FishProfiles.com Message Forums

saltnewbie,

I personally have not been successful with dwarf hairgrass and I actually think it doesn’t look all that great as a ground covering entity. The riccia, that is a nice plant that will need loads of light. How are you planning to keep it down on the substrate (it is a floater, after all)? Are you going to buy pre-made mats that you lay on the gravel?

If you can figure this out then a ground cover with riccia, having a few islands of hairgrass in between, would be a beautiful setup.

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

saltnewbie,

Nice documentation of the rescape process

I think once the plants to the right of the valley will get taller the open street will become even more a focus in the tank. I like the idea of an open area to the back as it is a rather easy way to generate depth (see Rock Valley).

What are the red chunkers on the substrate in the back? Looks like small pieces of a clay pot. Is that your original substrate and did you cover it in front with some back one?

About the snail: tetratech had a few Ramshorn snails that got pretty big and loved to eat his plants. I have some that are maybe a little larger than yours but I haven’t found any indication for eaten plants yet. Nevertheless, if I happen to see a snail during maintenance I remove it (I have other types as well, none intentionally) just to keep a check on the population.

About the filter: My first thought was that this is a clever way to reduce surface agitation, but somehow I didn’t feel comfortable with it. Now I know why . The HOB is your only filter, right? Essentially, I believe that reducing the surface agitation in your case also reduces the current flow throughout the tank. Your water will gently run down the sponge and be available to be sucked up by the intake right away. So maybe there are 2 problems:

a) stale areas because current is rather limited
b) inadequate filtration as the same water gets filtered while remote water just sits there

Hope this helps,

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

update pic of my tank, moved driftwood back, trimmed n replanted a few plants..everythings looking good!

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN0556.jpg

Decided to try a new aquascape last night, this is what I got...

BEFORE...

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN0560.jpg

AFTER...


http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN0574.jpg

I plan to removed the watersprite and add a diff. plant, either hairgrass, or small stem plant that contrasts well with the red ludwiga and glosso.. Any comments?[link]

saltnewbie,

I somehow must have missed you latest update, I was a little too busy with my own tank I guess

Nice mountain, looks good but could look even better if you had some driftwood branches sticking out. Similar to tetratech's center group.

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Neat set-up - is that a whole tank shot or a crop? I only ask because those hatchets look huge! I didn't think they got so large...

---

Back in the saddle!

I plan to add some branchey, thin driftwood coming out of both the left and right sides of the tank. I want to replace the watersprite as soon as I can find the right replacement...

Those hacthets are really big! The picture is cropped but the tank isnt cropped.

What hatchets are they?

I know that there are quite a few versions in the trade, for example I read about 2 that both are called silver hatchets but one is almost twice as big as the other (maybe 3 to 4 inches, I don't really remember).

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Update, heres what the tank looked like last week...:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN0587.jpg

Annnd heres what it looks like as of this afternoon after I cleaned out the filter, and removed as much staghorn algae off my plants as I could and did a 60 % water change. Also, I took out the water sprite and added some micro sword and trimmed the ludwiga stems etc...:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN0598.jpg




..I upgraded my leopard gecko tank if anyone cares, he now resides in a 20 gallon long with kitchen tiles on the right side as a substrate, and blue gecko sand on the left, with a habba tree and some slate rocks( he seems much happier!)..:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN0600.jpg

Update!, its been a while but anyways theres no algae cept for greenspot on the sides of the tank, not too bad and everythings growing. No ferts, just press. co2( 2 BPS ) and around 10-12 hours 110 watt:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN1036-1-1.jpg

right side, java fern paradise, and what type of stem plant is that?:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN1038.jpg

left side, I love fern plants as you can tell, narrow leave is great!:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN1037.jpg

Riccia mats, filling in very nicely:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN1039.jpg

I think my loach wants to be a wood shrimp, they are both chilling behind my fern log, vertical:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN1045.jpg

Cool pic I edited in adobe photoshop, if ANYONE wants me to do this with their tank, let me know and I will!:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/tank.jpg

Annnd, my dogs, of course!:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN1051.jpg

Any comments?

update yet again, going to start some new scaping in the next few days, but heres the most recent pics.:

NEW PICS!!

I havent changed the aquascape one bit in over a month, only trimmed the rotala once about a week ago. My bubble counter ran low on water and stopped working so I have been w/out c02 for about a month and the tank is perfectly fine cept for these dang snails. Heres what 1 month did to my tank, BEFORE:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/DSCN1036-1-1.jpg

AFTER:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/room011.jpg

Jus alot of steady growth, and heres the left side of my tank:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/room013.jpg

and right..:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/room014.jpg

and lastly a neat pic using fisheye effect..:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/room0122.jpg

oh and ofcourse one Miscellaneous pic..my chiapet homer after a month, just got back from vacation and saw him like this.:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c47/organja/room004.jpg

ps, how should I get rid of these snails? I tried yoyo loaches but no luck..Thanks guys!

The plants seem to be growin well but gosh, that's a lot of BGA you have there!

Have you considered treating it with erithromycin (sp)?

---

Back in the saddle!

Its greenspot algae, covers the back and sides of my tank, what should I do about it besides just scrape it off?

I dont add any ferts tho I do have a set of greg watsons ferts jus never got around to using them, yet. lol..

It looks the same as the slimy stuff covering the bottom layer of moss/ gravel. Also, it appears to be forming bubbles. That's a big sign of heavy BGA.

Does it come off in sheets when you remove it? Does it come off easily, or does it take considerable elbow grease?

---

Back in the saddle!

If I take a razor blade to it, it'll come off preety easily. Those bubbles you were seeing are actually snails, lol but they do look like bubbles.

I'm going to clean up the riccia foreground right now and do a large waterchange, i'll take pics tomorow when it clears.

Thanks for the replies, Nowhere man I appreciate it.

lol its been a few years since i posted.

umm i still have the tank running with about 45 fish and jus a lot of java fern and indica rotala.

been busy with college,work, and lifting so i ahvent done anything for the tank in atleast a year.

Welcome back saltnewbie!
That was a nice green tank you had there! I would have added rocks & driftwood to it for contrast myself, to help break up some of that greenery, but those plants were sure growing good.
So are you planning on keeping the tank as it is, or are you ready for a redo now?