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Aw, I'm blushing. Thank you for the compliments feeling a bit overwhelmed. It's taken a long time to get to this stage but I think I am finally happy and will stop tinkering.

Keith,
Thank you as always, actually your kind comments and support when I first posted pics some months ago , encouraged me to keep at it.
The only who gets "J" is me ! I think what helps is that I devote a relatively large and constant amount of time to the tank. I'm living 10,000 miles from home in a strange and at time stressful and frustrating country. Spending an hour in the evening just tidying and check everything is almost a therapy. I find it very relaxing (most of the time!) and a alternative form of release to punching out security guards.

Sneaky Pete,
Yes the fish seem very happy. I've never had a major illness problem and almost all of the fish have been with me from the start and are all grown up now ! Healthy plants = healthy fish.
Not all red plants are the same. Careful choices help. Rotala Wallichi is a bugger very difficult needs more attention then adequate light. I have learned to be very careful about my choice of plants. Exampleome reineckii is very easy to grow , other variants almost impossible.
I have found some red plants that are very easy to take care of and do quite well even in moderate light.
Ludwigia Repens "Rubin" has a beautiful coppery reddish color is dead easy - you can just make it out behind the anubias in thebottom right hand side of the pic.
The red in the middle is Ludwigia Glandulosa (sp?) a ridiculously pretty plant that is again very undemanding. It grows VERY slowly which I actually find an advantage in a centerpiece plant!
The red plant at the front of the small tank I'm not 100% sure on the i.d. I'm fairly certain it's Ammannia, if not that possibly a type of Nassea. Again very easy to take care of, slow growing but incredibly beautiful especially in small low bunches, the leaves grow very close together so it makes a terrific foreground plant. That one has been in there almost amonth now and I've barely touched and it's grown about an inch but kept it's shape and color beautifully.
Once the right mixture of plants that are compatible with both each other and the tank parameters it all becomes very easy.I still don't use Co2 and I hardly ever fertilize.

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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.

Bonke,

It's about 6" in diameter so it might be a bit of a squeeze under your hood. The smaller fans should work, but I'm sure you'd need more then 1. It just plugs into a normal outlet.The unit has a detachable power cord, it's at the top of the unit, quite small and done in a way that makes sure splashes don't come into contact with live wires. Whoever designed it put some thought into it.

The tank actually came with a hood. It's a wooden unit similar to yours. But when I got the PC fixture it was a bit of a squeeze and then I changed to a canister filter which would have entail cutting sections in the hood for the in and out flow tubes, I just decided to put aside the hood. Actually I prefer the open top. I like being able to see the tank from the top, it's easy to access for maintenance , pulling out floating leaves etc.

Only problem I have with jumping is a pyschotic Dwarf Gourami. He gets very exciting at feeding time and will leap out of the water to snatch the food out of my hand !One time he leapt clear out of the tank onto the fllor about a five foot drop, which would be the equivalant of a 20 storey drop to us. I thought he was a goner, but when I scooped him up and put him back in the tank he was ok, bit stunned for a few seconds but went back to trying the snatch the food out of my hand. He hasn't learned and still tries to get the food before anyone else

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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.

it is as I feared, I'll never be able to install a big contraption like that. maybe the smaller kinds of fans, like the one they use on video cards and such might work. Btw, what kind of power supply do you have to drive the fan? Oh, and don't you keep a hood on the tank at all? Aren't you afraid of fish jumping out?

As for the photos, you really have a lovely clean tank, those plants look magnificent! Great job!

last one

bensaf attached this image:

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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.

close up

bensaf attached this image:

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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.

And due to popular demand a few more photos of the tank....

Side shot

bensaf attached this image:

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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.

Bonke,
As promised here is a photo of the fan

bensaf attached this image:

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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.

