# Meow's 12G Long - "Bucephalandia"



## Sub1117 (Sep 21, 2014)

Wow, that hardscape is stunning! Are there any fish/inverts? Maybe a front tank picture at water level would be great as well. :Thumbsup:


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

I think I have the only Buce that you don't have off of the sales list from here a while 
back. Mini Arrogant Blue. LOL...
Awesome looking tank.
I cover my tank in like manner/w a piece of custom glass cut to fit the 10g regular tank that I have/w open places on both ends for simple access and ventilation.
Previously I'd not put that much DW in my tank for want of clear viewing all of the tank
because I only have an Elassoma in there but would like to see it at least once a week or so...LOL..
But I'm in my mind designing a "scape" so this makes me think out the box on seeing in there by admitting the good looks of it first while thinking it may work in a limited amount of my new tank as one end is supposed to be the bank of the pond so DW next to the bank would not be out of place in there even if it were to come close enough to the front to allow a scraper in there. So thanks for the inspiration !!!
In more ways than one actually. I'm lease locked to 10g or less.
But I might slip by/w a 15g tank if it's not filled up/w water so I can let some of the DW stick out of the top which has eluded me previously, but still give me the extra 2" in
the front to back dimensions while giving me the length to use 24" bulbs in there thus opening up several bulb choices.
This tank has given me three new options...thanks a gazillion...
P.S. AND... Mr. Aqua I believe has a 17g tank in rimless that might work for this...


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Wow that quite a list of plants. Tank looks great.


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## Black Hills Hillbilly (Jul 22, 2015)

I think I just had a bucegasm.... I need to up my game on buce collecting.


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## Mumford (Nov 12, 2012)

Must. Have. More. Photos.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Thanks everyone. 

This tank is definitely comprised of an ongoing collection of mini/small/medium-sized Bucephalandra varieties and other rarer aquatic aroids/ferns/mosses/liverworts. Currently on the lookout for Fissidens, Crepidomanes, Aridarum, Homalomena, Schismatoglottis, Bolbitis, and Hymenophylaceae species and others. 

On the topic of Bucephalandras, I know most of these varieties are just total bull. It's none the less fun to collect, albeit expensive. 

Emersed plants are slowly filling in with evident root development. There seems to be a small patch just slightly under shade by driftwood that kills/melts whatever plant I put there. Not quite sure what's going on since I doubt it's the lack of lighting that's melting the plants.

Starting with miniscule portions of each moss/liverwort, it's taken some time for them to adjust to their emersed forms, adhere to the driftwood, and finally begin putting out new fronds. 

Jungermannia truncata 'Jade Lotus'








Plagiochilaceae sp. 'Cameroon Moss'








Fissidens sp. 'Miroshaki'






Will definitely post more pictures soon, but I'm waiting for things to grow in a bit more. And unfortunately the Bucephalandras at the moment are suffering from being covered in unsightly mulm and some algae, a problem which I've been working on by performing weekly siphoning/water changes and plans to obtain Short Nose shrimp (Caridina sp.) for their renowned cleaning abilities. 

So far the only fauna in this tank are pond snails and Malaysian Trumpet snails. I'm planning to stock with Short Nose shrimp, Orange Neocaridina heteropoda, and Boraras urophthalmoides eventually. We'll see how that goes though. The tank may be too small for the Boraras.

I did not take pictures of the build while setting up the tank, but if anyone is interested, I'll diagram and explain my methods in creating the emersed portion and dealing with the filtration and heating, and take pictures of everything as they are currently.

As of now, this tank is receiving 12 consecutive hours of low-medium light, daily gluteraldehyde, weekly all-in-one macro/micro fertilizer, stays at approximately 78 degrees Farenheit and 80%+ humidity, and gets a 30-40% water change weekly.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Got some new additions.

Aridarum sp. 'Mini'








Crepidomanes sp. 'Calicut'








Crepidomanes auriculatum


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

The tank is impressive and so is the plant list! 😱 must have taken a long time to collect all those!


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## TheAnswerIs42 (Jul 10, 2014)

You had me at "Bucephalandia"

Subscribed and cant wait to see more pictures

I am currently contemplating a trio of nano shrimp tanks with only buces and mosses, and your 12 long is an inspiration. Have you considered adding any critters to your tank?

Again, Bravo!!


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## Greasy (Aug 16, 2009)

Oh, do you have any photos of your Fissidens geppi and nobilis? What is the difference between the two?


