# CL's Rimless 48 gallon *update: 1-3-12*



## CL

*Equipment:*
Flow/ Filtration
___Rena XP2
___Koralia 2
___Koralia Nano
Heater
___Hydor 200W inline heater*
Lighting
___Catalina 4x39W T5HO
CO2
___Victor Dual Stage High Purity Regulator
___5 lb. Aluminum Cylinder
___Rhinox 5000
Substrate
___5-Aquasoil Amazonia 9L bags
Hardscape
___Alpine Manzanita- now Seiryu/ ryouh stone
Tank
___GLA 91L- 48 Gallons (36x18x18 inches)
Stand
___DIY
___ADA 90cm Garden Mat
*Flora*
___Eleocharis 'Belem'
___Hydrocotyle Verticalla
___Staurogyne 'Repens'
*Fauna*
___None Currently


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## CL




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## CL

Avec un penny.


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## CL

No, those aren't bubbles in the silicone.








Cantaloupe sized portion of anubias petite to add to what I already have(that's a 1 gallon bag!):
















This isn't even half of it








Trying out some scapes


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## CL




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## CL

Surface agitation with the XP2 Hooked up








I'm ordering the remaining supplies today and Sunday- seeing as it's my birthday 
Hopefully this one won't go 550 posts before seeing water 
Sorry about having 10,000 pictures :icon_mad:
If you want to see the pre-journal, here it is
Merry Christmas :icon_mrgr


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## deleted_user_16

young padawan, you better not disappoint me with this


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## chase127

fishman9809 said:


> young padawan, you better not disappoint me with this


Ditto 

and [email protected] of KY :biggrin:


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## CL

fishman9809 said:


> young padawan, you better not disappoint me with this





chase127 said:


> Ditto
> 
> and [email protected] of KY :biggrin:


haha. I feel ya guys. The salamanders of KY poster has been up there for like 5 years now.
I just never got around to taking it down...
d'oh
:icon_mad:
lol


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## chase127

nawww its cool. whens the ETA for soil?


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## Church

Subscribed.


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## CL

chase127 said:


> whens the ETA for soil?


Well I'm placing the order right now, so, soon? :icon_lol:
Oh, and I'll be getting the substrate from GLA because it's cheaper, and I'm curious how well it'll work 


Church said:


> Subscribed.


Heck yes you are :icon_bigg


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## chase127

Niceeeee


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## PinoyBoy

Nice tank. That's alot of petites!


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## deleted_user_16

they prefer to be called little anubias


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## CL

PinoyBoy- Thanks! Petite is one of my favorite plants  (I know, I say this a lot :hihi)



fishman9809 said:


> they prefer to be called little anubias


what is this junk you're typing?


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## FDNY911

I can't wait ... Subscribed!


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## ZooTycoonMaster

So many people are going to post on this thread, it'll _still_ be another 30+ pages before we get pictures:hihi:


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## deleted_user_16

CL said:


> what is this junk you're typing?


LOL i totally forgot tto write the rest of the post :icon_lol:

i was gonna write, do u plan on letting it grow wild or keeping it neatly trimmed?


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## oldpunk78

this better be the best planted tank ever! i can't to see a tank full of water, with substrate, hard scape and plants soon!


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## CL

FDNY911 said:


> I can't wait ... Subscribed!


Thanks


ZooTycoonMaster said:


> So many people are going to post on this thread, it'll _still_ be another 30+ pages before we get pictures:hihi:


LOL 


fishman9809 said:


> LOL i totally forgot tto write the rest of the post :icon_lol:
> 
> i was gonna write, do u plan on letting it grow wild or keeping it neatly trimmed?


mhm 
it depends on what plants I use. If I go with blyxa, cyprus and some crypts, I won't have to trim it very much, but if I go with a bunch of stems, I'll keep it trimmed. Of course I would let it get overgrown every once in a while like a nature aquarium would look, but I still really like nicely trimmed stems 


oldpunk78 said:


> this better be the best planted tank ever! i can't to see a tank full of water, with substrate, hard scape and plants soon!


Well the substrate is pretty much ordered, just waiting on a response from Orlando


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## demosthenes

lookin' good, CL! can't wait to see the real deal. of course, it'll still be another thousand pages of chit chat like ZTM said :icon_wink


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## CL

demosthenes said:


> lookin' good, CL! can't wait to see the real deal. of course, it'll still be another thousand pages of chit chat like ZTM said :icon_wink


nuh-uh. :biggrin:
I should have substrate in the tank in maybe 10-14 days, and if everything goes according to plan, I will have the light by then as well. And the tank will be planted the same day I add substrate


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## Noxtreme

How can i get my hands on some of the petite? I bought some just nana the other day thinking it was the same thing as nana petite. I didn't realize they were different till i got home. oh well. another plant to find a spot for.

But seriously I want some petite if anyone has some? Also some HC.


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## CL

Noxtreme said:


> How can i get my hands on some of the petite? I bought some just nana the other day thinking it was the same thing as nana petite. I didn't realize they were different till i got home. oh well. another plant to find a spot for.
> 
> But seriously I want some petite if anyone has some? Also some HC.


I have a pretty good sized portion of hc. If you're interested, send me a PM.

I just ordered the light. Great customer service. He's custom building the light for me today and tomorrow, and it should be shipped out by Wednesday. 

I also bought the materials for the light hanging bar last night, and I'm working on putting it together today


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## smoq

Ha, at least Looking great so far, subscribed. But I hate you even more now, because of you I started posting at nano-reef.com and guess what I am gonna do with the GLA tank if I'll get one?


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## hydrophyte

It even has real water in it. I can scarcely believe my eyes.

If the pre-journal had a half a million views I wonder how high the real thing will go.

The hardscape is looking real good.


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## CL

smoq said:


> Ha, at least Looking great so far, subscribed. But I hate you even more now, because of you I started posting at nano-reef.com and guess what I am gonna do with the GLA tank if I'll get one?


hehe :flick:


hydrophyte said:


> It even has real water in it. I can scarcely believe my eyes.
> 
> If the pre-journal had a half a million views I wonder how high the real thing will go.
> 
> The hardscape is looking real good.


Thanks hydro!
Here's more pictures of the new and improved, clearer, real water 
































Compared to 3 days ago before the carbon


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## DrinkTheYeastMix

Haha man finally it begins! I'll enjoy this one without a doubt.


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## talontsiawd

Glad to see a real journal. Looking forward to this one.


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## N1CK

Well at least this time I don't have to go though 30 pages of posts to find nothing...


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## CL

N1CK said:


> Well at least this time I don't have to go though 30 pages of posts to find nothing...


haha, sorry n1ck.
The light should be here next week


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## wearsbunnyslippers

that wood is looking awesome already! cant wait to see how this one moves along!


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## FDNY911

Very nice CL!


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## CL

Thanks guys!
I made the light hanger today, and I just ordered the Aquasoil.
Things are rolling now!
the light hanger being tested:


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## hydrophyte

Looks great boss--top notch!

I like that hanger. I haven't seen one quite like that before.

Your water is so clean.


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## CL

hydrophyte said:


> Looks great boss--top notch!
> 
> I like that hanger. I haven't seen one quite like that before.
> 
> Your water is so clean.


Thanks, hydro! The carbon in the XP2 combined with a few extra fine filter pads sure cleared up the water. Too bad I'll have to take the carbon out soon because it'll suck up all of the plant nutrients. 
The light bar may not be the prettiest thing ever, but I kinda like it, and you can't beat $10.


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## deleted_user_16

10 bucks only? jeez, great deals lol


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## CL

fishman9809 said:


> 10 bucks only? jeez, great deals lol


yeah, it was a pretty good deal. Good thing it was only ten, because I only had $13


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## Francis Xavier

Hey, I thought you were gonna go with the GLA/azoo or whatever it was called substrate? what made you change your mind?


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## CL

Francis Xavier said:


> Hey, I thought you were gonna go with the GLA/azoo or whatever it was called substrate? what made you change your mind?


Well, TBH, the Azoo substrate is $27/ 12 pound bag. Aquasoil is $28/ 20 pound bag.
I just realized this about a week ago. I thought that the bags had the same weigh/ amount of substrate.


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## Francis Xavier

That's pretty lame. Well, glad I just stick with my aquasoil anyway.


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## N1CK

I like that wood  need to find me some and how much petite is going in this tank 

is the congo fern (I think) going to stay in there somewhere? although I do wish rummys weren't over 3 times the price of other tetras here


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## CL

The bolbitis will most likely stay in this tank. I just haven't planted it in its final position yet.
There will most likely be a LOT of petite when it's all said and done.
This tank should be up and running with everything except fish within 14 days  
maybe sooner.


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## OverStocked

What is the volume comparison of each. Weight isn't the only factor...


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## CL

over_stocked said:


> What is the volume comparison of each. Weight isn't the only factor...


Yes, that's true, but the Azoo substrate has smaller granules than AS. If the Azoo substrate were sold in the same volume as the AS, it would weigh more 
I guess the only way to know for sure would be to buy bag of each, and physically measure out the volume of substrate in each bag.


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## OverStocked

CL said:


> Yes, that's true, but the Azoo substrate has smaller granules than AS. If the Azoo substrate were sold in the same volume as the AS, it would weigh more
> I guess the only way to know for sure would be to buy bag of each, and physically measure out the volume of substrate in each bag.


While I'm sure the ADA is more volume, your statement makes assumptions that they are of equal weight/volume proportions. I doubt this is safe. 10lbs of Schultz aquatic soil usually fills more room than other 20lb bags of substrate.


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## dewalltheway

Looking good man! I just love that piece of DW and the tank is ok too. :icon_wink Will keep a watch on this one!


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## CL

over_stocked said:


> While I'm sure the ADA is more volume, your statement makes assumptions that they are of equal weight/volume proportions. I doubt this is safe. 10lbs of Schultz aquatic soil usually fills more room than other 20lb bags of substrate.


No, I said that if the Azoo substrate were sold in the same volume as AS, then it would weigh more because the granules are smaller and would pack more densely, thus weighing more than AS for the same amount of volume.


dewalltheway said:


> Looking good man! I just love that piece of DW and the tank is ok too. :icon_wink Will keep a watch on this one!


Thanks, Dew! I love the DW too. Tom sure did a great job picking me out some nice pieces


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## FSM

If the azoo substrate is more dense than aquasoil, and a bag of aquasoil is 20 pound, 12 pounds of azoo substrate is much less volume than aquasoil.

I don't really see how you could justify the price, which sounds like it's double that of aquasoil by volume.


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## Church

For what it's worth, back before this substrate was released, I had a private conversation with Orlando about the price of it, and he straight up told me this substrate is meant to be an alternative to the ADA line. It was never meant to be "affordable" or "budget" or anything along those lines. That was when I chose not to order any of it, and decided I will stay with Fluorite or Eco-complete.

So, I don't think this substrate was ever meant to come off as a "bang for the buck" product. Just, thought that was worth mentioning. It *is* more expensive than Aquasoil. There's no question about that. It's supposed to be "better" than aquasoil, though.


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## CL

Church said:


> For what it's worth, back before this substrate was released, I had a private conversation with Orlando about the price of it, and he straight up told me this substrate is meant to be an alternative to the ADA line. It was never meant to be "affordable" or "budget" or anything along those lines. That was when I chose not to order any of it, and decided I will stay with Fluorite or Eco-complete.
> 
> So, I don't think this substrate was ever meant to come off as a "bang for the buck" product. Just, thought that was worth mentioning. It *is* more expensive than Aquasoil. There's no question about that. It's supposed to be "better" than aquasoil, though.


This is true. The azoo substrate does not release tannins or have an ammonia spike. I would have gotten the dark version on it if it had not been for my shortage on money.


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## problemman

what is the subsrate for this tank?


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## CL

problemman said:


> what is the subsrate for this tank?


LOL.
It's aquasoil bud


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## problemman

WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT THIS STUFF??? is it expensive?


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## CL

Guess what came in the mail today?
















The Aquasoil will be here on Thursday.


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## FDNY911

Nice man.


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## legomaniac89

Ooo....sweet light :biggrin:.


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## thief

OMG This is gonna be the kick butt tank!:thumbsup:


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## CL

Thanks guys! I really hope it turns out the way I'm picturing it. Now it's time to shop for plants!


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## roybot73

Catalina?
Black zip-ties FTW :hihi:


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## CL

roybot73 said:


> Catalina?
> Black zip-ties FTW :hihi:


Huh?


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## roybot73

Is it a Catalina light?
Just making a lighthearted (and apparantly completely missed) joke about your highly visible white cable ties. 

