My 4footer's new scape

**Justikanz** · 3rd Oct 2005, 23:21

Hi all!

Finally managed to complete the re-scaping of my 4ft tank!

It is still in its 2nd night... Expecting the hairgrass and APP to grow in...

Specifications:
Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 4ft x 2ft x 2ft

Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 220W
Number and type of Lighting : 4x 55W PL
Age of light bulbs : 2@8mths, 2@1mth
No. of hours your lights are on : ~16-18hrs

CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : No regulation
Type of CO2 : Cylinder
Method of Injection : Diffusor

Liquid fertilisers Used : Seachem Florish, Tetra Florapride
Fertilization regime : As and when, usually a couple of capfuls once a month or so

Other fertilisers : Not yet, looking at Root monster, please advise on this...

Other additives (Product name. E.g. Seachem Prime) : Nil (Should I??)

Type of Filter : Ehiem external canister... think model is 2028
When was the filter last washed : 1 month plus ago, not looking forward to washing filter media again...

Filter media used : whatever provided by Ehiem + a bag of zeolite that is now 4 years old (from last filter, using as biofilter now... dun believe it is of any use by now)
When was the media last changed : No change...

Water change frequency : ~5-10% almost every other day... now not so possible as work is taking a lot of my time now...

Water surface movement (None/gentle/turbulent) : gentle
Circulation (None/gentle/turbulent) : gentle

Tank Temperature : between 26.5oC - 28oC

Chemical Properties : Never measured, dun think ever will...

Bioload (Number and type of fish and plants)
------------------------------------------
Flora:

Java moss
Christmas moss (or is it Taiwan moss??)
Pelia
Marimo ball
Fissiden sp.
Vallisneria sp.
Hemianthus micranthemoides (MM)
Hydrocotyle leucocephala or Cardamine lyrata(pennywort)
Eleocharis vivipara (long hairgrass)
Eleocharis acicularis (hairgrass)
Elatine triandra (APP)
Echinodorus tenellus
Echinodorus x barthii (I think or could be Echinodorus 'Red Rubin')
Crytocoryne wendtii var.
Crytocoryne x willisii
Limnobium sp. (Floating plant looks like giant duckweed)

Hoping to add Ammannia gracilis or Ludwigia arcuata for something reddish with big leaves...

Fauna:
Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, Black skirt tetra (~10x), ~3yrs old - spawning almost every monthly in old setup
Puntius titteya, Cherry barb (~12x), ~1-2yrs old, never seen them spawn
Paracheirodon axelrodi, cardinal tetra (~25x), ~2yrs old
Betta splendens, Siamese fighting fish, 1x female, ~3yrs old, tank police woman
Crossocheilus siamensis, SAE (2x), bigger one often turn yellowish (breeding dress?)
Nannostomus sp., pencilfish (at least 2 types, ~10 golden and 1 three-lined), golden pencil spawned several times in old setup, often see 1,2 small pencils...
Aplocheilichthys normani, lampeye (3x)
Melanotaenia praecox, dwarf rainbowfish, it killed all other ~7 rainbows
Otocinclus spp. (~4x)
Dario dario (1x)
Corydorus sp. (1x)
Yamato shrimps (~6x)
Snails (horned and zebra) (>10x)

Looking forward to add more lampeyes and either Congo tetras or Scissortail rasboras. As well as cherry and/or Crystal Red Shrimps...

Any comments, critics etc?

Many thanks!!

**Phillipians** · 4th Oct 2005, 01:14

hi there, just wondering.. i think 16-18 hrs will invite trouble.. algae trouble heh. But well clean look. I think the long HG at the left back.. looks a little outa place... so does the green plant at the centre back... like a little clump

**FishFan** · 4th Oct 2005, 08:46

Hi there,

Just some comments:
1. Agree that the lighting is a little too long especially since you've just set-up your tank.
2. Is it only the 3rd day now? You seem to have already quite a few fishes.
3. Your zeolite is probably useless by now so you can remove it.
4. Seems that your CO2 is bubbling like crazy. May it would be more economical to lower the bps.
5. Agree with Phillipians that the long HG looks kinda messy and that your lighting duration is too long. Go for 8 - 10 hours especially during the initial phase.

Cheers.

**Justikanz** · 4th Oct 2005, 09:29

Hi. The set up is new but the tank and most of the plants are old... The fish are also from the old set up.

