# Riccardia, Monte, Fissidens. "Diving Deep"



## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

Recently did a large rescape on my tank. 2 weeks after 75% rescape. Monte Carlo carpeted in 2 weeks! Such an awesome easy plant to use! Plant List: Cyprus helferi, Blyxa japonica, Riccardia (mini pellia), Staurogyne repens, Monte Carlo, Fissidens fontanus moss, dwarf sagittaria, java moss, Hydro sp. Japan, Potamogeton Gayi, Anubias nana petite, Micro Sword. 

I decided to go back to using LEDs and am actually getting faster growth and higher PAR because they are right on top of the tank. I am using a Finnex Ray II and Ecoxotic E-series. The E-series allows for pretty decent color rendering. Great combo to use so far. The reds in the fish and plants look pretty good, and the fish and plants still look rich in color. Of course it helps to already have a mature tank when increasing your light.

ADU Dragon Stone, ADA La Plata/Colorado sand mix. Manzanita branches. Marfied Controsoil. Minimal dosing of DIY fert solutions and Aquavitro. CO2 at 2bps. pH: 6.6, Alkalinity: 3 (potassium bicarbonate buffer), GH: 7, Temperature: 76 degrees.


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## serenityfate (Jan 29, 2014)

wow great looking scape. 

im not sure if its the picture , but are you growing another carpet in the sand bed on the right side .. I see hints of green .


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Awesome !!!
Can you furnish tank dimensions?
Don't know which plants I can match to their names as only some of those names I familiar/w, but I'll guess it's Blyxa at the upper left/w the redish tips, but if I'm wrong on that it's secondary as the one just under it is my curiosity. Would that be the Riccardia?
You see a plant you like the looks of and while wondering if it'll work in your tank you
need to be sure on it's name to be able to ask about it.
I've been fairly successful/w Fissidens F. and happen to know they trim very well as
they will get overly long. I just like to have an air line size piece of hose siphoning
into a 5g bucket while I do it to remove the trimmings or I'll have them starting all over
the tank if I don't.
I think the tank all blends in very well but I'll admit I'm partial to the smaller leaved plants because of keeping 10g tanks.


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Beautiful tank! What size tank is it?
I bet a little group of smaller species Corydoras would look very complimenting hanging out on the sand bank.

You trying for that really red/purple Blyxa planted higher up? How do you have it planted that high up?

Nice driftwood as well.

Are you the one on Youtube that I've seen videos of (ADU aquascaping), if so, would be nice if you could do a short video just displaying the tank's brilliance.


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

serenityfate said:


> wow great looking scape.
> 
> im not sure if its the picture , but are you growing another carpet in the sand bed on the right side .. I see hints of green .


haha, just some reflection and slight dust algae on the sand.

Bump:


Raymond S. said:


> Awesome !!!
> Can you furnish tank dimensions?
> Don't know which plants I can match to their names as only some of those names I familiar/w, but I'll guess it's Blyxa at the upper left/w the redish tips, but if I'm wrong on that it's secondary as the one just under it is my curiosity. Would that be the Riccardia?
> You see a plant you like the looks of and while wondering if it'll work in your tank you
> ...


The tank is a 40 breeder 36"x18"x17". Yes, you are correct about the plants. Blyxa on top left with red tips, Riccardia below. I agree, I love to use the siphon technique with moss. Can be such a pain to trim, but so worth it! Same goes for DHG, that stuff gets everywhere, but isn't as worth it as Fissidens!! LOL

Bump:


WaterLife said:


> Beautiful tank! What size tank is it?
> I bet a little group of smaller species Corydoras would look very complimenting hanging out on the sand bank.
> 
> You trying for that really red/purple Blyxa planted higher up? How do you have it planted that high up?
> ...


It is a 40 breeder 36"x18"x17". Yes! I have been thinking that very thing. I need to get a school of Cory cats! I probably will. Well I just liked the placement of the blyxa in that spot to fit the shape of the scape, but yes it always seems to get red tips, which I am not complaining. Draws the eye in to the start of the golden spiral with this scape shape, so helps the overall flow I assume. I have everything, including the dome rock of Riccardia on top of lava rubble, that way the scape keeps its shape. I then build up a slope at the back with Controsoil. Of course there has been some settling, but the height and growth of the Blyxa compensate for the settling. Lava rubble helps the hardscape and soil to keep their shape. As well the Manzanita branches touch all the way to the bottom of the tank so they keep their shape. Thanks for checking out the journal.


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## bk. (Sep 27, 2014)

This is just plain awesome!!! Fantastic scape. I would love to have a scape just like this someday.


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## terran2k (Feb 24, 2009)

how did you plant your monte carlo? i just planted some Sunday night. hoping it does it's thing soon, but too soon to tell.


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

bk. said:


> This is just plain awesome!!! Fantastic scape. I would love to have a scape just like this someday.


Thanks, it is turning out to be a pretty fun tank. Just keep going. I definitely did not have beginners luck, and have progressively gotten better. I spent a lot of time fighting algae, and learning the design aspect to aquascaping.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

Awesome. Very well done



DaveFish said:


> I definitely did not have beginners luck, and have progressively gotten better. I spent a lot of time fighting algae, and learning the design aspect to aquascaping.


Same here lol. Always getting better


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

terran2k said:


> how did you plant your monte carlo? i just planted some Sunday night. hoping it does it's thing soon, but too soon to tell.