Anyhow, get this thing planted already! I grow weary of these journals where nothing happens but a lot of chit-chat :hihi:


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## chase127

CL likes to tease us with glass boxes of wood and water


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## CL

roybot73 said:


> Is it a Catalina light?
> Just making a lighthearted (and apparantly completely missed) joke about your highly visible white cable ties.
> 
> Anyhow, get this thing planted already! I grow weary of these journals where nothing happens but a lot of chit-chat :hihi:


Oh yeah. I was wondering when someone would comment on those. I was going to replace them with black ones tomorrow when I partially drain the tank to put the AS in. I'm also going to adjust that branch so that it looks more "natural" with regard to the rest of the scape. I'm also going to be taking all of those rocks out.


chase127 said:


> CL likes to tease us with glass boxes of wood and water


:icon_cool


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## CL

Something about setting tanks up on snow days. I did it last year too. lol. Got the aquasoil on friday and I've been working on planting it and stuff since then. The substrate still isn't sloped entirely the way I want it (a little too high in th back left), but I'll fix that soon.
My emersed colorata finally got planted. I've been growing it emersed for like 5 or 6 months now (started from 3 stems)








I'm trying out lawnmarsh pennywort as my first foreground. I'll just change it if I don't like it. I also grew this stuff emersed for 5 or 6 months and it took over my 40 breeder. I didn't even use half of it in here








Not fully planted yet, but it will be soon. I still have a bunch of crypts and anubias petite to plant.


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## oldpunk78

i can't wait to see this fully planted and grown in. that wood looks awesome with the aquasoil finally in there. keep it up!


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## legomaniac89

oldpunk78 said:


> i can't wait to see this fully planted and grown in. that wood looks awesome with the aquasoil _*finally*_ in there. keep it up!


Thought I'd add some emphasis :hihi:


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## CL

Oh yeah, I only put 3 bags of aquasoil in there, and it's almost too much. I didn't realize until I had all four bags in front of me that it was 80 pounds of aquasoil lol.
Oh well, I don't mind having an extra bag laying around 
Thanks oldpunk!


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## CL

legomaniac89 said:


> Thought I'd add some emphasis :hihi:


Yep. I never thought that the day would come haha :bounce:


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## legomaniac89

CL said:


> Yep. I never thought that the day would come haha :bounce:


Neither did the rest of the forum :icon_mrgr. Looks great! I can't wait to see it grown up a bit.


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## CL

Progress. I got the monster crypt planted. It was like all the plants in my emersed 40 breeder grew in to one plant the roots were so tangled!
















Improvised diffuser until I get my ceramic one


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## chris.rivera3

woohoo its finally planted!!! can't wait to see it fill in...i was just curious about 2 things:

1) how did you plant the anubias on the substrate??? i've been trying to do that but everytime I try my anubias float back up to the surface...are you holding it down with something?

2) your using aquasoil amazonia right??? are you getting any yellow water? because i don't really notice...and is it still getting muddy everytime you pull plants up from the substrate?




CL said:


> Progress. I got the monster crypt planted. It was like all the plants in my emersed 40 breeder grew in to one plant the roots were so tangled!


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## CL

chris.rivera3 said:


> woohoo its finally planted!!! can't wait to see it fill in...i was just curious about 2 things:
> 
> 1) how did you plant the anubias on the substrate??? i've been trying to do that but everytime I try my anubias float back up to the surface...are you holding it down with something?
> 
> 2) your using aquasoil amazonia right??? are you getting any yellow water? because i don't really notice...and is it still getting muddy everytime you pull plants up from the substrate?


Thanks 
1. I tied them to slate pieces.
2. Yes. No, I am not getting yellow water, it does cloud a bit when I plant something, but that's because the AS hasn't settled very much yet, so all of the fine particles haven't settled to the bottom of the substrate yet.


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## Church

Looking good, CL! Can't wait to see this one fill in.


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## N1CK

You make my crypt look little!!! be interseting to see how your forground grows in:bounce:


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## Noxtreme

you need more color.


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## CL

Thanks guys 


Noxtreme said:


> you need more color.


I have a whole bunch of rotala colorata planted in the back. It just hasn't grown above the crypts. I also have a crypt. wedntii 'bronze' in there to the right of the monster crypt, but it hasn't colored up much yet because it's less vibrant in it's emersed state, IME, which is how I had been growing it. I plant to do a good sized stand of colorata in the back right, I just have to wait for what's in there now to grow, so that I can trim the tops and replant them.


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## chris.rivera3

are you experiencing any crypt melt??? or anubias melt?


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## Noxtreme

I bought a plant package off this guy (he used to have a lot more plants in this plant package)
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...04-big-plant-package-rotala-sp-butterfly.html

Now my tank is full of color! I'll post a pic if you'd like
his plants are very nice by the way. They were actually a lot more colorful when i got them then they are now :/

I'm not sure that the pfertz line has enough iron to keep colored plants really colored.


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## Ugly Genius

CL, I didn't know about this tank until just now.
I absolutely love it. I don't think you did a single thing wrong. GLA's street cred just went _way_ up with this 'scape.
Good job!


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## CL

chris.rivera3 said:


> are you experiencing any crypt melt??? or anubias melt?


Only a little crypt melt. Not much, so far. No anubias melt at all.



Ugly Genius said:


> CL, I didn't know about this tank until just now.
> I absolutely love it. I don't think you did a single thing wrong. GLA's street cred just went _way_ up with this 'scape.
> Good job!


Thanks, UG! I'm glad you noticed my new journal


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## Tex Gal

That's a beautiful tank. Love the DW. Subscribed!


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## CL

Tex Gal said:


> That's a beautiful tank. Love the DW. Subscribed!


Yay. It still has a far way to go, though. I need to place a large order of plants before the January thaw ends.


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## Craigthor

Nice, so what have you spent so far. 

Also its great to know that the AS is cheaper then the Azoo at that rate I would only need 5 bags at $30 bag only $150 plus shipping, what was shipping on yours?

Craig


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## CL

Shipping was $40 for my 4 bags (I ordered too much)
I added everything up the other night and it was more than I could believe. Around $1000 total for everything :icon_eek:


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## demosthenes

wow, CL your tank looks great! unfortunately i havent had a lot of time lately to be around the forums, i'm glad everythings been going so well for you though roud:

i really like the foreground and the DW, i can tell this tank is going to be SICK once it fills in :hihi:


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## CL

Thanks, Demos! Last night I decided to completely pack my XP2 full of mechanical filtration (I have a 2213 that's completely biological with the exception of a course sponge) so I now have 7 micro filtration pads in and one medium filtration sponge and one course sponge. When the lights came on this morning I was amazed at the clarity


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## CL

I got some plants today as well.
Three packages from three different places in one day.
A python, a co2 diffuser/ tubing/ bubble counter/ check valve, and my shrimp/ plants.
It was a good friday.


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## ZooTycoonMaster

Your Hydrocotyle is growing alot lower than mine. But maybe that's because you actually buried yours in the substrate, and most of mine are placed above the substrate


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## CL

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Your Hydrocotyle is growing alot lower than mine. But maybe that's because you actually buried yours in the substrate, and most of mine are placed above the substrate


I think it just looks lower because the tank is bigger. There are still a bunch of emersed leaves that have yet to die off to be replaced by smaller, submersed form leaves.


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## JennaH

this tank is shaping up quickly! looking fantastic


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## roybot73

Looking good! That Blyxa is going to eat your 'scape soon


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## CL

Haha. Thanks guys. I got a little more blyxa than I thought that I would get. I was struggling to find places to plant it after a while. It will get ridiculously huge.


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## CL

A picture from Thursday


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## hydrophyte

Hey that looks fantastic--top notch!

Nice picture-taking too.


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## CL

haha, thanks, Hydro. The picture was taken from ten feet away with a cybershot.


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## JennaH

i agree, this picture is much better than the last. good stuff


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## CL

Thanks, Jenna.
Do you guys think that I should break off that awkward branch in the middle that's very straight and pointing in the opposite direction of the others?


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## MrJG

Looks awesome... the branch really didn't stick out for me until you mentioned it though.


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## OverStocked

Yes. Chop it off. It is really distracting to otherwise amazing wood!


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## VadimShevchuk

Wow, so cool =D


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## N1CK

I love it, awesome tank
and have you got some bolbitis growing emersed on the wood? prob 1/3 of the tank from the right


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## chase127

Dawg... This tank is supa chill. Makes me want some of dat CO2 again... Lovin da HC


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## Amazonfish

I've been watching this tank for awhile now (and waiting for it to be planted...) and I love how it turned out!


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## CL

Thanks, everyone. I'll see what I can do about the branch.
I've noticed some new crypt and anubias growth the past few days . The tall hairgrass in the back is starting to get taller as well.


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## N1CK

Do you find your power head thing (the one for SW setups) helps in any other ways other than flow?, because i'm tempted to get one. seeing as a couple of power heads wouldn't cost much less than a single one. (one i'm looking at is a tunze 6025/6045 for a 95 gal tank)

I can't stop oogling at your tank. lol


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## JennaH

well, i still don't know what branch you're talking about, so no


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## CL

N1CK said:


> Do you find your power head thing (the one for SW setups) helps in any other ways other than flow?, because i'm tempted to get one. seeing as a couple of power heads wouldn't cost much less than a single one. (one i'm looking at is a tunze 6025/6045 for a 95 gal tank)
> 
> I can't stop oogling at your tank. lol


Koralia power heads are made for fresh and salt water tanks. It doesn't do much more than add flow to the tank, but that flow distributes the co2 better, keeps detrius from settling on the substrate, and the fish like it.



JennaH said:


> well, i still don't know what branch you're talking about, so no


Most of the branches are like this ╲╲╲╲
The one that is right in the middle of the tank is like this ╱
so, when looking at the tank, the scape look like ╳╲╲╲
More or less


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## colombian4lyf

Great looking tank! I like the branch look. I so want a rim less tank now. Keep it coming CL.


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## JennaH

ooohhh.. i see it now  but i didn't notice until you pointed it out. i think it looks more natural instead of all the branches pointing in the same direction


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## CL

That's a good point.
hmm.
Plenty of GDA. Had to wipe it off of the front glass for the pic.
I just bought a bunch of crypt. wendtii red to fill out the midground and I'm looking into buying a couple more rotalas to fill out the back left.


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## myjohnson

Dang!

That's clean dude.


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## Noxtreme

more color please (reds oranges purples). more things attached to the wood please.
The set up looks great


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## CL

myjohnson said:


> Dang!
> 
> That's clean dude.


Thanks



Noxtreme said:


> more color please (reds oranges purples). more things attached to the wood please.
> The set up looks great


I would rather not have stuff growing on the wood for this scape. Just wait for the colorata that I have in there to color up and the crypt wendtii red to go in, then you'll have your color.


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## chase127

A. reneckii might look cool with your scape... it'd go with your crypts


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## CL

chase127 said:


> A. reneckii might look cool with your scape... it'd go with your crypts


That would look pretty cool. I see you finally changed your profile pic


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## chase127

CL said:


> That would look pretty cool. I see you finally changed your profile pic


Yeah Halo3 doesnt belong in a fish tank 

I'm liking the scape man... i cant believe its grown in so fast!


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## CL

Water changes always make the plants pearl like crazy


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## SearunSimpson

What is your main carpet plant there? It sorta looks like a Hydrococtyle sp. ?


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## CL

SearunSimpson said:


> What is your main carpet plant there? It sorta looks like a Hydrococtyle sp. ?


It is lawnmarsh pennywort, which is a type of hydrocotyle. It will be replaced in a few weeks with eleocharis 'belem' if I can find a good amount of it.


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## CL

I feel like it's almost time to rip up the foreground and replace it with some eleocharis belem, if I could find anyone selling like a 4x4 patch.
Got a picture this morning before the GSA starts swimming around.


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## Craigthor

Love that Koralia stuffed with plant matter.


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## CL

Craigthor said:


> Love that Koralia stuffed with plant matter.


Haha, I was just looking at that about 45 seconds ago thinking about how I need to clean it.


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## CL

The GDA is starting to show signs of weakening. The colorata is also continuint to grow. I'm liking the direction that things are headed in. I just need a few more crypts to fill in some blank places, then I will continue stocking fish. I should be getting 16 rummies in the mail any day now, which will bring my total up to 21. I think after that I'll get about 6 more and maybe stock about 25 cards and a couple of bn plecos, a trio of SAEs and a handful of corries or dwarf corires or something like that. Though, I'm still debating doing 45 or so rummies instead of rummies and cards.

