My first true attempt at aquascaping (opinions)

Lauren

Lauren

Say hello to my lilttle friends
Aug 9, 2003
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I set up this 45 gallon this week. It has the capacity to run 130w, but at the moment, one of the bulbs is blue. I will fix that ASAP. After these pictures, I installed a temporary C02 system. I am using a substrate pre-packed with nutriants. I am adding plants as my lfs gets them in.

This is what I have right now:

Background: Val, rotola, a little wistaria you can't see, and an aponogeton boivinianus that you can see on the left:
plant1.JPG


Midground: basically non existant right now. Not sure what to do with it. I have some bogwood with java fern at the moment.
Forground: I am attemping to use wistaria as a ground cover. I'll move it to the back if it fails. I also have some pygmy sword plant. The only other thing I would like to add is teardrops.

tank3.JPG


Let me know what you think. :D
 
I'm no expert, but it's a nice start (you said you were adding plants as your LFS gets them in). The plants you have look healthy and you have a nice variety. If you like them, you might buy multiples. The substrate is interesting and the wood is a very nice piece. As those plants grow taller, they are going to look great! Especially the Val (one of my personal favorites). I just saw your other post and it says you plan for "harquins, blue rams, cories, and I think some pearl gouramis".
 
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Thanks! I'm going to add some harquin rasboras, 3 blue rams, 3 dwarf cories, a pair of pearl goruamis. And I dont' know, maybe something else.
 
I just updated my previous post, after seeing your other post where you name the fish you have. As I looked at the pics there, I was thinking that dark color along the back would help the fish show up, but then I realized that this tank was meant to be viewed from all angles. With the plant arrangement you have, the background color at the back would work.
 
I love the driftwood. The plants looks real nice. I would definitely change the light. I've just finished setting up my new 29 gallon tank with plants, but I plan to buy different ones as soon as I upgrade my lights.

If your interested, I know that I'll have a lot of pennywort plants I'll be getting rid of soon. Gorgeous plants.

Here's a picture of them.

Lissette :)
 
I will put some black on the back of the tank sooner or later.

I like the look of pennywort, but do you think it is worth shipping cross country?
 
To be honest, I don't know. It would be my first time dealing with this. I don't even know if they ship well. Maybe somone can give us some advice on this.

It just seems like such a shame to throw them out in the garbage when someone else can use them in their tank.

I received them by mail from Aquarium Plant.com (within 2 days). The leaves were very small and the plant was pale. I can't say this was attributed from the shipping, because since I've given them some tlc, they have blossomed. The leaves are big light green and round and the stems are a lot thicker. I think that they just sent me the worst of the bunch, I can't believe that it was caused by shipping.

Lissette ;)
 
Shipping plants its very expnesive. Expect to pay $20+ to ship them. To me, its not worth it unless your buying a whole bunch. Some pet stores will special order if you ask them. Let them deal with the shipping! Its costs them less anyway since they buy more items at a time.

But most plants would survive shipment. How else would they get to the pet store? Just shipe them overnight or within a day or two.

As for the gravel, I think a very fine substrate is optimal for growing good roots. The plants really stay in better with a fine substrate.

It looks like you don't have an undergravel filter which is good. You can grow plants with them, but I prefer to not have one. The roots of the plants can get tangled in the holes of the undergravel filter and tear. Plus the "open water" in the under gravel filter isn't good for the roots.

Last, if you don't want snails be very careful to check the plants you put in and the tank at your pet store. If there are snails at the pet store, you will probably get snails. They lay eggs everywhere and multiple fast. They don't do much harm, but most people don't like the sight of them. Its all opinion though.
 
I beleive it is eco-complete, so there is fine subtrate at the bottom for roots to grow.

There is no undergravel filter, and thanks for the opinion on shipping plants.
 
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