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Homalomena sp. 'Red', along with Aridarum sp. 'Narrow' and Aridarum sp. 'Mini'








Aridarum caulescens 'Red', along with Homalomena sp. 'Sedakau South' and Aridarum sp. 'Micro'








Fissidens splachnobryoides

































































































Caridina multidentata 'Amano'








Neocaridina heteropoda 'Orange'


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Beautiful!


Maybe a bit more livestock? 
Maybe something small that will venture out onto the emersed area as well (no idea what though)


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

WaterLife said:


> Beautiful!
> 
> 
> Maybe a bit more livestock?
> Maybe something small that will venture out onto the emersed area as well (no idea what though)


I am planning on adding Boraras urophthalmoides at some point. They're the smallest shoaling species I could think of, and even then, this tank may be too small for them. We'll see.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Get a fog machine/fogger or humidifier for a fog effect (or is that too much humidity/heat for the plants/fish?) By the way, how warm does the water get as it is now?

With the added fog it would look like a spooky, yet beautiful, Bucephalandia swamp 

Haha, just kidding. Probably a little overboard.

Maybe once the Buces grow a bit more, you can get some plantlets from them and do a high-tech Bucephalandia tank. I hear low tech and emersed grown Buceph don't get all the wild crazy color and shiny specks that high-tech grown Buce produce. That way the show the other magnificent side of Bucephalandra.


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## jbullfrog (Apr 24, 2015)

meowschwitz said:


> I am planning on adding Boraras urophthalmoides at some point. They're the smallest shoaling species I could think of, and even then, this tank may be too small for them. We'll see.


Have you ever heard of Sundadanio Axelrodi? They're very small, the smallest I've ever seen, and they would love the tank for sure. Plus they're a nice reflective blue color which would look really cool with the dark greens and purple colors you have


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

WaterLife said:


> Get a fog machine/fogger or humidifier for a fog effect (or is that too much humidity/heat for the plants/fish?) By the way, how warm does the water get as it is now?
> 
> With the added fog it would look like a spooky, yet beautiful, Bucephalandia swamp
> 
> ...


The water temperature stays around 75F and the humidity at 85%. While fog would look nice, I have limited space around the tank to setup up the machinery. Same goes for a high-tech tank. No room for a CO2 tank. Also, I am and always have been in the low-tech club. Minimal maintenance is my main goal, aside from the aesthetics.



jbullfrog said:


> Have you ever heard of Sundadanio Axelrodi? They're very small, the smallest I've ever seen, and they would love the tank for sure. Plus they're a nice reflective blue color which would look really cool with the dark greens and purple colors you have


I like their look, but Boraras urophthalmoides is still smaller, maxing out at 16mm whereas Sundadanio axelrodi reach 25mm. Also, my water is likely too hard and alkaline for their liking.


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## Aquarium_Alex (Jul 28, 2014)

B. naevus is a bit more colorful than B. urophthalmoides and slightly smaller I believe. And B. micros is smaller still. If you're looking for REALLY tiny fish, then danionella translucida may be up your alley.


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## Kai808 (Jul 19, 2011)

Beautiful tank! But how do you categorize each plant so they don't get mixed up? After awhile, certain buces look the same to me.


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

You did a great job on this tank. Awesome! 


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Lil' Swimz$ said:


> The tank is impressive and so is the plant list! 😱 must have taken a long time to collect all those!


It took a month or two, and cost a pretty penny as well with all them Buces.



TheAnswerIs42 said:


> You had me at "Bucephalandia"
> 
> Subscribed and cant wait to see more pictures
> 
> ...


Amano shrimp, Orange Neocaridina shrimp, and Exclamation Point Rasboras are the current inhabitants.



Greasy said:


> Oh, do you have any photos of your Fissidens geppi and nobilis? What is the difference between the two?


F. geppi is a very slow grower, taking an extremely long time to become established before pushing out new fronds. F. noblis seems to grow a bit faster. F. geppi also appears to have larger and more robust fronds than F. noblis. Once both have grown out a bit more, I'll try to get a comparison picture.



WaterLife said:


> Beautiful!
> 
> 
> Maybe a bit more livestock?
> Maybe something small that will venture out onto the emersed area as well (no idea what though)


When I first put in the Amano shrimp, a few decided to climb up onto the emersed area, flippin' and floppin' around. They had trouble getting back into the water, needing my help to push them along. After a few weeks, no more emersed adventurers; I guess they've learned their lesson.



