# m.lemays 75gal journal "UPDATED 10/10/2005"



## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

I just rearranged the tank and planted a bunch of foreground stuff which should look much better in a couple of weeks. All advice and critique is welcome. Thanks


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

In the left front corner is dwarf hairgrass which you can barely see. To the right of the driftwood, in the entire gully is planted with glosso. You can see it a little in 2 weeks that part should be filled in. In the far right front corner is Blyxa japonica. I can't wait to see what thats gonna look like once it begins to green up.

Marcel


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

It looks great! Once your foreground plants grow in it is going to be awesome!! Your wood has an interesting shape, and I like the Anubis. I can't wait to see it in another month!! Hey Marcel... where did you get the Blyxa japonica anyway???

Mike


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I just followed the link from AB. I think your foreground is going to be fine when it grows in a bit Marcel. If you are afraid there is going to be too strong a delineation between your fore ground plants, you may want to overlap them a bit. If you decide to do this I would intermix the Hairgrass with the Glosso where they meet for a smoother transition. Once the Hairgrass takes off, you might want to pull the Hairgrass into the Glosso a bit more. Toward the rear of the Glosso if you know what I mean? A little Glosso in front of the Blyxa would work too. The Blyxa is a strong looking plant, and I think you have placed it perfectly! 
I still think the aquarium is going to look great, even if you make no changes.
Gosh I love that Blyxa you have. I still want to know where you got it!! :wink: 

Mike


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## JamesHoftiezer (Jun 29, 2003)

Just give it some time. The foreground needs time to develop its character. Don't rush to judgement too soon.

One thing I thing you are missing is some large leaves on the left side. I think you need some to either have symetry from left to right or a progression. Right now it looks like two different scapes divided by the driftwood.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Momo: I like the idea of criss crossing the foreground. I've never worked with the hairgrass before, how deep should I plant it? The stems I bot were only about 1-11/2" long, so I only planted them about a 1/2" into the substrate for fear of choking them out. You can't really see it in the picture but there's a crypt wendtii buried behind the blyxa and to the rt of the sword, its fairly large, I was thinking about moving it behind the vertical portion of the driftwood, what do you think? The glosso is gonna fill in quickly, after 2 days some of the stems had already grown 1 inch. I clipped them and planted between the others for more density.

I got the blyxa from florida driftwood. :evil: About the only thing good that came out of that experience was that he ran out of e.tennulus and substituted 2 extra bundles of blyxa. I think Robert H over at the AB has some Blyxa. I know I've seen it somewhere else, can't remember where. 

Thanks


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

OHH, Florida Driftwood!! :wink:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

I think I'll let it grow in a little before I make some changes.

Jim: I see what you mean about the large leaves on the right. Instead of putting another sword on the left to tie the aquascape together, what if I bring some of the sunset hygro from the left on to the rihgt side to sort of tie th two sides together. I don't know, I think I'll just look at it for a while to figure out what I'm gonna do. Originally I wanted to do the right side the way it is tapering down to a field on the left, but as I began planting this is what I ended up with. Instead of a triangle shape I went with the concave design.

Marcel


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

I really like the new look Marcel, its quite sharp.. I can't wait to see it grow in


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

How is that foreground growing in Marcel, and how is the Blyxa?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

It still needs more time, but its really beginning to take off now. I think the plants were really stressed from being shipped in the hot weather plus transplant shock. The blyxa is shedding the old growth and is beginning to sprout new shoots. The dwarf hair grass is starting to spread a little. The glosso is also starting to take off. This week should be more productive as the plants seem to have settled in a bit. I'll take another picture on Saturday. I also moved a few things around, and added a red Tiger lotus courtesy of carpedium .

Marcel


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres an updated picture. The foreground is growing slower than expected. The rotala is growing like a weed. I just keep pruning and replanting to thicken up the bushes. The blyxa has finally shed all the old growth from shipping and is starting to green up quite nicely. I think the glosso needs a little more light. It's staying low to the substrate but I feel it should be growing a bit quicker. The 2 new GE 9325k bulbs I just ordered should do the trick. I'll have the same wattage but better quality light. I can't wait. If that doesn't work, I'll be adding another 110 watts for a total of 330 watts over the 75 :twisted:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Oh yeah, In front of the rotala are a bunch of baby Amazon swords growing from a stem that sprouted from a stem from the large mother plant in the right rear.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Really coming along nicely Marcel! The hairgrass takes some time, but it looks like it's on it's way. Good Work!

Mike


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Most of the foreground plants I bought were emersed grown so they had to shed thier foliage and regrow submersed foliage. As the hairgrass is growing the fish seem to dislodge the new growth and it floats to the top, But I dont mind, it gives me a chance to fill in the blank spots with the floaters. 8) 

Marcel


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

The tank is growing in nicely Marcel, once your foreground catches up it will push it over the edge... very nice. :wink: 

I definately need to get a tank with a bigger foot print :shock:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres an updated picture of the tank. 

The foreground is growing in nicely but much slower than I thought it would. I'm in no hurry. The glosso is really starting to take off and I need to eep an eye on it or it'll invade the whole bottom. :shock: 

I've rearranged a lot of the background and added a few new plants that I've gotten in trades. This board and the AB are great boards for trading plants. If I had to pay for all the plants in my tank I wouldn't have any money left to feed the fish......just kidding. Propagating and clippings are a wonderful thing 8)


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## evan (Jul 4, 2003)

what can i say? wow.


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## Guttboy (Jul 19, 2003)

Marcel,

Nice...saw you in the chat today but you logged 1 min before I could get in there...nice tank...wish mine was as good.

mike


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Great photo Marcel,

I love seeing the comparisons of "initial" setup photo to the latest photo after the tanks have matured a bit. You have done a nice job of subtle additions to the aquascape without drastic changes.  
I love the center of the tank with the dark Lotus's, the wood and the brilliant green of what I think is Watersprite to back it up. All the plants are very healthy looking with great colors too ! 
When the glosso is at its best .... look out bro ! 

I See a 2004 AB Contest Entrant .... :wink:


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## rumples riot (May 29, 2003)

Hey I like your tank, it has an interesting composition. Good colour choice and plantings.

I will have to review my tank now.

Paul


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

How about a close up of the Blyxa japonica?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Thanks guys...

Buck: The photo was a quickie. Theres a bunch of floaters on the left side and a mysterious shadow in the top right corner, I think it was an angel fish in motion. The way the glosso is going now, I think it's gonna be a challenge to keep it confined to that right center of the tank. And that water sprite comes from your tank, It was barely alive and only a small sprig survived and now look at it, and I've probably thrown out twice that amount over the months.

Rumples: I think your tank is really starting to take shape. Let it grow and shape it gradually. As the tank grows in, you'll begin to see different ways of composing it. Cool stuff 8) 

Momo: I'll get a picture of that blyxa close up this week. It took a long time for that stuff to shed the old growth and get green. I think the next couple of months are gonna make a huge difference.

Marcel


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Heh,
That watersprite grows like a bandit when it is happy dont it ! I really miss that stuff, gonna have to get some again when I find a bare spot in my substrate... :lol:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres a pic of the tank after a week of no pruning. Freakin brutal !!!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

A close-up of the blyxa. It's a little fuzzy 'cause I don't have a macro lens, sorry.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres the latest picture of the tank. Notice how much the foreground has begun ti fill in. The tank went thru a long adjustment period after instaling the big driftwood and replanting but its beginning to take shape now.


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## Guttboy (Jul 19, 2003)

Simply Beautiful Marcel! Simply beautiful!

BTW that bacopa you sent me grows RAPIDLY...I am having to recut the stems and replant them as they have reached the top of the water! The crypt is doing well and the glosso is starting to show runners out!

Thanks

Mike


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres the latest. Added E. stellata on the left, star grass on the right, and a few java ferns on driftwood.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Finally got yourself some stellata huh... I know thats been on your shopping list for some time. 

The tank looks awesome Marcel


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## rumples riot (May 29, 2003)

Nice, just simply nice!!!!

Like what you have done.

Paul


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

I finally got rid of the particle board POS stand. I had a cabinet shop build me a maple cabnet with plywood sides. I got 2 drawers and loads of storage space now. 
I replanted the tank, got rid of a few species of plants. Trying to get a simpler look with more greens. For a while I had a red plant fetish, I learned that red plants don't show up well unless they're contrasted by some greens. I did some selective limb cutting on the driftwood so it lays a little lower in the tank. I also moved it to the right, because I'm shooting for more open space on the left side. 

It was a real stressful day for the fish and me. It took me about 11 hours to do this and I'm not done yet. Still a lot of primping and fine tuning to do. :roll: Heres what it looks like now.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

WHOA!! What a cabinet! Marcel everything looks FANTASTIC!!!

Mike


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

I like the open floor plan Marcel. 
I agree with the reds, they are a nice accent plant but you just cant beat a nice green tank with "hints" of red.

Are you going to stain the cabinet? That is a beauty... what do you think your shop would charge me for a canopy? I would drive an hour to pick it up if the price is right. I just aint got time right now to build another and I am working 4 A.M. til Noon til Xmas at least so I can get the barn and some ground work done. 

Did you save any of the CT Ludwigia stems? Mine are growing well but not getting the red hues as they did under the CF's in the 56G... 
Nice looking layout from what I can see bro... but it sure is a lot of work starting all over aint it? :lol:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Buck said:


> Are you going to stain the cabinet? :


It's already finished natural with 3 coats of poly.




Buck said:


> That is a beauty... what do you think your shop would charge me for a canopy? :


 I'll ask them how much they'll charge. They were a PITA to deal with. They just didn't understand what I wanted.I'm gonna be building myself a canopy for my 75, I can build you one while I'm at it. Send me the exterior dimensions of your tank rim. Tooling up is the hard part, once the tools are set up a second canopy might take an extra hour. I was planning on building it similar to your old canopy with maybe a couple of accent moldings on the front similar to the drawer fronts on my cabinet.


Buck said:


> Did you save any of the CT Ludwigia stems?:


 Yeah I saved some and put them in the 10 gal ram breeding section. I always save a little piece of plants I recieve in case I want to rescape a tank. It's nice to have a plethora of plants to chose from.


Buck said:


> Nice looking layout from what I can see bro... but it sure is a lot of work starting all over aint it? :lol:


 I started at 6:30 A.M. and finished around 9 PM, I took a couple breaks in there. I figure I had about 11 hours of solid work. I went to bed last night exhausted :lol:


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## pufferfreak (Oct 19, 2003)

looks cool but the water is kinda murky, but it prob. cleared overnight. Nice!


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## digger (Feb 18, 2003)

So, how much did the cabnet cost, if you don't mind me asking?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

It ended up costing me a total of $450. A little more than I wanted to spend originally, but I'm very happy with the setup. Theres a lot to be said for having drawers and having the tank closer to eye level. I need a little step stool now to prune and plant. Its super sturdy compared to the stand I had before. I have no qualms about leaning on this thing.  

Marcel


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## Knetter (Nov 4, 2003)

Great to see the tank history!! Great setup!! more pictures, more pictures !! :shock:


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Stellata looks good Marcel, also looks like the blyxa is making a better appearance too. 

Now I have to ask... Were you drinkin' when you took that photo? :lol: Why is the photo so grainy? That usually happens to me if I had a "can or 2" :twisted:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres a new shot of the 75 gal.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Wow... breathtaking. The Stellata is definitely worth whatever it takes. And the Lotus is a beauty! 
If you could somehow hide the filter tubes... that would make it _perfect_.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I know you are not going to believe this, but I was about to look for this thread to ask Marcel for an update. 