I figured I'd post this in my journal as well. 
I have spent:
$450 on tank and shipping
$75 on DIY stand
$90 on wood and shipping
$135 on Aquasoil
$35 on Koralia 2
$20 on light bar
$230 on light
$15 on Garden Mat
$100 on XP2
$160 on Victor Regulator and accessories
$100 on CO2 cylinder and two refills
$35 on CO2 diffuser and CO2 tubing
$100 on plants and counting
$60 on fish so far, only about 1/3 done buying fish
$80 on Eheim 2213
$50 on ferts and chemicals
$25 on Python water changer
$15 on heater

It totals to exactly $1775

I just noticed, what happened to the first post in this thread that listed all the specs? It got deleted somehow


----------



## Craigthor

CL said:


> The GDA is starting to show signs of weakening. The colorata is also continuint to grow. I'm liking the direction that things are headed in. I just need a few more crypts to fill in some blank places, then I will continue stocking fish. I should be getting 16 rummies in the mail any day now, which will bring my total up to 21. I think after that I'll get about 6 more and maybe stock about 25 cards and a couple of bn plecos, a trio of SAEs and a handful of corries or dwarf corires or something like that. Though, I'm still debating doing 45 or so rummies instead of rummies and cards.
> 
> I figured I'd post this in my journal as well.
> I have spent:
> $450 on tank and shipping
> $75 on DIY stand
> $90 on wood and shipping
> $135 on Aquasoil
> $35 on Koralia 2
> $20 on light bar
> $230 on light
> $15 on Garden Mat
> $100 on XP2
> $160 on Victor Regulator and accessories
> $100 on CO2 cylinder and two refills
> $35 on CO2 diffuser and CO2 tubing
> $100 on plants and counting
> $60 on fish so far, only about 1/3 done buying fish
> $80 on Eheim 2213
> $50 on ferts and chemicals
> $25 on Python water changer
> $15 on heater
> 
> It totals to exactly $1775


:eek5: Actually not too bad of a price...


----------



## hydrophyte

Cha-ching, that aquarium hardware really starts to add up fast.

Your plants and everything is looking great.


----------



## CL

Craigthor said:


> :eek5: Actually not too bad of a price...


It is when you're 18 and don't have a job :hihi:
Thank God for scholarships lol.


----------



## CL

hydrophyte said:


> Cha-ching, that aquarium hardware really starts to add up fast.
> 
> Your plants and everything is looking great.


It sure does lol. Thanks, Hydro! I'll have to get some pics up of what I've got done with the 40 breeder so far (which isn't much, might I add, considering this tank is taking all the mula)


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

I love that Hydrocotyle carpet


----------



## CL

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> I love that Hydrocotyle carpet


Yeah, and I'd love to get rid of it


----------



## ldk59

Craigthor said:


> :eek5: Actually not too bad of a price...


Spoken like a true ADA junkie :hihi:

CL, this tank is in-cred-i-ble ! ! !

Well done I say, well done roud:

Larry


----------



## !shadow!

hey man great job on the tank l really like what you did with the zip ties? if im correct i wanted to ask you what's the name of that type of wood and where did you get it at. thanks and keep up the great work  (if you don't mind replying back to me on my profile)


----------



## aquav2

Great piece of wood and great tank well done :icon_lol:


----------



## VadimShevchuk

Im a big fan of your tank =D Great job



> I figured I'd post this in my journal as well.
> I have spent:
> $450 on tank and shipping
> $75 on DIY stand
> $90 on wood and shipping
> $135 on Aquasoil
> $35 on Koralia 2
> $20 on light bar
> $230 on light
> $15 on Garden Mat
> $100 on XP2
> $160 on Victor Regulator and accessories
> $100 on CO2 cylinder and two refills
> $35 on CO2 diffuser and CO2 tubing
> $100 on plants and counting
> $60 on fish so far, only about 1/3 done buying fish
> $80 on Eheim 2213
> $50 on ferts and chemicals
> $25 on Python water changer
> $15 on heater
> 
> It totals to exactly $1775


I really like it that you listed prices down. I want to get this tank and it helps that you put the total cost of it. Im almost 15 so i cant go ur path untill a few years. GL


----------



## CL

Thanks, everyone. The GDA was finally right at the end of its life cycle, so I cleaned the glass today, and did a double dose of excel. The water is looking clear, so I'll get a new picture of the tank tonight.


----------



## Outlawboss

I love this tank CL. Can't believe that I either forgot it was here, or never saw it to begin with. Subscribed!


----------



## CL

Here it is sans foreground. I didn't bother scraping off the remaining GDA from the back wall, so the tank looks a bit green as a result.








I like the look of the petite with what I believe is anubias minima over it








Green gecko


----------



## Craigthor

Look at all that hidden Petite in there.... Ooohhh a Green Gecko that would be a nice one to have.

Craig


----------



## ThatPlantedAquariumGuy

Awesome looking tank - really loving that piece of wood you got in there right now and I'm a huge fan of rummies

Anyways, what did you do to get rid of the GDA? I've heard two theories: let it ride it's course or correct phosphate levels...


----------



## !shadow!

ThatPlantedAquariumGuy said:


> Awesome looking tank - really loving that piece of wood you got in there right now and I'm a huge fan of rummies
> 
> Anyways, what did you do to get rid of the GDA? I've heard two theories: let it ride it's course or correct phosphate levels...



Yea i'm curious about this one because i'm experiencing it at the moment. my phosphate levels are at 0ppm at the moment due to seachems "phosguard" (i had it at 10ppm,a big no no). So i'm letting it play it's course and i'm planning on adjusting it back to 0.05 ppm or less. lt's weird now because they're at 0 but the GDA is still growing on the walls. l'm not gonna worry about it because l know i can get rid of it, my 3 sae make very good work out of algae except bga since it's not technically a type algae but a cyanobacteria.The best way to get rid of it from what i've heard is to let it live out it’s life cycle on the glass for 21 days, without messing with it. During that period, GDA will mature and eventually die off and drop off the glass. After GDA has lived out it’s life cycle, it can be scraped off the glass and won’t return.


----------



## CL

ThatPlantedAquariumGuy said:


> Awesome looking tank - really loving that piece of wood you got in there right now and I'm a huge fan of rummies
> 
> Anyways, what did you do to get rid of the GDA? I've heard two theories: let it ride it's course or correct phosphate levels...





!shadow! said:


> Yea i'm curious about this one because i'm experiencing it at the moment. my phosphate levels are at 0ppm at the moment due to seachems "phosguard" (i had it at 10ppm,a big no no). So i'm letting it play it's course and i'm planning on adjusting it back to 0.05 ppm or less. lt's weird now because they're at 0 but the GDA is still growing on the walls. l'm not gonna worry about it because l know i can get rid of it, my 3 sae make very good work out of algae except bga since it's not technically a type algae but a cyanobacteria.The best way to get rid of it from what i've heard is to let it live out it’s life cycle on the glass for 21 days, without messing with it. During that period, GDA will mature and eventually die off and drop off the glass. After GDA has lived out it’s life cycle, it can be scraped off the glass and won’t return.


Yes, I waited it out, but I think that I didn't wait long enough . I was almost certain it was ready to be cleaned off, but I should have waited for it all to die, as opposed to only about 1/3 of it to die. It's coming back a little bit, but I've got 10 otos coming this week from invertzfactory (as well as 15 pygmy cories, and 16 rummies to add to the five in there currently), so hopefully they will help ward it off before it establishes itself again.


----------



## hydrophyte

That looks awesome. Your extensive planning and investment are paying off.

I rather like the green background. I have been pondering using a dark green paint the next time I apply a tank background.


----------



## CL

Thanks, hydro. Things are starting to grow in. I should be getting the fish and some eleocharis 'belem' either today or tomorrow...


----------



## !shadow!

The more l look at this tank the more i'm in love with the depth capabilities of this tank, i'm just thinking alot about which one to get with my income tax money at the moment, either the ada cube garden 90-p or the gla 91L. Choices choices choices..


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

Wow! Excellent Blyxa growth!

But wait...what happened to the Hydrocotyle?


----------



## CL

Thanks guys.
Zoo, I sold it. Such a weed. Just finished planting some eleocharis 'belem'
Got my fish today, too


----------



## chase127

yay pics!


----------



## CL

chase127 said:


> yay pics!


not much is different. I'll get some new pics in a few weeks or so after senior trip.
ugh, I need to refill my co2 tomorrow as well. I don't think that I had the reg screwed on all of the way, even though it's on there pretty tight...


----------



## CL

They gave me a nice cylinder this time haha


----------



## chase127

ooooh pretty bubbles! i cant wait to see the belem grown in.


----------



## !shadow!

Nice nice, l see you planted your eleocharis 'belem' already. On another note how is the gda doing? l scrapped off mines today after a long 3-4 weeks so now i have to wait and see.


----------



## CL

chase127 said:


> ooooh pretty bubbles! i cant wait to see the belem grown in.


Thanks 


!shadow! said:


> Nice nice, l see you planted your eleocharis 'belem' already. On another note how is the gda doing? l scrapped off mines today after a long 3-4 weeks so now i have to wait and see.


The otos took care of it 
Plus I started dosing more P, which made a lot of it die off.


----------



## hydrophyte

CL said:


>


That's looking great!


----------



## dooboogoo

that blyxa looks AWESOME! great job! it'll look even better when that foreground grows in.


----------



## JennaH

i love it, looks better every update. are you running all 4 bulbs?


----------



## CL

dooboogoo said:


> that blyxa looks AWESOME! great job! it'll look even better when that foreground grows in.


Thank you. I can't wait to have a full grass field again.


JennaH said:


> i love it, looks better every update. are you running all 4 bulbs?


Thanks. I'm running 2 stock bulbs about 8 hours a day. I should upgrade my bulbs to powerchromes eventually.


----------



## Ugly Genius

On a regular basis, I see beautiful tanks at AFA. These showtanks are built by guys with access to all the greatest hardware, hardscape items, and plants in the hobby. 
This tank puts most of them to shame.


Your only flaw, CL, is that you always have something stuck in a filter intake and/or powerhead.


----------



## CL

Ugly Genius said:


> On a regular basis, I see beautiful tanks at AFA. These showtanks are built by guys with access to all the greatest hardware, hardscape items, and plants in the hobby.
> This tank puts most of them to shame.
> 
> 
> Your only flaw, CL, is that you always have something stuck in a filter intake and/or powerhead.


The tank isn't that great yet. Still pretty dirty, plants need to grow in more etc.
As for the plants in the koralia....
I'm actually not sure why I haven't taken them out of there yet lol.
I'll go do it right now. :thumbsup:


----------



## legomaniac89

Amazing dude. Your tank's been up half the length of time my 20 long has, and it looks so much better. Like way better. Envy you...


----------



## CL

Haha. Made me laugh, lego.
Thanks, man.


----------



## CL

Just a quick update from my phone. Five days with no dosing, and all the gda died. Go figure haha.
















Despite what it looks like in the pictures, the water is crystal clear.


----------



## chase127

It's really starting to look grown in, I'm lovin the new pics! Whats the green plant to the left of the bronze crypts? It looks like a Hygro


----------



## pmd5700

Very nice looking tank! Keep up the good work.


----------



## hydrophyte

This tank is amazing.

You ought to write a magazine article about it.


----------



## CL

chase127 said:


> It's really starting to look grown in, I'm lovin the new pics! Whats the green plant to the left of the bronze crypts? It looks like a Hygro


Thanks. Those are just chillin there because I have no other place for them. I'm going to need to sell some plants in the next few days.


pmd5700 said:


> Very nice looking tank! Keep up the good work.


Thanks.


hydrophyte said:


> This tank is amazing.
> 
> You ought to write a magazine article about it.


haha, I'm no writer, that's for sure


----------



## SearunSimpson

Alright, I've seen it quite a few times lately, but how are you keeping your nana so low to the substrate? Do you just have it sitting on the bottome with a small rock keeping it anchored, or is it tied to a rock that is hidden by over-growth? Usually people attach it to wood, but it just looks like its too far out in front to be attached to the dw.

Thankssss


----------



## CL

SearunSimpson said:


> Alright, I've seen it quite a few times lately, but how are you keeping your nana so low to the substrate? Do you just have it sitting on the bottome with a small rock keeping it anchored, or is it tied to a rock that is hidden by over-growth? Usually people attach it to wood, but it just looks like its too far out in front to be attached to the dw.
> 
> Thankssss


It's petite which I have tied to some flat stones. It just grows that way.


----------



## CL

I thought that the tank looked good tonight, so I took a few pictures to share with you guys


----------



## !shadow!

That carpet needs to grow in faster!


----------



## Ugly Genius

Tank looks great! The lighter hued plant -- is it a Rotala? -- in the middle...any way you can get more of it? If it were about three times the current amount, it would look rad.


----------



## funkyfish

That looks super nice! The very green grassy plant is blyxa?


----------



## CL

Thanks for all of the comments, guys 


!shadow! said:


> That carpet needs to grow in faster!


