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Well, here are the most recent shots of my tank. I think it's coming along quite nicely. I Picked up a couple bunches of corkscrew val and camboba a few days ago and did some minor rearranging. Hope to get a nice background for the tank this week and hopefully add my first fish once his quarantine period is over.




I'm really liking the cabomba. I've never kept it before, but already it's growth is exploding. Just two days ago the tops of those leaves were about 1½" below the water's surface. And in just 20~30 minutes after taking the pictures, some of the leaves are just brushing the surface. My wisteria is also growing up nicely, although I'm probably going to replace it with a plant more appropriate to my biotope.




Two bunches of val yielded about 10 individual plants. So I separated them and spread them out. Experience tells me in a couple weeks that area will be pretty full and I'll have to start my weekly beating back to avoid a takeover. I also decided to put in my "monolith" piece of slate. I'm hoping the val encases it so that you get spiffy little glimpses of it between the leaves.




A shot through the side of my tank. My ludwigia is also probably going to go, but I like it so for now it will stay.




A close up of the inadvertent layering effect that's going on with the two pieces of driftwood and cabomba. I think I'm going to keep it that way due to the cool contrast it gives.

I LIKE IT! but how stable is the slate shelf? I'd hate for a little rambunctious fishy to knock it over onto itself or the other tank mates!

TTFN --->Ta-Ta-For-Now
Kelly ;o}

Thanks Kellyjhw. The slate shelf is as stable as it can be. That said it has one point where it can move slightly, but even though its under the flow of an AC-70 filter on full flow, it doesn't move. It should be alright but I'll definitely keep an eye on it and silicone it together if I have to. That center piece of wood is the only one that wont stay down. Guess its a different type. Oh well.

Phoenix Firewall

That slate would be my biggest worry. When you are doing any work on the tank and knocked it it could easily fall towards the glass.

Is there any way you can remove it and glue it together with safe Silicone and put it back when it is completely dry?

The other point is can you paint the back preferably with a flat black water based paint. It would make things stand out a lot better and certainly have less distractions.


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Keith


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I'd have to find a replacement weight to hold it down. The biggest problem would be the actual shelf. There is a pretty precise balance point. If I silicone it incorrectly, it wouldn't balance on the wood properly. I can tinker with it and see what I can do. As for the background, it's impossible for me to get behind the tank to paint it. I'll probably end up using a self-adhesive vinyl backing.

I like how the slate was in the first pic but good point about it posing a falling hazard should it fall. You could silicone the slate pieces for more studyness.

Your tank looks natural, green, healthy and nice use of driftwoods. The scaping is very good right off the bat. Removing the slate would be even better appearance-wise as it looks out of place, or depending on what fish you put in, maybe put it flat on the substrate behind the driftwood for possible spawning sites or silicone the cave and put it down on the substrate for a hiding spot ?

Overall, excellent work ! Those plants will fill in nicely.

The Amazon Nut...

Thanks DMM. It's really my first attempt at aquascaping with any planning or intention. I've slightly adjusted the slate so that it is more stable. I put one more piece in the stack. Unfortunately I wont be able to move it until the driftwood it's holding down becomes fully waterlogged. I have no idea how long that will take but I expect quite some time.

I've traded my wisteria for scarlet temple since I'm going pure South American. Several of my cabomba stalks have grown so large I made another bunch of cuttings and planted them. My val is finally taking off and producing new leaves and offshoots. I even put in a black background. No more wall to look at.

I even released the first inhabitant two days ago. My first of three Panda Corys and two ottos waiting in quarantine. I'll have to take some new pics and get them up tomorrow.

Got some good pics of my new little buddy and the growth of my plants.



Gonna have to trim some in the next few days and probably replant another bunch somewhere...


The tips of my cabomba are almost red.


All the new little runners and leaves sprouting up from my val.


My lone panda cory.