# Gareth's 45 Gallon Slate Tank Journal (56k Warning) *Pics added July 02nd/07*



## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

*Day 1*

Today was a busy day. Today I emptied the tank out (it had old gravel in it still, dead plants etc, it was a rather gruesome process), painted the inside of the canopy white, and painted the back of the aquarium black.

I managed to get all of the old equipment from my 135 Gallon tank removed and set up for use on this tank too.










The setup is pretty straightforward. Water flows down the intake tube from the tank into the CO2 Reactor, flows from there into the Fluval 404, and from there it is pushed through the UV sterilizer and back into the tank. I know my hoses look disgusting, but I could not find my hose scrubber before I took the pics.. My bad..

Here is the stand set up in my living room, I am really hoping that 220 watts of Light isnt going to overpower the plasma TV.. lol










Tomorrow the project continues with plans for wiring the canopy, moving hte tank upstairs, adding flourite and hopefully filling the thing with water...


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

*Day 1 (4am)*

I was impatient, and waited just long enough for the paint to dry. Moved the tank upstairs, put in the flourite and filled the tank. Took half an hour to get the filter primed with all the tubing, but I thought all was well.

An hour later I start noticing that a lot of air bubbles are passing through the Fluval so I start nosing around. Much to my dismay I discovered that the original fluval tubing connecting the CO2 Reactor to the Fluval had eroded and was leaking all over the carpet behind the tank. THankfully I caught it in time and replaced the tubing with some 1/2" stuff I had lying around, its not pretty, but will do untill I can get some 5/8" tubing thats a little "stiffer" (This stuff seems pretty flimsy, kinks easily, etc).

I am going to get some sleep, tomorrow I am going to finish rebuilding the canopy, wire in a Fulham Workhorse 5 and a Fullham Workse 7 ballast to drive the 4 x 55 watt GE bulbs, and hopefully experiment with a few layouts.

I am going to post a few of the different layouts here and get some feedback before I settle on a final design. So far I have a few ideas, keeping in mind that I want to cover the entire bottom of the tank in a moss carpet.

*Layout 1* - _River Rock, and something with this piece of driftwood_. Sorry about the quality of pics, it is 4am after all, and I had to take the pics on my kitchen counter (only place with bright enough lights)


















































*Layout 2* - _Slate Walls_. Any of you who remember me know I love my slate, Something akin to my old 30 Gallon Krib tank (see pic)










*Layout 3* - _Mopani "islands". _I have a ridiculous amount of mopani on hand.. Enough that I could stuff this tank full of really cool pieces. However this time I was thinking about maybe setting up 1 or 2 groups of mopani with the branchy ends facing upwards, sort of like overturned stumps. These would have moss "tufts" on the top surfaces to grow in carpets similar to the tank bottom. Here are some pics of some of the mopani I have on hand (pics from the old 90 Gallon, which is now a turtle tank for my Red Eared Slider, and the old layout for this very tank)

























I have a "lot" more, but these are some of my favorite pieces

So I'm not so sure... I'll have to actually see what I can do with the materials I have, but I think I can come up with something pretty unique this time around. So here we are, after a days work, we have the tank cleaned, filled, and now just waiting for the flourite cloud in the water to settle.










It is DEFINATELY time for bed.


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## D.gilly (Sep 25, 2005)

wow I love your tanks, im really excited to see this one set up. I love it when people make the " natural backgrounds " out of wood and rock. I personally like the layout you are thinking of with the overturned stumps i always wanted to do that in my 75 but could never get the right stumps.


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## RESGuy (Jan 15, 2007)

Wow those tanks look amazing! Can't wait to see how you go with this  But remember to get your rest


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Ok so I experimented with a few layouts, but so far I like this one the best. What do you guys think?










I need to pick up a little more slate to finish off the top 3" of the tank, but so far so good, I'm pretty happy. Its a little cloudy from kicking up the substrate while arranging hte slate, and the lights just make the haze "glow" but you get the idea..


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Decided to experiment with a few pieces of mopani.. trying to mimic the appearance of tree roots coming under hte waterline... I think they might look neat when covered in moss...










Couple different pieces..


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

And yet another arrangement..


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## sayn3ver (Sep 1, 2006)

i love it. Its different. It gets alittle boring watching all these relatively flat tanks with a few rocks and hairgrass/hc. Once plants take root on the slate(moss/java/anubis) and fills it it'll look amazing. I bet the nooks and crannies provide nice hiding spots for shrimp and small fish.

:thumbsup:


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Is it possible to make a slope with the slate? I somehow think that making some areas of the wall come "forward" at the base would make it more interesting than just a wall.


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## will5 (Sep 30, 2005)

*Hi*



Steven_Chong said:


> Is it possible to make a slope with the slate? I somehow think that making some areas of the wall come "forward" at the base would make it more interesting than just a wall.


I think it may be possible to make it slope forward or even make so that the slate extends out more on top so that there is a cliff. IF GDominy USES ALOT OF SILICONE TO HOLD THEM TOGETHER.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Since the tank is only 12" deep (front to back) it really makes "sloping" difficult. The slate uses up a lot of room when its stacked this way, the upside being the weight of the slate (which is leaning down and back against the glass) keeps it from collapsing. I'm doing this without silicone, although it would be a good idea. I rebuilt this wall 7 times last night to make sure everything locked together tightly.

I'm also trying to preseve the plantable base of the aquarium which now only ranges from 4-7 inches front to back.

I also have to consdier the light. It's difficult to see in these photos (I'll take some better ones in a few minutes) but many of these pieces stick out quite far, creating little caves all throughout the slate. It creates a lot of shadows and blocks a lot of light that the moss carpet will need to grow the way I have planned.

The upside to this design at least, is that with all the nooks and crannies in the stonework there should be tons of room for shrimp to hide, breed etc. They will be able to go all around the slate where the fish can't go.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Here is what the tank looks like now after 7 wall rebuilds. The piece of wood in the center is now actually built into the wall, the rest of the wood is wedged in place using the top edge of the tank, pressing the wall into place. I had experimented using Plant shaping wire (the thick stuff used for shaping bonsai tree's) to "hang" and drape the wood across the slate but that ended with disasterous results (small collapse).










When I had this tank made a few years ago I purchased a heavy dutier glass that would support the rockwork I wanted (We have an aquarium manufacuter within a 20 minute drive). I have no doubt that If I were using standard glass my tank would have shattered during the cave in. I managed to escape with only a teeny tiny little scratch near the gravel line, but it was definately "change your shorts" scary.


















I am still deciding on what plants to put in here. Since Java Moss is going to be such a prevelent feature in this tank I think I will stick to some nice java ferns and some crypts. We'll see.. I'm gonna wander around the stores today and see if I can find anything cool.


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Nice layouts, but i think your tank is umm...full.(see air bubble touching top)


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

lol yes.. the water level went up quite a bit when I added the slate... I have since lowered it.


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## AxolotlFarmer (Nov 29, 2006)

I am really enjoying your slate wall. I was originally going to do one, but then I realized I don't have money ATM for it.

I really am enjoying these nartual looking backgrounds composed of rock and wood.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

It looks REALLY good! 

If you want to see if you can find any other moss I would look around your local streams, ditches and the sort to see if there is any you'd probably be surprised at what you can find!

Shrimp will love your tank!

-Andrew


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well I added a few plants, many more on the way, and I added a couple of fish and some shrimp.










Met with a minor disaster introducing hte new fish as my CO2 had gotten extremely high.. (I must have bumped the needle valve when I was screwing around with the tank the day before). I lost 4 Cardinal Tetra's inside of an hour of adding them to the tank, but after a 50% water change everyone seemed to calm down a lot.

This are looking better this morning, the shrimp survived the night (which I was really worried about, given the previous CO2 problem, and hte platties are out of hiding.

I didn't realize untill I actually added some living things to this tank exactly how many hidey holes there are in this tank. The fish and shrimp can completely dissapear from view and hide in and behind the slate in a lot of places. There are intricate tunnels behind the slate wall that the shrimp seem to have claimed as home. They are feeding on the filter intake tube and scouring the slate.

I changed my mind about the moss bed and decided to give glossostigma a try, I only have a little bit, and its spread pretty thin so I'll need to get some more (any Canadians got any cuttings they could send my way?).