WOW!!! :shock: 

Unbelievable. That is the most wonderful aquarium! Marcel _is_ the master!!!

Mike


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## SCMurphy (Oct 21, 2003)

That is nice!!! I love the way plants respond to a little stress.


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## newplantguy (Nov 6, 2002)

Absolutely gorgeous. I LOVE that lotus. Very very nice.  What are you using as the ground cover plant to the left of the lotus?


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

That Stellata is doing great for you! Does it bud often for you?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

> If you could somehow hide the filter tubes... that would make it perfect.


 I could move the tubes to the left slightly so that they'd be hidden by the driftwood. If this pic was for a contest they'd be out of the tank. 


> I know you are not going to believe this, but I was about to look for this thread to ask Marcel for an update.


 Buck beat you to it. I e-mailed him and Re:d with "How's your tank been ?.......Would love to see an updated photo of yours sometime soon, you are about 3 pages back since update.... heh." So I pulled out the camera and took 2 pics, this one was the better of the 2.


> That is nice!!! I love the way plants respond to a little stress


Were you referring to my post in sams 55gal thread when I said that I really haven't fertilized much since christmas? I started adding micros again 3-4 days ago, I gave it a booster shot of 10ml of micro mix the first day and a ml/day since and the plants are responding with some nice color and growth. I think it's good to let the plants get hungry occasionally, a sort of fast to cleanse the metabolism.


> What are you using as the ground cover plant to the left of the lotus?


 To the immediate left is glosso, which then fades into Amanos Tennulus, which fades into dwarf hair grass(eleocharis parvulus).


> That Stellata is doing great for you! Does it bud often for you?


 I'm not sure what you mean by "bud". When it reaches the surface it'll begin to send off new shoots. Or when it gets closer to the light it'll widen considerably.

Thanks for all the compliments guys. I've neglected it over the past month or so and it kinda took on a natural look that I like very much as the foreground plants did as they pleased without any interference from me.


Marcel


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

By budding I mean when the tops sort of curl in and them the stem branches into anywhere from 3-7 new stems. How many shoots do get off of each stem when it reaches the surface?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

3-5 stems usually. I dont think I've seen 7 stems yet. I'll pay closer attention next time.

Marcel


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

That tank is unbelievable!!!


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

m.lemay said:


> I could move the tubes to the left slightly so that they'd be hidden by the driftwood. If this pic was for a contest they'd be out of the tank.


Or use an image editor :wink:


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Now Im glad I asked ya for an update bro. Only problem now is after seeing it I realize how much I really miss having Lotus in the tank, that's a beauty you have and thats a great spot for it. At first glance I thought the hairgrass on the left was the Blyxa and you had maybe solved your growth mystery...
I dont see any in the photo, do you still have any Blyxa or am I blind now too? 
Also, the stargrass looks very controlled and nice in there next to the stellata... are you a barber by trade ? :lol: Maybe someday you can give me part 2 of my training, I allready passed Tweezer Planting 101, Im ready for part 2... Advanced _zosterfolia_ Pruning cuz I couldnt control it. 

Lookin good Marcel, thanks for the quick update! :wink:


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

Do you find the Stellata a hard plant to grow? Many people have said that it is, but I really had no problems with it.


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

Most of you forum regulars have some nice tanks... Kudo's my friends!!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Buck wrote


> At first glance I thought the hairgrass on the left was the Blyxa and you had maybe solved your growth mystery...
> I dont see any in the photo, do you still have any Blyxa or am I blind now too?


 The blyxa was pissing me off, I pulled it all out and put in one of the 10 gallon tanks, Its just eeking by. 


> Also, the stargrass looks very controlled and nice in there next to the stellata... are you a barber by trade ?


 No barber skills here. I rip out the whole bush with my hand cut 6-8" off the bottom of the whole thing and plant the tops back in. :lol: Even after I cut the bottom off, I throw out about half the top thats left. There goes your class on zosterfolia planting. A gorrilla could do it.

George wrote


> Do you find the Stellata a hard plant to grow? Many people have said that it is, but I really had no problems with it.


Growing it's easy, getting it red is a little more challenging. I've found that it likes a lot of micros and a little extra phosphate than I'd normally use to get it to turn those nice shades of pink and amber. And of course good lighting.

Wö£fëñxXx wrote


> Most of you forum regulars have some nice tanks... Kudo's my friends!!


 I'm sure I speak for most of us here when I say that We didn't start out having nice planted tanks. Thats why we're regulars here, we learn something new all the time. Even us so-called experts. :wink: 

Marcel


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

I started out years ago with silk plants fake castles and coated gravel with some marbles on top of it! I've come a long way since then!


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

George Willms said:


> I started out years ago with silk plants fake castles and coated gravel with some marbles on top of it! I've come a long way since then!


 No treasure chest, or diver?


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## George Willms (Jul 25, 2003)

Urkevitz said:


> George Willms said:
> 
> 
> > I started out years ago with silk plants fake castles and coated gravel with some marbles on top of it! I've come a long way since then!
> ...


Nah....not since I was like 6 and my dad had one of those type of things in our 90 gallon tank.


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## Charles (Jan 24, 2004)

You all sound very excited about this tank. Where do I find the pics associated w/ this thread? I don't see a link or the pics.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Charles said:


> You all sound very excited about this tank. Where do I find the pics associated w/ this thread? I don't see a link or the pics.


 Its right here, http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/download.php?id=1754Kyle had to disable automatic image loading to save on bandwidth.

Marcel


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

Nice tank! The Stellata really looks great, the best've seen in any aquarium...your tank really looks better than it does in the gallery! Great work! What do you dose with? Just the Liquidoser...do you fill it with the concentrate, or do you use your own mix?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

I dose NPK manually at water change time weekly. I dose micros automatically with the liquidoser daily. I've been using a 50/50 mix of Flourish/Flourish Iron in a 500 ml bottle with 1 tablespoon of plantex and 1 tablespoon Epsom salt added into the mix. I fill the liquidoser from that bottle. I'm dosing about 1.5 ml of that solution per day. The amounts not written in stone though. I have a TDS meter that I use to very roughly guage the amount of micros and I look at the plants to see if they're doing OK. The 50% water change is really what keeps everything in check.

Marcel


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

*Recovering from 6 months neglect*

Heres a picture of the tank as it sits today. Its recovering nicely from months of neglect, little fertilizing, and infrequent water changes. The algae is beginning to go away. I'll surely be replanting and rescaping once I get some more growth and propagation. Ideas for a new scape are welcome.


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## aquarium boy (Jul 28, 2004)

i think it looks nice like it is and i love that angel


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Very nice. I wish I could neglect my tanks that well! :icon_bigg


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## Kris (Feb 27, 2004)

what is the large purple cabbage?


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

That is one gorgeous Lotus Marcel , dont ya love winter time...it leaves us some time to fiddle in the tanks ! roud:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Kris said:


> what is the large purple cabbage?


The "purple cabbage" is red lotus like Buck said. 

Buck:Winter time is tank time !


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## ksand (Oct 19, 2004)

The tanks with huge pieces of driftwood and terracing and all that are spectacular, for sure, but I also like your approach... simplicity. Level gravel and a nice variety of healthy plants (that lotus looks like it's giving the Tarzan yell :wink.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Right now I got this thing on turbocharge to get some rapid growth and plant division . I'm running 35ppm CO2, 20ppm nitrate and 3ppm phosphate plus plenty of micros. It's pearling like a mofo. I also just ordered some new 9325ks and an extra set of 2x55 Ah supply kit. I aint screwin around. This tank will be back to its former glory very shortly.

I'm looking to trade some of that lotus for some A. rienecki if anyone has any to trade. Anyone ?


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I'd do that trade, but my shrimp ate all the A. reineckii.  

Might have to work something out for some of that Blyxa I have been waiting to get from you!  

Mike


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Sorry dude the blyxa *hit the bed. I couldn't get it to grow in my tank. I still don't know why, never could figure it out.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

It sounds like "someone" is on a mission ! New Lights too ? Did ya use the "call it an early Xmas present" line ? Works every time... roud:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

*Update 1/2/2005*

Heres a new pic of the tank, 3 weeks later. I rescaped a little. The left side needs to be pruned, but what the hell, I just had to get another pic up.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

That is _the_ nicest lotus I have ever seen!

Mike


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

That is a stunning tank! Are some of the PCs running 9325k that give the pink hue? And are you up to 330 watts in this pic? Its really nice... Bob


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## GulfCoastAquarian (Jul 30, 2002)

Momotaro said:


> That is _the_ nicest lotus I have ever seen!
> 
> Mike


 It sure is! You must clip leaves almost daily to keep them low like that!


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

To me, that new layout is much more pleasing to look at! Great look.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Thanks for the feed back guys: The bulbs are all 9325ks but I'm still only running 4 of them for 220 watts. But they're brand new, what a difference 4 new bulbs makes. I'll be building a canopy shortly to house 6 of the 9325s for 330 watts.

You know, that lotus is a pleasure to keep, I trim off the taller stems about every 2 weeks by pinching them off near the base. Its one of the easiest plants I've ever kept and it just looks fantastic.

BSS: thanks for the feedback on the new layout. The idea I have is to gradually get rid of most of the fast growing background stuff and plant dwarf hairgrass with an island of lotus, baby tears,and E. stellatta. But who knows, I might change my mind.


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Finally...pictures to see (old board is out). Tank is looking good and I like the current layout better after the replant and grow-out. 

Great looking lotus that you have there. I have a much smaller one in my tank and I've seen a couple larger ones, but yours gives me a better indication of the size and beauty that it can attain. Now I just gotta figure out how to get it going (used to have 3 leaves, not down to one...they disappeared on me :icon_frow ). It's about 2" tall right now with a single leaf about the size of a silver dollar. Still trying to figure out what's going on w/it. All the other plants grow like weed in the tank, but this plant hasn't grown (Plants such as R. macrandra, proserpinaca palustris, Eichhornia diversifolia, P. stellatus, L. aromatica red, and others grow great - some like weed).


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Lotus's love a lot of nutrients in the substrate IBN, the plants that do well for you are loving the water column. Marcel it just dawned on me, isnt that lotus from my tank that day you were over the house and we needed to make room for glosso, that makes that monster well over a year old if it is ! roud:
And it sure didnt look like that when it left... LOL !


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Yeah Buck, I believe it is from your tank. I can give you some if you want some, its dividing and spreading like crazy the root ball is about 6" in diameter.

Lotus is definitely a root feeder, but I don't really feed it with plant sticks, It must be all the mulm and fish poop. LOL


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Are your Lotus the same species as the Walmart Bulbs? I am growing some Nymphaea from Walmart and so far all I have gotten is some small arrowhead shaped leaves.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I wish I was there when Buck was passing out _that _ lotus!

I might line up for some of that lotus once I clear out one of my grow outs!

Mike


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## raykwonx (Feb 26, 2004)

the rescape looks awesome! very nice tank.


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## Ibn (Nov 19, 2003)

Buck said:


> Lotus's love a lot of nutrients in the substrate IBN, the plants that do well for you are loving the water column. Marcel it just dawned on me, isnt that lotus from my tank that day you were over the house and we needed to make room for glosso, that makes that monster well over a year old if it is ! roud:
> And it sure didnt look like that when it left... LOL !


