# My new 79G "Skeleton of a bush"



## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

I like it! What is that moss tied to the rock in the last pic?


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

Thank you bro. The moss you asked is not a moss  actually it is a livewort. The name is Riccardia chamaedryfolia or mini pelia.


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## fastfreddie (Sep 10, 2008)

Wow that's nice! Looks like Month 1 was a breeze!


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## Saraja87 (Jul 18, 2007)

The growth looks really vibrant and colorful!


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## Phil Edwards (Jul 18, 2003)

Very pretty! I like the proportion and grouping of your planted areas. Once the stems are bushing out the open space between the two plantings is going to be even more enhanced. Well done!

Are those the original Java Fern fronds or are they new growth?


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## chonhzilla (Apr 22, 2008)

wow nice and clean. I LIKE


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

Thanx, glad you like it ! Yes they are the original Java ferns. On the left is the "mother fern" wich I had for one year in other tank.
Tomorrow I am going to give away the Alternanthera reineckii ,since it is too bright red and it seems not to blend with the more nature color style I am planning to achieve.Great plant though for a dutch style aquarium.


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

*Month #2 update
*Many things have chanched, especially at the left side witch is still under construction. Almost all plants in the left corner were replaced with new species more suitable for the aquascaping.
I have added more Harlequins (total are 20) , 5 CPDs and 10 Threadfin rainbows. Some fry of the CPDs is surviving over a month now between the plants.
What do you think?


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## plecosword (Jul 16, 2008)

wow nice tank!


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## Hungry Wendigo (Oct 3, 2008)

Yeah, it really is, I haven't seen many on these forums I like more than this. I particularly like the lighting, unless the soft pinkish hue is a result of the photograph. Are you planning on adding any larger, centerpiece fish?


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

This is one of the finest aqauscapes that I have had the pleasure of viewing!

THanks for sharing!!!


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

Thank you my friends ! your good words give me joy and motive to go on and try to make it even better.:icon_wink


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

the white sand and those downois are sure in the right places!


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

Thank you Ikuzo.. I really love this plant (downoi), I think It looks great as a bunch between rocks, but it is not so nice as a full carpet plant. It also blends perfect with HC wich I couldnt find at LFS so I used my good old Glosso as a carpet (still needs time to fill in).


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

*Month #4 *- evolution of my 79G tank.
Had some minor algae issues lately but by the time I decided to follow the E.I fertilizing method, Plants took off and algae seems to vanish overall.
A drop checker and a generous CO2 dosing via a 1000L/h head pump helped me a lot mentaining an optimum 27-30ppm of CO2.As a result pearling and good growth rate increased.
Still the R.macrandra and P.palustris are stunted and refusing to start a healthy growth :icon_roll
Here are some photos...thank you for viewing !


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

...and some more...


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## Phoenix-cry (Dec 25, 2008)

very nice! Great photos!


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## Hungry Wendigo (Oct 3, 2008)

This is fantastic; it's as if you knew exactly how it would all turn out. It looked good before it grew in, but now... Wow! I also like the pinkish hue; is that the GroLux bulb?


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

This is one of the best tanks I've seen on here. Great job!


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Beautifully done and great looking fish as well. roud:


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## houstonhobby (Dec 12, 2008)

A joy and an inspiration. Great photographs too. Could you comment on your photographic equipment and procedure?


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Excellent, I like the way you arranged so many different types of plants in a natural way. The river of sand looks excellent, what kind of Rainbow fish are those?


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## twychopen (Dec 17, 2008)

This tank is awesome! Great Picture quality! What is the plant that is growing in the wood, it is in the picture above the cool looking fish...


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## seds (Jan 30, 2009)

Awesome tank. Awesome rasboras


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## discuscardscorys (Jul 29, 2008)

this tank is simply AMAZING


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

Hi my friends ! Sorry for the delayed answer but I was on a trip to my home island and just came back.
The level of the planted tanks in this forum is very high and I am really surprised to read so many good words about my tank so I want to thank you all !!!
The truth is that I have little experience and this is my first attempt to maintain a full planted tank. I have to admit it is not easy to find the balance between light and fertilizers. As a result this tank had some ups and downs till now. The solution I found is by following the E.I. method and since then everything goes better 4 my plants.
An other difficulty I faced was how to mix and combine 27 species of plants in just two corners into this tank.



> Hungry Wendigo @ This is fantastic; it's as if you knew exactly how it would all turn out. It looked good before it grew in, but now... Wow! I also like the pinkish hue; is that the GroLux bulb?


Yes the hue is because I use 4X54W Grolux T5




> [email protected] A joy and an inspiration. Great photographs too. Could you comment on your photographic equipment and procedure?


I use a Nikon D60 with 18-55mm lens. Nothing much and I am still learning how to use the camera



> [email protected] Excellent, I like the way you arranged so many different types of plants in a natural way. The river of sand looks excellent, what kind of Rainbow fish are those?


As I said before it was a challenge to combine so many species of plants.The rainbows are Iriatherina werneri and they are my favorite fish for photo shooting.



> [email protected] This tank is awesome! Great Picture quality! What is the plant that is growing in the wood, it is in the picture above the cool looking fish..