Patience is key 


Ugly Genius said:


> Tank looks great! The lighter hued plant -- is it a Rotala? -- in the middle...any way you can get more of it? If it were about three times the current amount, it would look rad.


haha, funny story. It is rotala rotundifolia, which is also what the green stems in the back are. The pinkish stems are just a few tops that I replanted when I did a trim. Soon the whole back will look like that too 


funkyfish said:


> That looks super nice! The very green grassy plant is blyxa?


Thanks! Yes, it is blyxa j. It's such a great plant.


----------



## funkyfish

CL said:


> Thanks! Yes, it is blyxa j. It's such a great plant.


I love it and it looks so beautiful in your tank. I am thinking of getting some for my 55g. I can only hope I can get it to look as nice as yours :biggrin:


----------



## zeldar

Nothing like watching the final four and looking a foot over to see a beautiful tank. I have one of my tanks setup like yours, close to the TV. I always find myself looking over at the tank more than what I'm watching on TV. haha

Man I love how lush this tank is getting. My favorite part is the pocket of anubias in the front. I think you are the one that got me hooked on anubias petite. 

You have probably mentioned this before, but what other livestock do you plan on adding? I think about a 100 mosura's would be the bomb.com in here :biggrin:

Oh, and I don't know if I'm crazy but I kinda like the look without the foreground. Seems like a beach going straight into a jungle. (i just got back from belize last week)


----------



## CL

zeldar said:


> Nothing like watching the final four and looking a foot over to see a beautiful tank. I have one of my tanks setup like yours, close to the TV. I always find myself looking over at the tank more than what I'm watching on TV. haha
> 
> Man I love how lush this tank is getting. My favorite part is the pocket of anubias in the front. I think you are the one that got me hooked on anubias petite.
> 
> You have probably mentioned this before, but what other livestock do you plan on adding? I think about a 100 mosura's would be the bomb.com in here :biggrin:


Yep. The Vols won tonight!  In the elite 8 for the first time ever, and UK is doing really strong too. They have a good chance of winning it all, IMO.
thebomb.com is actually not that cool, if you've never been :hihi:
100 mosuras would cost a pretty penny. My stock list is on the first page of the thread (1st post)
I'll be adding a bunch more rummies soon enough.
Thanks!


----------



## !shadow!

l wonder how this tank would look with the foreground ada soil replaced with sand :drool:. l would totally photoshop it if i had more experience messing with it. :help:


----------



## CL

!shadow! said:


> l wonder how this tank would look with the foreground ada soil replaced with sand :drool:. l would totally photoshop it if i had more experience messing with it. :help:


When the belem grows in, it'll look much better than sand ever would, IMO.


----------



## !shadow!

hehe l cannot argue with that, l'm a sucker for carpets and it's hard to compete:biggrin:


----------



## VadimShevchuk

wow, your tank is so nice. Blyxa looks really good.


----------



## chase127

This thing is lookin sexcellent my friend


----------



## Noxtreme

what and how do you dose again. That is some healthy growth!


----------



## CL

VadimShevchuk said:


> wow, your tank is so nice. Blyxa looks really good.


Thank you! 



chase127 said:


> This thing is lookin sexcellent my friend


Gracias 


Noxtreme said:


> what and how do you dose again. That is some healthy growth!


Sun, Tues, Thurs- 1/6 TSP K2SO4, 1/16 TSP KH2PO4, 1/10 TSP KNO3
Mon, Wed, Thurs- 1/10 TSP CSM+B
Sat- 50% water change followed by a 1/10 TSP dose of CSM+B
I kinda guess with the measurements.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

The Blyxa looks huge and green and...lush! I wish I could grow plants like that I can't wait for the hairgrass to fill in


----------



## CL

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> The Blyxa looks huge and green and...lush! I wish I could grow plants like that I can't wait for the hairgrass to fill in


It is huge. It's a monster, but not like the hydrocotyle was. I'd say the blyxa has another week or so before it all floats up to the surface, then I'll have to replant it again


----------



## Dan the Man

Hey, nice tank! I love the looks of Anubias Nana Petite ever since surge's scape. About your choice to go with hair grass, have you ever considered utricularia gramnifolia? I know you've already planted hair grass but I just thought I'd ask. Also, I think the wood is beautiful but it sort of leads my eyes up and out of the tank. I don't know if anyone else has already said that but I just wanted to help. Thanks for keeping such a thorough thread!


----------



## CL

Dan the Man said:


> Hey, nice tank! I love the looks of Anubias Nana Petite ever since surge's scape. About your choice to go with hair grass, have you ever considered utricularia gramnifolia? I know you've already planted hair grass but I just thought I'd ask. Also, I think the wood is beautiful but it sort of leads my eyes up and out of the tank. I don't know if anyone else has already said that but I just wanted to help. Thanks for keeping such a thorough thread!


That's what I wanted the wood to do. It makes the scape feel taller. (In case you were wondering, ever since the first planting I've had other plant combinations that I want to try with this scape that would totally change the mood of the tank- I'll reveal them later) I considered UG, but it's too messy for me, and can melt entirely on a whim (I've grown it in my 30 C before)
Sergio (sureje, I believe) has an incredible tank, and it inspired this tank in many ways. I remember following his journal years ago.


----------



## Dan the Man

oh really, so UG is much more finicky than hairgrass? Also when it did carpet how did it compare to DHG?


----------



## CL

Dan the Man said:


> oh really, so UG is much more finicky than hairgrass? Also when it did carpet how did it compare to DHG?


HG is cake. Ug, not so much. It's too light green for my taste as well, and like I said, it's messy.


----------



## Gatekeeper

Looks good. Blyxa should be thinned out though soon. Will start to really creep out and the stems will start getting very narrow. I did something like that about two years ago and the blyxa was just insane with growth. I think I had over 400 stems of Blyxa when it was all said and done. What you see in the picture actually got bigger before I took it down. i am no aquascaper so forgive the equipment.










Thinning the blyxa might also give alittle more light penetration to the foreground.

All and all though, scape is going to come in really nice I think.


----------



## CL

Thanks, Glenn. I'm going to have to do a trim and thin here before long. Eventually to bottoms off the stems die of and the whole mass of plants floats up to the top, pulling out the roots as it does. It's starting to get a reddish tinge to it since I turned on the other bank of bulbs. I think that I'll pull it all out and replant some time this week. 
Is anyone interested in some blyxa? haha


----------



## !shadow!

l would if l had an idea of how it would look once everything is set up in my tank  right now l rather not have collectoritis and stick random plants in.


----------



## CL




----------



## CL

Yes, I took out a lot of blyxa haha. It'll look better in a few weeks  Still trying to get all of the stems the way I like. Doesn't look too great right now, but it should later on.


----------



## !shadow!

l wouldn't worry too much about it, plants have their own way of recovering. Just take a look at the growth from what it was till just before you took them out. There is probably a big difference. Anyways about your hairgrass, why not plant more in the foreground to speed up the process? ....unless you're limited on resources then l understand.


----------



## CL

!shadow! said:


> l wouldn't worry too much about it, plants have their own way of recovering. Just take a look at the growth from what it was till just before you took them out. There is probably a big difference. Anyways about your hairgrass, why not plant more in the foreground to speed up the process? ....unless you're limited on resources then l understand.


Yeah, I'm not worried. I just wanted to break the silence since posting that pic of the blyxa looking so thin haha. The hg is actually starting to take off. You can't really tell in the pics, but runners are going everywhere. :icon_mrgr


----------



## !shadow!

Oh right silly me, l have hg *facepalms myself*. My hg has gotten so large in my iwagumi it's gotten taller than my stones lol but l like it long and i'm going to wait to give it a haircut. One thing about hg l love how the runners spread except when it's visible on the front of the aquarium glass(i'm kind of picky on that).


----------



## CL

!shadow! said:


> Oh right silly me, l have hg *facepalms myself*. My hg has gotten so large in my iwagumi it's gotten taller than my stones lol but l like it long and i'm going to wait to give it a haircut. One thing about hg l love how the runners spread except when it's visible on the front of the aquarium glass(i'm kind of picky on that).


The eleocharis that I'm using is belem, which stays under 1.5 inches. I actually like seeing the runners up against the glass. I think it's interesting hahah :hihi:


----------



## problemman

way to picky lol


----------



## CL

Well, I just discovered that on monday when I trimmed the blyxa, I did a 50% water change because I stirred up so much sediment, and forgot to plug my filter back in. I noticed that the water was kinda milky when I was planting some rotala wallichii about an hour ago as if a bacterial bloom was coming on, or maybe the start of green water. I looked under my stand and noticed that the filter wasn't plugged in... Great, so now I have to wait for the filter to get some bacteria growing in it again, because they all died after going 48 hours without any oxygen. I just did another 50% waterchange, making 3 in a week (one on saturday, one on monday, and one today). I'm not going to dose for a few days because all of my blyxa and stems have been trimmed recently, so there's no major growth happenning. Hopefully I won't get a ton of algae because of the whole filter and no dosing thing... What do you all think?


----------



## funkyfish

I think you'll be fine  *shoos the algae away*


----------



## Craigthor

Perfect time to to a rescape then isn't it?


----------



## CL

funkyfish said:


> I think you'll be fine  *shoos the algae away*


I sure hope so haha


Craigthor said:


> Perfect time to to a rescape then isn't it?


Heck no  It's not even in its prime yet.


----------



## !shadow!

most peope view algae as a bad thing. l tend to look at it in a different way in that algae tells you if there is some sort of inbalance. lt gives us signs in different ways:bga, gda,staghorn, string and so forth. ln a way it's kinda like how pain operates in our bodies. lf there weren't pain we wouldn't know what would be wrong in our bodies. l'm no expert by any means but i'd leave it alone for a few days and see what happens. lf it ain't broke don't fix it. l would suggest you test your water just to be on the safe side. lol at craig


----------



## ldk59

I'll admit that I'm not the biggest fan of Manzy scapes, having said that I freely admit that
this is one of my favorite scapes on the forumroud: 
and I agree with Zeldar, to my eye the lack of a "carpet" adds to the scape.
(don't sweat it though, consider the source... I'm scape-challenged)

Larry


----------



## CL

Thanks guys.


!shadow! said:


> most peope view algae as a bad thing. l tend to look at it in a different way in that algae tells you if there is some sort of inbalance. lt gives us signs in different ways:bga, gda,staghorn, string and so forth. ln a way it's kinda like how pain operates in our bodies. lf there weren't pain we wouldn't know what would be wrong in our bodies. l'm no expert by any means but i'd leave it alone for a few days and see what happens. lf it ain't broke don't fix it. l would suggest you test your water just to be on the safe side. lol at craig


Something that's always bugged me: is there something wrong with your capital "i"s? You keep using l (lowercase L) instead of I haha. Just wondering. :tongue:
And yes, algae definitely tells us when something is out of whack.


ldk59 said:


> I'll admit that I'm not the biggest fan of Manzy scapes, having said that I freely admit that
> this is one of my favorite scapes on the forumroud:
> and I agree with Zeldar, to my eye the lack of a "carpet" adds to the scape.
> (don't sweat it though, consider the source... I'm scape-challenged)
> 
> Larry


Thanks, Larry. What a nice compliment


----------



## !shadow!

lt's a habit oops there i go again.


----------



## CL

!shadow! said:


> lt's a habit oops there i go again.


Haha, just how would that become a habit, I wonder.


----------



## !shadow!

l rather not cloud your nice journal explaining something so insignificant.


----------



## CL

!shadow! said:


> l rather not cloud your nice journal explaining something so insignificant.


Haha, it's all good. 
hmm, I wonder where Chase127 has been anyway...
Thanks for the kind gesture, though


----------



## CL

Still trying to figure out that r. colorata...


----------



## hydrophyte

That looks super great. Did you get a new camera?


----------



## CL

hydrophyte said:


> That looks super great. Did you get a new camera?


I wish! But I take it to mean that I took a couple of good shots?

I did add a k nano to the tank the other day, and I cleaned the XP2 today (it really needed it), so I have a total of 1140 GPH in this tank. I added the k nano because there were a couple of spots where water wasn't moving like I wanted it. Hopefully I have enough turnover in there now


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

Looks like that Eleocharis is filling in!

What's the big plant in the mid right between the Blyxa and behind the Anubias?


----------



## MrJG

Looks awesome! I kinda like how all the different stems/plant types are meshing together in the section around the base of the wood.


----------



## CL

Thanks, MrJG!


ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Looks like that Eleocharis is filling in!
> 
> What's the big plant in the mid right between the Blyxa and behind the Anubias?


Yeah it is  are you talking about the crypt. Wendtii green? It's starting to turn into a monster, and I love it. (If I ever have to remove it, the roots would mess my whole tank up haha)


----------



## Gatekeeper

Lookin Good!


----------



## CL

Thanks, Glenn!


----------



## Tex Gal

When that wallichi fills in it will be stunning!


