# Story of a 20-Long... Now with Strawberry Boraras! (newest updates on page 12)



## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

UPDATE: This is the way the tank looks right now:











To skip ahead to the most current photos, click here.







Well, I finally got my shipment from Big Al's. This means I now have a stand for the 20g and, yay, another project! I've already assembled the stand and set the tank on top of it. Just to start this thread properly, I figured I'd take a few pics:





























I'm currently in the middle of rinsing the old 3M colorquartz from my 45g, now that it has been retired. Once I get it all rinsed out, and snails removed, I will then start working on the hardscape.

Speaking of hardscapes, I'm kind of in a bind right now, because all the rocks I have are too small to achieve the look I'm going for in this tank. All the manzanita branches I have (and I have LOTS!) are useless to me for this tank, since my mom wants it to be an all-rock hardscape. I went to the rock store today to see if they had anymore Texas petrified wood, just like I have in my 2.5g, but he said he would have to bring more in to the shop. I explained what I'd be looking for, essentially a chunk about the size of a football, and a couple others not much smaller, and he said he thinks he has what I'm looking for. So all I can do is cross my fingers and wait for him to call me, which will hopefully happen in the next few days.

If I cannot find what I'm looking for locally, I just might have to take the chance on ordering some seiryu stone or something similar from I guess AFA, and that thought isn't too appealing since I don't get to hand-pick the pieces. So here's hoping my "rock-guy" (lol) comes through for me.

Hope everyone's having a happy Thursday!


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## mumushummus (Sep 16, 2009)

nice stand sahib!
it will match the scape?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thank you! To be honest, I didn't care so much about the stand matching the scape, as I cared about it matching the living room. But now that you mention it, I think it _will_ match the scape I'm planning.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Today was a good day! I got some more petrified wood, and I've already begun my hardscape. This will be an all-rock hardscape, but it will not be an iwagumi. More like dutch meets wabi-sabi. Some sneak-peek pictures are forthcoming...


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

:biggrin:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Okay today's the day that I go through my big bucket of plants and see which ones survived. I can see that the ones floating on top of the water look pretty good still. Mostly this means the Anubias nana and the H. tenellum. But I also have weighted bunches of Rotala down in there somewhere. I'm curious to know what they look like now.

Anyway, hopefully I can start planting today. I will take some more pictures as the project unfolds. I know at least a few of you out there are watching this thread, judging by the number of views.


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## DevinWolfe (Aug 1, 2009)

That looks really nice so far. I have recently been given a 20G-long by a friend getting out of reptile keeping so I will keep an eye on yours for ideas.

Do you have any ideas for stock so far?

I hope more of your plants survived! Most of mine didn't make it while tearing down my 50G.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I'm pretty sure I want this tank to have a large school of small fish. Whether we are talking _tiny_ fish, like Boraras, or just some small tetras, or even maybe Espei rasbora... I just don't know yet. 

Seeing as how this tank is going to feature more reddish/orange type of hues, I may very well go with some Espei or Hengeli rasbora. But it would be nice to go with a type of fish I haven't raised before... like maybe green neons, or boraras.

I'm open to suggestions!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Also, Devin, make sure your friend's tank wasn't one of those ones that are made specifically for reptiles, as opposed to fish. If it is, I don't recommend filling it with water. Hopefully though it's just a standard 20 long.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Hey that looks real good! You built that stand? It's very nice.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

No, no, I did not build it. I suck at woodworking (for now, anyway). No, this is one of those stingray stands from Big Al's. I have 3 of these stands now, one for each of my tanks. They are the best, cheap stands I've found so far. It's cheaper actually ordering one and paying for shipping than it is getting the equivalent particle board stand from Petco or Petsmart, or something of the like.

But thank you for your compliment anyway! 

_[edit: I see... I accidentally said "built the stand" instead of "assembled the stand" up above. Fixed. Thanks Hydrophyte!]_


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Arrrrghhh! I've run out of plants.  Most of the plants I was trying to keep alive in a 5 gal bucket did not make it. This was mostly a bunch of Rotala rotundifolia, and Rotala magenta. This sucks. I was able to use most of the H. tenellum, because it was floating on top of everything else, and therefore got the most of what little light was available.

Poop.

So now I've gotta quickly acquire more plants so that I can go ahead and fill the tank with water. I don't want to fill the tank until after I plant. It's so much easier that way. But maybe I'll have to go ahead and fill it, and then drain it when I get more plants.

If I don't submerge the tenellum soon, I'm afraid it will dry out or convert to emergent growth. (I am misting it down every few hours).

Anyway, it's off to a good start, IMO. Here's what it looks like right after planting the tenellum:











I guess I'm calling Everglades nursery today to see what they have available. Whatever I can't get from them I'll have to go get from Marine Warehouse, or another LFS. This sucks.

On the bright side, all the Anubias nana seem to have survived. They even threw flowers up above the waterline in that 5 gal bucket! I just don't have any room for anubias in the aquascape I've planned out. Murphy's Law strikes again...


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Okay, so it looks like I'll be getting some Rotala rotundifolia and Hemianthus micranthemoides from Everglades on Wednesday, and I've spoken to the guy at Westside Aquarium (thank you Hilde for mentioning them in my 10g thread!) who sounds real nice and actually knowledgeable about various aquarium plants, and he believes he can get me some glosso and/or HC. I just have to call him tomorrow because he will have talked to his plant supplier by then.

So, I went ahead and filled the tank just to the top of the substrate level at the very back. This means all the tenellum is now submerged. I think it should be okay for a few days, as long as I keep topping it off.

So, things should be looking up for me in the next few days!


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## luckydud13 (Jun 21, 2008)

So are you going to be morphing IAPLC #10 and #11? 

Hello from ASW


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Kind of, yes!


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## luckydud13 (Jun 21, 2008)

Looks good, subscribed


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

^ Thanks lucky!

