# Shadow's 32g ADA rimless tank "Passion" update:1/21 it's nice to be back to the tpt!



## !shadow!

So today l got my big income tax paycheck and well you know how the story goes once you get a fish tank you automatically join the "my tank isn't big enough and have to buy bigger and better one category". l've been doing some looking for a rimless tank for a while. I've looked on glasscages, and a few others l can't recall but l went along with greenleafaquariums due to the quality of their silicone. One thing is for sure it's hard to beat glasscages for the money. Anyways l always wanted to get a rimless tank because l wanted to focus more on the beauty inside the tank rather than the black rims. So far l got my piece of manzanita driftwood ordered from manzanita.com. Their staff was very courteous and kind and wasn't rude at all. l highly recommend them. l always wanted to go out in nature and find my own driftwood but that wasn't possible due to my cars transmission recently messing up so there goes that idea not to mention the fact that l live in TEXAS where there is plenty of driftwood to collect. My plans are to tear down my 40g l've had for 7 months and move it all over to my 91L. So far my plan is to lay the huge piece of driftwood somewhere in the tank, not sure yet, and make that the focal point and basically let everything else revolve around it. As you can tell l don't usually have a plan because i'm very indecisive and well l think we get like that when we're building up a project. So far it stands out like so:

tank-91L(48g rimless tank from gla)

filter:i'll stick to using my current marineland HOT external canister filter rated for 55g in the meantime, l plan on upgrading it later.

subtrate:ada az ll, nile sand or probably a mixture of the two

flora:willow moss, l plan on covering most of the dw piece placed off center to create a sort of anti-perfect symmetry.Usually in aga contests the judges get you on making the focal point dead on in the center.You will notice that alot if you read the critiques at the bottom of the page. In general, perfect symmetry is a bad thing when designing an aquascape. In nature, you don’t commonly see a rock repeated in one place from another, so l chosed not to do it in mines.However l tend to let my creativity take over and choose to break some rules because if we all followed the "golden rules" then some of are scapes would look very similar which i believe is the opposite of what is to strive for. l believe when we scape we do it in a way that engraves our individualism on the tank and is a reflection of who we are. Anyways back to the tank, the willow moss will be used to cover most of the dw and as far as the carpet i'm still deciding on it. l have several choices i've wanted to try such as a pygmy chain sword,flame moss,glosso, hc,riccia,or dwarf hairgrass but l've already got that in my iwagumi.Here is a picture of the driftwood as you can see it has alot of potential 
updated 3/24/10
6 x Windelov fern
5 x Weeping Moss (replacing willow moss until l can find some)
7 x Anubias barteri Petite
4 x Narrow leaf Java fern
4 x Philippine Java fern
6 x bolbitis









fauna:Note sure yet but i'm going for schooling fish most likely

lights: 36' nova extreme t5ho 4X39w 2 10k's replacing the 2 actinics with gieseman 6700k or just go all gieseman 

co2ressurized w/ 5lb bottle l got at my lfs aquatek. rhinox 5000 probably upgrade to gla later down the road

Here are some pictures i've been looking up for my inspiration or to better give you an idea of what l'm looking to design(it's hard to put in words but already pictured in my mind)































and the closest looking one to my future design









Last but not least my favorite tank of all time










Well i'll be posting more updates soon l gotta get everything planned out.


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## HEINEKEN357

Wow that driftwood is Massive the last tank is great wish I can do something like that good luck on the tank.


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## dacrax07

$45?? But i guess it's definitely worth it if the outcome looks like those examples.


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## boink

That is a beautiful piece of driftwood. Did you find it yourself?


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## !shadow!

HEINEKEN357 said:


> Wow that driftwood is Massive the last tank is great wish I can do something like that good luck on the tank.


thanks i was aiming at big hehe



dacrax07 said:


> $45?? But i guess it's definitely worth it if the outcome looks like those examples.


hopefully 



boink said:


> That is a beautiful piece of driftwood. Did you find it yourself?


thanks and no i got it at manzanita.com. i wish i found it myself,then i'd have something to be proud of.


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## !shadow!

Ok so i'm ordering my 48g gla rimless tank on monday, hopefully it'll arrive on friday but depends. I'll have to give em a call. tank is about 320 without taxes and 150$ for shipping. Atleast l'll have the most expensive thing payed out already. As for the upgraded filtration l decided i'm going to upgrade my marineland 350 hot for a fluval g3. Yes yes l know l couldn't resist that sexy black cube, it's soo shiny. So on fish l decided i'm going to transfer over my 1 electric blue ram, 5 harlequin rasboras, 3 sae's, 2 long finned skirt tetra, 4 white cloud mountain minnows, 3 rosy barbs. l might trade some of my fish in to get a school but not 100% on the decision. l got my drop checker a couple of days ago and testing it on my iwagumi and seems like it's working:


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## FDNY911

Subscribed.


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## !shadow!

thanks, l can't wait till i get my g3 it's like a kid at the candy store except i was at a fish store. technology at it's best!


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## !shadow!

*a sketch of what it's gonna look like*

ok so l wanted to give a visual of part of my hardscape:

green=willow moss








red=some ferns maybe java
black=mexican beach pebbles 
here is a good picture:








and last one up close








blue=unknown 

Here is the layout









Yes l know it looks like a screwed up x-mas tree but anyways that's the plan for now


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## !shadow!

ok so i got out of work late and couldn't order the tank... tommorow for sure!


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## problemman

i ordered my tank at 3 in the morning my answer machine lol


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## !shadow!

Which tank ?


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## dacrax07

lol that pic with the willow moss looks like an afro. So fulffy


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## AlexXx

i need me some willow moss! haha


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## hydrophyte

That's an awesome piece of driftwood. I did not know that manzanita.com sold big stumps like that.

But I don't think that you should spray paint it.


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## !shadow!

thanks hydro. l didn't know either until l started exploring the website and well l saw it and i knew i had to have it. They had a vast selection of stumps similar to craigthor's riparium but l wanted some with a bit more character rather than just any ordinary tree stump. When l saw this piece l saw options and well l'm a man who likes to make my options available. l think the hardest part will have to be the positioning of the stump since it'll be fairly large when put inside the tank. l don't want to trim it with let's say a saw saw because then it'll look unnatural and take away from the look. l guess i'll have to figure it out when l get it.


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## !shadow!

Well just ordered the tank at gla. Now the fun part, counting down the days till i receive it : / [2-5 days] . l guess in the meantime l'll order all the rest of the equipment. here is a shot of some of my equipment. l won't be getting my g3 for another week or 2 as it isn't the cheapest thing in the world.

looks like a mini warehouse doesn't it?









my heater:


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## FDNY911

Damn .... i cant wait.


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## tuonor

Awesome spread. Looking forward to seeing this come together.


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## !shadow!

thanks guys, Either today or tommorow i'm supposed to get the manzanita wood so hopefully l can have an idea of how l plan to position it.


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## !shadow!

*update 3/17/2010*

Ok so l got lucky and got my manzanita today. l took a few pictures check em out and let me know what ya'll think. One more thing when i got it there were some broken branches off so i put some black zip ties to hold then together. If your wondering about the look inside the aquarium don't worry l plan to put mosses to cover it up .

left side view









left side at an angle









middle view (most likely how it's gonna be placed in the tank)









right side view









Just a couple more days for the tank to arrive . l better start buying the substrate, hopefully the ada nile sand with some amazonia ll will bring out the naturalistic look l hope to accomplish.


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## FDNY911

gorgeous!


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## !shadow!

Yup that's what l said, l'm thinking about removing that string like piece of manzanita around picture 3 but l can always make it work in my favor. l just don't want it to be some sort of distraction for my focal point.


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## Voozle

!shadow! said:


> Yup that's what l said, l'm thinking about removing that string like piece of manzanita around picture 3 but l can always make it work in my favor. l just don't want it to be some sort of distraction for my focal point.


It will be extremely easy to remove, I would wait until the tank is set up and the scape is well on its way. As you said it could distract attention unfavorably, or it could lend a lot of character to an already interesting piece of wood. Doesn't hurt to wait and see, but you might later regret removing it prematurely.


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## !shadow!

l will take your advice as it is wise.


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## skiboarder72

Sexy log!


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## !shadow!

Damn straight it is. Just wait till i put it to work! oh and it's NOT a log it's a piece of art


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## hydrophyte

That thing is perfect.


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## !shadow!

Thanks again hydro. lt's a nice piece indeed but more like overwhelming. l wonder what mr amano would do hehe. l plan on ordering some more branches and maybe zip typing them to the already existing ones or maybe lay then behind the stump to create some depth in the tank.


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## !shadow!

*Update 3/18/2010*

The plants i'm certain l plan to put are anubias barteri 'petite' and lace java fern so if anybody has some i'd be willing to buy them off of you just send me a pm. Anyways, l went shopping BIG TIME at home depot and to my Lfs aquatek and picked out some nice pieces of manzanita along with some mexican beach pebbles and the selection was awesome! l got a wide variety of sizes. l decided l was gonna go with some caribsea rio grande as a first layer to deliver oxygen to the plant roots since sand tends to compact over time, then add ada soil ll caped with ada nile sand. Then l stopped by at home depot and picked up the best 2ft X4Ft pine panel (basically a 3/4 piece of plywood but 10x better quality and sanded. since i'm current stand only measures 16' l was gonna cut the piece of pine 18 wide which is the width of the 48g so it would better accomodate and support the entire tank. l also bought a ada knock off mat for 6$ for those of you who are curious and would want to check it out next time you visit HD it's called "Con-Tact brand Grip Superior liner" and l found it in the window section if i remember correctly. By the way it's non adhesive/washable/ and durable from what it said on the sticker. Here are some pictures enjoy!

lace java moss:









still deciding on this fern and blyxa japonica









Anubias barteri 'Petite' for sure! how can you say no to that?









So far those are the plants for now l will update when l decide on the rest.. here are the pictures for the substrate and other hardscape materials:

my mat:









mexican beach pebbles:









pics of manzanita branches:









substrates:









pics of my 40g before l tear it down i'm gonna really miss this tank. lt's been up and running for almost a year. One of my best successful tanks that i've gone through alot of problems with algae, bga, gda, black brush algae, green string algae and etc... and won em all without tearing the tank down.


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## chase127

Wow thats a lot of equipment, nice start already  and the 40 looks pretty great! I have a feeling this 91L is gonna look pretty nice


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## !shadow!

Thanks.Time will only tell . l plan to make it a nice looking low light tank.


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## !shadow!

l just tracked the tank and supposedly it should come on monday. Now the fun part... What excuse am l going to use to tell my boss l can't make it?


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## Green Leaf Aquariums

Its the weekend you know, anything can happen!


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## hydrophyte

THis is looking great.


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## VadimShevchuk

excuse "sick day" I enjoy GLA products.


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## !shadow!

Green Leaf Aquariums said:


> Its the weekend you know, anything can happen!


 True True but this time the old "my dog ate my tank" isn't going to work



hydrophyte said:


> THis is looking great.


 Thanks hydro, likewise on your riparium. Everytime l look at it, it makes me wanna build a mini one 



VadimShevchuk said:


> excuse "sick day" I enjoy GLA products.


Yea that's most likely what i'm going for 

l gotta thank orlando for his patience and helpfullness while l was ordering this tank. l know not all business operate the way he does but i'm glad he's not like the rest and takes pride in running gla. l advise anybody looking to buy a rimless tank to go with gla!


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## !shadow!

So l just talked to the company and i'll be able to re-schedule it on tuesday so l'll be able to work. How else am l supposed to pay for the g3 if i don't work? .


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## !shadow!

*testing around with hardscape materials*

So l was messing around since l had alot of time to kill today and got my mat set with the pine wood set on the bottom.

You can see it's off by about 2-3 inches but now it's solid









everything is supported









mat laid









messing around with the manzanita without flash









with flash by the way the blue tape was to hold the branches 








Tomorow l shall experiment more trying to get that perfect touch to it.


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## !shadow!

Well in the meantime l guess l'll show you guys more of the aquascapes that inspired me and a better look at what i'm aiming to design










my favorite scape


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## !shadow!

*experimenting with the look of substrates*

l was mixing the substrates around and wow was l impressed check them out for yourself:

carib sea rio grande









ada nile sand









caribsea rio grande with mexican beach pebbles









ada nile sand with mexican beach pebbles









ada az ll with mexican beach pebbles









caribsea rio grande with ada nile sand (dry)









def my favorite look so far--caribsea rio grande with ada nile sand (wet) such a natural look like from a river.









and the not so great ada ll, rio grande, with nile sand. For some reason l don't find it appealing. l guess the black doesn't really go well imo.


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## hydrophyte

This is an excellent journal.

Nice work with testing out those gravels.


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## prototyp3

Excellent journal, can't wait to see this one develop with water. And well, a tank. 

Now don't get me wrong, I love java fern, and the lace variety especially. I think the frayed ends give the tank an illusion of being larger. But are you not going to use bolbitis? Just curious, as your inspirational tanks made heavy use of it. It was one of my favorite plants as well. Reason being the leaves get translucent green, so the light shines through them casting an eerie green shadow down on to the tank. It definitely adds mood to the tank.


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## CL

Cool. I can't wait to see this journal progress.


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## !shadow!

hydrophyte said:


> This is an excellent journal.
> 
> Nice work with testing out those gravels.


Thanks again hydro. l thought i'd take some pictures and show ya since we were discussing that earlier. l figure that's the best way to figure out what you actually like and don't like....experimenting. l was told by craig that eventually they'll mix in all together (that was my guess too but i'll do my best to avoid that) but l wanted to know what it would look like if they did so l went ahead and did this. l'm still figuring out the gravel configuration. i'll do more experimenting when i finally have the tank and better view of how it will all come together.



prototyp3 said:


> Excellent journal, can't wait to see this one develop with water. And well, a tank.
> 
> Now don't get me wrong, I love java fern, and the lace variety especially. I think the frayed ends give the tank an illusion of being larger. But are you not going to use bolbitis? Just curious, as your inspirational tanks made heavy use of it. It was one of my favorite plants as well. Reason being the leaves get translucent green, so the light shines through them casting an eerie green shadow down on to the tank. It definitely adds mood to the tank.


l didn't know about that plant until l googled it just now lol. Now l must make it an addition to the tank. l was wondering what that plant was called but l guess you solved that problem and yes l agree on the green shadow, that's what l want in the tank and just makes it look so real like in nature. Then by adding let's say some neon/cardinal tetras the look intensifies.



CL said:


> Cool. I can't wait to see this journal progress.


Thanks Cl you need to update on your journal as well you've been slacking off... oh by the way l hate you for having so much anubias petite, over at my lfs they're selling half a handfull for like 25$ : / sooo not cool and they're sold out at aquariumplants.com.


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## !shadow!

*Surprise!*

I HATE YOU PROTOTYP3 IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT I DISHED OUT THIS AMOUNT OF $$!!
*ahem* so l knew this was coming but l didn't think it would be this soon, temptation got the best of me :icon_twis. l went to the dark side and well l got converted by prototyp3. This should be self explanitory...










l call it the sexy shiny cube!!













































Well that's all folks!


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## jeepn4x4

Sweet!!!!!!


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## !shadow!

thanks


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## Retzius

Baller!


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## FDNY911

Wow looks expensive lol


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## !shadow!

lf only you knew....


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## hydrophyte

Hide that under your cabinet so the UN weapons inspectors don't see it.


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## !shadow!

Lool! watch me get banned for terrorizing plantedtank.net.


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## benon

Hide it?

I wouldn't hide that thing... I'd keep it in open space to show it off. Looks like a little robot.

And here I am all pumped about my Eheim ecco... that thing is badass... gonna go look up the price now...


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## !shadow!

DOOOOON'T!!  You'll become like one of us (prototyp3 along with me). Temptation will get the best of you! :S don't say l didn't warn you..


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## benon

I found one for $299... that's money...


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## FSM

A lot cheaper than what it started at.


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## wkndracer

Thread linked to follow the updates. That is one sick looking piece of wood and I don't wanna see anymore pictures of that filter! (wallet is thin enough LOL)


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## Craigthor

Can you post me some pictures of how the tubing hooks up to this both intake and return please.


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## !shadow!

wkndracer said:


> Thread linked to follow the updates. That is one sick looking piece of wood and I don't wanna see anymore pictures of that filter! (wallet is thin enough LOL)


Now you know how i felt..



Craigthor said:


> Can you post me some pictures of how the tubing hooks up to this both intake and return please.


Sure craig i'll take some in a few minutes just for you.


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## knm<><

this journal is awesome! Can't wait to see all this great stuff in action. I'm about to start a 75g and that g3 is awfully tempting...the credit card gods are calling my name....aaaahhhh leave me alone!!! LOL


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## !shadow!

knm<>< said:


> this journal is awesome! Can't wait to see all this great stuff in action. I'm about to start a 75g and that g3 is awfully tempting...the credit card gods are calling my name....aaaahhhh leave me alone!!! LOL


"credit card gods" that's a good one, well l've recently converted due to prototypes fault. l'm thinking my journal is going to cause a disaster in plantedtank.net. there's going to be like news reporters and media saying " aquarists gone mad, people foreclosing their homes due to impulsive buying of g3" By the way if you're going to ge a g3 just pay 50$ more for a g6. prototype is running his g6 in his 46g and says its fine. The only reason l didn't get a g6 is because i'll be using sand and didn't want there to be too much flow to the point of disturbing it and always clouding up the tank. Anyways here are the pictures craig. Hope they help..

That's alot of tubing









Simple unlock the latches and insert and then lock em up again









to get get the hoses in you have to untwist the grey part down to get it in then twist it back up to tighten it









intake and outflow,notice how they can be moved according to where you want the flow 









And here l replaced with spraybar they just pop right out


















the entire set-up. l thought you guys might like to see how it's built


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## tuonor

drool...


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## !shadow!

*testing*

just some more pictures of ideas. This time l went ahead and made like a trail of the mexican beach pebbles. l was thinking adding the nile sand in the front of the trail then maybe the soil in the back. l'm really trying to make that jungle look in the inspirational pictures i posted earlier that is why there's alot of manzanita branches.






























l added a bit more branches to the left side









l like this one alot. l really want the bolbitis to give that jungle look along with the moss.


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## Craigthor

The last picture looks too cluttered IMO. I really like the 4th picture down.

Craig


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## !shadow!

Maybe that'll change when l finally get it set in the tank and add the plants which will cover the manzanita.


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## benon

*rockscape*

I really like the rockscape at the bottom. Cover a few with moss and it will look amazing. That driftwood is epic too... With the right lighting and the right jungle-ification it will look outer-worldly.


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## !shadow!

yea i'll probably use like riccia or something for the rocks with like those nets from the 99 cent store used for scrubbing. And yea that jungle-ification is what i'm hoping to accomplish. Anybody know any good websites for plants besides aquariumplants.com,sns, and aqmagic.com( l want to order from them but l don't know how fast they ship because l don't want to wait 7-14 days from what i've heard unless they ship faster when people order livestock.) so any suggestions guys?


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## DeepDownAbove

Love the way this is looking! I am glad I took more time planning my second attempt because the plants really grew in nicely. Your tank will be beautiful.


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## !shadow!

Thanks, l'm hoping l can achieve that jungle look l always desired. 

l mean check this picture out, that's just so sexy 










l really like the first and last tank in this shot


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## chase127

I agree with Craig, the last one looks a bit cluttered. And maybe try to break up that linear rock arrangement


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## !shadow!

chase127 said:


> I agree with Craig, the last one looks a bit cluttered. And maybe try to break up that linear rock arrangement


oh don't worry this isn't the final scape just messing around. l'm gonna make it twist and turn more than this arrangement. l'll prob just add the pebbles for the separation of soil and sand.


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## Craigthor

Does the G3 have 1/2 tubing, I'm sure I could look but if you don't mind one of these times checking.

It is such a pretty looking canister.

Craig


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## Centromochlus

That canister better not be going inside a stand, lol. If you're gonna buy a filter that looks that good on the outside, then you should give it it's own little shelf or something.. 

Let us know how that fluval works for you - my first reaction to it when it came out was "Too much money for such a small filter".


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## !shadow!

Craigthor said:


> Does the G3 have 1/2 tubing, I'm sure I could look but if you don't mind one of these times checking.
> 
> It is such a pretty looking canister.
> 
> Craig


Waaaat? don't tell me you want to get 2 of these babies... Well l measured the inside of the hose and got 5/8ths, but you might want to do some google-ing to double check. 



AzFishKid said:


> That canister better not be going inside a stand, lol. If you're gonna buy a filter that looks that good on the outside, then you should give it it's own little shelf or something..
> 
> Let us know how that fluval works for you - my first reaction to it when it came out was "Too much money for such a small filter".


Of course not it's sitting outside with my co2 tank and the rest of my equipment.The bottom of my tank stand doesn't have any doors so it's all exposed. lt is too much money and l was originally going to go with a eheim but l it was love at first sight and well l'm a techy guy. i'm getting it set-up as l speak that way everything is ready to roll tommorow when the tank arrives. i'll pot pictures of the clarity of the water as well.


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## Craigthor

!shadow! said:


> Waaaat? don't tell me you want to get 2 of these babies... Well l measured the inside of the hose and got 5/8ths, but you might want to do some google-ing to double check.


 
Maybe. :help: Not in the next few months though by any means. I think I would rather have the Eheim 2076 Pro 3E though as I like the control of flow feature like stream and bio. I would probably run the stream function alot!

These things are just beautiful though, I want to see how they hold up over the near future as I know my tryed and true Eheims are superb bio filters with tons of room for media.

Craig


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## !shadow!

we must convert the craigmyster into coming to the dark side (i must alert prototyp3). Just give in. Resistance is futile..


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## F22

damn, that musta been a serious income tax return... nice gear!


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## !shadow!

Can't say that's confidential :wink:


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## benon

*Tank pics*

TANK PICS..

Where's the new tank at man?!


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## !shadow!

l'm getting the tank in 20minutes l just talked to the guy  *loses my mind*


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## !shadow!

alright guys tank is getting leak tested at the moment pics will be available later on today. l'm going to test the look of the tank with the nile sand and manzanita inside stay tuned..


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## AlexXx

Wow those jungle takes give me some inspirations! Moss moss mosssss


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## !shadow!

*Tank arrived (hardscaping)*

Ok so here are a couple of pictures of my tank. l layed out only nile sand no ada soil, i'm still thinking if i should add it or not along with the caribsea rio grande. l was thinking about sprinkling some rio grande around the mexican beach pebbles to transition from the sand to the rio grande to the mexican beach pebbles. l also dug the pebbles deem into the sand from preventing the look of them becoming an afterthought. l didn't want to fill water up in case l change my mind and decide to actually add the ada ll on the bottom layer then cap it off. Again i'm just worried about both of them mixing together.

































































Now the fun begins!


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## jargonchipmunk

I'll trade you my chocolate milk for your manzanita stump! For keeps!


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## benon

I like the nile sand with that wood... Don't lose it! it will keep all the colors nice and cool.


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## !shadow!

*Lightning*

Here comes the nova extreme, 2 10k's 39w, 2 6700k 21w. i'll probably upgrade to all giessemann bulbs 4X 39. l'm most likely start using 2 at first then ramp up to 4 once l get fast and healthy plant growth to prevent algae. l'll also be adding a crap load of wisteria and maybe some other floating plants to out compete the algae then take them out when the tank is established.

2 10k's only l love the blueish look to the tank on this picture :drool:









2 6700k only









now both simultaniously Notice how it's more balanced


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## !shadow!

jargonchipmunk said:


> I'll trade you my chocolate milk for your manzanita stump! For keeps!


i'll throw in my algae and deal!




benon said:


> I like the nile sand with that wood... Don't lose it! it will keep all the colors nice and cool.


yea l love the look, right now it looks brighter because the water isn't in yet but the sand will darken when it is. l guess i'll be able to sell a entire bag of ada ll since l don't plan on using it underneath. l'm probably going to add a bit of caribsea in a sec and check out the look in the tank and if i like it i'll add more


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## FDNY911

awesome! Good Luck.


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## CL

What he said^


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## !shadow!

l just went to the store and holy crap,anubias petite is expensive... if anybody happens to have some or knows where to get it pm me asap! On a different note l got some mopani driftwood and lace java fern to attach meanwhile my shipment of plants l soon plan to order comes in.


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## !shadow!

*weighing down manzanita, and testing g3*

So l couldn't find anything big enough to stick the stump in to sink it in water so l had to do it in the tank.l stuck some plants as well just for the fun of it. here are some pictures to give you an idea of how it will look. l took some pictures just for hydro since l know his love for ripariums 





































fts if you see some darker lace java fern it's because l neglected them a while ago and stuck them into my 2.5 gallon but l plan on ressurecting them and hopefully they'll sprout back to life.


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## boon

Awesome DW. Makes me want to buy another tank and DW for a RIparium with the water half-full like that. Subscribed.


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## !shadow!

hehe l know what you mean. l almost wanted to make it a riparium but l like the whole jungle look better. maybe lf i happen to get bored of the look then l could always tear it down and turn it into a riparium. l was so close to just giving up on the aquarium when i was filling it up too by the way . Check this out, orlando put this picture up on one of the threads. l simply love it...

sexy isn't it? lt's so inspirational


----------



## benon

*wow..*

This is looking incredible so far. It looks so good already, I can already see a bunch of plants growing all over it making everything green...

I love all the photos except the last one, with the flat rock towards.


