20 Gal Aquascaped 1/20/07 (updated Pics 2/21/07

[iroc]

today I rescaped my 20 gal. As some of you know I added CO2 to my tank sometime back. i have had various fish in this tank at different times but have decided that whats in there now is best. I wanted to do sand in this tank becuase I recently switched the substate in my 55 gal and I loved the results.

The tank:
whisper 20 filter
100 watt topfin heater
Nutifin CO2 system (using pinned recipe)
Jebo light 2 x 55watt duel blubs
sand 2"
gravel 1"
seachem florish 2 times a week
root food 1 time a month under stem plants

The Fish and plants
1 X Sunbrust platy (XIPHOPHORUS MACULATUS)
1 X Red Wag tail platy (XIPHOPHORUS MACULATUS)
5 X Black neon tetras (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi)
8 X Blue neon Tetras (Paracheirodon innesi)
1 X Rubber Lip pleco (Chaetostoma milesi)

6 X Hygrophila difformis (water wistera)
10 X Microsorium pteroptus (java fern)
Vesicularia dubyana (java moss) - Attached to drift wood
1 X Anubias Nana
6 X Ammannia gracilis
5 X Alternanthera reineckii
20 X Myriophyllum matogrossensis
2 X Cryptocoryne wendtii
1 X Echinodorus uruguayensis


Here is the tank before I fid the rescape

And from the open side

And the after pics.

The open side

I planted it with the idea of how it will look in a 2 to 3 months, but i will update as everything begins to fill in.

 

[Tsi_User]

I like both layouts but i think the first one looked better

 

[afishdude]

imo: the first one looks much better. srry i think you thinned out your plants a little 2 much.

 

[R1ch13]

I agree with the people above i do like the 1st one better !

But post more pics when its bushed out a bit more

If you like it who cares what we think

Thanks

Richie

P.S nice Mopani wood !

 

[wei0204]

I personally like the new scape, I believe when the plants are grown up a bit, it will be very nice.

Good job!

 

[Dave Spencer]

The wood in the second set up looks great, making things look far more natural! Where did you get it?

You have the potential for a fantastic nature aquarium, so keep posting updates.

 

[mattb]

Nice, the second layout will look better than the first after as you say 2-3 months when it has all grown in. The use of the wood etc will make it look more natural than the first.

 

[Themuleous]

Yeh once the java moss starts to grow in along the wood that'll look cool

Sam

 

[MoreCoffee]

iroc,

I think the new scape will fill out quite nicely and the wood should look good once the moss gets established.

Just a couple of thoughts, I would consider changing is the position of the Alternanthera reineckii. Having the red over on one side keep drawing attention over to the very side of the tank and away from the where the wood meets on the left (which is in a good focal poisition).
Personally I'd put it over on the left at the back where the wood branches meet.

You may also need to watch the size of some plants like your Echinodorus uruguayensis. Tropica describe this as " a very beautiful solitary plant for large aquariums" and list it's size as 20 - 55+ cm.

Al

 

[iroc]

Thanks for all the comments, let me try to address some or all:

to the 1st 3 posters, this is kinda what i expected when I posted it and I can't say that pic for pic I don't agree. However my plants grow about 2"-3" per week so give it a month and then I think you will see why I did it this way

wei, dave, matt and sam - Thanks a lot. I got most of the wood from a LFS and the updates will msot likely be weekly since it is always amazing to me how fast this tank grows. This is the 1st time i streached out the java moss, I think I have not putting it on thin enough thus not letting it do what it can.


Al - I think thats a great idea, the only reason i put it where it is is that out of all the plants (excluding what I think is Echinodorus uruguayensis although mine has grown very slowly) this plant is the slowest grower. the Ammannia gracilis was once 3 sterms is now 6 and is a great focal point becuase of its broad yellow leaves. Within a month the whole background will be covered with a mix of red from the Myriophyllum matogrossensis and light green from the Hygrophila difformis which is why I put the yellow plant in front of it. I will however consider moving it when the tank has filled in some.

Thanks for all the comments

 

[netcode]

second one is much better.. it will grow out.. but maybe plant a little heavier though.

 

[iroc]

second one is much better.. it will grow out.. but maybe plant a little heavier though.

I have to be careful becuase my whole background is made up of plants that in my tank grow about 3-4 " per week

 

[netcode]

ya thats fine.. backgrounds should be pretty full. Give it time and it will look much better. Gotta give your plants space otherwise your tank will be overgrown like woah!

be sure to give us an update with pics.

 

[iroc]

Ok here we are 1 week later. I had some ups and downs this week. My Cryptocoryne wendtii almost died but has made a complete recovery. I moved the Anubias nana to the front left corner as it was becoming lost against the background, and then moved the Cryptocoryne wendtii to the open area which was a little more shaded. It is filling out nicely, another 3 weeks or so and maybe some slight trimming of the Myriophyllum matogrossensis and the Hygrophila difformis and the tank will look very full. The Vesicularia dubyana growing along the wood is the only part I don't have a lot of experence with, but I am hoping it fills in nicely.

Anyway here is the tank last week..........

and after 1 week

Anymore comments or recomendations are welcome.

 

[Dave Spencer]

It is filling out quite nicely with variations of greens and leaf size and shape. I would imagine this set up is an excellent learning experience for you.

A little more growth from the Microsorium and the moss, plus a moss trim, and it will look great. The red is still drawing the eye away from the overall picture, though, but has become a little less distracting.