Zezmo
Aquarium Advice Addict
It's not quite a year since I set up my 72. It is a year since I first saw the tank in the store, and decided that I just "had" to have it. 
I reinstalled my photo editing software today (new hard drive) and was looking back over some of the picture of that tank. It is kinda cool to see how your tank evolves. Different ideas, new skills, even different plants that are available. They all shape the look of a tank.
Here are a few "whole tank" shots. These are basically one per month since I set the tank up last March.
March 2006: ready for water
here it is all set up:
Next month... in April things began to fill in. coughcolectoritiscough
By May it was a Jungle:
In June my summer algae woes began. I did not take many pictures, no full tank shots. Look at the BBA all over my driftwood. The cause was poor CO2 diffusion, at some point in the summer I switched to mist method and upped my fert levels. It took until September for the algae to be totally back under control.
Here is a July 06 full tank shot. At this point, I was still using my canister filter for diffusion, not mist. I had risen my EI dosing routing, and was trying to be much disciplined about maintenance. I also did not big pruning. The only algae still hanging out was BBA. Things were back on track though. Look at the crypts on the right...they quickly become monsters.
I was busy having fun in the summer, so no major tank changes into August. Algae is still under control, and somewhere in this time frame i switched to a full mist CO2 method in this tank.
Also, my sons have varying degrees of partial colorblindness. In talking with my oldest, I realized that all the reds in my tank looked brown to him. He thought my tanks were full of dead and dieing plants. He said he always wondered why folks said it looked so good. He figured they were just being polite. In an attempt to let him see what the rest of us saw, I over saturated the color in this pic.
In September I took my scape in a new direction. I had dreams of creating an Iwagumi style tank...they stayed a dream. Algae are a memory by this time, and you can see the PH from my mist CO2.
October has me farming Eriocaulon sp. type 3, in anticipation of the AGA convention. I was able to provide the ET3 that was used as the "secret ingredient" in the Iron Aquascaper contest. See my baby Angels at the surface...they grow fast. Also the crypts on the right are really filling in.
At the AGA convention I picked up some nice Mopani wood. Actually it was one huge log, which I cut up on the band saw at work. The shapes of the wood inspired me to take the tank in a different direction. I decided I wasn't a Japanese Zen master, and I wasn't a Dutchman. So both of those styles were out. Instead, I decided to try a "theme" for my tank and build around that idea. The theme is "The Haunted Forest". So I am trying to create a dark and spooky look. The mopani wood looked like some old tree trunks, and I am trying to get plants with a haunted theme to them.. Murdiana "murder" spirata, "blood" red Tennelus, etc. I was also trying some carnivorous plants. that has not worked out so well...at least in this tank. My SAE's devoured all the soft and tasty carnivorous plants.
With the holidays and such, I did not take any specific pictures in December. So instead, here are the kids on X-mas morning… oh the joy. The tank is still dark, but you can see all the x-mas lights twinkling off of it.
And finally, here is shot I took in January; some parts are starting to fill in. Overall I am happy with how the tank is doing. Algae is minimal, growth is phenomenal. The Haunted Forest look is not complete IMO, it may never be, but it is still the look I am trying for.
I got this plant from Roland at Greenchapter, there is no info and as far as I know no real taxonomy of it. It was given to me as Hygrophila sp "foreground". It grows like a vine, and gets a purple blush. And, I almost lost it, one small sprig was barely hanging on in my shrimp tank, when I xfered it here and decided I better recover this unusual species. It has bounced back, and is becoming a weed.
Nymphaea micrantha. I looked today, and it is starting to send up a flower stalk... I can't wait
Got to have some bling bling - form over function as they say.
Well, that is it...nearly a year in the life of my main tank. A lot of fun, a lot of learning. we will see what the next year has in store... Is my wife reading this? I wonder if she would notice a new 125g tank....hehe
I reinstalled my photo editing software today (new hard drive) and was looking back over some of the picture of that tank. It is kinda cool to see how your tank evolves. Different ideas, new skills, even different plants that are available. They all shape the look of a tank.
Here are a few "whole tank" shots. These are basically one per month since I set the tank up last March.
March 2006: ready for water
here it is all set up:
Next month... in April things began to fill in. coughcolectoritiscough
By May it was a Jungle:
In June my summer algae woes began. I did not take many pictures, no full tank shots. Look at the BBA all over my driftwood. The cause was poor CO2 diffusion, at some point in the summer I switched to mist method and upped my fert levels. It took until September for the algae to be totally back under control.
Here is a July 06 full tank shot. At this point, I was still using my canister filter for diffusion, not mist. I had risen my EI dosing routing, and was trying to be much disciplined about maintenance. I also did not big pruning. The only algae still hanging out was BBA. Things were back on track though. Look at the crypts on the right...they quickly become monsters.
I was busy having fun in the summer, so no major tank changes into August. Algae is still under control, and somewhere in this time frame i switched to a full mist CO2 method in this tank.
Also, my sons have varying degrees of partial colorblindness. In talking with my oldest, I realized that all the reds in my tank looked brown to him. He thought my tanks were full of dead and dieing plants. He said he always wondered why folks said it looked so good. He figured they were just being polite. In an attempt to let him see what the rest of us saw, I over saturated the color in this pic.
In September I took my scape in a new direction. I had dreams of creating an Iwagumi style tank...they stayed a dream. Algae are a memory by this time, and you can see the PH from my mist CO2.
October has me farming Eriocaulon sp. type 3, in anticipation of the AGA convention. I was able to provide the ET3 that was used as the "secret ingredient" in the Iron Aquascaper contest. See my baby Angels at the surface...they grow fast. Also the crypts on the right are really filling in.
At the AGA convention I picked up some nice Mopani wood. Actually it was one huge log, which I cut up on the band saw at work. The shapes of the wood inspired me to take the tank in a different direction. I decided I wasn't a Japanese Zen master, and I wasn't a Dutchman. So both of those styles were out. Instead, I decided to try a "theme" for my tank and build around that idea. The theme is "The Haunted Forest". So I am trying to create a dark and spooky look. The mopani wood looked like some old tree trunks, and I am trying to get plants with a haunted theme to them.. Murdiana "murder" spirata, "blood" red Tennelus, etc. I was also trying some carnivorous plants. that has not worked out so well...at least in this tank. My SAE's devoured all the soft and tasty carnivorous plants.
With the holidays and such, I did not take any specific pictures in December. So instead, here are the kids on X-mas morning… oh the joy
. The tank is still dark, but you can see all the x-mas lights twinkling off of it.
And finally, here is shot I took in January; some parts are starting to fill in. Overall I am happy with how the tank is doing. Algae is minimal, growth is phenomenal. The Haunted Forest look is not complete IMO, it may never be, but it is still the look I am trying for.
I got this plant from Roland at Greenchapter, there is no info and as far as I know no real taxonomy of it. It was given to me as Hygrophila sp "foreground". It grows like a vine, and gets a purple blush. And, I almost lost it, one small sprig was barely hanging on in my shrimp tank, when I xfered it here and decided I better recover this unusual species. It has bounced back, and is becoming a weed.
Nymphaea micrantha. I looked today, and it is starting to send up a flower stalk... I can't wait
Got to have some bling bling - form over function as they say.
Well, that is it...nearly a year in the life of my main tank. A lot of fun, a lot of learning. we will see what the next year has in store... Is my wife reading this? I wonder if she would notice a new 125g tank....hehe