I did add a ton of moss to the upper left hand side of the tank to fill in some of the "open" space above the wall and around the wood. This will be trimmed back in a week or two, I just need to get it rooted to the wood so it can start creeping in. It has also provided a HUGE amount of plant mass for baby shrimp to hide in (wont be getting Cherries for at least 2 weeks, but I'm thinking ahead)

I was going through my garage of fish stuff and found "just" enough slate to finish the top of the tank. I really like how the wall looks now, as the slate is stacked to the point of coming out of the water.


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

What a great look, Gareth! I recently set up a 20l and was hoping to put a couple pairs of Kribs in it (a fish I've always wanted to try). I might just have to try a slate wall.

So, do you just get the slate at a local Home Depot-type store? Are there different varieties of 'slate' or is slate just slate (sorry if my ignorance is showing here ). And, you didn't use any silicone, huh. Just trial and error on the stacking. Would you recommend this for us "non-professionals" at home? Certainly my standard 20l wouldn't have the thicker glass, so I'd have to approach is slowly.

But, I'm lovin' that look!
Brina.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well here is the tank as of today, few more plants added, and some livestock. So far so good. The initial introduction of fish was almost disasterous due to the CO2 being cranked "way" too high, but managed to save most of the fish, and both shrimp.









Click here for a larger version of this picture

The glossostigma is growing slowly, so I may purchase a bit more to spread it out, you cant really see it in the pictures.

Here is one of hte sunburst platties, they are acting really shy and they retreat into the plants or rock wall when you approach the tank.










Here is one of the atyopsis shrimp. I love these guys, and I get a real kick out of watching them climb over the rocks and wood.


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## CardBoardBoxProcessor (Sep 17, 2006)

I notice all the plants in there are goldfish compatible. gonna go gold? haha


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

hehehe.. I do actually keep goldies.. just not in this tank. There is a lot of plant sharing between my tanks hence the current mix. I'm waiting for my LFS to do anojther tropica plant order and I'll pick up something interesting


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Its looking really nice! I have to say with the moss and other plants it's starting to look alive!

What do you think of moving the vals to the side though so it isn't covering up your beautiful rockwork?

-Andrew


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Looks great, with that slate I would be tempted to go crazy and cover it completely with ferns, pelia, anubias and moss.


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## Finch_man (Mar 21, 2006)

I really like your slate, how many pounds of rock are there? is your stand strong enough?


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## D.gilly (Sep 25, 2005)

looks amazing i cant wait to see it once everything grows in and there are 1 million cherrie shrimp swimming around it:red_mouth


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Looks awesome, especially the moss and slate effect.
i would get rid of the vals or move them to the corner/side.
they take alot away from the slate. 
sunbursts are my favorite platy, they seem somehow more inteligent than the others.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Fish Newb said:


> Its looking really nice! I have to say with the moss and other plants it's starting to look alive!
> 
> What do you think of moving the vals to the side though so it isn't covering up your beautiful rockwork?
> 
> -Andrew


I've actually moved the vals around a bit since I took that picture.... I know its only been a day but I did some replanting and shaping a bit.. I'll post another pic soon with the changes


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

GDominy said:


> I've actually moved the vals around a bit since I took that picture.... I know its only been a day but I did some replanting and shaping a bit.. I'll post another pic soon with the changes


Ohh good to hear! It looks sooo good I really didn't want to see any plants dead center taking the eyes off the wall!

:angel: Pictures Pictures Pictures:angel: !!

-Andrew


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well today I ordered some new light bulbs as these ones are simply too old. They are growing the plants, but the glosso is struggling a bit so I'm going to replace 2 of the bulbs (the ones near the front of the tank).

I've also managed to get some shrimp on hold till thursday (when I get the lights I'm going to pick them up). At $4 each, its the best deal in town for Ammano's... I will probably add 10-15 of them, and maybe a handful of cherries (if I can find some adults, or larger shrimp).

Next friday I should have my shipment of Cardinal tetra's as well, and I might add a couple more fan shrimp.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Finch_man said:


> I really like your slate, how many pounds of rock are there? is your stand strong enough?


I made the stand out of 3/4 inch plywood, and its only about 18-20 inches high so it keeps the center of gravity for this tank pretty low to the ground. With as much rockwork as I have in this tank I wanted to keep it pretty low to the ground.

There is about 100 pounds of slate in there, which isn't really that much when you think about how much water its displacing. 45 Gallons of water weighs about 375 pounds, and the rock is displacing around 12 Gallons of water (about 100 pounds of water) so its not really "adding" weight.

I might be off on my estimates, I haven't really measured exactly how much water volume is in the tank now but I'm probably within 30-40 pounds.

The only thing to be concerned about is how the weight is distributed on the bottom glass as the slate wall puts a lot of weight on the back half. I had this tank made for me though, with the intention of using a lot of rock so I'm not really worried.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Click here for larger picture

I moved the vals more to the left on the left side of the tank and had to re-arrange the Java ferns on the right. The glossostigma is starting to grow now, and many new chutes are popping up.


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## Nightshop (May 12, 2006)

Hey GDominy, did you ever post on the Loaches Online forum? I remember your name. . . i stopped posting on there a few years ago.


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## fish_lover0591 (Nov 11, 2006)

Your tank looks great! :thumbsup:


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

looks great..I love the slate effect. I could see a little bunch of bushes of dwarf lobelia off to the right front.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Nightshop said:


> Hey GDominy, did you ever post on the Loaches Online forum? I remember your name. . . i stopped posting on there a few years ago.


Yes I did actually.. heheh.. Haven't been there in a while, I no longer have my loaches


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## filipnoy85 (Dec 10, 2005)

Nice wall. Did you just stack them up? Maybe silicone into place? Are there any worries about small fish/shrimp getting trapped behind there?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

filipnoy85 said:


> Nice wall. Did you just stack them up? Maybe silicone into place? Are there any worries about small fish/shrimp getting trapped behind there?


The slate is held together with gravity and willpower.. heheh.. I am not really worried about the fish getting stuck.. the largest fish in this tank is a platty and they can easily navigate the slate. There are tons of tunnels behind the wall that the shrimp navigate and hide in too.

I was a bit worried that stuff might get stuck.. but so far.. so good


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Hey gdominy, is that L.sessiflora?
i love that plant.


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## filipnoy85 (Dec 10, 2005)

Just stack huh? What about stagnant water? Have you ever had problems with that, maybe causing dead zones where nasty things could happen?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

filipnoy85 said:


> Just stack huh? What about stagnant water? Have you ever had problems with that, maybe causing dead zones where nasty things could happen?


I have had problems with slate walls twice, and it was always when I was setting up a wall in front of a really deep gravel bed (tightly packed together like a retaining wall).

The way the wall is set up now, with the input to the Filter behind the wall, it actually causes water to flow behind the slate. I have the filter output aimed toward the front left side of the tank (direct opposite) so it creates a circular flow from the front of the tank, the back, left to right.

There are a couple of spots in the tank that "might" cause problems (areas of slate down near the gravel), but I didn't make the slate too tightly packed, so it shouldn't be too much trouble


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

dufus said:


> Hey gdominy, is that L.sessiflora?
> i love that plant.


I wish, its just plain old Cabomba caroliniana... To get the tank running I had to use some pretty common plants. I took cuttings from my mothers tanks, and from my goldfish tank, and picked up a couple of plants from various stores in town.

I did manage to get a very small quantity of Glossostigma which is starting to take off, and a few plants that I can't remember the name of, I'll post pics soon so you smarter folk can tell me what I have.. hehe


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I added 12 Adult cherry shrimp (3 females are berried) to this tank today, and I replaced the front two lights with 8000k bulbs (they were LONG overdue for replacement).


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well, just took a few pics, could use a little help with some of them.

I liked this pic, managed to catch on of the larger shrimp in action.









Click here for larger picture

And if anyone could give me the real names of the following plants I would really appreciate it.

I like this one, it looks interesting the way its all segmented.










This one was entangled with a bunch of other plants I got, I have no clue what it is but I'm trying to recover it from its sorry state.










I'm looking for the name of this plant on the right, I used to know what it was but for the life of me I can't remember.


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## wood (Nov 15, 2006)

To me that plant in the last picture looks like Hemianthus micranthemoides not getting enough light so it is growing upward. I could be wrong though...

