40gal tank

[Peyton]

I recently decided to redo my 40gal cichlid tank in favor of another planted tank. So far it has 3 bags of eco complete and 110w CF lighting. I started co2 friday with 2x 2 liter diy generators and most plants are already pearling quite nicely. I'm going to add another bottle as soon as I finish another bottle of pepsi . The tank has already cycled thanks to reusing the filter from the cichlid setup. No fish yet, not sure I'm going to put any in other than some otto's and SAE's.

Sorry I had just removed a huge clump of java moss and the water is a little cloudy in this pic

http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b...anks08062006003.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1

The plants are (starting from left front)
Green wendetti, ? ludwigia, rotalla rotundifolia, potamogeton gayi, water sprite, primrose (?), witeria, java fern, babys tears, four leaf clover, some kind of crypt?, dwarf sagitaria, didiplis diandra, java moss, hair grass, and micro chain sword.

I took me a week before I figured out what I wanted it to look like. Finally after looking through Nature aquarium world I decided on the "hill" theme.
I'm still not 100% sure on this though. The plan is to have the hair grass, dwarf sagitaria and four leaf clover to provide a good foreground and most taller plants on the left of the tank. Thanks to jchillin I'll have some hygro in the far left back corner. Also have some corkscrew vals coming (thanks to Lonewolfblue) and I planed on putting them either behind the red crypts or in the far right hand corner. I think also I will move the water sprite because it looks too much like the wisteria.

Any suggestions on how to make this aquascape come together better?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

The corkscrew vals will look nice behind the red crypts. Then the L. repens will look nice in the back right corner as well. And if you get enough stems going, you'll be able to mask the filter intake. And as for the red foxtail, needs a little room as the stems are pretty bushy. Maybe can use the foxtails to mask the intake as well and place the repens somewhere else. So many choices, lol.

Edit:

Just keep in mind, the water sprite and wisteria are going to get huge. I'm using my wisteria to hide my intake of my filter in my 29G.

 

[Jchillin]

If you have the same idea for the hygro, that will certainly work along with LWB's suggestions. The only thing is, it's cool to experiment with different arrangements until you find one you like.

 

[Purrbox]

Keep in mind that you'll need to keep feeding the filter with an ammonia source, whether it be from fish or something else, or you'll lose your biofilter and have to start from scratch.

You have several plants that grow quickly and will soon make a very nice background for you. Looking forward to seeing what you do with this tank as it matures.

 

[Peyton]

Keep in mind that you'll need to keep feeding the filter with an ammonia source, whether it be from fish or something else, or you'll lose your biofilter and have to start from scratch.

I've been adding ammonia everyday for three days now, maybe 5ml? I checked Nitrates this morning and it tested 40 ppm so I'll try every 2-3 days or as needed.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

If you have the same idea for the hygro, that will certainly work along with LWB's suggestions. The only thing is, it's cool to experiment with different arrangements until you find one you like.

Actually, that's the funnest part of the hobby....

 

[Purrbox]

Sounds good. There's a lot of people that forget about that little fact. I'd probably just half the dose and keep it up every day so that there's a steady supply of ammonia. Then just like a fishless cycle do a massive (90%) water change before adding your fish.

 

[Peyton]

Here's an update on this tank. After a brief (I hope) encounter with algae and with some new plants from Lonewolfblue here's the tank now.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/08112006014.jpg

Everything is growing good except the java moss.

Here's most of my new cleanup crew

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/08112006007.jpg

5 new SAE's + 1 older SAE. Also a new otto (1 of 4). Can you find him?

 

[Peyton]

Another update on this tank.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/08272006006.jpg

The wisteria is huge and I might replace it with something else, possibly a sword or something similar. 4 leaf clover is spreading good along with dwarf sag. Hairgrass is growing good also. Micro chain sword is sending out runners too. Now I think I'm going to stock it with some kind of schooling fish. Maybe rummynose or harliquin rasboras. Need a couple of loaches to because the snail population has exploded. Also noticed I have some kind of white bugs in the substrate. Copods maybe?

 

[Jchillin]

IMO, the wisteria is doing fine. Place some of it on the right side behind the hygro. That will give the tank some balance. Tank is really filling out and just be patient, look at what has happened in just two weeks.

White bugs eh? Can you get a macro shot of em'?

 

[Peyton]

Well the hygro is actually in the left rear corner. You may not be able to see it from the pic. I trimmed about 10" off of it last friday, so needless to say it's doing fantastic. So you think it looks unbalanced? I just don't have an eye for that yet. I was trying to do the hill theme were you have tall plants on one side then lower growing plants on the other. Then I decided I didn't like seeing the right rear corner of the tank so I placed foxtail there along with some extra cuttings of rotala. Any other suggestions?

BTW I think I have 21 differnet types of plants in this tank now! At what point is one considered a plantgeek?

 

[Glenc]

You are getting great growth, I think your tank looks good as is, still got some growing in to do. I would say you are a plank geek as of... now!

 

[czcz]

Good job Peyton.

 

[Peyton]

Just another update.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/09022006.jpg

I added yet another couple of plants. A sword, L. glandulosa, cardamine, an onion plant and one or two more I can't remember now. The onion plant will problably have to go though as I didn't know the leaves got so long. I have had to almost take a chainsaw to the wisteria. Micro sword is sending out runners along with the corkscrew val. Sunset hygro needs pruned at least once a week. Any advice and/or constructive criticism is welcomed.

 

[czcz]

Maybe consider having the Myriophyllum and Wisteria or H. polysperma switch places. The abundance of broad leaved plants on the left blends too easily I think, and loses the niceness of each leaf shape.

Nice tank!

 

[Peyton]

Well I think this tank is fully stocked now, with fish anyway! I picked up 12 more serpea for a total of 22. So the fish list is now

22 serpea tetras
5 SAEs
4 ottos
countless snails
and maybe a amano shrimp

I now have a LFS that I have a good relationship with. I've been trading plants for testing supplies, flourish stuff, etc. He got some amano shrimp in the other day and gave me two to try out. Well one jumped out that night. Found him on the floor. The other I have not seen since. He also sells cherry shrimp so I might trade for a few of them next time. Anyway here is a pick of the serpeas feeding

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/09102006003.jpg

and if you have the time, a little movie

http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/?action=view&current=09112006.flv

 

[rich311k]

Great picture. Very pretty fish and the tank looks great.

 

[czcz]

I don't have flash 8 so missed the video, but that pic is sweeeeeet. I like the arrangement there. Any chance of more pics?

 

[Peyton]

Glad you all like it, so here's more pics!

nothing like seeing a small school of fish greeting you!

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/09112006003.jpg

A full few of the tank

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/09112006001.jpg

and my favorite plant right now, Didiplis Diandra aka blood stargrass

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/peglegburnout/09112006012.jpg

It's hard to see in the pic but some of the tops are a nice rust color.

I really love the serpaes, an often overlooked beautiful fish. Got them for $.88 a piece too!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Looking totally awsome. Love how it all filled in. And the foxtails are great too. Can't believe how tall the corkscrew vals are getting. They wouldn't get that tall in my tank, lol.