[frrok]

Looks great, should be fun to see this grow in. One of my favorite tanks.

Thanks man!

 

[frrok]

updated my plant list:
Hygrophilia pinatifida
Vesicularia montagnei 'Xmas moss'
Taxiphyllum sp. 'Peacock moss'
Bolbitis heroclita
Eleocharis acicularis 'belem'
Micranthemum sp. 'Monte Carlo'
Cryptocorne wendtii
Staurogyne repens
Rotala rotundofolia
Rotala sp. 'mini butterfly'
Hemianthus glomeratus(micranthemoides)

 

[DefStatic]

Ok, where did you get that stone/wood combo? I am guessing they did not come this way LOL. But how in the heck, really creative and it is nice to see somthing refreshing and unique.

Did you have to alter the stone to get it to fit the wood or did you just somehow find the two and get them to work?

Seriously, bravo for the brilliance of this idea.

 

[frrok]

Ok, where did you get that stone/wood combo? I am guessing they did not come this way LOL. But how in the heck, really creative and it is nice to see somthing refreshing and unique.

Did you have to alter the stone to get it to fit the wood or did you just somehow find the two and get them to work?

Seriously, bravo for the brilliance of this idea.

hey! thanks for the compliments.... actually, these stones are re-used hardscape materials from previous scapes. actually, this piece of wood is an extra piece that I got from a manzinita wood order. I have others. the stone I got from a local fellow hobbyist. which is kind of rare to score locally and I got a great deal...so cheers to that dude. As far as the hardscape is concerned... I messed with it for a couple of days and tried different variations of stone and wood until I stumbled upon this combination. When it fit I as pretty amazed myself. The only thing I do regret is somehow securing the wood on the stone somehow..(maybe with glue?) it kind of moves back a little every time I'm in the tank doing some work. I tried superglue after I had already filed the tank but it didn't adhere well. I need to buy more then Im going to drain the tank and try to attach it to the main stone again. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to speak up...i need the advice.

 

[frrok]

Week 2 Update.

Things are still going relatively well. Stems are growing tremendously... Almost time to trim off all the old emerged growth. My rotala is growing roundish leaves which is kind of interesting... monte carlo took a a little hit but I see all new growth on it and its spreading. there is brown algae on most of the plants but that doesn't bother me one bit. very little green algae that i try to get rid of or spot dose with h2 o2.... since I had brown algae I decided to pick up 3 amanos and 3 ottos.... one of which I transferred into my 4 gallon cube because he immediately started swimming funny. the rest of the clean up crew were fine up until yesterday after I did my weekly water change and maintenance. I decided to do a fairly substantial water change because I wanted to get the water level down really low in order to try and secure the wood to my stones. It would move every time I touched it and it was driving me nuts. So I used some super glue and attached the wood to my stones at two different spots. Filled the tank back up and dialed my c02 up a bit. After a few hours and the co2 is kicking...I noticed the ottos were being very listless --- one died later on. One of the amanos was in the same spot for an hour acting funny. Now I'm getting worried. the other ottos seems ok, but he hid in the back of the tank behind the stems... I dialed back the co2 because I was worried that i gassed them. the other 2 amanos seems fine. I remember when I was glueing the wood together that I got some in the water by mistake...I hope that didn't release something in the tank. according to my research, many people use super glue in their tanks and that it is safe when it comes in contact with water after setting. but some of it did get in the water...im not sure. I may have to go out and get 1 more otto and amano....sux

Other than that incident, Im really liking when things are going. As far as plant growth, I do have some crypts in there that were bought from those tissue culture plants at petco they seem to be taking longer to acclimate but I do see a little leaf coming through... if they don't work out I will try to find some healthier specimens.

thanks for following along....

 

[sewoeno]

absolutely amazing!

 

[frrok]

absolutely amazing!

Thank you... I appreciate the compliments. It Still has a way to go. It's very immature ... But progressing well.

 

[jcgilmore2]

Looking awsome man! Will look even better when those stem plants get even more dense... subscribed.

 

[frrok]

Day 18

Week 3. Big trim.

 

[Dantrasy]

It's really getting there! The rock sits in with the plants so nicely. When the moss grows just a little more it'll look brilliant.

 

[omgwhiskey]

Awesome tank, sub'd!

 

[frrok]

It's really getting there! The rock sits in with the plants so nicely. When the moss grows just a little more it'll look brilliant.

Thanks man... I'm really glad the hardscape worked out. Sometimes thats the hardest part, getting it dialed. I am battling a bit of brown and green algae at the moment. I'm sure it will pass. your tank looks gorgeous!

Awesome tank, sub'd!

cool Thanks!

 

[frrok]

WEEK 4 !!

ALGAE! booo... it was inevitable. I should have learned my lesson from my last scape. My light is very powerful. Anyway, I raised the light a few inches. We'll see what happens. but I got all types of stuff going on. Plants are still growing though...

 

[frrok]

Things keep getting worse. Algae got really bad. I tried the 1-2 punch algae treatment but it didn't seem to do much. I guess I used too low of a dose. I spot dose but the algae is starting to get away from me. I also raised my lights and cut my photoperiod. Also, I got 8 chili rasboras on Tuesday. The next day all but 2 jumped out. Bummer!! I have since learned that I did not properly acclimate them to my c02... I thought I had but was a little impatient on getting them in the tank. On the hunt now for more. It seems as though they've been hard to come by as of late.

Having a tough time with this layout. I thought I learned a lot from my last one but I find that I'm making the same mistakes. It's too bad, it's such a good hardscape I'd hate to start over. Anyway, I missed my water change this past weekend because I was out of town. This tank is due for a trimming, cleaning and big water change.
Here it is at day 47. Almost week 7. Thx for following.

 

[frrok]

Week 7. Trim 2 and major clean up. There's still algae but I think I can start treating it. The main culprit is BBA starting to form on wood and rocks. I think I'm going to start a spot dosing regime this week to kill it. Luckily I have some leftover Monte Carlo growing emmersed. I may fill in some spots that I needed to pull. I also trimmed some of the moss as it was getting very thick and there was some hair algae in it. I also cut up some glass and made a makeshift cover for now. Looks hideous but it works. Stil on the lookout for more chilis as well. The one I have left is def a little pale. According to my research they get redder as they grow older. Let me know what you think!!

 

[Dantrasy]

Heaps better after the trim. your scape is busy, but tidy. great work.

 

[MABJ]

Your scape and plant work is phenomenal. You may want to be a bit more careful about your livestock though. Do you need C02?

I bet your tank would thrive the same without it with a lower light

 

[frrok]

Heaps better after the trim. your scape is busy, but tidy. great work.

Hey thanks! Wanted to challenge myself a bit this time.

 

[frrok]

Your scape and plant work is phenomenal. You may want to be a bit more careful about your livestock though. Do you need C02?

I bet your tank would thrive the same without it with a lower light

Thank you. I appreciate the comments. I definitely think running co2 is better than not. I do think my lights are intense so I raised it and cut the photoperiod to help with algae.

 

[MABJ]

Thank you. I appreciate the comments. I definitely think running co2 is better than not. I do think my lights are intense so I raised it and cut the photoperiod to help with algae.

Hehe I'll likely never tinker around with C02, but I salute anybody who does. When I said lower I meant lower power, not physically lower btw.