Craynerds Rekord70 Planted Tank

[craynerd]

Hope this picture is better. I`ve taken it from a little further away.

 

[Themuleous]

TBH it looks great! It does look a bit over crowded to me, but then the jungle look is a bonafide style all of its one, just depends what 'look' you're going for I think it may be due to all the high plants at the back, they feel a bit over bearing making it look more filled than it probably is. Perhaps lose some height on the Cabomba and poss a few others to give it more of a variation?

Just my thoughts,

Sam

 

[craynerd]

thanks sam!

Anyone else comments on what i should trim down?
I dont think anyone else bothers with my journal lol!

Chris

 

[Qays]

I realllllly like your tank! well done!

 

[Themuleous]

I dont think anyone else bothers with my journal lol!

Dont be silly! People (unlike me!) have lives outside TFF, they will post when they can Im sure

Sam

 

[Qays]

thanks sam!

Anyone else comments on what i should trim down?
I dont think anyone else bothers with my journal lol!

Chris

your journal is great! I really enjoyed reading it, and i also learnt a few things!

 

[lljdma06]

I dont think anyone else bothers with my journal lol!

Dont be silly! People (unlike me!) have lives outside TFF, they will post when they can Im sure

Sam

Oh please! It's MY journals that everybody ignores! Stop feeling sorry for yourself! And trust me Craynerd, you do NOT have a jungle yet. llj, the resident TFF messy jungle master who leaves no room for fish has spoken. I am also the member at TFF with the tallest glosso. I'm also very good at growing various types of algae. I have many outstanding qualifications.

Enough about me, back to you. Well since you are demonstrating skill in growing plants and mastering algae, what have you thought about as far as layout is concerned? Are you looking for a Nature look or a Dutch look, or a Jungle look? I am not the best person to comment, as I tend to have messy jungle tanks, but, it seems that the red in your tank is kind of spread out. You also seem to have the same shade of green in play, which was a criticism that was pointed at me in this forum once. But it could be your photos. The person also mentioned that I had too many plants that were similar in shape. I fixed that by adding some different plant shapes and colors, and I think I've achieved a little better balance in the 15g. The 10g is still a jungle mess and will be until I prune! You have the beginnings of a lovely layout with your wood and the placement of your riccia and glosso, but it feels like, and I think it's just a matter of you figuring out what you want to do with the rest of the plants.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

lljdma06

 

[Themuleous]

You have the beginnings of a lovely layout with your wood and the placement of your riccia and glosso

I would heartly agree its early days yet Chris. Im exactly the same with mine, you just want it to look perfect NOW dam it! but these things take time, have a bit of patients it will happen all in good time

Sam

 

[jimbooo]

it's coming along great mate. regarding the glosso, your welcome. dont worry about money i'll just tap you on the shoulder when i fancy a layout change and you can send me some of your spare cuttings in return. i'll scratch your back, you scratch mine.

one reason you have sucessfully avoided the dreaded algae is due to the amount of plants you have in the tank. dont remove anything just yet. in time the tank will have found a natural balance and you can then concentrate on the aquascape (not that there's anything wrong with it anyway). just my thoughts, it's going so well it would be a shame to let algae get a look in just to tweak the look.

 

[RYO]

Looks good m8, one thing i found with the glosso in my tanks, it didn't carpet well in sand and tended to grow leggy, but in the gravel it went nuts and took over the tank.
As to the jungle look lol i like it

 

[kennygater]

hi your tank looks great, i dont think it looks overcrowded at all, i prefer it when its like that. your ricca looks good as well its growing well fast, i might try that in my tank.

 

[craynerd]

Thanks for your input guys! I do like the look of the tank it it certainly looks better in real life than in the photos but still...

Jimboo: i`ll take ur advice and leave the stem plants in for now to reduce algea growth then concentrate on looks later on. Cheers re: the glosso, yes i will certainly share alike if i ever have anything interesting to you!

OK , thanks again everyone. I`ll keep you updated!

Chris

PS...Sam, got the Hornwart today! Added to the tank and it looks ace! The older stuff is still red looking!!!!

I`ll post some picks this coming week to let you know how its doing!

Chris

 

[NAL]

Your tank is looking just fine for a first go. I think you've just had the best advice you could get when it comes to planted tanks: leave things as they are for now! Patience is the key, and once you've got a good feel for your tank and the algae hasn't made an appearence you can start to tweak, think about adding ferts, CO2 etc..But it looks like you've achieved so far what a lot of people strive to get for a long time-a tank started without too many problems-you must be a natural!!

Regards,
Nick

 

[craynerd]

Hi guys,

Just a quick update and for myself so i can keep track of progression!

I know that the tank was heavily planted and this was controling algea, and i was advised to leave my stem plants in. However, after doing maintainance and a water change today i decided that enough was enough. I mean its one thing to have cabomba but the stuff was sprouting new shoots everywhere, it was so crammed that i felt it was a bit too like a jungle. It needed a cut!! Also with so much growth up top, i found that the bottom of the plants were going yellow and leggy.

So the tank is still full to the brim and i removed about a carrier bag full of hornworth, cabomba and pennywort from my tank. As well as some dead vall which seems to be the only plant i`m struggling with.

Hope you like the new pics. The tank is reallu more structured and looks the best i have seen it. Colours contrast and complement, the tiger lotus is growing great as well as the riccia carpet and "tall" glosso! As per usual the photo does it no justice...to much glare from the lights...defo need some tank picture tips as well!

Now the tank is stabablizing i`m gonna start the EI from day 1 this week in a more regemented fashion.




Chris

 

[simonbrown403]

Wow thats coming on some, looks well keep up the good work.