----------



## CL

Tex Gal said:


> When that wallichi fills in it will be stunning!


I sure hope so... It seems to be the only stem plant that I can get to turn even moderately pink in this tank. :hihi:


----------



## CL

I got some chelated iron and root medic fert caps from over_stocked today. Great guy.

One of the things that I mentioned before that I have wanted to try in this tank is a grass only tank (I never actually said what I wanted to try though, I have some other things I want to try later on too) 

I've been trying to grow out this eleocharis that AaronT was selling long ago (as thin and wispy as DHG, though about 10-12 inches tall) that will be in the back of the tank (it has been in the back since I first set it up, actually, it just hasn't grown up all of the way yet) There will also be blyxa and the eleocharis belem. Though, it won't actually be a grass only tank. I will leave the crypts in there, and maybe some wallichi in the back to add a few tall wisps of pink to the back.

If anyone is interested in all or half of the colorata that is in here, send me a pm. It just won't turn red for me. As soon as I sell the colorata I can get the new softscape going. :thumbsup:


----------



## VadimShevchuk

great tank CL. IMO you got to do something about the poweheard. To much of a distraction to me. Ill keep checking on... want to see if the rootmedics works. =D


----------



## CL

haha thanks. I'll probably give this tank until may before I replant it. I don't mind the powerhead, but I guess I could take it out [email protected] a final pic before replanting


----------



## deleted_user_16

may??? way too soon brah. needs more time to mature.


----------



## CL

I'll probably trim the rotala one more time and let it grow back to the top again one more time. You're right, I'd hate to redo it too soon, though it is just about that time.


----------



## deleted_user_16

wait til the middle of summer at least lol. once it matures it's easier to tell what plants you want to change out and stuff.


----------



## CL

Oh, and I forgot the cyperus. And there's no way I'm waiting that long. When I first set the tank up there were 4 different looks that I wanted to try. I just did this one first because I already had a lot of crypts, rotala and anubias. I'm ready for a change.


----------



## deleted_user_16

psh be that way lol


----------



## CL

Guys...
I found out on the barrreport that lower pH and gH (or maybe it's just gH, though lower pH supposedly makes an ideal environment for plants to grow faster) makes plants grow faster, which means they they will be green instead of red (just as higher NO3 makes plants grow faster & turn green) It's the aquasoil that keeps my colorata and other plants green! I was wondering why they would redden up in my low tech tanks, but that's because they don't have aquasoil. They have cheap gravel that makes the water hard, while the aquasoil makes the water soft, thus the plants grow faster and turn green. Ever since I added aquasoil to my 20 gallon tank I haven't been able to get my plants to turn red (but before adding the aquasoil I even had my rotundifolia deep red).
Wow.
Can I fix this by adding a couple of chunks of limestone from my backyard (cleaned well first) to my filter? That would raise the gH and pH. 
I know my snails would like that at least, and if it means red plants, I would too


----------



## legomaniac89

Yet another reason not to use aquadirt . I believe that limestone also contains phosphorus and silicates, so it may mess with your dosing levels a bit. If you can find something like oyster grit at a hardware store, that might be safer to use.


----------



## CL

legomaniac89 said:


> Yet another reason not to use aquadirt . I believe that limestone also contains phosphorus and silicates, so it may mess with your dosing levels a bit. If you can find something like oyster grit at a hardware store, that might be safer to use.


Oh, that's true. Do you think I could just use some aragonite that I have laying around for my reef? (CaCO3)


----------



## legomaniac89

I don't see why not. It's pretty much the same thing


----------



## CL

Alright. I'll test out raising the gH and let you guys know what happens.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

CL said:


> Guys...
> I found out on the barrreport that lower pH and gH (or maybe it's just gH, though lower pH supposedly makes an ideal environment for plants to grow faster) makes plants grow faster, which means they they will be green instead of red (just as higher NO3 makes plants grow faster & turn green) It's the aquasoil that keeps my colorata and other plants green! I was wondering why they would redden up in my low tech tanks, but that's because they don't have aquasoil. They have cheap gravel that makes the water hard, while the aquasoil makes the water soft, thus the plants grow faster and turn green. Ever since I added aquasoil to my 20 gallon tank I haven't been able to get my plants to turn red (but before adding the aquasoil I even had my rotundifolia deep red).
> Wow.
> Can I fix this by adding a couple of chunks of limestone from my backyard (cleaned well first) to my filter? That would raise the gH and pH.
> I know my snails would like that at least, and if it means red plants, I would too


That's strange. I have Polygonum species in my 10 gallon with aquasoil, and the tops are red. Although I haven't tested the water recently, so I shouldn't be speaking:hihi:

AFA in SF also have brilliant red coloration with aquasoil-only tanks.


----------



## CL

Do you think that you have hard water, or maybe they are dosing gH booster?


----------



## Dan the Man

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't epsom salt (Magnesium Sulfate) a common way to boost GH?


----------



## legomaniac89

Dan the Man said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't epsom salt (Magnesium Sulfate) a common way to boost GH?


Yes, but MgSO4 will raise gH without affecting kH. For CL's problem, both gH and kH would need to rise to bring out the reds


----------



## chase127

Dude I'm gona try out your inert substrate idea as well.. I've got some spare tanks layin around and some plants in the mail


----------



## CL

chase127 said:


> Dude I'm gona try out your inert substrate idea as well.. I've got some spare tanks layin around and some plants in the mail


I am not changing the substrate. I'm just going to raise the gH. Right now the pH and gH are low (partially due to the aquasoil) so the plants are growing too fast to be red.


----------



## CL

legomaniac89 said:


> Yes, but MgSO4 will raise gH without affecting kH. For CL's problem, both gH and kH would need to rise to bring out the reds


Thanks for explaining that, lego. I didn't know about the kH


----------



## chase127

Well you mentioned sometning about inert, so yeah. Bam.


----------



## Dan the Man

> Yes, but MgSO4 will raise gH without affecting kH. For CL's problem, both gH and kH would need to rise to bring out the reds


Hmmm, learn something everyday. Thanks Lego.


----------



## CL

just figured I'd share what I just made with Gimp to link to this tank. It's the best looking thing I've ever made with any photo editing software lol.








To see the others:
http://tinypic.com/useralbum.php?ua=G9TVlHHaBHxKuU/nTOb7Vw==


----------



## Outlawboss

Looks good dude! I love the shrimp is on. Of all the tanks on this forum, your rocks are some of the coolest for me. Nice photo too!


----------



## CL

Thanks, outlaw!


----------



## xmas_one

Cool tank CL, I just picked up a 48 Mr. Aqua, same thing I think, I'm planning on doing it with manzanita also, except "stump style" with the branches pointing down. How's the 'belem' coming in?


----------



## CL

Belem is growing great. I actually need to refill my co2 tomorrow.  15 bucks


----------



## chase127

Dude, pics


----------



## !shadow!

l was wondering what happened with the updates hehe. Take some snapshots for us ok?


----------



## CL

I'll get some... tomorrow 
until then:


----------



## chase127

Clear water


----------



## chris.rivera3

what happened to all the updates???


----------



## CL

The blyxa is touching the glass.


----------



## SearunSimpson

Looking good man! The nana is starting to get overtaken though, ha. 
The side picture of the DHG lawn infront of the Blyxa bush looks really sweet.


----------



## CL

Haha, yeah. You can hardly see the anubias petite. I forget it's in there. Chances are it will be moved to my new tank sometime soon anyway. Thanks!


----------



## chris.rivera3

looks like you'll need to trim the blxya again...if your selling some in about a month i'd like some please :biggrin: ...and also some of the foreground plant too!!! ...I don't see any of your rummynose tetras...did you remove them?? or are they hiding in the back?


----------



## CL

Thanks, Chris. I removed most of the rummies after I had a couple jump. That what you get with open top tanks.


----------



## chris.rivera3

when you had the rummies in the tank did they school at least??? was the 36"x18" footprint large enough for them to school tightly?


----------



## CL

Yeah, they schooled great. I love rummies. I just wish they didn't jump considering their cost, so I traded them in for credit at the LFS


----------



## EntoCraig

I may have missed where you said it, but what kind of wood is that and where did you get it :icon_eek:


----------



## CL

EntoCraig said:


> I may have missed where you said it, but what kind of wood is that and where did you get it :icon_eek:


It is manzanita and I got it from a member on the forum.


----------



## EntoCraig

CL said:


> It is manzanita and I got it from a member on the forum.


that what I thought! A local fish friend of mine picked up a tuck full to sell locally. I really need to get some.


----------



## chris.rivera3

any picture updates???


----------



## CL

chris.rivera3 said:


> any picture updates???


Sure


----------



## mgdmirage

Very beautiful tank, i'd love to see some new pics too


----------



## mgdmirage

Ah you beat me lol.. looks excellent!


----------



## EntoCraig

:icon_eek: That looks awesome...


----------



## CL

Thanks guys. It still has quite a way to go, though. I'm starting to get BBA on some of the crypts, and I need to figure out how to fix that.


----------



## rountreesj

I've been told it's a co2 issue...could be wrong. OBVIOUSLY you have c02, but maybe some tweaking?


----------



## CL

rountreesj said:


> I've been told it's a co2 issue...could be wrong. OBVIOUSLY you have c02, but maybe some tweaking?


Yes, I recently upped my CO2 after it started to appear, which may have made things worse because it loves fluctuating CO2. I'll just have to wait a bit now without messing with it to see if things stabilize.


----------



## VadimShevchuk

that blyxa is sexy! What is your secret CL? Im also digging your 48 gallon siganute icon!


----------



## CL

Thanks, Vadim! For blyxa, you just set it and forget it. It's super easy and it grows into an awesome hedge on its own 
Thanks for the compliment on my sig. I've been messing around in gimp a lot lately, and chances are high the this tank will become an iwagumi in the near future, so I decided to make a new sig


----------



## unrealshots

I'm loving this tank journal...

one request - could you elaborate on your light support setup? Just about to upgrade from a 3' to a 5' tank, and want a suspended T5, and your setup looks like what we're after... 

Any pointers greatly appreaciated!

Cheers,

Andrew


----------



## CL

My light hanger is made out of 3/4" electrical conduit and four 90 degree elbows. There are two 10 inch pieces, one three foot piece and two 5 foot pieces that serve as the vertical supports. You just piece them together like what you see in the photos. No bending required.


----------



## WeedCali

wow this tank looks great!

Best of luck to ya


----------



## CL

Thanks, weedcali. 
The MP10 that I had for my biotope tank wasn't performing as I had imagined it would, so when I found a local reef keeper wanting to buy one for $10 more than I paid for it, I jumped on the deal (plus it saved me money on shipping the tank, so I got even more profit than that), which means I have the extra money to knock another project off of my list. I had been wanting to do an iwagumi originally in this tank, but the costs were prohibitive to do it right. I just emailed Jeff over at ADG for some ordering info for the stones that I will be using. I should have the order placed soon.

When I do get the rocks, I'll drain the tank, and pull all of the crypts, along with the wood (the main burl of the manzanita is about an inch below the substrate where the massive crypt bunch is- it should be fun trying to get all of the crypt roots off of the wood). I'll let the grass grow emersed for a few weeks with the new hardscape in place, before filling and planting some more blyxa. The tank will look pretty grassy.


----------



## hydrophyte

CL said:


> Sure


This is lookin' great. I hadn't seen this latest update.


----------



## CL

Thanks, Hydro. All of that blyxa is gone now, and I actually think the tank looks a bit better. (not as lush, but it isn't so claustrophobic now)


----------



## VadimShevchuk

Are you gonna sell the DW?


----------



## CL

Chances are I will keep it to use in another tank. It's too nice to sell, and shipping it would cost just as much as the wood, so it wouldn't be worth it, IMO.


----------



## VadimShevchuk

O, thats sucks. I was gonna use it in my future 48 rimless also.


----------



## CL

After having a conversation with Jeff via email, he picked out some great rocks for me, which will be shipped out tomorrow. Great customer service there. :thumbsup: I give it an A+
I also added an extra bag of AS to my order so I can make the slope in the tank a bit better. IMO slope tends to be more important with iwagumi- specifically the open ones consisting mostly of foreground plants.

Oh, and I'll most likely be adding some rocks for my mini m to the order. Should be a lot of fun getting all of these rocks 

Here's what I'm getting for this tank


----------



## !shadow!

looking good cl. those rocks got some nice personality to them. Now the fun part...to see how you will position/use them in your new scape.


