# Hau Coast: Almost done but a change of title???



## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

The aquasketch [spring 2006]










Original Hardscape [August 25, 2006]










Add twigs, raise substrate level










Bright Sand










Foreground plants in










Me at work










Aquascape is planted [September 1st 2006]


Thanks for viewing everyone, and for the help I've received through this forum that made this possible.  If you want to see a better step-by-step, I'll post more photos soon in the "scraps" of my deviant art page (click banner)



Edit:










I got the filter working, so I decided to add a shot of the tank while set up normally. I'll give the equipment stats too since you can see now.

Lighting: Jalli 2x 55w PC
Filtration: Eheim 2213 + ADA in/out

There's a glass diffuser (not ADA) hooked up to pressurized CO2 using the milwaukee from Aquabotanic, and I also decided to put an air-pump on a timer too for night time . . . just because I had an extra pump around . . .


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## Y0uH0 (Dec 19, 2005)

Wow,i love your sketch,how did u make it so beautiful? Looking at your progress pics,i can say that you are well on your way to creating a very beautiful looking tank,one that meets or even exceeds the intended look of your sketch.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks a lot for the feedback youho. In the art community, we would call my aquasketch a CG, or computer graphic drawing. There are details at my DA page linked in my sig. When I did the hardscape for this tank, I figured out that the sketch has some difficulties that would make it hard to do in real life-- but I hope that the lay out I made will be able to surpass the original idea. It's been several months since that sketch, and I feel like I thought about a lot of things and changed a lot of my plans between then and now.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

*60cm ADA Naupaka Coast*

This thread seems to be kind of wavering, which is bad in my mind as I wanted it to be a serious and long lasting journal. Well, I know my fellow plantedtank members like to see more step-by-step so others can learn, so I'll give a bit more sustenance to this thread. I'll stick to the scaping stuff, because I really don't know anything special about equipment/dosing/complicated stuff like that. :icon_redf 










Here are some tools of the trade-- a combination of aquarium and art supplies (ironic as aquascaping is an aquarium art) including ADA stuff, an assortment of un-used paint brushes, and un-used painting knives. As a side note, knives are my favorite tools for landscape painting too.










The original rockscape is pretty basic-- Make 3 main rock groups into an irregular triangle, also using golden ratio approximately to make a balanced lay out. Support them with smaller rocks. The smaller rocks also act as the support, and hold back the aquasoil. I wanted an even higher slope (this isn't iwagumi) so I carefully added more soil using a small tupperware. After the rock-work is done, the slope doesn't deteriorate easily, so it's fine to add more. I also added extra to the cracks between rocks so I could plant HC so that the HC will creep onto the rocks.










Large brush is useful for making the soil even.










Close up of the rock-work after slope raise-- look for as many irregular triangles as you can find. 










The twigs were brought from Hawai'i-- I collected them from a stream bed in Nu'uanu. The twigs there become hard, slick, and also algae free. I've used them in the past and really like working with them. I left them out to dry over the summer to get rid of any living things that there might be.










Putting twigs in by hand, then smoothing the area around the twig with a finer brush.




























After the twigs, I put in the ADA bright sand, and used the ADA sand leveler, as well as a fine brush to smooth it out. The fine brush was necessary around rocks and under twigs acting as "roots."










Normally, before planting, Amano-sensei fills the tank to the top of the substrate and then plants the short plants. However, the slope of this tank is too huge for something like that. If I filled it until the whole mound was submerged, the tank would be almost half-full, and the foreground would be so far under water that planting HC would be impossible. So instead, I had to slowly soak the surface of the all the soil.










At this point the soil is moist so using the brushes would be messy. Painting knives are used to make adjustments. With the angled edges and shorter handles, the knives are better suited than the ADA sand scraper, and allow for better control. However, they aren't as thin as the brushes.










Planting HC with tweezers.










There are a few different techniques for planting short stem plants. My personal favorite, especially with HC, is to first loosten a small bunch, then insert it partway into the substrate, and finally use a spoon to half-bury it with moist aquasoil. Then I use the tweezers to tustle the aquasoil until the leaves of the plant re-emerge. This way, the plant isn't crowded like it would be if you shove in a bunch, has soil around its roots but under its leaves, and you don't have to plant . . . each . . . stem . . . which doesn't hold HC down so well anyway . . .










Planting e. tenellus as well

In this photo, my camera-man (a friend in the dorm who did a pretty good job considering he's a Nikon guy and we were using my Canon 10D) captured another technique that I use. If a plant is inserted, but feels like the tweezers are caught and would pull it back out, use another tool (here, the ADA sand leveler but even a wooden chopstick would do) to hold the plant in whild you slowly pull out the tweezers. This takes some practice as you might not even feel that the tweezers are caught, or even if you notice you might push or pull something too hard, but I promise that it'll become second nature as you set up more and more aquariums-- this and many other similar tricks your hands will figure out without much help from your brain. XD










Foreground/midground done.










Tank should be partially filled before planting stem plants/other tall plants so that they aren't crushed by their own weight. I used one of those synthetic wash cloths that are popular in Japan to make the water just trickle out of the bottle, not ruining the scape. I don't have a special hose like Amano-sensei . . . 