----------



## !shadow!

thanks i'm glad you have some vision as l dh by the way that rock, don't worry it's only used to hold down the wood so it doesn't float up on the surface it's not staying . i'm keeping this thing strictly jungle. i'm considering taking out the pebbles on the bottom and just keeping it sand since l've never seen pebbles in a jungle bed. tommorow i'll pick up a black background to cover the back and make the filter intakes/exaust match.


----------



## benon

I might jump on the black background bandwagon tomorrow as well... Going to buy a huge quantity of bolbitis. This plant is really growing on me...


----------



## !shadow!

l just ordered this... from aquaticmagic.com they had everything l was looking for 

6 x Windelov fern
5 x Weeping Moss
7 x Anubias barteri Petite
4 x Narrow leaf Java fern
4 x Philippine Java fern
6 x bolbitis


----------



## benon

*bolbitis*

How much did you order the bolbitis for?


----------



## FDNY911

WOW that looks great shadow ... its so clear and the wood is perfect ... is the other picture one of orlandos tanks? Where is that, does he have a journal on it, cuz i have never thought of doing a riparium but that really got me thinking about it lol


----------



## knm<><

I'm seriously infatuated with that piece of manzanita. The main root section reminds me of a sea serpent poking its head out of the water. Or, I could just be off my rocker...or both


----------



## !shadow!

benon said:


> How much did you order the bolbitis for?


l just asked them if they had any and they added the # l needed to the order cause l didn't see any on their site, l didn't want to order too many different orders from different sites and pay more shipping.
check here:
http://www.aquariumplants.com/Bolbitus_Bolbitus_heudelotii_p/mi074.htm
or here:
http://www.aquabotanicstore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=bfern&CartID=1
gl with the plant it looks amaising. can't wait to get mines.



FDNY911 said:


> WOW that looks great shadow ... its so clear and the wood is perfect ... is the other picture one of orlandos tanks? Where is that, does he have a journal on it, cuz i have never thought of doing a riparium but that really got me thinking about it lol


Thanks man, l'm testing out the g3 at the moment l'm probably gonna get a diatom filter for it and check it out. l zip tied some more branches to it but you can't see it since it's all non-viewable and is going to be covered by the plants mostly mosses. l was trying to find some willow moss but l guess it's very rare. l looked at aquariumplants.com and aquabotanics and nothing.. so l switched to the weeping type. That isn't his riparium just a inspirational picture he posted on a thread that l found nice. 



knm<>< said:


> I'm seriously infatuated with that piece of manzanita. The main root section reminds me of a sea serpent poking its head out of the water. Or, I could just be off my rocker...or both


Yea that's one of the reasons l got the stump.. for the root section. That's where i'm hoping the fish will like swimming in and around the best i'll make sure to take some pictures once l get some near it.


----------



## !shadow!

*floating wood and drop checker/ diffuser arrived*

There are still bubbles on the wood so i'm assuming it's not reading yet lt would be my first time putting manzanita in one of my tanks as i'm used to using driftwood. Also my diffuser and drop checker arrived from aquaticmagic.com here are some pictures.


----------



## !shadow!

l'm getting the plants in about 8 days or so, l can't wait i'm so impatient l just want to get it planted already...l wish the stump didn't take so long to sink... l put a heater in there and bumped it up to about 87F to raise the water temperature so l hope that helps. l guess in the meantime i'll be gathering ideas from the aga competition pics and maybe incorporate them into my tank and at the same time be original. So far l noticed i'm a bit short on substrate so i'll be buying another bag of nile sand to increase the slope and the foreground is a bit low maybe 1/4 of an inch from the bottom of the glass.


----------



## !shadow!

*Contaminated with fish TB*

Ok as some of you guys know it, my 40g is contaminated with some fish who have TB :help:. l did the stupid mistake of putting my heater from that tank to my 48g. So now l think i might have brought it over. So far the losses in the 40g are 2(1 harlequin rasbora and 1 long finned serpae tetra). So far my last serpae currently has some lesions and white spots on the beginning of the caudal fin . Now the plan is to drain everything... So much for sinking the wood in it but atleast it wasn't up and running with plants and fish so i'm thankful for that . l'm going to nuke the whole tank with bleach and alcohol and rinse the crap out of the nile sand over and over and well you get the point. Fish TB is EVIL!!! ahem anyways so that's the plan for tomorrow. l will have gloves on the entire time as to lower the risk of catching it. So far l've read it's unlikely unless you have health problems like diabetes and such but l rather not chance it. l'll be looking like one of those nasa guys in the white suit . Hope you guys never come face to face with that type of illness in your tanks cause so far it's been very distressing. l don't plan on giving up not after coming this far so stick around as this journal is here to stay


----------



## !shadow!

So l nuked the entire tank and cleaned it out with tons of bleach and excel so now it should be good. here are some pics with the 10ks l love and the diffuser +drop checker.



















Just a few more days for the plants and in the meantime i bought a 37g drum from home depot to soak the wood better to lower the risk of it floating when everything is planted. lf it still floats i'll have to tie some rocks to the stump to hold it down. The g3 is also getting washed out completely inside out just to make sure lt's clean.


----------



## VadimShevchuk

Why did you buy the g3? The g6 is only like 50 dollars more. Great journal btw! =D


----------



## knm<><

VadimShevchuk said:


> Why did you buy the g3? The g6 is only like 50 dollars more. Great journal btw! =D


Hewas worried about too much flow. This has all been explained in another thread. If you want to read about it, click on his profile and find his thread about g3/g6 reviews. Let's not go down that road on this journal, it's too awesome to clutter it.


----------



## VadimShevchuk

okay... i read this journal a couple weeks ago and i was to lazy to look it up why. My bad =/. GLA Tanks are really nice. Might get one when i can aquascape decently.


----------



## !shadow!

thanks knm you took the words right out of my mouth.  l wish you guys didn't have to wait 8 pages and still an empty tank. l didn't expect for my 40g to get infected with fish tb. l promise to make it all up to ya'll when l finally finish planting it and take lots of photos. 

And yes GLA tanks are very nice. Down the road l plan on getting me the 91b. l think it has a lot of potential and l like the length (3ft) to work with.


----------



## VadimShevchuk

stupid question... whats fish TB? Never heard of it.


----------



## !shadow!

lt's one of the ugliest thing your tank can get infected with you can check it out on my other thread as some pictures are really graphic and well that thread has a lot of the information you want to know. Check it out, it's useful for future reference.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/fish/105115-fish-tb-not-faint-heart.html


----------



## VadimShevchuk

thanks! Still learning every day =D


----------



## !shadow!

np vadim glad l could help. So l was doing some looking around online for some plant weights and came across these. l really got tired with the whole thread with cotton and hopefully these will do the same job more efficiently:

https://www.azgardens.com/p-1087-aquatic-plant-weights-lead-weights.aspx

l tried the strip that came with the clump of my anubias petite out on my piece of driftwood and l have to say l am very impressed at how convenient it is and you don't have to deal with accidentally tightening down the thread too much and ripping it and then down the road they end up floating to the surface. These strips are so efficient l'm gonna get me a set of 100 because l like them so much. l recommend them for large tanks and lots of planting.


----------



## limeslide

Try painting the background.


----------



## !shadow!

limeslide said:


> Try painting the background.


haha fooled one 
l do got a background but it's black the reason it's hard to tell is because of the lights.


----------



## luke20037

cant wait to see ur end result!


----------



## Guest

That is amazing, I will enjoy this journal...


----------



## !shadow!

luke20037 said:


> cant wait to see ur end result!


Stick around and you'll find out 



sandie said:


> That is amazing, I will enjoy this journal...


Thanks for the encouraging words l hope l don't disappoint.


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums

Slow and steady


----------



## !shadow!

Exactly orlando


----------



## !shadow!

*filter and pump*

Not a big update but i got a koralia nano circulation pump to help distribute the co2 around the tank and also to help with the dead spots. l also picked up a g3 fine pre filter cartridge it's basically a g3 micron cartridge. i'll be upgrading my filter that originally came with the g3 with that along with a seperate cartridge of half carbon and half purigen. On another note the stump is still soaking just to make sure it doesn't float when i finally tie down the plants to it and speaking of plants l should get them any day now(i'm tracking them down very often . l hope l get the plant weights the same day if not sooner so l can begin right away.


----------



## jcgd

I almost picked up a used G3 but I want to see how they fare for some other people first with them being so new. I'm curious to see how it holds up over time with all the circuitry.

I want your plants to come in as much as my own orders so I can see what you put together!


----------



## !shadow!

justincgdick said:


> I almost picked up a used G3 but I want to see how they fare for some other people first with them being so new. I'm curious to see how it holds up over time with all the circuitry.
> 
> I want your plants to come in as much as my own orders so I can see what you put together!


Well considering that there is going to be a heater coming out for the g3(some sort of connection port for it built in) l'd like to say it's an awesome filter l did try out the flow and it's nice and strong. What l haven't done is try out the spraybar that came with it. Only time will tell with the circuitry so all l can do is cross my fingers. About the plants if the shipper holds true to when i'm supposed to get them, they should come in tommorow but l kinda gave up on exact dates as you can never tell when exactly you'll be getting them since they're all from singapore. l've been so anxious i've been hardscaping and messing around like crazy around my nile sand and dw pieces. lf not sure if you checked out my recent pages l actually filled it in just to give you an idea of how the stump will be set. Stick around and you'll see


----------



## problemman

why did u get plants from singapore? or am i reading that wrong your getting equipment?


----------



## !shadow!

aquaticmagic.com=from singapore , l already got a g3 sorry for the confusion it's in page 4 .


----------



## HEINEKEN357

Still NO water or fish when you going to cycle that thing :icon_mrgr At least photo shop some plants and fish in it hehe.:bounce::bounce:


----------



## !shadow!

Maybe if you send spam messages they'll eventually get the point  l've been messing around taking pictures and stuff maybe i'll post some later just for the hell of it.


----------



## benon

That filter will get a heater attachment? It seems to be going with different modular systems, which is a good way to go.

Circuitry... yeah... woudl suck if those computer controls went haywire... warrenty on that thing?

Oh yea.. PS... PLANTS man... PLANTS...!


----------



## !shadow!

from what l heard it will get the attachment oh by the way and yea l got warranty. 

you won't believe what l just found out.... Since the shipment is from singapore and it has to pass customs well l just tracked it and it's been held by customs since the 1st of april. So l emailed aqmagic and they told me this:
"Custom are extremely strict these days, and they will destroy the plants upon detecting slight soil particles.
Our company honors Arrival and Satisfaction Guarantee, so the option of free reshipment and full refund are always on the table. We have absolutely no intention to ignore your request, and we have no intention to sell inferior products or plants to our customers.
If you allow us, could we offer you a full refund for you? Please let us know if this arrangement is acceptable for you.
Thank you so much for your understanding."

l'm just speechless man can't believe it l really don't want to wait again and then risk customs destroying it again but at the same time l hate ordering from different websites and pay multiple shipping costs : / just so bummed out...


----------



## benon

*asdf*

Damn... Singapore? You should order locally, that sounds like a lot of trouble to go through...


----------



## VadimShevchuk

I ordered moss from them... i dont think it was worth it. i paid like 2 bucks for a 2x2 i rather pay 10 shipped of SnS and get other plants then order from there.


----------



## !shadow!

benon said:


> Damn... Singapore? You should order locally, that sounds like a lot of trouble to go through...


Yea the wait is what's killing me, l told them l wanted a refund so l guess i'll have to re-order this time from azgardens.com they had alot of what l was looking for except needle leaf java fern so i'll order that seperate. On the positive side arizona is so close to texas and l should get my order faster only down side is they ship on thursdays so l'll have to wait like another week :angryfire:angryfire:angryfire



VadimShevchuk said:


> I ordered moss from them... i dont think it was worth it. i paid like 2 bucks for a 2x2 i rather pay 10 shipped of SnS and get other plants then order from there.


Yea l know what you mean.lt's been like half a month and still no plants...


----------



## arktixan

!shadow! said:


> aquaticmagic.com=from singapore , l already got a g3 sorry for the confusion it's in page 4 .



To be fair from aquaticmagic... it does say US 5-12days... sometimes it could be more if customs held it..maybe thats the case with you... and I dont think Sat/Sun would count in days... if you know what I mean, I think he means 5-12 Business days.. 
And I think he is out of Malaysia not Singapore, unless it says on his website.. 

He/she does have an eBay account, and most of the negative feedback Ive seen is Customs held my plant... but the dudes been around since like 2005... over 50k sells rated at a 99%

I ordered off as well... I am on day 5. so we will see what happens... They also were the only site, I have seen that ships to Canada.


----------



## stingraysrule

*your wood*

The biggest problem you are going to have with your wood is not the sinking. 
It is going to be the transparent white fuzz that is going to start growing on it. 
Right after it sinks, it develops gross looking "fuzz" on it for a month or so. 

I read that it does not harm the plants or the fish but it is still an eye sore. 
Seems that standard driftwood that you have used in the past is not as problematic.


----------



## !shadow!

arktixan said:


> To be fair from aquaticmagic... it does say US 5-12days... sometimes it could be more if customs held it..maybe thats the case with you... and I dont think Sat/Sun would count in days... if you know what I mean, I think he means 5-12 Business days..
> And I think he is out of Malaysia not Singapore, unless it says on his website..
> 
> He/she does have an eBay account, and most of the negative feedback Ive seen is Customs held my plant... but the dudes been around since like 2005... over 50k sells rated at a 99%
> 
> I ordered off as well... I am on day 5. so we will see what happens... They also were the only site, I have seen that ships to Canada.


yea but l ordered on the 30th and they told me 7-10 days(l ordered express)



stingraysrule said:


> The biggest problem you are going to have with your wood is not the sinking.
> It is going to be the transparent white fuzz that is going to start growing on it.
> Right after it sinks, it develops gross looking "fuzz" on it for a month or so.
> 
> I read that it does not harm the plants or the fish but it is still an eye sore.
> Seems that standard driftwood that you have used in the past is not as problematic.


oh i'm not worried about the white fuzz. The white "fuzz" is usually a naturally occurring algae from bacteria spores lodged in the wood. lf anything l could treat it with excel or hydrogen peroxide but l'll just wait it out for about 2-3 weeks and it should go away.


----------



## jcgd

Hmm... I was thinking of ordering from aquaticmagic too but now I'm feeling a little anxious about actually getting my order. I guess if shipping is free its no biggie to just get a refund.


----------



## HEINEKEN357

Man that sucks guess you will need to look on the forums buy and sale for your plants or you can try them again but its like playing Russian roulette with Customs. Last time I ordered from then I got my plants in 10 days guess I got lucky.


----------



## DeepDownAbove

They tried to get my shipment through three times and would have kept trying if I had not said not to worry about it. I had purchased some pellia off of the ebay account and they were very prompt with emails and reshipment. My java ferns made it through customs fine and were packaged similarly.
I would guess some plants are allowed but not sure which. There was some info on the interception notice...


----------



## VadimShevchuk

Did you get fined for it or no?


----------



## DeepDownAbove

No there were no fines and I don't think that is the idea with the note. Just their way of saying your mail was confiscated. I highly doubt it would be very enforceable if they did fine. 

Keep in mind I cant help what people send me in the mail. 

e.g. I don't know what the heck "pellia" is officer.. 

Big difference between prohibited and illegal. I am pretty sure the mail handlers feel packages to try and identify possible violations. On the front of the envelope was the letters AGI probably so Department of Agriculture could open it up and check for contraband. They cant check every package though.


----------



## jcgd

I find it so strange, the separation between Canada and the US. They are like brothers who wouldn't touch each other with a ten foot pole, unless it's to win a war. If some plant floats down a river from Can to the US it's no biggie. Put that same plant in a envelope and it'll get burned. And then the ashes dipped in acid and burned again.:icon_roll


----------



## !shadow!

l'm not trying to discourage anybody. lt's just the waiting that l don't like not the service. ln service they are 10/10 no doubt. only thing l am going to need is needle leaf java fern since azgardens.com doesn't have any unless l missed it other than that they got everything l need. l'll check some sites like http://www.aquabid.com/ and see. What l wish l knew is why aqmagic doesn't get noticed at all when customs don't allow it to go through l mean l think that's the least they can do is to alert the business that the customer's shipment won't be possible that way l don't feel clueless. l kept tracking my shipment after it got confiscated on the 1st of april just to see if they'd let it go through or some miscommunication happened but l guess it's for good now. thanks again deepdownabove for the helpful picture/info as l had no idea how this was dealt with and have little knowledge on how it works. l only wish aqmagic lived in the states. That would be so awesome. Guess now i'm going to have to wait another week for plants. l know you guys are enjoying this journal : / woohoo 10 pages and no plants l LOVE IT!:help:


----------



## VadimShevchuk

Shadow, you turning into CL!


----------



## !shadow!

Yes l noticed lol l think it's a curse with 91L from gla haha they also told me this :"We can still ship you with registered package to your location ,estimated days are 10 to reach your location once shipped. You will get tracking code so that you can trace parcel's were about via USPS.

Many of our customer prefers this way of shipment.

Let me know if this is agreed."

but i'm probably just going to get my refund back as arizona is closer and well l got much more for my money when l bought pretty much the same stock. l will be worry free about the customs confiscating it and well l won't have to wait as long, 10 days for plants seems a little long on top of the time i've been waiting.


----------



## ch3fb0yrdee

This is turning out to be a very cool project. Expensive, expensive stuff you have here, shadow. 

I can wait to see how this turns out. The filter is crazy expensive, but rediculously cool. I saw a demo for it at a local fish store. Keep up the good work.

Turn your lights into a pendant light!! It would make this looks even more awesome-rrrr. It would make your tank sexy x 5!!!

PS. It's kinda cool to see a picture of my messy willow moss tank on post #9. AHHAHA =P


----------



## !shadow!

thanks ch3f l appreciate your kind words. lt has been expensive but l feel my patience is being tested at the moment believe it or not it's playing a bigger role on me than my wallet. kinda ironic l got all this nice equipment and can't use it at the moment. l shall wait it out because l know the reward is going to be much greater in the end.


----------



## !shadow!

well good news l'm getting my entire refund back tommorow. just one question for you guys, which plant store do you guys recommend, l really like azgardens.com but l'd like feedback on their quality. l'm tempted to buy from S&S because l actually see what i'm getting and how big it is which is a BIG plus, but l'm assuming i'm going to pay multiple shipping costs for different people since l doubt someone is going to have everything i'm looking for. What do you guys think? l like aquabotanics but they don't have any willow/weeping moss/anubias petite and the list goes on.


----------



## DeepDownAbove

*Dr. Fosters Smith*

If you are just looking for the basics I had a good algae free experience with Dr. foster and smith's website liveaquaria.com 

plants were well packaged and were fresh cuttings. I am sure there are more specialized stores out there but wanted to share my experience. 

Peace


----------



## !shadow!

Thanks deep. After some looking l narrowed it down to azgardens and aquabotanics. only thing they don't got is anubias petite and willow/weeping moss which l need A LOT of. l'm thinking about getting some from the s&s if l can find any.


----------



## !shadow!

alright just got refunded 208$ from aqmagic.com off to S&S for a plant shopping spree!!


----------



## msnikkistar

Buy me some stuff.  hahaha j/k


----------



## !shadow!

Throw in your tank and deal!


----------



## msnikkistar

Oh heck no, no deal. I got pretty BTs in that sucker.


----------



## !shadow!

i'll throw in my penut butter jelly sandwich?


----------



## msnikkistar

Hmmm, tempting. Throw in some jelly belly's and we MAY have a deal.


----------



## !shadow!

lol, any luck with that moss wall? l'm just looking for some willow/weeping moss everything is already covered. So far this is what i'm ordering

1X http://www.aquabotanicstore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HK4&CartID=1
5X http://www.aquabotanicstore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HK6&CartID=2
5X http://www.aquabotanicstore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=bfern&CartID=3
7X http://www.aquabotanicstore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=HK3&CartID=4

and 1 huge bolbitis rhizome on the left courtesy of mrjg picture is here:









and a extra bolbitis from EDwardN + 2 clumps of needle leaf java fern and i'm getting some anubias petite clumps at the moment. 

tommorow i'm hoping to order 15X of willow moss from here:
https://www.azgardens.com/p-1039-moss-willow-fontinalis-antipyretica-aquarium-plant.aspx

l'll order from vals for my background @ my lfs. And that's it for now


----------



## msnikkistar

No luck yet on the moss. I may have to suck up and just wait for it. -_-


----------



## !shadow!

l know the feeling all too well.


----------



## jcgd

Awesome, just order exactly that for me too.:hihi:


----------



## !shadow!

whats with everybody wanting favors tonight, do l look like the salvation army?:icon_lol:


----------



## malaybiswas

!shadow! said:


> Thanks deep. After some looking l narrowed it down to azgardens and aquabotanics. only thing they don't got is anubias petite and willow/weeping moss which l need A LOT of. l'm thinking about getting some from the s&s if l can find any.


I had pretty bad experience with azgardens. Ordered a bunch of plants and every single one (EVERY SINGLE ONE) was delivered dead. It was summer but the shipment was not late. Phone calls never got received, emails never replied and no refunds.


----------



## arktixan

Thats good that aquamagic, gave u the refund  sorry about it not working out with you.

hopefully you get your plants soon  cant wait to see this bad boy planted!


----------



## !shadow!

Yea it happens, l admire companies such as aqmagic who actually stick to their word. l'm going 100% all aquabotanics. The rest of the plants l can get on s&s.


----------



## !shadow!

Ok some plants came in like 1/2 of my shipment! i think l shall get it planted today or tomorrow. I'll take pics in a sec and post em for you guys to see in a few hours . On another note l got my toshiba back from getting fixed lt was still under manufacturers warranty so the fixing was free .


----------



## !shadow!

Ok so when l received my laptop they forgot to enclose the hardrive inside so i'm borrowing my sisters laptop to write this message. Tomorrow l shall give you guys the pictures (hopefully).


----------



## !shadow!

*planted!*

Ok l planted the majority of the tank :bounce:, l still need willow moss and lace java fern. Here are the pics for my fauthful readers . after some thought l almost conviced myself to name it "avatar" :hihi:. sorry about the pics with bubbles l'll take some more tomorrow.

beginning








willow moss








anubias petite








petite and needle leaf java fern








needle leaf








bolbitis aka african fern








vals








java fern on driftwood (bought as is)








another view








vals and java fern in








petite planted








petite upclose








needle leaf java fern planted








upclose needle leaf








roots tied to dw piece








another shot of needle leaf








from above








java fern from above








willow moss tied in 








from above








left side








right side








bolbitis tied in








left side








right side








angle shot








filling up with h20








close up








mexican beach pebbles








another shot (l tried to bury the pebbles as best as l could to prevent the look of an afterthought)








left side








l just love this one, l'm sure hydro does too  by the way this is where l sprinkled the rio grande gravel








center








l love how the bolbitis hang over








more water








side shot








all filled up weee look at all the bubbles!








left side (g3's intake and output)








right side








fts









Ok l think l went a little overboard with the pics but l felt like l owed you guys for making ya'll wait this long. l shall post more pics tomorrow once it clears up a bit, l love my g3's micron filter you can already tell the difference.
let me know what you guys think.Last but not least l wanna thanks the guys at the s&s for making it possible *credits roll* and getting my plants to me asap.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

LOL all those pictures took up the whole page!

I like the look of it. It does remind me of Avatar a bit:hihi:


----------



## !shadow!

l'm not even done planting l still got a bit to go, overall tho i'm very happy with the look.


----------



## !shadow!

Well so far the g3 is running smooth and the koralina nano really helps distribute the co2 my ph was high(7.5) so l figured i'd add some to lower it. pictures coming later today.


----------



## VadimShevchuk

This tank is so awsome. i cant wait till its done! You probably spent over 1.5 thousand so far. (Still worth it =D)


----------



## !shadow!

VadimShevchuk said:


> This tank is so awsome. i cant wait till its done! You probably spent over 1.5 thousand so far. (Still worth it =D)


thanks vadim, and the amount is more :S and yes l agree on the "it's worth it". l'm thinking about pulling out the stump and re-tying everything with thread l'm not liking the zinc plant weights that much plus it's not keeping the roots/moss that close to the manzanita branches. l just got my clump of willow moss in the mail uploading pictures in a bit.


----------



## CL

That looks really nice. It will look amazing when everything grows in.


----------



## !shadow!

thanks cl more pics to add on top of the ones from yesterday . see how the willow moss is fluffy and not really on the wood, l kinda wanna fix that but i'm not sure if it's worth it.



























up close of substrate








fts









What do you guys think?


----------



## msnikkistar

Wait til I come to Texas to visit my family, I am going to ransack your tank


----------



## !shadow!

nuuuuuuu i'll have to hire my future shrimpies on patrol.


----------



## lauraleellbp

This is going to look beautiful when it's all grown in.

Fantastic piece of driftwood.


----------



## msnikkistar

Ok fine, I won't ransack it, I will just try and take the whole thing


----------



## demonbreedr16

Wow! That looks awesome!


----------



## ch3fb0yrdee

Just wondering how come you didn't take the time to tie the moss and plants down with fishing line?

Nice willow moss btw. =D


----------



## Lance Uppercut

You figure out what kind of fish are going in yet?


----------



## benon

*Good*

Hey man that's looking good!

I do agree with the fishing line though, try using some moss cotton. The more moss is touching the wood the better. It will actually appear to be dying and liquifying as it attaches to the wood.


