# My 38 Gallon :)



## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

My 38 gallon aquarium

Blyxa and Downoi came from my 29 gallon which was established for a little less than a year... following the move, they melted and than grew back after a week

All other plants have been in the tank for a month to 3 months and are doing well, except the Nesaea Pedicelleta recently developed has cupped/ deformed leaves so I suspect a calcium deficiency, since I recently went purely RO water... I guess I'll have to do 50/50 with tap water

Plants
-Proserpinaca Palustris
-Heteranthera Zosterifolia
-Echinodorus Vesuvius
-Nesaea Pedicellata
-Cabomba
-Giant Hairgrass
-Downoi
-Blyxa Japonica
-Hemianthus Micranthemoides
-Eleocharis Parvula

Ecocomplete/ Flourite Substrate
4x 39 Watt T5HO
EI Dosing
DIY CO2


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## tranceaddict (Apr 3, 2011)

wow, well grown grass.


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

hah, thanks! actually i started with 2 blyxa's less than a year ago, and they just took off sending out side shoots, and now i think i have around 20+ in there from all the snipping and replanting

and the hairgrass, it only took 2-3 weeks for a single pot from BA's to get that thick, so im really happy!


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## Beijing08 (Jul 19, 2010)

I'm quite impressed with the growth with just DIY co2.
Now, a hardscape would take this tank to the next level 
keep us posted with the progress or when you decide to do a prune


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

haha, yea, for the longest time, i just had diy co2 diffusing through a ladder  then i decided to buy a power head a few months ago because BA had the MaxiJets on sale for $19.99

using the power head as a diffuser made my drop checker go from blue to green/ yellow and the plant growth just exploded after a week or so, and i prune so much!! i can't keep up, especially since starting EI ferts a month ago

and i'm actually trying to grow out a taiwan moss tree in my 30 gallon which will eventually go into the 38 gallon, but then ill have to get rid of 15+ blyxa bushes


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## Beijing08 (Jul 19, 2010)

Otaku said:


> but then ill have to get rid of 15+ blyxa bushes


wow completely algae free healthy-as-heck blyxa!
I call first dibs.


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## lemuj (Dec 7, 2006)

Otaku said:


> and i'm actually trying to grow out a taiwan moss tree in my 30 gallon which will eventually go into the 38 gallon, but then ill have to get rid of 15+ blyxa bushes


I hope you got enough of that Taiwan moss for what you need it for. It's funny, you're growing moss and getting rid of the grass. And here I am, staying away from moss, and going for the grassy look. Let me know when you got any of those grasses you can let go....


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

hey lemuj!! thanks so much for the mosses, those were very generous portions and i am so grateful 

if the blyxa i gave you starts to grow, and doesn't melt over the next few weeks like the last one, please feel free to message me and i'll gladly give you a few more, and i can give you some hair grass too!

edit: and the curly grass plant too! lol


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## 1101cody (Apr 20, 2011)

Its funny because a lot of the forums I have looked at covet your Echinodorus Vesuvius (mainly the asian designers). If i was closer I would snag some off your hands for sure.


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## SourGummy (Apr 29, 2011)

hows your betta getting along with the other fish?


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

SourGummy said:


> hows your betta getting along with the other fish?


Betta's fine, no problems at all! Never had a torn tail which I'm very surprised at. Eats like a pig too.. probably would eat a pig..


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

*5/21/2011 - Update #2*

Decided to re-scape the tank

Added a few stems of Ludwigia Brevipes and Giant Hairgrass

Removed the Cabomba because it grew 2 inches a day...

Sold most of the Star Grass/ removed the rest because it grew 2 inches a day x 20 stems at a time... daily trims made it look really long and ugly

Moved all the Hairgrass to my moss tank

Moved some Downoi, Blyxa Japonica and Mermaid Weed to my moss tank


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Very beautiful tank, both before and after re-scape!