This also keeps the foreground wet. Planting stems is simple, just use tweezers insert, don't over-crowd too much.










And there you have it, ta-da!!


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## Gill (Mar 20, 2005)

That is another amazing tank Stephen, love the step by step. 

PS Got any More fish Artwork Love the ones you did for me.


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## Y0uH0 (Dec 19, 2005)

I am really impressed with the amount of dedication as well as the thorough step by step set up journey that you have taken us on. Very detailed and well done.I'll be anticipating the progress pics in time to come.


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## danepatrick (Jul 17, 2006)

thank you for the step by step instructions and hints on planting the HC. i know i as well as others appreciate what you're doing. :thumbsup:


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks guys-- to be honest, it's the other members of this forum that set the bar for detailed step-by-step, so I'm just giving as much or even less than some of the other journals already here. I suppose I just focus more on different parts of the set up. :icon_redf 

Gill-- I remember the pieces I did for you so long ago! Out of curiosity, how did you know I'm the same "Steven Chong" that was "tear-scar" on fishforums? Oh, and I still do lots of artwork-- if you want to see some of my newer stuff just click on the banner in my sig and browse around (and give me deviantart pageviews) lol. I'm trying to be active on Deviantart too so that more people in the general art community will learn about aquascaping.


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## Mahlon (Sep 8, 2005)

Thanks for the step-by-step. You've really got an eye for form, and using your artistic talents. I'm a graphics person as well (3d animation at FedEx Multimedia), and I hope I can work out as many pleasing shapes as you have when I start a 50 gallon this fall. 

Very nice.

Mahlon


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## danepatrick (Jul 17, 2006)

now i remember my question steven. what K lighting are you using? and how many wpg?


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks, Mahlon, good luck.

Dane,
My light regime is pretty simple.

Bulbs:
1 x 55w 6700k
1 x 55w 10000k

6700k 10 hrs/day
10000k 3 hrs/day

The tank is 18 gallons, so for the 10 hrs it's a bit more than 2wpg, and for that 3 hrs it's over 5 wpg.


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## Nightshop (May 12, 2006)

I absolutely love your layout, gives me a lot of inspiration.

What inhabitants are you planning on keeping?


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

What I really want is an assortment of some of the more colorful not commonly used tetras, like lemons, pristellas, skirts, maybe even some glow-lights. The idea is to have some consistancy, but varying colors with fish also of wider bodies-- this will method is suited to re-creating the crowded community of a hawai'ian coral reef where all sorts of colorful fish mingle. Definately no neons/cardinals/etc.

I was also planning on Amano shrimp, otocinclus, and also wanted to try olive nerites which look just like the "pipipi" salt-water snails in Hawai'i. I was thinking of ordering them from azgardens (unless someone knows a better source) along with some tube-mouth pencilfish and tiger shrimp. If anyone knows a better source for olive nerites, please clue me in because I really don't need the pencilfish or shrimp-- they would just to fill out the rest of the order.


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## Gill (Mar 20, 2005)

greenmiddlefinger said:


> Gill-- I remember the pieces I did for you so long ago! Out of curiosity, how did you know I'm the same "Steven Chong" that was "tear-scar" on fishforums? Oh, and I still do lots of artwork-- if you want to see some of my newer stuff just click on the banner in my sig and browse around (and give me deviantart pageviews) lol. I'm trying to be active on Deviantart too so that more people in the general art community will learn about aquascaping.


You posted on here and TFF with 1 of your tanks and guessed it must have been you. 
TBH yourself and Rain Outclass the TFF Mods. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks a lot Gill-- there are some really strong guys out there that I'm looking forward to catching up to though . . .


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

That looks terrific Steven, as I PMed you. My only thing I noticed different with the terrific sketch and the real deal, is the height of the substrate. You had more of a taller, dynamic mound on the right in the sketch, which made it more dramatic. A minor difference, but noticeable. And the wood was pointing more toward the front right which gave a sweet feeling of the water's current.


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Steven - great thread! And thanks for including a shot of yourself in the pics. I certainly enjoy having a visual image of the people in on the forum!

Not sure where to start... The tank looks like a great start, but I'm not sure where it is leading. I think the hardscape you are working with is great. But I suspect it will be overpowered by the plants. I know Amano advocates "hiding your intentions", but I'm an Occidental. I'm not comfortable with that. When the initial intentions start out so well, I think is it a shame to hide them.

Your conceptual drawing is absolute dynamite IMO. Really a killer scape! Too bad that was not to be.  But practical limitations do set in, and if that drawing is to be your inspiration for this tank. I would counsel paying close attention to ratios. In your drawing you had a lot of rock visible, with a strong presence. Likewise the sticks were thick - a very bold visual. This allowed the plants to have a nice contrast, interwoven as they were.

Now taking this to your current tank, the rock work is more subdued. I'd hate to see it get obscured by plants. With the smaller rocks, you are already challenged to maintain the dramatic hardscape/plant ratio in your conceptual drawing. Having thinner sticks will make that even more challenging. I suppose the answer is to keep the stems low, pretty tightly manicured.