----------



## !shadow!

lauraleellbp said:


> This is going to look beautiful when it's all grown in.
> 
> Fantastic piece of driftwood.


thanks a lot laura that's the plan 



msnikkistar said:


> Ok fine, I won't ransack it, I will just try and take the whole thing


good luck 



demonbreedr16 said:


> Wow! That looks awesome!


thanks it's getting there



ch3fb0yrdee said:


> Just wondering how come you didn't take the time to tie the moss and plants down with fishing line?
> 
> Nice willow moss btw. =D


thanks 



Lance Uppercut said:


> You figure out what kind of fish are going in yet?


well l wanted to get some german blue rams, and *Boraras **briggitae* but l'm pretty sure the ram will bully them. l wanted some rcs since l have alot of mosses. l'm still deciding but l wanted some schooling fish for sure.



benon said:


> Hey man that's looking good!
> thanks
> 
> I do agree with the fishing line though, try using some moss cotton. The more moss is touching the wood the better. It will actually appear to be dying and liquifying as it attaches to the wood.


ok just spent the last 3 hours taking the stump out and tying everything up with thread instead of the weights and believe me it was a pita. But i'm much happier with the look. i'll take some pics in a bit once the g3's micron filter clears it up in a bit.


----------



## Craigthor

Hmmm did you move pictures around in your album most of them aren't showing up for me? What I see looks great.

Craig


----------



## jeepn4x4

What an awesome looking tank. Well done. I love the driftwood and willow moss combo.


----------



## !shadow!

Craigthor said:


> Hmmm did you move pictures around in your album most of them aren't showing up for me? What I see looks great.
> 
> Craig


weird.. l didn't touch none of them since l uploaded them. let me know which ones are off i'll try to correct them.



jeepn4x4 said:


> What an awesome looking tank. Well done. I love the driftwood and willow moss combo.


it's actually both willow and weeping. lf you liked those pictures with willow you're gonna love the ones l upload in a bit. l've covered most of the center of the stump with mostly willow(it's reserved for shrimps in the future  ). Speaking of mosses l've found that willow and weeping look very similar except that weeping is like a mini willow. I'll take some macros as well to explain what l mean.


----------



## boon

As far b.brigattae, you can keep them with GBR. I had about 15 with a pair of GBR in my 30 with no problems. As long as you have enough room you'll be fine. B.brigittae are so tiny that they'll mostly hang around that massive java fern that you have there on the right. That's where mine hangs out at. BTW, gorgeous tank. I want one.


----------



## !shadow!

lol thanks l didn't feel like googling the crap just to find the response. The only thing that's gonna suck is that it's gonna take a lot of b.brigattae to fill this tank up but they'll look awesome with their red colors. Speaking of red, l think some male cherry barbs would look awesome in here and their colors will really stand out, another reason l want rcs in here.


----------



## msnikkistar

Aren't the barbs going to harrass the rcs?

By the way, how bout I don't steal the tank, but just take some of your willow moss clippings??????


----------



## !shadow!

That's the problem with the choices some aren't compatible not to mention if they live in the same water parameters, temp, ph and etc.. your deal sounds tempting by the way let me think about it k?


----------



## !shadow!

lag caused double post


----------



## Craigthor

They all showed up this time.  Looks good glad I don't to try and clean that substrate. 

Craig


----------



## Dr. Acula

It reminds me of a giant hairy octopus for some reason.

Anyway, it's a great looking tank, and it should look even better once the plants start to grow in and do their thing, and you can do a bit of sculpting.


----------



## msnikkistar

!shadow! said:


> That's the problem with the choices some aren't compatible not to mention if they live in the same water parameters, temp, ph and etc.. your deal sounds tempting by the way let me think about it k?



I'll make you some homemade Vietnamese eggrolls for the moss.


----------



## Voozle

Dr. Acula said:


> It reminds me of a giant hairy octopus for some reason.
> 
> Anyway, it's a great looking tank, and it should look even better once the plants start to grow in and do their thing, and you can do a bit of sculpting.


_Shadow's 48G "Giant Hairy Octopus"_ would be a much more interesting name than "Passion," in my opinion. Sorry to hear about your delays, the 'scape is looking great so far. I think it offers a really exciting alternative to Amano's "Nature Aquarium" model of planted tanks, sort of a futuristic or alien nature theme - I agree that it is very Avatar-esque. I can't wait to see it progress!


----------



## !shadow!

Dr. Acula said:


> It reminds me of a giant hairy octopus for some reason.
> 
> Anyway, it's a great looking tank, and it should look even better once the plants start to grow in and do their thing, and you can do a bit of sculpting.


That's the plan, letting it grow out and shape it the way l want it to be.



msnikkistar said:


> I'll make you some homemade Vietnamese eggrolls for the moss.


l've seen your post such a shame you couldn't find willow, x-mas will do just as good on your moss wall just let it grow out.



Voozle said:


> _Shadow's 48G "Giant Hairy Octopus"_ would be a much more interesting name than "Passion," in my opinion. Sorry to hear about your delays, the 'scape is looking great so far. I think it offers a really exciting alternative to Amano's "Nature Aquarium" model of planted tanks, sort of a futuristic or alien nature theme - I agree that it is very Avatar-esque. I can't wait to see it progress!


lol octupus that's what it is right now but l actually want this to be a nature aquarium. l actually thought of the delays as a good thing now thinking about it. lt gave me enough time to think the entire planting stages out and to better organize myself. l really hope those mosses grow out like in amano's work. l gotta say this will be my first time dealing with willow&weeping. I'm keeping my photoperiod low to prevent algae no ferts yet. l am running co2 just to help out. l do got a question tho about seachems stability. Does it actually do what it says or is it too good to be true? you can add fish as long as you follow directions?


----------



## msnikkistar

!shadow! said:


> l've seen your post such a shame you couldn't find willow, x-mas will do just as good on your moss wall just let it grow out.



Willow moss is just too hard to buy right now.  I have some xmas and peacock coming in though. So we will see what I use.


----------



## !shadow!

peacock aka spiky moss is one of my favorites to tie to branches l'll post some pictures in a couple hours to show you what l mean.


----------



## prototyp3

It lives!

I'm glad to hear you pulled it down and retied everything. The moss especially will grow better and attach more readily with it being tied flush to the wood. I'm not sure what you're going for with growth, but if you want to quickly grow out that anubias petite you could trim off some plants from those big bunches. 

I can't wait to see this one grow out. Make sure to get some good water movement over the bolbitis and it will absolutely explode in growth.


----------



## !shadow!

prototyp3 said:


> It lives!
> 
> I'm glad to hear you pulled it down and retied everything. The moss especially will grow better and attach more readily with it being tied flush to the wood. I'm not sure what you're going for with growth, but if you want to quickly grow out that anubias petite you could trim off some plants from those big bunches.
> 
> I can't wait to see this one grow out. Make sure to get some good water movement over the bolbitis and it will absolutely explode in growth.


l was thinking about seperating the petite l kinda want to cover the bottom center with nothing but petite. i'm about to take some pictures of the moss tied down it's just hard to take some decent ones with the water being a bit cloudy. About the flow l think l got enough since l got the g3's two jets + the koralina nano to help with the circulation.


----------



## msnikkistar

Where are those pictures you promised?


----------



## !shadow!

uploading + picking the best ones out at the moment  l just got this camera like a month ago trying to get the hang of it.


----------



## msnikkistar

Well move it mister.


----------



## !shadow!

Ok like l promised pictures. lf you look on the bottom of page 12 you'll see the difference oh how fluffy the moss was compared to now. now it looks very flush with the wood like l wanted and hopefully more swimming room for the fish. 

willow moss tied down flush


























center

















hopefully it will cover the entire stump or most of it








left side branch with willow








center zoomed in (prob the best picture l could get of the willow)








right side all tied down








left side








last but not least the obligatory fts 









and the spiky moss picture. l love how it grows


----------



## problemman

love the spiky moss too!


----------



## msnikkistar

Someone is sending me a few golfballs of the moss as an RAOK. SOOOOO happy!


----------



## !shadow!

weeping or willow?


----------



## msnikkistar

spiky  I wasn't THAT lucky.


----------



## !shadow!

lf you got willow l would of been so envious, l would of been the one paying you a visit and stealing it for myself


----------



## pianofish

Dude your mosses look greart, how many golfballs was that to cover all of your tree? Good luck with all of your work ahead,
And have fun!
Your pal,
Pianofish


----------



## !shadow!

umm l don't remember exactly but the willow was around 5 golfballs, the willow was like 1 or 2 soon to be 3 arriving in a couple of days. petite was about 20 stems so about a handfull(also waiting on more).l got some golfball size of fissidens as well that's on it's way. On a side note l knew this was coming but not this soon, but my manzanita wood is developing the nasty white fuzz on a lot of the parts of the branches. l guess this is the part where i'm going to have to wait a couple of weeks until it goes away on its own... Does anybody happen to know anything that eats this stuff?


----------



## benon

*Moss*

That looks really amazing.

I like the branches towards the right, which spread out through the space and convey a lot of depth.

This is going to look amazing once all the plants fill in.

I think you could definitely add more plants though.

Are you dosing potassium?

PS : My java ferns are taking off. Will post pictures soon!


----------



## arktixan

Looks excellent  love the setup.

Keep it up, can't wait til the fish arrive in there, they gonna be happy!


----------



## !shadow!

benon said:


> That looks really amazing.
> 
> I like the branches towards the right, which spread out through the space and convey a lot of depth.
> 
> This is going to look amazing once all the plants fill in.
> 
> I think you could definitely add more plants though.
> 
> Are you dosing potassium?
> 
> PS : My java ferns are taking off. Will post pictures soon!





arktixan said:


> Looks excellent  love the setup.
> 
> Keep it up, can't wait til the fish arrive in there, they gonna be happy!


thanks for the kind words. l wanna add more plants but l don't want to get collectoritis . l'm just waiting for the plants to fill in, on the other hand my white fungus from the stump has really grown bigger since day 1 but l have to be patient unless l add some otos tommorow(from what l heard they love that stuff). l'm going to remove some bolbitis from the tank and leave a few rhizomes. You know when you see a plant that let's say takashi amano uses and it looks so good you want to replicate that so bad but it ends up being what you didn't want and you're not satisfied with the end result? well that's how l feel with the bolbitis. About the plants in the back l wanted to maybe down the road have a 3 sided moss wall or have a background of full of narrow lead java fern. My vals don't seem to be doing very well. lt didn't surprise me as to my nile sand is inert. l should of put some seachem root tabs. l did add some more anubias tho and l'm really liking the look at the moment. l used to hate anubias but they're not so bad once you try them out. 

l'm going to update in a bit, this week has really been hectic on me. The willow moss has really taken off. It's amaising what co2+ low light does (aprox. 42w in a 48g lol not even 1wpg). my weeping moss is the one that's looking in bad shape. Hasn't shown signs of improvement. l've read about too many minerals or something like that in the water and it stuns its growth or something like that in another thread in this forum. If weeping doesn't grow l think l'm either going to spread my willow moss to grow it completely or try my hand at peacock/spiky moss. pictures will be posted in a couple of hours .


----------



## VincentK

I like your driftwood, it's very tangly.


----------



## !shadow!

thanks.l think l heard it all lol. "tangly, octopus, you name it . l'm re-taking pics at the moment l'm trying to get a good photo of the fungus and the willow moss growth. The key to getting good pictures is to take lots of them but l think i'm getting carried away :help:


----------



## ch3fb0yrdee

I believe spiky moss is the same as peacock moss.


----------



## !shadow!

yes it is, funny you mention it cause like two weeks ago l didn't know that.


----------



## benon

> l'm going to remove some bolbitis from the tank and leave a few rhizomes.


That's a good idea.



> You know when you see a plant that let's say takashi amano uses and it looks so good you want to replicate that so bad but it ends up being what you didn't want and you're not satisfied with the end result?


I'm pretty sure Takashi has an entire garden of fresh plants at his disposal, being grown in water parameters very similar to any one of his established tanks. That being said, don't give up on the Bolbitis. This stuff takes time and patience (like a month or more). I had rhizomes and a good amount of dead leaves, but now if you take a look at my thread, you'll see that my Bolbitis is very alive and will get even more bushy.

I see tons of leaves growing out of the rhizomes, and there are more than 20 leaves that I can count growing out. Imagine 20 big green leaves in the course of a few weeks to add shades of dark, translucent greens. Of course, it all also depends on how many you've tied to your driftwood and how long the plants have had to adjust to your water.

The water in my tank is almost 2 months old and plants were dying for the first month - now they are growing at a rate I can't control (including the baby tears). In the beginning, your water is of really poor quality from the substrate, and plants won't do very well.

Are you dosing potassium?


----------



## !shadow!

thanks benon, must be nice being takashi amano and having any plant at your disposal. l won't get rid of all of it just some rhizomes of it. l'm just going to do some trimming of the old leaves that have died and hopefully over time l'll get new leaves. l guess l just want it to grow in a way that doesn't give the tank a clusttered look. l want it to be pleasing and not look like an afterthought and that l just decided to stick it in for the sake of filling in the tank. l'm dosing kno3, kh2po4, k2s04, and csm+b. Why do you ask out of curiosity?
l was too lazy to post pics tonight l felt really tired from work. Tomorrow l shall .


----------



## benon

*Ferts*

Hey,

I ask about the ferts because I just started dosing Brighty K and it has done wonders for certain plants (especially the baby tears).

That's basically the only liquid fert I use (along with flourish excel). Substrate is Amazonia.


----------



## !shadow!

ok l failed again at posting an update. l just got my laptop back and had to transfer a lot of crap unto it. l did however go to the lfs and tried to get some Boraras brigittae but all of them had ick (stupid temperature changes in texas) so l decided i'll wait until they're cured and get some. l did manage to get 2 otos, and 9 blue eye rainbows. So far no dead fish . l really wanted some rams since l got the whole sand substrate that they really like but l've had a bad experience with them with the exception of my single electric blue ram. Also the blue eye rainbows are like Boraras brigittae sizes and l'm assuming that the rams would pick on if not eat the rainbows. The otos don't seem to be doing too much moving just laying on the branches and sides of the glass. hopefully lf l get off early from work tomorrow l'll post some pictures.


----------



## Digital

Coming along nice! That filter is awesome!


----------



## !shadow!

thanks. l got out of work late again, so no update . Supposedly l'm off friday but we'll see what happens. So far l have no dead fish, all 9 blue eye rainbows are doing well and the two otos are busy away sucking on the manzanita. hopefully in a week i'll add the boraras, and some galaxy along with em. l'm looking to buy some rcs soon as l think their colors will really stand out in the tank and will do fine with the other small tankmates.


----------



## boon

I can't wait to see this one grow out. Reminds me of the old layout that AFA use to have on one of their main tank. On a side note, I had GBR with rainbows with no issue. My rainbow are now almost as big as my Cardinal Tetra.


----------



## !shadow!

wow that's some growth boon. You're talking about these(seudomugil gertrudae ) :







right?
l'm gathering my pictures to post at the moment hopefully l'll post em in a bit.


----------



## boon

Whoops! Wrong fish. I bought some that was label as blue eyes rainbow but they look different from that one in the picture.


----------



## !shadow!

Ok so l had a bit of free time on my hands and decided to take some pictures. here they are...
One more thing they were a pita to take still photos since they're very active








love the background of the rocks against the lil guy








oto








schooling








gla mascot 








What are you looking at?








my best shot yet








They look so good next to the bolbitis

















....and another oto








my new external hydor 300w heater 









l will be taking some fts later l gotta organize my camera pictures since it's all a mess. Feel free to comment.


----------



## !shadow!

Well here is just a small update/photos on top of the ones l took recently of the tank and how it's coming along. so far the weeping moss is still brown with tiny green sprouts on the ends but you can barely tell unless you really look.l found a interesting article about the Pseudomugil gertrudae http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/blue-eye/spotted.php and was reading about it and found that my set-up is very similar to what they live out in the wild except that it's not turbid and they "can be found in open sand-soil landscapes as well as in densely shaded rainforest streams" which l'm trying to create. l just found it funny that l picked a random fish l liked and happen to get lucky in creating it's habitat. On another note l took some pictures of the anubias and the fish. enjoy!
two otos








close up of center, as you can see lots of white stuff on the manzanita








tiny sprouts








another one in the center  can't wait till it's actually weeping 








this one is barely noticeable








l bought some springs of some sort l forgot the name from the lfs today








FTS









will get some boraras_brigittae hopefully this weekend.








and that's all folks!


----------



## fishbreath

beautiful!! roud:


----------



## funkyfish

Awesome Looking tank! roud:


----------



## msnikkistar

Glad to see your moss is coming back to life. I'm having the same issues with browning of moss in my moss wall, this gives me hope that it will come back from the brown stage.


----------



## !shadow!

fishbreath said:


> beautiful!! roud:


thanks



funkyfish said:


> Awesome Looking tank! roud:


thanks X2



msnikkistar said:


> Glad to see your moss is coming back to life. I'm having the same issues with browning of moss in my moss wall, this gives me hope that it will come back from the brown stage.


Yea l guess my best advice would be to have patience and let it adjust to your water parameters. People are right about the weeping growing slow but l never thought it would be this slow. l hear left and right that willow is hard to grow but mines seems to be doing excellent. l was kinda paranoid it would just die off but it just seems to like the light shining right on it and doesn't do that well when shaded. l've read in the tropical fish hobbyist article that takashi amano wrote about the moss and said that the key to keeping willow moss in good shape is to trim is regularly to keep it nice and green and prevent the lower part from dying and eventually floating up to the surface. On my bolbitis l'm trimming off the dead leaves/stems and it seems to be growing new ones in their place.


----------



## Digital

Tank is looking awesome. That new fish is killer!


----------



## benon

That tank is a super-jungle, and I can't wait to see it a month from now. It'll be growing faster than you can trim..

As for the moss, you're definitely right about trimming. They need tons of trimming.


----------



## !shadow!

ty benon, l really can't wait to see the weeping effect, l always wanted to have that jungle tank 

This is how l hope my weeping moss will get in the coming weeks/months.









Anyways moving on l decided to finally do a video and well l hope it's not that bad l did a lot of shaking so forgive me on that. Here is the first one of a male chasing a female, and yes they are very feisty .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVPN-pULLwk

l would suggest watching it in 720p to see the colors of the fish but even then the video doesn't do em justice unless you're actually looking at them in person, anyways i'm working on getting a better video of them and their colors.

and this is of the entire tank, again this is my first time doing a video so lf it comes out horrible you know why. 

The fish on another note seem to be displaying their colors and not slowing down, l guess i'm doing something right. their fins are very bright with yellow especially the pectoral and pelvic fins. l'll try to get some better macro shots of them, this was one of the closest l could get of them.


----------



## benon

*Vid*

Sweet video!

I might try and steal some of that moss as it takes over your tank


----------



## !shadow!

sure once it grows it i'd be more than happy to send some over to ya to help you out. oh l thought l posted two videos here is the second one lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BIzhuDT9CY


----------



## benon

*f*

Thought I was looking into a real jungle!


----------



## !shadow!

hehe thanks l'll upload more videos later l've just gotta get some decent ones that aren't too blurry


----------



## !shadow!

*update*

So far the white fungus is disappearing and the willow moss seems to be haivng a comeback and sprouting more. l notice a bit of hair algae so l guess l better start doing water changes more often and lowering my photo-period. lt's not that bad just a little string here and there.Anyways l was wen to the lfs yesterday and got me 3 gbr's and 3 sae. They're doing fine and so far show no signs of stress. l did happen to find some weird looking bubbles or eggs?.. well this should give you guys a better idea of what i'm talking about:









another shot of it








This is at another spot in the tank, sorry about the blurriness it's hard to take a decent shot due to the anubias in the way








some pictures of the rams (they like to hide a lot so l gotta take the pictures fast)

















all 3 of them








one of the best shots l got of em








and last the gbr's keeping the brine shrimp in their place :icon_twis









The rams really like the brine shrimp l've fed em lately. They go absolutely crazy along with the sae's and Pseudomugil gertrudae. hopefully within a week or two i'll see if those little eggs or w/e they are are from the Pseudomugil gertrudae or not. l'll try adding a video of the rams later if l can flush em out with some brine shrimp. :icon_mrgr

here is a short video of the pg's sorry about the noise. The camera model apparently has a problem with this high pitch sound.(watch it hd for better view)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/4593249709/


----------



## VincentK

Those bubbles look like pond snail eggs, get rid of them before they become solid color looking!!!


----------



## !shadow!

l thought they were snails :S cause l have em in another seperate tank with no fish. well that sucks.. l got my hopes up... l don't think l mind the snails my gbr's seem to like nipping at them. plus l tend to kill snails with the co2 . l'll remove em in a bit just to make sure they don't get out of hand. thanks for the info vincent


----------



## knm<><

Yep, those are definitely pond snail eggs. It's a personal preference to get rid of them or not. I actually like my pond snails. They are good cleaners. They multiply quickly but, you can always thin them out if they get over populated.


----------



## !shadow!

hmm l might leave em them, l do got gbrs and maybe they can be my clean-up crew instead of my rcs that l was planning on getting. That way l won't care if gbr's eat em plus they're free


----------



## boon

They're like a double edge sword. They can be beneficial in numbers, but in numbers they will become a headache when they get out of hand.


----------



## benon

Looking nice.

Strangely enough I also just removed a huge sack of snail eggs. I already have too many in one tank. I've transported it to a snail tank. That could get bad though...


----------



## !shadow!

ty benon. How about posting it in the S&S if anybody wants to buy snails:hihi:
or even a raok but in a raffle package sort of way and the loser gets snails. Clown loach owners might want them, you never know.


----------



## benon

Give us a full tank photo... stop the closeup teasers


----------



## !shadow!

ok ok tomorrow i'll take a lot and single out the best ones along with a video of the entire tank if l get out of work early. l would now but the fishies are sleeping and well they scramble all over the tank when l turn on the lights.


----------



## !shadow!

*update*

Ok l got quite a bit of an update. l went to the lfs got me 2 giesemann powerchrome aquaflora's rated at 39w each. Now the bad news, one or two of my t'5s socket's isn't working only one of them. 2 are connected to one switch and the other two connected to another. Now l gotta replace that unless my ballast is bad. Anyways l got 6 rasbora heteromorpha:
They love to school unlike my past experience with them in my 40g









l also happened to pick up some dwarf hairgrass and plan on adding little bunches in the foreground along with some seachem root tabs. l'm not sure if it needs it since i've heard you can grow dhg in sand. So far all the fish have survived and none are showing sings of illness. l do need to do a water change today since you can see all the debris on top of the sand since it compacts so well so l'll have to put my python to good use. l found out a good trick when siphoning sand through it and that is to put like a screen where the water comes gushing out at the bottom of the python before it goes down into the sink that way you don't get your house plumbing full of sand and plus you don't have to hold back on cleaning the tank as much as you want. Then when you're done just wash the sand that you pulled and put it right back in and ta-da you're done. l got myself a tri-pod as well at best buy so l can take the steady shots l want and boy lt has helped a lot.
Here are some demonstrations for you guys. Oh l didn't forget the fts you requested benon .
tripod








gieseman new bulbs so pinkish








aqualight 6700k for some reason l like these much better much greener








and these are both running simultaniously, notice how all three pics don't have the hairgrass yet 








time for some gbr pictures

















right below recovering willow moss


























this fts was before the water change


























They love hiding underneath all the branches of the stump and l recently noticed there is a tunnel inside the stump going from the from of it to the back of the tank. l'm hoping if they breed that's where the fry will hide in for cover.








and these are the pics l just took a few minutes ago:
anubias below willow moss in the center of the stump








dhg, l'm really hoping it spreads and l did put a root tab next to each of them








and........ the ram again, yes he likes his attention








and here you go benon for the fts.. those darn rasboras wouldn't stay still : /









and yes l got to do something about those bolbitis they are growing where l don't want them to, l must shape them according to my wishes :help:


----------



## chase127

This tanks starting to come together  Spread that harigrass out more!


----------



## hydrophyte

Hey that's looking great. Rams are awesome, aren't they? 

Excuse my laziness, but did you put anything under that sand? And what is that plant on the far left with the saw-toothed leaf margin?


----------



## !shadow!

chase127 said:


> This tanks starting to come together  Spread that harigrass out more!


oh l don't have to worry about hairgrass l got plenty of it in my 10g iwagumi. after all it is all dhg carpet. i'll post pictures in a second of it as well.



hydrophyte said:


> Hey that's looking great. Rams are awesome, aren't they?
> 
> Excuse my laziness, but did you put anything under that sand? And what is that plant on the far left with the saw-toothed leaf margin?


yes they are devin, l'm loving all 3 but two males love to get into it so l might have to seperate them later down the road. To answer your question it's just ada nile sand nothing below it. l sprinkled rio grande gravel from caribsea to give it that natural look you find in the river l'll post pictures of that as well in a few just trying to organize my camera's memory card. The plant with the saw-toothed leaf margin is the bolbitis unless you're talking about the other sprigs of plants then i'm not too sure. l forgot the name of them when buying them at my lfs but i'll find out tomorrow if l get out of work early.The bolbitis is just sprouting some new leafs. l trimmed off some old leafs it had and it didn't even affect it at all. Actually l think it stimulated it to grow healthier new leaves.


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## hydrophyte

Well your sand looks very nice. Are you using root tabs or anything for the hairgrass and other stuff rooted in the sand.