Aquarium_Alex said:


> B. naevus is a bit more colorful than B. urophthalmoides and slightly smaller I believe. And B. micros is smaller still. If you're looking for REALLY tiny fish, then danionella translucida may be up your alley.


I like the look of Boraras urophthalmoides, with the stripe rather than the dots of B. naevus. I'm not sure Danionella translucida school/shoal much, but like B. micros, they're a little plain to look at.



Kai808 said:


> Beautiful tank! But how do you categorize each plant so they don't get mixed up? After awhile, certain buces look the same to me.


Each Bucephalandra variety I have is identified by a unique number in an organized spreadsheet. I attach each specimen to a piece of black lava rock, using both cyanoacrylate superglue gel and black cotton string. I etch the number onto a small piece of translucent plastic and attach it to the specimen with a ziptie around the string. The ID tag can be hidden pretty easily, and even when it's visible, it's not too unsightly.


















treyLcham said:


> You did a great job on this tank. Awesome!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks!

Some new inhabitants! 11 tiny Boraras urophthalmoides, or also known as Exclamation Point Rasboras. I took these pictures only a few minutes after introducing them into the tank, so their colors have yet to return from the stress of shipping and change in water parameters.

The size of these tiny fish compared to an Amano shrimp.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Nice to hear the shrimp can learn to not venture out of water before they die.
What do you feed the Amanos? I've never seen their insides that red before.

Great idea on the plant tags as well. I might just have to copy that idea haha. But how did you get the zip tie into the lava rock exactly?

Great pictures by the way.
Have a particularly favorite Buceph yet?


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## shrimpNewbie (May 6, 2011)

This tank is insanely nice, such a beautiful compact scape

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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

WaterLife said:


> Nice to hear the shrimp can learn to not venture out of water before they die.
> What do you feed the Amanos? I've never seen their insides that red before.
> 
> Great idea on the plant tags as well. I might just have to copy that idea haha. But how did you get the zip tie into the lava rock exactly?
> ...


The Amanos have been nibbling on algae and whatever gets fed to the Neocaridina, like barley, veggie sticks, and other shrimp foods. Not sure why that one Amano has such red innards, but the others do not look like that. 

The ziptie goes around the string that's tied around the lava rock.

Favorite Buce? Honestly, I like them all. I think I'm more partial to darker varieties, or those with interesting venation. I quite like Giant Centipede. Unfortunately, since this is a low-tech setup, most of the Bucephalandra varieties I have look similiar, and without the ID tags, I wouldn't be able to tell most of them apart. Collecting different varieties was at first rather fun, but now I realize that it's pretty meaningless since so many just look practically the same. All of these trade names are just BS.



shrimpNewbie said:


> This tank is insanely nice, such a beautiful compact scape
> 
> Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk


Thanks! I will have a more current full-tank shot up soon. I'm expecting a new camera next week.


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## jbullfrog (Apr 24, 2015)

This is my favorite tank I've seen since it is so different. Its always awesome to see pictures! Keep them coming please!


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

jbullfrog said:


> This is my favorite tank I've seen since it is so different. Its always awesome to see pictures! Keep them coming please!


Thanks!

Got my new camera in, a Nikon D7100, so here are some full-tank shots.

















And just a picture of my 65G vivarium for fun.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)




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## jlfkona (Jan 1, 2013)

I love this tank. Beautiful!


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## kalan850 (Aug 21, 2012)

jlfkona said:


> I love this tank. Beautiful!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



+1


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## HBdirtbag (Jun 15, 2015)

jbullfrog said:


> Have you ever heard of Sundadanio Axelrodi? They're very small, the smallest I've ever seen, and they would love the tank for sure. Plus they're a nice reflective blue color which would look really cool with the dark greens and purple colors you have


I have some, and dig them.

But personally, I think some chili rasbora's would look awesome int hat tank and are smaller then the Sundadnio's


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Clea helena 'Assassin snail' egg case








Berried Neocaridina heteropoda 'Orange'








Fungal growth


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## Nick00Merlin (Sep 29, 2015)

That is an interesting fungal growth!


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## ChadRamsey (Nov 3, 2011)

this tank is amazing. Awe inspiring. 