Nothing new to report. I'm still trying to get my plants in order. Some are on their way to me now. I've got about 2 gallons of water in there now, enough to submerge all the tenellum. I've drained and changed that water once so far. I'll do it again in a couple of days, too.

That's pretty much it for now.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Okay I received my Blyxa (and tons of other stems and moss I've yet to sort through!) from Sewingalot, so I went ahead and found the best specimens, then planted them strategically. Here's what I have now:











The glosso should be here early next week, then followed by the rotala. I still need to find some HM though, but I'll worry about that later. Just wanted to continue with the photo updates, as this thing takes shape.


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## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

nice start, just subscribed soo, stems? or iwagami?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Stems, for sure. I'll be loading it up with various rotalas, HM, and probably didiplis. I want my stems (aside from the HM) to all color up into pink and orange hues. This tank is coming together sloooooowly, but that's okay. I'd rather do it right the first time than have to stir things up replanting as time goes on.

Thanks for visiting!


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## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

those rocks will give it a tropical jungle feel and the reds of the plants will go nicely with them. i havent had good luck with D. diandra but it is a great looking plant.


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## mumushummus (Sep 16, 2009)

The guru strikes again! keep us posted...


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

This tank is gonna be bad! That blyxa is going to be awesome in a few weeks.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks for the compliments, guys! I'm still sorting through the plants I got from Sewingalot. Looks like I got a bunch of either L. brevipes or L. arcuata. _[edit: I spoke to her and it is BOTH.]_ I'll probably be putting it in here as well. That's probably all I'll be putting in here from that batch of plants.

I should be planting the glosso foreground in the next few days, so stay tuned!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Okay the glosso foreground has been planted. I may even add a few more nodes, but I'm gonna sleep on it. Here are the pics:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I just hooked up the XP2 now that I have the tank filled, and the current is _really_ strong. Almost too strong. I'm slightly concerned about it. I might have to add some bio stars to the filter or something, to slow it down some. It's not uprooting the plants or anything, but it's causing one heck of a surface turbulence that's definitely gonna be offgassing some CO2.

I suppose it's because I'm using the little power nozzle thingy instead of the spraybar, but that's because I don't want to put the spraybar horizontally so I had no other choice. I need the current to be concentrated like it is, so the flow is unidirectional, I just wish I could slow it down a smidgen.

Of course, I just cleaned the filter media thoroughly before firing it up, so maybe it will slow down on its own once it gets broken in.

Still. Wow! Does anyone else successfully use a XP2 on a 20 long? Or am I way overfiltering this tank?


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

The tank looks good, church. If tomorrow you notice a crater in the substrate, I would adjust it, because it gets annoying really fast.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks man. Yeah, it's not really messing with the substrate at all, thankfully. It's just causing a big ripple on the surface. What I'm really worried about is losing the CO2 I'll be injecting in there.

I'm pretty sure I can bring the flow down by adding some biostars, and putting something inline, like a heater or something. Just, something to create a little more friction, that's all.

I don't really know how bad it is, actually. I suppose it's possible that I'll be able to compensate for it by upping the bps on the needle valve. I guess tomorrow, when I hook the CO2 up and get the drop checker in there, I'll find out.


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## chris.rivera3 (Apr 15, 2008)

looking good!!! can't wait to see it finished


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thank you.

Here's a pic of the tank with the XP2 installed:











And another one with just the backlighting, because it looks cool:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Okay, here are the newest pics:




















Still got more planting to do, but that's all for now...


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

_[just edited the previous post with the new update]_


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

great start, cant wait for it to fill in.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks Monkey.

Today I hooked up the CO2. Now I wait a couple of hours to see what color the drop checker is. That way I'll be able to gauge how much (if any) CO2 I'm offgassing with the extremely high flow of the XP2.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Just planted a bunch of L. aromatica over on the right side, and a bunch of a mixture of L. brevipes and L. arcuata over on the left side. The glosso is already growing at an astounding rate, and it appears to be growing horizontally as well. Also some of the Blyxa has melted, but I expected that. I always plant more Blyxa than I actually want because of this tendency. But I believe that concludes the melting period for these plants. All that's going to happen now is growth!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I still think people are watching this thread, so here goes another update...

Full tank shot:











Full tank shot with flash on, because it shows the colors better:











Closeup of the Limnophila:











Closeup of the Ludwigia:


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

Nice 20! roud:


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Congrats B! This is looking cool


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks man! And thanks Ed!


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

That's looking great. I like your plant selection and those non-traditional rocks. 

That soothing scene should help you get all 7 chakras in line. 

If you can shoot with flash but at an angle you will avoid that flash glare on the glass.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

^ You obviously are intuiting what I'm going for here.  And yeah, after I uploaded that pic I realized exactly that, about taking the shot from an angle. That will be for next time!

Thanks for the compliments, man.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Dang! That's a lot of plants all of a sudden lol. Looks cool, man. :thumbsup:


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## justin182 (Aug 19, 2009)

Love the stones and the scape.

Is that bacopa monnieri on the right (back) and MU in front?




Church said:


>


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

It's actually the emersed growth of Rotala rotundifolia in transition to submerged. And in front of it, while it was sold to me as H. micranthemoides, I _do_ actually believe now that it is M. umbrosum. Unless the emersed growth of HM looks like MU, because I'm pretty sure it came to me emersed.

It's kind of disappointing to me, if it is MU instead of HM, because I was counting on the creeping action of HM to finalize the aquascape. I've never grown MU, and it is very pretty, so I'm happy with it, but I think it grows much taller, and more vertically, than HM.

Anyway, thanks for chiming in guys!


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## justin182 (Aug 19, 2009)

Never seen emersed R Roduntifolia before. It looks pretty good.

Yup, MU tends to grow up I believe, at least this is how mine are doing!!


