10gal update [pics]

[Mr Burns]

Hey all, my 10gal has undergone quite a bit of change over the past few weeks:

Here's the tank soon after the original:

I was using [acronym:837b8633c7="Do it yourself"]DIY[/acronym:837b8633c7] [acronym:837b8633c7="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:837b8633c7] with a poorly designed reactor. It was pretty efficient, but way too much work and made too much noise.

A few weeks ago:

The lilaeopsis in the front started out nice, but continually declined. It would have been really nice to grow it in, but my impatience coupled with lack of info and experience on this species made it pretty much doomed from the begining. In this picture it has been replaced with Eleocharis parvulus, aka 'dwarf hairgrass.' This is actually what I wanted from the start but finding it proved to be exceedingly difficult. Floridadriftwood.com was the only supplier that carried the E. parvulus species. On the right side of the tank, the water sprite has been replaced with Hygrophila difformis which was purchased by accident...it's far too large for a small tank. It's now floating in the 29gal.
The white thing floating on the surface is ice to keep the tank cool. I'll eventually get around to adding some fans to the canopy.
See the algae on the crypt? grrr....

Yesterday, right before adding new plants:

Rotala indica, Hygrophila difformis are removed (rotala saved in a bucket for replanting) and some of the E. parvulus is relocated towards the front. This order was huge...well over $100. It included fish, shrimp, plants, ferts, and tools. I had some DOAs, 3 of 6 cherry and 1 of 4 dwarf puffers (package was shipped overnight.) I'm also fairly certain one of the 3 puffers that made it into the tank has died (and now I can't find it...they don't float.) It was much thinner than the other two and spent much of it's time last night in the back left of the tank at the surface. It would swim down and around every now and then, but generally was exhibiting much different behavior from the other two. The other two are doing very well and have already taken to eating snails. The 3 cherry shrimp are also busy working away on the algae...or at least I hope they are.

Planting snapshot:

The quality of the Rotala wallichii from AZGardens is outstanding. Heck, it looks like it has already grown some since yesterday. I was talking to madasafish as I was planting and made the comment that the 12" stainless steel curved tweezers are wonderful. It makes planting multiple stems so so easy. There hasn't been a single pop-up.

Puffers:

I love this picture. It's cropped down, but the original included the puffer that I think died overnight. No pictures of the cherry shrimp yet.

I was ready to take a picture of the tank as it is right now with more plants added, but of course the batteries on the camera needed to be recharged. As soon as that's done, I'll add that picture and maybe a couple others.

[Mr Burns]

Today:

Sorry about the picture being over-exposed. On the right side I have planted a large stand of Hemianthus micranthemoides. It took about two hours to accomplish, I had a sore back because of it, but it was well worth it. None of these stems were trimmed. I'll let them adapt and grow for a while before trimming and shaping. To the left of Rotala wallichii are a few stems of Alteranthera reineckii which will be the 'wow' factor once I figure out how to get them -really- red. Word on the street is that cuttings need a while to re-establish, it will stunt with less than 5ppm [acronym:6ce6a88455="Nitrate"]NO3[/acronym:6ce6a88455], and should get plenty of iron. Sitting on top of the java fern are a few weighed-down stems of Rotala macrandra. These were purchased from a different source and weren't nearly as healthy as the plants from AZGardens. The goal is to keep them there until I see new growth.
The yellow thing behind the intake pipe is the probe for the pH controller.

Tomorrow, I'll decide what to do with the Rotala indica and the Crypt leaves that have a lot of algae on them will be timmed off. Is there anything special to know about trimming crypts?

[lamthuyduong]

I like it, it's nice.

[mattrox]

Great looking set up. I love seeing pics!

[malkore]

Good work. Its a definite improvment in the aquascaping...the aesthetic factor...from the original (top) photo. Learning how to aquascape is hard, because it is art. I don't claim to be an expert...in fact I consider myself very much a novice at aquascaping.
Give yourself a pat on the back for the effort you've put in.
20 kudos!

[acronym:d1590da610="By the way"]BTW[/acronym:d1590da610], is that mexican oak in the front left corner?

[Mr Burns]

Cardamine lyrata

[medge00]

its fabulous

[madasafish]

Phenomenal, Erik. That's a great accomplishment. Did you end up using all the plants you got from AZgardens?

I can't really compete, but I'll post some new pics of my 55 planted. Growing fast...

WOW Burns,

Great job! It's great to see a nice aquascape on a smaller tank. I'm sure it's a challenge.

[acronym:0560e4ff60="By the way"]BTW[/acronym:0560e4ff60]....you ever settle on a reactor design? There for a while it seems you were building one per week

A [acronym:0560e4ff60="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:0560e4ff60] controller. Your not messing around What made you want to invest so much time and money into a 10g? The challenge? Space? Experience and research?

At any rate, you've done a great job! I'm envious. Keep us posted on the progress. I'm curious as to how often you'll need to trim this tank to keep everything in perspective.

[Mr Burns]

Thank you.

I have finalized my reactor design and it appears to be working flawlessly and at 100% diffusion. I'll post a picture of the hardware as soon as I remember to do so. Madasafish talked me into getting the pH controller (yeah, right) and for the price, I would have been crazy to pass it up. It will be transfered over to a larger tank, if and when that time comes. At that time, the 10gal will more than likely become either a low-light tank, or taken down completely. In a way, it's something to hold me over until the big tank is completed...and I already have a design in mind for that.