Llj's 36g Bowfront Journal Redoux

I have a 36g bowfront tank in Miami, that I have plans to make into another high-tech EI tank. I want to try another layout other than just your average jungle that I do. The tank also has a gap where plants can grow above water and it is tall enough for a nice specimen of Nymphaea lotus, the big red one I have in my 15g or a brand new one, since this one, I think, is finally trained for a 15g's height. Sorry, run-on and rambling.

Some stats

36g bowfront
4.38WPG, I need more light in the front to grow what I want for the front, EI for sure, 2 nutra fin CO2 units to maintain 35-40ppm CO2. Substrate will be a layer of laterite then mixed with a fine grain dark gravel of some type. Need to find it, as I am very picky. The back of the tank is much darker than the front, so I came up with this plan.



Sorry for lousy paint job. The red is obviously the lotus leaves, which it might be between 1-2 larger plants. The oliveish plant is the barclaya which will bloom underwater in this tank, since it's about 21" deep. Each side is 21" long. The darkgreen is a sea of low-growing cryptocrynes, probably parva, lutea, or wendtii green or copper. They will be shaded by the lotus leaves. The light green is an even lower-growing foreground, perhaps either glosso, HC, or something else. I would prefer a stem plant, and am leaning heavily towards glosso, since I think the light green would be fantastic against the red of the lotus. Hopefully, since the lotus is more towards the back, the foreground will be in direct light. The brown is bogwood. It's an odd layout, but I think it may have potential to be extremely dramatic. The entire layout maybe shifted back a tad and the image is not to scale, but I wanted to get a general idea.

The tank will eventually be possibly a species tank for tiger barbs (one of my favorites), a very active fish that will take advantage of the swimming space, and a school of chain loaches. The point is to get the lotus to blossom above the water, which I'd love. Let me know what you think of the layout and if you see any problems. I know I have to get things stabilized with stem plants first before I can play. Break out the egeria.

Hehe, I love planning, can't you tell? Typical type A.

Thats a great paint effort ..!
I love the idea of having a huge area of glosso or HC, will look superb surrounded by the other plants!

That looks like a great plan Llj have you thought about grading the substrate from the corner (the 'back' of the tank) to the bow. So its tallest in the corner and lowest along the bow front? This was my immediated thought when I saw your plan would raise the lotus and other up a bit? Just an idea, might be more hassel than is worth?

Sam

Themuleous said:

That looks like a great plan Llj have you thought about grading the substrate from the corner (the 'back' of the tank) to the bow. So its tallest in the corner and lowest along the bow front? This was my immediated thought when I saw your plan would raise the lotus and other up a bit? Just an idea, might be more hassel than is worth?

Sam

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I actually always grade my substrate from back to front. Part of my habit, I guess, never stays that way for long, but it always starts that way. The plan is to not have much substrate in the front, so all you see is the foreground peaking from the tank border. With the large root structures of the crypts and lotus, the substrate might actually hold in place. The plan is to avoid much tweaking in the back of the tank and focus the tweaking attention on the front where it is easier. Crypts are better left alone anyways. So are lotus. I would love to have the foreground also invade the wood in places, so the wood looks like it's emerging from the substrate.

If I go with HC in the front, I can attach a moss on the wood to create that effect since the right moss and HC can look similar. On the other hand, if I let the glosso grow taller near the wood, that could create a similar effect without the attaching of anything.

The big problem will be hiding equipment. The diffusors can be hidden enough, or I may have one diffusor and use a t-connector to connect the two canisters to the diffusor. The heater and filter have to be situated behind the lotus, which could be tricky.

Another journal good on you, looks like a exciting new project, the layout sounds good, its about time the Lilly's had pride of place in a decent size aquarium to show them off good and proper.

here's an idea for you why don't you pick up a piece or black acrilic/perspects and make a shield across the corner at the back to hide the heater and filter pipes.

Look forwand to the pics

Simon.

Nice plan,

I would perhaps consider positioning the lotus in one third of your tank so as to make it look more naturaly placed rather than dead center.

I like thidea of suroubding the lotus with cryps, a good mix would give more contrast.
I cant say im into the dutch method of planted tanks.

Your going to be a busy lady......all these tanks to upkeep!

Well the plan sounds great, the only thing i would say is that 4.38WPG is a lot of light for a tank to be run with DIY CO2, i tried it on my 40 gallon tank with 2.8WPG and eventually i failed, bba took hold because of low CO2 levels, i just couldn't keep up despite my best efforts, pressurised CO2 would be the way to go given the size of the tank and the amount of light you propose. But nice plan look foreward to seeing it unfold.

Yeah, I'll be busy, but all I have to do is write a dissertation.

I see what you mean, Zig. 4.38WPG would only be used if my lawncover doesn't take off with the 3.6WPG that the tank is originally fitted with. I can also regulate each fixture to switch on and off independently. See, it is really dark in the back corner of the tank and the tank is 21" deep. That's why the crypts are going in the back. It's odd how the light is distributed in that tank, it's mostly concentrated in the front. I expect, that no more than maybe 2WPG makes it to the bottom back, while the light is at full intensity in the front. Wierd. I'm concerned that the glosso, if I pick that as a lawncover, won't carpet at 3.6WPG. I know that the substrate will be better than what I normally have, laterite mixed with small grain gravel, so it may work.

I don't know, you think I'll get the same result with 3.6WPG? If I don't have to overkill, I won't.

FKNM, nope, only 4. The 10g will no longer be a journal when I move back to FL. It'll be turned into a hospital/quaranteen tank. It'll be replaced by a low-tech 20g, that journal will start in a few minutes!

Ive grown glosso at 2.8WPG and it grew excellently for me in an 18 inch deep tank, it stayed nice and compact and low to the substrate, ive also grown it at 2WPG in a different tank, this time it grew more upward towards the light but still stayed relatively compact considering. Its an easy plant to grow, the problem i find with it is that it grows too well and too fast, you need to replant it every 6 weeks or so which can become a pain. HC is much easier maintainence for the longer term, its slower to take off but looks great when its fully carpeted, mind you, glosso is probably my favourite groundcover, regardless of the work involved. You will have no problem growing glosso anywhere in that tank even if the light levels vary from front to back, its a bit of a weed really, just avoid a sandy substrate and it should do well.

zig said:

Ive grown glosso at 2.8WPG and it grew excellently for me in an 18 inch deep tank, it stayed nice and compact and low to the substrate, ive also grown it at 2WPG in a different tank, this time it grew more upward towards the light but still stayed relatively compact considering. Its an easy plant to grow, the problem i find with it is that it grows too well and too fast, you need to replant it every 6 weeks or so which can become a pain. HC is much easier maintainence for the longer term, its slower to take off but looks great when its fully carpeted, mind you, glosso is probably my favourite groundcover, regardless of the work involved. You will have no problem growing glosso anywhere in that tank even if the light levels vary from front to back, its a bit of a weed really, just avoid a sandy substrate and it should do well.

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That is reassuring to hear, Zig, thanks. I really didn't want to go past 4WPG. I think then the 3.6WPG will be fine with my substrate choice. I'll watch the CO2, and will consider pressurized in the long run. Whether it's HC or glosso is going to come down to availability and aesthetics. Glosso is easy to come by online, but HC, at least in the US is still iffy. I'll also be using HC in my nano, so I may want something different. What would look more impressive to you and others? This is the only tank that isn't for my room. I kind of also see it as a "Flagship". There is talk of me running an aquatic plant club in Miami, or at the very least hosting meetings, so this tank has to look pretty nice. I don't really care what people think, but an algae-ridden mess is not an option.

Thanks again, Zig.