Oh now I can imagine that stuff just being bolbitis fern. It looked funny to me at first like some weird _Potamogeton_ or something like that.


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## dj2005

This tank must be fun to watch as I imagine the fish enjoy swimming around the branches and various plants.


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## !shadow!

lol yea it has a nice texture to it when new leaves grow out of the rhizomes. l'm using seachems root tabs on the hairgrass l just slipped some in when l did the water change a few hours ago. l guess that's why the sand looks real nice and clean. Oh and l forgot to mention in my update that the white fuzz that grows on the manzanita is gone so one less eyesore in the tank. yes it is dj l can watch it for hours and not get tired of it. Even my girl gets jealous l spend too much time on it


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## !shadow!

when l went to a local creek l took a few pics for you guy for some inspiration. You wouldn't believe how much hairgrass there was in the shores of this little creek. lt was tempting to take but l didn't have anywhere to put it at the time 









love the rocks in this picture just breathtaking, iwagumi anyone ? 









and here is a picture of my 10g dwarf hairgrass supplier


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## benon

*asdf*

Your tank is looking InSanE! And I mean that in a good way. If I were a fish, I'd swim all over the place in that tank, and get lost.

Also looks like your moss is about to grow back nice and green soon.

question : does your hairgrass tank have pressurized CO2?


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## !shadow!

ty benon. l wanted it to have that "lost" feeling that you just lose yourself when you look at it. Yes the weeping moss is definately making a comeback just wait till the entire tank looks weeping l envision it to being a sight to behold. l want the tank to be one of those you see and leaves you speechless kinda like seeing a takashi amano iwagumi. To answer your question it's a no, just some excel here and there but nothing routine. l honestly don't see how some people have trouble growing it. lt's a easy plant imo. lt just needs a decent substrate such as ada soil or flourite red as l have in my 40g. and some decent light. l got approx 2.7wpg on my 10g and 2.3 on my 40g. the 10g is using a 6500k and the 40g is like 6700k.


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## msnikkistar

You know what would look good in this tank? Some peacock moss! LOL


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## matthew.shelly

i like both your tanks. that 10 is a sweet home for a betta. he must be so happy.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums

Looks like you have endless river rock at your disposal.


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## !shadow!

matthew.shelly said:


> i like both your tanks. that 10 is a sweet home for a betta. he must be so happy.


ty mathew shelly, but that betta is more like spoiled in it. Turns out l was holding it for my nephew and now l gotta keep it in the tank because he knows absolutely nothing about fish and my sister being the impulse buyer she is wanted to give him a little gift. 



Green Leaf Aquariums said:


> Looks like you have endless river rock at your disposal.


pretty much orlando, maybe l should put this rock up in the S&S and make a killing :icon_mrgr


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## Green Leaf Aquariums

Is this a river you can canoe or kayak down? Looks very interesting, and now we need more pics


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## !shadow!

l got plenty of pics l just gotta upload em to flickr. actually i'll some uploading right now just for ya  and it's a small creek but turns into a river you can kayak further down in it where it's deeper.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums

Perfect! Nothing better than a nice journal with tons of inspiration on many levels.


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## !shadow!

Enjoy orlando 
some weird fish l don't know the name of l took a picture of








looks like family








you think you got algae problems?








another view of the picture posted earlier but zoomed out








mini niagra falls? 








my favorite picture, it's so inspirational and well l get the chance to observe how a thriving ecosystem looks.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums

WOW!! 

Those fish aprear to be Large Mouth Bass, you now need a fishing rod 

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.


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## !shadow!

np anytime l figure lf you shared your pics of florida, you'd love the one l took of my trip down to the creek. oh and the fishing is crazy since nobody fishes over here they are extremely easy to catch. lf you ever decide to make a road trip i'd be more than happy to show ya around. l plan on taking some more pictures this weekend of the next if l get off work early and post em for you to see since you enjoyed these so much.


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## Craigthor

Thanks, I jsut stole that last picture for my desktop background!


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## !shadow!

lmao wow l didn't expect that to be this good. Steal away, l'm still surprise my camera took that. lt looks like something from national geography. That mist king is looking awesome in your tank by the way craig. l'm definately getting me one of those down the road if l ever decide to tear this tank down and make a riparium!


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## Craigthor

Yeah the Mist King is a great toy!


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## benon

*asdf*

Nice pictures shadow. You're very lucky to live near a creek like this.


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## rountreesj

op, may i make a suggestion? i think you need to increase the co2.


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## rountreesj

i say this because i notice my plants look similar if my co2 is too lean.


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## CL

The tank is coming together nicely. Your water might be a bit warm for that willow moss from the looks of it.
Rountreesj! Where ya been?


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## !shadow!

ty cl and rountreesj.Yea the warmness of the water if making the weeping moss grow very very slow... On the other hand the willow moss is showing much better signs of progress.


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## speedie408

I didn't know Bass lived in streams such as that one. I'd expect trout, but bass?


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## !shadow!

l was surprised at what l saw as well speedie. they were easily a foot to a foot and a half long,very huge fish! l only happened to see a handful of them tho.


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## hydrophyte

!shadow! said:


>


Great habitat pictures! This is probably regular largemouth bass, but there are a couple of odd and less common _Micropterus_ in the South and I wonder if it could be one of those, especially since they are in that nice habitat(?).

The spotted bass is one of those other species...

*Micropterus punctulatus*


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## !shadow!

thanks hydro l thought orlando was right, l'm clueless about distinguishing large fish such as bass, trout, and etc . lf l go back this weekend i'll take a couple more since you guys happened to enjoy them.


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## A Hill

Tank looks great! Good luck with the willow moss, it is such a hard plant to grow. Right now I have two species and they're both doing ok. They certainly aren't easy plants.

-Andrew


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## SearunSimpson

Man, If I was able to spot bass holding like that I'd be pulling out a 7 or 8wt fly rod and tossing poppers to them!


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## !shadow!

SearunSimpson said:


> Man, If I was able to spot bass holding like that I'd be pulling out a 7 or 8wt fly rod and tossing poppers to them!


l might just have to pay a visit to my local academy and try that . Last time l came to the creek l was hooking fish like crazy. l take it not a lot of people go there to fish and so when the fish see the bait they go for it without thinking twice. Too bad they don't fit in my 48g lol.


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## !shadow!

Ok well my laptop messed up again so l haven't been able to post an update. l did get a hp loaner so hopefully i'll use that instead. l happened to get 3 electric blue rams @ 19.99 each(yes yes they are that pricey) but they're one of my fav fish and have a interesting personality. They like going at it with the german blue rams but luckily the tank had a lot of room for all of them to have their own space. The colors of all the fish are really starting to show! the weeping moss is also making a better comeback but still growing slow due to the high temps (80's). The willow moss is growing very green and fast due to the fertz and the co2, hopefully i'll be able to trim it and spread it more throughout the tank. One thing for sure it's definately the best looking moss imo. The dwarf hairgrass is spreading due to the flourish root tabs l added a couple of weeks ago, and can see the runners going off in every direction. l'm leaning to having a carpet or having most of the tank covered in it since l'm really liking the whole dhg with the sand look plus it keeps it not looking so bare. The needle leave java seems to be growing pretty nice as well with the anubias petite too. The only thing that's gotten out of control are the sprigs i've bought at the lfs, l still got to go and get the name of them. l'll try to post pictures of the plant later so someone can help me identify the plant. On another note the bolbitis are growing very healthy and pearl everytime l turn on the co2 with the koralina so that's a good sign. l'm trimming all the bad leaves as well and just letting the stems grow wherever l want. On a different topic im having to do a lot of top-offs due to the heat now(gotta love texas weather) but hey nobody ever said keeping aquariums was chore free. That pretty much sums it up on this update and sorry about no pics l will try to get some when l have the time, hopefully this weekend since i'm off.


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## hydrophyte

Who needs pictures? I can visualize everything in my mind with that thorough description.


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## rountreesj

Yes pics please, and cl.....I've been around...

OP, I hate to do this, buuuut, I have had experience with most of those plants, and while I think the placement of the petites is good, I think the bolbitis all needs to be in the back, because it will get too large and seem out of place nearer the front. It probably has not rooted to the manzanita yet, but it will, so I'd suggest moving it soon if you chose to do so.

Also, after having the petite in there, the regular anubias looks out of place. 

My personal advice would be to move the bolbitis back, pull out the regular anubias, and maybe look into increasing co2 and adding ferts.

What's your photo period? Duration, wattage?


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## rountreesj

My bad. I see you already have co2 and ferts. Let's see some pics...


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## !shadow!

hydrophyte said:


> Who needs pictures? I can visualize everything in my mind with that thorough description.


Thanks hydro you words are very much appreciated. l plan on hitting the creek and i'll be taking pictures for sure so stay tuned!



rountreesj said:


> Yes pics please, and cl.....I've been around...
> 
> OP, I hate to do this, buuuut, I have had experience with most of those plants, and while I think the placement of the petites is good, I think the bolbitis all needs to be in the back, because it will get too large and seem out of place nearer the front. It probably has not rooted to the manzanita yet, but it will, so I'd suggest moving it soon if you chose to do so.
> 
> Also, after having the petite in there, the regular anubias looks out of place.
> 
> My personal advice would be to move the bolbitis back, pull out the regular anubias, and maybe look into increasing co2 and adding ferts.
> 
> What's your photo period? Duration, wattage?


9 hours or so for the photo period. l know the tank is mostly low light plants and l haven't seen any algae yet because for 1. l have fast growing plants which outcompete the algae for nutrients, 2. l do ei dozing and the 50% water changes help reset the available nutrients at the end of the week.

l agree with the anubias out of place, when l first added them it was basically a afterthought and l just wanted to place them wherever l felt was the best looking for it. As far as the bolbitis l do want to place them in the back because l love the backdrop effect it makes which is another reason l added them in the first place. Amano just seems to have mastered this and l hope to apply it to this tank. l'll do some moving around this week for sure it's just gonna be a bit tricky since the manzanita branches are kinda not the best of position to be placing the bolbitis all in the back since it's all pretty much random like a octopus like some like to call it . As far as the petite goes lt's going to remain in the dead center but i'm trying to keep it as low to the light as possible so algae doesn't grow on it's vunereable leaves.


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## dj2005

How's the tank doing?


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## !shadow!

*update*



dj2005 said:


> How's the tank doing?


 
Actually now that you mention it, l do need to do an update on it . l've just been lazy in doing so because of my laptop messing up and l actually keep track of all the photos l take and store them on my external so that l may look back on my progress of the tank over time. l just hate transfering everything back and forth and can be a hassle if you take a lot of pictures like me, but don't worry i'll take some later today when there is less glare on the glass. l did quiet a bit of things to the tank. l added more dwarf hairgrass to the sand with some root tabs and hoping for a carpet at the bottom. l'm pretty much tranferring all my hairgrass from my 10g iwagumi and turning it into a shrimp tank (inspiration of chase's shrimp tank and my interest for different kinds of moss). l added about 5 ghost shrimp and they're showing their colors so well i'd never thought they'd be a sight to behold. lf i can get some macros of their true colors while feeding time l'll post them since it seems to hard. All the fish seem to be doing fine especially the rams. The SAE seem to like nibbling on the shrimp but they're about an inch big so it's pretty much impossible for them to make a meal out of them but i'll be keeping my eye out. Speaking of shrimp 2 of the females are berried . l got them like that from the lfs so l got lucky. As far as maintanance the g3 seems to be doing the job very well. l have to change the filters every week or else the flow of the g3 becomes restricted and I lose a lot of gph filtering the tank. Cleaning the filters can be a pita and buying them isn't very likely due to the price of each one (25-30$). As far as the plants go the willow moss seems to like the top/water surface closer to the t5ho's and seems to have died mid-low parts of the tank and pretty much i've given up on it and am going to replace it with spiky/peacock moss i've just gotta find the time to take the entire stump out and tie some moss to the branches with clear fishing line. The bolbitis looks attractive in some parts of the tank but still isn't growing in the way that l want it to and will be doing some trimming as well. The petite is growing perfectly and is exactly what l wanted along with the willow moss. The willow moss hasn't been trimmed since l started up the tank because l know how slow/hard it grows and it's a risk l gotta take. l was reading in one of takashi amano's articles in tropical fish hobbyist how trimming it ecourages growth so l trust mr amano. As far as the large anubias go i will be removing them and maybe turning them in for some fish store credit. Other than that, it pretty much sums it up. Once again pics will come later today for my loyal readers .


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## dj2005

I never knew that ghost shrimp displayed color, or is it the food that shows through their body?

And two of the ghost shrimp are berried? Do their young survive in FW setups?

I look forward to the pictures.


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## !shadow!

ok just did a water change, letting the g3 clear it up with the micron filter then pictures. Sorry about yesterday l was out most of the day and couldn't take any.


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## !shadow!

*pics 6/27*

Here you go guys...









dwarf hairgrass pictures


























one of the 3 electric blue rams, I love his eye coloration








weeping moss is pretty much dead








top view of the bobitis








fissidens to the left and willow to the right








needle leaf java fern








only place the weeping seems to be actually growing








drained it to 50% for wc








anubias petite 








cleaned the glass really good with windex for a clear shot 



































fts (i'm going to remove the large anubias in the back l just left it there because l got nowhere else to put it that it will fit in.

ps ok ok let's see a show of hands of who l fooled with the windex joke :icon_lol:


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## xmas_one

That tank looks great! Me being the worrywart that I am, that stand setup looked kinda sketchy though..


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## !shadow!

it's pretty solid, l put a thick 3/4th thick plywood underneath the tank to support it 100% and a mat right on top of that so lt's good to go. Would hate to have 48g spilling on my carpet


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## Green Leaf Aquariums

!shadow! said:


> Here you go guys...
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> dwarf hairgrass pictures
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> one of the 3 electric blue rams, I love his eye coloration
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> weeping moss is pretty much dead
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> top view of the bobitis
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> fissidens to the left and willow to the right
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> needle leaf java fern
> 
> 
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> only place the weeping seems to be actually growing
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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> 
> 
> drained it to 50% for wc
> 
> 
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> 
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> 
> anubias petite
> 
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> 
> cleaned the glass really good with windex for a clear shot
> 
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> 
> fts (i'm going to remove the large anubias in the back l just left it there because l got nowhere else to put it that it will fit in.
> 
> ps ok ok let's see a show of hands of who l fooled with the windex joke :icon_lol:




Wow! In a few more months this tank will be looking really nice. I have also seen completely dead brown moss come back to life, so dont give up on it.


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## hydrophyte

Wow that's looking great. I missed that update from a few days agao. You have some crazy vegetation in there. What is that foreground sand? Is that ADA stuff?


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## !shadow!

thanks orlando. l'm not giving up just yet. l have noticed that the weeping is spreading more now that l removed the naja grass aka a nutrient sponge and so that might of been another problem with allowing the weeping moss to take up some nutrients and allow it to grow. l do need to trim the willow and spread it more that way the bottom of it doesn't turn brown and float to the surface.


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## !shadow!

Yes devin, that's actually ada nile sand and l love it. Gives it the natural look i've always wanted. l've heard from hoppy that you can get the same results from pool filter sand but l'm a ada junkie so yea . l'll try to update more often. work just seems to get in the way and l have less time to take quality pictures. Speaking of pictures l gotta go back to the creek and get more pictures(since orlando loved the first ones so much) apart from the earlier ones l showed earlier in this journal, i'm just waiting for hurricane alex to pass by and stop raining.

*l forgot to add that i sprinkled caribsea rio grande on top of the ada nile sand to give it that fast flowing river look(page 2 second to bottom picture)*


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## hydrophyte

Yeah for sure adding a few different grain sizes and colors to that ADA sand can make it look much more natural.


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## !shadow!

Well i've looked around this forum for a while and i've came across alot of new tanks such as fish kids discus tank and cl's iwagumi and i'm really tempted to start over on this tank but something holds me back. l've neglected the tank for a while due to my job as l previously stated in my 10g. l never got to fully grow the weeping on the branches like l wanted to. l'm just deciding on what to turn this tank into if l decide to re-do it. lwagumi sounds fun but l'd have to look into some shou or Seiryu stone. The thing about iwagumi is l have to have the right look of the stone cause i'm a very picky individual about how l perceive my tank and if it doesn't meet my expectations l tear it down and start again(kinda like UG  ). anyways this tank has big plans up ahead that's for sure l just gotta plan it beforehand.


----------



## !shadow!

well l just happened to tear this tank down and since my air conditioning job is kinda letting me have more "me time" then l'm gonna be able to dedicate myself more to my aquariums . l don't know what i'm going to turn this tank into but l still wanna hang on to some of the objects l had in it like the stump and bolbitis, and speaking of it, it really has grown so big and lush while i kept it. lt seems like it really starts to take off if you trim off the old leaves and keep the healthy leaves intact. l'm finally deciding to tear down my 40g long completely and use it for a storage tank for plants and stuff or maybe should l turn it into a riparium(devin would love that hehe )? l am tempted to either make it a java moss forest cause l didn't have very good luck with my weeping. l felt it grew too slow and l didn't have enough of it to spread it around my tank and that discouraged me a bit. my willow did thrive but not as fast as l wanted it to be. l will be putting a lot of rcs in it and l love the look of red spotted java moss . Here's an idea of what i'm trying to accomplish THIS TIME! 










l will be probably cleaning out the entire tank this friday or sat since i'm off work and buying the 2 or 3 bags of ada soil. CL should know how many l should need since we both have the same tanks but then again he is doing a iwagumi and sloping is key for such a tank. l did however finished my 10g and will be putting pics up shortly.


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## VVaves

Just Spent the last 2 days reading all 21 pages of this journal. Sorry to hear that it didnt work out as planned!


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## !shadow!

wow thanks that really means a lot that a stranger would take the time to dedicate so much personal time to read one of the thousands of journals in this forum. Amano's style is difficult to duplicate but hey it's trial and error that's gonna make you a better aquascaper. l'm building this tank right back up as we speak or type . l just bought a background from my lfs from universalrocks.com l got lucky as they had it in stock but it was 48X18 so i had to trim it to fit my 36X18 tank and the results are amaising. i'm about to upload some pictures so keep your eyes peeled . :drool:


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## !shadow!

Ok so l might not end up going all mossy like the picture l posted above but l do plan on adding lots of mosses along with anubias petite(in my 10g at the moment while l fix this one up and get it all cycled).

here are some pics enjoy!
nice and clean








l love how the background gaps in the right and the detail is incredible








up close








left side shot








replaced the g3's biological media for a fresh clean start








this is not staying like this or is it?  l decided to get a little crazy with the existing stump and check out the look yey or ney? l did like that the colors match from both the background and stump.








up close, i'm going to fill it up with either ada soil or nile sand i'm still deciding on what tho... i'm thinking the soil since i'll be able to grow more plants. ill probably have about 2 inches to cover the bottom to prevent any fish from getting stuck under the background








side shot


















i'm going to do java moss this time and do some anubias along some of the crevices of the background followed by some vals on the sides or very back and maybe add some java fern in the small gaps with some soil holding it down so it looks as natural as can be but the ada nile sand is tempting since i really liked the look of it from my last design but i'm afraid it wouldn't go really well with the matching of the background but we'll see. l could even do sand in the dead center parting out the soil. ln the meantime l gotta fix my nova extreme pro lights. one of the ballast might of gone down the drain. only one set of lights turn on(i have a total of 4 lights 2 on 1 switch). The bad set turns on but the flickers after a min or two then turns off. l know it can't be the bulbs because they're brand new so i'll probably have to call current or pay a visit to marinedepot.com. but anyways that's all folks feedback always welcomed!


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## VVaves

The rock wall is KILLER!:icon_cool I attempted a rock wall simular in the past. Didn't turn out, was a DIY project. Had a hard time keeping it "stuck" to the tank. Are you going to glue it or does it have suction cups? The driftwood is to BIG ime. Try the unthinkable and cut it up and have some peices coming out of the rock wall.


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## The_Finglonger

that drift wood is sick!


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## !shadow!

VVaves said:


> The rock wall is KILLER!:icon_cool I attempted a rock wall simular in the past. Didn't turn out, was a DIY project. Had a hard time keeping it "stuck" to the tank. Are you going to glue it or does it have suction cups? The driftwood is to BIG ime. Try the unthinkable and cut it up and have some peices coming out of the rock wall.


l have a 10g diy l was making for shell dwellers but l never got the chance to finish it due to my busy work schedule. Glue is not an option since I tear down my tanks a lot and l like to start with something new and fresh and no it doesn't have suction cups. l'm just going to fill it up with soil making sure to weight it down enough and make sure no air bubbles get stuck underneath the background, cause l would hate for this thing to float up and then re-sinking it and re-adding the soil right back on top would be a pita. l was thinking about cutting pieces but l like the stump too much to do it hehe. l can get individual branches tho. l figured if l do my planting process well enough i'd be able to pull off the look but l don't know that unless l try. soil could be my best friend in this case.



The_Finglonger said:


> that drift wood is sick!


thanks you should scroll the first couple of pages on this thread if you really wanna see it in action, these recent pictures don't do it justice.


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## crf529

I reckon this is gonna look sick once its up and running


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## speedie408

Nice work dude!


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## VVaves

Well what ever you do, I hope it turns out! I look forward to seeing the out come. Ive always liked the rock wall concept. My rock wall project didnt do to well, work consumed all my free time, that and the gf.:icon_wink


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## !shadow!

Well l added the ada soil . looks nice but l kinda wanted to put a layer of carib sea rio grande gravel such as this:









like a two inch layer in the front kinda like amano does it and then have the back of the tank with ada soil and cover up where the two meet with mosses or rocks attached with java moss. Anyways here are some more messing around of this sucker. feedback greatly appreciated.
i'd probably try java moss to these pebbles so it doesn't float up down the road.








up close








flipped the stump upside down  yes l got creative after all this is how it was before taken out of the water.








another view








and lastly zoomed out 








Here is an idea of how l was going to tie the moss on to the branches









and yes that's a takashi amano aquarium . And that's all folks


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## !shadow!

Well after thinking long about the stump l think i'm going to leave it as it is in the last picture. l really like the look of the branches touching the gravel. lf l happen to get off early tomorrow i'll finally plant the darn thing if not i'll do it sunday.You can expect tons of nice pics  l already know the wrapping of the moss is going to be a pita lol


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## VVaves

!shadow! said:


> Well after thinking long about the stump l think i'm going to leave it as it is in the last picture. l really like the look of the branches touching the gravel. lf l happen to get off early tomorrow i'll finally plant the darn thing if not i'll do it sunday.You can expect tons of nice pics  l already know the wrapping of the moss is going to be a pita lol


Yep the stump has to stay! The way you have it in the tank is killer. I also like the bendable intake, what filter is that?


----------



## !shadow!

l'm a techy guy so l had to get a fluval g3 , more info on page 4 and pics. Anyways l just finished filling and planting the tank and I LOOOOOVE IT!! After a gruelling 7 hours of attaching moss, bolbitis, dwarf hairgrass and pygmy sword chains, along with a lot of java fern I finally did it! i'm uploading like 20 pics in 15m l gotta catch my breath .


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## !shadow!

*Finally planted and running *

Ok so here is the update you've all been waiting for. l hope it doesn't dissapoint 
ever seen 400$ worth of plants? now you have 








That's a lot of bolbitis!(about 3 handfulls)








7 handfuls of needle leave java fern








manzanita brnaches along with the stump and some anubias petite








3 handfuls of petite, this has to be the most expensive plant i've ever bought








tried to make the bolbitis hang from the rockwall like a backdrop so the fish could be swimming underneath for cover








another view








front view








the planting stages (i apologize for the fingerprints on glass)












































hairgrass and pygmy chain swords, this is going to look awesome once it grows in


























some of the java fern against the background








last stages before fill up








another view








fill up time! l love the look of the mexican beach pebbles reminds me of a river with large trees overhanging over it





















































halfway there

















java moss

















gla diffuser (awesome and highly recommended








drop checker

















fts (10/13/10)








fts today with 1 new gieseman midday bulb 6k, 1 aquaflora, and 2 67k's








some of it's current inhabitants








some macros now








Not bad for a 300$ camera eh? gotta love nikkon



























l also purchased 1 set of 6w led's ecoxotic brand(very nice). l'm planning on making my own shimmering device for this tank. Hopefully everything turns out the way l want it to. That's all folks!


----------



## !shadow!

Just ordered this light can't wait to try it out!

http://www.ecoxotic.com/ecoxotic-par38-aquarium-led-lights.html


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums

Great product. Cant wait to see this light up.


----------



## MrJG

Looks really nice and I was thinking the tank was much bigger than 48g given the other pics. Its going to have that deep forest feel to it once all that moss matures and starts growing in a bit.


----------



## !shadow!

thanks orlando and mr jg, l bought one of these from my lfs...
http://www.ecoxotic.com/stunner-led-strips.html 
The 8k version and l love it even tho it's only 6 watts the shimmer effect is awesome! lt's perfect for late at night lights where you don't need too much just enough so that the fish know where they're swimming. Oh and from the info my lfs employees told me, that light or bulb i'm ordering is equivalent to a 150w metal halide light so i'm very excited. l think i'll record a short video of the stunner led strip l got and post it up so you guys can see.


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums

Get that video!


----------



## !shadow!

Here you go orlando  
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5091780468/

enjoy and consider this a teaser for the upcoming light that's to come.


