# 'tiger in my tank' JG's 10G



## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

That looks great! Cant wait to see it grown in!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

I like the uniformity of the rocks. Nice job. l can imagine this with a hc carpet *drools*


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

It's different, but I like how natural it looks. It reminds me f something I'd see in the Smokies.


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## sapphoqueen (Feb 9, 2010)

try wall frogs in that!


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Thanks for the comments. I think a few weeks of growing is going to change the appearance greatly. Hopefully at that point it'll look a little less contrived and even more natural, especially after the rocks lose that "new" look. 

Once that happens I may ditch the anubias and ferns to try to scale things back a bit so it looks larger.


Sapphoqueen: I have no idea what a wall frog is... care to share?


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Woah...how much does that huge stone weigh?:icon_eek:

And do you have any plans for fish/inverts so far?


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## trackhazard (Aug 24, 2006)

Your water is amazingly clear. i had to look over to your CO2 diffuser to see if it was actually filled or not.

I would normally say the rocks and bg plants are too big for the tank but for your setup, I think it creates a very "intimate" feeling for lack of a better term. Great job.

-Charlie


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

ZTM: Its heavy.  No thoughts for any life outside of plants at the moment as it may be a short lived tank depending on how it grows in.

Trackhazard: I think it took over an hour to fill it. Mainly because as I was planting and spritzing I noticed that pieces of soil were already breaking down into the brick dust deal. So much for "deals" on used soil heh. Thanks for the comments. Looking at the tank in reality the stone is right up to the front glass with only a small section for plants up front. Trying something a little different.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

I snapped a few pics of the tank this afternoon to update the thread a little. 

Not too much to post about. The tank is settling in fairly well. Getting a little hair algae that I always get when starting new scapes so no surprise there, should be gone in a week or two. 
Eleocharis 'belem' is starting to carpet up well in the front. UG in the rock cracks is showing a little progress but lagging behind a bit. The baby staurogyne 'porto velho' on the right is taking the biggest hit at the moment doing a good job of melting away. If it doesn't bounce back soon I'll just pull it and replace the whole bank on the right with more hairgrass.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Quick update. Sorry for the dark pic, I lost the pink freshwater bulb in my fixture so its only running 1x24 right now. :-/ 

Tank is doing well. Minimal algae so far. UG is slowly stating to get going between the rocks and the staurogyne 'porto velho' finally decided to wake up on the right side. 
The rocks are starting to get that nice grown in patina now. A few more weeks and it will look much more mature.


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## bbeddes (Oct 27, 2009)

That tank soooo needs a pair of Apistos! That cave would be perfect for them. I've got a pair of A. cacatuoides breeding in a 16 gal, and they have been hands down the most interesting and enjoyable fish I've ever kept. GET SOME!

I really like that whole scape too, BTW.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Is UG normally this slow of a grower?


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Thanks for the comments B! I haven't even given the first thought to fauna for this tank since I was thinking it would only be a temporary scape. 

ZTM: In the beginning yea. Once it settles in it goes like gangbusters. Thats my experience with it.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Time for the monthly update...

Took a few images this afternoon while trying to catch the blue tigers out for some pictures. Things are progressing well with the tank. I've removed the Utricularia between the rocks all together. The growth just wasn't uniform enough. This will be replaced with Fissidens Fontanus moss. This should contrast well to the bright green of the foreground carpet as well. 
The fern/anubias have been removed from the background and replaced with plain rotala sp 'green'. Just got its first mowing on thursday. 

Otherwise just chugging along. The odd colored rocks in there are temporary cultures of mini-pellia that are going in the 40 re-scape tomorrow. 

Can't wait to get a few assassin snails to help get the pond snails back in check... including manual removal of course.


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## bbeddes (Oct 27, 2009)

Now *THAT* looks awesome! Your eleocharis lawn really filled in good... it's a nice bright contrast for the darker rock work. I agree on the fissidens, that will work out much better for the location... can't wait to see how that fills in... too bad it's such a slow grower, don't want to have to wait that long! This should end up being a long-term sustainable and easy care tank.