-Ryan


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

plant 1: Cyperus helferi?

plant 2: Pogostemon helferi?

plant 3: I agree, Hemianthus micromanthoides


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I'd have to agree with number 2 and 3, but plant #1 grows along runners in the substrate. 

Plant 2 is definately Pogostemon helferi, I've seen what this plant looks like in the dealers tanks when it wasn't light starved and its spot on.

I'm pleased to say that with the new lights the plants have started pearling already. I'm hoping this will help the glosso take off



hooha said:


> plant 1: Cyperus helferi?
> 
> plant 2: Pogostemon helferi?
> 
> plant 3: I agree, Hemianthus micromanthoides


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

next guess for 1 is a type of Vallisineria, esp. if it grows by runners.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Some of the new arrivals... There are a lot of surviving babies already... they have taken up residence in the slate and have been pretty skilled at avoiding the adults... Gonna have to keep an eye onthe population.. lol


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Managed to snap a couple of pics of some of the cherries...


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

Always impressed with how well your tanks are set up bud.


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

No 1 looks to be Vallisneria 'nana'. If the leave stay about 1/8" wide it's the one. Mine took a long time getting established. Now that is has it grows up to 30" long in my 125g tank.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I'm not sure thats it either.. the plant is segmented..

Here is a pic of the base of the plant, you can see some new shoots and the segmentation on the leaves.


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## bharada (Mar 5, 2004)

Gareth, that is an unusual looking plant and definitely rules out the Val and Cyperus. :icon_lol:


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

It is pretty funky looking, and I've never seen it before, but this one fish store had a tank where it was growing wild.. looks pretty neat in small groups.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well start fussing with the tank again tonight.. noticed that some staghorn algae showed up while I was working upisland. I've turned up the CO2 and did a massive water change after I removed as much of the stuff as I could.

Here is the tank now;









Click here for larger picture

Here is a little summary of what I did;










Here is a shot of hte left side where the bulk of the moss is. The stuff was a mess when I got it, but under the lights, with CO2 and a few prunes, its "starting" to shape a bit... In a few weeks it will look a lot different then it does now.









Click here for larger picture


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

This is a very interesting tank. Way different than what most are doing. 

I look forward to seeing what you do with it.


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

bharada said:


> Gareth, that is an unusual looking plant and definitely rules out the Val and Cyperus. :icon_lol:


looks like a Bog plant to me.


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## filipnoy85 (Dec 10, 2005)

Looks good! I like what you did with your updated photo, with the highlighted areas!


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

I have to say that I really like this tank. Alot. It is up there in the top 3. That slate look is incredible. I have a 20H that I am going to be setting up in the next few days and I might try this. 

How much slate did this build require?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

fshfanatic said:


> I have to say that I really like this tank. Alot. It is up there in the top 3. That slate look is incredible. I have a 20H that I am going to be setting up in the next few days and I might try this.
> 
> How much slate did this build require?


There is 100 pounds of slate in here... I bought it by the pound from a local landscaping place. It's pretty cheap to do actually..

Thanks for the kind words


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

GDominy said:


> I'm not sure thats it either.. the plant is segmented..
> 
> Here is a pic of the base of the plant, you can see some new shoots and the segmentation on the leaves.


Could that be an Isoetes? I had one years ago, and as I recall, it looked like that.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

the leaves are hollow like an Isoetes, but the way it multiplies is totally different.. heh.. I'm glad people are stumped on this one, for a while I thought maybe it was just me!


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## wood (Nov 15, 2006)

I really like your tanks a lot, including this new one. The slate looks awesome, I really really like it a lot. There is one thing that I don't think looks good though, its that middle piece of wood. It looks very artificial and out of place, in my opinion. I would completely remove it and move the HM to the bottom of the slate wall and let it grow horizontally along the bottom of the slate wall, basically hiding the entire bottom of the slate. I love HM by the way, big fan of it.

In place of the middle piece of wood I would put more clumps of the moss scattered around in the slate, I think that would look awesome. Let that cambomba grow more upright as well as plant new shoots to the right, let it come towards the middle more. It looks really nice against the slate. 

Here is the risky part, but I would try it. Get a nice thick red stem plant in there. Put it in between the slate and the cambomba, as you bring the cambomba more to the right. Putting the red stem behind the cambomba creating a green---red----slate look. You could also do it on the right side instead of left side. This may look really good, or not... would be a cool experiment though. 

When you get rid of the middle piece of wood, toss the windelov as well. That way only the moss you place there in scattered clumps will really stand out. 

As I said, this is just my preference/opinion. It is what I would do, and I am no expert trust me. I just like to take risks instead of going generic with aquascaping....

-Ryan


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## Badcopnofishtank (Jan 20, 2004)

Beat me to it ^
Otherwise perfection.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

wood said:


> I really like your tanks a lot, including this new one. The slate looks awesome, I really really like it a lot. There is one thing that I don't think looks good though, its that middle piece of wood. It looks very artificial and out of place, in my opinion. I would completely remove it and move the HM to the bottom of the slate wall and let it grow horizontally along the bottom of the slate wall, basically hiding the entire bottom of the slate. I love HM by the way, big fan of it.
> 
> In place of the middle piece of wood I would put more clumps of the moss scattered around in the slate, I think that would look awesome. Let that cambomba grow more upright as well as plant new shoots to the right, let it come towards the middle more. It looks really nice against the slate.
> 
> ...


I hear what you're saying. I want some red/pink plants in here to add some depth to the tank, but it has been challenging because the ammount of space I have to plant it only around 8" from the slate wall to the front glass... so it's a bit tricky.

I'll take some pics of the tank from the side so you can see what I mean.

I do know what you mean about the middle piece of wood.. its bugging me too, but it will involve rebuilding the entire middle section of the wall cause its built into it.

Let me see what I can do about making that middle piece of wood look a bit more natural. I have a few smaller pieces that I might be able to add to the middle part of hte wall to extend it towards thte surface.. might make it look more natural


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

wood said:


> I really like your tanks a lot, including this new one. The slate looks awesome, I really really like it a lot. There is one thing that I don't think looks good though, its that middle piece of wood. It looks very artificial and out of place, in my opinion. I would completely remove it and move the HM to the bottom of the slate wall and let it grow horizontally along the bottom of the slate wall, basically hiding the entire bottom of the slate. I love HM by the way, big fan of it.


Well, I've changed the wall slightly... rebuilt it a bit around a new piece of wood to try and tie in the middle piece to the rest...









Click here for a larger picture

Here is a summary of what has changed.










The moss is starting to take off, and the cabomba and hornwort are growing insanely fast (I"m pruning every couple of days).

I am going to hide all edges where stone meets wood with various mosses. I am going to try and grab some new plants next week (or more of the same) to change things a bit more.


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## wood (Nov 15, 2006)

I like the new look, especially the addition of the new piece of wood. The moss spreading looks nice too. 

I still don't like the java windelov there, it really makes it look very fake. This is all my opinion, please don't take it personally. I love everything about this tank... Ditch the Windelov and spread the moss around a lot more, making it look like that piece of wood has been there for centuries. It will look awesome. Put some moss directly on the driftwood and have it hang off the sides and front. That would look REALLY nice!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

wood said:


> I like the new look, especially the addition of the new piece of wood. The moss spreading looks nice too.
> 
> I still don't like the java windelov there, it really makes it look very fake. This is all my opinion, please don't take it personally. I love everything about this tank... Ditch the Windelov and spread the moss around a lot more, making it look like that piece of wood has been there for centuries. It will look awesome. Put some moss directly on the driftwood and have it hang off the sides and front. That would look REALLY nice!


I am going to move the windelov into a tank I am setting up for my girlfriend. Its going to be a 20 Gallon tank with that piece of driftwood I took tons of pictures of. Should look pretty neat... But thats going to be a different thread altogether.

I am spreading the moss as quickly as I can, but it's slow growing (I harvest a couple 2" x 2" patches every 3 days and attach them in other spots of the tank). I am going to have the moss creeping up the wood, pruned very short so it carpets (I'll let it grow out once it has spread densly, but to get it like this I need the moss to have tons of light so it crawls up the wood faster). It just takes time to do it this way and keeping the moss from getting "stringy".


