multipictus Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Hey guys, here's my 18"L x 24"H tank tell us what you think. gonna add some more plants in the middle. any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeyBoyR Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Too much green mate! You need some red in there. Perhaps change the background, blue may look good as a contrast. Some glosso or riccia covering the forefront of the tank would look nice, I'd lose the hairgrass. The val is doing nothing and doesnt add anything to the tank, perhaps some larger red plants would set the tank off. Some large lotus' as featuer plants? Sure theyre expensive but they look fantastic. Having that stump in there has really limited you, are you sure you want to keep it in there? It completely overpowers the tank and throws out any balance you may have aimed for. It would've looked a bit nicer had it been placed against the back left corner of the tank, and used the roots and angle of the slope off the bottom of the stump to terrace the bottom of the tank. Doing it that way wouldve given the illusion of depth, right now everything is just 'there' and there is no variation in depth and height. Not even with the val. Having the stump in the back corner also would've hidden your filtrationg hardware. If you cant find any large red plants, you could replace what I am assuming is java fern of some description with red ludwigia etc. and use large amazon swords to fill the background behind the stump (if you choose to keep it there). Mind you, if you're going to keep red plants you're going to need ample iron and light. Some christmas or java moss over that stump, even if it is just the bottom third, may make it look a little less artificial and imposing. Your plants are in great condition though, very green and lush. The substrate looks fantastic, what is it? I hope I havent sounded too negative mate. Your plants are well cared for and for that you should be comended. There is nothing 'wrong' with your tank at all, I see the type of 'base of a tree stump' garden theme you've aimed for. If that stump was in a 4x2x2 it wouldnt look so mammoth, however in that photo it dwarfs absolutely everything else in the tank. Your ideas are good, it is just the implementation that needs tweaking. Designing a planted tank is very very difficult, and its even harded to put those ideas into practice. Dont get discouraged though, you can do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamsherman Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 No suggestions. But damn that tank looks nice!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chafule Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 if u move that stump to left corner get a red tiger lotus and plan it just right of it =] thats wot ill do try add anubis nana to the middle of that stump or javafern to grow our of the middle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kribbie Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Glosso, riccia and other red coloured plants need heavy amount of lights to survive and grow, it means that normal FL lighting won't help the plants to grow strong and healthy at all. In regards to the glosso, if they don't get enough light to grow, they will grow vertically instead of horizonally so that the tank won't have the "carpet" layout at the front, and glosso is also not suitable to grow in gravel-type of substrate, they will grow much better in aquasoil-type substrate. What sort of lighting system you are using at the moment? If you are using FL lighting, just keep some plants that require less amount of lighting since most of the plants you're keeping atm are this type of plants. BTW, I wouldn't suggest to keep clown loaches with plants that are emerged into substrates, it's because they are great diggers! So please watch out your hair grasses as they will all be digged out soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mango4Jade Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Nice hagen co2 you got there Is the ornament in the middle driftwood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novafishy Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 Hey multipictus, nice tank! i think its a bit too green. maybe "apple-L" it. hah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
multipictus Posted April 28, 2005 Author Share Posted April 28, 2005 the stump is in the middle coz (you can't see it maybe but..) the left roots are almost touching the left corner of the tank. it is not a corner ornament. i thought about keeping red plants but when i started to populate the tank with cardinals i felt like making the overpowering green look so the cardinals give the contrast. maybe went overboard with it but hey... the red lotus would look nice as a feature now that you guys mention it. and i am running a double CF 36W 10,000k+plant grow. barely fits in my hood but keeps the plants going. i've had problems with java moss growing too much and blocking my filter before... annoys me but i know thats coz before i never looked after it. that backgrounds there coz its always been there...blue? i duno it's a bit artificial. depends on your personal taste i guess. i'll see eh oh yeah...that substrate is aquaone fine black gravel...dont exactly remember the name. and those loaches don't dig up the hair grass...i left them in reasonably big sections as u can see...i previously has lileiopsis and spread them into much smaller parts and they got dug...but these are doing fine. at least for now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntoTheRainz Posted April 28, 2005 Share Posted April 28, 2005 not bad. will be more nice when u fill back ground with more dense plan instead of the val. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cirulis Posted April 29, 2005 Share Posted April 29, 2005 10,000k is a waste mate....may look good but the plants would benefit alot more from a 6000-7000k globe. Tank looks nice and healthy none the less. Maybe loos the stump though, its a bit too overpowering. I am not sure how it would look but if you keep the stump and attach some plants to it...it may look nice, some small anubias or even some riccia. cheers Brett Oh and loose that val, looks to messy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeyBoyR Posted April 29, 2005 Share Posted April 29, 2005 Kribbie is right, in a tank that height you're going to need a heck of a lot of light to keep most 'red' plants aswell as glosso and riccia on the bottom of the tank. Glosso and riccia can be fixed to wire mesh and laid on the bottom of the tank like a grid, so substrate isnt a problem in that respect. But you will need a heck of a lot of light. I dont know if you'd get enough fluro in there to give the plants what they need if you went for carpet and stem plants. Ever considered metal halide? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
multipictus Posted April 29, 2005 Author Share Posted April 29, 2005 hahaah my light is doing fine i dont think i will go as far as keeping riccia at this stage. have had no experience with red plants but so duno if they will go well in there. the substarte is at least 3-4 inch thick so that cuts off that much hight adn then however high the plant is. its not THAT high for plants but for a carpet .... i think the light reaches the bottom fairly well. have not thought of getting a hailide and will not get one. too expensive and i keep the hood on. i'm not that hardcore as you guys might be...this is just a hobby and i appreciate your help n comments but i don't have time for some of the sugestions you are giving me. i'd love to do them all tho! if i had time n moolah! and bout those useless 10,000k lights.. there are 2 of them and 2 PLANT GROW so there is plant growing ones... and if you think "looking good" is useless then you've got me all wrong coz looking good is what it's all about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted April 29, 2005 Share Posted April 29, 2005 I like it I have tried planted tanks before and have always failed. Do you have any more pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zerospel Posted April 29, 2005 Share Posted April 29, 2005 Hey multipictus That is a very nice looking tank mate, it already looks good even in such bad photo quality Leave the vals there, they are personally my favourite plant because they are low maintenance and easy to trim and they look like shallots, if you swap the vals with hygro polysperma I reckon thats going to look better but they grow too fast and you have to trim them often as they grow like moustache and beard. And dont worry bout that little bit of blank gravel at the front, those hairgrass gonna spread out and cover your gravel eventually... Aquascaping wise I dont see anything wrong with it,I like the stump, but the fish..cherry barbs and cardinal tetras together just doesnt look natural Overall that tank i liek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mezzacam Posted April 29, 2005 Share Posted April 29, 2005 Yes, i actually quite like the tank myself ^^ Well done. Plants look healthy! Cameron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfish Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 hey multipict,,,,last time u said u were able to change the water colour in your tank without effecting the fish and enhance the colour of the plants,,what did u use?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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