"Broken Bridge" - 3gal picotope journal

[bioch]

Originally Posted by Solstice

Well, the problem is, if I was going to do something crazy like that, I just might have to buy some CRS to justify the lack of fish... Hmmm...

Crazy? hmm..? I guess......???

[Steven_Chong]

on the shrimp, CRS are like nothing. Amanos are the problem-shrimp. :P

[wood]

I really like the tank a lot! It definitely needs time to grow, as do all new tanks. I think that when the HC starts to grow and cover the substrate it will look very very nice and bring out the "broken bridge" rocks a whole lot more. You definitely have a fine nano in the works.

I was trying to remember the Zelda song but your "phonics" didn't work, lol.

-Ryan

[Solstice]

Steven
Yeah, Amanos are problem-shirmp, but at least they're relatively cheap problem shrimp... :P

wood
Thank you. The HC is just now starting to shoot out runners. The Pellia is growing a lot slower than I thought it would. I'm starting to wonder if daily Excel doses are knocking it back a bit as, like Riccia, it's a relatively fragile plant. I think I'll hold off on Excel for a couple of days and see if it picks up.

I'm not sure how this "Joe Pleiman" guy is able to take credit for the music when it's actually System of a Down (kinda pisses me off, actually) but maybe this will jar your Zelda memory:

ZELDA - By Josh Spaulding and Joe Pleiman

[apistaeasy]

IMO your tank is very symmetrical, and I find my eyese traveling from left to right, left to right (maybe it's b/c the tank is new and there is not a focal point yet). In your "zelda" picture the tank is even more symmetrical. I find the hard scape to be a little distracting. It seems as though it might be easier on the eyes if te valley were slightly off to one side and leading off to a side, instead of centered leading straight back. It might add depth as well.
I know this comes a little late, as you've already planted HC...

I look forward to your progress!

[adamhaulena]

I like it a lot. I wouldn't worry about how it looks in paint...once the plants, hardscape and fauna start to interact and mature, it will become more aesthetically pleasing. Come back in a few months and it will be nothing like the green two dimensional blobs in paint.

Adam

[Solstice]

apistaeasy
Yes, I agree that it is a little too symmetrical. This is definitely a learning experience and I appreciate all the comments I get. Version 2 of this tank will definitely bring about some changes, but given the inhabitants it will soon have, I'm going to leave things alone for awhile. My hope is that with this layout, after everything is filled in, the "bridge" will be the strong focal point, but in retrospect I do wish that I had laid it out a little more to the right to be more inlne with the golden triangle. The first layout (in the first set of pics) had the valley dead center and going straight back. This layout it is slightly off to the right and goes back and to the right a bit, but I do wish it was more exaggerated.

adamhaulena
Thanks! Yeah, I can't wait for it to grow in. The HC has definitely started growing but it's still a little slow. The Pellia is growing at a decent rate now that I've backed off the Excel dosing a bit.

I decided to buy some more dwarf hairgrass instead of using what I have in my 10gal because it's starting to fill in nicely there and I don't want to tear any of it up to add it to this tank at this point. It should be here on Wed.

I've also ordered the CRS which should be here on Tuesday. Stripe (the black neon) is going to have to move to the 10gal back home so as not to interfere with any breeding that may occur. I've heard that people don't have as much success breeding CRS in nano tanks as they do in larger ones but we'll see what happens. I wound up with 10 grade A shrimp and couldn't be more excited to add them to the tank.

[Solstice]

Update: The HC has grow in a little bit and the pellia has kept on growing steadily. I've cut back on the ferts to dosing micros and macros each once a week and Excel every other day.



Not a whole lot has changed except I've added 12...:

[guitardude9187]

how's the tank looking?

[Solstice]

Thanks for asking

The pellia and the HC are both growing, but they're not exploding. I have very little algae in this tank so I'm hesitant to add a lot more ferts to get them growing faster. I'm trying to be patient and let them grow in on their own. I'm pretty happy with how things are progressing though it could be going a little faster.

I added the hairgrass on the sides of the tank a couple of weeks ago and some of them are just now starting to send out runners, so that should fill in nicely too.

Somehow I managed to lose the valley effect with the slopes on the sides. It's still there, just not as pronounced. At first I was pretty disappointed about it, but the look of it now is growing on me.

I've also got a pregnant CRS in there now I guess I jumped the gun a little bit and posted in the shrimp section about how it is actually possible to breed CRS in small tanks (despite what I've read in numerous other posts/articles), but apparently it's easy to get them to berry up, just hard to get them to hatch, so we'll see how it goes.

Here are some pics:





Thanks again for the interest

[A Hill]

The tank couldn't look better! The Hair grass added a great touch!

Those CRS will love that tank, and it is highly possible to raise CRS in that tank, good food and patience!

-Andrew

[dufus]

it looks great, but you really need something covering that gigantic heater!

[Solstice]

Thanks Fish Newb!!! I'm hoping so. The eggs have started turning from a dark green/brown color to a lighter yellow which I've read is a good sign that they're developing, so I've got my fingers crossed. I keep forgetting to bring the panty hose I use to cover the filter intake to work, but I suppose I've got at least a few more weeks to get that in place before I have to worry about shrimplettes getting sucked up

dufus, fo sure! The pellia in the back is growing right next to the heater, so I'm hoping it'll cover most of it up. After reading your comment I also took one of the stronger growing hairgrass bunches and moved it right infront of the heater, so hopefully that'll speed the process up a bit.

Thanks again for the comments guys!

[dufus]

cool, it should lookgreat when it grows in.
Also, congrats on the crystal berries(hehe)

[FelixAvery]

Wow i like this alot, you have inspired me to order a picotope!
the shrimp are really cool!
could you tell me if the picotope comes with a heater?