Kept the old lighting period cos of my working hours... I do not want to use a timer as I coincide the CO2 injection with the lighting period. Maunal, so I have to be there to do so. No electrical solenoid as there are already too many electrical stuff at that power point... I want to switch off 110W of lighting for the first month or so but was afraid of the APP and HG don't like it...

Kept the zeolite cos of the possibility of seeding the new filter with bacterial...

Agree with the CO2 being a waste...

I think I will move the long HG to the left side of the tank when I have the time... My back still aches from the planting...

**|squee|** · 4th Oct 2005, 10:09

You need another peice of driftwood to create another mound on the left. A long extended foreground like that doesn't work imho. The focus will be on the extreme right and it'll look weird. Also, hairgrass and glosso seperated like that will be weird, as well as notoriously hard to maintain the seperation.

Right side arrangement looks okay, It's a bit messy though although if you like it keep it that way!

your Vallis is trimmed wrongly though... you should cut at the very bottom of the outer leaves, not trim like hairgrass like that.

**Justikanz** · 4th Oct 2005, 10:45

Dun think I want to trim the vallis the proper way! Too deep for short arms...

That's why I had been trimming them like hairgrass... Keke...

Yes, I like the messy look, hope the MM will grow horizontal branches... Though as you mentioned, I certainly hope that trimming will not be a nightmare!

Didn't intend to have a clear separation between the hairgrass and APP (it's not glosso)... If either one of the plants cannot make it, then let the other take over... Or maybe the E. tenellus will take over!

I'll see what I can do about the left side...

**Fei Miao** · 7th Oct 2005, 13:58

Remove the barang barang on your next shots lah

, personally I don't like the tall hairgrass, i think you should plant more in the forground, I normall cut the hairgrass to about 2cm and plant them about a cm apart, it's going to be hard work but the results worth it

same for the elatine. I'm not sure about having both hair-grass and APP on the foreground but let see how it goes, perhaps you might improve with some nice rockscapes to sort of divide the hairgrass and APP areas

The wood seems weak, a bigger would be better, you can "add-on" another piece to make it look bigger... do keep us posted

... to add, IMO it's risky not have a regulator for the CO2, invest in one. Cut down your photo period to 12 hrs

**Justikanz** · 7th Oct 2005, 14:31

I'll need to hunt for more wood this weekend... Hate introducing new wood, actually

...

Will be doing something to the left side and shifting the long hairgrass too... Re-plant the other hairgrass? I'll rather die!... Haha...

But I think I'll have the use more APP and move the hairgrass towards the back/central area...

The barang barang?... Keke... Kept them there to hold the extra plants floating around... Will remove them!

Oh, for the photo period... Seriously, I am having problems with the number of stuff being plugged into the same electrical point... If you are there, think you will also not advise adding more stuff... So, I need to on the light and the CO2 before I leave for work, then finish the water changes, feeding, relax by the tank, off the CO2 etc before I sleep... That's why the longer than usual photo period... I'll see what I can do about that...

**baranne** · 7th Oct 2005, 18:03

Glad to see you have started your new scape.

IMHO, you need more plants, but no more of vals/hairgrass... you have enough of "lines" in the tank... more stem plants or broad leaf plants might add more balance to your scape. As what others have suggested, I think another big DW or maybe rocks would be good.

My 2 cents input.

**wong1979** · 7th Oct 2005, 18:53

It's gonna be good. As things haven't really grown in yet, but the final product looks to be a nice layered effect. Starting from the APP foreground, then moving left and back with a slightly taller dwarf hairgrass. Moving on to the long hairgrass, and finally the longest val. Directing to the focal point, an ikebena-like tree island.

**Justikanz** · 7th Oct 2005, 22:13

Thanks all! Will be spending time on the scape again tomorrow...

I just bought Rotala indica (or is it Rotala rotundifolia

) to be planted on the right side between the vallis, pennywort and the wood... Would that be good? Actually wanted to use Alternanthera reineckii var. but was afraid that the leaves would be too big... Any advise on this?

Think I will also shift some of the crypts to the left side, together with the long hairgrass. This should settle with the sudden change from vallis to hairgrass and create another focal point...

**Justikanz** · 10th Oct 2005, 00:32

Just added the Rotala sp. and shifted the long hairgrass...

Looking for nice wood to add to the long hairgrass side... Or would it be good to use rocks instead for the left side?

What about crypts with the hairgrass?