Thanks for the tip guys. The lotus is actually planted real close to a GW root tab. I guess it just takes awhile for the root to make it over there. Sucker sprouted two new leaves since the last posting.


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## Betowess (Dec 9, 2004)

Hey guys, did you see the big fish (gourami?) in the top left corner of Marcel's tank (latest picture)? It looks like the gourami just swallowed a little rasbora or the like. Check it out... Its kind of amusing. Bob


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Holy crap, my tank is in full turbo charge mode right now. I just built a new canopy this past weekend which now houses 6x55watt GE 9325ks, 4 of them have the AHsupply reflectors and ballasts, and the other 2 are reflected with the All-Glass reflector and ballast that I removed from the 110 watt ALL-Glass fixture I purchased 4 years ago. This tank is bubbling like a bottle of champagne. 
I noticed that the extra photosynthesis prompted some chlorosis in my some java ferns and Dwarf Hairgrass. I was puzzled because I knew the NPK was fine and I had seriously upped the micros but the chlorosis wasn't getting any better. Iron tests showed that there was iron present. I was stumped. After talking to Roger Miller and a few others it occured to me that my tap water is very soft 1 DGH, 1DKH, I knew this 2 years ago so I added a little crushed coral which keeps my GH/Kh 3-6 degrees between water changes... perfect right. What I hadn't counted on was magnesium. Although I added a little to my micro mix it wasn't nearly enough, especially since I pretty much stopped dosing for 6-9 months over the summer. What little Mag that was present in my tap water and substrate quickly got depleted especially since calcium was plentiful in the substrate. 
To make a long story short I added Magnesium to bring it up to a calculated 10ppm and the tank is greening up right before my eyes. It's been 2 days now, and the java fern leaves that were completely yellow are suddenly only half yellow, and the hairgrass has almost completely recovered. I don't know if the javas will completely recover but 3/4 of them were not showing signs of chlorosis yet. Worse comes to worse I'll prune the ones that are still yellow in a couple of weeks. I want to leave them for now to see if they'll rebound from the deficit. 
With all this new power, I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on nutrients till I get a feel for how hungry this new setup is gonna be. 
I think I'll eventually only use 4 bulbs for 12hrs and turn the center bulbs on for a few hours a day just to give it that midday noontime sun.For now though, the dwarf hairgrass is filling in like well manicured golf course.


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

Awsome rescape Marcel!! The tank looks amazing.. roud: The stelletta behind the lotus is an eye catcher for sure... Would love to get stelletta going in mine...This summer maybe!!

Glad the tank is on the upswing again.. :icon_bigg


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

Time for an update here?? roud:


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Did I read in Buck's thread you did a re-aquascaping? I _must_ see that! PICTURES!!!

Mike


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

bastalker said:


> Time for an update here?? roud:


I just rescaped tonight. I pretty much tore every thing out and started over. I got rid of the big piece of driftwood with the java ferns. The javas are history! I got 2 10 gal tanks full of the stuff, which I plan on taking to the LFS this weekend.

No pics yet, but they'll be here very shortly, I'm waiting for the dust to settle, so stay tuned. This scape is unlike anything I've ever done and I'm pretty excited about it.

Marcel


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Here's a new picture as promised. I terraced the back and put in a bunch of rocks I found over the weekend. The stelatta is struggling a little, I'm not quite sure why yet. The tank had a Magnesium deficiency, so I've upped the Mg, hopefully that'll straighten it out. It's a whole different ball game with 4.4 wpg., deficiencies show up quick.


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## ThomE (Aug 26, 2004)

Nice Remodel. I've been bouncing the idea around of ripping up all the ground cover to see the substrate. I like the way you set up your tank.


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

Looks great M.
That grass also looks fantastic from my house, with 4.4wpg it should be chewing through the ferts...


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

ThomE said:


> Nice Remodel. I've been bouncing the idea around of ripping up all the ground cover to see the substrate. I like the way you set up your tank.


The hairgrass was cutting off the verticle part of the tank. So I took all the hair grass out from the middle and right side, and moved it to the left side, front to back. It was pretty easy, it's so thick now that I cut out like sod and moved in chunks, substrate and all.
Now it has some visual dimension going on I cant wait for the right side to fill in a little, to give it that slope from right to left.



Wö£fëñxXx said:


> Looks great M.
> That grass also looks fantastic from my house,


 It looks pretty good from here too. Its thick and plush

Marcel


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

That is the darkest green hairgrass I've ever seen.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Holy smokes Marcel... what did you do to that hairgrass ! I hope mine grows in half as good as that and I will be happy. No thoughts to continue it through the front ? Or do you have other plans for the front ?
Dang I almost choked when I saw how it thickened up like that...what ya using for that stuff... Scotts Weed and Feed... LOL roud: 

Lookin good !


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

That is some impressive hairgrass I must say... I wish I could get mine to multiply.. let alone look like that!

/jealous


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Buck said:


> Holy smokes Marcel... what did you do to that hairgrass ! I hope mine grows in half as good as that and I will be happy. No thoughts to continue it through the front ? Or do you have other plans for the front ?
> Dang I almost choked when I saw how it thickened up like that...what ya using for that stuff... Scotts Weed and Feed... LOL roud:
> 
> Lookin good !


I told you the tank was turbo charged!! 4.4 wpg and 50ppm co2 and all the nutrients I could throw at it :icon_bigg 

The hairgrass was all across the front at the height you see it here on the left. It cut the tank in half vertically, made the tank look short. I kinda like the front bare, I think. I'm not sure about the front yet, some short slow growers maybe, petit nana. I like glosso but I don't want anything that gets outta hand. Anyone got ideas?

Marcel


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## GDominy (Jul 30, 2002)

With that much light and that much CO2 I think its fair to say anything will be supercharged and will do well...!!


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

marselia is about the only slower growing short foreground plant that I can think of... everything else i have tried grows like wildfire. 
I do like the open look there too with the stone but after looking at the photo again I think its the square edge of the hairgrass throwing off the look. Maybe try removing about 4" from the frontcenter to see more of it in the back ? 
Dang thats some nice grass, I keep staring at it... LOL !!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Buck said:


> marselia is about the only slower growing short foreground plant that I can think of... everything else i have tried grows like wildfire.
> I do like the open look there too with the stone but after looking at the photo again I think its the square edge of the hairgrass throwing off the look. Maybe try removing about 4" from the frontcenter to see more of it in the back ?
> Dang thats some nice grass, I keep staring at it... LOL !!


Marselia, I gotta look that one up.

You said "try removing 4" from the front center to see more of it in the back"

Front center of the tank, or front center of the hairgrass on the left of the tank? I'm all ears.

I removed the hairgrass from the right front too, It looks much better with a baby tears bush on the right. I'll post a pic later on.

Marcel


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I want to see that new picture!

Amano himself would drool over hairgrass like that Marcel! The EI and high CO2 has really worked out well for you.

Look up Marselia and let me know if you want it. I could send a little bit your way if you want it.  

Mike


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

I was thinkin of that little patch of grass in front of what looks like the tip of another stone sticking up Marcel. I was just thinkin it might give a more triangular look from the left front side to the back center with just a little bit removed to expose that stone thats hidden.
You gave that Lotus a good trim too eh ? That thing was a monster !


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Buck: Did you mean , take 4" from the front right of the hairgrass bunch and taper it towards the back so that when you view it from the angle of that photo you can see the hairgrass on the side as it flows towards the rear.

Mike: I'd like something like glosso but I don't know about marsilea, I think it'll grow too tall. I wanna keep the low profile in the center of the tank. I really like the elevation the way it is now. Maybe glosso is the way to go. What do you think?

Marcel


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

LOL; Buck; I know what you mean now. That stone you see in that photo is barely visible now. I swear the grass has grown a 1/2" since 3 days ago. Option a: your option
Option b: Put a taller stone in.
Option c: give it a haircut so you can see the stone better.

Marcel


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

New pics. 2/10/2005


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I see what you mean by a wanting a low growing plant for that area.

You have a lot of light. I would _guess_ under that much light, the Marsilea would grow shorter but I can't guarantee it! It stays close to the ground in the under the high light in the 20L I have been growing it out in, but the plant may not do so well under deeper water. Marsilea leaves can also be a bit of a crap shoot. Some of the leaves have that neat clover shape, and others have more of a spoon shape. 

Glosso on the other hand would almost certainly give you the low to the ground effect you are looking for. 

Either plant would look good. The Marsilea is a bit more "unusual", but you can be a bit more certain about the Glosso. The height of the Glosso will be more consistent than the Marsilea, and you can be assured of the leaf shape as well.

I just talked myself into the Glosso! :icon_mrgr 

Mike


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

M. Glosso would look great there, with it's color contrast against the other colors you have, growing around the rock's, I can see it, would look great.
I'll trade ya some for some grass :tongue: I have some more growing in, will be ready in a week or so, just sent alot out.


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## Overfloater (Jan 12, 2004)

Wow that hairgrass is quite impressive! roud: If I were you, I would take everything out except the lotus and less the hairgrass grow across the entire bottom. Then again, that's a bit extreme. :wink:


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

> Option c: give it a haircut so you can see the stone better.


I can bring the lazer over, an we can stripe it! Look just like a fairway on a golf course.. :wink: 

Tanks lookin great M!


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

To be honest . . . I find the orange gouramis and angel are really distracting, and the stones are so naked that they distract as well.

A solution is difficult, because light colored stones with such defined angles and flat sides can look awkward with microsorium, anubias, or mosses attached to them. My suggestion would be to ditch the rocks in the clearing (the ones not touching the edge of the clearing), as they are the ones that distract the most. Bolbitis over hanging the rocks near the edge of the clearing would shade them, and make them more in harmony with the piece. Moreover, its dark green would match your hair grass nicely.

On the other hand, the current lay out might look a lot better if you do grow smaller foreground plants in the clearing. Glosso is the plant I would think compliments eleocharis the most, but it might be too much of a PITA. Marsilea doesn't grow as densely in most cases, and I wonder if it could do the job. I'd just grit my teeth, grip my scizzors tight and go with the glosso. lol

Either marsilea, or glosso, I'd still ditch those two rocks inside the clearing, and let the short carpet fill it all in, planting some eleocharis as high lights inside the short carpet.

The lone sword and anubias don't really fit in either, I think you could do without both.

Anyway, that's my take. Everything does look nice and healthy.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Thanks for all the comments guys.

Momo: I think its gonna be glosso



> M. Glosso would look great there, with it's color contrast against the other colors you have, growing around the rock's, I can see it, would look great.


 Craig; Seriously,I'll take you up on that trade. roud: 



> Wow that hairgrass is quite impressive! If I were you, I would take everything out except the lotus and less the hairgrass grow across the entire bottom. Then again, that's a bit extreme.


That may be an option down the line but right now I don't have enough to cover the whole bottom. The hairgrass grows a little too tall for my taste across the front. I had it across the whole front and it made the tank look short.



> On the other hand, the current lay out might look a lot better if you do grow smaller foreground plants in the clearing. Glosso is the plant I would think compliments eleocharis the most, but it might be too much of a PITA. Marsilea doesn't grow as densely in most cases, and I wonder if it could do the job. I'd just grit my teeth, grip my scizzors tight and go with the glosso. lol


 It's gonna be glosso, everyones got me convinced on that.



> Either marsilea, or glosso, I'd still ditch those two rocks inside the clearing, and let the short carpet fill it all in, planting some eleocharis as high lights inside the short carpet.