----------



## hydrophyte

Wow this is quite a project. I don't know if I had been into this journal or if I can't remember(?). That stump looks really cool for the way that it creates an overhang with a deep shadow beneath--that's a great way to add dimension to your layout!


----------



## !shadow!

hydrophyte said:


> Wow this is quite a project. I don't know if I had been into this journal or if I can't remember(?). That stump looks really cool for the way that it creates an overhang with a deep shadow beneath--that's a great way to add dimension to your layout!


hehe looks so much different huh devin? It was only 7 hours of work . l took a break from this tank and then realized l needed to tear it down and came up with this. Yea l really like the overhang and its pefect for hiding spots for the rams l plan on adding to it. l know they'll love the 3d rock background for shelter as my two rams love hiding and are extra timid and thanks for the compliment.


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums

Nice LED's.. I just posted Eco's video on APE of there up coming new planted tank LED lighting system due in November 
http://www.aquaticplantenthusiasts.com/videos/3320-new-ecoxotic-led-aquarium-light-teaser-mov.html


----------



## zeldar

Dude, how have I not seen this new rescape yet! It looks sweeeeet!

It looks like its been growing for months already when you really just planted it. Can't wait until the foreground grows in and the mosses on the wood take off. Subscribed for sure!

Oh, and you probably already said, but what kind of shrimp are those? They look so cool with the red "brain" and green eggs.


----------



## !shadow!

Thanks zeldar! they are ghost shrimp. At my local fish store they sell them for .25 so l figure l'd get a bunch as my clean up crew. i've had bad experiences with sae's since they love to fight if you keep more than one in the same tank Don't get me wrong tho those guys really know how to keep algae in check. 

Also nice vid orlando. Those ecoxotic leds are becoming really popular with my lfs recently. l'm considering getting more of the 8k stunner lights pictured here
http://www.ecoxotic.com/stunner-led-strips.html
l figure if l put 6 of them with the polished relfectors i'll be fine l just gotta calculate the whole par, lumens, and all of that technical stuff so that l have plenty for my tank not that it matters that much since more of my plants are low light. 
Anyways going to take some updated pics of the tank in a bit and how it's coming along. l just did a water change so l hope they measure up .

video coming shortly as well


----------



## volatile

zeldar said:


> Oh, and you probably already said, but what kind of shrimp are those? They look so cool with the red "brain" and green eggs.


In real life you can see their red brains pulsating. It's kinda cool and kinda gross at the same time lol.


----------



## zeldar

I had plenty of ghost shrimp before and mine never looked quite that nice. Yours look more slender and have red on their whiskers. Nice pickup with those guys and gals. Are you planning on any other shrimp in here? I had to remove my ghost shrimp because they picked on my other shrimp.


----------



## !shadow!

Yea l want to keep some black one and red cherry shrimp, l just have to cover up the intake of the g3 filter to prevent them from accidentally having a one way trip down to shrimp heaven. l actually have some black and rcs in my 10g i'm fixing up. l've torn it down like 3 times already but l'm finally going to settle on keeping it strictly shrimp/baby/nano fish. l'm probably going to transfer them over to my 2.5gallon meanwhile l fix it up. l have another 40g tank that currently holds some plants and it has tons of moss l plant to flood the 10g up with, l'm thinking java moss carpet?


----------



## !shadow!

*update 10/31/10*

moss growing back to life








can't wait till this part fills in a bit more shrimp are gonna love it








zoomed out as you can see there are some shrimp already taking over along with the boraras brigittae.








baby ram l got at lfs








another shot sorry about the blurriness








pygmy chain swords are growing very nicely 








one of my rams, i've grown him out from a baby and his colors are very out there









and finally the video, don't fall asleep :hihi:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5132927287/

well l just saw the video and it's not as long as it's supposed to so if you want the entire version pm me and i'll gladly send you it.


----------



## !shadow!

l noticed this shrimp has weird coloring on it's tail and whiskers, anybody have any experience with such thing?


----------



## chris.rivera3

what kind of shrimp is that?




!shadow! said:


> l noticed this shrimp has weird coloring on it's tail and whiskers, anybody have any experience with such thing?


----------



## !shadow!

ghost shrimp but looks like it a mix from something else because normally all the ghost shrimp l see are just clear/transparent.


----------



## oldpunk78

!shadow! said:


> ghost shrimp but looks like it a mix from something else because normally all the ghost shrimp l see are just clear/transparent.


That's actually what ghost shrimp look like. I think the all clear ones are actually something else. I can't remember what though.


----------



## !shadow!

oo ok the tank l get them in had like hundreds of them like in a 40g breeder so you never know what happened that's why l asked. thanks oldpunk


----------



## !shadow!

Big surprise guys, my german blue rams just bred and have like 50-100 babies swimming all around . l had to transfer my other fish so the daddy wouldn't be so stressed out in taking care of them. i'm trying to get a good video to show you guys and some decent quality pics. l still can't believe it, l didn't even try and this happened. This has been my first time ever breeding fish my 2nd favorite. What's more weird is that the dad ram mated with a female half the size of his size l was thinking she was too young until l saw them both guarding a specific territory from the other fish. That's when l realized that something was fishy(no pun intended).


----------



## chris.rivera3

congrats! can't wait to see the video


----------



## !shadow!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5171043436/

The long awaited video of the ram's fry. That's the daddy being all protective fyi.


----------



## LedxZep

!shadow! said:


> http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5171043436/
> 
> The long awaited video of the ram's fry. That's the daddy being all protective fyi.


Thats so sick! They are so tiny, how old are they in the video?? roud:


----------



## !shadow!

about 2 days l can't recall, the population dropped tho from like 50 to like 20 due to predators and the dad not being able to take on multiple fish which l moved them now so now they got a 48g to roam all to themselves. l can take some macros tomorrow and post em and maybe another vid. hopefully most of them make it to adulthood.


----------



## chris.rivera3

that video is awesome!!! hope the fry grow large enough so you can send me some! :hihi:




!shadow! said:


> http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5171043436/
> 
> The long awaited video of the ram's fry. That's the daddy being all protective fyi.


----------



## !shadow!

Well l don't know what i'm doing or what but it seems like the juvenile rams that just mated have eggs in my breeders nest again no wonder while l was trying move around the shrimp inside the breeders nest they kept attacking my finger hehe. l will try to take some good pictures of the eggs. On another note the fry that hatched a couple of weeks ago have gotten bigger, easily twice as big now. Now if l could only take some decent pictures.


----------



## !shadow!

some pictures from the tank
the females laid eggs but the male never fertilized em








two rcs i'm planning on getting more l'm just looking for the right person to buy a lot of them for the right price 








zoomed in








zoomed out








l took this picture in the dark, again sorry about the computer glare but l really liked how it turned out.









i'll be taking more i've just been focusing more on my 30-c shrimp tank


----------



## !shadow!

Well good news, after l did my water change this afternoon l found about 4-5 juvi german blue rams swimming in the needle leaf java ferns looks like some did make it after all. All healthy looking and very active. They sure do know how to hide since l look over the tank like every hour making sure my fish are healthy. can't wait till they mature a bit more, hopefully they're all gonna inherit daddys good looking colors . l would of loved to take pictures but they're too fast for me to catch let alone trying to get a good non-blurry picture of them to post. l will update when l get a better pic to show you guys.


----------



## !shadow!

Ok so l lied l did up getting a picture of one of the babies but it took forever to get the right one. l also got a video and it was the best l could record so bear with me.










video:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5236443793/

One more thing l think it looks better if you don't maximize it but feel free to test both.


----------



## nerdyjon

Nice! I have always wished to be able to breed.

Where are the babies? I cant see them?


----------



## nerdyjon

Found it. How many are still alive?


----------



## !shadow!

umm about 5 or so, it's hard to tell with all the jungle look not to mention how tiny they are. Maybe there's more who knows, the only way to tell would be to wait down the road until they get bigger and see


----------



## funkyfish

Tank looks awesome! Love the rams, planing to get some for my new set up as well


----------



## !shadow!

thanks funky. Rams are a very nice fish but they are by far the most demanding fish in terms of water changes i've ever kept. lf you're not up to the task which l wasn't when l first wanted to try them out, they eventually got hole in head and died but after that l learned my lesson and ever since then haven't gotten one with it again.


----------



## funkyfish

I love rams and I got somewhat of an idea how difficult they are, that's why it's gonna be awhile before I get some. I just set up my 55g so it's gonna be quite a while  
Do you still have Anubias petite in the tank?


----------



## !shadow!

yes tons of it but l moved it over to my 30-c for the shrimps. Also my t5-ho's were making the anubias grow tons of algae on the leaves and l didn't want to keep up the endless trimming cycle. l know l coulda avoided it by lowering the petite so the intensity doesn't hit it as much but l wanted to try the look on the smaller tank.


----------



## funkyfish

If you ever have some you need to get rid of let me know, I will be looking for some very soon  And I'll take it with algae and all :hihi:
Is it similar to regular 'nana'?


----------



## !shadow!

petite is about your pinky, nana is about the size of thumb, so maybe twice as big. l think petite is one of the nicest looking plants and good for just about any scape besides iwagumi.


----------



## funkyfish

I meant if it's easy to grow as 'nana'?  My nana grows like crazy for me. I want some petite for my 10g so I can move all the 'nana' to my 55g


----------



## !shadow!

oh lol well petite is a very slow grower from what i've heard from others but for me it's pretty fast. The thing is that it grows new leaves very quickly the closer it is to my t5ho's but they get algae and have to clips em off but then in like a week l see new ones sprouting off. l've never had nana so l couldn't tell you.


----------



## funkyfish

That's what I heard about nana too, but for me it grows pretty fast and it blooms for me often too. So they should be very similar, I think. Petite looks awesome that's why I want to get some


----------



## !shadow!

Now if only there was a way where it grew like algae then you'd be one rich person roud:


----------



## !shadow!

l got some baby pics, they haven't developed their true colors yet due to their infant age so here they go. l tried to get one of them while it was still sleeping hiding in the moss so pardon me if it's a bit blurry.










notice how washed out his colors look while sleeping









another pic









best shot l got of it hiding in moss


----------



## gregpxc

Are you feeding anything special to the fry? I'm thinking about getting another pair of gbrs and would love for them to breed and survive.


----------



## !shadow!

nothing yet they all survived from the algae l purposely grew by placing a hampton bay lamp like 1/4 of the tank so they have something to nibble on and l throw in some micro wafers from hikari for my main fish so whatever is leftover they pick at it. Getting rid of the algae is no prob, l worry more about their survival. l do 1/3 water changes a week with r/o water just to get rid of the uneaten food but that's pretty much it.


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums

Well done! How many do you have?


----------



## !shadow!

about 5 babies out of like 50 that didn't make it. l'm guessing the juveniles kept nipping at the fry.Not bad for my first time breeding em . l've heard sometimes none of the fry make it so l guess l got lucky. l shoulda removed them sooner. l'm trying to take some fts at the moment. l really hate glare in my photos so i'm taking a lot and picking the best. l know covering up the tank with black pieces of cardboard help but l have none at the moment . l know it's a technique aga competitors do.


----------



## !shadow!

Ok l don't know what i'm doing but l just noticed about 50 fry AGAIN swimming around the male. l can't believe it that's like twice within two months! i'll try to capture them in a video because pics are going to be too hard to get.


----------



## !shadow!

here is the video of the fry folks

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5275508349/

this is the second one showing a better view of the parents. The father is the larger of the two.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5276086372/

video of the entire tank
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5276079644/
and some current pics of the tank

side shot 








as you can see the java moss has almost taken over the stump. I'd say maybe like 80% covered. It def needs a trim soon tho.








top right branch, it's def my fav part of the tank








fts l need to trim the hairgrass on the right close to the center. it's about 8 inches tall lol









enjoy!


----------



## Danh Vu

I'd like some java moss, lol. Great tank! I read all of the pages... :eek5:


----------



## !shadow!

that's a lot of pages . you're making me feel all warm and fuzzy. maybe when l do the trim l can send ya some if you're still interested.


----------



## Danh Vu

Nah, lol. I don't have cash for shipping... :icon_redf


----------



## !shadow!

i'll send it to you as a x-mas gift


----------



## MeanGreenEyes

Great journal and beautiful tank!


----------



## Danh Vu

lol, x-mas gift 

Hope your fry mature to healthy adult fish! I love the rock work at the center of the tank


----------



## Hyzer

I've been waiting for a new FTS of this tank, thanks shadow. Looks very nice!


----------



## !shadow!

thanks guys l'll try to take better pics, l still got a bit to go. There's still glare at times


----------



## Lukkyseven

I just signed up today at work and read everything. It's not because I can hope to ever accomplish this either, but it was a great learning experience. Plus the photo's are pretty sweet


----------



## !shadow!

Read everything?? That's a lot of pages lol. thanks for your kind comment by the way. honestly i'm still not satisfied at my level. l still feel l don't accomplish the naturalism of a amano tank. l'm a persistent person and i'll keep trying until l get to that point. Welcome to plantedtank as well hopefully you'll learn a lot and grow in knowledge.


----------



## Newman

You've probably created, or are developing your owns style with this tank. Amano can be Amano but this tank is downright awesome, and it represents you and what you can do with a planted setup. You should be proud.

IMO you got plenty of a naturalism right here. maybe not so much as terrestrial naturalism but this certainly looks like a real underwater scene one might find.

I do have some questions for your setup because I really like it and would like to learn more (I'll eventually be getting to reading everything on this thread).

1. is it java moss or christmas moss. looks kinda like it grows like christmas moss but the long single strands signal to me that its java. Which one is it? *Nvm, its java, is all of it?
*
2. The rock background. It looks nice, did you make it or buy it? maybe a different consistency would have been better for your setup, but never the less it fits just fine. I'm just being a bit too critical here.

3. the light. MH? also what K rating on the bulb(s) and how many watts is the fixture all together?


----------



## !shadow!

Thanks newman l guess l could call it my own style. l feel l could of done away with the background l bought but the german blue rams love it too much. l wonder if it helps them breed since they love swimming in and out of the crevices. All of it is regular java. l tried going with weeping and willow and didn't have enough of it let alone sucess. willow seems to be picky in the conditions it's being kept at. The thing about it is it'll grow new strands but as soon as it did that the old ones would die off into a never ending cycle and l made sure the entire moss was getting light. l don't take your criticism to heart so no worries, l kinda agree with you on that as well. l would of probably been better off with a wall of bolbitis on the back overhanging. The light is a nova extreme 4X39w t5ho but to be honest l only use 2 bulbs since most of what l got is low light. The kelvin rating is 6700k from coralife on the two l currently use. The other two are a 6500k geissman's midday and 1 aquaflora from geissman as well. l forgot the rating but it's pinkish. The coralife's are rated at 21watts each so l pretty much got 42w on a 48g and the moss love it along with the pygmy chain swords. My java fern has grown so much l got like 1/3 of it as a carpet lol. needle leaf java is joining it along as well. My anubias petite seem to be growing perfect and not showing signs of algae growing on the leaves which they are so susceptible to. l really am considering getting me a dslr(maybe nikkon d3100 ) because frankly the pics l take don't do this tank justice. ln conclusion l think i'll take out the background on my next scape and do it all manzanita and plants with a nice combination of rocks/sand. Let me know if you have any more questions i'll be more than happy to answer them.


----------



## !shadow!

Just a small update on the tank 
doing my water change anubias petite pictured here and bolbitis on the back left corner








german blue rams eggs on driftwood








here is a vid of the fry with parents
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5370071633/
carpet on the left with dwarf hairgrass and pygmy chain swords








i'm thinking about taking out the right hand section of java fern and turning it like the left side, l also took out the bolbitis in the tank and l think it looks much cleaner and now you can see the background much better. l think l might add the bolbitis to my 30-c and give it a backdrop effect. Also don't pay any attention to the blue box that's housing my shrimp at the moment meanwhile my 30-c gets set up.








trim on java moss








trimmed moss on left as well








fish id? l forgot when l got it a while back. l don't think it's a serpae because l have some as this one is a half the size almost like a mini version of it








Some bba i'll have to use some excel 








fts








my new addition marble hatchets
















my other addition l know they're rainbows but forgot the exact name


























i love the colors of this fish..








just some inspiration for my future tanks,def helps when trying to find out how rocks are used or placed in nature(iwagumi)




































And that's all folks


----------



## kwheeler91

that river is gorgeous, where is it at? i just want to dive in. oh yeah nice tank too


----------



## Danh Vu

looking great!


----------



## usernamegl

I've always wanted hatchetfish, especially marbled ones. Just checking, you know they're prone to jumping?


----------



## !shadow!

yea... l found out the hard way yesterday. 1 left now hopefully i'll put something up.


----------



## Payara

I love your tank, especially the kutabu Rainbowfish. The colors are amazing!!!


----------



## !shadow!

thanks payara, and yes they are. Their colors have really come out since i've got them. They are extremely fast swimmers and they will outcompete other fish for food. On another note l have finally taken out the right side clump of java fern and replacing it with pygmy chains swords and dward hairgrass. l think a combination of both is really natural. l think l will take out the background when l finally rescape the tank. ln my own opinion l feel l shouldn't use artificial objects to make my scapes seem better but rather my expertise and creativity i've learned over the years in this hobby. I'll update in a couple of days of the new look.


----------



## Lngtall1

I love this tank, I read the whole thing and I am very impressed. Your use of plants and the overall look is just awesome. I am so glad you kept journaling through the TB and everything.


Kristy


----------



## Gookis

I love this tank set-up! I prefer it over your original design and I really love the dark, under-stump area! I'm setting up my own 57 gallon, rimless breeder tank and I'm hot and cold on the 3-D backgrounds, but I LOVE how you did this one. Trully dig it. Thanks for the inspiration!

Matt


----------



## !shadow!

thanks gookis. To be honest l think i'd rather rely on my own skill than than on something l didn't make but to each their own. l think if you have a good eye and a nice plan you can pull it off l just prefer to keep it all uniform and no plastics involved. l think l just got carried away with the excitement of putting it in my tank since my lfs had one and pulled off the look very well which inspired me.


----------



## Gookis

Agreed, it looks very natural and my attention is not drawn at all to the background. There's a lot of dimension! Dig it.

Matt


----------



## fauxjargon

I hope you normally keep that tank covered with the Hatchets in there. They are compulsive jumpers and won't last long in your tank if you don't keep them in somehow. Its a very nice tank though.


----------



## pianofish

Diggin all that moss and E. Tellenus man, sure is very natural looking and adds a nice touch. That tetra is a serpae by the way. Beautiful tank man, keep it up!
Your pal,
Pianofish


----------



## !shadow!

Gookis said:


> Agreed, it looks very natural and my attention is not drawn at all to the background. There's a lot of dimension! Dig it.
> 
> thanks but l plan on taking it down soon along with a new piece of manzanita even better looking. l'm actually looking for a good hardscape material right now to construct it in the coming months.
> Matt





fauxjargon said:


> I hope you normally keep that tank covered with the Hatchets in there. They are compulsive jumpers and won't last long in your tank if you don't keep them in somehow. Its a very nice tank though.


3/4 jumped before l could put a lid on it : / going to trade last one in and get some lfs credit.



pianofish said:


> Diggin all that moss and E. Tellenus man, sure is very natural looking and adds a nice touch. That tetra is a serpae by the way. Beautiful tank man, keep it up!
> Your pal,
> Pianofish


thanks piano. l would like to think it's a serpae but it's like half the size of it. l have some so l would know. lt's like a mini version of one if that even exists.


anyways quick poll guys, which one do you think it looks better for a replacement?
-photos are from tom b.-
#1










#2










or #3


----------



## fauxjargon

Sucks to hear about the hatchets. Remember, the reason they have that cool shape is to accommodate the massive pectoral muscles they use to jump to escape predators and catch flies and kill themselves in the home aquarium. I like driftwood #2 for a covered tank (no aspects of the aquascape protruding out of the water) and driftwood #3 for an uncovered aquascape similar to what you have now.

The only problem I see with driftwood #3 is finding a way to replace the volleyball supporting it without the new support looking tacky. It would be possible to fix it in position without the support but I think it would look unnatural. Driftwood #1 would look good in a 'U' shaped layout (viewed from above) if it were oriented so the branches faced towards the front of the aquarium.


----------



## jcgd

I like 1 the best for sure. I would have the branches reaching out of the water... love that look. But 2 is nice as well. Like fauxjargon said, I think it would look best fully submerged. I think 3 looks kinda strange. I agree that it would be hard to position. How were you thinking of solving that protruding stump issue?

#1 is my fav!


----------



## !shadow!

l'm currently liking 1 the most as well but l'm loving #3's branches more, l can see the fish swimming in and out of them. #2 l was gonna cover the base with moss and just let the branches come out of it. l'd try to only show the best looking parts of the base and the rest with ada soil/powder with maybe hc or glosso. on #3 that's no problem trying to get that piece higher. All l would have to do is bury the thicker, bottom right piece into the ada soil or cut it shorter and give it enough slope to make it seem like it was coming out of the ground from a big tree.


----------



## mott

I like #2 the stump section is really cool, its a toss up between 1 and 2 for me.
Really nice dw!


----------



## jcgd

I get what you are saying with 3. I guess 2 and 3 have thicker branches but 3 is a little too... perfect I guess. It looks like a tree and isn't random enough for me. I'm finding 2 a little hard to see well because the shadows are throwing me off. What are you trying to accomplish? How come you are switching in the first place? I was a fan of the avatar stump.. hehe. Change is good.


----------



## !shadow!

l agree with you justin it has too many branches that's the only thing that's keeping me away from it. Also you might not get a good view of the hardscape with all the branches. l love my current stump but l feel l got more potential with one of these especially 1.


----------



## Hadouken441

I like number one a lot. Not too many branches. The other ones look too hectic to me. And it would make a good center piece.


----------



## !shadow!

l think it's decided #1 is it, hopefully it'll fit right in the center of the 48g or else i'll do some trimming of the branches and then put them on pieces of slate and position them closer to the center.


----------



## chris.rivera3

i really like the full tank shot...and sorry to hear about your jumping marble hatchets....just curious - how did you attach your moss to your driftwood??? and is there a specific way that you trim the moss???


----------



## !shadow!

thanks chris. l use sewing thread, l think it's the easiest and least noticeable. Black or dark green to keep it camouflaged. l trim until there is about half an inch from the manzanita. and l used regular plastic scissors which l need to upgrade to some nice curved ones because in this scape it would really help. l don't let it grow past 2 inches or else bottom portion is going to die and float to the top. Amano uses the same technique as well in his moss scapes.


----------



## Gookis

*Gotta get this off my chest...*

When I saw the second version (most recent) of this tank I bumped it up to my favorite tank on this forum! It's given me multiple "new" ideas, taught me some perspective on scaping, and ultimately changed how I plan to do my own tank (same size tank).

As much as it kills me to see you tear it down:icon_cry:, I support you in your decision to do so. :icon_cool I also support you in your future decision to send me that chunk of Manza.:icon_eek:

Matt


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## !shadow!

hehe thanks gookis, it means a lot and i'm glad you liked it. l'd love to get another ada 90p or 120p but unfortunately l still don't have my own place yet or else i'd be keeping this scape. This next scape l have planned is going to surpass this one hopefully or that's the plan at least.


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## Gookis

Glad to be there for ya buddy! ;-)

Matt


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## IWANNAGOFAST

wow that moss really grew in nicely for ya.

sad to see you tear it down. would you be keeping the background after?


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## !shadow!

l'm thinking about selling it locally but who knows. Don't get me wrong it's the best background by far i've ever had and my rams love it but it's not what l wanted.


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## zyn1

yeah this scape came out really nice


----------



## Gookis

*Which background is it?*

I think you said you got it locally but do you recall/know the make and model? It does look nice. 

Matt






!shadow! said:


> l'm thinking about selling it locally but who knows. Don't get me wrong it's the best background by far i've ever had and my rams love it but it's not what l wanted.


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## !shadow!

thanks zyn1.it was a 48 long background but cut it to fit a 36 because it looked that nice. It's from http://www.universalhabitat.com/shop.php/backgrounds/c_3.html

My lfs store ordered it from there l'm assuming since the tag matches the site.


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## !shadow!

well guys l just got my manzanita driftwood from tom barr, will be draining tank soon and taking out the background with the used ada soil that's in there and selling it locally if anybody wants it(to fund my new project) and just start with new soil. l will be taking my time on this one and making sure l'm 100% satisfied. l plan on keeping this one longer than the one i'm about to tear down.


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## zenche

whew!!! took me about 3 hrs, but i just read through all 28 pages ^^

was really neat to see a tank come to life from the very beginning, through multiple revisions, to baby fry!!!, to rivers and bass, man....i loved breeding fish (many moons ago) and i have this unexplainable love for fishing (i watch fishing shows on Versus...even though I've really never actually been fishing). go figure.

thanks for sharing all of this. i just got my first tank in 7 yrs today and will be making very, very slow progress i think. oh yea..snap, forgot to mention, totally jealous of your filter. i'm considering shelling out some big bucks for the g6...crazy...

i think i'm gonna go for more of a iwagumi style than amano though, personally. i don't think i'm capable of taking care of too many plants at this stage. maybe in a couple years as i learn more. 

subscribed!


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## !shadow!