Are you using one of those mini canisters for filtration? Let me know what you think of it, I've been looking at them...


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## Nate McFin (Mar 19, 2009)

Very nice progression! Good call with the fissidens, I really think it will look great.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Thanks guys! 

bb: With this much light and the CO2 cranked you'll be very surprised how fast a nice patch of fissidens will grow. Filtration is a used fluval 105 on this tank that I bought through the s&s here. I packed the last basket full with some very fine micro filtration pads to slow down the flow a little. Guess that explains the high water polish and clarity. 

I'm just glad I got the OE blue tigers in for it. My wife was already asking what kind of fish I was going to put in there for her!


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Someone asked what type of light that is and I figured I'd pop it in here. Its a current 30" 2x24W t5ho. It hangs over on either edge but the bulb length is only 24" so it works out well and doesn't spill a ton of light around the tank.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

I snapped a few pics this a.m. for an update. 

The Rotala has grown back up and will take a few more heavy trims to get it to bush out more like I want. The staurogyne 'porto velho' is now the largest leaved plant in the tank and I'm trying to decide if I want to keep it or try something with a similar growth pattern but smaller leaves. 

Algae wise things are ok. I have some BBA tufts on the rocks now from a little co2 level bouncing that happened when I added a large foam filter to the intake. It should stabilize soon and I'll kill off whats there with some excel. If it keeps growing I might try to let it cover the face of the rock. :O















OEBTs are doing well and maturing. These are stock from DK via someone who bought them from her a while back. Still patiently waiting to see some berry action. I went a little crazy with the pics... these little buggers have by far become my favorite shrimps. The orange eyes just make them so alien looking. Here are some images of the tanks inhabitants.

The dark blues:














Saddles?


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## nemosreef (Oct 19, 2007)

Very nice loking tank.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

This is one of the best 10g scapes I've ever seen, great strong hardscape for sure. The plants are also placed very well to work with the stone. Great job. 

Those OEBTs are quite striking as well.
-Andrew


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## AlexXx (Dec 1, 2009)

Wow those are some great looking rocks and perfect positioning. Really great looking carpet too. It looks freakin amazing.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Wow thanks everyone! 

Andrew the comment is much appreciated. Its nice to feel like I'm actually starting to learn scaping. Still a long ways to go. 

Any thoughts on the 'porto velho' on the right leaves being too large? Trying to think what other smaller leaved clustering type semi-low growing plant I could put there if I did get rid of it.


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## dj2005 (Apr 23, 2009)

Starting to learn? Your tanks have been looking great for quite a while so I'd say you know what you're doing. 

I like the porto velho as it lessens the blow of the heavily planted left side and helps keep the eye focused on the center of the tank rather than the left.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

:icon_redf thanks dj. Much appreciated. I do have a tiny bit of P stellatus 'narrow leaf' (sp?) in the rear-middle but its not coming in as well as I'd hoped.


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## arktixan (Mar 12, 2010)

Wow that's amazing! excellent job!


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## zeldar (Jun 24, 2009)

I can't believe I have never seen this tank before! Just to echo what everyone else is saying, the hardscape is great and that carpet is perfect. 

As for the porto velho, I really like it in here. I can tell that it is kinda falling over on ya, but if it ever straigtens up and reaches for the light, it will look great. 

Like Andrew said, def one of the better 10gallon scapes I've seen. Subscribed for sure!


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## mgdmirage (Mar 30, 2009)

Wow can't believe i missed this! great tank the carpet is gorgeous! Scape is really well done also!


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## Darth Toro (Mar 6, 2010)

Beautiful tank!