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

wood said:


> I still don't like the java windelov there, it really makes it look very fake.


Well the windelov is now gone. It was harboring some nasty staghorn algae so I pulled it out for a bleach dip before it gets moved to another tank.



wood said:


> Put some moss directly on the driftwood and have it hang off the sides and front. That would look REALLY nice!


Starting to add some moss to the wood now. Its growing pretty fast now so I can move a few patches a day to spread it around.









Click here for a larger picture

Here is a summary of what has changed.










Here is some of the glosso growing on the substrate, I have to add some more flourite to this tank because its a little low.










The glosso all started from 5 tiny pieces with about 4 leaves on each little strand. I has really started to spread quickly and I see noticable growth every day on each individual stem that has branched off.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Here is a shot of the living room again, I really like where this tank is placed, it can be seen from every couch, loveseat and chair in the living room (and, it doesnt glare off the TV!)


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## zoo minsi (Jan 1, 2006)

man thats a beautiful tank, arent you worried though about the slate shifting and falling and cracking your tank?


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## wood (Nov 15, 2006)

Wow, looks awesome. Now with the moss work it is starting to look a whole lot better, and more natural. I love it... 

Now get some red in there 

-Ryan


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well.... It seems I let my nutrient balance get... well.. unbalanced. I am having an algae explosion. Thankfully the UV sterilizer is preventing most of the algae from spreading, unless its physically touching something.. that lets it spread.

I have some Staghorn algae, BBA and BGA that seems to have come in from my the cuttings from my mothers tanks. her tanks were low light and it wasnt noticable, but in this tank it just took off as soon as the nutrients were out of whack (working out of town sucks... grrr).

I'm trying to figure out this whole "hydrogen Peroxide" treatment, but I"m having some issues figuring it out.

If anyone could give me a hand with this, it would be appreciated (see this post)


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Ok.. so I went ahead and spot treated several areas of the tank with H202 and Excel... I wanted to try out each method to se what more effective. So far the results are intersting.

This first picture is the glossostigma that I treated with H202 about 6 hours ago. Results are promising, the algae is turning redish brown.










This second picture is from the badly infested portion of the tank. The algae was hidden from view in a bunch of plants up untill a couple of days ago and I didnt realize how bad it had gotten. This alage I hit with Excel, and as you can see, the damage to the algae is far more pronounced then the H202 treated area's. The algae here has turned bright red in just under 6 hours (from its previous dark grey/green colour)










This last image is taken about 8 inches to the right of the second picture, so its also in the problem area. This stuff was hit with H202 and seem sto be dying pretty quickly too.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Gareth, did you use any egg crates to hold all that slate?


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## TigerLilly (Oct 11, 2004)

GDominy, I LOVE your use of slate and driftwood! You really do have a uniqueness that I don’t see a lot with most planted tanks. I like that you bring in more designing elements (rocks, slate, and driftwood) that others only dabble in lighting, if at all. Great work!


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

Hey there Gareth! When did ya get back? I havent' been around alot lately, an just saw yer thread. Heres a belated welcome back for ya!! :icon_mrgr 

Lookin good bud! roud: 

I just OD'd my 75G tank of bba with a 4 day 50 ml a day routine. Just dumped it right in! Knocked it right out.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Been back for just over a month. Decided to get back into the swing of things 

I am really impressed with the results of Excel spot dosing... Most of the staghorn is dead and has either broken free and been sucked up by the filter, or slowly being picked at by the fish and snails.

I think a couple more treatments should do the trick.

All of this happened because I was working out of town for a while, my nutrient levels got really out of whack, and when I was testing for them I was using test kits that were all so old they were useless.

Got new tests, did a massive water change and got my ferts back to normal and the algae has stopped its advance. Just need to get rid of the stuff that has established itself.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

wood said:


> Wow, looks awesome. Now with the moss work it is starting to look a whole lot better, and more natural. I love it...
> 
> Now get some red in there
> 
> -Ryan


I agree I'm really liking that "root" in the middle now withe moss!

I also like some of the green algae on the slate, looks like it is more natural now, since pretty much everywhere has algae!

Keep up the good work!

-Andrew


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well... Spent a few hours "grooming" the tank and had a few more additions. Picked up another 16 Cherry Shrimp, 6 Amano's, and 4 Trinidad Guppies. I picked up all males so I wont have a population explosion.

Here is the tank now after a major prune. The algae is still there, but its all dying off now (notice the bright pink in the top right?). The excel treatment worked better then I had imagined! I told the owner of my local fish store about the sucsess and he is going to try it on his own planted tank at home.









Click here for larger picture

My girlfriend has been asking for guppies for a while now (she used to keep them and breed them years ago) so when I saw these guys in my favorite fish store for $4 each I couldn't really complain. I really like the colouration on these guys.



















Sorry about the picture quality on the guppies, they move really fast so I had to crank up my ISO speed and lower my exposure time to even get these pics, and my camera is starting to feel its age.

I am going to try and figure out how to use my girlfriends Canon Powershot A630 and see if I can get some better ones.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I actually think that what was marked as "trinidad guppies" might be endlers... They are pretty small by guppy standards... I have no way of really tracing where they came from though to know for sure


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

GDominy said:


> I actually think that what was marked as "trinidad guppies" might be endlers... They are pretty small by guppy standards... I have no way of really tracing where they came from though to know for sure



They do look like endlers... But if you don't know their history there isn't any way to tell....


Tank is looking good!

-Andrew


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Did a little pruning and added some new plants over the last couple of days. I've had to prune the stem plants every few days to keep them from reaching the top. The glosso has really started to take off and is spreading quite densly over the left side of the tank.

The left side I have a pretty good idea what I"m going to do, and need to replace the hornwort, and add 2 more bunches, just haven't found what I"m looking for yet.

I have created a grassy area on the right side, and I might replace the plants on that side with more similar shaped plants, valls, or taller crypts. I'm not really sure what I want to do here yet.









Click here for larger picture


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## Agrippa (Jul 25, 2006)

Very interesting tank. I'm greatly enjoying its progress. Great job!roud:


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well I got some cuttings today (thanks Dosage) and I changed things up a bit. I was really lucky and got some really nice plants. They will need a bit of time to straighten up, but they are in good health already, so thats a huge bonus.









Click here for larger picture


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well.... I couldnt let the tank go more then 12 hours without messing with it again... I bought 3 more plants from Safari, and did some replanting on the right hand side.









Click here for larger picture

And here is a shot of the tank with one of my cats (her name is Bandit) enjoying the heat from the canopy...


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well, did some more poking around in the tank.. its really starting to take off.. I've never had plant growth this fast before. High light, CO2 and lots of ferts seem to be doing this tank wonders. The major algae problems are almost entirely gone, and the minor algae seems to be stable. I just need a "lot" more shrimp I think to clean the plants (I will be adding "tons" of shrimp in the next month).











Click here for larger picture

I've also added a 10 gallon tank under the main display, this will be one of the breeding tanks for shrimp. There will be no fish in it whatsoever. The tank has the back and sides painted black to hide the wood of the stand, and is lit with a 55 watt CF bulb mounted in the stand itself. I don't have a reflector for it yet, but thats tons of light for a small tank anyway so I'm not too concerned about it.

I set up one of those Hagen CO2 kits in this tank too, as I couldn't get my pressurized rig to distribute CO2 evenly between the two tanks. This will do for the immediate future, and I will supplement the tank with Flourish Excel too so there will be enough carbon for the plants.

I haven't figured out what I want to do "plant wise" with this little tank, so its currently just packed full of Wysteria that I had laying around in another aquarium. I took some glossostigma cuttings from the 45 gallon and put them in here too, so we'll see how that does.


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## fresh_lynny (Mar 9, 2006)

What a beautiful tank. The depth the rock wall has created gives it so much texture.....great job!


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## wood (Nov 15, 2006)

Yea really nice!

Looks great, and I love to see the Rotala magenta in between the cambomba  Helps bring out the cambomba a whole lot more, great contrast... 

Yea this tank is starting to look really nice. I love the algae on the slate, really adds age to the tank. Glad you changed the foreground from glosso to HC. HC will look a lot better there...

Keep us posted 

-Ryan


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well I only added HC to the right side of the tank, we'll see how it grows.. I am hoping to have a few different effects going on

The left side isnt actually 2 different groups of cabomba, its cabomba in the back left, and ambulia to the right of the rotala.. I wanted similar looking plants to be close together, but something with contrast between them.