3 hours? wow well maybe it'll be 4 or 5 by the time i'm done with this scape:hihi:

Anyways... The tank is completely empty right now. l got two bags of new ada II soil. l'm trying to find a better stand for the tank and i'm having difficulty. went to walmart to check out their stuff but no luck. my local fish stores wants around 180 for a 28inch version of a 18x36 but that's way too low to enjoy the view of the tank. So l ask what's the next size they have and that's 31 inches and that's 430ish bucks and that's more than i'm willing to spend. Some of you diy say make your own but l don't trust my diy skills nor do l have the time or patience, or want 48g of water on my floor. 

l'm glad you enjoy my journal and yes slow is better. lf it's one thing i've learned in my years in the hobby it's that patience pays off during the long run. l think you will be very happy with the g6. l know my g3 hasn't let me down...yet. l mean what else could you want? you got convenient filter changes, conductivity readings(really helpfull for shrimp keeping and picky fish), temp readings which eliminates having another piece of equipment in your tank for those who are aesthetically picky. Sure you might pay 50$ for it but the filter overall makes fish keeping a bit funner rather than making it a chore. To tell you the truth l was debating wether to turn this into a iwagumi but knowing me i'm such a sucker for manzanita scapes. Maybe after this one i'll have a go at it. I'll keep an eye out for your journal  and welcome to tpt buddy.


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## zenche

thanks  love tpt forums thus far. 

good luck with your stand...i bought my with the tank from craigslist - went that route because to your point, stands at the fish stores are crazy expensive. would rather put that money towards a G3/G6. 

i'm thinking of getting some ADA substrates, then going to take my time finding the right stones for my iwagumi. then filter, plants, etc. gonna visit LFS tomorrow to see what they've got, knowing it'll be pricey since they're the only good LFS in chicago proper really. will start the journal once i get a few more key pieces.


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## !shadow!

Sneak peek 




























sorry about the glare, l know it completely ruins the pics.That's it for now, Still looking for a stand, gla is a possible choice..
http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-cabinet/aquarium-cabinet-91l.html

That's it for now stay tuned.


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## zenche

pretty nice  what's next?

also, how's your g3 doing? was reading prototype's review on his g6....has me concerned..since i just bought one on ebay ($300 shipped). still can't believe i splurged that much on a filter. that's more than my tank + stand + lights cost me.


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## !shadow!

my g3 is running fine no problems whatsoever. l like it much more than my eheim for sure but it's really not fair comparing filters which can do that many things. it's still going strong as far as flow goes unlike the eheim in my 30-c. l am not being biased just telling it how it is. 

As far as plans go on my tank, l might just re-enforce my stand with 2x4's and use the money for a dslr so l actually do my tank justice and get some nice macro pics. l might pick up the camera(nikkon d3100 this week if everything goes well with my taxes. l got some seiryu stones from the s&s to try out and see if l like the look with them in if not then i'll take em out and re-sell em. l liked the wood l got from tom so much l decided to order more so in a couple of more weeks l plan on getting the tank finished(l am not rushing this project so waiting time is going to give me lots of ideas as l go).


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## zenche

cool. glad to hear your g3 continues to be a champ. hoping my 6 works out like that too.

i'm going for a mountainscape, so i ordered some seiryu stones from s&s too  25lbs worth from yaouch (package #12 with that large piece that will be my centerpiece). 

how are you going to do the reinforcement of your stand? i've thought of adding some more support to my stand but am not really sure how to go about it. 

once my g6 and stones arrive, i'll probably pick up some organic miracle gro for substrate topped off with some sort of sand probably. then i can really start! 

i'm glad i got into photography before getting back into aquariums. i've a fairly nice sony a700 with a wide range of glass already. haha, i suppose when i think about the money i'm spending on fish stuffs, it's still not even close to what i've spent on photography. man, it's an expensive combination of hobbies...sheesh!


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## !shadow!

l got package 7 from yaouch . hoping to spread the stones in the soil kinda semi-iwagumish but not sure on how it's going to look with the wood. As far as the stand. i'll use a couple of 2x4's on the corners just for added support and use some wood screws to make sure they don't go anywhere. Maybe a 2x4 center brace underneath it. you're going to love you g6 that's for sure. maintanance it such a breeeze and the charts really come in handy not the mention the conductivity readings.l agree with the $ spent on hobbies. l got my car l dump money in for modifications, video games (x-box 360) new tv recently etc.. Sometimes l wonder how l manage to make room for aquariums lol. Photography getting added to the list very soon!


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## zenche

hehe, glad i'm not a car guy, otherwise it'd be game over i think. i game too, but ps3 and pc 

tomorrow is my last day at work before i start a new job at the end of the month. was hoping to set up my tank during the time off, and start cycling at the end...but not sure it'll happen....fingers crossed.

and i didn't even think about combining wood + rock. dunno why it never even crossed my mind. i'll be interested to see what you can do with it.


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## zenche

any updates?


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## !shadow!

tomorrow  nap time


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## zenche

haha, darn. i was looking for an excuse to stay up later  guess i should turn in....i can't wait to get my rocks, plants, and filter parts so i can get going already...argh.


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## !shadow!

*new camera with macro lense *

Well just a little update on the tank. l got some seiryu stones and tried the look but wasn't too happy so l just added them and took a picture for the heck of it. l decided to bury part of the burls on the manzanita to create the "passage of time" effect that amano mentions and l'm really happy with the outcome. Anyways Here are some pics


















i love this base on the manzanita. Most likely covered with fissidens or moss tho.



































Tom barr was kind enough to sell me some of his pieces from his private stash this is one of them. The base is really nice.








this is the front view of the piece above ^^. Resembles a small tree.








Another nice base








i'm going to put the smaller base together with the big one and fill the gap in with soil to make it seem like one piece. 








top view of final hardscape








FTS *the fish are hiding *









So far the plant list consists of A LOT of fissidens fontalus, taiwan and java moss, downoi. still deciding on bolbitis, needle leaf and phillipine java fern. l want to make a carpet on this tank but deciding wether to do hairgrass(reg or belem),hc, hm, glosso or make a moss carpet with a lot of mesh(prob the last choice)


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## orchidman

i like it with just the Dw! looks really nice!


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## speedie408

Dude! Your tank is gonna look SICK! What camera did you get?

Tom's wood is the best you can get out there. Nice pieces for sure!


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## !shadow!

orchidman said:


> i like it with just the Dw! looks really nice!


thanks orchid. if you're ever in need of manzanita check out plantbrains(tom barr's) thread. You can't go wrong and will be extremely happy. My trick to enjoying/liking the hardscape is if l don't like it before l add water i'll keep changing it till it looks good or better said everything flows right together.



speedie408 said:


> Dude! Your tank is gonna look SICK! What camera did you get?
> 
> Tom's wood is the best you can get out there. Nice pieces for sure!


thanks nick
Nikon d3100(i'm a sucker for nikon's  with a 85mm 1:3.5g nikkor lense. l don't think i'll keep the lense. Not very happy with a 3.5, 2.8 will probably be a lot better for the long run. Thinking either a sigma 150mm 2.8 or nikkor 105m 2.8 but the sigma is cheaper plus more distance to work with. 

yes tom gave me a very good deal plus l needed more and was kind enough to sell me some from his *private stash*. What more could you ask for as a buyer when you get that kind of customer service plus he knew exactly what l was looking for not a reg kind of seller who wants to sell you stuff for the sake of $$.


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## orchidman

i will be needing some soon. and i have been browsing through tom's threads. i have to say his pieces are nice. but every time i look, i find myself drooling on my keyboard ROFL

nice camera by the way, i like nikons as well


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## zenche

agree - i think the dw alone is better. hard to mix with the stones. 

the faster the glass, the better and more expensive. will come in handy when you're trying to shoot fish, but 2.8 vs 3.5 isn't much difference really for aquascape shooting, since you should always be shooting under nice light conditions anyway


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## speedie408

Another Nikonian... blehhh haha j/k bro. That's a decent cam to start out with. Have fun and keep the pics coming.


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## !shadow!

Well i'm still learning so l'm not 100% l'm going to get a better lense but it's nice to have down the road when you need it. Nick l got some nice macros of fish l took earlier will post em tomorrow if l get off of work early.


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## malaybiswas

Nice wood work but you got your work cut out for cleaning the glass though . This looks very promising.


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## chiefroastbeef

I enjoyed reading through your log, and thanks for the great photos, it makes reading this so much better!

I am liking your new driftwood set up (without the rocks, they are too small, too spread out) much more than your original one, the new DW looks amazing! The old driftwood reminded me of a sick octopus with some of its tentacles chopped off by a sushi chef  

Cannot wait to see the progress!


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## !shadow!

malaybiswas said:


> Nice wood work but you got your work cut out for cleaning the glass though . This looks very promising.


thanks and about cleaning the wood, I know it appears to be a pita but it's really not and who says i'll be growing algae? :icon_mrgr
Anyways Check this out, you'll forget MOSTLY everything there is to know about not fitting a algae scrubber in tight spots and it works from what the video on the link demonstrates
http://www.ocreef.com/two_little_fi...uarium_glass_cleaning_device?category_id=4891



chiefroastbeef said:


> I enjoyed reading through your log, and thanks for the great photos, it makes reading this so much better!
> 
> I am liking your new driftwood set up (without the rocks, they are too small, too spread out) much more than your original one, the new DW looks amazing! The old driftwood reminded me of a sick octopus with some of its tentacles chopped off by a sushi chef
> 
> Cannot wait to see the progress!


thanks chief. i'm glad you enjoyed the journal. Currently I have this stand ordered and on it's way as I speak or type in this case.:bounce: This is what it looks like:
http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-cabinet/aquarium-cabinet-91l.html

bigger better view( It's going to match perfectly the way it is now with the mazanita as well but it's going to be tempting not to paint it ada grey metallic or black):









I chose it because ada was too pricey for me even tho they are top of the line stands but I have to commend anybody who has the extra grand laying around and dishes it out for a stand. Now I have the perfect matching stand and tank which look very nice. Anyways since i'm doing the stand I might as well do everything right and upgrade fixture for my tank. I have it narrowed down between catalina led's+t5ho's fixture and the ati's powermodule with dimming capabilities. Both are very similar looking fixtures but with different abilities. I'll be calling jim from catalina in the next couple of days and discussing with him my plan I have for this tank and what I have in mind. I have another dilemma as well and that is the asII I bought recently. I know it's going to crumble over time but it's about 5-6 weeks for the new soil to come in so i'm really wanted to try it out since I am starting from scratch but I find it kinda hard to wait that long since i'm already anxious to fill it up. What do you guys think.... wait for the new soil or use the asII?


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## speedie408

!shadow! said:


> Well i'm still learning so l'm not 100% l'm going to get a better lense but it's nice to have down the road when you need it. Nick l got some nice macros of fish l took earlier will post em tomorrow if l get off of work early.


You lied!


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## !shadow!

haha l guess l got the wrong journal it's on my 30-c in the nano section. I'll try to post new ones here soon.


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## !shadow!

Just a minor update, I got the stand and took some pictures with it assembled. I plan on scaping this tank this friday or saturday since i'm off work. I have to say it looks very good along with the matching manzanita wood. I went ahead and took it apart to stain it and tomorrow add the polyutherane since I have to give it about 24 hours to dry(thanks to orlando for the tip). I have to say I'm very pleased with the look. Here are some pictures of what it looks like.



























excuse the mess but i'm rearranging my room for the stand








another view








just messing around with some anubias I got off of nerdyjon off of the s&s








mini tiger lotus I believe. I think it looks nice together but this was just out of boredom not actually how it's going to look like even tho I wouldn't mind leaving it the way it is.








fts (yes that is a lot of fingerprints, i'm a hands on type of guy)









Going to draw something to give you guys some ideas of what I'm aiming to design.


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## !shadow!

Here is the drawing of what i'm currently trying to decide in terms of substrate placement.
Which do you think will look better overall? Me personally I think the 2nd one without all the drawings









or....


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## jcgd

It looks good. I like it a lot. Will a lotus grow on wood, regardless? I've never tried but always assumed it would need be be in the soil.

I say more like two, but wrap the sand towards the back like a U.


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## zenche

looking good bud. like the stand too, nicely done!


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## !shadow!

justincgdick said:


> It looks good. I like it a lot. Will a lotus grow on wood, regardless? I've never tried but always assumed it would need be be in the soil.


Thanks justin. The lotus will be on the soil. The pics I took were just out of boredom not actually going to be like that.



zenche said:


> looking good bud. like the stand too, nicely done!


Thanks zenche. I'm making a custom canopy out of the base of the stand. It's kinda weird i'll have to show you what I mean but the led's from ecoxotic are going to be screwed on to the inside of it. I'd say I'll have enough space for about 6 or 8 but i'm going to try 4 and see how that looks.


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## zenche

haha, yea. pictures speak 1000 words  having a hard time mentally picturing it.


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## jcgd

!shadow! said:


> Thanks justin. The lotus will be on the soil. The pics I took were just out of boredom not actually going to be like that.


No, no. I get that. I'm just asking if it would actually live like that. I have a baby that drifted up on some wood a few weeks ago and after pulling it out today it still looked perfectly healthy. I'm just wondering if it would work.

That stand is beautiful. I'm anxious to see the canopy.


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## macclellan

Nice start!

I think that dwarf lotus is Nymphaea stellata. For me, the leaves are pretty small, but the stems are fairly long, like 12". Kinda neat!


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## zenche

i think that dwarf lotus is pretty awesome personally.

*goes to look it up in the plant profile*


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## !shadow!

Yes it's really an eye catcher I must say. I'll take some nice pics of it tomorrow with my macro lens. I'm uploading pics of the canopy unstained as i'm typing this.


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## !shadow!

Here is the semi canopy 90% completed. I'm just waiting on 2 more modules that I ordered and i'll be good to go. Here's the pics



























trying out how the stunners+panorama modules look. I'll try the look with only the 4 panorama first and maybe add the stunners in between later if I need it.

















And this is them tucked away nicely inside


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## !shadow!

*finished stand and canopy*

Alright folks, I worked on the stand and canopy this weekend and finished it. Here are the results. enjoy
doorknobs  yes they bling out my cabinet 








hanging the canopy








drilling holes for the g3 in/out hoses. If you notice on ada tanks at the gallery in japan the hoses come off on the side so I decided to tweak it a bit and hide it all and run it through the back. IMO looks much better.








everything organized








panorama 8k spectrum led's spaced evenly for proportional light








running co2 tubbing with a U shaped acrylic thingy to prevent kinking over the tank.The diffuser is a waterplant ufo disc type. Dunno if it's mist we'll have to try it out when I fill up tank.

















up close








As you can see the light is shinning directly on the tank








Final look










The plan is to use 2 led's when first planting the tank then once they start growing in use 3 and when plants fill in use all 4 to prevent algae. I'm also going to add some floaters to use up the excess nutrients. Anubias are going to look exceptional with the shimmering on them, it's one of my favorite type of looks. Riccia stones and branco sand is on the way from adg @ Houston so it should arrive this week/weekend. Also I'm adding boston ferns to the top sort of like a riparium style scape. Here is a picture to give you an idea of that jungle look I kinda want to achieve:










I will buy a large basket of the plant most likely this weekend and divide it evenly via some sort of planters above the rim of the tank to overshadow some parts and add to the led effect. My goal is to plant it this weekend if possible. Either Saturday or Sunday but anyways stay tuned.


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## IWANNAGOFAST

looks good! Those panorama strips look nice, any idea how much PAR they put out?


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## dj2005

I love how this tank and stand (including canopy) look. I look forward to the weekend update.


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## !shadow!

IWANNAGOFAST said:


> looks good! Those panorama strips look nice, any idea how much PAR they put out?


no sorry i'd have to get a par meter to check it out, i'm assuming I have high light with all of them on.



dj2005 said:


> I love how this tank and stand (including canopy) look. I look forward to the weekend update.


thanks dj. I promise you I won't disappoint


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## chad320

This is going to be excellent. I cant wait to see it planted!!


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## hydrophyte

Hey awesome job hanging up that canopy!


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## !shadow!

chad320 said:


> This is going to be excellent. I cant wait to see it planted!!


Thanks chad. I'm looking forward to planting it too. 


hydrophyte said:


> Hey awesome job hanging up that canopy!


Thanks Devin. I hanged it on "U" looking hooks instead of completely "O" hook to make it easier to remove it for taking out the wood or If I wish to re scape it down the road. Since this is going to be semi riparium I might be getting some supplies from you later down the road. :icon_wink


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## cervantesmx

Where's the update?!?!


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## WaterLogged

*yawn* I have been reading this since yesterday evening with just a short break for sleep. Hey! I'm a slow reader OK? lol!

I LOVED the first scape! I nearly flipped when you showed the gertrudes for the first time! Those are what I am getting for my tank! Just out of curiosity, on your first scape, why did you position the bolbitus with the fronds/leaves facing downwards towards the substrate? Did I miss the answer to this?

I love the looks of the ADA nile sand SO much! I want to get the same look for my tank but I just can't find a low budget option that is comparable. PFS that I buy is always BRIGHT white. Same with play sand. I was toying with the idea of taking some sand from the creeks near me to see how it looks after a good rinse. 

The second scape was totally awesome! :hihi: Loved it!!! 

I can't wait to see how this new scape turns out! Thanks for all the great pics!


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## !shadow!

Thanks waterlogged i'm glad you enjoyed it. The reason for the bolbitis is that i wanted to create a weeping effect like this pic:










Obviously I didn't get the results and ended up tearing down the tank before I got to that stage. 

Speaking of nile sand, my shipment from ada just arrived and since they couldn't get me branco sand, frank at adg was kind enough to get me a 5.2L bag of..... yup you guessed it, NILE SAND! I got some riccia stones to seperate the sand from the ada soil and got the book as well. Looks like i'm going to do some reading tonight. 










Once I saw nile sand I fell in love with it. By far the best looking sand in my opinion.


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## Chaos_Being

That's going to look great once it's planted- looking forwards to it.


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## Gookis

Just a suggestion...wire some LED's to those blingy door knobs!! boom.

Matt


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## swoof

Matt I was thinking the same thing yesterday when I saw them.


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## dj2005

From what I've seen, ADA's Nile Sand looks nearly identical to my Home Depot's play sand.


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## Dollface

dj2005 said:


> From what I've seen, ADA's Nile Sand looks nearly identical to my Home Depot's play sand.


There's more variation in the grain size and coloration than play sand. It doesn't come across in photos but it makes for a very nice effect in person.


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## !shadow!

Chaos_Being said:


> That's going to look great once it's planted- looking forwards to it.


thanks chaos. I'm going to buy some ferns today and place em on top riparium style later on and if I get the chance i'll take pics and upload em.



Gookis said:


> Just a suggestion...wire some LED's to those blingy door knobs!! boom.
> 
> I was thinking about wiring led's inside the cabinet just in case I need to access the inside late at night for something.
> 
> Matt





dj2005 said:


> From what I've seen, ADA's Nile Sand looks nearly identical to my Home Depot's play sand.


I noticed that too but I believe you have to wash it out even more so from what I saw last time I checked. Would hate to wait days for it to clear up because it's so fine. I do agree that it's a good alternative plus it's a lot cheaper but I've had a good experience with nile sand and love the texture/color and imo it's worth the $. 



Dollface said:


> There's more variation in the grain size and coloration than play sand. It doesn't come across in photos but it makes for a very nice effect in person.


^^what she said


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## !shadow!

Well guys looks like plans have changed, i'm going to tear down everything and sell it, need the $ sorry to disappoint you guys .


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## dj2005

!shadow! said:


> Well guys looks like plans have changed, i'm going to tear down everything and sell it, need the $ sorry to disappoint you guys .


April fools, right? :icon_eek:


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## !shadow!

ok dj2005 no more updates for you lol. That was too obvious but I couldn't resist.... And yes you're right even tho I hate to admit it. Planting is still to go this weekend. Show of hands who did I fool? :eek5:


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## !shadow!

Ok i'm going to start planting right now, Hopefully I get pics today. wish me luck


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## zenche

gluck


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## !shadow!

*finally planted!*

Alright guys after about 7 or 8 hours The tank is finally planted. I used fissidens instead of java moss because it seems to grow slower which results in less trimming which is hard for me to do cause of my hectic schedule. I forgot to soak the wood when filling up so if you see a container inside the water it's just rocks to hold it down once the wood is ready to sink i'll remove it. Here are the results, enjoy.
Attaching fissidens fontanus to the manzanita and that was not fun but in the end it was worth it


























top right view








prepping up the hm 








up close








inserting sand with riccia stones








top view

















adding sand to the top of the riccia stones to make it look more natural such as a river bed








fissidens to the other manzanita branch base








up close








tying of fissidens








favorite part of the manzanita








bottom








filling up slowly for easier planting of hm








nice character on this piece








pretty cool spot for an amphibian to rest on eh?








hm is planted and large anubias and petite are on branches. pennywort is in the very back hoping to grow into a wall later down the road.








This one didn't come out like I hoped it would








very cloudy due to the nile sand








anubias coffeefolia








downoi and hm








top view








trying out my photography skills blurring out front/focusing on far back.








mini red lotus








hm








fissidens pearling once I turned up co2








Downoi I had to replant it since you could see it's roots outside soil.








top view, I love this shot, shows the ripples of the water very well.








anubias top shot








some floaters








another shot of the floaters








left side front








left side shot








right side shot








boston fern on top, going to buy another one for the right side








entire view again ignore the bottles and bucket, it's just to hold the wood down for the meantime








obligatory fts, I'm going to wait for the wood to finally sink to fill it up to the rim.









The led's are doing fantastic, I'm going to take a 1080p video of the shimmer when I get the chance and in the meantime I'll be figuring out what kind of fish i'll be keeping. I'm thinking some electric blue rams, blue eyed gertrudes rainbowfish, I liked the golden wonder killifish but I want to keep cherries and that's a no no as well with the rams. Maybe I'll just forget about the shrimp and get a pipefish, i'm just worried it'll outgrow the tank so I'll def be looking into that.


----------



## Da Plant Man

VERY NICE! I like the ferns on the top. I can't wait until it is grown in!


----------



## chad320

Still coming together nice Shadow! This is going to get super cool when it starts to fill in a bit! I like the effect the riccia stones gives. Do you plan to attach anything or let them be?


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## zenche

too cool


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## defiesexistence

This is too much of the very essence of awesomeness where I can't not subscribe. I will be following this eagerly!


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## dj2005

Beautiful work.


----------



## !shadow!

Caton said:


> VERY NICE! I like the ferns on the top. I can't wait until it is grown in!


thanks canton, Hopefully the co2 will speed up the process 



chad320 said:


> Still coming together nice Shadow! This is going to get super cool when it starts to fill in a bit! I like the effect the riccia stones gives. Do you plan to attach anything or let them be?


I thought about attaching java moss or flame moss but I let them be for the meantime. If I change my mind It won't be that hard to do the change.


zenche said:


> too cool


thanks man



defiesexistence said:


> This is too much of the very essence of awesomeness where I can't not subscribe. I will be following this eagerly!


Thanks defie for the kind words. I will definitely be keeping track of all the progress of the tank for my fellow readers. 


dj2005 said:


> Beautiful work.


thanks dj I'm glad you like it. Just wait for the hm to grow in. Now that will really be beautiful in my opinion.

Here is a reading of my g3 so far, the conductivity is very low right now, on average it's about 400-600 so i'll try to keep up with my water changes.


----------



## FDNY911

Damn this is nice. Makes me want to get another tank!!!!


----------



## zenche

i'm dealing with ich right now  not sure where it came from either, which is super annoying....i think it may have been one of the gold spot plecos, since one died the other day. had gotten 2 from the LFS, which is a very good LFS, so kinda surprised. they are so good at hiding that i didn't even see them much. now my emperor tetras and CPDs that i got from ZID Z have them...have lost 2 of each 

doing the salt + heat treatment...conductivity went off the charts. caps out at 2000.


----------



## !shadow!

Alright so I checked my tank daily to see if the fissidens is coming back after the transfer and looks like co2 is really helping. I see tiny bright green sprouts from the larger, darker, green portions. The HM is really making a faster comeback tho. Hopefully I should have a nice lush carpet in a few months. As far as fish go, I don't think i'll be adding the african freshwater pipefish due to it's feeding requirements of live foods. I just can't see myself growing daphnia or brine shrimp as often as they need it. Last thing I need to do is kill a fish because of lack of responsibilty. electric blue rams are a go and blue eyed gertrude rainbowfish as well, i'm just waiting for them to get ordered at my local fish store. Lastly, as you can see the tank is filled up to the top and the wood sank which is surprising since most of the time it takes about a couple weeks for it to do so. Oh and how can I forget about the white fungus noctorious in the manzanita. It's not as bad as I thought Only a few portions are the burls which should go away on it's on soon. Pics will be taken this weekend.


----------



## Damian

Thats one sexy tank my friend. Cant wait till it grows in.


----------



## zenche

i know...so envious


----------



## TankZen

Wow just came across your journal today..... awesome set up!!! Love your driftwood. Can't wait to see plants grow up!


----------



## ADA

Ugh! SOO jealous!! hehe 

Seriously, wow.. that is a sight to behold. I love it. Amazing photo skills too!


----------



## !shadow!

Damian said:


> Thats one sexy tank my friend. Cant wait till it grows in.


thanks it's getting there



zenche said:


> i know...so envious


 thanks zenche 



TankZen said:


> Wow just came across your journal today..... awesome set up!!! Love your driftwood. Can't wait to see plants grow up!


Yea there seems to be a lot of noticeable growth of the fissidens fontanus. You'll see what I mean with the pics I upload.