Bonke,
I'll post a pic of the cooling unit later today on this thread. Good job on the Sunset. Just to prove every tank is an entity onto itself I cannot grow that plant for love or money I've made a couple of attempts but it just breaks apart in my tank in a very short period. I'm sure it wasn't a lack of light as the TOP of the stems would break off rather then the bottom, which you would expect if light was a problem. I suspect it may have been the temp.Either way I've surrendered
One suggestion on your light issue. Try to get hold of good tri-phosphor bulbs. They are a little bit more expensive BUT they give about 20% more lumen output then normal bulbs. This will probably give you as much additional light intensity as an extra bulb but without additional headaches. Remember the WPG thing is just an easy guide based on the assumption that more watts equates to more output. Getting 20% more intensity is the same as getting 20% more watts. I've used tri-phosphor bulbs before the PC I have now and was very happy with them. In fact on the small tank I swapped out the bulb that was in it for a tri-phosphor daylight and the difference was startling.Give it a try.

L.Mousling,
I'm planning on taking a few proper shots tonight. The one above was just a quick snapshot. Thanks for the encouragement.

Sneaky Pete,
I'll take my chances with the photo I submitted, can always enter again. The Pongol will only last a short while submerged, few months at most. Once it starts to die off chuck it, don't waste time trying to save it, there will be nothing you can do.As for your large tanks I've seen your pics and it's coming along very nicely, I liked it. You want to fill it out quickly, easy - Hygro Polysperma It grows very very fast and is a sinch to propogate. You can start by filling out a back corner (you can see i have a lot of it in the rear right side corner) let it grow then cut in half and stick the tops in the gravel. Guranteed you will have a dense jungle in no time. It's the perfect blant to start an aquarium. It soaks up nutrients fast which helps get a balance and head start on the algae, and can make the tank look full while you slowly add more intersting varied plants. Jus chick a lot in as a filler then as you built up the aquascape, and add slower growing plants you can gradually remove the Polysperma. Wisteria and Water Sprite are also good for this kind of thing. The fancy red plants and swords etc are great but take time to fill out and find their growing legs. I think throwing in a bunch of "weeds" at the start and then sculpting around them is the best way to go.

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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.

Bernard,
The deadline for the contest is Oct.1st, I dont see why you couldnt probably twist Babel's rubber arm into letting your swap a new pic for the old one....
It would be worth a try anyway....
Thanks for the advice on the plants, you seem to be sure becoming a "Plant Guru". I recently have purchased some of those new "AquaPlants" that come in a tube with jelly in the bottom. I picked one called "Borneo Sword" which it isnt, it is actually Aglaonema simplex, very nice, compact plant, super green. I got "Pongol Sword" Chlorophytum Bichetii, which I think now after doing some research may be a terrestrial/semi aquatic plant, but it looks great I hope it does well. And I got Umbrella Plant Spathiphyllum Wallisii- also a gorgeous plant. I have put them all into my 10g tank which now houses 2 apple snails, 1 ramshorn snail, a BN plec, and a hillstream loach, and 1 new gorgeous young betta male. The lighting is 2x23watt flourescent spirals in "Full Daylight" which figures out to exactly 4.6 watts per gallon. I also transferred one large amazon sword that was doin lousy to this tank, and have also planted it with wisteria cuttings and one lousy looking Giant Hygro plant as well, in the attempt to bring these lousy looking plants back to life.
I hope I can get my tanks looking as good as yours. My 90 is proving to be a challenge, as every plant I add seems to just not be adding much. Such a huge tank will take a long time to plant Im sure.
-Koran.

Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

Bensaf - honestly, I recommend you get a couple more shots of the tank and hold on to them, that's worth entering next year. (Although, of course, it'll probably look even better soon enough and you can enter *those*). Entering is fun, and even with the competition at the caliber that it now is (ie everyone goes in knowing they're going to lose ) the feedback is great, and you feel like you've gotten somewhere.

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

Sounds really good, I'd be very interested in seeing a photo of the cooling unit. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to install a similar one. My tank was not custom built, but is a commercial unit from Juwel, here's a picture of it:



It's a pretty unit (that's why my wife allowed me to get it ) but there is very little space inside the hood. the lamps are only 2-4 cm away from the water. Originally it came with only two 38 watt lamps, but with a bit of tinkering I added a third lamp. I'm now still thinking of getting a fourth, but the heat is a major concern. I have a heater, which is set at its lowest setting, so basically it is off, and at the end of the day the water is pretty much 30 degrees. The plants don't seem to mind too much, internodes are fairly short and they look pretty nice, I'll attach a photo of my sunset hygros, after I fertilized with some new stuff I bought they became deeper red than ever before, almost like flowers.

