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Continued from,"My Three Tanks, Before Pics"
People wanted my after planting pics, so I took a few. The caption for each pic is above each pic.


55 gal.



left side = straight valls on far left, then hygrophila polysperma in front of the cave, & anacharis in the middle of the tank. Hornwort hangs from the driftwood. Sorry but I lost the right side pic showing a close-up of the spiral valls on the far right side of the tank. You can sort of see them in the first shot though.



18 gal. tank



left side = You mostly see a pothos plant I stuck in there that is growing out the top as well as inside. On the far left toward the front are some spiral valls. Hornwort is floating.



middle of 18 gal. with a sword plant.



right side of 18 gal. with a few valls on far right & Aponogenton in the back corner.



I didn't take pics of my 10 gal. quarantine tank cause it just has a huge sad sword in it from my 55 gal. tank.
Sorry for the lack of photo quality. It was my first time using that camera. I gave it my best shot.
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PS- I do realize that 18 gal. needs a slight redo. I may change the hardscape a little, as well as adding more plants to the back & more anacharis to the front when it becomes available. I forgot to mention there is a weak piece of anacharis just right of the sword plant. There were two pieces, but one disappeared & the other got broke off, I see. Oh well, it seems my tanks always need something.

Fish Patty
Re 55g
That would be one of the most interesting tanks I have seen for a very long time your eyes never stop looking to see what else is there. Fantastic job well done.

I will not be popular about the 18g tank. The layout is excellent BUT that substrate spoils the whole tank reason it is just too bright and distracts your eyes all the time it becomes the focal point/area rather than the thin DW which takes you to the next point of natural flow of interest.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

lol thanks keith! I'm glad you like the 55. My 18 gal. came used with that gravel & I was too lazy to change it & buy new. But I'm not after perfection here & it doesn't bother me, so it will stay until...........???

But you're right.........if I wanted a really natural tank, I would ditch the colored gravel & it would be less distracting.
But I'm too lazy & I still have a little bit of kid left in me, so I will put up with the colored gravel for now.

But thanks for the honesty keith......I appreciate it!

FP
Did I miss something along the line what actually is the back ground? It is because of that it gives it greater depth as if looking into the fading distance as you do under water.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Very nice tanks
I really like that 55G tank..
Nice pics too!

---

I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

Thanks Rob!
Keith, if you are talking about my 18 gal., the background is the dull side of a piece of tinfoil. There is a dull faded reflection of any plants or rocks that are along the back glass, so yes, that does give it a sense of depth that you would not get with a plain colored background.

I'm glad you mentioned that keith. Next time I redo that tank I'm going to remember to put more rocks & plants in the back so I can have that added dimension of depth from their reflections.

Or are you talking about my 55 gal.?

Nice looking tanks, particularly the 55G. Such interesting rocks you have - are they petrified wood? Not only interesting in themselves, but you have really laid them out well.

Also, what is the background in the 55G.

All your plants look nice and healthy too.

Good job with both tanks

Cheers
TW

Thanks Robyn!
No, the rocks aren't petrified wood. I got them from our lake, along with the driftwood.

The background is from Marina & is two sided. This side is called Rocky Canyon. I loved it when I first saw it cause of the depth it gives to a tank. I knew I wouldn't need much else for that tank! lol

Very nice pattty

-Vincent

Patty , Well I finally found this thread I love what you've done to both tanks .
I would agree with Keith & Robyn, fascinating arangement of amazing hardscape in the 55g .
The placement of the plants is interesting and should look even better when they grow in a bit.

The 18 g also has great hardscape , but a little sparse on the plants for my taste ,
but I know you like that look so well done .

Love to see more pics over time as both tanks mature .

Well done
Garry

I will be bold.
The 55g looks great.
Thr 18g looks great, but it's spoiled by the tacky-70's style acid gravel IMO...
Pile the sand in there!

"70's style acid gravel"

I have to agree with mez there, but once those plants get going it will be a very attractive tank

I dont usually like backrounds but that one really fits well with the tank... its like the rock on the middle left is straight out of it

rock on fish patty! rock on!

Thanks Garry! Truthfully, I don't see the fascination with the stuff in the 55? Agreed, I did find that nice piece of driftwood on the left & stuck it on that flat rock. I wanted an empty space under the driftwood & that flat rock just seemed to emphasize that space.

But the other rocks are just squarish to match the background, & formed in two clumps of three each for two little caves for the bottom dwellers.

I just realized I have a plant in front of that one cave & don't want it there. I'm going to replant it front of the other cave.

Yesterday I took the backing off the 18 gal. cause it sits by a window & I decided it needed more light for the plants. I have excess hornwort now, so I'm going to put it all across the back of the tank & weigh it down with the rocks. I'm going to cut the tops off the anacharis in the 55 & replant it in the 18 gal. also. Now that's enough plants for me. And yes, I see in YOUR thread that we have different tastes as to how many plants we want in our tanks Garry.

Thanks for the comments Mez! lol ok.......regarding my colored gravel.... I have some sand here Mez, but it won't work well, as the sand will sink & expose the gravel again. I also have some pea gravel. I imagined either sand or pea gravel in my tank. They are both colored like my rocks, so would appear bland to me then. I would miss the color in my tank too much.

Besides, adding more substrate to my tank would be burying my valls too much cause I understand they can't have the crowns buried or they will die. But I have another idea. Since I want color, green is a color. How about if I get a ground cover plant? Something that spreads & stays really low to the ground? Any opinions on this...ANYBODY?

Sheeesh, this thread ought to be changed over to aquascaping or planted aquaria

Thanks Krunchy! You were posting while I was. I agree about backgrounds. They're hard to decorate around when you aren't going to put much into a tank. It's a good thing I live by a lake where I can get all the rocks I want.

Nice tanks fishpatty. Might i suggest using all of those rocks to your advantage. Attatch java ferns, anubias, moss, and bolbitus ferns to them. All of these plants love low light and do not need fertilizers except fish waste.

Thanks Loach! That's a great idea! I don't think I knew that about those plants, but now that I think about it, it makes sense. IF I ever get the money together to order off the net, those are the plants I'll get.

Thanks Buzilla.........I know you're interested in the plants. I may need to add ferts later, but we'll see.

I guess I can't have the ground cover I wanted. Glosso is what might have done the trick, but I looked it up & it takes high light, which I don't have. Oh well.

I like the 55 gal. tank alot & it's really interesting to watch. The plants, the rocks & the fish all look in place. Even the background is nice.

The substrate of the 18 gal. tank needs to be changed, with a more natural looking substrate & maybe you can add more rocks & plants, attached to the wood sticks that you have.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

Thanks jason, I just noticed your post! Sheeeesh, my plants have grown a lot since these last pics.! There is so much green in my 18 g.now, that I don't need the colored gravel for color anymore! lol

But I'm still not ready to take it out yet. That involves work
Some day I might get ambitious & start changing it over 1/4 at a time. DaMossMan is back, so I think I will get some moss from him.

I love my rock background, but the poor thing is bubbling up again. The first time I used baby oil on it, I think, & it bubbled up. The second time I tried Vaseline. I need to find a permanent solution, cause it's work to drain it & scoot it out from a wall to do it.

What I see is 2 tanks that looked fun to plant, the fish look happy and have several spots to play and hide. The 2nd tank maybe less floaters on top to allow more light to the plants on the bottom. Congrats on joining the green side



The Amazon Nut...

Thanks MossMan.....& it's already done!

The hornwort has grown so fast in both tanks that the surface was covered, so I found places to tuck it away in the back of both tanks so that light could get to the other plants.