I'm trying to encourage that soft green algae to grow over the wood, but the slate gets cleaned by the shrimp constantly so it doesnt really grow there. It just leaves a green hue on the rocks, which is nice because it does give a sense of "age" to the background.

I like how this tank is progressing... It's starting to look the way I want it to.. but it has a long way to go still


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

It looks very awesome right now. Keep up the awesome work. the 10 even looks great!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Its amazing how much growth can happen in 20 days.....









Click here for larger picture

The glossostigma has completely covered the flourite, the stargrass I got as a couple of small cuttings is taking over... The Cabomba and Ambulia have simply gotten ridiculous.. I can't keep up with their growth (I have to cut them every 4 days.. I let them grow a week without pruning and this is what they turned into).

I"m going to move the stargrass into the left corner to replace the cabomba, and I'm just going to remove the ambulia.. These plants shed too many fine leaves and it's a pain to spend several hours a week "tweezing" the leaves out of the moss and floating riccia matts (I'll take pics of the tank "open" after I do a massive prune this weekend).

I need some ideas for more stem plants that have small leaves... I like the look of the right side of the tank... I just need to make something similar.. but with a slightly different balance for the left side...


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## Storm_Rider (Sep 30, 2006)

looks absolutely fantastic!!


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

Great stuff. If you want something that grows more slowly and has the smaller leaf shape still, try one of the Bacopa speices (except B. australis, that still grows pretty quickly).


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

very nice! man that little 10 gallon is packed, they are swimming around like crazy, ha ha ha...I read that you were having trouble getting stable Co2 to both tanks, have you used a manifold with two ports and needle valves off the regulator?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

at the moment I gave up on splitting my Co2 from my compressed rig... I couldn't find a manifold and extra needle valve locally to do what I needed. I'll take that up again soon, but in the mean time I have a DIY rig attached to it, and I supplement with Flourish Excel.

The 10 gallon is only packed temporarily... I'm moving all those fry as soon as I get my grow out tank cycled.


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Wow! nice growth there. I see the platies have left you a gift huh!.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

looks great! Its really filled in nicely!!

Now hack at those stems:icon_twis 

-Andrew


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Tragedy!

I replaced my Fluval 404 with a Rena XP3 and during hte process of delicately removing hte filer intake I accidentall TIPPED THE SLATE WALL... GAHHHH.. I'm in the process of adding some more flourite, and I have to let the tank settle a bit (its cloudy from the new flourite) before I rebuild the right side of the tank.

There were no fish or shrimp losses, however the right side of the tank is pretty much crushed from the slate. I will have to prune and reshape everything as soon as the tank clears..

*sigh*

Oh well.. guess its gonna be dedicated aquarium evening.....


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

Take some pictures!

You'll be fine:icon_wink 

-Andrew


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## sandiegoryu (Feb 15, 2006)

That sucks!!! Talk about a tragedy. I hope your plants grow back well. Your tank is beautiful! Very original.


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## Chrona (Feb 25, 2007)

Amazing! I love the moss covered "roots" on the slate!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well, all is not lost. It was a looooong night of water changes, pruning, flourite rinsing, slate stacking, planting, and replumbing my entire filter setup. Most of the plants weren't damaged too bad really, and I just had to hack off a few inches of crushed stems. I might have to replace 2 plants if they don't bounce back, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.



The new filter is installed and working like a champ. Rebuilding the slate wall allowed me to change the way it is formed around the filter. The Rena comes with such a nice assortment of inlet/outlet options I was able to completely hide it out of site. I built the slate wall around them, leaving a 3 inch "tube" around the corner where the inlet is. Slate is stacked leaving lots of gaps so the water is drawn in throug the wall. The larger shrimp congregate in these areas of higher flow. The filter outlet is "framed" by slate, so it sprays out of a gap between two pieces, you can't even see it. The filter outlet is lower now so it doesn't disrupt the surface as much (I was losing too much CO2 to outgassing)..



I added some flat stones in a few spots of the aquarium as a test. I wanted a few hardscape elements in the front, but I am concerned that the round stones look out of place next to the hard slate. I have some smaller pieces of slate I might use instead, I'm just experimenting... 



The reason I added the rockwork was partly to fill in the darkened areas in the front corners of the tank where its difficult to grow plants (the taller plants shade them too much, and the tank is too narrow with the slate to really plant them any further back). The other reason was to provide a spawning location for the blue rams I added. I don't expect them to be able to raise fry in here with all the fish I have, but they seem to be pretty happy with their own little territory. The fact that they are hanging out in the front of the aquarium is just a huge bonus.









Click here for larger picture

Here is the male, investigating the newly exposed flourite...


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well, if anyone doubted the algae eating capabilities of Zebra snails.. Let this picture speak for itself.










The zebra snails have been scouring the driftwood CLEAN. They are taking the green algae off... They are scraping the wood down to fresh, unstained, raw wood. In just a few short days they have cleared about a square foot worth of wood and slate in the tank. These were definately a worthwhile investment.


I'm getting a slight re-occurance of Staghorn and BBA, which I believe was the result of too much phosphate in the water. I've adjusted my dose a bit so I"m staying under 1.8 ppm now. I'm waiting for my nitrate test to finish changing colour now, as that might be slightly off as well.

I'm overdosing the tank with flourish excel (added 40 ml per day for the last 3 days) and its clearing it up.. but I need to get a grip on my nutrient situation. I am not quite sure what is promoting this stuff to grow. I know for certain that it grows fastest under the 2 light bulbs that are in desperate need of replacing... But I believe that something else is encouraging it to grow to begin with.

I don't want to put in any Siamese Algae Eaters into this tank as they will have a hard time manouvering as adults with all the slate in here.

thats enough algae talk.... just thought I'd throw this pic in... This little peacock goby loves this tank, although he's definately irritating the German Blue Rams if he gets too close to them. On a related note, the rams are starting to exhibit some pre-spawning behavior which is pretty exciting.


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## rlong (Jul 8, 2006)

Looks very nice. love to see it mature. Water change will be easy, 5 gallon a week should do it.


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## PasD (Sep 2, 2006)

You've got a sweet looking zebra snail. Where did you get it from, and is it a type of nerite snail?


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

PasD said:


> You've got a sweet looking zebra snail. Where did you get it from, and is it a type of nerite snail?


Yeah, I'd love to know where you got it, I'd love to have some of my own as well. And I have to say that despite the tragedy of the partial collapse that you had it certainly still looks awesome. I think you've done an excellent job considering. I personally like seeing more of the slate now that each side has been trimmed back some and your red plants are really nice! Man is that Glosso going crazy!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

The zebra snails are nerite snails, although I'm not sure exactly what species. I work at a fish store now, so I ordered them in from one of our distributors


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well things have definately bounced back. The glossostigma is filling in the empty areas very quickly, cuttings I've added to the left have filled in the area with more of the shape and texture I was trying to acomplish..

I need to prune the moss back.. but there are so many baby shrimp taking refuge in it I'm reluctant to thin it out right now... I might cave though because its looking ratty and needs some serious shaping.

Had a brief (4 day) outbreak of BBA, but its dead after a Flourish Excel overdose. I finally realized what is going on with the tank... My CO2 reactor is behaving sadly below par. I can't disolve CO2 fast enough for the plants, and if I crank it up any higher then it is the reactor simply becomes airlocked and bubbles get sucked into the filter (which is noisy, and makes the tank full of bubbles). I'm going to invest in a nice glass diffuser as soon as budget allows for it.









Click here for larger picture


You can see some of the dead BBA in the moss here.... Its why I want to prune the moss so bad...










The right side is bouncing back pretty fast, and will need some pruning and reshaping within a couple of days. I"m just waiting for the broken stems to put out a bit more new growth before I replant them.










Some of the moss growing out of the water on the left....










My enormous riccia mass floating on the right side..



















And a nice rotalla stem...


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## FelixAvery (Jan 11, 2007)

nice riccia! you could make a fortune selling that as mats!


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

what type of rotala is that?


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## TheOtherGeoff (Feb 11, 2003)

that is turning out pretty darn sweet


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## mecgeorgeneo (Aug 12, 2005)

thats a pretty sweet set up u got there, esp the rock wall, great job!


