Fred's new 15g (56k)

[fastfreddie]

I started a new tank Thursday 9/3/09. Let me know what you think!!

I still need a lot of help with the scape (particularly the left side.) Any suggestions would be appreciated. Right now I'm only using one bulb in the Coralife fixture, but I may add the second 14w 6700K bulb as I add some stem plants. I have Alternanthera Reinecki on hand but I'm not sure how it will look in the tank. I'm dosing with EI method currently at about the same rate I dosed my ten gallon tank.

Here are the specs so far:
I put a price beside everything I had to purchase. Most everything was already on hand. I've spent about $90.00 so far.

Equipment
15 gallon Aqueon $35
Rena XP 1
Hydor in-line heater
24" Coralife T5 NO - 1x14W 6700k (for now)
Milwaukee MA957 @ 1 bps via GLA diffuser

Hard Scape
Pea gravel $19.10
Slate-like rocks - free from Steak and Shake parking lot (in the area beside the building where the bushes are. They passed the vinegar test)

Plants ($35 so far)
Anubias Nana
Anubias Nana Petite
Java Fern
Needle Leaf Java Fern
Java Fern Trident (one plant)
Cryptocoryne moehlmannii
Crypt- unknown
Hygro- also unknown exact ID











Where's Waldo?

[hbosman]

Very nice! I like it alot.

[Old Salt]

Good looking tank.

[Coltonorr]

Fred...
Wow, that looks sweet!!
When that fills in, its going to look great!

[fastfreddie]

Originally Posted by hbosman

Very nice! I like it alot.

Originally Posted by Old Salt

Good looking tank.

Thanks guys! It still needs a lot of work, but I'm happy with the start.

Originally Posted by Coltonorr

Fred...
Wow, that looks sweet!!
When that fills in, its going to look great!

Thanks a lot man! I can't wait to tighten up the scape a little more.

FYI everyone: 85% of the plants in this tank came from Coltonorr here. He grows some awesome plants and it was his low tech 29 that got me wanting to do this tank. He was generous enough to answer about 50 pm's of questions and ship me an awesome plant package!

[sewingalot]

What a transformation. This is totally different from your other scapes. I like the triangle shape.

[oldpunk78]

dude! that's an awesome start. the only thing i can think of for the left side is maybe some wood sticking out of the stems (and more stems).

[fastfreddie]

Originally Posted by sewingalot

What a transformation. This is totally different from your other scapes. I like the triangle shape.

Thanks! The triangle was kind of an accident. The view of the tank is mainly from the left side. It's in a corner of our guest room, so I usually pass by in the hallway. I wanted to keep the left side kind of open, but it's way too bare right now.

Originally Posted by oldpunk78

dude! that's an awesome start. the only thing i can think of for the left side is maybe some wood sticking out of the stems (and more stems).

I'm between adding wood to the left or building another terrace on the left with more rocks. What do you guys think? And is alternanthera going to be too red in there? I'm afraid it will look totally out of place. I guess the only way to find out is to try.

[sewingalot]

Rocks! I love rocks and I can't use them successfully. Live for me! I am thinking yes, the alternanthera may be too much. Then again, it could be a nice contrast. Move it over and snap some pics.

[vtkid]

low-tech huh, lookin good.

[hydrophyte]

Steak & Shake called, they want their rocks back.

I do like those rocks they are a nice contrast with the Java fern.

I wonder about using a finer gravel(?).

[monkeyruler90]

very nice man, i like the scape! definitely looks great!

[monkeyruler90]

and dang, where did you get all the petite?

[Dollface]

This post inspired me to clean out my 15g long. I'm surprised there arn't more of these on the forums, the dimensions are awesome.

[Coltonorr]

Hey Fred,
I think the other plant I sent you was C. wendtii 'florida sunset' but the only way to really find out is to grow it emersed.