rainbuilder's 'Smooth Hillside' - NO CAP dirted 45 gal hex *FILLED* *UPDATE 12/16/12*

[rainbuilder]

Mo bettah pictures



Big mama enjoying the space

[Bryanmc1988]

nice tank but i think floor cleaning is out of the question as its dirt and will float alot worst then sand will ....

[rainbuilder]

That's not really an issue for this tank because of the carpeting plants, because they suck it up and it doesn't show with them in there. It wouldn't be that much of a problem though, because of how clay-ey this soil is.

[kwheeler91]

Awesome job on this! My first real planted tank was a hex and I agree they are difficult. Not that my 55 turned out to be any easier lol. Interesting using the dirt without a cap. Looks good and it looks like your water is staying clear, wouldnt work for those of us who keep bortom feeders though. I imagine it would be good for shrimps to graze on. Keep us updated.

[rainbuilder]

Thanks for the compliments! I don't think that bottom feeders would be too much of an issue once the carpet fills in, but they might stir up a little too much right now.

I forgot to add, for a while there I had some brown diatoms but they cleared up in a few days. I have no CO2 in there right now and it doesn't look like anything is suffering from lack of it. I didn't update for a while because of how ugly it was for a little while there, but now it's stabilized and everything is looking good.

[Monster Fish]

Looks good now that you've filled it up. Also, the large round rocks give it a unique feel. I like it!

[rainbuilder]

Thanks! It's definitely starting to look better.

Thinking about malawa shrimp or wild type cherry shrimp once the carpet grows out and I get some of those anubias I've been wanting. Anyone have some suggestions on those?

[Monster Fish]

The angels would most likely eat the shrimp. Where would you attach the anubias?

[rainbuilder]

I know that they would eat a lot of them, but there should be a lot of hiding places in the carpet and moss I intend to have in there. Those shrimp are supposed to be able to breed pretty fast so I was thinking that they might be able to sustain themselves. If they are dull or clear colored I'm hoping that they'd be able to remain hidden better or at least good enough to reproduce. I also am thinking about scuds as well to aerate the substrate.

The anubias will be attached on a large part of the right side of the biggest rock and around where the otocinclus in the above pictures is sitting on the rock on the right. I also will probably attach christmas moss or fissidens underneath them and on the roots.

[kwheeler91]

Angels are predators. They wont shy away from hovering about your carpet and picking out anything worth eating. I mean if you had the choice between algae flakes and cherry shrimp jumbalaya, which would you choose?

[rainbuilder]

I think that I'll give it a try anyway I can distract them with live foods on the top of the water, and see how they do. It's worth a try to me.

Probably gonna do an HM trim today. I went poking around and noticed that the soil is MUCH more soft where the plants are growing, which is good and means that they are getting a good amount of root growth and that the substrate is being aerated.

[rainbuilder]

Just finished ordering some anubias coffeefolia and some aquascaping tools for this tank! Excited!

Everthing is still growing really well, but the hair algae is spreading and so is the utricularia gibba. Any advice on that?

[izabella87]

I adore the layout !

[gordonrichards]

This is a lovely tank. It makes me rethink those hex tanks I always see up on craigslist... hmmm

-Gordon

[rainbuilder]

izabella - Thanks! I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out.

Gordon - Thanks for the great compliments! I'm going to be putting those anubias I bought from you in here.

Thinking about replacing the lace java fern with regular java fern, it really isn't fitting in with the scape quite as well as I want it to.