120 Gallon ADA "like", ditched, Dutch style with lots of color instead

[plantbrain]

Well, I just did not like the general feel of the ADA like minimalist display prior, so I tore the entire thing down.

Here, I wanted to add lots of color, contrast, display the nice Manzy wood I have, make it a lot of stem plant and pruning type of tank(yes, work), but somewhat manageable still.

I have enough plants to fill it, but I'll remove some plants on the sides(Erios and Compact the Crypt parva down some, I have a few small divider pieces of Manzy wood I'll add this week to make a better dividing line for some of the groups.

I'll change the groups of plants around till I'm happy(often a long process), to achieve the best contrast based more on Dutch rules, rather than ADA aesthetics. Right now it's fairly simple red green red green layout, and less textured contrast. Most of these species are easy to sell also, so they are good "crop plants", 500 or more of the fire cherry shrimp makes it a good shrimp factory.

I have an ADA style tank and my 180 is somewhat loosely based on ADA style, A reef and a Rift cichlid tank. I want a nice style and method for each tank that is different, not all planted tanks with one style.

Tank is not that old after complete tear down, maybe 4 weeks or less.

[Jeffww]

That is some big helferi.

[RipariumGuy]

Very good looking setup Mr. Barr. I really like the different colors and textures. The foreground plants look really interesting to me as well.

[2in10]

Gorgeous setup, this will be fantastic grown in.

[Geniusdudekiran]

WOW, Tom, you never fail to amaze. Some staurogyne repens would look great in there!

[driftwoods]

Looks amazing love the color.

[BlueJack]

Tank's lookin great! What kind of plant is that growing above the water line, on the driftwood?

Originally Posted by plantbrain

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by Geniusdudekiran

WOW, Tom, you never fail to amaze. Some staurogyne repens would look great in there!

Crap, I do not want anymore of that, I already have a tank full of it in my 180. Rule no#1, never keep the same plants in different tanks, like the same fish etc

I have some of the Starou porto velho.

Some of the Downoi are still recovering, but will have plenty soon enough, already trying to sell it

Anyone want 4-6 large dowoni? see my sales thread.

The red ludwigia is a real nice plant. Has a nice growth pattern
The Wallichii has really colored up today, I just got it a about 3 days ago.
L always love wallichii, is one of my favorite plants when grown well.

I got some Erio cineruem which I prefer for scaping than many of the others.
I'd considered Erio setaceum, but the Hydrothrix is very similar and more uncommon, so I'll hang onto that.

This tank has a lot of red colors and bright greens.
That's the purpose.

I used the driftwood much like a large old bonasi tree that has died back and the roots are exposed. The branchy flat laying driftwood is nice since it forms natural rows/streets of plants(which will have a nicer front to back height after a few trims), and sections off the plant divisions, and adds contrast between each group of plants, this makes scaping with this style of wood very easy and wood is far more mallable than rock/stone.

Still thinking about the fish community...........it'll have the Fire reds for sure, and the Gold nuggets........and Amano's........

I still need to move some plants around, some are just added cause I ain't got no home for them just yet or are going elsewhere.
Give me a month or two.

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by BlueJack

Tank's lookin great! What kind of plant is that growing above the water line, on the driftwood?

Moss that needs a killing.

I have some smaller penny wort species that will form nice tufts on the top on this new tank.

I have this in 2 other tanks, I like the effect and it uses the open top aspect nicely. It does not lend well for photos and scape contest, but I do not give a rats hind quarter about that. I ain't nothing to prove there, hehe.
I just want a nice colorful display with breeding, sales of weeds, critters, Semi dutch style and somewhat easy to manage.

[plantbrain]

[speedie408]

Is this the downoi you got from me Tom?

Love the scape man. This is exactly why I want some new wood pieces from you. Love how the dark reds contrast with the bright greens. So envious of that tank depth.

[Jeffww]

Cmon Tom! Straighten out that substrate line! Can't wait to see it in a few months.

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by speedie408

Is this the downoi you got from me Tom?

Love the scape man. This is exactly why I want some new wood pieces from you. Love how the dark reds contrast with the bright greens. So envious of that tank depth.

Yep, the stumps are the from "the other person".......they got cooked in shipping.

But the stumps have recovered, just take another month or so before they get trimmed and remove the ugly. I'm patient so it's not a huge deal to me.

Stop by and pick through the piles I have sometime then, tape off your tank's foot print and I lend a white board to tape off the background. This way you can layout the scape here with less issues. I have more wood than ANY LFS after all. So I may as well use it eh?

[plantbrain]

Originally Posted by Jeffww

Cmon Tom! Straighten out that substrate line! Can't wait to see it in a few months.

Yea, I left the UG alone when I redid things and it's slowly coming along. Everything else is growing fast and recovering quick. The color on the L peruensis will take another 1-2 weeks, and the A reineckii will take even longer to convert to submersed form, maybe 1-2 months.

Once the UG fills in nice, I'll trim a 1-1.5 " border in the front.
That is an old method/style from a long time ago, before foreground plants really were the rage. Most just allow it to press against the front of the glass these days.

I only have maybe 1-1.5" depth in the UG, the rest is under 1" in the front. It's barely shallow enough to plant anything, but gets 8" deep in the rear.

[Bahugo]

Tank looks great! Can't wait to watch everything fill out.

I messaged you 1 last question about that driftwood btw.