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Eric,

Go back to the link in my last post above and go to page 2. There I talk about "My Moss" that I aquired 11 days ago.

In addition, look at [link=This Post]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/63423.html?200508260338" style="COLOR: #ff6633[/link] to get more information about it.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I think I would go with only one angel. They get really big, after all. In fact, mine is so large that I wouldn't put him in anything smaller than the 55 he is in now. Good luck, and have fun with all those great cories!

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They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

Ok im working on the background and getting more plants so I will post pics when that is ready. I am now deciding on what to get rid of. My current stocking is in my profile and I don't like it. I think I will want to add another angel, add more cardinals, get rid of the black neons danios, current cories, and maybe the small clown loaches i got temporarily to reduce the snail population. So I want to end up with this:

2 angels
10 or so cardinals
10 schwartzi cories
add a few more ottos to have about 4

Does this sound good?

I have a very good lfs which is about a 40 or so minute drive from me. Good selection of plants so I will have to make another trip up there. I'll just have to make a giant list of plants to get and see if I can find them up there. Next I am going to try to visualize where I want them . And after that I am going to work on stocking. My current stocking looks like a mess.

As for the background.. what do you recommend. Will a piece of cardboard painted black work?

It will work just fine. You'll be amazed at the difference. It will highlight the colors of both plants and fish. It will also give an increased perception of depth.It will make the tank look bigger and empty spaces don't look like empty spaces anymore, the gaps beome deliberate parts of the aquascape. There's a reason all aquascapers use a plain background

I have some spiral val inbetween the hygro and sword right now. Any ideas for other plants?

Many ideas. I really am beginning to believe that this is the biggest problem for most people trying to build an attractive aquascape. Finding the plants. Ask any craftsman and he'll tell you the raw materials used are the key. Same for us, plants are the raw materials.Most LFs have a lousy supply of plants. For low light the usual suspects are Java Fern/Anubias/Crypts/Moss, but within those genus is a huge variety, you just won't find them in the usual LFS.Hunting the other varieties is well worthwhile either from other hobbyists, Aquabid or on-line retailers.Tend to be in better condition too.
For your own sitauation there are many tall attractive plants that would work well - Cryptocorenes like Balansae or Spiralis which is a beautiful tall graceful plant. Criniums. Vals like Natans or Nana are fantastic looking vals.
Ferns like Narrow Leaf or Phillipine are much more attractive then the normal fern.
Other good low light plants are Bolbitis or Cyperus Helfiri.Aponogetons aren't too fussy for the most part.
Small crypts like Parva can make good foregrounds in low light.

Search for low light easy plants on a site like Tropica and if you see any you like hunt them down.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

I've had a lot of luck with dwarf sag as a grass-type plant and all my tanks are low, low-medium light with no CO2. I posted about it [link=here]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/63039.html" style="COLOR: #99FF33[/link].

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Thanks for the valuable input Bensaf. I dont like those rocks they look ugly so they are going. And that cave doesnt look to appealing anymore either. As for the other piece of driftwood that is going too. I dont like it. I am going to get a niece piece of dark driftwood like i saw the other day with java fern on it. As for the background.. what do you recommend. Will a piece of cardboard painted black work? I have some spiral val inbetween the hygro and sword right now. Any ideas for other plants?

Edit: I just was looking at my tank and saw how much my cardinals colours intensified after I fed frozen bloodworms yesterday. I now am thinking that a black background would bring out their colours even more. I am going to change my stocking around too and get more cardinals.. but I have an angel so I would have to get out the fry net if i buy small ones. Adult cardinals are hard to find around here.

Last edited by ericm at 30-Aug-2005 10:20

The background has to go. A plain black background would make a huge difference.

The background plants look good and copliment one another well. But there's no middle area. A big branchy piece of wood with the usual Anubias/ferns would do very nicely.

Then push the existing wood and rock forward.

I'd change the current rocks to something more "natural" looking but good rocks are amazingly difficult to find (I know there's something wrong with me when evrywhere I go I'm looking at the ground for suitable rocks ! )

Something tall thin and grassy between the hygro and swords. With your current light even Balansae would be good.

BTW.Try to photograph without the flash -tank lights only you'll get better results.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Ok I have some pics of what I changed now. They can be found here

I am unsure about the placements of the new plants I got and the rocks and stuff like that but I at least got them rooted without any weights . I am going to get a bigger piece of driftwood soon. I found one at a lfs that was CDN $40 and it was a nice dark colour and it had an assortment of plants already attached including java fern! I should have got that . Well I took some pics of the anubias and the spiral val and the pygmy chain sword that I still cant get completely rooted. The runners were a pain .Tell me what you think .