Anyway, I'd love to see the cooling unit to see whether I have any chance of installing a similar system.

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Bonke attached this image:

Hi Bonke,

It's an odd shaped tank. Hand made locally, dirt cheap. You're right it's not very long, but deep and wide, guess you could call it a show tank. 40"Lx21"WX24"H. It's actually about 70gals but with gravel and decoration etc I just call it 65.

The light fitting is another bargain. It has 4 36watt PC bulbs @10,000K so a total of 144watts just a bit over 2wpg.But the PC bulbs are noticably more intense then normal flouros. Oh it has reflectors built in also. Only cost me about $80 US.

Ahh, temperature. Had exactly the same problem. Living in the tropics I don't need a heater, quite the opposite. My temp was pushing 31C. Believe me the plants will suffer at anything above 28. Growth is poor and and small leaves and long internodes. In the wild plants do most of their growing in the winter months and slow down in the hot season. Actually I solved my problem with a gadget I picked up in Singapore. Called a Plant Cooling Fan. Basically it's like a bigger cooloing fan you'll find in a computer housing. Clips on to the top edge of the glass and is fully adjustable for direction and angle onto the water surface. If you like I can send you a photo, I think for anyone who is DIY inclined it would be pretty easy to knock one up. It works a treat I am now at a balmy 26.5 -27oC. The plants already showing signs of improvement.Believe at 30oC some of the plants will start to look ragged, particularly the faster growing stem plants. Let me know if you need more info. I still have the packing from the fan,it's a Taiwan brand but you may be able to find something similar online. Only cost about $20.

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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.

You're a lucky man Bernard, my tank is still trying to find it's ballance, the green hair algae won't quite give up the fight. Btw, what size is your tank, you mentioned above that it's a 65 g, is it very deep and wide? It doesn't seem all that long. Oh and how much light do you have on it, it looks lovely and bright. I think on mine I still need more light in order to have enough light reach the bottom plants, but even if I add another TL it'll only add 38 watts and a lot of heat, even now I'm having trouble keeping the temperature below 30 degrees celcius

Hi all,

Came back from a trip to find the big tank a bit of a mess and had some new anubias to put in. Decided to do a moderate re-work on the tank.

I am quite happy with the results looks a lot tidier and a bit more open space for the fish. Removing plants from the surface is letting a LOT more light in, so all good.

bensaf attached this image:

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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.

very nice indeed

Very Very nicely done Bernard!
Your tank is so fabulous looking, but most of all, I am sure your fish really love you!
They look extremely healthy as well, and kudos to your red plants always staying so red. I couldnt even get Rotala xWallichi to stay red at 4.6wpg in my 10g tank. (It died in fact).
Feel free to post some more pics for us to drool over---oops I mean look at ...


Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

Bernard

I would like to reply with one word only. FANTASTIC

You have proved that patients and planning all come out in the end (Tank)

Well done Bernard must be some thing in the water or the air up there that gives you these results, or is it the luck of the Irish. Or is it you give the tank just a wee dram of Irish "J"

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

Thanks all.

Little Mousling,

AGA contest ! No way, I'm nowhere near that confident yet ! Baby steps, see how I do in the FP contest first But just the fact that you asked is the biggest compliment I ever received :88)

Bonke,
I screwed up. I already submitted my entry to the contest but using a pic of the tank before I did this rework (which wasn't planned, but forced on me by a bunch of hungry fish who decimated my centerpiece limnophilla aromatica).I think this version is a bit of an improvement though, looks like a bit more thought went into it, which it did. I think I've finally nailed it and have no plans to change anything again unless some kind of disater strikes.

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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.

Ahhh damn... and that just one day before the Aquascaping contest. Looks like you have a winner in your room there Bernard. Absolutely great looking tank!

very nice, I wish I had that kid of luck with plants!

Steph

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I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
~ Mae West