[jeffboyarrdee]

hey everyone,
this is my 45 cm ADA project that started last Fall and i finally had the time to finish it off today! i had bought wood from home depot and custom made my own stand to fit a 45 cm ADA tank (MINI L). I work at aquaforest so i had gotten alot of eqipment from them. i am testing out their archaea lights with the 36 watt ADA NA power compact, its a nifty fixture with german style reflectors. For the CO2 i had found a used leland tap regulator for beer, and just mimicked the ada advanced CO2 system. i am using a Hydor canister filter, and Hydor inline heater. if you have visited aquaforest, this setup is pretty much the same as their ADA Mini M setup.
For plants, i have HC foreground, rotala green midground (right and left), rotala najenshan background (right and left), and rotala singapore red background (center). This rock is called shoko? i will find out again i forgot.

Soon i will be re-doing my 50 gallon to a crypt tank! maybe in a couple days.

This is the beginning!

here is the planting!

i hope you enjoyed! we'll see how this tank goes...it might grow alot of algae....

 

[FelixAvery]

nice! in my opion it is too symetrical though, move the large rock about half its total length to the left, this will really set off the tank
also what is that plant in the background?

you should also get more of a middground, try planting some echinodorus tenellus between the rocks

 

[weeds]

Super setup..LOVE it! I also agree with Felix...I would switch the larger rock with the smaller rock setting next to it...on the left. One of the first lessons I had in art class...never center the main object directly in the center..at least have it off center. The large rock is to centered.

 

[jeffboyarrdee]

thanks guys, i was thinking of that...i surely will get some more midground plants
ill update with a pic real soon.

actually heres another set of pictures. i had moved the big rock to the left, and added a smaller rock. Tell me what you guys think. I will keep changing it until its decent...and then we'll see how the plants complement it, and ill go from there!

 

[FelixAvery]

move hte new smaller rock left a little and the large right rock right a little
the gap between the two clusters will balance the peice!
but nice work!

 

[jeffboyarrdee]

GOTCHA! i know exactly what you mean!

 

[FelixAvery]

thats 500 euros please for the felixavery consulting service
just joking, got any ideas for fish ect?

 

[jeffboyarrdee]

well this is mainly gonna be a crystal red tank, that is if i am successful in breeding them. Hopefullly it will go well.

 

[Finch_man]

Watch out for those diatoms!!! LOL. You got a nice setup man... I really like it.

 

[jeffboyarrdee]

i have a UV sterilizer...i dont have a diatom filter though.

 

[FelixAvery]

whats a diatom filter?

 

[jeffboyarrdee]

a diatom filter polishes off your aquarium water, filtering out the smallest debris. but with that kind of filtration, they take alot of maintainance, They can also be used just like how UV sterilizers get rid of green water.

 

[RESGuy]

Well maybe after selling about 300 CRS you will make back the money you spent on all that ADA stuff:icon_eek:

 

[jeffboyarrdee]

hahhaha i actually got discounted on some of the stuff.

we'll see how the tank goes...i do have some fast growing stem plants though, it should help a little.

 

[FelixAvery]

post an update!

 

[jeffboyarrdee]

alright heres another one!

the water cleared up, hopefully it will be come more clear as i keep adding green bacter daily for atleast one week. This will be my first time using green gain as well, so we'll see how my plants get settled in because in my previous experiences, my plants would always melt or be stunted for like 2 weeks, but i also think that might have been ammonia levels or pH shocks.

I added 2 new plants from my 50 gallon. i can ID these plants in a few days, but if you guys can help ID them that would be great.
1. utricularis something? its a carnivorous plants that feed off of microorganisms in the water.

2.this plant that is kind of like a sag.

 

[turbosaurus]

I would take out that ultricularia if you intend to breed crystal red shrimp.
I have seen another type of ultriculatia catch baby cherry's in my tank. While the baby shrimp was too big to be eaten whole, it did get snagged by a leg and could not excape. I imagine it would have died of stress or starvation had I not pulled it off and gotten rid of the plant.

I would also get rid of he sag, its going to grow uncontrollably.

The tank does look great. If you wanted something in there similar to the sag why not try cyprus helferi? It will be taller, but won't grow all over everything like the sag.

 

[Storm_Rider]

looking good. though i think the biggest rock should be the farthest back and the triangular one to it's rear left should be somewhere else. but looks good so far. and i like your shrimp, i need to find me some of those

 

[jeffboyarrdee]

hmmm...good points...i probably will take out those plants later on...should i replace the sag-like plant with blyxa? i just needed a place to put my utricularis for now...it was temporary...dont worry i definitly wouldnt put them with crystal reds...or any type of breeding shrimp.
For the rock structure its kind of hard to move around rocks now, and plus i kind of like it the way it is...but since i planted around it..i will see how the plants grow in...and see how the rocks look after. im sure it will look a little different after the first trims dont you think?

 

[FelixAvery]

i agree it would be hard to move rocks now, but i think they still need work
your right to wait until your plants have established
http://translate.google.com/transla...=es-es&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=/language_tools
read that and think about using fewer rocks with bigger impact

also look at some of amanos scapes, you will notice the way he usually has a gap of free space somwere along the length of his tanks, you should either have 3 rocks arranged in a iwagumi form (or one of the ones from the link i gave you) or two groups or rocks with a clear gap and clear grouping

but apart from the hardscape, nice tank, chin up sonny lad jimmy boy boy sonny ma lad