rjfurbank

Hi Everyone,

Have wanted to start a journal on my 90g for some time now and finally getting around to it.

This is my first aquarium and it started out as a fish only tank (~20 tiger barbs) w/ some rocks, bright green gravel and a few fake plants back in 2006 (2007? can't recall right now--will try to post some "before" pics later).

After seeing a few planted tanks online and at my local LFS I was hooked. After some initial failure, I found this site (and took the plunge and went to pressurized CO2) and have really been enjoying the hobby ever since.

Here are some pic's I took a few weeks ago--I think this is the best it has looked for me to date. More of a "plant collection" than an aquascape but I enjoy moving things around and trying to always find room to squeeze in a few new additions from time to time. Any comments are welcome.

Full front shot


Right hand side


Center


Left hand side


Specs
Eheim 2217 filter w/ Aqaumedic 1000 CO2 reactor on outlet
Magnum 350 filter w/ 9W turbotwist UV on outlet
2 x 54W T5HO (Nova Extreme w/ SLR's)
2 x 65W CF (Current Satellite)
2 x 250W visitherm stealth heaters
Eco Complete substrate
Dose dry ferts every other day--modified EI (50% WC weekly)


Fish
Scalare angel (6)
Dwarf neon rainbow (12)
Odessa barb (6)
Swordtail (3)
Harlequin rasbora (4)
Clown pleco (2)
Clown loach (2)
Zebra loach (3)
Flying fox (1)
Otos (~5)

cs_gardener

It looks like you've got the plant growing part down pat; everything is so lush and healthy. It's really not a bad layout considering the number of types of plants in there. It's well grouped with different types of leaves and colors contrasting and creating interest. The only thing that bugs me is the front center where the foreground (a moss?) and mid ground plant (E. vesuvius?) are planted across the same width. Any possibility of staggering them so the edges aren't so close together?

rjfurbank

Thanks for the comments cs_gardener!

I agree w/ you about the vesuvius and the moss--and have been considering options. The moss just grew there from a small piece that fell of one of the manzanita pieces. I plan to transfer it to my shrimp tanks after they are finished cycling and I get a better light for them.

I put the vesuvius there when it was very small to observe it's growth--I only started w/ one small plantlet from the F/S section of APC (jazzlvr123) and now it is growing like a weed. I have been thinking about moving the whole stand of it but haven't had any good ideas yet. I would like to move it back to get a better view to the plants behind it.

I am considering moving all of the rotala vert. to the rear left and allowing the rotala sp. currently behind it to bend around from the back and fill this space. This may allow me to move the vesuvius back to the right.

We'll see. . . any other comments/suggestions?

-Roy

rjfurbank

Did a trim recently and moved some stuff around.

Removed a large E. ozelot sword from the back left (which wasn't visible and was not growing well).
Moved the L. aromatica to the back left.
Moved the R. verticillis (old name) from back right to back middle left.
Moved the E. vesuvius from center to mid back left.
Trimmed Rotala's in back right and planted to extend the bush around the Magnum intake and the heater.



Not sure what to do with the front center--I am going to keep this open for a bit and see what happens. Am hoping this will look good when the background stems grow in--we'll see. . .

Thanks for looking.

-Roy

ngb2322

You know I would say put a nice piece of driftwood or rock set up there...but that's just me...

cs_gardener

It looks a lot better without the E vesuvius front and center. I'm looking forward to seeing how it fills in.

Carlos1583

I think its a great looking tank! Keep up the good work!

rjfurbank

Thanks everyone for the comments!

Will keep updating this as it grows out and I continue to move things around. I have ordered a new moss from the F/S section which I plan to attach to rocks/DW for the front section--hopefully it isn't ruined by the cold weather up here. I was hoping the cold was over!

-Roy

crispy0

wow nice coloration on the plants

rjfurbank

Thanks crispy0 on the compliment--the Althernanthera is really looking good IMO.

Time for a quick update:

I originally wanted to go for a V-shape w/ the plants but the Blyxa Aubertii grew taller than I thought. I decided to move it to the right side and have removed the E. vesuvius completely (didn't have a place for it and it spreads quite quickly--once I didn't realize it had spread into my rotala bush and ended up up-rooting my whole bush when I tried to remove it!).

Am going to try to create a rock/moss/crypt path starting on the RHS and going to the back through the middle. We'll see how it comes out. At least I can see my crypts better--quickly becoming my favorite. . .

Here's a pic


The stems on the LHS are growing in nicely behind the anubias.

Thanks for looking!

-Roy