The new plants are in and it was a hastle to get them all rooted and they aren't exactly in the right spots yet. I trimmed the hygro and moved it over a bit. I will post some pictures as soon as everything settles.

I just came back from the lfs and got myself some dwarf anubias, spiral val and pygmy chain sword. I didnt get java fern though . Too many choices. That will come later . I am soaking them currently. Where do you think they should go?

Eric-
Some plants I have had that work very well in
1.5 wpg:
Wisteria
Dwarf Lotus (very nice red ones are lovely)
Bacopa Carolinia
Vallisneria Spiralis
Vallisneria Americana
Cryptocorne Albida
Marimo
Java Fern and Java Fern "Windelov"


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Thanks for the good info Ingo. I think I may go with the Pygmy Chain Sword for the foreground and possibly some java fern around the hygro. My plants are doing fine with the Rid Ich + and I am going to a Big Als tomorrow which has a really nice selection of plants . I would appreciate if anyone could reccomend some more plants that would do well with 1.2wpg for now and with C02 that will be coming shortly (just have to figure the DIY stuff all out).

Hey all , I am finally positng pics of my tank... and I want some advice on what to fix/change and the whole bit. I am trying to change it a bit.. from plants to stocking of fish. I am going to a really good lfs with a huge variety of plants so any good recomenneded types of low light plants (1.2wpg , No Co2) would be good. As for the pics you can find them here

Nothing special so far... I plan on fixing up the plants... and yes the Hygrophila polysperma needs a bit of trimming. Dont trim it in 2 weeks and it turns into a jungle ]. So tell me what you think..input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the good tips. Sneaky Pete, by greenish rocks do you mean that cave? As for the Echinodorus tenellus Ingo, I love that idea. I am going to look into a DIY CO2 solution and I will try to upgrade lighting in the future. And that hygro I think i would like to trim back and thin it out a bit. What type of moss do you recommened... java moss? I am searching for a better piece of driftwood too so that idea can work.

Eric,

I like your tank, it looks very roomy. Besides the great ideas that the others before me already gave you, you could try the following:

- Instead of hairgrass, try Echinodorus tenellus (Pygmy Chain Sword). It grew for me very nicely in only 1.3wpg (my tank is only 18” high though). Scroll to the bottom of This Post to see some details of it.

- Place some moss on your rocks (or additional driftwood) to give them a natural aged look.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 26-Aug-2005 04:42

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Eric, very nice tank.
I agree with Babel, the rocks need to come more forward a bit, espescially the two greenish ones.
The Sword in the back right also needs to come forward or it will get overtaken by the Hygro.
The Vals will look nice in the front, but I
also think some spreading Crytocornes would do
very well in there too, perhaps providing more of a 2 level foreground for you.
Dwarf Hairgrass, not very easy to grow
I have had absolutely no luck with it at all.



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Dwarf hairgrass .. it says its very easy to grow? Maybe you are thinking of something else? As for C02 I am looking into a DIY solution. Bring on the research .

As far as I know dwarf hairgrass is one of those semi-impossible plants to grow needs high light, CO2 and plenty of attention or something like that :%)...maybe I'm thinking of something else.

I've got crypt wendeti in my 30 that's getting about 1.5wpg. It's even planted in sand and thriving fairly well.
Sorry cant help on the plant ID...maybe a seperate post in planted if no one can ID it here.

^_^[font color="#999999][hr width='40%']"When you try your best but you don't succeed. When you get what you want but not what you need
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COULD IT BE WORSE?" ~Coldplay" ][hr width='40%']"When you try your best but you don't succeed. When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace. When you love someone but it goes to waste
COULD IT BE WORSE?" ~Coldplay

Babel your drawing isnt too bad . I have some vals in the front there which were in the back but werent growing to well and I am trying to look for a bigger piece of driftwood. As for the foreground... which crypts would you reccomend. I was looking at some carpeting plants and I came across Dwarf Hairgrass (Eleocharis parvula). Here is a pic. How would something like that look for the foreground? And can anyone ID the plant in the left hand corner at the back of the tank. I know its hard to see, it kind of looks like an amazon sword but not quite.