Getting Frustrated...and Hello! - Page 7 - New to Planted Aquariums

C.Anderson · 05-17-2008, 03:37 AM

So, I've been working on the layout for my aquascape. It's very simple at the moment...mostly because I have no idea which plants to use to fill things in etc. What will probably happen is I'll get the hardscape in, plant the two major plants to the left and right, and see where what else I have fits in. This wood has a lot of great 'hollows' that will accept a lot of middle height 'midground' type plants. The slate walls I think will be great additions and help divide the tank up into three separate points of interest, although I'm not sure if I should just leave the 'in between' areas plain black sand. Perhaps I will mix it with some larger smooth black river rocks of about quarter to silver dollar size, and flat just to break the monotony. As for the 'caves'...I intend on keeping a few crayfish, and they need places to feel secure. However...I hate having them hide out in caves provided in the center of the tank!! I built caves up against the glass like this in my other tank out of slate, and the results were great. Anywhere the crayfish hid, he could be seen from the outside (notice they're all against walls of the tank?). It worked out great for both of us lol. Plus the caves and tunnels add interest for my children, and give the fish great places to play etc where we can see them.

Anyhow, here's what I've got so far...and it's to scale. It won't let me upload a .psd for you guys to mess with (that want to anyhow!) but I'm more than happy to accept any ideas you all have.

Let me know what you think! Like I said I realize it's sort of simplistic compared to many of your tanks, but I think the upkeep on something like this would be realistic, while still appearing 'full' and well planted.

Also, one other piece of good news! I talked to my parents today, and it appears that my mom has two old Co2 bottles laying around in storage...a 20lb and a 10lb. I know the tanks can be a major cost...so if I ever do decide to go Co2, I'll be a regulator, solenoid, and needle valve away from the majority of the system. Since I'm picking up 3 or so Co2 diffusers to play with for lighter bubbles (I'll use Co2 tubing to set them in...so they're ready), I'll hopefully be able to switch pretty painlessly if/when the time comes!

Cris

Tex Gal · 05-17-2008, 05:57 AM

The plant looks great. Yes, it's a good grower. I usually just gut off the blooms stems. I left one on so you could see it.

Did I tell you not to plant the bulb, just the roots? The bulbs will tend to root if you plant them. To control the light issue - if you can get it growing up through a hole in one of your driftwood pieces the leaves will be supported by the wood and stand up straighter so as not to have such a huge shadow. I have even used a plastic ring around the leaves at the bottom (hidden by other plants of course).

Some great shadow plants are anubias, crpyts, javas. They actually do great since they are slow growers. The shadows help them in not developing algae.

I love you cave idea. It's liking peaking into a secret world. You can have your cake and eat it too. I do think you have alot of void areas. Are you sure you want that much open space? It's gonna be so exciting for you as you get your plants and such in the tank!!!!

C.Anderson · 05-17-2008, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tex Gal

The plant looks great. Yes, it's a good grower. I usually just gut off the blooms stems. I left one on so you could see it.

Did I tell you not to plant the bulb, just the roots? The bulbs will tend to root if you plant them. To control the light issue - if you can get it growing up through a hole in one of your driftwood pieces the leaves will be supported by the wood and stand up straighter so as not to have such a huge shadow. I have even used a plastic ring around the leaves at the bottom (hidden by other plants of course).

Some great shadow plants are anubias, crpyts, javas. They actually do great since they are slow growers. The shadows help them in not developing algae.

I love you cave idea. It's liking peaking into a secret world. You can have your cake and eat it too. I do think you have alot of void areas. Are you sure you want that much open space? It's gonna be so exciting for you as you get your plants and such in the tank!!!!

I'm not sure on the open space thing...I don't really know what to do with it to be honest. The center driftwood will be offset to the right by a good bit...I've never really liked just centering things. The slate walls will be about 3" tall, and I'll probably use pure black colorquartz in those open areas (unless there's some sort of plants that might look nice?). I guess I could let the glosso/petite nana/dwarf chain grow over into those areas sort of 'as it wills' and see how it looks. Could be a nice effect. I also thought about breaking up the slate wall with some nice, larger rock formations...you know, as though the 'builder' hit a rock and rather than go around it or remove it, just utilized it in the wall. I'm still not sure. I don't want it to look too 'manicured' but at the same time, I think terracing with slate walls is the way to go with this tank. Maybe instead of connecting the walls completely from front to back of the tank...I'll stop them short on one side or the other and let the two elevations ramp down to each other. Perhaps in the middle? This would give the ground cover a nice area to 'encroach' on the open divider areas...

Hmm...lots to think about here lol. The driftwood should be here on wednesday...so I have until then to figure something out that I like!

Keep the ideas coming, you guys are helping me a ton!!