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## DevinWolfe (Aug 1, 2009)

Very nice, Church!

Loving the hardscape with the plant placement.


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## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

do you have an idea of what fauna you are going to put in there? schoolies? shrimp?
its looking better and better


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks guys! Yes, I'm thinking there will be a school of about ~20 Hengel Rasbora, ~6 otos, and a handful of amanos. Then I will expand from there. I'm probably going to be stocking in the next 2 weeks, I'm sure.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Looks great, Church. That definitely looks like M. Umbrosum to me as well. HM emersed is tinier than that and still creeps along.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Yeah, I'm fully convinced now it's MU. Oh well, I guess I'll need to hunt down some real HM eventually to replace it with.

Figured I'd post a few pics after giving the plants a haircut. The glosso and the tenellum are both spreading wildly!
























































Hopefully will be stocking the tank in the next couple of weeks...


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## mumushummus (Sep 16, 2009)

grow little plants grow church will put little fishes soon


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

The tank is going through a bacterial bloom right now, so pardon the cloudy water. Here's a few pics of the growth though:
































































:biggrin:


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Aside from the cloudy water, things are looking fantastic! When the bacterial bloom, is over I expect things to look top notch!


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## vtkid (Jan 5, 2009)

youve got some amazing growth there. that glosso is spreading quickly


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## Coltonorr (Mar 12, 2008)

I don't know how I missed this thread.
Nice tank Church.
Love the Limnophilia!


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## nerdyjon (Sep 12, 2009)

What are your lighting specs? 

Your tank is my inspiration and I want to make sure I am able to grow glosso

An where did you get your rocks?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Oh wow, thanks everyone! 

Nerdyjon, I'm using 2 of those Coralife normal output T5 fixtures. Each bulb is 18w, so each fixture is 36w, meaning there's a total of 72w here. They are on separate timers, so that the photoperiod begins and ends with 1 hour of only 36w.

The rocks are Texas petrified wood obtained from my local gem shop. Thanks for the compliments!


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## nerdyjon (Sep 12, 2009)

Do you think I would be able to grow glosso with a 65W CF?


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## demosthenes (Aug 23, 2008)

excuse my stupidity, but what substrate is that? it looks like such a perfect size!


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

You have had some amazing growth over the last 2 weeks. The plants are looking good despite the cloudy water.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

^ Thanks dude! I thought so as well. 

Nerdyjon, I don't see why not. This is my first time growing glosso, but for me it's been growing like a weed. Actually, since it's only planted up in the front of the tank, I can safely say it's not getting any real useable light from the fixture that's over the back of the tank, so really, the glosso is growing under only 36w of light. Then there's another 36w in the back that lights up the stem plants.

Demosthenes, this is the infamous 3M color quartz that is soon to be impossible to find, so I recommend seeking it out now if you want some. I love it, it's great for tanks where you're gonna be EI dosing.

Thanks everyone.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I figured I'd post a picture of the tank with only the foreground lamp on. This is "dawn" to my tank:











Also, it looks like the bacterial bloom is subsiding. That means I can add more fish!! Woohoo!


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

clean your glass! lol 

looking good, i can't wait for this tank to mature. i have a bunch of petrified wood like yours and want to see it filled in. hurry up! hehehe

what fish are you thinking about?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I really want to get a school of Trigonistigma hengeli, but the local LFS's aren't expecting to be able to get any in the near future. So I think my impatient ass is going to just get some Rummies. (I know Pedro sells the hengeli, but I really just can't afford to pay those prices at the moment, and impatience is taking over. Plus the rummies will only be .99 each. I'm broke.)

Plus I'll also be adding more otos (to take care of that glass, lol), and amano shrimp too.

The LFS that's getting me the amanos is also getting me some Red Myrio. I can't wait! I've never grown that plant before, but it looks awesome in other people's tanks... and I really want this tank to have lots of orange/red/yellow hues in it. Hence my original choice of T. hengeli for the fish.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Yay!! The water isn't cloudy anymore! I left my house before both lamps turned on, so I'll have to wait til this evening to take a pic, but everything is clear now! The glass is still green-dusty, as oldpunk pointed out, but I don't want to scrape it off. The otos and snails are having a buffet on it.

Pics later tonight.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Okay so I never went home last night to take any pics. But now that I'm here, I just made the attempt, only to find out the batteries are dead and my camera won't turn on. So I guess I'll take pics later today.

I just found out that I have connections with one of the largest fish farms in the Tampa area, so the sky is now the limit as far as what fish I'll stock in here! I'm reading over their stocklist now, and contemplating the possibilities. I may very well end up just going with some Hengeli, like I planned on all along...

Waiting for a returned phone call, and I may be stocking my tanks today!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

This was the only pic I could take before the batteries went dead:











And yes, the glass has oto food all over it. I'm not going to scrape it off until I get some algae wafers for them...


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## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

Subscribed!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Looks nice, Church!

The snail tracks on the back glass are a nice effect, too.  :flick:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

LOL thanks Laura! They're on the front glass, though. That's where I hold the snail races!

I just want to say... I've never had a tank with such a high rate of flow before this one, and I _love_ watching the grass sway in the "breeze." It looks so cool!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Okay last time I posted a dawn picture. This is now what "dusk" looks like in my tank:




















And see how the Limnophila is coloring up there? Here are is a better shot:











And a few even better ones, which show the pearling:




















The snail races are still in progress at the moment...


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I want to know what you've got against algae scrapers? :hihi:

The tank looks great, though. It's filled in really well!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

lauraleellbp said:


> I want to know what you've got against algae scrapers? :hihi:


They've always rubbed me the wrong way, and I don't like how they look at me. They're always so smug, so conceited. They act like they're better than me.

Stupid algae scrapers. :icon_mad:

:iamwithst


(I don't have any other oto food at the moment! I'll feed 'em some zucchini tomorrow, and scrape the glass. Just for you, Laura. )


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Awesome! What a growth explosion! It looks great church! Your best one yet!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks a lot man! That means a lot coming from you. 

