# 20 gallon NPT El Natural Pics



## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

After a long battle of just about everything that can go wrong my son's 20 gallon npt is on the mend. The filter is temporary and is just being used to get some the medication out of the water and clear some of the cloudiness, though I'm not worried about that so much. The plants are growing well and include some experimentals. There are Crypt.wendtii (red and green), two swords that are growing fast and will have to go into the 125 eventually, a Bacopa sp., a Rotalla sp., something davemonkey called "wavy" that I can't remember the name of, 3 Eleocharis species (E. palustris, E. microcarpa, and E. parvula), a true "hair" sedge (Fimbristylis vahlii) which may or may not do well submerged, 2 Marsilea species, the living remains of an Anubias that took a beating, and some moss that resembles Taiwan, but was collected by davemonkey in Nacogdoches County, Texas.

If I've left anything out and you notice it, let me know.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Here are some close ups, and I left out Juncus repens.


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## Veloth (Jun 25, 2008)

Looking good! What type of rock is that?


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## RoseyD (Jul 9, 2009)

It looks like granite to me, with a high feldspar content. am I right?


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Regarding the rock, yes, it's granite with lots of K-feldspar content. It's a souvenier I picked up after Hurricane Ike tooks its toll on the Texas coast (I was in that part of Texas during some of the recovery effort).


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

It's lookin' good, mudboots! I'm very interested in how that _Fimbristylis_ will do submerged. The "wavy" is a _Limnophila sp_. I have not seen a positive ID on it yet, and for now it's just known as Limno sp. 'wavy'.

I'm going to do a bit a hunting this afternoon if the rain lets up. If I find anything interesting, I'll drop it by when I go to Nacogdoches on Wednesday. Oh, and I have a Red Tiger Lotus for you to put in your 125. 

-Dave


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

(Quote)"It's lookin' good, mudboots! I'm very interested in how that Fimbristylis will do submerged."

Thanks. The Fimbristylis is actually putting down new roots, but I'm not sure if it's desperation growth or the plant is just going to do well in the 20npt. If You stop by on Wednesday you'll get to take a look.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Update - the Fimbristylis is not doing very well and will go away. Also, the Limnophila "wavy" is not doing well either. It's also going away. If I had enough to send someone whose tank is more suited I'd send it, but it's only 2 stems, and they are not sufficient quality to give someone.

More importantly, I now have PEA SOUP. Yeee-hawwwwww. I expected it, so no big deal, but my goodness that's some ugly water. The other plants are really doing well though and are growing despite the green water algae bloom. You'd not be able to tell in a pic, but once it clears up I imagine there will be a marked difference compared to the pics I posted July 17. I just can't wait for those little plants to fill in the gaps so the tank will look like it's acutally a planted tank!!!


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## humbletex (Mar 15, 2009)

Hey mudboots! I came across a thread this morning, "Planted Tank Help!", which is under the Equipment forum. Someone mentioned that a UV sterilizer might help with green water. I think this was for more of a high tech set-up, but it might be something to look into.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

No way on the UV sterilizer; too much money for something I don't want to maintain. I'm staying the El Natural course (only thing plugged into a socket are lights). It may take longer to clear up, but I know eventually it'll work itself out. Plus, if I have company or just get sick of seeing it I can always hook up the filters I have sitting in the closet. Thanks for the recommendation though.

Then again, if I still have pea soup at the end of August, I may just have to reconsider. I'm giving it until the evening of August 27th to look presentable for the following day when we have visitors.


I tried to edit to add a pic, but it looks like I'll have to make a new reply.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Well, here it is. I think it needs a little more salt, a pinch of garlic, a little pepper, and maybe some shredded carrots just for color, but the pea soup is just about ready. Get your soup spoons and come on over!









It reminds me of those tootsie-roll-pop comercials from a million years ago where the kid asks the owl how many licks it takes. "One...to-whooo-(crunch)...thrruh-heeeee. It takes Threee..." I keep saying I'm going to see how long it takes for this to clear on its own, but last night I had to fight the urge to hook up the life-support system and just be done with it, and it's only been a few days!!!

We'll see how I feel this weekend.


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## rotnak1271 (Jul 22, 2008)

I just started a small npt as a test to see what I'd run across, and ended up getting a really thick bio-film across the surface. I was just about to put a filter on it to keep the surface agitated so that the film didn't have a chance to form while the tank settles in more. I figured I'd get some more fast-growing stems in there to see how it goes first and within a couple of days of adding a couple stems of bacopa, ludwigia and cabomba it has cleared up nicely.

