Sticks & Stones - Journal

[elwaine]

czcz's new Paludarium project http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f98/trying-to-build-something-a-babbling-post-and-catching-up-109172.html really lit my fire, so I ordered a standard ADA 18 gallon (24" x 12" x 14") glass tank and I'm off on a project that hopefully will capture nature the way czcz has.

I'm not doing a paludarium, just a standard aquarium, 'cause 1) I'm chicken; and 2) because I'm chicken. I want to build a natural aquarium, sort of like a Takashi Amano creation - but with at least one difference. Amano's beautiful water gardens are perfect. Nature is not. If I find one flaw in the Master's designs it is that there are no flaws in the Master's designs. (Note: those who can, do. Those who can't, criticize those who can.)

In nature one is always confronted with dualities. Life co-exists with death. (I'm not implying that I want a tank in which 1/2 the fish and plants are dead, but one in which a little algae and a few dead leaves would enhance, rather than detract from, the over all picture.) In nature, biotypes tend to be repetitive in a given ecosystem rather than being chock full of variety a la Noah's ark.

Anyway... I'll stop rambling and get down to my questions:

Front (with reflections removed in Photoshop)

Angled view:

Top view. Questions: 1. Can epiphytes (ferns, anubias) grow successfully on wood that sticks up out of the substrate by only half an inch? 2. Should I keep or get rid of the small slope in the back right? If I keep it, what should I plant there given that the rest of the background will be tall hairgrass (Eleocharis vivipara)?

Thanks for your help.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I know exactly what your talking about with the master plan ect. I think once people start getting that perfect form and stuff down in the aquarium it just looks more and more like an aquarium instead of a actual habitat.


For your setup:

Don't change your placement of rocks and driftwood at all it looks awesome as is.

For the hill, you can do two things, either get rid of it and plant the whole background with something like tall hairgrass, or keep it, plant the background with the tall hairgrass until you hit the hill then plant a different plant on the hill, something with nice long and tall leaves or something.

 

[czcz]

You totally win best name.

1) Totally. Watch out for shading the rhizome (I never thought this would be a problem until I wedged some petite in shade only to have them begin to go soft). So, I started sticking the roots between the wood and substrate with the rhizome out a bit, and this works great (somethimes I have to weigh the roots with a rock, though.) If you notice, a lot of aquascaped tanks will keep Anubias on low wood then throw a rock (with or without moss/fissidens) in front of it. I suspect they do this to hide the root system and make it even less maintenance.

2) I like the hill but think it looks odd without rocks to support it. I also think its tricky to stick stems behind hairgrass -- it just never looks right to me without a division.

(This is a section of one of Plantbrain/Tom Barr's old tanks)

But Narrow/needle Java Fern or Giant hairgrass over Dwarf hairgrass always looks sweet.

(I stole this from one of Tom's galleries, but I am pretty sure its AquaForest San Francisco)

So, I think if you're already thinking of Anubias and/or Java near the foreground, you may want to consider continuing the line from 1) to the top right corner with the same plant, for a nice terraced look for even more depth.

Gorgeous hardscape and beautiful tank. I am really very happy when my tanks inspire guys with no ceilings -- this is one of the best parts about this hobby and plants/scapes. But really I am not worthy and you should watch out: my aquascaping method involves lots of beer, staring at the tank, more beer, moving something, beer, staring for a while, beer, mov... ****** the ph... ****** now the Rotala is uprooted. Oooh, how would it look over there? You get the idea. So, um, yeah.

Sticks and Stones is going to rock.

 

[elwaine]

Thanks, Ben.

Thanks, czcz... great tips which I will follow. Funny thing... I was thinking about layering tall and dwarf hairgrass on both sides, and thought of growing dwarf hairgrass up that little hill. You are spot on about an accent rock on a hill. I tried that several times but just couldn't make it look good in such a small tank (or on such a small hill). As you know, one of the most difficult tasks in designing a hardscape is telling yourself to STOP! Less is often better. But what's even more difficult than telling yourself to stop is following that sound advice you've just given yourself.

my aquascaping method involves lots of beer, staring at the tank, more beer, moving something, beer, staring for a while, beer, mov... ****** the ph... ****** now the Rotala is uprooted. Oooh, how would it look over there? You get the idea. So, um, yeah.

ROTFLMAO !!! Switch "beer" with "Bourbon" and I'm right there with you.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Your welcome Larry, yeah when I first started planted tanks i've always wanted to do a type of vally thing that still looked natural, the only thing is I don't got the money to get the actual co2 stuff and high lighting but it would look sweet seeing yours when it grows in

 

[elwaine]

Planting diagram

OK, this one will either ruin you eyes or ruin you mind - or both. I did this for myself because I have to order plants and kept forgetting what I wanted to plant and where I wanted them to go. It's a lot easier to understand when the actual tank is in front of you. The lack of 3-D really makes it difficult to understand my plant design. (Also, as I haven't had any Bourbon yet, it's even difficult for me to follow my "drawings."

BTW, light shouldn't be a problem as I'll have slightly over 7 watts/gal. But I will watch the Anubias roots carefully. The one's up front will be no problem at all, but the ones in the back may get too much shade.

Don't say I didn't warn you! Here they are:

 

[brutus]

Nice. Looking forward to seeing what you do.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Looks sweet man, love the diagram that helps a lot for me so I can imagine the setup, what i'm going to like most about this is the java moss along the DW and the dwarf hairgrass.

Did you ever consider xmas moss or flame moss for the DW as well or no?