Or maybe you have a vision that is an improvement over your conceptual drawing, that is not yet evident. :icon_wink I look forward to finding out!

Thanks for the great write up and pics! It's a great start. Great concept, great actual hardscape! Now comes the hard part, and _I can't wait to see the results._


PS - Steven I hate critiquing. That's why I avoid it. It's kind of the pot calling the kettle black, if you know what I mean. But you did ask... so hope you don't mind the no holds barred feedback.


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## jasonh (Oct 26, 2003)

Steven, 

I really like this tank. The only thing I would change would be to make all the plants on the far right and left around the twigs shorter. I think the twigs kind of get lost in the plants right now, and once it fills in, I'm sure you won't see them much. Maybe you're planning on cutting them down once it matures a bit and fills in, who knows.

I really like the use of the drawing beforehand though. Only problem is it can be kind of a let down for some people when you have a killer drawing and can't match it in real life (I'm not saying your tank is a letdown though)

Looking forward to updates.


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## t-sav (Aug 19, 2006)

Where is the water flow comeing from in this picture???


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Wow, lots of feedback . . . where to start . . .

Steve, Bob, and Jason all had similar comments so I'll try to respond as best I can . . .

To be honest, the drawing is . . . physically impossible with this tank.

Actually Scolley, I too dislike keeping my plans to myself, and thanks for critiqueing even though you don't like to. 

I discovered these types of problems when I was doing the initial hardscape. The original required for an extremely high back slope. You guys must understand how difficult it was for me to even attain the slope the tank has right now, being almost half the height of the whole tank. Also, the main rock I brought back is a bit too small . . . 

Another problem, is that e. tenellus . . . isn't tall enough. (hair grass is too think for what I wanted) The scape really required a thin-leaved grassy plant the grows consistently but, even the plant best suited to this, e. tenellus, is not tall enough. I'm aware I could have tried something like Blyxa, but that's more of a rosette than a grass.

It might actually work better in a smaller tank.

Also Scolley, you're right that I've done a lot of thinking since the time I did the sketch, and my ideas for it kind of changed. I did a lot of sketches since then from a more engineering perspective, and changed the shape of it in my head. It's hard to describe my reasons, really it's just my intuition.

I can say why I changed the directions of the twigs though. This scape isn't meant to be "in a stream." The intention was, dead trees/cypress tress, so it makes more sense for the twigs to not follow any particular direction. Also, I never intended anything like manzinita/old black, because those types are too thick and strong. The thinner the twigs, the bigger the tank seems. However, I under-estimated just how thin the river twigs came out to be compared to the lay-out.


All these types of changes probably are a result of my being inexperienced with larger tanks, and therefore, underestimating some factors when I did the sketch (for instance, B. australis is much bigger in the sketch than in the tank). However, I have thought about these things since that time while making more practical preparations, and I'm confident that my newer thinking is just as good, or better than my old. To be honest, there are some things in that sketch that are un-satisfying to me, and this scape does have features trying to rectify those dissatisfactions. For instance, I wanted hardscape that, while maybe not as large, was more complex.


Well, maybe I'll be able to explain better as the scape comes together, that's the best I can do right now.  


t-sav, it's a fad right now to use a blow dryer at the photo-shoot.


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## t-sav (Aug 19, 2006)

lol, never would have guessed


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## t-sav (Aug 19, 2006)

So, what do you do for filtration/water movement, I don't see anything in the tank. Are you running a CO2 System, if so, I don't see it in the tank?


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

I have pressurized CO2 running through a glass diffuser (not ADA though). I bought ADA inflow/outflow and an EHEIM 2213, but for some reason, the canister leaks around the rim of the canister so right now there's just a Aquaclear HOB on until I figure out how to fix the eheim.


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

Probably the Eheim's O ring unless it was bought new. They make a lube which helps when putting on a replacement O-ring.


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## danepatrick (Jul 17, 2006)

greenmiddlefinger said:


> What I really want is an assortment of some of the more colorful not commonly used tetras, like lemons, pristellas, skirts, maybe even some glow-lights.


not commonly used because they're hard to find?' if so, that's odd man. i manage the fish department over at the petland here, and we have every single one of those by the 50's or MORE. they're really easy to find here.
and i totally agree with using the tetras that are not commonly used. i mean.. although i have 25 neons in my tank (mainly for the color), i absolutely love the black phantom tetras which i also have. just not as many. i would go with some black and white hi-fins. they'll contrast eachother which imo looks nice.
...just making conversation.. :hihi:


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks for the help betowess

dane-- I mean uncommonly used because they're not popular, but actually are very common tetras.


