My two new (and ugly) little tanks

hey Carlos, can't wait to see them in ADA



As for the hardscape, I only have a couple things that I am not sure of (translation: take my advice on a grain of salt LOL)

10g: The crossing of the woods in the center top--This part, I am not sure if I like or hate LOL. One of those things that I'll just have to see. The wood extending to the far left--it feels too long for me reaching all the way to the glass. Not that you have much of a choice, but it feels "crowded"


5g: It is a little hard to say with the angle that is presented, but the wood going up and forward just has a massive feel to it. Sorta works against the "larger than it really is" effect.

Other than those things, I think you have some nice tanks in the brew


PS...you sold your soul to pellia...
:twisted:

This is the lighting I used for the 10g:

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=29595;category_id=1875;pcid1=1843;pcid2=

I added 20 Rasbora dorioscellata to the 10g last night. Also added some Rotala macrandra "Green" and Rotala rotundifolia "Green." Going to readjust the driftwood on Friday night.

Keep in mind everyone that as a layout grows in, all the branches are going to be toned down significantly. The crossing branches, the "long" feeling of some of the branches, etc will not be visible once everything grows in.

I may totally change the 5g. I am not totally happy with it.

Carlos

Carlos,

Those tanks aren't ugly at all, what're you smoking? You've done a bang up job on arranging the hardscape and a pretty good job on the plants. It looks like you've got a little bit of a lot of plants in the 10g, we'll have to wait a little while to see how they turn out. The Pellia rocks, wood, and hairgrass are arranged very well. I'm assuming that it's actually one large piece of wood and the front branch can't be placed separately. It's a little too far forward, but the shape compliments the middle branches just right.

The 5g is cute, but that riccia ball in the middle doesn't need to be there. Unless you keep it trimmed super super short it looks like it's going to overgrow and obscure the Anubias. Good choice of plants for that tank, the fine texture of the leaves is perfect for the small tank. Is that green or red Cabomba? Some C. furcata would look really hot against that overall green-ness of the tank.

Best,
Phil

Phil Edwards said:
It looks like you've got a little bit of a lot of plants in the 10g, we'll have to wait a little while to see how they turn out.

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Yes, there is a large variety of plants but I assure you it will be narrowed down to 5-6 background plances when all is said and done. Partly, I am deciding what would look best and partly, I am getting some plants ready to send out to Edward so he can photograph them for the Plant Finder.

I'm assuming that it's actually one large piece of wood and the front branch can't be placed separately. It's a little too far forward, but the shape compliments the middle branches just right.

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Would you believe I am actually using a total of six different branches of driftwood in this layout? All the pieces are independently adjustable. I will be doing a little adjusting tonight.

he 5g is cute, but that riccia ball in the middle doesn't need to be there. Unless you keep it trimmed super super short it looks like it's going to overgrow and obscure the Anubias. Good choice of plants for that tank, the fine texture of the leaves is perfect for the small tank. Is that green or red Cabomba? Some C. furcata would look really hot against that overall green-ness of the tank.

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The greenness is a result of being quite young. There is Rotala wallichii and Rotala rotundifolia in that tank. I am actually going to do some major readjustments tonight. I am just not content with the layout. Going to be something along similar lines, but much less maintenance in the midground to foreground areas (Marsilea, Anubias nana 'Narrow', etc).

m3th0d said:
Very nice. Are you using the 10,000K/460nm Actinic bulb that came with it? Or did you swap them out...

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I swapped them out to a 6700k/10,000k Sunpaq combo bulb. The lighting is very nice indeed and actually warmer than the Coral life 6500k bulbs.

Thanks for all the comments guys,

Carlos

Aaron,

This is a very real problem for the 10g and 5g. For the 5g, I am circumventing it by switching to a Marsilea minuta foreground. However, the 10g will be much more difficult -- but I need the high CO2 levels that the reactor offers. I was experimenting with wooden airstones and microbubblers beforehand but they would gunk up with bacterial slime within a couple days -- and my aquarium kept crashing regardless.

I'll think of something.

FYI, the aquascape in the 5g has been redone with a similar triangle design and a softer, less dramatic wood arrangement. I plan to cover these with lots of moss and Anubias 'petit' (got the 'Petit', Ken will supply the moss ).

The background will be quite colorful -- lots of nice Rotala wallichii, Rotala macrandra "Green" and the likes, I hope.

Carlos

Just an update on my two little (and ugly) little tanks:

10g:



5g cube:



Carlos