 This is definitely a work in progress and things will be shifted as I see fit. I also have a bunch of stargrass coming that'll probably be going on the mound somewhere.



> The lone sword and anubias don't really fit in either, I think you could do without both.


 Your right about the sword. Thats definitely not the spot for it. The sword is a small variety that stays about the height you see it there so I may use it towards the rear . The anubias may end up in the middle of the glosso field .....or not.

As far as the fish go, I know they're distracting but they're part of the family. I was thinking about seeing if the LFS will take them before you mentioned it.

Hey, I like my rocks :tongue:


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

I understand completely about the fish-- you just cannot leave them somewhere bad! :icon_frow 

Luckily for me I have a friend who is a breeder with loads of empty tanks, so we just housed all my mistake/beginner fish in one of them, and they seem happy. Also my school of 6 SAE that out grew the tanks. I swear one day I'll have a planted aquarium big enough to re-house them in. *stares fondly off into the distance*

Anyway, good luck with the lay out, the glosso, and the star grass.


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

m.lemay said:


> Craig; Seriously,I'll take you up on that trade. roud:


M. Your on bro!! Ill ship as soon as it's ready.


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## John P. (Apr 10, 2004)

Amazing hairgrass. Mine is neither 1) that green, nor 2) that tall. 

Nice!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

I have more plants coming for this tank from Craig and I bought this glosso mat from SilentRunning which is already planted in the bare middle foreground area. I also removed the 2 stray rocks from the foreground. I'll take pics this weekend after the new stem plants get here. The stelatta is really starting to bounce back now that I got my ferts consistently high.

Marcel


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres an updated photo of the tank as it stands today. The hairgrass is just growing like mad, it'll be needing a haircut real soon. I wanna sculpt the hairgrass into rolling hills or something.  The stelatta has finally gotten out of its funk and its growing like crazy now, thanks to Wolfys help and EI fertilizing.

Marcel


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## Silent Running (Sep 13, 2004)

I like it roud:!

I must say, and not just because it used to be mine :tongue:, that glosso mat does look nice in there!


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Now thats just an awesome look Marcel !
I cant believe what the grass and stellata have done in that short a time. I love the new foreground minus the stone too. Is that a couple strands of P. gayi I see between the stellata and Lotus ? roud: 

This tank is on steroids... LOL


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Wow it looks nice marcel, I love the hairgrass thats growing on the left. The glosso looks like it's covered with brown algae? 

Would you mind sharing some of that hairgrass?


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

The rocks compliment the aquascape much better now, and the glosso in the front looks great. What is the name of the plant mixed with it? Are you going to keep the mix or go for straight glosso?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Buck said:


> Now thats just an awesome look Marcel !
> I cant believe what the grass and stellata have done in that short a time. I love the new foreground minus the stone too. Is that a couple strands of P. gayi I see between the stellata and Lotus ? roud:
> 
> This tank is on steroids... LOL


 Yes it is P. Gayi. I'm trying to get it to propogate a little so I can plant a stem here and there to tie the different aspects of the tank together.


MrMup04 said:


> The glosso looks like it's covered with brown algae?


 It's not brown algae, what you see in there is lilaeopsis(microsword) interspersed with the glosso. I really like the look of the two mixed together. I bought it that way and I was gonna seperate it but decided against it gives the tank a natural look.


MrMup04 said:


> Would you mind sharing some of that hairgrass?


 In a few weeks, I'm sure there'll be some to share. I'll post it in swap n shop when its ready.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Sounds good


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I like the Glosso/microsword mix as well.

Can you snap off a close up of it for us Marcel?

Mike


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Momotaro said:


> I like the Glosso/microsword mix as well.
> 
> Can you snap off a close up of it for us Marcel?
> 
> Mike


 I like the mix because it rondomly mixes together which makes it look natural.

I'll snap a pic this afternoon.

Marcel


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## wetgreenthumb (Jan 6, 2005)

Marcel I love this tank!! I actually liked the rocks before and was thinking, hmmm, he should leave it be, but now after seeing the pics I love it! If I ever rescape mine...I would want this kind of feel. roud:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

*Update 3/04/05*

Heres some new pics.


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

That does look awesome Marcel! Love the color! And the angles of the plants. The back to front sloping to the left downward flooooow.

Love it! roud:


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

I dont know how I missed it before Marcel but is that a patch of D. diandra you got growing in there ? Very nice coloration to it !
Like Steve said , the slope is really workin in there and I cant believe the growth you are getting... what the heck are you feeding this tank !!! :tongue:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Buck said:


> I dont know how I missed it before Marcel but is that a patch of D. diandra you got growing in there ? Very nice coloration to it !
> Like Steve said , the slope is really workin in there and I cant believe the growth you are getting... what the heck are you feeding this tank !!! :tongue:


The diandra wasn't there before, neither was the limnophila aromatica that I'm trying to grow out in the right corner. I've been working trades and purchases on swap n shop. The last time I tried the diandra it would rot on the bottom and it wouldn't grow. Now its blossoming and growing like crazy. I might even try some blyxa again. This tank is running the best its ever been. I gotta thank Tom Barr and Wolfy, thier words have helped out tremendously. I'm still adjusting my dosages a little and I'm battling a little green dust algae but all-n-all this is working out great.

Marcel


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

WOW Marcel!! Now isn't yer tank a sight for sore eyes!!! Luv they way it flows... roud:


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## jart (Jan 17, 2003)

Very nice, like the concept a lot, great colors and fish.


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

Looks great Marcel, that diandra is growing like mad...Nice tank! roud:


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Looks great, I think I could see the patchof hairgrass thats missing from your tank. Keke, it's in my tank now ^_^


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

*New Fauna.*

After much consideration I traded my 3 angels and 2 gold gouramies and 1 blue gouramie at the LFS. It took me a long time to gather up the courage to get rid of the Angels, I grew pretty attached to them, but I was happy the LFS would take them. :icon_frow 

Heres what I got to take thier place. 8 Boeseman's Rainbowfish AKA Melanotaenia boesemani, and 12 Harlequin Rasboras to add to the 5 I already had.

So here's whats in there now:

17 harlequin Rasboras
8 Boesemani Rainbows
3 bolivian rams
1 German blue Ram
2 Clown loaches
10-12 otocinclus
1 rubbermouth pleco
1 peppermint pleco(I never see him unless the tank is bare)

In addition to those the following fish are still in there but will probably be moved to one of the 10 Gal tanks:

5 Black neon tetras
5 White cloud Mountain minnows


I'm trying to get a more organized look to the tank. :icon_roll This job is never done.  

Marcel


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

heh...I cant believe I am reading this, I have been thinking of doing the same lately for my tank...just havent got the nerve up to do it. I parted with one male but my pair is still hangin in there. 
It must be a refreshing look to the tank Marcel and I know it wasn't an easy decision to make. 
On the other hand, The rainbows must look great in there ! roud:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Buck said:


> heh...I cant believe I am reading this, I have been thinking of doing the same lately for my tank...just havent got the nerve up to do it. I parted with one male but my pair is still hangin in there.
> It must be a refreshing look to the tank Marcel and I know it wasn't an easy decision to make.
> On the other hand, The rainbows must look great in there ! roud:


The Hard part was making the decision. Once I came back with my new buddies, I was good to go...


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## Thanks (Oct 9, 2004)

yes, its always hard... i thought i would get the angels i have now, and in a bit replace them with discus... but, i couldnt part with em. instead, camalanus worms did it for me. I'm going to euthenize them tomorrow when I get some clove oil. :icon_frow :icon_cry:


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Pics? Particularly with the rainbows!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres a new pic taken tonight. The tank is really starting to blossom. Tom Barrs EI method is starting to pay off in a big way.


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

m.lemay said:


> The tank is really starting to blossom.


Blossom? Don't you mean "explode"? That is awesome growth! And you gotta be happy about that color! roud:


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

Looking very nice Marcel, the Vietnam and Diandra wow looking great, mine is doing the same thing, so is the L indica and I see red temple too.. Mine grows so slow but oh so beautiful...
Nice Job Buddy!! roud:


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## Blade (Jul 27, 2004)

Looks tight. Nice job.


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

Un-freakin-believable. :eek5: everything is just so vibrant and colorful.


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## jart (Jan 17, 2003)

I hope you're not looking for ideas for improvement. Awesome job.

Those dang otos just can't help themselves, posing for every shot.

I'd be interested in # hours per week you spend on aquascaping on this tank.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Wow ..... Thanks for all the compliments guys


scolley said:


> Blossom? Don't you mean "explode"? That is awesome growth! And you gotta be happy about that color! roud:


I'm very happy with the colors. BTW: In case anybody is wondering, there's no Photoshop here for color enhancement, this is how the tank looks. The only thing I did to this photo is crop and resize.


Wö£fëñxXx said:


> Looking very nice Marcel, the Vietnam and Diandra wow looking great, mine is doing the same thing, so is the L indica and I see red temple too.. Mine grows so slow but oh so beautiful...


 Man, that red temple grows slow. If it wasn't for the occasional pearling, I'd swear it was plastic. LOL 
I love the Rotala Vietnam, it grows in a peachy pink color. What a beautiful little plant. Thanks for that one Craig roud:


jart said:


> I hope you're not looking for ideas for improvement. Awesome job.Those dang otos just can't help themselves, posing for every shot.
> 
> I'd be interested in # hours per week you spend on aquascaping on this tank.


 I spend about an hour a week pruning.... tops. But, I do primp and fiddle here and there thruout the week..... 5-10 minutes here and there.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Here's a closeup of the right side of the tank.


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## GTApuffgal (Feb 7, 2005)

*m.lemays 75gal journal*



m.lemay said:


> Here's a closeup of the right side of the tank.


... thud.

Gorgeous.

Kathy


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

I'm knocked our Marcel. Wow! You gotta feel _reeeal _ good about that!


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## e.lark (Feb 2, 2005)

Oh my...spectacular range of colors. Is that the vietnam on the right?
could you maybe do a quick plant list?


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## Anthony (Jan 11, 2005)

That is the most beautiful tank I've seen yet.


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

Is it just me, or did the fish change completely since the last photo? :fish: :fish: 

Great growth man.  Though I would like to see the gloss and hair grass blended into each other more . . . for that matter I would like to see the stem plants blended into each other more . . . then again, if I had everything my way the European style would die. Well, we cannot let that happen so maybe I'll just be quiet. *skips off into the distance*


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

greenmiddlefinger said:


> Is it just me, or did the fish change completely since the last photo?


 I've been wanting smaller fish for over a year. Your last comment , a few weeks back on the Angels and gouramies detracting from the tank, was the last nail in the coffin that sealed the deal. roud: I packed up the Angels and the gouramies and traded them in at the LFS for 13 more harlequin rasboras and 9 Boesemani Rainbows. I think it was a good trade.



greenmiddlefinger said:


> Great growth man.  Though I would like to see the gloss and hair grass blended into each other more . . . for that matter I would like to see the stem plants blended into each other more . . . then again, if I had everything my way the European style would die. Well, we cannot let that happen so maybe I'll just be quiet. *skips off into the distance*


 That little bald spot you see in the foreground between the glosso and the hairgrass is me hacking away at the glosso to keep it out of the hairgrass. Letting the glosso blend into the hairgrass would be like sacrificing a lamb to a pack of wolves. :wink: If the glosso had it's way it would be the only plant in that tank, choking out all those that resist. :angryfire 

Marcel


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

e.lark said:


> Oh my...spectacular range of colors. Is that the vietnam on the right?
> could you maybe do a quick plant list?