**Fei Miao** · 10th Oct 2005, 09:37

I would vote for wood

**Justikanz** · 13th Oct 2005, 23:23

Small update:

Bought 2 pieces of wood, floating them now and waiting for them to sink:

Will place them in the left and right corners respectively as suggested...

APP gorwing... though VERY slowly... adding Seachem Flourish, Seachem Flourish Potassium and Tetra FloraPride quite regularly now...

Hairgrass look better... but not spreading yet... Can't wait for these 2 to spread and create the desired lawns...

I stripped my holding tank and as such, I added to this tank:
Corydoras hastatus 9x
Boraras bridgitae ~12-15x
Stiphodon elegans, a goby, 1x
Trichopsis pumila, sparkling gourami, 1x
Dario dario, 2x

Also, suddenly hand itchy and went and bought shrimps, thinking I can establish a population... So, I added cherry, bee and red-nose shrimps... Think my fish LOVE me more now... Cos I didn't see any of the shrimps now...

Must have been eaten by their tankmates...

**Phillipians** · 14th Oct 2005, 01:03

APP is really a monster after it gets established. Give it 1 or 2 more weeks and it will overrun your tank. Really...
Also i think the long HG should be moved to the right, So that you can have a effect that the Right is higher and the left moving lower. Unless you dding the DW in and create a 'valley' sorta feel

**Justikanz** · 14th Oct 2005, 23:17

Yupz... will be adding one piece of dw to the left too... So, will be sort of like a valley... Actually wanted to move the HG to the right after the comments here but planting them was a PITA already... Cannot imagine what will drive me to re-plant the WHOLE lot!... Keke... So, have to opt for a valley effect...

Actually, can't wait for the APP to overrun! Haha... 1st time using this plant...

**Justikanz** · 29th Oct 2005, 00:37

The wood sank and I placed them on the left side... Couldn't find a suitable place on the right side...

Added plants and fish, now the bioload is:
------------------------------------------
Flora:

Java moss
Taiwan moss
Pelia
Marimo ball
Fissiden sp. (dying)
Vallisneria sp.
Hemianthus micranthemoides (MM)
Hydrocotyle leucocephala or Cardamine lyrata(pennywort)
Eleocharis vivipara (long hairgrass)
Eleocharis acicularis (hairgrass)
Elatine triandra (APP)
Echinodorus tenellus
Echinodorus x barthii (I think or could be Echinodorus 'Red Rubin')
Crytocoryne wendtii var.
Crytocoryne x willisii
Limnobium sp. (frogbits, floating plant, removed for phototaking)
Rotala sp. (Still dunno what species it is...)
Hottonia sp. (Dunno what species it is also...)

I want to add a red Ludwigia sp. eg Ludwigia arcuata for something more red than the Rotala sp....

Fauna:
Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, Black skirt tetra (~10x), ~3yrs old - still spawning time to time
Puntius titteya, Cherry barb (~12x), ~1-2yrs old, never seen them spawn
Paracheirodon axelrodi, cardinal tetra (~25x), ~2yrs old
Betta splendens, Siamese fighting fish, 1x female, ~3yrs old, tank police woman...

Crossocheilus siamensis, SAE (2x), bigger one often turn yellowish (breeding dress?)
Nannostomus sp., pencilfish (at least 2 types, ~10 golden and 1 three-lined), golden pencil spawned several times in old setup, often see 1,2 small pencils...
Aplocheilichthys normani, lampeye (3x), will add more...
Melanotaenia praecox, dwarf rainbowfish (1x)
Otocinclus sp. (~4x)
Dario dario (9x)
Corydorus sp. (1x)
Corydoras hastatus (19x)
Boraras bridgitae (~12-15x)
Stiphodon elegans, a algae eating goby (1x)
Trichopsis pumila, sparkling gourami (6x)
Yamato shrimps (~6x)
Red-nose shrimps (~6x)
Snails (horned and zebra) (>10x)

Left side:

Right side:

Any comments on the scape? Thanks...

One more look

:

**Justikanz** · 6th Nov 2005, 02:32

Oops... Made a mistake... The Boraras sp. should be Boraras urophthalmoides... Thanks for pointing that out, Nick...

Btw, I still find the left side a little bit 'raw'... Any suggestions?

Also, the APP is not doing well... They are like dying back... Could it be due to the SAEs and Yamatos foraging among them?... At one point, they look like they are going to spread... Then I will see the SAEs and shrimps running thru the plants... Now the plants are getting thinner...