Soon I'll be putting some red myrio in here, in hopes of achieving that bright orange color I see in photos. I'll also be putting in some arcuata, and eventually some Rotala vietnam. Time to get the reds oranges and golds happening.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Those plants look happy.


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

I'm making my way through the links in your sig and I really love this one too! Updates?! :biggrin:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

LOL, the last pictures in this thread are only from about 12 hours ago! Actually I do plan on scraping the glass today, to make Laura happy. I'll take pictures after that! Then I just need to let the stem plants grow, so I can keep mowing them down, and they can keep bushing out for me. Actually, I'll probably mow the rotala down today as well.

Thank you for the compliments.


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

WOW - I'm an idiot.....I posted before getting the page 2 of the thread.....please ignore my previous post! (well only the request for an update part  the rest I stand by!) hahaha....:iamwithst

Tank looks great in the new shots


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Okay so I just scraped the glass. Of course, I now have GDA particulate floating around the water column so it looks foggy again, lol. But I took pictures anyway. Here's the obligatory FTS:











Then, the right side:











Then, the left side:











How about a short video? :biggrin:




The blades of tenellum grass are slowly turning red. I'm noticing more and more red blades every day!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Yeah, no, sorry, those just won't cut it.

Your discerning fans want better FTSs.

:biggrin:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Okay, once the GDA particles get all Hoovered up into the XP2, I'll do another one. Plus, I just added a bunch of pygmy cories to the tank, so I'll want to take pics of them too.


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

I LOVE pygmy cories! Can't wait to see the pics! :biggrin:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)




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## Whiskeyfox (Oct 16, 2009)

Looks Great!


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## SearunSimpson (Jun 5, 2007)

Man, that tank looks like a 40breeder in that pic. I would never have been able to guess 20long if I didnt know the name of the thread.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Wow, that's the best compliment yet, Searun! Thanks! And whiskeyfox, thank you too. I'm heading out to the LFS today to see if they have any cool plants. Now that the foreground and midground are looking pretty decent, it's time to focus on that background. Those rotala stands are just too sparse, so I need to bush them out, but there's also some empty space I could be filling as well.

But it's only going to get better from here, so thanks guys, for accompanying me on this ride!

I just realized it's only been a little over 5 weeks since I planted the foreground and filled with water. Not bad, huh?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Here's a quick rundown on the development of this tank over the last 5 weeks:














































































































Even though it's got a long way to go, I think the tank is doing just fine!! :biggrin:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

New pics:











Left side:











Right side:











Foreground:











Pearling:


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

Looking nice dude! I like the mixed foreground you have there. Try increasing the shutter speed on your camera just a smidge, that should help darken the pics and bring out more detail.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks! Yes, I am guilty of using the "auto" setting on my camera. :icon_redf I promise one of these days I'll figure out how to use the manual settings. Is shutter speed the "ISO" setting?


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## MrJG (Feb 21, 2007)

Tank looks great! And I have to echo the comment about it looking bigger than a 20 long, everything is scaled pretty nicely to create that illusion. Nice job!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks man! 

I took a few more boredom pics this morning. I tried to get just ONE good shot of the pygmy cories schooling, but they are very camera shy! I was able to get a shaky video of them, though:




Now here is the one pic I did get of them:











Here are the otos:




















A few perspectives that for some reason I have not taken before now:






































Hope you likey!


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## demonbreedr16 (Jan 10, 2008)

Wow! That looks REALLY nice!


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## JennaH (Sep 28, 2009)

i love that foreground! looks great with the mix. what are they?


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

That looks really awesome!


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## roybot73 (Dec 15, 2007)

I haven't checked this in a while -- Looks great, man!!!

ISO is film "speed" -- Higher ISO numbers allow you to shoot in lower light, but at a compromise of image quality. What kind of camera are you using?


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## legomaniac89 (Mar 16, 2008)

roybot73 said:


> ISO is film "speed" -- Higher ISO numbers allow you to shoot in lower light, but at a compromise of image quality. What kind of camera are you using?


Yeah, what he said . All I knew about ISO is that a higher ISO takes better fish pictures. If you put your camera on manual, you should be able to adjust your aperture and shutter speed from there. Aperture is usually fine wherever it's already at, but try increasing your shutter to 1/30 or thereabouts. You'll probably have to play around with different shutter speeds for a while to get the perfect setting.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Well thanks, guys, for all the great comments.  Jenna, it's a mix of glossostigma and tenellum grass.

I just gave the tank a haircut, and made a few small changes. Here's a few new pics:


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## Karackle (Dec 11, 2007)

Looking great! 

But.....are you sure that tank is only 20g?! It looks so much bigger! Nicely done! :biggrin:


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Wow that's really grown in well! roud:

My criticisms- the gap next to the big rock and the chains visible against the glass in the front are both distracting.


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## AkCrimson (Dec 17, 2009)

Wow looks like its filling in really nice =)


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the criticisms, Laura. There are a few gaps that I need to fill in, and I wouldn't call the tank done just yet. I would like to fill that hole you pointed out with some type of low-growing crypt, I think. At this point I'm waiting for all the rotala in the back corners to bush out, so I just keep retrimming them. The M. umbrosum is actually growing horizontally-ish, in the manner that HM grows, so it should eventually creep into any open areas and bring it all together, including the gap Laura pointed out. And as far as the tenellum in the front... I already tried removing it, but it pulls up all the glosso with it.  So I have to wait now until the rest of it all grows in, then I will perform surgery, with a scalpel.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

The glosso mat has grown in so densely, I think I have no choice but to pull it all up and start it over! 