 The vietnam is the pinkish stem plant in the left middle of the closeup shot. 

I'll see if I can do something in Paint to show the plants and where they go in the tank.


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## e.lark (Feb 2, 2005)

Right, I recieved one stem of this plant from wolfenxxx and now see what I have to look forward to.


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## grungefreek (Oct 9, 2003)

Hmm im not seeing a pic with the plants overlayed, i think that needs adding, wink wink. Looks awesome. roud:


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

Hey Marcel.. I just went back an checked out the pics from the start of yer thread till now. All I can say is WOW!! You definately nailed it! I really think the suggestion that was given to lose the angels an gouramis was an awsome one! Makes all the difference in the world.

There are several tanks on the forum that are eye catchers. I look at them an read the owners explaining that they need to improve on this, or change that. I just kinda laugh an think to myself. How the hell can ya improve that, an why would ya possibly want to? Your tank got right up there in a hurry!! roud:


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

How about ripping out some more glosso to make the bald spot bigger then filling it with moss or riccis, and then mix that into both the glosso and the hair grass?


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## ThomE (Aug 26, 2004)

Very nice,

Would you mind if I tore out your hair grass and placed it in my lawn? That tank looks great


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

greenmiddlefinger said:


> How about ripping out some more glosso to make the bald spot bigger then filling it with moss or riccis, and then mix that into both the glosso and the hair grass?


You're a funny guy: I'm still picking out java moss from when I got rid of it 2 months ago. Riccia took me about 3 months to completely eradicate the last time I had it in there. The glosso may end up going by the wayside if it begins to get outta control. :icon_bigg


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## baby2boy (Nov 5, 2004)

Wow awesome tank roud: you gotta be well proad of that. The way your tank looks is one of the reason why I started this venture into planted aquaria, if I could make my tank to look like a 1/10th of yours I'd be chuffed.

If you get a chance could you point out some of your background plants?

Simple excellent


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## Anthony (Jan 11, 2005)

How long did it take for that lotus to grow so huge. I hope mine gets that big.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Ohhh Marcel... you got it goin bro... 

Beautiful growth and color...this is definately the "turn around" tank of the year ! roud:


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## Nolan W. (Feb 9, 2005)

Wow, beautiful. I love the array of colors, too. Breathtaking. roud:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Wow, you guys are overwhelming me with all this great feedback. But I love it. :icon_bigg 



Anthony said:


> How long did it take for that lotus to grow so huge. I hope mine gets that big.


I've had the plant for maybe 3 years now. I got it from Buck, I think it had 3 leaves and a few roots when I got it. Now the root ball is about 6-7" in diameter and it puts out tubors all the time. I'm constantly plucking 3-5 leaves off it every 2 weeks or so to keep it tamed, if I didn't, it could easily fill half the tank in a few months time.

Marcel


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Marcel I'm _thrilled _ that your tank is doing so well! But more than that I'm _green _ with envy! How do you do it??? roud: 

Are you still running 50ppm CO2?
330W worth of GE 9325ks, most with AHsupply reflectors and ballasts?
And how about those ferts? You're singing the Barr EI song, aquadosing every day I believe. So _exactly _ what dosing level are you holding those ferts at?

Do tell, do tell. I gotta know... pleeeease....


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

scolley said:


> Are you still running 50ppm CO2?
> 330W worth of GE 9325ks, most with AHsupply reflectors and ballasts?
> And how about those ferts? You're singing the Barr EI song, aquadosing every day I believe. So _exactly _ what dosing level are you holding those ferts at?
> 
> Do tell, do tell. I gotta know... pleeeease....


~330 watts GE 9325ks w/AHsupply reflectors and ballasts
~40-50ppm CO2
~Nitrates=20ppm +/-
~phosphates 2-3ppm
~8ml/day plantex csm or flourish they both seem to work equally well, dosed automatically with the eheim liquidoser which =56ml/week
~1/32 tsp GregWatson iron chelate 1x/week, this is a must if I skip this the glosso turns white within a week.
~1tbsp MgSO4 at water change, absolutely necessary due to soft water(see,below)
~.5 tsp k2so4 at water change

My tap water is really soft like <1DGH and <1DKH so I added some crushed coral to the substrate which keeps the water betwenn 6-8dGH and 3-5 dKh, lower after water change and higher right before water change due to dissolution of the crushed coral over a weeks time.

Most of the dosing happens at water change time. I only dose N,P midweek in addition to waterchange time.

Marcel


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Thanks Marcel. I think that specific information (very well described) really takes the value of your thread up a notch! Assuming that's possible LOL. :tongue: 

It has already pointed me to something I'm doing wrong. :icon_frow Thanks to spelling all this out!

40-50 ppm CO2? That's high! Do you have any inverts? I'm pretty sure some can't take CO2 that high. But hey, it's certainly working for you!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

scolley said:


> 40-50 ppm CO2? That's high! Do you have any inverts? I'm pretty sure some can't take CO2 that high. But hey, it's certainly working for you!


 Thats a measured 40-50ppm co2 with a LaMotte CO2 test kit, this was also confirmed with AP ph/kh and the charts. What does it mean....hell if I know  I know that when My co2 was measuring at 30 ppm my growth sucked and algae was an issue. I use my plants as a guide for CO2 more than test kits.

I'm not sure what this means. Does it mean that the reccomendations for 20-30 ppm co2 are inadequate for a 4+ wpg tank. Or Is there something in my tank skewing measurements. The latter is doubtful, with the exception of the phosphate I add for fertilizing. How much will 2-3ppm of phosphate skew the ph measurement in a kh=4 tank???? Maybe someone with some chem expertise can shed some light on this. Anyone?

Marcel


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## Overfloater (Jan 12, 2004)

Marcel, I have been running similar CO2 values and have had good luck. Since I have been running 45+ ppm of CO2 I have had zero algae issues, even when getting sloppy with the ferts. 

What type of GE 9325K bulbs are you running and what type of AH Supply kit do you have installed?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Overfloater said:


> What type of GE 9325K bulbs are you running and what type of AH Supply kit do you have installed?


The GE 9325Ks are the 55 watt PC variety. I have 3- 2x55 watt kits so I can switch 2 bulbs at a time if I want.

Marcel


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

Great lookin' tank, Marcel. I love the way the Lotus kinda hides amongst the other plants and yet it is unmistakeably there. That's a great, rich color to build around. Sweet!


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## Overfloater (Jan 12, 2004)

m.lemay said:


> The GE 9325Ks are the 55 watt PC variety. I have 3- 2x55 watt kits so I can switch 2 bulbs at a time if I want.
> 
> Marcel


Good to hear. I just ordered a 2x55W kit and 2 10,000K bulbs. I will probably give the 9325K a shot down the road.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

*New pic, rescape.*

Heres a new picture of the tank. Rescaped and got rid of some species to clean up the look a little.


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

m.lemay said:


> ...Rescaped and got rid of some species to clean up the look a little.


Well, it say that  worked. Looks great Marcel! roud:


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## Anthony (Jan 11, 2005)

This tank never ceases to amaze me with it's beautiful array of colors.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Beautiful, need a small portion of that hairgras!!!


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## PJAN (Feb 18, 2005)

Very Nice!

I think there's more "peace" in it now. 
Only thing I can think of : perhaps use another Echinodurus species ( more rounder leafe ??) or another green plant in stead of this Echinodorus.
But hey : good work!

Gr.
PJAN


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Jdinh04 said:


> Beautiful, need a small portion of that hairgras!!!


I'll be dividing and replanting a section in the next couple weeks. I'll let you know when i'ts ready. :wink: 



pjan said:


> perhaps use another Echinodurus species ( more rounder leafe ??) or another green plant in stead of this Echinodorus.


I like that idea. The reason I picked this Echinodurus species is that its a Compacta variety. What you see in the pic is full size, it doesn't grow any bigger than that. I've tried regular echinodorus varieties before, and they get far too large for my taste. If a round leaf compact echinodorus species is available, someone let me know, I'd love to try it out.

Marcel


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

It doesn't seem quite right to say, but I'm green with color envy  ! Lookin' even better...


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Your hairgrass is awesome! It looks like you buried 30 troll dolls under the substrate . I've never seen it like that before.

The reds are stunning. Did you do any monkeying with photoshop, or is that actual photo?


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## PJAN (Feb 18, 2005)

m.lemay said:


> I'll be dividing and replanting a section in the next couple weeks. I'll let you know when i'ts ready. :wink:
> 
> I like that idea. The reason I picked this Echinodurus species is that its a Compacta variety. What you see in the pic is full size, it doesn't grow any bigger than that. I've tried regular echinodorus varieties before, and they get far too large for my taste. If a round leaf compact echinodorus species is available, someone let me know, I'd love to try it out.
> 
> Marcel


Well, I can't really put my finger on it. But I think it's the bigger leaves of the Echinodorus. It's too much difference in shape with the finer leaves.
Perhaps some smaller javavern, small stem-plant with green leaves...

Just a suggestion :wink: 

Gr. PJAN


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

unirdna said:


> Your hairgrass is awesome! It looks like you buried 30 troll dolls under the substrate . I've never seen it like that before.


It looks like troll dolls because I broke up the turf and replanted it. It'll spread and fill in the holes. I have thin it out periodically or it starts to get so thick that it starts growing on itself and the bottom layers begin to rot away, wreaking havoc on water parameters.



unirdna said:


> The reds are stunning. Did you do any monkeying with photoshop, or is that actual photo?


 Thats the actual photo with the exception of resizing for this post. The colors are true to life, this is exactly the way it looks in my living room.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Thanks Marcel, let me know =)!


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

The grass out of your tank is definately a different variety then what I had in my tank allready Marcel. The growth , as sad as it is in my tank these days through neglect, is completely different. This makes me wonder how many varieties of hairgrass there actually are ! It is all "growing and spreading" but the growth is much slower with my original grass then the transplants you sent me. I cut yours down in height twice to let mine catch up and the spreading growth is stonger. That dont make sense to me because both are in same conditions. Something to ponder for all you hairgrass experts, I still consider myself a rookie with this plant.

Now back to to the gem at hand... the tank is gorgeous Marcel. 
I will disagree with the others on the leaf shape of the sword being wrong but I think the appearance that the single plant gives , makes it just look lonely since its the only one in there. Now that I look at it... If you had the same plant wrapped completely around the island you have on the left, say 2 small ones to the left and maybe one in the center gap of the tank to enclose it then it would make this tank in my eyes ... PERFECT ! I love sword plants anyways... heh... and Val's ya know them are personal fav's ... :wink: 

You have some very healthy plants growin in there bro... them lights put you over the edge and you have the fert schedule tuned in just right it seems... what growth and color ! Lookin great Marcel ! roud:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Thanks everyone for the great feedback


Buck said:


> The grass out of your tank is definately a different variety then what I had in my tank allready Marcel. The growth , as sad as it is in my tank these days through neglect, is completely different. This makes me wonder how many varieties of hairgrass there actually are ! It is all "growing and spreading" but the growth is much slower with my original grass then the transplants you sent me. I cut yours down in height twice to let mine catch up and the spreading growth is stonger. That dont make sense to me because both are in same conditions. Something to ponder for all you hairgrass experts, I still consider myself a rookie with this plant.