ADA said:


> Ugh! SOO jealous!! hehe
> 
> Seriously, wow.. that is a sight to behold. I love it. Amazing photo skills too!


Hey ADA, thanks for the kind words. I'm glad i'm able to pass along the awesome experience with this tank on to you guys. I don't know about the photo skills, I think they still need some work. Maybe it's just the camera that's doing the work for me 

Small update: I took out most of the hm and replaced it with 10g worth of dwarf sag and some patches of hc I had immersed in my 10g. I added some dwarf hairgrass to the very back as well and I have to say I really like the look of it. The reason I changed is because the hm had mostly died due to a lack of light reaching the bottom of the substrate. If I had lowered the led canopy too close it would of caused algae because the intensity was too high. I know this because on my 30-c nano I had the same led module but closer to the waters surface and green hair string algae started to appear, but when I raised it higher it slowed down the growth of it. I also didn't want fissidens getting any algae because it was such a pain in the butt to tie around the curly parts of the wood so it was either raise the light or get rid of it, gotta love trade-offs. I will be taking pics today and upload em.


----------



## !shadow!

Here are the pics folks enjoy.
Here is the mom of the baby rams








baby gbr this one is silver 








and this one is gold, weird because they're both from same mom and dad








mom again

















left side replanted








closer view








floaters and yes they are spreading quickly, glad I don't have duckweed in there








rcs








red tiger lotus?








dwarf hairgrass








I wonder how a carpet of blyxa would look... hmm let's try it out? 








another shot of lotus








hc with ghost shrimp








riccia stones with hc behind and nile sand in front

















it's growing and spreading. Ignore the white fuzz on the manzanita it'll go away eventually. Might introduce a pleco down the road








those floaters sure like to travel in packs


----------



## FDNY911

Beautiful as usual. I just purchased some these same floaters. Man they spread quick! I have all ready had to dump about 1/2 lb into my pond lol.


----------



## !shadow!

thanks fdny911. I guess co2 really does help along with the intensity of the led's since they're on top of the waters surface. Probably had about double in about 2 weeks if I were to give an estimate. I also bought a yellow apisto. I forgot the name of it but i'm googling it online at the moment. It's really an eye catcher. I'll try to take some pics of it when I can. I'm also surprised of the red tiger lotus's growth. It pretty much tripled in growth. I'm going to try to put it in the far right corner so it doesn't obstruct the view up close. I saw the red lotus at one of my lfs tanks and it looks amazing. It was gigantic in comparison to mines. I could see it being a perfect candidate for a riparium plant if it was possible. I'm thinking I might dedicate my 30-c to growing a single one of these and keep it nice and simple.


----------



## zenche

was it an agassizi? (check my tank for pics).


----------



## !shadow!

Yes I believe so. I found this picture on google and looked very similar if not the same like this...


----------



## zenche

very nice! i'm looking forward to my juvies growing up...though i'm very concerned that all 7 of mine are females...


----------



## !shadow!

Can't trade 1 for a male at your local fish store?

I found this on google, hopefully it helps since most of it is true for other apisto species.

"Males are bigger and much more splendid than females in terms of both colour and finnage. Females are a somewhat plain brownish colour unless spawning, when they take on a beautiful bright yellow."


----------



## zenche

my LFS don't have apistos  picked up mine from a fish swap on sunday.

4 of them are 1.25", 3 are about 1". and they ALL look bright yellow...with no extra colorings right now cept for a hint of red on along their body by the dorsal. which both males and females have, and the male tails are supposed to be more delta vs rounded...which none of mine have so far. 

once they mature a bit more in a couple months, i'll see if i can find a local trade. maybe there will be another swap by then.


----------



## jcgd

Looking good man.

Update... and.... GO.


----------



## !shadow!

Yea i've been neglecting the updates . I just got back from vacation and everything seems so much different. The fissidens fontanus has officially taken hold of the manzanita and it's pretty much covered everything i've wanted. The base of the burl is covered just like I envisioned. I'm gonna upload some pics tonight hopefully before I go off to bed so stay tuned. Fts will probably come tomorrow after I clean it up a bit but I will show some earlier shots I took of the tank.


----------



## zenche

sweet. looking forward to it


----------



## !shadow!

Here they are
These guys are so hard to take pics of. As you can see it's still a bit blurry








another shot








a plant devin(hydrophyte) gave me, definitely one of my favorites








this is an old pic maybe like 2 weeks old, the tank is more lush at the moment.



































It's getting there








I added another compact flourecent light in the meantime to increase fissidens growth. I'm going to lower my led's a bit to increase intensity but I need help from a buddy of mines to get it nice and level plus it's a lot easier with 2 people.








Growth has doubled if not tripled compared to this old picture








I didn't know ghost shrimp preyed on tiny fish??? Anyways I happened to see a ghost shrimp actually getting hold of the poor rainbowfish's fins and well I think that stressed the poor guy before he started to make a meal out of him.








ram








I happened to get a good shot of the rcs








happy late mothers day?








I like the shot of the bolbitis in proportion to the tiny rcs








up close

















Another bad shot of the cpd's








One of my new apistos



































rcs grazing








The pack, they love algae wafers 





















































This is not the current FTS that will be posted tomorrow









Enjoy guys


----------



## BoxxerBoyDrew

FREAKIN AWESOME SETUP Shadow!!!:drool::drool::drool:

I just got finished going threw the whole thing, and You have AMAZING SETUP SKILLS!!! As well as photos too!!! I LOVE all the setups, but I think this one is going to be the best after it grows in! Your fish choices are exactly what I would put in the tanks too! O guess it is a Texas thing!!!:wink:

Being outside of Waco I used to go to Austin to get most of my Planted Aquarium stuff!!! There are some pretty sweet fish stores there! It has been a few years since I have been there, so IF ya don't mind PM me with the ones You like so I know where to go to check out the good planted Tank stuff! We are down to 1 Local Owned Fish Store here in Waco, and 2 Big Box stores. BUT they don't have much of ANYTHING!!! ( the Big Box Stores I mean!) The LFS caries so pretty good fish but just the occasional plants!

Anyway keep up the AWESOME WORK, and I can't wait to see some more pics! You have given me some GREAT IDEAS on witch way to go with my 55g!

Take Care!
Drewroud:


----------



## !shadow!

thanks boxxer for the kind words, they really mean a lot. I will post picks of what the tank looks as of now so give me a few . I will pm with store to check out in Austin as well.


----------



## macclellan

Some nice pics! sucks about the algae/mold stuff. 

That lily is a Nymphaea stellata, which is a dwarf lily, not a red tiger lotus (I have both).


----------



## FDNY911

Nice Shots!


----------



## !shadow!

thanks mac and fdny911. I hate mixing up plants especially ones who look so similar.


----------



## phorty

zenche said:


> my LFS don't have apistos  picked up mine from a fish swap on sunday.
> 
> 4 of them are 1.25", 3 are about 1". and they ALL look bright yellow...with no extra colorings right now cept for a hint of red on along their body by the dorsal. which both males and females have, and the male tails are supposed to be more delta vs rounded...which none of mine have so far.
> 
> once they mature a bit more in a couple months, i'll see if i can find a local trade. maybe there will be another swap by then.


Did you get them at the GCCA swap? I got some double red aggassis (sp?) at the swap in February or March. The seller game me 2 males and 2 females. Wonder if it was the same seller...

Shadow, I love the progression of your tank. Eventually I hope you get what you're looking for and get to spend time enjoying it. I've been considering getting some similar wood for my tank and converting it to only mosses, java fern, and anubias growing on the wood. No plants in the substrate. Hmmmm....


----------



## !shadow!

phorty said:


> Did you get them at the GCCA swap? I got some double red aggassis (sp?) at the swap in February or March. The seller game me 2 males and 2 females. Wonder if it was the same seller...
> 
> Shadow, I love the progression of your tank. Eventually I hope you get what you're looking for and get to spend time enjoying it. I've been considering getting some similar wood for my tank and converting it to only mosses, java fern, and anubias growing on the wood. No plants in the substrate. Hmmmm....


thanks phorty. I think over time you will get whatever you wish for it's all about patience and planning. In my opinion I think Tom Barr has some of the nicest manzanita wood in the forum. Try looking him up on the swap and shop. I think your moss, java fern and anubias will look spectacular once it's put in place. I'm not a big fan of dutch styles. I'm more of a simple clean look with a few combination of nice plants that compliment each other. As you can see more of my plants in the tank are low light which helps A LOT. I haven't done a single trim on anything yet including the fissidens( maybe cause it's a slow grower) and it's been months since set-up. I do however want a carpet in this tank to cover the entire ada soil but it's kinda hard trying to balance a high light tank with a low one since if I increase intensity or my photoperiod my nutrient uptake will increase as well in which results in more frequent trimmings and more water changes. My routine is about 1/3 every two weeks. If I can i'll do it every week but my work schedule gets in the way of that.


----------



## NJL

Very Cool Tank!

Subscribed!


----------



## !shadow!

NJL said:


> Very Cool Tank!
> 
> Subscribed!


thanks NJL, I'm glad you enjoy it. I took pictures of the tank recently and have added new plants i'm just struggling trying to make time to post em with my busy work schedule. So far all of the fissidens fontanus has grown in and is very lush. I added some four leaf clover (forgot the specific name for it) but i'm thinking about turning it into a carpet since i'm having such huge success with it in this tank. I love the celestial pearl danios and blue eye gertrudes rainbows since they bring out the sense of scale of the tank. The Nymphaea stellata has grown much faster than what i've expected and needs some trimming but other than that everything is running smoothly. I do got a couple of diatoms and black brush algae but it's nothing I can't get rid of. I do got a bristlenose pleco that likes to nibble on everything he can get his mouth on so I let it be. Hopefully if I don't work sunday I'll update with pics.


----------



## sampster5000

Looks great! Gotta watch out for those darn ghost shrimp. They are evil.


----------



## Uptown193

Very nice tank, so natural looking. It is amazing how many times this one tank has been transformed into different scapes in about over a years time. I like the last attempt the best, i think.


----------



## !shadow!

Well I took it down AGAIN. Stuff wasn't working out for me and the sand +ada soil eventually mixed in due to my pleco . He just loves digging and well I let my fish do whatever makes em happy.I was neglecting it too bad and I really wasn't feeling the flow of it. My job keeps me too busy during the summer to do anything I want and keep up with maintenance except water changes, those I can do. I wanted to start fresh all over again anyways. You know how we fish keepers are, we get all excited when we start a fresh new tank and open that brand new bag of ada soil. Speaking of ada soil I ordered to bags of the new improved stuff to test it out and see how it works out and some other goodies:
1 of Bacter 100
1 of Clear Super
1 of Iron Bottom
1 of Penac P 200g (For Plants)
1 of Penac W 200g (Aquarium)
1 of Pincettes M
2 of Power Sand SPECIAL-S 2 liter
1 of Tourmaline BC

I've always wanted to try out those additives and see how much it helps or what are the end results. Only time will tell.


----------



## CL

Nice tank. The fuzzy stuff on the wood should go away with time, but man, you've got some great depth in that tank. Very nice wood placement.


----------



## hydrophyte

Wow I don't think I ever saw those picture from 5-10. CL is right you got an excellent hardscape going in there. That is interesting I have that exact same brown fuzz growing on the manzanita in the 120 that I am working on. I have been cleaning it off with a toothbrush and now it starting to subside.

That is too bad you tore all of that down. Will you set it up again with that hardscape.

Hey I'm glad that dwarf taro grew for you in there. I like that plant a lot too.


----------



## !shadow!

thanks cl, that's one of the reasons i chose this tank. I wanted to be able to maintain it frequently without the 100-150g size. I really want a 120p but that's when I got a house of my own and the available space. I really hope to keep my next set-up for much longer than my previous projects. It's really time consuming tearing down a tank it's just so many factors play a role that it's hard to get them all right. I figured out what I did wrong and plan to improve on that. I did however take some pics of the tank and fish before I tore it down. I'll try posting them soon .


----------



## !shadow!

OK it's been a while since i updated this journal. So right now It's torn down. I ordered the new improved ada soil(everything is gonna be soil so no nile sand this time). The plan is I plan on using my 1st and 2nd stumps together as whole to make my hardscape.They will be placed one at each corner with the center left for the fish to swim in. At the moment I'm looking for nice rocks to compliment the manzanita stumps. Most of the manzanita will get covered with java moss. while the rocks piled on top of the stumps will be covered in either hc or x-mas moss weeping down. The rocks will be piled on top of each other like a mountain and have the empty space in the center of the tank. I know moss will be a nice touch up like my 2nd tank in my journal and I really liked the look of it when I had it up and running. I know it will be difficult to trim it but I think it's going to be worth it once it's all said and done. anyways here are some pics of what it looked like before taking it down. 









fissidens was spreading


































































































gertrude picking at the anubias petite, they hide so well because they're so small and able to make anything their little cave.








rcs playing tarzan








last fts before break down








and an idea of how my next scape is going to look like as far as the rocks go.










I'm trying to look for some rocks that look like this but no luck. Either they have been sold out or just need to wait longer. Here is a better visual. They are called norfolk rocks



















This is a small sneek peak of the start.


----------



## !shadow!

Well since i'm probably gonna get rid of my current led's and getting some different kinds, i'll most likely be using my t5's since they've never failed me. The led's are nice and I loved the growth of the plants but I wanna sell them to try other things. I will be keeping you guys posted on what I decide tho. The shimmer is like nicotine  and no I don't condone smoking. I have decided on the carpet tho 100%. It's going to be hairgrass belem. A bit of needle leaf java fern and bolbitis will most likely be used but java moss is going to be the dominant plant after a carpet of belem. I'm trying to be as patient as I can with this one so I don't screw things up.


----------



## shrimpnmoss

Wow. Your tank looks very creepy in a good way. All that wood looks like you're about to enter a swampy area where a witch lives.


----------



## !shadow!

lol thanks. Which picture are you referring to? The last one or my fts?


----------



## sampster5000

Broke it down?! Awwwwww. This was my favorite scape of yours! Lol. But I'm sure the next will be just as awesome.


----------



## asnatlas

What type of rocks are these ??


----------



## !shadow!

oh wow you brought up an old thread of my 10g journal. To be honest I don't know but they were in a section called pagoda stone at my local fish store, but i don't think these are it but they look similar. 

thanks sampster


----------



## Uptown193

Hi, what is the name of that purple plant you have in the pics in post #513 above?


----------



## !shadow!

Uptown193 said:


> Hi, what is the name of that purple plant you have in the pics in post #513 above?


you know I wish I could remember but I got it a few months ago and can't remember. My current car is keeping me busy 









ignore masking tape I was detailing hazy headlights. Looks like my projects for my 48g are gonna be delayed a bit. Sucks because I had so many ideas planned for it. Rest assured that when I do find the time to set it back up again it will be all worth it. At least now I have more time to decide on what I want and I be more flexible on what the hardscape will be like.


----------



## hydrophyte

!shadow! said:


>


What kinds of fish are you going to put in it?


----------



## !shadow!

hey devin, long time no see. do you mean inside the car or the tank?


----------



## hydrophyte

I meant inside the car I was trying to be funny, which usually doesn't work out so well.


----------



## !shadow!

haha no i got the joke devin it's just that there is so much room to work with. I can make the leather seats the rocks of the iwagumi and the seats the foreground and background. I'm going with the minimalism approach. I got a chiller already and it's set at a nice 76 degrees via controls. Lightning is going to be with 2 high powered led headlights(6500k of course for good plant growth). water changes will be easy through the windshield wiper sprayers at a 30% a week amount. That pretty much sums it up for now


----------



## !shadow!

So now that I got on my 2 weeks vacation I decided why not re-start my tank again. I already had most of the items I needed to do so. I do need to buy hardscaping rocks so I'll def have to pay a visit to the SS. Meanwhile I'm soaking the manzanita wood I've bought from Tom months ago. I decided against buying a new piece as tempting as it was looking at his nice collection and working with what I got switching it around. Hair grass belem is going to be my carpet plant of choice and java or fissidens will be using along the rock work in the background maybe placed strategically in between the crevices. I will be using my old nova extreme fixture 4 bulbs. Still looking around for best bulb choice maybe geismann but i've heard good things on ge. substrate will be 2 bags of ada improved and all of the below as I previously stated in post 509
1 of Bacter 100
1 of Clear Super
1 of Iron Bottom
1 of Penac P 200g (For Plants)
1 of Penac W 200g (Aquarium)
1 of Pincettes M
2 of Power Sand SPECIAL-S 2 liter
1 of Tourmaline BC

co2 will be used even tho half of the plants I use will grow fine without it. I do want to invest in a par meter and check my readings to see where i'm at. I think it's a good investment. G3 will be used as well again with another filter to help even tho it doesn't need it i've always liked having a lot of turnover filtration. 
washing the pieces out and prepping before soaking

















can't really see details once they're all wet and dark but once in the tank will show up better.








The goods









Hopefully by new years I will have this baby up and running.


----------



## orchidman

cant wait what you do with this tank!


----------



## Hyzer

!shadow! said:


>


 What is this? Not sure if I've seen a plant that looks like this before.

Looking forward to your new scape.


----------



## zachary908

Hyzer said:


> What is this? Not sure if I've seen a plant that looks like this before.


Looks like Lobelia cardinalis to me. Nice color on it.

Looking forward to seeing this tank take shape!


----------



## .Mko.

!shadow! said:


> Hopefully by new years I will have this baby up and running.


 

:drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool:

i need me one of those for christmas. I can't wait to see updates of you setting this up. Those driftwood pieces are supper impressive great branch structure to them. Definately adding this to my "things to watch"


----------



## .Mko.

Just went through the entire thread too. oh man im jealous of your tank. That wood work is amazing. And that fissidens just has such greaty synergy with the whole composition. the fish, the hardscape, plants, equipment you've got it all shadow thumbs up to you! roud:


----------



## !shadow!

orchidman said:


> cant wait what you do with this tank!


Stay tuned and you'll see for your self 



Hyzer said:


> What is this? Not sure if I've seen a plant that looks like this before.
> 
> Looking forward to your new scape.


I forgot to be honest. Picked it up a while ago because I liked it's purple leaves and would make a nice contrast to the monochromatic look of green in the tank. 



zachary908 said:


> Looks like Lobelia cardinalis to me. Nice color on it.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing this tank take shape!


ty wood is soaking so as soon as that is done the fun begins.



.Mko. said:


> :drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool:
> 
> i need me one of those for christmas. I can't wait to see updates of you setting this up. Those driftwood pieces are supper impressive great branch structure to them. Definately adding this to my "things to watch"


Once in the tank and the t5's shine over the pieces they'll come alive. Right now I still have some pieces of java moss still attached and they're coming alive pearling even after 4 months of being dried up. Amazing how hardy the plant can be.



.Mko. said:


> Just went through the entire thread too. oh man im jealous of your tank. That wood work is amazing. And that fissidens just has such greaty synergy with the whole composition. the fish, the hardscape, plants, equipment you've got it all shadow thumbs up to you! roud:


That's a lot of reading there you got more patience than me. Fissidens is prob one of the plants that's grown on me in the past years. It's not as fast as a grower like java moss which helps so you don't have to trim is so often yet looks so lush when met with the proper conditions. I need to test out the g3 one of these days and make sure it's flowing well and no problems with it. Right now my main concern is getting the hardscaping materials. I want this one to last and be happy right upon starting it up.


----------



## orchidman

zachary908 said:


> Looks like Lobelia cardinalis to me. Nice color on it.
> 
> Looking forward to seeing this tank take shape!


thats a really nice plant! i love it

the shape looks like lobelia, but mine was green with blushing. although mine was not in high light at all


----------



## !shadow!

orchidman said:


> thats a really nice plant! i love it
> 
> the shape looks like lobelia, but mine was green with blushing. although mine was not in high light at all


What's funny is that it came from a low light tank in the store and had existing purple color but when it transferred to my high light tank it turned to green. Fascinating how plants change colors in different environments.


----------



## !shadow!

This sinking process might take longer than expected  sorry for flash still getting used to phone.


----------



## zachary908

orchidman said:


> Mine was green with blushing. although mine was not in high light at all





!shadow! said:


> What's funny is that it came from a low light tank in the store and had existing purple color but when it transferred to my high light tank it turned to green. Fascinating how plants change colors in different environments.


It has something to do with the way FAN grows the stuff (Odds are if you got it from a store it originally came from FAN)

I've got this in at work and it will look purple like that, but over time that purple fades to a light tint at best.


----------



## !shadow!

Sorry not familiar with the term "FAN". Please enlighten me


----------



## chad320

Florida Aquatic Nursery. The goods look good BTW. Im expecting a masterpiece


----------



## !shadow!

Ahh yes a light bulb appears. Yea I agree too many plants come from there to count. I'm trying to order the rock as I speak Soil will be packed in the rear two corners and the rocks stacked on top like a mountain. I really like what you did with the anubias on wood chad. You should do a few more of those around the tank, I think it'll look real good. I haven't forgetten the price of anubias petite from the last time I've purchased some ....$_$ hehe.


----------



## Jeromeit

Hyzer said:


> What is this? Not sure if I've seen a plant that looks like this before.
> 
> Looking forward to your new scape.


I want that plant!!!!!


----------



## zachary908

!shadow! said:


> Sorry not familiar with the term "FAN". Please enlighten me





chad320 said:


> Florida Aquatic Nursery.


Correct. roud:


----------



## chad320

!shadow! said:


> Ahh yes a light bulb appears. Yea I agree too many plants come from there to count. I'm trying to order the rock as I speak Soil will be packed in the rear two corners and the rocks stacked on top like a mountain. I really like what you did with the anubias on wood chad. You should do a few more of those around the tank, I think it'll look real good. I haven't forgetten the price of anubias petite from the last time I've purchased some ....$_$ hehe.


What kind of rock are you getting? I really love rock scapes but I always have a hard time with GDA on them. I know a herd of amanos or ottos would do it in but I guess ive never been patient enough  

The anubias will do good. It was an expensive investment but after a year I have all that I need and I even sold a few exrtas  Ive got some plans for this old skool tank.


----------



## !shadow!

*update*

Teaser of hardscape. Gonna do a bit of tweaking but tomorrow hopefully it gets planted. Today im prepping the plants for the carpet. Makes it a whole lot easier than doing it at the last minute like my other past scapes.


----------



## TexasCichlid

Looks great. Brave of you to put stones on the glass like that though.


----------



## !shadow!

Thanks I made sure to secure them very well to prevent deep scratches or a fall which would be very bad for this glass tank. I need to get more rock to fill in the two rear corners to the top tho. Need to work on my stacking skills hehe. spiky moss will be used in between the crevices and wrap some stones completely along with the manzanita. Need to get everything sorted out today so tomorrow becomes a breeze.


----------



## SlammedDC2

Looks awesome man. can't wait to see if planted.


----------



## !shadow!

Well I got it planted tonight. Pics will be up tomorrow. I'm very happy with the results  and ended up making slight chances to the plan but i'm hoping it won't disappoint.


----------



## SlammedDC2

After finally planting mine for the first time, I changed just about everything 3-4 times before I was happy.
Now 3 months later I'm looking at changing it again.


----------



## orchidman

love the hardscape!


----------



## !shadow!

*update:Finally finished*

Ok guys I got it set-up. I like this scape more than my past scapes for the fact that i've learned a lot of new ideas and techniques I used to incorporate into this build. I'm doing all ada soil improved and no sand like my past scapes. I want to do one down the road but wanted to do an entire carpet this time. I'll try to make the summary of this tank short and sweet. Rocks I used from my past scapes not sure what they're called. I used a mix of spiky moss and java for the wrapping of manzanita and rocks. Anubias petite for the branches(I like that plant too much to exclude it from my scapes). I did hairgrass belem for carpet and a few strands of needle leaf java fern in between rocks. lastly there is a bit of pennywort on the top of the rocks in hopes of trying to grow it out of the tank once it spreads out a bit more. Anyways without further a do here are the pics. enjoy
spreading of powersand. Used 2 40cm bags.








clear super








bacter 100








tourmaline bc used it all








some macros of t. bc








kinda blurry just cool how it looks. Reminds me a carbon crushed








Cocaine spread lightly over the t.bc j/k it's penac p and penac w








this was the original plan but mixed it up a bit








a bit of pre-existing moss on the rock








some of the shots of the finished manzanita with moss on it








took about 2 hours for both pieces but totally worth the outcome

















pics look a bit dark since the wood was soaking and still wet. Shoulda got some better lightning to show the character of the pieces

















rock positioning is finished and secured








right side








left side








sorry about glare, it's still my biggest weakness when taking pictures with dslr. 

















anubias are inserted along with some needle leaf fern and rocks are tied up with moss








sunk the rocks in a bit to make it look more natural








hairgrass is in place and pennywort added








water just a tad bit cloudy but still good for first time.

















I love this shot








g3's stat readings








FTS(YESTERDAY) I didn't fill it up to the top because I ran out of r/o water yesterday but today I got it filled to the top and will be taking a FTS today shortly and uploading it. 









That's all folks!


----------



## Lil' Swimz$

That is going to be SICK once the moss fills in. One suggestion though that I can think off, I think it'd look alot cooler without stem plants in the background.

EDIT: thought of another, see the rock in the very center covered in moss? It would look better more off to the side, particularly the right side.


----------



## [email protected]

Looks Amazing roud: I wish My tank looked like that.


*Edit: Agree with above about the rock.


