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A very nice looking tank and destined to be better as it grows out.

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Your thinking what I'm thinking. I'd rather have the rams as my centerpiece and increase my school of cardinals.

I'd to get a tall tank with some tall plants and put my tall angels in there. I'm also thinking about upgrading the tank to a 72 gallon bowfront, but I think it would have the same effect.

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I agree that the angel makes the tank look smaller than it is. Do you have another tank you could relocate them to? If so, I'd do that but leave the rest of your stock as it is. Both of your tetra types will show up well, and the rams could be your centerpiece fish.

I looked thru the rest of your album...I really like your snowball plec



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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Tetratech,

Being caught between two different setups is part of having a planted tank, I guess. Unfortunately I can't have a setup like yours because I have a Juwel tank with Juwel filter, and if you've not seen a Juwel filter -- they're huge, and to disguise them you need big tall plants around them which leaves you with not a lot to play with.

Living with a landscape architect, I've adopted one of their "tricks". To see if something looks good (or to show to the client how good it looks) they take a photo of what they're working on and play with it in photoshop, adding plants where they would be, etc, and get a picture that resembles the end result. Doing the same for your tank will help you a lot. Just find pictures of plants you're interested in and paste them where you think you want them and see if you like the result. It won't look quite the same as having those plants in your tank, but it gives you an idea. Perhaps this is a well known trick in aquascaping too, I don't know, I never heard about anyone using that.

Yes, your probably right babel. I'm going to try the method you described.

Theresa thanks for the comments. I'm still goint to try tweaking things abit. Have fun with your 29g.

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I think it's gorgeous, very well done

I'm actually glad you posted this because it gave me some ideas for me 29g

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Self stick would acutally worry me .
The good thing with the oil method is that it can be removed without having much gunk. Additionally you can move it around if you place it on wrong. Not to mention it's probably twice the cost of a regular background .

^_^



[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

Always learning. By the way I have an Aquarium Adventure store near me. Franchise based on Ohio, but they opened a store in the New York area. And they supposely sell a self stick background. I haven't had a chance to see it yet. These stores have everything there about 11,000 square feet.

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I use plain veggie oil rather than vaseline ....I think it's just easier to spread although if you warm the vaseline up I'm sure it's not as bad.

You cover the background in a thin layer of oil or vaseline compleatly then apply it to the back of the tank using either a flat ruler, squeedgie or I used a wooden paint stick ...just smooth out the bubbles. The oil layer works to really hold the background right against the tank giving a better color.

^_^

[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

Thanks untitled.

Your definitely right about the angel, it does make the tank look small. I actually have two of them. There's a zebra angel that hides from the one you see all the time. He's a little smaller.

I was planning on putting a black background on for contrast. I did have one previously, but I took it off because the algae on the back glass showed up more.

I'm always caught between doing a heavily planted tank with many species or a tank with more rock and driftwood and a few plants bunched in some strategic areas.

But I don't have predrilled tank, so if I stayed "low" with rocks, driftwood and some plants you would always see the equipment.

Thanks for the vaseline tip. Where do you put the vaseline on the corners?

Last edited by tetratech at 01-Apr-2005 08:26

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I think the angel doesn't suit your tank, to be honest. I think they're lovely fish, but they grow to big and they make your tank looks smaller, actually. Your tank looks to me as a 20G rather than a 40G, and I've just realised the angel must be huge. It's a shame about the angel really, as it's beautiful, but the more plants you put in, the smaller your tank will look. If I were you, I would have a huge problem making a decision as this angel is really beautiful.

I agree with Bensaf on everything he said. i wouldn't think about disagreeing. But there is one more thing we've all neglected. Background. A blue or black background will do wonders to your tank almost instantly. At the moment, the reflection of the light on the wall behind is green, which doesn't creat a contrast with the plants in the tank. A different coloured background will create that contrast. The best way to stick a background, in my experience, is to smear it with vaseline.

I like the tank how it is now regarding the layout and I don't think tall plants all along the back would make it look better. This is actually what I did with my tank and I'm constantly thinking about changing it, as the result is a bit boring and I don't like the maintenance of so many plants...

