CL's Low Tech 55 Gallon

[CL]

okay, this tank used to house huge catfish... until they got too huge... so I redid it as I had been wanting to for a long time. I got $9 worth of plain gravel at home depot and 4 daylight compact florescent screw- in bulbs, three of which are 14 watt and the other is 17 watts. Light fixture is home- made out of poplar, I am planning on upping the wattage later.
Flora:
-Water sprite
-Crypt. Wendtii Red
-Crypt. Wendtii Green
-Tiger Lotus Red
-Java Fern
-Giant Hairgass
-Broad- leaf sag.
-Dwarf lily red

Fauna:
-9 neon tetras
-5 glass cats
-5 fire rasboras
-3 rummy nose tetras
-2 angels
-2 debauwi cats
-1 bristle nose pleco
-1 sparkling gourami
-1 banjo cat (may move if finally starts to grow, I have had him for 3 years now, still small)
-1 golden white cloud
-1 emerald eye tetra
-1 cory (i forgot what kind)
5-11-08-----
Fast forward 2 months--- Most of the plants got eaten by snails , but I got rid of the snails . I received a load of free plants, and was inspired to get this thing goin again, so I bought some more plants here and there, and this is how it looks now----

[mizu-chan]

Looks really nice so far. I love how cheap you can get substrate at Home Depot and Lowes.
Looks great so far. Your plants really compliment each other.
Do you have any drift wood in there? I can kinda see something on top of the rock in the first pic on the right, but I can't really tell.

[CL]

Originally Posted by mizu-chan

Looks really nice so far. I love how cheap you can get substrate at Home Depot and Lowes.
Looks great so far. Your plants really compliment each other.
Do you have any drift wood in there? I can kinda see something on top of the rock in the first pic on the right, but I can't really tell.

I took the wood out, I needed it in another tank and needed the planting space in this one

[CL]

I want to grow moss in here, but read this : http://www.aquamoss.net/Articles/Sia...uatic-Moss.htm And I want to keep my sae....

[CL]

I am probably going to rescape...soon. I will probably have everything in a kind of mound towards the right side of the tank, so that the fish will have a nice swimming area. The tank is on a peninsula on out countertop, so I think that it would be nice. Any thoughts?

[CL]

Any thoughts?

[CL]

did the rescape, pics later

[CL]

Still a lil cloudy, I like the open space. Im going to make an xmas moss carpet over the bare part. Lemme know what you think

[CL]

I need to get a BUNCH of crypts and stuff thats is low/ medium height.

[lauraleellbp]

As much as I love assymetrical 'scapes, IMO it really doesn't seem to make the most of the bowfront shape of your beautiful tank. I think this tank would actually do better with either a U-shaped design, or a more balanced/symmetrical scape with the "grassy plain" coming forward, out into the bow, IUKWIM?

[CL]

I know what you mean, but I wanted to have an area for the fish. My tank isnt a bow front... lol I wish it were tho haha. Im probably going to change it again, but I'll see what I can do with it

[lauraleellbp]

WoW- so it's not! I could have sworn it was from the first post, but now I look back and see that it was your gravel slope that made me think it was a bowfront tank.

I retract what I said then; just stick with, "assymetrical scapes are my fav!!" LOL

[chase127]

now what you need is a jungle of vals on the left side

[CL]

Originally Posted by chris127

now what you need is a jungle of vals on the left side

If I could manage keeping them from turning to goo.
Today I added 4 more rummies. Im really liking how this fish schools. I know have ten. I got rid of the gold white cloud and the two debawi (sp?) cats because they were starting to nip at fins

[Tex Gal]

Gotta comment on the moss issue. I have had SAE's in my tank with moss. I never saw them bother it at all. I pulled moss out of my tank all the time and sold it. I do feed them each night with wafers, shrimp pellets, zucchini or cucumbers, etc. I did finally give mine up because they were eating my R. wallichi. I do still have flying foxes. Nothing bothers my mosses.

BTW I loved the 2nd scape you did. The current one just appears too empty to me. Perhaps a foreground would help and the fish could still swim in the water above the foreground....