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

solarz said:


> Very beautiful tank, both before and after re-scape!


thanks a lot


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

The new layout is really nice!


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

blah, after rescaping the tank and moving some plants around including the downoi, the downoi has been undergoing some serious melting issues... and now they are half melted... they never melted this bad before... hopefully they recover

they doubled in number over the span of a year, and now they are all mushy and yellow 

but the blyxa is a beast and is growing even more... again lol


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## Beijing08 (Jul 19, 2010)

I will have some Downoi for sale soon, in case you need some. 
Is that Vallisneria Nana in the centre? or Val. Americana?
Surely not Eleo. Vivpara.


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

Beijing08 said:


> I will have some Downoi for sale soon, in case you need some.
> Is that Vallisneria Nana in the centre? or Val. Americana?
> Surely not Eleo. Vivpara.


Have you encountered any troubles with your Downoi?

I am really pist at my Downoi... ever since I bought it more than a year ago, it has never really grown, yet never died. It melted multiple times and grew for a bit and then melted back, turned yellow, looked like mush... now it appears they might be totally done for.. if they don't recover in a few weeks, i might put some HC in their place

And do you mean the super long thing in the middle? It's just Giant Hairgrass, Eleocharis Montevidensis


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## Beijing08 (Jul 19, 2010)

Otaku said:


> Have you encountered any troubles with your Downoi?
> 
> I am really pist at my Downoi... ever since I bought it more than a year ago, it has never really grown, yet never died. It melted multiple times and grew for a bit and then melted back, turned yellow, looked like mush... now it appears they might be totally done for.. if they don't recover in a few weeks, i might put some HC in their place
> 
> And do you mean the super long thing in the middle? It's just Giant Hairgrass, Eleocharis Montevidensis


I'm glad you appreciate the beauty of the "little star". It's a spectacular plant, with such unique characteristics. But yes, it's fragile...and tends to melt back easily. Which also leads me to think why the Chinese hobbyists classify this as a "sun" plant, because among those are Tonina and Eriocaulon...although it's more due to their radiating leaf shape. 
What I've noticed is that keeping the water parameter stable helps a great deal. Therefore transferring tanks is somewhat of an obstacle. Also, an acidic substrate is definitely a plus.

This may help:

http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?p=194125#post194125

On a side note, I'm heading to Thailand in August for a vacation...guess what? Gonna go for an expedition in little streams to check out these guys in their natural habitat!


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

Beijing08 said:


> On a side note, I'm heading to Thailand in August for a vacation...guess what? Gonna go for an expedition in little streams to check out these guys in their natural habitat!


Omg, that sounds like so much fun and now I am extremely jealous.. be sure to uh.. smuggle back some neat and interesting plants for the rest of the GTA


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

*Crazy Overgrown Jungle Update*

LOL I need to trim back... everything... will do that in a few days with another update.

This picture is just for the record










PS, I have a bunch of soft-ball sized or bigger, Blyxa Japonica for sale... $2 a piece... Located in Burlington but can meet in Oakville or Mississauga if you trade me some additional plants for gas money


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## ubr0ke (Jul 12, 2011)

why so much light??


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

ubr0ke said:


> why so much light??


its not actually that much light, and besides the plants are medium/ high light plants

and the plants are planted densely so i need high light in order to reach the bottoms


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

..rescaping..


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Looking forward to seeing a new layout. if you have any leftover plants and want to trade, let me know by PM dude.


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

i really loved your betta in the first pic! that stole all my attention . gotta love bettas in community tanks. i have a question though: how do you feed him? do you feed him seperately? does he eat pellets/flakes or unique betta pellets?

Thanks!

iBetta


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## ubr0ke (Jul 12, 2011)

you could remove the two center bulbs and still be at high light.
invest in a par meter..i suggest apogee..