Maybe you mean the mini pelia (Riccardia chamaedryfolia)

Thanx again, I am so happy you liked my tank !!:bounce:


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

Really great looking tank. You seem to have created a ton of depth.


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## AmitW (Feb 17, 2009)

Very nice! Good job!


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Pretty nice


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

Tank looks great!!


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## Voozle (Mar 22, 2009)

This tank is a work of art, I'd really love to see an update.


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## Ashok (Dec 11, 2006)

It's awesome!


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

Thank you ! Here is a recent update..

slideshow


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## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

Alexraven,
Excellent layout, and you captured it with good pics and lighting!
Well done
-MD


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## H82LOS3 (Mar 5, 2009)

WOW love ur tank!


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

Thank you mountaindew !
Thank you H82LOS3 !


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## ICPjuggla (Mar 17, 2009)

Awesome tank... I love it...


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

Thank you ICPjuggla !


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## malaybiswas (Nov 2, 2008)

awesome tank!


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

AlexRaven said:


> The rainbows are Iriatherina werneri and they are my favorite fish for photo shooting.


I read that their life span is max 3 years. Have you found this to be so?


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

Dont know, I have my Iriatherinas 1 year now. The only thing I can say is that they reach their full size and coloration after 8-12 months, and that the fry is extremely difficult to be kept alive....I totally failed many times to raise young werneri's. Tried green water, mini pond, infusoria,rotorians, but nothing worked.They simply starved. No baby lived more than 4-5 days.

About the tank and the layout, the "skeleton of a bush" took the 66th position in IAPLC and the 6th position at AAC, and I am very happy ! Not bad for a newbie like me in aquascaping !


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## doggyhog (Oct 7, 2009)

*Gasp* Oh my gosh!! It's stunning!!!!!!!!!!!


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## pamiboo (Nov 19, 2009)

Wow man, your tank is breathtaking. I am totally awestruck!


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## londonloco (Aug 25, 2005)

Below is a pic I found on a planted tank forum three months ago. It's been the wallpaper on my computer ever since. I can't believe I found this thread. It's the same tank!!










Definitely the most beautiful planted aquarium I have ever seen.


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## Amazonfish (Oct 20, 2009)

Wow! Very beautiful.


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

Thank you all !!
I never thought that somebody in another part of the globe is using my aquarium as a wallpaper :eek5:
Thats a big honor for me,since this is my 1st serious aquascape.:hihi:

I want to show you something...
After the competitions, I really enjoyed my tank without stress about being everything perfect, and Ι left the plants grow up to the surface.
My "skeleton of a bush" in its primes, was a sparkling clean, and well balanced layout, but the jungle followed the next months was even better !!! No jury would appreciate this out of control growth ,but I just couldnt take my eyes out of it. The colors and the lush plant growth were amazing !!
Take a look :icon_wink


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## Solid (Jul 19, 2009)

This tank is absolutely amazing! And wow the colors are really stunning now! thanks for inspiring the rest of us.


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

Great tank!

My original thought was "It's tanks like these that make the case for a nice clean look" but then I saw your most recent photo...and now I say "forgot all that, I like the jungle."


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## leemacnyc (Dec 28, 2005)

Stunning!!!


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## JustOneMore21 (May 23, 2006)

You have a very beautiful tank! I like the after contest version, myself.  I hope to use this as inspiration for my new tank. Great job!


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## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

wow man this is rediculous. you have some of the brightest reds i have ever seen.
is that l. aromatica in the back left, it doesnt even have a hint of green.


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

I am glad you like it.
Just a correction... the photo was taken last June. Since then I rescaped the tank and took part at AGA 09 with a slightly new aquascape:http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2009.cgi?&op=showcase&category=0&vol=2&id=122



> vtkid :wow man this is rediculous. you have some of the brightest reds i have ever seen.
> is that l. aromatica in the back left, it doesnt even have a hint of green.


The reds are a little enhanced by the exposure of the camera,but yes they were very red at that time because af high PO4, low NO3 and lots of Iron. I also upgraded my lighting to 614 watts (for 5 hours) so no wonder that L.aromatica went crazy !


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## seds (Jan 30, 2009)

AlexRaven, Where did you get the aquatic moss _Cratoneuron filicinum_? Is it collected from the wild? Can you get a close up on it?

What does it look like submerged?? I HOPE you see this post eventually.


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## AlexRaven (Oct 7, 2008)

seds said:


> AlexRaven, Where did you get the aquatic moss _Cratoneuron filicinum_? Is it collected from the wild? Can you get a close up on it?
> 
> What does it look like submerged?? I HOPE you see this post eventually.


Hi seds, I bought the Triangle moss, from LFS. It was a dennerle product , labeled as _Versicularia dubyana_. I though I have bought the ordinary java moss, but after some time I discovered it was something else and by asking around and doing a small research the new moss was identifyied as _Cratoneuron filicinum_. 
When submerged it looks very attractive, stays small and grows upwards.
Sorry, dont have any close up photo.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

I really like your tank, it's very eye pleasing, I also like the red plants and fish against the green.


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