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## Nightshop (May 12, 2006)

I made a similar move in stocking one of my tanks. I chose some tetra's which I had never kept before and to my surprise I like them! I would of never chosen any tetra before now.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Yup, sometimes common fish can be the most interesting. :thumbsup:


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

So far, things seem to be running smoothely. B. Australis, M. Umbrossum, and Rotala Green seem to be going nutz. I'm glad because the umbrossum had such a hard trip here, but now it's shooting off new stems even from the sections that looked dead. I'm actually having a problem with the rotala creeping instead of growing vertically . . . grrr, it's shading over some e. tenellus right now . . . oh, and as expected, the terrestrial leaves of the tenellus are slowly rotting away . . . but what I just noticed is that while I thought all the leaves were browning, but I looked closer, and all them are starting to put up new aquatic leaves that have a nice red color! yay


I am having a bit of trouble with the HC though, the plants melted pretty bad at first, though there are still a lot of healthy ones. I'm wondering if it was too hot for them? I have a thermometer and it read about 32 degrees Celcius. O.O

I got a fan yesterday, and it seems to have cut it down to about 28.5, so hopefully it'll be fine. Also dosed a bunch of excel and nitates since I've heard HC likes those in particular?


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## bavarian3 (Feb 22, 2005)

Awesome thread, thanks for taking the time to do a step by step process.

The hardscape with the rocks and substrate mix looks awesome, and great choice of plants.
I dont particularly like the wood used, i think it will look wierd/thin after the plants grow in nice and full.

In regards to growth of the rotola, its going to shoot out a ton of roots horizontally, but will grow vertical as it fills itself in. Ive found this plant and D.Diandra a big pain after it grows in, they just grow so fast and shade so much light. My HC ended up melting away completely! 

Good luck with this and cant wait to see the final product!

-Charles


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks for the feedback charles-- I hope I have better luck controlling the plant.  

As for the wood, I seem to get a lot of comments about that. But, I guess the most comments (positive and negative) will usually surround the innovations-- and oh how obsessed am I with trying to bring something unusual to the scaping world? Very :icon_redf 










A shot of a nice maple tree in Japan. 
How many times have people wished we could have something like a tree inside their aquascapes? Our habits of trimming plants into bushes,

ok-- my comp didn't like me for a sec there. >.<

or using wood to try and get the sense of a forest. I've also seen many attempts at "building" a tree with a tree-like piece of wood, and moss.

Point is, we love trees. I'm not saying I'm really building one, but I am trying to get that lovely sense of green contrasting with thin, dark wood. Don't know if it'll work, but that's why you try things in art. Not to mention, one of the great things about these sticks is:

They're not permanent

If you don't like 'em, just pull em out. It's really no big deal-- they're not used for anything structural. In fact, if you want you can pull one out and stick it somewhere where it'll look better. No biggie. Basically, be it at the start or end of the scape, the sticks remain basically infinitely re-arrangable. So, it doesn't really matter if they're not in a good spot right now. 

I do have a real-life plant in mind, the "Hau" tree. It's actually more of a giant shrub-- a member of the hibiscus family. It likes to grow on ocean and river banks where it grows into extremely dense bushes. We used to remember the name "Hau" (pronounced "How") as in, "Hau are you going to get through there?"

For this, the combination of umbrossum and twigs will fit quite well I think.

The scaping world is moving a bit away from 1:1 representation. I myself am going to focus on re-creating realistic landscapes for my first few serious tanks.


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## t-sav (Aug 19, 2006)

I like the twigs  Something differrent, for me anyways.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks t-sav, actually I like the way it's growing in:

Update after 1 week:










Plants are growing well-- HC melted from the heat, but it's recovered and starting to grow in. I'm already trimming e. tenellus and r. green runners regularly to prevent them from running over the HC. B. australis already reached the surface, so I trimmed it back down to the height of the umbrossum-- when all the bground plants get close to the top, I want to do one major hack. Found some pest snails, but oh well, whaddy gonna do.

Set up shots are now in the scraps section of my deviantart page, with higher resolution than here. Also I posted some plant-close ups there as well. This photo will also be there soon in higher resolution. Enjoy!


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## aquanut415 (Jan 21, 2006)

i think it looks great! very cool. nice use of sand in the foreground.


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## chinaboy1021 (May 30, 2003)

wikked sweet rig mate. love the twigs. :eek5: 

ive been out of hte hobby for a year, but its threads like these that make me want to start up again. but no cash. :icon_cry:

btw, i suggest you be very careful and limit yourself when feeling with fauna. do a species for main attraction + ottos + amanos. dont crowd your beautiful aquascape with a mess load of fish like what i always do.


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## ianmoede (Oct 1, 2004)

I totally dig the right hand portion of the tank. I was doing some surveying on lava tubes near Kona a few months ago (im a geologist) and the right hand side is SPOT on for the site. Bizarre. Conversely though, im not sure i like the twigs, simply because when you get a thicker grow in i think that they will contribute to clutter. Just an opionion though, the hill on the right totally makes up for it


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks everyone!

Ianmoede, I especially appreciate the contructive criticism, as well as the verification that, I'm not crazy, and that this actually does look a lot like Hawai'i. 