Thanks for all the great comments. I will definitely use some of the ideas you guys gave me.

Bensaf. Definitely see what you mean about a lighter shade of green against the dark driftwood, I think someone else mentioned that as well.

Yes I've been cutting back the Polysperma so the wood continues to stick out. I don't know if you could tell from the picture but the java moss crawls along the substrate and then up a piece of drifwood to the right that you could barely see. It's hard to appreciate it from the picture. I plan on getting a better camera that will give me more definition.

My only real concern is the fish. I almost think my angels ruining the effect of a peaceful tank. Would rather have a hugh school of cardinals.

Anyone thanks again for your suggestions.

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Since my tank was starting to look better since adding co2, I thought I'd show a picture. Please keep in mind these were taken with a small digial camera without alot of shooting flexibility.

Anway let me know what you think.

http://client.webshots.com/photo/270980865/308078236eavbrW



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Tetratech,

A very nice tank, well done

A few of my own thoughts for what they're worth.

Put some more crypts or something in the front left corner to hide/cover the bare bottom of the Sunset and Cambomba.

Try to keep the Polysperma pruned to the hight it's at now. At present it looks perfect with the branch jutting out. Would be a shame for it to get overgrown. Looks great as is.

The moss on the driftwood looks good but I'd swap the moss on the substrate for something brighter. This will also highlight the wood, which at present is kind of melting in the foreground. You can see how the Wisteria on the right hand side is really showing off and highlighting the wood.A couple of moss covered rocks in a bright green foreground would also add depth. A couple of small Anubias at the bottom of the wood pieces ?

At the back towards the right maybe something tall and grassy. Not vals, for some reason I think vals would be too dull or too "flat" in your tank. Something interesting like some really tall Balansae would be awesome. Apons, or Crinium would be another option, something "flowy" *puts on effete interior designer voice*. Some tall thin sags would work too.

Keep away from reds (apart from the Sunset you already have). You don't need them, your tank has a clean fresh crisp look.

You've got a really really nice tank. A couple of tweaks to give a bit more depth and it could be stunning.

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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.

Trimming the moss only make it bushier .

Nice looking tank, btw.

Thanks for the nice comments Cory, Although I love my Angel, the more plants I add the more cramped he looks. I would be probably better off having just 40 cardinals.
Believe it or not there's about 35 fish in the thank,
Cards, rummys, rams, otos, dwarf plecos, and another angel hiding from the one you see.

As far as plants. All the dark stuff in the front and over the driftwood pieces is java moss.

In the back from left to right is hygrophila sunset, cabomba, and regular hygrophila with a piece of driftwood in the middle. Then I have Wisteria Difformis coming from back to front between the two pieces of javamoss covered driftwood on the right.

I also have some cutting from the plants on the left in the right back. (not sure what I want to do back there yet.



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Awesome . What a gorgeous angelfish!!!

I could only hope to get where your tank is.

Can you list all of the plants you have in there?

Thanks untitled,

Do you think this tank would look better high to low or tall all the way across the back. I'm concerned about my Angels having enough room. They already look cramped

Here's another shot of the tank.

http://client.webshots.com/photo/310488444/310488444ZoCmBz

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tetratech,

It should indeed grow in those conditions. 4WPG is more than enough for glosso. I grow it at a bit over 3WPG with no problems. The only problem I've had with glosso was keeping it down right after planting, as it takes time before the roots develop enough to root it. My solution (after a period of pushing it down on a daily basis) was to plant it in such a way that that some of the leaves are buried under the gravel, which keeps it down. It took a little time for those clumps to grow, but when they did they were unstoppable.

Thanks Untitled,

Yes that is java moss. I actually trim the moss every week to keep it from getting too bushy, I currently have 2 wpg for 10 hours and my other bulb comes on for about 4 hours which gives me a total of 4wpg. I'm afraid too push too much light because my co2 is still lower than needed and I'm already fighting some of the blackish thread algae. Started added some excel to help out. Do you think glosso would grow in those conditions.

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