherry shrimp into it, but I wasn't sure if they'll tolerate the Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil. Overall looks very nice.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Thanks warzy



LS1FDRx7 said:


> Very nice setup. Where do you get your plants at? Did you take it from other planted tanks that you had? How's those cherry shrimp doing in that only layered Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil? I'm thinking about redo mines also and dump all my 102 cherry shrimp into it, but I wasn't sure if they'll tolerate the Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil. Overall looks very nice.


Thank you. I got these plants at the LFS mostly. I had the crypts and 1 other plant in my 10g since I moved.. 
THe cherry shrimp do fine in there, no problem. Thanks, I'm hoping it turns out ok until I get some rocks and driftwood for it.
I might limit the plants down so I can make it more simple looking. But for me, that is asking a lot.. ahahaa
I sort of have colectoritis since I only have 2 tanks


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## Doktordet (Sep 22, 2006)

Looks good Dippy!


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## pirayaman (Nov 3, 2007)

thats great de is that penny wort looks great


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

nice farm you have there!

those lights are sick!


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

SICK MAN.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Thanks guys. Hopefully this tank will be a success..


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

that looks awesome man


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Week 2:

There is some growth, not much algea to speak of(thankfully).

I can see the _Rotala sp 'Green' _and the _R. rotundafolia_ are going to take some time to grow how I want to try and get them to grow.
The slowest grower so far seems to be the _Rotala wallichii_. I'm guessing that once it gets used to the situation in there it should take off.
I wish the _Limnophila aromatica _would grow slower hah.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

lookin good man


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## ouija (Feb 4, 2008)

thats a beautifull tank bro : D iam a noob at this but what are those plants on the left corner i see them allot and love them but dont know the name


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## pirayaman (Nov 3, 2007)

hey dippy what are the spikey ones in front pic 3 there seems to be 3 of them how diff and how big they are sweet

man that tanks has grown so much in one week I NEED CO2 arghhhhhhhhhhhh


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

pirayaman said:


> hey dippy what are the spikey ones in front pic 3 there seems to be 3 of them how diff and how big they are sweet
> 
> man that tanks has grown so much in one week I NEED CO2 arghhhhhhhhhhhh


That looks like blyxa japonica

co2 and bright lights *are* pretty freakin nice....


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Thanks Joe!



ouija said:


> hey dippy what are the spikey ones in front pic 3 there seems to be 3 of them how diff and how big they are sweet
> man that tanks has grown so much in one week I NEED CO2 arghhhhhhhhhhhh


That plant is Blyxa japonica, and the plant will grow pretty thick and enourmous if you don't trim it every now and then lol

Traumatic was right on the money with that one








Ya, high light and CO2 is sweet to grow with. It all adds up tho

I got to get a background for this tank soon.. It's starting to bother me lol


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Week 3:

OK the _L. aromatica _is touching the top now, so it's going to be trimmed tonight. I read so much on trimming _Rotala rotundafolia_ and I still am not too sure how to do it properly.. 
Everything I've read says to let it grow to 3" then trim, then let it go to 5" and trim again.. I guess I failed to trim it at the 3" mark? lol
Well, I guess I'll try to trim it tonight too, and see what happens after that.

Week 3 progress


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## barbianj (Aug 3, 2003)

Wow. That's really good growth from the first picture. I have some of the same red Crypts. I like the contrast in color they bring. Lookin good.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

barbianj said:


> Wow. That's really good growth from the first picture. I have some of the same red Crypts. I like the contrast in color they bring. Lookin good.


Thanks!
Algea is minimum in there.. All I had to do is wipe the glass and spray bar real quick, do a little trimming, and do the water change. I love when that happens









I have _L. aromatica _sitting in a bucket over here if anyone wants it.


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## pirayaman (Nov 3, 2007)

dam dippy such a explosion of growth i cant belive it grew that much in 3 weeks holy crap

why not trim it back to 3 inchs im sure it will grow massive a mounts of side suckers/shoots


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

pirayaman said:


> dam dippy such a explosion of growth i cant belive it grew that much in 3 weeks holy crap
> 
> why not trim it back to 3 inchs im sure it will grow massive a mounts of side suckers/shoots


Ya, It's quite normal for a tank with high light and co2 to grow very quickly.. sometimes you wish it would slow down in there lol

Do you mean trim the _L. aromatica _to 3"? With thick stemmed plants like the _L. aromatica_, You have to uproot it, cut off all sideshoots, and replant just the tops. 
The much smaller _Rotala rotundafolia _and the _R. sp. 'Green'_ can be topped off while the roots are still intact. But eventually you have to uproot them
Not sure if that was your suggestion or not sorry


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## rickstsi (Apr 6, 2007)

"The lights are cut back because there isn't much plant density in there. 110w for 8.5hrs, and a 110w 'burst' for 3.5hrs, 2.5hrs into photoperiod. I will slowly increase photoperiod as plants grow in."

Hey Dippy can you explain what this means as far as the photoperiod and the burst of light?