Chinaboy-- I understand the sentiment about not too many fish. I too, worry about distracting from the lay out. I'm sure that it would look great with just 1 species of small fish (like a borara sp.). But, for me that would not accomplish the goal of this tank's appearence-- to touch at the spirit of a hawai'i coast line. For that, the fish selection should be a bit closer to the diversity and liveliness that you will find in the more reef-filled portions of the coast line. I promise not to go over board though, just 3-5 species of small fish with 1 species being significantly more represented than the others (probably a silver color-less fish like emerald rasbora or gold tetras)


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## Y0uH0 (Dec 19, 2005)

Off to a great start! Looking really beautiful. Love the lush green in the background.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Things have been smoothly-- I've started getting lots of brown dust and GSA but no other types of algae yet. I decided it's not too early to add some fish, so I decided to go ahead.




























I have a small school of Columbian tetras, and a large school of emerald eye rasboras. Yeah, I suppose columbians aren't exactly common, and emerald eyes aren't tetras at all-- but I finally decided on this combination based simply on intuition. I saw both fish at my LFs, and my gut told me that these were the two fish I should go with. We'll see. They've been in the tank since thursday, and I like it so far.










Oto 

No photos of full tank with fish, or of rasboras yet but that's on the way.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

*semi-serious snapshots*

Here's a bit of a teaser for tomorrow:




























I messed around a bit with the camera today to practice for tomorrow-- stay tuned for a full tank shot! My friend and I are going to do a more serious photo-shoot.


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## t-sav (Aug 19, 2006)

looking great!


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

I gotta tell you Steven, you are good with a camera! I know this is about the tank, but your background lighting and the water surface look KILLER. Right out of those expensive Amano books! Looks great!


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## pineapple (Jan 22, 2004)

Steven - yours is an inspiring thread. Thanks for divulging all. Contrary to the esteemed Scolley's comment earlier, I think it is relatively hard to predict what plant growth will do to hid (or accentuate) rocks. Wood can always be moved to show through tall plants - but rocks are a basal decision in the design process. I think this is a work in progress - the plants will sometimes eat the rocks and sometimes they will have to grow thickly in order to be pruned and to produce a lovely effect. That might take a year. Perhaps the difficulty will be in keeping the foreground non-fertile sand clean - but you made a wise decision to keep that down to a very thin decorative strip - thereby maximizing planting area. It's always tempting to follow the leader and do large areas of non-fertile decorative white sand - but they are hard to remove or change in the future.

There is a plant that I think would work very well in this aquarium: Isoetes engelmanni or some such species. Isoetes is not so easy to get hold of but it gives the background a light and pleasing look and is tall enough to feather between rocks without engulfing the view. It does not run amuk like Eleocharis either. I like stem plants that grow fairly thickly too. The humble Rotala rotundifolia, for instance, takes to pruning very well and produces think, controllable forests of pinkish leaves.....

You seem to be enjoying this project - nice to see,


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## pineapple (Jan 22, 2004)

Scolley is right about your camera eye too. Creating a great aquascape is nothing without a decent set of camera skills. Photographing tanks is not an easy thing to do..


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## organic sideburns (Dec 22, 2005)

wow cant wait for the full tank shot! That H.C is looking alot better! Any tips on taking such great pics? Do you use a hairdryer to ripple the water like that? lol.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks for the feedback guys

First, I'd like to say that I'm shooting with photography equipment that is on (quite honestly) a different level from my current skill and experience. I have a Canon EOS 10D with 1 lense that goes from 18-200mm. It's also a wide-lens so it handles full tank shots rather well. I also brought a cable release and a bunch of filters. I also was able to get ADOBE CS2 on my computer, so I have quite good post-processing tools now. Basically, my camera is above me I think-- I'm still getting used to this stuff too. :icon_redf 

Pinapple-- you are completely right that this is VERY MUCH a work in progress. This tank is a LONG ways off from competing (heck, it's only been set up for 3 weeks). I'm taking these shots today and tomorrow mostly to be posted at deviantart-- aquarium people may see the tank's immaturity, but people at deviantart won't, and I am sorely in need of photos of REAL aquariums in my gallery. Eventually I will want very thick bushes-- and plan on the first big trim tomorrow. 

I can see how Isoetes would fit in this scape-- to be honest, I was tempted to include eleocharis vivapara in this lay out but refrained due to problems of scale. The decision to disclude tall grassy plants as a background did not come from an aesthetic problem, but one of scale. Since this tank is meant to be a Hawai'ian sea shore, and the twigs + stem plants are supposed to catch the feeling of the trees that grow on the shore, I can't use any tall background grass plants. After all, you never see grasses that are taller than the trees right? 

I also like common plants like R. rotundifolia, and the "green" variation is in here. I, generally speaking, shy away from (and almost dislike) the really showy plants like the toninas, eriocaulons and newer/fancier ludwigias. They are just, too much. I like plants that can make scenes that really do look natural. 

In the case of this lay out, the normal r. rotundifolia along with all the other red plants fell into the "too much" category. All the plants I picked to imitate size/leaf shape of corresponding hawai'i shore species-- none of which are red (or at least I haven't seen any red plants, so it wouldn't feel right for me). I am enjoying my R. green though, I find it gets thicker even faster than the normal variety.

Thanks organic, I also think the HC has improved a lot. Once you get it going I guess it grows pretty quickly!

Camera tips?

