# 55-gallon NPT specs



## sb483 (May 29, 2006)

Here's a 55-gallon tank, set up NPT-style (gravel over soil). 3 kissing gouramis, 8 neons, and 4 corys.

There's a field of lillaeopsis on the left (there was tennelus, but it started dying all of a sudden; since it's dying even in _open _areas with no other plants, it's probably due to alleopathy). Rotala wallichii in the center and on the right. On the right, there's Aponogeton ulvaceus, Cryptocoryne balansae, Echinodorus osiris, and a tiger lotus (and an anubius hidden from view). In the open space between the middle rotala and the plant cluster on the right is a little patch of glossostigma.

Floating plants are hornwort, duckweed, and water lettuce (which cleared out green water algae in record time).

















This NPT was set up a few months ago (I posted earlier about green water problems). The hope was that the lillaeopsis would stick around and cover the bottom floor. With such a grass-cover, maybe a few fish eggs (if any appear) can survive in the densest patches without a separate breeding tank?


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## RuiEstrelinha (Feb 23, 2004)

Hello,

Great tank!!!

What type of light do you use there?

Best regards,


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## sb483 (May 29, 2006)

RuiEstrelinha said:


> Hello,
> 
> Great tank!!!
> 
> ...


Thanks
It sure does look bright in the photo, but it was a cloudy day outside so this might have been an exposure problem -- the lighting is just a single fluorescent bulb on top.

*edit*: and btw, you are a master aquarium photographer! Your photos rival those of Amano and his Nature Aquarium World books


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

Lovely! The field of Lilaeopsis is so nice! Are you going to propogate the Rotala so that it forms a large clump, or leave it as a smaller group? 

From Alex.


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## sb483 (May 29, 2006)

Miss Fishy said:


> Lovely! The field of Lilaeopsis is so nice! Are you going to propogate the Rotala so that it forms a large clump, or leave it as a smaller group?
> 
> From Alex.


I don't expect that I'll cut Rotala tops off to replant them - I usually don't do this with stem plants, I just leave them alone.

And here's a better look at the field of glossostigma just right of the center of the tank:


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## Minipol (Jul 4, 2006)

Seems like it's forming quite good !


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

sb483 said:


> And here's a better look at the field of glossostigma just right of the center of the tank


Very impressive! Your tank looks like it is shaping up nicely.


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## sb483 (May 29, 2006)

Thank you 

*Turf Wars*​
Just thought I'd document some turf wars in this tank. Above I said that the tenellus in this tank gave way to the lillaeopsis. You can see how puny this tenellus plant below looks in between the lillaeopsis field:








(in good conditions I've seen tenellus grow larger than lillaeopsis)

But the tenellus is still spreading. It may _look _like it's dying out, but it's spreading across the tank all the same, just as if it were a healthy plant. In fact, look at what it's doing below:









Each and every tenellus plant looks scrawny in this tank (and a much darker shade of green than a healthy tenellus), but its rapid growth rate seems unhindered. Just thought it was interesting.


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## Teeleton (Jun 8, 2006)

Looks like quite the snail farm you have going as well.

Looking at your turf wars pics reminded me of the old Rush song "The Trees" 


Teeleton


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## onemyndseye (May 12, 2006)

"..... a few fish eggs (if any appear) can survive ....."

You could very well see some Egg-layer fry show up  Everytime my 30Gal gets really dense with growth I end up finding Danio or Tetra fry in my sump... usually only afew at a time.

Great looking tank - Good Job!
-Justin
One Mynds Eye


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## sb483 (May 29, 2006)

The rotala wallichii is now tall enough to reach the top, but instead of emergent growth, it's curving back downwards because of the little strip between the glass and the water surface. It may eventually grow emergent, or it may just continue growing horizontally.

Here's a picture right before lights go out:









One in the morning:









A night-shot of the glossostigma field. This plant seems fragile, so I thought I'd document it before it disappears from the tank completely:


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

I love the night time shot! The Rotala looks magical in the dim light. What do you think is the reason for the Glosso not doing well? 

From Alex.


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## Minipol (Jul 4, 2006)

Wow, the sunlight really makes the tank look good.
When the sun hits the corner of my tank, it makes the fish look so much more colourful


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