desktop 2.5gal

[czcz]

My newest tank. I'll be gone for a while and wanted to post pics before it possibly crashes due to neglect

This tank is lit off a 23w spiral screw-in CF in a desklamp and gets 1mL of Excel every other day along with eyeballed doses of KNO3 and KH2PO4 and CSM+B+Extra Fe. I plan on not measuring anything but Excel dosing in this tank. It was set-up 4/24.

After setup. The wood is the two pieces from this tank repositioned.


Couple days later. It is Xmas moss on the horizontal driftwood, Weeping moss on the vertical piece, and Erect moss on the rocks. Also Anubias nana "petite."


Added R. papulentus and HC on 5/4.




And added L. brevipes a couple days ago. HC likes the tank and is super easy Changed the background from tan to white. I think I prefer the tan.


From the top left corner


Will update in about a month.

[sherry]

great start..

where are you going?

[Tiffi]

That's going to be beautyful! Congrats!

[Zezmo]

Sure looks like a fun tank. I really like the driftwood placement. The stones and the Ranunculus are the only things that let you know how small it really is. The L. brevipes will also look cool as it fills in. In fact, I picture that tank getting all over grown with that, the moss and the HC... and looking awsome. I am really impressed Cz, that is a first class presentation for a tank that size. Once it matures I hope you plan on entering it in the AGA contest.
Is that aquasoil for substrate? What are your plans for animals? Some Cherry shrimp and a Nerite snail would love it in there. Maybe a single Betta, or Guppy would be pretty happy too. Of course, at over 9wpg make sure you get them sunglasses too.

[rich311k]

That is going to be a nice little tank. I love moss covered wood. You will have a nice variety of levels and textures. Can wait to see the progress as it grows in.

[resiak]

Tank is lookin sweet! Glad you haven't taken that peice of wood out per your girls request =) hehehe. I think it looks good in there and is guna look even better once it all fills in.

[Glenc]

Beautiful little tank, only going to get better. You make me want to get a little one going, don't have much room, but that I could squeeze in somewhere!

[czcz]

Thanks

I went to Long Island and Kansas City and San Diego. Work + play + Mom's day, but a little too cramped time wise.

It is Aquasoil Amazonia. I am thinking shrimp, but right now there are only ruby-red ramshorns and pond snails in there. I dream it would be worthy of getting comments at AGA but believe I am a ways away from such honor. The light isn't as strong as the rating indicates due to the desklamp's angle and height, and restrike from bulb shape. I'm losing some color from L. brevipes but it has grown enough to train it emersed, for example.

My lady still dislikes the moss and thinks it would be nicer with the bare wood and stones, but whatever.

[czcz]

There's a new desklamp, cherry shrimp, and some carnivorous plants (the "cloud" - Uticulara sp. and Aldrovanda sp.) from my other tanks in there now, which you can read about and see pics of on my site if you'd like. I am happy with the nice full, dense growth. The Xmas is growing pretty fast and I pulled out a golf ball amount last week. The L. brevipes wants to go emergent but just dries out and shrivels up.

I think the image I'm going for is now more of a mountain and a cloud thing than an old forest, and the layout has been by eye. But want to learn so decided to tweak with it anyway.

Tom Barr recommends this as an easy to understand guide for those of us artistically challenged:
http://www.kingvinnie.com/aquaria/ar...alproportions/

The idea as I understand it is to use the "golden rule" to establish four aural focal points, then force the eye to travel from one to another by getting the travelling across the tank.

I used thread which may not be clear in the pics. Apologies ahead of time: I did not realize my in progress pics were so out of focus. This also may be very boring

Here is the before pic, 8800K light:


and 6500K


After a little tweaking. Notice the Anubias nana "petite" in the bottom left focal point:


Decided to try something more dramatic to incorporate all four focal points, but think it looks dumb:


So instead, I went back to lower driftwood placement and just used another Anubias nana "petite" to bring in the top right focal point. I love how such a subtle thing actually appears to make the tank wider.


But the above looks too symetrical to me, so decided to forget about the top right focal point and just use the "petite" to soften the juntion between the two pieces of wood.


Hoping the "cloud" brings the eye to the top right focal point.



After 50% water change because of uprooting and trimming. With 8800K


Just too purple. I prefer 6500K:


So, subtle changes. My plants are to let it grow back a little more and see if I can appreciate the differences, and if not, put something in the top right focal point to implement the method properly. I may switch out L. brevipes for R. pusilla, which is my new favorite stem plant. Will update again in about another month.

Bonus pic of a female and male cherry shrimp on weeping moss.

[Glenc]

I set up 5 rocks in my ten gallon. 5 rocks. It probably took me an hour or more to kinda like the layout. One small move makes a big differance to the big picture. I'm still not sure about it. Might move them again before I plant. My wife thinks I'm nuts! Glad to see someone else is as crazy as I am! Your tank looks great by the way, looking forward to new pics!