90g Planted Build - Ongoing

[threnjen]

So I've never shown much about my tank. Probably because it's always an ongoing project and I am never satisfied with it. But I thought I would start a photo story about its life thus far

Here we are on Oct 19, 2013. When I put the driftwood in and turned the light on, I was soooo happy. There wasn't even water yet. It was still the best thing EVER.

Next up, mid-cycle, taken Nov 13. You can see the bacterial bloom! I put in a couple of plants and was totally congratulating myself

After the last picture I realized I needed more plants, big time. Still have some of these but not all... Nov 17, 2013

Dec 2, 2013 I had fishies! My plants were growing too.

 

[threnjen]

Jan 10, 2014. Boesemanis and Angel in. This is right after I treated the tank for Columnaris with some really strong antibiotics. I lost several plants. Here I added a few new things including a couple of shorter foreground plants.

Mar 11, 2014. So just a month ago. The tank was getting pretty unruly. I had done another rescape in Feb, so lots more foreground plants and a rearranged background group. The back left plants were going nuts and the tank was seriously off balance.

Mar 28, 2014 only a few weeks later. The sword, the rotala to its right and the bacopa monnieri in the center are going insane. Tank is an unruly mess!

 

[threnjen]

April 7, 2014. Rescape time again! I've realized that I love plants and I want plants on every possible surface. I've rearranged the background plants to at least put the tall ones on one side to offset the unevenness. I've added some fast-growing plants along the background and several reddish plants to the midground that should fill in nicely. After some success with Glosso and Dwarf Baby Tears, I'm now setting up for a glosso carpet in the center front and dwarf baby tears in the front right. Now I'm just waiting to see what lives and what dies.

I've had a lot of growth in the last month (since I started dosing EI and tons of Excel) so I was able to cut off a ton of plants to put in my 10g and new 5.5g planted.

I'll probably rescape again in a month

And here's my sump underneath. Can't see much of it, but it ROCKS.

Aaaaand that's where we are today!

 

[TXaggie]

Wow, I really love how the tank looks after the most recent rescape! Having your tallest plants all the way to the left really balances it with the way your driftwood is.

Gotta admit this is a lot like my dream (large) tank that I'd love to have someday. Planted, with a big school of rainbows....

Very cool!

 

[threnjen]

Thank you!

 

[fishman888888]

Those look like some happy rainbows
I like the most recent aquascape too

Do you feed them live food? Or are they just that happy

 

[sallyjano]

Wow that looks amazing!!! Congrats. Wish I had the time for plants.....love the natural look.

 

[saltwaterbeginners]

Do I need all the stuff you have to do a planted tank?

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

Gorgeous!!! You could hire out as professional aquascaper! Very, very natural looking and peaceful!

 

[threnjen]

Thanks you guys! All of my plants are doing really well too and it's just getting better. I attached a crappy camera phone pic but you can see the new stuff is all growing. I had to trim the rotala in the back left too because it was to the surface and creeping across the water.
You don't need a sump system for plants if that is what an earlier question meant.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[santafuji]

Wow. Excellent job. Very natural. You have skills lady! Lol

Sent from my SGH-I317M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[threnjen]

Here's a better picture of the tank today to make up for the bad cell phone one.
Also a picture of it with the "sunrise/sunset" lighting, which I particularly enjoy. I only run the primary lights 7 hours a day and I like this softly lit look.

It needs some attention again - that Cardamine Lyrata, which is the ivy-ish stuff to the right of the "bull's head" wood, needs to be woven around the wood or something. It has gotten so thick that it's just growing up to the top which looks wonky because it's located in the center of the scape.

Overall though, the new stuff is taking off, and better yet I am managing to keep the red plants red WITHOUT CO2! Go me!

Thank you everyone for enjoying my tank, I really love it.

 

[threnjen]

I've just posted a specifically NOT natural build that I just completed for my kid
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f70/lost-city-of-atlantis-lego-tank-307623.html#post2928430

 

[sedgy90]

Hiya I have to be honest I wasnt keen on the tank untill the March 11th pic and now I think its fab. Really nice layout and plant choice. Its awesome.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[threnjen]

Lol! That's all right, me neither!! It was a scraggly mess before. Thank you!