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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Very nicely done, Matt! Last thing you need to do is to get rid of those nasty angels...

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Bensaf - can't wait for my socks to get blown off....it's hot here anyways .

here's the new aquascape - took me about an hour to get everything settled, tying down java fern is the worst .

I also recently updated my journal for this tank. You can see the changes made to the tank since January 12th here.


mattyboombatty attached this image:


Last edited by mattyboombatty at 25-Jun-2005 14:16[/font]

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Sounds good Matty Looking forward to the pics.

BTW, I took some of my own advice. I removed the huge 2 foot sword from my tank. Finally got tired of it totally ruining the aquascape and the damn thing just kept getting bigger. What a job The root structure was enormous and literally pulled out about 30% of the substrate. 2 days on I'm still clearing up the mess and re-scaping. But worth it, a 300% improvement in the look of the tank. I'll post pics when the new plants have grown in a little.Prepare to have your socks blown off

I don't think I'll be getting anymore amazon swords unless I get a 300 gal tank someday. This is why you don't put these things in a 10gal.

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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.

Hey everyone

well I decided to take a bit of everybody's advice. Today I picked up a bunch of c. balansae, (which I was ecstatic about because I've never seen it sold in my lfs before) some bacopa, a few little java ferns, and some ludwigia repens.

I put the crypts in the front left, moved my anubias nana out in front of the log, the java fern I tied onto the driftwood to balance it out a bit, and put the bacopa and ludwigia repens in the back right corner until I figure out if they will do well in my tank, then I will most likely remove most of the green hygroand plant it with those two plants.

Tomorrow I will post with some pictures to see what everybody thinks.

Thanks for your help
matt

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,

A nice tall crypt if you can find it is C. X Willisii "Lucens". Looks more like a sword plant. Make sure it's not normal Willisii as that's kinda small. Looks good mixed in with stem plants as it's very erect and can handle the shading better then most.

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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.

These are some great suggestions everyone thank you.

After talking with Babelfish in chat, I'm convinced That I can swing the slanted look if I can fill in a few spots with the right plants.

Greenfootball-yes these are the same tanks, I think som of the rescaping made the tank look a bit smaller.

Keith-The first shot is the entire tank. The second shot about 2 " is chopped off the right side, but you really are only missing out on the reactor. I agree the anubias is lost, but the driftwood might look better if I put some java fern or possibly even that anubias on it. It's really the only driftwood I can put in there and still have room for plants because it is really skinny. I also think it is a peice that adds to the illusion of depth because I can plant behind it, so maybe it won't look so out of place with something planted on it. And believe it or not, the sword is about 4" away from the back of the tank. I think if I let the tenellus reach over towards the rubin sword it might appear to be further back in the tank. I agree it might overtake the tank, but it seems to have stopped growing up and is just sending out new leaves, so I'm hoping it will stay as a midground type plant *hopes* and I might just be able to trim the leaves back if it gets too wide.

bensaf-That's a great comment about the small leaves vs. large leaves - I hadn't even noticed. You made some great plant recomendations, and I'll see what the lfs has or can get in. I think some tall cryps would look great - that's such a problem area in my tank that has potential. I just couldn't figure out what to do with it, but now I have some great ideas.

Thanks
matt

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

If the tanks too narrow to create depth, then the challenge is to creates the illusion of depth.

Plants are usually used to create depth by tall at the back medium in the middle and short at the front. Your problem is there's not enough room to put anything between the Hygro and the Tennellus. What I would do is fill that area on the left side, where the Anubias is with medium sized plants. The same polants you would put between the Hygro and the the Tenellus if you had room.Fill up the entire area. Now you have your medium plants albeit parallel with the foreground plants but it will still create an illusion of depth. Some Crypts would work or big mass of Anubias even better as you could create a slope.

The Polysperma leaves may be a bit too big, notice how the left side looks deeper becuse of the Rotala leaf size. Maybe some like Ludwigia Repens or Bacopa would be a better choice. Something tall and thin mixed in would also help create depth. I'm not a big fan of Vals, but some of the tall Sagitarrias would be good - nice bright green, or something like C.Balansae. Narrow Leaf Java Fern would also work if you can get hold of it.If using Vals keep to the smaller thinner variety like Spiralis.

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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.

mattyboombatty

Here are some of my concerns and thoughts.

The DW looks out of place (the larger end) is too central.
The Anubias is certainly lost.

Hide the heater in the corner more.

It is very difficult having not much depth (front - back) you "could" think of a terrace with a few medium size plans (all one variety)

If that is a sword in the front it "could" outgrow that area bringing the rear of the tank even closer.

Is that the whole tank in the photo?

Rather than having two distinct tall plants at the rear I would be thinking of mixing 2-3 varieties of tall plants preferably with a different texture/leaf shape.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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hey i just saw your other post in the general forum, are they the same tanks?? this one seems a little smaller...

Problems! *checks for passport cause she sure is lost*!

I like the way you have it now....the driftwood and sword begin to form a diagonal, if you let the rotala grow in taller, and trim the hygro down on a diagonal low on the right hand back side you'll further enunciate the line.

Improvements....I'd look to tucking up that airline somehow. Use trimmed portions of the hygro to fill in the thickness behind the wood in order to hide the heater. I like this tank since it's simple yet full!
If you've got the Wpg to swing it you might try going for red crypts on the left hand foreground to compliment the forground plants on the right.

^_^[hr width='40%']"Has someone taken your faith? It's real, the pain you feel.
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[link=*refighting lost battles*]http://babelfish.qwertydigital.com/" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link]

hey my tank is also around that size, 36x12x18, LxWxH.

i would move the anubias onto the wood piece, or behind the grass and in front of the wood.

and add a crypt wendtt on the leftside in between the sword and the stem plants, both these plants are low light plants, so they should do great in your tank.

there are lots of possiblities

I think it needs some background plants to give it more depth. The anubias is pretty well hidden, so you should move it closer to the front, probably near the wood.

Right after I moved into my new apartment, I shoved all my plants back in the tank and left it alone for 2 weeks. Today I decided to try and rearrange and sculpt a little bit. I'm still not happy with the design and would like some advice on how to make it better.

The problem is that my tank is tall and long, but not wide.
Dimensions: 36 x 12 x 20 = L x W x H
I have trouble trying to make it look like it has some depth, instead of going from foreground straight to backround.

I also would like some plants with color that would do well in medium lighting. I was thinking Alternanthera reineckii roseafolia, Ludwigia glandulosa, or Ludwigia repens. Please suggest anything else you think would fit well.

Without further ado:


mattyboombatty attached this image:


Last edited by mattyboombatty at 24-Jun-2005 19:04[/font]

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Its brilliant/:'

Awww I like my angels ...

Thanks Bob, Dude - hopefully it will all fill in as the new plants start growing. I'll continue making posts every couple weeks in my journal in the planted forum to show how everything goes.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

One thought, you may want the c. balansae toward the middle or back. Mine are over 24 inches long...

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

very nice tank!
i'd just move the anubia an inch to the right, so the DW can serve as a good background to it.

this middle back plant (what's its name?) means lots of trimming...

Why not use a more visually effective way of gett C02 into your tank?

Or is that the best way for diffusing DIY C02?

very nice anyway

Alex

Last edited by Alex at 07-Jul-2005 05:13

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''All the clown fish and yellow tangs in the world cant save you now!''

Thats one of the better ways of getting CO2 into the tank....I've got a similar setup in two of my planted tanks, but I've placed mine behind the rotala as it seems to be one of my faster growing plants.
Either move the diffuser behind some plants, or take it out next time you shoot a pic .

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