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## !shadow! (Jan 25, 2010)

A Hill said:


> This is one of the best 10g scapes I've ever seen, great strong hardscape for sure. The plants are also placed very well to work with the stone. Great job.
> 
> Those OEBTs are quite striking as well.
> -Andrew


what ^^ said . l gotta see this in a couple of weeks to see how it evolves over time. very nice job again mrjg


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## rountreesj (Jun 12, 2007)

makes me wanna use hairgrass...


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Edit: To say thanks to everyone for the comments, they are much appreciated!

rountrees: If you do be sure to get the 'belem' or 'japan' variant. Much easier to maintain a nice short foreground since it curls back down toward the substrate. The only thing you really have to worry about is thinning it out as it gets too dense. Once it gets so packed in there you start getting a little browning from the overgrowth. 
If you want to try some out hit me up and I can send you a small starter portion.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

**passes around cigars**

Soon to have more tigers in my tank. Just saw the first berried female this evening. wewt! That is all.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

MrJG said:


> **passes around cigars**
> 
> Soon to have more tigers in my tank. Just saw the first berried female this evening. wewt! That is all.


Congrats mayne roud:


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

Really nice. I am jealous.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Thanks for the 'grats and nice comment stingraysule. I may try to snap a pic sometime although it'll be just another pic of a berried OE blue tiger.  At least its one of my darkest girls, not sure how that translates to % of darker offspring. Not too concerned about that at this point though. 

On an unrelated note good luck to the Atlanta Braves tonight as they try to take down the very good TB Rays!


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## ryndisher (Jun 1, 2010)

Beautiful scape!


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

i cant believe i never saw this tank. One of the best ten gallons i seen, and that carpet is nice!


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## non_compliance (Dec 1, 2009)

Whoa!! Love this tank!!! Great job. I'm always partial to great hardscapes.... good rockwork.. good elevation changes.... I like a aquarist who's not afraid of 6+ inches of substrate.


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Thanks peeps! 

Haha non_c I am most definitely not afraid of 6 inches of substrate. Just afraid of the cost of all that aquasoil. 

I'll have to get some updated pics soon. I just hacked up the tank pretty good on saturday and pulled a chunk of 'belem' out for a trade. Dunno why but the silly blue tigers were crawling all over my hands while I was trying to trim the carpet out. Its almost like they were trying to stop me... its never happened before.


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

WOW!!!...that foreground of belem is amazing!!! i really want to try that out for my 20 long


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Snapped a few quick pics while I was mucking about in the tank room today. This tank fared better than my others during the summer months. 
Right now the lighting is dropped to a single 24W T5HO 10k bulb. Going to see how it fares without CO2 for a while as I only have a 5lb bottle feeding both this and my 20 long. 

Lots of BBA at the moment but will kill it back once the tank stabilizes without injection.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

I think this looks very nice and clean


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Thanks man! I forgot to mention that all the OEBT shrimp were lost over the summertime. Seems that the only way I can have luck with Cardina sp. is to have them in a low light/no touch kind of tank.  
So right now this tank is empty of inhabitants and I'm in the process of trying to decide what to stock it with. It would be a nice tank for a pair of Orange Flash Apistos which someone in the club breeds... or a colony of clown killies also a local breeder... or I've also considered a bunch of banded gobies. Too many choices.


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## MARIMOBALL (Mar 18, 2007)

Man sorry you lost the tigers, but the tank is looking great. Your tank was one of the reasons I switched from DHG to belem. I love belem its the ultimate foreground plant.


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## problemman (Aug 19, 2005)

I have a male orange flash they are nice but I live clown killies! Does your breeder ship?


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

I'm sure she does... lemme shoot her a message and see what availability she has.

Come to think of it I guess the tank name is a misnomer now but its staying haha. Its an ooold song by a band called My Bloody Valentine but I'm sure nobody caught that. 

Marimoball: Thanks man! I think the 'belem' is right there with stauro 'repens' as my fav depending on the layout. For bigger tanks I think stauro 'porto velho' is awesome.


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