Use something to cover the area above the front of the tank (to hide the lights). This is unnecessary if you're using a hood, but it's something good to remember. Back lighting is your friend-- since I have a suspended light on legs, it is easy for me to move the lights to the back of the aquarium. Finally, photoshop is your friend. 

edit: And so is your blow-dryer XD


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

The photoshoot at 3 weeks:









Now! ( :hihi: ):










A picture says a thousand words, eh? hahaha!! After the photoshoot, I trimmed all the stems down to 1". I think people might have noticed all the RAOK threads I had. Hope you guys all got your fill. 

I think removing that huge amount of plants (and tearing out all the old emersed-form rotting stems of m. umbrossum and b. australis) might have insighted the wrath of the green water, and other algaes . . .










HC is now super thick, but you can barely tell beneath the shrowd of thread algae . . . IF my friends ever get around to sending the darn things, I should be getting a shipment of 100 or so "wild form" neocaridinas next week.










At least the plants don't seem to care, growing along smoothly. Actually, if I think about the fact that they all got trimmed down to 1", the growth has been fast . . . R. green and e. tenellus are super thick, and invading everything . . .










A columbian tetra wondering "What the heck is goin' on???"

XD

I ordered a UV sterilizer off of ebay, and I'm looking forward to nukin' the greenwater . . . :icon_twis


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## t-sav (Aug 19, 2006)

wow, dirty lol

So, you are saying that the algae bloom/green water was caused by triming the plants? Could you explain why?

If that's a stupid question, I blame it on my lack of experience with FWPTs


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Really, I'm clueles-- just guessing. XD


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

greenmiddlefinger said:


> Really, I'm clueles-- just guessing. XD


wait say that again, you clueless on planted tanks? :icon_roll 

but you are most likely right, for this reason which i will try and explain.



say that there are 3 pounds of plant mass in that tank, when the stems where trimmed say he took out 1 pound of plant mass, so that 1 pound of plant mass that takes up nutrients and has lots of bacteria on it is gone, then you usually get an amonia spike then with the high light and extra nutrients, algea attacks! 

green water usually means you have too high light and not enough plants. and a million other things

I'm not Tom Barr or anyone who could give you 100% acurate reason, but this is how i understand it. if you want the reason down to which nutrients triggered it ask him.:icon_roll 

I have found that stems love GW for some reason... 

good luck with the tank!

- Fish newb -


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks fish newb! I feel complimented that you're "suprised" by my cluelessness, but really, my knowledge of the science of planted tanks is not that good. I think the average PT member knows more about algae, ferts, dosing, etc. than me. I'm one of those rare guys who's design knowledge is a lot deeper than his plant-growing knowledge. :hihi:

The light is an issue too eh? I'll try to cut down the hours I have it on "maximum burn." right now I have 5 hrs/day where I have 6wpg . . . I'll put it down to 3.


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## mr.gaboozlebag (Feb 22, 2006)

greenmiddlefinger said:


> Thanks freshnewb! I feel complimented that you're "suprised" by my cluelessness, but really, my knowledge of the science of planted tanks is not that good. I'm one of those rare guys who's design knowledge is a lot deeper than his plant-growing knowledge. :hihi:
> 
> The light is an issue too eh? I'll try to cut down the hours I have it on "maximum burn." right now I have 5 hrs/day where I have 6wpg . . . I'll put it down to 3.


Not freshnewb
his username is fish newb, look at is sig.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Ah, you're right mr. gaboozlebag, my bad. It must be just the the effects of conditioning . . . XD Really, I should be studying for my psychology midterm . . .


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## CardBoardBoxProcessor (Sep 17, 2006)

got any duck weed? it seems to help keep GW down by out competeing it when it comes to light and nutrients. I knwo in my 72 gallon it grows liek made and I never get green water.. I placed some in my 55 gallon that has a hgue GW outbreak and it is startign to go away.. if you havea goldfish jsut take the huge ammount of duckweed you get and put it in that tank.. it will eat it all uite quickly haha. way to recycle old unused nutrients haha


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

For some reason, getting rid of duck weed and/or keeping a goldfish seem like much more terrifying indeavors than getting rid of the green water. XD

Thanks for the tip cardboard. I got a UV sterilizer on the way, so I'm not too afraid of the greenwater. As long as I know the plants are healthy, I'm sure things will turn out alright sooner or later . . .

BTW-- I love goldfish (who doesn't?) but keeping them is just not possible from a dorm room-- especially when you have a 30 gal max limit rule, and an 18 gallon already running in the room. Plus it's not possible for me since if I added another tank I'd want to plant it. :icon_roll


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## CardBoardBoxProcessor (Sep 17, 2006)

you cna plant a goldfish tank.. :eek5: it jsut takes more patience and a replanting every week haha. persoanlly my goldfish tank (before I found out the advertised low light plants actually needed high light) was more beautiful then any other planted tanks. 

1 goldfish in a 12 gallon would be good. 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v180/BTClown/d.jpg


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## xcooperx (Jun 21, 2006)

just wondering why didn't you try the Blackout Method? and how much the UV you bought?