I'm also contemplating pulling up all the MU to replace with the actual HM it was originally intended to be. Would there be anyone reading this who might want to trade me some of his or her nice-quality HM? I'll have lots of glosso and MU if interested. Just shoot me a PM.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

*Update*

This tank had been in suspended animation for a long while up until today. I kept the hard scape, but I am starting from scratch with plants. I am still waiting to buy some more, but here is what I have as of now:


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## Mudman (Jun 10, 2010)

Very nice! I just got my 20L started a few days ago. Still trying to decide what kind of plants I wanted in it. 

Are you at all concerned about the weight on the glass? Coming from a rimless tank, I noticed that my 20L framed has a small gap between the glass and floor. The bottom glass doesn't actually sit flush from what it seems like.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I know what you mean... the frame lifts the bottom glass off the stand by about a 16th of an inch or so... but it's never been a problem in the past, and this tank has been up and running for several years now, so I don't worry about that. I have about 40 pounds of rock in here, too. It's just not an issue, I think.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

*Re: Story of a 20-Long*

This is how most tanks are. Including large tanks. 

Sent from my Dinc.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

^ Exactly.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

...I just received my shipment of plants from sewingalot today. So tonight when I get home from work, I know what I'll be doing! :biggrin:


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## Mudman (Jun 10, 2010)

Thanks for the reassurance. roud:


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Have fun with that HC....and the snails, lol. Can't wait to see it planted again.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I got it all planted! And snails are VERY welcome in my tanks, so no worries there. In fact, earlier in the day before opening up your package, I was lamenting the loss of all my ramshorn snails, and wishing I could get some more. Sure enough, I found at least one in the blyxa!

Anyway, I finished planting late last night, but I didn't take any pictures, because after I was finished I decided I didn't like my placement of the blyxa. So I will be replanting those tonight, and then I will post some pics.


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## sincere (Sep 30, 2010)

Really Nice Sir.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I'm holding you to the pictures. I bet you'll be thrilled with the snails that'll pop up in your tank now. I need a bouncer for all the snails I've collected lately. Can't wait to see what you've done with the place.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

OMG Church is alive and even done did a new aquascape??!!  

BTW Sara- PM me your addy, my Bacopa is about ready for its haircut...


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> OMG Church is alive and even done did a new aquascape??!!


I know, right? Even his mailman thought he'd dropped off the planet. :hihi:



> BTW Sara- PM me your addy, my Bacopa is about ready for its haircut...


Ooooo! Totally sending that now.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Yes, Laura, I am alive! And yes, my mailman decided that I didn't live at my address anymore, for some reason, and it irritated me so. Many plants died because of this.  But thanks to Sara, I was able to receive some plants afterall. Thanks again, Sara!

So, another issue I had recently is I had major problems with my CO2, and I haven't fully figured it out yet. All I know is my needle valve seemed to be unresponsive when I tried to adjust the bubbles per second, and it kept wanting to only do a bubble every 5 seconds or so. Yet, the tank emptied itself in 3 days. 

So, I went back today and got it refilled, then came back and tried being as meticulous as possible when I put the regulator on and got things going. Now I am watching it like a hawk. During all of this, the plants I had on the right side of the tank didn't survive. So I had to ditch them, then rearrange the blyxa to cover up for this somewhat.

This is what I have as of tonight, and I officially need more plants now. Hopefully I can find some HM. Anyone have some HM they can spare?


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I am glad the second set of plants made it to you.  I am still mad at the post office, especially after the phone call I just got back from my local postmaster. I understand it's not her fault, it's the postman's fault who decided you didn't live at your address. But she can't guarantee this won't happen in the future and I can't insure it since they won't attach a value to live plants, so I can't get a refund if it does happen again. So, Church, make sure you feed your postman Christmas cookies this year to stay on his good side.

On topic, your layout of the plants look nice despite the co2 problems! I really like the blyxa with those rocks (or is that petrified wood?). It also looks like there is new growth and it didn't melt too much in the transition.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

*Update time!*

Okay, a lot has happened since I last posted in this journal. Due to life circumstances I was unable to take care of my tanks, and they all went to crap. But lately life has become manageable, and I have time for my hobbies again. I just moved into a new place, and the tanks have all been reincarnated.

So here is my new layout. Hardscape stayed the same, plants have changed a bit.














































Nesaea pedicellata, Rotala rotundifolia, Rotala macrandra, Hemianthus micranthemoides, Blyxa japonica, Pogostemon helferi, and a foreground of UG mixed with Glosso.

The original amano shrimp are still in there, and fish will be added soon...


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I put the original pair of otos back in here last night. They seem happy. Now to place an order for a school of rasbora!


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## roybot73 (Dec 15, 2007)

Good to see you back & the tank is looking great!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks man!

Here is a pic from tonight, with both otos present:


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Very nice downoi! Would you mind PMing me where you got it?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

PM sent, and thank you! They were sent to me looking just as beautiful, but I deserve a little credit for _keeping_ them that way, right? :hihi:

Last night I put my immortal rummynose tetra in the tank. He is a survivor! He has lived with me for like 2 years now, through many periods of tank neglect and general die-offs. He is such a trooper, and I plan on keeping him around as long as he wants to stay. I plan on putting a school of rasbora in here, but he still gets to stay. I figure he'll just school with them, keeping him happy, hence keeping the rasbora in a tight school. Win-win.

The tank is generally doing well. The glosso is already starting to spread like the weed it is, while the blyxa, downoi, and HM are all pearling like crazy. I very much like the new inline diffuser thingy I got from GLA. It totally puts a super fine mist in the water column, barely visible while gazing at the aquarium. No more distracting CO2 tubing and glass diffuser with algae all over it mucking up the scene. In honor of that, I have even decided to opt out of using a drop checker this time around. I really feel like I have nothing to worry about. I'm only injecting 1 bubble per second, and the plants are pearling. The fish shrimp and snails are all happy. So why bother putting a drop checker in there that's gonna stay green all the time anyway?