I rip it up into individual stems. Whether they are upside down or rightside up it doesn't matter, considering it grows all crazy... Just plant each individual stem. This was the fastest I ever carpeted something. It is basically filled in after 17 days. I am surprised myself, but an easy plant to work with.


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## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

what a stunning tank! looks really great!


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## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

Really awesome layout. Got any pics of the hardscape before plants?


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

andrewss said:


> what a stunning tank! looks really great!


Thanks for checking out the journal.

Bump:


burr740 said:


> Really awesome layout. Got any pics of the hardscape before plants?


Thanks, glad you like it. I do have this video that shows what the hardscape looked like at the very beginning. This hardscape has actually been through 4 different morphs so far. So I guess it shows how far a hardscape can go. I initially had so many different ideas and scapes in mind, so I just did all 4 over a period of time. Here is a link to the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9pdtMnndJQ

Bump:


klibs said:


> Awesome. Very well done
> 
> 
> 
> Same here lol. Always getting better


Thanks, glad you like it. It is better that way. Now we know more and can handle the tank. Beginners luck is sometimes a curse because later on down the road when you get Spirogyra algae you might start crying. LOL


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## Tiptop (Apr 15, 2013)

Awesome tank! I'm working on a scape with similar plants/layout. Any tips on getting fissidens to grow like that?

Sent from my C5502 using Tapatalk


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

Tiptop said:


> Awesome tank! I'm working on a scape with similar plants/layout. Any tips on getting fissidens to grow like that?
> 
> Sent from my C5502 using Tapatalk


Thanks! I just super glue it on the wood and don't touch it or trim it if you want it to grow really thick or in a mound. Of course trim if you want to keep it low. Most of the time it needs not trimming, and same goes for the Riccardia. Not need to trim it. Hope this helps.


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

Moved update pics to front page!


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## LRJ (Jul 31, 2014)

Incredible scape, very inspiring.


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

Beautiful tank. Now picture me green with envy.


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## spiderguardnano (Aug 8, 2015)

Saw this on Facebook such a killer tank 

How do you keep your ph so low? 

Also is it just the rocks going around that's holding all the soil?

Last question when you rescape did you pull out all the fish if so when did you add them back?


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## RcScRs (Oct 22, 2009)

Beautifully executed scape.


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## smug vic (Apr 3, 2015)

how did you train your fissiden to mold like that or you do trim a lot?


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## Mikeygmzmg (Mar 19, 2015)

beauty of a tank! Nice work Dave.


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

LRJ said:


> Incredible scape, very inspiring.


Thanks for checkin' in.

Bump:


Daisy Mae said:


> Beautiful tank. Now picture me green with envy.


Thanks! haha, I actually use the Envy trace fertilizer!

Bump:


spiderguardnano said:


> Saw this on Facebook such a killer tank
> 
> How do you keep your ph so low?
> 
> ...


Thanks, with lower bicarbonate levels. I only do 2bps second. And I have an inline diffuser, which maximizes Co2 efficiency.

Yeah the rocks just keep the soil in. Now that you mention it, it does seem kind of crazy, but you just fit the rocks together like puzzle pieces, and jam and cracks full of rubble. After a week or two you will notice weak spots, and then you can add more rubble or adjust the rocks. Most of the Aquasoil pellets get onto the sand because of shrimp moving them around.

I didn't have to take the fish out because after I pull all of the plants out I do a water change to suck up all of the detritus, and then I use Marfied Controsoil so it doesn't cause an initial ammonia spike like ADA does. You can add the fish back into the tank the very same day you rescape, or given you have a cycled filter with plenty of plants when first scaping. I didn't even take the fish out, and added only a few extra pounds of Controsoil as a cap, and didn't really touch the mature substrate.

Bump:


RcScRs said:


> Beautifully executed scape.


Thanks, I am glad you like it.

Bump:


smug vic said:


> how did you train your fissiden to mold like that or you do trim a lot?


Well the archway kind of curves down to the right, so the Fissidens just takes on the contours of the wood. I do not touch the moss, and I never trim it. Depending on light levels you may have to, but I have found that if you don't touch Fissidens or Riccardia (Mini Pellia) the better it will look. Just let it do its own thing.


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

Mikeygmzmg said:


> beauty of a tank! Nice work Dave.


Thanks Mike, and glad you like it man!


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## Mumford (Nov 12, 2012)

This tank is one of my inspiration tanks. So nice!

I wish we had a step by step of your aquascape. I'd love to see the hardscape underneath all the plants to see the structure.


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## Hetzer (Sep 23, 2012)

Thats really beautiful, as others have said very inspiring


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

Mumford said:


> This tank is one of my inspiration tanks. So nice!
> 
> I wish we had a step by step of your aquascape. I'd love to see the hardscape underneath all the plants to see the structure.


I have a video on YT, the "new nature aquarium" video and it shows the bare hardscape.

Bump: here are some current pics of the tank!


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## DaveFish (Oct 7, 2011)

Lagoon photo shoot!


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## bucky (Aug 22, 2013)

Really dig the layout. And I get a lot of great tips from your YT channel. Rock on!


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

That is a stunning tank! Very, very well done!


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## Mitashade (Jan 8, 2015)

Looks beautiful. Been following this one on YT. I can't find riccardia or fissidens here. Even the largest supplier near me (not even in my province) doesn't carry them. /is sad


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