[Church]

Okay so in my mind's eye I was able to visualize what my 20-long would look like if I blended a little E. tenellus into a carpeted foreground, so that there would be some pinkish highlights here and there. It looked fantastic in my imagination, so I went ahead and placed the tenellus where I thought it would go great as a highlight. This was what I ended up with:

Now, the problem is I haven't technically decided what the actual carpet plant will be. I'm leaning strongly toward glosso, but HC also seems to keep popping into my head. It just seems that the glosso, while potentially more demanding of my attention, would just look fantastic blended with the tenellus. I really don't know.

So, I need other people's thoughts on the matter. What foreground would look great blended with tenellus? This tank will also have plenty of dutch-scaped stem plants all over the sides and back, so this will not be an all-carpet tank. Just thought I'd mention that.

(By the way, this will be a high-light tank with pressurized CO2 injection, and EI fertilizing).

 

[Church]

Anyone?

 

[anastasisariel]

Hey Church,

I think the layout looks fantastic. Where did you get the rocks? I think a thick carpet of glosso would look fantastic in there.

 

[Church]

Thanks! I got the rocks from a local hole-in-the-wall gem store. The guy sells rocks, gems, geodes, tumblers, jewelry making stuff, that sort of thing. He's got a customer for life out of me, I tell you what. As long as I can't find any ADA-type rocks, petrified wood is where it's at. I told him what I was looking for, sizes, shapes, etc., then gave him my phone number and asked him to call me if he gets anything.

He called me the very next day. I then paid him a visit, and right before I walked out of his shop he was $70 richer.

 

[anastasisariel]

Oh wow man, I forgot my dad finds LARGE pieces of petrified wood looking for arrowheads in Illinois streams, He has a piece that is humongous I think I'm gonna have him bring some down next time he comes my way to see his grandson. :thumbsup:

Yeah those are great looking pieces. The ones I've seen are much darker than yours.

 

[CL]

I feel like hc would look better with the E. tenellus pink. JMO.

 

[Church]

For some reason I'm having trouble picturing what that would look like, but I know it would look good. I wish I could find pictures of someone who's done it before.

I think it will end up being whatever I can get my hands on first.

 

[Church]

Yeah those are great looking pieces. The ones I've seen are much darker than yours.

Thanks. Yeah I actually have some smaller stones of pet. wood that are almost black. I believe it to be Florida petrified wood, but I don't think I'll ever know. I think it's dark colored from being covered in river muck for millions of years, while the quartz is crystallizing into the wood's cellular structure.

The ones I have in this tank are Texas petrified wood, and I'm guessing it came from the drier, more desert areas of west Texas. I also have a few pieces of Arizona petrified wood that have beautiful hues of pink, red, and purple in them!

 

[lauraleellbp]

I remember a Takashi Amano tank in TFH (no idea which issue) that had E. tenellus pink mixed in with Marselia minuta and I really liked the look.

 

[Church]

I even thought about that one, but since I've already got it in my 2.5g I want something else in this one. That's why I was thinking glosso, because it looks like marsilea!

 

[anastasisariel]

I'm currently monitoring the status of my glosso on USPS.com Woot! I can't wait; the glosso, once it fills in, is going to nearly complete my scape!

 

[pandapr]

I vote for glosso because HC sometimes can be a pain in...
Only problem with glosso is the growth rate but I think most of us get our hands wet a few times a week! ohh and that sometimes it tends to grow vertically...

 

[Church]

It's really looking like glosso is what I'm aiming for, but I did finally see a photo of HC mixed with tenellus, and it looks way cool. So I'd be open to that also. I don't mind if glosso tries creeping upward, either, because it gives me an excuse to tinker with the tank!

 

[agutt]

I would have to go for HC on this one...

I think the finer leaves would blend better...

 

[wearsbunnyslippers]

what about hairgrass, you might lose the tenellus though...

 

[Church]

Yeah I'm thinking the hairgrass would be too similar, but I did think about it. Plus, I've already got some Blyxa on the way to me, and that with the tenellus is already giving me 2 grassy looking plants. That's why I was thinking of round-leafed plants.