Cris

jmontee · 05-17-2008, 08:24 PM

I bet that urticalaria would look awesome in the empty areas. You would still be able to see over it since it is like a grass lawn and it would br held back by the slate walls. Holy cow when all grown in this tank is gonna be incredible!!!

C.Anderson · 05-18-2008, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmontee

I bet that urticalaria would look awesome in the empty areas. You would still be able to see over it since it is like a grass lawn and it would br held back by the slate walls. Holy cow when all grown in this tank is gonna be incredible!!!

I certainly hope so!! My goals have slowly changed for this thing as I've learned more on this site. Hopefully I'm not over reaching too very much. The crappiest thing? In order to get a decent picture I'll probably have to take two or three and PS them together lol. The wall on the other side makes a walkway halfway through with the kitchen wall, then opens up to the kitchen so there's no way to get enough distance to take a picture of a 10' wide area =/.

I'll definitely look into that plant also...is there another name for it? I couldn't find that one on google images to see what it looked like.

Thanks!

Cris

C.Anderson · 05-18-2008, 10:29 AM

Well, I picked up some new plants today. I think I'm going to have to just buy one of everything and see how it looks/grows lol. List is:

Willow Leaf Hygro--2 huge 12"+ stems
Althernanthera reineki--4 stems
Ludwigia Repens--4+ stems
Frogbit--huge bunch
And a bit of Stargrass too.

Here's a picture:

I'm really liking the willow leaf hygro, but they're all a nice addition. Not sure how/if the frogbit is going to work...or if it even has leaves underwater lol.

Guess we'll see, which is sort of the point!

Cris

jmontee · 05-18-2008, 12:06 PM

If you look for it in the for sale forum they sell as UG. It is urticalaria gramnifolia or something like that. It's really awesome and somebody was just selling a huge amount of it here.

C.Anderson · 05-18-2008, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmontee

If you look for it in the for sale forum they sell as UG. It is urticalaria gramnifolia or something like that. It's really awesome and somebody was just selling a huge amount of it here.

Found it!! The top picture is much like I would be using it if I did the little ramps as well. Nice!

Utricularia graminifolia:

Good stuff! I'll definitely keep my eye out for it!

Cris

C.Anderson · 05-19-2008, 01:12 AM

Well, some interesting stuff has happened. First, I traded a Fluval 405 for a Glass 90gal standard, and a Sea Clear Acrylic 45gal wide. The 45gal could probably use a repolishing, which is no biggie, and the 90gal needs a cleaning, bad...but otherwise they're in good shape. The only real drawback is the acrylic tank has a BABY BLUE acrylic back and sides =/. Sooo, guess if I keep it I'll be doing a DIY foam 3 wall diorama for that one lol, and/or putting it in a stand for the 90gal. Here's a few pictures of the 45gal...I'll get one of the 90gal tomorrow:

I think it used to reside in a pet store. I'm going to plug the bulkheads if I end up keeping it. I think the 90gal might be a better option (I just wish it were acrylic!). The tanks are the same width, with the 45gal being 12" thick and 18" tall...and the 90gal being 18" thick and 24" tall. I'd like to use the 90gal as a sort of quarantine tank for bigger fish (would have saved me from the 'ich' outbreak I'm dealing with now =/....), I just need to find a place to put it!!

As for the 300gal, I've done a bit more work on the aquascape layout:

I textured things up a bit to give me a little more feel for it, and I'm starting to like it a lot. I think the little ramps where the ground cover can 'overflow' into the non planted areas is a good thing. Sort of breaks up the monotony of all that black sand, and ties the whole scape together (remember the 3 into 1 thing lol).

Last, I wanted to show you guys this incredibly cool slate I found at Home Depot. I'd already bought like 3 cases of typical grey slate the other day, and had only gone to HD today to pick up new light bulbs when I happened on this:

I bought a case (10 pcs) for $23. The pictures above are some of the 'extra broken ones' that made their way into my cart (I DID get the managers approval lol). I almost wish I could do the whole wall out of that since it's such an odd color...but I think it would look better intermixed with the standard grey/blue/green variety, for the added interest. Also lol, it has NO copper in it...I checked =).

Anyhow, that's how things stand till about wednesday. I'm going to start breaking up slate and mock assembling the slate walls tomorrow. Once the wood gets here Wednesday, I'll go ahead and tape out the outline of the tank in the garage so I can rough layout the wood and finalize the slate walls (I'll be doing the caves tomorrow). That gives them 72hrs for the silicon to cure...allowing me to start on the hardscape Saturday afternoon/evening. I think this is going to be a lot of fun =).

Cris

Tex Gal · 05-19-2008, 03:59 AM

Two more tanks!!! How will you ever manage it??? My you are adventurous! Pretty soon you will have more water inside your house than in your pool!!! Well at least it sounds like you're having fun!