 

[czcz]

Dang I need to learn me some photo editing. I love this tank and know you don't mind randomness, and dude, beer has been open for a while over here, and it totally makes sense I love that the plants and layout will let you see it from the three sides and top easily. That vertical craning piece of wood will look super far away when behind the Java fern. Are you concerned about having no fast growers, or will you keep maintenance down by regularly pulling/trimming out the moss after its attached? Thats a neat idea to keep it lower maint, too. This made me think of Gomer's famous Cladorpha Algae tank:

Whatever that is in the back left wants your tank I think Just an idea.

I have never grown L. cardinallis "Dwarf" but it sure looks like it wants to run. I think your limiting species is smart. Maybe combine these two things and see if it ends up wanting to just take over the dwarf hairgrass spots?

I'll bet the color of that plant against the dark greens will be wonderful.

This tank makes me want to mess with my tank, too, by the way. Awesome.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Dang I need to learn me some photo editing. I love this tank and know you don't mind randomness, and dude, beer has been open for a while over here, and it totally makes sense I love that the plants and layout will let you see it from the three sides and top easily. That vertical craning piece of wood will look super far away when behind the Java fern. Are you concerned about having no fast growers, or will you keep maintenance down by regularly pulling/trimming out the moss after its attached? Thats a neat idea to keep it lower maint, too. This made me think of Gomer's famous Cladorpha Algae tank:

Whatever that is in the back left wants your tank I think Just an idea.

I have never grown L. cardinallis "Dwarf" but it sure looks like it wants to run. I think your limiting species is smart. Maybe combine these two things and see if it ends up wanting to just take over the dwarf hairgrass spots?

I'll bet the color of that plant against the dark greens will be wonderful.

This tank makes me want to mess with my tank, too, by the way. Awesome.

How does he get his java moss so fluffy and soft and green lookin'? Mines all brownish and stringy . I want SOFT AND FLUFFY AND GREEN!! haha

 

[czcz]

Its Cladorpha. I don't recall if gomer said it was actually from "moss balls," but "moss balls" are Cladorpha.

Japanese moss balls, Cladophora aegagropila, with pictures

Java moss ends up being stringier though guys like N Sabat grow it super pimp looking on rocks. This is one reason folks prefer Christmas and Taiwan moss and stuff. It may just be that Java moss doesn't like you (it doesn't like lots of tanks ). Vesicularia sp also prefers warmer waters than other mosses... if you like moss, killies.com is where the info and sweet pics are at, by the way.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Ok thanks.

 

[elwaine]

Did you ever consider xmas moss or flame moss for the DW as well or no?

I looked at all the mosses I could find on the web. I wanted Willow moss because it grows naturally here in Florida. But I got a good deal on Java moss and Java moss and Willow moss are very similar. In fact, I find it difficult to tell them apart. So I went with Java moss.

 

[elwaine]

Are you concerned about having no fast growers, or will you keep maintenance down by regularly pulling/trimming out the moss after its attached? Thats a neat idea to keep it lower maint, too.

Whatever that is in the back left wants your tank I think Just an idea.

Not at all concerned about all slow growers, and the low maintenance is a big plus. Trimming and thinning the moss should be relatively easy. I'll also have to thin out the HC from time to time so it doesn't choke itself out.

You gave me an idea about the left side... will plant a few A. nana petite on two of the low left branches of DW above the rocks I may also try to work in another java fern on the far right to continue the line, as you put it.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

I looked at all the mosses I could find on the web. I wanted Willow moss because it grows naturally here in Florida. But I got a good deal on Java moss and Java moss and Willow moss are very similar. In fact, I find it difficult to tell them apart. So I went with Java moss.

Yeah you can always find good deals with java moss, I got around a soft ball size + some C. wendtii for only $9 and that was to pay for the shipping.

Like you said there is not much of a difference between the willow and java, willow seems to be harder to find though.

I think xmas moss would look cool, it isn't as string and it growers lower and more spread out then java moss.

 

[ingg]

Willow moss is a lot different than java moss. It has body/thickness due to the fronds, much thicker...

Aquatic Moss. How to grow Aquatic Moss. Info on Java Moss, Christmas Moss, Taiwan Moss, Peacock Moss, Stringy Moss

 

[elwaine]

Willow moss is a lot different than java moss. It has body/thickness due to the fronds, much thicker...

Aquatic Moss. How to grow Aquatic Moss. Info on Java Moss, Christmas Moss, Taiwan Moss, Peacock Moss, Stringy Moss

Thank you for that! I spent hours on the web looking for just this information... and didn't find it ... until your kind post. I actually ordered both Java moss and Willow moss to see the difference for myself, but this information has already helped me make my selection.

 

[elwaine]

Dealing with runners

Since I'm planting a lot of hairgrass (dwarf along the sides and tall in the background) I want to minimize the eventual task of dealing with runners as the plants spread. In some places I want to block the hairgrass from invading other plants. In other areas - like the boundary between HC and dwarf hairgrass - I'm thinking of letting the dwarf hairgrass mingle a bit with the outer edges of HC, because I think that will result in a more natural look. But in each case I want to control runners from the main stands of grass.

So I've borrowed a trick from gardeners and used acrylic to divided critical parts of my planting beds. Acrylic is easy to work with and it bends easily over low heat. Here are few examples of the hairgrass runner blockers:

After they are pushed into the substrate the dividers become invisible. As you see in the insert, they can be used in small areas as well. The one shown will block Lobelia cardinalis (small form) and the dwarf hairgrass from mingling.

The runners will jump the acrylic borders but they can't grow through them. As they jump the blockade, they are easy to see and snip off.

So I am all set... almost. I need to fine E. vivipara and narrow leaf or needle leaf Microsorum. After rereading one of czcz's posts, I finally figured out what he means by "continuing the line." So I switched out the Wendilov and will use needle or narrow leaf Java fern to form the line in mid-ground.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Smart idea man, good thinkin'.

 

[czcz]

I apparently have to spread love around before giving you more reputation, but great job.