Now I just have to wait for the plants to grow in. For instance, there is HM in the aquascape, but you can barely see any of it, because it hasn't grown up tall enough to peek over whatever rock or plant is in front of it. Patience...


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## nblack4 (Mar 31, 2011)

I took my time, carefully reading through every post and have spent the better part of two hours admiring pictures and enjoying this exhibition.

That said, I could kill you for tearing down the plant setup the first time! It looked great. Also, it seems if you were going to start over, you would change the hardscape. Without changing the hardscape, I think it's taking half the fun out of starting over. After all you started over I imagine because you were bored and wanted to go through the process again. That is what attracts all of us to this hobby and any other endeavor. Struggle, Shifting/shaping, etc. 

So change the hardscape!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I appreciate your concerns, and I thank you for your compliments, but the fact of the matter is that I'm simply not done with this hardscape, so therefore it will stay. It's never really had an opportunity to shine, because of life circumstances getting in the way. So now that my life has finally calmed down and settled into a stasis of sorts, I feel like it's time to let my tanks finally shine.

Besides, I really like this hardscape. You should too. 




I promise, this time it will be much better than ever before. If you liked the plant setup the first time, you'll like this even better. Here are a few reasons why:

The first time I mixed tenellum grass in with the glosso, and the tenellum just really took over and fought with the glosso for dominance. This time I'm mixing UG with the glosso, as I expect the UG to not be as dominant as the glosso, therefore providing me with just the right amount of the interspersed grassy look among the plain of glosso.

Also, the places where I planted Blyxa originally are better suited for the fern-like look of the downoi. So that is where all the downoi was planted. In this scape, Blyxa looks better as a big thicket on one side of the tank. It may even eventually be removed to make room for a short-growing stem plant, but for now, it stays.

The original scape I started with was _supposed_ to utilize HM as a dominant force, filling in all the gaps and providing a continuity off greenness among all the reds and golds. But because of the ignorance and lack of concern for accurate plant identification among vendors and aquatic nurseries, I was forced to incorporate MU in place of HM. That actually changed things too much, and it was a constant fight trimming the MU and keeping it from taking over the tank. Now that I am using actual HM, it will look more like the scape was originally supposed to look, and its tendency to creep laterally instead of growing straight up will keep the scape looking good.

And finally, the choice of remaining stem plants in the original scape could have been better. I had chosen plants that grew a little _too_ laterally, and ended up covering up too much of the hardscape. Or maybe I just planted them in the wrong spots. Doesn't matter now. I've put a lot more thought into the plant choices this time around and I want to keep it simple. That's why I'm only using Nesaea pedicellata and a couple Rotalas this time around. I might end up even replacing some (if not all) of the Rotala with more Nesaea spp. just because they are new to me and I'm liking them so far.

Anyway, thanks for looking, and please, everyone, feel free to comment.


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## reybie (Jun 7, 2007)

What light fixture are you using?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I'm using 2 of those normal output T5 fixtures by coralife. Each one is 2 x 18w, so 72w total.


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## nblack4 (Mar 31, 2011)

good points on all accounts. i didn't mind the hardscape, i was just excited for something different. i'm sure you'll make it look good. i like the blyxa in the tank!


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## mattycakesclark (Jun 11, 2010)

You mention that there is a guy local to you which supplied your petrified wood, I been itching for some, but do not know where to start. I live within 2 hours, how did you go about finding your local source?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

There's a little place in town, down the street from me, that has been there as long as I can remember. There's a sign out front that just says ROCKS AND GEMS. I always drive by it, and always have, so one day I just decided to go inside. The guy had a couple pieces of really nice petrified wood, so I asked him if he could get any more. He told me he had a bunch of it in a warehouse, and he'd bring more of it in, and how much would I want? Long story short, I went in and bought about 60 lbs of it the following week!

The place is tiny, and the dude that runs it must be at least 95 years old, so I don't want to overrun him with business or inquiries that he might not want to handle. Check your PMs.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I just took a few new pictures. Here we go:






































I'm having issues with the Nesaea. I know it's a difficult plant to keep, but still, I've been keeping up with my dosing and stuff. I don't get it. I'm going to increase the CSM+B and maybe start adding Seachem Fe. Only a couple of stems are doing the twisty thing, as you can see:





























I'm really just starting to think that my bulbs finally need to be replaced. I've been using them for over 2 years now, and I know that's too long. Another necessary expense I guess. But I think it explains the slow growth I've been experiencing. I also think the rotala should be more colored up by now. The glosso seems to be growing vertically in a few spots. Is it possible this all adds up to the bulbs needing to be replaced?











It is now very obvious to me that the reddish plant in the back is NOT the rotala macrandra it was sold to me as. Nonetheless I like it! I just don't know what it is... can anyone help me identify it?




















The blyxa, downoi, and HM are all growing well. Although I'm still under the suspicion that this HM might actually be HC. It was potted so I've been telling myself that this is the way it grows emersed, and it will take some time to start growing upward. I can't have a carpet where it is planted, it will ruin the scape.




















So overall everything is going good. I'm getting fish in here this week, for sure. But I really wish the rotala and the HM would start growing!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

UPDATE: I think I've identified my unidentified plant as Ammania gracillis. I guess I'm still not sure?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I changed the bulbs yesterday. This time I went with a blend of 6700k and 10000k, so no more colormax bulbs. The difference is hard to get used to. The reds really did pop out more before. Oh well, everything looks greener now, and that's okay. I added some M. umbrosum in front of the Nesaea, and it helped to make things look bushier on the right side. I also gave the glosso a slight trim.