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## CardBoardBoxProcessor (Sep 17, 2006)

xcooperx said:


> just wondering why didn't you try the Blackout Method? and how much the UV you bought?


cause it doe snot work for very long. I did a black out for theree days and it came right back xd duckweed is slowly working with water cnage here or there. :eek5:


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Why no black out? Basically because I'm scared of hurting the plants. I have enough patience and money that I'd rather take a route least likely to stunt my plants.

As for the UV I bought a 9 watt off of ebay and it came out around $40 shipped. After the amount I've poured into this set up, it's . . . *cringes when thinking about the money spent* just a drop in the bucket :eek5: . I almost wish I'd got one from the start just in case.


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

greenmiddlefinger said:


> Why no black out? Basically because I'm scared of hurting the plants. I have enough patience and money that I'd rather take a route least likely to stunt my plants.
> 
> As for the UV I bought a 9 watt off of ebay and it came out around $40 shipped. After the amount I've poured into this set up, it's . . . *cringes when thinking about the money spent* just a drop in the bucket :eek5: . I almost wish I'd got one from the start just in case.



Steven, that UV will take care of a small tank in no time. But the GW has quite a few causes, though hard to say which. First its pretty normal in a new tank, and usually ( I think this is the consensus) is caused by stirring up old nitrates and funk from the substrate, possibly even NH4 when doing any serious uprooting and replanting etc. And a new tank doesn't have enough mulm and good bacteria to prevent it. Even established tanks can have it happen, though more rare. But thats about all I have heard. I once had a running battle for months with the stuff and a diatom filter. That is a long story I won't bore you with, except I won eventually after a 75% WC followed with a diatomfilter,carbon,nitrazorb,3-4 day 100% blackout followed by a 2nd diatom filter...yadayada...:icon_roll Next tank, I got a UV, which I hardly ever use. I have it set up to move from tank to tank HOB style if I feel the need.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks for the tip Betowess. I'm pretty sure their was lots of new-tank-ness, not-enough-bacteria-ness, messing-with-old-nitrateness, and the rest going on. XD

I'm also thinking of setting mine up HOB style . . . I don't think I'll have it on permanently. Get some PVC at lowes, and work it out.


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## Nightshop (May 12, 2006)

GMF . . . I fear I am begining the same epidemic as you are.

Did your water put on a 'white' cloudiness before the green-ness showed up?


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Mmm . . . not really, that sounds more like a bacteria bloom and is probably not a bad thing . . .


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## xcooperx (Jun 21, 2006)

mine start to a white cloudiness then after that, Green Water :icon_cry:


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Oh really? Maybe there's something to it then . . .


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## Nightshop (May 12, 2006)

Sigh, well I'll be hoping it's only a minor bacterial bloom . . . . other than that there is no algae growing anymore, and only healthy pearling plants. . . .

I hope your UV works out!


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

I hope you just got a minor bloom too dude. I hope the UV ARRIVES soon! grrr XD


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## crshadow (Sep 4, 2003)

The tank's looking great Steven! (Not including the algae of course!) That UV sterilizer will make short work of it though!

-Jeremiah


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks Jeremiah! It means a lot coming from you!

I had a bit of a loss recently-- I was on a trip, and the CO2 either dumped a bit, or was just set too high and I lost some of the fish . . . :icon_cry: 

But, the UV sterilizer came in, so I rigged it up and eagerly look forward to ridding myself of the greenwater!!


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## jeffboyarrdee (Aug 25, 2004)

hey greenmiddlefinger
i also got rid of my greenwater or bacteria bloom by using ADA cleardash, it works if all else fails, but since u have a uv sterilizer it should zap that thing straight up


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## Nightshop (May 12, 2006)

What kind of UV did you buy? A turbotwist?

I'm looking into buying one. . .


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

I bought the JEBO UV H9

It was incredibly easy to set up-- even a moron like me figured it out!!


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## crshadow (Sep 4, 2003)

greenmiddlefinger said:


> Thanks Jeremiah! It means a lot coming from you!
> 
> I had a bit of a loss recently-- I was on a trip, and the CO2 either dumped a bit, or was just set too high and I lost some of the fish . . . :icon_cry:
> 
> But, the UV sterilizer came in, so I rigged it up and eagerly look forward to ridding myself of the greenwater!!


Ouch, sorry to hear about your fish losses. I've also killed my share of fish with accidental CO2 overdoses...
<.<
>.>

Well, at least you'll be free of the green water shortly.  

BTW, I had the pleasure of visiting Kauai about 3 years ago, and I think you did a great job capturing the essence of the islands in your scape. Your earlier tank artwork reflected this as well. roud: 

-Jeremiah


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks for the feedback crshadow-- especially in regards to hawaii, it's really useful!


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

I can see in my tank again!!!! XD

The green water hasn't been completely destroyed yet, but it's amazing how fast it's disappearing!! I'm happy. XD

Well, I can see that the R. green is in desperate need of a trim anyway . . . time to do some more RAOKs . . .


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## ianiwane (Sep 7, 2004)

I am glad your UV is clearing up your tank. Its a good thing to have. I hook it up to all my tanks durring the initial start up to be safe.


