They say Cryptocoryne lutea ‘Hobbit’ is a small crypt, but saying it and seeing it are two different things. This is a really small crypt! The original idea was to have a small plant to go in front of the Lobelia cardinalis ‘Dwarf’ to hide the rooty lower stems of the Lobelia without covering up the […]
Read more →I picked up two pots of Cryptocoryne parva from Pro Shrimp as produced by Aquadip with the idea of putting in a crypt a little larger than the Cryptocoryne lutea ‘Hobbit’ in front of the Ludwigia palustris ‘Dwarf’. The pots arrived promply and in excellent condition. It was straightforward to remove the rockwool growth support […]
Read more →After two week holiday – no maintenance yet We took a two week holiday and left the fish and plants in the Fireplace Aquarium on their own recognizance. I did an 80% water change the day we set out, gave the fish a little extra food flakes, turned off the CO2 gas and otherwise left […]
Read more →Jurijs Jutjajevs’ (of Tropica) has a “pro tip” for avoiding ‘crypt melt’ and getting Cryptocoryne species more rapidly adapted to submerged growth in an aquarium: cut off all the emersed form leaves when planting. It’s quite a dramatic thing to get your new plants in from the vendor and then immediately cut all the leaves […]
Read more →I ran out of CO2 gas today for the Fireplace Aquarium and swapped out the old CO2 supply cylinder for a new one. I get 600 g CO2 at a time in disposable cylinders used for MIG welding, and sure enough, the empty cylinder weighed 1200 g and the new cylinder weighed 1800 g. End […]
Read more →Golden creeping Jenny in an aquarium Also known as ‘moneywort’, the golden form of creeping Jenny came up in the weekly sales email from Aqua Essentials and even though I know impulse buying isn’t a good way to go with a planted aquarium, I was looking for a plant that gets to around 30 cm […]
Read more →How to avoid crypt melt I’m really liking the look of Cryptocoryne lutea ‘Hobbit’ in the front of the Fireplace Aquarium and it might be nice to put in a second row but it has taken this slow growing crypt more than four months to really get going. Is there a way to speed up […]
Read more →New otocinclus catfish in action MOAR CATFISH!!! Originally there were five or six otocinclus catfish in the Fireplace Aquarum as part of the algae cleanup crew. These are cute but sensitive little critters and I suspect that early unstable tank water parameters contributed to the gradual yet early demise of all them except one. Ottos […]
Read more →Unusual view* down into the Fireplace Aquarium during a major water change. On the top of the mountain on the right is Bucephalandra caterina, with newly installed Anubias barteri nana ‘Pinto’ further down. The flopped over red plant is Ludwigia palustris mini ‘Super Red’ with bright green Lobelia cardinalis ‘Dwarf’ just below it. The low […]
Read more →Planting Anubias barteri nana ‘Pinto’ Filed under “I know I’m going to regret this”, even though the Anubias nana ‘Snow White’ was a disaster, I’m still enamoured of the concept of a white(ish) plant adding some colour contrast. I’ve been kicking around the “only partially white” Anubias nana ‘Pinto’ option, and when I saw they […]
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