BUT, id expect nothing less from you Meowroud:


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

jlfkona said:


> I love this tank. Beautiful!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk





kalan850 said:


> +1
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks!



HBdirtbag said:


> I have some, and dig them.
> 
> But personally, I think some chili rasbora's would look awesome int hat tank and are smaller then the Sundadnio's


I have about 10 Boraras urophthalmoides in the tank as of now, and I really like them. They are tiny, and their water parameter tolerance range is something I can more easily work with than the Sundadanio axelrodi's. So far, they are somewhat lacking in color, but their black stripes are prominent and I'm hoping as they mature, their orange coloration will stark to show. I plan to get maybe a dozen more of them.



Nick00Merlin said:


> That is an interesting fungal growth!


These growths sprout up in various places on the glass all the time, and last maybe a day or two before they disappear. I doubt they're harmful in any way, and they add a nice natural look to the tank.



ChadRamsey said:


> this tank is amazing. Awe inspiring.
> 
> BUT, id expect nothing less from you Meowroud:


Thank you!


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## anfield (Dec 1, 2013)

Great tank. Good information on the buces. Also setting up a low tech tank so I will have to restrain myself from getting too many varieties

Perhaps I missed this but is the back of the tank have raised substrate or is it just wood?


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

anfield said:


> Great tank. Good information on the buces. Also setting up a low tech tank so I will have to restrain myself from getting too many varieties
> 
> Perhaps I missed this but is the back of the tank have raised substrate or is it just wood?


The back of the tank is built from eggcrate wrapped with a black substrate barrier (weed barrier). There is a trench that spans the width of the tank that is filled with small-grain lava rock that forms the emersed section. Underneath the trench holds the heater and extra filter media (large lava rock). There are two cut-out sections on either end of the eggcrate structure that houses two internal filters. The height of the internal filters matches the height of the eggcrate structure and water level. The tops of the filters are hidden/covered with large pieces of lava rock (some with moss attached), which with little effort can be removed and access to the filters granted. Outflow tubing connected to the filters are hidden by the wood. There are miscellaneous pieces of plastic mesh and barrier to block any gaps between the aquatic section from the hidden eggcrate section. It's a little makeshift, but it works and looks okay. It's difficult to explain, and I regret not having taken pictures when I was setting it up, but hopefully my description makes some sense.


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## AquaAurora (Jul 10, 2013)

meowschwitz said:


> Fungal growth





Nick00Merlin said:


> That is an interesting fungal growth!





meowschwitz said:


> These growths sprout up in various places on the glass all the time, and last maybe a day or two before they disappear. I doubt they're harmful in any way, and they add a nice natural look to the tank.
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you!


If I am correct that is called slime mold but it is not mold, its actually an groupnig network of single cells organisms that come together to become a multi-cellular form. There are not a lot of instance of it in the aquarium hobby but if you google you'll find some hits on it. The stuff actually moves around (all be it slowly). My husband's betta tank also has it, but not on the glass, instead it likes to form around a scuplty structure that has a different substrate in it. Its completely harmless just not visually appealing is all (like the fungus that forms on newly submerged wood for the first few weeks/months).


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

AquaAurora said:


> If I am correct that is called slime mold but it is not mold, its actually an groupnig network of single cells organisms that come together to become a multi-cellular form. There are not a lot of instance of it in the aquarium hobby but if you google you'll find some hits on it. The stuff actually moves around (all be it slowly). My husband's betta tank also has it, but not on the glass, instead it likes to form around a scuplty structure that has a different substrate in it. Its completely harmless just not visually appealing is all (like the fungus that forms on newly submerged wood for the first few weeks/months).


Ah, you're right. Apparently it may be a Physarum sp. or something with a similar plasmodial spreading pattern.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Gorgeous new shrimp from jimko.

Caridina serrata x cantonensis 'Tangerine Tiger x Pure Red Line'


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## JBreezy (Jan 19, 2015)

Wow! Those shrimp are awesome. I don't see why a lot of people frown upon cross breeding some shrimp, I personally love the patterns that some produce.


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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

Whoaaa these shrimp look crazy!


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

:surprise::surprise::surprise::surprise:
Those shrimps!!!!

I will have to inquire about those beauts!

Berried already too!?
Let me know how the offspring turn out.

You think they can do alright in neutral/harder water like Tigers can or do they require the much softer water like the other Caridinas?
Hard to know since it's a cross between the two (TT x PRL).