----------



## CL

Thanks, shadow.
It's official, the stones have been paid for  Shipping actually wasn't that bad for me. To my area shipping the 60 pound package was only $40 and should be here on the 30th


----------



## CL

I thought that this site had interesting pictures of the inspiration (foundation?) of iwagumi: ishigumi








http://kyoto.asanoxn.com/places/higashiyama_sth/komyoin.htm

The main difference being that iwagumi uses slanted stones as opposed to vertical stones to appear like the flow of the water has slanted the stones
http://www.aquajournal.net/na/layout/004/index.html


----------



## CL

Hopefully Macclellan isn't driving right now because I'm sure he'd go into cardiac arrest upon me posting this :hihi:
Got my stones from ADG today. Super nice rocks. Jeff did a great job picking out a nice assortment for me  This driftwood will live on in my 40 gallon breeder- it's originally planned home.

















I'm working on arranging the rocks right now.


----------



## chris.rivera3

are you leaving your e. belem in for the next scape??? it looks like you didn't remove it


----------



## CL

chris.rivera3 said:


> are you leaving your e. belem in for the next scape??? it looks like you didn't remove it


Indeed I am


----------



## rountreesj

i like it exactly how it is, leave the rest up to our imaginations...


----------



## chris.rivera3

...first i'd like to imagine that tank in my room :hihi:


----------



## rountreesj

yup yup, i have no doubt it will look grandiose! now, PLEASE make the rock almost too high to account for the plant maturation...


----------



## CL

There won't be any tall plants in front of the rocks. 
The only thing that bothers me is the far left. Can't quite get that rock to fill in the space right. It looked good without a rock there, but the balance wasn't right. Any suggestions?


----------



## chris.rivera3

I think it looks nice like that...if you really wanted a suggestion then maybe move the 5 stones on the left side left about 1/2-1"...maybe it'll help fill out the left side a little bit


----------



## xmas_one

Rear far left rock looks outta place to me..

Just my .02


----------



## rountreesj

see if you can find another angle for it where it's brighter, placement looks good to me, the meshing and flow of colors maybe a tad off, but i think when water is in it will change the look anyhow...


----------



## rountreesj

swap the front two left rocks...?


----------



## CL

The back left rock was wet, which was why the color seemed off.


----------



## chris.rivera3

looks good!! i don't think you need to change the scape at all


----------



## rountreesj

that's the mother load there!!! right on. Perfeito! Muito BEM!!!! Eu gosto!!!! Eu Quero!!!!!!!


----------



## CL

Thanks guys! 
I thought it looked better too


----------



## chris.rivera3

now plant that thing and fill it up!!!


----------



## CL

It's gonna go emersed for a few weeks  Might be adding some HC in around the rocks.
And yes, I know the belem would invade it eventually


----------



## chris.rivera3

I will gladly take the belem off your hands :icon_smil ...i need a foreground on my 20 long...


----------



## CL

haha. The belem is staying for now at least


----------



## VadimShevchuk

i actually like the new look alot more. What are you gonna do with the stocking? Same as with the previous scape?


----------



## CL

Not sure yet on stocking. I may do rummies again, but chances would be higher of them jumping, I would think, because there isn't hardly any plant cover at all. This means I would either need to fabricate a glass lid, or think of another fish choice.


----------



## chris.rivera3

what do you think about a school of rasbora espei?


----------



## CL

I've always wanted a school of them. They do look pretty cool.
I'll give it some thought, though I would most likely stay with a more slender fish.


----------



## CL

Much better, IMO
















Hard to believe it's only 38 pounds of rocks.

I was inspired a lot without even realizing it, but looking back at the scape, it reminds me a lot of one of UG's tanks.


----------



## bsmith

Looks good. Are you going to be putting shrimp IE CRS in there?


----------



## MissMTS

I really liked the old scape, but I like the new one even better. I can't wait to see it fill in 

Suscribed!


----------



## CL

bsmith said:


> Looks good. Are you going to be putting shrimp IE CRS in there?


Maybe some hardy cherries, but shrimp tend to not like what these rocks do to the water.


MissMTS said:


> I really liked the old scape, but I like the new one even better. I can't wait to see it fill in
> 
> Suscribed!


Thanks!


----------



## bsmith

CL said:


> Maybe some hardy cherries, but shrimp tend to not like what these rocks do to the water.


You obviously read what I typed then erased from my post. :hihi:

If you would like I can PM you a couple pics of some iwugami esk rock arrangements I photographed on my recent trip to Japan.


----------



## CL

bsmith said:


> You obviously read what I typed then erased from my post. :hihi:
> 
> If you would like I can PM you a couple pics of some iwugami esk rock arrangements I photographed on my recent trip to Japan.


lol 
Sure. I'd be interested in seeing those pics 

I feel like this is my best scape yet. It looks better in person than it does in the pics.
Do you guys know if you keep a journal of your tank online, you aren't allowed to enter it into a contest? I've always assumed that before, and thus I've never entered any contests, but I've read the rules a few times for the AGA contest, and I don't see anything about it.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

How long did it take you to drain it and...do everything else? I thought my 10 gallon rescape took a long time


----------



## CL

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> How long did it take you to drain it and...do everything else? I thought my 10 gallon rescape took a long time


Oh man. It took me all day yesterday to drain and clean it, then an hour or so to do the first scape, and it took a couple of hours today to do the current scape.
But what do you think about the scape?


----------



## Stemwinder

I love your new scape. I think it added much needed height and really suits the Iwagumi style. Bravo.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

CL said:


> Oh man. It took me all day yesterday to drain and clean it, then an hour or so to do the first scape, and it took a couple of hours today to do the current scape.
> But what do you think about the scape?


Oh. I like the scape


----------



## CL

Thanks guys. Glad you like it


----------



## hydrophyte

Hey that rock layout looks great. I missed it yesterday.


----------



## CL

Thanks, Hydro. Hopefully the tank is ready by the end of September so I can enter it into the AGA contest


----------



## chase127

Rocks rule. What are you doing for plants? Im jet lagged so I dont have the energy to read anything. Also, hawt avatar. A product of your own I assume? Im gona look into freestyle photo-shopping as soon as Im done traveling. Oy.


----------



## CL

chase127 said:


> Rocks rule. What are you doing for plants? Im jet lagged so I dont have the energy to read anything. Also, hawt avatar. A product of your own I assume? Im gona look into freestyle photo-shopping as soon as Im done traveling. Oy.


eleocharis belem, hydrocotyle verticala, and staurogyne repens are the only things set in stone right now. I may do some hc as well. IDK for sure yet.
And yes, I made the avatar  Glad you like it


----------



## chase127

CL said:


> eleocharis belem, hydrocotyle verticala, and staurogyne repens


Like :thumbsup:

You need something tall and wispy for the back. C helferi or B aubertii or even something red like A. reineckii mixed with greens :icon_surp


----------



## CL

I've got that eleocharis that Aaron T. was selling a few years back. Gets about 10 inches tall and is very thin and whispy


----------



## Francis Xavier

Looks good CL, you got a primo selection of rock there. Now just make sure you don't mess up the planting or people might try to stone you to death! I hear it's popular punishment these days.


----------



## chase127

CL said:


> I've got that eleocharis that Aaron T. was selling a few years back. Gets about 10 inches tall and is very thin and whispy


Like :thumbsup:


----------



## speedie408

New scape is sweet man. Lookin forward to see what you do with this one. Where'd you get those pimp rocks?


----------



## CL

Francis Xavier said:


> Looks good CL, you got a primo selection of rock there. Now just make sure you don't mess up the planting or people might try to stone you to death! I hear it's popular punishment these days.


haha. Yeah, hopefully I don't ruin the scape. A lot of times when I see the step by step of iwagumi scapes in ADA catalogs a lot of the time I think that the tank looked better without plants.



chase127 said:


> Like :thumbsup:


 



speedie408 said:


> New scape is sweet man. Lookin forward to see what you do with this one. Where'd you get those pimp rocks?


Thanks! I got them from Jeff over at ADG. He hand picked out a set for me after I told him the size of my tank and the general idea of what I wanted the scape to look like. He sent me pics before I bought too. Great service there. I only had to buy 38 pounds of rocks, too . I would have thought that I would need a lot more than that for a 50 gallon tank.


----------



## Indignation

New 'scape looks amazing CL, job well done. 
mind if I ask what is the name of the rock?


----------



## CL

Thanks, Indignation! No idea about what kind of rock it is. Jeff just picked out some nice ones. I think it's a mix of seiryu/ ryouh and manten?
No idea. haha


----------



## Gatekeeper

hmmm. Got water yet?


----------



## CL

Nope 
The belem is growing great emersed, though, as is the hydrocotyle verticalla, which has doubled in size since I started this scape. I'm hoping to get the belem mostly filled in before I fill it up so it won't take as long to look the way it should. The pictures for the AGA contest are due on September 25th. Not too far away. Hopefully I can make it in time.


----------



## CL

True rotala indica (ammania sp. bonsai)








Staurogyne Repens








I can see the belem's growth in person. Not _as_ noticeable here


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

What's in the jar in the back?


----------



## CL

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> What's in the jar in the back?


It's a glass that I'm growing some of the taller eleocharis in. Not sure If I'll be using it in the scape, but this way I can keep it alive while keeping it from invading my other plants.


----------



## Indignation

CL, have you tried e. belem in a DSM before? I had read a while back that eleocharis parvula doesn't grow much in DSM, was wondering if belem responded differently.


----------



## CL

No, I have not tried belem with dry start before, but it's doing excellent so far. I would think that most eleocharis would respond great to DSM.


----------



## CL

Got some staurogyne repens from plantbrain today


----------



## speedie408

That's gonna look real sweet once the plants fill in bro. Tom is flooding the market bigtime with those repens haha. Good stuff! 

What's that plant smack dab in the middle?


----------



## Chrisinator

That' gonna be awesomee


----------



## CL

speedie408 said:


> That's gonna look real sweet once the plants fill in bro. Tom is flooding the market bigtime with those repens haha. Good stuff!
> 
> What's that plant smack dab in the middle?


haha I know he is  That plant in the middle is a few stems of r. colorata that are just in there because I have nowhere else to put them 


Chrisinator said:


> That' gonna be awesomee


Thanks


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

Wow all this time I didn't notice the rock scape! I love it!! The formation on the left reminds me of a turtle


----------



## CL

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Wow all this time I didn't notice the rock scape!


Say what now


ZooTycoonMaster said:


> I love it!! The formation on the left reminds me of a turtle


haha, you're right! If I removed the rock in the front left it would look even more like a turtle haha


----------



## VincentK

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> The formation on the left reminds me of a turtle


Oh now I see it... Great, now every time I see this tank, that's the first thing I'm going to see. 
Great tank! I never knew about that plant Ammania sp. "Bonsai", where'd you get it?


----------



## CL

VincentK said:


> Oh now I see it... Great, now every time I see this tank, that's the first thing I'm going to see.
> Great tank! I never knew about that plant Ammania sp. "Bonsai", where'd you get it?


ammania sp. bonsai is an incorrect name for what is actually rotala indica (and some people call rotala rotundifolia rotala indica- incorrectly, I might add )
It pops up in the S&S from time to time.


----------



## ZooTycoonMaster

CL said:


> Say what now
> 
> haha, you're right! If I removed the rock in the front left it would look even more like a turtle haha





VincentK said:


> Oh now I see it... Great, now every time I see this tank, that's the first thing I'm going to see.
> Great tank! I never knew about that plant Ammania sp. "Bonsai", where'd you get it?


LOL you're welcome

You should move the front left rock to the back left corner to make it look like the other fin:hihi:


----------



## CL

lol, now I'm going to see a turtle every time I look at the tank


----------



## xmas_one

Reminds me of two AT-AT's tearing each other apart....

Looks great!


----------



## CL

A certain someone I know insisted on getting a goldfish at the fair, so it's living in the 40 breeder. I actually like the looks of it in there with the dark wood. The gravel isn't my favorite, though. I would prefer something dark brown or black, but I had this stuff sitting around.








And I also pulled a few plugs from the thicker part of the lawn in the tank and planted them in the bare areas. 
Note- I still need to place some stauro in a few places after some of it grows out and I can spread it around more.









Oh, and that is not my ghetto phone on the counter


----------



## CL

Thanks to a bit of growth and an unexpected package of stauro in the mail today, my tank is filling in a bit more. Things are looking more like what I envisioned. 
I'll be filling the tank in a few weeks. You can see where the old aquatic leaves on the stauro are a bit yellowed as the plant grows thicker, waxier emergent leaves. This starou branches unlike any other stem I've had before. No wonder it makes such a great carpet plant.


