# [Wet Thumb Forum]-72gal Bow Front



## Verminaard (Dec 18, 2003)

Thought it may be time to post a few pics of my show tank. I just recently added eusteralis stellata, ammania gracilis, heteranthera zosterfolia (stargrass) and lobelia cardinalis 'dwarf form.' The ammania gracilis and stargrass arrived in pretty dodgy shape but are bouncing back nicely. I finally got my glossostigma to completely cover my foreground. I now know what people mean by it being "invasive" as I have to trim it every couple of days to keep it from taking over. I am hoping next year to enter this aquascape into a few of the online contests, after things have grown in and I am happy with the layout. I still think I have a long way to go before I am satisfied, if you have any suggestions please feel free to comment. I will be adding a Hydor in line heater this week so I can remove my current heater from inside the tank. (I know its distracting)

Tank specs:
Eheim 2026
Eheim co2 regulator/diffuser
2 2x65w Coralife 6700k fixtures (3.6WPG)
Coralife "turbo twist" 9w UV sterilizer
100% Eco-Complete substrate
Tropica Master Grow 20ml x2 a week
KNO3 every other day
Kent Botanica Micro daily
ph 7.1
no3 10-15ppm
po4 1-1.5ppm
Co2 30-35ppm
78F
3-SAEs
4-Harlequin Rasboras
3-Ottocinclus
3-Amano shrimp
2-German Blue Rams

[This message was edited by Verminaard on Tue March 23 2004 at 01:39 PM.]

[This message was edited by Verminaard on Tue March 23 2004 at 01:40 PM.]


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## Verminaard (Dec 18, 2003)

Thought it may be time to post a few pics of my show tank. I just recently added eusteralis stellata, ammania gracilis, heteranthera zosterfolia (stargrass) and lobelia cardinalis 'dwarf form.' The ammania gracilis and stargrass arrived in pretty dodgy shape but are bouncing back nicely. I finally got my glossostigma to completely cover my foreground. I now know what people mean by it being "invasive" as I have to trim it every couple of days to keep it from taking over. I am hoping next year to enter this aquascape into a few of the online contests, after things have grown in and I am happy with the layout. I still think I have a long way to go before I am satisfied, if you have any suggestions please feel free to comment. I will be adding a Hydor in line heater this week so I can remove my current heater from inside the tank. (I know its distracting)

Tank specs:
Eheim 2026
Eheim co2 regulator/diffuser
2 2x65w Coralife 6700k fixtures (3.6WPG)
Coralife "turbo twist" 9w UV sterilizer
100% Eco-Complete substrate
Tropica Master Grow 20ml x2 a week
KNO3 every other day
Kent Botanica Micro daily
ph 7.1
no3 10-15ppm
po4 1-1.5ppm
Co2 30-35ppm
78F
3-SAEs
4-Harlequin Rasboras
3-Ottocinclus
3-Amano shrimp
2-German Blue Rams

[This message was edited by Verminaard on Tue March 23 2004 at 01:39 PM.]

[This message was edited by Verminaard on Tue March 23 2004 at 01:40 PM.]


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## Verminaard (Dec 18, 2003)

whole layout-


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## Overfloater (Apr 2, 2004)

Dude, I love it! What a great tank. The only suggestion I have is for a little more vertical growth in the background plants. And Obviously, as you mentioned, removing the heater. Nice work.


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## Garmoni (Dec 24, 2003)

Verminaard, It’s nice to see one of your tanks! I think it looks great. The only suggestion I would make is to plant something tall in the back left corner.


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## Verminaard (Dec 18, 2003)

Thanks for the complements guys. I am waiting on the stand of ammania gracilis to fill in the back left. I just planted them last week and are still adjusting to their new surroundings. I will update as soon as they have filled out a bit more.


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## Garmoni (Dec 24, 2003)

Do you find the stargrass to be demanding. I have been thinking about looking into it. I really like the way it looks in your tank. Do you expect it to get taller or is it more of a midground plant?


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## Overfloater (Apr 2, 2004)

Where is the stargrass... I don't see it. Anyway, I find stargrass to be an easy plant and it seems to grow fast for me. I have noticed that if the water is too soft it will get lots of black tips. I corrected this by raising my gH, and it hasn't returned since.


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## jread (Feb 28, 2004)

How do you guys get gloss to grow so well? I just couldn't get it to work in my tank. It also wouldn't grow very quickly. How long did it take you to get that nice carpet you have?

Your tank is beautiful, by the way


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## Verminaard (Dec 18, 2003)

The stargrass arrived last week in pretty horrible shape (and to think I paid $40 with shipping). Since last week it seems to be in a rebound-lots of new growth and good color. I am sure that it will end up doing very well in my tank. As for the glosso, its been sort of an exercise in patience. I had originally planted it about three months ago. It began to grow vertically when I first put it in while in parts it was staying horizontal-pretty weird. I replaced my light fixture in the front with a coralife 2x65w fixture and everything came together after that. It really did take a lot of patience though. I almost pulled it all out one time, opting for lilaeopsis. But I stuck with it. Now its all I can do to keep it under control. Bright light, nutrient rich substrate and a watchful eye on nutrient balance is all you need (IMO) to get glosso really going.


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## Verminaard (Dec 18, 2003)

Godslayer-
Forgot to mention: Stargrass in front of eusteralis stellata -I only salvaged about 6-7 healthy stems of what was shipped.


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## Garmoni (Dec 24, 2003)

I must be looking at the wrong plants. What is the bunch of plants to the right of the red ones.


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## Verminaard (Dec 18, 2003)

I think you are seeing the eusteralis stellata. I had tried in vain to find this plant for a few months and was lucky to get in touch with someone on this board who had some to offer. The stargrass is directly in front of the eusteralis. The stems on the stargrass are only 4-5in. You can find stargrass from time to time on aquabid. I may eventually have some to offer after it growns in a bit more. You can always ask Sue at Aquarium Adventure for a special order as well. She is usually very cooperative in helping out.


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## Garmoni (Dec 24, 2003)

Thanks for setting me straight I needed the clarification. I will look into eusteralis stellata and if you ever find that you have to much on your hands, let me know.


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## Verminaard (Dec 18, 2003)

Well I have done a major pruning this week. I also have just put in some ludwigia arcuata. I will be receiving some rotala wallichi later this week. Ammania gracilis is doing very well but I am still having some trouble getting the color I want from the eusteralis stellata. I have been slightly over dosing the micros and still no real positive results. I have added a hydor 300w in line heater as well. I will post again once things have grown a bit more in.


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## Planted Engineer (Jan 15, 2004)

Hi,

What is the plant in the middle - in front of the red one???

PE.


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## Verminaard (Dec 18, 2003)

The plant in the middle is micranthemum micranthemoides (AKA baby tears). It is an easily grown mid to foreground plant. It can be easily maintained as a hedge..


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## Verminaard (Dec 18, 2003)

I have moved quite a bit around in this tank since my last post. Today I added five new types of plants to this aquascape:hottonia palustris, rotala macrandra, ludwigia inclin. var. Cuba, and broadleaf stellata. Things arent quite aquascaped right now as you can see. I think the overall planting scheme will look nice once things have grown in a bit, however.


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