I will get ahold of jimko


Man this tank just keeps getting better and *better*!!


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## JuanPeces1508 (Dec 18, 2015)

lovin this tank, never saw potencial in buce, guess you changed my view


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

JBreezy said:


> Wow! Those shrimp are awesome. I don't see why a lot of people frown upon cross breeding some shrimp, I personally love the patterns that some produce.





bereninga said:


> Whoaaa these shrimp look crazy!


I know, right? Hybridization can produce very interesting looking shrimp, especially on an individual level. I like the fact that each shrimp has a unique look, so I can actually tell them apart.



WaterLife said:


> :surprise::surprise::surprise::surprise:
> Those shrimps!!!!
> 
> I will have to inquire about those beauts!
> ...


Of the nine shrimp I received, two were already berried. Definitely hoping for some nice looking offspring.

As far as water parameters go, I'm not too sure. I'll be experimenting carefully. Right now, GH is 4, KH is 2, and TDS is 275. I'm going to attempt to drop TDS to around 150, KH to 1, and raise Gh to 5.



JuanPeces1508 said:


> lovin this tank, never saw potencial in buce, guess you changed my view


Glad to be of help.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

And I just had my first baby shrimplet sighting, probably offspring of one of the berried Orange Neocaridina.

And I added some more Boraras urophthalmoides. There should be a total of 30, but I've only ever gotten a total count of 24. Not too worried though, since there are a lot of hiding spots and I'm sure some are just still timid.


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## brancaman (Oct 28, 2013)

Great topic, lovely buces and amazing shrimps. By the way, your neocaridina are orange rili.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

brancaman said:


> Great topic, lovely buces and amazing shrimps. By the way, your neocaridina are orange rili.


Of the 20+ Orange Neocaridina in the tank, that berried one is the only one that appears to be 'Rili'; the rest are definitely regular orange. It'll be interesting to see if its offspring will inherit a similar pattern.


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## JennieEilerts (Dec 1, 2015)

This tank is incredible! I am in complete tank lust! How did you get the substrate to stay in the rear portion of the tank? I am getting a 12 L for the holidays, so am looking around for ideas -- I really love this one! It truly reminds me of a riverbank or stream... so wild-looking! I just love it!


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

JennieEilerts said:


> This tank is incredible! I am in complete tank lust! How did you get the substrate to stay in the rear portion of the tank? I am getting a 12 L for the holidays, so am looking around for ideas -- I really love this one! It truly reminds me of a riverbank or stream... so wild-looking! I just love it!


Check out post 36 for a (poor) description of how I created the emersed section. Let me know if you have any more questions about it and I'll try to clarify.


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## Kayen (Oct 14, 2007)

Super jealous of this tank, and all the shrimp. The photography is also top notch too! 
Boraras urophthalmoides are awesome fish, nice and tiny - not as bright as other Boraras, but not quite as shy in my experience (owning Maculatus, Merah, Urophthalmoides and Briggitae all at seperate points).

Bump: Super jealous of this tank, and all the shrimp. The photography is also top notch too! 
Boraras urophthalmoides are awesome fish, nice and tiny - not as bright as other Boraras, but not quite as shy in my experience (owning Maculatus, Merah, Urophthalmoides and Briggitae all at seperate points).


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## JennieEilerts (Dec 1, 2015)

meowschwitz said:


> Check out post 36 for a (poor) description of how I created the emersed section. Let me know if you have any more questions about it and I'll try to clarify.


Thank you! I think I missed it in my haste to find more pictures. 

Bump: Are you talking about the plastic eggcrate material from Lowe's or Home Depot? Or the foam stuff? I am thinking about using some super-fine stainless steel screen that has a black plastic coating to root my mosses onto. Is there a "void" under the trench area in the back where the heater is, or is it buried in substrate? Are the filters the Fluval U2 or similar? I am really loving this idea! I'm not so sure about Buces, as I'm still elarning, but I do think I will grow some of my weird terrestrial mosses on the "riverbanks". Thanks for such a cool tank journal!



meowschwitz said:


> The back of the tank is built from eggcrate wrapped with a black substrate barrier (weed barrier). There is a trench that spans the width of the tank that is filled with small-grain lava rock that forms the emersed section. Underneath the trench holds the heater and extra filter media (large lava rock). There are two cut-out sections on either end of the eggcrate structure that houses two internal filters. The height of the internal filters matches the height of the eggcrate structure and water level. The tops of the filters are hidden/covered with large pieces of lava rock (some with moss attached), which with little effort can be removed and access to the filters granted. Outflow tubing connected to the filters are hidden by the wood. There are miscellaneous pieces of plastic mesh and barrier to block any gaps between the aquatic section from the hidden eggcrate section. It's a little makeshift, but it works and looks okay. It's difficult to explain, and I regret not having taken pictures when I was setting it up, but hopefully my description makes some sense.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Kayen said:


> Super jealous of this tank, and all the shrimp. The photography is also top notch too!
> Boraras urophthalmoides are awesome fish, nice and tiny - not as bright as other Boraras, but not quite as shy in my experience (owning Maculatus, Merah, Urophthalmoides and Briggitae all at seperate points).
> 
> Bump: Super jealous of this tank, and all the shrimp. The photography is also top notch too!
> Boraras urophthalmoides are awesome fish, nice and tiny - not as bright as other Boraras, but not quite as shy in my experience (owning Maculatus, Merah, Urophthalmoides and Briggitae all at seperate points).


Thanks! So far, the B. urophthalmoides have been a little skittish. There's a main shoal that dominates the center of the tank with maybe 15-20 individuals at any one time, and a few stragglers that hang solo or in small groups at the ends of the tank. I've been feeding them Golden Pearls (200-300 microns), decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, and astaxanthin-loaded microworms. Hoping the high protein load will bring out the vigor and boldness in them, as well as better coloration.



JennieEilerts said:


> Thank you! I think I missed it in my haste to find more pictures.
> 
> Bump: Are you talking about the plastic eggcrate material from Lowe's or Home Depot? Or the foam stuff? I am thinking about using some super-fine stainless steel screen that has a black plastic coating to root my mosses onto. Is there a "void" under the trench area in the back where the heater is, or is it buried in substrate? Are the filters the Fluval U2 or similar? I am really loving this idea! I'm not so sure about Buces, as I'm still elarning, but I do think I will grow some of my weird terrestrial mosses on the "riverbanks". Thanks for such a cool tank journal!


Yes, the plastic eggcrate used as a lighting filter. The hidden empty space is partially filled with larger pieces of lava rock to serve as extra filter media, and a horizontally placed heater. I needed to find the smallest internal filters out there, so the ones I got are cheap ones off eBay (252029547706) which are just tiny powerheads with a compartment attached to the intake to hold media. They work fine. 

Off topic, but I'm working on a 15G terrarium for miniature ferns and orchids. It's in the very early stages right now, as I'm just working out the hardscape. Critiques are welcome. 








​


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Boraras urophthalmoides closeups.


















Took these pictures when the lights were off, so I used a flashlight to focus illumination on the bloom. Was exceedingly difficult to capture full-focus macro shots, even with focus stacking.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Quick update. 

~95% of the _Azolla sp._ has slowly deteriorated and is now gone. This is my second try with Azolla, and I'm not sure why it never seems to do well. 

Added a few new plants: _Schistmatoglottis roseospatha _ and _Utricularia graminifolia_ to the emersed area, and _Ricciocarpus natans_ as a new floater.

Growth in this tank has been slow. I attribute this partially to the lack of available nitrogen, even with dosing. It's been a limiting factor that I've been trying to account for by dosing a customized version of PPS-Pro with extra nitrogen. Whenever I test the water, nitrates still come out as 0, and I know my test kits are good. My overzealous feeding doesn't even seem to help. I may also start to add a bit more iron to my micro solution.

As much as I like the look of Bucephalandras, their performance in this tank has been less than optimal. New growth is often countered by constant melting. I would say that at least 20-25% of the Bucephalandras have either melted completely or to the rhizome. I think about the sensitivity to glutaraldehyde, but I still dose it daily to battle algae.

There are various forms of algae in the tank, but all at low and somewhat manageable amounts. There is also some Hydra, and the slime mold pops up someplace different almost everyday.

Out of the supposed 30 or so orange Neocaridina that I put in, I only ever see maybe a half dozen of them. I think many have died. The Caridina hybrids are doing well, and I don't think I've lost any of the 9 that I started with. One is berried again. I've not spotted any more shrimplets, but I'm hoping this new clutch proves more successful.

Shrimp additives have raised the TDS to around 310. Weekly water changes of around 20% don't seem to affect this level. It's a little high for my liking, but if the shrimp and fish are okay with it, then I'll leave it be.