----------



## talontsiawd

Looks good as is, can't wait to see it grow in. I love a different take on Iwagumi. Another awesome scape CL


----------



## CL

Thanks, talon! I never realized how this scape was different from traditional iwagumi until people started pointing it out. I guess it isn't technically iwagumi, but I like it


----------



## talontsiawd

CL said:


> Thanks, talon! I never realized how this scape was different from traditional iwagumi until people started pointing it out. I guess it isn't technically iwagumi, but I like it


That's why I call my 10 gallon a "rock scape" lol. I mean, I wish I had better rocks and did it more traditionally but I felt it was appealing so I ran with it. Well, I didn't have great rocks or tank size though:biggrin:


----------



## chase127

I think theres a cell phone in 90% of your photos if you look closely


----------



## CL

chase127 said:


> I think theres a cell phone in 90% of your photos if you look closely


Haha. So true! :biggrin:


----------



## CL

As if there weren't enough pictures of my plants in tanks without water out there :hihi:
The stauro really branches a lot. There's a new shoot coming out of each leaf node.

















If you think hydrocotyle is a weed underwater, you'd be amazed to see it grow emersed.
Verticillata:








Whatever the scientific name of this one is:


----------



## VadimShevchuk

I like it, Your foreground is deffinetly filling in. Can't wait untill its filled up with water =). Do you know when your gonna fill it up?


----------



## thief

WOW! What a cool tank, I feel like a noob seeing the growth of your plants. Also your scape reminds me a little about, UG's old Mini M iwagumi scape! Just thought I'd point that out, what do you think?

Also is that Micro-sword covering the forground?


----------



## CL

VadimShevchuk said:


> I like it, Your foreground is deffinetly filling in. Can't wait untill its filled up with water =). Do you know when your gonna fill it up?


Thanks! I'll fill it up in a couple of weeks or so. Gotta get another 20-30 white clouds to qt so they'll be ready to go in when the tank is ready.



thief said:


> WOW! What a cool tank, I feel like a noob seeing the growth of your plants. Also your scape reminds me a little about, UG's old Mini M iwagumi scape! Just thought I'd point that out, what do you think?
> 
> Also is that Micro-sword covering the forground?


Thanks. I thought it looked like one of UG's scapes too. The foreground is eleocharis belem.


----------



## CL

Grassy


----------



## xmas_one

wow, that was fast!


----------



## CL

Yep. I'm pretty satisfied with how fast it's growing. Maybe in a couple of more weeks it'll be ready for filling.


----------



## macclellan

It's like watching grass grow.


----------



## CL

macclellan said:


> It's like watching grass grow.


You're right. It is in fact incredibly similar :hihi:


----------



## jcardona1

wow thats coming along great. cant wait to see it filled!!!


----------



## CL

jcardona1 said:


> wow thats coming along great. cant wait to see it filled!!!


Thanks. Unfortunately I enjoy DSM tanks so much that I hate to fill them. No worry about water changes or algae :flick:
I hate to rush this tank in the dry stage, but poor planning with regards to the contest coming up means that I'll have to fill it a bit sooner than I would prefer. 
One of my favorite things about the hobby is watching the plants grow, so any way to make them grow faster is too much fun for me haha.


----------



## speedie408

*CL's Rimless 48 gallon Iwagumi- DSM*

What the devil are you feeding those HG? That is super fast growth dude.


----------



## CL

speedie408 said:


> What the devil are you feeding those HG? That is super fast growth dude.


There's some miracle gro plant spikes and some root medic tabs that I put in there a few months ago before the rescape haha. I also mixed in 1/4 tsp of KNO3, KH2PO4 and K2SO4 into the 500mL spray- bottle that I went through in about 4 days to give the plants an extra kick  haha 
I'm also running a lot of light for ~16 hours per day (4x39W T5HO @ 3 inches above the tank)


----------



## soundgy

Simply Stunning! Subscribed!


----------



## speedie408

CL said:


> There's some miracle gro plant spikes and some root medic tabs that I put in there a few months ago before the rescape haha. I also mixed in 1/4 tsp of KNO3, KH2PO4 and K2SO4 into the 500mL spray- bottle that I went through in about 4 days to give the plants an extra kick  haha
> I'm also running a lot of light for ~16 hours per day (4x39W T5HO @ 3 inches above the tank)


I'll have to bite that and try a "DSM" one of these days. Nice job man!


----------



## CL

Thanks Speedie 
The stauro is getting taller. The emergent leaves are shorter, and more almond shaped. Almost time to trim and replant. Though, I may just push the stems down so that they are laying on the substrate.
















This stem has been in here since I rescaped. It's growing like a weed.








You can see it in the front right exactly a month ago








and on 7-2








And, wouldn't you know it, I have crypts popping up everywhere. I guess I didn't get all the roots pulled out, huh?

And, in unrelated news (to this tank at least)


----------



## xmas_one

It's almost going to be a shame to put water in! 

Looking good!


----------



## albirdy

brilliant, truly.


----------



## chris.rivera3

those are some nice pieces of driftwood...are those the old pieces of wood that use to inhabit this tank?? where did you get them?


----------



## CL

Thanks guys. Chris, the wood is some manzy that I got this week from Tom Barr for a project that I'm planning. Quality stuff.


----------



## chris.rivera3

it DOES look like quality stuff!!! i didn't know Tom was selling driftwood...i didn't see anything in the Sns...does he have a website where he posts driftwood for purchase??? or did you just contact him via PM?


----------



## VadimShevchuk

Wow! in one month your grass grew like weeds. Tanks looks very good, maybe i should have went with the grassy look.


----------



## CL

Tom occasionally has some dw for sale. 
Vadim, keep in mind that the grass was growing submersed in the tank before I rescaped. I didn't even have to replant it. Just left it where it was.


----------



## VadimShevchuk

o, it still grew really fast.


----------



## malaybiswas

Awesome growth CL. Can I steal some of your HG belem?


----------



## CL

Thanks guys. Right now the belem is still growing in. I'm hoping the tank will be looking good by the end of september for the aga contest.


----------



## J.farrand

I can live vicariously through your pics!! Keep them coming. No rimless tanks for me yet, someday though!! I look forward to seeing future pics. The driftwood is sick nasty!!!


----------



## CL

Thanks. Here are a few more pics
















LMP is a real weed. Especially emersed.


----------



## dj2005

I love how this tank looks. Can't wait for it to be filled.


----------



## albirdy

jaw just dropped.


----------



## hydrophyte

Wow that looks fantastic. That is great emersed growth that you got there.


----------



## CL

Thanks guys. I'd say about 10 more days until fill day


----------



## chris.rivera3

if this is for the AGA contest then why don't you wait a little longer since emersed growth is much faster...i say wait as long as you can...plus I really like the look of this emersed set up :biggrin:




CL said:


> Thanks guys. I'd say about 10 more days until fill day


----------



## CL

chris.rivera3 said:


> if this is for the AGA contest then why don't you wait a little longer since emersed growth is much faster...i say wait as long as you can...plus I really like the look of this emersed set up :biggrin:


True, but I don't want the tank to look like I just filled it when I take the pictures for the contest. I want to give it a month for everything to settle in underwater (though, only having one month isn't much time for things to settle in)


----------



## Dan the Man

Tank looks great. I was hoping to finish my setup in time for this year's contest but that was a year ago when the Red Sea Co2 kit seemed to be the coolest thing ever, especially when used in conjunction with my dad's old wood rimmed 30g. As I learned, my plans changed, and my wallet died a slow death, ergo I'll be competing in the *2011* AGA's and the IAPLC. I just couldn't resist the rimless charm. I'm also glad to see some more PT members entering in this contest. Best of luck to you in the contest.

-Dan


----------



## zeldar

amazing tank CL. 

Do you plan on keeping the staurogyne short or are you going to let it grow up a bit? Belem and staurogyne are definitly the "in" plants right now, and this is the best combo of the two I have seen.

Also, you may have already mentioned this earlier, but have you thought about what livestock you are going to let call this home?


----------



## CL

Thanks guys. This tank will be home to ~40 white clouds, a few otos, a couple of amanos, and a small BN pleco


----------



## zeldar

nice, haven't seen a tank with the focus on white clouds. although ive never had them, they are very underrated fish. 

keep a good eye on those amanos, esp with a open top. I found one of my amanos crawling on the carpet 20ft from the nearest tank, plopped him back in the water and he was good as could be. haha


----------



## CL

Yeah, I've had the amanos in rimless tanks for several months now, though, whenever I have to net them, they love to try to climb out of the net. I've had them climb out of tanks in the past too.


----------



## albirdy

never heard that about amanos..


----------



## CL

Oh, and zeldar, the stauro will be kept a little taller than it is now. 

Well, I'm thinking I'll let all the plants grow in before filling (the belem around the rocks will take the longest), sooo, I guess I'll just wait till 2011 to enter this tank into any contest. There's just not enough time to make it for this year. It'd be stupid to rush things so much.


----------



## CL

Not to be outdone by Francis 
There was a huge (~5 inch long) praying mantis on my window today, so I decided to give it a home in here for the day so I could watch it move around.  The tank was even big enough for her to fly around.


----------



## VincentK

Ohhh, cool mantis, that last pic is a pretty nice pic of it.


----------



## CL

Thanks. Unfortunately the glass was steamed over so it's not very clear.


----------



## VadimShevchuk

i found a spider in my tank and that freaked me out. Cool mantis BTW =D


----------



## albirdy

Hahaha that's awesome. I had a praying mantis in my terrarium for a while. the frogs ate her.


----------



## Dan the Man

> sooo, I guess I'll just wait till 2011 to enter this tank into any contest


This will hopefully spur my competitive juices as your tank is quite good..."So be it...Jedi"


----------



## Rion

I really like this tank, I wish I could get my grass or glosso to grow like that. You've sold me on DSM to say the least. Once that BNP gets over 3-4" I might take him out cause I'm finding mine like to dig now that he's bigger.


----------



## malaybiswas

Nice new home for mantis. Does he have flood insurance


----------



## Francis Xavier

Lol. I think my Wabi Kusa mantis is still flying around somewhere in the apartment.


----------



## CL

malaybiswas said:


> Nice new home for mantis. Does he have flood insurance


lol!


Francis Xavier said:


> Lol. I think my Wabi Kusa mantis is still flying around somewhere in the apartment.


haha. Keeping the mosquito population down, I bet.


----------



## !shadow!

What a nice tank cl, you make me wanna turn my 48g into a iwagumi too  love this picture:


----------



## CL

After a week long vacation. I haven't misted this tank in over a week. No real need to anymore now that the plants have grown some roots and are able to find water on their own.


----------



## VadimShevchuk

tank looks great, so when is the big flood coming?


----------



## macclellan

Looking good.


----------



## Gatekeeper

Looks real good. Almost a shame to flood it with water. LOL.


----------



## macclellan

The shame is a 21-page, 412* post thread about an aquarium without water. 

*413


----------



## VincentK

Do the plants in the back left grow taller?


----------



## CL

Thanks guys. I agree, Glenn. Looking at the tank today makes me wonder if I want water, but you can't keep fish very easily without water.
Mac- oh comeon. There -was- water.... 

The stauro has filled in really well. Grows fast too. The verticillata in the back left should get taller when I put water in the tank.


----------



## chad320

+2 Ive been watching and waiting patienly for the flood. Tick, tock, tick, tock........

How bout if you cut out a fish and glue it to a toothpick while we wait?:hihi:


----------



## VadimShevchuk

get a no fishing sign for the tank =D. You might as well flood since you might get some melt when you do.


----------



## Aqua'd

If you need to trim out your Stauro or thin out anything along the way... and decide it would be easier to just throw away..
I'd be happy to pay for shipping + a few bucks 
Looking awesome though, I hate filling emersed tanks too, they look good.



chad320 said:


> +2 Ive been watching and waiting patienly for the flood. Tick, tock, tick, tock........
> 
> How bout if you cut out a fish and glue it to a toothpick while we wait?:hihi:


Although I completely Agree with Chad!
Maybe if we start a slow clap and inspirational chant

flood it.... flood it....flood it!.. Flood it!
:hihi:


----------



## albirdy

deluge


----------



## fluffiebuggie

Thanks for this thread!
Having decided a little while ago that I need to rescue my old 10 gallon I've decided to go for an Iwagumi style.

I had reasonable success on my previous try. I planted Utricularia Graminifolia (sp?) and it actually took hold and spread quite rapidly forming a fantastic carpet.

Unfortunately it became detached and broke apart. I think it was too much mass combined with a really light and loose substrate.
So now I'm going for a small sporadic helping of Utricularia and a wider collection of mosses on an Amazonia substrate, with something easier for the main carpet.

Thanks again for the great thread!


----------



## bbehring

how bout a small ark sitting on one of the rocks?


----------



## CL

Thanks guys 


bbehring said:


> how bout a small ark sitting on one of the rocks?


And name the aquascape Mt. Sinai? :hihi:


----------



## VadimShevchuk

CL said:


> Thanks guys
> 
> And name the aquascape Mt. Sinai? :hihi:


:icon_roll :flick:


----------



## rballi

awesome tank!


----------



## Reginald2

Are there records for threads without water? Do we keep track of that type of thing? 

