40g Breeder Journal

Cool thread gonna be a sweet tank!!
Thank you, lets hope so. :) It will be more of grow out tank at first.

I need a break so I figured I'd update.

Mineralized soil pre-clay
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Clay - Not as red as I was hoping but I have plenty of iron in my water anyways!
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Emulsified Clay - Very fun to make!!
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Runny mud mixture
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Aesthetic Border of Flourite Black sand
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Mud applied. I didn't add any extras because my water is hard enough & I forgot to grab the potash from work yesterday. :)
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MTS Topped off (sorry it is blurry)
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And that's where I am now! After some lunch (I know I am late!) I will play with my wood again (I'm allowed to say that because I am a girl! :p:). And I'll go from there!

Somehow I am not going to have nearly enough plants to fill this thing!! The P.***i which was the bulk of the plants does NOT like my water, I had the same results last time Starstruck gave me some too. :(
 
:huh::nilly::irked: Blah! I wish I had some idea what I am going to do with this tank, it would really help. This hardscape is killing me, how do you create bones for something if you don't know what it is supposed to look like?

I like the center section of this one but nothing around it & it creates no depth.
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I think I will just stick with this one because it is mostly going to be covered in plants anyway really. Plus I am running out of time in the day! :)
 
Wow, such detailed information!! I love all the pics you include.

You don't have to work too hard on the hardscape... What you've created is the suggestion of a scape, which will solidify more with the plants you add. There are tanks with wood that say "BAM!" ... and there are tanks that quietly take your breath away. :)
 
Taking a second look at your wood (I can say that because we're both girls ;)), it looks like a photographer framing a shot with his fingers! You should plant something dramatic there. :thm:
 
Great tank!

I would move both pieces of wood to the sides some more so that they aren't so centered. The great thing about your inspiration tank is that it is asymmetrical (the "stump" is on the far side).
 
Wow, such detailed information!! I love all the pics you include.


I love looking at pictures when I browse the site & I like to have details about what I am looking at too so I try to include it all in my posts.

You don't have to work too hard on the hardscape... What you've created is the suggestion of a scape, which will solidify more with the plants you add. There are tanks with wood that say "BAM!" ... and there are tanks that quietly take your breath away. :)
Yeah, well I wouldn't count on either one of those happening...I am not very artistic. :)

Taking a second look at your wood (I can say that because we're both girls ;)), it looks like a photographer framing a shot with his fingers! You should plant something dramatic there. :thm:
:lol2: I will try!
Great tank!

I would move both pieces of wood to the sides some more so that they aren't so centered. The great thing about your inspiration tank is that it is asymmetrical (the "stump" is on the far side).
Thanks! I did change the wood a little after that picture & I think it is more like you are suggesting, thanks.

Pictures of the semi-planted tank tomorrow night, gotta go to bed!
 
Thank you, lets hope so. :) It will be more of grow out tank at first.

I need a break so I figured I'd update.

Somehow I am not going to have nearly enough plants to fill this thing!! The P.***i which was the bulk of the plants does NOT like my water, I had the same results last time Starstruck gave me some too. :(

Oh sad! I'm sorry to hear that :(
 
You're sorry!? I'm sorry I killed all your P. ***i!! :wall: I haven't killed the white clouds though and I really love them, they are so pretty! :D Here are a few pictures, I will get updated ones up in a few minutes. I was delayed because upon filling the tank it got more and more unlevel and I had to go to bed so I left it just above the tallest plants and worked on it again the next day & the next day I worked on the temporary filter that was leaking and the CO2 reactor that needed modify and blah blah blah.....


1st picture is right after planting and starting to fill, 2nd is where I stopped filling because of the unlevelness.

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1st picture - tank as of right now. I know it is still not filled. :) I was waiting for more water to be ready, I'm gonna fill it now. You may noticed my super technical filter intake tube raiser in this picture. :grinyes:

2nd picture - close up left side

3rd picture close up right side

A lot is still going to change. The anubias, lilly bulbs & phoenix moss are just thrown in there for the time being. Nearly all these plants do have some recouping to do too. No livestock yet and maybe for awhile, I want to pump the CO2 in to help get the plants established without worrying about algae too much. And of course I need more plants!

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