So I've been away from the hobby for a while, and in the year and a half interim had a 40 gallon regular, 192w CF, new but opened Aquasoil, and some driftwood set up. I wanted a paludarium I could grow cool plants and maybe flower an aquatic plant in. (I've never flowered anything except P. fluitans/Red root floater, but that doesn't really count.) I figured I could a styrofoam and cement background like I did for my old freshwater fuge, but I've been so busy with work (for ~2 years) that when I finally stuck water in this tank I totally half assed it and prayed wood would hold up soil. Aquasoil breaks down into mud even when left in open air, by the way. I am a moron. So instead I just build up land area with pots (filled with sand and soil and allowed to drain -- I already had mud anyway), one of those thick fabric pond planter things and a wall of rock to keep the island out of the foreground. All the rearranging has left a layer of dust on everything, even a week later.
Anyway, here's what it looks like most of the time a month in. This is before a little trim of the stems where I hope for bushy clumps that bend down from the light (There's R. rotundifolia and HM in there.)
About a week ago I used a Vicks humidifier, some reduction fittings, and my old clear fuge tubing to add fog -- I still work ~12 hour days and misting is not practical. And I prefer and open tank. The fogger runs on a timer on a half hour on, hour off schedule until right before and after the photoperiod, except from 12pm to 1pm, when it runs for an hour straight. There's 2 male and 2 female Spiketail Paradise Fish in there and they dig it, but have kind of owned the entire left rear area of the tank until sundown, when they own most of the tank. There's 4 male and 4 female Dario dario/Scarlett badis too, but they are afraid of me. The six Otos say hi.
Let me try to explain what I'm hoping for: The R. rotundifolia in the back has been looped to the side a few times and rooted. I want to make slope up then allow it to float on the surface and increase the shade right center. The neat thing about all the sunlight is it makes really dramtic shadows, and I'd like to enhance that, and figure it will also allow me to watch my shy fish.
But even better will be if some coaxing and the humidity lets the rear stems go emergent to their round leaf form like they would in nature. I hope to cover those stiff submersed stems with the submersed, running rotundifolia.
The right side was capped with more Aquasoil in prep for a Downoi valley. I've also wanted to try Downoi on the rocks trully emersed (with the rhizome out of water) and may try some on that rock. I also have some Weeping moss coming, which I'll try in clumps all over the place. I need to propogate more HM to spread around the tank.
The top part have a couple Bromeliads from my local nursery, which were in this dusty bucket and an ugly gray, but now are a nice very pretty green. The left pair send runners everywhere and I don't know what to do with them. The plant with the bulbs near center is a Mexican orchid that the plant nursery guy said would be great, but I think he just wanted my $20. It was not labelled and he did not know the species. So I hope it stays small. Do you know what it is? Its roots bend around the glass and go into a small planter filled with bark and water slightly below the top of the bark line.
So, the dead spots: I'm not sure what to do left center. Left midground has some R. macrandra "Narrow leaf" that really needs some green behind it to stand out. You can see part of a submerged pot in the back which will be covered up as I build the land area, but there's some R. macrandra "narrow leaf" and R. wallichii stems growing out back there too. Maybe I can use a big bunch of HM to bend down over that section and make a nice shaded cave? The little round leaves stem plants poking out of the water around the orchid is Bacopa australis, but I think its not quite right in the back. Maybe L. cardinallis "Small form"?
Think I should try a road of plants or open substrate to the right center cave area?
Not sure yet how to build the top right and top left of the land area. I kind of think I can get away with adding another stryo/cement backwall with a running tank, as long as I keep the bottom of it above water and build in good places to clamp while drying. But I don't want to block too much sunlight: I want lots of sunlight. So maybe I'll just use a ton of ferns and bromeliads out of the water attached to wood, piping, and rock which will let sun poke through and give a sense of depth to the back. Then start building a garden on a shelf behind and around the tank. With EI I have lots of fertilized water going down the drain
Do you have ideas? What do you think? Does it just look like a tank that should be filled all the way with water? Got ideas for plants that would dig it in planters or mounted to wood? What else is it missing?
Anyway, here's what it looks like most of the time a month in. This is before a little trim of the stems where I hope for bushy clumps that bend down from the light (There's R. rotundifolia and HM in there.)
About a week ago I used a Vicks humidifier, some reduction fittings, and my old clear fuge tubing to add fog -- I still work ~12 hour days and misting is not practical. And I prefer and open tank. The fogger runs on a timer on a half hour on, hour off schedule until right before and after the photoperiod, except from 12pm to 1pm, when it runs for an hour straight. There's 2 male and 2 female Spiketail Paradise Fish in there and they dig it, but have kind of owned the entire left rear area of the tank until sundown, when they own most of the tank. There's 4 male and 4 female Dario dario/Scarlett badis too, but they are afraid of me. The six Otos say hi.
Let me try to explain what I'm hoping for: The R. rotundifolia in the back has been looped to the side a few times and rooted. I want to make slope up then allow it to float on the surface and increase the shade right center. The neat thing about all the sunlight is it makes really dramtic shadows, and I'd like to enhance that, and figure it will also allow me to watch my shy fish.
But even better will be if some coaxing and the humidity lets the rear stems go emergent to their round leaf form like they would in nature. I hope to cover those stiff submersed stems with the submersed, running rotundifolia.
The right side was capped with more Aquasoil in prep for a Downoi valley. I've also wanted to try Downoi on the rocks trully emersed (with the rhizome out of water) and may try some on that rock. I also have some Weeping moss coming, which I'll try in clumps all over the place. I need to propogate more HM to spread around the tank.
The top part have a couple Bromeliads from my local nursery, which were in this dusty bucket and an ugly gray, but now are a nice very pretty green. The left pair send runners everywhere and I don't know what to do with them. The plant with the bulbs near center is a Mexican orchid that the plant nursery guy said would be great, but I think he just wanted my $20. It was not labelled and he did not know the species. So I hope it stays small. Do you know what it is? Its roots bend around the glass and go into a small planter filled with bark and water slightly below the top of the bark line.
So, the dead spots: I'm not sure what to do left center. Left midground has some R. macrandra "Narrow leaf" that really needs some green behind it to stand out. You can see part of a submerged pot in the back which will be covered up as I build the land area, but there's some R. macrandra "narrow leaf" and R. wallichii stems growing out back there too. Maybe I can use a big bunch of HM to bend down over that section and make a nice shaded cave? The little round leaves stem plants poking out of the water around the orchid is Bacopa australis, but I think its not quite right in the back. Maybe L. cardinallis "Small form"?
Think I should try a road of plants or open substrate to the right center cave area?
Not sure yet how to build the top right and top left of the land area. I kind of think I can get away with adding another stryo/cement backwall with a running tank, as long as I keep the bottom of it above water and build in good places to clamp while drying. But I don't want to block too much sunlight: I want lots of sunlight. So maybe I'll just use a ton of ferns and bromeliads out of the water attached to wood, piping, and rock which will let sun poke through and give a sense of depth to the back. Then start building a garden on a shelf behind and around the tank. With EI I have lots of fertilized water going down the drain
Do you have ideas? What do you think? Does it just look like a tank that should be filled all the way with water? Got ideas for plants that would dig it in planters or mounted to wood? What else is it missing?