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## silver7621 (Mar 16, 2007)

thats a amazing rig you got running


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well I went at the tank with my scissors again. I started to tackle the moss problem. First of all, the moss was covered in dead algae and I was worried that the top layer might block out too much light from the stuff below. Secondly, it had started to grow really "stringy". I've thinned it out now, and started to shape certain layers into mounds.

On the upside, there are so many more baby shrimp then I realized.. I must have seen at least 50+ ranging from 4mm-8mm..









Click here for larger picture

Here is the center piece of driftwood. My algae eating crew is doing a great job of scouring it clean. Every surface in the aquarium is clearing up, but this piece of wood has undergone the most dramatic change.










Here is the center piece again, but looking to the left over the massive chunk of moss growing around the slate and wood. The rams have claimed this side as "their's" and will defend it vigorously. There has been a lot of chasing, but thats it... Nobody has any damaged fins or tails, the displays seem to be just that.. Showing off...










And here is just another shot of the moss...










This is just the first stage of shaping. I wanted to get the basic moss groupings defined, but I wont get into the hardcore shaping untill these groups have filled in a bit more.


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## ringram (Jan 19, 2005)

Wow. I'm speechless. Nice job. Good growth and I like the way the slate & moss is giving the feeling that it's a solid wall. Can't wait to see it when it's grown in a little more!


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Great looking tank! 220watts over the tank? 4x55w?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

epicfish said:


> Great looking tank! 220watts over the tank? 4x55w?


Yup. 2 x 9325k GE Bulbs and 2 x 8000k Bulbs from All-Glass. I'm replacing the GE bulbs with some Coralife 6700k's. The GE's are a few years old and need replacing.. they aren't doing much for the plants.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

ringram said:


> Wow. I'm speechless. Nice job. Good growth and I like the way the slate & moss is giving the feeling that it's a solid wall. Can't wait to see it when it's grown in a little more!



Thanks  I"m really starting to wonder if I should do something to the slate, maybe embed some plants in it to flush out the wall a bit... or if I should leave the rockwork exposed...

I ordered some new plants into the store this week so I might have to pick some of them up and try a few things. We'll see how it turns out!


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## Wingsdlc (Dec 9, 2005)

GDominy,

This tank has really come a long ways. I love how it is filling out. The colors are great.

How much room do you have from the front of the glass to the rock work? I looks like you are sure making the most of a little space.

As always I can't wait to see more!


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## ianmoede (Oct 1, 2004)

I like the look, believe it or not this is probably the most natural looking planted tank you've ever seen. The roots and stacked walls look very similar to things i've seen in the Rio Frio, in Uvalde, Texas. Except substitute the slate for limestone. Well done.


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

Absolutely stunning! My new favorite tank!


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

GDominy said:


> Thanks  I"m really starting to wonder if I should do something to the slate, maybe embed some plants in it to flush out the wall a bit... or if I should leave the rockwork exposed...QUOTE]
> 
> I like the way it is now with the moss accenting the wall. Too many aquascapes have the hardscape completely obscured....one of the reasons I like this scape so much is the amount of rockwork that is accentuated in the layout.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

hooha said:


> I like the way it is now with the moss accenting the wall. Too many aquascapes have the hardscape completely obscured....one of the reasons I like this scape so much is the amount of rockwork that is accentuated in the layout.


Interesting... I'm feeling the same way... After the preliminary shaping I can see what I want to do with the moss. I may not replace the java moss with willow moss in certain parts of the tank... I might try to blend a few and shape them... sort of a moss topiary. The slate rockwork gives a good base to work with, as the moss can be used to soften edges all over. I think I will simply use moss on the rockwork in certain places, leaving a few large areas of slate untouched...


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well I"m officially a moron. It's funny how sometimes the simplest things cause problems.

The reason my CO2 reactor wasn't disolving CO2 fast enough was because the hose connected to the bottom of the reactor (which leads to the input side of the XP3) had kinked. My flow rate was severely restricted going into the canister filter so the CO2 simply gurgled around in the reactor untill it airlocked.

I replaced a portion of the flexible XP3 tubing with a stiffer tubing for the tight fitting turns. This stuff is very very difficult to compress so that should help.

I'm watching the system closely for leaks tonight, but so far so good!


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## nellis (Oct 27, 2005)

I second the request for a rotala ID... is it colorata?


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## Roc (Mar 16, 2007)

Tanks like yours make me want to constantly work on my tank, as far as I am concerned the look you have gotten is perfect.............


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I am not certain what variety it is, as it was recieved as a cutting. Rotala rotundifolia (indica) is available around here quite often so it may be that... But I am not certain.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

That is some phenomenal growth in such a short period of time! Everything looks great. I like the moss wedged into the slate wall.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I took some pic's of some of the fish in the tank right now. I'm experimenting with my camera again, trying to figure out how to take pictures.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Here are the emperor tetra's I added today...


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Here are two of the Apistogramma Cacatuoides I got today (thanks Barb!)


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

Oh yeah, those triple reds will dig your gazillion caves.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

What exactly Makes them a "Triple Red"... I've never looked into the colour varients really..


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Double has lots of red on the caudal and dorsal fins. The triple also has red on the anal fin.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I was doing some plant inspections tonight and discovered that the plants in the corners had grown so thick that it was killing off the undergrowth. I hacked them back drastically and thinned them out a bit so things should grow in a little nicer.









Click here for larger picture

Here is the end of the tank.. I've been asked how much actual planting space do I have, so... voila.. not much...


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

epicfish said:


> Double has lots of red on the caudal and dorsal fins. The triple also has red on the anal fin.


Oooooooooh gotcha... Thats good to know. These fish were a gift from a fellow fishkeeper, I hadn't finished looking into them. Thanks!


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## mrbelvedere (Nov 15, 2005)

Looks amazing Gareth, like the old Dutch tanks we see in books.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well, this is abad pic, but its the ONLY pic I've managed to get of this little guy. He hides out alot in the slate and is very camera shy. Something about the lense scares him.










Here is one of the platties in the tank, I have a soft spot for livebearers so I usually have some around somewhere.










And here is one of my Apisto's. I was expecting them to be a bit more bossy then they are, but most squabbles seem to limited to the three in the tank. The Largest adult blue ram is definately the tank "boss".


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## esarkipato (Jul 19, 2005)

I really love the tank. Especially the fish choices...the lack of a larger centerpeice really give the tank an intimate feel, you have to get up close to see the action. The slate looks really good partially exposed, I wouldn't let the moss totally cover it.....but that would probably happen eventually anyways. 

Do you ever consider a bit more seperation in the stemmed species of plants? It seems like they grow together alot, which I think is a nice "jungle" effect.


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## AxolotlFarmer (Nov 29, 2006)

I am just really inlove with your tank. The layout and rockwork especially. I am all about nice rockwork, and your slate wall is great. I also love all the moss with the rock wall/wood. If i was a fish, I would want to live in there.

Its also nice to know that those zebra snails will eat some carzy algae.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Wow! That's all I can say.


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Fantastic Apisto photo, Gareth.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

esarkipato said:


> I really love the tank. Especially the fish choices...the lack of a larger centerpeice really give the tank an intimate feel, you have to get up close to see the action. The slate looks really good partially exposed, I wouldn't let the moss totally cover it.....but that would probably happen eventually anyways.
> 
> Do you ever consider a bit more seperation in the stemmed species of plants? It seems like they grow together alot, which I think is a nice "jungle" effect.


Thanks  I do try to seperate the plant groups every time I do a major prune but the plants are growing so fast that they entangle each other very quickly. My next days off I am going to tackle the tank and do a "major" hack and slash of the plants. The rate they are growing things will only be short for a few days before it fills in again


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

unirdna said:


> Fantastic Apisto photo, Gareth.



Thanks... those suckers are hard to get shots of.. they are so fast when they get moving its like chasing hummingbirds!


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## mabviper (Mar 31, 2007)

I really love you tank ^^. What are your tanks dimensions? How many fishes and shrimps are you keeping in it?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Thats just a 45 gallon, 48" x 12" x 18".. The tank is packed full of livestock.. too much in fact.. I'll be thinning it out once I get a few more tanks running.

