davemonkey

Well, someone wanted the SAE's afterall......so I had to re-catch them. The only problem is that one of them wised up and refused to get in the trap! I tried for 45 minutes to catch him.....looks like he'll be a lone SAE in my aquarium for a long time to come.

On the bright side, I was able to catch the pictus cat without snagging his fins in the net. So, he'll be joining the other 4 SAE's in a new home. And, since I uprooted several plants in the process, I 'cleaned house' a bit. I had enough Val to thin out spots and put it in the corner where the Egeria was. (No more Anacharis for my tank.) This really brought out the moss tied to my "Dino-Tail".
Then I moved the sword back a little and thinned out the crypts into several smaller plants and filled in that corner. I've decided not to have a 'foreground' there, just a thick corner.


Then, I thinned out my foreground plant in the center of the tank and turned 4 plants into 19! So, now I can get a better cover in the front/center of the tank. (I'm still not 100% sure what it is, but it's looking like Crypt. willisii x lucens?)



Anyway, that's what's been happening this morning.

-Dave

xpistalpetex

looks good i likes, are pygmy chain swords = micro swords? or different variation

torpedobarb

I think that it looks great. nice hardscaping!

davemonkey

Well, I did it again. I've got this Ozelot Sword that I decided to make my focal point, so I moved some stuff around. The only problem is that the sword is currently too small to pull it off, so this will just have to take some time to start looking the way I intended it. I debated posting pics, but I figured it couldn't hurt anything, and everyone likes to see pictures!

Just think "two months from now it would look like..." The sword will be flanked on either side by Bacopa that slopes downward to the sides and front (I'll have to trim it that way). I'm hoping it won't be long before the sword can compete with that large piece of 'mopani wood'. The darkness of the wood should start to be hidden by an anubias and the moss I've attached. (I may have to put some crypts in front, but we'll see.)

Pics are Full Shot, then Left to Right, then a close-up of the sword.









Here are more pics of what has been identified (for the time being) as Cryptocoryne X willisii lucens 'bronze'. (I think C. lucens 'davemonkey' has a better ring.)
(The larger small crypts in the midground are C.wendtii 'brown' or 'red')



-Dave

Edit: I forgot, the back right corner will eventually be filled in with Hygo. difformis. It's there, but it just got a major trim and hasn't recovered yet.

Tex Gal

Dave - your tank is looking great. Looks like your mosses have already started growing! It won't take long before you ocelot sword takes off. (Hope you have a plant tab or two under it's roots.)

davemonkey

Tex-Gal, I've already given that moss 2 light trimmings! You must have been feeding those things their Wheaties before you shipped them over here.

I put two plant tabs under each sword (about 1" from center on either side). Then I placed more tabs throughout (according to normal instructions), so all my plants should start pretty soon here. I'm sure it will take a week for the root systems to get back where they were (I trimmed roots again when I moved everyting around).

Tex Gal

WOW! That's amazing growth for mosses! ...And they even have had a tank change! Keep up the good work!!! You'll be sharing it with someone else soon.

Shurik

Hello, Dave!

I really like your moss job, it does looks great sitting on the drift wood like you fixed it

What is going on with the carpet, any plans on that?

davemonkey

Howdy, Shurik!

Well, I'm totally pleased with how the moss is turning out. I had done two 'Very Light' trimmings on it, and then I hacked it down pretty low just recently. But it's growing surprisingly fast for moss. And I had some doubt about whether the Flame Moss would attach as well as other mosses, but it has latched on with a death-grip just like the Christmas Moss!

My C. willisii x lucens 'bronze' carpet plants haven't done much since splitting and replanting. Each plantlet has put on 1 new leaf, and so far they are still 'low-growing'. I was heavily tempted to 're-bunch' it all and buy some Hemianthus micranthemoides this afternoon after Church (we took a trip to PetsMart for some food and they actualy had some nice aquatic plants...even some of that lacey-topped Java Fern that I forget the name).
But, I really want to give these little guys a chance to reacclimate and start spreading. I'm a very impatient person by nature, but I'm giving these plants every bit of patience I can muster. I don't think they'll let me down. Maybe in another couple weeks they'll start spreading again.

BTW, "Hagrid's Woods" is looking WONDERFUL!

Tex Gal

You are becoming the moss man!!!

Hang in there with your little crypts. I'm watching to see what they do. I'm VERY interested in your little mystery plant. If you want you might consider putting root tabs under them. (OR did you already do that?... I forget)