Perhaps some more fast growing stems in the tank will help it settle in and clear up the pea soup?


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

You're right rotnak1271, the more plants the better. One of my problems in the beginning was setting up before I had all of the plants in, so when they came in I was messing around and stirring things up. On top of that, I want, eventually, a nice carpet in the foreground (both the 20 and the 125) and I'm going with slow, low growers in about 40% or more of the aquarium. Then, on top of all this, I only started with a relatively thin planting on the stem and rosette background plants, as I wanted to watch the plants grow instead of starting off with a fully planted tank from the beginning. I may go ahead and get some floaters or some more stems (I really like Lindernia in the 20), and I'm also going to give the plants a shot of CO2. I won't be doing CO2, but I have to put some stress on a CAE and get him gone. He has killed 2 of my fish and has grazed on 3 others recently. The side effect of getting him to slow down so I can get from from the safety of the plants will be a CO2-kick to the plants, even if just for an hour or so. I think I'll even put some in the 125 so my DIY reactor ingredients don't go to waste as much.


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## RoseyD (Jul 9, 2009)

mudboots, it's so hard to see the tank through the green! Oh my! I don't know how I'd react if I saw my tank doing that - it may yet since it's still early, but - OH my! ...


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

At least your green-water alga are healthy.  Seriously, though, just give it some time and get some floaters in there (and more stems! ). I know a water change won't help much (only for a day or two), but you might do a 75% or more change just so you can see enough to plant some more plants in there.

-Dave


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Yeah it's pretty funny because I said from the beginning I wasn't going to mess around in the substrate once I had it "finished" and then I did nothing BUT mess around in the substrate since day one.:banplease and I STILL NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WITH THE AMAZON SWORDS. Another month and I won't have room for them anymore. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Oh well. I've learned four things. One, you never want the plants where you have them once you've put them there. Two, if you plan ahead and know your plants, you may just accidentally set it up the way you want it to begin with. Three, it takes a LOT of CO2 in a planted aquarium to make a CAE willing to swim into a dip net, even in just 20 gallons (he's not in the toilet by the way; he's in a happier home in the 125 where he can't cause as much trouble). And four, Gambusia species, among everything else that's gone on this tank so far, from bact.hemm.sept. to ich to everything else are also immune to high levels of CO2. They swam in the bubbles like it was party time. If they weren't so plain looking they'd be THE PERFECT aquarium fish. I almost wonder if they're bullet proof.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

I think those Amazons would be perfect in your 125 where the Arrow-heads aren't cutting it. You can always put some 'stemmies' in the 20 as a backdrop. When we meet up at Big Thicket on Friday I'll bring a cooler with some good handfuls of stuff.

-Dave


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Great news. The pea soup has already started to clear up a bit. It's not as evident on the pics as reality, but it's enough to make me happy, as I've done nothing to intervene. To my understanding, this is a relatively short-lived bout of soup. The 125 is doing the same, which is a huge relief.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Wow, that is a quick turn-around! And I CAN tell a difference in the pics. Do you still want some more stems? I also have a floating "mat" of rotala/duckweed/etc... that has kinda melded together and put out some great nutrient-eating-roots.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Sure; I'm ripping the Sagittarias out and will need something in the back. They just are not what I was expecting, and I'm realizing the value of stems as I think long-term how I will be able to trim and manicure to fit the long-term scape. Floaters will be nice for baby fish that I hope to one-day have.


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## mudboots (Jun 24, 2009)

Good news and bad news. The good news - The 20 npt cleared up and looked really nice for a few days. The bad news - The tank was poisoned somehow (I have kids, so there's no telling) and I have completely taken it down. It is now home to some plants (moss, club moss, and various other species) I picked up in Wisconsin on our trip to Siren (we DROVE from Nacogdoches, Texas). The set up is really cool, as it's the first time I've ever done a terrarium with plants. There are a couple pics in the Local Biotopes forum under the Trip to Wisconsin thread. Once it gets settled in I'll post a new thread. For now, I've got the same lighting (48 watts T5HO) and it's sealed at the top to keep the humidity up.


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## dawntwister (Sep 29, 2007)

What ferts are you using? Do you have soft water?

Looks like dosing with flourish comprehensive or CSM + B would help balance the ecosystem.


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