Otherwise, this tank is on autopilot for now. Fauna appear to be stable. If breeding occurs, among the shrimp or even fish, then great. Flora is still growing in, but nothing is doing poorly. Dose/fertilize daily, feed daily, water change weekly, filter maintenance monthly. All is good.


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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

Ricciocarpus natans looks very cool. I've never heard of that floater before. Where did you get it?

Bummer about the buces and shrimp.

Do you have a cover to keep in the humidity for this?


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

bereninga said:


> Ricciocarpus natans looks very cool. I've never heard of that floater before. Where did you get it?
> 
> Bummer about the buces and shrimp.
> 
> Do you have a cover to keep in the humidity for this?


I got the _Ricciocarpus natans_ from a member on this forum. PM me if you would like the details.

There are two glass sheets that cover the tank. Keeps the humidity ~90%.


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## sharkbunnie (Oct 22, 2015)

Azolla houses a species of blue green algae that I think provides it nitrogen. Using Excel regularly would probably severely impact the algae and Azolla's ability to get nitrogen. 
Your tanks and pictures are amazing. Thanks for posting.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Any updates? Hope the tank made a turn for the better.


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## etane (May 14, 2012)

Been pulling my hair out trying to visualize my new scape and your tank is pretty much what I was thinking about doing except I want more of a flowing river layout rather than a riverbank one. Your tank is an inspiration and would love to see an update. BTW, what lens do you use with your D7100? Good macro photography always eludes me somehow.


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

WaterLife said:


> Any updates? Hope the tank made a turn for the better.





etane said:


> Been pulling my hair out trying to visualize my new scape and your tank is pretty much what I was thinking about doing except I want more of a flowing river layout rather than a riverbank one. Your tank is an inspiration and would love to see an update. BTW, what lens do you use with your D7100? Good macro photography always eludes me somehow.


I use a 40mm or 85mm for the macro shots.

So... it's been quite a while since I last updated. I fell out of the hobby a bit earlier this year and didn't do much with my tanks. I probably stopped doing maintenance, water changes, and dosing around April, and just left the lights on the lowest setting and fed the livestock. Since I all of my tanks are low maintenance, they seemed to do alright without me and were relatively self-sustaining. Livestock didn't fare too well, with most of the shrimp and fish gone. I went on a week-long vacation and left my tanks completely without care, so that probably did in most of the livestock. The plants were mostly fine, with low light and slow growth. Some Buces melted over time. Mini pellia and a few other mosses have taken off and spread well, while others are still struggling. Some emersed plants did better than others. There was a bit of staghorn algae, but not much. Glass was relatively free from any algae growth. The pond snail and Malaysian Trumpet snail populations seemed minimal. Besides the loss of fish/shrimp, the tank has done okay.

For the first time since probably April, I did some tank maintenance today. Cleaned the glass of snail poop, removed some staghorn algae, added some catappa leaves, and planted some Crytocoryne parva in the center of the emersed section where there was a gap in vegetation. I didn't do a water change, but the TDS is ~510. I also started setting the lights on high, and began dosing PPS Pro and gluteraldehyde again. From what I can see, there are two fish and two Amano shrimp left. 

I'm getting some more moss and Buces to even out the planted layout. Will have some more closeup/macro shots up soon.

All in all, looks pretty good for ~7 months of neglect.


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## Brolly33 (Apr 25, 2014)

Looking good after 7 months on autopilot. 


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## funkycat (Dec 13, 2016)

Wow I love this setup!!

Is it purely just the the small sized lava rock in the back? Do you use root tabs or anything??

How do you keep your filters and heater from being clogged with the lava rock?

Sorry for all the questions, haha but I think you'll be major inspiration for my next scape

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## Orohahn (Aug 27, 2009)

Gorgeous!! thank you for sharing.


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## johnson18 (Apr 29, 2011)

This tank is absolutely incredible!! Wow! Most definitely subscribed!


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

update? stunning tank!


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

OMG, I cant believe all the photos of this tank are gone, meowschwitz can you repost some of them? I wanted to use this tank as inspiration for my next scape.


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

Love your tank, love the half and half effect tanks


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## jem_xxiii (Apr 5, 2013)

update?


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## meowschwitz (Sep 6, 2011)

Hmmm... Still have this tank up and running on autopilot for about 2.5 years now. More details and pics to come.


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