 I think the variety in my tank is eleocharis acicarulus(spelling?) rather than the parvulus variety, even though when I bought it it was marketed as parvulus. I like it very much though, it's extremely hardy and spreads quickly.



Buck said:


> Now back to to the gem at hand... the tank is gorgeous Marcel.
> I will disagree with the others on the leaf shape of the sword being wrong but I think the appearance that the single plant gives , makes it just look lonely since its the only one in there. Now that I look at it... If you had the same plant wrapped completely around the island you have on the left, say 2 small ones to the left and maybe one in the center gap of the tank to enclose it then it would make this tank in my eyes ... PERFECT ! I love sword plants anyways... heh... and Val's ya know them are personal fav's ... :wink:
> 
> You have some very healthy plants growin in there bro... them lights put you over the edge and you have the fert schedule tuned in just right it seems... what growth and color ! Lookin great Marcel ! roud:


 I like swords too, but most of them get too big for my taste, this one in the pic looks like its ready to be split as it has 2 distinct rosets coming from the root ball. I'm still looking for suggestions on some other compact sword varieties. I also like the large leaf against the smaller leaved stem plants, it adds contrast to the layout.
Incidentally I put the hole between the two groupings in an attempt to give the illusion of depth to the tank, I'm not quite sure if I succeeded or not.
I also got rid of the blue/green painted background and replaced it with a black background, which really seemed to make the colors pop more.

Marcel


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

I dont think there is such a thing as "a small sword variety". Every single one I have tried that goes by that description is still not small in my eyes. I just trim the heck out of the things to control them. They respond well to cutting but the root mass still grows unknowingly HUGE even though the visible plant is small. 
My grass is supposedly aciculara too but I still think its different. I imagine that there are more strains then we know of that look very similar. Maybe successive generations of submersed varieties get stronger growth ? Mine I am almost positive now started as emersed growth but I think Im beyond that stage by now...LOL
Time to eat dinner... TTFN roud:


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## bastalker (Dec 8, 2004)

OK..........Marcel..........You an Mike are pretty close ya know. I might have ta just take back the statement I made about Mike bein the ring leader! :wink: roud:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Since you're nice enough to bump my thread here's an updated picture of the tank. A few minor changes but it's mostly the same as it was. I finally got my fertilizing routine down to a science. With the help of Tom Barr and my own experience with my tank I dose once at water cange and once midweek and thats it. This tank is trouble free. It's taken me 5 years to get to the point where I just add stuff and watch it grow. No testing. Sweeeet!


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## Georgiadawgger (Apr 23, 2004)

Nice!!! I really like the contrast and the "island" effect you created with the hairgrass!!


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Looking good, although I think that you should try to remove some of the hairgrass and combine with another foreground plant.


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

*It can't be!*

Marcel - Please tell me that the red stem plants just to the left of center are not from the A. reineckii I sent you. PLEASE!

Because if it is, I look at mine in my tank, I am _ashamed_! And humbled.


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## LoveBoatCaptain (May 18, 2005)

"The left side looks empty and needs stem plants in the background, fish selection not good." Takashi Amano 

 

Great looking tank! :wink:


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## cprroy73 (Nov 10, 2004)

Nice and colorful, I like it. Goes to show you you don't always need a hardscape.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

> Jdinh04 Looking good, although I think that you should try to remove some of the hairgrass and combine with another foreground plant.


You're right, I had glosso, while it looked awesome, it overtakes the tank too fast for my liking. So I'm looking for some HC (hemianthis calatrichoides)spelling? to plant in between 2 hairgrass patches on either side. If anyone has some let me know I'll pay or trade for some hairgrass.


> scolley Marcel - Please tell me that the red stem plants just to the left of center are not from the A. reineckii I sent you. PLEASE!


Only about half of it is from your tank. The stuff finally started to grow. It really took a long time for that stuff to establish in my tank. Now its putting out new shoots...I thought the day would never come.



> cprroy73 Nice and colorful, I like it. Goes to show you you don't always need a hardscape.


 Theres rocks in there, they just got buried by all the plants! 



> LoveBoatCaptain "The left side looks empty and needs stem plants in the background, fish selection not good." Takashi Amano


Hey Takashi... How bout something other than green !!:tongue: 

Marcel


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Ummmm... lush and lovely... nuff said there eh ? roud:


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

I wish my rotala wallichii would grow like that! My SAE's gobble them up!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Marc said:


> I wish my rotala wallichii would grow like that! My SAE's gobble them up!


The plant is actually rotala vietnam, and yeah, my sae's tore up my wallichi too. But, I got rid of my last sae, so I don't know if it woulda liked this plant.

Marcel


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Marcel is that dwarf hairgrass parvula or acularius?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Jdinh04 said:


> Marcel is that dwarf hairgrass parvula or acularius?


I bought it as Parvulus, but I think its aciculara. I guess parvulus is the shorter of the two, but who knows, this stuff stayed fairly short in my tank till I upped the light and ferts and co2


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

I can certainly echo your comments on the A. reinickii. Mine too is finally starting to look healthy and prosper.

As always, NICE tank!
Brian.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

I managed to scrounge up a couple of patches of Hemianthus Callitrichoides from a couple of people here. My intention is to make a sort of path leading from the front of the tank tapering into the back and disappearing between the two plant groupings. 

I'm open to suggestions as to where the exact placement should be if any one cares to take the pic and a paint program and doodle and post here that'd be cool. I'll be doing the same later on tonight.

TTFN
Marcel


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres what I kinda had in mind. Suggestions are welcome as food for thought.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Hmmm. I am not sure about that idea. I am wondering if the difference in height between the hairgrass and the Hc would be so drastic as to be a bit distracting. A patch in the foreground, perhaps, but the path to the rear of the aquarium might make things look divided.

Every time I look at your aquarium Marcel I can't believe how great it looks!

Mike


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

*Man on a mission!!!!*

I tore down the whole tank and pulled the substrate because I wanted a black substrate. I started this project at around 5:00 PM. it is now 9 pm.

Heres how it started:
I went to my local masons supply yard to look for rocks with no intention on doing anything today. I found some beautiful dark rock called "old Moss" rocks. While I'm there I also buy a 100# bag of Black beauty sand. I got the course grade which is about the consistency of swimming pool sand. 

Scolley had given me 6 bags of corrupted Eco-Complete (Scolley is the man roud: ). I didn't care that it was corrupted as my water is so soft over here that a little extra Gh/Kh could only help.

It's now 9:10PM and the new substrate is in. I'm waiting for the water to clear out a little so I can get to scaping. I added a few drops of Accu-Clear to help the filter pickup the fine dust particles. It's clearing out as I'm writing this. 

I'm documenting this whole episode with Photos, so stay tuned for The "man on a mission, don't bother me" sequence. I should have the photos up some time tomorrow.

TTFN
Marcel


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

A black substrate ? I never saw much substrate at all with that lawn of grass you have been keeping Marcel...LOL
Its always kool to shake things up a bit...I look forward to seeing the new and hopefully in your eyes, improved look. 

Are you gonna shake up the plant assortment as well ?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

I'm gonna try to simplify the look a little, but thats gonna be tough. I'm thinking lots of glosso or HC. If I could only get my HC to do something............Anything!! 

My old substrat was old and there were a lot of problems with it. The GH/KH would increase by 5-6 degrees between water changes, it was different colors. It was just time for a change.

The final straw was the HC getting covered in algae. I think there was a lot of funky stuff going on below the substrate. Parts of that substrate were 7 years old. Plus i was so envious of all you guys with the black substrates... it's been eating at me for a couple years , at least. You started it Buck! :tongue:


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## Troy McClure (Feb 22, 2004)

Don't worry about the HC, Marcel. As long as you give it what it needs, you'll have plenty of it growing in no time! That Eco-Complete will certainly help. Tomorrow I will be working on both of my planted tanks and in the 10gal I'll be taking out a lot of the riccia that was being used as a temporary foreground. My HC is spreading pretty quickly for being labeled a slow grower. There's a -tiny- bit of algae, but nothing that can't be pulled up and discarded.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Old substrates can get troublesome at times. But at that point, *"I"* , just gravel vac right to the bottom and replant. But now that you have gone black yourself you can do the same without changing it all out and using "old substrate problems " as an excuse to get yourself some Eco-Complete... :tongue: :icon_bigg 
The black really looks nice against the plant colorings and is better for fish color as well. 
I really love the look of a layer of a black silky sand on top...to bad it never stays there very long ! Cory cats are the coolest to watch in it, they burrow right through it and leave nice looking circles and trails in the sand... 

What an excuse to use that new substrate... roud:


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## Overfloater (Jan 12, 2004)

I love the look of my black substrate but it's hard for me not to want to cover it with a ground cover.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

*As promised; a little photo progression!*

Heres how the tank looked right befor I tore it down.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Me and my stepson helping me scoop out the old substrate. He thought it was fun. :icon_conf


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Grading out the new Black Beauty/ Eco-complete substrate. Woh, thats cloudy. It took about 45 mins to clear before I could see enough to start scaping.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Sad that you had to tore down the tank, it was a beauty. What plans do you have next?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Almost done scaping the new look!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres how it looks 2 days later. I'll be primping for a few weeks to work out the kinks in the aquascape but I like the new design.


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Ahh, so that was your plan to replace the flourite/gravel w/ eco complete. IMO it looks much better, can't wait to see as it progess!


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## Marc (Oct 13, 2004)

m.lemay- looking good. You may have mentioned already but why did you decide to change over to eco?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Marc said:


> m.lemay- looking good. You may have mentioned already but why did you decide to change over to eco?


There were several problems with the old substrate IMO :icon_bigg 

a)it wasn't black
b)It was mixed, 50%flourite,50%gravel, 
c)plus it had some crushed coral in it that was making the kh shift 6-7 degrees between water changes. 
d)It had java moss stuck in it that no amount of picking and preening could completely eradicate.
e)The HC that was planted in it kept getting covered in algae, that I attribute to some sort funky putrification going on beneath the surface.
f) did I mention that I wanted a black substrate.

All the above contributed to wanting some new substrate. The HC problem was the straw that broke the camels back.

I did the whole switchover in one evening. I started pulling out the plants at 5:30 PM on Saturday and planted my last plant at 1:30 AM Sunday morning. I was a man possesed :icon_twis 

Marcel


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## turtlehead (May 31, 2005)

Good scape, if only you could show some more rocks.


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## shalu (Jan 16, 2003)

but the new substrate does not look black? :wink:


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Hey, I like the new scape! IMO that hairgrass is going to look good in clumps, pseudo random around the rocks. And like the rocks too BTW.

And finally, I am shocked and how that Blyxa Japonica looks in the back corner. I would have sworn a week or so ago you only had a few sprigs. You must have that stuff cranking!


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## Silent Running (Sep 13, 2004)

Looks great Marcel! I really like the new layout. Great rock work.


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## timr (Mar 23, 2005)

scolley said:


> And finally, I am shocked and how that Blyxa Japonica looks in the back corner. I would have sworn a week or so ago you only had a few sprigs. You must have that stuff cranking!



I don't know if it's a secret or not, but we traded, he got some from me. 

Marcel, I love the new look, I love a tank with some hardscape, especially rocks. Wonderful job. However, my substrate is exactly what yours used to be and i prefer it over black. i think it looks much more natural. plus once it's covered with plants there's not much difference IMO.


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

Great hardscape. What a wonderful job, Marcel!

Plants look great, too! I can't wait to see it in a couple of weeks.

