Zen Garden

[malken]

Not much in the way of advice or a request for help, just a thought I had about keeping a planted tank.

When I originally got into planted tanks it was as a form of relaxation. I would think of my tank as an aquatic zen garden.


Somewhere along the line I lost sight of that. My tank became overgrown and I had a vague pride in the fact that for the frist time, plants in my charge have been growing well. But I wasn't really taking proper care of it. Most of my java ferns were dropping baby plats that would either block the filter intake or float at the surface in clumps with rogue dwarf sag.

After my Senegal Bichir died I came here looking for ideas on how to fill the space he left behind. I came across a thread that gave me the idea to redecorate my tank and in doing so I think I regained a certain degree of inner peace. I've found that I'm generally most at peace when my arm is soaked to the elbow.


Here's the thread http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125468

 

[FishFanatic13]

its funny u got inspired by my gfs tank...what exactly inspired u by her tank?

 

[MustLoveAngels]

come on, you know i can be very... inspiring

:grinyes:

 

[MustLoveAngels]

"I've found that I'm generally most at peace when my arm is soaked to the elbow." that made me laugh in my quiet classroom. hhaha thanks for that

 

[malken]

In general, I'm not a big fan of tank deco. My usual inclination is to think that the only way to set up a really great looking tank is by going natural. When I saw how well the Martian Rome came out I was reminded of the deco I had sitting in plastic bags under my kitchen sink.

I have two L shaped sets of columns, a broken barrel, a castle, and a small mountain that I've been using to diffuse CO2. (I've been wanting to replace that for some time now but I'll save that digression for a later thread)

So I moved my smaller piece of driftwood onto the larger piece to create a good sized shaded area and to clear up a bit of floor space. then I dropped in one of the column pieces and worked it into the substrate at a slightly skewed angle and tied some excess java ferns to the top of it with some black thread.

In retrospect, It would have been much easier to tie the plants on before I submerged it.

The after pic that I posted is really more of a "during" thing. I'll take a new pic when I get a chance. Though I think It still needs a bit of work. I still have several unplanted Java ferns that need to be placed and secured. I'm thinking of pulling out my heater and securing a fern or two to the suction cups that hold it in place. I'm not sure if the ferns will adhere directly to the heater or not but I'm fairly sure that they'll hold onto the suction cups. I'm hoping that will go some way towards concealing the heater.