----------



## !shadow!

*current fts*

Dslr recharging so here is phone. Stems will be moved outside of tank im just growing them faster with the co2 in there. Rock might be moved a bit to the right, just dont want it looking too symmetrical if you know what I mean. Need to do more water changes to get rid of the ammonia and clear it up faster.


----------



## CL

that looks pretty good! There sure are a lot of rocks in there but I think that when the moss bushes out it'll look real nice and soften the look quite a bit. As long as you're in no hurry to put fish in id say wait a little bit longer between water changes. With a bit of a reduced photoperiod the ammonia might actually benefit the plants by providing lots of nitrogen (as long as it isn't _too_ high, that is :tongue

As for the big rock that's in the middle, if you're gonna move it I'd move it back and to the right a bit. That should make the tank look less symmetrical, IMO.


----------



## zenche

sickness! loving the new scape. kinda moss did you put on the dw?


----------



## thief

Wow that your LED's really make a nice contrast in your tank, helps bring out the moss, the the darkness underneath the wood. After a couple of trims once the moss grows in, the tank is going to really pop and look fantastic. Curious about how much light is in your tank with the LED's?


----------



## SlammedDC2

Tank looks awesome man, I love it.

Now your making me re-think my current scape and plans.


----------



## !shadow!

CL said:


> that looks pretty good! There sure are a lot of rocks in there but I think that when the moss bushes out it'll look real nice and soften the look quite a bit. As long as you're in no hurry to put fish in id say wait a little bit longer between water changes. With a bit of a reduced photoperiod the ammonia might actually benefit the plants by providing lots of nitrogen (as long as it isn't _too_ high, that is :tongue
> 
> Yup tons of rocks but when moss grows it'll improve the look. patience is a virtue and i've waited this long to set the tank up so why rush now? :icon_smil I was debating on whether to wait or not either way i'm gonna end up with a cycled tank sooner or later.
> 
> As for the big rock that's in the middle, if you're gonna move it I'd move it back and to the right a bit. That should make the tank look less symmetrical, IMO.


Yea i'll make some tiny changes to the scape including that rock. I'll try to record a video as well to show you the position and look of everything better. Right now everything is so cloudy is hard to tell how everything is and sucks because my pictures don't do this tank justice. Hopefully after a week it'll be much better.



zenche said:


> sickness! loving the new scape. kinda moss did you put on the dw?


thanks zenche.java and spiky


thief said:


> Wow that your LED's really make a nice contrast in your tank, helps bring out the moss, the the darkness underneath the wood. After a couple of trims once the moss grows in, the tank is going to really pop and look fantastic. Curious about how much light is in your tank with the LED's?


The shimmer the led's provide is just awesome! especially when I got my small koralina powerhead making waves and increasing the shimmer.Yea i'm definitely looking forward to the trims lol. Too many branches but I think my love for this tank will overlook that. It's just something to think about when setting up a tank. However I seem to enjoy working on my tank. I don't have a par meter so I wouldn't know how much but the moss has grown in nicely before on my past scapes. I keep the led's raised up a bit to decrease intensity since moss doesn't need that much(most of my plants if not all of them are low light anyways) and so far it's been right on the money in my observations. Once I get a par meter i'll make sure to let you guys know. 



SlammedDC2 said:


> Tank looks awesome man, I love it.
> 
> Now your making me re-think my current scape and plans.


Thanks slammed for the kind words. I always say that if you don't like something change it to switch things up a bit to keep your interest. No point in keeping a tank you don't feel satisfied with. It's what I always do and keeps me from getting bored. One of the reasons why some people leave the hobby. That and frustration and it really sucks.


----------



## Jadelin

I find it funny that everyone would move the rock to the right; if anything, I would move it a little to the left and make it more of a grouping with that other rock.
Looks great though.


----------



## !shadow!

Jadelin said:


> I find it funny that everyone would move the rock to the right; if anything, I would move it a little to the left and make it more of a grouping with that other rock.
> Looks great though.


I'll leave it as is for now and let the moss grow out a bit before making any changes and ty.


----------



## !shadow!

Well right now the ada soil is leeching ammonia at 2.0 ppm. Did a 50% water change to lower it a bit and will do another one in the next few days. nitrite is at 0ppm and I need to check nitrates. As far as plant growth, the moss is going through the *bright green dots on the tips* stage so it's just a matter of time before it starts spreading. The belem is sending out new runners everywhere. I'm assuming they're loving the power sand and the high cec of ada soil improved( I will never switch soils in a planted tank). Hopefully in a week or two after the leeching goes down i'll be set on stocking fish.


----------



## talontsiawd

Looks pretty sick. I am a bit "weary" of the rocks on the glass though. I broke a tank like this moving rocks and hit the glass (empty) but it was really thin glass. I really am feeling this scape, I can't wait until it matures.


----------



## !shadow!

talontsiawd said:


> Looks pretty sick. I am a bit "weary" of the rocks on the glass though. I broke a tank like this moving rocks and hit the glass (empty) but it was really thin glass. I really am feeling this scape, I can't wait until it matures.


I don't plan on moving rocks or tank for a while unless I see something I don't like down the road. Glass is pretty thick (8mm) but still not unbreakable. I'm guessing in about a month the moss will be full grown. carpet will take a bit longer maybe 2-3months.


----------



## !shadow!

*phone update fts*

Better pics hopefully this weekend


----------



## orchidman

looks great!


----------



## green_valley

!shadow! said:


> Better pics hopefully this weekend


WOW WOW WOW


Shadow, let me say it again. WOWWWWWWWWWW


----------



## !shadow!

orchidman said:


> looks great!





green_valley said:


> WOW WOW WOW
> 
> 
> Shadow, let me say it again. WOWWWWWWWWWW


thanks guys. So far ammonia has dropped to 1.0ppm from 2.0 a few days ago due to water changes. I've got a bit of bba so I dropped on some excel and it's turning pink so it should slowly die. I'm debating on replacing all the background rocks to seiryu stone since I love the shape of it more than any other type of rock but this if this happens it will be later down the road when everything is grown in. Moss will most likely need a trim in about a week or two. carpet is spreading very well and the belem that's higher on the slope( far right and left is growing nicely.


----------



## green_valley

Seiryu stones are probably the best looking, but I like what you have too. THey look nice.


----------



## !shadow!

*update:finally cycled*

As tittle says it's finally cycled and ready to add my baby rams i've breed. Hopefully they spawn after a few water changes once they're comfortable with their surroundings. Still debating on taking out the pennywort, looks a bit messy in some angles.We'll see anyways here are the pics of the scape and some cherries, enjoy.









proof the nitrate is about 20ppm just looks too dark cause of the lightning








one of my fav moss shots











































































































some caves for the rams once they get transferred, too dark to be seen in this pic








alittle bit of bba however the cherrys love it and excel gets dozed on it during water changes




















































































































my bba slaves 








slave #2


----------



## Hyzer

I really, really, really like this lush natural scape. That moss looks like its already been there for months.

If you enjoy looking at the pennywort up top, I wouldn't move it. I thought it looked cool with the emerging driftwood.

Nice pics as well.


----------



## Hyzer

Whoops, double posted...


----------



## thefisherman

i love your scape for its simplicity, as you let hardscaped drive the lines and depth of your tank. the pennywort looks great and its treated the way i believe it was meant to, floating.

great job! definately going to subscribe to your journal 


Sent from my iPhone


----------



## !shadow!

Hyzer said:


> I really, really, really like this lush natural scape. That moss looks like its already been there for months.
> 
> If you enjoy looking at the pennywort up top, I wouldn't move it. I thought it looked cool with the emerging driftwood.
> 
> Nice pics as well.


thanks for the kind words hyzer. The moss grew faster than what I expected which also helped uptake all the excess nutrients. I think i'll leave the pennywort because yes I like the top view and hopefully is spreads from right to left in the far back. 


thefisherman said:


> i love your scape for its simplicity, as you let hardscaped drive the lines and depth of your tank. the pennywort looks great and its treated the way i believe it was meant to, floating.
> 
> great job! definately going to subscribe to your journal
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone


thanks

Also I forgot to mention I bought the bigger transformer and dimmers for each of the panorama led's so now I can dim the lights to create an even more natural setting for the fish. I'll try to record a vid and post it up on youtube prob on tuesday. Fish are going to be transferred in right now once I net them (fun part). Hopefully if they sit still i'll get some nice pics as well.


----------



## hydrophyte

Wow this is a really cool "naturalistic" layout. Very cool and well-done!



!shadow! said:


>


----------



## madness

I really like this 'scape.

First thought I had when seeing it was that it would be an awesome 'scape for a shrimp tank.

Breeding tank as well - tons of hiding places.


----------



## !shadow!

madness said:


> I really like this 'scape.
> 
> First thought I had when seeing it was that it would be an awesome 'scape for a shrimp tank.
> 
> Breeding tank as well - tons of hiding places.


Was thinking about making it a crs/cbs tank but my rams are #1 to me and wouldn't do that to them. I have babied them since they were born and wouldn't change it for a thing. They're acclimating as I type this message.


----------



## Joe.1

Wow!!! This wooded tank is nice.


----------



## WillPlanted

Wow, i just finished reading the entire thread. I'm amazed one tank has gone through so many transformations and looks better and better each time! Great work! I cant wait to see it completely fill in.


----------



## green_valley

Nice pictures .....love them.


----------



## !shadow!

Joe.1 said:


> Wow!!! This wooded tank is nice.


ty 



WillPlanted said:


> Wow, i just finished reading the entire thread. I'm amazed one tank has gone through so many transformations and looks better and better each time! Great work! I cant wait to see it completely fill in.


thanks it's getting there. The more I let the pennywort grow the weedy-er it becomes. Might have to trim it or remove it because i'm more worried about how it looks down under than over the top. hairgrass has been spreading very well it's just a matter of time before it fully fills in.



green_valley said:


> Nice pictures .....love them.


thanks I tried.

Small update: the femal has laid eggs and should hatch in a matter of days. Will be having some baby brine shrimp ready for them once they hatch. Definitely gonna record a vid once they're out of their egg shells.


----------



## roybot73

Whatever happened to this tank?
Last pics were gorgeous!


----------



## !shadow!

It's still alive I'm going to do a water change and take some pics  moss needs trimming tho i've let it grow out too much lol.


----------



## !shadow!

*teaser cell phone pic*

Here is a quickie ill try to take some better ones with the d3100. I did some minor tweaks and took out the moss rocks in center of the tank. Trying to make it all belem. Not just the foreground. Trimmed the moss up a bit today was a pita. Ill have to rethink using it next time  its hard cause it always looks so good if kept nice and tidy. I did buy a dimmer for the panorama leds so now theyre dimmable to create that dusk till dawn effect. Really neat and the fish seem to adapt to it well. I really wanna try and get another led fixture but waiting for better paychecks for that, hopefully in the coming weeks .


----------



## thefisherman

you mean "dawn till dusk" not the movie... i know i can't stop thinking about salma hayek haha 

love your tank bro!


- thefisherman


----------



## !shadow!

thefisherman said:


> you mean "dawn till dusk" not the movie... i know i can't stop thinking about salma hayek haha
> 
> love your tank bro!
> 
> 
> - thefisherman


yes yes thanks for the correction :biggrin: salma is a hottie hehe.

I will be taking pics of the tank in a few hours hopefully I can get them uploaded tonight.
I did pick up about 6 celestial pearl danios and 9 emerald eyed rasboras. I noticed them schooling at the local fish store and really liked it that I bought both so maybe I could get lucky and watch them do the same in this tank and so they are  I'm planning on either making the entire carpet hairgrass belem or adding some hc or some other nice carpeting plant to mix things up.


----------



## !shadow!

here are some some old pics I forgot to upload when setting up the tank. will take new ones soon. I got a vid of the rams as well. Sorry for the focus still practicing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/6798619584/in/photostream/


























































































can't get enough of the glowing blue fins of this glassfish


























my ricefish





































More recent coming shortly


----------



## swoof

Those are Daisy's Ricefish right? they look great i can never get good pics of mine.


----------



## ua hua

I don't know how I missed this tank but it's beautiful. I like everything from the depth you have created with your hardscape, the caves for your rams, and the choice of plants. Very well done.


----------



## !shadow!

swoof said:


> Those are Daisy's Ricefish right? they look great i can never get good pics of mine.


yea they can be a pain trying to get a nice clear photo but nice fish and good color



ua hua said:


> I don't know how I missed this tank but it's beautiful. I like everything from the depth you have created with your hardscape, the caves for your rams, and the choice of plants. Very well done.


thanks I try to create the most natural feel for the fish and a aesthetically pleasing looking aquarium as well. 

pics of the new trimming of the moss and removal of moss rocks will be in the next coming days. work keeping me more busy than what I thought


----------



## !shadow!

*sorry for late update:my recent video*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/7411415572/in/photostream

enjoy and sorry for glare from monitor it's something i'll always keep forgetting


----------



## jcgd

Oh man, that's sick dude. Looks immaculate. Nice spawn there too!


----------



## !shadow!

jcgd said:


> All I'm getting is a little 1" square picture.


fixed it, thanks and sorry about that


----------



## IWANNAGOFAST

Love it! I love that little nook that the rams have.


----------



## !shadow!

IWANNAGOFAST said:


> Love it! I love that little nook that the rams have.


thanks! I tried making as many hiding spots I could with the rocks in the background. I need to trim the moss as it's gotten out of hand. I felt as I should of left some of the branches untouched with moss. I wanna change things up in the tank to keep it fresh but not 100% sure where to start. I would love to try hc in this tank but it would be a pita to try to trim with all the branches. I wanted to try to keep it low light as well. In the near future I wanted to maybe try experimenting the look on this tank with the rear half of the tank with a full rocky background and nothing but needle leave java fern and maybe half of the foreground with some carpet maybe glosso or marisela minuta such as in this pic I googled up:


----------



## WoodRiverTroutBum

hydrophyte said:


> I meant inside the car I was trying to be funny, which usually doesn't work out so well.


Sorry for quoting an old post but for what it's worth hydrophyte, I literally laughed out loud when I read this. 

Tank looks awesome, all 20 ways!roud:


----------



## !shadow!

lol np quote whatever you wish  glad you enjoyed it. I need to take some more recent shots of the tank with the dslr. I did minor changes in it. The moss has gotten so much out of control that it literally took over the hairgrass and has established itself as the dominant carpet plant lol


----------



## Geniusdudekiran

Is the tank still up?


----------



## !shadow!

Geniusdudekiran said:


> Is the tank still up?


yup very much still up but it looks 50% the same as what it was when I first started it up. I got no time for maintenance since I work in the a/c field and summers been hectic. Every winter I tend to redo the tank and keep things fresh . I wish I had more time to take pics and upload em on here to show the tpt members the progress but I tend to get caught up in other things and there is this thing that's called laziness that is a very cruel habit . I did manage to get a lovely gold ram that is my new best friend. He practically begs me everytime I'm near the tank to feed him. He even lets me pet him while he sits still with my index finger. really nice personality. he's really tame too and doesn't shy away when cleaning/trimming the tank. I got about 5 zebra/leopard danios, 5-7 neons can't remember how many, 1 gbr, and 4 or 5 harlequin rasboras. really a nice set of schools that seem to get along very well. All are quick swimmers and snatch up the food quickly to prevent decay. I did add some riccia and seems to be flourishing like i've never seen. On top of that it helps absorb the excess nutrients to help with the algae control along with the java moss. My cherry shrimp are loving the tank with the abundance of moss. It's like heaven to them and probably got about a 100-200 from the 20 I started off from. talk about profit lol. hopefully I can get some nice pics taken and a nice water change before I upload some pics on this journal.


----------



## zenche

i'm gonna pick up 4-5 rams at the next local swap here at the end of the month. thinking 3 EBR and 2 GBRs for my 75G.

likewise, i've been consumed by work/laziness and haven't uploaded diddly in my journal. tank looks nothing like it used to outside of the dw.


----------



## !shadow!

EBR's are my favorite fish but I would rather restart the tank and give them the best habitat without the mess in the tank currently. None of the local stores seem to have them and if they do they get snatch off quickly


----------



## zenche

what happened to your 75 btw?


----------



## !shadow!

Are you asking me if I had a 75g tank? if so nop, I never did. this 48g and my ada 30-c are my only tanks I have. Both will have a fresh start this winter so keep an eye out for them.


----------



## zenche

hrm. for some reason i thought this tank was a 75


----------



## !shadow!

*update*

Well looks like it's time to update this tank. I decided to downsize(I know...What a shocker to a aquarist) but to upgrade at the same time. I been in the market for a smaller tank but better clarity tank and figured I'd finally get me a opti white ada 60-H (45) dimmensions 24x18x18. My old tank is 36x18x18 so pretty much a foot off the width. Reason for this is over the years I could not keep this tank over 6 months. I'd get interested in it at first then slowly lose interest. I'm guessing I wasn't ready for the responsibility of keeping up with the maintanance so when the summer hit i'd get hounded with work at my job and so I figured if I got one a bit smaller and with less water volume i'd be fine. Plus when you add in all the soil,rock, driftwood it displaces even more. I'm still going to go with aquasoil since it has never failed me and has always given outstanding results. Lights for now will be my 4 available panorama fixtures from ecoxotic. I don't think I will be using all 4 since that was overkill on my 48g so i'll be narrowing it down to 2 or so.Also each one of the panoramas are dimmable so I can create a natural dawn to dusk atmosphere. I'm really interested in a ada aquasky 601 or even 602 but that's later down the road when I see and know more results of others using it. As far as filtration I'm still going with the fantastic g3 going with eheim bio media. I want to get lily pipes for it the only thing that's holding me back is I've heard their a pain in the butt to clean but hey there is always a trade off right? I'm actually going to get a better overturn in the tank and faster clearer water now that it's smaller so there is a plus side to downgrading  I'm still keeping the same stand as I plan to keep my 30-c side by side and use it as a shrimp tank. As far as fish I'm still keeping my rams i've bred in the 48g,electric blue rams, some blue eyed rainbow fish and i recently went to the fish store and saw some orange hatchetfish pictured here


















and here









A bit difficult to find so I figure why not try my hand at em. 

As far as inspiration goes this guys journal seems to fit the description best.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquascaping/56945-90-45-45-a.html


----------



## !shadow!

Ok so when I was draining the 48g I noticed 2 little specs moving around and so I thought it was mosquito larvae but turns out the emerald eye rasboras I had layed eggs and I didn't know about it. I got two 1cm fry swimming around in the 48g all to themselves lucky them. I will have to transfer them to a 2.5 so that I can get the tank ready when it arrives. I tried my best to take some macros of them.
Here is some pics of them to give you an idea of what they look as adult 










These are the macros.














































As you can tell slightly, the fry have a bit of black on the dorsal fin so i'm guessing it's a safe assumption unless they're actually cardinal fry but I doubt it since I seem to not notice any red. Only time will tell.


----------



## !shadow!

*bad news : /*

well the tank came in but unfortunately they gave me a 60-h(30) not a 60-h(45)
Called aqua forest aquariums and told me it'd take 3-4 weeks for the container to ship in.... Not really what i wanted to hear. So they told me I could wait or keep the 60-h and get a refund on the difference but I don't really like the 24x12x18 dimmensions. The 12 width seems too restricting coming from a 18. I decided either to wait for the 60-h(45)dimmensions 24x18x18 and use the time wisely to plan the scape or get a full refund and use that money to buy plants and seryu stone for the hardscape on my current 48g and forget about buying a new tank. What do you think guys. Any imput would be appreciated. thanks


----------



## talontsiawd

I would either wait for the tank you want, or keep your tank. For two reasons, first you seem set on the other tank. Second, I agree that another 6 in of depth would be a better looking tank, especially how you scape. It sucks to have a tank where you don't like the dimensions. I tried for about 3-4 years to like my first 29 gallon and in the end, I just hated it. I would hate to see you do the same, with a much more expensive tank.


----------



## !shadow!

Ok so small update babies turned out to be zebra danios. Stripes show very clearly and I could see why I got mixed up with the emerald eye rasboras seeing how they both look similar in shape. I will try to get pics of them later. As far as the tank goes It should arrive on the 25th or so of january so I will use the time to gather the hardscape materials.


----------



## fplata

Man i dig this tank, where did you pick up that wood?


----------



## !shadow!

Thanks fplate . The first piece of wood I got from manzanita.com the 2nd one which is also nice is from Mr Tom B also known as plantbrain on this forum. Personally I think he has the nicest pieces available. Check out his swap and shop thread in the power sellers section.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=177909


----------



## !shadow!

*Some pics of the driftwood I recently purchased*





































should arrive a few days after the tank. I thought it would compliment the bolbitis and neeedle leaf java fern draping from it.


----------



## Green_Flash

this was a fun journal to read, looking forward to your new tank.

did it come in yet?


----------



## !shadow!

Nop about to call them up to see what's going on : /


----------



## Green_Flash

!shadow! said:


> Nop about to call them up to see what's going on : /



Looks like they're back in stock finally on AFA's website.


----------



## !shadow!

Yup the tank is actually on it's way finally after about a 2 1/2 month wait. A bit disappointed since the crate wasn't included due to the mistake of a smaller tank I had to dish out about 120$ for the crate to safely ship the tank. Thought i'd get it for free or something since i've been so patient with them. Oh well atleast I will finally get what i've been waiting for. Never thought it'd take this long but at the same time i've been taking other projects like re-arranging my room to better accommodate the tank. I did want to experiment putting the tank near a window where the sun seems to shine down on it perfectly and create that sunrise to sunset feel. I know i've read about how it'll cause algae but i'm running low light plants and will do my 50% h20 changes weekly. As far as the baby danios they've gotten pretty big about an inch compared to a cm before gonna probably move them in the 30-c one of these days. I'll give you guys a teaser pic of how the wood will be arranged tomorrow.


----------



## !shadow!

*update 2/17*

Small update. I finally got the tank about two days ago. Had to move a couple of things around including lay the 48g on the floor since I don't trust putting it anywhere else for the risk of cracking it. I did pick up a panorama fixture from my lfs. Supposedly they say it's 40% more intense and judging by the looks of it, It sure does seem that way. I bought me a ecoxotic controller as well to make sure when I work my plants get the needed amount of light without the worry of a extended photoperiod. I did change my plans up as far as the hardscape AGAIN lol. I will take pics of the pre-hardscape on tuesday but in the meantime here are the pics of the controller.


----------



## !shadow!

*Hardscape update*

Ok so as promised here is a small teaser. The rear i'm undecided on completely sand or soil and just grow tall stem plants like rotala sp green, green cabomba or vals. I pretty much just want something that looks nice and has that nice lush green color that compliments the entire scape. I was thinking dwarf hairgrass or blyxya on the rear. Plants i'm going to use for sure are bolbitis, needle leaf java fern, spiky moss and maybe some fissidens. Anyways here are the pics


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## swoof

that's a nice piece of wood, awaiting the plant setup


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## Green_Flash

Looks nice, can't wait to see the plants in there.


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## IWANNAGOFAST

Looks great! jealous of your 60H, i got the 30cm one and I really wish I had more depth.


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## !shadow!

Thanks I actually got the tank planted this past saturday. I wanted to let a few days pass before I took pictures so the cloudiness wouldn't affect the quality of the pics. I am extremely happy with the outcome and am looking forward to seeing the growth of the moss and bolbitis in the coming months.I'll post pics in a few hours. stay tuned


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## !shadow!

Finally what you guys have been patiently waiting. Feel free to comment good or bad 










































































































































rotala sp green along with dwarf hairgrass and vals
















fissidens growing on the back end up the stump


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## Green_Flash

It was worth it, I like the soil and sand beach area.


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## caique

benon said:


> I found one for $299... that's money...


 
Kensfish has them right now for $225

Oops thread is a year and a half old.


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## ikuzo

i think the rocks should be bigger, it looks it got swallowed by plants / woods. everything else looks great


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## !shadow!

I tore this tank up lol. Right now it's in the process of making a new scape. I'm sorry I haven't been updating, life and the holidays get in the way . Hope every one has a happy thanksgiving. Ill update a pic of what it looks like now


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## !shadow!

Not sure what to do with this tank,still in the deciding stages of the layout.


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## !shadow!

Something about an empty tank that i enjoy seeing. Maybe it's the infinite amounts of possibilities that can happen within.


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## Regenesis

Wonderful thread


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## !shadow!

*Update for the 32g ladies and gents*

Ok so after a few months or years of not posting I felt like I should give my planted tank family a update with a tank i'm finally satisfied with. I finished planting it about 2 months ago and I forgot to upload the pictures upon starting it up. i have a few mobile pictures I took with phone(not the best quality but i'll try to post them anyway later meanwhile these are the dslr ones). Here is the tank. It's a huge rock I bought at my local fish store called aquatek. Already had a cave structure when i bought it and didn't need modification.The idea was to build a low tech fern,moss, anubias tank with small fish such as cpd's and ember tetris with a few adonis tetras, ottos and Corydoras habrosus. I had went with soil before this present set up but I always enjoyed the tropical look of the sand even tho it's very hard to upkeep. I figured as long as I siphon out the small debris it'll keep looking clean and not want to tear it down so soon, something I tend to do often. Anyways forgive me for some of the pictures as some came out a bit blurry as these fish are hard to photograph. Need to clean up a bit of the trident fern have a bit of bba. So here are the pictures, I hope you guys enjoy!


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## !shadow!

New hardscape with ryuoh stones will try to take dslr quality pics and update soon.


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## BettaBettas

liking that hardscape


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