26g Bow Front - My First Dutch Inspired Scape Journal

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@CorallineAlgae - Got the Manzanita at a place called Home Goods. It's a discount re-seller like Ross, Marshall's, etc.

@paytertot - Welcome aboard :)
 
Brian_Nano12g said:
@CorallineAlgae - Got the Manzanita at a place called Home Goods. It's a discount re-seller like Ross, Marshall's, etc.

Thanks for the info. I've been looking in the wrong places. lol
 
The mini regulator cost $80 shipped on Ebay. It comes with bubble counter w/ check valve and co2 tubing. You just have to get the diffuser and co2 cylinder separately.
 
Hey guys... I've been digging around online a bit trying to get inspired and envision my plan of attack on this tank. In my research I stumbled upon an awesome website that's very detailed and shows various layouts to information on plants. Check it out!!! Click on the Layouts too!

Tropica Aquarium Plants - Home

And this interactive guide to aquascaping with videos! You can also download a .pdf for future reference.....
Tropica UK ny
 
Update....

Today I spent the day maintaining my other tanks. I collected a boat load of clippings and my DHG. I placed them in a baggy and shot down to my parent's house with all my other aquarium goodies. I'll start setting up tomorrow... But first, I want to share my excitement of how this Finnex light fixture seems to be a perfect fit for this aquarium :)

When I ordered the Finnex Ray 2, I thought I was going to have to ditch the hood on the Aqueon Bow Front and get one of those glass versa tops. But to my delight, after removing the stock light fixture, I discovered that there's a glass splash shield attached to the hood and not the fixture. Further, the width and length looked just about right for the Finnex to sit right on it without docking legs or having to ditch the hood... Wow, it's like the Finnex was made for this tank! Don't you just love it when a plan comes together, especially when it wasn't fully planned that way?? LOL

Best of all... The Finnex uses just 1 more watt than the stock florescent fixture (19w vs. 20w) but delivers a substantial increase in lighting. I just love efficiency!

Here's some comparison shots (no post picture adjustments were made, taken with same camera, and same ambient conditions):

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Here's the glass shield integrated in the hood...
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And the Finnex sitting nicely right on the glass. Super slim and sleek.. From the front, you can't even see a fixture :) I'm considering spray painting it black.. But most likely not because the silver doesn't bother me much.

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Would be even better if you could remove the internals of the stock fixture and fit it over the LEDs. Looks like its a bit too long. Still looks great though. Looking forward to some hard scape!
 
That new light makes the tank look so much better! It's really nice. The tank is coming along great. Super excited to start mine here in a few weeks!! :)
 
I think you should paint it black personally, but hey! None of us will be looking at it day after day. Tanks looks like it has a crazy promise! Keep it up man!
 
Predfan27 said:
I think you should paint it black personally, but hey! None of us will be looking at it day after day. Tanks looks like it has a crazy promise! Keep it up man!

That's what I did to mine and I'm soooo happy with it. Great advice Predfan. Not everybody like black, though I sure do.
 
@Billbug68 - I like the way the Finnex fixture looks. It has a sleek aluminum quality build to it. It gives the tank a high tech feel IMO.Therefore, I'd prefer to not cover it. But the way this tank is built, with the kit fixture and hood, it looks pretty easy to get a strip of leds like the Ecoxotic Panorama LED's or Current TrueLumen Pro LED Striplight, and put those bad boys in there in the way you described.

@Scottyhorse - Yes I know the feeling of excitement in anticipation of getting a new tank and starting a new "build." I'll be sure to stop by your thread and check it out. That's why a good amount of us get addicted to the hobby so easily.... it's the gratification and rush of endorphin that perpetuate a condition we call "MTS" (multiple tank syndrome) - you've been warned :brows:

@Predfan27 - I'm posting some pics up in a bit... you'll see from the front shot and that the fixture is practically invisible behind the feeding hood. Call me weird but I like the aluminum fixture (at first I didn't, even on my 6g build) - it grew on me and gave an industrial look IMO to my builds. But if it gets old, I have two cans of black paint in the garage. I already painted the silver metal grill on my Fluval Edge's cover black. We'll see... once you go black though, you can go back!!!

@CorallineAlgae - You have a pic of the fixture you painted black? It 'MIGHT' convince me :D
 
Update Time.... ---WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY POST---


Took me the whole day but I set up the aquarium by adding a black background, washing out the tank, rinsing all the substrate and hard scape, setting up the equipment, and then planting (approx. 8~9 hours).

Here's the mess I created in the stand. I'm going to try to make it look neat later this week... We'll be using the rest of the Flourish Comprehensive and Leaf Zone before I start implementing PPS-Pro dosing with GLA dry ferts (macro/micros).
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Here's the DHG (Eleocharis parvula) I managed to pull out of my 12g without disturbing too much of my carpet. I separated them in small clumps to replant (thanks to CorallineAlgae and Rivercats for some advice on that here)
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I managed to pull some Flame Moss off my 6g GLA tank and tied that too the Manzanita branch along with some Anubias petite and nana....
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I started with a thin layer of Floramax and strategically placed Flourish root tabs throughout the substrate. That lava rock holding on to my Manzanita will be buried.
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Mission accomplished... buried with some nice sloping action implemented :)
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Bird's eye view... As you can see, where the lava rock was, there's a nice little plateau I created with substrate. I'm going to try planting something there and hope that it will be deep enough for a plant to get rooted in.
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Added in some Caribsea Super Naturals white sand and created a curved river bed of some sort...
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DHG planted is small clumps.
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Now fully planted.
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Flooded and a bit cloudy... I added the biomagnet solution that came with the Floramax... so the cloudiness should subside in a day or two. As you can see the fixture can't be seen from the front (which IMO, is not a good or bad thing).
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Left angle...
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Right angle...
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Semi-top angle view...
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Not sure how "dutch" this is going to be once grown in... but since I lack a bit of discipline in adhering to true dutch aquascaping, it might just be another jungle nature type aquarium...LOL

:thanks:
 
Very slick! Once things start to grow it probably will be more of a nature style. It's often hard to tell how a piece of wood will look in the tank before it's in but it's such a great piece. I love the river. I'm to afraid of it going everywhere to try it myself. I'll be following closely. If it turns out to not be an issue I may emulate it.

Oh, I was talking about painting the back of the tank black. I left my fixture aluminum. It's a great looking fixture right out of the box.
 
I think you really have a good eye for scaping. Truly looks great. I'm jealous
 
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