Ishar's 20GH Planted tank

[ishar]

Thanks everyone for your comments. This is a keeper aquascape I think. I modified it a little bit today and took a vast number of photos. I will only be posting key ones, but if you'd like to see more then click on one of the photos here and it will take you to my pictures on putfile.com.

Two FTS


Here are some shots of the empty ugly places visible when looking from up close. They are there with the assumption that they will get filled in in the future with growth from the plants near them. Notice all of the empty gravel and the gaps between plants?


Here is one of my anubias plants and my shrimp.


My Rotala which is LOVING my tank I think


Here is a shot from the righthand side


I noticed how once I put my nana petite on the driftwood th algae form it's leaves disappeared and it sent up a new leaf tout suite, so I thought I would do the same for my nana



So the reason I posted these pictures is to show the lesson I have learned. My tank has lots of gravel showing and lots of gaps and such. Well this is undesirable for me as I like the look of the tanks that are very grown in and lots of greens and pinks of plants for the fish to swim through. I am also on a budget however, and spending $50 on plants is not possible for me, so I cannot buy the plants needed to attain that look. So I have to wait for the plants to grow, and instead of having a scape that will need to be changed as plants grow, you should plan for that growth so you don't need to disturb the plants all the time.

I took this knowledge and scaped accordingly, leaving room for my rotala to spread (at the rate it is going I will have a good sized bunch in no time, and I love it so I want a big group of it in that corner), and lots of room for runners to grow for the vals, and then the bacopa to fill in the center. I used the Windelov as my midground plant and the java moss and anubias plants on the driftwood for foreground. I placed the driftwood in its new position for the sole reason of stability- it was very easy to tip over in it's previous position.

So there you have it. This is the result of looking at other peoples' tanks (a great many here, and at plantedtank.net) and then learning from them. However, in about 3 months or so I may have to tear it all down to move back home from school. If this happens I will be adding another bag of flourite to the tank as I have much to shallow of a bed (<1" in some places) and then be scaping it exactly like this again. I think I have finally attained the patience needed to work a planted tank lol. I am very excited to see it full and lush (especially my vals that have been dying ever since I bought them) but I am able to wait until that point.

[ishar]

Here are some pictures I got while trying to get a pic of one of my shrimp that rarely comes out of their hidings spots in my driftwood.

[ishar]

Well I got my medication for the camellanus that has returned to my tank. I saw the worms in one of my females a week or so ago, but they seem to be gone now... I know this worm and how devious it is- it isn't gone, just retracted into the fish I am sure. I have begun a journal on my experience dosing against this worm here: Attack Against Camellanus hehehe.

[ishar]

Well on my snow day today I decided to go to the fish store for a look-see. They had some really nice plants in, but I went there for some ghost shrimp to put into my tank. Well when I saw the shrimp not looking that great I decided to pass on that- plus the camellanus I have in my tank, I figured I should at least wait until that goes through.

However, I saw this one foreground plant- common name Glosso- and I was SO tempted to grab it. It looked really nice and I have seen it in a lot of tanks as a beautiful foreground. The fish store guy said it should grow fine in my tank with 2WPG- I didn't tell him about the CO2 or ferts- but I was still skeptical. It just looked so good though so I grabbed it anyway lol. On my way out I grabbed a book about plants too- "Mini Encyclopedia: Aquarium Plants" by Peter Hiscock. That along with "500 Ways to be a Better Freshwater Fishkeeper" by Mary Bailey, Peter Hiscock et. al. make up my fish library :P.

So I planted the glosso nice and thin just as the glosso profile here on MFT suggests and I am now hoping it takes to my tank . Here is a picture to see where/how I put it in.

[alter40]

Looks nice, hopefully it does well in your tank!

[TabMorte]

Your tank is gorgious!

[jen0910]

I think the glosso will look nice once it fills in, it will give you some color variation on the bottom.

[Avalon]

Very nice progress! One thing I'd like to mention, and I think you're already semi-aware of it, is to let the plants fully grow out, propogate them, and let them grow out again. There is much strength in numbers! Large groupings of plants have a huge impact on perception. Your foreground is really the main focal point of the tank and is very nice 'scaping. I'm not so sure that your chosen background plants will make a good compliment to your foreground, but grow them out anyway.

I would suggest a plant with strong vertical lines on the right third of the tank, a medium sized bushy plant on the left third (the rotala will work nicely for now)...that plant below the bacopa....make it larger. After this, right behind the anubias, you'll need a small plant grouping that will make the tank go *POW*, maybe something with a deep red color. Try Ludwigia glandulosa or Rotala macrandra (if you have very low KH water, <3dKH). If you want a lighter color, you could try your hand at Pogostemon stellata...it's difficult to grow if you're up to it! It would really look nice in your 'scape!

Nice tank!

[Big Vine]

Looks great, man.
And Avalon's suggestions don't sound too shabby either, hehe.

BV

[ishar]

hahaha thanks everyone .

let the plants fully grow out, propogate them, and let them grow out again. There is much strength in numbers!

Yeah I do love it when tanks have huge groupings of plants all bunched together- and I am definitely aiming for that. As of right now I am working on propagating my plants wherever I can- mostly with the rotala as it send so many sideshoots so quickly. I have taken cutting of similar length off of my rotala and planted then in their own hole- that's why it looks so much thinner now :P. I have read in a few books that if I cut the top off of stem plants I can use it as a new shoot and grow it- but will the plant I cut from continue growing in the same fashion?

I would suggest a plant with strong vertical lines on the right third of the tank

Would my jungle vals suffice? They are very vertical, and they are finally starting to grow I think.

that plant below the bacopa....make it larger.

That is my biggest bunch of Java fern var. Windelov. I don't really know how to speed up it's growth and I wish I did- I have a few baby plants I want to grow but they just grow so bloody slow.

After this, right behind the anubias, you'll need a small plant grouping that will make the tank go *POW*, maybe something with a deep red color. Try Ludwigia glandulosa or Rotala macrandra (if you have very low KH water, <3dKH)

Alright. Well my LFS never has much for red plants, so I may order some in from somewhere some day. I am planning on swapping my single strip for another double strip in about a year (when it comes time to replace the bulb I will just replace the whole strip :P) to bring my light up to 2.5ish WPG, so hopefully a good red plant can survive in there.

Thanks for your suggestions Avalon. I can picture what you are thinking in my head and it looks great to me . I can't wait to be my rotala growing in nicely along with the vals. I just wish the bloody bacopa would do the same thing.