I really need to get some fish in here now.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Nothing to report:


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## prjct92eh2 (Apr 8, 2008)

Very nice. That definitely looks like HC, not HM. Your Macrandra looks like mine, except when i got mine it started green and went to that orangeish color. Maybe something in both of our water chemistry isn't bringing out the reds?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Yeah, it's HC. Everyone do themselves a favor and NEVER order anything from sweet aquatics. They got everything wrong that they could possibly have gotten wrong. Then on top of it all, poor customer service. I've counted my losses. I'm not even bothering asking for a refund from them. I just want to spread the news of how awful they are so no one ever orders from them again.

So yeah, I have HC in here. Some of which will remain, actually. I like the idea of using it sparingly, here and there, to just fill in some empty areas and provide some green. HM, for whatever reason, seems to be the most elusive plant to me. For something that supposedly grows native all around me, it sure is hard to find. Add to that everyone's propensity to mislabel plants, and it is a near impossibility for me.

But with all that being said, I'm still happy with this layout. I still don't know if my unidentified plant is macrandra, or something else, but I noticed last night that the growth tips look stunted. I don't get it. I'm doing everything the same as I've always done, and I've never had a problem growing any of the rotala species, including the "difficult" ones. So now I'm going to have to remove it all and plant something else in its place.

Now that the foreground is all filling in, I am really starting to like the mixture of UG and glosso. I can already tell it is going to achieve the look I was going for. 

In summary, sweet aquatics sucks, because the only healthy plants they sent me were ones they mistakenly sent me instead of what I _actually_ ordered. Pass it on.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Sorry for the over saturated photos, but it's all I have at the moment... here is what the tanks looks like now:




















My Coralife T5NO's went out the other day, and the only thing I had to light the tank is a 2x24w T5NO, and the only way I can fit it is by putting it directly on the lid. This means I'm in way-too-high-light category at the moment until I can figure something out...


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Well, I'm back, and I ended up figuring something out. I converted one of the 2x18w strips into a 1x31w. I'm still doing some testing on it, and I hope to borrow a light meter soon, but in the meantime it's lighting my entire tank evenly, and it seems to be in the medium light category. I posted a quick little how-to on my strip light in the DIY forum. Click here if you want to read it.

I recently took out all my plants and put them in an emersed setup. I then decided to plant the entire tank in glosso. Here is what it looks like now:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Just a few new pics to document growth:






































This is one single 31w T5HO tube, on 9 hours a day. CO2 is at 2-3 bubbles per second.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Just gave the glosso a haircut the other day. Otherwise everything pretty much looks the same:


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## shrimpnmoss (Apr 8, 2011)

The glosso looks better


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thank you I think so too!


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Looking great, Church! I was just thinking about your journal the today and was going to look it up for inspiration on my new tank and here you are! The glosso is behaving well, I see.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks! I'm honored that you looked to my tank for any kind of inspiration. Hopefully you found some... since this tank has gone through so many different softscapes. :icon_roll

I have ultimately decided that I want this tank to be low-maintenance, and that means no more dutch-style groupings of plants that need to be trimmed all the time. Nope. 20 longs are just too shallow, and keeping all the plants at the relative height they need to be in was just too much work.

So, for now, I plan on just keeping this iwagumi-ish look by only growing a carpet in there. Right now it is glosso, but when I get bored with that I'll plant some microsword, or some HC, or whatever. I'd like to be able to eventually compose a slideshow of this exact same hardscape with a different carpet plant in every shot. I think this would help me to learn more about how the choice of plant in a particular application in an aquascape can change the overall look.

I'm basically a nerd, and this tank has become another educational project, lol.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

It sounds like a great way to learn. We are all nerds in our own right here.


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

I like the idea of your iwagumi-ish 'nerd' slideshow. It'll help me decide, too. I am setting up a tank soon and am looking for a more low maintenance tank like yours. I only wish I could find a hardscape like that. Sadly, there are mostly zebra stones or slate here and not much else.


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## dooboogoo (Apr 19, 2007)

Awesome tank! I'm also learning that its a PITA to trim stems in a 20 long, but I'm determined to get a jungle look for mine. I'd totally rethink it if I had your rocks though, lol.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Well for what it's worth, these rocks are the most common non-ADA type rocks out there. Petrified wood is used in so many different hobbies and crafts and decor, as opposed to the ADA type rocks, that it just seems to be a lot more prevalent.

I got mine at a gem store. Not an LFS.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I'm really liking the growth rate I am getting from using my custom coralife strip light. 72 watts of normal output T5's just didn't provide the intensity I needed, while 48 watts of high output T5's made the plants grow too dang fast! So now I here we are at 31 watts of T5HO (or maybe 39? I need to get a kill-a-watt!) and the glosso is growing slow and low! I love it! :biggrin:


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## jerkosaurus (Jul 17, 2011)

Just read through the whole thread, I really like all the different reincarnations of your tank! How's the glosso carpet? Update, update!


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

It should be looking good by now or I better not say, it looked as if you added a couple of Rummies or is it all in my head?


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## 2in10 (Feb 8, 2011)

Beautiful tank


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## HondaV (Nov 16, 2010)

Church said:


> I'm using 2 of those normal output T5 fixtures by coralife. Each one is 2 x 18w, so 72w total.


Nice tank you have there. I like those rocks. It's really nice and beautiful.
I have a quick question. Did you have any problem with algae the first few week since you are using 72w total of light. I just started my 20long with co2 and am dealing with algae. I only have about 38w of light.
A link to my thread:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/g...on/148371-need-help-new-co2-planted-tank.html

Looking forward to see the new pictures of your tank.


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## Geniusdudekiran (Dec 6, 2010)

Update?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Hey everyone. Sorry I've been away so long. I'm getting married soon, and the closer I get to the date, the less spare time (and sanity) I have!

Yes, there are a few things to update about this tank. First and foremost, let's talk about the lighting... it turns out that a single tube will just not give me the growth I want. It practically went to a standstill after I made the switch. So, after much consideration, I have decided to go back to the 2x24w fixture. The growth is much faster, so yes, I will have to trim more often overall... but at least the plants grow.