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

Haha, that betta eats like a pig... he eats pellets, flakes, anything that I feed the entire tank with, and he gets the largest share out of everyone



iBetta said:


> i really loved your betta in the first pic! that stole all my attention . gotta love bettas in community tanks. i have a question though: how do you feed him? do you feed him seperately? does he eat pellets/flakes or unique betta pellets?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> iBetta


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

Otaku said:


> Haha, that betta eats like a pig... he eats pellets, flakes, anything that I feed the entire tank with, and he gets the largest share out of everyone


Man you're so lucky!


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

ubr0ke said:


> you could remove the two center bulbs and still be at high light.
> invest in a par meter..i suggest apogee..


i tore down that tank, sold most of the plants and am starting over again, i saw your low light tank thread and will try reducing some of the light this time around

i don't know what a par meter is, i shall do some research when i get the time

thanks for the suggestions


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

*Super Messy Jungle Of A Tank...*

well, I got greedy and tried to pack as many neat plants into this tank as possible...

So... out goes the aqua-scaping and in comes the super weed-like growth of the plants and over crowding... at least everything's healthy

9/30/2011









10/14/2011









10/30/2011









11/4/2011









11/11/2011









11/20/2011









11/28/2011


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Oohhh very neat plant choices in there!


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## BoiBJ (Aug 10, 2011)

LOVING IT i really like planted tanks in general that are jungly!


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

thanks for the comments guys!

just did a giant aggressive trim of the left and center plants because they were overshadowing the H. Pinnatifida and S. Repens 

i hope the stem plants will recover... kinda went all out on them lol


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## Cypher (Apr 15, 2006)

Hey man, that looks pretty cool! Love the different colors and textures. Only problem will be when the grass starts to spread and send out runners!


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

Cypher said:


> Hey man, that looks pretty cool! Love the different colors and textures. Only problem will be when the grass starts to spread and send out runners!


thanks man. haha yea, it's already started... the jungle vals actually sent out runners within 5 days of planting... and within 1.5 weeks i saw runners all the way on the other side of the tank

and there was the smallest hole in the driftwood, and somehow the runner went under there and a jungle val popped up through that hole... but the hole was too small and the val came up super skinny and deformed lol


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

plants recovered... there's already 20+ new buds on everything that was cut the other day 

but... S. Repens grows so sllloooww...


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

I was going to make a post today, 11/11/2011 at exactly 11:11pm tonight... but I won't 

Added an updated picture, you can't really see it but there's 5+ (maybe 11) giant buds on each stem of Ammania Gracilis and Alternanthera Reineckii

I think I'm going to watch 11/11/11 the movie tonight


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

*11/20/2011*

Updated photo posted

Crazy Ambulia growth that has spread onto the driftwood and Marimo balls and rooted there... i think there's actually roots going into a Marimo ball

Many new H. Pinatafida runners

I pulled up one S. Repens plant to see what was going on as they don't seem to be growing much but are as green as ever... it had a huge root system... it's doing something

Oh, and I decided to put in my old Hagen CO2 Ladder


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Personally I'm noticing a lot of growth in your Staug... dont expect them to grow at the same rate as the tall stemmies, they are a foot and a half lower. Looks awesome Jeff.


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

Will said:


> Personally I'm noticing a lot of growth in your Staug... dont expect them to grow at the same rate as the tall stemmies, they are a foot and a half lower. Looks awesome Jeff.


yea i guess you're right, they are growing slowly... i might be a little impatient about it all haha

hey let me know when you want to do that trade, i pm'ed you earlier today


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## Otaku (Feb 27, 2010)

*11/28/2011 Update*

Added a new photo.

Time to trim the S. Repens, some are getting really tall

Had to remove the Ambulia because it was getting too weedy and covered too much of the other plants, mainly the Reneikii, which wasn't getting enough light

Added some Fox Tail and Rotala Macranda trimmings

The Potomageton Gayi isn't growing... it looks like death with it's uber unhealthy leaves, but none of the leaves are falling off... so little growth for an "Asian Pondweed"


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