Mike


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## riverrat (Jul 14, 2005)

The old moss rocks look wonderful as does the rest of the setup.


Looking forward to the updates,
river


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Scolley wrote:


> Hey, I like the new scape! IMO that hairgrass is going to look good in clumps, pseudo random around the rocks. And like the rocks too BTW.
> 
> And finally, I am shocked and how that Blyxa Japonica looks in the back corner. I would have sworn a week or so ago you only had a few sprigs. You must have that stuff cranking!


 I got more hairgrass than I know what to do with. I'm gonna plant a little more in the front right corner, The rest will be up for grabs.

I got some blyxa from timr also. Plus I broke up shoots and replanted them so they can propagate. I'm hoping to fill the left side with blyxa eventually.
timr wrote:


> Wonderful job. However, my substrate is exactly what yours used to be and i prefer it over black. i think it looks much more natural. plus once it's covered with plants there's not much difference IMO.


 Did you read my post about the reasons why I changed it. The kh fluctuations were driving me crazy. plus it was mixed with gravel. When I first set up this tank I was on a low budget, just coming off a divorce. I think I could have lived with the color and I could have vucuumed the snot out of the substrate, but I still would have been left with kh problems. The first time I planted glosso in eco-complete at bucks house, I fell in love. Life is too short to want :tongue: I'm ecstatic about the Eco. :biggrin: 

riverrat wrote:


> The old moss rocks look wonderful as does the rest of the setup.


 There was dried moss on some of the rocks when I got them, I left it on when I threw them in the tank. Yesterday I could have sworn the moss was beginning to pearl. I'm not sure if thats good yet, because I have no clue what type of moss this is. :icon_conf I think these rocks come from a river bank somewhere.

I'll be posting updates as the tank fills in.

BTW: All the bare substrate in the foreground is planted with Hemianthis callitrichoides, you can't see it but its there. I'm hoping and praying that it takes off in this new substrate.


Marcel


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## timr (Mar 23, 2005)

m.lemay said:


> Did you read my post about the reasons why I changed it. The kh fluctuations were driving me crazy. plus it was mixed with gravel. When I first set up this tank I was on a low budget, just coming off a divorce. I think I could have lived with the color and I could have vucuumed the snot out of the substrate, but I still would have been left with kh problems. The first time I planted glosso in eco-complete at bucks house, I fell in love. Life is too short to want :tongue: I'm ecstatic about the Eco. :biggrin:


yes i read it :tongue: . I wasn't asking, i was telling, putting in my vote for the old gravel! :wink:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

:hihi: point taken !

Marcel


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## morinfen (Dec 17, 2004)

I LOVE IT!!! It looks awesome, has lots of umph! I especially like the japonica in the corner it looks SO nice! I am DYING to see the new foreground come in though, i really think it will certainly pull everything together... now the red plants you got in the background the big cluster, i forget what the name of these plants is but i cant seem to have any luck with them. The bottoms are rotting off and the tops are all bare looking and they never really grow in nice , i sure wish i could get mine to look like yours! Well, just thought you might have some experience with them and might be able to give me a tip or two . Well thats bout all, just had to send out my applause to a fellow Filstar Pimp . Good Luck...
Sincerely,
Nate


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## Troy McClure (Feb 22, 2004)

I love the way the right side of the tank looks....I'm a sucker for red plants!


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Oh MY ???!!! The lotus is gone... RIP :icon_bigg 

Nice stone work Marcel, I like the tufts of grass like that. It must have been quite a task planting that right side ! 
For those of you that have never had the pleasure of a watching a pro plant a tank in person ,you should check out Marcel with some tweezers...he has the patience of Jobe !!! 

Looks like its gonna grow in nice man... come plant mine now ! :hihi: :hihi:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Talking about patience.......try planting tiny clumps of HC. Glosso is gigantic next to HC. :icon_eek: 

The Good news is that the HC is taking well to the Eco-Complete and it's starting to spread. I had to pull the Clown loaches and Black Mollys out of the tank because they were having a party pulling it out of the substrate.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

beautiful tank man the rock work is awsome! i wish i was that patient just on my 10 gallon ill move plants... wait an hour for water to clear.. move them again.. it takes me 2 days before i like where they are lol.... 

then again i wasnt sure what plants i wanted... :icon_redf 

nice tank and nice work.... hope it stays as nice as it is now...

free labor is always a nice plus roud:


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## zig (Jun 4, 2005)

Very nice, i also like the rock hardscape, very natural looking, i would say it will fill in beautiful, really nice makeover roud:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres a new updated photo taken tonight. I rearranged some stuff.

If anyone knows what the red plant on the far left is, I'd be much obliged. I got with a bunch of other stuff a while back.

The Blyxa is growing like crazy and putting out roots into the Eco like you wouldn't believe.


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Marcel - the tank is looking killer! I wish I knew what that plant was too! That looks like a "distichous coiled" leaf arrangement, which makes it a bit unusual. Otherwise I'd have called it some very red Ludwigia brevipes. But not!

Still looks great though! Gonna be a great new look for your tank!

PS - ready to start on your 120 any time. Got some clamps with nothing to do...


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## Overfloater (Jan 12, 2004)

m.lemay said:


> The Blyxa is growing like crazy and putting out roots into the Eco like you wouldn't believe.


I believe you would because it's doing the same for me in colorquartz. 

Tank looks great BTW.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

The first Blyxa I ever tried was from you and you said it does nothing and now it grows like gangbusters for you and for me it does nothing !

Whats up with this hobby ? LMAO !

I think the left side is a bit overpowering on the reds... is there anyway you could work them back into the right side ? They are overpowering the blyxa/hairgrass greens and the stone IMO.


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

Marcel - those rocks look killer. My only guess at the plant on the left would be an Ammania sp. I added some a month or so back, but my tank has been struggling since then. So, I'm not sure if the leaves on yours are too long or not.

As to Blyxa, it's one of my new, healthy growers. In regards to Buck's comments, plants can be funny. I got stellatus, aromatica and blyxa from a local, fellow plant guy. His stellatus looks fabulous, while his aromatica and blyxa look okay. My blyxa and aromatica look fabulous, while my stellatus has almost died out. I use pure tap, while he uses mostly RO. So, I guess gh/kh could account for it. But, it sure is curious.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Buck said:


> The first Blyxa I ever tried was from you and you said it does nothing and now it grows like gangbusters for you and for me it does nothing !
> 
> Whats up with this hobby ? LMAO !.


Well, several things have changed in my tank since the last GO with Blyxa.
1) I now have 330 watts instead of 220.
2)I use the EI method of fertilizing, before I was a minimalist.
3)Eco-Complete now, instead of Flourite mixed with gravel and garbage.
4) Increased CO2 40-50ppm instead 20-30ppm.

Take your pick!  


Buck said:


> I think the left side is a bit overpowering on the reds... is there anyway you could work them back into the right side ? They are overpowering the blyxa/hairgrass greens and the stone IMO.


 OK, I'll go with that. I just got some Giant hairgrass from Scolley, what do you think of that in it's place?

I really like the red nameless plant. If I put it on the right I'm gonna have to get rid of something over there. The L. Aromatica is staying, and so is the Rotala vietnam. Which means that the A.Reinecki has to be either thinned way down or eliminated completey. There's a ton of it in there. What do you guys think?


BSS said:


> My only guess at the plant on the left would be an Ammania sp. I added some a month or so back, but my tank has been struggling since then. So, I'm not sure if the leaves on yours are too long or not.


The weird thing about it is that it only grows one leaf on the stem, no opposing leaves, in sort of a coiled arrangement. I do know that its Asiatic. But thats as much as I know. I wish I could remember who sent it to me. All the Ammania sp. I've seen grows with an opposing leaf arrangement. I did find similarites to Polygonium Hydropiperiodes In the Aquarium Plants by Pablo Tepoot book. Except that the plant they show is green. Christel Kasselmanns' book didn't have anything with the coiled leaf/stem structure that I could find.

Marcel


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres a close up of the mystery plant:

edit: I found my old paypal reciept and its listed as "Polygonum sp." Heres a link that I found on google. Looks like it!

http://www.bobsfish.com/plants/p121.htm


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

That look's like Polygonum sp. from Sao Paulo to me..Nice plant, may have to do a trade with you for some, some day...I need more tank's!!!! :tongue: 

http://www.toninastyle.com/polygonum_sp_from_sao_paulo.htm


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## timr (Mar 23, 2005)

m.lemay said:


> Well, several things have changed in my tank since the last GO with Blyxa.
> 1) I now have 330 watts instead of 220.
> 2)I use the EI method of fertilizing, before I was a minimalist.
> 3)Eco-Complete now, instead of Flourite mixed with gravel and garbage.
> ...


5) The Blyxa came from a super duper source roud: 

Honestly, aside from the lighting (because we have different sized tanks). I'm a minimalist, have flourite mixed with quartz, and i'm sure my co2 isn't over 30. So it's got to be #5 :icon_bigg , or some other water parameter. Maybe it's the trace as i don't slack on that too much.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Wö£fëñxXx said:


> That look's like Polygonum sp. from Sao Paulo to me..Nice plant, may have to do a trade with you for some, some day...I need more tank's!!!! :tongue:
> 
> http://www.toninastyle.com/polygonum_sp_from_sao_paulo.htm


Craig: Thats it!! You found it. I actually have some stems available now, maybe a trade? Send me a PM.

Marcel


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## AaronT (Apr 11, 2004)

Yup, that's definitely Polygonum sp. 'Sao Paulo'. There is another one going around that is just known as Polygonum sp. that is less red, but also quite attractive.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Here's a new updated photo.
I took bucks advice and moved the polygonum to the right side and trimmed back some A. reinecki and gave the hairgrass a haircut.


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## Jason Baliban (Mar 3, 2005)

The colors are amazing!!! I think if you put a really straight green plant right behind the "temple".....maybe like stargrass. It would break up the color perfectly and make this thing perfect. 

Nice job!!

jB


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Love it Marcel ! The left side looks so much more natural now. Thats sure is a strange looking plant that polygonum, the leaf pattern that is. Your stones are getting nice shadings of algae it looks like, that always looked more natural to me. 
The tank is looking terrific ! roud:


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Jason Baliban said:


> The colors are amazing!!! I think if you put a really straight green plant right behind the "temple".....maybe like stargrass. It would break up the color perfectly and make this thing perfect.
> 
> Nice job!!
> 
> jB


Thats' a good idea. Any suggestions as to which green plant I should put in there. 
I personally love the look of wisteria but it groms way too fast for my taste. Stargrass' leaf shape would be too similar to the aromatica. I'm thinking a large solid green leaf like a sword or maybe a green lotus.
Another consideration is that the bottom of the plant doesn't neccesarily need foliage since it'll be hidden by the red temple.
I'm open for suggestions for a green plant for the back right corner. Any takers?

Marcel


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## timr (Mar 23, 2005)

i think stargrass might look nice because the leafs are similarly shaped. however, if you look at my tank you can see most of my thoughts don't add up. how about a green rotala?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

I think I'm gonna use some giant Hairgrass in the far right corner behind the red temple, but first I gotta wait for it to propagate. Scolley is gonna send me some more once it propogates in his tank and I have some in my tank that should expand also.

Patience is the name of the game!!  

Marcel


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Hmmmm... Paaaatience...


Repeat that three times. Slooowly now... Paaatience...

:icon_wink


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

Is that pearling going on on the rocks? That's a great new look.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

BSS said:


> Is that pearling going on on the rocks? That's a great new look.