So, there has been much growth since the last time I posted pictures. Here is what it looks like now:




















Sorry for the overexposed shots... I usually let my fiancee do the picture taking but she's at work! Anyhoo, someone mentioned the number of rummynose I have in here. Truthfully, it's down to 4 now. They were all very old ones that were removed from another tank, and I had nowhere to put them. A few have died from old age. I expect the rest to follow soon.

On a related note, I have only ever purchased amano shrimp one time, almost 4 years ago. I have been moving them all from tank to tank, as the years went by. Well, I'm down to I think only 2 left. One is still in this tank. Somewhere. But I never expected them to have a 4 year lifespan! Suckers are huge, too!

But being that so much of my livestock were dying off, it was time to start restocking. I have decided this tank will host a large school of boraras, a small school of pygmy cories, and a pack of otos. (They seem to act more like a "pack" than a "school"). I plan on ordering the boraras from Msjinkzd, but today at the LFS I scooped up the cories. 7 of them, to be exact. Here are a few glamor shots:





























I also needed some new otos, since I was only down to one left in this tank, so I picked up 6 of them. Here's the only one that would pose for the camera:











And since the amanos aren't all there anymore to eat the algae, I went ahead and picked up a nerite snail as well. It was an impulse buy, but I've always been curious how effective they are at algae removal. Here it is:











So that's pretty much it for updates at the moment. I am busy busy busy! Wedding's on December 30th, and I still have to book the band! So it'll be a minute before I come back for my next update, but I promise I'll be back!

Thanks for visiting me. :biggrin:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I just mowed the lawn so I figured I'd take a few pics. I fiddled with the camera settings a bit, but I'm still no photographer:





























Hopefully soon I will be putting a large school of boraras in here!


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

*The Boraras have arrived!*

The light has only been on now for about 22 minutes, but I've managed to take a handful of reasonably decent photos of the new fish. They are tiny, they are darting around all over the place, and I am no photographer.

At any rate:















































And here is a quick little video which actually shows their coloration a bit better. I was watching History Channel when I recorded this so you can hear it in the background. Mute your speakers first. 

http://s60.photobucket.com/albums/h18/My_Name_Is_Church/?action=view&current=MVI_5399.mp4


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

I just mowed the glosso down, and I figured I'd take the time to post a few pics:






































I know they're all basically the same shot, but the strawberries are schooling differently in each one. I couldn't choose.


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

Nice scape and tank. I didn't think it would take the Glosso so long to multiply, 3 months to get to where you are. I just added some to my tank over the weekend. So I should expect the same time frame to see big results, that is good to know. I thought it multiplied at a faster rate.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thank you. 

The only reason it has taken as long as it has, is that I started this scape off under low lighting for a long while, which made things very slow. Glosso only spreads fast under high lighting. I've only been back on 2 x 24w T5HO now since the 3rd week of October, and the growth has exploded. I was just doing a lil lighting experiment at the time.

Scroll all the way up to the top of this page and look at that picture. Now look at the one I just posted. All that growth took place in under 4 weeks.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

The glosso is coming along good with the new light. Another month and it will be full!!!


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

nice.


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## Uptown193 (Apr 25, 2011)

Church said:


> Thank you.
> 
> The only reason it has taken as long as it has, is that I started this scape off under low lighting for a long while, which made things very slow. Glosso only spreads fast under high lighting. I've only been back on 2 x 24w T5HO now since the 3rd week of October, and the growth has exploded. I was just doing a lil lighting experiment at the time.
> 
> Scroll all the way up to the top of this page and look at that picture. Now look at the one I just posted. All that growth took place in under 4 weeks.


Ohhh ok that explains it all. I was going to say damn why is it taking so long, actually I did say that to myself. I use the same type lighting 2x24w using Geissman bulbs one Aquaflora and one 6500k and CO2. So with what you just said now I CAN expect a fast growth rate, that is even better news. Take a weekly pic if not every few days to show the growth rate thanks. I am doing same on my thread.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

After if fills in you can go back to the slow growth, it was getting a little painfull. I watched the video, exactly how many fish did you get and what kind are they?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thats the plan! The fish I just added are Boraras naevus, 20+ of them, but there are also 6 otos, 6 pygmy cories, a zebra nerite, and an amano shrimp.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Church said:


>


Nice work Church. I like the fish that you selected.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I have the Boraras brigittae and they are tiny little fish but they are fearless when it comes to larger fish or food.


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Here's what it looks like now, about 2 weeks since last pics:





















:biggrin:


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Thank you, Hydrophyte. I am pretty happy with the fish choice as well, although I gotta be honest here... these are the _least_ schooling-est fish I've ever kept. They do school, every once in a while, but usually they scatter all over the tank. I actually don't know if it's the fish, themselves, or if it's just because of the carpet-plant-only layout of the scape, which might make them feel super safe or something? Like maybe since there's no real hiding places, they can see everywhere in the aquarium and know that they have no predators to worry about?

All I know is that when I had a school of rummynose in here they still always tightly schooled. But then again, that's what rummynose do best! I just think that rummynose deserve to be in a larger tank, that's all. I'll put up with non-schooling fish in here if they are at least happy and small.

On another note, I'm starting to notice the pygmy cories seemingly getting unhappy about the glosso carpet taking hold and squeezing out the last few remaining bare-sand patches. I don't think they particularly care about this when they also have stem plants and tall grasses and things that they can flit around, but I'm starting to think that they aren't enjoying an iwagumi-style scape. I may end up moving them to my 6.6g in the near future.

The otos, on the other hand, seem to really love this scape. I've never seen them so prevalently in any of my previous scapes before, but now that there's nothing to hide them from me, I get to watch them all the time, and they are just so cute and social with each other! They also school practically as much and as tightly as rummynose do.

Hmmm... maybe I should just get a large school of otos as the centerpiece fish for this tank...


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