Livestock list:

18 Cardinal Tetra's
8 Emperor Tetra's
5 Adult Platties (countless fry)
4 Otos
4 German Blue Rams
3 Apistogamma Cacatuoides
2 Peacock Gobies
30+ Amano Shrimp
100+ Cherry Shrimp (too many to count)


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## LondonDragon (Mar 15, 2007)

That Apistogamma Cacatuoides is great  wonderfull setup.
Congrats


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I let the tank get ridiculously overgrown.. lol.... I am going to sit down and prune/reshape everything on tuesday now that I have enough plant mass to work with...









Click here for larger picture


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Holy shizzles!
thats crazyness. I geuss it's time to go to SnS!


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

I can't believe how deep the tank looks, despite the aquascape area being only a few inches deep. The cardinals climbing the "mountain" is something I haven't seen before  .


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

very nice tank. two thumbs up.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

*The Pruning - Stage 1*

Well tonight I finally tackled the first stage of pruning this beast. Things had gotten extremely tangled and I had to uproot, untangle each group of plants, remove old ratty growth, trim off ariel roots (I still missed a ton), regroup and replant them all. Things look really ratty tonight.. but after a week or so of growth things will look pretty good.

The next stage of pruning will be the moss. I need to spend a few hours with a pair of scissors and start shaping the stuff. I can start making the round shapes with the moss now that there is enough "bulk".

Here is the tank before the process. Threw down some plastic to protect the carpet as this gets very, very messy. Got my tools, got a beer and my smokes... I'm up for a long evening.










I start by removing all the plants on the right side. I neglected to take a picture of the tank with them out, or the plants all spread out on the plastic.. but here you can see the change.. hacked out a ton of growth.

It looks ugly now, but I've pruned the fast growing plants down more then the slow growing ones so in about a week they should all be at the height I want them to be.

http://aquafiend.plantedtank.net/images/45-Journal/04252007/after_left.jpg[img]

Here you can see the whole tank with the right side still untouched.

[img]http://aquafiend.plantedtank.net/images/45-Journal/04252007/after_left2.jpg

and after....










This shot makes me get freaked out.. I know I hacked out a ton of plant material, but I needed to open up a few plants and I removed a few plants that just weren't working for me. It's just such a huge change now.. the tank is soooo bright. I'm going to biting my fingernails for the next week hoping stuff fills in the way I hope!


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## esarkipato (Jul 19, 2005)

Lookin' great, I kinda like the moss as-is! Nice and soft compared to the jagged background. 

I think Ted really hit the nail on the head regarding the depth....I would have pegged this tank for being 18"+ deep!! great job.


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## PasD (Sep 2, 2006)

You've had some really good growth in your tank. I still can't believe that you didn't use silicone for your slate and wood background. I'm not sure if you mentioned it before, but how are you dosing this tank?


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

What is the tank up on the right we got a little corner of in the first picture? 

BTW, its looking terrific and I am sure it will fill in again nicely.


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## Roc (Mar 16, 2007)

I just love this tank, and BTW your tank set up inspried me so much that I built a new stand to hold my 20 gal under and 55 gal on top. looks a t lot like your cuz thats where I stole the idea. rofl


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

I love the growth in the tank, and like I mentioned before.....the more hardscape that can be viewed in the layout the better


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Betowess said:


> What is the tank up on the right we got a little corner of in the first picture?
> 
> BTW, its looking terrific and I am sure it will fill in again nicely.


That's a secret ;-) It's a tank I've had set up for just over a week. It's not ready to show yet....

However.. I can tell you this.. its full of swords, crypts, narrow leaf java ferns, bolbitis and a single red tiger lotus.

I don't have CO2 in that tank yet.. Just lots of Flourish Excel... its a 22 Gallon (just a bit taller then a standard 20) lit with 2 x 65 watt CF tubes.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Two days can really make a difference. All the plants have straightened up and some have even started filling back in.









Click here for larger picture


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well I just spent the last 2 hours giving the moss a haircut. I let the tank go for a week without fertilizing and I have algae growing in the moss again. I need to get an Aquarium computer to remind me when I need to dose.

I dunno.. I think the moss looks pretty funky... I still need to do something with the moss on the far left.. but the middle turned out pretty well.









Click here for larger picture


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## Jessica (Mar 1, 2007)

*hearts shoot out of my eyes*

Stunning as per usual, I LOVE your Emperor Tetras!


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

GDominy said:


> I let the tank go for a week without fertilizing and I have algae growing in the moss again. I need to get an Aquarium computer to remind me when I need to dose.


You could always set up a Wasserpest style auto doser with a $16 Aquarium Systems 606 pump, $10 digital timer, dosing syringe and airline. I also put on a little flow control I got from US Plastics for $8 plus shipping. I have two tanks dosed this way and each container lasts a bit over 3 weeks. The only thing I dose manually is PO4 3x a week with a Ecco little "dash" spoon. Saves a lot of time.

The moss trim is pretty funny. Looks like an English garden now. LOL


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## conduct (Mar 25, 2005)

GDominy said:


>


Is that RCS in the moss there? 
Also this might of been asked before but where did you find all this slate?

Great looking tank by the way I love it.


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

Congrats on your 3000th post Gareth!'

EDIT: And even though I forgot to say this the first time - your tank looks wonderful. Anyone would be lucky to have something like that in their home!


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## bgoodwins (May 3, 2007)

Thats glosso gone wild! The video is not as exciting as the others. Tank looks good, the moss "trees" add a very bonsai look to it. It looks clean and the slate looks good as well. Call me crazy, but i like it alot.


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

GDominy said:


> Well I just spent the last 2 hours giving the moss a haircut. I let the tank go for a week without fertilizing and I have algae growing in the moss again. I need to get an Aquarium computer to remind me when I need to dose.
> 
> I dunno.. I think the moss looks pretty funky... I still need to do something with the moss on the far left.. but the middle turned out pretty well.
> 
> ...


The slate and mosss background looks stunning, great work on the little moss hedges - they provide a nice contrast to the dark slate background. Really nice!


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Actually, i liked the moss more wild looking, i'm sure it looks different in person, but on the pic, it looks very unatural.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

It'll grow wild again in a day or two.. I just needed to give it some shape first... Every time I prune it like this the moss responds by growing in even thicker


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## Badcopnofishtank (Jan 20, 2004)

Creativity: 10
Layout: 10 
 factor: 10
Maintenance: :icon_redf


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Badcopnofishtank said:


> Creativity: 10
> Layout: 10
> factor: 10
> Maintenance: :icon_redf


lol... you got it on the maintenance.... soooooo much work... lol


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Did some replanting tonight.. Moved plants around from other tanks.. and did some general moss pruning. 

The glossostigma is gone, replaced entirely with HC... I haven't had much sucsess with it in the past so I have my fingers crossed this time!









Click here for larger image


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## awrieger (May 12, 2005)

That topiary moss is awesome!


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## ir0n_ma1den (May 13, 2007)

how easy was it for you to breed your platties???

could I do it in a 10g??

ph is like 6.8


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

The platties will breed pretty much continuously in the 45... I wouldnt recomend breeding large numbers of them in a 10 gallon though... My 10 Gallon here serves as a very temporary home for smaller fry. I sell them unce they reach young adult, almost breedable size.


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

You mean you can SELL those? lol
My lfs would give me platy fry if i asked!
they're pretty much the rabbits of the fish world i geuss.


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

Ever find an id for that segmented grass of yours? 

I have a guess - _Lilaeopsis macloviana_

The guys from Tropica conjured up some of this new hobby species for us at the AGA Convention this year. It is a lot like the shorter Lilaeopsis species, but this one gets really tall and has those segmented leaves. I have some if you'd like clippings to compare. Most of mine is growing emersed.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Thats exactly what it is. It's a neat plant but I didn't really have a place for it in my tank.. its currently living in one of the smaller tanks. It does look cool when it gets going though..


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

So I decided to start putting together some moonlights for my tank. I started with 3 LED's but its not nearly enough. I"m going to need at least 12 or more to do what I want. I plan on using a series of LED's to highlight the slate and shine behind the plants to try and backlight them. The foreground will recieve many highlights as well.


