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Monday 18 April 2016

32 Litre "Bucephalandra Garden" Tank

This started as a side project to consolidate some of the bucephalandra variants that i've been collecting. It gradually evolved into an opportunity to try my hand at aquascaping a simple layout based on these types of plants.


I noticed that many of the bucephalandra tank photos online tend to be rather dark and shadowy (perhaps its the type of lighting or camera effects used?), so i figured it might be a nice change to showcase a bucephalandra tank that has a brighter tone instead.

Initially i wanted to leave the sand area in front open with plans to keep a group of dwarf corydoras fishes... but i'll probably end up just filling up the space with more plants as i collect them.

Currently there are around 15+ varieties of bucephalandra in this tank. All their individual rhizomes are tied to small pebbles which are then partially buried under the sand and hidden, so it looks as if the plants are just sitting on top of the sand. This method also allows for easy shifting and relocation too.

I guess the top-down view could be reminiscent of what the plants may look like submersed along the edges of a jungle stream...


Its a low-tech setup, based on a 2ft low-profile crystal glass tank (L60cm x D30cm x H18cm) illuminated with just an old generation Up Aqua Z-Series Pro LED light set and filtered by an Eheim Ecco Pro 130 unit. I dose Tropica Specialized fertilizer weekly to maintain a steady nutrient supply.

Cherry shrimps, horned nerite snails and zebra otocinclus help to keep algae in check.


One of my favorite variants, Bucephalandra sp. "Elegant Blue".


Another interesting addition, Bucephalandra sp. "Mini Skeleton King".

Looking forward to collecting and adding more plants soon! :)

9 comments:

  1. Hi there, love everything you've done. The buce elegant blue is quite a handsome plant, i have similar blue buce that wont match yours, mine is blue tint in green, where do u get it from? I'd love to be your friend, your diligence I admired and we share similar taste and curiosity, hope to see your reply soon.

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    1. Thanks!

      The Bucephalandra sp. "Elegant Blue" i got was sourced from a fellow plant collector overseas... it took me quite a while to find that variant. :)

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    2. Thanks for the reply, hope to buy one of these blue beauty, mind if you could tell me whom to source from? Also one little thing very important to me, do u do gas co2 or just liquid co2? It iis been 3 months for your buce tank to thrive, how are they in this low tech environment? I would love to see some update pix ;) wink wink hah:)

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    3. The chap i got the plants from was a personal friend from overseas (not a professional seller or shop though). He sold me the blue variants from his collection due to a change in his projects.

      I didn't use any Co2 injection nor liquid carbon for this particular tank setup, its all simple and low-tech. Growth is naturally slower in such environments, but i also utilize less light so overall its much easier to keep everything in balance without algae issues.

      This tank is actually just a temporary holding/grow-out tank for the bucephalandra plants, most of them have since been gradually shifted to my other tanks over the past few weeks. So i guess they may pop up in aquascapes that i post up in the future. :)

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  2. hello, ur blog is amazing..


    why u never update some more now?


    thanks

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    1. Thanks!

      I have been running low-tech simple planted setups for the past year, as i haven't had as much time to maintain my tanks like before. Overall plant growth is slower, so not much to update at the moment. :)

      Might resume updating when i have more time in the future and can start on new projects.

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  3. hey UA, recently set up a new tank and recalled your blog. hope you're still enjoying the hobby. your sparkling clean set ups are always a inspiration..

    may i ask what parameters do you aim for to maintain your tanks? in particular pH GH and KH

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    1. For my tank setups, it will depend on the type of livestock i keep, it can vary between softwater (lower pH, GH and KH) or hardwater conditions (higher pH, GH and KH).

      The majority of my current community planted tanks are neutral in conditions, and nowadays i use mostly sand based inert substrates, so the pH usually averages around 6.8-7.2, GH and KH around 3-4 respectively. The fishes and shrimps i keep are mostly hardy types, so they can live in a relatively wide range of parameters.

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  4. This blog has been really enlightening.

    Looking forward to when you update, as I see that you do still reply to comment hee.

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