Why yes,yes it is! There's some kind of moss that grows on these rocks. I have no clue what type of moss it is but it stays short and it pearls. It's not algae. I guess thats why they call them "Old Moss" rocks.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

In that left corner how about a tall green apono variety...maybe a natans , undulatas or a boivinianus. It would be a nice backdrop to the wallichi which I meant to comment on before... lookin nice and colorful. roud:

In your lighting they would be beautiful.. !!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Good call Buck!! I've never tried any variety of aponogeton. Apono might look really good behind the red temple on the right also. I especially like undulatas and the natans, but even the boivianus would look nice.

Anybody have some for trade??

Marcel

EDIT:After seeing how large undulatas can get, thats definitly out. So now it's crispus boivianus or natans.



Buck said:


> In that left corner how about a tall green apono variety...maybe a natans , undulatas or a boivinianus. It would be a nice backdrop to the wallichi which I meant to comment on before... lookin nice and colorful. roud:
> 
> In your lighting they would be beautiful.. !!


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## unirdna (Jan 22, 2004)

Marcel,

Don't know what your lakes look like in the NE. You can find good-looking natans and crispus all over Wisconsin.


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Marcel , any of the apono's can be controlled much as a swordplant can just by lopping off the largest leaves with no harm to the plant. I love the ruffled patterns many of them get too, thats kinda why I could see one in that corner. 
I found 2 very small natans at a shop today and snagged them, along with a lotus bulb sprouted. The natans has a thin style leaf which may work against the look of your wallichi...I would think a heavier leafed variety would be better. 
Heres a nice photo of the A. boivinianus at Fish Vet.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Heres a picture taken tonight after a water change. This tank, right now, is growing so well and algae free that it's scaring me. It's been awhile since this tank has been this pristine. I think a lot of it has to do with cutting the 4.4WPG photoperiod to only 7hrs/day. 

Here's my current lighting schedule:

12PM-2PM=110 watts
2PM-9PM=330 watts
9PM-10:30PM=110 watts

I've been using this schedule for about a month now based On PJANS lighting schedule and it's been really working out nicely.


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Looks great Marcel! And looks like you've cut back on the species too. Looks better for it IMO! roud:


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

FANTASTIC! 

What a great hardscape. It is so good I think you could go with just the Blyxa japonica and the L. aromatica on the right hand side.

Mike


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Momotaro said:


> FANTASTIC!
> 
> What a great hardscape. It is so good I think you could go with just the Blyxa japonica and the L. aromatica on the right hand side.
> 
> Mike


I'm seriously thinking about planting all glosso on the lower level, kinda like what you see now, except the glosso would go all the way to the back in the left corner. Then plant all blyxa on the upper level kinda like it is now, except I'd remove that red bush of pogestoman in the middle. Then a well groomed bush of L. Aromatica in the right corner to hide the equipment, kinda like what you see now but better groomed.  That would leave only 3 species of plants in the tank. Man, if I could discipline myself to three plant species and one species of fish, I might actually have an entry for next years AGA. :wink:


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## Momotaro (Feb 21, 2003)

I'd leave the foreground the way it is and take the stems out of the center and to the left and take a good long look.....

Mike


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## Overfloater (Jan 12, 2004)

I have only had 3 species for the last several months...  It's not hard to do hehe. I am even thinking of removing my narrow leaf java and going with only blyxa and glosso. I have found the huge reduction in maintenance to be very rewarding. 

Your tanks looks nice though. Keep up the good work. roud:


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Wow Marcel... its looking great ! I second Mikes comments on the hardscape and leaving the foreground. The center patch of stems needs to go IMO...if you want to eliminate a plant variety I would start there... 

Man you got a buttload of blyxa growing ! roud:


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## PJAN (Feb 18, 2005)

m.lemay said:


> Heres a picture taken tonight after a water change. This tank, right now, is growing so well and algae free that it's scaring me. It's been awhile since this tank has been this pristine. I think a lot of it has to do with cutting the 4.4WPG photoperiod to only 7hrs/day.
> 
> Here's my current lighting schedule:
> 
> ...


Great looking tank Marcel ! roud: 
Very nice midground and good depth.

As for the lighting schedule : you even can try less hours of high lights.
I always start with 3 hours high lights and if it's not enough I raise the amount by one hour.
But if you're satisfied with this result and your tank is in balance ( it is !) don't change it.

Gr. PJAN


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## dss2004 (Apr 1, 2005)

Definitely one of my favorite tanks. I love the way the rocks look pressed up against all that vegetation. Looks beautiful.


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## BSS (Sep 24, 2004)

Those rocks look like they belong there. They blend in very naturally. Most excellent!!


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## Urkevitz (Jan 12, 2004)

This scape looks as good as any I have seen, definetaly unforgettable.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

> Momotaro: I'd leave the foreground the way it is and take the stems out of the center and to the left and take a good long look.....
> 
> Mike





> Buck Wow Marcel... its looking great ! I second Mikes comments on the hardscape and leaving the foreground. The center patch of stems needs to go IMO...if you want to eliminate a plant variety I would start there...
> 
> Man you got a buttload of blyxa growing !



I did it!! I listened. I pulled the long stems from the center and left and planted blyxa in it's place and replanted and groomed the L.Aromatica on the right side....... The look is simply gorgeous. I'll get some pics up tonight. roud:


> PJAN: Great looking tank Marcel !
> Very nice midground and good depth.
> 
> As for the lighting schedule : you even can try less hours of high lights.
> ...


 I might try gradually lowering the high light period a little more. The blyxa is almost a golden pink color and some of the new growth is curling a little. OTOH I kinda like the golden pink tone that the blyxa gets in the bright light. I gotta think about it some more.

Marcel


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## timr (Mar 23, 2005)

That is truley beatutiful Marcel! Nice job roud: I like the color of the blyxa too, however, turning it down a notch might look a bit better. It is something you can always play with, if you don't like it turn the light back up.


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## Pseud (Oct 2, 2005)

Looks absolutely fantastic.


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Here's what it looks like after I took your suggestions Mike and Buck. I think it looks a lot cleaner. :wink:


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## Hop (Mar 27, 2004)

Wow, much better! Looks very good!


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## victortong (Sep 9, 2005)

Wow...i haven't been following your journal here..but if you ask me...that is a superbly great looking tank. Good work. I will keep myself updated from now on. Thanks.


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

Wow M, You're tank look's very good, one little thing I see, which concidering the source.. lol
Maybe if you moved the L. Aromatica to the other side, to balance out the tank, I think then, you have a masterpiece....


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Maybe I'll take a picture from the opposite angle to balance out the tank. It'll be a lot easier. :icon_lol:


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

Ohhhh man Marcel... now that looks clean !
The blyxa just jumps out at you now and I love the drop off look on the left with the stone. 
Damn your gonna hate me now as I look at it, can you see one more stone in the left with the blyxa cresting the top to the waterline making a complete ridge and the glosso in a complete lower foreground on the bottom dressing off the smaller foreground stone ? roud: 

Dont listen to me... Im thinking out loud. :icon_roll 

What a difference that made... very nice ! 

I need to go throw a brick through my tank now... TTFN !


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## Pseud (Oct 2, 2005)

Buck said:


> I need to go throw a brick through my tank now... TTFN !


I know right, puts mine to shame also!


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## Pseud (Oct 2, 2005)

Oh, also, what's the big plant in the background on the right?


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## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

Pseud said:


> Oh, also, what's the big plant in the background on the right?


You mean the red and yellow one? :biggrin:


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## Pseud (Oct 2, 2005)

Wö£fëñxXx said:


> You mean the red and yellow one? :biggrin:


Yeah, do you see it too?


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

If you're talking about the plant on the right rear, that's limnophila aromatica. The foreground on the right is blyxa japonica which, though hard to see in this pic, has a golden pink hue, from the 4.4WPG. :wink:


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Wö£fëñxXx said:


> Wow M, You're tank look's very good, one little thing I see, which concidering the source.. lol
> Maybe if you moved the L. Aromatica to the other side, to balance out the tank, I think then, you have a masterpiece....


IMO Craig's right on target. It would create a _beautiful _ slope that taking the picture from another angle would not accomplish.

You should be proud of having a tank with with such wonderful plantings that allows you to consider small changes to move you into "masterpiece" territory. roud:


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## Georgiadawgger (Apr 23, 2004)

Holy cow that's nice...you should save some snap shots and submit them to AGA !!! The colors really stand out well and the slope is great!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

scolley said:


> IMO Craig's right on target. It would create a _beautiful _ slope that taking the picture from another angle would not accomplish.
> 
> You should be proud of having a tank with with such wonderful plantings that allows you to consider small changes to move you into "masterpiece" territory. roud:


Not that I'm against craigs idea, but its a lot more work than moving a few plants around. All my equipment tubes are on the right side of the tank just above my filter compartment. To move the tubes to the other side of the tank would involve all new longer hoses to reach the other side of the tank. I'm gonna let the plants settle in a little since I just rescaped 3 days ago.

The long term plan might be leaning in that direction but thats a full days work. I might move the aromatica over to the other side just to get an overall view with the equipment showing temporarily on the right side, to see if thats the direction I wanna go in.

I like challenging the aquascape "rules" because I think that they're very limiting and they squash creativity IMO.

Marcel


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

What rules ?

Pfff... I have read the "rules" during comments on competition tanks and half the time I disagree. I dont care about "photography" lines , quartering a still shot, triangles , right to left , left to right, blah - blah - blah...

The 'experts" are full of themselves, its their way or its wrong. :icon_roll

Show me healthy plants , no algae and a happy hobbyist and that is a winning tank !


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## jmelnek (Dec 20, 2004)

Buck said:


> What rules ?
> 
> Pfff... I have read the "rules" during comments on competition tanks and half the time I disagree. I dont care about "photography" lines , quartering a still shot, triangles , right to left , left to right, blah - blah - blah...
> 
> ...


Here Here, I have always thought the same. My tank may not be "picture perfect" but my fish are happy, my plants are happy, the algae is not happy and I am happy. That is what is important. This is a hobby not a competition of mine.

P.S. m.lemays... that is a very nice looking tank. roud: 

Josh


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## victortong (Sep 9, 2005)

Buck said:


> What rules ?
> 
> Pfff... I have read the "rules" during comments on competition tanks and half the time I disagree. I dont care about "photography" lines , quartering a still shot, triangles , right to left , left to right, blah - blah - blah...
> 
> ...


Agreed roud:


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## The Snowdog (Aug 13, 2005)

I am a bit of a novice, but I have poured over hundreds of photos over the last months and those last two pictures are probably the most beautiful and inspiring tank pictures I have seen.


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## sNApple (Nov 6, 2005)

sick tank!, lets see an update, i wanan see how the aromatica looks like now


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Time for an update Marcel?


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## Jdinh04 (Mar 15, 2004)

Lets bring this thread back alive!!!!


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## m.lemay (Jul 28, 2002)

Ok, I'll post some pics this week. The aromatica is all but gone now. I got tired of it. 

The tank has actually gone thru a few transformations since the last picture I posted.

I had some battles with HC and the ensuing cladophora that hitchhiked on it.

Those supposedly harmless marimo balls are the bain of my tank. I never purchased a marimo ball for my tank, it just came with some HC, and bam. Even thogh it doesn't attach itself to anything, it's always there lurking in some corner of the tank. I manually remove what I can find and it slowly reappears.
I do have it under control now though.


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