75 gallon Malaysian biotope
Looks like a great start! I would definitely think about adding another foreground plant, but otherwise, I think you'll be quite pleased with this as it grows in. I suspect you may grow tired of trying to tame the water sprite, but if you can keep up with it, it'll look nice. The proportions look good, as do the pieces of wood you've chosen. Make sure to post updated pictures as it progresses! 
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chris_todd
- Posts: 1118
- Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2008 11:05 pm
- Location: Catonsville
Yeah, I thought about using downoi, which would probably look great. But given that this is a fairly low to medium light tank with no CO2, I didn't think it would do well. Plus, I was only able to get hold of a few stems.I would definitely think about adding another foreground plant, ...
Does anyone know of other "foreground" plants native to SE Asia? Blyxa japonica is just about the only other one I could find, but I think it gets too tall (not sure about that, though, I've had some in my nano I picked up at the January meeting, but it hasn't started growing much yet).
I'm going to leave things as they are for a couple of months, since crypts don't move well (I'm already getting a little melting).
Funny you should mention water sprite (that's actually hygrophila difformis) - I didn't realize until a few days before planting that it was native to SE Asia, when I was watching the 2008 AGA convention DVD, and saw that Karen Randall found some during her collecting trip in Thailand.I suspect you may grow tired of trying to tame the water sprite, but if you can keep up with it, it'll look nice.
Will do!Make sure to post updated pictures as it progresses!
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chris_todd
- Posts: 1118
- Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2008 11:05 pm
- Location: Catonsville
Well, about a week in now, and most of the crypts are surviving, but I probably have about 40% melt in the c. affinis and about 20% in the balansae. 
Hopefully, they'll all come back. The c. pontederiifolia and moehlmanii seem to be doing OK, though, but the two stems of emersed-grown c. albida I put in here have melted all but two leaves. Oddly enough, the stems of albida I put into my 20 long are doing great (along with the narrow leaf wendtii).
Yesterday, I picked up one of those c. blassii that Christy mentioned had just come in at Scales. WOW, that was a big plant! Granted, it's been grown emersed, and the submersed growth will be smaller, but I think it looks pretty nice as is (sorry for the lousy pics):
Hopefully, they'll all come back. The c. pontederiifolia and moehlmanii seem to be doing OK, though, but the two stems of emersed-grown c. albida I put in here have melted all but two leaves. Oddly enough, the stems of albida I put into my 20 long are doing great (along with the narrow leaf wendtii).Yesterday, I picked up one of those c. blassii that Christy mentioned had just come in at Scales. WOW, that was a big plant! Granted, it's been grown emersed, and the submersed growth will be smaller, but I think it looks pretty nice as is (sorry for the lousy pics):
