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What a great-looking tank!
I love how you've arranged the driftwood - very natural looking. I have practically no experience with planted tanks or aquascaping for that matter, but your combo of plants and arrangement look pretty awesome to me!

-P

What is the plant right in the front center, the bushy
bright green grassy one?


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Okay it may not have been intended, but what drew my eye (and design comment) is the play between the round grouping of riverstones and the round(ish) bit of foreground plants to the right of them.
If it wasn't intended I'd work on leaving it...don't let the plants get any bigger than they already are (I might even thin the grouping out a bit more). Rocks, because they're heavy, need fewer to gain the "weight" of the plants. Just like the play between the weight of text and images in graphic design.

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I performed the second part of my replanting job, but not without unexpected issues along the way. My Heteranthera zosterifolia (Star Grass) that I planted in the back middle almost completely died while I was away for 3 days. I must have planted it way to dense, and given my low light of 1.3 wpg, no light was reaching the lower parts at all. Bummer!

What I did this time:

- I removed almost all the Star Grass and replanted a few in the middle of the tank, right behind the Pygmy Chain Sword. I hope it will grow back in a while. Some I left on the right back and side because it seems to get enough light there and it is not to densely planted.
- I replanted the Ambulia to the middle back and added some Sagittaria Subulata in front of it to fill the vacuum that was present in the middle.
- I replanted my Ludwigia Repens on the left side of the tank with the tallest in the back. I had to cut one of them because it was too tall by now, hopefully the remainder and the newly set top part will develop nicely.
- I divided the Green Wendtii into 5 pieces that I then planted in front of the Ludwigia.
- I added a few stones that I found this weekend to the left side and to the front right next to the driftwood.
- Last but not least, I ordered a 65W Compact Fluorescent Light fixture that should arrive in a few days. This should give me then a little more that 2 wpg (2.24 to be more precise) and hopefully enough for my current plant selection.

So gang, what do you think?

Any input is much appreciated.

Ingo

Little_Fish attached this image:

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Very nice Ingo
And it's nice to be able to see the babies out swimming around and enjoying themselves so well in the tank they have only been able to see from a cornerVery nice, I'm so jealous:%)

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Much Improved little fish!
Shame the thermometer was left in >.< Once those plants hide the filter parts it'll be quite nice indeed! This pic shows off the background much nicer, I do hope you're planning on keeping some of it showing in the final scape

How appropriate that my 5Kth should be in aquascaping .

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The hope that starts, The broken hearts...
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Ok, here is a tank update:

I started to mess with the tank last weekend. My cabomba and ambulia did not do to well with only 1.3wpg, in particular after I had to trim them. Also, I was finally able to remove my tank divider as the baby platys are now big enough for the main tank.

What I did so far:

- I removed most of the cabomba and ambulia and replanted the remaining ones to the right front section.
- I replanted the taller Heteranthera zosterifolia (Star Grass) to the back, from the middle all the way around the right side. It will take a while until it is tall enough to fill up the empty space over the driftwood. Small shoots that I had planted (didn’t want to throw them out) in my Echinodorus tenellus (Pygmy Chain Sword) had started to take over the section, so I replanted them into the front of the driftwood.
- I removed the sprout stem (Amazon Sword) that I had in the right back hand corner. It did not grow ever since I acquired it (over 2 months ago), except for its water based roots. As a matter of fact, the substrate roots were small and did not really anchor the plant.

What I still intend to do:

- I was going to buy some java moss for the driftwood, but there seems to be a shortage of it at my LFS. I will have to wait until they have a nice batch.
- I will replant the Ludwigia Repens so that the tallest ones are in the back left.
- I will try to divide the Green wendtii into 2 plants and place them in front of the Ludwigia section

Last but not least, here is a picture of the current status, and, as usual, comments are appreciated.

Thanks,

Ingo

LITTLE_FISH attached this image:



Last edited by Little_Fish at 18-Jul-2005 08:29[/font]

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi Ingo,

Sorry I've been away on business and am currently packing my bags for another trip.

I'll be honest here. I don't spend much time in aquascaping forums. Frequently people ask the same question you do and when I finally see the pic it's 2 crypts and a scraggly piece of anacharis. There's realy not much I can say so I keep low.

As I read your post before scrolling down to the picture, I had the usual feeling of dread.

But I needn't have worried what a pleasant surprise Absolutely great job . That's a really fine looking tank, for a first tank it's particularly good. You avoided almost all the beginner pitfalls , it'a damn sight better then my first attempt, I can tell you.

The plants look very healthy, the Tenellus carpet is excellent and the Ludwigia is one of the best looking I've seen. How long have these plants been in ?

My suggestions would be quite minor. I like the triangular composition very muchand actually I wouldn't plant too much on the back or sides to keep this shape (I'll have to disagree with my old mate Keith there). The driftwood placement is very good and accentuates the triangular look.

I do agree with Keith on the background. Plain black would be better for that particular 'scape. The rocky backgrounds are fine but I find they only really work when they are covered with a lot of moss or peelia to give an aged look, but that look only reaaly works with certain types of aquascapes. Your's would look better with a plain black (I have to agree with my old mate Keith there ).

The divider is a real shame and really messes things up. Getting rid of it would be a 300% improvement.

I noticed some of the stem plants are planted to the front, which is ok but a few small crypts or Anubias or even a rock to hide where the stems go into the substrate would help.