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

rickstsi said:


> "The lights are cut back because there isn't much plant density in there. 110w for 8.5hrs, and a 110w 'burst' for 3.5hrs, 2.5hrs into photoperiod. I will slowly increase photoperiod as plants grow in."
> 
> Hey Dippy can you explain what this means as far as the photoperiod and the burst of light?


I'll give it a shot

when I first planted the tank, I didn't have as many plants as I would have liked to have started with. Therefore, I cut back the photoperiod so algea wouldn't get a foothold on the tank while it was growing out

I have 220w of light, with 110w wired 2x. There are 4 bulbs. 2 come on @ 1:30pm and stay on until 9:30pm. (with a timer of course)
the other 2 bulbs come on @ 4pm and turn off @ 7:30pm.

Sorry, I know it was a bit hard to understand the first time around.. I hope this is better.

Everything is doing so well in there, I'm thinking of just leaving the photoperiod just like this from now on lol--


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## rickstsi (Apr 6, 2007)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> "The lights are cut back because there isn't much plant density in there. 110w for 8.5hrs, and a 110w 'burst' for 3.5hrs, 2.5hrs into photoperiod. I will slowly increase photoperiod as plants grow in."
> 
> Hey Dippy can you explain what this means as far as the photoperiod and the burst of light?


I'll give it a shot

when I first planted the tank, I didn't have as many plants as I would have liked to have started with. Therefore, I cut back the photoperiod so algea wouldn't get a foothold on the tank while it was growing out

I have 220w of light, with 110w wired 2x. There are 4 bulbs. 2 come on @ 1:30pm and stay on until 9:30pm. (with a timer of course)
the other 2 bulbs come on @ 4pm and turn off @ 7:30pm.

Sorry, I know it was a bit hard to understand the first time around.. I hope this is better.

Everything is doing so well in there, I'm thinking of just leaving the photoperiod just like this from now on lol--
[/quote]

Ok i think i understand. Is the photoperiod suppose to represent the stronger sunlight at the middle of the day?


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

photoperiod is the whole time lights are on over the tank

the burst is the time when the 2nd pair of lights turn on


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Week 4:

I ended up throwing away the _L. aromatica _trimmings. I was too busy to ship them to someone anyway lol
Things are starting to take shape. I'm planning on moving the Crypts around in the left corner. The Rotala bush needs a trim every week so far. 
Again, barely any algea except some on the glass and spraybar every week. Easily wiped off.


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

thats lookin so sweet man. what is your secret


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## nix1977 (Mar 11, 2008)

DiPpY eGgS said:


> Week 4:
> 
> I ended up throwing away the _L. aromatica _trimmings. I was too busy to ship them to someone anyway lol
> Things are starting to take shape. I'm planning on moving the Crypts around in the left corner. The Rotala bush needs a trim every week so far.
> ...


aaahhhh! you threw away the aromatica?! Is my timing off or what?









the tank looks gorgeous though! Is it me, or did you trim the aromatica down a bit as well? Are you going to add any ground cover to the left side near the crypts?

hey, what is the plant in the back right corner? looks almost like a Val. is aciclarius?


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

ryanimpreza said:


> thats lookin so sweet man. what is your secret


Thanks! -No secret at all. 
Substrate is Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil, 4x55w bright kit from AHSupply(on timers), I have a Rena XP3, pressurized CO2, and I dose potassium, nitrate, and phosphate every other day starting after a 50% weekly waterchange, and I dose Flourish iron and comprehensive the other days.

Besides fine tuning things here and there like trimming and wiping glass, That's it.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Nic
I trimmed back the aromatica before it started growing emerged out of the tank. Then it kind of stunts, and looks funny for a few weeks

as far as the left corner 
I am growing out some _Marsilea minuta _and _Cryptocoryne willisii_ for the corner foreground. should look nise 
I think you want to know what the long slender leafed plant is on the right. That is _Hygrophila corymbosa 'Angustafolia'_


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## LS1FDRx7 (Mar 6, 2007)

Are the "Limnophila aromatica" difficult to grow? I've believed your the only one I know on this forum that actually uses that plant. None the less, it looks great.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

LS1FDRx7 said:


> Are the "Limnophila aromatica" difficult to grow? I've believed your the only one I know on this forum that actually uses that plant. None the less, it looks great.


It isn't hard to grow other than the fact that it loves lots of light. That means you need CO2 as well. Other than that, it's a nice and easy plant to grow!
--it likes a lot of iron and micros like most thick stemmed plants too


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## LS1FDRx7 (Mar 6, 2007)

Very cool, thanks for the info. I find that plant to be very eye catching due to it's structure of leaves and the shape of the entire plant itself along with it's coloration is awesome.


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

anymore updates for us man? i'm curious to see how it's looking, we haven't seen it for a few weeks


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

joedizzlempls said:


> anymore updates for us man? i'm curious to see how it's looking, we haven't seen it for a few weeks


I took out 3/4 of all the plants on the right, I want to do something different over there--I'm growing out _Ludwigia arcuata _and _Hemianthus micranthemoides_ now and thinned out the pennywort and the Hygro
Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet. I'll post pics in 2 weeks or so. Doing lots of work in the basement where my tank is, it's a wreck.


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## mattd390 (Dec 5, 2005)

Any updates?? Great looking tank!


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