The scape is really impressive. Is that pennywort in the back corner?


----------



## CL

Reginald2 said:


> Are there records for threads without water? Do we keep track of that type of thing?
> 
> The scape is really impressive. Is that pennywort in the back corner?


Check the prejournal for this tank 
And yes, it is pennywort.


----------



## Outlawboss

Freakin' amazing. I hadn't checked this thread in awhile and here I am going back to see what I've missed. 

Awesome job as usual.


----------



## CL

After a very busy couple of weeks, that were a ton of fun nonetheless, I'm wondering if I will ever have time to take care of a filled aquarium with plants 
In the meantime (post trim)...


----------



## speedie408

CL,

Your tank looks hella good without water already. Time to fill it up and toss in a school of fishies in there to complement that bad boy. Awesome job dude.


----------



## Chrisinator

LOL! I kinda like it without water..


----------



## csmith

Yeah, that thing looks amazing without water in it.


----------



## Booger

For sure, broseph. That bad boy is hella good, dudebro. Popped collars and flat brim hats all 'round, brohamulus.



(serious, nice work)


----------



## CL

Don't encourage me 
Booger, you wouldn't catch me dead in a flat bill hat with a popped collar, and if you did, it'd probably be the reason why I died :hihi:


----------



## Kilroy_1911

Booger said:


> For sure, broseph. That bad boy is hella good, dudebro. Popped collars and flat brim hats all 'round, brohamulus.


What he said ^^^


It's looking pretty good CL!


----------



## Dan the Man

> After a very busy couple of weeks, that were a ton of fun nonetheless, I'm wondering if I will ever have time to take care of a filled aquarium with plants


This isn't foreshadowing a "Getting out of Hobby Sale" on the SnS is it?


----------



## CL

I'm not getting out. Just saying that I hardly have the time anymore so this tank could stay emersed for a while. 
Can you say emersed plant farm?


----------



## msnikkistar

CL said:


> Don't encourage me
> Booger, you wouldn't catch me dead in a flat bill hat with a popped collar, and if you did, it'd probably be the reason why I died :hihi:












But popped collars and hats are so cool!


Anyways, your tank is so beautiful. I can't wait to see it filled.


----------



## SafaditM3

Nice work can't wait to see the new pics. roud:


----------



## CL

Thank you. I should have new pics up within a week 
Though, I know how you guys are about DSM tanks :hihi:


----------



## VadimShevchuk

I saw your sales thread on sns..... are you keeping this tank in college?


----------



## CL

I'm keeping the tank for sure. It just may be emersed for a while


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums

Would frogs live well in that enviro?


----------



## CL

Green Leaf Aquariums said:


> Would frogs live well in that enviro?


Darts would do really well, which are always an option.
I always wanted to keep them, I just don't want to deal with FF cultures. 
Though, I hear they are really easy.


----------



## Da Plant Man

Yeah, I hear FF cultures are a PITA. But if you don't flood it they would be fine. Get on dendroboard and maybe keep PDF's


----------



## CL

I have been a member of DB for a couple of years now. Always wanted to keep darts, but never got around to it.


----------



## malaybiswas

Keep frogs or monitor lizards but don't fill up this bad guy, the emersed look is too good:icon_smil


----------



## CL

We'll see how things go. 
Any other animals in here would be just as much work as dosing and water changes (which really aren't that bad- I'm just not always home like I thought I'd be)


----------



## Lance Uppercut

Just FILL IT :icon_evil
You know it will only get better looking


----------



## CL

Filled the tank for a while today before draining it into the garden (which needed the water desperately) 
And I apologize for the over-exposure. I simply don't have the time ATM to fix it lol.


----------



## jargonchipmunk

so you've stumbled on how the scaping contests are really won have you?  Just fill 'er up on picture day and put a few fish in!


----------



## CL

jargonchipmunk said:


> so you've stumbled on how the scaping contests are really won have you?  Just fill 'er up on picture day and put a few fish in!


.


----------



## Booger

Ok. Now what? Paludarium? PDF's _and_ fish?


----------



## hydrophyte

Hey now it has water in there!



CL said:


>


----------



## SafaditM3

Nice!


----------



## CL

Had some time today for a little bit of maintenance- trimming/ moving some stems.








That picture turned out really dark


----------



## Centromochlus

IMO leave it unfilled and get some frogs or something, LOL.

How long have you been growing the plants emmersed?


----------



## CL

AzFishKid said:


> IMO leave it unfilled and get some frogs or something, LOL.
> 
> How long have you been growing the plants emmersed?


Sadly, no time for frogs. 
It's really tempting, though. It's been emersed since July, I think.


----------



## A Hill

Frogs will be more work than filling it up... 

With that said, it looks amazing. Dunno how I haven't checked it in a while, actually I do, I'm super busy at college too. Really though it looks great.

I think it'd look even more amazing if you could figure out a way to get some red in there with red tiger lotuses, it'd be a real pain to put them somewhere that works though it could be a nice challenge while the tank isn't filled with water, although idk if they need to be submerged?

-Andrew


----------



## Hyzer

Stunning...wow.


----------



## CL

Thanks guys


----------



## Lil' Swimz$

I need that grass


----------



## hydrophyte

Looking great Chris!


----------



## legomaniac89

Sick dude. Me likey roud:


----------



## plantbrain

Good flow and rock work, just missing?
Fish........

In 1-2 months, the grass should be well filled in.



Regards, 
Tom Barr


----------



## CL

Thanks, everyone. Tom, you're right. I need some fish haha. I've been pretty busy lately, so keeping this tank as a farm works well- helps me pay for books, food, etc. I'll probably have this tank running full steam with fish, ferts, CO2, and of course water come summer. 

Until then only having to do a little bit of trimming every couple of weeks works well for me.

I just realized that it's been almost a month since a picture update. Time flies.


----------



## malaybiswas

You sold a ton of DHG recently right? Do you still have that much (as in the photo in hydrophyte's post) or something slimmer?


----------



## CL

I cut out the front 2.5 inches of the lawn.


----------



## .Mko.

Nice Tank! I'm loving the dense hydrocotyle growth. Love that plant.


----------



## CL

Long overdue, _almost_ ready to trim again. I took out the hydroctyle sibth. because it was too much of a weed for me to have to trim considering I don't have much time nowadays. In the meantime I'm waiting for the verticillata to make a nice mound. Right now the left side doesn't look very full, but it has some places to fill in where the h. sibth. was. The eleocharis is filling back in where I cut some pieces of sod out.


----------



## speedie408

Looks awesome CL. Still not filled?


----------



## SearunSimpson

I'm going insane waiting for this to get filled!


----------



## non_compliance

This tank is so sick I just got done throwing up after looking at it...


----------



## CL

Hydrocotyle seems pretty happy- sending out lots of flowers


----------



## greekfish

This looks awesome!


----------



## Hyzer

Looks great. You have a lot of patience.roud:


----------



## Joe.1

Man this is a great journal!!!!


----------



## SearunSimpson

What fish were you thinking? I'd go for black neons or embers.


----------



## Da Plant Man

If you ever tear up that beautiful HG, I would be happy to take it off your hands...I might have to just get some for my 75g. You inspire me CL...DARN YOU!


----------



## CL

Thanks guys. 
All of the belem is gone now, BTW.


----------



## Da Plant Man

What! How did that fabulous carpet go away?!?! I demand a reason for this. Now that you are going to plant a new foreground (right?!?!) we are going to have to wait a few more month of DSM for that to fill in. I am officially booing this decision.

Boooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Boooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo!


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## CL

It will not be filling in again, I took it out completely  Got tired of it. I'm considering going with the old standby: hc.


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## Da Plant Man

Alright...I guess it will look good... I like the tank...just not the decision.


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## divy

when you say it will not be filling in again do you mean it wasnt shooting more runners?

Im curious cause i want to use belem as a carpet and im trying to get as much info as i can about it


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## CL

No, I just meant that I took it completely out instead of just taking some of it out.


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## malaybiswas

Hey Chris,

I stumbled upon a old thread where you were planning to buy a pair of fishneedit MH pendants. Where did it end up? Are you using them or did you ditch the plan eventually?

Malay


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## VadimShevchuk

Sorry to hear about the tank coming down. Will it be back up for summer break or are you gonna break it up and sell it?


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## CL

The tank isn't coming down :hihi: It just doesn't have a foreground at the moment 

Malay- I wound up buying the catalina 4x39 W T5HO fixture. Works great, lots of light and flexibility, though the MHs would be nice for an emersed set-up, I feel like they wouldn't give me the flexibility that I would want for a tank with water (due to algae concerns. When emersed you can go full-blast all the time with no ill effects.)


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## AoxomoxoA

Caton said:


> What! How did that fabulous carpet go away?!?! I demand a reason for this. Now that you are going to plant a new foreground (right?!?!) we are going to have to wait a few more month of DSM for that to fill in. I am officially booing this decision.
> 
> Boooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Boooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo! Booooooo! Booo! Booooooooooo!


+1



(sick scape dude)


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## Reginald2

CL said:


> for a tank with water


"with water" 
"water"
:\


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## aerisxaria

this journal is epic. it's got a storyline with a twist! although i've grown attached to the hairgrass, maybe the hc will fill in just as nice. 

but your setup is beautiful regardless


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## .Mko.

any updates on this tank? =)


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## Zareth

chase127 said:


> Dawg... This tank is supa chill. Makes me want some of dat CO2 again... Lovin da HC


Couldn't have said it better myself


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## RcScRs

Updates?


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## akdmks

Updates!!!!!


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## CL

It's lookin' pretty rough right now haha. I will probably clean it up this week. 

Anyone have any coffeefolia or needleleaf java fern that they want to trade for belem or stauro?


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## VincentK

Hey hey, it's the turtle tank! HC sounds like it will be great, sounds like you're sitting on a gold pot of belem right now.


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## CmLaracy

I must say, very well done placement of the rocks and slope/dirt. The texture of that Seiryu (hope its seiryu lol) is just fantastic under that light. Very very nice scape, I like it a lot. Most people can't get rock placement down as well as you did here; this is a prime example of how-to-iwagumi in terms of rock placement and slope to create depth and perspective.


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## CL

Thanks man! I really like the scape as well. Hopefully I'll have the time at some point in my life to do it justice and actually put some water in the tank.

Also, for those interested; I'm actually in Shanghai right now. I haven't seen really much of anything as far as fish go aside from a couple of ponds of very large koi. The garden that I was in that had the koi had some pretty cool rockwork. Probably one of my favorite things that I saw today were the life-size bonsai trees (I forgot the name for it) This particular one was a trident maple (my favorite type of maple).


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## AoxomoxoA

:icon_eek: That lady's dress...! Is she scratching her...erm yeah that's a really cool tree.


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## CL

hahaha, I didn't even notice that. I think it's just her purse doing that, but it does look funny.


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## Lil' Swimz$

The lady on the right is staring you down!


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## Geniusdudekiran

Is it filled yet?


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## CL

Yes, but right now there's just a nice looking hunk of wood in there, a pleco and an amano shrimp :hihi: I'm gonna move the tank to our living room, add some more wood and a few more plecos, so java fern and maybe some tetras.


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## CL

Tank has been moved and is up and running. Picture update coming soon.


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## !shadow!

sweet! my tank's brother is back . looking forward to the pics


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## CL




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## talontsiawd

Wood is beefy. Want to see how you pull this off. Every now and then I go through your old posts as well as UG. I miss that time. Sometimes I don't understand what you are doing and you really do something I wouldn't think of. Can't wait for the progression.


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## CL

haha thanks. The wood is pretty thick, but there's a pretty large rock on it keeping it in place as well


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## Ptjameso

I read through the entire journal yesterday and today! CL I have to say I thoroughly enjoy your journals and your style of planting. Your tanks really inspire me and I hope I can have the patience to create a scape like some of yours!


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## ugn

N1CK said:


> Well at least this time I don't have to go though 30 pages of posts to find nothing...


..yet 

Very nice tank, thumbs up!


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## CL

Power went out yesterday and I lost a handful of neons and bloodfins. Kind of disappointing but it happens. Might be adding some panda cories soon that I have in qt. Current residnets are some shrimp, a pleco, 15 or so neons and about the same number of bloodfins in addition to a lone angel (his partner jumped and dried up on my carpet the day I added her )


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## shrimpNewbie

I would have kept the iwagumi and left it emersed I think I might get some belem for my scape not sure update us soon I'm curious how this will look


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## Bserve

1 Year and no updates... shame on you.


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## CL

Not much to update. I'll post a new picture if I remember when I get home from Brazil.


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## Bserve

Are you home yet?


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## CL

I was haha, I've moved to a new apartment a town away. The tank is still up at home though.

Currently only have a little 3 gallon with me


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