JG's 40G breeder (Final scape update? 3.20.10)

[MrJG]

Heh yea slowly, sorry about all the buildup. I'm still trying to stick to my plan of funding everything for this tank from money I would otherwise be spending on cigarettes even though I've cheated once or twice.
It just so happens that now that I have everything I have other things that are pushing the planting fun back.

@marko@: the fixture is a 2x96W

[tropicalfish]

Don't smoke
Looks great so far! Are you going to really need all 192 watts?

[MrJG]

Of course not 1 bulb is for a "noon burst" for 1-2 hours.

[@marko@]

thats some nice lighting, but later on when the tank is stable, you could increase the noontime light exposure. i have an insanely long noon burst in my 20L, but i do have an acrylic cover so that filters some of it out.
cant wait to see it nice and stocked.

[MrJG]

I could never decide if I wanted to go with a "nature aquarium" layout or try a dutch style so I kinda opted for both. Left side will be an attempt at packing contrasting plants together in this style and the right side I wanted to look like a mangrove at the edge of the water. Hopefully when it all works out they will work together.

I wasn't feeling totally creative today but I reluctantly started work after coming back from doing some trap shooting.

getting the sand and aquasoil in:


Soil in I started doing border and rock work:


I started with what I thought was a fairly large mound on the right to simulate the mangrove... I think it could really be a bit higher.



a little closer:


I still have a bag and a half of AS if I decide to rip it all up and make the mound bigger... either way I plan on adding a good bit more to the top/back of the mound. I figured I'd wait until I finalized the scape by siliconing the wood to the rocks. Thats what's good about taking it slow. I now have 2-3 weeks to walk by this thing every day and do little tweaks to the wood.
Might scoop a little soil out to create a small valley between the right and left sides and more clearly define the slope around the rockwork...
and not to worry there will be a background on there by the time planting comes around.

Thoughts/criticisms?

[fishman9809]

looks incredible, I wish I could have done something nice like that.

[IC3D]

Looks great so far. You must have to clean that tank VERY carefully when doing gravel vacs!

[MrJG]

Thanks guys.

As far as gravel vacs go they will not happen very often. The rocks/wood will be siliconed together in their final positions so it should be a bit easier to plant/clean between them.

[Green Leaf Aquariums]

This is the slickest 40B I have ever seen. Very nice

[crudnugget]

The way you have that set up with the wood touching the soil makes it look like a spider!

I just got a 40BR in trade, thinking of taking my 55 down and moving it into the 40. What are your thoughts about the footprint of your tank vs something narrower?

[cah925]

Originally Posted by crudnugget

The way you have that set up with the wood touching the soil makes it look like a spider!

I just got a 40BR in trade, thinking of taking my 55 down and moving it into the 40. What are your thoughts about the footprint of your tank vs something narrower?

I also like the way the wood comes down and touches the sand.

I have both 40 breeders and a 50 gal (same as 55 but shorter). I was getting frustrated scaping the 50 gal because of how narrow it was. I absolutely love the 40 breeder footprint. I really don't miss the extra length because I have more room front to back which enables me to get more hardscape in them.

[MrJG]

Thanks guys. So you think the hardscape looks alright as it sits?

I think I'm going to scoop a bit of soil out of the left side this evening to see if it makes a bigger impact without the straight line going across and build up a nice slope leading up to the formation. I'll post some comparison pics unless I just decide that I like it better. :P

crudnugget: I can't really comment too much on the narrower tanks. Since this and my 20 long were both purchased as planted tanks first I went with the most available depth and more shallow tank for lighting purposes. In my reading I found that both were highly sought after for doing planted layouts so I went with the flow. The 18 inches is deeep though, its going to take a lot of plant mass to start up and I can't wait.

[@marko@]

i like the driftwood arrangement, but maybe adding 1 or two branches going nearly straight up may make it a bit better (dont move the current ones though, unless you dont have any more).

[lopez_316us]

Hey MrJG Where did you get the wood? I'm looking for something like that but in my local fish store don't have branches.

[MrJG]

lopez: Search for a thread in the swap & shop started by Badcopnofishtank titled manzanita i think. This is one of his "nano" packages