Apart from that, as Alex mentioned, something of medium size in the front right corner to
a) Fill out that section
b) provide some contrast to the fines leaved plants there.
c)to contrast and highlight the beautiful tennellus field.

Something dark green with bigger leaves - crypts or anubias would be perfect.

Lastly something long very thin and grassy in the back right hand corner will really show off the wood. I've started using a couple of new plants that would be perfect there, Vallisnera Natans or Nana, it's an incredibly thin Val , very grassy looking and because it's so thin it doesn't shade other plants. It gives an instant natural look, very very easy to grow. Something like Narrow leaf Java Fern would also work - anything very thin and grassy.

Congratulations on a really great job, can't wait to see how this progresses.

Last edited by bensaf at 12-Jul-2005 08:38

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In your first couple of monthss of fish keeping you created that !!!!!

I to think you need more height especially in the R/H corner.

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that is very beautiful, and i really like it a lot. i widh mine were that pretty, but all i have is fake plants but starting the process of looking into plants.

i agree with DaFishman, that you should put it into the contest.

kj fishy-finn <*)))><
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Great aquascaping n your 29, the plant selection is great, and good point about it not looking like a salad (what my 29 looks like LOL)

You should enter it into the aquascaping contest.

The Amazon Nut...

Little_Fish

I will be a little more critical than the above.

To start off with that is an excellent photo which shows off the whole layout of the tank.

You also have a good selection of plants and have not gone for the garden salad (lots of mixed grenery)

I would like to see more height at the sides and certainly at the back, if I am correct one of those front plants RH center/end will get too tall and block out some of your viewing space.

It certainly is a pity with the divider it is rather distracting.

I prefer a black painted back as this will show off your plants better and give the added effect of depth (front -back)

Another thing in designing and some will disagree it is more pleasing to the eye to work from left to right. This is the natural view of site and creates a more natural flow.

The first impression is a 75% wow but with care and time it will have a very big WOW factor meaning I want to stay longer and just look to see what I can find.

Congratulations on doing a very good tank.

Keith

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Thanks everybody for the input, I really appreciate it.

But I have to say that I am a little surprised. I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s all that good. Frank mentioned to me in chat that I will see how it evolves over the next couple of months. And he is right &#8211; the photo is now almost 6 weeks old and the tank has changed.
I trimmed the Cabomba and it is not growing back as nicely as it was at that point (low light).
I planted some of the Tonina fluviatilis all the way in the front of the tank (some pieces that I had cut off from the original plantings) , and, because there is a rather strong current from left to right, it grows along the bottom and pushes other plants out of the way.
My ambulia is suffering from my Ich medication and turns mostly brown.

But hey, all of this gives me the opportunity to mess with the tank again

And I am still waiting for input from bensaf (where are you?)

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

WOW!amazing aquascaping!

*nod* It's nice, shame about the divider.
I'd like to see something reaching the surface somewhere in the tank. The back right hand side seems to be begging to be the higher point of the tank, but behind the driftwood...dont' want that piece hidden too much as it helps counteract the darkness of the background. More height would help hide the visible equipment that's showing now.
Otherwise I like the mix of colors very nicly done .

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Okay your tank is so good.. Its scary

*Thats dude talk for "Your tank rocks!"

So uh Ingo, you are coming down here when to arrange my 125? I love how that tanks looks
***thinks of her 29 and how bad it looks in comparison***
You definately need to come down and help me clean the tanks up and redecorate and all

Really beautiful tank, and you really can't see the divider too much, but it makes it so nice to keep the fry in, and to keep them safe

When you get the 125 you want, you might want to think about making this a platy tank with some corrieslike some of the flourescent oranges or flourescent greens...Of course C. metaes seem to be quite frisky and would make it ever more interesting, and activeand then I know that they breed quite easily

Looks wonderful
heidi




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WOW, You did a great job.



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OMG! Pro! no comment!

OK, bensaf and gang,

Although I still don&#8217;t have a digital camera, I managed to take a regular picture of my tank and
to scan it in. This means that there is no fast way for me to add another one, let&#8217;s say from a
different angle or a close-up.

Here are the tank details:

29G All-Glass, gravel mixed with First layer Pure Laterite, 2 X 20W fluorescent lights, Aqua
Clear 50 (former 300) HOB.

At the time of the picture (about 5 weeks ago) the tank was set up for 3 months, currently it hosts
1 adult Platy, 6 Zebra Danios, 8 Neon Tetras, and 9 Platy fry which are sectioned off by the tank
divider that you can see on the left hand side. I curved the divider to isolate the left front corner.

The plants, to the best of my knowledge, are from left to right:

Ludwigia repens (small leaved) within the divider section and behind it
Green wendtii within the divider section
Rotala rotundifolia in the back
Sagittaria subulata (dwarf sag)
{edit: found out that this might actually be Echinodorus tenellus, Pygmy Chain Sword}
in the front and middle
Limnophila sessiliflora(ambulia) and green cabomba in the middle and right back and right front
I think Tonina fluviatilis between the cabomba and the dwarf sag
And, all the way in the right back hand corner, something that was explained to me as a sprout stem
from an Amazon, but without the parent plant (just a few babies on 2 sticks)

I have no particular question about the tank, but I thought I show it here and let you all rant about it

Thanks for all the comments,

Ingo

Little_Fish attached this image:


Last edited by Little_Fish at 05-Jul-2005 08:23[/font]

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club