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## derick2724 (Mar 20, 2007)

I never knew that plants need moon light too...interesting


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## fishymatty (Feb 25, 2007)

I think it looks really great


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## Loyal to the Oil (Apr 3, 2007)

WOW...serouisly WOW....how do you keep your red plants sooooo red ? Mine always turns green after a month or so.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

derick2724 said:


> I never knew that plants need moon light too...interesting


They dont.. its more for effect then anything


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Loyal to the Oil said:


> WOW...serouisly WOW....how do you keep your red plants sooooo red ? Mine always turns green after a month or so.


Well.. My plants will turn green if I dont stay on top of my nutrient levels, or if the lights are too old. I like the red plants.. but I think I might remove them as they are too large for the tank. I need to find some small leaf red plants.. but that seems to be challenging


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## garuf (May 30, 2007)

this is possibly the nicest tank ive seen, in cornwall theres a flooded quarry that has slate retaining walls almost identical to the backdrop of you tank
amazing tank and so realistic!


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Hey G, i think you may be on the verge of too much moonlights, they're so very bright, too many of them may keep the fish and plants awake all night,
just my $.02


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

The moonlights I'm using are actually quite dim.. you can barely see them. The picture above has been "enhanced" somewhat to show the detail. I don't plan on running the moonlights for more then an hour or so after "lights out" just to see the slate in the late hours of the evening.

I don't plan on leaving htem on all night for exactly the reason you mentioned. They are simply there to "show off" the tank at night


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

Oh, ok, i geuss the camera captures the light more than it actually is there, mine looks the same, but in real life, i can't see them except the bottom of the tank.


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

That moss looks absolutely amazing and I like the bonsai look as well; it is different! I also think that you will enjoy the HC if you have enough light and CO2. I know that I ripped my glosso out recently and haven't looked back since. It is an insanely awesome and tiny plant but I've got mine pearling every day now...its worth it for me, what was your "experience" with it?


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

styxx1 said:


> That moss looks absolutely amazing and I like the bonsai look as well; it is different! I also think that you will enjoy the HC if you have enough light and CO2. I know that I ripped my glosso out recently and haven't looked back since. It is an insanely awesome and tiny plant but I've got mine pearling every day now...its worth it for me, what was your "experience" with it?


Thanks  The moss was actually inspired by a friend of mines bonsai collection. We've known each other for a long time and share a mutual interest in plants.. they just sort of branched off. Every once in a while though our plant hobbies collide.. lol.

When I tried HC earlier it didnt transplant well.. and before it had a chance to recover it had gotten choked out by glossostigma. This time around though things are going very very well. Since I posted the first picture several of the HC "plugs" have grown together and a carpet is already forming.

I added a small amount of Utricularia Graminifolia today too.. so I'm curious to see how it will look.


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## ringram (Jan 19, 2005)

Well, it sure looks nice. How do you get your moss to grow that well? Mine never grows like that. Is your water hard? Low or high flow filter? dosing? Light intensity and spectrum? Just curious as mine usually collects detritus algae and never looks that green.



GDominy said:


> It'll grow wild again in a day or two.. I just needed to give it some shape first... Every time I prune it like this the moss responds by growing in even thicker


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

> So I decided to start putting together some moonlights for my tank.


Love those moon lights!!! I'm guessing those are blue LED's. How do you like the color? 

I think I'm gonna get me some!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

ringram said:


> Well, it sure looks nice. How do you get your moss to grow that well? Mine never grows like that. Is your water hard? Low or high flow filter? dosing? Light intensity and spectrum? Just curious as mine usually collects detritus algae and never looks that green.


My water is very soft... the tank is filtered with a rena XP3, lit with 2 x 65 watt 6700k Coralife CF bulbs and 2 x 65 watt All Glass 8000k CF bulbs.

The moss grows so fast that any crap that collects in it gets pruned out every couple days when I give it its haircut. If I leave it to grow wild the stuff lower down starts to die off as it gets light starved.


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

GDominy said:


> Thanks  The moss was actually inspired by a friend of mines bonsai collection. We've known each other for a long time and share a mutual interest in plants.. they just sort of branched off. Every once in a while though our plant hobbies collide.. lol.
> 
> When I tried HC earlier it didnt transplant well.. and before it had a chance to recover it had gotten choked out by glossostigma. This time around though things are going very very well. Since I posted the first picture several of the HC "plugs" have grown together and a carpet is already forming.
> 
> I added a small amount of Utricularia Graminifolia today too.. so I'm curious to see how it will look.


I knew it! I have bonsai too and I thought I saw something in your trimming that replicated bonsai style. aha. Yes, initially my experience with HC was less than stellar. But of course being the idiot that I am I tried to introduce it into a brand new tank that hadn't even cycled yet, so it was a bad experience. Today, totally different experience. It's taken off and is quickly turning into a tiny green engine of photosynthesis. I wish I had a really nice camera for some close up pics of mine, it pearls all the time. We both have the same exact lighting btw, so you might get even better results with your soft water (I've got liquid rock to work with). As for the UG, you'll like that too but it does grow rather quickly and can become a problem. FWIW, watch out for it because it has a tendency to choke out every living plant on the block (and you don't want a repeat of the glosso fiasco!)lol.


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## CJ (Plant Freak) (Jun 1, 2007)

Looks like a very unique tank... I like it...


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

The tank looks great.

I've been thinking about trying moss hedges as well, and well you beat me to it! I can't remember, what moss did you use was it java (if so what Latin name? since there is a name discrepancy!)

Nice job, Like how the slate has some nice character nice and dark and fresh behind the moss. As far as natural looking, who cares?

-Andrew


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## styxx (Jul 2, 2003)

Let's get an update!?!


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## Adrian (Aug 17, 2005)

Simply superb!


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## dantra (May 25, 2007)

styxx1 said:


> Let's get an update!?!


I agree, where is the update?!?!


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well.. here is a non-pictorial update. Pictures will follow once I get a decent prune in but I'm recoving from a pretty serious allergic reaction, so that wont be for a day or two.

The HC has grown in nicely, and the UG is starting to grow a bit. I completely removed all of the riccia and I am extending the moss all the way to the right side.

My current project for this tank is underway... I am adding a GHL Profilux II aquarium computer and a set of dosing pumps from GHL as well. The computer will act as my Ph Controller, Lighting timers for 3 tanks, moonlight controller, UV Sterilizer controller, and a fertilizer dosing system for KNo3, Phosphate and Micro's. On top of all of that it will allow me to monitor my aquarium stats from over the internet, and plot the statistics to get a btter idea of how my tank is doing.

More details to follow!

I also have another project I am doing at work in an Oceanic biocube that I'll be posting here soon...


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Well.. spent 2.5 hours pruning hte moss, rebuilding the slate wall on the right and adding a ton of moss to the right side (all from parts of the left side)

My fertilizing experiment has yielded some unusual results. Many plants turned nice and pink, and many reds have definately gotten brighter. A really nice effect of this experiment has also caused the cutting of the red plant on teh right (still havent identified it) to form a number of new stems. This plant went from a single stem to TWELVE in just over a week. The right side now has some nice red to it.









Click here for larger picture

The HC has started to really spread, but I know it would do a LOT better with some added nutrients. I'm going to continue my experiment and see what kind of effects I can get using different ratios of Macro's.


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## Harsh (Jan 14, 2007)

WOAH!!! You've got sucha unique scape man. Very,, Very nice.


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

Just thought I would share some pics I took tonight... nothing too significant... But some neat stuff. Sorry about the picture quality.. My glass needs to be cleaned (havent done it in a week) so its a little spotty.

Here is one of the female emperor tetras










Here is my Nymphaea lotus (zenkeri) that I recently moved in here. It wasn't doing well in another tank I had so I transfered it into here to bring it back. It's recovering quite rapidly and should look pretty nice in a month or so.










This is one of my favorite spots in the aquarium. I love the way the Eleocharis ''parvula'' blends into the HC with the Cryptocoryne x willisii peeking through from the back.


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## dufus (Nov 13, 2006)

OMG, your Apisto is gorgeus!!
my dbl red died, but my Orange flash is coloring up better now.

BTW: that's my favorite area of your tank too, now anyways. the moss is a nice accent to it too.


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## sockfish (Jul 11, 2007)

o crap. I have to downsize cuz we're moving and now I see this!!!! what an awesome tank! go man go!

sox


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## chippie (May 9, 2007)

got any updates for us


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