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## dougiefresh (Sep 5, 2006)

I like how your scaping is filling it. Keep up the really nice work.


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## Guillermo (Dec 19, 2005)

Glad to know you almost win the GW battle Steven, now it´s time for the scissors to make some pruning. Great tank bud.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks for the support all!

Because the CO2 dump happened, I don't really have fish to worry about getting beat up so, I figured I might try flag fish for my brown algae issue. Any advice on them?


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## ianmoede (Oct 1, 2004)

I had a crew of like 5 or 6 in a 40 breeder. They were actually a little agressive and didnt do all that much for the algae in my experience.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

I bought a pair to try out today-- we'll see how they do.










MASSIVE trim, water's pretty much clear now. Still got lots of brown algae, and a lot of the HC died back (apparently it didn't like me cutting down the high lighting hours to 1 so I'll bump them back up to 5) so I've got to work hard to get it to spread again.

If anyone wants R. green or Stargrass, I'm planning to RAOK them off.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

The war with algae is over!










Well, sorta. I still have greenspot/greendust. Not to worried-- if worse comes to worse I can scratch it off before the photoshoot. Brown algae and green water are gone! The UV did it's job, and iradicated it. The brown algae was gotten rid of by a huge dose of CO2 (that accidentally killed all my old fish while I was on vacation  ), and finished off by these guys:










Still got 2 problems.

First:

Snails. I don't even have any fish in there that I'm feeding, and suddenly their population exploded??? I have 2 pea puffers in there now-- the flag fish got moved to the cube tank which I set up for them while the puffers did their job. Fingers crossed that they don't die of new-tank syndrome.

The HC died back!!!  The brown algae had smothered it, and I lowered the light on vacation . . . SnyperP generously gave me some more, but it also died back . . . right now, I'm thinking of planting some glosso to help things fill faster but . . . 

I guess all I can do is have patience and hope. The other plants are doing great! My B. australis finally perked up to the way it was at the start. I don't know what happened to it. Tom Barr gave me a different dosing regime to try, and it came right back!

Well, on the right side. After it died back on the left, the M. umbrossums just kinda . . . took over the space . . .


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## Nightshop (May 12, 2006)

Still looking good to me!

Never give up!


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## sayn3ver (Sep 1, 2006)

the dwarf puffers will do their job splendidly.:hihi: 

As long as your water parameters are good, and you accilmated them with a drip, they should be fine. High nitrates and ammonia wreak havoc on them due to their scaleless-ness, more so then on other types of fish. They did evolve from their salt water cousins(in theory).


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

sayn3ver said:


> the dwarf puffers will do their job splendidly.:hihi:
> 
> As long as your water parameters are good, and you accilmated them with a drip, they should be fine. High nitrates and ammonia wreak havoc on them due to their scaleless-ness, more so then on other types of fish. They did evolve from their salt water cousins(in theory).


Thanks for the tips! Actually, the ones I was worried about were the flag fish which I didn't make clear at all!! :hihi:

The puffers seem to be doing well, and my snail population seems to be going down. Still, it boggles my mind! Some of those pond snails look bigger than they are! :icon_lol:


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

As the month, and the semester draws to a close, so does the time for Naupaka Coast-- or should I say, "Hau Coast." 










It's still a bit foggy from adding the sand.

On the 16th of December I'll be heading home, and this layout will have to be dismantled. I couldn't get the HC back in time, despite a big help from Wolfenxx. It just didn't fill in fast enough. So, I decided to go with my back-up plan-- fill in the HC areas with sand. I'm not sure if it's better or worse, but it's different, and at this point it's necessary.

"Hau" is a native Hawaiian tree that the M. umbrossum was supposed to represent. Since the "naupaka" (HC) didn't make it, I guess that makes it "Hau Coast." :hihi:

A pic of the sparkling gouramis in their tank:










I'm a bit sad that this tank is coming to an end. I had a lot of joys, and disappointments with this lay out, but I think I learned a lot from it, and it's certainly one I'm truly proud of. From here, I will only strive to improve.


Look for the final photos of this tank, and a new lay out in my 60 cm in January! They'll be coming out soon enough.


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## sayn3ver (Sep 1, 2006)

very sad day.:icon_frow 

been following this thread closely. I love your work.

BTW, in that last full tank shot, is that blyxa in the midgrown looking deep green? or is that dwarf sag?


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks sayn3ver. 

I appreciate the feedback. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself here-- most people don't seem interested unless I'm going through bad things of some sort.  I think maybe next layout I'll just make separate threads instead of a journal. I have to laugh that the journal is resoundingly a "4" when the photoshoot is a "5."

I kinda know what you mean by sad. Times like this though, I think are happier than sad-- excited about completing a scape, and eagerly looking forward to the next one. 

The plant there is actually the very same echinodorus I had planted all along. It's just . . . gone off a bit. :hihi:


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

Steven, too bad you have to break it down. But I really like the sand up front... Nice open area to contrast with the overall forest look. Tank looks great, but of course it will look even better once it clears! I think it looks the best yet now. roud:


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