[sharks]

How much wood it too much wood and which one should I chuck? (If any)

OK I was pricing driftwood online and when I went to the LFS I work in I see our distributor has African Swahili driftwood on special.
So I make a trip up there to hand pick my pieces from the 8000Lbs they have in stock. I was there for hours! Two looking at all the fish and corals and two more digging through all the wood.

Here is some of what I came home with.

Full tank shot….

Left Side…

Right side…

Sorry for the poor pics and the dirty glass ;-)
OK so at first I had all the branches facing the same way. Kind of like they are all in a swift current weathered away.
Then I thought Maybe create a bridge look using the wood and future plants.
So the question is???
Is it too much? Should I only use the 2 towards the left side? Should they face the same direction or meet in the middle?
I'm looking for a little direction on the aquascape before plants are added. Speaking of plants any suggestions would be appreciated

Also I don't want to start a substrate debate but I have another question.
I used Flourite. I now have 2-3" and was wondering if
a) Do I need more depth
Or…
b) Should I add sand or another substrate to smooth out the bed

S

 

[turtlehead]

i would make a branching scape, with all the wood pointing outward and not in every direction like yours. But nice pieces.

 

[sharks]

OK sound good but my favorite piece is the left most one and the branch is two feet long. The base would have to go in the middle of the tank.
Hmmm I will move things around to see what that looks like.
Thanks


BTW I will be getting a background so bare with the hoses for now ](*,)

 

[turtlehead]

that's all good.

 

[sharks]

More like this? I can dig that too.

 

[turtlehead]

yes! but get like 2 more branches.

 

[sharks]

Ok I'm out of wood but I have plenty to choose from at the LFS.
Here is the last piece added.

 

[dennis]

That looks a little better to me Sharks. Personally, i would try to get another couple pieces of wood, maybe some more branchy stuff to help fill in and give a stronger vertical presence. Yo have to imagine what your hard scape will look like covered with moss, plants and having plants grow up behind and possibly in front of it. What you have will disappear a great deal when the plants are added and fill in.

Maybe you could try laying the bigger piece or 2 on the bend so both the branch and the root part are off the substrate. This would give a more dominant impression. an also help separate the foreground from the background. Lots of stem plants in the back, glosso, HC, Marsilea, riccia, etc in the foreground and lots of Anubias and moss on the wood. Try not to completely cover the wood and especially try not to completely cover the branches with moss. Your hard scape will disappear very quickly that way

Also, I would add more substrate if you can. Slope it to the back and maybe try to make a small mound in the middle to raise the wood a little higher. Go for 3-3.5" in the back, the front looks deep enough. Also, try to smooth out the substrate with your hand, a ruler or some other flat object. It will look a lot nice that way.

What size tank is that? 15, 20 gallon? I think you are off to a great start. This has lots of potential!

 

[turtlehead]

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/attachment.php?attachmentid=856

is good. with some smaller branches would make it stronger.

 

[sharks]

OK I will look at what's in the store and maybe make another trip to the wholesaler. I've been looking at the tank and I like the central cluster alot better. It never dawned on me before so thanks.

The tank is a 72Bow with 4 65W PC bulbs. The Fluval is going out and a new Eheim 2217 will replace that. I will go with a pressurized CO2 system.
If I add more substrate should I just add the other 2 bags of Flourite I have or mix it with another product?
Thanks for the advice!
S

 

[turtlehead]

Nice man..

 

[Jdinh04]

I love the style of that wood, great for attaching java moss!

 

[sharks]

Thanks gang
OK first for the eye candy

I really love this new wood. I am now up to 6 pieces and I think I'm done.
Should I add some large stone work in there?
Here is what I ended up with…

And another angle…

 

[sharks]

As you can see I added a few fish. A dozen Brilliant Rasbora and a bamboo shrimp.
Here are the fish pics…

And here…

 

[sharks]

OK I have the one plant. Java Fern in my Eclipse 6.

I could use some help picking plants. I was looking at Aquabotanicle's Hardy pack for a 55. I'm open to suggestions here. I've been reading that I need more fast growing plants in the beginning then weed them out as I go. So I'm still a little confused here.

 

[sharks]

I will be ordering the AM 1000 this week and a Pinpoint controller.
I will either connect it to the Eheim or run it on a loop using a power head. I’m wondering if it will slow the Eheim too much or if I will need additional flow. Right now I think there is too little flow but then again I’m used to a fast flow reef tank so I may be wrong when it comes to plants.

On the wood. I have so much and I just added more fluorite that the tank keeps clouding up. I used my Diatom filter again and again on Sunday to clear it but it’s back again. I will repeat this tomorrow.
I assume it’s the tannins in the wood leaching out. Will a diatom filter remove anything I want to keep? IE Nutrients the plants will want? I don’t think so but I haven’t searched on it yet.

Lastly at the LFS we sell aquarium pharmaceuticals test kits for FW. Are they good enough? What are the best kits for FW? I use all Salifert kits on the reef.

The air stone is just temporary for the fish and to try to rid the tank of the film left by the gravel on the surface water.
Thanks again for any insight
S

 

[turtlehead]

Oh man the wood is nice so are the rasboras.

 

[fishfry]

wow, those are pretty rasboras...none of the fishstores around here seem to get in any tiny rasboras

 

[cocoloco]

Wow

Wow sharks that wood is so great, I really love it!!

So tell me have you ordered the AM 1000 yet? If so tell me about it. Where did you order it from, or where will you order it from? I am very interested in it.

Thanks,
Andrea

 

[sharks]

Thanks Andrea
I like it too. We have sold a bunch of it in the LFS already.
People love the fact that it sinks.
There was a lot of tannin leaching in the beginning but that was since I added over 20Lbs, didn't rinse or soak, and the fluorite didn't help. I did lots of water changing and ran my diatom filter for hours.

I ordered it yesterday from here…
http://www.championlighting.com/e/e...l?link=/Products/CO2_Systems/co2_systems.html

Everyone else I saw was selling it for $80.

I ordered these 2 items too…
http://www.championlighting.com/e/e...nk=/Products/productinfo.html&item=main:mphc_

and
http://www.championlighting.com/e/e...link=/Products/productinfo.html&item=main:co2

I have ordered many things over the years there and never had a problem. I also get a small discount through the LFS account ;-)