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Here's a close up of the center. Still got a few spots of BBA need to be trimmed off the Anubias. Old stuff, haven't seen new algae in quite a while.

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.

That's incredible! How long did it take to mature to this level?

as previosly said..WOW!

just like a married couple

Maybe they've been watching thru the glass at me and the missus

Can't imagine a tank without Rams, I'll always have room for them. As well as their great looks they are fascinating to watch. They look even better in a planted tank and vice versa , like they were made to show each other off.

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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.

"then kiss and make up, squabble again."

Rams are so funny with their behaviour, just like a married couple. When mine have a fight the female usually sulks for a day at one corner of the tank until the male starts courting her again. Last week she was not well and that was lovely as well as the male didn't move from wherever she was but was very gentle with her -- no chasing or playing around, just being very gentle and he even nudged her towards the food when I fed them. Now that she's well again he seems so delighted and happy by swimming around her and rubbing bodies. It's so strange to think of fish in human terms, but they don't leave you any choice, do they?

WOW! Very nice tank! I wish mine was like that!

The only question I have to ask is where the hell did the rams find a place to spawn in that tank???

Their hangout is around the base of the sword. You can't see it but there's a big long piece of driftwood there with lots of caves and fair bit of open space, that area and the crypt field nearby seems to be their place. They're not very good parents. They get a lovey dovey for while, then squabble and seperate to differnt sides of the tank (always female on left and male on right) and then kiss and make up, squabble again.

The Boesmanni used to like spawning in the thick Anubias but lately favor the Rotala. They spawn almost weekly always very early in the morning. Easy to tell, there's always an SAE and the Angel following right behind them , ready for breakfast.

There's actually quite a few pockets of open space dotted around the tank. It's quite wide and most of these fish have been together over a year now so they all have their own favored spots. If I can't see a fish I usually know where to look to find them.

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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.

if i was a fish that had lived in that tank all its life i think i would still get lost

Great tank as always
Alex

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

For some reason I think it looks more impressive uncropped...

The only question I have to ask is where the hell did the rams find a place to spawn in that tank???

Here's brighter full uncropped photo showing what's in the dark corners !

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.

As always WOW Ben!!

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

I'm probably going to enter it in this years AGA contest

I think that's a great idea Keep us posted /:'

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

want to trade tanks?

Martin,
Trading with your tank wouldn't be such a bad deal at all

Yeah, I've being fiddling about with it to get the contrasts right. Pretty much the same stock of plants I always had just shifted the locations around. Found it a bit easier by focusing on certain zones at a time.

Someday I'll take a chainsaw to that darn sword but I'm just not up to it yet.

Once I settled on a good fert regime , thanks to Tom Barr (plantbrain), it became very easy and trouble free. Apart from the occasional spot on the glass there has been no new algae in months now. It only takes a few minutes a week to keep on top of the nutrients. Plants are very very healthy. Fish are happy as pie, Rainbows, Cherry Barbs and Rummies spawn all the time, Rams got it on once. As a result I have possibly the worlds fattest SAE , he eats the eggs as they are dumped.

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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.

Really Fantastic, you've done a great job .


http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/s8xi5heh/my_photos
http://www.deathbydyeing.org/



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

Am I allowed to be green with jealousy? Bernard, your tank looks fantastic! The plants look absolutely in perfect health and I love the color/shape contrast you've worked out. I think if I were you I would have gotten rid of the sword, even if it would have ripped up the tank, but still... want to trade tanks?

Bernard

I am finding it harder to write more that a few words to describe your tank.

WOW has been said.

I personally thing it looks like nature did the job for you as usual perfect as only nature can do.

Well done mate

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

Untitled,

Thank you. The aquascape was kind of forced on me by the big sword on the left. It's now too big to move without tearing down the tank. So I have to work around it. Basically I tried to create a sort of valley with lager leaves at the sides sloping down to a smaller more open are in the center. Tried to get a sense of depth in this area to enhance the look of a valley. The cave is actually not a cave, it's a very solid and complex structure !]
The Rotala in the middle is a bit of an illusion. The small piece of driftwood is actually resting on a bed of fossilized wood (the pic is too dark to see) which is arranged in a circle and the inside of the circle is filled with substrate (the rocks keep it from flattening)and the Rotala is planted in this. The Rotala is actually potted I know most people frown on keeping the plants in pots to prevent them becoming root boundand while this is true for swords and crypts IMO it's not an issue for stem plants like Rotala where I would be throwing out the bottoms (with the roots) every couple of weeks. Theres a couple of reason for this - it keeps the Rotala high and close to light to keep the nice pink/red color (I usually let it overgrow before I trim it so it gets some time right under the lights to keep the color). It gives more of a bushy illusion which would be lost if planted lower. And ease of maintenance, it needs a lot of trimming and it's in a very awkward spot (there's a big piece of wood right behind it with lot's of J.Fern and Anubias) so I can just pull it up , trim off the bottom and pop back in very quickly and easily. The small piece of wood with the Wendelov plantlets hides all this and the pot is completely invisible.

Babel,

No it's not actually that dark.Shame you can't see but that right hand area is a big sea of many many crypts.It's actually one of the nicest parts of the tank. Problem is with the camera if I use a setting that shows up this area the rest of the tank looks overexposed. Get the center right and the right side comes out underexposed Need to play with the camera to find a balance.
I used to have the crypts in the center but they grew HUGE and blocked the view. I moved them to this area under the shade of the sword and they did fine , they've gwown very bushy but low, just right for that area.

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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.

Wow!!!

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

*agrees*!

I saw it more as a framed print....is it really that dark in the corners or was that cause of the camera?

Impressive as always .

^_^
[hr width='40%']"Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

Beautiful, of course. I especially love the way you created a feeling of depth, like going into a cave, by using plants with large leaves on both sides, and plants with small leaves in the centre, with red plants in the back. It works very well.

Unfortunately, I think the AGA judges won't appreciate this beauty as it's not in their style, but I just love it.